PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Mina Kimes: Expect Eagles DC Vic Fangio to DARE the Cowboys to run the ball

Episode Date: September 4, 2025

ESPN's Mina Kimes of NFL Live and the Mina Kimes Show joins the PHLY Eagles show to discuss why Kevin Patullo is such an intriguing figure heading into the season and breaks down the Eagles-Cowboys Week 1 matchup. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

All right, we turn now to the Xfinity mobile call in line and bring in our friend Mina Kimes of ESPN and the Mina Kimes show. Mina, how are you happy week one? Oh, so happy. How are you guys feeling? We're feeling good. We want to start with your most recent episode as you have done all of these like season previews. You've got to finally stick the landing. The most interesting figures of this NFL season, no Eagles on there.

So I do want to ask you, you know, on the cutting room floor, who to you is. is the most interesting eagle as we head into this season. Boast all this question from me. I mean, it's a pretty obvious. It's a pretty easy question. If I'm doing it should tell, I'd ask the question. You just sweep it out from under me.

It's a good question because the Eagles are so stacked and deep on both sides of the ball. It's actually kind of hard to pick an interesting player. Right. Like if you were asking me who is the biggest X factor, I might say whoever is playing cornerback opposite Quinion Mitchell, which I'm sure we'll talk about. I think I'll go with, I'll go with, I'm not going to pick Jalen Hertz. I'll go with Kevin Petulow for this one, right?

I think there's just, there's very little angst about him replicating what happened the last time. Yes. The last coordinator switch after losing Shane Steichen. So I think I want to see early on if that belief in him is earned. And, you know, if he counters challenging. during the season, let's say they were to lose any of the main pieces on offense can make adjustments. So that, that I think, is going to be a big determinant of whether or not the Eagles repeat. Yeah, I think, I think that's right. And it has been an under discussed

storyline in Philadelphia, much, much different than it was with Brian Johnson. And it does feel like there is an expectation that the offense is going to be a little bit more pass heavy. And how much of that is Kevin Petullo versus, you know, Jalen Hertz getting his version of the offense. out there, but there's no doubt that, you know, if things don't start great, very quickly, you know, the arrows are going to be pointed in his direction. Yeah, I think that Jalen of it all probably informs that. I feel like we've learned that through the offensive coordinator changes, this sort of just becomes Jalen Hertz's offense more so than maybe two years ago. So, yeah, but I do think Kevin Boutul is a good one, because if this offense does not look the way that

it should, you know, with the amount of talent they have, we're going to be looking at him. And the stakes are also very clear that if the offense is very good, good, there's a good chance that Kevin Batulah's a head coach next year. Yeah, right. Jalen Hertz has a history of that of guys moving on from him and becoming head coaches. Yeah, there's just also so few variables. Other than, I mean, on offense, it's just injuries to me. Yeah.

And that would be the thing that you're worried about because it's such a top heavy team. Agreed. Mina, we've given you as much time as we could, but we need your on the record, Eagles prediction for the season. We want to talk about the game, but listen, this is the last chance we can. can ask you what you think is going to happen this season without having, you know, the week-to-week minutia kind of coloring your prediction. And just know that this is going to get clipped, you know.

I didn't do you any favors here. Meena, I apologize. Yeah. Okay. So I think the Eagles win the division with relative ease, especially, not that the Cowboys were going to challenge them for it, but I think Michael Parsons trade makes that more likely. I have to stick to the prediction I just gave to ESPN.com, which is I sent. the Packers to the Super Bowl.

I don't know how much of that. I swear it's not reasoncy bias. I was high at the Packers going to the playoffs before. I think part of me just does, I tend to like mix it up a little bit year to year. Of course. I want something a little bit different. I think though, the way I will be honest about this. And I know Eagles fans don't want to hear this.

Before the Michael Parsons trade, I had the Eagles in a tier of their own in the NFC. after the Mike of Parsons trade, I bumped up the Packers into that tier. Does that mean that they're better than the Eagles? I think that they're... Anything can that, of course. Yeah. Yeah, I think...

You could guarantee me that the Eagles were going to stay healthy, wire to wire. I would probably pick the Eagles. I think the reason I pick the Packers a little bit more bet on some regression with regards to health and maybe Seek-Wan Berkeley.

