College Boys
Posted: February 3rd, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 110 Comments »Pete Carroll won the Super Bowl and that completely erased the old perception of him that he was a college coach and couldn’t fit in the NFL. Back in 1992 and 1993 Jimmy Johnson proved a college coach could win big in the NFL. Can Chip Kelly?
So far, so good for Kelly. What does Johnson think about him?
“I like Chip’s approach,” said Johnson, who was in New York last week promoting Fox’s coverage of Super Bowl XLVIII. “For instance, when we came in the league, we played a [defensive] coverage. Phil Simms told Bill Parcells when we played the Giants, ‘Hey, they’re playing that college coverage.’ And Parcells said, ‘You better learn that college coverage because these guys know what they’re doing.’
“It was Cover 2. Now everybody in the league plays Cover 2. Hey, it was successful for us in college, so I said it will be successful for us here. And I think Chip Kelly is taking the same approach.”
Both Kelly and Johnson are smart enough to make some changes to their schemes, but they also were confident enough to stick with the ideas that made them so special in college.
There is no magical formula for college coaches. Johnson was a bit of a tyrant. Carroll is Mr. Positive. Kelly has been more like a benevolent tyrant. The thing that helped these men to be successful is that they were true to themselves. Coaches must be sincere in order for players to respect and to respond to them.
Johnson didn’t fake being a hard ass. Carroll’s enthusiasm is genuine. Kelly is harder to sum up in a word or two, but he’s not the least bit fake. Players love him. You can’t constantly motivate players with rah-rah speeches. Players must be motivated in a way that they buy in to the coach’s philosophy and make it come to life all year long, not just on Sundays. So far Kelly has done a masterful job of this.
Johnson won big at Dallas, but was less successful in Miami. The longer he stayed in the NFL, the less effective he was. I’m curious to see how Carroll will do. Johnson built up a great Dallas team. They had a ton of young talent. Johnson left Dallas before the team got old and he had to go about replacing key guys. Miami never got good enough for Johnson to have to worry about losing young stars.
Seattle is loaded, but Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson, Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas are all on their rookie contracts. Can the Seahawks keep all those guys? How effectively can Carroll replace them?
You can argue that Johnson caught lightning in a bottle in Dallas, with so many player moves panning out so well. You can say the same thing about Carroll right now. Time will tell if Kelly can do that as well.
One thing that may have helped all 3 coaches is knowing the college talent so well after first coming to the NFL. Johnson mentioned this.
Johnson also said that Kelly’s selection of players in his first draft was comparable to how he drafted in his first few seasons. Three of the Eagles’ first four picks were players who were on teams that beat Oregon during Kelly’s tenure. He also selected prospects he had tried to recruit.
Johnson tried to enlist Aikman and Smith before they went to Oklahoma and Florida, respectively. And he coached Irvin at Miami.
“If you’re in one of the top college programs, you’re going to know the top players,” Johnson said. “And so, when you go into professional ball you get an opportunity to draft those players. . . . You’ve probably already been in their homes. So you know them as a person.”
It really will be exciting to see how Kelly does in this year’s draft. I know he won’t be making the selections all by himself, but he will have a major influence on who the Eagles choose. Kelly showed good instincts last year with the players the Eagles brought in. Another strong draft class could go a long way to making the Eagles a legit Super Bowl contender.
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You guys have asked a lot of free agency questions. I have only done preliminary work on them. I’ve focused more on the draft. I’ll start mentioning free agent targets more in the coming weeks. I don’t anticipate the Eagles being overly-aggressive, but they could look to add a starter and a key role player or two.
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yeah like u said, we should not expect any huge signings, rather a key contributor to challenge for starting role, especially on defense. It looks like they will follow Seattle’s approach.
I actually am starting to believe it’s all just a smoke screen for Byrd/Ward.. Think about it…
Dline: we have Curry,Cox,Ced,Logan..If Kruger makes the team that’s 5, so basically the FA DL we sign has to be cheap so we can possibly cut him if a DL is too good to pass up at the top of our draft board. The DL we sign will be a cheap gathers type only signed to keep us from having to reach to fill a DL hole.
