PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Eagles-Titans Postgame: Eagles 2-0, Jalen Hurts Delivers Game-Winning TD To Darius Cooper

Episode Date: September 20, 2026

Eagles-Titans Postgame: Eagles 2-0, Jalen Hurts Delivers Game-Winning TD To Darius Cooper Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello everybody and welcome to the PHY Eagles Postgame show following the Eagles game in week two against the Tennessee Titans live from the Xfinity Lounge and presented by Wawa and you just had a feeling. This was going to be a weird, ugly game and it was. But then Jalen Hertz gets the ball down 20 to 17 with just under two minutes left and leads a nine play 65-yard touchdown drive with two unbelievable catches from Devon. Vante Smith and a game-winning touchdown pass to Darius Cooper. And we are going to talk all about it. Let us know what you think in the comments and hit the like button, all that good stuff. I am joined by Super Bowl champion Vinnie Curry, Brandon Lee Gouten on the day of Darius Cooper. This is very important.

And for the first time, we've got MJ Miles Johnson. Real talk with MJ with us. We're going to talk about all of this. But we start with the big takeaway presented by Xfinity. And Vinny Curry, let's start with you, your number one takeover. away as the Eagles are 2-0 to start the 2026 season. Jalen Hertz is super clutch. He got us to W, but we have to talk about how many missed tackles the defense had today.

Okay. That's not the defense that we're used to. That's not Philadelphia football. That's not the way we do things around here. But we got the win, though, in the clutch moment, but that's damn sure not what we do on defense. Too many mistack. Okay.

Branden League out. Over to you. Dillon Hertz, obviously did a lot of heavy lifting on that. final drive should get all the credit in the world, but he couldn't have done it. That his teammate, Devante Smith finishes the game here with 13 targets, 10 receptions, 117, the touchdown. He was great in this game. Had an awesome play that didn't count as well, that catch along the sideline there. Devante was lights out. I mean, yeah, the second to last play of that drive where Jalen delivers the ball into the corner and he gets that second foot down, just barely,

unbelievable stuff from Devante Smith. Over to you, MJ. I got to talk about, Jaylon Hertz. And we got to talk about what Jeffrey Simmons says. So Jeffrey Simmons was talking about my quarterback saying, oh, we want him to play quarterback. Well, how about six for eight, 65-yard game-winning drive? And Darius Cooper, shy of that guy, that's the Darius Cooper game, a guy that he stays ready for the moment. But Jeffrey Simmons, is that how a quarterback should play? I'm like, this is what we want to see from your franchise quarterback. Your O-Line ain't playing well. The defensive line has been playing well.

Miss tackles here and there. And then I'm looking at this offense against all lives, no Goddard, no Seekwan. And Jayla Hurts, he does it again. Like y'all said, it's other issues. But I'm so happy that we got a franchise quarterback. And the Ravens, they lost. They lost the Saints. You talk about the Cardinals.

They beat Justin Herbert and the Chargers. But, you know, the Eagles, they went ahead in Tennessee. see it was Kyle it's Kyle rough but they beat the Italians and I'll take a W at the end of the day. All right, let's take a look at the super chance that we have already coming in here. I know everybody is fired up about this result. Rivera Jalen Hurts' best two minute drill in his career. Marty Bum says Vinny, we missed you. Miss you too, man.

Miss you too. Good to have you, Vinny. SRG, just here to hear BLG on Darius Cooper. I feel like we should give you the floor here. I'm so happy. I really am. I was ready to be mad about this game. You know,

things looking not so great for a little bit there towards the end, but to have the Darius Cooper moment at the end of the game. And then he had a good catch earlier in the game, too. I was going to say that this was a mostly juiceless game to some degree. And this building did not come alive until that, I think, 23-yard completion to Darius Cooper over the middle catch and run. All of a sudden, we're all fired up, and then obviously he gets the game where.

And forget what I've said about Darius Cooper. Obviously, I'm the Darius Cooper guy. Jalen Hart set it back in training camp. He said this guy has been awesome this summer when he was asked about Don Tavian Wicks who also had a great game credit to him. But Darius Cooper needs to have a role in this offense and I think we saw why today.

Pat Fienis says anecdotally I feel like Marcus Epps is the most hurtled player in NFL history. He did get jumped over in this game. J. King Street and we bribed the coaches to never again call first down run into second and long swing pass behind the sticks. And that's how that drive

ended after the Darius Cooper for long completion. A.J. Bale says, why are people still hating on Hertz? When whenever he gets in game-winning drive situations, he consistently delivers. And also, who had the turkeys on Jalen addressing Simmons comment? And go birds. SRG, 5-007, do the Eagles have a kink for third and longs? We're going to get to that.

Because honestly, my big takeaway here is I think this Eagles team needs to go through a kind of similar look-in-the-mirror change of identity on offense as they did in 2004 and it's the reverse of 2024. This team needs to stop bashing their head into a wall on first and second down. You saw it get them into real trouble in this game. They had as a team 31 carries, 32 carries for 89 yards. That's 2.8 yards per carry consistently putting Jalen Hertz and the offense into trouble behind the sticks on third and long and Jalen was bailing them out. Now Jailen did not have his best game. He did throw two interceptions, including one in the end zone and one when he under threw as he was hit, a wide open Devante Smith.

But other than that, and I know that's easy to say other than that, I thought Jalen looked really good in this game. You see him seeing things much quicker. This team needs to understand that their offense needs to run through. Jalen throwing the ball to Devante, throwing the ball to Dantavian Wicks. It was like they didn't know what game they were in in this game because every time they had to drop back to pass, the Titan secondary was letting these guys be wide open.

Right. Man, they started putting heat on hurts, but, you know, I think we gave up three or four sacks. But at the end of the day, man, our O-line just doesn't look like our O-line right now. It's week two. So I just hope that, you know, that, you know, they could get some things fixed, some things changed. But you could definitely feel and see that Coach Stout presence is very much. Tell me what you said in the elevator.

Stout, do you miss us? Baby, come back. Somebody get that man on the phone. Somebody get that mail on the phone. Quick. If you missed it and you weren't aware, without Landon Dickerson, Drew Kendall starts this game at center,

and Cam Jurgens goes to Left Guard for the first time in his career, did not look live, like Cam Juergens said, in a particularly great game at Left Guard. And Jalen Hertz was under pressure all game long, right, MJ? He was, and I'm sorry, look, Land Dickerson, Cam Juergens, I appreciate what you all did during the 20s.

2024 Super Bowl because without Joe, Sequin doesn't get 2K rushing yards. We probably don't get to the Super Bowl. But just like how they probably had a long conversation with Land Dickerson after game one, they don't have to talk to Cam Juergens because that was terrible. It was terrible. And it's at a certain point, like you have a franchise quarterback and you're really putting this guy on harm's way if you keep letting these guys out there.

And I'm looking at a Willie Lampkin. I'm looking at, hey, let's see. if Mark Elbeau can do some guard. Like, let's see something else because Cam Jurgens at left guard. That wasn't the answer. And people had questions of, well, Drew Kendall at center, Land Dickerson shifts in another position. Could that create like kind of two problems?

But regardless, Cam Jurgens, yet again, had a really bad game. And it's not just on him. You saw other penalties on the O line. But ultimately, I think the interior offensive line, like, that's the biggest issue with this offense. and until that really gets addressed and optimistically, let's just say, all right, bad two games, right? Bad two games from Camgerio, bad two, you know, bad game from Land Dickerson.

But the interior offensive line, you can't get out rushed by the tie-ins. I'm just sorry, even with Sequin being out, like, and part of that's on the defensive line to, you know, not let up a, what, third and 22 and a 27-yard run. That's unacceptable. but I tweeted during the game, I said, that play, you don't deserve to win. You don't deserve to win because those type of plays, like, aren't winning type of plays. But I'm looking at this offensive line in the interior and saying there's no way the Eagles get to the Super Bowl or contend as a serious contender, this offensive line, you know, is still looking this way.

Yeah, let's hold the defense for a little bit and stay on the offensive here. Because BLJ, you were with me for training camp. We were out there every single day. and at no point during the times when Lennon Dickerson was not on the field, did Cam Jergens ever work next to Jordan Milata? And you saw it today, there were several plays where they're not on the same page on stunts and twists. They're letting guys free, and they've never played together before.

Yeah, that's where I want to give Cam Durgan some level of grace from a standpoint of just like hasn't played there, but that's the Eagles fault. Right? Like they could have prepared better for this. They shouldn't be in this situation where that's the case. And that's frustrating. And he did have another penalty today. It's three holding penalties at least.

now and I believe in two games here. So it's rough and it goes against the identity of what we expect from Eagles football, being strong on the trenches, Vinny, you know. And to see them look like this, it's not what we expect. And I'm totally on the same page with you, Bo, when you talk about this offense. And I think what frustrates me, what had me ready to be heated if they lose this game, is the lack of ambition that we see first early down specifically. And I know the professor has been aiming that here on the show.

But that's just been so frustrating. Yeah, I mean, listen, when you, this game was like proof that that way does not work. Because what happened in the first half? You got a bunch, they have three straight 10 plus play drives right there. In theory, in the weather, wearing down the Titans defense. And guess what? The Titans defense was fine in the second half. You did not run over them in the second half because you had worn them down.

Instead, you are inviting this to be a closer game because you are having fewer possessions. You're running the clock. and you let a bad team hang around, like go out and punch this team in the face. Go throw, go bombs away on them. I was really disappointed that they didn't adjust earlier in the game. Now again, they're two and oh. You're allowed to win and work on things.

Go ahead, Vinnie. Is it too early for the Howie Mean with the Bonacomacom? And what do you think he's looking for? I mean, I might be one of the first time in a long time that you have to look on the office and lying. You're yelling, You know, I just, you know, two games in, the teams look good. Jalen looks more comfortable than we've seen him in a long time.

Even when he was at the, you know what I mean, on the run to the Super Bowl. Like this man just looks so comfortable. He didn't flinch, didn't waver not one time in the final two minutes. So it's like, man, he's telling you, I got this, but he just needs some help inside to have a little bit more time. Yeah, I don't think you're wrong. Let's check out the super chances. as they continue to roll in.

Dale Ridgeway, that's Darius, big shush Cooper to you. L8908, my kingdom for one easy regular season win where they play well from start to finish. Keys Collective.

MJ, guys, I need more excitement, be unbearable. Okay. Heson, Smitty, X Mojo. Epps has never been good. The clutch gene is a real thing.

