Some Foles Talk

Posted: September 17th, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 298 Comments »

Nick Foles has been up and down through 2 games. Trying to analyze and discuss his play has become a bit of a tricky subject. No rational person is trying to make a definitive statement about Foles based on the first 2 games. He’s not suddenly a bad QB. He hasn’t been exposed. And so on.

At the same time, we can’t sit back and obsess on 2013 and act as if that season defines Foles. Player evaluation is fluid, not permanent. Players are judged every year. Even a player with a strong track record has to be evaluated. You never know when a player will decline. Sometimes that is based on age, sometimes health and sometimes circumstance.

Derek Anderson started for the Browns in 2007. He went 10-5, while throwing for 3,787 yards and 29 TDs. Since that year, Anderson is 9-17 as a starter, with 21 TDs and 28 INTs. Anderson was a good player in 2007. I don’t know what happened after that, but he was never the same.

Bobby Hoying showed great promise back in 1997. He looked like the Eagles QB of the future. Hoying was awful in 1998 and never really played again. What happened? Jon Gruden had been the OC in ’97 and left to be the Raiders head coach in 1998. Hoying also got married and had an appendectomy. It is hard for me to fathom the guy who looked good in ’97 could be so awful just because of those changes. But that is exactly what happened.

I think Foles is just off his game a bit right now. I don’t think he is Anderson or Hoying. It is way to early to make any conclusions about Foles, good or bad.

Donovan McNabb struggled for parts of the 2003 season. He then played lights out in 2004. Eagles Nation got very testy when discussing McNabb back in 2003. I will admit to calling for him to be benched. McNabb had an injury and just wasn’t playing well. I thought putting in AJ Feeley, who had gone 4-1 as a starter the year before, would have been the prudent move. Andy Reid stuck with McNabb and that proved to be the right move. You have to let your QB play through some struggles.

Chip Kelly isn’t going to bench his QB any time soon. Foles showed enough in 2013 that he deserves a chance to work through his struggles. And be careful when reading that word…struggles. I’m not saying Foles is playing like Mike McMahon or Doug Pederson. I’m comparing his performance to the way he played last year.

Chip Wagon put up a terrific post taking a look at some issues.

Foles is playing well enough for the team to win. He is making enough plays that the offense is still able to move the ball and score points. But Foles and the Eagles are not taking advantage of all the opportunities are there. This offense should be scary good.

Foles did get better from the opener to the Colts game. I would love for him to play lights out on Sunday, but I’ll settle for Foles simply taking another step forward. I still believe Foles is a good young QB and is a good fit for this system.

* * * * *

The offense is doing some amazing things, but Foles is not alone as an inconsistent player. Brent Celek and Riley Cooper dropped TD passes on Monday night. Jeremy Maclin is still finding his place in this offense. Jordan Matthews has dropped a pass or two. The O-line has had some issues.

Hopefully the whole group will get into a groove and start to play more efficiently. And a few more explosive plays are acceptable as well.

_


298 Comments on “Some Foles Talk”

  1. 1 Mitchell said at 8:53 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Wow, Tommy, great post. I think this sums up our situation perfectly. We all have to remember Foles doesn’t look bad, he just doesn’t look as good as he did last year which was amazing! I believe we will get much better. We have to have faith fellow Eagle lovers!

    On a side note: if Cooper has another game like he did last Monday, I’ll be calling for his head!

  2. 2 GEAGLE said at 2:38 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Cooper would have had a TD. They had to commit a pass interference penalty in the ENDZONE to stop him, which gave us the ball on the 1 yard line which shady punched in for our first TD. Just SAYIN…

  3. 3 Mitchell said at 8:09 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    He should have had 2! I’m just really upset about that drop in the first quarter you know? That was a HUGE play though, you’re right.

  4. 4 eagleyankfan said at 8:53 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Good stuff. I don’t know how much of an impact a QB coach has on the QB. There are obvious struggles with that over in Giants land. Foles is on his 3rd in 3 years. Would instability at QB coach have an impact on Foles? I’m not making excuses, just asking….

  5. 5 Daniel Norman Richwine said at 8:54 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    When I try something new, it takes a while. One step back, two forward. Foles improved from week one to two. I’ll assume it’s the step back to improve until he shows otherwise.

  6. 6 JJ_Cake said at 8:56 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Foles got the ball to Sproles and then Sproles made great thing happen.

    I don’t think Foles is playing horrible, just needs to tighten up the timing and see those open receivers. Hopefully they all keep getting better, and Foles will be able to count on guys to catch the ball, or breakup the INTs when they are right there.

  7. 7 Tumtum said at 9:34 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    The timing on those screens was perfect by Foles as well. Rush it or hold it too long and those plays don’t turn out like that.

  8. 8 Mitchell said at 9:03 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Marcus Smith at ILB: This would be an interesting look. Can someone comment on the responsibilities of an ILB compared to an OLB in our system. Is there more/less at either spot. It seems to me that Smith has the side, speed, and coverage abilities to play there.

  9. 9 GermanEagle said at 9:05 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    The OLB needs to be more athletic and smart, while playing inside might be easier for a rookie LB.

  10. 10 GermanEagle said at 9:04 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    The nightmare scenario will be if FLOLes turns out to not be our franchise QB while the Eagles still win the division title in a weak NFCE and pick in the early teens again with no realistic shot at getting Mariota.

    Then again I want to believe that Nick Foles is our QB for the future while the Eagles can use their draft resources on other positions.

  11. 11 Dominik said at 8:06 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    “The nightmare scenario will be if FLOLes turns out to not be our
    franchise QB while the Eagles still win the division title in a weak
    NFCE”

    Let’s just call it the Bengals dilemma. Great talent on the team, mediocre QB play, enough wins for the team to give this QB his fat contract and booom – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DlNsMIIyU8

    Don’t think Foles will be Dalton, we’re talking about a nightmare scenario here.

  12. 12 Rockedupeaglesfan said at 9:22 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    I remember arguing with my brother in law in 2007 about Derek Anderson. He was convinced, because Anderson was killing it for his fantasy team, that he was better than McNabb. I feel vindicated by this article.

    PS Anderson had help from big years by Jamal Lewis, Braylon Edwards, and Kellen Winslow II (before the motorcycle crash I think). That’s a pretty good supporting cast.

  13. 13 shah8 said at 2:11 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Biggest help was the OL. Also note that the bulk of the high performance was in about the first nine games, and not evenly throughout. He has never played as well since.

    Two key problems with DA. First, he’s a knucklehead, like Vince Young or Aaron Brooks (of course, not as dumb as Young or as smart as Fitzpatrick). That means you have to put up with a number of just “what were you thinking?” plays. The second is that he is extremely inaccurate. He has looked fine in the preseason and first game of the regular season–but that’s because he had been only throwing more gimme passes. If you make him run a more full-fledged passing offense, the WR will have to spend their talent like heck just to catch the ball.

    As far as Foles is concerned. I’ve already said enough. However, I do want to talk about systems for a sec. Good systems are great, but for the most part, exotic high powered systems that depend on horizontal stretching mostly just work against bad or undisciplined teams. Every single system is dependent on high quality input–that means talent. You can go without for a good stretch and win a bunch of games. This is what we’ve been doing with Foles–but against good teams with good defenses, you.must.be.able.to.make.plays. You can’t out-technical good defenses. Good defenses have coaches that are as brilliant as Chip Kelly, and will make good playcalls, along with veteran play recognition, such that a good fraction of Kelly’s plays are busted from the start. And the play-structure (speaking from experience with GT triple option) is usually brittle. When it doesn’t work, you’re left with a QB that has to make chicken soup out of chicken droppings. It was relatively fine with Joshua Nesbitt, because Nesbitt can run will and with vision, as well as having a strong arm to just get the ball in the general direction of BeBe Thomas. Drop that talent level, and you’re left with guys up shit creek without paddles. Frankly, a lot of what Foles bad play is about is consequence of his inability to naturally run (agility and heavy feet is the real issue rather than speed per se) or throw (with enough accuracy) when plays are busted.

  14. 14 RobNE said at 8:45 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    and Sanchez? I’m just wondering what does this mean? The team is too good not to try to get into the playoffs. You could give Sanchez a better look. You could draft someone, but know you will be picking late (so you need a certain amount of luck). It’s hard to just get a better QB.

    I’m not agreeing on Foles, I just don’t know. But what do you think of Sanchez – seems to have more arm to me, but his issues (not that I saw the games) have been inappropriate responses to D pressure (decision making?).

    And if not Sanchez, what do you do?

  15. 15 shah8 said at 1:25 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Sanchez is a knucklehead. I think he can run the system better than Foles simply because he’s an NFL starting QB caliber athlete in terms of throwing and running. However, because Sanchez is a knucklehead, you can expect bad things to happen for different reasons when plays go south.

    In all honesty, I really *would* prefer Joe Webb running this offense to either Foles or Sanchez–with the assumption that Webb keeps his mechanics straight. Because seriously, it really, really, really, helps to have a home run rushing threat at QB. Webb has a much stronger arm than Sanchez, and is a much more accurate natural passer than Foles, *especially* deep. Some of those deep passes in the preseason were really, really, good. On target, in bounds, and leading a WR, thirty to fifty yards downfield. I can live with the occassional misfires and simplistic passing concepts. Whether that be Rob Deer or Frank Thomas, genuinely credible home run threats are what shifts defenses and gives your OC an easy time with play design and fewer busted plays.

  16. 16 shah8 said at 2:35 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Reading the chip wagon posts–These issues were very evident last year from second half of second WAS game though the Minn game, and I pretty much hit the ceiling after the Detroit game when I saw good QB play. Screens, dump offs, easy seam stuff–they really should be pretty automatic. This is Foles third year with starting experience. He shouldn’t be having problems with this stuff and looking like Colt McCoy. And of course, I constantly harp on Foles needing to loft balls for accuracy out wide.

  17. 17 Nathan Rufo said at 9:23 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Great post, Tommy. I listened to the BGN Radio podcast this morning (which I usually really enjoy), 2/3 of the “panel” called for Foles to be benched in favor of Sanchez. Foles is a young QB who needs to work his way through some accuracy issues. In general, he’s not making awful decisions. Missing some open guys, maybe, but his reads seem to be pretty good, his INTs and bad throws have really just been accuracy-related (and WR-drop-related). Hopefully he can clean it up in the weeks to come.

    Another issue I’d like to highlight is that the running game is not nearly as prolific as it was last year, at least so far. Last year they were #1 in the league by a wide margin. This year, they’re barely in 9th. Foles is averaging over 40 throws per game this year (45 vs JAX, 37 vs IND). Those are #2 and #3 WRT attempts per game if you combine this year and last year (48 vs Minnesota). If they can get the running game up to standard, he won’t have to throw nearly as much.

    I think Foles has great potential, but he’s not an Andrew Luck or a Peyton Manning. He can’t take a team on his back on a consistent basis. He’s a great QB when the running game is strong and his receivers help him out.

  18. 18 Nathan Rufo said at 9:24 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Also, more H2H Show! I miss it a lot.

  19. 19 anon said at 10:05 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    throws include screens which i feel like are more like runs

  20. 20 Flyin said at 10:09 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    McNabb relied on the short passes. Screens/check downs. How many worm burners did we see on those short throws. Or he would throw a bullet. NO TOUCH! Give me an okay Foles over McNabb any day after 2004!

  21. 21 BobSmith77 said at 11:02 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Foles hasn’t exactly been crisp either on his short passes either the first 2 games.

  22. 22 Flyin said at 11:11 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Exactly my point. He was off on a couple, yet still made throws that were big plays and won. Okay Foles is still better than McNabb.

  23. 23 fran35 said at 10:52 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Come on man. I hate McNabb the person. He is a bitch. I like Foles. But Foles has a long way to go to surpass McNabb

  24. 24 BobSmith77 said at 11:06 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Same 2 guys on the BGN podcast who are calling for Sanchez to start were pretty critical of the WRs.

    Same 2 guys were also happy to run Jackson out of town on a rail, ranted all preseason about how good Matthews was (as if preseason football means anything), and how the offense would even be better this year.

    With the exception of when Kempski was writing there, the writing and analysis over at BGN has never been something all that interesting or well-done.

  25. 25 anon said at 11:21 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    yeah BGN has lots of articles and not necessarily lots of quality. Comments are terrible but GIFs are funny.

