Football is Here!!!
Posted: August 9th, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 46 Comments »I know. It’s just a preseason game. It is meaningless. It will mostly be played by 2nd, 3rd and some 4th stringers. Still, I’m utterly excited that Eagles football is back. We get to watch a game.
Before we go any further, let’s remember what preseason football is all about – evaluation. The coaches want to see how the units are performing. Is the O-line doing a good job? Are receivers getting open? And so on.
Then it goes even more specific and the focus becomes individual players. This is where there is a sliding scale. Some guys are trying to show where they are development wise. Can Fletcher Cox be a dominant player? Other players are fighting for starting jobs. Other players are fighting for playing time. And some players are fighting for roster spots.
We won’t get any real answers tonight. One preseason game give us hints, but not conclusions. Last year, the Eagles DL was terrific vs PIT in the preseason opener, totaling 7 sacks and 6 TFLs. Vinny Curry and Phillip Hunt were flat out dominant in the 2nd half. Now think about the regular season. The DL struggled to get sacks. Curry barely played (although a lot of that is due to Jim Washburn’s love for Darryl Tapp). Hunt flashed here and there, but wasn’t anything special, even as a role player.
Do not look for conclusions, in terms of players, units, schemes or coaches.
Let’s talk about the coaches for a minute. We don’t know what to make of Chip Kelly right now. That won’t change after tonight. Steve Spurrier wanted to show the NFL he knew what he was doing so he was very aggressive in the preseason and the Redskins looked explosive. That never carried over to the regular season. We’ve seen other coaches who had teams that were terrible in the preseason and then ended up going to the playoffs that year.
Kelly isn’t going to show his hand tonight and let the world see all of his good ideas. Nor is Bill Davis. Still, the coaches won’t be purely vanilla. They need to get some idea of where the team is. That means showing some of what you want to do. It also helps when evaluating players.
The other X-factor here is that Kelly is similar to Bill Belichick in a lot of ways. Belichick doesn’t believe in playing it overly safe in the preseason . He coaches to win. They have a couple of bad showings in the last 5 years, but also have a couple of 3-1 years. Often teams with top talent will play it safe in the preseason and have no success. This was true of Dallas under Jimmy Johnson and the Bills in their Super Bowl run. If Kelly senses that it is important to set the right tone in the preseason, he may play to win more than the average NFL coach.
We’ll find out some things tonight.
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As for the players…
I’ll be watching everyone closely. Le’ts be honest. This team is a huge mystery. The QB competition is the headline story, but you also wonder about the secondary, rookie RT Lane Johnson, the WRs, Trent Cole & Brandon Graham as OLBs and on and on.
I will try to focus on the players I’m most interested in.
QB
This one is obvious. Mike Vick will be the starter, as he should. He’s the veteran player and deserves this, although Chip Kelly used a different system for having Vick start. Last year Vick started the preseason opener without Jason Peters at LT and that led to an injury and rocky preseason. Let’s hope for better this time around.
Kelly is going to have Vick and Foles split reps in the 1st quarter. This surprised me. Will there be enough reps to really evaluate the players? Matt Barkley then gets the 2nd and 3rd quarters to show what he can do. This will be a huge opportunity for him. Barkley is out of the QB competition for now, but let’s get some perspective.
At this time last year, here is what I wrote about Nick Foles heading into the opener:
” I just want to see what the rookie quarterback can do. Can he handle the speed of the game? How does his arm look? Is he accurate? Does the pass rush overwhelm him?”
Notice there was no talk of him fighting for the backup job. There were definitely no thoughts of him being the starter. After the game, I still had my doubts.
“Nick Foles had a good night. He threw a pair of impressive TDs. Before we go and have him challenging for Mike Kafka’s job, let’s see another game or two. Kafka was up and down. He threw a terrible INT. A 3rd year QB cannot make that throw. I still believe in Kafka as the backup, but he can’t repeat a mistake like that.”
Barkley is beyond where Foles was last year. If the 2 big QBs struggle and Barkley plays really well, maybe he will force his way into the competition. Games brought out the best in Foles last summer. The light went on for him in a way it hadn’t during camp or practice. The same thing could happen for Barkley.
RB
This is all about Chris Polk. I want to see him showing better burst and quickness than he did last summer. Will he outplay Bryce Brown?
TE
I want to see Zach Ertz play a lot. I want to see him outside, in the slot and as an in-line TE. I want to see him block and catch. I want to see his route-running skills. The more I think about it, the more I can see Ertz being a key player for this offense.
