Speaker 1: An early fourteen enough and deficit to win twenty to
Speaker 1: fourteen to advance to the NFC Championship Game. So very
Speaker 1: tough way for the twenty eighteen campaign in the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl Championship run to come to an end. And as
Speaker 1: Alshon Jeffrey's last effort past attempt went through his hands
Speaker 1: into the arms of Marshawn Lattimore for the interception, a
Speaker 1: lot of people are gonna be getting on him for
Speaker 1: what happened. But what we have to realize is, first
Speaker 1: and foremost, we don't have a Super Bowl in the
Speaker 1: city if it's not for Alshon Jeffrey. So obviously he's
Speaker 1: gonna be very disappointed, you know, But you saw the
Speaker 1: way the head coach Doug Peterson and corback Nick Foles
Speaker 1: and his teammates went over to him afterwards, you know,
Speaker 1: someone who gave so many big plays over the last
Speaker 1: two seasons. Obviously a difficult way for the season to
Speaker 1: come to a close. But again, this team doesn't get
Speaker 1: as far as it does without al Sjohn certainly a
Speaker 1: valiant effort. You know. Everyone looks back to that forty
Speaker 1: eight to seven game back in week eleven and said
Speaker 1: there's no way the Eagles can go back to the
Speaker 1: Saints house, the huge advantage in the Superdome and make
Speaker 1: up that kind of deficit. But you know, the Eagles
Speaker 1: were up fourteen nothing and held this vaunted Saints offense
Speaker 1: prolific all season along to twenty points. You know, Nick
Speaker 1: Foles was appearing to lead them on another game winning
Speaker 1: drive at the end. Unfortunately, Ladmore's second interception of the
Speaker 1: game ends the dream. So the Eagles season is over
Speaker 1: nine and seven in the regular season. They get a
Speaker 1: win in the postseason, but fall six points short today
Speaker 1: ike to the New Orleans Saints. Yeah. I mean, listen,
Speaker 1: a tough game. You knew it to be a hard
Speaker 1: fault game with the Eagles playing as well as they
Speaker 1: had played coming down to stretch, the Saints basically having
Speaker 1: played a real game in about three weeks. So the
Speaker 1: game sort of played out like I thought I would
Speaker 1: from the beginning. I thought the Saints would come out
Speaker 1: a little rusty, certainly thought the Eagles would be charged up.
Speaker 1: They were able to take advantage of that early Saints rust,
Speaker 1: but not really able to sustain it. Once the Saints
Speaker 1: were able to collect themselves and start to get a
Speaker 1: little bit of rhythm, seemed like the Eagles couldn't get
Speaker 1: anything going offensively. Just a difficult way for the season
Speaker 1: to end, but a valiant effort from this team to
Speaker 1: put themselves in this position. Al Sean Jeffrey, who has
Speaker 1: been so reliable all season long, big part of why
Speaker 1: this team is where they were today. Certainly he would
Speaker 1: like to have that pass back. No need to hang
Speaker 1: his head. No one feels worse than al Sean Jeffrey
Speaker 1: does right now, and all of his teammates certainly feel
Speaker 1: for him. So just a tough loss. Gotta tip your
Speaker 1: cap to the Saints. They are a good football team,
Speaker 1: listen to The Eagles have been playing with their backs
Speaker 1: against the wall for about a month and a half
Speaker 1: and it's difficult. And this is why most teams from
Speaker 1: a six seed don't make it to the super Bowl,
Speaker 1: because when you battle to get into the playoffs, and
Speaker 1: there's much energy and effort that you have to exert
Speaker 1: to dig yourself out of a hole. When you're facing
Speaker 1: a team like the Saints, there's basically been sitting back, resting,
Speaker 1: waiting for to day. They've been waiting for today for
Speaker 1: about a month since they clinched the number one seed
Speaker 1: and knew that they would have home field advantage. They've
Speaker 1: been waiting for today, and so the Eagles have exerted
Speaker 1: a lot of energy to put themselves in this position
Speaker 1: and they basically it ran out of gas today. They
Speaker 1: ran up against a very good Saints team. They were gamed.
Speaker 1: The Eagles were gamed today. They just basically ran out
Speaker 1: of gas offensively. Give the Saints a lot of credits
Speaker 1: the defense that has played well coming down the stretch.
Speaker 1: I thought the Eagles defense came into this game with
Speaker 1: a very good game plan. But listen, Michael Thomas, one
Speaker 1: of the best receivers in the game. We know about
Speaker 1: Drew Brees. He's a Hall of Famer five years after
Speaker 1: he plays his last game. Just a tough way, tough way.
Speaker 1: But they found themselves in position and to lose the
Speaker 1: game basically off a tip ball on the final drive
Speaker 1: of the game. Man, that's a that's a heartbreaker. That's
Speaker 1: a heartbreaker. But how can you not be proud of
Speaker 1: the team's over effort to sort of put themselves in
Speaker 1: this position. Nobody gave them a chance, and then you
Speaker 1: look at the course of the game, it's great. They
Speaker 1: got fourteen and nothing. But then you look at the
Speaker 1: defensive side of the football. Fletcher Cox in now the
Speaker 1: line up due to injuries, Brandon Graham has to go
Speaker 1: to the sidling at one point, Rossel Douglas in the line,
Speaker 1: Vonte Maddox has to come out of the game. You're
Speaker 1: just wondering how many more injuries can the defense sustain,
Speaker 1: especially with Fletcher Cox your best player on that side
Speaker 1: of the ball, and arguably that your best player on
Speaker 1: the entire team. Okay, the heart and soul especially of
Speaker 1: that defense. Knowing that you had to limit this explosive
Speaker 1: Saints offense. You're gonna need to get pressure up the middle.
Speaker 1: And Cox gained his way coming back into the lineup,
Speaker 1: fighting his way. Remember the one time he came back
Speaker 1: into the game after suffering the foot injury. Initially he
Speaker 1: drew a holding pounce on the very first play. Okay,
Speaker 1: so he made a number of disruptive plays the defensive line,
Speaker 1: knowing that Jim Schwartz wanted to play seven defenders back,
Speaker 1: going with mostly the diamond nickel personnel throughout the course
Speaker 1: of the game, knowing that we have to rely on
Speaker 1: that front four and look, Mike Bennett, Chris Long, you know,
Speaker 1: Brandon Graham, you guys gotta play a lot of snaps, okay,
Speaker 1: you know, and especially when you had that long drive
Speaker 1: in the third quarter that took it eighteen plays, wasn't
Speaker 1: It was an eighteen play drive, okay, that goes for
Speaker 1: ninety two yards eleven twenty nine in terms of game clock,
Speaker 1: I think it was about twenty five minutes at real time.
Speaker 1: So again, eighteen play drive. Those guys are bound at
Speaker 1: the end, but they got the stop they need at
Speaker 1: the very end. They forced Will Lets to attempt at
Speaker 1: fifty two yard field goal after Michael Bennett gets a
Speaker 1: tackle for loss. Huge play okay, shoves mac Nier the
Speaker 1: center right into the back there, forces Kamara to get
Speaker 1: the loss there. Will Lutz pushes the ball wide right,
Speaker 1: and you said to yourself, is this going to happen again? Yeah,
Speaker 1: another special teams play, another miss field goal. Here, given
Speaker 1: an opportunity for the Eagles to sustain their season, to
Speaker 1: keep things alive, and it seemed like Nick Foles was
Speaker 1: getting into the rhythm. They had the penalty, the roughing
Speaker 1: the passer call, they kept the drive alive. Zach Ertz
Speaker 1: had to play there to move the sticks and then
Speaker 1: you thought, okay, wide open pass alshon Jeffrey, and you
Speaker 1: know he's a guy who's gonna come up with that
Speaker 1: ninety nine times out one hundred and nine times out
Speaker 1: of town, whatever you want to say. Unfortunately, that's the
Speaker 1: one time that he doesn't come up with it and
Speaker 1: the ball goes into the hands of Marshall Lamber. That's
Speaker 1: the problem is the ball goes up in the air
Speaker 1: and at that point it's fate that putting it right
Speaker 1: in the Saints hands. And Marshall Lamoor who really turned
Speaker 1: the game earlier in the second quarter when the Eagles
Speaker 1: were driving already up fourteen and nothing and Nick Foles
Speaker 1: has Zacher's on the wheel route down the left sideline. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's probably a touchdown. If he puts a little farther out, Yeah,
Speaker 1: you gotta make that, gotta make the throw there. But
Speaker 1: Marshall Lamore does great job, come up with the interception, okay,
Speaker 1: and that really turned to tide. Okay, then the Saints
Speaker 1: are coming back. They're getting twenty unanswered points there to
Speaker 1: finish off the win here twenty to fourteen. And then,
Speaker 1: of course, on the real key in that in that
Speaker 1: first half, there was when the Saints have the fourth down,
Speaker 1: really it's the third down, Butcher Box draws the holding penalty. Okay,
Speaker 1: the Eagles decided to decline. It's fourth and shorts, as
Speaker 1: they should, and that's the biggest thing a lot. Doug Pearson,
Speaker 1: when we hear from him in a few minutes, it
Speaker 1: is probably gonna be asked, did you kai waver about
Speaker 1: the decision? I thought he made the right call because
Speaker 1: with this defense, I'm not giving the ball back to
Speaker 1: Drew Brees. We saw this time and time again on
Speaker 1: third and long situations. I'm not giving Drew Brees another
Speaker 1: opportunity with Michael Thomas. Michael Thomas Michael side fishing with
Speaker 1: twelve catches one hundred and seventy one yards on a touchdown. Okay,
Speaker 1: so I'm not giving Drew Brees another chance. It's fourth
Speaker 1: to George and the Eagles were well aware of what
Speaker 1: Taysom Hill and the fake punch possibility. The starting defense
Speaker 1: is out there on the field. You have your starting
Speaker 1: defense personnel lined up to stop it. Taysom Hill gets
Speaker 1: the first down to be able to move the chains,
Speaker 1: and then fourth and goal. You figure Sean Payton was
Speaker 1: like the knew I did. I think Sean Payne, I
Speaker 1: think realized this Eagles team came to play. This was
Speaker 1: not the Eagles team very very first play the game. Okay,
Speaker 1: Ted Ginn, who has been out of the lineup due
Speaker 1: to injury. Dubrees goes deep down the middle for him,
Speaker 1: trying to test the Eagles secondary. Crave On the Blanc,
Speaker 1: who had an outstanding game as when we talk about
Speaker 1: the bright spots of this season. Crave On the Blanc
Speaker 1: comes up with the interception to set the tone. Okay,
Speaker 1: three toll tackles. The interception also saved a touchdown on
Speaker 1: a mark Ingram run. Later on in the game, when
Speaker 1: it was starting to look like the Saints had control
Speaker 1: of the game. They did have control of the game,
Speaker 1: it would look like they were ready to put the
Speaker 1: game away, crave On le Blanc was not going to
Speaker 1: allow them to get the easy touchdown there. So right there,
Speaker 1: you say yourself, craive On the Blank gets the interception,
Speaker 1: gets the Eagles the ball, and they go down the
Speaker 1: field and the Jordan Matthews over the top for the
Speaker 1: touchdown with Nick Foles, and you said to yourself, this
Speaker 1: is what the Eagles needed. Because back on November eleven
Speaker 1: or No. Eight November eighteenth. In at Week eleven showdown,
Speaker 1: I should say the Saints got seventeen and nothing in
Speaker 1: the second quarter, scored on their first three drives, gained
Speaker 1: over two hundred yards on those drives. The game was over. Okay,
Speaker 1: in the second quarter. Here the Eagles are able to
Speaker 1: get the fourteen nothing lead because they get the ball
Speaker 1: back and then Nick Foles goes in from one yard
Speaker 1: out and the QB sneak. They're up fourteen nothing. This
Speaker 1: was the start that the Eagles needed. Okay. The thing
Speaker 1: was the Saints a tested team, a veteran team. Okay,
Speaker 1: Drew Brees and Sean Payton together at home down in
Speaker 1: the playoffs six and oh since two thousand and six
Speaker 1: when the two were first united together, they knew what
Speaker 1: they were doing. It's a veteran team with plenty of
Speaker 1: skill position talent on offense and a very very good
Speaker 1: defense that was able to turn the tide on the
Speaker 1: Eagles offense and really limit the Eagles of what they
Speaker 1: could do. I thought Nick Foles missed a couple of throws.
Speaker 1: There were plays there to be had. Okay, I thought
Speaker 1: the one knock about Nick Foles today a number of
Speaker 1: underthrown passes. Yeah, that's probably the one thing I would say.
Speaker 1: But the offensive line, even after losing Brandon Brooks, and
Speaker 1: that's gonna be something that's gonna be huge. Jason Peters
Speaker 1: came out of the game late. Yes, I had to
Speaker 1: go back in there. So the pass protection held up nicely. Okay,
Speaker 1: that was the one thing you were concerned about. Would
Speaker 1: Nick Foles have time in pocket, even though it does
Speaker 1: a great job to get rid of the ball quickly.
