Big Night
Posted: August 28th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 134 Comments »First things first. Many of you want to know who made the roster with a good game tonight. Still too early for that. I need to check the tape to see who played well from an overall standpoint. The naked eye can only see so much. And remember…this isn’t about stats or results. Big plays against the Jets scrubs can be deceiving. You need to find NFL talent. You want guys whose skills translate well to real NFL games.
The big story of the night is the emergence of Cody Parkey, the rookie the Eagles traded for the other day. He kicked 2 field goals of more than 50 yards. He had pretty good depth on his kickoffs. Look beyond the numbers. Parkey looked good in doing that. He struck the ball firmly and cleanly. Those long FGs weren’t moving all over the place. They were fairly straight. I also liked the fact that Parkey handled the pressure of the moment well. A bad kick could have gotten him a pink slip.
Was that enough for Parkey to win the PK job? I’m no expert on kickers, mechanics and exactly what it takes to succeed in the NFL, but I really liked what I saw. I think I would go take the chance and go with Parkey. This kid is unproven, but he showed special potential tonight. While there is something to be said for Henery, he’s never shown anything special.
The Eagles piled up 568 yards of offense and scored 37 points. The skill players had a good night, but the real stars were the O-linemen. They controlled the line of scrimmage throughout the game. They gave Barkley good protection and opened some gaping holes for the runners.
Damaris Johnson helped his case for a roster spot quite a bit. He was 5-69 as a runner, including a 46-yd TD. He caught 2 passes for 19 yards. He also averaged 17 yards per punt return. He did everything the coaches asked of him. And you know how Chip Kelly loves versatility.
I still might go with Arrelious Benn for the final roster spot at WR. He was 2-55 as a receiver, including a 43-yd TD. He almost came up with another TD. He looked good as a receiver. I was disappointed not to see a WR screen go his way. I wanted to see his RAC skills.
Matt Barkley started slow. He was very pedestrian for a while, but then seemed to get into the flow of the game and he played better. I guess you would say there was more good than bad, but he’s just not playing at the level he needs to be. I think his biggest issue is that he’s trying to be too good…going for big plays rather than just moving the ball.
Barkley did finish 21-33-253, with 1 TD and 1 INT. Those numbers are solid, but the tape is more uneven.
I do not think G.J. Kinne has a legit shot at the roster.
TE Trey Burton helped himself in a big way. He led the team with 6 catches. Burton is a gifted pass catcher. He has good hands and is effective on short and intermediate routes. I thought his blocking was much better. Burton just might have earned a spot tonight. He’s at least in the mix.
I remain totally confused about RB. Chris Polk did not play. I have no idea what to make of his situation. Matt Tucker was 6-39 on the ground, but he looked to be cutting slowly as he went wide and then up the field. Henry Josey was terrific, going 22-121 on the ground. He looked fast and quick. I just get nervous about RBs who look fast vs backup defenders. Speed doesn’t always work against starters. Kenjon Barner was 5-21 on the ground before he left with an injury.
The overall defense played well. I don’t think anyone really jumped out. ILB Emmanuel Acho helped himself, from what I could tell. Would have been even better if he held onto a ball that he almost picked off. Bryan Braman looked good rushing off the edge. He has a very good dip move. Earl Wolff had a nice FF. Ed Reynolds had a couple of nice tackles, but missed an INT that would have really made him look good. Jaylen Watkins was physical as a hitter and tackler, but he did give up the TD pass.
It was good to see the Eagles go out and whip somebody, 37-7. They played well on both sides of the ball and for the second week in a row looked like a much better team than the opponent. The team is headed in the right direction and seems to get better each week.
* * * * *
Have any questions about who is eligible for the practice squad? Sam has your answers and all the details here.
_
From roto:
Eli Manning completed 1-of-4 passes for zero yards in the Giants’ preseason finale Thursday night.
That is, indeed, a real stat line. Eli finishes the preseason 20-of-41 (48.8 percent) passing for 188 yards (4.59 YPA), one touchdown, three fumbles (one lost), and five sacks absorbed. An offseason report from ESPN stated the Giants were concerned Eli had reached his decline phase.
Good.
Good.
Sounds about right.
Watch him break his brother’s records now.
Which one? Number of times forced into bad throws by Seattle in a game?
Hope so!
I’m so pissed at the NFL for not making Giants @ Seahawks the Thursday night opener. Seeing Eli terminated in front of the entire country in hostile territory with no o-line would have be classic.
I am really going to miss my mobile Sunday ticket I received with Madden last year. I am actually making a phone call to Comcast today and if it goes the way I expect I plan on canceling and going with a DirecTV/Fios deal. Very excited!! Besides pretty sure DTV receivers are the only consumer tuners that use MPEG4…
I remained married to Comcast due to the fact that FIOS lacks appropriate HD stations for Comcast based broadcasts (some Phillies games) and other networks (SEC network) and the satellite providers don’t carry Sportsnet thus depriving me of Phillies / Sixers / Flyers.
I like the Comcast service a ton… they are just scummy.
dumb question, I thought DirectTV was the cable. What’s the Fios for (internet?)?
oh, i thought direct tv was satellite, similar to Dish.
verizon FIOS does tv & internet, same as Comcast. they can be seen as a direct competitor, offering similar services.
