PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - PHLY Eagles Podcast | Can Vic Fangio’s defense handle Klint Kubiak’s high-octane Saints offense?

Episode Date: September 19, 2024

Through two games, the Saints offense has been the best in football thanks to a change in scheme under Klint Kubiak. Fran Duffy explains what has worked for Derek Carr and co., and the challenges it will present to an Eagles defense that has been one of the worst in football through two games. Is there any hope for Vic Fangio?That, plus much more as Fran breaks down the Saints defense and Zach Berman joins the show from the NovaCare Complex with the latest news and notes. Then, Fran, Zach and Bo Wulf close the show with another edition of Swooper Soarcasting. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello, everybody, and welcome to the P. H.L.Y. Eagles podcast on Thursday afternoon, Bo Wolf. Fran Duffy, Zach Berman to Come. And, of course, we are presented by Bette 365. Download the Bet365 app and use code PHLY365 when you sign up, whatever the moment. It's never ordinary at Bet365. And Fran, you know, when you get a short week in this summer, it's like how we're going to fill the episodes. How are we going to cram everything in this week, four days to get into everything we need to get into? We got a lot to get to today. Yep. Breaking down the Saints, everything that you have seen from them on film, one of the best offense in football through two weeks.

We'll try to figure out why that is what Dennis Allen does on defense, a traditionally very good defense. We're going to hear from Zach Berman. We haven't talked since we heard from Nick Siriani explaining that he's more convicted than ever in his position to kick the field goal to go up six. We heard from Vic Fangio and Kellan Moore today. We'll find out what Zach thinks about all of that and what's going on in the locker room.

And then we'll close with week two of Super Sortcasting. How are you doing, my friend? I'm doing great. Like you said, it's a lot to cram into not just today's episode, but into four days. I'm not going to lie. The Monday night, the short week, it hit me hard this week. So I'm struggling, but we're going to power through. And poor Zach's, you know, he's got his early morning flights to New Orleans coming back.

Next week is the day that the book comes out. The franchise, which you can buy wherever books are sold. We'll talk a little bit about that. perhaps on the show as well and obviously getting more into that next week. But let's get right to it. Yes. Fran, let's talk about the Saints offense because I think that is the big question heading into this game.

Through two games, best offense and football, 4.3 points per drive, which for context sake, number one in the league last year was 2.7, 1.7 EPA per drive. 0.8 was the top in the league last year. So there's some regression due. There's no way that they can continue to play at this level, but structurally, weapons-wise,

Clint Kubiak is the guy who has taken over this offense and they're playing much differently than they did last year. Play action, they're number two in the league. They were 32nd in the league last year. Is it as simple as, oh, they've brought along the Kyle Shanahan style of offense, brought it to New Orleans and now all of a sudden they're good? If you wanted to glaze over that way, yes. It's almost that simple.

It is almost that simple. Clint Kubiak's pushing all the right buttons. And honestly, when watching, watching them on film week one against Carolina and then getting ready for that game against Dallas, obviously the Eagles playing Monday night, was home on Sunday on the couch with Francis. He and I were watching the game together. And this team is so balanced offensively. And a lot of people think of balance as run past balance. But it's more than that.

You think back to like the Eagles in 2022 when they were absolutely humming offensively. And it was every play, it was going to be something a little different. Maybe it's a vertical shot, then it's an RPO, then it's an inside run, and then it's a screen, and then you got misdirection, and then you got mo, you have this, you have that. The way that they are able to just completely spread things out from the way that they are trying to be multiple offensively, and they have so many players that are versatile in that way. It makes them very, very difficult to try and figure out what their tendencies are on any given down in distance. And especially because, I mean, they've been so productive. That means they've also been playing from ahead. we haven't seen them in sort of like a neutral situation in the second half of a game right so i mean

where do you start if you're vangio this week so typically and what i'll see behind the curtain here okay um i went into this thinking okay i'm going to do what vic fangio and the defensive staff the quality control coaches would try and do and then when tasem hill the injury seemed a little bit more serious than uh i was anticipating i kind of scrapped that idea because basically what what the coaches are doing right now or what they did Monday, the equality control coaches, it's not just as simple as, hey, you know what, they're in 12 personnel this number of time. When they are in 21 personnel, this is what they like to do. When they're an 11 personnel, this is what they like to do. They have so many different combinations of those groupings. And so what they do out of 12 personnel when it's,

you know, when it's Juan Johnson and Foster Moreau is different than if it's Tayson Hill and Foster Moreau or if it's Tayson Hill and Joanne Johnson, then you also might consider Taysam Hill to be a fullback because there are plenty of times where he's the lone running back on the field lining up in the eye formation but then on the next play he's lined up as as an outside receiver running a vertical route so it's a lot to try and figure out that's player in football look i actually forgot that he's 34 years old i didn't know that until like the injury i was like oh yeah i forgot he came in he was so old he came into the NFL um so he's 34 years old but i actually very much enjoy watching him in this offense as a bit out this offense is

becoming so but just watching how they're using him in this offense a lot of credits to to Clint Kubiak and that staff. You do worry when you get a guy named Clint Kubiak. You got to go to the Wikipedia to see what the middle initial starts with. You don't want that to be another K. You would hope that they would know better. It's Alexander. So these were clear on that front.

Okay. One of the things that they have done, you know, tracing back to the Niners roots. Yep. They're going with all these heavy personnel packages. As you said last year, they were right now they're 32nd in the league in 11 personnel snaps just 22 percent which they were pretty low last year too yes but uh and tason hill is part of that but they have leaned really heavily into as you said that the 12 and 21 third in the league in both of those they're in 12 is there is their um plurality of their snaps yep but you're saying that it's not

just as simple as 12 it's uh you know there's all these different different versions of it and so do you think that in this game Vic fan joe is going to be thinking we can stay in base that's that's what we're going to be living in in this game i think that yeah they're going to play more based than what they've played, I would say that with like five to certainty. Yes. And I think that's where you're getting to your five, two. And so the, you're going to have the two eddressers on the outside with the three defensive tackles on the interior. Now, that is the difference because if you're just looking at this from a pure aesthetic standpoint, you might look at this matchup and say, the Eagles have no chance at stopping the Saints offense, right? With the way that

the saints are running the football. That's how it looks right. Yeah. I mean, the way that they're playing, it's tough to feel confident going in the way that the Eagles have tackled, the way that they've handled the run game. It's tough to feel confident. Here's the difference. Last week, the Atlanta Falcons were in 11 personnel the entire game. That's what we talked about that in the show. The adjustment they made in the second half, the Eagles was, okay, we're, instead, we're still going to stay in our nickel package with four down linemen and two linebackers, but we're going to take one of those linebackers and we're going to put them on the line of scrimmage and make it a 5-1 nickel defense as opposed to a 4-2, try and change up the numbers

from the zone blocking standpoint and see if we can kind of throw off the offense that way. in this game, if they're going to play with a lot of heavy personnel, well, now you're going to probably match that with your base defense. You're already going to be in that odd front. How are the Eagles going to better defend the run out of their base personnel? It's kind of like what we were saying to the other day about Jordan Davis. That was not a big like Jordan Davis game against the Atlanta Falcons in terms of how this one. This one, I think you're going to see more of Jordan Davis.

