Commanders-Eagles TNF Recap

Published Nov 15, 2024, 6:20 AM

Gregg Rosenthal is joined by Steven Ruiz of The Ringer to recap the Commanders and Eagles facing off on Thursday Night Football. The guys start off with a discussion about the formula for the 2024 Eagles (02:37), followed by a look at Jayden Daniels and the Commanders offense (10:13), the Eagles defense (15:20), Jalen Hurts and the Eagles offense (19:00), and the outlook for both the Commanders and Eagles the rest of the season (22:22). 

Note: time codes approximate. 

Perts under center, he goes with a pitch to Barkley. Barkley across the thirty twenty five Tony, good Bye, Bimo Billo.

He's unbelievable. He is unbelievable. Saquon Barkley running in for a second touchdown on the night. You can hold him down for a while, you can't hold him down for four quarters. He ends up with one hundred and forty six yards on the ground with two touchdowns. The Eagles beat the Commanders twenty eight twenty six rather to eighteen in Philadelphia. This was a seven to three game for Washington at halftime, and the Eagles offense got rolling. That was Meryl Reese and Mike Quick on WIP. I'm in the garage and I'm looking at my friend Steven Ruiz of the Ringer from Washington, DC. But he's not a Commanders fan, and so he's probably not heartbroken they lost this game. A lot of Commanders fans are who thought this season's gonna be special, and maybe it still will be, but they're at seven and four. There are a couple losses now back of an Eagles team. Steven that just looked like a little tougher A little more grown up, a little more ready for mid November football than Washington did.

No the Eagles just like the more talented team, the more solid team. Most of these teams take a unique approach to offense, especially on early downs. They have offenses that don't look like any offenses elsewhere in the NFL. But Washington's to this point has been based on one the talent of a rookie quarterback in Jaydon Daniels who's been brilliant but has run into a bit of a rookie wall this last couple of weeks, and then the scheme of Cliff Kingsbury. I always think there's an expiration date on offenses where you're kind of getting by on smoking mirrors a little bit. And I think with the Eagles where it's like talent based, like we just have better guys than you at. We have an offensive line that's going to run you over. We have a running back that's going to take advantage of those holes, and then we have two wide receivers that if you leave them one on one on the outside, we're going to do damage to the air. And I think you saw that play out on the field.

I love it. You're already planting your flag that the cliff second half collapse is coming. I love that by you, Steven. Let's put a pin in that and get to that a little later because that is intriguing. Jayden Daniels has struggled the last couple of weeks. Although the offense, you know, had moments against Baltimore tonight, they really didn't end up with two hundred and sixty four yards and that includes a garbage time touchdown drive that they had at the end. They did have a chance with an on side kick under thirty seconds to go, so you know it was worth trying for. But most of the night they really struggled. I want to give the Eagles their flowers first, because to me, this was the classic Eagles game of twenty twenty four. If you haven't watched them each and every week, a lot of them have been like this, and by that I mean they look kind of disjoined on offense often Jalen hurts sometimes like doesn't make the best decisions in the red zone. For instance, you saw tonight there was a lot of unforced airs. They had a trick play which killed the drive, They had a holding penalty which killed the drive. They had another drive which had a couple of drops, Jake Elliott's missing kicks all over the place, two miss field goals in the first half, missed extra point. But at a certain point, their offensive talent seems to just catch up in your and overwhelm the opponent. And meanwhile, the defense has been money since the bye week, and now this is a better opponent they're going against. They played well against the Bengals as well, which was a good offensive opponent. And to me, they are absolutely legit and they make you earn everything, and that combination is a winning combination, because by the fourth quarter of this game, it just felt like the play differential the Eagles that had about fifteen to twenty more plays at halftime ended up being too much for Washington, and the second half drives for Philadelphia they were leaning on them like you could you could see when you had the overhead angle. They go field goal, touchdown, touchdown, touchdown to end the game, and Saquon with prairies of you know, acreage to run through and he hits it. And it's a great formula as long as they're not turning the ball over. It's tough to be.