Yep. I didn’t even realize it until I was becoming unhappy with Comcast. They offer packages for Fios internet and DirecTV programming.
Look at this schedule for a team that can’t block anybody:
@Detroit – loss (Suh might kill Eli)
vs. Arizona – loss (Abraham might kill Eli)
vs. Houston – win (Watt / Clowney might kill Eli)
@ Washington – loss (Orakpo might kill Eli)
vs. Atlanta – win (with the first pick in the 2015 NFL draft the Falcons select……….)
@ Eagles – LOSS
@ Dallas – Loss
vs. Indy – Loss (Luck might put up 50 on that overrated Giants D)
@ Seattle – Loss (Eli might get killed by about 8 dudes)
vs. San Fran – Loss (All-done Smith will be off of suspension by then and might kill Eli)
vs. Dallas – win
@ Jacksonville – loss (Jags improved D isn’t getting blocked by that O-line group)
@ Titans – loss (Titans aren’t good, but the Giants aren’t blocking them either)
vs. Washington – win
@ Rams – loss (exactly how are they blocking that front 4 in a dome?)
vs. Eagles – loss
4-12 Giants team this year.
Don’t believe Abraham will be playing for the cards.
Watkins was in coverage on the lone Jets TD, but Ed Reynolds really flubbed that up. He had the ball pass straight through his hands and into the Jets receiver’s hands.
I couldn’t figure out if that was him or Maragos. Thanks. That was pretty damn bad. Knock it down if you can’t get there son!
Another thing I always had beef with Henery is, he has NO muscle. Now this may not be the most important thing for a kicker but do you know how you kick balls out of the damn endzone? Muscle! Hell even fat would have helped him put some “umph” behind the fall. F=ma. More muscle increases both your (mass) and acceleration.
It’s not necessarily as simple as putting on muscle, for the same reason most QB’s and pitchers have pretty lean arms. The quick twitch fibers in muscle is not the same as the stuff body builders are made out of. It’s like a sports car vs a big rig. If Henery is naturally an ectomorph body type, it’d be hard for him to add bulk without significant reduction in his leg speed. I don’t blame Henery for being a noodle leg, it’s just as simple as he’s not good enough for this league, nothin personal.
He can significantly increase the muscle strength of his legs, increasing leg speed, without causing flexibility or movement problems.
for certain body types they do that without gaining the mass, they just get more wiry. I know a guy that has doubled his lift #’s since he began lifting but could barely put on a pound of muscle. Just don’t judge a person’s work ethic by how skinny they are. Henery’s not good enough, that’s all you need. No need to extend it to trashing a person’s work ethic, that’s just being ugly.
I can agree with that. Speaking of which it was nice to see Vick get the ovation (after he sort of insisted on it).
hah, agreed. Philly fans are way classier than they get credit for.
I you post a link to a scam web site after your “I know a guy” start; we’ll be very upset. I didn’t take you for the “do you want to make $2000 a week from home” type dudes.
No I don’t make $2000 a week. I’m listening……
Should I send you a check?
I’m arguing he just needed more mass to kick through the ball. He needed more muscle. Literally any kind would have helped.
Did you hear Alex salty comments downplaying those FGs because Cody had the wind on his side and how he would have liked that opportunity…
…
I look forward to a time where we don’t even discuss kickers. Because we get such consistent kicking that there is nothing to talk about because we are so used to getting money kicking
we need another Akers type guy to lock that ish down for the next decade
I hear you but it’s tricky. To talk about physics, It’s true that Greater mass and speed of the leg will make the ball go farther, but that’s when you talk about the leg vs the ball. The force begins at the muscle. If you add mass to the leg, it’s up to the muscle to take on that mass. If it doesn’t you might as well be making the ball heavier. In other words, more mass isn’t just more mass to drive into the ball, it’s more mass for your muscles to put into motion. It can reduce your leg speed and cancel out the benefit of more mass. Some bodies can handle the extra mass, others can’t. Either way I think we’re agreeing that Alex Henery isn’t getting it done for us.
But the mass you add is muscle. Its like putting a bigger engine in you car. The engine makes it weigh more but it also makes it go a hell of a lot faster. Muscle add to strength is not 1:1. its like, for instance, .3:1. you add the muscle but the strengths increases dramatically.
It’s just not that simple. It’s the reason QB’s can’t get more velocity from their throws just by hitting the gym. They could make the arm physically stronger, but it won’t help because the bulk you add for strength is slower muscle fiber. It’s slow and super strong (because that’s how you lift to prevent injury), like a tractor. It physically can’t keep up with a fastest twitch muscle fibers, it’s just along for the ride when throwing a ball at high velocity or sprinting or anything you are trying to do at maximum velocity. Again, imagine hitching a tractor to a sports car, the power of the tractor is immense but it won’t be able to help the sports car go any faster (It could definitely help it tow a boat though). It’s different for everyone because of genetics. Most people who aren’t elite athletes just can’t bulk up without slowing down.
