PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Saquon Barkley leaps the Philadelphia Eagles back into contention: Day-after takeaways | PHLY Sports

Episode Date: November 4, 2024

We’ve slept on the Eagles’ 28-23 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and have fresh thoughts on A.J. Brown (concerned?), DeVonta Smith (amazing), Nick Sirianni (not that bad?), Bryce Huff (leaving?), Jalen Hurts (hmmmm) and the Eagles’ linebackers. How much of a pleasant surprise are Zack Baun and Nakobe Dean? And with the trade deadline set for tomorrow, what movement do we expect from the Eagles?Zach Berman and Bo Wulf are back safe in each other’s warm embrace, but there’s room for more. That means you. 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 PHLY Eagles show on a Monday, 2 p.m. And we are presented by Bet365. Download the Bet365 app and use code PHLY 365 when you sign up. Whatever the moment, it's never ordinary at Bet365. And we are here the day after a surprisingly tense 2823 Eagles victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars that for most of the game was much more lopsided. to talk about it. We've slept on it. There's plenty to unpack Zach Berman. How you doing? Doing great. Throw the being on a Monday. Nice to be back just you and me.

Exactly. I missed this. I missed this. I missed this. No disrespect to Fran or Professor Selman. But yeah, it's, it's, this is like our first year of the show. This is, this is when we tried to build it from scratch. Real hard scrabble stuff. Yeah. We'll always have that first year. I suppose so. I mean, not really. At times, you know, sort of, you know, always running through your hands like bits of sand. You're getting deep on me now. I guess physically as long as YouTube is around, we will have access to those videos. And the memories.

That I cannot promise. I have them. All right. What would you like to start with? I guess we should start with the breaking news. Yes. That Dak Prescott expected to miss multiple weeks with the hamstring injury. That means that he will not play.

on Sunday against the Eagles when they travel to a place that has been a real problem for them, presumably Cooper Rush set to start against the Eagles as this defense continues to sort of get a break. Yeah, this is a huge break for the Eagles. And you always knew that even with the way the Cowboys were playing, when you have that Prescott and you have C.D. Lamb, you have to worry about them, right? And you have to worry about them much less when Cooper Rush is on the field. The Eagles have seen Cooper Rush before.

Interestingly, the last time they saw Cooper Rush, Callan Moore was Cooper Rush's offensive. defensive coordinator. So I don't want to say it comes full circle, but it's interesting how that works out. This is a team that is undermanned. We'll see Michael Parsons status. I don't know. But how if he's going to be out there, we'll see CD Lamb status. But this is. You worry about CD Lamb evolving and getting even better and turning into MP3 Lamb. That's a bow joke if I've ever heard one. Okay. You crack Julia up, right? That's so. That did not deserve. That's the great thing. That did not deserve as loud as she is laughing.

That's the great thing about a live show is you have an audience in Julia who appreciates your sense of humor. Yes. It makes one of us, right? Just kidding. Just kidding. I don't take any offense to that. So, yeah, this is a huge break for the Eagles. Cowboys were already struggling. Now, when I put this out that they'll see Cooper Rush, someone responded, maybe Trey Lance. I don't know if that would be the case, but you never know. The Saints bypassed, Hayner, who was their backup quarterback, to go to Spencer Rattler, who theoretically had more upside.

How'd that work out for him? Not particularly well. Dennis Allen got fired today, by the way. A tail spin that started with Eagles lost that day. They were 2-0. They were like the talk of the league. How are we going to possibly stop this Clint Kubiak offense? And then Dallas Goddard and Seekwant Barkley.

Turned out the Cowboys just stunk. That, too. You're right. So, yeah, so I'm curious to see. I imagine it would be Cooper Rush, but the Eagles, as you referenced, they haven't won there since 2017 in Dallas. It's been a tough place for the Eagles to play. So I would expect.

I think they opened a six-point favorite. Six and a half, and that was before the Prescott News was official. You imagine that was baked in, right, because he's coming off the injury. What? Somebody said something about a pizza oven, so I don't know if you're going baked in on that. No, I'm looking at you in the eyes when I speak. I'm not reading the comments. You read the comments more than I do.

How dare you? I got to say, since I started on this job, I think my eyesight has evolved. I can't read that right now. Like it's blurry to me. It says, Zach, take it off. I see Fran Duffy saying, what's up? Sick goes, Fran. I got to tell you, I get so many compliments about Fran when I'm in the wild, if you will.

When people talk, when I say, what can we do to improve the show? It's the number one question I ask people. And people are like, I love that you guys brought Fran in. It's like, the Eagles adding. Zaquin, right? It's, it's boosted the show in a big way. So you're not getting a lot of people complimenting me. It has nothing to do with you. No, it's nothing to do with you. It's, it's, it's that Fran was a, Fran was a huge addition. Yeah, of course he is. Everybody knows that. Yes. The biggest no-brainer of all time. Absolutely. Okay. Meanwhile, on the injury front,

we don't. In a haircut they like as well. So, we started that. I'm trying to not lean this show into the politics. I'm trying to make this a football show. And you're making, can me really want to. All right, no, no, let's avoid politics. We got a two-hour trade deadline show tomorrow. Yes. Right in the crux of it. Yeah.

So like, you know, we got a lot to talk about. By the way, there's no CNN alerts during the, yeah. It's early enough that we have nothing to work yet. So you think. So thank you. Speaking of which, Zach, by the way, you have a nice story on all p.hly.com. And everybody needs to know that we are down to the wire here. This is your last chance.

to get that great introductory deal, to become a diehard for just an average of $4 a month. This is the last time. So, you know, get on it. I imagine most of the sickos are already diehards. But if you're not, if you're slacking and you're not pulling your weight and supporting Zach Berman for all the blood, sweat, and tears that he gives to you, now is your chance.

And if I can pump up our coverage overall, but Bose will, stands are laugh out loud like seriously you don't and i say i got to tell you i got to tell you there's nothing less funny than someone telling you read this this is funny well here how about if i frame it like this okay i'm proud of the work i i produce but admittedly not all the work i produce is like so original now i want you to come to us because uh well i i'll put a different spin on it but some of the quotes you can find elsewhere some you know the seriani quote the you do that thing you do that where you put sentences together. Your Q&As are like,

the only place you can find them is all pHLY.com. If you're not going to, if you're not going to boast about yourself, I mean, do it for Fran. Franz, yeah, Fran's film reviews. And Les. And his opponent previews,

Les Bowens. He has his three decades of institutional knowledge. You can only read his work on all pHly.com. He has a lot of laugh out loud lines in his stories as well, if I may say. And then, by the way, You don't just get access to our Eagles coverage. Kyle Newbeck killed it this past weekend.

I thought his M. Bede coverage was really strong. He kills it every day. Derek Bautner, been a longtime reader. He always brings it. Charlie O'Connor, everything I know about the Flyers is really from Charlie's work. So our coverage is outstanding. Jim Salisbury on the Phillies. So, yeah, make sure you check out all phtly.com.

