Sunday Night Reflections
Posted: September 7th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 380 Comments »The Eagles beat the Jaguars in a sloppy affair. Chip Kelly won’t be thrilled with a lot of what he saw, but he will be happy with the toughness that his team showed. You don’t always learn a lot about your team when things are going well. You find out a lot when things don’t go well and the team is tested.
Nick Foles played poorly in the 1st half. There was some speculation from fans and the media about pulling him. Chip said the coaches never considered that, which is what I expected. You have to let the young player work his way through the issues. The good news in this case is that Foles got better in the 2nd half. There are times when a young player can struggle for multiple games before getting back on track.
While Foles did improve, he never looked sharp. He’s still got a long way to go.
I think nerves got the best of him. This was the first time Foles started a season opener. That brings a certain kind of pressure. Peyton Manning refers to it as just having butterflies. You haven’t played a full game in 8 months. You want to be perfect. You’ve got new wrinkles in your scheme and are facing a team that will also show you new wrinkles.
Foles looked nervous in the playoff game as well. He started slow before he got going and left the field with the lead.
I think Foles will be much better by next week. He’ll have game film to watch and will be on a normal schedule. He’ll settle into a groove off the field and that will help him on the field. Foles didn’t suddenly become dumb. He didn’t suddenly lose his accuracy. This was a bad game. Actually a bad half, to be exact.
Think of it this way. Chad Henne played lights out in the 1st half, which is the opposite of his track record. He then played poorly in the 2nd half, which matches his track record. Are you going to focus on what he did in the 1st half or the 2nd half/his track record?
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I wasn’t thrilled with Kelly’s playcalling. The Eagles seemed to go to the screen game a lot and it felt like the Jags figured that out. Kelly also was running to the outside and it wasn’t working. The Jags have a fast defense. Getting outside of them is hard.
I really hated the pass play inside the 10 when Foles was picked off. The young QB was not playing well. I think you need to run the ball at least once there. I get that you want to show confidence in Foles and you also hope you’ll catch the Jags thinking run, but that was a highly frustrating call.
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I don’t know what was going on with the pass coverage in the 1st half. The Eagles CBs were playing off a lot and then getting burned. You play off to keep things in front of you. That wasn’t working.
Bill Davis mixed in more press and that brought out the best in Cary Williams. He was much more effective from that point on.
Still, the Eagles need a good CB next year in the draft or FA.
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I didn’t think Gus Bradley had a great day. I’m just not sure about going for it on 4th/short when you’re only down 7. The design of the play did work, but the execution didn’t. Connor Barwin had deflected 2 passes prior to that and I wonder if his presence over there affected Henne’s pass. Henne put the ball too far out for the TE to make a clean catch.
It also seemed like the Jags abandoned the run for a long time. I know Toby Gerhart was hurting, but that’s why you need a backup RB.
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Mychal Kendricks sure looked like he had a terrific game. He led the team with 6 solo tackles. He had a sack and deflected a pass. If he can become a consistent playmaker in the middle of the defense, that will make a world of difference.
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Fletcher Cox also had 6 solo tackles. He should have had a TFL of Gerhart, but that was wiped out by a bogus horse collar penalty. That might have been balanced out when Cox got away with a big hit on Henne where their helmets appeared to touch. Cox sealed the game when he scooped up a fumble and ran it in for a TD. That’s a pretty good day for a 3-4 DE.
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I need to see the tape to see how David Molk did at LG and Andrew Gardner at RT. The OL played much better in the 2nd half, with those 2 in for the whole time. Foles getting the ball out quicker definitely helped, but it also seemed like the line just played better.
The Eagles are going to have some interesting decisions this week. The first key is to figure out who is able to play. Then the coaches have to figure out the best combination. The LG could be Molk or Tobin. Maybe you move Barbre in there and leave Gardner at RT.
Jeff Stoutland is going to earn his paycheck this year.
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It was good to see Trent Cole get his strip sack late in the game. Last year he didn’t have a sack until the 9th game. He got pressure in the first 8 games, but pass rushers want some sacks. They need tangible proof of their work.
It was also encouraging to see Brandon Graham used on a regular basis. He had a couple of TFLs.
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Eagles had 6 plays of 20+ yds, even without a sharp Foles. Puts them on basically the same pace as record setting (99) 20+ plays last year.
— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) September 7, 2014
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Watching Demarcus Ware in this Broncos game….. Damn I wish we had a rusher like that. He is simply amazing even as he gets a bit of age and injury on him.
It is fun to be able to root for Ware for the first time in my life.
He was always one of those players that I would have enjoyed and admired a whole lot more if he didn’t have that disgusting “star” on his helmet. I’m glad he’s in the AFC, now I can appreciate his game and skills at a level which is deserved. So glad Dallas can’t manage their cap and players like Ware are lost for no good reason
I felt the exact same way about London Fletcher when he was on the Redskins.
UW– Agreed; Fletch was a leader of men, and it always pained me to see him wearing those disgusting LOLSkin colors. He never got the recognition or credit he truly deserved, while “Baby” Ray Lewis got more than expected or even earned.
When we played the LOLSkins there was one defender I worried about, Fletcher. Everyone else kind of faded into obscurity (not saying Kerrigan, Orakpo, or any of their other defenders don’t have skill, just saying I didn’t have anywhere the same level as respect for them)– that dude could play. When you think about how long he was in the NFL, without missing a game, at probably the grittiest position– well, I hope he ends up in the HOF (as a Ram or Bill).
I was never really down on the Eagles today. I have faith in this team and Chip. So refreshing knowing the 2nd half can be a change of tides.
“So refreshing knowing the 2nd half can be a change of tides.” After the AR era…You can say that again.
And again and again!
I’ll do it for him in his words…So refreshing knowing the 2nd half can be a change of tides.
Yea because we never had comebacks under Reid
It was definitely a frustrating 1st half for sure. I told my wife that there were two reason why I felt the Eagles could come back and win it: 1. The defense kept the game close enough heading into the third quarter, and 2. The Eagles offense is the type of squad that is capable of scoring a bunch of points in a short amount of type. Thankfully, things went the way I thought they could.
omg my ‘chat’ with my wife went nothing like that!
So glad the call on Cox was bogus. Didn’t want any repercussions.
He won’t get fined for that, but he’ll get fined for smacking Henne’s helmet.
Would like to see the league own up to that call – either say the refs should make the call even though it’s beyond the written rule, or admit the ref blew that call badly. Not holding my breath, or anything, but it would be nice to see some accountability/consistency on important things like that, so that players and coaches can actually know the rules they are playing under.
With the lead, the Jags had two straight possessions in the third quarter that were three-and-outs, on six total incompletions. Eagles really did neutralize their run.
The D was solid. Minus a couple plays, very encouraging!
FWIW, their two tds were after the turnovers.
Still horrible coverage
Yea, our secondary is still questionable.
Is it safe to say that Trent Richardson is a bust?
it was safe a year ago
1. Oline looked terrible.
2. It felt like Reid’s last years where defenses expected the screens.
3. It seemed like there were very few IZR and Foles never kept it.
4. I kept screaming, pound the rock, and there wasn’t much till Sproles TD.
Yeah. 1. It’s very difficult to look good in bandages.
anyone think luck can pull off a miracle at the meadowlands-esque comeback
Can? Sure.
Will? No.
i say it just because of the similarity in situation
31-10 mid 4th
colts got a quick strike td a la vick/celek
colt then got the onsides kick
pretty similar
and luck’s moving the ball
Not anymore.
damn it all
They made it pretty close in the end.
true, a couple plays away from making it all the way back
Doesn’t look like it after being picked off.
yeah…just when this game was getting interesting
Ehh, there’s a chance…
wait, they’re not done yet!
shut the fuck up collinsworth, that was a flop
STFU Collinsworth. Period.
church
31-24, anyone else seeing similarities now?
no, besides that score happens often in football.
ofcourse that score happens often, but how often do you comeback from that score
answer: not often
comeback from 31-24?
making the comparison to miracle at the meadowlands 2 comback:
31-10 mid 4th
colts got a quick strike td a la vick/celek
colt then got the onsides kick
pretty similar
they scored again to make it a one possession
Gotcha. Still not feeling it.
well, im enjoying myself. game finally got interesting
Can’t root for Nicks or Ware.
im with you, to many bad memories. although i respect the shit out of ware
Honestly, I respect almost all players. Just show it more when their day is done. Unfortunately, both teams didn’t lose.
yeah respect he wouldn’t go to the nfc east
Think of it this way: the better they do the dumber their former teams look.
Is 1 touchdown a comeback?
Anyone else notice the very quick exchange after the game between Peyton & Luck?
no, i turned it off after the last kneel down. on a scale from 1-10 how icy was the exchange?
Drugs?
he said peyton and luck, not welker and luck
Lol!
The California rolling stop as in not stopping at a stop sign, but just braking & rolling on through. Like Peyton wanted to give the passing nod.
Hm. We used to call it the bus driver rolling stop in these parts.
in virginia we call that the philly roll
SCOOP N SCORE
Beau Allen may be my newest favorite Eagle. He ;likes to listen to Metallica before games, and I’m sure it is their pure stuff with Cliff. He talks like a hockey player
300lbs so agile…more!
Beau and Logan were fantastic yesterday..
Let’s not forget the Bairzerker too!
Yup, happy to see our depth playing well; I’m okay with Hart being inactive during this early part of the year. Let him study, continue to grow and learn, and also this will allow him to be fresh near the middle/end of the year when someone might need a break or may have gotten nicked up a bit. Beau in the 7th, Hart in the 5th…………. Happy to see these guys on our team.
I’m pretty sure it was Beau who came running out to chest bump Cox after the fumble recovery, and Fletcher made a half-hearted attempt; I’m guessing Fletch was too gassed to do it properly!
Kill em all, Beau!
What did you think about the separation the Eagles wideouts were getting or better yet weren’t getting? I’d like to hear your thoughts on that
Eagles players was open most of the game, Foles just didn’t pull the trigger
Yeah, there were guys getting free. Foles has to get the ball out.
I’d be careful with Graham. The TFL where he blew up Gerhart was a bad play by Graham and he got lucky. He was unblocked because the threat of the bootleg is supposed to hold him up. He paid no attention to the bootleg, if that play is a pass and not a run Henne would have had all day to throw and tons of room to run.
