DGR – The offense vs the Bucs
Posted: October 16th, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 66 Comments »The Eagles now have 425 or more yards in all 6 games this year. They have scored 30 or more points in 4 of 6 games this year. The offense is working.
Michael Vick was the QB for 4.5 games. Nick Foles was the QB for 1.5 games. On Sunday, Foles showed he can run Chip Kelly’s attack and deliver big results. Did the offense look totally different to you?
I think many of the plays are the same. It is the execution that is different. Foles is more used to the spread offense so throwing short, quick passes comes more naturally to him. He also mixed in deep throws. For the first time in a few games, the Eagles faced a team that used lots of zone coverage. This allowed them to actually mix in WR screens.
The team executed well in the Red Zone, scoring 2 TDs in 3 tries. The Eagles went down and scored a TD on the opening drive for the first time all year. This let the team get out to a lead. It felt like the offense was very crisp early on. I like the play-calling. The Eagles spread the ball around. Damaris Johnson and Jeff Maehl were on the field on the opening drive. The Eagles had a great call on Foles QB draw for the TD.
I thought the coaches had a pretty good plan for dealing with the Bucs defense. They mixed in screen passes. They ran the ball upfield most of the time, but mixed in a couple of outside plays to keep the D honest. The coaches were creative with getting the ball to DeSean Jackson. 6 for 64 yards doesn’t sound great, but it does when you know that Darrelle Revis was on the field, mostly covering DeSean. The Eagles lined him up all over to try and get DJax away from Revis.
You hear coaches all the time talk about the four-minute offense. This is when the team has a lead late in the game and the goal is to move the ball and eat up the clock. First downs are the priority, not points. The Eagles took over possession with 8:03 left in the game while holding an 8-point lead. The Bucs desperately needed a stop. The Eagles ran their four-minute offense. The Eagles ran the ball 11 straight times and moved the ball from midfield down inside the 10-yard line. They kicked a field goal to seal the win. They also ate up almost six minutes of game time. Kelly will be thrilled with that. Great job by Celek and the offensive line on the drive. It was also good to see McCoy and Brown run hard and aggressive. There was no dancing.
Plays
* 1st/10. Opening play of the game was a screen. DJax lined up in the backfield and then went in motion. The Bucs were completely confused. Revis didn’t know who to cover and the other DBs/LBs were shifting as the ball was snapped. The play was a screen pass to Shady, away from the side where DJax was. There weren’t defenders to that side and Shady had 2 OL lead him upfield for a gain of 44. The Eagles ran same play in the early 2nd Qtr. Got 11 yds on that screen.
* 1st/GL. Went with 3 x 2 set. Cooper, Ertz and Celek were to the left. DJax was way right. Shady was in the backfield, but more like a wing on the right side. Tampa then had 3 DL down. One DE was upright and way outside. One LB was inside the other outside. It was like 4.5 defenders in the box. Insane. Foles took the shotgun snap and then ran up the middle for an easy TD. Kelce had the key block and sealed the NT.
* 2nd/8 from the 12-yd line. 2 WRs, TE to the left. DJax to the right. Celek ran an underneath crossing route. Foles pump-faked to him and the S bit up. DJax ran a deeper crossing route and was wide open because of the pump fake. Foles made a good throw for the TD.
* 2nd/11 in the early 4th. Foles faked to Shady, with Kelce and Todd pulling to the right. Foles then fired a short pass to Cooper on the left side. Chris Brown of SmartFootball.com said this is an option play where Foles can hand-off or throw. Cooper made the CB miss and raced down the field for a gain of 44.
* 1st/10. Next play after Cooper’s long gain. DeSean was in the right slot, Coop out wide. Both TEs to the left. Foles was under Center. Foles faked to Shady. Ertz moved to the right and blocked that DE. Celek ran a downfield route and drew the attention of the Safety. DJax wasn’t covered by a CB. He had a LB over him and then a S behind that. DeSean flew by the LB and then went by the S to his side. Celek had the other S occupied so DeSean was wide open for a 36-yd TD.
