Eagles 360: Episode 35

is for their team. Just nothing going on there. So b West briefly here the NFC East, as we say every week, wide well, it is wide open, and I think that's a great thing for the Eagles. And anytime that you can not play, not lose a game and everyone else in the division loses definitely helps you out. I think the biggest thing that they should be able to do in the bye week is to get helping

get all your guys back. It's great to have the other teams lose, but most importantly get your guys back that you need for the long stress to the end of the season. If they could do that and get those guys back, it's a much better team coming after the by than it was going in. We are all so curious to see what happens to this football team after the bye week. Eagles off on Monday. They return to training on Tuesday, and of course, the Dallas Cowboys

Sunday Night football awaits for the Eagles. The Cowboys really struggling at the quarterback position. With their loss to Seattle, they are now two and five. We'll get a look at the Cowboys a little bit later on some thoughts on that team. But Brian and I have a lot to get you just catching up on this Philadelphia Eagles football team, and when we return to Eagles three sixty, we'll take a look at some players, some of the good and some of the maybe not so good of

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Go to novocare dot com today and request an appointment online or call eight hundred seven seven zero six six eight two. The Eagles choose Novacare, so can you. Novacare the power of physical therapy. I got tickets, Metro tickets. You need a Metro ticket? Talk to me, please, I don't even know these real tickets. Just a touch it, this leather legit. I mean, how do we really know? It looks good? Right? Paying you to do it? I'm paying myself. I gotta make grammar. Does the baby need

a Metro ticket? I'll give her one on me. These tickets, they're not stealing your soul. You can look at them. May nobody wants to buy tickets from a guy on the street. I don't understand. I've just arrived in that NASA and I can't wait to start telling people. I'll switching to Geico, who could save the munches of dollars on carr and charge. But first my luggage. There is no excuse me, sir, I think you've got the wrong bag. Sorry,

I'll look alike you now. No worries? Well, cause here I can't save people money chatting at the baggage claim all day. Geico fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. We welcome you back at Tigales three sixty Dave Spidery O'Brian Westbrook, And whilst not exactly the middle of the season, we have a break, so we're going to treat it as such. Brian and I are gonna talk about some of the players we think have improved this football team and some as we

get along in the show, who have a lot to prove. Brian, let's begin here with some players. Maybe the most improved player, don't I'll start this, how about the best newcomer on this team. I think the best newcomer has to be Jordan Hicks. The things that he's been able to do on that football team of the football field has been great. When you're talking about you're losing Michael Kendricks and you lost to Miko Ryans for games there, and you have a rookie come in to play the way that he's played,

it's been outstanding. He has really that defense hasn't missed a beat. He's making plays on the sideline. He's made plays in a past game, he's intercepted the ball, and he's making a lot of plays in a run game. I love the way these young players play. I love the way he's playing as well, But I'm going to go with another defensive player. This time it will be safety Walter Thurman. Walter Thurman was one of the players

nobody really talked about during the free agency period. The Eagles go out and get DeMarco Murray, and they signed Ryan Matthews, and they trade for Sam Bradford, and they acquire Byron Maxwell, and then Walter Thurman. Well, what's he

gonna do here? Will? The Eagles saw something in him to really compliment this defensive secondary, moving him from cornerback to safety, where he and Malcolm Jenkins have been just terrific together and their ability to cover down the field has allowed Bill Davis to do a lot of different things in his defense. And I think this defense is in a whole lot better shape now than it was

last year, no question about it. When you had that leadership from Malcolm Jenkins and you add another guy that can cover just as good as Walter Thurman, and the thing that you talk about for safeties is being able to cover. But he's one of the better tackles on this football team, and I think that goes a long way because he's a success of this defense. How about we talk about the most improved player here on this team. Now, I will go with a player who's was on the

roster last year, and it's Benny Logan. Benny Logan has been a game changing nose tackle for this Eagles run defense. And I know that in Carolina the Eagles giving up two hundred plush yards on the ground. But Logan's power is versatility, the passion that he plays with, the physical nature upfront. Fletcher Cox gets the credit a lot of it,

