More on Chip and the 3-Game Dip

Posted: December 21st, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 659 Comments »

I said earlier that I still fully believe in Chip Kelly. Let’s take a minute to discuss that. First, it doesn’t mean I blindly agree with everything he does or says. That would be utterly ridiculous. It also doesn’t mean that Chip is perfect. That also would be ridiculous. The man is a darn good football coach, but he’s going to make some bad decisions. Paul Brown did. Bill Walsh did. The Hoodie still makes some head scratchers from time to time.

Clearly I have no way of knowing that Kelly is going to ever lead the Eagles to a Super Bowl. People can play the hindsight game and say “I knew Sean Payton was going to be a Super Bowl winner.” “I knew Pete Carroll was destined to be a Super Bowl coach.” And so on. But no one really knows. I mean, it seems crazy that guys like Marv Levy, Bud Grant, Marty Schottenheimer and Andy Reid never broke through and won the big game.

I believe Chip Kelly is a special coach. I think he will do great things in Philly, but I have no way of knowing if that will involve winning the big one. I sure hope it does. Kelly built Oregon into an elite program. So far he’s 19-11 in the NFL. Very few guys with no NFL background can step in and win right away. It takes time to learn the league and adjust to dealing with men and not college kids.

We also have to factor in that Kelly has not had stability at the QB position. Pete Carroll was 14-18 in Seattle before the arrival of Russell Wilson. Kelly had 2 QBs with at least 6 starts in each of the last 2 seasons. That makes life tough on a coach. Kelly now has some crucial decisions to make as he goes forward. Is Nick Foles the guy? Does he aggressively go after a rookie in the draft? Does he trade for a flawed veteran with some success in his background? These aren’t great options.

Kelly has seen Mike Vick, Nick Foles and Mark Sanchez start for him. Kelly should be getting more of an idea what he needs to find to win big in the NFL. Maybe it is an athlete. Maybe it is a better pocket passer. Maybe it is a better downfield thrower. We’ll see.

I have faith that Kelly is going to figure this out. (fingers crossed)

I do think criticism of Kelly is needed. I’ll be writing about some issues as we get into the offseason and have more time to have thoughtful discussions. Just bitching about him after a loss isn’t real constructive or all that interesting in my book.

I’ll talk about Bill Davis in a post in the next day or two. He is absolutely open to criticism. I’m not in a rush to fire him as some of you are. Davis has had his own issues, but you better have a great hire in mind. There are some big name defensive coordinators with their names at the bottom of the defensive standings. I just don’t know if Rex Ryan would fit here, if he even would want to come here. Kelly needs the right guy, not the right name. Bill Davis has delivered mixed results to this point. You can argue for and against him.

We’re all frustrated and ticked off right now. The point isn’t to make changes for the sake of it. We need to find solutions.

* * * * *

I wrote a piece for PE.com with some thoughts on the loss and where the Eagles sit.

Let’s go Colts!!!

_


659 Comments on “More on Chip and the 3-Game Dip”

  1. 1 MichaelFloyd84 said at 4:18 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I really don’t see this alleged argument for Bill Davis at all. He’s failed horribly everywhere he’s been. He was hired partially due to lack of proper options that year. We now will have a shot at much better options. Keeping him for some vague sense of “stability” would be incredibly disappointing in my book.

  2. 2 D3FB said at 4:58 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Other than Rex, who are all these great defensive coordinator options?

    Also success in previous stops means very little.
    Mike Nolan, Ray Horton, Rex Ryan, Gus Bradley, Leslie Frazier, Rob Ryan, Sean McDermot are all big names and well respected defensive minds. All having defenses that are in the bottom 10 in points allowed.

    Dick Labeau and Dom Capers have been in charge of some pretty blah defenses in the past few years.

    On the other hand the top 5 defenses in points allowed are coached by: A first year DC from the Baltimore system, A guy who was a college DC two years ago, Todd Bowles, Bob Sutton who ran the garbage fire of a defense under Mangenius, and Jim Schwartz. All less high profile than those big names sitting at the bottom of the table.

  3. 3 ACViking said at 5:05 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    D3FB:

    Is being a “successful” DC about having talent?

    What Bowles is doing in AZ appears to run counter.

    Otherwise, history seems to show that the “best” D-coordinators also had the some of the best players at their positions.

  4. 4 D3FB said at 5:19 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Arizona’s defense is more talented than people give them credit for. They have a really good group of DB’s. Their front 7 while not filled with big names is quality. The fact that he has so much talent at DB allows him to be more aggressive with his front 7 at stopping the run and getting pressure on the QB.

    Look at the other 4 groups in the top 5. Detroit has a great front 4, and are solid at LB and at the back. Seattle is ridiculously good, KC is quality overall and filled with some nice pieces, and Buffalo has a crazy front 4, linebackers who are extremely physical and talent at DB.

  5. 5 BlindChow said at 5:22 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Your last paragraph shows you don’t need a “big name” coordinator. The “great defensive coordinator options” most likely includes someone we’ve never heard of (much like Davis when he was hired).

  6. 6 D3FB said at 5:27 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    But just going and hiring a top assistant from one of the big name defenses in no way guarantees success either. Change for changes sake does not mean improvement. The defense took massive steps forward this year. 12 months ago nobody thought Billy D could design a defense that could stop the run or get to the QB. Now we have a top run D and are tied for the league lead in sacks.

  7. 7 BlindChow said at 5:35 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Well of course it’s no guarantee of success. You roll the dice with every hire. I understand you’re a pure “status quo” guy, don’t rock the boat and all that. That’s fine. But we know what we have with Davis. Some of his missteps have been borderline incompetent. Dare Aaron Rodgers to beat us through the air? Letting opposing QB’s beat Fletcher over and over? Baffling.

    Also, the 2011 team had a ton of sacks as well. 8-8 (thanks to a few “garbage time” wins at the end of the season). Certainly not an indicator of defensive quality.

  8. 8 D3FB said at 5:40 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The packers M.O. has been to at least try to maintain some semblance of a running game. Aaron Rodgers is going to carve you up no matter what. Dropping 8 wasn’t going to stop him.

