Eagles-Packers Recap

Intro heed the call with Dan hanas and Mark cesler is on Underdog so why not start playing on Underdog today download and play on the underdog app sign up with the code HTC that's us and receive up to $1,000 in bonus cash for our us audience only right now Underdog is offering a total of nine NFL discounts and each user will find a random three available in their Lobby so head over to the underdog app find your discounts and start playing today [Music] Friday Night Football it's a thing now in the NFL the first ever game in the southern hemisphere for the NFL a close one the Philadelphia Eagles Take out the Green Bay Packers 34- 29 a game that will be remembered for two things I think primarily saquan Barkley's Eagles debut going off like Gang Busters three touchdowns and over 100 yards of total offense and yes Packers quarterback Jordan love injured in the final seconds Jordan Love's injury of the game it did not look good he finishes the game on the sideline in a lot of pain and now we wait to find out what happens next Dan hanas here with Mark cesler he the call Friday night let's get crazy Mark uh is as we tape this the Packer season hangs in the balance it's as simple as that yeah because if you're having to turn to Malik Willis you've got big problems um very big problems and you know it is a game where you're wondering about how they got into that situation at the end there were they're down by five and you've got seconds to try to pull off something and Jordan Love Goes Down with the injury you'd look back and you say they missed a they missed a field goal in that game there was a critical two-point conversion they didn't convert that would have had the game tied you know this game to me felt for so much of it like it was being played in a different Hemisphere and it it felt like both teams were sloppy trying to figure it out trying to get out of their own way because whether it was Jaylen hortz or Jordan love there were 31 incompletions in this game it was not the crystal clean version of love in the Packers offense we saw at the end of last year when they put 48 on the Cowboys and it really wasn't the version of the Eagles that we've seen in the past and it it raised as many questions for me about both teams on various levels as it did answers and yet the final moments of it to watch Jordan love taken down which you know it looked we'll find out it looked like an ankle uh maybe high ankle spray a lot of doctors were sort of suggesting that was possibly it it's just it's just it shakes everything you think about that division that team if you lose him for any significant amount of time and you know at the lefl at the end of it we can listen to it he didn't know what happened yet and it's got to be like now you got to fly home from Brazil with this hanging over it and I don't think they wanted to go to Brazil to begin with and this is the last thing you wanted to happen all right let's listen to Matt laflor who spoke to the media minutes after the game ended it was definitely a sloppy game I think from us I think there was you know some uncharacteristic things that that we did um as a staff quite frankly and that trickled down to our players and so ultimately we all got to look ourselves hard in the mirror and and find ways to get better cuz tonight obviously wasn't good [Music] enough I don't know I don't know those two I don't knows were questions about Jordan love and and yeah I mean listen this the NFL is going to NFL and that includes trying to push this brand and make it truly Global uh and try to dominate The Sports World the way it dominates America but tell that to the Packers who you know went on this uh long journey to another Hemisphere and now have a 10 or 11 hour flight with their quarterback uh in potentially bad shape with his left leg I saw a lot of stuff on Twitter uh all those Twitter ridiculous Twitter doctors out there could be an MCL it could be you know even a leg bone uh could be the high ankle uh so it could be any number of things but obviously the to to be in the situation where now you have to fly across the world to even begin the process of better understanding what's going on with love and and I said it on the preview episode uh that the Packers were way too vulnerable behind Jordan love and and as a Jets fan who watched uh my team turn to Zach Wilson who was obviously a bust even before last year and he was their first line of defense after Aaron Rogers went down that's how I feel right now like Malik Willis and you can't get on Malik Willis for the the game the ending the way it did because who can step in in that moment with two plays he doesn't even get the hail Mar off but this guy and Gravedigger I mean not to do I don't even think we need to do a deep dive on Malik Willis because I think if this turns out to be a serious injury for love Malik wils is not going to be their guy they just signed him which is part of the reason I'm so surprised and why I brought it up on Thursday that they would go into a season with this guy that has been a terrible player whenever he's