Cris Collinsworth on Eagles-Cowboys Week 1 & Eagles Dynasty | Takeoff

Cris Collinsworth on Eagles-Cowboys Week 1 & Eagles Dynasty | Takeoff

[Music] Hey everybody, welcome to Takeoff with John Clark presented by Makefield Putters and it is time. Eagles season is back and what better way to start the season. Eagles Cowboys at the link. Super Bowl unveiling and starting the NFL season. So, let’s welcome in from NBC, the awesome Sunday Night Football analyst on a Thursday night as well, Chris Collinsworth. Good to see you, Chris. You, too, John. How are you? Uh, doing great. I mean, do you start to get goosebumps when when you go into Philly and and the day before, you know, NFL season kicking off with the defending Super Bowl champs against the Dallas Cowboys? It’s it’s really as good as it gets for us. I mean, if if we get to cherrypick a game, this is probably that game. We also get Baltimore and Buffalo on Sunday night. So, between the two of those, it’s you can’t get a whole lot better. But, um, you know, there’s something about Philly that that opening night. And maybe it’s me, I’m just a sucker for it. But, when they play the Rocky music and, you know, the whole fireworks that come out and um, it it it’s exciting. The Super Bowl is always amazing, but it’s not that raw. Like I always thought the best of the games were the championship games because they were played at home. Uh but opening day for the Super Bowl champs, we’ve had the pleasure of doing those games now for however many years I’ve been on this, 14 years, something like that. And and it’s always just great. It’s just exciting and fun and can’t wait. Now, a lot of Eagles fans have been talking, you know, they they’re enjoying the fact that the Cowboys are going to see that Super Bowl banner unveiling. Can NBC possibly have a camera on Jerry Jones the whole time when that happens? I’m going to guess we’re going to have a camera on Jerry Jones at all times. So, I I would think whatever bit of suffering you may be looking for out of Jerry, I would say that we’ll probably see it. So, we haven’t had a repeat champion in the NFC East in over 20 years. Last being the Eagles under Andy Reid. Do the Eagles have as good a shot as anybody? I mean, do you do you see the Commanders or Cowboys being able to compete with the Eagles for the division? Um, compete? Yes. I mean, there’s no question you couldn’t sit inside the stadium uh in New Orleans and watch that performance by the Eagles and not be taken back a little bit. I mean, you know, so, you know, you’re always trying to who’s going to win the game, who’s the better quarterback, who’s going to be this, who’s going to be that, and it’s 34 to nothing. I mean, 34 to nothing. And I I I laughed, you know, I I was surprised by the final score. I was like, how’d they score 21 points? They couldn’t get out of their own way, you know? How did they how did they do that? Um, but it was stunning. And and I think that the bigger question right now is are we seeing the beginning of some kind of a dynasty. You know, we’ve had the eras of we we had the Steelers in the 70s and we had the 49ers in the 80s and we had the Cowboys in the ‘9s and the Patriots and um is this possibly the beginning of something along those lines? I I thought what Vic did with the defense a season ago um was tremendous. Uh they have lost some guys. They’ve lost some some key people uh back there, but uh the the dominance of the players up front uh with Jaylen Carter at the tip of the spear, the the year that uh Zack Bond had, you know, was and and then the two cover guys on the back end, the the young rookies. Uh that’s cornerstone of of championship defense, and we know what they did on offense. So, it’s it feels like it could be a dominant uh team for several years to come, but every time I start thinking that then nobody knows. It’s like, you know, no, what was Al’s favorite line? Al Michaels you nobody knows nothing, you know, and and that’s really kind of the way we all go into it for the beginning of the season. So, you said the word dynasty, and when you look at the roster, there’s no argument. Last year, the Eagles had the best roster in the NFL. They’ve got almost everybody back on offense. Tyler Steen is in there at right guard now. Now, on defense, they lost a lot of guys, a lot of veterans, and they have the youngest defense in the NFL. Is this roster better or worse than last year, but can they grow? I I I don’t think defensively they’re better. I I think that would be hard to say, you know, with Josh Swed and Brandon Graham and Milton Williams and all those guys gone, Darius Lelay. Um the guy that I probably worry about the most is CJ Gardner Johnson being gone. There are some um there’s more colorful ways to say this, but disturbers on a football team, right? Every team has one or two or three. And you’ve got those guys that just keep the pot stirred. And a lot of times the coaches don’t even like them, you know, they’re like, “H, he’s a pain in the ass.” So, you know, but those kinds of guys are special within a football team. And every once in a while, I can remember CJ coming up and making that hit on fourth and one during the regular season and just completely blowing somebody up. I can’t remember who it was. And you just go, “Yeah, that’s CJ.” or, you know, a little fight or an interception down the field or or something. And I know he’s hurt and it doesn’t matter and maybe would have gotten hurt anyway, but I always thought he was a little bit of the juice of this football team, you