Latest / Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast / Football at Four: NEW Look at one of the Top Eagles Competitors for the NFC Title

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Football at Four: NEW Look at one of the Top Eagles Competitors for the NFC Title · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Time for football. At four it's powered by the inside
• 0:02
  the first podages brought you by Bet three six y five.
• 0:05
  Wherever the sport, whatever the moment, it's never ordinary. At
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  Bet three six five. Well, the Phils go down today.
• 0:12
  At the watch party here at Ury's Butt, we're starting
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  to fill up. People can watch the second game of
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  the doubleheader. Man, they had two to one. They called
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  marsh safe on that play peg, they called him safe.
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  They bailed him out. Then Turner stole second, and they
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  had second and third with two outs in the bottom
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  of the ninth, and Kyle Schwarber came to the plate
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  and he struck out one hundred and one up by
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  his face. And yet Bryce Harper on deck. So this
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  is one of those first situations where we see a
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  spot where you had to pitch to Schwarber because Harper
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  was on deck. You know, you said Robert Suarez was
• 0:53
  the pitcher. He was the one that Harper hit the
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  home runoff of the bedlam to the bank. Yes, and
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  he's waiting on deck, so you know, Suarez is trying
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  to go after Schwarber, and Schwarber can't get the job done.
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  He strikes out and ends the game. The Phillies lose
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  six to four in game one of the double header.
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  But really this game was lost early in the game
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  with all the walks from Mick Abel and it was
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  a good.
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  Speaker 2: Rally though for the boys. Yeah, well tonight.
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  Speaker 1: Do you know it's the same day as the Phillies
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  game that ended at four forty one in the morning.
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  Speaker 2: I did see that on social Was that yesterday? H Yeah,
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  it's today.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it was against the Padres a double header. Yeah,
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  so they're playing the Padres in another double header today.
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  We're at URI's Waterfront Restaurant in Wildwood, Little Football at four.
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  Bring in Jeff Mosher. We'll talk some football right now
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  on the Sports Bass Live ninety seven to three ESPN.
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  We had a good football conversation yesterday with Adam Cappel.
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  We were talking about the trades that are going on
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  the Pittsburgh Steelers making all sorts of trade. We also
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  got into this collusion thing. I don't know if you
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  hear the podcast, Jeff, with Pablo Torre and Mike Florio,
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  you know, we were talking about guaranteed contracts in the NFL,
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  whether we'll ever see that end up happening. But the
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  whole thing about collusion. People keep asking me how come
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  this hasn't been talked about more usually when something of
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  this magnitude would come out. I would think the NFL,
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  if there was a collusion thing, which is they're suggesting,
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  is they're probably also saying, don't talk about it, right,
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  This is probably something that they don't want to kind
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  of get into all that much because I don't quite
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  frankly think the fans care all that much. I think
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  they're on the side of the colluding.
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  Speaker 3: I think the fans don't understand everything that went into it,
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  why went into it, And I think if you're looking
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  for somewhat of a secondary culprit in this, just based
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  on what I know and I have read, is that
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  the NFLPA, who would want to represent the players in
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  this situation, didn't seem to have an open gripe about it,
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  which was surprising to me.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, when this happens in baseball, or when there's even.
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  Speaker 3: The thought of a collision in baseball, the MLBPA is
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  the loudest voice in the room pointing to the owners
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  every labor dispute, constantly talking about the owners. Don't open
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  the books, they're secretive, you can't trust them. You would
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  think the NFLPA would be making a really big loud
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  stink about it too, based on the Lamar Jackson situation
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  and the text messages, but they didn't.
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  Speaker 2: I'm surprised about that.
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  Speaker 3: And I think the lack of sort of accusatory finger
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  from the NFLPA, which has the right to be the
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  loudest voice here, probably is why it's been tamed so far.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, and this is an interesting football conversation.
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  You know, the whole average, the avenue of the guaranteed contract.
