PHI 24, BAL 23
Posted: September 16th, 2012 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 89 Comments »Too happy to write much right now. Huge win by the Eagles. Played really good football at times, but must clean up the mistakes. Team came up huge when it counted. Offense scored in the 4th quarter and the defense once again made the lead count by stopping the opposing team on the final drive of the game.
Game had a playoff atmosphere. Didn’t experience many games like that. Fun to play in one and even better to win it.
Tough, physical game. We lost some guys, but so did the Ravens. I loved the fact that we did a good job on the LOS. Ravens have some big, tough dudes, but they didn’t push us around. Eagles held their own.
First 2-0 start since 2004. Is that an omen?
Ray Rice gashed us early, going 10-95. Got 4 yards on his next 6 carries. Looked like Juan made an adjustment, but also the DL starting controlling the LOS.
I like DeMeco Ryans and the Kendricks kid is pretty good, too.
Good day to be an Eagles fan.
Serious question: How long before we start getting legitimate DROY buzz about Kendricks? Kid’s on fire!
same thing i was thinking.
Both him and Cox is up there imo. They might not have the flashy stats, but they are playing great
His recognition of screen passes and athletic ablility to cover RB/TEs on screen passes is second to none IMO. I live in Oregon now (formerly Philly…thank God for NFL Sunday Ticket) and have watched him cover the speed of Oregon University at Cal so I knew he could handle larger, slower backs at the next level. He has been very close to having multiple picks in each game as well. Once those start coming watch out because he is great at jumping routes and is fast enough to take it to the house.
Big props to Bell and Reynolds. They definitely came in and held their own. Even more impressive was that it was crunch time.
Yeah, those guys were good enough to win. Interested to see them on tape.
I was shocked at how well they both played. Maybe Bell needed the game to mean something to grow a pair and pass block like he is a starting left tackle (especially since he was paid as one).
That game felt like it was as long as 2 games, both because it took forever and because there were so many ups and downs.
Demeco Ryans… That guy is better than advertised, what a game he had today.
The amount of suspense from this game has left me physically drained, incredible game.
Is it too early to get Ryan’s signed to an extension? 🙂
He is signed trough 2015
That’s not long enough, dammit!
Plus, I think he will be a guy whose drop is steep and quick when he falls off that proverbial cliff.
What?! We need to sign him to 2025 pronto! 🙂
I’ll say this much, this team has more chutzpah than any other Eagles team I’ve seen. We’re usually the ones blowing it in the clutch, now we’re the ones delivering the blows. It feels good.
that was an amazing, QUALITY win. now, we have to TCB against teams that we -should- beat.
we’ve just beaten, in consecutive weeks, two top 5 defenses from last year. that is no joke.
Great point about the D’s.
In looking at the replay, is Kelce’s sprain a tear. I hope not….because I just don’t see Reynolds playing the rest of the year for us.
It looked pretty bad. I’m hoping for the best, but not optimistic.
Reid said it doesn’t look good, Keep your fingers crossed.
Looked like it could easily have been a leg break, so anything less than that is a bonus as far as I’m concerned.
Rather broken leg than ACL tear imo
yup
Not in that sort of incident – looked like he could’ve snapped the leg clean in half; would’ve been years before he could even walk again, never mind play football. At least an ACL is fixable.
He could also have tore the whole knee and end up like Weaver.
That’s true I guess…I just had visions of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONEP_CUCVH8 (don’t look if you’re squeamish) and I really can’t think of many injuries worse than that…
Napolean McCallum (sp?) on MNF many years ago, his leg got bent in half backwards by Ken Norton Jr. and amongst other things, tore his artery and he had to have life-saving surgery or he was going to bleed to death. At least I think that is what happened.
But with Dallas on the roster we should get better press.
I was pleased with the defense again. I’m thinking Bowles must be an excellent coach. It is hard to believe that we have mostly the same personnel out there. This is the first time since JJ died that I get excited when the opposing QB throws deep, believing that we have as good of a chance of ending up with the ball as they do.
*******
It felt like it benefited the Ravens when things got chippy in the second quarter. It seemed like they got the best of most confrontations and they seemed to take the momentum from that. Coleman looked to me to be the only one that kept going back for more. I was glad he was out there, even if Rice made him look silly a few times.
