Reasonable Criticism
Posted: September 16th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 257 Comments »The Buffalo Bills have not made the playoffs since the 1999 season. Those fans are desperate for the team to get back to the postseason. They’d love a division title, but would gladly accept a wildcard berth. They just want to get back to the playoffs. I completely get where they are coming from. When you’ve had a drought like that, you are desperate for any kind of success.
The Eagles won the NFC East in 2013. And 2010. And 2006. They were a wildcard team in 2008 and 2009. That is a fair amount of success since the Eagles made it to the Super Bowl in 2004.
I’m greedy. I want to see this team compete for a title. That means the Eagles need to play at a high level. They don’t have to be perfect. They don’t have to go undefeated. They just have to look like a top flight team. Anyone who watched Denver last year could see a Super Bowl contender. KC started 9-0, but didn’t look the same. They played lesser competition due to a weak schedule and the Chiefs were better than those teams, but didn’t look like the Broncos.
Everyone is excited to see the Eagles off to a 2-0 start. Winning is fun. But I want more than that. Winning games will get you to the postseason. The team has to play well in order to win games in January. The Eagles have not played well to this point.
If you think that is unreasonable criticism or some obsession with negativity by me, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m generally accused of being too positive.
One of the reasons I am holding this team to a high standard is that I think it has tremendous potential. I want this team to do great things. I think this team can play a lot better than it is. That does not mean I expect perfection. Mistakes are going to happen. Andrew Gardner had some rough moments in the game. He’s the 3rd string RT. I am not going to judge him the same way I do Jason Peters.
Celebrate the Eagles being 2-0. Enjoy the heck out of it. But also be honest about this team. They need to play better if they are going to be a title contender this season.
* * * * *
The Eagles offense is pretty incredible right now, despite not playing as good as it can.
* The Eagles lead the NFL in points and yards.
* The Eagles are tied for the lead in plays of 40 or more yards (4).
* The Eagles lead the NFL in plays of 20 or more yards (12). They are on pace for 96, which would be close to what they did last year.
* Keep in mind that the Eagles are 27th in the NFL in Red Zone offense. They threw an INT in the opener and then missed a chip shot FG last night. At the least, that should be 6 more points on the board.
There are a ton of other missed opportunities. Jeremy Maclin was wide open for a long TD last week and Foles didn’t see him. Riley Cooper failed to catch a pass in the end zone last night. It would have been a tough grab, but that’s why you’re paying him $5M a year. Maclin got open deep last night and Foles couldn’t connect with him. The OL had some issues with blocking in the Red Zone last night.
It is kinda crazy to think how good this offense can be if the players start to click.
This group could be right on par with last year’s Broncos, the best Pats offense or the classic Rams teams that were the Greatest Show on Turf. I hope the offense does work out the kinks. I would love to see this group play elite football. Anyone who watched the 1991 Eagles knows what it was like to see truly great defense. We’ve got a chance to see the offensive equivalent of that.
* * * * *
Right now the Eagles defense is 13th in yards allowed and 17th in points allowed.
That’s about what I expected from the defense. Cary Williams was awful for part of the opener, but has played much better since then and that’s helped the overall defense. I was disappointed with the run defense last night, but it looked like the Colts had some scheme wrinkles that caught the Eagles off guard. Their unbalanced line set gave the Eagles fits for about 3 quarters. Good job by the Colts coaches.
It took the Eagles a while, but they did adjust and played that look much better as the game wore on.
* * * * *
STs was great in the opener, but less so last night. The jury is still out on this group.
_
That was way too long to read. Just answer the question, Tommy: why do you hate the Eagles?
Tell me if you’re serious so I’ll know whether to laugh or not.
If Tommy insists on letting facts and what he sees influence his opinion, I’m not sure why we’re even here.
That’s why the guy is always on Santa’s naughty list.
You don’t honestly expect me to root for a team that once killed Santa, has a prison under their stadium and hates babies/puppies/unicorns.
To be fair, Santa had it coming. Naughty and nice lists are prejudicial.
Touche.
“hates…unicorns”
allegedly, that lawsuit is still in the court system
Really? I draw the line at unicorns.
did someone say uniforms? casey Matthews uniforms ??
(he is a duck afterall)
http://www.nflshop.com/Casey_Matthews_Philadelphia_Eagles_Jerseys
I posted this last night and I’m still wondering: Does anyone know why a couple of Parkey’s kickoffs were line-drives. My impression was that was deliberate as his other kos were boomers. Was there a strategy behind that?
An attempt to force turnovers by tumbling a ball in to a very particular spot and jacking up the returner?
Could be. Thanks.
Don’t over think it. They were miss hits.
If you think that is unreasonable criticism or some obsession with negativity by me, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m generally accused of being too positive.
lol that is so true. its been a weird few days here
I have the same attitude towards Foles. Yes, I’m glad he is playing well enough to get us to two wins and he definitely made some plays last night. But like Tommy said, this group has the potential to be so consistently good that we could contend for the title on a yearly basis. Combine that with the fact that the Giants look to be on the verge of a massive rebuild and the Cowboys have a ridiculous amount of dead money tied up in a 30 something QB with back issues. The division is shaping up to be as crappy as the AFC East has been during the Pats’ sustained period of dominance. With such a high ceiling, I don’t want my QB to leave any plays on the field. And with our OL as old as it is, I don’t think it’s too harsh to be hard on Foles when our window of opportunity could be narrow. If he keeps up this level of play, I wouldn’t be surprised to see us move up to grab a great prospect if Mariota or Winston turn out to be who we think they are and decide to come out.
Lol what a joke… You talk about a closing window in one breathe, and in the next one, you talk about starting over and dealing with the growing pains with a rookie QB? Lol
It took Washington I believe 3 #1s plus a #2 to move up from 6 to 2. How low do you expect us to be drafting this year for us to have any shot at a top QB prospect? It just seems exceedingly unlikely.
my thinking of this is that Chip Kelly’s offense is highly dependent upon individual execution. having backup players in there just means we are less likely to win those individual battles. i mean, Dennis Kelly and Andrew Gardner are the backups to our backups (Mathis -> Tobin -> Kelly … Johnson -> Barbre -> Gardner)
i think the backup OL struggled mightily at times and the offense sputtered out because of that.
Every play on football comes down to individual execution on any team. Every player is assigned a certain task on every play and he has to do it. Im not sure what you meant with that.
sorry, i am not good at explaining myself today. just ignore me…lol
Lol all good. I get great ideas of what i want to type or put down on paper sometimes….but then when it actually comes to putting it down it just doesnt come out right.
I completely agree. The craziest thing about the first two games is how many plays were left on the field despite them having the #1 offense in points and yards. This system is amazing – guys have been running free all over the field throughout the game. I’d have to think Chip is a bit nervous about Foles right now – even his completions have not been sharp for the most part (with a few notable exceptions – TD pass to Maclin, drop by Cooper in the end zone, a couple of the long plays to Ertz). With even average execution on many of the plays in the last two games, the Eagles’ offensive numbers could be mind-blowing. The drops aren’t helping either, but that’s another story.
I understand that people have high expectations for this team. The issue that I have is it seems a disproportionate amount of blame is being shifted to Foles.
Granted, things were ugly in the first half of the Jaguars game, but it seems like that rattled some fans and now they’re pointing out every single thing that could have been done a little bit better and ignoring the ridiculous amount of drops/missed blocks. These receivers seem to be unable to make a contested catch and even Celek has had some uncharacteristic drops. Further, they seem to ignore that Foles has been sacked a grand total of zero times since that first half.
I believe that Foles could have played a bit better here and there since that awful first half, but he has been far from bad. Shady on the other hand has been struggling. Instead of worrying about our star RB only averaging 3.7 YPC people are complaining because our QB isn’t throwing for 400 yards. I have news for some of you – this is a run first team. Shady’s issues scare me much more than Foles not breaking the single season record for passing yards.
Is Foles’ lack of sacks in the last 6 quarters a product of our OL, or poor pass rush, or both? There definitely seemed like times in the Indy game when he was still holding onto the ball way too long. We’ve seen open receivers left hanging (though I haven’t seen all-22s of the Indy game.) Not confirming or denying your argument, just throwing in some additional considerations. Clearly, we’re not seeing the best of Foles, but like Tommy advised, I’m keeping my worry in check for now.
I also would guess that having a couple of 3rd stringers in on the OL might make some of those fantastic run blocking schemes we’ve seen a lot harder to execute, to Shady’s detriment. Sproles has been able to break a few big runs open…he’s very talented, but could opponents simply not have the same game plan developed for him as they do for McCoy? Again, I’m playing Devil’s advocate.