and deservedly so. Fletcher Cox an outstanding player, But to me, Benny Logan is really made that leap into a premier nose tackle, and I think that sets up this entire three four front Friend, It's taken a couple of years. Eagles seem to have the pieces in places. When you look at Benny Logan, you're telling a player that's going to consistently be double team every single game. I mean you're talking about offensive lineman three hundred plus pounds every

single game. He's going to get a double team almost for every play, but he still finds a way to make a play. Benny Logan is a great foot how he got one for most most improved. Yeah, I think the guy does most improved offensively, especially is Ryan Matthews. And the reason why I say that is because he's coming into a situation from being a starter in San Diego, he played a lot of plays sixty seventy plus plays

per game. In this situation that he's in here in Philadelphia is that he's going to play ten fifteen plays a game, and it's very hard as a running back to find your rhythm only playing that limit to the amount of plays. But he's been very successful. He's been very productive offensively, and that's why I think he's one of the most improved. So how do you handle that situation, Coach Brian Well, I think you have to get closer

closer to fifty carry fifty fifty for East guy. You have to give DeMarco Murray his carriers because he deserves it, and you also have to give Ryan Matthews his carries because he deserves it as well. He's been the most explosive player on offense. You have to have him gab really, you have to give him the more touches, that's the most important thing. Give him some more touches either in the run game or the passing Okay, and we will see if that happens if DeMarco Murray continues to take

the Lion's share of the carries. Now, most outstanding player, it's easy to go with a defensive player, as I'm sure Brian will do. I'm going to go with an offensive player and kind of specialize this category. The most outstanding player on this football team Jason Peters at left offensive tackle. You see what happens when he's out there and dominating against the Saints, against the Giants, played great

at left tackle. Eagles offense really showing its ability moving up and down the field when he's been hurt, which has been more often than not in the first seven games. To see the ripple effect that has on the offense. Pieces have to move. The Eagles not as potent off the edge. So I go with Jason Peters and hope that he comes back from the back spasm suffered in Carolina and has just a great fight on nine games of the season. If he can do that, brand I

just think it helps the entire offense. Well, I think what you're describing is a great player in Jason Peters. But what great players do is they make the players around them better. And that's what Jason Peters does. He makes that offensive linement, the offensive line position group much better when he's out there, and of course when he's not playing, I think it definitely hurts that entire offense.

You got the most outstanding player for us. Well, I think defensively, when you look at these guys up front, it's been really really hard to get past these guys in a run game. And I think a lot of it has to do with Fletcher Cox. A lot of time people spent talking about him not will being willing to two gap, but this year he's two gap in his butt off. He's playing the run. He's playing the past, and you don't get that from a lot of defensive

linement in the league. The league is so specialized these these days. Is that either play the run or you play the past. Fletcher Cox has done a great job playing both. A very worthy choice. So that is our midseason look at some of the players, some awards, if you will, for this three and four Eagles team. When we return to Eagles three sixty, we've got to look at the Dallas Cowboys. How can you not talk about them?

Us six days away from primetime once again for the Eagles, but next up on three sixty our second half look at the Eagles. What players really need to step up for this team to play to the ability to the level that we all think it can when we return in just a moment, the tournament is there. You're here, and before you take the team star midfielder from here to there along with his entourage, you have some things to do, like finding a place to stay. It's getting

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your free accounts. Now we welcome you back. At the Eagles three sixty Dave Spideryo Brian Westbrook taking a look at the Eagles getting ready for the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday night, Prime time for the Eagles starting the final nine game run of this regular season. Brian, let's talk about some of the players that need to step up. We all know that everybody needs to step up on

the roster. It's a complete team effort here, but specifically offensively, Eagles really not as potent in the past game as we thought they would be. Yeah, they need some big time production from the wide receivers. But Nelson Aguilar in particular has to step up. I know he's a rookie, but they need some outside presence. They need someone that has ability to stress to feel like he does. They need some playmaking coming from his way. And if they do that, that's going to open things up for for