  26. 26 Charlie Kelly said at 9:24 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    its so weird to see the WRs being the 3rd options behind the RBs and the TEs.. lol

  27. 27 Media Mike said at 9:36 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    well, if you base it on the talent at each position it makes sense. I guess it’s just weird that our WR group is way down on the talent end.

    I’m glad we have Ertz.

  28. 28 eagleyankfan said at 8:11 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Huff is returning(I think) … does that give you a warm fuzzy feeling? Not me…

  29. 29 Dominik said at 8:31 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    If the 10 snaps Maehl received go to him and if he’s a better KR than Carroll (not sure about that, though), then yeah, it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

    Tobin practicing fully is even more important imho.

  30. 30 eagleyankfan said at 8:53 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Agreed. Huff has be unimpressive so far. My least favorite pick considering where we got him. Hoping he proves me wrong and becomes of some value.

  31. 31 fran35 said at 10:49 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I am hoping Tobin will be a solid reserve this year and be part of our starting O line for the future.

  32. 32 Dominik said at 10:58 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    We’ll see about that. Remember Gardner looked good at LT in Preseason – we all saw it’s something completely different in the reg season.

    But I liked Tobin and Molk in Preseason a lot, so I hope for the best.

  33. 33 Tumtum said at 9:31 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    I think it is also important to note that we faced two AFC teams, one a playoff winning team on the road. The Colts and Greg Toller were able to shut down the wideouts on Denver in week one, specifically Thomas. I think discounting that would be an error.

    I expect improved wideout results this week. Maclin should have a big game.

  34. 34 fran35 said at 10:48 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Good point. I forgot about that. As far as the INT by Toler, I thought he made a great play. I actually thought Nick’s pass wasn’t that underthrown. Don’t get me wrong, he does throw some horrible underthrown deep balls, but that wasn’t one. Thats a pass you expect either your WR comes down with or battles for it so that it isnt an INT.

  35. 35 Tumtum said at 10:27 AM on September 23rd, 2014:

    I love being right! It happens so rarely

  36. 36 SleepingDuck said at 9:33 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Could it be that Foles is still adjusting to Musgrave’s new techniques?

  37. 37 GEAGLE said at 10:27 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Could it be that we are over reacting over stupid shit that will work itself out?

  38. 38 Media Mike said at 9:35 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Foles 2014 – 86.1 passer rating
    Eli career passer rating – 81.1

    And Foles is “looking off” so far. I think he’ll be fine.

  39. 39 anon said at 10:20 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    ok we know eli isn’t good until he is and they win a SB.

  40. 40 Andy124 said at 9:36 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    I lament the loss of the word “good” from our vocabulary.

    Last year, Foles played great. He hasn’t played as well this year so far. He missed some throws on Monday night. Had he made all those throws, he’d have played great. But the team put up 30 points and plenty of yards it sure wasn’t “despite” Foles. So while he didn’t have a great game, that doesn’t mean that he had a bad game. There are adjectives in between great and bad. One of them is good. That’s how we should be describing his Monday night.

    The dissatisfaction with anything shy of great when it’s resulting in the number 1 offense in the league doesn’t make any sense to me.

    The overwhelming reaction should be excitement, optimism and jubilation that we’re scoring this much while playing our 8th and 9th offensive linemen, our WRs are working through some dropsies, and our QB is slightly off with his accuracy.

  41. 41 David Wolf said at 4:06 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Excellent post! Most of the snarky anti-Foles commenters don’t seem to realize that most of the great quarterbacks were not CONSISTENTLY great in their early years. Manning, Favre, Marino, Brady, Montana and many others had ups and downs.
    I’m not saying Foles will eventually be the equal of any of the “greats”, but he has the necessary tools to become very good. It seems somewhat nitpicky to focus on Nick’s mistakes while ignoring his good plays after just two games (both wins).

  42. 42 Charlie Kelly said at 9:48 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    that drop riley had was soooooo bad… glad he man’d up an admited as much today

  43. 43 anon said at 10:18 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    lots of drops monday night.

  44. 44 Charlie Kelly said at 10:39 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    that riley one was ugly doe.. smh

  45. 45 Flyin said at 10:47 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    You don’t normally think of a drop as “good”. That only leaves “bad” and “ugly”. Agree… ugly.

  46. 46 Mitchell said at 10:48 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    That particular dropped lowered my liking for Cooper by approximately 5 points on a scale of 1-20. He was at an 11 now he is at a 6. That particular drop was unacceptable.

  47. 47 Flyin said at 10:51 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Off topic: That avatar is so piercing joker style for the size is redefining the laws of thought in the NFL.

  48. 48 Mitchell said at 10:54 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    That particular comment raised my liking for you about 3 points. Now since I can remember you for quite a while now you were sitting at about a 5 and are now at 8. Congratulations!!! YOU HAVE SURPASSED COOPER!

  49. 49 Flyin said at 11:00 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    I have been around for some time. I hope your low rating was based on my hate for McNabb. Best Easter ever!

    Since then, I have been at peace with this team. Chip has chilled my rants even further.

    Cooper needs to surpass me Sunday!

  50. 50 Mitchell said at 11:00 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    It may be too late for him. If he literally drops one pass, I’m going to write him off forever.

  51. 51 Flyin said at 11:04 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Hopefully, your tough love works.

  52. 52 GEAGLE said at 10:26 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    And the colts had to pass interfer to stop Riley from catching a TD

  53. 53 Charlie Kelly said at 9:49 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    foles is a basketball player, he needs to get his stroke going. IMO

  54. 54 fran35 said at 10:41 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Great analogy. I completely agree. I throroughly think that was Donovan’s problem at times. The problem was that Reid never seemed to understand that Don was off and he should get him in rhythm by throwing easy short passes. Always throwing bombs when Don looked out of sync.

  55. 55 CTAZPA said at 9:54 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Every moment of Foles’ play is measured against, “Yeah, but can he win the SB?” Our history makes us ignore the rocky start of Jordan Matthews and the pitiful performance of Riley Cooper (111 out of 111 WR per PFF). Most people acknowledge that Sunday’s INT was at least half on Maclin, but bring these things up, and people call it a Nick-scuse.

    He’s thrown for over 300 yards for two wins in a row. When we got the ball back at the end of the game, I was less confident in the Cody Parkey FGs than Foles’ ability to lead the drive. I, along with countless fans, were justified in believing in him.

  56. 56 Flyin said at 9:55 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Foles is a nominee for Fedex Air player of the week, with Rodgers and Rivers. I doubt he wins. However, I would not be surprised if he either gets the award next week, after the Skins game, and/or NFC Offensive Player of the week award.

    Great to see Sproles get it this week!

  57. 57 anon said at 10:00 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    funny i think foles is the only qb to go for over 300 yds and also the only wining qb to toss a pick

  58. 58 Flyin said at 10:06 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    That was gamble play that I supported. Did no damage as the Colts took a knee to end the half.

  59. 59 anon said at 10:17 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    chip has great clock management / takes calculated risks.

  60. 60 Flyin said at 10:28 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Regarding football, It is becoming more apparent every day that he is one of the smartest in the business. What makes him so smart, is that he focuses on bettering himself and everyone around him.

  61. 61 Joe Minx said at 10:15 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Don’t know if this has been talked about yet, but is there any possible way the change of QB coaches has had anything to do with Foles so far? I personally don’t think so but in looking at every possible angle I wouldn’t rule anything out.

  62. 62 anon said at 10:17 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    its possible, also heard that foles and lazar didn’t get along super well.

  63. 63 Dominik said at 8:12 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Lazor was (apparently) a tough sob, he always criticized him in their meetings. I hope Musgrave does the same. Nick knows he has to work hard to improve (he says it all the time, at least), but Nick is coachable and while Kelly is calm, I like his QB coach to be very, very tough on him. Tough love, so to speak.

  64. 64 anon said at 10:19 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    can we get a marcus smith inside linebacker article? can he really learn that position well enough in a week to not be a liability? Casey Matthews has playe ILB for a while and is terrible. Acho is alright.

  65. 65 Flyin said at 10:23 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    I posted this earlier… http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/2014/09/17/marcus-smith-now-practicing-inside-lb/

  66. 66 Cafone said at 1:48 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Interesting… I wonder who would be inactive if Smith dresses? Casey Matthews? probably not, despite the wishes of most Eagles fans.

  67. 67 eagleyankfan said at 8:15 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    If that’s not the wish of ALL fans, there’s something wrong. He stinks. If he didn’t stink why would they be scrambling to teach a rookie? Either a rookie or a cheerleader is an upgrade.

  68. 68 Dominik said at 8:14 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Casey Matthews has playe ILB for a while and is terrible

    Well, I could play ILB for a while and would be terrible. CM maybe is a good locker room guy, I don’t know, but he just doesn’t have NFL talent. 99.5 % of the population don’t have it, it’s no shame. But he is on an NFL roster, so he will be held accountable by that standard. And he’s not even close to living up to it..

  69. 69 Flyin said at 10:42 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Let’s take a look at the other NFC East QB’s…

    Eli

    Tony

    RGIII/ now Kirk

    I hope everyone feels better!

  70. 70 Mitchell said at 10:59 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    I sure do. Nick is in a funkarino and not playing bad while in it. I have a feeling this week is gonna be a world class ass smackin on them Skins.

  71. 71 GEAGLE said at 10:03 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Yup!

  72. 72 Pennguino said at 10:58 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Great post Tommy! Perfectly stated. Foles has been..Scratch that. The offense has been inconsistent. That is what happens when you have a person playing LG for the first time and your 3rd string OT playing RT. I quickly watched the coaches tape and saw improvement from Foles. Players are still getting open and there is still busted coverage where the TE is WIDE open in the right seem but Foles’ reads are off to the left. I saw him deliver the ball while getting hit. Side arm throws. Hard pump to move the LB then come back to his receiver. The drops and the off target throws only compound the problem. They are improving.

    When you review the tape watch that helmet to helmet on Celek in the End Zone on the pass he dropped. Blatant spear/launch job. Where is Douche Bag ESPN crying for this? Oh that’s right. Peyton is getting older and the new Golden Child is Luck.

  73. 73 GEAGLE said at 10:02 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I was disgusted after watching the film with how much holding the colts OL got away with when they were running. Originally I thought Beau Allen had a bad game, then I watched the tape and realized he should have Drew 2 or 3 holding penalties…that OL was getting away with murder in the run game

  74. 74 BobSmith77 said at 11:13 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2014/09/why_isnt_marcus_smith_playing_eagles_olb_pick_only_healthy_scratch_from_2014_first-round.html

    Good article from Eckels on Smith being the only healthy 1st round scratch in the NFL last week.

    Reading the comments from Davis and Kelly and reading between the lines, Smith isn’t showing nearly enough in practice to consider dressing and yet it will be hard for him to really improve if he isn’t on the field. Not exactly much of an endorsement.

    Eagles have gotten almost nothing out of their ’14 draft class through the first 2 games so far. Only Matthews and Allen have gotten into games and I wouldn’t say either has done much to distinguish themselves. Allen has been a sieve in run defense and Matthews has struggled in the slot.

  75. 75 anon said at 11:23 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Matthews has drops. But i’m ok with Allen struggling his a late round pick, the fact that he sees snaps is plus territory. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Huff when he gets back into the swing of things.

    The smith situation is interesting — I think this will be a redshirt season for him, which is ok Eagles have the $$.

  76. 76 BobSmith77 said at 11:28 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Ridiculous that a 1st round pick (not a QB) has a ‘redshirt’ season. Bust pick.

  77. 77 xeynon said at 12:54 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    It is really not that uncommon for 1st round picks to be underwhelming as rookies, then explode after the NFL game clicks for them. Do your research. It was absurdly early to be using the word “bust” about anybody picked in the 2014 draft at this point.

  78. 78 BobSmith77 said at 12:59 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Of course at this point. I meant to have a 1st round pick who would not dress for any games this year.

  79. 79 BobSmith77 said at 11:31 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    I’m fine with Matthews struggling and expected that a bit. Exception to the rule is when WRs come in and contribute meaningfully right away their 1st year. Even 1st round picks.

    I just hope the drops a bate a bit. Can’t have a slot WR who doesn’t have reliable hands even if the position has shifted a fair amount over the past 10-15 years.

  80. 80 GEAGLE said at 10:23 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Yeah Chip Kelly traded up for WR who won’t be able to catch balls.. Smh … The great Bob smith could see it! but the offensive rocket science happened to miss the fact that the kid can’t catch hahahah

  81. 81 Flyin said at 11:28 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    2 games in on a rookie class… Your assessment… “gotten almost nothing”.

