Latest / The Vikings Tailgate / Vikings Tailgate: Blake Wexler Rides The Eagles Emotional Rollercoaster - PHI - Ep 59

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Vikings Tailgate: Blake Wexler Rides The Eagles Emotional Rollercoaster - PHI - Ep 59 · The Vikings Tailgate

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Come join us at Vikings Country with a special Vikings
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• 0:42
  Speaker 1: for better Mare, Come Van, I'm here. Hey, everybody, Welcome
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: to another episode of the Vikings Tailgate, brought to you
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: by Ticketmaster, the official ticket marketplace of the Minnesota Vikings.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: It's me your host, Cy Amansen, and Week seven, your
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: favorite team is coming off of bye. We're gonna take
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: on a team that I was very nervous about a
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: few weeks ago, and then I got less nervous about.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: And even though I should have gotten more less nervous,
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: the nervousness has increased. I don't like playing teams with
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: back to back losses that are good, and that is
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: what is happening this week as we take on the
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles. Now, normally on the show, the great Chad
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: Daniels joins me, but there are gonna be a few
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: exceptions this year, a few moments where he gets the
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: week off, and this is one of those moments because
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: we have a long time tailgate guest, longtime Philadelphia Eagles fan,
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Blake Wexler, who's worked for the organization, fantastic comedian, joining
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  Speaker 1: us to break down all things Eagles. Blake, I appreciate
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: your time first and foremost.
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  Speaker 2: Of course, and I am a fantastic comedian And what
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: else do you have to say that's nice?
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  Speaker 1: And secondly, I want to ask this as you and
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: I who care a lot about each other, but also
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: in this tight universe where our teams are about to play,
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  Speaker 1: it doesn't always go great from a private dialogue standpoint.
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  Speaker 3: Mm hmm.
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  Speaker 1: I want to ask this in a way that's what
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: did the kids say? They call it triggering. I want
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: to ask this in a way that doesn't trigger you
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: and your Philly brain good luck, because I think it's
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: an important question. The Eagles are one of the more
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: interesting roller coaster teams in the history of professional sports.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: They draft a quarterback, they go on a crazy run
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: to start a season, he gets injured, They win a
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: Super Bowl with the backup and a new coach and
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Doug Peterson. Quickly thereafter, that young rookie quarterback that everybody
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: thought was the future of the league is gone and
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: the head coach is gone, and then they start over.
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  Speaker 1: And then you've got this new team that seems to
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: build into a juggernaut, and then down the stretch they
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  Speaker 1: collapse a couple years ago, just like, oh no, everybody's
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: not gonna be here anymore, like old school Major league
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: movie reference, like let's pave the parking, let's turn it
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: into a parking lot. That's what it felt like after
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  Speaker 1: that Buccaneers loss. Then somehow they keep everybody. The next year,
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  Speaker 1: they're a juggernaut all the way to a Super Bowl title.
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  Speaker 1: Then they start this season and you go, well, this
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  Speaker 1: is clearly the best team in football. And then they
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  Speaker 1: lose these last two in a way that is almost
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  Speaker 1: not even recognizable and is someone whose job it is
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: to discuss the upcoming matchup, even though that's in a
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: humorous way. I don't know what's happening, Blake, What is
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  Speaker 1: your team? What's happening here? Should I? Should I go? Oh? No,
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  Speaker 1: one of the best teams in the league has lost twice,
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: and they very rarely lose three times in a row.
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  Speaker 1: We've got our work cut out? Or am I looking
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  Speaker 1: at that moment in a grade school project where the
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: lava has just started to bubble over the homemade volcano?
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  Speaker 2: Buddy, I don't know what you're talking about, but I
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: will say that you know exactly, So it's funny. We
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: had a similar conversation earlier in the season about like,
• 4:14
  Speaker 2: what is this team? And this is before we lost
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: the two games and when we were winning. So we
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: rattled off four wins in a row to start the season,
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  Speaker 2: lost the last two too, probably the two worst teams
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  Speaker 2: out of all those teams that we've played, for sure,
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  Speaker 2: And I was not nervous by the way that has changed.
