Speaker 1: And the Eagles needed a miracle. With less than a
Speaker 1: minute ago, down by seven to the Cowboys, with no timeouts,
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz delivers a ball over the middle to Zach Ertz,
Speaker 1: who was able to fight to the six yard line. However,
Speaker 1: with no timeouts, the final seconds ticked off the clock
Speaker 1: and the Eagles fall to four and five on the season,
Speaker 1: dropping a heartbreaker by a score of twenty seven to
Speaker 1: twenty to the infamous and hated Dallas Cowboys. Welcome to
Speaker 1: the postgame Show presented by Rico. I'm Chris McPherson alongside
Speaker 1: Ike Reece and I coming out of the bye week,
Speaker 1: I think Eagles fates felt good that it was Dallas.
Speaker 1: It was prime time. You were getting the Cowboys in
Speaker 1: your house. The Eagles acquired Golden tATu as some juice
Speaker 1: to the offense. You figure the team would be well
Speaker 1: rested knowing that despite the up and down nature of
Speaker 1: the first half of the season, the team was still
Speaker 1: four and four and the NFC East lead was within
Speaker 1: striking distance. You had five games within a division. But
Speaker 1: unfortunately we just saw a lot of the same things
Speaker 1: that hurt the Eagles in those first eight games, and
Speaker 1: really the biggest thing that stands out to me the
Speaker 1: most is the inability to close out games. The game
Speaker 1: was tied at thirteen going into the fourth quarter, but
Speaker 1: the Cowboys get two touchdowns Zeke Elliott taking over on
Speaker 1: the ground and in the air as well, leading Dallas
Speaker 1: to the win to keep themselves in the playoff race.
Speaker 1: Now that both teams have similar records at four and five,
Speaker 1: but really this game overall like a microcosm of the
Speaker 1: struggles that have plagued the Eagles all year. Loss. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you really thought that the bye week would help
Speaker 1: them sort of cure some of these things that they
Speaker 1: had struggled with in the first half for the season.
Speaker 1: You know, coming off that game against Jacksonville in London
Speaker 1: with a week's rest, you would have thought the team
Speaker 1: would have come out with a little more energy to
Speaker 1: night if you're being a little sharper, being a little crisp,
Speaker 1: little crisper on the offensive side of the ball, and
Speaker 1: that just didn't happen. You know, Dallas plan on a
Speaker 1: short week after losing at home to Tennessee, coming off
Speaker 1: of bye week themselves, they came in ready to play tonight.
Speaker 1: You know a lot of people and I'm not saying
Speaker 1: here in the building here, but around the city just
Speaker 1: felt like this was a foregone conclusion that the Eagles,
Speaker 1: you may as well put this in the W column
Speaker 1: for them. The Cowboys didn't have anything to play for,
Speaker 1: but this is the NFL, and if you don't come
Speaker 1: ready to play, you know that team will take advantage
Speaker 1: of it. And I thought today, at least in the
Speaker 1: first half, we just looked a little lethargic. We didn't
Speaker 1: look very sharp out there offensively, and it allowed the
Speaker 1: Cowboys to gain some momentum, gain some confidence to where
Speaker 1: they felt like they could win this ballgame. They felt
Speaker 1: like they were in control of this game from the
Speaker 1: first half, and even though the scorer wasn't out of
Speaker 1: whack in the first half, it didn't feel like the
Speaker 1: Eagles had done anything positive in that first time, which
Speaker 1: is why you felt good at least going into halftime
Speaker 1: thinking that as much as the Eagle struggle, they were
Speaker 1: still within the game, able to keep it close. But
Speaker 1: fortunately the offense came to life in the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: second half there things finally started turning around. The Eagles
Speaker 1: able to move the ball up and down the field.
Speaker 1: Problem is, Cowboys were able to do saying as well,
Speaker 1: the defense just did not have an answer, and it
Speaker 1: was an underman defense to begin with, with no jail
Speaker 1: and Mills, no Sidney Jones. Then you lost Ronald Darby
Speaker 1: to a knee injury, and it was just too much
Speaker 1: for the Eagles defensively to overcome. And this is a
Speaker 1: team that has been so great at stopping to run
Speaker 1: all season long, ranked number two in the league coming
Speaker 1: into his contest, well Zeke Elliott took off. It was
Speaker 1: really reminiscent of twenty sixteen with Dak Prescott playing well
Speaker 1: in the second half. Quite honestly, he had some throws,
Speaker 1: some opportunities in the first half that really could have
Speaker 1: put the Eagles away. Okay, there was the one pass
Speaker 1: deep down the sideline. Hrosul Douglas was in coverage, but
Speaker 1: he was beat on the play. Prescott fortunately threw the
Speaker 1: ball too far down, but you see Douglas signaling incomplete passes.
Speaker 1: If that passes there, that's gonna be six right there,
Speaker 1: that's a touchdown. And there were a number of those plays.
Speaker 1: Prescott was running himself into sacks making some poor decisions.
Speaker 1: Prescott helped keep the Eagles in the ball game, but
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter when he had to step up
Speaker 1: and make some big throws, especially on third down. Third
Speaker 1: down also the story of this ball game right here,
Speaker 1: both offensively and defensively. The Eagles did not convert a
Speaker 1: first down a third down situation until the third quarter,
Speaker 1: and then the Cowboys made some big plays, especially late
Speaker 1: on third down, to keep drives alives, even third and
Speaker 1: long situations, a third and fifteen, a third and eighth situation,
Speaker 1: really able to keep things going here. Yeah, I look
Speaker 1: at that stat sheet right there, and it's been a
Speaker 1: long time since you've seen one hundred and seventy one
Speaker 1: rushing yards on this Eagles defense. And that really was
Speaker 1: the story, especially in the second half of his game,
Speaker 1: where the Eagles had opportunities to get off the field
Speaker 1: on third down and they couldn't get off the field.
Speaker 1: More importantly, every time they did something positive on the
Speaker 1: offensive side of the ball, the Cowboys were able to
Speaker 1: answer it. And I thought, Zeke just ran wild in
Speaker 1: the second half. Man, I just that's I think that's
Speaker 1: one thing that I'm real surprised about when I look
Speaker 1: at this game and I look at the Eagles defense,
Speaker 1: is how well Zekiel Elliott was able to have success
Speaker 1: against this defense. The deft discipline not there a for
Speaker 1: Egos defense tonight. So we're gonna hear from head coach
Speaker 1: Doug Pierce, I mean, quarterback Carson Wentz. But first we're
Speaker 1: gonna send it over to the link where Eagles insire
Speaker 1: Dave Spadero and Amy Campbell are standing by, and Dave,
Speaker 1: I'm sure the mood is an ominous one there at
Speaker 1: the link. Just not the effort you expected from this
Speaker 1: team coming off the by with so many big things
Speaker 1: to look forward to here in the second half of
Speaker 1: the season. Yeah, I think pretty much nothing to really
Speaker 1: like about this game. The Eagles defense came up small,
Speaker 1: the offense lethargic in the first half, tons of miss tackles.
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz off this game a bit, certainly in that
Speaker 1: red zone throw to al Shan Jeffrey early on Camu
Speaker 1: Grugier Hill missus an easy interception opportunity. Just Amy. Three
Speaker 1: straight losses at home. The Eagles played without urgency tonight,
Speaker 1: and they just did not execute when they had a chance.
Speaker 1: Again to see is the momentum of a game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: another stunned five here at home, and I think lethargic
Speaker 1: is a good word. I was. You know, after that
Speaker 1: first half really slow, really ugly, no touchdowns for either team,
Speaker 1: You're thinking someone's going to come out here with some
Speaker 1: urgency and get something done. And I'm really surprised by
Speaker 1: the Eagles defense tonight allowing ties with season highs through
Speaker 1: the air for Dak Prescott and on the ground for
Speaker 1: Zeke Elliott. Just gashed in every which way, the secondary
Speaker 1: obviously struggling to contain the pass, and then you know
Speaker 1: the d line just looking gas there as the game
Speaker 1: went on. Yeah, I think the linebackers also struggling a
Speaker 1: lot of mistackles out there. And when you look out
Speaker 1: on the fields, here were Sul Douglas and Shandon Sullivan.
Speaker 1: No offense to them, but they are not starting players
Speaker 1: on those defense. Eagles without three of their three top cornerbacks.
Speaker 1: And you know, it's just a situation where the Eagles.
Speaker 1: We keep thinking that this team will wake up and
Speaker 1: play like it did last year. Stop thinking that way.
Speaker 1: Twenty eighteen is unto itself. And right now the Eagles
Speaker 1: already four and five team with an pill battle to
Speaker 1: get to the postseason. Well, and you talk about last year,
Speaker 1: right able to overcome a lot of injuries almost, you know,
Speaker 1: without missing a beat. And here you're really seeing it tonight.
Speaker 1: You mentioned and those three dbs that were missing there
Speaker 1: and really felt their absence, really felt the absence of
Speaker 1: Lane Johnson as well, just and his impact on the
Speaker 1: offense and as the offensive line kind of struggled to
Speaker 1: help the run game get going and keep Carson Wentz
Speaker 1: safe back. Yeah, and surprising amy that Golden Tate really
Speaker 1: not much of a factor in this game at all,
Speaker 1: and understandably only knows a small percentage of the offense,
Speaker 1: only those a few packages. But when the Eagles needed him,
Speaker 1: for example, late in the game, third down, screenplay goes
Speaker 1: to Corey Clement instead of throwing to the sticks, throwing
Speaker 1: beyond the sticks, throwing behind the sticks. Not Golden Tate,
Speaker 1: but Corey Clement, who struggled in the screen game all year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I think Tate targeted five times or about that much.