he's been on the field in the NFL and he's not even he doesn't even have a grasp of the playbook in some ways it's even worse than the Zach Wilson situation last year so that that is those are the stakes right now for the Packers um and and the stakes are high and like I said the season is on the line and and even before Mark uh love went out of the game it was not a very good Jordan Love Game you you kind of expected him to pick up right where he left off he obviously signed that four-year $220 million contract extension this summer the defense for the Packers obviously didn't play well in this game and I didn't think the offense was very sharp either overall no I mean I thought you know coming out at halftime one thing that that struck me about Green Bay because they're so young that Emanuel Wilson a second year player Jaden Reed who was the big play machine early on and really the bright spot in the in in the first two quarters and Romeo dobs a third-year player these guys accounted for 178 of 204 yards that they put up and it's like you kind of thought like if they can put it together this is this is what the Packers are this young team on offense that has so many different weapons but love was uh he had 17 incompletions he he had a number of turnover worthy plays and you know same with same with it's it's absolutely true of Jaylen Herz as well everyone looked a little rusty and I thought you know one of the biggest stories of the game was the field because before squin Barkley got going the first play of the night for him on the ground is he slips on a 5 yard loss you know there's an interception by Jaylen Herz later um Christian Watson Watson had issues with the field davien witz Emanuel Wilson all of them at one point like a a ref went down and they they had to like take it take a sock off and look at his leg and even on that final play for Malik Willis the field was part of it and I think the field was part of it to some degree when you're Jordan love getting taken down it's like there was a lack of confidence for these players and it certainly played a both defenses struggled and missed tackles and I think the field which they were complaining about beforehand was a major issue and like you can't play an NFL game in this in these kinds of conditions it absolutely directed it it absolutely impacted the result tonight yeah I don't know if if the turf played a factor in in love getting rolled up there could have uh but there were numerous plays around love uh slipping in the game and he was dealing with tightness in his caves throughout the game you don't know if that's connected and again the NFL the NFL's going to NFL and it's going to want to get bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger um but this is not the first time we've been you know watching these International games and there's been issues with the turf and it's not it's a if if we care about safety we got to make sure this Turf is right and if you're the Eagles is like yeah Not only was the turf bad here uh the last time you know we played a Super Bowl in the turf was was bad it's like we got to get Eagles off bad Turf the Eagles here let's talk about the Eagles a little bit because Jaylen Herz was kind of mystifying in this game uh he had some big time plays some big time throws uh he was attacking downfield in a way that they didn't attack downfield enough last year in fact this is a good stat from uh Michael F Florio that last year Herz was at 6.8 air yards per attempt which was down from 2022 where he was 88.4 air yards per attempt tonight he was back to eight uh they were attacking downfield but that also led to some of the mistakes he had some terrible uh judge you know judgment uh failures in this game one uh a late and over the-middle throw for an interception he had a another uh near pick six uh that immediately was followed by uh another interception when they could have taken the points and been up eight in the fourth quarter but I'll say this about Herz and the Eagles and in general they were up and down at times on offense but they took over the uh they took over possession with 756 to play in the fourth quarter after the Packers kick a field goal to get it within two and by the time the Packers get the ball back it's pretty much over and there were some big plays in that uh final drive possession for Philly none bigger than the second and eight with 210 to play hurts to Devonte Smith who is such an underrated player on this team he he is always there for them such a steady contributor uh when they could have run it there mark and and kicked the field goal and then been holding on for dear life in the final possession of the game instead by attacking there even though they didn't get the touchdown at the end there uh I like that they threw the ball there and kept the faith in Herz despite some of his up and down aspects of his play in this game yeah that was the drive I waited to see from the Eagles tonight you eat up almost 8 minutes and that was the drive that also Unleashed jayen Herz on the ground he was just not a factor on the