“Mental Hurdle” Huge For Eagles

January 12th, 2022

The Eagles sure have a mountain to climb on Sunday.

And one of the all-time great tight ends thinks it’s more mental than anything.

Philadelphia is a young team with a first-year head coach. The Bucs are the champions led by The Goat and a handful of future Hall of Famers and players that will be remembered for decades, plus a 69-year-old celebrity head coach.

FOX analyst Greg Olsen, the retired Panthers and Bears tight end, told NBC Sports Philadelphia that the Eagles need to find the right mentality in a hurry because they’re “mental hurdle” will be massive.

“‘We belong here. I know they’re the defending champs. I know that’s Tom Brady. But none of that matters,'” Olsen said, describing what Eagles players must believe completely to be successful.

“Just knowing going in that you belong and you have a chance is like half the battle when it comes to the playoffs.  … But the playoffs so often just comes down to who handles the moment, who handles the preparation, who doesn’t let it get too big. … not getting fascinated by who’s on the other team, who’s in the other jerseys, because very often in the playoffs that’s a big factor.”

Joe doesn’t think Philadelphia has it in them. Olsen cited Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts’ big-game experience in college, but Olsen acknowledged that means little when it comes to the NFL.

Joe thinks the Eagles’ only chance is to start fast against the Bucs. If Tom Brady jumps out to a big lead on the Eagles again like the Bucs did in October, Joe is confident Tampa Bay will not let Philly creep back in the game like they did last time.

32 Responses to ““Mental Hurdle” Huge For Eagles”

  1. sasquatch Says:

    I think pretty much any team has a chance against the Bucs until they prove that defense can consistently stop people.

  2. Swampbuc Says:

    Pass rush culminating on Hurts going to the ground is a huge key, obviuosly got to stop the run. Defense wins championships. (See Bucs, 2021 playoff run).

    Time to ramp it up lads.

  3. Devon Says:

    Look, let’s be honest, it’s gonna be HOPE AND PRAY the Bucs win this weekend, and any subsequent weekends if we get there. Any team can win any of these games in the playoffs, so we gotta pray luck is on our side!!! These games will all be a coin toss. That said, we got Brady, baby, and he has more than his share of luck almost all the time. He’s magical and we’ll need all the magic we can get to win it all!

  4. Doctor Stroud Says:

    Yes, it’s time for Hurts to go down and go down hard!

  5. Swampbuc Says:

    So hard that he hears the trains.

  6. Iamabuc Says:

    “I think pretty much any team has a chance against the Bucs”…..but it ain’t gonna be easy for them . I tell that much. I still bet on my Bucs.

  7. SB~LV Says:

    They can play lose with nothing to lose!

  8. Bobby Buc Says:

    i hope people realize the only reason the eagles came back was those damn penalties. bucs have been better as of late…

  9. Casual Observer Says:

    Running QBs can give the Bucs fits. Remember the rookie Washington QB who nearly beat us in the first playoff game last year. Bucs better be ready for such. Like we were in the SB!

  10. Derek Says:

    Wednesday night and still no podcast out this week? Falling being the competition in the podcast world Joes…

  11. JGhotier Says:

    Slightly off-topic, but Mike Evans has me a little worried w/ his sniffles and yawning at his PC today. With how many receivers we are already down, I pray that he’s not getting sick on 🙏 knock on wood

  12. Im not tired anymore we Super Bowl Champs!! Says:

    Want a reminder why you don’t underestimate the enemy we’ll go watch the last episode of hard knocks with the Colts. You don’t want to be that locker room after a game because you just checked yourself out of the big dance. Learn from other teams mistakes and make no mistake the Eagles will be ready to avenge us. The Bucs must prepare as if it’s the Super Bowl and be ready to curb stomp the Eagles. Don’t give them an inch and let them be the ones to go back into there locker room thinking about next season. Go Bucs it’s ride or die time!

  13. Anonymous Says:

    Sasquatch

    “I think pretty much any team has a chance against the Bucs until they prove that defense can consistently stop people.”

    No doubt. Keep my faith till the last second of the last game with Brady but defense wins championships and this defense sure as sh!t isn’t a championship defense.

  14. An Erection for Sacks Says:

    Greg Olsen is one of the primary reasons why I now listen to the spanish-language audio feed during NFL games, and I don’t even understand spanish!

    I’d rather listen to a language that I don’t understand than listen to him butcher the language that I do understand. He’s THAT bad.

