PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Philadelphia Eagles-Baltimore Ravens Kickoff Show: A.J. Brown leads Birds into titanic clash

Episode Date: December 1, 2024

It’s the biggest game of the season for the Eagles, as they travel down I-95 to play Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry and the Baltimore Ravens. With DeVonta Smith still banged up, A.J. Brown, Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts will have to carry the offense against a very good run defense that has still been susceptible to the deep ball. And then it will be on Vic Fangio to put together a plan that allows Jalen Carter, Nolan Smith, Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean to stifle the league’s No. 1 offense.Join Jamie Lynch and Rich Hofmann, live from Garage Fishtown, as they discuss the latest developments before Zach Berman joins live from Baltimore. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Game day to all out there. Welcome into the pregame show here on P.H.O.I. Eagles. I am Jamie Litch joined with Rich Hoffman. And we are not in our studios. If you're watching us on YouTube or if you're later listening on a podcast, bless you. But it's a loud background behind us because we're live at the garage north here in Fishtown, an institutional bar of Philadelphia. And we are here courtesy of our friends over at Miller Light, the original beer,

drinkers like beer since 1975 and Rich to this day still the best one happy game day this is steel on steel and by the way Zach Berman's going to be joining us for all the latest post warm-ups and inactive news which we're going to get into at 405 but rich this is the game of the weekend this is one of the best in the AFC a multi-time MVP player in Lamar Jackson against this Eagles team that has won seven in a row. This is the definition of steel on steel. Very exciting game today. It's going to be awesome, James. And it's funny, you know, it's garage here. Great place to watch all of the early games. You got Kirk Cousins sticking it up. You got Pittsburgh putting it on Cincinnati right now. Great place to watch. And then we have a great game and our Eagles are in that great

game. And, James, they have already passed so many tests over the past month that I am not framing this as the are they for real game because they're for real. They're already for real no matter what happens. But I am framing this as the are they for real, for real, for real game? Because he likes you. He likes you, likes you. Because if they win this game, it's not really what we think. It's more just what the national media thinks, right?

They're going to get that level of respect if they are able to win this game. They will be, I don't think any. will not have them in that top-tier Super Bowl contender list, which again, I already think they're there, but this is an opportunity for the Eagles, because this is a tough, a tough game. And as we're going to get into, people might say this is a tough matchup. Some of the Raven strengths might be able to neutralize the Eagles strengths, but if the Eagles are able to come out on top and just say, hey, look, our good is better than you're good. I don't think anybody will have really any questions about them anymore.

Yeah, and I sat down and I read Zach's great story on all p.h.l.Y. And by the way, if you've ever considered becoming a diehard, we might have a great sale in store for you this weekend and going on through tomorrow. So keep your eyes peeled. Head to all p.l y.com. I mean, you get Fran Duffy's game notes, player by player breakdown of the offense and defense of the Ravens versus the Eagles and all of his stuff. There's great stuff. So I was reading all of that stuff. And I was reading some of the national media today, Rich, before coming in here.

And it's just you can make the case for each team to go out there and win this game today. Yeah. Both have, I think the Eagles have less weaknesses than the Ravens do. I think that's true. But it's Lamar Jackson. And there's a part of me today that goes, I'm expecting to see some crazy Lamar Jackson stuff on the field. Vic Fangio's quote from Zach Berman was, there's no one way to play this guy. That is what makes the mark of a great quarterback. There's no one way to defend them.

So you can make the case for either team. you know, it's going to be, it's going to be an awesome game. So to me, the defensive key is one that they have used to get some of the better offenses that they have played this year. And it's pretty simple to me, James. It's do not get to scurrence, right? Lamar Jackson is going to do some stuff. He's going to do some stuff that's going to feel deflating.

He's going to, he's going to scramble for eight seconds and then throw a dart across his body to Mark Andrews for a first down. And it's going to be like, what are we supposed to do? We played that perfectly. but it kind of reminds me of that Bengals game a few months ago. Now, obviously the Ravens, they have some issues on defense, particularly with the big plays. The Bengals, their defense is awful. I mean, they're getting lit up by Russell Wilson today.

