PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Running into an ex: Jalen Hurts, Eagles prepare to end skid of rematch with Carson Wentz
Episode Date: October 15, 2025That year of Carson Wentz and Jalen Hurts sharing the backfield feels a lot longer ago than just five years, but the defending Super Bowl champs are looking to break their two-game losing streak again...st Wentz and the Minnesota Vikings. What does the defense need to do to turn things around other than get Jalen Carter and Quinyon Mitchell healthy? Can Hurts and A.J. Brown get on the same page or block better for Saquon Barkley? And what’s up with a mediocre offensive line? Plus, Mina Kimes of ESPN tells us where she thinks the Eagles stand relative to the rest of the league. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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from the Xfinity studio and presented by Bette 365 and Ashley,
this is the P.HLY Eagles podcast on a beautiful Wednesday,
Bo Wolf, handsome Rich Hoffman, coming at you in a little bit.
We're going to hear from Mina Kimes of ESPN and the Mina Kimes show featuring Lenny.
We're going to hear from E.J. Smith, who has talked with Nick Siriani
and has presumably completed one of the laziest lunch orders I've ever seen in my life.
We can get into that later.
How are you doing, handsome rich?
I'm doing great, man.
How's the, how'd the mini buy tree?
Good.
We went to a dinosaur museum on Sunday.
Nice to have a Sunday with no football.
That was cool.
Got to dig for fossils.
That was fun.
Dinosaur Museum?
Yeah, there's a Franklin.
No, the Edelman something.
It's in where Corey Clemens from.
Oh, Glassboro.
Yeah, it's like right in Glassboro.
Very cool place.
Yeah.
Great museum.
And then they have like a whole.
whole pit with like a, well, just fossils.
You can, you can dig up.
It's very cool.
Who knew Glassboro had a dinosaur museum.
Yeah.
I believe it's a Rowan University type.
Sure.
Yeah.
Good stuff.
I did a highly recommended for the dino kids out there.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I did a story on Corey Clement once, Flex.
Big Flux.
Yeah.
Still, still hard for me to nail his pronunciation.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I'm just, I just go with one.
That was a big thing in 2017.
I kept saying Clement.
it's Clement, right?
It's Clement.
It's one of those things, though,
where I just go with what I'm feeling that day, unfortunately.
Yeah.
It's bad.
I wish I was better with that, but, you know.
So anyway, yeah, he was a star at Glassboro High,
which is literally right across the street from Rowan University.
And I believe the crux of that story, right?
The origin story for Corey Clement was he was in a barbershop and Big Dom.
Right there's.
Remember there's a big Dom tie-in.
Yeah, Big Dom, like,
befriended him when he was like, you know, a teenager, like a high school football star,
just because they went to the same barbershop.
And Big Dom was the guy who sort of sealed the deal when he wasn't for him, yeah.
Undrafted free agent.
He was the guy who called.
That's right.
Yeah.
And speaking of Corey Clement, we got another member of the 2017 Eagles team,
potentially facing off with the Eagles this week.
That's true.
Great job on that, on that thumb by Julia.
And her swung song as the full-time producer of this show.
How are we feeling, Julia?
A little wistful.
Yeah.
It's just...
Oh, wow.
You've got...
Tug the heartstrings with that one, but...
You realize we get...
Do you have a toxic X?
Do I have a toxic X?
No, I don't.
No good X stories?
No.
You?
How about you, Julia?
I wouldn't say toxic, but definitely...
Definitely one that...
Definitely some X is.
It's all the same.
One that still gets talked about.
I get made fun of for you.
Oh, what's that?
What's the story there?
You shouldn't have said anything, George.
I know, I know.
Interesting.
It just has an interesting name.
He was a very odd character and now he's like full blown into conspiracy theories.
Oh.
So it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's bad.
Okay, that's fun.
Get into the YouTube algorithm a little too much.
Some of the long times sickos will remember the funny story about my ex where it created the anytime somebody dies,
people will text me, you know, famous person dead because like, you.
years after we had broken up, I would just get a text like Bernie Mac dead.
Okay.
No context, nothing.
Just breaking the news.
Great.
Thanks for, thanks for letting me know.
From your ex?
Yeah.
Wow.
I mean, did you guys talk about famous people a lot when you were dating?
Was that the...
No, I mean, not really.
Not in a...
There was, I promise you there was no context to like just checking in with whoever,
is dead.
And not even is dead.
Just named dead.
Bernie Mac dead.
Yeah.
That was a tough one.
I remember.
I think it was like 2008.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Too soon.
And so, yeah,
now every time,
you know,
I'll get a,
I'll get a,
Diane Keaton dead.
Tex.
Yeah.
I know,
I know.
Tough one.
Tough one.
I like Diane Keaton.
Favorite Diane Keaton role?
Um.
Because you,
you've probably,
I think you've definitely watch more movies than I have.
So I have probably two of her most well-known films.
It's a good question.
I don't want to be problematic.
I'm going to be problematic with the one I'm going to say.
I mean, again, I guess Annie Hall.
Annie Hall would be.
I also think Godfather, too, like some of the scenes that she has with Petriano is,
I don't know.
It's very intense stuff.
One of the greats.
Yes.
All right, let's talk Eagles.
How do you feel?
I mean, you did a great job on Monday.
and by the way, awesome job comparing the bullpen to edge rushers.
Wow.
Give it up, give it up for handsome rich for pulling that one together.
I mean,
very well-rounded.
There's a parade for that one.
Really, though, I think the credit goes to E.J. for gassing that up as well.
It's a teamwork element to that, bow.
Yeah.
And stay tuned for when E.J. joins later because we're going to get into the laziness thing.
We're going to litigate that on the show.
So that's what should keep you hanging around.
Yeah, man.
It's a, okay, well, I, here's my question.
Here's my question for you.
Yesterday, EJ and I talked about, you know, we sort of relitigated the offseason and the moves and how he made.
If you could change one thing of how he's off season, what would it be?
I think it's what you guys settled on where I think the easiest move would be just Isaiah Rogers.
Figure that out because I think they probably were going to have to make that midseason trade for an edge rusher anyway.
it's a tough one though
I mean do you bring back Josh Swett for what did he
signed for like 24 Milly like what was the exact
I think he was 19 19 okay yeah
maybe I'm getting him and milk mixed up a little bit
would Josh Wett have tangibly changed things right now
he would help I think he would have changed things
but yeah I don't know I don't know you wouldn't have done that
instead of bond right no yeah no I think in terms of the
the high price free agent state
prioritize bond and I think that's clearly still the right move.
I think this season is sort of,
we've seen that play out.
Honestly,
man,
to me,
as much as the defense just feels undermanned at this point and how he's
going to have to make a move of some sort at midseason at the trade deadline here,
to me,
and this is not as exciting to talk about,
it's just weird to see the offensive line struggling.
