2013 Awards

152 Comments on “2013 Awards”

1. 
   1 Mike Roman said at 3:46 PM on January 13th, 2014:

   A DB Cooper reference? Love it! Memories of my favorite sitcom of all-time, Newsradio…

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-sHo4F2ezI

2. 
   2 TheRogerPodacter said at 12:10 AM on January 14th, 2014:

   hmmm. i was trying to find that db cooper reference from Die Hard. Turns out it was Gary Cooper that he mentioned. crap.

3. 
   3 Maggie said at 12:31 AM on January 14th, 2014:

   Didn’t DB Cooper bail out over the Cascades in or near Oregon?

4. 
   4 Mike Roman said at 8:28 AM on January 14th, 2014:

   According to Newsradio, Jimmy James was DB Cooper. Yes, I get all of my news from TV Sitcoms.

5. 
   5 Charlie Kelly said at 3:52 PM on January 13th, 2014:

   yeah trent cole was a surprise, thought he was done, good for him. still need more pass rush tho…. how do we get it? can the bengals michel johnson play OLB? kinda like a dion jordan type.

6. 
   6 D3FB said at 6:13 PM on January 13th, 2014:

   Everytime you post I read it in Charlie Kelly hoped up on something voice. You could post a subsection of the tax code and I would read it that way. Irrelevant but I felt like sharing.

7. 
   7 Charlie Kelly said at 6:21 PM on January 13th, 2014:

   yeah… u kno whats the best?…. pledge. yeah, just get a rag spray huff and poof… wonderful happyness land smiles and butterflies… whats a tax code? is it like for a video game? a tax video game? like mad taxi game? lol.. whats the code? ill use my space computer

8. 
   8 Cliff said at 4:02 PM on January 13th, 2014:

   And Blogger of the Year Award goes to…

   Thomas F. Lawlor

   Please keep your acceptance speech short. Thank you.

9. 
   9 theycallmerob said at 4:12 PM on January 13th, 2014:

   first glimpse at Tommy’s speech! (got it from those russian guys who hacked his site awhile back):

   HELLO. I’M HERE TO TALK ABOUT THE PUDDING.
   WHAT YA GOTTA DO, YA SEE, IS DIP THE SPOON, INTO THE PUDDING, WITH THE VANILLA AND THE CHOCOLATE SWIRL….

10. 
    10 Dubya said at 4:05 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    My vote for DPOY is Barwin, dude was just worth every penny even if he wasn’t a dominant game changing LB he was def our best FA signing

11. 
    11 Joseph Dubyk said at 4:09 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    I don’t get how ayone couldn’t vote Foles as the MVP. This team without good QB play simply isnt good, even when Shady runs wild. In this day in age you need good qb play to contend

12. 
    12 D-von said at 4:10 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    The Freddy Mitchell “I’d like to thank my hands” award: Riley cooper for that back-breaking drop against the Saints.

    The Nnamdi Asomugha award: Patrick Chung for his horrendous coverage and tackling

13. 
    13 shah8 said at 4:12 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    If there wasn’t Shady, then they’d be no Foles. Shady is who sets the terms of the defense, and Shady is who DC scheme against. It’s hard to think that Foles is an MVP.

14. 
    14 TommyLawlor said at 4:14 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    I admire your consistency.

15. 
    15 shah8 said at 4:20 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    It’s not really a matter of consistency. I’m not telling you who to give your awards to, I’m just nitpicking the concept. Also, the three-and-out thing. Foles had a LOT of them!

    http://www.sportingcharts.com/nfl/stats/three-and-out-percentage/2013/

    And by my vague memories of what the offense with Vick, there was not that many three and outs, outside of maybe the second half of the Deadskins game. So when the Eagles rank fourth-most in the percentage of three and out drives, it kind of indicts the effectiveness of Foles offense in that respect, and I don’t think I have to go to espn and show you all the drive summaries of three and outs in the period from the second half of the second Deadskins game up to after the Minn game. When the offense was either big plays or nothing, and we couldn’t do many sustained drives.

16. 
    16 shah8 said at 4:22 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Nah, wait, read the chart wrong…

17. 
    17 D-von said at 4:24 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    LOL having fun fishing?

18. 
    18 shah8 said at 4:25 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    You’re not exactly bright enough to contribute to any conversation, eh?

    Go on, play with Nelson Muntz…

19. 
    19 D-von said at 4:27 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    I wasn’t the one putting up stats that refuted my assumptions

20. 
    20 shah8 said at 4:29 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Yup, and I didn’t play games or otherwise be dishonest. I do think we had many more three and outs than was healthy, but that’s not what the raw number say. It’s just all the times when I was frustrated dominated more than all the times the offense worked as normal.

    Misconceptions like those happen.

    And again, go ahead with your pal, or actually contribute.

21. 
    21 D-von said at 4:33 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Well you do contribute to the fun on this blog. I’ll give you that.

22. 
    22 Sean said at 4:35 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    So, you’re willing to admit, then, that certain points you make are based not in facts, but fuzzy recollection and highly anecdotal evidence?

23. 
    23 Sean said at 4:36 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    And another thing: Please stop calling statistics “raw numbers.” They’re not raw, they’ve already been processed into the statistical metrics we see and reference.

24. 
    24 shah8 said at 4:43 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Eh? It’s a total, divided by the number of drives. Yes, by the usual standards, they are raw, compared to DVOA and it’s like.

25. 
    25 Sean said at 4:47 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    If DVOA is your preference, then you should know Foles was #2 this year in QB DVOA rankings, right behind the aforementioned Peyton Manning.

26. 
    26 Sean said at 4:48 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    5th in DYAR and 4th in YAR

27. 
    27 shah8 said at 4:46 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    That can’t actually be answered. It’s a pretty lawyerly question on a sports blog. I mean, recollection and anecdotes are what we do on sports blog, so as such, it’s a meaningless question to make, i.e., does a bear shit in the woods?

    Strikes me as clumsy attempt to be sophisticated when you cry BIASED!!!11!

28. 
    28 Sean said at 4:55 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    It could very easily be answered; you simply have no interest in doing so. When you consistently make claims that run contrary to the facts (e.g. Foles leads team to lots of three-and-outs) you have to consider that YOUR recollection might be inaccurate and your anecdotes not representative, but rather aberrant.

29. 
    29 Jernst said at 1:07 PM on January 14th, 2014:

    And, finally we get to a breakthrough. You finally admit your perception and frustration with Foles does not mesh with reality. Great, we can finally stop hijacking these once wonderful boards w this nonsense.

