Detailed Game Review – SEA 24, PHI 14
Posted: December 12th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 131 Comments »Is it possible to be encouraged and discouraged at the same time? That’s how I feel after studying the tape of Sunday’s loss to Seattle. There were certainly things to feel good about, but there were also moments that made me want to pull my hair out. And my bald spot is already big enough. I don’t need games like this.
The good news is that the Eagles played the red hot defending Super Bowl champs very tough. Fletcher Cox was the best player on the field. Mychal Kendricks had a very good game. There were other parts of the defense that played really well. The performance by the STs was mostly good. As bad as the offense was, they did come up with 2 TDs in the 2 favorable situations. Seattle’s previous 2 opponents had combined for 6 points.
The bad news is that the offense was a mess. Mostly that was Mark Sanchez. He had opportunities to make plays, some small and some big, and just couldn’t do it. Seattle got good pressure and certainly covered well, but Sanchez left yards and points on the field where he just didn’t see open receivers. It was utterly frustrating to see these plays on the All-22 tape.
Speaking of frustrating, the defense had some lapses in coverage that were torturous. Watching the game I thought the CBs were doing a poor job. They actually played pretty well. There were mis-communications between the LBs and DBs that caused problems. There were some plays where there were just too many eyes on Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch. One thing to consider about the coverage…think of how many plays Wilson had to run around for 3 to 5 extra seconds before finding someone. The initial coverage was often good. Once the play broke down, the coverage went to pieces. There isn’t one person to blame. They all took turns screwing up.
After re-watching the tape, I would like another shot at Seattle. I’m not saying the Eagles will suddenly score 30 points and look like a juggernaut, but I saw a lot of issues that can be fixed.
COACHING
There wasn’t a whole lot of game-managing to do in this one. Kelly did go for it on an early 4th/1. That was a good risk. Needed to get that 1st down instead of settling for the FG. Felt like Kelly should have gone for it on 4th down late in the game. The Eagles were down 10 and needed a miracle. It was 4th/11, but punting felt like a “give up” move by Chip.
It is hard to say too much about the offensive playcalling. The execution was so poor that I don’t really know what the coaches had in mind. I do have a couple of beefs. I didn’t understand all the E-W running. Seattle has a fast defense. I’ve always believed you need to run N-S on teams like that. Don’t let them use their speed.
The Eagles had a drive get going in the 2nd Qtr. They marched from the PHI 21 to the 48. Then Kelly called for a deep ball. The pass went to Cooper, but was incomplete. That incompletion sucked the life out of that drive and the team ended up punting. The game was 7-7 at that point. Just go get in FG range and take the lead. The low percentage deep ball killed the drive.
Bill Davis did an interesting thing on defense. He decided to use his base defense against 3-WR sets. This meant Malcolm Jenkins had more man coverage than usual. This helped the Eagles play the run well. It did not help in coverage. Jenkins was burned several times. Pick your poison. Do you go light in the box or do you risk covering a slot guy with a FS?
OFFENSE
MISC
* 2 for 11 on 3rd downs
* 1 for 1 in the Red Zone…problem is just one trip
* New twist on a play. Counter-counter. Ran it in early 2nd Qtr for gain of 10 yards. Creative twist on a play they ran against Dallas.
Players
QB
SANCHEZ – Bad game. 10-20-96. 2 TDs, 1 INT. I knew he had some struggles watching live, but studying the game he looked worse. The biggest issue is that he failed to see open receivers several times. Zach Ertz was wide open on corner routes at least twice, maybe more. Ertz was one favorable matchup in this game. Sanchez should have focused on him. He didn’t. The worst play of them all was the deep ball to Cooper that got picked off. Sanchez moved in the pocket to buy time. He found an open guy down the field. But he didn’t re-set his feet and that led to the errant throw that was picked off. Compounding the frustration, Jordan Matthews was over to the left of Cooper and was wide open. Uncovered. Should have been an easy TD. That was hard to watch.
Sanchez didn’t get a lot of help. Maclin dropped a pass. So did Ertz. His blocking wasn’t good. Shady didn’t get hot on the ground. The pressure was on Sanchez to be a big part of the offense and he failed big time. Now that he’s seen that team, Sanchez might fare better in the rematch. Might, being the key word.
-MISC-
* Easy read on the TD to Maclin. Sent Mac in motion and no defender went wit him. Sanchez got the snap and fired the ball out there. Did make a quick, accurate throw and that allowed Mac to get in for the score.
* Good thrown on naked bootleg went to Matthews for a gain of 17. z
* First deep ball was off target, but kept it away from Earl Thomas.
* TD to Ertz worked, but could have been better. Zach got behind the LB so the pass should have been out in front of him. Instead, it was behind and Ertz had to adjust to it.
RB
SHADY – Not his best game. 17-50 on the ground. Had a bad fumble in the 3rd Qtr. Had no running room up the middle and a defender from backside stripped the ball out. Shady talked about being distracted by the death of his cousin. There was some sloppiness from him in terms of reads and cuts, but the Seattle defense also had a lot to do with that.
SPROLES – Completely ineffective as a runner. 4 rushes, 0 yards. Tried going wide and Seattle shut him down time after time.
TE
CELEK – Had pass come his way on the opening drive. Chancellor hit him in the back before the ball got there, but no call. Wasn’t going to be a huge gain, but would have set up 3rd/medium. Refs should have called PI and awarded 1st down, but no flag. Blocking didn’t stand out as good or bad.
ERTZ – Drew a penalty on LB while running a route in the early 3rd. A couple of plays later he ran a wheel route and caught a 35-yd TD. The pass wasn’t perfect and Ertz made a good adjustment on the ball. Had pass come his way on 3rd/13 early in the 4th. Ball was high, but Ertz wasn’t able to make the catch. Gotta make plays like that when the offense is struggling. Was open several times down the field and Sanchez just never saw him.
CASEY – Didn’t stand out as a blocker.
WR
MACLIN – Faced the best CB in the league and struggled. Finished 3-21. Don’t think any of the catches came vs man coverage from Sherman. Had one drop, but a DB was about to get him for minimal gain so not a big issue.
