So Very Eagle
Posted: December 14th, 2012 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 80 Comments »The Eagles outgained the Bengals. The DL had 6 sacks. The defense came up with 2 takeaways. and the Eagles lost by 21 points. How very 2012 of the team.
I actually went out to meet some fellow Eagles fans. I thought this would be an interesting night to watch the team out in public. Boy was I wrong. The defense did some really good things, but the turnovers and sloppy mistakes were truly incredible. There were huge errors on offense and STs. After each mistake someone would say “unbelievable”, only to be shouted down by the group because this kind of sloppy play is all too believable this year.
Nick Foles didn’t take a step forward. I’ll need time to go back and study his game to get a fair evaluation. He made some good throws and a couple of terrible ones. The underthrown deep ball that was picked off…can’t have that. Bad, bad pass.
It was fun to watch the DL. Fletcher Cox had 1.5 sacks. He blew up a few plays. Brandon Graham had 2.5 sacks and a FF. Trent Cole played much better. They lined him up out a bit more wide. He was good vs the run. He had a sack and 5 solo tackles.
I wasn’t as keen on the LBs. They were very inconsistent against the run.
If you take away the 2nd Qtr, the Eagles lost 34-0. When the team was up 13-10 I remember someone saying that it didn’t feel like the team was really winning. It felt more like we just weren’t losing yet. That’s the 2012 Eagles for ya.
Does Bryce Brown lead the NFL in defensive TDs created? Is he on a record pace?
Maybe the Eagles just wanted to show they could get a lead and then decided to focus on draft position.
Top 5 pick…yay.
_
On the bright side, there was that dominant pass rush we were looking for all year. Brandon Graham was wreaking all kinds of havoc, basically turned #77 into his personal blocking sled for most of the night. Hate the fact that people get all over him for being a bust, not taking into account his injury, so I’m really happy for the guy.
Very happy for BG.
He’s looking like cole used to.
Also, Cole looked a bit like Cole used to last night.
Cole look a lot like Cole, he was going against the best LT in the NFC that’s not on IR.
Cinci not in NFC
Nitpicker, NFL, at least according to PFF.
It’s amazing what happens when the O-Line doesn’t know where you’re coming from every single play. If I’m a tackle, I’m loving the wide 9 because I just have to kick outside every play. If I get my hips around, I’ve got nothing to worry about.
And I can’t say enough how much I like Brandon Graham and how proud I am of him. Came to camp with his head completely set, was patient while Washburn sandbagged him, and now he’s showing why we picked him.
Graham+Cox could be a great force for the future.
I really hope that Brandon Graham gets 1,5 more sack than JPP during the rest of the season. Graham has 5,5, JPP 6,5 and i would love it if he ended on top.
I thought they physically dominated the Bengals, but self-destructed.
And MM called a horrible game, gee, your young QB struggles with deep throws, so let’s dial up a half dozen.
This is why they need a new HC, the talent is there, but the coaching is just plain bad.
Things clearly aren’t working.
And after the game, Reid says Foles has “a really strong arm”….
Because he does. Don’t confuse arm strength with mechanics and timing.
Sometimes I find myself thinking, “Gee, Andy is such a nice guy and he’s been so successful with the team, I hate to see him go.” Then I remember he has cursed us with Marty, and I want him tarred and feathered.
The two red zone opportunities were blown by bad play calls. Marty should have been fired weeks ago.
Question the overall talent level (thought best scenario this was a 10-win team this year but more likely 8 or 9 wins) even when healthy but yeah the coaching staff has been bad to brutal this year in all 3 phases of the game.
This one was a stomach-punch. My head is still warm out of anger. Or maybe I’m just getting sick.
And I agree about the play-calling – lots of incomplete medium to long first down pass attempts, crappy stretch run to the outside on 2nd and long, hopeless 3rd down passes. I think getting rid of MM with the regime change is what I’m most looking forward to….
I think we need to ditch all those stretch plays altogether, Bryce seems to look a lot better when he’s allowed to make 1 cut and get up field. Takes away a lot of those negative runs too where an OL is pushed into the backfield and Bryce has to bounce it deep into the backfield and is just struggling to get back to the LOS. He’s got the size to bang it in there but if he can break 1 arm tackle he’s got the speed to take it to the house.