That wasn’t his only good play
it doesn’t matter too much, but graham looked massive compared to what i remember him looking like last year
The only counter to that, I guess, is maybe he saw a tell. We’ll probably never know, but you certainly make the point that we have to put a possible caveat on the play.
Just watched his first TFL– looked like the TE had blocking responsibility on Graham and either didn’t make any attempt at the block, or he thought the tackle next to him had the assignment. Either way, Graham read his key and reacted quickly. The TE did put a hand out to try and “shield” him, but Graham was phased at all and made a good stop.
Looked like the JAG’s line had some mix-ups with assignments/responsibilities with our defenders. As the season progresses, good teams will gel an those opportunities should (at least theoretically) shrink. But, we still HAVE to make plays, and at least for this week, Graham did exactly that for us!
To be honest, I really didn’t think there was any way that Graham came back to our team next year; now that he’s had a year in the system (while still not a “perfect” fit) and looks better, he might just be in mid-night green again (sorry, unless they change the color Kelly Green to Chip Kelly Green, I can’t root for a trip back to those uniforms and color schemes).
What a trip to Philly. First I witnessed the second biggest comeback in Eagles history at the Linc before meeting Brent Celek, Jason Peters, Brandon Graham and Todd Herremans in Celek’s restaurant. Go Eagles!
You were at the game? Good for you mate… Know it must have been awesome for you
It was the third time and guess what?! My record is a perfect 3-0! 😉
sounds like Eagles Nation needs to get together and buy you some season tickets!
i’m the opposite of you… we always lose when i’m at the linc. though we always win when i’m at Giants stadium : )
Let’s watch the Giants game together then. 😉
#ToddHerremans, #GermanEagle
Todd is really BIG. Note to myself: 5’11, 215 lbs
Which one are you? Lol — that’s awesome man!
Sorry for the triple posts, guys. The photo didn’t seem to upload at first. And now I cannot delete the second one.
triple post now and after your next visit to Phila a QUADRUPLE POST !!!
I cant get ya any tickies ..but I can certainly line up a round of beers & shots for you & crew at Celek’s restaurant after the game!
Sounds good! I might just take you up on that. Are you a local at Prime Stache?
nah not any more .. in nyc ..but ill call down there! gotta keep you in you winning ways!
Was very pleased with Curry and Graham’s snap count…wonder if it led to a fresher Cole at the end of the game which led to a strip sack..
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Both our young nose tackles were fantastic.. The box score doesn’t do justice to the game Thornton had, but the DL was led by Cox..
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Barwin absolutely caused that incomplete on 4th down.. He forced Henne to have to throw high on what would have been an easy pass had Barwin not been in his face..
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All 3 safeties played at a better level than I have seen safeties play in Philly for years.. Was pleased to see all 3 safeties get game time, as well as Nolan!Brad and Cary..
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No sacks in the second half with two backups? Opening key holes in the run game? Heckuva job by Stoutlands group. The starters were bad in the first half, but We wouldn’t have come back had they not gotten it together for the second half…
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So far, so good in terms of drastic improvement in the defense ability to to get off the field on 3rd down, and the run defense was fantastic..20 something carries for 60 total yards lol…
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Sproles, Jenkins, Maragos, Braman, Cody… All showed why they were signed.
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special teams was no longer the liability it once was…it was a weapon yesterday.
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Hopefully we get some good news from the Mathis injury. Even if he is lost for the season, it will just force a young back up to emerge and prove to be a stud… Leave Stoutland alone…that man knows what he is doing. That’s why when everyone was doom n glooming over our backup OL and needing to draft 15 new lineman, I warned that there was no way, Stoutland was working with backup trash that all needed to be replaced for two summer…..but even I didn’t expect the OL to be our best 2nd unit..,.stoutland and Azzinaro are soooo bigtime
I don’t agree with the safety play. I don’t know ALL the play calls but it seemed players in the first half were getting behind ALL defenders, including the safeties. CW was burnt a few times but where was help? I don’t know Allens responsibility on all plays but there were at least 2 a defender got behind him and he was chasing him. Once they settled in though — some good plays in there…
Thing changes in the 2nd half though which was great to see.
Special Teams play — remove a weak leg and insert a strong leg and spring in Sproles BAMM!
As Bad as we want to blame the defense for the first half, in reality the defnse wasn’t bad in the first half, they just gave up to bad big plays…. The second TD I don’t blame the Defense as much.. They scored on a perfectly executed bubble slant, which when run right, is pretty friggin hard to defend
can’t jump on the performance of the run D, it’s Toby Gerhart and i don’t even know who after that…
Wtf you talkng about? That’s not the first time the run defense performed that way…. They played the run the last two months of the regular season last year the way they played the run yesterday….nyesterday was no flash in the pan…..
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By the way, the running game isn’t all about Grhardt..take that simplistic BS elsewhere… I don’t give a shit what they did to Gerhardt, I care the way the our front 7 controlled the line of scrimmage..cared about how our DL two gapped, then shed their man and made a tackle…I care about how stout our two Baby nose tackles were against double teams holding the line of scrimmage…I care about the way our ILBs were ready to fly around untouched to make plays because of how stout the,front line was…I care about the OLBs setting the edge as well as one possibly could…
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This wasn’t the first time this front 7 was THAT stout against the run…..so, NO, you don’t get to just crap on the game they had because of Gerhardt
Not saying our team has bad run D generally.
As Kelly says “line gets you 2 back gets you two”. So according to that simplistic formulation the back matters. Further, are you saying the Jags have one of the better lines in the league?
My point is that great performance against bad competition is not as impressive as great performance against great competition.
GEagle– A point by point response
1- Agreed; BG and Curry both had time early in the game to “get their feet wet” and play some pretty significant snaps, and not only on “passing downs”. They must be doing what the coaches teach and preach, because both look so much better and more comfortable in their roles/responsibilities in the defense this year.
2- Ced is a VERY good 2 gap defensive lineman. His pass rushing skills still need some work, but that or may not something that he develops as his time in the league continues; I’m wondering if we see a mid-season extension for him, since I do believe he’s in the last year of his deal, but also we do control his “rights” for at least next year. We have some VERY interesting decisions coming up with regards to our younger core guys and their contract extensions. With this team, the cohesiveness, sacrifice, overall “family” mentality ,and finally, the feeling like something special is brewing– could anyone else see some guys taking a little below market value for their position, just to stay on the team and make it overall a stronger group? Just like the teams in the early 2000’s, Howie is great at locking down younger guys to team AND player friendly deals, thus giving us the flexibility to strengthen the overall roster and improve yearly.
3- Barwin was and is one of my favorite players, and his signing + the impact he has on an off the field has more than paid for his salary. Once he bats a few passes down (or even jumps in the QB’s field of vision) he has the advantage. You are correct that while Henne had a wide open receiver on a crucial 4 & 1 play, Barwin caused him to overthrow. Great player both mentally and with his physical style of play. I really hope DeMeco signs an extension this off-season, thus dropping his cap hit overall all while extending his time as an Eagle.
4- The safeties setttled down after a rough start; once they stayed true to their assignments and responsibilities (and didn’t try to jump every short route– this will be an issue we’ll need to watch as the season progresses. Discipline is key and once they settled down it was a tale of 2 halves) it was a completely different defense. Jenkins really has helped to solidify the back-end of the defense, and it wouldn’t hurt me one bit to possibly extend Nate Allen if this play continues. He’s got great size (6’1″ and 220lbs+) and now with a familiarity and continuity of a defensive scheme for more than a year, he looks like the player we all saw glimpses of when he was a rookie (and when he didn’t have to play the Wide 9). Wolff is learning and growing, and our 3 safety looks bring me great joy (I’ve often loved watching the Giants and their 3 safety back-end look, it gives a lot of options for the DC and play calling). We’ll see how everything comes together, but already we’ve drastically improved from last year.
5- It took our guys some time to gel and get their legs underneath of them, and once everyone was on the same page, we saw what could happen. Great news that Mathis should only be out “WEEKS” and not for the SEASON, and if Barbre can get back to 100% after the ankle injury, our OL depth will be a strength going into the second half of the season. Get healthy soon guys! Also, with the (possibly) new CBA/Drug Testing levels/limits, any chance Lane is able to rejoin the team in less than the 4 week current mandate?
6- Jax was 2-14 on 3rd down, and 0-1 on 4th down. Their run game averaged less than 3 YPC (yes, Toby was hobbled and their 2nd string isn’t exactly a world beater). Our young line (sorry Bair, you get to be the old man of the group) continues to develop and improve. With some added girth (Beau) and depth (Bair, Hart) an already strong unit continues to get better.
7- Yup, enough said 🙂
8- A blocked FG, 5 of 7 touch backs on kickoffs (also, check out Jimmy’s article on Parkey vs Henery kickoff hang time on Philly.com). Boykin(g) and Jones doing what they do (down at the 1 yard line, Jones had something like 5 of 6 punts downed inside the Jax 20 yard line). Sproles averaging 10+ yards PER PUNT RETURN. Yup, week one made that unit look good!
9- Hopefully (touched on this above) Mathis is only out 4-8 weeks, it’ll be interesting to see if they IR w/a designation to return or if they just keep him on the active roster. Obviously, the team knows more than us, but I’d rather have Mathis be at 100% rather than rushing to get back and healthy and risk another injury. If he goes on IR/return, we could bring up an OL from the practice squad….. I’d rather see that happen as opposed to seeing a currently unsigned veteran brought in off the street. We all should know more within a day or two, and hopefully the Johnson suspension gets reduced b/c of the new drug testing agreement and limits.
I’m excited for Monday night at Indy; the Colts tend to start slow and make strong comebacks in the second half, so I could see this game getting close at the end. Ultimately, I see us winning that game, with the score getting a little uncomfortable at the end. Shady should have a strong day on the ground, which will open up the play action and passes over the top. Mac should be met with V.Davis, but Cooper and Matthews could have fun against their over-matched secondary. On defense, keeping Luck in the pocket will be important but a strong up the middle pass rush should be one of the keys to victory. I really do believe we’ll be going into our showdown with the LOLSkins on 9/21 as a 2-0 team, facing an 0-2 team and a pouting DeSean (anyone else see the stat that said the average RG3/DJax pass TRAVELED 2.4 yards IN THE AIR during their game last week?) LOVE IT!
Colt Lyerla arrested for DUI sat night…. Really sucks for the young man.
He is what people thought he was. He had a chance in GB but was close to getting cut there — can’t live on potential.
