The Gauntlet

The second half of the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2024 schedule will be heavy on divisional rivals as well as playoff contenders.

On the latest episode of “Inside The Birds,” Adam Caplan and Geoff Mosher provided intel on the matchups in the second half of the season.

GETTY IMAGES: The Los Angeles Rams and QB Matthew Stafford will look to carry over their 2023 success into ’24/

Dallas Cowboys

Adam Caplan: “Mike Zimmer is so beloved by that organization. You bring in Zimmer who runs an old school 4-3, it is not hard to figure out what is coming. He doesn’t do the Double-A gap blitzes as much as he used to. The difference is Dan Quinn ran a hybrid scheme. Micah Parsons is going to play with his hand down.”

Geoff Mosher: “They are going to throw it a lot. Dak (Prescott) really improved last year. You started to see the quickness back in his game and the ability to extend the chains by running and picking up the first down.”

Washington Commanders

Caplan: “They are going to be super 11 personnel, some 10, under Kliff Kingsbury…their biggest issue is going to be the offensive line. With the Eagles front, they should be able to handle this.”

Mosher: “They really don’t have much at edge rusher. They are going to have to manufacture pressure which is different than what Dan Quinn had in Dallas where he just lined up Micah (Parsons) wherever he wanted.”

Los Angeles Rams

Mosher: “I am on Rams island. When Matthew Stafford is healthy, the Rams are tough. Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua are a pretty good 1-2. Big offensive line improvements and Blake Corum is a guy who is going to fit what they want to do really well because he is a great inside runner. They are now an inside zone team, power up the middle, run a lot of duo, not the wide zone team they used to be.”

Caplan: “They are going to keep the same defense, but Chris Shula has never called a defense so this is going to be different for them. They are not going to have Aaron Donald, they have Braden Fiske…They are not great at corner. If I am the Eagles, and we know this is coming because this is what Kellen Moore does, I spread them out, coming out heavy throwing against that secondary.” 

Baltimore Ravens

Caplan: “I thought they were going to get the Derrick Henry trade done at the deadline. They were so close. They got him now. Lamar Jackson should not be running as much.”

Mosher: “Mike Macdonald really brought the simulated pressure to that defense. Zach Orr, who was the linebackers coach, does he continue that? That gave teams problems. The philosophy was so sound.”

Pittsburgh Steelers

Mosher: “I love almost every single one of their additions except at the most important position [quarterback]. They did bring in Arthur Smith, the former Falcons head coach, to be their offensive coordinator so they want to run the ball. If you want to run the ball, you draft offensive lineman and get back to playing Steelers football. They drafted Troy Fautanu, Zach Frazier, the center out of West Virginia who should start day one. This is a good o-line.” 

Caplan: “They run an old school 34 defense. They play a high percentage of man coverage compared to other teams.”

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