It feels partly twenty twenty two Eagles formula. Like when they were struggling with the passing game, they could just go to that run game and just hammer the same run plays over and over and over again. I remember there was a game against the Giants where I think they ran the same run play out of the same formation eight times in a row and the Giants couldn't do anything to stop it. It feels like that like the pass game isn't quite where it was a couple of years ago. But we've also seen highs out of the pass game, especially when Jalen Hurts has been pushing it deep outside the numbers to aj Brown, to DeVante Smith. I think if they can get that going more consistantly, we're going to see this team reach some of the highs they reached when they made that run to the Super Bowl.

Yeah, tonight, I think Washington's defense did a good job. I look, Jalen didn't attempt to throw over twenty yards, and he only completed three over ten yards. Everything was short. It felt like the two teams were almost in a staring contest. In My colleague Jordan Rodrigue The Athletic pointed this out on Twitter. That this was clearly Vic Fangio's defensive plan. It kind of always is. Jaden Daniels did not throw well against split safety tonight according to next Gen seven of eleven for thirty two yards. And then the fourth quarter interception that Reid Blankenship picked off. First of all, you know, shout out to Reid Blankenship. He's like the closer. He only catches interceptions in the fourth quarter and he never drops him. It's kind of an underrated aspect to a defensive back, Like a defensive back that never drops the interception and suddenly like that ball was just rolling down downhill fast in the fourth quarter. This was this was a close game that the Eagles didn't even have the lead going into the fourth quarter. They take a touchdown drive that ends with the tousch push with Jalen Hurts with like twelve minutes ago, and after that it was it was all Philadelphia. But I think their defensive plan to like make jad and Daniels really work down the field slowly and not go to his wide receiver is Washington felt caught comfortable playing that way, but like they need bigger plays than what they got tonight.

Yeah, and even during their fast dart to the season, they weren't getting a lot of like downfield explosive plays. A lot of their explosive plays were coming on like like yards after catch or Jaden Daniels getting outside the pocket and scrambling for a first down. But like we remember the big throws downfield, especially against Cincinnati, the two throws on Monday Night, and then he had some other like Jayden Daniels, I mean had some other like Marquee deep throws. I think he had one against the Ravens. I think he had one against the Steelers down the sideline. But outside of that, there's not a lot of passes going downfield, especially like over the middle of the field. And you saw the Eagles kind of take away those early down efficient plays and force them into a dropback game on third down, and this was one of their worst games on third down. I think they were one for nine at one point. I know they might have improved the stats on that garbage time drive. I guess it wasn't garbage time because they cut it to one possession, But really before that drive, they weren't really moving the ball and third down at all, and that had been such a strength for them. They had such great third down numbers, such great fourth down numbers. We see a fourth down stop on a concept that I know some people criticize the play call there, but that's a call they've been using a lot on fourth down and having a lot of success with it. It hasn't been stopped having Jadan Daniels do a little play action fake and then roll outside the pocket and either run for it or pass for it, and no team has been able to stop it. But I think it speaks to how much heavy lifting the scheme was doing early on, and now that teams kind of have all this film and know how they're going to approach games, I think we're going to see them. They're gonna have to come up with playing b's and playing seeds going forward.

I'm glad you brought up that sequence. So after the Eagles touchdown, the score is twelve to ten because Elliott missed the extra point and Washington is driving, they actually have a second and one. They're playing fast, they're playing tempo, which is where they've been at their best all season. It was the first drive of the night where Jayden and Daniels just ripped a couple of confident throws. He had one to McLaurin, who only had one catch tonight, and that led all wide receivers. Zakias had one, Noah Brown had one, Dammy Brown had one, and they totaled. Just doing some quick math here for twenty eight yards. That's absolutely outrageous. Their wide receivers got absolutely nothing done. So it's second and one there in field goal range and Jalen Carter to me, makes the play of the night. Just I was watching on the Prime Vision view from the overhead camera, which is just awesome. And the way he shed the tackler. They are impenetrated. I don't think many defensive tackles, if any, are gonna make that play, and so he forces a third and two. They stuff that. It was kind of slow developing. That was a nice play too. That brings up the fourth down that you mentioned. Let's actually take a listen to that and then we'll talk about the decision after that.

Instead of trying for a game changing field goal that would give them a one point lead, they're gonna go on fourth and two. Daniel under Sun. Daniels is back. He's big, chased, he's running, he's big pushed, He's not kind.

