DGR – Offense vs DEN
Posted: October 1st, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 79 Comments »The Eagles racked up 271 yards and 13 points in the 1st half. Things weren’t so good in the 3rd quarter. The Eagles only gained 20 yards and didn’t score a point. Denver turned a one-possession game (21-13) into a blowout (42-13). I’m not sure what schematic changes the Broncos made. Their defense really just seemed to come alive. And the Eagles offense did not handle the pressure well. Blockers and skill players all had costly mistakes. Game over.
It did seem like Denver used delayed LB blitzes more in the 2nd half. Blockers would already be committed to rushers. Vick would be reading his progressions and suddenly some LB would come flying in to disrupt the play. The Broncos used more stunts and twists after halftime and they were more effective than they should have been.
Some people complain that Kelly didn’t make enough adjustments. Maybe. Seemed to me that the biggest problem was poor execution. It doesn’t matter what plays you call if the QB, blockers and runners/receivers make mistakes.
Red Zone failures in the 1st quarter definitely hurt the team. You can’t face off against someone like Peyton Manning and expect to beat him by kicking FGs. The 1st half offense was tough on Denver, especially because of the KOR score. That meant no break for their D. And the players felt it. DE Derek Wolfe said, “That’s the most tired I’ve ever been playing football in my life. Almost made me throw up.”
Chip Kelly mixed 11 and 12 personnel in the 1st half. The 2-TE sets were Celek/Casey and Celek/Ertz.
One frustration I had was with the playcalling late in the 3rd quarter and into the 4th quarter. Kelly kept calling plays that involved play-action passes. They weren’t effective. Denver’s pass rushers weren’t interested in the run. I did like the fact that Kelly never gave up on the run. The RBs are the key to this offense right now. I’m all for getting them as many touches as possible.
Plays
* Ran the play where Vick is under Center and then goes play-action. Cooper ran the cross. DeSean went deep. DJax was being held by DRC. Riley failed to get separation on his route, although a pass out in front of him might have still worked. Vick scrambled on the play.
* 3rd/14. From the DEN 17. Not much field to work with. DJax is the only receiver who went into the endzone. Riley ran a dig route and got the pass for about 10 yds. Vick was late in releasing the ball. That allowed the DBs to close quickly and allow no RAC yards. Only one WR went beyond the sticks. I know that is limited space, but still frustrating to see such a low percentage play.
MISC
* Had to burn timeout on 2nd series due to confusion on who needed to line up where.
* Used the unbalanced line quite a bit.
* There was a screen pass where a TE and WR ran into each other downfield. Was on the backside of the play and not a factor at all, but stuff like that shows you that the players are still learning the system. Aren’t supposed to have 2 guys hitting each other 10 yds downfield while running routes, even if they’re just a distraction on the play.
Players
QB
VICK– 14-27-248. No TDs or turnovers. 8-41 on the ground. Awkward game. Was definitely hurt by his receivers and blockers. There were at least 3 drops. Lost one big play to a holding call. Also had lots of pressure to deal with in the 2nd half. At halftime, Vick was 10-16-170. He had led the team to 13 points. The 2nd half wasn’t good. Was 4-11-78. Didn’t lead the team to any points. Only converted on one 3rd down situation. That wasn’t all on Vick to be sure, but he didn’t help matters. Denver scored 21 points in the 3rd Qtr. The Eagles had just 20 yards.
-Misc-
Hit Celek over the middle with a strike to get the 2nd drive going. A couple of plays later Vick hit Celek with another laser over the middle, but Brent dropped it. Would have given the team a 1st down inside the 5.
Wanted to hit DeSean with a short pass on 3rd/3 on the next series but he was covered. Vick got some pressure so he took off and got the 1st down. Didn’t have many options on that play so it was smart to run. Tried to hit DJax in the RZ, but DRC was able to knock the ball away. Good throw, but a tight window.
Hit DJax for a gain of 20 in the early 2nd Qtr. Had a bit of pressure, but re-set in the pocket and fired the ball off to DeSean. The Broncos challenged if he held on, but it was tough to see so the initial call stuck.
