Detailed Game Review – PHI 49, OAK 20
Posted: November 7th, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 92 Comments »Now that’s how you end a 2-game losing streak and put an end to your offensive struggles. We’ll have to wait and see if that was a one-game anomaly or if things just started to click. No one expects 49-point games on a regular basis, but this offense has left points on the field all year. At least until Sunday.
I was happy when the Eagles went up 7-0. The Raiders responded with a FG and then the Eagles answered that with another TD. It was 14-3 and I started to get confident that this just might be a good day. I can’t remember if it was after the Eagles went up 21-3 or 28-3, but I wrote on Twitter “What the hell is going on out here?” I mean…I was tuned in to watch the Eagles and instead some juggernaut offense was playing.
If it wasn’t for Terrelle Pryor, I might have been on Cloud Nine on Sunday. Instead, I only got up to number Eight. Pryor wasn’t scoring points, but watching him run by and around defenders was torturous. This was the Football Gods paying us back for Randall, Donovan and Vick doing this to other teams for the past 25 years.
It really was encouraging to see the team play so well. The guys seemed to have an extra bounce in their step. They were good on STs and offense. Defense was a mixed bag, but mostly due to Pryor working his magic. The good news to me is that this wasn’t a game where everything went right. We all love the 44-6 win over Dallas, but can you really count on returning 2 fumbles for long TDs? Can you count on the opponent to fumble a kickoff? And so on.
The Eagles had 2 takeaways, but neither resulted in points. Only 1 of the 7 TD drives began outside the Eagles 40 and none began on the Raiders side of the field. The Eagles earned those points. The Raiders played poorly, but a lot of that was due to the Eagles scheme and execution. This wasn’t a team just laying down and letting the Eagles go wild
Remember the 2007 blowout of the Lions? The Eagles won 56-21. In the 2 games prior to that, the Eagles score 13 and 12 points. In the 5 games after it, they scored 3, 16, 16, 17, 23 and 17. The Eagles had 536 yards that day. For the rest of the year, they only had 2 other games that broke the 400-yard mark. The current Eagles are one of the best offenses in the league in yards and points. This was a case of a very good offense having a great day.
COACHING
Chip Kelly either said or did the right things to motivate the team and have them ready to play. The Eagles were locked in from the start.
Because the game was a blowout, there weren’t many tactical decisions to criticize. There was one funny moment. Late in the half there was a running into the kicker penalty that turned 4th/6 into 4th/1. The Eagles were at their own 44. Kelly sent Foles and the offense out on the field. All of Twitter was like “Don’t do this Chip!”. He just had Foles try to draw the Raiders offside. Then the punt team came out.
You could talk about how long Kelly played the starters. He pulled Foles in the early 4th. I thought that was reasonable. He gave Foles a chance to break the record, but in tasteful fashion. Nick got 2 drives after the score was 49-13. The offense stalled so in came Barkley. Every sap you can get Barkley is a good one. Plus, it was nice to see him play in a game when the Eagles weren’t losing.
The offensive coaches obviously had a terrific gameplan. They used more 2-TE sets. They also had an excellent wrinkle with sending Shady into the flat on a regular basis.
I thought Bill Davis had a solid plan, but Pryor makes that worthless when he starts running around. I do think Davis should have done more with the mush rush, when you have DL/LBs stay under control and box the QB in. You take away his ability to run and force him to pass. It is hard for young guys to do this. They want to attack the QB. Mush-rushing takes a lot of discipline.
OFFENSE
What a game. The Eagles had put up 3 offensive points over the last 2 games. The media was eagerly embracing the notion that Chip Kelly’s offense needed to be changed. He had to expand the playbook. He had to go get a QB that could run. He had to do this, that or the other. Something had to be done.
Kelly did none of that. He focused on fundamentals. The plays weren’t the problem. Execution was.
Nick Foles came back from his concussion and Kelly had a simple message for him: “Grip it and rip it.” Kelly wanted his young QB to think less and just go out and play. Find the open guy, get him the ball. Simple as that.
Foles listened to Kelly and the result was a record-tying 7 TD passes. The Eagles scored 49 points and gained 542 yards. All of that happened on only 57 plays. The offense was efficient and explosive. The Eagles were 4 for 5 on 3rd downs in the 1st half. The one that didn’t get converted? Jason Avant dropped a pass. The offense had 6 plays of 25 or more yards.
Big plays and offensive efficiency aren’t new. Going 4 for 4 in the Red Zone is. Scoring TDs instead of settling for FGs is huge, both on the scoreboard and in terms of momentum. The Raiders were able to move the ball, but they struggled to get into the endzone. It reminded me of the old joke that they brought a knife to a gunfight.
The Eagles were 31st in RZ efficiency going into the game, but they are now up to 26th. It will be interesting to see if Foles can continue to play well in the RZ. That is critical to winning games.
The real good news for me is that Foles didn’t do anything today that he can’t replicate. There were no miracle passes or runs. Foles just went out and ran the offense. He made the right decisions. He made accurate throws. He moved around and used his mobility to help on those plays when he did get pressure or needed to be on the move.
No Eagles player did anything today that made your jaw hit the floor. There were no circus catches or highlight runs. Players got open. Foles got them the ball. Good things happened.
Foles can replicate the performance in terms of making good decisions and accurate throws. The offense can move the ball and score points. Next time it will problably be 27 or 31 or 34 instead of 49. You can’t count on going 4 for 4 in the Red Zone and having no turnovers on a regular basis.
When the offense executes well and you play a clean game, great things can happen.
Plays
* 3rd/13. Opening drive. This play got me excited. Foles had good protection. Pump-faked to his left and then hit Jeff Maehl over the middle for a gain of 19. That pass had some zip on it. Foles sat in the pocket and looked like a stud QB on that play. That was a sign that the Dallas Foles was gone.
* 3rd/3. Eagles were in 3 x 1 set. Shady went in motion prior to the snap. Foles looked right at him after getting the snap and 2 LBs hustled outside. That left Ertz wide open over the middle. Easy pitch and catch for the 1st down.
* 3rd/5. Ball at 18-yd line. Raiders were in Cover 1 with heavy blitz look. Foles took the snap and looked to his right. That froze Woodson, the FS. Foles then threw left, where Riley Cooper got past rookie CB DJ Hayden. Cooper stretched out and hauled in the pass for a TD. I thought Foles might have overthown Cooper on the play, but turned out to be a good throw.
* 1st/10. Ball at own 37. 2 x 2 set, with a pair of WRs right and Cooper/Celek on the left side. Celek took off upfield. Foles faked a handoff on the outside zone to Shady. That brought the SS streaking down into the box. Foles then looked to his right. He came back to the left, where Cooper was running a post route with only single coverage. The FS had gotten lost on the play due to the fakes. Cooper caught the ball at the 15 and jogged into the endzone. Real good throw. Excellent pass protection from the OL.