Clay Harbor has had a good camp from what I’ve heard, but he’s flying under the radar because of guys like Ertz and James Casey. A good game from Harbor will help his cause a lot. I’m also curious to see how/where the Eagles use him.
Derek Carrier is a big time athlete. But can he be an effective NFL TE?
WR
Riley Cooper has been terrific the last few days. I want to see that continue.
Russell Shepard will be a key guy for me tonight. Can he turn a good last few weeks into a good game performance? Is he good enough to become part of the offense and not just a project for the future?
Greg Salas is another guy that will seriously push for a roster spot. He needs to shine tonight to help that cause.
I’m curious about Ifeanyi Momah, but don’t have my hopes up.
OL
I’m excited to see Lane Johnson in action. He’ll be the RT with the starting offense. I’m curious if he’ll get reps as the backup LT. I want to see Johnson do well in pass protection, but I’m also looking forward to his run blocking. He has a serious mean streak. I hope we get to see that tonight.
Allen Barbre will be the starting LT. Kelly is happy with the way he’s played recently, especially vs the Pats. Tonight will be a huge opportunity for him. Barbre must show that he can be an effective pass blocker.
Danny Watkins is flying under the radar, but seems like a new man. I look forward to his run blocking. He could shine in this offense. I’ll settle for pretty good.
We need someone to play well at backup C. My money is on Dallas Reynolds, but that’s only 50 cents.
I’m curious about Nic Purcell and Michael Bamiro. Is Purcell even good enough for the practice squad? Can Bamiro challenge for a roster spot?
DL
Forget about Fletch, Soap and Ced. Clifton Geathers is the man I want to watch. He has lots of potential, but that means nothing if he doesn’t play well. I want to see him be physical. Can he shed blocks? Can he get push on pass plays? I would love to see him show signs of a mean streak. Big guys should be mean guys. Doesn’t always happen, right King Dunlap?
Where will the Eagles play Bennie Logan tonight? He might be the backup NT, if Antonio Dixon is still out. Looking forward to seeing Bennie play.
I think we’re all curious about Vinny Curry.
Damion Square is a guy that continues to get talked about. Can he really push for a roster spot? Joe Kruger is a guy we’ve heard nothing about. I’d like to see if he is ready for the NFL or not.
OLB
Cole. Graham. Can they drop back, effectively? Maybe more important…can they still get to the QB? The coaches will live with crappy cover LBs if they duo can get regular pressure.
I’m excited to see backups Chris McCoy and Travis Long. They both have flashed in coverage. Can they get good pressure? The 3-4 requires OLBs that can be disruptive.
ILB
Just how good is Mychal Kendricks going to be this year? We know he can cover. I want to see him blitz. I want to see him play the run. Tackling will be an area to watch. That was a problem at times last year.
Who will be the backups? Do Casey Matthews and Jamar Chaney have a future in Philly? Can Emmanuel Acho come here and steal a spot? He was with Bill Davis last year in Cleveland. And Jake Knott. Can he shed blocks? The team likes Jake, but he must show that he can be an effective inside run defender tonight.
SS/FS
I am excited to see Patrick Chung hit someone. The Eagles secondary has been soft for 3 straight years. That has to change. Chung likes to hit, but hasn’t been able to show what he can do this summer. Tonight is his chance.
Things seem to go back and forth with Kenny Phillips. The media comes to a consensus that he’s done. The next day Phillips is on the field with the starters. Can the guy play anymore or not?
Earl Wolff wants to show that his hitting and tackling skills are legit. He needs to be good enough in coverage for the coaches to give him a serious look at a starting job.
CB
Brandon Boykin was the talk of camp. Will that show up in a game? Is he good enough to start for this team? Lots of Buzz on Boykin right now. We all want that to mean something, but that will only happen if he plays well in games.
Bradley Fletcher has flown somewhat under the radar. I liked him as an Eagles target when FA began and think he could turn out to be a very good signing. He needs to play well tonight to show that he deserves to remain a starter.
The summer of 2013 has been good and bad for Curtis Marsh. Tonight will give us an idea of whether he’s ready to play or is a project that simply didn’t work out.
Eddie Whitley and Jordan Poyer have a big chance. Whitley has done some good things in camp. He wants to keep that momentum going. Poyer has struggled. He needs something good to happen.
STs
I trust Alex Henery and Donnie Jones.
My focus will be on the returners, blockers and cover guys. STs was a major weak spot last year. That has to change.
