First Thoughts – PHI 24, ARZ 21
Posted: December 1st, 2013 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 162 Comments »Great game…until about the 9-minute mark of the 3rd quarter. The offense fell apart after building a 24-7 lead. The defense remained stingy, but did give up 14 points in the 2nd half. There wasn’t anything pretty about the win, but I’ve been a part of some ugly losses to the Cardinals so I’m going to enjoy this result.
The D has now kept 8 straight opponents to 21 points or less. They sacked Carson Palmer 5 times today and got lots of pressure on him. They had 3 takeaways.
Obviously the hot topic will be the offense shutting down in the 2nd half…again.
Here’s the most simplistic explanation I can give you. Late in games, defenses are daring the Eagles to throw. Kelly will spread them out, but defenses will keep 7 in the box. With only 5 blockers, that’s not a winning formula. Defenses are single-covering on the outside and daring the Eagles to throw the ball.
Kelly has 2 choices. He can go to a more conventional set and load up on TEs and use Casey as a FB and then pound the ball. Or he can throw it. Spreading them out and running against a 7-man box isn’t working.
It would help if the Eagles had more of a downhill runner that packed some pop. Shady looks for big plays and loves to move laterally. Late in games you want a N-S runner that will attack the LOS, whether there is a hole there or not.
Nick Foles looked sloppy at times today. He got bailed out in a major way when a flag wiped out an incredibly dumb throw that was picked off. Nick was sharp for a while, but had some off-target throws. Gotta check the tape and see if the Cards were playing good defense or if this was him proving to be human.
The Eagles advance to 7-5 and keep pace with Dallas. The win also helps the Eagles in the Wild Card standings since the Cardinals are one of the teams the Eagles are battling with.
Oh…and the Eagles have won 2 home games in a row. The Linc is basically the new Lambeau.
_
If SF loses we hold the 2nd wildcard spot
Too much negativity from all Eagles fans right now. Cards have a top 3 defense. Not sure why the narrative is “Chip needs to learn how to close out a game” after we have our 7th win of the season in a year most experts pegged us for 4 or 5.
Did you watch us play the Chargers?
Yep I sure did. Chip didn’t manage that final drive great. It was also his 2nd game as NFL coach. Our defense also was a sieve in that game.
Were they a top 3 defense during the first 30 minutes?
I’d love to have a game where we do well in both the first half AND the second half. (I like “and” better.)
Must be these mystical things called “halftime adjustments” that we heard so much about during Reid’s reign.
Foles was missing throws, and our OL wasn’t blocking as well. Maybe we adjusted the wrong way…
Yeah…they tightened up after we went up 24-7. I don’t think it’s anything larger than that.
They didn’t look bad in the first half overall. TEs are their achilles heel and Kelly used them masterfully. They did adjust though after the TD starting the second half and we didn’t have an answer. Luckily for all of us Palmer went back to turning the ball over. 1st score was off of his turnover.
Great game. It’s good to win ugly. Gotta get the guys used to the feeling. Bad teams lose this type of game.
The Giants used to win these all the time.
What I like about tight wins like this is that the team never gets too comfortable with their progress.
Good take.
I’m glad Foles struggled late in the game. He seems to play better after he struggles. I think he learns what he’s doing wrong and corrects it.
Don’t underestimate the AZ defense. Not many teams have two athletes like Peterson and Matthew.
Nick will learn. The important thing is that we struggled after building a 24-7 lead.
While I don’t share your joy in his struggles, I do like this angle.
You know Chip, Lazor and Nick aren’t blind to the second half. They’ll figure out what was up with Nick and the rest of the offense and work on it.
Totally agreed. The Patriots just went into Houston and had to come from behind to beat the Texans, ultimately doing so by a slimmer margin than the Jaguars did.
how would this game have been different if we had a stellar talent like Joe Webb under center?
Actually, not much different. First score, Joe Webb could have accomplished just as easily. Second TD was made by a marginal defensive pass interference, so it’s not hard to think it could have happened the same way for Joe as well.