And yes QB’s and kickers have gotten “stronger” arms and legs as a career goes on, but that is from perfecting their techniques. They get very efficient about compounding the motion of their entire body (ie qb’s have their hands flicking off a wrist, flying from the elbow moving on arms moving on a shoulder that is on a torquing torso that is driving off the legs).
Agree to disagree but you should probably read a bit more about different muscle fibers because what you are describing is wrong.
A simple like because you brought out the physics argument. How can someone argue with that? People try.
I thought under Chips sports science that everyone on the team was a lean, mean fighting machine…
Henery looks like the illegitimate love child of one of the Detmer boys with that build.
Henry and burton are my boys!! Hope they both make it! (Josey better make it!!) I dont think barner makes it, he hasnt looked good on returns and henry out produced him.. tucker as well.. and id rather give polk a roster spot then barner.
Damaris looked good, just wish he had legit speed. On that one play.. i forget if it was a KR of whatever but he made a nice play.. but got caught from behind. He def is shifty. gotta respect him!
Didn’t get to see Barner much last week, but based on what I saw today I have to say that I have serious doubts that he’ll make the roster. Especially not with the way Henry Josey played today
Barner would also cost us a 7th round pick to keep, so there’s that.
RB is locked in at this point.
McCoy, Sproles, Tucker/Josey. They have to go with 4, especially since Sproles is not going to get more than 10 carries a game should McCoy go down.
No way Polk makes the active roster. He’s injured far more often than he is healthy. Time to cut bait on him and waive/injured him. If he clears waivers, IR him.
I just don’t see how Damaris and Cody don’t make this team. Yes we are on first name basis.
Don’t you think that Damaris is just a 2nd tier version of Sproles, best case scenario?
He can play WR/RB/KR/PR, but none of them too well. If this wasn’t PS you’d have Sproles doing everything we see DJ doing. It’s way too crowded at RB, WR, and TE to keep him IMO.
He couldn’t even get on the field last year to do anything but returns. Damaris is fool’s gold, Josey will be groomed to do what Sproles does but in Chip’s flavor.
Yeh don’t fall for it. He hasn’t done anything for several years and with so much talent on this team idk why you would waste a spot on a short, small, less than fast player. Sproles is the better player.
Now we just need to wait to hear him get cut along with Henery.
To add on to my response to Mike, I think he simply struggled with the transition last year.
I didn’t come into this preseason thinking or hoping he would make it. His play and versatility have changed my mind. I am sure Andy or Marty would love to have him if he is cut. If he does I bet he catches 30-40 passes for one of them this year.
How many routes have you seen Josey run? I can’t think of any.
I didn’t want to sound all fan-boy crazy but that is exactly what I think of him as. My thought is with all these RB reps they are carving out a significant role in the offense for Sproles. One significant enough that they would want to keep it available should Sproles go down.
You say he can’t play any of them too well, but I can’t think of a WR who has had a better preseason than Johnson. He started out as the back up Y receiver in his rookie year here for a reason. He gets open as good as anyone and has done a much better job of securing the ball. He can plug a lot of holes and serve a gadget role in the meantime. I think he is also a valuable practice player. It just makes a bunch of sense to keep him in my eyes.
Didn’t he have a good preseason last year too? I don’t trust him. Last year we were all excited about him. For some reason, Chip never really used him. Maybe a year makes a difference? I’m not sure, but I’m not excited about him this year.
Damaris has a role as an NFL player, just not on this team. He’s good to be in the mix as a 4th/5th WR / return guy on some teams, we’re just better than that at this point.
Yeah we interested to see how Chip would use him. Then the preseason came and he just didn’t. The reports out of practice were the same. Unless I am remembering incorrectly.
Roster Projection:
55 total (Lane Johnson doesn’t count for 4 weeks, and I think they PUP Josh Huff)
#
NAME
POS.
62
Kelce, Jason
C
63
Molk, David
C
22
Boykin, Brandon
CB
21
Carmichael, Roc
CB
23
Carroll II, Nolan
CB
24
Fletcher, Bradley
CB
37
Watkins, Jaylen
CB
26
Williams, Cary
CB
93
Bair, Brandon
DE
91
Cox, Fletcher
DE
75
Curry, Vinny
DE
97
Hart, Taylor
DE
72
Thornton, Cedric
DE
94
Allen, Beau
DT
96
Logan, Bennie
DT
79
Herremans, Todd
G
69
Mathis, Evan
G
7
Parkey, Cody
K
51
Acho, Emmanuel
LB
98
Barwin, Connor
LB
56
Braman, Bryan
LB
58
Cole, Trent
LB
53
Goode, Najee
LB
55
Graham, Brandon
LB
95
Kendricks, Mychal
LB
59
Ryans, DeMeco
LB
90
Smith II, Marcus
LB
46
Dorenbos, Jon
LS
8
Jones, Donnie
P
2
Barkley, Matt
QB
9
Foles, Nick
QB
3
Sanchez, Mark
QB
34
Josey, Henry
RB
25
McCoy, LeSean
RB
43
Sproles, Darren
RB
39
Tucker, Matthew
RB
29
Allen, Nate
S
27
Jenkins, Malcolm
S
42
Maragos, Chris
S
28
Wolff, Earl
S
76
Barbre, Allen
T
66
Gardner, Andrew
T
65
Johnson, Lane
T
67
Kelly, Dennis
T
71
Peters, Jason
T
64
Tobin, Matt
T
85
Casey, James
TE
87
Celek, Brent
TE
86
Ertz, Zach
TE
17
Benn, Arrelious
WR
14
Cooper, Riley
WR
11
Huff, Josh
WR
18
Maclin, Jeremy
WR
81
Matthews, Jordan
WR
16
Smith, Brad
WR
That’s only 2 designated Guards, but Kelly and Barbre can both play guard.
