Hour 2: Merrill Reese Analyzes The Eagles' Week 1 Win

0:00I don't know what he's gonna say. He'll make a lot of money. He'll be here. You know what kind of mindset we have? Milton Williams a couple years ago. I don't know. I don't know if they can keep him, but he's awesome. All right, 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-9-4. Back to your phone calls in a second. Your first show, after an hour of talking about how exciting it was and the best parts of the game between Jalen Hertz and Zach Bond and Eagle Special Teams made a big difference yesterday. Let's talk about some of the things I think it's time to be concerned about. Hew, that was not a good performance by the offensive lines. Specifically. Specifically. Ron Pena. Hello, player. Are you making excuses? No, no, I'm just saying, hey, hey, hey, they get paid. You are, you are. I'm not. No, but hold on, two years ago, this was the best offense finally. No, he was. Yeah. And they get paid. The guys they were going against, they paid too. Right. But did we ever get pushed around by any defensive line two years ago? You know, it's literally everyone in the NFL get paid. I know. I know. This is excuse me, Dr. Wilson. Week one. You know what I hate about both of you guys when you get one. What? What? That we're right. And we're tired of the nonsense. That's true. You're so garbage yesterday.

1:00Dickerson and Durgan saw you. You got to get really snippy. You're sick. Yeah. We're all right. Because the day get paid, two thing is crazy. Dickerson, good yesterday. Joe, no, no, no. No, yes, no questions. They didn't play well yesterday. OK, thank you. They got, they whiffed on a lot of blocks. Yes, yes. But we also have to understand this is a new blocking scheme and they have to get acclimated to it. Yesterday was not a great day. But I got to say this to talk about sitting on the bench and starting the other guys behind them. That's a little too much. That's a lot. Funny. Funny side. Just wrote down Drew Kendall and Willie Lampkin. No, no, no. Drew Kendall and Willie Lampkin. I just wrote that name. I don't think I ever. But they were talking about getting both the guards out of it. It is more. Hold on. I mean, if they keep playing like they did, they have to get Drew Kendall and Willie Lampkin might be starting to get out of the play. I get it. It's really killing. I know. Seek one. We said the backfield the whole game. Yeah, he was. He was. I'm not disputing any of that. But it's the first game.

2:01I understand they have to play about it. But I am concerned about those two. I mean, they physically they got, they weren't as good last year, right? And then they went to Columbia to get their backs fixed or next or whatever. I don't know. Again, we had a call saying what they do down there. I don't know what they did. Didn't work. So so me and my cousin owe my head, right? So we ride in this morning. We listen to the station and Joe, the whole morning who just going in on the guards, right? They told my give them out of there. So my old man was like, who are they talking about? He was like, wow, who are they talking about? I was like, they talk about the guards. And he was like, damn, they trying to get them off the field. I was like, hey, man, just fill it up. You don't play well. You get off the field. But he was like, wow, he's not used to listening to that. But it was, I get it. I get it. And like I said, I'm not chest-tiesing anybody for filling the way that you feel. But I mean, give them a little bit of time to adjust. Well, Ray Dittinger was asked about Lannond Dickerson in particular. Let's hear his race take on the guy that, well, one point was one of the best guards in the NFL, but lately has not been. Right. Here's the real question on Dickerson. Let's just lay it out.

3:01The real question is, are you career concerned for Lannond Dickerson? I am, are you? Yes. Yes. I am. I am. And I hope I'm wrong about that. I hope I'm overreacting to that. But we saw what he was. We saw what he was last year. And we assumed that, OK, he was hurt and we only was. I mean, there's no getting around that. But he'll come back this year and he'll be a lot better. He'll play like Lannond Dickerson. And yesterday he played like the Lannond Dickerson of last year. And that is a real problem. Ray, I mean, Ray, Joe brought it up. Ray answered the question. And I mean, here, it's one thing to be concerned about this season, to be concerned about this Sunday, to be concerned about do we have the best left guard or do we have on the team actually on the field. But they're talking about his career. And that's an even bigger thing. I mean, remember this off season, there was a... That's the bad thing. Yeah. ...about the retirement and everything. And to be fair to the conversation,

4:04I understand the concern because of the conversation that was ahead in off season. I'm not, you know, I'm not poo-pooing that. As a matter of fact, I forgot about that. But to see that type of play and the note at the player at one time anticipated, you know, retiring, there might be some concern there. Yeah, I'm concerned. And look, if the Eagles are going to be the team we want them to be, they need the offensive line to be very good. I mean, two years ago it was the best. Last year took a step back. They need to be, at least very good. Do they need to be as dominant as they were two years ago? Probably not. I mean, that might be an all-time thing. Once every 20 years, kind of offensive line. But they need to be good. And Dickerson was not. I thought Jergens, his issue is more penalties. Dickerson though, was just getting beat left and right. So that was one concern. Here are the other concern. And I'm... I am... I want to chalk this one up to just probably a bad day rather than a bad sign. Have did you ever see Coupard-O-Gien get picked apart like that in coverage? Double moves. Double moves were kind of like killing coup. All right. Yeah. Let me throw some numbers at you guys. Jaden Daniels went targeting Coupard-O-Gien yesterday.

