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Football at Four: Examining Eagles Matchups vs. Commanders · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

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  Speaker 1: And Football at Four is powered by the Inside the
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  Speaker 1: Birds podcast. It is brought to you by the Fanatic
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  Speaker 1: Sportsbook at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City.
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  Speaker 2: And we're going to be back at Ocean on Monday.
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  Speaker 1: We were there Wednesday this week because of the Labor
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  Speaker 1: Day holiday.
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  Speaker 2: But we'll be back at our normal day on Monday.
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  Speaker 1: Of course, today we are live at Jersey Cow in
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  Speaker 1: Northfield where ice cream is a year-long thing.
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  Speaker 2: Football is a year-long thing.
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  Speaker 1: At least the rest of 2026, we're going to have
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  Speaker 1: football every Sunday at starting this Sunday, and you can
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  Speaker 1: listen to the Eagles and Commanders right here on 97.3 ESPN.
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  Speaker 2: It is our football at four.
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  Speaker 1: The matchups to watch. Andrew DiCecco is here. We have
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  Speaker 1: our first matchup of the season. It's the Eagles and Commanders,
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  Speaker 1: a NFC East division matchup, and Andrew breaks it down
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  Speaker 1: for us now on the Sports Pass Live on 97.3 ESPN. Andrew,
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  Speaker 1: what's going on, man? Welcome back for football season.
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  Speaker 3: Hey, Mike, doing well.
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  Speaker 2: How are you? All is good.
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  Speaker 1: We got Eagles commanders. We're going to get into some
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  Speaker 1: of the matchups that you are looking for in this one.
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  Speaker 1: And let's start off with what we know of the
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  Speaker 1: Eagles offense and what we anticipate them looking like on
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  Speaker 1: Sunday when they face this commander's defense, which is kind
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  Speaker 1: of a middle-of-the-pack kind of defense.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, the defense to me doesn't really have any standouts
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  Speaker 3: on any of the three levels. I think there are
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  Speaker 3: some pieces on the defensive line, but ultimately I think
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  Speaker 3: the Eagles should be able to impose their will. In
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  Speaker 3: the trenches, looking at the offensive line, I just believe
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  Speaker 3: that everything that I've seen this summer suggests that not
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  Speaker 3: only is this group healthy, but they're ready to take
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  Speaker 3: this to another level in terms of the running game.
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  Speaker 3: And then I look at the Eagles' defensive line and
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  Speaker 3: what they could be able to do against the likes of,
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  Speaker 3: right guard Chris Paul, center Nick Allegretti, who's moving from
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  Speaker 3: guard to center, and then they have Sam Cosme at
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  Speaker 3: right guard. I like that matchup for the Eagles with
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  Speaker 3: Mauro Jomo, Jalen Carter, and Jordan Davis. So to me,
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  Speaker 3: I think that's where the game is going to ultimately
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  Speaker 3: be won.
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  Speaker 1: I was going to say, you look at that matchup
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  Speaker 1: up front on the Eagles' defensive line, how disappointing would
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  Speaker 1: it be if last night we saw in that game
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  Speaker 1: the Niners really win the line of scrimmage? How disappointing
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  Speaker 1: would it be if Philadelphia also did not dominate the
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  Speaker 1: line of scrimmage in this particular matchup?
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  Speaker 3: Oh, it would be especially disappointing, but I just don't
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  Speaker 3: see that happening. The Eagles have such a strong trio
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  Speaker 3: of defensive tackles. They have good reserves, and Byron Young,
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  Speaker 3: Ty Robinson came on a little bit, so you can
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  Speaker 3: keep guys fresh where it's important to remember that a
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  Speaker 3: lot of these guys haven't taken– so many snaps is
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  Speaker 3: dating back to January. So you're going to have to
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  Speaker 3: see 55, 60 snaps in a game. So you might
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  Speaker 3: want to see them keep some of those guys fresh.
