PS DGR – PHI 31, PIT 21
Posted: August 26th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 184 Comments »The battle for the Keystone State is complete. The heroic Eagles defeated the evil Steelers. Men, women, children, puppies and baby unicorns can now all rest easy and go about living their lives. There is no reason to worry, for at least the next 360 or so days.
That final score is deceptive. If not for a tough holding call on a WR, the game would have been 38-7 at one point. The Eagles dominated the game. Part of that is on them for playing well, but we can’t ignore the fact that the Steelers were dreadful. I mean truly awful. It was shocking to see them play so poorly, August or not.
OFFENSE
* Is it me or does there seem to be more outside running this summer? The Eagles have used a toss play several times with McCoy.
* One read-option play worked very well in the late 2nd Qtr. Polamalu and OLB both focused on Foles. Sproles took the handoff and went up the field for 14 easy yards.
* The offense moved at a rapid pace. There was a good flow and the starters played their best football of the preseason.
Players
QB
FOLES – Up and down early on. Failed to connect with Matthews on opening drive. Looked like a poor throw. Made a good throw to Coop over the middle on 3rd/long, but the ball was dropped. Had some pressure, but stayed focused downfield and handled the situation very well. Handled pressure well on another play. Got hit by 2 guys, but made a good throw to Maclin on a skinny post. Incomplete, but good throw in tight coverage. Tried to hit Celek on corner route, but the throw was a bit off. Was a tough one because Celek was close to the sideline. Sold fake well, then hit Shady with screen pass that went for 27-yd TD. Made a very good throw to Coop in the end zone in the late 1st. OPI was called, but still impressive to see Coop and Foles almost connect on that play. Hit Ertz for gain of 12 on 3rd/8 to open the 2nd Qtr. Just missed hitting Sproles for a TD late in the half. The ball was too far out in front by a foot or so. A bit more air and that’s a score. 19-29-179. TD. INT. Looked his best of the preseason. Still isn’t in midseason form, but I thought he handled pressure better than the last 2 weeks and he seemed to play faster as well.
SANCHEZ – Another strong showing. 7-9-85. Led 2 TD drives, both against PIT starters in the 3rd Qtr. Had one goofy moment in the early 3rd. Team was in the RZ. Sanchez dropped back. Couldn’t find anyone open. While trying to move around, tripped himself and gave the Steelers a sack. PIT was called for holding on the play so it wiped out the sack. Also helps to explain why no one was open. Threw the ball well. Made good decisions. Wasn’t just feeding Ertz and Matthews. Hit Damaris Johnson for a couple of nice plays. Has that same look that AJ Feeley did later in his career. Might be a backup, but carries himself with the confidence and presence of a starter.
BARKLEY – Didn’t play much. I think Kelly was saving Matt for the preseason finale, when he’ll play most of the game. Barkley went 4-4-37. Didn’t make any impressive throws. Had a TD pass wiped out by penalty. Also had a near interception wiped out by penalty. Tried to hit WR on an out route and the ball took too long to get there. CB undercut it and made the pick. That is the one throw Barkley will really struggle to make in the NFL. Can’t drive the ball.
KINNE – WRs and RBs must hate when he comes in. There will be lots of running plays and Kinne will keep the ball half the time. Hasn’t shown any real progress from last year. Disappointing. I was hoping Kinne would look more like an NFL QB.
RB
SHADY – Looked good. 4-24 on the ground. Caught a screen pass and took it 27 yds for a score. Left the game with a thumb injury, but should be okay.
SPROLES – Played a decent amount. 6-33 on the ground. 1-4 in the air. Dropped 3rd down pass in the 1st Qtr. Wasn’t clear he’d have gotten the 1st anyway. Ran hard between the tackles. Also showed good shake ‘n bake on one inside run. Ran for short TD in the early 2nd. Didn’t score at first, but fought his way into the end zone. Got his feet tangled with OL on screen pass. Sproles fell down and the pass was picked off. Had a chance for a TD pass from Foles, but the ball was just a bit too far out front.
POLK – DNP.
TUCKER – Came into the game in the late 1st Qtr. Played well. Looked quick, but wasn’t in a hurry. Gave his blocks a chance to develop, but also made sure to get upfield as fast as possible. Always falling forward. Got the ball on 3rd/1. Didn’t have much room, but ran where he was supposed to go and ended up with 7 yds. Ran hard and didn’t stop on contact. Kept his legs going. Picked up blitzing ILB on 1st down pass play in the late 1st. Gave Foles a clean pocket. Had a good run outside to the left to open the 3rd Qtr. Got 12 yds. Came against starting D. Showed speed in getting outside, but then turned upfield quickly and ran behind his pads. Broke first tackle, then drove the next guy back a couple of yards. Good combo of power and speed. Good blitz pickup of DB in the early 3rd. Set his feet and delivered a strong blow, knocking the guy back and to the side. Next play was a run to the right for 15 yds. Great blocking on that. Had a chance to catch a pass in the early 3rd Qtr, but dropped it. 10-46 on the ground with 2 TDs. No catches.
BARNER – Good showing. 7-32 on the ground. Had an impressive run to the outside in the early 4th Qtr. Followed good blocks by pulling OL and then turned upfield. Showed some burst on that play. Also showed his strength. Got through 2 arm tackles before the 3rd defender got him down. Speed is good, but I’m impressed with his strength. Took several shots to the legs and had defenders slide off him. That’s unusual for a back that is his size.
JOSEY – Came into the game in the early 3rd. First play was a run up the middle for 6 yds. Had a 70-yd TD run wiped out by penalty. Caught a short pass in the 4th. Looked smooth in running the route and making the grab. Finished 4-48 as a runner, 1-8 as a receiver. Has legit speed and is a talented runner. Really stands out when you see him on the move. No idea about his pass blocking.
TE
CELEK – Had another couple of big catches. First was catch and run for 23 yds. Celek’s helmet was knocked off. Looked questionable, but Celek had run for several yds so he had become a runner, not receiver. Diff rules for hits due to that. Whiffed on block of OLB. Guy stuff Sproles on inside run. Good block of OLB on 3rd/1 run that got a 1st down. Caught 18-yd pass from Foles in the late 1st. Took another big hit. Looked like Mitchell kept his feet on the ground upon contact, which would make that a clean hit. Helmet came off, but the hit was in the shoulder. Had solid block of DB on Sproles TD run.
ERTZ – Tried to pass block OLB on 1st Qtr drive. Got driven back and Foles was hit. Had good block of Polamalu on Tucker’s first run of the game. Sustained the block and got movement. Still needs a lot of work on blocking. Needs to use his size. 2-24 as a pass catcher.
CASEY – Good block of OLB gave Tucker room to get in for TD in the early 3rd. Didn’t have any catches.
IGWENAGU – Solid job as a blocker.
ANNEN – Looks raw.
BURTON – Had a good showing. Went low to catch a pass from Sanchez for 12 yds. On the next play, went up and caught a ball down the seam for a gain of 25. Both plays showed good hands and athleticism. They showed body control and the ability to adjust to the ball. Those were NFL catches. Blocking is a whole other story. Needs a ton of work. Positional blocker now who tries to stay between his target and the ball. Doesn’t know how to engage defenders and sustain blocks. Blocks more like a WR than a TE. Must get bigger and stronger. I don’t think effort or toughness is an issue.