5:05Seven of nine, 83 yards, touchdown. 142.1 pass rating. Five first downs. Hugh, I had a thought this morning. And I wonder if you see this, if you're wondering it too. So we know Coup's going to play more safety this year. Do we think he bulked up a little bit and lost some lateral quickness? Because I thought in the double moves, like you said, and just in the lateral quickness area, he looks stiff. I don't know if that's the case. He probably is a little bigger, but to lose that type of moving, I don't know. I think, you know what the thing that I thought watching the game was that teams are starting to try to isolate him in situations like that. Because I don't remember a whole lot of last year seeing Coup getting beat on double moves. I don't remember a whole lot of people trying to hit him with double moves. It seemed like they went after him yesterday. Well, because maybe that's what they saw. You know, maybe that's what they saw. And that might be something where you better correct it because it's a, it's a probably a guarantee that you're going to see it again. Oh, no, no. And the next couple of weeks knowing that you know you're susceptible to that.

6:05And you could tell he was clearly frustrated. He was clearly frustrated because you could see on his face a couple times that he was upset, especially when he got being covers. But man, I tell you what, those double moves, they had him on his, they had him on stage yesterday. Yeah, right now I'm going to say it was a bad day, not a bad sign, but I'm wondering about the Coup thing. I mean, especially you're right here. I mean, the next few weeks are going to face Dable. They're going to face Ben Johnson. They're going to face Sean McVeigh, right? So those guys, he was the guy that they came for the limo yesterday. That was, he was a limo guy. Dijin? Yeah. He was the guy that came with the limo, right? That's great. 2-1-5-5-9-2-94-94. Let's go to the phone lines. You're Chris in Middletown, up on WIP. Chris. Happy Victory Monday, man. It is a victory Monday, Chris. How are you feeling? Guys, I'm feeling pretty good. I mean, what a game. I mean, we escaped near disaster yesterday by the skin of our key. We almost lost the season yesterday, but thank the Lord that Commies are dumb, and make sure we won that lost win game. Because Joe, I mean, you know, we lost that game yesterday. That would have been it. It was over.

7:06I mean, we started to talk about 2027. Yep. Guys, the most important person for this win and kind of pains me to say this, but I think it's time for the disrespect to end. You know, the Eagles offense usually can't score much in week one, and you guys have established that. So we did. We found our way to 24 points yesterday. And, you know, you, you Douglas, and I know you like to troll his followers, but today, you know, need to apologize and give them respect. He deserves you. Apologize to the man you men and join the cult, because... Man, man, man, man. Man win man. Come on, kid. Man, man, man. Think he'll win the job. Man, man, man, man, man. What's the place? Loft and right. Jalen playing better than he did most weeks last year. The coordinator, is he having any credit for that? I mean, he did a good job yesterday. Wow. Did a good job. You know, I get caught, I get caught. I need to roll the red carpet out for Jalen,

8:06and you give the most disrespectful good job to man. Between the two of them, if we're being fair, Jalen is the most decorated and the most disrespecting, if we're being fair. Show man, you just got the job. So, of course, he's not decorating. He got a job that, if you want, if since y'all, y'all backing me in the corner, that nobody else wanted. And why is that? And he didn't want the job. Because if I don't know. Oh, okay. Okay, you don't know. No. You know what? You know what, look at your channel. No. I'll hold my feet to the fire. No, let me tell you something here, because all I heard from the Jalenite, the low IQ Jalenite was, this got, we need to open, so Gordon could scheme guys open, or open, or open, or squirting. We finally got offered to, Gordon had it ran schemes that got guys open yesterday, and they were possible for the place. And then I don't want to hear all the paths on the back for Jalen, because Jalen did an okay job. But let's also forget that in the second half, he's freeing out to these cleared back up again. Yesterday. And you know what? So, and what we also saw is to do,

9:07absolutely cannot throw, well, roll into his left. And Washington and Tennessee kept trying to get him to do it. So I'm not, I don't want to just, that the flowers, you know, let's temper it. But you know, the guys, the guys that just destroyed, to be destroyed today is your boy Malachi, because that dude, three catches for negative five years. We seriously, we seriously would have done better if the dude never even touched a ball. So I know, I'm gonna hold on a second, as I try to tell you, hold on. Hold on, first of all. You're the one advocating on the pregame, so to force the ball to lemon. We saw that worked. First of all, negative place. Yeah, yeah, he was a lemon yesterday. He was a lemon. I like how, we're doing this. And you know what, you know what, when he's happened, that number nine, he's taking right off his back, because he needs to go zero now. You can't be wearing an Eagles Mount Rushmore number on your back, it's short like that. And you know what, I got one more last thing for you, Douglas. You, you sure need to apologize to one's sake, one barkley, because you got a whopping point three points from Bugsney, your guy, you know, you're from running back.