Yeah.
So here's a question.
And they're not injured.
I cannot remember.
I have been covering the team since 2009.
I don't think that I've ever seen an Eagles team
where the offensive line was healthy and mediocre.
Maybe I'm,
I mean, I am old,
so maybe I'm just forgetting,
but I can't remember that.
I'm sure people would point out that Dickerson was banged up
and then he goes out for Toh,
and that's a big deal.
But these guys have dealt with one mid-season injury.
Like they had Fred Johnson,
and play for Milata for a full month last year.
You know,
and I understand that the healthy guys might even be a little bit banged up from
playing an extra month of football.
I think that's been a good theory from E.J.
That he has written about that,
that in possibly the tush push itself has had a negative effect on the guys on the
offensive line.
So actually to your point of,
has there ever been a time when the Eagles' offensive line was relatively healthy
and not elite?
I mean, they're probably sub good right now.
I think you could probably get the average at best.
I, again, I don't watch the offensive lines of every single team in the NFL.
But to your point, I was looking back at the depth charts.
Shout out to our lads for having a depth chart from every month.
Not your lads, not my lads.
Our lads, baby.
But anyway, so the years where the Eagles have really tanked in,
I forget who has said this.
It might have been a bunch of you that Howie Rose,
theory on this is like when the Eagles have a bad year, it's usually because the
offensive line has issues one way or another.
When you go back to December 2020, that was the last year of it, of it sort of
struggling.
Yeah, that sort of made sense.
Some Matt Pryor in there, maybe he's the common thread here.
Nate Herbig was involved.
Love a Herbig.
Do you remember what he was, his most talented thing was in the media guide?
No, no, I don't.
My favorite thing.
What if I said yes to that?
Secret talent.
floating in water.
Yes.
One of my favorite,
probably my favorite media guide nugget ever.
I mean,
because how good do you have to be
at floating in water
for that to be your secret hidden talent?
Imagine if he was like,
no, man, you don't understand.
It's different.
Yeah, I'd like to see that.
I'd like to see like,
what is he talking about?
You got to see it, man.
You got to see it.
So, yeah, so that was 2020.
Also, a very green.
Jordan Milata as well.
So, you know, and a not so green
Jason Peters as well on that, that line.
So, okay, I think that certainly fits
the theory.
2015, which was another disastrous season.
Now, that wasn't completely Howie's team, as we all
remember, but you had
Matt Tobin and Alan Barber
out there in December. Now,
they were playing with three
probable Hall of Famers in
Peters, Kelsey, and Lane as well.
I don't know. I think that might have just been
Chip's offense.
was broken and the personnel management on that team.
And then the other one was 2012, which obviously, that's a long time ago at this point.
But that was the year that Peters, he ruptured his Achilles in the offseason.
Demetris Bell.
Demetris Bell and King Dunlap.
Kelsey also tore his ACL, I believe, week two of that.
Now he wasn't Jason Kelsey yet.
David Mulk playing a bunch of games.
Yes, there was a Dallas Reynolds, I think, was in there as well.
Yeah.
So this is different, right?
I think when you have the caliber of names that we're seeing here.
I'm just bringing back all of these old memories that I've probably talked about
on the show over the years.
But Dallas Reynolds always makes me think of.
And Fran is in the chat.
He already knows exactly where I'm going.
Is there was a,
the best face I've ever seen Les make was a scrum around Andy.
And they were about to play the Cowboys.
And the reporter,
the reporter of ABC.
Andy,
like,
you know,
was it going to be weird having Dallas Reynolds playing Dallas?
us and Les is behind Andy and just goes
like the most incredulous
cannot believe that this question just asked
and he was right credit to less
I mean
did that reporter back it up when Goddard got here?
I know I don't know
I don't know if he revisited that line of questioning
well I got to give less credit
because when there's like a question that makes me cringe
I cannot really hide it with facial expression
I can hide it a lot better than less can
I'm not very good of hiding it either
but yeah,
less is the best.
You want to know where you stand.
Yeah.
Okay, so question for you.
Do you think that the run blocking
has been worse
than the past blocking so far?
Yes, I do.
And what is hard here,
and I'm sure Fran can get into this tomorrow,
but are there,
is the predictability of it?
Is the lack of variety
in the running game, putting them in a bad spot.
I think that's part of it.
And that's, you know, it's something where there's a little bit of everything.
I also think that they're, and I know that people are saying in the chat, like, well,
they're not healthy, but they're healthy enough to play.
You know, Dickerson's banged up.
Juergens is playing, but he's banged up.
My lot of was banged up all summer.
Lane is, you know, 75 years old.
It's hard.
But it's also part of the reason why I don't think that they did a good enough job this
offseason preparing for this possibility.
you know, they didn't have a day two pick ready to potentially step in.
And I think they probably would have liked to if the board had fallen that way.
But instead, you've got Miles Hinton and Cam Williams and they can't get on the field.
And so you got to trade for Fred Johnson.
You cross your fingers with Matt Pryor and Brett Tooth.
They have not given it the infusion of resources that they have in the past.
It's not, it's funny.
Like you thought about when is Tyler Steen going to be able to play?
but you didn't realize maybe quite the value of Tyler Steen as your sixth offense.
Right, exactly.
Being able to put him in there.
And I'm not saying he was perfect last season, but he was pretty competent.
And yeah, so I agree with you.
To my eyes, the past blocking has been a lot better.
And that is sort of more the issues with the past game for whatever they are is kind of
the lack of rhythm, the routes, maybe the play design or whatever.
Now, you mentioned the lack of design maybe in the running game.
I thought it was very interesting that Lane Johnson was like,
Run the ball on the outside a little bit more.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Very prescriptive, yes.
And to that point, I mean, it makes sense when you have, well, right now you have Brett Tooth,
who's clearly your weak spot there on the offensive line.
And you also have Steen inside as well, who, I mean, to my eyes, and you can correct me
on this, I'd defer to you.
He hasn't stuck out as good or bad, I would say.
I think that's fair, yeah.
I think the difference is, he's a normal starting right guard.
I think the difference is that to even to the untrained eye like myself,
like there were a bunch of weeks last year.
You were like, Mackay Beckton in the run game is moving people just a ton.
So, so there is a difference when it comes to the run game.
And then you have that first play against the Giants last week where they give the ball to
Sequin on the outside.
You have Cam Juergens who is, I think, probably struggling a little bit more than he has
in past years as well, but doing the normal Can Juergens thing where he's, he's pulling.
and then Sequin gets the cutback lane.
They actually ran that play.
It might have been on the next series
and Jordan Mila actually just whiffed on the block.
But I don't know.
Yeah, maybe that is the answer.
But yeah, they're going to have to figure something out there.
It's funny.
I was thinking this is to bring it back to maybe like a little bit of food talk.
