Expectations
Posted: May 29th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 214 Comments »Last year I expected the Eagles to go 8-8 or 9-7. They had a last place schedule. They had more talent in place than many people gave them credit for. There was also the new coach effect. The players were hungry to win and having a new guy in charge brought out the best in them. Everyone is on their toes around the new boss.
I don’t know what to expect this year. Are the players going to remain hungry or will complacency be an issue? Can Kelly push them to get better? Will the team stay healthy? Will teams be better defensively with months to study Kelly’s offense? How good will Nick Foles be?
I don’t have strong feelings right now. I need to hear more from the players. I need to see them in action a little bit.
What are your thoughts/expectations at this point?
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Assumptions:
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We are adding a bunch of defensive subpackages,,,,I’m not so sure anymore.
Gunn asked Barwin if he expects to add a bunch of stuff to the playbook and Barwin looked at him like “are you nuts”.. “We already have ALOT in the playbook, not sure we add anything. Last year we had a bunch of different disguises. Some worked, others didn’t… When they didn’t work we didn’t do a good job gritting out of them, and it hurt us”…he is expecting to just fine tune, more than add…
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Forget who said this but basically: we have a complex, multiple versatile no huddle defense, with built in rules(keys to read) that tell Meco what front to line us up in, and Jenkins how to line up the secondary…
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Yesterday Gunn cites talking to Billy who said something like: I know everyone thinks Byrd and Ward were the prize, but when we found out Jenkins would become a free agent! he was number one on our list..
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Learning more about our defense, it actually makes sense, why we would value a safety who’s bread and butter is his brain, and versatility that allows him to play in the box, centerfield, or moonlight as a slot our outside CB on occasion, depending on the keys we read from our opponents.,,actually makes a ton of sense why we wouldn’t want to spend 50mil on a playmaking centerfielder..
Question: Sproles talked to reporters yesterday, but I can’t find video of it anywhere… Anyone see it?
You wanna start your day off giggling I like a bunch of school girls, go to PE and check out the top 100 videos of FOles, JP and Mathis…
Pretty much nailed how I spent my morning. 🙂
Gonna watch em after work.
Enjoy mate.. It’s a treat for sure
Geagle, did you see Foles’ video for his top 100 spot on NFL.com? They didn’t have a lot of people to talk much about him, but Mac is heavily featured, he is so pumped about Foles, which is a breath of fresh air from D Jax and Shady who always were bound by their worship to Vick. Shady talking about Manziel when he was there for us at 22, talking about how excited he was, then like oh we have a QB, he’s real good, yeah.
Yeah it was an awesome video… Hearing how highly other teams players think of FOles was great to hear,. Doesn’t sound to me like NFL players think he is a fluke.. Friggin Kurt Cousin sounded like a groupie who was moments away from throwing his panties at FOles.. Lol better never hear our QB slurping over another teams player like that!
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The WR from the Raiders was funny…he was like I’m blown away watching him throw 7 TDs on one hand, but it was pissed on the other hand that he was shredding us.. Lol ya think?
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Giants LB Herzlich I thought his the nail on the head.. FOles came in when we were struggling, and in that pressure cooker of a situation he was able to thrive..says philly fans are brutal and they fell in love with FOles…
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Really awesome videos.. The JP and Mathis ones were also great… I’m assuming we have to wait a few days for the shady video because he will be so highly ranked
And Gerald McCoy was very complimentary of FOles, talking about how he has always been impressed with his poise..and he is more of a running threat than people think… Obviously he won’t out run people, but you see the functional mobility in the redzone against the skins when he started zone reading to the right, then cut inside on safety Brandon Merriweather and was able to get into the endzone
Just checked the Foles and Peters videos. Foles gets a lot more love from opponents than from the national media it seems. 67 for Peters, is that a little low for a guy some consider the best LT in the game?
I think it’s low for All 3 of them.(PE.com has one of Mathis too! and I think his ranking was #88 which is low for someone who is the best player at his position for sure)
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the ranking of Mathis was a clear slap in the face..but with JP there is some grey area, If you are soley basing your ranking off of the player he was last year, coming off tearing his Achilles twice probably makes it fair to rank him lower than any other year…but even coming off that injury, I can’t really say that many teams were getting better LT play then we did…
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This is his second year removed from the injury, so no matter how they want to rank him for last year, I suspect he will take his game up a notch from where it was last year which was still pretty amazing….
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But Even if we wanted to consider last year a down year for him, you would think he built up enough cache to be named in the top 50
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I don’t know this to be a fact. But I heard kAp was rated top 20, which IMO makes FOles HISTORIC seasons rating. Ridiculously low, tho I don’t know the rankings of Luck or Wilson so I’m not exactly sure how much they under rated FOles year……
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While it’s never nice to see our players under rated…let’s enjoy flying under the radar while it lasts, because we will be hard to deny for much longer…I’d bet that when FOles leads us to a win on the road,against Luck, that’s when he will arrive for good as a national media darling.. By October, flying under the radar will be a thing of the past..
Kaep is rated like 81.
Oh ok… I turned the radio on for 30 seconds and Tony Bruno was looking at some list, that said kAp was top 20, but i guess he was talking about a different ranking
Peters = All Pro
All Pro > 67
Foles gets a lot more love from the national media because if he blows it next year they don’t have to deal with the consequences… when was the last time we had a QB we could really trust here in Philly?
I’m really excited for Foles in 2014 but understand the skepticism
I think 10-6 and another NFC East division title is definitely possible. I can only see the defense improving and the Chip Kelly offense evolving to become even more potent. A playoff win would leave me feeling very happy about the season, no reason why it cannot happen.
All I care about is a playoff win, and not losing more than one or two games in the division… Guys stay healthy, and can’t ask for anything more
Funny this is, winning a playoff game might mean we’re contenders, as there’s a solid chance we’d be playing the 9ers or Seattle . I suppose there’s no point in sweating it this early in the season since you never know who’s going to be badass and who’s not. But there is a big chance we’ll be playing a strong wildcard from the NFC West.
BRING IT!!!
Guess I’m greedy. Why not win the Superbowl? We are long overdue and as a fanbase, God knows we deserve it. I guess I am the only one that feels that we can get that elusive Superbowl we have been chasing all these years.
I’d worry about the Seahawks, Packers or 49ers in this year’s post season. The Eagles could be the NFC’s dark horses however; they can score on any defence. I love the optimism though Ben.
I do wonder if the team that went 7-1 the last half of the season is the real team. I hope so but tend to think not. The schedule will be tougher at least outside the division. I think the Eagles are a B-B+ team in a C /C- division. That should produce 5-6 wins. But they also have to play the NFC West which is at best a 2-2 proposition. Looking at the other 6 games, obviously Jax is a gimme, but the rest I can’t get to better than 3-2. So my absolute best case is 12-4, and 10-6 or 11-5 are more likely. The players know their roles better and some like Ertz should improve. But the talent level hasn’t really changed all that much, only at S is there a real upgrade. The depth is probably improved. Football IQ and character appear to be strong. I have always had confidence in Foles. The biggest risk is the dependence on Shady and the risk of injury. Similarly, they may have been lucky last year on the injury front. The team still seems a couple of players away from being a solid SB contender.
For the most part, I agree with you, and I think the grade you gave them and the NFCE is very fair. But the one line I read that made me cringe a bit was “But the talent level hasn’t really changed all that much, only at S is there a real upgrade.”
I think it’s very different to say that the personnel hasn’t changed much, which is different from the talent. So many young guys who, either being new to the league or coaching or scheme or both, have a (very likely) ability to increase their talent and performance. Foles, LJ, Kelce, Ertz, Sproles, Cox, Thornton, Logan, Kruger, Kendricks, Boykin, Wolff, and Allen just off the top of my head. And I’m not saying improvement to an all-pro level, just from their baseline last year. All those guys (except Sproles) are young and growing. And that’s not even considering any rookie contributions.
