Post-Game Show: Eagles Win The Opener 18-12

field Royal Darby in coverage. Jones catches the ball this time, but his momentum takes him out of bounds and the Eagles escape with the eighteen to twelve victory. In my estimation, this is what exactly what the Eagles had to do tonight. Okay, we all knew that with Nick Foles starting at quarterback, there were a lot of turnover on offense in terms of players being injured during the preseason not being able to get that rhythm. The defense had to step up

to the task. But when push came to shove, the Eagles offense got the job done to get the go ahead touchdown. Jagi his second score of the night, an eleven yards scant late in the fourth quarter, and the defense held on to give the Eagles to win. For me, you're going against a battle tested, very very good veteran Falcon squad. You just had to steal this one, so you kind of get your feet set as you go

into the twenty eighteen season. Yeah. I mean, you know what I've learned, Chris watching these two play again tonight, is that these are two teams that are very close when it comes to talent, when it comes to execution, when it comes to being matched up against one another, they do a lot of similar things. You remember back to the game in January that was a defensive battle,

same thing here tonight. The Eagles offense tough sledding for the most part in the first half, Eagles defense keeping them in the game, big stops in the red zone. That's really the difference in the game tonight. The Eagles defense in the first half keeping the Falcons out of the end zone, allowing the Eagles offense to final rhythm

in the second half and get things going. And miden way through that third quarter, how about Dougie p bringing out a different version of the Philly Special from the Super Bowl, sort of igniting this offense in the second half, certainly igniting the Eagles fans inside the Lincoln Financial Field. And I thought the defense was just outstanding all night. Hey, a little bit of ben, but don't break. It's gonna be difficult stopping Julio Jones. The Falcons they targeting so much.

He's gonna get us catches, He's gonna get his yards. But for the fourth straight game, this Eagles defense when facing the Falcons, have been able to keep Julio Jones out of the end zone. He gets his numbers in between the goal line, the goal line, but he hasn't gotten in the end zone. And a great job. Really deja vu all over again that final defensive stand down there where Matt Ryan has multiple opportunities throwing the ball in the end zone. Great job by the Eagles red

zone defense keeping them out of the end zone. Had us here with our hearts and our throats a little bit, But you know what a great way to kick off the two eighteen season. And we've realized that the defense was gonna come out, was gonna have to come out and lead the charge. That yeah, because the offense they just haven't had enough time to be on the field together. That show tonight. Sloppy play as well, when when you

don't play guys in the preseason. And this isn't anything that's specifically related to the Eagles, this is a trend around the National Football League going through the preseason. You're gonna get sloppy play, penalties everywhere, turnovers in the second half. But the Eagles able to pull it together and really start running the ball with Jaya Jaii and I think they gave them a little momentum as well, big plays

from Darren Spros. Nelson Agilore really the only threat in the passing game all night, and they had to use him in a different faceted ways just to get the ball moving. But just a great game and to deepense. So many stars on that side of the ball that we can go through. I'm gonna love looking at this game. This will be fun to want to watch. Twenty six

total penalties called and accepted in this ball game. So certainly, as you said, it's almost preseason, ask, it's basically when you're resting guys during the actual preseason, you're gonna take these first couple weeks of the year to get themselves acclimated.

It's almost the approach that New England takes with its team because they play so late into the year over and over and over again that by the time you get to the next regular season, it's such a shortened window that, look, you want to keep your guys as fresh as possible, so you're using these September games. And that's why in the past couple of years when we've seen the Patriots lose one of those close games averon and you say yourself, is this the year when it's

gonna unfold? Well, no, that's not the case. It's just a matter of fact that, Look, they're trying to get their feet under them so they can peak when you get to October, November, and December when you're making that playoff push there. So what we're gonna do now is we're gonna send over to Lake and fire Field and we're gonna bring in the Eagles insider himself, Daves and Amy Campbell. Look, I mean, what a thriller. Dave first and foremost there the Eagles red zone defense, holding the

Falcons out four out of five opportunities. It seems like all offseason Atlanta was preaching that I was gonna have a better red zone offense and that was not the case tonight. What did the Eagles do down there at the goal lot to be able to keep the Falcons out?

What didn't matter most? Well, a couple of things here, Chris, and thank you very much for bringing it to Amy and I. Here an absolute replica of the game in January against the Falcons, the NFC Divisional playoff game, and what the Eagles did so well in the red zone. They dominated the line of scrimmage. Amy and I talked about this before the game. My focus was on the line of scrimmage and your focus was on outside in coverage and Eagles dominated in both. Yeah, we were both right.

I thought it was really a defensive showdown here for the home team, and like Chris mentioned, multiple tries there for the Atlanta offense. Atlanta was in the red zone a lot tonight and they did not get They weren't converting to touchdowns and a lot of those chances, and so, like you said, that defensive line kind of making it happen for them in the trenches, and then on the outside the dbs really stepping up, and of course Julio's Julio, so he's gonna eat no matter what. But outside of that,

I'd say a great defensive showing from the home team. Yeah, and the Eagles I think really Chris and Ike in that last drive. Certainly throughout the game, they never let Matt Ryan drop back set feel comfortable in the pocket. They did a lot of it with a four man rush that allowed seven to drop into coverage. And Fletcher Cox, we talked about it before the game, a dominant performance in January against Atlanta. He Chris Long, Brandon Graham really

really took care of business up front. Well, and your guy to watch Jordan Hicks too. How that really exciting sack. He basically bowled over DeVante Freeman there to take Matt Ryan down. Really exciting moment there for the deal. And the Eagles offense did just enough. They were able to mix things up a bit. Obviously a little bit of trickery helped them early in the game, and then they got the running game going and they got darren sproles involve catching the football. I thought he was a bit

of an X factor. Corey Clement and JAGII, who's been bothered by a foot injury, ran hard, rand tough and put the ball in the end zone in the red zul Yeah, two touchdowns for Jji. I think you nailed it. They're saying that Philly Special replica two point zero was what seemed to really open up the offense a little bit.

That there were a lot of hiccups and you know, kind of some timing issues, some rhythm issues, maybe some comfort issues for that first team offense, and it seemed like it took, you know, a trick play to kind of get them going a little bit there as well. And the crowd here obviously a big factor. Incredibly loud, not to the level I don't think of NFC playoffs last year, but very close. It was. It was a

great home field advantage for the Eagles. Oh yeah, I mean this is my first regular season home game here in Philadelphia, so my first experience with the Philadelphia crowd, and man, I just I couldn't even leave the field for you know, I stayed down here for the first half and I was just soaking it up. The fans were so awesome and you know, I love the booing, right, like you gotta keep your team honest, like, you know,

don't take long. Didn't take long. And you know, I reading tweets, people are saying, it's it's a banner knight, It's championship banner knight, and you're gonna get a boolee right into the first quarter. But you gotta keep your team honest. You know a good thing when you see it, and you know you know a bad thing when you see it. So I loved in my first experience here.

It was awesome. Yeah, and this is the kind of way I think the Eagles are gonna have to win early in the season, with a lot of grid, with a lot of fortitude and doing the little things in the fourth quarter to win games. That's what championship teams do, guys, and that's what the Eagles did this evening. Great stuff there from David Amy. Dave can't wait to read You're on the Insight com later on, as well as listen to the Eagles Live podcast to recap the win over

the Falcon. So, David Amy were talking there about the running back rotation ike and to me, it seemed like that on that final drive you saw what it could be, what it probably should be here in twenty eighteen with Jagi as the lead guy. With Corey Clement sprinkling some key runs there, I thought I was going to break that one for a touchdown there, and then Darren Sprowls. The X factor just so uncanny, especially on third down.

He had a third down early in the game is a third and short carry where he was able to wiggle by the defender just enough to get the first down. But he had a couple of clutch, you know, possessions there late in the game to help get the Eagles over the hump there. It just seemed like they work. That's the one thing that they could count on, and I think they could probably you know, put their emphasis on here. As Dave said in the first month of the season, as they're gonna have to kind of win

ugly so to speak. Here, I think we saw with the running back rotation can be here for this Eagles team. Yeah, nice job by Doug, you know, he and Mike gros sticking with the running game right. It wasn't working early in the game. I think a big, big part of that was a lack of a real threat at the receiver position. We didn't throw the ball down the field

very much. And what that allows is for Atlanta to really start to crowd the box, and I thought our office and line struggle with picking up guys blocking them getting to the second level, and there weren't very many holes for these running backs to run through. In the first half, they tried to switch out the temp as far as whether you're going with Spros or whether you're gonna with Cory or Jayaji, wasn't much there in the first half. Great job coming out in the second half

getting some misdirection plays. I saw a nice little wrinkle where they brought Nelson Agilore in for like a jet sweet look. I think that forces Atlanta's eyes to follow him, and they were able to get some quick hitters up the middle of Corey Clement and Darren Spros as well. And once those plays started to happen, especially the Philly special two point zero, I think that forced Atlanta to back off a little bit and it gazed. It gave

the Eagles offensive line a lot of confidence. And then and then you started to see them get a body on the body and Jayagi getting behind his pads being patient as well. I thought I saw a much more patient runner in the second half, a little lebyon Bell like from Jiji. That's that's not somewhere accustomed to sin.

