PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - PHLY Eagles Podcast | Book release day for Zach Berman and how Vic Fangio fixed the Philadelphia Eagles defense

Episode Date: September 24, 2024

It’s a Tuesday film review day, with Fran Duffy breaking down what worked for the Eagles on defense in their stifling of the previously high-powered New Orleans Saints offense. Just how dominant was Jalen Carter? On the offensive side of the ball, how well did Tyler Steen and Fred Johnson answer the call? And what did Jalen Hurts see to set up the huge completion to Dallas Goedert?Plus, the big day has finally come for Zach Berman! The official release of The Franchise: Philadelphia Eagles: A curated history of the Birds is available wherever books are sold. Join Zach and Fran for the celebration. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It's film breakdown Tuesday here on the PHLY Eagle Show. The Eagles won the game, but what happened? Friend Duffy will tell you what he saw, why it happened, how it happened, and what matters next on the PHLY Eagles show. Good afternoon and welcome to the PHLY Eagle Show presented by Bet365. Download the Bet365 app and use code PHLY 365 when you sign up, whatever the moment. It's never ordinary on Bet365. And this is not an ordinary show today. It's not ordinary because Bo Wolf is not in studio today.

Zach Berman here with Fran Duffy. But I can tell you that Bo Wolf was in studio today because I came here after coordinator of press conferences. Fran came here after grinding the film. And I saw this and this behind me. And I'm grateful that it's here. I appreciate the sentiment behind it. Well deserved. I'm a bit uncomfortable with it.

The reason that. this was Bo's doing. Bo came in, good friend, good co-host, because I have a book out today. You might have heard us mention it once or twice or three times or 40 times over the past six months. The book is the franchise.

I've fell off Eagles, a curated history of the birds. I will, look, I'm trying to promote it a bit, so I will mention the book from time to time here, but really what Tuesdays are on this show during the season is this a chance to put a bow on what, no pun intended.

To put a bow on what happened in the previous game and as we transition into this week's game. So fortunately, Fran, you're feeling better. Like we always say, how are you? I'm careful because I don't want to ask you too much how you are, but how are you? Better than yesterday. Yesterday was a rough day,

fighting off a little bit of a 24-hour stomach bug, but lost five pounds almost yesterday. So I recovered, we're out of it, And we're on to better things. That's, yeah. So that's the secret there, right? Yeah. So Fran had a chance to review the film.

And we will get into that. And I see in the chat, I appreciate the congratulations about the book. Bo did tell me he wants me to talk about the book. Let's, I'll give you a reason to stick around until the end. I'll pepper you with questions throughout for sure. But what, so I mentioned I was at the coordinators. And we are going to ditch this, by the way, at some point during the show. because I want to see Fran right now.

They were lower. They were like here when we first walked in. Yeah. Yeah. They were eye level for me, not for Fran. Right. So I was at the coordinators and many of the questions were about what happened. And in the Saints game, there's not as many questions about the Bucks game right now.

But then I had a chance to see an article that is, is it up there? It is up. It's up there now in all p.gly.com where Fran broke down the film. And the film of the defense is where we're going to start here because it's not hyperbole to say that's that's one of the best defensive performances given the context in recent Eagles history. You know, the fact that the Saints entered the game, top scoring offense in the NFL, the first two games. And they were outstanding. They were the Eagles offense. I'm sorry, the Eagles defense was outstanding.

So let's start big picture and then we'll narrow it down. We'll start with Vic Fangio. What did Vic Fangio do schematically that jumped off the screen? Well, it was kind of getting back into a time machine and going back to 2017, 2018. There was that big game where Vic Fangio was the defensive coordinator of the Bears. They go out to L.A. and play the Rams. Sean McVeigh, that offense is humming the stretch zone with Todd Gurley. And they're taking the league by storm with the way that they were operating.

And then Vic Fangio comes to town and they do an outstanding job of shutting down that run game. And a big reason why was they basically, they were loading up the front. They were going with five and six man fronts, five and six guys on the line of scrimmage. And even if you go back to the Super Bowl where the Patriots beat the Rams in the Super Bowl, that was something that Bill Belichick did in that game where they're going to put a bunch of guys up on the line of scrimmage. And what that does to a zone run game, really what it comes down to is timing and angles and being able to, you know, block guys up at the second level. Well, if you have five or six guys up on the line of scrimmage, you have five or six guys on the line of scrimmage,

balloons are flying in my face here. If you've got five or six guys up in the line of scrimmage, that prevents those double teams from happening. or it prevents the players from getting up to the second level. And so really the big thing that you saw from this game was that Vic Fangio mixed up their fronts. Very often we saw the Eagles last week in their nickel package against Atlanta, Zach. They were four down with two linebackers. Well, the check that we saw them make late in the game was that they took Zach Bond and they put him down on the line of scrimmage. Now it became five down with one linebacker.

Well, in this game early on, that's what they did. They said, you know what, we're going to take Zach Bond. We're going to put him on the line of scrimmage. the Saints got out of it and now the chess match continued from there. Now let me ask you this because do you think this was an adjustment to the Saints or do you think this is an adjustment to the defense? In other words, as Eagles go forward here, is this a package or a formula that they will continue to utilize or is this specific to what the Saints were presenting them? I think it's what they will continue to do against zone run teams and against teams that want to try and get them outside the tackle box. Now, you go up against a team that likes to use downhill gap schemes.

I don't think you'll necessarily see that as much. but I think having that flexibility to be able to do that, I think that that's something that's really good to have that tool in your school box. The defensive MVP, as Nick Siriani said yesterday, or the player who is the defensive player of the game, Nick Siriani gives players of the game each week, and G. Owen Carter won it this week. That shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who watched the game.

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who watched the film. Now, Jalen Carter's statistics didn't jump off the page. That's a position where it doesn't necessarily jump off the page. but the you know i i i i asked vic fangio today about what jellan did that he is the defensive coordinator could appreciate and he kind of talked about just like the the way i'm paraphrasing here but he set things up for everyone else and like the the plays that he had the productive plays will eventually lead to statistics for him but it really the aggressiveness that he played with um the physicality that he played with has such an effect in the game as you're watching this what as someone

who studies every game Jaylon Carter's played since he came to the Eagles. What did you appreciate about their performance? I mean, the big thing was just his ability to create those disruptive plays, both against the run and against the pass. He led all defensive tackles in the NFL and run stops this week. His win rate as a pass rusher was one of the best at defensive tackle this week. So this is a guy that can impact the game in a lot of different ways, create those negative plays for the opposing offense.

And that's what you're looking for from Carter, is to be that difference maker to make those impact splash plays. Now, the thing is, is that they didn't show up in the stat. It wasn't like a bunch of sacks. He had a couple TFLs, but I think when you look at the way that he played, you felt him watching live on the broadcast. I'm sure you felt him live in the stadium. But even going back into the film, every single play, it felt like there's 98, there's 98, there's

98. And if you're an Eagles fan, that's what you're hoping from him here in year number two. I don't ask this because they're playing against Tampa Bay this weekend, but I thought the week two game or week three game, rather, in Tampa last year was the best I had seen John Carter play. Was this better than that performance? Yes, for sure. I think this was his best game to date as a pro.

I think with the way that he went from start to finish. Because remember last year at that point, he was still not like a completely full-time player. He played almost every snap. Pretty sure he played 50, was it 51 out of 58 snaps defensively? So he played almost the entire game. 88%. Yeah, I mean, to do that over the course of that game,

I think that was most impressive. Now, another guy who was on the field quite a bit in that game, is Brandon Graham. Now I said, we'll kind of catch. We mentioned it. There's a full chapter here on Brandon Graham in this book. And I should say as we talk about the book, or as I mentioned the book, if you want to come in and have a full conversation about the book,

make sure you're a diehard, a P-H-L-Y die-hard member. And you can purchase tickets to an event that we have on Monday, October 7th, 630 p.m., where it's a book signing, a Q&A, terrific food. I'm going to talk to Vince. I think it's pizza, which is my favorite. favorite, okay? And it'll be a fun way to, it'll be casual, you'll get to see the studio where Fran, Bo, myself, we do our shows, Brenna, the rest of the PHLI staff, but 6.30 p.m. You can come in and I'll be signing books, taking questions, looking forward to that.