Saw Shady all alone in the left flat so got him the ball quickly. Shady then got up the field for a gain of 21. Just missed Ertz for what would have been a 17-yd gain on 2nd/19. Had to throw off-balance and the ball was just a bit off-target.
Best throws after halftime were to the TEs. Hit Celek for a gain of 27 in the 4th Qtr. That was a tough throw since there wasn’t a great angle. Hit Ertz after that for a gain of 38.
FOLES – Played in the 4th Qtr. 3-4-49. 2 passes went to RBs, 2 to Maehl. Big completion to Maehl came vs blitz. Good read, good throw. Hit him for a gain of 37. TD pass to Maehl was quick screen. Accurate throw, but nothing special. It was good to see Nick play and have some success, but don’t overrate what he did. One good drive doesn’t mean he should be starting.
RB
SHADY – Good game. 16-73 on the ground. 1-21 as a receiver. Came close to breaking some early runs, but a defender always seemed to get just enough of Shady to slow him down or to make the stop. Best run covered 15 yds. That was a 3rd Qtr play. Hit the hole hard and had a chance for that to go a long way, but the DB made a good stop. Came out for a series and a half early on. Reportedly had the wind knocked out of him. There was lots of speculation that Shady was hurt. I think the coaches simply wanted to mix in Brown and Polk more. Shady returned and the 3 RBs played a lot in the game. Dropped 3rd Qtr pass. Wasn’t necessarily going to gain much, but would have gotten a few yds and made 3rd down easier.
B BROWN – 8-19 on the ground. 2-41 as a receiver. Highlight moment came in the 2nd Qtr when he caught a screen pass and turned upfield for a gain of 35. Might have scored on the play, but he slipped about halfway through the run. Got a carry on the 3rd series. Ran outside to the right for 9 yds. Was close to breaking that for a big play. Stumbled after gaining 7 yds on outside run to the left late in the 1st Qtr. Got 6 yds on screen pass at the end of the 1st Qtr. Caught screen to the left on 3rd/11. Perfect call vs blitz and Brown raced 35 yds downfield. Stumbled about halfway or he might have scored, but was able to get control and still get down to the 4-yd line. Huge play in the early 2nd Qtr. Tight game at that point. Was tackled for a loss a few times so his overall rushing numbers weren’t good, but Brown played well.
POLK– Scored his first NFL TD. That was a 4-yd run up the middle. Finished 3-33. Besides the TD, had a 28-yd run in the 2nd half. Nothing special about the TD run. Got the ball and ran straight/hard. But that’s what you want on GL runs. Don’t dance. Don’t hesitate. Get it and hit it. Caught a dump pass on 3rd/19 and quickly got upfield for a gain of 13. Long run in the 4th Qtr was impressive. Ran through first tackle attempt. Almost got by the next guy, but got off-balance and went out of bounds. Close to breaking that for a long TD. Instead, got 28. Ran hard. Failed to make good block vs blitz in the 2nd half and that defender got part of a sack. Showed that he is worthy of getting a couple of touches a game.
TE
CELEK – Led the team with 3 catches for 57 yds. Unfortunately the focus will be on his drop that ended the 2nd drive of the game. Celek got open down the middle. Vick threw a terrific pass and Brent dropped it. Would have put the Eagles inside the 5. Instead, had to settle for a FG. Good catch over the middle helped get that drive going. Tried to block DE Ayers on a play-action pass. Kept him occupied for about a second, then Ayers went and got in on sack of Vick. Caught pass from Vick for gain of 27 on 4th Qtr scramble. Celek was blocking initially. He then released and went upfield when Vick ran. Nice catch and run. Blocking was not good in the 2nd half, both run and pass.
ERTZ – Played more. Only had 1 catch, but it did cover 38 yds. Had an effective block on early run play. Lined up to the right and came across the formation at the snap. Sealed the DE and gave Shady an outside running lane. LB made the tackle quickly, but Ertz did his job. Played in-line TE and in the slot. Had a chance to make a tough catch on a pass from Vick, but the ball was too far out in front and he couldn’t make the grab. Showed good RAC skills on the long catch in the 4th.
CASEY – Played on the 2nd series. Lined up at right TE and ran a crossing route. Vick hit him for a gain of 12. Played some in the 4th Qtr as well.