But I saw that a little bit in the second half, and that allowed holes to develop, because when you're running these sort of RPOs or these read actions, you have to give time for the defense to move and then the offensive linemen to get to a certain angle. So you're gonna need a little bit of patience. I thought Jedgi showed that in the second half, and he was able to break some big runs. They certainly needed their run game tonight because the passing game was almost it

was almost wasn't even existent tonight. Well what was odd was to me, I thought we were gonna see a little more twelve personnel early on. Okay, you figured you knew you were you know, you were hurt at wide receiver there with no al Sean, no mac Hollands obviously, and you know Shelton Gibson out there starting out y. You of DeAndre Carter playing his first NFL game, you know, playing significant snaps. So I figured we would see alive

of Zach Ertz and Dallas Goddard. But you didn't really see alive of the twelve personnel there, And to the Falcon's credit, third linebackers did a very good job of putting the clamps down on zach Ertz, and zach Ertz an off night for him where you don't see him drop the ball, you know, ever basically, and we saw two, possibly three drops throughout the course of this game. And then Dallas Goddard, you saw the cash radius that he has on that one red zone attempting to the ends

and they almost brought in. And then the turning point of this game was almost the ball that he caught over the middle off that pop pass, and unfortunately Demante Casey was just in the right place at the right time be able to knock the ball loose, you know, got tried to do what he could to secure it. Dion Jones came up with the interception, and that's where he almost wondered, is that where the tide's gonna turn.

It seemed like the Eagles, you know, made a lot of mistakes on special teams especially, were able to overcome them. You figured they were gonna have to win ugly tonight, but they were able to overcome some mistakes that you didn't expect them to make in order to get the victory there. So it was interesting from that same point of not utilizing the Titans as as much as I thought they were going to in this matchup. But again,

Atlanta's got a fast, aggressive defense. Maybe they just figured from a matchup standpoint, that wasn't the area where they thought they could win. And you gotta give Nick time to throw the football, right, you know that that fast defense Atlanta has. You know, those tight ends are going to be huge in the red zone, and so we didn't get down in the red zone very often. They ran the ball in when we were able to get down there. So that's something they're going to continue to

work on. You know, the Eagles, that's a huge part of their offensive package using two tight ends, So I don't expect that to go away. There were some opportunities there for the tight ends tonight to make some catches. I guarantee you that ball throwing the Dallas Goddard, he's going to do a better job of getting his feed in bounds, making sure he has enough room to come

down catch. So you know, but you see, like you said, catch radius, his size, his ability even if the man is there in coverage, just throw the ball up to him. He's a good athlete. He can go up there and get the ball. The thing I loved that the Eagles were able to do tonight is that they didn't hurt themselves on an offensive standpoint by turning the ball over the one interception that they had. Just a great play

by the Atlanta Falcons. Get a safety credit for putting his helmet on the ball and popping that out of the other than that, I thought Nick did a great job of keeping the ball out of harm's way. All Right, So we're gonna hear from head coach Doug Pearson and quarterback Nick foleson just a little bit, But first we're gonna send it back over to the link where Eagles and Saura. Dave Spader is standing by with defensive and Brandon Graham. All Right, there some auto technical difficulties there.

So again we're gonna hear from coach Pearson and quarterback Nick Foles in just a few moments there. But the defensive line just you you were wondering how would the rotation work. And we didn't see a law of heloading nada in the in the preseason and training camp. And again he's been around the league for such a long time, four years old, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, big fellow is not looking at training again, but you still saw the juice the one tackle for lost there in the second half.

You said, this guy still has it, and those are the types of snaps that you need to get from him so that you don't have to force excessive reps for other guys down the line. I love seeing Michael Bennett moved around the four. I thought he came off

the edge very nicely tonight. Chris Long, I mean, Chris Long might just have the you know, the wisdom of youth basically at this point here once again getting a strip sack, something that he was so effective at last season for the team type for first I believe in the league with four strip sacks as another one tonight. Unfortunately the deals weren't able to come up with it. But nonetheless though Chris Long bringing that presence off the edge. Yeah,

how could you not love the way Chris plays? You know, gives you nothing but effort. Right, old guy been in the league for a few years, still loves playing the game of football. And the great thing about this defensive line is the depth. And these guys are going to benefit from not playing so many snaps. And you saw that come to truition to night in the fourth quarter, especially if the Eagles were able to get to Matt Ryan. The Falcons couldn't get to Nick Foles late in the game.

You got guys cramping up all over the field, Guys going to the sideline not coming back in. You watch the Eagles defense defense, they look stronger, and when they could get pressure on Matt Ryan, he didn't have a chance. When they couldn't get pressure on him, He's able to get the ball to Julio. But you saw the depth of that defensive line come to fruition and show why it's gonna be the force of the defensive side of the football once again this year, led by Fletcher Cox,

led by Chris Long. I liked what I saw from Michael Bennett tonight, regardless if he got a sack or not. There were plenty of times that I saw him get penetration and flush masses around the quarterback from hockey and that's what you need to see. Derek Barnett couple of mistakes lining up off side and negating a couple of sacks, but still he was around the football tonight. And then my favorite player amongst them all and It's hard for me to say this considered I'm a spartan Brandon Graham,

Brandon Graham and Wolver rain Man. He's out there his first action of the year, and I thought he did a nice job in his limited playing time as well. Indeed, so again the Eagles coming out with the eighteen to twelve victory. Dan Bruegeler actually had this stat on Twitter during the broadcast and he said that there are two players left from the draft and it was Chris Long sacking Matt Ryan. How about So how about that for

you right there? So, Matt Ryan, was it just me or did you look off in terms of throwing the football there? Obviously, look, you're throwing the Julio Jones arguably the best receiver in the game, and Julio is gonna make things happen. But there were a lot of balls that Matt Ryan threw tonight that you just kind of wondered, is the arm striking out theres or something off? As it is it just preseason rush for him. Yeah, It's hard for me to put a finger on what was

exactly going on with Matt Ryan to night. He was either overshooting balls or he was under throwing balls poorly. I mean his quarterback play quite honestly, and I even I don't even say some questionable play calling down there in the red zone. That's gonna be the big story out of the lamb if you're in Atlanta. They struggled with red zone last year, not putting the ball in the end zone, having to kick field goals. That was

the story to night. The Eagles defense in the red zone, able to step up and keep the Falcons out of the end zone. Would they get one touchdown and night out? Yeah? The one and that was off of a short field from the tip interceptions if they were able to get from Tevin Coleman. But yeah, not getting the ball in the ends on a number eleven is what's gonna hunt though. All right, listen over to the link where head coach Doug Pearson there was a play we had put in

for this week. It was a play that was in our third down menu. We were on the correct hash mark and it was the right time of the game. Philly, Philly, let's play. What did you learn about them tonight? A lot? Actually? Um? The biggest thing again, um just again, no panic on the sideline resiliency. Um. Toughness, you know, um, hanging with each other through all the you know kind of the ups and downs, the ob and flow of the game, the mistakes, the penalties, um turnover you know, Um, just

the guys hanging hanging together. Again, there was no there was no panic tonight. And uh you know credit, Uh, I tell you, the deciding factor in this football game to me was our defensive line and then our offensive line. How they controlled that line of stagrammage. That was That

was a big part of this football game tonight. Is there a part of you when you called that play Philly, Philly that it kind of saw this seems the type of situation like this offense and in the building needed a spark and it was a good time for it.

A little bit, you know, we'd we'd offensively was sort of you know, misfired a little bit, you know, early in the game, first half in particular, and we came out in the second half and you know, just same same type of thing, and just just we're looking for a big play, somebody to make a play, you know, and you kind of look for that from time to time, and again just felt like it was the right time to make that call and Uh, Um guys executed it.

