NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal - Eagles-Vikings Week 2 TNF Recap

Episode Date: September 15, 2023

In a room with two heroes -  Gregg Rosenthal and Marc Sessler recap the Thursday night football clash between the Eagles and the Vikings. We break down how the Eagles turned to Swift and take a look at the big numbers Kirk Cousins put up.NFL Daily YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/nflpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hey, everybody. Daniel Jeremiah here. And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move the 6th, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.

It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Florio, and together we host the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season? Then you need the NFL Fantasy Football Podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet. We've got the insight to help you crush your opponents.

Listen to the NFL Fantasy Football podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL. Visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. Second and goal. Are they going to push them in? They're lined up to do that. Yep. In there.

Touchdown. Week two, we've seen a force fumble. on the punt, the 61-yard punt, or field goal. Cousins loses the ball, and it's picked up. And down to the seven-yard line, go the Eagles. Fletcher Cox. You have to win and be sexy. What can I tell you?

To the outside. And then to the inside. Touchdown Swift. At about sums it up. A butt push touchdown. A fumble by the Vikings. There were a lot of those. And a D'Andre Swift touchdown to cap it off.

A wild one on Thursday night football, 34 to 28 Eagles over the Vikings. I'm Greg Rosenthal. I'm here in the virtual heroes room with Mark Sessler. Dan, sitting this one out, we're going to have a rotation on Thursday night. And that just gives us more to talk about, Mark. there was a lot of weird stuff in this game. Yeah, I just thought, you know, I think there's been this theme to the early season where some of these high-powered offenses and offenses in general

have been kind of finding themselves to some degree. And it's like both of these quarterbacks at halftime and we're struggling to some point. And like I, but what I love about what the Eagles did was I thought they kind of finessed and pushed and worked their way out of a corner. And they were like, we're just going to run the ball. And, like, you know what kind of football I like, Greg. And, like, when I see what came out of this game, where they ran the ball 48 times for 259 yards,

that to me is just like, we're going to do what works. And, like, you know, I think, like, on the flip side of this is that Brian Flores has this Vikings defense. I think we expected there to be an uptick. They gave Jalen Hertz and the Eagles some problems early, and I think they kind of took away the deep pass, and they kind of forced them to do something different. The Eagles responded. And then, of course, we've got the situation with the fact that if you're the Vikings

and you're coming off a season where you're 11 and 0 and one score games, you can't be turning the ball over four times. Like, they really had a chance. They should have won this game. They flat out should have won it because they've got the, they have enough talent on offense. They had some big plays down the stretch. But those, the turnovers and especially the Justin Jefferson one,

the fumble through the end zone. It just handled the game away to Philadelphia. Yeah, we'll get to all of it. It is like so much happen. It's sort of dizzying to even know where to start. But I feel like we'll start with Swift, who had 28 carries for 175 yards and a touchdown. And you mentioned the total rushing yards. It was a 259.

They ended up with 39 minutes time of possession. And that's why I went back and forth thinking on some level, you're right, Mark. As someone who locked up the Eagles and was watching this and just seeing like how many chances the Vikings have, I was like, man, should the Eagles even be winning this game? But then you do look at the final numbers. And when you have the ball for 40 minutes and you can run the ball that just purposefully after they basically realized

this was going to be their cheat code for the night, then I think you got to say, okay, I guess they do deserve to win because the Vikings could not stop them in key parts. I thought of you, Mark, when DeAndre Swift, I thought of two things. during this drive at the end of the first half. I think you know what I'm talking about. That's really where the game changed.

And I was thinking of Dan Campbell and the Lions coaching staff if they happen to be watching this game somewhere. And all the frustrations they had with DeAndre Swift back when he was a lion in training camp and in that hard knocks and thinking, man, where was this guy? Because he was just putting his foot in the ground and going north-south, like tough running throughout the game. It was really amazing after he only had a couple carries in the first game.

