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Eagles vs. Rams Postgame Show, Divisional Round Game · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

0:21
Speaker 1: You are listening to Eagles postgame analysis here at the
0:23
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show, the longest running weekly Philly
0:26
Speaker 1: sports podcast show in the world, over eleven and a
0:30
Speaker 1: half years strong. And the Philadelphia Eagles are going to
0:34
Speaker 1: be heading to the NFC championship game. That's right. They
0:38
Speaker 1: beat the Los Angeles Rams down at the link in
0:41
Speaker 1: the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. Oh my gosh,
0:45
Speaker 1: what a game this was. Twenty eight to twenty two. Yes,
0:48
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles beating the Rams twenty eight to twenty two.
0:51
Speaker 1: I am Jeff Warren. I am here with my good
0:54
Speaker 1: buddy Matt Rogers from the Honorable Mention podcast. You've heard
0:58
Speaker 1: him on our Eagles postgame podcast shows. Jumps on every
1:01
Speaker 1: now and again to talk Eagles and even some Sixers. Matt, buddy,
1:05
Speaker 1: what a freaking game this was, dude. I was serious.
1:07
Speaker 1: Like my face is still rented right now from the
1:10
Speaker 1: end of this game here.
1:13
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I mean incredible game. You know from the weather reports,
1:18
Speaker 2: if you were paying attention to the weather reports, you
1:19
Speaker 2: should have known what the style of this game was.
1:22
Speaker 2: And thank goodness, you know. First thing I want to say,
1:25
Speaker 2: thanks for kind of throwing it to me is I
1:27
Speaker 2: want to say for all the Eagles fans, people who
1:29
Speaker 2: actually root for the Eagles and don't just like, you know,
1:32
Speaker 2: want us to look like some kind of video game. Yeah,
1:35
Speaker 2: this team was built for today to be able to
1:39
Speaker 2: pull out this football game. Now, next week we'll see
1:43
Speaker 2: will the Commanders be able to put another thirty points
1:46
Speaker 2: on the Eagles defense. That's yet to be seen. I'm
1:50
Speaker 2: sure we'll get into some of that in this show.
1:53
Speaker 2: The style that Jalen Hurts plays where he's relatively mistake free.
1:59
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, you're gonna have some misthrows. But in
2:02
Speaker 2: terms of passing efficiency, he's completing three out of four passes,
2:05
Speaker 2: fifteen for twenty. He threw one hundred and twenty eight yards.
2:08
Speaker 2: But let's say Jay, because AJ's got two drops on
2:12
Speaker 2: this game, to be honest. So we're talking about truly,
2:15
Speaker 2: and it's a player that we like. And so in
2:17
Speaker 2: some games, Jalen's missing guys and so you know, and
2:21
Speaker 2: sometimes a receiver makes a catch that that should have
2:24
Speaker 2: been in completion, so it goes both ways, but it's
2:26
Speaker 2: potentially seventeen out of twenty. One of those is a
2:30
Speaker 2: long throw where he's clearly gonna be over a buck fifty.
2:33
Speaker 2: He puts together a game where he's got one hundred
2:36
Speaker 2: and ninety total yards and a touchdown, and you allow
2:40
Speaker 2: Sakwon Barkley number twenty six to carry the ball twenty
2:44
Speaker 2: twenty six times and to catch the ball four times.
2:47
Speaker 2: You play conservatively, You hammer this team. You lean on
2:50
Speaker 2: the way that this team has built itself, and clearly
2:54
Speaker 2: they're satisfied. I mean, Jalen Hurts in what four years
2:57
Speaker 2: now as a starter, has been to two conference championship,
3:01
Speaker 2: he's been eliminated by the Bucks. If he's not getting
3:03
Speaker 2: eliminated by the Bucks right going to the conference championship.
3:07
Speaker 1: Yes, boy, that is a bizarre sentence. You are absolutely correct.
3:15
Speaker 1: You threw out some great stats. I think you threw
3:17
Speaker 1: out some great The great overall picture that you just
3:21
Speaker 1: laid out for us, Matt is the fact that the
3:25
Speaker 1: Eagles front office, the coaching staff, they built this team
3:27
Speaker 1: to win games like they won today, as you initially mentioned,
3:32
Speaker 1: And what a high I mean, you don't get other
3:35
Speaker 1: than the Super Bowl, and of course, other than the
3:36
Speaker 1: NFC championship game, You're not gonna get any higher stakes
3:39
Speaker 1: than this. I mean, when Nolan Smith was introduced at
3:42
Speaker 1: the link. He's carrying to Kobe Dean's jersey as he
3:44
Speaker 1: ran out on the field and honoring the injured linebacker.
3:48
Speaker 1: And fortunately, we do have a group of guys from
3:53
Speaker 1: a culture standpoint that rally around each other. And yes,
3:57
Speaker 1: this game was not perfect by any stretch of the imagine.
4:00
Speaker 1: We're gonna get into the good of Jalen Hurts, We're
4:02
Speaker 1: gonna get into the not so good of Jalen Herds
4:05
Speaker 1: in this game. But fortunately the Philadelphia Eagles have Saquon
4:09
Speaker 1: Barkley as he helped to close out this game on
4:12
Speaker 1: a seventy eight yard touchdown run. My goodness, what a signing.
4:17
Speaker 1: Could be one of the greatest free agent signings of
4:20
Speaker 1: all time by this Philadelphia Eagles front office. And Howie
4:24
Speaker 1: Roseman again, you know you mentioned twenty six carries on
4:29
Speaker 1: the day for two hundred and five yards, two touchdowns,
4:32
Speaker 1: seven point nine yards per carry from Saquon Barkley.
4:37
Speaker 2: It's hard to do that on the video game, exactly exactly.
4:40
Speaker 2: The folks who engaged the video game. Absolutely, that's tough.
4:44
Speaker 1: It was. We knew of folks, it was gonna be tough.
4:46
Speaker 1: I was on a radio yesterday I was on some
4:48
Speaker 1: local radio up here in the Lehigh Valley talking about
4:51
Speaker 1: how they needed to just run the ball. They needed
4:53
Speaker 1: to pound the ball.