But you have, this is not open to the general public to get tickets. This is a diehard only event. So make sure you check that out. And you can register online. for that event. But I casually mentioned that because there's a chapter in this book about Brandon Graham. And Brandon Graham, it kind of chronicles his career. And I thought that this year was going to be a farewell tour. And Vic Fangio said today that at the start of training camp, he kind of didn't know what to expect. He did not know what Graham's role was going to be at age 36. midway through camp he told graham this is not a retirement tour we saw week one graham was playing more snaps than i anticipated and we didn't know if it was just kind of the the game situation

week two not so much like that you saw more bryce huff week three it's clear they went to to brandon graham you've seen brandon graham's entire career here uh what jumped out on film about brandon graham's performance i you just what we've always come to expect from him. And that's the constant effort, that ability to win with his first step and how it's not just about like first step speed around the corner. It's about first step getting in the opposing blockers pads and driving him backwards. No play better exemplified that than that fourth in one stop by Zach Bond in the second half where Brandon Graham takes the tackle, drives him backwards. And when he does that, the tight end that's coming across the formation stumbles because he trips over the tackle's legs.

Zach Bond throttles the tight end because he's got no balance. He's got no base. And then he's able to make the stop. That play probably doesn't happen if Brandon Graham doesn't come off the ball the way that he does. We know what to expect from BG. He's not the physical talent that he was four or five years ago, but he's still going to play with that fanatical energy every single play

and that's always going to put him in position to be able to make plays for you. Now, do you want to lean on him as like your number one rusher at this stage in his career? Probably not. But I think counting on him to be that really consistent key cog in your D-line, I think that's a fair expectation. Now, the beauty of shows that Bo hosts

is like that he's he's like this this great artist who you never know what's coming right i mean i i when i'm in the host seat it tends to be a little bit more like structured linear if you will but i'm jumping ahead here i'm kind of moving this around because we talk about brian and graham it's only appropriate that we talk about bryce huff too uh because you have to look at the two in conjunction with each other in that brys huff was supposed to be the top edge rusher on this team or at least one of the top two uh we had this conversation the first two weeks, he very clearly was not in this past game, was fourth by a wide margin to Brandon Graham. And then it seemed, you know, when I was watching it and looking at the numbers,

that the Eagles even went away from Bryce Huff in the run game in particular. And he was used almost as he was with the Jets as this past rest specialist. Vic Fangio said today that the usage won't be much different. Like they're going to continue to use him this way. What did you see from Bryce Huff overall? And then there was a play that Vic Fangio spoke about today, which was a run early in the game where Bryce Huff played it incorrectly and Kamar was able to get outside. Yeah, I believe it was the third snap of the game. And so basically the big thing that you saw on that play was that, you know,

the way that they're teaching, especially against these zone runs, you want your defensive lineman to get vertical and try and push the blockers vertical into the backfield. And Bryce off tried to do it. He actually did a really good job on the first place. playing of the game where he was able to stand up the tight end and get him vertically into the backfield. On this one, tried to do the same thing. He got into the blocker's shoulders, was able to drive him backward. But the problem was he got turned towards the middle of the field. And so he's driving his man towards the middle of the field by doing so he lost the edge. It was almost like he's getting

washed out of the play. He took himself out of the play, lost the edge. Kamara was able to get outside. From that point on, we basically did not see him in those run first downs. And so I think that'll probably be the case with Zach or with with with Bryce off at this point. You know, he just has not played well enough as a run defender. And now the big thing will be can he become that ace designated pass rusher? Can he turn into that? Right now, the way he's played through three games, he's not that.

He has not played well enough as a rusher to be able to say like with certainty, yeah, he's going to be able to hit that role. Now you hope, you know, maybe it's just been a slow start. He's adjusting to a new scheme. He's adjusting to a new role, new expectations. You know, maybe go to the by week, kind of. have a mental reset and see what he looks like you're on the backside. In your experience, at what point do you start to have the alarm, the red flag, whatever cliche you want to use

about a new player? Because obviously, whenever there's a new player, there's an adjustment. Some guys take quicker. Some guys don't. But at what point do you typically say, all right, this is who they are in this scheme? You know, I think that there's cases that we can make from years past for both sides of that coin. I think that I'm still willing to kind of give that time. I think, again, which is disappointing, last week against Atlanta, we pointed to that final drive where Atlanta goes down and they score the touchdown. That was a pure dropback situation. You're expecting Bryce up. There's nothing else about this is just rushing the past.

You're expecting to go win. In this game, there were three or four examples where they did a good job of putting him in position and succeed. Hey, you know what? We're going to tilt the, we're going to put a bunch of guys over here to this side and get you isolated one-on-one with Trevor Penning in a pure passing situation and Penning blocks him to the ground. There's another one where he's one-on-one against the tight end and pass protection. The tight end takes him out of the screen. And that's just those are the ones where you're like, man, like you really want him to be able to show that he can win in those situations.

I can't speak to why he's not at this point, but right now he's just not getting that job done as a rusher. If Bryce Huff is an overwhelming free agent signing, day one free agent signing, Zach Bond's on the other end of the spectrum there. You mentioned Zach Bond when you spoke about Vic Fangio, and it was almost as if, you know, a Vic Fangio thing there. But when you watch Bond, he's clearly the Eagles top linebacker right now. The way they're using, he's been productive. He's making productive plays in the game.

He has a physicality, which was referred to by Nick Siriani during training camp. But the other thing that you see is a versatility. And you mentioned the usage of him. But he stood out week one, a week two, not so much. And Nick Siriani said post-game that some of the problems that were in week two, Zach Vaughn corrected them right away in terms of the cup blocking and things of that nature. What stood out about Zach Bonn in this game?

Well, to me, this is big for you. And Bo's not here. He's going to be upset by this, watching this later. But it's only right that a ZB would help another ZB in this situation. Because this is positionless football, Zach. Oh, wow. This is positionless football. Hold on here.

Hold on. I'm getting a little excited. Okay. This is positionless football because when you have Zach Bond and the way that he's being used in this defense, a guy that's moved down close to the line of scrimmage at times, he's used as a stacked player. He's lined up off the edge. When you have that guy that at any point, and that's a bunch of times in this game,

the Eagles come out, they line up one way, and then just before the snap, they shift and they adjust. And that puts a lot of stress on the blocking scheme, on the offensive line to adjust really close to the snap of the football. That's where you get into Zach Bond's versatility and being really helpful with this scheme. To me, I was not here with you guys at PHOI when you guys would have these arguments in the summer about position of this football. To me, I think it's kind of gotten overblown in the past. the guys like Isaiah Simmons and stuff like that, you do need to play a position. Zach Bond plays linebacker,

but you need the right coordinator and the right system and everybody can kind of morph and adapt as you go. And so when you look at this Eagles defense, and especially at the front, you look at Zach Bond, you look at Milton Williams, you look at Brandon Graham, you look at all of these players up front that have that ability to slide over from three tech to five technique to seven technique to five, you have kick inside to five.

You have Zach Bond that can play off the ball and then slide down off the edge. When you have all these players, that can kind of morph into whatever front you want, that's when you really can start cooking as a defensive coordinator. Fran, I apologize here, because you are never going to hear the end of, like, you advocate, you advocate for positionless football once. And, well, here, let's, because we like to relitigate on this show, if you can settle this, when you hear positionless football, do you hear the way a beau says it, which is the player

literally doesn't have a position, or that the player can be multiple position and therefore or he's not defined by a singular position? I would say I lean towards Bo's definition there. All right. That's what I mean. I think that in most cases, that is often a scenario where it's like, I just don't know what you do with this guy. And Isaiah Simmons is a great example.

