Chip Kelly’s Plan
Posted: November 13th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 212 Comments »Fans of the 1980’s show The A-Team will remember Hannibal’s famous line.
Chip Kelly came to Philadelphia with a plan and it seems like it is starting to come together.
* Chip wanted to establish a certain culture. That meant that you had to buy in to his ideas and doing things his way. There wasn’t going to be much compromise on this. Veterans like Brent Celek and Trent Cole bought in completely and instantly. Outsiders like Connor Barwin and Brad Smith fit in right away. An established star like DeSean Jackson did not fit and was gone after one highly productive year. The Eagles offense remains as productive as ever and the team is off to a great start at 7-2.
* Chip wanted assistant coaches that were teachers. Andy Reid’s staff at the end was a bunch of big names that didn’t fit well together. Chip got guys who don’t have egos. They work very well together and more importantly, they work well with the players. The focus on fundamentals has really paid off. There haven’t been nearly as many missed tackles. The team does a better job of blocking and shedding blocks.
* We all cringed when Bill Davis was hired. His track record was a lot closer to awful than awesome. But Chip thought he was the right man for the job. Davis was a leader, communicator and teacher. He had a ton of NFL experience and could run a creative 3-4 attack. Davis also didn’t have a big ego so working closely with Jerry Azzinaro wasn’t going to be an issue with him. Davis is now someone we all love and really want to succeed. His press conferences are better than any assistant the Eagles have ever had. He’s honest and insightful.
* Chip wanted the 3-4…a 2-gap 3-4. Yikes. The Eagles were built for a 1-gap 4-3. All that talent was going to be wasted. Now the Eagles have the makings of a pretty good defense. Trent Cole and Brandon Graham have made the conversion to being OLBs. Ced Thornton and Fletcher Cox are good 3-4 DEs. Vinny Curry is a backup in the base, but is a key role player in sub-packages. He’s got a career high 5 sacks and 2 FFs (in 9 games) and numbers don’t do him justice. He is incredibly disruptive.
* Chip wanted takeaways. All coaches do, but some hope and some have a plan. The Eagles have a takeaway in 22 straight games, the longest streak in the NFL. The Eagles lead the NFL in FFs with 15. I’ve always been disappointed with how few FFs the Eagles get. Brian Dawkins was great at stripping the ball, but not the pass rushers. Trent Cole had 13 FFs in 8 years. Under Kelly/Davis he has 6 in 1.5 years. That’s not an accident. The players are being aggressively taught how to strip the ball and it is paying off. The Eagles had a bunch of INTs last year. That total is way down this season. Sacks and incompletions are up so it would seem that QBs are eating the ball or throwing it away rather than taking chances.
* Chip wanted big players. Jordan Matthews is one big slot receiver. And he’s used his size to get the best of smaller DBs. That has really shown up in the Red Zone. Jason Avant had 13 TD catches in 8 years. Matthews has 5 in half of a rookie season. In 2011 and 2012 combined, DeSean had 6 TDs. Size does matter in the Red Zone. The big corners match up well with big receivers. Kelvin Benjamin didn’t come alive last week until his team was down 38 points. Andre Johnson was quiet the week before. There are some receivers who have posted big numbers, but the Eagles have done well against bigger guys. Kelly also likes big corners because he values long arms and the ability to break up passes. Bradley Fletcher just had 5 PDs on Monday night.
* Chip wanted a tough, physical team. Many people watched Oregon casually and came away talking about the shiny helmets, neon uniforms and long TDs. They saw a modern Run ‘n Shoot kind of team. Kelly has quickly changed that perception. The Eagles led the NFL in rushing last year. They are 13th this season, but that ranking will improve with the OL being healthy. Brent Celek has become one of the better blocking TEs in the league. Riley Cooper had a devastating block on Sproles TD run the other night. Even Jeremy Maclin has become a good blocker. The defense is built more on size than speed. Connor Barwin tossed OL around like rag dolls on Monday night (and it was beautiful). Fletcher Cox overwhelms blockers at least a couple of times every game. And pity the TE who tries to block Trent Cole on a run play.
* Chip wanted the STs to be special. He spent a lot of time and effort on STs last year, but the results were far from ideal. Some saw this as failure. Chip saw the foundation of a great unit. You don’t fix something over night. The team added Donnie Jones, Brad Smith and James Casey in 2013. Brandon Boykin emerged as a great gunner. This year there was another wave of good STers. Chris Maragos and Bryan Braman were signed as free agents. The team traded for Darren Sproles and Cody Parkey. Undrafted rookie Trey Burton has been a key contributor. This year the Eagles have the best STs in the NFL. That’s not just my opinion. They are number one in DVOA per Football Outsiders. The Eagles have blocked or deflected several punts. They have a FG block. Darren Sproles leads the league in PRs and has 2 TDs. Chris Polk ran a KO back for a TD. Jones continues to be a good Punter and Parkey has been a revelation as the PK.
Chip’s plan isn’t complete. The offense still leaves too many points on the field. The defense needs to get better from an overall standpoint. There is work to be done. The Eagles are absolutely headed in the right direction and it is pretty exciting to imagine how good the team could be if Kelly ever does get his plan working just the way he wants it.
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Great article Tommy – of all the Eagles blogs and coverage, yours is my favorite.
What he said.
My one nitpick is the assertion that the offense remains “as good as ever”. That’s certainly not the case. The Eagles have a very pedestrian offense that is treading water with big plays. If you site FO to praise the special teams, you must also site them to chastise the offense. Do they have the potential to improve? Certainly. But even with Evan Mathis back, only one phase of the offense worked on Monday and while glamorous when it did, that was still sporadic. One of the best games of Sanchez’s career is when he completes less than 55% of his passes?
he had a few “wow” moments, and a vintage Mark Sanchez pick where the defender had pretty bad body control/awareness of the sideline and went out of bounds. Missed some easy throws. Was a mixed bag but did well enough in an offense that barely got anything going in the run game. I think most came away from that game feeling that we’ll be just fine.
You’re right the offense isn’t near as good as 2013, but I wasn’t able to find the assertion that it was in this article.
The assertion is in the first bullet and contains literally the portion I quoted.
“The Eagles offense remains as productive as ever and the team is off to a great start at 7-2.”
Like I said, it’s a nitpick. It’s just a big nit.
ah, there it is, it’s funny but I’m not even sure it’s meant to be stated as it is. He acknowledges the O is missing a ton of opportunities, and implies the run game hasn’t been the same (by mentioning with will get better with a healthier O-line). But yeah it definitely has been a shell of last year and I’m not entirely convinced the run game will kick back up. Defenses are definitely daring us to beat them by passing, and for the most part we’ve obliged.
Your point is correct though.
We had almost 400yds in total offense, 31 points i believe — it’s not pretty, but it’s pretty good. I don’t remember a time where the team was consistently putting up 40+ in offensive points with consistent 80yd drives.
I think that’s the point of Kelly’s scheme that everyone is missing. It’s the point of running more plays/game. It’s the point of increased repetitions at practice. It’s the point of having coaches that are teachers. It’s the point of having certain “measurables” at positions. It’s the point about toughness, especially at QB.