Consistency in culture are vastly underrated components of success. And in terms or coaching and front office, I’m very bullish on their prospects for improvement. I give them (coaching and support staff) an A-, and more importantly a positive grade for next few years’ outlook and long-term plan.
Also, depth went from being bad at most positions to pretty good. We really helped safety, CB, DE, OLB, WR (depth, not star power). NT was addressed but not too strongly. The only positions I’m still a little nervous about are offensive line and ILB and NT.
OL is so important to every coach alive.. and Chip doesn’t seem like the foolish type to go into a season with Greg Lewis as a punt returner and get bit in the ass by it… Chip is extremely smart, thorough and OL is just so darn important, that I have a feeling we have better quality on our bench than we assume….
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I would probably say that ILB depth is the scariest.. But I also don’t know what to expect from Jason Phillips! Knott, or Nadje Goode who showed to be capable with a small sample size…
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We assumed we would draft a young athletic ILB to replace Meco in certain subpackage(coverage situations) but even if Goode, Knott, or Phillips can’t replace him in certain subpackages, we can accomplish the same thing by using different schemes that require 1 less LB…
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And once Marcus gets more comfortable as the season goes on, he is another LB we can use in coverage to add to Barwin and Kendricks who we can count on in coverage…. Don’t know of many subpackages that require more than 3 LBs that can cover
I expect a 10-6 season, a division title, and a 1st round playoff win. I don’t like going through W’s and L’s on the schedule, instead I like to look at what I think the Eagles may do against each division. I broke this down into four scenarios (as I could see it playing out): Worst Case, What I think is possible, What I think is likely, Best case.
Best case is absolutely absurd, but keep in mind that Seattle is the only team on the schedule that I don’t think we can beat. Anyway, I highlighted how I really think it will play out and what will happen based on the averages of my scenarios.
I’m not ready to say a Chip coaches team will lay down and automatically lose to Pete Carroll..
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They have some nice LBs who can run like wags n KJ.. And the horses at safety.. So if there was one team that I worried about how they can matchup with our backs and TEs it would be them…. Where as I feel like our backs would toy with some of the other top LBs like Vontaze Burfict…
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The GREAT EQUALIZER is the TRENCHES.. And we boast a hall of fame left side. Lane transforming to Bane, and another year to adjust for Todd should give us a helluva shot to dominance the trenches against any defense… Start dominating that Seattle and running on them, that’s when Kam Chancellor will lose his mind and start coming up to try and blow us up, and you know Chip will be waiting to send Ertz down the seam while huff or Mathews go on a crossing pattern to get earls attention…….. Seattle has a quality OL, and the BEASTMODE. And I know they are the champs…but if it were a package deal would anyone really want to trade our OL/DL for theirs? .. Our DL can develop into their DL…yet their OL won’t be transforming into JP and Mathis anytime soon…. Ideally we wouldn’t play them in Seattle, but we have proven to be road warriors,,,
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Look forward to testing ourselves and finding out where we are right now in terms of how we stack up against the best
Speaking on Seattle, I think they are built to destroy conventional pass-dependent offenses. I think we can run on these guys. I think chip is unconventional enough to give them fits. And I’m just not afraid of their offense. Overall they might overwhelm us with talent and depth, but we’ll give them a hell of a fight, in our house, it’ll be on. I smell an upset.
Damn, you guys have me sold. Bring on Seattle!
Hahahaha
Eagles seem the opposite. Great offense. A defense that isn’t flashy but seemed to get the job done. Seattle’s offense isn’t flashy but they get the job done. Can Eagles stop the beast?
Yeah it’s going to be a good game. One of the “house money” games. People probably won’t give us much of a chance. We aren’t supposed to win, but I think we have a good chance. It’s a tremendous opportunity. As for beastmode, as Geagle said, we’ll have to win those trenches, the key is to not let him get going, don’t let him get into your secondary.
Totally agree…. That type of defense is an Andy Reid coached offenses nightmare…that’s not how we roll. Our OL and RB will once again be the strength of our team. JP at 340lbs was coming back from tearing his friggin Achilles twice last year, and he was still better than most LTs..Instead of rehabbing from injury, and then having to get in shape, the guy has been able to work the offseason strength and conditioning program this offseason, which seemed to do plenty of our players good last year. very exciting to see Herremans,Kelce and JP now that they are a year removed from their Injuries and get to work the offseason program…
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Mathis is the best in the game..
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Kelce’s best football is still ahead of him..
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Don’t care how great your defense is, we are talking about a hall of fame caliber left side of the OL, with a top NFL running back running behind it…. We should literally have a shot at running on ANYBODY!!!
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And in the run game, it’s not like we will be asking Desean Jaccson to block Richard Sherman. I’d bet Chip tries to exploit the fact that they don’t move him around, instead just ask him to stay on one side and shut it down. He is the biggest and most physical CB in the game, one of the best CBs in run support… But because he doesn’t move around, we get to dictate who he defends. How good will he be in run support, when we stick a beefed up Zack Ertz in front of him? He has good size when you match him up with Desean,Sproles, Mac, even nice size to match up with Coop….but when we chose to put Ertz in front of him, he is just a little mofo.
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Think the fact that they don’t move Sherman around could make Ertz extremely valuable against them…word is, that he is noticeably beefed up, and is emphasizing Improving as a blocker…I don’t care how big anyone CBs are, I would expect our TE to smash them in the run game
I think 10-6 is likely, but 12-4 is highly probably. I think Chip shows even more offensive genius even with teams taking some of his principles.
I also see Jordan Matthews and Maclin being huge contributors this year. Enough to make even Sheil Kapada and Tim McManus be ok with releasing DeSean. lol
I don’t Expect a ton because we are still rebuilding. However, as a fan, I WANT us to win at least on playoff game. Whatever happens I know we are improving.
Think the term should be building,since it`s Kelly`s team.
As usual, my post will reflect a much more positive outlook on our Eagles.
I think the team takes a huge step forward this season with the influx of new players and draftees. Chip is getting more and more of his type of players and the rest of our team has had a full season to get accustom to the way Chip does things such as strength and conditioning and eating habits and tempo. I also think Foles is a lot better than some give him credit. Sometimes his greatness is overlooked or even dismissed as a fluke. I do not reside in that camp. I think Foles is the kind of player that will take what he’s learned and double down and will also make a huge jump. I think he can be elite this year and leave his doubters scratching their heads, wondering how they didn’t see this coming.
It’s mind boggling how good this kid was last season and if he can improve his sack ratio then we could acheive greatness.
Having said that, I think we go 12-4, win the NFC title and go to the big dance.
I would love to hear Merrill Reese shout “The Eagles win the Superbowl ” !!!!, over and over and over.
When that finally does happen, I’m making it my ringtone.
I’m thinking 12-4.
Chip has had an opportunity to pick his players. I really think the league will be slower to adapt this year than it was last year.
The increased size of the offensive players and versatility of the defense will be the difference.
I can see us sweeping the division. Playing the other division winners will only help us.
What about sweeping TWO divisions? I think every team in the AFC South is beatable. Obviously, that’s a tough thing to do, but I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility.
Don`t see how the rest of the league will be slower to react after having a full off-season to study and prepare. However, Kelly will be forever evolving his ideas, and be quicker in his ability to adapt to opponents` preparation and schemes in their (futile) attempts to stop Kelly`s plans of attack. So maybe in this way they`ll seem unprepared, and slower. Also agree with the added size, this team will be difficult for any team to stop. Think the only impediment to the Eagles` success would themselves, and I can`t/don`t see that happening,such as last season with the bad punt coverage, a dropped pass, bad K/O coverage, etc…
I don’t think Chip was able to really attack since the guys didn’t have the knowledge during OTA’s and training camp last year.
I imagine this year’s offense will play much faster. Not sure the league has ever seen that.
Agreed. Even though a work in progress,is gonna be awesome to watch.