MATTHEWS – 2-23 in the game. Big gain came on a play-fake crossing pattern. Got 17. Used on crossing routes but DBs did a good job on him. Wide open on wheel route in the 4th Qtr. Should have been a long TD, but Sanchez never saw him. Ugh.
COOPER – Good block on Mac’s TD. Engaged the CB, then forced him to the outside. Left path to end zone for Mac. Caught short pass over the middle in the early 3rd. Finished 3-13. Had 2 deep balls come his way. One was incomplete, the other picked off.
OL
The offense only ran 45 plays and many were failures. There just weren’t a lot of of OL notes to be had. The Seahawks won the battle up front on this side of the ball. They were able to clog running lanes and get pressure on Sanchez. The LBs ran free to the ball, which limited what Shady could do. Rough day for the O-line.
One player did stand out, but not in a good way.
GARDNER– Badly missed block of DT on 2nd Qtr run by Sproles and that led to a TFL. Beaten for a sack on the first play of the 4th Qtr. Beaten by Bennett for a sack to open the 4th Qtr. His guy flushed Sanchez in the mid-4th, which set up a sack for another DL. Just didn’t have the quickness/agility to handle the athleticism of Michael Bennett.
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DEFENSE
MISC
* Lost the RB on play-action passes a couple of times.
* There was a badly blown coverage in the late 1st. Crossing WR left open as Graham, Kendricks came up for Wilson. Wide open for 25 yards.
* A couple of plays later a TE was wide open on a crossing route. LBs/Jenkins were watching the ball intently.
* Wilson’s TD run was due to a mistake by Cole. He had to keep contain on the backside, but bit inside on the fake to Lynch. Nate watched the play and stayed outside, close to his receiver. That was one time to leave his guy and go for Wilson. There wasn’t anyone between Wilson and the end zone. That’s the time to fly in and hope you can force him to give the ball up. Ugh.
* Wilson threw the ball away a couple of times late in the half. He threw it way out of bounds. There were receivers near the sideline, but the ball ended up nowhere near them. Chip was frustrated that grounding wasn’t called.
* There was another play with about :20 seconds left that absolutely should have been called grounding. The ball was nowhere near a receiver. Would have pushed them back out of FG range. No call.
* Seattle was 7 for 16 on 3rd downs, including a few 3rd and longs. Russell Wilson might be Satan with his ability to buy time and find someone down the field or to run for the 1st down. He was utterly frustrating. Most mobile guys run or throw, but not both.
PLAYERS
DL
COX – Great game. I don’t use that phrase lightly. Absolutely dominant. Looked special. On the very first play, he shed the LT and grabbed Lynch as headed upfield. On the next play he pushed his way into the backfield and flushed Wilson from the pocket. Blew up another play on that drive by shoving the LG backward, shedding him and grabbing Lynch. Just missed a TFL on that. Beat the LG to blow up a run in the late 1st. Hustled to tackle RB after gain of 5 on opening play of 2nd Qtr. Shed block and engulfed Lynch on run play, giving up a couple of yards. Shed the LG and stuffed Lynch for no gain in the mid-2nd. Blew up a run late in the half by driving the C backward, shedding him and putting the RB on the ground. Shed the LT and tackled Lynch for a short gain in the mid-3rd. Shot into the backfield on another run and got Lynch for no gain. Had a chance for a sack in the early 4th, but Wilson spun away and got the pass off. Got off block and tackled Lynch for short gain. Got into the backfield on 3rd/1 and almost made the play, but Lynch got enough for the 1st down. On the next play he blew up a read-option and forced Wilson into a TFL by Cole. Even made plays late, despite being on the field for a ton of plays to that point. Shed the LT and tackled Lynch, only giving up 2 yds.
Gamebook had him with 11 tackles (8 solo) and a TFL.
LOGAN – Good game. Solid vs the run. Was in on 4 tackles. Got late pressure on pass play late in the half and forced Wilson to throw the ball away. Did a great job in the early 3rd. Beat the C off the ball and started to get by him. RG tried to help, but Bennie got by him and was about to get a sack when Wilson dumped the ball off at the last second. Hustled to get out wide on run to Lynch, but couldn’t tackle him in space.
THORNTON – Good game. Was in on 3 tackles. Had a TFL. Beat the RG and got quick pressure on Wilson, forcing him to throw the ball away. Got a solid shot on him there. Got off the ball quickly and went to the inside on run play. Was able to get Turbin down for TFL. Pressured Wilson into an errant throw in the late 1st. Called for holding when a TE tried to get a delayed release and Ced wanted to jam him. Grabbed instead. Regularly disruptive.
CURRY – Cleanly beat the RT for a sack late in the half. Used quickness to get by him and land a good shot on Wilson. Shot to the inside and got Lynch down for a TFL in the late 3rd. Excellent hustle in the early 4th when he flew out wide to help tackle Lynch after a short catch. Got pressure off the edge on the play where Wilson almost got picked by Jenkins.
BAIR – Did a real nice job on 1st Qtr run. Got off block and flowed left. That forced Lynch back to the inside, where pursuit stopped him for a short gain. On the next play Bair engaged the LT and stoned him, which forced Lynch to go outside. LBs were waiting and stuffed him at the LOS.
B. ALLEN – Didn’t see him on the field that much, but was solid.
OLB
COLE – Up and down game. Early on was flying in from the backside to help vs run. Great, except Wilson took advantage and went wide for some key runs. Cole adjusted and took care of that in the 2nd half. Finished the game with 9 tackles, TFL. No sacks, but did get pressure on several pass plays. Grabbed Lynch on 2nd Qtr run and slammed him to the ground hard. Shared a TFL with MK when they got Wilson behind the line on a run in the mid-2nd. On the next play, jumped offside, which turned 3rd/4 into 1st down. Got Wilson down for no gain on QB keeper in the late 3rd. Got a TFL in the early 4th when Wilson kept the ball on a run play. On the next play covered slot receiver. Failed to get a good jam, but then trailed down the field. Wilson tried to hit the guy but the ball was high and incomplete.