IGWENAGU – DNP
WR
D JACKSON – 2-34. Caught short crossing pass in the late 1st. Turned upfield and got the 1st down. Tried to slide and came down awkwardly. Had to leave the game for a play. Other catch came in the 2nd Qtr. Made tough grab as he went to the ground. DRC sorta knocked the ball loose, but you couldn’t see clearly what happened. DEN challenged, but the initial ruling was upheld. Dropped a short pass from Vick in the early 4th Qtr. Penalty wiped out another catch. Almost had a TD, but DRC was able to knock the ball away.
AVANT– One catch for 7 yds. Quiet game. Had a good block of DB on Shady run to his side in the early 3rd Qtr. Had a pass come his way on a crossing route, but the DB was able to knock it away. Just got no separation vs good man coverage.
COOPER – Had some very good blocks. There was a Shady run on 3rd/1 in the late 1st Qtr. Riley was blocking his CB 15 yds downfield. Caught pass in the RZ on the 3rd series. Didn’t move the chains or score. Just made the FG easier. Caught 15-yd pass down the left sideline late in the 1st half. Those were his only 2 grabs.
D JOHNSON – Played, but didn’t have any passes come his way.
MAEHL – Best game of his NFL career. 2-43. First catch went for 37 yds. Got the ball on the left side and was already downfield. DB tried to tackle him, but Maehl fought through it and got the ball down to the 6. The next play was a quick screen from Foles to him. Maehl got a good block and was able to get in the endzone for a TD.
OL
PETERS – Got off to a slow start. Failed to sustain a block of Ayers on a run to his side. Ayers tackled Shady 7 yds upfield. Easily would have gone for 10 yds without Ayers. Might have been a bigger play since Shady had one DB in front of him. Had one highlight block. Put RDE Derek Wolfe on the ground on a run play to his side. That’s the kind of domination we have come to expect from Jason. Just tossed him down. Had a very good block on Brown running play to open 2nd Qtr drive. Controlled the DE so that Brown was free to the outside. Jason then got a shot on a LB. Brown gained 6 yds on the run. Got beat to the inside by Ayers on next play, a pass. Managed to not let him free, but was beaten initially. Lined up at RT to open the 3rd Qtr and had a good edge block that let Shady get upfield for 9 yds. More of a sloppy game than I would have preferred, but his run blocking was pretty good for the most part.
MATHIS – Had a good combo block on Shady run to the left side. Knocked the crap out of a DE to open the 2nd Qtr. Peters was pass blocking the guy. Evan had no one to block. Hit the DE from the side and put him on the ground. Had the key block on Brown’s screen pass in the 2nd Qtr that went for 35 yds. Kept a LB blocked so Brown was totally free. He and Peters combined to move DT off the ball on Polk’s TD run. Moved the guy down to the goal line. Got cleanly beaten by Malik Jackson on pass play late in the half. Jackson is DE/DT tweener with quickness. Went hard inside and Mathis had to tackle him to keep Vick from getting blown up. That wiped out a long pass to DeSean that had the team almost in the RZ. Allowed pressure on the next pass play when a diff DT used an inside move. Mostly a good game, but had a couple of costly mistakes.
KELCE – Took bad angle when trying to pass block Vickerson in the 1st Qtr. Let him get penetration and force Vick to scramble. Flew downfield on Brown’s screen pass in the 2nd Qtr. Didn’t have anyone to block, but showed off his wheels. I’m sure Jason will be showing that clip a few times, letting teammates know that he’s the Usain Bolt of interior blockers in the NFL. Good block of DT on Polk’s TD run. Had a terrific block of ILB on 3rd Qtr run where Shady almost broke loose for long run up the middle. Had to settle for 15 yds. Lowlight moment came in the late 3rd. Jason was pass-blocking when ILB came on delayed blitz. Just ran into Jason and knocked the crap out of him. ILB then got in on sack of Vick.
HERREMANS – Best game of the year. No clear mental mistakes. Anchored well in pass pro, which was an issue last week. Did a good job on run blocks. Pulled to the right on Brown run in the late 1st Qtr. Sealed the ILB so Bryce could get to the open space. Was good vs LBs and DL. Blocked well on the move and at the LOS.
