Chip Lovefest
Posted: August 14th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 137 Comments »Chip Kelly is a great coach, but also a compelling figure. His methods are interesting and he’s got enough of a personality that he comes across as a real person. You don’t have to be a die-hard football fan or even an Eagles fan to find Kelly interesting. The national media writes about John Harbaugh because he wins and they have to. The national media writes about Chip Kelly because they want to. That isn’t to say they are necessarily fans, but there are always good story angles with Kelly. In newspaper terms, he’s good copy.
Chris Brown wrote an excellent piece on Kelly for Grantland, focusing on Kelly’s impact on the NFL. Here’s a snippet, but you must go read the whole piece.
Kelly’s chief commitment isn’t to running a no-huddle offense; his goal is for the Eagles to be a no-huddle organization. For Kelly, the benefits extend far beyond the effect on opposing defenses. “One of the benefits we have from practice and the no-huddle offense, where every period is no-huddle, is our second and third [teams] — and I’ve gone back and charted this — get almost twice as many reps as other teams I’ve been at when you’re sitting in the second or third spot,” explained Eagles defensive coordinator Billy Davis, a longtime NFL veteran. That has a recruiting benefit when it comes to attracting backup players, which in turn helps the Eagles discover hidden gems. “If you’re [second or third string], you want to be in our camp because you get more reps than anyone else,” said Kelly. “Because of the reps we get in practice, our guys get a chance to develop a little more. You go to some teams and the threes aren’t getting many reps — they are losing time compared to our guys.”
I can’t stress how important the opening point there is…the Eagles are a no-huddle organization. That affects how the roster is constructed, the schemes they run, how the team trains, how they practice and everything else you can imagine. I’ve mentioned before that this was a point that really got Urban Meyer’s attention when he first studied Oregon. You can’t just run a no-huddle offense and expect great results. The whole program has to buy in to that philosophy and be run accordingly.
Brown’s talks in the piece about how NFL teams are already stealing Kelly’s ideas. That’s a sure sign that the ideas are working. It is up to Kelly and his staff to keep looking for new ideas to steal for themselves, as well as tweaking the current model to keep the Eagles a step ahead of the rest of the league.
* * * * *
Seth Wickersham wrote a piece that is every bit as good as Brown’s. He wrote about Chip Kelly, but did so through the eyes of LeSean McCoy. More must-read material. Here’s an entertaining blurb.
5. HE IS HAS A HARD ASS
At an afternoon practice, McCoy slaps Kelly’s ass, just to mess with him. Later, Kelly approaches him, looking serious. Now, in instances like this, you never know what Kelly might say. Once, after a goal-line fumble by Santos, his quarterback at UNH, Kelly put a comforting arm around him and said, “Congratulations for single-handedly losing us the game.” A couple of years later, when Santos came to the sideline in the tense fourth quarter of a playoff game, Kelly said, “What commercial do you think is on right now? I bet it’s that Peyton Manning commercial — ‘Cut that meat!'” Santos laughed and then threw the game-winning touchdown.
This time, Kelly says to Shady, “Did you get hurt?”
McCoy is confused. Hamstring? Knees? Shoulder? Nope, all good. “Hurt?” he says.
“Your hand! This thing’s tight.”
The days of football coaches ruling like tyrants is gone. They must communicate with the players in a different way these days. Kelly gets that and is willing to joke around at times. The key for Kelly is to know when to be focused and when to mix in some fun.
To this point, Kelly seems to have a great feel for how to reach his players. They almost all bought into his way of doing things, despite the unorthodox nature of Kelly’s ideas to NFL veterans. Kelly is able to communicate and to motivate. He also knows when to put his foot down and be a hard-ass. Kelly is trying to win football games, not a popularity contest. Last year McCoy missed out on a workout bonus. He went to the Eagles and asked if they would pay the bonus despite him not technically doing everything required. Kelly said no. (I think McCoy may have been working out on his own rather than at the team facility). Kelly could have caved in to the star player to get Shady on his side, but instead stuck with the letter of the law and let McCoy know that “close enough” was no longer acceptable at the NovaCare Complex.
Really insightful story by Wickersham.
* * * * *
The guys at Chip Wagon did a fantastic piece on mesh concepts in the Eagles offense. We really are lucky to have such amazing coverage of the Eagles by so many gifted writers and analysts.
* * *
Old Man Domowitch stopped chasing kids off his lawn long enough to write a good piece on rookie LB Marcus Smith. Here is some good insight by Todd Herremans on the rookie.
You could waterboard head coach Chip Kelly and defensive coordinator Bill Davis and they still won’t divulge their expectations for the first-round rookie. But if he gives them 400 snaps and five sacks this season, I guarantee you they’ll do somersaults on the 50-yard line at the Linc.
“I think he’s learning that he needs more of a counter [move],” veteran right guard Todd Herremans said. “And he’s going to have to work on his technique a little more. But I think he’s going to be a good player. I think he’s developing and making really good strides.
“But it’s just hard to get into the flow of the game right away as an edge-rusher. In college, they’re used to just blowing by a lot of guys. And then you come in here and you’ve got tackles who are more patient and more technically sound. You know you’re going to have to learn a little bit of this and a little bit of that. And in certain situations, you’re going to have to rush people differently.”
One interesting nugget from that…Trent Cole has 79 sacks, the 2nd most in Eagles history. I thought Clyde Simmons had more, but he “only” finished his Eagles career with 76. Clyde did have 121 for his career.
* * * * *
Judy Battista wrote a good story on Chip Kelly and Nick Foles for NFL.com.
On Tuesday, Foles took advantage of one of the benefits of joint practices, spending some of the time when the Eagles‘ offense was not on the field observing Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Foles, who hopes to pick Brady’s brain this week, said he was watching Brady’s movement in the pocket, how he places the ball in the right spot for the receiver, how he is willing to take shorter, underneath throws rather than press for a bigger gain. Those are the subtleties that set quarterbacks like Brady apart, the kinds of details that a third-year pro like Foles still must master.
Because of the vagaries of roster shuffling, it is difficult to draw straight-line comparisons from season to season. And certainly the departure of receiver DeSean Jackson and the addition of running backDarren Sproles is likely to alter the complexion of the Eagles‘ offense — and the throws Foles comes to rely on — as this season progresses. But it is impossible not to be seduced by the simple timeline of Foles’ development when an obvious anniversary like this one presents itself. Almost exactly a year ago, he wasn’t good enough to start. Now, when he looks to Brady for clues about how to improve, it doesn’t seem like such a laughable divide to bridge.