Which is totally reasonable. I mean, it's very difficult to go to the Super Bowl or win the Super Bowl two years in a row. I think we can be honest about that. Yeah. Yeah. No, and the Packers thing is interesting. Not the least of which reasons is they traded for Darien Kinnard,

who has won the Super Bowl all three of his years in the NFL. It feels a bit like a fait accompli, and we do need to circle back, Mina, on the Willie Lampkin of it all. I mean, what a call. Oh, I know. Oh, my goodness. It's very exciting. Very exciting.

It's becoming a quick cult hero here. I have a friend who I will not name, who works for the team. And I sent him the picture. He was joking to me about like Willie Lampkin, if he ever does play just being next to the starters on the Eagles offensive line. Yes.

Does really look like. Obviously, Eagles fans want Camp Jordan, stay healthy, don't want to play, but I'm just saying, and I sent him, I don't know if you guys have ever seen that picture of Splinter

with the giant Ninja Turtles next to him. That's what I'm like to be so much small. Like, it's funny because I think we all thought of Jason Kelsey as being like this unusually short, you know, Yes, which is a little overstated. He's not that small. No, he's not that short. In fact, he's got like four inches. Yeah.

But yeah, it's, we'll see how what happens when he gets enrolled at Stoutland, you. It is exciting. It's very exciting. Seeing him in the locker room for the first time, it was staggering. Like, he is significantly smaller than you would even expect. That's great. Yeah. It's very, very exciting. Okay, let's let's get to the business at hand. We have a football game finally on Thursday night. Eagles, Cowboys. Let's start. Eagles have the ball against the Cowboys defense.

Obviously, no Michael Parsons, but boy, I mean, you add Kenny Clark and all of a sudden it's a different game here. It's over. Can we take a moment to appreciate like Jerry Jones picking the worst possible time to emphasize the Cowboys Run Deals. Like going into playing the Philadelphia Eagles and telling the world this was trade was about run defense, we improved it. Kenny Clark is a monster.

Poor Kenny Clark. Poor Kenny Clark. Like, he was a good player and like he's okay run defender. He's solid. But like having to go up against the Philadelphia Eagles of all teams after Jerry calls his shot there just could not have time to this any worse. You're absolutely right that it, there is no upside here for Kenny Clark. He, you know, he gets thrown in. He's the guy they got for Micah Parsons.

They couldn't even like trade Michael Parsons to a team that's going to have a high first round pick. Like they trade him to a good team, you know, setting the timing aside and all the way they all the ways that they bungled this. But yeah, like Kenny Clark, if we're not like a top 10 run defense, it's all on Kenny. But I mean, listen, this was a disastrous run defense last year going up against the Eagles offense. We know that they are going to try to run the ball. What is the most interesting part of this side of the matchup to you? I also feel like Michael Parsons didn't play in one of those games against Philly. Am I wrong?

I believe that's right. You missed the last one. Yeah. Okay. Well, who knows? I thought he was the guy setting the entire team back in run defense. I can't even. Some of the cope is crazy.

It's crazy. Oh, but they're going to get Arch Manning, Mina. So it's all, this is all. Oh, right. By the way, I loved on the, I got a, I'm going to cut a little ad here. I got a code to read the All Philly website that someone there sent me. And I was reading an article. And it had a great quote from Jordan Mila.

I love it when Edelphill players are honest. And he was just like, yeah, I'm really glad that Michael Parsons. Yeah. It's been like half of our week game planning for him. And I'm like, thank you. Thank you. Right. Okay.

By the way, the great reason to become a diehard. You know, Mina's reading the articles, join $36 for the whole year. It's great. Fantastic. That was a great article. And it had some really good insights, including who the hell is playing cornerback too, which is something I'm hoping to glean from you guys. Okay, so this is an interesting one because, you know, we all know the deal with Philadelphia. They make the math impossible for you, right?

