Football at Four: Examining Eagles Matchups vs. Commanders

And Football at Four is powered by the Inside the Birds Podcast. It is brought to you by the Fanatic Sportsbook and Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City. And we're gonna be back at Ocean on Monday. We were there Wednesday this week because of the Labor Day holiday, but we'll be back at our normal day on Monday. Of course, today we are live at Jersey Cow in Northfield where ice cream is a year long thing. Football is a year long thing, at least the rest of 2026. We're gonna have football every Sunday, starting this Sunday. And you can listen to the Eagles and Commanders right here on 973 ESPN. It is our Football at Four, the matchups to watch. Andrew DiCecco is here. We have our first matchup of the season. It's the Eagles and Commanders, a NFC East division matchup. And Andrew breaks it down for us now on the Sports Pass Live on 973 ESPN. Andrew, what's going on, man? Welcome back for football season. Hey, Mike, doing well. How are you? All is good. We got Eagles, Commanders. We're going to get into some of the matchups that you are looking for in this one. And let's start off with what we know of the Eagles offense and what we anticipate them looking like on Sunday when they face this Commanders defense, which is kind of a middle of the pack kind of defense. Yeah, the defense to me doesn't really have any standouts on any of the three levels. I think there are some pieces on the defensive line, but ultimately I think the Eagles should be able to impose their will in the trenches. Looking at the offensive line, I just believe that everything that I've seen this summer suggests that not always this group healthy, but they're ready to take this to another level in terms of the running game. And then I look at the Eagles defensive line and what they could be able to do against the likes of right guard, Chris Paul center, Nick Allegretti, who's moving from guard to center. And then they have Sam Cosme at right guard. And I just, I like that match up for the Eagles with Mauro Jomo, Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis. So to me, I think that's where the game is going to ultimately be won. I was going to say, you know, you look at that match up up front on the Eagles defensive line, how disappointing would it be if, you know, last night we saw in that game, the Niners really win the line of scrimmage. How disappointing would it be if Philadelphia also did not dominate the line of scrimmage in this particular matchup? Oh, it would be especially disappointing, but I just don't see that happening. The Eagles have such a strong trio of defensive tackles. They have good reserves and Byron Young, Ty Robinson came on a little bit so you can keep guys fresh where it's important to note that, or important to remember, that a lot of these guys haven't taken so many snaps dating back to January. So you're going to have to see 55, 60 snaps in a game. So you might want to see them keep some of those guys fresh, but I bet the Eagles have top-end talent from the interior defensive line. So I just don't see a world where Washington is able to win that out. And I just don't know even schematically if they're able to do anything to neutralize what the Eagles can do from a pressure perspective. Yeah, I know a lot of people looking at JLex Hunt, the breakout type of guy. We've been hearing a lot about that. But Andrew, this feels like a matchup that he can really break out on, right? I mean, Tunsell's out, he's got the torn peck. And obviously, it's the kind of week where maybe Hunt has a breakout type of game and kicks off his season. Yeah, I think so. And I will say this, sometimes you hear a lot about training camp stars and standouts. But the buzz behind JLex Hunt is absolutely legitimate. Everything that I've seen from him suggests he is ready to take a big step forward in year three. Just the athleticism that he has. But now it's the technical refinement and overall knowledge of the demands of his position that I think can only be absorbed through reps. And he made a big jump last year, playing 693 snaps, which led all Eagles edge rushers. I think he's going to get off to a fast start in what I believe is a pretty favorable matchup. Yeah, this is a Washington offensive line that's just okay. I mean, obviously Philadelphia kind of makes its money on the defensive line. We'll see how that matchup goes here. What do you think about the, you know, the secondary of Philadelphia with Wolin? Obviously, Mitchell, we know well, you got Dejean kind of in a somewhat new role this year. And you got two veteran receivers on the other side here. Does Washington, you know, try to utilize their pass game against the secondary? I like the receivers a little bit when you look at what they have with Diggs and McLaurin, but I view both of those players as twos. They're not game breakers. They're not someone who's going to take the top off of the defense. They're probably going to factor more so in the short to intermediate levels of the field. In that case, I really like the Eagles matchups there. You talk about Rick Wolin, he's the ultimate X factor on this defense because if he's able to play at an exceptional level, the ceiling is exponentially higher for this team than one could even imagine going into the