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OPPOSITION TERRITORY: Eagles vs. Giants, Week 16 · The Philadelphia Sports Table | Philly Sports News & Views

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  Hey, everybody, it's Jeff. We're recording this on Friday, December twenty
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  second, twenty twenty three. By the time you hear this, some things
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  may have changed, but we hope you enjoyed the show. All right,
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  everybody, you're listening to Opposition Territory here at the Philadelphia Sports Table podcast show,
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  the longest running weekly Philly sports podcast show in the world. Thanks so
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  much for joining us here little under the weathers you can tell probably by my
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  voice. However, we got to get into this upcoming matchup, the Philadelphia
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  Eagles against the New York Giants. What this matchup is gonna bring? What
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  does this matchup mean for both teams as they're moving forward heading into week sixteen
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  here and even beyond. So we've got a great, great guest, We've
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  got a great discussion coming your way. Let's get right to it. And
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  it is great to have back on the podcast, coming to us from Giants
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  Country over at fan Nation. We absolutely love talking to her when it comes
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  to the New York Giants. A plethora of information. You can find her
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  on Twitter at Patricia Underscore Trainer. We've got the one and only Prica TRAINA.
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  How you doing I'm doing well. Happy holidays, yes, Happy holidays
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  to you and to everyone listening out there. And I gotta tell you it's
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  a bizarre time heading into week sixteen here, Patricia, with this Giants and
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  Eagles team. They are, you know, both coming off tough losses from
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  Week fifteen, and both teams really I think they're looking at their immediate future,
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  but also you know, looking at what is beyond Week sixteen here as
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  well. So to get us started here, you know, what are the
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  Giants looking to prove? Do you think in these last three weeks of the
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  regular season. From a player perspective and even maybe a coaching perspective, what
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  are your thoughts. I think they're trying to be competitive, you know,
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  be as competitive as you can. I mean, you know, as we
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  record this, they haven't played the Eagles, so their playoff chances are still
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  mathematically alive. But I think everybody knows, including them, even though they
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  won't admit it, that there are odds of making the playoffs are just not
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  there. You know, there's nothing really to play for in that respect,
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  So what there is to play for is you know your job for next year.
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  You want to be competitive, You want to not go through the motions
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  or mail anything in. And I think that's the approach that the players are
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  taking. And they want to play spoiler for the Philadelphia Eagles too. That
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  would be a bonus. Absolutely. They know the Eagles are basically unraveling at
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  this point, and it thinks for me as an Eagles fan and somebody who
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  talks about this team in front of this microphone, but the reality is this
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  Eagles team is floundering at the moment, and I think there are members of
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  this New York Giants team that would love to, you know, put a
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  pin in that last bit of the balloon of the air that's coming out.
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  You know. I think you even wrote about that this past week, correct,
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  Yeah, I mean it would be a nice Christmas gift to the Giant
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  fans. I mean the Giants have not won in Philadelphia since twenty thirteen.
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  Yeah, that's a long time. Yeah, it's a very very long time.
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  Well, as we're moving along here, Patricia, you wrote a story
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  this past week that the Giants are hoping to push the Brotherly Shove into obscurity.
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  I think that was the actual title of the article as well. And
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  my gosh, this particular football play is going to be getting so much more
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  attention during the offseason. Roger Goodell initially reports coming out saying he'd love to
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  see it banned, and then he kind of walked it back a little bit.
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  We're not sure what to expect when it comes to this particular football play.
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  How do you think that defensive coordinator for the Giants, Wink Martindale and
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  the defense overall, it's going to try to accomplish this what you wrote about,
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  you know, push the brotherly love into obscurity. When the Eagles have
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  an over ninety three percent success rate with this play, how are they going
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  to go about trying to do this? Well? I think we saw it
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  on Monday Night. Didn't Julian Love, former Giant player by the way of
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  the Seattle Seahawks. Didn't he get in there and push back the pusher.
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  So I think that's probably the easiest way to try and do that. Okay,
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  you know, I think the reason why a lot of teams hate that
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  play is because it's more rugby style and it can be dangerous. The Giants
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  actually tried it earlier in the season and they got two guys hurt from it.