Uh well good locally was appeared to be the exact same play in New England ran against you guys in the Super Bowl and successfully. We're aware of that. That's where we got it from. We just we just put the from people in the game. The difference. Yeah and yeah, they were in eleven personnel I think, and we were in twelve. The red zone defense tonight, I think they had five trips one one touchdown. How important was that? What you say again, it's probably probably the game you know,

the deciding factor of defense. Uh. Again, you know they got down there and bowed their neck and and uh made made several big I mean big stops, big stops for us, and and uh, you know that's what it takes, I think early in the season like this until until your offense really kind of gets on track and and get going a little bit. I know we got the run game going in the second half. We did hit some some passes in the second half. But I think that's what you need too, is uh. And that's why

it's a great team sport. You need all three phases and defense. Um played extremely well tonight. And it's unfortunate too we could have had a couple of turnovers, you know, a couple of interceptions there, but um, red zone defense was outstanding. That's looked pretty comfortable on the outside. I mean, is there any part of you, I guess that is it all still kind of marble at where he was and where he got to and now how you're able

to use him with him this offensive player he's become. Yeah, I'm really have been really impressed with Nelson and his work ethic and his drive and motivation to to really excel, you know, only and at this level, but also with his craft being a skilled receiver, and um, it was evident tonight that our confidence and in my confidence in him is um unbelievable, extremely high, and being able to move him inside and outside now and and find find

unique ways to get him the football. He's very explosive with the ball in his hand. And you know, just my hat's off to him the way he's worked the last couple of seasons to put himself in this positions. I think had three carries that he went into the

second half. Why that this married well, uh, you know, we just again tried to trying to find a spark offensively, whether it be the runner, whether it be a run scheme, the run you know, the run fit, whatever it was, and we just couldn't find it in the second half. We made some adjustments a halftime and and uh, you know I made I made a conscious effort just to keep keep him in there on some of those runs.

And he was running really hard, and obviously the touchdown late and the two point conversion were evident of his his ability to run the football and just leaned down him a little. People were on second half. Is that your decision to keep the team in the locker room during the banner unbailing ceremony and what went into the no no I was actually part of the whole you know,

tribute both teams. We're going to be in the dressing room during that, and um, you know, for us, it was just a matter of just getting our guys, you know, prepared for the game without being on the field. So we'll went through your mind at the end there when you stop him, there's a penalty you have to do it again. Almost the same scenario as the playoff game lays there. I mean that thought rolled through my head

quite honestly. You know, here we are again one second to go and and comes down to the final play the game and uh, um again hats off to the defense. You know again a great great red zone stop. Uh did it all night. Proud of those guys, Uh, you know, and really kept kept our offense in this football game. And then and then the offense got on track. But uh,

great job for our defense. Conversation between you and Dick at half time to sort of rector him and recalibrate him for the second day, we just you know, basically just had to make a couple of subtle run adjustments with with the run game and then with he and I just uh, you know, I wanted to pick his brain and find out what he what he was comfortable

with and with the game. But we had left on the on the call sheet, you know, to go to and find find some things that that we could generate a you know a little bit of some offense with and um, he had some ideas and I had some ideas, and we were comfortable with that, and and UH just just had to you know, really kind of focus in on on a little bit of quick throws. We got back to the run and then and then a couple

of deep throws that we just missed on. But those were all plays that that he and I were comfortable, you know, in the second half with yeah, there are guys. Is there a point where when you put your quarterback the passing line to wealth because Risky asked that one more time, is there a point where when you put your quarterback out the passing lines too often? It becomes baby a physical and risk or something that you might want to think about not doing. Understanding question, you put

your quarterback catching passes? Oh oh on that Philly Philly play. Um, I don't know. You know, you got to make sure that defense is going to be a man coverage and they're not accounting for your quarterback. And um, it's a little calculated risk. You know, you're not going to do it every week, but but we felt like we had a great opportunity to do it, and um, he did a nice job of securing the catch and getting himself out of bounds. You're missing Maragos and l mc collins

and some other guys. How big of a loss of those guys in terms of special teams? So you had some stakes there tonight. Well, we had a few you know, penalties there, but I don't think it's a result of personnel. I really felt like special teams overall did a nice job Cam, you know, kicking the ball, Jake kicking the ball,

and then our cover teams. We're good. We just got to clean up a couple of things, um, you know after the play, after the whistle, things like that that uh you know, we got the we got the penalties on and and uh we do that. We'll be okay. But I thought special teams overall did a did did a nice job with the name on your playsheet of the past eight three to four, Philly, Philly. Yeah, yeah, it's not your favorite problem. But before it came out before the game that Carson is out several weeks, is

that accurate? You know what? I have not seen or I've seen it, but uh, um, I'm gonna I'm gonna, you know, um investigate that a little bit more and and and see see where, where and why and when that came out. But um, I'm not going to comment too much more. Thanks for raving good time. There's head coach Doug Pearson leaving the podium at Lincoln Financial Field after the Eagles defeat the Aliant Falcons by a score

of eighteen to twelve. And how about that taking a page out of New England's playbook, calling Philly Philly there as Nelson Agilore has actually finishes with the best quarterback rating one eighteen point eight of the night, floating the ball there for the fifteen yard game to Nick Foles. So our standing called by a dog. And again that

really sparked the offense. And I think we all figured the offense was going to probably be sluggish early on the defense with the holders way, it's just amazing that you see Doug go to that type of play to kind of get things going. And obviously the crowd loved it and energized the offense as they scored on it. Yeah, how about this, Our quarterback called the ball. Our quarterback called the ball when they threw it to him right there.

So that's another shot for Nick Foles over Tom Brady. Indeed, so of worse. Now, if you didn't have a chance to listen to Sports Radio ninety four w IP, they didn't get to hear Merrill. Reason my quick, well, guess what we have you covered? And plus we haven't got highlights from the booth as well, so we've got all the best from their calls tonight in the latest edition of Merrill Camp. This is the tenth play of this drive and it's fourth and goal from the one back

to the yard Ryan under the center. Ryan goes to Freeman, tries to get outside. Hey, get up. They stop him. A goal line fans one by Jordan Heck, that is beautiful defense. Yeah, they got the big plays. They got it down inside the five yard lines. But what a stand. But this isn't necessarily Jake Elliot's favorite area. Jake likes them from fifty yards out. This is a little twenty six yard chip shot. Let's see if he ties the game right here. Attle spotted kick us up and the

kick is going him. We're tight at three. Freeman to the left of Ryan, who stamps his right foot in the gun. Ryan back. Here comes the rush. He's hit. They've got him back at the thirty five. They got him at time. It was George Hicks. What a great job, a great play call here by Jim Schwartz bringing that blitz from the second level and Higgs comes through and he just runs over Freeman the running back on his way to that sack. They have Corey Clement in position

to the right of Bulls. They go double tight end motion to the nearest side. This time the give goes to Clement on a reverse Aglar fire to Tolls and falls out of bounds at the twenty five yard one. The Phillies special worked again fifteen yards. Well, this time they actually snap it two Nick Foles. He gives it the Cory, he gives it to Nelson Agla Angela throws the ball down the sideline. Come on, Doug, digging into that playbook. I'm loving it. The Fellows Special, the fans

what they want. Dog said it was retired prematurely. Second and one a giant who was right. Bowles puts Josh Perkins in motion, gives it to a touchdown. That's the offensive line taking over the football game, beating them to the punch at the line of streamers, getting Jagie and to pay dirt. Great stuff as always from Merril and Mike. They're they're in mid season form. They don't got to worry about preseason or any of that. They can just

walk up the bus and be ready to go. Now, of course, you probably realize where was the JGI game winning touchdown. You're gonna to check out the full version of Meryl Camp coming up later on today on Philadelphia Eagles dot Com and the Eagles Apps. So we're waiting to hear from quarterback Nick Foles in just a little bit. But something that was intriguing for me early on in

this game is how Dan quinn. You know, we talked about the Atlanta red zone struggles there he tried to channels inner Doug Peterson to go for it on fourth and goal from the one yard line, and the defense with Common Grouge Hill and Jordan Hicks coming up in a big way to stop DeVante Freeman on the outside to stop to play. And it seemed like when the Falcons only got three points despite driving the ball deep on their first two drives, you were just saying to herself,

that's setting the tone for the Eagles. If they can keep themselves in this and not get blown out right from the jump, that they're gonna be in this ball game here. Yeah, because think about it, those are two touchdowns. Now you're down fourteen nothing, and I don't know if

Dug can stick with the running game. Yeah, you get down fourteen nothing in the NFL, you abandoned the running game and you start throw throw, throw, throwthrow and with the the offense was sputtering in the first half, that could have led to more turnovers, that could have led to putting the ball on Harm's way. So the defense coming up with stops there in the first half were huge.