Cuts =
Marsh, Curtis
CB
Keliikipi, Wade
DT
Square, Damion
DT
Andrews, Josh
G
Henery, Alex
K
Kaddu, Josh
LB
Long, Travis
LB
Matthews, Casey
LB
Kinne, G.J.
QB
Barner, Kenjon
RB
Polk, Chris
RB
Johnson, Keelan
S
Reynolds, Ed
S
Graf, Kevin
T
Burton, Trey
TE
Johnson, Damaris
WR
Maehl, Jeff
WR
Momah, Ifeanyi
WR
Murphy, Will
WR
Pratt, Quron
WR
Was with you until i saw ed reynolds, no way we cut our 5th round pick. Which players do you see headed to the squad?
I don’t think Chip is the kind of coach that will stick with a player just because he was a draft pick.
We don’t need to carry 5 safeties. Especially since Watkins is more of a safety than a corner to begin with.
What we know:
3 QB: FOles, fratboy, Barkley
3 RB,: Shady, Darren, Polk
5 WR: Coop, Mac, Jordan, Brad, Huff
8 OL: Starting 5(Barbre included) Tobin, Molk, Gardner
3 TE: Ertz, Celek, Casey
…..
22 offensive players Total
……
7 DL: 3 starters, Curry, Beau, papa Bear, Hart
6 OLB: Cole,BG,Barwin,Marcus. Braman, Long
3 ILB: Meco! Mykal. Goode
5 CB: Cary! Brad! Nolan. Boykin, Jalen
4 S: Malcolm, Nate, Mr. Wolff, maragos
….
25 defensive players
….
3 ST players: magic man, Donnie Pimpfoot, Cody kicker
….
That would total 50 players(not counting Lane). Room for 3 more players out of: Ed Reynolds! Rejus, Damaris, Maehl, Momah, Josey, Barner, Tucker, Dennis Kelly, Acho, Casey Mathews! Damon Square, Marsh, Roc
….
Who do people see as the final 3??? (Of course one will have to be cut or traded to make room for Lane Johnson’s return):
…
My best guess would prob be:
..
1) a 4th RB seems like almost a lock that this point
…
2) I don’t want to lose Ed Reynolds, talented 22yr old like him, I need to see how he improves over the course of a year before I’d be ok losing him. Annoyed seeing him miss that INT last night, because it think the kid has that playmaking gene in him. Really expect him to grow into a solid pro, hate to lose him right now
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3) 6th WR….Rejus looking better and better, and he brings it on special teams. If he stays healthy, should he much sharpest in November after about 8 games to really knock the Cobb webs off and really catch his stride…..I do NOT want to lose Momah until I get to see how much he improves with a year of our coaching and practicing with NFL talent. Hopefully he can grow safely on our practice squad for a year and next summer we really decide if he is someone we will move forward with or not…
I don’t think Long makes the team. He has not looked special at all and has been downright mediocre. Acho is the better player and we don’t need Long at OLB.
Cody Latimer looked fast tonight. He took a 8 yard pass and bursted up field for a 57 yard gain. He definitely has the speed that Matthews lacks. Sadly those two will forever be linked in Philadelphia…well at least on here they will.
I wouldn’t sleep on Matthews just yet.
He’s got all the tools to be a
great receiver. I can understand your man crush on Latimer but Matthews
is far from slow and will be an integral part of the Eagles success in
2014.
As your probably aware, he will start in the slot and will be moved all around as he is as versatile a player that we have.
My money is on Matthews to have a better season and career.
Probably. I don’t think Latimer will produce numbers early in his career since he has Thomas, Welker, and J.Thomas ahead of him in targets. Matthews is definitely in the better position right now since we’re relying on him to produce. Osweiler hasn’t looked all that bad so far btw.
At the time I’d have been very annoyed if they picked Latimer – I just didn’t think he’d be a good NFL receiver. Now I’m not as convinced as I once was, but I’m still reasonably confident Matthews will have a better career and that it won’t be particularly close.
I love Matthews RAC ability, especially in traffic. How many WR run like that in traffic?
What have you been watching? Matthews is mediocre if he can’t get any blocks.
I’m not sure they’ll be linked together. This isn’t like that JPP thing a few years ago. I’m a Mathews fan, because he’s here. If Latimer was here, I’d be a fan of his.
Except they both have 8.5 sacks combined over the past two seasons and JPPs career might be just about over due to his back.
And a ring…
Won by Welker dropping a pass and Chung not being good at reading rainbow passes that are in the air for 8 hours.
it was sickening to watch that…
Okay, so from a final 53 point of view, what are the chances they use the extra roster spot from Johnson’s suspension to keep both kickers until Week 4? They’ll give themselves more time to see whether Parkey is legit or just happened to have a good game without sacrificing Henery who, at the very least, is a solid fall-back.