My thoughts were exactly on this as I opened the page. I think it is year 2 of the transition. I don’t expect a step back, so I expect the playoffs. I’m excited to see who steps up, but I’m not sure everyone has bought in. Playing time and personal success is enough for some, not for Kelly. But generally, I am excited.
Will be obvious by the level of play of those who don`t buy in, and should be gone sooner than later.
11-5. Deep playoffs.
The defense was crazy good for half the season last year. The pass rush seemed to make QBs move but few sacks. Sack rates are highly variable and we will see a much improved sack rate. The run defense is going to be ridiculously good, making teams one dimensional, that’s when curry, smith, Cole, cox, Barwin pin their ears back, Jenkins versatility pays off and Boykin gets crowned as the interception king.
The offense is gonna have some super blowouts, a couple of matchups that a certain team can’t even pretend to cover. I’m talking a game where every hand off you know shady is getting 8 yards, or teams are so badly beaten by Ertz, they try a LB, safety, cb, and he still smokes em, then Double teaming him, especially in the red zone. Not that you can double team against a spread offense, but they’ll want to. More games like Chicago or end if the snow bowl where the offense can’t run the clock because they keep scoring f’ing points. With Sproles, huff and Matthews the bubble screen comes back and just smokes teams with bad tackling DBS.
Foles will double 27/2 to be now known as 54/4. At half time the eagles will sub in the lingerie football team who will still get their scores. So embarrassing nfl institutes a new rule, if you’re up 55 points by half time you have to send in the lingerie football team.
10-6.
My simple equation goes something like this – let’s just give the Niners, Colts and Seahawks those games…we may win one, but those are some of the best teams in the league – 3 losses.
Then we cautiously get to assume the Jags, Titans, and Texans are wins – so we are at 3-3.
For the division games, even if you give our opponents 2 wins (Cowboys? SWEEP. Maybe Giants and Skins can each steal ONE, but TWO?), which I think is being generous, we go 4-2 in the NFC East…so now the total is 7-5.
The remaining games are Rams, Cards, Packers, and Panthers – If Chip is who I think he is, I think we win 3 out of those 4 and go 10-6…Rams have to prove it to me before I fear them, Cards have to keep up with our offense, Packers have no D, and the Panthers have no O – 10-6 if not better…
12-4 if we are truly making a run in Chip’s 2nd year, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. hehe…worst case scenario is 8-8 but we only fall below .500 with serious injuries to Foles or Shady…
we had worst passing D in league last year – i think it will be marginally better this year. i dont think we beat packers, panthers are also really good, but questionable whether they are better than last year. We barely beat cards last year- wehad some help, so i think those 3 games are tosses, but agree if we make a run there we could have a great season.
I can hear you on Packers – check out Panthers starting WRs and see if you still worry about that – Cards…sure sure – so if you take one more can you give me one more division win…still 10-6? hehe
Yeah i mean i think a range of 9-7 to 11-5 is attainable.
Fair
12-4 most are throwing out there is a bit optimistic. I’m not sure we can count on the breaks the Eagles got last year.
This team is not a finished product.
Like last year, I’m not concerned about the record. Keep the ship pointed forward. Part of that means — the players from last year(not really the aging vets) need to play better because they are a year now within the system. If players like Cox/Boyk/Ken/Ertz/Foles etc do not take a step forward, we’re in trouble. I fully trust they will. They should be playing with extreme confidence this year since they’ve already been exposed to this process. AND they should be mentoring the young guns coming into play.
I don’t know if ST have been improved. On paper — yes. On the field — we have no proof of that.
Year 1 — learn new systems. Year 2 — find your team identity. Year 3 — look out because here we come.
I fully, 100%, without question expect a 4-0 record vs. Gi-aints and Cowgirls.
12-4 does seem aggressive. I am going to be simple minded and go with another 10-6 season. The schedule appears to be much more difficult, as we look today, than it was last year.
One way or another I expect another playoff appearance. Might have to come from winning the division. Hopefully they can advance and improve upon last year.
I would not be shocked if the Giants were able to play how they did from the midpoint on last year. It also wouldn’t shock me to see the Skins explode onto the scene. I think thereare equal chances of both those teams being terrible. If they both do well, the Birds could easily be improved in year two under Kelly and watching the playoffs from home.
By the end of last pre-season season I had a pretty good feeling that the Birds would make the Playoffs. At this point I don’t have much of a feeling. Let’s reevaluate in September.
Are the players going to remain hungry or will complacency be an issue?
The players will be more focussed(hungrier) because they have experienced success in Kelly`s system and believe in it. No complacency for this team.
Can Kelly push them to get better?
Definately
Will the team stay healthy?
Healthier, no doubt. Injury-free?
With the team`s conditioning program, the chances are in their favor. If someone does get hurt, the recuperation period should be minimal.
Will teams be better defensively with months to study Kelly’s offense?
Won`t matter since his offense seems to be predicated on taking advantage of the defenses` alignments.
How good will Nick Foles be?
Much better. Full off-season,second year in system, 3rd year as a pro, many more weapons at his disposal, 1st season as starter, really 2nd as team leader.Probably more examples/reasons that I`m not privy to, will just wait to see and enjoy watching.
That’s where I agree. Players who were here last year should be ready to excel this year. Except Nate. I expect the same from him. LOL.
While I agree…I do not expect players to start plateauing after this year. Guys are so young, that the quality coaching and healthy competition will push them to show improvements this year…but no matter how much they improve, I expect them to continue improving for the next few years…
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Even such an accomplished vet like Barwin still talks about “reaching new heights” as a player, where as we would be thrilled just to get the player we got last year lol… Dude is still focused on getting stronger, and improving his all around game.
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Really exciting time for this franchise… If we don’t have the winning formula now, I don’t know when we ever will have it…top to bottom, I’m not sure this franchise has ever been in a better position
“Guys are so young”? Taken a look at the OL lately?
What about it? How do you know what we have on our bench? I know what the media says about our backups, but I find it hard to believe that a Chip/Stoutland coached teams, are sitting here with a bench full of hopeless young trash that all need to be replaced…
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I’d bet, we have one or two young players on our bench who are progressing better than we think, and our coaches view as eventual starting potential… I can’t prove that, but you can’t prove to me that we have 5 bums on the bench who can never amount to starters…
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One of the most interesting things for me about this preseason is getting to see young guys like Tobin, Bamiro, Kelly…
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And I’ll bet you right now, that Herremans will be a much better player than last year…. Kelce has plenty of years left, Lane or shall I say BANE, is still a baby…OL typically last longer than most positions, and I’m not sure that anyone has ever had OL who are more in shape than Chip requires from our Hogs..are you expecting Mathis or JP to start some declining nose dive? Every other teams players are assumed to need two years to really comeback from injuries…why should our guys, JP, Herremans, and Kelce be expected to show the best they have to offer, last year, months removed from surgeries and rehab? Think JP and Herremans will be better than last year…but we shall find out soon.. 98’days til the season kicks off…….
I asked Kempski why he feels so worried about our OL depth and what would make him feel more comfortable… He responded by pointing out that guys like Tobin,Bamiro Kelly have little to no! NFL experience, but the Braniac says he would have felt more comfortable if we drafted a OL in the 5th round lol…. Not really sure how that makes any sense whatsoever..
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The fact that we know nothing about our young OL is a damn good thing, because all that means is our starters have been healthy.. No media member has any clue whatsoever what levels guys like Tobin, Bamiro are currently operating at… The assumption that drafting an OL in round 5 would have automatically provided more depth and be better than what we currently have on our bench is a joke…
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For all fans and media KNOW our young OL on the bench all have starting NFL potential, OR, none of them can play a lick and all need to be replaced…we simply have no clue at this point..
While you look at the unknowns of the back-ups and point out that they could be great, Jimmy is looking at the unknowns of the back-ups and knows that they most likely won’t be. You’re both saying the same thing, except for your optimism and his realism/cynicism.