It basically depends on luck and different scheme styles. Joe Webb tends to start out slowly as a passer, but he’s top echelon in terms of QB rushes–McCoy would have had a *much* easier time, because QB keepers here would actually be dangerous for the defense. Joe Webb is also a truly better deep ball thrower in the sense that he doesn’t need for the WR to make plays on the ball all the time, and he doesn’t need to underthrow the ball to give his WR a shot at all in terms of accuracy. Webb will make deep center intermediate throws–30 instead of 15, 16, etc, and Webb is much more accurate on deep intermediate throws closer to the sidelines.
Broadly speaking, Chip Kelly doesn’t actually ask Foles to make very hard throws on a regular basis. Assuming that you could rely on Webb to maintain consistent mechanics, and make relatively simple downfield reads, then there’s nothing Foles did out there that Webb couldn’t do–only that Foles would be more consistent. However, there are a lot of things Webb can do that Foles cannot, and will never be able to do. There are reasons why I am not high on Foles as an NFL starter. Part of that is, well, yeah, any reasonably capable backup QB can do what he’s doing. Judging by “show-your-work” rather than the results, three TD passes, it’s not exactly hard to see that his play is not sustainable (if you’re willing to see it).
In general, I simply can’t believe that LeSean McCoy or Desean Jackson are especially happy campers. They’re troopers, and will say the right things and play hard. They definitely like the winning part, but this current setup has them playing in ways other than how they are best utilized, and they are taking more hard hits than they otherwise would with a more dangerous passer.
I really think you are trolling now.
I mean Joe fucking Webb could do the same as Foles?
Joe fucking Webb can actually carry an offense on his back, unlike Foles to date.
outside of Joe Webb cant even get on the field for the terrible Vikings and is getting moved to WR.
Uh, huh. Nobody thinks that the Vikings management is sane. Christian Ponder finally may be down for the count after his concussion today, but the folks upstairs are *really* determined to keep that fool starting. Webb being moved to WR was all about not challenging Ponder. Even Matt Cassel wasn’t allowed to challenge Ponder, hopefully now he’ll keep the starting job because Management finally gave up.
Webb sure carried the Packers offense on his back in that playoff game last year, amirite?
…but, has he?
agreed, i think the webb comments are unfair. although i think webb would be a good fit on the eagles as that reliable backup that kelly is always talking about.
Webb cant pass.
There is a few guys in the draft and I actually think Barkley can be a good backup QB
You can say that. Say it as often as you want, but it’d not be true.
Says the guy who thinks Foles is bad
I said that Foles isn’t playing at a starting NFL QB caliber, not that he’s bad. If he wasn’t any good, we wouldn’t be winning games. You can win games with Shaun Hill. Doesn’t mean any coach seriously wants to start him of his own accord.
“Nick Foles has a QB rating of 144.2 in past four games. Only five players have had better four-game stretch since 1960. Ever. ”
not starting caliber NFL QBs can do that right?
or what about
Reuben Frank @RoobCSN15m
Foles has had 6 games w. 100+ passer rating. Only Jaws [8 in 1980 & Donovan [8 in 2004] have had more in Eagles history. 1980 and 2004… hmmm
My evaluation is based on tape, not numbers.
So the 2nd TD to Ertz was he just lucky?
He’s already doubled down on his anti-Foles stance, so clearly he can’t back out now. As soon as Foles has another bad loss, he’ll be right there to say he told us so.
I can’t believe the nonsense I am reading in this thread.
Dude WTF. Did Foles run over your cat or some shit? Your incessant trashing of him is borderline pathological lol. I mean, you ARE an eagles fan are you not?
Nope. If you really want to see me at all comfortable with Foles, then you need to see more, um, BAMF plays out of him–he’s carrying his load of the water, rather than being helped up by what is really a great offense.
Someone like Vick I’m guessing? So glad everyone sees you for the fraud that you are.
shah8 have a hard on for black mobile QBs who cant pass, but has a rifle for an arm
He is like the anti Joe_D
Hmmm? So you want to go with the racism angle? About NFL quarterbacks? Like that?
heh.
Beyond everything else, I like Vick because he’s a competent starting NFL QB. If Foles had a stronger arm, with more accuracy, then I’d at least be contently sad that Vick is gone. Foles, so far, isn’t that, and I know well enough the good numbers won’t stay so good.