And it's going to be more important for Jordan Davis to be a factor in this matchup. So what would you do? You have to play base. I think you have to play the base defense in this. 5-2 or 5-1 nickel? 5-2. No, I think you play 5-2 in this one. And again, if Tassum Hill does not play, so he had a chest injury late in the game,

ended up going to a Dallas area hospital afterwards, and he ended up making it back with the team, did not practice on Wednesday. We'll wait to see what his status is here today. But Dennis Allen said yesterday that they're hoping that he'll be able to go. It doesn't sound great if your 34-year-old was in the hospital after the game. It didn't practice the first two days of the week, but I guess that, that reminds you.

means to be seen. But that said, if you go in and you say, okay, they're going to, they're going to play a lot of heavy personnel. They've seen the most base defense in the league so far. I think that that will carry in to this match up. I think you're going to play those heavy, but you're going to try and match that base defense, that base offense with your base defense. And so personnel-wise, the way that guys are playing right now, Jordan Davis in the middle, Jalen Carter and Milton Williams? Yep. I mean, are you leaning more on like Brandon Graham on the outside? If you're expecting this to be a run game or like Nolan Smith and Josh Swet, can you even, can you trust Bryce Huff? Yeah, I mean, Vic Fangio said,

today that he's still a starter yeah but he's still a start is that easy starter in nickel yeah was he a starter in base right he might just be saying that early on we don't know exactly how how truthfully is when it comes to like the depth chart stuff so that we'll we'll kind of see we as we talked about the other day I do feel like Nolan Smith has earned more reps than than Bryce Huff at this point because of how he's playing against you on early downs right yes and so I think that he's a guy you can trust a little bit more in that phase of the game okay and so obviously Not only are they running the ball very well, but they are creating a lot of explosive plays out of this play action. How are they getting those plays open downfield?

How will the Eagles prepare for that? When you watch the film against Dallas in this past week, you just see guys running free so much space. And especially between the linebackers and the safeties, there was just all this green grass. And a lot of that does have to do with the fact that you had to respect the run. 50% of their pass plays are off play action. It's absurd. It's all play action with the Saints offense. They have had 22 dropbacks this season in two games without play action.

That's like the, why don't they build the whole plan out of the black box? But look, it is working really, really well for them. And they're keeping defenses on their toes. There was a stat from next gen that had to do with just how their ability to negate opposing pass rushes. And honestly, that's what the problem has been with the Eagles is that if you can't stop the run, that is going to impact your ability to be able to get after the quarterback. And so I think when you look at this matchup, that is going to be, item number one like you have to be able to stop the saints running game okay now obviously the pass

rush has struggled yep um and we can get to vic vanjo saying like you got to earn the right to run the rush the passer but from a do we need to press buttons to like do we need to blitz if the if the front four are not getting home in this game what what's your answer there they lead the league and cover zero so far and from a percentage standpoint really the eagles i did not know that if you if you would have told me that um three weeks ago i would have been shocked nice i don't think that would have been a good thing? Yeah, I think there's only one way to read that. Yeah, it hasn't been a good thing. Because honestly, when they have gone zero, they've given up at least two touchdowns. CJ on both of them, right? See, yeah, I don't think you're going to see a ton of blitzing against this team.

You know, Derek Carr historically has not been good under pressure. This scheme has done a nice job of not allowing him to be pressured. Because he is constantly moving the pocket. He's actually second in the NFL behind. only Jalen Hertz in terms of throwing from the run. Now, a lot of that is by design. It's a lot of design rollouts, a lot of design play action. So trying to get him out of the pocket, get him moving to find reads. And this is a guy that historically, number one, has not been good against pressure. But number two has also been a very conservative thrower.

But every game, it has been bombs away for Derrick Carr, especially in the first half of games. Tom Brady actually said on the broadcast early on in this game, right before he threw a touchdown to Rashid Shaheed. He said, look, this offense is built on trying to score points early. look for them to be aggressive in this game. Obviously, he was not in the production meetings. And so that's him kind of just reading between the lines there in terms of how they want to be

schematically and philosophically, lo and behold, very next play. Clint Kubu. He's just popping strawberries in his mouth. Tom's out here so I can eat these. Well, Hershey. The nightshade offense. Look, every game so far, Shaheed has been a factor down the field. He's in motion all the time in this offense, number 22 at wide receiver, aesthetically pleasing

there in that way, a little bit different. But I think when you're looking at Shaheed and Olabe, to legit speed receivers for three guys that have the ability to attack you vertically. Are we feeling confident in Slay? Yeah, I mean, I think so. Okay. Yeah, I think you're feeling confident in Slay.

To me, the big thing is is that you've got to be able to get this team behind the sticks. And that means like stopping the run, getting into second and nine, third and 12, second and seven. Like, you don't want it to be second and three all the time. And if you're able to do that, does the pass rush then win? You have to at least test that from New Orleans standpoint. They haven't been tested in that way.

Yeah, so tell me what your thoughts on that were they, you had to earn the right to rush the passer. Yeah. Stop the run early downs. Nick Siriani said it after the game on Sunday on Monday night. And then Vic Fangio talked about that today in terms of the ability to how when you are giving up plays on the against the run. And then it's play action and all that goes with it. That affects your ability to, uh, to, uh, to, get after the quarterback.

And it actually goes to a stat that I saw on NextGen stats earlier today. And I do want to pull that up. There was a, I'll pull this up here. Here you go. So this is from Next Gen. The Saints high number of snaps with a quarterback under center and play action has led to a slower average getoff time for opposing pass rushers. So again, this is all like based off like the GPS tracking data.

That's the whole point of play. The whole thing. So the Saints have faced an average getoff time of 1.00 seconds by opposing edge rushers. That's the second slowest in football and an average getoff. time of 1.29 seconds by opposing interior rushers. That's nearly a full tenth of a second slower faced by any other offense this season. A tenth of a second, like that's an eternity as far as being able to get off the ball. And so to me, like the Eagles have to stop the run in this game. It's a huge, huge part of their ability to try and stay in this. Dallas was unable to do it.

Carolina was unable to do it. Both of those teams got blown off the ball more often than they certainly than they wanted to. And that's the thing was the Saints offensive line. And pure dropback, we all had questions about what this line was going to look like. But if they're playing that the way that they are, it's going to mask some of the deficiencies they have in pass protection. The only context in which vehemently explaining that tenths of a second make a huge difference in getoff time is not deeply embarrassing. This was where Zach would normally point to your sophomore humor. Obviously, I don't need to be able to dive into that. So like, where are the weaknesses?

What is the hope? The hope is, is you stop the run. Okay. So out of this base defense, hey, the Eagles haven't been in their base defense in a couple weeks. Like, if you make Trevor Penning at right tackle, have to just sit back and protect a regular dropback. He's beatable. That's it. And so that's the hope is that you stop the run, you get them into third and long, into second and long.

They're out. They're in more predictable situations. But that's what happened in the final drive against the Falcons. And the Eagles were unable to convert in that situation, right? So you're just hoping that if the Eagles can do this early in the game, can you take advantage on the road, on the turf, all that? Can you get after that offensive line? I don't think that you've made me feel better about the Eagles' defenses chances.

I don't know. I don't think that was my goal. I'm just shooting you straight in terms of how we see it. And that's what I think that, again, if you're looking at it purely on its face by looking at the raw numbers, you feel terrible. Basically, the hope is, well, it can't just be, they can't just be this good. got a regress at some time. Yes, you're banking on some regression. Yeah. So that's so you look at it that way. But then also it is the whole idea of, uh, hey, look, they play offense a little bit

differently than the Falcons in terms of how they are structurally. It's more heavy personnel, heavy bodies. The Eagles, I mean, everything they gave up last week was out of 11 personnel. And even against the, the Packers, a lot of it was against some of their lighter personnel. And out of nickel, the Eagles have not been able to defend the run very, very well. So if you get their base defense on the field, are they able to stop the run? Or do the Saints decide? Because that's the thing is that when the offense is operating the way that they have, all of their numbers look good. Sure.

So like when you look at, well, when they do run out of 11, even though they're in 11 personnel, the lowest rate of any team in the league, when they run out of 11, they've been very good. So when they say, all right, we're just going to run out of 11 in this game with no Taseom Hill. They might decide to do that. Yeah, that's interesting. How do the Eagles match up to that if that's the case? Yeah, I mean, I guess part of the hope is, I mean, if we can get a lead on offense, this is, you know, you go back to the old football.

Like we can shorten this game, get them playing from behind a little bit, then maybe. You know, you get them, you get a chance. But that's the thing is that like we like joke about that stuff. And it's like concussion locally, but there's a reason why those exist. Yes, exactly. So that would be part of the formula for this game. All right. Well, it doesn't seem like the egos are facing an ordinary offense.