Of bones the Eagles takeover on downs. Theagles take over a down that was a great call there again by by Merlo Reese and Jalen Carter busted up that play too at the beginning. I know they fumbled the snap a little, but that is an incredible sequence. This guy had three quick pressures tonight according to the next Gen stats, like he is having that second year leap. I don't even know if his raw numbers are that crazy, I honestly don't know, but just by the eye test and the film and everything, he's having that second year leap, like he might be an all pro right now. And that sequence with the fourth down stop two, which which they make a good play on the edge he started that play.

Yeah, it kind of reminds me of watching like a young Aaron Donald, where you didn't even need to see the numbers. You just you saw ninety nine just blowing up every play. Every time you watch on the game pass, the condensed version, you'd see ninety nine breaking into the backfield. And that's kind of how it feels with ninety eight on the Eagles right now. And there were times when like Washington had a good play call on like they had the numbers in the run box, they had the blockers there, and then an Eagles defensive lineman, usually Carter, would just blow up the play. And that's the difference between these two teams right now. One is a finished product, or as close to a finished product as you can get with them, kind of like bouncing back after the last year. And then you have Washington, a team that's still trying to learn how to build around this young quarterback who has who has given them a spark. But I don't know if they're ready for games like this at this point in the season yet.

You know what's interesting, I was not expecting to come into tonight and hear some Jaden skepticism from Steven Ruiz where's he at in your QB rankings? But it kind of makes sense, and I don't disagree with anything you're saying. I do think he was erratic last week, which was like a little concerning. You know, he missed more throws than you would expect it, but there were the big plays and he's really avoided big mistakes, which I think is really to his credit, and that was true in this game too. It is impressive for a rook But am I fair to pick up on a little bit of Jaden Daniel's rookie season skepticism and where is he in the rankings? Just tell me that too.

He's like, I think he's like eighteen seventeenth. Now I'd like to slow play it with the rookies. I don't like to, you know, give him your ranking.

To be clear, is kind of like an all encompass scene, like how good are they at the NFL level? Y, that's fair, guys with seven years of experience is tough to top that.

But most of my skepticism has to do with Cliff Kingsbury in the offense. Like I think, like every rookie, I'm going to be skeptical that they're going to be able to carry over a hot start to the rookie season to the second half, especially when the schedule gets tougher. But I think Jaden Daniels' skills I don't question those, like the skills that have allowed this offense to operate like it's operating. That's like precise accuracy, especially underneath twenty yards. And then his ability to run. Now we have seen him kind of lose that. I don't know if it's the injury I don't know if he's hesitant to take some hits now after the rib injury, but he's not making guys miss in the open field as much as he did early on. I mean, we'll see how that goes going forward after he gets healthy, but that would be my one concern with him individually. But I think the more that teams are able to like sit on some of these concepts that Washington has had a lot of success with and they start to figure out how they're using the no huddle in the second half, I think it's just gonna get a little bit harder. I don't think like they're gonna go away. I don't think this offense is a complete fluke, and I think Jayden Daniels is going to end up winning Rookie of the Year and we're still going to feel good about him at the end of the year. I just don't think it's going to be that, Oh, he's a top five quarterback based on production and maybe even an MVP candidate by the end of it.

Yes, I was saying two weeks ago, I thought he was an MVP canning just because the offense is based around him and he transformed a team that just wasn't there, and it was hard to argue with the efficiency. I think it's just the schedule. You played two of the better defenses right now in the league. I'm comfortable putting Philadelphia there as a top eight defense, whatever the number is. Certainly Pittsburgh is there too, and so you play some better defenses and they won more than they lost. They weren't disasters on offense this last two weeks. They didn't make huge critical mistakes. They put up some points against Pittsburgh, but it was a lot of failed drives. Let's talk about the fourth down decision, because, as you heard on that call, Merril Reese is a little surprised they could have attempted a kick there with their backup kicker Zane Gonzalez to take a thirteen to twelve lead. What do you think about the decision by dan Quinn there.

I mean, I think it's fine. I know it was a low scoring game and you want all the points you can get, but the Eagles were moving the ball even in the first half. Like they missed the field goals. Jake Elliott missed his two field goals, they missed the extra point, so I think the score was being suppressed a little bit and it wasn't actually indicative of how the Eagles were moving the ball. And then Washington has been money on fourth down all year long. They've been going forward on fourth and short all year long. To stop doing that, to go against your identity and the biggest game of the season, I think that sends the wrong message to your locker room. And it says like if dan Quinn does that, and I was in that life where I'll go, oh, he was scared of the moment, like he's done. He does it against the Bucks, He's not going to do it against the Eagles in primetime. I would question him after that.

