Ross Tucker will be on the sidelines for Westwood One’s coverage of Commanders-Eagles on Sunday, which you can hear right here on 106.7 The Fan starting at 2 p.m., and it will be an interesting game for him: one of the teams he played for vs. the one he roots for as a fan, with the Super Bowl on the line.
When he joined BMitch & Finlay on Thursday, though, Ross admitted he’s only surprised to see one team this Sunday.
“Not this year, no, definitely not, but I am very glad to be doing so,” Tucker said when they asked if he can believe he was on to talk about Washington in the semifinals. “I saw you guys in November, and I thought it was a nice story, and I'm not surprised that they made the playoffs and all that, but no, I was not expecting this. I am absolutely thrilled for everybody listening right now, because I know what it's been like over the last 20 years, and I know how long they've waited for this. It's awesome.”
But, perhaps part of the reason they are where they are is because what Tucker has seen between doing that Thursday night Eagles-Commanders game and now is night and day difference, to the good.
“I think they're better on both sides of the ball. On offense, Dyami Brown has really given them something as that second receiver, which they were really lacking earlier this year,” Tucker said. “Defensively, I’m more impressed; they still give up decent amounts of points and yards, but it just feels to me like they got a lot of guys playing better than they ever have. It’s really a testament to Dan Quinn; they're still not a great defense, but they have a bunch of guys I feel like playing the best ball that they've ever played.”
Tucker went into some thoughts on Philly’s passing game – calling it ‘tough to watch’ – and the impact of this being a third matchup, among other things, but when it comes to how it will all go down? Ross isn’t sure, but he does know what ‘Any Given Sunday’ can mean with the Commanders.
“I feel like if they played 10 times, Philly would probably win seven or eight of them, but I would not be surprised is this is one of those where the Commanders win,” Tucker said. “If they can play offensively the way they did in Week 16 with spreading out the Eagles – maybe Quinyon Mitchell isn't playing his best because he's coming off the shoulder injury, so maybe he's not as effective, or maybe they really attack the middle of the field with Nakobe Dean out. I do not think the Eagles are going to give up explosive plays, so the Commanders will have to go the length of the field, and it's gonna have to be, I think, a lot of Ertz, a lot of Ekeler, and a lot of Jayden Daniels’ legs. Do that, and don’t give up any of the 70 yarders to Saquon, and you got a good chance.”
And what happens If that happens?
“It feels like it’s a year early, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the win it all,” Tucker said. “With the confidence and the belief they have, the commanders have no fear. They just beat these guys a month ago, they know they can do it, so I’m sure they believe they're gonna do it again, and they might.”