Speaker 1: And one of the one of those completions for him
Speaker 1: was you saw the yards after the catch till we
Speaker 1: talked about, and he was able to get that first down,
Speaker 1: which was key there in the fourth quarter. So interesting
Speaker 1: to see, like you said, obviously doesn't completely know the
Speaker 1: playbook quite yet, but that he wasn't used a little
Speaker 1: bit more tonight. Yeah. Well, three straight losses, guys at home,
Speaker 1: that is what is shocking here. The Eagles fighting back
Speaker 1: after a terrible first half and that late drive for
Speaker 1: a touchdown by the Cowboys really kind of sums up
Speaker 1: the defenses struggles this season. Unable consistently to get off
Speaker 1: the field on three downs, third down conversions, Cowboys, great balance,
Speaker 1: Eagles just unable to really kind of take control of
Speaker 1: the game. And looking ahead to New Orleans and New
Speaker 1: Orleans team that laid fifty fifty one in a win today,
Speaker 1: that's going to be a big challenge for this defense. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the defense that well, Ronald Darby, when you go out
Speaker 1: with a knee injury and you are automatically immediately ruled out,
Speaker 1: that is certainly some cause for concerns. So, Chris, Dad,
Speaker 1: answer your original question. Yeah, very dejected state of affairs
Speaker 1: here at Lincoln Financial Field. The Eagles at four and
Speaker 1: five have had everything to play for tonight. They had
Speaker 1: all the momentum in the world, they had everything going
Speaker 1: in their favor, and they came up really, really short
Speaker 1: against the Cowboys team that frankly is not that good. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's great tonight. Yeah, back to you Chris and Ike
Speaker 1: at that overcare complex. We'll hear from Doug Peterson in
Speaker 1: just a moment, all right, thank you, David Amy. Dave
Speaker 1: will have the Eagles Live podcast, which you can download
Speaker 1: very shortly wherever you consume them, as well as on
Speaker 1: the inside Colm to provide a big picture look at
Speaker 1: everything that went wrong with eals tonight and really, I
Speaker 1: guess what's gone wrong with the team overall this season.
Speaker 1: So let's get into your three key takeaways from the game. Again,
Speaker 1: Eagles losing twenty seven to twenty and it's just so
Speaker 1: disheartening that of all the teams to lose your third
Speaker 1: straight home I can't believe it's been three straight home
Speaker 1: games where Eagles have come up on the short end
Speaker 1: of the scoreboard after having home dominance for the better
Speaker 1: part of a year and a half with Doug Pearson.
Speaker 1: But Ike, your three takeaways from the game tonight, Well, Chris,
Speaker 1: when I look at this game, I think back and
Speaker 1: I think, you know, the second half of this game
Speaker 1: is we're really everything turned and the secondary that came
Speaker 1: in shorthanded without Jalen Mills without Sydney Jones really started
Speaker 1: to get exposed. Once Ron Darby went out of the
Speaker 1: game and you had Russell Douglas out there, you got
Speaker 1: players out there that aren't used to being out there
Speaker 1: in these key situations. And I thought Dallas's passing game
Speaker 1: picked up in the second half. Dak had way too
Speaker 1: much time found open receivers everywhere. I thought Jim Schwartz
Speaker 1: had to go to a little bit more zone defense
Speaker 1: once he lost Ron Darby, and without getting much of
Speaker 1: a pass rush, Dak Prescott was able to sit back
Speaker 1: there and really pick that zone apart. So I thought
Speaker 1: our secondary struggled at times, even the rookie Beante Maddox
Speaker 1: having to play two different spots, having to play safety
Speaker 1: versus regular offenses. And then when they win an eleven
Speaker 1: person and brought Cole Beasley in, he had to come
Speaker 1: down and play in the slot. And then I look
Speaker 1: at the offensive side of the football, just still having
Speaker 1: put together four quarters of play. Another slow start interception
Speaker 1: in the first half from Carson Where can't have that
Speaker 1: on his first drive? You know, they moved the ball
Speaker 1: down the field and they can't convert on fourth down.
Speaker 1: When Doug decides to go forth as opposed to kicking
Speaker 1: the field goal, taking three there, so you come up
Speaker 1: with an empty possession there. And then third downs in
Speaker 1: the first half. I mean what we say they didn't
Speaker 1: convert a third down into the second Yeah, oh for
Speaker 1: five on third downs early in the game. Its just
Speaker 1: too big of a hole, and I think too big
Speaker 1: of a momentium hole to dig out of for the offense.
Speaker 1: They gave their best effort, but it's too much of
Speaker 1: a slow start. And then tackling. I just thought the
Speaker 1: tackling either we wore down in the second half or
Speaker 1: we were just out there as if we hadn't been
Speaker 1: practicing tackling in a long time. I mean, some of
Speaker 1: these runs Ezekiel Elliott had in the second half, there
Speaker 1: were opportunities for guys to bring him down. He was
Speaker 1: able to run through tackles. I saw receivers when they
Speaker 1: caught the ball in the open field able to break tackles.
Speaker 1: Primarily on key third down situations. We just didn't tackle
Speaker 1: very well. There were opportunities were had one guy two
Speaker 1: guys there, and you'd see a Dallas runner or a
Speaker 1: receiver able to break free and pick up extra yard.
Speaker 1: And so I look at those three phases, or those
Speaker 1: three elements of tonight's game, and I say all three
Speaker 1: of those factors contributed big time to this Eagle's loss tonight.
Speaker 1: You know, you were encouraged early on because the defensive line,
Speaker 1: without the aid of a blitz was getting to press,
Speaker 1: get in there and really you know, dealing some damage
Speaker 1: early on in this ball game. And then even in
Speaker 1: the start of the second half, first play on offense
Speaker 1: for the Cowboys, Michael Bennet comes in, you know, they
Speaker 1: try to do the bootleg. Now Bendon fall four or
Speaker 1: was able to slap Scott there to get the sack,
Speaker 1: and you felt, all right, maybe they're setting the tone
Speaker 1: they're gonna bring here in the second half. And it
Speaker 1: almost just went off the cliff from there for the
Speaker 1: most part there. So that's that's where you wonder if
Speaker 1: Dallas dominating the time of possession in the first half
Speaker 1: led to the wear down effect that you mentioned there
Speaker 1: in the second half there for the Eagles. And also
Speaker 1: just the depth along the defensive line. You know, with
Speaker 1: older guys like Brandon Graham and song On Michael benn
Speaker 1: you're asking a lot of those three guys in particular,
Speaker 1: for them to come up big throughout the course of
Speaker 1: the game without the aid of a blitz, it's very
Speaker 1: tough for them. And then you're not really getting as
Speaker 1: much penetration inside because it's Fletcher Cox and if they
Speaker 1: slide Michael Bennet in there, if they put Brandon Graham
Speaker 1: in there, that's where you're getting the interior pass rush from.
Speaker 1: You're not really getting it from the other defensive tackles
Speaker 1: on the team because you know, obviously don't have Tim
Speaker 1: Jernigan still to this point, and in Hellode Nod he's
Speaker 1: more of a run defender or stuff for at this point,
Speaker 1: he's not going to provide that pass rush punch for
Speaker 1: you there. So you know you're lacking the tools inside there,
Speaker 1: and just the death overall is being strained. And then
Speaker 1: in the secondary again you're already starting with Seuel Douglas, okay,
Speaker 1: because you were without Jael and Mills and Sidney Jones.
Speaker 1: But then all of a sudden, Rod Darby goes out
Speaker 1: and you have to go to Channon Sullivan, you know,
Speaker 1: who's rookie for agent, who's just called up from the
Speaker 1: practice squad. He's just trying to make his way on
Speaker 1: the team. And then you mentioned Avante Max, who hats
Speaker 1: off to him. All right, I give him kudos for,
Speaker 1: you know, settling in nicely at safety, but then now
Speaker 1: being asked to go in and play that slock corner
Speaker 1: position against Cole Beasley, who was one of the guys
Speaker 1: you had the key in on. He was probably really
Speaker 1: Prescott's go to guys as much as Amark Cooper will
Speaker 1: probably become a bigger part of the offense for them
Speaker 1: as Cooper gets more in trench with that scheme. Cole
Speaker 1: Beasley has been the guy on the slot and he's
Speaker 1: given the Eagles fits for years. So you didn't know
Speaker 1: if you were gonna stick Max there or maybe go
Speaker 1: with Malcolm Jenkins. But Malcolm Jenkins has had his struggles
Speaker 1: with Cole Beasley over the year. So just shorthanded your shorthand.
Speaker 1: It's tough, real shorthanded. And I thought I thought the
Speaker 1: d line played about as well as they could. I
Speaker 1: agree they were shorthanded, but I thought the back end
Speaker 1: of the defense really struggled tonight. They really did, whether
Speaker 1: it was tackling once runners got to the second level
Speaker 1: or whether it was covering guys. So wide receiver was
Speaker 1: running open in the secondary, and then the tackling in
Speaker 1: the secondary I didn't think was very good tonight. I
Speaker 1: thought the effort from the guys up front it was there.
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, they kept pressure on Dak Prescott
Speaker 1: as much as they could. I thought they played the run.
Speaker 1: You gotta get Dallas' offensive line a lot of credit.
Speaker 1: They're a little banged up, but they are still a
Speaker 1: formidable offensive line, and when they commit to the running game,
Speaker 1: they can be very successful at doing it. But if
Speaker 1: you get everybody rally into the football and then wrapping
Speaker 1: up to make tackles, um, I think you'll bringing guys down.
Speaker 1: I'm thinking about a key play on a third down
Speaker 1: where Ron Darby, before he got banged up, had a
Speaker 1: chance to tackle Amari Cooper. He tried to shackle, which
Speaker 1: which had worked at times this season, but that kid situation,
Speaker 1: you got to wrap up. He just bounded the Cooper
Speaker 1: bounce off and got it was a third down conversion.
Speaker 1: You know. It was one of those things early on
Speaker 1: where all right, maybe is it a big play throughout
Speaker 1: the course of the game. No, but it's just one
Speaker 1: of those little things that you could just pick on
Speaker 1: in point to to say, this is what's been wrong
Speaker 1: with the tackling effort throughout the course of the season,
Speaker 1: because that's, you know, the type of tackler that Ronald
Speaker 1: Darby has been true. Yeah, right there, So you get
Speaker 1: to actually the offense right from the jump. Okay, the
Speaker 1: Eagles law the coin toss, so the Cowboys deferred to
Speaker 1: go take the ball in the second half. So you say,
Speaker 1: all right, great, we're gonna see Carson Wentz, We're gonna
Speaker 1: see Golden Tate right from the jump. And then the
Speaker 1: first drive it's an interception from Carson Wentz, which you know,
Speaker 1: it seemed like he predetermined to throw. You know, you figured, okay,
Speaker 1: you know you got the rookie vander Esh Laton Vanderesh
Speaker 1: a linebacker. I'm gonna look to the left trying to
Speaker 1: get him to pull over. Vanderest didn't fit for a
Speaker 1: one bit. I know Sean Lee wasn't out there for
Speaker 1: the Cowboys. I but Vanderest did a very nice job
Speaker 1: staying in, not being fooled by the misdirection and this
Speaker 1: staying home and getting the interception. Yeah, I mean, just
Speaker 1: just to play that. You know, Carson, you can't make
Speaker 1: that play. I mean, I understand you. You you you're anticipating,
Speaker 1: you know, Layton vander esh moving with you because you
Speaker 1: go to your left first. But Rookie is playing zone
Speaker 1: defense back there. They've seen that play. You know, you
Speaker 1: got zach Ertz on the back back side of that,
Speaker 1: and so he's sitting there in that hole, uh, covering
Speaker 1: his zone and Carson predetermined that's where he was going
Speaker 1: to throw the ball. So and then he came back.
