Football Talks (Eagles Chargers Loss)
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Introduction
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You:
Okay, well, I'm excited to be starting a new branch of talking about football. It's going to be called Football Talks. Basically me, and then mostly Micah, sometimes other people, and sometimes just me. We're just talking about football, and I really want to do more with football.
Micah, good to see you.
Micah:
Good to see you too. I'm excited to talk.
Initial Thoughts on the Eagles vs. Chargers Loss
You:
Okay, so the first thing I wanted to ask you: what are your initial thoughts on the loss to the Chargers? The Eagles lost 19–22. What was your initial thought on that?
Micah:
Well, obviously we just didn't do good with Jalen Hurts. He just wasn't doing too good as a quarterback. He should have been doing better. He threw a lot of picks in the game.
I think though it's not entirely his fault this game. I think it was partly Kevin Patullo because he was just calling some bad plays here and there. You know, when it's a third and long, you don't call a bubble screen. It's just not going to get you much.
So I think obviously it's Kevin Patullo, and also Jalen Hurts just wasn’t doing good in that game. Along with A.J. Brown — he also dropped a few balls. And I just think if some of those balls were caught, obviously we would have won the game.
Defense Reaction
You:
Okay, tell me a little bit more about what you thought from the defense. That first play was a little bit scary — just seeing what they did.
Micah:
They let the Chargers drive the field very quickly, and that was a little bit scary at first. I was a little bit nervous, but overall they did decent.
Sacks and Pressure
You:
And what do you think about the sacks?
Micah:
Yeah, that was pretty impressive — just them being able to break through the line and getting, I think it was like seven sacks or six sacks, whatever. And it's pretty impressive.
Jalen Hurts’ Turnovers
You:
Yeah, so real quick I want to talk about Jalen Hurts. Obviously he had a terrible night — five turnovers within the night. Just absolutely terrible. What do you make of that terrible performance?
Micah:
Well, it's kind of hard. I think part of it is he's just trying to please his coaches, please the fan base, maybe a little bit. I don't really know.
But you know, a lot of people say about him, “Oh, he doesn’t do very good at passing, he needs to pass it more,” or “They're not doing enough designed run plays,” or “He needs to run more.”
But whatever he does, it's not like he can really satisfy the fan base. He starts throwing more and at first they get excited, but then he throws picks, and they get upset. Then he stops throwing because he's throwing a lot of picks, and they get upset because he's not throwing enough.
I think when you look at his performance, obviously it was just a terrible performance. It was one of those games where he was not making good decisions. You can see on the field there’s plays where he should have done something else, but he didn't. Four interceptions — it's just unacceptable.
Discussion About Benchings
You:
And I'm not saying he's bad. I don’t like the idea of benching Jalen Hurts. Wouldn't you agree?
Micah:
I think the idea of benching Jalen Hurts isn't a good one because I think at a base level it's the play calling. When the play calling is terrible, it doesn’t matter what quarterback you put in.
And I think that’s a major part of it. And when you look at this performance, I don’t think that’s going to be every performance. These past three games have been pretty rough. I think he just needs to make better decisions.
I think the play calling has gotten to him to a degree. Some people say they're running a high-school offense. You can't expect him to thrive.
Now, while I think we did lose because of him last night, I'm not ditching Jalen Hurts at all. I still think he's an incredible quarterback.
And part of the thing is: no matter how good of a quarterback you are, when you have a different offensive coordinator almost every year since you entered the NFL, eventually it's going to catch up to you. He needs consistency. And if they stuck with the same guy, I think he’d do a whole lot better.
And I was even reading an article from Eagles Green Nation talking about whether they should bench him, and the conclusion was no — it opens a can of worms, and it’s a bad decision.
A.J. Brown’s Performance
You:
Talking about the rest of the team, I didn’t like A.J. Brown’s performance. Yes, he had 99 yards, but it wasn’t good at all. Several drops. First play of the game — perfect deep throw, he dropped it. Late in the game — perfect dime, dropped it.
As your WR1, it almost looked like a lack of effort. What did you see?
Micah:
I didn’t see a lack of effort. I don’t know — as fans we can say a lot, but unless you're a true wide receiver, it’s hard to understand everything that goes into it. How good was the coverage? How good really was the ball? What seems like a good ball on TV may be a hard ball to catch in reality.
I don’t think he wasn't trying. I think he did put in effort.
As far as wide receivers overall, I don’t think they’re the issue. They’re not lacking receiving yards. Both are top 20. Devonta Smith is in the top 10. He has more receiving yards than Justin Jefferson, DK Metcalf, Davante Adams, and others. So receiving isn’t the issue.
Saquon Barkley’s Rushing
You:
What about the rushing from Saquon Barkley? One of his best nights. He’s 12th in rushing — more than McCaffrey, Jacobs, Kenneth Walker, Genté, Jordan Mason, Blake Corum. What did you see?
Micah:
He was doing pretty good in the game, and this season you’ve seen a few sparks of how good he used to be. Even though he has decent games once in a while, he still hasn’t been having as good a season as he needs.
But part of that is the pressure. You went to the Super Bowl, you're on the Madden cover — everyone expects everything from you. Coming into this year, he wasn’t doing good, and I'm sure that’s intimidating.
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