Doug Gottlieb says Patriots made a statement by beating Eagles
Sure the Philadelphia Eagles’ loss in Week 2 of the preseason is, now, ancient history, but you’ve got to hear what Doug Gottlieb said.
After matching wits, trading blows and setting offensive records on February 4th in Super Bowl LII, the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots met again on August 16th for a football game. That part you know.
That game was six months after the first Lombardi Trophy in Eagles history was won. The stakes were much different when the two teams met at Gillette Stadium for Week 2 of the NFL‘s 2018 preseason schedule. That part you also know.
What you may not know is how players and coaches are affected by preseason wins and losses. On August 21st, Eagles head coach Doug Pederson met with the Philly media, and he said he wasn’t concerned with going 4-0 in the preseason. We’ve all heard this before. At some point in your own lives, you’ve probably also heard that you learn more by losing than by winning.
That sentiment can be applied to football as well. The Eagles first two preseason games in 2018 were 17-point losses. Much was learned in both games. A ton was revealed to us about Philly’s roster.
That’s what people care about. Most people, including some of the most die-hard Eagles fans could care less about losing games that don’t count. They don’t mean anything to anyone. Well, that’s not totally true. One person recently attempted to prove that theory was an incorrect one.
Did we just hear what we thought we did?
The Herd is one of the most popular sports shows on Fox Sports 1’s lineup. It’s the brainchild of Colin Cowherd. Love him or hate him, Cowherd gets people riled up, and he moves the needle.
Here’s where things get tricky. Sometimes, ‘Uncle Colin’ needs a day off, and when he takes one, the guys you often see standing in are Doug Gottlieb and Jason Whitlock. This next statement isn’t meant to be mean. It’s just an honest opinion and assessment. Whitlock and Gottlieb aren’t Colin Cowherd.
Just try this one on for size. Just days after the Patriots’ 37-20 victory over Philly, Gottlieb had an opening rant on The Herd. He discussed a few things.
One point he made was Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, in all of his greatness, may not have been able to save the Cleveland Browns.
Then, he said the Patriots made a statement by beating the Eagles in that game that didn’t count. Don’t take our word for it. Listen for yourself.
Be forewarned if you’re an Eagles fan. This one may make the blood boil a little:
Video courtesy of The Herd with Colin Cowherd’s official YouTube page
Really?
We apologize for breaking the 24-hour rule.
There’s something called ‘The 24-hour rule’ when it comes to discussing sports. It’s just defined differently depending on who you’re talking to. In the minds of some, said rule is in place to remind us that, when you stick a microphone in a professional athlete’s face, things like this can happen:
Video courtesy of the NFL’s official YouTube page
To others, the 24-hour rule is viewed a little differently. To put things simply, the NFL is fast paced with a lot of twists and turns during the season. There’s no point in wallowing in a loss, especially one that doesn’t count.
We had to break the rules in regards to the latter interpretation of the 24-hour rule. We acknowledge the Cleveland Browns are on the horizon, but we couldn’t let Gottlieb’s theory go unnoticed.
The Patriots aren’t the defending champs. ‘The Birds’ are. That’s the only statement that bears repeating. If you ask Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and company if they’d rather have the win on August 16th or the one on February 4th what do you think they’d say?
Case closed. We’ve calmed down. We can move on. We, now, return you to your regularly scheduled program.