Wild Card Weekend Exposes Quarterback, Coaching, and Scheme Vulnerabilities

Key Quotes

"This message was brought to you by Diageo, MADD, and the NFL. Please drink responsibly. Diageo, New York. Visit takeaminutenow.com."

This quote is a public service announcement regarding responsible drinking and planning for safe transportation. The message emphasizes the importance of making a plan to avoid driving impaired, highlighting that it only takes a minute to do so. It serves as a reminder to listeners about safety and responsibility.

"That is Justin Herbert's career EPA in the playoffs now through three games, the worst of any quarterback in the NFL over the past decade in the playoffs, tied with one guy actually. Do you have any guess as to who the one guy is? Not the company minimum of like three playoff games. Well, just it's just total EPA, so it doesn't matter how many playoff games you played. That's his total EPA in the playoffs, negative 22. It's not the guy we'll actually see shortly next week, it's Sam Darnold. It's Sam Darnold. He also has a negative 22 EPA in his playoff career. So Justin Herbert now goes down, but this one, I don't know, man, that offensive line was just dismal in this game."

JP Acosta highlights Justin Herbert's historically poor playoff performance by referencing his career EPA (Expected Points Added). Acosta points out that Herbert's playoff EPA is tied with Sam Darnold, emphasizing the negative statistical trend. This interpretation suggests that Herbert's struggles in the playoffs are a significant concern, despite his overall talent.

"The Eagles punched themselves in the nuts for 60 minutes and then was like, "You know what, we'll just let our defense take over." That, that can't work anymore. We have to, the Eagles need to look themselves in the mirror and decide what they want to be offensively, because this year should, this year should not have happened. This year should not happen with as much talent as they have offensively."

The speaker is criticizing the Philadelphia Eagles' offensive approach during their game. They argue that the team's offensive performance was insufficient for 60 minutes, relying too heavily on their defense to compensate. The speaker believes the Eagles possess too much offensive talent for their season to have ended this way and that they need to re-evaluate their offensive identity.

"I think the thing with Brock Purdy that's the most fun, like you said, is he's going to make some really stupid throws. Like he made some really stupid throws in this game. He made a couple throws that probably should have been intercepted. I don't think, first of all, I don't think the wind helped him at all in this game. There were a lot of passes were done. Yeah, a lot of passes were dying early, but where he really impressed me in this game was his pocket movement. Even though like the Eagles had ferocious pass rush, he, even though they were able to really get after the 49ers offense, Brock Purdy only took one sack."

This quote describes Brock Purdy's performance, acknowledging his tendency to make questionable throws. However, the speaker emphasizes Purdy's impressive pocket movement and ability to avoid sacks despite facing a strong pass rush. This highlights Purdy's resilience and effectiveness in navigating pressure, even when his decision-making is not perfect.

"I think the biggest lie you can tell yourself as a fan is, "They'll be back next year," because you probably won't. But I also think that this Jaguars team, this Jaguars front office has shown that they won't get complacent, and that's the biggest reason why a lot of teams who say they'll be back next year end up not making it back next year because they think they can just run it back."

This quote offers a cautionary perspective for fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The speaker suggests that assuming the team will automatically return to contention next year is a "lie" because teams often fail to replicate success due to complacency. However, the speaker also notes that the Jaguars' front office has demonstrated a commitment to avoiding complacency, which is a positive sign for their future.

"I think Matt LaFleur is a very good coach who again, when you lose Mike Parsons, Davante Wyatt, and for a stretch of this game, Edrin Cooper, three of your most explosive defenders are in the front seven are gone. You're, you're, it's hard to win games that way. And then you also have the loss of Elgton Jenkins on offense side of the ball. You don't have Tucker Kraft. It's very fair to say like, yeah, he deserves another year in Green Bay, but with the way that it ended, being up 21 to 6 against the Bears, I think the fact that it's the Bears makes it a lot worse than the fact that it was 21 to 6, 21 to 3 actually at one point."

The speaker defends Matt LaFleur's coaching by pointing to significant injuries on both offense and defense for the Green Bay Packers. They argue that losing key players like Mike Parsons and Elgton Jenkins makes winning difficult. Despite these challenges, the speaker acknowledges that the manner in which the Packers lost a substantial lead to the Bears makes the situation particularly disappointing.