February 3, 2025 • 11 mins
NBC Sports Philadelphia Eagles beat writer Dave Zangaro joins The A-Team, ahead of this week's Eagles-Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl. He talks about what got the Eagles to this game. Plus, a name that the Eagles will not be able to consider for their soon to likely be vacant offensive coordinator position, if Kellen Moore does indeed become the next head coach of the New Orleans Saints. That's because the Texans hired Nick Caley as their new offensive coordinator.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Super Bowl Week. Oh yeah, that they're in
football land, and to that end, the teams arrived there
and are fully engrossed in their preparations for this little
old football game that matches up two teams who actually
know each other fairly well, despite being obviously in other conferences.
And we're going to talk a little bit about the game.
(00:21):
Thought we might have a different topic to discuss with
our guests from NBC Sports Philadelphia. In a familiar name
to Houstonians, Dave Zengero has been covering the Eagles since
he was once covering the Texans here in Houston just
a couple of years back. Always great to catch up
with you, especially since so many of us that worked
here together then are out there doing all this great work,
(00:43):
whether it's on the NFL side or elsewhere. But you're
back covering the Eagles in the Super Bowl. They had
a remarkably good season. Did you ever even doubt that
they would get at least to the NFC Championship game
once it was finalized in the offseason that, hey sake, one,
Barkley's coming aboard.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yeah, I mean, they were just gonna talk to you guys,
by the way, but Yeah, there were some moments earlier
this year where things were not going well. They were
two and two after the first four games. We had
a really early week five by Yeah, and at that point,
I mean, things weren't great because they went through the
offseason with head coach Nick Sirianni and they kind of
let him wait out there for nine days whether or
(01:23):
not they were going to bring him back. After the
collapse of twenty twenty three, they'd bring him back. And
then things weren't great early on. They were two and two.
They just lost to the Tampa Bay Bucks, the team
that knocked him out of the playoffs going into the
bye week. So yeah, there were some sketchy moments early
on in the season, but then after the bye week
they rattle off ten straight wins. They only lost one
game since then, and it was a game where Jalen
(01:45):
Hurts left early with the concussion. So they really turned
things around on both sides of the football. But yeah,
I don't think it was like a guaranteed thing that
they'd be this far.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Yeah, it's interesting that one game you mentioned that they
lost also required the Commanders basically go off in the
fourth quarter and score twenty two points three touchdowns just
to hand them the only loss they've suffered since then.
A lot of get to with Philadelphia, but I indicated
we would have had another question for you about the
OC from that twenty three collapse season in Philadelphia, with
(02:16):
Brian Johnson being among the eight candidates interviewed here in
Houston for the then vacant offensive coordinator job when I
spoke with you earlier, but now no longer vacant OC job,
and that Nick Kayley has been named the Texans new OC.
The Eagles played the Rams each of the last two
seasons while Kaylee was tight ends coach and this year
he was also their past game coordinator. And obviously you're
(02:38):
familiar with a lot of the tenants of the McVeigh offense.
Does anything stand out to you as the really really
good Eagles defense the past two seasons, especially this year,
faced what the Rams like to do? What you'd take
out of that to maybe share with Texans fans looking
forward to what Knicks bringing to the table.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Sure, And it was funny because Nick Kelly was actually
a name those on my radar because the Eagles are
probably going to have to find a new offensive coordinator
at some point this offseason if Kellen Moore gets the
same job, which it kind of looks like that's the
way things are going. So yeah, I think Kayley is
one of those guys who he was going to get
an offensive coordinator job at some point here soon, and
he was a name that was like firmly on my radar. Yeah,
(03:19):
I mean I think we all kind of know the
tenants of that offense. Now the Eagles in this season
have Vic Fangio, and Fangio has kind of been the
one guy to really slow down that offensive system, whether
it's McVeigh or laflor like, he's been kind of the
stopper of that offense. But yeah, it's a fun, innovative
offense that puts a lot of stress on defense. I think,
(03:40):
you know, the preestat motion is what gets all the acclaim,
but you have to be really good with your communication
when you face an offense like that. It puts so
much stress on a defense to make sure that your
eyes are disciplined and you're not getting lost in the sauce,
so to speak. With all the stuff that they do,
that that eye candy that they like to throw out there,
(04:00):
it's a lot and there's a reason so many of
those guys have gone on to have success, and there's
a reason that so many offenses around the league are
trying to mimic that it works, and it's worked for
a lot of different teams. So I think it's a
pretty good hire for the Texas. I think it's a
different way to go about this. I'm interested to see.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
How it works. Dave, I'm going to cut to the chase.
