Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / Football at Four: Top NFL Storylines For 2026 Season

Transcript

Football at Four: Top NFL Storylines For 2026 Season · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Football 4 powered by the Inside the Burns podcast. It
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: is brought to you by the Fanatic Sportsbook at Ocean
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Casino Resort in Atlantic City. The best place for game
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: day tomorrow night. The NFL season kicks off. We'll be
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: there live at the Fanatic Sportsbook at Ocean Casino Resort.
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: And you can watch the NFL kickoff with us at
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Ocean Casino. Big screens, big bets, game day hits different
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: at Ocean. To learn more, visit theoceanac.com. Football at Four
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: is back. And, of course, Adam Kaplan is here. It
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: never went anywhere, but it's back. for the 2026 season,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: which starts tomorrow night. Adam Kaplan is here to take
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: a look around the NFC East as we were just
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: doing our who's in and who's out, Adam, before you
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: came on. We picked our 14 playoff teams, and we
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: both have two NFC East playoff teams. It's just who's
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: going to win that division. Let's take a look around
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: the NFC East. Let's start with Dallas, who a lot
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: of people might be sleeping on. What say you?
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, by the oddsmakers, they were picked to finish in second.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: They were largely picked in second. In fact, I don't
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: know of any book that has them favored. The Eagles
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: are still a slight favorite to win the division. In fact,
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: our show tomorrow, our show tomorrow that drops at 6 a.m.,
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: I'll give you a hint. We go over the win
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: totals from the books. We kind of pick. I asked
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Jeff for a hard total. Give me a hard total.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: Eagles total wins. We... For the player props, Hurts, Barkley,
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: even Jarek, we actually did Jarek's sack prop, which I
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: really like the over, by the way. I won't give
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: you the number, but you'll have to listen to the
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: show tomorrow, so that's going to be fun. We do
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: a lot of that on tomorrow's show. But Dallas, Mike,
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: let's get over the Cowboys. Last year they were 7-9-1,
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: annually underachieving, but their defense was mostly noncompetitive. Their defense
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: has not been quality in a number of years. It's
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: been a lack of discipline, coaching, scheme. Well, you know what?
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: It's kind of like if you can't beat them, join them.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: They went out. They got a Vic Fangio disciple in
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: Christian Parker, and he's a first-year defensive coordinator, very sharp guy.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: I talk to people who work with him. Their roster
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: is better now. Kenny Clark gets a full season, full offseason.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: Quentin Williams, they also traded for last year. Rashawn Gary
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: this year. uh... donovan as a rocker who from south
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: jerry came up the hip labor surgery he's ready to
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: go they upgraded their secondary a little bit they're going
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: to be better mike but how much better remains to
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: be seen now offensively all eleven starters are back they
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: are the only nfl team to do that denver's close
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: that the problem is tyler smith their outstanding guard is
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: on injury reserve he had thumb surgery he's going to
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: miss at least a month that's a problem They're going
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: to go over, and I know they like this kid.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: It's T.J. Bass who's been with them as an untracked
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: free agent since 2023. He'll fill in. Guyton's not a
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: very good left tackle. He's just okay. He's probably a
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: better right tackle. But that's where Terrence Steele is. So
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: they've got some problems, Mike, on their offensive line. That,
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: to me, is a big reason why they're not going
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: to win the division.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: You know, everybody, when they lost Parsons last year, they
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: were kind of getting mocked and laughed at. Their defense
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: is probably better this year after the trade for Quinn
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: and Williams.
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: A little better what i mean with it it's interesting
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: it according to the season you're talking about all well
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: we have to be a writer better run defense jerry
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: jones obsessed with it so you talk about how the
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: run defense had to be much better ticket kenny clark
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: from green bay in the parson trade to the twilight
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: of its career you're not they're not great at linebacker
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: that's the overshown with the best linebackers had a ton
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: of injuries they traded for d winners He's a veteran
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: linebacker who they think fits. And Caleb Downs is their
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: first-round pick. A lot of people like him. He's probably
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: going to play more nickel than corner this season. They're
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: going to be better, Mike. And they're moving to a
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: 34 front, which they haven't run in a while, so
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: it's going to take a little bit of time. They're
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: a fun team. They're going to be offensively dominated. I
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: didn't really mention this at running back. Could Javante Williams
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: repeat what he did last year?
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Came out of nowhere.
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: Remember, Denver didn't want him back. He'd been a disappointment.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Coming off three years ago of a multi-ligament knee injury.
