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00:00Live from Radio Row, right here in New Orleans, the big game Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs
00:04and the Philadelphia Eagles.
00:05Down on your right side, Kevin Walsh and John McMullen embedded with the Philadelphia Eagles
00:09with Jacob Sports.
00:10Love to have you on the show today.
00:12I appreciate it, guys.
00:14Great week.
00:15We were just talking about it off the air, what a run this has been for the Philadelphia
00:19Eagles.
00:20If they get it done this time, really special if you think about Nick Sirianni, Jalen Hurts,
00:26but boy, you've got to slay the beast.
00:29Trying to get three consecutive Lombardi trophies.
00:33Kansas City Chiefs are an amazing team, too, so I don't think you could have had a better
00:37matchup for Super Bowl LII.
00:40It should be great, and also, because I know you've been around the block with them, but
00:44if we do start from last offseason, the changes made from the defensive coordinator to the
00:49offensive coordinator to the early season where Nick Sirianni seemed like he was under
00:53fire, talk to me about covering the Eagles from that time at the end of last year, just
00:57before the start, where you get Vic Fangio in town, you get Kellen Moore, how was that
01:01for you?
01:02Well, I think it's interesting because if you go back to the offseason, it was about
01:07evolving the passing offense, it was about we need to get more creative, we need to have
01:13more motion in the offense, and that's why Kellen Moore was brought in, and you go back
01:17to week five, they had the early bye week, and it wasn't working, to be honest.
01:25It wasn't bad.
01:26I think they pulled the panic button a little bit too soon, pushed it, because if you think
01:32about those first four games, A.J. Brown did not play in three of them, you think about
01:38the blowout in Tampa Bay, they didn't have A.J. Brown, they didn't have Devontae Smith,
01:42they didn't have Lane Johnson, you almost expect to lose that game when you should,
01:46so I think it was a little bit unfair to Jalen Hurts, but it's hard to argue, since that
01:53time where they've become pretty risk-averse on offense, they don't turn the football over,
02:00they've won 15 of 16 games, you really can't complain about it, and your point about Vic
02:06Bangio, a lot of people would have said this was the worst defense in the NFL at the end
02:11of the 2023 season, and he turned them around in one year to be the number one ranked defense.
02:18That to me is a story that's under-told, because everybody's so hyper-focused on offense.
02:23Do you feel, John, when we look at this Eagles group and we try and figure out where credit
02:29is supposed to go, at times, you know, Saquon's such a star, right, and we know that, and
02:37he gets a lot of limelight on him, and he absolutely deserves it, but still there are
02:41people who are hesitant to give Nick Sirianni the level of credit where the resume, the
02:47active winning percentage, the two trips already to the Super Bowl, never under .500, never
02:52missed the playoffs, and again, people still seem where, if he doesn't win this game, it
02:57feels like he's going to then get knocked down another peg somehow.
03:00You look at the AP voting, which I was a part of, Nick Sirianni, I quickly looked at the
03:07voting, but I think he got one vote or two votes, very little, and because the expectations
03:14are so high in Philadelphia, so if you think about voting for coach of the year and things
03:19like that, it's always about the guy who over-exceeds expectations more than the Bill Belichick's,
03:25the Andy Reid's, the Nick Sirianni's of the world, who are supposed to be good, so to
03:30your point, yeah, I think most people, because of the splash, the sizzle, go to Saquon Barkley,
03:35one of the most historic rushing seasons, he's going to break Terrell Davis' record
03:39probably in the first quarter on Sunday for all time, so it's one of the greatest running
03:44seasons of all time, but if you talk to Howie Roseman, and you talk to the people in this
03:50organization, it really starts with the offensive line.
03:53This is one of the great offensive lines, I was texting with an ex-GM a couple weeks
03:58ago, and he was the first one to say it to me, he said, this is one of the best offensive
04:03lines of all time, and I started to think about it, and I go, it might be, it might
04:08be, and that's amazing, considering they lost a future Hall of Fame center, and a six-time
04:14All-Pro in Jason Kelsey to retirement, and they got better.
04:20It's incredible, I mean, Don, we've talked about it, that's why I've said, not that I'm
04:24trying to take away from Saquon, but as a whole, I think this group is an argument for
04:28the best rush offense ever, because of the offensive line, Saquon, and the quarterback's
04:32mobility as well, John.
04:34And it's ironic, because they finished number two in the NFL for the Ravens, because of
04:38Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, they have a good offensive line, not quite as good as
04:44the Eagles, but yeah, it's one of, but if you guys brought up the Sirianni era, they've
04:50always been able to run the football.
04:52Miles Sanders was a Pro Bowl running back when he was here, DeAndre Swift was a Pro
04:58Bowl running back when he was here, but you guys see the, some of the big runs, you'll
05:04see the 60-yard run on the first offensive play against Washington, he didn't get touched
05:10to lose 20 yards down the field, and what Saquon can do that normal backs like Miles
05:17and DeAndre are very good backs, they're probably gonna get 20, 25 yards out of that.
05:22Saquon breaks tackles and he goes, he's a home run hitter.
05:26So to me, it's like Ryan Howard back in the day, Philadelphia sports fan, he might strike
05:33out three times and then hit the three-run home run, that's Saquon Barkley.
05:37Always a threat to take it to the house, you might stop him one yards, two yards, three
05:42yards, and then bang, 60.