We talked about the Falcons issues last year in the red zone with Steve Sarkeesian in his first year as the offensive coordinator, where the same issues happened again this year, and you and you you mentioned that first gold line standing the Eagles had. I was actually okay with Dan Quinn going forward. Oh, I'm not saying I questioned the decision. I agree with the decision. I think you had to go for a thing. I'm questioning the personnel that was

out there. Right, You're going a heavy package with no Julio Jones on the field where the defense knows you're gonna run the football. At worst, they're gonna throw the ball to Austin Hooper. So the defense would much rather have to cover Hooper than they have to cover Julio Jones out there. I thought it was a mistake on Steve Sarkeesian from a personnel standpoint, made it much too easy for the Eagles defense and Jim Schwarz, so the key in on the Bonta Freeman in the run game.

Camu Gruger Hill had a great game to night in that it started with that play there where he was able to fight off two blocks. That's the kid get the tackle on DeVonta Freeman on fourth down, and you're right, that really set the tone for the rest of the first half from a defensive standpoint. Speaking of Jordan Hicks, it was great when you look at the injured guys from last season. Okay, obviously Carson Wentz still sideline not playing tonight, but the guys who that club rehab group.

You have Jordan Hicks, you have Darren Sproles, and have

Jason Peters, all with outstanding efforts tonight. Jason Piers, you know again, man on a mission, doesn't look like he's lost a step that you know, the coaches have not afraid to leave him out in the island and team care of business out there, you know, with no problems whatsoever this year there And we gotta we gotta wait to hear about Jason Peters because Howard Askin reported late in the game the last Eagles offensive possession that Jason

Peters went straight to the locker room, but the offense never went back out there, so we don't know if it was serious. And now I'm just going off of what I heard Howard reporting from the sideline. But you're right when you talk about the guys that were injured last year and got back on the field this year. I thought, my man, man, Jordan Hicks looked great, and if this guy can play sixteen games, Jordan Hicks is a Pro Bowl linebacker in this league. He just needs

to be able to stay healthy. His last healthy full season in twenty sixteen, I thought he played at a Pro Bowl level team wasn't as good, so he didn't get the recognition. Comes back last year, got off to a good start, and then got the achilles injury to end his season. I thought he was phenomenal tonight. Jason Peters, like you said, while he was out there, picked up right where he left off. And people don't understand how big of a deal it is to have Jason Peters

out there. We know that he's a future Hall of Famer, first ballot Hall of Famer, but what he does for the rest of the offensive line, what he does from Mike Row and Doug Peterson when it comes to calling place. Jason Peters doesn't need help when blocking his man, so you don't have to turn the protection towards him. You can help the other guys. Jason Peters is gonna lock

his guy down tonight. How many times did we see Tank or Big Beasley thrown to the ground not getting within five feet Nick Foles because Jason Peters, the bodyguard was back in. They just gave up. Yeahs right off this episode like a Pears this frind night. It's not gonna happen today, not whatsoever. You're not going to out athletic Jason Peters. No, you just start because he's a very good athlete for his size. Indeed, there so I also liked along the offensive line, you saw the unbalanced

line worked there to fruition. You also saw Seumalo coming in as an extra tackle. It's almost like the Eagles were playing the hits everything that worked for them in twenty seventeen. Let's just bring it back. Okay, we'll do a little remix and we'll put it back out there and it'll be just as good and it'll lead to more success. Here's that was huge for this Eagles team.

Here working that offensive line because with again, when you looked at the preseason, what was the biggest issue there, It was that left tackle position as well as Big V played there down the stretch in twenty and seventeen to help the Eagles win the Super Bowl. You look at two and eighteen and they gotta get this team ready.

So also you show up that left tackle spot. And across the board, the run game was much more effective and the past protection Walla has it ups and downst with the course of guard overall was better because, like you said, you could just leave him on an island. You leave Lane Johnson on an island, and those two spots, those guys are we wiped out the equation. And I'll even tell you for the offensive line, the sacks that we gave up tonight, I don't think they were necessarily

blocking issues. I think the receivers had a hard time getting open. Nick had to hold the ball a little bit longer than he wanted to, and they led to sacks. But I thought the offensive line did a nice job protecting. You just got to be able to get rid of the football. And I'll tell you something else with Doug and his play call in the night. He took his chances when he saw fit to take shots deep right

the play down the field the Mike Wallace. I thought both of those were good calls, just needed a little bit better throws and then maybe you get big plays there,

you get chunk plays. But the game wasn't working. The intermedia game wasn't working as well as we become accustomed to sin and I thought Doug and my gross sticking with the running game, allowing NET to sort of feed the offense and then get some passes in there was really the key to this offense getting some rhythm and coming up with the big touchdown drives that both for both Jayagi touchdowns. The mission for the Eagles in the next ten days is how do you generate those X plays,

those chunk plays? And is it as simple as you get Alshan Jeffrey back in the lineup. That could be a possibility, But nonetheless though, that's gonna be the challenge for the Eagles As they get the mini buy, which is good for them, they get a couple extra days to rest, they've got that wins, they get that first win in the back pocket, because we'll get into the

schedule later on down the show. But it is really a difficult schedule with the first place, with the divisions you're going against this year, that you need to get these early wins as much as possible, especially knowing that you're not gonna be playing at full tilt because you don't have Carson Wentz in'll lineup, and you're missing some key guys like Alshon Jeffrey out there on the field. Yeah, and I don't know when now, y'all, I'm gonna be back.

I know he was out there in the pregame sort of warming up before everybody came out, so I saw him catching passing and stuff on Twitter. Look good there, so I know he's gonna He's anxious to get back as soon as as soon as he can. But you ask the question about what the Eagles will need. They

need another receiver to step up. They need someone else to be able to step up, whether it's Mike Wallace on the outside posing a threat, stretching the defense, opening up the middle of the field, or whether you're getting a Shelton Gibson or DeAndre Carter playing the other receiver to X receiver spot and open it up. I just thought it was too crowded in the middle of the

field because you don't have those safeties backing off. And what I saw from the Falcon's defense is that they didn't necessarily fear the Eagles running by them, except for Mike Wallace a couple of times, and when the Eagles did decide to go deep to him, there was usually a safety over there to help with him. But you're gonna need more than just go routes. You're gonna need

somebody with the deep end routes. You're gonna need crossing routes, things that nature, things that pull safeties out of the middle of the field so that Nelson can operate in. Now, we saw how it worked last year with Tory Smith and al Shan when they're in the game, Nelson was able to be a legitimate threat on third down just about any time they were in third down. Think about all those third and longs that Carson was able to convert because you couldn't just key in on one guy.

What I saw the night from our passing game is that we didn't really pose a threat to Atlanta's defense, at least enough to make them back off. No, and credit to Nelson Aglore, who did the most of what he could. Obviously, look at the numbers at the end of the night, ten targets, eight catches for just thirty three yards. But they came into some pivolal situations. There some third down conversions that I think one third down and long conversion that was wiped out due to the penalty.

But you know, knowing that he was going to be the go to guy with you know, al Sean and mac out tonight, you know, he made the most of the opportunist party. That's the biggest thing to do there. The other situation that we were watching coming to the game, so was it linebacker. We've talked about Jordan Hicks, but no, Nigel Brattle all right, suspended for the first game of the year. So the base package you saw Kamu Gruza Hill who we talked about, Nathan Garrett out there as well.

We also saw a lot of the big nickel package coming in tonight, Corey Graham number twenty four, working to add a little bit more beef there if they were gonna have to contend against the run. But you know, it goes back to Steve Sarkisian in the play call, and they really did not go to the run. Game. It was pretty much a heavy dose of let's get the ball Julio, try to feed him as much as possible, which again worked from the twenties to the twenties, but

in the red zone they didn't come to fruition. So I thought that Jim Schwartz and Eagles defense did a good job of overcoming the loss of Nigel Brown, knowing you're gonna get that physical playmaking presents ten days from now in week two, and I'm glad you brought up the linebackers, you know, I was. I was kind of skeptical about how the young guys would do out there tonight, going up against this Falcons offensive line, these two running backs.