The point is that Kelly’s offense wants to run high difficulty/high risk plays more often than any other offense. All of the pillars of Kelly’s program are there to make sure that they execute them at a *higher*, but obviously not a perfect, rate. And execute enough of them that they will “score some *&^% points” enough during games that it may look ugly, but the job of scoring 30+ points is going to happen.
I think the biggest weak point of the system was revealed this year – it can absolutely be stopped by a train wreck at offensive line. I think at most other positions, including QB, Chip can get by with C+ to B level talent that has been coached up, but the oline needs to be well above average to get things done against the better NFL defenses. I’m guessing that Chip and Howie are fully cognizant of this, and the OL is going to get some major love this offseason, both in FA and in the draft.
bill – very good summary of Chip’s PLAN. It is predicated on OL and DL. Kind of a house of cards if we have a failure in one of these positions which is why the reps for backups is so very important.
Help me understand…what offensive scheme cannot be stopped by a train wreck at offensive line?
To me, the strength of Chip’s offensive structure is the ability to adapt and attack based on the variables on both sides. Run to set up the pass, or pass to set up the run. And Chip is not beholden to the “this is how it’s done in the NFL” thinking. When you add in tempo and superior conditioning, along with the focus on Special Teams and creating turnovers on D, Chip allows the team multiple ways to win games.
Plus, our 2 losses were winnable games – it’s not like we’ve been embarrassed by anyone.
Yes, a train wreck at OL will stop pretty much any scheme. But since this team is predicated on its offense (even though the other aspects are performing well, too, right now), the OL is the weak point. You saw how the offense was virtually non-existent against SF. And how it struggled against the Rams.
My point wasn’t to criticize Kelly in any way. This team is exceeding my expectations. My point was merely to state that even when “ugly,” as it has been a lot this year, the offense generally puts up a big number. And that I think “ugly” to the internet commentariat who think that they’re experts because they’ve looked at a couple of games of all-22 is entirely likely to be a common thing for Chip’s offense. Like when such experts complain about ‘missing’ the 4th read on a play, or not executing all 60 pass attempts perfectly; that’s actually baked into the system, unless he somehow magically lucks into the next Aaron Rodgers. His system is made to allow lesser talents at skill positions who are good fits be coached up to execute the plays at a high percentage, even QB. I just think the one place he can’t follow that model at this level is the OL, and SF (and to a lesser extent, the playoff loss at NO last year) show it.
It’s not like I’m exactly treading new ground in predicting love for the OL this offseason. Everyone knows it will see it to some extent. I’m just guessing that it will see even more than most people are expecting, with probably a mid to higher level FA being signed as well as some major draft picks.
Sorry, but I still have a real disagreement with your observations and premise:
“His system is made to allow lesser talents at skill positions who are good fits be coached up to execute the plays at a high percentage, even QB. I just think the one place he can’t follow that model at this level is the OL, and SF (and to a lesser extent, the playoff loss at NO last year) show it.”
First, how are Lane Johnson (Chip’s first pick ever), Jason Peters, Evan Mathis, and Jason Kelce lesser talents? Do you consider Zach Ertz, Jeremy Maclin, Darren Sproles, Jordan Matthews, and Josh Huff lesser talents? People want to bash Riley Cooper’s lack of production this season, and yet he continually shows up on film contributing key blocks on successful running plays.
Do the Eagles need more depth in the OL group? Yes, but so does 90% of the NFL. Do Chip and Howie have a plan to address the OL needs/deficiencies? Is there evidence to suggest they don’t? Howie wanted to draft an OLman this past draft, but there was a run ahead of him that made him not reach for lesser talent. To me, the FO, Scouting, and Coaching Staff are working as well together as at any time in the salary cap era.
The Eagles have been in every game this year. In fact, in the last 18 games (including playoff) there was only one game (Minnesota) they were out of.
This year’s run game will pick up down the stretch. Mathis, Kelce, and Johnson have fresh legs. Tobin/Gardner have gained valuable experience. Peters remains the rock that he is. Polk is finally healthy, Sproles is being used wisely, Shady is surviving without taking a lot of direct hits. As the OL gets their timing back, and defenses see that Sanchez can beat them, it will return to a pick your poison situation.
Have faith, the Eagles have as good a shot this year as anyone. I don’t think any team is going to want to face the Eagles come playoff time.
1. No, the OL last year, and the current group, are relatively elite, IMO. That’s my point. The one place where Kelly’s offense needs elite level talent is OL, at least as far as being able to do its job against playoff-level defenses. They’re in good shape, comparatively, to the rest of the league there. But they need to be better depth-wise if they’re to avoid a playoff collapse due to one of the starters going down.
2. Yes, I do think Zach Ertz, Riley Cooper, Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff, Darren Sproles and Chris Polk are “B” level or less skill players who excel in Kelly’s system because of fit and coaching (Sproles is the closest to being more, but he’s a role player even here). And I consider myself to be a bigger fan of Cooper and Huff than about 90% of the commentariat ’round these parts. On the contrary, I’m probably one of the few that thinks Shady is overrated. He’s at best an A-, and I think this season I’d put him at less than that, and that Kelly could live with a lesser skill replacement who hits the holes and plays hard; sort of like the Shanahan Broncos who constantly turned late round backs into highly productive players.
3. Again, I’m not criticizing Kelly or Roseman here. I happen to share your sentiment that they’re doing a fantastic job with the resources they have. The results speak for themselves, IMO; not many people picked the Eagles to be 7-2 at this point in the season, myself included. At this time, it’s hard not to believe that this is one of the best run teams in the NFC, let alone the NFC East.
America, F*** Yeah!
TURN DOWN FOR WHAT!
Parkey: Being lucky is good too.
Is that you momma Henery?
Not Parkey who is lucky. The Eagles were lucky to get him. Not a well planned transition away from Henery.
Henery could have made all of the same field goals if he was kicking with the autumn 2014 wind patterns that Parkey’s had the luxury of this year!
So, Henery never made a FG longer than 51 in his career, but he would have kicked the 54 yarder this season?
Interesting. Someone should tell Henery that. Let’s call him in Detroit. Oh, wait…
//sarcasm.
I was lampooning Henery’s childish/bitter comments after the final preseason game that suggested the only reason Parkey made the two long kicks was the wind, and that he would would made them too for that reason.
Sorry, mate. There are Henery supporters out there, thought you were one of them. Great if that’s not the case. 😉
D3FB Summoning request: any idea if that sports hernia is messing with Jason Kelce’s shotgun snaps? Seems like with a game and a long week of practice, he aught have knocked the rust off.
Foles is 6’6 and Sanchez is 6’2. Do you think the 4″ makes a difference?
It’s possible. I’ve noticed that a lot of Sanchez’s hand offs have been dicey, too. The height difference could be making a huge difference on that one.
Sanchez’s hand motions as he does his snap count makes gives me anxiety, always feels like his hands are going low instead of being in the “ready” position when the ball is snapped. Also I feel like the excessive hand motion will get flagged if he ever draws someone into the neutral zone with it. Not a criticism, just something I’m trying to get used to.
I always say it does!
