PHLY Philadelphia Eagles Podcast - Unhinged? Pied piper? Nick Sirianni in focus again as Philadelphia Eagles move to 3-2

Episode Date: October 14, 2024

A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Jalen Hurts led the Eagles to victory Sunday against the lowly Cleveland Browns, but once again the talk of the town is the demeanor of the head coach. Does Nick Sirianni still know what he’s doing? Is Jeffrey Lurie on replacement watch?Zach Berman and Bo Wulf talk things through with a night’s sleep while unpacking everything else that happened in the game. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Eagles have won, and yet the city unsatisfied. Another week, another referendum on Nick Siriani. We've got Zach Berman in studio to talk about it next on the P.H.O.Y. Eagles podcast. The P.H.O.I. Eagles podcast of Victory Monday. Bo-Wolf, Zach Berman here to talk about the three and two Eagles, the world beating Philadelphia Eagles. You know, with a celebration like that, Zach, you can imagine this is a team. Prime to go on a Super Bowl run. How are you?

I'm doing well. Excited for the show. Look forward to these Monday Day after shows for you. You said that they won. I didn't realize I was an actual game yesterday because none of the conversation today has been about the game, which could be problematic or I don't know about problematic, could be illustrative of what happened.

Well, let's get into it. Let's just dive right on in there, Zach, because it does feel a little bit exhausting, right? Every week of this season feels like it has been a referendum on Nick Siriani. Does he deserve to be fired? What does he really do here? All this stuff?

And yet it's hard to get away from it after yesterday's game. All the histrionics, the post-game press conference, after a game that, frankly, was not that impressive. Certainly not a chest pounding yell at the fans type performance. How are you feeling a day after? You had a chance to sleep on it. You were in that room yesterday with Nick and his kids. How are you feeling a day later?

Well, there's so many ways to go here. You can go with the kids. You can go with the chirping. You can go with the comments. There's a lot of different things. And we'll get into all of it. But to kind of, I guess put it all together, what strikes me is that the conversation today, whether it sits here, and I think we have a good show that's even, you know,

that's measured. And we put thought into what we're going to discuss. And you couldn't do a show today about that game without. talking about Nick Siriani. Talk radio, columns, you know, everywhere you look, the conversations about Nick Siriani. And I made that tongue-in-cheek quip about the game yesterday because, like, there's, there's, I don't get why Nick would create a situation where that is the story, right?

If they got blown out and then he kind of, you know, it's like look over here at this so you don't talk about how bad the team's playing. like sometimes there's design to it. I don't think there's any design to that. Or even if it was a game worth celebrating like that. Sure, but like there should, you know, your, your hundred and plus million dollar wide receiver looked awesome. This defense, which had been maligned,

did not allow the Browns to score a touchdown. I know a bad Brown's offense, but like that is a game where you can hang your head on the defense's performance. Brandon Graham had his 200th game, right? There's so many different directions, you know, your quarterback did not turn the ball over. Like there's so many things. about that game that could be the dominant conversations.

So many things about that game that were not ordinary. You know what I mean? Because this show is presented by our friends. Bet365, download the Bet365 app and use code. PHLY365 when you sign up, whatever the moment. It's never ordinary at Bet365. Back to you. So, but, and rightfully so, like deservedly so.

I wrote this in my postgame piece on all-PHLY.com. that the questions in that post game press conference were about him chirping at the crowd. Like he brought that onto himself. This is year four. He knows the cameras are on. I mean, like, you, there's what, so I keep going back to this. What is the upside? When you do these things, what is the upside?

What are you trying to achieve? And I understand authenticity. And I don't like, you know, you have to let your personality show. But there's also. There's decorum that comes with every job. And that's also ascribing intentionality when, like, that seems like a guy who's just snapped. Yeah. Right?

Like, I don't think he's yelling at the fans to send a message, right? I think he's yelling at the fans because he's lost his mind. Well, and so for full disclosure, I spoke to listener and friend Scott, Scott O, who was in the crowd, right in the section where they were, where Nick directed his anger. And now, Scott was not participating in that, but from what I gather, these fans were relentless. They were on Nick Allgame to the point that, like, it affected the viewing experience of those around the fans. Yeah, I don't think there's very little doubt that this was probably a situation where nobody was coming out looking good. That said, you're the head coach of the Feldorf Eagles, right?

You just want a football game. What are you trying to achieve? You got these two, or however many fans in this stance, let's say two, three fans who were screaming at you, fire Nick, so on. What are you achieving going over there? And we talked about this a few years ago after the Colts game, the Frank Reich situation. I get it. I wouldn't have done it, but I get it. That was emotionally in charge.

last year in Kansas City I wouldn't have poked the bear but I get it you the team that beat you in the Super Bowl this is a game coming off the by with that you didn't even play that well Yeah right and it's not a good game And I understand

There's a lot of pressure on Nick But this is pressure as a privilege This comes with being the head coach And how you deal with it matters And what I keep going back to And again like if you watch this show this year since we started on September 12th a year ago. If you've watched us going back since Nick was hired,

I know Nick, I'm not like best friends with him, but I know him, I like him, I admit that. I think there's more to him than sometimes gets ascribed. You know, I kind of push back on like the high school hiring designation sometimes because I think there's more there. But I also think that you have to say, you know, I have to be clear, minded about this too. And I look at this and I say, what if one of his players acted that way?