You just proved my point that you have a hard on for guys with a rifle at arm.
Do you not think Peyton Manning is starting caliber?
Foles is completing a high % of passes for more TDs and less turnovers, yet Vick is the far surperior QB? If so, how come Vick didnt post crazy passing numbers in the exact same offense?
I’ts hopeless man, I’ts like trying to reason with my nepew when he ‘s havin a tantrum.
Of course Peyton Manning is a starting caliber QB, all told. However, Peyton Manning’s weak arm is a serious liability, should a defense ever manage to take advantage of that fact.
The offense under Vick early this year feels quite a bit more robust. Not nearly so many drive stalls. I think the TDs would have come regardless of Vick or Foles.
except we couldnt move the ball for shit against the Giants with Vick (outside of a few Vick scrambles) and had big problems against a top defense in KC, yet Foles just shredded a good Cards D.
Huh? We were up two scores and he was 6-8 for 104 yards on the drive before the half Not to mention 79 yards on the ground…that’s not a “few Vick scrambles.”
Second Giants game he was injured. So yeah. Foles DID NOT shred the Cards D. The first score was on a turnover on a really short field. And one drive aided by a piss poor PI call. Oh and an interception called back on a ticky tacky holding call.
Now the first drive adter the half was a thing of beauty. But let’s be realistic here. It was a very good first half and really crappy second.
The score was 16-7 when Vick went out. He was 6 of 14 passing. More than half of his 105 yards came on the pass that went right through the CB’s hands–I’ll take that luck any day, but let’s not pretend he was the model of efficiency.
In the second half of that game, NY scored two touchdowns and took the lead. Since Vick had so much trouble scoring TD’s in the first half (and in games in particular), it’s hardly a given that he’d be able to keep up.
Here are Vick’s red zone stats for the year:
5 of 19 (26%) for 38 yards, 1 TD
That’s an average of 2 yards per attempt. Foles wasn’t even that bad in Dallas.
So wait…you’re blaming Vick for when he wasn’t in the game? Classic. Foles lost a two score lead that game. Not Vick. He didn’t put any points up in the 3rd, but somehow that was Vick’s fault.
As far as RZ issues…do you remember the start of the year much? When players had major dropsies and the OL wasn’t playing so well. Vick also played the toughest part of the schedule at a time everyone was learning a getting accustomed to a new scheme and rook on the oline was learning to play at the professional level.
Foles has played well, but the real secret is the defense stopped giving up 31 points a game. If they were still doing that we wouldn’t have won the Redskins or Cardinals game or the Green Bay game either.
“More than half of his 105 yards came on the pass that went right through the CB’s hands”
Um…the CB tried as hard as he could to get the ball and couldn’t – that’s not luck, that’s threading the needle.
And since you’re a fan of luck…have you watched our last few games? We’ve been damn lucky – so stop. Be happy the team is winning and let your ridiculous hate go.
Vick was terrible in the red zone this year. He did pick up 1st downs with his legs, though, keeping drives alive. But that has nothing to do with his arm; he only completed 46% over his last 3 games.
uh huh.
should a defense ever manage to take advantage of that fact.
yes, his first 5400 completions (65.4%), 63,612 yards, and 477 TDs are too small a sample size. I’m sure any day now, that weak arm is going to come back to haunt him. just as soon as a defense figures him out.
I like Vick because he’s a competent starting NFL QB
fixed it for you
yup. Not the fraud part, of course.
I try , but I can’t even take him seriously. Even a little.
McCoy is not happy about it. He’s getting hit a lot more and not getting the big runs he likes.
I think DeSean prob prefers Vick as does Avant. Celek had a big day today, but he was a bit of a safety valve for Vick and def got his touches more than he does with Foles.
Cooper is happy – but Coop’s production has come at the expense of others. All QBs have their favorites. Unfortunately for some our stable guys their not Foles favorites.
Jackson have had plenty big games with Foles.
Yes. But he also gets hit a lot more. He remains pretty untouched with Vick in.