Speaker 1: Would he'd be comfortable in the pocket. He just wasn't
Speaker 1: able to quit get in that rhythm. Yeah, but offensive
Speaker 1: line a great job protective put Nick Foles after that
Speaker 1: second touchdown drive just not able to get in that
Speaker 1: same rhythm that he was. I created the same defense
Speaker 1: there for playing great press coverage. Okay. You know Eli Apple,
Speaker 1: Marshawn Lattimore, those fast linebackers. They were testing the Eagles
Speaker 1: receivers and pass catchers and limiting the yards after the catch. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's basically what they decided to do. They saw in
Speaker 1: the first quarter that they weren't able to get the
Speaker 1: pressure on Nick Foles that they wanted to. You had
Speaker 1: the cornerbacks playing off and Nick was able to basically
Speaker 1: pick him apart. He had the best stretch of the game.
Speaker 1: In that first quarter. He was basically, I think he
Speaker 1: was eight of eight or eight of nine one hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty seven yards, threw a touchdown as well as
Speaker 1: rushed in for a touchdown. But then they decided we're
Speaker 1: gonna back off or we're gonna jam the receivers at
Speaker 1: the line of scrimmage to try to disrupt the timing.
Speaker 1: And when you look at the big difference in this
Speaker 1: game and this Eagles offense is they struggled on third down.
Speaker 1: Two for seven on third down is where they struggled.
Speaker 1: That to me, that was really the biggest difference in
Speaker 1: the game. You know, the Eagles, since they've been on
Speaker 1: this stretch, they've been able to be fifty percent plus
Speaker 1: on third down, extending drives, wearing teams out, wearing teams down,
Speaker 1: and that's how they won football games. Today, they weren't
Speaker 1: able to extend drives after that first quarter. They had
Speaker 1: to two seventy yard play drives early and then after
Speaker 1: that they didn't really have anything else after that, and
Speaker 1: that's where they basically were worn down. Defense on the
Speaker 1: field way too long. Saints offense eight to fifteen on
Speaker 1: third down, able to extend those drives. You talked about
Speaker 1: that ninety two yard drive or was it eighteen plays?
Speaker 1: Eighteen plays ninety two yards twice the same to the
Speaker 1: second and twenty yeah, second and twenty twice. Three third
Speaker 1: down conversions on the drive, third and three, third and
Speaker 1: one short conversion. But a third and ten. That's what
Speaker 1: they wore you down at. I mean, that's what they
Speaker 1: wore this defense down at basically today. And the offense
Speaker 1: not being able to win that time of possession. That's
Speaker 1: how you beat the Saints. You keep that offense on
Speaker 1: the sideline, and we weren't really able to do that today.
Speaker 1: I thought our defense they held in there as long
Speaker 1: as they could. They made the Saints chew up clock.
Speaker 1: They didn't give up a ton of big plays. Now,
Speaker 1: he gave up the third down conversions. But to hold
Speaker 1: this Saints offense to twenty points, I mean going into
Speaker 1: the game, that's what you want, that's what you want.
Speaker 1: You want this to be a game in the fourth quarter,
Speaker 1: a one possession game to me, from a game plan standpoint,
Speaker 1: the Eagles. The game played out exactly how they wanted to,
Speaker 1: even with them having the ball on the final drive,
Speaker 1: it's just, you know, the bounce didn't go their way.
Speaker 1: You know, that ball bounces off al Sean Jeffrey's hands
Speaker 1: right into Marshon Lattimore's hands. And it's unfortunate, man, because
Speaker 1: I felt like they were going down to win this game.
Speaker 1: I really did. You've seen this, Yeah, I felt like
Speaker 1: they were going to win this. You know, it goes
Speaker 1: back to last week against Chicago. You just feel a
Speaker 1: certain sort of like Nick Foles in the pocket. You
Speaker 1: just feel a sense of calm, knowing that when he's
Speaker 1: in command at quarterback, they're gonna find a wet and
Speaker 1: you just felt like this team was gonna find a
Speaker 1: way once again. And they were moving the ball down
Speaker 1: the field. You know, it was wide open past there
Speaker 1: to Jeffrey. Good throw on the hands, just didn't come
Speaker 1: up with it. Okay. And again, I'm sure a lot
Speaker 1: of fans, and I'm sure on your show tomorrow Marks
Speaker 1: of Resports Radio nine for WAP, a lot of people
Speaker 1: are gonna be bashing out Sean. No, you think that,
Speaker 1: I don't know, I'm such gonna frustration. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't know, you know what I think, at least
Speaker 1: from listening to the fans this week, right, there was
Speaker 1: already trepidation going into this game. There was. I'm sure
Speaker 1: it's a tough game. So at least the tone that
Speaker 1: I got from most of the fans was they were
Speaker 1: excited the Eagles made it this far. Um middle of
Speaker 1: the season didn't look like it was going to get
Speaker 1: to this point. This team really dug in deep. They
Speaker 1: they they were able to make something out of a
Speaker 1: season that looked like it was lost. We lost our
Speaker 1: starting quarterback once again. And I think this fan base,
Speaker 1: at least after winning that Super Bowl last years, it's
Speaker 1: funny to say they aren't as rabid of a fan
Speaker 1: base as they used to be. Can they be passionate?
Speaker 1: Can they be frustrated? Sure they can, But I think
Speaker 1: there's a sense of appreciation about this team that this
Speaker 1: fan base has and they don't. It hasn't been that
Speaker 1: long since they won the Super Bowl, and so we
Speaker 1: all knew it was going to be difficult to repeat.
Speaker 1: No one has done it since the Patriots dated back
Speaker 1: and oh four against us. It was going to be difficult.
Speaker 1: This team overcame a lot to get to the second
Speaker 1: round of the playoffs, and al Sean has been a
Speaker 1: big part of that this year especially. Yeah, I'm actually, Chris,
Speaker 1: I'm actually, I'm actually proud of our fan base that
Speaker 1: I don't believe there'll be a lot of frustration over
Speaker 1: the way the season ended, as much as it will
Speaker 1: be a lot of appreciation, but the way the team
Speaker 1: didn't give up and really fall to the very end,
Speaker 1: this team, in a lot of ways, epitomized the city
Speaker 1: of philadel Yeah. Yeah, I think I think this fan
Speaker 1: base recognizes that, certainly because they knew that it wasn't
Speaker 1: you know, we can get into your season takeaways and
Speaker 1: just it wasn't quite right from about midway through the season. Okay,
Speaker 1: it wasn't that same magic that we were gonna have
Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen. I mean, basically, the Eagles were the
Speaker 1: Saints a year ago. Yeah, okay, in terms of the
Speaker 1: fact that the Saints were clearing away one of the
Speaker 1: best teams in the NFC all season along the home
Speaker 1: field advantage. You know, you saw the dancing and the
Speaker 1: joy that they were having throughout the course of the game.
Speaker 1: That was the Eagles a year ago. Okay, the Eagles
Speaker 1: were blowing out opponents left and right, you know, steamrolling
Speaker 1: through the competition, and then they were the ones who
Speaker 1: got to enjoy home field advantage and wait for the
Speaker 1: Atlanta Falcons to come into town for that first playoff matchup,
Speaker 1: and right from there you go into the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: The difference, of course, is what were we going to
Speaker 1: get from Nick Foles? Okay, because the Saints have had
Speaker 1: the constant and Drew Brees throughout this entire time time.
Speaker 1: The Eagles, you know, get into the playoffs to get
Speaker 1: the home field advantage with Nick Foles coming in there
Speaker 1: late in the season, but you didn't quite know if
Speaker 1: he was gonna be able to carry them on that
Speaker 1: magical run that he did. And after he did that
Speaker 1: a year ago, you said to yourself, I guess the
Speaker 1: cards could be in place, the stars could be aligned
Speaker 1: for it to happen again, because you got into the
Speaker 1: way you did on the last day of the regular season.
Speaker 1: But as you said, it's why six seeds don't typically
Speaker 1: advance that far into the playoffs. You have your you know,
Speaker 1: one offs here and there. The Green Bay Packers and
Speaker 1: New York Giants have won the Super Bowl as a
Speaker 1: six seed. But it's so difficult because, as you said,
Speaker 1: most likely you're battling just to get into the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and then once you're in, you're on the road NonStop
Speaker 1: every game. Yet and you had to go to Chicago
Speaker 1: to face the number one defense was hard. You know,
Speaker 1: amazing home field advantage there. You get the dome field
Speaker 1: advantage today and we saw that firstand where the Eagles
Speaker 1: were forced to take a time out early in the
Speaker 1: second half. Okay, you know, false start by Isaac say
Speaker 1: a model there and the you know second down that
Speaker 1: was huge coming out of the locker room. Not really
Speaker 1: getting any momentum coming out of the locker room was
Speaker 1: big time. The Saints were able to continue to feed
Speaker 1: off of that crowd. I thought, coming out of the
Speaker 1: locker room, if the Eagles could at least have a drive,
Speaker 1: even if they don't get points out of the drive,
Speaker 1: but if they could just put together a drive where
Speaker 1: they have the Saints defense on their heels to sort
Speaker 1: of establish some type of confidence and momentum, we would
Speaker 1: have a different ball game. In the second half. As
Speaker 1: it was, Eagles come out and they sort of a
Speaker 1: snake bidden and they sort of have these self inflicted
Speaker 1: wounds and that crowd is able to get into the game.
Speaker 1: You get a three and out, Saints get the ball,
Speaker 1: and you're behind the eight ball again. So it was
Speaker 1: just it was just you know, when you're on the road,
Speaker 1: you almost have to play a perfect game. I mean
Speaker 1: you really do. You almost have to play a perfect game.
Speaker 1: That's why teams fight so hard to get home field advantage,
Speaker 1: because even if you get off to a slow start,
Speaker 1: you have your crowd to sort of i on, to
Speaker 1: sort of feed off of. And that's what the Saints
Speaker 1: were able to do. They got on to a slow start,
Speaker 1: but that crowd kept them in the game, and once
Speaker 1: they started to get a little bit of positivity going,
Speaker 1: they were able to build some momentum and get that
Speaker 1: crowd behind them and so us it's just difficult. The
Speaker 1: Eagles really had the ideal start. It's just unfortunate. You
Speaker 1: look at numbers. I mean when you see the numbers
Speaker 1: there in the box score there, you look at them
Speaker 1: and you say yourself, how was this even a six
Speaker 1: point game? It's because the Eagles had, like you said,
Speaker 1: the start that they need to put that what you want, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was a dream scenario to come out of the
Speaker 1: gates lead fourteen nothing at the end of the first
Speaker 1: core driving to actually extend the lead. And as you mentioned,
Speaker 1: you've got to be much sharper on the road. And
Speaker 1: we saw the Eagles get away with some turnovers last
Speaker 1: week in Chicago that they weren't able to you know,
Speaker 1: the Bears didn't make them pay for it the Saints,
Speaker 1: and you knew that with Drew Brees, that that was
Speaker 1: the biggest thing. Where last week you're going against first
Speaker 1: time playoff quarterback in Mitchell Trubisky. Were games on the
Speaker 1: line of foul, drive, brisk and give creg got the
Speaker 1: Bears in position to win the game, they missed the
Speaker 1: kick or a Treyvon Hester BLOCKDA should say, but here,
Speaker 1: you knew that Drew Brees in that dome was gonna
Speaker 1: be very, very difficult to stop there. So as we
Speaker 1: started to reflect upon what the Eagle were able to
Speaker 1: accomplish here in twenty and eighteen, why don't we get
Speaker 1: into your takeaways? Sorry, First and foremost with how the
Speaker 1: Eagles overcame a slow start. They got the win on
Speaker 1: opening night against Atlanta. You know, it was an amazing crowd,
Speaker 1: vibrant energy, the banner goes up, but after that they're
Speaker 1: humbled against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They win in Carson
Speaker 1: Wentz his first start of the season, comes back from
Speaker 1: the acl LCL injuries, you know, beats the Indianapolis Colts
Speaker 1: to get them to two and one. Then that Tennessee game,
Speaker 1: the loss in overtime kind of started things on a
Speaker 1: downward trend where you started to wonder, like we said earlier,
Speaker 1: whether the team would even make the playoffs. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean we we had a chance to find out what
Speaker 1: it was like to have sort of a Super Bowl hangover. Right,
Speaker 1: We've never known what it was like to be Super
Speaker 1: Bowl champions in through and all season celebration of adulation,
Speaker 1: of being padded on the back and everything, as it
Speaker 1: was well deserved, it's tough to sort of get out
Speaker 1: of that malaise. It's it's tough to sort of have
Speaker 1: that same hunger and determination and focus coming in the
Speaker 1: training camp. And the Eagles found that out firsthand. Not
Speaker 1: only that they had to they had to overcome who
Speaker 1: was going to be at the quarterback position to start
Speaker 1: the season off. Was it going to be Nick Foles,
Speaker 1: Was it going to be Carson Wentz who was fighting
Speaker 1: diligently to get back on the field to join his
Speaker 1: teammates and sort of help them defend this championship crown.