I was like, I kind of think he's just better playing safety because, you know, at least like just have him go down and fly down and be a kamikaze player. I was a little worried about him coming out of Clemson for that reason. But I think the big thing that when you see what you see from these guys, what position are they, what position room do they go to during the week of practice? Without getting too far in the rabbit hole, it's probably an offseason conversation. But I think when you look at Zach Bond, his usage here, that's a perfect example.

Kyle Van Nuoy with the Patriots, right? That's why Van Nuoy is left and gone to other spots and hasn't had the level of success. Then he goes back and he plays for Bill Belichick. And it's like, oh, yeah, like this is exactly the player that he can be. Zach Bond is kind of that has that same kind of usage here with this Vic Fangio defense. Yeah, I look at it almost like, a Micah Parsons type player who or you know you think of some safeties Derwin James who's who's used in in different ways that's that's kind of what I think about

certainly not advocating for Isaiah Simmons right now but you are right about the usage of Zach Bond now when we talk about a safety who has a specific position that is reed blanketship yep and reed blanket ship is I don't want to say he's like a closer for the Eagles big fans you have said today that the two interceptions that he's had this season are carbon the term he used is carbon copy carbon copies of each other and he said he's in the right place uh and he says what can't be underrated is he has good hands which which which you need those were both good catches but it's it's year three for red blanket ship and we shouldn't be surprised by this now by the instincts that he plays with um you know uh professor selman made a really good

point about the boundary side versus the field side how how the eagles actually switch that up who was the answer on that today yeah so he said is that they kind of look at it sometimes like left and right, that you see that they're going to continue moving around, but really what they're trying to do is put the players in the best spot, and they think that's the best way to use those too. But there was a change after week one, as Professor Selman pointed out, and I asked Vic Fangio about it today,

and when Dennis is in this week, he'll get into the details of what he saw. But yeah, that Reeb Blankenship is being used differently than he did week one, and he's making plays here. What did you see on film with Reblankichip? I think this entire secondary did a really good job because we talked about the run game and everything that they could do on the ground, New Orleans. But a big part of their offensive success was their ability to jump out on teams because of their explosive plays in the passing game down the field. And this isn't just a two-game sample from 2024.

You go back to last year, and Rashid Shaheed was one of the most lethal deep threats in the entire NFL. And so being able to keep a lid on him, he was shut out in this football game, to be able to keep that explosive element away from the Saints offense. That was a big part of the Eagle's success in this one. And to me, that's a credit to not just reblanketship, but that entire secondary. They did a good job of all playing within each other. And I think the big one, a good example, is a play that I put in the article that just went up this afternoon where it was a play. Plug, All-H-O-I.com.

That's right. So you go to All-PH-O-Y.com and you can check out my defensive breakdown. The first play I looked at was a play action, first in ten, a great play action down for them. And they're running one of their classic plays where you've got a deep post with a dig on the other side. Well, Reed Blankenship, he's got run responsibilities on the play, so he checks to make sure that it's not a run, and then his eyes immediately go across the field to the dig route coming in his direction. Now, this was the Jordan Davis sack. So Jordan Davis is going to get home for the sack here. If Jordan Davis doesn't win, if he, let's say that Derrick Carr has time to be able to throw this ball, Reed, readcha's there to either pick this one off or he's going to level Chris Oliva in the middle of the field. One of the two things was going to happen because Blanketship was right there in lockstep. It was perfect eyes, great rep there from Reed. And so to me, that's a great example of, what he brings to this eagle's defense. His eyes are almost always in the right place. Now, before we get to a temperature check later,

I, I, there's some ad reads I want to get to, but I'm being formal about it because as I do this, you might see Fran in the background. I want to see Fran, okay? And right now, I see Fran through like a green tint, okay? I don't want to see Fran through green colored glasses. I want to see Fran the full experience. And then I do want to thank Bo,

genuinely, I appreciate the support by Bo as a friend, as a colleague for this book, the franchise. But I want the P.H.O.I. branding more than the Zach, Zach, Zach. The book's not going anywhere, though. The book is staying. But a good cause for celebration is the book. And when you want to celebrate, a good thing to do is drink an ice, cold, mill, or light. Okay?

Because a lot has changed over the years, and a lot's changed than 25 years chronicled in this book. But one thing that hasn't is the great taste. of Miller Light. Another thing that's not changed is that it's less filling. So what is the best thing about the original light beer? Miller Light sparked this debate in 1975 and still

haven't settled it. When you think about Miller Light, what you like about it is that they keep it simple. There's undebatable quality, great taste, only 96 calories. It's the beer that strips away everything you don't need and holds on to what matters most. A light beer that tastes like beer, less

filling, and only 96 calories. It's the original light beer. since 1975. You don't need to choose what's best. Miller Light has great taste and is less filling. Tastes like Miller Time to get Miller Lite delivered right to your door. Visit Miller Lite.com slash pHLI Birds, or you can find it pretty much anywhere that sells beer.

Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories per 12 ounces, fewer calories and carbs than premium regular beer. And when you tell us about our next group of friends, I'm going to try to pull this out, but both put this in pretty strong. He tied like a triple knot down there, so he knew that you were going to do this. It's like Cobb's knot for anyone who recalls Mniak McGee. All right.

Well, while Zach is trying to figure that out, I will talk to you about our friends over at Shady Raids. Now, summer may be over, but everyone is still looking for quality shades built to last. And our friends at Shady Rays have you covered with premium polarized shades that won't break the bank. Shady Rays is an independent sunglasses company offering a world-class product rated five stars by over 300,000 people. That's a great sample size. what you're getting with Shady Ray's. Their shades have durable frames and crystal clear optics, making them the perfect choice for all outdoor adventures. They've got hundreds of options to choose from, so you're bound to find the perfect pair to match your style. They probably have a style

in your favorite team's colors. Maybe you're looking for a nice bright green color like this one of these balloons here on the desk, and we know how bright it can get at the link for a Sunday 1 o'clock game. So if you need something to protect those eyes, you know you call Shady Ray's and they will get you covered. Plus, if your shades ever go missing or take an unexpected hit, you don't have to worry about it. They have the most insane protection in all of eyewear. Every single pair you buy from Shady Rays is backed by lost or broken replacements. If you don't love your shades, exchange for a new pair or return worry-free within 30 days. There is no risk when you shop. Their team always has your back with personal and fast support. And exclusively for

our listeners, Shady Rays is giving out their best deal to season. Head to ShadyRays.com and use Ph.LY for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself. The shades rated five stars, again, by over 300,000 people. I got to say, both children must have shoes. Both children must have shoes that never come untie. Okay? Because these, like, if he ties laces the way he ties balloons, we're going to be doing, you know, Anthony's show tomorrow.

They're not going anywhere. The P.H.I Flyer shows. That's in the studio today, right? I mean, they might be having flyers discussions with these balloons here. in a straight phase. You're just pulling out these asses. Yeah. So we're just going to, we're going to roll with it, okay?

We're going to roll with it for the audio listeners. I have a big balloon hitting me in the head every time I turn around. I like to look people in the eyes. I can't look, I can't look fran in the eyes right now. But you know what? We're just going to, it makes for a good visual. And I imagine when Bo gives me his show notes later today, he's going to have a lot on this. But we talked about the defense generally.

