Jon Marks, 94WIP Afternoon Host

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Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today. I'm Larry Mullins, host of the podcast Your Weirdest Fears, the show that explores the odd things that make your heart stop. I am so scared of the Grinch. He is bad vibes. We talk to everyone from therapists to exterminators to lizard man. I was 25 when I actually got my tongue split.

I have one tattoo that covers my entire body. Listen and subscribe on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts from. Johnny Marks, how you been? They only give me the great shifts at CBS Sports Radio. I said I want the absolute best shift and they gave me 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.

Here's the thing. I've actually heard from a little birdie that you preferred to do that shift on the weekends and I used to do that shift and I wasn't a big successful afternoon drive host. It was a good starting point for my career, but I'm surprised that you're still doing that shift.

Yeah, I am too. I mean, honestly, I've been doing it for a year and a half. No, like, so I have three kids and working all week. You know, doing an afternoon show on Saturday or Sunday is tough. So the only time I could not miss family type stuff and games or whatever was in the middle of the night when everybody's sleeping. But I mean, I absolutely love it.

I know Ryan does the other the night before, but I love it. It's great. Everybody's listening. I got a good audience going.

I know you did it for a while as well. I really like it. I really enjoy it.

So it's fun. The toughest part about that show is just simply staying awake. And I love how you Instagram live and you look so tired, my friend, when you're in the basement. Yeah, I look terrible.

I get people that get people that messaged me. John, are you OK? And I'm like, just so you know, that's not like you're not making me feel better asking me if I'm OK. I am OK. More or less what you're saying is I look like crap. So but yeah, it's it's worth it.

I enjoy getting up and doing it. I sometimes wonder when I see the Johnny Marks Instagram live session, if maybe you're doing what potentially Nick Sirianni was doing in that facility that made him order some Pizza Hut, because I think Sirianni had the munchies. That's the only reason you ordered Pizza Hut. Well, listen, the stuffed crust pizza would definitely be a munchy item. If I was under the influence of something, I would probably go stuffed crust before I'd go regular crust. It's actually good munchy insight from you, Zach. Yes. And I only know from my time as a student at Temple University, which was the first and last time I ever ordered Pizza Hut down on Broad Street. It is the Zach Gelb show on CBS Sports Radio. Johnny Marks here with us.

All right. So let's start with Sirianni. It's kind of crazy how now we talk about him, because just like Doug, when he was hired, this was not a popular hire. No, because he you know, when he got hired, they called him and said, hey, we want to interview you.

And he's like, huh? He was on vacation. He never closed for the interview. He had to go to Ross or T.J. Maxx to get a suit and then come to the interview. And he got the job.

Right. So I think he was like kind of pinching himself, being like, is this real? But from that opening press conference that he had where he was, he looked like a deer in the headlights. And I think a lot of people from that press conference were like, what the hell? This this guy can't come to Philadelphia and be a successful head coach. Very Adam Gase like, oh, my God, man.

Yeah. Like the eyes of Adam Gase and Nick Sirianni, whatever the hell he was talking about. But he's done a really good job. And this isn't like a Sean McVeigh or Kyle Shanahan, where you're you're getting him for him being an offensive genius. He's not calling plays anymore, although he has an offensive coach's background.

He was a coordinator, offensive coordinator in Indianapolis. But the guys play for him. The guys like him. He's he's a tough coach.

He's not a pushover. He coaches these guys tough and he lets the coordinators do their job. And by the way, they have a ton of talent on the team and talent wins and he's done a good job managing everything. So it's almost like like Sean McDermott's a defensive coach with a defensive background. So he's not making calls on offense or defense. It's kind of what Nick Sirianni is doing as a coach with an offensive background, which isn't normally what happens with head coaches that have an offensive background. It's a tough question, but who do you think is the coaching advantage on Saturday night? Is it Brian Dayball with the Giants or Nick Sirianni with the Eagles?