Like, how would he respond? Yeah, the whole post game, press the messaging in the locker room, hungry and humble, hungry and humble, hungry and humble. I'm sorry, humble? What is humble about pounding your chest and yelling at the fans after eking out a four point win against a terrible Browns team? What is humble about that? Yeah. And you, you talk about, like you talk to your team about, like not letting outside noise affect you. This is literally letting outside noise affect you. Like this isn't figurative outside noise. This is noise right there that you're letting affect you.

And so like I don't, so if you would, how would he answer the question if, I don't know, C.J. Gardner Johnson or, you know, you pick up, I just pick C.J. Garner Johnson because he's animated. but pick anyone if they're going to the crowd and doing that right what's he saying yeah you know and and so that's also by the way doing it that this was not a one-off thing he's doing it to the to the browns corners in the first quarter like on the second possession of the game stepping out onto the field yeah just having fun that part that's that's no i think that falls more into the brandon graham what brandy graham said after the game is that he told him he wants 2022 nick back that's 22 22 Nick.

Like there's that swagger that he has. Is he going to buy Shane Steck and a plane ticket? Well, we can get to the offense. But yeah, so the context there, of course, and I hope you watched the postgame show if you didn't go back and watch it. Bo, Fran, Jamie, Vinny did an awesome job. Bernie did a great, I'm sorry, Brennan did a great job producing. And so it was, but I said there, and you heard Nick Seriani say that players said to him

during the by week that they want Nick to get back to how he was. And we talked about this throughout the off season. One of the messages from Jeffrey Lurie was about sideline decorum and that maybe Nick overcorrected in this area and he wasn't himself perhaps. And that there was this during the by week, there was this idea that be Nick. And perhaps Nick felt the pressure of his job. And he said, if I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it my way and I'm going to be myself. And because, you know, if you're going to go down, go down being you.

right? So there's there's something to be said about that. But then there's a line that you don't cross and you don't scream at your fans. Like what are you? It's kind of crazy. What are you trying to accomplish? Like, yeah, as I'm saying it, it sounds ridiculous. That where, so that's what I don't get.

Now, we can get into the, because for full disclosure, I, I didn't think the kids at the press conference were that big a deal. But what I do think, I thought that him screaming at the fans, there's no upside to doing that. And I think the fact that it's become a story, and I'll also say this, because the person Nick answers to is Jeffrey Lorry, right? Nick doesn't answer to you or me. Nick doesn't answer to the fan base. Nick answers to Jeffrey Lurie. So in essence, there's an audience of one whose opinion really matters here. And so you might be saying, what's Jeffrey Lorry thinking here, right? I don't know what Jeffrey Lurie's thinking, but I do know this about Jeffrey Lurie.

I don't think Jeffrey Lorry is as moved by the fan sentiment as one might think. Like if, you know, or the media, the local media sentiment, like if you and me are saying something about the team or Howie or Nick or Jalen or if they're talking about it on WIP or the Fanatic and the Philadelphia Inquirer, like I don't think Jeffrey is as influenced by that. But I do, I'm fairly confident Jeffrey cares quite a bit about how the team is viewed in league circles, whether it's prominent national media or like, or within the league, what other owners are saying, what other executives are saying. And if Nick Siriani's viewed as or the organization's viewed as a, as almost like a circus act, for lack of a better term, then I think Jeffrey would care about that. And so I can't imagine Jeffrey watched that yesterday. And he's hearing this discourse and this national discourse today. And it's like, that's my coach, right? Like I think it's like, come on, Nick.

Now, Nick might say, Jeffrey, you told me. Well, yeah, that Jeffrey did not like some of these sideline antics in the past, specifically how it might affect the referees because he thinks there's an advantage there. But there's also a perception here. And I can't imagine what the storyline is today. is especially welcoming to Jeffrey. A couple good super chats on the topic. First from Fresh Prince, who says,

didn't Nick try to calm down Jalen Carter at the end of the Saints game? It's a bit of a double standard. I think that's honestly a pretty good point. Very good point. And then from Defop Ben Harris, who says, Girlfriend said, I need to be better cleaning up.

Weeks later, I pick up a crumb, throw it away, then pound my chest and yell at her for doubting me. That's a pretty good comparison as well. It's not, Ben. It's good seeing Ben up there. I think there are, so there are two tracks here.

There is like the psychology of it all. Yep. And then there's the football of it all. I think let's stick in the psychology where we're not really qualified first. Exactly. And then we'll get to the football after the ad break. But on the, I am sympathetic. Okay.

Like I am, I know, I imagine that this is probably a very tense, difficult time for the Siriani family, right? Like the entire city is always talking about him every week. I'm sure that the kids, like the ones who are old enough, are probably having like a tough time at school, right? Like, I'm sure there are, like, like any school, kids are like giving him a hard time. I'm sure the wife is having a tough time. He talked about it the other day, right? So that's all very hard. I imagine that all of this stuff is boiling up. And so like on the one hand, you know what? You want to bring the kids out on the press conference, it's fine. I don't think that in a vacuum, it is objectionable. It is a little bit of a disconnect with 15 minutes ago. You're on the field like a rabid animal yelling at the fans,

you know, like, and you know that you're going to get tough questions. I don't, I don't think that he is purposely bringing the kids out so that he's not going to get tough questions. I don't think that there's that intentionality to it. But like the disconnect, it's like, I don't know, you're going to the, you're going, you bring your kids to a bar because you want to like get to hang out with them too, and then you get in a bar fight, and then like five minutes later, you're just walking out hand in hand like nothing happened. Like, what are we doing here? And then, like, it's to the point where I know that the haircut is like kind of a jokey thing. Yeah.