* The Eagles ended the game with a shotgun snap. That was because Tampa is famous for having their DL launch into the OL to try and knock the ball loose when the other team is in the victory formation.
MISC
* 7 of 14 on 3rd downs
* 2 for 3 in the RZ
* 5 possessions in the 2nd half: TD, punt, TD, FG, kneel down
Players
QB
FOLES – Terrific game. 22-31-296. 3 TDs. No turnovers. This wasn’t a game where everything came easy to Foles. The Bucs were 8th in scoring defense and 13th in yards against going into the contest. The Bucs had already faced Drew Brees and Tom Brady.
Brees – 26-46-322, 1 TD, 2 INTs … Saints won the game 16-14
Brady – 25-36-225, 2 TDs, 1 INT … Pats won the game 23-3
Compared to that, Foles lit them up.
The numbers were good, but I also think Foles passed the eye test. He was accurate with his passes. He got the ball out quickly at times, but also mixed in deep throws. That was one area that had all Eagles fans/media curious. Could Foles get the ball to DeSean Jackson down the field? Could he stretch the defense?
Yes.
Foles hit Riley Cooper for a 47-yd TD. He hit DJax for a 36-yd TD. The pass to Cooper was underthrown, but in a reasonable way. Cooper was able to stay on the move and make the catch. He did have to slow down for the ball. DJax had to throttle down on his route as well, but not as much.
My favorite little thing that Foles did was using the pump-fake. He had an 8-yard scoring pass to Jackson. Foles pump-faked and that made the safety bite up, which then left Jackson wide open as he crossed the field. Easy touchdown after that. The Eagles faced a third-and-15 at one point. Foles pump-faked to an underneath target and the safety moved up. Cooper was left wide open over the deep middle for a gain of 17 and an impressive first down. That is good quarterback play.
What about decision-making? I thought Foles mainly did a good job. He only took one sack. He didn’t force the ball into coverage. He was willing to use his check down receivers. My one bit of frustration with Foles is something he’s done since his days in college. Like Eli Manning, he holds the ball as long as possible on some plays and waits for someone to come open. This didn’t hurt the Eagles on Sunday, but I think it is a bad habit to get into. Throw the ball away rather than risk something bad happening.
Foles was 3-4-26 yds with a TD on his passes in the Red Zone. The Eagles were 2 for 2 on trips where they tried to score. Late in the game they were more concerned with running the ball and working the clock than scoring a TD.
We also can’t leave out Foles running skills. He ran a QB draw for a 4-yd TD. He also kept the ball on an option play and got 3 yds. Pretty much Nick Vick.
From a game management standpoint, Foles did a good job. There weren’t any wasted timeouts. There wasn’t confusion at the line of scrimmage about who was supposed to be where. Foles used a hard count late in the game that helped the Eagles get a first down and eat up some clock. Foles looked like a veteran quarterback, not a player making his first start of the season.
Raw notes …. Went sidearm on a throw to Ertz on the opening series. The pass was broken up by a DB, but that was a pretty good throw and it was interesting that Nick made the decision to go sidearm in the middle of a play. Then made a good read that TB was blitzing and then fired a quick pass to Damaris for a short gain. Made an errant throw to Cooper in the early 2nd Qtr. Ball was too far outside. Made real impressive throw at 13:10 of the 2nd Qtr. Had 3rd/15 play. Bucs rushed 4 and got some pressure. Foles stood tall in the pocket. He pump-faked to the left and then hit Cooper over the deep middle for 17 yds. Made an errant throw to Ertz on the right side on that drive. Just put the ball too wide. Hit Cooper for a 47-yd TD in the early 3rd Qtr. Made a good throw. Ball was a bit underthrown, but was in a spot where Cooper could adjust to it and make the catch. Made a good throw to DJax for his long TD. DeSean had to slow down a bit, but the pass was pretty accurate.