Almost 1,500 new dieharts have signed up to take advantage of this low lowest price ever join that group okay we don't have any news on a j brown yet right no uh so joltz from fox sports i i got that correct this time he said this this morning that uh word is it's jordan sports from fox shultz that no it's not it's jordan shultz uh that word is it's not serious uh we'll see like maybe not serious could mean a few weeks as opposed to the season right so So we'll see what it is. We speak to Nick Siriani in an hour. I can't imagine Nick's going to have this substantive update for us.

But we'll see. And the other thing I think to really monitor this week, too, is Dallas Gotter, right? If you recall, Dallas Gotter returned in Dallas last year. He said Dallas and Dallas has a nice ring to it. I remember saying that on the show got complete no-sell from you. And but... Well, it's not the first time that's happened. I think we told this story before.

My favorite Les Bowen Face of all time was made in a scrum about a decade ago when Andy Reid was asked about Dallas Reynolds. Yes. Who was stepping in for the injured Jason Kelsey starting against the Dallas Cowboys. And it was like a, yeah, like, are you worried at all about having Dallas, starting Dallas and less just gives a classic. Like just absolute disgust with the question. Really fantastic. The difference here is this is the player saying it and not the reporter. So that like Dallas Goddard said the line trying to get some, you know, like that was his material for the day, the Dallas and Dallas line.

Dallas does Dallas. No. A little masturbatory. I'm saying away from that one. I'm staying far away from that one. But to be serious here, Dallas Goddard's been on the on, he's been out for three weeks. Vietal's elected not to put him on IR. Now they haven't been hurting for roster spots during this time.

But who knows? right and so what's Julie's laughing because she's showing us the comment that Fran says he's tomorrow

he's going to show up and jump over the desk butt first he's done everything else since he's been here so yeah I wouldn't doubt that that's the Sequin

analogy I just put that together you just put that together yeah I thought he was just so excited to come in I saw it five seconds ago so it took me like a beat Dallas got her

if the Eagles don't bring him back this week, then it means they probably should have put him on IR. So you at least want to see Dow's got a return to practice this week. Yeah, I actually, like, I don't think it's the biggest deal in the world if he doesn't. And, like, there was a chance that he could play in this game. Like, that was probably worth rolling the dice as opposed to saving that 50 third roster spot. But, yeah, I mean, if he can't play the following week, then they clearly made a miscalculation,

or there was some kind of setback. And if AJ Brown doesn't play this week, then that becomes even more important because you want the dynamic threat in the past. By the way, isn't today the deadline for Alberto? Was that when they returned the practice on the Monday? Or was it the Wednesday? I have to look that out. Oh, the Monday.

The Anias was a Monday because it was after the buy, if you remember. Oh, interesting. Okay, so it was a Wednesday. So they have until Wednesday for Alberto. Exactly. Got it. Yeah. Okay.

After the by, they returned to practice on the Monday. That makes sense. Yeah. That makes sense. Okay. All right. Let's start with, speaking of Friends, but. Let's start with Sequin Barkley.

Okay. You posed the question as we were talking about potential ideas for topics today. Is he even better than you expected? Yes. By a long shot, is he not better than you expected? Or is this what you expected? No, he is. And so Nick Siriani was asked this yesterday.

And this is something that I've been talking about that the Eagles thought that there was meat on the bone in the running game. But you didn't quite know what it was going to look like, right? Some of this was optimism. some of this was projection. He's been even better. Look, I've seen outstanding Saquan games in Eagles Giants games. I remember his rookie year. The explosiveness was apparent.

But you see it in bits and pieces. And you've brought up throughout the course of the year, the before contact stats. When I was looking it up today, it really jumps at me because you don't just see the benefit of having Sequan. You see the benefit of Sequan being in Philadelphia, right? So consider this, right? 42.2% of his yards have come before contact this season. With the Giants last year, it was only 25.3% of his yards before contact.

Last year, he averaged 0.98 yards before contact. He's averaging 2.49 yards before contact this year. Do you know where those rank? I looked at it in his numbers. So that's a good question. I should look that up. But even, you know, I did for the basis of comparison look at Swift last year. So 47% of Swifts Yards last year were before contact.

Right? So it's 42% this year from Barclay. So Barclay's really seeing the benefit of being in this offense. And I think, too, when you talk about the explosiveness, it's pure physics, I imagine. If you're able to build up that, if you're able to accelerate before someone touches you, you'll be able to go, you'll be able to explode faster through the hole. Easier to break tackles, probably. Yeah. Exactly.

And so his also just, I mean, theoretically, if you're, if it's linebackers versus defensive linemen, easier to break those tackles. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. So his yards after contact this year are actually the highest of his career. Now, that's obviously if he pulls off a 50-yard run and he gets touched at these, you know, six yards in, it skews those numbers. But he's been so explosive.

He's been durable. Now, he was banged up yesterday. He said that after the game. He was dealing with something. He didn't want to get into it. but he says he feels good for this time of year. He's on pace. Now, I've said this on the show.

Derek Jeter hates the on-paced thing because you actually have to play it, right? But if you extrapolate his eight game numbers over 17 games, he's on pace for 334 carries, 1,966 yards. 334 carries would be like ridiculously high. Really what the Eagles need is some games like, Well, listen, that's a big part of why yesterday was disappointing. I mean, if Sequin doesn't fumble that ball and we can get to whether or not, you know, you thought there was a bad call or not.

But if that doesn't happen, they've got a chance to just ice away the game in the fourth quarter. And he can sit the whole time. That's like another, I mean, it had like 10 carries in the fourth quarter. So, yeah, I mean, that's a big deal. And he has been unbelievably productive, as you said. I was looking at just most rushing yards for any player of the past decade get through the season's first eight games. It's number one is

2024 Derek Henry. Number two is 2021 Derek Henry. Number three is Sequin at 925. 177 touches though. That's a lot of touches. Now, it's not totally out of the norm from him for an eight game stretch because boy, to the Giants totally lean on him.

Yep. He's had 14 different eight game stretches, most of them in 2022 and his rookie season when he had that many touches. but I think if you're the Eagles and you're thinking about, you know, we got to be relevant and have him at his best in January, I think it is getting to the point now where you've got to be a little bit conscious of trying to not overuse him. Now, let me pose that. Yeah, you are right about that. And some of that has to do too with like the hits you take.

He hasn't really taken some of these huge collisions, but it is every time you get hit, it adds up. It accumulates. Unless it's a snow game. Unless it's a snow game, correct. It was from Shady's press conference yesterday. That's what he liked about the snow game. Even when he got to the ground, it was like he was falling on pillows. It was like padding.

