PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - PHLY Philadelphia Eagles: Is A.J. Brown right about the struggles of the Eagles’ passing game?

Episode Date: December 9, 2024

At 11-2, the Eagles are one of the best teams in football, but A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Jalen Hurts were among those who seemed upset with the team’s performance in its win over the Panthers Sunday. Does A.J. Brown have a point? Is Kellen Moore doing enough to fix the passing offense? Is Jalen Hurts more at fault? With Saquon Barkley on board, does it even matter?Our PHLY Eagles team breaks it down one day later. Join the conversation. 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.HLY Eagles podcast on a Monday afternoon, Bo Wolf, Zach Berman in studio. And you know that we're presented by Bet365. Download the Bet365 app and use code PHLY365 when you sign up. Whatever the moment, it's never ordinary at Bet365. Zach, the Eagles are going to the playoffs. They are.

Since we last spoke, so since after the game, the Eagles clenched with a combination of losses in the, that afternoon's late. So the Eagles are in. We expected them to be in. This isn't a surprise. Those are just getting into the playoffs. They officially punched their ticket to the postseason. And this means four consecutive years for Nick Siriani to make the playoffs that hasn't happened since Andy Reed from 2000 to 2004, that five-year run. So we understand here on the show and those watching that the expectations for this team are not merely getting into the playoffs. But there are a lot of fan bases, including those in our All-City family, who would punch through walls to get four or five playoff appearances.

Or to get four consecutive playoff appearances, rather. Sure. And we got a lot to talk about. We're going to talk about the A.J. Brown situation. We're going to talk a little bit about Jalen Hertz in the passing game. But I do want to leave the bulk of the Jalen Hertz conversation for tomorrow's show when Frank can take us through the actual film and tell us what might have been misses there. We've got to talk about Nick Siriani, the defense and some of this stuff.

And also at the end of the show, Zach, you got a special treat for us. I do. There's nothing I enjoyed doing more than saying thank you. So I got a lot of thank yous coming up. All right. Well, we look forward to that. But this like defiance about how could you be upset? How dare you come on the post game show and not be thrilled about the Eagles

winning their ninth game in a row. Every team has bad games. First of all, you know, it's your life. You deserve to have high standards. Okay? Like, don't just accept. Don't talk down to the audience. Well, no, that's what I'm saying.

But here's the thing. Zach, you came on the show and told us what the mood was like in the post-game locker room. They reacted as if it was a loss. And I think that that's okay. Because the stakes of this season, they have, the Eagles have established themselves as a Super Bowl contender. And I don't even necessarily by the

angle that, well, like this passing game, they could ever win the Super Bowl with this passing game. I don't know that that's true. It's possible that they could just get advantageous matchups and run over teams and the defense will shut teams down and it'll be a different kind of Super Bowl run than we've seen. But that passing game yesterday was

not good enough. Yeah. And for lots of the reasons that A.J. Brown was hitting out and we're going to get into some of those numbers specifically with AJ Brown. But I don't think that, I don't think that you are wrong to be frustrated with the performance they had yesterday, taking aside the fact that it's one of 17 games, every team's allowed to not play their best every week. Yeah, this won't surprise you. I think it's nuanced, right? There's an expression. You wouldn't be surprised to know that I tell my son, which is pressure is a privilege, right?

and the Eagles earned, I said this on the show, and I stand by it, the Eagles earned this dissatisfaction. The Eagles earned to be in a position where simply beating the Panthers in a game that was tighter than certainly Vegas thought it was going to be, and that they did not play their A game, and they almost lost, that is not satisfactory. That is not the standard. And when you're at the point they are, where you're 11 and 2, and you've won nine consecutive games. And as you mentioned at the top of the show, or as you mentioned on yesterday's show,

they're a legitimate Super Bowl contender. The conversation that you have is not just what it takes to beat the Panthers. It's what it takes to beat the Lions on January 25th is what it takes to beat the Chiefs in February. And in order to do that, you're going to need to play better than they did Sunday. And that's okay to say while also saying, you're happier to do that in a win than in a loss.

I, by nature of this job, I don't get to watch as much NFL as someone who's at home all the time on Sunday. But the Chiefs are on national TV a lot. And whenever I catch a Chiefs game, they're winning these narrow games at the end, right? And so it is true that you, if you win and you're not playing your best ball,

that's okay because you think that there, There's another gear to hit come late December, come January. And that's kind of the sentiment in the locker. I wouldn't say it was a locker room that felt like a loss. I would say it's a locker room that was not pleased, was certainly not jumping up and down and defiant and saying, hey, we won this game. And frankly, I thought that was a good thing

because the term I used in promoting my article from yesterday was self-aware. I thought it was a self-aware locker. I would actually find it to be more of a concern if the Eagles had fewer than 100 net yards passing, barely topped 100 yards passing for Joan Hertz. And they came in there and like, everything's fine, right? We won. No, because to me, that would raise alarm bells,

which is saying you're, you're delusional. I think it's a good thing that this is a locker room that says, that says a win's a win, but they didn't play to their standard. Now, listen, there are reasons to say clear-eyed that the offensive performance yesterday was maybe not quite as bad as it looked live just because they only had eight possessions in the game. They scored touchdowns on three of them, right? The Panthers held the ball for a long time.

So on a per-drive basis, this was not one of their worst performances of the season. But I also think, I mean, how short is the collective memory of the Eagles fan base that can't remember last year when they were scraping by with these these. wins that were concerning and just brushing a shot aside as this team just knows how to win. Now this is not like that because this is probably

of their 11 wins this season like this game in the Cleveland game are probably the only ones where it's like that really wasn't that great of our performance. All the other wins they should be proud of. They should have their chest puffed out about. So it's okay to treat this one as hopefully an outlier

but there are reasons to be concerned about what was an outlier in this game. And obviously we're going to get to the passing game because that is the main concern with the team right now. Yeah. And I see the comment in there. ZB was the locker room vibe reminiscent of last year. And no, I don't think so because last year I thought it was a team

that wasn't, A, that wasn't finding joy in winning, but also was defiant about the way they were playing because there was that, I think you used a phrase. Their thought was they know how to win, right? And when push came the show up, they didn't know how to win. There were problems that were festering that came through. And the reality is they had too many wins. Festering is a great word.

Thank you. They had too many wins last year that were like yesterday. Yes. They had too many wins last year where they narrowly beat a team that we thought they were clearly better than, and then that caught up to them later in the year. That's actually been the opposite this year. I mean, the Eagles ran away against the Ravens. They ran away against the Rams who beat the bills last night.