Agreed, about the stretch runs. When we had Peters and Kelce on the OL and McCoy running the ball those worked great. With the current group they lack that kind of speed on the OL required, and Brown is no where close to Shady in the lateral movement category
A few random post game thoughts rattling around my mind…
1. I still want Jeremy Maclin gone after this season. Trade him for whatever you can get. After the Foles interception Maclins effort looked pitiful on trying to make the tackle, he basically ran alongside the guy for 30 yards before he decided to get involved. Also had his once a game he looks like he’s had a career ending injury but is only out for 3 plays situation. Glad to see he made his quota. He looks great at times but he is just way to inconsistent effort wise for my taste.
2. JPP sacks on the season = 6.5, Brandon Graham sacks on the season now = 5.5. I really want him to pass JPP, and it will be especially sweet because he was basically unused for most of the first part of the season.
3. We have been calling way too many WR screens these past few games. I get that you want to help out your QB, but they dial them up too often.
4. Hated the playcalling after the Clay Harbor pass that got us down to the 1 yard line in the first half. 2 consecutive cut the field in half plays. Yuck.
5. Eff you Jim Washburn.
6. Seeing a 1/3 full stadium at kickoff is a strange sight to see.
7. Lotsa people gonna get on DRC, but honestly I didn’t think he had a bad game. He missed the one interception sure, but a couple of those catches by AJ Green… I just wouldn’t expect any corner to be able to go up high and compete for the ball with him. In particular the TD catch and the out route where AJ went way up to get it. DRC seemed to have good position on both of them but sometimes you just gotta give credit to the other guy, AJ Green is a freak.
Oh and 1 more thing, when the holy hell are they going to start disciplining Brown for the fumbles? I know the one tonight was tough because he was basically hit as soon as he got the handoff, but he was still carrying the ball way too loose all night. I can’t believe they won’t bench him until he gets that under control. He’s got elite talent, I don’t want to see him have this fumbling problem stick. Stamp it out now while he’s developing.
These are all great thoughts and had the same thought about Maclin. I hope we seriously consider SteveH for the new head coach/GM.
Not a good plan. The entire city of Philadelphia will probably burst into flame when I bring back Juan Castillo to run the defense.
1. I would keep Maclin around. Who knows if a new coach can spark a light.
2. I said in the offseason that I thought JPP was a tid bit overrated and Graham would be given time, so far I have been proven right
3. WR screens are good when you got a terrible pass protecting OL.
4. That play should just get out of the playbook all together.
5. Agree.
6. 2 crappy teams on Thursday
7. 100% agree, sometimes the other player just makes a play and you can do nothing against it.
1. It would depend what you can get back for Maclin. For a 3rd round pick I’d trade him, but for a 6th round pick I wouldn’t.
They want Bryce Brown to get burned on the fumbles and disappoint his teammates now when the games don’t matter moreso than they want to bench him. He needs that experience of guys really trying to light him up that he can’t get in practice where the guys will smack at the ball but they aren’t trying to kill him.
Great comments.
1. Maclin can be infuriating at times but he has potential. Keep him for one more “make or break” year.
2. It’s beginning to look like BG may be growing into the guy we hoped for when he was drafted.
3. With Celek and Shady out, the screen options are limited.
4. You know those Playboy Playmate things where the girls say, “I like kittens and rainy days”? If I’m ever in Playgirl, I’ll say “I hate Marty Mornhinweg.”
5. And the guy who hired him.
6. Hoping Jeff Lurie noticed, too.
7. AJ is amazing. There’s no way to shut him down all the time. It looked to me like DRC did ok but I look forward to Tommys DGR.
DRC’s helmet did a great job in the red zone last night.
With the exceptions of the Cardinals and Skins games, I think one could make an argument that we haven’t really been beaten by anyone other than ourselves.
Perhaps I’m necessarily biased, but I feel like the story in almost all of our games has been will we and/or when will we shoot ourselves in the foot as opposed to simply getting outplayed. We’ve literally given away 8 games. Essentially, we’re 8-2 against ourselves.