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  The fans are generally against the guarantee contract because they're saying,
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  once you get your money, you have nothing left to
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  play for. So this is why I think that the
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  fans are not outraged by the fact that this was
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  kind of hidden from them, is that, well, we don't care,
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  we don't want guarantee contract. So this whole notion if
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  the other sports, you know, you look at baseball, well
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  you got to pay the guy, you got to pay
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  him the whole contract. It's guaranteed, whether he plays or not.
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  That's why I think football has this element too of
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  that the fans can you know, it's more of like
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  if you don't perform you get cut and you don't
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  get paid.
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  Speaker 3: Well, probably, I think the smart fans, some of them
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  who understand the contracts and we go through it a
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  lot on inside the Birds, understand that if every single
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  contract is guaranteed, the way the Eagles operate and do
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  business would be pretty difficult. By pushing money that they
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  know will never see the light of the day into
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  the back ends of contracts.
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  Speaker 2: Or when you get a player like Bryce hoff Right
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  who doesn't live up.
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  Speaker 3: And you can eat a certain amount of that dead money,
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  but if all of it was guaranteed, that would be
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  tough to eat because nobody would be taking it on.
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  Speaker 2: It would be tough to trade.
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  Speaker 3: And you'd have to have him on the team. Tougher
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  to trade, I should say so. But I don't even
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  think most fans understand the complexity of contracts. I just
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  think that in general it's hard for fans to side
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  with either millionaires or billionaires.
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  Speaker 2: I think they try to stay neutral in it all.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, and you know that's the one thing is
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  I do feel though, there is an element of if
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  you don't perform and you end up getting cut. You
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  can't just do that in the other sports because the
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  element is hey, I still owe you five years thirty
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  five million bucks. You're getting that whether I cut you
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  or not. I can say, hey, I'm cutting you to
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  do something. But there's still the economic Now, football some
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  economics with the cap, you do take cap hits and
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  stuff like that. You do get somebody for giving out
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  bad contracts. You don't just automatically get out of them,
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  but you get out of paying the guy.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  Speaker 3: And you know, there's also the element of it's sort
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  of easier to default the player than say ownership or
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  the owner.
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  Speaker 2: So the owner also.
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  Speaker 3: Has a job to do and to perform right as
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  far as giving money out, hiring the right people, not
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  just hiring eye people coaches, but also front office, and
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  if ownership doesn't do their job, there's no money taken
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  away from.
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  Speaker 2: Them, you know what I'm saying.
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  Speaker 3: So it's so much easier for fans to just say, well,
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  these players think even if they don't, they just weren't
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  in the right fit, or if they were overdrafted by
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  an incompetent scouting staff, which we've seen quite often. Right,
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  it never works that way where the common fan will
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  blame the owner as much as the player.
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  Speaker 1: Uh, It's funny because I feel like more and more,
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  don't you feel like more and more in sports? Like
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  there was a time we can go back and kind
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  of revisit. It's funny because the Darryl Morey's kind of
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  going through this right now, like what has he ever want?
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  He's made all these mistakes and you know, his record
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  would say he's won a lot, but just never won
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  a title. Where Roseman was being you know, basically people
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  wanted him fired and people were blaming the Eagles front office.
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  I don't know about ownership so much. You know, Lourie
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  has been able to kind of I know, not that
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  he deserves criticism, but I'm saying he's never really been
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  looked at as a negative here. But there was a
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  time where people were kind of pressuring, why won't Jeffrey
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  get rid of Howie? Right?
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  Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely, there's no doubt.
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  Speaker 3: I do think the GM probably is secondary to the
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  player as far as people who get blamed.
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  Speaker 2: But you know, whereas the owner, you.