It's Jeff Stoutland's chopped era right now where, you know,
like we know when he gets those amazing ingredients, like what he can do.
Maybe you're going to a farm in Lancaster County and getting the high-end stuff.
We know that he can make a five-star meal.
But now you're speaking Geelan Hertz language.
Now you're getting a hodgepodge of stuff now, though.
Like, I don't know.
Maybe like some goat cheese and some chicken cutlets.
Like make a meal out of that, Jeff Stadling.
I would eat that.
Yeah.
Well, hey, look, you got to make it above average.
And I think, by the way, Jeff Stoutland is more than capable of doing that.
So that's the other weird thing with this offensive line.
the, I would say like the institutional knowledge that they have,
how long most of the people have been in that room working together.
I feel like they should be able to figure this out in some point,
whether it's an element of just, you know, obviously the individual guy's got to play a little bit better.
I certainly think it's got to get schemed a lot better.
But yeah, I feel like the pass blocking has been better.
I feel like when they went empty in the last game,
when Jalen Hertz just had to get rid of the ball right away and the offensive line
had to hold up for a few seconds.
I felt like that worked better than when, you know,
they leave two tight ends in the block.
And there are only three guys out in the round.
Where it's like, it hasn't been perfect.
Yeah.
But it hasn't been the biggest problem with the passing game.
And I think you could say that the blocking has been the biggest problem with the running game,
potentially.
It's almost like it's been flipped where you often hear like,
all right, our coverage can't hold up for X amount of seconds where I think it's been flipped on the Eagles where
It's like, look, the offensive line when it comes to pass blocking has been okay at least,
but they can't hold up for X amount of seconds.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So that's where we're at.
But I do think the run game and the offensive line playing better, that is as boring as it sounds
and as much as there might not be a ton more.
I mean, I'm sure, you know, running to the outside and there are some schematic fixes for sure,
better play sequencing, all of that stuff.
But just those guys getting together and playing a little bit better than they have.
I think that's the biggest answer to them being,
let's call it kind of a less frenetic offense
in terms of all the three and outs and all those places.
I think that's all well said, as they say, handsome rich.
All right, time to take a quick break here from some sponsors.
On the other side, Mina Kimes joins us to talk about some of these same issues
and where the Eagles stand relative to the rest of the league.
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And speaking of Ashley,
PHOY Eagles podcast joined as we are every other Wednesday
by Mina Kimes, a VSPN. Mina, how are you?
I'm good. I'm excited for week seven.
Excited for week seven. Now last we talked, the Eagles were undefeated.
But we said things did not seem so great under the surface.
And since then, two straight losses.
What has been your view on what we've seen the last two weeks?
and I guess especially sort of the decrepit performance against the Giants.
Decrepit, that's such a great word.
I think that the offensive issues that they have been kind of avoiding,
or at least there's been a good half of offense and a bad half of offense,
and then they flipped it, kind of came to a head.
The defense, I'm a little bit less worried about, not a lot less worried about,
they lost their two best players against the Giants, right?
If anything, I think it just shows that this is a very top heavy group, which we knew, I feel like.
That was the one doubt I maybe had about the Eagles going into the season or my biggest concern was like, this is a stack team.
They're really talented.
But there's a few load-bearing players here.
You take them out, particularly obviously the ones that they were missing against New York, it becomes a serious issue.
But the offense feels more like structural.
Sorry, I don't know why I keep doing construction allergies.
I think that's my fault.
The bigger problem and the one that they've really got to get figured out.
So where do we start, Mina?
I mean, we've talked a lot about how multi-layered the issues that the Eagles
offense faces.
I heard you and Stephen A shouting back and forth last week about some of the things that ail
the Eagles offense.
And I specifically wanted to ask you about like the evolution we're seeing from
from defenses against the Eagles offense, the fire zones that you and Dan talked about.
what are you seeing from that perspective?
And again, just like generally, where would you start with this Eagles offense?
Yeah.
Well, the fire zones and the coverages they're seeing and some of the precincts
and the passing problem are all things that they need to address.
But I think the fact that they're facing them and that they're thwarting this thing
stems from the inability to run the ball, right?
Because if they could run the ball, not even at the level they were last year,
if they could run the ball at an above average level,
then I don't think they would constantly be put in these passing situations.
And this is when the Eagles offense was at his best,
you guys know this obviously very well.
They were a math problem for defenses.
If you drop an extra safety to stop the run,
then they can kill you in the one-on-ones.
But if you, you know, play split safety or light in the box,
they'll punish you on the ground.
The problem is they're not punishing anyone on the ground right now.
So I actually think if I'm Philadelphia,
the inability to run is almost like what you really want it.
Like you got to get that figured out right now.
Because to me,
it's sort of all flowing from there.
And I will say, too,
with this obviously very daunting matchup against a Vikings defense
that basically measures in all of the things
that are giving the Eagles past game problems.
The Vikings defense on tape has really struggled to stop the run
over the last couple of weeks,
not just on tape.
I always say it on tape.
That was so pretentious.
Just generally, they struggled to stop the run.
You don't need to watch tape to see that.
So there's an opportunity here for the Eagles and Saquan Berkeley to take advantage of them on the ground.
But obviously it's one they haven't been able to do so far.
And what is particularly interesting here is something we've talked about on the show today,
which is that there are a lot of things like the drama here is very familiar to Eagles fans.
What is very unfamiliar to Eagles fans over the past decade plus is having an offensive line that is just mediocre and it's not injured.
And I don't know what the explanation for that.
that is.
You know,
Landon Dickerson and
Cam Juergens are obviously
banged up.
Tyler Steen is a different
kind of player than Mackay Beckton.
He's not as powerful
in the run game.
You know,
Jordan Milata and Lane Johnson
are not having their best seasons.
I don't know what the answer
for that is,
but it does feel like
they should have the horses
there to be able to flip the switch.
I don't have a reason
why that hasn't happened yet.
Yeah,
I think,
like all great things in the NFL
get worse over time.
Yeah.
Like, and so I think you can stop in the NFL just.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It's good.
Yeah.
Getting deep here.
So I think inevitably it's like, yeah, we can't just beat up people the way they did a couple years ago last year too.
But, you know, I think you could also ask whether or not the run scheme is doing the offensive line any favors.
I was really struck by Lane's comments.
I'm sure you guys have gotten into this on your show.
after the game where he was pretty outspoken about feeling like the offense was too predictable at the moment.
And this is something Dan's talked about a little bit on NFL live, just the formational tells with Sequin.
The lack of, obviously, the offense, you know, they don't use a lot of motion.
And the predictability, though, and down in distance, it's not just that the offensive line isn't maybe winning.
it's that defenses know the run is coming.
They know the type of run is coming.
And crucially, this is something that I've been getting into a bit about live.
It doesn't seem to me like they're afraid of Hertz as a keeper.