Cut due to injury. People keep missing that detail.
“Packers undrafted rookie TE Colt Lyerla was relegated to the scout team on the third day of training camp.
Lyerla is at the bottom of the depth chart in a group that includes seven tight ends.” Rotoworld July 29 (3 days before injury).
I wish you guys knew what you were talking about.
Yeah, that’s not really what happened, but ok
Yes it actually is. He was performing poorly and was on the verge of getting cut before he got injured.
Keeping things in perspective.
Eagles, in the second half only, did what they were suppose to do. That’s it. Jags are a bad team. I was actually disappointed in their play. Losing their RB seemed to send them in disarray.
A win is a win.
1st half I getting texts from Giants fan all over the place. “Foles is a one hit wonder”. Give me a break. He’s still a young kid. There will be good with the bad. With that said — this is a side of Foles we haven’t seen. Something we may have to keep an eye on. Is this the real Foles? I don’t think so, but you have to raise a slight eye brow.
Thank goodness for Sproles. Did they say that was his longest TD run of his career?
I think last year — Chip would have called a different play on that 3rd and long before trotting out our kicker. He was calm and convinced they young kicker would have the leg for it. Would Chip have called for a pass play to try and gain some yards back with a different kicker?
Finally — I agree with T-Law. Playing calling was Andy Reidish. A fade from inside the 10 with a struggling QB? Stubborn on other plays that constantly went for 0 gain. Maybe with back ups on the line of scrimmage he didn’t want to call too complicated of offensive plays?
Foles threw more passes in the first half than Kaepernick threw in his whole game yesterday, and only three less than Wilson threw in his whole game Thursday. Says something about how much their respective teams rely upon each to actually contribute to wins. Granted, Foles probably throws less if he is more accurate in the first half, but still – Foles has to produce for the Eagles to win. Not so much the other two. It’s frustrating, but it’s a function of the overall talent levels of each team, and it isn’t going to change this year – Foles will be asked to carry a heavier load than his comparables, with the exception of Luck.
That’s good stuff Bill. Foles vs. Luck. Next!
FOles won’t let us lose this game… Bet anything that the eagles beat the colts this week
[…] Sunday Night Reflections – Iggles BlitzThe Eagles beat the Jaguars in a sloppy affair. Chip Kelly won’t be thrilled with a lot of what he saw, but he will be happy with the toughness that his team showed. You don’t always learn a lot about your team when things are going well. You find out a lot when things don’t go well and the team is tested. Nick Foles played poorly in the 1st half. There was some speculation from fans and the media about pulling him. Chip said the coaches never considered that, which is what I expected. You have to let the young player work his way through the issues. The good news in this case is that Foles got better in the 2nd half. There are times when a young player can struggle for multiple games before getting back on track. […]
The new Ray Rice video is disturbing. I’d bet anything Godell already saw it. There’s no way they didn’t ask for the elevator video. So he saw it, and gave him 2 games. That’s incredible.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t see any reason why it wasn’t only 2 games before either.
Rice sure seems calm in collecting her body and moving it out of the elevator.
Because — as he moved her out — people would be around so he HAS to show he’s calm. Again with my point — a vicious woman beater will be playing football and any Ref’s going to boycott? 2 games is a joke.
And again your point is completely wrong. Your logic is that if you allow one evil, fuck it, there’s wrong in the world, so keep all the evil. Do nothing. Your fake outrage is completely misplaced.
my point was a lot of people might go “wtf did I just do? Is she dead? I need to get help” rather than go into Dexter mode. The fact that he went into Dexter mode is scary in itself, outside of the punch.
I watched the game with friends yesterday, which I normally don’t do, so I couldn’t focus the way I like to. Was Jason Peters struggling with Chris Clemons early in that game? I felt like it wasn’t just Foles having a bad game, everything seemed out of sync in general.
Oh, and I knew the moment I read Tommy’s “Cecil short is out / huge advantage for the Eagles” article that one of those knucklehead rookies were going to have a huge game. With all of the changes to personnel and coaches over the years, there is always one constant: a relatively unknown player will have their career game against us.
I think yesterday’s game showed two things. 1. There are still things to work on and clean up. 2. On a bad day when your best player is getting bottled up and your QB never really looked comfortable, you’re still able to put up 34 points in one half. This team really can be dangerous.
The first three sacks were all given up by Peters. Seemed a lot of our players didn’t wake up until midway through the second half.
Ok, so I didn’t imagine that. Way to go Peters!
Foles had a wide open Maclin on the 2nd sack, he just didnt pull the trigger and then got sacked after 3+ secs (cant expect longer as a QB)
Jason peters said it was his fault, he needs to hold his block longer and give FOles time…direct quote
I had to listen to the Jag’s radio broadcast of the game. The announcers actually sounded more shocked than anything else about the halftime score, but after the first Eagles TD it seemed they knew Phiily was coming back to win.
One Eagles player they were praising was Vinny Curry. Lots of respect there for him in this game.
Directv feed? I had the same thing. I think it’s hard for those announcers(meaning out of state of any other team) to give a really good information on the opposing team. I thought they did OK though. Better than Collinsworthless.
sorry I have one more rant. Peter King is advertising within his MMQB article for a new NFL app, and quotes Kraft saying fans want their content how and when they want to watch it. Setting aside what a shill Peter King is:
If I get NFL Rewind to watch the Eagles games, I can’t watch the Sunday game until freakin Tuesday b/c Monday night they want to force me to watch MNF. That’s ridiculous to me. But they will give me a new app and act like they are friendly with their content. Thanks Bob Kraft and Peter King.
I know people who bought the preseason package and then had over half the games blacked out (not just due to time issues) and couldn’t watch the games at all.
I think it’s just ridiculous. I’d love for the NFL games to just be on demand without DirectTV, but given that DirectTV would fold they will continue to outbid everyone.
Having to monitor a game via reading text outputs on a website (e.g., “McCoy to the left side for 3 yards”) in 2014 is crazy.
Are they blocked out b/c the NFL won’t let you watch during the local broadcast? (like can’t watch Eagles if the local game is on). That’s crazy, b/c that’s the whole point of why you bought the package is b/c the team you want to watch is not local.
I’m not sure of the exact reasons, all I know is some of the draftnik guys I follow on twitter had shelled out the $25 bucks to watch all this presason ball and due to some local affiliates having it for rewatch (but behind seperate paywalls, and not allowing any teams that fans in a geographical area would be fans of. IDK it seemed to be a general clusterf***.
The guy who was really upset about it was @StarvingScout. If I can make one recommendation for people of a football person to follow on twitter that would be it. He’s one of the small handful of draftniks whose opinion I actually put weight into, and despite being a Cardinals fan he completely broke down the tendencies and playbooks of the Seahawks and Niners, and did the same for the Eagles in the Redzone. It’s excellent stuff.
https://twitter.com/StarvingScout/status/508657908192927744
If you go for NFL Rewind, should consider NFL gamepass (just change to Europe IP, but not Great Britian) and it let you watch every game, all the time and there is zero down periods or blacked out games (I can watch the Eagles game again while also watching NFL network and the two monday night games).
thanks. I did do that last year, but didn’t get around to it yet.
I’m more ticked off that you have to go thru all this trouble to have access.
I’m as happy as anyone with how well our defense played, but let’s pump the breaks just a tad. This is the Jaguars we’re talking about. The Jacksonville Jaguars without arguably their 4 best offensive players (Shorts, Blackmon, Gerhardt, Bortles all either didn’t play or got hurt early/mid game). We looked good, but against a better WR unit I have little faith in those CBs.
Yup. I was getting ready to type pretty much the same thing.
What I’m most happy with was the resilience and ability to come back and dominate the game they way there were expected to. I doesn’t matter if the TDs came after turnovers or not. The fact that those WRs got wide open to make the catches is what’s relevant when evaluating how the secondary played. They played better as the game went on, but can you trust them to play that way for 60 minutes against a competent offense? Still TBD in my opinion…
You play who they put in front of you.,.
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Defense was even more impressive than people realize… Even when we were losing in the first half, the jags entire offense was basically just two big plays….our defense overcame horrible day by the offense, and that’s what was great to see. Defense and special teams stepped up when the offense struggled…that’s what good teams do
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You know how the defense measures it’s performance? Barwin said that he was talking to Demeco and what they came up with was as a defense, they want to measure themselves against the opponents defense.. They said their goal this year is to play better than our opponents defense…..I would say they accomplished that yesterday..so Far, so good…. We obviously aren’t winning any superbowls the way we played yesterday, but it was a decent start…
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As bad as it was for fans, our team probably got more out of yesterday in terms of growth, then they would have had we just blew the jaguars out from beginning to end…. While we hope to see us play better, staying together and overcoming a start like that to win, is so much more valuable than just a cakewalk game against the Jags..
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Can’t wait to play the Colts so people can’t take anything away from our players because of who they played against
never want to play down to your competition. gotta play your game evaluate yourself on your terms. think seattle just wants to play better than the other d?
but philosophy of this team is scoring points not stopping points from being scored so i can see their rationale.
Defense gave up 17 friggin points… 17… 0 in the second half….. This fanbase is friggin insane
it’s not the result. i agree they turned it on the second half. i’m saying the way you evaluate yourself has to be on your own standards. what if the other d plays poorly? does that give you an excuse to play poorly?
Barwin and Meco both said that 17 is the number this defense strives for every game,… So what’s your point?
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If opposing defense is only giving up 10 points, I like that OUR defense wouldn’t be happy with 17 points, and strive to only give up 9… Instead of thinking, hey we played a great game, we only gave up 17, we shoulda won… Leave it up to philly fans to take a positive and make it a negative
So… I am so happy we won the opener. It always seemed like Andy would lose the opener every other year.
Nick was holding onto the ball forever. Even in the second half seemed very indecisive.
D looked much better after getting burned by Hurns a few times.
Brandon Graham flashed. Made some nice stops. Cole showed late. Barwin played well.
Parkey!!!!
Looked like our run game was not going to get going at all.
I feel like we won that game because we were better conditioned and more discipline late in the game. Nice to know we can rely on something other than being more talented.
JimmyK says “no way he re signs in philly with that kind of usage”
which makes me sad because Boykin is one of my favorite players.
i guess we must have used Jenkins on the slot receiver a number of times to avoid changing defensive packages…
yup. yup.
Boykin is going no where….this city is absurd
why do you say that?