    My question to you… what did you expect? Pro Bowl/HOF accolades?

  82. 82 BobSmith77 said at 11:30 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Now but I would expect some of these guys to to be getting on the field and contributing especially on special teams.

    Why is it when anyone asks a reasonable question/criticism of the Eagles, you or GEagle often respond with ridiculous hyperbole.

  83. 83 Flyin said at 11:32 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    I will not speak for GEAGLE.

    I respond with logic. If you find that ridiculous, you define yourself.

  84. 84 BobSmith77 said at 11:44 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    I responded with what I thought the rookies should be doing.

    Not a single starter from the draft class right now and they are even having trouble getting on the field & contributing. Not like this team is loaded or hasn’t had some injuries too.

  85. 85 Flyin said at 11:47 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    To me that is a good sign after a couple good drafts.

    Is your vision of perfection having every draft class having an immediate impact after 2 games as a rookie?

  86. 86 anon said at 12:29 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    see snaps? yes. I’m fine where everyone is except smith. If he doesn’t dress maybe you could have gotten him later? i’m ok with projects. I am surprised he doesn’t have a role on teams, athletic linebackers are great on teams.

  87. 87 eagleyankfan said at 8:19 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I’m not sure when people started expecting draft picks in the 20’s become starters and seeing playing time. If they were top 8 pick I can see your argument. Anything going late round 1st is liking throwing a dart and hoping…

  88. 88 bill said at 8:57 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Especially at a high value position like 3-4 OLB. If you’re not drafting in the top 15, you’re not getting a top-end prospect who has a high ceiling and can have an impact 1st season (even then, that’s not that common). Outside of the top 15, you’re looking at the trade-off: high ceiling/project, or low ceiling/immediate impact. I have no problem with the Eagles focusing on the former this year.

  89. 89 GEAGLE said at 10:19 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    LOL smh

  90. 90 GEAGLE said at 9:59 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Wipe your mouth after blowing me. Doubt u ever seen Bob smith in one of my posts..l don’t be that groupie. Come on man, you are better than that

  91. 91 Insomniac said at 12:20 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    But but Matthews set SEC records and is like 15% related to Jerry Rice..he has to be good!!…It’s ridiculous how much hype he had.

    Smith is being groomed for the predator role a.k.a Cole’s spot. He can play Barwin’s spot if needed

  92. 92 anon said at 12:26 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    we love to overhype guys … remember murderleg?

  93. 93 Insomniac said at 12:28 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I never bought into that. Got sick of hearing him when he missed 2 kicks in practice.

  94. 94 BobSmith77 said at 11:42 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Re: Foles

    Not a a huge Foles guy this town is ridiculous. Leads the team down the field for the game winning drive and still takes grief all week. Lived in several places in the US now. Eagles’ fan base might be the most passionate but arguably the dumbest one too prone to more recent bias than other town including Boston, SF, Denver and St Louis.

    O-line is a mess right now. There hasn’t been any real criticism of McCoy even though he has been quite quiet the first 2 weeks. Even McCoy has said he needs to do better but there just haven’t been many holes in get through. 4-5 runs this week vs Colts where it was all McCoy who created either a loss/no gain into a meaningful gain.

    Besides the injuries, Herremans is a guy who has avoided to remain below the radar despite pretty poor play the first 2 weeks. Herremans struggled last year and was pretty poor the last month last year. Hoping the Eagles would draft someone who would push him this year in spring training. Need a much better performance out of him going ahead forward.

    Didn’t realize how much they would miss Johnson too especially in the run game when they try to get to the outside. Love to see the numbers but it seems like they can’t get anything right now on stretch/zone running plays to the right.

    WRs too are struggling and that has been well-chronicled this week. I expected that from Matthews/Huff though as rookies. Ditto on Maclin as he got comfortable playing especially after a preseason where he didn’t get a lot of snaps. Hopeful they will improve a bit as the season wears on.

    Cooper to me is the guy who has been a real disappointment so far. He is having trouble getting separation and has had 2 drops so far. Even with not getting so many reps, he needs to play better. Ditto Celek who seems like he has struggled as a run blocker/pass blocker.

    As long as Foles doesn’t look like he did in the first half vs Jags (shell-shocked and downright panicky), the calls to bench him are completely unfounded. Yes Foles needs to play better but as long as he isn’t turning the ball over and/or making poor decision there is no reason he should be benched for a mediocrity like Sanchez.

    The real issue is that the rest of the offense needs to play better and in particular Herremans, Cooper, and Celek.

  95. 95 Flyin said at 11:52 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    You got it all wrong. Sanchez is the answer. And it is time for Chip to go. There is no way this team gets better unless changes are made.

  96. 96 BobSmith77 said at 11:58 PM on September 17th, 2014:

    Thanks for your contribution. If anything through the first 2 games, I have been even more been impressed by Kelly and his play calling on offense.

  97. 97 Flyin said at 12:03 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Please let me have it, if the Eagles don’t win against the Skins.

  98. 98 BobSmith77 said at 12:08 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Why? It is a tough game against a division foe. Eagles should win since they are at home but I have no idea why the Eagles are favored by +7.5

    Maybe I’m wrong and the Skins are frauds. I have a feeling though their pass rush gives the Eagles some fits this week and that with Cousins they will call a game plan that better suits the strengths of their offensive personnel right now.

  99. 99 GEAGLE said at 9:58 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Don’t you think Chip will slow down that pass rush by making them pay with screens?
    ..
    Skins secondary is one of the worst in the NFL. The plays Nick gets time! he is going to shred that secondary.l. This will be the week we get our WR involved

  100. 100 GEAGLE said at 9:56 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    We won’t lose this week brother…

    The first loss won’t come before the rams game. That’s the first game of the year that I’m really worried about…
    We will start 4-0… I’m not sure we will lose to the rams right now! but I view that trap game as the first chance of us losing. Thankfully that rams game is in Phlily with Lane eligible to return

  101. 101 CrackSammich said at 10:15 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Has the level of commenting here gotten so bad that nobody can detect sarcasm anymore?

  102. 102 BobSmith77 said at 12:03 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Only way I would even see a case for Foles getting benched is if he gets injured, misses a considerable stretch of time (at least 4-5 G), and Sanchez comes in & the offense performs at an even higher-level.

  103. 103 Flyin said at 12:05 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    My sarcasm can be more than it is.

  104. 104 anon said at 12:08 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    no one except WR group is playing poorly to me, they need to get better. The run game isn’t there b/c if line problems that’s why screen game is going crazy. i think everyone will play better at least we aren’t the giants.

  105. 105 BobSmith77 said at 12:09 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Fair point. I have been impressed by what the offense has done all things considered including Foles.

  106. 106 GEAGLE said at 9:51 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    We are definitely one of the 5 dumbest fanbase in America, the worst kind of dumb,.. The kind of dumb that thinks it’s smart and knowledgable
    ..
    Most of the problem is beat reporters are nerds that never played the game, and most of the dorks covering the team don’t take the time to learn the nuances of the game the way a Sheil Kapadia has done(and it reflects in his work)…. So you got this super passionate fanbase that wants to know everything about the team, but Incompetant media putting false intel into our fanbases head til they walk around like a legion of zombies believing and regurgitating stuff that isn’t true.. For example, our genius media thought a coach would trade an accurate, intelligent young QB. Because he didn’t run fast enough. Like do people understand how pathetically stupid that is?

    So we are left with super passionate fans running around thinking and repeating info that’s just flat out wrong like “Nick FOles is going to be traded because he doesn’t run fast enough to ever be able to play for Chip”

    Passionate fanbase cares so much, is made dumber by for the most part, inaccurate media

  107. 107 Dragon_Eagle said at 12:34 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Reaching a verdict on Nick Foles at the end of the season is the single most important part of the 2014 Eagles campaign, outside of winning a Superbowl. Unless Nick hits a truly horrid stretch – e.g. Jaguars 1st half 4 games in a row – he must remain the starter all season. We absolutely need to decide should he stay or should he go. To do that one complete season is required.

    Over on the EMB, which I don’t’ frequent as much anymore, my tag line written over a year ago, is “Its not the 2013 starting QB that matters, its the 2014 starting QB.” That was during the Vick v. Foles competition. i got one right (a rare occurrence).

  108. 108 anon said at 12:49 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    no way he goes either way. you fire him and do what?

  109. 109 Mitchell said at 1:09 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Riot?

  110. 110 Cafone said at 1:34 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Foles is signed through 2015. Technically they don’t have to make a decision next offseason. People assume they will, because usually you lock up long term starters a year early. But if the Eagles aren’t sure then there’s no reason to sign him a year early.

    I could definitely see it play out this way. Just because Foles may turn out to be the Eagle’s best option long term, that doesn’t necessary mean they are going to have to beat off teams in 2015 free agency with an outrageous offer to retain him.

    If he continues to play at his current level do you really think teams are going to be offering him the world to be their starter, especially when most of his success is often attributed to the Chip Kelly system?

  111. 111 Insomniac said at 12:45 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Does anyone know if Ertz has gotten better as an inline blocker?

  112. 112 bill said at 8:16 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I don’t “know” much, and certainly haven’t focused on observing his blocking, but the little blurbs from Tommy and Sheil so far make it sound like he’s had a few good blocks, and some mighty struggles. All of which is unsurprising – I want to see where he is at the end of the year.

  113. 113 GEAGLE said at 9:18 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I doubt we would see him play more snaps than Celek like he did against the colts if he didn’t improve as a blocker. Blocking is crucial to chip

  114. 114 Mitchell said at 1:26 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Sometimes, I like to read NFL.com articles and people posting the dumbest comments such as, “Foles already has more turnovers this season than last thus proving he is a fluke”…. and “Chip Kelley inherited that time and shouldn’t be given any credit. If he inherited the Cowboys they would still be 8-8.” HUH?

  115. 115 anon said at 1:38 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    internet comments don’t give you a lot of hope for humanity. That said a TD to TO ratio of 2/1 is pretty good, Foles could fall a long way before he has an issue.

  116. 116 Cafone said at 1:37 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I certainly don’t think Foles should be benched and I seriously doubt that thought is entering Chip Kelly’s mind.

    That said, if he goes out for a game or two with an injury I would not be completely shocked to see Sanchez come in and outplay him. We could basically have a repeat of last year’s QB situation.

  117. 117 anon said at 1:39 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    agree except i don’t think sanchize can maintain the level of play.

  118. 118 bill said at 8:11 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    As much as I criticize people who are overly critical of Foles’s performance so far, that’s definitely a possibility. I think Foles knows it, too. And that’s what Chip has always said he wants – competition at every spot. Obviously, QB is slightly different, because of the demands of the position, but I think the point is to not have a quick hook, but keep that fire to improve stoked in every starter’s mind.

  119. 119 Cafone said at 1:50 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I’d like to see an addition to the Eagles “if you don’t start, you need to play special teams” philosophy: “If you only play special teams, you need to be at least a passable backup at another position”

  120. 120 Dominik said at 8:29 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    http://cdn.meme.li/instances/500x/54411131.jpg

  121. 121 LAEaglesFan said at 2:05 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    i think its good that foles is having a bit of struggles. its good for him as a young player to be able to have memories of tough games that hes been able to provide a comeback in. its good that the team also sees that there are many players who can contribute in big ways. seeing that sproles is able to take over a game and provide a huge boost to the offense is great for the players. they already know from last year what mccoy is capable of and what foles is capable of. there will be games when maclin or matthews take over the game and are the needed spark and there will be games where the tight ends provide the needed boost. earts is showing us in a big way that he is emerging as a great tight end in our system. life in the nfl isnt always going to be easy (broncos in the superbowl) but this eagles team is learning all its capabilities and will have good memories and motivation when games get harder towards the end of the season and during the playoffs. this eagles team will catch on fire soon enough and will be THAT opponent nobody wants to play! FLY EAGLES FLY!

  122. 122 Cafone said at 2:42 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Chip Wagon has a good summary of the issues: http://www.thechipwagon.com/eagles/2014/09/taking-a-peek-at-the-struggles-of-nick-foles.html

    Nothing groundbreaking, and it is probably a confirmation of what most of us are thinking: Foles has missed some passes, but his receivers have let him down several times too.