WR
MACLIN – Good showing. 6-43. Didn’t have any highlight catches or huge plays, but caught the ball well and impressed me because he looked comfortable working the middle of the field. Go back to 2012 and Maclin avoided the middle of the field on a regular basis. Looks like a different player now. Wasn’t hesitant about contact. Took some big hits and handled them well. Solid game as a blocker. Effective block on CB on Shady run to his side for 15 yds on the opening drive. On the next drive there was a play that went to the other side, but then Shady cut back to Mac’s side. Mac got a key block and gave Shady room to get 13 yds. Failed to catch pass in mid-1st on what looked like skinny post. Couldn’t tell if this was a drop or if the DB broke it up. Had good downfield block on Shady’s screen pass for TD. At the end, got blown up by Troy Polamalu. Troy tried to go through Mac and a Steeler DB to hit Shady. Dumb. Shady was already at the GL. I thought it should have been a flag for unnecessary roughness on Troy. Had an interesting RZ play. Came in motion and went behind Foles, then circled back toward the LOS. Foles threw him the ball as he got wide. Mac stretched for the TD. Ruled short. I think if Chip challenged the call would have been reversed and it would have been a TD. I’m sure Chip was more interested in getting extra GL reps so he didn’t challenge. There was a Sproles run in the late 2nd where Mac watched and the DB across from him made the eventual tackle. Not sure Mac could have made a block on the play, but just standing and watching won’t go over well with Chip. At least try.
Went down with injury at 10:00 of the 2nd Qtr. Very scary moment. Non-contact. Tried to run a route and his leg planted awkwardly. Was in pain, but eventually walked off on his own. Turned out to be okay.
B SMITH– DNP
COOPER – First game of the year. Caught pass on the opening drive. Short pass to the outside. Coop then turned upfield and got the 1st down. Bad drop on 3rd/15. Ran a good route and was open for the 1st down. Extended for the ball and got his hands on it, but could not secure the ball. Caught pass on inside route on 3rd/3. Moved the chains. Had DB all over him so it was a tough catch. PI was called on Taylor, but Coop made the grab anyway. Called for OPI on throw in the end zone. Limited contact, but did push off. Almost made a terrific catch on the play. Dropped an easy TD in the early 2nd. Too open/too easy? Luckily team scored right after that. Caught screen late in the half and got upfield for 7 yds. It was good to see Coop back.
MOMAH – No catches or targets. Looked okay as a blocker.
MATTHEWS – Starting slot receiver. Had pass come his way on opening drive. Ball fell incomplete. Not sure if it was a poorly thrown corner route or a poorly run deep out. Lined up in the backfield a few times. Sometimes was a decoy and other times was a legit target. Showed good RAC skills when he caught a screen and took it upfield for a gain of 14. Moved through traffic on the play. Showed speed and vision, and then didn’t go down easily. Good block on screen to Coop late in the half. Stuck with his DB and kept him out of the play. Caught pass out of backfield late in the half. Got him the ball in space on 3rd/10. DB made a great tackle or Matthews might have gotten the 1st down.
HUFF – DNP
PRATT – 2 catches for 20 yards.
D JOHNSON – 2-29. Caught pass in early 3rd. Made DB miss and got a couple of extra yds. The next pass came his way on a shallow cross, but the ball was too low and incomplete. Caught a pass that set up a TD in the 3rd Qtr. Looked good. Might be making a late run at a roster spot.
MAEHL – 4-19. Caught some screens. Failed to do much after the catch. Hasn’t stood out this summer.
CUNNINGHAM– Caught a quick screen in the 4th and took it up the field for a gain of 16. Called for OPI when blocking too early on WR screen. Made impressive TD catch in the end zone. Had to reach over DB to make it and then get his feet in. Play was wiped out by penalty, but still impressive.
OL
PETERS – Best game of the preseason. Hit Heyward from the side on run play and almost drove him 4 yds up the field. Had a terrific block of ILB on run play where Sproles went for 14 yards.
MATHIS – Failed to sustain a good block on Heyward and he was able to move over and stuff Shady on an inside run. Got driven back in pass pro by Heyward. Knocked back into Foles. He and Kelce doubled Heyward on run to the left and drove him several yds off the ball. Gave Tucker room to run.Generally a good game. I think Heyward’s strength caught him off guard early on.
KELCE – Pulled on run play and got just enough of ILB to get Shady out wide. Did a good job of picking up a stunt on 3rd down play in the mid-1st. Made diving cut block of LB on screen pass that Shady took all the way for TD.
HERREMANS – Got driven back, almost to Foles, on a pass play. DE seemed to catch him off guard. Terrific block of DB helped pave way for Shady’s screen pass for TD.
BARBRE – Gave up pressure on initial 3rd down. The rusher got by him enough to pressure Foles, but there wasn’t a big hit or anything like that. Poor pass block on 2nd drive led to Foles getting hit as he threw. Pass fell incomplete. Close to getting the ball just knocked loose. Spin move beat him to the inside and Foled got hit on passing play. Had the key block on Sproles short TD run. Pushed the DL in and off the ball. Got better at pass pro as the game progressed, but is still having the same issue as the rest of the summer. Keeps his hands in by his body. Doesn’t engage the rusher and control him. I’m very surprised he’s not fixed this by now or shown progress.
GARDNER – Backup LT. Terrific down block of Heyward helped pave way for Tucker’s 3rd Qtr TD run. Got beaten off the edge in the late 3rd, but the ball was already gone before the OLB got there. Good block of DB out wide on screen to WR.
TOBIN – Backup LG. Anchored well in pass pro. Strong seal block of DE on Josey run up the middle. Gave him a clear running lane. Pulled left and had a good block on the move on Josey’s long TD that didn’t count. Drive blocking still needs some work. Technically sound player who has absolutely earned a spot.
VANDERVELDE – DNP
MOLK – Backup C. Good job of pulling on outside plays. Got driven back in pass pro in early 3rd. NT just overwhelmed him. Good block of ILB on Josey’s run up the middle in the early 3rd. Pulled to the wide left and had a good seal block on long run by Barner. Better athlete than I anticipated.
KELLY – Backup RG. Great seal block of ILB gave Tucker lots of room in early 3rd. Got 15 yds on that play. Got driven back into Sanchez on the next play. Was too high and too passive. Let DL attack him and drive him back. Much anchor better and use his long arms to engage the rusher. Still has some plays where he doesn’t move his feet and tries to move his upper body. Not good. Looked good when blocking on the move. That forced him to move his feet. Has moments when he is impressive. Other times he looks like a rookie. Might be ideal for practice squad.
JOHNSON – Backup RT. Good showing. Looked athletic as pass blocker. Hasn’t dominated the way I expected.
GRAF – LT. Failed to block rusher to his insde, guy sacked Kinne. PIT showed blitz look and Graf seemed confused on who was coming and who he needed to block.
ANDREWS– C.
BAMIRO – Played LG. Hands to the face penalty. Sloppy
BARTON – Played RG.
HAWKINS – RT. Solid showing.
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DEFENSE
* The defense was more aggressive in terms of blitzing and that paid off. The blitzes were effective, but the overall pass rush looked better to me as well.
* I don’t know if the tackling was sloppy or Steelers runners were just harder to bring down than some players expected.
* Another game where the backup ILBs failed to stand out, good or bad. No one looks bad. No one makes plays. I like Goode the most, but I really hoped there would be some separation with the others.
* Safety depth isn’t impressive after Wolff.
PLAYERS
DL
COX – Real impressive play in the early 2nd Qtr. Threw the RT to the ground and got into the backfield, flushing Ben. Showed big time strength on that play.
LOGAN – Started the game at NT. Left after 3 plays. Came back on the next series. Wasn’t sure if he was hurt or just being rotated. Seems like they just rotated him a lot. Less rusty this week, but still hasn’t done anything to stand out.
THORNTON – LDE. Great effort on a couple of plays.
CURRY – Used bull rush to move back the starting RG on 3rd/7 and get limited pressure on Ben. Got a sack in the early 3rd Qtr when Graham flew off the edge and forced Benn to step up, right where Curry was. Not as disruptive as the previous 2 weeks.