05:44Yeah, absolutely.
05:45If we take a look, John, at this week too, because it's nice to see that we're getting
05:48sort of a rematch from two years ago.
05:50What do you think has to change from last Super Bowl to this Super Bowl?
05:53Is it simply we have better coordinators, they'll be better prepared?
05:56And what do you have to watch out for Andy Reid with two weeks to get ready for a game?
06:00Andy's the king of the bye week.
06:02Ironically, Nick Sirianni's very good coming out of the bye.
06:05He's lost one game, and that was Super Bowl 57 with the bye weeks.
06:10Nick Sirianni, and Andy's great, we all know that.
06:14As far as what, you know, the Eagles had a lot of uncharacteristic, undisciplined play
06:20on defense.
06:21I think people forget there's a lot of revisionist history about the defense and how they fell
06:28apart in Super Bowl, but it was a really good defense for most of the year.
06:31James Bradbury was a second-team All-Pro cornerback, Avante Maddox at the time was one of the better
06:38slot cornerbacks in the NFL.
06:40Really good defense.
06:41And they just blew coverages in the fourth quarter, which was uncharacteristic.
06:45So if they play more disciplined, which I think they will, and that's the strength of
06:50the big banjo, the teaching.
06:53I think that'll make it more difficult for Kansas City, which is, you know, that corndog
06:58motion, I guarantee that's where Andy sort of beat them in Super Bowl 57.
07:03He did.
07:04A couple wide-open plays.
07:05That will show up again.
07:06I think the Eagles will handle it better.
07:09Also just, John, because I don't mind, we'll see how it all goes, but there's certain legacy
07:15moments that I think are on the line.
07:16Whenever you're playing a Super Bowl, Howie Roseman, I still can't believe what happened
07:22in April.
07:23I mean, Don and I were talking, you think it's going to be Quinion, you think it's
07:26going to be Cooper?
07:27Oh, they got both.
07:28You know, we were hoping that one of them would still be on the board at the time.
07:32And obviously, again, Saquon replacing Kelsey, the trade for A.J. Brown that started this,
07:38the willingness to draft Jalen Hurts.
07:40And that did send some dominoes down the line, but Hurts is now in two Super Bowls there,
07:46and the job that Howie has done with this group.
07:48Well, Howie's great.
07:50I mean, let's be honest.
07:52This is a Hall of Fame general manager.
07:55His ability to manipulate the salary gap, his ability to bring in players, his ability
08:00to take chances, to not be risk-averse.
08:03I talked about how they're risk-averse on offense.
08:06Building roster, he's the exact opposite.
08:08He's willing to take chances.
08:09You know, a lot of that, to be honest, guys, goes to Jeffrey Lurie, because if you think
08:14about most GMs in this league, they don't have an opportunity to do what Howie Roseman
08:19does, because they're GMing for their jobs at all times, for lack of a better word.
08:25So, you know, can you pay a running back what Howie Roseman did?
08:28A lot of GMs can't.
08:32But you have to give him credit as well, because he's done a tremendous job.
08:36If you go back to the Jalen Rager, that was a turning point for Howie Roseman, because
08:44he didn't really want to take him.
08:45He wanted to take Justin Jefferson, and he was listening more to his coaching staff who
08:50wanted a player more in the mold of, as funny as this sounds, they were thinking about Tyree
08:55Kill.
08:56Somebody who could stretch the field vertically and horizontally.
09:00They wanted a specific type of player.
09:03They thought Jalen Rager, not that he could beat Tyree Kill, but he could do some of those
09:07same things, and they made a giant mistake.
09:10And Howie, at that point, said, you know what?
09:12I'm getting blamed for it.
09:13I might as well take who I want.
09:16And since that day, you look at their drafts in 22, 23, 24, especially at the top, done
09:24a really good job.
09:25And they rebuilt this defense.
09:27Howie talked to us a little bit, a small group of reporters before he came down to New Orleans,
09:34and he mentioned everybody thinks this was a one-year turnaround on defense.
09:38It was three years.
09:39It started with Jordan Davidson and Kobe Dean in the drafting, and then you add somebody
09:44like Zach Vaughn.
09:45So it's all clicked.
09:46It absolutely has.
09:47Now, we've got the big game, John.
09:49Since we have you here, how does this game play out Sunday?
09:52I'm going back and forth.
09:55Normally, I'm locked in by this point.
09:57This really is, the Eagles have the better team from one through 53, the more talented
10:02team.
10:03But you're talking about the greatest coach, greatest quarterback duo in this, certainly,
10:07generation of football.
10:09Sure.
10:10And they beat them the first time.
10:12They find a way to win.
10:13You look at Kansas City, they're 17-1, guys, and I say that, they're 17-2, but they didn't
10:20play anybody in Week 18.
10:22So they're 17-1.
10:24It's hard to bet against Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, but I'm betting against them.
10:29I think the Eagles are the better football team.
10:31I think they're better prepared, especially defensively.
10:34I don't think you're going to see those mental mistakes.
10:37I think they're going to find a way to stop the dynasty, stop the three consecutive Lombardi
10:42trophies.
10:43I'm going to bet 28-23 type of game.
10:46There we go.
10:4728-23.
10:48You heard it from John right here.
10:50Embedded with the Philadelphia Eagles with Jacob Sports Media here, live from Media Row.
10:54John, thanks so much for joining us today.
10:56We really appreciate the time.