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  I think the key obviously is you want to get low. If you're
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  doing the pushing up front, you want to get low and try to cut
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  guys off and then you know, get that extra push and whatnot. But
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  really the only way to stop that is a to form a human wall,
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  and short of that, get in there and thwart the pusher. Yeah,
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  yeah, it's it's going to be interesting, not just the Giants, but
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  what happens then when the Eagles play the Cardinals and again when they play the
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  Giants again, you know, to see what the Giant are really going to
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  be able to do in other teams as the season progresses here with this particular
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  play and going to be very interesting for sure. I enjoyed your article,
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  by the way, it I really did. So let's talk quarterback. We
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  always like talking quarterback play here on our Opposition Territory podcast. And Tommy DeVito
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  been a very very interesting personality for this New York Giants team, their fan
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  base, just NFL fans in general, and the Giants offense, you know,
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  who've had a rough go of it this season from an injury perspective of
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  just not a lot of cohesion as well. But the Tommy DeVito storyline I
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  think is rather intriguing. You know, I think it's something the Giants nation
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  has needed as the season is kind of closing up here for them. What
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  do you think we're going to be seeing from the Giants quarterback position this week
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  in Philly? From a pure competitive standpoint, well, DeVito is fearless.
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  You know, he was asked about playing in Philly. He's been told that
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  it could be very rough to play in Philly if you're an opposing team,
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  and especially if you're the Giants, who you know, there's no love lost
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  there for between the Eagle fans and the Giants fans, right, But DeVito's
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  like, hey, look, you know I've done this all my life.
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  You know, he mentioned Bergen Catholic and Don don Bosco Prep, you know,
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  two teams in North Jersey who had a rivalry. He says, it's
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  nothing new. You just got to go out and play your game, and
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  you know, not let the boo birds and you know the Christmas greetings that
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  are delivered in unique Philly style or New York style whatever, don't let them
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  affect you. So you know he's focused, he's locked in, and you
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  know he's just going to go out there and play his brand of football.
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  Has there been a particular receiver because I mean Darren Waller just coming back from
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  ir has there been a particular receiver there? He really has developed some chemistry
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  with over these past few weeks that he's been under center and what we may
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  see from that standpoint on the field. Yeah, I don't think there really
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  has been one guy you can point to. I mean, he's spread the
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  ball out around Darius Slayton, who is on pace to be the Giants leading
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  receiver this year, I think for the fourth year in a row in terms
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  of receiving yardage. The rookie Jalen Hyatt had a big game a couple of
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  weeks ago, but he kind of, you know, dropped out a little
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  bit less week. I don't know if that was by design or just you
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  know what happened there. Yeah, I mean I'm trying to think who else
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  there's somebody Wandelle Robinson, Yes, the slot receiver. He's he's he's a
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  shifty little guy who's explosive, you know, so he's gotten some walls thrown
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  his way. So I wouldn't say there's any one guy. You know,
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  It's not like like the Mahomes Kelsey connection. Right, you know, where
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  there's one guy. But de Vito has done a good job of spreading the
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  ball around and taking advantage of what's been there. Would you like to see
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  a little bit more from him, Yes, because there are times when he
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  just holds that ball way too long and takes the sack when he does need
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  to. So, you know, other than that, he said, a
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  good job of just spreading the leve around, so to speak. All right
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  again, folks, talking to Patricia Traina from Giants Country over at fan Nation.
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  Follow on Twitter at Patricia Underscore Traina if you want to get some good
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  NFL and Giants content into your feed. And as we're moving along here at
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  this point in the season, Patricia, you know, teams are trying to
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  lean on what their identity is in order to win games. And it's interesting
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  with this Philadelphia Eagles team being ten and four. As a fan, I
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  like the record, but this team really doesn't have much of an identity right
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  now at this particular point in time, and I'm wondering if you can talk
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  about what, if any identity the Giants really have on offense and on defense
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  as we're heading into Week sixteen here, because I think if the Giants do
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  want to play spoiler to the Philadelphia Eagles, They're gonna need to take whatever
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  that identity is on both sides of the ball and really utilize that in Philadelphia.