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ILB: Meco is our veteran, we will look to get younger at this position in the draft to get Meco off the field in coverage. We aren’t adding FA ILB
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OLB: we would like to sign one, but there aren’t any so to get one of the few decent ones you are stuck having to drastically overpay, not going to happen
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CB: we already have our veterans, need to get younger in the draft.
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We aren’t spending any money on starting OL. maybe we see another cheap Barbre type of backup value! but we ain’t spending any real money on the line..
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RB,month paying for one…
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WR: Coop and Mac will be signed before they even reach the market, and then we will look to get younger in the draft
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TE, unless by some miracle Howie has a shot at Jimmy Graham, we have our veterans and won’t spend money at this position..
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ALL ROADS point to SAFETY!!! We will have around 35mil and there isn’t anything to do with it. we have our veterans in place, now it’s time to restock our depth with young plays who can be developed into guys that eventually replace the starters..
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we damn near gave Barwin 40million last year, so I’m not sure where this Bogus Frugal smoke screen came from. There is nothing to really do with 35mil, and our cap is so healthy that we can easily pay to turn a safety weakness into a strength and have money next year to extend our kids….we won’t OUTBID teams for Byrd, and Ward…but we will make them comperable offers and they will have to chose to take 47m to play n big market contending Philly, or take 50 and go be forgotten in Oakland…
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safety is literally the only place where you have room to add a starting veteran. Nate Allen is going to sign for 4years 20 Mil…guys like Bathea,Whitner and Clemons will get 35…might as well do it right, and go get a serious solution for a long time problem.
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eagles couldn’t wait to point out how great the cap was, and how we were rolling over so much money for this year..now that the time has come and we have significantly less holes to fill than we expected to have, I think we would have to be brain dead not to go after a top young safety AGGRESSIVELY!!! I guarentee we don’t sign a single starting caliber veteran in FA at other positions, so why in the world wouldn’t we get a safety. This frugal “batting average” approach is kind of bullshit when you give Barwin close to 40 mil, and sign the most expensive corner on last years market..
Stevie Brown was the young safety who would have fit last years mold for types of signings but he is already in talks to extend his contract with the giants
We had to give Vick 7 mill because of his old 100 contract he signed with us.
7mil still went to Vick, now that 7 mil is free, safety gets like 9mil per, what’s the problem? I just don’t see the cap ramifications for front loading a contract for a durable top safety like Ward.. Give the dude 20mil up front, who cares? Our cap next year is fine
Also, no way Allen gets 4 million in FA.
Dude, he ain’t getting less then Chung got
I think Allen will get 2 mill, maybe 3 max.
Strongly disagree….heck if her only gets 2mil. We might as well extend him now….safety is a problem league wide, some team will offer him starting money. he is coming off a drastically better season then Chung in I his contract year
Closer to 4mil then the 2mil you suggest I bet
Vick was a qb..apples and oranges.
Do you ever get the point? Vick is gone, that’s 7mil we don’t have to pay to him next year. Wtf is wrong with you?
To build on what you’re saying, Cole’s contract means he’ll probably be here next year. If you look at what he did in the 2nd half of the season, that says to me that he just neededsome time to adjust to the 3-4. Maybe he is a 12 sack guy next year. Find a mid round prospect or “bargain” free agent to to groom to take that spot in 2015.
I have mixed feelings about DeMeco. 6.8 million is a lot of money but he is a good player and the glue that pulled that defense together. I have a feeling you can get him to rework his contract and keep him for another year while you groom (there’s that word again) his replacement.
Meco, you give him his 6mil up front, he ain’t the type to get paid and start slacking…we can have all the mixed feeling we want about Meco, but Chip will want him here, so what’s the point?
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Highly doubt Coles is back next year unless he takes a serious payout. But for this year Cole is valuable. Our Base defense was awesome this year, and you won’t find a rookie to come in set the edge and play the run better then Cole next year. The improvements need to come on our 3rd down pass defense, Cole needs to sub out and the rookie pass rusher we draft can be a Nickle pass rusher his rookie season while adding weight to his frame…
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Our base defense is in place(minus safety)..need to get a pass rusher and LB who can drop in coverage so that we can start getting off the field on 3rd and long..our Nickle was bad, erasing all the great iWork our base did on first and second down..