In any event, I’m hoping that as we get players back over the next couple of weeks (and hopefully no more going down), the team can get into a rhythm and really start to show its stuff.
I don’t see how you can give the OL all the credit for Foles not getting sacked in the last 6 quarters unless you’re willing to put all the blame for McCoy’s ineffectiveness on Shady. I don’t see how you can just say it’s poor pass rush considering he was sacked zero times in the second half of a game in which he was sacked 5 times in the first half.
I agree that he does tend to hold on to the ball for longer than the typical QB. However, is that not the very thing that made him so special last year? That he was willing to sit in the pocket and take a hit so long as he wasn’t making a risky throw just for the sake of getting it out fast? His patience and decision making turned into a historic season last year. People are ready to get the pitchforks out because it backfired for one half of football this year?
Look, I’m not saying Foles or the Eagles have been perfect. I’m just saying that all of this focus on Foles as if he’s the one and only underperformer is disappointing. We had 6 drops in this last game… if those drops are caught then Foles has a 73% completion… yet we’ve got guys like Kempski calling Foles “wildly inaccurate.”
It just doesn’t add up.
Pass protection is very different that run blocking. I’m no guru, but again, it seems that some of the run blocking schemes we have require serious smarts, decision making ability, and athleticism in open space. If I was a third string OL, of we we now have two playing, I’d much rather simply have to try to fend off my guy from sacking Foles when he’s trying to pass than imitate Jason Kelce running around like a wild man on a mission.
Foles was certainly special last year, but at the same time, he took many unnecessary sacks. I think most people are hoping that he’s able to throw it out of bounds more often when he doesn’t have any other option, rather than go down for a loss or possible fumble, not to mention potential injury. Now, as you’ve said, he hasn’t been sacked since the first half vs. the Jags. That’s awesome, but I don’t necessarily chalk it up to Foles having turned a corner in that regard. I still think he needs to learn to step up in the pocket, for one. But most definitely, his receivers need to do their job, too. I think it’ll happen.
I’m not over here rooting for Sanchez to start by any means. I’m just offering additional perspective. 2 games doesn’t tell us much, especially when the opposition’s pass rush has been lacking.
Lineman prefer run blocking to pass blocking
Accuracy isn’t just about how many completions there are.
It is also about putting the ball where the receiver can run onto it and pick up YAC as well as putting it where the DB can’t get their hands on it.
Foles just isn’t placing the ball as well as he did last year.
What you just described didn’t occur during the Colts game. There were maybe three passes that fit that bill in that game. The criticism of Foles being “wildly inaccurate” is laughable at best. He had a rough day against the Jaguars and improved in the Colts game. Somehow Foles is the one catching grief for his performance even though we had six drops, 11 penalties, and Shady did nothing until very late. With all of that to be considered people are crying about Foles – the only person (aside from Ertz and Sproles) who bothered to show up on offense on Monday during the first half.
I don’t mind him being under the radar at all
One thing to keep in mind also – If they’re running 4 verticals, it’s going to take longer to go through all the reads than if you’re just running quick outs and slants, or 2 receiver patterns. Some of those plays he’s holding the ball for a long time – he’s SUPPOSED to hold it to go through his reads. It’s a catch-22; if he doesn’t go through his reads, he’ll get killed for leaving plays on the field. If he does go through his reads, he’ll get killed for “holding on to the ball.” If you want to keep the big play opportunities that the offense threatens with, you have to accept that the QB is going to hold the ball more often than the checkdown, conservative offenses do.
That’s not to say that there aren’t plays where he needs to improve his pocket awareness – even he has admitted he’s struggling with that right now. But that’s fixable, especially since he seems to have correctly identified the issue.
Had Shady been on the field during that 4th and 1 call last week instead of Sproles, this would be a different conversation. Sproles got lucky to be in a situation that the defense was completely unprepared for, and his stats got a huge bump for it, but he was also lucky because the team was going uptempo and couldn’t pull him out for Shady.
TL;DR- Sample size bias.
Hey guys,who is the coach you would want over Chip?
I’d rather have him than anyone.
I agree. But I had no idea how intelligent he was when hired. We struck the lottery.
I read everything on the whole internet about him prior to them firing Andy and I coveted him over anyone else before Andy was even gone. But I thought him more an offensive innovator than program builder. The more I learn about him the more I like him.
Just came across this today which I thought was fascinating: online.wsj.com/articles/the-philadelphia-eagles-secret-coaches-professors-1410890601?tesla=y&mg=reno64-wsj
Read that earlier. Great article. The man is an information sponge.
Program Builder. Excellent way to put it. I think he’s better at that than play calling.
Thanks for posting the link!
Rocket surgeon.
Is that one and the same?
Perfect, cause this offense is a rocket and yet is is clearly kind of sick.
and certainly Brain Scientist
Eric Taylor is the only guy who even comes close.
God.
Casey Matthews is a Duck.
No one.
Taking into account coaching “talent”, personality, attitude, scheme, football IQ and likability, I can’t imagine who in the NFL I’d rather have.
The day the Eagles hired Chip changed the way I behaved as a fan. The Eagles weren’t fun anymore, and hadn’t been for years. Hiring Chip changed everything.
It’s great.
There is nobody I would rather have than Chip. That being said Cowboys and Giants will have new coaches next year. The Giants hire will be predictable, either a retread or a top coordinator. What would scare the hell out of me would be Kevin Sumlin or Art Briles going to Dallas. I know Jerry is an idiot, but if either one of those coaches mandated they get a real GM in order to take the job, I would be pissed, because Dallas would be a real team again.
Also both Sumlin and Briles are big coaching stars in Texas, so it would also be big PR boost for Jerry.
Phil Jackson.
Jim Johnson best coach in philly sports history!
2-0. #1 offense with 4/7 top OL out, marginal WR play and QB1 in a funk. I’ll take it. We are only going to get better as the OL returns to strength. Shady will get better blocking. Which will help the WRs and Foles. RZ playcalling/execution has been disappointing, but I have faith in Chip.
I think a lot of the reason why the RZ playcalling has been disappointing is Foles’ inaccuracy so far. Chip is having to scheme around these problems and it has required several iterations of adjustments – the choices are limited when your QB is not throwing the ball quickly, crisply or accurately. Opposing defenses are keying on the run and blowing up the DL and getting into the backfield (that IZR game has not been there deep in the red zone). CBs are handling receivers 1-on-1 for the most part.
It would be nice to see the TEs get a bit more involved until the OL is not relying on multiple backups. I was intrigued by that 3 TE 2 RB formation they ran a few times yesterday but it seemed like they mostly ran out of that set and it got blown up.
I got hammered on another board for describing Foles’ performance this year as “lackluster”.
Not really a better way to describe his play. He’s not as sharp as he was last year, that’s for sure.
And I do realize that some of his passes were dropped and should not have been. And that sort of thing happens to every quarterback. But still, we’ve seen him play quite a bit better.
Patience Tommy, peaking in September doesn’t help us win a Superbowl. The only thing that matters is you see the potential, all these missed opportunities are just easy potential for growth. I’m gladder that we’ve shown we can win ugly. It’s hard to stay hot for 4 games in a row, being able to dig out a win on an off day is so valuable. This is why Reid’s feast or famine style could never bring us a title. With any luck our starting O-line should be back together towards the season and Foles in mid season form ready to make a playoff run.
Want valid criticism in terms of concerns for a Superbowl 4 months from now? Talk about talent deficiencies that can only be addressed through off-season roster-building. Maybe if you see a season ending injury, it would be fair to question if we could overcome that. Point out concerning limitations. Sloppy play in September? No, the only thing we are doing here at this point in the season is paving a path towards home field advantages in the playoffs
Very well said… Very very well said. Nice to see a few eagles fans with some sense left..
So the question is: Are the Eagles right now still improving chemistry? Will Foles continue to get better each week? I would say yes and I think this team will fix the problems we have seen in the first two weeks.
Of course man…. It’s not reasonable to expect to see a finished product until the kid ATleast has 30 games under his belt…and this isn’t to defend FOles..
..
For example, thru two games, Cox has been one of the most dominant defensive lineman in the NFL…but he isn’t a finished product. As great as has played, he isn’t done growing and maturing as a player…good or bad, we aren’t seeing the best these young kids have to offer yet,,,
…
Take the secondary for example. Props to them for Monday night. They had a solid night keeping a top QB and a solid WR corp in check all night, under 200 yards passing, only averaging 5.1 yards per completion…secondary should he praised for Monday night, but you aren’t seeing the best this secondary will offer. It’s not possible for them to have reached their ceiling when they only played two games with Malcom Jenkins so far…. Good or bad, we aren’t going to see this team operate at the same level it should be at in December after we have another 10 games to grow under our belt.