know, just a little bit of that. So, but certainly the talent that they have and is is going to be great. I I I’ll be interested to see how Adori does or Ringo or whoever it is at that other quarterback position, but u it’s it’s a very good team um defensively, but that’s what we’ll be watching first. Yeah. And I and you mentioned a lot of youth on defense, but we saw Quinnon Mitchell and Cooper De rookie years that they had and then you have Jaylen Carter going into another year and the rookie Jiad Campbell, my goodness, the athleticism he has. Do you think that these guys were great, the young guys in their first year, but next year, this year too, they could actually take another step? Yeah, I think that’s what you have to factor in. Plus, you’ve got second year in Vick’s defense, too. So, you’ve got that added benefit. I’m really anxious to see Jiad Campbell. Uh, the last couple years, I literally cringed. Um, when I saw that whatever it was, eight or nine teams passed on Jaylen Carter, I was like, “This is the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” I had him as the number one player in the draft. I’m we’re doing our own draft show and I’m I’m just going crazy. I’m like, “What is what are they doing?” And I know off the field all that stuff that happened. I I remember all that. But as far as a pure football player, I think he’s one of the best players in the league. I I I I did then coming out in the draft. I do now. I think the partnership that he’s established with Zack Bond, and we’ll talk a lot about that during the the course of the broadcast, uh is going to be amazing. If Jiad Campbell is healthy and does some of the things I saw him do at Alabama, I I I think he has a chance to be another one of those uh value ad sort of guys where he can play multiple roles, play off ball, play on the edge, he can rush the passer, he can cover, he can do a lot of the things. Um, and then at some point you’re going to get Nico Dean back who was playing really well and Jeremiah Troder was playing really well for the Eagles. So, um, yeah, I I probably, you know, we know how athletic Nolan Smith is off the one edge. We’ll keep an eye on Jay Hunt and he had certainly good moments uh off the other edge, but man, you’re nitpicking. you know, if you’re trying to find, you know, maybe who’s the other safety going to be, you know, some of those kinds of things. Who’s how is that corner going to play over there? But yeah, they’re they’re world champs and they were dominant world champs for a reason. The Rams were the only team that even came close to them during the run of the playoffs. So, yeah, they deserve they deserve the attention and they deserve the discussion of is this something that uh really special that could come out of it. Hey, I’m John Clark and we are here in Ben Salem, PA at Make Field Putters. And I got to tell you, we want to thank them for being our new sponsors of the Takeoff Podcast. And I’ve got putting issues when I get out there. I’m 6’5 and I had to get a custom putter. When I got this custom putter here, it changed my putting game. You know, when it’s winter time and we go get jackets, differentiz people need differentiz jackets. Well, we got to get a custom putter for our size, our type of swing, and everything. They break it all down for you. They build up the putter from scratch. They have all the data, the analytics, the statistics to get you to be a good putter. And when I came here to make field putters and I started to use my custom putter, I got to tell you, I make it with Makefield. So, next time you’re on the course with Makefield putters, go Bernies. You just mentioned you think Jaylen Carter is one of the best players in the NFL. He’s the one who closed out that playoff game against the Rams. Um so if we go from Jaylen Carter, one of the best players, Saquon Barkley had one of the best seasons ever for a player in NFL history. But when I look at the 482 touches last year getting to over 2500 total rushing yards, most in NFL history, including playoffs, that 482 touches, can we expect Squan to be the same? You’re not expecting 2,000 yards, but like is there going to be a residual effect from all those touches last year and and the amount of work he got or or do you think he’s just going to keep rolling? Statistics would say yes, that there will be an impact. uh AJ Dylan coming in. Hopefully he can take some of those snaps off of him. Um but sometimes I think about what they did. I mean basically they took away a chance for him to break the record and he was okay with that and and but I it also probably added a little explosiveness to to him in the playoffs and I felt like uh we we saw that as well. But you know Saquon’s had a lot of injuries during the course of his career. Uh but behind this offensive line and he was running into the secondary. So it wasn’t defensive linemen and linebackers that were hitting him like it was with with the Giants. It was defensive backs trying to get him on the ground and good luck there. We didn’t see any of those guys that really had much success trying to do that. So um I I think Squan’s a really special guy. And not only did you get the talent, um, you get a guy that in a locker room you just cheer for and guys want to be around him and the appreciation that I know that he has for this offensive line and should have for that offensive line um, makes for a great partnership. I mean, it really does. That’s to me great teams, legendary teams, dynasties start with great players. And, you know, you go right down