Q & A
Posted: October 21st, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 326 Comments »There isn’t one overwhelming storyline for this morning so let me answer some questions I’ve been getting.
Should the Eagles trade for Vincent Jackson? Ian Rappoport tweeted out on Sunday that the Bucs have been getting a lot of calls about veteran WR Vincent Jackson. The team isn’t looking to dump him, but they are having an awful season and might be open to moving him for a pick or two.
The Eagles WR play has been solid. There have been some impressive games and some below-average showings as well. I would certainly have no problem with adding a player like Jackson. He is a big, physical WR that would almost certainly help the struggling Red Zone offense. That said, Jackson is 31. I’d be careful about acquiring an older WR. If the price was right, he might be of definite interest. I just don’t see the Bucs as having a fire sale. I’m not looking for the Eagles to deal a high pick for an older WR.
Is Nick Foles right for Chip Kelly’s football culture? He is darn near perfect. That’s the frustrating thing with Foles. As a person, he is exactly what you want for this team and city. He’s got kind of a boring personality. He’s not going to say the wrong thing and get the fans or media riled up. Foles is a gym rat type of player. He enjoys practice and loves working. He’s not obsessed on money or stardom. He’s not looking to develop a “brand”, like Cam Newton or RG3. Foles just wants to play football.
As perfect as he is off the field, Foles remains inconsistent on it. A lot of non-Eagles people see him on a Sunday or Monday night game and get on Twitter and talk about how unimpressed they are. I think Foles is an acquired taste. He looks odd. You have to get used to watching him to get over the fact he’s not Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers. Think of him as a poor man’s Philip Rivers. His style is odd, but he’s able to get the job done.
I get the feeling Kelly would really like Foles to show that he’s “the guy” on the field because he values him so much off it.
Is Arizona a must-win game, to avoid falling behind the Cowboys? I don’t think of any October game as must-win. The Eagles still have 2 games left with Dallas. Sweep those and you will likely win the division. The Dallas defense is still very vulnerable. This isn’t a juggernaut team, but I do give them credit for playing better than I ever expected.
Is there any chance Nolan Carroll gets a shot to start over Bradley Fletcher? We thought that might be the case earlier this year, but Kelly and the coaches seem content with Fletcher for now. Carroll is doing a good job of playing a LB in the Dime defense. The Eagles also talked about having Carroll rotate in at both corner spots to help keep Cary and Brad fresh. I don’t think they’ve done much of that recently. I’m not sure what is going on there.
What’s up with Marcus Smith? Should we compare him to Lawrence Timmons, who failed at OLB, but became a stud ILB. Can he be like Bjorn Werner, who struggled as a rookie, but is emerging as a good pass rusher in his 2nd season? I still think Smith can be an outstanding OLB. He was disappointing this summer, but that’s where you have to be careful about mistaking results and ability. A rookie can struggle without getting you too concerned. The big thing is to see if he showed potential. I think Smith absolutely showed potential. He showed the ability to be quick off the ball. He covered well and was athletic in space. He played hard and didn’t show any issues of being overwhelmed.
It seemed to me that Smith was just having problems with the mental side of things. It looked as if he was thinking too much, and that caused him to play slow. Playing OLB in the 3-4 isn’t easy. Smith got to play that position as a Senior at Louisville, but that’s not the same thing as playing in an NFL defense. Brandon Graham was slow to adjust to the 3-4 and he had a full offseason and NFL experience. Graham looks light years better now than last year. Hopefully Smith will make a similar leap next year.
It is disappointing that Smith is such a limited contributor this year, but let’s give the guy a chance to develop before we even start to write him off. Remember, Smith is big and athletic. That’s usually a good combination for a pass rusher.
Here in Brazil, the Eagles fans very critical of the choice of Smith, but I trust that was a good pick, we should only expect him to mature, OLB is difficult to adapt when it gets in the NFL
The thought of attending a draft party in Brazil sound epic!
And it is! haha
where in brasil?
i’m from Visconde do Rio Branco-MG, but now i live in Ouro Preto-MG
from philly burbs, now sp capital
Lets hope the Eagles come roaring out of the bye week and Foles starts killing it like he was last year, and we can all start breathing easy about the future at QB.
He’s going to need a big turn around. His play has been largely bad with spurts of average all season.
I wouldn’t say that bad. Bad is Geno Smith, Ryan Tannerhill terriotry. He’s been below average to average in some quarters. But if this is his basement and last year his ceiling. I’ll take it.
Well his basement, where he’s been all season so far, is Jake Locker/Charlie Whitehurst level, no idea why anyone would feel good about that. Tannehill’s numbers are actually slightly better than Foles this season also. I think the win-loss record is clouding a lot of people on his play.
good point about foles looking awkward. his footwork and pocket awareness seemed to have regressed since last year.let’s hope it’s fixable
hopefully he didn’t go home during the bye
He didn’t. He was one of the few guys to hang tight here all week and work on film, etc.
be nice if he and the WRs spent some time working on timing.
Sometimes ,taking a step back for a bit is better than trying to pound on it full tilt. A clear mind can do wonders. Oh, they are 5 and 1- not 1 and 5. So, I would hope he took at least a bit of personal time.
Is it possible Lazor made that much of a difference?
The QB coach matters less than people think. Unless Lazor had mind control that made Foles not trow stupid picks
I think it’s just the opposite. QB Coach is the QB’s best friend. I think it’s a combination of things, including Lazor. Chip hand picked Lazor for a reason.
That was a cool part of the segment. Chips almost saw the INT coming. “It’s zone Nick…..*makes funny face*”
But Musgrave is a downgrade compared to Lazor, even if the QB coach does not make a difference for good, he can get the things worse.
Is he really? Lazor before his 1 year here had a very crappy and spotty record where Musgrave was well regarded.
Also Kelly could have blocked Lazor for becoming the OC if he wanted and I also heard there was a chance Lazor was getting fired if he hadnt moved on.
May be true, but ask any Vikings fan if they would like to have Musgrave back.
What about Lazor, was what I said earlier, it was not an essential piece to the staff, but he knew exactly what Kelly wanted to QB.
There is differens between OC and QB and majority of the Vikings problems was Ponder, no Musgrave. Also Musgrave used Patterson much better than Norv Turner is currently doing
You’re right, but you have to agree with me that he many times put Ponder in the horrible situation calling the plays.
My point is that Musgrave hinders more than helps the Foles development. For an experienced QB maybe he not negatively influenced, but Foles is still a QB in progress.
No Ponder was just flat out bad.
Also how do we know Musgrave hinders Foles? Unless Musgrave is teaching him to throw of his back foot and overthrow his WRs.
Derek Anderson Syndrome. I don’t know if it’s fixable; I don’t even know where it came from. But I would wager that Chip Kelly had watched a lot of Foles (and Sanchez) before he came to Philly. He’s getting a lot out of a guy that would probably be Kolb Status on another team.
Thank you Tommy for your level headed Smith II talk. In Chip’s press conference today, he talked about Smith in Nickel positively, I think the term he used was “add value” which I took to mean “performed adequately or better”. Do you think he will keep using him there in certain packages even after Kendricks comes back? Or do you think Smith II will be relegated back to the deactivated lists baring unforeseen injuries?
Interesting question. Someone’s gotta be inactive…
I’d imagine MS2 has shown enough to stay active. He’s developing into what they hoped Travis Long could be this year — a swing LB. I’d say he’s more valuable off the bench than Acho at this point. If Ryans and Kendricks healthy, MS2 and caseymatthews make a suitable pair of backup LBs.
I’m still amazed that Acho can’t beat out caseymatthews.
Smith, although I’d prefer he line up at OLB and be in the middle of an 8 to 12 sack season, should get the same 3 seasons that any other guy does to prove his worth to the team. Unless the guy is totally devoid of talent like Jon Harris or lacks the character to be honest about his career like Danny Watkins, I can’t get too worked up over Smith.