Not letting me edit.
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Correction,highly doubt Cole is back after next year unless he takes a drastic pay cut. We ain’t honoring that insane amount of money for someone who is just going to play the run and set the edge in I our base next year
Barwin’s deal is loaded with “funny money” that he will never see. His deal was essentially 3 years $13.5 million. That’s not monster money that you seem to imply it is. Ward and Byrd are both going to command actual big time paychecks.
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2013/3/14/4105994/connor-barwins-contract-is-very-team-friendly
I actually think Barwin isn’t going anywhere and will get the majority of his contract (or just restructure It when it gets bad)
Missing the point of the argument. we aren’t seeing he is going anywhere or won’t get his money — we are addressing you incorrect argument that we signed Barwin to a huge deal — its all about guaranteed money in the NFL ask Cliff — his deal was very team friendly vs Krueger’s deal. If you dont understand still, we could cut barwin in a year and be affected very little. On the flip side, we could sign Byrd for the same contract but give him 24 mil guaranteed and be married to him for the life of the contract. that is a big contract.
Barwin only got 8 mil guaranteed from eagles .. very cheap team friendly deal — only 25th highest for olbs for guaranteed money. If he sucked, we could be out and no damage. Nothing like the Kreuger contract. Not a good example of spending like crazy as you imply.
And Cary Williams wasn’t the most expensive corner last year — there was a half dozen guys who got comparable (and longer and more guaranteed money) than williams and a couple bigger one year deals. 3 for 17 is squat.
Cannot compare a big Byrd signing (25-30 mil guarnteed) to our puu puu platter of barwin (8 mil) williams (5 mil) Chung, Jones, geathers, Sops Philips Fletch just stop.
That being said we of course can do it financially (byrd or ward) and resign some guys and be okay for Foles in 2 yrs. But I think its more of a philosophical question of how the eagles want to build from within and draft until they are very close (like seahawks last year). Don’t think eagles believe we there yet. But I wouldn’t be suprised if we signed a top safety but more likely Clemons/Whitner).
Gotta figure Chung or Avant takes a hair cut or is cut. that’s 3-5 mil extra.
We can resign Kelce and Thornton and Cooper longterm w our extra money. Can anyone figure out fair market contracts for these 3 …
Cooper is close to 3 for 11 mil. (comparable to J Jones/Nelson deals)
Kelce close to 4 yrs for 16 mil. (10th best)
Thornton maybe 4 for 19 mil (RJP got 4 for 22 mil from stupid Grigson and Colts)
Byrd already turned down 8 mil a year from buffalo. We will need to offer at least 5 yrs .. 45 mil (and probably 25 mil guaranteed atleast) to get him .. Ward closer to 5 for 40 w 17 mil guaranteed. You are correct we can do it and frontload to have money to sign guys in 2 years and carry over money.
No way Clemons gets 35 mil — wishful thinking. he gets a deal comparable to Clover Quinn .. around 5 for 24 mil w 7 mil guaranteed … Whitner will get closer to 35. Dolphins already invested alot in on safety spot — and have a good young replacement — maybe he stays maybe not — horrible run organization I’m saying no.
Finally.
Barwin is getting every penny we signed him for. Cary was the top paid corner, check it. Guys like Talib chose to sign one year deals gambling on themselves..nvmd,gotta remember who I’m talking to
Checked it. No he wasn’t. Other guys got more years and money. sportrac.com
Who cares if Barwin performed well enough to get his contract, the point is at the time the eagles signed a very doable-team friendly deal that isn’t a ton of money. Everyone knows its all about the guaranteed money — not the size of the contract. We could peace out on Barwin after year 2 and it costs us little to nothing …. any comparison to Barwin’s deal and the measley deal that Williams vs what Byrd is going to take in guaranteed money is a joke and does not support an inference that we were big-spenders last year.