    And running a defense where you perpetually on every single play put a safety over top of your corner isn’t a defense. That’s something you do in high school when you have a 5’8 150lbs corner going against a 5 star recruit. No wide reciever in this league get double covered every play, not megatron, not djax, not Thomas, not Fitz. You can’t dedicate an extra safety to a single receiver. Why? Because you can’t rush the QB. Or if you do you’re talking about effectively playing cover 0.

    There has been too much emphases on recency bias when evaluating Davis and the D. Just like after the Saints game last year everybody bitched and moaned that he sucked because the Saints ran all over us.

  9. 9 BlindChow said at 5:49 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    You’ve convinced me. Davis is an amazing coordinator and is irreplaceable.

  10. 10 D3FB said at 5:52 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’m not saying he’s irreplaceable, just that he’s made some positive steps forward and he deserves another shot with more talent.

  11. 11 xeynon said at 7:05 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    You should always be looking to upgrade at every position, including coordinator. I’ll give you that change for the sake of change is not good – that way lies Dan Snyderdom. But if Kelly doesn’t at least put out backchannel feelers about the willingness of somebody like Rex Ryan to come to Philly as a DC, he’s not doing his job. Davis has done nothing to earn an ironclad position.

  12. 12 D3FB said at 1:46 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Ryan is a big personality. There would certainly be some tension caused from having him. Not only that but he doesn’t run a 34 2gap. He runs a 1 gapping hybrid.

  13. 13 Ark87 said at 3:04 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Definitely don’t see Rex Ryan being Mr. Congeniality leading a defense that is subjected regularly to 35 minutes of clock killing the prestige of the unit in any conventional measure. The team system makes the offense look impressive and makes the defense look like the goat (not this year as much as last year). We’ve already seen some of the island us against the world mentality (from Cary Williams), with a big personality like rex, could be like Washburn in 2012 with the whole defense.

    About the 2 gap thing, watching these past 3 weeks, does it seem like they are letting Fletcher Cox shoot some gaps? There are time he definitely is dominating where he isn’t holding up his man ready to shed to either side to fill a gap. Unless he is dominantly crushing his guy head on his way to the ball.

  14. 14 D3FB said at 4:02 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Most of it is him just stacking and shedding his man incredibly fast. I think he may have been given a green light to freelance within the scheme in certain situations.

  15. 15 Kelce's Beard said at 7:59 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    why is this so black and white? after all that time explaining the realities of the league, and the fact that Davis has very little DB talent whatsoever, is snark really appropriate? why is pragmatism such a hard pill to swallow sometimes?

  16. 16 Jernst said at 6:48 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Brian Dawkins seems to disagree with you D3FB. I think the HOF safety who found the lack of safety help baffling is a lot more telling than your absolutest comments in this section about how you CAN’T do certain things on defense.

    Sure you can. It’s a trade off, but you definitely can.

  17. 17 NineseveN said at 1:42 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    If players knew better than coaches, teams wouldn’t need coaches. I get Dawk. I repsect Dawk. But Dawk is not a coach in this league. When you look at elite coaches, they’re almost never coming from being elite players. I’m not saying Dawk is wrong completely because I do buy some of what he’s saying, but he’s also a little out of the loop on this one.

  18. 18 Jernst said at 8:03 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    No doubt. I completely agree with you. As Tommy often points out, players are terrible sources of information and I’m sure the coaches are privy to information that Dawkins wasn’t as a casual viewer of the game even despite his experience. The reason I brought up Dawks statements is because every time a poster on here commented that it was crazy that Billy kept leaving Fletcher one on one with NO help whatsoever, a lot of people would reply with these absolutest comments about how you CANT give him more help than they did and you HAVE to mix up coverages and HAVE to leave him one on one multiple times throughout the game regardless of the results. I think Dawks comments can at least put that argent to rest. We certainly didn’t have to allow that match up to proceed as it did. There’s obviously trade offs if you alter your plan but we didn’t HAVE to leave him on an island. And, furthermore, there’s ways for our safeties to “give him love”, as Dawkins put it, even if we’re mixing in a single high coverage. This should at least facilitate a discussion about tactics and Billy’s ultimate decisions instead of having everyone that questions him being shot down as crazy, “the sky is falling”, alarmists that don’t understand football and don’t get that what Billy did is what you HAVE to do. Dawkins saw the same game and was equally disturbed by the tactics as well as their overall execution. And, I think that does say something.

  19. 19 Jernst said at 6:52 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    http://www.csnphilly.com/football-philadelphia-eagles/brian-dawkins-mad-baffled-eagles-defense-dez-bryant

    “If there’s one dude that’s not going to beat me, it’s your best guy and that’s Dez,” Dawkins said. “He’s not going to beat me. Now, I may mix it up, let the guy go one-on-one from time to time, but even then, if I have a deep middle safety, guess where that safety is leaning? He’s leaning to that side, so if the quarterback looks over there, my safety is going to be leaning that way to let you know right away, straight away, you can’t throw over here. It baffles me how you allow him to continue to go one-on-one.”

    That’s a HOF safety right there D3FB. So, I agree with a lot of what you say and you’re a very knowledgable fan, but stop acting like there’s no other way to do things but the way Billy did them. Or that you simply can’t do certain things on defense to combat what was happening. It’s just not true.

  20. 20 imnotsorryisaidthat said at 6:00 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    limited talent and no depth at linebacker and secondery do not make bill d bad coach,,

  21. 21 Jernst said at 6:12 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    No but putting Bradley Fletcher in press man with no safety help on the NFLs fastest WR when he’s shown no ability to run with fast WRs down the field certainly does…

  22. 22 Flyineagle45 said at 10:19 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    It blows my mind that you can find it within yourself to defend this man.

  23. 23 Patrick said at 4:18 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    In my opinion, the number 1 thing we need next season is a season where we dont have to play games with our backup QB. For the love of everything thats holy, can we just have one season where we dont have to have a backup playing the most important position in sports.