And that's, you know, so much of what the Eagles did with the gun run game was based on having a number's advantage
because linebackers had to either account for Hertz or get punished for doing so.
And it doesn't feel like that's the dynamic right now.
So if you don't have that, if you're, you know, as a gun, again, a gun running team,
If you don't, if you're not able to beat them with numbers, you have to find other ways to create advantages and help your offensive linemen.
I feel like they're not doing that right now.
And EJ is, is your understanding?
Because listen, it's the same run game coordinator.
It's the same personnel for the most part.
It could be, this could be a Petulow thing.
It could be a Jalen Hertz thing that he doesn't want to run as much.
What's your read on it?
Yeah, I think the latter is something that's on my radar this week.
I do wonder how Jalen factors into this, especially I feel like that is the thing that you always have to.
to bake in with these things.
Like Nick Siriani and Jalen Hertz
have been the constant.
So I think the lack of quarterback inclusive run game
that we've seen from the Eagles,
I do think that it's a fair question to ask that
if Jalen is a big part of that.
Mina, something I wanted to ask you about
because, you know, I did watch the film
of some of those explosive parts
of the Vikings defense.
I saw the Falcons use like pistol formations
a lot with success
to break off some explosive runs.
And we've seen the Eagles use pistol,
but the predictability has really kind of held that
back, it seems like. So my question is like, how do you see the Falcons using Pistol to kind of
get advantageous run looks? And is it, is it different than what we seem from the Eagles?
Well, the Falcons, when they, when they use pistol, they use a lot of motion to try to
displace second level defense. They use motion like across the board. But it is something that they're
constantly doing. They're constantly sending guys back and forth in the back field to just try to move
and then they're also occasionally giving it to actually make defenses, respect those threats. So I think
that's something that they've done exceptionally well. They, I would also say Bijan is a very
unique runner with the level of vision he's getting from the pistols, you know, opposed to from.
He is really, really good at himself individually setting up second level defenders and these little
subtle things that he does. So that might be a little bit specific to him. But I would also add the,
and this is not a scheme thing, the Falcons offensive line is getting more push on these zone concepts
than I see in Philadelphia. They're really, really playing well together. I mean, what they did against
Buffalo was remarkable given that they were losing their tackles. And they were still, I think the Interior in
particular played really well in that game. But they're really, really, really just they're pushing guys
around, moving as one. But yeah, I would say off the top of my head, they probably use motion on those
pistol gun runs at the highest rate of any team, the NFL by a pretty significant margin.
And the Vikings struggled with that.
But the other thing to note, though, is they were missing their little linebacker, Blake Cashman.
Who might be returning this week.
That's something to monitor.
I think that has, they're also missing Harrison Smith, who's gone, who's not going back.
So I think that this Vikings defense is a little bit worse against the run than they were last year,
maybe more than a little bit.
And I think the absence of Cashman really compounded that.
Let's talk about the passing game matchup on this side of the ball,
because you mentioned it.
Listen, the Eagles have, the secret is out that like these sim pressures are really getting to the passing game.
And, you know, you can tell that there are times, you know, there are times when like the protection is they're keeping like seven guys into protect.
And they've just guessed wrong.
And the defense is like dropping eight.
And this has happened multiple times.
And, you know, Jalen Hertz is in charge of the protections.
This is a thing that that he acknowledges he has to improve at.
but as you said, this is a defense that is probably going to give him more pre-snap issues than any defense in football.
How do you see that playing out?
Yeah, it's tricky.
I went back to see when the last time Jalen Hertz played Brian Flores and it was September 23, right?
So.
Yeah, but it was early.
So it was kind of like it was very early in the Brian Flores, Vikings defense transformation.
So I have, and it was a bunch of different players, but I have a little bit of trouble like over tributes.
being too much to that game.
But yeah, they were, yeah, I remember that game.
They were, they were still coming off like a really like low level of talent on defense,
uh, cousins to a couple interceptions in the red zone.
Yeah, yeah.
And Flores was still figuring it out.
And he started, I think, really leaning into a lot of the stuff that we see now,
the Sims and blitzes from the split safety structure, like, you know,
as the year went on and he got really, really good at it.
Um, but yeah, I think, um, it's so funny because I, I remember very,
very distinctly ahead of the Super Bowl after the Rams game, noticing that he really struggled
with some of those, the Eagles that operation struggled with some of the sim pressures that the Rams
were throwing at him. And then being a little bit surprised that they didn't, that Kansas City
didn't lean into it more during the Super Bowl. But I would say, you know, you have to look at
what teams who have beaten this defense have done well. Detroit is very, has been pretty successful
against it. But there's been other quarterbacks, even like the Bears with Caleb Williams,
there's been moments and a lot of it is first of all running the ball really helps i know it's
sounds boring but like um you want to be able to run them out of some of these pressures and um
obviously get into favorable down and distances and because so much of the pressures come on earlier
some of the gamesmanship happens on early downs right um but beyond that like post snap you have to
see where the voids are in the defense he has to be able to die okay this guy's coming this guy's
not usually there if you watch this brown floris defense there is space to attack but you have to
have a quarterback who's able and willing to attack it and and um also willing to challenge them over the
top right because they again they do leave themselves vulnerable to the deep ball at times um so you know
it's a lot it's a lot like uh on the on the plate of the quarterback actually you know there's
things that the play caller can do to help them out and answers that he can give him and the
offensive line, obviously. But like you said, if you're leaving guys into protecting, you only have a
couple of options in the passing game, I think being cognizant of where those voids are, where to attack,
where they're vulnerable, and making sure you have skill players actually attacking that part of the
field as opposed to just outside the numbers, the way the Eagles play is going to be really important.
Well, that's right. It plays into the predictability because Brian Flores knows what to expect.
And so he's going to leave the spots open that the Eagles don't.
usually attack, right? And so the Eagles are going to have to, you know,
Zigg when he's expecting them to Zag. Go ahead.
So, Mina, I've spent, you know, the whole mini-buy, like,
worried about a lot of the things that AIL the Eagles passing game,
the offense in general. But then I zoomed out and I watched Sunday's,
Sundays games and Monday nights games and sort of realized, like,
it seems like across the league, there isn't one or two teams that are really
running away with, like, the early Super Bowl contention flag here.
So I'm curious, like, how do the Eagles problems compare to some of the other
teams at the top of the NFL through six weeks and how, you know, it seems like there are a lot of
imperfect teams that are sort of making up the list of contenders.
Every team is flat right now, right? So just staying in the NFC, obviously with the Eagles play,
Cowboys have no defense. Commanders who just lost, have a good offense, a good running game,
but I think there's flaws in the offense and the defense. Defense in particular, you saw it just
run on by Chicago. That was that really jumped out to me as being like, ooh, this could be a problem.
moving forward.
The Rams have defensive issues, too, and I think a pass, they just lost Pooka Nakua.