Yeah, I mean, he had the first nine carries of the game. There's no Kenneth Gainwell tonight, so it was like he was their chosen one. And there's this drive that you're talking about. It's 16 plays with 13 rushes. And to me, it's just like the Eagles saying, we're going to take everything we can. It was eight plus minutes. I also think, as an asterisk, that we saw one of the weirder drives that we'll ever see. Later in the game, they had a 15 play, 49-yard drive that took up nine minutes and wound up in an eagle.

punt. So this is a strange night, but when you get dominated on the ground. But like most of the plays in both of those drives were just, it felt like the same play over and over to Swift. And he was always finding room and just hitting that gap. Absolutely. And I think that they, you know, I think that we're still waiting for Jalen Hertz to kind of find his way. But he, he did hook up down the, the A.J. Brown passed the Devante Smith early on. We saw a little bit. But like, I do think this Eagles offense compared to the electric nature of what they were right out of the gate last year. It's like they are trying to figure out who they are. But if you can do this on the ground, I think you can win most matchups.

I mean, their defensive line dominated, their offensive line dominated. And yes, the Vikings do what the Vikings do. But like, I'm just watching Jalen Carter. I'm like, this front office just keeps adding massive pieces. And like, I trust them. They're 2 and 0 and they've not played very well. Right. That's the thing where if you just looked at the box.

score. You see the score. It's 34 to 28. I don't think you'd really have the same feeling that the Eagles passing game is so disjointed. And their past defense, at least in the secondary, has been giving up some big plays. I mean, Kirk Cousins ended up throwing for 364 in this game. Mac Jones had found a lot of open receivers. There were open receivers in this game. But the problem for Cousins is that he gets hit so much. I mean, you mentioned it. The Eagles had 10 quarterback back hits in this game and I think it was last week the buck said nine so that's 19 times cousins has been hit in the last two weeks which I don't even need to look it up that would be a record setting pace if he got hit nine to ten times every week so that's just like a tough way to win they

didn't have a running game and you mentioned the fumbles let let's go over the sequence actually because at the end of the first half because it was absolutely insane after that drive and and for listeners who didn't watch the game we know a lot of UK listeners A lot of U.S. listeners wake up. They didn't see the game. They listen to this first thing. They don't want spoilers even in the title. We try to be good about that.

It was seven to three Vikings with three minutes left in the first half. Am I right about that? It's like three and a half minutes left in the first half. Vikings get the ball back and they almost score right back until that play you mentioned where Justin Jefferson is reaching for the pylon on what would have been a long score and he fumbles over the pylon, dumbest rule in sports, Eagles get the ball back on the 20. They actually look like they're giving up.

They start running the ball on their first two downs, but they pick up so many yards that they end up being in position to kick a 61-yard field goal for Elliott. So that's a 10-point swing at the end of the first half. The Vikings should have been ahead by a field goal. Instead, they're down by six. The Vikings get the ball back to start the second half, immediately get strip-sacked.

Eagles immediately score. Eagles get the ball back quickly again. immediately have a long touchdown to Devante Smith. So you add it all up and the Eagles scored 20 points in about seven minutes of game time between the defense being explosive, between that Jefferson and between Devante Smith, just making more and more big plays. I know I'm going on, but it was like just so much of an avalanche at once. And that's kind of what the Eagles can do and they have done in the past where they can look bad

for three quarters and they can just kick your ass for about 10 minutes. I think it's the dominance on both sides of the line, like the Fletcher Cox situation right there. I mean, the Vikings were a little snake bit tonight, like, because they also had Brandon Powell at a big punt return. He stripped Alexander Madison, who, sorry, you're not Dalvin Cook so far out of the gate. Like that their one game in general has been heard. I also think that a big part of tonight, if you dig down into it,

is the fact that Christian Derasaw, Udo, like, both gone. You're on your third left tackle with David Quisenberry, and it's just like, we've got problems there. And it's like cousins, some of the contact the cousins felt came off of that. I think that affected the run game. You know, and they still almost won. I mean, that's a very Vikings thing to do in general. But it's, I don't lean on this thing about, you know, the regression from last year as much, except it's exactly what's happened in two games.