Tank is the best RB so far. Go birds, D.H. Now, Tank Bigsby, I thought he did run hard in this game. There were a few plays where he was really carrying guys on his back, but 13 carries for 33 yards for two and a half yards to carry to go with a touchdown. So we didn't get to see him bust loose in the open field. Sequin, we should say, suffered a Stinger,

missed the first half after that first play, then came back early in the second half but did not stay in the game. My sense, though, is, you know, Stinger doesn't mean that he's going to, what's a Stinger like, Vinny? Because I don't think he's going to be a ton of time, right? I just hope it doesn't linger. You know, Stinger could kind of linger throughout. for a couple weeks, so I'm just hoping he's okay.

Okay. And then Dallas Goddert with a knee injury, they said, did not return in this game. You hope that he is okay. Johnny Munt had two catches for eight yards in his absence, and E.J. Jenkins played a little bit as well. Johnny Munt, by the way, at the craziest part of this game, of all the crazy things, is the play where Jalen has to run out of bounds, and he's just running towards Johnny Munt,

hoping for a little bit of help, like, hold me up, and Johnny just goes out of the game. the way, Jillens, like, runs into something. What are you doing, Johnny? I don't get it. Johnny, even like that holding penalty, like, you got one job, my brother, that's to block. You came to be a block and tight end. And now the conversation is Dallas Goddard, you know, last season, he was healthy for a majority of the years. You have to worry about tight end two, for real. This season, we hope it's not the case, but what if Goddard is out one to two games? Do you feel confident? I don't feel confident Johnny Munn being my tight end.

one, maybe the tight end too, cool, but now you're looking to, is there any Zach Ertz reunion? reunion time, baby. In Philly, I'm like, let's go, Vinny. That's what we do? Vinny knows a little something about coming back to the evening. Yeah, maybe he comes for you in time, man. Let him get his Kobe farewell tour, man. Why not?

I love it. I love it. Honestly, I think this is like residue by design because howe Roseman did not complete the tight end room over the course of the office. No, not even close. Who's not ready to play. And this is what you sort of invite. And if we know Howie, when it comes to reunions, he's looking for the best, you know, the best price.

Happy medium, you know what I mean? So I think that's when it comes to anything. He's looking at. Yeah. Well, well, well, when it comes to reunions, though. Yeah. It's a little different because you know what you're getting. Yeah.

You know, so it's like. But he's also playing on your emotion. Your own emotion, right? Yeah. And then, urge, as you can see, come on, my brother. brother, you better get on that phone. Yeah. Go ahead, BLJ. I want to get back to what both said about just the month point, but like,

thematically, it was like, what does Jalen need to do to get help in this game? Yeah, it was. It was a perfect example of, yeah, just. And honestly, I'm so glad they won the game from that standpoint because Jalen deserved to win because he was carrying the offense on third down. It didn't have to be that hard for him all the time. And even that pick he has the second one, like, okay, you know, obviously Jeffrey Simmons gets to him.

But still, it's like, okay, that's a throw in a situation where you didn't need to be in third and long because you were hampered by the offense. And it's a weird spot, again, where I feel great about Jalen. I think we all feel great about Jalen, but it's weird because you don't feel necessarily great about the offense as a whole. To be just put a bow on it, Jalen Hertz finishes 26 of 37

for 264, two touchdowns, two interceptions, five carries for 16 yards, had a couple tush pushes we saw for the first time this year. I think only one or two scrambles from him, so that was less than last week. But, I mean, aside, from the interceptions, and the interceptions were not great. I mean, the one in the end zone, that's a bad play by Jalen Hertz.

Like, that's really bad. It's the first interception. He's thrown inside the 10-yard line since 2023. That's like, he's going to be tough on himself about that one. The other one, I think is a bad interception, too, because he should probably throw that ball sooner, but he gets hit at his as he throws. But other than that, I really did. I thought that Jalen was looking really sharp today.

Yes, he was. He just looked super confident. Like I said, early in the show. that last two minutes he didn't waver he didn't flinch like he already knew i think we all knew that we was getting ready to where we felt real confident in him because he was displaying his confidence and how about davante smith 10 for 117 13 targets and i felt like they probably should have thrown in the ball twice that much man it's it's insane because you want to you wonder in those situations pressure situations dumb two has been connected for a while bro it's just it's just amazing

I'm glad that when I got on our team. I'm going to scurred something. I'm glad they're on the one team, but it's just the same thing. Why don't we run through the game-winning drive? Because I think it was a fun just sort of see Jalen take over. And it did not start the greatest way. You know, he throws incomplete over the middle of the field to Dantavian Wix. Then they get just like four yards on a little comeback on the outside to Devante. So it's now third and five.

And this is a huge play here where he sort of throws a jump ball to Dantavian Wix. And Wix goes up and gets it. And MJ, you were right about this. Wix has been awesome. Five for 74. I think better than anybody could have bargained for, right? Easily. And it brings me back when Seekwan said,

thank you, Howie, for Dantavian Wix. And folks from the outside are kind of like, okay, he was like the WIVA 3, maybe YVCorp four sometimes with the pack because they had a crowded wide receiver room. Sometimes all it takes is opportunity. And you got some guys like Seekwon, they already see her riding on the wall throughout training camp.

And we saw it like, if you take out Smitty or Mackay because they were injured during training camp. Don Tavian Wix was easily the best wide receiver and had the best connection of where it hurts during training camp. So to see this connection this early on, I think we saw, I think we expected, okay, middle of the season, you'll see Don Tavian Wicks really take off, right? I didn't expect him like from the start of the season, like 70 plus yards each of, you know, two games.

Like, so that's amazing. He's showing like, this isn't just like a one-off game. The first game of the season, you know, has 70-plus yards, a touchdown. He backed that up in Tennessee and 95 degrees, like super, super hot. Like, so I love what I'm seeing from Don Tavia and Wix and that Eagles, Wai receiver 1,

Wai receiver 2. I see that much of a drop-off, if anything. Like, Devonze Smith is the Y-Bosever 1 and he's going crazy and then Dontevian Wicks he's cooking too so folks were talking all this like they're going to have a big drop off

without A.J. Brown, all of this. I'm not seeing a drop off actually. I'm not seeing. The only thing that I absolutely hate in the passing game are those screens and stop playing with my man McCaill Lemon and giving him things that aren't helping, aren't sufficient,

aren't like really playing to his strengths. Like those screens. So that's the one thing I just hated. But the wide receiver duo, I love it. Yeah, there was, Mackay had the one 14-yard catch over the middle of the field on sort of a second reaction play from Jalen.

But the play right before the second interception where it's a tie game and it's right after the Darius Cooper play. You're into field goal range. First and 10, you go, okay, let's go two yards up the middle again. Here we go. Second and eight, you throw that backwards pass to Mackay Lemon, another horizontal play.

It goes down as a run because it was backwards but negative five yards and that sets up putting jalen into that tough situation and we saw this last week right they did those same plays nothing cooking on them like why were you so eager to go back to it and in that high leverage of a moment when you had momentum like leading up and it's like screen backwards all right yeah so much for that so i loved i mean we saw like some promise from macka lemon that kind of opens up a conversation about like just the rookies because i think even like elize stowers with got her kind of being nicked up like a folks going to be looking at it him. Hey, like, we did draft

you in the second round. Like, what are you going to do? But McCoy Lemon, he was definitely draft to be more of like an impact player. And I still see Stines. I'm not giving up on McCoy Lemon. I still feel like he's got to be in situations that played in his strings over the middle. Like that 14-yard reception, like, let's

get him to both past the sticks, not the line of scrimmage. So that's what I'm seeing from McCah, like play to his strengths, play to what they used him at at USC. I don't know if like Hertz got to like get a call with like Sean Mani and Lincoln Riley, like they can set it up, but they got to do something because Lincoln Riley had that brother McCailleman cooking at USC.

Back to the game winning drive after that catch from Dantean Wix, which gets them there first, first down. Jalen hits Devante on a slant and then gets Devante on the sideline to get out of bounds, stopped the clock a little bit. And then really what was kind of a hidden big play from this drive, 51 seconds left, Jalen looks like he's about to get sacked and avoids that sack, is able to get the ball away for an incompletion. huge play because otherwise not only is he losing yards

but the clock goes down you're probably settling for a field goal his awareness on that play to get outside the box was yes and get the ball to the line of scrimmage really impressive stuff from him there then on the next play it's a short scramble which leads to the third down throw to devante on that corner route and a beautiful throw from jalen and an unbelievable catch from devante who had four catches on that game winning drive and then the game winning touchdown to deris cooper fantastic stuff back to the super chats it depends thumbs up for the way

Make sure you're hitting that thumbs up button in the chat, everybody. Aaron D. Gailin and Devante won that game. O-line and defense need to be better. Respect to Simmons, but hold this L. No, greats. Matthew Greenwood, first things first. Wide receiver won is that dude.

Talk to me nice. Two other things. Yet Johnny Munt off the team. And Hertz's first interception is a defensive holding on Smitty. Okay? Take a look at that. Maybe Fran will have thoughts on that. TZ Trez.

I needed the defense to get fired up. and respond back earlier in the game. Can't let Cam Ward of all QBs talk crazy. And Jordan Davis's face like that with no response. Got the wind, no go birds. You were on top of that, MJ, about Cam Ward talking smack to Jordan Davis early. That bothered me so much.

Well, I get Cam Ward. You're feeling yourself a young guy up against the Eagles team that you were a big, big underdogs. I get it, but it's easy to talk after you just scored a touchdown. I would love to see you like when it's tied, when you're down. So, but then you scored such that. Now you talk crazy, my man, Jordan Davis.

And Jordan Davis, he's the type, like, if you're talking, if you're talking to Jordan Davis, you was probably starting it. Because Jordan Davis really don't talk like that. Maybe you do, but I don't get that vibe from him. So, yeah, I don't really like that. Yeah, and even on that, that's be honest. Come on, you know, Jordan Davis, brother, you know, I love you. Boy, he would have felt that one.

He would have felt that one. Yeah, I think you're right. I get, but you would have found out with. All right, let's get to the defense, because let's talk about this. This was not the greatest performance

from the Eagles defense. They started well. It looked like the titles couldn't do anything. Now obviously they get a touchdown after the interception by Jalen, which sets them up in the red zone.

But other than that possession, you know, it's three and out, one first down in a punt, two first downs in a field goal, no first downs, three and out. And then last three possessions, they score a touchdown,

and then they go 69 yards for a field goal, And as you said, as you called out from the beginning, Finney, as we closed the big takeaway presented by Xfinity, tons of mistackles, uncharacteristic mistackles from guys like Zach Bonn, you know, Drew Macuba, Marcus Epps, guys on the outside as well, guys not keeping contain in the edge game.

It was not great. And that's what I meant. He would have felt that one. Like, first of all, the Titans run game was better than their past game. They wanted the ball out of Can World Hand. So this talking smack thing where they just got underway under my skin.

