Why Eagles coach Doug Pederson was right to say his team will beat the Cowboys
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Philadephia Eagles coach Doug Pederson got some attention Monday when he said on a weekly radio appearnce that his team is going to go down to Dallas next Sunday and get a win in what is now a pivotal NFC East showdown that will be played out on ‘SNF.’
While many might not want to say anything that might be some bulletin-board material (do teams even have bulletin boards?), what Pederson said was a thing of beauty that should only help give his team some confidence after an ugly loss to the Vikings on Sunday:
“I know the sky is falling outside. It’s falling and I get that and the fans are feeling just a little bit. We’re going down to Dallas, our guys are gonna be ready to play. And we’re gonna win that football game and when we do we’re in first place in the NFC East. We’re going to control our own destiny and be right where we need to be.”
There is some refreshing honesty from a coach who has never been afraid to go out on a limb during his days as head coach of the Eagles – remember that “Philly Special” in Super Bowl 52?
If I’m a member of the Eagles (which I’m not, duh) and I hear my coach telling the world that we’re going to get a win a big divisional game against a huge rival on the road, I’m fired up and ready to put in a big week of prep for the game.
On the other hand, you could be a member of the Dallas Cowboys, who heard their coach, Jason Garrett say of the guarantee: “We are excited about the challenge. They are a great football team. We are going to focus on the challenge to play great football Sunday night.”
While that is very Bill Belichickian of Garrett, it’s also not very inspiring and pretty lame. Garrett is back on the hot seat after a brutal loss to the Jets in what at times look like a team that was not all that impressed with their coach.
Here was a chance for Garrett to show some emotion and some leadership and fire up a team that is struggling after two straight losses. Instead, he was boring and predictable, much like his offense.
The early advantage this week goes to the Eagles.
Monday’s biggest winner: NASCAR’s Brendan Gaughan.
(AP Photo/Greg McWilliams)
That No. 62 car in that photo is Gaughan’s car and the thing flipped all the way over before sticking the landing like nothing happened during a big wreck with seven laps to go at Talladega on Monday. Gaughan wasn’t injured and gave a hilarious interview on TV just moments later. Incredible.
Quick hits: LeBron’s terrible takes on China… 4 teams that can win the Super Bowl… And more!
(Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images)
– LeBron James spoke Monday night for the first time about the NBA-China situation and it did not go well for him at all.
– Our Steven Ruiz believes only four teams could possibly win the Super Bowl and it’s hard to argue with him.
– UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov was seen training in a freezing river, because of course.
– Life came at former Eagles LB Zach Brown pretty quick on Monday, as he was cut just a day after Kirk Cousins made him look silly.
– The Chargers tried to rickroll Steelers fans Sunday night and boy did they fail miserably.
– John Oliver perfectly described Stephen A. Smith on his show this week.