BARWIN – Good game. 6 tackles, 1 sack. Bit hits on Wilson. Got a gift sack in the 1st Qtr. MK flushed Wilson and sent him running outside. Barwin was the guy who forced Wilson out of bounds, getting him the sack. Good hustle, obviously. Chased Wilson on 3rd down play where he scrambled. Got him down just short of the sticks and forced a punt. Great effort on that play. Had good coverage of TE down the sideline in the late 1st. Wilson tried to throw behind him for completion, but the ball was too far off. Stumbled while trying to get wide to chase Wilson. Forced him out, but gave up more yardage than he would have if he kept his feet. Got a big hit on Wilson late in the half. Got by the RT and really hit Wilson. Beat the RT off the edge in the mid-3rd and got another big hit on Wilson.
GRAHAM – Used a terrific spin move to beat the LT and get in on Wilson for what should have been a sack. Never wrapped him up and Wilson got out of the pocket. DB penalty wiped out the play anyway. Just missed TFL of wideout on end around. Did disrupt the play. Had a chance for a sack late in the half, but Wilson threw the ball away just before getting hit. Needs to get better at finishing plays. Feels like he leads the league in almost-sacks and almost-TFLs.
ILB
KENDRICKS – Very good game. Was in on 11 tackles (7 solo). Had a TFL and FF. Very active game and was all over the place. Hustled outside to tackle Kearse on quick screen. Flew up the middle on delayed blitz. That flushed Wilson and led to sack for Barwin. Blitzed up the middle on the second drive and just missed another sack. Did force Wilson to throw the ball away. Made a great tackle in the late 1st. Stepped to the inside of the TE and just pulled Lynch to the ground for no gain. Looked more like a rodeo move than a form tackle, but got Beast Mode down by himself. That’s rare. Had a delayed blitz late in the half. Couldn’t get sack finished, but got intentional grounding penalty and took SEA out of FG range. Stuffed an inside run play late in the half. Had a FF in the early 4th. Lynch caught a pass in the flat. MK came over and popped him, knocking the ball loose.
MATTHEWS – Had a chance for TFL in the early 3rd when Barwin bounced Lynch out wide, but Lynch used a cutback move and went right by Casey. Fought through a cut block to get out wide and tackle Kearse on quick screen. Forced Wilson into an errant throw when he rushed up the field in the mid-4th. Was credited with being in on 9 tackles.
S
N. ALLEN – Bad game. Lost Richardson in coverage on 3rd/15 late in the half and gave up a gain of 20, led to FG. To be fair, this was several seconds into the play, but you have to stick with guys when Wilson is running around. Looked like Nate was at fault on 3rd Qtr TD pass to Lynch. Wilson faked hand-off and Lynch drifted to the backside. Nate followed the ball. Wilson threw it back to Lynch and no one was close to him. Nate hustled out to try to tackle him, but was too late. Made good tackle of Wilson in the open field on bootleg in the early 3rd.
JENKINS – Rough game. Asked to play in the slot a lot. Can do it, but didn’t do well in this game. Badly beaten by Baldwin on 3rd/13 late in the half. Wide open over the middle for gain of 20. Beaten by Baldwin in the right slot for 23-yd TD in the early 3rd. Bought good fake and didn’t recover fast enough. Beaten by Kearse for nice gain in the late 3rd. Had a chance for a game-changing play in the mid-4th. Wilson got pressure and threw a ball to someone over the middle. Jenkins saw it coming the whole way and jumped the route. He was right there, but could not make the catch. If he holds on, he’s got an easy TD and the score is 24-21 with almost 8 mins left. Ugh. Finished the game with 5 solo stops, a PD and a FR.
CB
FLETCHER – Overall, pretty good game. Had one big mistake. Charged with PI in the early 3rd. 44-yard penalty. There was contact but somewhat questionable call. Had perfect position on deep ball in the late 3rd. Almost picked it off, but WR got a piece of the ball. Finished with 2 tackles, 1 PD.
WILLIAMS – Good game. Had very tight coverage of Kearse on 3rd Qtr pass that went his way. Ended up incomplete. Gave up 19-yd completion to Lockette in the late 3rd. Just beaten by good move on that play. Was in on 3 tackles.
BOYKIN – Not his best game. Called for holding on 3rd down late in the 1st Qtr and kept alive a drive that ended in a TD. Legit call, too. Didn’t play a ton since Davis used so much base. Not credited with any tackles. Didn’t cover all that well when he did play.
CARROLL – Played in the Dime. No real highlights.
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ST’s
JONES – Averaged 43.9 yards per punt. Had 3 downed inside the 20. No touchbacks. First punt went for 57 yards. Was helped by great coverage that caused PR to let the ball hit the ground and it took a favorable bounce.
PARKEY – No FGs. KOs were interesting. Eagles mixed in some short KOs. Did have him kick long on some.
KOR – Josh Huff had a 46-yard KOR in the early 3rd. The ball was knocked out, but it wasn’t clearly a fumble so he was ruled down by contact. Finished 3-93 on KO’s. Solid.
PR – Sproles muffed a punt in the late 3rd, but managed to recover it.
– MISC –
* Marcus Smith made his first play as an Eagle. Seattle P bobbled the snap and dropped the ball. He picked it up and then Smith hit him and knocked the ball loose. The Eagles recovered and that set up a short TD drive. Braman came up with the ball on the play.
* Prosinski made a good tackle while covering the 2nd KO. Even better in the early 3rd Qtr. Nailed the KOR at the 9-yd line.
* Nolan Carroll made an excellent tackle in punt coverage in the late 3rd.
_
I can honestly say that this was probably the most frustrating All-22 I think I have ever seen. From Sanchez to Cole to the horrible officiating……ooooggggh. Getting angry now just talking about it.