That's true. Yeah, it's fluffy. Let me ask you this, because I was thinking of this when I sent you the question. How does this offense look? How different does it look if that is D'Andre Swift or Miles Sanders in there? So not to say replacement level, but players who were awfully productive, Pro Bowl running backs in this system, thousand-yard guys, but clearly not at the skill level of Saquan Barkley.

How does this look? Well, first of all, I would quibble because I think the lesson from seeing those guys. Well, certainly, Miles Sanders. Yeah. They probably were replacement level in this offense, right? For a starting running back. So when I think replacement level, I think more like the guy you're signing. Kenny Gainwell.

Yeah, exactly. I was about to say Kenny, but I didn't want it to be like, I'm just ripping on Kenny. But yeah. Yeah. But I think Kenny's like. I think this offense would look a lot worse. Yeah. With a different running back.

Don't you? Absolutely. I mean, there have been a lot of plays. And, you know, some of it is the, you know, he's turning a two-yard gain into a six-yard game. Like, you know, Kenny Gainwell's first carry of the game yesterday is the reason why the Eagles had, you know, didn't score on their opening drive. Yeah. It's third and two. They gave it to Kenny Gainwell and he gets one yard.

And then, you know, they have the false start on what should have been the tush push. It actually wasn't. And we can get to that later as well. But, yeah, like Kenny Gainwell has had some nice runs this season. but if he was your featured back, yeah, this offense would be incredibly less explosive. I think,

you know, aside from A.J. Brown, and if you're digging him for the games missed, Sequin has arguably been the most important player on the offense.

I have a feature coming out this week on a top of... Most important might be tough. I mean, like, Lane and Jalen and Devonte. But, yes, like he's making an enormous difference. He is proving the theory of signing him correct.

Now he has to stay healthy through another year and a half, but the multiplying effect of him being in this offense with this offensive line and the other weapons is proving true. You're absolutely right. And the reason why Lane Johnson's like part of the reason why Lane Johnson said they wanted to lean on the run is because they have a special player back there. You mentioned signing him, proving signing him to be correct. I have a feature coming out this week that we spoke about a week and a half ago with Professor Selman. And I thought his points were really sound about like how,

The free agent running backs this year were special. It's not necessarily a sea change in the NFL or a tide change in the NFL. But there's two reasons why I'm writing it this weekend. It kind of works out. Dallas took the opposite approach. Dallas was basically like, look, we can patch together a running game. We don't have to spend money at this position. They can go Rico Dowdle.

Now, they like Jonathan Brooks in the draft, but it didn't work out. but even Jonathan Brooks wouldn't have been back by now. But Rico Dowdo, they've gone with Zico Elliott, Dalvin, like, just patchwork group in it. They haven't been effective, whereas the Eagles went in the other direction. So kind of juxtaposing those two teams, but also when you look at the rushing leaders in the NFL, the top three rushers in the NFL are Derek Henry, Sequant Barkley, Josh Jacobs, all veteran running backs, high-priced players who switched teams this year. Now, they went to good teams, right?

So I think Baltimore, Philly, and Green Bay went into the year as legitimate Super Bowl contenders. So that kind of proves the point that it wouldn't have made sense for the Giants to maybe keep Seguan or the Titans to keep, you know, or the Titans to keep Henry or the Raiders to keep Jacobs. But when you're talking about the value of the player, and this is, this goes back to the conversation we had at the owner's meetings. When you compare spending the Jags spent what, now Gabe Davis didn't play yesterday, but. 13 million on Game Davis, right? Or spending it on a top shelf running back. If you're a contendant. John Mooney is the same.

He's been very good for the Falcons. But if you're a legitimate contender, right? Then Derek Henry, Sequin, Barclay, Josh Jacobs, it's showing can raise the level of your offense. The Ravens offense is better with Derek Henry in it. Now, I know J.K. Dobbins was injured last year, so that affected their plans. The Packers, Aaron Jones is good.

But, you know, Josh Jacobs has been really productive there. But these teams are really benefiting from these high-priced veteran running backs. And if you look at the free agent busts this offseason, or if you look at the most probably the bang for the buck, actually it's been the running backs, whereas you don't typically see that to be the case. Yeah, I'm a little bit wary of drawing that as a big picture. Well, I mean, this is a special class.

Like I wouldn't say next year's class you would do it. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's not like we're learning that veteran running back signing veteran running backs and for contenders is a good idea. It's that we're learning that signing Sequin and Barclay and Derek Henry in those situations was a good idea. And that's the point I'm going to make in the article is that if you look at next year's class, like Naji Harris, I don't think Naji Harris. I don't think. Yeah, these were already special players.

Yeah, like I don't think teams, I don't think teams should go crazy for Naji Harris next off season. I don't think if you look at some of the other running backs, I mean, you know, J.K. Dobbins is like, like Chubbard, if the Panthers don't keep them. If they're like they're turning to Jonathan Brooks, Hubbard's been really productive this year. I don't think a team should go out and spend $10 million a year on Hubbard. Or $8 million a year on Hubbard. But my point is that these special players, the year before when Sequin, now Sequan was tagged and Jacobs was tagged, but it was a depressed market. And that's where all those conversations about like this running back union took place, right?

But what you're seeing now is the benefit of these players in particular. Yeah, and I also just from an aesthetic standpoint, like watching Sequin, I've been so pleasantly surprised. Like, it's a lot of fun. Now, he did have a couple negative plays yesterday, which we talked about on the postgame show. And he said, real quick. Go ahead. Your boy. Baron Browning.

Your boy. You know, I've been mentioning this. I mean, this is a match made in heaven. Your boy goes to your boy. Yeah. So Jonathan Gannon clearly has good taste, right? John, the, the Cardinals are trading for Baron Browning, Eddrush, or Barron. Poor man's Dennis Gardek.

So, yeah, so that is, that takes away that, that possibility for the deals. That would have been a big one for you. Yes. Yeah, that would have been a good hit. That's true. Okay. Now, if Kempski hits on Cooper, Jonathan Cooper, the other potential trade candidate from the Broncos, then I would have to tip my cap to our tip my cat I bowed it was this I was a bowing I was my cap I would tip my cat in the world was that I was

I bowed and titched yeah that wasn't a bow that was about like that like that like you don't know I think you should actually stop doing the bow okay tip my cat okay all right weird stuff um All right, I'm going to talk a little bit more about Sequin and just a sec, but we've got to get to our friends, our sponsors. Oh, Rocket Money. Can you name every single subscription you have? I know I can't name all of mine. And I'm not alone, because I just learned by reading this,

that over 74% of people have subscriptions they've forgotten about. And I am absolutely among that group. With Rocket Money, I don't have to remember every subscription, or worry about forgetting any because I see them all laid out right in front of me. Most Americans think they spend about $62 per month on subscriptions, but the real number is closer to 300. That is a big difference. Even if it's just a couple of subscriptions that fall off your radar, those recurring payments

you don't even know about can really add up. And what else they do is sometimes those prices go up. And I've been waiting for this alert and I got it yesterday. You know, when you lease a new car. You get the satellite radio that comes with it. And you know, they're giving you that introductory rate, but it's going to spike at some point. And you're just waiting for that bad boy to spike. And I got a rocket money alert on my phone.