RB
SHADY – 25-116 on the ground. 2-55 as a receiver. I don’t know if this was something the coaches focused on or just how things worked, but Shady didn’t dance much. He attacked up the field. Tampa loves to blitz. If you get a crease, you’re better off running north-south. Shady did that and had a good game. Went for 44 yds on the opening play, a pass. Caught a screen to the right and the defense was completely fooled. Shady had blockers in front and lots of room to work with. Got up-ended by Revis on the 2nd series and fumbled as he was about to hit the ground. Ran up the middle on 3rd/1 in the mid-2nd and got 8 yds. Really attacked upfield on the play. Love when Shady runs like that. Got 19 yds on quick hitter up the middle in the mid-3rd. TB only had 5 defenders in the box and Shady flew right up the middle. Good 7-yd run on 2nd/8 late in the game. Hard yards. Got 8 yds on 3rd/12 at the end of the game. Good run.
B BROWN – 5-20 on the ground. Better than last year’s 12 for 6 showing vs Tampa. Had 2 runs on the opening drive. Got a 1st down and set up 1st/GL. Had a run near the 10-yd line in the mid-2nd. Gained 2 yds to the outside. I loved the fact he finished his run. Lowered his shoulder and hit the DB, instead of taking the hit. Ran hard late in the game. Got 9 yds on a run to the outside.
POLK – Injured his shoulder and left the game.
TE
CELEK – Good game. Only 1-10 as a receiver, but did an excellent job as a blocker. Had good block of LB on Brown’s run to the right side on the opening series. That let Brown get to the edge cleanly. Drove Teo-Nesheim 4 yds off the ball on early run play. Excellent block. Caught TE screen in the early 2nd. Got 10 yds on the play. Took an awkward shot on that play. Had a great block of Clayborn on a run by Shady in the mid-4th. Sealed him and let Shady get wide for a gain of 8. On the next play Brent drove the backup DE off the ball and gave Brown a free shot at the outside.
ERTZ – 3-13. Not flashy numbers. Caught short pass over middle on 3rd/5. Got 6 yds. Got pushed back on WR screen. Was blocking CB, but the guy had leverage and Ertz couldn’t move him. Caught 5-yd pass as dump-off receiver on 3rd/long in the mid-3rd. Blocked DE just enough on Foles deep TD to Jackson.
CASEY – DNP. Had been injured in practice last week.
IGWENAGU – DNP
WR
D JACKSON – Good game. 6-64. Targeted 6 times and caught all 6 passes. Had 2 TDs. This was the first game of his NFL career with 2 TD receptions, which I find to be mind-blowing. I mentioned in my game preview that the Eagles could be creative with DJax and sure enough they opened the game with him in the backfield. He then motioned to the left and they threw a screen to the right. Jackson was a great decoy as the play went for 44. First catch came a few plays later. Lined up in the left slot and ran a short route over the middle on 3rd/2. Caught pass for a gain of 5. Didn’t have a good block of Revis on 2nd series and that led to tackle that made Shady fumble. Caught screen pass in the late 1st Qtr and got a few yds. Caught quick screen for a gain of 4 in the early 2nd Qtr. Caught a short pass before the half. Made one dumb move. Ran out of bounds. That stopped the clock at :08 and forced the Eagles to punt. The 36-yd TD involved a good route. Jack was in the right slot. He used his speed to get up the field and just overwhelm the S. Jackson vs Revis wasn’t a true battle since it wasn’t mostly man coverage, but you’d have to give DJax the advantage.
AVANT – 4-21 as a receiver.Had a really strong day as a blocker, both in the run and pass game. Caught a short pass in the left flat and fought upfield for a 1st down. Caught short pass over the middle on the opening series of the 2nd half.
COOPER – Best game of his young career. 4-120-1. Caught pass on the second play of the game. Short crossing route. Riley got it and went upfield for a gain of 14. I love the fact that Riley lowered his shoulder and attacked the DB. Big guys need to play big. Had the 47-yd TD. Was fast enough to get by the CB initially and then used his size to fight off the CB and make the catch. Again, played big. Caught short pass on the left side and made the CB miss. Took off upfield and got 44 yds on the play. You could see his lack of speed. LB caught him from behind.
D JOHNSON – Caught short pass on opening drive. Got 8 yds. S made a quick tackle.