So how can he think that the unknown of drafting a player in round 5 provides more depth than the unknown we have on the bench? Bamiro was a 4-6th round prospect Chip added a year ago,.. Why do people assume a 5th round pick could help, but Bamiro can’t?
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I have no clue what we have on the bench, but neither does anyone outside of the Eagles organization. Why do we automatically have to go the doom n gloom route with our unknowns? WTF is wrong with just waiting and see, instead of just assuming every young player we haven’t seen play yet is trash?
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Wanna write negative, doom and gloom stories, do so about something where you have more evidence than just: I haven’t seen him play yet, so he must suck..
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If people would just take the wait and see approach and not just assume it’s trash, I wouldn’t be posting about the “possibility”‘that they can actually play… There isn’t a fan or media member who is qualified to talk about what we have and don’t have on the bench, because we simply haven’t seen it enough to even have a hint of what we have on our bench, other than barbre
Again, you are assuming that unknown = found treasure. I wish I had your optimism, but you should probably refer to Brent Cohen’s charts on the success rates of late round picks. That shit is bleak–like less than 10% success rate. People like Kempski have been around and realize that for every ten players you bring in on the OL, at least in the late rounds, 1 is good and 9 are worthless. I get that you want to say that our scouting department is better than everyone else (again, I admire your optimism)… It’s just really statistically unlikely that there’s anything there.
I’m not assuming anything..l unknown means unknown… I would prefer the wait and see approach and not offer any opinion on something we have no friggin clue about
I’m not sure if Foles can be much better than he was last year but I agree with you that I think he shows this year he’s a legit franchise QB.
Foles says that he feels that there is much to improve on.
I agree…he made more than a few decisions that were questionable against NO, left more than a few opportunities unattended (open players not passed to,taken sacks instead of thowing the ball away, just the little things which end up being big if you don`t win).
Been a big fan since the Gruden interview,after which I wanted him on the Eagles,and think he`s gonna bring more than one parade down Broad St.
I’m assuming you are talking about from a statistical point of view,,. His stats may not be able to be much better than last year, but there is still so much he can improve on…and this is coming from one of his biggest supporters… Tho, I’m sure you meant stat wise…. Things like recognizing coverages and disguise can still he improved upon.. He doesn’t have enough experience to be a finished product. Sure he has plenty of growth still in him.. Not only doesn’t he have enough experience against NFL defenses, but he doesn’t even have enough experience in our scheme yet, for us to be expecting him to plateau and not improve…
The TD/INT ration was an aberration, but other than that stat descending to a more realistic level, I don’t see why Foles can’t be expected to improve his stats overall.
Agreed…
Yeah sorry I meant to say that I don’t think Foles improves his statistics much this year as I see him having more interceptions and similar touchdown numbers but I do see him improving in technical aspects solidifying him as a franchise QB.
Expectations vs predictions. I can’t express my expectations in terms of a record or playoff win count. For me it’s all an eye test. At the end of the year I want to see: does the team look better than last year, does the team still buy in, do I see potential for growth built into the roster even before the 2015 FA and draft? If yes, they will have met my expectations on the road to 2015, aka our year.
Predictions: I think this team will be much better this year week 1 to week 17 (compared to last year) but still set the over/under at 10.5 wins, and leaning on 10. Which means no bye week. I think there is a really good chance that both wild card slots go to the NFCWest opponents. Which means we could be in for one hell of a game in the first round, I don’t know if it’s fair to expect a win in that situation as I don’t know that we would have favorable odds in that situation. So Prediction: this team looks so much better but still gets 10-6, playoffs, don’t know if we win a playoff game.
10-6 again.
I agree with Mtn Green that we are going to just rip apart a couple of teams. And not awful teams either.
So, yeah, SB no doubt.
10-6. And that would represent an improvement over last year. SoS is tougher, as will be the NFC East. (At least NY and Wash…) I don’t care about “eye test”. “You are what your record says you are.”
“You are what your record says you are.”
Not necessarily true.
Records are what determines the playoff scenario, but if you get humiliated by last place teams,you suck; you lose close,hard fought games to champion calibur teams, it`s only a matter of time utill you become one of those teams.
What was the record of the 1978 Eagles? 9-7. Were they good or bad? How about the 2012 Eagles? 4-12. They sucked. 2002? 12-4. Pretty good. Long after everyone except ACViking forgets about close games, the record lingers. Big Tuna is correct.
Didn`t the gnats win a SB after being 8-8?
what`d their record tell you?
Technically, they were 13-8, but remember, the exception proves the rule.
Technically you’re both wrong 😉
9-7 leading to 13-7 after playoffs.
I get some points for being more correct, at least.
Completely.
The poster named “suthrneagle” also loses marks for implying we’d need to look at the Giants’ record in any given year to know they flat suck.
My first thought was…who sucks more, Dallas or New York? But that question is like asking if you’d prefer MERS death or black plague.
Technically, which means actually(i think) I asked if they weren`t 8-8,which for me is a? and i shouldn`t lose points for referencing the gnats as this is Tommy`s blog and he specifically wrote about them in comparison to the the Eagles yesterday.
Normally you’d expect a step back, but Chip turned it around so quickly this reminds me of AR and the 2000 season, Chip had more talent than AR inherited in 1999, but made the same rapid transition to a new QB. AR actually had it easier since Gruden had set up a WCO and JJ stayed with the 4-3, Chip installed a totally new offense and switched to a 3-4, yet finished the season 9-4 after a rocky first four games.
So I’d have to say 10-6 or 11-5 is my expectation, given a solid FA haul (not big names, but good depth in the secondary and a big upgrade on special teams), followed by a solid draft (again, not big names, but filling out the roster with big, smart, athletic players).
I was skeptical of Chip when they first hired him, not sure if he was “the man” or just a guy with a sexy college offense, but he proved to be a bon fide football mind. What I like about Chip is he isn’t trying to outsmart the league, his focus is primarily on execution, getting the right players for his schemes, and setting up mismatches that don’t depend on trickery. That’s far more sustainable than the “flavor of the month” offense. While every team talks about execution, Chip is committed to his system, from his “sports science” nutrition and conditioning, up tempo practices and simplified schemes based on perfection through multiple repetition.
None of this would work if Chip didn’t have the courage of his convictions to focus on building a roster of players he knows fits what he wants to do, not who the fans and media would like to see. He passed on Byrd and Ward, two former Oregon players, to sign Jenkins, Carroll, Maragos and Braman with the same money. He passed on trading up, when the price was too high, and focused on getting value in the draft with players that didn’t excite draft pundits but who were collectively a great fit. He passed over high ceiling athletes with questions about motor and intelligence for high intangibles – work ethic, high motor and smarts. Some people think this is a mistake because “talent wins games,” but Chip is confident that a well coached team that executes perfectly will triumph over more talented but less cohesive opponents – and is willing to put his career on the line to prove that point.
Some people think this is a mistake because “talent wins games,” but Chip is confident that a well coached team that executes perfectly will triumph over more talented but less cohesive opponents – and is willing to put his career on the line to prove that point….
totally agree here; think our ex-dreamteam.
Great post Austinfan…..you said exactly what I wanted to say and thanks for all your typing cause I hate to type, BUT I do enjoy this site and reading everybody’s comments. GO EAGLES!!
Yes, I too found this to be an excellent post that I strongly agree with
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I think the projected ST improvements will be more valuable than most people think. Even if Alex or Murderleg don’t improve into cannon Leg, I expect DRASTIC improvement out of not only our coverage units, but also the blocking our return men get..
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I havent taken a close look at the blocking our KR received, or lack there of, but I’d expect it to be the best it has been in this city in a few years. never really saw many teams stress improving the blocking and coverage units in free agency like we have.. I’m sure it has happened, but probably not very often… Not really sure what we are getting from guys Iike Braman, Nolan, Maragos, Jason Phillips on the defensive side of the ball, but from a ST standpoint I’m expecting all of them to bring similar quality of play that our ST captain for years, Colt Anderson brought to the team, if not better. The fact that we didn’t even try to retain what we thought was a ST ace, in Colt and instead chose to sign all these ST players makes me think we will be a much improved unit.