,,.
Respect the process. If you don’t respect the process your expectations will be out of whack, and if your expectations are wrong, your oppinion is going to wrong!
I haven’t read through the litany of comments from the last few posts, but if anyone is accusing Tommy of being too negative for pointing out what are very obvious issues that need to be corrected for this team going forward, then they need to get their heads out of their asses.
Like he said, being 2-0 is great but be realistic about how they got there & know that there is a lot more work to be done. This can & should be a much better team. If anything the 2-0 start only confirms that.
another poster accurately pointed out that according to most “we should be 4-0 by now”
I think I know that guy.
was that you? respect!! great comment.
I quoteth from the comments section now! im going to put that in my linkedIN page !
..
ill be using it all season. so thank you when im saying 18-0 in Dec !!
There are a quite a few things that need some improvement BUT a lot of people would the things below would never happen.
The D was frustrating the other day (bend but not break) with all those excruciatingly long drives. But… For all the gripes about the secondary, you don’t see the missed tackles and hand waving like you saw in the Castillo year. Those CBs were probably a lot more physically talented then but at least Sconces and Bradley will get their guy to the ground right after they catch the ball; even when they have to grab the shirt and hang on for dear life. Even Nate Allen is playing a lot better now.
Not only that but on Chip Wagon, they show clips of Jeremy Maclin blocking someone pretty well on one of Sproles big runs. He also seems to be going over the middle more now and on that failed first down catch he stuck his head down and tried running a couple guys over. He failed but he did make the attempt.
Good point about Maclin on that play. Tough tacklin’ Maclin?
I don’t think he’s quite there yet – watch Jags game Q3 14:09.
Best cut block attempt ever…………by Maclin.
Also in Jags game Q2 0:28 McMcoy catches short pass over the middle running to Mac’s side. Mac stands around doing jack all. Didn’t even look to get in someone’s way.
I have to give the secondary some credit. Hilton, Nicks and Wayne are all pretty decent receivers to say the least with Nicks being on the bottom. For the vast majority of the game the pass rush was not there against a good QB. They didnt allow any big plays downfeild, limited Luck to 178 yards passing, and had a huge pick at a critical moment in the redzone. Bradley SHOULD have had another one in the endzone which.would have totally changed they dynamics of the game. Generally speaking whena wideout caught the ball he was tackled almost immediatly.
Why is everyone still beating the “he missed a WIDE open Maclin” to death. Go back and look at the film. Maclin is lined up on the right outside. He could have had a police escort with flashing lights. It would not have mattered. All of Foles’ reads were left side. Whether or not he read the defense correctly we will never know.
It’s 2nd and 22. Need the yards.
1st read is Center field deep safety on his drop back
2nd read is the underneath to Cooper. Open but bang bang play. No RAC.
3rd read is Jordan a little deeper on a curl. Mike is sliding over into the lane.
4th Clock goes off. This is about 2.7 seconds
5th read he sees Mac now because he was scanning the left side. Defense is in his face.
He does a good job finding the open receiver. The only thing he is guilty of is ball security, not missing an open receiver. If Maclin was in his field of view or was higher up in his read progression then yes. He wasn’t so he didn’t miss him.
Oh the difference in this play and the one he scored a TD to Mac on is a half a second shorter and Shady held the block longer.
one might say, in the ‘clock goes off’ pick, that Foles should have stepped up in the pocket and not head that way. I think even Foles mentioned he needs to move around the pocket better. Just a thought.
totally agree with you, but i don’t agree with the caption in the picture saying Peters was ‘beat’. the OL have their own internal clock as well. he blocked that guy long enough. Foles had better not be there anymore.
Yea “beat’ is too strong. He should have still tried to maintain his block.
is this the play late late in the game ?? where he defender literally fake fell down and tripped Maclin from behind ? that’s a ‘new’ technique that should be and should have been called interference ..and ball was in the air
Naa. This is the second sack/fumble. I watched that play you are talking about in slow mo and you can see the left arm of the defender reach out and contact Maclin. You see Maclin’s left shoulder dip and then he stumbles.
Should have been a helmet to helmet on the Celek drop in the EZ. He earholed Celek on that play.
that is f a n fu ckkkk en t a s t I c !!!
send this to indy crybabies along with all the other messef up calls ..actually spare them because ANdrew Luck is too smart to fall for that ( I remember people crying about the refs in 1972!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! complain about the ref? welcome to the NFL you dope Ray LEwis)
wish this could be sent to Ray Lewis and Chris Collignsworth and that ex Cowbys QB that whats his name and all those crybabies.
nice work .. you inspired me to rant!
I derstand that our run D was not what we thought it was going to be durring this game, but i do think that is overstated. I think we focused more on Luck and not as much at the run as we normally would. There is a reason as to why Luck only had 178 yards passing and they had had 160 some yards rushing. We currently do not have a good enough D to shut out both, which we all knew we would not have. Ask most people and i think they would tell you that Luck would probably have close to 300 yards passing this game. I think Luck only having 178 passing is a HUGE for this D. As far as people saying Richardson had his best game against us since his rookie year, he only averaged 3.8 yards per carry and fumbled twice. Just because he had the most yardage he has had in a long time doesnt mean.he had a good game. Give anyone the ball over and over and at some point they will put up a decent amount of yardage. That doesnt mean they ran effectively. Bradshaw on the other hand different story. He has always been good against us. It is hard when you are going up against one style of running and then it fets switched on you towards another style however.
It was a similar case to the Saints playoff game; the type of defense we played allowed them to run more but made their passing game less successful.
The best part for me? On top of a great win, I had Maclin and Ertz + a 10 pt lead in FF; my opponent had Luck. The software predicted that I’d lose – I won by slightly more than 10 points! Just good enough fantasy performances from my Eagles, and a subpar fantasy performance by Luck (who still managed 3 passing TDs). The trash talking is epic for at least another 24 hours!
First year i have not done FF in probably 5 or so years. My fantasy team was killer last year untill i lost Rodgers, Cobb, Wayne and another player or 2. Was absolutly decimated by injuries.
The person that keeps accusing Tommy of being overly negative about Foles must be off their meds. As he says here, he is often accused of being too positive. I’ve made that accusation myself. He writes with a very positive viewpoint and I enjoy that viewpoint or I wouldn’t make this my first stop for Eagles reading.
But at this point I may be slightly more positive than he is.
2-0. That’s the only thing that matters right now.
The NFL is often very different in November, December and January than it is in September. The Eagles have gotten 2 wins and those 2 wins may very well be the difference down the road when they are trying to make the playoffs.
Sure, as Tommy says, I’d love to see the Eagles looking like a Super Bowl favorite like Denver did last year, but I think we all realized that wasn’t going to happen this year. I think most of us thought the Eagles had a chance to be a good team, make the playoffs, then… you never know what might happen with a little luck. That’s the still the course the Eagles are on and 2 wins helps.
2-0
I am.very disapointed in certain aspects of the team, specifically certain things to do with Foles obviously. Also Cooper and Mathews. However i think there are alot of positives from this game that are not really being mentioned. We are underperforming on O, which sounds a little crazy considering we have the most yards and points in the league.
There definitely seems to be some correlation between the posters who have been here for a long time being more in line with Tommy’s outlook of Foles being subpar in the first two games, vs alot of the newer commenters being so surprised and taken aback he actually is willing to be objective in his analysis.
as I said above — there’s nothing wrong with Tommy saying he’s played subpar. That’s how Foles has been playing. I get the “long time posters” like to protect mother hen but it doesn’t mean I have to agree with statements he makes. Stating, as fact, that Foles can not carry this team — is not objective.
Well said
I think mis-understand what I’m saying. First off, I’m here(and no other site) because Tommy is not a “omg, the Eagles are the best in universe at everything they do”. I love Tommy’s perspective.
……
It’s the hard, “factual” statements he makes that I disagree with. Tommy wrote that Foles can not carry this team(which I covered already). I question — how does Tommy know that for a fact? (that is one example as that’s the most recent). You do notice, he never says “I think Foles can be our guy”. BUT That’s ok, he doesn’t have to like Foles either. Again, its those “factual” statements he makes about Foles.
……
Today — Tommy says he’s positive and only wants perfection. Well, no shit. BUT those are two completely different statements. Saying Foles “CAN’T” and saying he wants perfection are apples and oranges.
……
That’s what gets my khakis in a bunch :).
Darren Sproles tied for #1 in fantasy RB points:
http://games.espn.go.com/ffl/leaders?slotCategoryId=2
The amount of grief I gave the guy who drafted him as his no.2 RB in the 4th round.