But like in the middle of the by week, when it's supposed to be this like sobering time of like we can clear eye to evaluate everything that's going on, like at the end of the week, he's just like shaving his head off in like some weird Britney Spears episode to the point where like not as joke. I'm like I'm getting text from people in the building or familiar with Nick. Like I'm worried about the guy. I don't know that he's okay. Like I don't know if he's going to make it through the season. You mean like with his job or just like mental health wise? Yeah. Like that's the the I could say heaviest the head that wears the crown right? There's there's a component to that. We'll get to the kid part in a in a moment. I just want to address the psychology of it, which I agree.

I'm not qualified to discuss, but I play an adventure psychologist on the PHY Eagle Show, right? I'll say this about Nick. Like, Nick, Nick likes being liked. Like, he's a, he's a, now there is like the instigator part of it, but he's an amicable, like, he's an outgoing people person. And part of his appeal, you know, he talks about connection. Like, like part of his appeal is that. It must be hard being, uh, as. I didn't want to say

Lightning rod Yeah he's okay being scrutinized Like he gets that part of the job But there's there's really been a lot of distaste for Nick This this year in particular It's become personal in some cases And he He uh

As much as as as these guys say You put your blinders on You don't listen outside noise Like you can't ignore it It's it's there And it's not just the PR staff prepping them for press conferences right It's like you said He's a father

he's a husband he's got you know he he's a he's a brother he's a son like when the reality is this when when you're the head coach of an NFL team but especially a team like the Philadelphia Eagles um everyone has an opinion and you're bound to hear that opinion right and so yeah that i imagine he's under intense scrutiny number one as it is but but this year in particular and there's the pressure of coaching for his job like he he knows the terms of this year right it's not like a media generated thing he knows he needs to win they started off two and two there there's conversations about the job all like if it i can't imagine you know i i read every comment if every comment was about like you need to do well in the show or you're going to lose your job

like that that would be like uh that would wear on you probably good reason not to read the comments that would wear on you but then if if people are telling my wife all the time like zach had a Zach's second segment today, he really did, did not do a good job there. I don't think he should be doing this job next year. And then my wife says, do you think you're not going to be doing this job next year? Like, this is a very real thing, right? There's real human emotion. So I hear what you're saying with the psychology of it.

I don't know if Nick's unwell or well. In my encounters with him, he's been good. You know, I spend, I chat with him for the Doug Nuss-Myers. two weeks ago. I thought he was normal Nick. You know, we have some time with him. I thought earlier this year he was a little lighter. I thought there was a little some tense moments maybe, you know, in the middle,

after the Atlanta game, that kind of thing. But I haven't found him to be unwell. That said, I think that there was a moment yesterday after that game when clearly hearing these people throughout the game, get on him, that he felt a need to say that. And that's where, yeah, who's his, Nick Serrii, like how Nick Siriani and Big Dom are holding jail and Carter back and Clinton heard are holding jail and Carter back. Like, who's telling Nick? Nick, Tom. Turn around. Like, then he should, yeah, turn around because like, what are you trying to achieve by doing that? Another super chat from CDP, J.S. Daniel Plainview, who says, is Siriani the sin eater? Is it better for the Eagles?

if Stephen A and the like are discussing Nick going sicko mode, then discussing the franchise QB going 0 and 5 to start the game, love the program. I do, we've talked about how like this particular setup seemed destined to fail, maybe strong, but like put Nick in the spotlight by design. Maybe that was kind of part of the design by Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman,

that they know that by setting it up this way, Nick is going to always be the focus and like distract from, you know, the first-round picks not living up to hype and all that stuff. But I don't think they sound going quite this way. Well, yeah, and look, there is sometimes, like, method to Knicks. I don't say madness because that's the wrong term here. But, yeah, there are times when he specifically wants to fall on the sword for his guys not to take it, right? Yeah, sometimes performatively.

Sure. Yeah. I don't think yesterday was him doing that to take the attention away. Like, I don't think he screamed at the fans, so people wouldn't be talking about J. Nguyen starting 0 for 5, right? I actually think that the discourse about the team today would have been, I think, fairly positive, right?

They didn't look that great, but they needed to win. A.J. Brown looked awesome. Devonte Smith, you know, like your, there's things to pick apart, like there isn't in any game, but they won. the game. I think you were more impressed with that performance than I was. I wasn't impressed with the performance, but they didn't lose is my point, right? Like they didn't.

You're trying. They didn't lose. They lost relative to the expectations of the game. I don't know. I mean, it's one of those games that you win with their stuff to talk about, right? It's that. But I, you know, I don't think that would have been like this really hot button light up the phone lines game yesterday. it would have just been they need to play better but they got the win now they go play the giants

i don't understand the benefit of all the conversation being about nick syriani and by the way um if people in the team building are watching this right now this isn't media generated like your coach brought this upon himself this isn't it's not oh these guys are always talking about like no we're not trying to this isn't hot takes right this is this is this is Nick Siriani brought this upon himself. Well, I also think it goes to, like, this, for better or worse, like this is sort of who Nick is, right? And it doesn't mean that he was a bad hire, obviously not. He took him to the Super Bowl.