4:54
Speaker 2: Two hundred loaded up to stop the run. And he's
4:57
Speaker 2: got twenty six for two oh five yep exactly. Everybody, everybody,
5:01
Speaker 2: your ESPN FS one at all of it. All day
5:05
Speaker 2: they're talking about, Oh, the Eagles just load up the
5:08
Speaker 2: box and make Jalen b two yep ed ed what exactly.
5:14
Speaker 1: They had to stick with their identity and that's what
5:16
Speaker 1: they did in this game, even given the elements, even
5:19
Speaker 1: given the elements, Matt, they were able to stick to
5:22
Speaker 1: their identity of running the ball. And I do have
5:25
Speaker 1: to say that opening drive too, I mean to get
5:28
Speaker 1: into some of the themes of this game. Here. Eagles
5:31
Speaker 1: had the ball in the first drive of the game.
5:32
Speaker 1: It resulted in Jalen Hurts rushing for forty four yards
5:36
Speaker 1: for a touchdown. What an amazingly drawn up play, What
5:40
Speaker 1: an amazing executed play from Jalen Hurts. But I'm gonna
5:44
Speaker 1: say this too. After that, you know, we're all on
5:46
Speaker 1: a high. We're watching this team. In the first quarter,
5:49
Speaker 1: the team ended up leaving some plays on the field.
5:52
Speaker 1: We have to have to talk about that because there
5:54
Speaker 1: were missed opportunities. Matt aj Brown dropping a first down
5:58
Speaker 1: pass a beautiful pass from Jalen Hurts in the first quarter.
6:01
Speaker 1: You alluded to it earlier at the top of the show.
6:04
Speaker 1: He had another one right before the half. Aj Brown
6:07
Speaker 1: had zero drops on the season, which is incredible for
6:10
Speaker 1: any wide receiver. I mean, it rarely happens in the NFL.
6:14
Speaker 1: He had two drops in this game. But going back
6:16
Speaker 1: to those missed opportunities, Darius Slay should have had an
6:18
Speaker 1: interception he missed, and there were key tackles that were
6:22
Speaker 1: missed by the defense that gave the Rams and Kyron
6:25
Speaker 1: Williams that long twenty yard rush in the first quarter
6:28
Speaker 1: on the first drive. It was a bit of a
6:29
Speaker 1: momentum up blocker for the Eagles. Plus the Eagles defense
6:33
Speaker 1: was given up five point seven yards per carry to
6:36
Speaker 1: Kiroon Williams in the first quarter and Williams ended the
6:39
Speaker 1: day with five point six yards per carry one hundred
6:44
Speaker 1: and six total yards on the day on the ground
6:46
Speaker 1: on nineteen carries. So there were a lot of missed
6:49
Speaker 1: opportunities and this Eagles team, both on offense and defense
6:52
Speaker 1: they left some plays on the field.
6:54
Speaker 2: Matt Absolutely, you know, I got it. If we're talking
6:59
Speaker 2: about plays get left on the field. I mean I
7:02
Speaker 2: really shout out once again to Jalen Hurts being able
7:05
Speaker 2: to hold onto the ball. That one play where Mackai
7:08
Speaker 2: Becton gets absolutely just manhandle. I mean everybody was getting
7:11
Speaker 2: manhandled today a little bit.
7:12
Speaker 1: There was some miscommunication on that play. Yeah, there was
7:14
Speaker 1: some miscommunication on that play. You could tell Becton thought
7:18
Speaker 1: that Lane Johnson was going to be handling that defender,
7:21
Speaker 1: and when Lane went to another side, to his right side,
7:24
Speaker 1: Becden was just he was just completely surprised by it.
7:27
Speaker 1: You don't see that usually that was miscommunication there.
7:29
Speaker 2: Absolutely absolutely, and and I mean you get caught off guard,
7:33
Speaker 2: you can get you can get ear hold, as they say,
7:36
Speaker 2: by anybody. But uh, yeah, there were a lot of
7:39
Speaker 2: plays left on the field. A. J. Brown definitely knows
7:42
Speaker 2: he owes the team.
7:43
Speaker 1: Yeah, and this was not yep.
7:46
Speaker 2: And I hope that the narrator and I keep going
7:49
Speaker 2: back to this because this is all you hear anytime
7:51
Speaker 2: you talk about the Eagles, then now Eagle the two time,
7:54
Speaker 2: now the person who's taken his team to the NFC
7:58
Speaker 2: Championship two times. Now all you hear about is how
8:03
Speaker 2: he's the weak link, and I don't know, you just don't.
8:06
Speaker 2: You don't just like stumble into that level of success.
8:09
Speaker 1: You don't stumble into it. No, you don't. You don't.
8:12
Speaker 1: So let's talk about Hurts here, okay, because there were
8:16
Speaker 1: some interesting aspects of his game here where the intangibles
8:21
Speaker 1: come out, where you're like, the guy is just amazing,
8:24
Speaker 1: and there were some frustrating points too. I'm not gonna
8:27
Speaker 1: sit here and say Jalen Hurts had a great game.
8:29
Speaker 1: There were at times in this game when he was
8:31
Speaker 1: playing bad football. There were times when he's playing some
8:33
Speaker 1: really good football too. He only attempted Matt three passes
8:37
Speaker 1: thrown further than five yards in the first half through
8:40
Speaker 1: the air, okay more than five yards. All of them
8:43
Speaker 1: were incomplete. He was nine of nine for sixty six yards.
8:47
Speaker 1: I keep hitting the mic. He was nine of nine
8:49
Speaker 1: for sixty six yards on passes with five or fewer
8:53
Speaker 1: yards in the first half. So again, we always talk
8:56
Speaker 1: about Jalen Hurts as intangibles, but what gets frustrating from
8:59
Speaker 1: time to time is sometimes that lack of him stepping
9:03
Speaker 1: up into the second pocket, the second pocket when the
9:06
Speaker 1: pressure's coming, and that's why we saw four sacks from
9:09
Speaker 1: him in the first half, which was very frustrating. On
9:12
Speaker 1: the day, seven total sacks. Again, they win this game,
9:15
Speaker 1: and he does what he needs to do in certain
9:18
Speaker 1: key situations. The sack in the end zone.
9:22
Speaker 2: With that second pocket a great point.
9:24
Speaker 1: It's not for some reason that.