BAIR – Got good pressure on Big Ben on opening series. Drove the LG back into him. Got moved off the ball by double team of C and LG. Still, got off that block and helped stop the RB. Drove the LG back to Ben on pass play to open the 2nd Qtr. Batted down pass while rushing off the left side in the late 2nd Qtr. Blew up 3rd Qtr run where Graham got a TFL.
ALLEN – Came into the game at NT on the 4th play. Went wide on play-action pass and ruined bootleg action. Forced Ben to throw the ball quicker than expected. Got off block and tackled RB on play in the late 1st Qtr. Another impressive showing. Love the way he uses his hands when trying to get off blocks or when rushing the passer.
SQUARE – Broke up a pass early on. Dropped into passing lane and got a hand on the ball. Shed the RG and tackled the RB headed to that side. Best game so far.
HART – Failed to stand out. You can see he’s comfortable with the 3-4 and 2-gapping. Adjusting to the speed of the game and the strength of blockers. Good effort player.
KRUGER – At his best when attacking. Looks like 2 different players when going upfield vs 2-gapping. Chased down screen pass from the backside and made the tackle. There is no question about his athleticism or effort. Just doesn’t look comfortable engaging blockers and trying to read plays in the base defense. (Obviously that’s why he got cut)
MAYS – Didn’t play much. Had one good pass rush. Intriguing player due to frame. Flashes ability.
VILLANUEVA – Hustled to chase down a play and make the tackle from behind. Got by the LG and hit the QB on a pass play. Great to see him have some success. Natural athlete, but not a natural DL.
OLB
COLE – Best game of the summer. Showed good burst off the ball in the early 2nd. Got by the LT and got his hands on Ben. Let go to avoid a penalty since the ball had just been thrown. Lined up out wide on WR in the early 2nd. Knocked him to the ground at the snap, then the ball came that way. Was right at the LOS so no flag. Got pressure on a handful of plays. Hit Big Ben on INT play after Kendricks had moved Ben off his spot.
BARWIN – Quiet game. Credited with a couple of tackles.
GRAHAM – More of the same. Looked good as a pass rusher. Looked lost as a LB. Ugh. Beat the LT for a strip sack late in the 1st half. Power move, great finish. Got TFL in the early 3rd. PIT tried to run a draw and Graham had looped to the inside. Lined up in the slot in the 3rd Qtr. PIT ran a screen to his side. Graham took off running to the outside. Brown cut back in and Graham overran the play. You could see just how straight-line he is on that play. Struggles to change directions and play in space. Tried to jam a TE at the LOS on 3rd Qtr pass play and looked awkward.
SMITH– Didn’t play til the 2nd half. Tripped up RB for TFL on play that came his way. Set the edge well on run that came his way a few plays later. Helped make the tackle. Had to cover WR Brown on route in the 3rd Qtr. Stayed pretty close, but did give up the catch. Pushed Brown down after the grab and didn’t allow RAC yds.
LONG – Played a lot of ILB. Helped tackle a WR after catch and run in the early 3rd. Stuffed an inside run that came at him. Moved left at the snap, then moved back to original spot. Got low and took on RB. Made strong form tackle. Blitzed up the middle and forced Big Ben to move. Unfortunately he did move and then threw a TD. Looked good on blitzes where he was ILB and looped around the outside. I was surprised by how comfortable he looked on the inside. Not lost at all.
BRAMAN – Very limited snaps. Missed tackle of RB on pass where he almost scored a TD.
ILB
KENDRICKS – Very good game. Blitzed up the middle twice. Once hit Ben and forced quick throw. The other time he got pressure, which led to a dumb throw that was picked off. Made a good tackle of WR after quick screen to open the 2nd Qtr. Guy had room to run, but MK flew up and made a wrap-up tackle. Tried a shoulder tackle on WR Brown on the next play and Brown was able to get off that and add RAC yds. Flew off the edge in the early 2nd Qtr and got a solid shot on Ben. Looked very close to being offside, but no flag. Stuffed Blount on screen pass over the middle.
RYANS – Got a big hit on a RB who was downfield as a receiver. Didn’t look dirty, but the hit was flagged for contact to the head. Had tackle on inside run. Ready for the season.
GOODE – Played throughout the game. On the field in the 1st Qtr. Also in the 4th. Weird. Only had 1 tackle. Seemed to do a better job of engaging blockers.
MATTHEWS – Didn’t make a tackle. Also didn’t see any obvious mistakes. So frustrating. Was hoping he would stand out more, good or bad.
ACHO – Got in on a couple of tackles. Looks more active and athletic than Matthews, but still hasn’t stood out.
KNOTT – DNP
KADU – Read a screen perfectly. Got to the right spot and missed the tackle. Played ILB and OLB.
S
ALLEN – Lowered his head and took on L. Blount on run up the middle. Helped make the tackle. A few teammates joined him. Still, does Nate from 2012 or even 2013 make that stop? I have my doubts. Blitzed off the edge, went to the inside of the blocking back and got some pressure on Ben.
JENKINS – Called for penalty in the early 2nd Qtr when he knocked the ball out of someone’s hands after the play. Dumb move by Jenkins. Had man coverage on Brown on pass play in the early 2nd Qtr. Reached out and almost picked off pass. Did knock it down.
WOLFF – Showed good range on a downfield pass play.
MARAGOS – Beaten for TD by TE Heath Miller. Was right there, but unable to get a hand on the ball. You can really see his limitations as a DB. Lacks top athleticism. Lacks great instincts as well. Needs things to be in front of him so he can attack. Limited range as a centerfielder. Physical player who will hit.
REYNOLDS – Stood out in the opener, but since then hasn’t flashed. Solid. Was in on 2 tackles. Comes up aggressively to hit. Good tackler. Just don’t know if he’s shown enough to make the team.
MORGAN – Played mostly CB. Looked much better there than at S. Broke up pass down sideline in the early 4th. Would have been beaten if the QB made a better throw. Deep speed?
LOWE – Played some CB as well. Slow.
JOHNSON – Credited with 1 tackle. Looked slow in coverage. Hasn’t stood out on the field this summer.
CB
FLETCHER – Called for illegal contact on deep ball in the 1st Qtr. Legit call. Has a bad habit of extending his arm while running with the receiver. This has to stop. Very definition of illegal contact. Helped to break up a pass over the middle in the mid-2nd. WR should have caught it, but Fletch kept trying to knock the ball out and the WR dropped it. Called for IC on the play. Good call. The WR did initiate some contact, but Fletch extended as well. Just can’t do that right now. Tackled RB on screen pass when it looked like the guy might have a chance. Wrap-up tackle.
CARROLL – Almost broke up 3rd down pass to TE. Very good coverage on the play. Made a diving INT in the early 2nd Qtr on bad throw by Big Ben. Really tough catch. I thought he had a strong game overall. Covered well.
WILLIAMS – DNP
BOYKIN – DNP
WATKINS – Played some in the slot on the opening drive. Blitzed off the edge in the early 2nd and got a good shot on Big Ben. Ball was already out. Has shown potential, but definitely needs time to develop as a CB.
CARMICHAEL – Has really bounced back from poor game in the preseason opener. Hasn’t looked great, but has been solid. Plays in the slot and outside. Gave up quick slant to Brown on 3rd down in early 2nd Qtr. Worse, wasn’t able to make the tackle. Was credited with one stop in the game.
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ST’s
JONES – 2 of 3 punts were inside the 20.
HENERY – Looked like he got better depth on his kickoffs. Unfortunately, missed an easy FG. Ugh.
KOR – Damaris Johnson had a 28 yd KOR.
PR – None.
– MISC –
* Henry Josey was the lead blocker on the opening KOR. So-so block, but away from return.
