Hack Job
Posted: October 13th, 2011 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 39 Comments »Earlier today the site got hacked and some weird post about sunglasses was up. Sorry for the confusion. I’m not peddling sunglasses. Got to look into how that happened.
* * * * *
Somebody in the comments section a couple of days ago linked to a Reuben Frank column where he questioned whether Andy Reid was losing the team.
I posted my response in my SB Nation Philly column.
* * * * *
The Fandemonium column posted yesterday. For that I tried to put some criticisms into perspective. Nothing super new there for those of you who come here every day.
* * * * *
Funny site for the college football fans … OccupyHerbstreit.
* * * * *
I’ll put up a post a bit later that talks about the Skins. Interesting team right now.
Don’t worry about the sunglasses Tommy: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Tommy, just a Q about the LBs. In TATE Blackskimmer came up with this:
they should have never changed the way the lb shed blocks, it seemed to kill em.
To wit I replied
I was thinking the same thing and I wonder just how fundamental this is. This was part of JCs vision along with allowing the players to react faster and flow to the ball quicker. This is a huge fail at this moment. How alien is this shedding method? Could it be linked to any of the bad angles the whole defense now seem to take. Chaney seems unrecognisable from the end of last year.
Fears of how JC used to try and get square fitting lineman in his round hole scheme. Is this a repeat?
Legit question. Let me think about that.
Anyone else see Schefter on ESPN just now, delivering some hypothetical trades? Trades that “make sense, so they’ll never happen.” Threw around some ideas like Reggie Wayne to the Bills for a 4th rounder and Rob Mathis to NYJ for a 4th rounder.
He also suggested that Denver send DJ Williams and Brian Dawkins to the Eagles for a 3rd round pick. Sounds like it would hypothetically solve all the problems… except for Dawkins’ age, Williams’ contract, and the tightness of the salary cap… it would never work. Something to chew on, though.
Can we trade years of life in the B-Dawk trade? (I suspect that the aliens who abducted him have some way to do this) we could all donate a couple of days, to get #20 down to his prime.
If we trade for Dawk, I will get “#20 DREAM TEAM #20” tattooed on my lower back.
What are the dimensions of said tattoo going to be?
Inches Long = # of 2011 Eagles Wins (I’m banking on it being 15″ or 16″ long, depending on whether or not we get the first round bye).
Sounds like a good strategy. Can you tweet this to Joe Banner?
Well done on cooking your Reuben. Was that extra sauerkraut and corn-beef that really made it extra special.
Tommy,
Diddy/Baldy have “reviewed” the coaches tape for a few weeks, maybe the whole year, and at least two times I recall reading about how defenders weren’t running to the football (DRC, Samuel) – are you seeing this as well?
It was frustrating for me on Sunday for a few plays to watch those guys basically stand around waiting for the Safety to come make a tackle….ugh
I vividly remember fox showing a reply of a slant pass where DRC literally just stood there watching his guy catch the ball and letting someone else make the tackle. I about threw my remote at the tv at his lack of effort on that play
Is it possible that in some way the lack of physical practices hurts positions like LB and S the most?
Tommy, quick question:
I am considering a pair of aviator’s similar to a pair that I really enjoy, but the new pair has circular polarization instead of the traditional. Do you think I will notice a difference?
I’m in the middle of opening a new sunglasses blog. Please re-post this question there.
Nice job ATG, I was thinking of some kind of smart ass sunglasses question to ask, couldn’t do better than that. Tommy please link us to that site when you get it up and running.
Tommy, I apologize that was me earlier who hacked your site. I was mad you for something (I forget now), and I have a real passion for sunglasses, so I put that up on your site.
I’ll punish myself this weekend by chugging my smirnoff ice every time an Eagles defender misses a tackle. Figured I should be in an alcohol induced coma by halftime or is that not giving them enough credit?
That is hard to answer, are you only drinking when we get our hands on the guy but don’t stop him, or does taking an angle where we completely miss the ball carrier count?
Never mind, it really won’t make more than a few series difference. Make sure your choice of sunglasses that day not only compliment your outfit, but also have nice, rounded edges to avoid needing too many stitches when you head hits the coffee table.
Your SBNation column was convincing and a good reality check. Almost as important though is the question of whether Juan has lost the defense (if he ever had it to begin with). How many players out there are playing as though they believe in their coach? That’s not meant to be rhetorical – I’m actually wondering. I studied economics in college – if they brought in a just-converted Women’s and Gender Studies prof to lecture me about marginal utility and substitution curves, I’d have a very hard time listening or taking him/her seriously. You have to wonder how many defensive players see a guy up there talking about a position in which he has effectively zero real experience and then wonder how many of them have the motivation to take his schemes/planning/lectures/speeches to heart.