Although, like Graham in 2010, Smith is a player I liked going into the draft so he gets more slack from me.
obviously any talk about being a bust is absurd after 6 games and that isn’t what I am attempting to discuss. I am more curious as to how far he has progressed. I find the use of Smith in the sub packages to be interesting and I was hoping he has shown enough to have earned a spot on the active roster and potentially as a role player now.
i’m going to guess he’s inactive. even if he’s better than casey he doesn’t play nearly as much ST.
not true…Kelly pointed out and praised his ST play
Praise doesn’t mean he’s better than anyone.
let`s look at it from a different angle…had he missed the block,or hadn`t prevented the kicking team to release early and give the eagles return team the time it needed to get the run-back it did, then coach wouldn`t have been able to point out his good ST play, getting praised by his coach for the play that shows(according to you) that he`s not better than anyone.
good of you to criticize players for doing well
Sorry, I didn’t mean that to read that I was accusing you of making bust accusations.
I know, I just wanted to keep the conversation from steering to far in that direction, mainly because it would over take my initial inquiry
MM wrote:
“Smith . . . should get the same 3 seasons that any other guy does to prove his worth to the team . . .”
_______________
Watkins was gone after two. Courtesy of Chip Kelly.
And Watkins departure had nothing to do with his status as a Reid hold-over.
Sometimes, you just have to cut your losses.
[Not offering any view, one way or another, on Smith II or Burton III.]
Watkins, as opposed to any other guy, was completely and totally disinterested in playing football and lied to the team in the draft process. If he was a guy willing to learn / work on an NFL level, he’d have stuck.
I’m gonna say it again: A guy can’t toss 27 tds to 2 ints, have a 7 td game, while being in his second season and be ANYTHING less than above average. Give The Flash some more time and all will come to light. Can I get a hallelujah, GEAGLE?
Hallelujah.
Be interesting to see what happens after the bye.
Amen, brother.
Halleluau! JAh rasta fari !
Hallelujah PREACH IT brother MITCH.
..
People’s expectations are all out of WACK. If your expectations ARENT reasonable, your analysis of a young player will be all out of WACK.. Kid needs like another 20 games of playing experience TIL he matures into the player he will be for the prime of his career..
..
Look at young kids like Cam, kAp, Luck..all these kids played more than Nick, and they are still considered developing QBs. Cam has started 50 NFL games already..Nick doesn’t even have half that.
…
Don’t worry, Mayock agreed with us.. He thinks there is nothing wrong with Nick.JUST dealing with the growth process of a young player and he is overcoming his adjustments to the weaker OL and not having a run game……
…
Everyone loves Romo right now.. Stick FOles behind a run game that only asks romo to throw 20 times and FOles would look great too. Conversly, stick Romo behind 3 interior lineman, all lined up next to each other, seeing their first NFL action, playing with NO RUN GaME, and Romo would probably be benched for turning the ball over so much…people are really over reacting to a rough patch during our young QBs growth process
For argument’s sake, most of the TD’s in that Oakland game were to glaringly uncovered receivers. That may have been because the Raiders were so focused on stopping McCoy, but it wasn’t because Foles is above average. As for the 27/2, the case can be made that Foles had those hall-of-fame numbers because he took what he was given. That is not intended as a slight, because QB’s cannot usually win by only taking what is there, and Foles had a magic season doing just that. There is considerably less there this season, and what has been there, Foles has managed to miss with more frequency so far than he did last season. What is clear to every fan who is not a Foles apologist: The Eagles are a better team this season in spite of Foles play not because of it. I am not a hater. I’d love nothing more than to see Nick go back to the future. He has shown very little so far this season that looks above average.
They don’t want to hear that. Griffin had the best rookie season ever at the time but no one thinks he’s going to be anything. Plenty of people flash. The all 22s shows that receivers were running wide open most of the time last year, now recievers are more covered and Foles has to step his game up before he becomes Kirk Cousins. It’s a good thing we’re winning b/c most teams that have the QB play we’ve had aren’t 5-1.
………. Even Foles’ bad games aren’t even close to Cousins but w/e I guess. I don’t need him to be the next Montana, I just need him to be above average.
Even an average qb has to make the throws regardless of them being uncovered or not. Also, if we take away 2 ints that Foles threw at the end of the half in the Colts game? and the desperation throw in the SF game, coupled with at least 2 TDs Cooper has dropped, Foles’ numbers look much better. Very little so far that is above average? I would counter that every time we have been down in a game, with a chance to win, Foles has done his part in giving us AT LEAST a chance to win i.e. SF, Washington, Colts. In the end, I can’t fathom an average qb posting numbers like he has. I agree he has missed throws and still has flaws but holy shit, give the kid some credit.
It is not my aim to piss anybody off. I love Foles’ attitude, but that doesn’t count for much between the hash marks. And what numbers – this season – are you so stoked about? When I wrote there has been very little that looks above average, I was looking at his numbers. Yes he gets an A for durability and toughness, but those qualities don’t help decision-making or pass throwing. He is far from imposing his will on all comers, which I consider a trait of all great QB’s.
I dnt need him to be great nor have I said that. He has plenty of flaws. I’m reffering to his td/int ratio
Get with the program, Tommy. Foles enjoys training…(eagles no longer practice)
And no mention of Marcus Smith`s ST play. On the Kelly video of a punt return, he pointed out how Smith was part of what kept the punting team from getting off the line,affording Sproles enough space to run, but also how MS2 ran back and executed an essential block enabling Sproles to go as far as he did.
It was really informative. Also the role that Wolff played on a key block as well.
Kind of silly questions but I guess during a bye week, what else is there to write about. VJ was not, will not, will ever be a Chip player. We just rid of a diva why would we want another one? He wore out his welcome on other teams and constantly plays below his potential.
5-1 and the run in the 2nd half of last season and we’re still asking about Foles? Not to mention, this IS his first season as ‘the man’ AND he’s a young guy. Just wondering for all the Foles doubters — can you name a QB who can come in and do better? I mean, realistically. Don’t name P. Manning. This IS Foles team.
No must win games in Oct? Depends on the team. I think the Giants would disagree. Eagles would agree.
What’s up with Marcus? He’s a rookie. Next question.
Nolan to start over Fletch. Interesting question. I thought CW was having a worse season but that could be just perception.
I understand and agree that for some guys, becoming an impact player at OLB in the NFL can be a long bumpy road. My thought on Marcus Smith is with his coverage ability & athletacism you mentioned, it wouldn’t be a bad thing AT ALL if it was decided he’s best suited inside. To learn from an aging & wise Demeco Ryans would be a gift! If he proved to be really good at it, he & Kendricks could make a nice young inside tandem for years. I’m hoping we take at LEAST one more OLB prospect in the upcoming draft. Can’t have too many of them anyway & if ILB does turn out to be Smith’s home, it will make that decision a painless one.
Don’t forget Long and Goode are ILBs too. If Smith can do both, that would be awesome. Long I think could play outside as well, so it’ll be interesting how it all plays out. But it’s better to have a wealth of good players to choose from.
Long is primarily an OLB. He was being cross trained. He played DE in college.
I know. But now, with Long and Smith knowing both – when they both hit the field they can give some odd looks to the offense. I love the potential of that.
Long won’t be back until next year, but I see what you are saying.
It’s funny. We looked at the LB as a weak spot going into the season. We lost Long, Goode, and Kendricks – yet they’ve been able to play at a high level. Up and down moments with Matthews, Acho, and Smith. Graham and Cole and playing well and Barwin is about to break the season sack record for a LB. We can really focus on the secondary next year in the draft (and obviously bpa).
Ehhhh, OLB could still need work next offseason. Graham will likely get paid in FA, Cole is going to be pricey if he doesn’t rework his deal. I still project MSIII as more of an OLB going forward, so we probably need to bring in more of a long term replacement for Meco. An athletic tackle who can also play guard will likely be high on the wishlist. We need to draft a CB, free agency is shit at that position. We could certainly look to take a luxury pick on a WR in another deep and talented group. Obviously S could be upgraded (not a great need). I could see us having strong interest in McCourty (former corner turned safety) or one of the guys at the top of the draft.
TE and DL, and maybe RB are the only positions I would see us as being completely set at.
OLB is totally going to need some more work next off-season because of Cole’s unteneable contract situation and Graham’s impending departure.
I would love McCourty next to Jenkins.
Also the following draft is stacked with bigger strong WR:
Cooper
White
Montgomery
Parker
Strong
Duke Williams
Coates
Funchess
Beckham
and that is just the list of guys who could easily have 1st/2nd round grades.
I really hope we get to keep Graham and we 100% need at least 1 more LB high in the next draft unless we can sign somebody like Justin Houston (not gonna happen).
I think OL is the most important need next year consider the age and how much a great OL mean for an offense like ours.