I think his problem isn’t with the snapping motion giving him physical problems. If you look at when he’s having bad snaps, it’s coming when he is called on to make a difficult block(such as reaching a DT lined up over the guard or pulling) He’s getting overly concerned with his blocking assignment and it’s throwing his mechanics off. I think it’s more of he doesn’t completely trust himself physically and may feel that he’s a half step slower at the moment. He just needs to settle down and trust his body.
great stuff as usual D3FB
When Barwin first arrived he talked about bringing the OLB mindset from the Texans that OLBs are Not Allowed To Let TEs block them, now we are seeing our OLBs steamroll every TE in their path
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Pretty much steamrolled every Guard that stood in his way too. My favorite mindset is that he just gets his hands up if he doesn’t get home on the rush. How this isn’t standard in the NFL is a mystery. The man made a living on pass deflections last year.
This past year and a half he basically made it so that QBs can’t bootleg and roll out to his side. he has disrupted so many bootlegs and rollout In key moments that by now it’s a pretty safe bet that if you try to roll out to his side, he will get by his man, hunt you down, get in your face, force u to get rid of the ball, time it perfect jump up and bat it down. Think the key play he made to ho clinch playoff spot against Dallas.
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Elite at setting the edge and playing the run. Between his sacks and batted passes he will have a monster pass rushing year and get a probowl spot, but what really really makes him special is, look around at all the other beast pass rushers around the league. How many of them are also capable of dropping into
Coverage and completely shutting down an elite TE like jimmy Graham In a playoff game? Not many!!! And besides all the production he provides he is mentoring marcus smith and will help Grow him into a quality OLB!!
True. I don’t remember many roll outs to the right in opposing QBs.
That’s what happens when you get twice as many reps in practice. And you have coaches that focus on the small things.
Edge rusher? Don’t do him that diservice. He blocked Watt better than most OL. This team is very “fundamentally” sound. Which makes up for the lack of pure athleticism of most of the team. Casey for instance has the brain but not the talent, so i just think of him as a veteran that’s lost a step or two.
GE – Stoutland and Azzinaro. Key generals in the PLAN.
I was thinking that after this game, those guys dont get enough credit for how good this D line has played. Making the DBs look good although some of those late sacks by Barwin et al were coverage sacks so it goes both ways.
Gotta give it to Nate Allen, we’ve seen him get the crap kicked outta him during the Andy Reid days, I mean helmet coming off face getting plastered kind of stuff, and of course the blown coverages, but somehow, someway he’s hung in there. Casy also, these guys have just hung in there. Let’s put it this way, my feelings about those guys are constantly evolving, may not be the popular opinion, but good on them.
Also wanted to add that I would love to see those guys walking down Broad Street when it’s all said and done. Then get adequate replacements next year, haha
The importance of good assistant coaches on full display with the development of the Reid castoffs.
Defensively, finally getting some stability has been huge too.
as long as we’re not playing the cards in a close game natedog has been pretty solid this year.
spike in Casey Matthews jersey sales lately for sure!
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can you imagine ALL OF US SCREAMING IN PERSON OR IN front of our TVs when casey Matthews RAISES THE TROPHY !!! AND cLimbs into his NEW TRUCK for WINNING MVP !!!!
Celek(glasses) and Matthews(hands on face running by the screen) are really happy after Sanchez’s first start.
i don’t think the guy running by the screen passed the post concussion protocol.
Not sure Celek ever looks quite that spaced out! Although he does take flight sometimes.
http://i.cdn.turner.com/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/1211/nfl-fantasy-football-sleeper-picks-week-11/images/brent-celek-op5n-9169.jpg
Are you kidding? Celek is good for at least one undiagnosed concussion a game. Truly a spaced out beast.
Who’s the dude with the B.A. Baracas van? Mathis?
I love it when a plan comes together.
I think it’s Herremans’ van
the infamous abduction van? What a weird episode that was lol.
Tommy, seems like despite Keuchly, we just couldn’t run against a bad run D. Is this more of a Mathis and Kelce rust thing? Or… your take?
IMHO it’s a numbers game. 8 defensive players in the box against 7 offensive lineman. We also whiffed on more than a few blocking assignments on Keuchly. The line can do much better and they have admitted their failings in this game.
He’s still really really good. DROY-DPOY, finally his team crapped out around him but he’s still a stud.
Right, but I feel like that wasn’t an issue last year? Or did having Desean always keep #8 back off the line?
Little to do with Desean, teams were still stacking the box in 2013 the Eagles were just more successful with the run.
Defenses have chosen to “pick their poison” and get beaten in the passing game (which they have been consistently this year).
And, yeah, obviously a shaky line don’t help either.
It was an entire offensive line problem. Mathis was back at LG, Kelce is still shaking the rust off, and Tobin was playing a new position. Zone blocking is about working together as a unit. It’s about knowing when to pass off your man to the next guy. That offensive line didn’t have any spot where the two players had played next to each other the week before. It’s just about getting reacclimated to each other
Kuechly is one hell of a player. For a defensive player to anticipate, read, and execute like he does is exceptional. It’s as if he is privvy to the offensive play calls – not just where the ball is going, but what the 2nd and 3rd reads are too.
that topic was just covered, extremely well I might add.
http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/2014/11/13/22-run-game-struggles-matthews-got-free/
Also, it is important to not overlook the importance of the philosophical difference in Chips value system: i.e. Chip being a process oriented person. Results alone are not as important as getting the results correctly. I think that has led to a lot of the soundness of the fundamentals with this team. It is also key in driving the team to constantly seek improvement and not be satisfied with success.
It’s kind of funny that we’ve siphoned off a whole bunch of talent from 2 teams: the Texans and the Saints. Most of these moves were greeted with a sort of “meh” reaction from the majority of fans and media. But these are key members of our teams, and their teams are now bad. The birds have quietly become studs at adding veterans to this team. It’s so markedly different from the dream team philosophy, in method and (thankfully) results.
teams that “win the offseason” don’t normally win the regular season. if you’re paying big names you’re paying mostly for past performance. we all remember vince young’s “dream team” of a few years ago…
Nope, never heard of it…
We would have won the SB easily that year if they didn’t cancel the season to help save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus.
Hey, Tree Frogs! Frogs!
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01891/cool-frog_1891806i.jpg
then again, it could be an octopus with a ouple of missing limbs!
http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
omg http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140829235648/walkingdead/images/3/3f/Shut-up-and-take-my-money.jpg
Good stuff! I can see the Olympic peninsula on a clear day, the San Juan Islands any day, have been down I-5 many times, yet have never seen this cephalopod. They must be close to extinction!
Yeah they got fleeced…
This time around talent was being added with a design,whereas before that talent was obtained due to the talent alone.
Seems like a good general strategy. Target great teams that have a star player that they need to pay, and then steal the solid players that they can no longer afford to keep.
Surprising we didn’t target the panthers who got absolutely destroyed by terrible cap management.
The thing you are overlooking is scheme. The Texans were a zone blocking offense under Kubiak and ran a 34 (more of an attacking variant but still). The Saints also ran a dynamic 34, and while they don’t do similar things on offense, Peyton is very similar in finding things his offensive skill players do well, and creating options to emphasize those skills.
Carolina on the otherhand, is basically two extremely athletic LB’s behind a bunch of talented players up front. Their DB’s are crap. Offensively they are an old school 3 yards and a cloud of dust kind of attack.