Trent’s obviously playing his heart out, but that’s no different from normal. Brian Rolle is a ball of energy, as we expected, and I get the impression that Nnamdi is trying his best as well, though he’s being affected by some mental issues.
Asante looks more lackadaisical and tackling averse than I’ve ever seen him, and DRC doesn’t seem to be hustling either (I think Baldy and Didinger pointed this out). Jason Babin seems like he’s doing what he wants to, which is rack up the sacks, at the expense of playing the run – he’s fine going straight after the QB on every single play, and I can only hope/imagine that Castillo is telling him to be a little more cognizant of run plays. If that’s the case, then I’d say that he’s either tuning him out or is just struggling to make the transition. And if Castillo is harping on the “fundamentals” of tackling day in and day out, Jarrad Page is clearly tuning him out or just an incredibly bad player (and it didn’t seem like he was bad, per se, back in the preseason).
If people aren’t picking up on the most basic of changes week to week, does that suggest to you that they just aren’t buying into their coach? Or are players capable of being consistently inconsistent with their play even if they’re really listening to their coaches and take them seriously?
Everything I’m hearing is that the players love Juan on a personal level. Everyone who has worked with or for him, or played under him, loves the guy.
That said…I think plenty of players have serious questions about him as a defensive coach. Juan needs something to go right for players to really buy in. Some takeaways. Dominating performance. Defense making crucial plays to win a game. He needs something like this for players to believe in him more than they do.
Players want Juan to succeed, but I’m sure the confidence in him isn’t real high. That could change if things go well, but hard to say if that is going to happen any time soon.
Misogynist. What if that Women’s and Gender Studies prof gave you a headbutt when you got an answer right? Would you pay attention then? What if she demonstrated stretching and flexibility exercises on the locker room floor? (I don’t know that Juan does this, but it would make me take notice of her.)
Where was I? Oh, yeah, I see your point. And considering Tommy’s response, it certainly helps that the players like him, but if the pompoms don’t do it and the carrots don’t do it, maybe it is time for the hammer. The next time Asante avoids contact or DRC doesn’t swarm to the ball, put them on the bench. The statement that he feels better with 100% effort from Marsh than 75% from his probowlers might wake them up. It would also show that he believes in what he is doing.
I don’t think the problem is worrying if Castillo believes in what he is doing. The question is if the players believe what he is doing. Pulling Asante or DRC for a guy that is still raw could only further polarize the views.I think in that scenario, anyone who believes in Castillo at that point would view the move as sticking to his guns and simply finding the guy who will execute what he is asking for (as you described). However, anyone who doesn’t believe in Castillo would view the move as taking a good player off the field for a less talented player, and being incapable of fitting a quality player into his defense. I don’t think anyone would be convinced one way or another by a move like that. To me, I think Tommy pointed out the only real way to win over the defense. The defense needs to succeed in some significant way for the players to be convinced that Castillo has an effective plan.
When my wife’s car broke down, I drove out to meet her with some tools. After looking and touching stuff for a few minutes I concluded that her serpentine belt was shot, but I wasn’t sure that was the actual problem, or a result. When the tow truck guy got there and opened the hood he looked for about 3 seconds, grabbed the big pulley in the middle, jerked it back and forth, and told us the water pump was shot.
I’d imagine every component in that engine compartment knew which of us really knew what he was doing and who they would rather have guiding the repairs. I’m sure the other components also noticed that the faulty water pump ruined their opportunity to compress and alternate, and stuff.
Ultimately, you and Tommy are right. The defense needs success. But along the way, showing the players you understand what is happening out there and that you aren’t going to let one player, regardless of his credentials, invalidate the efforts of the rest of them will help. Also, water pumps are expensive.
Tommy,
Obviously the Dawkins rumor is complete BS and means nothing, but just hypotehtically if that were a potential deal on the table, would you take it.
Always felt the D has lacked edge since he left.
While it may or may not have lacked edge since Dawkins left, having or not having edge has nothing to do with their inferior performance since his departure.
The real problem has been the lack of talent on D since he left. While he was part of that talent exodus, it also includes the departures of Mikell, the Effective Stewart Bradley, LBs that belong in the NFL, and most of all, Jim Johnson.
Castillo’s kind of a poor sap in all this. First and probably only chance at being a DC, and he’s handed the worst group of LBs and safeties ever to be part of a Philadelphia football team. Kinda sad.