Speaker 1: He throws it without looking, and it's an interception that
Speaker 1: you can't have. It's your opening drive. Not only that,
Speaker 1: you give the ball to the Cowboys right and scoring
Speaker 1: position and Dallas they get three points right off the top,
Speaker 1: and so you put yourself behind the a ball immediately. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, the Eels never led in this ball game. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's what's shocking to me is the Eagles, as back
Speaker 1: and forth as it was, the Eels were able to
Speaker 1: tie the game, you know, going into the fourth quarter
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter. They never led in this contest
Speaker 1: at home. So we look at the numbers for Carson
Speaker 1: Wentz there completing yeah again, seventy two almost seventy three
Speaker 1: percent of his passes, three hundred and sixty yards, you know,
Speaker 1: two touchdowns in your interception, and I credit Carson, while
Speaker 1: I know Dave brought up the point that the accuracy
Speaker 1: and some of the timing with the receivers wasn't there tonight,
Speaker 1: and he rightfully pointed to the play in the end
Speaker 1: zone to Alshon Jeffrey, where Jeffrey I think did the
Speaker 1: right job sitting down in his own coverage. Carson Wentz
Speaker 1: tried to continue to lead him with the pass to
Speaker 1: end up getting broken up there. But there were times
Speaker 1: where defenders were draped on Carson and he couldn't step
Speaker 1: into throws. You know, I think about the one pass
Speaker 1: to Alshon Jeffrey. I believe it was late in the
Speaker 1: first half and Shadowe Woozier came over and made a
Speaker 1: great pass breakup because if Carson could step into the throw,
Speaker 1: make it a laser, Yeah, it's gonna be there. It's
Speaker 1: there for them. But unfortunately Carson Wentz, you know, did
Speaker 1: what he could in the pocket, but you know, the
Speaker 1: pressure there were bodies around him all throughout the course
Speaker 1: of the night and it probably affected the timing, you know,
Speaker 1: and the throws and the delivery and just the processing.
Speaker 1: Knowing that consistently, the pressure was gonna be around him. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think the interception early throwing him off a little bit.
Speaker 1: I think he became a little big gun shy, which
Speaker 1: is something we're not used to seeing when it comes
Speaker 1: to Carson Wentz. You know, I thought in that first
Speaker 1: half there were a lot of balls that he was
Speaker 1: thrown to open receivers and the receivers had to go
Speaker 1: to the ground to catch the ball and they were open,
Speaker 1: and you just we're used to seeing Carson hit guys
Speaker 1: between their numbers where they can run after they catch
Speaker 1: the ball. And I thought in that first half he
Speaker 1: had some throws there where he got picked up by
Speaker 1: his receivers like an alshon Zach. They all had to
Speaker 1: go down to the ground to sort of catch balls.
Speaker 1: And I think it was because of the first interception
Speaker 1: he just became a little bit gunshot, because you're spending
Speaker 1: two weeks telling yourself, I'm gonna take care of the football.
Speaker 1: He had turned the ball over, you know, some of
Speaker 1: them not his fault, getting sacked, fumbling from behind, you
Speaker 1: know that stuff. You think about it over the bye
Speaker 1: week and you want to make sure you take care
Speaker 1: of the football. And he comes out on that opening drive,
Speaker 1: and has that happened. I just remember the picture of
Speaker 1: him walking to the sideline and he's looking up at
Speaker 1: the sky saying, oh, you know better than that, You
Speaker 1: know better than that, and why would you do that?
Speaker 1: So I thought he settled down in the second half.
Speaker 1: Certainly made a lot of big throws in the second half.
Speaker 1: That was a nice deep ball he threw to Nelson,
Speaker 1: sort of get them back in the scoring. Just can't have,
Speaker 1: you know, just can't have the games where you only
Speaker 1: play a half. And that's really been the trademark of
Speaker 1: this team this year is that they've yet to put together,
Speaker 1: with the exception of the Giants game, they yet to
Speaker 1: put together four quarters of good football. And that's why
Speaker 1: you've seen the up and down play. You see them
Speaker 1: play well in spurts, and either they can't hold onto
Speaker 1: a league like the Tennessee game or the Carolina game,
Speaker 1: or they find themselves picking it up a little bit
Speaker 1: too late, like the Minnesota game, like the game to Night,
Speaker 1: where you finally get the offense going in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: but by then it's too late, it's too late, and
Speaker 1: then you know, a valiant effort given tonight, But you know,
Speaker 1: it's happened far too many times this year where you
Speaker 1: walk away from a football game saying, man, we had it,
Speaker 1: We had our chances, We had more than our opportunities
Speaker 1: to win this football game to night, and I thought
Speaker 1: in the first half they didn't get anything going, which
Speaker 1: really made a bigger hole for them to have to
Speaker 1: dig out of us. You can live with it if
Speaker 1: this is the first time you're doing the would have,
Speaker 1: could have should a game? Okay, you know, And to me,
Speaker 1: I thought the Minnesota game, they were pretty much outplayed
Speaker 1: in that game throughout the course of it, so I
Speaker 1: don't even think that was one of the ones they
Speaker 1: could have won. It's really the Carolina game in the
Speaker 1: Tennessee game. Those two games are the ones, and now
Speaker 1: tonight you added into the mix. Those are the three
Speaker 1: when you're looking back at the end of the season
Speaker 1: that you're going to be saying to yourself, if they
Speaker 1: could have just closed the game out, it would have
Speaker 1: made all the difference in the world there. But for
Speaker 1: whatever reason, the offense is not able to get things
Speaker 1: going early. And it's especially disappointed because again you're coming
Speaker 1: off the bye week, so you've had time to self scout.
Speaker 1: You've been extra time to prepare for the Cowboys, and
Speaker 1: the Cowboys are coming off the short week, a demoralizing
Speaker 1: loss to Tennessee because they probably figured that game was
Speaker 1: in their building. They should have been able to win
Speaker 1: that one. They were getting Amari Cooper, that was their
Speaker 1: their big new shiny toy here the first Core touchdown.
Speaker 1: You know, they look they were about to go fourteen
Speaker 1: nothing and then Prescott through the red zone touchdown, and
Speaker 1: all of a sudden things fell apart from there. And
Speaker 1: then the Cowboys couldn't stop the Titans on third down
Speaker 1: in that game. It was the opposite tonight. They flipped
Speaker 1: the script and the Eagles just could not get anything
Speaker 1: going on third down until late. Kudos to Jordan Matthews
Speaker 1: who had a couple of key third down conversion, especially
Speaker 1: a third and long there in the second half. But overall, though,
Speaker 1: that third down offense is not doing enough to keep
Speaker 1: the offense on the field to probably also save some
Speaker 1: of the stamina for the defense as well. And that's
Speaker 1: really the big difference this year, you know, compared to
Speaker 1: last year is very point. The Eagles found ways to
Speaker 1: close out games, you know, whether it was with their
Speaker 1: defense coming up with big stops like the game against
Speaker 1: Carolina last year, or whether it was their offense closing
Speaker 1: out games with the lead, being able to put their
Speaker 1: foot on the team's throat. It's far too many times
Speaker 1: this year that they haven't been able to close out
Speaker 1: football games. And the other thing that's happened in this
Speaker 1: year that didn't happen last year's time of possession. The
Speaker 1: Eagles were number one in the league last year in
Speaker 1: time of possession, and they've had a few games this
Speaker 1: year where the opposing team has had the ball more
Speaker 1: than they did. And that was the story of to night,
Speaker 1: is that that for half, it seemed like Dallas had
Speaker 1: the ball like twenty minutes in the first half to
Speaker 1: the Eagles ten. So you brought up this point earlier
Speaker 1: about you know, the defense possibly being worn down in
Speaker 1: that fourth quarter because of how long the Cowboys offense
Speaker 1: was out there in the first half. That is a possibility.
Speaker 1: But you look at this team and you say, for
Speaker 1: whatever reason, they can't close out football games this year.
Speaker 1: You know, last year that was the mark of a
Speaker 1: championship team being able to win those close games, you know,
Speaker 1: and this year we just haven't found ways to be
Speaker 1: able to win the close games. It's funny, it's almost
Speaker 1: been the opposite, where we found ways to lose the games. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's funny that you say that you're comparing this year
Speaker 1: to last year. I thought you're gonna go with the
Speaker 1: third down because the Eagles were phenomenal. Yeah, Beags were.
Speaker 1: I was standing on third down and in the red
Speaker 1: zone last year and tonight it was a microcosm of
Speaker 1: the entire season, just struggling in both regards. So it
Speaker 1: just it just hurts so much, hurts the soul seeing Dallas,
Speaker 1: you know, almost bring back twenty sixteen the way that
Speaker 1: they did tonight with Dak and with Zeke Elliott thriving
Speaker 1: the way they did, and you know, dealing and handing
Speaker 1: the Eagles such a difficult loss at home. You know,
Speaker 1: the Eagles Cowboys series has not been great for the
Speaker 1: Eagles at the link. Really the better part of the
Speaker 1: last ten seasons. I would say it seems like it's
Speaker 1: either NDF season games every meaningless. Last year the Eagles
Speaker 1: had everything wrapped up the previous season. The Cowboys did.
Speaker 1: But you almost you have to go back Roy to
Speaker 1: two thousand and eight. It was the forty four to
Speaker 1: six game where you can have a good memory of
Speaker 1: an Eagles Cowboys home game. You know, during that time,
Speaker 1: most of the most of the time, the Cowboys have
Speaker 1: had the upper hand here in Philly. Yeah, and we
Speaker 1: used to go down there and play well. And Dallas,
Speaker 1: that's that's where the good memories are. They're all down
Speaker 1: there for the most part. Dallas just one of those
Speaker 1: weird series. And you know, the Cowboys coming in here
Speaker 1: to night. Give them credit. They didn't come in here
Speaker 1: and lay down. They came in and played like is
Speaker 1: that they had something to play. They had more energy
Speaker 1: to night. That's the thing, at least, you're right. The
Speaker 1: more so the defense and their defense came in and
Speaker 1: played until their offense could get something going, until their
Speaker 1: offense could sort of find some sort of momentum, their
Speaker 1: defense cap him in the game. And then really that's
Speaker 1: been um um, their their calling card all year long.
Speaker 1: It has been their defense. Their defense third in the
Speaker 1: league and points giving up. So you know, it's going
Speaker 1: to be difficult to move the ball against him. You know,
Speaker 1: DeMarcus Lawrence is a is a All Pro defensive end.