Right. But at the same time, we gave them room to talk because, like I said, we didn't set edge as well. We didn't tackle well. We just didn't do anything that we known to do and it was just like we were just out there. It was not great. No, it wasn't.

It felt like missed tackles too on plays where it wouldn't just be like one guy missing the tackle. Yeah. It's like, oh, that guy misses a tackle. Another guy misses a tackle. I mean, dude, they had Spears dancing in it like. Just sloping stuff. Like, come on.

And it's weird too because the defense actually did a good job at times of getting the Titans into third and long. They had third and 14 late in the first half. And let's be honest. They had bad angle of the mistackle. It wasn't like a miss tackle. Like I just missed it though. The angle of the attempt of the tackle was bad. Yeah.

Lobby. I guess the heat's a factor, but rough. Well, tell me what that's like, Vinnie. You know, you played in Tampa. Right. What's it like a September game when it's like 100 plus degrees on the field? what does that do to a defender? I'm going to tell you like I tell you.

Y'all about a hydrate. They tell you that. Coming in there on Tuesday on Monday. You know, hydrate, hydrate, got a hydrate throughout the week. I'm pretty sure the guys hydrated the night before the game. They went in a day early. They went in on Friday. Yeah, to adapt to it.

But there's still no excuse for no mistackle. You know, if those, if you can, I'm pretty sure. I would love to see this, how many mistackers it was. but they used to have the same. We talked about this last season. I'm not sure if y'all remember. But single-digit mistackers, 100% that means you had a great defensive performance,

no matter what it is. Like, I don't care how the game going. If you had single-digit mis tackles, the defense played really, really well. If you had double-digit mistackles, that means it was just a bad day in the office. And that's what we've seen today. We've just seen guys, the lack of angles.

I don't want to say effort because the heat, you know that monkey jump on your back. But at the same time, that's why it's a rotation. That's why there's the guys there. Like, we have enough to fall in line and come back in. But let's talk about, you know, I just didn't feel it. Like, you didn't feel the juice pop, you know, the screen. I agree with you.

I thought there were a few guys who stood out and had a good game, I thought. I thought Nolan Smith played a very good game today. Now, Jalen Carter, like a little bit quiet given the injury, but that makes the biggest play of the game on defense. Man, but he might have led the team in taxes. And then jihad is the other one, 10 tackles combined, you know, including forces. But the Jalen play where he gets that sack, the force the field goal is huge. That was a momentum.

I want to talk about that for a second. That was a momentum changer. You know, they game ain't going. They feeling good about themselves. They get there, you know, there was to play. First and goal after that, you know, Spares start doing his dance. Then we come out and get sack and we force him to a field goal, which opened up the gate for the two-minute drive. Right. It's a sack on first and 10, first and goal from the 10.

That's them way back. Nick then Siriana uses his timeouts, so it means that Jalen's going to get the ball back with 156 left, no timeouts. It worked out very well. It was a huge play from Jalen. One coaching thing, BLG I want to ask about, Nick declining the penalty, but then accepting it with about 3.30 left, it was going to be 3rd and 22, and then instead he takes second and 28, which then sets up the long run by Tai J. Spears. I did not like that. I would have rather had the third and 22. It was like he was trying to make the field goal more difficult, but third and 22 stick with that the first time. Yeah, I agree with that.

And ultimately, I guess it didn't matter. You know, results. Sure. We're talking about results oriented. You know, they keep up a crazy long run in that situation. But yeah, that did stick out in the moment. All right. We got a lot more to get to here on the P.

Post-Game show presented by our friends at Wawa. We're going to hear from E.J. Smith live from the Titan Stadium. get the sense of the locker room after this impressive comeback led by Jalen Hertz. But on the other side, Fran Duffy is going to break down some of the big plays in this game. Let us know what other thoughts you have in the comments. Hit the like button, all that good stuff. Stay with us much more to come with MJ, BLG, and Super Bowl champion, Vinny Curry. Wake up!

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Number five, that's right. Fran Duffy. Duffman. The Duffman, our film aficionado. Fran, how are you? Initial thoughts. Let's not go crazy. But no, it's going to look, not the best game to take in, you know, like the,

oh, the broadcasts of the aesthetics of this game are tough. I'm not looking forward to rewatching 70 plays this offense in the morning, first thing. Now, that's it. The important thing, like, big. picture you're an eagles fan it's hard to get wins in september go out get out you know you want to call it a lucky win whatever you want to call it doesn't matter you get the w no one's going to remember that in december so uh a big win for this team while you're still figuring things out on both sides you're trying to get into game shape you didn't have a preseason and all those things

uh so you get all those caveats out of the way you got to feel good getting a w all right friend before we get to the first play i do want to take a second on on drew breeze here who for most of this game was so boring that i thought he He himself was going to fall asleep. But how about MJ? Jalen Hertz is scrambling in the second quarter on second and 10 or whatever it is and slides down two yards short of the first down. And Drew Brees of all people is saying that in week two in the second quarter,

Jalen Hertz needs to lower his shoulder to get to push push territory. That pissed me off so much. Because what are we talking about? We're talking about September, middle of September, against the Titans. Now is the time to risk it all. Like, now's the time to just go all in. And, like, I would understand it. If it's Cam Newton on the broadcast, you know what?

I disagree, but I can understand it. He's speaking from experience. Yeah. If it's true, if Josh Allen happened and you say, you know, I'm just going to go on the broadcast booth for one game, I can understand it. Drew Brees, I feel like, like, is this like trying to, like, sabotage the Eagles?

some like trying like too i'm trying to get hurts hurt or whatever but i'm glad that it didn't matter that i'm wild i'm also glad that hurts won the game with his arm so he didn't need to lower his shoulder do all that dot to devons a dot to deris cooper so that's how a quarterback should play now vanny how about this from the locker room ej just just sent us out and ben shout to ben our social media god for letting us know right now in the locker room nick syriani is getting an iv And the players are telling that he didn't hydrate enough. They're hydrated enough. You tell you all week.

Unbelievable. But also, hold on. Hold on to Nick Defense. He ain't think he was going to be no dogfight like this with no Tennessee Tires. He probably stressed the man out. I think you're right. All right. Here we go, Fray.

Let's get to the armchair analysis presented by our friends at Ashley. Where are we starting? Well, let's start with the opening drive interception by Amani Hooker, with Jalen Hertz, throwing a target into the end zone. gets picked off goes the other way. Obviously, a frustrating way to end a long, long drive where the Eagles had to convert a couple times on third down. But what happened on the interception? And actually, if it plays into the final play of the game as well, offensively. So let's get into this. And it took it took us a while to get a good replay. But we did eventually get one. This is from the sky cam angle.

And it's a three by one set. But the first thing I want to take a look at is the defensive front here from the Titans. Because you're going to get that classic double-mo. mug front where you've got both linebackers up here on the line of scrimmage. You've got nobody in the secondary. So they're presenting a cover zero look here, Tennessee. So if you're Jalen Hertz, you're thinking that there's the potential that you might be hot, throwing hot here with an unblocked defender. They're going to keep Will Shipley into block here on this play. He's going to step up into the A gap. So you're only going to have four eligible wide receivers out into the route. Now, the problem for Hertz here on this play is that while the Titans are presenting cover zero, they are actually going to pull all

these guys out. And so it's only going to be a four-man rush. You've got four receivers going up against seven defenders in coverage. Now, really quick, I'm going to bring this back to the snap. The route concept that you're going to see here from the Eagles is basically you're going to get Mackay Lemon lined up at number three. He's going to run to the flat. You're going to get Dallas Goddard. He's lined up at number one. He's going to run kind of like a little through route where he's just going to run towards the middle of the field. And then the Eagles are hoping that Devante Smith is going to, he's lined up here as the point man here. He's going to run essentially kind of like a seven stop route where he's going to almost fake the corner route and then turn around to Jalen Hertz.

So that's the concept there from the Eagles. And that's what Jalen is looking at over on that side. Again, expecting that the potential for him to be hot. So he's got to make a quick decision. You're in the red zone. Pretty clean pocket here. You've got Will Shipley up here in front. Dante Vicks is on the backside.

He's erased here from this one because you've got cloud coverage on that side. So there goes got it on the through route. McCoy Lemon gets caught by the outside corner. So they're playing a form of like a red zone, not necessarily got a bracket coverage, but a match zone there on the back end. So the outside corner ends up taking Lemon. And again, Lemon running the outbreaking route from the slot.

He's just running right into that corner. Goddard is running right into two defenders, namely Amani Hooker, that safety there in the middle of the field. And then you've got essentially a one-on-one where you've got Devante Smith working against that slot defender there in the middle of the field. Jalen gets ready to throw this football. and he's got a pretty clear picture. Hooker just makes a great play. Hooker's here in the middle of the field.

He ends up jumping this route. There was a note from NFL network where they talked about the, you know, Amani Hooker actually said this week that there was something that was tipping off some of Jalen Hertz in breaking routes. And the Amati Hooker actually said it in the report. So there's something to certainly for the Eagles to kind of factor away or file away and keep this in mind. But he makes it, he does an outstanding job of jumping this route. But again, the biggest thing here is that. that you had the outbreaking route from Lemon, you had Devante Smith initially work upfield, and then break to the corner and he ends up running the stop route, and you had the through route from number three. That's the concept there against zone coverage. Let's bring this back really quick, or let's now go to the end to the end of the game here, the final play. So Lindsay, if you want to

take me off the full screen, I'll go to the final play here because the big thing that we're going to see is that the Eagles actually run a nice adjustment here. based off that coverage. And it didn't occur to me until watching it back through because now you've got the Eagles and the Titans actually present the same exact look. They come out in this double mug front where you've got the linebackers up on the line of scrimmage,

both guys in the A-gap. You've got that extra safety on the line of scrimmage. You've got a three-by-one set from the Eagles. You've got Will Shipley stepping up into the A-gap. This time, instead of everybody dropping out, they actually do come with a cover zero blitz. So Jalen is going to be hot on this play. Now, you've got those three receivers at the top of the screen.

You're going to have something very similar where you're going to have a receiver running to the flat. You're going to have a receiver working up towards the as if he's going to run a corner, but he's actually not running the corner route. And you've got the through route. Here is the difference, though, guys. And this is what I love because the Eagles offense of yesteryear, it would have been maybe a similar kind of concept to what we saw earlier in the day. You know, maybe they try it again or they're just going to go to a completely new play.