Not to mention the guys who left the Panthers were the guys who left for one last pay day. Everyone wanted a piece of whatever Seattle and Carolina was willing to let go of and generally overpaid for it. That’s definitely not our MO. Just funny that the lower profile of the Texans seems to have allowed their talent to move on cheaply, with the exception of James Casey, who we out muscled the other bidders on.
Also, their DC is crap and their O is “quarterbacked” by a clod with dust in his brain.
It would be all the sweeter if Dallas is next.
Dallas only has big name stars – they can’t afford the solid players that make up the framework of a good team.
This is a very exciting time to be an Eagles fan. What Chip is growing is still in its early phases; it’s hard to believe the guy is only in his second season. It feels like the Chip Era and the related values are already set in stone.
It’s not only the wins that are great, it’s the sense of comradery the team displays. I never feel like a game is out of reach, that someone will step up and make a play, that there’s a band of brothers together on the field. There’s a sense of egolessness and shared purpose that permeates the organization. This is a special thing happening.
The first few Andy Reid years were the same.
Chip’s success is a reminder that Andy was a great coach too. Let’s just hope Kelly can go one or two steps better than Reid.
This is a good point. Andy’s last few years were so frustrating I’ve blanked out how promising things were in the beginning of his time in Philly.
Kinda like Seal Team 6 – a “band of brothers”.
Duck Team 6?
Well THE “Band of Brothers” were in fact the Screaming Eagles of the 101st, so that works for me
“And pity the TE who tries to block Trent Cole on a run play.”
Was this another A-team, “I pity the fool…” themed reference?
With Mark Sanchez as “Face”
Can Peters be B. A. Barackus?
More like “and Mr. T as Jason Peters”
And “Crazy Eyes” Fipp as Murdock
Oh, that is perfect!
We are going to Win This game. We are the better, more battle tested TEAM!
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I hear disrespecting the Eagles claiming we didn’t beat anyone, yet the Packers ONLY legit win is squeezing past the Dolphins with a last second miracle from Rogers. They don’t have a better Win than going into Lucks house and winning the game….
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GreenBay looks like a bunch of bully’s who get up to blow out inferior teams. So far they have beaten Jets, Bears, Vikings, Panthers, Bears and the Dolphins is their best win.
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Yet everytimr this GBEH bully faced potential playoff teams they got their asses handed to them. Seattle, Detroit and the saints beat the packers by a combined 53 points, an average of a little over 17pts per game. You may not respect the Eagles, but you can’t fin a team that didn’t find themselves in a dog fight against the Eagles, we only lost twice, by an average of 1yard per game was the difference between us winning and losing. No one smacks us around by 17 points, let alone allowing 3 NFC competitors beat us by a combined 53 points. That’s a disgrace…and we are the team that can’t get any respect?
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In GB 3 losses, Lacy rushed for 59, 34 and 36yards per game and our run defense is better than the teams that beat the pack. The Saints Mark Ingram rushed for 172 yards against them a few weeks ago.
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Last 4 games or DL and OLB a combined for 21 sacks..while our OL has only given up 6 sacks the last 4 games and 4 came against the Texans…I also happen to expect our OL to play better than it has these last 4 games.
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Conversely, GB DL/OLB have a combined for 7 sacks these past 4 games, the entire defense has 10 sacks in the last 4 games, while their OL has allowed 11 sacks the last 4 games…basically our front 7 and OL has put performed their in these last 4 games and we probably faced better competition than these bullies who’s beat win is squeezing past the Dolphins…
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A common theme In the 3 teams that beat the GB is that Seattle, Lions and saints all had a qualify front 7, and our front 7 is probably playing better than the 3 defensive fronts that beat GB.
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We are also #1 in punt returns and #3 in kickoff return. And in a shoutout, field position matters and our ST can provide a major boost. We ain’t one of those chump teams GB has been beating, We may be better than the 3 teams that beat them. GB hasn’t won any close battles..we have learned how to persevere and win the close ones
Good Stuff GEAGLE
Thank you sir
Nothing really wrong with the plan as much as there are still holes in the roster causing some of those deficiencies. They need another strong offseason of work before we start our dynasy level run of titles.
Dynasty ha, Ill take one at this point. I feel like once playoff time rolls around, most teams are beatable including the Eagles. Tough to ever feel that confidence to roll through the playoffs and expect to make it. 04 team was only time Ive seen it/felt it. I feel like Den is the only team that has that going with Pats a close second. Even with that Pats win over Den I think Denver is a more complete team. I think Pats are beatable as compared to some of their teams of old.
It looks like a Denver-New England AFC Championship is all but inevitable at this point. Chances are that it will be in New England, which could heavily influence the outcome…(because let’s face it, Peyton struggles playing in that environment in January.)
oh def, they are beatable. You can also get to them if you get ahead early, they arent a big come from behind team. I think pats are even more beatable, would be nice to see a different team like Colts in there this year but who knows. Some lower teams could make some noise like Pitt if they get any consistency. As for teams who seem to be a tad ahead of everyone else, they just seem like the 2 this season but to me its really just Denver. Wide open NFC.
If,we want to leave Lambeau with a win, we have to win ATleast 2’of the 3 phases. special teams is going to come in handy this week. in high scoring shootouts, field position is BIGTIME! Our Coverage units have been awesome, it’s rare that we give up good field position when we kick off or punt..Conversly, our Punt return is ranked #1 and our Kick return ranks #3rd.. ..
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Best case scenario ST scores some points for us, but at the very least, I’d bet we get to start a few drives with favorable field position, while we force them to go the length of the field…
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3 weeks ago, 2 games ago, Mark Ingram ran for 172 yards against the Pack.
We lost twice, but in both games we were in it til the very end.. Saints lost 3 ti es by a combined 53 points. The Saints, The Lions, and the Seahawks, DESTROYED GB by an average of 17 a game. I just don’t see why we have to fear a team that got blown out of the stadium by 3 teams that may be inferior to us… NO ONE has been double digit points better than the Eagles..3 Teams beat GB by An average of 17 points. I’m personally expecting our best offensive line performance of the year this week, and if that stands true, we should MAUL this average packers DL.
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DT Mike Pennel, DE MIke Daniels, DE Josh Boyd, DT Letroy Guion and DE Datone Jones(who I like)… Is there any reason why our OL shouldnt handle this GB defensive front? They get some production out of OLBs, Thor, Peppers and Neal, but Im comfortable with Jason Peters and Lane Johnson getting the best of this match up…. 3 weeks ago, Mark Ingram ran for 172 yards aganst this front… I say we just run the ball down their throat with our 3 runningbacks… Even if we have to go with an extra OT(unbalanced line) and two blocking TEs like Celek and Casey,,screw this Packer front 7, Lets MAUL THEM, run the ball all game, eat some clock… Don’t think either team will run away with this game, it’s going to come down to the 4th quarter, so I’m hoping we really commit to the run this week so we can wear this defense down and have our way with it in the 4th…
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HOWEVER, this isnt a game that we can turn the ball over and expect to overcome it. Play a clean game in terms of taking care of the Ball, and Monday the Eagles and the Lions will be the talk of the NFC
IMHO we have to have an effective run game to win. Long drives that keep the ball away from Rogers is the key. If they put 8 in the box, then we put Burton or Casey beside Shady. Use power sets to run the ball down their throat. Then with the same formation pass to JMac down the middle. Demoralize and Destroy should be our game plan.