Speaker 1: You know, no Lane Johnson out there to night I
Speaker 1: didn't think Carson was under a ton of pressure, but
Speaker 1: he was under some pressure out there to night, and
Speaker 1: even when he didn't get sacked, you could see the
Speaker 1: pocket sort of collapsing on him a little bit. So, um, well,
Speaker 1: they showed on the broadcast that he would you know,
Speaker 1: the defender would have it an arm. But he's still
Speaker 1: able to Carson strong enough, to his credit, to be
Speaker 1: able to escape and get out of it though. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and that's one of the things you have to be
Speaker 1: able to do playing a quarterback in this league. All right,
Speaker 1: listen it over to a length to hear from head
Speaker 1: coach Doug Pearson on the loss. You guys, five gund
Speaker 1: what do you think is the running light hand you
Speaker 1: get started on this first drives? Yeah, something that we
Speaker 1: talked about each week, trying to start fast and obviously
Speaker 1: it's not getting done. Um yeah, we just got to
Speaker 1: continue to evaluate it, you know, and and uh and
Speaker 1: see see why you know, we're we're coming up a
Speaker 1: little bit short, whether it's the yard or two. Um,
Speaker 1: it's something that uh, you know, we we've got to
Speaker 1: we continue to address it and I gotta make sure
Speaker 1: we fix it. Two and the fourth quarter it was
Speaker 1: a five yard loss. What happened on that play there, well,
Speaker 1: we anticipated pressure and we got it and and the
Speaker 1: throw right there was you know to Corey and and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, without watching the tape because we was on
Speaker 1: the far sideline, can't really tell you exactly you know
Speaker 1: what happened. But um, you know, anticipated the pressure, we
Speaker 1: got it, trying to get the ball out quick and
Speaker 1: and uh try to execute the play. Failed to do.
Speaker 1: That team in the locker room after the game messages
Speaker 1: basically is pretty simple. UM, starting with myself, all of us, Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, we just look at ourselves in the mirror
Speaker 1: and um, are we are we doing enough? Are we
Speaker 1: giving enough? Um? Each week it's a strain. I mean
Speaker 1: you have to you have to strain yourself to make plays.
Speaker 1: I mean that's just the way this game is. And uh,
Speaker 1: we didn't do enough of that today. And that's that's
Speaker 1: the disappointing thing. Um, you know, and and just just
Speaker 1: gave up too many, too many plays defensively and then
Speaker 1: an offense didn't execute uh you know enough. H And
Speaker 1: so that's the that's the disappointing, disappointing thing. But each person,
Speaker 1: each coach, UM, each player in that locker room. We
Speaker 1: have to we have to really look at it, at
Speaker 1: yourself and and and decide every day you come to
Speaker 1: work that that you're going to give your best and
Speaker 1: you're gonna do everything you can to get better and
Speaker 1: help this team win. You get So it came out
Speaker 1: of the halftime locker room angry, fired on the whole
Speaker 1: team did right? It all fizzled out? What happened? Guys
Speaker 1: were excited. I mean we had three and out on defense,
Speaker 1: exactly what we talked about at halftime. Offense was able
Speaker 1: to go down and and I believe you get points
Speaker 1: on that next drive and and and it just felt like,
Speaker 1: you know, things were beginning to turn for us. Um,
Speaker 1: And I don't know that's the that's the you know,
Speaker 1: the disheartening thing is is something we got to look
Speaker 1: at and I've got to look at, you know, and
Speaker 1: and make sure that um, whether the guys are fresh
Speaker 1: going into games, um, you know, if uh, you know
Speaker 1: how we practice it, just a lot of a lot
Speaker 1: of things can factor into some of that stuff, you know.
Speaker 1: And and then and then just just keep talking and
Speaker 1: keep reiterating the point to the guys that that we
Speaker 1: have to continue to finish. We got to finish in practice. Uh.
Speaker 1: It just can't you know, show up in a game
Speaker 1: and expect to finish a drive or finish a game.
Speaker 1: You know, we got to do those things during the week.
Speaker 1: The handle before um he had he had you know,
Speaker 1: I guess a short answer would be, yeah, Um, we
Speaker 1: had a certain number of plays for him and wanted
Speaker 1: to get him, get him into the game and just
Speaker 1: get him uh some some touches. And and I thought
Speaker 1: one thing we did do was, you know, uh, we
Speaker 1: we did spread the ball around, um, whether it's through
Speaker 1: RPOs or play action or even just straight dropback and
Speaker 1: o Zac had you know, I don't know, fourteen or
Speaker 1: sixteen targets or something like that. But but he's the
Speaker 1: type of player that can handle that, you know, and
Speaker 1: and al Shan as well. So um, as we go,
Speaker 1: we'll continue to to increase the things that we do
Speaker 1: with him. Went into the play call one that josh
Speaker 1: Adam was up collect Yeah again offense. Uh you know,
Speaker 1: it was just a design to uh um uh you know,
Speaker 1: basically circle the defense and and pen pending only thing
Speaker 1: that kills the player's penetration. And and we allowed the
Speaker 1: penetration to happen and and stopped stop the runs, poured
Speaker 1: it down to Zach just what you see on that
Speaker 1: play where how much death is he supposed to get
Speaker 1: on that? Uh? In regards to the point, Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: a it's a route that that's uh, it's gonna you know,
Speaker 1: uh again, it's gonna get you the you know, get
Speaker 1: you the fourth down or get you any down. Really.
Speaker 1: Um and uh, I give credit to you know, to Dallas,
Speaker 1: to Heath. I mean he came up and it was
Speaker 1: a contested catch, you know, Zact did a great ball
Speaker 1: was a little bit high, but um, you know he
Speaker 1: came down with the ball and we were just uh
Speaker 1: you know, about a half a yur short. So just
Speaker 1: a great play by them. And and and it was
Speaker 1: a play that uh, you know I would call again. Um,
Speaker 1: just you're putting it in Carson's hands, You're putting it
Speaker 1: in Zack's hands. And and that's that's what you want.
Speaker 1: Message you had after the game, It's been said before
Speaker 1: this year, at what point are you concerned that this
Speaker 1: is who you are not games into the season. Well,
Speaker 1: I mean if we got to change who we are, then, um,
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that uh. Um, you know we have to
Speaker 1: go out and grab a whole bunch of new players
Speaker 1: or anything like that. I mean, you know, Um, we
Speaker 1: just got to continue to work and continue to coach
Speaker 1: and and teach and and get better and um, you know,
Speaker 1: we we just got to do. We just gotta do
Speaker 1: a little bit more each week. It's not a it's
Speaker 1: not not a bunch of big changes, you know. Um,
Speaker 1: we're close in a lot of areas. Um, but uh
Speaker 1: but you know, to each man, uh, coaches and players,
Speaker 1: we have to you know, decide when we come to
Speaker 1: work that we're gonna we're gonna give our best today
Speaker 1: and we're gonna get ready for for another another. You know,
Speaker 1: good team, different team points the night before the quarter
Speaker 1: twenty one against Carolina, are they wearing down? Well? I
Speaker 1: think I think one of the things that that we
Speaker 1: knew coming into this game was that we were gonna
Speaker 1: get a steady diet of the of the run game,
Speaker 1: you know. And and Zeke was he's a big back,
Speaker 1: he's a powerful back, and um, you know, probably some
Speaker 1: of that a little bit, you know, but but uh,
Speaker 1: you know we also uh um I thought you know, overall,
Speaker 1: we didn't we didn't tackle great. You know, that's one
Speaker 1: of the areas that that we gotta get better at
Speaker 1: two is tackling, tackling in space, tackling, um, you know,
Speaker 1: in the box, and just making sure that, um, you know,
Speaker 1: we get the guys on the ground and there's there
Speaker 1: were too many yards after contact and and uh things
Speaker 1: like that, and and with those are areas that we
Speaker 1: gotta we gotta concentrate on. You've got a lot of
Speaker 1: injuries in the secondary, you had dow Line Johnson, You've
Speaker 1: had a bunch of injuries, and the skill positions and
Speaker 1: new injuries starting to uh have an effect on the team. Well,
Speaker 1: I think I think uh, um, I think it can.
Speaker 1: But but uh, you know, you know you've been around
Speaker 1: us enough to know that that we we we're not
Speaker 1: going to let that be an excuse. You know, it's
Speaker 1: the next band up mentality, and and we just got
Speaker 1: to make sure that the next guy is ready to
Speaker 1: go and paired, and um, you know, in in in
Speaker 1: in Lane's case, I mean obviously big vib you know
Speaker 1: steps in and does a great job. He does the
Speaker 1: same thing for JP, and he plays he plays well.
Speaker 1: So um, you know, we just gotta we just gotta
Speaker 1: keep keep fighting. I mean one and one in the division.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of division games ahead of us, and
Speaker 1: and uh some some good football left, especially disappointment coming
Speaker 1: off a Bible we got a good shoe will hope
Speaker 1: to common jumps. Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously you
Speaker 1: try to the month in November. I think his his
Speaker 1: teams begin to, um, sort of separate themselves, and and uh, um,
Speaker 1: you know, we did take a probably you know, we
Speaker 1: did take a step back tonight, and that's the disappointing thing.
Speaker 1: And um, listen, we just you know, we're not going
Speaker 1: to make excuses for anything. Uh you know, we're gonna
Speaker 1: We're just gonna come to work and and um and
Speaker 1: get ready for New Orleans. You valuate Carson's play to night. Um,
Speaker 1: I thought early, you know, there were some things that uh,
Speaker 1: you know, he he'd probably like to get back and
Speaker 1: think the accuracy was off just a touch and and
Speaker 1: but but I think as he settled into the game,
Speaker 1: he did some really really nice things. Uh, made some
Speaker 1: really really good throws, tight contested throws. Um, I know
Speaker 1: he'd like to have the touch to the throat alshan back.
Speaker 1: I think that was a touchdown pass there. He'd liked
Speaker 1: to have that one back, But I thought overall, he played,
Speaker 1: uh he played well, you know, he managed the offense
Speaker 1: and it did some really good things. On Hurtz was
Speaker 1: there were there other people he could have gone to
Speaker 1: got some of those players? Well yeah, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: until we until I look at the tape and see,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know that's uh Hurts is a pretty
Speaker 1: good receiver and and he's a big part of the offense.
Speaker 1: But uh um, you know, I with until I look
Speaker 1: at the film to really understand, you know, where the
Speaker 1: ball went. Um and and and see it's hard to
Speaker 1: say he started, excuse me, very concerned about about this team.