Very painful now, except for the Eagles being 2-0 obviously!
“I was disappointed with the run defense last night, but it looked like the Colts had some scheme wrinkles that caught the Eagles off guard.”
Literally.
I’d rather they racked up a bunch of rushing yards with Richardson and Bradshaw then see the defense have keyed on stopping the run and thrashed by Luck and his receivers…which would have made no sense given any kind of scouting. The job of the defense was to slow down the passing game of Luck and co. and by golly it worked!
How great would this offense be if we had a top 5 WR? Everything would open up.
Not sure it is need, we just need the ones we have to not drop passes.
It’s not needed but it’ll be quite the luxury for Foles.
100% true, but I think WR is the place where we can save money going forward because we do not need a Calvin Johnson where the QB can just throw near him
I have the opposite thought after the first two games. Foles could certainly use a guy like that.
I’d say it’s kind of hard to make the case that the Eagles can get by with a mediocre Riley Cooper type of receiver when Riley Cooper has 37 yards in two games, games in which Foles has thrown more than 80 times.
We also have Maclin and Matthews, both will never cost over 10 mill/year
Droppy Matthews hasn’t been much better than Cooper.
3 catches on 8 targets… And your point is that Foles doesn’t need someone who can just go up and catch the ball?
No my point is, the offense is not based around it. Take the Bears offense, its pretty much based on Cutler throwing jump balls to Marshall and Jeffrey
Yeah, that was supposed to be Coopers strong suit. Limited outside speed but could high point the ball. Not so much this year. And maclin hasn’t looked so hot either. Matthews stone hands are as advertised. Then throw in the fact that Foles is definitely not in rhythm or as sharp as last year. Thank God for our RB and TE
Coopers high school photo .. literally Simple Jack. wish I was as good as him and ass good lookin however ..
but maybe we need a guy that foles can throw near.
Would like to caution that we’ve faced a pair of pretty terrible defenses. Young jags with a touch of talent but terrible execution, and old colts that are slow across the board.
OTOH, the Rams haven’t played that well, defensively (compared to the rep) so far. The Cards have played better than their season ending injuries suggest. So has the 49’ers.
You can run up the middle on the Niners and the Bears showed that you can pass on em
The bears showed you can pass on the niners with huge, reliable pass catchers, which we do not have.
Did you really have to see the bears game to know that the Niners secondary is nothing special?
..
Btw, Ertz seems like a huge reliable pass catcher to me
Granted, our opponents were not the elite defenses of the NFL. The coaches we have faced, however, are both well respected.
Even ignoring the talent and execution, neither one of them seemed to have a plan to counter Kelly’s offense. It is disappointing that there were receivers running wide open who were missed or who dropped the ball, but there were receivers running wide open.
Kind of scary that if this offense actually plays well it might drop 50 on every team in the NFL. McCoy still hasn’t had a great game. Receivers keep dropping passes. Foles not as sharp as last year yet.
drop 50 passes and score 50 points! that wud be a phildelphia dilemma for sure!
Its interesting that a lot of the public appears to be down on the media for saying (correctly imo) that Foles and the O haven’t played that well.
I wonder if the Eagles had played well in the first halves but badly in the 2nd if people’s outlook would be different? Same results obviously.
Also I guess this is partly Chip’s honeymoon period still. He’s not Big Red…
just thinking back a few years ago where the Giants started out terrible. They couldn’t do a single thing right. Their fans wanted their coach fired immediately. We laughed at them. It was a lot of fun. Until they started clicking…and won the SB. Give this team time to gel. To settle down.
I’m not a fan of PFT. I did read the team rankings. For the Eagles the wrote something to the effect of — If the Eagles start clicking, they would be serious contenders to knock off Seattle. Interesting view from outsiders….
I don’t think pointing out that the Eagles will need to play better is unduly negative. What I think IS unduly negative (and you’re not guilty of this, Tommy) is failing to recognize that it is the norm rather than the exception for any team to be firing on all cylinders this early in the season. The Patriots, Colts, Saints, 49ers, Seahawks, and Packers are all considered contenders and all have looked like something less than world beaters so far this year as well. If 5 games from now Foles is still missing open receivers or misfiring on passes he should hit, Cooper, Matthews, and Celek are still dropping catchable balls, the O line is still out of sync on a significant number of plays, the defense is still missing tackles, etc. I will be concerned. But as of right now, I think such problems are more likely just normal early season hiccups than anything. Chip’s NFL track record, such as it is, is that the team gets stronger as the year goes along, and that was generally the pattern with Andy’s Eagles teams as well. I don’t think there’s reason to jump to negative conclusions yet.
I’ve been trying to write this paragraph for the last week. Perfect, succinct summary of where my thinking is right now. I regret that I have but one upvote to give.
I gave one because he’s right on with the first sentence. Pointing out the Eagles need to play better is not a negative, it’s insane to think otherwise.
Most of those teams probably will be shown to be pedestrian, though. The Patriots are declining, the Colts mediocre and Lucky, Saints overrated, Niners on the downside, Packers just riding Rodgers, the Seahawks bored. Dominant teams usually look that way from the start. The Eagles look to be an average 9-11 win playoff team. So much of it is luck: how the ball bounces, injuries/health, how the opponent is trending when you play him. The Eagles do _not_ have the look of a dominant team. Usually it takes several seasons of building to get to that point.
The point is that other than Denver, nobody has been dominant so far, at least among those teams who were predicted to be contenders going into the season. History suggests that there will be 3-4 dominant teams by the end of the year. Yes, some teams dominate from start to finish, but those are as often as not the rule rather than the exception. It’s a long season and you can’t make conclusive judgments after only two weeks of it.
Has Denver been dominant?
Criticism is one thing, but a negativity filled day after a win, or calling a hard fought win lucky is a joke!
…
I want to root for a great eagles team too, but MY expectations are reasonable! I understand that it’s a growth process. It’s not a case of oh it’s year two now so we should snap our fingers and be world beaters. I expected the eagles to be a top team this year, but it didn’t expect to be witnessing Super Bowl caliber play in September. Seeing the growth over the course of last season, a READONABLE expectation is that over the course of this season, we would grow and come December, when these players and coaches have 30’games together under their belt, we will have grown into a top team that can try to make a playoff run…
…
You can’t use the word REASONABLE and not not the process unfold. These player coaches don’t even have 20 games together yet.
..
There is a lot that NEEDS to improve from Monday night, ALOT!! That doesn’t mean that we got lucky. Defense stepped up and got turnovers and 3 and out in crunch time, and our QB who was having an up and down day, settled down and made the big plays than THE ANNOINTED ONE Luck couldn’t make.
..
Every team that wins in September has plenty of things that it needs to work on, but at the very least there should be some type of difference the day after a win, from a day after a loss… Listening to our media and fans, you would think we lost monad night…
…
You want to root for a Super Bowl team, but you don’t appreciate big opportunities for growth like Monday night.
…
I want a Super Bowl? I want a fucking pink pony, what’s the point? You actually think it’s reasonable to expect to see a well oiled machine play with two of 5 OL that have no to little NFL experience?
…
I swear it’s like this fanbase just wants to skip the entire growth process and hold this young team to the standards of what we should grow into in 2016 when all our players are grown up and gelled together…
…
I don’t know where anyone gets off talking about REASONABLE, when in nye he next breathe they talking about wanting to see a Super Bowl caliber team in September… You might as well respect the process, and have some realistic expectations because no matter how bad you want to stomp your feet and demand to see a Super Bowl team, there are no short cuts. This is still a young team that has a lot to learn, and a lot to improve on…. Monday might have been FOles and Chips biggest NFL win to date, and their is nothing reasonable about crapping on a hard fought win, calling it lucky, and Boderline treating it like a loss which is how this fanbas acted after these last two wins…
….
Btw as great as those Chicago bear type blowouts are, think you probably grow more for persevering thru a battle like Monday and finding a way to win. Blowing teams out right now isn’t going to help us much in terms of growing Into an elite team… Respect the process and we can still point out what needs to be improved upon, without crapping on a win and taking anything away from these players.
…
I don’t know where people got these crazy expectations from but winning in the NFL is freaking Hard..we just went on the road, beat a top QB, on a hard fought game where we had to come together to overcome and find a way to win. Saints fans aren’t seeing a team look like a Super Bowl contender right now either, the great saints have tons to improve on. I bet they wish they could be 2-0 without having played their best ball.
…
I just don’t understand where this city ever got this idea that NFL games are easy and we should just be dominating everyone in our path, already in September… Don’t worry, Yous will get to enjoy a top eagles team this year, but we still have to grow into that team over the course of this season. It’s not at all realistic to expect to see that now…in my not so humble opinion 😉
top 10 d is reasonable?