According to Billy Davis, Coles most frustrating moments were all on Blly… I know everyone was pissed that he didn’t contain and let wilson get outside, but billy called the worst blitz possible for the zone read play call seattle was running….. Can’t blame COLE for Billy putting him in position where he stood no chance against the particular pffensive play call. Can’t really blame billy either. Called a great game, minus a few plays that seattle countered perfectly
It was on Cole. Davis was just taking responsibility rather than blame a player.
.when you call a blitz at the wrong time you typically get gashed.. Sometimes your opponent just happens to call the perfect counter… That’s the cat n mouse game that is FB
Those plays Wilson got gains on were literally broken plays. What we saw is what we would’ve seen with a healthy Romo. Hope that’s a wake up call for Sunday night.
Play in question here is the TD run. Cole ran inward,towards the `runner`(recipient of the fake handoff).
Davis took blame saying it was his call that forced Cole`s move inward. Looked like Cole bit on the fake,got out of position, Wilson ran for TD.
Another similar play later on, Cole contained the edge, different result.
Who is responsible ?
Once upon a time those used to be known as Mamulas.
Okay look, you can be all upset with the Sanchize, but check out Arians. He has to pick between mostly Hyde Thomas or absolute no hoper Lindley. I know I know, different teams, different situations, but I’m saying it could be worse, y’all.
I am, however, amused with the attempt at a Foles groundswell the last couple of weeks. Looks like we’ll get some deadender action like what Vikings fans (sane ones) had to deal with wrt Ponder rest of the year and then next year.
People will refuse to learn that you can’t auto-tune QBs. Either they carry the justly alloted portion of the offense, or they don’t.
20 games, mate, 20 games.. *smh
At a certan point, responding to this donkey is dumber than the crap he spews
/me sips tea.
Gotcha; is that the excuse for your unrealistic comments?
Now everyone understands,
thank you for letting us know.
What was there to say about Geagle’s comments? Should I say that no sir, my comments are NOT based on a football tabloid….xxxreasonsxxxx?
Or should I just enjoy my tea as a silly man rants and raves about opinions he doesn’t approve of?
lol. The world you live in……
is a nice one, called realitilandia.
My problem with Geagle is his overuse of expletives,leading readers to wonder if he`s a 12 yr. old trying to impress 14 yr. old delinquents. My issue with you is your unrealistic diatribes.
Hmmm, my diatribe was about understanding that expectations for development is unrealistic as far as Foles is concerned. People pretty much are who they are. You find out in their first six or so games, and everything after that is about refining what they do well and fitting the system around those capabilities. In other words, people don’t just…Power Up, for the most part.
Let`s trade Foles for Webb, straight up!!!!!!!!!!!!
Parade down Broad St, soon to follow!
hahahahahaha!!!
Please don’t group me in with the worthless donkey trash posters. Thanks
I didn`t, totally different.
See above.
Never the number of games that counted. It’s what you can do that counts.
Understand, there’s an absurdity here–last year, Ponder kept getting chances over Matt Cassel, never mind Joe Webb, and *still* could not justify his starting role over a journeyman. Yet the element kept talking about how “we need to see what Ponder’s got.”
D*mn well we don’t. And nobody needed spectacles like the Fail Mary to see that Ponder is an overall incompetent QB. I certainly do not need to see more evidence that Foles is not a particularly competent passer, even were I to ignore his mobility issues.
Is there any post that does NOT include a reference to almighty Joe Webb. This is comical.
If it *really* helps you to believe that I’m a nutbar Joe Webb hugger, be my guest.
I see that the usual gang of idiots are complaining about me over at Kapedia’s site.
It has never ceased to amaze me just how much more people like Geagle can know so much more about football than me, and still be so wrong, because, well, the magic of wishful thinking, denialism, and just…plain… lack of grokking. No intuition.
It’s just…”There you are, hoping that a guy who has never looked good when not allowed to stick to the throws he feels comfortable with, and who has murked everyone ahead of him in the depth chart (except for Hoyer and Cousins) on account of him being the rich man’s boy, hoping that he’ll transform from a cygnet to a beautiful swan. Able to smack fools with the flap of the wing, and fish victory out of shit creek with tough grittiness.” Disappointment is around the corner, you know…
I’m not exactly happy with Sanchez, either, but I really do prefer someone who can pass. Not someone who you think LOOKS like someone who can pass. I mean, how do you think Jacksonville is doing with a guy who looks the part rather than be the part, and drafting him somewheres fifteen plus picks ahead of where Bortles actually should go? I’ve simply accepted that we have no hope against top tier teams so long as the guys we have in the mix @ QB are the guys we have in the mix. As part of that acceptance, I look forward to Chip bringing in someone who can actually make plays, and not waste time pretending that there is any point in developing a semitalented (as far as regular starting duties are concerned) wannabe.
Don’t let Tommy’s talk about how much worse Sanchez looked in review deceive you too much. The point of a strong defense is to make a QB look like he shouldn’t ever have been drafted in the first place. No defense is perfect, and there will always be opportunities. However, if you play like the Devil, you’ll also get the Devil’s luck in the bargain as that other guy misses what opportunities there are. That same defense, including Mebane, made Manning look like Favre ’10 and Manning missed a ton of reads he normally made in that Super Bowl. To beat Seattle, to beat Arizona (assuming somehow the offense isn’t total punt on first down), you have to have a QB that can *make plays*.
So let me ask you, Mr Joe Webb hugger, how come that the NFL coaches don’t see what YOU see, in terms of not playing such a great QB. Heck, he’s no. 3 on the Panthers depth chart. This ‘idiocity’ from fans must have carried over to the pro level, mustn’t it?!
If you believe there’s nothing up his sleeve, then nothing is cool.
I’ll give you a couple of guesses as to the primary reason why.
Of course, I can also point out that Webb is still in the league, and with the preseason (wherepon he forced his way onto the roster) he’s had, he’s likely to stay in the league–longer than Kolb, or Ponder, never mind Terrele Pryor or Thad Lewis.
I don’t actually think you answered my question. Never mind though. As long as you’re proud that your boy Webb is still hanging around in the NFL without him being a legitimate starting QB we are both happy.