He's having a field day, 41 points on the board. He's cooking for us. So, but I think at the beginning of that game against Cincinnati, the Eagles gave up some points, and it was because an elite quarterback was doing some elite quarterback stuff. It wasn't even that the Eagles were playing. particularly like awful defense. It was Burrow was putting the ball on the money. He was getting nine yards on every third and eight, right?

He was doing elite quarterback things. And you have to expect a degree of that today from Lamar Jackson. I mean, the guy's been, I know Josh Allen is also up there in the MVP ratings. If you look at a lot of the stats, Lamar Jackson has been the best quarterback in the league. I think it's two years ago it was Lamar Jackson. And then Josh Allen is kind of like taking that back a little bit. Whatever. You're playing one of the one or two.

you know, top three elite quarterbacks in the week. Rich, I was kind of like, I love Lamar Jackson. I love watching him play. I like watching the Ravens games. They're always on CBS. When it's all said and done, this guy has a possibility to be a more time MVP than Patrick Mahomes. Like, he could be a five-time MVP by the time his career is done.

I mean, this is the mark of a Hall of Famer of Hall of Famers. And yeah, you kind of have to live, to your point, with some crazy stuff. He's going to pull out today. He has played Vic Famer. NGO in his defense before and given them some fits, but he's given everyone fits. But here's the thing. This Eagles defense, there's a term that gets darned around in sports and times, competitive stamina.

And it's just, it's the, it's the ability to take a punch and just keep coming. Right. Exactly. It's, it's rocky type stuff where, look, the other team is going to hit you with some haymakers. Can you take it on the chin and just continue to play for 60 minutes? And that's a lot. And that's a lot of what the Eagles have done, really. Like it even goes beyond the rocky stuff.

They're just tough and they just continue to play hard for four quarters. And then by the end of that Bengals game, Joe Burrow and that offense gave up. They let go on the rope as the Eagles defense just kept coming after them. I think there's going to have to be a degree of that against Lamar and the Ravens offensive. It's probably going to be an even tougher task because, you know, they played some really good offenses so far this year. Obviously, the one they played last week built around a couple of times. of star receivers. This one is elite quarterback, elite running back, maybe not the best running back in the league, but the second best running back in the league. And the tier, there's a big

drop off after number two. They're schemed up very well. A couple nice tight ends. They spread it all around. It's going to be a really tough test for Big Vanjo's defense, but they have passed every test over the past couple of months with flying colors, James. Yeah, absolutely. And Zay Flowers is an extremely explosive player. He's always always on the cusp of busting one. So it's going to be a lot of fun. But let's get to the inactives. We're going to talk more about Zach Berman

with this coming up here shortly, but some pretty big Ls for the Eagles today. Devante Smith went through pregame warmups on the field. They said he was very close to returning, but with soft tissue injuries, you know, time is usually a better plan for the long term.

So Devante not going to return today. And then the other big one, Darius Slay on the defensive side of the ball, Isaiah Rogers going to get thrust into a big spot today. How are you feeling about those two big inactors? The Devante injury is a particular bummer because this among all the other games the rest of the year was the game you needed him, right? Because I actually think they could let him rest next week against Carolina just for a precaution, right? Even against Pittsburgh in a couple weeks, that's probably going to be more of the defensive battle.

They might be able to get, you know, they can eat out a few points. I'm not sure Russell's going to be moving the ball up and down the field on them. But this game, because the Ravens give up so many big plays in the passing game, would be nice to have AJ and Devonte. But look, you know, the Eagles are not playing for December 1st here, Jay. They are playing for the playoffs. So if you don't want to mess around with the soft tissue injury with the hamstring, it makes sense to me.

And Dariuslay, older player, concussion protocol, nothing you can do about that. But Isaiah Rogers, look, last week, it's almost a compliment to Quignon and Cooper de Jean. that they attacked Isaiah Rogers. You know what I mean? And it's like, hey, this guy's coming off the bench. He's cold. He's only played a couple snaps this game. Of course, they were going to go at him.

