PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Dreams And Nightmares For Case Keenum as Zack Baun, Eagles Defense Beckons | PHLY Eagles Podcast

Episode Date: September 24, 2026

After a subpar performance against the Titans, Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Jalyx Hunt, Zack Baun, Quinyon Mitchell and the Eagles defense prepare to face the Bears’ No. 3 quarterback, a familiar face from his time running into the buzzsaw of the Patrick Robinson-led Eagles defense in the 2017 NFC Championship Game. What’s the latest from the Eagles’ facility? Plus, Adam Jahns of CHGO has insight on the Bears’ plan without Caleb Williams and Swooper returns for Week 3! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What are the Eagles doing? They have an open roster spot and they just let Maximus Pully go? What the hell? Coming up next in the Pitchellon, Eagles podcast. This podcast live from the Xfinity Studio and presented by Einstein Bo, Wolf, E.J. Smith, the Great Eagles Insider. And Mr. Grabbing Grapp's friend Duffy himself in the middle. We got Brenna on the ones and twos. Big Thursday episode coming up for you.

Swoop of Returns. We're going to hear from Adjohn. Adam Johns of CHGO and talk about the Bears. I'm going to get into this matchup. How are you guys doing? Great. It's a fun game to break down, even though you lose a little bit of lackluster, a little bit of lust.

Luster? Lose a little luster, yeah. Luster, yeah, lose a little luster without Caleb Williams, but still a fun game to break down. No luster, no mustard. If you're Drew Brees, how you doing E.J. Smith? Ah, I'm doing well. I, uh, fresh off a Nick Siriani Press Conference got.

Oh, what gets you going more than that? I've got some minor news and notes to go through, but really, actually, if you really want to know how I'm doing, I'm not doing well. I saw a video of Kam Latsu blocking on the New England Patriots on the front, and it really kind of ruined my entire evening. Listen, that's part of the conversation that we need to have. We do about Kam Latu. Let's get to the big takeaway presented by our friends at Xfinity. And EJ, you tell us your big takeaways from Siriani. What's going on?

Now, unlike a normal Thursday, you have not been in the locker room yet because of it. It's a Monday night game, so everything is a little bit later. But nevertheless, we've got a couple little nugs. Yeah, but I appreciate that context because the notebook's not as full as it normally would be this time of the week. We'll get in the locker room for the first time later today. But I do think, you know, we should preempt this by saying it's a big day for sake. I heard they move locker room to 10 p.m. I mean, they're close.

They're trying to. They are trying to do that, I would tell you. It's a big day for Seclan Barkley. He goes to practice in about an hour and a half. So, you know, if you're listening to this in the evening, evening. You probably do know a little bit more about it, but yeah, you know, Sequin said after the game that they'll know more about his injury status later in the week, and I think that today will be very indicative on whether or not he plays. Obviously, it's got a little bit of a longer

runtime with the singer that he suffered against the Titans because they play on Monday night, but I'll definitely be, you know, when we get to the practice field, I think Seekoine Barkley will be the first person that may be other than Zacherts that people want to see if he's out there. So that's the first thing that's on my radar this week is what, what Seekwan Barkley's statuses. With the thing like a stinger and the propensity for something like that to linger, what would be your urgency to... Do you have to let it linger? What would be your urgency to get him out there? I thought that's what you were teeing me up for.

No. It wasn't. Believe me. The cranberries, right? Yeah. Cranberries are great. All right. Like fruit or the artist? Oh, just the artist. Oh, okay. I don't like cranberries. No? No. Too strong. It does feel like the days have passed for when Cran was forced him to everything, you know, the great, great Gary Goldman bit. You know the, uh, you know what? I feel like, you know, I feel like it's just getting like just thrown in my face constantly. Okay.

Dubai chocolate. Yeah. It's like the new red velvet. It's just like everywhere. It's like, yeah, you know what? It's kind of overrated. Yeah, I'm not a huge fan, but yeah, yeah, it does, it's a little bit forceful. Yeah.

Oh, they got a lot of money behind it. Well, true. Yeah. So. So, uh, grain, let's take one. No, take one bar. Do you feel like they should be trying to push this forward or would you be a little bit

more cautious to not prevent further injury there's a good point uh oh you mean in the game yeah yeah yeah i mean you i don't think you'd have him out there if he's like 60 percent but i think he'll want to play if he thinks he can play the fact that he played in the game against the titan speaks to that even before they put him back in he was like ready to go he was with the subs so um you know conventional wisdom would say don't put him out there if he's not 100 percent but i don't think it's quite that simple i think if he wants to play the eagles will probably let him play you get you The fact that he came back into the game, even though he didn't maybe look on that makes me feel pretty turkey-heavy that he's going to play in this game.

How many turkeys you're putting on it? 81. Oh, more than 65. Yeah. I'd put, I'd actually- Let's go turkeys down right now. Well, again,

I don't want to play like the prediction game for something and I've got no, like, I don't have any basis for this. I was almost to admit it to inside of saying it. You're absolutely right. He's only going to wager turkeys on something he actually has heard. That's fair. Information is actually different. But like the prediction game, it's like, I don't know. 65 turkey.

65 turkey. I think there's a chance that, you know, it was easier to play through it right after it happened than it is a couple days into it. But that's that is not me reporting. That's just me speculating. Okay. What about you? I would tend to be a little bit more cautious. Okay.

Yeah. I would say, don't force it unless he's feeling like, he's like 90%. All right, go for it. Like you feel pretty good that there's no. chance of re-injury. But if there's any chance of that, I'd say rest them. Okay. What else is going on? Well, just to

put a you on the Sequin Barkley topic, Nick Siriani did not offer much. He never does. I mean, he said, you guys will get an injury report later on. Zach Hertz, I think he'll play. Nick Siriani did not really deny the fact that Zachertz will likely play. Said that, you know, they haven't even seen him on the practice

field. Well, you know, unlike Kenny Moore with Vic Fangio, they have laid eyes on. on him before. Yeah. Do they have seen him play before? But yeah, Nick Sierra and I didn't have much to say, but again,

I think he'll play. And I actually think he'll have a decent role. I think he will slot into a lot of what they did with Dallas Goddard. Different players. Do you think he will play more than E.J. Jenkins? That's, yeah, that's a good question. I do think he'll play more than E.J. Jenkins. Okay.

That's a good framing. I think I probably agree with you. Yeah. He came off a very scary injury. I understand. He's been away from the game for a while, but also, you know,

nobody loves E. Jay Jenkins more than I do, former Bo Wolf Camp Crush. Is that, oh, is that right? I mean, I like E.J. Jenkins. But every time I see the guy in the locker and we go, what's up, E.J. What's up, E.J.? It's a good bit. It's a rare thing that you can do, yeah.

But what is the point of him being on the roster if he's not going to get to actually play in this game? You know what I mean? Howie Rosen talked about him. He's a combo tight end. Okay. Now, you want to talk about the roster? Yeah.

You have other notes. I actually feel vindicated about my 53-man roster prediction based off the way that this season is played out because I talked about the fact going into Cutdown Day that the Eagles don't typically roster guys that they don't have to roster.

Elijah Moore, E.J. Jenkins help me out here. Who else was kind of in that? Andy Dalton. Yeah, right. Or Tarrad Johnson. How you look at it? Fred Johnson, another good example.

I had Fred on. John Jones. Yeah, I didn't have Jonathan Jones on. Yeah, did, right? I did not. I did. They had four or five guys on the active roster, the initial 53-man roster,

who you would have looked at and said, you could have played the practice squad game with those guys. You could have stuck them through. They're not exposed to waivers. And the Eagles have now lost, it's at least six players to waivers, you know, or through practice squad claims. They lost four players on the initial claim,

and they've now had three different players signed off their practice squad to active rosters. That's wild. All the meanwhile, they have an open roster spot right now. They only have 52 players on the active roster. That is incredible hubris. What is that? Yeah, what is the, what is the purpose of that?

There's got to be something there. Save Jeffrey a game check? Like, I don't know. It's, I mean, truly, I'm sure they, I'm sure that there is a reason for that. Right. But that is really hubristic to think that we are the one team in the NFL that doesn't even need the 53rd man roster spot. And we're just going to let guys go. For a team that's crazy.

It's crazy. Because they're wasting roster spots on the bottom, not wasting, but they are using roster spots. on the bottom of the roster for older veterans who are not going to be here next year. And there are guys like, you know, Gashikin and Latu and Maximus Pully who probably are never going to be a starter for them, but they are like the lifeblood of your special teams. And that's how you make it through a season is guys who are on their rookie contracts. It's how you have a good special team. I feel bad for Michael Clay about this roster construction.