Speaker 1: You see, well obviously you get a little concerned after
Speaker 1: after a loss, um and you you know, you scratch
Speaker 1: your head and you try to put your finger on
Speaker 1: some things and and uh um. But at the same
Speaker 1: time I understand that you know, this is still um
Speaker 1: our divisions right in front of us again. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, you got seven games remaining, and and uh
Speaker 1: you know it's it's it's a prideful group. And that's
Speaker 1: the thing that uh um, you know, I trust those
Speaker 1: players in there, and and they'll they'll get it figured out.
Speaker 1: And uh um, you know, it's just it just comes
Speaker 1: down to you know, like I said earlier, I mean
Speaker 1: just just each man and and uh um, you know,
Speaker 1: we can't worry about two, three, four games from now.
Speaker 1: You can't. You can't worry about the postseason or any
Speaker 1: of that. You got to worry about the next next
Speaker 1: game and focus on the next game and and do
Speaker 1: everything you can to try to win that game. One
Speaker 1: of your goals every season is to win all your
Speaker 1: home games. Having lost now three in a row at
Speaker 1: home sort of especially the goal, isn't it all right?
Speaker 1: So we gotta we gotta just focus on the next game,
Speaker 1: all right, all right? Hey, Coach Doug Pearson addressing the
Speaker 1: media at the link following the Eagles twenty seven to
Speaker 1: twenty lost to the Dallas Cowboys. We're gonna hear from
Speaker 1: quarterback Carson Wentz in just a little bit. But first
Speaker 1: we're gonna bring you Merril Camp and show you what
Speaker 1: it's like inside the booth as the Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: duo of Merrill Reis and Mike Quick bring you tonight's action. Back,
Speaker 1: goes Prescott. He's looking. He steps up he's hit and
Speaker 1: he's dropped Brad Graham with the sack. Yeah, and Brandon
Speaker 1: Graham needed that sack. That that Prescott is gonna hold
Speaker 1: the ball, especially if guys are close to the receivers.
Speaker 1: He holds the ball too long, they're gonna be able
Speaker 1: to get sacks tonight. Let's to the crowd sway b
Speaker 1: boshot Prescott. Prescott takes the snap. He's black, he's looking,
Speaker 1: he pumped, he's head. He's sacked at the fifteen. Michael Better, No, Michael,
Speaker 1: that is Michael Better. Better to about the fifteen. I'll
Speaker 1: tell you what. Bennett just continues to fight. Now, that
Speaker 1: wasn't gonna be a sack, but Bennett would not be denied.
Speaker 1: He continues to fight. Carson. Carson, you've had the ball
Speaker 1: in your hand now late in the game to either
Speaker 1: tire go ahead several times, and you guys just haven't
Speaker 1: kind of gotten over the top there or some of
Speaker 1: the problems down to stretch through. Yeah. I'm just an execute,
Speaker 1: an execute. I mean it came out second half. Um,
Speaker 1: I thought we were moving the ball well, Um, slow
Speaker 1: start really really hurt us looking back, Um, first half
Speaker 1: putting up three points the turnover I had, you know,
Speaker 1: all that stuff, UM gonna make it tough to win
Speaker 1: in games like this where they're they're a big kind
Speaker 1: of ball control team and your drives are really limited,
Speaker 1: and so every drive is really important. And we started
Speaker 1: off slow and that really hurt us. And the end
Speaker 1: of the game, we just didn't get it done starting slow.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure thirty two, fourth and seven there in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter of what went wrong? Execution I mean,
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, execution screenplay, we just
Speaker 1: missed it. Um, the play of the arts. Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: we we dial it up and it's right at the
Speaker 1: sticks and came up short. The Carson Dach had obviously
Speaker 1: had a lot of success this year. I think you're
Speaker 1: hardened sixteen times today. Is they're good and bad to that.
Speaker 1: I want to food the ball to give her people
Speaker 1: a little bit more. Yeah, I mean it's always great, um,
Speaker 1: when you can spread the ball around to everybody. UM,
Speaker 1: tonight it just so happened to be, you know, a
Speaker 1: lot of chances with zach Um with the way they
Speaker 1: were playing coverages and they they played their techniques, and um,
Speaker 1: it was actally had a great game, you know, so UM,
Speaker 1: I don't know how many times we threw to him
Speaker 1: or how many completions the a, but I'm sure it
Speaker 1: was a lot. Um. And so to have that chemistry
Speaker 1: with him, with the way they were playing him, that's
Speaker 1: just just the way I worked out tonight of Courson
Speaker 1: on that going back to that fourth and sixth or
Speaker 1: seven or whatever it was, to earths, Um, why did that?
Speaker 1: Why did that play you know, fall short of the sticks? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean we knew it was gonna be close. Um
Speaker 1: it was. It was tight man coverage, so, um, we
Speaker 1: knew it was gonna be right at the stick. And
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, we came up short.
Speaker 1: The one an opportunity to all shot down the right sideline.
Speaker 1: Would you see on that plane which one you're talking about? Uh,
Speaker 1: it was all shot deep on the right and the
Speaker 1: deep earlier in the second quarter, right good yeah, Um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I gotta get more more behind that throw. Um, I
Speaker 1: couldn't quite finish it, you know, I couldn't quite see
Speaker 1: what how it ended up the end result was. But
Speaker 1: I know I didn't get quite enough on the throw
Speaker 1: to attempt to outshun in the end zone. Did you
Speaker 1: expect him to go a little further on that or
Speaker 1: what happened on that incompletion. Yeah, I mean the way
Speaker 1: they were playing coverage. We had talked about it all
Speaker 1: week and then they the way they reacted on the
Speaker 1: field was a little differently. And that's one that we're
Speaker 1: kicking ourselves. We want to have back and just missed it. Well,
Speaker 1: it was another slow starts. I'll eat it. I think
Speaker 1: you guys have three touchdowns in nine games in the
Speaker 1: first quarter at the two in the same game. Do
Speaker 1: you think it's an issue. Do you think it's something
Speaker 1: that you need to resolve. Is it's just a flukey thing.
Speaker 1: I mean, do you feel different early in games? I
Speaker 1: know I personally don't feel different. You know, some people
Speaker 1: could say you want to settle in all these things.
Speaker 1: I don't feel that way. You know. I thought that
Speaker 1: was something I don't want to talk about last year.
Speaker 1: But that's something that we did really well last year.
Speaker 1: And it's really hard to put your finger on why
Speaker 1: it is the way it is this year. A lot
Speaker 1: of it's just little execution things that are a big deal.
Speaker 1: And so I mean, we got to go back and
Speaker 1: look and see what our teams do into us earlier
Speaker 1: in the game. Why are we having these slow starts?
Speaker 1: And really, you know, look hard in the mirror, um,
Speaker 1: because I think tonight that's what costs us. Mentioned as
Speaker 1: like the scripted plays that the other team is all
Speaker 1: over them every week. Uh, you know, one yard passes
Speaker 1: and picks and things like that. Uh, it's like they
Speaker 1: know what's coming on the floes. What was the question
Speaker 1: do the layman on the slow starts? It looks like
Speaker 1: the scripted plays are just being run right into the
Speaker 1: teeth of the defense. So for you know, it's good,
Speaker 1: good observation. And mentioned you said, look at yourselves in
Speaker 1: the mirror. Duck said that was his message to the
Speaker 1: team afterwards. I make sure that you're doing everything you
Speaker 1: can to prepare. What do you as someone who has
Speaker 1: the pulsal locker room? What are you what are you
Speaker 1: sensing that? I mean, I know this one hurt. You
Speaker 1: know this one hurt obviously, Um, Sunday night football Divisional opponent. Uh,
Speaker 1: the Cowboys coming into our home. Um. But really, the
Speaker 1: way we've played the last couple of times at home,
Speaker 1: you know, that's not what we pride ourselves on. And
Speaker 1: this one hurts. So I know, Um, we got a
Speaker 1: lot of veterans in there, a lot of leadership, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, like you said, like coach said, Um, and
Speaker 1: I'm gonna keep echoing the same thing. We all got
Speaker 1: to look in the mirror. What can we do differently?
Speaker 1: Where can we be better? Um? And we realize a
Speaker 1: lot of people are gonna want to write us off
Speaker 1: at this point, and UM, now it's just time to
Speaker 1: play ball and try and go shock some people. Do
Speaker 1: you feel like you to follow up on that? That's
Speaker 1: been the message before from from you. What makes you
Speaker 1: think these next seven teams are going to be any different? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, like you said, that's been the message before. Um,
Speaker 1: some extent, I feel like this press conversation you've been
Speaker 1: a broken record almost. You know, we've been here, um
Speaker 1: a couple of times, and we know at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, every one of these games is closed.
Speaker 1: And this is the National Football leagu gets hard to win. Um,
Speaker 1: and we've letting, we've let a handful get away from us.
Speaker 1: Now UM that we're really just kicking ourselves. And UM,
Speaker 1: like you said, I mean we've said it before, So
Speaker 1: it's really just are are we gonna step up? Are
Speaker 1: we're gonna make the corrections. Are we gonna come out
Speaker 1: fast or each week? Um? And you know, I believe
Speaker 1: we have the guys to do that. Designed shorter passes,
Speaker 1: screens had not been as successful as they were last year.
Speaker 1: Is that do you see that? Is that a theme
Speaker 1: that's been running through the course of the year. Hard
Speaker 1: to say, honestly, Um, after the night, I'll have to
Speaker 1: go watch the film, just thinking back on some I
Speaker 1: know we had a couple of screens that were right there. Um,
Speaker 1: even that third and two late in the game, we
Speaker 1: had it right there. We just the one guy you know,
Speaker 1: knife through and made the play, and um, you know,
Speaker 1: they're the same stuff that we hit last week or
Speaker 1: two weeks ago Aainst Jacksonville for the thirty five year
Speaker 1: touchdown or whatever it was. Um. And so those are
Speaker 1: just little things that were just missing by this much
Speaker 1: that make a big difference. It looked like Golden kind
Speaker 1: of had a fairly limited package of plays because that
Speaker 1: tough at all you're trying to work a guy into
Speaker 1: the offense. I mean, anytime you're trying to work a
Speaker 1: guy in the middle of season is tough. You know,
Speaker 1: He's done a great job picking things out from the
Speaker 1: second he got here. He's putting in a lot of
Speaker 1: time at the facility, you know, meeting with coaches, asking questions. Um,
Speaker 1: and I feel confident in him wherever we put him in,
Speaker 1: whatever we ask him to do. Um. Hard to say.
Speaker 1: Could we have used him differently tonight? Hard to say.