What does it feel like knowing that most of America
is rooting for the team that you cover? Given the
chiefs dominance and what's happened recently with it, may have
been a factor, may not be so much a factor
with the officials, but it's definitely being talked about.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah, you know, it's interesting. I don't even know if
I really have that perspective. I'm so insulated in my
own little world that, yeah, I understand why that would
be the case. You have a team that's really dominant.
I think there are some people rooting for the dominant
team and they want to see history with the three
P but you're probably right that more people are rooting
against that history being made. And honestly, I do think
(04:59):
the Eagles, maybe aside from their head coach who kind
of rubs people the wrong way. I think they are
a very likable team. I think they have likable players
and kind of a lot of amazing storylines with this team,
whether Sawon Barkley finally getting a chance to be on
a really good team and rushing for two thousand yards,
or you know, Zach Bond middle linebacker comes out of
nowhere now playing in the city that drafted him as
(05:23):
an All Pro player Defensive Player of the Year finalists, like,
there are a lot of individual stories that make the
Eagles kind of fun to root for, So I think
it only makes sense that a lot of folks from
around the country are kind of getting on board and
hoping to see them win.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
You mentioned a lot of those players, and it does.
It takes the guys maybe having insane years individually anytime
a team gets to the Super Bowl. But I know
Wex and I have talked about this a lot. Have
you ever thought about, you know, whether or not your
team or the Eagles would be there where they are
at right now. Had Saquon Barkley come down to Houston,
(05:59):
where a lot of people thought he had a better
than average chance of signing I mean, is he Is
he really the thing that put them over the top
in your opinion.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yeah, I mean absolutely, And look, I don't know if
he would have had the success like to this level
anywhere else, just because the Eagles offensive line is so good.
It's a dominant offensive line, and it's he has Jalen
Hurts the quarterback with that plus one in the run game,
so it's kind of like a perfect storm for Saekuon
to have this two thousand yard season. But yeah, it's
(06:30):
you know, it's hard to imagine where this team would
be the Eagles without him this year, because not only
has he been great, but he's changed the complexion of
their offense. Early in the year. This is a past
first team. Jalen Hurts averaged thirty three pass attempts in
the first four games of the season. He hasn't thrown
that many passes in a game since. Like this has
become just a purely run the football team and on
(06:52):
occasion to let him air it out. But this is
a run first team with the best running back in football,
the best offensive line in football, and I think it's
also become kind of their calling card as a team.
They're a tough, physical team. They're going to bully you,
and it starts with that offensive line in Barkley. Yeah,
I don't think that they're here without him for sure.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Curious on that same storyline Ac initially brought up to
you as clearly being a storyline here. We know for
a fact the Texans talked about it. We talked to
them and they gave us these answers. They were concerned, aware,
wary of the fact that they knew Kansas City was
going to get called. Sean McDermott has said the same
thing as they went into their game with the Chiefs.
(07:35):
This was discussed by the teams before they played them
and clearly was on their minds. Do you believe Sirianni
will avoid it do the same thing, maybe not acknowledge it.
How do they attack this game and I guess not
bring this topic up.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I think they'll acknowledge it to the level they acknowledge
any game and referees and go through what has been
called to get their team ready. I don't think it's
going to be them harping on man. The refs really
have helped the Chiefs out and this and that, Like,
I don't think that's really in their makeup to go
overboard with it. I think there will be you know,
(08:12):
on tape like hey, this this particular call gets called
with this team, be aware of it, try not to
do it. But I really think they're going to hesitate
to go overboard with it, and that's kind of been
their mo for a long time here. You like, even
think back to the last Super Bowl between these two
teams and there was a really questionable holding call on
James Bradburry that kind of led to the to the
(08:33):
final result, and the Eagles never made excuses for it.