So, you know, that's an issue.
The box are, I think a lot of people would probably have them as the best team in the NFC right now,
and I think that's fair.
But if you dig a little bit into the advanced metrics, I think they're, you know,
they're winning a lot of close games.
They're getting turned.
There's things happening that could regress for them, no doubt.
And I think defensively, they have weaknesses in the passing in coverage as well.
the Packers are you know remain somewhat there I think they're like actually incredibly balanced
but they're still kind of flawed from an execution standpoint the lions have major
defensive issues you really saw that against Kansas City I don't mean to be like boring
and spell them all out but just like everything does have like a legitimate flaw so when I
look at this Eagles team I think that the defense if they're healthy is fine I really do if
they're healthy uh I know pass rush is a problem and obviously you had the weird retirement thing
But like, you know, they'll get Nolan Smith back.
They'll get Jalen Carter back.
Maybe you trade for a rusher, but I'm not terribly worried.
I think coverage is good enough when those guys are healthy.
Offensively, you got to get this figured out.
It's almost good news, though, that it's mids, not to be like Pollyannish, but like,
it's week seven.
You got the whole season to figure this out.
It would be worse, I actually think if this was happening at the end of the year.
And like in the playoffs, right?
And the offense, you know, like they've got time.
to try to come up with solutions.
They've come up with solutions in the past
problems on offense.
But it is, you know, like one of the great challenges
of Nick Seriani's coaching career.
Yeah, it does seem like being around in the building,
it feels like these guys are like waiting for the inflection point.
You know, that last year it was like,
they're going to become a run first team.
You know, obviously Nick Siriani handing over play calling
a few years ago.
It seems like they're trying to will that to have.
Yeah.
I'm a little bit more worried about the defense than both of you guys are.
We know, we know.
We know.
Pass rush or is it the pass rush you're worried about
or just the fragility?
It's all of it.
Yeah, the pass rush and the coverage.
I mean, they can't find a corner two.
And I know they were without Jalen Carter
and Quinnian Mitchell in that game.
But last year, this was a team
that was like out physicaling everybody
and they were just getting blown off the ball.
They did not look like a physical team.
Maybe you wave that away as a short week,
but it just felt like the kind of thing
that the dam could break here.
Do you have a unifying theory
as to why it does feel different
that every team,
is flawed through six weeks.
Is that just being a prisoner of the moment?
I think that if I had to put my finger on it,
maybe like the teams with really great quarterbacks
that have paid those quarterbacks a lot of money
have not been able to compensate for it elsewhere on their roster.
And then the other teams are still trying to figure out
the quarterback position maybe.
I don't know.
That might be it if I had to go, right?
Like, because I think most of the,
the teams that I mentioned with defensive problems have expensive quarterbacks,
defensive offenses. So that could be it, perhaps. And, you know, I think like there's a lot of
young quarterbacks on rookie contracts who are good, but they're not the best quarterbacks in the
league right now. We should, before you go, we should ask you very quickly. We don't know who's going
to start for the Vikings at quarterback, but what should we expect from that offense? I know. I was just
looking this up from my own podcast. By the way, check it out at Meantukheim Show featuring Lenny.
We will preview and pick this game.
What's the deal you have as a new page or something?
Philadelphia.
Oh, I just, I put it.
I finally launched a show Instagram so you can follow that Meena Kai show.
We're going to do power rankings by Lenny every week there.
Exclusive Lenny content.
The number one complaint I get about my podcast is there's not enough Lenny.
So there you go.
That's one of those people complaining.
We need more Lenny.
Yeah.
It's routinely the number one YouTube comment I get.
So we will preview and pick this game.
You can hear us discuss it in D.
And if you want to go check out who like to win.
Yeah, go check out the meeting com show featuring Liddy.
But anyway, so I was just looking up the Vikings quarterback thing.
And I kind of like threw up my hands open.
I was like, doesn't matter.
Right.
It doesn't matter.
I think it's going to be J.T. McCarthy reading the T. Lees.
I was kind of like trying to read all the beat reporters and listen to what they were saying.
But it's that makes it almost harder to, I would say it makes it harder per se.
But like whether or not the Vikings offense can be functional to me just comes down.
to me just comes down to whether or not
G.G. McCarthy can bring down that time to throw
at all because right now it's
pretty brutal. So
remains to be seen.
I don't think from the Eagle's standpoint
there's a clear advantage or disadvantage
in facing either quarterback though, to be honest.
The emotional.
Right, exactly.
It's almost like there's nothing
that could go worse than losing to Carson West.
So like let's avoid that possibility.
That could definitely spark a meltdown
in Philadelphia. All right.
Mina Kimes, go check out the Mina Kimes show featuring Lenny.
Get the followers up on that Instagram.
Thank you very much, Mina.
We'll talk to you in a couple weeks.
Thanks, Mina.
Bye, guys.
Back with more on the PHAWY Eagles podcast.
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all right we are back on the p hl i eagles podcast and speaking of cream tubes
we head to the xfinity mobile call in line at the nova care complex and welcome in our eagles
insider e j smith jay long time no c cream tube yeah you're talking about cream tube
you're doing you're a walking cream tube hate that i really really hate that
you know we're talking we've been talking a lot this week about things that have been hitting my ear wrong and that that is definitely well okay let's get to
you're not going to make it through the segment it's just going to be being enriched talking let's get to the big news
of the day which is your lunch order now let's unpack this there's a there's a place you like the place
we go often that is a block and a half away I would say
Um, you asked, you decided, listen, our elevators down.
I don't really know how that factors in at this point, considering you were going down.
You recorded the mean of hit and then you're heading off to the Norfolk Care Complex.
And you said, how lazy on a scale of one to ten would it be for me to get this delivered to the building as opposed to walking a block and a half to get it?
And I said, well, you know what?
What do you think that is, Rich?
You know the place we're talking about?
No, but it's a block and a half away.
block and a half away. Yeah. I mean, I think it's a solid seven or eight. Yeah. I gave it a nine.
I mean, it's like a six or seven. Wild stuff. Well, wouldn't the move have been because I believe
E.J. was going to drive the NovaCare. You could have done that. Yeah, that would have been the
efficient way to do it. You stop there on the way. Here's the part. Here's the part that Bo very conveniently
has left out of this story is that the place closes it too. And it's probably like 1.30, 135 at this time.
So I thought I could either rush out in the studio and go get my lunch and never see these guys until, you know, 2.30 on the P.H.O.I. Eagle show. But realistically, I thought, like, let me hang out with my coworkers.