They're now O and two and one score games, although this didn't quite feel like a one score game. You know, the Vikings were chasing it and couldn't get the defensive stop in the fourth quarter. Right. And they have seven, they have seven turnovers in two games. And it's like, if you're going to be one of these teams that rides the edge, you need these things to go in your direction. And like, I think tonight they just, they had a real chance because you caught an Eagles team that's still kind of warming up and they got in their own way. And it's like, to me, like, I'm not sure the Vikings are anything more than a B plus team. But you, you thought, I think you found a B minus B version of what the Eagles ultimately will be. Except I'm saying that, and they also ran the ball for 250 yards. I think that says we expect them to be so naturally proficient in every aspect of offense. It's like, well, they certainly were tonight. And they creatively found their way out of a tough spot. And it's like it just makes me trust them all the more going on.

Right, because they'll get better. And that was kind of their way they won last year was you weren't sure which unit would have a dominant game, whether it was a running game, sometimes it was the passing game. sometimes, you know, they got after it defensively. And now with Carter and Jalen and Jordan Davis, who we talked about on the Wednesday show, you missed it, Mark. I know. I mean, have you caught up yet?

For anyone that listened to the preview show, Dan asked you if you were going to listen to the Wednesday show. It's only been, what, five hours since I last saw you, Mark. It has not been that long. Have you listened to it since? No, because it's like my thought was, you know, when I, after we get done with this and like, I guess our version of our weekend begins, what would I do with my, you know, the sweet spot of my week, my weekend,

other than to listen back on a show that I missed and hear what you and Dan had to say when you well, the weekend hadn't started. You still had this show to do with me. Well, I'm saying after this. That's when I, that's like, that's like, that's why I dig into that. You know, I'll find out. No, I don't blame you. I never listened to our shows. And Dan, I don't know if he looks down on us. I think you're the same. I wasn't always this way. but I can't do it. I don't know why. It's just, we do it, we do it enough.

Our life is inside the show. We're rarely outside the show, it feels like at this point. Right. I think people don't realize we spend six or seven hours together today already. So like the idea that I'd go listen to, I mean, it's not, you know, of course I want to. It's a, it's a lure and I'll get to it at some point. Well, this was a long segue or, you know, a little dance around the playground to bring up that. We did talk about Jalen Carter, Jordan Davis, that they're just going to be

problem, I think, together. And Jordan Davis, it was a little quieter in week one, but he had what was the best game of his career against the Patriots and these two guys. And I know Carter, like, his stats weren't huge tonight. Jordan Davis, though, gets his second sack. He makes a couple plays. You mentioned Fletcher Cox. Josh Sweat has had two nice weeks. You just like don't know who's going to pop up in a given week. But those two young guys are very exciting. And for the Vikings, you mentioned the injuries. They're also not good on the interior of their line. They haven't been. And they've just got a lot of papering over to do where it makes you feel like, yeah, you have a nice passing game, but like what's the ceiling here?

The ceiling is just trying to fight for this division, and now you're fighting out of a hole. You've got the Chargers next week, and that's a cornered animal game. No, that's, I mean, their schedule's rough. And the one thing I do feel hopeful about is I just, I see a different defense than last year. I really think Brian Flores, frustrated Jalen Hertz tonight and frustrated that offense out of the gate. And it's like, I just think you're going to get a more creative, competent scheme week to week. The players love them. I just, you know, I think they're undermanned.

I mean, Daniel Hunter, though, three sacks tonight, incredible performance. It's just that you don't have that many Daniel Hunters. You don't have that many stars. And it's like you're working with a young secondary. But Flores, man, he, I just think he's head coach tucked away for the last couple of years. coordinator position. I think you might be right. They're starting this undrafted rookie Ivan Pace at middle linebacker.

And I don't know. I don't know if it was him. I would have to look at it. But, you know, they were just getting pushed around. Their defensive tackles aren't really that good on paper, not good on the field the first two weeks. And they were just getting pushed around by a mean defensive line. Then again, like, yeah, football comes down to luck.