* Acho made a diving tackle on KOR in the early 2nd Qtr.
* Benn almost made diving stop of KOR late in the 1st half.
* Eagles gave up long KOR at the end of the 3rd Qtr. Looked like Roc Carmichael was the player most at fault.
_
Had a dream last night that I was hanging out with Braman…and he was picking on James Casey. I remember he was being so mean to Casey and was trying to get me to join in and be mean to James… We went to a party, we went to a soccer game… Wish I could remember more of the dream lol
I’ll finish it for you. They invited you to a private team after Superbowl party where Kelly & Lurie got so loaded that Chip had a lampshade on his head while tattooing an Eagles symbol on Jeffrie. Also, you were given your own Superbowl ring for being the Philadelhia Eagles most prolific comment section contributor. : )
Giants Kicker Brandon McManus has been cut.. Nervous while we wait for waiver wire claims.
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Looking forward to this preseason game.. Get to see Barkley play extended snaps.
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Looking forward to seeing Marcus Darling, Braman and Long play big minutes.
The 4 quality RBs each getting a Quarter to play should be interesting.
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Curious to see who can shine most given major snaps between hart, Jalen and Reynolds…
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Hoping main starters, and bench players we use in games like Beau, Vinny, BG, Nolan, Jordan Mathews, Celek, Ertz, Wolff are all held out of this game
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Casey Mathews sucks, Knott and Phillips were already cut. Just keep Goode and move Travis Long to ILB and have those two back up M and M, Mykal and Meco..,
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Linebackers on Roster:
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Barwin/Marcus/Braman……..Mykal/Goode……Meco/Long…….Cole/BG
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So:
9 LBs
7 DL: Cox, Ced, Logan, Beau, Curry. “papa bear” and hart
5 CB: Nolan, Cary, Brad, Watkins, Boykin
5 Safeties: Wolff, Nate! Malcom, maragos! Reynolds…
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That’s 26 defensive players… I’d be ok if we IR’ed Reynolds with a phantom Injury if we needed roster space..
OL 9: starting 5, Tobin, Gardner, Molk, Barbre
WR 5: Coop, Mac, Brad, Jordan, huff
RB 3: Shady, Sproles, Polk
TE 3: Ertz, Celek, Casey
QB 3
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That’s:
23 Offensive players
26’defensive players. (25 if IR Reynolds)
3’specialists
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Room for 1 player: Momah Vs Benn Vs. 4th RB
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If we redshirt Reynolds we can keep a 6th WR and 4th RB
no polk, yes tucker and josey.
If Polk is healthy enough he will make roster..
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Better blitz pickup than Tuck
Better catching the ball than Tuck
Much better ST player than Tuck
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If we are tired of dealing with Polks injuries, tuck will be #3 back…… Josey IMO isn’t even competing for a roster spot…he going to Practice squad for year
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I think the only way we keep a 4th RB is if Barner looks good enough. He is the only one we would keep as a 4th back. Tuck and Polk won’t both make roster so the winner is our number 3 back and loser gets cut.. Josey is going to practice squad… So only way we keep 4 RB is if we don’t want to lose Barner
In my eye Josey’s looked the best out of that group. I don’t know how he is in pass pro but he’s broke a long run in every game — be interesting to see what he looks like on thursday with hopefully extended time.
I’d much rather keep a 5th RB than 6 WRs, only downside is i have McCoy in fantasy. Josey will not make it to the squad.
5 RBs? WTF?
Maybe 4: Shady, Sproles, Tucker, Josey, but I’d rather keep Polk (5) over the 6th WR.
All of our WRs can catch and are good in redzone. It’s clear we have a role for a hybrid WR/RB.
Would you rather keep Maehl/Momah? The only advantage I think Maehl presents is on ST, Momah doesn’t contribute on teams and is raw, Benn does a little bit on teams but won’t give you anything as a WR.
Don’t care what I’d rather do…. I try to look at it as what Chip will do….and I have a hard time envisioning that as realistic… But we’lol see
I think it’ll come down to 1) teams and 2) ability to produce if needed.
I see Polk and tucker battling for #3. I see Josey and sproles as being similar. Problem with all those guys is no KR/PR which is I think Barner’s role (and maybe he makes it over Josey for that reason).
Polk vs, Tucker for #3 R
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Barner vs, Himself for #4 RB
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Josey practice squad this years and comeback strong and compete for a roster spot next year just like Tucker did…
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Barner is the only way we keep a 4th RB.. And he has a really good shot at making this team because of his special team Value at a bunch of different spots..
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We either would have to choose to keep Barner over a 6th WR like Momah or Benn….or, we keep one of those WR, IR Reynolds and give his spot to Barner
Well, I hope you are as correct about Josey vs. all as you were about Kruger vs. Bair.
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So what RBs do you have making the roster? Confused
all of them. Only ones that might not make it are polk / barner. The 7th kicks in only if he is active for 2 games i think — hopefully huff will be healthy by then.
5 runnings backs making the 53 player roster? Has an NFL team ever even kept 4 RBs before?
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I don’t see any chance in hell 5 of the 53 players we keep are RB’s, but if you are right, I’ll give you a ton of props
Shurmur said between 3 and 5.
If you look at the players and how they looked in Preseason, you have to go with at least 4 RBs. Don’t see any reason why we should lose too many players who shined in Preseason and could have a future on this team. Why give Maehl a roster spot if you can give it to Josey, Barner, Polk or Tucker? For me, this doesn’t make any sense.
Barner, Polk, Josey, Tucker – I’m fine with every single one of those four. Two will make it, I think. I seriously hope we can get at least one of the two who don’t make it on the PS. Maybe both.
With Polk, it’s an injury analysis. They have to analyse if they think Polk can finally be healthy. He has the skills, he has the ST experience, he just needs to stay healthy.
I’d probably give Tucker the 4th spot, so it comes down to Josey and Barner vs. Polk. If Polk gets the nod, sign both guys to the PS because if Polks is seriously injured again, you have to fire him. As tough as that is for the kid.
Barner is going to make it, but not really as a RB. I suspect he is here to replace Huff on ST…. Probably take lanes roster spot and hope Huffs is ready to come back by the time Lane comes back from suspension..
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I think josey is going to practice squad
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Think it’s Polk vs. Tuck… Doubt both would make roster. Hope we trade 1
agree on barner
I hate this sentence, but: Josey is not making the PS. Yes, fans tend to overrate their own players, no doubt. But teams who need RB help will see his stats, take a look at him, see he played well and just grab him.
I hope Josey makes the PS if we decide to cut him – and I’m not nearly as sure as you are about that as you are. I think as boring as that 4th game will be generally, the RB depth battle will be decided there. But I don’t think we will get him on PS.
We didn’t want to lose Tucker last year…still had to risk him,.we rather risk him than put him on a 53 man roster with crappy depth last year..but now that our depth is drastically improved people think we will keep 5’Running backs? No way that we keep more RB with how improved our depth is
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We start the season with 4 and that’s just because Huff is hurt and we need Barner ST so that we don’t have to risk Sproles and Nolan on ST….. Polk vs. Tuck decides the #3…that’s what I think will happen,,,
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If it was up to me, I wouldn’t lose Tucker or Polk. I would keep both….I just don’t think I’ll get my way
Difference is: Tucker didn’t shine in Preseason. At least I don’t remember wanting to keep him badly.
Josey had a really, really nice Preseason. Whatever you think of him, that’s what other teams see.
they gave tucker a lot of snaps against pitt. he had a nice showing but not as dynamic as josey’s whose ypc is crazy.
Just to be clear: I meant Tucker last Preseason. He played well this Preseason.
Today, you think he is better in an NFL game than Tucker or Polk?