But I got to give them credit, man, they did They did a better job than I thought they were going to do tonight. The Falcons, to their credit, they ran the ball enough because because you saw Camu out there, and you saw all Nathan Gary out there an awful lone tonight, I thought we was gonna see more big Nickel out there. But the Falcons wanted to try to keep the Eagles in that base deepens so they could run the ball when they tried to. Wasn't a whole

lot there. I thought the young linebackers did a nice job getting off the block more importantly playing downhill, being decisive as opposed of indecisive, allowing those Atlanta offensive linemen to get up to them and not have to fight those big boys off. And then obviously when you got a front four in front of you, like the guys that we have, they're gonna make your job a lot easier as well. Indeed so DeVante Freeman just six carries

for thirty six yards. Tevin Coleman nine carries for nineteen yards. He did have a touchdown in the game tonight, but still just not enough as the Eagles beat the Land Falcons by the score of eighteen or twelve, and we just saw a highlight of a guy we hadn't talked about Jess yet. Julio had ten catches on nineteen targets for one hundred and sixty nine yards, zero touchdowns for the fourth game. I believe against the Eagles they kept him out of the end zone. But Ron Darby's play.

Ron Darby's play tonight was outstanding. I mean, he was in Julio's hip pocket whenever they were in man coverage. Really was able to stay over the top of him whenever Matt Ryan wanted to go deep. Gave up some other plays where they had to move Julio around almost to get him away from Ron Darby. You really saw Ron Darby's athleticism and his speed on display to night against one of the game's best wide receivers. Eight tackles,

five solo tackles. The three pass deflections were huge because I think all three pass deflections prevented first downs to Julio Jones. So all three of his past deflections I believe came against Julio Jones, and I guarantee you Julio left the game to night thinking about number twenty one because there were some plays to be made for him

there that twenty one just wouldn't give up. We haven't even talked about the one that Julio should have been given credit for, the fifty two yard reception in the second half, which really could have tipped the scales in Alan's favor. He pulled a double move on Jalen Mills, had him beat down the field, Matt Ryan aired out over his shoulder, and Julio was just he seemed like he had secured it as he was going out a bounce, but the referees disagreed and uh, we got the hometown call. Yeah,

we still don't know what to catch is. I thought they cleared this up, that's what they said. But fortunately for us that call went when our ways a lot of calls out there to night. I'm pretty sure we had some goal against us that we didn't like. It was historic. The amount of penalties again, fifteen accepted penalties for the Falcons, one hundred and thirty five yards of lost yard due to penalties, and then eleven penalties for

the Eagles. Not a whole lot better so, but I believe I think they're in the NBC broadcast they said the fifteen penalties was a record. Yeah, I mean it seemed like the refs were in preseason four. They wanted to throw the laundry out in the field. Every gonna be so they got sore elbows and everything else. And quite frankly, there were some subjective calls there, you know

that listen holding calls, passing affairs, things like that. You're at the referees mercy as to whether or not they're gonna either allow you to just play or they're gonna

call a tiki tach foul again. There were enough out there tonight that both teams got enough to complain about and also been fortunate enough to some of them with their favor tonight because there were some balls that were dropped that I thought were caught on both sides, ball that I thought may have been a fumble that was ruled incomplete, you know, on our behalf from zach Ertz there at one point in time, so sloppy played first game not I mean, it's not anything that's out of

the ordinary when you're coming out of the preseason and in today's NFL where no team really played their first teamers through the first four weeks, I mean through those four weeks of preseason football, because they just want to get to the first game as healthy as possible. Of course, you're gonna see sloppy play. You're gonna see grabbing, You're

gonna see things that nature. You're also gonna see guys like the Atlanta Falcons defenders cramp up because they haven't played a tall games, they haven't played a full game. It was hot out there tonight, but what what a wonderful start to the season. And then typical Philadelphia fashion, it had to be a little memorable, right, because we had the lightning delay at the beginning of tonight's opening game.

That stall we can't even have our championship moment a little bit, yeah, you know, but that that's another thing that to take it into consideration is did that play much of a factor because it seemed like that the crowd. Look, the crowd was in the stadium, you know, at seven thirty, they were amped up. They were ready to reveal the banner and see the trophy come out in the field and a magnificent display there with Jeffrey Lurry carrying out

the trophy for the fans. But you know, when you have that that delay, a kind of you know, kind of temperate expectation that everybody's you know, run into the concourse having to come back. It kind of dampened the enthusiasm just a little bit. And then the Eagles, they look when the Eagles won the coin toss and deferred and the Falcon's got the ball first, I thought that was the perfect scenario for the those because I wanted to see the those defense go out there first, and

then what did the Falcons do? They drive it down the length of the field. But then you get the goal line stand, which it's like, okay, great situation there, but then the offense pretty much gives it right back, so it's essentially like a punt, and then the Falcons drive it back down again and get the field goal to take the early three nothing lead, and you kind of we're waiting for you for something to get the crowd energized, to get the crowd into it, because certainly

they wanted to cheer this team on. Okay, they wanted to celebrate, you know, the Super Bowl banner, un bailing that World Championship banner that's now going to hang permanently from the rafters and Lincoln Financial Field. They wanted to

save her at the moment as much as possible. But of course it's time to turn a page now and the Eagles getting a huge win here to start things off, and what's going to be a very competitive and crowded NFC conference when you look at the other divisions and the teams who could be in the mix here, we're gonna be talking about different teams, I'm sure between now and the end of the regular season, but right now, when you look at the typical conference powers and some

new teams who could be added to the mix. You know, the Eagles need every as they can get because we all saw how important home field advance was for this team a year ago, just losing the one regular season game at home and then domining in the playoffs. But of course that playoff run began against the lam Falcons and again both games come down to a fourth and goal. You know, the first matchup came down to a fourth and goal throw. This one came to time about to

run out. Should have been a fourth and goal situation, but Jordan Hicks what's called for the penalty. But outside of that, very similar endings. Julio Jones doesn't catch the ball on the right side of the field. Julio Jones does catch it, but his out of bounds on the left side of the field. In the second one, and to your credit, we haven't talked much about Ronald Darby. Darby was a man covering him on the one at

the end of the game tonight. Yeah, forcing that play, and really, when you look at the replay, ron Darby making sure he pushes Julio Jones completely out of bounds. When they put that rune in that there is no force out on a catch a receiver can do, I mean a defensive back and do whatever he needs to do, push him out, get him out of bounds, And there was no way Julio was coming down with both feet

in bounds. There he makes the catch this time. Doesn't have the feed in bounds last year or earlier this year, I should say, in the playoff game, kept both feeding down in bounds but couldn't come down with the catch. And I'm sure the Atlanta Falcons have seen enough of Lincoln Financial Field in this Eagles defense. But I'll tell you what, man, we could see this team again in the postseason, because I think they are a good team, but they have some issues they certainly need to iron out.

And I think they're going to see an different Eagles team if they do happen to see us playoffs. Because we expect Carson to be back on the field, we expect the offense to be clicking on all cylinders. Eagles didn't have their full complimentary of weapons tonight, but had to do whatever they needed to do to get this victory. Great job by this team, Great job by Jim Schwartz's defense, really keeping the team in the game, coming up with

big stops constantly putting Matt Ryan under pressure. I look at these offensive skill position players of the Falcons and I get nervous when I see all these guys out there. Well, that's that's the thing with his team. Yeah, there is a level of underperforming there because all week long, when you preview the matchup, you go quarterback. Matt Ryan was the MVP a couple of years ago. Julio Jones, Are you we the best receiver in the game? And you know what he brings to the table. You look at

those two. They can be starters on any on any team in the independ Mohammed's a new quality, quality number two receiver. Do we hear Calvin Ridley's name? He dropped one past the night Now, that was pretty much it. You know, Calva Ridley was the guy who we thought,

you're going to add him to this offensive arsenal. But you know, whether it's the play calling, whether it's Matt Ryan taking a step back in this game, whether the defense is doing a great job of getting in Ryan's face to make life tough for him, it's this This offense has just not been able to generate points against this Eagles defense. Maybe it's just the way the styles matchup when they meet, when these two teams get together. But you know, the Eagles, they can't block this Eagles

defensive line. To me, that's where it's at. The Eagles d line, I think. And Matt Ryan's no different than any quarterback in this league. You hit him enough, they're gonna start getting legity back there. They're gonna to get rid of the ball before they need to, or they're gonna be erratic with some of the passes that are thrown out there. And I thought the Eagles all night long, they were in Matt Ryan's face. They made him uncomfortable,

they made him escape the pocket. He had to throw on the run a couple times in the first half. He had to tuck the ball and run himself because he was being flushed out of the pocket. So, you know, I thought the defensive line, which it was the exact same formula for success for the Eagles in the playoff game. They dominated in that victory. It was the same same recipe to night, get after him, Get after these guys up front. Fletcher Cox can't be blocked, Brandon Graham, Derek Barnette,

Chris Long. They were just coming from all sorts of waves tonight. That's again that's gonna be the key for this defense is can the defensive line rotation hold up throughout the course of the year. That was a big question after losing guys like Benny Curry and Bo Allen was saying, look, this was a key to the Eagle success last season. They're gonna need it once again. And you know, they brought in quality veteran guys, but you don't know how they're going to fit into the new scheme.