MAEHL – Caught pass on WR screen in the early 2nd Qtr. Got upfield for a gain of 5. Got mixed into the game a decent amount.
OL
Blitz Stuff
* The Bucs blitz a lot. They also use more DL stunts, slants and loops than any other team in the league right now. That really challenges the OL and QB to know what is coming and to stop it.
* Foles had pass deflected on 3rd series. RT and Shady went to block same guy and left #59 unblocked so he hit the ball.
* Only sack came early on. LB flew off the edge, unblocked. Brent and Shady were to that side, but both released into pass routes. Seems like some kind of play or blocking audible should have been called. One replay made it look like Peters was at fault, but the protection seemed to be sliding right. Not sure who is to blame.
* Bucs almost got a sack in the late 1st Qtr. Blitzed 2 DBs off the OL’s right side. Shady got the inside rusher. Outside guy came free. Looked like Avant might have been open, but will need to see the All-22 to know. Foles held the ball even as the DB tried to tackle him. Finally threw it away late. Riskier than I like.
* Bucs got TFL when RDE fired through the G/T gap and hit Shady in the backfield.
* Foles had to throw the ball away in the early 2nd Qtr when a LB came free off the edge. Another play where the TE and RB both released and there was no one to block the blitzer.
* Bucs used a LB twist to almost get a sack in the mid-3rd.
PETERS – Good game. There was some confusion on blitzes/stunts, but did a good job when blocking a guy 1-on-1. Watching Peters run block Daniel Teo-Nesheim wasn’t exactly fair. Peters hurt his shoulder on the opening drive of the 3rd Qtr. Came back into the game either late 3rd or early 4th. Lined up on the right side for a run play. Drove the LDE off the ball a few yds and gave Shady lots of room to run. That was on 3rd/2.
MATHIS – Generally did a good job of blocking McCoy. Kept him under control. Had a good subtle block of LB on TE screen in the early 2nd Qtr. Just hit the guy from the side and kept him out of the play. Wasn’t “wow” hit, but key block on the play. Got beat by McCoy just before the half. He pressured Foles and forced a bad throw. Did a good job vs the NT anytime he faced him. Not a flashy day, but a good one.
KELCE – Good block on the opening play. Hustled downfield on a screen pass and took out the first defender that came close to Shady. Picked up McCoy when he got by Todd on the 2nd play. That gave Nick time to throw. Totally controlled the NT when facing him 1-on-1. Did a good job on plays when he got out in space (screens, outside runs).
HERREMANS – Another good showing. Had good block on 2nd Qtr screen pass to the right side. Caved in the NT on inside run where Shady got 19 yds up the middle. Called for holding in the mid-3rd. Did have his hand on the back of a LB, but seemed like a ticky-tack call. To be fair, looked like Barbre did hold. Todd got beat by McCoy on the next play. That flushed Foles. Helped keep McCoy under control most of the game. Had some good blocks as the team ran to the right side a lot on the final drive.
JOHNSON – Good game. Lined up to the left side on early inside run play and drove the NT off the ball, giving room for Brown to run for a 1st down. Wasn’t able to sustain block of McCoy and he hit Shady at the LOS in the early 3rd Qtr. Caved in DTN on run play to that side in the early 3rd Qtr. I didn’t see him getting beat in pass pro. The team ran to the right side quite a bit in the game and Johnson was able to seal on some plays and get movement on others.
BARBRE – Came into the game when Peters got hurt. First assignment was to block McCoy. Did that on inside run play. Had a good block of Clayborn on Cooper’s long TD catch. Clayborn got off his block and stuffed run play in the mid-3rd.
TOBIN – DNP
VANDERVELDE – DNP
KELLY – DNP
_
Foles > Vick
yeah. dont be shy.. foles >>> brady or brees but foles <<< payton
Let’s not gloss over things or sugar coat the hard truth. There have been some trends that we have all seen play out, but no one seems willing to talk about the difficult truths we must face:
– We all had an instinctive desire to beat Andy when we faced KC this season, but it turned out that that instinct was not as strong as the abilities of the team from Kansas. First hard fact: our Victory Instinct is less than the Kansas team, and this is bad.