IF the Eagles do decide to dip into the FA Safety market, it really boils down to what you’re looking for from the position when looking at the two top guys on the market (both Oregon products too oddly enough). Byrd is your prototypical playmaking deep centerfielder FS & Ward is quite the opposite as he’s your prototypical physical SS. They’re both the same age (27yo), with Byrd having an extra year in the NFL. If the Eagles do in fact go this route, I see Byrd as the better fit. Especially with the current crop of physical CBs on the outside. Byrd would compliment them very well as he’s got the speed and instincts to fly around over top in support for them & gives you another guy that can produce TOs at the deeper level with Boykin being that guy in the intermediate level of the defense. Byrd also allows Wolff to slide up to SS, where he seems to be better suited as a more physical sure-tackler type & has help behind him in coverage. Ward is certainly a great player, but I think when considering the two, Byrd adds more to what you’re trying to accomplish in being a swarming type, TO producing defense. Add a legit pass rushing ROLB threat & you’ve got playmakers at all 3 levels of the defense. It also gives you much more flexibility in what you can and can’t do with your play calling as you’re not so overly exposed when blitzing, and it also allows you to be more patient in developing younger talent.
Not saying this will happen of course, but it does make some sense if your objective is to significantly upgrade your defense to become legit contenders fairly quickly. It comes at a cost of course in signing Byrd, but with an average of another 4-5 TOs added to your secondary directly from one player & not including how many more he can help create for your other players, it seems like a sound decision for a team looking to build an aggressive style defense.
Stylistically I think we would prefer Byrd, but for that kind of money, along with Billy and Chip knowing him, and durability concerns, I think we would prefer Ward…but if you aren’t concerned about durability, then Bryd would be the target
There is no question of Byrd’s durability. His injury wasn’t really an injury. He had plantar fasciitis, which is plantar warts. I had them on both feet in the Army. Very painful and takes a while to get rid of with treatment being them freezing them to kill them off. That treatment itself is also painful. So it has no bearing on his durability. In the games that Byrd played this past season, which I believe was 9, he equaled his INT & PBUs from the year prior in a full season.
Anyway, I don’t think they’d make the play for Byrd due to the salary he’d command for being such a productive ballhawk. He has the sexy stats over Ward. I like Ward, don’t get me wrong there. I just think that Byrd’s skill set would put the ball into the offenses hands more often as he is more of a shutdown safety that prevents the play from being made. Ward is more as you said a tackling machine, which means he’s making plays after a completion or playing up in the box a lot stuffing the run. Two different players, two different styles. But in the eyes of what Kelly wants his defense to be, Byrd seems like a better fit to compliment or already physical corners that will give up the catch but make the tackle. Byrd over the top in support changes that dynamic a bit and could significantly cut down on those receptions being made in the first place.
As for Wolff, he played both spots but Davis often had the safeties playing back to keep the play in front of them so that they could make plays going downhill. Allen was the biggest beneficiary of this as there was a good stretch of 3-4 games where Wolff was primarily playing the deep safety, except on blitzes where they switched spots. Allen playing up limited him from getting burned deep & Wolff playing deep limited him from taking a bad angle playing up. It actually worked out pretty well and kept Chung on the sidelines, but if they don’t re-sign Allen they cannot go into the season with Chung & Wolff in a position which begs for an upgrade in a secondary that gives up a ton of receptions already.
Jerry – great analysis, however, I have to disagree with you in terms of Byrd’s durability as you’re incorrect with what plantar fasciitis is. It has nothing to do with plantar warts, but rather an inflammation via microtears of the plantar fascia – the soft tissue of the soles of your feet from heel to toes. It is extremely painful and with athletes and the elderly, generally recurring. There are no warts or burning warts off…I wish it were that simple as I’ve been plagued with it!
Usually, a good set of orthoses and an aggressive stretching and massage regiment do the trick, however, there is no definitive timetable of it being healed. Most cases are at least 4 months and as long as 9.
Just wanted to throw that out there to add to the discussion of signing this guy long term. I think that we all can agree that he’d instantaneously become our best DB, but at what cost?
What you’re failing to remember is that we have a lot of guys who will be looking to renegotiate after next year for raises because they’re finally going to be allowed to so the cap space might be at 35 mil but we’ll be looking to conserve some of that because Foles will be in line for a big pay day if his play keeps up, Cox may get a raise, Kendricks if he becomes more consistent could be in line for one as well and Boykin will almost certainly get a raise.