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  Speaker 2: But when you talk to me about that when we
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: were four and oh, I'm like, you know what, we
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  Speaker 2: did barely squeak by a bunch of games last season
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: in the Super Bowl. The games were close. There were
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: certain games that could have gone either way. Even going
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: back to that snow game against the Rams and the
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  Speaker 2: playoffs where people forget Matthew Stafford was marching down the
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: field in the fourth quarter and if it wasn't for
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  Speaker 2: that Jalen Carter sack, they they probably they could have
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  Speaker 2: pulled that game out.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: So now I'm like, well, this is just how we
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: win super Bowls. I'm calm, there's nothing to freak out here.
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  Speaker 2: We're gonna just win the Super Bowl for now, one
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  Speaker 2: and now. And then I went to the Giants game
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  Speaker 2: that we got and it wasn't oh a coin flip.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we got destroyed in that game, wall to
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: wall destroyed. So to answer your question.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Point yeah, where where a guy took his shirt off
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  Speaker 1: on the postgame show confidently knowing the rest of the
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  Speaker 1: world wouldn't go why is he doing that? We all
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: went like, well, we watched the game, take your shirt off?
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  Speaker 2: Yeh, why is your shirt ever on? I guess it's
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  Speaker 2: if you're gonna play like that, no shirt, no problem.
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  Speaker 1: And you know, even you might as well, if you're
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  Speaker 1: gonna play like that against the Eagles in prime time,
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  Speaker 1: forget your pads at home. It's a quicker path to
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: being shirtless on National TV.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, if you're gonna play like that against the Eagles,
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: no need for cleats. Flip flops, flip flop your way
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  Speaker 2: up and down the field. I like the sound of it,
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: and it is so anyway, Here's what I think is
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: going on, because I've been thinking about this a lot.
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  Speaker 2: We have like a mini buy as they call it,
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  Speaker 2: because we played Thursday night, so we'll have.
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  Speaker 1: Which I hate that, by the way. I think that's
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  Speaker 1: the right thing to do competitively. But when I realized
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: you guys played on Thursday off of our bi No,
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: I want you to play on I want you to
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  Speaker 1: play on Monday, but I want you to play on Sunday.
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  Speaker 1: I want you to have the short week. I don't.
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  Speaker 1: I don't want your mini by. Is that a thing
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  Speaker 1: the league is doing. It's fair, it seems more fair,
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  Speaker 1: But I want unfairness against you, Blake.
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  Speaker 3: I understand.
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  Speaker 2: And when I came up with the term mini by,
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: I was I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. But
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: I stand by it because I think, you know, if
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: it was up to me, the Eagles would play Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday,
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: and then I take off Saturday. Then we would play Sunday.
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  Speaker 2: So I think what's going on with the team after
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: thinking about it during our mini bye, is that we
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: have our offensive line, for the first time in years,
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  Speaker 2: is not playing like the greatest offensive line of all time,
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  Speaker 2: and we're calling plays and expecting these plays to work
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  Speaker 2: as if they are still the best offensive line of
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: all time. And I believe they're really banged up? Are
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: centered Jurgens? Cam Jurgens, who made the Pro Bowl last year,
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: is a great young center. He had back surgery a
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: few weeks before training camp started.
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: Backs.
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: I don't know, society if you've ever had back issues,
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: but back, from my understanding, how dare you?
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: How dare I? Also? I have such back issues.
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: If I drop coins on the ground, I'm like, well,
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: there go my coins, and you know how much I love.
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  Speaker 1: My Somebody else will find them.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, someone else will find them. It'll be lucky to them.
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  Speaker 1: And can I tell you something really quick?
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  Speaker 3: Help me?