Anyone can ask veteran players for advice. I hope Foles listens and puts the tips into action. That can be invaluable information if it is used correctly. Chip Kelly can tell Foles a lot, but Kelly has never played QB in the NFL. Learning from your peers can be huge.
_
That hard ass story just made me think about an episode a few weeks back I had with my 5 yr old daughter. I’m 5’10” 195 lbs. I played football in college (I didn’t get to actually play in a game though) at Delaware in the early 90’s. I spanked this girl’s rear end so hard my hand stung. Then she turned around and laughed at me….
that lesean and chip article was GREAT!!! read that earlier today.
Foles will improve if and only if he is determined to.
Yeah, I don’t believe that players who work hard and dedicate themselves to their craft will regress. Hard work with quality coaching will equate to improvements..,
Watching the Jags cut up the Bears with Chad Henne…… if you didn’t believe that the Eagles and St. Nick were affected by the early penalties against the Bears, please do so now. Thank you.
Of course the penalties affected the game..
…
Just think how many times we saw FOles complete say a 10 yard pass on 2nd and 8, only to have it called back because an eagle away from the plays, that had no effect on FOles throw gets called for a penalty. So now a quality completion by FOles for a first down, not only doesn’t count, but instead of the first down it’s now 3rd and 18..
..
On top of all the penalties negating good plays and putting us in long 3rd down situations, even worse was the tempo… This is an offense based on tempo. Most QBs need to get into a Rythem to be successful..not only was play stopped for penalties so many times but Refs were taking an absurd amount of time to make the calls… If offenses can’t get into a Rythem, they will most likely struggle…
…
Our offense needs to flow.. Complete a few passes in a row, pick up a first down or two and that’s when you usually see our offense take off.. Not only was our QB not able to get in a Rythem, but we also couldn’t get our tempo going which is a big part of the offense…
…
As for the INTs, there was nothing wrong with the first one. The defender made a play and tipped the ball while he was throwing it so it fell short and was easy to intercept..if defender gets his hands on ball while a QB is throwing, usually something bad will happen…so I don’t really view that INT as any type of big deal
…
The second INT looked really bad, if he was trying to throw to the WR, because the pass was way behind Momah..but the TE and WR were in the same area, and when that happens it’s usually a broken play.. If he was throwing to the WR, it would be a horrible INT…but I’m not sure if he was looking to the WR or the TE behind him..
…
Amazing how many fans act like the sky is now falling at QB after the kid played like 15 snaps, and didn’t even get to use shady…don’t get how Friday could have worried any rational fan or media member
I’m not worried. I watched the Momah interview and I like where his head is at. Also he looks quick when he is doing his drills, I like that from a HUGE guy.
I knew you aren’t…speaking of the general fanbase..
…
Yeah I really liked his attitude and confidence, he knows that making the team will come down to ST play, but it don’t know how to interpret his ST comments…did he sound like he was confident in his special team play, or do you think he was down on his ST play and knows he has to step up and make something happen when his number is called on ST… Don’t know how to read his ST comments
Yeh, idk, maybe he is just humbled by last year and know he needs to improve everywhere. I know he said he wasn’t thinking about last year but how could you not when he looked like he belonged in the NAIA LOL!!
Meh. I figured before the game that the Bears’ starters would be more pumped than usual for a preseason game #1, especially the D, given the results from approximately 10 months ago. I don’t think they schemed anything outrageous, but I think, just for their own egos, those guys needed to have a good game against the Eagles. The Eagles were at normal preseason game #1 level – the starters just didn’t want to get hurt, the rest of the team fighting for their careers. The game makes quite a bit of sense from that viewpoint. Tonight will be a better game for evaluating the starters, but even that is somewhat foolish; it’s still preseason.
The Marcus smith article is a good read..Marcus talks about relying on speed doesn’t work in the NFL so he is focused on becoming a Technician and growing his repertoire of moves and counter moves.
…
He talked about how great it was that he got to practice a lot against Lane Johnson since he is with the twos with Barbre getting up to speed with the starting Line… By practicing with the twos, Lane is forced to grow independent of Herremans who he has been leaning on since Arriving. Practicing with the twos is good for his mental growth. Improving communication. And it also great that Marcus got so many reps out of a quality, starting caliber, long armed ultra athletic Bane Johnson..
…
Article says right how his best moves are the Chop, and the Chop spin and how he is trying to add a Bullrush since he thinks OL won’t expect a bullrush from a speed guy like him
Anyone know where I can find detailed DGR’s of all the special teams play from the bears game? I would like to read multiple peoples reports on the special teams game from the bears game…. And I’m going to be glued to my TV tomorrow especially during the Special teams play in the second, third and fourth quarters
Cooper and Mac aren’t playing tomorrow but both expected back to practice early next week.
…
Anyone know if Nolan is scheduled to play Tomorrow?
…
Anyone know the status of Polk? When will he make his preseason debut? Tucker vs. Polk looks like it could be a close fought battle..
…
What about Bennie Logan. Has he practiced with the Pats? Anyone have any idea if he is playing tomorrow?
..
Appreciate anyone sharing the answers..
Mo Momah.
….Mo problems….
If he makes the team, Foles ain’t going to have problems “finding him” unlike Djax.
True that….. Should at the very least grow into a valuable redzone weapon. That alone would make him the anti Jaccson
Exactly, nothing is more important than redzone offense. Was it like the past 3 years of Andy’s tenure, we were TERRIBLE in the RZ?
Yeah, horrible. Last year was like the best year we had in the redzone
Well in our case, Mo problems, Mo Momah
hopefully, Mo Momah, is Mo Problems for opposing defenses
http://youtu.be/gUhRKVIjJtw?t=30s
Mo Money… Mo Momah
http://youtu.be/gUhRKVIjJtw?t=30s
http://youtu.be/gUhRKVIjJtw?t=30s
Mo Momah… Mo Money
That’s what I’m talkin’ about! This is Momahtron’s chance to shine. You can’t really ask for better circumstances for a fringe trying to make an impact.
Philly will be the new Mo-Town!
Really excited to see what Jmatt does tomorrow. I hope he picks his game speed up a bit and isn’t so “ploddy.” Of course him making those contested grabs would be great too!
