What’s Next for the Defense?
Posted: October 24th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 183 Comments »The Eagles have not allowed a single point over the last 2 weeks. Some of you will point out that one of those weeks was the bye, but I still think Bradley Fletcher gave up 4 catches for 62 yards. I kid, I kid. We can do that when the defense is coming off a shutout. Life is good and everyone is confident.
The question is whether the shutout was an anomaly or the sign that the defense finally put it all together. Clearly I don’t expect another shutout. I’m talking about the outstanding play of the defense. I wrote a piece for BGN on whether the Eagles can build off the Giants game.
I’m certainly hoping the defense can get into a groove and play well. The Eagles have traditionally been a defensive team. 34-28 shootouts are fun from time to time, but it would be good to see some outstanding defense on a regular basis.
One oddball note…I was surprised to look back at 2011 and see the team finishing 10th in points allowed and 8th in yards allowed. Then I remembered that Derek Landri was here. I wonder if he’ll go into the Hall of Fame as an Eagle…
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Fran Duffy has his Eagle Eye preview up. This is All-22 must read material every week.
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Here is a good article on the Cardinals and their focus on stopping the run.
As LeSean McCoy began watching tape of the Cardinals earlier this week, he was baffled.
In Week 12 last year, the Eagles’ star running back was held 21 yards under his season average by Arizona’s tough run defense, which led the NFL in that category at the end of the year. To him, that made sense.
The Cardinals had standout defensive linemen Calais Campbell and Darnell Dockett up front, with athletic linebackers Daryl Washington and Karlos Dansby on the second level.
This year, though, has been much different. Washington, Dansby and Dockett haven’t taken a snap for the Cardinals – and won’t – while Campbell has missed the past two games with a knee injury.
For 36 defensive plays against Oakland on Sunday, defensive tackle Dan Williams was the only member of last year’s starting front seven to see the field. On the other 15, it was an entirely new group made up of low-cost veterans and inexperienced youngsters.
Yet despite the heavy turnover and decrease in star-power, the Cardinals held the Raiders to 56 rushing yards, and have again moved atop the rush defense chart, giving up a paltry 72.5 yards per game.
“That’s the crazy thing I’ve been wondering,” said McCoy, when asked how the Cardinals are keeping this up. “I think every player on that defense plays together, whereas sometimes where guys want to make the plays and get all the attention. They play as a team.”
It is shocking the amount of turnover that defense has had due to moves, suspensions and injuries. Yet, they continue to play well. Todd Bowles sure seems like one terrific defensive coordinator. Kudos to him for coming out of the messy 2012 Eagles situation and finding a good landing spot for himself.
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New episode of @EaglesFanCast is now up! http://t.co/F107hWccrE @lawlornfl @tradonks #FlyEaglesFly
— ukeaglesfan™ (@ukeaglesfan) October 23, 2014
I was on the EaglesFanCast with Chuck, Todd and Steve Brown from the UK. About an hour of football talk. Good stuff.
I know many of you want more shows from me and Jimmy. I will talk to him about that. Our schedules got complicated and we had some weird technical issues, but we need to get back to doing shows. I promise I’ll talk to him and we’ll see what we can work out.
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Eagles keep Cards O under 17 points.. with a special teams TD and 2 picks one going to the BARN! aka Pick 6.
Funny you say that…. I got Eagles winning 28-17
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This game can be easy or it can be difficult. They can’t get pressure without blitzing.. If we can use our tempo, and FOles can handle the blitz without turning the ball over, we will be in control of this game from beginning to finish…
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Carson is like Eli, throws INTs when you hit him, but you have to respect his cannon and him taking 5-6 shots down field each game
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No turnovers = win!!
A shutout??? I expect the Iggles ta’ hold ’em to -7 points. Davis’ll find a way.
16 points worth of safeties
I’ll be moderately happy if Shady get 72 yards this week. 72 on 20 or so carries is still 3 yards per, and that means less 3rd and really longs. Just no more 20 yard games, please.
T-law wrote:
“The Eagles have traditionally been a defensive team.”
Ah, the optimism of youth.
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Not a defensive team from ’62-’76.
Not an offensive team from ’62-’76.
Not much of a team from ’62-’76.
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But then the Swamp Fox migrated to Philadelphia.
Followed by Buddy.
Ray Rhodes.
And JJ.
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As an aside, the NFC East has historically been a division known for its quality defensive football.
Dallas’s Doomsday Defense.
Washington’s Over-the-Hill Gang.
The Birds’ Gang Green.
The Giants under Parcells — with LT — and the Strahan era.
I am glad I missed 1962-1976.
I’m glad you didn’t, so that we can hear about that dark time. 🙂
From 62-77, the Eagles were 73-142. Even worse, from 65-78, we were 4-23 against the Cowboys. Dark days, indeed. Those scars will only heal when Chip lifts the Lombardi Trophy
Re: The NFL’s Shifting Sands
T-Law wrote:
“34-28 shootouts are fun from time to time, but it would be good to see some outstanding defense on a regular basis.”
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Truer words never written.
But — as so many have pointed out here — the NFL’s about money.
TDs — like HRs — sell advertising dollars. Not tough, defensive football.
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With the rules the way the are today, we’ll never again see 16 Sundays of:
Gang Green; or
The Purple People Eaters; or
Doomsday; or
The No-Name Defense; or
The Over-The-Hill Gang; or
The Steel Curtain; or
The Bears 46 Defense; or
The Giants w/ LT.