It doesn't mean that he's not a good coach. I just think we have sort of talked about he has such a up and down frenetic personality that it probably is not a thing that is built to last. You know, he is not the Andy Reid steady hand, like clearest head in the room. Like, that's not who he is. And probably this is always a thing that was going to burn out at some point, you know, burn bright and then leave. I don't know. And there are coaches, you know, people always talk about Jim Harbaugh that way, right? It's a great coach.

I mean, he's one of the best coaches in the NFL, but that there's an expiration date. And maybe that's the case when Nick, I don't know that to be the case. again they're five games into the season the schedule looks pretty soft I watched that game last night that the Giants Bengals game I get the Eagles aren't world beaters but there's a world where the Eagles are six and three

right or I'm sorry five and two and yeah so you want to make a bet that they're not five and two I mean they're probably at the very least four and three I don't think they're three and four I think they're more likely to be three and four than five and two.

Well, I don't know how we make that bet more likely to be. Well, yeah, well, I guess we can ascribe odds or assign odds here. Something to think of that. I think they're more likely to be five and two than three and four. Okay. Well, maybe we disagree on the floor of the Seagulls team, which we'll talk about in a second. Because with Empire today, you get shop at home convenience, the right product for your needs, quick and professional installation and a price match guarantee for the best flooring in the game.

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Now to your front door. Visit Ace Hardware Home Services Online at www. www.aisehardwarehomeservices.com to get you started on your next project. We got a nice watch party coming up on Sunday in the media, Pennsylvania. No, not the town named after Zach Berman's job, but the local one here in Philadelphia. You can come check out the game with us, $10. gets you a free Miller Light. I mean, I guess $10 free, but you get that.

You're getting that. And you get entered into the raffle, including tickets to the Eagles Commanders game and very cool memorabilia 1 o'clock at State Street Pub come and hang out with us. And we've also got a super chat. Zach from Khalif. I want you to answer this one. Imagine you are Nick's PR advisor. How do you salvage his image in Philadelphia?

Well, that's interesting because I probably take a different approach than maybe some PR pros would. I always think... Do you? No. No. I go back to the Jim Harbaugh line where, you know, be yourself, everyone else is taken, right? Because I think authenticity matters.

I think if you try, if you try to come off a certain way, you know, like I thought in Nick's opening press conference, he tried to be something that he's, you know, I think lean into yourself. Lean all the way in. Like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, like, come out just absolutely frothing at the mouth on the side line. No, I'm not saying that.

You dress like a cave man. So, so there's obviously limits beyond that. You be yourself, right? But I would say that... Call yourself the thing. I think... So this is interesting because people have... have different philosophies

on this, I wouldn't be afraid to hold people publicly accountable. I think if your whole approach is accountability, I would bring that publicly too. You know, I think your words, I don't believe in being the boy who cried wolf, right? So let's take the example of, you know, Nick's falling on the sword, in my opinion, with some with him saying, like, oh, that call was mine or that call was mine. First off, I don't think it's a very effective strategy because, like, Vic Fangio's, conference tomorrow is going to be trying to figure out which play call Nick Siriani had. So I don't know how much he thought that one through.

As I said on the show yesterday and as I wrote on Twitter, like him doing this thing where I just want you guys to know that failed play was on me and I think he's going to be doing this all year. It comes off like you're taking accountability. But to me it's like the boy who cried wall. It doesn't come off that way anymore. Okay. Yeah.

It's like I'm Spartacus. And it's like who's actually Spartacus here, right? Yeah. Except it's so obviously fake that it's it belies the entire thing. So, yeah. So I mean, I think there's nothing wrong with saying, look, Jalen can't throw that interception here, right? Or that was a, you know, that call didn't work out because this happened.

We're going to be better next time, right? I think that accountability, if you talk so much about accountability, you're taking accountability, but also I don't have a problem holding people accountable. But to your, I guess to the spirit of the question, I would be yourself, but I would also think like what am I trying to achieve with this with how I'm doing this? And yeah, but I do believe authenticity matters. And it's kind of like what made it work for Jason Kelsey? Jason Kelsey didn't try to act like anyone else. And that's what I think coaches should do more. He also understood the city a little bit better, I think. Exactly. Well, a lot of bit better. And let's, let's take a step back now and go over to the

football side here. Wait, wait, I just wanted, um, you were trying to get us off of football. Okay. Well, because we didn't address the kid part. Okay. Go ahead. Um, I don't think it's that big a deal. I wouldn't have done it if I were Nick, uh, but he's done this before, right? Multiple times before in the past. He, uh, you know, Steph Curry's done this. Kobe Bryant. Ryan's done this. Like this, Nick Sirion is not the first person to do it. I see and, and, you know, full disclosure, my friend and colleague, Les Bowen, he has a good column up on all p.hly.com, and Mike Sealski from the Inquirer has a good column up. And like, I respect where they're coming from. I disagree. I don't think Nick was using the kids as like a shield.

The questions were the, like, I think Nick answered the questions the same as he would if they were there or not. I don't agree with that at all. Okay. I mean, he's asking his kids, do you think it was loud in there? And you think the exact questions are the same? I don't agree with that at all. Okay. Yeah, I don't think the questions were that. I agree that too much is being made of it, probably, but I don't agree that it was the exact same press conference as if the kids weren't there.