* 2nd/10. Ball at OAK 25. Had a 3 x 1 set to the right. Then Shady went in motion that way, making it 4 x 1. Oakland blitzed. The 3 DBs on the front side had 4 guys to cover. They left Shady open so Nick hit him on the move. Shady motored down the sideline for a TD.
* 1st/10. Foles hit DeSean for a gain of 59. The ball traveled 60 yards in the air. The play looked like a variation of the play action pass that the Eagles have run from under Center. Celek crossed behind the formation to block the backside DE. Cooper ran a deep crossing route. DeSean went deep. Foles faked to Shady and then hit DJax with a bomb.
* 2nd/GL. Had a 2 x 1 set with DeSean and Shady in the backfield. Foles faked to Shady heading to the left. DJax then went to the right. Foles rolled that way. The Raiders covered DJax well, but left Riley Cooper, running a drag route behind them, open. Foles pump-faked, then hit Cooper on the move. TD.
MISC
* 4 for 4 in the Red Zone. Huge part of the game.
* 4 of 10 on 3rd downs, but were 4 of 6 prior to the 7th TD.
* Had Shady go in motion out wide on several plays. Mostly he was a decoy, but did end up catching a TD on that play eventually. When players focused on him, Foles went elsewhere. The one time the defense ignored him, Foles and Shady made them pay.
* Used an unbalanced line twice on the opening series. One was a run, the other a WR screen.
Players
QB
FOLES – Great game. Tied an NFL record with 7 TD throws. 22-28-406. No INTs or fumbles. Ran 3 times for 14 yards. Had more TDs than incompletions. That is crazy.
There were no signs of the guy we saw in the Dallas game. That Nick was hesitant and indecisive. His passes were off target and thrown with no confidence. Thankfully, all that was gone. Foles was a changed man.
I thought Foles threw the ball better than I’ve ever seen. His intermediate passes had good velocity. His deep balls were accurate. Receivers didn’t have to wait for the ball. Foles threw on the move and even those passes had zip. In the past, he’s been a guy that needed to plant his feet to get anything on the ball. That wasn’t the case on Sunday.
*Plays *
– First play Foles ran. Had Shady open in the flat, but didn’t see him and took off. Liked the fact he was decisive.
– Hit Cooper on WR screen for a gain of 42. That energized the offense. Missed Ertz on a throw to the right side. Couldn’t tell if the ball was deflected or just a bad throw. DE leapt and had his arms up, but couldn’t see definitive contact.
– Hit Maehl over the middle on 3rd/13. Huge play. Looked very good on that.
– Hit Shady with a screen pass. Actually pump-faked on that. Might have delayed the LBs by half a second. Play went for 13 yds.
– Ran for 9 yds on 2nd/4 late in the 1st Qtr. Was read-option play and Foles was going to throw outside, but noticed a DB going for the WR. Foles pulled the ball down and just ran himself. Nothing great, but moved the chains with a safe, simple play.
– Did a good job on 3rd/16. Raiders only rushed 3. Nick dropped back and looked around. Had time so he gave his guys a chance to get open. Looked hard left and then came all the way back to DJax on the right side. Got 17 on the play.
– Had a very nice play in the mid-2nd Qtr. Got some pressure up the middle. Moved up in the pocket and then slid to the right. Looked at Shady in the flat, then saw DJax downfield. Threw the ball 23 yards in the air, on a rope and without having his feet set. That was an arm throw, and a good one.
– The TD to Ertz was another play where Foles showed the ability to move around and throw on the run. He dropped back and looked left. He pump-faked. Foles then moved to his right and up the field. He focused on the middle of the field and at the last minute saw Ertz wide open. Foles didn’t stop to set his feet. Threw a strike while on the move. TD. LBs and DBs were influenced by his eyes and the fake.
– Opened the 3rd Qtr by running to his left and then throwing a lateral to Cooper who was out wide. Foles was credited with a 1-yd run and Cooper with an 18-yd run. Refs through a pair of flags (illegal forward pass and OPI), but both were waived off when it was ruled a run and not a pass.
– Used a good shoulder fake and looking to the left to get DeSean wide open for a 46-yd TD in the early 3rd. The Raiders had Woodson in the deep middle. He followed the fake and Foles eyes. DJax got by his CB and was wide open. There was even a flag on the CB for holding, but it didn’t affect DJax.
– Hit Cooper for 12 yds on 3rd/15. Didn’t mean much in this game, but a play like that might matter in a defensive struggle down the line where field position is critical.
Incompletions:
1 – off target to Ertz
2 – downfield ball to Celek…almost a throwaway, but ended up pretty close
3 – overthrew Cooper on a corner route…tight coverage and the ball was too high
4 – drop by Avant on 3rd down late in the 1st half
5 – bounced a quick screen to DeSean in the 3rd Qtr
6 – threw the ball away…very good coverage by Raiders
BARKLEY – Came into the game in the 4th Qtr. 2-3-13. The one miss was a chance for a good gain. Casey came wide open on a corner route. Completed a couple of short passes to Ertz. No turnovers, which is new for Matt.
RB
SHADY – 12-44 on the ground. 4-36-1 as a receiver. Highlight play was a 25-yd TD catch. Got the ball in the right flat and had open space ahead of him. Just flew down the sideline for the TD. Caught a screen on the opening drive and got upfield for 13 yds. Made a terrible blitz pickup late in the half. Either didn’t see the guy or just had a weird moment. Almost blocked him sideways and the LB got off the block instantly. Best run of the day came in the early 3rd. Started up the middle, then bounced a run wide to the left. Got wide and turned upfield for 17 yds. Called for holding on pass play in the early 3rd. Tackled a blitzer. Penalty wiped out 2 penalties on the defense. Receiving stats would be better, but Shady lost 7 yards on a screen in the early 3rd Qtr. Terrific play by Burnett.
B BROWN – Easily his best game of the year. 7-54. Finally delivered a big play. Ran for 32 yards on play at the end of the 1st Qtr. There were 6 in the box. Foles gave BB the ball on a simple inside run. He broke a tackle by Woodson and then got wide. Excellent size/speed play. My only complaint is that he went out of bounds at the end. Had 2 defenders to deal with, but I’d prefer the big backup RB punish those guys instead of just going out of bounds. First run of the game came on a pin & pull toss play. Got 9 yds. Broke a tackle at the LOS. Showed good power and speed on that play. Kept his shoulders square to the LOS. Ran to the wide left on a pin & pull sweep. Squared his shoulders and got upfield for 7 yds. Finished that run well. Lowered his shoulders and got everything he could.
POLK – Didn’t play on offense.
