Lane Johnson, Eagles, Daniel Jones discussed on The Bill Simmons Podcast

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That went down. And then the third one, I think this is really important. Don't assume injured stars aren't injured just because they're playing. So the lane Johnson thing. It's like, well, we got lane Johnson back. It's like, do you? The guy's got a torn groin. And you read everything, it's like lane Johnson's going to fight through it. Lane Johnson's going to try to play. It's like, this is their best offensive lineman. He's going to try to play. That doesn't sound great, and then hurts. Well, his shoulder ads, his shoulders better. You mean it's throwing shoulder? It's better? Is it a 100%? Or is it better? What is better means? Does better mean he's going to try to play it? Better means he's going to. So I don't know, those are red flags to me. I don't like that two of their best players are hurt. Let me add some things. It's been 39 days now. We're recording this on Thursday, probably the same to this on Friday or Saturday. It's been 39 days since the eagles have played a good game. And that was against the Giants in MetLife. I was there. I was on the sidelines. And they blew them out. Daniel Jones was sacked two of the first three plays. HA Brown goes nuts to Monte Smith goes nuts, miles Sanders had about a 130 yards. You're talking 40 days since the eagles have put a complete game on there. And now I know minshew was in and Johnson was out and they had all these things. They didn't have to play in week 18 against the Giants, even then they were up 19 zero on Davis Webb and you could say, no, no, no. I think there's something to that. You're telling me it's been more than a month since this eagles team that has earned the number one seed, played like a number one seed. Secondly, you're talking, you're talking 6 weeks. 6 weeks. That's like a lifetime in football. We always talk about what team is peaking at the right time. And I don't like the fact that they haven't played a good all around game in that long. Second part, the Giants last week, guys who were outstanding for them. Xavier McKinney, he'd been hurt all year. A Dory Jackson had been familiar. Leonard Williams didn't play that last game. Was amazing on Sunday against the Vikings. They're actually getting guys back. In November, they pick up Hodgins. He's coming along. He was a curiosity. Hodgins is a legit receiver in the playoffs right now, and he is now finding a chemistry with Daniel Jones. You can go right down the list to even my calf weight, hold on with that Barkley is the other one who looks like the Barkley from the first part of the season again. He had that stretch where I was like, oh man, he took too many hits. But now he looks like Barkley again. He looks good. Kafka, I mean, I thought burkhart and Olsen and I think you and Sal hit it. They were really good on Sunday. And on fourth and one Minnesota goes and has a false start. And that kills on the kick of field goal and that's that. When the Giants have fourth in one, I love that burkhart and Olsen called it out. Hey, week one against the Titans. Debo went for debo went for two. This is who they are and they are that team. They have that personality. So fourth and one, Daniel Jones, quarterback sneak, they get it. They keep on moving they score. They're believing right now. Now, are the eagles too much? Are they too big? Are they too powerful? Remember, eagles kick the shit out of them 40 days ago. Kick the shit out of them. It was maybe the ones lopsided game we've seen in the NFL between two playoff teams this season. And that's the only thing that haunts me here. It's like, wait a second. If the eagles do get back and do turn it on, will this at home with that crowd all day partying, starting at 9 a.m. through 8 30 p.m., ruckus scene. That's a tough place to play if you're a giant squad. I like getting the extra half point. Rule number 6, which has been always a playoff manifesto role was never picking underdog unless you genuinely believe they have a chance to win. Okay. I think the eagles have a chance to win. And I honestly think this line is too high. I think it's a line that you admit you would have made in late November, early December that doesn't factor in a bunch of the stuff we saw, like all the guys the Giants got back. The fact that Hodgins is actually like a legitimate guy who gets open. They have guys open that whole Viking scheme. And you could say it's a Vikings, but I think you can get guys open on that eagle secondary. The key to me, the more I look at this and think about it, and I think about it, if I took the giants, how would I know this was going wrong? Is that they just can't block? Also the first quarter you're not from. You'll know. You'll know. Here comes Hassan Reddick. Well, no. I do think their defense can hold up better than it did the last time because they got all the guys back. The other thing is, Dave ball is going to know if they can't block. He's going to be the guy that knows more than anything. So if he knows that he's going to design a whole offense to either have Jones get rid of the ball fast, design rollouts like all these different things. He's not going to go into this going,

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