I don’t see that happening — this team is built for shootouts for better or worse. Honestly i think it’ll come down to DST. We’ll get our 28 points and we have to keep them from getting to 30.
So I’m at the airport today and talking to a pilot from Milwaukee. He’s completely scared of the Eagles. To him, our offense is overwhelming. He doesn’t talk about Sanchez or the run game. He doesn’t know about the value of our special teams. He thinks home field at lambeau is the only reason the packers could win. He’s very skeptical about the gb defense.
This is all to say that we may. It be as underrated as we think, we know we have holes but may be better than we think (you are your record after all), and gb is probably at about our level, maybe even with home field advantage. Can’t wait for the game.
Kelly wanted a big team but the team MVP has been the smallest guy on the team (Sproles).
That’s ironic!
Jerry Jones seems to be a a natural for the role of Colonel Lynch – an arrogant, ambitious, and not particularly bright (yet oddly always tan) official who is always trying to catch something (Lombardi Trophy) while failing miserably.
I really hope, within a decade, the enduring HOF-sideline-coach-fashion-disaster that is the BelichickHoodie will be replaced by KellySpecs, and all the cool kids start wearing them again.
http://images.elephantjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/4-dr-frankenstein.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPmVhyHBRAM
So because of this post I just spent the entire day watching my A-Team DVD collection, getting absolutely nothing of any productivity done at all.
Well played, Mr. Lawlor. 🙂
that’s sad on a lot of levels.
“Don’t mess with me, fool.”
Tommy’s focus in this article was on the here and now. It is worth looking at how far the Eagles have come in improving the outlook of their future.
QB – Sanchez’s best possibility for a solid long-term gig is here in Philadelphia, where (as we have seen this season) he is only an injury away from starting.
RB – Chip has made Shady a better RB and brought in Sproles to complement him. Chip’s scheme will be a magnet for RBs as we go forward.
TE – Added both depth (Casey and Burton) and youth (Ertz and Burton)
OL – This is the biggest question mark going forward, but Stoutland has proved to be a solid teacher. Get him some talent in the 2015 Draft and the succession plan will become clearer.
DL – All the players are young. Great future as well as a great present.
OLB – Resigning Graham has changed from “no way” to “do it”
ILB – Despite the current depth challenges, 2015 looks bright with both Goode and Long coming off IR
CB – The current group has been a very serviceable bridge to the future while contributing in the present. I expect the 2015 Draft to yield a solid CB, possibly two.
Safety – Another Draft focus, but thanks to the signing of Jenkins, we are only looking for one Safety, not two. I would not be surprised at all to see the FO pursue another ex-CB like Jenkins in the 2015 FA period.
Thinking back to January 2013, we have come a long, long way.
I disagree on Shady or have you like most people forgot the 2011 season?
I forgot about yesterday…
Shady’s 2011 was what happens when you get half as many reps in practice, and you have coaches that don’t focus on the small things.
You mean the year when he broke the franchise record for rushing and total TDs?
My bad. I thought you were referring to Shady’s drop off year rather than his first peak year.
My point still stands. Chip’s Offense imore oriented toward providing its RBs with running opportunities than most NFL offensive schemes are. Even with all the injury challenges across the O-Line, the Eagles rank #8 in the NFL in rushing attempts per game. Chip’s blocking schemes pay significantly more attention to the 2nd level defenders, which opens up breakaway opportunities for the RBs. Problems this year by the O-Line in successfully executing those 2nd level blocks has severely curtailed the breakaway run opportunities. I expect those breakaways to begin reappearing now that the O-Line is back to a semblance of its normal self.
you are very optimistic.
Beats the alternative … and the going forward situation of most NFL teams is the alternative.
Part of the fun of being a fan is watching how things play out. It is good entertainment.
I’m not a huge MMQB fan, but really enjoyed this piece on Sanchez. Its so hard not to root for him after what he went through in New York. He seems legitimately committed to making it work here, and I honestly hope he does. Be a great redemption story, and we all know how much everyone loves a Philadelphia redemption story.
http://mmqb.si.com/2014/11/12/mark-sanchez-philadelphia-eagles-nfl/
I haven’t gambled on a game since I was like 18years old. But being a 6point underdog to a team we are better than is driving me crazy. I want to put my money where my mouth is sooooo BAD, and take the money line of us winning the game out right, amd then also take us +6 points….
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This is NOT a better team than the Eagles and I’m so tempted to put my money where my mouth is and make a few extra fazools off this fraud bully Green Bay team…… But I’m petrified that, uncharecteristically betting this one game will jinx us… Grrrr
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It’s Friday and Im so,antsy for this game already…
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That’s the spirit.
The Packers outclass us in one thing and one thing only. Rodger better be able to cover punts and pressure quarterbacks too, or the Packers are F’d.
I’m trying to knock him out of this game EARLY! Screw him, Texans thrilled about knocking FOles out the game. No Mercy, DESTROY Rogersl just put 3 BIG HITS on him Early!!
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This game is HUGE, a win puts more separation from GB AND owning the TIE Breaker against them give us a better chance of not having to go to Labeau if we run into them in January
Group A: Jets, Bears, VIkings, Panthers, Dolphins
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group B: Seahawks, Lions, Saints
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Which group would we say best fits the Eagles?
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Group A, lost to the Packers, Group B beat the Packers by a combined 53 points, average of 17pts a game,,,
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I’ll be damned if the Pack gets the best win of its over rated season against us!!! Aaron Rogers is a better QB, but I thought @Colts is tougher than @GB.
All 3 Packer’s losses – Sea, Det, NOLA — were on the road.
GB 5-1 in last 6 games (only loss on road at NOLA).
I’m aware of that…but Eagles been road warriors since that crazy streak of losing at home.,
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What I know is that GB has either Blown out its opponents, or they got their asses handed to them by 53 combined points in 3 games,,… They aren’t battle tested like us, the only close game they won was the Dolphins game.
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They haven’t been through what we have persevered thru. We have learned how to claw, scratch and find a way to win those gut check Battles. NO ONE has blown us out of their stadium, we gave HELL to the two teams that beat us…we certainly havent let 3 NFC competitors completly outclass us the way GB has…. Two teams had to squeek past us by a yard…
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This is a team that let 3 teams destroy them. They aren’t as hard, battle tested, as well rounded as us. They win because of Rogers and the offense..we have someone different step up for us and help us win every week…. We aren’t going to blow them out of Lambeau, but they damn sure won’t blow us out of Lambeau either..it’s going to be a close dog fight that comes down to the end, and I’ll take the team that has proven to be able to win these close gut check games, over the team that has been involved in 6-7 of 8 blowouts this year? ..this isn’t going to be a blowout game, and IMO that favors the team that has had to grind out wins all year, needing someone different to step up every week and help us overcome all types of adversity to win the game…
What needs to happen:
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1) Eagle ELITE #1 ranked special team has to outclass average #15 ranked GB SPecial teams. At the very least we need to continue winning field position, giving Sanchez short field, while GB is forced to drive the length of the field, but hopefully ST can make some of its monster plays and put a couple points up on the board for us.
