PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Philadelphia Eagles pregame: Home NFC Championship Game in sight for Jalen Hurts & co.

Episode Date: January 19, 2025

It’s Super Bowl or bust for Jalen Hurts, A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, Nick Sirianni and the Eagles. After the Lions’ loss, the Eagles can get to the Super Bowl without leaving Philadelphia, which means taking care of business against the Rams on Sunday in the snow. Can Vic Fangio continue his dominance over Sean McVay? Can Jalen Carter, Zack Baun, Quinyon Mitchell and Nolan Smith shut down Matthew Stafford? Can Oren Burks hold up in place of Nakobe Dean?Our PHLY Eagles kickoff show starts with Jamie Lynch and Fran Duffy breaking down the action, with insight from Zach Berman and Bo Wulf from the LINC. Don’t miss it! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and happy NFC Divisional Sunday with a chance to go to the NFC Championship on the line. This is the PHLY Eagles podcast, Jamie Lynch, Fran Duffy, and we are brought to you by our friends at Bet365 and TrueMark Financial. Download the Bet365 app and use code PHLY365 when you sign up. And whatever the moment, it's never ordinary at Bet365. and visit trumark.com slash compare for full details and apply today. TrueMark financial federally insured by the NCUA Equal Opportunity Lender. Fran, I've spent the last 36 hours of my life waiting anxiously to get to 3 p.m. today.

the weather. We'll get our meteorologist, Zach Berman, checking in from Lincoln Financial Field in about 14 minutes. As of now, kind of tame out there. So far, the early reports throughout the course of the day were that it was going to pick up right around kickoff. And so we'll get the latest from Zach from the link here in a little bit. But I want to get, let me ask you this question really quick. We didn't talk about this. Does the pressure go up for you? Do you have any more angst after Washington wins last night. Now it's like, oh, the Eagles are playing for a home field advantage next week for the title game. Yes.

I think it does ramp up a little bit. I got a little chesty on the Twitter last night. I feel extremely confident about today's game and matchup. And I think, you know, with the way things are suiting up, we'll talk about that game at the end as we're getting out of here. I think the pressure did ramp up a little bit knowing you can host the NFC championship game next weekend. I agree. It's a great spot. As RG3 says, pressure makes diamonds.

So, you know, pressure is good here. All right, let's dive right into the game today because this is a rematch. Much like last week's game was a rematch from week one. This is a rematch from week 12, was it? Yep. And as we know, that was kind of Sequin Barclay's stamp on his MVP case this year, 255 yards, rushing that game. Let's pick it up.

And I want to start with the Eagles run game. versus the Rams rush defense. And everybody I talk to kind of assumes the game ball, if we're doing the post game show and Vinny and Bo and Zach are all in the mix here. The game ball, there's a good chance, goes to Saquan Barkley. And that game ball, by the way, is brought to you by Xfinity Mobile. It's proudly brought to you by our friends at Xfinity Mobile. Join the millions who have switched to one of the fastest growing mobile services.

I myself and an Xfinity mobile customer. So is it fair to say in the post game, if we're talking about an Eagles victory here, that Sequin Barclay is going to be getting the game ball? Or is this a situation where the Rams are going to say, that's the head of the snake? We need to stop that and everything else will fall into place. Yeah, I think if you're laying odds, you would say that Sequan Barclay would be the favorite to get the game ball in this matchup. Now, to your point, you would think that the Rams are going to sell out to stop the run. Now, they did try and do that in week 12. It's not like they were playing with light boxes and, you know, they, they open the door for the Eagles to be able to run

the football at will. The Rams did try and load the box against the Eagles back in that game at SoFi Stadium, but the Eagles just ran all over them. Now, you and I were talking about a stat that I shared on Thursday. This one horrified me a little bit. Yeah, look, this will be the eighth time that a running back has run for 200 yards against an opponent in a regular season game and then gone to face them again in the postseason. And all the previous seven times, that back has failed to clear the 100-yard mark. And so the way I look at that is you're going up against a playoff team. That's a good team.

Typically a good defense. They're saying, over my dead body, are you going to beat us again? We are going to force you to do everything else to try and beat us through the air. You are not going to run the ball on us. That said, I still have faith that Seguan Barclays we don't hit at least the century mark here against this defense. I think one of the dividers between the previous eight teams to run into this situation and the Eagles is, I would have to think, the offensive line of those other eight teams, probably not, probably

great offensive lines. I'm not trying to take anything away from them, but maybe not up to the standard. I feel like the Eagles offensive line is the great kind of divider between them and whatever rush defense is in front of them. Yeah, and I think when you look at even just this Rams defense from a personnel standpoint, those defensive tackles are a little bit light, linebackers are not super impactful in terms of coming downhill and making those plays. They've had some mistackles in the back end.