9:26
Speaker 2: You kind of get because that's where you can really
9:28
Speaker 2: get strip sacked. And uh, he has been strip sacked
9:32
Speaker 2: a little a little bit in his career absolutely this year. Yeah,
9:35
Speaker 2: Uh it's you know, so far, but uh, yeah, that
9:39
Speaker 2: is that is something that is a weak point of
9:42
Speaker 2: his game. He kind of, you know, he feels the
9:44
Speaker 2: pressure and kind of retreats and feels like he can
9:46
Speaker 2: run out the backside, and he's not quite that fast
9:49
Speaker 2: at this point. And uh and you know versus the NFL,
9:53
Speaker 2: I mean, Jared Verse, that guy was running down the
9:56
Speaker 2: field when Saquon May busted the long run. So you're
9:59
Speaker 2: not going to be able to hook out of that
10:02
Speaker 2: always to You're gonna have to, like you said, step
10:05
Speaker 2: up into that. And he needs to be better at that.
10:07
Speaker 1: He absolutely does, because if he were to do that
10:10
Speaker 1: Matt let's go to the safety. Okay, Jalen Hurts, he
10:14
Speaker 1: takes that safety. He had Dallas Goddard open for the
10:16
Speaker 1: checkdown to avoid that very thing from happening, that safety
10:21
Speaker 1: in the end zone. And and by the way, I
10:24
Speaker 1: was pissed at the play call in general. Why are
10:27
Speaker 1: they dropping him back in the end zone after he's
10:29
Speaker 1: injured his knee? Yes, yeah, I mean, I know he
10:31
Speaker 1: came back on the field, but for God's sake, you're
10:33
Speaker 1: back to why are you dropping him back? It was
10:35
Speaker 1: a terrible play call. It really was. So I don't know.
10:39
Speaker 1: There was some good and batteries that We're gonna get
10:41
Speaker 1: to the grades in a bit. It's gonna be interesting
10:43
Speaker 1: to see where our Jalen Hurts grades are going to be.
10:46
Speaker 1: Absolutely but the offensive line, again, like Jalen Hurts, in
10:50
Speaker 1: this game, we saw some amazing stuff from the offensive line,
10:53
Speaker 1: and we also saw some busted stuff from them as
10:56
Speaker 1: well too, where you're like, what is happening here and
10:59
Speaker 1: not being able to open up holes. I know the
11:01
Speaker 1: Rams defense, they're not a terrible defense by any stretch.
11:04
Speaker 1: I was a little surprised by how up and down
11:05
Speaker 1: the offensive line was. Then again, they're playing in the
11:07
Speaker 1: elements like they were playing in here, and it just
11:10
Speaker 1: was I don't know, maybe I'm being too hard on
11:13
Speaker 1: the offensive line, but it was kind of up and
11:15
Speaker 1: down for them.
11:16
Speaker 2: It was up and down. But then you also have,
11:20
Speaker 2: you know, three hundred yards rushing, so it's exactly that'll
11:24
Speaker 2: come out and you looked down at the stats sheet like.
11:30
Speaker 1: It's so true, it's so true. I mean, well, I
11:34
Speaker 1: mean on the opposite side of the ball with the
11:36
Speaker 1: defense too, Like, coming into this game, we knew that
11:39
Speaker 1: the defense was going to be dominant to a certain extent.
11:42
Speaker 1: What that extent was going to be where we're going
11:44
Speaker 1: to see what we saw when these two teams played
11:46
Speaker 1: each other in Los Angeles. But the Rams opening touchdown
11:49
Speaker 1: drive was thirteen plays, sixty seven yards, five minutes and
11:53
Speaker 1: twenty three seconds off the clock. And again going back there,
11:56
Speaker 1: there was that costly dropped interception by Darius lay On
11:59
Speaker 1: that very first throw of the game by Matt Stafford.
12:03
Speaker 1: Isaiah Rodgers should have had an interception in the first quarter,
12:06
Speaker 1: but there was. It was a huge chunk play for
12:09
Speaker 1: DeMarcus Robinson of forty eight yards. Again, more plays, more
12:15
Speaker 1: good stuff from this Eagles defense really being left on
12:18
Speaker 1: the field. We saw a lot of great third down
12:20
Speaker 1: stops from the Eagles defense too, but we saw some
12:23
Speaker 1: terrible third down coverage from them as well. Just again,
12:27
Speaker 1: up and down all over the place here. It was
12:29
Speaker 1: an emotional game, man.
12:31
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I will say it's a totally different game with
12:35
Speaker 2: quinnyon in there, who got the worst of it.
12:37
Speaker 1: That's a great point, Matthew staff here.
12:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Isaiah, And I hate to slam Isaiah Rodgers
12:42
Speaker 2: because to be honest, and this will be a cold
12:45
Speaker 2: take from some people's perspective, especially considering what happened today
12:49
Speaker 2: short of the recovery of fumble. But Isaiah Rodgers coverage
12:54
Speaker 2: is good. His ball skills are just leave a lot
12:56
Speaker 2: to be desired because he's in the right space. He's
13:00
Speaker 2: like losing the ball in the air, especially in the
13:02
Speaker 2: snow and the cold and all that. He's just getting
13:05
Speaker 2: lost on plays where you know it's a pick or
13:09
Speaker 2: he's right there it could be a swat down. And yeah,
13:12
Speaker 2: so I think I think it's a different matchup if
13:17
Speaker 2: twenty seven's back there. Hopefully he'd be back for the
13:21
Speaker 2: hosting of the Commanders.
13:22
Speaker 1: I hope, So look this Eagles defense in general. They
13:26
Speaker 1: had five sacks on the day, ten tackles for a lost. Yeah,
13:30
Speaker 1: a lot of that did happen because of the weather,
13:33
Speaker 1: six quarterback hits. There were ten passes defended. I haven't
13:38
Speaker 1: seen that number in quite some time. A number, so
13:41
Speaker 1: there's gonna be some. There's gonna be some nice I
13:44
Speaker 1: think grades coming with regard to the secondary, even though
13:47
Speaker 1: cover some missed opportunities.