Yea! Ploddy/ lanky….idk it was bizarre. But i expect he will show us something tonight. He loomed fantastic in practice….
I’m expecting a significantly better night for him…
…
All our rookie should be better than last week. Wouldn’t read too much into a bad game from the first time a kid got a taste of an NFL game..
Marcus and Beau had nice showings last week even if they were nervous and their brains were going 100 mph in their first taste of action..they should both show a little bit more tonight now that they have NFL action under their belts
So you expect him to be something he wasnt in college?
He can plod his way to averaging 100 catches, 1400 yards, and 8 TDs over two seasons any time he likes.
He looked better in college than last Friday lol. The drag route he ran looked like he was walking. I thought there were better recievers on the board too but I guess we have to see what happens with him.
Mike Quick and Harold Carmicheal both get to see a lot of Jordan Mathews up close, they both saw his rough first time in an NFL. Game, yet both still think the kid can become a special weapon for us…
…
NFL defensive backs who practice against him every Day believe he can be a player for us…
..
Smart kid, amazing work ethic,genuine passion for his craft, getting quality coaches….I would wait a little more than his first time in an NFL game before I bet against that kid…
…
He also hasn’t played with FOles yet who is known to throw very catchable balls…
O I totally agree, but when he was first drafted, I was kinda like “huh?” I’m giving him several more games before I pass any kind of judgement. Right now he is just a rookie wideout in his first preseason games you know? I’m definitely excited to see what he can do but my expectations are neither high not low.
This might fit in, actually…
Arif Hasan wrote a really good post about process, and evaluating what’s going on in preseason games, and I thought that eagles fans might benefit from reading it before seeing tonight’s (technically) game. http://vikingsterritory.com/2014/analysis/2014-minnesota-vikings-mike-zimmer-is-about-process-over-outcome
Checked out Blake Bortles. Didn’t change my mind much on him. He’s better than Manziel, mostly because he has the proper physical talent. However, he’s just not a very exciting QB prospect. Dennard Robinson caught my attention, he has that electric look closer to Jamaal Charles than Dexter McCluster.
One of the reasons this article spoke to me is that sometimes, players only look good because the system put them in a position to look good, and this is definitely amplified by preseason chaos. For QBs, you really have to check the difficulty of the throws much more. Guys like Matt Flynn and Derek Anderson looks sharp throwing strikes in the preseason, mostly because the playcalling is vanilla, etc, etc. Chad Henne was like this as well, this game. However, amp up the difficulty of the throws or the difficulty of circumstances, like Derek Anderson’s TD to Kelvin Benjamin, and the reasons why they are backups become clear. So, for the most part, you should probably always pay little mind to the sort of performances that Manziel gave. Sure, sharp throws, on point, but most or all short and rather easy. There’s no real information on precisely how *good* he will be. Whereas Bortles did at least two reasonably difficult throws. Logan Thomas’ performance in retrospect is very striking. If he keeps it up throughout the preseason, then Drew Stanton will be backup in name only, I think.
All the games are nicely stretched out over a set of days, so I definitely will see the Eagles this time.
Greg Cosell had a very nice rip job on Manziel’s lack of progression throwing and leaving yards on the field when he was on with Ross Tucker the other morning.
Yup, Chris Brown, Chip Kelly’s aim is to break defenses–Triple Option 4 Life.
I love how Foles soaks up all he can from Brady. Last year he learned from Brady the two handed pump fake and now hopefully he picks up a few more helpful things / tricks.
I would like to see FOles just take the underneath throws that are available right away, instead of holding the ball a little longer to look for the Homerun…hoping that seeing Brady constantly take the underneath throws given to him, will rub off on Nick…
…
It’s great to lead the league in Big plays, but those big plays will always be available under Chip, take the short gains right away when they are available…completing passes getting into a Rythem allows us to rev up the pace..keep moving the chains and playing fast and we will catch defenses making mistakes and we will be able to capitalize with big plays
Interesting quote from a defensive coach about how they played the Eagles last year
http://i.imgur.com/A7FG4vx.png
I think the coach quoted in that article is over simplifying jamming guys at the line. Pat Kirwan broke down on Sirius NFL last year how easy it is to beat that by running bunch formations for free guys up for jams.
Sure. But that’s the problem. Chip was stuck using only bunch formations or putting Desean in the backfield to be useful, as opposed to putting him anywhere on the field like he would prefer.
it is a good point, and it matches what we all have been saying for a while. i think ChipWagon did a good article on this too. once Chip started seeing more press coverage, he found ways to get DeSean Jackson away from the press – line him up in the backfield, use bunch formations, send him in motion, etc.
chip already saw that one coming and already had a solution for it.
Exactly.
Jamming DJax at the line, as an emphasis, is much more about how bad the other receivers were. Nobody’s talking about jamming Cooper, if you haven’t noticed.
The general talk about timing of the receivers is about Foles’ inability to rescue plays as much as it is about stopping plays. More like the CB/S blitzes against Vick–try to shove from strength to weakness (and really more about Reid’s weakness than Vick).
I think that this set of keys to slowing the Eagles down is pretty misleading. The best and fastest way to slow the Eagles down, when it came to Vick or Foles last year is to have a good pass rush that has adequate or better LB/S filling in holes behind them. That’s what the Giants did, and Vick had to run for his first downs until he couldn’t.
Not really. Pressing Desean definitely worked. The reason nobody’s talking about jamming Cooper is that it’s hard to jam a 6’4 230 lb. receiver. It’s not hard at all to jam a 5’9 170lb. receiver.
Nice to see Eagles players getting praise and respect from some of the piece of crap Patriots…
…
Wilfork spoke glowingly of Kelce! seems very impressed with the way Kelce plays even if he lacks size…
..
Chandler Jones and McCourty dished out heavy praise to Zack Ertz..
….
Love waking up knowing we have eagles action tonight…
Sucks, but the most important aspect of tonight’s game to watch closely is the play of the backup Special teams… .its nice to see our starting ST units show so much improvement led by ST studs maragos/Braman/Brad smith, but the most important evaluations of tonight will be watching how back up ST players perform.
…
We have to start getting an idea of how fringe players rank in terms of special teams value.. No idea how to rank the Special teams ability of Momah,Maehl, Tucker, Bair! Kruger! long! marsh.