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: He had a career year. He was fantastic. Dak is
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: still very, very good. Pickens is at a contract drive.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: CeeDee Lamb is great. He's got his big contract. Flannoy
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: is really good. He's a good third receiver. And Jake Ferguson,
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: a very underrated tight end. They're really good at offense.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: It's just that, can they get the defense to play
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: at an acceptable level? That's the big question.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: All right, Dallas, obviously, you know, the... Consensus almost for
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: second place, but New York Giants, a lot of people
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: like this Giant team mainly because they have changed the coach. Obviously,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: Harbaugh gives them a much more credible head coach than
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: they had in the past. But what does he have
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: to work with here in this Giants team?
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: First of all, Mike, how about this one? The Giants,
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: they admitted they totally screwed up the Darius Slayton extension.
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: They never should have done it. Three years, $ 36 million.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: They fully guaranteed $ 22 million. They cut him after year one.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: They cut him yesterday. And they owe him $ 9. 75 million.
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: Even if he retires, they owe him that money. That's
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: really bad. Joe Shane, their GM, has actually had a
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: pretty good offseason, but this is a terrible, bad move.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: They really screwed up Odell Beckham Jr. 's back. They
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: actually only have four receivers on the roster. They're going
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: to have to add a fifth. You can't go into
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: a game with four. But remember now, Blake Namers is
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: coming off the tour in ACL. He looked good in
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: late workouts in August. Now, I feel I'm told this
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: is the guy they targeted in the draft. They wanted
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: him badly. Who's out of Notre Dame is a big
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: physical receiver. Don O'Mooney will be their slot receiver. Who
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: could run, by the way. Now, the question is, can
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: they finally, Mike, put together a quality offensive line? They
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: extended John Runyon's contract. Remember his dad who played for
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: the Eagles. Now, I know the first-round pick. And then
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Andrew Thomas, he's been hampered with hamstring injuries throughout his
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: entire career. He was drafted in 2020. Franchise left tackle,
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: if he could ever play 15 games, that's been the problem.
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: And Jermaine Illuminor came over from the Raiders. He's been
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: a guard and a right tackle. He's going to stay
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: a right tackle. Malinowski's going to stay a guard. They're
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: a first-round pick. They could actually have a good offensive line.
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: I'd say likely they're going to use a fullback now
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: with Cam Scadaboo. Patrick Ricard is the highest-paid fullback in
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: the National Football League. Things are changing, Mike. They're changing
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: their offense. They're changing their defensive scheme, which is going
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: to be much more aggressive. Under Gerard Wilson, you might
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: remember Gerard Wilson, the Eagles' former defensive back coach. Matt
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: Nagy will call the plays with help from Greg Roman,
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: Atlantic City's own. And Greg will help him with passing
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: game concepts and also a little bit more of the
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: run game. They're a fun team, Mike. I'm going to
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: pick them to be 9-8. I think they're going to
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: surprise people. They're not going to get in the playoffs,
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: but they're going to have a winning record. That's the
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: way I see it.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: By the way, they open up against the Cowboys on
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: Sunday night football, so a pair of NFC East games.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: start things off for week number one. The Cowboys are
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: 16-2 against the Giants since the start of the 2017 season.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: But we will see if that changes with the new
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: look Giants here. Man, they've been drafting defense for years.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: It feels like one of these years, one of these
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: defensive players has to kind of blossom for them, right?
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: I mean, it feels like they just keep drafting edge
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: rushers and edge rushers. Maybe it's Reese that finally is
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: the one they hit on. They took Carter a year ago.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: We shall see. But they got the makings of something here.
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: I like it. And I love John Harbaugh was with
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: the Giants about three weeks ago. They run the longest
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: practice of the National Football League. That's something that John does.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: You know, the special teams, they spent 45 minutes on
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: special teams when I was there for a two and
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: a half plus hour practice. So, Arvel Reese, by the way,
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: is going to play linebackers. He's not going to play
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: Ed Rush. Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Kayvon Thibodeau. That's an
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: excellent threesome. Now, they brought in Tremaine Edmonds, who did
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: not play well with the Bears last season. They gave
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: him a big contract. This was... Greg Cosell will be
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: back with us at Inside the Birds, by the way.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: We'll do the Inside the Tape show, where we break
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: down the Eagles tape each week. Greg said Edmonds' tape
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: was bad, and I could not believe the contract that
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: he got. they're not great at corner. That's a problem
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: for them. But you're right with a pass rush. Arvell
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: Reese had a good training camp, the first-round pick. I
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: just like the discipline that Harps is going to bring in.
