Pitfalls in facing a team that's the pits

At Southern Cal, Winston Justice said it was easy to underestimate the forthcoming opponent and admitted it happened quite often even though Trojans coach Pete Carroll would warn against it.

"In college it's different, though," Justice said. "At USC, we really did underestimate some teams because we were blowing people out."

Justice said there were a few times USC invited trouble with that attitude, then added it would be unwise to have that same approach at the highest level of the game.

"In the NFL, you can't do that," the Eagles offensive tackle said. "In the NFL, it's totally different because everyone is good. On film, at USC, the guys would actually look bad. Here, the guys all look good, but some things don't really work out."

This comes up now because the Eagles, with the exception of a Week 2 game against New Orleans, have faced a skid-row schedule that continues this afternoon against the dysfunctional Oakland Raiders at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

Like Carroll at USC, Eagles coach Andy Reid warns his players about the dangers involved in underestimating an opponent, even one like Oakland, which has been outscored by 96-16 in its last three games.

Reid, often accused of saying nothing at his news conferences, actually revealed what he told his players Wednesday morning before they started preparations for the Raiders.

"I watched this [Oakland] team, virtually the same team, go down and play Tampa Bay last year and I don't think anyone in this room gave them a chance to beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and that directly affected our season," Reid said.

The Raiders pulled the upset in Tampa on the final day of the season, and it was the final alignment the Eagles needed to set up what amounted to a playoff game with the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field. Justice said Reid mentioned that Oakland game during his Wednesday morning meeting.

"I think that it's important that you take care of your business," Reid said. "If you slight that in the National Football League, then you have problems."

It's difficult to get a current player to say anything negative about a team before or after a game in the NFL, but New York Giants middle linebacker Antonio Pierce took a healthy swipe after his team clubbed the Raiders, 44-7, last Sunday. Pierce said the Raiders appeared to be playing offense at "a practice tempo" and it was "shocking" how bad they were.