Zach. I mean, I keep doing Zach. This is, I got to work on this. This keeps happening. I called Zach Fran at the press conference yesterday. Oh, really? Yeah, this is a real, how did he react to that? This is a real problem in my relationship.

I'm betraying my, this is mistress talk. Well, I feel like I do this to my pets all the time. I call my dog by my cat's name and my cat by my dog's name. So I don't know how that makes me. Would you rather be the dog or the cat? I think I'd rather be the dog. You're a dog, man, yeah. Right.

Okay. I think Zach doesn't mind being a cat. I know. I think he absolutely much rather be the dog. All right. Well, speaking of things that are not ordinary. Mary? Bet 365, of course. Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when you bet just $5.

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It's never ordinary. at Bet365 must be 21 or older and physically located in Pennsylvania. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call or text 1-800 gambler. Well, Bo, everybody needs help sometimes. We talked about the Eagles defense here this week. They might need a little bit of help. But everybody, especially in today's climate,

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TrueMark Financial is federally insured by the NCUA and is an equal opportunity lender. For more information, visit trumark.com slash pHLY. All right. Let's talk about the other side of the ball. Okay. Eagles offense has been good, not great. Saints defense has been able to play with these advantageous game scripts, right? So Dennis Allen's, you know, his head coach track record is not very good, but his defensive track record is quite good.

What are the questions being posed to Kellan Moore and Co this week? So it's a lot of man coverage on the back end. Obviously, they will mix in zones at times, but it's a lot of man coverage more than your typical NFL team. It is a four two front, typically from a nickel standpoint, they play a lot of subpackage. So it's a lot of nickel, a lot of dime. Willie Eagles forced them to play into some base defense. They haven't played a ton of base so far just because of how the lopsided these games have been. So will they play some more base.

That's something I will be interesting to watch because they've got some athletic linebackers, namely in Pete Warner and Willie Gay Jr., guys that can match up in space. And so early in games, they have actually at times matched opposing teams, 11 personnel with base defense. the Eagles, if they're without AJ Brown again, could the Saints come out and say, hey, you know what? They want to be able to run the football, line up and base defense, and we're okay leaving Pete Werner with Britt and Covey in the slot at times.

Let's test that and see how that goes. That would not shock me here in this one. When they get to third down, they have a very specific identity in that it's going to play, again, a lot of man coverage on the back end, and then they run a ton of stunts up front. They love to incorporate their linebackers into the pressure package. So you'll see a linebacker walked up onto the line of scrimmage, typically over one of the guards and then you're going to get three and four man games up front if this

sounds like an issue that's the one issue where the Eagles offensive line has had in pass protection so far has been with picking up some stunts at times hasn't been like a huge huge issue other teams have had when they have had issues when they have had issues it has typically been with picking up stunts and so that is something they will certainly have to work on for this matchup okay so let's get concussion uncle yeah I'm looking at this and I'm thinking no a j. brown the offensive lines been blocking their butts off in the running game. Sequin looks awesome. Let's just spam that like, you know, and, and, you know, maybe, maybe Devonthe makes a

play here or there, but let's sort of go 2021 second half of the season, Eagles offense here. I think that when you look at that, I think that's a fair way to go about it. Again, the Saints, so this under Dennis Allen historically, this run defense has been awesome. And you think back to some of those early matchups when Dennis Allen is the defense a coordinator he first got promoted to head coach and the eagles offense you mentioned like 2021 2020 jalen hurts first steps in uh jalen hurts his first start yes and they they ran for 250 yards in that game and then they go for the next year and it was the same thing number one rushing attack versus the number one run defense and the eagles ran all over them do they go about that again this season their their run

numbers are outstanding but you went up against carolina and you went up against dallas not exactly the most of all-inspiring run games. And again, in lopsided affairs. And so to me, like, yeah, go at this defense, see if they can stop you with the inside run and just go right at them. And I said this on Tuesday or, yeah, on Tuesday, the days are blurring now. I feel like the best version of this offense, the best iteration of the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles offense is a smash mouth downhill rushing attack. That features Sequin. That features Jalen Hertz. I think that's the button you push early in this game. And honestly, like, keep that offense off the field the best you can. Yeah. I mean, I feel that way.

Yeah. It's not necessarily the DNA of the, like, Kellan Moore's DNA or the team that they have built or at least tried to build, but it's what they have right now. It seems like the best thing they have. I mean, you know, let's put Johnny Wilson on the field instead of Britain Covey and 11 personnel and run the ball that way. I'm just really quickly.

I think that we're starting to see a little bit of a sea change in the NFL too in terms of of who the best offenses are in football right now. If you look at it like pick a, pick a metric and you look at who the top offenses are, those teams are running the football at a really high rate, explosive runs, efficient runs. Well, the NFL cyclic, Fran. And it always comes back around

as our friends, as our friend Marty Morningway is going to say. For the sickos that weren't aware of that one. Yeah, I mean, you know, this is not necessarily how are the Eagles going to be the best team in football, but it's how are they going to win this game on Friday or Sunday, I kind of think.

To me, like that would be the way to do it. Now, the other way, especially without A.J. Brown, because this is a team, again, that likes to play a lot of man-to-man coverage. I love the way that their corners play. Their secondary, it's a- Now, they're supposed to get Marshawn Lathamar back. Latimore should be back. Who does that push to the bench? I think it pushes the rookie Kool-Aid McKinstree to the bench. McKinstree got the start last week. All of these D.Bs are tough, competitive, in your face, press man coverage. Like, that's the way they play. That's the way they scout. Those are the kind of guys they bring in.

and so you know cj gardner johnson like he fit that mentality of the way that they like to play and so i think when you look at this offensive game plan from a past game standpoint like if you had a j brown all right you got a jay you've got devante now we can like play matchups without a j brown on the field now it's all right devonte smith he's probably going to see a lot of marshawn laddmore in this game would be my guess um you know and so then it's going to be paulson adibo on john dotson like i think new orleans is starting to feel pretty good about those matchups in the past game so now it comes down to do you have the play concepts? Are you going to run these mesh concepts and other man-beating plays

to be able to just get somebody open from the play design as opposed to just say, like, we need you to go win. I think in the game the other night, it wasn't as many like, oh, this was a really creative play design from the Eagles in this one. The Falcons played a ton of zone coverage. Hey, you know, let's just lean on our guys to be able to create some separation here. I think in this one, you might have to get a little bit more creative

with how you get those guys open. I mean, that sounds an awful lot like the 2023 offense to me when you're describing last week, right? It was not like the game wasn't a, there weren't a plays in that game against the Falcons where I was like, oh, that's a, that's a fun design. Whereas in week one, there were a bunch. I was like, oh, this is, why not?

They had an extra time for that game. That's, is it as simple as losing AJ late in the week? That's the only thing I would point to. So maybe that is the hope is that they were, yeah, I mean, it's still a short week this week, but they still get to fully put a game plan together. They were a little bit playing with their hands tied behind their back. They'd already put the game plan in, potentially.

Yeah. And had to go back to some staple stuff. You want to be an optimist about it? If you want to be an optimist about it. And now maybe Kellynne gets to cook knowing what he's dealing with. And maybe we will see some stuff schemed up for Dallas Goddard, getting him in space. I think that's got to be a priority.

You know, because when we talked about the inability for the football to find him at times where he's not the primary guy in the progression, He's not the second guy in the progression. I just, I think back again to that that 2022 version of the offense. Think of all the RPO's that went, went to Dallas Goddard. You know, a lot of it like him in the flat. Like, and they got that in the playbook. We saw it this summer.

