Eagles Look for Ground Game Recovery in Matchup Against Vikings

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00:00A line between one and a half and two and a half, depending where you look total right now, sitting 43 and a half, 44 in places.

00:08We handled a lot of the Minnesota side again because there's some news out of there today around J.J. McCarthy.

00:14But all eyes really will be on the defending Super Bowl champions who have now lost two in a row.

00:18The offensive rhythm is not there, specifically on the ground.

00:22Saquon Barkley's struggles have been jarring, really, when you compare him to, you know, year over year production.

00:30Landon Dickerson expected, I think, back for this one today, which is good news for Philadelphia.

00:34What are you expecting here in Vikings-Eagles?

00:37Consistency from the Eagles.

00:39And I mean, consistency, the professionalism that they had last year in that Super Bowl run.

00:44And I want to see the defense really make a statement today.

00:47Again, you have an immobile quarterback in Carson Wentz aging.

00:51I'm not sold on the rushing attack with Jordan Mason and those staple of backs.

00:56This is a get-right game, potentially, for Philadelphia.

00:59And I understand it's on the road.

01:01But you have to start to build an identity again.

01:03And what I mean by an identity is running the football consistently with Saquon Barkley.

01:10Having Jalen Hurts utilize his legs instead of throwing it 45 times to Devontae Smith and A.J. Brown.

01:17And when you build a league, close the door.

01:19And we haven't seen that yet.

01:21We talked about it.

01:22And I thought they were the best team on paper, certainly heading into the year.

01:25I still honestly believe that.

01:27But they have a locker room problem right now.

01:29I've said that.

01:30They don't care about winning games and getting back to the prize.

01:33It's all about individual accolades that A.J. Brown and this team now have built.

01:38And we've seen players check in and check out.

01:41Now with Jalen Carter back, hopefully for this game, the identity comes back.

01:46And it starts today.

01:48But, again, the 2.5 under a key number, I can only look the Eagles.

01:52I do like the over 43.5.

01:54But, again, what is Brian Flores and what is that team going to do?

01:58They're going to blitz, right?

01:59I don't think they're going to allow Jalen Hurts to just sit back, survey the field.

02:04Right.

02:04I think they're going to bring it, make him uncomfortable.

02:07What does that mean?

02:08That means one-on-one coverage on the outside.

02:11I took Jalen to have a big day on the ground, 40-50 plus because of man-to-man coverage.

02:16Let's see if we can put him into long third downs.

02:18I'm expecting Jalen to take this game over with his legs, which should open up everything

02:25for that offense today.

02:26So I think you will see Hurts involved in the ground game.

02:30But, to me, it runs through Saquon today.

02:34You have a Minnesota team, as you said, who they blitz a lot.

02:38They're very opportunistic in terms of their pass defense.

02:42And you are better off trying to hit them on the ground.

02:45Saquon Barkley is in a situation, Joe, that we've not seen since he's joined the Philadelphia

02:50Eagles.

02:51In his last two games, he has 18 carries combined.

02:57For Saquon Barkley, he had at least 18 carries in every single game prior to the two-week stretch.

03:03For Saquon Barkley, when you remove the last two games, in his regular season career as

03:07an Eagle, he averages over 21 carries a game.

03:10And here we are now with an Eagles group that's looking for answers.

03:15The answers start with 26, looking like one of the best players in the league, which is

03:21what he looked like all of last season.

03:23And I think he will look like again today.

03:26But I am more confident in him getting that opportunity than delivering admittedly.

03:34What I mean by that is, I'm on Saquon Barkley rush attempts instead of rush yards.

03:39Not that I don't think the yards are a good play or that he can't get there, but it starts

03:45with a workload, Joe, that is just mandatory for the Philadelphia Eagles in this game.

03:52It all depends if he breaks one.

03:54But I wouldn't be surprised if Saquon Barkley had 8 to 10 carries on the opening drive of the

04:01Philadelphia Eagles for this game, truly.

04:03We talked about last week with Derrick Henry in that spot, right?

04:06How critical he was to that team to potentially be within margin against the LA Rams, right?

04:12And we hit that.

04:13I agree with you.

04:14When you go on the road, right, in a tough environment, this is not going to be an easy

04:18game.

04:19You want to establish the run.

04:21Running the football and playing sound defense always travels well into road environments.

04:27And we know that they've been pass happy in the first part of the season.

04:30They went on the road to New York.

04:32Jalen Hurts didn't utilize his legs.

04:34Saquon was shut down.

04:35They lost a turnover battle and they got blown out.

04:38Yeah.

04:38Right?

04:38What do you do in back-to-back road games?

04:41They have had extra time to think about it.

04:44Get back to running the football.

04:45Get back to the offensive line continuity.

04:48Short to intermediate throws.

04:49We don't have to go.

04:51And then that opens up everything else.

04:52But, again, they need to have a run-heavy approach in this matchup, in my opinion, right, whether

04:59it be Saquon, to your point, or Jalen, to open up everything else.

05:03Because we know Minnesota's not going to – they're going to limit big plays.

05:07They're going to limit chunk passing game just the way they did in multiple games.

05:11You can maybe hit them once or twice.

05:13But I don't think it's going to be there on a consistent basis.

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