What has Ponder EVER shown he could be??? Atleast Foles looked great last year. Maybe he plays better, maybe he doesn’t but he is at worst even with Sanchez.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Stare+Bear
‘Stare Bear’ – Someone who has a staring problem.
Also see Mark Sanchez.
Can he go through his some of progressions this week especially to the opposite side of the field and scramble if the 5 or 7 yd gain is there instead of staring up at a WR he has locked on to.
Hey Tommy. If you want more frustration, go back and look at the Ertz TD again. This time watch how open the receivers are on the right side. Outside guy is completely uncovered. Similar route concept that was ran later on the Coop int. On both plays the inside receiver is covered but the trailing outside guy has nobody covering.
We were missing wide open WR all day
..
We missed Jordan wide open down the right sideline for like a 40 yard gain
..
We missed maclin WIDE open on a crossing pattern to the right for like 25 yards
.
We missed Ertz a bunch of times..
…
Sanchez did a really poor job of seeing the field, assume his eyes were worried about the pass rush for him to have missed so many open Recievers
You just described every game Nick has played this season, save for Washington.
If you’re going to be an ass, you should at least be consistent.
Yet he lost two games,
one of which would`ve been a W had Cooper caught the TD pass,
the other would have been a W had the Polk TD run been properly called by the ref.
So, Foles should be undefeated this year, even with his inconsistent play, but clutch when needed.
I understand that Geagle`s level of vocabulary is below a septic tank, but unfounded your accusation of calling him an a#%, because unlike Foles, Sanchez has not made the quality throws needed to win games in winnable situations .
Eh, if he can call everyone that disagree with him a “donkey,” I get to call him an ass. Seems fair.
Fair enough.
Considering I’m proven to be right a higher percentage of the ttime more than anyone any of you know, how could I not view morons like that pathetic groupie a donkey lol… I keep trying to tell him I’m Not a role model, I’m no hero, look up to someone else groupie
Lol
Who are you calling a groupie? I was saying its fair enough that he called you an ass if you call people names too…. That was the extent of my comment.
If my aunt had balls…
Or, if the Colts had simply just run the ball…
Again, stupid comment.
Foles made plays to win games. His execution of the plays was good enough to win. The ref made the wrong call. Cooper`s error was allowing the footbal to pass through his hands. Neither was Foles` error.
And the decision of your aunt to not get that operation is her call, no one else`s.
Dude, know who You are talking to. You cant Pay me to read that groupie donkeys posts.. I can only imagine the bitchassness he et displays in his patjetic comment. He is jealous of me for some strange silly reason.l doesn’t realize that hanging from my nuts is flattering
Even Pete Carroll acknowledged “getting away with a couple” broken coverages in one of his post-game pressers
Bad result vs. the probable #2 seed in the conference.
I agree with Tommy’s rip jobs on Gardner, Nate Allen, and Sanchez, but would liked to see more about times Matthews could have run over to make plays (Wilson rushing TD) and failed to.
In context, this wasn’t a game we were ready to win just yet.
Casey Matthews was supposed to focus on the RB on the Wilson TD run. That was Cole’s responsibility. Bill Davis talked about it.
Not to absolve Cole of anything there (he made a very foolish play), but Casey Matthews slowness in reacting to Wilson having the football was significant reason that play wasn’t stopped short of the goal line. He looks downright lead-footed in his attempt to recover.
http://blog.seattlepi.com/football/2014/12/07/watch-russell-wilsons-touchdown-run-for-seahawks-evens-score-versus-eagles/#28988101=0
Time to get some business done.
The following games absolutely need to happen or we’re looking at this season as a failure to improve.
1) A win over Dallas Sunday.
2) Winning the division (I’d like 12-4, but 11-5 is still an improvement)
3) A win in the home playoff game in the wild card round
This is the minimum acceptable output for the season. Anything less is a massive disappointment, anything more is gravy.
I’m just not expecting winning on the road at likely #2 seed Seattle.
Agree with that wish list. The playoffs start this Sunday.
12-4 is easily in reach. Eagles beat Dallas on Sun, cruise through the other losers. Cowboys finish 10-6 and miss the playoffs.
There are no gimmies in the NFL.
Lisa the Greek says it’s a sure thing. http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Lisa_the_Greek
Sorry 11-5 is unacceptable when we have dallas, NY and Washington standing between us and a quality 12-4 season….last year we had perfect health, perfect QB play just about, best OL in the history of our franchise… This year everything was so much harder than last year, SOOO many OL problems that many teams could NEVER overcome to go 12-4, QB issues all year, still a few pieces away in the secondary, and we faced a much much tougher schedule than last year, if we finish two games better than last year after all the adversity and tougher schedule we had to play, it will have been a really really impressive coaching job
So much football to,be played between now and when we can write,the story on this season
Not really… Sunday is the last game…mWe could win them sat two games with Barkley at QB
Thanks, Tommy, for a great DGR. This is the kind of stuff I value so much about your blog.
My thoughts:
1. Watching the game, I didn’t realize how poorly Sanchez played.
2. Watching the game, I was correct at how poor are our safeties.
3. I know Chip was arguing a lot about the IG calls but, I hate to say it, I think the refs were generally right not to throw the flags. Is there a different standard for IG in college than in the pros?
4. At what point does Huff get a Code Red because he can’t hold onto the ball?
5. Our front seven are stone cold killers. Cox is the stoniest and the coldest.
Re: The DBs covering well for 4-5 seconds because Wilson kept scrambling – you watched the film, so I can’t dispute the technical aspect of that. But the mere fact that Wilson scrambled doesn’t mean that receivers weren’t open. Wilson is much like early Donovan and late Vick (to a lesser extent); receivers can be open, but Wilson’s combination of confidence in his scrambling and lack of vision in the pocket leads him to scramble more than is absolutely necessary. Every game I’ve watched him play this season, I’ve seen replays showing open receivers downfield while Wilson was in the pocket that he declines to throw to and proceeds to scramble. This week I saw one or two where the deep middle receiver was breaking free of coverage a full second before Wilson broke the pocket and scrambled, just off the in-game replays. All of which is the long way to say that just because Wilson held onto the ball and ultimately scrambled, doesn’t necessarily mean that the DBs were doing a good job.