And something that fran Duffy had pointed out to me while watching the pregame warm ups, Michael Bennett's out there leading the offensive and defensive line huddles. Okay, he's leading the breakdowns for them. So you rarely hear a coach that spent one like Jim Schwartz rave about a player during the preseason in training camp, because they're kind of trying to like keep everyone at arm's length, so to speak, from praising him up too much. But he couldn't say

enough good things. He was gushing over what Michael Bennett has brought, not just from the on field performance, but from the leadership behind the scenes. And I think that was interesting because that was a big question with him coming from Seattle. Was he going to be someone who was a maucontent in the locker room. But he's a guy who's just fitted in with the program. They joke

about the bromance between he and Chris Long. It's just you just look at that defensive line group and it's Michael Bennett and Chris Long and Fletcher Cox and Hellodi Not all having the lockers right next to one another. There. It's just a wealth of experience, a wealth of talent and certainly set in the tone for that side of

the ball. And not including the other leaders that you have, guys like Captain Malcolm Jenkins there who thrived in you know, all the numerous roles that he was asked to put on here tonight. Yeah, this is different a line of Listen, Michael Bennett seem like he's fitting into this culture, uh pretty well. And from everything you hear, he's been, he's been one of the leaders. That's that's taking taking a

step here with the team. All right, let's send it over back to the link where quarterback Nick Foles, the victorious quarterback, is now set to address the media or honestly, but we were both thinking the same thing at the same time. Um, I went over there to talk to him and say, this might be a good time and he pointed to the call sheet and I was like, that's what I was coming over here for. So it Uh, yeah,

we worked again. Let's go through your mind as you guys make that play called to kind of ignite the offense. You know, in games like this, Atlanta is a tremendous team. M their defense did an amazing job tonight. Mixed sense the coverage they did really good job in their man covere tonight. Um, but like in the in the game right there where it's third down, you need it, you need a big conversion, but you also want to get some momentum going. So we knew that we could probably

get them a man coverage at that time. So, um, they don't really account for me and they dropped me, gave me a little bit of time. Nelly got on the edge and made a great throw um. But yeah, I think that was just a huge momentum boost for us during the game. When when you guys are having pos getting it were rhythm offensively, what's the key to kind of battling through it? Yeah, I mean it's never fun. Um, that's a like I said, that defense they played lights

out tonight. They did a great job, and I think the big thing is just continue to communicate on that lines. Um, just continue to keep working one play at a time. Um, this game's not easy. Win in the NFL is not easy, especially against the team Atlanta. So it's just no one freaked out. Everyone take it easy. Like we keep looking at the pictures, we keep talking about the plays. We go out there and we execute. We stay calm in the huddle, and the guys did a great job all

night of staying calm in the huddle. Just continue to work. When when we get behind the change, just continue to work. And you know, it was a dogfight all night. Our defense did a great job. When Atlanta got in the red zone, really helped us out. And you know it was it was a really great team winning. I do you feel like you're really starting to get in the rhythm when did I? Those are one of those unique games where, um, you know, it's not really a rhythm thing.

It's just you're gonna fight all game. Um. They did a great job of you know, playing us, playing you know, covering us, doing zone doing man going to high safeties. They don't do that a lot, you know, And it's just one of those things where it wasn't a rhythmic game. But I thought our guys fought hard and I thought we you know, we made some big plays when we needed to. Our defense did a great job. Special teams. But it's just it was a very unique game, but especial.

But the next team you played was you know, victimized by a quarterback catch as well. I mean not really. I mean, if you can get a team at the right time, Um, sometimes it's great to have it, you know in there. Um you also need, you know, to be able to catch it and everything. But I love having plays like that. Our team loves, I mean everyone

loves a good trick play. You know, you were catching past that, you were running patterns and the warm ups was it was it especially because this play was actually I do that every warm up, and I just it's a way for me to go out there and be a kid for a little bit warm with a body catch. I've I've done it my entire life and something that I still do. I think some coaches probably think I'm crazy doing it, but it's something I enjoy doing now.

Very similar to last year, this team just seems to find a way to get a win no matter what the circumstances are. The defensible light stand. What does it say about the character of this team to make up a very similar group to be able to do this again. I mean it's the NFL. Winning games is so tough, and I'd say the big thing with our team is we never turn on each other. You know, on the sidelines, if you know the offense is struggling, we're not. You know,

the defense isn't. They're going out there and they're gonna get the ball back for us. That's their mindset. They have our backs vice versa. At the defense you know, gives up a couple of plays, Hey, we're gonna go out there. We're gonna help you. Special teams is you know, the center of everything. So I think when you have a team like that, you know, through it out a tough game like this where there's not a lot of rhythm, I mean, that's you know, that's how you have to

win games. You lean on each other, you never turn on each other, and that's what's built here. That's the character of this team. Nelson a lot early and then throughout the game. Was that just what they were giving you defensively? Was that a point of emphasis? How did that kind of play out? Yeah? A lot of times.

You know, I mean Nelson's a great receiver as a guy I have a lot of trust in he does a great job of getting open um and a lot of times too, it's just going through my progressions, um, and just getting the ball to him, get into him, um. But yeah, I think it was more just going through my plays and you know he finds a way to get open. Well, lot to get on the gadget play Malcolm Jenkins that he hadn't he didn't know that was in the playbook. He hadn't seen it at practice, went,

when's the last time you guys practice that the Philly Philly. Yeah, I don't know. We're still calling this version. Well the first version was the Philly Special. This is actually Philly Philly. I miscalled it, I guess in the Super Bowl. So it got both so now we have a Philly Philly. Um. Yeah, we did it one time in practice and uh, he was probably watching film, you know, his offense defense. But yeah, we got one good rep. So I was Carson on

the sideline helping you. Obviously he he wanted to be out there starting, starting this game. How did he you know take that? I mean, just like he always does. You know, we we sit over there as a quarterback group, we go through the pictures, we talk about what you know, they asked me what I'm seeing. I asked them what they're seeing. And it's a group effort um. That's how it was at the end of the season. That's how it is now. And you know, we have a really

great quarterback room. It's fun to go work with them because you know, they're guys that you know, we can talk about those situations and help you help each other out the offense. Just getting just getting Darren out there is awesome. You know, he's such a tremendous player. He's an amazing teammate, one of my favorite teammates of all time. So just to have him out there, it means a lot. He's so dynamic, he can do you know, so many different things. But I think just who he is and

what he represents and his work ethic. I mean, you know, he just brings everyone together, which is really special. How does how does already trade hard as a as a passer. I mean there are different players. I mean Trey was like a tight end. Um, I was a passer. Sorry, I thought you were going in My bad. It's what time is it? One twenty? They're both they both put the ball on the money, so they're they're both two for you know, one for one on one for one.

So you know, hats off of them have to do to get better with before Do you feel like this? I think we just keep working. You know, we're gonna we're gonna watch this film, We're gonna be critical, and we're gonna keep working, you know, one day at a time. That's what we always do. I mean, we've we've played a lot of football. Football is not this playing in the NFL is not easy. Win these games isn't easy.

I think that's what we lean on. But there's a lot of stuff we have to clean up, and you know, we have the guys that are going to be critical of one another to do that. So when we get back into the facility, we'll go about it like we always do and get better. Ye different than the Philly Special, it's just almost exactly like the play the Patriots ran against You guys, what are your thoughts on that that you end up stealing the play that failed in the

last game you play. I mean it's a good play, um, I think you know, it's just one of those things where there's a lot of you know, even the Philly Special, it have been ran on different levels of football. It is just not at that certain time in a super Bowl in that situation. That's what made it so unique. And the name of the play, Um, I think that you know, this league, there's a lot of great plays,

there's a lot of great minds. So when you see something like that that's unique and it works well, you know, you try to execute it like they do. So, I mean it's a good play. A kind of this game out of the way now with the batter of Dana furl and now you have the league one win and the focus was pretty much for the most of the team on this season, and now officially the focus will big on the season. Alleys and sevento is all over pretty much. Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously it's a

great honor a night. Um. I know, this city and Philadelphia Eagle fans all around and us as players, you know, this is an exciting moment um. But yes, it's it's really great to, you know, get a win in week one, especially on this stage with everything going around. There's a lot going around the city today. It felt, honestly like it was like a playoff game sort of atmosphere. You know, our crowd was so loud. There's a lot going on. I mean, trying to get to the game was hard. Shoot.