Why does the RPO game seem broken? I feel like that can be, that can be a timing and rhythm thing with it with the RPO's. We've seen three in eligible downfield called this past week. There was, I believe there was one in the Green Bay game. We've seen a couple of those called. Look, they, they, I don't think that's going to go away. I think that's going to be a part of the offense, and it should be. I don't think that you want to be able to throw those out,

but it certainly is a timing and rhythm thing right now that those guys have to be able to work out. Okay, and of course there's even more of that insight on all p.hly.com, which you can read, Friends, breakdowns, the one up today on the offense. And you did a separate video on those, an eligible man. Yes, the whole thing on just those three penalties and what went into them, how can they fix it, those kind of things. Okay, good stuff. We're going to hear from Zach Berman in a little bit, and then we'll get to Swopper. We got a super chat from Chase Daniel Plainview who says,

what will be Derek Carr's MVP odds after this game? I wonder what they are now. Well, to go to Bet365. Figure that one out. I guess so. P odds. I got nothing. Okay, so let's stick with the offense and a few other things like the, you know,

Dotson. Do you have any hope there? I mean, right now he's essentially a decoy in the office. Right. Yeah, he's playing a lot. Right. He's playing a lot. but we said this and this was when a j brown was in the in the game yeah having a guy like dotson

allows you to move around devante smith and a j brown he can be like the sacrificial lamb to line up against a team what was funny last week in the in the first half they're playing britain covey on the outside just so they can get devante inside it seemed like and then once the game got out of like the opening script it was like okay let's just put devante outside and that's where like a player like a Covey where you see those limitations pop up and honestly it was on that like that final intersection where he's in the slot and he's running a deep crossing route against the slot corner and D. Alford, your boy. And look, he's not a guy that I smothered him. Well, and that's the thing. Covey can work within like this like 10 to 12 yard, you know, area. If you're running like deep

crossers with Covey, like he's not going to create that level of separation where Jalen's going to feel comfortable delivering that football. So what I'm hearing is you're conceding that I was right about the Alford that he can outrun Britton Covey and 40 yards of space yes I will concede that one thank you very much who knows ball now well it's not maybe that'll get you a swooper point next well yeah we're tied all right yeah of course more on that a little bit all right Zach is on his way and and we'll be here let's we're going to talk to Zach about what we've heard from the coordinators yep first of all continue to enjoy the Vic Fangio experience yes very much as a coordinator what did you make of Nick Siriani's answers yesterday

about, you know, remaining in his conviction about kicking the field goal, doesn't believe that up six is better than, or up three is up better than up six, because in his experience as an offensive coach, there's more pressure when you need a touchdown. And that, you know, the publicly available analytic charts might tell you to go for it there, but the chart that he goes by says, eh, I'm going to kick it here.

Yeah, I was surprised by those comments. you know, I think when, especially the latter point where he's like, hey, I'm looking at how coaches in the last, you know, 10 years have acted in those situations. That's like the kind of getting in your own echo chamber of, oh, yeah, like all of my friends think that this is good. Whereas, you know, there's a different worldview on a given situation. I think when you look at the way that that organization is structured, the way that they prioritize certain things, like they want to be analytically forward, especially when it comes to the game data. decision making. And so as we've touched on in the post game show, as we talked about Tuesday, as the guys talked about yesterday, as we'll continue to talk about, I disagree with the ability to the inability to go for it there on fourth down and, and settle for the three points. Yeah, I'm trying to not make that decision on its own, like completely changed the way I feel about the entire season. But it kind of does. It really does. And I'm like even I'm, I get a little bit more distance from it. And it's still just lingering there.

Like, I'll tell you what, last night, and we're going to get to Zach in a second, I had a lovely evening last night. I got the kids to bed. Okay. What did you guys do? Saddled up with a nice book. And I was reading the franchise. It's a great book.

Book by Zach Berman. I got an advanced copy. Pretty nice flex for me. Is this it? This is it. You can see the rabbit here there. I'm already halfway through. Started last night.

And I'm reading the Jeffrey Lurie chapter. and everything that Jeffrey Lurie cares about, everything he says, you know, we don't care that all of these great hires they've had. We don't care that nobody else is interviewing these guys. They're not chasing the group think. You know, we know that they care about being analytically inclined. Do not make any move because it's like short term really popular.

All of these things keep coming up. And I just, I cannot get away from like, I don't know that Nick knows. knows who he's coaching for. And you are emboldened to do those things. And as I said the day, like, I mean, you've got Nick Foles in the building. The perfect example of what happens when you follow that process. And for him to make that move, knowing that also there's the, you know, let your nuts hang. There's players not plays, like know your personnel. You've got a good offense.

You've got a bad defense. You're going to put the, you're going to put the, you're going to, going to put the game on the defense, you're going to not just lean into having this great offensive line and this running back that you paid $15 million for. You're not going to trust the analytics. Two tries to get three yards with sake. Two tries to get three yards. And then you just think about it like very simple math wise.

I know that Danes took us to the whole thing. But like the only way you lose the game is if you give up a touchdown. So if you let's say at worst you've got a 50% chance of converting, you lose that. Then they still got to go 90 yards to win the game. If they don't go and they just kick a field goal, which is what you're so worried about, you still got a 50-50 chance of winning an overtime, whereas if you just get the first down, the game is over. And then you're going to give them the, otherwise, give them the ball in the 30 to score a touchdown.

Now, the one thing that Nick said that I did think was like semi-convincing and at least somewhat compelling was that in that game when they struggled on defense, they were struggled to stop the run. They hadn't struggled against straight drop-back passing. So he trusted them on that front, but they hadn't really seen that, right? I just, it is very hard for me to think like the decision to make Nick, the CEO head coach, that he's going to, like, improve on these ancillary things, it already hasn't worked out. The season's not over. There's all kinds of things.

But if the Eagles do not have a successful season, to me, that is going to be like the moment that we all point back to is like, this is, this was the sign. There's 15 games left. It's crazy. Right. There's 15 games left. It would have been too depressing. But that's the thing is that chances are there's going to be another situation that's akin to this. Yeah. How different does that go?

Yeah. And then we'll see like, you know, were there conversations today that maybe alter that thing moving forward? I mean, we know that they have those conversations. I don't know what the schedule is like on a short week. Yes. When they have those conversations between Nick and Jeffrey. But I would imagine this is a communication that they're having at some point. All right. We have the man himself, Zach Berman from the Nova Care Complex. fresh out of the locker room. Look at that tight, fresh book fade that he's got.

The haircut is very sharp today. Zach, how you doing? I'm doing great. You call it the first off, I appreciate the product placement, right? I mean, I'm trying to be modest, but I appreciate the product placement there. You say this is a fresh book fade. This is just a keeping up with Fran Fade. That's what I call it.

I mean, Beau, I love you, man, but I didn't have to keep up with your hair for the past five years. years. Now we bring Fran here. No, no, no, Bo's. I don't mean that in a bad way. I don't mean that. I don't mean that a bad one. No, I mean it more. No, I meant it more in terms of, in terms of Bo doesn't have the same type of haircut frequency. And a matter of fact, he makes fun of me for going to the bar. as much as I do. So now that we got Fran here, Fran likes to keep a tight fade. So this is a keeping up with Fran Fade. That's all I meant. How long does it fit going to go on? No way he's going to be out there. I want to take the shovel out of your hands because you're just like just digging deeper. Yeah. I was trying to I was trying to compliment Fran.

Basically what I was trying to do. I'll throw you a life vest here, Zach. So we hear from Vic Fangio and from Kellyn Moore. Let's start with Vic Fangio, obviously, going into this matchup. What was your biggest takeaway from hearing from the defensive coordinator today? Yeah, I thought it was interesting the way he framed the past rush conversation. Because he said until in the question was about kind of the Georgia players, the production of the Georgia players, okay, to give the context. But I said it goodheartedly.

It was not meant to do it. Don't talk to me. Don't talk to me. Don't talk to me. Okay. Okay. So when he said, and by production, you mean sacks and pressures. And then his answer was interesting here. He said that until we stop the run, those aren't going to come. And so I asked him why he framed it that way. Why he framed it like until they stop the run, they're not going to get pressure on the quarterback. And his point was about teams getting into, like, not being in obvious passing situations, being in second and manageable and third and manageable. And the effect that has, and he talked about how, like, that plays right into what the Saints do.

Now, I don't think that totally lines up with, as we pointed out, on the last drive of the game, that was the obvious passing situation. And Eagles didn't get a pass rush there. But to his point, he believed stop. the run is like foremost in terms of fixing this defense right now. If you need to hire, you need Indeed. Because we are driven by the search for better. But when it comes to hiring, the best way to search for a candidate isn't to search at all.