Speaker 1: And you saw it early in the season where it
Speaker 1: was just choppy, inconsistent play. They looked good one week,
Speaker 1: then they found a way to lose games the following week,
Speaker 1: not being able to put together consecutive wins into the
Speaker 1: second half of the season versus the Giants and the
Speaker 1: red Skins. They really had a tough time overcoming that
Speaker 1: slow start, but they were able to do it all.
Speaker 1: We're gonna say it now to the super dumb head
Speaker 1: coach Doug Pearson about to address the media there following
Speaker 1: the Eels twenty to fourteen lost. Let's hear from the
Speaker 1: head coach, change anything just now? Not really. I think
Speaker 1: I think it's I think it's it's a credit to
Speaker 1: them obviously, but you see, I think sometimes how you know, um,
Speaker 1: just the ebb and flow of a game. Um, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, they they got some breaks in there. We
Speaker 1: know we we we were moving the ball again. I
Speaker 1: mean I think you know we had the we had
Speaker 1: the turnover that throwed a zacher. It's up the sideline
Speaker 1: there that got got intercepted and just kind of momentum
Speaker 1: change and went down and scored on that. And um,
Speaker 1: so nothing nothing that they did obviously. Um, we just
Speaker 1: we just didn't make the place to either stay on
Speaker 1: the field or you know, continue drives, execute and score field.
Speaker 1: It seemed like some are holding back here to seem
Speaker 1: like you were holding back hears. Can you describe like
Speaker 1: foot hold battles. Yeah, it's tough. It's tough because it's
Speaker 1: so final. You know, you're you're here at the end
Speaker 1: of the season. There's no more, no more football, you know,
Speaker 1: for for twenty eighteen. And UM just told the guys,
Speaker 1: you know, just keeps your heads up and we we
Speaker 1: set out on a journey way back in OTAs and
Speaker 1: we keep talking about and having no regrets, you know,
Speaker 1: and leave everything out on the field. And they did
Speaker 1: that tonight. You know, they did that this afternoon, and um,
Speaker 1: they battled right to the end. We had we had opportunities.
Speaker 1: So UM, proud of them, proud of the season, proud
Speaker 1: of the adversity that we faced all season long, and um,
Speaker 1: you know, found our way to get into the postseason.
Speaker 1: And uh, um, you know, just wish wish the Saints. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, good luck going forward. It's hard. I mean
Speaker 1: it's really hard because he's so he's so down. But
Speaker 1: you know, for me, it's about staying positive and uh, listen,
Speaker 1: he's made many many big catches for us this season
Speaker 1: and continue he will continue to do that. And I
Speaker 1: just told him he's gotta you know, he's got to
Speaker 1: keep his head up and and don't let one play
Speaker 1: to find you. You know, it's it's not who he is.
Speaker 1: He's he's too good of a player, and um, uh
Speaker 1: he needs to he needs to. He'll embrace it, you know, obviously,
Speaker 1: but uh, you know, and he'll be better for it.
Speaker 1: But I told him just to keep his head up
Speaker 1: and keep keep playing. Um yeah, but so is that
Speaker 1: why he ran to play at that point, had plenty
Speaker 1: of time to get to the line of scrimmage and
Speaker 1: uh and get the playoff. I wanted to stay aggressive.
Speaker 1: Um just ran to play like two plays before when
Speaker 1: we tried to stick it there and hurts and um
Speaker 1: we have to roughen the pastor play. So it was
Speaker 1: a simple play got lined up and had plenty of
Speaker 1: time to think about. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: it's I'm sure we'll look at the tape and and
Speaker 1: and uh, you know, evaluate that. But there's always throws
Speaker 1: you'd like to have back, uh in every game, you know.
Speaker 1: But I thought the way he hung in there and
Speaker 1: and battled and gave up, gave our offense a chance
Speaker 1: to go down and you know, possibly win this football game.
Speaker 1: So I thought overall, he played played pretty well. Yeah
Speaker 1: you felt you felt it a little bit, um, you know,
Speaker 1: but but we listen, we we had a lot of
Speaker 1: confidence even at that point. We felt like we're moving
Speaker 1: the ball. We stayed and stayed in rhythm and um, no,
Speaker 1: I know, but but we felt even even on that drive,
Speaker 1: we felt like we could have um could have scored
Speaker 1: have we hit that play. But kind of changed after
Speaker 1: that point. And um, you know, again credit the Saints
Speaker 1: for for uh, you know, executing stretch. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: it's and it's you know, it's just it's hard stuff. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, those guys are uh, solid players or starters,
Speaker 1: and and uh, it's unfortunate we lose. We lose those
Speaker 1: guys for you know, Brandon for the rest of the game,
Speaker 1: but those guys for periods of time. It's it's disruptive
Speaker 1: a little bit, but you know it's kind of been
Speaker 1: our season a little bit, you know, fighting, fighting through
Speaker 1: that adversity, and um, you know we did get them back,
Speaker 1: but credit them too for for playing through a little injury.
Speaker 1: That Yeah, I mean that's it's you know, you kind
Speaker 1: of expect it in that situations fourth and one, Um,
Speaker 1: you know, you just gotta be prepared for that. And um,
Speaker 1: you know, again, just a great play by them in
Speaker 1: the game you were ready for. We've had our defense,
Speaker 1: our defense defense stay um calling so our you know,
Speaker 1: our defense was on the field sixteen. That was the
Speaker 1: one over the middle. Yeah, um, yeah, we're dropping his
Speaker 1: own and just um again you know, um, Drew did
Speaker 1: a good job just hanging on the football and letting
Speaker 1: his guys get down the field. I mean it was
Speaker 1: just it was just just a window right there, you know,
Speaker 1: in the middle of field, and and uh got it
Speaker 1: and got the first down this season where it just
Speaker 1: seemed and then what brought me back to where relevant, Um,
Speaker 1: the guys in that locker room. Um, you know, got
Speaker 1: a lot of trust, a lot of faith in those guys,
Speaker 1: my coaches, just um, you know, I just believing that
Speaker 1: we could, we could get ourselves in this position, you know,
Speaker 1: and and be in the postseason being you know it
Speaker 1: is it is one of our goals obviously, has to
Speaker 1: be playing in January. And um, it's as I've set
Speaker 1: all season, a resilient group that you know, doesn't um
Speaker 1: waiver a whole lot you know, through adversity, um makes
Speaker 1: you tougher, makes you uh um, you know, battle that
Speaker 1: much harder. So those guys in the locker room really, um,
Speaker 1: you know, fought through that and and gave us the
Speaker 1: opportunity to be in this position. At that point, I
Speaker 1: mean I thought that we were we were, we were
Speaker 1: on our way, you know, we got that we got
Speaker 1: to you know. Um, it just felt like the momentum
Speaker 1: at that point. I mean it was it was in
Speaker 1: our in our favor, kind of in our hands, and
Speaker 1: and uh it's been that way all season, you know,
Speaker 1: and it felt like that, uh, that sort of that
Speaker 1: magic was going to continue special after after the game possible.
Speaker 1: I just told him, I appreciate everything, everything he's done,
Speaker 1: you know, and everything that uh uh he's done this season,
Speaker 1: and and you know, for him to come in and
Speaker 1: step in the way he has, I mean Um, you know,
Speaker 1: just just told him I loved him, and and uh,
Speaker 1: you know, we'll probably visit the next couple question. But well,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna you know, obviously, you know, I'm gonna punt
Speaker 1: that question and talk about that later, knowing that some
Speaker 1: of these guys has to be in the back of
Speaker 1: your mind decisions these guys. And it's tough. I mean
Speaker 1: it's tough because these guys are gonna build relationship with
Speaker 1: these guys you spent so much time together and and um,
Speaker 1: you know, your your roster. Every year, your roster is
Speaker 1: gonna change. I mean, that's just the way it is.
Speaker 1: There's there's people are gonna come, people are gonna go,
Speaker 1: and you know, um, obviously, well we'll talk more about it,
Speaker 1: you know, in the next next few days. But um,
Speaker 1: when you build relationship like that and you know these
Speaker 1: guys personally, makes it that much harder too. Well, and
Speaker 1: that's the thing is, you know, we've we've we've won
Speaker 1: a super Bowl with these guys and and uh, um
Speaker 1: you know, we'll see, we'll see where we go at
Speaker 1: the end saying we can rest. Oh no, I'll tell
Speaker 1: you a credit. The defense I mean they got after
Speaker 1: Drew which we had to do. Um, you know, I think, uh,
Speaker 1: the one the one one statistical thing I think was
Speaker 1: the third downs. I think they were eight of fifteen
Speaker 1: on first on third down. That was kind of the
Speaker 1: big glaring statistic that kind of uh stood out, you know.
Speaker 1: And then conversely, I think we were two of seven,
Speaker 1: So that that to me kind of the tail tale
Speaker 1: right there. We just couldn't get off the field enough
Speaker 1: defensively with fifteen third downs, I mean, that's a credit
Speaker 1: to get to fifteen, but then we gotta get off
Speaker 1: the field. Um. Conversely, seven for third downs is great,
Speaker 1: but you should at least convert four or five of those. Yeah,
Speaker 1: obviously a lot of guys down in the game. Was
Speaker 1: that going to say about he made the Divisional round?
Speaker 1: What was that kind of say about going forward? Um?
Speaker 1: What they can be? Well? And I tell you you
Speaker 1: got to have a lot of confidence, uh in in
Speaker 1: in the in the guys and the coaches. I mean,
Speaker 1: to get to this position, to be in the Divisional
Speaker 1: round two games away from the super Bowl again, I mean,
Speaker 1: is is uh, it's it's it's tough in this league.
Speaker 1: It's tough to win games. And even back when when
Speaker 1: a lot of people were you know, counting us out,
Speaker 1: you know in mid season and after the Dallas game,
Speaker 1: things like that. Um, it's why you played sixteen games,
Speaker 1: you know, give yourself a position, you know, shot to
Speaker 1: be in this position, and um, you know it's a credit,
Speaker 1: you know, looking forward. Um, you know it's a good
Speaker 1: football team, good football team, and uh, you know we're
Speaker 1: gonna learn from this. We'll be better for him. No,
Speaker 1: I just think they just played a little bit better.
Speaker 1: They controlled the line of scrimmage a little a little better. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, our run game just kind of I won't
Speaker 1: say disappeared, but it was it wasn't very good you
Speaker 1: know there, and and tried to continue to run it
Speaker 1: and um it just felt like that, uh you know,
Speaker 1: Um they and we had some we had some formation
Speaker 1: issues and some things like that to kind of had
Speaker 1: to burn a couple of time outs there. But other
Speaker 1: than that, I think just you know, credit them for
Speaker 1: their effort and you know, making the place. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Heartbroken Doug Pearson, very very emotional and you can see
Speaker 1: the love that the players and the coaches have for
Speaker 1: each other. Obviously, very very difficult way to end the season,
Speaker 1: and I think you addanced this, I can you certainly
Speaker 1: understand this from your time in the NFL. This team
Speaker 1: is not coming back next year. Okay, you may have
Speaker 1: head coach Doug Pierson and a lot of the same
Speaker 1: key players, but by and large, it's going to be
Speaker 1: a different locker room next year. That's why when media
Speaker 1: fans will say, can you carry the momentum from one
Speaker 1: year to the next, I mean, we're talking about nine
Speaker 1: months from now before this team is going to play
Speaker 1: a meaningful game, one that's going to count in the standings. Again,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have free and so, you're gonna have draft,
Speaker 1: you have injuries. There's gonna be a lot that takes
Speaker 1: place during that time. It's not gonna be the same
Speaker 1: locker room. Even if you bring back a lot of
Speaker 1: the same amount of guys, there's gonna be addition, subtractions.