I don’t think Houston hits FA either, but I think someone like a Jaball Sheard could fall into that mid tier of FA where the best value is typically found.
Jaball Sheard would be the perfect mid tier FA we have gone heavily after the last two years.
I like to think of him as a very raw version of Dion Jordan, or rather I think we want to use him like Chip used Jordan at Oregon. Basically he’s going to be moving all over the field, so the experience he is getting at ILB is not wasted.
A very raw version of Dion Jordan?
Damn, that sucks. Dion Jordan sucks. Wouldn’t want a very raw version of him.
his role at Oregon I mean, filled by an athletic dude with good length, lining up all over. Also Dion Jordan is a DE at Miami right now, not quite how we would have used him. Malcolm Jones made a post above. pretty much confirming my suspicions. The reason I say he’s raw is because he was never used in that way before, heck he doesn’t even have the stuff he has done before down.
Speaking of Dion, the NFL is such a joke, kid is suspended for most of his second season yet they are talking about reducing that scumbag Aldon smith suspension for “good behavior”…. Becoming a bigger and bigger joke
yeah, considering Dion has no other disciplinary issues, compared to Aldon’s ridiculous litany of troubles. Or maybe Aldon is more brilliant than I give him credit for. Just chilling in his apartment watching TV makes him look like a saint in contrast to his image.
Just another example of the NFLPA leaving a young guy to the wolves while using all their clout to serve the veteran players.
I said this in preseason but now my only concern is instincts. To be a good ILB you need to have good football instincts. If he has that then he can be a stud inside.
I’m going to ask a dumb question, how do I make a comment (new topic) without having to reply….
don’t you automatically have a “join the discussion” box at the very top of the comments section ? ..it shud also have you picture on the left side
thanks, DaveH …see my comments above…
Just go on top of the comment section and type in where it says “Join the discussion…”
ILB is very instinctive and diagnosing a play due to specific cues, is hard and being slow means you’ll be late. Lack if experience might be hard.
Tommy, can I mention defence? Three years ago, I watched the Cards begin their transition into an upper echelon defense. I watched them a lot that year due to poor Eagles scheduling, Rupert Beelzebub Murdoch and interest in Kevin ‘a deer in the headlights’ Kolb. IIRC, they too were transitioning to a 3-4 and other than PP, they had no true difference maker and even he was a rookie. Sure, just like the Eagles, they had some players with potential, but they also had holes and question marks. Young players like Washington and Cambell have really grown, questions on whether Dockett could transition from DT in a 4-3 front to DE in a 3-4 front have been answered and a culture has been born. The Eagles D remind me of them, though a PP would help tremendously.
I heard PP has sucked this year. Lack of focus cause of new contract maybe
defense works together and they are missing a lot of key parts
Regardless he’s highest paid corner in the NFL and opposing QBs have a rating of 134 throwing at him.
great — hopefully roles will show out.
He also leads the league in penalties by a cornerback. He is not having a great season.
He hasnt sucked
Opposing QB rating of 130+ throwing at him and leading the league in penalties by a CB isn’t sucking? In that case Bradley Fletcher must be a Hall of Famer.
QB rating is a terrible stat to meassure an individual CB. The CB sees maybe 3 passes per game, so the sample size is SSSS and one int or TD given up can change it a lot.
You are correct that the sample size is small, and for that reason it’s not warranted to conclude that PP sucks in general. However, it is not incorrect to say that this year he has sucked.
The fact that most of the names you mentioned in this post aren’t playing on Sunday is leading me to believe the Eagles had better move the football and score often on Sunday. If we close because Larry Fitz gets funky on Fletcher and Williams, so be it. I’m just not trying to hear anything about Arizona’s diminished D shutting down our improving O.
I just want to give a “heads up” to a great read on mykel kendricks web site. When you read his “open letter”, you can see how Chip’s “culture will beat scheme has really taken hold. I think we can now see that DJax really was a football decision. It’s a great read….Hope to see you in AZ mykel.
It seems like our problem right now is less the wide receivers and more the guy missing them when they’re wide open. Trading for Jackson would be a waste of a pick, especially with the Eagles having just used two picks on WR’s in the last draft.
Cooper has been less than stellar, though. I think VJ would be an upgrade, and in turn create better QB play, if that makes sense.
you are right. VJ has all the skills of cooper just 10 x better
Grain of salt, but PFF has Cooper as a bottom 5 receiver in the entire league.
Yes, that’s what TB is thinking….let’s trade VJ for a bottom 5 receiver. While we’re at it, let’s trade Mael for B. Marshall too.
At least try to make sense.
dalton looks way better throwing to aj green. stafford looks way better throwing to calvin, etc. be nice to have a guy big and athletic enough to catch balls all over the place. plus i have him in fantasy.
Yeah, but the balls have to at least be in their vicinity.
yeah but big dudes have more vicinity to throw to
*Cooper on the forum and reads*
“Less about the receivers and more about the guy missing them wide open.”
*wipes the sweat from his brow*
I’m on board with picking up Vincent Jackson. The 3 past seasons he’s put up 1,000+ yards and 7+ TDs with some suspect QB play.
straight trade for cooper? done.
yeah imagine defending him and ertz in the RZ
Stats don’t matter if he’s not a Chip guy…
Davis said something interesting in his presser… he said smith can play all four LB positions…could we be seeing a joker. With Smith being able to play inside or out Knedricks can play olb or ilb on some downs, The more people who can play in different spots, the more foriegn looks we can give an offense to disquise the blitz or to bluff the blitz.
yeah that’s what they were looking for out of dion, but it’ll take a while to get there i guess.
I was thinking the same thing
Watch smith on the instances where he is pass rushing: he has a really quick step, but seems to not have the technique to get through the blockers.
that’s what you’d hope for in a rookie – that first step can’t be taught but hands and leverage can
And he didn’t get any real weight training until May. A full February to July NFL strength building program should really help him.
*March to July. They’re playing their last game in February. 🙂
that first step comes at a hefty price. be interested to see if he’s active this week.
i’d think so, at least because kendricks probably can’t handle a full workload just yet. i guess my hope for him is that he’ll start coming on a bit and actually be a contributor by december, which could really aid the pass rush rotation.
Here is trade scenario being proposed…..Lesean McCoy, Brandon Graham, 2nd rounder and 5th rounder for……wait for it……the Raiders 1st round pick (which will most likely be a high one yet again)……Sorry that is just ludicrous…..
where is that being proposed?
Espn. They suggested the first round pick to be used for Mariota. It’ll never happen.
Since shady is arguably worth a first round pick by himself…..but then to give up a 2nd and a young player like graham…..
that’s not crazy to get a no. 1 – especially considering it frees 10m in cap, but it’d obviously never happen.
i don’t think mccoy is off limits at all.
Shady is an all pro player and is young…..then give up a 2nd a 5th and another young DE that has some good tape……..that is crazy amount of resources to get a 1…..
We don’t have any leverage. Look at what WAS gave up to get to No. 2. But the midseason trade is too stupid to talk about.
Graham would be a 10 week rental. He is a throw in. He’s a free agent after the season and would likely not resign in Oakland.
thank god we aren’t the redskins
Yes, trade the best offensive player and one of the best defensive role players off a 5-1 team, for a draft pick that MIGHT be in the top 5… makes tons of sense.
/sarcasm
That is quite literally the stupidest thing I’ve read about the NFL in about 3 months. Which is saying something because I’ve (inadvertently) read some ESPN comments so dumb I thought they must have been written by illiterate third graders in that time.
MMMMMMM
You smell bacon?
No?
oh — the image wasn’t there most of the day…
we know Reid’s record coming off a bye week. Wondering what we’re going to see after Chips second bye week of his young career…
Fill me in, I’m too bored to look it up. How was last year’s outcome?!
it appears you weren’t as board as you thought….
I remain baffled about the way folks talk about Foles. Please note, at the age of 25, Foles has 43 career touchdowns and 10 picks. At the age of 26– a year older– Rivers had only 23 TDs and 10 interceptions.
I don’t know what the future holds for Nick. But I do know this; no player in NFL history has had those numbers, at that age, and become a scrub. It has never happened before.
looking for progression not regression — gotta find what the mean is.
Well, sure. But when you characterize a player, you don’t do it on the last six games (of which his team won five). You do it on the career numbers. And, in all of NFL history, no player with Foles’s career numbers at age 25 has flamed out.