13:49
Speaker 2: A completely different game plan than what you will see
13:53
Speaker 2: next year. The way you rush at Matthew Stafford, the
13:55
Speaker 2: way that when you're they're calling plays, it's either run
13:59
Speaker 2: or pass. It's not gonna be very complicated whatsoever with
14:02
Speaker 2: the rams. I mean, they'll have interesting sliding protections or
14:06
Speaker 2: or you know, different things you have running back line
14:11
Speaker 2: and pulling and things like that, but it's pretty pretty
14:14
Speaker 2: vanilla like it. At a certain point, it was just
14:17
Speaker 2: Stafford was gonna drop back every time. He's not gonna
14:20
Speaker 2: break contain and go for fifteen like Jayden Daniels may
14:24
Speaker 2: next exactly.
14:25
Speaker 1: Look, matt Stafford was twenty six of forty four, threw
14:27
Speaker 1: the ball forty four times three hundred and twenty four yards.
14:30
Speaker 1: He averaged seven point four yards per attempt, two touchdowns
14:33
Speaker 1: on the day. So like it's I you knew he
14:38
Speaker 1: was gonna throw the ball like that. That's Sean mcvay's offense.
14:41
Speaker 1: We saw Sean mcvay's offense, and you know they got
14:44
Speaker 1: Sean McVay gets the offense to this point, they're not
14:47
Speaker 1: gonna they're not gonna break away from it. They're not
14:50
Speaker 1: gonna break away from it at all.
14:51
Speaker 2: So Jalen got about six so six and a half
14:55
Speaker 2: yards attempt at the end of the day. Yeah, in
14:59
Speaker 2: terms of pushing the ball down the field, they had
15:01
Speaker 2: the same efficiency. You know, it's it's interesting, it's it's
15:05
Speaker 2: a stylistic thing. Yes, just behind the numbers.
15:08
Speaker 1: Absolutely, well, buddy, before we go to our first break here,
15:12
Speaker 1: because we definitely want to get into our grades and
15:15
Speaker 1: we want to look towards the NFC Championship game Philadelphia
15:18
Speaker 1: Eagles against Washington Commanders, do you have any other themes
15:22
Speaker 1: that you want to dive into before we get to
15:23
Speaker 1: the break.
15:24
Speaker 2: Absolutely, one more. I shouted out one of the rookie
15:28
Speaker 2: studs at defensive back that absolutely would have changed, you know,
15:32
Speaker 2: the way that this game was played. Still all respect
15:34
Speaker 2: to Rams to be honest, seriously, played a great game
15:38
Speaker 2: and I'm not sure that the Eagles win by much more,
15:40
Speaker 2: but I think it's a different game with Quinnon in there.
15:43
Speaker 2: The other Eagles the rookie defensive back that I want
15:46
Speaker 2: to shout out as Cooper dejen Yeah, and since he's
15:49
Speaker 2: been able to come back, you know from earlier in
15:53
Speaker 2: the season around the by the defense, he has helped
15:57
Speaker 2: transform this defense into into of what it is. I
16:00
Speaker 2: mean just having a slot basically a third safety on
16:04
Speaker 2: the field. Yeah, his tackling. You don't have corners who
16:09
Speaker 2: tackle like that. And when I'm looking at him, I'm
16:11
Speaker 2: kind of looking at him as a safety in a way.
16:17
Speaker 2: And Vic says that he plays the nickel corner. He
16:20
Speaker 2: kind of sees that as a linebacker position. That's That's
16:23
Speaker 2: how I see it. His tackling, he just changes the game.
16:27
Speaker 2: And especially against a team that wants to like McVeigh,
16:31
Speaker 2: who wants to motion and hit things in the slot,
16:33
Speaker 2: have a guy sit down. His ability to you know,
16:37
Speaker 2: there's not going to be that big old yack. Yeah,
16:40
Speaker 2: the yards after the catch with Cooper Degene, He's gonna
16:42
Speaker 2: bring your ass down.
16:43
Speaker 1: Absolutely love it. I'm really glad you brought him up,
16:45
Speaker 1: because it's not last year. When when when when the
16:51
Speaker 1: slide not not a slide, but the absolute collapse of
16:54
Speaker 1: last season. How many mistackles were we talking, Oh my god,
16:57
Speaker 1: how many mistackles? And it's he just seems ridiculous to
17:01
Speaker 1: talk about it. But the fundamentals, the fundamentals of this
17:04
Speaker 1: game is what Cooper Degen has brought this year. It's
17:08
Speaker 1: not just his pursuit to the ball, which is fantastic,
17:11
Speaker 1: understanding the defensive schemes that Vic Fangio is putting into play,
17:17
Speaker 1: knowing where he needs to be his pursuit. We saw
17:20
Speaker 1: that with Nikobe Dean all season as well. Both of
17:23
Speaker 1: these guys. Sucks so bad that Nikobe Dean is not
17:27
Speaker 1: on the field right now during the playoffs and during
17:29
Speaker 1: this playoff run here towards the latter part of the season,
17:32
Speaker 1: but he and Cooper Degene, I'm really glad you brought
17:35
Speaker 1: it up. From a tackling standpoint, the pursuit to the ball,
17:38
Speaker 1: both guys really getting it done. I'm glad you brought
17:40
Speaker 1: that up. So absolutely all right, Well, I think we're
17:43
Speaker 1: going to take our first break here, but before that, folks,
17:46
Speaker 1: if you do want to pause the podcast, head on
17:49
Speaker 1: over to the search area and search out the Honorable
17:52
Speaker 1: Mention podcast. Whether you are on Apple Podcasts, whether you're
17:56
Speaker 1: on Spotify, whatever podcast platform you're on, subscribe to the
18:00
Speaker 1: Honorable Mentioned podcast. You can also head on over to
18:02
Speaker 1: YouTube as well. Yeah, YouTube, subscribe over there, listen to Matt.
18:06
Speaker 1: He's got some great conversations with some great folks in
18:09
Speaker 1: the Philly sports reporting world as well, whether talking Philadelphia Eagles,
18:14
Speaker 1: seventy six ers, Phillies and great great content. Again, he's
18:18
Speaker 1: Matt Rogers from the Honorable Mention Podcast. Search them out.
18:21
Speaker 1: We are gonna take a quick break and we're gonna
18:24
Speaker 1: get uh well, when we get back, we're gonna take
18:27
Speaker 1: a uh we're gonna we're gonna do some grades. I
18:28
Speaker 1: should say, boy, I just had a word salad right
18:30
Speaker 1: there for some reason that was horrendous. My gosh, let's
18:33
Speaker 1: get to break here so I can get this figured out.