I don’t know what – if anything – there is to take away from that observation… Maybe that it won’t take that much rebuilding to regain a winning record? Who knows…
Hmmm?
Atlanta was the signature game of getting outright beat.
Babin holding call on incomplete 3rd and 10 pass gives them a first down on their first drive. Ditto DRC and Kendricks on separate 3rd downs on the second drive. Nnamdi with head up butt on deep pass to Julio Jones on the third score. Much closer to signature game of beating ourselves if you ask me…
I would take 2 things:
If you keep giving the other team the game, then it becomes your identity. There’s no removing fundamentals from the game, you can’t go before the snap, you can’t hold, you can’t drop the ball. If you fumble the ball, that’s a part of the game you suck at, just the same as you can suck at drafting, suck at covering receivers, or suck at opening holes for your running back. If you suck at something as bad as the Eagles suck at putting games away, then it’s no different than sucking at scheming. Which leads to:
If you are consistently screwing the pooch on fundamentals, then that is coaching. If it’s one player (Bryce Brown) then it’s on the player. If it’s 2 players, it’s a unit, if it’s more then that’s a team thing. It’s the coaches job to maximize the potential of the players, if the team is underachieving, that’s on the coach.
We suck.
Haven’t seen a product like this since pre-Vermeil. Game plan for the opposing team, just give them the ball and we’ll score, not sure how, we will though!! Glad to see colt’s name not mentioned in the negative, i’m rooting for him, and BG
I think by and large the players would agree with you……aaaand, that’s exactly the problem. They seem to come away from most games thinking, “We’re better than this.” It’s like they just keep waiting for their opponents to come to the same realization so that they can start winning games.
Foles did not look good, but he didn’t look lost. Mainly he couldn’t get into a rhythm, but it’s hard to get rhythm when you don’t touch the ball for more than 5 minutes in a half. Everyone’s timing was off, everyone looked sloppy, but he didn’t look panicked, his eyes were down field, and that was one HELL of a pump fake. Obviously that deep ball was baaaaaad, but other than that, his poor completion percentage was due to a bunch of incompletes in a tight red zone, and him flinging desperation passes in garbage time. He was bad, but not as bad as his stats.
It was a step back, but not a bad one. If he rebounds after the long week, he’ll be fine. I am concerned about how long it takes him to get the ball out, and how much time that gives defenders to break on the ball. It’s not Tebow bad, but its not a good thing.
This is exactly right. No running game to aid him. Again. His teammates constantly taking him off the field by fumbling. Or putting him in X and long with penalties, including one at the goal line. Mediocre pass protection. And still he was better than Dalton. It would be fabulous if he could single handedly overcome all his teammates’ mistakes but that’s just fantasy. Even Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees can’t do that every game. People need to be realistic. He is the best available QB now and for 2013.
I started to get angry last night, but I started thinking “what if we actually won this sloppy game?”. It could cost us a chance at that stud LT from Texas A&M.
The fumble wasn’t on Brown, it was on the lineman who let the Cincy guy blow him up at the line of scrimmage. The ball exchange wasn’t clean, but that was on Foles as much as it was on Brown. Getting a handoff secure ain’t easy when a 300-lb missile is in your face intent on doing you bodily harm.
Foles put that ball exactly where you are supposed to. Right in the high abdomen.Brown panicked when he saw the DT 3 feet in front of him and lost concentration.
That is exactly what it looked like happened. Brown needs to see that guy and react by securing the ball, not pulling a deer in headlights and dropping it.
Brown is still making the transition from 190 lb high school DT to 300 lb NFL DT.
Honestly, the guy just shouldn’t be there. Lots of handoffs are slightly juggled during the course of a game, but the RB has a step to secure the ball.
I do agree that more experienced backs might not make the fumble b/c they’ve been in the situation before. how many times do we think Bryce Brown has taken a handoff with a 300+ lb defensive tackle a step away from him charging at full speed?