Last year was almost certainly above what Foles’ career mean will be. If it weren’t, he’d be far-and-away the best QB in NFL history. But conversely, this year’s performance is probably below what his career mean will turn out to be, and the more data goes into calculating stats like his career passer rating (which is currently 95.5), the more confident we can be in a statistical sense that such numbers represent his actual average performance level. As has been pointed out, he hasn’t been helped by his receivers this year – they’ve dropped at least 3 TD passes by my count, and have failed to break up a few passes that became interceptions. And he’s been playing behind a patchwork offensive line.
Let’s have some perspective. Eli Manning, who’s been good enough to win two Super Bowls, has a career passer rating lower than Foles’ this season and won a Super Bowl in a season in which his passer rating was only marginally better than Foles’ this year. Playing behind a battered offensive line last year, he had a passer rating of 69.2. Tom Brady, who’s going to be in the Hall of Fame some day, put up an 85.9 passer rating in his age 26 season, which was also his third as an NFL starter, and it wasn’t like that was an aberration – his career high to that point was 86.5, which he actually achieved in his first year as a starter. He didn’t post a single season passer rating as good as Foles’ career number until he was 30 years old. Peyton Manning, another great QB? Didn’t post a single season number that matched Foles’ career numbers until he was 27. Kurt Warner, a borderline Hall of Famer? Threw 53 interceptions over a three year period when he was leading the Rams to two Super Bowls, then didn’t post a passer rating above the mid 80s for four consecutive years in the middle of his career and was given up for washed up before heading to Arizona and having a renaissance. The lesson: even good-to-great quarterbacks have down stretches in their careers. Time will tell whether Foles is a long-term solution, but six mediocre games in his third season when he’s had receivers dropping passes and a constantly reshuffled cast of backups blocking for him is hardly a sound basis on which to conclude he’s not any good.
Those QBs have had phenomenal teams around them and they played in a different era. If you want to compare Foles to someone then try Kaepernick and Flacco. Great when they’re on their A game but frustrating as hell when they’re not.
I admit QB stats have improved over the last few years. So let’s look at Kaepernick, who is one year older than Foles. At the same age, CK had 31 TDs and 11 INTs. But he also had nine rushing TDs. So the two are very comparable. And yet nobody’s talking about benching Kaepernick.
The schedule is not balanced, so one would not expect to see consistency over only six games. The Iggles played Indy, SF, and the Rams, three of the league’s better defenses. They also played NY and Jax, two of the worst.
That said, I’m not making excuses for Nick. He may yet get benched. But if he does, it’s unprecedented.
I’m not sure comparing a running QB vs. a pocket passer is fair. Kaep value IS scrambling and that’s his strength. That’s not Foles strength.
I am not saying Foles is better (or worse) than Kaepernick.
My points are: 1) Nick’s stats are similar to, or better than, players who are viewed as stars.
And 2) no quarterback with Nick’s early-career numbers has ever become a benchwarmer.
The best negative comps are Brian Griese (19 TD, 4 INTs in 2000) and Derek Anderson (29 TDs and 19 INTs in 2007). There are several rumors explaining Griese’s decline. Anderson was never as good as Foles was in 2013.
I think his comparing is spot on. He compared QB’s when they are young like Foles. He didn’t compare Foles to those QB vs. their run to “stud-ness”. You comparison lacks supporting facts and couldn’t be any more broad.
Had the age of 26 Rivers playing in a different era.
Why is it crazy? You can put Cowgirl fans, Laker fans, and etc in front of the tv and show them tape of what Foles has done so far this season. No matter how much you want to spin it, the reality is that he’s still inconsistent. No matter how much you like/hate Foles, everyone wants some ground for consistency. He can be either Josh Freeman or he can be something greater. That remains to be seen.
On a per-play basis, the Cowboys defense that looks so much improved has actually been almost as bad as it was a year ago. Dallas is allowing the same average of 6.1 yards per play, with roughly the same frequency of turnovers. The biggest difference for the defense is actually the offense, which is keeping the defense off the field with those extended, run-heavy drives. Only two defenses have been on the field for a shorter time per game. Less time on the field means less yardage and scoring allowed.
Dallas Cowboys: OVER RATED.
Wow, I hadn’t realized that. Good stat friend!
This is what I have been trying to tell people for weeks… The defense is performing the same as last year, they have just been able to hide the defense by keeping it off the field with the run game… Just like they hide Romos brain farti with the run game only letting him throw 20-25 times, and they hide the OL weakness which is pass blocking..
.l.
Soon a good team won’t let that run game hide all its weakness and dallas will be exposed for the OK but not great team that they are
…
Analyst who say they have the best OL or an improved defense should be be embarressed at how dumb n clueless they are…
..
Defense is putting up the same exact numbers, it’s just that they have been able to hide the defense… They don’t have a single DL who can out play any of our 5 starting OL… And our DL can give their OL problems… Free and Leary are liabilities in pass blocking
Unfortunately for them giving DeMarco Murray 35 carries a game is probably not a sustainable strategy over the course of a 16 game season.
Lol hope they keep feeding him over this next stretch of easy 4 games… Can’t wait for the game where all these blowhards analyst witness all of the Cowboys wharts be revealed… Soon a team is going to not let Murray beat,them… And let’s see Romo not make one of his classic mistakes when he is forced to thrown more than 20 times behind suspect pass blockers Leary and Free.
…
Can’t wait to see Dallas DL up against a tough OL
Its good for my fantasy team for sure and Murray is 100% going to be DONE next season and by the end of the season.
Also Romo is currently hurt and hasnt practiced all week.
Vjax wouldn’t even be considered by chip
…
Now, Steve smith is the older WR we should have signed..love the toughness and attitude he brings with him
Did you hear about the foolish “what if” trade scenario involving McCoy? LOL!
Dude, I don’t even pay attention to such childish crap… But I heard somthing about the trade for Oaklands pick..
..
So stupid. Who comes up with that crap
no more steve smiths
that’s funny you say that about vjax when smith’s attitude is worth than djax’s, but everyone has their favorites.
If had brought in Steve Smith, him and Williams would have fought every single day in TC
Didn’t realize Lane was so dominant against the Giants,, had to go back and watch his snaps and holy hell was he Beasting out there. Dude pretty much dominated a good veteran in Kiwanuka… And when they got tired of JPP being dominated by Peters, they moved JPP to lanes side, and Lane shut him down too.
,.
I went back and watched his game because Lane called it one of his most dominant games to date….he wasn’t lying!!
…
Shady talked about how great it is to get Lane back, because he knows how to play off of Lanes blocking. He knows what Lane will do, so he knows how to run behind him…
…
Molk has to have the game of his life this week if we want to get this run game going against a stud NT like Dan Williams..
Lane is great and it’s great to see him playing well. JPP is one overrated piece of garbage.
It’s funny because I thought the announcers were saying the Giants d didn’t get to be effective until they moved JPP over to Lane’s side.
Their was nothing “effective” about the midgets that night
nothing at all…one of the greatest Eagles to watch.
Instant classic for sure!
Awesome to hear Mathis say that he practiced today, and felt completely healthy, had no limitations… Now he gets a few weeks to get in game shape, by the time he plays against Carolina, he should be ready to roll full BEASTMODE or in Evans case….CAVEMAN mode!
..
Cool to hear Evan talk about how KELCE is a savant at diagnosing defenses, and how KELCE prepared every week like he was playing so that he could help Molk.
…
It’s not realistic to stick a first time Undrafted player in for all pro Center and Guards and expect the QB and RBs to measure up to how they played last year behind an elite healthy line…when our OL went down, our expectations should have been adjusted..Nick hasn’t played his great game yet, but he really has been getting sharper and sharper these last few weeks as the OL improved, and also as he began to trust the OL more.. ALOT of mechanical issues DONT have anything to do with the actual line, but are effected by a lack of trust in the line…. As the OL is improving Nick is trusting them more and his accuracy is improving and getting closer and closer to the Nick we love..
By the time we play Carolina with our starting line, I expect our Rainmaker back!!
…
Mathis also echoed something I talk about all the time, THAT the Eagles constantly talk about improving as the season goes on and peak at the right time.. Like I always say, a hard working team with quality coaching is going to improve week to week, so players won’t be the same players you saw weeks ago before they gained a few weeks of game experience.