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  Speaker 1: Cause you and other friend of the program Zach Martine,
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  Speaker 1: also fantastic comedian Detroit Lions fan. It has been so
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  Speaker 1: exhausting for me the last few years to listen to
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  Speaker 1: you both claim to have the greatest offensive line of
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  Speaker 1: all time, Like, and you say it in the way
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  Speaker 1: that when I know he thinks you're wrong, you think
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  Speaker 1: he's wrong, I think both of you are wrong. You
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: do it. You do it in the way that like
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: twenty four hour slanted news media, like you know how
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: sometimes those entities will say an original fact as though
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  Speaker 1: it's inarguable before they say the thing afterwards that is arguable.
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  Speaker 1: So clearly it is the greatest offensive line in the
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: history of professional football. And it's just not that this year.
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: You're like, so now I have to argue with you
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: about whether or not this current version is the greatest,
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: and I just have to accept the thing. And you
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: guys both do that. It's like it's like you went
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: to twenty four hour news college to come on this show.
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  Speaker 1: It drives me crazy.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I was the valid victorian of twenty four hour
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: News College and I and I have that diploma displayed
• 8:55
  Speaker 2: prominently in my home. But it is You're so right.
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: It is also not a of all Even saying the
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: greatest wide receiver of all time is controversial, but there's
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: no like qualitative quantitative stats from an offensive line. It's
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  Speaker 2: like saying I have the greenest lawn of all time.
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  Speaker 2: It's like you can't quantify a color, you know, and
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  Speaker 2: so it is subjective. But anyway, let's say a fantastic
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  Speaker 2: offensive line.
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  Speaker 1: You guys had a very good offensive lineman.
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  Speaker 3: Fantastic, fantastic offensive line.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: Swift's future brother in law.
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  Speaker 2: Sure sure, sure, sure sure, and that is that's that's
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: how we refer to him as well. But he was
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: replaced by Jurgens, who has been injured. Landon Dickerson has
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: made a Pro Bowl every year he's been in the
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: league as a guard. He's been banged up, and you know,
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: Lane Johnson's still amazing, but he's in his late thirties now,
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: and you look at the running numbers. Saquon Barkley isn't
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: putting up those numbers, And I don't think they have
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: an identity on offense where we have a first year
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: play caller as well and Kevin Patulo as our offensive coordinator,
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: and that's not going well. So that's what I think
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: is happening right now. And I don't know if there
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: was a fix to that, other than you hope, in
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: the hardest sport on a human body that exists, that
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: these guys will just get healthy during the season.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: Landon Dickerson and Lane Johnson. Those are two separate but
• 10:14
  Speaker 1: also together all time names like that. When they do that,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: I'm from here, this college thing in the pregame going
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: from cause do they do? They go one right after
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: another Sequentially they're both on either side of the center right.
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: So it would be Landon then center than right guard
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: then Lane. So I'm just pitching that we move Lane
• 10:36
  Speaker 2: over so Landon and Lane can go right next to
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: one another. All time football names. There are very few
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: times in football that you can go, oh, that's a
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: big reason they won the thing, like Reggie White on
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: the Packers. You're like, it looks different with Reggie White.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: And football is a sum of its parts, and just
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: because one part is an incredible part doesn't mean you
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: didn't need all of the parts. But the Saquon Barkley Edition,
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: I was trying to think back in my brain what
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: other ex like, where do we get close to that
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: in football that has such a large roster, Like the
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: only thing that's close to it is you know, maybe
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: going back to the Reggie White thing. Had Randy Moss
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: won it with the Patriots that year but they lost
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: the super right that was a sizeable difference. I think
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: if the Packers were to win the Super Bowl this year,
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: the Micah Parsons thing could pan out that way. But
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: it's just so interesting to me. And this is the
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: last question I'll ask you before we go to break
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: on it. The thing that's so interesting is you have
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: all these pieces that are still there.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: And your line might be banged up. But even though
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: all this stuff is bubbling, I don't know how stuff
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: never bubbles over or bubbles out in this way. AJ
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: Brown is tweeting stuff. And the crazy thing is two
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: weeks from now, and this is what's so fascinating about
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: your organization. Two weeks from now, you might just go
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: it's all sucked back in and it all looks normal
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: and everybody's happy, and you're the best team in the NFL.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: And I don't know what sort of leadership structure from
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: you know, the top, all the way down to people
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: I've never heard of, exists. But that ability to wrangle,
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: that's what makes me nervous about this game. Is all
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: of a sudden, they can just go, oh, were the
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Eagles from the Super Bowl last year?