Those defenses produced so many great and — in their own right — highly entertaining, tough, stressful, and nail-biting games.
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Much to be said for those days . . .
Just not by NFL Owners.
Big plays in general create revenue. Interceptions, return TDs of all kinds, and sacks are all valued highly as well. But those go hand and hand with a focus on the passing game and shoot outs so I guess that doesn’t discount what you said but adds another dimension.
Plenty of “Big Plays” occurred in the pre-1979 era (when the NFL passed the “Blount Rule” prohibiting bump-and-run defense by pass defenders beyond 5 yards.)
Hell, the great WRs Paul Warfield and Bob Hayes AVERAGED 20.0+ yards per reception for their CAREERS.
What the rule changes have created is a pass-crazy league.
Put the bump-and-run back in and you’d still have big plays.
You’d just have more defensive struggles.
IMHO.
That is an interesting point, I hadn’t considered the nature of big plays and how they have changed. Do you think the popularity of fantasy football with its emphasis nearly entirely on skill positions plays a role in encouraging the current trends?
For casual fans, it seems like their main link to the sport is through fantasy which really has no tangible connection to the intricacy and beauty of the sport as a whole but is focused on offensive playmakers. The way to increase revenue is to increase the fan base…more TDs=more fantasy points and more excitement for the fantasy players.
EN:
You nicely summarize the argument I’ve seen made on this blog.
That is, the NFL’s going after the “casual fan” at the margins. Those are the folks who, apparently, want to see shoot outs and 100s of passes.
As for gambling (which is what fantasy football is), the NFL’s always been sensitive, I think, to the importance of gambling in whatever form to attracting viewers.
It’s also consistent with the branding direction they want to go with the NFL. It’s hard to think about Gang Green or those 85 bears without thinking of mush brains for all parties involved, or if not that, the sheer violence of the game. When a WR streaks down the field catching a ball in stride for 6, people don’t think about that stuff, even though the duded in the trenches just slammed their heads into eachother for the 40th consecutive time. But I think the branding is going more towards finesse than physical.
Spot On!
Agree 100 percent.
We live in the Flag Football era.
Maybe we can get Tommy and Jimmy to just take over WIP – in any capacity, be it a weekly show or hell, a full timeslot. I mean, I could listen to the same helmet2helmet 5 days in a row over the drivel that gets spewed by most of the hosts.
The question is, would an honest, thoughtful football discussion sell to the masses?
If it would, then I suspect the clownish talk-show slop that passes for content across the sports- and political-spectrum would not be what Philadelphians and the rest of America hear on a daily basis.
But the radio listeners in America must want slop. Because that’s what they get.
Do they, or are there no other options available in with a large enough profile to compete? Considering the popularity of blogs such as this one, I keep telling myself that the public is ready to be offered reasonable, intelligent and well thought out content on a large scale. But progress is always slow – and I am an optimist at heart.
EN . . .
From your mouth to the ears of Hermes.
that made me laugh, thank you
Same as anything else. Fox News dominates the ratings while services like NPR drown. Jersey Shore and Honey Boo Boo get better ratings than educational shows. Educational networks stopped trying to be educational 15 years ago. It’ll never happen.
Fox news provides the entertainment their entertainment channel cannot provide. It’s a real life Fear Factor for news.
But entertainment and education do not have to be mutually exclusive. I think you are correct that we as a society have lost that happy medium, but there are still great examples of the blending of the two (Cosmos for instance).
Well, you have the ultimate pilot program places now… Netflix or Amazon. If you can put it together and people actually consume it, they’ll pay for it.
Not stalking you but Neil Degrasse Tyson is an incredible example of entertainer/informer.
If you don’t have Sirius, wait for a weekend when they’re giving free listens. The NFL station on there, especially from 3 to 7 with Pat Kirwan is all real football all the time.
You get Ray Didinger with Glen Macnow. or a fill-in for Macnow on Saturdays 10am-1pm. Must listen to radio. They did take the bye last week.
I will give you Didi, but Macnow is often pretty bad. I have heard him say things that are factually wrong over the years. I mean, I can go on about all the hosts but instead think of what could be. Could you image how amazing the Howie Show would be with Tommy and Jimmy asking relevant questions? Or a pre-draft show with Tommy? Or how hilarious a Jimmy interview with Chip would be? Ugh, the endless possibilities.
I agree, I should’ve just thrown in generic host because they need someone to press buttons for the commercials and music lead-ins. Pretty sure they don’t even do any of that. I should’ve added that he’s with Macnow or some generic host that is inconsequential. Someone who asks questions along with the callers
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Ray can give you the great stats, always has his papers, and he’s the freakin sports story teller of all time. He can go back to the 40’s and tell you about players and teams in great detail. He talks about stuff not even in his era but has interviewed these players as old men, Even if that’s not your interest, he carries the show talking about this team and this era we all know about. Those old stories are incredible to me though. Three hours isn’t nearly enough. Would love to hear Tommy do a back and forth with him also. Who has pull? Let’s do this.
Tommy pops in and talks on Phil from Mt airys show on 97.5 the fanatic from time to time…. I despise Phil from mt airy..want to ring his neck everytime I hear his voice
I’d rather they take over Sirius for 2 hours a week during the current time slot (11 or 12 until 6 AM) when Sirius NFL has rebroadcasts on as opposed to live content.
T-Law:
You wrote:
“Then I remembered that [in 2010,] Derek Landri was here. I wonder if he’ll go into the Hall of Fame as an Eagle…”
Landri was indeed the Bob “Hurricane” Hazle of Eagles’ Football.