Some young players can really help themselves by showing up big on STs. Backup LBs can really shine on STs. Wolff could make his presence felt very quickly. This could be big for Clay Harbor and his bid to earn a roster spot.
Get hungry. Get mean. And go make something happen.
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Tonight is just the start of the preseason. Don’t expect a finished product. Look for individual talent and some signs that the players know the schemes and have a good idea of what they are doing. We’ll dissect it a million different ways starting tonight after the game.
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It will help that Barbe is playing for and against the 1s at LT. If he shows anything, it should guarantee a place on the 53.
On the other hand, if he plays poorly….like disastrously, like Winston Justice Debut bad, it could ruin the evaluation process for our QB’s.
I’m excited for him though, he got the Mathis stamp of approval, so lets see what he’s got.
Though that approval comes as a guard! Mentioning Mathis, his first preseason with us, he also played some tackle too.
I think Barbre already made this team! Swing OT/G are tough to come by, even Baldi talked about how typically a swing player is a G/C. I will be shocked if Barbre doesn’t make this roster.
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Bamiro…I only saw the kid on like 3 reps against the patriots and I don’t know which Patriots he was going against, but I was actually pleasantly surprised. I thought he would have been much more raw then he looked. Like, I expected him to be on Purcells level, but he looked like he had significantly more potential then Nic.
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Lane Stone walled Ninkovich like 3 times. Herremans talked about how he knew Lane was athletic, but that he was surprised at how good/strong his base already was…Fisher and Joekel better have their fun now, cause Lane is coming for that top OT spot
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I have to imagine that Vinny Curry is going to come out and hit like its the Super Bowl considering he has barely often to play since last Pearson….
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As For Chunger, I’m sure he is anxious to blow up one of belliceks boys
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can’t wait to see Cox get unleashed, like Ron Jeremy in the playboy Mansion!
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I get that Polk looks exciting, but that doesn’t make Bryce chopped Liver. I expect both to emerge as weapons. Bryce is a gamer, let’s see how he responds
Egads, I can’t watch ALL of that…I’m counting on you T-Law to break down what you saw. No pressure.
I think that the front office and Kelly have stayed true to what they have said all along, competition on a daily basis. If I had to put my finger on one of the major under the radar type changes that you could basically take the same players and get different results is to make them fight every minute of every day for their spot.
Definitely looking forward to seeing if Cole and Graham can rush the QB from the 2 pt stance. If Billie davis intends to let either one of them cover a TE this season, I might riot (especially if the QB is upper echelon and will spot the horrific mismatch immediately). Let them drop into and underneath zone, that’s it…rush the rest of the time
I think them rushing standing up is going to be the easy part, it is how often they are going to be asked to drop back in coverage and who they are asked to cover is more telling. I think if they can help in the passing game with a chip, it isn’t going to be that big of a deal.
the reason for the concern is that a tradition 4-3 pass rusher relies on explosion, strength, and technique. 3-4 OLB have the benefit and curse of space. They need agility to take advantage of the space, they need speed to cover the space before the QB dumps the ball off. They will have trouble utilizing their innate explosiveness when they aren’t in a track position. We need to see if their weight loss gave them the speed and agility they need to be effective pass rushers from the spot.
B. Grizzle is a bullrusher…He isn’t going to start busting out agile swim moves. he Bullrushed the hell out of OTs last season..Why won’t he be able to do the same this year? He will have an extra step or two of a head start before he gets his hands on an OT, sticks his helmet on his chest, and drives him into his own Backfield….How does this change because of the switch to OLB? If anything the extra space will just give him room to work that spin, counter move when his bullrush gets stone walled
Hey Tommy, as we approach the debut of what we anticipate to be a run heavy or at least balanced offense, I’ve been thinking about our run game and running backs.
Big Red’s greatest gift over the years seems to have been picking up great running backs, supreme irony, it would seem. But how do we know this isn’t a false positive because opponents were selling out against the pass? I keep clinging to a few division games that shady closed out for us a few years ago. We were running the clock down, everybody knew it, then shady would bust a 50 yard run. Hopefully that is a sign of dominance that we can lean on this year. Do you have any thoughts on it?
The Eagles RBs are legitimately talented.
The passing game both helped and hurt them. It meant fewer running plays, but did get defenses focused on the pass first.
Chip had such great success at UNH and Oregon with RBs of all shapes and sizes that I think the run game will flourish.