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Saw.him break a few long ones against 3rd stringers with our backup OL that handled backups all preseason and got some high grades
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He can’t compete with Barner or Polk in ST value
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How is his blitz pickup? Probably not on Polks level who is just a #3
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Can he ATleast be a weapon as a pass catcher like Polk? If you can’t beat Polk, you need a year on NFL practice squad….
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Polk is like the cut off for me in terms of NFL running backs…he is a solid number 3… If you can’t beat him out, you need a year on practice squad, or bring a lot to ST like Barner does
Some Josey Stats:
Pitt: 4 for 48 (excluding 70td called back for a hold)
NE: 8 for 56 (excluding 30yd TD reception)
Stats: 59 snaps, 12 attempts, 104 yards, 8.7 average / 4 targets, 3 receptions, 39 yards, 13.0 average, 1 TD
Can’t send that production to the squad.
I don’t even think he is realistically competing for a roster spot this year… MY personal RB questions are:
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1) Polk or Tucker for #3 RB???
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2) Is Barner going to make it as a #4 RB?
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I view Josey as someone we want to put on the Practice squad, who will compete for a roster spot next year.. I don’t view him as realistically competing with any of the RBs… I think Polk is battling Tuck, and Barner is battling himself…. We either keep him as a 4th RB or we don’t keep a 4th RB
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That’s how I see it, but we can disagree
I would like to keep Tucker & Josey…. Tucker looks like a back that can get the 3rd and 1 or 2 yards, that seem to have been somewhat of a problem last year. I think Josey has the speed and moves to become a very effective NFL back in this league and I think he is scooped up in waivers or the PS…
I don’t want to lose Polk. But Chip knows how good he is so if we decide to cut him, it’s because we don’t think he can stay healthy enough, so I will understand,.
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If Polk doesn’t make the roster, we will keep Tuck. One of the two big backs will hold down the #3 RB spot… I don’t think Barner or Josey have a chance at winning the #3 RB spot….if Josey or Barner make the roster if will mean we kept. 4 RBs…but I’d guess we keep Barner before Josey…think we plan on putting Josey on practice squad…
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Basically I think we keep:
Shady
Sproles
#3) Polk or Tuck
#4) If Barner is good enough we keep him as the 4th
Josey destined for practice squad..
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If we IR Reynolds, I’d guess we:
Keep Benn as 6th WR, keep Barner as 4th RB
With Polk and Tuck fighting for the #3 RB spot, and Josey and Momah go on practice squad
Barbre is one of the “starting 5” right now. Johnson won’t count against the 53 until he returns from suspension.
I know. And….?
i think that is correct. suspended players don’t count against the 53 man roster. we get an ‘extra’ spot for 4 games.
It s correct…. I thought it was pretty well known. Just didn’t feel like clouding my roster projection by including an extra guy we have to cut in a month
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Barbre sitting out Thurs, Lane getting a lot of snaps! Friday starts Lane suspension with team? He doesn’t count against the roster til suspension ends.
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Barbre,Molk,Tobin,Gardner are locks to make initial roster. Dennis Kelly I’m not sure about. Chip gave him some praise today but he may not fit from a numbers game. Maybe he makes Initial roster and gets released when Lane comes back…
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For my purposes I figured I’d just count Lane instead of listing someone we have to cut in a month when he returns… But since Chip praised Dennis, I’ll count him as one of the 53 who gets cut when Lane returns
No, but it might come into play for something like keeping Barner until Huff recovers as the extra player, but *also* keeping a 4th RB.
Maragos is not a capable safety. He struggled mightily against scrubs this past game.
Cuz maragos is only getting judged off of the Steelers game…
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You can disagree, but I prefer to talk about our coaches point of view, and they view maragos as a real depth safety…. They don’t view him like Colt Anderson who was really just a Special teams player who counted as a safety, so we kept 4 safeties and had Colt count as the 5th…. maragos is a legit safety, not just a ST player who is only a safety in name..so I don’t see a need to keep 4 safeties in addition to maragos
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maragos isn’t our 5th safety, he is our 4th safety… Considering Jalen can fill in and play emergency safety! I don’t see the need to keep Reynolds as part or 53.,. Only reason we should keep Ed is if he is performing as one of our better ST players… If we can live without Reynolds ST play this year, then I hope we just phantom injury IR him….
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few young safeties hit waivers, but Reynolds is a step above them: TY Zimmerman, Isiah Lewis, Hakeem Smith
Sigh… I’ll just repost Tommy’s post for you.
“MARAGOS – Beaten for TD
by TE Heath Miller. Was right there, but unable to get a hand on the
ball. You can really see his limitations as a DB. Lacks top athleticism.
Lacks great instincts as well. Needs things to be in front of him so he
can attack. Limited range as a centerfielder. Physical player who will
hit.”
i think you’re talking about chung.
You must have missed the “Was right there” part.
Maragos is our 4th safety
Being bale to swing Watkins possibly between safety and CB also helps
Yup yup….curious to see what happens with Ed Reynolds. We will lose him if we put him on practice squad. Unless we view him as a key ST contributor, I wouldn’t mind IR him with a phantom injury
Plus Nolan Carroll hopefully solves CB depth woes
Nolan, Brad and Jalen are nice pieces to have because they can play outside and in the slot with Jalen being able to play emergency safety if ish hits the fan and safeties start dropping like flies… Think our secondary will show the most improvements of the team from last year
Awesome that 4 ex-Eagles were picked up already….
probably why we let them go early.
It is a good feeling to believe that is true – that they knew other teams were planning on picking them up so they were released in the early cuts.
On the other hand, stash ‘me and hold out for some late round picks.
Someone will pick up one of our RBs
Everybody wants intel on Chip
They sign NDAs
When you described Tucker it brough back memories of Duce.
Really like the way Polk runs
Any thoughts on how long before Wolff displaces Allen as the starter? Ditto Carroll and Fletcher?
wolff won’t be starter this year. carroll is probably pretty close – depending on how fletch looks.
Allen is pretty far ahead of Wolff and extending his lead, in my opinion.
Nate is looking pretty darn good. It may take a bit for his previous reputation to get quelled.
Barner has a great chance to make this roster as a 4th RB… If we keep a 4th RB. It would ONLY be him, a lot of it has to do with his special team value, mainly here because we lost Huff on ST..l
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What’s up with Josh huffs injury? Is he going to count against 53, or can we use his spot til he is healthy? If you can’t put him on PUP or whatever it takes to not count him against the 53, I wonder if we keep Barner initially as a 4th RB, but give him lanes spot. When Lane suspension ends, cut Barner and hope Huff is back by then or close to returning….
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If Huff was here, we wouldn’t be talking about Barner in Philly
Huff sounds like he might be ready for game 1
Oh really? Would he great if we don’t have to spend a spot on someone like Barner just for ST’s
It would be nice if we could trade more of our RBs seems like we are good at producing a couple of positions (TE, RB, QB) be nice to get picks
I don’t want to lose Dennis Kelly…if we don’t have room to carry him, I hope to see us trade him and get something in return since Dennis is playing well and putting some decent play on Film….
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I would assume teams are closely watching our RB competition, waiting to see who we cut
Patriots traded Logan manikins to the Bucs. WTF!!!!! Pats got TE Tim Wright and undisclosed pick…..WTF WTF WTF
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Bucs were just visiting with Richie incognito, and they pull Mankins out of their ass? Tip my hat
Really curious what that pick will be. Could be a benchmark for us if Mathis is unhappy with his contract next year.
Lol, the Pats got a TE (they badly need TEs) from Rutgers. Eagles fans (myself included, if Maehl or CMatthews make this roster) cry about the Oregon connection, but Belichick is as crazy when it comes to Rutgers.