In 1957, Hazle batted .403 with 12 2B, 7 HR, 27 RBI in just 134 ABs over 41 games — helping to lift the Milwaukee Braves of Aaron, Matthews, Spahn, and Burdette to a WS title over the Dynastic Yankees of Mantle, Berra, Howard, and Ford.
But for the rest of his brief career, Hazle batted just .212 with 2 2B, 2 HRs, and 10 RBI in 127 ABs over 59 games.
Never heard of Hazle. Your knowledge knows no bounds.;
Kudos, my friend.
ACV, only you could have written such a comment. You are the Master.
Re: “Todd Bowles sure seems like one terrific defensive coordinator”
He’s not quite in the class where you’d say — as Bum Phillips did of Don Shula — “he can his’n and beat your’n, and he can take your’n and beat his’n.”
But, as Tommy wrote, Bowles has proven himself to be very good so far.
Bowles has been a great coach since way before his arizona success. Damn shame for us to have had such a quality coach here and wasted it with Castillo and Washburn..
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You ask Ornery bill Parcells about Todd Bowles and he will rave about his coaching ability… It’s a real shame that young players like kendrick weren’t able to get more out of Bowles the year he was here, because of the daily mess at Novacare..
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Arians and Bowles are both Temple boys if I’m not mistaken. Pretty sure they both coached at temple
I don’t have the timeline, but Bowles played at Temple, and I don’t know who his coach was, but it may have been Arians. Both guys know what they’re doing.
i do miss the elite defense
For your entertainment.
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-ratings/2014/historical-dvoa-estimates
Anybody who DARES to say the 91 Eagles weren’t the greatest D ever needs to read this.
Yeah I agree. Shame they couldn’t get the title that year.
If people remember the last two months of the season last year, buckling down and going on a defensive run isnt some foreign concept… This is a well coached hard working team… Well coached hard working teams get better as the season goes on, Not worse, and that goes for the defense as well. Finally fans are starting to realize that we have some good players on defense…I’d bet they come together nicely and our best defensive football is still ahead of us…
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So many young players who aren’t maxed out veterans yet and are still improving.. Unless injuries play a role, there is no reason why a defense counting on so many youñg player shouldn’t be better in November/December.
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After the Denver game last year, our defense started to come together and they went on to hold teams under 24 for the majority of two months. Giamts wasn’t our first good game..defenders had been showing improvement every week since opening game, and it just culminated into a dominant righteous hammer of God dropped on the Midgets head!
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I’m really high on this group of defenders even if they haven’t proved it yet… By Deember, I think it will be clear to everyone that our defense is legit
Tempo will dictate who wins this game.. If we are able to play fast, we will destroy this team… If it’s a slow, choppy game, where it’s constantly being stopped for penalties, amd we struggle to move the chains, then it plays into the cardinals hands…. Get into a Rythem, play fast, and we win this game..
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offensive line needs to play well.
Kelce, Kemdrick, Sproles were full participants today and are listed as questionable..Brad smith was the only one listed as OUT… For what it’s worth, Friday’s practices arent as taxing as Thursday and Wednesday, and they weren’t full participants on those days…
All three won’t be playing on Sunday. Only Polk will dress. You read it here first.
Rotoworld seems to think Sproles is playing on Sunday…haven’t heard anything about the other two, Tho I would be really shocked if Kelce played…
been hearing Kelce won’t and Kendricks is unlikely
Yeah I don’t think Kelce is even possible..
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If I had to bet, I’d say no to Kendricks playing.
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Sproles provides the most hope for playing Sunday, but who knows
Dunno about Sproles, but some Eagles players in the locker room already said that they don’t see Kendricks playing this Sunday.
The Eagles should have come out at the beginning saying that Kendricks could be missing up to 8 weeks. By doing so the fans’ dissapointment wouldn’t have been that great.
You can say what you want about big Red, but his honest and detailed injury reports can be missed sometimes…
I’m only expecting Polk to make it. Kendricks sounds like he had a grade 2 sprain. I’d prefer to hold out Sproles if he’s not 100%. No need to rush when we need to be focused on the stretch run. Polk can take care of the carries and he’s kind of suited for this game. Straight ahead runner with some power. As to the S/T, Huff can return kicks, and we can pray on punt returns.
Totally agree with everything you just said, my Eagles fella!
🙂
Kempski wrote an article: “proof that the Eagles miss Desean” UGH, when will it stop. Sorry but I have come to despise kempskis work…
I didn’t even bother reading it, he is great with a lot of what he does, but the topic is basically beating a dead horse. Also, most of the arguments surrounding the loss of DeSean ignore:
1. Missed opportunities (would there be more with DJax? very debatable)
2. Loss of OLine (chip wagon broke down all of their issues – DJax wouldn’t help there)
3. Positive plays caused by blocking by the current WR group
Huff’s block on the Sproles TD was a thing of beauty (to quote Reid)
I I won’t read that… Mentioning it in a post is more support than I would like to give it… 5-1 going on November, no damn Reason why Desean should still be associated with us
I read it just so I could make statements intelligently and fairly. But it was what I expected.
Now now, you’re took good of a fan to go into ostrich mode. We’re 5-1 because we’re a good team, but we’re not as productive on O because DeSean isn’t here. It can still be the right move long term (and it takes a lot for me to be ok in saying that) even if there is a short term productivity loss.
you can’t say that, you can’t claim DJax alone would make any difference given the issues on the OLine and Foles missing open receivers down field. Who is to say he wouldn’t miss DJax?
he’s so fast!