Speaker 1: So the twenty eight team Philadelphi Eagles, that iteration of it,
Speaker 1: that's done at this point. Yeah, I mean, and that's
Speaker 1: that's the business of the NFL. Each year is his eat.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's his own individual year. I mean, the
Speaker 1: makeup of that team, that personality, those players, it's unto
Speaker 1: itself and so when you look at what was on
Speaker 1: the field tonight, I could guess twenty players at least
Speaker 1: won't be here next year. When you think about draft
Speaker 1: picks and free agency things of that nature, there's roster
Speaker 1: turnover every year on every ball club. And so when
Speaker 1: you have a ball club like the Eagles where they
Speaker 1: basically have been in a championship mode, championship run the
Speaker 1: last couple of years, there's also gonna be veterans they
Speaker 1: may not be here. So um, it's it's when you
Speaker 1: leave that field for the final time, whether it be
Speaker 1: in Minneapolis with the confetti coming down, or it's in
Speaker 1: New Orleans. You know, when you when you reconvene in April,
Speaker 1: whenever the offseason program starts, there's gonna be a lot
Speaker 1: of new faces. And most certainly when you step on
Speaker 1: that field next September for that opening game, it'll be
Speaker 1: a completely different roster, a makeup, different personalities, a different
Speaker 1: character that this team will identify itself with. And that's
Speaker 1: the that's the business of the NFL, and that's why
Speaker 1: you have to cherish these years. And the thing is,
Speaker 1: you know, you focus on the change from year to year, players,
Speaker 1: roles are gonna be different even throughout the course of
Speaker 1: the season. I think guys like Craivon LeBlanc. I mean,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have different guys add to the mix. Avante
Speaker 1: Max was expected to be a special team's contribute. He
Speaker 1: comes up being an impactful starter on the outside for you.
Speaker 1: Golden Tape wasn't on this team, you know, up until
Speaker 1: the trade deadline just before Halloween. So you're gonna have
Speaker 1: new faces, new personalized added to and makes all the time.
Speaker 1: So to recap Doug Pierce's press conference, I think you
Speaker 1: hit on it perfectly. Third down was a huge difference.
Speaker 1: Third down offense had been outstanding for the Eagles to
Speaker 1: get themselves into the playoffs and into the divisional round
Speaker 1: well two of seven today and then the defense giving
Speaker 1: up eight or fifteen to Drew Brees, and Doug Pierson
Speaker 1: said it best. Sure, it was great we got them
Speaker 1: into third down situations, some third and long situations, but
Speaker 1: unfortunately you're just not able to get off the field.
Speaker 1: You need to make one more play, you know, just
Speaker 1: to maybe keep one field goal off the board. So
Speaker 1: maybe you only need a field goal on the final
Speaker 1: drive instead of a touchdown, and maybe that changes the
Speaker 1: complexion of everything. But still the Eagles were in position
Speaker 1: at the end, but you just needed to make one
Speaker 1: more play. And you know, if you came into this
Speaker 1: game saying that the defense is only going to give
Speaker 1: up twenty points to the New Orleans Saints, you're gonna
Speaker 1: quiously take that every single day of the week. Okay.
Speaker 1: You figured that this offense, the way it had played
Speaker 1: final six regular season games with Wentz and Nick Foles
Speaker 1: at quarterback, there average twenty seven points per game, third
Speaker 1: highest rate in the league. You know, down the stretch there,
Speaker 1: if you factor in last week's game of sixteen points,
Speaker 1: I think it was an average still over twenty four
Speaker 1: points per game, close to twenty five. You figure we're
Speaker 1: gonna have enough to be able to get to win
Speaker 1: if we're holding that team to twenty. Other knows we'll
Speaker 1: set here a red zone. Okay. Last week in the
Speaker 1: win over the Bears, Bears were over for three and
Speaker 1: a red zone freeze and company two for two on
Speaker 1: the day. That's the difference right there for you. This
Speaker 1: was the number one red zone defense that the Eel's
Speaker 1: head in the NFL this season. Unfortunately, just wasn't up
Speaker 1: to the task today. Against you know, the difference going
Speaker 1: against a future Hall of Famer and an outstanding play
Speaker 1: caller at coach and coach on Payton. Yeah, and when
Speaker 1: you're on the road and you're growing up against a
Speaker 1: guy like Drew Brees. You know when opper zone these
Speaker 1: when opportunities present itself, you got to take advantage of
Speaker 1: those opportunities. And also, and that could be on the
Speaker 1: offensive side of the ball or the defense side of
Speaker 1: the ball. If it's third and long, you gotta get
Speaker 1: off the field. You have to get off the field.
Speaker 1: You can't give up big third down conversions. You can't
Speaker 1: get Drew Brees in this offense another set of downs.
Speaker 1: When I look at the box score and I look
Speaker 1: at the biggest difference in this game, it's not only
Speaker 1: that third down, but the third down is what contributes
Speaker 1: to the other factor, which is time of possession. The
Speaker 1: Saints had the ball for thirty seven minutes, almost fifteen
Speaker 1: minutes longer than the Eagles had it. That's basically three
Speaker 1: quarters to one quarter that the Saints had the ball
Speaker 1: over the Eagles. It's gonna be difficult for any defense
Speaker 1: to keep this Saints offense out of the end zone.
Speaker 1: If they have the ball that much. But it's not
Speaker 1: just the offense who have to extend drives. The defense
Speaker 1: has to get off the field on third down certainly.
Speaker 1: So as we go wait to hear from quarterback Nick
Speaker 1: Foles in just a little bit. Might as well get
Speaker 1: into your other takeaways from the season. You got talked
Speaker 1: about how the Eagles had golfs to a slow start.
Speaker 1: You know, they're over come to the Super Bowl hangover. Okay,
Speaker 1: because again that's the thing that you mentioned. They had
Speaker 1: to learn about what that was gonna be like here
Speaker 1: in eighteen. I know Doug Pearson, who had been through
Speaker 1: it as a player, you know, said to embrace the target.
Speaker 1: But it looks like it's something that you don't truly
Speaker 1: understand until you experience it for yourself. You can be
Speaker 1: told time and time again, this is what's gonna be
Speaker 1: like where every team is gonna be coming after you.
Speaker 1: But until you're seeing that week in and week out,
Speaker 1: you're not gonna understand the pressures and challenges that come
Speaker 1: with that. Yeah, and the team had to find out
Speaker 1: about that firsthand this year and say, it's hard to
Speaker 1: explain that until you actually go through it. I mean,
Speaker 1: there are a few players that could talk about it,
Speaker 1: you know, Malcolm Jenkins, Chris Long, guys that have won
Speaker 1: championships other places. But it's hard to really get that
Speaker 1: through the players if they've never gone through it and
Speaker 1: they had to fight their way through it. Not only that,
Speaker 1: they dealt with some injuries as well. You know, when
Speaker 1: you're playing an extended season, when you're playing until February,
Speaker 1: you're playing more football than anybody else in the league.
Speaker 1: And it took a whole for some of these guys
Speaker 1: to get back on the field. You know, you lose
Speaker 1: guys like Jayajii right that that hurts you. Not really
Speaker 1: having a clear running identity early in the season, that
Speaker 1: took a wow to sort of formulate itself. So I
Speaker 1: think the extended season couple with the shorter offseason that
Speaker 1: contributed to the whole Super Bowl hangover, and it took
Speaker 1: him a while to sort of fight their way out
Speaker 1: of that. You mentioned the run game and losing Jagi
Speaker 1: and Corey Clement throughout the course of the season. You know,
Speaker 1: Doug Pearson said there really just wasn't much of a
Speaker 1: run game, and you knew that last week going against
Speaker 1: Chicago and the top rank defense, and you were just
Speaker 1: trying to keep the Bears honest. But believe it or not,
Speaker 1: the Saints run defense just as good as the Bears,
Speaker 1: the second in terms of yards per game, second in
Speaker 1: the league this year in terms of yards per carry,
Speaker 1: and they actually lost arguably their best player along the
Speaker 1: interior of the line, Sheldon Rankins. Okay, they lost him too.
Speaker 1: Was reportedly an achilles injury. So you thought the Eels
Speaker 1: might have the advance. It's the frustrating and sad part,
Speaker 1: and we don't know the extent of the injury. The
Speaker 1: legles lose their Pro Bowl guard Brandon Brooks, just a
Speaker 1: couple of plays later that same drive in fact, and
Speaker 1: that you talk about the offensive line, that's a big
Speaker 1: reason why Nick Foles had great protection down the stretch,
Speaker 1: why the offense was able to round into form down
Speaker 1: to stretch, why the Eagles were able to make it
Speaker 1: to the divisional round the postseason. Well, you have a
Speaker 1: huge domino that falls there with Brandon Brooks going out
Speaker 1: with the leg injury, and fingers crossed that it's not
Speaker 1: a significant injury that's gonna impact his offseason preparation, because
Speaker 1: that's the big concern now at this point, but you
Speaker 1: take him out. You know, at the right guard position,
Speaker 1: Jason Peters is battling injury. He has to come out
Speaker 1: of the game. And left tackle. You know, Stephan Weistnuski
Speaker 1: a trusted veteran. He's played center, he's played left guard.
Speaker 1: He hasn't had to play that right guard spot for
Speaker 1: the Eagles. Okay, you know he's worked in It started
Speaker 1: left guard here this season. You know, had to fill
Speaker 1: in for Kelsey in that Saints game. But right guard
Speaker 1: Brandon Brooks, you've been able to put him there and
Speaker 1: leave him there, and he and Lane Johnson have been outstanding,
Speaker 1: especially down the stretch, especially when Lane Johnson got healthy,
Speaker 1: because he dealt with injuries throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 1: So you know that goes to show right there that
Speaker 1: you need this offensive line to be healthy. You gotta
Speaker 1: figure out in fortified. But the Eagles do need to
Speaker 1: figure out what they're gonna do with the run game
Speaker 1: next season because Jgi scheduled to become a free agent,
Speaker 1: Corey Clement coming back from the injury, Darren Sproles, we
Speaker 1: don't know what the future holds for him. Josh Ms
Speaker 1: showed some promise, but obviously wasn't in the mix offensively
Speaker 1: late in the season. Wendell Smallwood, you know, nice turnaround here,
Speaker 1: or someone who had been inactive a minor role contributor
Speaker 1: to being a big part of the offense all of
Speaker 1: a sudden down the stretch. I thought he actually made
Speaker 1: some huge strides in terms of pass pickup because that
Speaker 1: was one of the weaknesses in his game and why
Speaker 1: you're not being able to be on the field time
Speaker 1: after time. Again, there are a couple of times when
Speaker 1: the Saints brought pressure and he's able to step up
Speaker 1: there and help him out, much like Darren Sproles, who's
Speaker 1: very very good in that regard. But you know, the
Speaker 1: Eagles had the run game going early and then you know,
Speaker 1: maybe it was with the Brooks injury, maybe it was
Speaker 1: once the once the the secondary is able to clamp
Speaker 1: down on the Eagls receivers and pass catchers, that they
Speaker 1: were able to just win the battles of line scripts
Speaker 1: and make sure that there was no no ground game
Speaker 1: going for the Eagles and everything was gonna be in
Speaker 1: Nick Foles's hands. Yeah, and that's difficult. That's difficult to
Speaker 1: sustain when you're on the road. You want to play
Speaker 1: good defense, and you want to have a sustainable running game.
Speaker 1: And the Eagles today fourteen rushes forty nine yards when
Speaker 1: you take out of Nick Foles two rushes right when
Speaker 1: you look at the other running backs. Not really a
Speaker 1: sustainable running game. And we knew last week that the
Speaker 1: Eagles sort of they got away with not being able
Speaker 1: to run the ball. Last week versus Chicago went up
Speaker 1: against the Saints team a better offense, a more efficient offense.
Speaker 1: You needed to have a semblance of a running game
Speaker 1: and for no other reason to keep that Saints offense
Speaker 1: on the sideline to help you sustain drives. All right,
Speaker 1: let's get you your last takeaway here, and it's the
Speaker 1: fact that the Eagles finished strong here so that they
Speaker 1: start off slow. They overcame the Super Bowl hangover. But
Speaker 1: this team that remember forty eight to seven, lost week eleven,
Speaker 1: November eighteenth, in New Orleans. The following week, a lot
Speaker 1: of people don't recall this. They were down nineteen to
Speaker 1: three against the Giants. And that's where a lot of
Speaker 1: people could have been like, that's the season, all right,
Speaker 1: it's not gonna happen this year. Giants were driving the score. Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1: So that's the thing. I remember. Michael Bennett suffered the
Speaker 1: foot injury in that game, you know, led a valiant
Speaker 1: effort in the second half to get the Eagles to win.
Speaker 1: So that helped turn the tight around for the Eagles. Okay,
Speaker 1: they win two of their next three games with Carson
Speaker 1: Wentz at quarterback. Wentz is out with the back injury.
Speaker 1: Nick Foles leads them into the playoffs, winning the final
Speaker 1: three regular season games and then the wild card round.
Speaker 1: So definitely finishing strong. There goes back to the leadership
Speaker 1: of Doug Peterson and the quality of character inside the
Speaker 1: Eagles locker room. With the leadership that the players have. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think you gotta start with the head coach. You
Speaker 1: gotta start with Doug Peterson. You talk about how the
Speaker 1: Eagles were after that Saints game that in Barrison Laws
Speaker 1: forty eight to seven, they rallied to finish six and two.