I kid you not yesterday that that one had spiked up. And now I know, it's time to call those people and say, hey, I'm no rub. I got rocket money on my side. Give me the original price, you ding-dongs. Fucking ridiculous. Thank God I've got rocket money in my pocket. Stop wasting money on things you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to rocketmoney.com slash p.h-l-Y.

That's rocketmoney.com slash p-h-l-com. Slash p-h-l-y. Bo, big day for you today. Uh-oh. Wake Forest basketball kicking off tonight. Cop and State. Yeah, 33 and a half point favorites. There you go.

Open to 30, I think. So a lot has changed over the years, but one thing that hasn't is that Bo Wolf likes watching the Demon Deacons. God damn right. Another thing that hasn't is the great taste of Miller Light. So if you're like Bo and you're celebrating the start of college basketball season by kicking your legs up and watching a big college basketball game and with a nice ice cold Miller Light,

you should know that there's so many great things about it, including the fact that it has great taste and is left feeling. Under Salas, wouldn't award watch. It could be first round pick. There you go. They've had many first round picks since 1975. That's when Miller Light sparked this debate. and we still

James Johnson Jeff D. And we still happen to settle with Tim Duncan Chris Paul a lot of these guys enjoy the great taste

Josh Howard Yeah a lot of these play I don't think Josh Howard was Rodney Rogers Rest in peace right He passed away didn't he just get

Take that away Take that back I'm sorry Something happened with Rodney Rogers Right Please let me finish The adoring

A lot John Collins A lot's changed Over the years But not the great taste of Miller Lake. Bugsy Boggsie Boggs. It's the best light beer.

It keeps it simple, undeatable quality. Great taste, only 96 calories. It's the beer that strips away, everything you don't need, and holds on to what matters most, a light beer that tastes like beer. Less filling in only 96 calories. The original light beer since 1975. You don't need to choose what's best.

Miller Light has great taste, and it's less feeling tastes like Miller Time. To get Miller Light delivered right to your door, visit millerlight.com slash pHLY Birds, or you can find it pretty much anywhere. that sells beer, celebrate responsibly, Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 96 calories per 12 ounces, fewer cows and carbs,

and premium regular beer. Al Farukamino. I just want to, this is, now I can say, Rodney Rogers, thankfully is still with us. Congratulations to Rodney Rogers. No, he,

Rodney Rogers had a tragic accident, an ATV accident a few years ago, so I apologize to, to Ronnie Rogers for conflating that. Will you also please apologize to Josh Howard? He is the first round pick, yes. Yes. Okay, yeah.

Like I was going to get that wrong. I was trying to tell everyone about our friends at Miller Light. I wasn't trying to give Wake Forest trivia. believable. We talked about it a little bit on the postgame show just to close the loop on Sequin because we said we would talk about the negative plays. The going down when he could have gotten the first down on the second down run. I know you talked about it when you joined us on the postgame show, but in case people missed that.

He said that that was about ball security and not time management. Exactly. So he said that when he got the ball, he did not know where the closest defender was. He thought it was more important there to live to see another down than possibly risk fumbling the ball. He kind of fell unsure about that situation. When he got to the sideline, players told him that his teammates told him he, he could, He could have got the first down. And he said he should have kind of trusted himself.

He should have felt that he could get it. He said it was not a question of trying to run the clock. Nick Siriani goes over, situational ball with him. And he knows in that spot the first down is more important than the clock. He said that was simply a matter of ball security. But that's such a weird thing because he didn't like he sort of slid. Yeah.

But he wanted to just give himself up. Yeah. I think if you don't slide, you're not giving. I think if you go to, as we saw before, exactly. It's actual humble. Yeah. What did you think of the call a day later? Some people think it's like a really, really terrible call.

I still can't get there. I don't know. Yeah. I do think it's weird that they said it confirmed and not, they didn't have enough evidence to overturn. Yeah, the Dickerson part. I had not heard that before, that explanation. It feels like that can't be right. And if you just extrapolate it to the part of the game.

It kind of seems like one of those things where you try, where you try to explain it after a fact. fact and you're looking, you know, people said that Stumble's not in the rulebook. I don't know if that was just a term that they used or what, but they considered it a stumble instead of down by contact. Okay. Nick Siriani, also in focus, a day later. What are your thoughts on the focus on his fourth down decision making and game management in this game?

Yeah, you know what? And I was on Anthony's show this morning, and as you imagine, I debated with Anthony. It's a favorite thing, yeah. I debated with Anthony about it. And I saw people in the chat saying that, you know, beat writers are afraid to rip on Sirian, because you'll lose access. Like, it has nothing to do with that. Please.

I agreed with the two-point conversions. I agreed with most of the fourth down decisions. I did not agree with the play call. So I would separate the play call from the decision. I did not like the two-point conversion play call and the fourth-down play call when the head, Jelen Hertz rolling out. If you're not going to quarterback sneak there, and I don't think your lack of success on quarterback sneak before that should mean like, let's just throw this out.

But I would hand it off to Sequin. Or, you know, I thought both those passing plays, they weren't well executed or it was dead in the water. Yeah, I think you can bang on Sieriani for the short-guardage execution in this game and even more so than decision-making because these shouldn't be difficult plays to convert. And you could make the case that maybe they rely too much on the tush push. And it was weird on that first, fourth, and one on the opening drive,

they were scared to run the push push there. It hadn't been stopped yet. It was like they were a little bit worried about like, I don't know, Doug Peterson having some kind of juju against it. And that's an execution error. You run the clock down and then there's a false start. And they were going to just try to run around. And then, yes, I thought the worst thing that Siriani did was that fourth and inches play call.

where, I mean, it's inches. You got to trust the touch push there. And if not, then maybe you do kick the field goal. Well, that's the thing. That's the play where I would kick the field goal. It was a slight, very, very slight lean toward GoFort and the Ben Baldwin fourth down bot. But the win probability wouldn't have changed between field goal and go for it there.

It was 90% I think either way when I put in all the data there. So I would have kicked the field. fuel goal in that spot that go up from six to nine it was a six point lead they it would have made it a two possession game now the eagles still made it a two possession game with the devante smith touchdown of the next drive that's when Doug peterson had that awful punn i don't know why Doug punted from that from that spot there but but but the reason is is because even if you convert the first there there's still a decent chance you'd end up kicking a fuel goal anyways like you're not guaranteed to score touchdown it's not like you were in the low red zone at that point

you were at a point where you still need to gain yards and convert the score a touchdown. I would have gone from six to nine there, but I wasn't like appalled by the decision. I was appalled by the play call. I did not like the play call there. I thought fourth and inches, and that was inches. That wasn't like a long one or long two. It was digging different even than the two-point conversion was. Yeah, I would have gone for the quarterback sneak or handed the ball to Sequin.