    Why is there not a website that catalogs all of these jocks’ verbal miscues? The source material is endlessly vast, and is expanding each and every day. Talk about low-hanging fruit! They could devote a whole section to Chris Simms, who, at the age of 40, still sounds like a 90s kid from New Jersey. They are all great athletes who know the game, yet they still manage to sound like idiots.

  15. Paul was Patriots fan Says:

    Sorry to hear about Richard Sherman.
    Still think management made a mistake on drama queen AB.
    He was needed for his skills not his narcissistic personality disorder.
    Well, a lost opportunity.
    This round will be all Bucs. Take one game at a time.

  16. Swampbuc Says:

    Tired Champ — you are spot on.

    Hopefuly they’ve not gone deaf to Brady’s oratory inspiration.

  17. Joe Says:

    I’d rather listen to a language that I don’t understand than listen to him butcher the language that I do understand. He’s THAT bad.

    LOL

    (For some reason this makes Joe think of Telemundo women. Joe has no clue what they are saying, but he still enjoys what he is seeing.)

  18. David Says:

    With Shaq, JPP, Fournette, and maybe even LVD coming back, no chance for them. This time they put the hammer down and keep going.
    41-17

  19. Philly101 Says:

    Hahahaha yall going to lose…… I hope you realize that. You can say what you want and make up excuses on why we came back in the last game! You just barely beat us the last time regardless of the how! You were leading by 20 points and almost choked up the game to let us back in it and win it. That was also before we discovered our identity, that was also with your proven cheater of a quarterback that everybody seems to call the greatest of all time. Wonder how many games he’s won by being a cheat? This guy should have been banned long ago for deflate gate. you’re also not going to tell me he never watched any of the videos Bill belichick recorded of other teams practices etc. It’s not even that I’m a Tom Brady hater, cuz believe me when I say growing up I thought this guy was the best quarterback ever and wanted him on the Eagles. Then as I got older and learned more about football and started to follow multiple teams closely I started to realize that there was just no way that one man could win six super bowls and not be doing something dirty. Then wouldn’t you know the video scandal came out and who knows how long that was even going on for. Then the deflate gate came out and this guy and Bill belichick get a little fine and Tom Brady gets a what three game suspension I think it was? Total BS. I can also almost guarantee that when Brady was in New England more than half of you people saying he’s the greatest now called him a cheater yourselves and said he deserved to be banned but now all of a sudden he’s playing for your team and you love this guy and he’s the greatest quarterback ever, he’s a cheater. This man’s legacy will forever be tainted to me because we will never know the whole truth about any of what happened and how many years they cheated for. Who knows maybe Bruce Arians is in on Tom Brady’s cheating ways now. He never won a super bowl with the Arizona Cardinals and he had some pretty good teams. But yet as soon as he gets matched up with Tom Brady as the head coach of the Tampa Bay buccaneers he all of a sudden wins his first super bowl the first year Tom Brady’s on his team? Seems kind of fishy to me and it also just so happens that a team never plays in their home stadium during the super bowl era let alone win that game,. But yet in the first year it happens with Tom Brady he magically wins it! Seems kind of fishy to me either they cheated and that’s how they destroyed the Kansas City Chiefs which has almost never happened ever since Patrick took over that team as the starting quarterback. It’s either that or the NFL is rigging their games and that’s how Tom Brady has won so many super bowls on top of cheating and thats why he got let off the hook easy after being caught cheating so many times he should have been blackballed not Colin Kaepernick. Tom Brady after being caught cheating the first time should have never been allowed to play another game of football let alone it happening on more than one occasion. Thats goes for Bill to. But somehow someway this man still plays and nobody questions anything at all. To me this mans legacy will always be tainted and doesn’t deserve to be called the greatest of all time. Cuz if you got caught cheating once, what’s that saying oh yeah that’s right once a cheater always a cheater. Point made, can’t wait till we send you guys home packing your bags with tears down your faces. Cuz I hear the ideal weather for a great running team is on the way to Tampa Bay and that’s the ideal circumstances for Philadelphia to run all over your team. 200+ rushing yards three rushing scores Jalen hurts throws for 250+ with two tds in Philly walks out the victor. Nice knowin ya TBB n cheating TB12. Go home. Dueces.

  20. DarenGibo Says:

    I wouldn’t be shocked if Antonio Brown premeditated his whole exit since he was in New York, stayed in NY to promote and then went on a strip club/hang out with rappers tour promoting his “single” and stating he was going to be a disruptor of the industry… It’s like when you want to break up with your girl, but really don’t have that good reason, so you create a fight… it seemed the sideline had that same look of confusion during this premeditated fight….. It’s not us AB, it’s you.