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and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast Indeed.com slash all city term thank you conditions apply. Need to hire you need indeed. Even before I was on this show, I was a diehard here with PHLY. Premium written content for all members.

And look, it's not just for my friend Bo Wolf here and for Zach Berman there on your screen. But Philly's coverage, you know, Jim Salisbury, Charlie O'Connor with the Flyers. Flyers are kicking back up in the gear. The Sixers with Derek Bodner and Devon Givens, just outstanding coverage of all of your local sports teams here. And then you get also 20% off all the live events. And speaking of events, we had this book. just laid up on the desk here. The franchise, the Philadelphia Eagles,

a curated history of the birds. Well, you can join Zach Berman and other PHLY diehards for a book signing, a Q&A with food provided here at the PHLY studio, which is not over there, not over there, right here. So you can join that, look, it's included with the ticket. You get a signed copy of the book.

You get the food and drink, as I mentioned, and a Q&A with Zach, Zach, Zach, Zach. This is a diehard's only event. And so you can come and join us here in the studio, meet with Zach, get a signed copy of the book, but you can only do it if you're a diehard. So not only do you get access to all events like this. You can get some deals with merch. You've got all the written content.

So much at your doorstep. All you have to do is head over to all p.hly.com and join the best sports fans in the city. All right, friend, do you mind asking Zach about how the locker room has gone? We'll see what he's heard inside there. Zach, I do want to ask me about killing more as well, Zach. Any takeaways from the locker room? I feel really bad. This is not intended the way it's being perceived at all.

I was trying to compliment Frank, that's all. Okay. So you want to tell them more that we're the locker room? And there's some more big stuff, too. But to answer Beau's question about the locker room. It's a friend's question. Some of the fans question about the locker room. Yeah, you know, I, in speaking of Devin White yesterday, he's handling this very perfect, he's handling this very professionally.

His line, I think, that he used was the, that, you know, his, his son can cry, not him, right? Like when, when things don't go his way, he's going to do what he can and stay ready. Speaking to Bryce Hoff today, Bryce Huff sentiment, overall, what was. he said a lot of this has to be like getting used to the players that he's working with. And I asked, you know, because I asked him what's different rushing in Vic Vanjio scheme compared to Robert Sawo scheme. And he said it's more has to do with like the other guys that he was with those guys for four years.

He knew how to play off them. And his point that, you know, I asked to follow up to that. He said that the offensive line, they know how to play with each other. Like the past rushers need to do the same thing. So that was a sentiment there. Speaking to Darius Lay, well, I spoke to CJ Gardner Johnson yesterday, and I asked him the significance of this game. And he paused.

He screamed over to Slay. He said, I'm not going to impersonate C.J. Garner Johnson on the show, but he said, he said, Slay, he wants to know the significance of this game. And then, you know, and they all started laughing. and then he basically said he's already hated there they traded him he didn't leave they traded him so we'll see sunday i asked slay about how cj feels and he says that uh you know it's it's a business but it's personal you know slay said that he he uh he cared a lot when he went back to

detroit but he said he doesn't kind of take things like uh he takes he's a little more lighthearted than CJ might be in those situations. So I am curious how this affects C.J. Gardner Johnson. Slay had a lot of respect for these wide receivers, for Shade. He saw a few years ago, you know, Dennis Allen had a quote that like defenses aren't up on on Shahid yet because he keeps getting behind them.

And Slay said he's been around him or he's kind of been aware of him for a long time. Then I also thought, uh, Gehoun Hertz, we didn't talk about what, uh, John Hertz said yesterday. Jalen Hertz, he, he took ownership for the interception.

He said in that situation, with the time and the situation on the field, he didn't need to be as aggressive as he was. And he said he, he wants to be in those moments and he, he owns that. Go ahead. Uh, I do want to ask you about Kellynne Moore.

What would, Zach, what was a takeaway from, uh, from, from hearing from the office coordinator. Obviously he was asked about, the end of the game situation that was the first time we've heard from him yeah yeah a lot of his explanation was like uh you know these are conversations that they have during the week right and that these aren't stuff that you're necessarily reacting to in real time he he said he kind of said to the obvious today yeah as far as he's like you can run the ball there um or you can pass it in the game's

over right and you know get the first down his implication was essentially that like you don't know if you're getting the first down if if if if you run it he referenced what uh nick referenced that the previous two runs how how those kind of went and the way the falcons loaded the box there and that they thought they could get the first down and end the game by passing it and he's like you know the risk in that situation um but you know these are conversations that they have uh during the week uh so that was a big takeaway from uh tell more there you know he i asked him about uh that that that that Jonah Hertz play at the Joan Hertz Interception. He said he gave, you know, he tried to be aggressive there, making a play to Smitty.

He said under 30 seconds with a timeout, you know, there's, there's a certain kind of operation that you have there. But he put the ball up to Devante Smith. And his point, he didn't like throw him under the bus. He said he was giving, he was trying to give Devante Smith the chance to make the play. Fran, please read what I just texted you. I was, yeah, I was just texted a question, Zach. Given what we know about the things Jeffrey Lurie cares about this. Yes.

Given what we know about the things Jeffrey Lurie cares about, having studied him for as long as you have, how do you think Nick's answers yesterday are being received in the building, end quote. That's a great question by a great reporter, a smart person, in my opinion, the best host in the city, which I've said off the air, and I would say on the air, the best host in the city. So that's a great question. I don't think, I, I, I, I, I, I don't think they're being received well, to be honest with you. And I, I, I don't think this is like, Chip Kelly saying, you know, I'm not the GM. Like, when Chip Kelly said that, that was, that was like a slap in the face.

And, and, uh, I, it was like not taking responsibility for what was going on there. I think in this case, I think Nick's trying to project confidence, but let's kind of back up from the, from like the explanation. And, you know, I got to imagine Jeffrey doesn't like the decision itself, knowing the way Jeffrey feels about the use of data and how that applies. And I think, you know, when I, the answer to the question about what the chart said, when Nick says, well, my chart says to kick the field goal, you know, he basically did like the Dave Gailman thing, or he's like, you can punch in the numbers in 20 different computers, you know, or 20 different websites. But my chart's based on like my research and my experience.

I do think that that Jeffrey believes that the data, now it shouldn't be the end-all, be-all, but yeah, I think Professor Selman outlined it well. There's a play that decreases your win probability, then lowers your win probability. And that's not just like one, you know, another is there's different formulas. Every place that I've looked that shows win probability, shows that it went down with the field goal there,

then you lose the game, then that is a questionable decision for sure. I frankly, I don't know if Jeffrey would be as, upset about the the pass as he would be about the field goal. That's just me guessing. I haven't spoken to Jeffrey about this. That's me guessing.

Because I think, you know, like you saw, if you saw the bandycast, Matt Ryan's reaction right away was the play worked. Professor Selman, who's a really smart guy, said, like, the play worked. Now the play literally didn't work, right? He dropped it. But the play design worked. So I think that's more,

intellectually, like, justifiable than going against the numbers. Zach, this question's for me. We were talking about the matchup with the Eagles offense going up against the Saints. What's your take on A.J. Brown? Do you feel like he is definitely not playing this week? That's a foregone conclusion at this point. Is there any outside chance that the number 11 suits up? Yeah, he wasn't at practice today.

I don't think he would tell at least assault or something. That wasn't true. Like, you know, I asked, I asked Nick Siriani because as a report, you know, I'm not talking AJ in the locker room. AJ's not around. I wanted to Siriani confirmation. He's the head coach. And Nick says he can't say that.

But the fact that that was said by AJ Brown, you know, a couple of weeks, it would surprise me if A.J. Brown is out there. So I'm operating as if he's not going to be there. Fran, you should know that reports from the practice field are that C.J. Gardner Johnson is not at practice today. Ah, that's from right now. Yes, they're on the field at the moment. Okay, well, I think this has been a lovely conversation.