  123. 123 Insomniac said at 4:15 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    All of this talk about the “negativity” is just stupid. We want a Super Bowl win. We’ll criticize and let people know that this team isn’t performing. A win is a win but with that attitude, it’s like you’re just accepting the sloppy play. You can argue that it adds pressure to the players but it’s their job to be the best that they can be and win championships. They’re not doing either right now so on with the criticism and “negativity” until they do.

  124. 124 GEAGLE said at 9:36 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Seems kind of stupid to see half the fanbase not even take a minute to enjoy a win.

    If you haven’t noticed, going to Indy on Monday night and beating Luck in HIS house where guys like Peyton and Russel Wilson weren’t able to win! was probably THE biggest win this franchise has had in what 3-4 years?

    I made sure I spoke about all the things that we still need to improve upon, but I also made sure that I enjoyed the win…I feel sorry for half the fanbase to be so jaded that they couldn’t even appreciate the biggest win we have had in years…literally… There has to be a difference between the day after a win, and the day after a loss… I feel sorry for fans
    ..
    But to each his own

  125. 125 Andy124 said at 11:35 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Coming off a win, #1 offense, you’d think the tone of the articles and comments would be positive while acknowledging some of the negatives.

    Instead, the overall tone has been negative with some half-hearted acknowledgement that there are some positives mixed in.

    I’ve come to accept that the only thing that will change this is a Super Bowl, or absolute perfection.

  126. 126 GEAGLE said at 12:02 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Perfectly said…
    ..
    And then the day later you get bulshit retractions from people who cry and act like fans bitch at them for criticizing FOles when that’s not the case at all.

    These past two weeks, I made sure to talk about EVERYTHING that FOles didn’t do well enough and what he needs to improve on, yet I was able to constructively criticize him without my overall support and belief for the kid waivering,
    ,,
    It’s a bullshit cop out to suggest that FOles fans get made when people criticize FOles… His fans get mad that every once in a blue moon when he doesn’t have a great game, this fanbase turns on him and questions if he can even be our QB going forward…and that’s fucking sad!
    ..,
    I will always point out what the kid needs to improve on, and what wasn’t good enough…but I’m able to criticize him without being ready to throw him in the trash whenever he has a bad game, if you can even call comeback wins, a bad game..
    ,,
    It’s absurd that everytime our growing young leader has a bad game, the entire city is ready to trash him. and they call themselves good, knowledgable fans..

    This kid will have rough games in the future. I think he has earned the leeway to not have the hole city holding their breath waiting to see how he responds to a bad game. He shut these dumb fans up after dalls by flooding the black hole, and he just got us the biggest win this franchise has had in 2 or 3 years, winning in a stadium, Peyton and Wilson lost in last year.

    Support your young growing leader. It’s amazing how much he has accomplished and grown considering the lack of support he gets…we are talking about a kid who the last 10 times he took the field in the regular season, he led us to 9’wins… 9 of 10 games he won, and this is the kid that can’t get a little leeway after a bad game before fans start talking about him not being our franchise QB.

    You can absolutely criticize on a game by game basis, but FOles losing has become a pretty rare occasion. And I think he has earned the right to be criticized on the rare occasion he loses without completely questioning him being our QB of this era of eagles football,….

    So those fans can continue to act like they get bashed for criticizing Nick, but they know it’s bullshit..

  127. 127 mksp said at 1:20 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Stop telling people how to enjoy a win. If you want to be a blind cheerleader sociopath, that’s your prerogative.

    One can be happy about the win (I’m ecstatic) and worried about Nick at the same time.

    Or maybe you can’t, I don’t know. I guess that assumes some level of logic and rational thinking that you may easily lack. Would explain a lot.

  128. 128 GEAGLE said at 1:23 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    I don’t read what you write, but if you want to blow me, just ask already,.. Dancing around it for years is getting old. Just man up and ask me

  129. 129 mksp said at 1:26 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    LOL. Can’t wait til you get kicked off this board as well.

    Maybe you’ll figure out a way to do something actually productive with your life.

  130. 130 Mike Roman said at 8:27 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Maybe Foles is a victim of his own success when it comes to the criticism. He set the bar so high that as much as we all say, “we know he can’t duplicate those numbers”, in the back of our minds we expect him to because we know he’s capable of it.

    Last year he played like Peyton Manning. This year he’s playing like “bad” Nick Foles. The thing is, “bad” Nick Foles is still pretty good. When the good Nick Foles shows up, we’ll be in excellent shape.

    I think we are all seeing the potential of this team and the inconsistency scares us a bit. Ya know, Maclin has been getting open down field and Foles has been missing him. They’ll start getting in sync soon. Ertz will only get better. Celek isn’t going to keep dropping TD passes. Shady hasn’t even gotten loose yet….

    Washington’s defense is tough. This will be another battle. Then we travel to San Fran. I think by the time we get back home to play St. Louis we should be clicking pretty well. If the offense is still up and down in that game, then I’ll begin to worry.

  131. 131 FairOaks said at 8:53 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    The “bad” Nick Foles was the Dallas game last year and the first half against Jacksonville. If he plays like that long-term, he won’t be a starter for long. But those games seem to be the exception. The last six quarters, he’s played fine, just not as good as last year, so we know he can be better. The OL may well be part of that (and the dropped passes have hurt his stats, to be very sure). I was fine with how he played last game — he was close to last year actually, except for the accuracy on the shorter throws, which cost in a few situations.

  132. 132 fran35 said at 9:04 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I agree that the last 6 games he has played fine-but not as good as last year.
    However, if Celek and Cooper catch those TD passes that were right into their hands(very accurately placed passes), how differently is everyone looking at Nick’s stats. Not only that, I’m not sure that the Colts are even in the game with 4 minutes left if we had converted those as TDs.

  133. 133 eagleyankfan said at 9:07 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    and not to forget those terrible throws where his mistakenly hit Mathews on his hands for incompletes….
    Lots of worrying going on for no reason.

  134. 134 Mike Roman said at 10:08 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I’m basically throwing out that Dallas game because I believe it was an anomaly. So to me, “bad” Nick Foles is the one we are seeing now … which isn’t bad at all, just a little bit shaky. He’s going to settle in — people are overreacting with some of the criticism.

  135. 135 GEAGLE said at 10:20 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Yup yup

  136. 136 Dominik said at 1:01 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    “Nick didn’t play perfect so constructive criticism is more than fair,
    it’s neccessary.. I made sure to mention everything Nick needs to
    improve upon from these past two weeks”

    Could you sum that criticism up for me in a minute? Didn’t read it, but I’m curious what exactly are your points, since you are probably the most Pro-Foles guy I know (virtually speaking), at least if I leave some idiots out.

  137. 137 GEAGLE said at 1:47 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Nothing crazy that should lead to a fanbase doom n glooming over a 2-0 start..
    ..
    Early season stuff that needs cleaning up. For starters, his chemistry with Maclin and coop isn’t there yet but that will sort itself out with more reps and game time together…

    Then the jags game start and right away, Jason Peters, Mathis and the OL were giving up way to much pressure which effects all QBs..by the time the OL and peters buckles down, FOles starts seeing OL dropping like Flies due to injury and we couldn’t settle down before half time…second half we come out and Molk and Gardner buckled down! tempo kicked in, and the jaguars were no longer getting pressure on Nick. And we rebounded with a 34 point half…. I would say timing still needs to get worked out and we had to get comfortable with the OL which lead to a jittery performance and missing open WRs..

    I think we had to readjust out expectations as soon as Mathis and Barbre went down. It won’t hold us back, but initially we had to expect to take a step or two back from the well oiled machine we were when we are at full strength….heck just look at how the offensive line is effecting the great shady McCoy.. Can’t expect it to not effect FOles at all…

    But against the Colts I thought he was better than people make it out to be. I counted 6-7 good throws that were dropped. Had his team mated done his job he would have had something like 30-37… Sure he missed a swing pass or two that you don’t want to see miss but you can’t really complain anout a 30-37 day.

    Thought he was much better against the Colts, but in the first half Gardner was getting killed and giving up pressure! we can’t expect that to not have an impact on our QB…still all things considered I was pleased with how he looked against the Colts. That was the biggest win this franchise has had in YEARS.
    ..
    And for those that aren’t pleased with how he looks against the colts, you still have to respect how at the crucial times, he manage to step up and play his best ball…

    The great Mcnabb and Reid were 2-47 down big in the second half… FOles and Chip Kelly already managed 3 comebacks in 5 attempts… That means that these two comeback wins by FOles and Chip were as much as we saw comebacks in the entire Mcnabb/Reid decade…and people aren’t smelling the roses? Smh..

    Not to mention these early season struggles, learning to over come them are probably much better for our growth than blowing out that jags 40-10 and never being in any danger..
    .
    We saw over the course of last season that these coaches can get this team to grow and improve as the season goes on, peeks at the right time in December/January! and it expect the same thing this year. There aren’t too many winners in the history of the NFL that were playing their best ball in September…
    ..
    We are 2-0 , it wasn’t pretty, but it probably forced us to grow and we will probably be better knowing that we overcame this adversity…

    We aren’t seeing Anything issues that can’t be corrected,..I expect these backup OL to be better this week having gone through the colts game. If we see a better OL for 4 quarters, I’d bet we see a better FOles for 4 quarters..

    But if you really look at the colts game, if his supporting cast did their job and didn’t drop 6 catchable balls including letting them intercept the pass which a veteran like Maclin should have never allowed that to happen! then FOles game vs. The Colts probably looks much difference and People would enjoy the biggest win we had in years.,

  138. 138 FairOaks said at 1:01 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    If I recall, the final preseason game last year (where he started after Vick won the job) was also really awful. I agree about the overreaction… really the only problem to me is the accuracy on the shorter passes. I thought he cleaned up all the really bad mistakes from the first half vs Jacksonville. It sure looks like Ertz is the only one who can catch the throws a bit behind them, etc.

  139. 139 Mike Roman said at 8:41 AM on September 19th, 2014:

    Accuracy has definitely been a problem. I’m fairly confident that he’ll clean that up though. History shows that he’s generally been accurate.

  140. 140 eagleyankfan said at 9:10 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    “as good as last year” — you know who plays at a level Foles played at last year? Nobody. Holding Foles to that standard is silly. Everyone knew coming into this year that Foles, or anybody else, couldn’t duplicate what he did last year. Let him settle in. We have yet to see the finished product of who Foles is.
    …..
    Will the real Foles please stand up…please stand up…

  141. 141 Mike Roman said at 10:06 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Right, that’s exactly my point. I think he’s probably somewhere in between the guy we saw last year and the guy we are seeing right now. He might be a little shaky, but in his last three games (including POs), he’s brought his team back from a deficit. That’s the mark of a good QB.

  142. 142 GEAGLE said at 11:12 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I don’t think it’s possible for last year to have been his best… But we should all know by the end of the year what we have in him

  143. 143 GEAGLE said at 9:30 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I expect us to light that skins defense up, they have a decent front 7, but that secondary is pretty dumb. Deangelo hall always gambles and provides 3 or 4 opportunities every game for a big play..
    .,,
    Ryan Clark stopped being a good safety 10 years ago.

    Merriweather is just a stupid Undiscaplined football player. You can always use his aggression against him..

    Sure they have good edge rushers, but it bet Chip can’t wait to take advantage of their aggression and gash them with our screen game

    Think the key to our offense this week will be keeping Jason Hatcher in check. If we can keep him from being too disruptive, this defense will get lit up…

    Fact of the matter is we will score 30 on this defense, and most if not all defenses we face….. Skins won’t be the team that hangs 30 on our under rated defense
    ..
    I’m confident going into this game.. It’s probably a tougher game with Cousins in there than I thought it would be in the summer when the schedule was released… But the skins haven’t beaten Chip Kelly yet, and they won’t win sunday

  144. 144 Mike Roman said at 10:02 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I mainly worry about their pass rush when we have backups at two OL positions. We struggled with the JAX rush before we lost Mathis and Barbre so that’s why I’m not so confident. You’re right about their secondary for sure, but Foles has to connect with the receivers to take advantage of it.

    I think we’ll still win, but I’m not so sure it will be an easy task.