But they were going to go at Slay too, so, you know. Yeah, but I think Slay's getting, I think he's getting a little, I think he's having a solid year. He is. He is definitely better than Rogers. So I expect the Ravens to try and scheme up some ways to go after Rogers today. And that's a ultimate hat tip to Quinyon and Cooper DeCine. They've been spectacular. But the Slay loss is,

is a big one. It is. But look, I think if you give Isaiah Rogers a full week to know, okay, I'm probably going to start here. I feel pretty good about him. And if he struggles, maybe we see Kili Ringo at some point, too, right? There are options. One of the areas on this team that I feel pretty good about the depth is cornerback. And obviously, because Quinnion and Cooper have played so well, sure, Isaiah Rogers is going

to get picked on a little bit. He got picked on last week. No arguments there. But I don't think he's going to be that glaring of a weakness. No, I don't think you can. Flashes of being good this year. Yeah, he showed those flashes. And obviously he killed it at training camp as well to the point where I don't think

pick on Isaiah Rogers the entire game is going to be a strategy. Yeah, I just don't think that's a winning strategy. I think the Ravens are probably going to have to throw at Cooper and Cuenot at some point. Now, look, they have the offense to do it. Like I said, they spread it out. They are not a very predictable team. They certainly don't have a predictable quarterback who will just throw it anywhere he wants. but it's going to be a great test.

Look, I think we can probably move to the offensive side of the ball and not having Zavante. It's probably the bigger of the two. Yeah, it's going to be a bigger one. And look, James, I think when you look at what the Ravens are good at defensively, what they are bad at defensively, they are prone to the big ball. I think this is going to have to be one of Jalen Hertz's better games. I agree with that, yeah.

Look, and it was against Cincinnati when they had the... And Cincinnati's defense states. And it's over under right now on Bet365, I believe it's 51. So to your point, I think this game has potential to turn into one of those 55, 57 point type of games. And if you have that, what's lost in the storyline last week was Sequin's brilliance. And we'll talk about Derek Henry and Saquine in a minute, was that A.J. Brown was kind of alone in that passing game. So I'm with you. Like I wrote down in my notes, Dallas Goddard, hello, we need you.

Yeah. You know, I'm not really counting on the rest there. but AJ is going to be a man on an island, but the Ravens are susceptible to that big play. RIP, Emmanuel Forbes. He got released yesterday. AJ Brown ended that gentleman's career. Did you see the Redstone?

Excuse me, the commanders have now released every first round pick from 2018 through 2023, released or traded them to this point, and Jahan Dotson's one of them. And that one was, AJ Brown was, he signaled the beginning of the end for Emmanuel Forbes there. Anyway, enough of them. They actually won by a lot today.

So good thing. Thank God. Dallas won last week because again, I don't, I don't think the commanders are as good as Eagles, but if they are playing competent football, their schedule is not very tough down the stretch. So for today's game, though, I am prepared for a few things on offense. And really what I meant when I was talking about the Ravens have some strengths that match up pretty well with the Eagle strengths. And the big one is that the Eagles run offense against the Ravens run defense.

That's going to be telling number two for both of them, EPA per play. So what is it? Is it going to be Jeff Stoutland's crowning achievement? Is it going to be that the offensive line bullies this defensive line with Mattabitke and O'A and these guys, and Sequin runs wild? Or is it going to have to be a game where Jalen, we need a little more from you? Because it's not, we're not going to get the same type of production from Seekwon that we usually get. I don't know.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's hard to expect Seekwon to keep doing this over and over. He has probably covered up some blemishes in that passing game so far. Jalen's been excellent. The professor Denez earlier was tweeting out. you know, how Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hertz stack up in EPA per play, per blitz, per play action, you know, all that deep dive. And this is a great matchup. I mean, Jalen Hertz has turned that corner since week four there, week five, and he's been pretty excellent. But to that point, I think they need them to be, you know, one of his best today because I don't want to say it's not fair to count on Sequan

to do that again. But it's kind of hard to expect him to go out there and get you 175 to 200 yards every single game. Jalen has been excellent in his role. That sounds insane by the way, doesn't it? 175 to 200 yards a game. It's insane. But you know what's insane? Breaking 70 yard runs. That gets you a lot closer to that total. And it's something that does not happen with nearly the frequency that Seekwan

Barkley is doing it, which is like literally every week right now. It's insane. It's crazy. So look, Jalen has been good in his role. I know I've read some stuff where people have called him more of a game manager in recent weeks and not even trying to really throw any shade at him.

