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Football at Four: Can the Lions Surpass the Eagles? · Inside the Birds: A Philadelphia Eagles Podcast

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  Speaker 1: Football and four powered by the Inside the Birds podcast,
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  brought to you by Bet three sixty five. Whatever the sport,
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  whatever the moment, it's never ordinary. At Bet three sixty five,
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  Adam Kaplan's here. We got a good one for you
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  today for Football at four. Play along be a part
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  of the show on all podcasting platforms. You could get
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  the Inside the Birds podcast and you can watch Football
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  at four right now on the X platform and on
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  the YouTube channel at Mike Gill Show. Adam Kaplan is here. Everybody.
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  We're gonna look at the NFC and some of the
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  challengers to the Philadelphia Eagles. The first one that we
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  will size up the NFC will be the Detroit Lions,
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  the number one seed in most people's mind. They had
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  a chance to do something special, then the injuries caught
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  up to them. They've lost some coaches here, so we'll see.
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  Are the Lions the top team in the NFC that
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  can knock off the Eagles? Can they surpass the Eagles.
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  We're gonna get into that today on today's edition of
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  Football at four. Adam Kaplan is here from the Inside
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  of the Birds podcast. Everybody, what's going on?
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  Speaker 2: Adam, Am? I good to talk to yeah. So you know,
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  it's funny the odds makers. I love looking at these
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  future numbers and they put some things out and you go,
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  sometimes I think they're wrong, or sometimes I think they're right.
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  I actually agree, And we'll get into odds later, you know,
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  as we finish the segment. But the odds makers will
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  just give you a little nugget they agree with me.
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  I don't think the Lions, who were my team in
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  twenty two and they didn't make the playoffs, but they
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  were nine and eight. It was one year I had
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  a schedule virtually, but then the next year they were great.
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  But they've been great last three seasons under Dan Campbell,
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  last two in particular. But man, you mentioned in two
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  new coordinators, that's a problem. And I discovered some other
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  stuff as a researching this team and asking for opinions
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  from people I respect and just where the roster is.
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  But they've been Mike, they were great last season. Just
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  to give you an idea of how great the Lions were.
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  By the way, the Lions play the Eagles in eleven
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  so the Football Philly they were the only undefeated team
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  on the road last and at eight no that that's
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  just incredible. Did you Lions had At one point they
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  had the worst road record ANIF history. Some Well it
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  was during the during the Jim Schwartz era where you
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  just go back to the eighties. So bad. But Dan
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  Campbell's did a football job of turning them around. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, that's the team. Now, it's for real. This is
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  an a one year wonder. This team's out there. Let's
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  take a look at their outlook. Here. Last year, fifteen
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  and two tied with the best record in the NFL.
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  See NFL. I mean they won the NFC North. They
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  lost that game to Washington No. Forty five to thirty one.
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  I mean, not only their defense is completely fell apart
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  in that game, and now they lose their coordinators. This
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  is number one offense in the league last year, number
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  two in yardage, but their defense number seven in points.
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  They had the injury, and then you know, people thought
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  that would knock them out. Well they still went fifteen
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  and two. So you take a look at the overview
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  and the outlook of that team. New coordinat probably at
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  the top of the list.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so let's get started that. So you mentioned the
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  offensive ranks. John Morton's the offensive coordinator. He plays for
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  one season with the Jets of twenty seventeen. He didn't
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  go well. He wanted let go and he had he
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  had He kind of had problems with condissions with his
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  players and getting buy in from the system. His system
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  is largely based on what he learned from Sewn Eaton.
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  He cold plays at us for two years. They'll be
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  a balanced team. But I just don't think Mike, based
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  on what I know, that he's anywhere close, although I've
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  heard some good things about Morton being kriv Ben Johnson
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  is one of the most creative play college I've ever
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  seen in my time being covering this business. So this
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  is the downgrade of me until he proves otherwise. So
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  that's a concern. Kelvin Shepherd, man, I remember covering this
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  a buyer. He's only been This will be his fifth
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  year just coaching. Okay, Mike, Kelvin Shepherd was a former lineback.
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  You remember from a couple of teams. Aaron Glenn there,
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  their former defense coordinator, now the head coach of the Jets,
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  and this is his first year as a play caller
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  and this is only fifth year coaching. That's a big deal.
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  I mean, look, you're talking about guys, who have not
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  proven themselves as play callers. Now, I know the Eagles
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  pulled off something unbelievable where they five two coordinators, they
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  bring two nuns in and they win a Super Bowl.
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  Like that's you can't countle that. Let's be real here,
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  Vic Fangiel is one of the best defense coordinators in
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  ancel history. You know. That's that's the difference, Kevin. She
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  has never never done it before, so we have to
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  be careful. And Kellen Moore obviously had called place for
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  that debt, so we got to beful when we make
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  the comparison. I think that that is a big downgrade, Mike.