…
With the Eagles it’s not about who they are in October…ITS ALL ABOUT who we grow into in December/January..and now is just about getting those wins in your back pocket to put you in the best position in December…
…
There is NO reason to be down on this team…. Even tho we hAvent seen our great offense yet, we are drastically ahead of where we were this time last year
Even without Kelce/Mathis, I’m looking to see how we do in the run game. If we can get McCoy some 4-5 yard clips at a time, we will dominate this game. They will be playing the run, so if we can beat them at that, this may be a lights out game.
Arizona is missing a few key guys on D; we”d better do well.
Six games in and no opponent has managed to hit 100 yards rushing against the Cardinals yet. Of the four rushing touchdowns Arizona has allowed, just one has been longer than eight yards (Ryan Mathews, 20 yards, Week 1).
Those teams are all worse than we are.
Streaks are made to broken
Dan Williams vs. Molk will be a problem early on… If we can rev up the tempo..get two first downs, and not let them sub the fatman out, then we turn one of their strengths into a liability and we start to run all over him.
…
Tempo is key to wear this defense down in the run game, and tempo is key in the pass game to make an exotic, disguising, blitzing team play a much more basic defense cuz we aren’t giving them time to think presnap…
..
Tempo is everything, so getting a couple first downs is key.. If the offense puts up points and pressures Carson into trying to keep up, our Defense will eat him alive…
…
This is the week where all Cox’s great play, turns into a bunch of sacks!
Disk is getting on my nerves. Anyone else having trouble logging on?
Can’t wait to destroy this team
Ha, what a coincidence!
Last year the Eagles were coming off the bye playing the Cardinals as well!
Foles tossed 3 TDs, of which Zach Ertz caught 2. Will we see a similar performance/outcome?!
If your memory doesnt serve you well, here’s some refreshing:
http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/recap?gameId=331201021
No Daryl Washington. That’ll bold well for us.
Ugh. Please don’t even say his name. That guy has made Canton off of just playing us.
No Darnell Dockett, Prob no Caleus Cambell, Karlos Dansby left them..Certainly weaker than the last time we faced them defensively… Their one improvement is they no longer have a pigeon playing opposite of Patrick pEterson that we can pick on again…Cromartie is a big upgrade from what they had…
…
They still aren’t equipped to handle us throwing to our backs and TE
Maim kill destroy pig face arians!
I agree. you have believe this is a game Kelly really really wants to win again after last year. maybe more then any other game. everyone thinks Arians is so great, but they already had players on d when he showed up anyway. and his crap talk last year before and the whining afterwards was so weak!! Hey, they used to be in the NFC east so why not hate them like they still were.
Can’t agree with you more. Tempo wins this game. The lack of substitution on defense is so underated. There isn’t a defense in the league that can match our o in terms of conditioning and versatility of players. Especially once kelce and Mathis come back. I want to see chip be aggressive on first and second down and expose their secondary. Come out and dare them to stop the pass, and if they do then run it down tere throats. More likely they keep the box loaded and we gash them with maclin/Matthews/erts. I don’t see them matching up with our receiving weapons and if they want to stop the run play action/packaged plays should kill them. I want to see more of erts celek Casey maclin and McCoy. So many formations you can run. You can load the line if scrimmage so they have to play base. Then you have 2 of your te’s matched up with lbs or safety. I’d take that matchup any day. Oh and a lb on McCoy 🙂 or they can play zone and we all know how much the eagles love zone Chipwagon is incredible.
Yup…just watch the direct correlation between the scoreboard and the tempo the game is being played at. Everyone knows we want to go fast, the other team wants to play ball control and kill the clock… You can just look at the Tempo of the game on Sunday and know who is winning the game…
…
If we are able to get some first downs, not shoot ourselves with penalties, then we will get to play fast, in which case we will win the game…. If this game gets ugly, and slow, with us not getting into a Rythem, it becomes a much more difficult game for us, because they can subs whoever they want and set up all their exotic blitzes.. If they want to use their Mamouth NT against Molk, we have to make them pay for it. If they are going to put Dan Williams in the game, we have to move the chains, rev up the tempo. And not let them sub the fat bastard out of the game, and 5 plays later we will be playing 11 against 10 all the way into the ENDZONE.. Tempo also ruins all their blitzes and presnap disguise and forces the, to be basic and vanilla..which makes it a much easier game for our offense
…
We gotta go all roadrunner on these bitches Sunday! Meep meep! We out!
GEAGLE you asked about the shortened “training sessions” (is that better Maggie x2). I responded that I thought Chip had said somewhere that he practices harder at the beginning of the season for the like of training time during camp.
Go to the 7 minute mark to hear Malcolm Jenkins’ take on this subject…
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/audio/afternoons-with-anthony-gargano-and-rob-ellis/eagles-safety-malcolm-jenkins-talks-bye-week-and-getting-back-to-routine-heading-into-arizona-cardinals-week/
You talkin’ to me? I only just arrived. 12:30 a.m. EDT.
does ertz remind anyone else of Antonio gates? superb route running, incredible hands and body control?
More like Julius Thomas. Ertz still can’t block well enough to start over Celek.
Tony Gonzalez and Gates has never been use a lot as blockers. Only reason Ertz is not seeing the field more on run downs is that Celek is one of the best run blocking TEs in the NFL right now and James Casey is a top run blocking TE as well.
i don’t think he’s got the red zone domination of JT — he’s a jimmy g.
But I think he has improved a lot.
http://gfycat.com/KeyScaryGermanwirehairedpointer
I wouldn’t label his hands as ‘incredible’. Yet. Too many drops still.
Well his hands have the potential to be incredible with the types of catches he can make. Your right about the drops, but j haven’t noticed them as much as last year. I still get wet thinking about his catch vs Minnesota last year.
Correct. He makes ridiculous catches surprisingly well, but then will drop a simple slant. It seems as if those drops are dismissing though.
I had a dream that the Eagles have traded for VJ, giving up two 4th round picks. While it was very real, I am glad it was only a dream.
he’s so old, but i’d consider for a late round pick. not sure what his contract looks like though.
The Bucs will have played 7 games after this week, so we would owe him 10 mill divide by 16 games times 9 games (16-7) so 5,625 mill this year (and remember that is also money we cant use next year).
His contract is a nightmare.
http://overthecap.com/player/vincent-jackson/374/
If he is traded, we could give him a new deal with less money as there would be no dead money for us
Funny how, not long ago Vjax and mIke Williams were considered a nice WR tandem,,.now they are both on the trading block…
So idk if anyone cares but I could use some good advice with my fantasy team. I’m in a 14 team league and I’m 7-0 right now, but I have two teams on my heels that are more stacked IMO. My lineup is foles Charles oliver/sproles(when healthy) Cobb maclin gates edelman/sanu eagles d(played them all year. Have been so lucky. Also sproles as PR double points) and parkey. My bench isn’t great except i just traded eli for Gordon. I’m trying to trade for a second stud rb without getting rid of both oliver and sproles. Have tried oliver edelman sanu for foster but he wants Cobb. Do you think foster is worth getting rid of my top wr? I’m banking on the eagles getting me through but I’m worried about foles and sproles. I was offered rivers and ryan matthews for foles sproles and edelman but I’m a homer and idk. Rivers + gates and oliver/Matthews would be nice but I love foles/maclin once our o heats up. Sorry for the ramblings.
Teams behind me have Wilson Bernard McCoy Julio Jones nelson d Allen l miller. Romo l bell j bell d thomas bryant jimmy/kelce/cameron(te flex). I’m kinda fucjed
I’ve got Jimmy, Kelce, and Allen. I choose which week to use each one, but i would love to get another stud WR.
I thought WR was my weakness…but my WR are balling!
..
FOles, Cutler
..
Maclin, Emmauel Sanders, Steve Smith, Kelvin Benjamin, Jordan Mathews(dynasty league I need him for next year)
..
Jamaal Charles, Reggie Bush, Shane Vereen, Tre Mason(another player im grooming for next year lol)
…
Ertz, Kelce
…Eagles D and ST
.,
Justin Tucker
.,,
And I usually start a different Eagle defender everyweek
I have Cody Parkey and the Eagled D/ST. I’ve got Ryan/Dalton. I live in Redskins country and I didn’t think anyone would take Foles. WR I have Antonio Brown (good), Cordarelle Patterson (flaky), I just picked up Sanu and Lafell. RB I’m good. Leveon Bell, Matt Forte, Sproles, and Darren McFadden (who I think is going to start putting up points soon). If Patterson would stop being injured I’d be fine.