And who do we take off the field so DeSean can get his?
coop or he can come in in a rotation
Did you read the article, especially his conclusion at the end? He made valid points.
Hell no, I’m not reading that..
Why?! Because it’s about DeSean and the Eagles lack of explosive plays?! Not everything in Eaglesland is a happy rose pony farm my friend. 😉
True. Sometimes there are unicorns.
My 13 month old daugthers have two!!!
What difference does it make? If enough people moan on and on do you think DiccSean will rematerialize in Midnight Green? What difference does it make “if, if, if”? Can’t change the past. DiccSean stretches the field, when he’s in the mood. DiccSean makes a highlight catch 7 or 8 times a season. DiccSean plays for the team in Washington. How many games have they won? The Eagles have tried many downfield throws. Too often Foles throws them where there are no Eagles to catch them, no matter WHO the WR is.
Jaccson Touchdown Stats from the NFL:com.
2012 2
2011 4
2010 6
2009 9
2008 2
In all these years, the Eagles played SIXTEEN games. Why not find someone who would be useful to suggest the team draft or sign.
It seems you didn’t get the article either.
Did he write anything that hasn’t been obvious? Did you need kempski to tell you that we don’t have the same big plays down field as last year? What’s the point in judging a WR corp when two of its important members are rookies…what you see from jordan and Huff today, will look very different tomorrow…. So what the fuck can you really get out of that hacks. Article that isnt obvious from watching the games? Did you need Kempski to tell You that initially we would feel the loss of a probowl 1300 yard WR? No shit Sherlock… You had two weeks during the bye to write THAT hack shit, yet this is what you feel is important for your readers two days before a battle for the top spot in the Confrence?
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Awesome article… Some grounds breaking Info, I’m surprised he didn’t win a Nobel piece prize for such awesome expert analysis LOL… Maybe you should give chip more than a month, to “reconfigure” they WR position… And whatever the case is, we weren’t 5-1 with the great Longball threat, and his Longball ability is worth one win so far this year lol…
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We beat the skins twice last year, gave them our best WR and they are still a joke… LOL Desean belongs in that Loser locker room
What’s this? Subtracting the best Homerun hitter in the NFL and you aren’t seeing as many plays down field? U don’t say… Truly some groundbreaking analysis by Kempski.. .. LOL
That’s my boy Jimmy right there bringing correctness again!
For sake of argument, lets take an actual statistical look at big plays. Jackson was making big plays at an approximately 1.5 plays per game. If you compare his numbers to a Poissonian distribution, his numbers match up fairly well, which means you would expect approximately 3-4 games with 0 big plays, 5-6 with 1, and about 4 with 2 over the course of a 16 game season. So, at this point in the season he may have had only 2 or 3 (if he had all his 0 and some 1 big play games) and still end up with the same big play rate as last year.
**Edit: If you want to check my math I can post the python code
But that would still put more big plays into our system than we’re currently going to produce.
Not necessarily. You can give him credit for the good, but you also have to consider the bad. Most likely, DJax doesn’t make that block Huff makes on Sproles’ TD in the Giants game. So for the 1 big play he may have gotten, he may have cost the eagles 1 as well. We can play this speculating game back and forth if you like, but and end up chasing our tails in circles.
My point is that, based on statistics, right now we have no way of drawing any reasonable conclusions.
There’s your boy Jimmy being a click whore again…wtf is the point of writing anti eagle propaganda about a redskin player two days before an important battle of 5-1 teams?
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Desean is gone, he isnt coming back, get over it people. With that said, I’m sure chip isnt done “reconfiguring the WR position”. Whatever deficiencies in the offense Braniac Kempski sees, I’m pretty sure chip will see them to, and since chip is obsessed with scoring, I doubt he sits on his hands next offseason… Weapons will be added..
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And mR. Kempskis temporary judgement of the WR corp is worthless, because this is a growing unit. What good is TODAYS judgement when important pieces, jordan and Hiff aren’t going to be the same p.auers he saw last week for long..
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I don’t think it takes some genius analysis to know that you will feel the loss of a 1300yard probowl WR…
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Waited two weeks for this game, the last thing I give a crap about today is reading about how a 5-1 team misses that asshole.
“I’m sure chip isnt done “reconfiguring the WR position”.
He better not be done. It isn’t good enough right now.
exactly, we could be 5-1 if only meshawn was still on the Eagles
I really like Kempski. He knows football and he has a good sense of humor. Yea, this piece was one-sided. His title was a premise and the article was in support. He wasn’t examining the Eagles with and without Jackson. He was arguing a point.
But the thing about Kempskis is, I won’t be surprised if his next column is, “Proof the Eagles Don’t Miss DeSean.”
Kempski can be amusing. Just don’t understand the endless what-ifs that the bored members of the media keep posting.
They are so pointless.
I thought really highly of him back at the blogginbeSt days… Now I find myself purposely avoiding to read his articlles.
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I thought kempsi would raise the quality of philly.com, instead that site lowered the quality of Kempski..
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I think Elliot SHar PARKER is hands down the biggest idiot who covers the team locally….he has managed to overthrow “l-bow les Bowan…and gonzo is so clueless I don’t even consider him a member of the media.
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You know who really knows Eagles football but doesn’t get enough credit? Matt Lombardo.
proof that kempski misses jackson,that`s all.
GE:
For a moment, I thought that “UGH” meant — in the context of your comment — “un-glued my head”.