They beat the Packers week one. I saw a comment in there that said it was like selective that I was careful in saying the Lions and the Chiefs. I said the Lions and the Chiefs are the one seed so they're favored to be. Then the Chiefs are the one seat in the IFC. But yeah, I do think Eagles would need to play better to beat the Bills, to beat the Ravens to beat the Packers again. when Eagles played the Packers, our past game was better than it's been in recent weeks. So I look at this as saying,

the sky's not falling. This was not a locker room that I thought was, I didn't think there was like a revolt coming or anything like that. I also think that, and we'll get to A.J. Brown, but I don't think A.J. Brown's comments should be misconstrued as like diva-ish or anything like that. I think, I like competitive players.

he's a competitive player you know i i spoke to someone recently about uh jel carter at at the end of the saints game and what the person was saying to me was was like yeah that's not a problem at all you want guys who who who who give a beep you know you don't have to coach that up and a j brown someone who who who who who gives a beep a j browns had games this year where he wasn't targeted and his reaction wasn't what it was yesterday because the eagles played better overall um his reaction was what it was yesterday because the Eagles didn't play well and there were opportunities for A.J. Brown there were opportunities for Devante Smith.

And so I think that I use the term nuance because you're able to be self-aware and be sure about this. Nick's post-game comments, which was don't be a prisoner of your own expectations. And there, I mean,

Nick has to tell them that because Nick saw what the players saw, what you and I saw. And I imagine what those watching and listening right now, which is the Eagles did not play well enough to win when it's going to matter. They played well enough to win that game. And I know every week's a season, but I go back to the original statement that pressure is a privilege and they're going to have pressure on them because the expectations are rightfully,

a team that can and should make it deep into the postseason. It does sort of seem to set up this situation where now with four games left in the season, they're probably not going to be the one seed, right? And so it's like the stakes of these last four games are, can they get the passing game going, right? Like, can they get the passing game ready for the playoffs? It's not even about, like, go chase the one seed. I mean, there is a path there.

And, you know, if the lions lose this week to the bills, then maybe it opens up a little bit more. But it does feel like that is pretty much all our focus is going to be over these next four weeks. Yeah, and mind you, perspective is a valuable thing here. I can point you to stories from December 2017 when the Eagles were legitimately struggling down the stretch. I mean, they beat the Raiders, but they did not play well.

And going into the postseason, that's a team that needed to get things right, especially with their passing game. And they were able to do that. And then they go on and they win in a big way against Minnesota, in a big way, obviously, against New England in the Super Bowl. And so I don't want to say you can just flip a switch. We saw last year you can't just flip a switch. But if you're looking for reasons for optimism in the end of passing game,

it's the people that they have in there. It's that they have AJ Brown, they have Devante Smith. And the term I keep using for that is that receiver combination is the envy of the league of a lot of teams in the league. J.1. Hurts needs to play better getting them the ball. You know, I wrote these numbers on all Ph. com in today's story. AJ Brown, I said this yesterday. AJ Brown was only targeted twice going into the fourth quarter.

That's the fewest of any game he's been healthy in his Eagles career. Combined, Devante Smith and AJ Brown finished the game with 10 targets. There were 18 players in the NFL going into the Chiefs game last night. There might have been a Chiefs Chargers player who was above this too. 18 players alone who had that many targets, that volume of targets. And I also want to respond to this because when... I also liked your note in the story that three out of the last five opening drives, A.J. Brown hasn't had a target.

Exactly. Yep. And that speaks to the way they're starting games. And I think sometimes you have to look kind of deeper into the statistics because it was pointed out, well, J.O.N. didn't have that many pass attempts. No, but he had 26 dropbacks, right? And so sometimes pass attempts don't tell the whole story. Dropbacks do.

And there were times when he either scrambled or there was a sack when it could have been past attempts to A.J. Brown or Devante Smith. And I'm going to put both of them together because I think they need to be targeted more than they have. And I was just on the All-City NFL show. Make sure you check that out with Adam Hogue and Bo Brack. And they asked me how to fix this passing game. And to me, the way to fix this passing game is to throw the ball to AJ Brown and throw the ball Devonte Smith because good things tend to happen when they get the ball. Well, let's get into that. Although before we do, Shea has a good question. He says he really likes that

2017 Eagles team. Is there anywhere he can read about it? Yeah, you can read about in two books, actually. You can read about it

in underdogs, the Felt of the Eagles emotional world, the Super Bowl victory, and the franchise, felt off Eagles, a curated history on the birds, both,

the latter one has a chapter on 2017, and the former one has, the entire book is about 2017. All right, so AJ Brown, you were in the scrum yesterday. A little far back,

and I worked my way through. You worked your way up. Yep. What did you make of where his anger was directed? Or maybe anger is even too strong, frustration. And I think there is a bit of a Nick Siriani angle here, which is how great are the vibes if this is the kind of reaction you're getting after your ninth straight win. And what do you mean by that?

Well, they just, I mean, they just won their ninth game in a row. and everybody's angry in the locker room. Like if you're the cheap fives officer. Yeah. Well, that's why I think that's why Nick chose the words he did in his postgame speech. And that wasn't just Nick saying in the postgame press conference. We saw the video that the team put out. I mean, I think Nick was deliberate there because I do think one thing Nick's really trying to enforce.

And I asked him this on the record on Friday was about joy and finding joy in winning. and Nick said there has to be joy in the process because everything's like work, work, work, work. That's kind of their message. They're going to practice more. E.J. Smith had a good story in Sundays Inquirer about that. But I do think that Nick probably saw the way the team was reacting to that game yesterday and wanted to push the joy button a little more.

Again, I think it's a good thing because I think it's mature. I think it's like if if we had a bad show and I walked off. Never happened. It's happened for me at least. Maybe not for you. I've had bad shows. And I walked off and I walked in here and I was in a good mood about it. Like that, to me, that's that's that's that's that's that's when you and Julia and Vince and everyone here should be concerned because it means like.

Wait a second. I thought you thought your whole thing was always being a good mood. You got to be the thermostat, not the thermometer. Yeah. No, I, I wouldn't be mad at you. I'd be frustrated myself. like I need to be better. And we've had shows where I say, once we get off,

that was not my best performance. I'll be better tomorrow, right? Have I not? Joy, have I? Yeah, you have, but I think you're wrong. What's that? So, yeah, so I like it, frankly, when I would be more concerned if that was a delusional team.