Jordan Matthews. That's going to open up everything for the running game as well. It's gonna make it a lot easier for Sam Bradford to be a confident quarterback of person that can field the ball down the field. He has to step up in this second half of this Sason,

if this team offensively wants to be successful. Your thoughts, Brian on Matthews on Josh Huff There has just been inconsistency with Jordan certainly catching the football and Josh performance wise production wise not as consistent as I think everybody hoped you would be. Yeah, I hope this bye week as an opportunity for all of those receivers to get away from the game and understand. Listen, don't worry about the pressure, don't worry about anything else. Just go out

there and play your game. Play be the player that they drafted you here to be, be the player that you are in practice, and if you can develop that type of consistency in that thought process, then you can be successful in the NFL. My offensive player needs to step out. Obviously, everybody knows that Sam Bradford really needs to get his game more consistent. He certainly has shown signs in recent games of playing at a higher level.

But my player that I'm going to say is kind of on the spot or needs to raise his game, and he knows about it is Jason Kelsey. Jason Kelsey talks about it every single week, good or bad. He is the key to the Eagles in terms of setting the blocking schemes, being the brain of the offensive line, setting the tempo for this Eagles offensive line. Really one

of the leaders in the locker room. And as important as Jason Peters is at left tackle, that is very much how important Jason Kelsey is at the center position. And this year he's been taken out of the game just a little bit. Teams are really penetrating, not allowing him to get to the second level, not allowing him ryan to use his athletic ability. If you want this running game to go, you have to be you have to get pushed from your center. And I think Judson

Kelsey is the type of guy. He's an all Pro. He's a guy that can get it done in the running gag. They just need him to be a little bit more stern, a little bit more stiff upfront, not allowing guys to penetrate so much in the backfield. And it he's able to do that, this running game will take off all right. On the defensive side of the Football Eagles defense has played quite well for seven games

for the most part. Now they want to get even better, and they've got some players coming back from injury who could make a difference. Yeah, I think they had definitely had some guys coming back with Matthews, it's give me Ryan's as well as ken just I think the group that needs to get better. You need more production from the outside linebackers. You saw that last year. Connor Barbin was an All a Pro Bowl type of guy, a lot of sacks. This year, he hasn't had that same

type of production. Maybe it's because of the numbers just aren't right, but we need to have production from colar Ol Barman as well as Brandon Graham. We need pressure on the quarterback that's going to take the pressure off of everybody on this defense. If they had that, then this defense could be even better than it has been already this year. And you want to talk about a defense getting better, how about the cornerback play getting even

more improved. I mean, Byron Maxwell has shown signs step by step of becoming more comfortable in this defensive scheme as you look at the schedule ahead, though Dez Bryant he's ready to play football. And then the Miami Dolphins come to town with players like Jarvis Landry and Tampa Bay with all their big receivers Mike Evans, and then Detroit with Megatron. You've got Odell Beckham, You've got to Sean Jackson, You've got the Patriots running all sorts of

things that you're including a bunch of tight ends. So Byron Maxwell needs to get better and better and better and really become kind of the shutdown cornerback that the Eagles envisioned he would be. I'm not talking about Richard Sherman here, because we know that in free agency you overpay for players. I'm talking about a consistent, dependable, solid, functional, scrappy, tenacious Byron Maxwell. And we're seeing signs of that Brian

the final nine weeks. I want to see that every week. Yeah, we saw him struggle early on in the season, but I think as a season has gone on, he's done a much better job of protecting what's most sacred to a dB, not giving up the big place. He's doing

a much better job of that. I think Billy Davis has finally understand exactly what type of player he is, and I think as the season continues to progress, he'll continue to get better, but he definitely has some big challenges coming up in the second half of the year. Speaking of big challenges, it's Dallas Week and that means we're gonna have a lot of fun around here. On Eagles three sixty, it's the Cowboys two and five showing signs season on the brink. We'll talk about them when

we return. Eagles three sixteen. Just one second. When you get away from smart it's in video games and tablets. It's amazing what you can really plug into this season. Shop the brands you love plus thousands of items on sale now Sports Authority All Things Sporting Good. Hi, my name is Jim Taylor. I've been with pack Me for thirty four years. Our Lancaster brand beef is the best around. We cut our meat fresh every day and we actually have customers come from other stories just for our meat.

