NFL analyst makes wild claim about Commanders-Eagles' NFC Championship game

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2 days ago

"The Commanders know they are going to get their asses kicked today."
Mike Florio, host of Pro Football Talk on NBC Sports, told a story Friday morning. Florio began, "The day of the NFC Championship (January 26, 2025), someone I know who is very well plugged in, said, 'The Commanders know they are going to get their asses kicked today, and they are just kinda bracing for it.'"
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Florio continued on air with the story, saying that his inside source told him that day prior to the beginning of the NFC title game in Philly, "I know people in the building. They know what is coming."
The longtime show host asserted that he responded to his good friend, saying perhaps the Commanders' brass is simply preparing for the worst, if it were to occur. He said his source insisted, "No, they know the Eagles are dramatically better than they are, and it's not happening for them today. And they know it."
Florio told the story in the context of his contention Friday (some four months later) that, "I think the gap is just too big. It's too big for one offseason. This is something that is a multi-year effort to try to catch and surpass the Eagles."
Using the analogy of the NBA playoffs some 35 years ago, Florio said this gap between the Eagles and Commanders reminded him of how the Chicago Bulls had to work multiple years to catch and surpass the Detroit Pistons. Those old enough to recall remember how Michael Jordan and the Bulls lost three consecutive years in the playoffs to the Detroit Pistons. In 1988, it was the Eastern Conference semifinals, followed by consecutive years (1989 & 1990) when the Bulls fell to the Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals, before winning six of the next eight NBA championships.
Can the Commanders overtake the Eagles? Florio was doubtful, saying, "It's going to take multiple years, and even then, it may not happen."
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Concluding the segment, Florio suggested, "Josh Sweat (DE) is gone, Milton Williams (DT) is gone, but the Eagles are still the Eagles."
Well, Florio is rather confident the Eagles will remain atop the NFC East for the next few years. After all, quarterback Jalen Hurts is still quite young, and the roster is full of talented players across the depth chart.
As per the conversation in particular? Well, we don't have the "source" on record that day claiming the Commanders knew and were bracing for a beatdown. We do know the Eagles did win that matchup against the Commanders 55-23. Florio does insist this is how it went down that day between him and his source, who reportedly claimed he had access to inside the Commanders.
Yet, isn't it also true that in the NFC East, no team has repeated as division champions since the Eagles won the NFC East four consecutive seasons from 2001 through 2004?
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It's important to note that the Commanders did beat the Eagles in Week 16.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: PFT host says gap between Eagles and Commanders too large to overcome