I dropped run DMC, but I want him back, new coach, I agree that he starts putting up points..
.
Love laveon bell and ANTONIO…you are set at RB…
..
Yeah Cordarrel is def your X factor
I am not set at RB… I have to choose between Jonathan Stewart or Bryce Brown.
Do I go with a good back who’s injured(ish) or a talented back who hasn’t seen the field until this coming Sunday?
I tried to get bryce on waivers but someone else go got him if he doesn’t pay off this week, within the next two weeks I woulda spect him to get the feature back roll, so take bryce, have some patience with him and he should pay off for you
If you have him try, i think he’s more talented than dixon. But he’s also on bye next week, and who knows what happens with freddy j back. I also don’t think Carolina will be running the ball much…
I have patterson too — looking for a reason to drop him. If you are in a total yards league my boy Jarvis Landry is definitely worth it. Had to let go of Dalton — need steadier production — Joe Flacco! It’s funny to see Ryan crumble with the OL down.
Had Foles / Cutler — moved to Flacco / Romo. That 9 pts Cutler put up last week isn’t cutting it for me.
is it ppr? i would try to make a trade for foster if possible, there are plenty of WRs getting numbers AND Fosters schedule at the end of the year is cake.
Love how instead of answering your question most people just talked about their fantasy teams instead. “Murica, y’all.
Why not just run with Charles/Oliver? Oliver is playing well, could give you RB1 production. Ryan Matthews wasn’t running that well before he got hurt, did he?
Cobb is a stud.
The Denver Broncos’ Last Stand: Didn’t realize that both Thomas’ are contract year players and Mr. Manning is helping them to huge paydays.
Rotoworld is expecting Julius will at least get what Jimmy Graham recently landed (four years, $40M with $20.9 guaranteed) and Demaryius will rightfully be asking for Calvin Johnson money (eight years, $150.5M with $60 million guaranteed). That puts almost $40m in the hands of 3 players (Peyton / JT / DT). Wonder if there will be any nice cast offs after this year. Welker is definitely moving on.
You don’t leave Peyton….those dudes will remain Broncos til Peyton retires…I bet they don’t even reach the open market
and Peyton most likely retires in the next two years. So they could sign mega deals for 6+ years and potential play the rest of their career with Brock Osweiler
If i was them i’d be asking for a 2-3 year deal. I’d want to test my options once peyton leaves.
and Im not sure Denver is willing to give them that (or Denver will demand lower salary to compensate)
Figure one is getting franchised worst case scenario…
They can play one against the other.. Who wants some long term security now? And who wants the dreaded franchise Tag?
…
Unless Peyton retires, I expect them to both be Broncos. Better chance they cut Welker, than to lose one of the Thomas boys
The Broncs are just teeing things up for —
Drum-roll, please . . . .
Brock Osweiler.
Lol….better enjoy what’s left of the Peyton era..
..
Heavyweight battle tonight.. Hopefully we get a good Thursday night battle for a change. Rivers is playing at a really high level, but playing against Peyton without your two best corners Flower and Verrett probably isn’t ideal..
..
Curious to see King dunlap/Fluker vs. VON Miller/Demarcus Ware…
Talib’s cap hit in future years: 7mill, 10 mill, 12 mill, 12 mil
OUCH!
No WR is worth Johnson money.
I gladly give D-Thomas 6+ years at an average of 12 per year
The Broncos will also have Von Miller up in 1½ year and Clady the year after
I have to wonder if the coaches are disappointed with Carroll. Why aren’t they rotating him in to give Fletcher and Williams some rest? Especially after Williams went on his rant about being too tired. The whole secondary situation is bizarre.
Totally disagree..
..
Carrol has been making his presence felt in our dime package, we use enough Dime that he doesn’t have to rotate outside to make his presence felt… This time last year is when our corners tightened up and went on to have a two month streak of some quality football, holding their own against an inch of tough big WR tandems..
…
We don’t destroy the Giants and get 8 sacks without Cary and Brad having a monster game.. Hopefully it’s the start of our secondarytightening. And replicate the level of play we saw down the stretch last year…
…
But Nolan has been balling in Dime.. Even had a great A gap blitz that led to Jenkins pick 6
Carroll has been a massive improvement over Roc Carmichael in that same position last year. that was a major weakness of our defense last year and we saw a lot of teams go heavy at receiver just to get Carmichael on the field and throw it to the guy he’s trying to cover!
Roc was so bad, we really didn’t even have a dime, where as now, Dime is a nice addition to our tool belt, and weuse it in every game… Last year we pretty much just played nickel whenever more than two WR were on the field..
..
Really enjoying when we stickNolan in that Quasi ILB role on dime, like when he blitzed and forcedMalcolm Jenkins pick 6
…
Dime is CRUCIAL this week. Arizona is one of the teams that to uses a lot of 4 and 5 WR sets, and they also take a lot of shots down field each game, so our Dime package, and the entire secondary will be crucial this week….Nate can’t let anyone behind him..
..
boykin agaist blazing John Brown will come in handy, cuz that rook is fast!
…
Pass rush is important, and their LT has played really we’ll.. So Barwin has to do work against the RT.
..
They are like us in that, they haventgiven up many sacks, but the QB has taken beatings….beat up on Carson and the INT will start to flow.
…
Cox has been the best pass rusher, but no sacks yet. He has been so close so often that chip and Billy said soon, the sacks will start pouring in for him…GEAGLE says that starts Sunday!(yes I’m cool enough to speak in 3rd person, deal with it!) lol
Destroy this team! Isnt the opposing pig face coach arians supposed to do a phoned interview with our media? What’s that pig look alike have to cry about this week?
I don’t know why, but this team has(to me) become a pretty good rivalry. We seem to play them a lot. I really get into this match up every year.
……
Yesterday on one of those “nfl” shows, they put up the Dallas schedule and said that nobody on that schedule scares you. Eagles were on that schedule. No love for the Eagles
Yeah I guess Dallas is going 15-1 then
Yeah it’s def a hot rivalry… Guess a combo, of them used to being in our division and having important games against them thru tne years like the NFC championship has kept that rivalry alive a bit…and when their pig face coach Arrians stared crying, winning and running his mouth, I know want us to become that team that they just can’t manage to ever beat no matter how good they are..
..
They feeling good that we have to come to the dessert, but we are friggin Road Warriors, we been good on the road since back when we couldn’t win a game at the linc…
…
We have to beat this team, I dont event are about the records…I just hate their Winey coach!
he’s a sore loser, but then again i still curse rod hood for that uncalled PI in the 08 NFC title game. we would’ve spanked the steelers
toss a wig on it ARIANS… it worked for me.
YES!!!mthe NFL season is about to get a little more entertaining… One of my favorite train wrecks, RG3 is close to making his return… Get yo popcorn ready, it’s almost dysfunctional redskin time!?.. Colt McCoy sundy will be a great opening act…
…
For years they been talking about the skins great white hope kurt Cousin… LOL should have traded him when they could have… Do we understand exactky how Embarressing it is to get benched for Colt McCoy?… That’s BAD…really really bad!! Desean and Colt connection? Bwahahaha can’t wait
Wft is as advertised.
Dallas is going to have a monumental collapse.
Giants might sneak in a better than .500 season under the radar.
http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/stephen-colbert-popcorn-gif.jpg
Hey Geagle, thought you might like this, if you didn’t see my older post….
Eagles are into culture building….
Link: http://mychalkendricks.com/an-…
Much appreciated.. Real dope
Just reading “Colt McCoy to Desean Jackson” is friggin hilarious. Colt McCoy and his noodle arm can’t throw the ball passed 35 yards let alone get the ball to Jackson lol. I hate those Washington LOLskins.
totally off topic here… but this headline claims that Matthew McConaughey is a lifelong washington football team fan. that really clouds the waters with those NRG commercials we see during the football games, huh?
full disclosure, didn’t read the article, just the headline from google news. lol
http://www.eonline.com/news/591121/matthew-mcconaughey-doesn-t-want-washington-redskins-name-to-change-but-imagines-it-will-anyway
“i rooted for washington long before anyone paid me to”
I agree, writing Smith off at this point is premature.