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  Speaker 3: Almost have to be like Woody Johnson of the Jets,
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  like bad year after year after year. You know, the
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  Bengals not aren't bad year after year, but they're the
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  way they go about business. Yes, all the team, Yeah,
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  right exactly, But even then it's still that's like the
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  last line of defense rights. It's like when you're tired
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  of blaming the players and the frontal office, then you
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  shift to the owners.
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  Speaker 1: Jeff Buscher Football at four from the Inside of the
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  Birds podcast and of course you could check out the
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  podcast on all podcasting platforms. As you kind of get
• 7:54
  through the summer. Here we're inside three weeks to training camp,
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  we're kind of looking at all the football stories that
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  will matter here, and we talked, you know, we had
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  a question the other day for you in the mailbag
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  that had to do with the NFC and any of
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  the teams there. One of the teams you mentioned, San Francisco.
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  A lot of people keep asking me about the forty
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  nine ers and whether or not that is a team
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  that had a bad year last year because of injuries,
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  or do we think they're a legit challenger to Philadelphia, Washington, Detroit?
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  Are they on that level yet? Do you think they're
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  do we think they're back there? I thought that was
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  an interesting team that I thought it was you that
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  brought them up.
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  Speaker 3: I had brought them up as a team that you know,
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  I think a couple of months ago, I was looking
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  at them and saying, you know, I can I actually
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  predicted their their their bad season last year, and it happened,
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  But and I also felt that they'd be primed for
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  a bounce back this year. They've lost a lot of
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  guys though, you know from you know, whether it's Trey
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  Greenlaw or Hufanga. I mean, they lost They don't have
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  Demo Samuel anymore, they lost their left tackles. Chiefs not
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  their starting why he was starting in place of Trent Williams.
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  But they're a team like kind of like the Rams
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  two years ago, where you bank on their coaching staff,
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  their ability to develop certain players, and the fact that
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  they do have talent. And Christian McCaffery has been healthy
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  all throughout the offseason, and he's obviously a game changing
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  type player. Brock Perty has done well. Last year, he
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  did not do well, but when he's been protected and
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  had good his weapons around him in that offense, he's
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  done really well. And then on defense, they stow Bosa
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  and you know they got in. They brought in Bryce Hoff.
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  They have another guy in the front seven who I'm
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  not thinking of. The rush, the pass for pretty well.
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  So they're a team that I think you have to
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  reckon with because they're really well coached, and when they're
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  well coached and they're healthy, they can beat anybody.
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  Speaker 1: Then Perty, by the way, is now kind of established
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  himself as the guy there. We'll see if they're well,
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  we'll see what their offense looks differently with the you know,
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  Debo not being there anymore. I you know, obviously had
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  the injury, so we'll see how much different their offense
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  is from the one from two years ago. Looking at
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  some of the contenders in the NFC, I want to
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  get your thoughts on Green Bay after we saw them
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  in the playoffs. They were the team that everybody loved
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  last year. Is that a team in the NFC that
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  you're looking at as a challenger?
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  Speaker 2: I think Green Bay is really good. You know, I
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  mentioned the Rams.
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  Speaker 3: You asked me, I think on Monday, who's the biggest
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  threat to the Eagles.
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  Speaker 2: In the NFC?
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  Speaker 3: And we talked about the Rams, and we talked about
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  the Lions, right, But I have no issue saying the
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  Packers could very easily elbow their way into.
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  Speaker 2: That group, and even ahead of that group.
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  Speaker 3: You know, they got some speed at receiver with Golden
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  right out of Texas, They've got to get a little
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  bit more from their front four rush. But in general,
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  they had a good defense last year. And if the
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  quarterback plays twenty percent better than he did last year,
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  he's that good. If he plays twenty percent better, then
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  I think that there are really tough team.
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  Speaker 1: It's funny because last year, wasn't he the guy that
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  everybody thought was going to take that next jump? Did
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  he not take the jump? We thought?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think he's sort of a victim of his
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  own success in that he's so talented and so had
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  such a big arm, and we saw it in the
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  Eagles games. Sometimes he takes a few too many risks
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  and they'll have He'll have a couple of turnovers or
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  erratic throws that are are and just maybe four or five,
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  but sometimes they mean the difference in the close games.