I watched the plays multiple times to see the coverage. The CBs did a good job for the most part. I was surprised. My initial thought was that they had a lousy game. The tape showed otherwise.
The blown coverages were more on LB/S/NB.
The blown coverages were more on LB/S/NB.
You could have cut a long story short with one name: Nate Allen.
I believe you, like I said, I didn’t sit down and subject myself to the torture of watching it again like you did. I just wanted to point out my observation that the “Wilson had to scramble, so the receivers were covered for a while” argument I’ve seen repeated during the week aren’t necessarily true. It takes actually watching the film, like you did, to know the truth of that. And I’m presuming that the deep middle routes that I saw breaking free fairly early were ones that were covered by a S or NB.
You are absolutely right. Corners had a better game than it seemed
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Think what hurt us in the pass game, and it cost us a few times this year is that we have to learn to “Plaster” better, when QB starts running around to buy time. Failure to plaster cost us in San fran when Gore got wide open for that big catch n run where wolff blew the TD saving tackle on the sideline… Many of the backbreaking 3rd down passes wilson completed where a result of the scramble drill, him running around buying time, and we didn’t do a good enoufh job at plastering the recievers. The weapons werent all accounted for…. We really need to improve defending scramble drills and make sure all the pass catchers get plastered when a QB starts scrambling to buy time..
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I feel/felt like 90% of Wilson’s big/clutch plays came when a play broke down and he escaped a sack or got out of the packet. But I guess that’s what makes him special. But man if we were able to contain him a LITTLE better…. Whatever, it’s over, let’s smash Dallas.
Like Tom, the more I watched the game film, the better i felt about the loss. We made soooo many mistakes that we don’t normally make and that we arent doomed to repeat the next time we play seattle. I mean, how often do we see Brent Celek and Kelce wiff on their run blocks in the same play?
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For playing the LOB, surprising how often our WR were getting open. Plenty of big plays to be made, Sanchez just didn’t see them
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Our pass rush was was fantastic. Ho many QB beside wilson could have avoided our pass rush like that and buy enough time to make plays? NOT MANY! Our pass rush that day would have probably shut down 97% of starting NFL QBs, wilson was just spectacular that day, IMO one of wilsons best NFL games to date.
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23yr old Fletcher Cox made BEASTMODE his bitch.,..not many NFL defenders have ever single handedly BEATDOWN BEASTMODE the way Cox did
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Most disappointing performance was our OL.’they are so much better than they showed that day. If we play Seattle again, Bennett will get the best of Garner, but our other 4 offensive lineman are capable of so much better than they showed vs. Seattle…not to mention Shadys head clearly wasn’t in the game dealng with a family tragedy. Not only was his vision off in the run game, but he uncharecteristically screwed up blitz protection
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We played so bad. Seattle played so well, kind of amazing that 3 plays go a little different and we could have won that game.. THE REFS REPEATEDLY EXTENDING SEATTLES 1st scoring drive, malcolm dropping easy pick 6 that would have made our city Errupt and cut it to a 3 point game with momentum on our side
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Awesome to face off against the best defense in the NFL, and learn that many of the best defenders that day were on the Eagles defense instead of Seattles..
no loss is scheme, it’s all execution.
No, games are so much more.
Such a simplistic comment.
Black and white is never an explanation for anything.
Nah I was joking at CKs comments about the offense after ever game.
unless it’s a zebra….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLpUatutZDw
I liked that we were willing to play Beau Allen and Bennie logan together at times.. I’d like to see it again this week if the dare to let Demarco try to run against the soundest DL in the NFL… When both NT were in the game, Logan slid over to DE opposite of Cox with Beau anchoring in the middle. Had some nice success shutting down the run
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Mykal Kendricks 16 tackles was hands down the best LB on both teams. Better than wagner, Malcolm Super Bowl MVP and KJ… Fletcher Cox was easily the most dominant DL out of both teams…
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For two years people have been arguing with me that we didn’t have any stars on Defense.. I argued we did have stars they just needed to be cultivated. Surprise surprise youñg defenders are growing into serious BALLERS!
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Just wait til people see the year 3 leap in quality of play Bennie makes. From last year to this year he grew into the most promising young NT in tthe NFL leading all NT in tackles, whoch means not only is he anchoring against double teams, he is also shedding the blocks and making the tackles before RBs can get to our linebackers…on top of all that he can also rush QB much better than the average fat slob NT
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Wait til people see how scary Cox and Mykal look next year now that they know they can be elite in this league.
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Beau allen should take a BIG step from this year to Next year
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Curry and possibly(probably BG) can have anotjet year of continuty in a s here they are flourishing in that they weren’t supposed to be able to play in…
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We see so many defense improvements, but our current defenders ARENT maxed out yet, we could Do NOTHING and field this same exact defense next year and it will be much better with anotjher offseason of individual player growth and building on our current chemistry. We could do NOTHING and our Defense will be improved next year, but we won’t just sit on our hands, expect some young talent upgrades in the defense to help push us to that elite status
It’ll be interesting to see how MS2 develops and time is split between all 4 OLBs. Does he spell Barwin more, or does he play more opposite of Barwin (maybe starting) and Cole/BG spell those two?
BG is in a contract year right? Does he walk if they feel comfortable with Cole coming off the bench? Or do they keep BG and possibly let Cole walk?
Here’s something else to figure out. I think they like like Goode and Long who are definitely depth players (possibly Goode starts?), so it’s like they have a glut of LBs on this team. Like you I’m high on Kendricks’s brother, which means Goode/Long are coming off the bench. Meco is there to help groom these guys, and the future looks bright at LB.
Having a lot of good players is a good problem to have.
Think we will try to keep BG, COLE, mS2 and Barwin… Two waves of OLB like our DL rotation… That’s probably our goal, gotta see if we can pull it off
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I liked Long, but injuries have really starterd to pile up on the kid… Will he be the same player?