So I think all of it shapes up to Sequant still being able to have a very productive day on the ground. Yeah, and I'm really looking forward to this one in particular. Jared Verse has obviously made some news locally saying he hates Eagles fans and this and that. And I saw a billboard was taken out by some Eagles fans down around the complex. Mike Garifolo from the NFL network was just sharing Jared Verse going at it with some fans in the stands. Jalen Carter and him walking by each other. It's a. Jay Lindemo, yep.

Yeah, and they were going at it. This is a great playoff atmosphere. I'm really excited to see Jared versus Jordan Myelada. King Kong versus Godzilla here. This should be a great matchup to watch between those two if you're looking at individual matchups. Yeah, this was versus worst game of the season, really, from a pressure standpoint, was that week 12 game.

And there was that clip that went viral of him just planting Milata, that bull rush that knocked Jordan to the ground. You typically don't see that from Jordan. But that was the only pressure that Jordan allowed all game. And so I think when you look at it. that and you say, all right, you feel pretty good about that matchup. You still have to go out and execute. And I would say if you're looking at this past game, just handling the defensive line stunts in general, I think that's going to be the big test here for this Eagles offensive

line in pass protection for Jalen Hertz. We saw last night in that game where Washington upset the Detroit Lions, those pressure, the pressure can lead to turnovers and turnovers can swing a game. And so the Eagles offensive line will need to do everything they can to protect Jalen Hertz against that rush package. Yeah, it should be a great one in the trenches. I think the Eagles have the advantage here. So definitely one to look for in the rushing attack here. It should be pretty great. Now, how much Kenny Gainwell slash?

I would imagine Will Shipley, you'd be drunk if you put him in this, in this type of situation. Is this a game where you're just going, Sequin, carry us, Gainwell, maybe when he needs a breather, like does Kenny Gainwell get more than three rushes today? I mean, in theory, that would be a great thing if he did because it might mean that the Eagles are putting the game on ice. that said, my guess is you probably will see a handful of snaps from Kenny, but I think

it's going to be mostly Sankwan. So have Sequin and Lashon McCoy talked about snow games and cleats and seven inch spikes? You think Shady was on the phone with Sakewon this week, telling him what worked? Just letting them know, like, hey, on this surface, yeah, I think that that's something that they probably had those discussions leading in over these last few days, especially since, look, in that game back in 2013 versus Matthew Stafford. And yeah, against Matthew Stafford, Dafford, Darius sleigh was in the other side as well. That game was a surprise. It wasn't supposed to snow that game. And they're out there for warm-ups and they come back out in its blizzard-like conditions.

This one, there's a little bit more run-in. So guys, I've had time to think through what they're going to be wearing here in this game. All right, everybody in the chat. Let's get a little thumbs up by action here for the Eagles offensive line and the absolute man-childs that they are. Because that is one of the strengths the Eagles have. And hopefully is a huge key to the victory today. Hopefully, we're handing that Xfinity Mobile game ball to Saquan Barkley here on the post-game show when Vinnie Curry joins us.

Bo Wolf will be back for halftime. We're going to check in with ZB and a little bit down at the Lincoln Financial Field to those maybe out of market or out of town. I would say the weather right now that are asking about it, it's a little bit of that wintry mix, as they like to say. A little bit of slushy snow. Sleep, yeah.

Yeah, kind of in between yet. So as Fran said, three o'clock to 6.30 is kind of like the prime time for the weather to turn. So it's definitely going to be a huge story. line in this game. All right. If Seyquan Barkley, let's say, is removed somewhat from the game, held moderately in check, Eagles passing attack, watching Jared Gough last night and that Detroit Lions offense, it made me appreciate Jalen Hertz a lot in that protecting the ball is key. You don't want to shoot yourself in the foot. And I think one of the advantages they have with Jalen

Hertz and their passing attack is they do protect the ball very well. What are you expecting from the passing attack today? If Sequin is removed, is this a Dallas got it, Devante Smith game? Do you think, did you see on film, A.J. Brown actually being open more than we thought last weekend. How do you see the passing attack going for the birds today? Yeah, I think first, you have to start with the protection aspect of things. Like I mentioned, you got to worry about that rush package. And they don't wait until third and long. It's going to be, you know, second and eight, second in five. You're going to see those four pass rush defensive linemen on the field and they're going to pin their ears back and go they like to move guys around you know maybe move three guys over to one side and one on the other and bring a linebacker

up so you have a five or six man front you got to figure out who's coming and who's going they mix up the coverages and so this will be a big mental test jamie for jalen hertz in this football game there's a lot to comb through from a disguise standpoint with the la rams they play a ton of different coverages so you've got to be ready for anything and everything going up against chrusha's defense now as far as the past game weapons are concerned. They play a lot of zone coverage. What that typically is meant in weeks past for this Eagles offense, a lot of zone, typically a Devante Smith game, a lot of man, typically at AJ Brown game. That said, AJ Brown did have a huge game against the ramps back in week 12. He only had one catch last week. I would imagine that he's a little bit of a squeaky wheel