Yeah, Bo acts like this, this delivery person is like some, like, martyr who, like, doesn't get paid. This is the easiest delivery they're going to make all day. You know, they're going to get, I tip well. They get a good tip to bring it a block and a half. It sits at the bottom of the stairs. So when I leave, it's there waiting.
for me. But in the meantime, I honestly, I have no regrets because I had a great conversation
with Handsome Rich. One that, you know, Bo kind of inserted himself into midway through,
which is very on brand for you. So honestly, I feel great about the decision. I thought it worked
out great. You know, I listened to you guys had a good conversation. You could have still placed
to pick up order and got there at two o'clock and been done the wiser. Yeah, but it would have
come at the expense of the conversation. I don't know how your Julia feels about it, but that's,
that's got to be like $8 you're wasting.
It's not a it's not eight dollars it's probably like four for the tip um yeah we we've we're door dash
pros now so like we don't we don't use um we don't we don't have like the delivery fees but we do
we do make sure we tip so uh you just try to pay it forward and to you know enjoy my enjoy my
quality time with some of my my podcast co-host here e j i agree that this did not happen in a vacuum
but I am now more curious
what does it take to become a DoorDash Pro?
Because I feel like I am still on the editor level
of the food delivery game.
I'll give you some tips off pod
on how we can really up our DoorDash game.
I don't want to give any free endorsements,
although we are,
we're giving a lot of shout.
We're giving it already, yeah.
Yeah.
So yeah, I'll give you some tips,
but listen, I think what I did was totally reasonable.
Okay, well, we'll let the commenters weigh in on that.
Let us know, you know,
in the comments below the video,
what you think about this decision from E.J.
And on tomorrow's show, just to tease it,
we're going to get into why E.J. thinks hands are weird.
So I look forward to that.
Yeah.
What did you hear from Nixiriani?
What did you hear from Nixiriani today, EJ?
Yeah, you know, it wasn't the most newsworthy press conference from Nixiriani.
Not a lot of big news items.
But I did find it interesting, you know, him talking about,
he sort of had to address some of the stuff he had said earlier in the week about
you know, not placing blame, but instead finding solutions.
He talked about like the Eagles habits on Mondays, especially,
to actually hold kids players accountable.
I think that that's more public messaging than really what's going on behind the scenes.
I think that that was something that he had to address.
I thought it was also noteworthy that both Kevin Batullo and Nick Siriani have now talked about
Monday's meeting between the offensive staff and the players and how.
it was a very productive meeting.
You know, I saw quotes from Sequin Barkley,
I think with NBC Sports Philadelphia as well,
where he talked about how they had a big,
a big conversation about what they want to accomplish offensively
and how they should be approaching things offensively.
Nick Siriani did,
and he talked about the feedback that they got from the players in that meeting
and how that's an important thing, you know,
to get that feedback from players.
So more about just like the general feeling of the team going into this week.
I think it's going to be very interesting
saying to kind of get in the locker room later today.
You know, you got to remember, like, last week, last week we were in there for one day.
So, you know, a lot's happened since we've gotten an extended time in the Eagles locker.
And so I think it's going to be really interesting to hear from players this week.
But, yeah, Nick Siriani definitely painting a picture of a team that is hungry to get back out there,
hungry to kind of write some of the wrongs you've seen in the last two weeks.
E.J., one of those wrongs is something that Bo and I talked about for the first 20 minutes of the show,
and that's the run blocking.
and the professor, he on Twitter today,
I believe we have a graphic for this as well.
Sequin is just, he's being contacted behind the line of scrimmage.
It's basically night and day from last year.
So I guess like what are you going to look to hear from any of the offensive linemen that you talk to?
What did Nick Siriani say?
Do you think that probably factored in to this whole sort of this powwow that the offensive players had with their coaches?
Yeah, I mean, Lane Johnson certainly, you know, kind of foreshadowed,
probably his input, which is that he thinks that the offense is predictable and that they probably
need to incorporate more runs to the perimeter, you know, runs to the outside. We've seen the
Eagles really not have a lot of success with the inside zone running plays that they typically
have runs. So I think that's going to be a big part of it. I wonder what the gap scheme,
the gap scheme runs. We haven't seen quite as many of those from this year's team. Obviously,
I know that Tyler Steen isn't quite the same force that Mackay Beckton is. So maybe that's part of it.
but I want to hear from some guys about, you know,
where the gap scheme runs have really gone.
And then in general, I also want to hear about, like,
where the quarterback inclusive run game has gone, you know.
I think there are elements to last year's run game
that we just don't really see a lot of.
And I think that this will be a good week to get to the bottom of it.
I want to ask some players about those elements of the run game
because I think it is like,
I think it's easy to see like what the major problems are.
Like, obviously they're just not getting the push that they got last year.
You know,
they're not moving people as,
effectively as they were last season, you know, I think the attrition up front is a big part of that.
You know, you look back to last year how much they ran the ball and how they had that prolonged
season. You know, obviously Super Bowl runs. But even still, like when I was talking to Jordan
Milana about that a couple of weeks ago, I pointed out like, well, you guys were in the Super Bowl
in 20, you know, at the end of the 2022 season. And, you know, this year, it feels different for some
reason. So I think we're starting to uncover some of the answers. But I think more variety will
definitely, you know, be a big part of it, especially based off of what Lane,
Johnson set after the Giants game.
So after this hit with us, you're going to head to practice.
And obviously, it's some injuries to be concerned about.
You got Quinead Mitchell, you got Jalen Carter, you got Lyndon Dickerson.
If you could pick only one of those guys to play this weekend, who would you want it to be?
The good question.
I think I'd have to go with Quinyan Mitchell.
Interesting.
Justin Jefferson is a daunting matchup, especially if you have Keely Ringo and Dori Jackson
as your two outside corners.
So I understand, like, Landon Dickerson, if you told me he's, like, going to be 100%.
I would, I agree with you.
At this point, you got the, you got the buy coming almost, like, just let him go.
Yeah.
No, yeah, to me, it's like, I don't, I wouldn't expect 100% Landon Dickerson.
So that one's kind of out.
And then from there, like, I understand that Jalen Carter might be the more impactful player.
You know, he's the game wrecker between these guys.
But just like the drop off that you get from Quinion Mitchell to.
either Keely Ringgo or Adori Jackson as that second outside corner.
I think that's a big drop off in a week where you're going up against a good receiving
court with a coach that knows how to get those guys open.
Like even if Quinnian were out there, you'd still be worried about how is Kevin O'Connell
going to get Justin Jefferson matched up against, you know, Adori Jackson.
Like, how is that going to happen?
Like, you know, so if you tell me that Cunion is at least following Jefferson, like making it
a little bit more complicated, I would feel a lot better about the Eagles defense.
So I think I've been begging to jump for this all season.
I feel like, you know, the Queenie on Mitchell, like to drop off.
I think that you can make a really compelling argument that because of who's behind him,
he is the most important player out of the Eagles defense.
E.J., last one from me.
He might not even be the starting quarterback this weekend.
It might be J.J. McCarthy.
But what have you made from afar of the whole Carson Wentz, 2025?
I called a mini revival in Minnesota.