Hey T
The offense will me medoicre at worst this year…but with so many unknowns on the DEFENSE ..it could be devastatingly bad..I’m talking worse than Saints 2012 defense.
That, Sir, is a scary proposition.
Go Iggles….I hope
I don’t think the defense will be anywhere near that bad. Spags ran the Saints D last year. His scheme calls for multiple pass rushing DL that can be moved around. He must have DL who can get to the QB. He uses blitzers to take out blockers to free up his DL, since they generally know how to finish better.
The Saints DL had one declining rusher in Will Smith and one young rusher in Cam Jordan. They had one undersized situational rusher in Junior Galette. That’s it. Spags needs impact guys like Strahan, Tuck, Osi, Chris Long or Robert Quinn. Even DE James Hall had 10.5 sacks for Spags once. The Saints 2 best DL totaled 14 sacks last year. Bad fit of coach and players. Awful fit, really.
Davis doesn’t have ideal players in Philly, but he’s got better pieces than I think people realize. Sopoaga is a solid NT. Barwin is a solid SAM. Cox could be very good DE. Ryans and Kendricks could be very good ILBs. Big question is ROLB and the DBs. Can Cole or Graham emerge? Can the DBs be solid or something close to that? Gotta see the guys in action.
Finally A media member makes me feel like maybe I’m not crazy..
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Tom, I’m sure you noticed my pro 4-3 Under campaign…Forget everything the coaches and media have told us. When you look at our personel, what defensive scheme do you personally feel fits our guys the best?
I need to see the players tonight before I can say anything.
Psh. Real football writers don’t need information to make declarations. Just ask La Canfora and SalPal.
It’s the internet!!! How Dare you be rational? Jk….fair enough! Enjoy the game Men!
Posting from my cell, won’t be home from work till the a.m. and it’s going to be really tempting to peek for updates. I want to see some competence at QB, I dont care who it’s from!
GJ! GJ! GJ!
Come on dude! Quit your damn job and get home! What’s wrong with you???!?!?!??!???
That’s what she said..
After watching games yesterday, I think it will still be a pretty boring affair. The Philly game will be what I will watch instead of the Minn game, though. I really don’t want to see their QBs, and I do want to see what Barkley’s like.
I attach less than zero significance to Chris Polk’s success. I remember when Dion Lewis had good preseasons, only to be shown, what he is, not really good enough at anything to really succeed at the RB position. I will try to compare Polk to Damaris Johnson last year as someone who’s a good example of fighting his way onto a regular season squad and meaningfully helping out the offense. Bryce Brown is simply not a trivial RB talent, and I see very little chance he can be supplanted (unless Polk shows something, which is possible since I’ve never really seen him play).
I don’t think that I can evaluate CB and S play from the telly, because I know, even if we had a good back end, the general sloppiness of preseason play will not show off good coverage skills. We won’t really know about that part until the season starts.
As far as up front is concerned, I want to see LBs in the right holes most of the time.
Brown is more gifted than Polk.
One thing to remember is that physical talent alone does not make successful football players. They must be driven. They must be focused. They must show that they can perform well on a consistent basis.
Bryce Brown has 2 great games in the last 4 years. He must show that he can perform at a high level week-in and week-out, year-in and year-out. He hasn’t shown consistency since high school and that’s irrelevant in the NFL world. Back then he was simply better. Here he is playing with the best in the world. Talent isn’t enough.
Sometimes handling success is more difficult than handling adversity.
Talent is talent is talent. And Brown has had more than two games. He was material at NO as well. The fact of the matter is, Brown has wheels, agility, and size. He’s basically like what Jonathan Dwyer was like at Georgia Tech (but couldn’t do in the pros), and in a run-heavy unit where the dive isn’t a profane term anymore? Dude, just…no. It’s just basically going to be about whether he sticks to lanes appropriately, and doesn’t fumble. What I’m trying to get at, is that Brown has ‘leet tools and is able to show it on the field. When it comes to actually supplanting that, Polk has a very high barrier, particularly in the preseason where you see not very talented runners go wild, then shut up when the games count for real.
ALL THAT MATTERS IS POLK’S TOOLS. He show sump’in sump’in *bam* *pow* *oooooh*, then we can talk.
You really couldn’t be more wrong. NFL history is littered with guys who had special ability and failed.
Who was more physically gifted, Jason Dunn or Brent Celek?
Quinton Caver or Carlos Emmons?
Curtis Marsh or Al Harris?
Jerome McDougle, Jon Harris or Juqua Parker?