the list. I mean, my god, these two tackles are unbelievable. Dickerson’s great. The receivers are both top 10 talent in in the league. Uh, you know, Jaylen, I don’t know what else you want out of Jaylen. You know, he’s he made one mistake in two Super Bowl games. Um, and other than that was nearly perfect in in both of them. He has a a presence in short yardage. He has a presence in the red zone. you you can run them on powers and v various running plays that typically you have to use a running back for. So yeah, it it’s all there. I you know, football is a bizarre game. People get hurt, strange things happen, but at the start of the season for anybody to say anything other than the Eagles should be the favorite, I that’s wrong. You made some really good points there and I want to back up what you said, Saquon Barkley. him and I remember when Jimmy Fallon asked him to come on after they win the Super Bowl and he said I’ll only come on if my offensive line comes with me and then you know he bought them all gifts multiple times. So with that the receivers said one of the reasons why we sacrificed a little bit in the passing game is because of how good a teammate Saquon is and how good he is as a running back. But do you think with Kevin Patulo, who’s been there with Nick the whole time and he’s a passing game coordinator before, do you think we will see a little more passing this year and take some of that pressure off Seaquin? Um, I I I think the answer if you’re an Eagles fan is I hope not. You know, the formula of being able to run at will the way that they were a season ago means something special for wide receivers. It means that you’re going to get one-on-one coverage. And PFF, my company, says that AJ Brown is the number one receiver against man coverage. He is has the best numbers and has had over the last three years. And then you put the deep threat of Dvonte Smith on anybody that tries to cover that guy one-on-one and and with the speed that he brings to the table. So you you’re just these corners for Dallas. I mean assuming that Dallas is going to have to do something in addition to stop the Eagles run game, right? Because a Dallas wasn’t very good at stopping the run anyway last year and the Eagles were great at it. So they’re going to have to commit people out of the secondary to help with that run. And now you’ve got Devonte Smith and you’ve got AJ and you’ve got I mean Dallas Goddard’s good. you know, we saw Calcata make a backhanded one-handed catch, you know, during the course of the year. So, yeah, this is this is if they’re throwing more, it’s not a good sign for the Eagles. If they’re throwing the same or less, I think they win another world championship. Wow. Could be backto back. And you mentioned Dynasty and it’s interesting because I I heard you say this off season that when you do the research and the meetings with the players leading into Sunday Night Football, you obviously meet with Nick Serriani and Jaylen Herz. Did you say that Jaylen when you come into the room and you meet with him is one of the most serious or the most serious people you’ve ever come across in your life? He is. And um you know if he if he flashes a smile you go, “Wow, man. We had a good meeting. That was good.” He actually smiled a little bit. Um, but you also appreciate what he’s done. You know, I can remember going back and watching that national championship game where he got benched and Tua came in and threw the game-winning uh touchdown pass. And I just remember thinking uh not so much about where Tua would go and who knew with that, but I remember thinking that’s the end of Jaylen Herz, right? I that no kid can overcome the the suffering that had to go with actually winning a national championship. Like how could you? And yet he never did. You know, he went in and celebrated with his teammates, but I was like, deep down this guy has to be dying, right? Just literally dying. Then he goes off to Oklahoma and he really developed as a passer. He developed it, you know, he’s one of the most accurate passer. Completed a very high percentage of passes uh there. Kind of got it all back together. drafted in the second round. I remember a lot of the coverage was, “Ah, what are they doing? Who would ever draft a second round quarterback?” You either get them in the top 10 picks or you take them late and hope they develop. And then, you know, but the game has changed. the the game is really evolving to these guys that can hit a high percentage of passes, that can run the football a little bit themselves, take pressure off, and think of how many times the backside of of a defense couldn’t chase Saquon Barkley on a run away because he had to play Jaylen Herz coming out on a potential bootleg or a run himself. So, he’s helping Saquon. He’s setting up the one-on- ons. what he does in the goal line and short yardage situations. Second to none in the history of the league. Yeah. Name anybody else who’s contributed more on the tush pushes and the red zone runs and the reds in the the first downs. So I I I think to look at at at Jaylen from the standpoint of what’s his quarterback rating or how many touchdown passes did he throw is a silly way to look at it. He has in the same way Lamar Jackson has, in the same way Josh Allen has, those quarterbacks now with their ability to use their feet and pressure a defense in other ways and force them to defend extra is is just second to none. And that’s what we’re seeing winning championships right now. Mahomes has it. We’re seeing, you know, uh