TE
CELEK – 3-27. Highlight play was a 24-yd catch and run. Came on screen pass. Cut back over the middle and got good yardage on the play. Showed good speed as he ran away from a LB and then good power as he ran over a DB. Fun play. Caught a short TD on a crossing route. His DB got lost in coverage and Brent was wide open for an easy throw. Also helped that Riley nudged the DB as he was chasing Brent. Had a good block on Foles 9-yd run. Got enough of the DB to keep Nick clean til he was upfield. Most impressive play of the game was a gain of 0. Caught TE screen and defender hit him in the backfield. Brent would not go down until he got back to the LOS. May have even gained a foot. Great effort. Had a very good block of DE Houston on sweep. Sealed him cleanly.
ERTZ – 5-42, including his first NFL TD. 5 catches was career high. Previously it was just 3. Caught pass on 3rd/3 in the RZ and fought his way down to the 2-yd line. Caught a 15-yd TD in the late 2nd Qtr. Ran a simple corner route and was wide open. Stuck up his arm to get Foles attention. Had lined up in the slot on that play. Did one subtle thing. Stopped moving when he was open and stayed away from the sideline. Some players will keep drifting and create a tough situation. Ertz left himself room to work with. Smart. Caught a short pass on a crossing route late in the half. The ball came loose, but it was clearly after he hit the ground. Had a good block on Cooper’s long gain to open the 2nd half. Caught a pair of passes from Barkley late in the game.
CASEY – Played a decent amount, but only had one pass come his way and that was later in the game.
WR
D JACKSON – 5-150-1. Hauled in a 59-yd bomb and scored on a 46-yd catch and run. First catch was WR screen. Got 8 yds on that play. Found a hole in the zone on 3rd/16 and caught a pass for 17 yds. Made an impressive grab on the 59-yd gain. Had the CB right on him as the ball came down, but stayed focused on the ball. Got slung to the ground, but held on. The TD was easy. CB tried to hold him, but DeSean ran by him and kept his balance. Caught the ball on the move and was able to glide into the endzone.
AVANT – The Eagles used more 2 TE stuff and less 3 WR sets so that limited Avant’s snaps. Dropped a 3rd down pass late in the half. Would have been a tough catch, but the kind you expect Jason to make. That was the only pass that came his way. Blocked well, as usual.
COOPER – Best game of his career. 5-139-3. Got started early. Caught WR screen on the 3rd play and was able to get out wide and up the field. Went for 42 yds. Executed a pick play on the first TD of the game. Came across the middle and put a shoulder into the DB covering Celek. Did it in a kinda subtle way. At least sold the notion that he was running a route. Some WRs will run right into the DB and block them. Officials have to call that. Did a good job on his 18-yd TD catch. Adjusted to the ball when it was in the air. Was strong enough to not be affected by contact from the CB. Did a little bit of his own pushing on the play. Also stretched out for the ball. Riley needed to be a bigger/longer WR to make that catch. Used his size on the long TD as well. CB played off. Riley ate up ground with his long stride and got even. The CB tripped, possibly on Riley’s feet, but Cooper never broke stride. TD. Had a good block on Shady’s 17-yd run in the 3rd Qtr. Got 12 yds on 3rd/15 in the mid-3rd.
D JOHNSON – Played more than I realized, but didn’t have any passes thrown his way. Even got to go deep on one play, but failed to get any separation.
MAEHL – Caught pass over the middle on 3rd/13. Got 19 yds on the play. Was in traffic and had to go up for the ball, but took a hit and held on. Big play.
OL
The line had a very good day. They consistently gave Foles good time in the pocket. When a player did lose, he didn’t let the defender get by him cleanly. The OL gave Foles a chance to see the rusher and move. There was only one play where Foles took a really hard hit. That came when Shady tackled a blitzer and some other rusher got free.
PETERS – Good game. Picked up a stunt on 3rd/13 and gave Foles a clean pocket. Good block on first TD pass. Hit DE, then pushed him inside to Mathis. Then Peters blocked blitzing DB. Got away with a false start in the mid-3rd Qtr. Was 3rd/long and Peters started a fraction of a second before the snap. Funny, Peters was on the Eagles when they lost to OAK in 2009. Peters left the game with a minor injury. There were some rumblings that he should be tougher and stay on the field. How times have changed. Now a very highly thought of Eagle.
MATHIS – Good block of DT on Brown’s long run. DT read the flow of the play and moved with the action. Mathis engaged him and used the guy’s momentum to keep him out of the play. Good sustain. Got driven back by a DT on the long TD to Cooper, but was able to re-set and keep the guy from affecting Foles. Called for holding in the mid-2nd Qtr on a broken play, but the Raiders actually declined the penalty. On the very next snap, had a false start. Good game with a couple of blemishes.
KELCE – Another strong performance. Tried to pull on early toss play, but Peters moved back and got into Kelce’s way, which disrupted the whole run. Wasn’t able to block Burnett on run. He got Shady for TFL. Looked like Burnett’s alignment made that a very tough block for Kelce. Real good block on Burnett on early Brown run. Pulled and drove Burnett down the field. Good block of Roach (MLB) on Brown’s long run. Had a good block of the MLB on a 9-yd run up the middle by Shady. Very effective at pulling and getting wide on outside runs.
HERREMANS – Called for holding on the 2nd play. Questionable call. Good block on Brown outside run. Pulled and squashed DB that was in the alley. Gave Bryce room to run. Gave up some pressure on pass play in the mid-2nd, but kept the guy from getting to Foles. Had some issues with Pat Sims. Sims was able to get under Todd’s pads and get him off balance in pass pro. Good job in the run game.
JOHNSON – Good down block of DT on run where Shady got upfield for 6 yds. Was actually more aggressive in some of his pass sets. Came off the ball and engaged rushers rather than always waiting for them to come to him. Had a strong game.
BARBRE – Came into the game in the late 3rd to play LT. Not as good a run blocker as Peters.
VANDERVELDE – Got to play C late in the game.
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DEFENSE
I’m not writing a normal defensive review. The Raiders ran 92 plays and I think Pryor scrambled on 85 of them. Trying to explain his crazy running and all the chasing the Eagles did would take me 3 weeks. This will be more of a general review.
I was watching the postgame show on PE.com when Dave Spadaro mentioned that the Eagles gave up 560 yards of offense. I thought to myself that Dave must have mis-spoken. No way the team gave up 560 yards. Right? I opened the gamebook and holy crap…they did give up 560 yards.
So what happened?
Terrelle Pryor happened. That dude is one fast, athletic QB. If he ever learns to pass, watch out. I have my doubts on whether that will ever happen, but he’s doing better in the NFL than I ever anticipated. Pryor ran for 94 yards. He eluded sacks and was able to throw the ball away on other occasions. He did make some big plays in the passing game. Pryor finished 22-41-288, all career highs. He did throw 2 picks.