Definitely not. Yeah, I think it's fairly common. And I think press conferences in general are performative, and that's part of him performing, right? I mean, I would imagine a conversation with Nick, where I know this, a conversation with Nick is different than a press conference. with that. And I think there's a performative element to it. Now, as far as why he doesn't, Nick explained it a bit yesterday. I've spoken about this in the past, just to kind of give the listeners and viewers some background here. Nick recognizes the fact that there are a lot of things that he misses, right, as being a head football coach, right? He is, from all indications, you know, a loving

and dedicated father, right? But the nature of the job is such that you're not there. That's why I don't, I am sympathetic to that. And then he also remembers growing up in Jamestown, New York, and he was around all the high school players. And he could tell you the Southwestern Central starting lineups, probably the same, you know, he could do that better than he can name, like the Buffalo Bill starting lineups growing up. Like that, like his, so for him, like, how cool is it?

Or, you know, how to put an opening drive script together? Or they were that. So for him, how cool. is it that his kids get to experience this. And like he he wants his kids to be a part of this. And you saw in the postgame speech yesterday that the Eagles put out, the Eagles do a great job giving behind the scenes content. And I should say their web and media team do that.

I don't think that's like Nick, Nick doing that. Certainly not. Yeah. But Nick talks about family all the time. And so I think he wants his kids. and his family to be a part of this. He mentioned A.J. Brown went to his son's baseball game, and, right?

And, like, he wants his kids to experience this and they grow up with these types of memories. That said, yeah, I think there is, I think maybe you do it for the NFC championship game. It doesn't have to be a random Sunday. But I can tell you, as someone who's sat there for just about every single Nick Seriani press conference since he's been here, I didn't bat an eye.

I wasn't like, oh, God, I'm not going to ask. about this topic and I think Nick's performative after wins as it is. Yeah, the dad stuff is why I don't really get upset about it. I am sympathetic to it, although as I said before. And probably empathetic as well. But I do think that it is disconnected from how he was at the end of that game. That's why, to me, it's a little bit silly. And I also think if we can pivot now to the football of it,

all of this is part of why I think, even though they won that, game yesterday, I think I feel worse about the team. Interesting. Because all of this to me lays bare. Like Nick is going back to sort of like his greatest hits. Okay. Like, oh, I got to get back to being crazy on the sideline. You know, people liked it when I brought my kids up there.

I got good feedback that I was able to like cover four guys publicly. Like, let me do that even more now. And this is a team that went into the buy, having a lot of questions to answer. And instead of answering those questions, they came out and looked the exact same. The problems that they had, those opening drives, guess what?

Three and out on the first possession, no points in the first quarter. Yeah. Like the motion that we saw in week one, static again. 100%. An offense that looks like it is incredibly uncreative and is only relying on A.J. Brown winning 50-50 balls. That's the biggest change

to the offense. And to me, what has been proven out now is that we keep thinking this is such a talented roster, like if they could only just put it all together, you know, what a team they could be. This is the upside. There's no, there are no answers coming. You know, they had, they had the by week to get like back to it and figure out what they can do on offense. And this is what they came out with. It's incredibly dispiriting. And it reminds me of the end of last season where we kept being like, well, if only they could fix this or fix the Blitz. Like, yeah, they've actually gotten better against the blitz this year. But the upside that this is going to be a really good offense is not there.

Zach, their best game this season offensively by EPA per drive, 76 percentile for all games in the NFL for an offense this year. That's their best game. They haven't had one game in which they've been a top, like a top 20 percentile offense. You know how many of they had in 2022? Five. Okay. Yeah, I mean, they've had two games with A.J. Brown. Yeah.

Right? So I don't lend as much. And one of them has been okay. Yeah. And the other one, they scored 34 points. And, you know, because, and the quarterback turned it over three times, right? So, yeah, I mean, I push back on that to an extent. Where I agree with you is I expected far more.

This is who they are. There's no, there is no big thing coming. you won't yeah so um i i really had an issue with nick's answer about the slow starts because like you say you're going to fix it at the time to fix this was during these two weeks when you said these past two weeks when you said you were going to fix it right for them to come out three and out like they did uh no points in the first quarter really stalling those first two drives to me that's that's uh That's problematic because this was your chance. The offense is still just relying on low percentage plays and hoping that our guy is better than your guy.

Yeah. And I understood, you know, I said on the pregame show yesterday with Fran and Jamie when they said, how do you think the Eagles are going to attack this Jim Schwartz defense? And I said, they're going to attack them vertically. They're going to look for one-on-ones on the outside against single high looks and have A.J. Brown and, you know, and Devante Smith try to win. those one-on-ones. I thought this was a game where they were going to try to rely on explosives. And that was their game plan. And talking to players after, you know, talking to Devante

Smith after the game, for instance, he mentioned as much. And, you know, AJ Brown said that on the touchdown, he was just hoping that being man coverage. The tight end went in motion. He knew it was man. And he said, all right, here's the chance, right? And they score a touchdown on it. But I agree with your general point. There needs to be a more imaginative offense than just our guys are going to beat your guys because that was their approach last year. And you've heard Jason Kelsey say in probably the most honest discussion about last year that there's two ways to go when you're struggling. You can simplify things or you can try to like add add more and do more. And their approach last year was to scale back. The simple like their approach on defense

was to add. And so it was kind of like neither side worked. But their approach last year as things weren't working is our guys are going to beat your guys. And the reality is that after the way they played in 2022, teams had, teams spent a lot of time looking at the Eagles. They spent a lot of time looking at J-Ewan. They spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to stop them. And you need a counterpunch. And your counterpunch can't just be players not plays, right? Your counterpunch also needs to be finding plays to maximize those players. And when you look at the spray charts, for instance, it's not a good indication of that. You, I know you have the status. I know you have the on play action that I feel yeah let's get into it because what for like the the layman everybody

knows what is the the easy button in NFL offense these days right the simplest thing play action yeah the Eagles ran two plays the entire game yesterday in play action that's the the fewest that they have done as far as the true media charting goes back which is i believe to 2016 it's the second lowest of any team in a game this season that's insane yeah why Yeah, it's a very... They also ran the ball a lot more yesterday. Shouldn't that have set up to play action? In theory, yeah.