ground early on and it it seems to me with Kell Moore and maybe this changes there not a lot of design runs like we've seen in the past uh that was not a factor and for me also you know that drive also you've got the the attempt to tush push at the end that did not go well two of three times tonight and I think the cam Jurgens at Center that CA there was a misconnection between Herz and cam Jurgens early on that caus that fumble and it's like right away in a post Jason Kelce world you see that this line is different the way that they can attack is different and it's going to take some time but I you could look at Kell Moore and say for Sequon Barkley Kell Moore is going to make the most of him he's never been in a situation like this in an offense like this so there were a lot of positives and there were some big plays but there were moments where Jaylen Herz just looked to me to be making the wrong decision and and and and like degress from where he had been in previous times in his career and it is a new offense and it's going to take time but that drive that was a positive just to finally basically squeeze the life out of your opponent but there were too many hot and cold moments for both sides of the ball for Philadelphia Dan now it's week one right so I I'm with you and the Eagles defense obviously cratered uh down the stretch uh last season and that was the biggest reason why um their season crumbled the way it did not the only reason but I think the biggest reason they give up over 400 yards of offense in this game in a game where as we talked about you know Jordan love was not playing at a high level by his standards so yeah the Eagles defense still has a lot to prove uh Vic fio is in the building but we'll see if he's going to be able to do what he needs to do to get this defense back up to a at least a middle of the road level I want to point out somebody on that defense that deserves a lot of credit and we talk what we talking about the fan confidence rating um and it was the Saints fans who are the least confident of any fan base in America according to the athletic Zack B is a linebacker who uh kind of languished there in New Orleans for four years and the Eagles pick him up quietly they find a different type of role for him and in this game Bon ends it with a sack of Malik Willis uh to clinch the game he finished with 15 tackles two sacks two QB hits so more reasons for Sates fans to be salty and if if Saints fans are salty think how New York Giants fans are feeling uh when they wake up in the morning this was a quote from John Mara um who is obviously the uh owner of the Giants on Hard Knocks this summer mark I'll have a tough time sleeping if saquin goes to Philadelphia I'll tell you that he has gone to Philadelphia mark and saquin Barkley looked as fast and Elusive and uh dangerous and he looked like an Endzone fiend and it it reminds me why maybe we should have been talking about this move more it's always easier in hindsight but uh when you take someone Bill Barnwell pointed this out on Twitter tonight he was on the uh offense played behind the offensive line with the worst expected rushing yards um average in the league and he moved to an offensive line even with Jason Kelsey gone that has the best expected rushing yards line uh rushing yards rate in the league and you saw what you if you combine those two things this guy could win the rushing title with this team and absolutely be a huge difference maker and we saw tonight he was dominant for stretches I thought it was really promising to see how they used him and how he looked physically uh the 18 yard touchdown catch he made in the end zone was beautiful uh then there was for me the run of the night was after brayen arvon missed that field goal which was just critical and Philadelphia is up 3126 uh that was that was rough for the Packers and then sequin rips up the gut with that 34 yard blast and it's like we're looking at the sequin of of two years ago and and you know deeper on into his youth when he just looked so explosive and I think what you're going to get more is like it used to be I always thought saam was a bit of a boom and bus guy were like a bunch of kind of like two yard runs and then he'd blast you for 60 and it's like his box score would always be a little bit of a mistifying element to me um I think they're going to use him in so different ways they W they had him split out wide tonight um he had that touchdown catch it's like I just think that that's why you can look at both teams and what they if if you're if Jordan L is if love is healthy but the it's like cool you got out of here with a win I didn't need it to be perfect tonight but there are some things to point to and say there's I think both they have a lot to prove to themselves in their next outing and it starts with the offensive line it has to do with Jordan L with uh Jaylen herz's decision- making but there were moments that make me feel like some of the issues that they had down the stretch last year where you lost complete confidence in this team um they addressed some of that