10:09So you needed to apologize, sir, but you know what, it was an Eagles victory. So, B-A-J-L-E-S-E-R. All right, Chris, I'm gonna give you a lot. I know, like, a lot of them. And even the Bigs B dig at the end, point three fantasy points, and you're starting to find it. You know what, funny, I was excited to see him out there. I thought they were gonna see him. Well, the running game is some, it was a little lacking yesterday, but it, it, it a get better. And I'm still believe in tank Bugsby. I still believe in tank. Uh, you're not willing to say that was not a great pick. You started it? Did I still, I don't know what we did. Oh, so you're, see your pants in the buck to Emily. I'm not passing the buck to anybody. I'm saying, I don't know what we did. I, I was too busy, you know, watching the actual game. So you've watched your hands in the whole situation. I'm not, why is it that every time I open my mouth? You guys put words in it. All right, so hold on. It's like, he was going to win his match up, but he did start tank Bugsby with point three points. Now the Caleb Williams 37 points really carried you yesterday. Oh, well, I, I, they, you did, and the Jefferson pick.

11:10I mean, the, the two huge picks that I saw, the actually good picks, I mean, Jefferson, Caleb. I noticed Chris in Middletown did not mention that, I, that I'm kicking his ass. He did not. He did not. He did not go to the beach in bed. Of course he did not go. He did not. And I don't want to mention I left the Andre Swift on the bench and I'm going to lose the Cowboy Gets. Oh, well, I know I, I mean, I, I mean, I told you, well, I played Judkins over him and I played a brown. And that was a, that's coaching not playing. Yeah, it was my fault. I, I blew it. Two one five five nine two 90 for now for your, your phone calls coming up along with Merrill Reese will join us at 11 30. The man will call the action yesterday on WIP and the Merrill moment of the day. We are up to number three now. We'll get to that coming up. All your phone calls will give, how we, we grade the quarterback, a lot of quarterback talk. Well, deserved good gain yesterday by Joe. We give our grades for Joe and Hertz performers. We'll go on the record with that. Now, not like a we are the champions in week one. I love it. Good way. Yesterday 24 22. Merrill Reese a champion. He'll join us at 11 30.

12:11Our first Merrill Reese Merrill Monday, first one of the season. I had to talk to Merrill coming up and we will play with him. The number three Merrill moment in our countdown. Merrill live tomorrow night at the Scottish right auditorium in Kongswood. Up on 94 WIP very, very limited tickets left. So go if you want to join us tomorrow night at Merrill live. We'll talk tomorrow coming up in a few minutes about the game. The player, Joe and Hertz, the defense. I thought Zack Bonn, it does. He was all over the field yesterday. 12 tackles pass offended. He had a tip one too, didn't he? He almost had the pick right? He could get his feet in. No, no, no. It was one. They were about to score. He got his hand out. He got his hand up. Might have been the tight end in the middle of the phone yesterday. Who's great? I thought he was the best player in the defense. A lot of guys may play. He thought yesterday and it didn't show up in the statute with sacks because Jayden Daniels is very. I think I saw the stat of his 38 dropbacks 19 times. He was pressured 50% pressure. Yeah, he's a fact he's a fashion quarterback. He's fast. Yeah, he now, the defense played really well yesterday.

13:13He wasn't able to make much of those scrambles, but just the fact that they got him off his spot half the time was great job by the Eagles. You know what, yesterday though, I did feel like you could see where it went. And he's going to be in the yard comes back. Maybe he's the closer because they really couldn't close on a lot of sacks. I didn't they got him for one, but yesterday was the day they pressured him the whole game. Yeah, but you know, you quarterback like that, man. He's a deceptively fast. Oh, he's fast. Yeah, the one where he kind of juked the guy. Yeah, because that ball ain't no slow dude and that had a beat on him and he couldn't he couldn't catch up with. Yeah, no, I mean, that was the reason when you pressure guy 19 times, only get him to the ground once. It's probably because he's really good at getting away. 5, 5, 9, 2, 94, 94 Bruce in DC is Bruce. I don't know, Joe, you and the crew was going on. Bruce, how are we feeling after a win? Hey, man, I'm feeling good. I'm feeling good. You know, you all are just a lot of great points. And you know, for all the dealer haters out there, just think about this.

14:15I think under the circumstances where the horrible offensive line play, J.A. did a special job in the new fit and the new scheme. And this is where everybody needs to take away 122 QB rating. There's nothing to sneeze at when you look at all these golden boy quarterbacks that were terrible in their first week. And this is the reason why I'm so optimistic about J.H. going forward. They're going to settle down. They're going to address the online issue. Actually, I'm really worried about Jerkis. You know, he had three penalty driving holding calls that were just absolutely terrible. And I was looking to see some more outlet passes, some bootlegs, but they couldn't run any of that because of the focus, the online inconsistency. So as the online gets better, we're going to see more of the playbook. They were just kind of hamstrung and snakebippin.