You're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. It tells the story of an offense that is disconnected. Yeah. That has too many cooks, which is exactly what we were worried about. So let me ask you this. Do you think this is Kellyn Moore calling... Because I do believe Kelmour's calling the plays.

But as we've talked about on the show for a while now, there's a difference between play calling and play design. Do you think this is the Kellynmore offense, or do you think Kellyn Moore is calling like a modified version of the Nick Siriani offense? I think it's probably more of the latter. I think it's the, I think it's like the Kellyn-Siri a put too low offense.

Like it's all of, it's nobody's offense. Is it the Jaylon Hurts offense? That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying. Right. Is it the John Hertz offense? And you know, the no balls over the middle of the field, it is hard to think that that is not.

Jalen Hertz related. Yeah. And it's not like, I was talking to Fran on the drive-in. It's not like he was missing throws that there were guys open over the middle of the field. But you would imagine they're putting the game plan together with that in mind. And maybe Jalen just likes throwing those balls on the outside. Maybe they thought that that was a way to get away from the turnovers. I don't know.

But like, yeah, it's ugly. Yeah. So Jalen, one of the things that really stood out there in the summer is. By the way, very quickly, I did, I misspoke earlier, the, the, the, the, the, the, the, 22, they had five games in which they were in the top 10 league-wide, and then seven, top 20, whereas this year they haven't had a single one. Okay. Go ahead.

And look, is that sample size grows, I think we'll have a better indication of it, too. I mean, how many more answers, how much more time do we need to give them? Well, I think if they had to buy, they're playing a mediocre defense. They got A.J. Brown and DeVant Smith and Lane Johnson back, and it was still a very mediocre game for them. No, I think if you play two games with A.J. Brown. I think you need a larger sample size than that to say. How about we try to get A.J. Brown open instead of just relying on him winning a jump ball.

I'm on board with you there. And, you know, A.J. Brown is so lethal on those slants. And we, if you look back in the practice notes, how many times did I write this plays automatic? Like, sometimes I just wonder if, I just wonder in general, like, are they operating a different team in training camp than they are. are they so focused on like preserving the competitive advantage in training camp? It's like we're just going to run this different thing. We're going to have a different middle lineback

and a different slot cornerback during training camp. But, you know, we're going to have this real big element of surprise. We're going to put this different offense out there in training camp. We're going to have this element of surprise during the season. Yeah. That play worked. That play was money in training camp. It was money in Tennessee with AJ Brown.

And you even see it when they throw it. He's so good at stopping, turning and getting yards after the catch. I want to see more of AJ Brown after the catch. He's so dynamic that way. It doesn't all have to be the vertical game to him. But no, you are right in terms of the lack of creativity. And I keep going back to J.1. Hertz. And I understand that, look, there's two common denominators here.

Three if you include Kevin Patuo. But Nick Siriani and J.1 Hertz. But J.O.N. Hertz has played with Shane Steichen, Brian Johnson, and now Kellen Moore. If the ball's not going over the middle of the field, I think we have to look at the quarterback, number one. I think that's fair. And then number two, one of J.L., and I was saying this before, one of J.1Hertz's emphasis, his points of emphasis during the offseason.

And when he was talking about adjusting the new offenses, is he says a big part of it is looking at the catalog of plays and figuring out the ones you like and kind of working with the coordinator to say, all right, this is what I do well. So you do wonder what input he gave, Kellyn Moore, as far as like these are, are the concepts that I'm most comfortable with. These are the concepts that I'm best at.

And I talked on Anthony's show about it today. You know, I'm reading this book. I mentioned it last week. It's Michael Silver's book on the on the Shanahan coaching staff. But anyway, seriously, there's a summit that kind of happened. And Seth Wickersham did a great piece on this a few years ago when Matt Ryan going into year two in Atlanta with Kyle Shanahan. And they kind of had this meeting out in California in Tom House's house, or Tom House's home, rather. And it was about like finding ways to maximize Matt Ryan within that offense. And you just wonder if how much of this is Jalen Hertz driven and how much of this, like, are they saying Jalen, here's an offense that you're going to run and you're going to be good

in it, trust us, or is it Jalen Hurts saying these are the concepts, I want to run. I'm the franchise quarterback. Well, it's a good question. Either or. You know, who's got another one of those? One of our friends. Great taste, less feeling. What do you got?

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Rothman Orthopedics specializing in orthopedics and you. Visit Rothmanortho.com slash pHLY to learn more and make an appointment today. Check out some of these super chats. We have a couple more. Lock City, fans are being so soft. If you dish it, you have to take it too. Obviously a drunk a-hole who was on him for three hours straight. No problem with guys chirping back.

Nick putting the fan on blast was funny. all right that's a good perspective yeah I always wonder what would you do in that spot which part if you had someone chirping at at you for three hours I think you would give it back to them maybe if I had a good game

I mean he won the game like that's where that's where you and I have this disconnect he won the football game they did win the game they are three and two who we won the football game Cano.