…
As for the OL, we basically have our 8 man rotation set. The 5 normal starters, Barbre, Tobin. Molk via default since Vandervelde had surgery. Those 8 OL are LOCKS to make the roster. Hopefully someone like Dennis, Gardner!Bamiro can have a few big preseason performances and make the coaches consider keeping a 9th OL
…
DL is getting on my nerves. We have 8’DL that I do NOT want to lose, but I’m not sure we will keep more than 7. Beau Allen is a lock to backup Bennie, so basically it’s going to end up coming down to keeping 2 of the 3: Hart, Bair and Kruger. I don’t want to lose any of these kids at this point, and I’m not sure we can safely place any on the practice squad without getting poached.. Any chance we keep 8 instead of 7? If it’s only going to be 7 it will come down to Bair vs. Kruger, and I’d be aggrivated to lose either at this point
Best bet at keeping the extra DL is if we only keep 5WR & 3RB I’d think.
Yeah, keeping 8 is tough… I’m sure we will keep 7. Figure we will use 6 DL in every single game(they will all rotate in fosnaps).. Keeping the 7th means he isn’t going to dress on Gameday, can we really keep 8 and deactivate two DL on game day?
…
I’d rather IR someone than to lose Bair or Kruger right now. I’m not ok losing Kruger until he gets to spend a year getting coaches up and practicing against Pro’s, but I wouldn’t want to Lose Bair right now either…
…
Chip talked about how we have some players who have been here a year, but didn’t get a chance to improve from the offseason program last year. Guys we added after the offseason program like Bair. Nadje Goode, Brad smith… Chip said all these guys really benefited from the offseason work, Chip specifically mentiond that Goode was looking,great
…
Chip basically admitted Momah can’t make the roster without being an asset on ST citing that if you aren’t #1,2,3 WR, u have to bring it on ST. He cited last year how Brad Smith was contributing on ST long before we ever let him on the field as a WR… A positive is Chip mentioned how Momah’s size can be adventageous on ST… Momah clearly learned how to use his body as a WR, hopefully he learns how to take advantage of his size on ST, makes a few ST plays in the next few game which would probably be enough to win a roster spot
We’ll see. Benn & Maehl are overhyped as ST players in my opinion. At this point he’s done more than both and provides more upside than both and deserves the roster spot over the two, even if he isn’t a good ST’r.
Personally for me, a 6’7 WR is a special enough rare talent and he showed so much improvement working on his own this past year, that I don’t need him to play ST to keep him. I would be FURIOUS if he is on another teams roster this year. I don’t want to lose him before next year, and I’m not even one of the Momah lover cult members.
…
Same with Kruger.. This two were raw as it gets when we got them. They weren’t supposed to pay off for us yet, I would be FURIOUS to lose either to another team before getting to see what they can do with a year of coaching and a year of practicing with the pro’s…
.,
If it were up to me I would probably:
1) Flip Marsh to the Jets for a pick
2) keep Momah
3) keep Travis long
4) keep Bair and Kruger as the 7th and 8th DL
,..
Practice squad:
Bamiro
Alejandro Villanueva
The small TE from Florida
Fluellen or Tucker
Graf the OT from Canadia lol
i’m starting to think we should keep Momah too.
but how about this option…
why does he need to play special teams? he could just be one of the guys that doesn’t dress on gamedays. there you go, we get to keep him, and he doesn’t play ST (or at all)
Think we’re just working with Chip’s philosophy more than the practicality of it. I agree, he’s not going to dress, if kept. But in the event of an injury, which at this point seems unavoidable, he’d be called to dress on game day and thus have to play some ST.
eh, in the event of injury at WR, we have another guy who probably won’t dress. that way, whoever is playing ST will continue to play ST.
but if someone who plays ST gets hurt… we need a guy who doesn’t dress (or another guy who wasn’t playing ST?) to step up and play some ST
We can always use some starters to fill in at ST when needed,,. Like last year, when we needed ST players, starters like Cary Williams were happy to step in and play ST…
I’m bout it bout it… Works for me
I just don’t wanna lose rare talent like him before he gets to work with our coaches for a year.., think we need this year to really find out how good he can be
I’d be willing to bet you can hide Kruger on the practice squad for another year.
I’d rather IR hart… It’s safer.
…
Hart isn’t a player that NEEDS to be IR’ed, but he isn’t going to be much better this year than what we get from Krugs or Bair….Krug spent a year on IR, Bair spent time on the practice squad! time for hart to take one for the team 🙂
Hey, all roads lead to Rome in this case because I don’t see them being stupid enough to risk losing a guy that they don’t want to lose.
If Beau Allen continues to impress, I’m quite sure they can get some looks where they get Bennie Logan running back out at DE where his weight works better.
I just feel like if we didn’t have to worry about teams poaching Krugs, we would have practice squaded him last year so he could be coached up and practice against pro’s instead of IR’ing him…
.,,
Unless he was really injured, but I assumed the injury was bullshit, and we just used it as an excuse to IR him…
…
It’s too early in their development to be having to choose between hart, krug or Bair… I don’t care how they keep them all, put them on the roster, IR hart, practice squad Krugs…do whatever they want, as long as I get to see all 3 at eagles training camp next year…I don’t want us to have to decide which one to lose before they get another year to grow and develop…
..,Next years training camp we should have a better idea on where their careers are headed and we can make a more informed decision about which one to give up on
I’d offer the whole undertaking becomes significantly easier from a numbers standpoint if both Graham and Curry are flipped to 4-3 teams for 2015 draft picks.
I’m as big of a fan of trading Graham as anyone, but I think if it were possible, it would have been done already. I don’t want to trade Curry yet. We need at least one player that can hang out in the backfield regularly.
I hear you on that, but I don’t see either guy really suited to a 3-4 and they don’t want to keep Curry on the field enough to really impact a game; so I think we need to move on.
I don’t disagree. He’s gone after his contract. But he’s a player I’d max my value out of. Hard to say what he brings back in a trade. I’d like to think it’d be a 5th or 6th, but I wouldn’t get my hopes too high.
If it means keeping Bair, Hart, and Kruger all on this team; I’m good with a 7th for Graham and a 5th for Curry.
Watch curry get us Dion Jordan in a trade, or get moved to predator next year
Curry is untradeable right now…. Even if teams offer a high pick we have to say no…. Can’t trade Vinny until an edge pass rushing terror emerges from us..