We talked about them specifically. I do want to look forward a bit in terms of the ACE hardware temperature check because what we do each week is we take a look at which Eagle is heating up or cooling off with our ACE Hardware Home Services Online at www. www.aise Hardware homeservices.com to get started on your next project. We mentioned Geelong Carter, but it's worth going back to this year because when we spoke about Geo and Carter at the beginning of the year, the conversation was. he needs to be the best player on this team or the best player on this defense rather it's

gets kind of built around him and stepping in for fletcher cox speaking the jane carter in the locker room after the game he he said that well he said last week his plays trash he he thought his play was trash the other day he might have just been saying that but he says he has expectations of being like the best defensive player in football an all pro a hall famer he made a reference to cleo mac getting six sacks right uh maybe one day you know when i write the the 50 year version of this or the next 25 years, Jayon Carter has a chapter in that. But I want to know what's sticky here. And what I mean by that is as we do these film reviews,

if we do it on October 29th, I think is the Tuesday after, or October 30th, the Tuesday after the Bengals game, Bengals lost last night, looked bad. I mean, this level play with Jaylon Carter, if we keep going, if we do it after the Baltimore game in December, are we still going to be talking about this? So obviously the temperature's hot, but is the temperature going to stay hot for Jalen Carter? I mean, if you got to hope so, if you're the Eagles, clearly, and I think he's got that ability.

I think it's funny. There was, I don't want to say a lot made, but there was a decent amount made of him at the end of the game, you know, on the sideline and him being held back by Big Dom and by Clint Hurd and Nick Siriani. And Chris Long said on their podcast this week, I thought it was a good point. He said, look, if that's the mindset that Jalen Carter needs to get into in order to play the way that he played, You got to let that go and you have to let that flourish. That's up to the vets to kind of keep him rained in. But you've got to let him kind of be that way if that's what allows him to kind of turn that switch to become that level of player.

Clearly he came out ready to go. I mean, you saw it from the opening drive. And it wasn't just Carter, but the way that that whole defensive front flew off the football early in this football game, you knew that they were ready to play. Look, Carter's got the ability. It's going to be about the consistency. And in this game, again, playing 88% of the snaps, you saw that consistent. dominance and that's what you're hoping for moving forward.

At this time last week, we spoke about how the Falcons had Chris Lynch from one-on-one. Yeah. That Saints interior offensive line struggled in this game. Ruiz struggled. You know, they lost their center earlier in the game. McCoy. They were moving some things around there. Do you think this was also partly the Saints offensive line or do you think no matter what

the offensive or no matter who the offensive line is, Carter's going to look like that? I mean, Ruiz certainly struggled. There's no question about that. But also, I mean, look, at the end of the day, offensive lines in football, aren't great right now. And Lindstrom is one of the better guards in football. And so, you know, that was a tough matchup, especially when he's not playing to his level of expectation,

Jalen Carter. But look, go against Tampa Bay next week. Their guard situation is in shambles right now. They have not played well on the interior. And look, you look forward. I mean, that's kind of the standard for most teams. Most teams are struggling up front along the offensive line, and namely on the interior.

And so that is an area where Jalen Carter should be able to flourish and should be able to produce. When you talk about offensive lines, we're about to get to the backup offensive line with the Eagles because the film there looked good. Before we do anything specific on the defense, I did not address that we should make sure we get because the next time we speak to you on Thursday will be about the bucks. Yes. No, I think that I think we pretty much covered everything. Can I ask you one question about the book? Let's do it, yes.

All right. Let me ask you one question. So I can barely see you. Yeah, I know. I feel like the Seinfeld episode where you know, did you hear Newman? No. You know, Tim Allen, I'm Wilson next door. You can barely can't see this.

So when you get to release date, obviously, I've never written a book. You've not written two. You get to release day. Is the feeling excitement? Is it anxious? Like, what are you feeling when you get to today? Yeah, good question because my wife asked me that this morning. Her name's Emily, I should say.

She has a name. You know, it's so there's like the football expression that the hay's in the barn. Yep. And there's some of that. Like, there's nothing you can do. You're anxious and eager for the reception of it. Like you, it feels, it's so every message you get, you appreciate, and I have a lot I need to respond to.

And you appreciate that. But when you write an article, there's like an, I don't want to say an instant gratification. Sure. But, you know, it takes people two, five, ten minutes to read the article, right? Maybe there's a comment section. Maybe there's like a message on social media about it. and email, but you generally know a few hours after an article is a good or not, right?

With a book, no one's reading this in like two, three hours, right? And so it's kind of like wait and see. And the other thing, too, is if you write an article, there's like analytics that you can look at to see, all right, people are clicking on it this much, they're reading through it this much. Book sales, you don't get that data instantaneously, right? And so you're kind of, so there's anxiety not in terms of, you know, are people going to buy it? You hope people buy it, right? But more like you hope people enjoy it and you hope people learn from it.

And the big thing with this book and it's not just a talking point, I generally mean it, is that I want people to kind of relive some of the memories that they have, learn some new things, understand how some of these big decisions were made, whether decisions with quarterbacks, whether it was with coaches. But the reality is when you write about the past 25 years as opposed to like the next 25 years, and in the epilogue I get into the next 25 years. But when you write about the past 25 years, one thing that you're mindful of is this stuff already happened. And so people are reliving it. So as you read about the Snow Bowl, as you read about Nick Foles, the seven touchdown game, as you read about the Super Bowl, I want people to like, oh, I remember where I was when that happened. You know, when you see the line about the pickle juice, you know, the story about the pickle juice game in 2000 with Andy Reid.

I watched this then when you read the chapter on, let's say, that Monday night game in Washington, okay? I recall where I was during that Monday Night game in Washington. I was at three sheets bar in the west side of New York. I had just left Michael Bowie's Bowling Alley or Bowling charity event. I was covering the Giants at the time. And so, yeah, so you want people to, like, say, oh, this, I want people to finish reading this book, having learned something, but also, like, feeling good about their, you know, their experience being an Eagles fan. Because, look, I'm proud of the book. This is not, I wasn't trying to be Bob Woodward here.

Like, I'm not uncovering great scandals in Eagles history. it's meant more to relive the history of the team. So I have a line in the introduction. You're going to read more about Super Bowl in 2017 than the 2007 season when they weren't very good. That's just the nature of the book. But to answer your question succinctly, you're anxious about how it's received because you write a book so people read it. I made the line before that if I didn't want people to read it, I wouldn't put my name on it. I would just write a diary at home, right?

And so, yeah, so that's the anxiety that you feel. So I have one other question as well, but I don't want to take you off course as a host. No, no, no. I'm talking about. So the one question I had, I was on a podcast a couple weeks ago, scouting the league with Roger David and with Neil Stratton. And they asked me, they were asked about the Eagles organization and philosophies and things like that. And they asked about, you know, past catchers versus offensive line on the offense.

Like, what do they prioritize? And clearly, you know, to me, the line of scrimmage, right, offensive line. They're always going to build inside out. and how the organization wasn't always invested in pass catcher. And you go back to the early stages of this tenure, right? When Andy Reed first gets there, Jeffrey Lurge just first buys the team, the big criticism was it's James Thrash and Terrence Small, and they did not invest in wide receiver.

Then they go and they make that big signing. They get Terrell Owens and obviously things take off. And then you've got a few years later Deshaun Jackson and Jeremy Macklin and off we go. Do you think, is there a chance that this Saquan Barkley signing, and the success that they've had here, could that promote something else like that for, you know, because the second one's probably not going to be here for the second contract, right?

They're not going to give them. He's not going to the third year. No, that's what I mean. You're probably not getting to that point. But do they see, hey, you know what, with all that we've invested in this offensive line, we've got Jeff Staland, who is a plus plus plus as a coordinator and an offensive line coach.

And then you've got this offensive line that we put all these resources into. When we then raise the ceiling with an A plus talent at running back, look what this team can be. be, do you think that that's something that they try and tap into more often? Good question. And my quick answer to that is no. And the reason I say that is because I think there's going to be two things.