My problem is that he’s getting hit by bigger guys. Some of that is, oh, hey, Patrick Peterson, but you really want him just being tripped up by softy DBs.
I bet they all like winning.
i”m sure they do. Should thank the D for that. Take them all out to dinner.
The D didn’t score 3 touchdowns yesterday. or 20 in the past 6 games.
“Judging by “show-your-work” rather than the results, three TD passes, it’s not exactly hard to see that his play is not sustainable (if you’re willing to see it).”
Yeah…I have the sneaking suspicion we’re going to be in for a Matt Ryan type year two with Foles under center. The 2nd half of games really offer a blueprint on how to stop these guys, we just got lucky with the really easy schedule this year through he middle. And some much needed luck.
If you mean the blue print is that using mind tricks to get Kelly to only call run plays with no pass plays, yes then you got the blue print.
There was piss poor execution in the second half. It wasn’t all or mostly on playcalling.
Folk got to stop with that excuse. And the run plays were being called ’cause Foles was getting killed when he tried to pass.
It was also poor execution, but there was a few 3 and outs where we call 3 straight run plays.
Or is it just magic there got us the first 24 points?
No. And it wasn’t magic that prevented us from scoring in the rest of the second half either.
but if it was so easy to stop us, why didnt the Cards do it before we had scored 24 points?
You do realize that the Cards have a TE problem right? That if the TEs had a good day this would likely be a win. And guess what happened.
We were also aided by some BS calls by the refs. But if you think it’s okay to score 24 and then nothing else in the second half (similar to the Redskins game) okay.
Like I said it was a good first half. A not so good second. Palmer not turning over the ball like he was and this game could very well have turned out very differently.
I thought they play bad in the 2nd half, but saying that defenses now has the blue print to stop the Eagles offense is just wrong imo.
The Eagles got a late game problem right now, but overall the offense is hard to stop for any defense (any defense has a thing they struggle with and the Eagles seems to be able to exploit any weakness)
It’ll be interesting to see the All-22’s for the 2nd half. Looking at the play-by-play, the playcalling was definitely close to 50/50 run/pass (unlike Washington). Was this another Dallas game, where receivers were open but Foles was missing them? Or was coverage just so tight he couldn’t get the ball out before the rush got there? And along those lines, were there short passes available, or were they all downfield routes?
But seriously, ABBaaS isn’t the best at post-game analysis. I’ll wait for the professionals before drawing conclusions.
Someone has to throw to those TEs.
Nick Foles is a 2nd year QB. What he’s doing right now is phenomenal given that amount of experience. He really shouldn’t be this good. And he still has room to improve.
what’s your blueprint? top 5 DL?
here are the 2nd half drives:
-TD
-3&out; sack, then 2 mccoy runs
-4 plays; completed deep pass to Ertz, then 3 Mccoy runs
-big McCoy run taken back; after another completion, incomplete/sack/sack. of couse, all Nick’s fault.
-4 runs (including 2 for bryce, last one for -4yds) before incomplete on 3rd/9
-run, run, the pick/holding play, run, run, run. that last one, Foles chased out for 1yd on 3rd/3
-the last drive: run, run, then the penalties.
so. care to share your blueprint?
Redskins don’t have a top 5 DL and did a pretty good job of shutting things down in the 2nd half.
Green Bays D is putrid this year and did a good job of keeping Folesy in check int the first half.
Truthfully all you have to do is a get a lil pressure on him and the rest will take care of itself. Like I said, defense will adjust (and have) and luck will run out and things will get interesting.
Or hell just play a high powered offense that’s not gonna give up 3 INT and games get interesting.
ah, so excellent defense that gets pressure, or explosive offense. great blueprint. in fact, that would probably beat most teams or great QBs in the league. I guess another 100+ passer rating is a fluke too. guess the game Cam Newton or Luck played against ARI doesn’t count for them either.
please stick to your terrible blogging website, since football analysis is clearly not for you
You’re assuming Joe Webb can learn all of the things besides running fast and throwing hard that a QB needs to do.
The circlejerk with bashing mobile QBs is ridiculous. Ho would this game have been different if Tim Couch had started instead?