Jaylen do it, Josh Allen. Those are the those are the guys that are either the MVPs or or winning the championships. And when you talk about a dynasty, you know, I think of Tom Brady and his focus and that chip on his shoulder from where he was drafted and then you see Jaylen Herz, that clip of him saying that first Super Bowl loss against the Chiefs like hurt his soul and it changed his soul. Do you see that when you meet with Jaylen? Kind of like that Tom Brady or Michael Jordan, that focus, that seriousness. Well, what what I think was interesting, I I had a long conversation with Pton Manning and I and I asked him about Jaylen and he goes, “Oh, he calls me all the time.” And I was like, “What?” He said, “Yeah, he calls me all the time. He just wants to talk, I don’t know, whatever you want to call it, the intellectual side of football.” Not how do you throw a ball or how do you drop back or what do you do like how do you practice? How do you prepare? What are you looking at when you drop back? When you run this play, what’s your first read? you know, all those sorts of things. And and I was like, that’s pretty cool. You know, a that Jaylen has the guts to pick up the phone and go, “Hey, Payton, you know, what’s going on? Teach me something I don’t know.” But you get the feeling that that that moment where he was benched in the national championship game. Tua comes in, hits the pass, has never left him. that that you you have a human being that has been stabbed in his heart on the football field before and he never wants to have that feeling again. And so he is going to do everything in his power to make sure he’s ready, his team’s ready, and that they’re going to win championships. And I would think for him, he would never say it out loud, but the feeling that he must have had coming off the field for that Super Bowl win and the vindication for those who said he’ll never even start again in college, much less in the NFL had to be one of the most satisfying moments any human being’s ever had on a football field. And and I’m happy for him. Well, that is fantastic. I I tell you what you just said is fantastic. And I and I I agree. I I did a podcast with Doug Peterson a couple weeks ago and he thinks because of how much he was with Jaylen that all these polls this year, even your guy Chris Sims, I think ranking them ninth, best quarterback, all these Cam Newton left him out of top 10, that that that’s kind of the chip that you kind of need after your Super Bowl MVP to still have that hunger and that chip to get it done again. So, I think he’s got that, right? I don’t think that chip will ever leave his back. I I just don’t I I I I think that you know the great ones have the ability to go and and you know we heard a little bit from Scotty Sheffller this year at the Open, right? He was like, you know, winning is not the end all be all because as soon as you win, you got to do it again, right? like you got to the minute the minute I win this tournament. Yeah, it’s nice for a few hours, but then I I know the pressure is on me to go do it again. And and I I think that’s who Jaylen is. I I think that he is that guy that he probably enjoyed it, but maybe not as much as I would have enjoyed it. I mean, I may have just sobered up now by the time if I had won Super Bowl. But he was he was a guy that you can tell was just locked right back in. And when you get that out of the quarterback position, out of Tom Brady, out of Troy Aman, whoever you want to go to, that that is that that’s that makes a real difference. I completely agree. I think it sets the tone for the entire organization. Well, we appreciate your time, Chris Collinssworth, and we are so looking forward to seeing you again here in Philly. That means the biggest game in town is in Philly, Sunday Night Football on Thursday night to kick off the NFL season. And you remember you remember seven years ago when Nick Fos and the Eagles were playing the Falcons, there was some booing. The Boobirds were out with the Eagles at halftime coming off the Super Bowl. That’s why I love this city and this game the most. It’s uh you don’t have to guess how people feel. Yes. It’s a lot of fun and and but as far as you know I think for television and for football fans you want raw emotion right that that’s what makes the best television and if you’re looking for raw emotion around the game of football you go to Buffalo you go to Philadelphia and that’s where we’re going in weeks for our first and second game so I may be ready to calm down a little bit by week three, but week one that is going to be fantastic. I love it. We look forward to seeing you and we’re going to watch you all season on Sunday Night Football and maybe we will end the season with you again with the possibly. Right. Absolutely. We do the Super Bowl at the end. So, absolutely. You called it seven years ago the first Super Bowl in the history of Philadelphia. Maybe it happens again. The Chris Collinsworth factor. So, we appreciate that. Thanks for your time. Sounds good. Thanks, Sean. The greatest [Music]

This week on the Takeoff podcast, John Clark talks with Sunday Night Football analyst Cris Collinsworth about the Eagles Week 1 matchup against the Cowboys. Plus, is this the start of a new NFL Dynasty?

00:00 – Cris Collinsworth
00:35 – Eagles vs. Cowboys
02:07 – NFC East
04:21 – Eagles Dynasty
06:15 – Eagles Defense
08:48 – Makefield Putters
09:44 – Saquon Barkley
14:40 – Jalen Hurts
17:48 – Learning from Peyton Manning

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