I think that's fair.
Yeah.
Yeah, I will, I actually will be, I'll say, I've been a little.
underwhelmed by it because I thought that there was a real chance that this was going to like,
he was going to look awesome because we've seen what the Vikings have done at quarterback, you know,
like what they've been able to do for like, you know, journeymen quarterbacks, guys who haven't been
overly productive. And, you know, I think like Kevin O'Connell's done this, like Kevin Stefansky has done
it as well where it's like you see these guys who like have been backups for a really long time
come into that offense and just run it really well because I think that those offenses are
really protective over quarterbacks in a lot of areas and can kind of simplify the game for them.
So, you know, he's played okay.
And I think that that probably is a product of the system that he's walked into.
But I thought there was like some sneaky potential for him to like look really good running that Kevin O'Connell offense.
Because we've seen Kevin O'Connell do it with less, honestly.
Okay.
Well, E.J., make sure that you like hang around the parking lot just in case there's another impromptu meeting.
get that scoop
that's a good point
yeah
you know I
I do spend a lot of time
in the parking
I'm kind of guilty
of you know
hanging out in my car
probably a little too much
so
yeah
yeah
hopefully it's not like
a bad sign
yeah
I need to be in the
I don't need to be in the
you know
the reporter's room
I got stuff
going on in my car
yeah
good place to use
yeah
yeah exactly
yeah
all right AJ
unless you're not
We'll talk to you tomorrow at 2 o'clock with Fran with potentially a special guest and the debut of our new Eagles producer.
All right, guys.
I'll see you.
Thanks, E.J.
And with that, we head to our final break of the day on the PHAYE equals podcast.
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Welcome back to the PHY Eagles podcast.
We've got a super chat from our man.
Pat Fienis, who says, Eagles organizationally don't know how to handle success.
Dysfunction the following year after all three Super Bowl appearances, 2018, 2023.
Now this year, what say you, handsome rich?
It's something I think about a lot, Pat, as well.
Like, it's just the Eagles are a rarity and that they can reach the highs that the chiefs,
that the Patriots that all these other dynastic organizations can do.
But they don't really stay there.
And I think part of it, I don't think necessarily the case.
with Jalen, but over the years, the quarterback position has changed a bunch.
The coach has changed a bunch as well.
So that's a part of it.
I don't know.
It makes it, it makes the whole experience a little more interesting, though, you know,
that there are these peaks and valleys.
I'm sure people would love sustain success.
That said, like Nick Siriani's record is what it is over these past five years.
That's pretty darn good.
Yeah, I don't know exactly why that is the case, but they kind of remind me my favorite,
this is bring it to an EJ topic.
My favorite football team, football, Chelsea, they go up and down.
They win the Premier League, they win the Champions League,
but man, they have years where they just think.
They're just mid-table the entire year,
despite having one of the highest payrolls in the EPL.
So it's definitely interesting.
I don't know exactly why it's the case, but, you know.
Yeah, I think my general take here is that, I mean,
first of all, it's just hard to sustain success
in the NFL. It's very difficult, especially when you play all the way into February.
That makes it more difficult the next year.
So that's the table stakes is that it's just, it's hard.
I do think that there is a particular DNA about the Eagles organization that does
exacerbate dysfunction a little bit.
And I think it's part of the way that Howie Roseman runs the organization.
I'm not saying he wants dysfunction, but he has talked about.
He wants, you know, like people competing with ideas.
And there's kind of a competition to that aspect.
And I think that also goes for the players in the fields and the locker room and the coaching staff.
And when you lose, those things get worse.
I don't know.
I'm not saying it's all how his fault.
He's the best round manager in football.
I'm just saying I think some of the way he runs things does not portend like,
people in the building being happy for a very long time.
Yeah, there's probably something to that.
I honestly think the biggest example of that this year,
I cannot believe how bad this AJ thing has gotten so fast.
Crazy.
Like in the offseason when, you know,
there were all those reports out of New England,
can they get A.J. Brown because he played for Mike Frable once.
I thought that was absolutely crazy.
You know, you bring up the dead cap hit and all that stuff.
And here we are six weeks into the season.
It's just been, it's been a rough go.
And hopefully it'll turn around.
But yeah,
as this situation has sort of progressed and not gotten any better, I was like, man, it's only
the Eagles where, you know, they have this game, this unbelievable Super Bowl performance,
you know, Jeffrey Lurie's beating his chest in the offseason about, you know, this is the best
team of all time. And it's just like, all right, yeah, we're back to chaos. And it's okay.
I mean, it's also, there's also an element to of, and I mentioned this on the other, the pot on
Monday where you know you watch the rest of the league and you're right there are a lot of flawed
teams and the Eagles can get right back in this for sure there also are a lot of coaches who
scheme up plays for their playmakers help less talented offenses like achieve success and the
Eagles don't have that right now and it's one of those situations where you're thinking like man
if we could just have a little bit of competency on the offensive side of the ball it feels like
they're missing out, but then like you turn around and there's there's two Lombardi trope's there
in the past.
Right.
You feel bad for complaining, but it's hard not to complain.
It's true.
Yeah.
So it's, I don't know.
It's a weird situation, but I completely agree that the Eagles sort of, uh, their ability
to reach these highs without sustaining the success in, in sort of a boring fashion.
It's an outlier around the NFL.
I think that's right.
Yeah.
And, uh, if you like complaining, stay tuned for more in Bovertah.
Julia, how you doing over there?
It feels like the chats showing you some love.
And they've correctly identified that you're leaving the show because you hate to work with me.
Yep, that's accurate.
Makes sense.
Just kidding.
Not at all.
It happens to everybody.
It's not really like hit me yet.
So it's going to be a very emotional day tomorrow.
But I'm not going far.
You're going to that restaurant to deliver E.J. lunch.
It will take me a while with the stairs, but I'm not going far.
What do you think would be more embarrassing?
What would make you feel worse?
Losing to Carson once or losing to J.J. McCarthy?
That's a great question.
I think it's even, I think J.J. McCarthy kind of stinks.
I think it's got to be Wence, though, just because of the history.
I think so, too.
Yeah.
Even though he might be better than J.J. McCarthy.
Probably.
Now, he's also dealing with an injury, right?
I don't know.
It is funny.
Thinking back to 2020, Carson finally gets the third of Justin.
Yes.
I have nothing.
What happens if the Eagles
draft Justin Jefferson
instead of Jilline Rager?
Who knows?
Okay, what else you got on your mind?
Nothing.
I mean, I believe we have Carson Wents's
stats that we can show.
Julia slaved over that graphic
need to make sure that's worth your while.
So I was a little surprised
that E.J. was underwhelmed with Wence.
I don't know.
I just seeing him as sort of the backup in K.C.
who is never going to play.
Like he had fallen quite,
far over the last four or five years.
I don't know.