…
Pressure is crucial, and it’s bad enough we have to blitz a lot and hope are above average interior pass rushers! Cox and Curry can compensate for not having a sackmaster at OLB,.,, I think as soon as we have an OLB we can count on to get to QBs consistently, we will see the eagles cash in on the trade Chip….and if we don’t trade Curry this year, bet there is a good chance we can flip him for Dion next offseason, especially if Dion doesn’t have a monster year… Hoping curry gets 6-8 sacks as a nickel pass rusher this year
If Curry was truly a guy we can’t trade due to his importance as a pass pressure guy; why don’t they play him for more snaps?
I assume he will be on the field every single time it’s 3rd and 5 or longer…..after Cox and Curry, there is a major drop off in terms of interior pass rush when we go to our 4man Lines on 3rd down…. No one comes close to bringing what Curry and Cox bring to out nickel… Honestly, I can’t even guess who would back them up in Nickel, that’s how much better they Are then anyone else we have in that role…
…
I’m telling you, be patient and Curry will end up fetching us Dion Jordan next offseason
And completely gut the pass rush? Take away Curry and Graham and the only competent pass rusher we have is T. Cole.
Anyone know if Nolan Carrol and Bennie Logan are playing tonight?
No asking the same question twice! LMAO! You jacked for tonight? Can’t wait. Got the recorder all set. Card game before hand. Beer n pizza during. Tonight we get a peak at a little more of this teams play after over a year into the system. I know it’s early to say it but if I was Jax, I’d be shaking in my boots a bit.
Of course,., then again, I’d get jacked over an eagles pep rally…
…
Want to see Bennie Logan get some work, and if both Logan and Beau are available tonight, I hope to see Square get some snaps at DE… He isn’t going to be a NT for us, simple as that, we might as well give him some reps at DE…
…
I’d like to see Beau get like two quarters worth of work today.
…
Hoping Curtis marsh puts an impressive game on film. Teams like Jets are desperate for CB’s… The way marsh has improved, I’m not crazy about trading him straight up for another player. At probably rather keep him than trade him for a player..but if we can turn him into an extra 6th, that would be real dope
Only read half the material — couple of things bugged me. One is the word gimmicks. Maybe it was a tongue-n-cheek thing .. but calling Chips plays gimmicks shows you don’t know a thing about Chip.
Second — where it talks about Foles not playing well enough in the pre-season last year. This is a point I’ll argue forever. Foles played well enough to show he should start. So far — that call by Chip was his only mistake. Well that and calling his own arse tight.
So far though, some great reading material. You have to wonder, with NFL teams starting to deploy the same offensive strategies — does Chip know how to stop his own offense? He will eventually have to know.
i agree with you – i thought Foles played ‘well enough’ in the preseason last year. but i also think that Vick clearly outplayed him in the preseason as well so he deserved to start out the season #1.
true — but we’ve known what Vick brought to the table. He never changes. What we weren’t sure about is what Foles can do. New coach, new system, clean slate — find out what you have. Instead Chip started Vick on “veteran” presence alone. I really can’t fault him for that. Chip wanted to see with his own eyes and not trust history. History repeated itself. Since Foles didn’t fall on his face in the preseason — he should have gotten the nod…
I read the Grantland article yesterday and it seems that every time a new article on Chip comes out, I’m just more and more impressed. I really don’t worry about other teams copying him or teams catching up to what he wants to do. What other teams are just beginning to do now, Kelly has been doing for years. Plus he is constantly evolving the thing. Also, it’s one thing to try and steal the concepts, it’s another to know how to teach them.
So it looks like Momah and Benn are starting on the outside tonight. I really hope to see continued improvement from Momah. Maehl may be the better Special Teamer but Momah has more upside as a WR if Maclin or Cooper go down.
I am really starting to worry about Fletcher Cox from what I’m reading of practice reports. We need him to “special”, not just an above average starter. In some ways his situation reminds me of Broderick Bunkley. Bunk was a 1-gap, penetrating beast in college, we drafted him and promptly switched to a two-gap system. I think Cox is more talented overall, but you can draw some comparisons there.
Actually, I’m starting to question more and more to switch to the 3-4. Cole, Graham, Cox, Curry…there are best potential pass rushers and they’re being hindered by scheme / fit. It’s like we’re trying to play chess with checker pieces. When you think about keys to success for this season I think pass rush has to be right up there along with Foles progressing and McCoy staying healthy.
Fletcher Cox is going to have a MONSTER year.. Nothing to worry about. Take that to the bank
…
The media who is down on Cox are going to end up looking like the jackasses that said Demeco sucks every single preseason
I hope you’re right. I’d love to see 6+ sacks from him.
What did he have last year, 39 QB hurries or something crazy? People don’t realize but Cox graded out last year as one of the top 3-4 DEs in the NFL….
…
It be great to see more Sacks, but sack count doesn’t tell the entire story… For example, off the top of my head,I can think of two times last year Cox didn’t get the sack, but he forced a bad throw that Boykin intercepted… It’s really all about pressure, not sacks… Sack are nice! but it prefer those two INTs last year instead of seeing him get two extra sacks..
…
Soooooo not the least bit concerned about Cox
All very true, well said. I have such high hopes for him that the mere thought of him not fulfilling his potential makes me weep. But if you’re confident, I will be too.
I named my damn PUP after him lol.. Imagine how I’ll feel if he doesn’t fulfill his promise and sign a contract extension with us? Lol
“The media…”
Stop listening to WIP.
I’m not a hero.. Find a new role model. Don’t need to see some worthless comment with your name under one of my posts every single day. It’s getting creepy. Dont make me get a restraining order on you.
.,.
It’s bad enough, once a day I see one of your posts with my name in it… Honestly, do you think you would ever see your name in one of my posts? It’s rare that I even read or respond to one of your daily advances…
…
Go play with Shah or something
..
Good day, good sir
GEAGLE, you can’t get mad when people respond to your comments, when you are literally 50% of the comments here.
Fact Check: the only two times I’ve counted, he was 33% and 44% of the comments. I believe both articles were around 100 comments each. The more you know.
I listen to WIP. They don’t sway me one way or the other.
