After the intraconference rivalry that has started over the past few seasons, the San Francisco 49ers are absolutely loving the colossal meltdown that is happening in Philadelphia right now. After spending most of the season as the NFL’s obvious team to beat in the NFC playoffs, the Eagles have completely capsized by losing five of their last six to close the season. Before the skid, they were considered the obvious favorite in the NFC to win the Super Bowl. Now, they are holding on as the number one wildcard team after forfeiting the conference to their division rival Dallas Cowboys.
Former Eagle Rips Former Team and Praises the 49ers
While this has happened in Philadelphia, San Francisco is sitting on the West Coast laughing at their greatest foes. Remember though, it could be worse. One of the Philadelphia’s star players could’ve left for San Francisco last off season and then talked about how broken the culture is in the city of brotherly love. Oh wait. That is officially happening now.
On Monday, San Francisco defensive tackle Javon Hargrave went on a podcast and spoke plainly about what he thinks is going wrong in Philadelphia. He may not be getting much affection from the City of Brotherly Love but his new fans on the West Coast are certainly loving his attitude.
“It’s kind of similar because I think we are very close,” Hargrave said about the two clubs while speaking with teammate Arik Armstead during the latest edition of the “Third and Long” podcast, as shared by Cayden Steele of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com. “Even in Philly, we were close. Everybody was pretty tight. But I can say practice is harder … yeah, here it’s more demanding. … You know what you’re getting over here. Everybody can’t make it over here.”
It’s gotten so bad in Philadelphia that once vaunted head coach Nick Sirianni is actually on the hot seat and there is talk of him being fired if he doesn’t pull out a win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over Wild Card Weekend. Tampa Bay has widely been considered as the worst team in the playoffs as a whole and a loss to them to end the season would be devastating for the once elite Philadelphia roster.
Hargrave has been attacking the culture in Philadelphia by asserting that San Francisco simply works much harder than his former team in all aspects of the game.
“A war,” Hargrave added about 49ers practices compared to what he experienced with the Eagles. “A war every day. You don’t understand it until you’re in it. It’s definitely a little different.”
San Francisco has officially won home field advantage throughout the playoffs as well as locking in a first round bye with the number one seed in the NFC. While it looks unlikely with the way Philadelphia is playing right now, a playoff rematch between these two rivals would certainly be one of the more violent games of the postseason.
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