18:36
Speaker 1: We're gonna do some grades and then talk about the
18:37
Speaker 1: NFC Championship game. Stick with us, folks. All right, we
18:42
Speaker 1: are back and again with our friend Matt Rodgers from
18:44
Speaker 1: the Honorable Mentioned podcast, and uh, let's get in the grades.
18:48
Speaker 1: I am going to be giving Jalen Hurts the quarterback
18:51
Speaker 1: position in unit this week. I'm giving Jalen Hurts an
18:55
Speaker 1: overall C in this game because again I think not
18:59
Speaker 1: just him, him, not just a team. He left a
19:02
Speaker 1: lot of plays on the field as well, as I
19:05
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, certainly not his greatest game, but you cannot
19:09
Speaker 1: argue that that forty four yard rushing touchdown to really
19:12
Speaker 1: start the game on the Eagles first drive of the
19:15
Speaker 1: game helped to set a tone. But I think we
19:19
Speaker 1: saw a lot of average play from Jalen Hurts in
19:22
Speaker 1: this game. I'm giving him a CE. What do you
19:24
Speaker 1: give him that?
19:25
Speaker 2: I give him a B minus today. I think there
19:28
Speaker 2: was there was a lot of you know, middle of
19:31
Speaker 2: the pack play, but then you have a splash play here. Yeah,
19:35
Speaker 2: and I do, and I do give him the credit
19:39
Speaker 2: for basically hitting AJ, which is not a touchdown, but
19:43
Speaker 2: that's a big chunk play and AJ catches that ball.
19:46
Speaker 2: I mean they'll be thinking about that and talk about
19:48
Speaker 2: that all week. I mean, that's a that's a that's
19:50
Speaker 2: a game changer. But I could see C plus and
19:53
Speaker 2: I mean it wasn't it wasn't you know, on his
19:55
Speaker 2: list of like greatest games. Yeah, forty four yard run
20:01
Speaker 2: was certainly the highlight.
20:02
Speaker 1: So all right, we'll move it on to the running
20:04
Speaker 1: back position. Look, when you got Saquon Barkley out there
20:08
Speaker 1: carrying the ball twenty six yards, you only need to
20:10
Speaker 1: give Kenneth Gainwell the ball one time and he ran
20:12
Speaker 1: it for ten yards. But the running back position, of course,
20:16
Speaker 1: they're getting an A plus for me. I would imagine
20:19
Speaker 1: you're right around the same vicinity there, Matt.
20:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, give him an a plus. I mean, it's just
20:25
Speaker 2: incredible that you can be able to cut and just
20:28
Speaker 2: hit big plays. I mean, would he run for four
20:32
Speaker 2: fifty against these guys, yes, in one season. Yep, it's
20:35
Speaker 2: just ridiculous. I mean, you just don't. For folks who
20:38
Speaker 2: are new football fans or young football fans and all that,
20:42
Speaker 2: it just you do not see these kind of numbers regularly.
20:45
Speaker 2: This is just amazing, amazing output from this guy this year.
20:49
Speaker 2: Thank you, Saquon. All right, let's thank you New York Giants. Yes,
20:52
Speaker 2: thank you New York Giants. Thank you Joe Shane. And
20:55
Speaker 2: stay in that job too, stay there for many years,
20:58
Speaker 2: for many years, please, John Merrick, keep him there. Right,
21:01
Speaker 2: they're receiving in this game. You had aj Brown, who
21:05
Speaker 2: was targeted seven times in this game seven times, only
21:09
Speaker 2: came down with two balls for fourteen yards. But Dallas
21:11
Speaker 2: Goddard was the leading receiver four targets, caught all four
21:15
Speaker 2: balls for fifty six yards. He averaged fourteen yards per catch.
21:19
Speaker 2: Saquon Barkley getting involved in the passing game.
21:21
Speaker 1: I have to say this. I should have said it
21:23
Speaker 1: earlier when we were going through our themes because it
21:25
Speaker 1: was a theme Saquon actually getting the ball. And yes,
21:29
Speaker 1: we only averaged six point eight yards per reception, but
21:31
Speaker 1: I wanted to see Saquon involved in the passing game,
21:34
Speaker 1: and we saw him involved in this passing game in
21:37
Speaker 1: key situations. God, I wish they'd been doing this earlier
21:40
Speaker 1: this year. Not to complain about earlier this year because
21:44
Speaker 1: they won a lot of games and they're going to
21:45
Speaker 1: the NFC Championship, but still I love seeing Saquon getting
21:49
Speaker 1: four catches on the day total of twenty seven yards.
21:52
Speaker 1: Devonte Smith, he was targeted four times, came down with
21:54
Speaker 1: four balls for twenty one yards. We knew the passing
21:56
Speaker 1: game was not going to be instrumental necessarily with regard
22:00
Speaker 1: to a win. They had to stick with their identity
22:02
Speaker 1: in the run game. But anyway, I'm gonna give the
22:04
Speaker 1: receivers this week because all of them, with the exception
22:07
Speaker 1: of AJ Brown, did a fantastic job of bringing the ball,
22:11
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna give them a B minus. What do
22:12
Speaker 1: you give them?
22:14
Speaker 2: I can actually give them a B plus actually wide
22:17
Speaker 2: receivers and tight ends.
22:18
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't know.
22:20
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm looking at the and I hate to
22:22
Speaker 2: be all about the stat sheet, but you know, today,
22:25
Speaker 2: with the output of Davante and AJ, I mean, it
22:28
Speaker 2: felt very Jahan Dotson and Paris Campbell. With all due
22:32
Speaker 2: respect to our great wide receivers, it felt like the
22:35
Speaker 2: Saints game. I mean, to be honest, these guys are
22:38
Speaker 2: not and I don't know if it's Kellen, I don't
22:42
Speaker 2: know if it's just the game plan, but I'm sorry.
22:46
Speaker 2: I mean, the the AJ and DeVante should not leave
22:51
Speaker 2: the game combined six receptions for thirty five yards.
22:55
Speaker 1: Yeah.