– Our Front Office has been working for a few years now to put together the right pieces to build a successful team. They have not accomplished what they were trying to accomplish, despite their best efforts. On the other hand, the Eagles System has been changed on both offense and defense, and those systems seem to be making gains on both fronts. Second hard fact: The Front Office is less than the Eagles System, and that is good.
So, to summarize (because that is a lot of words for the internet):
VI< K is bad and FO< ES is good.
Pretty much indisputable.
Dude, Kansas City is in Missouri, not Kansas.
Right, but VI < M doesn't make any sense. Besides, I am sure the Chiefs are Kansas' team.
Arrowhead stadium is in Kansas City, KS
No, just Foles > Vick. Can’t anoint him the 2nd coming yet.
First let beat dallas at least
I’ve been wondering about that hard count this week. Does having a coach that is generally considered more likely to go for it on 4th down make it more likely that defenders jump on that sort of thing?
When most teams do it, I imagine most defenders are (at least subconsciously) thinking ‘They’re probably just trying to catch us out here and if we just stand still they’ll call a timeout or take a delay of game’. With Chip, there must be much more uncertainty about whether he’s actually going to run a play, no?
Absolutely. Even the commentators were unsure because of Chip’s reputation. Defenders must be.
A question I had was how the QB center communicate that “NOW, For Real, Snap It!” when the other team jumps.
-Is there a code word (because if there is, Shady didn’t hear it being called)?
-Does the center have the authority to just snap it if he sees a guy across the line (because he would have the best reaction time and angle)?
oops
-Does the center have the authority to just snap it if he sees a guy across the line (because he would have the best reaction time and angle)?
that is my question too.
on that play, it seemed like whoever called for the snap (C or QB) did so and just about everyone else was completely surprised.
I’m willing to bet that it was Kelce who snapped when he saw the DL jump. It’s a pretty common thing for centers to be told that if they have a defender in the neutral zone, to go ahead and snap it, take the free five and maybe the play gets more than that. If you have other OL reacting to the offsides it can become more ticky tacky and always leads to the annoying situation of both guys pointing fingers at the other player claiming they were drawn.
That fits with how slow everyone else was to react and run a play.
I think any lineman has the authority to basically false start in the event they see encroachment (in that situation anyway). I assumed Kelce saw it and snapped the ball. Either way, If you snap the ball, you should at least try to run a play in case the ref misses it, not to mention it’s a free play if they do throw the flag, you have the opportunity to get the first down without a penalty and keep the clock running.
Tommy,
One thing I don’t think I’ve ever seen mentioned is that, historically speaking, Greg Schiano defenses struggle against no-huddle spread offenses. During his time at Rutgers, he never beat WVU, which always racked up a lot of points. He also really struggled to slow down Brian Kelly’s Cincinnati squads (they’re the ones that beat them following 2006’s win over Louisville).
Do you think there’s anything to this?
Totally. Greg is built for conventional football. He’s struggling to adapt to the modern ways. Funny to say that about a young coach.
I wonder how the Tampa fanbase feels now about their brief flirtation with Chip Kelly. I think Freeman would have actually been good in a Kelly offense.
I wouldn’t go so far to say that any quarterback would be good in Chip Kelly’s offense, but I’d say nearly all would be better than what they are. Look at Vick and Foles. They’re both playing way better than did with Andy.
Agree he’s a system coach which is why i think going after a blue chip QB with our first round pick is silly. How much better could they be? Vick was a top 10 QB, maybe Foles could be top 6 (by performance) assuming he plays better than Vick. With that type of production why draft someone else when we have huge holes at other places on the team.
That said i think our defense will be top 20 by the end of the year. You heard it here first.
I think Freeman could be good in a number of other offenses. Almost everybody seems to think that Schiano is not the best HC around. Wonder who the OC is in Tampa? Or the quarterback coach?
Another thing I wonder, with MRSA stuff and the Freeman drama I wonder if the Bucs played a bit worse than they had in the previous games. They had a very tough looking defense 2 weeks ago, but I wonder if they’ll start to plummet.