Like they have this great running game and he's been super, I don't want to call him a game manager. I just want to say he's been super efficient with his limited football, limited targets, getting the ball to AJ. Doing a great job. Honestly, like last week, some of the scrambles he made,

I thought it was a very intelligent game from him. I do think this might be one of those games where he is called on to make, make those third down throws, throw the ball a little bit more. It could happen. I have one more stat for you, James, too.

I love stats. Give it to me. And it's from Fray. notes. Fran's notes are they're spectacular. Unbelievable. They are worth the price of the diehard. And we wink, some deals going on. Take a look. Quink, all p.h-o-y-com. So Fran had this stat. The Eagles have outgained their last seven opponents by a hundred or more total yards. Only the 1942 Chicago Bears with 10 straight have had a longer single-season streak since 1940. That's crazy. That is crazy. And that's why 1940. That's not even

real football back then. No. There's so leatherhead stuff. No, they were, yeah. They were running the power sweep every every play on third and 10th. So look, that's why I say this team is for real. There's no question about it. There's been a lot of these games where it's, you know, they win by 8 and it's like, if you look at the stats of that game, they won by two touchdowns there. Now, obviously they got to clean up some of these disastrous plays, some of these weird things that happen. But if they can do that against this team, this team that feasts on big. plays on the offensive side of the ball. Then it's like, okay, this is, let's stop saying the Eagles are a tier below the lines.

Like, they're right there. Yeah, I think the Detroit Lions are paying very close attention to today's game and what the Eagles do and how they show up. Sure, because they're looking at the rest of the Eagles schedule and thinking like, damn, I'm not seeing a ton of else there. Yeah, and they have a tough NFC North. Like, say what you will about the NFC North, but, you know, Caleb Williams and the Bears showed up a little bit if it wasn't for a Moronic head coach.

That's a tougher division to. battle in than the NFC East is for sure right now. Why did they make me care about that character? I'm sitting there on Thanksgiving. Stop me back in. I'm sitting there on Thanksgiving. I'm getting ready to eat a nice meal. And I am rooting really hard for the stupid Chicago Bears.

Terrible. Unbelievable. So Zach Berman is going to be joining us in about four minutes from, is it still Lemons C Bank Stadium? Who knows? Yeah. Those banks kind of changed hands a little bit. I've worked many, many games for Sunday Night Football at that stadium.

I actually downtown Baltimore is a cool place to go see a game. The walkability from the Inner Harbor and all that. Very purple down there. Maybe Michael Phelps will be on the sideline. But if I'm giving you a GM cat. Do you run into Michael Phelps when you were working? Oh, he was at like every game. Oh, when you were working with Sunday and football?

Yeah, he was on the sidelines every single game. Big Michael Phelps guy over here. Get your Michael Phelps on. What eagle wrap that? Do you remember? Get your Michael Phelps. Oh, Sean Andrews? Yes.

Great job by you. Rich Hoffman. All right, I'm crowning you, the GM of an NFL expansion team, and both Saquan Barkley and Derek Henry are available at the first pick for you, and you need a running back. Saquan Barkley. All right. No real second of thought there for you?

No, I mean, a couple years younger, I don't have the usage. Let's say the age was the same. You're still going, Saquan? I think I'm going Sequan. I think he's a little more dynamic when you don't have it blocked perfectly. Like Derek Henry, I'm not really trying to bag on him either. As Fran pointed out, Derek Henry's at his best when you give him the track, when you give him a straight line that is clearly defined.

And then he can, you know, for such a big guy, he really can hit that top line speed. But I don't know. I think Sikwan is a little more versatile as a runner. I think we've seen this year a little more capable of the home run type of play. Not that Derek Henry can. But I respect the hell out of Derek Henry. Running backs 30 years old should not be this good. You know, a guy who is basically carried a franchise for a.

a long time like he did in Tennessee. So the other aspect of today's game, Rich, is the defensive line, and we'll talk to Zach in about two minutes here about his observations from warm-ups here. I heard Dave Zangarro on my way in saying that he thinks Charles Harris is going to play a little bit today. But when you talk about Derek Henry, the name Jordan Davis immediately comes to mind. Sure. Because, you know, is he going to chase down Lamar Jackson?