Donald, do you suffer from a humor allergy? I wasn’t bashing mobile QBs at all. I was hoping that shah8 would bless us with a love letter to Joe Webb and god bless him, he didn’t disappoint. For bonus laughs, A Big Butt and a Smile showed up to give us insights into a few players mindsets. Tim Couch isn’t germane to the discussion. He may still be White but he doesn’t play for the Eagles.
We got to stop these 1.5 qtr melt downs
If Carlos Hyde drops to the second, the Eagles might have to consider him for that N-S role that Bryce Brown clearly can’t fill.
Yeah I’m beginning to wonder if this kid will ever develop the instincts you need to be a RB.
Brown had a monster run late where he dragged several Cards defenders for 2 extra yards.
Yeah, but he lost five bouncing that one run outside. He sure is talented, but he keeps making terrible decisions. Hopefully he learns.
Only play I saw where he lost 5 was the play where he was meet in the back field right as the ball was handed off
He lost 8. He didn’t even lineup 8 yards deep before the snap. I can’t remember seeing a running back lose 8 like that.
That wasn’t a bounce, that was where the play was supposed to go. He had no chance.
The play wasn’t designed to go backwards. I agree he had no chance. He should have seen that and fallen forward for a loss of 3-4.
I wouldnt draft a guy who will get less than 5 touches per game in the 2nd round
They could give him more touches, especially in these situations that keep popping up, wherein they need to salt the game away after taking big leads.
It is just hard to take the ball away from McCoy no matter the situation. We saw how good he was late against the Packers and Bucs
Agreed. You take McCoy off the field you’re also taking off a dangerous receiver and a good blocker. Plus he’s actually very good at getting tough yards, doesn’t get enough credit. Nothing you can do when there’s a defender meeting you 8 yards in the backfield though.
Drops to the second? I’m as big of a Buckeye homer as they come and even I’m not as optimistic as to think he’ll be a first rounder.
My guess is that he’ll probably go in the third (late second at the earliest) but he might even go later than that.
Well, we all know the Eagles will have the last pick in the second, so that qualifies.
in general i don’t think its good practice to draft any RB before the third round. the track record over the past 10yrs isn’t very good for RB 1st rounders. Our last two franchise RBs came in the 2nd and 3rd rounds (Shady and B West, respectively).
Antwan Goodley, WR, Baylor
Bears just lost after leading by 10 in the 4th qtr. Be thankful for ugly wins.
Every game is winnable. We just faced 2 great big WRs so we know what is comming the next 4 games.
“It would help if the Eagles had more of a downhill runner that packed some pop.”
Carlos Hyde in the fourth round – problem solved.
I’d like to see some Polk. Polk ’em in the eye, I always say.
It will baffle me if I see negative reviews of Foles. He didn’t play great in the 2nd, but I can still see some idiot now:
“Cards RB Andre Ellington did not play, so the Cardinals could not be more explosive on offense, so therefore by my flawless logic, Foles was not playing a good defense.”
– some idiot on NFL Network (I’m thinking Warren Sapp)
Just to clarify, Warren Sapp is an idiot even when he’s not on NFL Network.
The Foles meme this week will focus on how many passes Foles should have had intercepted.
I’ve already had to go on defense with people for that b.s. Standard reply? NOBODY gets near a record like this one without a little luck. I know Peyton had some lucky breaks during his run.
That would be the old Lambeau, the Packers are currently sucking, even at home.
I’d like to see some Polk to, N-S with the ability to break a tackle. I wouldn’t of minded some 36 there too today.
I agree with a lot of this, but I don’t think McCoy deserves any of the blame. They may have lost some yards on some runs but that wasn’t because of RBs dancing, but rather AZ defenders running by blockers and blowing up the plays. Especially on designed runs to the outside… we’ve seen that a lot this year.
Some points:
Avant can’t get open anymore, the two veterans sure to be gone next year are Avant and Chung. Both are now liabilities, but with Wolff hurt and no 4th WR, we’re stuck with them for now.
Foles forced too many throws, DeSean step with step with Pederson is not open, etc. Refs also allowed mugging by CBs for both teams, that made it tough.