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We saw both sides of the pendulum last year. Return game and kickoff coverage units that were horrible at times, and we also saw Boykin/Donnie Longball to bring such an elite level of ST play when punting, that it became one of our most valuable weapons to the defense….. If the other aspects of special teams improve enough to start becoming a weapon the way Boykin and Donnie were, I think it makes us a much better football team..
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And with how much emphasis we put on improving ST, I’m not sure how I could think that we won’t be better than last years ST..
It’s always safer to have low expectations. We should know what happens when there are high expectations, dream-teamers!
I don’t really have any expectations, though, because things can change so rapidly, like because of injury or somesuch. I certainly do not believe this team can win anything in the playoffs, so I guess that would be the extent of any “expectations”.
this meets my expectation of what I expected you to post
common sense, ain’t it?
I expected you to expect that his expectation was expected.
Or expectorated.
As fans, I suppose it doesn’t matter what our expectations are, but I should hope that the Eagles players and coaches have high expectations for themselves!
agreed
I think back to this time last season where we tried to project the rest of the NFC East and nobody expected the skins and giants to both start out somewhere near 0-5.
Out of the top teams from last year some are bound to have a sudden, inexplicable drop-off and right now we have no idea who they will be. For all we know right now there’s a chance the Seahawks don’t even make the playoffs next year…
Super Bowls for Super Foles!
In collage you usually see a year 2 jump then a year 3 peak. I expect 12-4 to 13-3 with a first round bye. Don’t expect a SB win this year, but should get close.
Where did you go to collage?
Romare Bearden U
Podge U. At their art supply store.
Re: Last place schedule
I think overall, we had a relatively favorable schedule last year, but I keep hearing people saying “last place schedule” and I think in general, that is a bit of an overrated fact.
The way the schedule is setup, every year you have both home and away games against your division rivals (6 games). On a three year rotating cycle, you (and the rest of your division) play the four teams from one division in your own conference (4 games). On a four year rotating cycle, you (and the rest of your division) play the four teams from one division in the other conference (4 games). And finally, the last two games of the season are filled by playing the two teams within your conference that were ranked the same as you within their own division the previous year (2 games).
In other words, within the 16 game season, being last place vs. first place affects only two games. On top of that, in the NFL, where teams will often go from worst to 1st from one year to the next, playing an a last place schedule doesn’t necessarily mean you will even have the easiest schedule within your own division by the end of the season.
I’m sort of nitpicking, but I guess to me, “last place schedule” vs. “first place schedule” just doesn’t make all that large of a difference in the difficulty of a schedule most years and it is more based on which conferences you are scheduled to play (which is predetermined) and how tough your own division is.
It’s not nitpicking… it’s a fact. Last place schedule effects 2 out of 16 games.
I hope we can maintain first place for a few years and the seahawks maintain a few years and we can get a rivalry going with them like the Colts-Patriots.
Good info
Last year, I really didn’t know what to think. I thought the offense would be fine but I had serious questions about the offensive line because of health and the defense as a whole. So I could see the team going 6-10 or 10-6. Thankfully, the Eagles finished at the top of that spectrum.
This year, I can see the team improving as a whole. Looking at last year’s performance, the team improved as the season progressed with quarter records as follows: 1-3, 2-2, 4-0, 3-1.
To me, this is a sign that the team learned as they went along so instead of starting from scratch, they will be starting with 80% of the team on the same page. That is a big deal to me.
On the other hand, the Eagles did have a number of things go their way (missing some stars on opposing teams, the offensive line being healthy, etc). Some of that will even out.
But what about the team itself? Offensively, the team will be different without DJax but I think they will still score quite a few points (just in a different way). Drives will be a bit longer and the work load will be even more distributed.
Defensively, I expect improvement but lack of depth at the ILB position is concerning. Last year, I came away with the opinion that when the team got what they were expecting, they did fine (good even). But when an offense did something they didn’t prepare for (like the Vikings passing or NO running), they couldn’t adjust. I think this was directly related to the players, and not the coaching. With a year under their belt, the addition of more depth across the board (except ILB), and players that better fit the scheme, I think there will be more diversity in the defense and more opportunities to adjust on the fly.
Overall, 10-6 again.
Barwins expectations fall in line with my hopes of this years defense.
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He says, expecting to start off, where we left off is unrealistic..but last year, we started off slow on defense when we were pretty poor, and after the Denver game it started to click and we went on to have that crazy impressive stretch of holding teams under 24…Barwin says the realistic hope, is to start the season around the level we were playing at 4-5 games before the saints, and to improve as the season went on….he feels that just expecting to pick off where e left off against Dallas and the saints probably isn’t realistic! but if we can start off where we were in early December, and then build on it…we will be much more improved than the defense that got off to that horrible start last season…
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And I think that’s a fair, and doable expectation..
My expectation for Nick Foles:
400/580, 4400 yards, 40 TDs, 12 INT, which would give him a QB rating of around 133.
That’s around 36 passes per game, which I see as realistic as I expect screen passes to play an even bigger role this season. An only slightly higher completion percentage and average per pass that I consider realistic as 2nd year improvements, and 2.5 passing touchdowns a game.
/me eyes bug
pass around that good stuff!
You do remember the Chip Kelly offense, right? Or is last season already too long ago?
Yes, I remember. I also know the game. You *do* realize that those are career numbers for a season by QBs who are going to the hall of fame, don’t you? With hall of fame receivers, too, right? Drew Brees is the only one I could think of quickly and check who didn’t have a Megatron or the like, and even then, it was really more of really good talent, spread out around him.
Chip Kelly isn’t making nobody that good, unless they already had the innate capability to be that good.
Chip Kelly isn’t making nobody that good? Counterpoint: Riley Cooper.
If I had said before last season I expect Riley Cooper to catch over 50 balls for over 800 yarsd with 8 TDs, that would have sounded a lot crazier than the numbers I just proposed for Nick Foles.
And looking at Foles’ TD numbers in games he started last year, the 2.5 TDs per game number I suggested is actually pretty conservative.
Daunte Culpepper was a much better technical passer (and not on the same planet as a rusher), and he’s, like, one of the very few non-Hall of Fame QBs to ever have numbers like that. You know why he has those numbers, in part. Who da hell do you think is *our* Randy Moss? Chip is, like, going to scheme the WR team into production like that? Maclin has a 15 TD season, as well as one other guy? Two Jimmy Grahams on one team? Cooper, Huff, Matthews, is the other Jimmy Graham?
You see where I’m going with this?
The Eagles had 4110 passing yards last season. Assuming Foles stays healthy all 16 games, I do not think a less than 300 yard improvement over 16 games would really be a shocking improvement. We’re talking about less than 20 yards a game.
Of course if you made the argument that the Eagles passing numbers will decrease because they will be playing conservatively in the latter stages of numerous blowout victories, you might have a valid point .
Foles also has around 4600 career yards in around a seasons worth of attempts.
It’s not the yardage. It’s the combination of yards and TDs. When they’re both high, that tends to be an indication of supreme play. I’ve already gone over why I don’t think this trait is consistent with Foles’ play, but seriously, QBs with high yardage, and not quite that many TDs are QBs who probably have low Y/A and other ills. QBs with relatively high TD compared to their yardage tend to be vulturing TDs from good RBs.
We was 2nd in rushing TDs last year tied with NE. So are the Pats RBs vulturing TDs from Brady?
We had 19 rushing TDs, NE 19, GB 17, Denver 16.
Foles has both good yards, good Y/A and good TD/int ratio for his career.
Think Matt Cassel ’10, Ponder ’12 for high(er) TD and low yards. Matt Schaub ’11 for the opposite direction.
But Foles did not have high TD and low yards per game in 2013, so what is your point?