15:17And let's not take anything away from the decent. And it's all the commitment. And man, look, the commanders have got a better defense. Okay. I mean, some no-names that we never heard of that they just weren't ready for. I think they were surprised by that too. And it was just hard to adjust. So that's another good takeaway. And I mean, as soon as the division, it's a division game. I'm glad they got the win. And I think that they're going to do some great things going for it. Well, and you mentioned the division game, Bruce. And it was really big game. And that's why I set on Friday and Bruce Goodfonco was a must win. That was a big day yesterday for the Eagles, especially when you kind of look at the schedule on the horizon, what they have coming up. And that three game stretch you that they have bears on the Monday night, rams here and the in-london. Yeah, the bear game, but like, it's going to be how? In London against the Jaguars. Those are three teams that will probably be good. We'll all probably score points, two of the three scored a lot of points in week one. So yeah, we're going to need our office to be moving and getting better and better. And we need to bank these wins. That's why the commander's game was so huge. And this game Sunday, there's not going to be a lot of buzz for the Titans game.

16:18The Titans are just a listless franchise. They're just a waste of time. Yeah, but they're going to be looking for their first win. Well, yeah, but it's a huge game for the Eagles. They got to go there and win that game too and get to two and out without question. Let's go to Tyrone in Middletown. What's up Tyrone? Hey, good morning guys. How's it going? Good morning Tyrone. What's up, man? What's up? Great win, man. I'm impressed due to the fact that the Eagles, you know, this first sounding place since what last December, as a unit on the field competitive leave. And with the absence of getting that time and down during the preseason, you know, that's one of my bones that I picked with the Eagles is that consistently long time fan. I noticed when they stopped going to the preseason games allowing the starters to play their timing has always been off. And it takes them two, three games every year. So it's like put on repeat. But when I high note, I think the offense has a lot of potential with the underneath stuff in the zone. Once they start hitting the zone, what do you think about this zone?

17:20I want to include you in the call because I don't just want to go off. What do you think about the possibility of them opening up the seams in the zones because Washington, when they when it was when motion, they were they were dropping back in the zone and they were disguising the zone by getting up on the line. Particularly you, you've been in the defensive specialist in your time. What do you think about the Eagles? When did this strategy be going forward? You know, it's funny. I was just I'm sitting there watching the game and I was talking to Joe about it in the break. They have some things in here that I saw. Like they got some things in his office. No, not a problem. No, no, you're fine. No, they have some things in his office when the quarterback gets comfortable seeing them, they're gonna be there because it was one play that I was telling Joe, like they had one with a tight end leaked out and and Jellin didn't seem, but he was running for themself for a while. So there's going to be some options in this office. I think what we're doing right now, we're just getting Jellin comfortable with the motions

18:20that they've been running and identifying where the holes are in this defense. Yeah, that's that's true. But and and and Joe, what do you think about McCoy? Limon is like they going back. I'm an old time Eagles fan. I remember Charlie homeboy Smith. I think that was his name. I hate that play when you just drop at two yards off the line and they throw it to you. When the corners and the safeties are up on the line, you're going to be double-team then the linebacker in the in the hedge, they always smash that play with the historically with the Eagles if you don't have the least feet. Yes. So I thought I thought they forced those plays Tyrone yesterday. Just felt like and you're right. I mean, unless you block it up perfect or you have the numbers advantage, right? Then those plays were just dead. They even tried it with sake one a couple times and it got thrown for a loss. Tyrone, good phone call. He was, let's just be honest about the lemon stuff yesterday. They wanted they did they wanted to get him involved. They did what you said. It just was completely ineffective, right? Like you said in the pregame show, you said last week you think they're going to try

19:20to get him involved and scheme things up for him. Yes. The problem was they were backwards place. Yes, but that's why I had a feeling they were going to do that because they forced him to play in the preseason because they're trying to get him up to speed. He's going to be a factor, man, but they're trying to, I think two things were happening yesterday. They're trying to get their young receiver up to speed and they're trying to get the quarterback comfortable and distributing the ball to multiple receivers. That's kind of what it was because if you look at that first sequence of plays when the Eagles were out there, they came in with multiple receivers. They came in with multiple sets. They changed personnel like almost on every play and it was like a cornucopia of different plays. They tried to establish the run and they went to the past plays. I think that was more so to get the quarterback comfortable with some of the personnel groupies that potentially could come into the game. And look, hopefully it pays dividends. I just thought yesterday it just didn't work. Let's hear Jordan my lot of talking about J.O. and especially when the plays weren't there, what he was able to do. Absolutely.