God, no. No. But he can be a wall today in the run game. I think you need to lean on him a little bit more in terms of snap count today. And I think Jordan Davis potentially could have a very big impact on this run game today and making Derek Henry's life a little bit tougher. Yeah, I mean, if you look at EPA and DVOA and those things, really the Ravens' offense against the Eagles defense. It's good against good.

There's not one specific area where one of the one biggest play versus the one that allows the Eagles defense allows the least big plays. The Ravens have the most big plays. So, yeah, it's like steel on steel here. But, you know, I imagine that the Eagles run defense is going to get tested because of how good Quinnian's been, because of how good Cooper has been. And because the Ravens are awesome running the ball. And especially on those plays where Lamar can keep it, he can give it to Derek Henry.

It's really a nightmare or he can throw it. The RPOs, and that's so scary when you're playing against him because, man, if you give him that edge and give him the ability to. kind of run in a straight line around that edge. Like, that's a 20-yard play waiting to happen against you. So, yeah, definitely could be a big Jordan Davis game. I mean, I'm just super curious to see, as Fran mentioned in his notes as well. Like, do we see more base today?

Just because they're working in new defense. How much does it get in the lab and experiment today? You know, do we see a little more Milton Williams out at, uh, unfortunately the Ravens aren't probably the ideal team. No, to experiment against. No, for having to, for having to replace Brandon Graham, this is a tough first one. He's going to be missed today because his type of play and setting an edge and just, you know, the athleticism and spryness he was still showing at age 36 really could probably have a big impact on today's game there. But shortly we're going to be joined by Zach Berman.

Oh, Zach is there. All right. Well, let's bring him in. The man the myth, the legend. Mr. Zach Berman joins us now live. Rich and I are at the garage in Fishtown on behalf of our friends. at Miller Light. Zach Berman is down in Baltimore.

Zach, how are you, friend? Hey, doing great. Good to see you guys. Doing great, Zach. This is the game of the week in the NFL. We were talking about it. I think the Detroit Lions and a lot of teams around the league

are paying close attention to this game today because this could be a separator for either team. The Ravens don't even lead their own division. The Steelers go out and win today. So they're still playing for a lot. The Eagles, if they win this, could be talked about at that Lions level of one of the best in the NFL. All said, I think you framed it well. Now, the one thing I would add to that is I think the Eagles are at the Lions level for one of the best teams in the NFL.

The thing is the Lions have a game up on the Eagles. And I think that's even more critical in the NFC than it is in the AFC. Just because I think the Lions are a team that will thrive at home and that will struggle being in Philly on the road. And I think if the Eagles don't get that one seed and they have to go to Detroit in the playoffs, that's an especially difficult place to play. And I think that's more pronounced than, say, in the AFC where we've seen Kansas City going to Buffalo and win. You know, it's a little different situation there. So you're absolutely right in terms of the implications of this game.

And really, you want to measure yourself against the best. And from where I stand, the Ravens are a legitimate Super Bowl contender, one of the best teams in the NFL. So, Zach, Rich is coming up here in a second, but the inactive today. Obviously, the two big pieces of news, Devante and Darius Slay for the birds. Yeah, so Devante was the one that was in question. Obviously, he was questionable. I saw him working out on the field before the game. Spoke to Devante Smith on Friday.

And he really indicated that this is in the hands of the training staff. He wanted to go last week, but they need to protect him from himself. And after speaking to Devante on on his own. Friday. I kind of got the sense that it'll be two games without him, right? And he is progressing. The fact that he was a limited participant in practice during the week is a positive sign.

The fact that he was questioned before this game is a positive sign. I don't see this as a prolonged absence, but they do need to be careful with hamstring injuries. And it's interesting. Devonthe Smith, he's an exercise science major. Okay, so I bring that up because he's in two,

or he was an exercise science major at Alabama. He really has good insight on his body on the hamstring injuries. He even said he knows he knows more about hamstring injuries than most do because this is that he scores hamstring in college. He knows certain things to work on with it, certain things to stay away from. And I think so I think he's in in tune with the fact that you you don't want to prolong this injury. And so it doesn't surprise me that he's not playing, but he was on the field working out before the bean. CB, that's obviously a huge loss, though.