this week. Hey, you know, I've got the ability to impact this game too, guys. Don't forget about number 11. My guess is we'll see a healthy dose of both receivers, probably get some things well, designed up for AJ Brown early on, and we'll see if they're able to connect. Yeah, and one of the things, I guess, marrying the running game and the passing attack here with Jalen Hertz, one of the things you noticed when we were out,

you know, looking over some of the game lines because sometimes, you know, game lines can tell you what these very smart people at Bet365 are putting together. One thing that kind of jumped out neon to you, Fran, was the Jalen Hertz rushing number in this game. Yeah, 41 and a half. Seemed to be a little bit high at 41.

and a half what does that tell you uh in terms of being a high line but two just in terms of the game plan is this a rams defense you can kind of get out jaden daniels slaughtered the lions last night with his feet uh not to mention his arm and other stuff is this a game where jalen hurts is going to have an opportunity to take advantage with his legs yeah the rams defense has the worst success rate in the nfl against scrambles and so that to me that's why i went to look at that at that prop for our best bet segment later in the show said, all right, what's Jaylon Hertz rushing number? So credit to Bet365, they're sharper than most because they've got that number

very, very high at 41.5. That said, I do think it's attainable. It is a number that Jalen can hit in this game. When I went back and watched a lot of the big runs that the ramps have given up, a lot of them were. I mean, Jalen Hertz had a huge day running the ball back in week 12, but Josh Allen ran right over that team. Jaden Daniels had some plays with his legs.

So you look through at some of the other quarterbacks that they have faced so far this season, they've had some success. And so I would say take a look at Jalen Hertz. His ability to make plays outside of structure in this one could go a long way, especially with the weather being a factor. Well, I know Jalen's a huge fan of the show. He's probably in the locker room watching right now. And if I could get one thing across to you, Jalen, please protect yourself and be smart today.

We need you in this game. Get out of bounds, slide, protect yourself. All right, we're going to check in with Zach Berman momentarily here. But, Fran, on the other side, let's quickly talk about the Rams. rushing attack with Kirian Williams versus this Eagles rush defense. Milton Williams was a guy last week, got a high percentage of

snaps, had a phenomenal game. Jordan Davis was on the lower side. We all know what the baby rhino, Jalen Carter, can do on a game by game basis here. Tell us about the Rams rushing attack versus this Eagles rushing defense. Yeah, this is not a rushing attack that has built on explosiveness

and huge chunk gains. It is more built on efficiency, making people miss, picking up positive yardage. They don't get a lot of negative runs with this offensive scheme. So I think when you look at Kyron Williams, his ability to play downhill, he had more successful runs and Sequin Barclay. He had more force mistackles this season than Seekoine

Barkley. And that comes after the first half of the season where the run game wasn't all that fruitful for them. They had a bunch of different offensive line combination. So really down the stretch as they went 10 and 1, 10 and 2 in the second half of the season, the L.A. Rams, the run game really came alive for them in that way. The Eagles have to do

everything they can to take the run game out of the equation, make sure that the Rams are playing as often from third and long, trying to keep it to third and manageable from a defensive standpoint. That's a key to victory here in this football game. All right. Coming up next, we're going to be joined by Zach Berman

down at Lincoln Financial Field. Let's take a quick second and tell you about a couple friends of ours here at PHLY. And that's our friends over at True Mark Financial Credit Union. Did all that holiday shopping, you know, jack up your credit card bill a little bit? Well, you're not alone. Think about this.

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and state parks, or you could maybe go up to Spring Mountain and visit. Valley Forge in Montgomery County have so much to offer, like those historical sites. My father-in-law is a historical nut, so we visit those often. Tons of family attractions, vibrant art scenes, outdoor activities, shopping, and more. And all just 18 miles from downtown Philadelphia. And look, when the spring comes around and the warm weather and it's golf and season again, Montgomery County has some of the best golf courses around. There's so much to do, so much to entertain yourself and your family with.

Visit valleyforge.org, and you can help discover hidden gems, endless activities, and tons of places to stay in Monco. So get started planning that next getaway today, valleyforge.org, make it family time, and make it Monco. All right, I always try to do my best, not to Bowulf, Zach Berman. and make him wait a couple minutes. They're pretty good, all right, good. Because, Bo, you know, sometimes

it can be like a two or three minute thing. Yeah. Zach, I am a minute and a half late. I assume he is with us because Zach is Mr. punctuality. Let's bring him in to the show. And of course, this is the locker room report brought to you by our friends

at Valley Forge Tourism. Visit valleyforge.org, and you can help discover those hidden gems, endless activities, and tons of places to stay in Monco. Get started planning that next getaway today, ValleyForge.org, make it family time, and make it Monco. Mr. Zach Berman, join. Oh, and Boel Wolf.