Couldn’t agree with you more about NIck Foles Tommy. He’s exactly the kind of guy we want as the Eagle’s QB. Hopefully he’ll put his game together to be succesful enough to where nobody will question his ability anymore.
Ah, but I do disagree… Nick isn’t “boring”, he’s just a guy who is very aware of his surroundings. Knows what to say, knows what not to say. It seems like Nick’s team mates are pretty happy with him.
Nick is fine. Gonna rip it up.
So long as he first grips it up
Malcolm Jenkins credits the culture chip created with our success
..
Chip still refuses to say if he expects kendrick to play or not… Need him this week. They like to throw to their RBs. Howard Burger King says kendrick is supposed to speak today, but gets the impression that he doesn’t want to talk because he knows he isnt playing Sunday.whatever THATS worth.. Grain of salt THAT!
GE wrote:
“Chip still refuses to say if he expects kendrick to play or not”
___________________
Kelly has an excuse to keep quiet about a player.
I firmly believe that if Kelly could, he’d tell the media he’s not sure the team can field 22 healthy-enough players for the next game.
READ: Screw the NFL and its gambling-based rules about disclosing injuries.
Lol basically….
Check.
(A classic line from “The Hustler,” spoken by a bartender played by Jake LaMotta.)
He really should just list all 53 as questionable, just because he can.
Kelces herpes are flaring up but bennie Logan’s hemroids are looking much better
Also doesnt just about every player have some bruise or strain this time of the year?
do you think we will see more of marcus on defense? i would think he has the athleticism to keep the RBs under control when they head out of the backfield
If Kendricks doesn’t play, yes this will probably be the most snaps Marcus played to date.. We also started using him on ST more…don’t mind having casey or Acho in the game if they are running the ball, but if they are throwing to a RB, I would much rather have Marcus running with Ellington or Taylor instead of Acho or casey
BGN has a headline “NFL Trade Rumors: Five players the Eagles should target at the deadline”. The headline contradicts itself. There are no nfl trade rumors…just people who the writer thinks the Eagles should target. Apparently that site isn’t a great source of breaking news…
Hear Demarco bought all of his OL Mac Desktops as a thank you for getting him paid next year. Hope he got something for the physical trainers / team doctor too.
Wonder if Shady got his OL the hook up last year when he was putting up career numbers. I’m really starting to like Murray. He’s having an all time season but you don’t hear him in the media saying anything. Not a peep and he’s literally having the best season of any RB EVER.
Hopefully my boy Bryce Brown can show out.
are you on the wrong blog?
Haha I know. Have a soft spot for DM — he won me a fantasy league a couple of years ago. Despite him being a resident of fumble city think he’s handled this year with class.
GEAGLE, I finally got around to watch Erik Kendricks closer.
I would love him with our late 1st round pick right now. Perfect replacement for Ryans
Wait. If you draft him what’s MSII going to do?
OLB, you know, the position he was drafted to play
Bingo.
Stessa lunghezza d’onda
Rotate with Barwin
What’s the general rule on expending 1st Rd picks on ILBs?
This discussion occasionally comes up during the run-up to the NFL draft.
My impression’s always been that to spend a 1st on an ILB — especially for a team running a 3-4 defense — the player must be *high impact*.
The reason being that in 3-4 defense, only one of the two ILBs will be a 3-down player. And teams don’t spend 1st Rd picks on 2-down players.
. . . which raises a question about Marcus Smith II.
If he ends up as an ILB, unless he’s a 3-down player, he’ll have been a *missed* choice. Price will have been too high.
[EXPRESSING NO OPINION ON SMITH II.]
MY philosophy is late first round is a place where you can get the best guards, ILB’s, TE’s, RB’s available in the draft. Sure you can get a second tier pass rusher then or QB, which is a higher impact position, but with a lesser chance of actually being and upgrade over what you currently have (being a second tier prospect). I’m all for drafting a less glorified position when you draft late.
If Mychal Kendricks is extended, why would the Eagles want to spend a 1st Rd pick on a 2-down player such as another ILB?
With free agency and the cap, that seems like a luxury choice that no smart team can afford.
And I can’t recall any examples of that in the recent past.
(Assumption: the draftee cannot lineup as an OLB on 3rd down.)
I’m not entirely sure it’s fair to label him a 2-down player. Will take some time after work to research some of our formations. My first thought is to say if the player is good enough (IE extremely versatile and effective) you don’t take him off the field. As TE’s and multiple TE’s become such a weapon in this league on 3rd down, I don’t see the harm of having an extra physical and athletic guy on the field at the expense of someone else. Or at least have him in your pocket if a game plan calls for it. You hate to have players neutralized by a game situation, but the same thing happens to the best passing rushing prospects, elite CB’s, etc. Will get back to you on this one.
Definitely agree that if an ILB is versatile enough to be a 3-down player, take him and worry about the rest later.
I see you point. It’s a good one.
(Usually, I’m not this slow.)
Any ILB you take that highly you would keep on the field all three downs. One ILB would come off in dime looks, but most of our nickel package is a 4-2-5, with one of the DL coming off the field.
A87:
Your examples — except an ILB — can all be 3-down players.
But MSII is currently being used in Nickel looks, why would he go from being used on 3rd and long situations to being relegated to a 2 down ILB? Wouldn’t his role expand from the one he has already been working at?
Kendricks is out now — which is why MSII’s getting time (I believe).
Put MK back in the line up.
What happens? I’m not sure.
As for next season, if MSII becomes the designated ROLB on passing downs — like TCole now — then MSII shouldn’t be playing ILB. He should be the full-time ROLB.
why not have a front that goes:
Barwin Cox Curry Cole/Graham
Kendricks MSII
That would be a lot of speed… and could be run as a 4-2 or a 3-3 front.
For this season?
That could work, assuming MSII meets the coaches’ expectations.
For next year?
Cole’s contract hits $11 million. Graham may leave.
And MSII could move outside.
But if not . . . lots of speed FOR SURE!
Could have Barwin, Cox, Curry, Smith (assuming Graham/Cole is not here) Kendricksx2 next year (or other highly picked ILB).
that combo could work, for sure.
With 2 very good ILBs you can play more base on 1st and 2nd down. Bowman+Willis plays a lot together and last year we played both Ryans and Kendricks for 90%+ snaps.
If you have 2 great ILBs, you can go 2-4, with say Curry, Cox, Barwin, Graham + Kendricks brothers. That front can give 2-4, 3-3 and 4-2 looks.
Another thing to remember. The Eagles was supposedly very very high on CJ Mosley in the draft.
I do recall that.
How’s CJM doing this season?
He is legit!
In the running for rookie of the year.
CJ Mosley was also the best ILB to come out in the last 5 years not named Luke.
I’ll be really pissed if he isn’t an eagle.. Talk about a blown opportunity that would be
Since it looks like that Kendricks will miss the next Eagles game again, his contract situation will become more and more complex. The hope of extending him during the season is now gone, but what to do at the end of the season…?!
He’s not going to play sunday? Contract situation is looking way better for the eagles. Is he an Earl Wolff?
By the ‘sound of the locker room’; it doesn’t seem likely.
You sign him in the window you have before the market opens like we did JP, Kelce, Maclin, Cooper…what’s the problem?
I think — though I don’t want to presume — that GermanEagle’s alluding to the Cap-related benefits of extending a player in-season. (I haven’t re-read the 2011 CBA; but I think that provision carried over from the prior CBA.)
Oh gotcha…I don’t pay much attention to cap. Figure when you been rolling over millions for years, you get to keep whatever young players you a want… I can’t remember the last time we had to lose someone because we couldn’t afford it…
that’s what I think, too.
That part didn’t really carry over. The ability to roll cap space from year to year negates any benefits of in year extensions.
The problem is to find a fair benchmark since his sample size is not really great…
low ball and then see what his agent says. Or give him a big K but he only gets paid if he’s active on gamedays and hits certain benchmarks.
Contract doesn’t expire til 2016.. Not the end of the world if we don’t do his deal til next season. We just need his signature before he reaches the open market
Good point. I was of the opinion that his contract was up after the 2014 season. But it doesn’t expire before the end of 2015, same with Nick Foles. So if push comes to shove the Eagles can always wait another year to open their big checkbook. For both players actually!
Replace him with his brother duh.
by the way I do like the mid week Q&A post. I’m not sure if it’s recurring or not, but I vote for it.