Just watch,,,
i do agree that we will re-sign Boykin.
However, i can see how the two sides could disagree on the value of that contract. Boykin should rightfully want to get more playing time. he will thus want to be paid as a starter.
the FO will say “you have not been a starter on the outside, we will pay you like an unproven starter”, which i think with his playmaking history might be a point of conflict.
again, not saying that they can’t or won’t get it done. but if we keep playing him less and less all season, i think he might not be too happy…
The Eagles have valued CB pretty highly under Lurie’s ownership.
Even if Boykin doesn’t have the measurables they want on the outside, I think they’d open up the checkbook based on his results in the slot plus is ST contributions.
They’ll pay guys top dollar at their position, and I can easily see Boykin getting the highest slot contract in the league.
how do you justify that? Every other agent for every other player will see the contract and say what about my guy, he’s super productive in limited snaps, why isn’t he getting $$?
Even for Boykins own career ambitions don’t you want to be on a team that will let you play consistently?
Those are good questions. We’ll have to see how it plays out.
As I said, the Eagles have been willing to spend at CB so it’s not crazy to think they’ll give Boykin a healthy contract.
The Eagles at the time made mmmbop (Hanson) the highest paid slot WR. I bet the Eagles have no problems giving Verner money to Boyking, which would make him highest paid slot WR and is in line with tier 2-3 CBs
Boykin will get 4 years 24mil… Two mil per year more than Cory Graham is getting in buffalo
i can’t imagine that he would get as many ST snaps if he was starting on defense. sure, he’ll get *some* but i doubt he would be on the field for all of them. thats a pretty high risk for a big investment on D, no?
i’ll ask simply because i don’t know…
what would the highest slot contract in the league be, with respect to outside CB contracts?
if Boykin sees himself as a starter at outside CB, and they give him a contract in line for a slot CB, but is garbage for an outside CB, he might just walk away.
I think this is all just fan crap…. Your slot corner is practically your 3rd starter these days… Corey Graham just signed for 4yr 16mil… 24mil will get it done for Boykin….by the time you have to pay good money to your slot CB, you wlll have two starting outside CBs getting paid on cheap rookie contracts(especially since I don’t expect to see this regime spend first round picks on CBs. We will be paying our outside CBs second or third round rookie contracts while Boykin plays on his second contract.
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Seriously, I’m not even the tiniest bit concerned over losing Boykin, I don’t believe that to be possible
What can you expect? We got a genius over here.
The reason is the Jags really like to run out of 3 WR sets and Davis thought that we could cover well enough (we could sans 2 plays) with base.
I bet that Boykin will play more next game against the Colts who has no running treat (Trent Richardson lol)
that makes perfect sense! thanks!!!!
Tommy, I think you’re being a bit hard on Foles here. I suppose he hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt yet, but he should have with Eagles fans at least. If Tom Brady has an off day, analysts start looking at factors that could have contributed to that (and I’m sure we’re going to hear about Mankins this week in that regard) but Foles has a bad half and its completely his fault and he still didn’t look “sharp.”
But Ray Didinger had it right, his passes to TEs and RBs were good, but struggled with his WRs. This shouldn’t be a surprise since he didn’t work with Cooper hardly at all in the preaseason, Maclin missed time and Jordan Mathews worked predominately with the 2s. On top of that, he’s sacked multiple times and the oline is struggling. Put into that context, he had a great second half, not a “improved” one. Second half stats; 15-21, 8.71 yards avg, 2 tds. If this is Brady, Brees, Manning, Rivers or even Russell Wilson, we’re talking about what a clutch performer Foles is.
what has foles done to put him in the same sentence as TB?
“I suppose he hasn’t earned the benefit of the doubt yet, but he should have with Eagles fans at least.”
I don’t expect national media to give him any credit, but Eagles fans have been watching him closely for a season and a half and the results have been excellent. My point is, immediately assuming Foles is terrible, instead of looking at the context of that performance, is a mistake we shouldn’t make. I did not compare Foles to Tom Brady.
Yes you did. You’re first paragraph where you wrote “Tom Brady” in the same sentence as Foles. Second point — a whole whopping season and a 1/2? We(most of us) love Foles, but the jury is still out. If the first year and a 1/2 defines a QB — Manning wouldn’t be in the league. Probably neither would Brady.
I am not comparing Nick Foles to Tom Brady in terms of their careers or abilities. Writing two peoples names in a sentence is not the same as comparing them. As for judging this game accurately, when Foles plays poorly, it’s important to look at the game as a whole instead of leaping to “Foles Sucks.”
So instead of TB you could change that to “Chad Henne” or “Matt Schaub”.
They certainly do not get the benefit of the doubt, so no, that doesn’t work. There’s a difference between discussing how two quarterbacks are received by fans and analysts and discussing their actual careers. Is this really that unclear?
Especially when one is a SB winner and is probably going to the HOF and the other hasn’t played 2 full seasons as a starter. Bad comparison(even though you still deny you’re comparing).
So yes, when a superstar like Brady, who has defined his whole career as a great QB does get a pass. Foles does not as he has yet to establish himself as an NFL QB. Chad Henne makes a great comparison IMHO.
Im comparing how they are received by the public. It’s a matter of narrative. Foles doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt, so it falls on him. Brady does, so people tend to look for fuller explanations when he has a bad game. I’m not saying Foles accomplishments rival Tom Bradys, that would be silly at this point.
but you’re saying that foles should get treated like brady — we are saying foles hasn’t had the right to be treated by brady.
And that is your right. However, I think taking a look at what’s happening beyond just the QB leads to better analysis. In the case of yesterday’s game, you look at Foles first half and say yikes. But if you look deeper at the oline, time with WRs, pressure and you start to see why he had a bad game.
even if you get sacked you don’t half to fumble. even if receivers aren’t open you don’t have to get sacked. Foles came back in the second half that’s what he needed to do.
I don’t think he’s damned — i think he might just have nerves / put a lot of pressure on himself which leads to poor play in big games. Now that it’s over i trust the play to be better. But until he proves himself over another season, against good teams, i think it’s hard to give him the type of deference you want to give him.
Brady would have to go full OJ plus A-Rod with a little Saddam Hussein thrown in to not make the Hall of Fame. It’s not even “probably going” at this point.
I agree with you, I’m big fan of Foles but he doesn’t get to look as bad as he did yesterday and say “Hey, Tom Brady looked bad too…”
Are u even a eagles fan?
I know right? We’re comparing Foles to Tom friggin Brady now! Talk about a fan base that goes overboard one way or the other.
Fans need to check out Brady’s second half stats,,,, pathetic probably doesn’t do justice to how poor his second half numbers were yesterday
He gets a pass. He has a hot wife.
Speaking of Andy Reid, in KC’s loss, they only ran Jamal Charles seven times. Seven! It’s not like they were way behind all game, either.
Nice to see he still hasn’t learned from the mistakes he repeatedly made in Philly.
Sounds familiar!
Blind, but not deaf!
I wonder if anyone in KC spent time watching Andy’s old pressers in Philly?
Was reading a KC blog today. People are calling for Reid’s head. Several have noted that he’s repeating the same lines he said after losses in Philly.
Man I’m so glad we don’t have to put up with that anymore.
I do like how Reid always takes the blame.
Does he repeat the same lines after the same decisions don’t work for the 40th time in his career? Sure, but he mans up to them and goes out and does the same thing in another week or two.
Dear LeSean,
I wish I was you and had Chip as a Coach.
Signed, Jamal.
i’m cautious chip seems to be trying to vulture all mccoy’s goal line work
Wouldnt surprise me if Kelly traded for Charles in 2-3 years when Sproles is done here (in 3 years Charles is same age as Sproles)
Thanks…..Charles was my top pick in fantasy
JM looked good. I’m not sure how he did on every play he was in with blocking but he seemed to get separation on pass plays.
Cooper seemed to struggle a bit. Geagle and I went back and forth on the impact(or no impact) of DJ. Just something I’m keeping an eye on.
I don’t know how our #1 pick do. Anybody have some thoughts?
Cox — after being picked on by some(me included) for pre-season play sure did answer the bell.
For those who weren’t at the game, Jordan Mathews looks really really promising. He was open all day yesterday, and I’m sure the all 22 film will confirm this. Kid was doing an excellent job of getting open….very encouraging sign
Good stuff.
My favorite part of yesterday’s game was the post game response from the team…
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FOles stood at the podium, took more blame, put more blame on himself after 1 Game than Mcnabb did in his entire career. But what was really cool was how many of our players put the blame on themselves. Accountability is not lacking from this group of players. Peters took the blame for FOles rough early game. Cary took the blame and proclaimed it won’t happen last week… Really like the intangibles Chip has instilled in us…
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When we play non playoff teams, I would prefer an easier game…. But in terms of team growth none maturity, we probably got a lot more out of yesterday’s game than we woud have had we just won 40-3 in control the entire time
From Chip after the game PC: “I was booing myself.”
I was actually meaning to add…. I like the way the entire team addressed the booing… Barwin said “we understand fans, cheer the goo plays, boo the bad. I would have probably been booing if I was up in the stands”
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Bunch of other players took a similar, un phased understanding of the Booo’s….. A pleasant change from the Desean teams of the past that would cry about the booing and let it get to them
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Papa Bear and Bennie double teaming the Blocker, knocking him back to where papa bear could get his hand up at the perfect angle to block the FG
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Really loving the attributes Chip instilled in this team already, accountability, family unit, mental toughness to persevere thru adversity… We made it thru a bad situation, and we didn’t need to have players and coaches screaming at each other on the sideline….as ugly and painful as some of the game was, it was the ULTIMATE TEAM WIN. All 3’phases picked each other up and contributed to it… Just think how many different players had a big hand in the comeback:
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maragos and the coverage units didn’t give the jags returnmen anything!
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Donnie Longball and Boykin downing the punt
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Rookie FG kicker in his first game show up with 5 touchbacks and burries a FG from 51, which is the record for henreys eagle career
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Darren Sproles took what killed us in the playoffs last year on punt return, and brought it to our team… I was fantastic to see punt return production like that.
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We had to go deep in the OL bull pen and managed to come together for a flawless second half allowing Zero sacks and opening some huge run lanes at key moments..
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Ertz and Maclin seemed to do fine replacing Deseans deep threat
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Our front 7!was outstanding
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GEAGLE, I feel like I can only ask you this and receive a well detailed response. How was Foles? Anyone stood out on defense? and was Henne really cutting up our secondary?