What about the 57-yard field goal? Yeah, that one, I was wrestling that in my mind. mind. I can see the argument for going for it there. It is a long field goal. I'm okay with the field goal. Now, 57-yarders is not a chip shot. I don't buy the argument that Jake Elliot hadn't kicked in a while. Like, Jake, oh, it's a kicker. It seems silly. Yeah. That's his job. You trust him or you don't. Exactly. But that was actually a slight lean, go for it in the in the Ben Ball and Bot. That was my lean, but it was. That was one where I don't know if there's a good answer.

Like that's just a tough situation. As for the two-point conversions, I think what's important to say there is those are simple math. Now, when there's penalties, the Eagles always go for the two-point conversion when it's a play at the one-yard line as opposed to the two-yard line. If you just look at success rate there, it behooves you to go for unless an extra point wins the game for you, right? the one where there wasn't a penalty, the extra point would have made it a 13 point game. The two-point conversion would have made it a 14-point game. There's very little difference between 12 and 13 at that point.

There's quite a bit of a difference between 12 and 14. So I don't know why they would have kicked the extra point there. I disagreed on that argument. So by the way, Lane Johnson, when I spoke to him, Lane Johnson said that he would have no problem taking the points. He never has a problem with the, he said you, you want to convert. Football guy. Yeah, I don't like the argument, though, where it's like they left 10 points or

nine points on the board because you can also spin it well. If you kick the field goal, like you left points on the board by not going for touchdowns. Exactly. So I don't buy that argument as much. My issue was more at the play calls, and I don't know if that's on Kellogg or Nick Seriani. I think it's probably, it was probably fine process. in terms of a decision-making on go or not go, it just was bad result.

And then I also think, yeah, I think the play calls and the execution was the real problem. Now, I love Anthony. You can watch my show, or I'm sorry, you can watch Anthony's show, my appearance on Anthony's show this morning to hear the counter argument. Anthony said that I believe in Madden,

he believes in Andy Reid. And you live in Madden? I believe in Madden. I'm like a Madden guy, you know. Andy Reid goes for it on Fourth Down all the time. But I, yeah, look, reasonable minds can disagree there. I think, though, I'm fairly consistent in wanting to go for fourth downs. I actually had a conversation with the coach one time about two point conversions.

And I said, why don't you just go for it every play or like every time? And the coach was like, yeah, I would kind of like to, but, you know, it's kind of hard with public approval sometimes. But if your money on. It's probably also diminishing return. of there's only so many plays. Yeah. Right? Like,

but if you score. If you did it every single time, that might be tough. Yeah. But if you, if you go, you know, 60% during the year,

you've added. 52%. Yeah. I mean, there's value added. So. Yeah. Potentially.

I also, I mean, you know, who's more of a football guy than Dan Campbell? True. Right? Yeah.

And this is the, this is the same thing we talked about in 2017. They're like, it doesn't have to be, football guys versus nerds. Like there's connective tissue. Isn't the most

like macho thing like you're not going to stop us. Nobody's going to stop us. We're just going to go for it. And if not, our defense is going to stop you. Like, I don't know, it seems very connected. Yeah. Like I've seen, I agree with you there. I also think it's it's not apples for apples,

but it's like the same idea as shooting three pointers in basketball compared to taking layoffs. Like if you hit enough three pointers, The layups are good. It's long twos you want to worry about. True, true, true. I was going threes versus twos, though, right? Like, you know, if you're a good three-point shooting team, you know, if you hit on 40% of your threes, then you're going to score a lot more points than if you hit on 50% of your twos.

Fair enough. All right. I want to talk about Jalen Hertz after the break, but before we do that, let's get into Bryce Huff, Zach. And with the trade deadline tomorrow, you know, Huff barely plays in this game. One snap in the first half, I think six total. And it is not totally onerous if the Eagles do want to trade. Bryce Huff. They paid the signing bonus up front.

A team trading for him is basically getting a year and a half. And next year you have him on like a $17 million deal. But you're not paying him much of this year. You're starting to think that that's possible? The Eagles would take a cap hit of $16.125 million. There will be no cap savings in there. So it's a sunk cost. Right? But look, there was, the Eagles traded Carson Wentz, took the cap hit and lived to tell about it, right? So sometimes you just, you, you, you, you take the poison, if you will. Clearly, well, so let's just rewine. You develop the immunity to ion can power.

Let's just for you, let's read, let's step back here. Nick Siriani's explanation yesterday for the six snaps was that he heard. Never, never have I seen you so skeptical. of a person in charge. Well, that's not true, actually. I think it is. No. I do respect authority figures,

but, um, that's how I was raised. But, no, I've been skeptical of coaches and GMs and owners a lot. But,

um, I think Nick was covering for something here. Mm. Because, uh, I understand, like, if they don't want to say,

they're benching this guy or, or that they're, they're not exposing him. It doesn't add up to me that you would injure your hand in pregame and then you'd be okay to play just random snaps here and there, but you wouldn't be okay to play the game, right? That doesn't completely add up to me. So like wouldn't your hand hurt on that third down that you're rushing, but not on, like the third down on the third drive, but not on the third down on the first drive.

It doesn't make sense to me. So clearly there's something going on beyond the scenes. And then. Also, maybe you would wrap it. Yes. And then the fact that that Bryce Huff did not speak to reporters after the game, he declined comment, and that there was a PR official around him that, like, there's something that, you know, sometimes there's smoke there, right?

So, yeah, it's not completely onerous for them to move on. They've taken worse cap hits. The question is, would a team take them, right? A team has to be convinced that he would be better there than he is here. Like, take the change of him. Not if there's not much, I mean, not if it's a marginal cost. Well, there's guaranteed salary next year. I mean, I mean, compensation, like trade compensation wise.

No, we have to believe in the player. You're not just, yeah, unless the Eagles were attaching something to it. Yeah. But, you know, it's not a crazy contract for a one-year deal if you're not giving up much at all. I got a couple more names for you for just playing the edge rusher name game. Oh, I like this. I love an edge rusher name game. Since the, since the Eagles have their proclaimed fetish for first round

Former first round picks, like yourself. Hold on here. This is getting you hot and bothered. Yeah, seriously. I'm like you're talking about Ryan Nielsen right now. Get yourself a cold glass of water, and I'm going to whisper something in your ear. You ready?

Yes. Tyree Wilson. Woo! My word. You see the wingspan on that guy? Yeah. Peyton Turner. Nah.