Playing press is what is making the biggest difference. Getting rid of Asante was addition through subtraction. Allen is healthy and justifying his draft position on a weekly basis. Coleman is excelling in his adequaciousness (ability to be adequate).
Regarding Rice, Andy said in the post game that Juan made an adjustment to personnel and to scheme to tighten things up. Bravo.
Am I the only one who feels like no one ever misses a field goal against us? Is there a stat anywhere for opposing field goal percentage?
Yeah, we’ve seen some doozies…
Guys will occasionally miss short kicks, but nothing long. Is almost amazing how it works.
I had flashbacks to the 2008(?) Tampa game
Matt Bryant in 2006? I’ll never forget that game… because it just happened to take place 3 hours before my sister’s wedding. Ugh. Boy, did I ever get drunk that night.
Re: Back-to-back 1-point Wins on the Eagles’ Last Possession
A quick review . . .
For the first time since the NFL/AFL began competing in 1960, the Eagles won back-to-back 1-point games.
In only 5 seasons out of the past 53 have the Eagles won 2 games by 1 point: 1966, 1972, 1973, 1988 and 1990.
Out of those 5 seasons, only in 1988 and 1990 did the Eagles — with Randall Cunningham leading them win those 1-pointers on their last offensive possession.
In the other 3 season, the Eagles came back to win only one of the two 1-point victories. The other games, they held on to leads.
________________
These past two weeks have been historical for the Eagles. Maybe the NFL.
(This was quick research, so I could be off.)
Per Reuben…
Eagles are first team since at least 1950 to win its first two games by one point.
Dierdorf was wretched as always, huh?
Terrible.
I’ve heard better, but he’s no Phil Simms
He has no stories or insight. He gets names wrong. Dan was sharp 20 years ago, but isn’t good anymore.
He spent the entire game looking for something from the Eagles to make disparaging remarks about.
Lots of Ravens fans complaining about the mugging of WR going on. Tommy when you rewatch the tape would love your take on whether it was fair for both teams.
They got away with several cheap shots on Vick.
I’m psyched for the next podcast…to just hear the euphoria
It’s a minor thing currently but could bode badly for the future if we keep playing tight games, I’m a little worried that even Henery’s PATs are hooking to the left a bit.
This defence is giving me goosebumps. I knew that this offense would put points on the board eventually but the defence is was is going to win the close games for us (instead of blowing late game leads….2011. Just imagine if they didn’t have 9 turnovers to overcome in these two wins! Demeco is one of the best FA pickups I can remember (4th round pick… really?). Howie Roseman should get a huge raise. Drafting has been best in the league IMO since he took over (I am having selective amnesia about Jarrett…). This team has talent all over the field and tons of youth. Not sure how you do that but the rookies (Cox, Kendricks and Boykin) are playing great and look like smart, decisive veterans. All three are just so athletic and playing with confidence. Only going to get better if you ask me.
Brent Celek really channeled his inner JR Reed when he jumped over Ed Reed. I bet Andy Reid was happy he made the right read.
Nicely done, sir.
Reid-ing is fundamental.
Wow, that is a bit over the top, don’t you think?
I was trying to follow Baloophi’s puns, hurtling… over the top…
Oh well
Anyone else think that Desean is playing like he has been PAID? He wouldn’t have taken those hits last year…huge to have his head right again.
I thought all the talk that DeSean being paid would make a huge difference in the way he plays was going to be very overblown this season. I just didn’t imagine that a NFL player who is presumably competitive would be able to change that much. But DeSean has been making some serious plays that he would have clearly not made last year. I’m thoroughly impressed with how he is playing.
Totally agree, JB.
In case you need comic relief, Ray Rice is now calling the Eagles a dirty team.
Irony can be pretty ironic.
heh
I like that Evan Mathis re-tweeted it…
Yeah, that was nice.
Lol…looked like Ravens game plan was to kill Vick. Thought he was hit late on almost every dropback
he was getting hit on handoffs! nonsense
on some of those plays, that was an unfortunate side effect of play design… they left the DT unblocked.