I missed the game is why I’m asking :/
FOles was bad in the first half, but it was a combo of things,, our OL started the game poorly, Jason Peters was uncharacteristically giving up sacks, FOles was holding the ball to much, we didn’t get the run game or the tempo going….Offense never got into a Rythem, and when that happens it usually doesnt work right…. No one did much on offense in first half…
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Defense played pretty well in first half, but my boy Cary Williams made two horrible mistakes and they scored on two big plays..the second big play was a great call, bubble slant, that they hit perfectly which can be hard to defend.. But if you look at our 3rd down defense, it was EXCELLENT..those were two Fluky big plays that they hit on when they took shots on first and second down… While the offense was stumbling, and the defense played well but gave up 14pts on two Fluky plays, the special teams had the best overall game I have seen an eagles special teams play in YEARS…FOles threw a bad INT that was all his fault in the ENDZONE missing out on 7 points, and he got hit hard and fumbled twice, one time they scored the other time they kicked a FG…after they got the FG and went up 17-0, special teams really kept us in it, Bair blocked a FG, and the Jags missed another one right before half…
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Second half, we just stormed to a 34-0 half…
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Front 7 was pretty awesome. Especially Cox, Kemdrick, Barwin! but everyone was contributing. Front 7 dominated the second half and pitched a shut out…Sproles had two big ount returns for us, and he really got the come back started when we go for it on 4th and 1, and Sproles runs for a 50 yd TD….FOles wasn’t GREAT the rest of the game, but he was good enough and it was a huge comeback win for us that showed a lot of mental toughness and a team that stayed together… FOles was sacked 5 times in the first half, yet they buckled down and gave up no sacks in second half even tho Mathis and Barbre were both knocked out the game…
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Best overall ST game in the past 3 or 4 games ATleast…blocked FG, maragos some monster tackles covering kicks, Braman almost blocked punt, Rookie kicker boomed like 5 touchbacks, tied Alex henreys 51 yard FG, in his first every NFL game, Donnie Jones awesome punts as usual with Boykin downing them on the opponents one yard line…
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Really rough first half, a lot to clean up, but a big win…one of those wins were you grow as a team from it…..btw, not sure, but FOles may have gotten a small concussion n the first half hitting the back of his head… I’m not trying to make excuses for him, because a 34 point second half comeback doesn’t require an excuse…but all game I wondered if he was concussed earlier..
Barbre out 4-6 weeks…
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Silver lining: This morning Chip said he doesn’t think Mathis is done for the year
G-
how were the stadium renovations? Was it snazzier, louder, etc?
Definitely Louder which was really great to hear.
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I think they did a quality job.. I liked it all, they didn’t botch any of it…but I think it was noticeably louder…I didn’t watch the broadcast yet, did we sound loud on TV? Can’t wait to watch the game
Tough to tell during the broadcast broadcast. I think they digitally filter some of it out, even Seattle didn’t sound THAT loud. You guys seemed to cause at least 1 timeout to prevent a delay of game though.
Gardner looked better than Barbre, so not sure its a giant lose
Not sure how fair that is, even if it’s true..
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OL struggles in the first half, buckled down and got it together in the second half. Guys like Peters who struggled in first half, cleaned it up in second half, and that goes for practically the entire team not just the OL…who’s to say that Barbre wouldn’t have followed suit had he not been injured….
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Tobin should be back soon too…. Probably going to see Tobin, Gardner and Molk competing for two spots..
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If one more OL got injured yesterday, they said Celek would have been the emergency lineman…. Lol part of me would have liked to see Celek play OL
Gus Bradley admits the D front was in one alignment and the D backs were in a different alignment on the 4th and 1 TD by Sproles. Lots of credit to Kelly on that call and having his players ready to execute. Not many coaches (any?) do that.
Today Chip talked about how our tempo is also designed to have a cumulative effect on defenses that pays off later in the game..he compared it to body blows from Boxers, that pay off later in the fight
Saw that against MSU as well
body blow! body blow!
shoot, tried to grab a pic from Punch Out but I’m not fancy enough
Can’t wait for the Sweet in the Gut, “King hippo” ass redskins defense…. They will be huffing and puffing so bad, same with the cowboys backup defense.. How are a bunch of bum, backup cowboy defenders going to be conditioned enough for our army of unsullied Ivan Drago’s trampling them in the run game…
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FYI: Sproles got twice as many runningback carries yesterday as he got all of last year lol Chip wasn’t joking that he is a runningback…then again, knowing how much Chip loves to run the ball, we should have known that Sproles would be running, where as Andy Reid would NEVER let Sproles run
That is why I hate all the measuring stuff. Kelly almost never goes for 4th down after a measuring because it kills the tempo and the defense can prepare
I’m wondering about the offensive struggles in the first half. My understanding is that it was a perfect storm of the O-line not holding blocks long enough, St. Nick holding the ball far too long, and the WRs not getting open. Is this what everyone else is gathering.
It was all around, like you said. The oline struggled a bit from what I saw, Jason Peters had his hands full with the speed of those rushers. It may sound weird, but I think the team had some butterflies, which I don’t think is much to worry about.. It was Nick Foles’ first opening day start as well.
As well as the things you said, there was also the problem of not getting the running and short passing games going well. It felt like we had quite a few series in the first half that involved a 4yd run on first down, followed by a 3yd loss on a run or blown screen on 2nd down, leading to 3rd and long.
Yes all those things contributed, but it’s simple on offense… If we don’t get into a flow, things will look bad. Numerous things can contribute to keeping us from getting into a flow. penalties, bad OL play, bad QB play…….. We are a Rythem, tempo offense… Anytime we don’t get to play our game and get on a roll, it probably will mean we are struggling offensively…..
WRs were getting open. Nick was the problem. Offensive line could have been better, but Chip pretty much laid it out in his press conference today. On the stripsack by Clemons he implied the call was for a quick pass, JP wasn’t expecting to have to block him that long.
Anybody making excuses for Nick shouldn’t be allowed to evaluate football. He played really poorly. Credit to him for making some plays in the 2nd half, but even then he wasn’t as good as the stats suggest.
If “2nd-half versus the Jags Nick” is the Nick Foles we get for the rest of the season, this is 7-9 team. I had much higher expectations for him going into the season. Hopefully it was just nerves.
As bad as the first half was, it was really nice to see the Eagles respond in the second half with that nice comeback. The teams mental toughness was the biggest bright spot in the win.
Defense! Defnse! defense! No…No…No!!!! 😉
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Barwin: “with everything Chip does to train us, we are built for adversity, built for 4 quarters of football. They hit two big plays on us, we settled down and gave up nothing else”. As for the pass rush: “we got pressure all day. Their offensive line knew it couldn’t block us that’s the ran so many boots and sprint outs? Then they got the lead and didn’t need to drop back and pass. Once we got the lead in the 4th, Henne Didn’t Stand A Chance. We only got the one sack but Henne was running for his life the entire 4th Quarter”-BRAMA Bull Barwin
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BG: for those that didn’t notice, and BG spoke on it…he is now comfortable playing Predator and Jack, so whenever Cole or Barwin needed a breather, BG replaced both yesterday and that’s progress because we didn’t trust him with the Jack spot last year. He talked about how he is comfortable giving either player a breather but mentioned “the next step is to get Marcus in the Mix”.. A guy on a contract year, future very uncertain is worried about helping to bring along a first round rookie at his position? Chip Kelly’s team certainly doesn’t lack character…..Graham added ” at halftime Demeco spoke to us! said we weren’t having fun! reminded the offense! defense and ST that we are all family. We broke the huddle on “family” came out, and that was the greatest second half I have ever been a part of. We had a lot of fun”.
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Demeco “Cap” Ryan: “‘we faced a lot of adversity in the first half, but one thing about it is at halftime we came into the locker room and no one blinked. Everyone knew what we had to do, clean up our mistakes, play confident football and that we would come out on top”
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“Cary” “those TDs were all on me, didn’t play physical and Discaplined enough and that won’t happen next week. Reporter asked did they do anything different in the second half to stop them like roll coverage “hell naw, we got real physical, and pressed them to sleep”…
BG spoke on it…he is now comfortable playing Predator and Jack, so whenever Cole or Barwin needed a breather, BG replaced both yesterday and that’s progress because we didn’t trust him with the Jack spot last year. He talked about how he is comfortable giving either player a breather
i think this bodes well for getting BG more snaps on defense!!
Absolutely…it’s huge to have a caliber backup like him at both OLB spots now that he can handle the jack, and that certainly speaks to improvement because they didn’t trust ANYONE to take Barwin out the game last year…
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Like you said, should be easier for him to get more snaps like this. he will continue to produce with his opportunities which will mean he will be a fixture in this defense which in turn should allow us to keep Barwin and Cole freshet than last year, that’s for sure,,,and by Midseason Marcus will be ready to also start contributing
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This wasn’t some fluke out of the blue performance for BG….this summer he warned that he was really starting to get comfortable, went out of his way to say he knows he hasn’t given the city what it deserves from a first round pick, but that this would be the year he finally provides first round value..
He could have a big year and leave us with some interesting decisions next offseason consideivg we probably have to cut Cole because of his absurd contract….
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Worst case scenario we should get a nice compensatory pick for losing BG
Mathis appears to have a sprained MCL which could cost him and the team up to 6 weeks if he doesn’t need surgery. Barbre has a high ankle sprain that will also cause him to miss at least a few weeks. He is going for further consult and eval on the ankle/foot. As a result, the Eagles need a RT for the next 3 weeks until Lane Johnson returns. They will need a LG for even longer as things look now. Not the way you want to face the 1st half of your schedule. They have some options on the bench (ex: Gardner, Molk, D. Kelly, Tobin when healthy). We’ll have to see how it works out.
after a full season of the same starting 5 on the OLine last year to … oh boy this year….
Maybe that’s the most impressive part of the game. Back ups to back ups played and played well.
front 7 and ST was the most impressive because they played at a high level for 60 minutes keeping us in the game til we could get it together at halftime.