Who is good on that station? Really have no idea what goes on over There… Only time I ever listen to WIP Is if I catch Rueban franks or Ray Didinger as a guest…and is try to make sure to always tune in to Howie Roseman show on Mondays…. But I have no idea who their regular radio hosts are…
I’d totally reserve judgement on Fletcher Cox until you see what he does week 1 vs. the Jags and beyond. I’m from the “preseason is for guys that aren’t locks to make the team mentality” that used to proliferate with guys like Reggie White, Jerome Brown, Andre Watters, etc.
Cox, by virtue in playing in a 3-4, isn’t going to be able to stand out at first glance with his play-making, The practice “reports” are valid, but we’re still talking practice situations that really count for much. I’ll judge Cox based on his ability to take up two blockers once we start seeing some regular season game tape.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d29VsG35DQM
lol
I’m not sure how old you are, but a few of the core guys on the D (Seth, Byron, and maybe Watters) got themselves in some hot water with Kotite one early 90s pre-season game because they were eating wings on the sideline after they’d been taken out in favor of the young guys.
I was in my early-mid teens during the Kotite years so I don’t remember that story. I’m sure that some of it is that Cox isn’t going all out in intra-squad practices. We definitely know what he’s capable of, I just want to see him put it all together and take that next step this year.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bu32jwtIgAAMy1t.png
Polk, Tucker, Fluellen all expected to miss tonight’s game, so once Shady and Sproles are finished their rounds, which probably will be by halftime, it will be up to Henry Josey.
Wow…I don’t like this….don’t want to expose shady and Sproles to so many snaps… I guess we can play them without giving them too many touches… Can we even trust Jose to play a half? Play Huff at RB!!!
We could be looking at some empty backfield stuff…
Damaris Johnson has been filling in at running back this week. Be funny to see him get some running back carries in the 4th quarter…
…
Damaris is weeks from being cut by the eagles… Imagine if we have to play him at runningback and he just magically looks like the second coming of Darren Sproles and he goes on to have spectacular career as a running back lol… Ok back to non fiction…
Thank god we play tonight. Can’t take another day of ESPN nerds talking about how FOles struggled greatly last week. Half prob didn’t even see him play. Watched highlights, looked at the stats and concluded that FOles was horrible
…
Tho part of me would like to see him troll our crazy media and silly fanbase. Be funny to see this city go crazy with Nick playing poorly in every preseason game…only to go back to the rainmaker as soon as the regular season starts…be funny to watch all the “fans” who jump off his bandwagon and start calling for Sanchez
Les Bowen on Momah’s performance last preseason: “…he looked like a giraffe who had wandered onto a busy freeway.”
Ha!
I don’t envy the coaches that have to decide on this years roster, there are going to be some really tough decisions to be made…
…
Basically, we will get to keep two or three out of this pool of players:
Kruger
Bair
long
marsh
Momah
Benn
Maehl
Dennis Kelly
Bamiro
Andrew Gardner
Mathew Tucker
Jason Phillips
…..
Can anyone Easily pick two or three players? Wish we could keep like 5 of them..
…
We did NOT have these roster problems last year. Amazing how much we were able to improve our depth from last year…can’t even imagine how much more difficult it will be to make next years team
Gardner is the only lock on that list. Damn. Kruger probably makes the team as well. Hoping for Momah.
Gardner isn’t a lock at all…
…
Actually he may make the roster initially, but then get cut when Lane gets back from suspension,,,
,,,
The LOCKS at OL are: 5 starters from last year
6) Barbre
7) Tobin
8) Molk by default since Vandervelde had surgery,..
…
If we are keeping more than 8 OL, Gardner or whoever wants to be the 9th OL, has to prove to be more valuable than all those above listed players… I don’t believe any of those players are competing with the other guys at their position… Think all those guys are competing with each other for two maybe 3 spots…
Gardner looked good against Chicago. Of course take that with a grain of salt.
I think Gardner projects higher than Tobin.
Not sure who is the better OL today, but I think the eagles like Tobin a lot… After Barbre! my guess is they have Tobin as the next in line… Not sure if it’s because he is the most game ready, or because they think they can turn him into a player with coaching, But I get the impression this franchise is high on him… But Gardner is no slouch either. No matter what, Gardner will have to make the initial roster because Lane doesn’t count as one of the 53 during his suspension…
…
Was listening to Jamaal Jackson talk OL, and he believes our OL should start the season strong with Barbre.. Interesting that he said normally when a starter has to start the season suspended, he would still be working with the first team right now. Instead we are giving Barbre months of continuity playing next to Herremans. It should serve us well
…
Also nice to have some silver lining from a crappy situation. Lane playing with the second team all summer is forcing him to learn to be vocal and function without Todd Herremans.. Lane on second string also meant that Marcus Smith got to spend a lot of time working against a big, long, athletic starting caliber tackle all offseason, even tho Marcus wasn’t with the first string defense
DL is tricky,,,
.,,
Some media like McManus is predicting we only keep 6 DL which is how many we ended last season with…but at the beginning of the season we kept 7(before trading away Soap) but only dressed 6…. You figure we rotate DL and we will play 6 DL in every game.. If a coach wants to play 6 DL, he is going to need 1 Sub in case of injury…. So I’d bet that we keep 7:
1) Cox
2) Ced
3) Bennie
4) Curry
5)’Beau Allen
….
I think Kruger, Bair and Hart are competing for the #6 and #7(who doesn’t dress on Gameday) DL spots….
..
Don’t want to lose any of the 3, and it’s not likely we keep 8.
Hopefully we can put one on practice squad without getting poached, but if we don’t think we can pull that off, hopefully we can IR someone…
…
I want to see all those guys competing at next years camp, before we make a definitive answer on who we keep, or who we get rid of…plus we could end up trading Vinny C urry for someone like Dion(fingers crossed) next offseason, in which case we will have room for Bair, Krugs and hart
I think Hart has to make the 53 as well. No way you sneak him onto the PS. Bair, Kruger get cut in an attempt to PS them. 7 DL seems excessive.
No… 7 DL is neccessary. Azzinaro wants to play 6 DL in every game.. Can’t just assume 6 DL can stay healthy for 16 games..need ATleast 1 sub…I’d be really shocked if we only kept 6’DL… My problem is we have 8 DL that I don’t want to lose at this point in time..,
…
If Kruger and Bair really step up and improve in every preseason game, I would be tempted to just fake an injury and IR Hart for a year. He doesn’t NEED to be IR’ed, so hopefully we find a way to keep all 8 of the DL in philly with some combo of roster spots, IR and practice squad… It’s not that i want all these defensive linemen in Games, it’s that I don’t want us to have to choose between Bair and Kruger until next year..