Speaker 1: But I'm really confident in him as a player and
Speaker 1: as a teammate going forward here. Um, And I'm sure
Speaker 1: he'll get more and more involved as we go. Of course,
Speaker 1: this may seem like an unfair question considering how far
Speaker 1: you've come to come back from your injury. But what
Speaker 1: do you think you can do better or more to
Speaker 1: get this team back on track? Yeah, I mean, we
Speaker 1: just gotta execute better at the end of the day.
Speaker 1: And that comes on my shoulders, that comes on the
Speaker 1: old line, that comes on everybody. Execution is the biggest thing.
Speaker 1: It's really hard to stand up here after a game
Speaker 1: and just pinpoint one thing, Um, you know, starting slow
Speaker 1: as something that that I think I can I can
Speaker 1: do better, and making plays earlier in the game, trying
Speaker 1: to get guys going. But again, it's really hard to
Speaker 1: just put your finger on one thing. But but executing,
Speaker 1: you know, some of the situational football. Some of those
Speaker 1: those red zone plays have like to played al Sean.
Speaker 1: Those are things we just gotta hit. We gotta hit.
Speaker 1: And that's at the end of the day, just execution.
Speaker 1: Most questions, are you seeing the execution in practice would
Speaker 1: have been like in the practice field. Is it just
Speaker 1: in the game that it kind of up? Yeah? I
Speaker 1: mean practice looks good, you know. I thought even tonight
Speaker 1: execution later in the game wasn't bad. Um, just early
Speaker 1: in the game we were just slow, start missing things
Speaker 1: here and there. Um. At the end of the day, though,
Speaker 1: that's a good football they played, that's a good defense. Um.
Speaker 1: They did some things early to kind of get us
Speaker 1: out of our out of our rhythm a little bit.
Speaker 1: So you got to tip your hat to them at
Speaker 1: some point. And I thought we made great adjustments at halftime.
Speaker 1: We just you know, it's too little too late. Could
Speaker 1: there be affendency to maybe try a little too hard
Speaker 1: to start fast to the point where it becomes kind
Speaker 1: of productive. I mean, there could be. I can't say
Speaker 1: that's what's happening to us, um, Like I said, it's
Speaker 1: a culmination of things. Um. But at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, you got to tip your hat to them.
Speaker 1: Like I said, they did some things early too to
Speaker 1: kind of take away what we wanted to do. Made
Speaker 1: some plays and we stend next year. Enough early in
Speaker 1: the game, thanks, all right. So we had a break
Speaker 1: from Merril cam to bring you Carson Wentz his press conference.
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz three hundred and sixty passing yards, two touchdowns, saying,
Speaker 1: the bottom line is we just didn't execute. Okay, the
Speaker 1: reason for the slow starts, We're just not executing. You
Speaker 1: know what happened late in the game, the fourth down
Speaker 1: that was just short to Zach Ertz. You know, just
Speaker 1: the execution is just not there with his football team.
Speaker 1: And Carson says, practice, everything looks good, the game plan
Speaker 1: looks right. It's just for whatever reason, not translating to
Speaker 1: the field. And your heart just goes out to Carson
Speaker 1: because you know how hard he's fought, how hard he's worked,
Speaker 1: because it's points out Palatonio asking him the question might
Speaker 1: be a little unfair because of what you have done
Speaker 1: to get to this point, but what more can you do?
Speaker 1: I don't know what more Carson can do. I'm quite
Speaker 1: honestly at a loss. I mean I lost for what's
Speaker 1: going on with the offense at this point, because you know,
Speaker 1: some ways Carson's playing better than they did last season,
Speaker 1: but it's just mistakes early on. It's little things that
Speaker 1: seemed that just not clicking like they were a year ago.
Speaker 1: I tell you, Um and Carson of me the first
Speaker 1: to tell you he's not looking for any excuses for
Speaker 1: his play not being up to where he expects it
Speaker 1: to be. And sometimes you got to look past his
Speaker 1: final numbers, right and for him fair or unfair at
Speaker 1: that position, he's going to be judged at the most
Speaker 1: critical moments of the game, third down, red zone, fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: How do you play see quarterbacks that perform well in
Speaker 1: those circumstances, they erase the incompletions and the turnovers. They
Speaker 1: erase that stuff when you when you answer the bell
Speaker 1: at that time of the game. And I think that's
Speaker 1: the biggest difference from Carson's play last year to this year,
Speaker 1: is that he was money and clutch situations. He was
Speaker 1: money in the fourth quarter when you needed a big
Speaker 1: throw on third down, when you need to score in
Speaker 1: the red zone. He made those throws. He didn't miss
Speaker 1: the throw like he did to Alshon Jeffrey. There is
Speaker 1: no miscommunication, right, he finds a way to make those
Speaker 1: throws um um in the fourth quarter like he did
Speaker 1: last year. And that's really what's missing this year is
Speaker 1: the clutch Carson Wentz. Not that he's not clutch, it's
Speaker 1: just that in those moments, those plays having having come
Speaker 1: to fruition for him this year. And I know it
Speaker 1: can be frustrated for him because he's saying to himself,
Speaker 1: I'm the same player, and he is the same player.
Speaker 1: He has the same skill set. He's still one of
Speaker 1: the premier quarterbacks in this league. But for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: and that fourth quarter, he's missed on some opportunities there,
Speaker 1: and that really that's how you save your team, right,
Speaker 1: That's how you pour your team out of the fire
Speaker 1: when they didn't don't necessarily play well for four quarters.
Speaker 1: He's that missing piece, He's that that eracer that if
Speaker 1: his players there in the fourth quarter, well, we'll overlook
Speaker 1: some of the things that happens early in the games.
Speaker 1: But when it doesn't happen, now we're looking at every
Speaker 1: little thing to throw that you you don't hit alshon
Speaker 1: on And that's just it's the nature of that position.
Speaker 1: It's the nature of the game. You know Doug Peterson
Speaker 1: and Carson Wentz there, their performances will always be under
Speaker 1: the microscope, right you know, we may we may we
Speaker 1: may casually brush over some of the other facets of
Speaker 1: the game, but the head coach in the quarterback we
Speaker 1: combed through their performance with a fine tooth comb everything.
Speaker 1: Every decision that Doug makes, every decision Carson makes with
Speaker 1: the football. We we we like to go back and
Speaker 1: look at it and say, well, he should have did
Speaker 1: this or he should have did that. And when you're
Speaker 1: sitting at four and five and you lost three straight
Speaker 1: games at home, nothing feels good right now. You know,
Speaker 1: Carson will tell you he'll look at that seventy plus
Speaker 1: percent completion percentage over three hundred and something yards thrown.
Speaker 1: He would give all that back for a W. Right,
Speaker 1: He'll he'll give all those numbers back for a W.
Speaker 1: And this team, because of Carson Wentz, the expectations are
Speaker 1: high every time they step on the field. You know,
Speaker 1: we know what they were able to do last year,
Speaker 1: and we know how hard he's worked to get back
Speaker 1: on the field this year. And it's just disappointing when
Speaker 1: the end result isn't what you hope for. And if
Speaker 1: we know this team should be better than four and five.
Speaker 1: I mean this this is a but they're not. But
Speaker 1: they're not. But they're not, they're not. And Bill Parsill
Speaker 1: said a long time ago, and it's a it's a
Speaker 1: it's a truism. You are what your record says you are.
Speaker 1: And this is a team that's been up and down,
Speaker 1: it's been inconsistent. Have not played well for four quarters
Speaker 1: very often this year. And that's why you get up
Speaker 1: and down performances. See, I understood that with a third
Speaker 1: down in the red zone they executed at such a
Speaker 1: high level last year, it was there was gonna be
Speaker 1: some regression to an extent, but you didn't think the
Speaker 1: bomb was gonna fall out with its prepared to let
Speaker 1: last year. Let's go into our turning points for tonight's game.
Speaker 1: I'll let you kick things off here. What was the
Speaker 1: turning point of the game for you? I'll tell you. You
Speaker 1: You know. The Eagles offense, they got themselves back into
Speaker 1: the game, right, They finally found their rhythm. They're scoring points.
Speaker 1: Tied to score at thirteen, Cowboys came back down twenty
Speaker 1: to thirteen. Dallas tied to score at twenty and Here's
Speaker 1: where I think the turning point change. This is where
Speaker 1: the Eagles defense needed to get off the field to
Speaker 1: get the ball back to their offense. They tie that
Speaker 1: game up at twenty. The Eagles defense allows the Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys offense to go right back down the field and
Speaker 1: take that lead again twenty seven to twenty. That was
Speaker 1: the turning point in the game for me. Once the
Speaker 1: offense started to get something rolling, they just needed the
Speaker 1: defense to come up with a stop for him, and
Speaker 1: I believe the Eagles could have took their first lead
Speaker 1: in the game had the defense gotten to stop in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter. I agree. My turning point along the
Speaker 1: same lines came a little bit earlier. It was really
Speaker 1: the end of the the third quarter when Ron Darby got injured.
Speaker 1: Because at that point, look, okay, again, you're already with
Speaker 1: out Jail Mills and Sydney Jones to begin with, You're
Speaker 1: going to getst an offense. Look, it hasn't put up
Speaker 1: big numbers, but you have to account for Amari Cooper
Speaker 1: and Alan Hearns and Cole Beasley come out of a slot. Okay,
Speaker 1: are those are some guys that you're gonna have to
Speaker 1: you know, are gonna give you problem if you don't
Speaker 1: have the right personnel on the field. So you work
Speaker 1: all week to get Avante Max ready to play both
Speaker 1: the safety in the slot position, Rosuel Douglas moves to
Speaker 1: the outside so he can prove himself you're fine at
Speaker 1: those positions. But ron Darby has been the one guy
Speaker 1: that while he might get maligned for his tackling ability
Speaker 1: and maybe not being able to come up with big interceptions,
Speaker 1: look he was a guy in the consistent presence who
Speaker 1: has played well in the last few games for you.
Speaker 1: You lose him late in the third quarter and you're
Speaker 1: looking around, who else do we got. We have Channon Sullivan,
Speaker 1: who's a rookie for agent, who a guy I liked
Speaker 1: in training camp a lot who earned his way onto
Speaker 1: the roster, and you know is balance for playing time,
Speaker 1: but he doesn't have an NFL experience. And then Cravon
Speaker 1: LeBlanc was named off waivers from the Detroit Lions this week.