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  Speaker 3: But I bet the Eagles have top-end talent from the
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  Speaker 3: interior defensive line. So I just don't see a world
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  Speaker 3: where Washington is able to win that out. And I
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  Speaker 3: just don't know even schematically if they're able to do
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  Speaker 3: anything to neutralize what the Eagles can do from a
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  Speaker 3: pressure perspective.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I know a lot of people looking at Jalex Hunt,
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  Speaker 1: the breakout type of guy. We've been hearing a lot
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  Speaker 1: about that. But, Andrew, this feels like a matchup that
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  Speaker 1: he can really break out on, right? I mean, Tunsell's out.
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  Speaker 1: He's got the torn pec. And, you know, obviously it's
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  Speaker 1: the kind of week where maybe Hunt has a breakout
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  Speaker 1: type of game and kicks off his season.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think so. And I will say this. Sometimes
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  Speaker 3: you hear a lot about training camp stars and standouts,
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  Speaker 3: but the buzz behind J-Looks Hunt is absolutely legitimate. Everything
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  Speaker 3: that I've seen from him suggests he is ready to
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  Speaker 3: take a big step forward in year three. just the
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  Speaker 3: athleticism that he has, but now it's the technical refinement
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  Speaker 3: and overall knowledge of the demands of his position that
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  Speaker 3: I think can only be absorbed through reps. He made
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  Speaker 3: a big jump last year playing 693 snaps, which led
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  Speaker 3: all Eagles as rushers. I think he's going to get
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  Speaker 3: off to a fast start in what I believe is
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  Speaker 3: a pretty favorable matchup.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, this is a Washington offensive line that's just okay. Obviously,
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  Speaker 1: Philadelphia is kind of makes its money on the defensive line.
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  Speaker 2: We'll see how that matchup goes here.
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  Speaker 1: What do you think about the, you know, the secondary
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  Speaker 1: of Philadelphia with Wolin? Obviously, Mitchell, we know well. You've
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  Speaker 1: got Dejean kind of in a somewhat new role this year.
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  Speaker 1: And you've got two veteran receivers on the other side here.
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  Speaker 1: Does Washington, you know, try to utilize their pass game
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  Speaker 1: against this secondary?
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  Speaker 3: I like the receivers a little bit when you look
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  Speaker 3: at what they have with Diggs and McLaurin, but I
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  Speaker 3: view both of those players as twos. They're not game breakers.
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  Speaker 3: They're not someone who's going to take the top off
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  Speaker 3: of a defense. They're probably going to factor more so
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  Speaker 3: in the short to intermediate levels of the field. In
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  Speaker 3: that case, I really like the Eagles matchups there. You
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  Speaker 3: talk about Rick Warren. He's the ultimate X factor on
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  Speaker 3: this defense because if he's able to play at an
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  Speaker 3: exceptional level, the ceiling is exponentially higher for this team
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  Speaker 3: than one could even imagine going into the year. And
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  Speaker 3: I like the chemistry that they have on the back end.
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  Speaker 3: Marcus Epps will be the starting safety opposite Makuba when
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  Speaker 3: the Eagles are in nickel. And not really surprised there,
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  Speaker 3: but I think that he's going to add a stabilizing presence,
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  Speaker 3: a really good communicator on the back end. So I
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  Speaker 3: like just the overall chemistry of the Eagles and the athleticism.
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  Speaker 3: certainly against the matchup. I don't think Washington has enough
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  Speaker 3: there to really counter what the Eagles can do on
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  Speaker 3: the defensive side.
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  Speaker 1: All right, so obviously Eagles secondary is beefed up a
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  Speaker 1: little bit. We love what we see up front there.
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  Speaker 1: And the one new guy, really not new, but he's
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  Speaker 1: going to be the new starter for the full season,
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  Speaker 1: hopefully health notwithstanding here, would be Jihad Campbell. What does
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  Speaker 1: he add differently than Dean did?
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  Speaker 3: Well, athleticism. He's one of the more athletic linebackers in
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  Speaker 3: the league in terms of a starter, and he can
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  Speaker 3: cover a lot of ground, really good range. Playing last year,
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  Speaker 3: he started 10 games, so he's not coming in totally green.