Oh, surprise. Sneaky, sneaky. Hello, gentlemen. How is Lincoln Financial Field looking right now as the storyline of the game? A big one is going to be the weather. How are we looking? Probably not much different than us here. As is often the case, I will cede the Florida Bull Wolf.

I'll let you get in the weather report. I'm going to just one thing to say. Then I'm going to get out here. Let Scott have his hit. We don't want a second guess on PHA while we want to first guess. And so I just need to go on the record that if the Eagles lose this game, we will spend all offseason talking about the hubris to activate Nicholas Morrow for this game over Dallas Goddard, thumbing their nose at the football gods.

To me, is an outrageous to be. decision. And I mean, if they can overcome that, then this team really should be Super Bowl back. That is, this is the Nicholas Morrow game, I guess. Well, I, I for sure thought that was going to be a Dylan McMahon joke. So I'm, I'm shocked that you went the other way. Well, obviously, that would make it all full circle. Yeah. That would be the Eagles getting what they deserve. But to, to, to know that McMahon is here and then add on more on top it, it's going to have to be a really, really good anthem from Dr. Jesse McGuire to overcome. And by the way, Bo, I agree with you and Fran.

I watched Thursday's show. Nicholas Morrow, to me, was the epitome of stink last year. Like, he is the face of it all. So I agreed with you guys on that one. All right. I'm going to let that go. All right. See you, Bo.

We'll see it at halftime. Safe travels. Mr. Berman. Hello. Yeah. It feels like a normal day for my professional reporting to take it back. See to Roster minutia that, But nonetheless, yeah, we're here.

You can see behind me here, Novacare. You don't see, or I'm sorry, not Novacare, Lincoln Financial Field, that's Wells Fargo Center parking lot behind us. You don't see much snow. It's not sticking. It is on the field when I was watching pregame warmups. It looks just like a wintry mix, if you will. Now, that could pick up here.

We'll see how that goes over. the next few hours. But right now, I, it could be careful. You know, I should be careful as I say this. It could be much to do about nothing as far as like the weather affecting the game. I've seen much worse than what is on the field right now.

All right, Zach, any, what did you take of the inactives today? Any observations from that or the pregame warmups? Anything jump out to you? Yeah, so I think with pregame warmups, what's important to emphasize is that Orrin Berks was first up at linebacker. It was Orrin Berks and Zach Vaughn.

I know there's excitement in the fan base, intrigue in the fan base about Jeremiah and Trotter Jr. I thought as we explained on the P.H.I. Eagle Show throughout the week, that that might be more of a media-generated storyline, maybe a fan excitement storyline, than how it actually is. It was when Vic Fangio was answering the question, it was brought up to him, well, you know, could Jeremiah Trotter be?

And I do believe Jeremiah Trotter Jr., the threshold to getting in is certainly less than the threshold on a typical week, right? You've seen them rotate in the past. But I think when we see the playing time percentages at the end of the game, it's going to be heavily proportioned for Orrin Berks. So I would just, I don't want to say caution Eagles fans, but if you're expecting this to be like the beautiful symmetry of Jeremiah Trotter Jr., you know, with chopping the axe after a big play, that's more likely to happen on a special team's play. played in a defensive play today, I would say. I don't know if he can bust the axe out on a special teams play. Doesn't have the same. Yeah.

Yeah. If it starts the way that last week started, I'll take that. Well, yeah, that's not a bad place to do it. As far as the inactives, look, the Eagles are healthy with their 53-man roster. They had all 53 players eligible to play in this game. That, of course, doesn't include Nicobo Dean. He's on injured reserve. So you saw the two elevations yesterday, Gahari Blosson game and Nicholas Morrow.

They went with Nicholas Morrow over Dauas Gant as the fourth linebacker, special teams contributors. So that's what you'll see out there. That will be Nicholas Morrow's role. Nicholas Morrow will not be in on defense stave for two injuries or three injuries, right? Now, as far as as the other inactive, nothing there really jumped out. It's what you expected. The Eagles have been dealing with some injuries this week, but everyone's good to play in the game. Rettooth is the veteran versatile offensive lineman.