    Theres a lot of possible answers regarding Nick Foles in that. Is he a NFL QB? Is he a Chip QB? etc. Those are the questions i’ve had all the way back to the competition between Foles and Vick, and we still lack answers. But mainly I just want to see our team with a fucking QB and not a backup or an unanswered question. Its completely nuts to me that we have a QB in a contract year and we still haven’t seen him play an entire season or been able to establish whether he is an NFL QB or not.

  24. 24 MichaelFloyd84 said at 4:21 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Perhaps his inability to stay healthy already gives us our answer.

  25. 25 Avery Greene said at 4:25 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    This is a fair point. This isn’t to say he isn’t the answer, but damn it sucks that we still don’t have any definitive answers.

  26. 26 Patrick said at 4:26 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Maybe, but to be fair he wouldn’t even had started the entire 2013 season if he hadn’t gotten concussed, meaning that we wouldnt have gotten our answer, because Chip chose to play Vick instead of developing a young QB.

    Also, he to a concussion and a broken collarbone. I get durability worries when a player just have all these nagging injuries and miss a couple of games, come back for a few, miss the rest of the season. Nick got injured being hit, not because he gets constantly pulls a hammy or have bad knees after several ACL tears.

    Its definitely a concern, but i’m not prepared to call his durability question answered just yet.

  27. 27 Neil said at 4:30 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I just try to imagine any other QB taking those hits that knocked him out. You can criticise Nick for putting himself in the position he did when he got a concussion, but anybody would have been concussed by that. Same with the hit that broke his collarbone.

  28. 28 Buge Halls said at 5:59 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    You mean his one injury that he has missed significant time?

  29. 29 Charlie Kelly said at 4:20 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    at some point i want the coke heads who are great players over the choir boys who arent as great. at some point i just want to win a super bowl and i dont care if we dont compete for 5 years afterwarrds.. we need a god damn super bowl at any cost, idgaf

  30. 30 Avery Greene said at 4:23 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    What coke heads are you talking about, and who specifically did you have in mind? Which choir boys are messing us up over a “bad boy” who could have been here?

    Please be specific.

  31. 31 Charlie Kelly said at 4:26 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    coke boys just in general meaning the bad boys, with character problems but they ball out. seems like now they are looking for reasons to NOT draft a player rather then a reason to draft a player.

    no one specific, just in general.

    idk im just pissed!!

  32. 32 Avery Greene said at 4:36 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Okay, me too. But I don’t think this is an issue at all. Meco, Kendricks, Cox, Barwin, Peters, and even Foles are all good people. They aren’t bad boys, but they ball out too.

    There’s no rule that says good people can’t ball out. If you want to bring a headache on the team, you have to be sure that 1) he fits the team and 2) that his issues won’t become the team’s issues.

    Think about TO and the mess he caused while he was here. Yeah, he was a baller but he cost the team some games with his antics. He tore the cohesiveness of the team apart and that failed us in 2005.

    Everyone here is pissed, but trust me, the character preference isn’t the problem. It’s hard to turn over a team in two years and we have some stop gaps, but they have not passed on any head cases to bring in lesser talent.

    We could point to Jackson, but a different CB on him and we aren’t having this conversation. This preference I think is why we won’t see Cary next year. That and his contract. You want people that play for the good of the team, not their stats.

    They’ll be fine. Stay mad and criticize what needs to be criticized, but me personally, I don’t think this is one.

  33. 33 Charlie Kelly said at 4:22 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    listen if davis cant admit he failed at not replacing bradley then he needs to feel the heat. period. if we see bradly one on one with ODBjr, then fire him! Set an example!!!

  34. 34 ian_no_2 said at 4:36 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’ve neglected to mention that when DJax burnt Fletcher the second time (and the first) it felt like all my Philly Sports Masochism had been purified and intravenously injected so I was getting it all at one time. The fact that all the fans wanted Fletcher benched, that many wanted DJax to stick around, made it much more Philly.

    Philly fans know that Andy stuck around a long long time despite many all caps PUT DOWN THE CHEESE STEAK ANDY YOU —- SIGN BOLTON for years on Eagles boards (and you know, they should have signed Bolton after all). For Chip to go after 2015-6 the org has to pay out $13M for nothing.. so he’s got til the end of 2016-7 most probably to show what he’s got. I realize it’s early for Belichick comparisons but my main concern is that Philly is to Chip what Cleveland was to Bill. I for one believe in the guy, but he’s the coach and people are going to criticize.

    We remember the long search that led to Davis. I would like them to pounce on a good guy who’s available and wants in, but am not up for a ‘scapegoat – long search – find the next scapegoat.’ I for one can’t separate out what is Chip’s and Billy’s fault.

  35. 35 mksp said at 4:44 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Some predictions for next year:

    1) Nick Foles is the starting QB in 2015. I think its fair to say that Nick is at least an average, starting caliber quarterback in the NFL. We’ve seen that he is better than Mark Sanchez for example, who has shown that he is an above-average, backup caliber quarterback in the NFL. I hope Nick has a great offseason and figures out how to gain some semblance of a pocket presence back. But we probably run him out this next year and see what we really have. It’s hard finding stud QBs. Maybe we should have drafted Teddy Bridgewater this past Summer.

    2) LeSean McCoy is gone. Better to sell a year too early than a year too late. Might be able to get a mid-round pick for him from a team desperate to make a splash. At a minimum, he won’t be back without a restructured contract.

    3) Trent Cole and DeMeco Ryans are back on restructured deals at significantly lower AAVs.

    4) Cary Williams is back. Bradley Fletcher is not.

    5) Howie wrestles personnel control back from Chip. The draft feels more like a Howie draft than a Chip draft and we all feel better about it.

    6) Fletcher Cox, Cedrick Thornton and Mychal Kendricks sign their long-term deals. Boykin is back on the 4th Year of his rookie contract.

    7) The offensive line comes back with the same 5 starters to start the year, but at least 1, maybe 2, OGs will be picked in the draft, one within the first 3 rounds. Eagles do in fact explore trade options for Evan Mathis.

    8) Vinny Curry is traded to a 4-3 team. Brandon Graham signs a FA contract with a 4-3 team.

    9) Jeremy Maclin is signed to a long term deal with an AAV of $9 MM.