If you sell out to stop the run, play man coverage, they'll kill you on the outside, yada, yada. I think for the Cowboys, though, I'm actually very interested in how they approach that because they have any defensive coordinator, Maddie Rufluse, who is not really one to sell out to stop the run. And he is one to try to put a shell on opposing offenses. And I don't think they have the manpower on the back end to handle these receivers. I mean, the lost in all this conversation about the Cowboys defensive line is the secondary is a major problem on this team. You have Trondig saying, yeah, maybe up 75%. Cool. Even if you are 175% in your place, the AJ Brown, right?

Dron Blan, maybe they play him inside. Then you're opening up a gaping hole opposite him. So I think strategically, this is going to be an interesting one for Kevin Petullo. You have such a talent advantage across the board. How are you reacting in-game to whatever the Eagles, the Cowboys part of me, try to do to address, you know, one of their many gaping weakness. If they sell out to stop the run, I think the Eagles will kill them through the air. If they don't, if they actually do play a little bit more split safety, you kill them on the ground. And so I think it's a very tasty matchup.

It'll be a fun one for Petulah early on to show that he is a good game planner and in-game manager. So I do wonder if there is some shootout potential for this game, especially looking at this Cowboys receiving Corps, the questions the Eagles have at outside corner opposite, Quinion Mitchell. What do you expect from this Cowboys offense, I guess, in the season opener, and really just this year in general. Other side of the ball is much more interesting to me because I think to your point, this is part of reason why the Micah Parsons trade

was so mind-boggling to me. I think the Cowboys' offense has a potential to be pretty good. Yeah, yeah. So, right? Like, this is not like a crappy team rebuilding without a quarterback. They traded for a wide receiver 2 slash 1B and George Pickens.

And I think he has the potential, to your point, to give Philadelphia some problems. Is it Adori Jackson? Like, you tell me, guys, you're the experts. Seems like it'll be a Dory Jackson and it seems like maybe that won't be a long-term solution for them, but I think they're going to go into the year with a Dory outside corner. Yeah. So, you know, I mentioned I'm not sure how Iber Fluths will approach it. I have to think Vic is going to really dare Dallas to run the ball and ask these guys up front to win where they have more of a talent advantage, I think. You know, I think the Cowboys obviously have a superstar guard and Tyler Smith, but the questions elsewhere on the interior of the offensive line. And whereas through the air, I think that's where Dallas wants to live.

Like, they're, they all every game they want to get one-on-ones for either lamb or pickets. It'll be interesting to me just from a matchup perspective to see how they deploy the two of them. Right. Yeah. Dallas, yeah, like, given that Philly has a superstar outside, a superstar in the slot, and then a big question mark, what do you do with your two receivers? Are you putting them on the same side? Are you playing sides?

Are you putting them in motion? You know, the Eagles corners aren't typically they're not going to follow. So I think that's going to be really fascinating for Brian Schottenheimer because that's really their only chance in my mind of competing in this one is if they can continue to, like you said, keep high scoring by winning through the air. It's a really interesting problem because it's, you know, do you lean from the Cowboys perspective into like what makes your guys great? Or do you focus more on where the other team is weak?

Because C.D. Lame is so good in the slot. Yeah. But, you know, that means he goes up against Cooper DeGine, and that's a little bit more of an even matchup. Whereas if you just have C.D. Lamb and George Pickens on the outside, one of them is going to get to go up against the Dory Jackson. And so you're going to have some advantage there. I'm sure we'll see all of that throughout the game. But it's a really interesting question for them to solve. And if they play those two guys on the outside, that opens the question. Does Quinehan Mitchell follow C.D. Lamb more often in the game?

Very exciting stuff. It's interesting to see how it turns out. How do you feel about the Cowboys offensive line? You mentioned Tyler Smith. 60% Tyler. Yeah, so many Tyler's. It's an interesting drafting strategy. Tyler Smith is a stunt. He's one of the best cars in the NFL.

But I thought some of the young players played decently well last year, got in his up and down, and then he's coming off of the injury as a rookie. So it's a lot of youth. I think the Cowboys Offensive Line is going to be good by the end of the year. But it's week one. And obviously, there's going to be a lot of attention paid to Jalen Carter, right? So, you know, if you're Dallas and you've got Smith opposite Carter, you've got two guys on Carter,

you're getting one-on-ones for Nolan Smith, who was so fantastic rushing next to Carter last year. So, yeah, I think you get what the opportunity is for everybody who's not Jailen Carter, right? So I think this is a good test for this, you know, young, turned over Eagles pass rush. Morrow Jumo. O Jemo. It's anybody's guest at this point. I was corrected recently. They were like, no, it's a Jemo.