30. 
    30 theycallmerob said at 5:28 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    I guess this isn’t ad hominem, either.

31. 
    31 shah8 said at 4:24 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Fourth best, instead of fourth worst, so obviously my feelings are wrong or it’s a more complex story than just the raw numbers.

32. 
    32 Sean said at 4:28 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    What exactly would that more complex story be? You claim Foles can’t sustain drives and support that assertion by citing the three-and-out percentage. When it turns out you read the data in reverse, you can’t just admit you were mistaken.

33. 
    33 shah8 said at 4:32 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Why can’t I admit that I was mistaken? It’s actually what it is.

    The more complex story would be that there are inopportune stalling of the offense, in what is otherwise a high scoring offense. Then I’d have to say that Foles was the cause of that stalling. That would be a lot more work than showing raw numbers, which I probably should have recognized right away that Philly *couldn’t* have high three-and-outs compared to bad teams.

34. 
    34 Sean said at 4:40 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Breaking news – QBs are often responsible for their offenses stalling. You could say the same thing about Peyton Manning and every other QB that you did about Foles.

35. 
    35 Jernst said at 1:05 PM on January 14th, 2014:

    Oh so they didn’t stall out on offense and in fact were the fourth best at avoiding three and outs but the few times they did stall out it must have been Foles’ fault and he doesn’t get credit for the many times when they didn’t stall out, that was all shady….blerg….Foles sucks – Got it. Thanks for the incite.

36. 
    36 mksp said at 4:35 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    The best part about you reading the chart wrong is that it also refutes your implication that you need an athletic playmaker at the QB position to prevent 3rd and outs:

    1. Phillip Rivers
    2. Peyton Manning
    3. Tom Brady
    4. Matt Stafford
    5. Nick Foles

    Pocket passers with limited mobility, with the exception of Matt Stafford.

    The 1st true top-tier athlete is at #13, Cam Newton, though Alex Smith (#6) and Aaron Rodgers (#9) are pretty athletic as well.

37. 
    37 shah8 said at 4:41 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    The NFC teams, who are mostly likely to win in the Super Bowl are the ones with athletic QBs. Not going to say that Russell Wilson has won already, but…

    Anyways, cut out the athletic, specifically. My problem with Foles, beyond that he’s not athletic enough, is that he makes very few plays. Kap, and Russell too, made big throws to win their games last weekend, regardless of how their final stats looked. And when I’m thinking of such plays, I’m thinking of plays like Wilson rushing forward to the LoS, pulling the DBs, and lofting a ball to Kearse behind them for the eventual field goal. If you want NO athleticism, how about just one of those throws from Cam or Andrew to the sidelines with total accuracy, no loft, and no way that the defender had a chance?

38. 
    38 D-von said at 4:44 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Im pretty sure Seattle and San Fran’s defenses had a more valuable role in their victories than the QBs

39. 
    39 mksp said at 4:46 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    SF or SEA will win the Super Bowl on the strength of their defense.

    I remember that play – it was impressive. Nick’s version is standing in the pocket for 7 seconds and then threading a TD pass to a covered Riley Cooper. Both were basically “WTF” plays, though obviously for different reasons.

    I also saw RW throw behind his WRs running slants on at least 3 separate occasions.

    Trust me. I WISH Nick could make throws like Cam or Andrew. Maybe after he adds some arm strength next year he can.

    Also, Cam kind of disappeared in the 2nd half. Whereas Nick made some plays.

40. 
    40 shah8 said at 5:07 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    1) If defense was always enough, why aren’t the other NFC West teams there? Why was the Bengals unsuccessful in the playoffs, even considering Geno Atkins’ loss? Why wasn’t Miami, NY Jets, more significant players? Wilson and Kaepernick actually do do a pretty damned decent job running their offense, and they make plays to win their games. The last team to beat either of them (obviously excluding the head to head) in some time, did so on a great pitch and catch in the last moment by Michael Floyd, after Russell Wilson led a TD drive during a really difficult game for him. And it’s not just the once, you know. Of course, Foles led a comeback to grab a lead, but this isn’t exactly that often, and was assisted by the best DB getting hurt.

    Sure, Russell Wilson threw behind the WRs on slants, but mind you, those are not easy plays for short passers, and it’s made even harder by the fact that Sea does not have physical receivers. Lastly, if you haven’t noticed, this was a terrible day for passing, and Russell Wilson did far better than Drew Brees when the contest was in any sort of real doubt.

    Cam? He was basically Vick against the Eagles in 2004. Absolutely no real talent but him, and when Steve Smith wore out, that was that.

    Well, unless I see Foles actually *do* more, on his own, to make the offense succeed, I’m not going to think much of him or think he will last. It’s not because I hate him. It’s because I think I consistently see Foles not really able to do more than what the play asks for, and that a big part of his production comes from unforced errors by the defense. We’re not going to see easy schedules every year. We’re going to see a much harder set of defenses. We’re probably aren’t going to be as healthy as we were, aside from being snakebit at WR, and there is every chance Foles will have to deal with OL chaos for whatever reason. We’re also going to see defenses adjust such that they have answers to this offense within their own paradigm, rather than try to do things they don’t practice often enough, next year. Not that it shouldn’t be a productive offense. That’s really not the point. The point is that every year, we’re going to see capable defenses in the playoffs (well, the AFC this year is an abberation), and a big part of what happened in the playoffs was that screens and hitches, and other sorts of short money plays are *much* harder to pull off. There is lots more bad weather that will blow flutterballs. All the DCs will have special stuff planned, just for Foles. The point is that we’d have zero chance at playoff success, like the Bengals or Texans up to this year, with Foles. Seattle would have creamed him. So would Carolina. So would SF. Next year, we can expect the NFC West and South to deliver more monstrous defenses, and expect the North and East to recover from down years. That’s why I don’t see much of a future.

    MAKE PLAYS Nothing else matters.

41. 
    41 RobNE said at 5:20 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    how does one differentiate plays from PLAYS?

    No one said defense was “enough”.

    I don’t know if Foles is the man, but given our options FA QB or draft one or trade lots of picks to move up and draft one it seems most prudent to give him the chance.

42. 
    42 shah8 said at 5:26 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    More than a pump fake, more than simply rolling out and waiting for a defense to break down…

    Rescuing blown plays, escaping tackles and getting good gains on feet, make great reads and throws that exploit a functioning defense’ windows when needed.