Thanks, I had no idea lol. Howie is a cap wizard, there are ways to free up cap space that your simplistic view of the situation doesn’t account for…you are seriously mistaken if you think we can’t front load a big money contract without it causing us to not be able to sign our young players…
Ok so you front load the shit out of a contract and give a player 18 million in one season and 10 the next and then drop it to 5 per. Why the hell would that player not proceed to tell you to rework his deal in 2 years and be an asshole and sit out?
slow down jerruh
What high end free agent will willingly sign a front loaded contract knowing he can and probably will be cut or need to renegotiate in a few years? Besides in this league its all about the signing bonus (guaranteed money) which I believe is prorated throughout the contract in terms of cap hit
I believe you’re right in regards to the signing bonus. You don’t see quite as many of those ridiculously heavy front loaded contracts anymore.
being the follower never works out.. setting the template is what id aim to do… they didnt hire a college coach because jimmy johnson was great nor because pete carroll was doing well, they did so simply because chip is a special coach. If a special talent is out there go get them.. thats how you win. Good talk.
yea, Im 100% sure the Eagles will follow their own template. Kelly didnt become HC of the Eagles by just following another persons template
im not talking talking abouut kelly, im talking about the eagles orgin ization, howie and jeff just to be clear..
The only point on which Tommy suggested Kelly might follow the template set out by Johnson and Carroll is in the area of using his superior knowledge of the college players to draft a lot of talent the first few years. I would be okay with him being a follower in that area.
im talking in general, and notjust to tommy and what he said, u see it every year, people look at who won the championship and say “we need to do what they did” ya mean
http://www.footballperspective.com/the-best-scoring-defenses-in-nfl-history/
a great read and a nice little nugget about the 1950 Eagles defense
To be a successful collage coach, you have to be able to evaluate talent, moreso than in the NFL. It should not be suprising that part of the edge college coaches have in the NFL over lifers is a better ability to do this. People like to point out Spuriers failure in this department, but Steve seemed to think he was so great a coach he could plug anyone in and make it work, which in collage he could. I think he was more an exception that the rule.
Chip not only recruited, he recruited to Oregon, which meant he had to be able to judge if a three star recruit could develop into a star better than other coaches in order to succeed. I have a lot of faith that he will do this effectively for the Eagles, remember one of the things Lurie mentioned was his program building skills.
Chip Kelly can surely arrange a beautiful collage
And Chip was recruiting against the glamor of USC and Stanford, as well as other stronger conferences or schools.
yep, not easy to get Florida, Texas and Cal kids to move to Oregon. Looking at recent BSC titles, the best talent is in Florida and that gives Florida teams a great advantages.
Didn’t Kam chancellor already sign an extension Tom?
I heard Howie Roseman on WIP yesterday on my drive home. First thing that I want to say is that I love the new direction that Jeff Lurie has taken this team. The Eagles were HATABLE during the Banner years. Lurie sensed the fanbase was turning and did some house cleaning. Roseman is very candid and likeable. I think the fans will be more forgiving of his “misses” since he’ll admit to his mistakes and be honest with the fans. Roseman & Kelly have breathed new life into the franchise.
Ok now that I’m done sucking d*ck I wanted to talk about some things that Howie mentioned. He addressed what we’ve all talked about on this site for years now: not overpaying in free agency. If you pay a good player great player money that sends the wrong message to your homegrown talent who are waiting for their contracts and ties your hands when trying to sign your young guys to long-term deals. I immediately thought to myself, well this rules out Byrd or Ward. But then Howie elaborated some more …
He said that you want to take the best player available in the draft and fill immediate needs in free agency. He also admitted that because it is free agency, there is going to be some degree of paying an “added premium”. After he was done talking, I got a sense that they will be players for one of those two safeties. With there being a shortage of quality safeties in the league overall, I believe this may be the one position that you do overpay for a little bit. I mean, Nate Allen is an average + safety and there is going to be a market for him.