  145. 145 GEAGLE said at 10:13 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    For me, I think the skins defender we need to be the most concerned with is Jason hatcher! who caused a lot of problems playing for the cowboys last year… I’m more concerned with him. Than I am the OLBs.. They have two good OLBs, but when they are facing Jason a peters, they only have 1 good OLB…. We have to take advantage of that OLBs aggression in the first half, make him think before he pins his ears back and rushes our QB…..skins have a Big, strong, Powerful defense…those are the types of defenses that make the best victims for our tempo attack! first half should provide some challenges…
    ,,,
    But look at the colts game, Walden was a pass rushing menace in the first half half… After our tempo took it’s toll, if you go back and watch the second half they were completely gassed, we took all the wind out of the sail of it’s pass rush, and when you look at our 4th quart screens defenders looked like they had cinder blocks on their feet…

    tempo is really going to hurt this big strong defense.

    First half we have to throw a lot of screens and slow down their rush, come the second half, our tempo will make their pass rush look like a 70yr old mans Penis when the Viagra wears off…we will pull away in the second half, I’d bet.

    They can’t pressure Nick every single time! and when they don’t get pressure on him, that putrid secondary should get exposed..

  146. 146 BreakinAnklez said at 12:12 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    I’m not as concerned with Hatcher. Great year last year playin in the 4-3, not 3-4 that he is now. He’s never had more than 4.5 sacks a year in the 3-4, so we’ll see.

  147. 147 GEAGLE said at 12:16 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    No one plays a 3-4 on pass rushing situations. That’s just dumb misconception media nerds have been saying forever. When it’s 3rd down and they know we are passing, we better worry About hatcher…IMO

    At the end of the day their defense has like 4-5 players I respect, you aren’t beating our offense with 5’good defenders out of 11

  148. 148 suthrneagle said at 10:51 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    you predicted a 34- 20 victory over the colts, a large 1/2 time lead, leading to a heavy dose of the ground game.
    think you`re crystal ball is a little foggy.

  149. 149 GEAGLE said at 11:02 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Lol you forget what I predicted the week before?
    ..
    Flattering that you know my opinion… You think I have any clue what you said? Lol
    .
    You also talked a lot of shit when I guaranteed FOles wouldn’t lose to luck! but that’s a different story

    Flattering that you think it’s rational to expect me to predict the exact score out of 16 games and hold me to those standards… When will people learn that silly hate is flattering to me?

  150. 150 suthrneagle said at 12:02 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    didn`t realise predictions, after they`re made, could be changed. Becomes sorta like a politician`s opinion, changes with the audience,day of the week,the weather,…and deniable the next week.

  151. 151 Scott J said at 8:35 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    It’s Riley Cooper that I’m concerned about. He only had about 4 or 5 great games last year, and hasn’t looked good since. We need our receivers to step up and make plays, and that will help get Foles back on track.

  152. 152 eagleyankfan said at 9:14 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I’m not concerned with Cooper. He’s a number 3 wr playing as a number 2 because we don’t have a number 2. Or, we don’t have that number 1 guy yet. Either way, Cooper is a 3. It’s not a knock on Cooper. He’s just in a spot he doesn’t belong.
    …. Some argue, and it’s valid, that DJ had no impact on Coopers year last year. I do think DJ did have an impact on his play but that’s just pure guess work on my part.

  153. 153 Henly125 said at 9:18 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Cooper has the tools of a #2, #3 receiver. I’m Confident he’ll get back on track. Lets not forget about Josh Huff, practiced a bit yesterday, might play next week against 49ers. I’m sure chip will mix him in pretty soon.

  154. 154 eagleyankfan said at 9:21 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Huff = meh. LOL. Maybe in the return game? I don’t expect much from him on offense.

  155. 155 GEAGLE said at 1:06 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Not sure how Chip will play Huff. Does huff get a few snaps on Offense immediately…or will he go the normal rookie route of needing to wait til around Midseason for the game to slow down enough to give the puppies snaps? Not sure if his familiarity with Chip will exccelerate his growth..

    With Jordan in the slot, I would assume Huff takes on the role of a “queen” the piece that moves all over the chess board. Huff can get snaps outside, inside, even lineup in the back field like we did with Desean last year….not sure if he will always be a gadget player “queen” type, or if he will mature into an outside WR role…..

    Then again, even if Jordan is our slot machine, I’m sure he will also be moved around at times, so Huff can still get some snaps in the slot,..

    Very curious to see his Longterm future as an eagle.. Ones thing for sure, if I had to bet on a young player making it, I would easily chose him since the coach that knows him better than any young player placed a high priority of making sure we got him in the draft..
    ..
    Draft isn’t an exact science, but it becomes one when your head coach is fortunate enough to draft a former player. Chip had a year to see the NFL up close, and see what succeeds and what fails on this level! and for us to have prioritized drafting him! it tells me that Chip knobs he can make Huff a successful NFL weapon, and I would never bet against a young player that our coach knows so well eliminating the guess work involved in drafting young players, Chip knows exactly what Huff is capable of, and he knows what it takes to be successful in the NFL… How could I possibly question that… Huff panning out is what I would bet my money on

  156. 156 Henly125 said at 2:13 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Preach! Huff is definitely a player that could move around. His versatility will get him on the field. He’ll be the kick returner the second he comes back. I see him playing the role DeSean played. He’s not as fast as DeSean, but he’s a very tough and violent receiver. He’s got all around game and will be much more then a special teamer.

  157. 157 GEAGLE said at 9:24 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Our coaches view coop much differently than you do. I know for a fact that WR coach Bicknell Loves Coop.

    I also try to learn from past history. Exactly a year ago we were all killing Coops play…he went on to have a pretty impressive season,

    He has under performed the first two weeks, but he isn’t getting the credit for some of the good things he has done. They had to foul him to stop him from scoring a TD, which led to pass interference in the ENDZONE, us getting the ball n the 1 yard line and shady punching in that first TD on Monday.

    Riley will be fine, my bet, is he breaks out this week against a BONEHEADED Skins secondary

  158. 158 anon said at 10:00 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    exactly a year ago vick was throwing balls not foles.

  159. 159 GEAGLE said at 10:06 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I can promise you coop didn’t just forget how to out jump cornerbacks and come down with jump balls… He won’t be something he isn’t, but he will be fine as a jump ball Big WR for FOles just like he was a year ago,,
    ..,

  160. 160 eagleyankfan said at 11:37 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    No, he didn’t forget – he’s just not great at it. He’s great a hustler, plays with heart and can block VERY well.

  161. 161 GEAGLE said at 11:48 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    He has his place in our arsenal of weapons. It’s not like his skill set is redundant. You don’t really see Jordan? huff or Maclin bring what Coop brings to the table, so he is a good piece. I don’t view him as a traditional #2, just a weapon in chips arsenal that can be used to exploit certain defenses,,
    ,,,
    Chip talks a lot about The importance we place on “answers”. We want to have “answers” for whatever teams throw at us… Coop is valuable because his skill set at WR isn’t redundant. Now if we get someone like Mike Evans, than Coops skill set becomes redundant and he becomes expendable…
    ..
    For example if you see the eagles draft Funchess, you can expect Coopers time in philly to be winding down.

  162. 162 eagleyankfan said at 11:55 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    He definitely has a place on this team. He’s one of my fav’s to watch, no question.

  163. 163 GEAGLE said at 11:33 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Awesome comment.

  164. 164 eagleyankfan said at 11:35 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I like Cooper(as I keep saying it) but that doesn’t mean Cooper is a number 2. No matter how you say the coaches like him — what other option is there? Eagles gave him too much money to keep him because they were going to drop DJ like a sack of potatoes. There was no way the Eagles could go into 2014 with Mac and a bunch of rookies. To say a coach Loves Cooper — why is there talk that JM is being primed to number 2 for next year(unless, the assumption is, he’s taking over for Mac?) Again, I’m not knocking Cooper. He’s just not a number 2 WR in the NFL.

  165. 165 GEAGLE said at 11:44 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Fair,, but I don’t really expect him to be the traditional #2 for the next 3 years…

    We will see the WR and the corners treated similar in that…. Right now, Maclin and Coop are the paid WRs, Cary!Brad, Nolan are the paid corners… When our young players grow up and it’s time to extend their contracts and pay young players, you will see us cut Coop, Mac, Cary!Brad, and young players like Jordan! huff! Boykin,Jalen and kids we will draft this year will get paid and move up the depth chart! and they will be replaced with rookie contracts behind them,,.

    I don’t think Chip wants a traditional #1,2,3, I think week to week, we will drastically change the way we attack defenses.. For example throwing to RBs and TE were a major part of the Colts game plan, but this week the skins Secondray is pathetic, I expect us to feature our WR this week while throwing to backs and TE takes a back seat to the WRs… I just think Chip wants a deep, well rounded arsenal of weapons, that he can use to exploit whatever we face… Some weeks this year, coop will be used as a #2 WR, while other weeks Ertz and Sproles will look like the #2 WR and coop will have a smaller role…

    Coop will be on this team until it’s time to pay huff! Jordan, and the young WR we will draft this year, once the young WR need to be paid, Coop will be cut, our young WR will move up the depth chart,and they will be replaced by rookie contracts,,
    ,,
    That’s how I’m certain we will keep Boykin, because we will pay him to stay, and shed Cary, Brads salary, and replace the, with Cheap rookie contracts. It doesn’t matter how much we pay Boykin, it matters how much we are spending on cornerbacks as a group. We won’t mind allocating money to keep Boykin, if our outside cornerbacks will be working on cheap rookie deals for 3 or 4 years

  166. 166 eagleyankfan said at 11:52 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    True — True. I keep reading — and I have no idea what’s just fodder talk by writers or what’s accurate. It sounds like Huff is the typical slot guy but JM is playing there to get his feet wet. If that’s true and Huff steps up – he starts at slot next year? That pushes JM to somewhere. Just remembered, Mac is on a 1 year contract. Hmm, this will be interesting to keep an eye on.
    I hope Coop has a monster game. Not sure how many work as hard as he does. I do think, on that INT this past weekend — that Cooper adjusts and fights for that ball, maybe even knocking it away.

  167. 167 Dell24 said at 8:59 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Perhaps the patched up o-line has Foles subconsciously worried. Not sure why he is still holding the ball so long. Without Shady running wild, it seems corners are able to lockdown our outside receivers. If Shady goes off on Wash then WRs may begin to have more space and success. I am concerned with WRs lack of production, but I think that attacking the middle of the field with RBs and TEs is also effective. I also would rather the birds get better and better each week instead of the other way around. With the injuries they have, they are still operating the offense pretty well.
    Is it possible defenses are attacking Foles a bit differently this year? Once the offense starts clicking and once Lane Johnson and Matthis return I think it can be lights out.

  168. 168 BlindChow said at 11:51 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    No, Foles looked just as hesitant and unsure of himself in the preseason and before his OL went down.

  169. 169 Dell24 said at 12:08 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    True, 1st 2 PS games he looked hesitant w/out starting WRs. Steelers game he looked pretty good I thought.

  170. 170 GEAGLE said at 9:16 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    More FOles talk? Just leave the kid alone and he will be fine… OMG

  171. 171 Anders said at 9:18 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Us discussing Foles has zero to do with him struggling

  172. 172 GEAGLE said at 9:19 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    For the 3rd fucking day in a row… Wtf could you possibly have to say that wasn’t said 100 times already these past 3 days.. Jesus christ
    ..
    I get that people want to back track after their absurd comments about the kid but give it a rest

  173. 173 mksp said at 1:21 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    And yet…..

  174. 174 GEAGLE said at 6:22 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Wipe your mouth and brush your teeth before you address me

  175. 175 eagleyankfan said at 9:18 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Don’t care what Foles did week 1 and 2. I only care what he’ll do game 3. Also care about what our D will do game 3. Another week, another challenge. Will Wash try that unbalanced rush attack? Will they attack Kendricks replacement? How will the Eagles replace Kendricks? Special teams should be on watch. This is one area Chip actively addressed. This area, we should have high expectations for….

  176. 176 tomw said at 9:36 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Do we have this discussion if Cooper and Celik catch the touchdown passes thrown to them? And the pope dropped a couple of ” in the hands” passes.

  177. 177 GEAGLE said at 9:42 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I counted 6 or 7 incompletions that weren’t FOles fault at all… And that INT shouldn’t have happened. Maclin needed to slow down so that pass would fall in front of him where only he could get it. He needed to slow down, good chance the CB would have ran into him and a penalty may have been thrown.