Freshness is our number one priority. No one beats our fresh fish. We have the precious apple, the Christie's lettuce, fresh produce. What we do we do the best cake decorading in the area, hands down, one hundred and twenty three years strong. Come on in, you'll see the changes, You'll feel it, You'll love it. I sept to Philly. I sept the Philly. You'll step up Philly, the bus, the trolley, the trade. Once twenty four root twenty three.

I supped to Philly seventeen to training, jenkintown, to her house, his house, to be seas house, city Hall, FCCLU media, to work, to school, to the ball, broad Street, to be gang. I sept to Philly anywhere. The season was two thousand and eleven, and it was a mediocre NFC East. The Giants at one point that year staring sinning six and six. They win three of their last four games. They win the division at nine and seven. The Eagles in Dallas both at eight and eight, and everybody said, yah,

the NFC East, it stinks. Well, the Giants went on to win the Super Bowl that year, beating the Patriots, So you never know. It's Eagles three sixty. Dave Spidero and Brian Westbrook, let's chat about the NFC East for a moment here. Is it as bad as it looks? Or is it just starting to get a separation cream And I think it is as bad as it looks. What you're seeing is that you're not seeing a lot

of consistent play by any team. And we talk about consistency and execution every single week here about the Eagles, but you haven't seen very much of that throughout this division. But this is a good thing for the Eagles that they have an opportunity and this week they play one of the teams in the division and it's a must win game. You can't afford to go one and three in division. You can't afford to have two losses to

Dallas throughout in this season. The Eagles have to win this football game, and it's going to take a big push from them offensively as well as defensively. But this is definitely a beatable team in Dallas. Cowboy. If the Cowboys interesting thirteen to twelve losers to Seattle on Sunday, they get Dez Bryant back, Yes, two catches, twelve yards, pretty inconsequential numbers from him. They ran the football fairly well,

but no touchdowns. Brian and I don't know if there's a solution for the Cowboys until Tony Romo gets back. I mean, if you're Bill Davis, what do you want to do to if you stack the box to stop the run. You're gonna double team Brian, You're gonna double team Jason Witten. What do you want to do defensively? Well, I think defensively you have to start by stacking the box.

You don't want to allow this offensive line take over the game, similar to the way that the Carolina Panther's offense, the line took over the game, especially in the second half. The last time the Eagles play, so you have to stack the box, make sure that this Darren McFadden doesn't get going, because he's looked pretty good the last couple of weeks. And then you play one on one outside with desk. You had your safety take an eye look

at him from time to time. But I'd like to see Byron Maxwell in his face, physical play, just like Richard Sherman was last week. Make him get off the line with that sore foot. And if you do that and you stack the box, then you have a much better chance of getting to the quarterback, especially if they throw the football. And for the offense, it's kind of a get back at him game. The Eagles shut down

in Week two against the Dallas Cowboys. The offense that day was really ineffective, a couple of big mistakes from Sam Bradford, including that end zone interception a great pick from Shaun Lee. So the Eagles offense wants to come out roaring against the Dallas Cowboys. A second look at a team now that has Greg Hardy, Randy Gregory. They're much better upfront and the secondary. Remarkably, Brian has kind of withstood all of these problems and they're keeping the