20:20I guess the plus side of having J.O. now, our team as well, when that pocket is in Sturdy, he's able to use his legs and able to go to South of trouble. That was very thankful. We don't really know where he's going at times. It's a bit of having J.O. and not just the QB, but the main plays when he plays. Well he did. I thought his legs yesterday were the difference maker in the game. There were probably three or four more other plays where he could have gotten sacked and he got away. And then the third and 18, it's a game changing play. That's the kind of play where if they have to punt there with the way their defense might have been gassed and just getting tired and all the three and outs of the second half, that really, that could have been a problem. They got away with it because J.O. and Hertz's legs yesterday. Let's hear Elliott's short parks coming out strong and how good J.O. and Hertz yesterday. First one of the year and they already have the must win win. So they're good to go. I got the W on that. All right.

21:21Listen, this is what you got. You got quarterback. We'll start there with J.O. and Hertz because we heard way too much, I think way too much talk about J.O. and in the offseason, you give them a B plus right out of the gate. Yeah. I thought he was the best player in offense. And I think it's time for us to kind of reshape how we view J.O. and Hertz. For so many years, it was, well, he has elite receivers. He has an elite offensive line. He has an elite running back. He didn't have any of that today. He had to carry that offense with so much pressure constantly getting to him through the line. He had to run around that 13-18 play was huge. The play to Devante. J.O. is the best player on the offense. I think that was clear today and we have to start viewing him that way. Instead of him being a question mark, he's what makes this offense go. Well, he was yesterday. I actually agree with a lot of Elliott's reasoning. Here would be your grade week one, J.O. and Hertz. B. B. I was what he would have been. I mean, because there's a lot that he did that a lot of people in his funny, because I'm looking at the phone line. A lot of people that were talking about what he couldn't do. He did a little bit of that yesterday. He did a little bit of that yesterday. Now, it's a small sampling size.

22:23And it's the team you're playing against. There's still a question marks about how good they are. I think that defense played pretty good yesterday for the Commodore. I really, really do. But going into this and knowing what we knew about Jaylen or what we thought we knew about Jaylen, I thought he did a pretty good job of handling everything. You know, he identified where to go with the football for the most part. He handled being on the center pretty decent for the most part. Now, there were some plays that got bogged down and we talked about that. The fact that the offense line didn't look as good as they looked in the past. But I think for your first time out and throwing for what you threw for it wasn't like everybody else did. It wasn't no Caleb Williams day. But I think that it was a pretty decent outing for Jaylen. Yeah, I would go B plus slightly better than you. I thought he played really well. I thought his legs really made the impact on the game and his deep ball continues to be one of his assets. I mean, that throw to Wix, boom, 64 or something, you know, 64 yards. The fade away touchdown to Wix, really good. I thought he layered the throw to Goddard and the end zone and then good awareness by Goddard and the whole team and hurts on that play where they scored the game when it touched down.

23:25Felt like the commanders were just standing there watching. I think they wanted the penalty. They thought it was a legal motion. You got to play to the whistle. Right. And the Eagles did and the commanders didn't. And that's smart by Jaylen and Goddard, like just run the play. Like if they're not paying attention, screw them. I give Jaylen a B plus yesterday. Good start in the manual offense. All right, let's talk to the guy who was on the call yesterday. The voice of the Eagles. Mara Reese says the Eagles started off one on Mara. Good morning. Good morning, guys. I give me a I give me a you miss one pass. The one where he dropped it down the chimney into the hands of the Vante Smith. That was that was a big beauty. That was just an amazing pass. And then the fact that with the game on the line and a third and 17, he eluded everybody and ran for 22. And then he had a quarterback rating of over 120. To me, that's an a you're just a tough, tough greater. I want even you about only a B. Mara. At least I gave a B plus. You know, I want it room for growth, Mara, because it was only the first game.

24:26But I mean, I get it. No, he played well yesterday. He did play well, Mara. And Mara, the other guy that played really well yesterday on the other side of the football. How about Zach Bon, Mara? I mean, this guy's been an awesome eagle since the minute he got here all pro his first year, pro bowl last year. And he, I thought he was the best player on a really good defense yesterday. He was great. And he was great, but you know, we've come to expect that from Zach Bon. He's not inconsistently at a top level player. I mean, with 12 tackles yesterday, he's his instincts are so good. And as that let us is, it was underrated by a lot of people. He's just, he's just smart. He's fast. He's strong. He's a great player. There's a reason he's a pro baller. He is very good. And he's been that way since the minute he got here. Mara, the other part that yesterday felt like a difference maker was the special teams. And we don't always mention them, but they can make a big difference. Yesterday, Jaylen Carter would have blocked extra point. The commanders miss a fuel goal. And I thought Braden Mann in the punt game was awesome. There was that, the Eagles got stopped right before half time.

