Deceptively Good?

Posted: October 30th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 172 Comments »

The Packers went 10-6 back in 2010. And they won the Super Bowl. That record wasn’t special, but the team was. They finished Top 10 in points and yards on both offense and defense. They also became the first team in NFL history to never trail in a game by more than 7 points. There was a toughness and consistency to that team that was amazing.

How did they lose 6 games? Well 2 of the losses came in OT. Later in the year, Aaron Rodgers got hurt and missed 1.5 games. The Pack lost both of those. The Eagles almost beat them in the season opener when Michael Vick played brilliantly in the 2nd half of the game. And the Eagles almost beat them in the Wild Card game. They were a Vick-to-Cooper completion away from winning. Green Bay was better than the average 10-6 team, but that’s what their record was.

I mention those Packers because the 2014 Eagles have somewhat of a similar feel. Obviously the Eagles don’t have a Top 10 defense and have trailed by more than 7, but my point is that the Eagles don’t have a bad loss. This occurred to me on Sunday night as the Saints were blowing the doors off the Packers, 44-23. That was a butt-kicking.

6-2 Dallas trailed in the season opener 28-3, before rallying and losing 28-17.

The 6-2 Lions lost to Carolina 24-7.

The one-loss Cardinals lost to Denver, 41-20.

The 5-3 Colts lost to the Steelers 51-34.

The Bengals currently lead the AFC North. They lost 43-17 to the Pats and 27-0 to the Colts.

New England leads the AFC North, but got its doors blown off in KC, 41-14.

The Eagles are 2 plays away from being undefeated. They lost 26-21 at SF when Riley Cooper let the winning TD go through his hands. The Eagles lost at Arizon on Sunday when they allowed the long TD late in the game and then couldn’t make a big play on the final drive to get a TD of their own.

Clearly the Eagles are a flawed team, but there is something about this group. They have gotten great STs play and that has impacted several games. The defense has scored a couple of TDs and set up another. The offense has been erratic, but excellent at times. The Eagles have enough overall firepower that they can make plays in a variety of ways. That has kept them in every game and helped them to win some.

Eagles fans talk about the bad loss at Arizona, but a little perspective changes that. Ask the other teams about a bad loss and they will tell you about an ass-kicking they got and how they lost by at least 10 points. Most of those teams were scraping and clawing to even get back into those games. The Eagles were right there ready to win, but just couldn’t make the final couple of plays that they needed.

There is no conclusion to take from all of this. We’re only 7 games in. If the Eagles finish the season not having lost by more than 7 points, that would be very impressive and a sign this could be a team that will do well in the playoffs. If the Eagles lose a game or 2 by 10 to 14 points, they’ll look like your average 10-6 kind of team.

Because of the Eagles sloppy play t his year, I don’t think enough people appreciate the Eagles 5-2 start. Go check out some power polls or team rankings lists. I’ve seen the Eagles 3rd, 4th or 5th in several. The only team in the league that I think is clearly better than the Eagles is the Denver Broncos, who are playing great right now.

The more the season moves along, the better of a feel we’ll have for the Eagles and the rest of the league. Just where do the Birds stand? The Niners and Seahawks were the teams to beat, but that’s no longer the case. That could change over the second half of the season if both get on a roll, but both of those teams are highly flawed right now.

I look forward to seeing the Eagles play Dallas and Seattle and Green Bay. Let’s find out just how good the Eagles are. Prior to the season, I didn’t see the Eagles as a Super Bowl team. The NFC is such a mess right now that nothing would surprise me.

The Eagles are getting healthy at the right time of the year and that could help them down the stretch. There is still enough time for the players to get in a groove. The team has flashed big time potential, but has yet to play its best football. This is the right time of the year to start playing consistently good football.

As a point of reference, at this point last year the Eagles were 3-4 and coming off their worst performance of the season, a 17-3 loss to Dallas. Nick Foles looked awful in that game and the offense did nothing. Chip Kelly’s critics were on the rise. The next week the Eagles lost to the Giants, 15-7. The only points came on a bad snap to the punter late in the game. There were serious questions about Kelly and his offense.

Foles and the Eagles got red hot after that and the team went 7-1 in the second half of the season.

The Eagles are far from a finished product right now, but they are a good team, and maybe a better one than many people are giving them credit for.

* * * * *

Ray Didinger wrote an excellent piece on the House of Pain Game.