The other aspect to this is Matt Prater finishes his suspension in Week 4, so either him or Brandon McManus will likely be on the market in the event the Eagles decide neither of the guys on the roster is worth keeping.
Kicker roulette! I would cut Henery regardless since I don’t think anyone would even want him.
Parkey looks like he could be the real deal, and unfortunately there is only one way to find out.
Getcha popcorn ready. This could get interesting.
Prater finishes week 5 because of Denver’s early bye week.
Dissapointing to see McManus shanking kicks in Dallas dome last night
I think the chances are very low. I can’t see the argument for Henery at this point.
You can always switch out from Parkey to one of those guys in week 5 anyway.
I imagine either Huff or Polk will get the recallable IR treatment.
And now Tobin is a guy you have to question about some type of injury designation.
And I’m not sure if we can PUP Polk or not due to when his injury occurred.
We can’t PUP anyone. They all practiced.
That makes me call into the question of letting Polk practice at all if we ultimately lose him.
He was hurt this off-season though, wasn’t he? If someone is hurt in the spring can you PUP them?
I don’t know the rule exactly, but I do know that I like Polk’s talent.
prior to training camp, yes.
Good point about Tobin (but there is no PUP for us). There is the recallable IR which can apply to only one player per team.
We might need to save that for a played higher up the food chain. I just would rather not risk losing Polk, Tucker, and/or Josey.
I don’t know what the point is of saving this spot, if you do you probably just wind up not using it anyway. There’s nothing special about the spot, really, it’s worse than a roster spot but better than an IR-for-the-year spot; if you use it on someone you just have to use roster spots for people you want to keep around, the way you always did in the past.
What is Fletcher Cox, Kenricks, Peters, etc. needs to do a 6 week surgery / rehab after week 1? I think that intent to return designation needs to be saved for an important guy.
No benefit to saving the spot for that. Take a guy like Huff. He’s either going to be on the roster, on IR recallable, or on IR for the year. Assuming you don’t want the latter, it’s going to be either the roster or Recallable. So he’s taking up space one way or the other, how does it hurt you that he’s taking up one kind of space as opposed to the other?
And most importantly, it’s a use-or-lose spot.
Incidentally, Huff and Polk remind me of a girl I used to know.
I don’t know if I am relieved or upset you didn’t share more detail.
I wish we were deeper at the ILB position and Safety. I was hoping Wolff, Acho and Goode would really step up during these preseason games, but they looked average.
But, all in all, I’m feeling pretty good about our team. I’m tired of the vanilla preseason games and I can’t wait for Kelly to unleash our true offense!
They looked to be running some exotic stuff last night. Fake QB draw/pass on first drive. Stunting LBers, blitzing safeties. I don’t think they were holding back. Probably no scheme, but they really wanted to call their plays it seemed.
Interesting to read the PFT “article” pointing out that Jim Harbaugh doesn’t have final say over the roster. I understand GMs in baseball deciding who is where, but in the NFL I think it is pretty imperative to let the coaches decide who the best 53 are.
I’m sure theres some major internal battles going on in SF. If Harbaugh doesn’t win the Super Bowl, he’s gone.
good I hope he goes to the AFC.
I hope he goes back to college.
Who will be looking for coaches next year?
…
Maybe bills, since Marone will have had two years already
..l
Raiders?
…
PRAY PHYLBIN DOESNT GET FIRED!!! If he keeps his job one more year, Dion Jordan will be an eagle!!
….
Giants…. SHIT Harbaugh is gonna coach the giants…
I don’t think it’s prudent to fire Marone after just 2 years. But I’d like to see Harbough in the AFC East (Dolphins?) to give the Pats another threat.
Who really cares about the pats? They haven’t won a Super Bowl in 10 years. How many years does Brady have left?… 3-4… He isn’t winning another Lombardi.
That defense has never again reached the level of excellence it was playing at when they were shouting out the offenses plays before the QB even told the play to his team mates.. AFC teams really need to step up because that conference is there for the taking..
…
I wouldn’t fire Marone either, but that organization is unstable with the death of the owner. I figure their will be a new owner before next season, and he may want to clean house and hire his own guys across the board.
They have come within a whisker of winning two more (took improbable catches by Giants receivers in two different games to prevent it). They are still a threat to make it back, particularly if their injury situation is better than last year, and they may win the coin flip this time (to be fair, all their Super Bowl wins were also by less than one score, so they have all basically been coin-flip games for them). It may depend on their defense, but they could challenge to get back to the Super Bowl.
Yup…that franchise is going to implode this year. Watch them not even make the playoffs… Their foundation is filled with dysfunction..from contract holdouts, major injuries, Lame duck coaches and Players like Iupati who know they won’t be re signed at the end of the year…. Banged up running game…
…
What made the Niners good was their defense and run game was so good that it made like easy for the QB. He didn’t have to do much to win games… This years the defense can’t shut teams down, so the offense will need to put up more points to win games..problem is their running game won’t be as good as it has been. So Kapernick will have to do more for them to win games. And it’s going to exploit just how under developed he is as an NFL passer. Average at best from the pocket…
…
Niners will not be the powerhouse they are used to being. I don’t think they will go full blown implosion like the Falcons did last year, but I can see them missing the playoffs, or getting eliminated in the wild card round….