It seems as though there are quite a few red chip prospects at safety but only two that may warrant that #22 pick. The top 3-4 pass rushers will be off the board at that point too so I’m really thinking that WR or CB will be the pick.
*hateable
I would be shocked if they didn’t go after Byrd or Ward aggressively. Our cap is healthy and there really isn’t room for many veteran FA additions on our roster, and safety is really the only starting position we have to fill in FA. This team will be built on youth..sign a top safety, and we will have all our veterans in place, can compete now, while restocking our depth with young athletes to groom as replacements for our current older starters..
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A guy like Ward is durable! think only missed one game these past 4 years. That dude ain’t gonna take 40mil and just kick his feet up and stop hitting everything that moves..dude is a dog, he likes to play, he likes to hit, he likes being great. Add our Sports science to a hungry durable top safety, and I’m having a hard time seeing how he wouldn’t be worth every penny of that big contract
I have a hunch Ward will be a target too. Then Calvin at 22. Clean slate.
I prefer Byrd! but for that kind of money I’d rather get the guy who missed one game in 4 years(Ward)
BPA at 22 after we get a vet safety
DL – Sheed Tuitt
OLB – Barr Ealy Ford (probably too early) Atta-Boy (too early) Van Noy
WR – Evans, LEE, Benjamin, wr underclassmen who runs well at combine and is over 6 2
Corner – Gilbert (very doubtful)
S – Haha or Calvin (allows us to play dime w stud vet and earl)
0T/OG – Zack martin could be groomed to replace Todd, Evan, or play right tackle when we move johnson over in 2015. (doubtful)
I think Gilbert would be a high priority if he is ranked above Pryor, given that he’s also a return man, one of our biggest needs on ST. Just thinking BPA. If Gilbert and Pryor are closely ranked, you go with need of course, ie: Pryor.
Well Pryor can’t tackle and Gilbert makes Asante look like Antoine Winfield in his prime.
Lets hypothetically say that…you only have Gilbert or DRC to make the game winning tackle. Who would you choose?
I go buy some whiskey and start to cry.
Imagine the horror of a DRC, Gilbert and Pryor secondary.
Hey D3FB & D3Center…you guys related or playing on the same team??…lol.
We played on the same team together and were roommates
Ahh that explains it.
Thanks. One thing I would point out, is that if you have to pay X amount of $ to get a safety, you are not overpaying. That is how much they cost. It’s supply and demand.
As weird as it seems, I admit, to pay a safety money usually reserved for QBs and men the size of bulls who can run like gazelles…
no longer getting value though, money could be better spent elsewhere.
My main takeaway from this article: Phil Simms has always been a meathead.
True. And it’s only February 4.
http://freakonomics.com/2012/01/20/does-defense-really-win-championships/
must read regarding offensive vs defense and why Eagles should focus on becoming great at offense instead of trying be good at both.
can’t get behind this after sunday’s game.
so what about those Saints, Packers or Colt wins?
Look at those qbs. Also look at the record of top offense vs top defense in the sb.
Look at broncos vs ravens from last year.
We don’t have to be seahawks good, but we have to have great pass rush and good DBs.
How different is this game with Von Miller?
Miller AND Dumervil “We don’t have to be seahawks good, but we have to have great pass rush and good DBs.” Denver D with those guys is where i’d like our guys to get.
Different D with those two guys BUT Seattle dominated in all phases so maybe not too different.
They were dominant, but the Broncos were able to take Lynch out of the game, and it’s not the defense’s fault that special teams failed so hard.
Hopefully we can tweak our defense enough to be in the top 15. I still think that if we have a d that can hold opposing teams to under 21 ppg we are headed in the right direction. Well, we are already headed in the right direction with our Red Zone improvements.
Night and day from 2012 season. Honestly i think pass rush will help — we got killed on obvious passing downs b/c we had no pass rush.
Ravens was 17th in total defense and 12th in points last year.
We was 17th in points, but was actually 2nd in the NFL is takeaways behind only the Seahawks.