25:27And it was about, let me be 40 seconds to go. And you know, if there's a touch back there, potentially they're in line for a fuel goal. But Braden Mann pins them back. And basically the commanders just, you know, take a knee or, you know, run one play and go into the half. I thought special teams was a difference yesterday. I think the big difference when you win and you have a coach like Michael Clay, Michael Clay is an amazing coach. You, I'm always amazed that he hasn't had any interviews for head coaching job. Because if you know, Michael Clay, he has a great presence. And he's really bright. He was a terrific linebacker in Oregon and the players love him. And he's, he just seems to have everything you want in the head coach. He's, he's got a commanding presence. So his special teams are going to be good all season. They are. Mara Reese with us here. The voice of the Eagles as we react to the first win 2422 over the commanders. Mara, what was your, your thought in the moment when Stefan digs decided to go jump up on the goal post and cost the commanders? Or because that, that was another play that changed the game in a big way.

26:27Those could have called. Yes. That was just crazy. I mean, it was a time once upon a time. I, I, I don't know how many people remember this. When Vi thick a hammer took a punter, a punter, a punter, a job. I keep it. Yes. And, and he beat up the goal post because he had been a golden gloves boxer. And he beat up the goal post. But in those days, you could do that. Everybody knows you cannot have any of these celebrations. I once said the Britain Covey, if you score, are you going to beat up the goal post because he knew Vi thick a hammer from being in Utah? And he said, no, he said we're not allowed to touch the goal post. Everybody should know that digs did cost them a chance to win the game. I'm still like convinced they would have won the game, but a chance to tie. And he just boned it his way out of it. Boy, they, they had to kill him after that. Oh, I'm sure they did. Marrow, let's talk about the play that really sealed the win for the Eagles. The, the big touchdown of Dallas, Goddard.

27:28I'm curious, your perspective, you and Mike in the booth, it was, it was kind of a bizarre play where, you know, the commanders all seem to think like three of their linebackers and defensive lineman that there was some sort of movement that Dallas, Goddard moved illegally and they're pointing there and credit to the Eagles and Goddard and Hertz for running the play and just going. Meanwhile, the commanders are standing flat footed. That was kind of a strange play. At first, I thought it was a penalty and then the more I looked at it, Goddard was off the line. So he is, he is eligible to move. I think it was a very legal play that the commanders just got confused on. Yeah, I think the commanders got confused in several instances yesterday, but in that case, there was nothing that I thought was a, that was illegal. Again, sometimes you see a flag of something looks kind of like it happened, but in that case, they did the right thing. The other very, very close call that the officials made was on the pass to Antonio Williams late. Did it hit the ground? I thought that was clearly a catch. He caught the ball. Then his hands went down.

28:28The ball touched the ground, but his hands were firmly on it. It didn't wiggle. That was a touchdown. They got it right. I agree. His hands were under that. That was, it was close, because the ball was touching the ground, but by the rule, I grew with you, Merrill. That was a touchdown. It was a catch and it set up a big play at the end. Art Merrill, before we say goodbye today, we of course have Merrill live tomorrow. And we're all very excited for it. The Scottish right auditorium in Collinswood, few tickets available, very few, 94WIP.com. So hop on and get the last few tickets. But Merrill, while you're with us today, as we've been doing on the pregame shows, we get to play today's Merrill moment. Let's get to it. The number three play of all the great calls and merrillries this time. Let's hear it right here with Merrill on with us. On the Philly special, Merrill, one of the great plays in cerebral history. Take us through what you're thinking. You as you go ahead, you want the back, the back story of the, yes. Of course they're lining up. And and I say at this point, I said, they've got to take the three points. You cannot lose momentum right here. You've got to take the three points because they're going to be kicking off to the

29:31pay free. It's to start the second half. And I remember years ago they played the Packers in a playoff game when Mike Sherman was the coach. And they went forward against the Eagles down at the one yard line. And the Eagles stacked them up and the home momentum of that game changed. I said, the Eagles have got to take the three. And then of course you have the Philly Philly. A Mike turned it to me in the booth and says, that's why you're up here and dogs down there. It's a great story. And it really did. It was summarized the season because Doug was very gutsy, Marrow. I mean, was gutsy early in the season on four downs. He was gutsy in the postseason. It just, it kind of summed that team up and they took on his personality. What a play, what a call. And obviously, one of the great nights in in Philadelphia sports history. In fact, maybe the best night ever in Philadelphia sports history. Marrow, I told, I told, I told Doug, after the game, I said, that was the worst call I've ever seen with the best result. You know what? That's a fun way to sum it off. And it lives in it for me, Marrow. We appreciate you hopping on and great calling yesterday and enjoy tomorrow night, Marrow.