    Also, as part of just the normal exercise of plays, I just want to see better placement of balls, especially to the outside. Almost all of Foles good passes were to the middle of the field, and of those, most of them were exploiting TE/WR LB mismatches. He didn’t even make a out until Detroit, and not a good out before Chicago. And when I look at the video reviews, it reinforces my sense that Foles is very relunctant to make throws to the sidelines, particularly after he stopped lofting balls there, post Minn debacle. I want to see the deep balls ahead of the WR, and I want to see WR coming back for underthrows as a changeup, and not as the main way you get deep passes. You shouldn’t depend on DJax outjumping somebody. You should depend on DJax outrunning somebody, and we should see more throws that take proper advantage of his deep speed.

43. 
    43 RobNE said at 5:30 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    ok thanks but what did other real QB’s (however you define) do in their 1st year successfully? Is there a chance he can grow into that guy you are describing? because you seem to think no, there is not even that chance, which I think is what frustrates a lot of us.

44. 
    44 theycallmerob said at 5:33 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    I’d say it’s more intonation, poor statistical grounding, hard-headedness, narcissism, and inability to refrain from logical fallacies that grinds my gears. but sure, the Foles thing too

45. 
    45 shah8 said at 5:37 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Foles has never had the kind of game Kap had against NE a few games after he became the starter. Not in the sense of numbers, but in pure dominance of the game. Foles has never had the sort of game like Wilson’s game against Chicago last year. Again, in just pure dominance.

    He’s had that game against Oakland, but Oakland was just ridiculously bad that game, and Foles mostly just took advantage of horrible play.

    What you want to see is Foles picking apart a functional defense, in a sense more than just plays are working, but in the sense that “damn…there was just no stopping that dude”, because he’s just breaking defensive looks that should work. And making them go into a shell like…”Don’t hurt me anymore”, like what happened in 2010 when DB started being like 30 yards behind the LOS against Vick, or using constant DB blitzes. Make things more of a true pick your poison between Foles and Shady.

46. 
    46 Jernst said at 1:01 PM on January 14th, 2014:

    “damn…there was just no stopping that dude”, ohh you mean like the Oakland game, the Chicago game, the Tampa game and the first giants game…

47. 
    47 anon said at 1:03 AM on January 14th, 2014:

    Wait, Russel’s only move is to roll out and wait for the D to break down or run for the first down. He’s like a DL that only has a spin move, at some point people will catch on and it won’t be effective. RWs problem s that while he’s a great leader from what i can tell he hasn’t progressed in the passing game (it’d help if he had better receivers).

48. 
    48 Jernst said at 12:58 PM on January 14th, 2014:

    I’ve never seen Tom Brady, Payton Manning, Drew Brees, or Joe Montana Rescuing blown plays, escaping tackles and getting good gains on feet”. These are nice skills to have but not necessary.

    I have seen Nick Foles consistently “make great reads and throws that exploit a functioning defense’ windows when needed.” In fac, he did this better than any first year starter in history.

    So what’s your point?

49. 
    49 theycallmerob said at 6:02 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    If defense was always enough, why aren’t the other NFC West teams there?
    Why was the Bengals unsuccessful in the playoffs, even considering
    Geno Atkins’ loss? Why wasn’t Miami, NY Jets, more significant players?

    none of those teams have a QB as good as Foles

50. 
    50 livingonapear said at 6:38 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    So….you want Vince Young?

51. 
    51 theycallmerob said at 5:03 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    oh please. Saints stop Marshawn, their in the championship game. GB catches that sure pick Kaep threw off his chest (can’t remember the exact guy), they send 49ers packing. Defenses got them there, not athletic QBs

52. 
    52 shah8 said at 5:07 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Sure, whatever.

53. 
    53 theycallmerob said at 5:10 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    it’s not whatever, it’s truth. I know it’s novel for you and your misconceptions, but unfortunately it does rear its head from time to time (along with those pesky stats)

54. 
    54 shah8 said at 5:12 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Well, I don’t particularly care, because I see you play bad faith games with other commentators. Go back to trolling BBAaS, or something.

55. 
    55 theycallmerob said at 5:13 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    ad hominem is a bad look for you, and an even worse defense. but at least your consistent with poorly contrived anecdotal suppositions

56. 
    56 shah8 said at 5:17 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Like I said, there is no talking to you.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem

    What I did, specifically, was impeach your willingness to engage with others in good faith. That is a relevant and pertinant assertion, and not targeted to your arguments, per se, but the very idea of any real discourse with you at all.

    And I’m sure you’ll come back with more tar baby yap, because that’s what you do, since you can’t be anything more.

57. 
    57 theycallmerob said at 5:24 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    neither relevant or pertinent.
    if you’re not satisfied, let’s use a different logical fallacy:
    https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/

    strawman, moving goalposts, appeal to emotion, tu quoque…I can go on, it’s really hard to keep up with you.

    BBaS was exposed by many as nothing more than a Vick fan-girl. hence, why she’s disappeared since The Franchise took over. I did the same to her as to you- knocked down silly anecdotal “analysis” with those raw numbers you love so much (of course, they get converted to hard data, but that’s an aside as well I’m sure).

    Not to mention, your last paragraph is the same ad hominem, poorly disguised racism, which you so clearly ran away from not 5 seconds earlier.

    truly amazing, shah, how you continue to assert your BS in lieu of all evidence otherwise. May as well change your handle to OJ_Didn’t_Do_It.

    again, poor look for you. but anything to run away from my original post. continue your ramblings.

58. 
    58 A Big Butt and a Smile said at 8:13 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    “BBaS was exposed by many as nothing more than a Vick fan-girl. hence, why she’s disappeared since The Franchise took over”

    You’re such an idiot. I’ve never commented on this blog consistently – and I stopped commenting on EVERYTHING except for weekends and game days after the Lions game ’cause I was spending too much time arguing with idiots on a sports blog.

    I do however read Eagles blogs (minus bleeding green nation) consistently – and up and down vote comments regularly.

    So try again idiot. I didn’t go anywhere and you didn’t expose anything (besides your continued idiocy).

    Now I will go back to NOT commenting ’till pre-season – where you can tell me again how I “disappeared” and I’m a “Vick-fan girl.’

    Typical.

59. 
    59 theycallmerob said at 8:24 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Sorry, but 1 post full of name-calling doesn’t erase 6 months of history. Whatever you say

60. 
    60 A Big Butt and a Smile said at 8:34 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    You can click on my name and see when I posted hon – and this isn’t the only Eagles blog there is. Nor is Birds 24-7.

    Typical you though. Point gets proven wrong time and time again and you still have nothing to say.

    Full of name calling..Two idiots – hardly a post “full” of name calling – I’m sure you’ll be telling me next season how I “disappeared” then too.