Chip’s playcalling left something to be desired, with two weeks to prepare, you wonder if he spent more time watching Dallas film than Arizona?
This is not a power blocking OL, they pass block better than run block, and work better on the move than in line, when teams focus on the run at the end of games, you’re allowed to use play action to burn them Chip.
It goes to a deeper issue, Chip can’t play not to lose, it’s not his philosophy, and it’s not an attitude you want to instill into a young team. He’s pulled into an offense shell twice, and almost lost both games. Time to understand that this offense is pedal to the metal, the same way this defense works best when they gamble and blitz rather than play it straight up.
Twice? Both WAS, OAK, and now AZ. on the plus side, we are getting out in front often enough to have this problem become a trend? There are certainly worse problems to have.
We didn’t almost lose the OAK game, did we? That was the Foles Hall of Fame Game.
No, but the offense went dormant in the third quarter, even before Foles got pulled for his victory lap.
What is the Eagles average YPC on Outside Zone Read this season? It seems like those plays get blown up a lot… and they don’t break that many big ones.
Somehow i feel alone in TOTALLY enjoying this win ? Sloppy? Sure. Stuff we can improve?Absolutely. Gunna detract from being completely stoked about where this team is headed? NO FRIGGIN WAY. There is nothing going on with this team that chip isn’t smart enough to fix & that player acquisitions won’t vastly improve. This is a brand new Coach with brand new systems & a good amount of round pegs , square holes. I’m thrilled to the 10th power! ENJOY THE RIDE 🙂
It’s hard to enjoy the game when you’re having a heart attack every other play. Two of those in a row; hopefully against Detroit we get it done early.
LOL I’ll give you that one bro. I did say during the game that I was going to need Nitroglycerin if we keep having 2nd halves like this.
But that’s what makes it all so sweet in the end.
Oh and Chung is HORRIBLE!!!!!!
I AM SO LOOKING FORWARD to Wolff gettin back out there. Chung is a serious liability man.
Horrible. Reminds me of Page. Always a step or two late and then blowing his own guys up.
Chung is the perfect 3rd safety who should only play ST and spot starts.
a perfect 3rd safety would be able to make a sound open field tackle, even if he’s late in coverage. Not tackle the only other guy with a chance to make the play.
No, that is a perfect starting safety in todays NFL.
There is not 64 starting safeties in the NFL who can tackle. We got 2 in Allen (scary) and Wolff.
Even a backup safety can’t be playing out of control and giving up big plays on a regular basis.
I had a different take Tommy, I thought the Cardinals adjusted to what we were doing with the tight ends and we struggled to find something that worked after that.
I thought Nick really started pressing after those first few punts of the second half. It seemed like the coverage was blanketing the receivers by the time the 4th quarter rolled around too.
Godawful int that we got bailed out on, hopefully a learning point for Mr. Foles.
There was a sequence there where Desean had his PR TD called back, then we get the block in the back on Shady’s big run, then Cooper is obviously interfered with that we didn’t get the call on. I felt like that was the real turning point in the game. Oh and I’d like to say, seeing Avant complaining about the block in the back call… I hate it when players complain about obvious penalties. Cmon man.
“I had a different take Tommy, I thought the Cardinals adjusted to what
we were doing with the tight ends and we struggled to find something
that worked after that.”
That was my take too. Cardinals just adjusted and we didn’t have an answer. Cards D was as advertised and we did a masterful job of exploiting their one weakness: TEs – but once they adjusted we just couldn’t do anything about it.
I don’t say this often, but the refs helped us out big-time today.
Tommy, first drive of the third quarter deserves close inspection. That was really the best I’ve ever seen Foles been as a passer in disadvantageous circumstances, repeatedly. Of course, in addition to understanding what was going on with Arizona’s defensive backfield the rest of the second half.
The three takeaways part was pretty huge on the d’s part. Special teams, aside from Donnie Jones could have been better, though, shades of the SD game with that kickoff fumble.
