WEBVTT - Post-Game Show: Eagles Win 34-29; Seal A Bye Week 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:40.559 M enough to overcome a slow start by the defense 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.680 to come out with a thirty four to twenty nine victory. 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:47.960 Hello everyone, I welcome to the postgame show presented by Rico, 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:51.919 Chris McPherson, Jordan alongside former Eagles linebacker Ike Reece. We 0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:56.160 can all breathe a sigh of relief. Of all the 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:59.080 scenarios we could have figured coming into this game, we 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:03.960 did not think about a last second Giants attempt there 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:07.240 to possibly win the game coming to fruition. Fortunately the 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:10.200 defense is able to stand tall struggle throughout most of 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:12.720 the day. But like there are no style points when 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:15.640 it comes to victories. The Eagles are twelve and two 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:18.080 now on the season and they have clinched a first 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:20.720 round buying the playoffs. Are you surprised this game came 0:01:20.720 --> 0:01:23.600 down to the wire? Curs? I mean, this is what 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:26.319 the Eagles and Giants do to us, especially up there 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:30.479 in the Meadowlands. Great victory by the Eagles certainly wasn't 0:01:30.480 --> 0:01:33.720 easy by any stretch of imagination. Plenty of coaching points. 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:36.520 I'm sure the coaches will get through this week, particularly 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:38.600 on the deepensive side of the ball. But like you 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:42.199 mentioned a second ago, this isn't college football, so style 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:45.000 points don't matter here. You get to w the Eagles 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:47.640 have clinched the bye week. That's certainly what they wanted 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:50.880 to do still in the hunt for clinching home field advantage. 0:01:51.040 --> 0:01:54.120 Great w by the team. Nick Foles and his first 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:58.160 start since returning to the Eagles flawless performance. I don't 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:00.840 know if you could asked for anything more for four 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:04.960 touchdowns thrown, no turnovers. More importantly, did what he needed 0:02:05.000 --> 0:02:07.080 to do, and late in the game they were able 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:09.400 to put three points on the board, a much needed 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:11.760 three points late in the game to sort of give 0:02:11.760 --> 0:02:14.000 the Eagles a five point lead and forced the Giants 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:16.960 to have to score a touchdown. Like I said, not 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:19.840 a thing of beauty, but what do you expect when 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:22.080 the Eagles and the Giants get together. I'm just glad 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:24.200 there were no miracles. That was the biggest thing for me. 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:26.280 We do not need to be on the opposite end 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:28.480 of a miracle with the way the Eagles season has 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:31.000 gone to this point. So it really took all three phases. 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:33.760 Nick Foles leading the way on offense with four touchdowns. 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:36.240 The defense struggled through out most of the day, but 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:38.960 they got some key plays, including Ronald Darby with a 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:41.400 huge interception in the second core to kind of bring 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:44.320 the Eagles to life at their down by a big deficit, 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:48.160 and special teams really coming through huge, especially when you 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:51.360 factor in the Eagles won by five points. Okay, Derek 0:02:51.360 --> 0:02:54.560 Barnett blocked an extra point attempt. Malcolm Jenkins blocked the 0:02:54.639 --> 0:02:57.000 field goal attempt. That's four points right there at the 0:02:57.120 --> 0:02:59.440 end of the game. When Eli Man is going for 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.880 on four down and incomplete past the Titan Evan Ingram 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:04.960 in the back of the end zone. It could have 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:06.560 just been the field goal attempt that could have put 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:08.480 the Giants ahead. That made all the difference in the world. 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:13.360 And you forgot about the block punt a touchdown earlier 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:15.280 for the Eagles to get back in this game. You 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:19.000 rarely see three blocks from a special teams unit in 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:22.160 any game, so that was certainly spectacular from the third 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:25.280 phase of the game, and three much needed blocks. I mean, 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:28.280 these aren't just just cushion points the Eagles were able 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:30.919 to get. They needed all of those blocks that they have. 