They won the football game. Am I saying it incorrectly? It's not incorrectly. It's just differently. Okay. I have an accent. Yeah. I do think that we have a disconnect there.

Okay. Because I don't think that the, like Jeffrey Lurie's standard, the audience of one, is squeaking by a bad team. There's no calm in the standings for squeaking by a bad team. No, but it's predictive, Zach. It tells you what kind of team you have. I don't think squeaking by a bad team on October 13. They are a middle of the row team that was built to be a Super Bowl contender.

They are not. Agree. They're not playing championship level football right now. They're not playing championship level football right now. I also know that the season evolves. It could go either way. I don't think the way you play on October 13th is predictive for how you're going to play on January 13th. That's my view.

I think what you try to do early in the season, is you try to stack wins. You try to put yourself in position where if you're playing good ball late in the year, maybe you have a buy, maybe you have home field. But that's what you're trying to do early in the year. This team has as good a chance of getting a buy as they do of having a top five draft pick.

I agree. And the lions are awesome right now, too. They're not going to get a buy, the Eagles. They're not going to be the number one team. But I'm saying what you're trying to do early in the year is stack wins. I don't come away from a game against the Cleveland. But like, if they won, I did it again, if they were the winning team yesterday, 45.

If they were victorious. If they were victorious, 45 to 7. I want to come on here today and be like, everyone, book your tickets to New Orleans. I would say it's October 13th yesterday, October 14th today. No, but, Zach, we have so much evidence that point differential matters. These things are projected about how good of a team it is. So, yeah, if they weren't a good team. five to seven yesterday?

Yeah, we would feel a lot better. They would be a much better team. They're a middling team right now. But I'm saying, like, they, they did win the game. He's puffing his chest. Like, they won that game for the only reason that they have A.J. Brown. That's why they won that game yesterday, because he comes down with two 50-50 balls, right? Yeah, I mean, AJ Brown does all the work.

And then this guy over here is pounding his chest like he did the work. Look, I mean, Brandon Graham has a great. third down stop. Like there's there, there's, there's, there's other stuff going on there. But yeah, I see your point.

It's not a chest pounding game. I agree with you there. But they did win the game. They won. I just say winning matters. Winning. There's a scoreboard for a reason. And the,

these, there's our, there are standings for a reason. That was not a loss yesterday. That was a win. I don't believe in moral victories. I don't believe in like, moral defeats.

I believe in or I don't believe a loss is a moral victory. I don't believe a loss is a moral victory. I don't believe a win is like a loss. I believe there's a win and a loss. I mean, I think there's a room for both. Okay. So, all right.

Next super chat. Well, next super chat from Jilline Alde Siko Maddei, who says in the photo, BG and teammates are smiling about Nick exchange with the crowd. Is this unifying the team more? Ooh, a little bunker mentality, us against the world. There's nothing that unites a team more than us against the world.

And like this was always, Doug Peterson thrived and that nobody believes in us thing. And actually what hurt Doug was what people believed in. You know, the new normal. It goes back to a line. I've said to Jason Kelsey three times today. It probably shows how aware he was of the other fan base. But he gave that line that when everyone in the city thinks we're going to be good, end up being crappy.

When everyone thinks we're going to be crappy, we end up being good. He didn't say crappy, but you can feel the lengths, poopie or, you know what I mean. But, yeah, I think that this is a team

that is probably going to try to galvanize around the idea that everyone's against them. I don't think everyone's against them. I think a lot of people against Nick right now, but I don't think everyone, no, you could do a winner for Nick thing,

but ultimately, I think that stuff helps you in a game, I don't think that stuff helps you in a season. Eventually, if the Eagles win enough games, everyone's going to believe in them. So you've got to learn how to win without that button, you know, and I actually thought, buying large yesterday in the locker room, and I wrote this, this was not a locker room that was like, I was like, oh, we told you so now. Brandon Graham did his thing where he came off the field saying, what are you going to say about us now or something like that?

And Brandon Graham's done that for 15 years. When you get to the game, you can say whatever you want. Yeah. But in the locker room after the game, I actually found it be a very selfish. a self-aware team, right? I mean, they talked about winning ugly. You know, Lane Johnson said they need to score more points. It called it a constipated offense, right?

So I found across the locker room that was not a team that was pounding its chest. The coach was, but I didn't think the team was. Well, do you think that gets to the heart of the matter? Like, is there a disconnect between the players and the coach in terms of their personalities? I think there's a disconnect between the quarterback and the coach in terms of the personality. So we know that. But, no, the, yeah, look, I think that was for whatever reason that was an emotionally charged game for Nick. I don't know if Nick, like, I mean, I don't want to be like a hot taker here.

I don't know if Nick thought he was coaching for his job or if Nick thought, like, that if they lost, he'd be in a bad spot. But there, there was something yesterday that triggered Nick. And look, as I said before, Nick's human. We're all human. There are times when I come into a show and I'm probably, a little more like I try to be even keeled but maybe I'm on edge

more than I would like to be, right? That's the nature of it. There was something on that game that put him on edge and that he felt he needed to act that way afterwards. Can I be completely irresponsible speculation? Yes.

Just this is completely unreported. But we talked about, I mean, last week was the buy. Yeah. That would have been the time when Nick and Jeffrey probably would have had a sit down without having to have the demands of weekly game planning. It's possible that those conversations could have informed his demeanor.