How do you think specifically for this game against the Ravens defense that does give up a lot of big plays in the passing game, how Jalen Hertz and the Eagles adjust without one of their two-star receivers? Yeah, it's a great question, Rich, because really I think this is a game where you're going to need to see the passing game play at a high level. That's where the Ravens are susceptible. Now, the other thing that we talked about the Vante, kind of the under the radar things that Johnny Wilson, who's really been kind of their number three receiver this year to a certain extent. He is out. He injured his hamstring already this week.

And so the Eagles, they signed Paris Campbell to the 53-man roster yesterday. And so you're looking at A.J. Brown, Paris Campbell, Jahan Dodson, Ritton Covey, Anaya Smith. Certainly not the wide receiver group that Eagles expected going into the season. Now, AJ has been money all year. You saw him have 100 plus catches. I'm sorry, 100 plus yards, a touchdown last week with Devante out of the lineup. I think this is the game where AJ Smith is your $100 million receiver, and you keep pounding it to him, right?

Get that target share high. You can see more from Dallas Scott or Greg, you know, Grant Calcutera, and you've seen the Eagles lean in the 12 personnel. But really, I'm looking at Jalen. I'm looking at J. Brown. And if you want to know which secondary target or which secondary receipts, would be the player to watch. I would honestly say Paris Campbell.

And you might say Jahan Dodson, but Paris Campbell was with the team during the summer. You've seen the games that he's been in there. He's popped a little more than Jahan has. So I'm paying attention to Paris Campbell as kind of like the second wide receiver in this game. So Zach, you got a great story up on all p.hly.l.com about Vic Fingio and Zach Bonn and Kobe Dean. And this linebacker court kind of changing this defense. Obviously, one of the biggest tests of the year today with Derek Henry and Lamar Jackson. How do you think Vic and the defense go about this today?

And then as like a second part of it, how much is that defensive line going to look different today without BG? Yeah, I appreciate the plug to the story, by the way. The linebackers are, it's huge in this game. You know, I spoke to, and speaking to Vic Fangio already this week, he said no team has really found a way to, like, this is how you should defend Lamar Jackson. Nick Fangio tried one way last year, limited his legs, limited Jackson's legs, but Jackson went 19 for 21 with five touchdowns to the air, right? And he has the capability of doing that. And then you add in the fact that obviously Derek Henry is on the team this year, the linebackers are going to be critical. Zach Bond, Eagles need Zach Bond to continue playing.

at an all pro level. And I, that's not hyperbole, all pro level. That's how good Zach Vaughn's been. And Kobe Dean's really the, he's, he's the voice of the defense. He's, he's the alpha in that group. And that's so important. So, yeah, I think that Lamar Jackson has the ability to put strain on the defense. The, the Ravens like using their tight ends.

Mark Andrews, Isaiah likely are two players who, who are big parts of this offense. So I really think this is going to be a challenge for the linebackers. And I wrote it this week. This linebacker group is, I would say they're playing better than any linebacker group with my 13 years covering the team. But they are a legitimately good linebacker group in the NFL. And they keep looking at this article from summer that ranked them number 30 in the week. They're a top 10 group with the way they're playing.

And then the second part of your question. We talk about the front. We talk about the linebackers. Let's go to the secondary where Darius Lay is also out. Isaiah Rogers, he got picked on a little bit last week when he came into the game. The Rams obviously have two excellent receivers and a good coach. Is there any, I guess is there any optimism for Isaiah Rogers sort of knowing that he was going to play all week, maybe having a better game, a bounce back type of performance?