like I thought AJ Brown also just looked he looked like himself as well so there's there's a good to take from it but saquon's at the heart of it yeah gra Digger yes Mr Gravedigger I just want to throw in something about Jaylen Herz I felt like first of all I think Kell Moore called a really good game and like the plays that didn't really work for the Eagles were a lot of the times I feel like Jaylen her's making the wrong read or making a bad decision the designed run stuff they tried it a lot I think he at one point he had like nine carries for 11 yards and then he breaks contain and rushes on what was a Dr a design pass play drop back then he turns into a scramble that's not a designed run and picks up eight yards on that it's like almost doubles his rushing total on that one play for whatever reason the designed runs were not working at all but when he just decided to run on a designed pass Play That's when things really opened up for him and I also think in this Kell Moore offense which there's so much more motion pre- snap AJ Brown's long touchdown a very subtle shift where he's like in the slot and then he shifts his align so that he's out wide still like off the line but out the widest receiver and that little shift gave him the leverage he needed down the field to get past Jer Alexander and make that grab and then run to the end zone with it but overall when jayen Herz was throwing the ball on time in the rhythm of the offense the Eagles looked Unstoppable and when that first read wasn't there or he was a little confused about what he was seeing and he held the ball for an extra second it felt like disaster was imminent and I felt like that was the story of the offense tonight for the Eagles so I think the longer the more games and the more reps he gets in this system the less he's going to drop back and be confused unless defenses start to pick up that all we have to do is take away the first read but the less he gets confused the more he can keep this offense in Rhythm I think they're going to just roll and wor I'm talking like they struggled they put up 34 points and won the game so it's they didn't even struggle that much but yeah and and again the the the week one of it all these these guys don't get a lot of reps uh in live action leading into the games they're playing in a weird place in Brazil where it doesn't feel I know it was technically an eagles home home game but just a weird vibe you can even it's almost like even the way not that Jaylen Herz because Jaylen Herz does this thing where he's like I'm the cool smooth guy uh when he does something right just stone-faced at all times it's hard it's hard to smile when you win a game there but but um but like it was like when you're at a party and it's not your house and it's not your friend's house and you you can't quite get comfortable it's like everyone's like that uh at this Stadium which by the way is a wild name I wrote it down here Arena Corinthians that's the name of the stadium then Mark you also told me that uh there's a a dictator of some kind that that runs uh runs the nation and that that also leads to a a Twitter blackout over there like what's going on in Brazil taking behind the scenes I don't I don't want to um misrepresent the political climate because I don't want them to focus on on myself or you um but they yeah there was um no to make it clear I'm pointing out what you said so I think I would be clear but you could be in the crosshairs go on yeah that doesn't make me feel comfortable these are not these are serious people but like um yeah they they they wiped out the ability to use uh Twitter SLX down there and it was kind of like a story where you know obviously you're a sports reporter trying to tweet out you know what you're seeing with your eyes in in real time they're having to like I guess send tweets to if not their editor like their significant other to tweet out for them from their account like overseas and by the way like at one point the game the game felt like um it went on for quite a while and it was like almost 9:00 when it ended our time in California it's 1 in the morning in Brazil like that it's a 4our time difference so but you know what they like well they like to take is some not all but there I actually look this up that there are still a fair amount of individuals in that part of the country or that part of the world that take siestas or they take naps and they're they're more um inclined to be out late at night and have late dinners and and same with children so gu I God forbid the NFL starts the game a couple hours earlier so the people aren't getting home at 4:00 a.m. in Brazil but no it's okay um all right uh one other uh side of this uh from the Packers standpoint and again as we record this everything is up in the air with this team but Jaden Reed uh you know not a fluke that rookie season he played 71% of the snaps uh ran 27 routes six targets one carry 171 total yards and two touchdowns okay now I'm starting to understand what Matt laflor meant when he said it makes him vomit when you ask him who his number one wide