61. 
    61 theycallmerob said at 8:38 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    I thought you were done posting til preseason? Make up your mind.

    And trust me, we’ve had plenty of fun clicking your name and reposting your nonsense

62. 
    62 A Big Butt and a Smile said at 9:24 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    I thought I hadn’t posted in 6 months?

    “And trust me, we’ve had plenty of fun clicking your name and reposting your nonsense”

    Glad to know I’m on your mind when I’m not around.

63. 
    63 A Big Butt and a Smile said at 8:36 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    – 6 Days ago
    – 7 Days ago
    – 9 Days Ago
    – 10 days ago
    – 15 days ago

    Yep, that’s six months worth of not commenting right there. lol

    Idiot.

64. 
    64 TommyLawlor said at 10:19 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    @theycallmerob… Please watch the personal comments. Disagree all you want, but not cool to go after BBaaS like that.

65. 
    65 theycallmerob said at 10:28 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Sure thing. Didn’t realize expressions like “tar baby” were acceptable, but I’ll play by those rules

66. 
    66 Maggie said at 12:41 AM on January 14th, 2014:

    For a minute I thought I read “anecdotal suppositories”. ;~D. Would work as well, I think. When a poster is as full of s!!t as shah8.

67. 
    67 theycallmerob said at 9:22 AM on January 14th, 2014:

    eh. there’s no reason to argue with a narcissist, any view other than his is immediately dismissed along with the poster’s credentials.
    It’s like arguing with my dog, but at least he takes his sh!ts outside.

68. 
    68 Mitchell said at 7:02 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    That was a great argument… You say that because you know its true.

69. 
    69 Maggie said at 12:39 AM on January 14th, 2014:

    Why can’t it be both? Why does it have to be always one or the other? It usually does take a team to win. or lose.

70. 
    70 BreakinAnklez said at 10:15 AM on January 14th, 2014:

    Hyde

71. 
    71 theycallmerob said at 11:39 AM on January 14th, 2014:

    …was that the DB from green bay?

72. 
    72 BreakinAnklez said at 11:56 AM on January 14th, 2014:

    Yup. Micah Hyde. Right in his hands…lucky for SF

73. 
    73 aub32 said at 11:17 AM on January 14th, 2014:

    If Boykin doesn’t pick up that fumble that everyone ignored then Rodgers would have never made it into the playoffs. If it weren’t for that bogus roughing the passer penalty against SF then Brees wouldn’t have been in the playoffs. It’s very easy to cherry pick would’ve and could’ve. How about looking at the fact that those two QBs made enough plays to get them to where they are instead of focusing on plays that scenarios that didn’t even happen. You think Foles got to 19 TDs and no picks without a few players, including the Packers dropping a few sure fire INTs?

74. 
    74 theycallmerob said at 11:39 AM on January 14th, 2014:

    I cherry-picked 2 instances from the playoffs, not regular season. 2 very, very important issues that would have swung the game entirely. If that Kaep pick was caught, game over. Mostly, in response to this particular line: The NFC teams, who are mostly likely to win in the Super Bowl are the ones with athletic QBs.. That’s a major, major discrepancy and illegitimate understanding of causation and correlation. Wilson and Kaep played well; but their physical abilities, particularly with their legs, is not what won them their most recent playoff games.

    I don’t remember saying anything about Foles and his stats

75. 
    75 aub32 said at 12:12 PM on January 14th, 2014:

    My point is that there are times in every game in which one or two plays made or not made would change who won a football game. That doesn’t mean that you use that to discredit the win. Heck, technically the Packers game I referred to was a playoff game. Kaep and Wilson don’t need to win every game with their legs. They aren’t RBs. They are QBs. They also do a very good job on playing within their system, systems which happen to be much more conservative than ours. So I wouldn’t expect them to put up gaudy numbers. They do play better in clutch situations than most QBs, and they have had more success at earlier stages in their careers.

76. 
    76 ACViking said at 6:52 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Shah8:
    This “big play” argument isn’t particularly compelling in the context of this past season — although it’s something I’d hoped to see more of in 2013 from Foles

    But I’m against the “big play” theory in 2013 for a couple reasons.

    First, Foles brought the Eagles back from a 20-7 deficit against the Saints — and left with the Birds leading 24-22 with 5 minutes left. Not his fault the defense ran out of gas. Foles delivered in crunch time when forced to in the most pressure-filled game to date for him.

    Second, Foles turned things around in the Lions games. Yes, McCoy did some amazing things. But across the LOS, Detroit’s QB was killing them. Foles held the line and put the Eagles in a position to win.
    Finally, Foles did so well — or someone on the Eagles did so well — that the Birds built up big leads in most of his games (early games for sure) and Foles didn’t have to pull a rabbit out the proverbial hat in the 4th Q. Why blame Foles for being successful?
    _______________

    That said, you can argue that Foles struggled at times late in games — particularly games in which he was responsible for getting the team out to an early lead. You’ll get no dispute from me on that point.
    Next year — 2014 — Foles will face a higher bar in many ways. One, obviously, is other teams will have an entire off-season to break-down the Eagles’ offense and Foles’ positives/negatives. Another is, if past is prologue, the Eagles and Foles will face a tougher bunch of teams based on a 1st-place schedule.

    So maybe we’ll see more close games in 2014. With the 4th Q pressure on Foles to carry the team to late wins. Then again, who knows.

    Like Kelly and Lurie(‘s checkbook), the 2014 season will tell us a great deal more about Foles.

    At one level, I hope to learn how he handles leading the Eagles when they’re losing in the 4th Q.

    On the other hand, would you be bothered if he helps the team hang lots of early points on the opposition, negating the need for 4th Q heroics?

77. 
    77 shah8 said at 7:33 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Well, a couple of quick things

    That defense was on the field against NO a long time and had been gashed by the run all night long. They needed longer rest than they got.

    I don’t think Foles turned it around so much as that the run game got itself adjusted for the snow against Det.