• 8:50
  Speaker 2: They're going to be better. Their vision is going to
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: be better, Mike. Now, Washington, I talked about them on Friday, Mike.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: What I didn't talk about is what I expect from
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: them this season, in terms of record. Earlier this offseason,
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: when Tunsell didn't get hurt, And they thought they knew
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: what they had at center. Alec Grady's going to be
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: back for week one. Nick Alec Grady's moving from guard
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: to center. They're a massive left tackle, Mike. That's a
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: major problem for a right-handed quarterback that's a blind side.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: That really worries me. They've got issues at corner. Russell
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: Douglas might have to start. That's not good at 31
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: years old. Super Bowl winner nine years ago with the Eagles, Mike.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: Give Russell credit. He's still playing. Really significantly upgraded the
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: front seven, mostly through free agency, a little bit with
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: a draft of Sonny Stiles. it's going to be hard
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: for them to have a winning record. And by the way,
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: Dan Quinn, if they don't make the playoffs, will be
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: in a major hot seat. Really hot.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think, you know, you look at Washington, 12-5
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: in 2024, 5-12 last season. Is that because, you know,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: Daniels was hurt last year? Or is this roster just deteriorated?
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: You know, obviously, they were not good two and five
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: without him last year.
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: Mike, they were the oldest team in the National Football
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: League last season. That's never something you want to lead in.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: Adam Peters, the general manager, acknowledged that, that obviously it
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: was a mistake. And they got younger, significantly younger, by
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: the way. They still have some older players that can't,
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: that they're not going to walk away from contracts. But
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: they got younger. Um, I do believe, though, I'm going
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: to vote, actually, in the show that we do tomorrow.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: I'll give you a nugget here. I actually have Jay
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: Daniels as my comeback player of the year. Now, can
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: they get a good left tackle out of Brandon Coleman
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: and D.J. Humphreys as a journeyman for a first-round pick
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: for the Cardinals? That's my concern. The right side is
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: locked out with Sam Cosme, and Connelly was tremendous as
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: a rookie. I'm concerned about that left side and at center.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: So three guys on the offensive line I'm concerned about,
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: but They'll be good enough for the receiver. Diggs is
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: going to be their possession receiver. McCorn's good. And Tony
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: Williams is going to be their slot. Traylon Burks actually
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: looked good last season before he got hurt. Their tight
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: end group's okay. They'll have a running back by committee
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: with Krosky Merrick and Rashad White will handle third down
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: and goal line and pass protection. They'll be okay. They're
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: going to be like, if they would have had Tunsell, Mike,
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: that's how much Two or three wins means to me
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: I would have given them ten wins. I'm giving them seven.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: I got them at 7-10, but they will be better.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: All right, well, if they can do something that no
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: other team has done, win in Philadelphia. They will have
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: beaten the Eagles here in Philadelphia. That is the game
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: on Sunday right here on 97.3 ESPN. And, of course,
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: the Eagles are right now. a 4.5-point favorite with the
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: over-under 46.5. The Eagles, by the way, Nick Sirianni is
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: one of two head coaches in the NFL currently who
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: has never lost a season opener. He is 5-0, and
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: as you mentioned, they are the favorites when he has
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: the East, plus 115. is the money if you want
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: to hit on that. So it should be a fun season.
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: We've got two NFC East games to open up the
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: Sunday slate. Do you like these division matchups right out
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: of the chutes?
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, we'll talk more about the matchups on Friday.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: I definitely like the Eagles. I'd seen the number go
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: down to five and a half yesterday. So I guess
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: it depends on the book.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I guess it depends on the book. Right, right.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: But how much was the over-under?
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: 46-and-a-half.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: I'm under. I love the under. Now, see, Jeff's an
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: over guy when we look at the point spread each
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: week on inside the bird's wing preview of the game. Yeah, see,
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: I see something like 2013, something like that. I just
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: don't see either team looking great week one.
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: I just changed to a different app. It's 44-and-a-half elsewhere.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: Still like the under, Mike. Still like the under. All right.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: I'd be very surprised if this is a fairly high-scoring image.
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: Don't see it.
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: All right, Adam Kaplan, on Friday, we will break down
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: all the matchups to watch for the Eagles and the Commanders.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: Of course, you can listen to it right here on 97.3 ESPN.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: All right, Adam.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: All right, there we go. Our first look at the
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: NFC East. Adam Kaplan breaks it down for us here.