8-12 range by the end of the year… Count on it!
i don’t know what will determine a top 10 defense. but if we’re top 10 in turnovers i’ll take that. i’d also like to see points scored come down.
Points, 3rd down percentage and Turnovers.mthats how you define a good defense, all the other crap is just window dressing
It’s your fault. Your infectious positivity raised everyone’s expectations too high. 🙂
So adrian Peterson played his last game as a Viking huh?
..
Hopefully he is dumb enough to end his career as a cowboy instead of a patriot
You think he told all those women to have the kids? I’m fine with it b/c i’m sure he’s got to support all of them and he probably cares for them as well. I doubt he’d be the first or the last ball player with kids he didn’t know about.
There has to be a difference between the day after a loss and the day after a win……
Our non franchise QB also managed to out-rush Luck who we always blow for his athleticism
c’mon man. luck had one scramble foles had several designed runs. often you make good points — there’s no reason to grasp fro straws.
That’s a fact.. Not an opinion
I was glad to see Foles keep a few and run. He has to be able to keep the defense on their toe’s. I don’t remember every single play from game one but I don’t think Foles that game. Looked open a few times.
You’re not unreasonable for pointing out these things Tommy, you have some insane people on here who get upset when you point out mistakes that the team made. . The same things that everyone has pointed out on other blogs, sports shows and even former Eagles that have analyzed the game. Hall of fame writer Ray Didinger broke the game down probably about the same you did, so I wouldn’t apologize to a bunch of wanna be bloggers on here. It’s embarrassing to see really. Let’s see, Hall of fame writer Ray Didinger, Ike Reese, Brian Westbrook, Trotter and the list goes on. Now let’s take the posters on this blog. Ok, case closed..lol
so answer me one question — did “Hall of fame writer Ray Didinger, Ike Reese, Brian Westbrook, Trotter and the list goes on” say Foles can not carry this team on his back? (that’s where some negative is directed, but that was yesterday – over and done with)
It’s funny that everyone is coming to T-Law’s aide and accusing people of attacking him about this article today but I don’t really see where that’s happening. I don’t see people getting upset over this article. People are still upset about yesterday(won’t let it go) but today’s article is pretty good….
I am sure this has been said before but Tommy, I have always found your writing to be fair. You may have an optimistic viewpoint at times but you never shy from appropriate criticism. I find it hard to believe anyone would see you as too positive or too negative without having predetermined their viewpoint and essentially reading to justify their beliefs.
No, if anything, he’s errs on the side of positive, it’s crazy.Not him crazy, the shit you see on here is crazy after he does a write up.
Say what you will about FOles, but at the end of this season,,he will have wins over Luck, Kapernick, Wilson and Cam Newton…. Just watch
You’re actually predicting we’re going to beat the Seahawks? Come on, man, that’s a fool’s bet, admit it!
It’s a home game. No reason to throw in the towel on that one.
Don’t bother with towels… throw snowballs with rocks in the center.
I’ll ask — why not? Is SD an elite team? Did they just beat them? Any given sunday….
agree but are we going to hold the ball for 45 minutes? no. we’re going to outscore them which sort of plays into their hands.
It’s just that betting is based on probabilities, and there’s no way that game should be any better that 50/50, way things are looking now. Health is a big reason we had success last year and are (somewhat) struggling now and who can predict what we’ll look like in two months.
Remember it… Yes we are going to beat the Seahawks at home. Get off their dick, it’s not like I said we beat them in Seattle. If we are healthy. We will beat them in December…just watch
this is a true First World Problem. We can all consume sports or in this case our Eagles in the way we like. If that means you are over the moon after MNF, great. If that means you are happy but concerned about this or that, great. If that means you aren’t sure if Foles is going to make it to elite, great too.
It’s not like we have anyone on here saying they are perfect or they are awful, everyone to me is within a very reasonable bandwidth. So I don’t really see the problem.
And people should be able to say “I’m concerned about…” or “I’m happy that…” without including all the caveats that might apply. We all don’t have endless amounts of time so saying x or y shouldn’t warrant responses about how that wasn’t positive or negative enough because other non-mentioned facts or opinions were omitted.
I just don’t think we should be telling other people they are consuming their sports incorrectly because we don’t like one of their opinions. Be as happy or concerned as you want to be. Enjoy the ride. Be scared or put your hands up fearlessly.
great post!
To be critical of Tommy, who generally has an optimistic viewpoint, for being critical is insane. It’s actually kind of funny because Eagles fans are generally glass half-empty people so I wouldn’t think so many of them would be getting so upset over a little criticism. Generally speaking, even after a victory it’s in our nature to point out the things that went wrong. Maybe Chip Kelly has breathed so much fresh life into the fan base that our attitudes are changing? Maybe for once we’re not waiting for the other shoe to drop and want to just enjoy the 2-0 start?
I mean, I even pissed somebody off by making a joke about Casey Matthews the other night. When Eagles fans are defending Casey Matthews, you know we’re riding a high. Maybe Tommy’s readers have just become so accustomed to his positive / logical / rational thinking that it stings a little to hear his criticism. I read this site for a positive and rational perspective, which you rarely get from the gloom and doom Philadelphia media.
Tommy, don’t change the flavor of Kool-Aid in our sippy cups. Sometimes it makes us cranky.
You are SOOO wrong. The positive Eagles fans are “glass is half empty.” The Negadelphian view is the effing glass is practically dry.
LOL. You make a good point. Either way, Eagles fans are pretty f’n awesome.
I think we are one of the worst fan bases in the NFL.. Worst kind of dumb fanbase…the kind that thinks it’s smart… I despise sharing this team with this fanbase. I’d give anything to swap fanbases with Greenbay or something
Whoa, whoa, whoa! *Two* games in, and *already* you’re this negative?! You gotta respect the process, man. By the end of this season, when we’re in the Super Bowl, this fan base is going to be firing on *all cylinders*.
I think the Eagles fanbase is pretty knowledgeable and passionate overall, but the problem is they let that passion lead to anger and irrational thinking. I have a friend who went to the University of Wisconsin for his Master’s degree and couldn’t stand the Green Bay fans. He said most of them didn’t know the players outside of the stars and blamed everything on the refs when things didn’t go there way. I’m not sure why they get the rep of being such great fans. They laid dormant for nearly 30 years until the Bret Favre era.
Btw man, I always respect your opinion on things. You’re one of my favorite commenters to read.
or the glass has been smashed on the ground in a fit of drunken rage
The negadelphians broke the glass long ago.
B/R breakdown on Cousins running Gruden’s offense
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2201086-breaking-down-kirk-cousins-running-jay-grudens-offense
Yeah but can he walk on water? Don’t think so
“Hitting Roberts would have meant throwing over linebackers who were clogging the middle zones. It was a viable throw, but not one without risk. Meanwhile, going deep to Garcon would have required throwing into the two-deep safety shell, the strength of the coverage:”
on this play, i think we would all be screaming that Garcon was wide open. and are we saying that Cousins cannot loft the ball over some LBs to a guy that doesn’t have any defenders upfield of him for 15 yards?
looking at just the still shots they posted, i have a hard time seeing this as the best safe option
yeah that was silly
Funny how Redskins fans look at every little ounce of positive with Cousins and we would have bashed Foles for not hitting the big play
He had a hard throw, a medium throw, and an easy throw. Especially considering that they were looking for a first down and all three options would have given it to them, it sounds like he made a good decision in going with the easiest, surest throw, and you’re just arguing that there could have been a better one. Hard to really paint this as a negative.
maybe i’m getting each of those throws mixed up?
i see a short throw to a guy that is in between two defenders, my understanding is that this is where he threw the ball. if you want him to catch it, you gotta get the ball in a tighter window, and you have to get it there before the defenders close in.
then there is a receiver going over top of those two defenders with no one in front of him. you have a bigger window to throw here as you only need to get it over those defenders and let your guy run underneath the ball.
Criticizing Nick for playing poorly is not mutually exclusive with supporting him.
I believe he has the talent to play in this league and win a Super Bowl with Chip Kelly.
But he’s not playing up to that talent right now. He’s not seeing the field and he’s not accurate (what are the two qualities Chip values most in a QB again?).
Sure, we could all just post nonsense about how this team is a work in progress, Nick is developing, going through growing pains, etc., but then we wouldn’t really have anything to talk about. And this is all true.
But its a lot more interesting to discuss why Nick isn’t playing well. Because he isn’t.