Always fun to watch this…

172 Comments on “Deceptively Good?”

1 laeagle said at 8:39 PM on October 30th, 2014:
I’m sensing a “we were only a Riley Cooper dropped TD pass away from the win” pattern…
2 EagleNebula said at 8:48 PM on October 30th, 2014:
Or will we get a “Riley cooper doesn’t start playing well till mid season” pattern? He did have a 50 yard reception and a key catch on the final drive last week…
3 Crus57 said at 2:59 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Since we’re talking past years, Cooper feels a lot like a slightly upgraded Kevin Curtis to me, with a similar possibility to drop a vital pass at a crucial moment.
4 teltschikfakeout88 said at 8:53 PM on October 30th, 2014:
House of Pain game……we won 13 to 6……Usually with a defensive performance like that you would think that we would of won by 20 plus points not a lone TD….shameful how pathetic we were on offense…..missed opportunities….story of being a Eagles fan…..
5 Jamie Parker said at 9:20 PM on October 30th, 2014:
We were on our 116th QB for that game. We signed Kemp off the street. The defense was badass. The offense was an infirmary.
6 teltschikfakeout88 said at 11:47 AM on October 31st, 2014:
If I remember correctly…..Cunningham was out for the year due to ACL tear from the GB game…..McMahon was consistently injured and of course we scraped kemp of the street….Thank god we get at least one TD throw to Keith Jackson……Ill be honest…when the packers won the SB in 97….was happy for Reggie and Keith for getting their rings….
7 sonofdman said at 9:57 PM on October 30th, 2014:
They brought the house, we brought the pain!
That game was awesome!
8 Tom said at 8:02 PM on October 31st, 2014:
We played pat Ryan a construction worker at qb. Injuries bro
9 Finlay Jones said at 9:12 PM on October 30th, 2014:
We’re only as good as Nick Foles can take us, imo. If he returns closer to last year. or even an average statistical qb instead of 28th-29th, we are contenders
10 Media Mike said at 5:19 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Kelce / Mathis / Lane all back at the same time with Peters should get Foles to set his feet properly on more pass plays; that will clean up some of the bad technique throws.
11 Finlay Jones said at 6:34 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Hope so! I’m a huge Foles guy (it sets the franchise back several years if he isn’t the guy, imo), but he simply cannot carry on turning it over twice a game.
12 ceedubya9 said at 8:39 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Agreed. I like him, but he can’t keep turning the ball over like he is, especially in the redzone/field goal range. He has done a lot of good this season, but the mistakes he makes are so huge that the overshadow the good things that he has done. If he can get back to taking better care of the ball, then this team has a chance to go far.
13 BobSmith77 said at 12:27 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Nope he can’t and there are very few teams good overall to overcome that let alone this team.
14 GEAGLE said at 9:15 PM on October 30th, 2014:
I’d give anything to see my 2014 Eagles bust out those jerseys for the home game against the seahawks..white jerseys, silver pants…sick!!!
15 GEAGLE said at 9:16 PM on October 30th, 2014:
I’m telling Yous, Health permitting we get all our guys back and we grow into a group of Bad Mofos right in time for a playoff run
16 Tom said at 8:04 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Correct. Dunno why people can’t see that. Just gotta stay healthy and hope San Fran doesn’t get in too healthy
17 Jamie Parker said at 9:21 PM on October 30th, 2014:
Don’t look now, but Shady only needs 18 yds to pass Westy for 2nd on Eagles all-time rushing list.
18 P_P_K said at 10:02 PM on October 30th, 2014:
Wow. With all his struggles I completely forgot about his chasing Westy. If Shady can kick it into gear, he needs about 600 more to catch Wibert for #1.
19 Jamie Parker said at 10:20 PM on October 30th, 2014:
Yeah, 560. I see 1st round draft choice, Michael Haddix, with 88 games (Shady has 81 now) is down at #29 on the list with a whopping 1189 yards. And just 3 TD’s. LOL Great pick, Swamp Fox.
20 BobSmith77 said at 12:26 PM on October 31st, 2014:
“Haddock” was my uncle’s nickname for him when I was a kid because he ‘always flopping like a fish on the ground and had no backbone’
21 daveH said at 9:34 PM on October 30th, 2014:
YEAH F IN RICH KOTITE !!!!!
22 daveH said at 9:44 PM on October 30th, 2014:
great analogy to packers .. to overgeneralize: you never get the enjoyment of kicking everyone’s asss and then in stride you accept the trophy. nope. you gotta steal it a year before you become a good team.
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I live amongst the Gints ..when they beat the Pats..they sweated sweated and sweated ..they never knew they were a good team. we were so psyched they beat the hated cowboys ..and they snaked out victories not once feeling secure –
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I know because I had to reassure a few of them along the way .. they kept getting key defensive players along the way and became stronger. ever since ive always thought it valuable to have a few soft injuries along the way ..its defacto pacing that keeps the players fresh throughout a long brutal season.
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we don’t want to be targeted because we are the ‘only undefeated team’ ..we don’t want to be full of ourselves, loving our greatness because we read our own headlines .. need to be unsure, hungry and always on the edge.
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we could win the super bowl and still complain the Nick missed some passes, our D Backs got beat .. Shady deked when he should have run straight ..and so and so didn’t block well enough!
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we play really good and exciting football. im OK with the mistakes and the reasoablness of the different decisions that coach makes .. not everyone on the team is perfect but no one is super rich either.
..I hated andy reid so many times …don’t think he is smart and hated when he despised us back with his smugness! he made so many of the same retarded mistakes and never learned!!! time clock issues, time out issues, bad receivers,no LB’s, 60 passes, blah blah blah
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GO CHIP GO EAGLES !!
23 Mitchell said at 9:52 PM on October 30th, 2014:
One thing about Andy’s teams were that they did better as the year went along. It would be great if Hipster Chipster could follow the same trend.
24 TommyLawlor said at 11:15 PM on October 30th, 2014:
We’ll need 4 or 5 years before we can see a real trend, but it will be interesting to see if the team continues that.
25 Insomniac said at 10:16 PM on October 30th, 2014:
The defense has been playing so much better than last year. Foles has to find his stride soon or it could be another one and done in the playoffs.
26 anon said at 10:44 PM on October 30th, 2014:
difference is quality of qb play. even when giants won eli was having a crazy year. doubt any team has won the SB with as negative a TO ratio as we have. Hopefully the OL getting healthy can end these convos. I too see glimpses of a SB calibur team. Maybe seattle the year before.
27 fran35 said at 11:03 PM on October 30th, 2014:
I am very bullish on this team. The things that give me optimism are:
1. The defense. Our pass rush looks legit. Graham has been a revelation. I love watching this kid play, both for the team and him. His bad luck through injury/scheme and coaching changes has been truly remarkable. But he is showing his chops. Is he miscast in the 3-4? Maybe. But he is still showing that talent. We have been getting pressure from everywhere on the front 7….without the most explosive starter, Kendricks. Remarkable.
2..Foles is not what we saw last year. He’s not that good. But he is not what we are seeing g now either. He is finding himself in the nfl. It’s a learning process and I fear last year spoiled him and us. But he is improving.
28 TommyLawlor said at 11:14 PM on October 30th, 2014:
Would be great if Kendricks could really boost the defense.
29 jpate said at 11:16 PM on October 30th, 2014:
Anyone who studies tape know do we need to load the box to stop the run or are we able to do it with just our front 7 ala 49ers?
30 Anders said at 3:32 AM on October 31st, 2014:
In general we are good against the run with our front seven but because we play cover 3 most of the time we often have a safety close as well
31 Jamie Parker said at 11:29 PM on October 30th, 2014:
The stats on that ’91 defense are just ridiculous. People want to compare the last season’s Seahawks to the ’85 Bears and call them possibly the best defense, completely ignore the ’91 Eagles. That defense was great.
32 Media Mike said at 5:22 AM on October 31st, 2014:
91 Eagles were best D ever. There isn’t even a discussion. Look at these stats.
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-ratings/2014/historical-dvoa-estimates