It's very bizarre. Yeah, especially a guy like Elijah Moore. Like I understood the argument. He was just one of the 53 best players. on the team on the roster that's why he makes the right that's why he makes the team isn't played a snap he's been enacted makes no sense at some point it's like did you actually send that message if he's not even up on game day so to me it really is like the four guys they lost on cut down day i think Howard rosal would like to have at least a couple of those back you know i i think

that we know he likes to try and figure out who will get claimed and that is part of the calculus there he's had a bad it was a bad year it was an objectively bad year for him go ahead we're on that especially for a team that prides itself historically on winning on the margins. Like, and finally, like that is, you are losing on the margins on this.

You know, these are guys, especially, again, another thing, like, hey, we pride ourselves on our player development

and like the young players. Why is Elijah Moore in the building? Why is, why are some of these other guys that we've listed? Like, why are these guys in the building when you're letting other young pieces,

potential developmental players, leave? It's questionable. Right there. I mean, you know, listen, we're making a mountain out of a molehill

of Maximus Pulley, okay? but you're spending time signing Kenny Moore to the practice squad, a guy who's 31 years old and might be able to help you this year. But if you have this player development program that you're talking about,

that you both you puff your chest out about at every turn. And it has really helped you at the bottom of the roster. You've now lost two of the three safeties that you had. You know, they still got Wisniewski on the roster. That's fine. But, you know, who's more likely

to help you two years down the road, even next year Maximus Pulley or Kenny Moore Maximus Pulley like you know and that's fine they're making they're making the calculation that he's not worthy of a roster spot it is very funny and incredibly rude to say to Maximus Pulley he comes to them and he's like okay I got

I got offered to go to the Rams Active roster but let me you guys got an open spot right here and they're just like no we're good yeah they just pull a Kafka on him I mean give me a break it's very rude and to do it essentially do it multiple times like well with pulling he was active he was on the roster last week

activated for game day last week because they were injured at safety it's been a strange wild it's been a strange year with roster construction britton is like I can't believe what this show is you guys spend so much time talking about the goods aren't even on the roster what happens when you don't get the locker room yet

but it's pretty weird yeah we also forgot like in the initial roster Eli Stowers on only to go on IR four days later. It's like, I don't know. They didn't have to expose these guys to waivers. Yeah. All right.

Let's close the book on the big takeaway presented by Xfinity. You are not going to get a more impassioned discussion about the absent spot on the Eagles 53 men roster anywhere else. Okay. Anything else? What about you, Ertz-wise? I know you guys talked about it. Thank you again for doing the emergency pods on Monday.

Do you feel like he can make a little something? happen here? Well, to me, not to get too ahead of ourselves for a conversation we might have later

in the show, maybe in overtime. Little tea. But yeah, I do think that there's, I think there's a place where he can come in and get some targets

in this offense, but how quickly does it happen? Game flow, those kinds of things are our question. I would imagine that he's going to be ready to go for Monday, though. And are you a Kenny Moore guy? I am a Kenny Moore guy.

I mean, I was a Kenny Moore guy. You know, like, what does he look like this year? Like, that's a fair question. I would have been a lot more excited about Kenny Moore three years ago, five years ago. But, but yeah, I think it's perfectly fine to bring him in and see if you can help out there. Yeah, there's, you know, three years ago. Right. The idea of the Eagles having a collection of Kenny Moore, Jonathan Jones, and Michael Carter is like, oh, my gosh, they've got all the nickels in the NFL.

Right. But they're hoping they're strength of numbers there. Okay. Let's go a break here on the PHAWI Eagles podcast on the other side. We dial up the Xfinity mobile call-in line and bring in our all-city brethren, Adam Johns, to talk about the Chicago Bears. Are we really going to see Case Keenham again? Stay tuned. The football season is heating up and every week feels bigger with Draft King Sportsbook, the number one sportsbook for live betting,

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And let your voice be heard. Welcome back to the PHLY Eagles podcast. Bo Fran and EJ joined now by Adam Johns of CHGO. How you doing, Johns? Stop, Adam. Uh-oh, we got no audio. he's muted now he's unmuted how about now can you hear me now there we go there we go how about those good old zoom got to hit the unmute button happens honestly happens to me every other

time yeah no no sweat all right so the update generally speaking we are likely to see case keeneham on monday night or or definite is bajent like fully ruled out how about very likely Tyson Imbejant wasn't even in the building yesterday as part of the NFL's mandated concussion protocols. He has to stay away somewhere in his home in the dark. So maybe he returns later this week. The Bears are actually off today Thursday. So maybe he's back in the building on Friday,

back in the building on Saturday. So maybe the story starts the shift then. But right now I would say it's very, very likely that the bear starting quarterback against the Eagles is the one an only case keynote. So hold on. Do they always have Wednesdays off? Yeah, it's interesting.

No, Thursday. So today's what, Thursday? I'm losing it. Today's a Thursday, but that's a Wednesday of a normal week. Is that usually they off? Right, right. So they were actually in the building practicing on Wednesday yesterday. Their first injury report should come out today from Halasol.

Maybe by the time you guys are actually done with your show here. But, yeah, they kind of, Ben Johnson has done this before. He kind of plays with his schedule based on what the, well, the schedule. It tells him. Interesting. It's kind of funky. Okay. So, having watched Mr. Keenum this summer, like, are we talking about a shell of even his former self?

How decrepit of an old man are we talking? Bo, I've seen him two summers in a row. He's been here since April 2025. He's been good. Okay. I won't lie. Like Tyson's been good. Keith Canem's been good.

there were some up and down moments for Caleb Williams, obviously last year, is he got to learn everything that's involved in Ben Johnson's offense, which could be very, very complicated. But Case Keenum, really, guys, I want to say since day one, has looked comfortable operating what Ben Johnson wants them to do. Now, I'm saying this, knowing that, like, Caleb Williams in practice is getting 12, 15 snaps to everyone for Case Keenum. So the numbers aren't in Case Keenum's favor.

so he's looking good on three or four snaps as opposed to having to go out there for 15 to 16 snaps in practice. But I want to say for the past couple years in preseason in training camp, Case Keenham has looked better than decent, better than any 38-year-old that I would know playing quarterback. Okay. That's pretty good. You know, he and the Eagles have a little bit of history from the NFC championship game,

but that was a long time ago. Do you get the sense that like this is one where Ben Johnson kind of relishes the opportunity to cook up a meal with, you know, fewer ingredients than the normal and impress people with a game plan he can put together for a Keyes Kingdom game. But this feels like a very important week for Ben Johnson. He's never called a game where his starting quarterback isn't Jared Gough for Caleb Williams. Two first overall picks.

Really? In the NFL draft. Like, Jared Gough hasn't missed the game since 2021. And Caleb Williams, he's been remarkably durable, despite all the hits and sacks that he took on early in his career. So this is new territory for Ben Johnson. I think there's comfort in Keenham's experience. There's comfort that they're actually pretty close.

Case Keatim described him and Ben Johnson as brothers yesterday when he met the media. But at the same time, I think this is a big statement week for Ben Johnson to kind of show, hey, I can do this without a number one overall pick quarterback. Like my offense still works with Case Keenum under center. What do you guys think? I think this is going to be a big ego game. I think there's a lot of egos at play here. Obviously, even the Vic Fangio matchup for Ben Johnson.

I sure that's one he had Circle even going into the season. And then I didn't even mention Nick Siriani in this. And I'm sure that Nick Siriani is aware of this matchup. So yeah, I think it's going to be a big ego game from both sidelines. Now, obviously, the background here is that in last year's game, you know, you could have been a quarterback given the way the bears were running the ball. you know, rent 280 is what it was, I think. An embarrassing game for the Eagles defense.

Was that one where, you know, even in the aftermath, the Bears were impressed with themselves in terms of what they were able to do to the Eagles defensive line? What was the sort of the lasting memory of that game in Chicago? That was probably the most impressive performance in totality that the Bears put together last year. Everyone remembers their heroics. Everybody remembers what Caleb Williams is doing,

you know, latent games, playing hero ball and whatnot. But in totality, that was the most dominant performance that the Bears had. They had a good game on the road against the 49ers, but they lost that game. They put up a lot of points, put up a lot of yards. This game on the ground, they thoroughly dominated the Eagles, which, you know, has historically had a good defensive line. They just dominated. Here's the special thing about Ben Johnson.