JOHNSON – Sloppy game. Opened the 3rd series by sliding over the the left side as an extra OL. Failed to cleanly block a DT and that player helped to blow up a run play. Sloppy technique. Lane was off balance and didn’t make good contact with the defender. Called for holding on RZ run. Had a tough reach block to make on DT. Lane didn’t have his feet under him and got off balance. Very strange play in the early 3rd. DE took hard inside slant. Lane blocked him, then seemed to look outside, but there was no one to take the DE. Guy pressured Vick into scrambling. Cleanly beaten by Phillips speed rush in the 3rd Qtr. Pressured Vick, led to incomplete pass. Got beaten by Phillips for sack on 3rd/9 late in the 3rd Qtr. Just a good speed rush. Lane failed to get his hands on Phillips in time.
_
I don’t want this to seem like I’m overreacting to Nick Foles. Vick has played pretty well after all. But it just seems like when Nick Foles is in the game, even in preseason, the offense functions the way it’s truly meant to function: sustained drives with quick, efficient high percentage passes.
He gets the ball out quick and isn’t afraid to check down to players in space, whereas Vick tends to hold the ball longer – especially lately – and make the game harder for himself.
Or maybe the playcalling is just different when Vick is in the game? Maybe there’s too many vertical routes instead of quick hitters, because he has a stronger arm?
I don’t know. What do you think, Tommy? Any merit to that? Is Vick slipping back into old habits and trying to do too much again?
The playcalling is absolutely different when Vick is in there with his receivers as opposed to Nick and his 2nd string behind the 2nd-string-as-starters crew.
I think there’s a clue in the way Chip was talking about Zach Ertz in his press conference yesterday. Check out around 17:30 into http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/multimedia/videos/Press-Conference-Chip-Kelly/aaaad2af-c08a-4784-af28-04e25d3cc007
People are kinda wondering why we don’t see Ertz running these dynamic routes that we expected when he was drafted in the 2nd for his versatility–splitting wide, playing in the slot, etc. Chip came back and said they drafted him for his potential versatility but 4 games into his professional football career they just don’t feel comfortable with putting him in certain situations due to his lack of experience and practice there so his playcalling is extremely simplified.
“If you’re running a shallow crossing route and if all of a sudden that front side LB drops you but the backside LB picks you up man-to-man how do you stick and avoid and get across the field? There’s a lot of details in terms of doing it. It’s not as easy as saying, ‘Hey we drafted this guy and he’s got the ABILITY…but we also have to get him settled and you have to walk before you can run. There’s a lot of big plans that you can do with Zach and that we can do with this entire offense but it’s gotta come in a process and it’s not gonna come with all-of-a-sudden tomorrow we’re going to come up with 17 different ways where we can deploy Zach…”
Confirmation bias at its finest.
Confirmation bias (n) – a condition in which someone holds an opinion with which I disagree and the sciency-sounding reason they are wrong.
Ha.
Confirmation bias – the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing beliefs or theories.
“Foles is more ideal for this offense because he makes quicker decisions and isn’t afraid to check down” – an existing theory.
**Foles leads the team to a TD in garbage time** – new evidence.
“ZOMG!! See! Clearly Foles is the better fit for this team.” – confirmation
I guess you can call that “sciency-sounding”
Really? That is what you read in @golisi’s comment? The one above, in which he doesn’t mention the garbage time touchdown, draws no conclusions, and ends five sentences with question marks? You read that and summarize it with “‘ZOMG!! See! Clearly…(any conclusion whatsoever)?'” Really?
I think perhaps the confirmation bias in play here may be:
1. Everyone hates Vick and is going to use that garbage time TD to get him benched.
2. Someone comments on Vick and Foles.
3. ZOMG! See! Clearly they are using that garbage time TD to get Vick benched!
So, is that confirmation bias, or critical reading skills?
I am really, REALLY sick of the QB debate. Say anything negative about Vick and you’re an irrational Vick hater and possibly a racist in the eyes of some people here. Say anything negative about Foles and you’re an irrational Vick partisan in the eyes of others. Say anything positive about Vick and you’re a blind apologist. Say anything positive about Foles and you’re a wild optimist who’s convinced he’ll lead us to the Super Bowl if he’s ever given the chance. It’s exhausting.