33 Anders said at 8:20 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Sadly, we didnt win a SB that year, so people wont really remember it in the same mold as the 85 Bears
34 BobSmith77 said at 12:24 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Damn you Bryce Paup!
35 cliff h... Wolff tracker said at 1:13 PM on October 31st, 2014:
gotta say that is still the worst single moment in my Eagles fandom. that was sole-crushing
36 Tom said at 8:05 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Correct besides when 99 passed away
37 GEAGLE said at 5:15 PM on October 31st, 2014:
I was so young and even I remember that moment like it happened a week ago
38 Corey Dawson said at 3:20 PM on October 31st, 2014:
See that the ’91 Eagles are #17 on worst rushing offense ever? What could have been…
39 Media Mike said at 5:14 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Beating the Texans and slapping around Scam Newton (nice work last night loser) at home on Monday night should get more folks comfortable with seeing the Eagles as a quality team. Sitting at 7-2 going to Green Bay would be great.
40 ceedubya9 said at 8:42 AM on October 31st, 2014:
would be be awesome, and is very realistic.
41 anon said at 8:56 AM on October 31st, 2014:
you mean beating two more mediocre teams?
42 eagleyankfan said at 10:14 AM on October 31st, 2014:
it’s the NFL. It’s hell bent on having all teams being mediocre.
43 EagleNebula said at 11:37 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Better than losing to a mediocre or bad team… Like the Cowboys, Packers, or Seahawks. Good teams take care of business against lesser opponents, why see that as a negative?
44 botto said at 1:27 PM on October 31st, 2014:
you’re right I wish we could only play teams with winning records, but if we beat them then there record is worse so that won’t work. hmm if we could only play teams undefeated maybe, but then we win they aren’t undefeated anymore, darn, so maybe we just play no one then no one can complain we didn’t beat anyone good.
45 anon said at 1:39 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Cards had a winning record, i believe SF did too. I’m fine with those losses they were close against playoff teams and you could argue that we could have won both of those. But I think we’re right where we were last year. Beating mediocre teams losing to good ones.
46 Tom said at 8:06 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Colts
47 Media Mike said at 5:16 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Eagles / Packers wild card game, fond memories of McCoy not getting the ball, enough, Vick leaving plays/yards all over the field, and the Pack going 3 for 3 in red zone TDs against inept loser DC Sean McDermott.
http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=310109021
48 MFlick said at 7:08 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Loved that video, except when they said Jeff Kemp. I started twitching.
49 ceteris_paribus1776 said at 8:44 AM on October 31st, 2014:
The reason why people don’t think the Eagles are that good is because of who they played. Combined record of the teams the a Eagles have beaten is 14-24. The Eagles have beaten the worst team in each of the divisions we played so far this year and the only reason the Giants aren’t there is because they have not yet losses to Indianapolis on Monday night. Indy is the only ‘quality’ win, and we just saw them get a monster beat down last week. So while we can say the eagles won all these games despite Foles not playing well and despite the offensive line not being in tact, the real issue is that we are fortunate enough to get fantastic special teams plays and play some of the worst teams in the league.
50 anon said at 8:56 AM on October 31st, 2014:
yeah cardinals win would have been nice.
51 Mitchell said at 11:06 AM on October 31st, 2014:
This is how I felt as well. I guess you can find solace that the two playoff teams we lost to were not at the Linc and we were right there at the end. Cooper catches that td and we beat the 9’ers and if Matthews keeps his feet inbounds we beat the cards. So, idk, its what you make of it I guess.
52 EagleNebula said at 11:43 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Giants were considered a potential playoff team before the Eagles slaughtered them. Perspective of how good a team is always changes with circumstances unless the team is extremely good or bad. All that matters is that the Eagles win games and improve.
53 Mitchell said at 2:55 PM on October 31st, 2014:
You are absolutely right. The giants had just come off 3, AT LEAST 30 point games. We poo’d on them.
54 mtn_green said at 11:09 AM on October 31st, 2014:
If eagles lost those five games. Opponents would’ve been 19-19.
55 GEAGLE said at 8:48 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Defense has made drastic improvements on 3rd down since last year… The next step I would like to see the defense take, is tightening Up and getting back to last years level of stout redzone defense, while continue to force turnovers…
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We are ranked 4th against the run and we managed to accomplish such a high ranking without kendrick..that’s some quality improvement right there….before the season had i told you we would be a top 5 run defense, most would assume kendrick stepped up and played out of his mind…
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I don’t think many teams could deal with all the adversity THATS been thrown at us this year and still manage to be one of the top teams in the NFC
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Cowboys have to play their best football in years to be ranked towards the top of the NFC?.. We aren’t even close to firing on all cylinders and we still managed to be one of the upper echelon NFC contenders…
56 eagleyankfan said at 10:25 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Texas rb will be a huge test for this defense. Eagles stop him, they’ll be the first defense to do so this year… He’s been in beast mode the last 4 weeks….
57 Dominik said at 1:29 PM on October 31st, 2014:
You’re right, but don’t look at the Yards, look at YPC. I don’t think Foster will be under 80 Yards on Sunday (I don’t even think under 100), but how much carries does he need to get there? They just feed and feed and feed him because he’s their only weapon as long as they don’t have the QB situation solved.
On the other hand, if we can find a way to lead by 10 or 14 early Foster could have a 40 Yards rushing, 30 Yards receiving day or so.
If Fitzpatrick beats you – fine. Well, not fine, because your pass D sucks in that case. But if all the teams are loading the box against us, I see no reason why we shouldn’t have at least 8 man in the box for like 90 percent of the snaps. Maybe sometimes 9 guys, give Cary and Brad a one on one.
58 anon said at 1:38 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Foster’s at 6.3ypc over the last handfull of games.
59 Dominik said at 3:08 PM on October 31st, 2014:
I know. Not saying it’s easy to stop them. But stopping the run is the strenght of this Defense, so I expect to not see 6.3 YPC for him on Sunday.
60 GEAGLE said at 6:02 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Yeah we def have our work cut out with him…nice to get Kendrick back in our base package this week. If I’m not mistaken we only used him in passing situations on nickel or dime last week….. This week he should be full steam ahead, flying around in our 2gap 3/4…. Even with out him, our two gap 3/4 base has done really well against the run..impressive to earn a top 5 ranking without him…
…
Now, Kemdricks gets to step back into the base defense, and he will probably be behind the best Defensive Line he has played behind since he got here…we are getting really good production out of the NT spot. And Ced and Cox IMO are one of the best DE tandems in the NFl right now…
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Barwin had this game circled since August, Connar,Trent and Brandon need to set that edge because you do not want to let Foster get outside..lim confident they will keep him insider where Meco should be foaming at the mouth to hit a Texan….
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Shut down the run, force Fitzpatrik to beat us….I’d bet we force him to turn it over 2 or 3 times, ATleast 1 fumble and 1 INT…
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Let’s not help the Texans beat us… Play a clean game, and we should be fine
61 Tom said at 8:07 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Right again. Miss ya at that other blog
62 MattE said at 8:54 AM on October 31st, 2014:
All I know is that I am extremely excited about our young DL unit that looks to be our best group. Graham and Curry room together in the backfield lately, Ced Thornton may be one of the most underrated DL in the NFL and Fletch Cox seems to a rock. B&B (Bennie and Beau) also seem to be a fantastic rotation…