I had to try to get here really early because I was in traffic. M But you know, it is nice to move on and you know, improve and now get the season going. I know you guys didn't watch the ceremony. I mean, you guys in the locker room during the ceremonies, did you at all catch yourself looking up at that banner at all? During the game? I saw when I ran out there and I starting, I glanced up once. But you know, I was so focused on just playing this game. Playing against the Falcons. I know,

I've watched them on film. I played against them last year. I knew it was going to take every ounce of energy I had to, you know, just focus in and not pay attention to everything else going on. But yeah, I mean, it's great. It's a great honor having that banner up there. It'll be there forever, um, and I know that all the fans and everyone are super proud

of it. You stay locked in, you know, not knowing just how much longer you may or may not start with Wentz a situation, how important for you not to kind of let your mind wander and just stay locked in as if you're going to start no matter what the circumstances. Yeah, I mean I think that's where, you know, I just take it one day at a time. And I've said it all along. You try to prepare as a starter, but there is you know, it's a unique situation.

But um, that's the where I just you know, stay in the moment um, the everything I have to my teammates, Um, prepare like I always do, and then we'll see what happens. To take one more from Zach and your time here, both stints, the games haven't always been pretty, but you tend to win much more than to lose. Why is that? Is there something to that? It's just people I work with. I've always said, you know this, you know this team,

the people that work at you know the Novercare facility. Um, you know the character of everyone there, doesn't matter who you are not just the football players. You know, it's a special place to work. It's a camaraderie. Um, it's a family, and you know, it's not just about excess and o's in this game. We always try to make it excess and nose, but it's not. It's it's not turning on one another. It's going to work every day and enjoying where you work and stay longer because you

just enjoy being there. So I've been fortunate, you know, in my stints in Philly to you know, work in a great environment at a great facility with great people, and I really, you know, pay tribute to them for us being able to pull out these tough wins. Okay, thank you for all Right, there's quarterback Nick Foles leaving the podium, and you know, Nick was asked during a week about his pension for having such a high baring

to this performances. Either you get Hall of Fame worthy Nick Foles like in the Super Bowl, or you get you know, just some so so performances really easy in between, and tonight it was probably on the lesser end of the scale with only a fifty point four quarterback rating. But guess what, at the end of the day he got the win. Yeah, and he did a nice job of taking care of football for the most part. Yeah.

Probably had one or one or two other throws that that could have ended up wrong for him should have been. And eventually the safety made the play on Dallas Goddard. That wasn't necessarily Nick Foles's fault or Dallas Goddard's fault. That's just a great play by the safety putting his helmet on the ball and popping it out of there. But I thought, Nick, listen, this is what he does. We've seen him throughout his career. We've seen him at as highest we've seen him when he struggled. I thought

tonight he didn't force anything. He didn't force anything, didn't have any critical turnovers in the red zone. You know. The thing that had me a a little concern were the two interceptions he threw in the Cleveland game because they were just bad decisions day. They were unlike Nick Foles to make those types of decisions at those moments in the game. Didn't have any of those tonight. That's

certainly what you want to clean up. And while Nick, he talked about it the other day, how he may need a couple of weeks or so to get his rhythm. Like former basketball player, he needs a couple of games before he can really have a real good rhythm and feel confident in what he's doing. Well tonight, he stayed

within himself. I thought Doug did a great job calling to really really not asking Nick to do a whole lot some safe throws out there, took some chances when they needed to, And listen, when your defense is playing as well as they are, you don't need to take chances. You don't need to take chances, and give the ball back to the Atlanta Falcons and keep putting your deepens in tough positions. Defense found themselves in some difficult positions at times to night, but I thought they came up

pretty big each time. Yes, it did. So we've heard from coach Pearson and quarterback Nick Foles. What we're gonna do now is take a break here on the postgame show. Pres anybody rico believing our first break of the entire night here so on the other side and I are going to discuss the Toyota Player of the Week nominees. Now, if you're following us on Facebook or Twitter, you need to come on over to Philadelphia Eagles dot com or the app to watch the rest of the show. We'll

see you after these messages. Well, I'm trying to get home another Yeah, I'm trying to stop. Sometimes I realize and the home when you and your money are treated with respect, your prosper and at fontand Bank, respect adds up. Come and see what's happening. It's your local Acme butter sale prices, superior service and great quality products, cleaner friendlier, fresher like, fresher meat and seafood and fresher produce and hundreds of organics and our butchers cut our USDA choice

Lancaster beef in store every day. So stop in shop and see for yourself what acmee is just better. Hackney, the official supermarket of the Philadelphia Eagles. Hi, you look what we got. Going big isn't always best, streetheart, Betty got your news. Where are you Unless it's a triple A plus membership get one hundred twenty miles and free emergency guest delivery. When going big is best, triple A go ahead At Santon Deir Bank. We want you to prosper.

That's why we treat you and your money with respect. Learn more about how respect adds up at Santondair by visiting Santondirbank dot com. Now is your chance to vote for the Toyota Player of the Week. Go to Philadelphia Eagles dot com slash Toyota Player of the Week to cast your vote and get a chance at a brand new Toyota. So I goes get into the nominees first and foremost, Nelson Agilore, who did it all for the Eels offense tonight through the Philly Philly pass to Nick Foles.

Had a nice jet sweep for a game sixteen yards and was the focal point of the passing game for eight catches, even though it's only for thirty three yards. Yeah, and I don't recall any drops tonight from Nelson, Yes, you know, I do recall a lot of tough catches and traffic over the middle. Had to take some big hits, and like you said, being the focal point of the offense without I mean, as far as the passing game goes without a lot of help around him. I thought

he did a nice job to night. Really was a special weapon for them on the offensive side of the ball. That Jess wasn't his pass catching. He talked about the runs that he had, the throw to Nick Foles for the Philly Philly play where Nick catches them off guard. That was really a big momentum change there. So you know, Nelson really showing his worth and his versatility as a wide receiver. Beautiful touch on that pass, by the way,

very underrated to get over Beasley. In his last two games going back to the Super Bowl, Aglare has seventeen receptions ye for this football team. And I think two years ago would you ever have said, day, No, he doesn't even drop passes. I mean he just doesn't. He makes a lot of the tough catches and traffic. All right. So our second nominee defensive tackle Fletcher Cox. Okay, look, the stats aren't overly flashy. He had a sack tonight,

but should have had two, should have had two. But time after time again, Fletcher was bulldozing whether it was a guard, whether it's a center, and was just making life miserable in the pocket for Matt Ryan. He was chasing players all over the field. He was huge here in the in the gold line. Stop that's a touchdown. Stop. I mean he stopped that, that's a touchdown. From Freeman if Fletcher isn't there, So Fletcher Cox is dominant self again.

You know, he said that he wants to be recognized as the best defensive player in the game, and certainly he was a lot for this Falcon's offensive line to handle on Thursday nights and to be recognized as that guy. You have to show up on big games opening night national TV. You also have to show up in the fourth quarter when the team needs you, and Fletcher was able to do that. He makes everyone else's job around him so much easier because he commands so much attention.

I say he's gonna have sixteen sacks one per game. He got one, yeah, pace the sixteen all right, our third and final nominee running back two touchdowns on the evening, you know, handling the load for the Eagles offense from the running game standpoint, showcasing that he can be the featured back in this offense, taking those touches that Lagart Blunt would have had a year ago, especially down the stretch where you're wondering who's gonna work the ball in

the short yards and red zone situations. And Jay a Giant got the job done tonight for the Eagles and really running with a purpose tonight, running with great vision, getting behind his pads, getting downhill, being a physical runner. You see right there, that was a huge touchdown right there for Jedgi, the first one of the game. And that's that's what you need. Not having a guy like

la Garrett Blunt in the arsenal anymore. You're gonna need somebody that can run in between those tackles and even break tackles at times. And I thought Jedgi didn't get a ton of carries in the first half, but they needed him in the second half. They wrote him in the second half, and he came through for him. He did. This is someone who missed a lot of time in the preseason because of a foot injury. Yeah, okay, So again you talk about the players who have been in

and out of the lineup. You looked at the running back position. We haven't seen the top three guys out there at all together because Darren Sprowles, you know, did not play at all in the preseason. Corey Clement was sidelined for a bit during the preseason. So having all three of those guys being silent at one point or another, it was great to see that three of them worked together so well in concert on the game winning drive, so you could see what the back rotation could be

here in twenty eighteen. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna take our last break here on the postgame show presented by Rico. We've got a little more to wrap things up here before we send you off into the night. As it's the early morning hours. Nick Foles looking as clock saying it's already one twenty. So of course we figure most people at this point are probably just gonna be staying up celebrating a long and if you're not, you do have to go to work tomorrow.