Yes, I love that. I agree with all that, and I give maybe I'm giving dan Quinn too much credit. What I hate about coaches sometimes is when they don't feel like they have a flow of the game or they know where their strengths are, they know where their weaknesses are in a certain game or in a season in general. Sean McVay is like that sometimes. With his fourth down decisions and the way this game was going, I think dan Quinn knew the burst was about to break with his defense. He had just given up a drive where they got absolutely gashed. The play disparity, as I was saying, was pretty massive and a field goal was not going to win this game. Like he I think he felt the way that game was going, they needed to stay on the field longer. They need to try to get seven if they can, and if they can't pick up one yard over a three play sequence, it's like bully to you, you're you're better than us today, Like we need to be able to prove that we can do this because everyone honking about not going for that field goal. Oh, would have changed the momentum of the game. It's like Philadelphia was gonna keep scoring. They probably were going to score a touchdown or two more, which they did not that dan Quinn is thinking we're about to give up like two massive, big games. But I think he knew they probably needed a touchdown to possibly win this game and they didn't get it. And you got to give him credit, Zach Bond on that play on the outside, red blanken chip on the outside. Their defense has really been special. No one is older than twenty seven years old on their starting defense, which is just crazy. They they had wanted Vic Fangio in Philadelphia for a few years and they got him, and I just was wondering if it was gonna work because Fangio's defenses over the last handful of years haven't been amazing. And the first month of the season they're figuring out. And now you see how great Quinnon Mitchell has been. He was against Terry McLaurin tonight, and Cooper Degen comes in. You're getting much better play out in Na Kobe and Nolan Smith has a big sack tonight. Josh Sweat, you know, is doing his normal thing. It's like, this is a pretty good defense and that Fangio higher like looks like one of the better coaching highers of the offseason.

Yeah, this is a big bounce back year for Vic Fanjo and really the Vic Fangio tree, which had been like so in vogue a couple of years ago and then fell out of favor, and then Vic Fangio was I think Jalen Ramsey criticized him in Miami last year. I think because they weren't playing enough man coverage, and then he goes to Philadelphia and he gets man corners and they're playing man coverage. They're majoring in man coverage, and I think that was a big reason why they matched up so well with Washington today. And really, if you could play man coverage, you can match up with any offense. The man coverage is like the catch all solution to any offensive or any problem the offense can present. So and I don't think that's going away. I think these corners are legit, and I think that's the big difference between last year and this year. You have more synergy between the pass rush the defensive line, which is playing better, granted, but you're also getting better coverage on the back end, so those guys have a little bit more time to get after the passer and we're seeing the fruits of that.

Yeah, and it's crazy they really did in one offseason. They were smart to keep slayh. I never thought they were gonna get rid of him anyways, But he's having a good year. John C. Gardner Johnson hasn't really worked out. He's probably the one guy that they're not thrilled with in the back end, although he had a decent game tonight. But then the two rookies, what do you think of Reid Blankenship and Cooper dejen showing up to the stadium tonight wearing exciting Whites T shirt. I think that's officially the nickname Exciting Whites.

I mean, I mean that's a good sign. The vibes are good. The vibes haven't been this good in Philadelphia since the twenty twenty two season, or maybe even the twenty seventeen season when they're wearing the underdog masks in the playoffs. But yeah, they are exciting whites. Like Cooper Degene, I mean, I guess a lot of people like want to call him a Gimmi because he's a white quarterback, but he could play. He's a good player. And Quinnon Mitchell is the type of player who can transform a secondary and allows you to do different stuff in the back end. Like I think, if they're not getting the years they're getting out of Cooper Degene and out of Quinn and Mitchell, this defense looks a lot different, Like how Vic Vangiem was calling. The defense looks a lot different. And I think this game tonight would have looked a lot different.