    10) A CB, ILB, RB and G will be picked in the first 5 rounds of the draft.

    Haven’t spent much time on FA yet. I’m sure there will be some interesting targets. Not sure how big of a splash Howie makes. Eagles may attempt to finally trade for Dion Jordan (Vinny Curry).

    Should be a far more interesting offseason this year than last.

  36. 36 TXEaglesFan said at 4:53 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Fairly reasonable breakdown, who is going to be rushing the passer? You must be counting on big things from Marcus Smith. That could be dangerous.

  37. 37 mksp said at 4:59 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Growth from Marcus Smith. Continued excellence form Trent Cole (at a reduced price).

    Maybe Dion Jordan.

    Maybe Jabal Sheard (h/t DF3B).

    Maybe Jason Worilds.

  38. 38 D3FB said at 5:11 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Also extremely deep pass rushing draft.

  39. 39 mksp said at 5:16 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Bud Dupree!

  40. 40 D3FB said at 5:22 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    He’s going to be long gone.

  41. 41 Mitchell said at 5:40 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Your favorites are?

  42. 42 D3FB said at 5:49 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Still haven’t done a ton of tape work as of yet.
    I love Dupree, but he’s going top 10.
    Shane Ray is criminally overvalued. One trick pony, not great against the run, doesn’t use his hands at all.
    Oakman doesn’t fit for us.
    Orchard is intriguing, technically advanced, but not super explosive. Haven’t watched the USC 2013 tape yet (which is apparently the game where he drops alot)
    Vic Beasley measured in at barely 6’2 and 220lbs last summer, so he’s not going to be a target.
    Maudlin, Golden, and Kihaka are intriguing.
    Alot of people really like Zack Hodges, I’ll probably get to him in the next couple of days.
    Haven’t watched Calhoun, Fowler, or Gregory except for live.

    Thus far outside of Bud Dupree I haven’t found anybody I covet. I’m sure I’ll find some guys in the mid rounds either as OLB or in more of a Vinny Curry role.

  43. 43 Mitchell said at 5:51 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I have Gregory on my list to watch as well.

  44. 44 BlindChow said at 5:06 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    After Foles’ year last season there was no way they would have drafted Bridgewater. It wouldn’t have made sense. That kind of speculation is just 20/20 hindsight.

  45. 45 mksp said at 5:08 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I know. Just a thought.

  46. 46 Mitchell said at 5:33 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I think it’s time to make some kind of splash. Maybe trade/sign at least one player that more than 1 team are going after.

  47. 47 D3FB said at 5:51 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’d love to see us try and shake Jonathan Cooper or Quinton Patton loose. Both were good prospects that I think would fit better here.

  48. 48 Mitchell said at 5:52 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I just feel at this point we can make a bit of a splash we have the room and we haven’t gone after anyone of great skill for a few years.

  49. 49 D3FB said at 5:56 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The problem with alot of those guys though is that if you hit, great, but with many of them you’re overpaying for past performance. Dez and Demariyus won’t make it to the open market. Revis or Houston would be nice, but you’re going to be paying them crazy money, and you would be putting almost all of your chips in that basket. Julius Thomas would be a bit redundant with Ertz in place.

  50. 50 Mitchell said at 6:00 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    To be honest. I don’t know what’s out there and may have fallen into the trap of being frustrated and impatient. Therefore I saw,” we need to make a splash.” If, however the FO sees someone that fits and is a bit pricier than previous FAs I would hope they would go for it.

  51. 51 BlindChow said at 6:08 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Yeah, we saw the negative side of “making a splash” with the Dream Team.

  52. 52 D3FB said at 6:11 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Honestly the most amazing part of that was that Howie pulled that off, and it didn’t send us into cap hell for years.

  53. 53 Knucklehead said at 4:26 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Correct me if I’m wrong, but can’t nfl players and their salaries be cut at any point? I was under the impression that the only guaranteed money was the signing bonus-which I thought only counted against the cap in the year in which the player is signed.

  54. 54 oreofestar said at 6:17 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    No you can’t for example if we sign Maxwell for 4/36 with 20 guaranteed that is not a 20mil signing bonus some of it will be a prorated signing bonus some of other guaranteeedguaranteeed money can be structured really however Howie and the agent see fit, you can cut someone but then you still have to pay up all guaranteed money so when people are asking for Riley to be cut despite signing a deal that had 8mil guaranteed it makes no sense

  55. 55 Knucklehead said at 3:06 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    So how does this apply to Djax, and possibly Shady next year, if we still wind up far under the cap like we did this past year. Did cutting/releasing Jackson this past year actually give us a bigger cap hit than actually keeping him on the roster because we had to pay up the guaranteed money in one lump?

  56. 56 oreofestar said at 9:54 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    We saved on Desean 6.75 last year plus his 10mil base this year so 16.75 over 2 year were saved not sure on Shady I have to search up structure

  57. 57 Knucklehead said at 10:02 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    How did we save money on him last year? He played for us last year.

  58. 58 oreofestar said at 1:07 PM on December 23rd, 2014:

    I meant this year

  59. 59 D3FB said at 1:47 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    SIgning bonus is pro-rated over the length of the contract. Also some chunk of the salary (usually the first year or two) is generally guaranteed.

  60. 60 Jernst said at 6:13 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Let Julius Thomas play the Riley Cooper role. I bet he blocks better than Cooper and I’d rather have JT as a WR2 than Cooper.

  61. 61 NineseveN said at 1:51 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Revis would be worth it, he truly is an elite talent that, while a bit self-involved, is so far removed from a cancer like TO or DeSean. I’d take a shot at him if he were available (though I don’t expect him to be), dump Fletcher, restructure or dump Scones and roll with the youngins and a draft pick or 2 opposite the Island.

  62. 62 Mitchell said at 5:57 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Patton I could see snagging but what would you have to give up for Cooper? Did he even start this year? Can we give them Cooper for him?