Being 2-0 and not playing necessarily well in either game is outstanding. And mostly a testament to Chip. But the sky is the limit for this team (and I believe it will be as long as Chip is the coach), and Nick is key to that.
I think he’s going to play really well on Sunday. If he’s decisive, confident and accurate we’ll put up 40 by the 3rd Q.
The operative word in the title of this piece is “reasonable.” When coaches watch film, regardless of how good a player looks, they will look for ways to improve performance by offering reasonable, constructive criticism.
Anyone complaining about how Foles is being treated on this blog or in the town should take a look at this ridiculous assessment. They put him as the 17th ranked qb in the league and say he’s trending downward.
“It’s starting to seem like this QB is thriving more because of Chip Kelly’s system rather than exceptional ability.”
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2198951-nfl-quarterback-power-rankings-post-week-2/page/19
isn’t that the truth though?
josh mccown at 15?
yeah i meant the quote, there’s no way he should be below mccown.
You could argue that he is, or isn’t a product of the system. “It’s starting to seem” is a bunch of crap. He is still in that system, and there is no new data on how he would perform outside of the system.
Which is true for most quarterbacks. I’m a big fan of Drew Brees, but I can’t reject out of hand that he is a system QB. He’s possibly a system QB that led one of the great offenses to a super bowl. Furthermore, doesn’t mean that you could plug play with a great number of other QBs. You still have to execute the system, and that’s a lot harder than those who tend to obsess over athleticism acknowledge.
that quote is funny. why is the system he is playing in important here? if we were talking about him transitioning to another offense, sure.
I feel like the playcalling in the Red Zone has been uninspired at best. Last year, Nick Foles was the best Red Zone QB in the universe, bar none. This was a consistent facet of his game last year. No one’s going to be perfect (he obviously threw the INT last week) but I think you have to let him grip it and rip it down there. You saw on the TD to Mac that he can make throws in tight spaces. Just my thought.
cant run the same play all the time. gotta mix it up.
Tobin is practicing today. If he can play Sunday how does that change the OL shuffling?
He plays LG if he is good to go. Keep gardner at RT. Kelly first guy off the bench at a non Center position.
ok thanks, but Gardner was the weakest link so not sure if that helps too much.
Not so sure about that…. We may want to keep Dennis Kelly
..
Chip been raving about how he held up against the Colts and talked a lot about how the Colts had massive 340lb DEfensive Iineman and it helped that Dennis was a big strong guy that could match up with the colts size…
..
Well the skins are another team that would be classified as a BIG defense.. They have a lot of size on that defense, may be a good idea to matchup with Dennis size. His size could come in handy in the first half… I say first half because our tempo attack is designed to gass BIG Massive power defenses like the skins… By the second half we should have worn down this skin defense and really blow the game open.
…
Not only will their lineman have to play at a crazy tempo that they aren’t used to playing, nor have the conditioning to play..but we screw up their substitutions and don’t allow them to substitute fresh guys as much as they would want… So come the second half, that skins front 7 should be significantly weaker than they are in the first half, and once the front 7 is weak and gassed, it should be easier to exploit that weak abysmal secondary
” His size could come in handy in the first half… I say first half because our tempo attack is designed to gass BIG Massive power defenses like the skins… By the second half we should have worn down this skin defense and really blow the game open.”
interesting theory there. i like the idea of getting a guy in there that does the better job early in the game – don’t fall behind is key. i also like the idea of maximizing your skills when you have worn down the other teams defense.
but i don’t know if the coaches will like the idea of switching a guy on the OL mid-game like that. can’t be good for continuity…
No, I don’t mean to then switch Kelly for Gardner at halftime… I just think no matter which of the two you think is better, there probably isn’t that big of a difference between the two…Dennis also has NFL experience at tackle…I thought Dennis held up better than Gardner did on Monday, and if Tobin is ready to play, my guess is we go with Kelly over Gardner…but that’s just a guess.. Could be wrong.. Rather have Dennis and Herremans dealing with hatcher! than Gardner/Herremans,,, but I’m not certain about this…could easily be wrong…
…
Also just because Tobin is practicing! doesn’t mean he will be ready to go Sunday, so we may see both Gardner and Dennis this week, and let Tobin get ready for the Niners game
Matt Tobin was one of the best lineman in the league in the preseason. You play the better player.
I never said to not play Tobin… I’m talking about playing Dennis instead of Gardner… But thanks lol
It’s no surprise that Chip Kelly is getting great press. But you don’t expect to find him featured in the Wall St. Journal: MUST READ material:
http://online.wsj.com/articles/the-philadelphia-eagles-secret-coaches-professors-1410890601
The great article by Kevin Clark titled, The Philadelphia Eagles’ Secret Coaches: Professors
Chip Kelly’s Latest Innovation—Turning to Academia for Ideas; really gives some amazing insights.
1. The trait the [Eagles] prize [most] in players is the ability to verbally articulate game situations,
2. The Eagles use memory devices to get players to memorize formations.
3. You want to encourage players to be more analytical and open them up to more feedback on what they aren’t paying attention to.
4.”Something that many of the athletes resent is being represented as intuitive naturals,” he said. “When, in fact, they should have a similar respect to a scientist or a medical doctor, who have been able to perfect their talents through performance and learning.”
Great stuff. Can’t wait to hear Tommy’s take, and that of the posters here.
I’d rather all the secret leaking stop.
Preach
hah. my thoughts exactly. i mean, i LOVE hearing about this stuff, but i’d very much prefer to read a whole book about it… 5 years after Chip retires!
Exactly!!
After the exciting game Monday — another great game coming up. Can’t wait.
It sure seems like everyone, including Chip Kelly, feels that Boykin committed an illegal hold on T. Hilton during Jenkins interception Monday night. Is it just Boykin and a very select few who feels that was legit contact within five yards of the line of scrimmage? Touching Hilton, Hilton flopping, all within five yards does not constitute an illegal hold. If the ball was in the air when the contract occurred, which there wasn’t, then I could understand a pass interference call. I’m surprised about the enormous outcry from the media and the junk going towards Boykin on good pass defense from both Boykin and Jenkins. If the roles were reversed, I might’ve been initially upset with the call but looking at replay after replay I would have to tip my hat to the opponent and move on. Or maybe I just need to be reeducated on the rules?
Aaron
he looks to me to clearly be trying to push off. Which I think happens a lot. If you push off and get grabbed a little how can you complain?
besides, this wasn’t the last play of the game. They were still up 7.
This all reminds of AZ last year.
Applaud the refs for letting the players decide a closely fought game In crunch time… That was not a penalty, and Boykin even said TY flopped and that he had tried to flop earlier in the game against C dub,,,
…
I would be pissed if they called that in the first quarter, but you definitely can’t call that in crunch time of a closely contested game.. Contact was minimal, and if you want to be a stickler about it, than you would have to call holding on the defender and pushing off on the WR with the two penalties offsetting… No way they deserved to be gifted a first down for that bullshit,,
,,
Also some fellow posters pointed out that the contact happened within 5 yards…
….
If you ask any player going into the game whether they would want something like that called, every single player would tell you, “no, let us play, and let us decide the game on the field”… That’s how every player feels before a game…obviously after the game, the loser will go back and cry about something like that…tough shit… TY Hilton tried to soccer style flop, he gambled that the refs would blow the whistle, they didn’t, his dumb ass was on the ground unable to try and breakup the INT..l tough shit…take your loss like a man… This game is already being over legislated, the last thing we want to see is players getting calls for soccer style flopping
If Boykin’s left hand closed and grabbed, it might have been a technical hold. It was not illegal contact (since it was within 5 yards) and it was not interference (it was before the pass). If it was a penalty, it would have been extremely marginal. I don’t think I saw any telltale jersey pull in the replays I saw. I thought Hilton either took a dive, or was knocked off balance a bit by Boykin’s legal bump, and fell over himself trying to get to the ball. That said, refs could easily have called it, since it looked a bit bad.
What I hope the refs would do is NOT to influence the game one way or another, and allow the players to determine the results. That is exactly what they did, therefor BRAVO! We could tell there was no illegal contact beyond five yards, there was no jersey being held (therefor no illegal hold). Even though it was close there was no contact when the ball was in the air and therefore no PI. That being said, when it is that close of a call, it would be best to let the players play and the refs did. Great no-call! Boykin played that perfectly, and to see all the Colt fans and media (ESPN) go after him was ridiculous! 1) it was the refs call and 2) it was the right call in that situation.