One thng I didn’t pay attention to was our kicking game. Guess I started to take it for granted. Parkey is still dealing with lingering groin issues, did anyone see his injury effect him on Kickoffs or FGs sunday, or did he look like business as usual?
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Still can’t stop thinking about the special team play Nolan made as a gunners Holy crap, fought his was down the field, perfectly timed MONSTER hit on the punt returner… That was a bad ass ST play. Also that new safety Prosinski was making all types of ST plays. He had a nice showing.
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Curious to see what ST boost we,get against Dallas this week.
Can’t wait to prove to all the national morons how clueless they have been all year, and watch the eagles prove that Dallas isnt in our class
the new guy may be better than maragos on steams atleast kickoff … prosinski ….
Anyone want to discuss the 97.5 proposal to get Mariotta? Swap #1s this draft, #1 the following year and 1 of the following: Lane, Mychal, or Fletch… i dont like it.. im still on the HEALTHY FOLES train but it should be an interesting discussion on here… thoughts?
Don’t like giving up known, young high quality players for potential.
If any one of those guys were nearing the end of their second deal -sure.
I understand “giving up something to get something” but I don’t like the idea of trading high quality young talent for an unknown prospect.
agree talent too hard to come by. honestly I think it’s like Byrd or any other decent Duck chip will let them go, try to get a value player later and we’ll watch the continued evolution of nick foles.
no.
Hell to the Nah!!!!
no?
I think 10 other teams drafting 2-20 might move up for Mariota with that deal.
Stupidest fanboy bullshit I have ever heard from a media member. Misanelli should be ashamed of himself for proposing such fanboy nonsense
nowhere near enough to get mariotta gotta stop w this nonsense but cant say im suprised if it came from radio … haven’t listened in over ten years and much smarter and reasonable views here although I prefer just to listen to players and coaches pressers and interviews bc 95 percent of fans and local media dont understand football and overreact and 99 percent of national media is lazy ..
I don’t know — that’s why I’m asking — can someone with knowledge on football comment? If Boykin is our best cover guy for the slot, why is Jenkins in there for base? (other than the obvious to watch him struggle and make us squirm). I could be wrong about the best cover guy for the slot thing — even so, isn’t he one of our better coverage guy that should have been on the field more? This isn’t the argument to start him and play him 100%, that part I understand. With his talent, shouldn’t he have played more vs. Seattle?
So teams like Dallas don’t run on our nickel defense like the saints did last year when everyone cried about getting run on. Alpt of dallas success in the run game comes from teams lining up in nickel against them and dallas running against the nickel… Jenkins in the slot means we can keep an extra LB in againsg the run, instead of getting our slot corner ran over
A lot of times Logan comes out when Boykin comes in for nickel. Then opposing team runs on us, see NO playoff game.
Someone has to come off field when Boykin comes in. Usually it’s the NT.
I thought they took out a LB in place of the CB?
No, we move to a 4-2-5.. Our two OLBs become the 4-3DEs, so you only have 2 DTs, which means only cox and Thornton can play, logan has to go to the bench, and your two ILBs become the two 4-2-5 LBs…. That why our Dime is the same thing, but with DB Nolan playing one of the LB spots next to Kendeick
So do you think that Dallas will try to get Beasley matched up on Jenkins? Seems like a battle Beasley might win more than we’d like.
I don’t kno
know if this Ha happened but the idea of taking out Nate Allen to put in Boykin ? It’s not like Allen will make a play.
You can’t plug n play with safety…
Unfortunately Boykin was burned a number of times earlier this year, which may explain his lower number of snaps.
Awesome article. Thanks tommy.
not a fan of the blaming refs and id much rather them not call .. but dam I cant stand the refs reacting to complaining recievers and d-backs!! that should be outlawed !!!
..the Sea-ocks 1st TD was extended by the refs. not complaining … just outright crying!! I WANT MY MOMMY !!!
U can tell when the refs were horrible when late in the game, when its out of reach, they start giving calls to the team they have been screwing over all game so that the penalty numbers balance out after the game, even tho they blatantly fucked one of the teams
We’re not going to trade up for Mariota, which I’m okay with. It will just cost too much in assets unless Howie gets really creative.
Something like:
Trade Nick in an Alex Smith type deal (two 2nd rounders) to a St. Louis, Arizona, Houston, Buffalo-type team.
Then trade your 2015 1st, 2016 1st, Two 2nds from the Nick deal, Vinny Curry and Shady to the Raiders. Is that enough to move up from the late first to the top-3? I would make this deal, but I’m not sure its enough for Oakland.
It’s far more likely that we draft Brett Hundley. Imagine Howie + Chip: “He was by far the best player available….”
Nowhere close enough .. you would need lowcost upsides players on rookie deals .. think lane, matthews, ertz, and logan …. deal w/o players costs at least 4-5 firsts, and 2-3 2ds and thats being nice … add young players which is silly to get a qb then we have no young impact players or picks to replace them …. mccoy has ok to little value w that contract balooning .. probably worth a second at best. curry like a fourth
I think hundley is the xfactor … kid had a bad year and cant keep his eyes up when pressured and runs first …but I know Howie likes him and his value is dropping … may be able to pluck him in the late second or third … athletic ability galore but will need to demonstrate in interviews that he is smart enough to be a pro qb and disciplined enough to put the extra work in and mentally tough enough to grow and listen to criticism …
The last time I heard scouts saying Hundley has a day 3 grade written all over him.
we see how that worked with MB.
If he can’t keep his eyes up when pressured and runs first; he’s the worst sort of QB and I don’t want him.
Yup. All the folks saying destroy the rest of your team for one player are strange. It has been tried several times in the NFL. Has rarely succeeded.
“TD to Ertz worked, but could have been better.”
Absurd. Let’s complain about TDs against the best D in the league, guys!
The Cardinals might be the most unimpressive 11-3 team in recent history.
Given the amount of injuries though I don’t think their defense will be able to carry their O anytime longer.
In fact it will not surprise me if they lose their first playoff game, either in the divisional or wildcard round.