If that was a team that's like, everything's fine, nothing to see here, nothing to worry about, the negative Philly media, you know, this is such a tough, place to play. We just won. Everyone, you know, you know how many teams would kill to be 11 and 2? Because I don't think that's the right approach here. I think to a man, they all said, it's good to win, right? Lane Johnson said it's hard to win. You like this happening in a win. Jordan Milata said, it's not like someone died in here, but he said the only

good thing he can say about the way the offense played was Sekelaan Barkley and Jeline scrambles. So I think there's, I like when a team is honest and realistic, because I think the problem comes when you're delusional. And, yeah, let's talk about if AJ Brown is getting the ball enough. Okay. No. Well, yeah. Over the course of the season, not noted conversation. I understand. Okay. Over the course of the season, AJ Brown is third in the league in yards per out run, just behind Puganakua and Nico Collins. He is 16th in target rate with among white receivers with at least 200 routes run were behind the likes of Josh Downs Hillil Shakir Chris Godwin 16th is not bad that's that's a it's actually a pretty

standard target rate and it's actually exactly the same target rate he had in 2022 in 2022 he was being targeted on 25.2% of his routes run this year it's 25.3 but because this is now a run first offense yeah the lower volume the math of that means that his targets per game have dropped from 8.5 on the exact same target rate to 6.5 this year in 2004. So on a per play basis over the course of the season, he's still getting the ball about the same rate. But I think there are a few things. One is you could, you could think that if we're going to pass it less, in theory, we could funnel the ball more to AJ Brown. I think that's fair. Yes. I also think the thing that's going on here, to some degree, yesterday's

game specifically, his lowest target rate of the season by a wide margin and his second lowest target rate as an eagle in any game, just about 15%. I do think there's also the last couple games. He has not been targeted downfield by Jalen Hartz. So in 2022, he had three games among his 17 games in which he didn't have a target of at least 20 air yards downfield. last year, that only happened in one game of the 16 that he played, and it's happened three to the last four weeks for the Eagles.

So I think this is something that has been bubbling a little bit, that he's not getting the ball. And I think the crux of the issue to me, we talked about in the post game show, that A.J. Brown wants the ball, not because he wants the ball, because he knows that him getting the ball is good for the offense. And this is the crux of it to me, okay?

Because Sequin Barclay is having the best season for an Eagles running back we have ever seen, he's far in away the best running back in the league. He has been a superstar, and he's averaging 6.1 yards per carry. Guess what AJ Brown is averaging yards per target. So every time they throw him the ball, whether he catches it or not,

how many yards do they gain on average? You want me to guess? 12.7. So more than double, Saquemone Barkley. It's the best rate in the league. So, yeah, get him the ball. That's a great stat. Yeah, absolutely.

And I use this analogy on the show yesterday. I use this analogy on or this comparison on the show with Anthony this morning, which is this isn't baseball where you throw in them once, then you have to wait nine times, right? You can throw to him the ball multiple times on the first drive, on the first half. Good things tend to happen. I heard you on the show yesterday say,

you talked about his contested catch rate. On that third down before he slammed the helmet, in one-on-one coverage there, and you're scrambling and you throw a high pass to Johnny Wilson, that's a pass that should go to AJ Brown. That's a pass where you let AJ Brown make a play on the ball. And part of like the amazing thing when AJ Brown got here and you started watching him was the plays that he made on the ball.

Like he would just throw it up. We think about that Pittsburgh game. When Janeline just threw it up, it was a clear-out route for AJ and he makes a play on the ball. And the other thing, too, is if you think back to our training camp notes, you know the amount of times I would just write in there, slant to AJ. Slant to AJ, slant to AJ. Like there's easy buttons in this offense where if you need, if you need quick yards, especially times when there's a five-man rush coming at you,

you know in those cases there's probably going to be AJ isolated. Get the ball to AJ Brown. And I can say the same thing about Devante Smith, but for the same of this conversation, AJ Brown. I totally agree. And I do want to get much more into the weeds about Jillen Hertz's performance yesterday with Fran. I do think there's a difference between like the second play of the game,

which Fran tweeted about where A.J. Brown is streaking open because J.C. Horn takes the underneath guy or the intermediary guy in the three-level stretch where Jailen-Hertz is looking right at him and chooses not to throw the ball. That is a bigger concern to me than even the one where Jailen got upset because that wasn't the design of the play. I do think in that situation,

it probably is the right thing to just throw it up to AJ Brown, but at least it wasn't the design of the play. And it looked like there were a couple slants as well where to your point he didn't pull the trigger. To me, that's the thing that I would be more concerned about. And what do you think the reason is that he's not pulling the trigger on it? I don't know. So my, and again, I don't know this to be the case,

but my guess is J Allen is hyper-focused to not turning the ball over. And I think that if that's the case, I think that is a problem. Yeah, and to his credit, if you want to frame it that way, I don't know. Wouldn't you feel much better about their performance? yesterday if it was the same margin they won by six points they eeked out a game by the skin of their teeth but the offense was prolific passing the ball but he just happened to have two fluky turnovers

like i would feel better about that fluky turnovers yes yeah but we think back to everything changed kind of during the by week they were two and two going into the buy they just lost the Tampa uh there's all this conversation about the team and they came back and they went with this this run first approach right that's that's been the story since the by going into the buy and during the by without that week after what was the big conversation piece cutting down turnovers that you kept hearing it turnover differential cutting down turnovers it was like the number one thing they were focusing on going into the buy and if you look at jail and since the buy he hasn't been been throwing the ball yeah to the other team and i had a line in my story today that jallin's problem right now it's not throwing the ball to the other team

which is throwing the ball to his team. Because he's actually, you know, and Nick brought up in that MVP, I don't what I call it a rant on that MVP pitch about Jalen Hertz last week, look at his passer rating. And this was another game where it was a good passer rating because he threw touchdowns

and he didn't throw any, and he didn't throw interceptions. But I think there's more to this than the past, this is where the passer ratings is misleading because he's not turning the ball over. he's not putting the ball in harm's way. But sometimes when you put the ball in harm's way, you know what happens. Your guy catches it too.

Right, especially when you have AJ Brown, as you said. And I do think somebody made a good point in the Discord. We probably didn't make a big enough deal in the postgame show. I mean, two red zone touchdown passes for Chilin-Hertz. It's a nice thing to see. That was the one bit of encouraging stuff. Both good place too. Yeah.

No, you wonder why they can't do that a little bit more often. But much more to come here after this break. Bet365 has 90 million users worldwide and they live stream 780,000 events each year. With early payout offers across the NBA, NFL, NHL, and MLB, Bet365 Pioneer live in-game betting. And today, Bet365 offers the widest range of games and markets available for live in-game betting across 78 sports. Are you going to make like Juan Soto money?