They're going tooth over Nick Gates just as they did last week. But it's pretty standard as far as what we would have expected. I think most of the intrigue was how the linebackers would look and it was Orrin Berks out there. So, Zach, we saw a little bit of testiness. Jared Verst and Jalen Carter walking by each other, kind of getting into it a little bit. Jared Verst giving it to the fans. We always like to do the Lincoln Financial Field vibe check down. there. This feels like a

great playoff matchup here ahead of us. Oh, absolutely. Look, there's so much in this game that's intriguing. Obviously, you start with the fact that it's the divisional round of the playoffs. Last night's result,

I think, certainly adds some spice into the mix here for Eagles fans. Not to say that there wasn't confidence before, but the pathway to the Super Bowl, at least now goes through Philadelphia, and you're more likely to to get there having, you know, with, with the commanders next week compared to the Lions. You add, uh, you add in the fact that the Rams are a team that the Eagles beat

handedly in Los Angeles. You add in Jared versus comments. You add in the weather. You add in, like, this is that the, if you want the bod check, there's a lot of excitement here. And rightfully so. There's a lot of excitement in this town. And rightfully so.

I, I think Jared Verst, you know, as, as Darius Laysay said, And there's people who've played for the Eagles, who I probably felt that way before, right? But as Seekwon Barclay said, Seqwan Berkeley said that probably not the smartest thing to say out loud. Sequan's been on the other side of this, and he's like, you don't need to throw any fuel into that. So, yeah, I don't think that will have much of a ramification in the game.

Slay said he bets fans will be throwing some snowballs at Jaredverse. As it stands now, there will be no snow to throw snowballs at verse. We'll see how that progresses. as it goes here. But as of now, I think that's more of something fun for us to talk about, but not something that will have much of a material effect on the game. Yeah,

to me, to your point, I don't know that there's been a lot of bear talk on the show this week. I don't think of the Jared versus the Rams want to poke that bear as far as Eagles fans going into this game. I want to ask you, with the weather being in the forefront of the discussion over the latter stages of the week,

do you think that the Eagles or anything that you had heard behind the scenes about how they may have changed their approach, philosophically going into this game. How do you think that they're Kellan Moore, Jalen Hurd, Sequin Barkley, what does that plan of attack going to look like here against the ramps? Yeah, good question. Most of the conversation than I've heard had to have more to do

with the equipment side of it, making sure that they're squared away there. Seekwan Barclay said that actually he didn't listen to Greg Deleg Mitro's the outstanding VP of equipment operations for the Eagles in Brazil, didn't wear the spikes that Greg recommended, and he slipped on

those first few plays. He says so he's going to have to listen to what the equipment staff says here. And I think a big emphasis behind the scenes has been getting a sense of how the footing is going to be. As far as the game plan, look, we expected the Eagles to run as it were. Now, one thing that I've heard over the years is that actually it could favor the passing game more than some people think because, you know, cornerbacks are backpedaling. They need change of direction. That's harder to do in slippery surfaces.

if you know where you're going, which a wide receiver does, it's easier to play in these conditions. So I do know from asking around that the Eagles had a few different ideas in place, but they had to see how this game would go. I can't emphasize that's enough. At kickoff, it won't seem like anything's different. Now, we could be having a conversation at halftime, and it could be totally different.

But at pickoff, it will look like any just, you know, wet, sloppy game. as opposed to a snowy game. But I do think, and we've discussed this throughout the week, that weather brings variance. And I can't reiterate this enough, is that you watch that Lions game last night, the difference in the game, other than a foolish 12-man on the field penalty,

well, it was turnovers. And when there is snow, sometimes you can be loose with the ball, there could be loose with your footing. There could be a lot of different. different things there. So I think the Eagles need to be even more buttoned up because if you want to know the pathway to losing this game for the Eagles, to me, it's simple. It's it's it's turnovers. It's the same thing that happened with the Vikings last week, right? That pick six changed the dynamics of the game.

So I think if the Eagles play a clean game, they'll win this. I think if they don't play a clean game, the Rams can actually absolutely come in here and win. Zach, the professor is in the chat and he wanted your comments on Emmanuel Forbes Jr. being active today. What are your thoughts there? What are my thoughts is that, look, Sean McVeigh and less than ease, they know football, right? So I know I get, I get embarked on our show often for if I share an opinion that a Super Bowl winning coach has, the Super Bowl winning general manager has, that might not be a bad side to reside on.

I don't anticipate Emmanuel Forbes having a material effect on this game. We will see now. Manuel Forbes on this field last year. did not fare well against his one time playing in this stadium was last year against AJ Brown did not work out well. So I don't recommend the Rams put out Emmanuel Forbes on AJ Brown. But yeah, I mean, I think don't be afraid to stand enough for what you believe in, even if you're standing alone. And if that's on Emmanuel Forbes, then I am happy to stand on him. There's a lot of time left on that Emmanuel Forbes opinion.