Lol you aren’t far off base 😉
ACV- History request, I listened to the above podcast, and the topic of the Eagles fight song came up. It’s unclear when it began, this it went away, then it came back in the 90’s or late 80’s? Any good stories about it?
I always thought Angels brought that song down to us from the heavens,. It’s like eagles fanbase version of “the rains of castamere”
and i thanks to that podcast I also finally found out wtf the broncos fans say all the damn time ( IN-COM-PLETE!)
IN-TER-CEPTION
O – MA – MA.
Some of my earliest Eagles memories are hearing the instrumental version of that song during Eagles radio broadcasts. This would have been late 70s. It wasn’t until years later that I found out it had words.
here is the wikipedia explanation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fly,_Eagles_Fly
Remember Tony Luck screwing up the song in his crazy Bird outfit in the movie Invincible? Classic.
A87:
Great question.
The Eagles Fight Song’s 1960 origin was no coincidence.
That year, the league office issued a directive to record all of the teams’ “Marching Songs” — which were later cut and sold by RCA records.
The Eagles needed a song. And 1960 brought them one.
Along with a Championship at Franklin Field.
Excellent as always ACV!
Here’s the track list
http://www.discogs.com/Bernard-Green-The-National-Football-League-Marching-Songs/release/2875060
Jimmy’s all right and all, but you made that podcast worth listening to. I wouldn’t hold things up waiting for him if you have the time to do them. Find yourself a straight man to host/lead the show and you provide the insight and color.
I dunno, the above podcast, those guys are good guys and all, but it really made me miss Jimmy. Tommy’s knowledge on the Eagles is absolutely ridiculous so it make Jimmy look bad, but he’s really no slouch in the football department. I vote don’t change anything, bring back H2H.
What’s next is Sunday:
– Strip sack of Palmer by Graham followed by a scoop and score from Barwin
– Big TFL by Cox on a big 4th down attempt by Arizona
– Pick 6 of Palmer by Boykin on a 3rd and long
– 2 TDs by Larry Fitz on Bradley Fletcher, but Bill Davis continues to make excuses about why Boykin can’t play outside.
You forgot Peterson gets a PI on Matthews on the 8-yard line, then Sproles scores. Red Zone or no Red Zone.
We are right on schedule to grow into an upper echelon defense by the time the playoffs roll around.. Their have been some offensive alterations to the script with the OL getting hurt, but defensively, they been growing as expected, til it eventually grows into a top defense at the end of the year.
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I don’t even really think we saw much of the 2014 eagles yet…I’d bet that after we see these next 10 games, the first 6 games won’t be the team you see kicking Ass and taking Names in this years playoffs,.
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The ST unit, I never imagined could be this nasty…. We need to come up with a nickname for this ST unit if it keeps playing this well
Since you mentioned “defense” and “special teams” in the same comment, you’ve left me no choice but write reverentially of —
[Drum roll]
. . . former Eagles Pro Bowl DE Tim Rossovich — who also doubled as the Eagles “kick off specialist.”
Rossevich — perhaps best remembered for eating glass — grew up in SoCal. He was an All American DE for the (mythical) National Champion 1967 USC Trojans under Coach John McKay. And the Eagles 1st Rd pick in the ’68 draft.
In 1971, soon-to-be-fired HC Jerry Williams moved Rossovich from DE to MLB. He led a brief but very exciting resurrection of sorts, turning around an 0-5 start into a 6-3-1 finish.
But Rossovich and All Pro FS Bill Bradley held out for new contracts before the ’72 training camp. So GM Pete Retzlaff dealt Rossovich to the Chargers for their 1st Rd pick in the ’73 draft. (Rossovich played only 2 more seasons in the NFL.)
The Birds used that extra 1st to select USC TE Charlie Young — who became an All Pro his rookie season. And when Young wanted a new contract, Vermeil dealt him to the Rams for QB Ron Jaworski . . . without whom the Eagles never would have made the 1980 Super Bowl.
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So when you talk defense and special teams, remember Tim Rossevich is the guy who — in his own very special SoCal way — pushed the Eagles past the Cowboys to the top of the NFC in 1980.
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Here’s a great SI article on Rossovich’s proclivity for eating glass — and some other crazy stuff.
http://www.si.com/vault/1971/09/20/612423/hes-burning-to-be-a-success
NOTE: Actor Rick Rossovich (“Slider” in Top Gun) is Tim’s Brother.
Maybe you could change your initials from A C to E B. For Encyclopedia Britannica! ;~D.
I feel like I owe you money for the weekly eagles history lesson lol… you should get Ray Didingers Eagles encyclopedia and give us your opinion and recollection each week of a different chapter or something..
Haha Looking at the comments below. The Eagles’ pep bad taught me how to play the Fly, Eagles Fly song. Well it was easy, not so much taught, he just gave me the chords while I wrote them on a TO Sucks shirt that I had bought at one of the carnivals, the one before the Garcia year. It was a carnival before they started those where you watched the practices. Anyways, damn guy got crumbs all over my shirt from his beard. I was always trying so hard to figure that out and once I got the chords I couldn’t believe I couldn’t figure it out, it wasn’t like there was diminished chords or anything complicated like that. Believe me I’m no musical genius but a lot of stuff is 3 to 4 chords, and nothing sounded complicated about that song. Guitar not banjo, so I can hook up distortion and play the Metallica version if the mood strikes me. Bastardize it in other words.
here is the sheet music:
http://www.silvermusicstudios.com/home/eagles.php
I have way different, from 7 years ago. One thing before I write what I got, it’s cool they have the singing notes.