Personally, I’m not high on either of these quarterbacks and don’t think either of them is taking us anywhere, but it’s impossible to express that opinion without stirring up a flame war. Vick vs. Foles is just behind Democrat vs. Republican in its ability to stir up irrational internet vitriol.
(Not saying that you’re complicit in this btw, just making the observation).
So, your west coast bias is showing through in your irrational love for Barkley!
No, I’m with you. Those were the behaviors I was trying to call out. Maybe the original comment was rooted in an irrational hope for Foles and a hatred of Vick, but maybe not. When the responses jump right to racism, confirmation bias, or idolatry there is no room for a conversation. Just accusations of ulterior motives.
Now, some commenters deserve that reaction, having staked out their position with references to having the worst QB in the league or explaining how they replayed the game with Foles starting in their imagination to gauge his incompetence. But, yeah, when every conversation jumps to there, it is annoying.
I agree with the second half of your comment.
Obviously, I was exaggerating for emphasis. The point still stands that there is absolutely nothing to take from that TD drive.
“when Nick Foles is in the game, even in preseason, the offense functions the way it’s truly meant to function”
Maybe. Maybe not. But pointing to that drive to substantiate this claim is bull. It completely ignores the context of the situation.
I wouldn’t overreact to one drive in garbage time. This offense has limitations. Some of those have to do with Vick’s shortcomings as a quarterback, but many of them do not, and as Foles also has some
serious shortcomings any improvements putting him in would produce would likely be counterbalanced by declines in other areas. This offense will not get significantly better until they have significantly better talent at both QB and in the WR corps.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention the play where Bryce Brown went wide and got pushed out for about a loss of 5. That’s the one where Chip was clearly angry and gesturing that he needs to get up the field. I’m pretty sure immediately after that they yanked him and put Polk in. That was the most visibly aggravated I’ve seen Chip so far, most of the time he just looks bemused or stoic, even if things aren’t going well.
1) Every time I try to think intelligently about the game, my mind wonders back to Maclin. I mean, I wouldn’t care about his fumbles after the catch, *just his presence alone* would force the defense to work more zone concepts, guess more, and be more conservative.
2) Another thing I’m working cud on is that when you see Drew Brees operate his offense and, of course Peyton Sunday afternoon, what you’re seeing are passers mostly making easy throws to players, having already beaten the defense before the snap. “Throwing people open” might be an ace QB move (or a set, one/two read play), but it’s just not something you really want a QB to do if he is not familiar and totally on the same page as the WR, same dynamic with option routes. And certainly not on a ton of plays. Only instead of the disasters Tony Romo has with option routes, you’d have an Eli/Freeman disaster. It’s simply trading the physical supremacy away from the QB’s arm to the WR in terms of outmuscling or out-juking the DB. That’s a good thing, when you have a WR in a favorable matchup, but each skill has to be in service to winning the game.
When you have someone like Vick, his advantages as a passer allows the coach to be *conservative*, like using cruise missiles instead of a low flying Apache to take out a terrorist camp. There are advantages to the Apache, but you want cruise whenever that’s enough to get the job done. It’s pretty easy, I think, for any coach to have a gravitational pull to that direction of spraying 15-30 yard darts with the occasional bomb, since when it works, it allows the coach to do what they are most comfortable with. Using a different context, think about how Schiano attempts to use Vincent Jackson and Mike Williams as these huge targets that can muscle for every ball sent his way. It’s supposed to work that way, but doesn’t, resulting in low completion percentages and much frustration for all concerned. Now, think about how Sean Payton uses Jeremy Graham. Graham gets sent all around the field commanding coverages and basically clearing out LBs (what’s not happening against us, and thus prevents safe short throws). Most of the time, this is creating awesome space for Sproles either in screen mode, or leak out mode, and Brees is always looking for a defensive miscommunication that leaves Graham more open than he should be. And every once in a while, there’s a set play, and it’s going to Graham, even if they’re three guys around him. Of course, Graham wins the jump ball. Establish that intimidation factor. The different between Sean Payton and Greg Schiano is just stark, and it really gets clear why the Saints specifically needed Payton there on the sidelines for the sparks to catch fire into scores.