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  And that's got the big reason, Mike. When you look
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  at the the numbers, like coming into last season they
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  had eleven and a half twelve win total depending which
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  book you looked at, they're odds now are at the
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  plus one hundred Mike to go over ten and a half.
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  So clearly the money now is on them not being
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  a great football team, probably in the division, but really
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  not being that great all right.
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  Speaker 1: Adam, some of the strengths to this team, because obviously
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  you take a look at that they made some changes
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  to the roster as well. They lost a very very
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  very key player to retirement. So some of the changes
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  to the roster and then some of the replacements in
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  what they did to kind of compensate for the losses there.
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  Speaker 2: All right, So here's what they lost in offense. Frank
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  rag Now, such a good football player, probably not a
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  Hall of Famer, but one of the best centers during
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  his day. He retired a lot of injuries. And then
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  Kevin Zeitler, the well traveled guard, he signed with Titans.
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  So there, Mike, this is a problem. We'll talk more
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  about basnesses in a second. So that those are two
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  big houses for them, particularly rag Now the Sadarius Smith.
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  So there's some people in the league to think that
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  Sadara Smith will signed for much less money to come back.
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  And they do need rush help, which we'll talk about
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  in a minute. Carltons who came over from Tampa Bay.
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  He had some injury issues. He sigled with New England.
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  And Marth Wanner, who was a part time starting safety.
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  He's signed elsewhere with the Dallains. Now what did they add?
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  Mike Tate Ralich will replace rag Now. He's a second repenter,
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  Tyler Williams, you know, Bradholmes their general managers talk about
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  being strong up middle. TYLERK Williams is a first round
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  defensive tech out of Ohio State Boy. One of my
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  favorite underrated corners in the league. Jay Reid a corner
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  from the formerly of the Jets at forty nine ers.
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  He's really good, who replaced Carlton Davis in the lineup.
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  But you know how they struggle to corner last season.
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  They got handled at times, particularly Washington as you mentioned
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  they by the way, they give a five total touchdowns game.
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  That game was at home. They got smoked and Ivanta
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  Mannick now Maddox will he comes back to the Troy's
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  from from my inner States, will play safety and Nickel
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  So look, they added, but they like to bust more.
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  Mike Now they're stress officer at offense. Goff who boy,
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  A lot of people thought he was done with the
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  ram well Ben Johnson rebuilt him. Let's not forget that
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  Jamier Gets is phenomenal, one of the best backs in
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  the league. David Muntgury, great, tannem I'm on Ross, Saint
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  Brown great, Jamison Williams, who's their explosive chess piece to
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  go along with Sat bown Saporter who had a good offseason,
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  who had over ten touchdowns two years ago, and the
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  soul who did not do well early in his credit
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  right tackle. Now he's one of the best game and
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  Taylor Decker is a solid left tackle. Their offense is
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  a major strength. There's no question Mike did the number
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  one offense and now defensively eight. Hutchinson's back for his
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  broken leg. He's ready to go. But you know how
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  much they missed him. As you mentioned, Kirby Joseph won
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  of the best safeties in the league, hight safety in
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  NFL history. Brian Bredrew talking to the Lions. He might
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  have been their best coverage player last season. He could
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  play slot corner, he could play corner, outside corner, he
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  could play afybody's his safety for them. Their weaknesses are
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  very obvious. Other than Hutchinson Mike, they still have not
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  developed good enough cat rush. It was a problem against Washington,
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  it was a problem two years ago, and you're asking
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  those corners to hold up. They and they brought back
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  Marcus Davenport. You might remember him from the Saints and
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  the Viking always heard they brought him back. They did
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  not address they well, I mean they addressed they dressed
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  a sixth round edge rush, but you can't play six
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  round rookie, so edge rushes a problem. The cornerback group, Mike,
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  they're unproven a coin, no question about it. Tarryon Arnold
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  was a first round quest was up and down regstral
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  second round of Bambley played dude injury doesn't run well.
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  I do like DJ Reed, but they got to be
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  bed corner so Mike, to me, they're a ten or
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  eleven win team. This is not a super Bowl team.
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  When you look at the future number. You had to
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  win the NFC North plus one twenty to be the
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  number one seed plus one hundred. The Eagles, Mike, have
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  the shortest odds in the National Football League at just
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  place three twenty five.
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  Speaker 1: Good stuff. As we're taking a look at can the
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  Detroit Lions. Are they a challenger? Can they surpass the
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  Philadelphia Eagles? You know, you take a look at their
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  strengths and weaknesses. That offense is still pretty good with
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  the skill position players, but you wonder how much rag
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  now and losing Zeitler up there, losing two offensive linemen,
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  their line was a big reason for their success. With
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  all the offense, they have great skill players. But do
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  you think they've adequately replaced those two guys? That will
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  be a big, big question there.
