Gameday Stuff
Posted: September 30th, 2012 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 11 Comments »About 5 hours til game time. I’m not nervous in the least. The fact that my mouth is bone dry and there are 237 butterflies going around my stomach at full speed is completely normal. Yeah, right. I’m definitely nervous. Tonight is a huge game. A win puts the Eagles at 3-1 and keeps them atop the division. A loss means a 2-game losing streak and lots of questions, none good.
I don’t really have any new thoughts. Here are links to a few things I’ve written in the past couple of days.
Jimmy Bama and I recorded a lengthy podcast, previewing the game and talking about Dawk and other odd stuff. Jimmy has a pretty funny mustard story early on in the show.
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For SB Nation Philly, I wrote about Juan Castillo. Some people think I was too hard on him. Others think I wasn’t hard enough.
The truth is that Juan remains a great mystery. I didn’t mention Todd Bowles in the piece. I’m still trying to figure out which changes and ideas are his and which are Castillo’s. It is easy to see us playing press coverage and say – that’s due to Bowles. I disagree. That’s due to Asante getting dealt. Juan wanted to play press all along. Last year he did a lot of things to accommodate Samuel. That backfired in a major way.
I’m sure Bowles has had an impact. We’ve seen improved play from Curtis Marsh. Brandon Boykin looks good. DRC looks like a star. Bowles has clearly done a good job with those guys. Schematically? I’m not sure. His ideas go into the gameplan, but I can’t point to anything and say “that great idea was clearly his”.
I do think the defense has shown progress. I don’t really care who gets the credit for it. I just want to get back to a situation where I see the defense come on the field and I’m actually happy because I want to see those guys get after it.
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In case you missed it, I wrote a Dawk post last night. Pretty good stuff.
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We do know that Hakeem Nicks is out tonight for the Giants. Antrell Rolle will play.
Jon Dorenbos will be our LS. The Kyle Nelson era must wait.
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To me, winning football is more about defensive power than offensive skill, although both certainly mattter. The Eagles smartly improved their defense in this offseason, through the draft, as well as trades, cuts and position coach upgrades. It’s now much more competent and effective, but by no means elite. If Kevin Kolb has the time to complete over 70% of his passes, for two touchdowns and no interceptions, with a one game QB rating of 127.4, then your defense is still a work in progress. Even so, I am mostly pleased with their work on defense since this time last year.
The offense, although not the proper focus of how to build a strong playoff and Super Bowl winning team, was tied for worst in points scored, out of 32 teams, after three games. That’s the opposite of success. It’s highly suggestive that Marty Mornhinweg and his assistants need to do more, quickly, as they have fallen behind the league. If it truly is a personnel matter, as some suggest (offensive line injuries) or a poor fit between Vick’s skills and the plays this offensive scheme is designed for, then Andy and Howie have to make the necessary changes.
This organization knows how to fire someone midseason, as the abrupt Chris Henry firing and replacement proves. The punter was not the main problem, not even one of the top five problems. I hope the Eagles dealt effectively during the week of practice and planning with some of those more important problems. If not, then Andy has to think seriously about 1) Trading a starter from another unit for a bona fide offensive line starter; 2) Benching Vick; 3) Replacing Marty Mornhinweg, whichever proves to be the team’s remaining offensive weakness, if the Eagles can’t put points on the board with all of the offensive talent they already have.
Is anyone watching the Dolphins-Cards game today? Miami is making the Arizona defense look weak with a rookie quarterback. The two biggest differences I’m seeing from the Eagles’ offense last week are quick releases from Tannehill (he’s taking some hits but not sacks) and a running game that, although not gaining huge yardage, is keeping the AZ D from locking down receivers.
Watching part of it. Also GB-NO and some other stuff. Good job by the Miami coaches.
It’s a damn shame we don’t have Tannehill and Hartline. We could be 3-0.
Ha, I don’t know about that.
Lol. Isn’t it fun to ridiculously over-simplify things?
It’s not the players but the offensive gameplan that’s impressing me. Not perfect, but logical.
Gabbert’s first INT of the season. Judging by his passing totals, it may also be the first pass he’s thrown beyond the line of scrimmage.
I can’t stand the Saints and their phone, phraud phans. I hope the go to 0-4.
Can someone explain to me why Lewis has been inactive all season so far? What happened to all the positive things we heard about how well he was playing in the preseason and TC? I know they are excited about Polk and Brown, but Brown still has blocking issues and they haven’t used Polk much at all. I figured even if they like Brown over Lewis, Lewis would be active over Polk as a legitimate RB option.
Special teams consideration maybe? Only thing I can think of.
Bucs folded like a lawn chair on that last drive.