They said, no, no, no, no. If they're going to play that way in the secondary, if they're going to pass things off from a zone coverage standpoint, let's run what it, well, I would refer to as a banjo beater. It's a kind of a zone beater. If these guys are going to pass guys off, if it's two on two and it's an inside out where it's like, hey, if you're the outside corner, you take the outside route, I'm the inside corner. I'm going to take the inside route. Let's run route concepts that are going to attack that coverage. Devante Smith is going to run to the flat, but he's coming in motion. Going back to that Dontavian Wick's. touchdown last week where he's in motion and they were late adjusting to it. You're forcing those kind of, you know, self-inflicted wounds there from the secondary. So Devante Smith comes in motion. I think that's who Jalen wants here early on in this play. He's going to break initially towards the middle of the field and then he's going to break back towards the sideline. So that will be the outside corner's job. And you can see that he's stressing really quick, hey, you know, alert, alert, alert, this inside corner, he thinks that he's going to have Devante now when he comes up. So both of these defensive backs are now coming down on Devante Smith.

The through route from Dallas Goddard is going to occupy the safety in the middle of the field. There goes Darius Cooper all alone. And why is Darius Cooper all alone? Because those guys got, they got messed up there on the in-and-out call with Dvante Smith. So Jalen, when he is, he initially, he's rolling away from the unblocked pressure. He understands that he's hot. He wants DeVante Smith to the pylon. Devante slips.

But again, because they called this concept the way that they did, it attacks the coverage. from the Titans where you've got two sets of eyeballs on Devante Smith. Nobody is with Darius Cooper and Bo, BLG. Like how often did we see Jalen Hertz drifting to his right and make those throws late in the middle of the field down in the red zone in training camp this summer? It was like time and time again. They were making these kinds of plays,

but Jalen's able to come through in crunch time, makes a great play. Love Darius Cooper, you know, climbing up the ladder, gets both feet in. You love the energy afterwards. phenomenal job from Darius Cooper, from the Eagles. I thought it was a good adjustment to something they did earlier in the game that resulted in a touchdown or an interception.

They come back later in crunch time when it matters most, and they get six points. Now, Fran, let's take a second here just to appreciate the fact that the Eagles go to Nashville of all places and win the game on a banjo beater. Well, here's the irony of it. Come on. You're going to get to another,

layer of irony. If you go to like my Twitter account right now, and I'm going to post this later today, if you just search like, you know, my account and with banjo beaters, because I wanted to go find like, all right, well, you know, just a couple of intricacies here. One of the last clips I have, you know, posting where I called it a banjo beater was the New Orleans Saints running it in the red zone for a touchdown with the quarterback Drew Burris who happened to be in the booth and couldn't give us any extra analysis as to what actually happened on the play, just Jerry on top. Good stuff. All right. Let's break down the big bad play on defense for the eagles which was the third and 22 run by tajet spires a bunch of missed

tackles there what did you see yeah this was this was this was tough man i mean honestly it reminded me of the like that the the cori gran play the last time this team went down to nashville you know and lose in fashion late in the game uh where cori graham and sticks defense gives up that play uh where it's just like man that's just that is just a tough pill to swallow you're here on third and 22 uh and you give up this kind of a run here on this play where you're essentially running an RPO to the to to to that side you can see cam ward he there he's kind of looking over to this side that's going to hold Zach bonds that's going to hold the pursuit defender the defense vet on this side jelix hunt he's getting washed down that's that's not going to be his play to make really the key blocks here are going to come

from the tight end gunner helm coming up to quinion mitchell you've got morrow here on the place so or jordan davis rather on the play side he's going to he struggles to be able to get off this block to be able to get to Spears, and then Jehad Campbell gets locked up by the offensive linemen as well. And it's just, you know, those are tough. You want your guys to be able to win those one-on-one blocks. That's one of the things about the RPO game is that, you know, you kind of do force in a lot of situations, one-on-ones across the board because you're trying to occupy guys with the route concepts on the backside. Obviously, the big thing is that, you know, Marcus Epps, you're one-on-one, you've got to be able to run the alley and make this tackle here in this occasion, right?

When you get this opportunity, you've got to be able to go and make that play, takes a band, angle, can't get that stop. Quinyon doesn't get off the block from Gunther Helm. Vic Fangio's not going to love this when he comes back. Now, I love Jaylix. I love Jailix, what Jailix did on this one, where he comes back and gets the, he gets washed up field in the initial part of the play, and then is able to, you know, chase this down. He's able to impact and get the running back out of bounds. But yeah, Vic Fangio's not going to love this one tomorrow. Yeah, it was ugly, I do. I mean, you got to set a better edge. You got to set a better edge. You know, it looks like well you had a steel photo up there

but it looks like when it happened he was initially thinking pass rush and got caught up in it and it was too late to return and then that's what let that off level and let that gap come open but you got to set a better edge that it affects all that

you know what I mean and as far as the angle I don't man we're just going to say the monkey was on Epps's back yeah yeah that was tough was there anything else else that stood out to you from from the defense just watching live friend that was uninspiring you know i think the the big that we saw a bunch of like where the guys could just couldn't finish in the backfield

again right like jailets had a couple opportunities you know jalen had an opportunity morrow had an opportunity get cam ward to the ground uh you know where it's just like man like you can't give those up right those are just those kind of those backbreaking plays now there's the other side to look at it is like all right they're not always going to make those they're not always going to miss those tackles, right? You know, if you're projecting this forward, you know, sacks coming bunches. You're, you know, more often than not, there's, their good players are going to make those plays. But, uh, yeah, there are, more than a handful of plays that this group would love to have back. I always just

struggle to, like, the weather, you know, can be a fact, it's a fact of both teams. It's going to impact everybody a little bit differently, every individual a little bit differently. Um, but that's, that's the only other thing I would say, looking at this is that we said the same thing after the Tampa game last year, uh, where they, you know, defense gave up a bunch of big plays like late in the down scramble drill type of things where it's like yeah you know that's that's that's that's a bad play but is it going to be is this something that's going to be a signal of what this defense is going to be all season like not necessarily it's just like it's a bad play in a tough spot against an inferior opponent so yeah you know that i that's that would be

my other big takeaway from the defense but i am interested to see what they look like on tape because they also gave up more on the ground than i anticipated going up against this group so yeah i'm interested to see what the tape looks like that and from a defense line standpoint um A little insider here. That was kind of a personal game for Tennessee, you know, with Wash being on the other side of the other ball. You know, Aaron White Cotton actually looks up to Big Wash. So, you know, the way Tennessee runs their scheme, that four-man down,

and you see how to kept coming and kept rotating, it kept coming, and kept rotating is kind of, you know, we all know where they got that. from. But it was just saying, it was like the battle of that. And I'm pretty sure that we, this week in practice, you know, Aaron said, yo, look, this is personal D-D-line versus our D-Line. We're going to see who come out on top number-wise rather stop it and run, getting to the quarterback and forcing throws. So. Yeah, their D-Line looks better today. And I'm pretty sure my phone's going to blow up. Well, let's talk about this for a second. Because we got Robert Sala, who you played for,

John Franklin Myers who you played with Jermaine Johnson who you played with Jacob Martin who played with a lot of Vinnie Curry connections and White Cotton was the divine coach But that's how I know You know right You know everybody's just like yeah you bet I know you're watching And I know I'm like look man

We'll see And you know but It just sucks that our old line was kind of bagged up Yeah You know I would like to see you know best on best But at the same time man We have to do a better job defensively,

minimizing our mistake. What did you think of the way that Sala played this game? Because they're underdogs. At the end of the first half, they had one of the most pathetic cowards draws I've ever seen. What was it like 20 seconds left, third and long? No, it wasn't even that long. It was like third and ten.

They run a coward's draw to just take the end of the game, do the end of the half instead of trying to go score a touchdown. I think that's PTSD for Sala, bro. Yeah. And then Sireani's daring him at the end of the game, calling those two timeouts to try. to throw the ball and Saul is happy to just run the ball into the two-minute warning, take your three-point lead.

I mean, know the team that you've got, I feel like. Well, what happened is, is go back to what he said earlier, go in the beginning of the week when he would say, hey, we want Jaylor and Hurts to be a quarterback. So now you're going down to his two-minute drive, and guess what Jayland-Hurbs do? Got ice in his veins and he beats the quarterback that we all know that he is. So, you know what I mean? That goes to show you that the disrespect is super high.

high on jailing across the league. That's interesting. Also, too, think about that last drive compared to last season, that last drive. And how they were really daring Hertz to throw on that last drive against the 49ers. And it's been a big thing. The four-verts play or Hertz can't read a defense to the Baltimore. It's the same person. It's the same thing, right?

Exactly. And it's like, now the next season, you want to have a baby. AJ Brown anymore. You have a new wide receiver core. And I'm seeing all these guys get involved. There's Cooper two receptions. I'm seeing Donatio Wiggs, Devonze Smith, Johnny Munt. But it's like everybody is getting the ball, right?

And I think that's the beauty of this offense. Everybody's just spreading the ball around this guy, this guy, this guy. But the growth that we've seen from Hertz, down offensive line, and a pro bowl guy in Land Dickerson, you're down, Dallas guy. You're down, Sequin, Barking. And through all of that, you still rise above. I think regardless of the opponent, folks are going to say, well, you did this against the tie-ins. It's an NFL team.

And the Ravens that are a Super Bowl contender, they lost to the Saints that many think are going to be a top five, top 10, you know, draft pick team next year. You look about the Charter's opening day, they, you know, lose to the Cardinals. So there's a lot of positives, even though I look at, you know, the trenches. But I'm super, super excited about the growth that we have seen from Hertz. Yeah, I think in this game in particular, I'm not quite with you on not seeing a drop-off between AJ and Devante versus Devante and Wix in terms of the wide receiver core. But I do think it's fair to say in this game in particular, if AJ had been on this team, there might have been a little bit more agita on the sidelines about the way that game was going. You know what I mean? Like I think there would have been a little bit more like, well, why aren't we passing more?

And in this case, it felt like everybody was willing to be a little bit patient. I was just about to say that because we all know 11, the man in that and that situation. You know, and, you know, he could have been having two people on them at that same time. He don't care. Where he played his game. You see how confident, you know, one was doing that whole tire drive. And then I want to say right before the drive, he goes and talks to us to the offense. And let him know when we finish score.

Right. He had no doubt in his mind. they was going to score a touchdown. And the patience of Devante, who until that final drive, had, you know, 60 yards receiving, something like that,

and then gets four balls and finishes with 10 for 117 and a touchdown, you know, he's ready for when his moment comes. Just to build off your point real quick, like, what I love about this offense, you're really seeing on full display in 4K,

Jane La Hertz is taking command of the offense. I think in previous years, especially when 11 was there, it's kind of like a tug of war. It's like, This is the way Hertz want to do it. This is the way AJ want to do it. At this point, everybody got buying to what Hertz is doing.