4th — seems high but they were desperate
Makins is 32. Mathis will turn 33 in November, but has less milage. Honestly, I’d expected more for the Pats. He has a bad contract, but they will get the dead money anyway. Belichick will have a plan, but I don’t know if it’s a good deal for them. They are in win now and Mankins helps them to win now.
i honestly don’t know enough about their o-line depth to say anything. would we take tim wright and a 4th for herremans? I would, but interested to see if that was offered.
I guess it also matters the type of o-line you need, a fat boy or a mobile one.
They have Marcus Cannon who should be very good moving inside to guard.
Herremans? Mankins may be in decline, but he’s more in the range of Mathis than Herremans.
I think they only cleared something for next year. This year, he has the dead money in the books.
Tim Wright is a good young TE. He is very similar to Zach Ertz.
Never saw him. Thought the same when I saw his stats. But: According to NFL com, Smith called him out publicly a week ago so he was on the roster bubble. Doesn’t have the greatest trade value then, even if he’d be, indeed, a good young player (can’t comment on that).
Tim Wright is a 6’4 220 WR playing TE, but had 54 catches for 571 yards and 5 tds as a rookie which is super impressive. His yards last year lead all TEs and his TDs was 2nd and that was on a bad offense with a rookie throwing to him.
I could easily see Wright get 70 catches for 800-900 yards and around 8 TDs with Brady throwing him the ball out of the slot.
I found those stats super impressive, too. But two things: why did he went undrafted? And why is Smith publicly calling him out?
Since I don’t know the player I can’t say if this made sense or not, but I found it strange.
Tons of players go undrafted who shouldnt (I think Henry Josey looks better than most of the drafted RBs).
No clue why Lovie called him out, maybe he wasnt satisfied with his blocking? Some coaches want their TE to be able to block and Wright cant do that right now, so he is essential just a big WR (similar to Ertz who isnt a good blocker either)
Adrian Wilson got cut, any idea if we were looking at him at all in the offseason?
We have 3 starting caliber Safeties + two we want to keep. Plus, Wilson didn’t make a Bears roster that is as bad at Safety as we were the last few years.
No thanks.
That first line you typed is incredible when thinking about last year.
It really is. To be honest, we don’t know yet if Woff is starting caliber, guy has to make a leap, but has the tools. Nate looked like a starting caliber in Preseason – you have to be fair, though, not exactly Top 10-15 in the league.
But overall, we’re not in the situation we were last year. It helps to cut Chung and sign Jenkins, I guess. 😉
I don’t know enough about safeties but it would be amazing if Nate could even be top 20 at some point during the year. Those are lofty expectations but its cool to think about the possibilities!
Im amazed by how a team that had Chung, was lucky enough to lose Chung…could possible bring him back and sign him for the second time????
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Did Bellicek miss the Chunger? pats bringing Chung back would be like us bringing Ernie Sims back for a second stint as an eagle
Chung is absolutely no lock to make their roster.
If he does (there’s a chance, I read), he will be their Maragos/Colt Anderson – ST Ace. Colt didn’t leave with many negative images to us – because he didn’t play much Defense. We know he couldn’t.
I think Chung was forced into a role that was just too much for him. He can’t play Defense is this league, at least not anymore. According to the Patriots, he seems to be a good STer. Altough we didn’t see much of that, but he was a starter for us. It’s different.
When we signed him I hoped he’d be our back-up + ST Ace. Well, starting didn’t turn out so well.
I guess that answered the question on how Eagles get down to 75…
We cut Vandervelde… Why did we cut him instead of IR?
I think I saw that he was waived/injured, if he clears waivers he goes on IR
No, injury settlement
Fair enough. Eagles website says: “On Tuesday, the Eagles waived G/C Julian Vandervelde with an injury settlement, completing the first wave of player cuts” and PFT said waived/injured, unclear from the wording which it was.
They negotiate how many games they would expect him to miss, and he gets paid for those games. But he can then sign with a different team and play when he is ready. (He cannot re-sign with the Eagles this year in that case).
Perhaps Vandervelde did not want to be IR’ed
Waived does not mean final cut.
If he passes through waivers, the injury settlement can be officially completed. If he doesn’t (highly unlikely), it would be the other team’s problem.
By the way, that avatar you are using – the view of the William Penn statue from the Benjamin Franklin Parkway – is a view that I see regularly coming into Center City where my parents live.
For those who may not know, Penn is holding a scroll in his right hand, which extends out from his body in such a way that from this angle, it looks like a very large male organ.
When people ask, I tell them that I was probably just carrying a scroll, too.
Could he play anything but center? If not we already had Molk ahead of him.
Vandervelde plays G as well.
FUCK!!! Broncos gave Giants a conditional pick for Kicker McManus.. We were ahead of the Broncos on waivers too… What a joke..they lose one of the top kickers in the game for a 4 game suspension, and they are more,aggressive about picking up a kicker for four games then we are…. Sad.
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Handling of this kicker situation is getting on my damn nerves… A week before the season we finally diced that Alex needs some competition?
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Losing McManus to the broncos is disgusting. jay Feeley is visiting titans but I don’t care for him
we gave up our conditional 7th for barner — seems silly now…
Giants wouldn’t have given him to us… Hard to do business inside the division…
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If our kicker struggles in September, we know we can trade something to the Broncos for him when Pratet suspension ends so we don’t have to risk someone stealing him on waivers
May be as good a solution as any. Give Henery four games to show he’s at least back to 2012 productivity.
Might come down to it… Assuming McManus kicks well in September… I’ll be watching him kick on the road, I don’t trust the results of kicking in Denver’s thin air… That air helps ever kicker except henrey lol
seem a little silly, does Denver have that many close games? They shouldn’t give up any draft picks, even 7th rounders, for a kicker for 4 games.
I wonder what the condition is. If it’s “Must be active for 5 games,” then the Giants got fleeced.
Fk noooo! Up yours Broncos! lol
Really sorry to miss out on a chance to bring McManus back to Lincoln Financial to see if he can make our team. Still a good chance we can pick him up after Praeter returns to Denver though…
What is the fuss about McManus? He was not really any good in college
Best guy available on the scrap pile…
… Certainly not a kicker who compares to the big dogs league wide…. But a kicker who kicks touchbacks every time is a good start for improvement
I really wonder if added touchbacks over a few extra yards of fieldpositing is better than potential way worse FG%
Peter King kills me. In an article titled why the Seahawks won’t repeat, he basically says “I don’t know. History. It’s hard to repeat”.
I can’t believe he has the job he has and makes what he makes. There is no content.
I know I post something similar once a month or so, but it’s like a car accident and I can’t help but read it and get annoyed.
Tommy, don’t know if this has been covered, but do you have an opinion as to whether Gardner would be a better fill in next month at RT than Barbre?
Dawkins just said in his career, including penalties. And like uniform,violations, he was fines a combined total of about $300,000.00
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He said after the Ike Hilliard hit he had to change the way he tackles because it cost him so much money
To be fair, the NFL needs that money.
Tough commute or something?
I wonder if Goodell gets a bonus based on a % of NFL penalties.
Fine money goes to charity (often charity for retired players)
http://nflcommunications.com/2010/12/22/where-does-on-field-fine-money-go/
were fines less public when he played or what? Seems like we hear about all of them these days
I guess man… I was shocked by that number, coming from a guy like Dawk… I COULD UNDERSTAND if he was fined 300k under today’s ridiculous rules…but I was shocked to hear that.. NFL really Eats off fines
OFF TOPIC (what else do I do??)
To the guy driving an Audi TT who cut me off this morning heading west on Olympic in L.A. – I apologize for flipping you the bird. I obviously didn’t see your Eagles license plate frame until you zipped in front of me.