The Raiders got 129 yards after the Eagles had put in mostly backups on defense. That boosted the number from a bad level to an awful level. That said, the Raiders averaged 6.1 yards per play. That’s not a good figure (prefer to be in the low 5’s), but that shows you this wasn’t some terrible defensive performance. For perspective, the Chargers averaged 6.8 yards per play when they destroyed the Eagles defense back in Week 2. That was terrible D.
Look at how the Raiders 2nd half drives against the Eagles starters ended.
Punt
Punt
Punt
INT
Punt
INT
The Raiders got some yards, but no points in that 1.5 quarters of action. I’ll take that every day of the week.
MISC
* Raiders were only 6 of 18 on 3rd downs
* Were 2 of 4 in the Red Zone
* Pryor was only sacked 3 times, but the Eagles got regular pressure on him
PLAYERS
DL
COX – Stat sheet shows only 1 tackle, but that is highly misleading. Cox must have run 3 miles as he chased Pryor all over the field. Cox was able to get into the backfield on a regular basis. He wasn’t able to make plays, but that is purely due to Pryor’s speed. Good game.
LOGAN – Got his first start at NT. I was pretty impressed. Early in the game he stood up the C, shed the block and stuffed the RB. Was more stout vs the run than I anticipated. Was able to hold his ground most of the time. The coaches used his mobility by running stunts on a regular basis. They worked well at times, but also hurt at times. The Raiders first TD run came when Logan was looping wide and the RB went right through where he was moving. Logan got into the backfield on some pass plays. Pryor put one move on him that got Logan to hit the ground as he was trying to chase. I’m sure he got made fun of when watching the tape. Credited with 3 tackles. Very encouraging start.
THORNTON – Another good game. Stout vs the run. Got penetration on an early pass play and chased Pryor in the endzone, but couldn’t get to him. Credited with a pair of tackles.
CURRY – Best game as an Eagle. Really impressive. Played DE, DT and NT. Actually had some good plays as a 2-gap DE. Was able to extend his arms and control the blocker, then shed and get in on the stop of the RB. Disruptive when he did attack up the field, both vs the run and pass. Got pressure on a few plays and notched his 3rd sack of the season. Used a rip move on one play and drove his blocker into the backfield as the guy tried to stay with him. Was in on 3 tackles.
GEATHERS – Didn’t stand out like the others. No tackles. Not disruptive. Did get pressure on a pass play.
SQUARE – Backup NT. Has gotten worlds better since September. Actually did a solid job of holding his ground. I was worried about his ability to anchor vs the run. Showed some quickness off the ball on some plays. Got a TFL when there was a fumble and Square made the tackle as Oakland fell on the ball. Also deflected a pass.
OLB
COLE – This is the most fun I’ve had watching #58 all year. Got his first sack. Easily could have had several if not for Pryor being a freak. Got into the backfield quite a bit. The Eagles had Trent line up at ILB on one play and rush up the middle. Got penetration on that. Regularly disruptive. Was in on 5 total tackles. Had one bad play. Took a hard inside angle vs run and RB was able to cut wide and get upfield for a nice gain. Trent was too aggressive on that play.
BARWIN – Solid showing. Had an INT on a deflected ball. Caught it, looked around, thought about running and then just fell to the ground. Had no chance for a big return. Funny to watch that. Deflected another pass. Got in on a couple of tackles.
GRAHAM – Disappointing. I was hoping he’d have a big game in the blowout. Didn’t happen. Had a chance for a sack early in the game. Just beat the LT, but then got held and drew a flag. Had some good moments, but didn’t stand out on a regular basis.
ILB
KENDRICKS – Up and down game. Chased Pryor all over the field. Did a good job of that at times. There were some plays when he just didn’t have the speed to keep up. I don’t fault MK for that. Pyror’s got serious speed. I was mainly frustrated with a few sloppy tackles that resulted in extra RAC yards. Kendricks still gets out in space and goes so fast that he is out of control and can be susceptible to moves/fakes. Love the hustle, but need him to slow down and get his feet under him. Was in on 10 tackles. Did have a sack (of the hustle variety). I thought MK did a good job vs inside runs. Funny, coming into the year that would be an issue and not tackling in space.
RYANS – Good game. Had 9 solo tackles and a PD. Had one penalty called on him. Knocked a WR down over the middle and they called PI on Ryans. DeMeco loves to hit guys on shallow pass routes inside the 5-yd zone. The ball was already in the air on this play so he drew the flag. Ryans tackled well in the game and was very active. Had a nice coverage play in the endzone early in the game. On the play where Cole moved to ILB, Ryans went to OLB. I wonder if that was by design, trying to confuse the OL/QB with 58 and 59 switching places.
MATTHEWS – Got to play, but didn’t do anything of note.
ACHO – Got into the game in the early 3rd Qtr for a few plays. Later on played in the 4th. Was in on a couple of tackles. Looked okay.
GOODE – Got some time on defense. Was in on 5 tackles.
S
ALLEN – Made some impressive plays. There was a pass where a Raider got loose over the middle and then down the sideline. Nate hustled in pursuit and then grabbed part of his jersey with one hand. Nate fell down, but held onto the jersey. Boykin was able to make the tackle. That saved a TD. Who knows how the game might have gone if the score had been 7-7 instead of 7-3. Was in on 5 tackles. Best moment came when Pryor scrambled to his right and had lots of open ground. Nate exploded upfield and closed to him in a hurry. Forced Pryor to throw the ball away. Some people were picking on Nate for not making the tackle on the first TD run. Didn’t have a good angle on the runner. Would have needed an explosive hit to stop they guy and Nate doesn’t have that ability. Had one less than great moment in coverage. Gave up a completion to FB Marcel Reece, a very good receiver. The pass was downfield and over near the sideline. Would have liked to see Nate get wide and either break it up or come close. Was a step or two away.
CHUNG – Got mixed into the lineup. Helped to create an INT by deflecting a pass as a receiver tried to catch it. Credited with being in on 5 tackles.
WOLFF – Good game. Solid vs the run, blitzed well, and did okay in coverage. Had a chance for a sack when he flew off the edge and was unblocked. Didn’t take a great angle and Pryor was able to elude him, somewhat. Wolff got hold of him, but Pryor threw the ball away. Did get a grounding call. Covered well on a pass into the endzone. Saw the receiver crossing the field and picked him up. Good awareness. Was in on 5 tackles.
COLEMAN – Played late. Got in on 4 tackles.
ANDERSON – Played late. Credited with a PD. Had one bad moment vs the run. Tried to get Jennings down on a run up the middle. Went low and served as a speed bump, but that’s it.