Rams just went ahead of Skins
SEA up 20-7 on Dallas. Watching both games. Fingers crossed.
hey Tommy
need to know if you disagree with this:
D. Ryans is the best MLB in the NFL RIGHT NOW.PERIOD!!!!
unless I’m mistaken, the Eagles are yet to allow a 100yd rusher, or a 250yd passer. ‘course when you keep giving the opposition the ball around midfield that helps keep the yardage stats down.
3 TOs were in the redzone. not exactly a short field there bud.
Ravens fans insist that the non-fumble call should have been called intentional grounding.
That is what I thought, could John throw a flag for that?
no, you cant review a potential penalty
I was moaning the catch by Smith that looked like it hit the floor without full control
The hit influenced his throw, there was someone near the goal line. It was almost a disaster, I don’t see how that could be intentional grounding. I can’t believe that called that a fumble in the first place.
Injury updates ?
Re: Nnamdi & DRC
Both CBs had their troubles today. And by “troubles,” I don’t mean they looked anything like Elbert Foules or Izel Jenkins.
I’ll leave it to T-Law for the full breakdown . . . but it seems to me that the way Juan is scheming the defense, he’s forcing teams to go after the CBs. The middle of the field is flooded with defenders.
So, while I’m ready to concede neither Nnamdi nor DRC are Reavis-2010, they’re getting tested a lot more. The odds are, if the pass rush isn’t on the QB, that there’ll be some successful plays for the “O”. (They get paid, too.)
But it seems like what Juan’s doing is setting the odds for the offense pretty low with his scheme. Sounds like a good idea, at least in theory.
That said, I’m still not sure what Nnamdi was doing on 3rd and 18(?) in the 4th Q mugging the WR all the way down field.
CBs have been getting away with that the first two weeks and whole pre season.
RBs/TEs were targeted 30 times by Flacco. WRs…12.
So happy the team won (and mostly because I live close to Raven country), but I am very concerned about the potential loss of Kelce.
In other NFL news 15 catches by amendola for 160
Q made some good plays too
Re: Two 1-point Wins in a Season for SB Champions
FACT: The Eagles are in first place in the NFC East.
Checked with sources and I can confirm this.
Is anyone else surprised that everyone seems to be siding with Coughlin on the developing kneel-gate story? I don’t think it’s dirty to try to knock the ball out on a kneel-down, do others? Isn’t that the definition of “playing to the whistle?”
The line seems to be “if Eli had gotten hurt, this would be an even bigger issue.” Um, shouldn’t it be, “if Eli had fumbled, everyone would be doing this?”
I mean, if Coughlin’s so worried about Eli getting hurt on a “meaningless” play, then why not put David Carr in there to take the knee? I’m sure his response would be “the game’s not over,” which is what Schiano is saying. Madness!
On DeMeco’s INT, was he ever touched? That was another frustrating “replacement ref” moment…
I didn’t see him getting touched, but they blew it dead so…
On watching the replay, it looked like he may have rolled into the baltimore receiver after he intercepted the ball.
Kelce’s injury will probably mean that Vick isn’t going to be sharing line calls anymore right?
If anyone is re-watching the game, can you check how the Eagles were getting pressure on Flacco. I didn’t see many blitzes, looked like it was the front four creating the havoc.
Extremely thrilled about the win, but very concerned about Vick. He looked better this week, but his decision making at times is putrid. He has to learn to be willing to eat it. It almost cost them again this week. I don’t think you can win long-term the way he’s playing. Plus he won’t last the year at this pace. He’s taking way too many hits.
That said, I’m really liking the new toys on D. Boykin, Kendricks, and Cox all have looked very good so far. Ryans continues to make huge plays when it counts. Plus, Graham only played a handful of snaps again this week, but I think he hit Flacco on all of them. He forced a number of quick throws. I hope the kid keeps it up.
DRC has been very good in man coverage on the outside. A complete 180 from last year. Nnamdi on the other hand just looks vastly overrated. He’s decent, but he hasn’t looked like a guy that was anywhere near Revis’ league.
I was very circumspect of Juan and the safeties, especially Allen. Coleman is decent and pretty reliable, imo, but Allen has played very well in the first two games. I’m happily the first to admit I may be wrong about him. Castillo made nice adjustments against the no huddle. Wonderful 2nd half.
This team played very physical against one of the top 2 or 3 most physical teams in the NFL. I was impressed by that