  63. 63 D3FB said at 6:05 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    He’s played at times. Patton could probably be had for a 7th. New coaching staff, Baalke loves stockpiling picks. Cooper would probably be a fourth that you could put conditions on. Flip the Bryce Brown pick. He’s been constantly banged up and I think would fit better in our system where his athleticism would be magnified. He’s the best guard I’ve ever scouted not named DeCastro, so it’s a bit of a gamble, but you’re getting a much higher ceiling than anybody you could get in the fourth. Change of scenery could make a world of difference.

  64. 64 Mitchell said at 6:07 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The best part is, Howie has already made calls and are working on something now.

  65. 65 holeplug said at 5:59 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Sign dez bryant

  66. 66 Nicodemus_09 said at 7:10 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Really good stuff as usual man. On a personal note, I’d be really bummed if we traded Curry. It’s completely feasible, I’m just a fan of the kid is all.

  67. 67 xeynon said at 12:34 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I’m fine with trading him if the return is decent. He’s a good pass rusher but he doesn’t fit the defense. And lest you forget, he’s committed a number of boneheaded penalties this season, including an absolute killer yesterday.

  68. 68 oreofestar said at 6:09 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I mean I wouldn’t mind fulfilling Chip s Dion Jordan wet dream.

  69. 69 fran35 said at 5:01 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Truthfully, Chip’s talent evaluation skills as they transfer from college to the NFL are seriously under question. This is especially true for Oregon players. Vinny Curry for Dion Jordan? No way. Jordan reminds me alot of a guy that we alreay drafted last year and has to show anything. Eerily similar circumstances and players

  70. 70 Weapon Y said at 8:28 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Shady is not going anywhere. He’s dealt with turf toe all year and still is 4th in league rushing. Who do you think can replace his output?

  71. 71 BobSmith77 said at 11:20 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    4th in the league but also 2nd in carries by a wide margin. Empty stat.

    By any stretch, McCoy has had a down year and to me the real question is whether he has another really good year in him or he is already on the decline.

    He’ll be 27 next year and in his 7th season (6th as a full-time starter). Both are historically times that RBs either peak or have already peaked.

    Personally, I think McCoy has one really good year left in him and can rebound a bit but the clock is ticking on his career too. Can’t see him with his style aging well either in the NFL.

  72. 72 xeynon said at 7:14 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    You may be right, but the problem is that other NFL teams are aware of this as well. Nobody’s going to give you the farm for Shady. Trading him before his last great NFL season means taking a big immediate step back for a future return that’s not that great. No thanks.

  73. 73 BobSmith77 said at 7:40 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Yeah and I should have added I don’t see the value in trading him. RBs clearly have been devalued a lot (almost none are picked in the 1st round and even Gordon from Wisc I bet doesn’t go until 4-5 picks in the 2nd round).

  74. 74 BobSmith77 said at 11:22 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Good stuff. Willing to bet that 70% of this transpires including Foles back as the starter next year too even with the struggles/injuries

  75. 75 Knucklehead said at 4:23 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    If we let Shady go and are under the salary cap going into the season I will be disgusted. It will be the second year in a row we allow a dynamic offensive player to leave to save jeffy money.

  76. 76 mksp said at 10:59 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Cox, Kendricks, Maclin, Thornton all need to get paid. Plus we have holes in the secondary. Nick potentially may need to get paid the following year.

    Hard to allocate a significant amount of cap $ to your RB in today’s NFL.

  77. 77 Knucklehead said at 2:26 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    If we cut Shady to pay other people I have no problem with that, but if we cut him and are still millions under the salary cap (like this past year with djax) I will be pissed. I could give two shits about saving Jeffy money.

  78. 78 ian_no_2 said at 2:19 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    The Eagles would essentially be giving up on the 2015 season by cutting Shady. The idea is valid if you think he’s dropping off based on his play, but the age charts don’t indicate he will decline for another two years from now at earliest. If signing Cox and Maclin necessitates the move, then you’re going for the future rather than the present, but (1) the third round pick is meaningless in this context, especially as they’ve been used and (2) they didn’t get close to the cap ceiling in 2014 and likely won’t next year. Again, if the GM is betting on a decline on Shady based on observations about Shady and giving up completely in 2015, fine, but I don’t agree that Shady is dropping off that much.

    As for a Howie draft rather than a Chip draft, if we had a Howie draft rather than an Andy draft in 2012 we would be wondering whether Kirk Cousins could step up and take hold of the starting job rather than Foles. Reid explained that Foles was his pick and why, and Roseman was reported to have wanted Cousins. Reid said that Castillo wanted Kendricks (over Wagner and David). Reid is also said to have given up on Watkins and Jarrett early in training camp, after saying that Watkins was someone everyone agreed on, whatever that means, and Jarrett proved himself more useful elsewhere, so we can guess who was planning that draft of ‘high character’ players with a PR story at the ready that were drafted a round ahead of their grades so that the brass didn’t have to play the board. Te’o Nesheim is another guy who had ‘high character’ for the PR department. Maybe the organization is ready to sit down and admit that it didn’t fleece Washington on the McNabb for Nate Allen deal, or maybe there’s a way to blame that on Chip Kelly.

    You can blame Josh Huff, Taylor Hart, and Jordan Poyer on Kelly, though, but they jury’s not out on whether Huff can justify the reach.

  79. 79 ian_no_2 said at 4:07 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I’ll bring up your McNabb idea when I go ice skating with Joe Banner and Morton this weekend, though.

  80. 80 ian_no_2 said at 4:08 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    McCoy I mean

  81. 81 Ark87 said at 3:16 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Imo we have 3 players who can line up on a man, beat their man (no scheme) and get after the QB. I think losing 2 of them would be too much for one offseason (the other 1 is is Fletcher Cox when we let him loose, Cole has been moderately disruptive but his value comes in how well-rounded his game is, he’s a guy you trust so you leave him out there). Otherwise I more or less agree with the premise of the rest of your points.