Marcus Smith now practicing at ILB. I think GEAGLE predicted this…
http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/2014/09/17/marcus-smith-now-practicing-inside-lb/#more-2843470
Yeah, he did
Thank you sir…
do you guys think this is in expectation of him starting over Casey/Acho? or is it more of a way to get him prepared as an emergency backup to those two?
i think its a great thing. get him on the field. let him do what he did best in college – blitz up the middle of the field and attack the C/Gs. we know he can cover, our only question was – can he effectively rush against NFL quality OTs? well, put him at ILB and let him attack there.
i think Billy Davis could get VERY creative with some blitzes if they can get him on the field. any or all of those LBs can rush or drop in coverage.
I expect Kendrick to play Sunday! he is day to day and he is a real team guy… I don’t expect a day to day calf injury to keep him off the field, but we’ll see
My guess would be if Kendricks can’t go Acho gets the start. Acho is pretty “meh” in general but if he can hold up in the run game that’s fine. We can then bring in Smith in nickel packages and use him in pass rushing games and blitzes, as well as in coverage.
My guess is the Redskins try to play more receiver heavy looks as opposed to going run heavy. I doubt they ever get into more than 12 or 21 personnel. They just don’t have the TE’s to do it. Reed is more of an H-back or F-TE. Paulsen is decent sized, but Niles Paul is a former WR (similar to Trey Burton). We could likely be in Nickel for a solid chunk of the game, especially if we get up early.
Andy would never do this. http://www.thechipwagon.com/eagles/2014/09/andy-would-never-do-this.html#more
From what I’m seeing, I’m excited about how we match up with the redskins.. There is one player that I really applaud them for signing because he will be a great addition to what they do, and that’s Jason hatcher..
…
Skins live and die by that stretch run play, and our defensive lineman are really really good at holding their ground and then moving laterally (one of the main reason we wanted mobile DL). Guys like Bennie, cox and Thornton are really good at moving laterally down the line and shut down these stretch plays
…
I also like that the skins are riding high after their 10 sack game, their OLBs are getting pressure on QBs, and I am willing to bet we can’t wait to take advantage of their aggressive pass rush and gash them with our screens. Use their aggression against them.
…
People acting ridiculous over FOles and our WRs will shut up this week, All we have to do is give FOles time and he will use our WRs to shred this joke of secondary. Deangelo hall is Undiscaplined! and you can always take advantage of him and his gambling ways.. They signed Ryan Clark who was a great safety like a decade ago.. Old man is not going to be able to handle Ertz… They also get Merriweather back who is a dumb football player and another liability in coverage..
…
This should be a big week for our WRs so everyone can shut up about it..
…
Its also huge that we are familiar with Desean. When a defender has to face an elite talent like Desean, it’s HUGE to have players who are already familiar with him! who already got to get their hand on him and feel his speed for themselves. TEs type of familiarity with a dangerous weapon is a major advantage, and you are going to see Cary Williams really get physical with Desean, rough him up all day….my bet is Desean has trouble getting off the line of scrimmage this week. After the bad jaguars game I emphasized that Cary is a big game corner and he would have a good game against the colts???mission accomplished! You can count on Cary being fired up for the redskins and he will have another quality game for us
agreed, but that lateral quickness of them crashing down the line is what gave up those big unbalanced counters indy hit us with. not complaining, just pointing out that it’s exploitable
Facing an extra offensive lineman is different than facing a redskins stretch play…
…
“We prepared a little bit for a handful of the extra offensive lineman, but we ended up getting a belly full of the offensive lineman “-Billy Davis
….
As for the colts game, they were getting yards in the run game, but they really weren’t accomplishing much…it’s also not fair to just look what we did against the run.. We gave up yards on the run game, but shut down Andrew lucks passing game. pep Hamilton got cute and thought he could beat Chip the way Stanford beat Chip, when in reality, we got them out of their game. That’s not a power run team..that team wins with it’s QB throwing to the 3’quality WRs or the 2 TE’s.. Held Luck to 160 yards passing, and 5.1 yards per attempt… That’s a fair trade off as far as I’m concerned…
…
If we are about to play the packers and you were to tell me we can hold Aaron Rogers to 150 yards but give up some yards rushing, I’d take that all day
i don’t know how you always respond so fast. they ran away from the extra lineman a bunch of times; i remember seeing cole crash all the way to the center only to see the run go right to his gap. overall i agree that we did well, but i guess my point is that “losing contain” will cause serious heartache against WAS.
I’m sitting on a train mate… Nothing better to do,.,
…
I hear you, but that was uncharacteristic for Cole. Even at his age, he can hang his hat on being an elite run defender. I worry about his pass rush, but I can usually count on Trent being elite against the run…
…
They put an extra OL on the strong side, our Line shits that direction, and they were running weak side, away from the extra lineman… Now that we have faced that, I’m sure we would play it better next time…but the skins won’t add an extra OL. and I would expect barwin and Cole to kick the tight ends ass like they always do
panthers announced Greg Hardy is taking a paid leave!!! looks Ike Kony Ealy will have to grow up quickly…
,,,
Back to Monday night… Keep in mind Peyton manning and the Broncos AND the Seahawks, couldn’t win @ Indianoppolis last year… I agree with Ray Didinger that beating the Colts was probably the biggest win this franchise has had in YEARS…. Think winning Monday was a very big deal
Release the kracken!
Teams better start thinking two before giving 13 million dollar deals to piece of shit human beings.
..
What’s sad is what this piece of shit did is worse than what rice did and what AP did
I think it’s hard to rank. It might be hard for the wife/girlfriend to get out of an abusive relationship, but it’s impossible for the 4 year old.
easier for 4yr old he only visits AP. Now if his mom wants all the money she gets from AP then yeah AP probably gets to see the kid.
Greg Hardys girl I’m sure legit feared for her life
…
What Ray rice did was disgusting but ATleast his wife didn’t have to legitimately fear for her life…
…
As for AP, disgusting to do that to a 4 year old but the kid wasn’t in serious danger.
..,
Greg Hardy was throwing automatic weapons around, what if one had the safety off and end up going off by accident? Rays wife was in a horrible situation but in a public casino…Greg Hardys girl was behind closed doors, I’m sure she was legitimately terrorized. The abuse part is bad enough, but a woman should also have to fear for her life
I hear you, and Rice’s wife could have died from hitting her head. But we all have soft spots for toddlers too. I’m not going to debate how to rank, it all sucks.
U r right…
And what would be the point? It isn’t like the league has a limited number of suspensions to issue. They are all wrong, they all deserve consequences.
all these guys were first offense guys. how would you even know?
True that…
Okay. Since we’re talking constructive criticism, “The Eagles offense is pretty incredible right now, despite not playing as good as it can.” Please Tommy, …despite not playing as well as it can.
it’s a free blog with no editors and he posts daily. I vote that we not become grammar snobs. I doesn’t care.
Well you oughts to…
Me fail English? That’s unpossible!
Jimmy is from Jersey.
Jimmy Bama is a nickname Tommy gave to him while they were at the Senior Bowl (Mobile, AL) a couple years ago for Jimmy’s apparent freakish knowledge of all the side streets and neighborhoods in town.
And Tommy lives in NC, I believe.
You can’t let a few facts get in the way of broad, insulting generalities, though.
1. correcting grammar online is obnoxious
2. please don’t stereotype the entire south
At the moment Smith II is practicing at ILB but I think it is only for the purpose of running practice. I doubt he’ll be active this week. Meanwhile Smith may as well learn more of the D.
hahah over under on when he plays?
Tommy….thanks for this post….this is so spot on….I think the criticism of the teams play is valid and having criticism does not mean someone is negative or is unreasonable….there has been sloppy play to this point… that is not even arguable…..if certain people want to dismiss that because we still got a W or make excuses that it is early in the season then so be it…..but the fact is if we continue to play like this we will surely lose more games than we would like….and not be SB caliber team…..I can appreciate those people who truly believe that this is just early season issues that will work it out and we will see in the month of November…..but that is neither here nor there….all we have is what we can evaluate and criticism that we need to play better or that Foles needs to get the ball out quicker and make better decisions is absolutely appropriate at this juncture of the season…..I know for a fact when we see a stretch of improved play by Foles you will certainly give out Kudos…..I am with you in that I will “believe it when I see it”
Do we get lane back with this new drug policy orrrr?
No
john dwyer arrested for domestic violence. how stupid could you be?
Geez and that idiot was,getting a good opportunity to play with the Carfinals RB banged up
Check this out…A group of eagles were asked today would they rather see Casey Mathews in the game or Acho, the players went quiet, then they started snickering, finally they all answered NO COMMENT!! Lol I think that says it all..
…
I don’t think players even know why Casey is on the team. He is a liability on defense and is just an average special team player. Travis Long doesn’t get injured the last game of the preseason and we would be done with this fraudulent Mathews… We should have demanded a paternity test before agreeing to draft him
that’s a dumb question to ask teammates.