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:33.600 I mentioned the block punt. Black Kamu helped set up 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:36.040 a touchdown to get the Eagles back into the game 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:39.920 early in the first half, the block extra point forcing 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:42.320 the Giants to go for two later, which also cast 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:45.240 them because they didn't get the extra point conversion, and 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:48.600 then the block field goes. So really an all around 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:51.680 effort from all three phases. Can't leave out Derby's interception 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:53.720 that helped set up the touchdown. I don't know if 0:03:53.760 --> 0:03:56.080 it was the block punt or the interception by Derby 0:03:56.160 --> 0:03:58.440 that allowed the Eagles to take the lead twenty one 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:01.120 to twenty, but those two plays in the first half 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:04.840 about the special teams unit and the defense were certainly huge. 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:07.320 This Eagles team, the word we've used all year long 0:04:07.360 --> 0:04:09.920 has been resilient, and once again they had to prove 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:13.680 that resiliency by following twenty to seven in the first 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:16.280 half of this ball game. The three drives, first three 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:18.839 drives for the Giants all resultant touchdowns, and you're saying 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:21.320 to yourself, this is a Giants offense that doesn't have 0:04:21.360 --> 0:04:25.000 its top playmakers and Brandon Marshall Odell Beckham junior. They've 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:27.760 struggled on offense throughout the course of the entire season. 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:30.880 They scored just ten points last week, and a hard 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:33.440 fought effort against the Dallas Cowboys. You figure, if the 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:36.080 Eagles defense comes to play, they should be able to 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:39.920 handle this team with ease. Unfortunately that wasn't a case. 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:43.800 What did you see from the Eagles defense, even especially 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:46.400 with the fact that it's the same Giants offense that 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:48.920 we've seen throughout the course of the years. Eli man 0:04:48.960 --> 0:04:51.240 gets rid of the ball quickly. You see Alive slants them, 0:04:51.400 --> 0:04:54.240 Slaton goes. Obviously some double moves there to get the 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:57.320 Eagles defensive backs off kilter, but nothing different from this 0:04:57.400 --> 0:04:59.480 Giants offense than what we've seen in the past. Yeah, 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:01.600 they ran Harry up offense a lot of what they 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:03.680 did to get back in that first game of the 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.120 Eagles and Giants week three of the season. And let's 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:08.560 give Eli some credit. He was on today. I mean, 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:11.520 Eli is still a future Hall of Fame quarterback and 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:14.159 when he gets into a rhythm, he can start to 0:05:14.279 --> 0:05:17.000 pick you apart. And that's really what you saw happening today. 0:05:17.440 --> 0:05:19.240 Their game plan was trying to get the ball in 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:22.640 the hands of their receivers quick forced these Eagles defensive 0:05:22.640 --> 0:05:25.400 backs to make tackles in open space, and that's what 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:28.599 you saw today was mistackles at times. You saw poor 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:32.760 technique by the dbs, particularly Jalen Mills and Ron Darby 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:35.440 early in that first half that led to big plays 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:38.400 in the passing game or led to passing deference calls, 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:41.760 holding calls that extended drives. I just didn't see the 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:46.120 mental sharp sharpness that we've become accustomed to sin with 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:48.680 his Eagles defense, and the last few weeks has been 0:05:48.760 --> 0:05:51.039 off a little bit, you know, really since that Chicago 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:54.600 Bears game, the Eagles defense have shown that they can 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:58.039 be exposed at times if the quarterback is hot, and 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.480 the last three quarterbacks that they faced, Russell Wilson, Jared 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:04.520 Golf and Eli Manning have really had their way when 0:06:04.520 --> 0:06:07.000 it comes to the passing game. So that's something they're 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:09.480 certainly gonna have to clean up. I thought the offense 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:13.359 operated with precision, but just too many plays on the 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:16.760 defensive side giving up and some of them weren't even 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:20.080 physical plays, I mean just mental mistakes being made out there, 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:22.880 you know, biting on the double pump move. You gotta 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:25.640 realize there's a defensive back when the team is setting 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:28.240 you up with quick slants, quick slants, quick slans. It's 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.120 a reason why they're doing that they're gonna hit you 0:06:30.200 --> 0:06:32.840 with the sluggo the slanting goal route, and that's what 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:35.360 Ron Darby was hit with, and that's what Jalen Mills 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:38.520 was beat with for a touchdown. And I thought after 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:41.479 that the Eagles secondary sort of lacked a little bit 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:44.000 of confidence, almost as if they wanted to play a 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:47.760 little more conservative as opposed to being aggressive. And Eli 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:49.440 getting rid of the ball quick was part of their 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:51.960 game plan obviously, because he doesn't want to have to 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:54.960 sit back there and hold the ball against this Eagles 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:57.560 front front four, and they showed they can get after 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:00.280 him at times today. I felt after the second order, 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:02.440 once they felled twenty and seven, I thought the Eagles 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:04.919 defense bounced back, they settled down a little bit. Then 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:06.719 they came out in the second half and it seemed 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:08.919 like the Eagles had established the momentum. You thought they 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:10.760 had control the game, and you kind of started to 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:12.960 as a fan take a back seat and be like, 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:15.760 all right, they're gonna get this one. They're gonna be okay. 