I hate to say it but you know what that has the makings of? The 2 NY Giants run to the Super Bowls where there only thing they did well was pressure the QB, of which I think will continue in the second half as this defense continues to improve. Don’t care about anything else as long as we can do that we are in every game.
63 unhinged said at 9:19 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Do you mean the DL that barely got a whiff of Carson Palmer last week?
64 MattE said at 9:28 AM on October 31st, 2014:
2 gappin DL just need to move that pocket, it’s on the LB’s to get in the backfield so edit the Graham comment due to him being a LB lol.
65 GEAGLE said at 9:52 AM on October 31st, 2014:
No, when the opponent passes the ball, you don’t really two gap. That’s just run defense.
66 MattE said at 12:34 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Yeah realized that when I read it over lol.
67 GEAGLE said at 5:11 PM on October 31st, 2014:
No worries..amazing how little the majority of our media understand that concept… It’s like oH Fketcher cox can’t rush the passer in a two gap scheme lol, well who the hell 2 gaps when a QB drops back to pass? Lol when a QB is looking to throw, unless it’s a zone blitz where we drop a DL in coverage, Dlineman are trying to kill the QB…
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How many times has our media said that two gapping hinders cox from rushing the passer? Lol…and we have a legion of fans who now think our players two gap on passing downs smh
68 unhinged said at 12:22 PM on October 31st, 2014:
This isn’t baseball. It wasn’t all on linebackers. The front 7 moves the QB or not, collapses the pocket or not, and they – all seven – were not disruptive enough to cause a turnover from a QB known for turning the ball over.
69 MattE said at 12:29 PM on October 31st, 2014:
I still just didn’t think Palmer was picking us apart like it’s being made out to be. Foles had TURRIBLE turnovers and the secondary blew it, the rest of the team i thought performed well enough to win.
70 unhinged said at 5:01 PM on October 31st, 2014:
I am not arguing that Palmer picked us apart. Clearly he did not. But he did win the game when it was on the line. And I agree with you, the defense played a very good game, and the offense fell well short of their capabilities. But Kelly put his money on his D when he kicked the FG, and the whole defense – including the front 7 – failed on that TD pass. Allen was beaten, but he’s being scapegoated imo.
71 GEAGLE said at 5:13 PM on October 31st, 2014:
How does the defense play a very good game, when you just claimed they got no pressure on Carson? Lol
72 GEAGLE said at 9:51 AM on October 31st, 2014:
“Didn’t get a whiff of Carson”…WOW, ignorance is on full display today!!
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Cardinaks game is the perfect example of why sack totals don’t tell the true story about how much pressure you got. We were hitting Carson, pressuring him, forcing him to rush throws all night…but because the sack stats weren’t there, fans think we didn’t get adequate pressure? Lol
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You think teams can force like five second half 3 and outs without getting pressure? Lol
73 EagleNebula said at 11:22 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Wasn’t his completion percentage way down?
74 GEAGLE said at 5:07 PM on October 31st, 2014:
that, and Practicalky going 3 and out almost the entire second half with exception to the two X play breakdowns
75 EagleNebula said at 5:14 PM on October 31st, 2014:
that is what I thought. What is it that Chip and Billy always preach: “Moving them off their spot”. I guess this game was a great example of that.
76 GEAGLE said at 12:58 AM on November 1st, 2014:
Yes sir. The perfect example of what they are always preaching. Most fans just thinks the sack stats tell the story. Sometime not getting the sack is better. For example I love not sacking Eli, I know if we rush him and force him to pass before he wants to, good chance we come away with an INT… That’s why I appreciate Cox so much. His sack numbers are down but he seems to always pressure QBs into making a bad throw Boykin or someone intercepts
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Cox doesn’t have a single sack and our other guys have been racking up sacks, but Fletcher is still the most dominant pass rusher we have, yet everyone has more sacks then him…that tells u how deceiving sack stats can be….. I don’t know how anyone could watch the Cardinals game and have te audacity to say we didn’t get pressure on him. We were blasting him all day
.,.
Just like early in the year, foles wouldn’t let anyone sack him, but he was still getting knocked around under a ton of pressure. Not
Sure what game wacko unhinged was watching. Probably reaction to forgetting to take his meds, but to say we didn’t pressure Carson is pretty ignorant
77 unhinged said at 12:17 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Yeah, everybody’s an idiot but you. All of that and Palmer had a 90+ rating. You want to dump all of that on secondary? Offense lost the game, but Palmer was able to do what he needed to, so the pressure was not enough.
78 EagleNebula said at 6:17 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Personal attacks aside, be careful of your evidence. Passer ratings have been shown to not necessarily tell the whole story. I even heard a comment about how Dan Marino would throw Hail Marys out of bounds to ensure he wouldn’t get Ints because he once missed a bonus on the effect a meaningless Int had on his passer rating. I think the inability of AZ to sustain a drive is much more indicative of how the front 7 and whole defense played vs. the impact of 2 big plays.
Also, saying someone “was able to do what he needed to” is about as vague a statement as you can make and applies to every single person on the winning team. That is akin to saying – “they were able to score the points they needed to”… By definition they did enough and the Eagles did not because they won.
79 GEAGLE said at 1:00 AM on November 1st, 2014:
Well said
80 unhinged said at 5:45 PM on November 1st, 2014:
Let me be as specific as a lawyer: When he made the throw that decided the game, Palmer wasn’t hit, wasn’t moved, wasn’t impeded at all, and, your honor, I was responding to a post touting the greatness of our defensive line. A play there might have had me agreeing. I love where Kelly is taking this defense, but it’s a work in progress, and given the opportunity to win the game despite the offense’s execution issues, it came up short. Not so great.
81 EagleNebula said at 5:55 PM on November 1st, 2014:
One play does not define a game, nor is that argument change the fact that the statement is in essence the same as saying “to win a game you need to score more points than your opponent”. In fact, using the same logic we can blame the existence of that play on the secondary. Had Carroll been able to intercept the ball on the play before, instead of knocking it away (he had a shot at the interception), then the play in question would not have existed. But alas, the secondary did not do enough and put the DL in a position where they were not able to do enough.
82 MattE said at 12:26 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Take away a 75 yard bomb to Brown and the other broken coverage on Fitzgerald and what does Palmer have left?
I agree sacks aren’t the story. Palmer did not have a clean pocket all night, it wasn’t the NYG game but i thought the front 7 did a decent job. This game was on the secondary, and no one is going to tell me otherwise…
83 GEAGLE said at 5:06 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Take away those two x plays and we hold them to 245 yards of offense i believe
84 BallFace said at 12:44 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Yeah, fans are so ignorant… except for the great GEAGLE.
You are the biggest dumbass in the history of the internet. Never post again you frickin’ loser.
85 the DONALD said at 12:52 PM on October 31st, 2014:
BallFace is getting UPSET!! you wont like BALLFACE when hes UPSET!
86 GEAGLE said at 9:05 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Don’t really think there is anything deceptive about us being a good team.. I don’t at all believe poor or average teams could have persevered thru all the adversity that has been thrown at us and go 5-2 having to claw and scratch our way thru a ton of adversity.
…
Winning each game 40-7 is good for our blood pressure, but I think having to stick together, step up and cover for each other, perserver through all types of adversity will pay off down then stretch for us much more than had we just steamrolled everyone without breaking a sweat….
..
If we weren’t 5-2 and our guys weren’t coming back from injury I would be singing a different tune… But if we can have one of the better records in the conference while overcoming so much crap, it can really pay dividends for the development of our young team come DECEMBER and January..
…
Now that we get our OL back, I’d like to see
1) our run game take that next step