Does Nick Foles look like, in any way, shape, or form, like Dan Marino? Kurt Warner? Drew Brees? Even guys like Joe Flacco or Matt Stafford?
Has visionary coaching, like Bill Walsh (offense) or Tony Dungy (defense) every really expressed themselves outside of totally (or nearly so) stacked teams, with multiple HoF’ers on a side? Even to expect Chip Kelly to be on Denny Green level, or Reid–both of them cut their teeth on legendary coaching staffs and got famous for being really good at getting production from what they were responsible for. Most of the great coaches are drawn from successful NFL coaching staffs. Only a few are like Harbaugh, it seems. Most of them flame out like Rob Chudzinski in one or two years (and like Chudzinski, was successful for a short while).
Why, oh why, didn’t the Falcons get even one year from Bobby Petrino??? One game to show his geeeniusss?
oh, never mind.
Actually Foles look a lot like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning is style in terms of touch, accuracy and arms strength and mobility (statue in pocket, but great pocket movement)
Well Tony Dungy won his only SB with great offense and not his signature Tampa 2 defense.
So far Kelly has already won more than all the flames out you mentioned and had a better rookie season than majority of SB winning coaches and he did it, with what you think is a crap QB.
My attitude is that Foles plays nothing like them. Both Brady and Manning can fit balls, lead receivers (so they can really get YAC after longer air yards), diagnose plays, and trust their eyes so they can take advantage of small windows. Etc, etc.
Foles got a awful lot of his yards and TDs from unforced errors, or from waiting for the defense to break down.
I guess all those TD Foles threw when guys wasnt open yet was just luck then?
Huh?
http://www.thechipwagon.com/eagles/2014/05/17-looking-for-mismatches.html
Here are two of those type of passes Foles cant make but he did against a top defense. Im not going to post every anticipation throw he did last year
Oh, yes, I saw that with a rather sour expression. Yes, that’s the way I want Foles to play like. My problem is that he very rarely plays like that, because he’s mostly looking for sure things when not throwing bucket passes that WRs have to come back for.
Maybe give him more than a year before you decide he can’t do consistently that which he has shown the ability to do.
He played extremely well in a handful of games – TB/AZ/Chicago spring immediately to mind. He’s still a young QB.
Maybe he’ll surprise you this year.
Every single thread…
It’s that kind of consistency Nick is aiming for.
How did Brady and Manning do in their first year and 1/2? Compare apples with apples.
Also should we give Walsh credit for coaching so many HOF players?
Players do not become HOF with talent alone and some of the best players for him wasnt even great talent (Montana and Rice was both 3rd round picks)
How many college coaches did Bilicheat ask advice from?
Nope, looks like Nick Foles. One of the best young quarterbacks in the game.
Hey, I’m not arguing that Foles would put up these kind of numbers in an Andy Reid offense, or in an anyone other than Chip Kelly offense.
But using the data we have now on Chip Kelly’s offense and Foles’ ability to perform in that offense, these numbers are comparable to what we saw last year with only slight improvements in a few areas.
If you take away the Dallas game last year that we are all hopefully calling an extreme aberration, Foles actually averaged 2.66 touchdowns a game in his starts last season. I took that number down a notch in my projection…
I’d be very good with 65% completion, 4000 yards, 36 TDs / 12 Ints.
My expectations are more Helmet2Helmet podcasts.
Foles. I really think its all on how Foles performs. I cannot wait to see how he plays against Seattle and SF. The only decent secondary he faced last season was ARI, and to his credit he played well. But I will only truly feel comfortable with him if he can put up a good performance against the best defenses in the NFL.
My only prediction that I can make is that I think the OL takes a big step back this year. Herremans is on the decline. We can attribute it to “adjusting to the system” all you want, but he’s been slipping each year just a little bit. Hopefully we address the OG position in the draft next year. Peters can’t have much more left in the tank, but at least he could probably handle OG for a few years until we get some youth back in the spot.
I trust Chip to adjust to the adjustments that teams will make against him, I trust that our offense will still be effective and not a one-year-wonder, and I trust that the defense will get better. But my main question is whether or not Foles got lucky, and he is just good, but not great; and does our OL manage to have a repeat performance of a last year? If those two things manage to work out for the best, I see no reason why we couldn’t contend for a Lombardi this year.
I think Herremans was fine after adjusting to playing at the RG position. He’s moved around a lot throughout his career, it’s not as simple as it seems to do that.
Concur. He’s now played 4 different positions. Three in the last three years. Each require somewhat different skills and reads. Last year, he was covering for a rookie RT in the first half of the season. I would expect him to have a couple decent seasons left in the tank.
Smart man
That being said, you don’t like to see an O-line get real old real fast and suddenly be in the position like Dallas was last year where they had to spend the first round pick on a center.
I don’t know that we have that problem because The young guys are unproven. LT is exceptionally hard to fill. RT and C are hard. Good LG/RG seem to be (somewhat) routinely available. We have LT covered for the foreseeable future with Peters & then Johnson. We have C covered for the next several. I just don’t know what we have in Kelly, Bamiro or Tobin. All young. Barbre is interim coverage.
I would expect the next draft to look more like one of AR’s. The offensive skill positions are covered, with the exception of the next feature RB. Need linemen.
If RGs were routinely available, we’d have gone deep into the playoffs in 2009-11 all else being equal. We wouldn’t have drafted the fireman. Things would have been niiiice. The Saints’ run has demonstrated why good guards are indispensible. Of course, with a short QB, they couldn’t afford to skimp, and didn’t expect Brees to make do with bad protection.
Mathis? FA. Herremans was a 4th round. 2009 they were expecting Stacy Andrews to pull his brother back into mental form. Wrong decision.
To quote GEAGLE, “really can’t be snapping our fingers and ask a guy to jump around and play new positions on the line and expect it to instantly be as good as it will get for him…asking a guy to move to a new position becomes even harder when you are learning a new offense, that requires new blocking schemes, using different techniques than you used under the previous coaching Regime”. That is exactly what was done to ‘the fireman’.
Nah. Had a big hole at the quarterback position.
I couldn’t disagree more… It takes two years for every other teams players to get back from injuries…not our players I guess huh..
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Think a lot of “experts” in philly will he made to look STUPID by Herremans play this year.. I have about 12 reasons why we will see a better Todfather this year, but I typed it too many times to do it again… But I suspect you will be pleasantly surprised by an offensive line that reaches new heights this year
I hope so, because I like Todd. As much as I love our eccentric linemen, I have a soft place in my heart for a guy who just shuts up and plays. Maybe our other OL play so well that Todd just seems like the weak link, I dunno, but I hope you are right.
1) Out of our injured OL, Todd was the last to heal. Instead of rehabbing this year, he gets to work the offseason program
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2) really can’t be snapping our fingers and ask a guy to jump around and play new positions on the line and expect it to instantly be as good as it will get for him…asking a guy to move to a new position becomes even harder when you are learning a new offense, that requires new blocking schemes, using different techniques than you used under the previous coaching Regime…on top of all that, he had the responsibility of being the one to play next to the Raw rookie and help Lane along the way…
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That soooo much to ask of a guy that I have a hard time believing his down year was do to the beginning of age catching up to him… And when you play so much better down the stretch than you did the first half of the season, it pretty much confirms that, ATleast in my mind….if your play is declining because age has caught up and you are becoming more limited athletically by the day, I don’t believe you would be having a better second half of the season, than first half…
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Just my thoughts… We’ll see.. I just feel good about our trainers, and coaches that if this was indeed a situation where it’s the beginning of the career nose dive for him, it would have been one of the first problems we adressed this offseason..
I think the Eagles will be a more solid, less seat-of-the-pants team this year, they will be better all around, but I don’t know if that translates to more wins or not.
Odds are we don’t get a situation again where we play against so many backup quarterbacks, for example, and you never know what kind of injury issues we’ll be dealing with ourselves.
