“As a head coach, you’re always looking for weaknesses and areas to exploit, they have none.” – Jason Garrett on the Eagles
“It didn’t feel like they won the Super Bowl…It felt like a team that was hungry and won three or four games last year. That’s a scary thought for the rest of the league.” – Chris Simms on the Eagles throughout the offseason
“You absolutely cannot let that guy out of your building.” – Garrett on the Cowboys trading Micah Parsons
“It’s not that you can’t let a great player out of the building, it’s when you do it and how you do it. You’ve got to build a culture and help your coach. I think they should’ve made the move earlier.” – Tony Dungy on the Parsons trade
STAMFORD, Conn. – Sept. 4, 2025 – NBC Sports’ coverage of the 2025 NFL season began tonight with a special on-site edition of Football Night in America on NBC and Peacock, leading into coverage of the NFL Kickoff Game as the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles are hosting the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa.
Tonight’s Football Night from Philadelphia featured host Maria Taylor, former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett, three-time Super Bowl champion Devin McCourty, former NFL quarterback Chris Simms, NFL insider Mike Florio, and fantasy sports industry pioneer Matthew Berry, with Hall of Fame head coach Tony Dungy, two-time Super Bowl champion Rodney Harrison, and co-host Jac Collinsworth.
Pre-game coverage also included the Eagles’ Super Bowl LIX banner raising, Maria Taylor’s interview with Eagles RB Saquon Barkley and Tony Dungy’s interview with Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer. Pregame from the field, Rodney Harrison spoke with Eagles QB Jalen Hurts and Chris Simms spoke with Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs.
Mike Tirico (play-by-play), Cris Collinsworth (analyst), Melissa Stark (sideline reporter) and Terry McAulay (rules analyst) are calling tonight’s 2025 NFL Kickoff Game.
***
Following are highlights from tonight’s special NFL Kickoff edition of Football Night in America on NBC and Peacock:
ON EAGLES
Garrett on the Eagles attempting to repeat as Super Bowl champions: “I’ve been around this team. They’re talking about (being) 0-0. ‘We’re not defending anything.’ They’ve got a big chip on their shoulder and they’ve got a great look in their eye. They’ve got a really talented team, but they’ve got the right mentality…Last year, they were the best team in the NFL by far - it wasn’t even close. As a head coach, you’re always looking for weaknesses and areas to exploit, they have none. They have big time players at every position, and they are a great football team.”
McCourty on attempting to repeat: “You’re going to get everybody’s best shot this year. All offseason they gameplan to just beat you…The only thing that helps them is the leadership by Jalen Hurts.”
Simms on the Eagles: “If you looked and came into this building in Philadelphia during the offseason and into training camp, it didn’t feel like they won the Super Bowl. It felt like a team that was hungry and won three or four games last year. That’s a scary thought for the rest of the league.”
Simms on the Eagles’ team building: “The Eagles are the gold standard in team building right now. What they do, unlike Dallas, is they draft guys, they develop, but they realize they want them for the second contract, and they get out in front of it early. They sign them up for basically a bargain deal. On the other hand, the Cowboys wait, they drag their feet, and then they have to pay the players a premium. And it costs them depth and other good players on their football team.”
Garrett on the Eagles’ EVP and General Manager Howie Roseman: “The evaluations that he has made over the last five to six years in the draft and free agency is why he has the best team in football. What I love about him is his conviction. He knows what he wants the team to look like, who he wants to draft, who he wants to trade for and he doesn’t listen to the outside noise. If he makes a mistake, he just moves on. They’re the best team in the NFL.”
McCourty on RB Saquon Barkley: “The pressure he puts on a defense, you don’t get a break when you play against Saquon Barkley…he can do everything.”
Simms on Barkley: “He’s brought back the value of the running back position in the NFL. He, (San Francisco’s) Christian McCaffrey, (Baltimore’s) Derrick Henry.”
McCourty on the ‘tush push’: “It snatches your soul. They need one yard, two yards. You know what they’re doing, they know what they’re doing…and no one stops them. It just demoralizes teams.”
Simms on QB Jalen Hurts: “If you play single safety, man-to-man against Jalen Hurts, the Philadelphia Eagles, those receivers, they’re going to tear you up…and because of the run game, they get a lot of defenses that play single safety, man-to-man.”
ON COWBOYS
Garrett on being head coach of the Cowboys: “When you’re the head coach of the Cowboys, it’s really about two things. You have to have a clear vision for the entire football team and share it in a compelling way. The second thing is that you can’t contribute to the noise. It can be a circus. It’s the most-watched sports program on the planet so you have to make sure you stay bland and if you have issues, tamp them down in public and handle them in private.”