This is why he's probably so proud of this game. he is the first coach that I can remember covering, and I've covered a lot here in Chicago. Like, he's in charge of installing the run game. He does it himself. It's not the offensive line coach. It's not the offensive coordinator. It's not the tight-ends coach

or the running backs coach getting involved. The run game is Ben Johnson. He is obsessed with it. It starts with him. He puts it in. He installs the run game. So you know he's proud of that performance against the Eagles

where they flirt with 300 yards. Now, I'm sure, Vic, who we know very well here in Chicago as well, wants to change that this year. Let me ask you this, Johns, because just from like a vibes standpoint, I'm kind of interested in this game from a Chicago end of things, because we haven't seen a Ben Johnson offense look as futile as it did last week from a production standpoint. It was the worst success rate we've seen from a Ben Johnson called offense since he became a play caller. What do you imagine the environment is like inside Hallis Hall this week? And how do you think that will?

will come to the surface by the time we get to Monday night. Do you think guys are likely to be tight? Do you think they're likely to be free? Like what has been your experience so far? Seeing this team bounce back from disappointing performances on that side of the ball. I feel like it was just a unique set of circumstances for him in week two. You had Brian Flores in this blitz heavy attack and there's kind of the unknown with them. Like the bears had faced before, didn't blitz that much.

This time he was up to 80% or flirting with 80%. So we attacked Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson's offense a bit differently. And also in week two, I don't mean to keep bringing up the weather. I feel like I've done this in every single C.HGO or Hogan John show. But that weather was awful on Sunday in Chicago. It started raining a half hour before the game and literally did not really end. There was like a 20 minute break after the game, but it didn't stop during the game. It was heavy.

It was light. The field itself was saturated. Like there were like puddles towards the Viking sideline where the players they would, like Caleb Williams had a play along the Viking side line where you literally saw splashes on the field. So for a bear's offense, it's kind of built on speed. For a team that really invested in more speed, whether it's Kleefe Raymond, whether it's Xavier Thomas, like having speed be a factor, the rain was a huge factor in slowing them down. And then you're facing Flores' defense.

and I felt like that just played into what Brian Flores wants to do. But yeah, to answer your question, you know, off that friend, I think there's an anger. I think the Bears had opportunities to score. You had DeAndreux Swamble in the one-yard line. You had Sam Rouse dropping a touchdown right at the one-yard line again. And Caleb Williams, literally getting hurt as he's running towards the end zone, the lead blocker in front of him,

that looks like at very least the contested play right at the goal line. He gets hurt on it, carted off later. So there were golden opportunities for the Bears specifically in the red zone. But I think you get this feeling at Hallis Hall that they kind of let themselves down. They let this one slip away, left a lot of points on the field during a rainy, soggy day against Brian Flores' defense. Flipping to the other side of the ball, Johns, I wanted to ask you about the Bears run defense. You know, the Eagles offense has probably been the inverse of what we would have expected going into the season. The past game has been a lot better than I think most expected.

and the run game has had to go through some growing pains. So, you know, as they try to figure that out, the run game in particular, how would you say the Bears run defense in particular is like the last two weeks? Well, again, I think there was an assist from Mother Nature in week two. It just was an ugly wet, like extremely wet football game. Now, the Vikings and Aaron Jones did have some success on the ground. They were a bad run defense last year. A lot of different investments made in those trenches.

There's a whole list of different different. defensive lineman. I think you guys had to get to know before this game. The Bears are encouraged by what they got from these guys in training camp in the preseason in the past couple weeks, but at the same time, now I want to see him stop Sequin Barclay. I want to see him stop the Philadelphia Eagles and Jaylen Harts. Like that's a different challenge than they faced before. In week one, I think Bryce Young had a very good day. I think that offense moved the ball pretty easily against the Bears defense, but at the same time,

the Bears just outmussel and overpower them with their own offense. So it's going to be an interesting matchup, I think, because this is a defense who's feeling good about what they did against the Minnesota Vikings. They only allowed nine points. They only allowed one play in the entire game in the red zone,

but at the same time, they still lost, and I still think there's question marks about how they could do against better competition, starting with the Eagles. All right, John, last one from me. A lot of X Eagles on this Bears roster. Who's your favorite one to talk to? Ex Eagle.

We got T.J. Edwards. We got the great Josh Blackwell. We got. I didn't know Josh Blackwell spent time with the Andre Swift. Contraevi's Street. There's a cut. I feel like Contavius Street's been on like every single team in the NFL.

Yes, I think that's right. So I don't think he counts. T.J. Edwards, obviously. He's a local guy. And he had a bad performance in week one. So like overall, like, I like, I like the local players because we could talk high school football. stuff like that and TJ's big on that.

Like I know his high school football coach and whatnot, like there's a history there for him and I to discuss. But at the same time... That's a big flex. Yeah. Yeah. We try to do that with... I think...

TJ stands out. I don't know Josh Blackwell was actually on the Eagles. He's one of the Bears best special teamers. But T.J. Edwards, he's a captain. He's one of the leaders on this defense. He was in and out during training camp as they were kind of working him back from injury. But when he's playing at the...

level they need him to be. I think this defense, especially in the run defense, CJ, like, it's better, but TJ is definitely one of the go-to guys for everyone in this locker room, media players. Like a TJ Edwards. Like a TJ Edwards. Anything else from you guys? No, I'm good. Johns, thank you so much. Give us the

plug for if Eagles fans really want to get into the weeds on the bears, when can they hear you guys chop it up? Well, I think Franz joining Hogan Johns. Tomorrow, that'll be 10 a.m. Your time, 9 a.m. local here in Chicago. So home and home. Tune in on YouTube. We'll be there.

Fantastic. Thank you so much. Adam Johns, check them out. We'll be back with more on the PHA Y Eagles podcast after this. Wayfair! We love Wayfair. Wayfair helps you create a home that stands up to real life with quality products, great value, and trusted reviews. Wayfair verified products are hand-vetted by product specialists using a 10-point quality inspection. More than 20 million verified five-star reviews help shoppers buy with confidence, plus Wayfair rewards members 5% back on every purchase.

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compared to renewal price of Oregon in Florida. Welcome back to the PHY Eagles podcast, Bo, EJ, and Fran. I agree with the chat that welfare jingle is absolutely a bop. Yeah, I love Wayfar man. Like even before the partnership, I've loved Wayfar forever. You walk around the Smith household. Yeah, a lot of Wayfarst. I know. Wayfar sale, hate to see you coming. I know that's right. All right. Let's get to Settle in. Presented by Ashley and talk about this.

Let's talk about the bear's defense first, because I think there's so many moving parts on the offense that we don't exactly know what to expect. We'll still dig into it. But I know that there are probably people out there in the world who are more than you on this sense, but no one in my life has been more of a Dennis Allen defense stand than you. Yeah, I enjoy Dennis Allen defense going back to, yeah,

going back to, you know what it was is that the Eagles and Saints played each other so often. So I spent a lot of time watching that defense. And so I've come to have an appreciation. A big Dallan guy. Dallan? Yeah, Dallan. I mean, I understand where it came from.

Did people call him Dallan? No, I've never heard that. Denny, maybe. Dennie boy. But I do like a Dennis Allen defense. Dennis the Menace. Yes. Oh, is he a menace?

Why is it that they like a Dennis Allen defense? You know what it is? It goes to the whole identity conversation. and it's just like, yeah, like, I can, I appreciate the schemes where I can, let's put it this way. You can put it blind. I can, well, yeah, I can,

I can watch a player in college and be like, that fits a Dennis Allen Devenous. Yeah, or this guy fits a Delano, or this guy fits a Vic Fangio Deve, like, this guy's so Denny. Yeah, I like, I like that. I go, and honestly, I feel that way about the Bears offense, too.

Like, I can watch a player and be like, yeah, this guy would fit Ben Johnson. Okay. Okay, so now what is it? What is it that when you watch a guy on tape, like, oh, this is a Dennis Allen guy. Well, I can get into like a structure of this, of this whole defense. Let's settle in.

Yeah, let's settle in. So here's how I would describe the identity of a Dennis Allen defense. Aggressive single coverage defense for down front, centered around collapsing the pocket. A lot of the edge rushers, a defensive line. And it's a lot of like pocket pushers, guys with some explosiveness, but he's really about pushing the pocket. And really when I think of it, I think of an aggressive four-man front, length, explosive of power, linebackers that are constantly involved with, you know, with what they're doing from a

front pressure standpoint. So, we've got versatile skill sets there. They can be used in coverage, flexible blitzers. You think of like DeMario Davis and Cain Nellis and a lot of those guys. And a lot of the sim pressures, a lot of games using those guys. So when you get to third down, there's some creativity there. On the back end, it's a lot of single coverage. When he was in New Orleans, they were a big cover four team, a big quarters team. Less so this year we haven't seen as much cover four, but it's a lot of man cover. coverage and it's no matter even if they're playing zone it's a lot they put a lot on those guys to play one-on-one you saw that last year first year in the scheme in Chicago and that that shows up here this year as well like Nolan Smith would be a Dennis Allen type player he big enough uh he see no one is interesting because he's like short but he's long for his uh he's a power so I do think he would fit yeah he uh I'm trying to think of some like Jay Alex is probably a little bit more Dennis Allen coded.