Bryce Brown IS the downhill runner, but he’s playing within a role meant to fit McCoy. As far as McCoy is concerned, the issue is that defenses are completely keying in on him, and I don’t think a FB or TE would really help. Good dive RB needs getting away from the cops speed, like Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, etc, to punish overcommitment to the run. You’d almost certainly have to put BB in this situation full time, if you’re going with heavier alignments. So I’m thinking Chip Kelly is going with the spread because it allows more of chance to use McCoy’s elusiveness and explosiveness. Did work a couple of plays, but didn’t work enough.
Here are my thoughts on today’s game.
I hate the Arizona Cardinals. Bryce Brown needs to be demoted, I love the guy but he hasn’t learned how to run straight. Chip Kelly is human, that play calling made me want to punch my TV screen. As a big supporter of Foles I can’t deny that he takes way too many damn sacks/unnecessary hits.
Oh and y’all better start respecting Brandon Graham.
Didn’t see BB do anything wrong this game. Not his fault when it’s a designed run to the outside and there’s a defender in his face as soon as he gets the handoff.
How do you copy tweets like that?
grab the embed code off twitter and delete the last line (script async)
thanks
Still cant get it right.
What about a Vick running package when in obvious run situations (ie today’s 4th quarter)?
I asked for that. Seems it would be a good idea.
Maybe in the last game of the season, or the playoffs, rather than as a regular thing.
I like the idea, but he does have a fumble history. He also has an injury history, come to think of it…
<blockquote4th in DVOA 1H, 6th in DVOA 2H. @mlandrum22 what's that split for Philly?— Aaron Schatz (@FO_ASchatz) 1. december 2013
Foles was up and down, but that 3rd quarter TD drive was legit. Some thread-the-needle throws and the TD pass to Ertz was a thing of beauty.
I think Foles played well enough to win against a good defense. He had some poor throwsand uncharacteristic bad decisions. Sometimes he tries to make something happen that isn’t there. The playcalling HAS to change when we’re up that big
Just saw a reply of a River TD throw against the Bengals.
He used the packaged play Chip “college offense” Kelly brought to the NFL and hit the TE for a pop pass after reading the LB.
if you want to go the more traditional look with a N-S runner why not give to Bryce Brown late in the 4th. I assume the reason we don’t see him more is that the coaches are still not confident in his ball security?
Brown hasnt fumbled once this season. I just think the coaches uses McCoy because he is our best offensive player after Foles
i’d put djax ahead of foles in the hierarchy of offensive talent (but i guess i’m just pickin’ nits at this point) and i realize BB hasn’t fumbled this season (although beware of small sample sizes). I was just responding to tommy lawless’ comment in this post of how to fix our “shit the bed” offense we’ve been running late in games. If he has fixed his fumbling issues from last year and you set up a more traditional power offense tailored to a N-S style runner, why not get BB big time carries?
To your point Shady is our best offensive player. I wonder if there’s a way to keep him on the field in those situations while allowing BB a bulk of the power runs needed in that scenario. Maybe flank him out in the slot to draw attention to him, Idk.
Either way the Eagles have a problem that needs solved. You’ve got to efficiently melt the clock with the run or if the other team is consistently throwing 7/8 in the box you’ve got to put the ball in Foles’ hands.
I think Kelly will learn. I mean nobody is perfect and playing 3 great quarters usually gets you the win.
Chip is now 1-0 after the bye.
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24310842/texans-antonio-smith-very-suspicious-patriots-o-able-to-adjust
Lol. OMG THE PATS CHANGED SOMETHING AFTER IT DIDNT WORK IN THE 1ST HALF: THEY MUST BE CHEATING
Just wanna say. On Allen’s int. That was almost perfect safety play.
1. Really nice to see the Eagles with a real, NFL-level, offense in the red-zone for the first time in many years. No more of the “stare down my first read for 5 seconds, then quickly look elsewhere before trying to run it in” backyard style offense in the red zone. It’s refreshing.
2. This game is a pretty good example of how much easier it is for a Kap or Wilson with their supremely talented defenses taking the heat off of them. When those two lead their team to 24 points, with no picks, it’s pretty much game over. Foles has to be dominant for 4 quarters or the idiots come out of the woodwork and the Eagles might lose the game.