Fran, I think you should ask, Zach, if people are interested in learning a little bit more about the way that Jeff Rilly thinks about important decisions and football, if there's anywhere that people might be able to purchase something like that. Zach, if fans want to learn and hear the question decision-making process, is there a book out there that they could purchase? Yes, I appreciate that question. The franchise, Philadelphia Eagles,

a curated history of the birds. It's out on Tuesday. But if you want to get it before Tuesday, you can come on Friday night, tomorrow night to Barnes & Noble on Chestnut Street. I will be having a conversation with the Hall of Fame or Ray didn't you. And I mean, just to be Ray's presence is awesome. But conversation with Ray

and then I'll be signing books there so you can get that. That's kind of like an early early release event, if you will, at the Barnes & Noble in Center City. But the answer, yeah, I think the, I'm looking forward to discussing the book more next week and in the coming weeks, but I'll tell you this. The first chapter is devoted to Jeffrey Lurie. And it's the beaithiest chapter in the book because he is the he's the constant during these 25 years right i mean if you look at the other executives joe banner wasn't that joe bannar was there he was instrumental in the foundation howley um came on like a year into it or so um but didn't take over his GM until a little later on andy read was there 14 years ship kelly three years Doug peterson five years nick syriani four years now right

but, you know, the quarterbacks, but I can go on there too. But Jeffrey Lurie's the constant. And so I really get into Jeffrey, you know, and I think Jeffrey was fairly candid about the evolution of the franchise during these 25 years. Some of the things that, I mean, he obviously talked about what he's proud of with the franchise, but he even admitted what he regrets during that time. that's in there. And I thought it was kind of an honest admission. One might say, you know,

there's, it's with the benefit of hindsight. I mean, I'll, I'll give you guys a little tease now. I mean, he, he wishes that it could have worked more within that, that there could have been a resolution with Andy Reed or that like, that they could have kept Andy somehow. And I think there was an acknowledgement that as, as Bo had said in my conversations with Bo on the air, about this. By 2012, it had kind of run its course, right? And there was obviously a lot going on off the field as well. And, you know, the Reed family personal life. But the, uh, the, Jeffrey said that he, he wishes there was a way he could have made it work to keep Andy because he's always thought the world of Andy. All right. Uh, thanks, Zach for joining us.

Zach, thank you for joining us. And tell him we'll talk to him tomorrow. Zach, Bo will talk to you tomorrow. You guys will be in studio together, I think. So that should make for a nice conversation. I was simply saying, I was simply saying that Fran has a fresh thing. Great hair. Yeah. Yeah.

I wasn't, I wasn't ripping on Bo's hair. Bo doesn't go, Bo makes fun of me for how often I go to the barbershop. Fran is like me, gets a fresh feed, okay? If you wear this type of hairstyle, you can't let two months go by without going to the barbershop. So Fran keeps a fresh fate as I complimented him on this week. Bo does not wear that hairstyle. So Bo does not need to go to the barbershop as often. Therefore, when I said, I haven't had to worry about keeping up with Bo.

The suggestion was that Fran has a fresh cut more than Bo. That's all that I meant. It's only fair after you ridiculed his fashion sense a year ago that you're bring this into the into the discussion now. So that's, uh, you know, it's only right. I don't know that. I will say it's a good thing we've pre-recorded Swooper. Please, please, please wish him good luck in today's super. Zach, good luck in Zwooper today, Zach. You know what? I'm just going to give a little tease to the audience here. I'm in this room here. I'm not keeping notes. I didn't keep track of how many turkeys everybody had.

So that's a little tease for I knew how many turkeys I had. I assumed. you guys will find out any minute. Theoretically, that would also mean that either the host was not doing a good enough job updating people on how many turkeys everyone had, or someone else wasn't listening, theoretically. Yeah, the host is doing an outstanding job. I was going to let you jump on that. I'm getting a lot of texts today, and I was responding to a few texts when that was outlined. And so I own it, I wear it, and you guys will see what happened. It's building up to be an excellent edition, week two of Swooper.

Yeah, you can tell him he can leave. Zach Bo said that you're good to go. All right. Anything else that you would like to unpack before we do get to Swooper, that was recorded an hour and a half ago? No, I think we hit on, like going through my Saints notes real quick. I am going to put together an article for the diehards over it. all pH-L-Y, just looking at all of my notes from the Saints and the keys to victory there.

We talked about the stunts. We talked about winning one-on-ones in the past game. Yeah, I mean, I think we talked about everything here for this matchup. It's not going to be easy to go down the road and beat the Saints team. I think going into the season, certainly everyone had their anticipation of what this team was going to look like, but it has been far from that through the first two games. I mean, are you at all worried, like, after this is the trip to, like, you know, Jalen Hertz's personal hell in Tampa next week, and then it's the buy?

Like, could they be, where they're going to be sitting at one and three at the buy and, like, what's going to happen here? I feel good about them in Tampa. Now, that might just be my personal feelings on the, on the bucks. I will say, just because you bought Jalen Hertz up, we haven't really talked about Hertz today this episode, just because the offensive breakdown went out this morning. I put out a lot of those cuts yesterday, the film breakdowns. There's a, it's a lot of Jalen Hertz's, like, discourse right now.

And I really feel like, however you, feel about Jalen when you watch the film of Sunday's game you are going to see whatever you want to see because there's examples of everything we talked about like the the breaking the pocket and ability to go through progressions there's exam there's a lot of examples me personally I think there are more examples of him than not of him like going through progressions doing what he needs to do where there are times where he left early prematurely before he should have yes but I think that that's kind of part for the course a quarterback like I posted but also like less than in week one it felt like Yeah, but I think that might go to like the changes we saw structurally in the offense, too, like in terms of like the play design.

There were more, there were more cases where I wrote in the notes like, oh, this looked more like last year like from Jalen, not even necessarily from like the play design. There's more like than what we saw a week ago. But I will say too, like I posted a clip on Monday of a Steve Spagnolo blitz against the Bengals and Joe Burrow. And, you know, a lot of people was like, oh, like what a great blitz from, you know, from Kansas City. but there were so many, because a lot of Bengals people picked it up, and so many Bengals fans were just like ripping Burrow, oh, the ball should have come out. Like, what is he doing?

He does not see the field well. I kind of think that that's just, like, when we're so close to watching one team and one quarterback, that we're very quick to, like, kind of jump on it and not understand that that's kind of how it goes across the league. Josh Allen gets ridiculed. You know, go right down a list of all the highest paid quarterbacks. It's a tough position.

It's a tough position to play. But you generally feel that he's playing well enough. I do. And I feel like that's, that is not, I don't know, like, do you feel like that's the, not the consensus? Obviously, there is no consensus, but do you feel like that's the majority opinion? Yeah, I don't know. I think, I think you're right that people are sort of in their positions. Like, I thought he played a much better game than he did in week one.

I think I agree. And I agree that with what Zach said earlier in the week, like, I think we probably didn't give him enough for the interception. Like, that is a really bad play, given the stakes of the moment. but otherwise, like that felt much more like a game where it was like early last season where there wasn't a lot there for him in the offense and he was doing everything that he could for the most part. Yeah. I think that, you know, watching and look, I'm not watching all 32 teams intently every single

week, but just like buzzing through the first two games of the season, you know, the first two weeks of the season rather and looking at different offenses. Like this is the kind of stuff that happens. It's not going to be perfect, especially for a young quarterback, still a young quarterback, going into a new system. Okay. All right. Well, I'll do it for the live portion of this episode,

but we can turn it now to week two of swooper soarcasting, Fran Duffy, Zach Berman Bowulf with De Niz putting in his submissions and Julia running the auction. We take it to you now, and after that, we'll see you tomorrow. Everybody, you know what time it is. It is time to close the show with the second week of swooper, sore casting in the PHLY 2024 era.

Zach, you have your horded turkeys. 31 with which to work today. I have 26. Fran has 18 and of course we are all tied up with a third of a win. I don't know about that. Last week. What do you mean?