Speaker 1: When you look at their last eight games, they won
Speaker 1: six in their last eight games, finding themselves in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: able to go on the road and win a playoff
Speaker 1: game in Chicago. Really had the ball with an opportunity
Speaker 1: to go ahead late in this game against the Saints,
Speaker 1: you gotta at least appreciate the way this team finished
Speaker 1: down the stretch. That's a testament to the head coach,
Speaker 1: the hole that he has over this locker room, the
Speaker 1: fact that these players they continue to play hard for him.
Speaker 1: His number one trade as a head coach, not his
Speaker 1: ability to call plays, not his ability to pick players,
Speaker 1: but his ability to get his players to play for
Speaker 1: him every week. His ability to get his players to
Speaker 1: believe in themselves as well as to believe in their coaches.
Speaker 1: That's the biggest thing that I take away from the
Speaker 1: way this season ended is that we have the right
Speaker 1: man leading uson, Doug Peterson as the head coach, and
Speaker 1: moving forward, you have to feel good about where this
Speaker 1: organization is headed because the foundation is strong, the front
Speaker 1: office is strong from an ownership standpoint, from a front
Speaker 1: office personnel standpoint, and then you look at the head
Speaker 1: coach as well as some of the young talent that
Speaker 1: you have on this team moving forward, starting with Carson
Speaker 1: Wentz was gonna have a full off season to get
Speaker 1: healthy and get back in to the quarterback position and
Speaker 1: lead this organization going forward. You have to be excited
Speaker 1: about the way this team finished up the season because
Speaker 1: they could have very easily thrown in the towel and
Speaker 1: hung their hat on the fact that they won the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl last year. But they weren't satisfied. They weren't
Speaker 1: They weren't going to just lay down and let the
Speaker 1: season go to waste. Give them a lot of credit
Speaker 1: these players. They fought, They fought to the end, and
Speaker 1: what do you know, they found themselves in the second
Speaker 1: round coming up a little short against a very good
Speaker 1: New Orleans Saints team. I mean, look in the playoffs
Speaker 1: that they went on the road against the Bears, a
Speaker 1: team that not hosted a playoff game since twenty ten.
Speaker 1: And you know, Foles was able to move the ball
Speaker 1: against the number one ranked defense. They were able to
Speaker 1: withstand the Bears final drive as Trayvon Hester, you know,
Speaker 1: tips the Cody Parky attempt at the double doings that
Speaker 1: gives the Eagles a win. That that was an undermanned
Speaker 1: team going against a team that was outstanding from the
Speaker 1: start of the season. Okay, they were able to niggate
Speaker 1: Khalil Mack, one of the league's best players forget offense, defense,
Speaker 1: just best players period. They were able to neutralize him
Speaker 1: to get to the second round, and they knew the
Speaker 1: challenges that they had at hand today going against Drew
Speaker 1: Brees and Sean Payton and an offensive line that probably
Speaker 1: doesn't get enough credit. That's one of the best in
Speaker 1: the league. Again, Drew Brees was sacked, I believe twice today.
Speaker 1: He had only been sacked seventeen times in fifteen starts
Speaker 1: this season. Absolutely outstanding and the past catchers, Uh, send
Speaker 1: it now to the superdown. Nick Foles addressing the media,
Speaker 1: you know what, they really did a good job of,
Speaker 1: you know, showing us different looks. But you know, at
Speaker 1: the end of the day, you know we didn't execute. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, we got to be able to first few
Speaker 1: drives were great, Um, but after that, we guess we
Speaker 1: have to keep it going. But I mean they're tremendous team. Um,
Speaker 1: hats off to them. Um, you know, unfortunately, you know,
Speaker 1: we had an opportunity at the end. And you know,
Speaker 1: it's tough. I mean it's tough. You know, you love
Speaker 1: playing this game with you know, your teammates, and that's
Speaker 1: the toughest part about it is it just it stops.
Speaker 1: And you know, thirty one teams feel this at the
Speaker 1: end of the season. Um, and you know. I'd say
Speaker 1: the hardest part is you you develop relates. I talk
Speaker 1: about relationships, You develop relationships with your teammates, and you
Speaker 1: know for it to end, it's tough, um, just being
Speaker 1: with these guys. But you know we're able to spend
Speaker 1: time in the locker room after and UM, that's what
Speaker 1: this game is about, is those relationships during the playoffs.
Speaker 1: He happened one last years. UM, you know, I'm not
Speaker 1: really gonna worry about it right now. UM. I think
Speaker 1: you know, I'm just gonna do what I can to
Speaker 1: enjoy this fight back with my teammates. UM, and we'll
Speaker 1: see what happens. UM. I do know that you know,
Speaker 1: we went out there and gave it everything we had tonight.
Speaker 1: And that's where you know, everyone's got to keep their
Speaker 1: um heads held high because that's what it's about. Sometimes
Speaker 1: you win, sometimes you lose, but ultimately, if you give
Speaker 1: it everything you have. You know, that's what's about other
Speaker 1: team After that last play, what do you say, Oh, dude,
Speaker 1: just you just tell them you love them. That's what
Speaker 1: it's about. I mean, this game it's tough. Not everyone
Speaker 1: can do it. Um. In those moments, you know, just
Speaker 1: tell them I love you let's keep going. UM, you know,
Speaker 1: amongst other things that I'll keep to myself, but you
Speaker 1: know that's a general message and that's what this team
Speaker 1: is about. That's what you know, playing this game is about,
Speaker 1: is you know, developing those relationships to you know, the
Speaker 1: tough part about it, like I said, is you know,
Speaker 1: when it's over, it's over. UM. But you don't. I
Speaker 1: don't regret anything, you know, I always play this game
Speaker 1: to develop relationships because you know that's what makes it strong,
Speaker 1: team strong. So those catches, yeah, no, I mean you
Speaker 1: know that's part of the game. You know, can't look
Speaker 1: back and you know, say what if or what? You know,
Speaker 1: the confidence level in the huddle was extremely confident, like always, UM.
Speaker 1: You know, we go in there, we're getting the huddle
Speaker 1: every time and expect to march right down the field.
Speaker 1: You know, we were moving the ball and unfortunately it
Speaker 1: didn't go our way. UM. But that's the tough part
Speaker 1: about this game. UM. You know, you you win through losses,
Speaker 1: you win through wins. UM. You know this is something
Speaker 1: that you know all of us are going to learn
Speaker 1: from and we'll be better for UM. I've talked a
Speaker 1: lot about you know, my career in the NFL and
Speaker 1: the ups and downs. You're always learning, um, and you
Speaker 1: know we learned a lot tonight and it's tough, but
Speaker 1: we'll keep moving on. The first one, First one, UM,
Speaker 1: he made a good play. I was trying to take
Speaker 1: a shot down field. UM, need to get the ball
Speaker 1: up probably another foot or so. But you know, I
Speaker 1: believe it was a lot of Moore made a good play.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you're aware of how much the fans in
Speaker 1: Philadelphia just adore you. And nobody will see you though. UM.
Speaker 1: I think the big thing is you know what the
Speaker 1: city means to me. Um. You know it's always welcome
Speaker 1: me and my family. UM. It's really been a joy
Speaker 1: to live there and be a part of everything. And
Speaker 1: you know where the green and where the Jersey. So
Speaker 1: no matter what, you can't ever take that away. UM.
Speaker 1: We were able to do some really special things. So
Speaker 1: you know, we'll see what happens. But I'll tell you this,
Speaker 1: I've enjoyed every single moment and it'll always have a
Speaker 1: special place in my heart. The city, the fans, the people, UM,
Speaker 1: everything about it. Um. There's nothing like playing in the
Speaker 1: link um in front of the crowd. UM. It's it's
Speaker 1: some of my favorite moments. Um. My family's got to
Speaker 1: experience them. Um, My daughter's got to experience them. So
Speaker 1: we'll see what happens. But I've enjoyed everything. You just, uh,
Speaker 1: what's the play? What's the next play? Um, you know
Speaker 1: that's all that matters. Um. I talked about staying in
Speaker 1: the moment and the you know, playing the Super Dome,
Speaker 1: we have opportunity to go down and score at the end. Um.
Speaker 1: The only thing I'm worried about is the play and
Speaker 1: then recognizing what the defense is doing and ultimately executing
Speaker 1: the play. So just simplifying things in my head in
Speaker 1: those moments so I can go out there and you know,
Speaker 1: march down the field back out there was there? You know,
Speaker 1: it's just a miss um. You know, you know, different coverage,
Speaker 1: different things part of this game. You take shots, and
Speaker 1: you know I think you know, ultimately, Um, you know,
Speaker 1: I wish I had to put a little more air
Speaker 1: on it. Um, that's the tough part about the game
Speaker 1: is you know we didn't executing that. I gotta throw
Speaker 1: a better ball. Yeah, two options based up the coverage.
Speaker 1: Here's a couple of options game. Yeah, I mean, ltimately,
Speaker 1: we didn't execute. Did you overall just not feel as
Speaker 1: sharp as you have the less stress? No. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, football is a funny sport. It means you know,
Speaker 1: especially to playoff football. UM, it's a it's a it's
Speaker 1: a it's tough. Um. You know, I felt like we
Speaker 1: started the game off high and we were battling the
Speaker 1: rest of the game, and you know, we gave ourselves
Speaker 1: an opportunity to you know, win the game at the end, Um,
Speaker 1: based on how our team was playing. Um, you wish
Speaker 1: you could get done. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: you know, New Orleans did a great job of you know,
Speaker 1: fighting themselves and you know, giving themselves a win and
Speaker 1: ultimately they won. So UM, you know I feel good
Speaker 1: about you know, everyone's effort. I know everyone gave everything.
Speaker 1: This is tough just because you know, this is the
Speaker 1: last time this team will be together. And that's the
Speaker 1: toughest part about this different this year, because no, it's
Speaker 1: always difficult. Um. You know, fortunately we were able to
Speaker 1: be the you know, one team that finished on top,
Speaker 1: and that's just an electrifying feeling. Um, it doesn't really matter. Um,
Speaker 1: if you're not that one team, it's tough like I said,
Speaker 1: because the locker room changes and that's it. Um. But
Speaker 1: I know, like you know, we fought our way all season. Um.
Speaker 1: The guys are resilient, our coaches are resilient, Everyone at
Speaker 1: the facilities resilient. And they showed that. So everyone should
Speaker 1: be very proud of what they were able to accomplish. Ultimately,
Speaker 1: it wasn't our end goal, but it's like I said,
Speaker 1: everyone should keep their heads held high because you know
Speaker 1: we were able to you know, really pick it up
Speaker 1: the last four weeks or so, and you know, we
Speaker 1: were so close all throughout the year, and that that's
Speaker 1: a testament to the people that you know are in
Speaker 1: the facility, the guys in the locker room, because most
Speaker 1: teams aren't able to do that and fight like this
Speaker 1: team has. UM. I think the thing right now is just, um,
Speaker 1: your emotions. You're trying, you're trying to figure them out
Speaker 1: right now. There's a lot going on. Um, you know, ultimately,
Speaker 1: all I can really think about it is just you know,
Speaker 1: enjoying this fight with my teammates. UM. I know we
Speaker 1: wish we were continuing on, but you know that's part
Speaker 1: of this game. UM. You know, just enjoying that seeing
Speaker 1: them tomorrow. UM, that's really all I'm thinking about. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I think i've you know, we'll
Speaker 1: see what happens in the future. UM. Once again, I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna speculate on that, but yeah, I love leading
Speaker 1: a team. I love you know, being in the huddle. UM,
Speaker 1: being a part of a locker room. UM. Doing that,
Speaker 1: that's you know why I play the game. You know,
Speaker 1: that's that's football though. Um, Injuries happen. Um. We showed
Speaker 1: that last year. We had a lot of injuries and
Speaker 1: we were able to overcome them. And you know, ultimately
Speaker 1: to I know tonight a couple of guys got banged up,
Speaker 1: but that's part of the game. UM, next guy up.
Speaker 1: And you know I've always said the guys who are
Speaker 1: injured are still there supporting our team. UM. And that's
Speaker 1: a that's really special. UM. But you know that's just
Speaker 1: part of football. How you know that's A that's a
Speaker 1: tough question. UM. You know, it's a it's a really
Speaker 1: unique situation. UM, something that honestly, I need time to
Speaker 1: just step back. I love the city. I love playing there. UM.