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:18.080 But fourth quarter, just like in that first being back 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:20.240 in a week three, the Giants kept chipping away and 0:07:20.280 --> 0:07:23.200 they never never went away. What do you think was 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:26.440 a change there from early in the game, defense struggling, 0:07:26.800 --> 0:07:29.200 middle of the game, they're bouncing back. Then all of 0:07:29.240 --> 0:07:31.520 a sudden at the end they need the fourth quarter 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:33.640 stop there, and then they had to make sure that 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.680 the last few seconds there that the hook and Ladder played. 0:07:36.680 --> 0:07:39.320 The miracle play didn't take place. Without being privy to 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:42.480 the play calls, it just seemed as if we sort 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:44.880 of played not to get beat over the top. You know, 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:47.480 Patrick Robinson going out in the second half on that 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:51.280 fourth quarter, forcing Malcolm to play a little more slot 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:54.400 corner as opposed to being back also may have hurt 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:57.680 the team a little bit. But they just they just really, honestly, Chris, 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:00.840 they haven't looked the same over the lad three weeks. 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:03.720 In the secondary part. I mean, you're getting pass rush 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:06.000 up front, but if the quarterback is getting rid of 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:07.920 the ball quick, you gotta be able to come up 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:10.400 and make tackles. And there was also just too many 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:13.760 mental eras I mean jumping off sides on fourth down 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:16.360 when the Giants are out there to punt the ball 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:19.440 to extend their drive that led to a touchdown, that 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:21.680 led to a touchdown when it looked like the Eagles 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.080 had the game in hand. I mean, they're they're up 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:26.720 thirty one to twenty three, about to get the ball 0:08:26.760 --> 0:08:29.520 back after just scoring a touchdown, and then you give 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:32.599 the Giants life by jumping off sides. They're able to 0:08:32.600 --> 0:08:35.000 take advantage of that going there and get a touchdown, 0:08:35.080 --> 0:08:38.400 and then you know, at a dangerous team is a 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:40.760 team that has nothing to lose. The Giants are sitting 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:42.880 there at two and eleven. They're gonna let it fly. 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:45.960 And that's really what you saw today as a team 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:48.120 from the Giants to play loose. This is the best 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:51.199 they've looked offensively all year long. You know, I don't 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:53.600 know if they scored twenty three, right, except for three 0:08:53.760 --> 0:08:56.280 three exactly, So you know when they had the little 0:08:56.360 --> 0:08:58.000 run in the third, I mean the fourth quarter in 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:00.720 week three, that's really what you saw from then today. 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:03.800 They went back to whatever was successful for them then 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:07.640 and they implemented that in the game today. So keyo 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.120 here Rasseul Douglass, the rookie who has been very good 0:09:10.160 --> 0:09:12.600 this season, a healthy scratch today. The Eel's trying to 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:14.760 get some more help on special teams with Ryan Brayman, 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:17.079 who was signed earlier this week. He was active for 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:19.320 the game so special teams coming through in a huge way. 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:22.240 Would have been nice having Douglas out there, especially when 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:24.520 I was thinking to the one Laman pass to the 0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:27.000 end zone. Ron Darby's in coverage has a chance in 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:29.000 the end zone to go up and make the interception. 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:31.640 You're like, Rasseul's come through with those. Of course, you 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:35.040 can't coach hype, you can't know, hey whatsoever. Razul, who's 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:37.960 about three or four inches taller than Ron Darby may 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:40.120 have gotten, may have been able to pull that down. 