C G Dm G7 C
C7 F7 D7 G7
C A7 Dm G7 C
Edit: He gave me a lot more detail, whether it’s needed or not I don’t know I have to try it out. I can’t find how long that one has been out.
hmm, might have been the wrong version. I found others as well but all seem to be in G and I am too lazy to transpose it to C.
Dude no, I’m hitting the singing notes, and then listening to the chords, I’m going to record it and put the background and see, but it seems like yours may be much better. The one he gave me has so many changes, and you can make it sound ok, but this one sounds better, the chords seem to match beautifully with the notes. That means I have to record the chords, then play back the chords recording while playing the singing notes.. Sounds like it will be right.
I just took it for what it was, it was 7 years ago and no online site anywhere had anything. I never looked or barely played it again since back then. Plus he converted from banjo to guitar, so probably screwed him up somewhat, although I like how he throws in the A7 at the end. Gives it that nice ending touch.
Maybe that was Tony Luke’s ‘Invincible’ version I got. haha
hahah, ok cool thanks. I have been playing the notes too and they sound right. But I don’t have my recording gear anymore so I haven’t really put it all together yet.
LOL Dude most of my stuff I had is gone except I have a pretty nice Takamine acoustic guitar and the recording would be through my sony hd camera. Oh I do have a little fender in case I wanted some distortion with the acoustic, which can be funny. I’m just going to try it in a normal tone though. Maybe I can get something decent out of it, I’ll let you know, Lazy may stop me, but who knows? Possibly.
Notice that the 7th chords are all V of V/secondary dominant type things.
The original marching band version, I think, is in F# (just going from memory), but it’s not that good of a singing key for most people.
Yours are the same chords as I came up with in my earlier post, except I have a straight F, not an F7, where the word “high” comes in.
And yes, the banjo player in the Pep Band does some interesting things which sound good but they would probably be more confusing for most people than they’re worth.
The singing notes are right, the chords I do not agree with at all.
Actually, the singing notes aren’t quite right either, now that I look more closely.
I couldn’t find anything better, do you happen to know the chords?
a quick and a bit oversimplified version (the banjo does a few fancy things)
(C)……………………………………………(G7)
Fly Eagles Fly, on the road to victory
(Dm)………………………………………………(G7)(C)
Fight Eagles Fight, score a touchdown 1-2-3
………..(C7)…………(F)..
Hit em low, hit em high, and
(D7)………………….(G)
Watch our Eagles fly
(C)………….(A7)……….(Dm)…..(G7).(C)
Fly Eagles Fly, on the road to victory.
E!A!G!L!E!S! EAGLES!
That’s awesome, thank you! and it looks similar to what BC had.
Yeah, I was just noticing that. And I came up with it just by listening to it, and they’re almost exactly the same chords (I think my F is correct), but I didn’t see that until I put it together with the words for the context.
Yeah I needed to see the words in context to get it. I also noticed on the music I had there was a note about it being an interpretation…
Because the chords are really moving a lot faster than that on the banjo, and that would be a much more difficult transcription. I don’t think it really would make sense to use this type of chart, because a lot of times the chord is just changing by one note where the rest of the chord remains the same.
You’re right, the F at victory is def G. That version is the Eagles band guy that I have that is exactly like yours.
Really? I think they’re pretty good. I mean, asides from the regular version, how well do drunk Eagles’ fans sing it anyway?
It’s nitpicking, but for example on the first line, “on the road” is scored as all G’s in the melody line, where “on” should be an E, and “the” should be an F.
There are errors of a similar type on the 3rd line on the “hit ’em” before “high”, and on the 4th line the word “the” should move up a half step
[…] The rest of the article can be found here: Iggles Blitz […]
Eagles 34, Cardinals 20
Foles: 24/37, 305 yards, 3 TDs, 1 Int
McCoy: 22 rushes, 113 yards, 1 TD
Maclin: 4 catches, 131 yards. 1 TD
Ertz: 5 catches, 79 yards, 1 TD
Acho: pick 6
28-17… If FOles doesn’t throw an INTERCEPTION, this game will be easier than people think
..
Did my homework on arizona, I expected them to be better than they have shown… Tho pig face arians has to be in the running for coach of year starting out 5-1 with 3 different QBs… Disgrace that chip didn’t win it last year
Hope u aren’t talking about SAM Acho…
I was not joking.
Off topic, the 2011 draft was ridiculously good at the top.
Cam Newton, Von Miller, Marcel Dareus, AJ Green, Patrick Peterson, Julio Jones, Aldon Smith.
That’s an incredible first 7 picks. You also had Tyron Smith at 9, JJ Watt at 11 (holy crap is that late for Watt), Nick Fairley at 13 and Robert Quinn at 14, Mike Pouncey at 15 and Ryan Kerrigan at 16.
Feel bad Tennessee and Jacksonville, who reached for Locker and Gabbert with Watt still on the board.
That’s one of the most absurdly talented stretches of draft talent I can ever think of.
We got Danny Watkins.
Wonder how much teams would give up for JJ that’s Watt’s Up in hindsight.
I give up way more for cam Newton and still think that he would only go 3rd in a re-draft
You’re punny.
What’s punny? A funny bunny or a rose pony?
You made a funny pun, clearing that up but I’m sure you knew anyway. As far as the other meaning, hmmmm Could be a bunny that acts like a punk. He’s such a punny.