receiver is because you also have Romeo dobs who uh had a a much more quiet game but he he ran 90% uh he took 90% of the snaps and then you had Christian Watson who uh got back in the end zone coming off an injury marred year he played 64% of the snaps Davian Wix he played 47% of the snaps three targets maybe not so hot but he was having a lot of trouble with the turf early on in this game so Reed jumps out obviously Josh Jacobs uh after a slow start uh looked pretty good in this game too and now we wait and now we wait Mark to see what happens with uh the quarterback Gravedigger by the way I want to bring this up um Mark Gravedigger can you fly up the tweet that you sent out moments after uh the injury suffered by Jordan love okay let's take a look at this market and I want you to let me know what you think about it about the Tweet okay here it is Hope Jordan love is okay period uh new paragraph at the same time comma I wonder what Ryan tanah Hill's up to now Mark can I just say like from a football uh analysis standpoint Justin is ahead trying to get ahead of things and that's what we do in our industry uh but at what cost I mean this guy's trying to be the first to the social media table to Feast on the tanah hill thing so he could get hit people with I told you so and we don't even know what the injury is with this poor Jordan love uh at what where does the ambition end with young Gravedigger that's the question I have Mark yeah I think that ambition is um is uh prevalent here there's also an element of a zealotry where in Justin's world and we're beginning to learn this um if we hadn't already that literally our Earth revolves around the Tennessee Titans our earth like no matter even if you've never heard of football if you were to look up at the star like in the stars and the skies and see what would be like a living God it is the Tennessee Titans so from that angle it's a Tennessee Titans helmet rotating 71% faster than you would expect it's like it's basically that and so the Tweet does not surprise me and I you know he texted us something similar right after and I just said it's a little too soon Justin I think you need to yeah just slow down a little bit there's there's there's man on the turf whose life has been turned upside down and here we go again with the Titan stuff and the I want to be first stuff like Justin you know your thoughts look I will say number one this was not an original thought I mean it was an original thought of my own I didn't see that's someone else first but it was also not an original thought cuz like a thousand people tweeted this but you know what I didn't see from those 999 people who weren't me hope Jordan love is okay like come on where's the humanity The Compassion at least I yes it was absolutely it was so I wouldn't get called out for dismissing the injury exactly my point you don't care about Jordan love it's more important to you it's true or false it's more important to you Justin that the T tanah Hill signing happens than Jordan love is okay like be real no I don't I I couldn't care less I will say this there is absolutely no way in hell Malik Willis starts a game like you kind of said that at the top D but I want to say it even more he's not an NFL quarterback certainty he's not and you said it's like in some ways it's worse in the Zack Wilson situation because Zack Wilson knew the offense and had been there for his whole career yes in many many many ways it's worse than the Zach Wilson I think Zach Wilson is a much better quarterback than Malik Willis I you could if you made a list and Justin you know it but if you made a list of the the best to worst quarterback in the league and Patrick Mahomes is at the top of it if someone told me Malik Willis was at the bottom of it I'd be like okay that makes sense and so that is the guy and that's not I'm not taking shots at malal as a person or anything the way like Justin's like taking shots at Jord in love at this very you know tenuous time in his his career and life I'm just saying like he was a stretch as a draft pick immediately was somebody the Titans in turn who were like oh wait a second let's pivot out of this and went and got will Levis and then he's on the street and somehow the Packers have him at the number two quarterback position so yeah I think they actually traded him to the Packers he wasn't on the street but he would have been right it was one of those deals so I don't know like yes it'd be very surprising Mark if this is a long-term injury or even a short-term one that we don't hear a very familiar name Landing with the Packers someone that could grasp some aspect of the Playbook IM immediately somebody that has familiarity with the offense obviously these are all things you could expect yeah I mean to be determined but if they really believe there's no way he could start for us then it's roster mismanagement to have him at number too even tonight for someone have to come in and try to attempt that final that final heave so I'm not sure how what they really feel about him I think he would have been an interesting third