22:55
Speaker 2: Some of that's on Jalen, Yes, it is. Some of
22:57
Speaker 2: that's on them, especially when you all are out here
22:59
Speaker 2: dropping past I mean, you're getting targeted seven times. I mean,
23:03
Speaker 2: the thing is always open. It's supposed to be like,
23:07
Speaker 2: just put it around me, put it in the zip code.
23:09
Speaker 2: It was in the zip code. There were a couple
23:11
Speaker 2: that he had no chance. Absolutely, I'll give him that. Absolutely,
23:15
Speaker 2: I need Smitty and AJ to show up. I'm giving.
23:17
Speaker 2: I'm giving the whole crew Dallas got. It really saved him.
23:21
Speaker 2: When you have Saquon Barkley leading the crew with four
23:23
Speaker 2: catches and Dallas got. They barely got a passing grade
23:29
Speaker 2: and it you know, thank you their contribution. I'm sure
23:32
Speaker 2: they're playing as hard as they can. But it was
23:34
Speaker 2: not a This was not a satisfactory performance from the
23:37
Speaker 2: passing game, both the Eagles, both from the quarterback. But
23:41
Speaker 2: I'm mixing in some because there's not like, for some
23:44
Speaker 2: reason or another, the Eagles, it's not like we use
23:47
Speaker 2: AJ like the San Francisco forty nine's used depot and
23:50
Speaker 2: maybe gave him some runs and some reverses, some screens
23:54
Speaker 2: and stuff like that. I don't know why the hell
23:55
Speaker 2: we don't do that, because maybe he would have had
23:57
Speaker 2: different ways to contribute and bring up his grade, bring
23:59
Speaker 2: up the wire receiver green. But long story short, I
24:02
Speaker 2: said a lot of words. I'm gonna have to give
24:04
Speaker 2: him a d give.
24:05
Speaker 1: Him a D no plus, you know plus, I'll go
24:07
Speaker 1: back down. I'll go back down to B minus. I'll
24:09
Speaker 1: go back down to B minus. Here, all right, let's
24:12
Speaker 1: go to the offensive line. Like I said earlier, up
24:14
Speaker 1: and down game for this line. I mean, when you
24:17
Speaker 1: take a look back at the film, folks of Jalen
24:20
Speaker 1: Hurts taking that safety Cam Jurgens, whoo boy boy, you
24:25
Speaker 1: want to talk about a whiff on a block and
24:27
Speaker 1: we don't see that from Cam Jurgens. A lot weird
24:29
Speaker 1: stuff happens when you have elements like the snow and
24:32
Speaker 1: just an altered game plan from time to time based
24:36
Speaker 1: on the elements. So again, it was up and down
24:39
Speaker 1: for the offensive line. I'm gonna give the offensive line
24:41
Speaker 1: this week a B plus. You know they're usually getting a's,
24:44
Speaker 1: a pluses from us, but I'm gonna give him a
24:47
Speaker 1: B plus.
24:48
Speaker 2: If you can get a B plus with three hundred
24:51
Speaker 2: yards rushing, this was the blueprint. Yes, there you go,
24:54
Speaker 2: there you go. All right, how does that happen? This
24:57
Speaker 2: is how that happens. Just rewatch the game.
24:59
Speaker 1: Folks, exactly exactly. To move over to the defense, the
25:03
Speaker 1: defensive line putting pressure on Matt Stafford throughout the game again.
25:08
Speaker 1: He dropped back forty four times, and we had five sacks,
25:12
Speaker 1: six quarterback hits, and there were ten tackles for a loss.
25:16
Speaker 1: Zach baughn of course, not part of the defensive line,
25:20
Speaker 1: but really making an impact. And we'll get to I'll
25:23
Speaker 1: get to the linebackers. But this defensive line, I'm gonna
25:25
Speaker 1: give him a minus. What do you give them?
25:28
Speaker 2: I'm on the same thing. I said a on a curve,
25:30
Speaker 2: but it's really a minus. There were I say the
25:38
Speaker 2: curve because none of these guys are like these premier
25:41
Speaker 2: pass rushers. None of these guys are on anybody's list
25:44
Speaker 2: for defensive Player of the year. There's no TJ. Watt,
25:47
Speaker 2: there's no Miles Garrett, there's no even like a daneil
25:49
Speaker 2: Hunter or anybody like that. We got Josh Sweat, we
25:52
Speaker 2: got Nolan Smith, who's coming into his own playing well,
25:56
Speaker 2: but from a pass rush. Now, Jalen Carter is an
25:59
Speaker 2: absolute month. Yes, so I'll give him a minus. And
26:04
Speaker 2: then I also had my linebacker grade. Did you want
26:06
Speaker 2: to go first on that?
26:07
Speaker 1: No, man, take it.
26:09
Speaker 2: I'll give him a B plus today.
26:11
Speaker 1: I was gonna give a B plus as well.
26:13
Speaker 2: I saw some good play from Orrin. I think considering
26:16
Speaker 2: that you have your backup in and there's no Dean
26:19
Speaker 2: out there. Uh, Trotter played a lot less than I expected.
26:23
Speaker 2: I guess they didn't like the way that he was
26:25
Speaker 2: looking early on. He didn't look wasn't satisfactory to Vic.
26:28
Speaker 2: And Vic is very cut throat, very straight to the
26:31
Speaker 2: point like I'm getting your ass out of He's the
26:33
Speaker 2: same guy who got Devin White out of town.
26:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, he got.
26:36
Speaker 2: He got trot off the field today.
26:39
Speaker 1: And Uh, I thought Brook's had a good game. I
26:41
Speaker 1: really did. I mean six to game, two tackles for
26:44
Speaker 1: a loss, a past defended, and also a quarterback hit.
26:48
Speaker 1: I mean for a guy that's been sitting on the
26:50
Speaker 1: bench for much of the season, I think he stepped
26:53
Speaker 1: up in the absence of Nakobe Dean and I think
26:55
Speaker 1: he did pretty well that which is why I give
26:57
Speaker 1: him the B plus grade.
26:59
Speaker 2: He may two big plays and to linger on this,
27:02
Speaker 2: he made two big plays. The one where he tips
27:05
Speaker 2: the pass on third and ten late in the game,
27:07
Speaker 2: gets his hand kind of nixes under elbow tricep area,
27:13
Speaker 2: but Nikua was open breaking open on a slant behind him.