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  Speaker 3: He's not the same thumper in the run game as
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  Speaker 3: N'Kobe is, but he gives you a lot more flexibility
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  Speaker 3: in terms of how you can use him, certainly in coverage.
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  Speaker 3: But the question that I have with Campbell, and we
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  Speaker 3: won't really know this until you see it, play out
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  Speaker 3: in the regular season because you're not tackling the ground
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  Speaker 3: and training camp is how he's able to handle the,
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  Speaker 3: the run support aspect of, of the job because he's
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  Speaker 3: so athletic. And I think he, I pair pairs. Ideally
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  Speaker 3: was Zach Vaughn. You have to see how the other
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  Speaker 3: part of his job description really pans out here. But
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  Speaker 3: I think he's had a decent camp. I thought he's
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  Speaker 3: had a pretty solid camp and, I'm really looking forward
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  Speaker 3: to seeing what he can do. The Eagles are high
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  Speaker 3: on him, and I think he adds another athletic presence
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  Speaker 3: to that defense that should be able to create some turnovers.
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  Speaker 1: Vic Fangio's crew taking on this Washington offense. Andrew, if
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  Speaker 1: you're taking a look at which weapon of the commanders
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  Speaker 1: worries you the most this week, which matchup is that?
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  Speaker 3: I would still say Terry McLaurin. I know they have
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  Speaker 3: Chigga Conklaw, the tight end, who– He's not really a game-breaker.
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  Speaker 3: He's someone that I think will be involved, and you
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  Speaker 3: can get him the football in different ways. But I
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  Speaker 3: look at McLaren as being a polished veteran, a good
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  Speaker 3: route runner, someone who has a really good feel for
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  Speaker 3: how to find the soft spots in coverage. But again,
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  Speaker 3: I just don't see him at this stage of his
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  Speaker 3: career where he has also handled some injuries of late,
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  Speaker 3: that he's going to be able to really threaten the
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  Speaker 3: Eagles in any real way. But that's kind of where
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  Speaker 3: I'm looking. And then, of course, Jayden Daniels with his
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  Speaker 3: legs because the Eagles in the past, last season, they
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  Speaker 3: had some challenges with quarterbacks who were mobile. I can
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  Speaker 3: think of Justin Herbert as being an example there. So
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  Speaker 3: you've got to make sure you keep them in the
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  Speaker 3: pocket and contain. And to me, those are the two
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  Speaker 3: key factors for the commanders offensively for the Eagles.
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  Speaker 1: All right, looking forward to seeing what this defense looks like. Obviously,
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  Speaker 1: we're expecting big things from the defense. Andrew DiCicco, football
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  Speaker 1: at Ford, a matchup. By the way, Krosky, Merritt, Rashad, White,
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  Speaker 1: those two guys, they're the running back tandem. White coming
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  Speaker 1: over from Tampa Bay. Krosky, Merritt's one of those guys
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  Speaker 1: who's kind of a pain in your butt sometimes.
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  Speaker 2: He's small. What do you think of Jaden Daniels coming
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  Speaker 2: back here?
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  Speaker 1: He takes him to the NFC Championship game, but people
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  Speaker 1: forget he did play seven games last year, and he
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  Speaker 1: was nowhere near as dynamic as he was his first year.
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  Speaker 2: What do we expect from him in his third year?
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  Speaker 3: I mean, I picked him for our Inside the Birds
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  Speaker 3: comeback player when we were picking our awards for the year.
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  Speaker 3: I put him as comeback player of the year. This
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  Speaker 3: is a really talented quarterback. He's been sacked a bunch,
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  Speaker 3: I think 65 times over his first 24 games. The
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  Speaker 3: offensive line hasn't been good enough. I worry about his durability,
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  Speaker 3: but he is an electric player when healthy, and I
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  Speaker 3: am expecting him to have a nice bounce-back season under
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  Speaker 3: offensive coordinator David Blau, who not long ago was a
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  Speaker 3: college quarterback. Let's not forget, I think, Purdue. So I
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  Speaker 3: think they're going to do some different things offensively that
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  Speaker 3: maybe unlock a certain element of his game that you
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  Speaker 3: weren't able to see last year. And health is really
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  Speaker 3: going to be the key factor here. That's been the
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  Speaker 3: deterrent in allowing him to not take that leap in
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  Speaker 3: year two. But I like Jaden Daniels as a quarterback.