And that's what they're all doing. And you're seeing that, like, it don't matter who it is. Like, you get the ball, you're ready. It's like everybody from Darius Cooper, a guy who was born in training camp, has barely played in the regular season. I was thinking of myself, I'm like, dang, like, they have my man, like, wanting cardio out here, but he's out just doing what he got to do. and what's fitting like for a guy in Darius Cooper to have the winning play out of all the guys

like just waiting for their moment he was the guy that delivered well back to Devante let's close on a good note here Fran breaking down his touchdown which was also the case of Jalen making a nice second reaction play yeah speaking of the the second reaction plays this from next gen stats Jalen Hertz average 3.5 seconds to throw in this game there was the fourth longest of his career. Actually, was more effective in this game when holding onto the ball for longer than two and a half seconds. Tied his career high. He had 18 completions on 28 attempts for 224 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions on those elongated plays. And Bo, that's, it goes back to some of the things we've talked about with some of the frustrations in the passing game in the past,

because people would point to the fact that, oh, like, Jayland's holding on to the ball too long. He's holding on to the ball too long. Holding on to the ball too long is not a bad thing in of itself. It's that what happens when you do hold on to the ball for a long period of time? Are you able to make the defense pay on those extended plays? And here in this game, he was able to do exactly that. And this touchdown pass to Devante Smith is a really good example because the Eagles come out. It's a two-by-two set. Jalen Hertz is in the shotgun. And basically, we're getting on the right side is a two-man stick play where you're going to get E.J. Jenkins running to the flat and you're going to get, wait for it, you're going to get a little hit trout from Dantavian Wix. Now, in the years past, you might see

something similar to that over on the other side, right? You might see maybe it's a stick route or maybe it's going to be like slant flat or it's going to be double hitches, right? It's going to be something like that over another side, but that's not what you get here on the backside. Instead, you're going to get Devante running the crossing around across the middle of the field and then you're going to get the backside in cut from the Kai Lemon. So that's the route concept for Jaylin. He's going to start looking over to the right side. He's going to try he wants, I think he wants Wicks here on this one. And then he's going to start working back towards the middle of the field. So Jalen takes the snap.

He doesn't like what he's got here to Dantavian Wick. So now he's going to look at Devante Smith. Well, Devante at this point, he's running right into the teeth of cover two, where you've got one high safety on that side. In theory, is taking that away. You've got the middle defender in Tampa, too, also right there in the area. So Jalen, looking in that area, is like, all right, that throw is taken out. So now he's looking at Mackay Lemon coming back on the backside in-cut.

So if you go to the next shot, as he takes a look, he's taking a peek, he's taking a peek, he doesn't quite see it. But then he sees, hey, that backside hook defender, that middle hook defender, he's not tracking with Devante across the middle of the field. He's falling off right into this throwing window. I can't make this throw. So he's not going to throw the interception to the middle of the field. So Jalen does a good job here. You got good protection. He's going to end up trying to extend this play.

So he ejects to his right. And now what happens? That safety that was occupying that deep half, he cheated up a little bit, and now you've got Devante streaking past him on the opposite side. So Jalen extends, makes a great throw to the back corner of the end zone, and they come through for six. So again, this is a good example of Jalen Hertz where, yeah, he held onto the ball a little bit long. He does a good job, a good decision not to make this throw to the backside to Mikey Lemon, and instead holds onto the ball, extends, and he's able to find Devante Smith for a big play and a touchdown down the field.

Yeah, well, this is something that we have talked about for the past few years, you have highlighted this, friend, that when Jalen Hertz holds onto the ball, the numbers have dropped for the efficiency of the offense. And that has been a bit of a frustration. Like, is that a Jalen thing that he is not creating plays like you would expect from a player of his dynamism? Or is that an offensive thing? It's nice to see that it's a little bit baked into this offense.

I'm curious, that play itself, the design of that kind of looks to me like the kind of play that would be designed for a designed rollout, like a design move the pocket to the right? Do you feel like that's something we will finally get to see in this offense? Because we haven't seen it despite the expectations that there might be some sort of Packers-like stuff from Sean Mannion. Yeah, there were a few play action, like, understand where I was like, oh, like, I wonder what they were showing downfield here on this one. Yeah. You know, where I was, I was interested to see, and we just didn't get the angles of it. So I am fascinated to see if they incorporated that. I think with that one, because the two-man stick, that's a quick, quick game throw, right? So you're not

going to necessarily move the pocket there on that one. but again, I just, I do appreciate the fact that Jaylon was able to extend and he kept his eyes downfield so often with those extended plays. It's been no throws, throwaways, or throw into a checkdown underneath. And to me, like, having that level of aggression in those plays. Like I, and I'd be interested is that is that Jalen taken upon himself? Is that something that has been harked on from Mannion? Because Mannion coming from Green Bay. Like, that's one of the things you love about the way that Jordan Love has played in your space. It's like, yeah, he's going to make some of those interceptions, but when he does extend those plays, like that's where he can be so lethal.

And that's one of the one, when I'm looking at Jalen here, uh, him making these plays outside of structure late in the down, more of that. Like, yeah, like, keep those things coming. Uh, the fact that he was able to put the offense on his back today. I agree with everything MJ said when you're talking about what Jalen showed in this game, uh, especially late, uh, to be able to put them on his back and go win it. That's big time. Last thing, friend, before we let you go, you're just live thoughts on the state of the

offensive line and how it went with through Kendall and Cam Jurgens. Yeah, obviously not great again. And it's funny because we at some point where we can't say like, oh, the Eagles have one of the best offensive lines of football. Like it was like, it was fourth quarter and Drew Brees is saying that in the booth. Like, oh, yeah, the Eagles have one of the best offensive lines of football. What game have we been watching? Like, what team did you watch on tape this week? Because that that is not the way that this unit is playing right now. You know, you kind of hope that, you know, making the change, you know, getting landed on IR, let him try and heal up. Let's get the second year player in there and Drew Kendall.

And let's see what that looks like. Cam Juergens, yeah, he struggled. And there were some things that, like, here's the way I would look at it. I don't think that Juergen struggles are because of like health and durability. I don't think that his issues are, oh, like, you know, he just doesn't have it anymore. To me, he looked like a guy that hasn't worked with the left tackle next to him in Jordan Mila. We saw that on a couple of the stunts. I mentioned this week how it is easier to get an isolation one-on-one for a guy like Jeffrey Simmons against a guard than it is against the center.

And we were talking about that with Drew Kendall. It's like, oh, that's a way to save Drew Kendall is, all right, you put him in at center. But then you brought a point. He was like, yeah, but aren't you kind of serving up jerkins that way? That's kind of what happened. There were a bunch of those high leverage moments on third down, the interception to Devante Smith on the slot fade, where they did a great job, Tennessee did, of by the front alignment of creating that one-on-one for Jeffrey, Simmons. You had the linebacker shaded over Kendall to his right. So he's going to be sliding that way.

You had the rusher taking Milata out wide. So now you have basically Jeffrey Simmons with a two-way go against Cam Jurgens. That's a tough matchup for Cam Jurgens. So yeah, it was not, it was not pretty. And the run game stuff didn't look great either. So yeah, this is, I don't want to say it's back to the drawing board. Maybe they think that it'll be a little bit better moving forward. I know that there's been a lot said about, you know, it's like the past protection stuff and like the protection of the line calls and that's a big reason why they wanted to make the switch if they thought that you were going to make that switch this early in the season it is i am a little curious as to why we didn't see more of those kind of switches in the summer right like

we didn't see this kind of combination for jurgens we saw kendall at center but we never saw jergins at guard now maybe they did it in other areas maybe they did it during walkthroughs maybe they didn't meetings and stuff like that but um that's a that's a tough task especially against the guy like simmons well here's my here's my stat for you courtesy of true media about that running game in the state of it right now. Over the course of the season, it's only been two games, but when the Eagles run the ball on first and second down, they have a success rate of 31.8%.

That is dead last in the league, 32nd of 32nd of 32nd teams, when they run the ball on first and second down. They're doing it. They've done it 44 times for 2.6 yards per carry. First and second down running the ball, 2.6 yards per carry. It's really bad, and they either got to get it fixed or stop doing it.

Yeah, and that's, what's tough about it is that this is an offense, like schematically, like, you know, when you look at it, like, ideologically, it should focus through the run game. It should funnel through the run game. And if you can't get the run game going, that's typically a tough sell for this group. So that's going to be, it's going to be interesting to see how they try and pivot,

what are the improvements they try and make. They ran duo a bunch of times again today, and that they couldn't get anything going. air. You know, Jeffrey's not looking at the next gen stats. Like, and again, like this is, it's not just run game, like pass protection as well. Jeffrey Simmons had seven pressures and a sack in the game. Yeah, it's tough sledding right now. All right. Great stuff, Fran. We look forward to you breaking it down in full tomorrow at 2 o'clock on the PHAE Eagle Show. That is the armchair analysis sponsored by our friends at Ashley. Thank you so much, Fran. We'll be back with more on the other side.

Vinny's Game Ball. We're going to hear from E.J. Smith live in Nashville. Much more to come. Stay with Right now, it's the Ashley Fall Savings Event. Shop fall favorites and find everything you need to refresh your home from reclining sofas to dining sets to modular stain resistant sectionals. And with Ashley's easy private approval process, you can buy now and pay later with no interest for five years. That's 60 months interest-free when you shop in store. Don't miss the Ashley Fall Savings Event Shop and Store or at ashley.com. Not yesterday.

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Application times may vary, rates may vary. Trust pilot rating has of 8-1-26. What day is it? Oh, that's right. It's the Ashley Falls Savings event. That's right. Right now, shop fall favorites and find everything you need to refresh your home from reclining sofas and dining sets

to modular stain-resistant sectionals. Woo! And with Ashley's easy private approval process, you can buy now and pay later with no interest for five years. That's 60 months interest free when you shop in store, So don't miss Ashley's fall savings event shop in store or at Ashley.com today. Back on the PHAY Eagles podcast, Eagles 2-0 with 2420 come from behind win, game winning drive led by Jalen Hertz, who Brannily Gowton tells us, it'd get a little spicy with Jeffrey Simmons on the field.

