As you may have heard, there’s a kinda big and important game in South Philly on Sunday afternoon when the 7-5 Lions visit the 7-5 Eagles.
Eagles’ radio announcer and Philadelphia treasure – don’t you forget that - Merrill Reese has seen and called his fair share of kinda big and important games over the years so you know he’s psyched for Sunday.
Never bashful, Reese decided to give his thoughts on the Lions when he appeared on the “In Studio” segment on the Eagles’ website earlier this week.
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The major takeaway: He doesn’t think the Lions are as good as the Cardinals, the team the Eagles sent crying and moaning back to Arizona last week with a 24-21 defeat.
“I don’t think Detroit is as good a team as Arizona,” Reese told Dave Spadaro.
One of the main reasons he cites is Matthew Stafford’s tendency to turn the ball over. Stafford has 14 interceptions and has lost three fumbles this season. All tolled, Lions have a minus-8 turnover differential this season, good for 26th in the league.
He even goes on to say Cardinals’ quarterback Carson Palmer has a better arm.
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“Yeah, is Matthew Stafford good? Yeah, he’s good and sometimes he’s not good. Does he have a bigger arm than Carson Palmer? No. Carson Palmer can throw it from here to the Delaware River and Matthew Stafford can go deep when he has to, too. I don’t think [Stafford’s] decision making has been all that good.”
Don’t worry, Calvin Johnson, Merrill is getting to you.
He praises Johnson and his abilities, but feels Johnson is par for the course with Larry Fitzgerald - whom the Eagles held to five catches for 72 yards and a touchdown last week - and believes Arizona’s receiving depth is better than Detroit’s.
“There’s a great wide receiver. We know all about Megatron - Calvin Johnson - and how great he is. But I don’t think he’s really that much better than Larry Fitzgerald. I think you’re talking about 1 and 1A. And they don’t have a second receiver who is as good as Michael Floyd.
Oh, Merrill Reese stirring the pot a little bit. He almost sounds like a villainous pro wrestling manager. I like it. Can he do this every week?
Never change, Merrill. Never change.