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:42.480 But you look at those numbers, man, you're talking about 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:45.080 four hundred and twenty some yards passing for ELI to day, 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:50.000 over five hundred yards of total offense. I haven't looked 0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:52.319 at the stats from the previous games all year long, 0:09:52.320 --> 0:09:54.480 so I don't know. I would imagine this is the 0:09:54.480 --> 0:09:57.439 most yardage this defense has given up all probably close 0:09:57.440 --> 0:09:59.720 to last week. I got to look back to last 0:09:58.800 --> 0:10:02.079 year earlier with the Rams did but again back to 0:10:02.120 --> 0:10:04.880 back performances, and you think about the playoffs. Now you're 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:08.079 gonna likely see Misso Vikings who ran up and down 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:10.160 the field on the Cincinnati Bengals today. That's the one 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:12.480 reason why the Eels don't have home field avantaced about 0:10:12.480 --> 0:10:14.800 the playoffs as Minnesota took care of its business. Today, 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:18.120 you have New Orleans with Drew Brees obviously a veteran quarterback. There, 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:20.880 Cam Newton who's been to the Super Bowl, so he 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:22.880 knows what to do with the football. You know, Russell 0:10:22.880 --> 0:10:25.079 Wilson's on the outside looking in at this point. So 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:27.960 bad teams don't go to the playoffs. So anybody you 0:10:28.080 --> 0:10:30.560 face in the playoffs, and we left out Atlanta, who 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:33.360 could potentially plan at the Rams be a rematch there. 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:35.320 We got to tighten up on the defensive side of 0:10:35.320 --> 0:10:37.679 the ball. We got two games left to go, and 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:39.480 you know they're gonna get it fixed. I have to 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:41.400 have confidence that they will get it fixed. You know, 0:10:41.440 --> 0:10:43.680 you don't play as well as they played on defense 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:46.439 throughout the year. You know, this is the fourth ranked 0:10:46.440 --> 0:10:48.960 defense coming into this game. They have to get these 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:51.720 things fixed because quite frankly, they still have all the 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:54.120 personnel there that's been there all year. I mean, they've 0:10:54.120 --> 0:10:57.400 added Ron Dark to the mix, and so you would 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:00.840 think that should be a positive for this defense. But 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:03.520 for whatever reason, over the last couple of weeks, we 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:05.960 just have not looked the same on the defensive side 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:07.800 of the ball. Well, the strength of this defense is 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:10.319 the line. Yes, so when you're having a quick passing game, 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:13.360 time to gain the past neutralizes it. So you're neutralized 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:15.040 one of the strengths of this football team right there. 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:16.839 So that's something that's you know, the Eagles have to 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:19.200 figure out how to get the defensive line more involved 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:21.840 when you know that opposing teams and offenses are going 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:23.520 to be trying to get rid of the ball quickly 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:26.920 to pick apart the secondary. How key now other egals 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:29.160 have the first round, by how key will that week 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:32.160 off be? I mean, that's that seems like maybe it's 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:34.640 a fatigue starting to set in with this defense. There's 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:36.480 something along those lines where maybe you get that week 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:38.480 off and get your legs back under you and you're 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:40.840 gonna be fresher for when you get the postseason roll. Yeah, 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:43.839 I completely agree with that. That bye week is huge, 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:47.480 not only for those reasons, but that's just one less 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:49.840 tough game you have to win to try to get 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:51.840 to the super Bowl. Let's not forget what the goal 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:54.040 here is. And if the objective is to get to 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:56.040 the super Bowl and you want to play as few 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:58.880 I mean as few games as possible, So getting that 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:01.000 bye week, basically he says, all you have to do 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:04.120 is win two and you're end and hopefully if they 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.040 get another win next week. We're talking about home field 0:12:07.040 --> 0:12:11.080 advantage throughout the playoffs, and you ask how huge that 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:13.959 that off week is. It is big time. It's very 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:16.560 difficult to make that run from the wild card weekend 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:19.240 to get to the super Bowl. So having that bide week, 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:22.280 it doesn't guarantee you anything, but it certainly is huge. 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:26.240 And it's just another week to sort of sharpen sharpen 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:29.320 up on everything, to allow Nick Foles to continue to 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:32.080 get more comfortable in the offense, to gain more of 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:34.600 a rhythm with some of the receivers. As good of 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:37.600 a day as he had today, there were still sometimes 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:41.320 where he seemed to be on one page and maybe 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.120 al Sean Jeffrey was on a different page. So that 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:48.240 extra week allows you to really sharpen up in your 0:12:48.280 --> 0:12:50.880 passing game and also to get our running game going. 