I'm trying to think of other players that the Eagles have had in the past. Phillips? Phillips maybe. Like I think of more... Yeah, the Eagles haven't necessarily had a guy like this. Yeah.

I just always think of like huge edge rushers when I think of Saints defenses. You think of Cam Jordan, you think, you know, obviously Chase Young, you know, him going there. Like that's kind of the archetype. It was the guy that Jalen like juked out of his shoes

that one year. He's a good player too. I should remember his name. Somebody in the chat, I'll remember. Big D-N. Jalen, like, it's, it was one of, I think it was first start in 2021. You guys don't remember this? I remember the, I don't remember who.

I have no recollection of who it was. I'll figure it out. Yeah, but they like the, you know, there's the, uh, there's the first round. There was the first round. Yeah, there was the, the first one. Marcus Davenport. That Davenport. He is the one who I think of as like, that's the prototype.

Who's not the most productive player, but like, that's how he wants to go to rush. The, the, uh, the local kid, uh, here to Philly, Tano Pasigno from Villanova. is he played there and that's like big explosive long like that's kind of the archetype you expect from that defensive line okay so how do you think that sean mania will go about attacking them so the way i'm going to try and kind of structure this moving forward having these conversations settle in yeah all right three kind of keys to victory okay all right so first one for me the skill guys have to win one on one and i when i do these i i want to separate what's like the big topic surrounding the Eagles. Like obviously they need to get the offensive line under control. They got to get

blocked and they got to do better block and they got to run the ball better. Putting that to the side, like specifically for this game, what will lead to victory? I think the skill guys must win one-on-one. This is a team, like I said, that puts a lot on their back seven linebackers, corner, safeties to be able to hold up in single coverage. And these are matchups, honestly, that I think the Eagles can win, especially with Devante Smith. But if they try to remove Devante with different brackets, they played a lot of two-man when he was in New Orleans. They haven't seen as much of it this year, two-game samples, so it hasn't been a lot there. But who else for the Eagles offense can go and win?

I think they can win a lot of these matchups one-on-one. It's just a matter of stepping up in those individual moments. Big Wicks game. You would hope so. You know, like Wix against if you get him against Stevenson. I haven't been blown away. Jalen Johnson is their number one corner. Missed a lot of last year.

I think he played like a quarter of the snaps last year due to injury. He was kind of like in and out. Kyler Gordon, they were hoping it would be their nickel. He's out and doesn't look like he's coming back. anytime soon. Tyreek Stevenson is the other starting corner on the outside. He's a volatile player, kind of boom bust. You can get him down the field. Honestly, a lot of these guys that you can get with like double moves, backfield actions, like they get their eyes get stuck in the backfield a lot. So that would be something I would keep an eye on here in this one.

Okay. What's the next? Like screen action in this? This is a team. I think if you want to throw like that little like pump and go on some of the screen stuff, that would be. This would be a team. Time for a tendency breaker. Number one, skill guys must win. one-on-one what's number two number two uh the protection rules against stunts they have to be clean in this one um particularly on money down so you get third down fourth down dennis allen's going to send a lot of stunts a lot of twists that will include the linebackers and dbs uh from multiple alignments he has been a big sugar in the a gap's double a gap double mug front with both linebackers down over the center um but they will mix things up as well where you've got you know tj edwards in a

B gap over on the right and you've got devon bush or malik mohameh a starting safety you know down off the edge. So you and they incorporate those guys often stunt with stunts and twists with defensive linemen. So Eagles saw a lot of that in week one against Washington and honestly gave them some fits. I wonder if there's going to be some things that they try to bring to this game. So the Eagles have to make sure that their protection rules are really, really strong in this one. Because honestly, then the stunts have been an issue through two games for those guys. So that would be something certainly you want to make sure is buttoned up going into this matchup. And if you are Dennis Allen looking at this Eagles offensive line, do you think they're

circling. Jurgens, Steen, Kendall, what do you think? Steen struggled the most last week. Now they don't have

an individual talent like Jeffrey Simmons to like say like, all right, we're going to get him isolated. Now they've got some savvy vets

where it's like all right, like Grady Jarrett, not the player he was four or five years ago, still getting the job done. As an upfield penetrator, one on what,

you get him one on one. That is a tough guy to block. He's just a different body type than, you know, like that is a guy that Cam Jurgens can go toe to toe with.

There's similar size, you know, similar proportioned athletes. And so, you know, when I look at, to me, it's more the tight ends, trying to win one-on-one against Dayo O'Dingbo, against the length of Montez Sweat. I think there'll be, those are less favorable matchups for the Eagles. I would think in the run game here in this one. I think these guys are built more to defend the run than necessarily to rush the passer. You might say, E.J., that at this stage of his career, he has gone from great E. to goody Jared.

5.5 out of 10 on that one. It's a home run. All right. Those are the first two keys for your last one. What do you got? I think to me, this is a game where you want to try and hunt up those big chunk plays

off play action in the play action pass game. The Bears have actually allowed the second worst explosive play rate through, obviously, two-weeks sample, versus play action passes so far this season. A bunch of guys guilty, like I said earlier.

Including a bad weather game, which is interesting. Yeah, right, exactly. But they're getting too nosy versus the run and then losing their guy in coverage. So Jalen Johnson has given up plays this way. Tyreeks Stevenson, T.J. Edwards, Dylan Thineman, numerous guys in the backfield in the defensive secondary have given up some of those big plays against play action.

So that was something that Minnesota did with succession. That was something that Carolina was able to prey on back in week one. So I would say like if I'm the Eagles, I'm Sean Manion, this would be something I'd be trying to pull this lever early and often in this game. You're just mentioning the two teams that the Bears have the Bears defense has played so far. it is interesting, like, how does Sean Manion use some of the more creative schemes to his advantage that they face? Because, you know, I think of those two offenses and I think like, yeah, they do some smart things on offense. Yeah.

That'll be fun to watch. Yeah. Chicago's played a decent amount of base defense because they've faced a lot of base personnel offense in terms of like you look at Minnesota. They play a lot with a fullback. Carolina will mix in multi-tight end set. So I'll be interested to see what do the Eagles try to do from a personnel standpoint without Goddard with Earth. theoretically in the game. And then do they try and push those same buttons?

Yeah. Do you think that a Zachert's Johnny Munt 12 personnel package gets base? Or do you think they just play nickel against that? Well, here's the thing is that coming into the season, maybe they would have said, I will play nickel to that. Kyler Gordon is a bigger, he's a bigger nickel. He's a bigger body guy. But like I said, he's not played and it doesn't look like he is coming back.

So the rookie, Malik Mohamed, is the, is the starting corner is your large horse player yeah that's my that's my that's my lark horse player uh under the radar player to watch and a friend favorite what was one of my favorite yeah it was i think it's hot five corner for me in the draft if not he was like six um played outside corner at texas has played on the inside he's gotten his hands on some footballs he had a sack last week of cars and wince he's very involved with everything that they're doing uh that would be a guy and look the other one and we didn't talk about this with johns but uh steven tyriek stevenson hamstring didn't, I think he was, he's questionable going into this, I would say.

So if he can't go, my guess is Muhammad kicks out, as kicks outside. So that would be just a name to watch there. He's had a good start to the season. All right, let's close with your next hen stat. Your most interesting stat for the matchup. So this one, you came up with these. Yeah, I came up with these. So in the 2025 game, so going back to Black Friday,

the Bears became the first defense in three seasons to play at least 45% of their snaps in man-to-man coverage. So roughly half the game in man-to-man against Jalen Hertz and get a W. Usually, Jalen has been very, very good against man-to-man coverage. In that game, it was one of his worst performances. Obviously, the team did not win, but Hertz did not scramble once. That's been something that, you know, it's usually, oh, you play man-to-man. Jailen's going to take off and beat here with his legs.

He also had the second lowest EPA per dropback and lowest expected completion rate in those games where teams played a lot of man-to-man coverage. So is that something that Dennis Allen tries to do again? If he does, are the Eagles? is able to make him pay, unlike what they were able to do a year ago. That's something to watch. How did they keep him from scrambling?

Was it just like the way that they rushed? No, because it was the thing we talked about last year was like, oh, why haven't we seen Jalen Scramble more? Like, yeah, whether it was a conscious decision or not, will Jalen do the same thing this year? That's interesting to see. Yeah. Can I ask you a very just basic question?