So evaluating Kelly as an offensive guy, how good is he at getting players open for easy throws? I think he’s pretty good (the yards/attempt is no joke, and these aren’t empty yards–keep it up, and TDs will follow), but we’ve put the fear of God into DC’s run defense planning, and defending the run can help defend the short pass–I mean, if there’s press action all the time, you can’t exactly do a WR screen, can you? So a lot of his problem is that DCs are too afraid of the right things and putting their players in a position to be maximally efficient. We can’t *make* them be more afraid of deep passes, because we don’t have the personnel. Therefore, what Chip has to do is to find ways to get the eyes and hips in the opposing defense in the wrong directions, particularly the LBs. The passes will still be hard, and dangerous, but…
If we had Maclin and Benn (good WR when healthy) we would be so much in all faces of offense.
Maclin is a good red zone WR, Benn has the potential too be a very good red zone WR. Also Maclin’s speed would open up the run game even more or take some double coverage away from Jackson.
Just like every other kind of throw out there, if your QB can’t or won’t make the timing throws well (or at all), you’re taking a tool out of the box. Just like if your QB doesn’t have the arm to throw bombs in the NFL. One of the easier ways out of the problems with middle blitzes is the quick WR screen or even the traditional RB middle screen. Both of which are plays Kelly used quite a bit as a coach, but have been almost completely absent this season after Washington (and weren’t necessarily well executed in that game, either). Like I said when the season started – expect this offense’s results to look much like the last few years with Reid – big time scoring on weak defenses, massive struggles with average or better defenses. There are too many ways to take away the things Vick does well in the passing game that he won’t/can’t burn the defense for. No one’s arguing Cooper is an all-pro, but I saw at least two replays on Sunday where he had a step on his man, and all anyone could say about the play was that he couldn’t get open. Guess what? Most NFL big WRs don’t tend to run away from coverage (with the obvious “elite” exceptions) – they “pop” open, and it’s up to the QB to make that throw on time. But hoping that Vick improves in that area is akin to hoping that Cooper becomes a sub 4.4 guy – not going to happen. If Vick is going to be the QB of the future, then the team is going to need to expend significant assets (high first round pick(s)) on WRs so that he has WRs who will run away from all types of coverage and can still provide the blocking skill that Kelly covets. Or they can invest in a QB that doesn’t have such an easily defensed weakness. Or, and this is unlikely as long as Kelly is here, they can live with sometimes scoring 13 points with the offense and focus on a shutdown defense.
Envy is one of seven deadly sins, but boy I am jealous of the defensive success Rob Ryan is having in New Orleans.
The Saints went from a historically bad defense last year to the No. 5 scoring defense this season (No. 6 in yards allowed).
Poeple like to blame the Eagles defense woes on the new scheme (dead last in yards and points allowed this year!), however I think that Rob Ryan is just a far better defense coordinator than Bill Davis. By the end of the year we’ll have a better feeling where the Eagles D stands, just don’t be surprised if Bill Davis won’t be here next year.
I hear you, and I’m not defending how this defense has played, but other than Atlanta, the Saints have faced TB, MIA and Arizona. It is still way too early to envy them!
Their set of opponents has had less firepower than San Diego and Denver, however that early turnaround is still very impressive!
This is Rob Ryans previous stats as DC:
http://bloggingthebeast.com/2011/11/05/lol-rob-ryan/
Not sure you can argue he is better than Davis.
Well you can certainly argue he’s better than Davis these days.
So you are comparing what our defense (remember to take out all the return TDs out) has done against 3 of the top offenses in the NFL compared to what the Saints have done against the likes of Palmer, Tannenhill and Freeman?
To a certain degree, yes. Of course you have to take into account which offenses you have played so far, but I am pretty positive that – at the end of the day – the Saints D will be superior to our D, mainly thanks to the simply better DC.
because it couldnt be because Saints have better players?
So why wasn’t the Saints D posting better stats last year? If you look at their roster they didn’t really get lots of new impact players, apart from Keenan Lewis at corner.