Speaker 1: You know, we have three guys in that quarterback room
Speaker 1: that can play in this league. Um, and that's the
Speaker 1: part about it. But I'll tell you this, no matter
Speaker 1: what happens, Um, it's been a joy um being playing
Speaker 1: in the city, being in that quarter room, quarterback room
Speaker 1: with Carson and Nate. I'm going to work every day,
Speaker 1: and I know we talked about it earlier, but the
Speaker 1: city means so much to me and my family. UM,
Speaker 1: you know, and I always will yours by your side
Speaker 1: throughout the runs. In the Super Bowl Championship, you spoke
Speaker 1: out again this time was his message to you after
Speaker 1: this being a loss? Yeah, I think you know, Carson
Speaker 1: and Nate, Um, we're all together. UM. I think the
Speaker 1: big thing is just you know, love and support for
Speaker 1: one another in that quarterback room. UM. You know, It's
Speaker 1: it's tough too when the season comes to end, because
Speaker 1: you do we do so much together with film, study, um,
Speaker 1: with supporting each other on the sidelines and practice. UM,
Speaker 1: So for it to come to an end, it's tough.
Speaker 1: But like I said, you you always cherish those relationships
Speaker 1: you develop. UM, going to work every day. So just
Speaker 1: having Carson and Nate be supported me this last stretch
Speaker 1: and when Carson was playing or if Nate's playing like
Speaker 1: it's a special quarterback room because of the support system
Speaker 1: and UM, you know something that you know we don't
Speaker 1: take for granted. UM. I'd say the big thing is,
Speaker 1: you know, I would like to thank them, UM, thank
Speaker 1: them for their support. Uh, you know it's not ultimately
Speaker 1: you know how we wanted to end the season, but
Speaker 1: I think you know, this team, um represents what Philly
Speaker 1: is about. You know, people counted us out and we
Speaker 1: were able to continue to fight and give us an
Speaker 1: opportunity to enter the playoffs. And then when the shround
Speaker 1: and you know, we had an opportunity to win this game,
Speaker 1: and this team never stopped fighting. Much like the city
Speaker 1: of Philadelphia. That's just sort of you know, living in
Speaker 1: the city, that's just who the people are. But ultimately,
Speaker 1: I just want to say how grateful I am for
Speaker 1: everything they've done, every moment in the link, and you know,
Speaker 1: just continue to support the Eagles, and there's a bright
Speaker 1: future here with this team and everyone there. Thank y'all
Speaker 1: absolutely perfectly said right there at the end. We have
Speaker 1: been so fortunate over the last two seasons to have
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz and Nick Foles represent this football team, to
Speaker 1: play the quarterback position and to play that leadership role,
Speaker 1: and Nick Foles epitomizes right there everything you want in
Speaker 1: a quarterback. Okay, you know, obviously talked about the game
Speaker 1: and you know the fact that they didn't execute, but
Speaker 1: once you get the immacy of the loss out of
Speaker 1: the way, it's just talking about how over the last
Speaker 1: nine months he's been in the bunker with these guys,
Speaker 1: day in and day out, and this is the final
Speaker 1: plane ride they're going to take together. It's the last
Speaker 1: couple hours that they're going to have together really as
Speaker 1: a team. They will come to the facility on Monday,
Speaker 1: they'll have a final meeting and clean out their lockers,
Speaker 1: go through exit physicals, but their minds are quickly, you know,
Speaker 1: shifting gears toward the offseason and then getting out of
Speaker 1: here and getting away from football for a little bit.
Speaker 1: But to hear Nick Foles, all I can say is
Speaker 1: thank you. We don't know what, we don't know what
Speaker 1: the future holds, we don't know what's going to happen,
Speaker 1: but absolutely thank you for everything for allowing us to
Speaker 1: be a part of this magical run. For not just
Speaker 1: not just the quarterback play, but again the way that
Speaker 1: he's representing himself and this football team. He is one
Speaker 1: of the most has to be one of us admired
Speaker 1: athletes in the country for the fact that he's proficient
Speaker 1: on the field, but with the message that he carries
Speaker 1: with him about his teammates and relationships and the brotherhood
Speaker 1: and that's that's what's sports is all about. That's the
Speaker 1: best part of it all. And watching he and Nick worked,
Speaker 1: he and Carson Wentz worked together the last couple of years, it's,
Speaker 1: you know, like Foles at the end, it's it's a
Speaker 1: bright future here in Philadelphia with great things to come.
Speaker 1: So just a tip of the cap to you, Nick Foles,
Speaker 1: NICKI six. No matter what happens, just thanks for everything
Speaker 1: right there. I don't know if I could see it
Speaker 1: any better than what you just said, Chris. I mean,
Speaker 1: the guy is genuine. We've been fortunate as Eagles fans
Speaker 1: to have Nick Foles here. I was excited when they
Speaker 1: brought him back two years ago under this regime. I
Speaker 1: was sad to see him go the first time when
Speaker 1: we traded him for Sam Bradford. Have always been a
Speaker 1: big fan of Nick Foles and for what Nick Foles
Speaker 1: have done for this organization, for the city of Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: no matter what his future holds for him, no matter
Speaker 1: what team he goes on to play for, and he's
Speaker 1: more than likely played his last game as an Eagle,
Speaker 1: and h he's gonna always be an Eagle. He's an
Speaker 1: Eagle great. I think one day he'll being shrined in
Speaker 1: the Eagles Hall of Fame as he most right he's
Speaker 1: he he rightfully should be. Uh, he's one of the
Speaker 1: greatest Eagles of all time. He was a big part
Speaker 1: in delivering the most coveted trophy that this city has
Speaker 1: learned for throughout the history of sports in this town. Uh.
Speaker 1: He was a big part bringing that here, bringing being
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl MVP. And when this season looked like
Speaker 1: it was over, it was Nick Foles that infused life
Speaker 1: into this team and into this city one more time.
Speaker 1: And it was a perfect swan song. Well I shouldn't
Speaker 1: say perfect because it didn't end in another super Bowl title,
Speaker 1: but but if the season was going to end, he's
Speaker 1: at quarterback. He was perfect for his last year to
Speaker 1: end the season. It didn't end the way we wanted
Speaker 1: it to end, but with him being the quarterback for us,
Speaker 1: I'm perfectly fine for that. And just like you said,
Speaker 1: I tip my cap to you as well, Nikki six.
Speaker 1: Thank you for being a fantastic Eagle, uh and good
Speaker 1: luck to whatever your future mayn He is as exceptional
Speaker 1: off the field has he is on. Genuine that's that's genuinely.
Speaker 1: The best part is the fact that what you see
Speaker 1: is what you get. There's no filter, there's no facade
Speaker 1: anything on all those lines. He is that way each
Speaker 1: and every day. And it just seemed like when the
Speaker 1: lights are the brightest, he's the most commons he's able
Speaker 1: to deliver, you know, whether it's you know, facing the
Speaker 1: media during Super Bowl week, all those press conferences and
Speaker 1: telling his story about you know, his wife's disease, and
Speaker 1: you know how that you know fueled him and how
Speaker 1: he talked about talked about walking away from the game,
Speaker 1: and you know, he got his career re energized with
Speaker 1: Andy Reid and Kansas City and then came back here
Speaker 1: to Philadelphia. Uh and just you know, he almost went
Speaker 1: to Tampa Bay last year. And you know that that
Speaker 1: one move, that one decision, he said, largely because because
Speaker 1: he loved the city of Philadelphia. Yeah, you know, and
Speaker 1: this is a man who's never gonna have to buy
Speaker 1: another Meal in this town again. But the fact that
Speaker 1: the fans openly embraced him from the start, you know,
Speaker 1: helped him want to come back here, and in return,
Speaker 1: he delivers, like you said, the greatest trophy that this
Speaker 1: city has won, if you know, forever, forever, forever, since
Speaker 1: the Super Sense at first Super Bowl. You know, you
Speaker 1: can have your Stanley Cops, you have your World Series trophies,
Speaker 1: everything else, but you have all these great parades. But
Speaker 1: everyone said that they that the Eagles have their parade
Speaker 1: after winning a Super Bowl. It is going to be epic.
Speaker 1: And it lived beyond. It was beyond expectations, absolutely absolutely breathtaking.
Speaker 1: So what we're gonna do now is we heard from
Speaker 1: head coach Doug Pearson a short time ago in his
Speaker 1: press conference. He spoke a short time ago with Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame wide receiver Mike Quick came down from the
Speaker 1: broadcast booth. Always always, always the best interview Doug does
Speaker 1: after the game because he's fully candid and open and
Speaker 1: honest with Mike Quaker. I think Mike does a great
Speaker 1: job of getting to the point with the questions that
Speaker 1: need to be asked. That listit the great responses from
Speaker 1: hey coach Doug Pearson. So here's that one on one
Speaker 1: interview right now, coach, on that final drive, looks like
Speaker 1: you're gonna have an opportunity to pull this thing up.
Speaker 1: The ball goes to al Shan's hand, they intercept it.
Speaker 1: What do you say to a player after something like
Speaker 1: that happens. You just got to remind him that he's
Speaker 1: a good player and he's made a ton of catches
Speaker 1: for us. He's made some big plays for us this season,
Speaker 1: last season helps us win a championship, and one play
Speaker 1: is not going to define al Sean. Jeffrey, There's no way. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there are a lot of guys on the sideline consulting
Speaker 1: Ali Sean. Was that message pretty much the same. It's
Speaker 1: the same, it's the same, and you know it's it's
Speaker 1: gonna stay obviously, Um, but we're gonna surround him. We're
Speaker 1: gonna rally around him, and and uh, you know he's
Speaker 1: gonna be better for it. We're gonna be better for it,
Speaker 1: and and uh we move forward. This wasn't that slow
Speaker 1: start today. You got off to an early start. What
Speaker 1: works so well early in this football game? You know,
Speaker 1: I think I think early on, um, we had a
Speaker 1: little a little offt kept them off balance a little bit,
Speaker 1: and and and mixed Mixed had a really good run
Speaker 1: of of of pass and run, and you know, just
Speaker 1: we made some plays and then as a game kind
Speaker 1: of w we had that interception, you know, Altimore had
Speaker 1: that pick on al Sean or on zach Ertz there
Speaker 1: in the second quarter, felt like we had some momentum.
Speaker 1: And and then at that point, um, I think they
Speaker 1: went down and down scored and just you can kind
Speaker 1: of feel things turned just a little bit. But you know,
Speaker 1: our guys were, guys were still engaged. Uh, they were,
Speaker 1: they were they were full throttle, and and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: I had to give us a chance to win it
Speaker 1: at the end. Did your defense were down at all
Speaker 1: seas they had and your side you had forty seven
Speaker 1: offensive places? Yeah, that that's that's uh, that's that's something
Speaker 1: we can't we can't have. They had that long drive
Speaker 1: obviously in the third quarter, but basically took the entire
Speaker 1: third quarter. Um, And that's that's tough. It's tough on
Speaker 1: our guys. And and then we had the you know
Speaker 1: a number of number of injuries, guys, guys missing you know,
Speaker 1: Brandon missed the entire game. Fletcher missed substantial timers, all
Speaker 1: different guys, Brandon Graham. So it's hard. Um, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: but listen, you gotta you gotta find a way. You
Speaker 1: gotta find a way to get off the field, especially when, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, defensively, Um, you know, you have fifteen third
Speaker 1: downs in the game of the Saints do and and
Speaker 1: we gotta make sure we get off the field. But
Speaker 1: no one expected you to come down here and win.
Speaker 1: How could you expect to come down here? What made
Speaker 1: you think that you could come down here and be
Speaker 1: I just I just believe in our guys. I believe
Speaker 1: in trusting our players, and um, you know, our coaches
Speaker 1: and my coaches and you know, and that's a lot
Speaker 1: of confidence coming down here, you know. I mean, we
Speaker 1: felt like the first game was was not us, not
Speaker 1: who we were, and and uh, um we've battled all seasons,
Speaker 1: so we've been we've been battle tested, and uh, I
Speaker 1: felt like this was obviously a great environment for us
Speaker 1: to come down here and win this game. Well, let
Speaker 1: me tell you, I've enjoyed the way you put this
Speaker 1: thing together through adversity and look forward to working with
Speaker 1: you more. I appreciate it. Quick, you got it. Thanks?
Speaker 1: All right, an interesting stat there, and you, Mike Quick
Speaker 1: brought it up. There, seventy one plays run by the
Speaker 1: Saints compared to forty seven for the Eagles, and that's
Speaker 1: the end of the game. Numbers. Consider the fact that
Speaker 1: the Eagles scored on their first two drives. The second
Speaker 1: drive the Eagles had went for ten plays. So really
Speaker 1: it was after those first two drives, I mean, Eagles
Speaker 1: I was scoring no points, but really never even threatened
Speaker 1: to put any other additional points on the board up
Speaker 1: until the final drive, which ended with the interception the
Speaker 1: second of the game by Marshawn Lanimore. Yeah, I mean, listen,
Speaker 1: the Eagles defense game out smoking as well as the offense.