I don’t see the Eagles as a likely Super Bowl contender this year but I think they are putting this team together as planned and on schedule.
10+wins, nfc east title, win at least one playoff game. anything less is a failure this season, for me.
I expect to win the division.
I hope to see progress over last season.
I am excited to see our offense with another year under their belt.
I am excited to see Foles progress over last year.
Ooooooh I forgot OTAs were open to media today and Chip and FOles would be available for questions!. Nice to get some new video today
Looking forward to T-Laws review of it. Chip used some serious words in that clip about Sproles and Mac. Then there was some dry humor about Nate Allen that I’ll let go without commenting :).
Tough not to see that and get jacked up..hearing Chip say that he thinks we are “light years”‘ahead of where we were this time last year in the program is awesome to hear. We improved so much last summer. To be better right now, should provide us with opportunities for more growth…
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Chip talks about how last year our guys were worrying about where to line up, what route to run, learning how they are expected to practice..and year two they are knowing moving even faster and are advanced enough in the program to where we are getting to concentrate on really refining our technique.. Basically we know what we are doing enough to where we can now focus soley on improving everyday… Sounds excellent to me after seeing how much they improved last year when everything was still so new…
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This was like the 15 time hearing about how excited Billy is over Malcolm…
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One thing I found Curious is why it’s so important to Chip to get across the point that Sproles is a darn good RB and not a receiver? He corrected the media multiple times reminding him of this and I don’t know how to interpret that or why it would matter to him
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Didn’t watch the Maclin video yet. Assume FOles spoke but that hasn’t been posted yet….. I was extremely dissapointed by the questions the media asked him…poor,job! They either wasted questions asking something he answered like 3 times..or clowns like Les asking questions designed to create Drama like “Is Brandon Graham the idea size for you at OLB”
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Like WTF is wrong with this clown? I wait friggin months for Chip to talk for 5 minutes, and it got veteran philly reporters who are a joke and don’t know how to act… How would that Hack expect Chip to respond to that while BG is here trying to work every day?.. Thus it led to a stupid answer like ” my ideal OLB is 6″11 400lbs”… Nothing worse than a reporter wasting one of the few questions Chip will
Answer, and some dumb shit that you know he won’t give u a half decent response to…. What a joke, it drives me crazy, how these people are continuosly allowed access to ask ridiculous crap..
Just watched some of the interview, and Chip seemed less snarky to me, and maybe provided more details/insight than usual. He seemed to have a different air about him… maybe like he is in more control and confident in year 2, and he senses that from the players as well. Of course its only May and the start of OTAs, but to hear that they are “light years” ahead of last year is a significant thing, in my opinion. A more comfortable team and a more comfortable Chip running the show, equals all of us should be truly excited for this season.
Yes sir….
A little perspective here…he has sophomores relearning freshmen material, shouldn`t they be light years ahead of last year?
Yes I definitely agree… they should be way ahead with another year under their belt. Just a little surprised at the way Chip expressed it, as he does not use much hyperbole. And of course I am projecting my own personal excitement and desire for the upcoming year.
Yeah, I agree with the excitement part.
Should be able to play faster, think less and really be able to focus on the technique and the small nuances of their positions…
Can he get comfortable enough to once again fully open camp up to the fans? We need make sure kids get a chance to have some unforgettable memories that come with having a fully open camp.
49’ers may be even better now …
Agree to disagree. That defense is bleeding talent, and it remains to be seen if they have the depth to replace it.
49ers are worse. QB took a step back last year, the entire team in begging for more money, and All-done Smith is about to get a rather lengthy suspension.
Looking forward to seeing Kelce welcome Chris Boreland to the NFL, since I assume Navarro wil be missing the eagles game
I’d rather see Fletcher Cox and Marcus Smith welcome Kaepernick to the disabled list with a devastating high/low crushing.
Followed by a Cary Williams bicep kiss over Kaep’s carcass.
Oh I definitely want to see us hand that kid a beating!!
Byrd has surgery on his back.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11002023/new-orleans-saints-coach-sean-payton-says-safety-jairus-byrd-back-surgery-keep-training-camp
Throw that in with Ward’s arrest last week… Jenkins is looking great atm.
I know fans and media think it’s BS… But I am convinced that we got the top safety on our wish list. I Genuinly believe that Billy Davis is extremely excited about adding him…. I really don’t think they are lying to us
Plus, he has the best tribal scar tat…
pic..
It’s actually a fraternity brand.
Sounds like this might have been something the Eagles knew about when he was on the market. Even his contract with the saints has him wait until 2015 to get a $6 million roster bonus and as much as that was a necessity with the New Orleans cap situation I think it’s also a hedge against his injuries.
He’ll probably still be fine and totally worth his multi-billion dollar contract but it’s definitely a gamble
I read that the back issue cropped up before he hit the market, so it definitely could have had an impact on how teams were viewing him.
I expect that, overall, this will be a better team — particularly on defense — than 2013’s. But that might or might not show up in the record. Its within the Eagles’ capability to go 11-5 and win a couple of playoff games. But they could be every bit as good and go, say, 9-7. I really expect the great leap forward for this team to come in 2015.
One thing that I was glad to hear about OTA’s today is that Marcus Smith “looks big.” We need this LB core to be special and I think we have 3 pieces for the future in Kendricks, Smith and Barwin. I’m really interested to see how this Braman character works out for us as well. I think this LB core is already a far cry from what Reid had during his late tenure here.
Waited years for LBs like this… Barwin says Marcus is very similar to him in build.. I’ll take that!!
And they said he was actually able to run with Damaris Johnson! I know it is early and OTA’s but when have we ever had a LB able to do that in the last 15 years? Emmons would be the closest
I honestly don’t know what to expect. On the one hand I think our roster is stronger this year and a bunch of young guys are going to have another year of growth under their belts, plus year 2 of the CK system should also be a positive factor. On the other our SOS is obviously a much bigger factor this year (unless we luck out on injuries again). So I can see us going anywhere from 8-8 to 11-5. If we fell below 8-8 I’d be disappointed but I don’t think it’s playoffs or bust for my expectations. I can see us being 9-7 and yet be a better team than last year just based on SOS.
I think people are getting a little carried away with the nick foles stat predictions though. I would be happy with a QB rating of 100 or better. You can’t possibly expect him to repeat the same statistical pace as last year, that was freakish.
I’d like:
10 wins, division win, home playoff win,
Greedy parts:
– only ok with losing to Seattle on road in division or championship round.
Icing on the cake:
Individual games – stuff Kaep, Scam, and She-li into trashcans when we play San Fran, Carolina, and NYG (2) into the garbage can when we play those teams. Including a HUGE hit on Kaep or Scam when they’re scrambling!
Individual player wishes:
4000 yard, 65% passing, 36 TD / 12 INT season from Foles.
1600 yard rushing 800 yard receiving 20 TD overall season from Shady.
50+ catches and productive seasons from Matthews and Ertz that get Maclin and Celek removed from the roster in 2015.
Accolades:
Pro bowl for: Foles, Shady, Peters, Mathis, Johnson (Lane), Donnie Jones, Cox.
All-Pro: Shady, Peters, Mathis, Donnie Jones.
MVP voting: Shady in conversation and in the top 3.
Biggest thing that jumped out to me was 800 receiving for Shady. I hope not. I mean, he’s great, but spread the wealth, conserve him for the long haul.
Oh nicky.. While I appreciate you going into where’s Waldo mode and staying out of the limelight, oh how I have missed you! His press conference made sweet love to my ear drums :).. We got our very own golden boy…
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Love this kid, and cool to even see his growth at the podium handling a room of reporters. Feel so lucky to have this kid on our side!
I’ll feel even better if he gives DeAngelo Hall the middle finger after a long TD to Matthews or Huff.
“That’s my quarterback man”(as I wimper and shed a tear like bitch ass TO)
Ha ha.
On a side note, I’d also enjoy seeing Foles peg Antrelle Rolle in the face with a football after a play is blown dead.