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: I agree with you, and I would never be that
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: optimistic as an Eagles fan period and even right now,
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: it's difficult to do it, but I've seen them do
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: this before. Where you know that year that we started
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: ten and one and then went one in six, one
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: in seven through the playoffs, like like you mentioned, we
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: lost to the Bucks at the end of the year.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: But in no world did I think that we, the
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: whole team would return after that, especially the coach. And
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: you have these combustible personalities and these combustible persons. You
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: have the coach of the team might be one of
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: the most combustible personalities in the entire league. So that's
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: the coach. Then you do have aj Brown who's reading
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: a book on the sideline during the game.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: I love it.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: I love it. It's my favorite thing. And also, by
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: the way.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: Jealous, I'm jealous. I like as somebody who lived through
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: the Tice Randy Moss, Dante Culpepper era, let's shake it up.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: I love like you. Never you didn't watch the Michael
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: Jordan Bowles documentary and go man, there's no no big
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: personalities here.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: No Dennis Rodman, a real housecat of a human being.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: No personality to that guy whatsoever. And also, by the way,
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: side note infamous reading City Philadelphia caused that book inter
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: Excellence to go number one on Amazon right after that.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: So that's the other thing that always happens your city.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: By like, there could be a guy on the sideline
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: who just for whatever reason has a salted nut roll.
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: He's like, there was a kicker, the snicker kicker for
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: the Vikings. His name was Mitch Berger.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: And talking about what are you saying right now.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: I'm saying, I'm saying normal stuff. We used to have
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: an you.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: Have a candy player, No, tell me about your candy player.
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: By all mean we.
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: Used to have a punter who would punt and then
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: he would go to the sideline and he'd take out
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: of one of his extra shoes that was just sitting
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: over on the sideline, which I guess I never really
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: thought about that part. But he would take you had
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: have an extra shoe, you would take a Snickers out
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: and he would take a bite. He would eat a
• 14:24
  Speaker 1: Snickers during the during the game. People would call him
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: the snicker kicker.
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: I love it.
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: So I'm not here to say that. But here's the thing.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: Snickers didn't break the charts like I don't. And so
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: what I'm saying is like a worse candy, although I
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: love it the salted nut roll. If AJ Brown or
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: Jalen hurts ate a saulted nut roll on the sideline,
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: just like they just pulled it off the bench and
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: ate it. Whatever company publicly trades the salted nut roll,
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: you want to be on that information early because it's
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: going through the roof. You won't be able to get
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: salted nut rolls in gas stations. And Philadelphia, you guys
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: support the activities in a way that is mind blowing.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: It's fanatical, it's maniacal. There's some company in China that
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: made dog masks, really really weird dog masks. During the
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: twenty seventeen twenty eighteen Super Bowl run, we called ourselves
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: the underdogs. Chris Long and Lane Johnson put on these
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: dog masks. This company in China has no idea what's
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: going on in Philadelphia. All of a sudden, they get
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: hundreds of thousands of dogs. They sell out their whole company.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: They have no more masks, they have no more company
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: because every stock of this weird thing was being bought
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: in a place called Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. So you have these
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: and it goes back to Big Dom to answer your
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: question where Big Dom is one of these like Mickey
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: Mouse cartoon characters coming out of Philadelphia and to the
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: point where he got suspended for shoving a player for
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: shoving a forty nine er. But a couple of years ago,
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: Big Free Big Dom t shirts were distributed throughout Philadelphia
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: like they were pamphlets during the French Revolution. It was unbelievable.