year. And I like the chemistry that they have on the back end. Marcus Epps will be the starting safety opposite Macuba when the Eagles are in Nickel. And not really surprised there, but I think that he's going to add a stabilizing presence, a really good communicator on the back end. So I like just the overall chemistry of the Eagles and the athleticism, certainly against the matchup. I don't think Washington has enough there to really counter what the Eagles can do on the defensive side. All right. So obviously, Eagles secondary is beefed up a little bit. We love what we see up front there. And the one new guy, they're really not new, but he's going to be the new starter for the full season. Hopefully, health notwithstanding here would be Jahad Campbell. What does he add differently than Dean did? Well, athleticism. He's one of the more athletic linebackers in the league in terms of a starter, and he can cover a lot of ground, really good range. Playing last year, he started 10 games, so he's not coming in totally green. He's not the same thumper in the run game as Nicoby is, but he gives you a lot more flexibility in terms of how you can use them, certainly in coverage. But the question that I have with Campbell, and we won't really know this until you see it play out in the regular season because you're not tackling to the ground in training camp, is how he's able to handle the run support aspect of the job. Because he's so athletic, and I think he pairs ideally with Zach Vaughn, you have to see how the other part of his job description really pans out here. But I think he's had a decent camp. I thought he's had a pretty solid camp, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what he can do. The Eagles are high on him, and I think he adds another athletic presence to that defense that should be able to create some turnovers. Vic Tangio's crew taking on this Washington offense. If you're, Andrew, if you're taking a look at which weapon of the commanders worries you the most this week, which matchup is that? I would still say Terry McLaurin. I know they have Chigga Conklo, the tight end, who he's not really a game breaker. He's someone that I think will be involved, and you can get him to football in different ways. But I look at McLaurin as being a polished veteran, a good route runner, someone who has a really good feel for how to find the soft spots and coverage. But again, I just don't see him at this stage of his career where he has also handled some injuries of late, that he's gonna be able to really threaten the Eagles in any real way. But that's kind of where I'm looking. And then of course, Jayden Daniels with his legs, because the Eagles in the past, last season, they had some challenges with quarterbacks who were mobile. I can think of Justin Herbert as being an example there. So you got to make sure you keep them in the pocket and contain. And to me, those are the two key factors for the commanders offensively for the Eagles. All right, looking forward to see how this defense looks like. Obviously, we're expecting big things for the defense. Andrew DiCecco, Football at Four, the matchups, by the way, Krosky, Merritt, Rashad White, those two guys, they're the running back tandem. White coming over from Tampa Bay. Krosky, Merritt's one of those guys who kind of pain in your butt sometimes. Yep, a little scat guy, yeah. What do you think of Jaden Daniels coming back here? He takes him to the NSC Championship game, but people forget he did play seven games last year and he was nowhere near as dynamic as he was his first year. What do we expect from him in his third year? I mean, I picked him for our Inside the Birds come back player when we were picking our awards for the year. I put him as come back player of the year. This is a really talented quarterback. He's been sacked a bunch, I think, 65 times over his first 24 games. His offensive line hasn't been good enough. I worry about his durability, but he is an electric player when healthy. I am expecting him to have a nice bounce back season under offensive coordinator David Blau, who not long ago was a college quarterback. Let's not forget, I think, Purdue. I think they're going to do some different things offensively that maybe unlock a certain element of his game that you weren't able to see last year. Health is really going to be the key factor here. That's been the deterrent in allowing him to not take that leap in year two. But I like Jaylen, Jay Daniels as a quarterback. He was my favorite coming out of the draft. And I would like to see what he can do with a healthy season. All right. Let's take a look at the Eagle offense. Obviously, Nick Sirianni, he spoke earlier today and his offense gets a lot of the questions because we don't know what to expect here. And obviously you saw a lot of them during training camp. Which particular side of the ball, passing, running, do you think will be the stronger unit early on in the season? The running game. I do believe that you're going to see them lean into that pretty early, especially as the offense looks to navigate the interim. And I think Saquon Barkley, while he doesn't get talked about a lot because he's a star and sometimes stars are taken for granted. I think that he's looked really explosive and dynamic in the open field. He finishes runs, he's