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2) facing a rookie center, we need to lineup in a million different crazy ways. Throw all types of different fronts at the rookie center, twisting, stunting, occasional blitzing…the more we throw at the rookie, the more breakdowns we should be able to force, ands when they do breakdown, we have to take advantage of the opportunity and put some BIG HARD HITS on Rogers. It’s extremely important to disguise our intentions well and not let Rogers force us into tipping our hand presnap. have to hold that disguise til the ball is snapped.
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3) you can’t beat Rogers if you have to blitz every play to get pressure. YOU MUST be able to generate a pass rush with your front 4.. NEED Barwin,BG,COLE,Curry,Cox to have BIG GAMES this week, win their individual matchups and get some hits on Rogers…our OLBs should be able to beat Tackles Bulaga and Bakhtiri…….3-4 defense is supposed to help you stop the run without safety help. THAT is CRUCIAL This week. Our Front 7 has to shut down Lacy and they have to do it without safety support
If we bring safety down to help the run, Rogers will throw overtop of us….So two KEY aspects are
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A) Generate some pressure without blitzing
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B) stop Lacy without bringing safeties in the box
I would only say that you dont always see the same team at different times throughout a season so relying on the past isnt always a big indicator of the future. Eagles last season were like that although a change in QBs was part of it and a new system. I think the Pack are rolling a bit now but I certainly think they are beatable. This one may have to be a shootout unless the D line is causing havoc.
They are on a 1 game winning streak lol… They got blown out of New Orleans two weeks ago lol
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3 times they have been blown out against other potential playoff teams seattle, Lions, Saints… They beat Miami which is not a playoff team… Every single time they player a team they could face in the playoff, they weremt even competitive, they got their asses handed to them…. When have you seen someone blows the Eagles out of their stadium? ATleast we went into Indianopolis and beat the cults, gave the Niners a war to the end, gave the Cardinals a war to the end… We sure as hell don’t get blown out every time the level of competition increases the way GB has
Surprised no one is talking about the McManus Earl Wolff article. Finally Wolff admitted he is in the dog house, and his eagkes future is in jeapordy. Getting deactivated for a guy we signed off the street in week 10 is NOT a good sign.
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wonder if this is chip trying to push his buttons in a Zen Master, Phil Jackson sort of way? I trust Chip, but he better proceed with caution because he is playing with fire. I get the new safety is a quality 4 core ST player, and I respect and Love special teams more than I ever have,,,.but whatever our issues with Wolff, he is our 3rd best safety. If Jenkins or Nate get hurt, we won’t be very happy seeing Maragos, or the new kid playing defense instead of Wolff…Earl is a key backüp at a position we could be stronger at…. If a starting safety gets hurt and Wolff isn’t active, that could be a big problem.
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Wolff better go talk to chip and Billy and do whatever it takes to get his head off of the chosing block before that Axe comes crashing down
the knock on him pre draft is that he wasn’t too bright and relied on athleticism only. i think you’re seeing that play out. wolff just got straight replaced, and then ck called proz and upgrade on teams. he might as well call his agent.
When else has chip spent a draft pick on a dumb player? I know you didn’t miss the past two drafts when we emphasized character and intelligence…
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We don’t really have enough pieces to this wolff puzzle to really offer any kind of hypothesis on the kid…..he has barely played, and I’m not privy to his practice film, so there is no point in me speculating in the dark… I wouldn’t give Up on Wolff before seeing him in the next offseason, but our coaches earned the benefit of the doubt so If they cut him before next years training camp, it will be hard for me to question the decision..
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I need to see him play 5,6 games in a row, how he plays in one game doesn’t matter much…I care about how much better he can be in game 6 compared to game 1… I can’t judge his growth rate, if I don’t ever get to see him play anything more than a sporadic appearence now and then
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I can’t say if it’s an attitude issue that landed him inu dog house, or if it’s based soley on poor play in games and practice…or if we are just fed up with him not being willing to play injured? I have no idea what’s going on with the kid..bet when I look at our group of safety, I can’t help but feel like it would be foolish to give up on this supreme athletic puppy before next offseason. but if chip thinks he reached t he point of return, Chip has earned the benfit of the doubt
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I don’t know what to think about this situation. ANYONEs guess is as good as mine
On top of boasting the 4th best run defense, second in sacks, longest forcing a turnover streak in the NFL, my beloved Eagles defense is now 6th in the NFL at forcing 3 and outs!,,
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Can’t wait to see how Nasty this defense has grown into by mid December!
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Funny how this Eagles defense is becoming so good, with basically the same personel we had going into last season, when every effort said we would be historically bad again LOL
delete
Our corners are better at covering larger receivers. What category do the Packer’s receivers fit into?
Jordy and Boykin have have size, Cobb has the speed. Cobb could do some damage if we get into zone and he’s splitting say, Nate Allen and one of our outside CB’s. But Williams, Fletcher and Boykin, should man-up very well to Nelson, Boykin, and Cobb respectively
Awesome?
Sproles says he never seen anything like all thee attention teams are giving shady. Stuck up for shady like a class act pointing out that he has been more successful than Shady because when shady is in the game, all defenses care about is stopping him, but when Sproles go in the game, defenses are expecting a pass, so when he has ran the ball, he has had much less attention from defenses to overcome than shady has…
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We NEED Sanchez to burn a few teams down field, make teams pay drastically for th insane amount of attention they are giving to shady,..it’s really all up to the SANCHIZE to make enough big plays down field to create some space for shady down the stretch…
that’s b/c no one will stuff the box on drew brees. shady gets the same treatment as any star. shady just doesn’t run through contact. if he’s got running lanes great, but you can’t let a db tackle you at the los and then complain about the run game. at some point you gotta use a stiff arm or a truck move. that’s why sproles and polk are getting more time.
Wtf does drew Brees have to do with the Eagles run game with shady, and the eagles run game Sproles?
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If memory serves me correct, before last weeks game, shady had started to have some quality run games. We ran all over Texans, Ran all over the Giants, had a solid game against top ranked Cardinals run defense….
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3 of the last 4 games shady was successful, excuse me if I don’t dwell on the one game he wasn’t successful
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I’m also personally expecting the best OL game we have had all year. Kelce has two games under his belt now, Mathis shook some rust off last week, Tobin got experience playing guard on the other side last week…and for the second week in a row we will be using the same line, which means guys NOW have experience blocking with the man next to him, which should equate to our OL having one of our better rushiñg games this week against a bad run defense
`Wtf does drew Brees …`, he sayin Sproles has years of NFL exp. which were with Brees as the center of attention for opposing D/C`s
That comment still doesn’t make sense as Drew Brees is a qb and they don’t see 8 man fronts cause of the qb
Agree with that the stuffing the box against Brees would not make sense, whereas NO did have good enough RB`s to merit attention from DC`s and maybe this is where the idea behind the comments attributed to Sproles comes from.
Lol so how does that have anything to do with my comment about what front shady sees when he is in the game as an eagle, and the different fronts Sproles sees when he is in the game as an eagle?
we are burning teams with the pass and play action, and the strategy has only yielded 2 wins for opponents, and still they load the box so that are package play’s pre-snap read dictates we pass, then they take all those players in the box and blitz or bail them all out into coverage.
If teams want to settle for “ok, but not good enough” for their game plan, they can be my guest. By all means, sell out on Shady and see if Chip can figure out how to beat you.
I agree 100% and it looks like Kelly does too.