2) defense tighten up in the redzone, offense tighten up in redzone,
3) cut down penalties
4)’cut down the turnovers
5) not lose anyone to injuries.
…
The more we can improve in those areas the better chance we have at a Cinderella playoff run
87 EagleNebula said at 11:21 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Exactly, those are the reasons why the birds are good. The deceptive part is with the those who are claiming the Eagles schedule has been easy or they have been lucky while ignoring the adversity they overcame.
88 BobSmith77 said at 12:54 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Every team has some degree of adversity in the NFL. Not really all that relevant and it is fair to say the Eagles have played a weak schedule so far.
Against likely playoff teams, they are 1-2. To me this is a competitive team and a good team. Better than I thought they would given their offseason/draft so far but one that is tossup against playoff-caliber teams.
89 EagleNebula said at 1:04 PM on October 31st, 2014:
not really fair at all, perception of strength of schedule is heavily skewed and flawed. I have outlined the issues with strength of schedule elsewhere put simply it is a bad stat based on massive amounts of assumptions.
As is your assumption that the eagles are 1-2 against “play off teams”. Chances are either the cards or 49ers won’t make the playoffs, so really they have played 2 play off teams. IF you want to count contenders, when when do we assume they are contenders? If we take the perception of the team at the time of playing them, then the eagles are at least 2-2 cause the Giants were considered contenders before the birds beat them down…and shut them out. All wins count the same as do losses, all that matters is the schedule.
90 botto said at 1:08 PM on October 31st, 2014:
true, everyone thought the giants were good until we crushed them now it’s as though we beat a crappy team. but they were good, then we beat them so….
91 anon said at 1:26 PM on October 31st, 2014:
that’s true.
92 EagleNebula said at 2:28 PM on October 31st, 2014:
even more circular logic, had the eagles beaten the giants in week 1 or 2, then they would have beaten a bad team – wait, no a good team before they figured out their offense – wait, no just a bad team…
93 BobSmith77 said at 1:12 PM on October 31st, 2014:
It isn’t a ‘biased’ number. People who don’t understand statisticis would state that. It just has certain psychometric properties that limit its utility a bit.
94 EagleNebula said at 1:43 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Actually I do understand statistics extremely well, I also understand how statistics are influence by assumptions made. I also understand the importance of sample size in determining g the validity of the statistics used – for example you can not apply Gaussian distributions to sample sized that are less than hundreds or thousands – Poissonian statistics handle those better.
Another factor is handling multi variable statistics such as the case in football, really that requires linear algebra and multi-dimensional integration… You want to test me, bring it on.
95 BobSmith77 said at 1:53 PM on October 31st, 2014:
This has nothing to do with multi-variable statistics.
It isn’t a ‘biased’ measure either. Just has some clear limitations and limited predictive value going ahead forward especially due to the SSS.
96 EagleNebula said at 2:16 PM on October 31st, 2014:
1. Biased statistics are ones in which the data is achieved by leading question, removing “outliers” etc. This has nothing to do with that.
2. Multi-variable statistics are ones which do not assume all potential variables can be ignored. That is completely applicable here.
How well a team will play on a given day – leading to either a win or a loss – is influenced by multiple factors. If you ignore all of those factors and claim that you can tell how good a team is by the W-L record of their opponents you are making an assumption that those variables do not matter, that is a huge and flawed assumption. Here are a few of the variables you are assuming do not matter:
1. Health of team
2. Health of opponent
3. Weather/Indoor v. outdoor
4. Location of game (home v. away)
5. Divisional v. non-divisional
6. Favorable matchups
7. overall talent of each team/coaching staff
8. Time between games (short week v. bye week etc)
9. Instability/Locker room (disunity among a team – i.e. bears)
10. Opponents-opponents and all of these factors when they played
11. Is the team progressing or regressing
12. Coaching Tree – if a team has members of each others coaching staff then they may have insights into how to attack the other team
13. Scheme match-ups
If you think you can ignore all of that within the first 6 games of a season and still claim that two 3-3 teams are equally “good”… It isn’t a “limited stat” it is deeply flawed and based on unsound reasoning.
Further food for thought. If the Eagles beat the AZ, the SOS would be slightly weaker since the AZ would have one more loss and one less win. Not only that, but the discussion probably wouldn’t be that the Eagles beat 2 “play off” teams, it would probably shift to “the AZ are actually not as good as their record indicated and they will probably fade as they face better teams at full strength”. And I can almost guarantee people would be claiming “the Eagles are only 1-1 against potential playoff teams.” Strength of Schedule is not a viable measure of anything in the way it is constructed.
97 NineseveN said at 2:48 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Uh, I do statistics for a living, and only a person who thinks they understand statistics but really doesn’t would state what you just said. Strength of schedule prior to the tail end of the season works with a severely flawed and incomplete data set. It’s like using a sample of 10 people collected at 2:22pm outside of a downtown McDonalds to conduct a survey on national attitudes towards the crisis in Mogadishu (well, perhaps not that bad, but still).
This early in the season, a single win or loss can easily determine the perception of a team’s strength, a second win or loss has an even greater impact. 2 games right now represents between 25% and 28.5% of a team’s schedule. The Bengals looked legit until they became a 2 loss team. However, if the back end of their schedule mirrors their performance in the front, they end up probably at 10-5-1. If we lose to the Colts, they sit at 6-2 and look like a legit team. It’s patently stupid to look at strength of schedule and make an argument out of it right now. Sure, there’s a psychometric component to it, but that’s far outweighed at this point by the fact that single game outcomes have inordinate weight against win-loss percentage based on the smaller sample size.
1 game out of 2 is 50%, 1 game out of 7 is 14.29%…1 out of 8 is 12.5%. A win or loss in a single game this early in the season will shift a team’s win percentage and mathematical strength of schedule by 12.5% to 14.3%….by the end of the season, that weight is reduced to 6.25% for a single game. 50% of the league is undefeated after game 1 of the regular season. A team that beats a 1-0 team in week 2 appears stronger based on strength of schedule than a team that beats a 0-1 team. None of that means anything and until single game weight gets down under 10% of a team’s schedule (11 games), strength of schedule is meaningless piss in the wind.
98 EagleNebula said at 3:09 PM on October 31st, 2014:
well said and thank you for backing me up. This is a great explanation of the impact of small numbers on a distribution.
99 GEAGLE said at 4:59 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Good stuff mate
100 GEAGLE said at 5:05 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Well said mate
101 GEAGLE said at 4:58 PM on October 31st, 2014:
It’s one thing to stick a young inexperienced backüp OL in between two veteran OLineman, that’s hard enough to overcome…. When you have to line up an inexperienced right guard, next to an inexperienced center, next to anotjer inexperienced guard, NOT MANY teams can face That type of adversity and still find ways to win…
…
I think THATS harder to overcome than the majority of adversity other teams have had to face….Losing your center is detrimental enough as it is, but to have 3 backüp interior OL next to each other is about as much adversity as a team could possibly face… I don’t know if many teams could manage to overcome THAT.
102 Dell24 said at 9:06 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Good call Tommy. I feel like this is a weird year where any team could steal it. Denver will be tough to beat, but I see no reason the birds can’t make some noise if they start playing to their potential. If/when we get into the playoffs, Nick’s regular season stats don’t mean squat, it’s a new season.
Going 5-2 so far with the O-line they’ve had and without Kendricks for4- 5 games is somewhat remarkable and they haven’t been blown out. I am hoping they start to come on strong and peak at the right time.