Jaiquawn Jarrett or Quintin Mikell?
And on and on and on.
Some players freak out in the NFL because they are used to being so good that they can’t handle it when they are simply average.
This is where mental and emotional toughness comes in to play. Players with a chip on their shoulder just go compete while other guys struggle.
Bryce Brown opened a lot of eyes last year and showed big time potential.
The test for him this year is to show he can build on that. So far in camp he’s done anything but build on that. He’s regressed in a couple of areas. This doesn’t mean he’ll have a bad season or that he’s a bust. It just tells us that he’s still got a long way to go to show that he can be a top player in the league.
Brown has NFL talent. Does he have NFL intangibles?
I’m pretty sure sticking to lanes and not fumbling is part of what Tommy’s talking about. Then there’s mental intensity and focus. This basically comes down to the ability of someone to control their mind. Is it quiet and become one with the task of the present moment, or is it filled with noise about not doing this because you’re gonna fumble? Are you filled with nagging negativity about your life problems that you lack the mental clarity to resolve? And then obviously there’s just wanting to be a football player enough that you don’t get outcompeted outside of the field. If the mind isn’t right, no amount of talent can save the player. Mind is mind is mind.
I hear you on the Dion Lewis training camp Barry sanders comparisons…But Polk did just start playing good. he transformed his body so who is to say it doesn’t make a legit effect on his game?
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then again, Dion showed a little something yesterday(so I hear), and he was a stud at browns camp as well. We didn’t play him..we didn’t dress him..Would you really be surprised if he actually is legit and our Incompetant coaches didn’t dress him? did you not watch Babin play ahead of the most productive DE in the NFL last year?
Vick got injured becuase he did his patented hold onto the ball too long and then he got crushed — twice. Hopefully, if does miraculously return to those 6 games in 2010 form, he learns how to protect himself and not rely on his athleticism to turn a play that’s not there into a turnover or huge hit. I will g ive him that his O-line unit was terrible…
But let’s all rejoice — Football is back baby!!!! Let’s enjoy the excitement while we still can, God knows we could be in for a long season!
Let’s hope Chip is the chosen one!!!
Is there a place(this site or BGN) where all the podcast Tommy and Jimmy have done are archived to download/stream? Since the H2H site is gone, hard to follow now.
Meaningless? What? This is the beginning to a dynasty. This is the Redeem Team Supreme. Chip Kelly will showcase the running attack that will be necessary to win Super Bowl XLVIII in the cold weather environment in East Rutherford. I have already ordered my replica Lombardi Trophy from Tiffany.
“Redeem Team Supreme?!” That’s it. You need to turn in your avatar picture immediately and watch tonight’s game on a screen of not more than 15″ diagonal measurement.
Don’t you worry, I got rabbit ears and foil. B&W tv. Fine tune dials. It will have a Superbowl feel with all the snow on the screen!
what is this so called “running” attack every one keeps mentioning? I’m a native Philadelphian..That term is foreign to us. can’t wait to see this new way of playing football
I think Chip saw fans running for the exits last year and a light went on… if we run on the field, maybe the fans won’t run from the field.
Lol Truly an innovator!
YAY!!! I’m watching an eagles pre game show, I see Chip Kelly, and Andy and Donovan are no where in site….What a glorious day!!!
I will be at the game where I will see Chip, Andy and Donovan. Way to rain on my parade. The one game I will get to go to this season. You are a cruel person.
But I agree, the change is refreshing!
I will be there suffering right with you brother….I despise that Doovan will muddy that epic ass whooping we put on Antiquated Andy, with his goofy, passive aggressive presence,…It’s too soon! He should be banished from Philly til 2018(soonest he should be eligible to enter back into Philly lol) I just need a McNabb Time Out…is it really too much to ask?
It should be a fun game and atmosphere. Gotta go break into my neighbor’s house since I don’t have NFL Network. See y’all later.
Wtf…the game is on Channel 6…where the hell do you live?
Flyin’ up from NC for Phillies game wed. night and eagles game thurs. night. I grew up in s. jersey. still have fam up there.
First things first everyone stay healthy please!! So much intrigue surrounding this team can’t wait to see it
Damn guys come on, that looked like the 2012 eagles D. Thank god its early
Wooooow baby, good play action although the fake could have been better thats me nitpicking lol, but thats great ball placement right there. Great to see them answer right back too!
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Cannot believe the naive comments. You go and visit these places and you will see exactly what having this sort of communication means to the community. Alerts for all sorts of disasters