CB
FLETCHER – Had 6 solo tackles and an INT. Did a good job of pursuing on plays and making tackles. Solid in coverage.
WILLIAMS – Up and down. Lost track of a WR early and Pryor hit him for a gain of 27. That came on 3rd down. Did have an impressive play down the field. Pryor threw deep. Williams was by the WR and went up for the ball. Should have had the INT, but just couldn’t hold on. Was in on 2 tackles. There was a short pass to his side of the field that turned into a good gain vs zone defense. Not sure if that was on Williams or not. He was very deep on the play.
BOYKIN – One big mistake. Got off balance and let Streater get loose over the middle. That turned into a gain of 66. Boykin did hustle in pursuit and make the tackle. Had 6 solo tackles. Broke up one pass.
CARMICHAEL – Played late. Broke up a pass.
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ST’s
JONES – Averaged 43.2 yds on 6 punts. No return yards. 2 were downed inside the 20. One went out of bounds.
HENERY – No FG attempts. 5 of 8 KOs were touchbacks.
– MISC –
KOR – Brandon Boykin was the KOR. Quiet 1st half. Got run over on one return. Had a chance for a TD to open the 2nd half. Used good speed and followed his blocks. Got into the open at the 30-yd line and had a chance for a huge play, but tripped on Chris Polk. Rolled to the 39.
PR – With Damaris limited, DeSean was the primary PR. DJax had one long return. Fielded the ball at the 20. Ran hard to the outside left. Got wide and turned up the field. Cut back to the middle and then weaved through traffic over to the right side. Got to the Raiders 46-yd line. 34-yd return. Unfortunately, grabbed the Punter’s facemask as he went out of bounds and held on to it, tugging even. That drew a flag. Tried to dance on the next PR and lost a yard. There was a facemask penalty that helped with field position.
* Casey Matthews was good in KO coverage. Was in on a couple of tackles.
* Brandon Graham recovered a squib kick and returned in 14 yds. Made me nervous. I’d rather have him just take a knee.
* Zach Ertz fielded the onside kick at the end of the game.
* Kurt Coleman was flagged for running into the Punter. That extended a drive, but didn’t lead to points.
* The Raiders ran into Donnie Jones, but it was 4th/6 so that didn’t mean much.
GAMEBOOK
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Awesome work as always, Tommy.
I feel the Eagles D played well. I think they’re getting better all the time.
Yes. I agree. Apart from giving up almost 600 yards.
We gave up zero points in 1.5 quarter to the starters despite them getting over 200 yards.
The Eagles 2nd half D has been out right nasty the last few weeks,
I just hope it isnt due to the caliber of offenses we’ve played, but they seem to past the eye test and really look like they are flying to the ball. Loving it.
We just need a play making CB and OLB. Also this D is very young outside of Cole.
Yards are overrated.
Re: Nick Foles vs. Young Eagle QBs of the Past (reposted)
For those looking to compare notes on Nick Foles to some other young Eagles QBs of the past, here’re highlights from Rick Arrington’s first start in Week 6 of the 1970 season against . . . the Green Bay Packers in GB.
Arrington — sadly — debuted by posting a 0.0 QB rating, going 3-10, 16 yds [yes, just 16 yards], 0-3. He lasted 3 years with the Birds but never did much better than what you’ll see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aR2fArayuY&list=PLs-D1vmqGQ1ziccGmaUyNIP35GlkEcLIH&index=64
(Sorry . . . it was working last night!!!)
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Things started far better for 1972 1st Rd pick John Reaves in his Week 2 rookie-season debut. Reaves, who set the college passing yardage record at U-FL, relieved a beleaguered Pete Liske against the playoff-bound Cleveland Browns.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoTXCXDgSY8
Reaves finished 8-14, 120 yds, 1-0. Looked like a keeper. It turned out to be his best game — for a host of reasons, mostly related to off-field problems well chronicled not too many years ago by Sports Illustrated.
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What a stark and brutal contrast between these Eagles QBs from 40+ years ago and Nike Foles(ey, per GEagle), after just 13 games — Dallas performance notwithstanding.
And it’s not as though all young QBs do well in the NFL now. Ryan Lindley — whom T-Law and I hoped the Eagles might draft in 2012 — was dreadful in AZ. Same for Skelton. Jeff Tuel in Buffalo’s no Foles.
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NOTE: I plan on re-posting this tomorrow, unless T-Law puts the Ky-Bash on me. Also . . . I love the uniforms and the helmets.
And “uncle” Viking continues to bring the quality…Bravo!! Bravo!!(slow sophisticated Clap)
Watched that last night. Good stuff…liked when Hawkins got his helmet ripped off, no flags!!!
Note how close the umpire is to the line play.
This is absolutely nitpicking and by no means should it be misconstrued as me saying Chip Kelly had anything but a nearly perfectly coached game, but personally, I think I would have rather had Chip pull Nick Foles after the 7th TD. The game was clearly over and as you said, Barkley benefits from every snap he can get. By the time we brought Barkley in, we were running out the clock and he had only 3 opportunities to throw passes. Had he been put in two possessions earlier, he would have had a few more opportunities.
Obviously the logic to keeping Foles in was to give him an opportunity to break the record, and Kelly did that while also trying to not run the score up by primarily running with McCoy. I certainly understand that logic, but to me, purely from a stand point of what would have been best for the team long term, I would have loved to see Barkley have an opportunity to get his first TD, just to give him a little added confidence.
Now that the thrill of the game is over, I am sorry to say that I was yelling for Chip to keep Nick in to throw the 8th td. You’re right, though, the earlier he sat down, the better for everyone.
With Vick out, why take a chance on getting Foles re-injured once the game has been won? Good call by CK.
I don’t think he kept Foles in to break the record, I think he was afraid to put Barkley in. He kept Foles in as long as he could figuring Barkley couldn’t screw up this win by turning over the ball. I think if it was Vick who threw 7 TDs, he would have pulled him early because he had Foles to finish the game. Big difference between Foles and Barkley.
At 49-13, Oakland would have need 36 points to simply tie. Very very small chance that they make up those points in one quarter, especially considering even with Barkley in, we still will be running down the clock. I don’t think Chip is so concerned about Barkley he is worried that a 36 point lead with one quarter left is not safe.
I didn’t think we would lose the game. I meant since the last couple of games were so bad, and this game everyone was playing really good, he didn’t want the players to fall into a funk. And I don’t agree with you about Barkley. I’m sure Kelly is concerned about Barkley. He hasn’t shown to be a competent backup. Would you feel confident with Barkley starting against the Packers? Not me.