103 BobSmith77 said at 12:50 PM on October 31st, 2014:
You can’t anything about the playoffs right now. No idea what this team will look like at the end of the season including whether they fade down the stretch a bit and finish 10-6/WC or maybe even clinch a bye at 12-4.
104 sprawl said at 9:16 AM on October 31st, 2014:
Good reminder about this point in the season last year. Somewhere between the Dallas and NYG games we actually went 10 whole quarters without scoring ANY points on offense. We got 1 FG in the Dallas game but I refuse to count that because that was due to an interception in Dallas territory and the offense failed to actually move the ball to contribute to the FG.
Even with shaky Foles, a banged up OL, missing Kendricks for a big chunk and then not having Sproles last Sunday things are looking better…
105 mtn_green said at 11:22 AM on October 31st, 2014:
2010 packers are just one comparison.
Unfortunately eagles biggest problems are unpredictable: turnovers.
Red zone problems are more predictable and plague a team from game to game but hard to fix, until OL starts getting push again.
106 BobSmith77 said at 12:37 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Tough game but a game the Eagles will win an ugly week with Sproles and Kelce back. I think they’ll win 3 of the next 4 headed into Thanksgiving vs Dallas at 8-3 and they are headed to 11-5. Question is does Dallas fade or completely fall back if Romo misses time.
Still think it is admirable but foolish to try to let Herremans play this week at 80-85%. Better if they just inserted his replacement for the year, let whoever that was practice all week with the 1st offensive unit, and moved ahead forward.
107 P_P_K said at 3:05 PM on October 31st, 2014:
If the Eagles are 9-3 after Thanksgiving, where do you see the other 2 loses? The Seahawks will be tough, but I’m figuring we run the table on our NFC East foes.
If you are right pre-TGiving and I’m right post TGiving, the Eagles go 12-4 with lots of mojo into the playoffs.
108 EagleNebula said at 4:57 PM on October 31st, 2014:
I am concerned about Herremans too, but I think the problem is that his replacement is currently playing LG and they must not trust the other guys under him as much as they trust Herremans at whatever capacity he seems to be playing. The only other guy I thought of that may be ok to plug in there this week is Molk, but he needs reps at center in case Kelce can’t go.
**EDIT: I guess there is Gardner too, but…
109 GEAGLE said at 5:04 PM on October 31st, 2014:
The problem is that focker JJ Watt moves around all over the place looking for a sweet,matchup to capitalize on…at some point he will find the one armed Herremans in front of him hopefully we can keep this monster from killing our QB..
…
Think we catch a huge break that so much of our run game starts off with double team combo blocks..I don’t trust a slightly torn bicep to be able to make the initial run block by himself… I don’t worry as much about pass blocking with his bicep, but if he had to fire off the ball alone and drive his man backwards in the run game, that would worry me…thankfully we have a lot of run plays that start offs it tho combo blocks. So hopefully lane or Kelce helps Todd make the initial block, let him secure the guy, then they can peel off and go hunting for LBs in the 2nd level
…
Fortunateky Clowney and Cushing won’t play this week
110 EagleNebula said at 5:10 PM on October 31st, 2014:
I am still in shock he can do anything with a torn bicep… that being said, the value over replacement may still be higher. Any way you slice it, Watt is a monster and the RG will need help whoever is in there.
111 McNabbulousness said at 12:45 PM on October 31st, 2014:
“They were a Vick-to-Cooper completion away from winning.”
one of the worst passes i can remember. it was a brett favreian INT. we were moving the ball down the field at will on that drive. that pass didn’t need to be thrown.
112 GermanEagle said at 1:46 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Vick just got too greedy.
113 Anders said at 8:01 AM on November 1st, 2014:
or Vick should just had put more air on it.
114 Mac said at 12:47 AM on November 1st, 2014:
Cooper could have played defense and batted it down (in theory). It was a major gamble which probably cost the team a SB.
115 BobSmith77 said at 12:48 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Foles did need to perform better but the calls to start Sanchez this week have been ludicrous. Yeah his deep throws have been underwhelming all season long statistically but teams really haven’t been playing him much differently either.
Been an o-line that was overrated to begin with (people seem to forget they wore down badly last year and this OL struggled in threes of their last 4 games last year including the Saints playoff game) and with the injuries with season been a bottom-tier unit most of the season.
No QB in the NFL has been under more duress as a % of his pass attempts. Teams actually have been blitzing him slightly less as a result yet have been able to generate a lot more pressure. Foles though does seem to have gotten in some bad habits as a result of it and his increased desire to avoid taking sacks.
The only way Foles should lose his job at this point is if he gets injured, misses 3-4 games, and the offense really clicks with Sanchez as the starter over that period. Ditto if they somehow would lose the next 3 weeks and Foles struggles badly especially with turnovers/bad decisions. Strong case to bench him at 5-5 and look to an alternative to try to salvage the season.
To me this season was never if Foles was Brady/Manning/Brees. Foolish comparisons to begin with and not apt comparisons. More if Foles could stay healthy all year, not make a ton of turnovers/bad decisions, improve the sacks issues, and finish in the Top 15 in almost all QB stat categories. He hasn’t done that so far and understand why people are critical of him but a lot of the criticism is either misguided or idiocy.
116 anon said at 1:00 PM on October 31st, 2014:
his number are terrible this year. the team is winning but it’s in spite of him offense not because of him. Just look at the numbers, completion %, ypa, turnover %, qbr, passer rating, etc. On a team where we’re generally tossing screens or throwing to wide open guys.
I thought 411 yards was impressive, but then you realize it’s off of 62 pass attempts instead of 40-50 attempts (both luck and big ben hit 400yds last week with under 50 attempts).
you gotta wonder at what point we regress to the mean if the stats don’t get better? Even when shady put up 162yds in a blowout foles still tossed up two terrible tos. So i don’t know if it’ll be that much different when OL is back and run game is clicking.
117 BobSmith77 said at 1:13 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Foles hasn’t played well overall but it has been 7 games. To me the killer have been the turnovers. It was Vick’s biggest limitation and it has been a huge problem this year especially since this defense doesn’t force many.
62 pass attempts last week was idiocy in a game where the Eagles never trailed by double digits/had an effective run game most of the day.
Kelly largely got a a pass on it this week from the media. if Reid had done that, he would have been buried all week log.
118 anon said at 1:26 PM on October 31st, 2014:
I think Kelly thinks his players can execute and scheme. And i think he was right to think that after Foles’ performance last year. Here cards have terrible pass D, great run D, we saw what happened in the SF game so he said whatever we’ll kill them in the air, especially after Peterson went down.
But he’s gotta be getting tired of Foles. Earlier in the year we had lots of over the top opportunities but Foles was terrible at them. So we stopped throwing them with such frequency. Now it’s a ton of short / intermediate throws and his completion percentage hasn’t increased noticeably. He’s throwing a TON of routes to the sideline which are low change of getting picked off and we basically ignore the middle of the field which is how Kelly wanted to attack this year (see Ertz). What do you do to help him improve?
119 Avery Greene said at 2:39 PM on October 31st, 2014:
I think this is the question. We haven’t seen improvement as the year has progressed, but the opposite.
Had an interesting conversation with my dad (I respect his football knowledge greatly), and he seems to think that Foles has about another 2 weeks to play like this before he gets benched – winning or not.
If our QB can cut out the TOs and make a couple plays here and there, we should make a deep run. If this was last year, I’d see waiting out the year – but if you do you may cost yourself a playoff spot or lose in your first game in the playoffs.
There’s more at stake here than his feelings and his career. That sounds mean, but I hope he can turn it around for the sake of everyone.
120 EagleNebula said at 2:46 PM on October 31st, 2014:
I agree that Foles has been extremely inconsistent and making too many mistakes. He isn’t where he needs to be but I think he is improving in some areas. For example, he has improved somewhat on the deep throws. The TDs to Maclin last week and to Ertz against the Giants were not just beautiful throws, but they were also difficult ones that he wasn’t connecting on earlier in the season. And he wasn’t hitting on plays like the 50 yarder to Cooper against AZ. I also liked that he threw the ball away better against AZ. The interceptions are frustrating and his mechanics are inconsistent, but those will get fixed through repetition of good behavior… just takes time. This isn’t a one week fix where suddenly he is perfect. Unfortunately, after a loss like AZ, the poor plays stand out more than the good.
121 Avery Greene said at 2:56 PM on October 31st, 2014:
I do agree.
A couple articles I’ve read this week on Foles is just like his play. Inconsistent. One article (BGN) showed some All-22 film of Foles bailing on a clean pocket and moving into pressure. Or holding onto the ball too long.
The other, showed a play they ran a few times in the game. One was an INT, the other was a completion. He made a bad decision on the first one, but when they ran it again he nailed it – so that is progress.
I can’t figure him out, but as the season wears on sometimes patience doesn’t work. IMO, I’d give him to game 12ish (if they are still winning more than losing), but if a playoff spot is in jeopardy, I wouldn’t be mad at pulling him. Again, lots of ifs, but there’s so much at stake that we have to know that the pressure isn’t getting to him.
122 EagleNebula said at 5:39 PM on October 31st, 2014:
If they are winning you don’t pull him. That will cause more problems than it will fix. Your back up hasn’t had the same number of reps with the center or RB, it is a fumble waiting to happen. He also hasn’t taken the same number of reps with the starting WR – won’t be on the same page and an Int waiting to happen plus numerous incompletions that may not have been with the starting QB. This isn’t a pitcher who you can swap in and out of the lineup.
123 ConcussedFB said at 5:23 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Just for the sake of argument, they split the next 2 games. Your dad and you think they would bench a QB that’s 6-3 for back up QB that hasn’t taken a meaningful snap? And somehow that would help a playoff run?
124 GermanEagle said at 1:32 PM on October 31st, 2014:
With the Saints playing at home in 4 of their next 5 games, it is more than likely that they will wrap up the poor NFC South.
That being said I do NOT want to play the Saints at their home in the playoffs.
Better take care of our business and secure the #2 seed in the NFC!!!
125 anon said at 1:39 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Was thinking same thing last night.
126 A_T_G said at 4:10 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Agreed. A home playoff game against the Saints is a sure win…
127 GermanEagle said at 6:25 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Guess the same applies to the packers and Seahawks. Winning in their home in the playoffs is so incredibly hard.
128 Anders said at 8:00 AM on November 1st, 2014:
100% why I want us to get as high seed as possible. Right now Cards is no. 1 seed and they might stay there rest of the season, so really hope we get 2nd seed.
129 anon said at 8:02 AM on November 1st, 2014:
sea might be fighting for a wild card spot
130 Mac said at 2:47 AM on November 1st, 2014:
I think that one sailed high.
131 Anders said at 5:38 PM on October 31st, 2014:
If we only get 2nd seed, I really hope Cards get 1st seed in terms of toughness of the other potential 1st seeds homefield
132 ACViking said at 3:11 PM on October 31st, 2014:
From a different era (read: pre-free agency) . . .
But I remember a team with a decades-old reputation now as a truly dominant one — at least for one season.
The 1986 NYGiants went 14-2 and in winning the SB, blew out the post-season competition over 3 games by a combined score of 105-23.
The fact is, though, the Giants were actually not especially dominant for most of the 1986 season.
Although 10-3 out of the gate, those 13 games were decided by an average of just 6.9 points — with 6 games decided by 3 or less and 1 game by 4 pts.
But over the last 6 games, including 3 in the post-season, the Giants became a juggernaut — winning by an AVG of 24 points.
_____________
For a comparison, the 1985 Bears won 15 games in the regular season by
an AVG of 18 points.
In 3 playoff games, the Bears won by an average of 27 points.
The Bears were Secretariet to the Giants’ Seattle Slew.
______________
Nearly 30 years later, the games changed, to be sure. Teams cannot build sustainably dominant defenses. And great offenses seem more than ever to be the product of having a great QB than anything else.
But what the 1986 Giants did is what every SB winning team aspires to do: Get red hot down the stretch.
The ’10 Packers did it.
This Eagles team — stumbling at times like the ’86 Giants, but still winning — could do the same.
To win the SB, I think the Birds have to do that.
133 Anders said at 7:59 AM on November 1st, 2014:
The 2007 and 2011 Giants did it…. So it seems the Giants have 3 SBs by been red hot, but not especially dominating in the regular season
134 Midnight_Greenville said at 3:42 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Got to play well enough in the regular season to get to the post season, and then get hot at the right time. (And hope for favorable match ups in the postseason as well). That was the formula for the Packers when they won, and for the Giants both years they won recently. The same could be said for Seattle last year, and Baltimore the year before.
I think getting hot at the end is totally possible for this Eagles team. If they stay healthy the rest of the year, they have 4 or 5 games for the O-line to gel (crossing fingers that Herremans’ injury isn’t too bad), and hopefully get Foles on a roll. Shady should have plenty left in the tank as well. (Unlike DeMarco Murray who statistically should regress a little–good stats from Kempski on that one).
The 1991 season for the Eagles is the best example of how you have to be lucky AND good. If Randall doesn’t get hurt that year, there is no way they don’t win the super bowl.
135 Sean Stott said at 5:02 PM on October 31st, 2014:
I’ve read analyses about how the 91 Eagles defense was the best defense ever. Better than 85 Bears, better than 2000 Ravens.
136 Media Mike said at 6:00 PM on October 31st, 2014:
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-ratings/2014/historical-dvoa-estimates
137 Midnight_Greenville said at 6:33 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Totally agree. Ironic thing is if McMahon stayed healthy for us after Randall got hurt, he might have won a 2nd super bowl, each with one of the two greatest defenses of the modern era.
138 Koy Detmer said at 4:38 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Look for Nick to turn things around this week. I expect Chip to rely on the run game to open up the passing attack
139 botto said at 5:20 PM on October 31st, 2014:
phew this week huh? finally. so just use the run game right? ok sounds great. should be an easy win.
140 Mitchell said at 11:09 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Cool it Capn. Salt.
141 jsehunt said at 5:10 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Jesus Tommy!! You can’t just unleash a Kotite video on us without warning. A closeup even. Jeez! How about a spoiler alert or something? My eyes are still burning.
142 TommyLawlor said at 8:42 PM on October 31st, 2014:
My apologies. That was out of line, even close to Halloween.
143 GEAGLE said at 5:29 PM on October 31st, 2014:
We won’t lose this week. Teams don’t have much of a chance unless they win the turnover battle… Hopefully FOles and the offense plays a clean game keeping penalties down and taking care of the ball…. But even if we have another boneheaded two turnover game, I’m sure our defense will force Fitzpatrik to turn it over ATleast twice…so if the turnover margin is even, I doubt they can beat us…
,,,
Thinking they would need to be +2 against us in the turnover battle to beat us,,…
..
I am pretty confident in our front 7 having a good showing against Foster.. And hopefully after what happened last week we don’t dare allow hopkins or Dre to get behind ourur secondary…
..
I don’t think this team is good enough to beat us straight up. They would have to junk up the game and get big ST plays and have a few big X plays on offense like the Carfinals did. Maybe score on defense,.
…
If both team have a clean game, keep mistakes to a minimum, think we good enough to beat this team 7 out of 10 times….. Hopefully we don’t help this team beat us by having coverage breakdowns or stupid turnovers..
..
We have our starting center and Sproles back, as we get healthy I expect us to look more and more like the offensive Juggernaut I expect us to be when we are at full strength, firing on all cylnders
144 GEAGLE said at 5:35 PM on October 31st, 2014:
JJ Watt plays like he is possessed..I’d like to see us take advantage of his aggression,slow him down and give him something to think about for the rest of the game, by calling some screens early, aimed to take advantage of his aggression..
..
Another aggressive defender Id like to take advantage of us hard hitting safety DJ Swearinger. We got our center back, time to turn our run game up a notch, and get SProles and Shady going, so we can suck Swearinger in with a play actions fake, and take some shots Down field..I’ll take Maclin against Jonathon Joseph any day.
…
On. Defense, their RT is weak in pass protection, Id like to see jacked up Barwin make him look like a revolving door on Sunday… I expect some extra OOMPH in Meco’s tackles in his Texan homecoming…. I also expecting Braman to be jacked up for this one..
145 GermanEagle said at 6:24 PM on October 31st, 2014:
I’m not sure if screen plays are a good idea. JJ that’s Watt’s Up has already two picks 6 as a result of those plays.
146 GEAGLE said at 10:34 PM on October 31st, 2014:
“Don’t care if Jesus is on the field, we running our offense” Jason F. Kelce
..
A defensive freak such as myself is going to respect and be in awe of JJ, but we need to impose our will and do what we do…he may be the best DT in the game, but Sproles is the best screen player/scatback in the game… I would hope we can execute a screen pass…
..
Don’t have to throw the screens to his side.. Can also throw WR screens away from him..
…
I’m just so excited to get Sproles back. I feel like everytime I get to see him in an Eagles jersey its a treat. I’m going to cherish his stint as an eagle…love that tiny gridiron Gangsta!
147 Insomniac said at 4:39 AM on November 1st, 2014:
Watt might be a freak but even freaks get tired without getting a break.
148 Anders said at 7:45 AM on November 1st, 2014:
Not Watt, seriously that guy plays 100% all the time.
149 anon said at 12:49 AM on November 1st, 2014:
that’s funny… he can rush and cover
150 GEAGLE said at 1:08 AM on November 1st, 2014:
So? If he lines up to the right and we throw left, who cares.. Let him fly off the line unblocked, but it has to be a quick hitting screen, not a screen that needs time to set up…
..
Btw, see the last play of the game when jordan caught it out of bounds and we lost the game? Jordan was the WR lined up on the left. If you look at Maclin on the right, before the ball was snapped the CB a in front off Maclin starts back peddling and he is standing in the end zone waiting by the time we snapped the ball. Wish foles would have snapped the ball and immediately throw a smoke pass to a wide open Maclin, his defender was waiting in the end zone, we would
Need Maclin to jike him, break a tackle, or trick the defender and fall forward into the defender. That’s risky but not any less risky as that fade to the rookie
151 anon said at 1:11 AM on November 1st, 2014:
see article posted at the top of the thread
152 Anders said at 7:46 AM on November 1st, 2014:
No way I unblock Watt. Unblock what ever crappy player opposed to Watt and just double Watt.
153 Media Mike said at 7:47 AM on November 1st, 2014:
Or do a modified double with a trap block where he gets past one guy, but get earholed by pulling O-lineman
154 Anders said at 7:48 AM on November 1st, 2014:
Not sure if that evens works sometimes against Watt.
I suppose people who watched Reggie White or Bruce Smith in their prime, that it was sorta the same. Sometimes you just couldnt block em.
155 Media Mike said at 7:50 AM on November 1st, 2014:
If he lines up over our left side I have no doubt Peters could stalemate him.
156 Anders said at 7:53 AM on November 1st, 2014:
Jason Peters and JJ Watt might also be the two biggest freaks in the NFL.
157 GEAGLE said at 5:36 PM on October 31st, 2014:
NFL continues to act like a Joke… 22,000 fine to trent Cole for that weak roughing the passer play, but Deonne Buchanon is allowed to head hunt defensless WRs and no punishment is handed down? GTFO here
158 EagleNebula said at 5:40 PM on October 31st, 2014:
At least he hurt his own teammate and not Maclin. That was such a dirty hit he deserves to have to look at the guy he concussed every day for the rest of the season.
159 GEAGLE said at 6:10 PM on October 31st, 2014:
True that… He really did try to Tee off on Maclin
160 sutherneagle said at 7:51 PM on October 31st, 2014:
wasn`t Maclin bleeding from the ear?
161 EagleNebula said at 8:00 PM on October 31st, 2014:
True, but I thought for sure he had a concussion when I watched that live. You are right though, Maclin was not completely unscathed.
162 Anders said at 7:45 AM on November 1st, 2014:
The bleeding was from a cut from his earring.
If he had bleed from the ear, it would have been a busted eardrum and he wouldnt be able to keep playing.
163 GEAGLE said at 5:48 PM on October 31st, 2014:
Looking like nate will miss the Texans game..guess we have to give him some slack for the breakdown against the Carfinals since his injury happened in the middle of that play…
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Wolff seems like he has been in the dog house, this could be a huge opportunity for the young man.. There is also the chance that the kid has us missing Nate Allen lol.. Hopefully he capitalizes on the opportunity, goes out, plays so well that it makes it hard for Nate to get his job back…how likely is that? Beats the hell out of me….
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What I do know is Wolff has the body and skillset to become a fantastic safety. he also has been claiming that he has a great grasp of the playbook…if that’s the case, then go out there. Be aggressive, fly around, play fast and make some plays without being a liability…
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Its clear that the coaching staff hasnt been to thrilled with him since the Niners game…it’s middle of year two, he was given schematic continuity from last season…so go out there and TAKE the starting safety spot!
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I don’t have much confidence, but I’m certainly rooting for you!… All I ask is I don’t hear a single word about that damn knee after the game!
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With that said,,Wolff was involved a lot in ST last week, so the coaches havent completely lost faith in him…it’s not like he is one of our only 11 good ST players…we have a stable of ST horses, we didn’t HAVE to play Wolff, the fact that we did, I interpret as not having lost all hope in the young man…
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maragos needs to be ready in case of an injury this week, and I’m assuming Jalen Watkins will dress again…my understanding is we didn’t dress him last week because he was hurt, since the week before he was playing the gunner position like a madman
164 Mac said at 4:00 AM on November 1st, 2014:
Funny story… 2 hammies cost us 14 points last Sunday. (grrr)
165 anon said at 1:00 AM on November 1st, 2014:
wow. tommy et al. did you see the bgn all 22 on foles and the AZ game? link below. they obviously don’t show all 62 pass plays which would be interesting, but it’s extra ugly.
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2014/10/31/7135407/nick-foles-film-review-poor-decisions-footwork
166 Insomniac said at 4:47 AM on November 1st, 2014:
Remaining highly critical of Foles is something that most people don’t want to do here. As much as I want him to take that next step, I also can’t help flipping a table if he makes stupid throws that Vick also made. He’s getting Kelce and Mathis back soon, the excuses are going to run dry if he keeps his “barely good enough to win” play up.
167 Anders said at 7:44 AM on November 1st, 2014:
We had Kelce and Mathis in the first game and in the pre season where he made the same mistakes.
168 Media Mike said at 7:46 AM on November 1st, 2014:
But no Lane at that point and RT was a S-show until Lane returned.
I agree that Foles has been looking poor all year, but at no point have we used out run game to put the D on their heels, rather than passing too often leaving Nick on his.
169 Anders said at 7:47 AM on November 1st, 2014:
The run game has zero to do with Foles not trusting his eyes (see first int versus Zona where he pulled a sure TD down, then rushed his mechanics and threw the int)
170 Media Mike said at 7:49 AM on November 1st, 2014:
I totally agree with you on that play, but I think part of what has hurt Foles is that the lack of running dominance has been making things more confusing for him in the pass game.
171 Engwrite said at 9:23 AM on November 1st, 2014:
What excites me about this Eagles team is potential. They haven’t played a complete game yet, not even the 27-0 beating of the Giants. IF they stopped getting injured, IF the OL gets healthy, IF Foles gets halfway to where he was last year (which may be related to the OL health), IF Davis keeps calling an aggressive Defense, this team can do what last year’s team couldn’t. Dare I say it? Unless they face Denver. (A healthy Peyton Manning owns the Eagles)
172 Stephen said at 6:55 PM on November 12th, 2014:
.
good.