Yeah, good point. So I'm going to answer that question. I just realized I didn't get the second part of James' questions first from the previous one, which was replacing Brandon Graham. I'm going to hit on Isaiah Rogers in a second. But as far as replacing Brandon Graham, Charles Harris is in the lineup today. O'Sheaan Mathis, who they all debated from practice squad, is in the lineup. Pay attention to those two in terms of like taking some of the fringe snaps,

but really it's going to be Gielas Hunt and Nolan Smith were the biggest beneficiaries of it. I don't see Josh Dweitz playing time changing. I think Nolan Smith and Gialt's Hunt, you'll see more snaps from them. And it's about 25, 30 snaps a game. But the reality is it could be more because the Ravens could be on the field more. that most teams have been against the Eagles this year. To the, Isaiah Roger part of the question,

it's a great point because I spoke to Isaiah earlier this year when he was starting in Slay's place when Slay was absent. And he said it's a lot different when you go into the weekend and knowing you're the guy, right? And I, you know, he is going to get, he got the snaps with the ones this week. Slay didn't play. Now, I do think he could be picked on.

If you're choosing between, do you pick on Quinn of Mount Mitchell, do you pick on Isaiah Rogers, you're going after Isaiah Rogers. but Isaiah has shown a nose for the ball. This goes back to the summer. The one thing you got to be careful of is he has been susceptible to giving up some explosive plays.

And the Ravens, they are an explosive team, right? And so that's the one thing I am watching there in particular. But yeah, this is going to be a big test for Isaiah Rogers. All right, Zach, final one for you. This is the game of the week. A lot of eyes are going to be on this game. what is the official ZB prediction before we talk to you post game? Yeah, so I look, I think that these are two of the best teams in the NFL.

I give the Ravens the edge here. The way Lamar Jackson's playing, the fact that the Eagles don't have Dariusleigh, they don't have Devonte Smith. I think this is a game where the Eagles, where Jalen Hertz needs to be on a day game. If Jalen Hertz is on his A game, the Eagles will be able to score with Baltimore. The recipe for the Eagles,

has in addition to running the ball well, and they feel they can run against anybody with that offensive line and what's safe on. It's been keeping the opponent's points down. Eagle defense hasn't allowed more than two touchdowns in a game since the by-league. I don't think that's going to happen today. This is a three-point spread of 51 from over-under,

so it goes listening right now. If you wouldn't be surprised, but I'm picking Ravens 27, Eagles 24. So right at the number on both of those. I'm pushing both of those. I think it's going to be close, but look, Ravens to me, I thought going to the year,

they were the second best team in football, still feel that way, despite their record, giving them the edge in this matchup. By the way, though, I think the Eagles, after this game, can run the table. Now, Pittsburgh is on right in front of me here. Pittsburgh looks really good.

I think the Eagles can run the table the rest of the way, be 14 and 3. I just think the loss comes today. We're homers, but it's hard to argue with that. Yeah, I think I kind of see it the same way, Zach, we'll give our predictions at the end here.

But great stuff, as always, If you want to get Zach and Bo and Franz full exclusive writing on all p.hly.com, it's a great weekend to do so, and we might even have another special in store at a discount of rate to get you access to that going on tomorrow. So, Zach, we will talk to after the game, and, of course, you can always read Zach on all p.hly.com, and I hear he has a book out as well, which is a great gift for the Byrds fan in your life in the holiday season. See, Zach. Great great, guys. Thanks.

Yeah, just wanted to give Zach a little book love there. You know, for the holidays. All right, Rich, let's get into me and Bose. And if you have anything you love, no, I'm going to let you guys do it. I do like the over in this game. Okay. I think it's 51 right now. I do like that.

It's a lot of points, too. It is. It is. And it very easy could eat those words. All right, our bet three, six, five, and you can find out why it's never ordinary. With bet three six five, use code P.H.L. It's sign up. Deposit 10 bucks, bet $5, and you'll get $150 in bonus bets in your account.

All right, Rich, I'm going with the obvious one. The Ravens are going to hone in on them, but I'm going with AJ Brown to have a monster day. I really like the over 88 and a half yards. And then my second bet on the day is I really like Sequin Barclay to break off another big run. 30-plus yarder, you can get at plus 400 right now on bet 3, 6.5 worth a shot at that value. 30 yards. Yeah. That's like a double for him, man.

That's like a seeing-eye single. Yeah, a little gap shot. Yeah, it's great. With Bet365, you can do the milestone, so you can do it in any increment of like 10 yards you want. So I didn't want to go to 40. I think that was like plus 650 or something. So 30, you know, a little single.