    Next, I’m not blaming Foles for being successful in the broad sense. I’m saying that Foles isn’t really talented enough for anyone to contend with him. I do not think that this is even particularly close or a marginal case like Matt Ryan, and I do think that many QBs could have operated the offense to Fole’s level or better, and before you say Vick–I’d suggest that Vick played more serious teams at their healthiest than Foles. Den, KC, SD, as opposed Ari, and snow-dumped Det. Moreover, the offense under Vick was operating at a historic pace. That he didn’t score as many points did have quite a bit to do with luck, and I think he never would have scored so many TDs, but the record would have been the same, and Vick was far more likely to win the playoff game. I never expected Philly to win the game, despite Bree’s record away from home. It was a good thing, and beyond expectations that Foles came back enough to get a lead late. Remember, that involved getting defensive stops and holding Brees to field goals, as well as good special teams play in terms of receiving punts. There was a real burden from the earlier offensive failures. Furious comebacks like Luck against KC requires a meltdown by the other offense. Plenty of teams try to surge back late, like Brees late surge @ Sea or Rivers and Allen @ Den. However, you can’t win, because NO@Phil defense, Den@SD defense, Sea@NO defense, well, they’re good…and they run and pass their way to seal the win. As it was, we played the only team that we had any chance at all at beating, anyways. We got two turnovers from the defense. We did about as well as we were reasonably likely to do!

78. 
    78 shah8 said at 7:33 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Well, that turned out not so quick…

79. 
    79 Mitchell said at 7:02 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Literally LOL. Russell made no plays this past weekend. You are so delusional it is ridiculous! You don’t think Foles can make a db bite and throw it over the top? please? you are such a troll.

80. 
    80 D3FB said at 6:08 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    I don’t think there’s a single sub 5 40 in that top 5.

81. 
    81 aub32 said at 9:29 AM on January 14th, 2014:

    My only argument would be that a low 3 and out percentage isn’t just a reflection on the QB. We certainly ran for a fair amount of first downs. We were the only team in the league to rush for over 8 FDs a game.

82. 
    82 Finlay Jones said at 5:06 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    obviously, your feelings are wrong. That’s been obvious to an awful lot of people for an awful long time. obviously.

83. 
    83 A Roy said at 10:54 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Thanks for setting it straight. I would’ve thought they were in the middle.

84. 
    84 Finlay Jones said at 5:04 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    I admire your patience, Tommy.

85. 
    85 Joe said at 6:48 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    The award for Most Consistently Shitting Up the Comments Section: Sha H8

86. 
    86 Mike Roman said at 4:19 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Tommy,

    There is ZERO chance that we don’t re-sign Donnie Football, right?

87. 
    87 RobNE said at 5:21 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    we can franchise him

88. 
    88 TommyLawlor said at 10:20 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Can’t re-sign him until FA starts since he came here on a 1-yr deal. Can’t imagine any way they let him go.

89. 
    89 Mike Roman said at 8:29 AM on January 14th, 2014:

    Right, just needed you to assure me that we will bring him back so I can sleep at night without drinking.

90. 
    90 A Roy said at 4:26 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Jeez, Tommy, you’d think a few awards would be in order for some of your readers.
    The FOles is the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread Award – GEAGLE
    The I Remember When Tommy McDonald Played Award – ACViking
    The I got a Smart Answer for Any Subject Award – BlindChow (with affection)The First to Comment on Late Night Posts Award – Anders
    The I’m a Philadelphia Fan and Can Argue Any Side Award – theycallmerob
    The I Disappear After a Good Game But Foles Still Sucks Award – shah8 (who else)
    Apologies to regulars I missed.

91. 
    91 shah8 said at 4:33 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    I don’t exactly disappear after a good game. You remember my comments after the Chicago game, don’t you?

92. 
    92 SteveH said at 6:38 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Face it Shah, you’re the new Morton. Accept it. Embrace it. Become it.

93. 
    93 D3FB said at 8:05 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    I miss Morton. 🙁

94. 
    94 ACViking said at 8:54 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    D3FB:

    Anytime you have an excuse to post — especially using your own day-to-day college experiences — by all means, post to your heart’s content.

    Your experiential perspective is irreplaceable here. And damned interesting.

95. 
    95 D3FB said at 9:28 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    Thanks for the kind words. I do my best to contribute my perspective to the site. We have so many great commenters with so much different kinds of insight, its what makes this place so great.

96. 
    96 SteveH said at 9:30 PM on January 13th, 2014:

    We all do, D3FB, we all do.

97. 
    97 BreakinAnklez said at 10:36 AM on January 14th, 2014:

    Pre draft analysis:
    “JPP would be a bust that would set this franchise back for years. Graham is the more consistent performer and should be the pick. Kuechly is slow and not athletic like Patrick Willis”

    Post season analysis:
    “OMG WHY DID WE DRAFT GRAHAM, I KNEW JPP WOULD BE A STUD WHO AVERAGED A MILLION SACKS. I KNEW KUECHLY WOULD POST SIMILAR NUMBERS TO PATRICK WILLIS!!!!”

    Who can argue with this logic? Morton, you are sorely missed.

98. 
    98 BreakinAnklez said at 10:38 AM on January 14th, 2014:

    TL post heading after Kuechly’s combine was epic

99. 
    99 Ben Hert said at 1:01 PM on January 14th, 2014:

    I’ve got some great screen caps of Morton posts about that draft. I’ll have to remember to post them when I get home today. He was, unfortunately, right on a few things.

100. 
     100 A Roy said at 10:51 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     That was one game you stuck around after. Of course, you decided that a solid game against a potential playoff team was worth less than if he had done it against Minnesota…

101. 
     101 theycallmerob said at 5:01 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     uh, thanks

102. 
     102 A Roy said at 10:42 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     Just having fun. You seem able and willing to jump into any discussion.

103. 
     103 theycallmerob said at 9:19 AM on January 14th, 2014:

     obliged. just trying to keep things logical.

104. 
     104 Vik said at 4:29 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     Brandon Boykin’s award for “Please don’t hit me” award goes to: Patrick Chung.

105. 
     105 47_Ronin said at 4:57 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     I’m putting on a small devil’s advocate hat for the pile on going to Chung – he had all of the same problems with the Eagles as he had at New England (injuries, coverage skills and tackling). Instead of a PDHM or Most Disappointing Player recognition should be directed to the FO as the Most Wishful Thinking that the had some untapped ability.

106. 
     106 RobNE said at 5:05 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     This seems right. NE has had secondary problems forever. If you can’t make it there, well what do you expect? It’s a signing that helped us be able to go BPA in the draft.

107. 
     107 47_Ronin said at 5:26 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     I sort of analogize New England to a high school of last resort, they will take to some of the most disruptive malcontents in the NFL and get production out of them. I was trying to think of any player Belichik decided not to resign that had better production after leaving the Pats and could not think of any (I forget his name but maybe that nomad WR who recently appeared in a zombie DVD flick). But yeah, it shouldn’t be a shock to anyone that Chung was a flop

108. 
     108 RobNE said at 5:44 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     And yet the announcers and writers canonize the Pats with the Patriot Way garbage. Also,

     Watch, the Pats will beat the Broncos because of their running game and the headline will be “Payton chokes”.