Doesn't deal it for me. No, but just a, you know, a former first- Let's get back to Tyree Willson. Trayvon Walker. Wow. Man, now, Trayvon Walker. Blue Jew no longer necessary. Emmanuel Agba, not a first-round pick, but

Fangio connection. Yeah. And then Harold Landry who we talked about. Yes. I mean, of those guys. I think Tyree Wilson is like so perfectly exactly what they have done all off-season that it makes a little bit of sense to me. What's interesting about Tyree Wilson, too, is when he was coming out,

There were questions about like what's his best fit. Is he best as a three, four end, right? If you think about that, that body day. Real time says he's uncomfortable. If you think about the frame. That means we're doing our job. Tyre Wilson was now, if they make, if, well, I should say we have a two-hour trade deadline show tomorrow.

Yes. Fran is the man. Fran will help us with all this. But the book on Tyree Wilson coming out was like tools out of the gym. the long wingspan which I can't mimic clearly. I remember the popular thing that Bo Wolf thought it was going to be a bust. Yes, he was an older prospect who was not particularly productive with sacks, but was especially productive with like pressures.

So, yeah, Bo didn't like him. I didn't love him either, actually. And Vegas is a weird team right now. So yeah, but that is an interesting name. I mean, the name that you mentioned that really jumps out to me is Trayvon Walker. Sure. I can't imagine that moving on from Trayvon Walker. But if you make it appealing, look, just build that Georgia defense.

Like, just keep going with it. That'll make you happy. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Keep going with it. Okay. More to come on the other side.

You don't want a false mark. You don't want a true mark. That's right. And with True Mark Financial, you get that He lock. The HELOC, the Home Equity line of credit, Helock, allows homeowners to borrow against home equity with a variable interest rate. Preserve your savings and get access to funds as needed for big renovations, education expenses, or emergencies. Use True Mark Financial's budgeting tools to save for special purchases like limited edition merchandise. And transferring as little as $5 gets you $260, the good folks at True Mark Financial from right around.

where Julian Zach went to high school and they've got their reunion coming up this weekend. Can't wait to get all the video evidence from that, that Hall of Fame baseball team getting inducted enshrined on Friday. Zach. Thursday. Oh, Thursday? Yeah.

Oh, my bad. If I'm dressed up for Thursday show, it's because I'm going straight from work to... Where's the party? Where can people watch? It's a private ceremony. Oh. And is everybody coming into town? Are we getting Pete Vernon in?

Oh yeah, Pete will be there. Absolutely. Okay. Are you getting Sean Greve? Yeah, he's relatively local, but yeah. Okay. Are we getting Zach Berman? Yeah, I'm proud to be associated with these guys, but please go on with the read.

Okay. True Mark Financial is federally insured by the N-C-U-A and is an equal opportunity lender. For more information, visit trumark.com. slash p hely that's t r u m a r k dot com slash p h l y whenever i watch the the thilly philly show john marks a show um every morning 8 a m on all p h on on on p hl y i remark john's got a great head of hair and then i hear john talking about dr glatt and i say all right well you say that every time you watch even though you want you're familiar with his good head of hair can i Please read.

This is like a 51st state situation. Every morning starts with your first time watching John Marks? I remarked John Marks has a great head of hair pair. And I know that when he speaks about the clat hair restoration, the Morgan Steen, the Morgan Stern Center for Orbital and Facial Plastic Surgery, which recently welcomed the Glock Group to the practice. I know that's the place to turn. Dr. Morgan Stern is a nationally recognized specialist, and among the few surgeons in the country,

who was trained in oculophacial plastic surgery, facial cosmetic surgery, general trauma surgery, and more. As a true advocate, we are excited to have John Marks spearhead the marketing campaign on this new place, and it really educates. There's so much to know about this. because GLAT hair restoration by Morganstern Medical is part of the Morganstern Center. Glatt hair restoration is under the direction

of renowned plastic surgeon, Dr. Ken Morganstern. Doctors GLAT and Morganstern shared a remarkable bond that spanned many years as colleagues and friends from collaborating on critical research studies to working together in the operating room. So you must be wondering what makes them better. Well, it's the same peerless approach to care, the same expert team, the same unmatched GLAT system,

the same state of the art location, the same stellar results. And under the direction of Dr. Murgens Stern, a highly respected plastic surgeon, each member of this exceptionally trained team brings 30 plus years of industry experience. Hair restoration is all that they do. Glad hair can help during all stages of hair loss with leading treatments for prevention restoration, including laser light therapy, non-invasive TED treatment, vitamin supplementation, topical and oral medications, PRP, and stem cell restoration, and hair restoration surgery. Change your hair, change your life. Bald is now optional. If you want to improve how you

look and how you feel about yourself, Gladhaire has the right treatment for you. Regain your confidence, visit Glathair, MCTR, mcTR.com or call 6109804,000 to get started. A couple super chats. CDP, the Cardinals won and the Colts imploded in front of Mike Tariko. Is it safe to say Gannon is now the strongest, branch of the Nick Siriani coaching tree? Well, it's still early, but yeah, I mean, this Cardinals team is

feisty, right? And I saw a tweet from my friend Nate Tice that there was the on-sides punt or the and the Cardinals, everyone on the Cardinals knew what they do. The whole special team's called the fair catch.

And he said, he said, Ganon has these guys ready. Okay. Right? Yeah, that's Is it true? Did I see? This could have been a joke tweet, and it's wrong, that Nick Rallis' son was born and the middle name is Kayseer. Is that right?

It could have been a joke. Oh, I just know that he wanted to call the defense still. I think the baby was born that day or that weekend, he still called the defense. He would not give up his defensive play call him duties. I think, I think Gannon said he's psycho, but that must be what Gannon likes about him, right? Yeah, I mean, talk about Pod call in the kettle black. What did you think of the Gannon

candy take? Oh, that... Do you see this? Yeah, that it spikes the... He was like, yeah, he was asked what his favorite candy. He's like, what are you nuts? Spike my insulin in 15 seconds? Absolutely not.

And then he shout out Johnny from PHX. Yeah. Yeah, Gannon. I mean... Not a man after your heart on the sweet tooth front, although you are anti-candy. Yeah, I did have a bone to pick with you. I was watching Friday show.

We're listening to Friday's show because I didn't get to see the beginning. I only saw when I joined in. And you framed it like I'm anti-dressing up for Halloween. That's how you framed it. I'm not anti-dressing up for Halloween. I think it's wonderful. I said, I said, I don't do it. You absolutely said that you are anti-adults dressing up for Halloween.

I said, I have no issue if you don't. Julia. I said, I have no issue. I said I have no issue if you dress up you do this a lot I want to do this a lot you say something and then you try to backtrack it no it's not backtracking you absolutely came out on the side of adults should not be dressing up for Halloween not dressing up I didn't think I needed to dress up if you listen back I said I have no issue with that's with someone else dressing up for Halloween I think you're I think you were casting aspersions I certainly was not I

I certainly was not. But nonetheless, yeah, I mean, Jonathan Gannon, whatever he's doing is working. So if he's avoiding candy, go for it. I think he is an espresso machine in his office. That's a random fact that I know. But he really likes Italian espresso, I believe. And he has a really nice espresso machine in his office. I'm not a...