    No matter how FOles struggles, the moments it mattered most, he stepped up and made plays.. I can think of so many games where great hall of fame QBs played like shit for most of the game, got it together at the end, made the plays when it mattered most and we hail as heros who can overcome bad games and step it up and deliver in crunch time.
    ..
    Think it’s an awesome sign that FOles can have rough games, but he can shake it off and deliver when it matters most in the clutch with games on the line

  178. 178 tomw said at 11:35 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Some people just hate the guy. Most of the great QBs. were always good at coming back in games. Last year they kept asking if Foles could come back in games . If you listen to Darwin Walker, the Eagles should just cut him ,he’s that bad.

  179. 179 Tom33 said at 11:51 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    I don’t hate the guy – I actually preferred him to Vick because I thought he had better long-term potential.

    That being said – his best qualities last year were quick decision-making, good decision-making and accuracy. He’s not a guy with a cannon for an arm and he’s certainly not a dynamic runner.

    So, when I see him taking forever to make decisions, making poor decisions, and missing a ton of throws, it is a concern. I hope it improves, and I think it will, since he seems to have made strides from game 1 to game 2, but we’re not talking about a guy with a long enough track record to just assume it will get better. So whether you want to call that “hate”, “doubt” or just “concern”, I don’t think it is an unreasonable position to have right now. It’s certainly more reasonable than pointing to his passing yards and saying he’s playing well.

  180. 180 GEAGLE said at 12:09 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Did you see some of those beautiful long balls he was throwing against the colts, or the zip he needed to put on that TD to Maclin to fit it in that tight window against the colts?

    I don’t even think his arm should even be mentioned anymore.. Talking about his arms strength was soooo 2012…I don’t believe arm strength to be an issue with him at all any more. I don’t even think it’s accurate to talk about his arm in a negative way… Just look at the colts game.. Some of the passes he was throwing were gorgeous

  181. 181 Tom33 said at 1:05 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Maybe I wasn’t clear – I was not criticizing his arm. I thought the throw he made to Maclin for the TD was impressive and I think his arm strength is fine. He’s not Vick or Rodgers, but he’s shown his arm is not a liability.

    My point was that the areas where he excelled last year are the very areas where he is struggling this year. That is perplexing and concerning to me, and I don’t understand why pointing that out, whether it is The Media, Tommy, or the commenters on this blog, gets you (and some others) so pissed off.

  182. 182 GEAGLE said at 2:26 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    How does any of the language in my above post interpretted as aggressive or upset?

    I criticize FOles myself…I can criticize him from a. Game to game basis without saying dumb shit like Tom making statements that FOles can’t carry us.. I’m fine with using your eyes to say what the kid didn’t do well enough…. It’s a rare occasion that this kid has had bad games, and it’s disgusting that the rare occassions he loses or isn’t putting up historic numbers, people start questioning whether he is the long term answer, that’s what I don’t like… He has shown NOTHING that gives anyone any legit claim to say what he can’t be..

    I have to listen to all thse flawed young QBs get ANNOINTED by people.. The people going gaga over RG3 not making it to his second read during his rookie year were disgusting.. The annointing of kAp cam newton, Tannahill! Dalton…. Yet on the rare occasion that FOles actually loses, half the fanbase is ready to trash him as our long term QB… Am I lying!?? Where you living under a rock when people were talking crazy over his poor preseason play?

    Point out something the kid didn’t do well enough, and I will always agree with you… BUT IF you enjoy this kids win, and the few occassions he plays bad you instantly trash him to support your previous wrong oppinion of the kid, it’s fraudulent..

    It’s no way for a young player to grow having a fanbase question everything he has ever done every once in a blue when he actually loses.

    I point out every single thing he hasn’t done well enough and needs to improve upon these past two weeks, but I criticize our young QB while still supporting him, and it’s disgusting what this city has put this young QB threw.. Without any support he has managed to.nevermind..just leave it alone

  183. 183 tomw said at 1:13 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    He didn’t come from the Tom Brady tree. But who did so much better their first couple years ? This is his first year starting. I have seen the best QBs in football have worse games than Foles ,and if they have a come back win , people say how great he is.

  184. 184 Maggie said at 6:52 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Foles was much more decisive with the ball in his hands against the Colts than he was in the first game. There were times last season when he also looked uncertain about his next move. If he continues to improve a little each game, that;s all we can ask of any player. Also, when he ran, he did so with purpose, not just flailing about trying to stay alive.

  185. 185 GEAGLE said at 10:04 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Don’t think Derek Anderson or Hoying should ever be mentioned in the same sentence as FOles ever again. Thanks

  186. 186 A_T_G said at 10:23 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    You mean excluding the sentence that you just wrote, right?

  187. 187 GEAGLE said at 10:28 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Sure

  188. 188 eagleyankfan said at 11:31 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    would “We should have sucked for luck its such bs that Indy had Peyton now him ” count as a senseless statement? SMH at this crap…..

  189. 189 GEAGLE said at 11:32 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Lol as if the ANNOINTED Luck and the colts are destined to win more superbowls than FOles and Chip

  190. 190 Andy124 said at 11:48 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    C’mon gio. Don’t take it out on A_T_G. That [his post] was funny and victimless.

  191. 191 A_T_G said at 3:01 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    It was just an observation of the irony and meant in good fun. Sorry if it wasn’t perceived that way.

  192. 192 GEAGLE said at 10:56 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Eagles are on their way to growing into the top 10 defense I expect them to be in December.

    Last year we were EXCELLENT in redzone defense, committing turnovers and shutting down run games…. The #1 defensive improvement we needed to make this summer, was easily 3rd down defense. Inability to get off the field on 3rd down last year absolutely killed us..

    Today the Eagles defense leads the NFL in 3rd down defense. Now the season just started and the jags aren’t a great test, but you can’t not be impressed by the fact that they went into Lucks house and still emerged with the top 3rd down defense. That’s a very encouraging sign…. So far, we seem to still be the opportunistic defense that we were last year in terms of forcing turnovers, we already scored a defensive TD…

    The one thing we were excellent at, that has fallen off is our redzone defense… We had big time mistakes on those easy goal line passes Luck was converting for TDs… Last year good chance those TD s would have been held to FG’s… I’m really impressed with a lot of the things I’m seeing on 3rd down.. The only thing I’m not crazy with is consistently blitzing the house when we face an empty backfield. Sure we will start missing in different ways to attack empty backfields to keep us from being predictable..

    What I’m seeing on 3rd down, IMO will prove to not be a mirage. The things. They are doing in nickel should continue to translate against good offenses…

    As soon as we put everything together, we will see that drastically under rated defense I’m always hootin n Hollaring about!

    The turnovers will continue.
    ..
    I’m not at all worried about run defense and they will prove it this week shutting down Alfred Morris stretch plays with our defensive linemans Lateral ability..

    3rd down defense I’m certain is much improved…just not sure yet to what degree it has improved. I’m very excited to find out, because we are using personel packages that are really exciting to me like getting Cox, Curry, Cole, Barwin, BG all on the field at the same time.
    ….
    I already know that these ount players are capable of being stout in redzone defense. I saw it with my own eyes for ATleast 2 months of last season…once we tighten our redzone defense back up,combined with the improvements we will see getting off the field on 3rd down, by December this defense will have grown into a scary unit(health permitting of course)

    Very very excited about the defensive growth we will see over the course of this season led by a dominant Fletcher cox and Kendrick who will elevate his game and reach that Lavonte David! Bobby Wagner level..

    One pleasant surprise, is the play of Brandon G raham. I did NOT expect to ever see him be able to be trusted playing both predator and jack. He has been “a load in the run game”-Billy Davis and he is getting some good pressure on QBs… It’s still a long shot, but maybe we started writing the Eulogy of his eagles career too soon.

    I expected these things to happen, but young ver really know how it will play out…from what I have seen so far, I’m extremely excited about where we are headed defensively, and is believe the improvements we have seen will translate when we play the better teams…
    ..
    A week from now, the defense will face a great test, a great opportunity to earn respect, facing the power offensive line of the Niners and their physical run game! while also having to contain Kapernick from running all over the place… On one hand I’m excited to face a rival this week, but I’m also getting really antsy to test ourselves against the Niners, so FOles can collect another top young QBs scalp to add to his collection of RG3 and Luck,,

  193. 193 GEAGLE said at 11:00 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Also, this defense is really built to play with a lead, and they haven’t had that luxury much yet,,, just wait til we get to see this defense play, when the offense is scoring a ton of first half points and really pressuring opponents to throw their way back in the game, that’s when we really get to pin our ears back, get after it, and I suspect that when that happens, it will open up the flood gates of turnovers…

    Defense is keeping the Offense alive while it finds it’s footing, just wait til this defense starts getting help from our offense, than we will really see how dangerous this young defense can be

  194. 194 MattE said at 1:14 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Turnovers will be our defenses bread and butter hopefully like last year. TO’s are a difficult stat to replicate year to year, but it seems like Davis is getting guys into position to have a chance at creating a turnover. I feel we have more play-makers in that sense up the middle of defense than outside the numbers, which is fine, but as a defense built to defend leads we just have to hope Fletch/Cary hold up in coverage on the outside enough to force those plays back inside to our play-makers.

  195. 195 GEAGLE said at 2:16 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Cary is a big game corner.. Did you notice his play against the Colts? Really strong game. He will be amped up for a division game against Desean so you can count on a good game from Cary. And he will definitely be jacked up for the Niners games. So I expect to see a Cary Williams play at a high level these next two weeks! but then I have to worry about him having a let down and playing down to the rams level…

    Fortunately we don’t play many bad teams this year so Cary will stay engaged and we can always count on him in December and January to have some solid play..
    ..
    Bradley struggle much more against the Colts than Cary, but ultimately it wasn’t a horrible game for Brad, and if he ever really struggles we have trust worthy Nolan in the bullpen so we should be fine…

    Just watch the difference n Cary’s play when we face an opponent he has to fear and respect like Brandon Marshall! Fitzgerald!a and then notice how he will let you Down when we play the Vikings or rams… Fortunately we play a bunch of dangerous teams this year lol…

    We also have yet to see Boykin get jiggy with it. He is making plays but you know he will get some INTs

  196. 196 BC1968 said at 11:00 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    What I see right now is a team playing good that will be lights out when they straighten everything out. I mean 400 plus yards passing 30-40 points lights out. We all have to admit there has been some sloppy play but having said that, they’ve scored 27 and 30 points respectively. The defense score the other 7 in the first game. We should be a second seed at worst, but after seeing how seattle and san fran played this past weekend, a number one seed is not out of the question.

  197. 197 Flyineagle45 said at 11:02 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    We should have put up at least 60pta the past 2 games. Hopefully we will do the redskins like when Vick had his best game as a pro

  198. 198 BC1968 said at 11:04 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Cowboys and Redskins are my two most hated teams in that order, we better light them up.

  199. 199 GEAGLE said at 11:09 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Skins will be 0-4 vs. Chip Kelly!

    I wouldn’t fear jay Gruden with his bengals offense. So I’m certainly not going to fear his redskin offense

    We can and will score 30 on them, they can’t score 30 on our defense, and I don’t think our special teams will be a liability that gives up points to them.. No way that offense can out duel ours….. Simple as that… I don’t concern myself with how much we win by, or style points, fortunately we aren’t at the mercy of the BCS and I try to respect the NFL and how hard it is to get a win

  200. 200 eagleyankfan said at 11:29 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    Giants in my book…hate.

  201. 201 Flyineagle45 said at 11:00 AM on September 18th, 2014:

    We should have sucked for luck its such bs that Indy had Peyton now him

  202. 202 suthrneagle said at 12:11 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    incomprehensible…, grammar, punctuation,English?

  203. 203 Flyineagle45 said at 12:18 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    My phone sucks the periods and commas don’t work sorry

  204. 204 ACViking said at 12:26 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Never apologize.

    It’s a sign of your phone’s weakness.

  205. 205 Flyineagle45 said at 12:29 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    I just didn’t want to get arrested by the grammar police

  206. 206 GEAGLE said at 12:51 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Fuck them! Atica! Atica! Atica!

  207. 207 ACViking said at 1:03 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    . . . in the voice of Al Pacino, right?

  208. 208 GEAGLE said at 1:21 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Of course 😉

  209. 209 P_P_K said at 3:04 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Cool.

  210. 210 GEAGLE said at 12:33 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Big phones beat up little phones

  211. 211 ACViking said at 12:33 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    sweet

  212. 212 RogerPodacter said at 1:00 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    tell your phone to stop sucking those periods (ew.) and get those lazy ass commas a job.