109. 
     109 SteveH said at 6:37 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     I agree, the Pats are going to run over the Broncos, but somehow Brady will be the hero. It’s just what the narrative is in New England.

110. 
     110 RobNE said at 6:46 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     It’s suffocating me!!!

111. 
     111 OGsurfer said at 5:22 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     this may be a dumb question, but who leaves the field normally when boykin comes in for the nickel package? i assume its an OLB(cole?) or an ILB(demeco), please help! you guys have helped me learn so much but im not a scout like all of you

112. 
     112 47_Ronin said at 5:31 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     I think it depends on the situation and opponent. Looking at some the all-22 shots from the New Orleans game the Eagles had one less DL/DT on the field (although Cole had his hands down).

113. 
     113 OGsurfer said at 5:36 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     thanks man! no wonder they ran so well on us. and thank you TOMMY! first website i check when i get to work everyday

114. 
     114 Anders said at 7:48 AM on January 14th, 2014:

     The Eagles have forced teams into nickel all year and ran on them

115. 
     115 D3FB said at 6:05 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     It’s typically one of the big boys on the line

116. 
     116 SteveH said at 6:36 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     “I could have gone a couple of different directions since no player had a great year.”

     Giving Brandon Boykin more bulletin board motivational material I see.

117. 
     117 ACViking said at 7:09 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     Re: Foles as MVP . . . But Where Were the Elway-like Heroics?

     Shah8 raised a concern about Foles, asking where his 4th Q “big plays” were.

     I don’t thing the “big play” argument is verycompelling in the context of this past season — although it’s something I’d hoped to have seen more of in 2013 from Foles. But it seems destiny took a hand this past season.

     I don’t hold it against Foles that he didn’t have a string of “big plays” lates in games in 2013 for a few reasons.

     First, Foles brought the Eagles back from a 20-7 deficit against the Saints — and left with the Birds leading 24-22 with 5 minutes left. Not his fault the defense ran out of gas. Foles delivered in crunch time when forced to in the most pressure-filled game to date for him. Huge plus, it seems to me.

     (Sure. Foles and the offense struggled early against New Orleans. Go back to the Elway-years when Dan Reeves was his coach. The Broncos offense would stink for 3 Qs. Then Elway would find a way to put up points late — and, with a very creative and successful D-coordinator in Joe Collier, the Broncos won far more than they lost . . . before reaching the SB.)

     Second, Foles turned things around in the Lions games. Yes, McCoy did some amazing things. But across the LOS, Detroit’s own QB was killing them. Foles held the line and put the Eagles in a position to win. He was masterful at not putting his team in a position of having to scramble late.

     Finally, Foles did so well — or someone on the Eagles did so well — that the Birds built up big leads in a bunch of Foles’s starts, so he didn’t have to pull a rabbit out the proverbial hat in the 4th Q. Why blame Foles for being successful?
     _______________

     That said, you can argue that Foles struggled at times late in 2013 games — particularly games in which he was responsible for getting the team out to an early lead. You’ll get no dispute from me. Regardless, Foles quarterbacked the Eagles when they a lot of games down the stretch. Is he, after 16 starts, a seasoned Brady or Manning or Elway? Of course not. But Foles isn’t Matt Flynn either.

     Next year — 2014 — Foles will face a higher bar in many ways. One, obviously, is other teams will have an entire off-season to break-down the Eagles’ offense and Foles’ positives/negatives. Another is, if past is prologue, the Eagles and Foles will face a tougher bunch of teams based on a 1st-place schedule.

     So maybe we’ll see more close games in 2014. With the 4th Q pressure on Foles to carry the team to late wins. Then again, who knows.

     Like Kelly and Lurie(‘s checkbook), the 2014 season will tell us a great deal more about Foles “as the future at QB.”

     At one level, I hope to learn how he handles leading the Eagles when they’re losing in the 4th Q.

     On the other hand, would anyone be bothered if Foles helps the team hang lots of early points on the opposition, negating the need for 4th Q heroics?

118. 
     118 shah8 said at 7:48 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     This time I will keep it short.

     It’s not about the fourth quarter. It’s not about “big plays”. It’s about making plays. Russell Wilson made two plays. One to Kearse in the second quarter, and one pass to Baldwin in the fourth. There was also the pass that lead to the personal foul penalty in the Harvin knockout. The game was won for all intents and purposes in the first half, as shown by the win probability chart. The right plays, at the right time, is what matters.

     Too much of what Foles did was “Worst Swordsman” effort, or as I’ve said, button-mashing. I wasn’t cool with the unkosher plays that rely so much on luck and contravention of norms. I’d be more cool with unkosher if I thought Foles can run a more normal offense when he has to, and run it consistently well.

119. 
     119 ACViking said at 7:53 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     S8:

     I think you’ve asked a good question. And my regrets for being fuzzy about your focus. I also am a huge Russell Wilson fan — at least based on his 2012 playoff performance.

     I get your point. Not ready to buy in yet. 2014 may tell the tale.

     But a fair point you raise. Worth talking about.

120. 
     120 shah8 said at 8:05 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     The observation is tricky.

     Because Foles is running the offense like he’s supposed to. And he’s not incompetent, and that goes a long way, as opposed to Ponder. And all offenses try to make the reads easy for the QB, even for long experienced QBs. Most of the time, there will only be one or two reads. Most of the time, there will only be standard passes called for, that the passer can do in his sleep. The rest of the time, the situation is such that you need full field reads. The rest of the time, you’ll need to pass off your back foot, or running to the left when you want to throw running to the right, or fit it tighter than a worm’s ass. Most of the time, these attempts fail. A few of the time, you’ll see Russell Wilson do this awesome and sublime thing like that sideways shovel pass to Lynch, against who, I forget. A few of the time, you’ll see people who’s just got no business being there, like whatever Brandon Weedon was trying to do against the Lions.

     So observing Foles, it’s going to require sharp vision, empathy for the situation at hand, and the reflection to realize, “oh, hey, now what did that boy just do?” It’s only going to be moments, rather than the hypefest with Foles now, or with Luck.

121. 
     121 Sean said at 8:28 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     That shovel pass got two yards and had no effect on the game. Maybe if Wilson played better throughout the game he wouldn’t have to “make plays,” which is a made up concept anyway. The reason SEA’s win prob was so high at halftime was that their defense forced a fumble that set up a Lynch touchdown run, two turnovers on downs, held Brees to 43 yards, and shut out the Saints. Even with all this they only scored 16 points themselves, seven of which came on one long handoff.