Like, what? Last year, it was a Juma. It's a moving target. He changed it again. Morrow. J. Lick's Hunt, much easier to say. And then Smith, you know, I think like just proving that he can be the dude without Josh sweat.

I mean, he was. And, you know, but obviously things have changed. It's a good test, I think. You know, they're not, I would say right now, I'd probably have them about average as far as offensive line goes. It could be better by the end of the season. But yeah, you definitely want to see that young front show that you were right to believe in them. One thing we have talked about, and this is something that the Eagles have emphasized,

is that, you know, the first month of the season is sort of like fact-finding for your own team, right? It's getting to know what your strengths and weaknesses are. I think about last year's Eagle season when, you know, after the first month of season, like, okay, we're going to just turn into a running team and we're going to bring Cooper to Jean in. we're going to change the defense just a little bit. As someone who is following the whole league, how do you approach like what you are watching the first month of the season and knowing that it's not exactly what these teams are going to look like,

you know, as the season goes on? Yeah, you have to really take it on a team-by-team basis, I think. One thing that's going to challenge me for me or at least, you know, a lot of my work is very stats-based and early on the stats don't exist. or they're kind of not real. So you do lead more into film in the first few weeks of the season. And your mother, let me rephrase that, you're more wary of what stats are saying, right?

Like the first two weeks of the season in New Orleans Saints were the first of the game. This is the first thing that comes to mind, yes. It is funny, too, because I think, like, that's why it sucks for Cowboys fans or for the Cowboys, like, maybe they probably will be better in run defense this year. You just can't base it on week one against Philadelphia Eagles, right? But yeah, I think you just have to put everything in perspective, okay, which if it's a unit that's mostly the same.

Like if the Eagles offense looks bad the first few weeks of the season, which I don't think is going to happen, you're actually concerned because it's the same group, right? Like, I think that matters. But if the front doesn't look as good as they were last year, you got to give them a little bit of time with their young players. So cornerback, too, is that an issue that needs to be solved? to figure that out early on. So I think it's just about putting things in context, considering continuity and the strength of opponents and who they're playing,

what kind of quarterbacks they're playing. Like Cam Ward, week one has the Denver Broncos. Just nobody make a judgment on Cam Ward after week one. You know, things like that. You got to know who the opponents are. And then you said something earlier that caught my ear. You know, the Eagles will, you know, go and win the division easily.

And you mentioned the Cowboys. you did not mention the commanders, and we here at this desk are, you know, betting against the commanders. To me, they are screaming reversion for a lot of reasons. They're old, you know, the fourth down success last year, all of these things. Jane Daniels is awesome, and he might be good enough to overtake all of that. But everything else to me is screaming comeback. What's your commander's take? Yeah, I think I am a little bit lower than the consensus, at least based on what some of my colleagues I've seen saying about them

for the reasons you describe. The main reason for me is just skepticism of the defense. I just look at this depth chart and I see holes in talent. I don't know where the consistent pass rush is going to come from. There are young players I like that they drafted, but that's more speculative than anything. Can Lattimore return to form? Can Trey Omas can contribute right away? I don't know.

Bobby Wagner is the year older. At linebacker, like I said, the pass rush. And then the run defense, which obviously, you know, the Eagles. stampeded all over them in the playoffs. I don't look at this depth chart and see fixes. So to me, like, I think they'll still be competitive. I'm such a believer in the young quarterback. I think the offense, too, I like some of the, a lot of the moves that they made,

both in terms of, like, adding veterans, but also drafting to develop there. I just think defensively, they look a little one-sided to me. All right. Well, Mina Kimes, we look forward to talking to you in a couple weeks as we have two games to talk about, but enjoy week one and we'll talk to later. Thank you so much. Thanks, Mina. Talk to you guys later.

All right, back with more on the P.HLY Eagles podcast after this.