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  Speaker 3: He was my favorite coming out of the draft. And
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  Speaker 3: I would like to see what he can do with
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  Speaker 3: a healthy season.
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  Speaker 2: All right, let's take a look at the Eagle offense.
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  Speaker 1: Obviously, Nick Sirianni, he spoke earlier today, and his offense
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  Speaker 1: gets a lot of the questions because we don't know
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  Speaker 1: what to expect here.
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  Speaker 2: And obviously you saw a lot of them during training camp.
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  Speaker 1: Which particular side of the ball, passing, running, do you
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  Speaker 1: think will be the stronger unit early on in the season?
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  Speaker 2: The running game.
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  Speaker 3: I do believe that you're going to see them lean
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  Speaker 3: into that pretty early, especially as the offense looks to
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  Speaker 3: navigate the interim. And I think Saquon Barkley, while he
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  Speaker 3: doesn't get talked about a lot because he's a. star
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  Speaker 3: and sometimes stars are taken for granted, I think that
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  Speaker 3: he's looked really explosive and dynamic in the open field.
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  Speaker 3: He finishes runs, he's motivated, and the Eagles offensive line
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  Speaker 3: is certainly motivated and healthy as well. So If all
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  Speaker 3: else fails, get it to No. 26, and I think
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  Speaker 3: the Eagles will be able to generate some offense on Sunday.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I like hearing that.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, it almost feels like that was old faithful
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  Speaker 1: two years ago. Last year they couldn't get out of
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  Speaker 1: their own way in the running attack here. And, you know,
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  Speaker 1: when you look at the passing game, it's going to
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  Speaker 1: be a much different passing game.
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  Speaker 2: What about this week against Washington?
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  Speaker 1: Is this a week where you want to see them
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  Speaker 1: take some shots and get that passing game involved? Is
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  Speaker 1: this a Washington defense that you can take some chances against?
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  Speaker 3: It is, because they have Russell Douglas, former Eagles corner, playing.
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  Speaker 3: He doesn't run all that well. He wasn't really someone
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  Speaker 3: who is going to exactly stick in your hip pocket.
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  Speaker 3: He's a physical player, but not one with long speed.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know that I would look.
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  Speaker 2: At it that way.
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  Speaker 3: What I'm looking for personally in this game is to
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  Speaker 3: see the offense on schedule, the timing. The ball's got
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  Speaker 3: to come out on time. You want to see... a rhythm,
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  Speaker 3: a synchronized bunch where they're not playing from behind the
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  Speaker 3: sticks and they're able to march down the field. Jalen
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  Speaker 3: Hurts looking a little bit more comfortable in this offense.
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  Speaker 3: And those are some of the takeaways that I'm looking
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  Speaker 3: to see because this is a timing-based offense. It's a
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  Speaker 3: West Coast offense in the true sense. And for that
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  Speaker 3: to really work, you want to see the middle of
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  Speaker 3: the field throws, anticipatory throws, putting the ball where the
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  Speaker 3: receivers can catch it and run after the catch. and those,
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  Speaker 3: for me, matter more than generating explosives, especially in Week 1,
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  Speaker 3: where it's really more so the feeling out phase. I
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  Speaker 3: know that's not something that a lot of listeners want
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  Speaker 3: to hear, but if you look at the games that
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  Speaker 3: were already played this week, not a lot of great offense.
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  Speaker 3: I wouldn't call it great offense. There's areas for improvement,
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  Speaker 3: and that sort of is a byproduct of Week 1,
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  Speaker 3: and the players not having a lot of time on
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  Speaker 3: task in the preseason.
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  Speaker 2: Do you anticipate Hurts getting off to a slow start?