It's a really good question. And being that Sirianni actually has head coaching experience in the NFL and was in a playoff game last year that he lost and Dayball. This is the first time that he is an NFL head coach. You know, I would probably still say Dayball just because he he has being the offensive play caller and being the head coach and seeing what he's done to turn around. If Joe judges the coach of the Giants this year, they probably have four or five wins. So to see the actual the actual first year influence and directly how he changed the organization, it feels like Dayball against Sirianni.

Like, all right, like Dayball is like he's I consider him more of an offensive genius than Nick Sirianni. But then also with Wink Martindale, the fact that you have a guy that has seen so much and this is a playoff game. And I'm sure he's been studying what the Eagles and Jalen hurts do on offense. And I'm sure he's got a game plan coming in that's going to try to stifle what the Eagles do. I listen to a bunch and I know a lot of Eagles fans and you got to be mad about something, even when it's a year where the number one overall seed have been bitching about Jonathan Gannon. And then you hear about him maybe becoming a head coach this offseason as well. Where's the Eagle fan confidence in their defensive coordinator entering the postseason? Like you said, let's like Jonathan Gannon could get a head coaching job.

Let's drive on the Houston, right? I hate him. I chalk it up to this being a blue collar town that had Buddy Ryan in the 80s, in the early 90s that had Jim Johnson, who was the coordinators of those good Eagles teams in the 2000s. And they like the blitz and they like to get after the quarterback.

And they were creative in how they like to do it. And Jonathan Gannon is very much a 20, 23 defensive coordinator. They're not doing a lot of blitzing. They're playing a lot of, you know, like keep everything in front of you. And we're going to let you make a mistake or we're going to try to hold you to a field goal. You're not going to make big plays over the top of us. And it feels like that's how a lot of defensive coordinators play it these days. And Jonathan Gannon does that. But what Eagles fans need, I think take a step back and look at is that this team has been really good defensively this year.

They've set secret. They've set NFL records in some sack categories. They've set team records in sack categories.

And if you just look across the board, this is the best defense the Eagles have had in years. Yeah, I went to college with the son Redica. I love Hassan Redick and I know how good of a player he can be. That was not a move that, you know, barely got any national recognition.

I still feel as if it's flying under the radar. He's been awesome. The three year contract. He had 16 sacks. The Eagles last year had 29 sacks as a team. Hassan Redick had 16 sacks this year.

I mean, think about that. Fifty five percent of the sacks they had last year, Hassan Redick had this year. So and that also has now a trickle down effect to where Brandon Graham doesn't have to play as many snaps on as in defensive end. He's more of a rotational guy now.

He's fresher. He has double digit sacks. Same thing with Josh Sweat, who had double digit sacks.

And then Javon Hargrave in the middle as a defensive tackle. Four players had double digit sacks on the Eagles. They had 29 sacks as a team last year.

So it's pretty crazy the year to year. I mean, when you sign a defensive end like Hassan Redick to a three year contract and he's making some money, but it's not a hundred million dollar contract. You get 16 sacks a year. One out of that out of that free agent contract.

That is a win. So there was a lot of optimism with this team. I said it right at the draft when they traded for A.J. Brown, Johnny Marks, that the Eagles were going to win the division. I had Brandon Graham on right after they abused Carson Wentz at FedEx Field and they sacked him like 9000 times. And he said on the air that day that he thinks this team this year, and this was earlier in the year, is better than the team that won the Super Bowl. For you, when did you realize this team was special, maybe even better than what people were given credit for?

And I was a very much a nine and eight. I was not high on the Eagles this year. I still thought they were a borderline playoff team, but the success they had last year running the football and then what they look like against Tampa in the playoffs last year. Jalen Hurts needed to take the next step. He needed to become a much better passer for this team to be better. And I thought with the off season and being held defensive coordinators will now plan for the Eagles and that will game plan for what Jalen Hurts does.

Well, Hurts was going to have to become a much better passer. And he did. And it's all the credit to him. He has earned. He's going to make a lot of money.

The Eagles are going to end up giving him a new contract and he's earned it. I guess this is the the this is this team is so well balanced. The offense is very good. The defense is very good. Special teams.