  213. 213 ACViking said at 12:25 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Nick Foles is 2 starts into his second full season of playing QB in the NFL.

    6 starts as a rookie. 10 last season.

    In Peyton Manning’s first 2 starts in Year-2 of his career he threw 4 INTs.

    And that was coming off 28 INTs in his first 16 starts.

    Manning found his way, needless to say.
    _____________

    Foles will find his way, I suspect.

    The only question is whether his long-term level of performance — with “long-term” defined to mean whatever Chip Kelly thinks is long enough — satisfies the coach.

  214. 214 GEAGLE said at 12:31 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    The ONLY chance of FOles not being the future under Chip, is if Chip has some Insane belief that starting over and dealing with the growing pains with Marriotta is light years better than moving forward with Nick FOles, and I highly doubt that. Chip may love Marriotta, he may believe in Marriotta, but I suspect FOles is more than enough for Chip, which makes taking that type of crazy risk, and taking step backwards to deal with marriottas growing pains not worth it for Chip,
    .,,
    Think its pretty simple. If you see Marriotta drafted by someone else, there is nothing left to question about Nick FOles. Marriotta is the only threat to Nicks regimel…and make no mistake about it, Nick Will have a great year and will be able to fetch a high pick like that to get Marriotta if we were crazy enough to make the switch

  215. 215 Anders said at 12:54 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    How much are we giving up for moving from 32 to 1 to draft Mariota?

  216. 216 GEAGLE said at 1:21 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Nothing,.. We would have to give up FOles..
    ..
    I’d net after the year Nick has, a team needing to pick a QB in the top 5 would rather deal with the less risky, more polished FOles than drafting a QB, which no matter how sexy they look as a prospect are always a risk unless your name is Andrew Luck… I wouldn’t be surprised if FOles has a big enough year to get more than just the #3 pick in the draft if a team like Houston was picking that high…

    I’m completely against this.. I think we can contend for a superbowli n 2015 with FOles, and I would hate to give that up for any rookie…but if there was a threat to FOles eagles future, I would have to say it would be Marriotta… After the threat of Marriotta is no longer there, nothing will stop FOles from leading the next era of eagles football…

    He is the only realistic threat I a can fathom, but I would be completely against it

  217. 217 anon said at 4:54 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    be a very hard trade to make. It’d be so apparent to our trade partner that they’d try to fleece us. also bird in hand. also mariota isn’t that good accuracy-wise. plus not a fan of all that running.

  218. 218 GEAGLE said at 6:21 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    You know I would be furious if we traded FOles

  219. 219 eagleyankfan said at 1:10 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    He had a 1st full season?

  220. 220 ACViking said at 2:36 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    EYF:

    A bit awkwardly drafted by me. (In a rush.)

    What I mean is, Foles has now had 16 starts — albeit over 2 seasons — with *total* one full season’s worth of starts.

    Not a perfect comparison, to be sure.

  221. 221 GEAGLE said at 12:41 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Heard something interesting from some smart people… I promise that the first media member who gets Dick vermiel to open up about Chip Kelly is going to have a fantastic article on his hands..,
    ..
    Preview: Vermiel thinks chips confidence is one of his biggest strengths and has no doubts Chip will be at the forefront of this entire league. When vermiel was a rookie coach he was obsessed with proving that he belonged. It consumed him and influenced a lot of his decisions and how he operates,. He think Chip is so far ahead of where he was because of his confidence, Chip didn’t come into the NFL worrying about proving that he belonged. he came in With the ultimate confidence that not only does he belong, but he has what it takes to out do all these great established coaches…and his unwaivering belief in himself and his methods really rubs off on players, they believe it..and when you can really get pro athletes to believe that you know how to put them in position to win they will run thru walls for you and take to your coaching, and the coaches that can reach their players the best, are the ones who succeed..

    “Their was a much biggest jump from New Hampshire to Oregon, than there is from Oregon to the NFL and we saw how successful he was at Oregon”

  222. 222 ACViking said at 12:53 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Is there anyone whose endorsement could be more appreciated in these parts than Coach Vermeil’s?

    Among the worst non-game days as an Eagles’ fan: Vermeil cites burnout and quits after the ’82 season.

  223. 223 GEAGLE said at 1:15 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Knew you would appreciate it

  224. 224 mtn_green said at 2:53 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Agree with your statements. Winning breeds positivity too.

  225. 225 ACViking said at 12:45 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Re: Where is Foles’s Performance So Far?

    In relative terms to past Eagles QBs, how’s Foles doing?
    ________________

    On the one hand, here’s some names:

    Concannon, Hill, Snead, Huarte, Mira, Arrington, Liske, Reaves, Boryla.

    That’s a list of some of the Eagles’ QBs ’63 to ’76.

    The word “Horrendous” comes to mind when I think of the Eagles’ QB situation before Jaworski arrived in Philadelphia and fell under the spell of the great Sid Gilman in ’79.
    ________________

    On the other hand, here’s one name:

    Sonny Jurgensen.

    Jurgensen tookover in ’61 after Dutch Van Brocklin retired following the Eagles’ last championship.

    In Jurgensen’s first season as a full-time starter, he threw a STILL-TEAM RECORD 32 TDs.

    The next couple years were so-so, partly from injuries. And the fans booed. A lot.

    So a certain unnamed coach-GM traded Jurgy for Norm Snead.

    Jurgensen put up a career’s worth of HOF numbers as QB in Washington.

    He could have done that in Philadelphia if the coach/GM and fans had been more patient.
    _______________

    As much as the NFL’s passing game has changed in 50 years, one thing remains true.

    Be patient with QBs who’ve put up huge numbers early in their careers.

  226. 226 ACViking said at 1:00 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    GEagle . . .

    Did Jim Haslett ever figure out how to stop the zone read last year?

    I’m thinking “no.”

    Will another off-season make any difference?

  227. 227 GEAGLE said at 2:02 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Lol prob not… Tho are run game issues right now are our fault. The great FOles debate lol… If the best running back in the NFL isn’t firing on all cylinders yet due to changes on our offensive line, how can rational people not expect the OL to also effect FOles?

    When two OL go down, I think you have to readjust expectations..not Longterm, but in think you have to account for initially having to take a step back or two before you can get back to your normal level..

    Losing two OL and not expecting our offense to be effected initially is foolish and we should have all known better. But I do know that when backups come in, they typically get better after they get a week or two under their belt….our tempo aids our OL in the second half when opponents DL is gassed, which I don’t think is a coincidence that we are seeing the offense blow up in second half and struggle in the first half…
    ….
    First half we have to pay the toll for playing backup OL, but come the second half those backups are more comfortable when they are in good shape and the DL is gassed, consequently the offense starts to work and you see us scoring a ton of second half points after struggling in the first half… If it weren’t effecting shady than I would be concerned, but it’s effecting shady and FOles which speaks to OL issues…especially when the issues dissapears in the second half when the defensive line is gassed..
    ..,
    Haslett now has jason hatcher who we need to respect and make sure to block! but our backup OL are no longer new fresh fish to pick on. The have some game experience and practice eps under their belt and I expect them to be better in the first half. If our OL is better in the first half, than our QB and our RB will be better in the first half, which is what I expect to see,… Worst case scenario our OL will start holding up in the second half when their Big defensive line is gassed…

    Lol you being diplomatic, but you know Haslett ain’t stopping our run. He might have hatcher know! but he lost Barry Cofield and his backup to injury and he is down to his practice squad nose tackle… Jason Peters is going to dominate Orakpo and take him right out of the game, and Kelce will toy with the 3rd string nose.
    ,,
    This is the game I think shady and the first half offense gets it going…and whenever FOles gets Time, he has a secondary filled with Undiscaplined dumb candy bars to pick on 😉

  228. 228 bill said at 2:17 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Gotta think this game is destined for a run-centric 1st half game plan. Might even see Polk get a touch or two. Need to slow down the pass rush before asking Foles to drop 25 times in a half. Give Peters a chance to punish their OLBs physically a little bit. I actually think this game’s going to be a close one that they can pull out with their superior conditioning in the 4th quarter.

  229. 229 GEAGLE said at 2:31 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Very plausible for sure…tho I expect to see Chip welcome some of that aggressive edge rush so we can gash them with screens…. I do think we will want to get our run game going this week, but the skins have one of the worst secondaries in the league..I can’t imagine Chip and FOles not wanting to exploit that, take shots down field and get our WRs going….

    But our coach runs it on 3rd and 15 expecting to get a first down lol, I’m sure we don’t have to worry about not running the ball with this coach…lol

  230. 230 MattE said at 1:27 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    I think the offense is going resemble Oregon more this year than last, i assume their are some different reads that Foles needs to get used to in the short to mid range game…. thus us having (2) capable RB’s ala Chip’s teams at Oregon. Shorter explosive plays = Less time getting to line + Less bombs outside the numbers + Having to read linebackers more often + More plays in general

    Going play action read to get a bomb to DJax last year required reading the high safety, short/intermediate routes are more complex due to traffic and more bodies in less space.

    My one buddy use to tell me he hit on every woman possible in bars because 1 out of 100 should bite, i believe Chip is doing the same as far as getting even more plays than last year, much like fantasy football it’s all about opportunity to score.

  231. 231 Michael Winter Cho said at 1:36 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    It’s interesting how many consider Luck an elite QB. His measurables are amazing, he played great in college, and his teams have won a lot in his young career. But statistically, he’s been only a bit above average (although ranking high in clutch performance). The smart money is that his clutch performance will start to regress to the mean, but will his performance across the board improve? There’s no evidence he will ever be nearly as good a QB as Manning, Brady, Warner, or Rodgers, the sort of company he is already being compared too because of hype. Should be interesting to see if he can leverage the physical advantages to greatness, or if he ends up more a tease, like Donnie or Vick.

  232. 232 anon said at 1:37 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    look at the rest of his team. It’s andrew luck and for one year they had Mathis. RBs nah? WRs 45 years old

  233. 233 Bert's Bells said at 2:06 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Many people compare the first two years of other QBs and see Luck’s numbers as much better. Add that to his college record, measurables and game tape and its easy to see why he gets the acclaim.

  234. 234 Michael Winter Cho said at 2:30 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Sure, I can see why he’s hyped, just don’t think he’s proved it yet. As of now, he’s a better than average QB (which is an impressive accomplishment in itself for a 2nd year player), but not elite.
    I will be slightly surprised if he ends up better than Wilson, although I doubt I’d have enough guts to choose Wilson ever him if I were a GM.

  235. 235 Andy124 said at 3:41 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    3rd year.

  236. 236 Michael Winter Cho said at 5:14 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Right, I meant I was just looking at his first two years of performance.

  237. 237 anon said at 4:37 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Luck is asked to do so much more than Wilson, it’s hard to really compare the two. Colt’s defense isn’t getting turnovers, or putting up points or stopping anyone. Luck also doesn’t have a percy harvin or a marshawn lynch.

  238. 238 Michael Winter Cho said at 5:13 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    There is plenty of on-line analysis that compare the two, and Wilson is both more efficient and more productive. In other words, better. Certainly he has a better “support system”, and that’s why his team has been by far the best team in the league the last two years and all-time good. The Colts are a dime-a-dozen team that has been lucky to make the playoffs. In fact, in most of the Seahawk’s losses during his tenure, he left them with the lead in the 4th quarter. I’m going by numbers, not by highlight reels or the eye test. I think that way usually results in better analysis.

  239. 239 ACViking said at 2:45 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Luck . . . all he does, by season’s end, is win.

    So far.

    Luck could be this generation’s throw-back to another Stanford QB who — after taking some lumps — all he did was win.

    That’d be Jim Plunkett. He wasn’t pretty. But he was effective.

  240. 240 RobNE said at 3:09 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    just kick us in the groin why don’t you

  241. 241 RobNE said at 1:52 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Looks like there’s a good chance Kendricks won’t play this week. Between that and RGIIII out (which I see as helping the Skins), I’m getting nervous.

    Maybe I’m nervous b/c I Casey Matthews is taking some snaps with the 1’s.

  242. 242 Anders said at 1:54 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    No matter how bad RG3 looked, Cousins is and will not be an upgrade over him.

  243. 243 Sean Stott said at 2:40 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Derp but dat storyline doe…

  244. 244 McNabbulousness said at 2:18 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    a fate worst than death; casey matthews gets to start

  245. 245 anon said at 4:30 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    We’re going to put up 40 points — what are they going to do?