  21. Scotty in Fat Antonio Says:

    Hmmmm…I could be wrong but haven’t our Bucs let almost every team this year creep back in the game?

  22. Kentucky Buc Says:

    DarenGibo. That’s what it looks like to me also. Pretty obvious he had no intention of coming back from NY.

  23. Listnfrmafar Says:

    Scotty,.exactly! Comes down to complacency, if the young Bucs think this is a tomatoe can game then you may see a lot of head scratching Sunday around 4pm. BA already stated Brady is entrenched in his preparation, if we can get the assistant coaches back from interviews and entrenched that would surely help. Philly 101, get your facts straight Brady has 7 rings and 4 of those are after your BS so called scandals. Once again the NFL attacked the winningest team in History when others were taping as well. If Bucs win again some stupid crap will come out in efforts to slow them down. Go back to your stink ass city troll!

  24. BucfanBF Says:

    Philly101

    Have you ever heard of page breaks or paragraphs? Is this the level of education you dunces receive in Philly?

    I will give you that your team can run the ball. You are in the big time now and we are finally starting to get healthy on defense so we will see if you get 200+ yards on the ground wont we?

    As far as Brady is concerned I am happy as Hell that he is here. You are a liar if you wouldn’t have taken him last year to be your starting QB.

    I suggest you have a few cheese steaks handy to cry into after this game when we kick your AZZ!!!!

  25. DarenGibo Says:

    We saw what in season complacency looked liked after the Bucs won the first championship… this team? 13-4. Are there moments of letting up or “complacency”? yep, but that seems to be par for the course in the NFL, hence very few repeats. I have no doubt we see the bucs play with the same fire when they beat Saints, Pack and Chiefs! i believe they learned their lesson during a tough game that shouldn’t have been vs WFT in round 1.

  26. Cobraboy Says:

    Philly 101’s lips are moving, but no sound comes out.

    Maybe it’s Philly public schools or something.

    Hey Philly, did your butt sores ever heal when the Bucs shut down the Vet?

  27. Cobraboy Says:

    Hey Philly: what happened in week 18? You guys/gals/xirs lost by 4 tuddies against a blood rival.

  28. Philly101 Says:

    Listnfrmafar: Oh okay so when you lose the Philadelphia you already got your excuses entrenched huh? TBB lost because of young players not showing up and because coaches were in interviews a few days before the game? Already making excuses lol, you’re right I was one ring off my bad. I don’t care how many rings he’s won or how many he won after being caught cheating.

    It aint BS it’s a proven fact, he was punished for his actions and there was text messages and everything else to prove it. If there wasn’t enough proof that he cheated he would have never been punished to begin with. Especially someone with his pedigree, the NFL would’ve swept it under the rug if they could have. You can believe what you want, we all have our own opinions, all I know is when all that stuff came out most of y’all Buc fans we’re saying the same thing I am now. The only difference now he’s on your team and won you a super bowl so it’s okay to look the other way. Also I do believe that Philly was one of the teams to take down Tom Brady in the super bowl right? Only this time it’ll be before the big game!

    BucfanBF: Yeah I’ve heard of page breaks and paragraphs, I just don’t care to use them especially when I’m talking to a bunch of hypocritical prevaricators like you. Your brainlessness is intriguing to me, due to one extenuating circumstance, the fact that you actually believe the foolishness that comes out of your mouth. In the beginning of the year you had one of the best Rush defenses, but ever since Bruce Arians made the statement during the Colts game “that nobody runs on us” everybody started having success running against yall. You can make all the excuses you want on why that’s the case. But that’s exactly all that is, excuses. Mark my words we will beat Tampa Bay.

    One last thing for you, you can proceed to think all you want but I’m not a liar I would never in a million years want Tom Brady as my quarterback EVER. I don’t want that tainted legacy anywhere near Philadelphia. He could have all the rings and glory in the world, he could have never lost a game in his career and I still wouldn’t want a cheater on my team. This is supposed to be a professional sport. Professionals aren’t supposed to cheat, they’re supposed to do what they can inside the rules of the game to win. He’s shown on more than one occasion he’s willing to step over that line. The way that I respect the game I don’t think that should be rewarded with being called the greatest of all time. It doesn’t matter how many rings he’s won after the scandals, because every single one after that and befor is tainted because you never know when and if this man is cheating.

    Cobraboy: I could care less about the Vet at this point our stadium is Lincoln Financial Field now. From what I heard the Vet was rat infested and never taken care of or maintained. I’m glad it’s a part of our history but that’s exactly where it needs to stay in the past.