Yeah. So, Zach, Matthew Stafford, he's a little bit of a vampire. He's not easy to kill. He doesn't go away very easily. One of the most talented straight arms in the league, not a very mobile guy. What are your thoughts? Where does Matthew Stafford rank on your kind of like respect list of quarterbacks in the league? Yeah, so I hear I'm going to defer to the players because Matthew Stafford's one of these guys who's universally like respected by the players. I mean, Darius Lay swears by him. I've spoken to people who, you know, Kellyn Moore used to play with him. I've spoken to people who played with him, who've worked with him. And Stafford, like the Arp Town, you know,

I recall talking to Jim Schwartz about him. The ARP and talent is outstanding. So I don't think Matthew Stafford's the player he was three years ago or five years ago or eight years ago, but I think Matthew Stafford can absolutely win games for you still. And, you know, if he's healthy, and I know the past year and a half he's been dealing with different things.

Like it was an elbow last year he was dealing with. But if he's healthy between his arm and his mind and his toughness, look, he's done it before. I don't need to tell you. He's hoisted at the Lombardi trophy before.

So that gets your respect right there. Zach, my last question for you. We talked earlier about the game ball for the Eagles. Hey, if they win this game, here's who we're going to be talking. about Sequin Barclay, inversely for the Rams, if they're going to come in and win this game, is the game ball winner? Is that Stafford? Is it somebody else? Who do you think would be likely in the winner circle there for the Rams as they come out with a win here?

Good question. I'm tempted to say Puka. Yeah. But if you're saying Puka, you might as well go Stafford. But I'll actually spin it around. I'll go, I'll go like the Rams defense. Because I think if the Rams win this game, it'll be because of turn. over. It'll be because, you know, jailing through it to somebody or the Eagles fumbled it. And so let's go with maybe a Quentin Lake or someone like, you know, I'm just picking someone on that Rams defense. But I think if the Rams win this game, it's what we're talking about last week with that

pick six that the Rams had. I don't think the Rams are going to have the same pressure on Hertz that they had against the Vikings. But I do think that the possibility for turnover, The Eagles have been really buttoned up in that area. And that's a credit to jailer. But it just takes one bad game for your season to end and last night's an example of that. Yeah, you never want to go full golf.

Now, Zach, Fran asked me this earlier. Does that last night's results almost ramp the pressure up internally, knowing your one game away from hosting an NFC championship game? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I know the, you know, Nick and the people in here will say you're only focused on the next game, but it's human nature. Sure. First off, having a chance to play at home changes everything, right?

The only way the Eagles would have had a chance to play at home is if the Lions lose. So that changes a lot. This is a tough place to come in in January. Commanders, you know, commanders are a team that I feel confident the Eagles can be. I was less confident about the Lions. So I think it's an advantageous matchup now. They have an outstanding quarterback. They're playing high.

I get that. But I think that the pathway to New Orleans looks considerably different now than it did if we had this conversation 24 hours ago. Sure does. It's really exciting. All right, Zach, what is your prediction? You're going to be joining us on the post game show. Bowulf, Vinnie Curry will be in here.

It'll be a full house. I am expecting a celebratory. Let's get ready for an. FC Championship type of environment. What is your prediction for this game and kind of, how do you see it playing out? Do you see Sequin reproducing the success he had? Do you think this is a Jalen game? Give us your thoughts on the prediction here.

Yeah, I don't see 255 yards, but I see a big Sequin game. I think the Eagles are able to move the ball. I think they're efficient offensively. I don't think it's a prolific offensive performance. It's not 400 plus yards like it was last time. But I think this is a game where, where they play clean, they're solid. The Rams keep it close.

I think the Rams are going to be able to score here. But I think the Eagles win this game 24, 21, and host Washington next week at 3 o'clock right here. Some 2.30 next week. I think I'm on the pregame show. All right. That's fantastic stuff. Zach, we look forward to speaking with you in the post game show,

a victory post game show. We're not going to think about the other alternative. Great work, as always. Great stories this week on all PHL. dot com. I love the Nolan Smith piece. And everybody in the chat right now, give that man, Zach Berman, the hardest working man in sports journalism, a thumbs up before he gets out of here.

Zach, as always, buddy, thank you. Appreciate it, guys. Talk soon. See, yeah. See, Zach. A three-point game. I know Julia, our producer, is going to be pacing. I've been extremely confident to this point. If it's a three-point game, Fran, you might see the worst of me.

If it's a three-point game, I would say the mac and cheese that we have to the other wait for us. What a mac and cheese spread that is. My God. We are going to need more than the mac and cheese. We're going to need something to get us through if it's a tighter game like that. Yeah, big shout out to the Mac Mart for dropping off a mac and cheese spread that is just to die for. Chicken bacon ranch. Ooh, chicken bacon, race.

The cheese steak. Oh, we got a bunch of friends. All right, Fran, where we left off to kind of tie a nice bow on this, we were talking about the Rams rushing attack versus the Eagles run defense. Let's talk about that vampire, Matthew Stafford. He doesn't go away easily, incredibly talented arm. Good thing for the Eagles. They have an incredibly talented secondary.