Here’s a counterpoint to the Freakonomics post
http://www.sportingcharts.com/articles/nfl/does-offense-or-defense-win-super-bowl-championships.aspx
And to counter your Saints, Colts and Packers–so what about those Giants, Ravens and Steelers
Ravens in 2012 had average defense and offense, same with 2011 Giants, 2007 Giants was good on offense but bad on defense.
Steelers in 2008 won with a good defense and good offense.
All those 3 teams got great play off performances out of their QBs and some timely defense.
I love these types of arguments, but you gloss over that until Dec. 31, 2013, the 2007 Patriots was the highest scoring offense in NFL and lost. Also top scoring offenses do terribly in the SB. I can’t see why you want the Eagles to focus on offense considering that their offense was very good in 2013, if the Eagles become the top offense in the future IDK if that would help their chances to win the SB.
One thing in common? Those teams featured stud pass rushers. We don’t have that.
true and I still want that. I want an elite offense and a defense there can create turnovers
because 1 game or even 48 is such a big sample size right? I mean we lost to the Vikings, so the Vikings > Eagles last year right?
I think Kelly has been described in multiple pieces as wanting to stack the defense. He feels like he can gameplan around suboptimal offensive talent and still produce a top offense. I’m sure he appreciates the offensive talent he inherited, but I bet we’ll start accumulating defensive players, the goal being not to be a balanced team in terms of how talent is distributed but to try to build a dominant defense.
Seahawks star Richard Sherman says they cracked
Peyton Manning’s hand signal code during the Super Bowl so they were
able to predict every play
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2551566/Seahawks-star-Richard-Sherman-says-cracked-Peyton-Mannings-hand-signal-code-Super-Bowl-able-predict-play.html
Best quote from Sherman:
‘Me, Earl (Thomas), Kam (Chancellor)… we’re not just three All-Pro players. We’re three All-Pro minds.’
I love Sherman. Even when he called out Crabtree which was ridiculously blown out of context due to several factors include his race & appearance.
I find it in poor taste how much time he spends tooting his own horn.
When you’re the best CB in the league, you can let it be known. Sherman talks. Revis cried like a baby for money. Nnamdi…points at people and ate lunch in his car.
Sherman definitely lives up to his talk but…why can’t it be enough to play like that? Why not take the high road? Nobody’s going to go all “d’oh! that guy is the best cornerback in the league! I wouldn’t have noticed until he said so!”
I’m going to piggyback off of Bob’s comment. This is an era after the Deion Sanders era.You’ll have the Sanders/Shermans while the Nnamdis/Baileys are in the league. The bravado and arrogance comes with the CB spot.I think Tommy touched on it before about confidence levels with CBs. It’s important for them to maintain that level of confidence. Like every individual, there’s different ways of expressing that level of confidence.
CBs aren’t even close to the idiotic displays that some prima donna receivers have been doing for years. Some of them have an end zone dance AND a first down dance. Then the pass rushers, like LT or that @#$ Ray Lewis, who used to make me gag. Sometimes reminisce about the days when they used to say, “when you get to the end zone, act like you’ve been there before”. Of course we old farts mustn’t forget Jack Lambert standing over his fallen foe, wagging his finger in the guy’s face. Or Bednarik’s famous pose.
This is the society we live in. Heiresses become famous by leaking sex tapes and getting reality shows. Ex-Disney stars compete to be as filthy in public as possible. What little manners people have vanish in a flurry of thumb-strokes. People adapt to what works.
Sherman has nothing on Deion Sanders. I generally like what Ray Didinger has to say on issues but he said the visceral reaction to Sherman didn’t really have anything to do with race and that it was one of the more poor displays of sportsmanship he had seen.
Didinger’s comments struck me very much as an ‘old man comment’ which he rarely does. NFL players in the 70s and 80s were good sports and displayed good sportsmanship on and off the field? Yeah right. Maybe in a bizarre revisionist history they were.
Also, if you saw the more complete clip from NFL Films, that rant was completely off the wall, or something. It showed Sherman shaking hands with other 49ers and behaving normally both during and after the game.
When I read that story it really struck me as being accurate. From the first quarter on it just seemed like the Seahawks D was all over the Denver receivers, 4 or 5 guys would go out on patterns and there was just nothing open at all.