Yeah. Eagles offense first, Bears, defense right now. Who do you like better? I would that's a good question so I was going through it's funny I went through a shout to Sean Syed to

Sumer Sports they had the stats and scheme newsletter yeah I was reading through that now because they do a thing where it's like let me stack a bunch of numbers both sides of the ball

up against each other and it's all color coded which I love I love the color coding and it's like all right they are neck and neck and a lot it's two game sample but in a lot of these areas oh explosive play rate

they're basically the same EPA per drop back basically the same and a lot of these key areas. So it is a pretty evenly matched game from that standpoint, just looking at the next level stats. I think I would lean

towards the Eagles, especially with the way that Hertz has been playing. Yeah, I think I would lean Eagles that way. Okay, go ahead. I got to make up for citing past rush win rate on a previous show. My favorite color-coded graphs are the ones that Dana is puts together.

Let's close the book on Settle In. Presented by Ashley. I believe you and Danes are still in a blood feud. Yeah, I was wondering if that was a shout across his bow. Now listen, shout out to Sean Syed. Great newsletter. But Dana's does the color code of charts too. I just haven't seen it yet.

Yeah, that is a shot across the top because he doesn't send it yet. Let's take a quick break. We'll be back to talk about the other side of the ball with the great Duffman. And then we get to week three of Swoper Soorcaste. I mean, what else is Dana's doing? Knock knock. Who's there? Your face.

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people got during the break let's turn our attention to the bear's offense as we talked about a little bit difficult to know what to expect from the passing game at the very least given that it's going to be Case Keatum but what do you see personnel wise from everybody else

yeah I think give us the aviator speech yeah the aviator speech not the elevator speech the aviator speech the way I would characterize it this is an offense that is all about explosives explosives explosives explosives So run game, past game does not matter. It's a great blend.

The way I was talking about it with somebody this week where it's like, it's a really good blend of finesse and physicality because you've got like the aspects of motions and formation variation and speed like Johns was referencing. You have multiplicity like all like the minutiae like the details and it's like all like the nerdy stuff that we all obsessed with versus like oh yeah, like this is downhill smash mouth football.

Like I'm going to take my shirt off and flex on you afterwards. like you know that you have that perfect blend it's like it kind of brings everybody together like i think analysts and players like everybody like it's like yeah like this offense is a lot of fun um so i think conceptually there's a lot to like uh the whether it's run game past game they have all their ball carriers are guys that are going to force miss tackles uh they get after you as blockers that's like a prerequisite for playing in that system um so yeah i got an appreciation for how they go about things they consistently harp on making the same things look different and different things look the same. This is things we hear from everybody else, but they do a really good job of doing that.

And it's a coach that wants to be aggressive in every way. Generate explosives, put as many points on the board as possible. There's nothing conservative whatsoever about the way they go about things. So they want to put stress on you in every way. What do you think, E.J.? I just, I mean, it sounds like a lot of fun. It's a fun office. I want to save what I have to say for later because I don't want to get too much into this.

It would derail us. Or the third hour of the show? Yeah. It's about the tight ends. I don't need to rant about tight ends. I don't want to step on Fran's keys to the game. How much do you think Vic in particular? You talked about this as like an ego game.

He feels a bruised ego from last year. That's a good question. I don't know if it was so much of a schematic. Like it's not like Vic could say like, man, I wish I could have drawn this up different. I just think it was a personnel thing. I remember saying after the game that those guys seemed, you know, like they had been on the field a lot.

And, you know, I think Fran actually said the damn broke after that game. So I don't know. I don't know if it's a Vic like schematic thing. They did, they did do a really good job last year, Chicago of, oh, this motion pulled Cooper de Gene out of the box or this one, but, you know, pulled it. So there were some like schematic things, but I do think it was more of a bully ball thing in that game. So for me, I don't know, like I've never been around Vic Fangio.

I haven't been in the building with Vic Fangio as when he was like the defensive coordinator. But my gut would be that it would be like, hey, this is this is a gut check for you guys. You know? Like he's going to put it on that, but I don't know that he necessarily feels like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. BG was explaining how he does it in a week like this. It's like he'll play the clip.

He'll be like, Jaylick's like, that must have been a bad day for you, huh? You're better than that, right? Thousand that's how I say it. Not like, yeah, not like you gotta be a man. But we're just like,

that can't be you, right? Like the way you're getting pushed around, that's not how you play, right? Yeah, I think that's that, that checks out. All right. Give us their three keys to victory. All right.

Number one, goes without saying that they've got to stop the run in this game. That's number one, without Caleb Williams, no Tyson Baygent, potentially.

This offense is going to want to run the football. They're going to want to protect the less talented backup quarterback, especially after last year's matchup, the Eagles defensive front, they've got to be ready to buck up, be ready for whatever Chicago is going to throw at them at the point of attack.

You have to stop the run in this game and force them to be one-dimensional. Yeah. I mean, if Case Keenham beats you deep a couple times, it's fine. Yes. Right? Like, I feel like this is very much load the box, make them, make them throw it on your situation. Right.

I would be surprised if they were not going all out. Stop the run is probably strong, but like they got to be ready for this one. Yeah, I guess what does that look like? You play more base with DeGene at safety, or is it you just have DeGene more of a committed like box player than we're used to saying? They'll probably play more base just because the bears are a big 13. personal team. But to me, it's just like one-on-ones. Like you're, and so do you put this on, this is a big Jordan Davis game or the way that they run? Is it more, this is more of a linebackers

game? What do you think? So they actually, and I'll get to this, they, a lot of their runs have actually been off tackle outside. I actually think Jordan Davis last year, even though they ran for, you know, the boatload of yards, I thought Jordan Davis played fairly well in the game. Now, Jalen Carter, he had an ugly game, you know, some of these other guys, I think, struggled a little bit more. We talked about some of the conceptual things that they did to kind of remove second and third level defenders from the box to create bigger rush lanes. But I do think that at the end of the day, this is like an all 11 type of situation where

like everybody's got to do their job, which actually plays pretty well into my second key where the back seven, so linebackers and ds, you got to keep your eyes on your luggage. And this was like an old axiom from a coach that was around very early in my career where it's like, um, basically like do your job, like even out, whatever your responsibility is, like you've got to handle your one 11th, right? So, uh, this, we'll see a lot. Yeah, it's, yeah, all those, all those little things all thrown in there. This is a scheme that's predicated on purposeful motion, uh, all the eye candy, all the window dressing, all that stuff to, and it's both pre and post snap. So yeah, you get like the pre snap motions and things like that. You got to be aware of

that, obviously, but maybe more importantly for this game, you have to be cognizant on the, those designer shot plays, those three-level stretch plays, those flood concepts where you've got receivers entering your area. Maybe they came from outside of your vision, you know, they came from the opposite side of the field and we've seen the Eagles give up some of these plays over the first two weeks. I would imagine that that's something where Ben Johnson, yeah, like Case Keenom does not have Caleb Williams' arm to be able to create like the, you know, he's not going to throw lasers down the seam at 28 yards. But if you can get a guy open at 17 and get Luther Burton on the run for another 10 on top, that's something that you can create those explosives that way.

So, you know, that would be for me, a big one for the back seven is like you got to be cognizant of routes coming into your area and zone coverage, like all the pattern matched up. You've got to be buttoned up when it comes to your zone eyes in this game. How much stock would you put in the fact that the Eagle saw more reset motion during training camp? Like the defense has at least some reps against the idea behind a lot of, well, not a lot of these motions, just some of these motions. Yeah, I think that that certainly does that, that, that, that, that, I'm sure that helps.

Ben Johnson has been very good at like game plan specific. Like, all right, we're putting this into attack this one guy based off something we saw on film. So that is, it's going to be a big test from that standpoint. All right. How about key number three? Key number three, be alert for trick plays. Oh, okay. Yeah, this is the one where, you know, Ben Johnson has been known.

You go back to Detroit, like he's a trickster. Like, all the crazy, like, you know, we're going to have offensive tackles go off for passes. where you have the non-quarterbacks throwing the football and all the different reverses and end-ar-rounds, all that stuff. I'd be alert for that in this game, particularly when you get into like the fringe area of the field, so you cross midfield before you get to the red zone,

like between the 50 and the 30, I'd keep an eye out for trick plays from the bears in this game. Fake punts, like all that stuff. Macuba? Yeah. Like the guy who's got to be on alert? Maybe. All these guys.

Like, Jahad Campbell? Like, I'd be ready for all that. Okay. Who's your lark horse player? Caliph Raymond. He actually, so he came over, he played for Ben Johnson, Detroit. He's been in the league for forever now at this point. He came over from Detroit.