Speaker 1: The Saints offense was went three and out their first
Speaker 1: couple of drives. But yeah, just after that first quarter,
Speaker 1: it's pretty much it boils down to not being able
Speaker 1: to get off the field on third down and then
Speaker 1: not converting third downs on offense. How ironic is it
Speaker 1: that for most of the season first quarter was the
Speaker 1: bugaboo for the Eagles, not able to get you off
Speaker 1: to fast starts, and then finally, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: pouring it on in the second half and you hope, okay,
Speaker 1: is this going to carry over to next week? Well,
Speaker 1: in the dividual round of the playoffs, the Eagles get
Speaker 1: off to a brilliant start, blazing start. Yeah, now fourteen
Speaker 1: nothing and we're driving, okay to possibly put more points
Speaker 1: on the board, and then the Marshawn Lantimore interception really
Speaker 1: started to turn to tie. There, gave the scenes some
Speaker 1: life and they whittled away to come out with the
Speaker 1: twenty to fourteen victory. So we're gonna take our first
Speaker 1: break here on the postgame show presented by Rico. On
Speaker 1: the other side, we're gonna go in the film room
Speaker 1: as the mad Scientist, Fran Duffy and Greg Cosel breakdown
Speaker 1: one of the biggest plays from tonight's game. If you
Speaker 1: are following us right now on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube,
Speaker 1: you need to come over to Philadelphi Eagles dot com
Speaker 1: or the app to watch the rest of the show.
Speaker 1: We're gonna tie a bow on this twenty eighteen season
Speaker 1: and start to look ahead to what's gonna lie ahead
Speaker 1: for the offseason. We'll be back after these messages. You know,
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Speaker 1: McDonald's proud partner of the Philadelphia Eagles. All right, welcome
Speaker 1: back to the show, and as we discussed at the
Speaker 1: end of the first segment there, the Eagles couldn't have
Speaker 1: asked for a better start, jumping out to a seven
Speaker 1: nothing lead after Cravon LeBlanc hauled in the air reception
Speaker 1: on the very first play from scrimmage. Nick Foles went
Speaker 1: five for five on the opening drive, connecting with Jordan
Speaker 1: Matthews for a thirty seven You're touchdown a new figured.
Speaker 1: If the Eagles are getting quality contributions from role players
Speaker 1: early on like LeBlanc and Jordan Matthews, this is going
Speaker 1: to be a good day for the Eagles. Obviously, the
Speaker 1: Eagles coming up just short, but still quite a play
Speaker 1: there to start things off, and to break down exactly
Speaker 1: how we came to fruition, let's go inside the Rico
Speaker 1: Film room for the Rico Review where NFL Film Senior
Speaker 1: producer Grey Cosell and Fran Duffy are standing by. All Right,
Speaker 1: so let's now get into this touchdown here. The opening
Speaker 1: dry for the Eagles a touchdown from Nick Falls to
Speaker 1: Jordan Matthews on a deep corner out. Greg tell us
Speaker 1: what helps lead to this play? How Jordan Matthews is
Speaker 1: wide open? Well, first of all, we see Jordan Matthews
Speaker 1: all the way on the left side of our screen here.
Speaker 1: He's very tight to the formation and with press coverage
Speaker 1: by the slot corner p j Williams. So the most
Speaker 1: important thing is in order to keep the timing of
Speaker 1: the route, he has to get his best release. He
Speaker 1: can't be held up with the line of scrimmage, so
Speaker 1: he works inside. He's essentially going to be running a
Speaker 1: deep corner or a deep sail route, but he's got
Speaker 1: to get off the line of scrimmage, so he works
Speaker 1: inside to do that. But now what the Eagles are
Speaker 1: going to do, because what they want to make sure
Speaker 1: is that the deep safety, the single high safety Marcus Williams,
Speaker 1: does not become a factor in this throw. So what's
Speaker 1: the design of the play. The design of the play
Speaker 1: will be outside zone run action to the right side
Speaker 1: of the formation with a moving pocket. It's not really
Speaker 1: boot action, but it's a moving pocket for Nick Falls.
Speaker 1: And the reason that is so critical is because of
Speaker 1: Marcus will Marcus Williams will react to the outside zone
Speaker 1: run action. Now he doesn't fly up because he's a
Speaker 1: single high safety, but he slides toward the run action.
Speaker 1: So let's start this play and you can see exactly
Speaker 1: what happens as you see the outside zonner. Look, it's
Speaker 1: right there, free it. He's taken two steps in the NFL.
Speaker 1: That's an eternity. He's done. He is no longer going
Speaker 1: to be in position to get all the way across
Speaker 1: the field, even though he has very good range and
Speaker 1: react to the deep sail route by Jordan Matthew. So
Speaker 1: let's play it out. And this is an outstanding throw
Speaker 1: by Nick Foles because there's not pressure in his face,
Speaker 1: but he's not truly comfortable and secure. That's a great,
Speaker 1: great throw and the Eagles get a touchdown first drive. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Nick Foles shows that faith once again in his receivers
Speaker 1: to find a way to win against man covered. So
Speaker 1: we saw two examples there of the Eagles beating man.
Speaker 1: A man drives me exactly right, a huge thing there
Speaker 1: going into this game. Eagles go on top seven nothing.
Speaker 1: Those two love the work they do all year around.
Speaker 1: You do a great job with him on the Eagles
Speaker 1: game Plan show the Eagle Eye in the Sky podcast
Speaker 1: that the two do together, just fantastic, fantastic work. And uh,
Speaker 1: I tell you, I'm gonna miss it, missed the All
Speaker 1: twenty two that that's the saddest part here because of
Speaker 1: the way the season's ended. The football fan in me
Speaker 1: might want to watch the rest of the way because
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna want chair aspect that we still have
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks of football. But I don't want
Speaker 1: to see the Saints team. Let's be I don't want
Speaker 1: to see the Saints team. I mean, I guess the Rams.
Speaker 1: You know, at least we beat the Rams in La.
Speaker 1: I'm on the room for Big Rid. Now you might,
Speaker 1: I mean, I guess you might as well be at
Speaker 1: this point. I mean, you know, seriously, especially if he
Speaker 1: can knock off Bell check in the Patriots, then knock off.
Speaker 1: If you can knock off Sean Payton and the Saints,
Speaker 1: sure that that really will be the Coo de gras
Speaker 1: right there, say the least but one thing we were
Speaker 1: talking about during a break, you know, we go into
Speaker 1: the the just looking back at this game real quick here,
Speaker 1: going back to like time of possession. The Eagles had
Speaker 1: the ball for nine minutes and nineteen seconds in their
Speaker 1: first two drives, which resulted in touchdowns to give them
Speaker 1: the fourteen nothing lead. Okay, if we could bring up
Speaker 1: the box score once again, here the whole time possession
Speaker 1: for the game twenty two minutes and ten seconds for
Speaker 1: the Eagles. The longest drive that they had after that
Speaker 1: two minutes and fifty seconds. It was a four play
Speaker 1: drive that needed the first down. I mean, they didn't
Speaker 1: give many first downs after that first quarter. I'm just
Speaker 1: trying to do a quick count. Seven maybe the final
Speaker 1: drive seven you had four and the second half total,
Speaker 1: two of them on the final drive, but yeah, seven.
Speaker 1: So you had eight first downs on the first two drives,
Speaker 1: seven the rest of the game. And the longest drive
Speaker 1: again two minutes of fifty seconds you had one two.
Speaker 1: I won't count the one to end the first half,
Speaker 1: but one, two, three, four. Five of their drives or
Speaker 1: two minutes or less. What a final drive looked like.
Speaker 1: They're best offensive series, it was since the first quarter. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 1: that was the best series. You know, at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, we're gonna talk about how Drew Brees
Speaker 1: was amazing on third down, and you know how many
Speaker 1: points that the Saints were able to put up here.
Speaker 1: But Saints defense allowed just twenty one points in two games,
Speaker 1: two games to the Eagles, one with Carson Wentz, one
Speaker 1: with Nick Foles. I think it was five combined interceptions
Speaker 1: because Carson went to three interceptions the first one two
Speaker 1: today for Foles. This Saints defense beat the Eagles both matchups,
Speaker 1: so you know, and again today the Eagles still had
Speaker 1: a chance on the last drive, not able to get
Speaker 1: it done there. But that's gonna be something when you're
Speaker 1: looking big picture off season in terms of where the
Speaker 1: Eagles can prove or we're gonna you know, take a
Speaker 1: peek at two as a nineteen after our final break
Speaker 1: come up in a few moments here. But that's gonna
Speaker 1: be something to note that twice you went down to
Speaker 1: the New Orleans and twice you were not able to
Speaker 1: gain much ground against the Saints defense. Well that's that's
Speaker 1: really been the buggaboo for the team all year long,
Speaker 1: right has been the offense hasn't looked as explosive or
Speaker 1: as consistent or crisp as it did last year. And
Speaker 1: I think a big part of it we focus a
Speaker 1: lot on the quarterbacks. Obviously we're going to do that,
Speaker 1: but I think you put a lot more pressure on
Speaker 1: the quarterbacks when you don't have a running game to
Speaker 1: rely on. So when I look at this team from
Speaker 1: this year versus what it looked like last year, the
Speaker 1: biggest differences to me is the running game. Is the
Speaker 1: consistency of the running game or the lack thereof in
Speaker 1: the running game, And that's what it hurt him today.
Speaker 1: You you go on the road against the Saints and
Speaker 1: you're only able to rush for fifty yards, that's gonna
Speaker 1: be difficult. You got away with it last week against Chicago.
Speaker 1: You even got away with it against the Houston Texans
Speaker 1: because Nick had such a great game from a passing standpoint,
Speaker 1: But not since Josh Adams had those two games where
Speaker 1: yet like eighty plus yards in those two games, and
Speaker 1: even in those two games, they were like four yards
Speaker 1: per carry, so it wasn't as if you were rushing
Speaker 1: for almost five yards and carry. I think the running
Speaker 1: game has sputtered all year long, and I think that's
Speaker 1: been a big reason why the offense has struggled. At times,
Speaker 1: They've been able to do some things to sort of
Speaker 1: mask the inefficiency with the running game by short passes
Speaker 1: and things of that nature the screen game. But when
Speaker 1: I look at the two years and what's missing is
Speaker 1: we had we had a running game last year and
Speaker 1: you had three headed monster last year when you had
Speaker 1: Blunt and Clement. This year neither of those, none of
Speaker 1: those guys. And then when Corey goes down, you really
Speaker 1: just haven't had guys healthy at the position. Give Windale,
Speaker 1: small Wood and Josh Adam's credit for trying to trying
Speaker 1: to be efficient. Darren Sprows coming back trying to give
Speaker 1: you something, but man, you missed those those big bodies
Speaker 1: in there, and that's what those three guys provided you.
Speaker 1: Well said, yeah, that's gonna be one of the biggest
Speaker 1: things that Harry Rod has been company when they're trying
Speaker 1: to figure out how to improve this offense next season
Speaker 1: because it is a lot play well, yes, especially down
Speaker 1: the stretch once it got healthy. But you look at
Speaker 1: the defense number of injuries there, Okay, yeah, and look
Speaker 1: you have great stories like a Vonte Max stepping up.
Speaker 1: I think Russeul Douglas was one of the most improved
Speaker 1: players down huge down the stretch there. I thought Nigel
Speaker 1: Bradhams shine late in the season there, so you know,
Speaker 1: there are some big takeaways from that part of it
Speaker 1: because of the injuries. But at least you could say
Speaker 1: that's side of the ball deal with injuries. The offense
Speaker 1: didn't have a ton of injuries, okay, compared to the
Speaker 1: defense side of the ball. It's the lack of a
Speaker 1: running game. I think that certainly is gonna be something
Speaker 1: that they have to figure out going forward in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 1: And we'll start to look ahead to twenty nineteen after
Speaker 1: this our final break believer or not of the entire
Speaker 1: season here on the postgame show presented by Rico. The
Speaker 1: life of a Philly sports fan is a wild ride.
Speaker 1: Some years we triumph, some years we trust. What never
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Speaker 1: The life of a Philly sports fan is a wild ride.