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  So what are your thoughts on what that identity maybe for the offense and
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  the defense of the Giants. I don't know that the offense really has an
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  identity, you know, the defense, you can you can say, you
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  know, they want to be bullies, but at times they haven't been.
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  So I don't know that this team as a whole has an identity. I
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  think what they try to do is play smart, tough, dependable football.
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  I mean, it's an old cliche, everybody uses it, but that's what
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  they try to do. But I don't think you can you can say,
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  like for the offense, you certainly can't call them the greatest show on turf,
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  which was an identity, right, you know, you can't call the
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  Giants defensive secondary the Legion of Boom, which was an identity. So you
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  know, I mean, injuries have kind of messed up any hope of developing
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  an identity. And I think, you know, I fask the players this
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  time and again, I said, you know, how close have you come
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  to establishing an identity and what is that identity? And nobody can ever really
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  give me a straight answer, and they, you know, it's just we
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  want to play competitive football, we want to play smart football, want to
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  play winning football. So they really don't have that identity. Very interesting how
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  two teams very much on the opposite side of the spectrum in terms of where
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  they may go in terms of may go or may not go in terms of
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  their postseason fortunes. Two teams that really don't have that much of an identity.
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  It's pretty fascinating to me at this point in the season here. So
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  all right, let's get into matchups here. Okay, two part question for
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  you, Patricia, So getting into what we're going to be seeing on the
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  field here, where do you think the Giants are most vulnerable on offense when
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  you're looking at this matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. The offensive line, for
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  sure. I mean the line has been inconsistent. Last week. They showed
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  something that you know, we've been screaming about all year long, and that
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  is they cannot pick up a stunt to save their lives. Yeah, so
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  I'm you know, if I'm the Eagles, Matt Patricia Sean Decai, and
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  I'm looking at the film from last week. I'm saying, ok, I'm
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  going to throw in a few stunts there and see what you guys do about
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  it. You know, did you learn anything from last week? So that
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  is a concern. You know, there was no push for the running game
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  last week from the offensive line. And you know, the Eagles defensive front
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  is very, very good. I mean, probably one of the best that
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  the Giants will see all year long. And that matchup that scares me because
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  the Giants offensive line just you know, there have been times they played well,
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  you know, well enough to win, but they've gone against maybe softer
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  defenses. This isn't a soft defense, and we have seen them struggle against
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  the better defenses, especially the better defensive fronts, and I fear that that's
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  going to be the case again this week. All right, Moving along on
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  the opposite side of things here, where do you think the Giants are going
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  to be most vulnerable on the defensive side of the ball. I would say
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  probably the defensive line. They are banged up there. Dexter War hasn't been
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  able to practice for two days now. He wasn't able to practice Wednesday,
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  and Thursday, we'll see if he's projected to practice today, but that's a
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  concern. He's dealing with a hamstring. Rakeim Nonez Rochez, who is also
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  a defensive lineman. He's been sidelined. A'shawn Robinson, who has stepped into
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  that Leonard Williams role after Leonard Williams was traded. He's been banged up,
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  but he's been limited in practice. So I'm concerned about that defensive front given
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  the injuries that they're dealing with, and I think they could be potentially vulnerable.
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  And of course, you know, I got to mention whoever gets the
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  responsibility of dealing with Giant killer Boston Scott. Yes, this is the three
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  Boston Scott comes alive. I mean, if history proves anything, so I
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  think Bobby o'karakay might be one of the guys who has to, you know,
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  guard him. And oh Kaake's played really really well this year for the
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  Giants, coming in over from Indianapolis, this being his first season as a
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  Giant. But yeah, I would say the defensive front, though, definitely
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  is where I would be most concerned. All right, well, we'd like
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  to end our opposition territory shows talking about one thing each team is going to
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  need to hit on for a win. Let's start with the Giants. Patricia,
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  what's one thing the Giants are going to need to hit on this week
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  for a win against this Philadelphia Eagles team. Well, they're going to probably
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  need a good padlock and chain to keep the Eagles from coming out. I
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  know, love that. I'm sorry, All good, All good, All
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  right. Seriously though, seriously though the Giants, they have to get pressure
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  on Jalen Hurts. Jalen Hurts has turned the ball over in recent weeks.