Speaker 1: So those were your two healthy options once Ronald Darby
Speaker 1: went out. So at that point you roll with Chandon
Speaker 1: Soolivan and whether whether it was basically because of the
Speaker 1: lack of experience in the secondary Jim Schwartz had called
Speaker 1: a game differently, so it wasn't so much on the
Speaker 1: player's standpoint from that point. But bottom line was the
Speaker 1: Eagles defense just not able, just go back to ice Wood,
Speaker 1: not able to get the job done, and the secondary
Speaker 1: was undermanned. The defense was on the field for a
Speaker 1: long time there in the second half, as we saw
Speaker 1: by the time of possession numbers just overall here, just
Speaker 1: not able to get off the field when they needed
Speaker 1: those big plays. And that again, it was something that
Speaker 1: you saw from this team last year, but consistently, this
Speaker 1: is not just a one time thing. Consistently now we've
Speaker 1: seen the team not be able to come up big
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter, especially on defense. And this is
Speaker 1: before when they had big leads. This is when you're batting,
Speaker 1: going tooth and nail with a team basically trying to save,
Speaker 1: you know, to try to get a win streak, going
Speaker 1: to try build some momentum for the second half of
Speaker 1: the season, coming off the buy a week. Just not
Speaker 1: able to get the job done once again the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: And I think just you know, you already were thin
Speaker 1: in the secondary, Ronald, are we going now with that
Speaker 1: knee injury and we have to wait to find out
Speaker 1: if it's something that's going to linger and be beyond
Speaker 1: just for tonight's game. But once you lose him that
Speaker 1: rock that you had starting on the outside corner for
Speaker 1: you, you you know, it just makes it very difficult to
Speaker 1: execute any kind of exact defense because of the players
Speaker 1: you have there on the field. So what we're gonna
Speaker 1: do now is we're gonna take our first break here
Speaker 1: on the postgame Show presented by Rico. We're gonna have
Speaker 1: a one on one interview with Doug Peterson and Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer Mike Quick coming up in a little bit,
Speaker 1: as well as the Rico review as fran Duffy and
Speaker 1: Grego Sell take you inside the big place of the
Speaker 1: game to explain how the Eagles came out on the
Speaker 1: losing end of this game tonight by the score of
Speaker 1: twenty seven to twenty. Now, if you are following us
Speaker 1: on Facebook or Twitter, you need to come on over
Speaker 1: to Philadelphia Eagles dot com or the app to watch
Speaker 1: the rest of the show. We'll give you a few
Speaker 1: minutes to get situated. Well, I'm trying to gain hold,
Speaker 1: but it feels like another line. Yeah, I'm trying to
Speaker 1: stay strong. Sometimes I realize and further wrong. The more
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Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles. All right, welcome back to the show. It
Speaker 1: was interesting during the press conferences, and this goes back
Speaker 1: to something you touched on before we went into the
Speaker 1: break about you'll gloss over certain things when the team
Speaker 1: is winning, Okay, you you focus more on the highlights
Speaker 1: and the big plays and the things that they're able
Speaker 1: to do. To pull a rabbit outa had to be
Speaker 1: able to, you know, come out victorious. One of the
Speaker 1: questions that Carson Wentz was asked was about the reliance
Speaker 1: upon zach Ertz. Zach Ertz has been the best tight
Speaker 1: end in football this season, bar or not. Okay, it's
Speaker 1: to me. You know, Gronk has been injured, Kelsey's put
Speaker 1: up nice downwards, but for my money, zach Ertz has
Speaker 1: been overall the best tight end in the game this season,
Speaker 1: and another prolific night with fourteen receptions on sixteen targets,
Speaker 1: you know, over one hundred yards receiving, just the third
Speaker 1: receiver to go over one hundred yards against the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: All season. So it's interesting that you know, when you're
Speaker 1: trying to scrutinize the Eagel's performance here, are they aligned
Speaker 1: too much upon zach Ertz. I'm like, he used to
Speaker 1: go to guy he's you want to feed your playmakers.
Speaker 1: If you were going away from a guy like that,
Speaker 1: that's when you start a questioning why why aren't you
Speaker 1: giving it to him? Or he's one of your top
Speaker 1: offensive weapons. I have no problem with it, and it
Speaker 1: was not, in my estimation holding the offense back whatsoever. No,
Speaker 1: I don't think it is at all. And like you said,
Speaker 1: zach Ertz has been the best tight end in football
Speaker 1: all year long. And quite frankly, if that's Carson Wentz
Speaker 1: the security blanket, why why not go to him? If
Speaker 1: he's open and he's catching everything you're throwing to him,
Speaker 1: and you're moving the chains with him, why wouldn't you
Speaker 1: throw him to football? I mean, we try to nitpick
Speaker 1: and find things to try to come up with answers
Speaker 1: as to why we aren't getting the results that we
Speaker 1: are looking for, which his Eagles w's I'll tell you,
Speaker 1: throwing the ball to argue you your best receiver can
Speaker 1: never be a problem I mean, if he's forcing the
Speaker 1: ball and it's leading the turnovers, that's one thing. But
Speaker 1: the guy is producing sixteen targets, fourteen catches. He rarely
Speaker 1: drops the ball. I don't remember him dropping balls, So
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm glad we have a guy like zach
Speaker 1: Ertz said they did the quarterback can rely on and
Speaker 1: get the ball to and crunch times. So two more
Speaker 1: touchdowns on the night for Erth, both coming in the
Speaker 1: second half as the Eagles were trying to come back
Speaker 1: against the Cowboys. We're gonna sit it now to the
Speaker 1: RICO whiteboard for the RICO Review to break down the
Speaker 1: first of those two touchdowns, a fifteen yard grab at
Speaker 1: the end of the third quarter. Let's welcome in Fran
Speaker 1: Duffy and Greg Cosal. All right, so let's look at
Speaker 1: the touchdown. Now to zach Ertz, we talked about the
Speaker 1: use of pre snap motions to give Carson Man zone
Speaker 1: indicators before the snop. We see that here on this
Speaker 1: play with zach Ertz. Here, Greg, show us what we're
Speaker 1: seeing here before the snap. Well, here's zach Ertz right now,
Speaker 1: and they have twelve personnel, meaning two tight ends. Because
Speaker 1: that's Zach Ertz and that's Dallas Goddard right there on
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage. So what they're going to do
Speaker 1: here is take Ertz and they're going to motion him
Speaker 1: across the formation. Okay, so let's now show the motion itself. Now,
Speaker 1: notice no one runs with them. All they do is
Speaker 1: shift a little bit, but no one runs with them.
Speaker 1: So she frees it right here. What that tells Carson
Speaker 1: Wentz high high probability that this is a zone concept
Speaker 1: and not a man concept, And in fact, that's what
Speaker 1: it will turn out to be. And again, just for
Speaker 1: the people at home, that would be because if if
Speaker 1: someone ran with him, that would be a man cover. Yes,
Speaker 1: if you're a man coverage and your guy moves, you
Speaker 1: go with him. Right, So this is a zone concept.
Speaker 1: You see a single high safety so single high zone
Speaker 1: is covered three almost all the time. So now what
Speaker 1: you have another element to this play is you're going
Speaker 1: to have the play action because what they're going to
Speaker 1: do is they want to send Arts right down the seam.
Speaker 1: So now if you're going to send him right down
Speaker 1: the seam, who is the defender that has to be
Speaker 1: threatened and impacted? And that's Jalen Smith that linebacker. You
Speaker 1: do not want him as soon as the ball snap,
Speaker 1: just dropping right into that passingly and taking away the seam.
Speaker 1: So how do you impact him. You impact him with
Speaker 1: play action in the backfield. And all you need in
Speaker 1: the NFL is you just need him to hold for
Speaker 1: half a beat. He doesn't have to run into the
Speaker 1: line of scrimmage. He just has to have his eyes
Speaker 1: in the backfield and hold for half a beat. And
Speaker 1: if we run it now, you'll see that's exactly what happens.
Speaker 1: And if you freeze it right about here, you can
Speaker 1: see look where his eyes are. His eyes are in
Speaker 1: the backfield and he's not looking at arts at all.
Speaker 1: And Ertz will run down the seam because the corner
Speaker 1: is playing outside cover three. That's his third So what
Speaker 1: you get now is the deep safety there in the
Speaker 1: middle of the field. You get Earth's running clean down
Speaker 1: the seam. Smith eyes in the backfield. Let's finish the
Speaker 1: play out. Beautifully designed touchdown in the red zone. Really
Speaker 1: well done, really good example of the Eagles using that
Speaker 1: pre snap motion. Give Carson Wentz answers before the snap coverage.
Speaker 1: Huge play there for a touchdown ties the game at thirteen.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much Frann and Greg. The complete All twenty
Speaker 1: two review will be available in a couple of hours
Speaker 1: for you here in Philadelphia Eagles dot com. So the
Speaker 1: road doesn't get any easier for the Eagles, not in
Speaker 1: the ease, not in terms of the overall schedule. Seven
Speaker 1: games left for the Eagles, who are now four and
Speaker 1: five on the year. Can they turn things around? Will
Speaker 1: offer a preview after this final break here on the
Speaker 1: postgame show presented by Rico. What's the jogie? Are you
Speaker 1: seriously asking me that? What? You gotta have? A good
Speaker 1: bread crispy like you can hear it? Can I take
Speaker 1: a bike? Light us tomato on you for meat? It's
Speaker 1: to stop. It's all about to me. Pepper turkey, it's
Speaker 1: for me, prest beaf, generis, salami, harun beef, capitol astronomy.
Speaker 1: It's to me, fam, Come on in. We'll feed you
Speaker 1: like family. I did say cheese, right, Swiss, pepper jack
Speaker 1: sharp purple. Well, I'm trying to get on, but it
Speaker 1: feels like another lie. Yeah, I'm trying to say strong.
Speaker 1: Sometimes I realize that further go the modent. I know
Speaker 1: I want to go home when you and your money
Speaker 1: are treated with respect you prosper and at Fontandbek Respect
Speaker 1: adds up. Eagles High School Football Showdown, presented by the
Speaker 1: Rothman Orthopedics at Jefferson Health, celebrates local high school football
Speaker 1: coaches and their teams. Visit Philadelphia Eagles dot com Slash
Speaker 1: Showdown to check out this year's coaches and learn more
Speaker 1: about the program. All right now as your chance to
Speaker 1: vote for the Toyota Player of the Week and our
Speaker 1: first nominee here wide receiver Nelson Aglore, who came up
Speaker 1: with a big catch. The one thing you were wondering
Speaker 1: going to this game was with Golden Tate, who has
Speaker 1: a similar skill set to an extent to Nelson Agilore,
Speaker 1: what would they do to try to diversify the offense?
Speaker 1: And Agilore became more of the vertical weapon and we
Speaker 1: saw that on a beautiful throw, amazing catch for fifty
Speaker 1: one yard completion and the second half which helped spark
Speaker 1: the comeback for the Eagles. Yeah, and it was good
Speaker 1: to see it. Hopefully, hopefully we can see more of that.