I mean, there was a ruling from our professor from Danes saying that I came out with a win. I mean, it didn't happen on the show. So as far as I'm concerned, it's not canon. I mean, look, the film speaks for itself. True media speaks for itself.

Our friends of True Media, that was a completed play-action pass from under center to Saquan Barclay down the goal line. Nobody bought that as play-action. That wasn't play-action. True media did. So did it is. So to myself, I think I earned the win. I mean, I think he gets the one as well.

I think if it happens, you know, in the depths of the, internet where it's ruled that doesn't count this show is what counts so we'll let the record show that bow wolf is not in favor of a of fair and reasonable voting and uh election process i mean this wasn't just out quite a bit this was completely subjective oh it's not it's not subjective it's a play a completed under center play action pass by definition you can feel good taking the victory on the same play that cost the eagles the game later in the game then that's on your conscience hey look because that one cost me if that one cost if they had completed that pass, I would have won handily, but no, I will definitely take the win

under any circumstances. All right. I'm short turkeys this week. Who cheats to win? And the voting is only legitimate if he wins. That's kind of a person here. Yeah. Don't get me started, Zach.

We get me started. All right. Fran, you're going to go first this week. And if you're new to super sortcasting, how dare you? But we've got 12 items up for bid here. and we're trying to acquire items that we think have a chance of happening in the game on Sunday against the Saints. So, Fran, you get to go first. All right.

So now that we have solidified the fact that I did get the win last week, let's now go to. It's like liquefy. Item number one, and that's the Eagles as a team run for at least 150 yards this week against the Saints. Now, the Eagles ran for 144 in week one against Green Bay. They ran for 186 in week two against Atlanta. This is a big one in terms of this matchup. The Saints have historically had a really good run defense under Dennis Allen. And the Eagles have typically been up for the challenge.

You go back to 2020. The Eagles ran for 246 in that week 14 game. In week 11 of 2021, they ran for 242 yards. Those are terrible numbers from a Saints standard. So will the Eagles run for just 150 here in this game as a team? You start the bidding at one? I will start the bidding at one. I'm going to go to four.

Great. Bo's got four. Four to Bo. Five. Five. Five is a five. The heavy hit. Big turkeys.

He's got the six of turkeys. Five turkeys is a Zach going once. Fresh cut that we've been talking about all the show. Going twice. Six. Six. Six. Six.

Six turkeys to bow. Six turkeys to bow. Going once. Going twice. All right. like that. I do feel like this is one where it really comes down to how you feel about this game and how you feel about it going. Carolina ran for 58 in week one. Dallas ran for 68 last week against the Saints defense. Obviously, the Saints were up early and took the running game out of it for both of those teams. And so if you feel like the Eagles are going to be in it, then I think the 150 is definitely hitable. Yeah, I don't know because we're pre-recording this. I don't know if we have talked about this yet. But I really feel like the Eagles success in this game.

is to go full 2021 and lean on it in this game. I think that's what I would do. I mean, the way that their offensive line is blocking, the way that Saquan is running, the obviously no AJ Brown and the potentially shortening the game in this matchup, it strikes me as like that's what their game plan should be this week. Yeah, well, you show that to me.

I would agree with you, but whether it plays out that way. Of course. I'll see. Of course. All right. Zach, you get to go next. Okay, my first swooper today is C.J. Gardner Johnson is flagged for a personal foul. And I will start the bidding at one. Now, interesting, you didn't make this either he is flagged or draws a flag, but this is specifically him.

Yes, I made this specifically him. Correct. I thought the drawing a flag would be subjective. Right. I mean, was the one. last week's objective? That one was not subjective, but there are times when it is subjective, right? So I didn't want something that had to be adjudicated in any nefarious way. So you like adjudications. All right. I'll go with, I'll go with two.

Two to Fran. Three. Oh, three. Three to Zach. Three to Zach. Three turkeys to Zach going once. I'm good. Three turkeys to Zach going twice.

sold maybe it's an unsportsman like and by the way offsetting personal fouls count because he's still levied for one so both of them get yeah okay I want to make that clear all right my next my first one is a

a Taysam Hill poopoo platter for you Zach oh I like a poop platter Taysam Hill does any of these three things A throws a pass B catches a one-yard pass, which is what he did in each of the first two games, or fight C.J. Gardner-Johnson. And that is completely subjective and up to my interpretation. And I have to start the bidding at

one. I'll go for two, just to get it going. At some Hill on the injury report, may not play in the game. Yep. Yep. I'm not swimming in these waters. So two, Fran? Yeah. Two to me, yeah. Two to Fran. I'll take it. I'll take it for two. All right. Tays some poo-poo. Tays some poo-poo for me. You're down to 16. Zach's got 28. I've got 20 as we prepare for the first Dane-Is auction. Oh, here we go.

A bit of a smug look on Zach's face right now. It's a smug look. To describe as a lot of things, smug is not one of them. A smugged look. You're going to be careful with the adjectives you assign. Something smug here. Now it's a threatening look. Okay.

Janeez's. Item four. This is a normal auction. The Eagles defense holds the Saints to under 50% in converting first downs before third down. In parentheses, he says, Saints' offense is first in the league at 58%. Eagles' defense is dead last in the league. Also at 58%.

League average is 46%. Two. Two turkeys to bow. I'll go three. Three to Fran. It's going to be a two-man race because we know that Zach's going once. I'll go four. Four to Bo.

I think it's possible. Four to Bo. Four to Bo. I'll let you have it for one. Oh. Okay. I don't feel great about that, but I couldn't let you have it for two. What a smug bid that was.

All right, go ahead, friend. All right. So for my second one, we got another. Another poo-poo platter. Oh. All right. Oh, I love a poo-poo platter. All right.

Any of the following three things happen in this game. Jahan Dotson scores a touchdown. Bryce Huff gets credited with a TFL or Jordan Davis is credited with at least a half sack. Can any of those three things happen in this game? I will start the bidding at one. Two. Two. Who got that one? I got that first.

Not even close. Home cooking. Three. I'll go four here. Kind of like the Jordan Davis aspect of this. Yeah, what do you think is the most likely here? Do you think the Jordan Davis? I think the Davis or Huff.

Honestly, I think the Davis-R-Huff one is possible. I kind of think the dots. I'll go five. Oh, five to Zach. Five to Zach. Five to Zach going one. Five to Zach. Five to Zach going twice.

Five to Zach's old. I like those three way items. Those are always good. I know you do. FtFL, Davis, half sack. That's a pretty good one. Where are we at Turkey wise? He's at 23.

You and I both have 16. It's now Zach's nomination. He has 23. Yes. My nomination is Britain Covey has more targets than Jehan Dotson. And I will start the bidding at one. Three. I'll go four.

Four to Fran. Four to Fran. Four to Fran going once. Fort of Fran going twice. Oh, salt to Fran for four turkeys. All right. Good one. I feel pretty good about that one.

All right, my next one. Bryce Huff is fourth on the team in snaps at the edge rusher position. So last week he was not, but if you expect that his playing time is going to dwindle, he's going to drop behind Nolan Smith and Brandon Graham. And I'm going to start the nomination at three here. Now maybe Jalek's Hunt goes ahead of him and he drops to fifth. Maybe he's inactive. Yeah, is it at least fourth?

No, this is exactly fourth. Exactly fourth. I'll go four. Four to Fran. Four. That's not mine. I'm getting good buys here, Fran. Jack's not buying that's a Covey Dotson one.

Four to Fran going once. Ford of Fran going twice. I'm going to go five. Oh, five to bow. Kind of let you have it for five. Five to bow going once. A little too specific for my liking, but. Five to Bo going twice.

I'll take it for six. I'll take that for six. Six to Fran. I'm going to give it to you. Surprise. All right. On Zach's face right. How dare you?

Big spending right there. All right. You've got six left, Fran. Zax got 23. I've got 16. I've got six left. We go to Danez's number two. Oh, my bad.