I think there's going to be a market correction to running backs. I think the Eagles are ahead of this year. And look, the numbers back this up. The salaries for running backs have not been, have not corresponded with the rise in the cap. And so I think you'll see high level running backs get paid. But I think that the Eagles will shift more toward the track. with running backs and there was a period of time where they wanted to do it and the picks just didn't align. There have been backs that they've been interested in.

But I think that they're more likely to go with the strategy that they've used the past three years, which is, you know, Miles Sanders was a second round pick. They traded for Swift at the end of his rookie deal. I think that they'll see like the cheap supply of talented young running backs and go in that direction. And by the way, like you look at the Jets right now. Bruce Hall is a high level back. They draft up Braylon Allen. He's a good back.

You see the 49ers. Christian McAfreys the best running back in the NFL. Sequan's up there. But he's gone. They're getting good production from Jordan Mason. And the key there is the Eagles will always be built along the line of scrimmage, like you mentioned. So I think that this is more an anomaly. I think they're going to value the running back.

I don't think they're going to pay the running back. Yeah. I think it's going to be fascinating to watch just because of what we've seen from Seekwan through three weeks of elevating the ceiling. of this run game and then also of the offense, what he was able to do with that 65-yard touchdown run and basically just take this offense when they were down at their lowest.

He lose Devante Smith for him to make that play. Obviously, a game-changing play there. While we talk about Saquan, I just want to mention that on all-PHly.com, when you go to our shop, okay, we got some great shirts, including a new Saquan-Barkley-themed shirt, Road to Victory.

You see that, and it's a map of Pennsylvania from State College. to Philadelphia, really well-designed shirt by our team here at All-All City. You see the 26th in the Penn State jersey, in the Eagles jersey, and you can get that. That's a new release shirt on all-P-H-L-Y.com. It's a good buy right there. I just saw Anthony walk by. Anthony doesn't realize what's going on here.

Anthony's not watching right now. But as you know, they'll be here tomorrow morning. I want Anthony to know these balloons were not my idea, and I apologize. to Anthony and the VG and the JAP if these are here tomorrow morning. I imagine there's going to be scissors at one point cutting these off and they'll be flying up. I'm sorry, hit the mic. They're going to be flying up there. Before we get to the next break, I just want to sneak in Sequin while we're on the subject here.

You watch the film of Sequin. You saw the touchdown run. I thought it was a well-designed play by Kellan Moore, but you saw what makes Seekwant special on that play too. I don't want to speak for you. I haven't read your offensive notes yet. What jumped out? I mean, certainly the burst in the open field was outstanding. His ability, once he gets up to the second, third level,

some backs, when they get up to that point of the field, they're looking for who's the guy that I have to make miss, right? And so they're almost running to contact as opposed to running too daylight. And Sequin in that situation, he's looking for green grass, and he goes, and he runs away from everybody on the field. So that was big time. You talked about the play design. Typically out of the shotgun, so remember, he's lined up to Jalen Hertz's left

before the snap. And if you were going to run inside zone, typically that's going to be a run to the right. He's to the left, so he's going to carry in the flow, is going to carry him off to the right. The Eagles have run a change-up every once in a while where they do what he's called same side inside zone, where basically Jalen turns around and it's a full extension to hand the ball off and the zone actually goes to the left. And so that's just a kind of way to throw off your tendencies when you're lined up in the shotgun. So well-designed there, good time play call there, from Kellyn Moore. The other part of that, and Greg Olson did a great job of, of breaking this down in the broadcast was that the the blocking up front from the Jordan mylotta and from

land and dickerson was outstanding because new orleans they're running a run stunt there where you've got guys slanting inside you've got a linebacker scraping over the top those guys have to pick that up on the fly which is very difficult for a zone blocking offensive line to be able to handle those moving pieces after the snap of the ball and so mylotta dickerson they were flawless on that play and then obviously sayquan does the does the rest there so that was a a well-time play call, really well-designed, really well-executed by everybody involved. I want to interject here with a quick bit of breaking news. Roster transactions for the Eagles, as we expected.

The Eagles signed Jack Stoll to the active roster, so there is your tight end. There is your tight end three. It won't be E.J. Jenkins anymore in elevations. It won't be, it's Jack Stoll on the 53, so the same tight ends as last time. Britton was placed on IR, as we expected. And then John Ross was added to the practice squad. So they was bringing a veteran to the practice squad. I'm slightly surprised that Paris Campbell was not signed to the 53.

They have one more week. I thought there'd be one more week of a Jack Stoll practice squad elevation. I thought they'd get Campbell on the 53 in that couple spot. But it certainly sounds like talking to the Eagles that they're expecting Campbell to be part of the rotation this week. Here's why I'm not surprised by the Jack Stoll thing. Calcutera as your second blocker is just it's not working out great right now. He's had a couple of moments that have been good, but more often than that it has not worked in his favor as a blocker.

And so getting stole back on the field on a permanent basis, they probably just didn't want to mess with that anymore. So you know what, let's just get him on the 53. Understanding, yes, they did have another week of elevation available. But since that 53 spot was available, you might as well just take that shot now. That's the type of film insight we're going to get on the offense in about two minutes because before we do, I want to tell everyone about game time.

If you were like me and you saw the Phillies clinch, the NL East last night, and you said, all right, how am I going to get playoff tickets? It's a good question. And the best place to turn will be game time. Because at game time, they have this new feature that I love. It's called Game Time Picks, and it makes getting tickets for your favorite events, live events, I should say, even easier. With Game Time Picks, it filters out the fluff to show you only incredible deals on great seats so you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of tickets. I mentioned the Phillies in the postseason, but you know what?

Sixers are coming up. I just saw Derek Bonner walk by. I'm excited for Sixers season. My son last night asked me about the Flyers season coming up. I'm watching the P.HL Flyers show regularly to learn more about the newcomers there. I'm going to get my flyers tickets. And the place where I turn for my tickets is game time because they've curated deals that make it easier to find the best price on great seats.

They have the super deal. They have the seat view before you buy and the lowest price guarantee with event cancellation protection and job protection. So I mentioned those. If you don't know what it is, the lowest price guarantee,

game time will credit you 110% of the difference if it's not the lowest price. Game time, ticket coverage, your purchase is covered with the most flexible customer service policy in the ticketing industry. And then my favorite feature is

the all-in pricing, toggling. This feature shows the total of with no surprise fees at checkout. And when you do that, you want to do with GameTime picks. It's a curation that makes it easier to save more on sports, concerts, comedy, at theater, and more. Take the guestwork out of buying tickets with GameTime.

Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code PHLY for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code PHLY for $20 off. Download game time today. What time is it, game time? Well, if you live in Philly, then you are well aware of Glad Hair Restoration

in the Morgan Stern Center for Orbital. and facial plastic surgery recently welcomed the GLAT group to the practice, creating an invaluable opportunity to leverage Dr. Glatt's high-calibur brand equity and begin an exciting chapter in Dr. Morgan Stern's highly respected legacy. Dr. Morgan Stern is a nationally recognized specialist and among a few surgeons in the country who is trained in oculophacial plastic surgery, facial cosmetic surgery, and general trauma surgery and ophthalmology established by the late Dr. Paul Glatt. GLAT hair restoration is now under the direction of renowned plastic surgeon, Dr. Ken Morganstern,

and the Morganstern Center. It's the same peerless approach that you've come to expect, the same expert team, same unmatched GLAT system, same state-of-the-art location, same stellar results. Because anybody can buy equipment and say that they do hair restoration. Only GLAT hair offers decades of proven results using an innovative approach and delivered by leaders in the industry. Glad hair can help during all stages of hair loss with leading edge treatments for prevention and restoration, including laser-like therapy, non-invasive T-E-D treatments,

vitamin supplementation, topical and oral medical medications, PRP and stem cell restoration, and hair restoration, and hair restoration. It's about innovation. Their breakthrough treatments really do dramatically change lives. Change your hair, change your life. Bald is now optional. If you want to improve how you look and how you feel about yourself, Gladhair has the right treatment for you. Regain your confidence.