It's kind of like not great, but it feels like that doesn't matter in these days. The kicker is good and they can be in a variety of ways. And Jalen Hurts his injury scared me a little bit because he had 13 rushing touchdowns this year. But more than anything, it opened up the running game for the rest of the guys without the threat of Jalen Hurts, keeping the ball himself and running the running backs weren't the same and Gardner Minshew's games. They tried to run the ball the two games that he started.

They couldn't run the ball because they weren't worried about Gardner Minshew running the ball. So Jalen is so important in the run game and the passing game. And I like the reason why the Eagles right now.

They have a very good team. The biggest reason why is because of Jalen Hurts. Where is he actually at in terms of health?

I saw they took him off the injury report, but where would you put that out of a hundred percent how healthy he actually is? Yeah, it was just it's talking to Ryan about this before I came on. And I think I started at 90 and then I got down to 80.

And then now I'm thinking actually 70 percent. So I don't think that you're going to see much of a change in the game plan. Right. Like the game they played the last regular season game they played against the Giants. He wasn't running the ball when he did run the ball.

He clearly was going down or he was making sure he wasn't taking on contact. He had a he had, you know, like a rather significant injury. I think at this point he's as healthy as you can hope that he's going to be for this game. Do I think that you still want to put him out there at risk and have him taking big shots?

No, because the worry about re-injury is really there. But I think they are going to open up the offense and you're going to see some Jalen Hurts in the running game this week. When they went to the Super Bowl a few years ago and obviously won it, we knew how electric that stadium was up against the Falcons and then the Vikings game was an absolute party. I know the NFC this year has not been the strongest in the world. I think that home field advantage is so massive. But do you still look at the Eagles as the favorite? You start to lean towards the Niners. I want to see what what San Francisco and Purdy looks like this week. He has been great.

And but that was also at home. So he's really passed every test, but I want to see what he looks like against the Cowboys. And then you're still going to have in the back of your mind, like, what does he look like in Philly when he comes in front of this crowd? You know, it's a big game, obviously, NFC championship game. I mean, I would think I would think it's almost like dead even because the Eagles do have the home field advantage. But the Eagles are kind of limping into the playoffs and the 49ers. We know that they're not limping into the playoffs. They look, they look great in the second half, at least last week.

And as much as as much as Purdy's Mr. irrelevant and he's a rookie quarterback, he sure as hell doesn't look like it when you watch when you watch the game. So with Kyle Shanahan and with those offensive weapons, they're dangerous. For me, it comes down to how the Eagles offense looks because the defense is going to be the defense. And it's a matter of can you know, can the Eagles offense keep up with everybody else? I'm glad you brought up Dallas because I call the Cowboys the drama Dallas choking Cowboys. But I'm starting to feel as if they could get to that NFC title game. I think they're very much alive for this game up against the Niners. Yeah, I agree.

And you know, the line in the line dip down the three and a half points. So there's obviously some thought that the Cowboys can win this again. This is a quarterback thing. Dak Prescott for all the talk of Jerry Jones. We need to run the ball and the formula for for when Cooper Rush was in there was to run the ball and play defense. And that's what we need to do when he comes back. They need Dak Prescott to play like he played against the box that they're going to beat the 49ers. So do you believe that can do that?

I would bet no, but it's certainly not out of the possibilities. Johnny marks a few more before we let you run from CBS Sports Radio, obviously, and then Sports Radio on D4 WIP outside of Jalen hurts and how healthy actually is. What's your biggest concern entering this game up against the Giants? Well, if you look at two games from last weekend, the Dolphins and the Bills and the and the Bengals and the Ravens, both were similar games in that it is division rival. The Dolphins clearly were the less lesser talented team. They had more or less a practice squad quarterback and Skyler Thompson starting for them. And meanwhile, the Dolphins were the Bills were fortunate to win the game, right? Like Buffalo, clearly the better team were talented, but it was a very close game.