Cowboys and games. Yeah, the secondary has played pretty decent because their front seven, they're actually getting out the quarterback just a bit. And I think one thing that's important for this Eagles team is to get a fast start. In the first seven games, they've only scored ten points in the first quarter. That's just not gonna be enough to compete throughout the second half of the season. They had to get a fast start going on. They need

production from this offensive line. We talked about Jason Kelsey as well as Jason Peters. These guys have to leave this offensive team. If they do that and Sam Bradford comes to play complete completes the ball down the field, I think they have a chance. All right. So it's the Cowboys Eagles on Sunday Night Football. We've got more to go here on Eagles three sixty stay with us? Do you any more? Chips Bellas, I'm sorry. We were daydreaming about that VIP tailgate and game tickets. Yeah, that

pregame sideline experience exactly. Weave an Eagle season tickets. How do you know you both have the new Instant game from the Pennsylvania Lottery. Yeah, the Eagles Instant Game with top prizes of fifty grand and second chance prizes including season tickets the Pennsylvania Lottery. Bring your dreams to life. I got tickets, Metro tickets. You need a Metro ticket? Talk to me, please. I don't even know even real tickets. If you touch it, this leather legit, I mean, how

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eighteen or older. Please play responsibly. Final segment here on Eagles three sixty Dave Spidero Brian Westbrook, and the topic has to be as we look ahead to the rest of the week here sam Bradford after the bye, Brian, what steps does he take here week off? Bodies fresh played every rep, took every day in practice, got better throwing the football down the field. Still not to the level,

so there's some room for growth. Yeah. I think Sam Bradford definitely has improved throughout the season, has a progress. I think the one thing that he has to continue to take a look at is how does he get better inside of the pocket? How do you have more confidence in the offensive line and their protection and then be able to throw the ball to your receivers on time in the right place. If he's able to do that,

then they have a chance. The thing that I think Sam Bradford is lacking in from time to time is his confidence, his accuracy and then a little bit of mobility inside of the pocket. You don't have to rush every single path. Sometimes you're gonna take a hit, and if you do, you just have to make sure you

take care of the football. But he has to be confident in the guise up front, and I think if he does go back and watch some of the films, he'll see that he has a much better pocket and much better protection than he probably thought he did during the game. And in the big picture, huge that Sam Bradford plays well in these final nine games. Remember one

year contract. Eagles don't know whether he's a franchise quarterback yet, so you kind of want to lock down that quarterback position one way or the other, not only for this year, but for many years to come. So what dave you talked about the twenty and eleven year when when the Giants were just average towards the middle of the year, Eli Manning went on a tear that second half of the year, and Sam Bradford has the ability to do the same thing. Of Course, the wide receivers have to

catch the ball. Of course, everybody has to play a little bit better, and he has to be protected. But he has that same opportunity and if he does that, then we won't be talking about at the end of the year, who's our quarterback for next year, who's our franchise guy. It would be Sam Bradford. He has to go into a tear as far as the second half, really interesting to see how people have judged Sam after seven games. I think it's kind of premature. The guy

hadn't played football for two years. It takes some time just to get the rust off. And I think if if he can proves and listen, he's a veteran guy, so he understands how the off week goes. You look at the tape, you see all the things that you did bad, all the things you did good. Improve them, the bad, continue to get better at the good, and I think it will have a chance. So big week ahead for Bradford, big week ahead for the Eagles, big

week ahead for all of us. Let's take a look at our mrosos on the menu segment what do we have in store for you? Well, of course Eagles three sixty here every night at five o'clock. In on Tuesday, Glenn mcnow joins me in studio. We take our first detailed look at Philadelphia and Dallas, our fantasy spend with Joe Roland, Alex Smith and Chip Kelly meets to media and he's talking injuries. Does Nelson Aghaloor play on Sunday night?

Is Keikolanso ready to get back on the field? About Damiko Ryan's Ryan Matthews with that growing injury, a lot to catch up on. As the Eagles are back from the bier. We're glad to be here. We thank you for joining us. For Brian Westbrook, I'm Dave SPIDERO. Have yourselves a great Eagles Day