…
Years of the most physical brand of football accumulating on there veteran bodies… They missed their window…it’s going to come crashing down this season
What is different about the run game this year?
Lack of depth.. They weren’t just a one man show these past few years. Think a lot will be riding on their rookie because I expect Gore to slow down. It’s been years of him taking a beating in such a physical power run game, I just don’t see how he can remain at that level for another year, especially with the lack of proven depth…not to mention that Oline may not be as strong as it once was.. Boone ain’t playing games. He is dead serious about this hold out. And their Backup line lost a few young players to injury already….this will be what? 4th, 5th year of playing this uper physical brand of ball, and they have gone deep in the playoffs every year, that’s like around 10 extra playoffs games they put their bodies thru, and those playoff games are typically the most physical… They damn near have an extra season worth of wear and year due to years of playoff success.
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This team was built with the Seahawks model. Top defense, run based offense, asking your QB to do as little possible to win. That team is NOT built to win games 34-31. But they aren’t going to have the defense to win games 20-17 which is really how that team is built to play…. Asking Kapernicl to do more, is going to throw this entire team out of whack and they should implode, in my mind ATleast..
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Defense was the strength. The Key was shutting down your run game. Make you one dimensional, pass rush, with two quality safeties flying around making plays… That front 7 is in shambles. They aren’t shutting down potent run games like the eagles, hawks, packers, bears…and that secondary isn’t shutting down passing games. Outside CBs are average at best, and they don’t have the horses they once had… That defense isn’t going to be holding teams to 17-24 points especially the first two months of the season…so the offense will be asked to do more then it’s built to do,lol when that happens, teams that are used to winning can get frustrated and you see things spiral out of control..
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Could he wrong… But I wouldn’t be surprised if they miss the playoffs, or cardinals jump them in the division standing
I think Hyde can be really good there.
I agree…. I just don’t know that Hyde can be really right away
I only saw about 15 plays from last nights game, so my comments won’t take last night into account, which is OK because I think 99% of decisions have already been made and what happened last night will have no bearing on roster decisions for the most part.
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I’d agree with Tom that Rejus gets the nod over Damaris and Momah.. With that said, it’s not a lock we keep any of them…. Thinking 12 and 22 personel will be a major part of our offense this year and we will no longer mostly play with 3 WR on the field…so I’m not really sure if we plan on keeping a 6th WR or not, but if we do, I’d say it would be Rejus.
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As for the kicker, we can down play about how it was just a preseason game, but I doubt that kicker will feel much more pressure than he felt last night, knowing his job was on the line and he may not get another chance of he makes a mistake, this kid stepped up to the plate twice and burried two FG’s that were literally longer than any FG Alex has made in his entire career. Alex longest FG is 51 yards…this is a tough decision for Chip, but I’d role the dice and go with the new dude..
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I’m happy Polk didn’t play. Not for nothing, but we shouldn’t have to see him play to know if we want to keep him or not, and he clearly wasn’t going to be healthy last night… No reason for him to risk further injury setbacks when our coaches already know what he brings to the table: solid strong power running, good pass catcher, good blitz pick up, bad ass on special teams kick coverage…. Wouldn’t mind if Josey woke up today “limping”‘from last nights game..hello IR?
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If Damaris played his last game as an eagle, sucks that no one thought to let him run some zone reads in the past.. Hopefully Momah can land safely on our practice squad…
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We have more quality backup OL than we have roster spots available.. Hate to see some crappy OL like the Giants eat off of us not having enough room to keep all our quality young OLinemen..
We expected a lot of 12 last year. Didn’t really pan out. Lets see if the offense evolves already in year 2…
We saw more and more 12 as Ertz gained experience and got comfortable to the point where we shredded the cardinals top
Rated defense out of 12. Chip does a great job of self scouting his team, so you can count on him knowing that FOles had his best number, most efficient play last year out of 12 personel, add the fact that Ertz is expected to take a major leap and be one of our top weapons, I think all roads lead to more two tightends this year… Not just 12 but also 22.
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I think last years offense was child’s play. It was just a foundation. This year we will really start to see Chips vision now that we have two key Chip type players in Sproles and Ert
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Those two players are the keys to this years offense. When we go two TE, two RB, which traditionally is when you see teams run smash mouth power runs out of that personel grouping..
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Ertz was focusing on his blocking this summer. We put 22 on the field and lineup in a traditional power formation with the TE’s on the line looking like extra offensive linemen, and we give it to shady or Sproles for a power run, soon as the play is over, we don’t let you substitute and 5 seconds later that same power formation is lined up with Sproles in the slot, Ertz out wide and six seconds after the last play ends the ball is snapped and we run a play out of our 3WR play book…
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What defense has 11 players they can put on the field that can stop traditional two TE power run formations, and 6 seconds later be ready to stop a 3 WR formation? The best part is we move so fast so not only are your bodies getting tired, but we put a ton of pressure on you mentally to get lined up to face a finesse 3WR formation after you faced a heavy TE tower run formation 6 seconds ago. You don’t get to use any presnap disguise that means we know exactly who to block and who is dropping into coverage, we don’t give you the time to run anything exotic, and we don’t let you Substitute your subpackages in the game…..your defense is screwed, Sproles, shady and Ertz will be the key to everything this year. Whoever has the slowest linebacker matched up on him, is getting a pass thrown his way…simple, but deadly
yep. yep . yep. more pro-like sets. Sproles, Ertz being the chess pieces.