Blame Derrick Gunn… Think that’s a telling answer tho.
…
Normally you would expect it to be split. Couple guys answer Mathews, couple guys answer Acho… For them to answer that way, it says the view one as much worse than the other…and considering I don’t think Mathews is much better than any ILB in the NFL, I interpret that as the players referring Acho, and them thinking Casey has no business on the field
why would they answer at all?
It was off the record.. Guess they were comfortable with Gunn. But I feel you
Starting to think Desean won’t play Sunday…and if he does play, I think he won’t last past the first quarter…
…
The eagkes this season! only had the lead for less than 7 minutes combined in two games, and even tho we are 2-0, we only got to run 6 plays this season when we had the lead lol
this skins game is huge.
if we lose we are tied with them and that just ain’t right.
we need to pull it off big time.
conference games are so tough.
No worries..we aren’t losing on Sunday . We will claim division supremacy this week
GEagle – You know I’m hearing the same noise that I heard prior to the Chargers game. LOLskins have a weak OL, a QB that throws ducks, etc. While the skins do not have Rivers, they can pass at times due to Cousins fast release. Do you think our pass rush will make a difference?
I am concerned about the LOLskins pass rush against our patchwork OL. What are your thoughts?
Skins had 10 sacks last week, 6 from their OLBs.. That means they will probably be filled with confidence, foaming at the mouth to kill FOles… My guess is Chip can’t wait to burn them with screens and make them pay for the aggressive pass rush. After Sproles and shady gash you with a few screens, that will slow you down… And by the second half I expect the tempo to have taken it’s toll and take all the wind out of the sail of their pass rush.. Walden was rushing FOles all night, 4th quarter Monday, the pass rush looked like a 70 year old penis after the Viagra wore off… Also check out some of our screens in the 4th quarter, colts defenders look like they had cement blocks on their feet…
..
Really been pleased with our pass rush and nickel defense. We didn’t see a ton of it because the jags and Colts ran so much against us, but when they did pass especially in the 4th quarter, Luck and Henne couldn’t overcome out pass rush. We didn’t get a bunch of sacks, but we forced both QBs to run around, and throw lacking accuracy…. So far, 3rd down improvemgts have been huge, and YES, I expect out pass rush to make the difference, because of the personel I consistently see on the field on 3rd down. Curry Nd BG are no longer burried on the bench… 3rd down, often we saw Cole, Barwin! BG, Cox and Curry all in the game.. Those 5 are going to get pressure on QBs…
…
Skins have yet to beat Chip Kelly and Sunday won’t be their first time..
Thanks GEagle. I do think tempo will hurt the LOLskins – a so-called Oregon Ambush will ensue. Since the skins offense is predicated on play-action, our Dime D may not always be effective. Still, I think you are right about our improved D.
I think the game will be close for the first half. Then we will bring the hammer in the second.
Same.. They should be in it in the first half, but i don’t see how this team can hang with us for 4 quarters..
…
They can’t get pressure on FOles every single time, and when Nick gets time, that secondary is really really bad man. Deangelo Hall we have been victimizing for years..Ryan Clark was a good safety like 10 years ago, Merriweather is a dumb football players… People may be down on our WR, but when FOles gets time he is going to light this secondary up…
…
On Offense, I would say the most important thing will be to keep Jason hatcher blocked. We can take advantage of the OLBs aggression with one of chips traps, but its important to keep hatcher blocked.
..
On defense I expect us to have our best game to date. We match up well with their run game. That stretch run play is their bread and butter And our DL are really good at moving laterally and making the play.. Jordan Reed I think is out with an injury..Desean may not play and if he does I think his shoulder won’t be able to handle our gameplan of roughing him up…. This is a challenge we will be up for, so we don’t have to worry about a let down… Cary Williams will be jacked up instead of playing down to opponents level of teams he doesn’t respect…
..
I don’t see the redskins putting up 30 points on our defense, and out offense is scoring 30 against everyone!. Shiiiit our offense scores 30 when it has a bad game lol
After watching last week and the week before and listening to ray rice, i’d just lay back. Rush 4 and let Foles beat you passing.
FOles is collecting the scalps of everyone’s favorite young QB. He will Beat all the best young QBs til people have no choice but to give him his respect.
..
Last year he took RG3’s Scalp!
..
This week he took Luck’s
..
Sunday he will take Cousins scalp for forcing him to transfer from MSU
..
The week after he will get Kapernicks scalp..
..
Then he gets to collect Cam Newtons
..
And the 1st week in December he is going to send Russel Wilson back to the west coast with a loss and his scalp missing.
…
By the end of this year he will have beaten everyone’s favorite young QB.. Don’t want to give him his respect? He will just have to take it! No worries. This kid is the truth, not a false prophet
interesting thought — shouldn’t he be focused on beating defenses and dropping dimes to his receivers? the way other qbs perform says more about our defense than foles as a qb.
Huff also practiced today in addition to Tobin. This was the first time either have practiced since the injury. Not sure if we will be comfortable starting Tobin and huff as our KR this week, but it’s a huge boost to get Tobin back for the Niners and rams games
i think huff can be big time in this offense and really take it to people.
we need him for sure
Yup..stylistically he is a different type of weapon from the rest of our players.. Sproles is a RB with WR traits, Huff is like the opposite, a WR with RB traits,
,,
Not only do I expect him to grow into an explosive kick returner, but come mid season, I expect him to start getting a few snaps on offense. i think he can fill in outside or in the slot depending where we need him, but I also look forward to using him in some ways that we used Desean last year, for example sending Huff in Ghost motion or letting him lineup in the backfield and go out and catch passes….nice combo of explosiveness and ohysicality…. He can be a nice addition to our arsenal for sure..a home run threat who can block when we tun the ball, I’m sure Chip will want to weaponize him around mid season
Agree with that insight actually.
I would like to see Huff in the slot. Maybe he can hold on to the ball.
As type this I’m watching the NFL network replay of Mondays game(the condescend version)
..
For those that go back and WAtch the games again and really try to understand what happened, get back to me and give me your opinions of the colts OL in the first half…am I crazy or where they gettng away with murder in terms of holding during the run plays?
..
Big gain that they bounced weakside(left) that ended with Cary chasing down the RB,(the play we blamed Cole setting the edge) watch the illegal block in the back on Cole..
..
Two plays later, weakside counter, Beau Allen was obviously held, long enough for the RB to get by him.,
..
I’m seeing some blatant holds that made a big difference on some of their best run plays..so far I’m in the second quarter and the OL hasn’t been called for a single one…and I gotta listen to the colts and talking heads say that we won because Boykin got away with holding? What a joke
…
Beau Allen got blatantly held again, that’s twice during run plays WTF
I don’t think he’ll get Kaepernick money (maybe he will), but would you want to give Foles $14-$18M per for 6 years?
I wouldn’t want to be Howie right now. Fortunately, Howie is not Ruben Amaro Jr. and he doesn’t have to make that decision today.
Kapernick money is a mirage..
..,
I won’t spend a moment worrying about Nicks contract, I highly doubt the two sides will have any problem reaching an agreement…
Nags you, really hard to explode of a plant, annoyed me, but never really held me back on the field. guessing his is much worse than mine was, but i’d expect him to play, and if not this week, then def. in the next 1-2
Thank you sir..
..
Kap’s contract is actually very team friendly. A large portion of the annual figure comes from performance bonuses, and it’s a year to year deal that can be terminated at any time with minimal cap hit.
Still can’t believe big balls Chip! 3rd and 15 and he calls a run for shady, who gets it, like the boss that he is…and then Sproles pin balls his way off of defenders into the ENDZONE,,
..
Past 3 or 4 years, there haven’t been many if any, bigger wins than eagles going into INDY on a Monday night, where Luck has been almost unbeatable, whooping on Peyton and the Seahawks and coming back to probably get a win against the best QB Chip has beaten so far in his short career… That was one of the biggest wins in years, literally, and we see big balls Chip running it on 3rd and 15…smh
..
After all the years we refused to run the ball with quality backs like Duce, the wizard of Westbrook, buckhalter, shady, we deserve this coach who won’t ever abandon the run game.. It’s like the polar opposite to what frustrated us the most about Andy’s philosophy…
..
Pinch me lol
Sproles was named offensive player of the week. Welcome to the Chip Kelly offense Darren!
Any chance that they starting training Smith II more as ILB as an emergency back up?
Huh? Today he spent all day working as an ILB
Yea I just saw the article. I just got off of work
Great article… It’s always nice when you can not only be informed, but also entertained! lån sms lån Gratis lån fackförbund