Here you go again with your coffee commercials. I'm not a... Yeah, I don't know how to make a... a latte or a macchiato or a cappuccino cappuccino but if you want to but you'd like a capagiro that's the drink in Brazil that was legit no that's full of sugar no no capriino yeah what no Cabigero is like a, you know, the ice cream place, the gelato place. No, well, the afrogato is the thing. Yeah, that's the gelato in the espresso.

That's a good combination. Well, the espresso on the gelato, yeah. You were talking about the Kiparina. Yes, okay. In any event, I did see that. And hey, if it works for Gannon, all the power to them. I have no problem with people eating candy. It's not something I do.

Yikes. All right. Next up on the Super chat front, MJ, I go back and forth. Barclay is extremely valuable, but the eye test seems to show me AJ being on the field as the most important. Don't have the data to back it up, though. I do think. I mean, AJ is more important to the success of the offense than Sequin, I think. Oh, yeah.

And that's why the AJ news is critical. I mean, the Eagles are one and two this year without AJ. The offense looks considerably better with AJ in it. AJ Brown might be the best receiver in the NFL. Receivers are more important than running backs. As good as Saquan is, yeah, if you said you can only keep one, I would keep AJ Brown. No doubt. Jason says, what time is the diehard ZB election watch show?

No, there's no election watch show. I will be watching election coverage tomorrow night. You're watching Philly's own Jake Tapper? and is that bad sorry okay I didn't is that a polarizing thing to say he's from philly okay sorry let's let's move on I will be watching election coverage tomorrow night so is Jesse Waters okay I mean I'm watching him because he's from Philly uh no I I'll be watching Jake Tapper tomorrow night let's like why Jalen Hertz is that is that a controversial thing I just said is that you framed the question for jillen hertz as has jillen hertz as has jillen

hurts turned the corner um is that what you think is going on water down um has he turned the yeah i think he's played played well since since the biweek he's he hasn't turned the ball over uh he's been efficient the he's he missed passes you know i don't know the a j one crossing the middle it comes to mind that ball has has to get out sooner there were two there were two that could been picked in this game. But I think he is playing better. And I think, and I talked about this with Anthony this morning, I think this version of, of, Jaywin Hertz will help the Eagles.

I think this version makes the Eagles a legitimate contender. I'm sorry, I'm on four hours of sleep. So my mind isn't working as effectively. No excuses? Yeah, I know. I didn't think that you did anything to apologize for. I'm not as clear and concise as I want to be today. I'm on four hours of sleep.

I mean, for a Monday show, that's actually not so bad for you. Yeah. I mean, what are you going to be like next week coming home from Dallas? Yeah, and that's true. We don't have to worry about that. I'll be on, I will be energized. What's your flight schedule next week? Next week, I have a 9 p.m. flight going to Dallas.

Ooh, Saturday. You're putting yourself in a tough position there. You've got to get sleep the night before, Zach. Yeah, but I got to be with the kids that day. Okay. We need coverage that day. Okay. I'm missing my high school reunion, which is vexing.

I wanted to be there with Julie. I'd be like, I know her. I know her, right? I work with her. We're actually going to be live from... I'll be like... I'll be like, Joey, can I sneak into this conversation? Right?

So, yeah, I unfortunately have to have to miss that. I was really hoping it's our 20th year reunion. I'm missing that. I was She was missing a two She's going to the Afro Man concert And then My flight back the next day

Is at 6.30 a.m. Okay Yeah, you're going to be a tough shape But I'm not running a car for this one Usually I run a car in Dallas But I'm just staying right by the airport So because I'm getting in late So that will chop off

30 minutes that morning Because you don't have to return the rental car Okay Okay I'll be on like two hours I'll be tired But we have a special guest in the studio that day.

We got corporate here. So I got to be on my game, right? That's right. Anytime there's an authority figure, no matter of the kind. So you've got to be obsequious. So this is a funny story. This is a funny story that Bo might not remember this, but I remember the first time Bo really made fun of me.

Well, he's made fun of me a lot. But one of the times him and Sheel really went in hard on me was my first year at our former employer, athletic. Do you remember this? No. Okay. And this was September of that year. And we had an outstanding editor Pete, Pistol Pete, as longtime viewers know. Oh, yes. I do remember. And he came up from Baltimore, okay. And then we had one of the managing editors. He came from Boston. It was my first time meeting both of them. And we're meeting them at the Navy Yard. And I wore a shirt and tie jacket. I was in like a full suit. Yes.

and I'm like, Bo's like, what are you doing? And I'm like, I'm meeting my boss. I have to get dressed up. And I get there. And everyone's in like, like a hoodie. Yeah. I'm in literally a full suit to meet them there. It was also my first time seeing like Derek Botner, Charlie O'Connor, like our whole crew.

And I remember, everyone's like, who are you? So I just got back from my wedding. I was in a full suit. Yeah. Yeah. do remember that. Yeah, I think, I think we'll hear more from Fran tomorrow for the full review of Jalen's game. I thought this was not his best game, but certainly he made some very good plays. I wanted to talk about the postgame press conference. Yeah, I'm curious. Because usually

these are skippable from Jalen Hertz, but I was listening to it on the drive home last night. I thought he was much more insightful from a football standpoint than I can't remember him being talking about like the defensive coverage on the touchdown pass to Devante Smith and how he didn't have a clear view of that throw. You know, they were in quarters and all this stuff. You talked about what he was telling you about the Nikobi Dean play. There were a couple other answers in there that seemed to me like much more willing to give

just a little bit of insight than usual. What did you make of that? Yeah, I don't know if he was just in a good mood because they won. I did notice that Devon, that Jaywin had a film crew following him or a documentary crew or he had a camera following him. Interesting. And it was his own crew.

It wasn't Eagles. You know, the Eagles Entertainment Group, they do an outstanding job. Always tip my cat to that. They do awesome. You think this was intentional, myth-making?

Well, I don't know if it was intentional, but like they're clearly, there was something being done with that post-game. They were following him. There was a camera person following him. But he was terrific. I mean,

I would take all of this. But if it's not the documentary, I said on, Wednesday. Jowen had his best press conference he's had in a while. So maybe Jalen just is kind of getting to a point where whether he's comfortable in his own voice or comfortable with us or feels like this is an area where he can improve. You know what the other thing was?

He said, and he never gives an inch of I'm not the best quarterback in the world, right? And when he said that he struggled with the throw to Devante this week, the long play action one that they got, he said he tried, he missed A.J. on it during practice. and he missed Devante once, I cannot remember him ever saying something like that. No. Like ever? Yeah, I agree.