Okay. Also a normal auction. Thank you. Item number eight. At some point, a player on either team steps on any part of the Saints logo at midfield with with the ball in his hands on a completed pass play in which he is the receiver okay okay at some point a player on either time on either team steps on any part of the saint's logo at midfield with the ball in his hands on a completed pass play in which he is the receiver interesting so that

means that if there's a hook and ladder and uh it's the pitch man right who steps on it that does not count He's not, yeah, he's not the internet receiver. Correct. Now, you're taking a look at how big this Florida Lee is. Yeah. So it's actually not, there's, there are some spaces in there that could make it difficult. The surface area is not great here. Yeah, it's not, it's not as huge as some others.

It's, uh, from the 45 to the 45 at its widest point. But that's a skinny narrow. It's very narrow. This is the analysis you're on getting on the pH, Y, you know. I'm going one I'll go two to Zach oh big spend

oh two to Zach you know one team doesn't necessarily operate in the middle of field I'll leave this one alone yeah I mean I want to drive the price up a little bit but I don't really want this one to Zach

two to Zach going once going twice we're back to the smug look on Zach you said it not me discount shopping. I like it. All right. It's like one of those, that's when you get a promo code on a website. Yeah.

What do you say? It's a promo code. It's like when you get a promo code on a website, right? Shopping and discounts. I love it. All right. Franz's last one. My last one.

We're going back to C.J. Gardner Johnson here. Wow. A lot of C.J. G.J. Love. The broadcast shows any footage or pictures of C.J. Gardner Johnson as a New Orleans Saint. Now, this can include Draft Day, picture, practice footage, doesn't necessarily need to be him in a Saints uniform, but just anything from his time during the Saints. He was there from 2019 until 2021 after being a fourth round pick out of the University of Florida. I will start the binning at one. What level crew do we have

for this game TV-wise? You know what? Greg Olson. Is it Greg Olson? Yeah, Greg Olson. Yeah, Joe Davis and Greg Olson. I'm going to go three here then. Good, but big production staff. I like the way you think. Better production. staff yeah yeah yeah this is no I'm going for Schlereth game yeah or Alphsac four does that four times Zach yeah I'm gonna go five five to bow oh five to bow let's go six oh six to Zach wow six to Zach six to Zach going once six is that going twice. Sold.

It's four items for Zach. Heavily invested on CJ Gardner Johnson for this week. You're down to 15. Yeah, don't love. I don't love that one there, but my logic there, I've, I have two ways of looking at this. Number one, that, uh, well, I'm afraid that that Denise is going to have an auction, the third auction, which is going to require me to spend turkey. So I don't want to have, um, such a deep pocket of turkey.

for the final bidding. Okay. And I'm expecting C.J. Garner Johnson to be a big figure in this game. Okay. Your last one, Zach? I'm up. Yep. Okay.

So about an hour from New Orleans on Saturday is LSU, UCLA. Okay? There might be a person among us here who is taking that trip, wants to see Baton Rouge on a Saturday. Right. And so here's the question. Julia, congratulations. There are more, there are more points scored in Eagle Saints than LSU UCLA. And to give you some context here, the over under of Eagle Saints is 49 and a half. The over under an LSU UCLA is 56 and a half.

So you're looking right now, you know, a bit of a spread there. But you don't know what kind of game LSU is going to be. this could be a high-scoring game. UCLA doesn't have a great offense. What do you start the bidding at? I will start the bidding at one. Two. Go three.

Oh, did not expect that. Interesting. Three to Fran. Okay. Three to Fran going once. Four. Three. Oh, four to Zach.

Four to Zach. Four to Zach. Four to Zach. Four to Zach going once. or is that going twice sold to Zach for four getting against Vegas here

all right my last one at any point in this game either team converts a third down of 15 yards or more to go hmm with one

is my nomination yes third and 15 plus third and 15 plus for either team converted I'll take two two turkeys of fran

two to fran I have a number and I'm very close to that number and I'm not touching it right now. He's got his number. He's got his number. He's got principles that man. Two to Fran going twice. Is it sold?

Sold. All right. It's sold. Third and 15 plus for Fran. He's got four turkeys left. Zach's got 11. I've got 16 before we hit the final day and is. Okay.

Item 12. This is the equal pay sealed bid auction again. All players must submit sealed bids. the highest bidder wins the item, but all bidders pay whatever. The second highest bid is, players can borrow attorneys from all. Oh, all bidders. Is this different than last one? All, wait.

So, hold on. Yes. You got to read it because this means that Zach is going to have to pay. This is an exact. Yes. Yes. This is my fear. This is my fear.

Yes. I didn't read this ahead of time. Sorry. Okay. Equal pay sealed bid auction. All players submit sealed bids. The highest bidder wins the item, but all bidders pay whatever the second highest bid is. Okay. Players can borrow turkeys from next week to bid.

If there is a tie for the highest bid, each player involved in the tie gets an equal share of the point if the item hits. I just want to clarify. I just, I just want to clarify. If you win, you're only paying what the second bidder is, right? Correct. Correct. I love this one. I don't get it at all.

Yeah. So we write down our bids. Yeah. And everybody pays whatever the second highest bid is. And whoever has the highest bid is one who actually gets the item. But everybody's paying. Yeah, still has to pay. Correct.

Yeah. Oh, man. Okay. All right. What do we got? All right. An Eagles edge rusher records at least half a sack. It, parentheses, does not have to be aligned as an edge rusher on the play.

So if BG gets a sack when aligned inside, that counts. Oh, interesting. Okay. At least half a sack. sack. At least half a sack. It equals edge Russia records at least half a sack. Okay, Zach's in. Fran's in.

All right. You wrote yours down? Yeah, I wrote mine down. Okay. All right. You want to read them? All right. Fran says four.

Zach is at 11. I have 40. So everybody's paying 11. Wait. Wait, how can you get 40? He said, he said, he said, he could. borrow from next week I have 16 turkeys left and so everybody pays 11 turkeys Zach is down to zero oh wow Dan is Fran is down to negative seven and I'm down to five

and I have the I didn't get the borrow from next week all right good job it's good that you didn't Zach because if you did you would have borrowed from next week but you still would have have had as enough as me yes so we would have all been paying whatever you borrowed. Okay. He says on Delta, no. I'm good. I'm good.

Sorry. Zach, I obviously went low thinking that you were just going to go very, very low here. So I'm putting this on you. I didn't get the next week. So I thought I was going to win this one. I thought I would just go to max and I would win it. But you didn't even have the max. No.

Okay. All right. Oh, no. Oh, no. All right. All right. We got to let him get to the locker. We got it to give him. Vic Van Joe is starting in 10 minutes. So let's let's let him go. Zach, thank you so much. That'll do it for this episode of the PHLY Eagles podcast. You can go while I read these off just to close it out. Fran has the Taysam Hill of poo-poo platter. He also has Britain Covey has more targets than Jahan Dotson. Bryce Huff finishes fourth on the team in snaps for edge rushers and a third and 15 plus is converted and you're down seven turkeys for next week.

Yeah. Zach has the C.J. Garner Johnson personal foul. Jahan, the poo-poo platter of Jahan Dotson touchdown, Huff TFL, or Jordan Davis half sack. The receiver in this game catches the ball and has the ball on the Saints logo. C.J. Garner Johnson is shown at any point in the broadcast as a member of the Saints. And the Eagles and Saints combined for more points than LSU and UCLA. He's got zero turkeys left over. It's a big week for Zach.

It's a lot of entries. It's a lot of entries for Zanes. He knew. He did know that something nefarious was coming. Yeah, but he didn't know. But he still wasn't prepared for what it was going to be. And then I have only three items. The Eagles run for at least 150 yards as a team. The Eagles defense holds the Saints to under a 50% series conversion rate.

And any Eagles edge rusher has at least a half sack in this game. So there you go. And I've got five turkeys left over. I've got minus seven. Yeah. All right. Okay. Yeah. All right.

That'll do it for this episode of the P.H.L.Y. Eagles podcast. We look forward to Danes' review of how that was handled on tomorrow's show at 2 o'clock. Maybe. Zach will be in studio. Maybe. And that'll do it. So thanks to everybody for watching and listening to Day. We'll talk to you tomorrow at 2 o'clock.

And as always, we love you.