I don’t give Castillo as easy of a pass. He was the defensive coordinator going into the draft and the offseason. It was no secret what we had at LB and safety. Casual fans wanted us to address safety and LB since the season ended. As the DC, Castillo has an input on what positions he feels needs to be addressed and can work with AR to make sure those positions are addressed. Thus, the lack of talent at LB and safety was not beyond his control. Instead, Castillo fell in love with a 2nd round and 4th round pick.
Whether you believe Jarrett was a reach or not, the fact was he was expected by the coaches to make a bigger impact at this point (we don’t know if the coaches planned on him starting week 1, but the fans were certainly sold that idea by the media).
As for Matthews, Castillo plugged the 4th round pick into the starting MLB role on day 1, and relied on Fokou, a guy who was a below average starter throughout his young career so far, to be one of the starting OLBs. Chaney was also moved from his position last year, and was a disappointment (both at his new position and at his old position once moved back). While it seems Chaney has regressed, and that may have surprised a lot of us, Castillo also has to be able to evaluate his talent and make sure to utilize it properly. Clearly he has not done that effectively so far. On top of that, even though Chaney was promising based on a few games from last year, that is all it was. A few games. He was not a guaranteed thing, and Castillo really did not have a backup plan for him.
I think Castillo has to share the blame on the lack of talent at certain positions. Is it all his fault? Absolutely not. He is not the only one responsible for evaluating the talent on defense, the team also has to address other positions including on the offense, and Castillo ultimately has to convince AR on the positions that need to be addressed. That being said, saying he was “handed” a poor LB core implies he has nothing to do with the talent that is brought in, which is simply untrue.
I’d have to study a couple of DEN games. Watched one earlier and Dawk wasn’t Dawk. He was fiery and had some good moments, but also missed an easy tackle that led to a TD. I’d almost rather just remember the Dawk of the old days.
Not sure about Williams. Used to be terrific LB. No idea how he’s playing these days.
This may be slightly off topic, but one thing that bugged me from the beginning of TC is how often we heard from reporters that Mudd and Washburn were so foul mouthed that no one could write anything they said to the players during practice. While in general, I wouldn’t care, I have always been under the impression that AR did not allow cursing. Didn’t TO get in trouble once for cursing? The reason I am bringing it up is if I remembered this correctly, allowing Mudd and Washburn to curse would mark a change in how the eagles coaches talked to the players. Is it possible some of the guys have been responding poorly to that style of coaching? I must imagine that a bunch of these guys have had coaches in the past that have chewed them out and cursed at them, so I wouldn’t think it would be a big deal, but I still thought it was interesting when I was reading reports about how some of the coaches coached in the preseason.
Interesting. Are Mudd and Washburn’s guys the issue though?
That’s a fair question. Mudd and Washburn’s guys have not really been the problem. That being said, I am more talking about the change in part of the attitude/style/culture that we have become accustomed to with AR. To me, cursing on a football field is something that I couldn’t care less about, but obviously for years AR cared about it. So why the change in views? And with the change in views, has there been a change in attitude between the coaches and players? Again, I’m not trying to argue that this is a big deal that has turned us from a winning team to a losing team. I just thought it was an odd shift that was interesting, but maybe only to me.
There is also a big difference between “that was a bullshit effort block” and “your a pussy” as long as they avoid personal attacks I don’t think the plays give a shit
Actually, I think a lot of the beat writers covering the preseason mentioned that there were a lot of personal attacks used.
It is not only you. I was sincere when I said it was interesting above. I think the culture of winning, and losing, organizations is often not given enough weight.
Mudd is loud and mean. He does ruffle feathers, but the players seem to be doing okay with him. I think King Dunlap was slow to get his style of coaching. Justice is the guy I wonder about. Can he handle Mudd being super hard on him. Don’t know that Mudd uses a ton of profanity.
Washburn does have a very foul mouth. I guess Andy felt like it was okay because Wash’s players loved him so much in TEN.
There has been some cussing over the years. Someone on the EMB had a video of Andy cussing at TO back in 2005. I was surprised when I saw it. Wasn’t a bunch of F-bombs and GDs, but it wasn’t heck and dang either.
Interesting, I never heard about that.
One of those “behind the scenes” features interviewed Dawkins and he said it was a personal choice of how he wanted to live his life.
Yet I still tried, how pathetic of me.
Off topic, but I thought this was pretty cool. Apparently Even Mathis tweeted he email address and encouraged fans to write to him. The BGN article – http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2011/10/13/2488825/an-e-mail-chat-with-evan-mathis#storyjump – includes an email and his response. A couple of the commenters state that he also responded to their emails.