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  Speaker 2: Well to Ratlets was the second rounder now what I've heard,
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  he's from Georgia. By the way, not every one in
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  the National Football League I spoke with particular offensive line
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  coach were bigs of his. They thought he was probably
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  a little bit overdrafted. Christian Mahogany out of Boff College
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  who came back from major injury. He's expected to start
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  at left guard for Zeitler. That that to me, Mike
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  is obvious major downgrade. That's a problem. Graham Glass down
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  for the right guard. He's a smoot player, turned thirty
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  three nex month, so he's due to the end of
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  his career. This no longer Mike looks to be the
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  offensive line that we remember one of the top two.
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  Alpus Leagus were number one. That's a problem. And John
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  Morton to me, is not Ben Johnson. We have to
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  understand that we have to acknolge that, so that that
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  does concern me. Mike Austin Lions there were a team
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  for three years, not anymore. I acknowledge they're good. I
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  like the roster. It's not it's not the Eagles, Mike.
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  I know the Eagles had a bunch of turnover but
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  you know what, they were younger. I just I got
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  problems with this thing. I see this them being a
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  super Bowl team. There's no way they're getting super Bowl.
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  They need two edge rushers, man that It's just not
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  they're not good enough on.
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  Speaker 1: Defense with the dig Yeah, the edge rusher you mentioned,
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  you know, in some of the weaknesses there. They lost
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  last year Aiden Hutchinson. We'll see how he comes back.
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  Lock of the pressure there. And you mentioned the unproven
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  corner spot if you're playing, if it's Detroit playing Philadelphia,
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  which I'm on Ross Saint Brown wanted Adam. You remember
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  that he said, we want to be the team that
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  opens up the season because we thought we would have
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  beat Philadelphia last year had we won that game. That's
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  a brash statement there.
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  Speaker 2: By the way.
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  Speaker 1: That yeah, he said that he wanted to play the
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  Thursday night opener because they felt that they would have
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  won if they got a chance to play Philadelphia. So
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  I'm on Ross and Brown saying, very unproven at corner,
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  how did they match up with Phillies offense? That with
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  the lack of edge pressure and the unproven corner spot.
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  That's a tough matchup. It seems like for them the nfcword,
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  they're plus one twenty. That division is very intriguing there
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  because they blew through that division last year at fifteen
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  and two.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and Mike, that's see the turnover and their code
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  there and then, and they have more weaknesses of this season.
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  That's why they're not minus only now. They are still
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  the strongest favorite in that division at plus one twenty.
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  But Chicago Ben Jonson with his disciplineing states in the
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  division they're shooting on an offense, don would better. They're
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  gonna be They're gonna be more disciplined. Green Bay is
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  always good. They stink in the playoffs, but they're always
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  Now Minnesota, we just don't know Aj McCarthy. I'm very
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  interested to see what he looks like. And they're kind
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  of a wildcard who have hopefully overachieved a little bit
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  with Kevin O'Connor. But the bottom line is that division
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  is better. I just don't see with the Lions being
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  this great super Bowl team, They've been a great very
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  I've loved the rise when no suff they can do it.
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  It's been a really good story. But honestly, Mike, they're
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  not going to be a good fifteen and two is
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  ridiculous and there's no way. I just to me though,
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  ye will probably win a division. Now here's the next question.
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  If it's not going to be the Lions to challenge Eagles.
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  And what we'll talk more about this is we get
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  through training and when I go on my training camp tour,
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  is it okay? Well a lot of people are thinking
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  it's Wantington who came out of nowhere last season. Who
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  else use could possibly be?
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  Speaker 1: Good? Question? You got green Bay obviously, Minnesota is a
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  wildcard with the quarterback situation, and then the ultimate wildcard,
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  everybody loves the new coach, the quarterback getting paired with
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  a new coach. Could Chicago be that Washington from last year?
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  Speaker 2: That's the one Mike where I look and they win
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  nine or ten? Yes? Can they be last year's or
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  this year Washington? That's a tough one for me and
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  I someone who used to work with Johnson with the
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  Lions tell me it's either gonna be really good or
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  really bad early on either the players role because he
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  coaches really hard. Either're gonna buy in totally. They're gonna
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  be better, people think, or they're gonna turn on him
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  because they can't stand him. I that was kind of
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  funny because he's he's a tough personality, so I needed
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  in that building under matter who flows and work the
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  former head coach. But every year, Mike, there's a team
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  like washing and I did not see that. Lad, Jeff
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  and I and Greg Osel we all saw Daniels. We
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  really liked him last year, but we'd seen them. I'm
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  gonna be no one. None of us saw them as
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  a playoff team. I don't think that I have Jeff,
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  I always has wild card team every year. He's good,
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  good at fighting a team that's than we all expect.
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  I don't know that he had in the playoffs, but
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  I didn't see him as a playoff ill. I'll admit
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  I did not see that.
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  Speaker 1: Last season, Adam Kaplan Football at four. I look at
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  one of the teams that could challenge in the NFC East,
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  the detroituld be in the NFC Detroit Lions, and Adam
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  doesn't feel like they're ready to surpass the Eagles. Here
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  on today's Football at four. All right, Adam Kaplen, good
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  to talk you man, Thank you