122. 
     122 shah8 said at 8:28 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     The shovel pass was from a regular season game.

123. 
     123 Sean said at 8:41 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     He had one against the Saints. Look, this isn’t an either/or situation like you’re making it out to be. More than one kind of QB can succeed in the NFL. Wilson AND Foles can both go on to have great careers, even though they play different styles.

124. 
     124 shah8 said at 9:10 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     Well, I define success (at acquiring a QB), at getting one who can reasonably be successful in the playoffs, and give you a good chance at a Super Bowl or better. I do not consider Foles or Wilson to be on remotely equal tiers. Take a good look at Mark Sanchez in the playoffs. He actually played well, despite his relative lack of talent. Much of that was because he had a great OL and a great rushing attack, like Foles. He also had a great defense, going up against softer defenses in Indy and NE. He got the benefit of that defense @ Indy, and got going and stayed going to win that close game, without sputtering. He played great against NE. And then got depanted vs Pitt. Foles only had somewhat less experience than Sanchez did, all told–but Sanchez could run a real offense despite his bad decisionmaking and not particularly strong arm. The defense had to help him out by holding Peyton Manning down, but he eventually got going in time to make the win. Foles didn’t have near the defense that Sanchez did, but Foles had the benefit of two turnovers that Sanchez didn’t get, relatively early in the game, too. Foles got a TD for the defense only the second time around (seeing as how the first was marred by the sequence of terrible plays). Then came two unanswered TDs with two three and outs sandwiched. By that time, there wasn’t really a prayer.

     So when you look at what Sanchez has done, and what Foles has done, with rather even advantages, and playing a prolific offense that likes domes…well, you see that Foles has a mountain to climb, and it’s just not likely that he’ll climb it.

125. 
     125 Sean said at 9:29 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     You’re right. After the Saints took a 20-7 lead “there wasn’t really a prayer.” So it must have been a form of divine intervention that brought the Eagles back to take the lead the last time the offense touched the field. You’re right. Sanchez was the number 5 pick in the draft and a guy for whom several teams wanted to trade up because he was untalented. He was more than reasonably successful in the playoffs, which according to your standards, means he must have been on the same level as Wilson. That doesn’t even matter. What matters and what separates Foles from Sanchez is his regular season success over a season, instead of a pair of postseason games. Show me when Sanchez even approached the statistical accomplishments of Foles. You’re also right that physical QB talent is the most important thing in the playoffs. That must be why Jay Cutler, Michael Vick, and Cam Newton take turns winning Super Bowls. More to the point, how did Foles give his team less of a chance than Wilson did his? He scored more points (17 on last three drives), threw for more yards and two more touchdowns, and completed a higher percentage of his passes. Even if we accept your amorphous and arbitrary distinction of making plays, Foles at the very, very least gave his team just as good of a chance. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have the league’s finest defense and home field advantage.

126. 
     126 shah8 said at 9:36 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     Now, you’re just going all over the place…

     But I want postseason success, and not regular season success. Make it to 9-7, and like Eli Manning (despite his erratic passing) with a real arm, and a great front seven at his back, and you’ve got the chance to win.

127. 
     127 Sean said at 9:51 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     When you make scattershot, inconsistent points it’s difficult to respond in a linear fashion. Now you seem to be saying that you want tremendous strokes of luck over a 4 game sample size going in favor of a mediocre team led by a slightly better than mediocre QB. No one will dispute the second part – that a formidable defense helps – it goes without saying. For someone so interested in chances and likelihoods (which are usually determined with those ‘raw numbers’ you hate so much) you’re pinning your hopes on an especially remote possibility.

128. 
     128 shah8 said at 9:56 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     Well, no, I’m just using you as a foil to talk certain angles about why someone should think the way I do. You haven’t been responsive to anything I said, so I have, up to this point, taken one thing about what you wrote in a previous response, and elucidated further.

129. 
     129 Sean said at 10:14 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     Your perspective definitely needs a lot of elucidation, because it made little sense to begin with. As you further explain it, though, it’s becoming somehow less clear. What is your point here? Do you have one or are you just assuming a contrarian point of view on Foles to troll everyone? If you do have a point, do you have anything of substance to back it up? I think these are the questions we all have.

130. 
     130 Mitchell said at 11:39 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     I am seriously convinced he is just trolling these boards. Maybe he is from BtB? Maybe is just a regular commenter with an alternate account to make discussion more stimulating? Idk, but no one can have these views and be serious. I mean it’s one thing to have an opinion and another to be so off base, it’s funny.

131. 
     131 shah8 said at 11:45 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     When you’re ready, I’ll invite you over to the dark side. Mmm, mmm, hmmm, the strength that hate and fury grants? Like ambrosia…

132. 
     132 anon said at 12:56 AM on January 14th, 2014:

     He’s saying scheme may make Foles look better than he is. See how Kap, RW, RGIII looked last year in heavy RO schemes. We don’t run a heavy RO scheme but our scheme does allow people to get open in space. I don’t think anyone would argue that foles isn’t a good decision maker. It’s to be seen if he can those tight reads / passes and put a team on his back. It’ll be interesting to see if he progresses or regresses in year 2. Personally talent aside i think he’s got the drive to be a great QB in this league but only time will tell. It annoys me that people try to call him Peyton, Brady, etc. after one season. Those guys have spent years developing their game and being successful when whole Ds are geared toward stopping them. No one was trying to stop Foles this year no. 1 focus was on mccoy or djax. We’ll see if the scheme looks as great next year — i’m hoping it does but i think it’ll be a better test of NF as QB.

133. 
     133 mksp said at 11:52 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     Running list of mediocre QBs shah8 would take over Nick Foles:

     Joe Webb
     Matt Ryan
     Matt Sanchez
     Eli Manning
     Andy Dalton
     Geno Smith

     In all seriousness, its strange that you hold Chip’s offense against Nick, especially considering how prolific it was.

     Is it possible that you don’t understand Nick’s responsibilities in Chip’s offense? I wouldn’t put it past the realm of possibility that Chip & Nick know more about football than you do.

     If you’d rather watch Geno Smith stumble through running Marty Morinhweg’s “real” NFL offense…..I guess be my guest? Seems a lot less fun than watching Nick eviscerate defenses every week.

     I won’t argue anymore, 2014 will give us a lot more data. As I’ve said all season, Nick has a lot to prove next year. I think he knows this as well as we all do.

134. 
     134 shah8 said at 12:22 AM on January 14th, 2014:

     Geno Smith’s last game against Miami was reasonably decent.