If we keep Barner to be crappy at special teams and crappy on offense over Josey I will be pretty pissed. This is the NFL not Oregon.
Think Damaris also plays into the equation
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I don’t view Sproles as Shadys backup. GEAGLE thinks Sproles plays a different role, a complimentary role to our running back. This role needs to be able to function as a running back, needs to be versatile enough to also line up in the slot, and needs to have special teams value…
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I’m starting to think Damaris should be removed from ten WR equation, and Damaris should be competing for Sproles backup against Barner..
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As for Josey! that’s the wildcard. Can he line up in the slot? Does he bring the versatility that Sproles, Barner, Damaris being to the table?
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I don’t want to lose Josey either, I just have no clue what we are going to do with him… Wouldn’t feel comfortable putting him on the practice squad… My ideal scenario would probably be Josey waking up this morning, getting out bed “limping”, claiming to have suffered a “setback” last night. A set back so severe he won’t be able to play this year and will forced to be on IR…
Is anyone going to suggest we keep Henery over Parkey? Or is this 100% IB opinion at this point?
I like Henery’s comment about the wind. Hey, you’ve had wind at your back at least a couple times in 3 years, but I still see career long of 51.
In Henery’s (slight) defense, he’s really only been given the chance of kicking those two 51 yarders, and he made both. All of his 50+ misses were of the prayer-at-the-end-of-the-first-half variety, of 58, 60, and 63 yards (one per year). It does seem somewhat telling that neither coach seemed comfortable giving him those longer chances. But it’s not in-game misses. He was also good until last year with 45-49 yarders. He missed one in the playoff game with the score 0-0 yes (48 yarder), but the Saints would have just scored a TD at the end instead and would have won that game (they bled tons of clock to get it all the way down). To get this worked up over that one missed FG and say he sucks is ridiculous. He’s pretty good, not a great leg but has been quite accurate overall.
That said, he’s not great, which is what you hoped for when using a 4th round pick. If it looks like Parkey could be, it’s probably a good move to try that direction. It sure feels like Kelly has lost confidence in Henery so I’m guessing he goes that way.
Good points on his not being given a chance at 50+ (though as you say, there is likely a reason) and how his Saints miss wasn’t the end all. I just think Henery’s ceiling doesn’t seem all that high at this point. Parkey making a 53 and 54 yarder is impressive. Still a small sample of course, but makes me willing to change horses.
Wasn’t a terrible kick off part of what let the saints control their destiny at the end?
Henery kicked it two yards deep into the end zone. That is not terrible, it’s fine. The blame goes to the coverage team on that one. Sproles then returned it to the 37 yard line, and Williams took him down with a horse collar tackle which added 15 more yards. Henery usually gets the ball to the end zone (which used to be the “very good” hallmark) but will only rarely be able to cover up terrible coverage units on his own — they will be exposed. Plus the terrible coverage units usually means teams will attempt the return if the kickoff is in bounds at all.
Nah. Not going to say I know Parkey is better than Henery or anything, just Parkey’s earned his shot. Henery blew his. Hopefully it works out for us.
Not sure which beat writer raised this (Frank, maybe), but . . .
If Kelly keeps 5 WRs, who’s the back-up outside receiver?
Matthews? I had the impression he spent OTAs, MTAs, and TC playing the slot.
Smith can’t play outside.
Huff’s a slot guy, too.
Momah’s too raw.
D-Johnson’s not fast enough.
Either Benn or Maehl?
And I understand that, when healthy, Brad Smith can play STs pretty well. But he’s not been healthy. He’s not an option outside. And he’s shown as much as Polk during the exhibition games.
So who’s the guy?
I was under the impression that Brad can play outside, along with Jordan and Huff. I know for a fact that both rookies worked inside and outside. Heck we even started to use Maclin in the slot…if you move him in the slot, it probably means you aren’t short on capable outside Ws to replace him.
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Brad is an excellent special team player. As in, he rivals my beloved Braman and maragos as the better ST players on our team…
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My understanding is Brad smith is healthy. Chip specifically said in the post game press conference that Brad didn’t play because we seen what we needed to see from him, and we needed to look at other guys at WR’s…if we chose to sit him, I interpret that as him being healthy.
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With that said, I do think Rejus is very much in play. He brings it on Special team, and if he is looking good now, Chip understands that he still has plenty of rust to knock off. If you pleased with Rejus now, as long as he stays healthyj, you can probably expect him to really improve as he gets some games under his belt and we get to mid season…..
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I don’t think Chip feels like he needs to keep 6, but because we have talent at that position, I think there is a good chance we opt to keep a 6th, I’d assume it’s Rejus! but who knows? They all bring something to the table
excellent
What questions does everyone still have about how these rosters unfolds?