    As for your so-called comments about what happened to us against the Cowboys? Do you know how many backups we played in that game? We called up 10 practice squad players for that game and every one of them played. Against Dallas’s starters up until the 4th quarter. Also just so I point this out I’m not making excuses, I never for one second thought we were winning that game. But I did find it intriguing that our backups and practice squad players who played were competitive for the first two quarters. And if it wasn’t for a shanked punt that went 21 yards, that game might be different coming out of the half. Not saying we would have won but the score would have been a little closer. I can honestly say I was proud of the way those players fought that whole game never once did I see them quit even though they knew the game was over.

    One last thing you guys put up a donut against the saints right? I’m pretty sure we blew that team out! The records now don’t matter in the playoffs everybody 0-0. What happened the last time Philadelphia was the underdog against Tom Brady? Oh yeah we won the super bowl! Just get ready to pack your bags and go home cuz Philadelphia is coming to play. We’re walking in that stadium a winner and we’re walking out the winner!

  29. Philly101 Same person. Says:

    Listnfrmafar: Oh okay so when you lose the Philadelphia you already got your excuses entrenched huh? TBB lost because of young players not showing up and because coaches were in interviews a few days before the game? Already making excuses lol, you’re right I was one ring off my bad. I don’t care how many rings he’s won or how many he won after being caught cheating.

    It aint BS it’s a proven fact, he was punished for his actions and there was text messages and everything else to prove it. If there wasn’t enough proof that he cheated he would have never been punished to begin with. Especially someone with his pedigree, the NFL would’ve swept it under the rug if they could have. You can believe what you want, we all have our own opinions, all I know is when all that stuff came out most of y’all Buc fans we’re saying the same thing I am now. The only difference now he’s on your team and won you a super bowl so it’s okay to look the other way. Also I do believe that Philly was one of the teams to take down Tom Brady in the super bowl right? Only this time it’ll be before the big game!

    BucfanBF: Yeah I’ve heard of page breaks and paragraphs, I just don’t care to use them especially when I’m talking to a bunch of hypocritical prevaricators like you. Your brainlessness is intriguing to me, due to one extenuating circumstance, the fact that you actually believe the foolishness that comes out of your mouth. In the beginning of the year you had one of the best Rush defenses, but ever since Bruce Arians made the statement during the Colts game “that nobody runs on us” everybody started having success running against yall. You can make all the excuses you want on why that’s the case. But that’s exactly all that is, excuses. Mark my words we will beat Tampa Bay.

    One last thing for you, you can proceed to think all you want but I’m not a liar I would never in a million years want Tom Brady as my quarterback EVER. I don’t want that tainted legacy anywhere near Philadelphia. He could have all the rings and glory in the world, he could have never lost a game in his career and I still wouldn’t want a cheater on my team. This is supposed to be a professional sport. Professionals aren’t supposed to cheat, they’re supposed to do what they can inside the rules of the game to win. He’s shown on more than one occasion he’s willing to step over that line. The way that I respect the game I don’t think that should be rewarded with being called the greatest of all time. It doesn’t matter how many rings he’s won after the scandals, because every single one after that and befor is tainted because you never know when and if this man is cheating.

    Cobraboy: I could care less about the Vet at this point our stadium is Lincoln Financial Field now. From what I heard the Vet was rat infested and never taken care of or maintained. I’m glad it’s a part of our history but that’s exactly where it needs to stay in the past.

    As for your so-called comments about what happened to us against the Cowboys? Do you know how many backups we played in that game? We called up 10 practice squad players for that game and every one of them played. Against Dallas’s starters up until the 4th quarter. Also just so I point this out I’m not making excuses, I never for one second thought we were winning that game. But I did find it intriguing that our backups and practice squad players who played were competitive for the first two quarters. And if it wasn’t for a shanked punt that went 21 yards, that game might be different coming out of the half. Not saying we would have won but the score would have been a little closer. I can honestly say I was proud of the way those players fought that whole game never once did I see them quit even though they knew the game was over.

    One last thing you guys put up a donut against the saints right? I’m pretty sure we blew that team out! The records now don’t matter in the playoffs everybody 0-0. What happened the last time Philadelphia was the underdog against Tom Brady? Oh yeah we won the super bowl! Just get ready to pack your bags and go home cuz Philadelphia is coming to play. We’re walking in that stadium a winner and we’re walking out the winner!

  30. Philly101 Same person. Says:

    Seems like i made someone mad couldnt post this under other email.

  31. Bucfan Says:

    Because you are a Troll Phillygirl. Get lost….

  32. shecky Says:

    I think it was Panthers and Seahawks with Greg Olson, Joe..