The condition of the trade is that McManus has to make it past Week 4 of
the season, which seems unlikely because Prater will be returning by
then.
BlindChow was right. the Giants just did this to screw the Eagles.
wow. I admire the move.
So the Giants admit that our kicker blows….
Denver may have asked for the trade because the Eagles had an earlier waiver claim.
Or Denver just needed a kicker and made an offer? I don’t think Denver was sitting around shaking in their boots because other teams could have claimed him. Maybe they just like the kicker and didn’t want to wait around to get him in camp….
Well, yeah, they needed a kicker, to be sure, but they were indeed worried that a team (specifically the Eagles, if not others as well) would claim him.
Right. A multibillionaire and his executive group, in New York City, bases their personnel moves entirely on hurting the feelings of a few people in Philadelphia.
Well, there is something to say about denying a team you have to play twice a year something that they need, especially if it costs you nothing (and you even have an outside chance of getting something) for doing so.
Like McNabb going to Wash? I’m with Maggie on this. Are the Giants sitting around reading message boards that fans are upset with a kicker? If the Eagles kicker broke his leg and we had ZERO kickers, maybe, just maybe I’d see an argument. Not even then. Why would the Giants care about a kicker that stinks going to the Birds? You’d think they would want a bad kicker coming here….
what makes you think the kicker is bad? He was 10 of 11 on touchbacks and 2/2 on field goals. He does not “stink” and could well have been our long term answer.
The giants don’t need to read Iggles Blitz. they have scouts and stuff, it’s part of their job. Are you suggesting the Giants are unaware that the Eagles (not just its fans) are not sure about Henery. Maybe the fact the Eagles traded for the Auburn kicker also was a clue for them.
It’s being reported even in the Giants BGN blog that multiple reports indicated the Giants did this to keep him from the Eagles.
The trade they took is almost surely worthless to the giants so assuming there may be another motive seems perfectly reasonable. Assuming the giants don’t know anything about the Eagles nor care if they help/hurt them does not seem reasonable to me.
They play in the same division, fyi.
Lol
Oh please.
Denver has a week 4 bye, so a four game suspension will take them through week 5. I think the Giants screwed us AND got a free pick.
Pete Carroll and Seahawks have been collectively fined $300k and the NFL is taking away two of their offseason mini camp practices next year because the NFL deemed June 16th OTA practices as unsuitable under CBA rules.. They will lose two minicamp practices and the players still get paid for them
.,,
Seahawks are the new belliCHEAT
#dontthinktheycare. Seahawks look even better than last year.
Funny they were caught for something similar and fined in 2012!!! Spy gate part two!! I demand they vacate their Super Bowl title!!!
umm thats not cheating tho..
Is it common for NFL teams to keep 4 or 5 healthy running backs on a roster?
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Always thought 3 healthy backs was pretty standard
4, at most, usually, but Kelly doesn’t care much about the conventional, since he just employs them as tools in his toolbox.
ICD . . .
Without the Birds O-line, Kelly’s tools would might as well be named “Harry Jones.”
Yep.
GE:
There was a time in the distant past — before computers — when the Eagles, and every other NFL team, routinely had 6 running backs on the roster.
For example, in 1970 — the year their rookie 3rd Rd pick at HB, Lee Bougess – Louisville, set an NFL record THAT STILL STANDS for the worst avg-yards-per-carry for a player with at least 150 attempts at 2.5 yards — the Birds RBs were:
46 – Lee Bougess, HB
37 – Tom Woodeshick, FB
20 – Leroy Keyes, HB
22 – Cyril Pinder, HB
34 – Larry Watkins, FB
and my all-time favorite WORST 1st Rd pick in Eagles history . . .
23 – Harry Jones, HB.
[Good running backs just aren’t named “Harry Jones.”]
Wait, you have gone to far this time. Are you seriously claiming that there was a time before computers? How exactly do you suppose that people got on the Internet to meet their mates and continue the human race without a computer?
We had a place called bars .And by two in the morning, everyone looked like a good mate.
Ha, very true. Some even still look that way the next day. I met my wife over a game of beer pong.
My wife was the waitress at the bar. During the day though lol
“Light Horse” Harry Jones, no less. There are two #1 picks there, I believe two #2’s, and two #3’s. And people complain about some of Andy’s drafts.
Blew out his knee, I think. I think they tried him out at DE in his last season.
Grazie mile… Posso sempre contare su di te per buona informazione
Your posts are always entertaining and illuminating, but this one deserves to be in a hall of fame somewhere. I spit up my coffee reading the second paragraph. And I always thought the late 80s/early 90s teams (until Herschel) were awful running teams (sans QB scrambles, of course)…
Is Harry Jones worse than Watkins or Jon Harris?
HJ’s career numbers in 4 years as an Eagle:
44 carries for 85 yards, 0 TDs.
That’s less than 1 carry per game per season.
Watkins had some okay games.
But Harris give Jones a run for his money.
I have to stick with Jones, though, because of the name. Factoring that in, I put him ahead of Harris.
But I’d never argue against your choice of Harris.
We are a run first team so makes sense to have more rbs and we most likely only keep 5 wrs where many teams go 6 or 7 deep
Also we have no FB on the roster that many teams still use
Can we all chip in to get GEagle his own blog? I’m sick of seeing the comments section being hijacked.
well GEAGLE’s are the comments I come here to see. but yes i would go to his blog also.
really? you come here to see geagles comments? LOL.
well i read the article adn then Geagle has the most in depth stuff about everything he puts a lot of time in. other people too of course….
maybe he works for Tom or should or could?
That little rolly spinny thing in the middle of your mouse will help you scroll right on past if you don’t want to read him. His posts are even conveniently labeled with his name to help you identify them. You could even go wild and use that minimize button at the upper right of the posts, just for s’s and g’s.
If only it were that easy…. I’ve scrolled for 20 minutes and there’s probably 20 more essays I’ve yet to pass.
lol.. but meh.. i hate seeing people complain about a person leaving comments. get over bud.
I can’t count to 53 and it doesn’t matter what my stupid position breakdown looks like because no one should a) read my position breakdown or b) care how I get to 53…but I will say this: I want Josey on the team! Kid is a playmaker/gamebreaker. I know the guys like Maehl and Mathews apparently offer value that is unobservable-to-everyone-but-highly-trained-coaches that helps win games, but what about the big, observable things that win games?? Like breaking huge plays? Having seen Josey at Mizzou tearing up SEC defenses and then get off when he got the chance in pre-season it is hard to fathom how he does not add enough value to stick. To me he has much more tangible upside (not the fantasy-land type upside of Momah) than Polk and even Tucker, though I do like Tucker and Polk. No idea why we traded for Barner if Huff is going to be healthy for returns…
Maybe Josey isn’t great at blocking or ST or something, but he breaks plays. I hope he shines Thursday.
In summary, I had a few beers, F the world I want Josey, but I trust Chip.
GO EAGLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah the Barner trade also confuses me considering Huff is talking about being ready for week 1… His week 1 availability will be huge because we wouldn’t be forced to keep Barner for ST.. Barner will have to earn his spot instead of just eating off our need for ST returners..
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Wouldn’t be that surprised to see him look good as a RB tho…our run game is much better suited for him then Carolina’s.
conditional 7 only if barner on active roster for first couple of games. def insurance for huff
Id hate to see Barner take someone’s spot on Saturday when teams need to get down to 53 and then see huff ready for week 1 and Barner cut after he took someone’s spot on the 53 man roster,,, then again hopefully we have plans for Barner Independant of Huff since we can ATleast count on our coach knowing what to expect to get from him..