  82. 82 nceagle51 said at 4:51 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Tommy, The lack of making change for change sake is the problem. Davis was not willing to move Carrol into the left corner spot because it would hurt the dime package. Which the eagles hardly used last year. He refused to give help to fletcher in the last two games until it was to late. He refused to use Boykin on the outside because he is to short. Deshawn is short. He refused to consider playing any other safety instead of Nate, who has not be able to handle the position since he has been here. He refused to play Curry last year. He barely played Grahmm when it was clear he was out producing Cole. He refused to get the young db’s he has on his squad any playing time at all. Change! He should have been canned last night! Just as it is with talent, you are what you are! He is a bottom 25 D coordinator! Keeping him is the same as trying to make Juan Castillo a D coordinator! The owner need to get involved if Chip will not fire him. Get the top linebacker/db assistant from Seattle, 49’ers, Steelers, Ravens. Someone from a team that plays nasty D. This is what the Eagles use to be! Now, they are a soft team with a finesse offence!

  83. 83 D3FB said at 5:10 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’m not sure what the lack of a dime package last year has to do with this years D. We played more dime because we didn’t have a second LB capable of playing nickel.

    Boykin has had a bad year himself.

    Nate is the best we had to play at Safety, Wolff was hurt, Maragos is extremely limited, Prosinski isn’t a starter, Couplin was signed two weeks ago.

    Vinny Curry played extensively in sub packages last year. He’s not a starter in this defense. He played a little more this year. Not really seeing the relevance of that.

    Graham is a liability in pass coverage. Cole is far better, even with Graham’s improvements in that regard. Also Graham played all the snap last night and registered what? 1 QB hit?

    Playing young DB’s just for the sake of playing young DB’s especially while in the playoff hunt is shortsighted. If Watkins was out there getting turned inside and out you would be just as mad about that.

    You do know that all but 7 coaches are technically bottom 25 DC’s?

    I’m assuming you mean he is worse than 25th, in rankings DCs. The defense’s DVOA is in the low teens. They are 21st in points allowed, and with the high volume of turnovers that’s artificially a little high. They are 25th in yards allowed despite the fact that they face the most plays. They are 3rd in takeaways and tied for the lead in sacks.

  84. 84 Bob Scatchard said at 6:49 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    D3FB
    I’d try to sign Revis, if available, for 2 years (at almost any cost…and keep fletcher as my other CB, if Watkins hasn’t improved enough by next season. This would limit the insane # of 20yd completions and have some to cover Dez, DJax and marchem Jr., as well as give Chip and bill time to address secondary and other needs over 2 years….
    Would you trade for Cutler, if the bears would eat some $$?
    He throws a good deep ball and I think with Chips “running” emphises, he could be good in Chips system and good competition for Nick…

  85. 85 deshawnbentley said at 8:22 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Graham had three hits and four hurries

  86. 86 Jernst said at 5:38 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    “Davis was not willing to move Carrol into the left corner spot because it would hurt the dime package”

    Why?? We go dime and Carrol moves inside and Fletcher comes off the bench and plays outside. How does that hurt the Dime package? Why are we hurting ourselves in the base package that we play 60-70% of the game for the minor benefit that it might provide for our Dime package that we play 15% of the snaps.

    Thinking like that drives me nuts. Makes no sense at all.

  87. 87 D3FB said at 5:58 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Because it would be a massive recalibration for Carrol. One play your manned up with Dez Bryant or Desean Jackson running for your life on a go route. The next play your lined up 3 yards behind your defensive tackle and have to take on a 320 lbs guard on a draw play. Much easier said than done.

  88. 88 BlindChow said at 6:06 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    On the other hand…

    *Fletcher gets beat for a 70-yard TD*

  89. 89 Jernst said at 6:15 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    exactly

  90. 90 Jernst said at 6:16 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I get that…i really do. But, at the same time…then keep Fletcher as the starter, just don’t put him in press man with no safety help against the fastest WR in the league. Can we at least do that.

  91. 91 D3FB said at 6:30 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    DJax runs by DB’s with 10 yard cushions. You stop him by disrupting him at the line, and rerouting him.

  92. 92 Jernst said at 6:44 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Perhaps that’s your plan…however, Bradley Fletcher has proven he is incapable of executing that plan on multiple occasions. Given the outcome, I’d say putting Fletcher in press man with no help over the top wasn’t necessarily the way you stop DeSean Jackson.

    If you want Fletcher to sell out on the rerouting him aspect, you better have a safety parked deep and shaded to that side of the field to clean up the couple times he inevitably misses. Otherwise you’re conceding a handful of easy, pitch and catch deep passes, before the game even begins.

  93. 93 anon said at 11:01 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    so you’re saying scheme necessity OR past decisions set them up for current faillure. I supposed w/ all the injuries they didn’t have much choice but to make NC a LB / dime corner.

  94. 94 GermanEagle said at 4:57 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    So much re Andrew Luck beating the Cowboys. Lol

  95. 95 BlindChow said at 5:00 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    They’re playing like losers. Yikes.

  96. 96 ACViking said at 5:01 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The Colts are 0-4 against teams that have rushed for 100 yards and thrown for 200 yards. (Brady, PManning, Roethlisberger, Foles)

    Dallas is exactly the kind of team against which the Colts have struggled this year.

    The Colts did beat Baltimore, holding Flacco and Forsett to just under the 200/100 threshold.

    But Romo’s playing far better than Flacco this year.

  97. 97 GermanEagle said at 5:07 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Eagles. Are. Not. Good.

  98. 98 A Roy said at 6:42 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    How about: Eagles. Are. Not. Good. Enough.

  99. 99 DarthBanner said at 5:03 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The Eagles don’t deserve to be playing meaningful football next week.

  100. 100 GermanEagle said at 5:06 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The Giants and Eagles have been moving in opposite directions the last 3 weeks. I’m pretty sure we will lose for the 4th time in a row next Sunday. #Kotite #1994 #EpicMeltdown

  101. 101 GEAGLE said at 5:23 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Watch COUGHLIN survive this season and be back next year

  102. 102 GermanEagle said at 5:36 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    And?

  103. 103 ACViking said at 5:53 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Bravo!

  104. 104 GermanEagle said at 6:53 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Bitte. 😉

  105. 105 ACViking said at 5:07 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Weather prevented the Colts from flying to Dallas yesterday.

    The Plano East HS team is playing in their stead.