Yeah, and and back Bond with a couple of nice plays early in past deflection he's been he's been awesome. And and Na Kobe Deane's been rock solid. I had someone in Philadelphia was interesting because Quinya Mitchell was playing slot corner in training camp, and actually the Beat reporters were like wondering, Hey, what's going on here, Like is this is this going well? They seem they seemed uncertain, And someone you know, within within the organization told me, like very early on, they're like they were so excited about quinn I Mitchell. They're like, oh, man, we got this one right, Like this is like try to keep keep a lid on it, but just feeling internally like, man, this guy is gonna be really good. And I was like, Oh, that's interesting. That's different than than what we've heard in there. The confidence has been absolutely born out and and yeah, like maybe Hurts can be a little skittish here and there, and maybe it doesn't matter if it's a run first offense. It really is kind of a run first offense. They were so patient. He was fifteen for fifty six in the first half of this game, Saquon, Like they weren't getting a lot of push, like they're getting three four yards. They weren't unsuccessful runs, but they weren't busted open. But they stayed patient. And then late in the game Becton's making blocks. My Latta's out there. The Jurgens had a one crazy block where he just lifted a guy in the air, like got Her is pumping his fists after one of his seal blocks. I think on a Saquon play, it's just it's it's all kind of cohesive and it looks cool.

Now. Yeah, it feels like the opposite of last year. That's what it feels like. And yeah, I there are concerns about Hurts. I've been a little I've been skeptical of Jalen Hurts in the past couple of years. And you can you can have your criticism about him holding onto the ball in the pocket. I think he did that a couple times tonight. He missed some open receivers. But I think all of those criticisms were true in twenty twenty two and that didn't stop them from rolling over the NFC. Like he wasn't that great in the pocket that year just didn't matter. And I think they have the same ecosystem once.

Yeah, but that super Bowl man, that super Bowl is beautiful.

Yeah, if you get him to the Super Bowl, he's capable of producing the performance like that. You could beat anybody you can almost beat Patrick Mahomes, but Patrick Mahomes was just perfect on that night. Yeah. I mean, I'm not going to say they're going to win the NFC, but I would not be surprised if they're in the NFC Championship. And if you would have asked me about this team ceiling a month ago, I would not have said that. And I think one of the big differences the receivers are back, and that stretch without those receivers kind of poisoned our perception of them. I think I think it made me a little bit too low on them and what they could be. And now that I've seen that receiving core back and what Saquon can do with them around, and with that offensive line, how it's rolling, Like, Yeah, this offense could be like a top five unit at its best.

Yeah, And they're cross your fingers, like quite healthy right now. They get my Lota back and is a very important player for them. So yeah, when they were missing Goddar and Brown at the same time, and they're underfeeded with AJ Brown, especially if you watch those first games that Brown was back, like he just was the whole passing game. I mean, they just spam him on a slant whenever they need it, or a go ball, and Jalen throws those well, and A J. Brown's that good. I mean tonight, it doesn't pop off the screen. He's five for sixty five. But I would just say in terms of value to his team, he is as valuable as any wide receiver in the league. I'm not gonna say like he's ahead of Jefferson or Chase, but I think it's right there. Like, I think he's as valuable to the Eagles as any wide receiver is to their team.

And like you've heard the criticism about this offensive scheme, it's been like one of the most criticized schemes over the last two years. Whereas like Justin Jefferson is getting a lot of scheme help in Kevin O'Connell, Whereas the Eagles like scheme is just like AJ Brown running a straight line. AJ Brown takes two steps in a slant and like you said, it's open every time. It's easy money. I know they missed on a couple throws today, but that's the exception to the rule. Usually that go ball outside the numbers has been money for them, and especially against this opponent, so I am kind of impressed with what Washington did, especially in the secondary in this game, because they've had trouble defending this offense when it's rolling, especially those two guys on the outside. The last couple of years, those guys have went wild on their secondary and it didn't happen tonight.

All right, let's take a quick break and we'll be back in just a second. So your family are Commander fans. Yes, okay, First of all, how is that you grew up, as you know, Washington in a Washington household and then you become a Panthers fan, And then how has it been this transition to Commander Land with Jane Daniels for them and everything.