Those numbers are okay.
And I think the one that really stuck out to me,
the fact that he's getting rid of the ball faster than anybody who's really just played
one game of football, a minimum of 50 plays, is shocking to me.
And that, look, that's going to go back to the coaching.
No, that was not, yeah, that was not the case in Philadelphia.
No.
Carson Wentz, I mean, he's not doing those over the shoulder interceptions.
Oh, man.
Yeah.
Remember when he would just wildly miss
like, you know, the two-yard checkdown on the sideline
and just like sail it over the guy's head
and like, this guy's broken.
Yeah, the 2020 season,
the, I think it was week three
when they played the Bengals and they tied them.
I was like, okay, this is just not happening this season.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Doug punted to tie.
Remember that?
It was like fourth and, I don't know,
five at the midfield or something like that,
the minute left.
Might have got the exact specifics wrong,
but he punted to tie.
That was tough.
That was tough, yeah.
Anyway, so it would be more embarrassing
if they lose to Carson Wentz's here.
But I have been surprised.
I don't know.
I feel like he's been more competent
than I expected, at least for the player.
Now maybe, I can't really think back to pass Kevin O'Connor.
Well, if you look back to Sam Darnold was playing
some of the best football in the league last year.
So if you're grading Wentz on that scale.
But now it's playing well out of Minnesota.
Maybe you take away some credit, I don't know.
Like we mentioned that there are a lot of flawed teams in the NFL.
I think the Seahawks have been one of the better teams in terms of their consistency.
So yeah, it would be more embarrassing to lose to Wence, but I think it's going to be McCarthy probably just from what we've heard.
So we'll see.
Brian Flores, at least Jalen is bad against sim pressures now and not blitzes, so it's not a full week.
Right, but he's going to, you know he's got stuff cooked up to just ruin Jalen's day.
Yeah, but if it's blitzes, I mean, I don't know.
Once that first half against Todd Bowles, I felt like that was the final blitz boss where I don't know.
I don't know.
We'll see.
I mean, that felt like that.
And then they didn't play well in the second half.
And then Brian Flores watched that tape too.
I mean, he's on a new path now.
Now that's the pressure boss or whatever.
Yeah, but Brian Flores is awesome as a defensive coordinator.
Yeah, I mean, there was those couple years where they played them in week two at home in prime time.
I don't know.
For some reason, the NFL just loves that scheduling.
Yes.
just like Tampa on the road in week four to the Eagles too as well.
Yeah.
So I have no idea what the Eagles are going to provide.
I mean, I think this is a team, though, that if they do regroup and they do regain sort of their base level of competency from past years from last year that they should be able to handle.
But I don't know.
I mean, they're like two and a half point favorites.
I think that's probably a little high considering what we just saw last week.
I know they're playing off the buy.
Yeah.
I it's a total coin flip to me.
I don't know.
But you know what it does make me think of.
The Eagles going to Minnesota.
You and I spent a lovely week together.
Oh, yeah.
Several years ago.
That's right.
I mean, what was the,
what is the town that Mall of America is in?
Bloomington.
Yeah, Bloomington, yeah.
That is where we spent most of our time.
Oh, man.
That was cold.
Just the walk from the hotel,
which was like just through a parking lot to the Mall of America.
That was a, that was a dangerous walk.
We want to talk about lazy, kind of lazy moves.
You want to talk about a guy who is lazy.
Here's a guy who's taking the shuttle 100 feet.
Yeah, exactly.
Not in that voice, but yes, it was freezing, man.
It was so cold that the walk across the parking lot and across a very small street.
Yes.
Yeah, like we're talking 300 yards of the shuttle.
a couple times.
And also there was that,
I think that was the first podcast meetup on,
yes, yes.
This was on the Friday night.
On the Friday night,
met Rich Bobby for the first time,
among other sickos.
It was it like the...
Was it a David Busters?
It was not quite a David Busters,
but it was a David Busters adjacent thing.
Yeah.
It was great.
Played some Papa Shot.
That's when I first saw how good you are at Papa Shot.
I mean,
you want to talk about a guy
who can pop a shot.
Rich, fantastic.
Sweet lefty stroke.
There was a bowling alley in there as well, yeah.
Yeah, no, I mean, we spent the whole week basically cooped up in the Mall of America,
which, I mean, look, the Mall of America, there's a lot of stuff to do there.
But, yeah, that was an interesting Super Bowl experience.
That was my first Super Bowl.
I had nothing to compare it to.
Probably much different.
I didn't go to the next two, probably much different than those ones, right?
Warmer, for sure.
For sure.
Yeah.
The only time.
But actually, it wasn't that bad.
From just everything was there standpoint.
Like, you know, there was no commuting time.
Like in Arizona, it's like it did go like 45 minutes just to get to the media availability.
The only time I've ever been to Minnesota, there's been two.
It's been that Super Bowl week.
And also the Sixers had just traded for James Hardin.
So his first game was in Minnesota.
That was also in February.
Minneapolis in February is a very cold place.
Yes.
That's why they got the skyway systems though, man.
That's true.
Very nice thing where you can just walk.
walk like honestly through all of downtown Minneapolis and not go outside.
That's right.
Yeah.
It's nice.
We talked a little bit to Brandon Graham about that experience as well.
If you want to check out the latest episode of the Unblocked podcast with Brandon Graham,
wherever you get your podcast.
And I will put out the call for anybody in the chat.
If you or anybody you know can fix an elevator, please get in touch because we are in dire
need of an elevator fixer.
I don't know what you call them.
an elevator mechanic
elevator
sense I don't know what it is but
we need you
do you have a body part that hurts the most
walking up those stairs
no but I think we all agree
that it feels like
it should be getting easier
and it's like every day is worse
than the day before
totally I was like
actually out of breath today
even though I've done it four times
in the past week yeah and I gotta say
my thighs were burning
I don't have those duffy thighs
It's the, it is, I think the floor four and a half where it's the worst.
Yeah.
Because once you get to six, you know, you got one more.
But at four and a half, you've gone up and then there's that sign outside five.
It's like you made it, but no, we didn't.
I hate that sign.
I think about ripping it every single day.
Yeah, here.
I'm like, and I want to write in Sharpie.
Unless you're going to the six or seven floor.
Every day.
You know what they say, Beau?
The altitude is what gets you.
Yeah.
That's right.
All right, good stuff, everybody.
Thank you to Mina Kimes for joining us.
Thank you to Julia.
Julia's going to be here tomorrow.
But, you know, we'll have a nice send off somehow.
Thank you, Rich.
And thank you to the cream tube for joining us on the experience.
I'm not laughing at that, E.J.
Call in line.
Thank you to E.J. Smith.
Back tomorrow with E.J. Fran.
and somebody's debut on the PHY Eagles podcast.
We will talk to you tomorrow.
And as always, we love him.
Like the mayor.