  106. 106 GENETiC-FREAK said at 5:08 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Welp time to look at the off season

  107. 107 mksp said at 5:18 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Perfectly happy that Dallas is going to win.

    No reason not to play some kids next week now, see what we have. And if 9-7 gets us up to #18 or #19 in draft order, then even better.

  108. 108 GermanEagle said at 5:18 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Ladies and gentlemen

    Please give a big round of applause to welcome the 2014 Philadelphia Eagles, the paper champs of the offseason.

  109. 109 Buge Halls said at 6:06 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    And welcome GermanEagle the internet tough guy of 2014

  110. 110 Media Mike said at 6:07 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Wouldn’t that be your rude self?

  111. 111 GermanEagle said at 6:53 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Lol. Don’t worry mate. I was here way before you even had hairs on your Buge Halls. Keep trolling.

  112. 112 Buge Halls said at 9:23 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Funny how a troll likes to say people are trolling. You can hop off the bandwagon now

  113. 113 GermanEagle said at 9:26 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I find you cute.

  114. 114 D3FB said at 6:08 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    We were 9th in preseason super bowl odds. Who crowned them champs in the offseason?

  115. 115 GermanEagle said at 6:54 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    My bad. Should have said NFC East champs.

  116. 116 Media Mike said at 6:55 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    That would be the appropriate accomplishment they failed to achieve to use to rip them!

  117. 117 Joey Rutkowski said at 5:18 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Chip Kelly and Bill Davis inability and stubbornness to to make a change and admit a mistake is SICKENING. I dont know how everyone in the world could see that every teams gameplan is to attack Bradley Fletcher and They get paid millions of dollars to do a job is crazy to me. Every game we lost reporters ask did think about benching Bradley Fletcher and we get some smug comment. i remember after the Dallas win on Thanksgiving when the CB’s actually played well because Romo was under pressure and couldent move Chip goes off on a smug rant Saying i told you so i knew they could play it was you guys that couldn’t see it. Thinking about everything that has happened makes me angry. Not benching Fletcher makes me angry, not giving Boykin a chance to start makes me angry, Not using Chris Polk on all those goal line stands in San Fran and Arizona makes me angry, not using Darren Sproles more makes me angry, Same with Zach Ertz, Giving DeSean Jackson away and not getting anything in return makes me angry, Chips very poor game time management like calling a timeout before the end of the half of the Seattle game giving them a chance to kick a FG makes me angry. Not addressing the Secondary in the Offseason thinking Nate Allen and Cary Williams and Fletcher could start for a playoff team makes me angry, Passing on ,Darqueze Dennard, Jason Verrett, Deone Bucannon, Kelvin Benjamin, Jimmie Ward, Bradley Roby, Teddy Bridgewater,Johnny Manziel and Drafting Marcus Smith makes me angry. Every Eagles fan should be angry right now.

  118. 118 Mitchell said at 5:20 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    As I saw the Cowboys were winning by 14, an awful thought crept into my mind, what if they win the SB?

  119. 119 GEAGLE said at 5:23 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Well, I couldn’t possibly be more wrong about the Cowboys game. ATleast they put me out of our misery
    .,
    I’ll be pissed if I don’t see Marcus smith, Jaylen Watkins, Matt Barkley, Tim Burton playing next week… No need to risk important players like Jason Peters getting a sever injury last game of the season

    Romo is right, this is clearly the best ball of his career

  120. 120 Mitchell said at 5:24 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I would never have seen their season coming in a million years

  121. 121 GEAGLE said at 5:31 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Go figure, all the years everyone gushed about the Cowboys talent going into the season, they always fell flat on their face.
    ..
    The one year everyone said they had no talent and would be destined to suck, are finally having their best year…crazy.
    ..
    Football is funny like that, MY TAKE from all this, is THAT when you have a special season where EVERYTHNG is falling in place like we had last year with our OL and the No injuries, and like Romo is having this year playing his best ball, YOU HAVE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT! Try to catch lightening in a bottle and MAKE IT YOUR YEAR, because a lot needs to fall in place to win this thing,,.

  122. 122 Richaud Jeaffreson said at 2:22 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Trey Burton, not Edward Scissor hands bro.

  123. 123 D3FB said at 5:24 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Then some kind of national tragedy has occured because apparently Seattle, Green Bay, and DEN/NE have all been stricken with natural disasters or a pandemic of some sorts.

  124. 124 Mitchell said at 5:35 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Exactly. I want your thoughts on Jeremy cash from Duke.

  125. 125 D3FB said at 6:27 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    He’s a RS JR. I doubt he comes out. The Miami game was interesting but it’s hard as hell to project those SPUR safeties.

  126. 126 xeynon said at 5:48 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I wouldn’t worry about it.

    That defense still sucks. They might win a first round game, but they will be roadkill against either Seattle or Green Bay.

  127. 127 Jernst said at 5:22 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I agree Tommy. I think there is a lot to be thrilled about when it comes to Kelly. He seems to be an excellent program builder and this is where I think he is truly special. He needs to be given a lot of credit for turning around the system wide dysfunction of the program that had manifested the 2 years prior to his arrival.

    There’s a few areas that I think he needs to be criticized. His insistence on particular measurables is frustrating, because I think it’s so hard to find true talent in this league that it’s short sited to limit your pool of potential targets in the draft and free agency. This is a team that would not have allowed Darrell Green to play outside CB for them based on his height. This is a team that would probably not have drafted Mychal Kendricks if they were in charge during that draft. Is that the wrong stance to take? I don’t know that there are any absolutes in professional football, but it’s open to being questioned for sure.

    How come an offensive mastermind can’t design a successful screen pass in almost a year? That fake one way and then have the QB pivot and throw the backside screen is the ugliest play in professional football the last year and a half and yet we run it 1-2 times every game and it gets sniffed out every time. Frustrating.

    As far as Billy Davis…I lost all faith in him when he looked us straight in the eyes and said he liked the potential matchups and versatility of having Brandon Boykin play rush OLB, but simultaneously felt he was too small to play outside CB. Taking our best pass rusher off the field and having Boykin rush one on one against the other teams LT (essentially choosing to play 10 on 11) was asinine and it took him weeks of repeatedly getting burned by it to change his approach. Placing Patrick Chung in man coverage against other teams best WRs was crazy last year and he did it all year long despite all visual evidence that it never ended well for us.