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  Speaker 3: It's impossible to say without knowing what the offense looks like.
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  Speaker 3: All I can tell you is what I know, what
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  Speaker 3: I hear, and what I see. And what I've seen
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  Speaker 3: through 17 training camp practices is a player who showed
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  Speaker 3: signs of progress throughout the summer. And I think that
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  Speaker 3: playing under center is going to unlock a different element
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  Speaker 3: of his game. It might take him a little bit
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  Speaker 3: of time to really get comfortable. Maybe it won't. But, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: I mean, that's a tough question to answer without having
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  Speaker 3: information and knowing exactly what the offense is going to
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  Speaker 3: look like, because there's going to be elements that will
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  Speaker 3: be included that are of the previous offense. As Nick
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  Speaker 3: Sirianni has said, as Sean Mannion has said, they're not
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  Speaker 3: going to scrap everything totally. They've done some things in
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  Speaker 3: the past that have been successful. So it's not going
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  Speaker 3: to be, a complete revamp offensively.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I'll tell you what, this Washington defense, that one
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  Speaker 1: of the better defenses in the league. So if they
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  Speaker 1: struggle against this defense, you know Monday should be a
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  Speaker 1: very interesting day if this offense looks a lot like
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  Speaker 1: some of the offenses we've seen in the first two
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  Speaker 1: nights of the NFL. And, of course, Andrew's here all
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  Speaker 1: season long for football at four.
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  Speaker 2: We've got you covered.
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  Speaker 1: The Eagles take on the Commanders, and you can listen
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  Speaker 1: to that game right here on 97.3 ESPN. There's your breakdown.
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  Speaker 1: There's your matchup to watch. Who's at X Factor? for
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  Speaker 1: you on Sunday that you'll be keeping an extra eye on?
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  Speaker 3: Dontavian Wicks, newly acquired wide receiver. He's the new addition
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  Speaker 3: to that group, along with Makai Lemon, but we'll stick
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  Speaker 3: with Wicks here. He's someone that is not going to
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  Speaker 3: typically threaten vertically. He's not a speed guy. He's a
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  Speaker 3: 4'6 guy, but he is someone that is a very
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  Speaker 3: nuanced route runner, strong hands. He's had drops in his career,
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  Speaker 3: but I like the way that he uses his body
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  Speaker 3: and his frame to for positioning, and he has really
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  Speaker 3: established a good rapport with Jalen Hurts, and it certainly
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  Speaker 3: helps when he got all the time on task with
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  Speaker 3: Hurts this summer, whereas Devontae and Makai Lemon were sidelined
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  Speaker 3: for a little bit of time.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, Lemon, obviously, with the hamstring problem, we'll see what
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  Speaker 1: kind of role he has. I think the over-under for
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  Speaker 1: yards for Wicks was 27.5. How do we feel on
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  Speaker 1: that one?
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  Speaker 3: I think he gets 40 or more. I think he'll
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  Speaker 3: be more of an effective chain mover in this game,
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  Speaker 3: and That's going to be important because I'm going to
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  Speaker 3: be keying in on... Sometimes I don't just necessarily look
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  Speaker 3: at big picture things with these games because I closely
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  Speaker 3: cover this team. I've watched every practice. I'm going to
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: be looking to see if the chemistry from training camp
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  Speaker 3: translates into the regular season and is that something that
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  Speaker 3: they can build off of. And Wicks, to me, was
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  Speaker 3: the Eagles' most impressive receiver in camp. Now, that doesn't
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  Speaker 3: matter all that much if that doesn't carry over to
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  Speaker 3: the regular season, but... I think the chemistry with Hurst
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  Speaker 3: that time on task was going to be hugely important
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  Speaker 3: to establishing that connection early.
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  Speaker 1: All right, there we go, Eagles and Commanders. Week one
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  Speaker 1: is here, and it's right here on 97.3 ESPN. There
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  Speaker 1: is Football at Four with Andrew DiCicco.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks, man.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: Andrew DiCicco, of course, here for Football at Four, powered
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: by the Inside the Birds podcast.