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But Stoutlands backup OL was just HUGE…. I know losing Mathis sucks….but I already know some GOOD will come out of this…because of this injury, we won’t spend high draft picks on OL, because our youngbucks will prove that they can eventually replace Mathis, and Herremans?… I know these young OFfensive lineman and Stoutland will turn this negative, into an opportunity for young OL to make a name for themselves and prove to be capable starters for down the line
Players deserve a lot of credit for yesterday… But let’s not forget to appreciate the brilliant coaching we get…
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1) Chip “The PHD of the TD” Kelly-PE.com……when you see Maclin running down field with the closest defender being 30 yards away…that’s just gorgeous play design/calling
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2) Not to take anything away from Nate. But Billy Davis also “schemed sacks” the way Chip Schemes guys running free down the middle of the field…
The Nate Allen sack… Billy counts the number of Blockers,Dials up the perfect blitz. Pre snap he puts Meco and Mykal both up in the A gap, what that did, was make the Jags running back, drop his responsibility of blacking Nate who lined up as an edge rusher and pick up the blitzing linebackers up the A gap because it’s a closer threat to the QB…so it became a simple numbers game and Nate was able to rush from the edge like an OLB, untouched for the sack.. (Cossell broke the blitz down well on video at PE.com)
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Players have to execute…but that’s some excellent coaching that worked to perfection
lol tried to click your link to see the video of that sack… i have a feeling you didn’t intentionally link to pe dot com, which is something entirely different 😛
Lol no… I mean to just call it PE dot com, but it always links me to something crazy
here’s the link for those interested…
actually cool to see Trent Cole line up inside of Nate and take a few steps up to get the LT to commit to blocking him, then Cole drops back into coverage. not that there was anyone right there to cover, but probably dropping back into a zone. then, the LT just looks on as Nate runs right by him.
sad thing is that tons of people will look at that and say “he was unblocked! so what?!” yes, it might not have been a special play by Allen as it was more the scheme that created the sack, but he still executed it perfectly and deserves *some* credit for that.
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/videos/videos/Why-Was-The-Third-Down-Defense-Effective/720b7e04-3d8c-4fb6-8c01-b5f9f116dca0
also, it looks like Ryans also had the RB beat on his blitz and there was a good chance he’d get a hand on the ball too.
people harp on foles for holding the ball but guys also weren’t getting open. the run game was not working in teh first half, so thats a big deal too. Foles led the team to a come from behind victory putting up, what 27 offensive points in one half? looked good and primed for next week now the jitters should be gone…
but most importantly the defense looked solid. if htey get us 3 and outs this year, oh boy, we could be going off on people.
and man sproles looked damn fast and shifty. he’s good.
Absolutely,,, this going to be a big year
Guys were getting open. WIDE open. Not sure what happened with Nick with regard to what he saw, where he was in his progression, what was happening in the pocket, etc…but guys were getting open.
Way more worried about the wide open guys he missed than the whole holding the ball thing tbh. He wasn’t setting his feet in the first half for whatever reason.
Colts lose anyone to injury last night?
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Bet a future starting NFL Offensive Lineman emerges out of this bad injury situation with our OL… Stoutland will turn a horrible situation into an opportunity for a young man To step up and prove himself that when our offensive lineman get old, we can promote from within.
Robert Mathis tears Achilles tendon
Huh, he is suspended
he was practicing (before Game 1), he’s done for the year now.
Oh shit…. Lane better take it easy for 3 weeks. We need him week 5 vs. Rams
Do these games still count for his suspension?
not gonna lie. i thought you were joking at first.
“haha real funny. the guy didn’t even play this week! i know better than to fall for this one!”
“oh…. nevermind…”
Lol he got me too
if we can get out of hte first 2 weeks with wins that would be enormous.
if we had have lost this week i saw us going 0-2 possibly 0-3 season over.
but we are back on. was Shady hurting ata ll yesterday? seemd to come out a few times during the game.
I loved watching Graham tear it up. He is such a beast.
B Dot Grizzle
Ravens just cut Ray rice
and the NCAA just used that news to tell that Penn State is postseason eligible again and have all scholarships from next season (good for Penn State, but bad of the NCAA to use that as cover)
Bullshit everywhere… The league just suspended Ray rice Indefinitely hahahahaha congrats, they did something after the raven had to cut him…bunch of crap
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What’s funny is next year, he will be reinstated, and some other team will get to reap the rewards of “giving a young man a second chance” lol…. Hopefully Rice skills as a RB are completely diminished by the time he is eligible to return..
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Tho I feel for his wife, who married him to try and save his job, now she is married to someone out of a job…
I don’t understand, for the Ravens it was ok when there was no video and they supported Ray. But now that there is video? what has changed other than now the PR will be worse. It’s not trying to do the right thing at all. The NFL, Goddell and the Ravens look terrible here (to me).
They have been looking terrible… Everyone botched this situation… For crying out loud, the friggin victim, had a post conference with Ray Rice to where she had to appologize for her role in this to try and save Rays Job.. Then she married Ray, now she married an NFL player with No Job… She lost in like 3 different ways in this situation…
ITs BS that the Ravens didnt have the video (same for the NFL), its just now the video got out.
whats even more bullshit is the nfl saying they never saw the video before today
http://deadspin.com/someone-is-lying-about-whether-the-nfl-saw-the-ray-rice-1631901404
Originally they said they saw it and tried to smear the victim and now they try to clean their hands
yeah, i’ve read all the deadspin stuff on it today. if schefter is mad AND vocal about it, you know you fucked up
http://youtu.be/K2v-8ctq5x4
Truth
he will be on the patriots next year no doubt, rutgers guy, and needs a “second chance” book it… thats a lock
the patriot way cures all
And the media will spin the “The ‘Patriot Way’ will help save Rice’s public image/career/marriage/eternal soul from damnation” narrative to no end.
I love how we turned Ray Rice situation into a reason to bash the Patriots. Well played everyone.
yeah it was a stretch, but dammit we did it! “20 Degrees of Patriot Bashing”
Sounds about right
I just don’t understand. Oh, we just thought he knocked her out, so we were fine with it. But now we see that he knocked her out, so he’s gotta go.
Ravens even said today that Rice was very up front about how it had happened, so only difference is now the public sees the tape.
Without looking it up, I don’t remember him doing too well last year anyway. This is likely the end of his career no matter what happens.
Is it like Jake Knotts suspension where he can’t serve it until he’s on a roster or is it like Mike Vick’s suspension where he isn’t allowed on a roster for like a year,
Jake Knott is servering his right niw because he was on a roster when suspension was announced
An excerpt from a previous piece:
“If the Eagles intended to bring him back, you would think they would explain that to him and Jake would just know this cut is a formality. The reason you cut him now is that he is hurt and wouldn’t play this week. He’s got a 4-game suspension in front of him. It is unlikely anyone will pick him up.
The Eagles would re-sign him before the season. Jake would not count against the roster while suspended. That would give the team 4 weeks to figure out if they wanted to keep him or not.
I know the coaches liked him a lot last summer, but Jake is a bottom of the roster guy. They can’t afford to be complicated. Someone that is hurt and has a suspension is probably way too complicated for the team to want to keep around. The sad thing for Knott is that he can’t start serving the suspension until someone signs him.”
So that just a misconception, would make sense because that makes a suspension seem like a career ender for a roster bubble guy.
That was originally reported, but then it was either changed or clarified.
woohoo, meinke car care bowl here we come!!!
Hey show some respect, they just beat up on the Akron Zips
barely, i always look forward to hackenberg throwing 2 horrible ints per game
So Hackenberg is Matthew Stafford/Jay Cutler reincarnated?
he’s stafford/cutler with a weaker arm. i’m not totally down on him though. he’s a true sophmore with a lot of room to grow. it’s just frustrating watching him learn/mature in games. his stats are off the charts, save the ints. it’s one of the (old) main reasons ucf and akron hung around in the last couple games.
and the HC switch from obrien to franklin does himn no favors.
I thought Hackenberg had a great arm.
he’s got a good arm no doubt, but i don’t think it’s cutler stafford level
Not sure a weak armed Stafford sounds promising…
Of course only true sophmore, but some players just cant stop throwing ints.
yeah he’s still developing/maturing so he has chance to become a better all around qb
time will tell
Yo… Fantasy help.. With Bernard Pierce concussions, is Justin Forsett or Telefaro worth picking up as ravens runningbacks?
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Is Mark Ingram starting for the saints a better fantasy runningback than Danny Woodhead as a 3rd down back for the chargers or McFadden backing up MJD?
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maybe as a flex in big leagues you can grab Forsett.
I’d wait to see Woodhead tonight before make that move. If PPR, he’s normally pretty solid.
If you can get him in an undervalued trade or on waivers, I would go for Isiah Crowell.
gotta be a better back on waivers? moreno went undrafted in many leagues. carlos hyde could be good unfortunately for me. ravens look terrible generally i’d just leave it alone honestly.
Knowshon sucks…just ask shady… It’s a dynasty league so all the top rookies like Hyde get scooped up for future years. I have Kelvin Benjamin and Jordan Mathews
oh shit, looks like we dodged a bullet with mathis
only 8 weeks is pretty lucky considering the situation
looks like we’ll see some adversity year, which is great, excited to see how we can work through it.
Meh, screw adversity. I’ll take an injury free season for the Eagles while everyone we play suffers crushing injuries/suspensions/plague/pestilence.
I ain’t proud.
We already got that last year.
fuck, scrolled down on 24/7 to next article, barbre out 4-6 weeks
with lane johnson suspended this could get hairy
I’ve enjoyed the comparisons between Chip and Andy and how their teams went in opposite directions (we all remember when Andy was here, too). I think the thing that I found most fascinating is how the Eagles/Chip actually stuck to their game plan and didn’t change much in the 2nd half.
“They do their stuff over and over again,” Jaguars linebacker Paul Posluszny said. “Maybe Foles got the ball out a little quicker in the second half knowing our guys were coming. You’ve got to give them credit because they stick to their plan, their fundamentals and they execute really well.”
I always felt Andy had too much faith in X’s and O’s and his impressive playbook and would lose sight that the players are the ones playing the game (e.g., Charles with 7 carries). But Chip had (1) belief in players’ training: these players can execute and are properly prepared by the coaching staff; (2) belief that his up-tempo O was wearing down the Jags and would catch them off-guard at times; and (3) belief that he’s got leaders that will step up (e.g., Sproles, Cole, DeMeco, etc.) when needed.
Ultimately, it was a reflection of confidence on the whole organization and belief in the system that he’s created. Great to see that on the Eagles sideline, especially in a home opener.