…
And if we end up trading Curry at the end of the year for a Draft pick or OLB, we will be short a DE…
…
On the DL it is sort of interesting. We are loaded with young an promising candidates, and the starters are incredibly young as well, all of them. While a rotation is nice, it’s not as essential as it was in the 4-3.
Some whack conspiracy stuff here, but I wonder if they’re going to start letting Vinny attack the gaps in PS and camp. Vinny must be looking pretty good to the Patriots right about now. Maybe look to get some value out of him in a trade. I would hate it since I love Vinny and he brings something we don’t have on our defense. But can we really justify keeping him and stowing away young talented 7th DL that has a similar career span as our starters? Kruger is the only guy with a high enough ceiling to ever challenge our current starters. Bair I have to write off despite being impressed by his PS play so far.
This is why I lean towards using the extra spots on CB and OL (where we have some aging players). We need to stash away some young guys who have a chance to be groomed into starters.
Personally I don’t think we can accept trade compensation for Vinny until we find a pass rushing edge terror. I think we will count on him to generate pressure on 3rd down this year..,
,..
I’m assuming that if we could count on generating pass rush, we would have traded him already. I’d bet he already is valued league wide…
….
Normally teams generate pass rush from the edge. Teams have those OLBs and 4-3 DEs they can count on for double digit sacks.. We don’t have that, so we will have to try to compensate with blitzing and having two above average pass rushing interior lineman, Curry and Cox,,,
,,,
I’m assuming that whenever it’s 3rd and 5, vinny is going in the game next to cox as the two interior pass rushers of the 4 man line…
…
Might see us try Vinny at OLB next year during his last year of his contract
Definitely a tough call, My votes would go:
Marsh: young dude coming around with the right size chip wants, Sconces and Fletcher won’t be around much longer past next year, I want to reap some rewards from the patience we had with that investment
Kruger: So young, so much ceiling, if it clicks it will be great, it can click any time
Gardner: Not a sexy pick but we need the depth badly on good line aging in a lot of places.
I do really want to keep Momah as well. I want to see how the rest of this pre season plays out, game 4 will be big for making these decisions.
I found McManus roster predictions to be terrible:
…
First off he has us keeping Emil Iguana Iguadala or whatever his name is as a 4th TE which simply isn’t going to happen
..
He has us keeping both Tucker and Polk, which is possible but I’m not ready to say that it’s a lock we keep 4 RB..
…
And he had us keeping like 10 OL, which I don’t see happening
..
He has us only keeping 6 DL which IMO is impossible. He has us cutting Kruger and Bair …
…
Think Andrew Gardner Initaially makes the team! because Lane doesn’t count as one of the 53…. Not sure if Gardner will remain on roster when Lane gets back, but he def intruigs me,,
,,
that’s True, Kinda hurts to keep Gardner if He’s just going to get cut when lane comes back. I’m not a fan of Molk, really wish one of the other linemen could play center/guard.
Don’t know what to think of Molk yet…not ready to have an opinion on him…I like hearing Kelce give him some rave reviews but I need to see more before I can really comment and take a stance on him…
..
He is basically being gifted a roster spot since his competition got injured but the silver lining to not having much depth at the position is that Molk should be forced to play the majority of the snaps at center for the next 3 preseason games, so we should have a good idea about his ability before the season starts…
…
Kids getting a tremendously favorable opportunity, hopefully he steps up and runs with it…
Not sure who’s PS eligible, but would keep Bair, Kelly/Gardner, and Long on 53 with Kruger, Kelly/Gardner, Momah, Bamiro, and Tucker on PS. I like Marsh, he’s likely on the bubble. Benn, Maehl, and Phillips are borderline, with Maehl the most likely to stick – haven’t heard much about Phillips, but seems like there’s a good mix of veterans and youth on the ST units.
Feels like the Eagles practice squad will have poachable talent – some hard choices await – waiver wire should be an interesting time for the Eagles as well; I’m sure Howie is monitoring closely and has multiple projections prepared…
Good point, it’s been months since we added any new players and that’s not that common.. Normally teams bring in players and cut players and keep looking at different guys throughout the summer…we have been working with the same 90 plays the entire time…I would assume that at some point ATleast 1 player that catches Chip/Howies eye hits the waiver wire…
..
Also weird that we haven’t seen the trade you our roster trash for your roster trash trades that Howie loves so much..
…
Odd to see so little personel movement since the start of OTAs… What are the odds that we go an entire summer without making a trade or picking up a player off waivers?
…
Why didn’t we bring in another center to look at when Vandervelde had surgery? Are they impressed with Molk that they would rather have him get a ton of reps this month, rather then bring someone else in to compete with him and take half his reps?
GEAGLE, Sorry about your boy Lyerla.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11356440/colt-lyerla-green-bay-packers-mcl-pcl-tears
Torn MCL and PCL.
That’s something I never thought of, getting more reps for their backups, what a great advantage of being in this system.
Can Vinny Currys Eagles career be salvaged?
….
Thornton was so good last year, that I think many people, are as guilty as I am of taking him for granted,,we have so much other talented youth on our DL that we forget how young and inexperienced Thornton is…it’s so early in his career, last year was a new scheme for him too, amazing how consistently he produced.. Cox who is even younger, ranked as one of the top 3-4 DE last year….we should be really excited that we can already count on two young DE’s to start for our DL for years to come..
..
Makes me think if all this curry isn’t a great fit talk is over rated…I mean, we have two very promising young starting DE’s, why does Vinny curry really have to be a great two gapper? For when a DE gets injured, or a few snaps a game when we want to give the DE’s a breather? When you really think about, Thornton and Curry combine like Voltron for what should be some kick ass production from that DL spot. Thornton can be elite against the run, but sucks at rushing the passer. Curry struggle to play the run two gapping but brings serious pass rush from that spot on 3rd down….what’s the problem? I mean, obviously we won’t be able to keep curry in that role Longterm, but for this year what more can you want from that side of the DL then Thornton on 1st and 2nd down,with Curry coming in for him on 3rd down?
….