Certainly not arguing that Barkley is a quality backup yet by any means. I would not feel confident at all with Barkley starting against any team, let alone the Packers. My point was that in a five possession game, Barkley is not likely to lose the game, even if he turns the ball over. After one or two turnovers, you can 1) run the rest of the game and simply run out the clock, or 2) put Foles back in.
Your other point about wanting to build continuity through the rest of the game so we are coming off a high note going into the Packers game is an interesting thought though. It’s possible that could be part of the thinking that Chip wanted his players to continue to play at a high level so that they could take that with them into this week, and that with Barkley in there, that hurts that possibility. Still, I’m not sure I truly believe that momentum once you pull the foot off the gas pedal (which we did even in the last two possessions that Foles remained in on) goes from one game to the next. And even more so, I’m sure the focus regardless of what happened (barring a catastrophic loss), would have been on the first 3 quarters, rather than the last quarter when you are just playing against the clock.
He’s a second year player in a rebuilding year. I would have been happy if he played the whole game. He needs the reps.
There is truth to this, but at that point in the game, we were no longer really passing. We were in running-out-the-clock mode and in my opinion, there was little to gain in terms of additional reps for Foles in this game. No question though that we have a lot more reps to see from Foles before we know exactly what he is.
That being said, your point is a very fair counter-argument.
In the Dallas game MB tossed a pick every series. Turnovers are quick way of letting a team back into the game.
Yes, but again, it was a 5 possession game. And our defense still was on the field to slow Oakland down. Barkley could have thrown a pick and while disappointing, would very unlikely be the difference in a W vs. a L in that game.
Yeah, but in Dallas the Eagles were behind, the clock was running out, and MB had little choice but to force the ball downfield. The circumstances were totally different in Oakland (obviously) with the score the way it was.
Yeah, that’s a good point too. He doesn’t really need “running out the clock” reps.
could have put him back in for a couple kneel downs, and then done a Buddy move for TD #8
Off-topic, but will Incognito’s departure from the Dolphins stunt Danny Watkin’s development? He seemed like he could have used some of that tough love.
Geez..could you imagine those two together.
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I know Ritchie is scum, but would anyone else have a hint of excitement if we added him? Lol another Lurie redemption project? Ah hahaha let TODDfather know that if he don’t get it together, he will be incognito on the bench!! 🙂
Like the Vick reference, in the last sentence.
From all accounts, Incognito is an ass. Don’t shake your stick too hard at the NFL, though, because you’ll find racism, sexism, homophobia, and petty violence in every lockeroom. I predict Ritchie will want his career back bad enough that he’ll say all the right things and, maybe after a suspension or something, land with a team that can trust him to keep his big mouth shut in the future.
He isnt a very good guard.
Can’t really say I’d mind if he embezzled some of Danny’s stash cash from Philly, I’m going to give you an up vote. just for having the balls to post that
In the 3rd down conversion early where Pryor was in the endzone, it looked like Cole was facemasked, at the very least held. He was regularly disruptive in this game. Here’s to hoping that the light has gone on for him and we can expect better play for the rest of the year…
Cole has begun to come to life.
A few weeks ago, I was ready to ship him out of town, but if he can at least provide good overall play, he can be here in 14 and coach up a potential high pick rookie.
Does anyone have any idea how Dennis Kelley is looking? I had heard good things about him in training camp, then he had the back surgery, now nothing. I was liking this guy more and more. I hope he is still in the mix for first lineman off the bench.
That’s Barbre right now. But yeah, haven’t heard a peep about him since the back problems.
I think its 100% positive we are hearing nothing about the backups (outside of a Barbre a little). That means the OL is healthy and playing well.
It’s been mentioned quite a few times that the defense is giving up a lot of yards, but how much is that inflated by the offensive play-style we have? I’m not trying to argue that the defense is great, that’s obviously not the case, but the offense is pulling off quick drives resulting in the opposing teams getting plenty of chances to move the ball aren’t we bound to give up some yards then?
Similarly, last year I remember NE being one of the worst defenses in yards, they too ran an up-tempo offense. Is this a factor?
I would think so. When we are scoring 7 TDs in 20 minutes and 57 plays, there is a lot of time for the defense to be on the field. They did their job, though.
We are current last in TOP on offense, so it does have an affect there.
That is the problem when you have a high flying offense who sometimes score in 1-3 plays.
The stats are really screwy when you look at the Eagles defense.
For one example, PHI is ranked 15 in giving up rushing yards per game at 111.8 after giving up 210 last Sunday.
Kind of obvious if you watched the game but as Billy Davis said in an interview this week most of the rushing yards that Oakland chewed off were when we were in our pass defense set. When we were up by 20+ he was willing to give them their shots on the ground.
Some insight on why Logan (34 inch arms) at NT – “Long levers are strong levers, and you want to create ‑ offensive football is body on body, defense football is body off body,” said Chip Kelly. “You want to get off of blocks, and it’s very difficult if you’ve got alligator arms and you’re in here because you’re going to get locked up. You need to get extension. You need to destroy blocks, and one of the ways to do that is to have long arms. Whether you’re lined up on a tackle or whether you’re lined up on a center, the mechanics of doing that doesn’t change and the ability to have length at that position helps.” Thanks to Sheil Kapadia for this discussion!
http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/2013/11/06/22-bennie-logan-run-day/
A lot of people question Logan at NT, but those gorilla like arms really help him. Give him a full off season with this training regime and let him add 10-15 pounds and he could be a mammoth on the inside.
He will be a really nice player for us..love that he is experienced against Lacy
Tommy, Please don’t ban me as belonging to the grammar police, but I believe the correct term is squib kick. I’d hate to see cephalopod ink all over the field.
Brain fart on my part. Definitely squib kick.
Maybe Kendricks played faster this week because he was chasing Pryor. On Pryor, he had some Randall moments, but just is nowhere near as elastic.
On Randall, I read a prior post about Randall not being able to read NFL defenses by at least the time Jim 9 was here. If that is so, it makes the stat line that Ray Didinger bought to light, that from ’87 – ’90, only Air Marino had more completions than Randall, and that only Dan and Golden Montana had more TD passes. That is natural talent out of the wazoo.
Flawed? Maybe. The Ultimate Weapon? For sure:-) Maybe he didn’t have to read defenses, because if everyone took a leaf out of BBs coaching book of GTFB, RC was left playing back yard QB with what was left in front of him.
While he had some good targets to great targets. The fact that the OL and run game was MIA, just highlights what a freak he was.
I commented during the game about something I would like to see on one of those try-to-draw-the-other-team-offsides plays. After the intent is clear, and it fails, have the QB come out from under center and start walking towards the sideline and the WRs relax. Then, snap the ball directly to the running back and have him hit the line between the center and guard. I bet you could catch them sleeping.
Wouldn’t the QB moving be illegal motion or something?
As long as he is the only one moving and going parallel to the line I think it would be okay.