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I believe you. Yeah. Technology, baby. I love it. Okay. I don't want to get too into the Kellyn Moore of it, because I do want to have a nice flesh-out discussion with Fran about that tomorrow. I'm like, is there hope for the passing game?

What could they be doing better schematically? I thought you're about to say you want to flesh-out conversation with Kellynne Moore about that tomorrow. I was like, good luck with that. Yeah. I'm not. I'm dumb, but I'm not that dumb. Okay. Anything else on the AJ Brown Devante Smith front?

Yeah, I just want to reinforce what you said, which is A.J. Brown is speaking up and taking this approach because he believes, and I think he's right. This is what's best for the team. I don't think this is like A.J. Brown wanting his numbers. I said it on Anthony's show. I think a big part of the way the Eagles have been able to play offense. year is the fact that they signed AJ Brown and Devante Smith to those contracts. If AJ Brown was playing for a contract right now, if Devonte Smith was playing for a contract right now, it might be a different conversation. I think AJ's response is because

he knows what this offense needs to be. He knows what this offense should be. And they're not there right now. So I think that it's easy to kind of see someone say something honestly and say, oh, the team's, you know, that he's being a distraction. He shouldn't say that. No, I like when an adult's an adult and can have like a real honest reaction to something, and we can cover it and talk about it with the proper context and understanding, and it's not this black and white thing where you're either selfish or unselfish. I don't think it's that.

I think you're trying to do what's best to win games. What did you make of Jalen's press conference about it? reading back it was a little bit it felt a little bit more past the Bucky than it seemed a lot yeah there was a part there where where he was like you know I can only do what's called something of that nature that that is a little past the Bucky I haven't heard that expression but I like that past the bucky the I also thought I thought Jalen wasn't running away from the fact that the offense needs that the passing game needs to be better I thought the decision to take that sack on the busted RPO is like a huge concern to me. Yeah, because, and I appreciate his honesty with the explanation. The math doesn't add up there, right? You would rather the five-yard penalty. He did the exact same thing last week.

He did it right, and they didn't talk about it? Yeah, so like, what's the coaching point? You would rather the five-yard penalty there. Right, right? Yeah, and in case you didn't see it, it's a busted RPO. He's nine yards on the backfield, and he voluntarily takes the sack while out of the pocket, so he could have thrown the ball away. And so in effect, he is taking second and 19 over what would have been a five-yard penalty

and re-snapping the ball at first and 15. Exactly. And so that's the situational awareness there that you need. I thought the best line that he had was essentially when he said, I'm paraphrasing here, it might not get you now, but it's going to get you. Right? because that's that's exactly what we're talking about that's kind of the the theme of this conversation is that what you might get away with now you won't get away with later and once

it gets you it gets you and you don't want it to come up in an in an inopportune time and AJ Brown said something similar uh I thought the I'm mystified by this concept of not being on the same page and it's why I asked Jalen uh is it too late to to be having this conversation because I get you of a new offense, but you, Devante, and AJ have been playing together for three years. There shouldn't be this need for synchronization, this need to be on the same page. And when Devante was talking about it,

he's like every game calls for something different. But no, the fact that all of them were saying that, to me is a little alarming because that's not a conversation you should have in December. That's a conversation you should have in August. All right, do you want to talk about the Nick Siriani punting decision? Very polarizing? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, let's have that conversation.

Okay. You were fired up on the show about it. I was fired up. People were fired up in response. That's okay. That's cool. Make sure you're leaving comments. And be wrong.

That's fine. Yeah, please leave all those comments on YouTube. I read all of them. Yeah, I think it's cool that you're that passionate about the show. Now, let's talk about it in sort of basic terms to start, and then I want to go back through the decisions that Nick Siriani has made during his tenure in similar situations. Okay. So it's fourth and eight from the 36 with 305 left and you're up six points.

I think the way that Jimmy Kemsky phrased it is smart. There's only one of the three choices where you are definitely giving the other team the ball with a chance to go win the game and that is to punt the ball away yes even if you are putting them on the one yard line if you kick a field goal there's I mean the numbers say it's like a 65% shot if the if you're hearing from the sideline that they don't think that Jake Gellet can make this kick that's a different story that's fair but if he makes the kick you're up by nine points and the game is basically over and if you go for it there's a less chance of converting than the field goal but there's

a chance that you get the first down and the game is close to over, but not as definitively over as the field goal would be. Obviously, if you fail on either of those two things, they have the ball closer to the end zone with a chance to go take the lead. But guess what? In that case, you're trusting your defense. I hate, I hate the framing of he trusted his defense. Because if the defense is not good enough that they need to have to go 99 yards, then you don't trust your defense. Like, if you really trust your defense, you can put him in a tough situation and expect them to still come out and win. This like this like 75 year old orthodoxy of, well, you got a punt there, put him back in the one. It's wrong mathematically and it's wrong football wise.

Now, I think it's fair to say that the reason Nick Siriani did this is because of Jake Elliott. Because there have been a few times over the years, the last four seasons where he has had somewhat similar situations and has chosen to kick the field goal. So let's go through this. I like this. I was going to look this up. I'm like you did. 2021 versus Carolina.

It is fourth and four. Trying to think of that game. Okay. From the 39. Yeah. With 5.30 left. And they're up 5. And they're up 5 to up 8.

They did not kick a field goal. They're the 39. So it's a little bit further back. It's just in in Carolina. Yeah. They go for it. They don't get it. They end up winning the game anyway.

But that's the, that was the decision. They did not punt there. 2022 against Detroit. These are a little bit tougher because fourth and one, fourth and one's different. Fourth and one's different. I'm going to throw out the fourth and ones. Let's take out the fourth and ones. At Washington, 2022.

Fourth and four from the 39, 141 left. They're up 24 to 8. So it's already a 16 point spread. The sticks are a little bit lower. They go for it. They get it. Green Bay, 2022. Okay.

This is one of the closer comparisons. Fourth and three from the 36, they're up seven points with 221 left. They opt from three yards away to kick a 54-yard field goal and make it. So that's good. That's a home game. That's a home game.

A similar time of year. I don't know what the wind was that game, but similar time of year at home. Yeah, there's another one from Green Bay, but it's fourth and two. It's earlier in the game. We'll throw that one out too. think one of the better comparisons is New England.