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  Speaker 2: I don't they lost five games right last year.
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  Speaker 3: I'd have to go back and check and see how
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  many of them were one possession games or were really
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  close in the end. But that's what I'm saying, Like,
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  sometimes all it is is that, and that's why I
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  say all he has to do is be say twenty
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  percent better, and I think he'd be pretty good. You know,
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  they lost to the Eagles by what five five points,
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  so that was a one possession game, and they lost
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  the Vikings by two I'm looking now, lost the Lions
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  by ten, so that was only two percent.
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  Speaker 2: But then they lost the Lions by.
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  Speaker 3: Three, So I mean, ever, look at all there the
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  loss of the Vikings by too, bears too and then
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  the Eagles.
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  Speaker 2: Obviously lost to in the playoffs.
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  Speaker 3: But you know, five or their six loss seven six
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  or seven losses were.
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  Speaker 2: By five points or less. That's that to me.
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  Speaker 3: It means they're a pretty formidable team if they just
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  make a little bit more improvement.
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  Speaker 1: All right, we're looking at the NFC contenders Jeff Boscher
• 12:19
  Football at four today. Who are the contenders to Philadelphia?
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  We talked, you know, I think everybody kind of puts
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  Detroit in there. We've talked about them before. But these
• 12:27
  other teams, now, these are like that next tier of team.
• 12:31
  I want to get your thoughts on Washington then, because
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  not Washington Minnesota. You just brought them up. They were
• 12:37
  thirteen and three last year. They lost the quarterback. People
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  didn't believe in them last year. But should we believe
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  in them more this year?
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  Speaker 3: Well, that's another team that I'm going to say that
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  when you have a certain level of confidence and the
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  coaching staff.
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  Speaker 2: Some of the changes don't matter.
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  Speaker 3: And after last year and what happened with Sam Darnold,
• 12:55
  I think you should have a lot of confidence in
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  Kevin O'Connell.
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  Speaker 2: He's done a really nice job there.
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  Speaker 3: And then not just KOC, but obviously Brian Flores has
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  transformed that defense since he got there.
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  Speaker 2: And they have a lot of talent.
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  Speaker 3: You know, They've got they signed Javon Hargrave, who did
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  not have a great year with San Francisco, but now
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  you're putting in next to Jonathan Gernard and you're putting
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  him with you know, Jonathan Allen from from the Commanders,
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  who's still a.
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  Speaker 2: Good, good player. And they've got Van Ginkle there, They've
• 13:22
  got Isaiah Rodgers.
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  Speaker 3: You know, they they made smart moves to improve what
• 13:28
  was already a pretty good defense. Their secondary could get
• 13:32
  a little better, we'll see. But again, when you have
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  a front, when you do things that they do defensively
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  that Brian Flores does, it kind of allows you to
• 13:39
  get away with not having the greatest secondary. And then
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  of course they really upgraded their offensive line. They signed
• 13:44
  a couple of offensive linemen in free agency with Will
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  Fryes and and Ryan Kelly from the Colts, and they
• 13:50
  drafted Donovan Jackson. So I think that they're gonna look different, Mike.
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  I think that they're probably gonna be a little more
• 13:57
  run heavy, run centric, short pass and get JJ McCarthy's
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  athleticism into the offense more so than Sam Donald's. So
• 14:04
  it might not be as downfield as you saw Sam
• 14:07
  Donald able to do. But I think that they are
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  well stocked in the trenches to be a very good team.
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  Speaker 2: They're on that second level to me, you know, that
• 14:16
  second level of contention.
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you might have brought up Seattle when we talked
• 14:21
  by born too as Seattle. Do you put them in
• 14:24
  NFC contender status or are they more wildcard wildcard?