Foles still had a great game none the less, but just don’t want to get tripped up by a false positive like what happened with Kolb.
So you are saying that Foles so completely destroyed their defense that the Bucs are unable to every put the pieces back together? That he turned them into humpty-dumpty?
Furthermore, after watching the Eagles play, Ware and Murry sought out injuries in their game to avoid being part of the next wave of carnage?
(Actually, the distractions off the field must have some toll.)
Best offensive game of the he season…not the most yards, not the biggest plays, but the best flow to an offense that we have seen.
….
Mike makes Shady better…
..
FOles makes the other 9 guys on the field better….
Not to reopen old-and-now-irrelevant debates, but during preseason that is what I saw out of Foles and why I thought he would have a higher ceiling this season than Vick would. Not much of a “big play guy”, but a smooth operator and a true captain of an offense. His awareness and ability to quickly check down to receivers was amazing. That to me was the true sneak preview of the Kelly offense. Smart football.
Foles has considerable experience in a spread scheme.
Foles had a few big plays this last outing. Seems like he shouldn’t be so quickly defined without getting more starts to evaluate.
Tommy,
Overall what is your assessment of Johnson? Ertz? Curious to see how you view the rookies more than 1/4 the way in. From the DGRs, seems like Lane is doing a good job. Does he show potential to you as being elite, future All-Pro type?
Like Johnson a lot. Good rookie OT.
Ertz flashes talent, but is more inconsistent.
i’m absolutely thrilled to see that Todd has picked up his game as this season has gone on. after the whole Watkins experiment, its great to finally get at least part of that side of the line solidified.
I would expect that Todd playing better will help out Johnson a bit. we expect the rookie to make some mistakes, but if the guy he is playing next to is playing well, it should hopefully cover up for some of those rookie mistakes.
I have to admit, it appears my doubts were unfounded. Further, it seems as though the timing of Todd’s improvement probably coincides with healing from his injury and getting back into proper playing shape (he was quoted as saying he wasn’t as strong as he’d like).
I was (and am) right there with you.
haha me too. with Todd’s early season struggles, i thought this was going to be a loooong year for the OL. i figured the QB would be getting beat down every week and Lane would have slowed development and maybe lose some confidence.
keep it going Toddfather!
Can we go back to that screen to Celek for a moment? He runs the complete opposite direction of his blockers, and it looks like if he follows them he has a pretty open field. Instead he runs the other way and gets the 10 yard gain, but I think it could have been more.
Did anyone else see that?
Just rewatched the play. Like you suggest, it did look like he had a chance for a longer play if he had kept running left behind his blockers. But there was a also a defensive lineman about to catch up with him from behind, whose diving tackle he avoided by suddenly moving to the right. So it’s hard to say.
I saw it when it happened. Chalked it up to TE not knowing how to follow blockers.
Foles = NFC offensive player of the week
“They have scored 30 or more points in 4 of 6 games this year.”
Putting this in perspective…
In the “great” 2010 year, the Eagles only put up 30 or more 6 times. Anyone think that the Eagles are only going to score 30 or more only 2 times in the next 10 games?
In 2012, the Eagles only put up 30 or more points once… with Nick Foles at QB… against the Cowboys. Unfortunately, the Eagles lost that game. Fortunately, we now have Chip Kelly… and a more experienced Nick Foles.
i’d be happy putting up 6pts a game and 120 yds per game if the other team only put up 3 points. it’s not the points it’s the wins.
I’d be happy with wins no matter how we get them. However, do you really think what you are talking about is in any way realistic? Especially in the modern-day NFL?
I’ve shown elsewhere that you don’t need a top ten or top five defense to win the Super Bowl anymore. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s no longer an absolute necessity. What you must be able to do is outscore the other guy and have a defense that is capable of some stops so that your team can win a potentially high-scoring game (See Super Bowl 47).
The problem right now is the Eagles defense isn’t close to good enough to come up with enough stops. It would be a real problem if the offense still wasn’t good enough too. Right now the Eagles mainly have to focus on fixing only one side of the team. That is a huge improvement over what we saw in 2012.