27:17
Speaker 2: And then the second play on the first and goal
27:22
Speaker 2: that he absolutely just blows up coming off the less
27:25
Speaker 2: side and sets them back. He absolutely was a was
27:30
Speaker 2: a net plus, a big time net plus.
27:32
Speaker 1: Today.
27:32
Speaker 2: Got to give him a B plus. It wasn't like
27:35
Speaker 2: you know, uh, you know Bobby Wagner, you know in
27:37
Speaker 2: his heyday, or you know, you know, some of the greats,
27:41
Speaker 2: but it was it was legitimately good linebacker play today.
27:44
Speaker 1: It was again given the elements too. Look how many
27:46
Speaker 1: times have we on this postgame podcast show throughout the year, Matt,
27:51
Speaker 1: we have given the linebacker position like an A plus.
27:53
Speaker 1: If we give him a B plus here, I think
27:56
Speaker 1: that's pretty good. But moving on to the secondary, I look, again,
28:01
Speaker 1: they left a lot of players on the field, as
28:02
Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier before the break. But but they really
28:07
Speaker 1: I think played an overall very good game, give given
28:12
Speaker 1: the situation that they were in with the snow, and
28:16
Speaker 1: I think, yes, there were three hundred and twenty four
28:18
Speaker 1: yards that Matt Stafford put up. Not all of it
28:21
Speaker 1: was because of the secondary. You know, there were some
28:24
Speaker 1: dump off passes and there was some stuff over the
28:26
Speaker 1: middle too that Matt Stafford was doing. He was chipping
28:28
Speaker 1: away at this Eagles defense but I'm actually gonna give
28:32
Speaker 1: the secondary an a minus. This week they missed some
28:35
Speaker 1: some interceptions. Darius Slay missed one. You had Isaiah Rodgers
28:39
Speaker 1: missing one, but still it affected the game, and it
28:42
Speaker 1: affected the Los Angeles Rams offense. And I'm gonna give
28:46
Speaker 1: him an A minus. What do you give him?
28:48
Speaker 2: I give him a I can give him a B plus.
28:51
Speaker 2: I do worry about you know, just how you know
28:56
Speaker 2: these teams are not hesitant at all. They're just like, hey,
28:58
Speaker 2: Isaiah Rodgers here, I'm throwing here, like say audible, Hey,
29:03
Speaker 2: Rogers is on you.
29:05
Speaker 1: Hey, I got you.
29:08
Speaker 2: I don't like it. I mean he's right there. Like
29:10
Speaker 2: I said earlier in the show, he's just not displaying
29:14
Speaker 2: the ball skills to be able to make the plays.
29:16
Speaker 2: He's got to show them that he will take one
29:19
Speaker 2: back the other way and then I can feel more comfortable.
29:22
Speaker 2: But I can't give somebody in a if. I feel
29:25
Speaker 2: like somebody if around them. Whenever Rogers is coming in,
29:28
Speaker 2: people are just like, hey, he's there, I'm going here
29:31
Speaker 2: with the ball. Yeah, just hesitant. He played very They
29:34
Speaker 2: played very well, especially being thrust in a division round
29:37
Speaker 2: game and snow he's underneath you're dusting.
29:40
Speaker 1: Off for field goals. So he played very well. I
29:43
Speaker 1: just if you're getting picked.
29:44
Speaker 2: On, and you know, we got a little bit of
29:46
Speaker 2: asterisk next to the yeah, going.
29:50
Speaker 1: To be able to play next week? Is going to
29:52
Speaker 1: be able to play? All right? Let's get to the offense, defense,
29:56
Speaker 1: and special teams. Special teams. You got Jake Elliott. Boy,
29:59
Speaker 1: what a bizarre game for this guy. Holy cow, he
30:02
Speaker 1: misses his first extra point and then he misses his
30:05
Speaker 1: last extra point of the game, missed two extra points,
30:07
Speaker 1: made all three field goals. But I gotta say the
30:10
Speaker 1: MVP of Special teams this week got to give props
30:13
Speaker 1: to Braiden Man on those field goalles. The holds, I
30:17
Speaker 1: mean those were coming out a little bit too much
30:20
Speaker 1: to the left and he was bringing them in for
30:22
Speaker 1: Jake Elliott who made all three field goals.
30:25
Speaker 2: So player of the game, yes, Second to squad, Yes, second.
30:31
Speaker 1: Critical I'm giving nerds of the game. You know what
30:34
Speaker 1: we're talking about. Yes, I'm giving special teams this week
30:37
Speaker 1: of B plus. What do you give them.
30:41
Speaker 2: That includes Jake and his missus. It's a totally different game.
30:47
Speaker 2: I gotta bring him down to B minus. Be mindu
30:50
Speaker 2: We are breathing a lot. You know, our heart rates
30:52
Speaker 2: are a lot lower.
30:53
Speaker 1: All of us just makes.
30:55
Speaker 2: Those extra points. He does hit a couple of tough
30:57
Speaker 2: field goals. It's yea, I can't. I can't do Uh
31:02
Speaker 2: yeah too oll no, no B minus minus.
31:08
Speaker 1: All right, Vic Fangio and the defensive coaching this week.
31:11
Speaker 1: I am giving Vic Fangio a B plus. Uh, we've
31:15
Speaker 1: outlined everything. I think that's a fair grade. I don't
31:17
Speaker 1: know what do you think? You think it's fair?
31:19
Speaker 2: I'm going with an A.
31:20
Speaker 1: All right.
31:21
Speaker 2: I love the performance today. I thought, uh, you know,
31:25
Speaker 2: relatively shut down Pooka Nakula. What do he finish with?
31:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, sixty yard? He didn't have the great game.
31:31
Speaker 2: At the end of the game, he caught that big one,
31:34
Speaker 2: so we got six for ninety seven, right, okay, but
31:38
Speaker 2: then he caught that that really late in the game.
31:40
Speaker 2: Fourteen targets for god's sake. Yeah, they played really well.
31:44
Speaker 2: Cup five for sixty one. Yeah, Higby played really well.
31:51
Speaker 2: But I really, I really liked what I saw today,
31:54
Speaker 2: especially considering you do have you know, the elements are big.