It was technically a hold and they called it and
that was it. I think that they try to avoid
those types of things. They don't want to even make
it look like they're making excuses preemptively, and they I
think they're very cognitant of that. But yeah, they'll prepare
similar to other games, where you know, if this is
(08:55):
a call that that team tends to get a lot,
they'll be aware of it and try to limit those You.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Brought up the game that I think is inevitable to
be a storyline. And not only did they play in
the Super Bowl, it was just two years ago. So
the particulars a lot of them. Well, they were out
there in the middle of all this stuff. You know,
the leading you know, past catchers for Jalen Hurts were
all there, with Smith, Goddard and aj Brown. He's obviously back,
a very significant change behind him. And you could even
(09:22):
say similarly with Pacheco and Kelsey and Smith, Schuster and Mahomes.
And this was a great super Bowl and one that
ended essentially on the final play with a field goal attempt.
I actually expected to be very similar. I don't I
don't know. Is revenge on the minds of the Eagles.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
No one's gonna admit that. But I think there are
certainly people in that locker room who were there for
the last game that were happy that this is the
matchup in this one. I think that they felt like
that game was there for them to win. Two years ago.
They were up ten at halftime when Patrick Mahomes went
off the field, and I feel a lot of people
thought that we're going to win that Super Bowl, and
(10:02):
then there was this, you know, it didn't work for
them in the second half. So I think there are
certainly players in that locker room who were excited to
draw the Chiefs in this one. I think both defenses
are better now than they were two years ago, so
it might not be as high scoring as that game was.
But you never know. You get to this game and
a lot of times everything you thought is going to
happen just doesn't work out that way ultimately. Like, look
(10:25):
at the talent level, I think the Eagles are a
more talented team than they were in twenty two, and
I honestly don't think the Chiefs are as talented as
they were two years ago. I think the Eagles are
a more talented team in this game, but that doesn't
necessarily mean they're going to win it, right, Like if
it's a close game in the fourth quarter and fifteen
has the ball, you know, I think that we all
(10:46):
kind of know what happens in those situations. And that's
to me, what makes this game so fascinating is that
the more talented team might not win it.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
It's a very interesting way to put it, especially the
people here in Houston who watched their playoff game. Again,
it's the Chiefs, Dave. We really appreciate the time as always,
the big easy enjoy it.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Go birds.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Al Right, guys, take care
Welcome to Super Bowl Week. Oh yeah, that they're in
football land, and to that end, the teams arrived there
and are fully engrossed in their preparations for this little
old football game that matches up two teams who actually
know each other fairly well, despite being obviously in other conferences.
And we're going to talk a little bit about the game.
(00:21):
Thought we might have a different topic to discuss with
our guests from NBC Sports Philadelphia. In a familiar name
to Houstonians, Dave Zengero has been covering the Eagles since
he was once covering the Texans here in Houston just
a couple of years back. Always great to catch up
with you, especially since so many of us that worked
here together then are out there doing all this great work,
(00:43):
whether it's on the NFL side or elsewhere. But you're
back covering the Eagles in the Super Bowl. They had
a remarkably good season. Did you ever even doubt that
they would get at least to the NFC Championship game
once it was finalized in the offseason that, hey sake, one,
Barkley's coming aboard.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
Yeah, I mean, they were just gonna talk to you guys,
by the way, but Yeah, there were some moments earlier
this year where things were not going well. They were
two and two after the first four games. We had
a really early week five by Yeah, and at that point,
I mean, things weren't great because they went through the
offseason with head coach Nick Sirianni and they kind of
let him wait out there for nine days whether or
(01:23):
not they were going to bring him back. After the
collapse of twenty twenty three, they'd bring him back. And
then things weren't great early on. They were two and two.
They just lost to the Tampa Bay Bucks, the team
that knocked him out of the playoffs going into the
bye week. So yeah, there were some sketchy moments early
on in the season, but then after the bye week
they rattle off ten straight wins. They only lost one
game since then, and it was a game where Jalen
(01:45):
Hurts left early with the concussion. So they really turned
things around on both sides of the football. But yeah,
I don't think it was like a guaranteed thing that
they'd be this far.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Yeah, it's interesting that one game you mentioned that they
lost also required the Commanders basically go off in the
fourth quarter and score twenty two points three touchdowns just
to hand them the only loss they've suffered since then.