     Okay, and in all seriousness, I don’t hold Chip Kelly’s system against Foles. What I am saying, at least implicitly, is that the basic concepts Chip Kelly is using has direct antecedents, like the K-gun or Wynche’s offense. The broad concept of spread offense has been in the game, if you are being *very* liberal about it, since the 49’er West Coast offense, with more serious explorations with run and shoot variants, leading to Martz. Other offshoots leading to the recent spread concepts in post-Moss NE. There is, actually, a rich history you can delve into. And what you will find out is that spread offenses can make pedestrian QBs like Chris Miller or Marc Bulger or Trent Green look like standouts. So long as they play a weak schedule every once in a while, they’ll even look like standouts. Places like Kansas City, with a management that doesn’t really care about winning so much as they do about giving a good show, like this sort of thing a lot. Win a lot, then lose with a harder schedule, and win a lot more, and generally be plastered in the post season. Spread systems can work in the NFL, and so can offenses that work in a lot of QB rushes, but they do require that the QB have sound fundamentals. Spread systems work, in part, by sacrificing flexibility. In the playoffs, or against any serious teams, the defense will break that brittle offensive scheme, just as much as they’ll try to break RGIII in half. Thus, the sort of spread QBs that have truly won or been highly successful, like Jim Kelly, Kurt Warner, etc, can operate (Warner in NYC) a more standard offense perfectly fine. They can handle a lot more stuff going wrong than the likes of Trent Green. That’s why I analyze Foles’ actual play on the field, to see whether he’ll implode like Scott Mitchell, limp along like Marc Bulger until nobody believes he’s really going to do anything, or, perhaps he’ll truly succeed. However, he’s a long way from that, right now.

     And yes, I’d rather have everyone on that list, except provisionally, Geno Smith being an accurate reader, and Joe Webb having consistent mechanics. Actually, Sanchez probably would have *loved* this offense. Andy Dalton has a better arm and a better pair of legs. Eli Manning? He’d grin. Matt Ryan is an actual technically sound QB, and is no less athletic than Foles. Ryan would kill it far more than Foles.

135. 
     135 Maggie said at 12:53 AM on January 14th, 2014:

     I would take Geno Smith off the list simply because of the comment you made, “…Geno Smith stumble through MM ‘real’ offense…”. Just like Foles had to do several times in 2012.

136. 
     136 Jernst said at 12:36 PM on January 14th, 2014:

     I’m not even sure why we keep responding to him. His rambling nonsense is so out there that I actually expect for him to jump out at some point and go “Just kidding! Can’t believe you guys actually thought I was being serious…man I really had you guys going.”

137. 
     137 Jernst said at 12:28 PM on January 14th, 2014:

     I hear what your saying but I think you put too much emphasis on being wowed. Tom Brady never wows me on a single play, he wows me with the almost boring, methodical way he marches up and down the field, always finding the right WR and hitting him with an accurate catchable ball.

     Peyton Manning never wows me physically, he just commands the offense with great anticipation throws while doing all the little things right.

     Joe Montana was the same way, I was never jaw dropped by his physical abilities to do the sublime.

     At the same token, I was routinely wowed and left dumbstruck by some of the physical feats I saw Randall, McNabb and Vick pull off. Tony Romo wows me at times. So did Dante Culpepper and Cam Newton and a host of other QBs that have never won squat.

     I’m just saying, “the ability to wow!!! And to make a glorious/ridiculous play” is so unbelievably overrated. You can’t count on that shit to win championships. And, yet you seem to think its essential. BS…you need boring methodical, repetitive accuracy, my friend

138. 
     138 kajomo said at 7:25 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     Our safeties were so bad Tommy gave Mr Safety to a DE. Amazing

139. 
     139 TommyLawlor said at 10:23 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     Brilliant.

140. 
     140 McNabbulousness said at 6:45 AM on January 14th, 2014:

     no tommy, not brilliant. even if it’s a joke it still hurts

141. 
     141 Vick or Nick said at 7:57 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     “He had a TFL, broke up 3 passes and recovered a fumble. That is a good game, but not a good season.”

     I lolled really really hard.

     I never wanna see Pat Chung in an Eagles uniform ever again.

142. 
     142 disqus_jB7dl5fzvO said at 8:20 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     But I would love to see Chung in a Cowboys uniform.

143. 
     143 Insomniac said at 9:23 PM on January 13th, 2014:

     Or the other NFC LEast teams.

144. 
     144 Ben Hert said at 1:02 PM on January 14th, 2014:

     Jarrad Page or Patrick Chung as your starting safety. Choose.

145. 
     145 Vick or Nick said at 12:29 AM on January 15th, 2014:

     I’d play with 10.

146. 
     146 Mike Flick said at 4:43 AM on January 14th, 2014:

     My Favorite Move Award: NFL releasing the All -22
     This year there has been more great analysis than I have ever seen. I feel like I have bee more educated on blocking schemes, WR spacing, defensive fronts than I have ever in the past.

     It has been great to see us show a new zone – read option that the Redskins couldn’t handle. See the defenses adjust by having the DE smash down everytime and bring a safety over, then see the blocking adjust to counter the counter by bringing Ertz or Avant down.

     I think with no All-22 film, and a myriad of great bloggers I would not have appreciated all of those nuances.

     Funny how people who do not see that game progress attribute things to “Getting fired up” or “Having Moxy or Swagger” instead of a sound blocking scheme.

147. 
     147 A_T_G said at 7:14 AM on January 14th, 2014:

     Great post.

148. 
     148 RobNE said at 7:48 AM on January 14th, 2014:

     Definitely agree. I wonder why the All-22 only recently became available. It’s crushed my ability to read certain writers (Peter King) who make sweeping statements with no All-22 backup. It’s so great that the All-22 coincided with a (hopeful) revival of the Eagles.

149. 
     149 Ben Hert said at 1:05 PM on January 14th, 2014:

     I’d extend an honorable mention to Fishduck.com for learning us all about Chip’s offense before we even got a snap. Learning from Oregon fans made this off-season much more fun, and furthered my understanding of what I was seeing in All-22 footage.

150. 
     150 Mike Flick said at 2:31 PM on January 14th, 2014:

     Yeah, there is now an interesting Oregon + Eagles tie.

151. 
     151 Mike Flick said at 4:45 AM on January 14th, 2014:

     Trent Cole. – I can’t give him the award because he was shut down by King Dunlap in the first game, and didn’t do anything in the last game.

152. 
     152 Rage114 said at 10:37 AM on January 14th, 2014:

     My only disagreement would be Cole over Barwin for DMVP. The guy didn’t have the best stats but he did his job in such a way that made other guys better.