LaMicheal James was cut
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Redskins NT Barry Cofield injured for a month… Will miss the eagles game. Jordan Reed may miss eagles game too.. Not like we need injuries to beat Checkdown RG3, and D-Shawn
He’s gotta go through waivers first, I wouldn’t mind taking chance on him.
lmj won’t make the roster don’t think there’s much point, we like the backs we have.
I’m a big Polk fan…I’m not opposed to James as long as it doesn’t cost us Polk.
Has Polk been practicing?
Yeah he practiced all week… They worked him out Saturday and he is close to being ready, he just couldn’t go full speed… Good chance he plays this week, if he doesn’t I don’t think he would miss the following game…sounds close to being back
Mathis out for rest of reason.
Robert Mathis, that is.
Wouldn’t mind Clowneys injury lingering a bit and him missing the eagles game. Blocking JJ Watt is enough to worry about
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Titans ILB Zack Brown will miss the eagles game, torn pec ends his season
[…] The rest of the article can be found here: Iggles Blitz […]
lol, Giants getting smacked around and JPP injured.
Yeah they fuckin suck… I’m up 20 in fantasy, I have Reggie bush left and my opponent has Calvin Johnson….only the giants would leave Calvin friggin Johnson WIDE OPEN…. I hate them in every way
My god Calvin Johnson is unstoppable. Matt Stafford has the easiest gig in the NFL, throw it somewhere in Calvin’s vicinity and watch him make an incredible catch look easy.
He is going to sodomize DRC tonight
To be fair I don’t think there’s a corner in the NFL who stands a chance against Megatron.
Why be fair?
Going to lose fantasy because of this Calvin freak
Maybe with the big lead they’ll stop throwing and Bush will rack up some stats. Good luck.
Thanks.. Tho if I have to lose, an Embarrassing giant BEATDOWN would be a cool consolation prize
Noises is ruining what would be a huge game for bush. Love the way he runs in space.
True dat… I’d like to see him take it to Sherm!! Say what your will about stafford and Calvin! but they wouldn’t gutlessly avoid Richard Sherman like Rodgers and Jordy Nelson did.
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Have Sherm and Calvin Gone head to head since they reached elite status?
I would have to see what would happen now, but I’ve seen Revis shut CJ down. He’s also shut everyone down.
this is fun!!!
Dude Detroit will probably be good now that their coach is no longer a joke…
what’s their defense like? i haven’t done any research on them
It should be better, with Ziggy Ansah growing up and the coaching staff bringing some discipline to Suh and fairly.. Deandre Levy is one of the most under rat LBs in NFL! Steven Tolloch can play… They have some pieces in the secondary like Quinn, and they are waiting on some of the younger talent like Slay to grow up.
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Don’t think their defense is better than ours, but It should be improving
has fairly got his head of his ass yet?
Megatron again. Best WR in the NFL and its not even close.
Yeah it’s different watching in person vs just seeing stats. He’s so big.
i liked the overhead blimp shot they did of ford field and comerica. the tigers were playing a game at the same time and it looked like there were only a couple thousand in the stands
Only 3 more points and we’ll get to see if they can do what we did.
Imploding in 3…2…1….
Lol see
Tom Brady got killed yesterday without Logan Mankins….who then got hurt, so the Bucs got killed….. Lol that trade…Logan Mankins managed to hurt both teams
at least for NE they got something out of the trade
Why the Patriots traded their best OL right before the start of the season… Bellicheck thinks he can win with anyone. It’s starting to catch up with him.
That wasn’t it and there were a couple of rumors floating around regarding Mankins being traded.
Barner waived.. LMJ coming??
Couple weeks of smoothies and he’ll be brand new.
It’s that damn Oregon bias. Chip doesn’t want to make his precious Oregonian travel all the way to the Midwest on a school night. He will be resigned on Tuesday.
Looks like the Cowboys, Redskins, and Giants have a long season ahead of them. Eli Manning is atrocious against Detroit. What do you guys think about the Lamichael James being available now? I’d love to see him here in philly, it’d be nice to see Chip create a 3-headed monster at RB. James can definitely play.
Nope why? You see how beastly sproles looks? Polk makes the third head.
I like Polk. His durability has been his biggest issue, I think James would offer more value to the team with what he could do on special teams. Adding him to a backfield with McCoy and Sproles would be pretty beast. I have no doubt in Sproles skills by the way, he’s a beast.
Polk played 15 games last year… His durability is only a problem during the offseason…
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Kid practiced all last week, if he isn’t ready for Monday he will surely play the following week. He hasn’t missed game time to be calling him a durability concern yet… But I think this year will be important to his future here. If he misses a bunch of games this year he will be gone
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/entertainment/LeSean-McCoy-tips-20-cents-at-PYT.html
There has been enough leaked about McCoy in and about Philly and AC along with his assault on that woman that was settled out of court that kind of paints McCoy as a scum bag.
“He’s young”? I mean I think seeing what happened to Ray rice will have a chilling effect on the other guys.
What a scum for not tipping well at a restaurant known for super bad service (if its really him)
Too Bad Sean Connery received poor service, too!
Maybe Rob is a Dallas fan. That makes it an over tip.
If Rob was smart, he would have slid a 1 in front of that tip and total. Just saying….
wonder if chip is more mad about the tip or the fact shady was eating greasy burgers
There’s Megatron and then there’s everyone else. It just goes to show you that sometimes raw projects that have Mars as his ceiling can pay off enormously if you give them time.
Giants look terrible
Surprised? Prepare for their implosion
Megatron wasn’t raw though. He was an all American his junior year. He went second overall.
http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/calvin-johnson-1.html
He wasn’t completely polished either. His athleticism heavily outweighed his receiving skills but that’s unfair considering he’s probably the best athlete in the world.
I still wonder how Georgia Tech managed to develop 2 of the best WRs in the NFL right
Both were recruited and played under Chan Gailey who ran a more classic NFL offense (if I remember correctly it was a pretty fun one to watch).
What kills me about this Detroit team — all the low 1st picks they have on that team — and still struggle….
Raw project? Maybe in pop-warner…
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/red_zone/Film-breakdown-Cody-Parkeys-hang-time-will-produce-better-kick-coverage-results.html
Real nice article by Jimmy on The god-Parkey
Attaboy playing really well for SD tonight.
Marcus Smith & Jordan Matthews OR Jason Verrett & Jeremiah Attachou?
Am I supposed to be worried that Chip is over-valuing measurables and character and underrating actual, um, talent?
I would take our guys. Verrett is tiny. He is 5’9 with 30″ arms. Boykin is 5’9 with 31.5″ arms, and is an established NFL player. Attachou vs Smith? Take 20 different draftniks who know what they are talking about (ie they understand 34) and it’s going to be split down the middle over who they preferred. Put on the tape of a common opponent (Miami) and Smith has a much better game.
Yeah, but Attachou has made some plays in the game I’m watching this very instant, D3FB!!!!
I liked Smith better coming out but it was similar to Dion Jordan vs. Mingo for me. I preferred Smith (Jordan), but Attachou has a certain violence to his game (Mingo) that I appreciate and suspect may be a valuable attribute in the pros.
Time will tell, just figured it was a good discussion point considering both those guys are playing well for SD tonight.
If we’re talking about ceilings then Smith for this defense. I would have taken Attaochu if we were still a 4-3 though.
I bet Merrill Reese prefers Smith over Attaochu…
sort of agree…taking kids from Eagles minor league system of Oregon is my issue over available talent….
Who do you have in a no-holds-barred smug off: Jim Harbaugh or Bruce Arians?
Joe Buck.
Ertz had 3 catches of 20+ yards on Sunday. I believe that puts him on pace for more “explosive plays” than last year’s Rams, Buccaneers, Skins and Panthers.
Hope the Cardinals don’t steal our Wild Card spot because of San Diego’s incompetence…
Obviously I hope it doesn’t come down to that…
Why would we need a wild card to get in?
If we can’t win this division we shouldn’t be allowed to make it as a wildcard team
exactly.
Considering I’m not sure who has become the bigger joke, Eli or Romo, we have no business wishing for wildcard spots…. If we lose to any of these pathetic NFC East teams and have to sneak in via wildcard, this season will have been a gigantic failure
it’s teams like the Lions or Panthers etc. that should be saying that. If we were to finish 2nd in this division behind [who?], we would be what 7-9? 6-10? That is not getting a wildcard anyway.
Maybe Cardinals take out the 49ers, so maybe not a bad thing depending on how you would rank those teams.
It’s too early to rank all the wildcards anyway, so I’ll stop myself. But we are not one of them.
Wildcard spot? Lol no way. The NFC East is ours to lose.
I really disagree with your last sentence!!! (the one in quotes)
Seen a lot of people who weren’t enamored by chips play calling…
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The reason the play calling looked so bad to people probably had to do with the fact that everyone is used to seeing Chip Kelly call plays against man defense. Heck the entire talk off the offseason was about reconfiguring the WR position and improving our ability to beat Man defense because that’s how most of the teams play us…..As fans we got used to seeing Kelly’s “man beater” portion of the playbook…
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Well, when it’s time to face one of the few zone defenses like the Jags, our play calling is probably going to look different then it does when we face Man defense which is what we typically see.
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Jags zone defense is why we didn’t see much of Sproles in the passing game. He is a TERRORIST to man defenses, and we didn’t get to use any of that this week…
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Also, as good as we are in the screen game, and as well as our backup OL did, all things considered, playing with backup OL screwed us up in the screen game. The timing between Sproles/shady and the backup OL was completely off which really hurt us in the screen game, tho some of the screens were defended well by the Jags
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I assume we spent more time working on man beaters this offseason than zone.. Expect a different looking offense this week, playing at a more efficient level…..
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Of course, if we give up sacks, commit penalties and keep us from getting into a Rythem and playing with our Ricky Bobby tempo, you will see this offense struggle…..This offense needs to get into a Rythem to be successful.
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When we face a man defense, that’s when you will really see all the offensive improvements we made this summer…
….people are high if they think that Desean and Avant is > Sproles, Maclin, Jordan, huff
But the reason we saw so much man is that Kelly shredded the zone defenses we played. Have we lost some of that ability, or can we chalk that up to Foles not playing well early? (We did shred them in the second half, though they had more defensive help than they got most games last year.)