Speaker 1: Some years we triumph, some years we trust. What never
Speaker 1: changes year after year is how we get to the game,
Speaker 1: shoulder to shoulder with our fellow fans on SEPTA. Get
Speaker 1: your ride started at ictaphilly dot com. Eagles High School
Speaker 1: Football Showdown, presented by Rothman Orthopedics at Jefferson Health celebrates
Speaker 1: local high school football coaches and their teams. Congratulations to
Speaker 1: Coach Infante from Saint Joe's Prep, our twenty eighteen Coach
Speaker 1: of the Year. Visit Philadelphia Eagles dot com Slash Showdown
Speaker 1: to check out all of this year's coaches and to
Speaker 1: learn more about the program. All right, welcome back to
Speaker 1: the show. So the eighteen season in the books for
Speaker 1: the Philadelphia Eagles. There will be a new Super Bowl
Speaker 1: champion this season, the final four consisting of the Chiefs
Speaker 1: and the Patriots on the AFC side, the Saints and
Speaker 1: the Rams over on the NFC. So as we look
Speaker 1: to what lies ahead for the Eagles, we gonna take
Speaker 1: a quick peek at the twenty nineteen schedule, because that's
Speaker 1: already set in stone, like, so, the Eagles are facing
Speaker 1: the AFC East and the NFC North next season, So
Speaker 1: you get Tom Brady coming here to the link be
Speaker 1: a very fascinating matchup here in twenty nineteen, Russell Wilson
Speaker 1: coming here as well. The awaye schedule, you know, first
Speaker 1: glance here and obviously you got wait to see, you know,
Speaker 1: what games you have on the road consecutively and what
Speaker 1: time of year you might be going to Buffalo. But
Speaker 1: you know, that's that's a pretty pretty solid awayte schedule
Speaker 1: for the Eagles next season. Yeah yeah, I mean, listen,
Speaker 1: they finished second in this division, so you sort of
Speaker 1: get a second place schedule from your division finish, and uh, listen,
Speaker 1: I expect the Eagles to b and that had these
Speaker 1: type of schedules every year because I expect them to
Speaker 1: be at the top of their division every you expect
Speaker 1: them to be a playoff team every year. So they're
Speaker 1: going to typically get the league's best, and next year
Speaker 1: you get you get three guys and Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: Russell Wilson, guys that have won Super Bowls. You get
Speaker 1: three guys that have won super Bowls. Right there, or
Speaker 1: your schedule, you get a playoff rematch against the Bears. Here.
Speaker 1: Who knows what the Red Skins will look like when
Speaker 1: you face them next year? The Giants as well, who
Speaker 1: knows what their situation is gonna look like moving forward.
Speaker 1: You know, Buffalo is always difficult in Atlanta bounce back.
Speaker 1: So we just need to sort of regroup and it'll
Speaker 1: be interesting to see what Howie Roseman and Joe Douglas
Speaker 1: sort of do with this roster. They got a lot
Speaker 1: of tough decisions to make. Veterans on this ball club,
Speaker 1: contract extensions. What do you do this offseason going into
Speaker 1: the draft. What positions are you focusing in on? You know,
Speaker 1: it's it's it'll be an interesting off season. We almost
Speaker 1: didn't really have an offseason last year, right we went
Speaker 1: through free agency. Nobody even cared that the draft came.
Speaker 1: Other than the fact that we took Dallas Godard away
Speaker 1: from the Dallas Cowboys, no one really care about the
Speaker 1: draft last year. This will be a huge all season
Speaker 1: because this sets the Eagles up moving forward, right, This
Speaker 1: sets them up moving forward, and we got some good
Speaker 1: young talent coming back. It'll be a shouting to see
Speaker 1: who they're gonna retain on the roster, which guys come
Speaker 1: back from injury, because we got guys like Jalen Mills
Speaker 1: coming back. Rodley McLeod could be back here next year.
Speaker 1: So you have some talent coming back as well. And
Speaker 1: then you know Howard Roseman. The all season is his
Speaker 1: time and he's rarely quiet in the all season, so
Speaker 1: I expect, how are we to do something that we
Speaker 1: don't see coming. He typically does that and puts this
Speaker 1: team in the right position moving forward. They got a
Speaker 1: lot of pieces, they got a lot of draft equity
Speaker 1: that they're gonna move around. Who knows they may move
Speaker 1: up in the draft. Who knows what they'll target, But
Speaker 1: I do know they're never quiets, never boring. Yes, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's not gonna be born here whatsoever. Last year we're
Speaker 1: celebrating this year, it's going to be all business trying
Speaker 1: to get back to the top of the mountain. And
Speaker 1: the fact that the Eagles, you know, were just six
Speaker 1: points away from getting to the Final four, shows that,
Speaker 1: you know, the new norm is here for Doug Pearson company. Because,
Speaker 1: like you said, you have the head coach and you
Speaker 1: have quarterback Carson Wentz and for him to get an
Speaker 1: entire offseason of you know, be able to focus, to rest,
Speaker 1: you know, to get fully healthy is gonna be huge
Speaker 1: because he was just battling the entire he dealt with
Speaker 1: the stress of trying to be on the field for
Speaker 1: week one, all less off season, you know. So while
Speaker 1: everyone was, you know, enjoying the fruits or the the labor
Speaker 1: of winning the Super Bowl, you know, he's here at
Speaker 1: the Novercare Complex. He's out in North Dakota working out,
Speaker 1: just trying to get himself to be on the field
Speaker 1: for week one. Okay, he made on the field for
Speaker 1: Week three, put some very very good numbers, showed a
Speaker 1: lot of promise in different areas. Then the back injury
Speaker 1: sidelines up for the season. He gets to rest, take
Speaker 1: a step back and get a different perspective on things.
Speaker 1: He saw how Nick Foles ran the offense down the stretch,
Speaker 1: you know. So you know that Carson Wentz Doug Peterson
Speaker 1: are gonna have this off season to work together, and
Speaker 1: this is a season where he could really take flight
Speaker 1: here to really maximize and get back to that level
Speaker 1: that we saw from him in the twenty seventeen season
Speaker 1: when he was and I think people forget that he
Speaker 1: was Patrick Mahomes Before Patrick Mahomes, I mean, I mean,
Speaker 1: Carson Wentz was the player taken the league by storm
Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen, and just like that, he's kind of
Speaker 1: on the back burner. Everyone's forgetting about him. He's gonna
Speaker 1: be ready to make some noise in twenty nineteen as
Speaker 1: he takes back the quarterback position here in Philadelphia. Well,
Speaker 1: I tell you, Chris, I haven't forgotten what he looked
Speaker 1: like in two seventeen, where he basically was the front
Speaker 1: runner for the MVP and should have won the NDP
Speaker 1: regardless of being injured. And now the last time Carson
Speaker 1: Wentz had a full off season where he didn't have
Speaker 1: to rehab, where he can focus on some of his
Speaker 1: deficiencies as a player, gets stronger in those areas, focus
Speaker 1: on getting better, being a part of the off season
Speaker 1: program fully in the off season, being a part of
Speaker 1: OTA's and mini camps without any distractions. The last time
Speaker 1: he had that type of off season to prepare for
Speaker 1: the season, he threw for thirty three touchdowns to just
Speaker 1: seven interceptions in thirteen games. He was eleven in two
Speaker 1: and he was the story of the NFL. That's what
Speaker 1: I expect to see from Carson Wentz next year. He's
Speaker 1: gonna have a full off season where he doesn't have
Speaker 1: to worry about rehabbing. That back is gonna heal gradually
Speaker 1: with just rest. He's gonna get a chance to get better.
Speaker 1: He's gonna get a chance to work out with his
Speaker 1: teammates this offseason. He's gonna get a chance to go
Speaker 1: to North Dakota with his teammates this offseason. And more importantly,
Speaker 1: he's going to be a part of spring football right
Speaker 1: from the beginning. Not real, not rehabbing, not being slowly
Speaker 1: integrated into the offense. He's gonna be a part of
Speaker 1: the preseason. People forget he didn't have a preseason last year.
Speaker 1: He stepped on the field week having not played since
Speaker 1: Week fourteen of the previous year. This guy when he
Speaker 1: gets a four off season, we know what he looks
Speaker 1: like and if nothing else, that should have you excited
Speaker 1: about this team moving forward. I'm just glad I'm not
Speaker 1: writing the daily what did Carson Wentz do Today? Story?
Speaker 1: You know is week one still in play for Carson Wentz.
Speaker 1: We don't have to worry this offseason. It's just gonna
Speaker 1: be what is his potential? What's his ceiling gonna be?
Speaker 1: In the twenty nineteen campaigns. So I for the last
Speaker 1: time here, I'm going to ask you what will the
Speaker 1: discussion be Tomorrow two pm? Marks and re Show you
Speaker 1: know what. I think Tomorrow will be a day of thanks. Obviously,
Speaker 1: we'll talk about the game and there's some missed opportunities,
Speaker 1: and fans will be able to live disappointed because we
Speaker 1: know we were right there. We were good enough to
Speaker 1: beat this team, and that'll sting a little bit. But
Speaker 1: I think as the day slowly moves along, I think
Speaker 1: this fan base, while there's still a passionate fan base,
Speaker 1: they still can get on you when you don't meet expectations.
Speaker 1: This is also a very knowledgeable fan base, and this
Speaker 1: team from where they were in the middle of the
Speaker 1: season has exceeded expectations, and I think this fan base
Speaker 1: will recognize that as you continue to discuss the season,
Speaker 1: how it ended and moving forward. I think this has
Speaker 1: become somewhat of a more should I say patient fan base?
Speaker 1: Can we use that? Yeah? Can we use that? And
Speaker 1: that's understanding. There you go, That's the evolution of a
Speaker 1: fan base that doesn't have the necessarily decades upon decades
Speaker 1: of frustration built up of disappointment. We did just win
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl last year, and this fan base has
Speaker 1: not forgotten that. No, not whatsoever, nor should they. But
Speaker 1: they shouldn't understand that the Eagles are not satisfied. The
Speaker 1: Eagles want to be back there again this season and
Speaker 1: things didn't quite go the way that they expected. It
Speaker 1: was a different journey. Just think about the move for
Speaker 1: Golden Tap. Yeah, that they want to win, certainly, you know.
Speaker 1: But the big thing was twenty seventeen. We were flying
Speaker 1: high right from the start of the season. Again, Carson
Speaker 1: Wentz was a talk of the league. They raced out
Speaker 1: to an eleven two record, they got home field advantage
Speaker 1: and those two the atmosphere fills two playoff games just
Speaker 1: absolutely magical. And then the MVP performance by Nick Foles
Speaker 1: in the Super Bowl, just truly majestic with Alshon Jeffrey,
Speaker 1: who again, I know he's got to be, you know,
Speaker 1: really heartbroken over the way that his season ended because
Speaker 1: he's a guy who's come up so much in the
Speaker 1: clutch time after time again. But nonetheless, this team does
Speaker 1: not win a super Bowl without him. That's the one
Speaker 1: thing that we cannot forget is, you know, while some
Speaker 1: people might be geting Alshan for the drop here that
Speaker 1: led to that you know, game ceiling interception by Marshall Ladmore,
Speaker 1: this team does not win a super Bowl. Nor is
Speaker 1: this team in the playoffs this season if it's not
Speaker 1: for al Shan Jeffrey. And then this season here where
Speaker 1: we all were thinking, okay, is the magic going to
Speaker 1: carry over from last year, it didn't. It became as
Speaker 1: as I said earlier, it's going to be a new
Speaker 1: year in twenty nineteen. But the twenty eighteen team wrote
Speaker 1: its own chapter overcame a ton of adversity, fought its
Speaker 1: way to the postseason, and provide us with quite a
Speaker 1: ride in the month of December and early on in
Speaker 1: January to make us all believe. Because when the Eagles
Speaker 1: lost forty eight to seven in New Orleans. No one
Speaker 1: thought this was going to be certainly a championship team,
Speaker 1: and most people probably thought the playoffs were not going
Speaker 1: to happen in eighteen. This is a team that got
Speaker 1: people to believe. Okay, that's how special the brotherhood was.
Speaker 1: The chemistry was in the locker room here this year.
Speaker 1: And it comes up six points short in a twenty
Speaker 1: to fourteen decision against the New Orleans Saints in the
Speaker 1: divisional round. So quite a ride, it said, that's over,
Speaker 1: But there's gonna be big things to come in twenty
Speaker 1: nineteen moving forward because the pieces for long term stability
Speaker 1: and success are in place. The Eagles have the formula
Speaker 1: to win, to get back the way to the way
Speaker 1: it was when you were here for those years where
Speaker 1: you were going to making those deep playoff runs year
Speaker 1: and in year out. The formulas here in Philadelphia, they
Speaker 1: just need to execute, and this offseason is going to
Speaker 1: be absolutely instrumental in making sure that those plans come
Speaker 1: to fruition. So that's gonna do it for us here
Speaker 1: on the postgame Show presented by rico Ike, the Best Man,
Speaker 1: you make it so easy, make it so easy, Such
Speaker 1: a pleasure weekend a week out. Absolutely will miss these Sundays,
Speaker 1: these late late nights here you know, getting it done.
Speaker 1: We will have complete coverage of locker room clean out
Speaker 1: day tomorrow. We do not have a time right now
Speaker 1: for if Doug Pearson will address the media. We will
Speaker 1: give that to you on our social media channels if
Speaker 1: we get that later on in the evening. But nonetheless
Speaker 1: for IKE Racing, all of us here at the Philadelphia Eagles,
Speaker 1: I'm Chris McPherson. You've been watching the postgame show presented
Speaker 1: by Rico. Everyone have a great Eagles night. Thanks for
Speaker 1: tuning in this season