visit Gladhaer MCTR.com or call 6109804,000 to get started. So we just talked defense. Let's get to the offense here. We mentioned Sequin, the other star of this game offensively, Dallas Gotter. Dallas Gotter 10 catches 170 yards. I had a stat up on social media yesterday of the 10 catch 170 yard games in recent NFL history. And you look at the players on there. These are some of like there are future, there are Hall Famers,

now and future Hall Famers. Players that have done this, Shannon Sharp, Darren Waller, Travis Kelsey, George Kittal, Jimmy Graham, Travis Kelsey again, and then Dallas Goddard this Sunday. Best game of Goddard's career. What did you see? I saw them making him a focal point of the past game and just creating plays that were where he is the primary read. And some of them were screens. We saw a couple of screens designed to go to Dallas Goddard, some where he's lined up as a tight end, others where he's lined up as a receiver. We saw the classic RPO slide route where he's running to the flat. That was a bread and butter play for them in 2022 and 23, even going back to 2021. That's been one of their go-to plays. But it wasn't just

in the short stuff. It was the intermediate and vertical throws as well. That big one early on in the football game. It was a downfield throw. And this was kind of one of the copycat plays in the league last year, Zach, where I'm trying to do without having the visual, it's not easy to explain, but basically where the quarterback rolls out and everything is flowing in one direction and typically the tight end or the receiver is going towards that way and he's running the intermediate crossing route except then he puts his foot

in the ground and breaks back the other way. So it's kind of like a throwback play where it's going to go against the grain of the defense and go the other way. Last year, I mean we saw George Kittle hit this play for a big touchdown. Sam Lapoor hit this play for a big touchdown. The tight end, Luke Musgrave from Green Bay hit it for a big play touchdown. So we saw this play

over and over and over again. The Eagles busted out here in this one and it goes for the big play to Dallas God. And so we saw vertical throws. We saw intermediate throws. He was open a couple other times where, you know, Jalen Hertz was hit or he got forced off his spot and he couldn't get there. So they were clearly dialing things up for Dallas Goddard in this game. It just begs the question, like, why wasn't this the case last week?

And honestly, like, moving forward, you should always have this part of the toolbox. Like, it's great to have A.J. Brown and Devante Smith and Seekwan Barclay, but dial some of these up for Dallas Goddard as well. And your offense, it's only a plus for that group. I want to focus in on the big play because what you saw there was, a mesh route, a rubber out, if you will, where it was Jahan Dotson. Yep. Really, it's not a play that shows up in the statute.

What's interesting, though, is that's not John, is that's not John Daxon's typical role on the play. It's Kellyn Moore explained that's typically Devante Smith with some of the changes with the injuries at wide receiver. They had to move around. Jahan Dotson executed that just the way it's taught. As you watched it, the role of the wide receiver there, what, what happened on film that I guess people don't fully appreciate with unlocking Goddard on the play.

So basically there was the there were the two times they ran this play in the second half of the game. One was the Dallas Goddard one-handed catch and that went for 31 yards or 30 yards, something like that where he's running from left to right. And then obviously there's the big one to 61 yard where he's going the other way. On both plays, he was actually being double-team by the Saints. Now basically what the double team was was you had a safety playing outside and you had the safety in the middle of the field, both with eyes on Goddard. Now, since they were two safeties,

they were both playing with depth. And so the one safety was Tyron Matthew. He's playing, you know, 18 yards deep. He's playing, you know, towards the post. And then the other safety was Will Harris. He's playing probably eight or nine yards off the ball with outside leverage. And is that meaning that he's closer to the sideline. He's trying to force everything back inside.

That's where the other safety, Matthew was there to help. Now, Goddard, he's running a shallow crossing route. And so that means he's running immediately away from the outside safety, from Harris. And on both plays, Harris gets picked off. And what happened on the second one that resulted in that huge collision is that Jahan Dotson did such a good job, Zach, of setting up the defender, not just the one that was trailing Goddard, but creating a collision at the guy that was following Dotson,

who was Marshawn Lattimore, he ends up colliding with Matthew. And so there were two defenders that were trailing Goddard on the play. Both guys were taken out. Dotson took the first one out. And then the other one was taken out by Lattimore. So it creates that pile up in the middle of the field. Goddard takes off. And again, you've talked about this on the show. That that yak element of Dallas Goddard's game, that's what makes him special. That's what sets him apart from other tight ends in football.

Not a lot of guys at that position have the ability to create yardage with the ball in their hands the way that Dallas Goddard can. Yeah. And the scene said after the game, they knew the ball was going to Goddard. You mentioned the double team there. So for him to be freed up like that, there's a lot that goes in to that play. Jahan Dodson was an injured replacement who helped out in a big way here. The other ones, of course, on the offensive line. Fred Johnson at right tackle, Tyler Steen at right guard. Fred Johnson received a lot of credit or a lot of attention, I should say. After the way he played, we've all seen how the egos have discombobulated in the past

to when Lane Johnson has been out of the lineup. Fred Johnson is someone who Nick Siriani pinpointed during the preseason. I remember after the Patriots preseason game, game. He said Fred Johnson, someone who really stood out. In my notes at the end of the week, I'm going to get into. I spoke to Jeff Stoutland last week, and Jeff Stalland really talked about what he's done behind the scenes with Fred Johnson. So you can find that on all PHLI on Friday. But I also thought when I watched the game back that Steen played well too. Those two guys in particular, what jumped out? So I would say Steen played better than Johnson overall.

Johnson in the run game, I thought was really good. He did some really good things. In pass protection, especially late, Carl Grandison, I think, started to get a beat on him a little bit, and you saw him use his length to push Johnson back into the pocket. It was like four or five of the last six pass plays for the Eagles. You had pressure off of Jalen Hertz's right side, and I think that's something that the Saints kind of picked up a beat on.

If Johnson is playing in this game on Sunday against the Bucks, that'll be something to watch there, certainly, especially with Joe Tryon, who has a similar kind of skill set to Granderson with that. length to try and get inside of Johnson. So, and to me, look, Fred Johnson is a big human being. He is ginormous for an offensive lineman, especially. Obviously, context matters there.

But I think they're all big to me. Britain Covey looks talented when I saw him. But Fred Johnson, you know, he's, when he's got an issue with dropping his anchor, it's more technique-based. A couple of those times, he's turned to the sideline. And oftentimes, if you're an offensive tackle and you get your shoulders turned to the sideline, so you're parallel to the bench, well, now you're, got an inability to be able to drop your weight against a bullrusher because now you don't have that

base. And so a couple times that happened to him, he's just got some things to clean up there. He's not the most athletic. But I thought he did a really good job. And then in the run game, I mean, he's got the ability to move people. It's the same thing we talk about with Mackay Beckton. When you have a guy that's that big and that long and he can get into defenders and just run his feet, he did some really good things. I thought that he and Steen did some good things as well, passing stunts off and just the communication and the field between those two. That's impressive, considering that it was two backups having to come into the game and work on short notice. Yeah, and to the end and to that point, we always talk about how the how the backups need to be versatile on me, need to play both sides.

But the bulk of Fred Johnson's work during training camps on the left side, right? I'm not at practice this time of year. I'm only the beginning portion of practice. But I imagine on scout team, he's spending most of his time at left tackle. Tyler Steen spends most of his time at right guard. You talk about the lack of familiarity. These are two backups going in. they don't have that chemistry with each other. I thought the way they played off each other went well. I don't want to put you on the spot too much with this question, but I don't think there's anything that I saw as well as Steen played

that would make me reconsider Mackay Beckton as the right guard. Am I correct in that position? Or do you think good film from Steen will make them think twice? Yeah, I think that ultimately where that decision is going to come down to at this point is just how they feel from like the chemistry standpoint and like the mental side of the game. A lot of the stuff that we aren't privy to, right? And, you know, how are guys in the classroom?