Now, the one part of the passing attack from the Rams to the Eagles defense, I do kind of not worry about, but I'm going to be looking at is that Oren Berks versus a Sean McVeigh offense, the motion, the crossing routes. They're probably going to try to throw some confusion at them to attack it that way. what do you see from Matthew Stafford and the Rams passing attack with some great wide receivers on the outside here? Yeah, I mean, even if Nikobe Dean was healthy and in this game, this would be a big test for Nikobe

because this would be something that he does not do very well. And I think when you look at Oren Berks, this is going to be a question mark for him as well. How is he going to handle when they're throwing? It's not just, oh, a one matchup, Tyler Higbee versus Oren Berks in space. It is, hey, we're going to throw a route coming right at you and then we're going to put a route right in front of you.

You have to decide which one you're going to pick, whichever way you go. Matthew Stafford's going to make you. wrong. And so that's the thing that the Rams do at such a high level. And it's not just your basic like high, low concepts, but it might be off of play action with motion. Maybe you have Puka Nakua. Maybe he lined up outside on this one. But on the next play, he's going to line up inside of the formation and we're going to release up through the offensive line. All the different looks that they give you, Jamie, it's just a lot to go through. So your mental rolladex is always spinning.

If you are a linebacker, a nickel corner, a safety. And so those guys are going to be working overtime mentally here in this football game to just keep track of it. everything the Rams are going to try and do. To me, this is a big, do-your-job type of game for the Eagles in the back end. You can't fall for the eye candy. You can't fall for the motions. They're going to try and get you going one way and then go back the other way, try and throw the haymaker. The Eagles defense has to make sure that everybody stays disciplined within their roles on every single play. Now, one of the great things the Eagles have for them here is Uncle Vic Van Gio. Yeah. Versus Sean McVeigh. And Sean McVeigh in 2017, that Rams offense was cruising, putting up

like 35, 40 points a game. Todd Gurley was like lighten the league on fire. And then they went and faced Vic Fangio. And Sean McVeigh said he kind of made me reevaluate the way I coach. It appears on paper to be an advantage for the Eagles in this matchup. Is that something that should put Eagles fans a little bit worry, worries at ease with an Orenberg, so Jeremiah Trotter Jr. The preparedness for the Sean McVeigh offense?

Yeah, I think they're going to look, Vic Fangio is going to put them in position to succeed. But that's the other problem with the weather, right? Is that even if it's not six inches of snow on the ground, it's a slick surface. It's a variable that usually helps the worst. Yeah, just because it levels the playing field, right? And I think when you look at a game like the Super Bowl a couple years ago,

right, when you look at that game against the Kansas City Chiefs, there are individual plays where you see guys slip, where you see guys stumble, where you see a ball get dropped, where you see a ball get fumbled, where maybe if it's a perfect condition, if it's in a dome or if it's at a 65 degree day with no wind, that that play doesn't happen, right? And so I think that that element of randomness can come into play when you have a game like this. And that's where the team that wins on the margins, that's why, you know, like, it seems silly, but like you have the right cleats on.

Everybody's ready to go from an equipment standpoint because you don't know when that play is going to happen. If that play, if, you know, the fumble that Jalen Hertz had in the Super Bowl happened in the first quarter that Nick Bolton takes back for a touchdown, You don't know when that play is going to happen, but you have to be ready. And whoever makes more of those plays in a game like this is going to come away with the win. All right, we got a super chat I want to get to here from MadD-O. Or is Mad-D-Q?

Mad-D-O. Once in a no, I love this, the mental places we take ourselves. If the field is heated, can the heat be turned off so the snow sticks better? I do not believe Lincoln Financial Field has any heating elements to it. No.

But I love the sickness of wanting to turn it off to have it in the Eagles favor. They did have it covered overnight. They had it covered during the weekend. So the playing surface was about as good as it was going to be considering the elements. I know they took the tarp off earlier this morning. But yeah, there's nothing. Once that tarps off, it's no hold bar at that point. Yeah, it's going to be fun to see.

I personally, I don't know how you feel. I hope snow starts pouring down on the stadium. Just optically, I think it's beautiful. know in the football, but it does kind of help the inferior team in a lot of situations. I've gone back and forth on it over the week, and I still don't know if it does help anybody. Sure. Just because, again, there's that element of randomness there. I will say, you know, look, depending on who you talk to, what player, what coach you

talk to in any given moment, and you ask them this question about what does weather impact most. Some will say, oh, you know what, it impacts a defensive back. Some will say it impacts a pass rusher or an offensive lineman's ability to get off the ball. No matter what, everybody gets affected, right? Pass catchers say, oh, the ball is going to be rock hard. It's freezing cold out there. So I think when you look at it, it's going to affect everybody in different ways. I do think that pass rush is very, we saw this in that week one game down in Brazil

where you get that slick surface. Neither pass rush was able to really get off the ball. And we saw that in the Super Bowl game as well, right? Where the surface wasn't great against the Kansas City Chiefs. Neither pass rush really had that ability to take over the game. The Rams, the strength of that defense is their pass rush. So if you can negate that, a little bit while still saying that they don't stop the run all that well.