0:12:50.960 --> 0:12:53.760 So it's big time indeed. So what's good for the 0:12:53.760 --> 0:12:56.440 Eagles is that they had three straight games on the 0:12:56.520 --> 0:13:00.000 road okay in Seattle, Los Angeles, and New York. Okay, 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:02.480 two teams bound for a playoffs about the third and 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:05.120 division rival. You come out two and one. So now 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:07.199 you have your two final games of the regular season 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:10.080 at home Oakland on Christmas Night, and Oakland may have 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:13.840 nothing to play for itself. Then Dallas, of course, they're 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:16.560 still in the mix right now. They're actually playing Oakland tonight, 0:13:16.640 --> 0:13:19.240 so Dallas might be ouv as well. So the last 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:22.680 two games could be against teams like the Giants. They're 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:24.800 just playing for pride and trying to play out the 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:27.000 string at this point, so those can be dangerous teams. 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:28.960 It could be in string. But to me with Oakland, 0:13:29.320 --> 0:13:32.040 you're going across the country west coast, east coast, a 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:35.840 Christmas night, Christmas night, you're away from your family, hopefully 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:37.560 you across your fingers. That could be a packet in 0:13:37.600 --> 0:13:40.160 type of game right there. But now you're guarantee. Then 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:43.080 the week off for the wild card, then that first 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:45.719 game the divisional round will be at the Link. So 0:13:46.240 --> 0:13:49.679 right now, three consecutive home games for the Eagles, and 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:52.600 we can't overlook the fact that this was their third 0:13:52.640 --> 0:13:55.240 straight role game. Yeah, that's that's difficult. You know, they 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:57.000 were able to come out of this thing two out 0:13:57.000 --> 0:13:59.720 of three, and that's certainly huge winning the last two. 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:02.560 But you you look at if you look back at 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:06.720 schedules of teams around the league, if you're saddled with 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:09.400 the task of playing three straight road games, that third 0:14:09.480 --> 0:14:12.120 straight road game is very difficult to get. You've been 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:14.520 away from home for a long time, you don't necessarily 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:16.800 have the energy. Luckily for the Eagles, it was just 0:14:16.840 --> 0:14:19.720 a bus trip up the turnpike, but still, it's the 0:14:19.720 --> 0:14:22.760 third straight road game against the team that has nothing 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:25.760 to play for other than pride, and it seemed as 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:28.120 if the Eagles were just a little flat, that they 0:14:28.160 --> 0:14:31.800 didn't have necessarily the same energy. Defensively, the offense, I 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:34.160 mean the offense carry the defense for most of this game. 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:36.560 I mean the Giants go down it's their first opening 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:39.760 drive touchdown of the entire season. Eagles are down six 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:43.000 nothing after Derek Partnett blocked the extra point, and you're like, already, 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:46.080 Nick Foles has to come out and just come out swinging. Okay, 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:52.720 there's no which is interesting because usually the Eagles win 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:54.680 the coin toss, they want the ball in offense. So 0:14:54.760 --> 0:14:56.840 you can tell the Eagles felt, let's get the defense 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.160 on the field. Let's pin the Giants offense back since 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:01.480 it struggled all year, and give Nick some good field 0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:04.280 position and said, he's down six nothing, but what does 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:07.200 he do? Marches down the field and then leads the 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:10.880 way for a touchdown. Overall, four touchdowns on the day 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:12.560 for Nick Foles. The most sense he had the seven 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:15.560 touchdown performance against the Oakland Raiders back in the twenty 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:18.120 thirteen season. You look at the red zone numbers there 0:15:18.160 --> 0:15:20.960 in the box score, four out of six. The one 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:24.600 thing was, how would he do in situational football? Third 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:27.880 down little off compared to previous weeks, sure with Carson 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:31.320 Wentz under center, but third down still strong though, but 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:35.080 red zone outstanding job by him making sure that when 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:38.160 they got down there, they converted those opportunities into touchdowns, 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:40.240 because that really made the difference in say his game. 0:15:40.280 --> 0:15:43.360 But to me, Nick Foles did everything and more you 0:15:43.360 --> 0:15:45.840 could have asked of him coming into this first game 0:15:45.880 --> 0:15:48.200 as a starter. Yeah, I mean, and this is why 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:51.600 I had the confidence when you know Carson went down, 0:15:51.680 --> 0:15:54.320 as as difficult as that is to have to swallow, 0:15:54.360 --> 0:15:57.320 but having Nick Foles go in there, a guy who's 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:01.160 familiar with this office certainly enough doling around him. Wasn't 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:04.360 necessarily gonna have to shoulder or load and carry the 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:08.640 offense all day. And I love the play designs, the 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:12.720 play calling. It's really what has allowed Carson Wentz to 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:15.160 be the front runner for the MBP. We don't give 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:18.480 enough credit to these coaches that the dial up the place, 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:20.840 particularly in the red zone. This is the best red 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:24.120 zone offense in the NFL, and it showed itself to 0:16:24.160 --> 0:16:28.560 be true again today four out of six with touchdowns. 