A lot of get to with Philadelphia, but I indicated
we would have had another question for you about the
OC from that twenty three collapse season in Philadelphia, with
(02:16):
Brian Johnson being among the eight candidates interviewed here in
Houston for the then vacant offensive coordinator job when I
spoke with you earlier, but now no longer vacant OC job,
and that Nick Kayley has been named the Texans new OC.
The Eagles played the Rams each of the last two
seasons while Kaylee was tight ends coach and this year
he was also their past game coordinator. And obviously you're
(02:38):
familiar with a lot of the tenants of the McVeigh offense.
Does anything stand out to you as the really really
good Eagles defense the past two seasons, especially this year,
faced what the Rams like to do? What you'd take
out of that to maybe share with Texans fans looking
forward to what Knicks bringing to the table.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Sure, And it was funny because Nick Kelly was actually
a name those on my radar because the Eagles are
probably going to have to find a new offensive coordinator
at some point this offseason if Kellen Moore gets the
same job, which it kind of looks like that's the
way things are going. So yeah, I think Kayley is
one of those guys who he was going to get
an offensive coordinator job at some point here soon, and
he was a name that was like firmly on my radar. Yeah,
(03:19):
I mean I think we all kind of know the
tenants of that offense. Now the Eagles in this season
have Vic Fangio, and Fangio has kind of been the
one guy to really slow down that offensive system, whether
it's McVeigh or laflor like, he's been kind of the
stopper of that offense. But yeah, it's a fun, innovative
offense that puts a lot of stress on defense. I think,
(03:40):
you know, the preestat motion is what gets all the acclaim,
but you have to be really good with your communication
when you face an offense like that. It puts so
much stress on a defense to make sure that your
eyes are disciplined and you're not getting lost in the sauce,
so to speak. With all the stuff that they do,
that that eye candy that they like to throw out there,
(04:00):
it's a lot and there's a reason so many of
those guys have gone on to have success, and there's
a reason that so many offenses around the league are
trying to mimic that it works, and it's worked for
a lot of different teams. So I think it's a
pretty good hire for the Texas. I think it's a
different way to go about this. I'm interested to see.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
How it works. Dave, I'm going to cut to the chase.
What does it feel like knowing that most of America
is rooting for the team that you cover? Given the
chiefs dominance and what's happened recently with it, may have
been a factor, may not be so much a factor
with the officials, but it's definitely being talked about.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah, you know, it's interesting. I don't even know if
I really have that perspective. I'm so insulated in my
own little world that, yeah, I understand why that would
be the case. You have a team that's really dominant.
I think there are some people rooting for the dominant
team and they want to see history with the three
P but you're probably right that more people are rooting
against that history being made. And honestly, I do think
(04:59):
the Eagles, maybe aside from their head coach who kind
of rubs people the wrong way. I think they are
a very likable team. I think they have likable players
and kind of a lot of amazing storylines with this team,
whether Sawon Barkley finally getting a chance to be on
a really good team and rushing for two thousand yards,
or you know, Zach Bond middle linebacker comes out of
nowhere now playing in the city that drafted him as
(05:23):
an All Pro player Defensive Player of the Year finalists, like,
there are a lot of individual stories that make the
Eagles kind of fun to root for, So I think
it only makes sense that a lot of folks from
around the country are kind of getting on board and
hoping to see them win.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
You mentioned a lot of those players, and it does.
It takes the guys maybe having insane years individually anytime
a team gets to the Super Bowl. But I know
Wex and I have talked about this a lot. Have
you ever thought about, you know, whether or not your
team or the Eagles would be there where they are
at right now. Had Saquon Barkley come down to Houston,
(05:59):
where a lot of people thought he had a better
than average chance of signing I mean, is he Is
he really the thing that put them over the top
in your opinion.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Yeah, I mean absolutely, And look, I don't know if
he would have had the success like to this level
anywhere else, just because the Eagles offensive line is so good.