31:58
Speaker 2: You know, you can't they can't get their footing, they
32:00
Speaker 2: can't play the kind of press or you know, you know,
32:03
Speaker 2: with the defensive line, with the stunts and get the
32:05
Speaker 2: kind of pressure. Yeah, I mean, you can't complain both
32:09
Speaker 2: teams were playing on the same field. But I really,
32:11
Speaker 2: I really did like I would box up this performance
32:14
Speaker 2: and take it for the rest of the that wins
32:18
Speaker 2: us the Super Bowl. Yes, absolutely, for the rest of
32:20
Speaker 2: the way. Yes, I agree. I absolutely agree. Defense is
32:23
Speaker 2: going to be key next week for sure. So uh
32:28
Speaker 2: with the offensive coaching moving over to Nick Sirianni and
32:31
Speaker 2: Kellen Moore, I'm gonna give these guys a B minus.
32:33
Speaker 2: Actually it could be a C plus, really could be.
32:37
Speaker 2: I don't know what are your thoughts, man, C plus.
32:40
Speaker 2: I totally agree this. You know we're winning. We might
32:45
Speaker 2: win a Super Bowl and still have concerns because there
32:47
Speaker 2: is no damn reason why why I have I have
32:52
Speaker 2: a J Brown and DeVante Smith with a Paris Campbell
32:55
Speaker 2: Johan Dotson stat line.
32:57
Speaker 1: Yep, there's got acceptable there. He got acceptable, And they're
33:00
Speaker 1: being bailed out by the heroics of their great players,
33:03
Speaker 1: including Jalen Hurtz, who was being able to break off
33:06
Speaker 1: a forty four yard touchdown.
33:07
Speaker 2: Not many quarterbacks in the league are gonna be able
33:09
Speaker 2: to pull that off and that maybe even go for
33:11
Speaker 2: twenty with another quarterback. He's not making a touchdown, So
33:14
Speaker 2: I think that a little bit at the moment, you guys,
33:17
Speaker 2: you know, hopefully y'all hear PST and getting bailed out
33:21
Speaker 2: right now. Can give you a C plus for the offense,
33:24
Speaker 2: it's not imaginative enough. And why the hell could aj
33:28
Speaker 2: Brown not get a freaking reverse?
33:30
Speaker 1: Yes?
33:30
Speaker 2: Why?
33:31
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, it's some bizarre play calling for sure from
33:35
Speaker 1: an offensive perspective. And we're certainly going to be getting
33:37
Speaker 1: into a lot more this week on the PST podcast
33:40
Speaker 1: show on our platform. But buddy, before we go, because
33:43
Speaker 1: we are running out of time here. We've only got
33:45
Speaker 1: about four minutes left here before we get disconnected here
33:49
Speaker 1: from our zoom leg. But the NFC Championship game, it
33:53
Speaker 1: is going to be the Philadelphia Eagles against the Washington Commanders.
33:56
Speaker 1: Jayden Daniels was a monster against the Detroit Lions on
34:01
Speaker 1: the road. He had command of the game. He went
34:04
Speaker 1: twenty two of thirty one for two hundred and ninety
34:07
Speaker 1: nine yards. He was averaging nine point six yards per
34:10
Speaker 1: attempt two touchdowns. He ended with a rating of one
34:14
Speaker 1: hundred and twenty two point nine. That is pretty incredible.
34:18
Speaker 1: Oh and he also ran the ball sixteen times for
34:21
Speaker 1: fifty one yards. Yeah, I know, only three point two
34:24
Speaker 1: yards per carry, but there were some key third down
34:27
Speaker 1: conversions that he was able to pick up with his
34:31
Speaker 1: legs and some key plays that he made with his legs.
34:34
Speaker 1: They have got a pretty darn good receiving corps in
34:37
Speaker 1: Diami Brown he had ninety eight yards on the day.
34:40
Speaker 1: Terry McLaurin eighty seven yards on the day. Zach Ertz
34:44
Speaker 1: is catching balls. He caught all five of his balls
34:46
Speaker 1: yesterday against the Detroit Lions. Yeah, for only twenty eight yards,
34:50
Speaker 1: but a touchdown. It was a key touchdown. And I
34:53
Speaker 1: don't know, I've got some concerns, buddy, I've got some concerns.
34:57
Speaker 1: I picked the Birds by.
34:57
Speaker 2: A field goal, but will Jake make the field goal?
35:00
Speaker 1: Oh gosh, Oh my goodness, gracious heart attack here. I
35:04
Speaker 1: can't don't do more than birds by two and a half. Folks,
35:07
Speaker 1: for the people who engage in things, don't don't do
35:10
Speaker 1: it to yourself. We're gonna have two good curs.
35:11
Speaker 2: These guys are serious, these the Jaydon Daniels. When you
35:15
Speaker 2: have one of those guys, it's always a wild card.
35:19
Speaker 1: Absolutely that absolutely see Matt Rogers from the Honorable Mention
35:24
Speaker 1: podcast here, my man, thank you so much for jumping
35:27
Speaker 1: on to do uh this Divisional Round playoff postgame analysis.
35:31
Speaker 1: As always, it's great talking to you, my friend always.
35:34
Speaker 2: Thanks to all your listeners for hearing all my droning on.
35:38
Speaker 1: It's fantastic. All right, folks, it's gonna do it for
35:41
Speaker 1: us again. The Philadelphia Eagles beating the Los Angeles Rams
35:44
Speaker 1: by a score of twenty eight to twenty two in
35:46
Speaker 1: the Divisional Round of the NFC Playoff Picture. Eagles are
35:50
Speaker 1: advancing to the NFC Championship Game next week against the
35:54
Speaker 1: Washington Commanders. We're gonna be wow, excuse me, We're gonna
35:57
Speaker 1: be talking more about.
35:58
Speaker 2: Had the same thing happened just here for what's going
36:01
Speaker 2: on with us this weather here, gosh goodness.
36:04
Speaker 1: Uh, We're gonna be talking a lot more Eagles. We're
36:06
Speaker 1: gonna be getting into some sixers talks and Flyers talk
36:09
Speaker 1: this week on the show. Take care, everybody, We'll catch
36:12
Speaker 1: you next time.