Also I am not sure that they have the better players. While I prefer their secondary (mainly thanks to Keenan Lewis, whom the Eagles almost signed in FA), I’d take our D-line over theirs any day of the week. The LBs look to be even, at least on paper.
Vaccaro, Lewis, Breer, Harper is a much better secondary than ours and all our problems comes from our crappy safeties.
Also Cameron Jordan is playing really well and John Jenkins is play much better at NT than most people expected (he was very inconsistent in college and was often nothing more than a fat body)
I did say that I prefer the Saints secondary, didn’t I? I still like our DE’s better. Was hoping to get more impact from Spags than a bowl of Spag Bol, however the overall talent between the Saints D and the Eagles D is pretty even in my honest and humble opinion, especially IF Cary Williams, Brandon Fletcher and Boykin would play constantly up to their potential.
Williams is overrated, Fletcher is doing okay, but not a star CB and Boykin is doing well, but it does matter because in modern day NFL the safeties is a big part of coverage and if you safeties cant zone cover, you are screwed
coaching
How many times per game does Rob Ryan’s best slot corner blitz from the OLB position, amirite?
You know it is very common tactic to blitz a corner or safety from the slot/OLB?
I mean remember how often JJ blitzed our best safety?
The problem isnt that he is blitzing Boykin, problem is we have no good safeties to make it work.
Read the last part: (and yes this is actually a BR article worth reading, but also close to the only one)
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1792368-tale-of-the-tape-from-nfl-week-4
Yeah, I completely agree. We don’t have the safeties to make it work, yet he keeps doing it…
We do not have safeties to make anything work 😛
So? As long as the results are fine (and the Saints Defense stats are amazing, no matter who they played so far), I couldn’t care less if even my kicker was blitzing from the Safety position…
Uh, I was actually agreeing with you. My post is a knock on Davis’ underwhelming performance. I’ll chalk this up to a language barrier issue…
Lol. I see now. No probs. 😉
I can’t blame Davis — not when you have players like our safeties. They couldn’t cover hot pancakes with syrup.
Rob Ryan’s defense looked bad in Dallas last year.
D looks a lot different when you are playing w/ a lead than playing from behind, but agree saints d looked good last night.
A good offense is you best defense?
in our case that’s the the aim from the start, but you can take more risks play differently when you’re playing with a lead — forces teams to pass you can take more risks, etc.
The most shocking thing in this DGR is that Herremans actually had a good game. The Toddfather’s talent has been MIA for some time now.
Just wondering where the guy is who argued with me that Alex Henery is a better kicker than Akers. Is he still on here? Just wondering your thoughts. I’m not sure Akers ever started out this terrible. I know Chip backed Alex — but how do you keep someone on your roster who has missed more fg’s than made this year….
I’ve liked Henery, and you can’t argue with his accuracy up until this year (although I’ve thought that they were too careful with him with longer FG’s). That said, it has to be a concern right now. I don’t know if it is the fact that he has a different holder, or if it just a confidence issue. He was the one guy in camp who didn’t have any competition, and I’ve read (I think it was R. Frank) that Kelly didn’t practice kicking as much as Reid did.
I don’t think 3 bad kicks warrants pulling the plug, but you have to wonder where that line is for Kelly.
I thought T-Law commented in their camp that Alex wasn’t hitting them too. It’s been going on for some time now I think. Something isn’t right …
I agree that 3 bad kicks doesn’t warrant pulling the plug on him. However, my issue is that coaches don’t have confidence in him attempting a 50-55 yarder at Mile High. That to me is concerning.
He’s made 7/10. I, too, think they need to bring in someone else, but at least get his stats right.
quoting TheHuddle.com
“Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly said the team will be sticking with PK Alex Henery even though he has made only two of his five field goal attempts this season. ‘I do have confidence in him,’ Kelly said. ‘I know [special teams coordinator Dave Fipp] has confidence in him, I think he’s a real accurate kicker. But from a kicking standpoint, I’m pretty confident in him.’
That was posted on 9/30.
NFL.com also has him at 10 attempts, making 70%.
clearly kffl didn’t proof read…
I think it is 2/5 from 40+
DRC — the guy who stunk it up here — was all over our “elite” wr…puke.