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: And now this guy Big Dom were before. Now there's
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: a spotlight on him, but he's part of this consistency
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: in the organization where he's a guy who helps quell
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: these you know, this turmoil, and you also have an
• 16:26
  Speaker 2: owner who's a very stable owner, and you have a
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: GM who is basically the GM for life. Now you know,
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: the guys won two Super Bowls, the only two Super
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: Bowls that that team has ever seen. So you have
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: this stability that I think is a very strong safety net.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: Now NFL players can cause any safety net to dissipate,
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: But I do think Philadelphia is very lucky and that
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: they have that safety net.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: Like I love our GM. I think we have a
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: fantastic front office, a fantastic GM. But you know, in
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: that same way where I find myself jealous or I
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: found myself jealous of those who had theo Epstein Right.
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: He brings a title to a long suffering group. I
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: just don't think he gets talked about enough. He broke
• 17:11
  Speaker 1: two curses, who did yeah, And so you guys, as
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: a long suffering organization to have this guy come in,
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: I think you're right. I think he's waited through coaches
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: and won multiple titles in multiple different ways. And I
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: guess I didn't even understand the ascension of him where
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: it's like, this is a guy who was an unpaid
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: intern at twenty four and a decade later he becomes
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: the GM right and seems to not only consistently hit
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: on moves. They never feel overly risky at the time,
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: and they certainly don't feel risky in hindsight. So he
• 17:52
  Speaker 1: consistently hits on deals right and decisions that he makes well. Also,
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: to your point, no matter what's going on, when the
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: seasons are volatile or anything like that, it never feels
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: like an overflow, especially in a city. Again, this is
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: what I was getting to earlier when I was talking
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: about it, like the emotions of the fans in your
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: city are different than other places. So the fact that
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: everything is kept under a fever pitch in a place
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: where people react the way they react. It's wild. I
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: just think that dude is at this different level that's
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: kind of hard to even conceptualize.
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're right, And his ascension is really interesting because
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: he was never he never played football really at any level,
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: and he would send blind emails to Joe Banner, who
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: is long term NFL executive, and to a bunch of
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: other people. And then he got in as an intern
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: and obviously now rose up to become GM. And not
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: only did he become GM in twenty sixteen, chip Kelly
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: took that title away from him. So chip Kelly was like, yo,
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: either I'm your coach and your GM or you don't
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: get me at all. So they demoted Howie Roseman. Howie
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: Roseman then comes back to take the team over after
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: chip Kelly was fired, and then you know the rest
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: is history, won two Super Bowls. So he's a guy
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: who is And this is an interesting thing. So with
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: Philadelphia we get obviously do well well much do crap
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: for booing our own teams, that sort of thing, But
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: it is the same thing.
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: Where as much.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: As Santa Claus, any person that really stands for joy,
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: like you shouldn't just leave it at your own team.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: I mean you throw, Yeah, I understand what you're saying,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: but I just think.
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: The Santa Claus think he was not in a good outfit.
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: That was the whole thing. It wasn't booing the institution
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: of Santa Claus. There was some Santa Claus who put
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: no effort. He looked like garbage. He might as well
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: have been wearing a bathrobe and a sleep hat out
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: into So that's that was the problem. That's why he
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: was booed, was because he wasn't a good Santa Claus.
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: We have standards for our Santas and he did not
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: reach that Santa Stama. So anyway, and sorry, you got
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: me all frazzled.
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: Very normal, very normal reaction.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: So as much anger as us as a fan base
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: will show to teams, players, et cetera, it's how much
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: love we show as well. And it's the same thing
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: where I mean, it's like we just talked about buying
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: the masks, the weird masks, the weird book, all that stuff.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: So Howie Roseman, a front office general manager, might be
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: the easiest person to direct anger at as a fan
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: because they're not playing, they're not in a jersey, they're
• 20:38
  Speaker 2: not even a coach. They're just a guy at a
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: desk in the view of fans. So Howie was a
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: guy who I think, you know, received a lot of
• 20:47
  Speaker 2: negative attention. But now that he has won these Super
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: Bowls and done it in a way where he seems
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: like he's ahead of the curve on a lot of
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: different things in the NFL where he tries to find
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: these inconsistencies or the these market inefficiencies. So that was
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: the Saquon Barkley signing where no one was paying running backs.