Remember New England first game of the season last year. Also nasty weather. Yeah, it's good point. Yep. Poor Tom Brady. 538 left. They're up 22 to 14, 8 points. So a field goal is going to win you the game.

A fourth and three from the 33. They kick a 51-yard field goal and make it. And then end up going to win the game. Later, there's a fourth and two with two minutes left that they go for and don't get it. And then the last one, and maybe this is the one that is the one that is. sticking in Nick Sirianni's ear, or mind. Jacksonville from this season, fourth and four from the 39,

with 2.16 left. They're up five points. So you're going from five to eight. They go for 57-yard field goal. And Jake Elliott obviously misses it. He's 0-4 from 50 plus this season. So guess what? Nick Serrani has been coaching this team for four seasons. How many times in the fourth quarters act do you think he's punted from opponent territory in the fourth quarter before this game?

zero three but two of them were from the 49 and none of them were in field goal range so he has never punted in field goal range yes in the fourth quarter of of a game so I love this said this is I do think the history is relevant here so whether you think it was the right move or not and obviously he's taking different things into account maybe he is overvaluing that's what I think it is maybe he's overvaluing the Jake Elliott thing maybe he's overvaluing last week's ability to pin them down at the one but this is a decision he has not made before he's overvaluing the defense maybe he's overvaluing the jake he's overvaluing last week's ability to pin them down at the one but this is a decision he has not made before for. And I think the honest answer has to be lack of faith in Jake Elliott. Yeah. I mean, look, that can not be a factor, but I think he's overvaluing last week. And I think he's like, it's a blackjack player who sticks on 16 against the 10 and then ends up winning the hand. And it's like, look, it worked that time. That was a good strategy here. Right. So I think that's the, that's what I think happened. He was so proud about the way last week worked. And I don't want to say to his credit,

but the same thing happened here. They pinned them back. And I will say that to the point that they almost lost this game, if Xavier Legate makes that catch, they almost win this game easily if they hold on to Bryce Young when they have them back there. So both work. But I agree with the central premise that you started with here,

and that Jimmy Kemsky outlined, that there's only one way to definitely ensure that they get the ball back with a chance to go ahead. And that is by punting. And this is the same conversation we had when we talked about kicking the field goal from going from three to six, right? Is that what you're trying to do

is you're trying to maximize your ability to win the game. And to me, the way to maximize your ability to win the game is to kick the field goal. Now, again, I'm not privy to what their internal line was where they said you have to get to this to this line. But I do know that in the past, that's a field goal that they, that they would have kicked.

Even now, it didn't seem overly windy when I was. I think they're overstating the wind. Yeah, but that that, no, they needed a united front on. He had missed a kick in that direction already. So had Carolina,

right? I thought he missed his kick in the other direction. Yeah, I think he missed both his kick south. And that one was, that one would have been north. Was the extra point in that direction? That then got held back. Because that's fourth. That's that, yeah, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, that's, I think, I think, I think, um, situation agnostic.

Just, uh, I don't know who's playing. I don't know what their team is like. What should you do? You should kick the field goal. That's what the, the fourth down bot says. And it's not even a, it's not even a lean. It's a, it's a clear kick to field goal situation. Obviously, that makes sense.

You're going from six to nine. You're making it a two-position game. I also think, and I said this on the post-game show, the psychology of it from a Nick Siriani standpoint, if you kick the field goal and Jake Elliott makes it, like, what a great story. You prove that you still believe in your guy, and he got it done when it mattered most.

Sure. And even if he misses it, you still prove that you believe in your guy. I believe in Jake, Jake's going to make that kick. And if you miss it, I mean, if you really want to get down to it, they're going to have if they score a touchdown it's probably going to happen sooner and you're going to get the ball back again yeah yeah now uh to the example you you gave about how it shows confidence in your kicker the game that put jake elliott on the map uh the week four game against the or the third the week three game against the giants back in 2017 jake elli missed kicks that he should have made now these were inside 50 yeah and you're and and we've all seen the clip of jason peterson peterson no more misses bro and then he he he goes on he kicks two close And he has this confidence for the rest of the way there. Amen. So yeah, that's that's a good point. And what's worse? Like, psychologically for Elliott, if he gets called on and misses again, or if he doesn't even get called on in the first place.

Sure. I mean, 53. That's not, that's not a 60-yarder we're talking about. Yeah. So, no, I, I didn't think you were unreasonable in your points on the post-game show. I thought, It might have been overstated within the context of the game. Like, I thought that the passing game was probably the bigger part of it than that is absolutely true. And then that decision. But I do think that you, the way you outlined it was absolutely correct. And it's also important because every situation is part of a historical database, if you will, for Nixiriani. And what you're looking for is you're looking for outliers like this, this was.

And when it happens on a day when Jake Elliott misses a field goal, that made him 0 for 5, like you mentioned, from Beyond 50, misses an extra point. It's reasonable to deduce in that situation that he has, at least his confidence in Jake Elliott, has eroded. And this is relevant in a week. After that Ravens game last week,

is a lot different if Justin Tucker, one of the most money kickers in recent NFL history, hits field goals and an extra point that he should have hit. Now, Riley, by the way, is wrong. He's saying if he'd kick the field goal and miss it, I would be crucifying, Nick. That is not true. I mean, go to the watch a lot.

We're, Fran and I are talking about it in real time. I'm a lot of things, but I'm consistent on this. Like, that's, that's wrong. Go ahead. I don't want to speak for Jimmy. When Jimmy and I were talking outside the locker room, though, he brought up the idea of going for it. Would you have considered going for it there? Or do you think, for it and age?

If they had told me on the sideline that Jake has no chance of making this field goal, I would have thought about it. Yeah. In that situation, given how badly the offense was playing, then I could be convinced to punt. Do you like that? So this is the thing. We don't have all the information. If they really were on the sideline saying,

or if Jake Elliott is nursing some kind of injury that we don't know about. Yeah. Like, that's a possibility, I suppose. Do you think that they're going to bring in a kicker for the practice squad or something like that? No, Anthony asked me that today. I don't think so.

I think, well, that would surprise me, A, the message that sounds. And if you can't trust your kicker, you don't have a kicker. So I think it's going to be practice, get this right. he might play a more favorable. I don't know what the weather is going to be Sunday against Pittsburgh. But I think this is going to be a week to try to build up Jake Elliott.

The way I framed it is he's earned too much equity and he earns too much money for them to make a change right now. And the macro of it, the big picture is that, I mean, kickers just have volatile seasons. Exactly. Jake Elliott had a bad year in 2019, 2020, 2020, right? Like this happens to kickers. It's not the biggest deal in the world from a 10,000 foot view. Like, I still think he'll probably be a good kicker next year. But this year, he hasn't been a good kicker.