1× First-team All-Big 12 honors (2010)
1× JC Athletic Bureau first-team All-America honors (2008)
1× All-NorCal Conference honors (2008)
1× First-team Region I All-California honors (2008)
http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings/dsprofile.php?pyid=89839&draftyear=2011&genpos=OG
What a complete waste.
Don’t think of the past, it’ll only make you mad. Think of where we are now, then think of what’s next. We’ve had a couple good years in drafting, so let’s hope the streak continues.
Yes I cry over Watkins, but what really hurts is the Thomas thing. If I dwell on the past, I might have a stroke.
So, in essence….
TLDR: The past kinda sucks, but I’m hopeful of the future…
🙂
One thing to remember is that Thomas is most likely not an all pro safety playing for Castillo
Exactly, brings up the question of how much coaching & scheme play into player development vs. innate talent.
TONS. Look how much less we hate nate allen than we did two years ago.
A player needs a certain amount of talent, but coaching and scheme will beat it every time. There is a few players in the NFL there might not care (pretty sure JJ Watt is indifferent to what position he plays along the DL, even 0 tech NT). Thats also one of the reasons so many Big name FA busts. They suddenly play in a different role, they aint suited too and that is why we should be happy that Roseman and Kelly have done such a great job finding players who fits the scheme in FA
Love Marcel dAreus… That’s my dude!
I hear Jimmy smith is turning into a top corner for Ravens. 6’2 would of been perfect here ughh
I wanted Jimmy or Wilkerson. Two great players but no the eagles like to draft poorly.
Yea Fletcher cox, Cole, Jackson, Mccoy etc. All terrible draft picks
And those later round picks like Boykin and Kelce …
its still 10 x better then being out of football like our 1st round pick and we saved a spot for curtis marsh all these years waiting for him anwyays
Smith took years to develop.
Great observation.
At this point, the ’11 draft’s first round compares favorably to the ’69 first round —
HOF OJ Simpson (RB), George Kunz-OT, HOF Joe Greene (DT), Ted Kwalick-TE, Bill Stanfill-DE, Fred Dryer-DE, Gene Washington-WR, HOF Roger Wehrli (CB), Ron Johnson-RB, Calvin Hill-RB, HOF Ron Yary (OT).
That’s 11 out of 24 picks who were HOFers, All Pros, or Pro Bowl players.
There could have been a 12th player.
The Bengals’ selected QB Greg Cook fifth overall. He was having an incredible rookie season until a career ending shoulder injury. The guy was 6’4 220lbs. Cook’s QB coach was Bill Walsh, who considered Cook the greatest QB prospect — and long ball passer — he ever coached.
Oh, and the Eagles? They selected the runner-up to OJ Simpson in the Heisman race: Leroy Keyes, RB/DB from Purdue. Didn’t work out.
In 1968 the Eagles won their last two games of what was a win-less season to end up third in the draft order. The two games that stopped us from getting O.J. Simpson. Ugh.
was at game they lost(OJ), when the crowd sang ShaNaNa`s HeyHey Goodbye
if only Hinkie was in charge!!!
Game they lost OJ, meaning you were at the game they won? lol…Bills had 1 win that year, so if they just won the one I wonder what the tiebreaker would have been.
Sick of reading, I need the game to be here boyz.
Right…I’m ready to watch my front 7 HUNT!
Tommy, there is one FB who we can all hate together and that is Heath Evans.
Inside scoop on Sproles.. When he first got hurt someone close to the situation said he could miss arizona game, but don’t be surprised if he plays because he is one of thee toughest players around(I wasn’t aware of this reputation)…
Now, the word is that their is no doubt that Sproles can play on Sunday, the question is whether or not he can do everything he typically does for us…
…. I think he gives it ago, but I’m not sure if he will play Offense and ST…
That’s what I get for whining – new TV maps are out for the games this weekend and the Eagles-Cards game is getting the respect it deserves:
http://506sports.com/nfl.php?yr=2014&wk=8
If the Eagles are going to win the NFC East this year, this strikes me as a ‘must-win’ if the Eagles want to go 12-4 or better and clinch the division.
No no no, don’t make that mistake. The Eagles can survive a loss tomorrow no matter what happens with Dallas MNF. I would be devastated and pissed if they lost, but I wouldn’t call the division. Sure it would be very worrisome if we see sloppy play, Foles and the defense stink up the joint, and we get blown out. The last game of Oct when you’re 5-1 isn’t a must win or lose game for the division.
Maybe if we were going into this game at 4-2 you could say that, but this team went 7-1 in the second half last season so even at that record it wouldn’t have been impossible. What the Giants did last week was lose a must win. We’ve also seen what those jerk-asses have before though. Come tomorrow I may have to come back and read this for my own sanity, haha…but I think we’re looking at a win anyway.
Prediction for this game: This is the week that we really get our screen game going. Watch Duffy’s all-22 breakdown and see how much they send pressure while playing man defense behind it. Oh man, that’s a recipe for screen disaster. An aggressive defense that blitzes 6 defenders regularly and uses zero coverage man behind it, where the DBs turn their back to the play and follow the WR wherever he goes…I’ll take that against a Chip Kelly offense any day of the week.
And, this is not a team like ours that plays with your head by making you think pressure is coming when it’s really not, and tricks you into letting them get pressure with 4 rushers. No this is a team that blitzes on over 50% of defensive plays.
Chip Kelly is licking his Chops right now. Blitzing has never been the way to beat a Chip Kelly offense. Teams with success against him stay incredibly disciplined and have players up front that can win one on one match ups and disrupt things in the backfield by controlling the line of scrimage. The only person on their defense that worries me in their NT against Molk. Teams that blitz and play aggressive attacking defense usually get burned, nay…torched by Chip Kelly offenses.