Yeah, they're excited. My mom texted me on a Sunday and she texted it was like it was like a month ago and she just texted me the number twenty three with the question mark, and I had no idea what it meant. I was like, what does that mean? And that's what I had Jaden Dangel's ranked at the time, and she was questioning. She was texting me on a Sunday to yell at me about my rankings. And then two weeks ago, I think, no, No, it's before the it was right before the bill bears Hail Mary. She calls me and she's just like talking about the Commanders to me. I'm like, Mom, I'm writing I have to podcast, like this is my busiest day of the week. Why are you calling me right now? And then I hung I hung up the phone, and then literally like five seconds later, Jadan Daniel Stow's that touchdown for the win.

That that is incredible, And yeah, I want to speak to the Commanders fans out there, because man, they're a group that's hungry. They have so many fans and they're out here in Los Angeles too, and I know a couple of them, and I think they're like heartbroken and they're like they're like mad. I think they're going to be mad after this game that they did not look quite in the same class of Philadelphia. And I'm just thinking, like, enjoy this journey here, because here's what's gonna happen. You're seven and four. Let's look a little big picture. They're gonna make the playoffs. Their next two games are against Dallas and against Tennessee. Then they have a bye. They're gonna I think they're gonna win those games. They've they've really shown they're able to beat bad teams, and those are really bad teams right now. So they can be nine to four. They can head into the buye. They have two games left all season against teams with winning records. One of them is the Falcons. That's a very winnable game, one of the worst probably teams with a winning record in the league, like certainly that's that's a coin flip game at worst. And the other game is the week before it, and that's home for Philadelphia in week sixteen. I posit that home game against Philadelphia in week sixteen, which, yeah, you know, Philadelphia show tonight. They're probably a better team, but I think Washington beat them in a given day. I still think that'll be for the division lead at that point, because the Eagles are eight and two, they have to play another game, they have another buy They're at the Rams, that's tricky. At Baltimore they have the Panthers, so that's a layup. Then they're home for Pittsburgh. That's all before that Commander's rematch. Those are three tough games in there. I think the Commanders are gonna hang in this thing. The Eagles will probably have three losses like at best going into that game, and you'll have a chance to get a spot for first place in freaking Week sixteen, a year after what everything that happened last year. In like worst case scenario, you lose that game to Philly, you don't win the division, You finish the season with the Falcons and the Cowboys, you probably getting to ten or eleven wins, and you're probably going to the playoffs. So like it's house money. And I also think like you're gonna be playing big time games like the week of Christmas this year, So this loss does not feel like overly devastating to me. Philadelphia to me had to kind of get this game in hand considering the schedule that's coming up.

Yeah, and even when, like this team has made the playoffs, which hasn't happened much in the last two decades, but every time they've kind of had a rally at the end of the year to make it. Like even in twenty twelve with RG three, I think they were like three and five at at one point, maybe even a worse record than then. They really had to win down the stretch. Kirk Cousins had to come in and win a couple a game or two to just get them into the wildcard. Two thousand and five, I think that's when Sean Taylor was killed and they had a rally then with Joe Gibbs, when Tyler hennicky, when they played the Bucks in the in the playoffs a couple of years ago, like they weren't. They didn't look like a playoff team until like the last week of the year, and I think they won with some like ungodly record. This year, they're actually like winning wire to wire, and this feels like a race that you can pay attention to every week. Like I'm with you. I think, no matter how this sence, you should be happy because this is the first time you've been able to follow a team like this for I don't know, maybe before the turn of the century.

All right, So the only game I didn't mention, by the way, on the schedule was a game against the Saints. So men, you got two games against the Cowboys, the Saints, and the Titans. If you just can win those games, you're at eleven wins right there, without even beating another good team. And yeah, that two thousand and five team, I sneaky enjoyed that team that was like the Mark Brunell team, right, And then did we have a Chris Simms appearance?

They beat Chris Sims in the wildcard round, Yes, that's right, and then they lost to Seattle, and then Seattle beat Carolina. I was really rooting for Washington to win that game because I knew Carolina was gonna get washed by Seattle and in Seattle, and that's exactly what happened.

Yeah, so big winners tonight. Eagles fans, they can you know, they can enjoy beating Josh Harris, the Commander's owner at a time where they are not happy with their seventy six ers. And just before we go, I just have to give a shout out to Joe Shane because like whatever he thought that the Giants g I should preface, you know that famously in Hard Knocks saying that like we didn't give our quarterback forty million dollars the handoff to a twelve million dollars running back, whatever he thought could have been the worst possible worst case scenario, and whatever was in John Mara, the owner's mind, when he you know, was saying he hopes that it wouldn't go to Philly. Whatever the worst case scenario is, this is so much worse.