And I'm not saying that Tyler Steen is not good or that Mackay Beckton is way better than those areas. But because ultimately what you come down to with both guys, I think Tyler Steen gives you a little bit more in pass protection. He's not as powerful on contact as Bechton. Beckton is a mauler in the run game and gets movement consistently in this game before he got hurt. You saw some great double teams from he and Lane Johnson.

So he gives you more there. Whereas with Steen, you don't get quite that like mauler mentality. at the point of attack. I do think Beckton is probably a little bit more physical overall. And so I think there's just some give and take there. But I think Steen, he performed well. I thought that he had a good game overall. Again, I talked about the communication, some passing things off. He had a couple

mental errors. There was one play early on, one of his first two plays where it looked like he stepped the wrong way on a run play and gave up some early penetration. But, you know, outside of that, I thought he had a pretty good game overall. I'm going to make a confession here. And because I believe in full disclosure and not taking credit for something that's not yours. some of you, and this is also a plug, A, for Fran, who I think does this better than anyone in this market, and B for the postgame show, okay?

So there's some sickos out there who watch every press conference. Hopefully so, yeah. Not just for the answers, but they want to hear the questions. And I asked Nick a question yesterday about the interception that J.Ewen Hertz through. And it was a two-part question, which you don't typically do, but in these, to give you behind the scenes, yeah, I only get one question. during the Monday teleconference, so I had to pair of these. And Nick took responsibility for the interception, which he generally takes responsibility for everything, but when he specifically takes responsibility for play, I'm always curious why.

And then the second part of my question was the route concept there, how comparable was it to the touchdown that Devante Smith scored a week earlier? And the reason I asked that is because when I was listening back to the postgame show, Fran identified that on the spot. So Nick says to me, good eye, Zach, it's close. It's a good eye by you, right? And I got to say, look, one football guy to another, I appreciate it, Nick, but the credit really goes to Fran Duffy there.

You identified that right away. And this is a segue for the interception there. I want to know from both sides of it. John Hertz's throw, Devonte Smith as the receiver, and then let's add the third side, which is the coaching staff with the play design and the play call. What did you see on film when you watch the back? So I thought the throw was fine. I'm going to go, I'm going to break that play down.

When we do the offensive breakdown, I'll probably be an article that I'll drop tomorrow afternoon. We'll be my guest on all phtly.com. But I thought the throw from Jalen was fine, the decision was fine. Would Jalen's role in that play? All right, he's going to drop back. And as soon as he's going through his drop, he's got to stare at the safety on the left side because he has to hold that safety there. That's the guy who should be able to pick off Devante Smith.

And when you go back, if you watch the breakdown, I did have Smith's touchdown against Atlanta. He did the same thing. He's got his eyes on the left safety because he needs to hold him in the middle of the field. He doesn't want that safety to drift and step in front of Devante. So it's Jaylon's job to beat the left safety. It's Devante's job to beat the right safety. Now, Nick said in that answer that the leverage was a little bit different with those two

safeties. And I'll break down the changes there, the differences in what Devante saw. But essentially, it looked like the Tyron Matthew was playing with a little bit tighter inside leverage, which meaning that because basically what you're trying to do as a route runner, it's your job to get a defender off his spot to create separation. So if he's playing inside, and you want to go inside, you have to do what you can to get him to go outside. So you've got to either sell really hard that you're going to go outside

or you have to saw the route off. You've got to flatten it out. And so it sounds like that's what Nick wanted Devante to do there is to kind of flatten that route off to basically cut off Matthew and not let him come back to that ball. But to me, like that's Jalen, that that's not a throw where Jalen put the he can't throw that he's got to throw it right away when you're in the red zone things happen fast and so if Jalen looks and says oh it looks like Matthew's there

plays dead and then we're killing him for oh why didn't he throw it now he's running around he's in his scramble drill he's got that's a trusted throw from Jalen hurts he's got to hit the top of his drop and pull the trigger so I thought to me that's not on Jalen at all in that scenario and now speaking about Jalen you know I I I did not watch the all 22 back I watched the TV copyback and a point that Greg Olson made, and I think Greg Olson's outstanding. By the way, Tom Brady's on the call this weekend. I'm looking forward to listening to that. Can you take it in a Brady game yet?

Yes. Not a, you know, he hasn't done any of those games, but I watched the Browns Cowboys game week one. I wasn't overwhelmed by him, but, you know, look, my first show, my third show was better than my first. My 30th show is hopefully better than my third, so I'm looking forward to his fourth game. So Greg Olson made the point, and I imagine this came from the production. meeting that the Saints plan was to flush Jalen Hertz to his left. And I bring that up because he had the stats down of like what the Jalen Hertz turnovers to the left. The Jalen Hertz like stats, you know, the completion percentage to the left. It was very clear that the Saints thought

Jalen Hertz need to get to his left in order to be ineffective. I asked Kellan more about this today. Callan Moore pinpointed like three plays that Hertz made to his left and said Jalen's doing a good job there. I know we didn't prep for this question, but what did you see when Jellon went to his left? that it was something that Saints were trying to do. And it's funny because last week, I feel like Jalen caught a lot of flack for only rolling to his right and that's where he wanted to go. And in this game, we saw him making those plays

to his left. The one that stands out on my mind is the completion of Devante Smith. I want to say it was third down, scramble drill. And Devante did a great job. He was in sync with Jalen. He was in lockstep, found a soft spot in the coverage and was able to kind of settle and make himself available to Jalen.

So I think you're making that play to your left. it's always harder for a right-handed quarterback to make those throws going to, you know, to that side to have to throw across your body. And so I would say that's more often the case than not. But that was a, to me, that was a big throw. I don't think I've noticed that he's been significantly worse, but obviously they've got the numbers to kind of back that in. Now, if the Eagles run that touchdown pass and that interception three weeks in a row, it might not be Devante Smith out there.

He's in the concussion protocol. Yeah. Okay. We don't know what his status is when the Eagles say they, don't know with that. That's not gamesmanship. Concussions are out of the trainer's hands even. There's a concussion protocol that he needs to go through and he's been cleared by an independent neurologist, not out of the question. It's that he's backed by Sunday, but not something that is a foregone conclusion. We know Burton Covey's on IR now. We don't know about AJ Brown yet.

And with that by week looming thereafter, the Eagles might say, AJ, take this week, be ready after the buy. If that's the case, you're looking at a wide receiver core with Jahan Dodson, Johnny Wilson, presumably Paris Campbell, then, I mean, we'll see what else is there, right? John Ross, yeah, right. Maybe John Ross. Like, this is a big question going into this week. You saw a lot of Paris Campbell this past game. He played 50% or plus of the snaps.

Johnny Wilson was a factor in this game. John Dodson, now we have a three-game sample size. This week and throughout the past three weeks, past two months even, what did you see? from these depth wide receivers? Well, I think we've seen up and down from all of them. With Johnny Wilson, obviously he made that great play on third down, where he shook off a tackle and was able to pick up the first. That was big for him.

But then late in the game, there was the back shoulder throw that Jalen put it on the money, put it right on his hands, and it just goes right through. And that's been an issue for Johnny Wilson going back to Florida State was just the consistency at the catch point. He's got that ability to be that above the rim receiver that can come down with those balls, but it just doesn't do it at a high of a rate, as what you would expect from a guy with that skill set. So, you know, I think we've, again, we've seen some good.

We've seen some bad. Obviously, he's been flagged now two weeks in a row for the offensive holding on those screenplays. The first one back in Atlanta, I thought, was a little less egregious than the one this week against New Orleans. I thought this one was a little bit more deserving. But overall, I mean, you appreciate the toughness. He's just got to be more consistent at the catch point.