That's good insight by you. I agree. I also appreciated the Bruce Lee quote. What was that? Bewater? No. Do you fear the man who practices a thousand kicks or the same kick a thousand times? That was a good reference there.

Okay. But yeah, no, no, you're right. Is it Bruce Lee or Lee Bruce? It is Bruce Lee. Got it. But I agree with you. He was really good. And I'll take that version every.

I think it actually is a little bit circular, whereas it's not just that this level of Jalen's performance gives them the best chance to win. It's that the way that they're playing gives Jalen the best chance to be this level of performer. I mean, they have been absolutely more rush heavy. They're the most run heavy team in the league, just an inch above the Detroit Lions. They're increasing their play action numbers. I think they were second of their eight games this season under center in this game. I think that the way that they're playing right now where it is like safer passes and they're doing some of the easy stuff, we saw a lot of motion again yesterday. I think this is setting Jillian Hertz up to be as successful.

as he can be. Good point. On the topic of the run heavy, the play action, and how players are with the media publicly, I got a few responses to some of the quotes that I put out from Lane Johnson, where some people said, wow, Lane's really being outspoken this year about some things. And Lane's kind of, there have been times when Lane's been a little more withdrawn.

There have been times when Lane's been a little more outspoken. I think this version of Lane is great. But I wonder, and you know Elaine well, you've written a lot of good stuff about them. Do you think part of this is, you know, Kelsey not being here, that he feels like he's the elder statesman of the group, that his voice carries a lot of weight. He's spoken a few times, whether it was about, you know, the need to run the ball or to have that formula. He spoke yesterday about how they should have scored 40 points. the left points on the board. Do you see any difference in Lane?

I think just a little bit. And I don't know if it is intentional as much as it is like he has been around a long time. He trusts his own opinions. He thinks that he knows what's best for the team and he's going to try to voice that in service of making the team as good as they are. And he's always been outspoken.

Yeah. So I don't know. Do you think that it is a market difference? Yeah. Now, last year, he wasn't speaking as much. And I missed that, frankly. I mean, I remember, you know, he was the man of the year candidate. And, you know, he did a press conference, but he wasn't, like, around his locker as frequently last year.

And I've covered Lane for 12 years. He's one of my favorite guys to talk to because I, first off, he's a great sense of humor. But I think he's honest. He's not afraid of his own voice. But I do think with Kelsey being gone, he does feel that it's you know i i think this might be me projecting that he he feels like he is the voice in the room and in that regard okay uh last thing is the linebackers yeah uh and you know what a game and by the way become a dieharding again this is your last chance to hop in on that

best deal that we've ever had um linebackers the two of them fantastic yesterday nicobi obviously making the play to win the game. And Zach Bonn, who, like, from the first possession of this game defensively, was flying around to, like, a Nigel Bradham degree in terms of the plays that he was making, the ferocity that he was hitting with, great stuff, and then obviously the interception as well. What did you want to focus on with these linebackers? And do you think we're going to get a Zach Bonn extension?

Yeah, I mean, he's playing, he's earning it. And I think he probably sees this as a good fit here. I don't think the Eagles are going to. to spend out of the gym for a linebacker, but I don't know if it will take huge, huge money to keep them. I did want to ask you. And you would imagine from Bond's perspective, a guy who has been something of a journeyman, if he finds a good home, he would want to, he would want to stay.

But yeah. Do you give Howie the credit on this or do you give Vic the credit on this? I mean, I give Vic the credit. You think this is because, I mean, Vic's been consistent. Like, Vic, from the first press conference, Vic brought up Bonn. And he's been... From the very first press conference he gave. He was asked about linebackers and that's the first person he said.

He's been all overborne from the jump. Yes. Yeah. So that is interesting to me. Yeah. And it's not just, I mean, it's my assumption that that's the guy that he identified in free agency because of the way that it came together. But also the implementation. Like, and he said, you know, he's talked about it.

He's like, he saw just enough of what he needed to see. And he's brought it to light. And you can also probably make an inference that I know that this is Nikobe's third year and he's struggled with injuries and he didn't really play at all as a rookie, but we've never seen him play this well. And so there's got to be some credit given to Vic Fan Jim and also Bobby King, the position coach. Yeah, I mean, this is this is the Eagles are getting. We talked about like how Sequin is producing to the degree that it is making the philosophy behind the signing look. Correct. So too is the defense and just the Vic Fangio is bringing a level of competence.

We want to be a league average defense so that when we're playing bad offenses, we can take advantage of that. Like you have seen that over the past four weeks as they are coming together. And I think that the ceiling is even a little bit higher than maybe we gave them credit for, especially because the pass rush has not been awesome. But the linebackers are a big part of that. Yeah. And I got to say, look, I know they hit on these first round picks.

Oh, I'm sorry, they hit on these draft picks from the ORE returns. And, you know, Bond's been good and, you know, they add CJ. But I don't think the talent is like so significantly better than last year. I think the coaching is much better than last year. Now, they did improve, right? I'm not disputing that. But I think the coaching, the level of preparedness. And it's probably at all levels.

I'll give a shout at DJ Smith. I thought he wrote a really good piece on Christian Parker, the defensive backs coach, passing defense passing game coordinator over the weekend. That was in Sunday's Inquirer. but you see like the way that group has has developed you mentioned bobby king uh clint hurt i you know i think guys like moro jojima um you're in thomas booker you're getting good production from from from these guys so i i i think all around like this is now four games where the defense is is barely allowing any touchdowns that first half was just unbelievable yeah um and it's

you know Trevor lawrence has put up numbers of on people this year. I give them a lot of credit. Yeah, absolutely. All right, Zach. Well, we've got a long show tomorrow. So let's wrap this bad boy up. Tomorrow we are back at 2 o'clock,

and we're going to the deadline and probably a little bit beyond just to make sure that we get any hanging chads, if you will. Fran Duffy will join us. And make sure you get that Sequo! Sure, on the Ph.LY Locker. Anything else coming up that we should talk about, Zach? No, we'll speak to Nick Siriani in about 10 minutes. So if there's news, I will have a video update on our social channels and on YouTube.

Make sure, yeah, the pieces we have on all PHLI have a feature coming out this week. And looking forward to hearing with the coordinators tomorrow. I think as you're looking for kind of like the narrative perspective, Kellan Moore going back to Dallas will be a storyline this week. there you go. We also have a watch party coming up. We've got a watch party coming up on Sunday and Mani Yunk at The Rook.

Four o'clock, join us. Bo's old stomping grounds. Are we doing the kickoff show from there or we're not? It's just a watch party. Okay, so come and hang out with other PHOY sickos as you watch the Eagles take on a DACLIS Dallas Cowboys team. All right, that'll do it for this episode

of the P.H.O.Y. Eagles podcast. Thank you to watch. Thank you to everybody for watching and listening. Thanks to Julia for making it happen. We'll talk to you tomorrow for a long one at 2 o'clock, and as always, we love you.