The thing is, though, James, if you're going to have been 30, once he gets over 30, he often ends up in the end zone if it's over. That's true. So you can look at that. And then Bo, who's going to be doing the halftime show with Fran Duffy coming up. here. His best bets. He's got a great bit going on with Grant Calcutera. The over three and a half receiving yards. It's got a hit eventually for him. And then second, he's going Lamar Jackson. Longest run over 13 and a half yards. Okay. I hope not. But yeah, Grand Calcutera makes his way

into Bow's bets pretty much on a weekly basis at this point. No, Devante. I can see a grant target or two get, get this burst to him. Yeah. Dallas got her. It's got a guy. to be a game for him, right? You kind of need him in this situation today. I think if you're looking with Devante out to the guy you need to step up the most. And I agree with you. I think this has to be a Jerry Lynn Hertz game, but he needs somebody on the other end of those plays. I think this is a day you need Dallas Godder to do something for you. Sure. So if you want to look at his pregame or his odds. All right, Rich, what is your prediction as we wrap up shop and the game is close to kicking off here? Where are we going? So Jim, I'm actually going to go slightly under

because I think this Eagles defense is, I understand, and I agree with Zach in that, yeah, they're going to give up some touchdowns today. But, again, I just think they're going to make the Ravens kind of earn every inch that they get. I unfortunately think the offense without Devante Smith is not going to be quite explosive enough in the passing game. I'm going to differ a little bit from Zach. Let's say Ravens 27, Eagles 20. And it's not really going to affect how I feel about the Eagles, because like Zach said, very forgiving schedule on the way it.

could easily run the table. But this is a hard game, right? It is very hard game. And if they win it, I will be super duper impressed. I'll be irrational doing naked cartwheels down Gerard Avenue here. If they win this one, I mean. Get the people from garage and everywhere else. So I'm booking your hotel rooms for New Orleans if they win this one.

There's no stopping the irrationality that will come from this type of win. Look, it's a tough spot. But do I think the Eagles can win this game? Absolutely. Sure. Absolutely. I'm kind of with you. I do like the over in this game.

So I'm going to go Ravens 32. Eagles 27. I think this is more like an Evan Flo type of spot. I'm not, I think the Eagles ultimately could be the better team. But Baltimore, you know, they had the big comeback win last week, but they had like two weeks of like normalcy coming back home on a short week. Nick Siriani's first time facing Lamar Jackson and he shreds teams or excuse me, he shreds coaches the first time he sees him. He wins like 84% of these games. Well, he wins all those games against the NFC too. Yeah, yeah. He's just a freak.

I think he's special. I think Lamar's going to pull one out for the Ravens 3227. Could just be a spot too. Obviously, the Eagles, they need it because they, you know, the number one seed, the NFC could be a gigantic deal like Zach said. Seriously. Jared Gov coming to the cold and the cold would be, I think, a massive difference. Old Dalhans is pampered there in the dome, you know?

Like, we got to get them out in the cold. So obviously the Eagles need this game. But if the Eagles lose, they still have a pretty inside track to the number two seed in the NFC. The Ravens really need this game. They got to keep up. The Steelers win right here. This is big for the Ravens.

They're going to be, you should see their best today. This is going to be awesome. Well, go ahead and beat their best. Yeah. And I do think the Eagles best is better than the Ravens best. I just think this is a tough spot, winning seven in a row. By the way, Eagles 8 and 0 when AJ Brown placed this year. It seems pretty good.

Let's make it nine and O'Nove. Yeah, let's do it. So join Fran Duffy and Bo Wolf coming up at halftime here on PHLY. Like and subscribe to the channel. tell a friend, tell a neighbor, tell a family member about us, and then postgame Super Bowl champion, Vinic Curry, is going to be joining the post game show here on P HLY. Big, big thank you to our friends at Miller Light

for presenting us here at Garage North Today in Fishtown on the corner of Girard Avenue. Let's go birds, prove us all wrong. Usually when a panel all picks one way, I feel good about the other side. Me, you and Zach all picked Ravens, so hopefully that means a bird to win. Would be wonderful. Yeah. All right.

Excuse me. We'll see you coming up here at halftime on PHLY. Enjoy the game, everybody. We're all silly like the mayor.