3. That said, Foles definitely came back to earth in this game. Several really bad decisions, and missed some plays with inaccurate throws. Still, did enough to put 24 points on the board and win a game against a very good defense and a team on a roll. Gotta remember that he’s still a work in progress and can improve many aspects of his game with work.
I love this…..”Trent Cole’s rejuvenation these last few weeks has been remarkable and encouraging. To see Cole — now in his ninth NFL season, 31 years old, playing a new position — producing the way he has the past month is huge. From the start of last year through Week 8 this year, Cole had three sacks in 24 games. In the last four games, he has five sacks and has been getting consistently ferocious pressure on the quarterback. Cole is an all-time Eagles great — Hall of Famer Reggie White is now the only Eagle in history with more sacks than Cole — and it was tough to see him struggling. It’s a real statement to his professionalism and work ethic that he’s been able to reinvent himself at this stage of his career and become an effective outside linebacker.” Reuben Frank
Cole is 100% coming back.
I still want a young stud guy to learn behind him.
ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
He now leads the team in sacks. And forced fumbles.
Luck, Wilson, and Griffin have all had more than 1 shaky game this year. Foles was a bit “shaky” today and still put up great numbers and made his share of great plays to put the team in position to win. 2nd year QB, people.
I’m happy with the win, but I don’t think it’s out of line to complain about the way Chip manages a game when the team has a big lead, because it’s almost cost us several times this season and luck and the crappiness of opposing QBs (thank you, RGIII and Carson Palmer) are the only reasons it hasn’t.
I get that in today’s NFL the old I-form, two TE set is an outdated formation, time of possession is an overrated stat, and it’s all about matchups – but sometimes, being able to grind out three yards and keep the chains and the clock moving even when the defense knows that’s what you’re going to try to do is a valuable weapon to have in your arsenal. Handing the ball to Shady out of the shotgun with no lead blocker on that last possession, when everybody in the stadium knew we were going to run the ball, was ridiculous. You can’t rely on subterfuge in a situation like that. You need to be able to line up and generate enough forward push to move the pile. Hopefully this deficiency doesn’t cost us in a big game, the way it often cost Reid’s teams over the years.
Just saw Josh Gordon’s year so far. OMG I wish we had traded for him.
That third strike makes me nervous. Look at Justin Blackmon over in Jacksonville.
Hopefully all this Foles doubting will keep him hungry & continually striving to improve. Also if he’d came into the league with 1/3 of the hype of a 1st rounder, they’d already be naming high schools after him.
Perspective is impossible on Foles apparently. if he doesn’t play like a hall of famer as a 2nd year player, he’s not good enough and they should draft a QB next year. Or they should make Vick the starter again, take your pick.
Foles was fine today – he was playing against the #1 ranked defense in terms of DVOA, and the only reason he didn’t put up 30+ points on them was dumb penalties that cost the team scoring opportunities.
That negated interception was an absolutely abysmal decision, though. That’s a throw you don’t see the elite decision makers at the QB position make. He’s not there yet.
It was bad absolutely no argument. I guess I just keep in perspective that the kid only has 12 starts under his belt & is doing amazing stuff based on that context. Same goes for Chipper. He’s got things to improve on but based on him being new to the NFL, I think what he’s doing is amazing. loved seeing him take down another coach who seemingly had an attitude about the new guys “college offense”.
Honestly, the biggest reason I want the Eagles to stop sucking for the final 1.5 quarters of games is so the TV guys would stop with the T.O.P. whining. How many times did we snap the ball with less than 10 seconds on the play clock but Siragusa and Daryl Johnston were STILL talking about how they needed to slow down and eat up clock. Note to NFL on FOX team: You can run down the play clock WITHOUT huddling up. Holy moly.
Eagles played great, good team, well coached.
The refs are inconsistent there were calls both ways.
Hey Shah, honest question. If arm strength is so important to a QB’s prospects for success, why are two of the best examples of inadequacy currently leading the league in passer rating? What’s happened that makes it appear you’ve been wrong up to this point?
I’ve been campaigning for WEEKS to let Chris Polk get some 4th quarter carries.
Do it Chip.