There were five fumbles in this game, Mark. Do you know who recovered how many of a? you know how many who recovered the fumbles well the eagles every time five fumbles five the ball was on the ground five times the Vikings did not get the ball one of those times and it's it's silly to like point it totally to that because the Vikings were the ones that were coughing it up that the eagles forced them with good plays four of those five times but you want to get a little bit of a break and they didn't get any of those balls and they didn't get the ball when they forced it as you mentioned on the Eagles kick return early in the game either. Well, I would also, I mean,

part of that is watching the way this Eagles defense plays. And they've had a coordinator switch and it, you know, it seems to be going fine. But like, it's a strip by Roshan Evans. It is a strip by Avanti Maddox. You got the Jefferson one, which was, I agree with you, that penalty is annoying. But guys like Nicholas Moreau, who was in there for Nacobi Dean, like, recovered one of them. It's like, this is the way the Eagles play. And, like, they're aggressive. And I think that they'd they frustrated the Vikings and it's like i i cannot on the reverse side of what we saw on the ground from the Eagles it's like the the Vikings rushed the ball for 28 yards off nine carries they had like 34 yards a week ago it's like you're putting a lot of weight on

your passing game i know that they're already more pass oriented but like there's no balance here and like i think that's got to correct itself because they can't look at the time of possession in this which we didn't really talk about i think you said they had was it 40 plus minutes. Like, you can't win games like that unless you're going to, you know, securely score every time. And so you can't turn the ball over four times, have the ball for about 20 minutes, rush for about 28 yards, and expect to win an NFL game. Right. It's all fair points. Jefferson goes over 150 for the second straight game. I mean, if you drafted him in a PPR league, you've gotten 10 for 150 each game, despite him coming up short of that

touchdown. Addison has another long touchdown, a 62. yard touchdown this time i mean he he was a fine hockinson gets a couple scores it's like they're lighten up the numbers it's a very kirk cousin's start to the season he has over 700 yards he has six touchdowns and they're oh and two and it like hasn't felt that good but he is a good quarterback like he's he's been more consistent than jalen hertz has through through two weeks but it doesn't really matter they're o' and two are you at all concerned about what we've seen from Jalen Hertz at this point? I think they're going to regress a little bit,

and so the answer would be, no, I'm not concerned, but I think they're going to have to manage their way through this. A.J. Brown was getting pretty fired up on the sidelines at one point. I'm not sure what that was about. He only had four for 29. He had one touchdown late after that. They got called back by penalty, and then another one that looked like it might have been a touchdown,

and they didn't call a penalty on the Vikings when it appeared, They pulled his arm down. So I think it's going to be tricky to keep everyone happy. And the running game for Hertz hasn't really been working either. The short yardage is working. But they tried to have him run around the edge a handful of times. He ends up going 12 for 35 yards. And so that's two straight games where like some of the same things aren't working.

And you do wonder if teams are taking away their bread and butter and they're going to have to adjust. So that'll be a challenge for the coordinator. Yeah, I think that's what Flores effectively did. tonight and said, you've got to be this a different way. I mean, I do, though, when I look at the NFC, I love teams, like an Eagles team like this, where you've not played even nearly at the level we think you can. You're still two and O. versus a Viking team. It's like you're doing some good things, but you're O and two. I just, I hate starting out O and two. It's just a disaster and like their schedules rough, but like the Eagles have been kind of a lesser, sleepy version of

themselves, and here they are. They're undefeated. Right. You can just compare this to the primetime game they had against the Vikings a year ago at this time where they ran rough shot over when dan was talking about this game that's one of the reasons uh he and i very tepidly locked this game up i guess i'm ashamed i'm actually not going to do this again there we go double lock it up give me the double sound because i jumped on i was just like oh that's lockable i guess i should do that that just seems too too nice um so yeah we did it and And I truly am ashamed if Nick Wesleyan is out there listening to this after he stood up like a true hero, an American hero, and pick the Jets to win this week. I will have to come with a more courageous lock a week for now, but I'll take it because like the Eagles, I haven't felt great about my picks, but I'm two and now, so I'll move forward.