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: Running backs were a devalued position, and they's like, listen,
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: if we use this running back, and in what world
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: is Saquon Barkley the way we're about to use him
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: going to be less valuable than any wide receiver out
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: of the top two three. So pay this guy. He
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: still won't cost as much as a traditional premier position.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: And he does stuff like that. The way he's drafting now,
• 21:29
  Speaker 2: his trades, the way he stockpiles picks, he almost reminds
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: me a little bit of a basketball GM where trades,
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: obviously in the NFL aren't nearly as prevalent as they
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: are in other leagues. So now you have a guy
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: who is making trades and that's the weird thing right
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: now where our team does have a lot of holes,
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: and I think we have confidence in Howie Roseman that
• 21:51
  Speaker 2: he will somehow create a trade to get a viable cornerback.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: And Zadarius Smith, who became i'm a starter defensive end
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: for us, just retired, so now we don't even have
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: that guy anymore. So in our minds we think that
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: how we will be able to pull a rabbit out
• 22:09
  Speaker 2: of the hat and create an opportunity and start plugging
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: these holes because he has done that over and over again,
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: so we do really appreciate him. And I don't take
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: that dude for granted because it is a rare thing
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: it's sports to have.
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: It's a weird place to you know. I like to
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: compare fan bases a lot on this show and their mentalities,
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: and they'll I think we can both agree that there
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: should be or there are very few similarities between the
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: mentality of your fan base and the mentality of my
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: fan base. I would say my fan base. You know,
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: I think that they both. My number one description would
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: start with a P, like I think we're a bit pessimistic,
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: and I think you're a bit psychotic. So like, but yep,
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: the Lions, the Egos before they won their titles, the Vikings,
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: the Browns, the Bengals, these long these organizations that have
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: been around for a long period of time. And to
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: your point and tell them hadn't won a title or
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: hadn't won a title in a long time. The way
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: the fans react to that, it's just so fascinating to
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: me that a guy could have done such a good
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: job in such a volatile city. Like you're, I love
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: you. You're an insane person when it comes to.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: You, and I'm the best one, yes, And you're.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: That's what I was just gonna say. You are. You
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: are probably the most calm carrying, an empathetic person I've
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: met from Philadelphia. And when it comes to the Egles,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: you're psychotic, like you're off your rocker. So to see
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: you be in this place where you're like, I'm actually
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be all right. That's it just
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: speaks volumes to how the phenomenal amount of credibility a
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: person is capable of creating with some success.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: One of the things I love talking to you about
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: with sports is that we can we can give each
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: other that perspective of like in my mind, I'm like
• 24:09
  Speaker 2: I am, I'm docile. I'm you know, like like a
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: like a philosopher level thinker when it comes to this,
• 24:16
  Speaker 2: you know, chill cool. But I'm not like I You know,
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: I have my wife thought.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: In your mind, that's what's in your mind. That's really
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: in your mind.
• 24:24
  Speaker 2: It is really in my mind. Thanks for asking, and no,
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: thanks for asking. It is really in my mind, and yeah, you.
• 24:29
  Speaker 3: Know it is.
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: But I do also have this thing that my wife
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: bought me called a damn It doll, where it's an
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: Eagles voodoo doll that I can smash on the floor
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: or on the wall or on the couch when things
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: aren't going my way.
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: So I.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: Like your wife and am rooting for your relationship on
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: a level that thank you. I don't want to dive
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: in to the psychology behind her having to buy you
• 24:56
  Speaker 1: a damn It doll because I think that might just
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: lead to me poking holes that are unfillable. That's what
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: I'm concerned about with that piece of information. So let's
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: just leave the dam and doll over there where you
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: have it.
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: And I have it. I know it is. I know
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: it is that I do. I keep it in its case.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: And absolutely, why wouldn't have a case.
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: Has a case?
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: Just you know it doesn't it doesn't get out and
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: but no, you're right, and there is something.
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: Now.