I’m also wondering if after this season, maybe we should try to switch Curry to a predator OLB role? Think about it. At the end of this season, Brandon Graham will sign with another team, and the eagles will tell Trent Cole, no shot in hell he gets to keep that contract…great chance we lose both BG and Cole at the end of the year, which would leave us with Barwin! Marcus, Braman and possibly Long….and next year Marcus smith will be able to play a bigger role.
…
Since curry slimmed down on his own with this crazy diet! who knows how much more he can change his body if he was actually trying to slim down to play OLB? We could even start Marcus and Barwin as interchangable mirror OLBs, and when one needs a breather, we can rotate Curry in, and go from Mirror OLBs back to Predator and jack. Curry can give Barwin and Marcus a breather because either can be a jack to Currys Predator….
…
It’s not hard to let Vinny play OLB and only use him to attack. While the Jack drops in coverage….Curry was a good run defender as a 4-3 DE, so he is much better suited to play the run in this scheme as an OLB then a two gapping DE..
…
Curry can,rush from wherever.. He can beat offensive tackles just like he beats Guards, so we would still get his pass rush, but he would go from a liability in the run game as two gap DE, to a pretty solid run defender at OLB… The only thing he can’t do is drop back in coverage, but who cares when you have two OLBs who can excel in coverage(Barwin/Marcus)
….
After this year, may be a good idea to try and salvage his eagles career by seeing what he can do at predator OLB next year when we probably have to replace both Cole and Curry….
The BGN posts with the Pats bloggers are getting good comments. The Pats blogger basically asked “Williams shot off his mouth about cheating, but you’ve all backed away from that right?” then of course the comments get right into spygate. I mean, don’t ask that type of question and expect Eagles fans to just say, oh sure Cary doesn’t know what he’s talking about but we love the Patriots Way!!! give me a break.
So of course I sign up to comment, but it takes 3 days (!!!!!) for my membership to activate. Can anyone explain why 3 days to join a free blog?
then they start talking about well who is even left on the teams from then. Who cares, all of us fans remember.
Tell them Barrett Brooks says everyone knows they used their spy crap to beat the Steelers in the Conference title game…and that they shouldn’t even have been playing in that Super Bowl… It should have been Steelers vs. Eagles, fair game of let the best man win,..
..
Pieces of crab. Bellicek better NEVER win a ring post spy gate. He tries EVERTHING but NOTHING works without his spy ware… He tried to pair elite Randy Moss, Welker and Brady, but they weren’t good enough without their spyware… He tried to turn to super talents that were serial killers but that wasn’t good enough without their 007 secret agent spy crap…
..
Never going to win a Lombardi post spy gate….. I hope someone reminds them of their cheating ways every single year!
I hope you are right but I like their chances this year.
Really? I really don’t view them as anything special..
..
You think they will be much tougher than last year?
…
I see an average Brady led team year 10-6, 11-5, but nothing special enough to really go on a playoff tear…
Maybe if Gronk miraculously stays healthy and plays at an elite level…but I can’t really say that this patriots team is special compared to the last 4 years of Pats teams…maybe I’m under rating them
2 year WRs, and MUCH better secondary which has been their weakness for a while. At the end of the day only Peyton kept them from another SB.
Does Brady really have significantly better weapons than he had two years ago when him and Bellicek tried to pick on Cary Williams in the playoffs only to be sent home and end up watching the ravens win the Lombardi?
…
CB were significantly upgraded.
..
I guess the WR will be better than last year. I like kembrell more than Dobson…didn’t they play without Amendola or Edelmen last year or did they have both playing for them in the playoffs?
..
They do get Wilfork back, Chandler Jones is in the Cox category of needing to have a monster year.
…
Is their run game going to be better or worse than last year?
…
Brady plus a healthy Oline will always keep them contending, but I can’t really say I view them as one of the 3 teams I fear the most
There’s not much depth in the AFC, they’re a playoff lock — i think DEN is probably their only real issue.
They really have been eating off being in that division.,,
…
Other than the jets being tough for two years, they really enjoy that division..
yes they have, which is why I don’t agree when some folks say they want the NFC East to be strong so that we are battle tested.
Edelman and Amendola both played against Denver in the playoffs. Edelman had a ton of catches but not a lot of yards I think but don’t remember Amendola doing anything which is kind of a shame cos I like the kid. Good player, just can’t stay healthy.
Chandler’s an f’n beast. That D could be real good if they get him, Mayo, Wilfork and Revis playing to potential.
Not sure how good the supporting cast on offence needs to be, and on paper it’s arguably no worse than when they won their SBs. If the D plays well and Brady stays healthy they’ll be there or thereabouts.
1. AFC is not good. They almost always get a bye. They have to win 2 games to get to the SB.
2. Their DB’s have been their big issue, and they got Browner and Revis.
3. Their offense, as much as one might think is lacking (e.g., Brady had a down year, their WR’s are who?) was 2nd in scoring last year.
They are right there with Denver.
All true…
…
Especially since Kansas City is going to take a step back. Think they had one of the worst offseasons… Can anyone really say that team improved a lot this offseason?
..
But if we look at them in terms of league ranking,., I definitely wouldn’t talk about them as a top 3 team… Probably somewhere in the #5 – #10 range.
…
It’s not that I don’t view them as a top team, I just don’t think this years patriots team is special..it’s just another patriots team in my eyes, playoff team as always tho…and in my eyes, if you can make the playoffs, you can win a Super Bowl..
their st coach is hoping so, but it’ll be interesting to watch them fall apart, d.bowe suspended.
Suspended? What did he do? Worse than a suspension, I heard is finger is like shot,,, popped out of place like twenty times or something crazy.. He had a horrible year and I don’t expect a rebound year out of BOWE..
.,,
Berry has battled injuries all Summer.. The safety next to him is nothing special and they lack depth at that position.. .. Maybe they won’t fall off, but I definitely don’t see how they got better this offseason…
…
And a team that had such a turnaround last year and was so promising, should have built on that this offseason, yet if don’t see many improvements…
..
They have contract issues lingering over the heads of key players on both sides of the ball…
…
They should have taken a WR instead of Dee Ford
drugs, like everyone else
The 3 day freeze is a great idea, it discourages trolls from making accounts.
well in 3 days I don’t care to post anymore. I guess that makes me a troll, b/c I want to join a conversation today.
Also can be helpful in deterring the bots who want to tell you about how they earned $$$s working from home….
Momah lovers…. He only played 4 snaps on special teams last night. That’s worrisome