  246. 246 jay said at 1:55 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    if you’re gameplanning for the hated skins, what are you thinking right now:
    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2202850-washington-redskins-vs-philadelphia-eagles-breaking-down-washingtons-game-plan

  247. 247 ACViking said at 2:40 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    My game planning is . . .

    All announcers, newspapers, and ‘net sports sites should only address the team as “Washington” — because it will cause Dan Snyder’s head to explode.

    (This plan is neutral on its face about the nickname of the team. It’s Snyder-centric.)

    As much as I enjoy watching Jerry Jones screw up the Cowboys on the playing field, I respect the hell out Jones the business man.

    Snyder? He’s done well in the pocketbook because of location, location, location.

  248. 248 jay said at 2:44 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    oh yeah, i hate the dude. they are gonna try to run outside on us all day.

  249. 249 NickS1 said at 3:05 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Snyder controls the FO and they make bad decisions all of the time, largely because of him. I don’t want his head to explode.

  250. 250 ACViking said at 3:08 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    NS1:

    Not literally, for sure.

    Messy. Terminal.

    Just metaphorically.

    Nothing makes decision-making harder than being angry at the world.

  251. 251 NickS1 said at 3:20 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Had to clarify. There are many that would mean that quite literally.

  252. 252 Maggie said at 6:37 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    There is one other thing. Hanging with politicians, he has undoubtedly convinced himself that he is always right.

  253. 253 CrackSammich said at 2:58 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    The fan in me wants to think that this article is BS. Use the same loaded line concept we’ve had a week to practice against and magically conjure the best defensive secondary in the league, and yep–This game is Washington’s. But… their D line versus the state of our O line legitimately is scary. I’m guessing there won’t be many long developing routes until late in the game this time around.

  254. 254 jay said at 3:16 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    you’re right, i expect a bunch of screen to counter that rush. with our wr’s dropping everything i don’t know how deep their secondary will feel compelled to drop.

  255. 255 P_P_K said at 3:14 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    These are the kind of articles which sound great but don’t play out in the real world. Realistically, if you are Gruden, you are shaking in your boots at the thought of trying to stop the Eagles O. Especially, as everyone knows, the O hasn’t really clicked yet. The SnyderSkins (see ACV’s post below) have a pretty good D line, and that’s it. Shady and Sproles should both have big days, and if Nick and the wrs play decently, the Eagles will score over 30 points.
    On the other side of the ball, Morris will run to the outside. OK, he will get some yards. But that attack will only work so well for so long. It’s not a complete gameplan and no way is it an effective strategy when your team is behind. At that point, you have to throw the ball and, facts be facts, Cousins is not a good qb.
    I see this game as a chance for the Eagles to flex their muscles and dominate against an NFC East foe.

  256. 256 GEAGLE said at 3:31 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    ACHO ACHO MAN!!!!

    Loving what I’m hearing from the kid. Someone sounds hungry for opportunity.
    ..
    Asked about his comfort level with Billy’s scheme: “I know this system if not as good as anybody, I know it better”!!! That’s what I like to hear Acho man.
    ..
    Yesterday I wrote about how players laughed when Gunn asked who would play Acho or Mathews, insinuating that Mathews is horrible,, today Mosher wrote: “nothing decided, reps were split but the guys I talked to in the locker room seem to think Acho will start Sunday”

    Looks like Kemdrick won’t play Sunday. He says he has a Knott in his calf that needs to get out of there still.

    Josh Huff says he is targeting a return for the Niners game..

  257. 257 ACViking said at 4:22 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    who sits if Huff is active on game day?

    let’s assume the injury bug stabilizes

  258. 258 GEAGLE said at 4:28 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Oh I have no clue about who dresses this week.

    Who sits if Tobin is good to go?

    Who sits if Huff is ready?
    ..
    With Marcus smith working at ILB are they planning on dressing him and giving him a small package replacing Acho for a few snaps at ILB?
    ..
    Hart, Watkins, Barkley will sit for sure.
    May have to not dress Maehl.
    ..
    If Marcus is going to see snaps at ILB and Acho is going to start, I guess Casey wouldn’t dress..
    .,.
    Your guess is as good as mine. No idea

  259. 259 anon said at 5:55 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    casey has to dress he’s on every ST. Maybe the 4th TE sits. brad smith could sit — though i hear he’s the emergency QB.

    i think it’s going to be hard for smith to see the active roster. especially if he’s not on ST.

  260. 260 GEAGLE said at 6:12 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Meant Casey mathews

  261. 261 GEAGLE said at 3:32 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Wait til you read the disgusting details from Dwyers domestic abuse case..
    ..
    This is getting out of hand!

  262. 262 anon said at 5:53 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    we’re looking at 3 people out of 1800 plus AP. that’s not terrible considering how prevalent DV is.

  263. 263 Maggie said at 6:33 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Oh, there are more than 3.

  264. 264 Maggie said at 6:33 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    And he’s 6’4″, weighs 290 pounds and is nicknamed The Kraken.

  265. 265 GEAGLE said at 8:10 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    The Krakens name is Greg Hardy, and he is a DE that plays for the panthers…

    I’m talking about a running back that plays for the Cardinals who probably isn’t 290lbs

  266. 266 CrackSammich said at 4:03 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Off topic, Cousins always reminds me of one of the puppets from Team America.

    Second from the left:
    http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/paramount/team_america/images/taqt2_09.jpg

  267. 267 P_P_K said at 4:53 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Good one.

  268. 268 Maggie said at 6:30 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Another american show imitating the Brits.

  269. 269 GEAGLE said at 4:24 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Decent division game tonight,, are the falcons just pretenders? If FOles ever plays as bad as Matt Ryan was last week he might get kicked out of the city of Philadelphia.. Ryan’s WR are too good for him to perform so poorly.
    ..
    Are the Lovie Bucs really going to fall to 0-3. They supposedly made lots of improvements and then they start the season losing to the two worst QBs starting in the NFL these past two weeks…

    Interesting to see how this game plays out..feel like the first two weeks are like extended preseason games with teams still working out the kinks and now we will start seeing who these teams really are…

    I don’t know WTF is wrong with the BUcs, I have a feeling they have a nice young QB sittng on their bench in Glennon and they are instead going with McCown which I don’t understand. Glennon already was thrown into the fire as a rookie, might as well build on his game experience and find out if he can be their QB going forward,… Don’t understand them wasting time with McCown.
    ..
    Atlanta is the only team that hasn’t recorded a sack, and Tampa is giving up the second most passing yards behind the raiders. Something has to give tonight. Not sure which side to go with, but historically Ryan has shredded Tampa bay

  270. 270 Avery Greene said at 4:31 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Interestingly, I just read an article recently looking at the issues of the Bucs. I think it’s the reason Howie is reticent to spend big in free agency. Here’s the article:

    http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11540364/clayton-mailbag-big-nfl-free-agent-spending-not-paying-off

  271. 271 GEAGLE said at 4:32 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Thanks,,I’ll def check it out

  272. 272 anon said at 5:48 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    eh, seems more correlated with new schemes / coaches. Most coahes only have a couple of years and so need to make moves to get “their” players. Honestly for me it’s backward if you aren’t going to invest long term in a coach then i wouldn’t invest in big money FAs. But for CK and other long term coaches I’m fine opening the checkbook. B/c you’re not going to have to worry about cutting everyone in 2 years when you switch schemes.

  273. 273 jay said at 4:34 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    tonight’s a toilet bowl for sure. eli will definitely get crushed

  274. 274 GEAGLE said at 4:35 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Denver @ Seattle is just a week 3 treat!
    ..
    Curious to see division game, Cardinals with nerve damage in Carson’s arm vs! Niners who we face next week

  275. 275 76mustang said at 4:52 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Mike Tanier wrote a great piece on Lovie and the Bucs in an ode to Bad Company headline:

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2202055-good-lovie-gone-bad-buccaneers-need-lovie-smith-at-his-best

  276. 276 anon said at 4:28 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Of course Kendricks would let us down by not being able to play sunday. Just when i was starting to like him again.

  277. 277 Avery Greene said at 5:37 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Anthony Gargano and Rob Ellis are giving it to Heath Miller on the radio. That’s what he gets for saying the Eagles aren’t a top-10 team.

  278. 278 Bob Brewer said at 5:56 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Heath Evans, but whatever. I could not care less about his opinion.

  279. 279 GEAGLE said at 6:12 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Yes! Can’t wait to check it out

  280. 280 GEAGLE said at 6:13 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Even tho Tobin is practicing this week it’s looks like we are sticking with Dennis Kelly and Gardner on Sunday

  281. 281 76mustang said at 8:02 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    The key – Jim Haslett

    Supposedly the shackles have been removed and he is free to call his game with the departure of Shanahan. Let’s see how well he matches wits with Chip and Pat. The Eagles have proven they can make adjustments and exploit tendencies. Pick your poison Jim…

  282. 282 GEAGLE said at 8:06 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Spread them out, run the ball, force them to tackle in space when their fat asses are winded from not being able to substitute

  283. 283 GEAGLE said at 6:19 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Remember how deadly it was of a liability to have two terrible safeties these past few years? Remember how bad teams would pick on us when our safeties were Coleman and Nate, Chung, Colt?
    .
    For those worried about the skins defense, I have two names for you. Old ass Ryan Clark and Brandon Merriweather

  284. 284 botto said at 7:02 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    imagine if Foles played as poorly or had a stat line like Luck in that game?
    yikes… he’d be run out of town just like As Geagle said, if played as bad a Matt Ryan did in his last game,. I saw him miss guys, hold the ball too long, etc… and LOSE! and he has better recievers then anyone in the league.
    I’ll tell you what though, he better beat the Skins, no matter what.
    3-0 or tied at 2-1, big difference.

  285. 285 GEAGLE said at 8:00 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Matt Ryan has been to eastern conference championships and he is throwing 3 INTs in a game with those elite WRs? FOles has,never thrown 3 INTs in his young inexperienced career,..
    .,l
    We will def start off 4-0.. First chance of losing is trap game vs. The Rams..tho I dread beating the Niners cuz everyone will jump right on our jock, we would take that plane ride home feeling ourselves and lose a trap game to rams..

    And whoever was talking trash to me about me thinking we beat Seattle in December better think again. the eagles game is sandwiched in between both divisional 49ers games for the Seahawks… So they have a physical emotional game against the Niners, then they have to travel all the way to philly, they aren’t the same team on the road, get up to play us, with the fact that they immediately have to play the Niners again in the back of their minds… Unless we have bad injuries, Russell Wilson’s scalp will be added to FOles collection of the scalps he is collecting of all the young QBs he beats..

  286. 286 Flyin said at 8:05 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    What are you talking about? I thought we were 0-2.

  287. 287 GEAGLE said at 8:05 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    One would think we were

  288. 288 Mitchell said at 8:11 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Your dyslexia is acting up again.

  289. 289 Flyin said at 8:15 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Why do people keep saying I dyssed Lexia?

  290. 290 Mitchell said at 8:16 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    lol

  291. 291 Flyin said at 7:59 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Could Marcus Smith II be a beast on the inside? He’s got size, 6’3″ 250 lbs. Has speed, athleticism and can cover.

    What is he missing besides experience? Does he have all the tangibles to succeed?

  292. 292 Mitchell said at 8:08 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    That’s what I was saying yesterday. Whether he comes a badass ILB OR OLB isn’t that worth a 1st round pick? Not saying that he will play one or the other because he isn’t even through 1 season!

  293. 293 Flyin said at 8:14 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    If he becomes a solid player for this team, I will be happy.

  294. 294 anon said at 8:09 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    you could say the same about outside. i have physical stats to be a rb, except i’m not that fast. doesn’t mean i could come play one tomorrow.

  295. 295 Flyin said at 8:12 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    This is with the Kelly idea of bigger is better. Kendricks is 6’0″ 240lbs. Smith II gets them bigger on the inside. Just interested if he projects to the position with his athleticism and cover skills.

  296. 296 ICDogg said at 10:45 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Didn’t Jerry Robinson move from OLB to ILB? Or was it the other way around.

  297. 297 mtn_green said at 8:49 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Interesting article. Not sure I agree with it.

    http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/how-the-philadelphia-eagles-are-winning-record/

  298. 298 anon said at 11:27 PM on September 18th, 2014:

    Tampa Bay looks terrible.