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: I've made a big, all joking aside effort to Philadelphia
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: sports fans. If you turn on like the if you
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: turn on their sports talk radio, which I do not recommend,
• 25:34
  Speaker 2: but if you find yourself wanting to try something insane,
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: turn that on during the drive time hour and it's
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: as if we've never won a game for ever. The
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: fan base is in full panic. And for the perspective thing,
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: this is the best I will ever have it as
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: a sports fan period. It's the best I'll ever have it.
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: Jalen Hurts is so fun to cheer for. He's a
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: fantastic guy. I took us to one Super Bowl one
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: another Super Bowl. Siriani is the most entertaining, funny coach.
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: He's nuts, He's Philadelphia. We are the coach of the
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: Philadelphia Eagles. Is the city of Philadelphia in a guy.
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: It's so much fun to cheer for this team. So
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: we're foreign too. Will they turn it around. There's reasons
• 26:20
  Speaker 2: to expect that they will, there's reasons to expect that
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: they won't as in the last two games that we played.
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: But I do feel like in these zones it's so
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: important because again, like look at the Patriots, you know,
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: I mean, now, who knows, Drake may might be turning
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: them around. But I'm making a big, big point to
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: appreciate how good.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: This Sune's crazy. You just compared yourself to the greatest
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: dynasty in professional sports history outside of maybe who we
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: beat the beat of the So I understand where he's going. Yeah,
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: So let me then ask you the important question. M M.
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: Going back to my original talking point and my original
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: concern you who You're not in the same worry place
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: that you've always been in. You've got a bit of confidence,
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: which means I can actually ask you this question and
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: not just get a pessimistic, garbage answer, you know, some
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: whony like we'll never make it. Uh what in my like,
• 27:17
  Speaker 1: like I said, you don't like playing great teams after
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: well coached, talented teams, after big letdowns, and you're coming
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: off of you know, back to back letdowns and an
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: embarrassing performance against like getting routed on national TV by
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: a division opponent and a rookie quarterback. So do you
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: think it is more likely this week right now that
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: we get the pull it together here we go look
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: like the championship team, or do we get the teeterie
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: we gotta see. We don't know how to get out
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: of this. It's gonna take like do we go further
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: down the last two games or do we jump out
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: of it quickly? If you had to pick what's more
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: likely this week?
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: The issues that I outlined will not be solved in
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: this week. So the play calling could potentially be solved.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: And is that going to be incrementally better because of
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: how good the talent is on offense. So even with
• 28:16
  Speaker 2: a banged up offensive line, still have aj Brown not
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: throwing him the ball too much this season, Still have
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: DeVante Smith, who's as good a number two as you
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: can have in the entire league. You know he would
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: be the number one for almost any other team. You
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: have Saquon Barkley, you have Dallas Goddard who's healthy, and
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: you have Jalen Hurts. So can we alter the play
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: calling enough? And I think that honestly can right the
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: entire or most of the ship if you alter the
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: play calling to what you have to the personnel, and
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: so maybe it's not There was no way Sequon Barkley
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: was going to run for two thousand yards again this year.
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: But he shouldn't be running for two hundred yards, you know,
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: So can we change that play calling? We're not going
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: to be healthier and not where the guys who are
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: banged up are still going to be banged up. The
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: guys on the injured list are still going to be injured.
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: But I think if you if during this time they
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: had the ability to be like, yo, our offense is predictable,
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: let's change X y Z, that is a reason for
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: me to be like, Okay, now we can score. The
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: defense is going to be fine. It's now we can score,
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: and we have one of the most talented offenses in
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: the league. They haven't played that way this year, But
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: is this the week they're going to start playing that way?
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: If so, this is going to be a really big
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: bounce back game. If not, good, lord is the is
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: the conversations going to devolve into a layer of hell
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: that I can't even describe.
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, just in your personal friend groups and in my head,
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: the conversations. Yeah, I mean, I'll be very curious. You know,
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: the Vikings are getting a lot of people back, but
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: that takes a minute to get rhythm. You're coming out
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: like you know, the Vikings defense have been how it
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: has been over the last year and a half, so
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: good under Flores that everything about me says this will
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: be a defensive battle, a lower scoring game. But this
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: is the closest we're gonna be to having most of
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: the pieces together, you know, And I don't think it'll
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: be the moment where we have them all. But you
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: do have Jordan Addison back, right you you you are
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: supposed to get your other offensive linemen back who're coming back.