Love to see it right after the game. Gellin Hertz about to do his post-game interview and Jeffrey Simmons comes up to him. And here's the moment, you know, that we're waiting for. and Jalen says you started that bleep I had to finish and daps them up I mean he had to finish it's great yeah to finish it I mean how about that he hears everything so for the for the folks that say oh you don't hear that he definitely heard it I feel like when even Noah Smith said we respect our opponent I ain't going to do what they did now do I think there was like malice intent from Jeffrey Simmons I don't they're part of the same fraternity shot on mega side five fraternity

incorporated but like so they probably know each other a little bit uh i think it was more about like geoffrey simmons was like we want to contain hurts in the pocket now not not like allow him for those runs but i still feel like hearing let's make a quarterback on paper play quarterback it still reinforces a lot of the doubt a lot of the scrutiny hurts had so for him to finish that final drive like that, I mean, it's the best way possible to end the game. And as you, it's, it's also playing into this stereotype of black quarterbacks, right? And it's, it's an unfair thing to put on Jalen Hertz, which Jeffrey Simmons should know better than, but good for Jalen Hertz for calling it at.

And you saw this from Jalen last year when they beat the Chiefs at the end of the game. Chris Jones is talking trash about how Jalen didn't even throw for whatever. I love when Jalen response. That's my favorite thing. It's like when he gets spicy on the response. It's like what EJ says. He loves petty Jail. Yeah, that's great.

Like another one. Rams, Eagles, divisional round, Jalen Hurd slides. Somebody says that was a running back slide. He says, be careful what you wish for. And that was the one where it's like, stop playing with that minute because when dude's how comes, he's going to walk all of y'all down. I like that. All right, Vinny, let's get to your game ball from this game.

A couple good options here. I love this. I do love the Vinny cartoon. Fantastic. Great job. the beard. Who's getting your game ball, Vitty? Man, everybody knows. Jump roll, my game ball goes to Jalen Hertz.

Okay. Man, the way to respond, way to put the team on your back in that final's two minutes, way to get us in the end zone, and way to be poised and understand what championship football looks like in the final two minutes and get the job. 267, 264, two touchdowns, two interceptions, but leads that game-winning drive, 65 yards on nine plays with 147 off the clock. He saw him be a quarterback, didn't you? I mean, it's why he's the franchise of one of the, you know,

I mean, we had to talk last year. Arguably, you're going to go down in the franchise history is the best quarterback that we're seeing here. I think at this point it's kind of done. You know, I'm just saying, bro, this dude is unbelievable. And like, he just, he takes on the doubt quietly. but at the end, like he said, you started that ish, I had to finish that ish. Now, how do you feel about just locker room-wise?

We know that the eyes are on Jalen with A.J. Brown gone and, you know, what's it going to be like with him taking on maybe more of a leadership role or at least being a little bit more intentional about that as a defensive player? Right. How much do you care about what the quarterback's doing? Are we buddy-buddy, buddy, you know, keeping the main thing, the main thing, all of that stuff? As long as the quarterback winning games, this is all we care about. You know, the job is defensive leave to get the ball in the quarterback hands as many times as possible.

And that's when you know you're playing great defensive football to give him the opportunity. I mean, you do what you do. We do. At the end of the day, that's why it's called, you know, team sport. You know, what you do is not my business loans, you know, it's not involving what we got going on. So that's just his thing. But the leadership that he brings, the confidence that he brings into the locker room, it's speaking volume.

Like, we can just go on and on and on about how many players today show confidence and that he showed belief and confidence in. And it was just like the tendency, he wasn't dare, though, it was him. He wasn't there to do this. And guess what? We're sitting here doing up.

Yeah, there go. All right, the super chats continue to pile up. Make sure they're all hitting the like button, everything involved there. Let's check them out as we keep going here and waiting on E.J. Smith to join us in a little bit. Alex Louterback. says, my family is Ravens fans, and they are miserable right now.

Bears fans, miserable right now. Packers and overtime against the Jets. How did that game finish, by the way, Lindsay? Jets won. No, the Packers won, 20 to 17, says on the... Sorry. All quarterbacks ranked above Hertz in Sando's ranking. So there you go.

I like that Alex is keeping the receipts. Dinkleberg. Rough game for Epps. The Gush would not have missed those tackles. Just saying. The agenda to stay strong for my man to dink. Hesanah. Also Smitty doing A.J. Brown Selly's to troll the Titans.

I missed that. Did he do an AJ Brown sell it? Selly? I got that. I didn't notice that. I missed that too. That would be a great move from, from Devonthe.

Gene shorts might be time for Willie Lampkin to get a shot. Thoughts on Lieutenant Leverage as one of his many nicknames. I like that, but a meatball of machetes is kind of is where I'm landed on Willie. And 7 Turtle That accepted penalty to change 3rd and 23 to 2nd and 28 Was head scratching in this heat I agree with that

Especially because the clock was a factor at that point too I did not that one did not make sense to me I wonder if Nick will talk about that In the post game press conference after he's done getting those fluids Drip Sensei really disappointed this Vic Fangio defense Didn't force at least one turnover against the Titans But also shout out Jalen Carter With that late game clutch sack

Yes no turnovers at all through the first two games for the Eagles defense. Yeah, I feel like, but I feel like passing-wise, they really kept the game out of Ken Ward's hands. So, you know, the only thing I would say, chat, under Uncle Vic, I just, I didn't like the run. Yeah. I didn't like it.

You know, this is the first time, though. You know, so we got to give it some grace, but this is the first time, but, you know, I just didn't like it. 29 carries for 122 yards for the Titans offense. 4.2 yards a carry. Tony Pollard had 14 for 64, including an 18-yarder and Tai J Spears, 7 for 41, including that 27-yarder on 3rd and 22.

Aaron D also has a super check calling out the defense, needing to create more turnover is zero so far. BLG, next week now, we turn our attention. Eagles have an extra day of rest and all attention on Caleb Williams, the Chicago Bears, who suffered what is reportedly a hand string injury, but left the game on a cart. It seemed to be pretty down about that.

How do you feel about the Eagles in terms of needing to have a game where I think this is a week where their manlyhood is going to be questioned after the way that they played against the Bears last year? Oh, yeah. That was rough. They got bullied, right? On Black Friday for everyone to see. And I would think they would want to have some pride and go out there and put that taste

out of their mouths. I'm also excited to see if Jonathan Grenard can get on the field this week. Yeah, good call. It feels like, Bo, you've been saying you feel like week three is a target for him. You have the extra day now with a Monday game. So the pass rush, I would say, hasn't been as good as I've wanted it to be from the Eagles defense so far. And if Gannard can get on the field, and obviously we don't know where he's at health-wise

in terms of how close to 100 percent. But if you can get him back and he's something resembling what he is when he's healthy, that'd be huge. I think that's right. How do you feel about, you know, when you put on tape, what the Eagles put on tape last year against the Bears and got sort of blown off the ball by the Bears' offensive line, having a chance to have a get back? What is that like?

So think about it. This game wasn't the best. Now you're getting ready to play a team that freaking bully does. It should be a fire under everybody's ass. It's like we never seen. So Monday night football, it should be a lot of fireworks going on. It's going to be like Jeremiah Washburn is yelling at everybody all week. Gotta get it going.

God damn it. Got to get it going. You know, you know, so I just, I'm excited for this week because, listen, I guarantee you, the defense won't look how it look today. And damn show won't look like no damn Black Friday. So we're going to call it Eagles Monday. Yeah, there's a chance of this is going to be like a week of Eagles or Philly Chicago, right? Because it looks like the Phillies and the Cubs are going to be lining up against each other. It's going to be like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

We have to get some all-city action on the line here. Anything else on the defense that's jumping out to you, MJ? Run defense has to improve. Yeah. And against the Bears, better improve. Yeah. Because they don't need Caleb Williams.

They don't need Caleb Williams to put up a number. Like, they have their backup. And if Kyle Minangai and DeAndre Swift, they go off, then it's going to be a game. Like, so I'm looking at this run defense against the commanders.

They gave up a buck 32. Against the Titans, they gave a buck 22. So against two, teams that they don't have any star type of running back. Like, I'm nervous about, all right, when you're up against a potentially the best running back tandem in the NFL, DeAndre Swift has been going crazy. Manangay had been going crazy.

Like, how is this run defense going to do? And I'm looking at Jalen Carter. I know he made some plays, but this, this defense, this Eagles defense is at their best when J.C. is undoubtedly their best player. because when he makes those game-breaking plays, that sack on Cam Ward, and he shows I'm the best player on the field. They're at their best. But when other guys are in and J.C.'s a little bit inconsistent,

well, they pay J.C. $160 million to be a consistent best player every single snap. So that's somebody, I know he's been a little bit dinged up, but if he's on the field, then we need him to be that best player. And that's how they, you know, reach their next level. One call out here that the chat has done a good job of mentioning is Jake Elliott. Yeah. Knocking home a 58-yarder has not been tested from deep this season and sneaks down went through those. We're a huge three points.

That's what you know. You know why I'm laughing. Go ahead. You've been hard on him, bro. Me? No, I like Jake Elliott. I know, but I'm just saying, just, you know, do out. He's had a tough season last year.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was like, you know. I don't think I'm the guy to come after. Yeah. They took away his captaincy. This team makes. Yeah, that was brutal. He's not a captain anymore.

Dude, you see what I'm saying? But you know, look, I think he felt the fire under him, you know. But it was good to see him and kick a deep one too. Yeah, those are big three points. All right. Let's take our last break here on the P. I Eagles post game show on the other side. We will hopefully be joined of the great E.J. Smith live in Nashville.

He's got insight. the Eagles locker room on Jalen Hertz keeping it cool and not flinching when it came down to the wire. What? Not. Not. Not. Not what. What? No. Not not. What not. What not? What not? What's what not? What's what not? What is it? Oh, what not is the largest live shopping marketplace in the United States where shopping happens in real time, real people, and real conversations. Sports cards huge right now and four cards are sold every second on WhatNot. And it's not just cards either. We're talking sneakers. We're talking video games. We're talking toys. We're talking comics. So the more, the merrier. And all sellers are going live with all kinds of good stuff at What Not.

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head to Wayfair.com or shop the Wayfair app for all things home. That's W-A-Y-F-A-I-F-A-I-R-R-com. Wayfair, every style, every home. Back on the PHAO-Eagles podcast, what a shift change. What a NASCAR work from Ethan and Lindsay. Fantastic stuff. Thank you to Vinnie Curry, Super Bowl champion for joining us for most of the post-game show. We now await E.J. Smith, our Eagles insider.

What do you guys want to hear from E.J.? hear what jellin was like i want to talk about atmosphere i felt like a home game for the for the heat with all that green there i got to hear about that i like that no surprise to you bong i want to hear a little bit how much the guys are feeling after the heat in that one i saw some stuff online about like cleats melting yes and there's a shot during the game where i don't know which player it was but someone was like spring in the water on to the cleats yeah so So it did sound a little crazy out there. Okay.

Let us know in the chat. What do you want to hear from E.J. Smith? I just want to talk about that game-winning drive again. Because you tell me if I'm wrong, what is the last time we've seen a true end-of-the-game, game-winning drive from Gailin on this offense? Because it feels like they haven't really been tested by stuff like that. Yeah.