Holy Crap!!! It just dawned on me that the Rainmaker is going BACK to Arizona for the first time since becoming an NFL big dawg!
…
Forecast…HEAVY RAIN in the Desert 31-20 Fly Folesy Fly!
“HEAVY RAIN in the Desert . . . .”
Simple. Yet elegant.
Stay classy San diego… Lol
It’s actually been pretty rainy this year in AZ.
Now this is irony.
Better than chubby rain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQFMeyWVe3g
Great article as usual T-Law. The only difference of opinion we have is with Foles. last years Foles, was darn close to perfect for Chips system. Because even with his near total lack of athletic ability & therefore not being able to effectively sell that he was any real threat to run in the read option offense, he easily made up for it with great decision making & even better, he had an uncanny ability to protect the ball. Well that ability has suddenly devolved so shockingly completely that the “fleet of mind” guy is now the lead the league in turnovers guy & the worst deep ball thrower in the league guy. I SO wanted to believe that his homer Simpson-esque footwork, his poor decision making & those off the mark deep passes, was mostly a product of a decimated O line. But last week they looked pretty darned good & he STILL through 2 absolutely HORRENDOUS picks. Also the plain fact is the best he’s looked since t.c. & pre season is average. Those int’s didn’t hurt us last week because we were SO dominant in all the other phases. But they WILL hurt us if he plays that way against the Cards, Dallas, Seattle, G.B. & so on. Bottom line for me personally is a good game for Foles has become just when he doesn’t mess up. So short story long, I (at this point anyway) do not believe Foles is “the guy” for Chippers offense.
It’s almost like he was like “this is too easy” or “what’s the spread in this game” and just threw two to the giants for the heck of it, i couldn’t believe it.
Hopefully he’s had the bye to do his thing. I thought he was looking better and hoped his inaccuracy was due to the shoulder injury, but those picks were just…Mike Vick esque. Luckily they weren’t pick 6s.
any ideas who that guy is? or where he is?
Of COURSE I don’t man. How on earth could I? But that does nothing to change thinking that unless Nick begins to get out of this funk & revert to his ball protecting and good decision making ways (and I would love ABSOLUTELY nothing more), then I definitely am of the opinion that the F.O. has to start looking for “that guy”.
people don’t stop being “fleet of mind” in their early to mid 20’s.
NO, lol, I’m not claiming the guy is suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s for crying out loud.. But QB’s ABSOLUTELY can & DO often regress in their FOOTBALL decision making abilities for a myriad of reasons. Lack of time do to make good decisions (O line issues) see Eli’s performance under constant duress last week, loss of confidence,rappy receiveres & on & on & on. The point is, NO, I don’t believe for a second that Nick woke up dumb one fine morning, but WHATEVER is causing this, he IS NOT playing” fleet of mind” this year. Leading the NFL in turnovers at the moment, SADLY, is all the proof that is required on that score. : (
lol I didn’t say he was suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s. Just simply saying he’s not making nearly as good of decisions with the ball this season. If you have an argument to the contrary, I’m all ears, or….eyes.
As the OL gets close and closer to last years elite level, FOles and shady will get closer and closer to last years elite level.
..
Not a coincidence both have been improving since the Niners game, which was the low point for our OL. Since that game, OL been improving, not a coincidence that so is shady and FOles… Also prolly doesnt hurt that time has gone by since he got banged up against skins, so his bruise prolly healed..
…
By mid November, our OL will be back, and everyone will start firing on all cylinders, good health willing of course… A lot of it is not trusting his OL.. Also not a coincidence that when FOles was having rough games, his best throws were coming out of max protect, which is when he would trust the line to give him time the most…
…
Kid will regain last season’s form before the playoffs is my bet
Here’s hoping that you’re SPOT ON CORRECT GEAGLE! The sooner the BETTER brother!!!!
He went to college at arizona,, I’m thinking he has a special night in his return to the desert
Don’t expect too much from our [punt] return game in case this happens:
If Darren Sproles can’t go Sunday, Jeremy Maclin said that he’ll return punts.
We all remember Maclin as the punt returner… #sigh
Can Josh Huff return punts?
He’s a 3rd Rd pick.
He can do it all.
Although, in fact, he’s returned only 1 punt for 0 yards in his career. (Senior season at Oregon.)
# of walks over water?!
Best question ever
Who do you think he is? Jordan Matthews?
I didn’t know that (and didn’t look it up either). I guess I deserved that.
Maclin as a PR in college:
48 returns. 577 yards. 12.0 Avg. 3 TDs.
______________
In the NFL:
13 returns. 76 yards. 5.8 Avg. 0 TDs.
# of muffed punts in the NFL?!
None in the regular season. 2 during his rookie training camp
He had 13 returns as an eagle? I can’t even remember any of his returns
We’ll just have Brad Smith do it.
not playing — he had surgery.
Well damn…
Not for this game though.
He could never be worse than the J.R. Reed/Greg Lewis combo from the 2007 season opener. Can’t, not possible.
I get that kurt cousin stunk it up…but how arent you ashamed to start Colt McCoy? Thats like the equivalent of waiving the white flag….. What’s next? Brady Quinn?… Even if kurt cousins continues to suck, you can give an NFL start to Colt McCoy.. Wtf. Hope they televise that mess of a game
They will. It’s Monday night. Thankfully, I can just go to bed if it’s too bad.
Cousin’s numbers aren’t terrible. They are basically on the Nick Foles / Jay Cutler level. Problem is they were losing games.
Gruden is reaching and hoping RGIII can come save the season. I think they’ll be looking at Winston / Mariota in the spring.
Doubt that owner is ready to get rid of butt buddy rg3
:Is Arizona a must-win game, to avoid falling behind the Cowboys? I don’t think of any October game as must-win:
Remember the teams that win in December play in January. Two home games against the Seahawks ,Cowboys, then to the road against the Redskins and Giants. Not to mention the Cowboys kick off that stretch with the Thanksgiving game.
The all-timer was when the 06-07 Garcia team(6-6) had to go on the road to play the Redskins, Giants and Cowboys(Xmas) consecutively and they ended up sweeping all the games.The final game was against the Falcons to end that year, The game started meaningful but then ended up meaningless when the Cowboys lost the 1 pm game at home to a then 2 win Lion team. The Cowboys blew that game shortly after our game started. Everyone in the stadium went crazy when we heard they lost and we were also laughing at how they lost to such a suck ball team. The Eagles won the division and Garcia was pulled right from the huddle. That was Vick’s last Falcons game, he got fake hurt because rumor had it he wanted to get out of there and home for his New Year’s Eve Party. Of course I was there which is a very important fact to throw out there because I am very important. I was right in the end zone when Vick get fake hurt on his last ever Falcon play. When Dallas lost, AJ Feeley was put in. He ended up throwing an 89 yard TD pass to Hank Baskett and they won the game anyway. Chip Kelly would’ve buried the Falcons with his first team because that’s what he does.
That lead to Dallas going to the wildcard and losing to Seattle when Romo lost a slippery ball on a chip shot would’ve been go ahead FG late in the the game. Of course they ended up losing, I believe that kicked off his choke fest career? So no matter what happens Sunday, there are still a lot of games to play. I mean, shit, 9, if you can count. .
When it was clear that the Cowboys were going to lose the Xmas game in 06 we were all joking about how Romo was going to be getting a busy signal when he tried to call Jessica Simpson after the game She had her little pink Cowboys jersey on that game, It was like the game shouldn’t been played. the Cowboys were already given the game and the division by everyone. It’s October and that shit is happening already! In 06, Cowboys were 8-4 and we were 6-6 after 12 games. We also beat them twice, the year Owens was there after leaving here.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/9-tony-romo-biggest-blunders-gallery-1.1974173?pmSlide=1.1974171
There is no such thing as a must win in Oct! Secondly they will win so it won’t matter the Cards are a very overrated team and their secondary is worse then ours. Next Fletcher has looked good the last few game and it’s my opinion the Chipster and Billy D like Carroll in the nickel package. If anything Boykins should start he is that good. Next Smith came as a science project I like others did not agree with the pick, however they must have thought he wouldn’t be there in round 2 and Jordan M would definitely not be there in round 3. Smith will get his chances next year when Trent Cole leaves so play him at all linebacking positions so you have a guy who is well versed. Again. I such thing as a must win in Oct, whoever told you this knows nothing about football divisions are won in November and Dec. Times Yours