And then same thing with Cincinnati and and Baltimore. It's a nice lucky to win that game if that's not a fumble recovery right there. I think they lose the game. So now you fast forward to the Eagles and the Giants. Division rival, very familiar with each other. And I think you're going to see a similar game to where this is going to be a nail biter in the fourth quarter, late in the fourth quarter.

I still get the Eagles the edge because they have the talent edge into the better team. And Jalen hurts with the ball in his hands at the end of the fourth quarter or towards the end of the fourth quarter. He's been the man this year.

He comes up big in big spots. But I mean, I don't even think it's a letdown type game. The Giants are playing well right now. The Giants are going to have that look right like and they're coming down. They're coming down ninety five and they don't have like there's no pressure on them. They're playing with house money, like they're going to play loose and carefree and they're going to come down and try to kick the Eagles ass.

And that's a dangerous team. So I think it's going to be a close game. But I think the Eagles end up prevailing in the end. I think the Eagles are going to win the game. But I do think it's close.

I would plus the seven and a half right now. But everyone going into this game when they look at the Giants is going to be talking about Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley. The matchup I'm most excited for is Dexter Lawrence up against this Eagles offensive line, because Dexter Lawrence to me is the Giants best player, most dominant player. Yeah. And I think getting pushed from up the middle with Jalen hurts is important because it gets him off his spot.

Right. Like we know Jalen's good at running and he's good at throwing on the run. But if you're coming in from the ends and you give him a crease in the middle of the field, he takes off and he gets big gains. If Dexter Lawrence Lawrence is getting penetration, that's trouble for the Eagles. And he man, he has looked like one of the better defensive players in football. Before we let you run, Johnny Marks, Daniel Jones, your evaluation on him, because I'm looking at it as a guy that's winning with not a lot of talent around him.

I totally agree. I actually said before the season to one of my overnight weekend producers who is a Giants fan. I said the best case scenario from my perspective is Daniel Jones plays well enough and then cons the Giants into giving him a contract. Now, I don't know if he's conning the Giants into a contract, but he certainly earned a contract. It just shows you how important coaching is in the NFL. And you go from Joe Judge to Brian Deball.

And now he actually says, I know how to use that guy. It's a matter of what does he look like when you give him real offensive weapons? Everybody wants and everybody wants Lamar Jackson to be a better passer. Look at his wide receivers. Everybody wanted to it to be a better passer. You give him Tyree Kill and Jalen Waddle.

Look how he excels. Same thing with Jalen Hurts. They had rookie Devante Smith last year, but they add AJ Brown to it. Devante takes that next step and they look like a great passing team.

So adding weapons to Daniel Jones, I think you're going to see returns of that when you do that. You can listen to him right here on CBS Sports Radio Saturdays into Sundays 2 to 6 a.m. Eastern Time. You can also catch him 2 to 6 p.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday on the Odyssey app on Sports Radio 94 WIP.

That is Johnny Marks. You going to the game by the way? No, it's the last place I'd be is that game. You're really not going?

No, I don't like the games. Wow, I'm surprised. Big Shot Afternoon Drive host in Philadelphia?

I thought you'd be holding court at the link. Well, I got to go on 2 a.m. I got to get ready for my CBS Sports Radio show.

You could have a few pops and then do the show, but it'll be fun. I guess I could, Zach. Johnny Marks, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Alright, buddy.

See you. The NFL playoffs live on Odyssey. Touchdown as time expires.

Unbelievable turn of events. Nonstop coverage from the biggest sports radio stations in the country. Podcasts dedicated to each NFL team. And post-season games streaming live for free.

Thinks to hand off, looks right, throws right. And zone clock, touchdown. Your playoffs, your Odyssey.

Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today. The NFL playoffs live on Odyssey. Touchdown as time expires.

Unbelievable turn of events. Nonstop coverage from the biggest sports radio stations in the country. Podcasts dedicated to each NFL team. And post-season games streaming live for free. Thinks to hand off, looks right, throws right. And zone clock, touchdown. Your playoffs, your Odyssey. Get in the game and download the free Odyssey app today.