I actually thought the Eagles were the better team at the Half, the Bengals points were off turnovers and the Eagles had outgained them by miles. I still expected to lose though. It might happen most games at the moment but these sudden lapses are still remarkable. All of a sudden it became something out of a slapstick comedy, Foles int on a horribly under thrown pass, Brown fumble with a DT set free up the middle, Harbor fumble, Thornton muffed punt (probably not in that order, it all happened too quickly for me to remember)…
I actually liked what I saw from Foles again, it’s difficult to get into a rhythm when the ball is being turned over every other play, the play where he escaped from Dunlap was very nice and he led another TD drive, up until late in the game he seemed able to move the ball without too much difficulty, I really hope he can sort out the deep throws but hopefully we become a run orientated O next year and he can just manage the games, he’s been consistently good at moving the ball.
After that game Mike Zimmer seems like an even better candidate for HC, the defence wasn’t unbeatable but they played hard all game, kept to their assignments for the most part, knocked the ball out like they had been told to and all swarmed to it once it was on the floor. From looking at his Defence I would say he might be the type of Coach the team needs, especially considering some of the head cases he seems to have reined in.
Am I the only one to notice that our receivers (with exception to Cooper) tend to look for the perfectly thrown deep ball over their shoulder. The deep underthrown interception to Maclin is a prime example. The DB was turned toward Foles and watched the ball for a good 20 yards and made an easy pick. Maclin looked up/over his shoulder when the ball was 5 yards away and didn’t even see the ball until it was picked off. I assume this is coaching since we see time after time when our QB is pressured, all the receivers tend to run deeper routes and don’t even look at the QB until he is sacked.
It kinda looked like Maclin wasn’t expecting the ball to be thrown to him. Which is in no way an excuse for him not turning and locating the ball until it was too late, but it might explain why he didn’t realize the ball was coming almost until the DB had caught it.
That second half was brutal to watch, but aside from the offense/ST continually fumbling the ball away and depriving Foles of game reps, I’m not that unhappy with the outcome of the game upon reflection. Young guys like Graham and Cox played really well, giving us reason to believe we at least have the building blocks of a good defense. Foles continued his run of decent play in the first half before turnovers by his teammates and desperate, one-dimensional playcalling put him in an inescapable hole in the second. And we lost, making it more likely we get a top 5 pick and a shot at the stud OL or CB we desperately need.
I have to agree that MM called an atrocious game. Foles struggles with the deep ball, so having him throw half a dozen of them is dumb. And what kind of OC designs a goal line passing play in which the primary read is a backup OL? That just might top the quick-sideline-throw-to-a-blockerless-Todd-Pinkston throw they used to run as the worst play of the AR era.
I was excited to see us Cox the Red Rifle a few times last night.
(I was also pleased with Graham, but the only play on words I could come up with involved graham cracker, which seemed inappropriate.)
Graham rung some bells?
As in Alexander Graham Bell?
After my comment I was thinking along this line, something about reaching out and touching someone.
Grahamnang style?
Andy Dalton got a visit from Grahamama.
These guys don’t even look like they care if they hold onto the football. They’re looking to make the highlight plays and totally forgetting that job one is to hold on to the damn football. If your job is to carry the football, and you lose the football, you have failed. You had one job, and you blew it.
I know Reid says they’re pressing. Screw that, this is an attitude problem. Maclin and Bryce Brown fumble just about as often per touch as Vick did earlier this year. They have to protect the football first, and the whole team ain’t doing that.
I’ve never seen this many fumbles in a season, ever. What’s the record for fumbles in a season? We have to be closing in on it,
You know what I was thinking last night?
It is like everyone on the team thinks they are McCoy. He does a horrible job of holding the football when he runs. He doesn’t fumble for some reason, but Maclin and Brown think they can do the same.
After seeing what Coughlin did to Tiki in NY. I think a coach can teach that, and everyone on the team needs to learn it.
One guy it is his problem, the whole team? it is a coaching problem. Just because McCoy can do it, doesn’t mean everyone can.
Observations from Section 102:
I feel weird saying this, but Nick Foles looks faster in person. Not by much… but a bit faster.
The offense seemed to deflate after the holding penalty on Igwanegu that resulted in 2 and 12. Not really sure why… it just felt like that took the wind out of their sails.
Defensive line looked great. I enjoyed watching the guys hustle and make plays. I felt like I could see/feel more intensity coming off them last night. Really grinding. Graham and Fletch look like pieces that can lay the foundation for next year. Would have liked to see more Curry he was really giving 100% every snap.