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: I mean, I certainly would say their arrow is pointing
• 14:32
  more up than down.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: I liked Gino Smith, to be honest with you, I
• 14:36
  still do.
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  Speaker 3: I think he's actually a pretty good quarterback, but they
• 14:40
  let him go went with Sam Donald. Now that to
• 14:42
  me only works if you're running the same type of offense.
• 14:45
  But Klink Kubiak is their offensive coordinator and he is
• 14:48
  also of the Shanahan slash McVeigh a tree like Kevin O'Connell.
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: So that's a good spot.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: Cooper Cup is there.
• 14:56
  Speaker 3: I'm not quite sure how effective he's going to be anymore,
• 14:59
  but we saw Jackson Smith and Chick would take a
• 15:01
  really big step up as the number one.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: Why now, isn't it funny how fast guys lose it?
• 15:05
  I saw today Nelson Aguilar retired, ye, and he went back,
• 15:09
  you know, but it's like not that like and Nelson
• 15:11
  wasn't on the same level. But these wide receivers, it
• 15:13
  feels like they go from zero to sixty and then
• 15:16
  right back down to zero, like almost instantaneous. You go
• 15:19
  from awesome to like insignificant very quickly.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: At that position. Yes, yes, very much so.
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: And so Seattle is the type of team I think
• 15:30
  that will have some more guys on the way up
• 15:32
  than the way down. Witherspoon in their corner is really good.
• 15:35
  Julian Love has played well since they signed him.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: At safety.
• 15:38
  Speaker 3: Josh Job has actually played well for them since the
• 15:40
  Eagles let him go.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: They drafted Nick.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: He was a part of that group of when they
• 15:46
  had like five or six guys that were all like
• 15:48
  this guy and this guy and this guy and this guy.
• 15:51
  I guess he didn't stick.
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: No, no, but I think McDonald's doing the right thing. He's,
• 15:57
  you know, bringing in guys to fit his system. I
• 16:00
  like their pick when they drafted Gray's Abel, the offensive lineman.
• 16:03
  So they're not They're not the type of team that
• 16:07
  when you stack them up against the Eagles you can say, well,
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  you got blue chip for blue chip, blue ship for
• 16:10
  blue chip. Yeah, well coached, well coached, and I think
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  that they will look the way the head coach wants
• 16:16
  that defense to look. And he's a good he's a
• 16:18
  good schemer.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: All right.
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  Speaker 1: Well, well, we'll be taking a look at some of
• 16:21
  the NFC contenders the next couple of weeks. Here. We
• 16:24
  have our division previews with Andrew coming up on Thursdays,
• 16:28
  and of course Adam will be on on Friday show.
• 16:31
  Actually no, we're off on Friday with the fourth of
• 16:33
  July here, so it's the last Mosure for this week.
• 16:36
  We'll have a Moser Monday mail bag for you right
• 16:39
  here on the Sports Best. Get your questions in. You
• 16:42
  can always send them to us email you can social
• 16:47
  media text board. Mosher's back on Monday for a Mosher
• 16:50
  Monday mail Bag. All right, Jeff Moscher, he don't forget
• 16:54
  check out at Phillyvoice dot com. What's up.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: We're just gonna recommend to you before you get out
• 16:59
  of your He's great, get yourself from crabs and garlic butter.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: Okay, don't think.
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: Me all you can eat crabs. Just start at four o'clock,
• 17:06
  but fifty cent wings for the Phillies game while we're here.
• 17:11
  Can't beat that all though. Game just ended. But you
• 17:13
  know it's funny. The bar was full. The game ended.
• 17:16
  Everyone's going to change and clean up for game two.
• 17:18
  They'll be back here, so we'll get the crabs at
• 17:21
  that point.
• 17:21
  Speaker 2: All right, Bud, gotta be in the garlic butter sauce.
• 17:23
  You'll thank me later. Take care of it.