Help Wanted: Nickelback

The 8-1 Philadelphia Eagles survived a divisional bloodbath, ultimately beating the Dallas Cowboys 28-23 in a wild finish despite injuries and missteps.

On the Week 9 edition of “Inside The Birds Postgame Live,” former Eagles tight end Clay Harbor joined Adam Caplan and Geoff Mosher to discuss what went wrong and what went right in the team’s latest victory.

The Eagles have had to adjust their offensive scheme based on Jalen Hurts’ knee

Slot Cornerback

Clay Harbor: “The Cowboys were able to take advantage of those matchups…overall, the defense did okay, but you have to have a matchup in the slot. Slot defender, outside of quarterback, is the hardest position to play in the NFL. People asking why we can’t move (Darius) Slay or (James) Bradberry in there, that’s like saying why can’t we move Dallas Goedert out to wide receiver. It’s a different position, you can’t just move this guy and expect him to play like that. You saw Slay in certain times playing one-on-one against CeeDee Lamb when they were playing man-to-man coverage, but that’s not what Slay does or Bradberry does. They are outside corners.”

Adam Caplan: “The Eagles are the only NFL team playing without a true nickel corner, it is a problem and it’s not going away because we are past the trade deadline. The hope is after the bye that Bradley Roby at least starts practicing. If they don’t have a nickel corner, I don’t see how they can compete.”

Eagles D-Line

Geoff Mosher: “I think it was a good game for the defensive line going up against a good offensive line. They are not going to get a whole lot of pressure all of the time, but when they did, it really helped.”

Jalen Hurts

Harbor: “You can’t say enough about this guy. He has the knee issue, it’s like you are taking one of a baseball player’s best pitches, he’s not the same player. This guy is not able to run the ball, but this guy is getting done from inside the pocket and is one tough S.O.B.”

Mosher: “The zone read element of the Eagles offense has been taking out with Hurts not keeping the ball and not running. Over the last three weeks, the Eagles rank 31st in the NFL in yards-per-carry and 20th overall in rushing yards total.”

Dallas Goedert

Harbor: “If Goedert is out, [the zone read] is going to be even tougher. We don’t know what Goedert’s injury is right now, but if he is out that is huge. It takes away some of the threat down the middle of the field, he is a good blocker in the run game. To me, the weakest position depth wise is tight end. Grant Calcaterra, Jack Stoll, and Albert O, to go from Goedert to these three guys is the biggest drop almost anywhere on the roster.”

– Benjamin Paul is a staff writer for InsideTheBirds.com.