30:33It's going to be a great night. Marrow live tomorrow night at the Scottish right, our tour. I mean, enjoy every moment of it, Marrow. Appreciate you. I will. Thank you, guys. Have a great day. And thanks to the greatest fans in the NFL, they are the best. They make all this so special for me and I am deeply appreciative. Well, we appreciate you. There he goes. Marrow reached the voice of the Eagles tomorrow night. Marrow live at the Scottish right auditorium. That, you know, as much as now we look back, like, of course, Doug went for it. I'm sure a lot of people had the same feeling as Marrow, like, holy crap. Are they really going for the sum for it down? And they went for it and it worked. And it's one of the great plays in Philadelphia sports history. So tomorrow night is Marrow live, Scottish right auditorium. And he, I mean, I didn't realize you're going to be the hardest grader on the show today. Kyle, what are you giving, Jalen? I give him a B plus. So Marrow a, he'll be. So I also want to leave room for proof. And because, you know, I do. I think given the circumstances, well, I'm going to give him a minus who? Easier grade than you. You're the most beautiful of Jalen on the show. You're the biggest hater.

31:33That's exactly right. You know, it's a, there's a trend going yesterday on the pregame. He was the first one to say make a break season. And then today B I go B plus Kyle goes a minus. Marrow a, you sensing what I'm sensing? Yeah. Yeah. I get it. I got it. It's got sense. I don't know. So believeable. I thought, well, given the circumstance, the offensive line, the interior was terrible. And Manion looked to me like a guy who was, and I thought he did a solid job, but he looked to me like a guy who was calling plays for the very first time in the NFL. Well, disjointed. So yeah, like, you know, I thought given the circumstances, he played, he played really well. He was the reason they won the game and he was their best player on the offense. So that's got to be an A. You okay over there? No, I'm watching the game, right? And I'm like, first time, no, I'm just saying like first stuff that you missed during the game. Yeah. The second watch. Yeah. It's like Jalen Kondo's out there. He was beast in my car. He was killing. Well, that all inch stinks. We said that all the way going in. All right. We'll continue your reaction coming up. Also something to say once that after the game, I found interesting comparing how this sees it, this wind felt till last year. We'll get to that.

32:33Your phone calls. It is the midday show on sport. Welcome back. Midday show. Hugh Douglas. Joe, Jolly on a victory Monday. The Eagles are one to know 24, 22 over the commanders. Lot of reasons they won the game yesterday. Jalen hurts chief among them, Zach Bond chief among them. The fact that they're smart and the commanders are dumb. That's a big part of it. And the Eagles D line took over and stopped that two point conversion. What did he play by Moro's Yomo? The blocked extra, the blocked fuel goal. Extra point, excuse me, by Jalen Carter, big one. Lot of big moments and a lot of them went the Eagles way, including one big explosive run by Seikwon. Seikwon, an interesting day yesterday, where the numbers at the end look pretty good. But most of those were not great runs, right? They were mostly stuffed and behind the line of scrimmage. He did break one, though. And it set things up. Let's hear Seikwon talking after the game. How he felt after week one? It's never as bad you think and it's never as good as you think when you watch film. The most of some stuff that we got away with that can hurt us in the future. And we got beyond it. So I thought, I think we're going to do that.

33:34I don't think I know we're going to do that because the time to coaches that we have and the type of leaders that we have in our locker room and our offense. No, most importantly, came out with the win. Last year, you know, I know everyone tried to make something of we won by two points. We're not getting on that this year. And that's a beautiful thing. We come out when we're going to be happy. We're going to celebrate and we're going to flush it and move on and get ready for next game. What do you think of that? You know, saying that last year when they didn't win by much, it kind of weighed on them. And this year, they're not going to worry about that. Is that a good thing or not a good thing? Well, it's a win as a win. You know, and leave that. And leave that to fans, man. And I think that's the thing that he was saying because he said something else in that cut. I do believe that kind of rub me the wrong way because it feels like a lot of times. Those cats and not just the Eagles, but just professional athletes in general worry too much about what we're talking about. Do your damn job. We're doing our job. So do yours and don't worry about what the media says or what somebody says about you because at the end of the day,

34:36you have the power to change the narrative. Sure. You know what I'm saying? So I wouldn't get too much off into that. But anyway, that's what he's talking about. Well, yeah, I also think I don't know what all the line of questioning was to say, but the questions reflect the standard, right? Like no one is no one is asking a mediocre team or a below average team. If they care if they win by two points, right? Because the jets aren't getting those questions. Like, like, if we would be in on is because I tuned into like somebody's assuming honest about. No, no, but what I'm saying is, but there's also some some fanaticism with them as well, because I'm looking in that zoom in there. But all right, man, we're going to go 17 and all. Yeah, I stop. That's that's, but that's fandom. Yeah. That's fandom in the next year. I've two said 70. Somebody in the chat, you two comment. Somebody in the chat. Somebody in the chat. You got to get out of the deep dark corners of what the point that I'm making is everybody sees it differently because everybody's standard is a little different. Yeah. Well, you're right about that. Let me ask a question that I maybe we asked the wrong question all off season.