It's a, I mean, it's a relatively short sample size. But that said, though, I mean, I remember being in. Like you talked about Chris Boswell or somebody was talking about Chris Boswell. Maybe it was the Shill show, how money he's been from 50 plus, but he's had bad years. Like, yeah, these guys just fluctuate. But I remember vividly being in Baltimore for the post game. for the post game in the preseason. When I asked Nick then,

are you concerned about Jake Elliott? Because if you remember, he had been inconsistent in training camp, then he missed kicks he needed to make in that game. And so this is, by the way, this is going back to August here with Jake, where he's been less consistent than he's been in the past. That's true.

Like, this is not something that just popped up here. This has been, so I'm curious if this has been on their radar throughout the year. If there's, I asked Nick this question two weeks ago, which, which was when you're at a point in your coaching career, when you have enough equity, when these guys build this equity with you with you, how do you know you're not putting too much weight on what you've seen and not enough weight on what you're seeing now? And I think that's a fascinating conversation with Jake Elliott.

And also practically, to your point, like people are like, why is he even still here? He's here because he's got guaranteed money. Like, they're not going to cut him. And he's a really good kicker. And if you pick up kicker X off the street, you know, Kansas City is down to their fourth kicker. And he almost missed that ship shot to win the game last night. So it's not a, you know, I know kickers are relatively fungible,

but good kickers are not just available for anyone to sign. All right. Time to take a little break. Right back right after this. Help protect yourself from pneumonia. And whatever bo has. Like me. Adults age 50 and older are now eligible for the vaccine.

It was previously 65 and older. The CDC lowered the age recommendation to 50 plus. I'm almost there. Millions of people get pneumonia every year, according to the CDC. It's a respiratory illness. In fall and winter are a time when germs that cause respiratory disease typically spread more in the community. So now is the time to get vaccinated and help yourself stay healthy.

Some people who get pneumonia have mild symptoms, but others experience serious complications. The vaccine is one of the best ways to keep yourself healthy. And guess what? It's usually no cost with insurance. Getting vaccinated is easy. Just walk into your local rate aid

or schedule online at rightaid.com. Unsure of what vaccines you may need. Just ask your pharmacist for a personal recommendation. Stop by your local right aid today. I am the Dwed Pilot Wobberts. I have no props or costume changes for this one here. I will say C Jam, I want to tell everyone about C Jam construction, though, because look, this is the type of thing where I don't need to dress up for. Family-owned home remodeler specializing in decks, bathrooms, and flooring.

Their goal is to help their clients alleviate the challenges and frustration that come with home remodeling. and look, Children's Hospital, Philadelphia is something that's near and dear to my heart. There's a giveaway benefiting shop right now, so this is a great cause. November 25th through December 20th, there's an online raffle for a chance to win a Yeti Corps and a Kelly Green, Saquan, Berkeley, Jersey. All proceeds from this raffle will go toward their chop online toy drive. What better way during the holiday season than, you know, a president. for someone to shop. Raffle tickets are $10 a piece. There is no limit to the amount a person can donate in one shot.

Winners on December 21st. People can enter by going to CGMCconstruction.com slash toy drive. Be sure to mention PHLY to receive 15% off when you call in 856, 329-29-29-39-333 about your next home project. See their full selection and learn more about the products and warranties on their website, CGM Construction.com. All right. Anything on the... Are you worried about the defense at all? I thought the defense was leakier than they have been.

Yeah. I think that... Now, like what I said yesterday, I gotta stop saying, like I said. Bryce Young, I was real impressed with him. I was impressed with him. I was impressed with Bruce Young, too. I thought he showed a lot, especially, I mean, he could have had...

We've seen a lot of really bad quarterbacks come through here the past like three seasons. Bryce Young is. is, Bradshund is solid. He almost led a 97 yard. It's a great story. He almost led a 97 yard game winning touchdown drive against the defense that was number

one in the league in yards, right? So that, that was with no timeouts, by the way. And two like really impressive conversions and had that legate ball been caught, it would have been three really impressive conversions. I'm not, I just want to, somebody saying, you know, the defense gave up 4.8 yards per play. What are we, like, why are we hand-wring?

here. I do think that there is something to this game. That was what the Panthers were trying to do. Yeah. They were trying to sustain these long drives. Yep. And they, and they were playing the game on their terms. That's why I think, I think it's okay to say in this game where there were only eight possessions that the defense did not play its best. I'm not worried about the defense. I think this to me is one of those you play 17 games. Sometimes they're going to have a few more answers for you. But I just think in the context of this game, that's why we're talking about it like they were not as dominant. Yeah, I mean, the Panthers were 7 of 16 on third downs. They were 3 of 5 on 4th downs.

You want to see the Eagles better in those situations. But Nick Siriani, yeah, so that stands out there. I thought Cooper DeGine probably had his worst game since he entered the starting lineup. A lot of that had to do with Adam The Owen. I thought Adam Theon played a good game. Clearly, he was the third down guy. You referenced that in the show that Bryce Young was turning to. So, yeah, I'm not concerned about the defense.

I mean, they were so good against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. Well, and also, you know, Fran was right to tell us they probably weren't as good as they looked on the box score against the Ravens because they were just plays that Lamar Jackson missed, right? Like, so it wasn't like the most dominant performance of all time. They're playing very well right now. I do think that the only thing that I am actually concerned about is just the snaps for the defensive linemen. I do think that Jalen Carter was not quite as effective at the end of this game as he was at the beginning of it. If something is going to turn them from an elite defense to just an above average defense, that's what I am concerned about. Yeah, I mean, I think when you have one sack and it's from your linebacker in a game when, you know, Bryce Young threw the ball 34 times, ran the ball seven times.

I think that there were clearly opportunities. I thought the pass rush was getting there. you got to bring down the quarterback. And I said on the pregame show that one of the things I was real, I'm really watching for in the back in these last five games, is the way these edge rushers play. And I'm curious to see if they're going to get more pass rushing juice down the stretch here. All right.

You ready for your big moment? Yeah, one last thing, though, because I am curious to see. I just want. I thought you were busting out of problem. No, no, no. I want water before. Did you think that, Julia? I thought he had something.

I'm curious here because there is a lot of Sequan-Barkley conversation nationally. It's wild that we haven't even talked about. He is on pace to break Eric Dickerson's record. And we can use on pace comfortably when there's only four games remaining, right? He's the last player to have this many yards through 13 games in a season is Chris Johnson. Chris Johnson had 2000. That was 2009. Chris Johnson had 2,000 yards.

