In The Crosshairs

In the 2023 season, the Philadelphia Eagles will face one of the most daunting schedules in the NFL.

On the latest episode of “Inside The Birds,” Adam Caplan and Geoff Mosher were joined by special guest Greg Cosell to break down the teams the Eagles are set to play in the first half of the season. 

For the second year in a row, the Eagles will play the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2 on primetime and match up against one of the top WRs in the game in Justin Jefferson

New England Patriots

Greg Cosell: “One of the things Bill O’Brien has always been a big believer in is empty formations. That allows the quarterback to see what the defense is doing pre-snap. Mac Jones is an executor and a ball distributor, so what you have to do is give him every tool in the toolbox so he can do that prior to the snap of the ball.”

Minnesota Vikings

Cosell: “What you are going to get from Brian Flores is pressure. This defense will look totally different than the Ed Donatell defense from a year ago…I think they have a lot of talent on offense, we know who (Justin) Jefferson is, they are counting on (Jordan) Addison to step right in as a starter, I like K.J. Osborn as a number three quite a bit and he showed that a year ago. Kirk Cousins has two or three games a year where he is bad, but for the most part Cousins is a pretty efficient player who puts up good numbers.”

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Cosell: “The o-line becomes critical no matter who the quarterback is. Even though Baker Mayfield has lighter feet than Kyle Trask, you wouldn’t call Mayfield a second reaction quarterback. Their running game is still a question mark as well. I like Rachaad White, but we don’t know what he is if he has to be the guy that they want to give 220-230 carries to.”

Washington Commanders

Cosell: “Offensively, I don’t think there will be a lot of mystery. With Sam Howell, who will be their quarterback barring anything unforeseen, and their running backs, this is going to be a grind-it-out offense and let Howell work off of that.”

New York Jets

Cosell: “Say what you want about Aaron Rodgers, was he great last year? No. Does he move around as well as he once did? I would say the answer is no. We have no idea what effect the broken finger had. But I would bet Rodgers will play well this year. And they have weapons. Defensively, there is a lot of talent. The Jets have a lot of talent, top to bottom, on their roster.”

Miami Dolphins

Cosell: “Everyone has the sense that Vic Fangio just plays split safety. He starts with that look, but goes to a lot of different things. It’s not a static defense by any means. When you have two corners that can lineup and play press-man coverage, it really enhances your options with the rest of the defense and the tactics that are now available to you…They were more of a passing team a year ago than a running team. It’s very hard to press (Jaylen) Waddle and (Tyreek) Hill but you need to when they are static because their pass game is so rhythm based. If you give Waddle and Hill free access off of the ball, then they just catch the ball on the move.”

Dallas Cowboys

Cosell: “They are essentially making Micah Parsons a defensive end…One reason is because Damone Clark played well last year. He would have been higher than fifth round pick if there was no injury.”

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

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