I’ve been thinking that too – he has been uncoverable at times in his career (and only 1 of those games was against the Eagles), but he has been unmanageable at other times. Depends on what the Titans want for him, but I think the Eagles need to do something to upgrade the WR position.
Seems like he’s T.O. without the talent. Had a few awful drops a couple weeks ago before being benched with an “injury.”
Do you forget how good DRC looked before Castillo was fired?
DRC is a great CB when his team is winning. Once they lose, he will play like crap. Was that way in Arizona and here, and will most likely be it where ever he ends up next (watch Broncos give him a long fat extension and when Manning retires he will begin to play crap)
DRC is a diva. Reminds me of Julio Jones in his last game. He was like, coach I’m hurt so I’m going to the bench. Gonzo scores and suddenly JJ was like — coach put me because we now have a chance to win…lol
I compare DRC behavior more like Randy Moss. Moss was great on winning teams, less so on losing teams
Hmm. I think Shady’s temporary disappearance had less to do with Brown/Polk getting touches and more to do with the fact that he simply couldn’t breathe. You don’t set up goal line plays with a chance to score with him on the bench.
polk did fine.
He did, but that doesn’t take away from the point that the 4-yard line isn’t where you ideally work in the backups.
Re Bill Davis:
If a coach literally begs you to trust him (in his PC) then you could tell that the writing is on the wall.
hard to believe that once again we have the worst defense in the league — it’s laughable really.
Yes, but it’s the scheme, you know..?! LolEagles
I’ve always seen Davis as just a stopgap hire anyhow. I’m confident Chip was targeting other people who just didn’t end up becoming available. Regardless of what happens this season, good or bad, I’m sure he’ll be shown the door once someone Chip really wants is on the market.
hard to think of who would want the DC job — pretty thankless and not much to work with.
Juan?
Sexy Rexy? He can focus soley on his defense. Chip gave Nick Aliotti almost complete autonomy over his defense, at Oregon. He also has consistently made chicken salad out of chicken shit with that Jets defense.
Sexy Rex would be the only DC I would want. Im not really high on any assistence (I wanted Bob Sutton this year but he got snagged by Reid before we even got Kelly)
The Giants are doing everything in their power to enforce ‘the revenge of former Eagles players curse’. After signing Dallas Reynolds they have now three former Eagles players on the roster (besides CuJo and Patt).
I guess we can book next Sunday’s game as a loss, ladies and gentlemen.
Maybe we can counteract this ploy be resigning Steve Smith…
1 Steve Smith won’t cut it. But if we somehow could add Kenny Philips we may have a chance…!
You spelled his name wrong. It’s “Stev Smit”
OT but is anyone else a little bemused by the Eagles mediasphere’s reaction to the Bronco beatdown? I present this from a CSN column:
“Denver has an excellent team, but the Eagles made them look like they were in a totally different league — as though the Broncos had scheduled a CFL team, and not a very good one.”
I’ve seen plenty of other columns in this vein as well I just used this quote as an example. I think this is so silly, Manning didn’t do anything to us that he hasn’t done to other teams as well. He dropped 450 yards and 7 td’s on the Ravens defense, which I can assure you is much better than ours. He was 32-37 against the Raiders for an incomprehensible 86.5% completion percentage! We actually held him to a lower completion percentage than the Raiders did.
My point is, he didn’t do anything to us that he hasn’t done to other teams as well. There’s nothing special about the beating he gave us, its just what he’s done for the first 4 games. Yes we looked bad, but so did the other teams.
we build ourselves up to get beat down.
Yeah, if there was ever a game not to build yourself up for this would have been the one :).
Vick would have been benched at Oregon by now as would have the entire defense
why would vick be benched
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2013/10/1/4791976/philadelphia-eagles-qb-michael-vick-seasons-stats-numbers-career-on-pace
Im not sure why. Only reason could be his comp %.
assuming he stays healthy the entire season…
Because he gave up 52 points to the Broncos…
Also remember how Chip said the altitude is only mental. Like WTF, our guys were getting killed out there. Kelly is super smart, but sometimes i’m just like…damn.