You know, we're not just take off of this already. Yeah, you should. You should. You should know better by now at this point with these night games. So we'll be back after these few messages. Septic Key is now arriving on regional rail. Learn more at i septically dot com, slash key Let's play den to compare mine Bibo petic Sky. Queen Mattress said it only seven ninety nine versus the temper peter A Cloud Prima at a whopping nineteen ninety nine.

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proud partner of the Philadelphia Eagles. So we have a conundrum here now that we have Philly, Philly in the vernacular from a play calling standpoint. After the trick play are people are gonna be confused when they see that statue in Headhouse Plods at Lincoln Founcial Field that says you want Philly Philly. It's not gonna be referring to the right play. Yeah, and we all know now there was a snaffoo by Nick. He meant the called Philly

sta actually just said Phillip Philly. Doug. I believe that was probably the Paul's Doug had because Doug's like, Philly what we're talking about? Oh, he means Philly state that he was able to think of his feet that quickly though, to realize that actually and then go right along with it. So so what do they do if he didn't know what it just went? Well? I think he knew what Nick meant, yes, but it took him a second for the register, right, because he's saying Philly Philly and that's

not the actual play call. And it's funny when you hear the miked up version of them in the huddle. Nick goes back to the huddle and says Philly special. He doesn't call it Philly Phillips. You know, Uh, it's good to have another play in. Here's the thing, I would say, let's as long as they practiced the play that they're gonna that's in the game plan that they're gonna run that week, will be okay. Because you don't want guys thinking Philly Special is really Philly Philly and

vice versa. That that's what you don't want to happen. So that's why you just gotta kind of take it. You've enjoyed it at this point and go on from there. So so, speaking of the Philly Philly now, Greg Hosell, NFL film seer, producer and fran Duffy broke it down in our Rica review. Take it away, gentlemen, as we get to highlights Philly Philly. So we've got that six three ball game. Now it's third quarter, the Eagles facing third down and the offense has struggled a little bit

little bit at this point. Now, Greg, but you figure you look back, we had the celebration in the Super Bowl fifty two here before the game tonight, and you know you'd think of Philly Special. How many times we heard Philly Philly all offseason. There's no way we'll ever see a play like that ever again. No, no, we're not not until third down in the middle of the

first game or the next season. There you go and we see something exactly like and you see it for obvious reasons here, because the offense was really struggling, particularly in the past game. Nick Foles was completing some passes but for very minimal yardage. So here's a critical third down. Not that the game was getting away from the Eagles, but you had the feeling that their offense was really not doing a whole lot because it wasn't. So you get to a third down, crossed midfield, what do you

get another version of Philly Special? Exactly right, You've got You've got Corey Cleamer in the backfield. You got Nick Foles in the backfield. Two thirds of the Philly Special, right, Yo is right there. Trey Burton obviously in Chicago. So they go down to Nelson Agloor at the bottom of the screen. Nelson's going to take the reverse here from Corey Clamber. As we let this run, you'll see this play out. Dallas Goddard's running down the seam. So we've

gotta running down the seam. That side of the field is wide open. Nick Foles finished just the catch once again. This is the longest pass play for the years at that point. And you know, with Holland and Jeffrey not playing, I mean, who knows, maybe falls becomes a receiver, maybe he's playing the wrong position. Just an outstanding way for Doug Peterson kind of get the crowd back into it, and the offense seemed to be getting a little bit more. A little bit of juice. A little bit of juice,

no question. So we get to see another version of the Philly Special here in the Eagles victory. Great stuff there from Greg and Frying. A bigger surprise for you tonight, like the fact that they call Philly Philly, or that the fans were booing at the end of the first half as Let's left the field. Obviously, the fans booing, you know, and I understand, as fans were passionate, and I know what's in our DNA, and I know they

loved this team as well. But I just don't think giving a national audience something to sort of hang on this fan base that we're trying to detach ourselves from being a good fan base, you don't need that. Tonight. Tonight was banner night. Tonight was an opportunity to see this team in its full compliment of players on the field to really celebrate what was a great season last year.

And you know, as much as I tried to preach all week long that we have to expect somewhat of a slow start and a choppy start because this offense, especially from the offensive side, they haven't had a chance to be out there on the field together very often this summer. To me, it was expected as far as getting off to a slow start. But here's the thing. I will give the fans credit for ay. It wasn't some long drawn out boom that it was just like, you know, like they just hated the team or what

have you. I think when the offense is struggling and the team and the fans wanted so bad, they can't help but allow their emotions to come out at that time. But it didn't stop them from getting behind their team and supporting their team once the place started, So to me, at least showed that they're not going to just sit back and say, you know what, they won the Super Bowl. Whatever happens this year happens, Oh yeah, we all want it again. Yeah, that's the thing. Everyone everyone always said.

I For many years, people would say, if the Eagles can just win one, I'll be satisfied. You know, that's never the case. Especially get that first taste, you always want a little more. So we're gonna roll into the schedule. And this is exactly why it was so important for the Eagles to wins night because they get the mini by here and you go to Tampa Bay to take on the Buccaneers without Jamis Winston. Okay. Then week three you get Frank roych and Andrew Luck coming to town.

And Andrew Luck's going to be the big question mark, what is he gonna be after not playing football at all in two and seventeen. And then you have that weird game in Nashville against the Tennessee Titans team that came back to beat the Chiefs in the playoffs last season. So you have that first core of the season there. But then you get the rematch with the Vikings Division matchup with the Giants Panthers, another tough foe, and you're

going to London that first half of the schedule. That's why, to me, it was so important that the Eagles got this win under their belt so that they can start stockpolling wins just because of how difficult the road is going to be head for this team. Yeah, don't matter how they look pretty ugly, it don't matter. You don't give w's back once you've acquired them, and they acquired a W tonight, and that's all that matters. When I when I look at that schedule, even going on the

road to Tampa, they got ten days. They need to get this offense together. You know, Tampa's the defense is a lot like Atlanta. They're they're small, they're fast. They certainly have guys up front, guys like Gerald McCoy, Vinny Curry, who's there. Now? You look at their secondary, they got some pretty good guys down there. Brent Grimes is another guy. They'll match up on your best receiver. We're gonna need

to start clicking on the offense. You put a lot of stress on your defense when you only score field goals, right, and it takes as long as it did tonight for us to get in the end zone. You can't live by that. Even against a team like Tampa that's gonna be without their quarterback Jameis Winston. They're gonna be at home. Who knows what the temperature is gonna be down there. That certainly plays a factor. And again the Eagles, you're gonna get everyone's best shot. I don't care who you face.

When you're the defending Super Bowl champions, you're the team that circled on every opponent's schedule, and so you're going into Tampa, they're looking at that light. This will be a great win for our organization if we can get it. So we need to get the offense clicking. And Doug will be the first to tell you it puts a lot of stress on your defense when you're not putting

points on the board. They got away with it the night because they were playing at home and a deep end stood up, But going on the road playing that way, it's difficult because you gotta remember the other teams. Crowd is in the game, even though Tampa. Even though Tampa, when you're the super Bowl champions, you're gonna get a sellout crowd. You're gonna sell a crowd. But I feel like the Tampa is sort of like Philly South to an extent. Okay, we'll see when when you don't put

points on the board, well then yeah that's the problem. Yeah, that's the problem. Well, hopefully that the extra four days of rest and work for the coaches and will be able to scheme that part of it app So that's gonna do it for us here on the postgame Show presented by Rico. Thank you very much for staying with us into the night here as the Eagles are able to defeat the Atlanta Falcons by a score of eighteen to twelve. He's Iris, I'm Chris McPherson again, thanks for

joining us. Well of complete coverage all throughout the night here on Philadelphias dot com and into the morning hours. Coach Pearson addresses the media at noon. You'll be able to listen to that and watch that right here on our website and our app and of course you get to hear this guy marks the Reese in the afternoons on Sports Radio ninety four or w i P. So

we're all again loopy here. It's late at the night, so we're gonna say farewell everyone, enjoy this banner night as the Eagles start the season one to zero.