He was a 2016 UDFA, but 59-160, so compact receiver. He's their stretch player. So it's a lot of like the pre-stap movement, horizontal. A lot of the things we've talked about with like Hollywood Brown, that's Kaleaf Raymond. It's a good blocker. But also leads the team in targets, leads the team in catches, leads the team in yards. right now. He's caught 13 of 14 targets. Now, a lot of that stuff, especially last week, you know, in the rain, in the weather, a lot of checkdown stuff. But the week before, like deep

crossers, deep overs, he brings speed to the party, level of toughness as well. To me, he's like an upgrade for them over what Olamadez Akias was. But it's like the same role, same archetype. He's just got more juice. Okay. Complete frame in the name to know. And your next 10 stat. The bears have rushed at that. That's a, that's a, it's objectively funny. You can out of that. No, this is serious stuff. Actually, I think it's quite nice that Fran came up with the bird puns. It's like your love language. It's good for you. Don't get involved in this. You're saying I'm right. The bears have rushed outside tackle 28 times this year for

279 yards. So 10 yards are carry and six touchdowns. This is from next gen stats. Now, they were really effective outside of tackle last year as well. That was a big talking point going into and then coming out of that Eagles game. And that's just continued this year. They're the only team since at least 2018, so since in the next gen era, with more than nine yards per carry or more than four touchdowns. And they've got both on such runs through the first two weeks of a season. Kyle Munangai has been productive this way. DeAndre Swift has been productive this way. Caleb Williams chipping in as well.

So obviously he's not playing in this game, but you've got to be aware of Swift and of Monongai off tackle. So, you know, you're talking about going at the edge rushers and at Jalen Carter, Mora, Ojimo, those guys, you know, off the B gaps. Those would be the guys that you want to be able to hold up against these various run concepts. And by the way, a lot of it is because they've got receivers and tight ends that are good blockers. Go ahead. Now is your chance. Let me just get it off my chest. All right.

This offense, you remember the conversations we had in the summer about, oh, well, the Eagles are kind of getting in on this scheme behind the curve? And will they actually be able to like push the envelope and be like forward thinking with an offense that's been prevalent in the NFL for a while? Remember how we had that conversation? like I actually think we are seeing with the tight ends the illustration of how they are behind the curve. I think that Howie Roseman talking about, oh, you know, I have to change my evaluation of the tight ends and prioritize combo guys and versatility. The fact that they haven't caught up to the rest of the NFL or at least the offenses that are pushing the envelope and bringing things forward. Like the use of 13 personnel in particular, if you look at the teams that use it a lot, they are some of the smartest coaches in the NFL. I think the fact that the Eagles are not built to do that right now

is how they are still behind what I would say is like the offenses that are pushing things forward. So just a bummer, you know, a little bit because it was right there for them. You know, if they drafted a tight end in the second round, if you told me they did that, I would have been like, oh yeah, they're going to really get into this 12 and 13 personnel wave that we're seeing take over the league this year. But it's just kind of a bummer that they aren't equipped to do that. It's funny to imagine that like it was it was not that. that in depth of a conversation, it was like, okay,

how he's to Sean Mani, like, okay, tell me what, tell me what you really need to get this scheme ready for what you want to do. And Mayan's like, you know what, we could really use, use a good tight end. I could use like a second or third round pick at tight end. And how he's like, say no more. And then he shows up on game day. He shows up on draft night and he's opening up his present.

And he's like, look, I got to Eli Sowers. And he's like, oh. There is that. There's that clip of Howie clapping and looking at Mannion, like, yeah, got your guy. I don't know. I'm not trying to. This is not against ours. It's just he's not the kind of player who is going to help me.

But you just look at what other offenses in the NFL are able to do coming out of 13 and still be explosive out of 13. Yeah, I think that is if you're Jeffrey Lurie, that probably is something that got your attention this season or last season. Ben Johnson's been there two off seasons now. I do think it's fair to say like all right like they from the moment he got there they turned this group over like four of the five receivers are new

like new as in since Ben Johnson's been hired yeah two of the three tight ends two of the three backs three fifth of the starting O line you know it's yeah made in his image so you know it does take some time to kind of build that all out

speaking of taking some time can you name two can you name the four players who started for the Eagles in the double doin game who have played a game in the league this season. The double joint game was 2018. Yes. Yeah.

Who have played a game. They had to have started for the Eagles in that game. Started for the Eagles in 2018. There's only five of them, period, but there's only four who started. And how many of them on the Eagles? Lane Johnson. Lane Johnson, yes.

Started for the Eagles in 2018. All right. well is that the only eagle they're all eagles I said started for the eagles no but like current Eagles it's got yeah yes well I mean unless you count Jake Elliott yeah Jake Elliott didn't start

so that's the only current eagle on the list that's all I need to say it is yes 2018 this is a good one Arsul is one of this he started in that game wow one one this is as close as I'm going to get to winning

so there's two more one on either side of the ball Dallas Goddard people are guessing Dallas Garder did not start yeah because the arts was that arts didn't play it hasn't played in the game yet this season I play this year yeah

we're in overtime Old for time overtime okay either side of the ball I'll read the super chance so you think T.J. Edwards

no did not start I think he was on the team until the following year yeah okay Dinglebird Eagles managing their roster like that guy in your fantasy league, hoarding quarterbacks hoping someone will trade for one while they have an open roster spot. That is like a heat check from Dinkleberg.

CDP. Oh, I do that. Yeah, I do that. Well, I wouldn't keep an open roster spot. But yeah. CDP, would Zach Bond fit in a Denison defense? It's well done. Rob Milner.

E.J. as it relates to the tight ends. Howie always talks about not catching the wave, rather going the other way and finding the next wave, your thoughts. This is the next wave. This isn't like, oh, that 13 personnel stuff is so played out. I think it makes a lot of sense. You're forcing teams, a lot of teams that are built to play in nickel to play in base.

No, but it is, this is the wave. He wants to steer away from the wave, but meanwhile bringing in a guy who is on the wave. Bringing in Sean Mannion to run what someone, I won't name names, but someone has characterized like the 2016 rambus. offense that's not the wave I don't think that like they're zagging by playing more 11 not doing it i think if if they come into the season with multiple versatile tight ends guys who could

contribute in the run game and they could still be explosive in the past game that is the wave right now that's not like oh you just you're trying to catch it like this is something that started what midway through last year yep like i don't think that this is like uh oh yeah that's like so 2004. I think it's this year you're seeing this pick up. And it's spiked considerably from last year. Like it was like oh, it was the thing last year was a fad that people were dipping their toes into and now it's like

across the league, everybody's playing more 13 personnel and 21 like with a fullback on the field. Would you like to find out the answers? Yeah, what do you got? You give us some hints? One on offense, one on defense. Yeah, give us a better hint. Hargrave? No, no, Hargrave was two. One was a third round pick, one was the fourth round pick.

one of them's tough now Vanté Maddox Vantamatics and Ravante was a four The other one was a very good ping pong player

I got that doesn't help me I'm cheating now so if I answer it's The answer is Isaac Seymala Ah good one Okay There you go Isaac's a good ping pong player

Yeah Really I would not have guessed that You didn't read the profile No Your profile Your profile The definitive

Isaac's profile, yes. I should have known. That's a small part of it. That's a real feat because he wasn't a media friendly guy. It was a good story. Yeah. All right.

Let's get to week three of Swooper, but before we do that, we've got to tell you what happened in week two. Poof. Let's find out. Last week, I bought on EJ's turkey speculation someone other than Drew Kendall will start that left guard.

That did hit. Yeah, you paid four turkeys for it. I believe I paid six turkeys for it. No, I thought it was four. I could tell you. I paid four for it. You're right. I also got to sacrifice myself.

Kyle and Granson, more catchals plus tackles, including special teams and Johnny Munn. Colin Granson was not active in this game. Keldrick Falk tackles plus drawn holds, plus quarterback hits, plus sacks times three, plus TFLs times two,

is greater than Michael Lemon catches plus first downs plus touchdowns time three did not happen. You submitted that and I was the one who was yelled up for one of my submissions. Jerius Cooper plays more offensive snaps than Mikhail Lemon did not happen. So I had one. Fran. Jalick's Hunt has at least

one and a half sacks. Did not happen. Sequin Barclay has at least 100 yards rushing. Did not happen. All of these happened. Devante Smith more catches than Calvin Ridley. Yes. Drew McCuba more tackles than Anthony Hill. I don't think so. And Cooper to Jean, more PBOs and I&Ts and Amani Hooker.

That one was definitely not. Nope. Did not happen. Jalen Hertz references Jeffrey Simmons comments in his post game press conference without being directly asked about them. Directionally correct. Unfortunately, pedantically did not hit. Yeah.

It was in the on-field thing. Doesn't count. Doesn't count. No, it doesn't count. The Eagles win while converting more first downs on first down than the number of turkeys for which this item was sold, which was five. I think they had one. It did not happen.