So if they're not stopping the run and they're not rushing the passer as well, that certainly can benefit the Eagles. But again, there's that element of randomness that just gives you a little bit of worry. You want to make sure you get out to a fast start in this game. All right. This is the P.H.L.Y. Eagles show. And of course, we are presented by our friends at Bet365. You can find out why it's never ordinary at Bet365.

And our friends over at True Mark Financial Credit Union. Great 0% balance transfer offer going on with them before. February 28th, hop over to True Mark to take care of that worry. Now, let's get to our best bets of the game and hopefully help some people win some money here. And this are our best bets presented by Bet365. Find out why they just perfected live in-game betting at Bet365. You'll find out why it's never ordinary. Use code P-H-L-Y-365 at sign up.

Let's get right to it. I want a little cheeky today with Mom. I'll start. I went Jahan Dotson over two and a half receiving yards. I just need one catch. I just need one catch. One catch for three yards.

Come on, baby. If it's two yards, you are just going to be miserable. All right. And then the next one, this guy had two last week. Thanks. I think Milton Williams kind of Vinny always talks about the dirty work that leads to sacks. I think Milton Williams helped Nolan

Smith get two last weekend. I like him to keep, I mean, Zach Berman just wrote a piece on the man. He's going to get a sack to get the Zach Berman bump. Yeah, he's got the Zach Berman bump. I'm going Nolan Smith to record a sack in today's game. Fran, what are yours? For me, I went with a Sequin Barclay multi-touchdown score a bet. I think when you look at, that's the one element too. If the field is slick, I think the tush pushed a little bit harder to execute getting those guys off the ball. So I kind of wonder, all right, does that, do they get more into traditional run game inside the five? But then also we know that the propensity is there for Sequan Barclay to bust these long runs for some touchdowns as well.

So I want Sequan Barclay multiple touchdowns, at least two here in this one. Plus 280. That's spicy. That's why I was like, all right, let's go for this a little bit. And then Devante Smith, 51 and a half receiving yards. As I mentioned earlier in the show, typically when Jalen Hurts has seen more zone coverage, that is more of a Devante Smith game. But as Bo pointed out of his, he likes the A.J. Brown one aspect of this bet as well. Well, let's hope both it.

Bo went with AJ Brown over 65 and a half receiving yards. It would be great to see both these guys get theirs today. I would very much enjoy that. If it means Sequan only gets like 80 yards but AJ and DeVante go off, so be it. The Eagles are loaded.

And now this is this is Bo's new favorite bet. He loves this. I think he's ran with it like four of the last five weeks. Sequin Barclay's longest run over 20 and a half yards. I like it today. I was going to say of all the weeks that he has played it, this is the one that I feel best about.

I feel like Sequin has the ability, maybe the weather does become a factor to make someone slip. He has that avoidability on the field that I think could be trouble for a defense today. So I like that one. So those are your pregame best bets presented by our friends over at Bet365. All right, it's almost kickoff. I'm about to run through that glass window in the door right there. I feel like biting this chair. I'm so ready for some football.

Let's get to our predictions. Fran, what do you got for the good people? So I have felt really since we knew who the opponent was last week that the Eagles are going to win this game. And I still feel the Eagles are going to win this game. How close is it? And that's where I kind of went back and forth. I could see this going a number of different ways.

I can still see a path for the ramps to be able to win this football game. So I don't think it's a foregone conclusion. That said, I went Eagles 34. Who! Rams 28. I guess this is going to be a little bit of a little bit of a nail better that way. I do think the Rams have the ability to put some points on the board. Let's go.

Let's go with a six point game here. Eagles 34 Rams 28. You think you're excited. Feel these nipples. That's a famous quote from a basketball. I'm not that weird. The great Bob Costas. I was just saying.

All right. I also have a six point right on the number at Bet365. I'm going birds 27 rams 21 all right it's kickoff time to everybody in here that hung out with us hit that thumbs up button before you get out of here it's scientifically proven to be good luck for the birds so hit that thumbs up button leave a comment with your prediction we can read them let's go birds NFC championship two host is there for the taking go out and take it you're the better team to all of our sponsors here Mobile and Valley Forge Tourism and Bet365 and True Mark. We love you. We appreciate you. Go, Birds. We're going to be back at halftime, joined by Bow Wolf.

And then Vinnie Curry joining us for the postgame show with, of course, Zach Berman. Go birds. We'll see you at halftime.