motivated and the Eagles offensive line is certainly motivated and healthy as well. So if all else fails, get it to number 26. And I think the Eagles will be able to generate some offense on Sunday. I like hearing that. I mean, it almost feels like that was old faithful two years ago. Last year, they couldn't get out of their own way in the running attack here. And when you look at the passing game, it's going to be a much different passing game. What about this week against Washington? Is this a week where you want to see them take some shots and get that passing game involved? Is this a Washington defense that you can take some chances against? It is, because they have Russell Douglas, former Eagles corner playing. He doesn't run all that well. He wasn't really someone who is going to exactly stick in your hip pocket. He's a physical player, but not one with long speed. I don't know that I would look at it that way. What I'm looking for personally in this game is to see the offense on schedule, the timing. The ball's got to come out on time. You want to see a rhythm, a synchronized bunch where they're not playing from behind the sticks and they're able to march down the field. Jalen Hurts looking a little bit more comfortable in this offense. And those are some of the takeaways that I'm looking to see because this is a timing based offense. It's a West Coast offense in the true sense. And for that to really work, you want to see the middle of the field throws, anticipatory throws, putting the ball where the receivers can catch it and run after the catch. And those for me matter more than generating explosives, especially in week one, where it's really more so the feeling out phase. I know that's not something that a lot of listeners want to hear. But if you look at the games that were already played this week, not a lot of great offense, I wouldn't call it great offense. There's areas for improvement and that sort of is a byproduct of week one and the players not having a lot of time on task in the preseason. Do you anticipate Hertz getting off to a slow start? It's impossible to say without knowing what the offense looks like. All I can tell you is what I know, what I hear and what I see. What I've seen through 17 training camp practices is a player who showed signs of progress throughout the summer. I think that playing under center is going to unlock a different element of his game. It might take him a little bit of time to really get comfortable. Maybe it won't, but that's a tough question to answer without having information and knowing exactly what the offense is going to look like because there's going to be elements that will be included that are of the previous offense. As Nick Sirianni has said, as Sean Manion has said, they're not going to scrap everything totally. They've done some things in the past that have been successful, so it's not going to be a complete revamp offensively. Well, I'll tell you what, this Washington defense, it's not one of the better defenses in the league. So if they struggle against this defense, you know Monday should be a very interesting day if this offense looks a lot like some of the offenses we've seen in the first two nights of the NFL. And of course, Andrew's here all season long for Football at Four. We've got you covered. The Eagles take on the Commanders, and you can listen to that game right here on 973 ESPN. There's your breakdown, there's your matchups to watch. Who's an X factor for you on Sunday that you'll be keeping an extra eye on? Don Tavian Wicks, a newly acquired wide receiver. He's the new addition to that group along with Makai Lemon, but we'll stick with Wicks here. He's someone that is not going to typically threaten vertically. He's not a speed guy, he's a four, six guy, but he is someone that is a very nuanced route runner, strong hands. He's had drops in his career, but I like the way that he uses his body and his frame for positioning, and he has really established a good rapport with Jalen Hurts, and it certainly helps when he got all the time on task with Hurts this summer, whereas Devontae and Mackay Lemon were sidelined for a little bit of time. Yeah, Lemon obviously with the hamstring problem, we'll see what kind of role he has. I think the over-under for yards for Wicks was 27 and a half. How do we feel on that one? I think he gets 40 or more. I think we'll be more of an effective chain mover in this game, and that's going to be important because I'm going to be keying in on, like, sometimes I don't just necessarily look at big picture things with these games, because I closely cover this team. I've watched every practice. I'm going to be looking to see if the chemistry from training camp translates into the regular season and is that something that they can build off of. And Wicks to me was the most impressive receiver in camp. Now that doesn't matter all that much if that doesn't carry over to the regular season, but I think the chemistry with Hertz that time on task was going to be hugely important in establishing that connection early. All right, there we go, Eagles and Commanders. Week one is here and it's right here on 973 ESPN. There is Football at Four with Andrew DiCecco. Thanks, man. Thank you. Andrew DiCecco, of course, here for Football at Four, powered by the Inside the Birds Podcast.