It really wasn’t just FOles….but FOles certainly played his part…
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Positions on the football field are intertwined and effect each other… If FOles was getting excellent protection and played that poorly it’s one thing, but the OL didn’t do it’s job either. It’s a strength of this team, Jason peters is our best player, the run game is elite….none of that was working early in the game…
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I have a bigger problem with our prized offensive line, and the best running back in the NFL getting off to a slow start, than a young QB…. The offense just didn’t come out ready to play..WHY? Doesn’t really matter…no excuses, they have to do better.
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Then again, I don’t know where eagles fans got this impression that we are just supposed to demolish everyone and be in total control for 60 minutes. Football is not a picnic. There won’t be many games like the Bears game… There will usually come a time in a game when we are faced with serious adversity and it’s not going to look pretty. There will be times we have to weather the storm and claw our way out of it….I prefer it not come against the jags. But people didn’t give that defense the respect it deserved anyway.. I wrote all last week about their front 7, and smart posters were responding with how over rated it was…say what you will about the jags offense! but Gus Bradley Knows defense and his defense has improved, and it will continue to improve..
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I would also have been much more alarmed to see that happen in week 10. Look around the league at week 1… Heck look at the past 5 years of week 1 football…it’s a wacky week, always has been….week one doesn’t always tell you who the better team is, just shows who is further along to start the season…no matter how good you are, if you playing your best ball in September, there is a problem….. Just think of how many horrible season openers we had under Andy, that ended up being a poor reflection of how the team performed the rest of the year…week 1 can be really whacky…I prefer not getting heart attacks when we play the worst teams, but football games are about overcoming adversity…..the game sucked, we suffered bad injuries, but I’d get we grew more from this jags game, than we would have, had we just rolled over them 40-7..
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Going to post some Malcolm Jenkins quotes in a minute. Malcolm is a Super Bowl winner, who was captain of the saints defense under more than one defensive coordinator:….
Very well said. The Jaguars will be far less of a pushover as the season progresses. I think they’re a good sleeper. It did not surprise me to see the Eagles get off to a slow start. Opening week doesn’t sum up a 16 game season.
Receivers were wide open. If Foles wasn’t so incompetent/hesitant in the 1st half, he would have shredded them like last year. Hopefully he bounces back like he did after the Dallas game, but it really bothers me that we’re still seeing him look like a scared rookie in games, despite his success and experience.
It’s ridiculous the way this fanbase is talking about Marcus smith
Yeah because of all of those defensive rookies just lighting the world on fir…oh wait
Really hate this fanbase… Tho I prob hate the local media more..
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I mean, Eric Ebron sucks balls right now…was he a bad pick? Top 15 kid getting playing time and looking completely incompetent. Was he a bad pick? Hell NO….I’ll take Ebron today in a heartbeat….
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I just don’t get how we became the dumb as a fanbase… It wasn’t always like this…
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I’m THRILLED to have Marcus Smith!!! THRILLED!!!
I think it has to do with social media allowing everyone to voice their opinion. Every fan base is dumb because people are dumb in general. Also, younger people becoming fans, speaking out of emotion without a true understanding of the game.
Yeah but there was a time where ATleast the media was smart enough to know that you have to wait a few years to judge a draft pick, now the media is as dopey as the fanbase…
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To hear media idiots, laugh and rip the Eagles because they picked a first round pick who isn’t contributing the moment he arrived here is ridiculous..
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Think what really fucked everything up was Lane Johnson. He was SOOO raw, but he managed to produce as a rookie, and he pretty much fucked the curve up for Marcus… Now fans hear we drafted a “raw” OLB, but are down on him because our “raw” OLB isn’t providing what our “Raw” OT provided last year….
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Don’t people get tired of saying dumb crap that later proves to be ridiculous? Marcus is going to be a heckuva an OLB, I can say that with confidence now that I got a glimpse of his Charecter, work ethic, and how he reacts to the adversity of this entire city talking shit about him….. He is going to make a lot of people look stupid in a year or two…. Sadly it doesn’t matter, media idiots get to be completely raw every single year, and nothing happens… Every media member who wrote that FOles would NEVER be able to play for Chip, or that we would trade a promising young QB after his rookie year because he couldn’t run fast enough, should have been fired and never allowed to pollute this impressionable fanbases mind with their crap again…
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It’s the first game of the season and Les Bowan was on twitter talking shit about how we were using FOles…two minutes later he broke that 50 yard run….the only thing this media got right was that we needed to replace our kicker…. Just look at all the doom n gloom they wrote this offseason about our backup OL, which turned out to be the strength of our backups
I think people just have to be more like the patriots honestly and ignore the media completely. They don’t let their players get caught up in anything. Bill Belicheck barely speaks at press conferences, especially when they lose. Lol. I ignore them because they clearly don’t know anything about football. People need to stop listening and strip them of the only power they have.
Fans expect too much out of top draft picks without acknowledging that it takes time and development. Ertz didn’t see as much playing time until the second half of last season, when things started to slow down for him. Development is key. Draft picks shouldn’t be judged until the 3rd year, IMO. I know for a fact Marcus Smith II will be a beast, as well as being the outside linebacker we all wanted in the AR era, if not better. I like that we’re now easing our draft picks into games and not throwing them into games and hoping they produce just because of their draft status. It takes time.
Preach…. Completely agree..
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I really feel bad for kids like Marcus. It’s hard enough for him to make this transition right now. Instead of supporting the kid, 80% of the fanbase just shits on him… Kid shouldn’t have an entire city on his ass while he is worried about trying to grow into an NFL OLB..,
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All the idiots who treat him like crap will pretend they encouraged him from day one, 3 years from now when he is the best OLB/DE in the division,
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Guarantee he goes on to become better than Trent Murphy, Demarcus Lawrence and Damontre Moore!..
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Cowboys would have Demarcus Lawrence play the entire game already if he wasn’t injured. Does that make him a better pick than Marcus Smith? hell No…and if the cowboys were lucky enough to have Barwin! Cole and BG, they wouldn’t be playing Demarcus Lawrence either…. I can’t wait til that kid gets healthy, they rush him on the field, and Jason Peters mauls him as his welcome back at the end of the season when we play Dallas..
Without a doubt, having Trent Cole and Connor Barwin is a huge benefit that is being overlooked, as it is a huge key for Smith to learn from these guys. For instance, let’s look at Brandom Graham, he was rushed into games during his rookie season, he flashed his potential and was then set back by an ACL injury. It took him a couple seasons to get back on track, but look at him now; there’s a reason chip hasn’t gotten rid of him. Graham was projected as a 3-4 OLB by a good number of scouts before he got drafted, and from the looks of it he’s going to be getting a lot of playing time this season. He may even unseat Cole depending on the circumstances. With the defensive coaching staff intact for a second season, graham is sure to benefit from that. Look for him to make some noise this season. And just knowing Marcus Smith is waiting in the wings makes our linebacker situation an exciting one for the near future.
funny second sentence! why are 80% of the people below average?!? so frustrating!
It’s crazy, they’ve always been around, they just have an overwhelming voice these days…sports, politics, religion…absurdly confident idiots are taking over.
I get the angst of not having a premier pass rusher last year or this year, but unless we were picking #1 overall, there just wasn’t an answer in the draft for week 1, certainly nothing available at 22 or 27. We aren’t going into the draft looking for messiahs, that’s just not us anymore. If people feel we missed out on a stud free agent, they need to whine about that, but we aren’t looking to set any rookie records in these parts.
We could have taken other OLBs that would be more ready to play in a game this week like Trent Murphy….but what good is that when Marcus turns into twice the NFL player that Murphy is 3 years from now?
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Not to cross sports, but it’s one thing if our coaches were Larry Brown or Doug Collins that have zero patience or aptitude for developing young players…but we have proven to have awesome player development coaches, why wouldn’t fans want us to draft the kids with the highest upside, knowing they are in good hands with coaches who will help them realize that potential? I could understand if we didn’t trust our coaches developing young players…but we are so fortunate that we have these teachers on our coaching staff, why wouldn’t we shut the fuck up, and let our coaches do their thing, take kids with the highest ceiling and give them a year or two to reach that ceiling before we start spouting off at the mouth?
Justin Gilbert got ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED by Marcus Wheaton, but because the Browns suck so much that they have to play Gilbert day one, he was a great pick but the eagles reached for a bum? LOL
Detroit fans seem to be *really* down on Ebron, though.
Then they are dumb too then….that kid will be a player..
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Drafting in the top 10 doesn’t guarantee immediate help..all that says is you should end up with a probowl player 3 years later…some will be more NFL ready than others..some come from programs that prepared them to transition faster than others,,some have been playing that position since highschool, while others switched positions in college two or three years prior to being drafted…. I do think your first round pick should be able to get on the field by November or December in a limited role…but judging these kids on what they give us in September is just ridiculous…. And most of the ones playing major roles right now are on teams that suck and didn’t have better options at their position.
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Are we going to assume Derrick Carr is a better QB than BOrtles already too? Carr is playing, BOrtles isn’t….
For me it’s that we reached for need and they told us transition would be easy b/c there was scheme familiarity. Additionally, they needed a guy that could take over for Cole next year — he won’t be that guy (maybe BG will but doubtful).
The guy has a long way to go, which is fine, but I just don’t understand taking that guy no. 1, he’s raw physically and skill-wise. No doubt eagles didn’t know they had such a project on their hands but can’t kill the kid b/c he needs work in week 1.
GEAGLE mentions Ebron, that’s a case of mental issues and that’s something you have to analyze when drafting.
People need to understand how weak college players are compared to the grown ass men on the O-line. Marcus Smith is not yet big enough nor strong enough to make a significant pass rushing presence felt. Especially after BG’s awesome performance.
“Awesome” massively overstates the game BG had.
http://www.thechipwagon.com/eagles/2014/09/pimpin-brandon-graham.html
chip wagon, always thorough and excellent content
some great stuff here, guys. good read!
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/article-1/Eagle-Eye-How-The-Offense-Turned-The-Tide/56cbdf48-95cd-4ec1-bb4d-ce46b3f5510c
good stuff thanks
someone drive by and see if Tommy is ok
tommy, if you can hear me, DON’T GO TOWARDS THE LIGHT!
He’s ought to know better, if he leaves us to our own devices too long we’re going to do the message board equivalent of crapping on the rug and chewing all of his shoes.
this is the best i can tell… he’s probably busy elsewhere. selling sunglasses and whatnot.
BGN -> Barbre might require season ending surgery
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http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2014/9/9/6127189/allen-barbre-injury-eagles-offensive-line-season-ending-surgery