Harrison on the Micah Parsons trade: “I don’t think he got burned. I agree with Jerry (Jones). If you look within the division, if you want to compete, he understands it’s not about one great player, he needs a lot of good players. I agree with Jerry and the move that they made...I didn’t think it was the right fit personality-wise.”
Garrett on the Micah Parsons trade: “You absolutely cannot let that guy out of your building. He’s an elite player and the best pass rusher in the league. I was really surprised about that deal.”
Dungy: “I have to disagree with Jason Garrett a little bit. It’s not that you can’t let a great player out of the building, it’s when you do it and how you do it. You’ve got to build a culture and help your coach. I think they should’ve made the move earlier...I know (Cowboys head coach) Brian Schottenheimer, all he’s talked about is culture and unity and talking to the players out there, they believe that. They want to build on that, but you’ve got to get help from the organization to foster that.”
Harrison: “And all the players told me, it was Dak Prescott, his leadership, and Brian Schottenheimer really focusing on football. That’s why this wasn’t a distraction.”
McCourty: “Dallas has so much going on. It’s a documentary this summer, it’s the Micah Parsons trade stuff. I know Rodney and coach Dungy were talking about it was the right move…but is it? Maybe the wrong move is doing it at that time, even if you are going to trade a player. We have no idea how Dallas’ training camp was. No one talks about it. We talk about everything else.”
Cowboys cornerback Trevon Diggs to Simms on how the Cowboys handle the aftermath of the trade: “Just have to stay together. It’s a brotherhood at the end of the day and everyone has got each other’s back. We all love Micah, but at the end of the day it’s just part of the business. We’ll miss him dearly, but we just had to come together even more and become a tighter unit.”
Garrett on the Cowboys’ player evaluation and team building: “The (player) evaluation since about 2010 has been really good…that part of it is fine. But managing the contracts and being on top of the salary cap allows you to keep role players and depth on your team. It’s a top-loaded team right now. Philadelphia has the big-time players and they’re deep.”
Simms: “Circuses don’t win Super Bowls, and that’s what you worry about.”
Taylor: “But they’re fun to talk about (laughs). They make our job really fun.”
Garrett on the Cowboys: “For the Cowboys, this whole team has been built to have success on the offense. All of the resources are on the offensive side of the ball. (Wide receiver) CeeDee Lamb is one of the best receivers in the NFL, they get (wide receiver) George Pickens, a top five quarterback in Dak Prescott. They say they want to run the football though, but they didn’t commit to getting a running back.”
Brian Schottenheimer to Tony Dungy on how his football philosophy compares to his father Marty’s: “When I talk about our football mantra here, it starts with winning the turnover battle, it starts with owning the line of scrimmage…The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.”
Dungy on the Parsons trade after his conversation with coach Schottenheimer: “He fully expected him to be out here on Thursday night, and then all of a sudden I get to the airport and he’s traded…It’s more than just coaching football (with the Cowboys), it’s dealing with a reality show.”
ON BILLS AND RAVENS (WHO PLAY ON SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ON NBC AND PEACOCK THIS WEEK)
McCourty on if Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen reaches the Super Bowl first: “It’s Lamar Jackson. Both of these guys are awesome, but I think the Baltimore Ravens have a better overall team and that’s why I would pick them. Their best players haven’t played the best in the biggest games, but I would still pick them.”
Garrett: “In the playoffs since 2018, (the Ravens) have not played their best football. In contrast, Buffalo has. They’ve lost four times to Kansas City trying to get to that next level and they were close each of those times. I think they break through.”
Simms: “Lamar and Josh Allen are as great as we’ve ever seen at the quarterback position. I think it’s the year for the Ravens. They are clearly the best roster in football…They’re a motivated football team.”
ON PACKERS
Harrison on the Packers with Parsons: “He actually gives them an identity. That defense had no identity. Now they have two legitimate pass rushers, which will help that secondary out.”
ON CHIEFS
Garrett on if this Chiefs team is better off than last season after sitting down with head coach Andy Reid: “I think they’re better off. That championship mentality – they’re hungry and they’re edgy right now. It’s a really interesting team. You think about how much championship mettle they have and what they need to do. Andy said they were a little bit tight in the Super Bowl. That may have been true. For me, they just got dominated up front and they addressed the issue by drafting Josh Simmons to play left tackle.”
McCourty: “They are better, but it doesn’t matter because the division is better. All of those young teams, they’re coming for Kansas City.”
ON BRONCOS
Simms: “I like Denver a lot. I’m on record, this is the year the AFC West ends for the Chiefs. The Denver Broncos are going to do it.”
--FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA--