Interdasting.
Didn’t Adam Sandler run that play in the Longest Yard re-make?
No one will ever know.
I like this idea. Of course with our luck, the refs would mistakenly blow the whistle…
Rams did this back in their greatest show on turf days
Really? I guess there really aren’t any new ideas.
If Fipper doesn’t run this “longsnapper has rabies fake” I will be upset
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwtgVF3BMTg
Funny, I was actually thinking the QB could sell my idea by yelling at the coach and acting pissed. This was much more fun.
Tom, you deserved that win as much as anyone..I felt for you having to do the DGRs these past two weeks, this had to be much more fun..
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Defensively i thought we got some really nice efforts from:
1) Thornton who was especially dominant to start the game, he set a nice tone.
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2) stat sheet certainly did a diservice to Cox. The man made his presence felt and changed plays all game long
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3) Vinny was so much fun to watch. His two gap improvement was evident, and the terrorist in him was on display as usual.
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4)!Easily Coles best game. I’m hard on him, but I was happy for him getting that sack
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5) Connar continues to be dependably solid. Really like how he plays
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6) Thought it was Wolffs best game, definitely his most well rounded performance making in impact blitzing. Tackling, covering
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7) Nate made me stand up and cheer
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8) CBs had a good day, they bend but don’t break so they will always give up a few catches, but other than Boykin, they really didn’t break
Curry is going to be even more effective rushing the passer if the lineman have to be concerned with him 2-gapping some of the time.
#7 was nice to read.
Re: 560 yds given up
Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink. Let them have all the yards they want if there’s no points attached to them.
We basically held them to 13pts..I will gladly give up 500yards per week if they only come with 13pts.
I absolutely agree with this logic with one caveat. We have seen that teams can struggle in the red zone due to inadequate offenses rather than bend but don’t break defenses (see Eagles last several seasons). So is the fact that teams are gaining so many yards but not scoring a ton of points a reflection of our defense being good at limiting points or have we benefited from a few bad red zone offenses. Hopefully, the reason is we have played quality bend but don’t break defense rather than circumstances.
I apply the same theory to QB’s scoring. I don’t care if the QB doesn’t throw a TD. If he can move the ball and we can run it in, then it’s all the same. I look at the “offense” scoring and red zone TD’s. How many drives did you have and how many points did your offense score.
Points will win a game everytime
People downplay what Nick did because of the raiders bad top 10 defense :), question:
We had the worst group of quitters the NFL has seen last year. Our defense was pathetic, yet how come not a single QB came even close to doing to us what Nick did to the raiders?
GE:
Keep on keepin’ on.
Yeah, i don’t buy that shitty defense bullshit one bit. It’s not like every team the Raiders play set some sort of record. They may not be a dominant defense, they may have had a TERRIBLE night and the end result may not be a true testament of Nick Foles true abilities but that doesn’t change one bit that he had an absolutely amazing performance that very few players have matched.
How many games played in NFL history? How many times have great QB’s played against shitty D’s? And how many QB’s have thrown for 7td’s with over 4 minutes left in the 3rd qt. ? Scratching my head….anyone else think of any? Say what you want, we’re the only team in NFL history to have one , and he’s not quite finished his second season. Not bad for a back-up. Let’s keep trying to figure out a good excuse how this could happen to that lowly Raiders unprepared D. Didn’t mean to post that comment to you Pat, just started festering from some of the stuff above.
Consider all those great QBs and some of those shitty defenses, one would think it wouldnt be just the 2nd time in the SB era?
Also cant really use the rule changes can we consider how the rules was pre SB era?
Could you even compare it to a perfect game in baseball. That happens more often. But this is the second time this year. Guess I’m saying embrace it, and not look for reasons why.
5125
724
Um… wait, these are those rhetorical questions, aren’t they? Dammit.
Yeah, but that’s what people said after the Tampa game. And now I hear all of these moronic commentators – Ike Reese, Seth Joyner calling you out – who say that until Foles beats a top level QB, he has proven nothing. Ummm, not sure when the opposing QB dictated how your QB plays. Last I checked, when Manning plays Brady, neither of them have a damn thing to do with their respective defensive schemes or plays.
It’s almost like people just scramble to find reasons to discount this kid. I am not saying he is the future, but this kid can play and will be in this league a while. That he has already proven, but the rest is still unwritten. I have yet to hear a Foles supporter to say he is unequivocally our Franchise QB, but much of the world seems to be able to make judgements in spite of his solid/strong performances. His arm is too weak(debunked), he is too slow(way overstated), etc.
LET THE KID PLAY AND LET US BE EXCITED FOR THE FUTURE, because Vick and Barkley sure as hell don’t excite me.
this team is so inconsistent it’s hard for people to really fall in love especially after the cowboys game. Can we beat a team that’s putting up points? At the end of the day — who cares what people say — Foles should put up points and win games.
See, Pryor could also represent the frustration that we’ve seen with Vick, McNabb and Randall as well. Highlight reel plays, but didn’t make any plays that impacted the offnese. I get that it was a blow out and he was one dimensional but nohting screamed “how do you stop this guy,” as you would with a Manning, Brady, Rodgers, etc. I also get that those guys are once in 10 year talents as well, but I think Pryor is more hype than an actual good QB.
Re: So Just how good is Nick Foles?
My goal is too understand how a 2nd year 3rd round pick goes from up and down performances that ranked him somewhere between possible starter and solid back-up in most peoples’ minds, to making history. Going to be throwing out some idea’s and theories based on my non-expert opinions and observations.
The “perfect storm” theory :
The Raider’s game plan seemed pretty simple, stop Shady, stifle the short passing game. Don’t get cute with the pass rush, dare Nick Foles to throw deep into a veteran secondary, this strategy works especially well if your base front can generate pass pressure. Everything went wrong for them. Obviously Nick Foles was on fire, he misdirected the veteran secondary with his eyes and pump fakes, and cut them up with awesome accuracy. The Raiders did not game plan for this particular QB to show up in Oakland. They didn’t seem to believe what they were seeing. They seemed to double down on their game plan, surely that was flukish luck, it won’t work again! Ah now they have a lead, surely they won’t risk it by letting their back up qb go bombs away! Ok any moment now they will get conservative and start trying to burn clock (oh ho ho, and when they do, THEN they shall PUNT!!!)!
Suddenly Riley Cooper couldn’t be single covered, and the leaky pass protection of Philly’s O-line was impenetrable. The Raiders’ world was truly rocked. Suddenly they were down big with a green QB, and it snow balls from there.