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:31.480 Opportunity really to go six for six, I mean, there 0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:33.600 was a good chance they could have easily gone six 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:36.360 for six in the red zone and got touchdowns. But 0:16:36.400 --> 0:16:38.640 it's the reason why I had full confidence that this 0:16:38.760 --> 0:16:42.640 offense wouldn't necessarily miss a beat because I love the 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:45.920 way the plays have been called all year long, particularly 0:16:45.920 --> 0:16:48.400 in the red zone. They seem to have found a 0:16:48.520 --> 0:16:50.960 nice rhythm down there. They know the players to dial 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:54.360 up who to get the ball to, whether it's Alshon Jeffrey, 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:57.400 whether it's Nelson Agil, or whether it's zach Ertz. You're 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:01.920 talking about three formidable types of weapons that can hurt 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:04.560 you on any given play. That makes it very difficult 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:07.159 for a defense to stop you when you don't know 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:10.280 who to take away. In the red zone, Nick basically 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:14.640 has his choice four touchdowns, four different receivers. The first 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:17.320 one to Alshon Jeffrey, who I thought an outstanding performance. 0:17:17.800 --> 0:17:20.480 Very first play from Nick Foles a throw to al Sean, 0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:22.280 got the ball out of his hands quickly, get the 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:25.480 playmaker involved early on. And then that touchdown throw in 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:28.000 the back of the end zone. Great job by Jeffrey 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:29.560 making sure he doesn't go out and bounds or a 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:31.880 little question of that. Did a phenomenal job with the footwork, 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:34.040 but Nick doing a great job of finding the open 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:36.159 man back there and feeding the ball to him to 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:38.840 get them on the board again. Probably the thing that 0:17:38.840 --> 0:17:42.159 stands out to me the most no turnovers on the day, biggest, 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:43.760 That was a huge thing. That was the one thing 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:45.760 that you wanted to watch from Nick Foles. What do 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:47.720 you take care of the football? He had the one 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:50.600 fumble when Olivia Vernon came off the edge. Luckily the 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:52.879 Eagles were able to recover it. Outside of that, he 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:54.720 kept the ball out of harm's way throughout the course 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:56.720 of the day, didn't try to do too much, stay 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:59.800 within the framework of a game. Hey, if something's not there, 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:02.680 okay to punt. And that's what Nick talked about last 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:04.760 week in his press conference when he said he's he's 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:07.240 ready for this moment. He knows what to do, and 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:10.679 sometimes you gotta just allow the game to unfold and 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:13.040 not try to win it in the first half of 0:18:13.040 --> 0:18:14.600 a game or the first quarter of a game. You 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:16.960 gotta give yourself a chance late in the game, so 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:19.600 you don't need to feel pressure to have to score 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:22.800 touchdowns or points every time you have the ball. When 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:25.000 there wasn't a play there. Nick was able to even 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:27.679 throw the ball away or you know, he didn't have 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:30.159 many sacks today. I think I only had one sack today. 0:18:30.359 --> 0:18:33.920 So that was the big key. Being a heady veteran 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:37.520 understanding that you can't win a game early, but you 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:39.879 can lose it early with some of your decisions that 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:42.520 you make. And that's that's why it's a it's a 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:45.240 huge plus to have a guy like Nick Foles as 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:49.480 your backup. You basically inserted a starting quarterback when you 0:18:49.520 --> 0:18:51.680 look at the amount of starts that are under his belt, 0:18:52.160 --> 0:18:55.000 the pressure of playing in this city, with the expectations 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:57.960 he's led a team to the playoffs, the moment was 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:00.080 not going to be too big for Nick Foles, and 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:02.320 I was fully confident that he would come in and 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:06.159 play within himself and allow these weapons around him to 0:19:06.200 --> 0:19:08.320 sort of do what they've been doing all year, which 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:10.919 has made plays. We even saw a little mobility from 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:12.920 him in the pocket, a little Wentz like moved there 0:19:12.960 --> 0:19:15.040