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  Oh yes, force them into making some mistakes. And matter of fact,
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  you go back to the Giants three game winning streak, and one of the
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  staples of that was they were creating turnovers, giving the offense a shorter field
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  with which to work. So I think if they can do that, maybe
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  they get themselves a chance to make this a little bit more competitive than I
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  think what the odd odds makers are predicting. Okay, what do you think
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  the Eagles are gonna need to hit on this week for a win against this
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  Giants team. I'm gonna say they're gonna just play their brand of ball.
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  I mean, win it in the trenches. You know, the Eagles have
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  a very good offensive line. I think if they can keep the Giants pass
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  rush out. You know, last week the Saints did a pretty good job
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  keeping the pass rush at Bay for the most part. But keep them out,
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  let Jalen Hurts set up and not have the pressure and I think,
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  you know, give them an opportunity to hit some of those receivers down the
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  field and you know, if they can do that. You know, remember
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  the Giants have a fairly young defensive secondary Deontay Banks to rookie who's played really
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  well, but he's still young. Adri Jackson has played okay, he hasn't
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  been as sharp, I think as he has in recent years. You know,
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  the two safeties have been vulnerable at times. So you know, give
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  Jalen Hurts time and eliminate any pressures and whatnot, and maybe, just maybe
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  he'll lighted up the scoreboard for the All right, very good, Patricia.
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  We appreciate you coming on here as we're you know, in the midst of
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  the holiday season. Here it's week sixteen again, folks. Patricia traina from
• 15:13
  Giants Country over at fan Nation. Where where can they find you on the
• 15:16
  interwebs out there as well. Is there a specific website for Giants Country.
• 15:20
  I know they can just search it in Google, but where can they go
• 15:22
  to? Yeah, I mean if you type in Giants Country dot com,
• 15:26
  that'll take you over to the fan nation site. You can also find me
• 15:30
  on the Locked On Giants podcast. I'm on YouTube, so just you know,
• 15:33
  type in locked on Giants you can ye see the loco behind me.
• 15:37
  On social medium, I'm on x formerly known as Twitter obviously at Patricia Underscore
• 15:43
  TRAINA and I'm also on threads and Instagram at Patty train A p A T
• 15:48
  T I T R A I n A. So follow me over there.
• 15:50
  I'm always posting stuff over there on threads and Instagram, and you know,
• 15:56
  so check it out and hope to see it. Awesome, awesome, It's
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  always great talking to you, Patricia. Come back and join us down the
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  road, my pleasure. It's gonna be an interesting matchup, folks, it
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  really is. I think from an Eagles standpoint that they need to they need
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  to drive the ball down the field. It sounds ridiculous to say that at
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  this point in the season, especially from a ten to four team, but
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  they need consistency and especially on third down they need to convert. If this
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  Eagles offense, if we see the three and outs that we saw against the
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  Seattle Seahawks, there's gonna be problems. There's gonna be problems. It means
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  that things were not fixed during the course of this week and the Giants very
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  well could beat this team. And if that does happen, Holy cow,
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  folks, Holy cow. So we're gonna finish things up on opposition territory right
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  now. Again, as you can hear, not feeling all that well,
• 16:48
  but I appreciate being in your ears at this very moment. And thanks so
• 16:52
  much to our longtime listeners. And if you're new to the show, please
• 16:53
  feel free to subscribe on whatever podcast platform you are on. If anything happens
• 16:59
  to your feed, you can head on over to Philadelphia Sports Table dot com.
• 17:02
  We've got all of our shows over there. I'm on threads at mister
• 17:04
  Jeff Warren give me a follow over there if you're interested. Also, the
• 17:10
  podcast is on threads as well at Philadelphia Sports Table. We will be in
• 17:15
  your ears after this Giants game. Eagles Giants game, I should say on
• 17:19
  Christmas Day, you will take care. We'll catch you next time,