Could Joe Milton Actually Save the 2-5 Philadelphia Eagles’ Sinking Season???

The Philadelphia Eagles started 2-0. They have not won since.

Rich walked through the collapse step by step. A Monday night trip to Chicago, where the Eagles didn't score a point after halftime and a narrative was born about the offense going down the tubes in second halves. A home loss to the Rams after leading at the half. Then, between that loss and a trip to London to face Jacksonville, Lane Johnson retired, the Eagles traded away Cam Jurgens, and injuries piled up, not just to Saquon but to DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks. They damn near won in London anyway.

Then came Jalen Hurts. Rich was careful with how he put it: Hurts was cleared to play and then had blood clot issues that knocked him out for the season. The Eagles have lost six in a row since their Week 2 win at Tennessee. "What's the point of continuing on to bang your head against the wall the same way?" Rich asked.

So there was breaking news out of Philadelphia. It is Joe Milton season.

Rich loved the absurdity of the matchup. If someone had told him before the season that Week 9's Giants at Eagles game would feature a 4-2-1 team against a 2-6 team on a six-game losing streak, with J.J. McCarthy facing Joe Milton, he wouldn't have believed it. "You can't make it up," he said. Milton was getting all the praise and all the hosannas in Dallas Cowboys training camp, while McCarthy couldn't get a whiff of a Week 1 start in Minnesota. Then Milton got plucked off the practice squad by Philadelphia before its first game against Dallas, Tanner McKee got his chance and didn't perform as well as hoped, and now it is Milton's turn.

The expectation is clear. "You know he's going to throw down field," Rich said. "You know he's going to be going for the fences. You know, like Kyle Schwarber down the street, he's going to be swinging and trying to hit home runs."

Waiting for him is a Giants team coming off its bye. Rich played what Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said about it, with his unit having been run on for at least 100 yards in all eight games this year. "They've got a really good offense," Fangio said. "They did a nice job raiding the Ravens not only for John but for Likely and Ricard." He praised the mix of the old Ravens style from the Greg Roman days with Kansas City type passing, and added, "the quarterback has come in in a short period of time and really done a nice job. For them to get him for a sixth round pick is a steal."

Rich took that as real respect, not coach speak. "That doesn't sound like talking up the opponent type stuff," he said, comparing it to Lou Holtz warning everyone not to overlook Rice. "NFC least my ass."

Not everyone agreed. Someone in the studio predicted an Eagles win because Milton is mobile and can move around. Rich countered that the "L" from NFC least might end up pointing at seven straight losses for Philadelphia, and that a chance to pile on is motivation for the Giants. He asked TJ Jefferson whether he would kick the Eagles while they are down. "Not just kick," TJ said, before running through stomps, elbow drops, suplexes and a piledriver. "That's a yes," Rich concluded.

Then Rich played the other side, partly to needle the Cowboys fan in the corner. What if Milton saves the season and the Eagles finish ahead of Dallas? The schedule runs Giants, a bye, Aaron Rodgers and then Thanksgiving five days later. Someone suggested Philadelphia could still get to eight wins by beating the Giants twice, along with the Cowboys, Cardinals and Colts.

That set Rich off again. "Why do you overlook the Giants? Why do you think that they're just fugazi?" he asked. When told he demands proof from every other team but not the Giants, Rich pushed back with his own power rankings. He put the Bears at No. 1 this week, knocking down a 49ers team on a bye and a Bills team that won coming off a bye. "So how dare you?" he said.

The conversation spiraled into "full Gotti" versus "fugazi," a comparison of Dallas' weapons with Milton's group, and one studio voice declaring he would be stunned if any NFC East team won a playoff game. Rich did not budge. "The Giants win the division. They'll be the three seed," he said, arguing they would still be better than whoever wins the NFC South.

He even allowed that both things could be true. What if the Giants finish first and the Eagles second, with Milton passing the Cowboys? "I'm going to keep pounding this drum," Rich said.