There's courage and there's total looniness and Tom Foolery, and I'm not sure which territory he lives in, but I found that. it to be at least you know he's a showman Greg he is all right we're gonna we're gonna wrap this up soon but before we go um just one a couple more very quick things which is like eagles fans who are like grumbling and booing when your team is up three nothing at the end of the first quarter come come back to us let's calm down a little eagle's fans like you're you're winning in a game and it's the first quarter and you're one and no and you had a juggernaut last year and you're like kind of booing-ish Jalen Hertz and what was going on, that, that bothered me. And then did you see the shots of, uh, of Raj? Yeah.

You know, our, our boss up in the, up in the luxury box with, with Michael Vick. And I was just thinking, wow, like if, if you had seen that picture, you know, when Michael Vick was, uh, in jail for, for dogfighting and everything and everything that came through that. And I remember when Andy Reid, you know, welcomed it into Philadelphia, like, Man, that was a story if you covered it, and I was back then a PFT. It would have been hard to imagine when all of that was happening to see Michael Vick up in the owner's box with Roger Goodell on a primetime game 15 years later.

Yeah, it's a strange sight. It makes you wonder who he'll be hanging out with 15 years from now if he's still doing that, you know, TBD. Wait, Raj? Yeah. Well, yeah. I mean, and I think it's great. I think Michael Vick has shown a path of how to,

own something where you make big mistake and has done it the right way the whole time and seems to have been a great guy. I don't know. That just struck me watching that game. Time changes all. I mean, we're going to be old by the time this podcast ends or at least our podcast.

I mean, just today, Mark, we've spent so much time together. I think it's been enough. Are you done? Yeah, but that deages me, so, you know, I can always use more. Are you going to be like A.J. Brown like yelling and screaming on the sideline. You didn't get enough PT tonight or something? No, I'm fine.

All right, we got ran. He did fine in the end and so will I and so will you. I'm excited. It is so hot in this garage. I'm now taping from the new home setup. I don't know if we put these shows on YouTube. But if we do, you can check it out. But it's a problem because I close the windows.

I don't want to like be too loud for the people next door and whatnot. but it's a it's a hot bath in here i don't know a hot house what do you call it i don't know i'm just rambling now i've totally no i'm in the same boat i'm in like a seventh story uh windowless room that could feels like there's four uh kerosene heaters on in here so i i understand i think like your neighbors like free analysis like i think they might you know enjoy it you never know it's fair they got the good stuff tonight uh the eagles running game did too they moved to two and oh, we move on to the rest of the week to Slate on Sunday with the big time recap show. If you haven't signed up for NFL Plus, you know, you can get, I had a friend asked me like,

how do you get Red Zone now? And I was like, get NFL Plus? That was the answer. He just couldn't figure it out. He's like, where's Red Zone now? He's not a smart man. It's NFL Plus. But you could, you could also check out our Thursday taping, which was completely goofy,

which should be up Thursday night. on NFL Plus. Until then, for Mark Sessler, for Big Funk, Randy Chavez, and his Katzuki. Why don't you go ahead and... See the call. Hey everybody, Daniel Jeremiah here.

And I'm Bucky Brooks. On Move to Six, we take you inside the game from breaking down college prospects and NFL rookies to evaluating team building philosophies, coaching trends, and how front offices construct winning rosters. We study the tape, talk to decision makers, and give you a perspective you won't find anywhere else. It's everything you need to understand the why behind what happens on Sunday. Don't miss it. Listen to the Move the Sticks podcast on the I Heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Marcus Grant. And I'm Michael Fulrio, and together we host the NFL fantasy football podcast. Ready to dominate your fantasy league this season?

Then you need the NFL fantasy football podcast, your ultimate source for player news, draft tips, and winning strategies. Whether you're a rookie manager or a fantasy vet, we've out the insight to help you crush your opponents. Listen to the NFL fantasy football podcast on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Toyota, the official automotive partner of the NFL, visit Toyota.com slash NFL now to learn more. This is an IHeart podcast.