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: We still don't have Aaron Jones, but we're getting closer.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: So the offense with that rest and with that break,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: I think still has the potential. They there's especially with
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: the way Kevin O'Connell likes to take chunk shots and
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: get down the field. There's and what you were saying about,
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: you know, in need of a cornerback. My hope is
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: that it stays kind of low scoring and then bang bang,
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: we put some distance and it gets really hard for
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: you guys. But I'm gonna make you do a prediction,
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: and we do it differently here. Now the predict are different.
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: You got to do it. This is what we do
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: with Chad. You got to do a score prediction, a
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: player performance prediction, and then a prediction about you personally
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: during the game. Like I will show you how it works.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: Are you ready? I think, like I said a little,
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: defenses are going to be very involved. I think the
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: Eagles will probably score twelve thirteen vikings about one hundred
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: and twenty seven. I anticipate this being Jalen Naylor's going
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: to get loose a couple times. I think Jalen Naylor's
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: going to get down the field, maybe on a deep touchdown.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: I think you're going to see a shot down the
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: field to him. And for a personal prediction, I think
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: we have a very volatile text thread on Sundays, and
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: I predict you will read the tea leaves early and
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: excuse yourself from the text thread and respond to how
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: everything happened because you are in a thread with our
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: in our person group thread, it is three Viking fans,
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: the most spoiled Steeler fan to ever walk the earth.
• 32:06
  Speaker 3: It feels we don't have enough time.
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: I get this guy complaining his way up and down
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: a successful season so far, three Viking fans, A cry babies,
• 32:18
  Speaker 1: you know, heavy duty whiny, you know, spoiled Steelers fan,
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: almost to the point where you think he's a Packers fan.
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: But uh, and then you have you, and you often
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: when things really get going, you excuse yourself. So my
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: personal prediction is I will be very active in the
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: group message, and you will be. You will excuse yourself
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: early and we won't get to communicate much during the game.
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was going, so I'll start in reverse. My honestly,
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: my position is that we won't talk for eight days.
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: And I have already muted that group chats, so that
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: group chats muted, I don't see notifications on that, so yeah,
• 32:58
  Speaker 2: I will not see any of that. I might just
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: get a new phone and or maybe just another, maybe
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: a third phone, and then I will say player prediction.
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: I will go with Kieley Ringo will give up three touchdowns?
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: You got a guy and your team named Keeley Ringo?
• 33:19
  Speaker 3: Big time sounds like sounds.
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: Like a cartoon bear on a children's animated show Who's
• 33:25
  Speaker 1: in a Band?
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: You go to a rest stop in the middle of
• 33:29
  Speaker 2: nowhere that you see a Kiley Ringo playing with his
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: band of and then score. I'm gonna say twenty eight
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: twenty one Eagles, and then we will have blocked I
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: would say seven or eight of your field goals actually
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: during the course of that game. So that's my that's
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: my that's my prediction. Who is starting it? Is it
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: JJ or is it Wenz?
• 33:53
  Speaker 3: Do you know yet? Who's starting? This is not a
• 33:55
  Speaker 3: good question.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: Where we have no I can defer to our producer
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: Jay here, but I believe in this moment of recording,
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: we do not have a defined decision. Great, so why
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: don't you just sit back and wait for it? Not
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: announced yet? Said Jay as of recording not announced yet.
• 34:15
  Speaker 3: Well, I'll just we'll prepare for both then, Blake.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: I care about you. Thanks for joining the show. We
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: really appreciate it. And thank you to everyone for listening
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: here on our podcast feed. We really appreciate it. While
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: you're here, leave a review, you know, click the stars,
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: all five of them, and say something nice. It really
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: helps us out. Finally, a huge shout out to Ticketmaster,
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: the official ticket marketplace of the Minnesota Vikings, for helping
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: make this show happen.
• 34:39
  Speaker 3: Enjoy the game.
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: Everybody