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If we have to keep Barner as insurance for huff I guess you just give him Lanes spot, but I’m curious to see how this Barner situation unfolds….Chip knows his game, so he isn’t an addition where we need to seed what he looks like. Our coach knows what to expect from him…. Have a hard time trying to figure out why Barner is here… Huff insurance? Or could we possibly end up having both huff and Barner all year?
…
Would love to know chips thought process on the addition of Barner
I really doubt Barner is replacement for Huff as Boykin or Carroll can return kicks (and majority of the kicks wont be returned anyway)
Chipwagon — play#3 is a thing of beauty. A pulling g/c/g sweep. Wholly cow. Then our C pancakes a REDSKINS player. I’ll assume LJ learns that the if the guys he’s supposed to block, runs himself out of the play, that he can run up field and target a safety(or a body) to help Shady. Great upfield block by Cooper. I can watch this play over and over….
HardKnocks was pretty awesome, one of the better episodes I have seen. Special team coach ripped his unit a new one.. And Brian Cox Is TV gold..
Falcons have some talent..I’d like to see the falcons and Bucs have a decent season, so the teams in that division can all beat on each other like the NFC west. Carolina and saints should have more competition than last year..
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Shede Hageman looks like such a mutt.. Don’t envision Chip ever drafting someone like him…but when he is on, you see his natural ability… But could you imagine him in a Chip Kelly practice? He would die of a heartattack the first day…. Always knew Roddy was a big boy, but he looks like a beast compared to other WRs and DBs. Julio looks healthy… Curious to see how maclin compares to Julio and Reggie Wayne who are also coming off serious injuries…
agree w/ your thoughts on hard knocks – but i can’t even put maclin in the same sentence as julio and reggie.
On the jets their DB position is terrible — guess that’s what you gotta do when you’re desperate.
Mac is No Julio that’s for sure. And I doubt Maclin will ever be as good as Wayne was… But coming back from that injury at Reggie Wayne’s age, after all that mileage he has accrued, Maclin In his prime, today, should be able to hang with Wayne in the golden years of his career….today they should be comparable but Maclin will probably never reach the heights that Wayne did in his prime
yeah i was jealous. luckily our offense doesn’t need those type of playmakers (sticks tongue in cheek).
Funny ATL can’t buy a decent running back. Pass pro is probably all that line cares about. I will say, the fact that we run zone read all the time is great, our line has mastered it.
Will be interesting to see Rex Ryan with these DBs. He’s one of the best in the NFL with DBs, but a few years ago, he had Revis and Cromartie, now this… He will have to do some magic, but when it comes to Defense, never undererstimate Rex Ryan. As bad as he is with QBs and the Offense, he knows his D.
Rex Ryan knows the D? i thought he was more of a feet guy?
heh… i’ll just see myself out now.
He salvaged Jaqwan Jarrett..
We could give him both Carmichael and Marsh. We’re like a dream come true for RR. Two qualitiy corners, just what the doctor ordered.
TE coach Ted Williams who has been around an NFL block or two in his day, says “Ertz is one of the best route runners I have ever seen”….. Talk about high praise….
Bwahahagahaha WVU Clint T said that Sabans daughter was the first girl he ever kissed and it happened 4 days before he played against Alabama.
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Hahahahahah that’s awesome!! Go WVU!!!
This is great stuff . . . especially with your editorializing.
Love it.
Siete un tesoro.
Here’s a bit of editorializing too: This is not Josh Gordon’s first offense, no matter the drug of choice. Can’t figure out why so many supposedly well trained and highly conditioned athletes would risk their brief opportunity to make millions, and their health, just to stick some pointless poison into themselves. Even the PEDs or HGH or blood centrifuging has a purpose. At least in the minds of those making those choices.
So ESPN.com’s NFL Season Preview is up, and by far the most interesting aspect is an opposing player’s assessment of each team’s starting QB.
http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/11377732/2014-nfl-season-preview-analysis-game-game-predictions-more-every-team
Here’s Nick Foles:
“If you don’t change up the coverages on him you’re going to have problems. [The Eagles] make their offense so simple and they go so fast with the run game and the pass game and even a little bit of the [read-option] play to make sure you stay honest, so that a lot of teams don’t want to change coverages. The defenses say, ‘We’re staying Cover 2 no matter what,’ and he knows it. He knows where the holes are going to be. He’s going to kill you. When you go against them you have to say, ‘OK, we’re going to change the coverages but keep the defensive line the same.’ The defensive line is the key. If you stop the run and make it longer for them on third down, you can be effective against him. But if you let him dink and dunk against you and the defensive line is worrying about the run or the read play, then you have problems with him.”
Colin Kaepernick:
“I don’t think he’s a factor if we’re on our stuff. They run a bunch of phantom routes to get him free to run. You know you’re digging to your last shell if you have to do all that. You can’t do anything else but play backyard football. Really it’s up to the D-Line and linebackers to contain him and make him be a passer, because really he’s not a great quarterback when he is throwing the ball inside the pocket. When you’re playing Kaepernick, you can read his shoulders and his eyes. He’s average to me overall. He’s a great athlete, so you just have to keep him from getting outside where he can make things happen. It’s his legs. When he’s able to get outside the pocket and create, it’s hard to stop him.”
What are the odds that that bit of info was given by a Seahawk? Has to be someone in the division lol.
Analytics does some funky stuff man, We can’t break 24 points scored on offense until we face 9ers and put up 31 then the rams to put up 40. 2 very nice defenses. Meanwhile Jacksonville, Indianapolis, and Washington all keep our offense contained in the fair September weather at home (and one dome)? I’ll be a true believer of analytics if this prediction comes to pass.
Important contract was signed today…
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Titans signed Jurrel Casey to a 4yr 36million dollar deal, 20mil GUARENTEED.
This deal is important because he is now the second highest paid 3-4DE after Caleus Campbell’s contract… This bench mark will matter when we have to talk extensions with Cox and Thornton, mainly Cox… But it’s not that black and white as a bench mark, because Casey hasn’t two gapped yet. He will be a 3-4 DE for the first time this year.. He earned this nice contract getting 10 sacks 55 tackles as a 4-3 DT one gap system…..
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Thinking Cox will get something like 4yr 28Mil.. 15 mil in Guarantees
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What to make of Mike Vicks public comments about Riley Cooper? Saying how he stepped up from coop when guys wanted to beat him up, and how he was proud of the way he led our locker room helping Coop thru it, but now he is telling the media that Cooper hasn’t returned a phone call or answered a text since Coop signed his new contract…if true, it’s trashy of Cooper, but for all the good Vick did regarding this story, he sounds like a girl revealing this to the media.. Play against the eagles tomorrow, why talk about such gossipy crap like this… Boo hoo, Coop did answer your calls.
it’ll be interesting to see how he’s used / plays this year. Could come away looking like a bad deal and Eagles won’t want to use it as a benchmark.
The bench mark in place would be the Caleus Campbell deal! that’s the highest paid 3-4 DE which is getting 11mil per…. Don’t think Cox has earned a bigger contracts than Caleus
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You are right tho..they could end up regretting this deal, paying this type of money to someone you haven’t seen two gap yet
Both Jeff McLane and Zach Berman have the Eagles keeping the same four
running backs on their 53: LeSean McCoy, Darren Sproles, Polk and Kenjon
Barner.
I would agree with that…
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Starting to wonder about Ed Reynolds. Thinking he could be cut and try to get on the practice squad, but he would prob get poached.
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If Polk makes the roster then I’m gonna be pissed by how they handled him… If they expect to keep him they shouldn’t be rushing him back like this and risking re-injuring the hamstring that isn’t healed yet… Why rush him on the field? They know his game. They know if the want him or not….he hasn’t played all offseason, one quarter of play against 3rd stringers won’t factor into their decision. They already know if they are keeping him or not… Hope they sit him down and don’t let him play