Play 8 in the box -great. Eagles with take short passes to the perimeters and shots downfield.
Stacking the box hasn’t worked against the Eagles. Sure the run game is stiffled, but they’re putting up more than enough points to win anyway.
Vintage ’90s Cowboys (of Jimmy Johnson) faced 8-in-the-box every Sunday.
Emmitt Smith still dominated on the ground.
And Aikman to Irvin/Harper/Novacek killed the opposition in the air.
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Eagles need to get the ground game going.
When that happens, with defenses still putting 8-in-the-box, you’ll see a juggernaut in Philadelphia.
I agree. We need a running game even if 8 in the box. I fear that means we need more Polk but Duce won’t play him more.
I think it just takes someone other then shady to Run the ball and not Dance the ball
When teams stack the box to stop the run game, and you are determined to run, you do the same in kind. You match power with power. For better or worse that is anti-Chip Kelly for anything but short yardage situations. Chip Kelly football looks more like Judo than sumo wrestling (turns out that’s actually extremely unfair to sumo wrestlers who are extremely gifted athletes who are some of the most incredible technicians in the world, but you probably get the metaphor err simile in this case). We don’t know the Eagles can’t do what the 90’s cowboys did, or hell, the 2014 Cowboys for that matter. What we do know is he isn’t even going to try.
A87:
Maybe so.
In the flag-football era of the NFL, maybe that makes sense . . .
As long as your QB doesn’t get hurt.
It still makes plenty sense to double down on your strength and dominate when you can, and it is an awesome sight to behold. It’s just not Chip’s way, for better or for worse.
But we have to keep in mind, Chip isn’t responding to loading the box by passing because it’s a finesse passing league. If Chip had Joe Montana and Jerry Rice in their prime he would gleefully run on those maximum pass coverages all day. Even if his running back was like, Reno Mahe or some such. Old School: attack with your strengths. Chip school: attack their weaknesses, even if it’s with what the other team presumes to be your weakness.
We really don’t know if Chip is going to try or not. He never reveals all. Keeps a card or two up his sleeve, so that just when some folks start to complain that he is predictable…BOOM! And he is also still learning the NFL.
I’d give anything to see us sub the 3 OT in the game, with Celek and Casey out there too, Beau allen lead blocking for Polk
so would I. Every once in a while i would love to see Chip basically hold up a billboard: “We’re running the Ball” and dare them to stop us. Such a rush when everybody knows exactly what’s coming and no one can stop it. The definition of dominance.
RIGHT!!! It would be awesome because you know no team would prepare for it, like you said it’s Complete opposite of chips “spread them out and run” nature
True that!…. At some point if we keep winning teams will have to abandon that strategy at some point….
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Impose our will and pound the rock this week
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“Oddsmakers now say that Eagles have the 2nd best odds to make the Super Bowl only behind Denver….dumb “expert analyst” and our dumb fans might not respect what this team has done, but VEgas sure seems to think we are about to get hot and go on a big second half run”
This isn’t true. Not that you’ve ever let facts get in the way of a good narrative. Books may vary a bit, but they’re more or less in the same order.
Anyway, to win the Super Bowl:
Denver 13/4
New England 6/1
Green Bay 15/2
Seattle 9/1
Indy 10/1
Arizona 12/1
Philly 12/1
To win NFC (“make it to the Super Bowl”):
Green Bay 7/2
Seattle 7/2
Arizona 11/2
Philly 6/1
http://sports.bovada.lv/sports-betting/football-futures.jsp
http://www.vegasinsider.com/nfl/odds/futures/
WRONG
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/playoffodds#playoff%20scenarios
Eagles are 3pp above the next closest NFC team in SB win odds.
Dude. This isn’t “oddsmakers.” Football Outsiders is NOT Vegas. FO is a statistical / analytical website that has absolutely NOTHING to do with actual odds.
So, no, I’m absolutely RIGHT. And it’s kind of hilarious that you posted this. That page couldn’t have LESS to do with “oddsmakers” or “VEgas.”
You must’ve gone to school with GEAGLE.
Just because you were proved wrong doesn’t mean you have to get butthurt.
You’re full on rustled, bro.
OK guy. Obvious troll is obvious.
Working out of town all week, long hours. Never got to see the game yet. Nice to see all your familiar screen names.
The “yet” made me smile. True fan.
Eagles are 5-0 against losing teams — combined record of 17-38-1
“Best team” of that group by record is Houston at 4-5. Worst team is JAX at 1-9. Three others — Wash, NYG, Rams — are 3-6. Carolina is 3-6-1.
The Bird are 1-2 against teams with winning records (combined 19-8) — all were road games.
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Yes, the Eagles could be unbeaten.
They could also have a couple more losses.
(No sense in going there. Won’t change anything.)
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Green Bay is 4-0 at home, and 5-1 in their last 6 — only loss on the road to NOLA.
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This Sunday stacks up as a great “yard-stick” game.
what’s the record of the teams the great pack has beaten?
21-34-1
Pack beat the Bears twice, so I counted Chicago’s 3-6 record twice.
Pack — like Eagles — also 1-2 against teams w/ winning records.
(GB lost to Seattle and Detroit but beat Miami)
Same circumstance, all 3 good opponents were faced at their home field. Kinda stinks that we have to play all of our challenging opponents at their house until what, Seattle?
A87:
I was thinking exactly that, as well.
Great minds, indeed.
Grent bay lost 3 games by a combined 53 points…we lost two games by a combined 2 yards
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3 times this year Green Bay got its ass kicked..only teams that beat us had to squeek past us…
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We certainly didn’t get blown out 3 times by an average of 17 points… ATleast we were in the games we lost against good teams, GB got its ass handed to them by every potential play off team it faced, Seattle,Saints, and the Lions…miami isnt a playoff team..
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GB hasnt even been able too compete with other playoff teams..they get destroyed every time they faced one..ATleast we actually looked like we belonged against the elite teams, GB didn’t even look like a playoff team every single time they played other playoff teams
All those Ls were before AR told everyone to relax (and when he wasn’t injured. Injured AR really nullifies that team.
The one thing that killed us in those two games were turnovers. I think if they limit the turnovers, we got a much better shot.
Edit: Especially in AZ, two RZ turnovers. Those 6 points (at least) would have given us the game.
If we don’t turn the ball over, it would be really rare to see us lose a game where we took care of the rock. It’s a testament to want a good team we have that we were able to overcome so many turnovers on our way to 7-2 record…. Bad teams, average teams, would never be able to overcome the turnovers we committed and still find a way to win
So we uh, are not going to be running this I hope
Gotta say. I’ve not seen many free runners in eagles defense.
I’m laughing now but I hope we don’t see pics like this on Mon morning .
BAd news, we drew the worst officiating crew possible for Sunday’s game. They throw the most penalties and by a big margin. They penalized the road teams ALOT.. A lot of penalties will stop us from getting our tempo going and we need it to wear teams down for a game that will come down to the 4th quarter. They do seem to throw the most penalties against the road teams defense, and Rogers doesn’t need extra help to be great. Hopefully our offense can play penalty free but our corners are probably getting flagged this week. Hard enough to get off field against Rogers, can’t have referees bailing him out too.