developmental guy or something but Ryan tanah Hill you know joke aside like makes a lot of sense a if he wants to do this with his life and B if his you know if physically he's there we don't know that either but that is the guy right now that if you're smart you waited for a situation where you can have a chance to come in and play and have an impact this could be that situation but but if you're a Packers fan you don't want any of this to happen you want to find out tomorrow that you know the ankle or the knee or whatever of Jordan love is on the mend and things will be okay because you don't want to suddenly have to just peer ahead to December or 2025 this is like team that I pick to go to the NFC title game and it's based entirely on their quarterback and what's surround all right how about this how about this I'll spin positive best case scenario okay this this is a good thing that happened to the Packers it's not a serious inj injury he has a couple extra days of rest before their week two game and he's going to be okay and the Packers just got the SC got the scared out of him and they're like oh my God we got to get a real backup quarterback in here because it was that close so maybe this ends up in a situation where they get scared straight um regardless of what love status ends up being here so Sean Clifford who was their backup who they cut for mik Willis is still on the practice squad interestingly they did not Elevate him for this game for the third emergency quarterback or whatever so like he would have not been available even if Milik Willis came in and got hurt or whatever which is just kind of weird to me yeah Dan can I do some Jordan love analysis quickly or do you want to end this podcast because let's end yeah let's end the podcast before we do sign off I do want to Packers say uh we need more time to see it Mark but dynamic dynamic kickoff rule what even are you I what a through two games at least what a total bust I mean the we're if this is what it's going to be like all season we're not going to have any type of kickoffs very soon that that's that's my my fast take there I don't know if you had any thoughts on the dynamic kickoff it's a bit of a f it's also concerning that it was Justin's you know Sports lock of the week that not only a kickoff would be returned for a touchdown but I believe you said what an opening kickoff so you're running out of it's going to be Sunday around 1015 hour time um could be kind of Bleak and then around 4:30 our time very Bleak I am I feel extremely bad about this I'm not going to get my first I mean I did after the preseason they're returning like 80% of these kicks and then they're like what do we have like three returns total in two games now not good crazy not good and finally Before We Say Goodbye a reminder one more reminder uh before we get to the Sunday Flagship show that we have launched our patreon uh after much planning behind the scenes very exciting three new shows uh in the he the call Universe launch and only accessible via the patreon patreon.com hethe call Mark we're getting a nice number of signups people are excited people are really curious Mark you could feel the tension and excitement building around your Rolling Thunder uh project with Zumwalt uh and I'll just I'll just say this uh I think you know this Mark but that Zumwalt a tremendous I mean I love him he's one of my closest Buds and a true one of one but that's a guy with nothing to lose that guy is a dangerous man yes I and he he fears nothing and fears no one and consequences are not something he he concerns himself with so be careful because Zumwalt he's a maniac he's a renegade and I love him for it but don't end up you know having to escape to Brazil to evade the authorities uh based on your programming or maybe sign people sign up yeah that's why you sign up for this to see what might happen and um you know I thought about the fact that if if all were to go south and I were to lose any sense of employment um or employability uh by any employer anywhere then I Jason lives in Connecticut in uh what I believe is to be a spacious house I'd imagine there'd be room for me and we could just pick up and do the show together and he's married but I'd be part of the family all part of graer to just slide over one box over you're not podcasting that the producer does not have Ambitions to unse you how about Bryce Huff 27 snaps zero pressures oh well you know he'll be okay he's he is a very good player but but yeah I I did cross out I was like how many of the the vaunted eagle uh rookie class made an impact in this game but it's too early it's way too early but yeah I guess that's as many uh hurries as Hassan Ruck was going to have in week one so I can't really be dunking on the Eagles about that but Huff will be okay he's a good player all right let's let's get out of here um thank you to everybody we've given you a lot to chew on uh these last three days are going to go dark I hope uh tomorrow Saturday and then yes back Sunday night with the flagship program until then do what you must heed the call n [Music]