Would love to get another shot at them!
They have Seattle at home and SF in SF. If they beat Seattle, they will get a bye, if they win both, they may get homefield.
Drew Stanton apparently only has a sprain, relatively severe but perhaps he’ll be functional in the playoffs. So percentages isn’t zero, but it’s still probably only 10-30 better than punt on first down.
Sorry, SLIGHTLY off topic but we lost , Seattle won, move on, BEAT THE FKN Cowgirls. On a non-related note… I knew I missed DJAX http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24882604/look-desean-jackson-has-customized-i-cant-breathe-cleats-for-giants-game
what are you trying to say here?
I’m trying to say that, obviously the Seattle game is over. We lost. They won. I am choosing to move on (even though this article focuses on that particular game – hence the slightly off topic comment). Also, I dislike DJAX for this reason.
why dislike? NFL supports social causes (most clearly breast cancer) is that the only legit one? black people getting killed not good enough?
Doubt the Eagles draft any QB this year. Think all this QB talk is a major waste of eagle fans time.
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1) We have seen no signs to suggest that they are done developing Barkley, I get that Barkley hasn’t shown much to give fans much faith, but we really don’t have any idea where he is at right now, and I kind of like it that way. I don’t mind putting a young QB on an Aaron Rogers program, spend like 4 years developing him on the bench away from the public eye and then see what you Have… I wouldn’t be surprised if he would grow into a capable backup who learns our offense inside out and can win a few games down the line if our QB has to miss a game or too. I have no evidence to point to this, so we can just as easily cut him at the end of the season
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But unlike most fans im smart enough to know that just because he ISNT quenching my thirst for instant gratification, doesn’t neccessarily mean that we aren’t happy with how he is developing.
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2) Fans continue on this bullshit notion that Sanchez is going to have these monster starting QB offers waiting for him after the season..what a crock of shit. he isn’t playing well enough for anyone to make him a starting offer, and I bet after the years he spent in the Jets, he won’t be ready to sign on as a QB of some pathetic franchise. I assume he will be here ATleast 1 more year, allowed to compete with FOles for the starting Job, but the battle is a farce, Nick will outplay him, be our QB next year with Sanchez backing him up..AND I WOULDNY BE SURPRISED AT ALL, if we aren’t ready to give up on Barkley yet which would mean we don’t draft ANT QB… Maybe we sign an Undrafted one to take a look at a long shot in camp, but I’m personally expecting NO CHANGES at all at our WB position next year, but we’ll see
agree with 2 but not 1. If Barkley was ok we would have seen him — plenty of opportunities to get him game time in the blowouts we’ve had.
Exactly. It seems that Barkley might be a waste of a roster space.It’s not like he is in his first year and is actually almost through his second year. I’m all for developing players but as you said, he should have been on the field sometimes.
Lol cuz you have any idea whatsoever where Barkley is at in his development rigjt now.
Lol…,when would we have seen him? Why would anyone want to play a 4th round QB in year two, instead of FOles or Sanchize?mand since both haven’t gotten i injured, when exactly did we have a a,chance to play Barkley? Lol when we were,going 9-4 with our other QB’s? Lol
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I get that Barkley hasnt shown anything to give me and you any reason to be hopeful of him, but we haven’t seen any signs of Chip not being happy with his development… Adding an NFL veteran like Sanchez IMO has nothing to do with what Barkley is or what he isn’t…
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We will know how this team feels about Barkley soon enough, but I woudlnt at all be surprised if we keep these 3 same QBs next year, and not draft a QB,at all this year…but we’ll see, I don’t really care what happens with Barkley anyway so whatever… I just warn not to automatically assume our coaches arent pleSed with how he is developing
Stanton could miss time — could be Lindley against SEA / SF.
loss vs. Seattle for sure. San Fran may be in quit mode by that point, so we’ll see.
I think we’re getting Detroit on Wild Card weekend in either case.
Another snow game would be good.
I was wondering if Marcus Smith saw some playing time. It’s good to see him make a play. Hope this builds his confidence towards being on the defense.
I’m still hopeful the guy improves. It wasn’t his fault he was taken a round or round.five ahead of where should was able to be drafted.
A full 15 to 16 months of work from his draft date, through mini-camps, training camp, this season, and a REAL off-season of NFL strength and conditioning flowing into his next set of mini-camps and training camp should leave him much improved going into September of 2015.
We’re you trying to say he was taken 5 rounds ahead of where he was supposed to be?
ha ha! Not exactly, but funny.
It was a no-win situation for him this season; picked too high, pressured into a crash course to pick up the defense and try to crack into the starting lineup, which would’ve been impossible for anyone to do fresh out of college.
That being said, we should’ve stood pat and got Moncrief (IND), Cooks (Saints), or Beckham (NYG) followed by Matthews, then grabbed MS in the latter rounds. He would’ve been there.
Beckham had been picked about 10 spots earlier
And isn’t as good as Matthews either.
Very debatable.
Officially (and by official I mean I drafted him in the end of the 2nd / start of the 3rd on firstpick) he wouldn’t have been there too late.
It has been repeated over and over that several other teams planned on drafted MSII EARLY in the second round.
Beckham is getting glory because 1. he plays in NYC, so the media all love him, and 2. he made an amazing catch one game. Funny, just the week before Grimes made an amazing INT against Megatron that looked almost identical. He got about 5 minutes fame. Grimes does not play in NYC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qemYPUF8o94
He’s getting attention because in 9 games he has 864 yards and 6 tds….
Jordan Matthews: 56 Rec. 709 Yds. 12.7 Avg. 7 TDs.
He’s not getting much notice from NYC media either.
Yeah Matthews is good but dnt take away from what Beckham has done. He is getting attention for a reason. Matthews has 4 more games worth of play.
Grimes cheated… he used two hands to secure the ball.
Oh no! That’s okay though. It was Megatron.
He’s been doing the one-handers. Most of our wides can’t do it with both hands. http://youtu.be/sXSVG75brOo?t=1m10s
Early in the first quarter Smith II ran some Seattle guy out of bounds.