The Philadelphia Eagles clearly heard the trash talk ahead of the NFC Championship.
Philly walloped the San Francisco 49ers in the conference title game back in January, thanks in part to the Niners losing both Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson to injuries in the game. While the Eagles ultimately lost in the Super Bowl, the win over San Francisco was an emphatic reminder that Philly was the best team in the NFC wire-to-wire.
The week leading up to that game featured some trash talk. Something that the Eagles seemed to take particular issue with was George Kittle saying Philly was a good team on paper – with the perceived implication being that the idea of the Eagles’ talent was better than the reality.
New 49ers defensive tackle Javon Hargrave was on that Eagles team. He told “The Morning Roast” that San Francisco was giving them bulletin board material.
“That was something,” Hargrave said. “Coach (Nick Sirianni) had put it up on a board and tried to give us a little motivation before the game. Just reminding us that basically they said we were a paper team, they were saying we were a paper team and stuff.
“That was something people took personally and just wanted to go out there and prove (wrong). But I think that’s all of us. When we hear someone talking down on us that just gives us a little motivation, so I think that was just a little motivation for us in that game.”
Clearly, taking it personally worked.
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