Right, Like, plenty plenty of gms have let players walk and have lived to regret it. But none of them, literally none of them have had HBO come in and document the mistake in their building.

Right, but have how many though, have let go the franchise's best player at the time, in his prime and he goes to a division rival who's much better and he has like an offensive Player of the Year type of season, Like I don't know how many times that's happened. My rule in the NFL it was always like teams never let players that they want to keep go, Like it's pretty easy to like, if a player leaves in the middle of their prime, it's usually because like they kind of wanted him to leave, which was true here. They did want Saquon Barkley to leave. It just was it just could not have worked out any worse or better for the Eagles and for us because if he was in New York, like this wouldn't be happening. So I might be talking from the biased viewpoint of a Saquon Barkley fantasy owner that's like always mad when he goes down at the one, but it always works down, It works out in the end.

Uh, where are you at an Offensive Player of the Year? Are you? Are you someone that says no quarterback can win Offensive Player of the Year. It's only going to a non quarterback.

Now, Yes, I just used to refuse to acknowledge it. I hated it because quarterbacks kept getting it, and I just thought it was stupid. It was the dumbest protest in the history of protests was NFL dot COM's editors would send us to fill out all the awards, and I just I just would skip offensive players. No one, no one else knew other than them that I was, you know, protest. That was just so stupid. But now non quarterbacks should get awards, So they should have a like a non quarterback award, and then they should have an offensive Lineman award too. So yes, so I would say yes. So you would think, right now, who would it be? It would be It would be Saquon, it would be Derrick Henry her, it would be Chase maybe you know that.

I guess in the mix, I would give it to Saquon, Like what I would really do is give it to Lamar. I would give it. I know you hate giving it to quarterbacks, but like, I feel like he has at least like a dual threat impact on that offense. Like he is the focal point of the run game in the pass game.

So he wins ball.

Yeah, but if you're not going to give it to Lamar, I would give it to Saquon over Derrick Henry. And my my reasoning is simple. I'm not voting an offensive Player of the Year who's not the best player on his own offense. And I think Saquon Barkley has been far and away the best player on his offense. And that's only really because A. J. Brown has been hurt. I think if A J. Brown's in there, you can make a debate about that. But Saquon has just been like everything for this team, and when they've gone bad on offense, they've just been like, let's press the Saquon button over and over and over again, and eventually something good's going to happen that and it has. It has literally every time they've won, it's been Squon having a great game.

Right, I'm looking at the numbers. He he's up. He was at eleven hundred and fifty yards from scrimmage before this game and then adds what almost two hundred tonight, Like he's maybe over six yards per Kerrie still on the season, which is crazy. They need to work, you know, be a little careful with his usage. He is. He is on pace for like a monster workload. But I like that. I don't like the Lamar thing, just because I never really understood some of the years when the quarterback, the same quarterback would win Offensive Player of the Year and and MVP. It like it didn't really have any rhyme or reason. It wasn't like super duper years they get both. It was more just like there wasn't good candidates or votes got split. Its just if the awards that vague. I don't like it. And yes, I think we if offensive linemen can't possibly win any awards, then we should. We should come up with an award for an offensive lineman.

That's a good doll. I'm with that.

The Brian Balden the award. Stephen Ruiz, you can check him out at the Ringer The Ringer Football Show. He has a cat. What's what's his or her name?

Her name is Ronda.

Shout out to Ronda, Shout out to your your mom, did she send you any text tonight.

And I'm actually I'm actually kind of concerned she didn't text me tonight. I'll call her tomorrow.

It was it was a late night and uh yeah, it was a long week here. This is one of those weeks. How did I actually went to a concert? I'm I'm feeling it at my age. So I'm I am glad we are done with Thursday night football. The Picks show that we do every week will be on Friday afternoon, me and Cynthia Freeland. I'm on a heater there. Sixth straight wins on that, so check that out Friday afternoon. Uh until then for Stephen Ruiz, Yeah when uh when Sake on Barkley is just making that crowd at the link go crazy. You know football is back to see you, Fredick

M hm

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