I’m sure you guys talked about this a lot, but in person at the game it was funny watching Colt Anderson make play after play after play in the first half. I told my dad that if he keeps this up we’re gonna have to call him the white Ray Lewis.
Stadium: was sparse when I first arrived but there was a good vibe. Lots of smiles around, people seemed excited. I would say it was about half full 15 mins before kickoff. I was worried that we weren’t going to have a good turn out for the game, but at some point in the 1st Qtr I looked around again and it seemed like the stands were pretty full.
This is going to sound retarded, but before the game Howie Roseman was standing close to where I was going to sit and I ran over to get a picture. *You might be a retarded Eagles fan if… you get excited about seeing the GM*
I would say the fans were in this game for about 3 quarters. There was a good deal of stomping, clapping, and screaming on third down… it felt like we were actually getting to Dalton a bit, and with that and the sacks he seemed frustrated.
Oh which brings up another point. Did the Dalton TD scramble look as befuddlingly stupid on TV as it did live? Dalton’s “move” looked awkward at best and Kendricks just looked foolish. It was embarrassing to watch him lose control of his body/position and not get to lay some wood on Dalton. I was utterly dumbfounded, and definitely felt the release of anger/frustration when Dalton spiked the ball. I think that was an emotional turning point/confidence builder for Dalton.
Having that drive happen after the interception was the beginning of the crowd being taken out of the game in my opinion.
On a lot of the plays where there were turnovers it seemed that less than half the fans “booed” and the majority reacted more like I did, just in a strange silent acceptance of ineptitude mixed with disbelief that this is actually happening.
I’ll see if I can remember more as the day goes on…
Anyone know any stats on turnovers in a short period of time? Or fumbles on consecutive possessions? Last night seemed like one for the Eagles hell record books.
Oh and did anyone else feel good seeing that we only had 3 penalties in the 1st half? It’s the little things that count in a season like this.
But then I started to feel sick to my stomach as we were racking up penalty yards in the second half. Discipline like that was just too good to be true this year.
Not sure why, but I’m having trouble leaving a post mentioning this fine article by Bill Barnwell on the Reid era. If you fail, try try again…
http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8746325/bill-barnwell-takes-all-andy-reid-haters
Yeah I liked it even if it is mostly rehashed stuff to readers of this blog.
“Does Bryce Brown lead the NFL in defensive TDs created”? No, but he’s close, at #45 out of 55 RBs (by EPA):
http://wp.advancednflstats.com/playerstats.php?pos=RB
Of course, that’s a combination of his contributions both positive and negative. If you isolated the negative, he could very well lead the league.
(I’m a FTLT blog reader; keep up the good work! And the comments are routinely most intelligent conversation I’ve ever seen in a sports blog. Almost like, “Hey! This is what comment sections are actually supposed to be like! They can be useful after all!”)
Very nice comments about the comments section. There really are some smart readers out there and they offer some great insight. They give the place a touch of class.
Going to need a H2H session to get this one out of the system. Somehow the draft position silver lining just isn’t quite canceling out that awful second half. Got an early Christmas gift earlier in the week. I figured hey it’s a workday and the Eagles are playing, I’ll wear it. I’m hearing about it big time today.
Also, has the D-line finally come alive in your opinion, or are we still being spiteful towards Washburn and his “Wide-9”.
Also, if we get 1 real starting safety, we would actually have some nice depth with Coleman and Anderson. How did the giants get all these capable safeties in a league devoid of safety depth?? Whose their Safeties coach and would he be interested/ capable as a DC next season?
Another insight from the game that might not have shown up at home…
Clay Harbor was visibly wounded and limping at the end of the first half. I was concerned because he was our only “real” TE for this game. I thought, will Andy/Marty be smart enough to limit his reps? Nope…
I’m not joking when I say he was limping back onto the field at the start of the second half and winced as he tried to jog, while Brent Celek kept pace with his “jog” by walking.
Yeah the play-calling was questionable last night but there were some plays last night in the 2nd half when Mathis & Maclin were both out.
Has an Eagles’ offense ever played portions of a game even late in the year where they didn’t have at least 1 starter in the lineup from Week 1?
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