And obviously he'll be relied on, more than likely it'll be relied on for a bigger role this week. Campbell, look, he's been in the league now for a handful of years. And so we've come, we know what to kind of expect from him from a skill set standpoint. This is a guy that he's, the guy that I would compare him to for Eagles fans would be Josh Huff. I think from a, that's not a ringing endorsement. No, but in terms of like the skill set and the usage and this is what he can do. He's a like six foot, six foot one, slender frame, but he's not like a vertical deep threat. He's a guy that you want to get the ball in his hands fast and let him do work, get him in the open field and just let him run. He's more of like a,

a straight line guy. The big thing of this summer, I didn't think he looked all that confident at the catch point. And then that showed up this week, too. Both of his catches, there were like double catches where the ball was very nearly dropped on both. And so I just continue to show that faith there. I think that he does have a little bit of a rapport with Jalen.

So we'll see if that can come to fruition this week. And I think with Dotson, look, obviously he's been more or less a decoy for the better part of this season so far. So three weeks, he only got here a month ago. So I wouldn't expect him to come in, especially with all the other weapons in the office. offense to come in and produce at a high, high level. He may be relied on to do so.

I think that his movement has looked pretty good. I wouldn't say that, oh, yeah, like the drop issues that plagued him for this offseason in Washington are completely out the window. We haven't seen that sample and we're not out there at practice to be able to see it. And so I think when you look at Dotson, certainly the spotlight will be on him this week. I do think from what I have seen on film, he's moving around fine. He's lining up inside and outside. He's shown the ability to create some separation.

So now it'll be, it'll be time to test exactly what the Eagles got when they made that move for them in August. I just want to remind you to become a diehard if you are not on all p.hly.com. You can read Franz film reviews. You can read. I'm going to have, unless Bowen has a column going up from the coordinators today. I'll have my notes on Friday. I have a feature I've been working on that I was out of town this past weekend for.

That's presumably going to, or that's likely going to drop this week. And then we have great coverage on all our sports. So make sure you're a diehard member. Also, if you're a diehard member, you can go to the book event that I mentioned. October 7th. On October 7th. Yeah, I look forward to meeting you there and signing books there. I keep promoting the book here.

Tom Brady, he's referenced in the book 18 times. I actually just looked that up. I was going to say 19, but there's actually a Kyle Brady reference in the book. Kyle Brady, similar to Fran. And I should say, Fran does a great job on our show. but he's also the all city NFL draft analyst. And so he's doing more than just Philly things. And I bring that up because in the chapter about Hallie Roseman,

Hallie Roseman before he was a general manager back when he was in college, he took extensive notes on the draft. And he was a New York Jets fan growing up. And he threw his notes at the TV when the Jets drafted Kyle Brady, number nine overall in 1995. So that's when I was. I was looking up Brady in there. There was multiple Tom Brady references, but there was one Kyle Brady reference,

and that's the reference. And you can read that in a Howie-Rosman chapter, kind of about the redemptive career at times, but kind of it's how he's beginning. The rise, the fall, the rise again. I wouldn't say a fall, a minor dip, and now back to, he's generally regarded, and I think accurately so, as one of the great general managers in the NFL.

In sports. In professional sports, yeah. I mean, Andrew Barry would tell you that. And I think it's, I think over the course of time, that's certainly proven itself out. But also, you can learn in this book, too, a lot of the philosophies and theories, or I should say theories, philosophies and strategies that how he uses, you can trace back to the beginning of this tenure, things that Andy Reid brought in with him, things that Jeffrey Lurie and Joe Banner really believed in before the rest of the league did. you know, the aggressiveness with trades, early signing of contracts. You can see, and so this book really traces all of that. So that's try an organic way to explain that one of my big takeaways in doing this book

was that a lot of what the Eagles do now, big picture team building wise, was put in place 25 years ago. And it's kind of been refined and improved and crafted, hopefully similar to the Ph.L. Y' Eagles show, right? but that they still use a lot of the philosophies that they use then. If anyone ever does the first 25 years of PHLY, there will be an entire chapter dedicated to our resiliency through these balloons. Yes.

Yes. Nick Siriani said sometimes you think you have to deal with adversity. I think doing a show with the balloons in the middle, moving my head. You know, I talk with my hands sometimes. I'm afraid I'm going to hit the balloon. Maybe that's what we need when I did it. But you got to hear in between the balloon thudding some great insight from Fran. Franz is going to be back on the PHL IEagle show on Thursday when we look ahead to the Buccaneers.

I will be at Novacare then, but I will be chiming in. And we will also have Swooper on Thursday, eager for that. Tomorrow we are going to have Jamie and Rich here. I will be at the facility. I will chime in from the facility with updates there. and so it's a busy week leading up to Sunday's game against the Buccaneers. Friday, of course, Professor Selman is in studio. I will be at Novacare that day.

And then I shouldn't mention the man, Bo Wolf, will be here Thursday and Friday. So. Well, before you close out the show. Yes. Oh, God. So Bo obviously came in to do the balloons, to do the banner. But he had to make his presence felt. We do have one video to play before we close out the show.

Brina. I actually don't know that's coming here. I have not watched this yet either, so I'm equally as excited. I hope I still have a job after this, Vince. Happy second book release to you. Happy second book release to you. Happy second book release, dear Zach, happy second book release to you from Bowen the Sickos.

My favorite band from the 80s. And from Joshua Molina, that's right. I'm the answer to the riddle. What would Will Bailey from the West Wing and Jeremy Goodwin from Sports Night look like if he got very old, like this, Zach. But let's keep the focus on you because it's your special day. I understand you have the franchise, Philadelphia Eagles,

a curated history of the Eagles. My favorite band from the 70s. It's your second book. Congratulations. Very exciting, very excited about the book release, as our Bo, the Sickos. I hear your big Westman and Sports Night fan, which means after my own son and dad,

you might be the most supportive man in my life, Zach. So I'm thrilled to join Bo. Yeah. and the Sickos in congratulating you. The book is available wherever books are sold. Wow, that's a wide release. Congratulations. Mazel to as my people say.

Our favorite fictional president, well, I don't know who yours is. You could be a Santos fan, but President Bartlett would often ask what's next. What's next for you, Zach? May the franchise, Philadelphia Eagles, a curated history of the Eagles, be a bestseller.

May it sell widely. and strongly is that English? I don't know. I'm not a writer. May the coming year be filled with professional success.

Personal success. Prosperity. Health. Good times. Adventure. Romance, Zach, if you're looking for it. Everything that Bo and the Sickos is sure me you deserve

and I have no reason to question them for Bo. And all the sickos have always been very honest with me. Zach, I congratulate you. I wish you nothing but good things. Congrats on the second book. I hope it goes great.

And I lead you with the signal, an omen and a portent of good things. What's next? Let it go, Zach. Thank you. That's really touching. I appreciate it. Thank you, Bo. Will Bailey himself, Josh Molina.

Yeah. Josh Molina is... From the West Wing. And Jeremy, in... Sports Night is he's my favorite character in Sports Night Jeremy. Will Bailey's not my favorite character in the West Wing, but I do like Will Bailey. And my favorite writer is on screen, at least, is Aaron Sorkin. Yep.

Who Jeremy Molina is in all of Aaron Sorkin's work, including a few good men. He had to dig deep to find it, but you will see him on there. So, Bo, thank you. Jeremy Molina, thank you. I have no idea if he got that cameo before or after last Thursday's episode where you insulted his hair. So I don't know if this has before or after. But say this about Bo.

Bo is an outstanding gift giver. Bo's an outstanding gift giver. An outstanding friend and outstanding co-host. He gave a big seat to fill here. I don't know. I like being in the other seat for this. But this was fun. It makes it easy when I do with Fran.

It makes it easy when I do with Brenna. Thank you so much. And we will, Bo will say, as always we love you, I will say we will be better tomorrow. Until then, thank you for watching.