But this is my question for you is there is a, very conceivable case or very realistic possibility that the Eagles aren't playing for something in week 17, you know, that there's two games left. Oh, two games left. That there's two games left. They have the two seed, almost

mathematically locked down. The lions are kind of entrenched in there in the one seat and there's no one in another division who's pushing you for the two seat. In that case, what's Nick Siriani's approach? And then the second question here is, can you imagine the theater of week 18 against the New York Giants if Seguan Barter Berkeley's going for the rushing record?

Yeah. I think if there's one game left, even if it's the Giants, I think they're going to sit them. And I think they should sit them. I mean, it's not about the record. It's about the Super Bowl. Sure.

If there's two games left, I could see them playing them a half or something like that. But I think you are probably right that the way things are setting up, I would be surprised if he's going to get a real shot at it in all 17 games. What about you?

Yeah, I think that their focus is going to be on the playoffs. And I think Sequin's going to say as much there. But from a storyline perspective, man, I would love to see him need like 120 yards going into week 18 against the Giants. And like, can you imagine that again with Joe Shane and John Mariner? Maybe better if he needed like, let's say he needed, 74 yards. Okay.

So they get the kickoff at the at the 25, right? Okay. And we know that like the Giants team like Sequin, the players. Kick off the 30. So it's a 30. Okay, so we need 69 yards to break the record. So the first handoff goes to Seekwon Barkley. And they pull a stray hand.

They just part the seas and let him run to the end zone. Run, go get that record, Sequin, and go take your ass, buddy. And then look up and say, let this guy go. Yeah. And my neighbor says, I do. did buy the plan. That would be interesting. Yeah, so that's just something to keep in mind here because nationally

sequins a huge story and rightfully so. He's on pace to do something that's never been done. So we'll monitor that. And a lot of people already asking for the Cooper de Gene celebration from you, I have it on background that you have done the Cooper de Gene celebration. Yeah, well, read. said to me, I saw him this morning. He was asleep when I got home.

But I saw him this morning and he said, he said, why didn't you do the celebration? And I said, read. I said, I don't want that on camera. And then he did it. Why? Why don't you want on the camera? Because I think there actually might be more meanings to it than this calm down meaning. I think there actually might be.

But what's wrong with that? I just don't need. I don't need to put that out there. I'm fine. Okay. Yeah. Plus, why am I mimicking their celebration? It's a fun thing to do.

I don't know. Okay. All right. To each their own. Okay. Each their own. People are going to say, I'm not fun. That's fine.

I do want to say thank you to a lot of people here. Okay. Now, I want to know behind the scenes here of how much you, first of all, how long did this take you? And second of all, how worried are you that you've overlooked people? I've definitely, and I want to tell people ahead of time. I have 109 names here. Okay?

If I overlooked you, please respond. I went through Twitter mentions. I went through DMs. I went through Blue Sky mentions. I went through Instagram DMs. And I went through emails. But particularly on Twitter, there's a lot like of mentions. It doesn't get shown, yeah.

Yeah, you write to scroll through and you have all the stuff from the game and you have all the stuff from the weekend. and you have to go all the way back to last week. So I said there's a lot of people here, but I got to say two things here for some commentary. First off, and I said this yesterday, this is awesome. This is so heartwarming to see.

Second, my, my, like, if people are, if people are tuning in for the first time, what is this? This is everyone's Spotify raps. I said is. Or competing apps. Or competing apps. If you're,

if we were number one, send it over to us. And I will personally thank you. We will personally thank you on this show. That's part of this. community that we're really trying to build here. But the kind of the DL cool thing here, the funny thing, is seeing like the diversity of other shows in there.

Yeah, I think that's fun. There's like a wide spectrum. Yeah. Sometimes it's all Eagles. Some people, it's like, were their Eagles show, then they have a Sixers. And sometimes it's all PHLY. Carolina Hurricanes. Yeah, there's Caroline Hurricanes.

Sometimes people are just interested in the Eagles and then there's political stuff, like on either way. One guy, one guy deleted his number two. Yeah. He didn't want us to show us what his number two was. He did not want us to see. I think it's a musicals podcast. I think so.

I think he didn't want you to ridicule him. I would not ridicule him. But that's actually been the cool thing to see. I also want to, I have not responded to everyone via email or DM. And so please take this as a response. I'll get back to you there. But it is really touching and heartwarming and I appreciate it. I agree.

Before I read this, you want to tell everyone where they can find us? Yeah, if you were dying to see your name or hear your name red, check it out on all-P-H-L-Y.com. And we thank you for watching on that old terrestrial television. So here you go. And before I do this, I apologize for her pronunciations for some of you because there's no pronunciation guide. Also, if you created a username that did not have a name, and this is meant to make me say something that I probably will regret. having on air, so be it because I still want to say thank you to you. Okay.

So without further ado, thank you to Michael Moreno. Sexy. One deep. Travis McKee. Frank Mollick. Beautiful. Matthew Davy. Gamm Cavan.

I'm sorry, Gam Cavalirio. Kevin Walls. Ryan Gagnabin. Will Howen. Caleb Grossman. Who cares? In parentheses, oily hups? Brian.

O'y Hups? Yes. O'Yley underscore Hops. Brian. Jack Royer. Genius. White noise sports. Christopher Vorhees with cherries as the O's.

Jeffrey Lurie. Dominic Gugliadia. Sebastian G. from Montreal. Sebastian Gross John, the former tennis player. Gianluca Philly. Kevin Hewitt. Kevin Hewitt.

You know what happened? him on the set. What? Mr. Belvedere. Leo. Sad up his little Belvedere is at his stop production. Leo Few.

But Holly Padmore from UK. Luke Watson from UK. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Luke Watson. John Wick. John Wick.

Vance. Matt Mills. Art Vandalay. Kelsey's Beard. Finley Jones. Harry Cantor. Deets. What's a Harry Cantor?

I don't know. Adit Newtonson. And Watson. Juan Pablo Martin Ribba. William Hilfordy. I miss Dawkins. It's like a graduation. Phil Matthews.

Andrew Amarro. Mike Wall. Joe Demers. Not your wall. Not our wall. Mike Wall. In case Joe Demers. Devin Call, Scott E. Hertz.

Ow. Sam Khalifa. Joey Machetti. Brandon Ramsey. Joe Kalatach. Garrett Hopkins. Noah Rosenstein. That's the Epstein podcast that he listens to.