Arizona will blitz us more than any defense we face, if our tempo permits it… The play man on the outside and blitz the hell out of opponents, and they don’t really have a choice but to play that way…their passa rush is NONEXSISTENT, that plays a key part in a team with Cromartie and PEterson ranking as one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL… Without blitzing QBs sit back and pick them apart all day… John Abraham will never play again due to concussions, and Shagnessy is out too…SAM Acho and Okafor arent getting the job done on the edge.
…
This team lives and dies by the blitz, yet they have to play a team who wants to operate at a fast tempo That forces defenses to ditch their exotic blitzes and defend us in simple ways because we don’t let them sub players in or give them time presnap to line up and disguise their true intentions..
…
If our offense can just pick up a first down or two at the start of a,drive, don’t let them sub Fat Dan Williams out the game, a stout run defense will be huffing and puffing while we run down their throat..
..
This defense is horrendous at defending TEs.. Both Charges TEs gashed them, Giants Donnell put up around 100 on them… Big opportunity for Ertz and the TEs this week, and Ertz best game last year came against the Cardinals..
..
They need us to turn the ball over to beat us… Play a clean, no turnover game, and we will be 6-1
Excellent analysis…my thoughts exactly.
I’m done doing my homework on the cardinals..feel confident that I have a good understanding on what they bring to the table..
..
1st thing that jumps out at me, is Ertz and Celek destroyed them last year, and they look even worse at defending TEs this year which is odd considering how often they have 6 DBs on the field.. Giants and Charger TE’s gutted that defense… Our TE can win this game for us like they did last year.
..
2) jump off the screen is how poor their pass defense has been. Teams havento been afraid of throwing at PEterson, and he isn’t even playing close to the level of his contract..this has Prob been the worst stretch of his career.
Examining oass defense:
A)
If we can stay healthy, and get kendrick back, I see no reason why over the course of the next two months we can’t grow into a defense who plays on a similar level,that the Super Bowl raven team of two years ago played at. That wasn’t a special defense. They just improved as the year went on and got hot at the right time… No reason why we can’t reach that level of defense come december(health permitting of course)..
..
By the time people see this defenses improvement over the course of the rest of this season, I bet we go into next season considered a consensus top 12 defense
GE:
Not sure the Ravens are the right comparator.
In 2012, Baltimore’s defense allowed 22 PPG in the first 8 regular season games vs. 21 PPG in the last 8 regular season games vs. 22 PPG in the playoffs.
As for turnovers, the Ravens’ defense generated 15 total TOs in the first 8 games (1.875/g) vs. only 10 TOs during the last 8 games (1.25/g).
In the playoffs, however, that the Ravens’ defense generated 10 TOs in just 4 games (2.5/g) — doubling their production from the 2nd half of the season.
As for yards per game, the Ravens defense clearly improved in the 2nd half of the season — allowing 315 YPG during the last 8 vs. 386 during the first 8.
But the Ravens, after going 6-2, went 4-4 down the stretch.
And in the playoffs, the defense allowed 110 more yards per game than during the 2nd half of the season (428/playoff game).
Turnovers were the key for Baltimore, I think. As they always are.
They had a lot of major injuries during the season, webb, lewis and suggs i believe were all hurt during portions of the season.
The real key is that Flacco was a beast posting huge numbers with no turnovers in the playoffs. They also got huge participation from Smith and jacoby jones both of whom have done little since then.
Yes. Absolutely right.
Flacco and the offense came alive.
And the defense turned opportunistic.
Plus the STs didn’t hurt. At all.
Real team effort.
i’d say aside from denver we’re playing the most complete football right now.
Is tomorrow’s game going to be nationally televised? ? I hate watching online. I got the nfl rewind which i thought played live games too. …which doesn’t -_-
No.
National broadcasts start at 4:25pm, ET
Eagles / Cards starts at 4:05pm, ET
You can check the coverage maps here:
http://506sports.com/nfl/
Yeah, this game will be seen in a lot of the country. I’m good to go in NYC.
CBS has the doubleheader. Not Fox.
Eagles v. Cards is in the west and a few places in the east.
I get it. But when “a few places in the east” means NYC, Philly, Washington and down the Eastern Seaboard all the way to Georgia, plus Dallas and almost the entire west coast all the way to Denver, I’d guess a majority of the country’s population will be able to see the game. Or at least a majority of major TV markets.
You’re wrong.
Atlanta is not getting the game.
Or Boston. Pittsburgh. Cleveland. Detroit. Minneapolis. Houston.
But, yeah, NYC gets the game.
Reminds me of that print that makes Manhattan about 85% of the United States.
And to be fair, my general mindset is something like this, so I’m probably the wrong guy to ask:
Why, could that be Antonio Cromartie?
http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/257/files/2014/08/antonio-cromartie-mohamed-sanu-nfl-preseason-cincinnati-bengals-arizona-cardinals-850×560.jpg
And could that be Peterson?
http://binaryapi.ap.org/ac40119ce3174911845211fb343460e7/460x.jpg
My goodness. Two corners who missed! Neither one named Fletcher or Williams.
GE . . .
Any thoughts on Miss State CB Will Redmond. True junior.
do i start mccoy in fantasy tomorrow or do i got with ahmad bradshaw?
Let us not forget, tackling will be a very important aspect of this game. How much the Eagles can limit any RAC yards will help them get off the field. Boykin should get plenty of work today.
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