I need answers to:
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1) Kicker battle
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1a) RB situation clarity. I listed them as 1 and 1a because those are the two situations that give me headaches trying to figure out what happens.
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2) are we keeping 22yr old Ed Reynolds as 5th safety, or will we only be keeping 4 safeties???
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3) WR clarity..didn’t need Damaris having a monster night, it was bad enough trying to figure out Rejus vs. Momah vs. Maehl…..Damaris might be more suited for a Sproles role, than as a WR in this offense..
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4) assume both long and BG make the roster.
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5) are we finally exercising the Casey Mathews Deamon? Can we possibly be cleansed of both Alex AND “the ugly duckling” Casey Mathews in the same offseason?
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6) better not cut Polk
Honestly I’ve seen enough from Reynolds that we need to keep him on in some capacity. He had half a summer to practice and yet I still see him out there and make plays. I couldn’t watch last nights but I would have loved to see him come up with an int. Can you imagine if he was just a bit more athletic?!?! *Drools
I was shocked to see him botch that INT last night since the kid seems to have the playmaking, take it to the house gene. Only 22 years old, well coached, pedigree,decent size, Nate Allen level athleticism….be awesome if he was Earl Wolff type of athletic, but Nate level athlete will do….I do NOT want to lose him at the age of 22 to another Franchise, worst case I’m ok with him on IR, but I would so much rather him spend the year getting coached up and practicing against NFL players…. Like having young tandem like Wolff and Reynolds growing together
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Missed most of game doing fantasy draft, pissed in forgot to DVR it… Have to wait til 4pm Saturday when NFK network shows the replay
I forgot about the year he had 6 ints? and a bunch were returned. If he has playmaking ability, I will take that over pure athleticism any day. Lets not forget he was rated in the second round by many people for a while. Of course that isn’t coaches and GM’s grades but still.
That year had to impact this year. The way he was taking it to the house the year before, I would assume some. QBs stayed away from throwing his way…but yeah, he has a helluva year as a 20yr old the year before…..
Nate was probably a better athlete in college, but from what I could tell at the live practices, Ed and nate seemed to be similar athletes. Of course we are talking about post knee surgery Nate’s athleticism….
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Don’t think it’s too lofty of a goal for Reynolds to try and develop into a more aggressive, playmaking version of Nate….
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Like you said, he missed a ton of the offseason. I’d be really curious to see what he looks like this time next year
Why not cut Polk especially if they can’t put him on IR? You buried and dumped on Polk last year vs ‘Cut it Outside’ Brown all year.
Shady insurance,.. I don’t view Sproles as Shadys backup. Believe it or not there is more to the runningback battle than seeing a kid take a hand off against 3rd stringers and run thru giant hole.
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We are built to compete now. So need trusty back ups for important players like shady. As a backup, Polk has everything we need:
1) capable runner
2) Capable blocker, blitz pickup
3);Capable Receiver
4) nice special team player
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I don’t know that we have a more well rounded backup than Polk…..plus it’s not like his shoulder is continuing to act up. He is dealing with a hamstring. Let it heal and it won’t be a problem…
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I’d bet Chip told Polk not to play that he wouldn’t be cut. If Polk thought his job was on the line he would have played no Matter how he felt. The fact that he didn’t play, you can count on him making the roster,
I dnt understand the thought in keeping Damaris. The argument being he is good at rb and wr. He is versatile!!!!!! He plays good in space!!!!!! Well yeah but we already have 3 rbs that are good in space, we dnt have snaps for a 4th. As far as him being a wr, he really hasn’t shown enough for US to keep him over Benn, or even Momah. He is playing against seccond and 3rd string players. I mean it’s a good problem to have, whether to cut him or not but he needs to go somewhere else and I hope we can get a pick for him.
Exactly and the kicker is that he stinks a return guy. If Johnson was even above average as a KR/PR, he would be worth keeping since this team doesn’t have great options at either spot right now.
[…] Big Night – Iggles BlitzThe big story of the night is the emergence of Cody Parkey, the rookie the Eagles traded for the other day. He kicked 2 field goals of more than 50 yards. He had pretty good depth on his kickoffs. Look beyond the numbers. Parkey looked good in doing that. He struck the ball firmly and cleanly. Those long FGs weren’t moving all over the place. They were fairly straight. I also liked the fact that Parkey handled the pressure of the moment well. A bad kick could have gotten him a pink slip. Was that enough for Parkey to win the PK job? I’m no expert on kickers, mechanics and exactly what it takes to succeed in the NFL, but I really liked what I saw. I think I would go take the chance and go with Parkey. This kid is unproven, but he showed special potential tonight. While there is something to be said for Henery, he’s never shown anything special. […]
I can’t remember this much discussion in Philly about the kicker since Bounty Bowl with Zendejas in ’89.
Classic game (in Dallas on Thanksgiving) and an utterly dominant performance by ‘Gang Green.’
My favorite game from back then was the House of Pain game. I felt kind of hurt just watching. Scary defense.
‘Body Bag’ was always my favorite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IInU3PgwFVc