Yeah, it hurts his head. But before today, 14 game-winning drives. Now this is his 15th. but it's been so many times where the defense has been, you know, bailing us out. And then now we're seeing the reverse a little bit this year where, no, it's hurts having to put that Superman cape on and say, all right, no line, say going, he's out, got her these out. All right, let me show you why.

I deserve my contract. After all to talk about, is he going to get paid and all these guys? I think it hurts is showing. I can still be that guy, you know, especially in the clutch. Now, BLG, I do want to circle back because we talked about this a bit last year, or last week on the post-game show. And I think we haven't given you enough of an opportunity to celebrate the game-winning catch from your boy, Darius Cooper.

Do you think that he should continue to eat into Mackay Lemon Snap? So Darius Cooper, two catches for 26 yards and a touchdown. Mackay just won for 14, but also had that backwards catch on the negative five-yarder. would you like to see, I mean, I know your answer, but realistically, would you like to see more Darius Cooper? I want to start by giving credit to McClemon because I've been harsh on him and I haven't really seen it a lot with him today, that 14-yard catch, I thought was the best thing I've seen from him since he joined the Eagles. So that's a step in the right direction, I would say. But you see that at a very simple level, good things happen when Jalen Hertz throws the ball to Darius Cooper. And I mean,

He could have had even more yardage today. He had that one pass. I thought Jaylen left that a little bit too far out in front of him. Would have gone for another big game at one point. I think he's just a good player, man. I think he should absolutely, it doesn't have to be one or the other. They have enough snaps to go around where you can do a rotation there. And I think he needs to be a factor, unlike he was in week one.

Well, it was also interesting because in week one, you saw that when Darius Cooper was on the field, it was almost always a run, right? And it was a bit of a tell. think the Eagles were sort of playing against that in this game having the Titans think that if Darius Cooper's on the field, it's going to be a run or it's going to be a, you know, a quick throw to the outside where we need a blocker. So they were able to sort of expose that. And then friend did a good job breaking down that play, which maybe like a little too close

for comfort, given how wide open Darius Cooper was. Yeah. He did have to make, Cooper did have to make a good catch on that play. Yeah. You'd go back and it wasn't, he was open, but it wasn't like he was just like standing still. Yeah, that was tough. All right, Lindsay, do we have our man? Well, we don't.

E.J. Smith. Even speaking to, like, Darius Cooper, you brought up the question about McCoy Lemon, Darius Cooper. I'm interested how the locker room is going to look at that Wad receiver 3 battle. Because Darius Cooper was the better YW receiver in training camp. Big reason is because of health, but availability is your best ability. Now, McCahillman, he's his first round pick. And the Eagles, they traded up to get him.

So it's kind of like undrafted guy, first round pick. pick the business of it, you're obviously going to go with the first round pick. But if you're going to keep not playing to Mackay Lemon's strengths, you better have Darius Cooper out there. If you're not going to play the McCoy Lemon strengths now, Darius Cooper has shown you enough to where you should give him more time. He deserves more time. And if I'm somebody on the Eagles in the Eagles locker room,

I'm saying, what does this guy have to do? He has a game-winning touchdown. He's one of the best why I receive is during training can. I mean, you always talked. He had a great special teams. Special teams. We talked about the commanders and, you know, he's making play after play. Like, this guy just has great character on the field, off the field.

He's working hard after practice. Like, when is he going to get rewarded? And I think Deeris Cooper has a huge, huge case to say, I deserve some snaps. I deserve some minutes on this team. Speaking of snap, so let's talk about our snap counts, courtesy of true media on the defensive side of the ball, just 51 plays for the Eagles defense.

All of them played by Zach Bonn, Cooper Jean, and Quinion Mitchell. Drew McCuba played 50 of 51 snaps. Rick Wollin played all but two of the snaps. Jahad Campbell, 45 of 51. And then you get to the lineman. Morrow Ojamo, 42 of 51 snaps in this game, which I think is a bit of a surprise,

more than Jalen Carter, even though there were a lot of first and second downs in this game. Jalen Carter, 40, Felix Hunt, 40, Nolan Smith, 39, Marcus Epps, 38, Jordan Davis, 22, and then 15 for Ebba Cady, 11 for Byron Young, who I thought played quite a bit in this game, just to my eye, and I thought did a few good things. Epinessa, eight snaps, Michael Carter, four snaps,

three for Ty Robinson, two for Jonathan June. There you go. Offensive side of the ball, 72 snaps each for Lane, Milata, Hertz, Juergens, Steen, and Kendall. Devante plays 65 of 72. Mike Lemon, to our point, Next, 47 of 72 snaps. 46 for Johnny Munt, obviously given the Dallas Goddard injury,

45 for Tay Wicks, 38 for Will Shipley, 29 for Darius Cooper, 24 for Tank Bigsby, 23 for E.J. Jenkins, 19 for Goddard. 14 for Hollywood Brown and 10 for Sequin. What did you think of the two Hollywood Brown end around? They look good production-wise, but it was a little forced there. The second one, I believe, got the... Called back for a month.

for the holding. That did feel a little funny after Nick did talk him up this week. I guess he felt like he had to follow through on his words. But I don't know. It felt a little weird. Yeah, I'm pretty manufactured. But honestly, given how bad they've been at some of those under rounds the past couple of years, like those were not that bad.

They're fine. Yeah. All right. Do we have our man? All right. Ladies and gentlemen, we head to Nashville. They're bringing our Eagles insider, the great E.J. Smith. E.J.

How are we doing? I am excited to tell you a lot of the things that I learn in the locker room. But first, congratulations and welcome, Miles. I'm very excited about your PHLIDW. BLG, we've had you around a little bit. But like I said, I've got a lot of things to tell you from the locker room. I think we should go to EJ's notebook, first and foremost. All right.

So starting with Jalen Hertz here. I think you have to start with him with any conversation. And a lot of guys in the locker room agree. with that sentiment. I thought Devante Smith put it best that Jalen did not flinch in this game, whether it was before the game winning drive or even after the two interceptions that he threw in this game, Jalen, you know, Jordan Milata said that Jalen kind of did one of these on the sideline.

You know, sometimes you have to ride the wave of a game. And, you know, again, you can't flinch in a game like this. And I think, you know, what stands out to me is this was an interesting game to write about Jalen Hertz for because of the fact that obviously, like, those interceptions played a big part of the story. But as I looked back at this game and the big decisive moment on that final drive where Jalen Hertz was excellent in rhythm, finding answers when there weren't answers for him, it was an imperfect game from the Eagles offense, but Jalen was perfect on so many occasions than they needed him to be. And I think the fact that he responded from the interceptions,

I'm not sure if Jalen does that earlier in his career. You know, I think he has always been a never too the high, never too low guy. But the fact that he was able to overcome those two interceptions, I think, is really significant and really speaks to just how high of a level he's playing at this season, even though he had the picks. Again, Jordan Mila told me, like, he kind of forgot Jalen even through the interceptions by the way that he was throughout this game. So first and foremost, I think Jalen's performance jumped out to me. Secondly, melted cleats is the headline for this one because guys in the locker room afterward

were talking about how this was one of the artist games they've ever played in. Are we in Bovertime? Really quick, though. Are we in Bovertime? Can I curse? Okay. Nick Seriariati characterizes? No, no, I can't.

I don't. Okay, I'll censor it. So Nick Shiriani characterizes game as hot as poop. You know, just really, really hot out there. Lane Johnson said it's one of the five hardest games he's ever played in. Jordan Milana said it's one of the two hardest games he ever played in. And I've got to be honest with you guys, I didn't get a chance. That's the follow-up of what would have been the hardest.

Probably Tampa. Lane Johnson said that Tampa in 2018 was the closest thing he could think of with this heat. I know the broadcast talked about how hot the turf is. I mean, I'm out here right now. It's a little cooler now, I imagine, but you could definitely see it wearing on the players. And Nick Siriani had to get an IV after the game. He was walking through the locker room with an IV. Somebody carrying the IV bag behind him.

And it was a Kili Ringo was like, come on, Nick, you hydrate during the week. I really enjoyed that. So, yeah, a hot game, guys are talking about how they went through multiple pairs of cleats. Morrow Jomo said he went through a couple. Jordan Balata said he only went through the one pair, but that they were probably melted by the end of the game. So an extreme weather day and an extreme weather game. Drew Kendall's debut. You know, obviously we talked a lot about Drew Kendall in the lead-up to this game.

And, you know, from an untrained eye, just from watching from the press box, I wouldn't have gone one way or the other on Drew Kendall's performance. I didn't think he was terrible. He didn't stand out to me. But it also didn't, I didn't see very many, like, highlight moments where I could tell you that Drew Kendall had an excellent game. But Jordan Milana told me that Drew Kendall has ice in his veins, as hot as it was out here, Drew Kendall had ice in his veins with the pre-snap process in general.

And this is something where I do feel like if you are watching this show, you've heard us talk about Drew Kendall and how bullish the organization was about the pre-snap process with Drew Kendall. Jordan Milata gave him brave reviews. He said, he had ice in his veins with Drew Kendall in earshot. And he turned to Drew Kendall. He said, you hear that son? You have icing your veins.

Talked about how just, like, flawless the pre-snap process was with Drew Kendall in there. So very noteworthy for that. Another quick note from Milano on Cam Juergens at Left Guard. He said that he had one day of walkthrough during the summer, this training camp with Cam Jurgens at Left Guard and him at Left Tackles. So before this week, he had almost zero reps working with him. And I think it showed in the game. Lastly, quick updates before I tell you guys a funny story from the locker room here.

Jalen Carter said he's fine. He said it was cramps. It looked serious. It almost looked like his whole body locked up on him when he was on the field. But he was walking around just fine after the game. he said he's okay. I said the wrist didn't bother him too much. I don't have an update on Dallas Goddard. I think that's an important injury to keep an eye on going into next week. So those are your news and notes from the locker room. You know, I have a couple fun stories I can share with you guys.

Good stuff. E.J. I got a lot of follow-ups. Let's start with just let's start with Nick. And I mean, I love that from Keely. But the Eagles in this game winning despite losing the turnover margin, they now improve to 4 and 11 under Siriani when losing the turnover margin by at least two. Do you think that this will allow him to let the offense be aggressive? I mean, we've known Nick for so long that I don't think the one game is going to change it. But I think for Jaylen, this was probably an important game. You know, I'm not trying to overstate. Like, I'm not saying Jaylin would have ever turtled up by throwing interceptions in a game before.