35:38So when we talked about the transition on the offense, most of this has been about the quarterback, right? I mean, that's what I heard. So he's going to transition the past game is the biggest transition this offensive line away from Jeff Stoutland and to Chris Cooper and this different blocking scheme. Yes. Because they looked, I think it might be. I mean, they looked yesterday like they got a long way to go. I mean, yesterday seven of the 15 say quam Barkley carries. He was hit behind the line of scrimmage. He was a lot. I mean, that's basically half of his carries. He's hit behind, not like a yard behind the line of scrimmage or yard in front of behind. Look at it like this, Joe. And again, not making any excuse for anybody because I saw some of the landed digger someplace. Think about it like say if it's synchronized swimming, right? And you got guys that are moving laterally trying to get like scoop blocks and things of that nature. It looked like a couple times because he got swam and that's when the defensive line was in the backfield where landed just, he took too big of a step and the tackle saw that

36:39and he jab stepped him and slapped him, he slapped the swammy and got a rounding. That happened quite a few times. So that to me, again, not making excuses, that's more so being comfortable in the sequence of the blocking that you're doing. So that's probably going to take some time. And then not only that, a lot of times you got defensive linemen that don't do what you think that they're going to do. You know, they don't, they don't play the play the way it's designed to play or they don't follow their read, they don't read the keys. You know, and a lot of times, you know, you don't read those keys. You take a chance to be a compromising, compromising the defense, but you also might make a play and that's basically what happened. I guess right. I just wonder, you know, we talk about this transition and I just, it's transition for everyone. It's not just the jail and hurts transition. It's transition for Dickerson and Jurgens and Lane, I mean, all these guys are transitioned to a brand new style of offense and it might take that line some time. A.G. And pitmans up. What's up, A.G.?

37:39A.G.? What's up, A.G.? What's up, A.G.? What's up, A.G.? What are you feeling? What's up, man? I was in the warehouse right now. You know, I just made a delivery to this warehouse. I was waiting on you guys, man. What were happy to get you up? What are you feeling after the win? Oh, man. Like, listen, I feel, I feel really, really good. I'm going to be able to do this. I'm going to be able to do this. I'm going to be able to do this. I'm going to be able to do this. Oh, man, like, listen, I feel, I feel really, really good. I do think that Jalenhurt fans are really delusional. I think they're crazy. I think I think that they are forcing themselves to see something that's not really there. I think Jalenhurt's played good yesterday. But the thing is, is that when I look at the game yesterday, you know, I asked myself, what's different from this game and the games that we've seen last season? The games that we've seen last season are defense was strong. Our defense, you know, our defense came out, put it all on the line, held the game.

38:43You know, they held the game down. This game yesterday, our defense was laid out. No slides on. You know, I think the commentator said, Terry McClaren didn't have a catch, so the fourth quarter. And then Zach Bond's flying around making tremendous plays. And then that spin move, which need to be on ESPN with a Jomo that's been moved at a Jomo dead. Oh, man, like, that was just nice. But yeah, like, like, to me, you know, like, it's like the defense, their day job. And once again, our offense is kind of like in a cluster. And I know a lot of people going to be like, well, this is the first, you know, like, you know, this is the first game I see there. And Jaylin got a new offense and coordinator. But that's just what it was. You know, like, I don't see where, you know, like, our offense was like really a factor. I mean, like, the game was 24 to 22.

39:45And these guys was coming back, man. And they were catching it. And they only was coming back because I defense held it down to the point, you know, like, the very end today got burnt out. It started getting leaned on. But isn't this not what we've seen all that season? Like, literally, this game right here, it was similar. I would say the different, it was similar. What I would say is there were more explosive plays. We didn't have one. We almost had none of those last run. A G preacher, the phone call. There were more. That's really what won the game, Mr. But stylistically, there were some solar hours here. The defense was the best unit. And they did it. They get bogged down for a long period of time where a bunch of three and outs happened around the scoring. Yeah, but they were able to work their way out of it. And, you know, I hit the defense is three years into the defense coordinator, right? The coach, the office coordinator's first year calling plays, right? The quarterback's seventh office coordinator, right?

40:48I understand that the standard is different for Jalen because of the success that he's had in the past. But come on, man, like the thing that bothers me about A G's called, A G, I'm not picking on you, but it's almost like you're hurting yourself trying to talk bad about the quarterback who went into a game yesterday. And if you're being honest about what you saw, yeah, it was new for him, but it was not, it was some similarities, but it was different yesterday because we did a lot more motion than I've ever seen. Yeah, well, the stylistically it was a lot different. I mean, they tried different things. Two, one, five, five, nine, two, ninety, four, nine, four, coming up. A guy that we didn't talk much about in the off season might have been one of the biggest signings, Eagles did make made a big impact yesterday. We'll talk about that. Your phone calls, the win. What stood out the most to you? It is the midday show on sports radio, 94 WIP college footballs back. And so are the predictions who makes the playoffs, who wins the conference, their conference, and who takes home the national title on Calche, America's number one prediction market platform. They let you trade those predictions in a live market. And after Saturday night, that was a heck of a comeback, heck of a win.

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