E.J. The record for longest field goal in the NFL is broken this week. Did not happen. Jalen Hertz sets a new high in under-center completions. Did not happen. Jailen-Hertz sets a new career high in both under-center completions and under-center attempts did not happen. So I take it down.

I have tied me. Fran for the lead on the season with one, and I have 16 turkeys to carry over. Fran has two. E.J. has four. E.J. goes first this week. How you feel? I don't feel great.

It's got to be the worst hit. to start a swooper. We've had two total. Two items hit in two weeks is bad. Who had the other one? Or was it? Uh, you,

you've had one hit and, uh, Bo has had one hit. Yeah. Yeah. Brutal. Brennan, do you have the swooper intro?

Let's hit it. It's time to start swooper. Oh. This is a bidding game. There will be 12 items. And I blew turkeys in that one, which then affected me the next. What?

I did get it. And there you go. I need help Is anyone else as excited as I am? There's like one item a week where you just sound so like smug and sure of yourself that's going to hit. Unbelievable loss for me.

I'm feeling good because the vapor is coming off this thing. Maybe this is what you need to turn it around and glooper. Yeah. It's a backup. James. I don't think you know you don't get to. You think it's a real. No, no, no.

The reason. Sold. Wouldn't be swooper if I got the order right the entire time. All right. Here we go. Swooper's storecasting. If you are new to the game, we've got 12 items up for bid. We're hoping that these things happen during the game on Sunday.

We keep track all year long. E.J., you get to go first. You've got 28 turkeys with which to bid. All right. My first item. We're thinking about going 24-second shot clock. We'll try to loosely hold to that today. Yeah.

Yeah. My first item is a callback to the last time Zachert's played a game for the Eagles and to see if he can surpass what he did that night against Tampa Bay. Zachert has at least five catches or 30 receiving yards. Only needs to hit one of these. Which again would be better than the last time he wore midnight green. Maybe this time will be better than the last. That's not terrible.

That was pretty good. I'm going to start the bidding at three. I certainly think the 30 yards is more likely. Yep. Never know. Maybe he's got the Mackay-11 roll for the game. It only takes one swing pass. I'll go four.

I'll go five. Five going once. Five going twice. Sold to E.J. All right. Hertz. Five or 30. My first item up for submission is the double doink popery.

The double doink poterie. of the following things. Oh, Jesus. Only one of the following things has to happen and a double joint callback. Zach Ertz catches at least five passes as he did on the night of a double doink. Vic Fangio's team loses despite allowing fewer than 17 points, as the Chicago Bears did on that night. Any kick hits the uprights or crossbar. A touchdown is scored on fourth down like the, that crossbar should be with.

see there. A touchdown is scored on fourth down, like the Golden Tate play. A punt or kick is blocked, but the ball first lands beyond the line of scrimmage. So we're talking about a fingertip block here, like Trayvon Hester had. The winning margin of the game is only one point as it was that night. Trayvon Hester is in attendance. And this is just an important reminder that someone needed to break the story to the NFL that Trayvon Hester actually blocked. that field goal. It wasn't just a miss by Cody Parky and that someone is in this room. And finally, E.J. is yelled at by a cameraman. Now this is a callback to me having been yelled at by a cameraman after that game on the field because I was, I was trying to, you know, I was trying to be

poetic. I was taking, I was taking pictures of the, you could see the mark of the ball on the crossbar and it looked like lips, like like like truly fate. had kissed the Eagles onto the next round. And I'm sitting there in the end zone trying to take this picture and trying to get a really good shot for the story. And I'm apparently in the background of some local Chicago newsman's shot.

And the cameraman's like, get out of the shot! But he's being a real a-hole about it. I'm like, I'm doing my job too. Oh, oh. Did you have that much? So I killed him. I don't know what the statutes for limitation.

those things happen. The prosecution presents. Uh, that reminds me. No. You want to really get my blood boiling. This is like a, like a hair trigger.

Okay. When we're, when I'm walking around the neighborhood with the kids and, and a car is not stopping at a stop sign and, and just like rolling. And I will, I will yell at that guy. Yeah.

And the, and the other day, like the guy, at his window, I was like, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I was like, you should be sorry. But then my kid's like, my kid is like, why did you get so mad? I was like, this is being very dangerous. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

One of the first lessons I learned as a teenager trying to learn how to drive a car is don't drive like a jerk in a neighborhood. Like just a good lesson for everyone. If you're driving through a neighborhood. I know. We can all be safer drivers. We are something we were probably all working on. But in a neighborhood.

Like, what are you doing? Yep. So anyway. The double doing potpourri, I will start the bidding. Wait, so it has to be two things? No, any one of them. But not multiple of them hits. No.

At least one. At least one. Oh, at least one. Okay. Any of the following. Any of the following things happen. I'll start the bidding at two. Three.

Four. Bruce Hector and Trayvon Hesta. Four is what you have? Yeah. What I have? Man. Kurt says five catches you're gonna be you're gonna be yeah trying to get some synergy year uh four going once five can't let you have it before i'm out on five are you in or you out

five going once five going twice i'm let you have it thank you what a gentleman i'm like how he was with that camera game he's killed the guy what are you doing you trying to fight me Camer man. Camera man, camera people. I'm, I am performing art here. Art. Camera people can be,

you know, they got a job to do too, though. That's what my predecessor would say. Yeah. But sometimes. But I'm not yelling at him. Yeah, they'll be boxing you out.

You're a brony. Over to you, Fran. All right, my first entry. Zach Hertz has at least as many receiving yards as Colston Loveland in the game. Okay. This has been a big topic.

Chicago because the scuttle butt all offseason was like this guy is going to be the focal point of the offense he's had such a great offseason it was a great second half of the year through two games one catch three yards so can Zach Kurtz outperform colson lovelin who some may have compared Colson Loveland to Zach Hertz when they were coming out of college that was actually one of my comps for him yeah interesting yeah um yeah I wasn't as big on the athletic as the athletic like the overall athletic ceiling right as uh as others were. I liked the player, but not as, uh, yeah. Uh, anyway, we'll start the bidding at three, four. Four going once. Four going twice. You're submitting, you don't even want it for five.

All right. I'll take it. Old. Double down on Zach Hurd. If he's inactive, I'm going to be really upset. All right. I think, uh, my big thing was, Caleb Missed on a couple shot that were in like 18, 20 plus yard gains there was a couple last week so like that it's been a quarterback though I mean, right?

It's not crazy. All right. Item number four from the professor. The Eagles run more successful screenplays than the Bears. The Eagles have zero for the year. The Bears have three. I suppose we will define this by success rate.

Yeah. I'll start the bidding at one. One going one. I can't let you have it for one. One going twice. You want it for two? No. No, I don't.

Sold to bow. You can take it. God, it can take it. That's very excited. I don't feel good about that one. Yeah. All right, over to you, E.J. All right.

Second entry, Jalen Hertz has a Russian touchdown. This is mostly just me being petty. You guys told me to just do stuff for the game. So there you go. Something from the game. for the sake of the fans out there, the people that are watching the show. I think about the news.

My creativity is what could happen, you know, the news that I cover all week. So, Jane Lerner has a rushing touchdown. I'll start to bidding it too. Three. Four.

Five. Five going once. Submit it. You don't even want to put in six. I mean, going twice. I got to keep, got to be prudent with my turkeys here.

Sold to bow. That's not bad value. though. No. Yeah. All right, over to me. Item number six. There are more broadcast shots of press Taylor

than there are Case Keenham turnovers in this game. Now, this has to be a focused shot of press Taylor, not just him in the background. But, you know, obviously there are Eagles connections here. There are more press Taylor shots than Case Keenham turnovers. I believe he's in the booth. I believe he's in the booth. I mean, they might show him once just to get the note that he used to be on the Eagle staff.

Now also, we will, we will, let me also clarify live shots or if it's like a video package and they show a picture of him in Eagles as a callback, that also counts. Okay. Any kind of visual reference to the fact that he was previously with Eagle Staff. Or just to focus on him as offensive coordinator. Right. Okay, so even if, so they show him as not Eagles related, but they're showing him, even though he's not the play caller. Right. Show him.

With a lower third. Well, there's no lower third under Mannion when they show him. It's just very clear that he is the focus of the shot. Okay. There are more of those in case kingdom turnovers. I'll start to bidding at one. Two. Two going once.

Wacking a lot of case kingdom turnovers. Two going twice. Yeah, let you have it. What is the, you guys, no wonder we don't have anything hit. I mean, submitting stuff that you don't even want to put three turkeys on. All right, AJ's down to 17 turkeys.

Are you trying to bilk me? Over to you, Fran. I've got nipples, DJ, can you bilk me? Are you trying to bilk me of all my turkeys here? All right,

my next entry, the Eagles force a turnover. I saw a stat on social media this week, and apologies for, because I actually didn't write down where I saw it. Oh, it's Urban Frank. Oh, was it, Ruben, Frank? Because I've heard the stat already today.