Sure. You know, just like, you know, there was an idea that Robert Sawa felt he had to win that game in London, right? So, yeah, I don't think Jeffrey would have a fire Nick yesterday if they lost or fire Nick today had they lost. But I will say there were enough, like messages and certainly, You know, messages that I got from people saying, do you think Nick's going to survive this, that kind of thing? And then the crowd saying fire Nick that this is not like something that is coming out of nowhere. People are speculating this. And so Nick does feel the heat for sure.

Okay. So with six minutes left in the program, let's talk about what could be the important ramifications injury-wise for the Eagles as Dallas, Goddard, Jordan Milata and Darry slay I'll lead this game and do not return. It's obviously early. We don't have reporting on it. But if these injuries are serious, what do you think are the Eagles plans moving forward? Yeah, Jordan Milo was on crutches yesterday. And I think that was the most concerning one because he left the field on a cart. The other guys walked off. I'm not saying that walking off says you're okay. But Jordan Mila

is the one that I'd be concerned about. And he's such an important player. It would be Fred Johnson and I left tackle next week, presumably, if Jordan my lot of doesn't play now the um i think it's possible it would be fred johnson yeah i think it's possible that he would have a a relatively short leash with tyler steen not in game yeah but i think if he had a bad game that they might be willing to then if it was an extended absence for my lot of then then be willing to try steen yeah i think fred's more comfortable on the left side than the right um but that giant's pass rush is um menacing now i i know kvon tibodot is on is on the i r but you saw a guy you were real high on coming out aziz ojolari had a big game yesterday but but

Brian Burns, we are both really high on. He had a big game. Dexter Lawrence in the middle there. Best players in football. Yeah. So that's a really tough matchup for the Eagles front. Playing with a backup tackle would be a concern here. So that's an important injury to monitor.

We'll speak to Nick Siriani in about 20 minutes. I can't imagine he's going to give us injury updates. But I will try for sure. And then Dallas Goddard. Yeah, you and I both remarked yesterday Like when when Goddard went down They just did like a one-for-one swap And they were playing Jack Stoll in the slot

Didn't make any sense I would hope for the Eagles sake That I mean they played a ton of 12 personnel yesterday That if Goddard is out of the lineup That they respond accordingly Maybe not play so much 12 Although people in the locker room Like the way Calcutera played

I actually thought if you listen back to AJ Brown's comment AJ Brown's so honest AJ Brown's like, no one's worried about Grant. So he has to take advantage of the fact that all the attention is on Devante and me. Well, that's good. Yeah. Be nice as you said in the offense more. Yeah.

So it would be Grant Calcutera there. You could say the same about Johan Dotson. Maybe CJ Uzama gets a practice squad call up in that case. So we will monitor that. And then Derry Slay, I saw Derry Slay walking off. Slay, or I saw him walking in the Amia corridor, we'll see the status there. I don't believe that to be a long-term injury,

but the Eagles do have depth. You saw Isaiah Rogers go in first yesterday, then Keely Ringo. My guess is it would be Isaiah Rogers if Keely doesn't play. But we need to monitor Malik neighbors. He's missed two weeks for the Giants because of a concussion.

That passing game is certainly not the same without him. Certainly not. Yeah. Although if he comes back, I think this could be a frisky game for the Eagles. I think they open us four-point favorites. Yeah, the Giants. they have a quarterback issue too,

but when I say too, I'm referring to the Browns, not the Eagles. They lost Andrew, or Andrew Thomas is getting an MRI today. We'll see that's a big injury. But that defense is, that defense has players, especially with that defensive front. And J-Ewen hurts against pressure.

We'll see how he responds. Super chat from Jack, who has the beat on what Zach's, Headline writing would have us describe as the game yesterday. Eagles win. Jack, did both put you up to that? Yeah. I write my own headlines for all p.hly.com so you can literally see what my headline was yesterday.

Which, by the way, make sure you're a diehard and check our stuff out. Man, I'm getting messages here from people watching the show. Terrible takes on Nick. I'm texting Emily right now to tell her how. poor you're doing on the show. Thanks, Sean. Eagles 20, Brown 16, stars excel. Slow starts, linger.

What is Sean's beef? I haven't read all the text, but probably that he probably thinks something. People think I'm being too sympathetic to Nick in general. You seem to agree. I mean, Bo is dominating. That's what I says. Bow is dominating. Saying this in real time.

Yes. Now, what you have to do is you have to respond to that by yelling and saying F you. No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't dare. I'll say, how can I get better? That's actually what Nick was yelling at the fans. How can I get better? Tell me.

What would you like to see me? But yeah, the headline I wrote from yesterday's game is on all pH, Y. Stars Excel, slow start, lingers. No, no, no, no. It's not. It's Eagles 20, Brown 16. That's why you started this. Stars Excel, slow starslinger, defense limits.

I do that for SEO. Defense limits point, special team struggle, and what's up with Nick Siriani? Those are the five topics. I've got to put nudity in there if you wanted to really get the SEO going. Yeah. I, well,

I'm not going for cheap, cheap hits. I mean, you are. Good for people, Eagles Browns, right? Yeah, so true.

Okay. All right, make sure that you do become a diehardt so you can read that article and also all the other articles on the site. Les Bowen with the column. And Fran Duff. The Jeffey's analysis of the offense coming later tonight. The defense coming tomorrow.

And then we'll have Fran in studio for tomorrow's show at 2 o'clock. So we look forward to that. Hit the like button, subscribe, all that good stuff. Thank you to Brenna for making it happen behind the scenes. We will talk to you tomorrow. And as always, we love you.