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Jeff Leopard. Oh, spotty. Jeff W.L. Matt DeL. Matt DeL. Better than Matt DeShort. DSX. That's David.

Ron. Sid Steinberg. Eric Blake Archer. Zach, this is tweets by Zach. Jake Tiger. Wow. We got a leopard and a tiger. Alex Beard Wonder. Macho. Macho. Ash Hill, also from the UK. Just here for the memes. Steve Barnes from Derby, England. Steve Barnes from Derby, England. Ryan. Alex Boroughwick. Gabapi. He's a process truster. Kabapy. Samir. Dr. King Bunn.

Pat Burnett, who's in the top 1% of sports podcast listeners. The Brian's Share. D.S. What do they share? Lucas. James Stelzer from Australia. Gregory Hedgegey. Nick Bottman.

I believe that's Bootman. Bootman. Is it? I don't know. Okay. It's B-O-D-T. Oh, that's a D. I thought it was about. No, it's D.

Berg. Garret Fabrice. Marvin Ragu. Very much to him. Marvin Obhammer. His Aaron is 13. Brody's World from Canada. Howie Roseman.

No, Hallie's not on here. Jose Gaitton. Fun Boy, 59. I mean, how about 10 more, Fun Boy? Let's have some real fun. Alex Loderbeck Angelo I'm sorry

Angelo Bellotti or Belliotti Daniel Zinstein Oh he gave you a pronunciation guide Oh sorry Daniel I believe it's Zinstein Zinstein Thank you

You see this is why I need Bo here Lyle D Blancho There could be any Lyle It's Lyle J Lyle J Lyle J D Blancho

I love it Big Willie Stiles Justin Snyder Kyle Stomberg Chris Tomlinson Tyler Missing Barsum Ryan Moon

Is it Ryan Moon or Moon Ryan? Dylan J. Williams Asher Where are you getting in the ER? I'm sorry Ash Justin Warren Harding Warren G. Harding

This is Zach Siskand I wrote X Zach Siskind Jake M Simon Jake Matumbo Simon Von Neenda.

Tom, who's Emily's boyfriend. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. This is a different, this is how we find out. No, Tom. No, this is, this is Emily. She's really nice.

I sent her a book. She bought a book out. She lives in England. I sent the book to England. So she sent me her boyfriend's Spotify rap. Max Carp. Alex Arnold.

Corey Fader and Nick S, who Nick, Nick S, were technically not number first with Nick. He has a lot of shield in him, but we'll let it slide because he's a good friend of the show, Nick S. Absolutely not. Yes. You can't break the rules. You can't just be lenient for Nick S. Nick S texted me personally. He mentioned. Yeah, I got a note from Nick S too. We can't be shouting him out. We keep us and get to join the rest of the number ones. Yeah, no. This is outrageous. No, I appreciate Nick S. So shout out to Nick S.

That's outrageous. So to all of you from all of us here, the P.H.L.I. Eagles show. Except for Nick S. Thank you so much, truly. The, I mean this. Let's just say this, Nick S. You're no poo-ra-goot. No. I mean this sincerely.

I mean this sincerely is that I love the right. We all know that. I love the feeling of a good article. but simply writing doesn't provide the sense of community that the show has and to see this. And the fact that I went through this today and there's 109 names, there's probably more names that I missed and there's more names that didn't send it to us. And seeing everyone out when we do these events and I do these book signings, it's the most rewarding part of the show is knowing the role we have in all of your lives and that you join us to have fun. So this is awesome. I appreciate it.

A couple super chats. Chris Manera says Jaylen seems to have random peaks and valleys. Is there a reason you both think that he hasn't been able to be a consistent passer this many years in? Good question. I mean, it's tough because

2022. Yeah. He was consistent, right? For the most part. I do think it's fair to say if you're trying to pull out the variables. You know, this is.

is now his third, fourth play caller, right? They're a different offensive coordinator. Like, he's the constant there. So I don't know. I don't know what the answer is. I don't either, but something I'll put more thought into. Yeah, there has been a lot of changes within the offense, but you also, you should progress as the years go on.

Perhaps he's been doing with injuries during the offseason sometimes. That might affect his fundamental work, but no. I'm with the year. One, by the way, one quick show and note, I don't know if this is out there or not. It might be nothing to worry about, but just put it on the show just in case. Is that, so in his post-game press conference, he had his hands like this the whole time. Okay? And there was one time when he scratched his head like this, and I saw his left ring finger was wrapped up.

Okay, he had it. I don't know if it was. An eagle-eyed report. Yeah. Fantastic. But then, so I tried this. But then so in the rest of the press conference, he was he was just holding his hands like this so I

I didn't want to say what's wrong with your finger if there's like nothing wrong with your finger and so but then I was waiting for him to move his hands again he did not move his hands again for the rest of the press conference and then go back to watch other press conferences to see if he moves I should have done that now I've been tied up going through everyone's name but then as he was leaving and he stood up I saw very clearly that his left finger was wrapped up so not just like the ring wrapped up like no no no no it was like the length of the finger was wrapped up his left hand

his left hand yeah okay so just something to keep your eye on breaking news uh e roses also says tired of beating around the bush the past two years jalen is inconsistent it is what it is this roster is built to raise the floor when he struggles i would say that there are probably people in the building who feel that way i don't think that that's uh an overarching organizational philosophy. I would give him a little bit more credit than that, but I do think that there are people in the building who are pretty frustrated with the level of performance

they're getting from Gellon as a passer. Yeah, Jalen needs to be more effective as a drop-back passer. I thought his scrambles were good yesterday. He's not turned the ball over, as he would say, and he's right, he wins a lot of games. I mentioned Nick has made the playoffs four consecutive years. Jalen's made the playoffs four consecutive years, but Jailen needs to be better as a passer.

I stand by that. And then one last super chat from Poo Ragu, who says, Nick S, tell me how my ass tastes. Did he right now? No. All right. That'll do it for this wonderful episode of the P.HLY Eagles podcast.

Let me echo Zach and thanking all of you who have made us your number one. You are our number one in our hearts as well. Hit the like button, subscribe, all that good stuff. We will talk to you tomorrow. Fran Duffy comes in studio and tells us exactly what to think of Jalen Hertz's performance in this game. Is it fixable? Should we all jump off this seventh floor? Better than walking down the stairs again.

We're not going to jump off the seventh floor. All right, that'll do it. Thanks everybody for watching and listening. We'll talk to tomorrow. And as always, we love you. Thank you.