Cowboys have put up 30 about the same amount I think. Offenses are increasingly getting the advantage. This is going to be one interesting game.
List of good things the Dallas Cowboys do:
– Put together a good cheerleader squad
– Put together a good cheerleader calendar
– Choke in big games
That is all.
What has happened to the Damaris Johnson we all thought would be dynamic in this offense. Putting aside his horrible showings as PR/KR this year, I thought the Chip Kelly offense and spread effect would make Damaris a weapon. Since he obviously looks horrible as KR and is untrustworthy as PR(to me), is he worth keeping around as a WR when we get nothing out of him?
I think this last game is giving Johnson a bad rap at KR. Hadn’t he been at least bringing it out to the 20 every time? Certainly not “horrible” overall (but I agree his performance was bad against Tampa).
This is my impression too. He never had the speed to be more than serviceable, but he did seem to manage to play at that level I thought.
At least bringing it out to the 20 isn’t that great. I do think there has been a lot of touchbacks, but he hasn’t show the spark that he showed in preseason.
Another question in the same vein–Russell Shepard (oh how we cried that he is now a Buccaneer)–did he even get on the field this season?
I think some of us thought he had a chance to be dynamic in this offense. It turns out he’s not that good.
Thoughts on Johnson so far this year? Is he playing better than the two tackles picked before him? What is his outlook for the future?
I’m very curious as well. I do recall some reports that the other 2 were having some struggles earlier in the season. Not sure about now. Maybe after the season’s over and reporters struggle to fill space we’ll get a good look back, or in the next Eagles Almanac.
the guy in jax is out for the year. I think all of them were up and down.
Formalities are great but I have only one thing on my mind…
Destroy Dallas!!!!!
Can’t stand their fans.
Kelly won with different types of qb at Qregon so why the surprise that Foles has flourished in his system..Foles is a natural in this system while Vick is not
Tommy et al,
Is there much to be said for the similarities between what Tampa Bay showed us on defense last Sunday and what Dallas is trying to do this year?
It seems like we tore up Tampa Bay pretty badly when they were in various zone coverage schemes and from what I understand of the cowboys this year they are trying to get to a Tampa 2 coverage under Kiffin, right?
Chip played Kiffin several times when he was with USC. Chip killed his D. I expect the same in the Dallas game. Now whether we can keep up with the Cowgirls TDs is another discussion – I believe we can btw.
Dallas is using more man coverage this year than Kiffin has used in the past. Hopefully it’ll look more like the Giants’ man coverage than Kansas City’s.
Well, we know that Dallas can’t match KC’s defensive line so eventually somebody will break free of that man coverage.
I’m going on record and saying…
Foles is our Franchise QB. Not because of his abilities (which are good) but b/c of his leadership and demeanor. He’s smart, selfless, and all about the team. He gets it.
Obviously a long way to go. But I believe. Just watch.
Welcome to the club 🙂
You just described all three of the Eagles quarterbacks.
If Foles does become our franchise QB and succeeds, I am looking forward to years of annoying Reid haters by saying, “Well, Andy Reid sure knows how to pick ’em”
OMG This is hilarious.
Vince Young Runs the Texans Out of Their Misery
It has been written that the play calling was not much different for Foles than for Vick. Some things were different. Where the big change was – the Tampa defense. Zone instead of man. Also, every defensive player, around the league, I hear being interviewed, ALL say they would rather face Foles than Vick. Maybe the opinions of the people who are tasked with stopping the quarterback should count for something?
Unless a player is preparing to play the Eagles, they don’t know more about Foles than what they see on SportsCenter. Therefore they know much less than we do since we’ve been following Foles since he was drafted.
When DJ and Maehl seemed to be involved early in the game, I though that would happen more often during the game. Maybe it’s just the beginning of seeing these guys more.
[…] NFC Offensive Player of the Week for his play against Tampa Bay. As Tommy Lawlor noted in his detailed game report, Foles was 22 of 31 for 296 yards and 3 TDs and no INTs. This wasn’t a game where everything […]