And then running over to your boy perry Fewell, giving him a nice kick on the ass, and tell him to “keep the change you filthy midget animal”
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Antrel is a nice midget to abuse… But my number one wipping boy this year is Damontre Moore… Can’t wait to watch JP bully him
That would work. And/or Jaylen Watkins blocking Eli onto his head right in front of the Giants sideline on a pick 6 and asking if anybody over there wanted to do anything about it.
Interested that Gowton tweeted that right now Marcus is only learning Barwins position… Tho I understand why they are doing it.. Suspect because Barwin rushes from only 9 and 5 gaps, while Trent was used more inside…
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Barwins pass rushing gaps are easier or Marcus to start off with…
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At least that’s how I interpret it
Or they’re preparing to have my boy Graham on the roster all year.
I would expect so at this point… Keeping him from the year and just taking the compensatory pick when he signs elsewhere will probably provide more value than we would get for his expiring contract at this point….only real chance of getting something worth giving him away for is if a serious contender who’s window is closing like the Broncos, has horrible injury luck at DE this summer
It also has to do with the fact that Smith is the only one of the LB’s who could likely handle Barwin’s coverage responsibilities should he go down. Graham sure as heck can’t, Cole would struggle if asked to drop more and Braman and Long aren’t locks to play extensive defensive reps this year.
Very true… Nice not having to completely crap our pants all year worrying about Casey Mathews backing up Barwin…
Can Casey Matthews please not be on this team any more?
I would love nothing more…
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Curtis Marsh can’t be allowed back either..
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Remember when we used to spend 3rd round picks on Curtis marsh types? Yeah I won’t miss that
The worst part of that is we obviously wanted a corner and we thought Marsh was better option than a tall corner from stanford so we let seattle draft him two rounds later!
Let’s stop playing draft revisionist history. Let’s not pretend Seattle was so much smarter than everybody else. Like Chip said this year, if Seattle knew he was gonna be an all-pro they sure as hell wouldn’t have waited until the fifth round. The draft is a gamble. The Marsh pick wasn’t terrible and made sense. There were 3 mid round press corner types that everyone look at that year. Marsh, Sherman, and Cortez Allen. Sherman was the biggest. Marsh was the most athletic. Allen was the small school guy who had nice tape. Sherman and Marsh both were recent converts from offense. Allen was the small school guy. All had holes in their game. Based off tape I had them ranked Allen, Sherman, Marsh but it wasn’t a massive disparity between the three. They all could have gone anywhere between pick 100 and 200, each had pros and cons. The Eagles decided to go with the most athletic of the group.
Let’s also not pretend that there was some HORRIBLE drafting those two years. That was the Daniel Teo-Neshaim (whatever his name was) right before Navarro Bowman and Jimmy Graham. And we wanted a TE in that draft because we took Clay Harbor in the 5th. Those couple years put us back Big time for Depth!
Yes we had a couple bad drafts. So does any organization. Name an organization and I’ll go back a decade and find you a couple of bad drafts. There is a reason most of the scouts and front office from ’10 and ’11 now work for the media.
Once again you are using draft revisionist history. Bowman and Graham were both pretty big question marks coming out of college. Bowman was pretty average sized, had been dinged up alot in college, had character concerns and was a better space player than in the box. Graham played one year of football and went 17-213-5, so it’s not like he set the world on fire. There have been dozens of converted power forwards who teams tried to turn into TE’s in the last half decade. Graham and Julius Thomas are the only two to have really done anything.
But but…we shouldn’t have taken Jarret!!
Nah, if it’s a crap shoot then why do people do so much diligence? I think CKs methodology is probably way better than AR.
Ok it’s not a crap shoot but at best it’s poker or blackjack. You can do some things to improve your chances of success but at the end of the day there are so many factors that play into whether players succeed or fail that it’s in no way remotely close to a science or predictable.
Were there complaints about the Marsh pick at the time? I mean, he seems like somebody this regime might be interested in coming out of college, depending on his intangibles.
Excellent measurables for the position, new to the position so plenty of room to be coached up. Rough edges understandable.
I recall a bunch of bitching. It was hard for arguments to gain traction though because they called him a project from the second he was drafted.
Wasn’t he a running back? Lol
Yup.
I thought Marsh was a gone already. Mannn
It’s amazing I always forget that he even is on the team. I guess for a 3rd stringer you could do worse.
You don’t like the Tick?
Ironically enough, in my completely unrelated field, being “the tick” means the guy who fucks it up for everyone else.
The whole schedule discussion is overblown, we have no idea who is hot and not at this stage, who is fit and able to play on the Sunday we play these teams.
The thing i look at is that this team got better during last season, people point at the defence remembering the final drive of the Saints games and look at the stats for the whole season, but in the second half of the season (excluding the Vikings game) they generally played well and limited teams. We are deeper and better on Defence now and special teams should be improved, that will make us a better team.
Offensively I felt that thing biggest issue we had as a team was getting drives started, so often if we could get that 1st 1st down we would start rolling on Offence. DeSean for all his success last season, is not a consistent enough player at getting open on a 6 yard route to move the chains, and because of this i expect offensive improvement even if we are a little less explosive.
My guess is 11-5 this season and a play off win, but think there is just as much upside risk to that projection as a downside risk. If someone said we went 13-3 or 14-2 i could see that happening just as likely as going 8-8.
I’m not as rosy though i think we’ll be better. Cherrypicking stats means that you’re only counting games against non-playoff teams (minus GB who was without AR).
I think that they should be significantly better on both sides of the ball with the additions that were made, as well as the fact that they will be more familiar with the system. I see them winning the division again, but there will not be a lot of room for errors due to the strength of our schedule. This year they really cannot afford to drop any games to teams that they should beat.
I can’t wait to see how Foles improves being the guy from day one, and how the rookie receivers add to the mix. I think Ertz, will have a break out year, and Sproles will be a very nice surprise to the fans.
The defense should be more formidable. Bennie Logan seems to be putting the work in to be more stout at NT, and should have some help from Allen. Kendricks HAS to improve. Jenkins should be a noticeable upgrade, and hopefully he can help Earl, or Nate take the next step. Cox, and Thornton should benefit with a year of experience in this D under their belts. Cole should benefit from having Smith around to spell him once in a while, and Barwin should continue to play at a high level. I expect the corner play to improve due to the help at safety, and because some good competition was brought in to push them. All in all, it should be exciting to watch it all play out.
I feel very optimistic about the season. The team, from the owner down, is fundamentally sound now, whereas it was not for many years. Kelly is a smart, driven coach. His methods have met with nothing but success at every level he’s coached so far.
The remaining players from Reid’s locker room have bought in. They players they are bringing in have bought in. The diet changes and sleep schedules will only aid in the continued improvement of all the players in all areas across the board.
Nick Foles is a very good quarterback. Most importantly, he rarely makes the same mistake twice. For the first time in his young NFL career, he will have had an entire off-season in Chip’s system, and will be much more at ease. McCoy is a phenom, and Ertz is going to have a breakout season.
The defense is going to play smarter and faster. Reports are Jenkins is impressing already with his command of the defense. Allen has now been under the same coordinator for more than a season for the first time ever.
We had an intelligent draft.
Really, the Eagles as an organization have given me no reason to feel anything but upbeat about the this rapidly approaching season. GO BIRDS!!!
It’s amazing that no one is talking about josh huff. I really think out of all the rookies he could have best year.
I have predicted 400 total yards rushing and receiving for him. May not sound like a lot but 3rd round WRs rarely get over 300 yards total
One perspective is a look at Kelly’s work with the Ducks.
After “overachieving” each year, Duck fans were in wonder about whether Kelly could get peak performance year after year.
He did. One aspect was clear – moving on from a successful first year, the second was tremendous. Fast play became warp speed as the team became fully familiar with a new way of playing the game.
Although I have the same thoughts about next year as you, based on past history, I think Eagles fans have every right to be optimistic.