So…how good is Nick Foles? He isn’t Peyton yet, nor does Nick’s 7 TD’s quite match his, why? Because the Ravens didn’t spend the off season preparing for Knowshon Moreno, they spent it watching everything Peyton Manning has ever done. On the other hand, Nick Foles ambushed the Raiders and handed them their asses. They prepped for Christian Ponder (guy who sucks in spite of teams selling out to stop one of the most gifted running backs of all time), and got something very very different.
I think Nick Foles is really really good, for this team, for this system, but he isn’t elite by my estimations (yet). I think you can game plan to stop him, but to do so effectively, you will be asking Shady to hand you your asses instead. I think Foles is a more than adequate starter for this reason. And I believe he has great upside for the future as well. Again, I can’t wait to see how all this unfolds.
I’m encouraged from what I’ve seen defensively over the past month or so. But I’m still cautious until I see them against a quality unit. I get the sense that this is a decent unit, but I haven’t figured out if they are any more than that. Being a decent unit is actually not a bad thing given the situation coming into the year.
29, 30, 31. Those are the scoring ranks of 4 of the 5 offenses the Eagles have faced. None of them averaged over 18 ppg when the Eagles faced them. The Dallas game was one of the group that was truly impressive even if they tend to feast on the weak and meager. Part of me is a little disappointed that Rodgers will miss this next game. I was really looking forward to evaluating the unit against one of the leagues best offenses. After that they get Wash, Arz, & Det. Two of those will be excellent tests.
anyone else trying to watch the thursday night game on NFL.com??
i swear, the only camera angle they have is the one that is behind the offense. its great for a quick moment to let you see what the QB sees, but for gods sake, switch to a different camera when the ball is snapped so i can tell what is happening…
wowwww vikings take two timeouts on defense on the skins final drive…..
yeah leslie frazer might have to go. but skins took an L.
I hope you’re not paying for that crap. I wouldn’t give nfl.com 3 cents. Directv is the way to go. Although, I’m not sure how directv re-ups the next go around as that’s a ton of money for them to fork over for the rights. If they don’t, they’ll lose a TON of business.
nah, i just went to nfl.com to check the score and the game just started streaming. i didn’t know they did that…
Cafone touch on this, yes its off topic, but I’m hoping Tommy wouldn’t mind giving his take and putting up for discussion. I’m sure many are tired of hearing the media focus on the Martin issue regarding the Dolphins (yes, Dolphins, not just Incognito). The more info that comes out from players, the media, and Martin’s lawyer, the more disgusted I find the situation.
There is no way this kind of poor behavior happens in this Eagle’s locker room. Am I naive? I don’t believe the coaches would tolerate it, and considering what transpired with Cooper’s drunken dumbness, there is no way this group of players would pick on a guy’s race, or say horrible things they’d want to do to a fellow team mate’s Mom or Sister.
I hope this motivates other NFL teams to physically crush ALL those dirtbags in Miami. Glad Tannehill isn’t our QB, that guy is not a quality leader.
Seems like Zach Ertz is one of the few players to come out in support of his former teammate. Compared to most teams, these Eagles are a class group run by a good organization (last year’s acceptance of the Dline coach being the exception… and yes that was poor with respect how Andy let Castillo get picked on and bullied)
So am I naive to think the Eagle’s players are a bunch of decent guys that wouldn’t behave like the Dolphins players?
I don’t think it’s naive to think that the leaders on this team are a bunch of decent guys. I think that element does exist within the Eagles locker room, but the team leaders know enough to squash it before it goes too far.
I mean we’ve seen it in preseason with Cooper’s stupid actions and Cary Williams being willing to fight anyone. LeSean has a shady (no pun intended) history, and we all know DeSean will get his fair share of taunting and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (granted that’s faaaaar from threatening someone’s mother). The difference though is that we have professionals like Demeco Ryans on defense and Jason Avant on offense. I’d also throw Kelce and Mathis in there as team leaders. And of course, there’s Vick despite his past.
What’s going on in Miami is a total failure of leadership on all levels of that organization.
There was a good discussion amongst Deion, Marriuchi, Faulk, and Irvin last night about what goes on in the locker rooms. I thought it was pretty telling that there was a seemingly unanimous agreement about the failure being with the Dolphins GM and Coach for letting the locker room get out of hand. I hated Irvin when he was playing against us, but I appreciated his candor in sharing his “locker room” experiences.
Deion made a good comment about the tough guy thing and how sometimes a guy perceived as soft had to pop some dude to earn some respect. So sure, are some guys going to get picked on? Yeah, but they pick on the man, and don’t target a dude’s ethnicity, or family, that’s crossing the line.
Can I see Eagle players doing drugs? Hanging out with thugs? Doing things that aren’t considered “wholesome”, or role model worthy (ref Charles Barkley). Yeah, sure. Goes with the territory, but I don’t see any of those dudes crossing the lines that are reported out from the Dolphins organization.
At the same time, it’s also hard to believe that so many of those guys would seemingly be against Martin. If that was the case, and they felt Martin didn’t fit with their team culture, they should’ve traded the dude.
I’m proud to be an Eagle fan. We’ve got a good group of dudes.
Man, I’ve always thought the Eagles have been a pretty class group, but I’m going with Barkley here: “I am not a role model.” All we know about these guys is what we see on the field, when a million people are watching them; and what they say in front of cameras for a million people’s consumption. These are guys who are separated by the rest of us by a pretty big social and genetic gap. I’m sure some of them really are excellent and grounded folks. Still, let’s hope for the best, but not assume anything.
People never thought “things” would happen at Penn State either. We as fans are so far removed, we have no clue what goes on behind those doors. Not naïve.
True enough, but the NFL (and the Eagles in particular), seem to project a pretty decent image. Granted football is a rough sport, with some tough characters, but even amongst these fighters there are still lines that shouldn’t be crossed. Outside of some poor leadership at Penn state, I thought it was covered up by a few people in high positions, and was kept secret amongst the players and staff. You make a solid point about us not really knowing what goes on.
ALLEN – Made some impressive plays. — Get your jackets as hell just froze over! I’ve been very tough on “too late Allen”. He’s no where near perfect but 1/2 of an ok game is better than what he’s been doing. Hopefully a building block and not an anomaly.
he’s quietly been having a pretty solid season, i would say. nothing spectacular, but he has really cut back on his mistakes.
I’m glad he’s getting treatment for his Post Wide-9 Stress Disorder
lol i think the team should make the same treatment available to all of us fans as well!
I don’t want to say GB is a measuring stick. We shouldn’t be measuring this year anyway. GB wr’s are more talented than what we just saw. A good challenge though. Starting QB and top 5 wr is out. GB’s “D” is a bit chipped up. Prime for an upset? How do the Eagles respond after a solid win? Can’t wait to find out.
We should win every game we play, especially this game. All their playmakers are hurt. This is about mental determination and execution. No reason we can’t put up points and get takeaways.