Speaker 1: That's the one element to this offense that has been
Speaker 1: missing this year last year. Plenty of big plays to
Speaker 1: go around for everybody. Nelson certainly was a deep threat
Speaker 1: down the field. It was nice to see Nelson catch
Speaker 1: this ball here that Carson dropped in on him. Hopefully
Speaker 1: this is the sign of more to come for Nelson
Speaker 1: because with Golden Tate being added, I'd expect him to
Speaker 1: be even more of a part of the offense moving forward,
Speaker 1: which means Nelson may have some more opportunities down the
Speaker 1: field by being an outside receiver. It's a mystery because
Speaker 1: Nelson was phenomenal last season. Breakout year from last season
Speaker 1: just has not quite been there. That explosive spark hasn't
Speaker 1: been there, So you hope maybe a play like this
Speaker 1: that will help get him going. For the last few games,
Speaker 1: all our second nominee defensive end, Michael Bennett, you know,
Speaker 1: has been really a consistent disruptor for this defensive line.
Speaker 1: I would say probably the last five six games for
Speaker 1: this Eagles defense. Two more sacks on the evening, you know,
Speaker 1: start off the second half with a bang where he
Speaker 1: slammed Dak Prescott on the very first place from scrimmage there.
Speaker 1: Just brings the attitude playing both inside and it and
Speaker 1: moving all around the formation has been a nice pick
Speaker 1: up here for the Eagles. He really has been, and
Speaker 1: he said it, the last five or six weeks, he's
Speaker 1: been in the opponent's backfield every game. He had some
Speaker 1: big hits on Dak tonight, big tackles for losses, and
Speaker 1: that's why they went out and traded for him. He
Speaker 1: is starting to feel comfortable in this defense and rushing
Speaker 1: next to a guy like Fletcher Cox. Has seeing the
Speaker 1: benefits having a guy like Fletcher Cox out there. Brandon Graham,
Speaker 1: Chris Long, that's a nice little Nascar package that we have.
Speaker 1: Hope to see more of it. To me, this was
Speaker 1: his best game as an Eagle. Yeah, I just thought
Speaker 1: he just stayed in Dallas's backfield the whole game. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Four quarterback hits on the evening for Michael Bennett. So
Speaker 1: our third nominee, and we've gone into him in depth already.
Speaker 1: A zach Ertz tight end. Sixteen targets, fourteen catches, one
Speaker 1: hundred and forty five yards, you know, two touchdowns in
Speaker 1: the second half. There's not much more you can say.
Speaker 1: Art has just been phenomenal. He's been performing at such
Speaker 1: a high level, but consistently at a high level since
Speaker 1: Week one. I believe this is his fifth game with
Speaker 1: double digit receptions on the season. Just out of this world,
Speaker 1: the numbers that he's putting up. It's just disappointing that
Speaker 1: it's coming in a losing effort. Yeah, let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and call it what it is. He's been the best
Speaker 1: player on the offensive side of the ball all year long,
Speaker 1: he said it, the most consistent you know what you
Speaker 1: can you're gonna get out of zac every week, and
Speaker 1: he's on his way to a second Pro Bowl. You know,
Speaker 1: I think it's it's okay to say now and we
Speaker 1: can feel comfortable with it that he's the best tight
Speaker 1: end in football flat out in twenty eighteen. He is
Speaker 1: the best tight end in football this year, all right.
Speaker 1: So again, now it's your chance to vote for the
Speaker 1: Toyota Player of the Week. Go to Philadelphia Eagles dot
Speaker 1: com slash Toyota Player of the Week to cash your
Speaker 1: vote and get a chance at a brand new Toyota.
Speaker 1: So the Eagles fall twenty seven to twenty two Dallas Cowboys.
Speaker 1: Of course, marks there show. I can't imagine what tomorrow
Speaker 1: show is gonna be, Like we can. We'll wait on
Speaker 1: that one for later on here. But you know, look
Speaker 1: at what's coming up from a schedule perspective. You know,
Speaker 1: I mentioned before the break, it's not going to get
Speaker 1: any easier. You're going into your non divisional slate next
Speaker 1: week and your three nondividual games remaining, and one's with
Speaker 1: New Orleans next week in New Orleans against a team
Speaker 1: that's put up ninety six points in the last two games.
Speaker 1: And then you get the Los Angeles Rams there you
Speaker 1: see at the end of this five game slate in
Speaker 1: your third nine division game the Houston Texans. So you
Speaker 1: get your five division games, and that's that's where you're
Speaker 1: gonna make your bread and butter. That's that's why tonight
Speaker 1: was such an important, impactful game. Because you had the
Speaker 1: five week, you had the five games in your division,
Speaker 1: you really could get on a role. But unfortunately they
Speaker 1: didn't take advantage of it. They just did not execute.
Speaker 1: Whether it's a preparation to execution, what have you. They
Speaker 1: just did not get the job done on the field tonight. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, they put themselves truly behind eight ball. And
Speaker 1: you know, Doug sort of mentioned this in this press conference,
Speaker 1: had I think the leaders on his team, you know,
Speaker 1: they need to get this message out to the rest
Speaker 1: of the players on his team. Forget about the playoffs,
Speaker 1: forget about winning the NFC's forget about any of that stuff.
Speaker 1: Think about winning next week. That's the only thing they
Speaker 1: can think about is winning next week. Forget about the
Speaker 1: big picture, forget about how many games you're behind the
Speaker 1: red Skins. Worry about winning your next game. You're growing
Speaker 1: up against arguably the best team in the NFL in
Speaker 1: their building this week, and if you don't come in
Speaker 1: mentally locked in and ready to go, they will embarrass you.
Speaker 1: You just mentioned it. They put up forty five on
Speaker 1: the Rams two weeks ago, fifty one today on the
Speaker 1: Bengals on the road. So playing the Saints this is
Speaker 1: and they can hurt you throwing the ball. Those numbers.
Speaker 1: Drew Brees two sixty five. If they get three touchdowns,
Speaker 1: you got Alvin Kamara and two forty four on the ground.
Speaker 1: So the Eagles not able to slowdown Zeke Elliott Tonight's
Speaker 1: you get double trouble a week. Yeah, and that's why
Speaker 1: they get They have to really hone in on this
Speaker 1: game and and and focus and not worry about the
Speaker 1: big picture because if you look, if you're looking at
Speaker 1: the big picture, the mountain seems too steep. The climb.
Speaker 1: It just seems too much. Just worry about next week,
Speaker 1: take care of business in New Orleans, and then worry
Speaker 1: about the next game. At the that all right, let's
Speaker 1: take a look at the division standings, and furthermore, hurt
Speaker 1: in the Eagles is the fact that not only did
Speaker 1: they lose, but Washington won today against Tampa Bay. Tampa
Speaker 1: Bay moved the ball at will early on in the contest,
Speaker 1: but just could not put up any point. I think
Speaker 1: they have five hundred yards of total offense three points
Speaker 1: to show for it. So fitzmagic is all gone. So Washington. Look,
Speaker 1: and I don't know how Washington has winning. I don't
Speaker 1: know how they're winning. Yes, but they are. So they're
Speaker 1: six and three, too comfortable, two game lead a top
Speaker 1: of the division. The Eagles do get two games against them. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's the thing that you could say is they still
Speaker 1: are within striking distance. But again, you can't worry about
Speaker 1: you're not playing Washington next week. You gotta prepare for
Speaker 1: this scene. You gotta worry about New Orleans and all
Speaker 1: the challenges that they present, and just you gotta worry about,
Speaker 1: as Doug said, looking in the mirror and figuring out.
Speaker 1: Are you doing enough individually day in and day out?
Speaker 1: Are you making the corrections? Are you being critical enough
Speaker 1: to try to get yourself in the best position to
Speaker 1: help this football team. And that's everybody at this point.
Speaker 1: That's from Carson Wentz all the way down to you know,
Speaker 1: the fifty third mail on the roster, to the practice
Speaker 1: squad guys challenging the starters in practice during the week.
Speaker 1: Everybody's got to step up their game, okay, because, like
Speaker 1: you said, if they don't detail their work this week,
Speaker 1: if they hang their heads or start feeling sorry for themselves,
Speaker 1: they are going to get the doors blown off of
Speaker 1: them in New Orleans next week. And we are not
Speaker 1: going to want to be doing that postgame show whatsoever. No,
Speaker 1: and listen, I expect this team to show their championship medal, right,
Speaker 1: And what I mean by that is that this is
Speaker 1: a team that has pride. They have great leadership on
Speaker 1: this team. I don't expect them to go into next
Speaker 1: week's game feeling as if they don't have a chance
Speaker 1: to win the game. And so, um, listen, the only
Speaker 1: way you can get over tonight's laws is to go
Speaker 1: out there and take care of business next week. Shock
Speaker 1: the world. Yeah, hey, you know what, Remember Doug had
Speaker 1: the comment a couple of weeks ago, but the pressure,
Speaker 1: golf pressure. No one's gonna pick the Eagles this week, right, Okay,
Speaker 1: most people probably figured the Eagles would win at home
Speaker 1: coming off the buy Dallas, struggling Eagles should win. Get
Speaker 1: on the right track. No, no one is gonna be
Speaker 1: picking the Eagles this week. So not that you want
Speaker 1: to go back to the underdog mentality, but guess what,
Speaker 1: you gotta go back to the well whatever it takes
Speaker 1: to get yourself in that Fike spirit for Sunday, you
Speaker 1: gotta make it happen. So again, Marks and Reese tomorrow
Speaker 1: two pm. It's gonna be a therapy session. Okay, that's
Speaker 1: probably the best way to session. Man, it'll be a
Speaker 1: nice community. We'll we'll, we'll talk it out. We'll talk
Speaker 1: it out. I might just come lay on the couch
Speaker 1: in the background. So of the studios there now, but again,
Speaker 1: we have the All twenty two review come up for you,
Speaker 1: the one I want Mike with Doug Pearson still being produced,
Speaker 1: So we will have that for you first thing in
Speaker 1: the morning, Doug peer since press conference noon later on today,
Speaker 1: I was gonna say tomorrow, but later on today we
Speaker 1: will have that for you live right here at Philadelphia
Speaker 1: dot Com, our app, and our social media channel. So
Speaker 1: for all of us here at the Philadelphia Eagles for Ikeries,
Speaker 1: I'm Chris McPherson. You've been watching the postgame show presented
Speaker 1: by Rico. Thank you all for sticking with us on
Speaker 1: such a difficult night. Get some rest and we will
Speaker 1: see you tomorrow