The Eagles are 2-0 without forcing a single turnover. There's only been five teams in NFL history that have ever done that. Two of them have won the Super Bowl, the 84-9ers and the 98 Broncos. You were still confident. Shout to Rube, I guess. That one also might be a Rube stat. Shout out to Rube.

Rube is the one who told me about Anjin de Pautouin, which I've heard a lot of feedback about. Shout out to you guys. I'll start to being at three four four going once five five going once

six six going once six going twice seven I'll let you have seven going once seven going twice eight

nine ten ten going once eleven eleven going once eleven going twice sold To the Duffman.

Down to 10 turkeys for Fran. What are the rest of you guys? EJ's at 17, I'm at 34. 34. Okay. Over to the professors number two. Jalen Hertz sets new career highs in both under-center completions and under-center attempts.

His current under-center completion record is four set against the Vikings and Raiders last year. His under-center attempt record is seven set last week against the Titans. This is a reverse Dutch auction. Start at zero turkeys and slowly count up until two people yell swooper out. Are you prepared to do that, Brenna? No. All right, I'll do it.

Everybody ready? Yeah. Gotta yell swooper out. Wait, to be out. To be out. And then the last one standing gets it for the cost. Ready. Zero.

Zero. One. Two. Three. Four. Swip her out. That's unfair to me. I'm calling the numbers.

That's all right. I should have done it earlier. I know that was going to happen. All right. Hertz center, center stuff. Over to E.J. I've been burned by that one before.

Before I do my final entry, can I ask you a question? the record on on air the sickos in the in the disc discord the diehards in the discord shout to them become a diehard can join the discord they wanted to know if they can submit one swooper item through me so like it'll just be one of mine each week how do you feel about that it feels to me like you're getting out of work yeah because you know i i i don't work hard enough already for sure part of the part of the grind of the swooper season is having to figure out the creativity every week to offload that.

I mean, just one of my three. I think, you know, maybe they could talk to the professor about taking one of his. Oh, but Danes is they're always so creative and mine are usually not creative. How do you feel about this, friend? Can only be better. Wow. It's only being an improvement. What's neck?

The, we give you this. Then what? They start bidding for you. you know where's your agency and all of this it drives it incentivizes people

to become diehards and you know I mean what Fran just said wasn't nice but it didn't hurt my feelings that much I wouldn't mind

what if we how can pick what if we what if we add a 13th item honestly it might be more work for me to go through all the entries

and have to decide which one is best what if we add a 13th entry and it becomes the fan submission I don't know I don't mind giving up one of mine

Yeah, we know. All right. Everybody weigh in in the comments. Yeah. Should E.J. be allowed to do less work creatively? Yeah. Or Swooper. Do you feel like this is him getting one over on us?

What do you mean getting one over on you? I'm trying to honor. I'm trying to honor the die hearts. Honor the discord. They're in there. They love Swooper. They want to be a part of it. Yeah.

You just position this is like, E.J. is so lazy, man. and he just hates doing anything. Nobody wants to work anymore. Unbelievable. Generation. Handout generation. This is outrageous.

All right. My final entry. The Eagles record. His final entry ever. The Eagles record a first down while facing first and ten. Now they haven't done this yet. There's a little bit of like, I mean, you're being selective with the first and ten. First and ten there because they have.

game first downs on first down this season. But again, for the first time this season, you think they're going to do it. I'll start the bidding at four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight.

Nine. Ten. Ten going once. Then going twice. Sold. I'm down to 20. 17 for E.J. 10 for Fran.

My next item. Mackay Lemon catches a pass behind the line of scrimmage and gains positive yards. Now, laterals count. So if it's a backwards pass to him, that's technically a rush. We're still going to count that for this. The Eagles, the Eagles go back to the well on the Mackay Lemon, swing pass, wide receiver screen pass, and all he's got to do is gain one yard. I'll start the bidding at one. Yeah.

Two going once. Yeah. I just think they're going to take a week off from it. Not that I don't think he's going to get positive. I just don't think they're going to throw one to him this week on those. Two going twice. Three. All yours, Fran.

You can have it for three. Three going once. For three. Three going twice. Sold to Fran. Someone says we should add three items, two from the chat, and then I have to do an extra one. How much time do you think it takes to do swooper entries? Are you spending like an hour on your swooper?

entries. At least. Actually. I mean, every minute of my life is in preparation for Swooper. You know what I mean? Spread your wins and fly where like I did like one night of cramming and Fran has like the average ball off season. The air miles for every team.

All right, Fran over to you. All right, my last one. A non-quarterback throws a pass in the game. Ooh. We'll start the bidding at Genre. Start the bidding at

three. I'll say four. Four going once. Four going twice. Sold. Brand, you are like the Sean Mannion

first down play call of super entries. You don't even believe in this stuff you're doing right. First of all, how many points have you scored this year

so far? At least I've submitted an entry that's it. I mean, it's your entries that I, you know, you spent all this time on them.

You'd think you'd think of things that are likely. Brenna is all over the turkeys. I've got 16. Fran's got seven. EJ's got 17 as we prepare for the final submission from the professor. The Eagles win while allowing fewer points than the number of turkeys for which this item is sold. Now, this is a sealed bid.

First price auction may borrow turkeys from next week. If there is a tie, tied bidders continue as a normal. auction from that point. So we will all write down our number, the highest bid wins, and then what you are bidding for is the Eagles will win while allowing fewer points than whatever the winning bid is. You got it down?

You got it? We've got to write it down. And everybody understand. Think about it. Once again, EJ's got 17. Of course, you may borrow from next week. Fran's got seven. I've got 16.

Put it in. No tap. Don't you worry about it. I mean, this got nothing to do with strategy. Trying to figure out the best way to do this for the audience. That you can draw. Hey. Everybody ready?

No. Can't figure out of draw. All right, I'm ready. Come on. One sec. This is usually about when Lindsay would start counting. All right. All right.

We ready? Yep. Three, two, one. I got eight. I'm also eight. Oh, everybody eight. Wow. Crazy.

Wow. All right. Who's going to bid nine? Oh, another nine. Do you want to out do nine? Nope. Nine going once.

Nine going twice. Fran gets it. So, Fran has negative two turkeys. He's got the double doink potpourri. The Eagles force a turnover. Mackay Lemon gains positive yards on a pass. He catches behind the line of scrimmage. And the Eagles win while allowing eight points or few.

viewer. I've got the Eagles screens have are more, the Eagles have more successful screen passes than the Bears do. Jalen Hertz scores a rushing touchdown. Jalen Hertz under center stuff. Eagles score, get a first down on first and 10 and a non-quarterback throws a pass and I've got 16 turkeys left over. EJ's got 17 turkeys left over and he's got Zacherts has at least five catches or 30 yards. He's got Zach Hertz has more. receiving ours in Colston Loveland and press tailor shots on the broadcast are more than Case Keenum turnovers. Quick note from Eagles practice according to our friend Elliot Shore Parks, Sequin Barclay is going to practice today. He's in uniform. He got a neck roll on too,

which is fun. Everybody get your roll on. Everybody gets your freaking neck roll on. What? Okay. A couple super chats came in. during swooper. Oh, man. SRG. Can we get a 24 second shot clock for Bose items descriptions? Nice. And Mikey Faye is the more complicated swooper items, the better.

I think we all agree with that. Not all of us. Well, yeah, some of us are just trying to get the work done. Just check the box. Dave Zangero, that is, how dare you? Dave Zangero reports that Tank Biggsby is not practicing today. Sidelined. Mm.

And Clittlesby. Wow. Brina is definitely the easiest to make laugh. But it's a slightly different thing that makes her laugh than he's usually going to get Lindsay. Yeah. Or Julia laugh a lot. Yeah. Shout out, Julia.

And Lindsay. We laugh a lot, but Brina laughs the most. Well, we've got Bree tomorrow. And I don't know, Bree is a harder laugh. We're going to have to work a little harder tomorrow. Dana's where's his funny cap tomorrow. Do you think that means that Bree doesn't like us? Maybe just you.

I feel like I've made Bree laugh before. Are you sure? Have you thought about it? Oh yeah. What? Yeah, good stuff, everybody. Thank you very much. Brina.

Let us know in the comments what extra work EJ can do. and what do you think about the potential of a 13th item and swooper. We'll talk to you tomorrow at 2 o'clock. We've got the professor and Brandon Lee Gouten. Joining us, EJ. We'll have the scoop from whatever it's called over there at the Eagles facility. That's all we got.

Thank you, Fran. We'll talk to tomorrow at 2 o'clock. And as always, we love you.