Honestly I’m surprised the Broncos didn’t trot out anything surprising or unexpected, since they had a full 2 weeks to try and figure out how they were going to attack that defense. They clearly lost badly in the planning stages of the game.
I wonder how Seattle cracked the code without videotaping Manning’s signals and overlaying them on the coach’s tape.
Belichickian?
I was kind of wondering that myself too and thought the same thing possibly.
The only saying that is more foolish than the ‘Meek shall inherit the earth’ is that ‘Cheaters don’t prosper’
Ryan shazier at #22 if Pryor is gone..safety/LB hybrid stud ala Kam Chancellor
Shazier is much bigger than Chancellor (10-15 lbs), but he would be a perfect ILB for us.
Big people beat up little people…….
Speaking of Kam Chancellor his hit on Demaryius Thomas in the 1st quarter may have separated Thomas’ shoulder
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/02/04/report-demaryius-thomas-separated-shoulder-in-super-bowl-xlvii/
Rather get an OLB or WR and just take Buchanon in round 2, or Baily. Both are big boys if that’s what you are looking for
will any good rush OLB last until #22. i doubt it. i love KVN but is he worth a first round pick..i’m thinking 2nd for him? any chance we package B. Graham, our first and a late round pick to move up in the draft say with atlanta? possibly grab khalil?
I think #22 is still a pretty good spot to pick up a rush OLB considering this draft. Don’t forget that you’ll probably see a run on QBs, OTs, 4-3DEs, WRs. So it’s not outta reach at #22. Plus there are a lot of pretty good LBs in this draft. I wouldn’t be opposed to making a move up to grab one they really like.
Van Noy is projected more for 4-3 SAM or 3-4 ILB. I still love the kid’s motor, speed and quickness. But I’ve got my eyes on the kid from Georgia Tech too.
Ford and Attaochu. They’re the tier below Clowney and Mack but more polished than Barr.
Pryor! Pryor! Pryor!
Anywho take a chance on Taylor Mays?
If an expert at reclamation projects like Marvin Lewis couldn’t get production out of Mays, no ways should the Eagles take a chance.
We picked up Momah twice if that adds to any refute. What harm could it be with Mays (arguably worst than Chung) when he’ll be cheap? 3rd team’s a charm?..
Yeah thinking he fits Chips profile.. N hes more physically able to play the position more than Anderson n Coleman.. So dont see the harm like Insomniac mentioned
Never mind Mays, what about reclaiming ILB Rolando McClain?
I don’t think he’ll come out of retirement. Even then..he’ll probably need a year to get back into football shape if he does decide to come back.
Interested in seeing what the extension for Giants safety Stevie looks like
EAGLES SLEEPER MOVE to look out for:
Screw the OLB FA Market, Eagles sign bengals DE Micheal Johnson. if you are looking for Chip and Azz prototype OLB it is MJ!!! 6’7, long wingspan,270, explosive first step.
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MJ won’t be retained by Cincy, and he is coming off a down year. we could get him on a Barwin contract which pays him nicely if he pans out! but has out clauses that make it a much cheaper deal if he dissapoints! or he will go the Micheal Bennett and Aqib Talib route, gamble on himself, sign a 1yr prove it deal to try and get a more lucrative extension next year…For the Eagles to make this type of signing they would have to be ready to move on from Graham, and getting a guy like MJ to sign with you could be complicated if eye think he has to battle Trent Cole for snaps…
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But signing him would provide a heckuva lot more draft FLEXABILITY
Wonder if the Jets would take Brandon Graham for Stephan Hill?
Lol. That is creative thinking, but I don’t think it is likely to happen-
*Cinncy has more cap room than the Eagles and reportedly want MJ back;
*MJ’s ex DC is now HC in Minny and the Vikes need a DE, plus they have more cap space http://overthecap.com/feb-3-nfl-salary-cap-space-update/
*MJ has not played LB, can he make the transition?
*MJ started as a LB and was moved to DE in his second or third year….read about him as a possible target a while ago…doesn’t sound like he faired too well at LB..
212 days to the season opener. MMMMRRRAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!!
3 weeks till the combine!!
Well that’s something to look forward to right?