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Important that offense plays a clean game so we can get our tempo working. This officiating crews games have mostly turned into high scoring shoot outs..so a worn down Packers defense would be great for a game that will come down to the 4th quarter
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Not news I would have liked to see two days away from the BIG Game!
GE wrote:
“we drew the worst officiating crew possible for Sunday’s game . . .”
Chi?
That prick Carl Cheffers
has his crew worked Bird games this year?
Nope…this is his first eagles game this year
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Compare his ref stats against the others, and this dude officiating us on the road against a good passing offense is a NIGHTMARE
The refs in that Arizona game killed us. Couldn’t get anything going with that crap. If it’s like that we will have some trouble.
I cant think of a game I felt more cheated as an Eagles fan over the course of the entire game than That arizona game,… That was pathetic. THAT BETTER have not been the same officiating crew that Worked Arizona @Philly the year before when Bryce Arians did all that crying after the game
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We are giung to have to put some real hard hits on Rogers to win this week
If you touch Rodgers it’s a flag. Two if you tackle him.
That’s why just hit him good once, knock him out the game, well worth the 15 yards… After what those scumbag Texans did to my rainmaker, I want to see every starting QB we face, knocked out of the game!!
That was the worst officiated game I’ve ever seen. After every play, we would wait and find out if there was a flag.
Cheffers’s crew did the Packers loss at Detroit.
In that game, only 11 penalties called in total for 70 yards.
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Visiting teams avg 29 pts vs. home teams avg 25 points in Cheffers’s games.
Penalties per game: 8.4 for visitor vs. 8.9 for home team.
In 5 of their 9 games, Cheffers’s crew has called more penalties on the team with the better record coming in.
So, it looks like it`s gonna be up to the teams to determine who wins the game. No excuses, before or after–maybe during, which happens every game anyway.
Those dirty sneaky sneaky saints wore wet suits under their uniforms to combat the cold in the playoff game in philly last year…malcolm Jenkins suggested it to our players to counter the Lambeau cold and our players were practicing with the wet suits today for the Packer game….. Pretty smart when you think about it…. Wet suits could come in handy in the playoff
Don’t wet yourself because of this news..
Currently as No. 3 in NFC we play SEA at home — I’m not sure how i feel about that. Maybe better than NOLA at home, but hopefully we can pass Detroit and grab the bye.
Any one review the game all 22 and see if panthers actually put 8 in box? Chip said yesterday that they didn’t.
No 8-in-the-box?
Hmm.
Then Carolina’s pass defense must be really BAD . . . and their run defense back to 2013 status.
Agree — additionally as GEAGLE mentions zone blocking really requires a lot of cooperation. With so many moving pieces it’s hard to produce, especially against a team like the Panthers.
uhg it’s true, just reviewed the first 2 drives we never got more than the amount of blockers we kept in the box +1, so double TE set we saw an 8 in the box, but a few times we ran the 4 WR on the outside, and got exactly what we wanted, 4 DB’s on the perimeter, 5 in the box to our 5 linemen, and a safety deep. If shady gets a hole it’s just a safety between him and the endzone, except no blocking, no hole, no gain.
Both of those drives were in the redzone where limited space allows you to crowd the box too.
Opinion of Sanchez and our WR’s went up, concern level for our O-line just went up too though. Get right soon boys.
This is probably why after the game Kelce and some of the other lineman were killing themselves for not doing a great job. I expect it’ll be cleaned up this week, especially after a bad showing like that.
Good stuff.
I wouldn’t worry much about the run game this week. Anytime a lineman has to play with a new lineman next to him, our run game will struggle, since it’s all based off combo blocks and passing defenders off to each other… One week of practice isn’t enough to execute our combo blocks with someone new playing next to you..
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Another week has passed with Lane working with Tobin next to him, Kelce had two games to shake off the rest, mathis has a game under his belt…I am personally assuming we see our potent run game this week, since guys got another week to iron out the kinks playing with new people next to them, combined with a poor GB run defense…… I’d be pretty surprised if our run game doesnt have a big game…
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Im expecting our 3 headed monster to combine for like 150yards, while our front 7 holds Lacy under 70 yards….
So they kept 6 or 7 in box? One more than blockers?
Typically yest, if we had 5 linemen in the box, there would be 6 defenders, if Brent was in line, a 7th defender would be present, if Casey was also in line, an 8 defender would join the box. These are basically neutral odds, a defender for every blocker, which leaves 1 for the ball carrier to beat. However there were times when we schemed exactly where we wanted and got a blocker for every defender in the box, which when executed allows Shady to get into the secondary untouched.
One play had an interesting scheme, we had 6 in the box, with Celek, Huff in the slot with a nickle CB over him, CB was in zone, didn’t even move towards the run, huff slanted directly in and blindsided a linebacker to become a 7th blocker. so again, 7 defenders in the box, 7 blockers, didn’t get any real movement, but shady still squeezed 4 or so yards out, but again, these were runs that often got us 15-20 yard last year.
I LOVE the ST play when you run down near the returner and just catch his foot! follow up guy can go for the tackle but this move I think is a strategy based on human body movement… smack the weakest but most jarring spot .. kind of like learning to strip the ball on a tackle or how a good runner uses the defenders’s body positioning against him … blah blah blaH
Nate Silver’s playoff/Super Bowl odds report
https://espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/nfl-eloratings-week10-table2.png
As we get closer to Sunday, I’m getting an increasing bad feeling about this one. Maybe its just coming down off the high from the beat down we laid on Carolina. But I’m worried this game could look a lot like last year’s game against Denver. Total dismantling of the Eagles with all the weaknesses being exposed.
Then again, I just had a bunch o’ beer and perhaps my divination skills are not as sharp as usual.
Backup QB. Casey freaking Matthews?
What is there to worry about?
They haven’t been blown out all year, and they’ve faced much better defenses than GB.
Sure, but better QB’s?
No, but I do think we can score with them if it comes down to that.
I hope so. We had a ton of 3 & outs and punts against the Panthers. That was okay against a team with an underwhelming offense.
Me too. It could go either way, but I think our oline will get it right this week.
This is exactly what I’m expecting. The Packers offense is nothing like the Panthers. I can see the Eagles being overconfident, resulting in a blow-out loss. This is the defense that couldn’t contain Carson Palmer. I can’t see them slowing Rodgers.
It’ll be up to Sanchez and Shady to keep them in this one. That’s a big question mark.
You are a negative Nancy.
Sure, but it’s the Packers! I was actually optimistic before the Panthers game, even with the Sanchez mystery!
This defense has been burned way too many times by mediocre teams to expect great things against good teams.
yeah i thought i was bad
I was originally skeptical about this game too DE. But I think with Chip you have the X Factor. He and Billy D. will find the keys to winning the game. Expect to see some new wrinkles in the Run Game, and a few new blitz stunts on Rogers – a QB that usually excels against blitzes.
Like GEagle, I think we will also win in the trenches. Last week was a dress rehearsal for the new OL team. They will fix their mistakes. Our DL will dominate again in the trenches, and Billy will use less blitzes but lots of movement to confuse Rogers. Billy D. is really good and will find a way to win.
Hope you’re right and I’m wrong, of course. Game can’t get here soon enough.
It’s a good thing when you’re not sure it’s a sure thing!
That was an awesome post ( except for the A-Team embed).
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good info!
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hello!