It's a dominant offensive line, and it's he has Jalen
Hurts the quarterback with that plus one in the run game,
so it's kind of like a perfect storm for Saekuon
to have this two thousand yard season. But yeah, it's
(06:30):
you know, it's hard to imagine where this team would
be the Eagles without him this year, because not only
has he been great, but he's changed the complexion of
their offense. Early in the year. This is a past
first team. Jalen Hurts averaged thirty three pass attempts in
the first four games of the season. He hasn't thrown
that many passes in a game since. Like this has
become just a purely run the football team and on
(06:52):
occasion to let him air it out. But this is
a run first team with the best running back in football,
the best offensive line in football, and I think it's
also become kind of their calling card as a team.
They're a tough, physical team. They're going to bully you,
and it starts with that offensive line in Barkley. Yeah,
I don't think that they're here without him for sure.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Curious on that same storyline Ac initially brought up to
you as clearly being a storyline here. We know for
a fact the Texans talked about it. We talked to
them and they gave us these answers. They were concerned, aware,
wary of the fact that they knew Kansas City was
going to get called. Sean McDermott has said the same
thing as they went into their game with the Chiefs.
(07:35):
This was discussed by the teams before they played them
and clearly was on their minds. Do you believe Sirianni
will avoid it do the same thing, maybe not acknowledge it.
How do they attack this game and I guess not
bring this topic up.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
I think they'll acknowledge it to the level they acknowledge
any game and referees and go through what has been
called to get their team ready. I don't think it's
going to be them harping on man. The refs really
have helped the Chiefs out and this and that, Like,
I don't think that's really in their makeup to go
overboard with it. I think there will be you know,
(08:12):
on tape like hey, this this particular call gets called
with this team, be aware of it, try not to
do it. But I really think they're going to hesitate
to go overboard with it, and that's kind of been
their mo for a long time here. You like, even
think back to the last Super Bowl between these two
teams and there was a really questionable holding call on
James Bradburry that kind of led to the to the
(08:33):
final result, and the Eagles never made excuses for it.
It was technically a hold and they called it and
that was it. I think that they try to avoid
those types of things. They don't want to even make
it look like they're making excuses preemptively, and they I
think they're very cognitant of that. But yeah, they'll prepare
similar to other games, where you know, if this is
(08:55):
a call that that team tends to get a lot,
they'll be aware of it and try to limit those You.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Brought up the game that I think is inevitable to
be a storyline. And not only did they play in
the Super Bowl, it was just two years ago. So
the particulars a lot of them. Well, they were out
there in the middle of all this stuff. You know,
the leading you know, past catchers for Jalen Hurts were
all there, with Smith, Goddard and aj Brown. He's obviously back,
a very significant change behind him. And you could even
(09:22):
say similarly with Pacheco and Kelsey and Smith, Schuster and Mahomes.
And this was a great super Bowl and one that
ended essentially on the final play with a field goal attempt.
I actually expected to be very similar. I don't I
don't know. Is revenge on the minds of the Eagles.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
No one's gonna admit that. But I think there are
certainly people in that locker room who were there for
the last game that were happy that this is the
matchup in this one. I think that they felt like
that game was there for them to win. Two years ago.
They were up ten at halftime when Patrick Mahomes went
off the field, and I feel a lot of people
thought that we're going to win that Super Bowl, and
(10:02):
then there was this, you know, it didn't work for
them in the second half. So I think there are
certainly players in that locker room who were excited to
draw the Chiefs in this one. I think both defenses
are better now than they were two years ago, so
it might not be as high scoring as that game was.
But you never know. You get to this game and
a lot of times everything you thought is going to
happen just doesn't work out that way ultimately. Like, look
(10:25):
at the talent level, I think the Eagles are a
more talented team than they were in twenty two, and
I honestly don't think the Chiefs are as talented as
they were two years ago. I think the Eagles are
a more talented team in this game, but that doesn't
necessarily mean they're going to win it, right, Like if
it's a close game in the fourth quarter and fifteen
has the ball, you know, I think that we all
(10:46):
kind of know what happens in those situations. And that's
to me, what makes this game so fascinating is that
the more talented team might not win it.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
It's a very interesting way to put it, especially the
people here in Houston who watched their playoff game. Again,
it's the Chiefs, Dave. We really appreciate the time as always,
the big easy enjoy it.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
Go birds.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
Al Right, guys, take care
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