But I think the confidence that he went out there with, because I'm sure you guys talk about this earlier in the show. But the early down plan from the Eagles today was just lacking so significantly. You know, it was so conservative on early downs. Even when they threw the ball, it was usually like a stay on schedule, just, you know, get into a third and manageable type of throw. You know, a lot of underneath stuff. And it was funny because they were so good when they were behind the six today.

And that really was just a function of how good Jalen Hertz was. And I think, you know, when you play like that, you are going to have to be aggressive and there are going to be turnovers, you know? The one to the second one, that's pressure. You know, that's a chaotic pocket, which you had all day. It was you were playing with fire in that situation. I don't really lay that one at the feet of Jalen as much as the first one. But yeah, I think that the risk aversion has to adjust if you're not going to have the run game that this team had in 2024.

So I think that for Jalen, that process, that whatever it takes to win, that might encompass interceptions a little bit more this season. I think that that would be fair to say. I'm a little bit more skeptical about Nick. Tell me more about the melting cleats and like what other other. sights and sounds from guys just having played in this ridiculous game. Yeah, I mean, there was a lot of like exacerbated like loud size, a lot of bloodshot eyes. And yeah, Nick was like the visual to me because he walked in the locker in the first time. And I don't mean this in a deprecating way.

Like I, it was very hot. I'm not, I would have looked like that if I was out here too. But he was just like pouring cold water in his mouth and then spitting it out onto his shirt. like he was just kind of like, you know, he was really going through it. So yeah, those guys, you know, even Devante, like I wrote a story on all pHOI.com a couple weeks ago about how Devante trains in the hottest part of the day in Tampa, Florida, all summer for days like today. And even he was in there complaining about how hot it was. So it was an extreme game.

You know, I think that you can't overlook that element when you're thinking about, you know, the fact that this game was a little tighter than you would have expected, especially with the defense, I do think that that played a real factor in the second half. I'm looking up as you're talking, the Jalen success on third and long, because I was also struck by that and how bad the process seemed to be on first and second down. So on this game for Jalen Hertz, he had 12 different attempts on third and five or more. Okay, so third and long. Yeah. And was successful on 57% of those.

That's the highest success rate he has ever had in his career on third and long when dropping back at least, you know, eight times. there's, it's like very clear that he was in the zone. But it's also a bad Texans defense that was missing a starting corner. And it felt like maybe the offensive plan should have reacted to that a little bit sooner in this game. I think that's fair. I think if I, you know, if I could talk to Sean Mangon after this game, probably not on the podium.

If I could have talked to him, maybe if you walked by and I got a chance to ask him a couple questions. I would say did the way that Jalen played in the disadvantage of situations that, when you were behind the six, when you had a penalty on first down, the way you played on those downs make you want to be more aggressive on the early downs. You know, because if you think about it, if they played that way on first and 10, you feel okay about that. I just think, you know, each of the last two games,

I think that Jalen's individual brilliance has really been the whole offense. You know, he has bailed them out of a lot of bad situations. And, you know, good for him. I think, you know, he talked after the game about how the function of this offense is that he's getting through progressions. playing quarterback as Jeffrey Simmons would say. You know, and I think that that is really encouraging to see. And then you start to get into the other stuff about if they can just be on schedule more

and they can start to unleash and be a little more aggressive and neutral situations. Yeah, this offense could be really good. Now, credit to Mannion, we should say, because this was our first time seeing him run a two-minute drill potential game-winning drive situation. And now I think we give most of the credit to Jalen and Smitty and rightfully so. but Manion did seem to have that a good plan there. They were never rushed. Yeah, yeah. I think especially having to

adjust to the fact that the run game wasn't working necessarily the way. They weren't terrible in the run game, but it was, it was like a really tough sledding the whole game. You did a good job of overcoming that. And I've had a touchdown to Devante in particular jumps right out to me. That's great play design. You know, we talked all week last week about

if he's getting cloud coverage, you have to find ways to scheme him open. They did that today. So, yeah, I think that I'm not saying, man and called a bad game. I just, I do think it mostly came down to Jalen making place. I have a funny story about Jalen, about tangentially about Jalen from the locker room. I think, I don't know, are you guys familiar with Chief Keith? Raise your hand if you're familiar with Chief. I am. Yeah, I mean, I didn't want to say. I didn't want to assume anything about anybody, but there's a song called Love Sosa. It's a very

popular song, and there's an intro to this song, Miles, you can help me with this. There's an intro to the song, which is basically about how all these people are talking about Chief Keefe and they're saying all these things about Chief Keefe, and they just don't know that Chief Keith, you don't want to mess with Chief Keefe. Like, you know, he's not one to mess up. Yeah. Shut the blank up. Yeah.

You guys know that you, you guys don't know Chief Keefe is a real hit at all this stuff, right? They were singing that about Jalen Hertz when I walked in the locker. Like you, yeah, you guys, you guys talk all this trash about Jalen Hertz. It was definitely a, uh, a strategic song choice where it's like, it's like, it's, It's kind of a more honest version of the you don't know Jay Hertz like I know Jay Hertz that Brandon Graham had on the sideline I would call it. I like that. That's great stuff.

Now, MJ wanted to know a little bit about the Eagles takeover angle of this. Oh, yeah. Just how crazy it was in Nashville. This was beyond. It reminded me of the Tampa game last year, but a little bit more. Honestly, it was as bad as the FedEx games were a few years ago, where it was basically just, I would call it 70% Eagles fans. You know, like Cooper

Degu makes a play and it's the Coup chant. You know, when the Eagles win the game, the whole stadium goes crazy. You know, I talked to my Uber driver about on the way in here where he's basically saying people don't come to Titans games that much, you know, especially early in the season, especially with the way the last year went. And, you know,

I think the Eagles fans probably circled this game or the London game and said these are the destinations. So it was as aggressive as I've seen it. It was a total Eagles takeover. And I'm not always like the one that's bullish to say that, but I think that should tell you that this really was like overwhelmingly Eagles fans here today.

All right, EJ. What are we going to be looking forward to to reading on all p.hly.com? You can help me there. You know, I think Drew Kendall's a fun story. I think Darius Cooper is a fun story. But if you're asking me, like, what's the story after this game? It is the way that Jalen Hertz played. You've already got that lead. You got the lead

about what the music was when you went in. Yeah, and Jalen at the podium. I didn't even mention this. He was asked about Jeffrey Simmons. I know he had the thing on the broadcast. So I know that we've already got some color on this. But he gave a very like little Jordan answer. He goes like, I heard it. And then it was our friend, Zach B.

Says, what did it mean to you? And he just looks at Zach and goes, I heard it. That's so good. Petty Jalen, Teddy Jalen. And we love a Petty Jalen. And we love an E.J. Smith. Thank you very much, E.J. We will, will we see on the show tomorrow?

Yeah, I'll be on the show. I will, as long as I don't get delayed, I should be able to make it prep in the studio and be ready for the show. So I'm excited for it. Wouldn't miss it. You are new to us every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 2 o'clock. We've got the PHLY Eagle show this week. We've even got a Wednesday show.

How about that, AJ? Look forward to seeing you tomorrow at 2 o'clock. Save travels. We look forward to reading what you're right on all p.hocl.com if you're a diehard. Yep. All right, all right. Before we close things out, a couple of super chats in, maybe one more under the buzzer.

Blend in the legend, the spirit of Triple T, coming in clutch for Jalen again. Tung, tongue, tongue, Tung, Soher gives such strength to this organization. I got nothing. I love it. Fantastic. All right.

Final thoughts, guys. Let's start with you, Miles. Your final thoughts as the Eagles are 2 and O. Jalen has silenced some doubters, but there's a lot to work on for this team. Definitely a lot to work on. I look at Jaila Hertz. Nothing surprises me.

I believed throughout all the OFCs, all the chatter. Can he do this? Can he do that? He keeps doing what they say he cannot do. And I love it. I feel like this season we're going to just keep seeing hurts. Just defy the doubters defy what they've been saying.

So I'm loving that. What I'm paying attention to is two things moving forward. It's the run defense. It's also the wide receiver court. So looking at the run defense against the Bears, it's got to be better. Jalen Carter, I'm looking at. him to be better. For the wide receiver core, hey, if they

use McCoy Lemon right, the way that I feel like he should, the middle of the field, like past the sticks, I don't like them bubble screens. And they have Darius Cooper. Now you have your Wive receiver 1, Devonsei Smith. You got Wai Sever 2, Dantavian Wix. You have a

pretty, pretty good Wab receiver 3 weather is Darius Cooper, McCahe, LeMon. Pick him and Wabas Cever 4. McCahellon, Darius Cooper. So I'm loving just how does offense, the skill position guys, how they are, but offensive line, the trenches definitely need some work. All right. Over you, BLG.

When it comes to thinking about the Eagles and what they can do this season, their outlook, there's no better way to feel good about that. I feel like then the quarterback playing at a really high level. So I'm really excited for what this team can do, knowing that, having seen that, I just hope they get the man some help. Like, come on, let's see some more ambition.

and get me some help and also like understand the game that you're in like what's on the field I know you go into it as a plan of attack and you want to have certain ideas of what you want to be but you have to have that flexibility to see that Jalen's looking awesome

let's lean into that and now obviously you have the time after the game after two games to kind of take that into account and I really hope they take that to heart and make that like you were saying at the top of the show bow their identity I think that's well said

because you think about the things that are struggling right now are things that should get better, right? You know, the offensive line is injured, but I can't really see them getting that much worse, right? It should get better. The offensive scheming and figuring out all the game plan stuff, we said all summer, this was going to require some patience.

Sean Mannion has never done it before. It's unrealistic to expect him to be firing at all cylinders at the very beginning of something he's never done before. You expect him to get better. I think the defense, as long as they stay healthy, they should also get better. You know, you're going to get Jonathan Grenard involved at some point here soon. Those guys are not going to miss as many tackles as they did today.

That stuff is going to get better. But the thing that you feel really good about is despite all of that stuff, Jalen looks really, really good. Yeah, man. And it's not just the must-down. Although that is the biggest reason. Although that is the biggest reason, yes. So, good stuff.

Thanks to everybody for joining us here on the post-game show, presented by our friends at Wawa. We are back tomorrow at 2 o'clock. And then we'll have you covered next Monday night on Monday night football when the Eagles travel to Chicago to take on the one-in-one. Chicago Bears looking for a little Black Friday vengeance.

For all of us here, thank you, Vinny Curry. MJ, it was great to have you with us for the first time. It's been a pleasure, and can't wait to get back to it, Monday night. Looking forward to it. We'll have you back next week. You as well, BLG. Thank you, Lindsay. Thank you, Ethan.

Thank you, London and Ben, behind the scenes. All kinds of good stuff. going on we'll talk to tomorrow 2 o'clock let us know in the comments your big takeaways from this game and as always we love you