    Which brings us to Bradley Fletcher. I see a lot of people defending it and saying, well you have to switch up coverage. And, that’s perfectly reasonable. But, at no point while you are switching up coverages is it absolutely required that you put your too slow CB up at the LOS in press man coverage against the other teams best WR without any safety help. That’s nuts and the results should be expected. The fact that he doesn’t expected the perfectly expected outcome is troubling.

  128. 128 GEAGLE said at 5:35 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Why do I have a feeling chip won’t play the young players next week, saying so,e bullshit like as long as we have a game, we are from philly and we fight or some sensless crap like that?, put jaylen Watkims, Barkley and MS2 in the game. Sit Maclin, start Huff outside. Force Riley Cooper to play because he sucks and we don’t care if he gets hurt, let him earn the paycheck he hasn’t lived up to.
    ..
    It’s had enough we have been put out of our misery. Don’t make us watch sanchez again

    Heck call COUGHLIN and make a gentle and agreement, we play Barkley if they play Nassib lol

  129. 129 ACViking said at 5:38 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Do you think Kelly wants to get into the habit of handing out starting jobs to unqualified players who haven’t earned it on the field?

  130. 130 GEAGLE said at 5:42 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Rather not risk signifcant injury to veteran that make a lot of money and are important to us, in games that don’t matter.
    ..
    We play for the playoffs in THIS CITY.. Once eliminated, it’s no different than a preseason game
    ..
    Last thing we need is Barwin or Jason Peters blowing out there knee or something horrible in q glorified preseAson game so late in the year..
    ..
    Don’t really care who starts a meaningless 1 game

  131. 131 ACViking said at 5:43 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    My comment was made with bitterly ironic intention.

    (I should have noted that.)

    I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU!!!!!!

  132. 132 Jernst said at 5:44 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I don’t look at it like he’s handing out starting jobs. It’s like resting your starters when you’ve already locked up home field advantage. You’re not giving the back up a job he didn’t earn, you’re giving him an opportunity to show you what he has in a real game situation that doesn’t matter, while protecting your star players health.

  133. 133 Avery Greene said at 6:30 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Valid point, but why risk injury when you have nothing to play for. It seems Dallas is going to win, so I would think you’d like to see some of the young guys in game action.

    It’s a shame really if they don’t get some playing time in the last game of the season.

  134. 134 Jarock said at 8:07 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    It’s not handing them a job in a meaningless game. It’s an extended practice or training if Kelly prefers. If they play well, it’s an opportunity to earn a starting job next season.

  135. 135 Weapon Y said at 8:29 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    It isn’t a starting job. It’s just one damn game.

  136. 136 Mitchell said at 5:38 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I lol’d at the last line.

  137. 137 ACViking said at 5:41 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    By the way, I asked that Kelly start Barkley et al. less than 2 minutes after the last Sanchez pass fell incomplete last night.

    I doubt Kelly’s reading this blog, however.

    And I’m damn sure he doesn’t give a rat’s tail what anyone outside of the NCC thinks. (As he shouldn’t.)
    ______________

    But to your point . . . I’m very interested to hear what Kelly’s justification is for going with the same group that lost 3 straight, 4 of 6, and 5 of 9 — with absolutely NOTHING at stake.

  138. 138 GEAGLE said at 5:42 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Call COUGHLIN, make a gentlemans agreement, lol we will start Barkley, if he starts Nassib LOL if that bum Nassib is even still on that roster

  139. 139 ACViking said at 5:44 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    PEARL!!!!!

  140. 140 BlindChow said at 5:46 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    lolcolts

  141. 141 McNabbulousness said at 5:53 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    DID YOU SAY OVER!? WAS IT OVER WHEN THE GERMANS BOMBED PEARL HARBOR?! HELL NO!! WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH…………………………………….THE TOUGH GETS GOING!

    NOW WHO’S WITH ME!?

  142. 142 ACViking said at 5:51 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Remember . . .

    Before becoming the Indy/Baltimore Colts, the franchise was the Dallas Texans.

    And they were terrible. So bad they went bankrupt — allowing Ventnor summer resident Carroll Rosenblum to buy them for a song, move the franchise to Baltimore, and hire Weeb Ewbank . . . who found Johnny Unitas who made the NFL must-see-TV on 12/28/58.

    So, really, I’m not the least bit surprised by the half-time score.

  143. 143 Jernst said at 5:54 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    This is what drives me nuts about Billy Davis. Here’s what he said regarding starting Bradley Fletcher and putting him in press man coverage against DeSean Jackson with no safety help:

    “Two weeks in a row, two bad weeks, I was hoping to get out of that slump. It didn’t [happen].”

    NOOOOOOO! You dumb POS…this wasn’t a slump! He’s too physically slow to do what you asked him to do! Did he really think that if he kept asking him to do it that he’d magically be able to run stride for stride with DeSean Jackson down the field?!

  144. 144 BlindChow said at 5:59 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    No no, you see, Davis is a genius. He doesn’t make mistakes. Mistakes make HIM.

  145. 145 Jarock said at 8:05 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    And that is why I’m calling for Davis’ head. Nice guy. Good interview. Refuses to accept the obvious.

  146. 146 McNabbulousness said at 5:59 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    well, i guess we’re looking at bills/oilers-esque comeback by the colts if our season is to continue. at least luck is one of the about 3/4 QBs that can actually pull this off.

    that said, frank reich ain’t walking through that door.

  147. 147 BlindChow said at 6:01 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    *Luck throws an interception*

  148. 148 ACViking said at 6:06 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Colts didn’t show up.

    But part of that has to be the Cowboys.

  149. 149 ACViking said at 6:03 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    And Jim Eddy isn’t the D-coordinator for the Cowboys.

  150. 150 ACViking said at 6:01 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Maybe the Eagles stuck with Fletcher because Nolan Carroll didn’t show himself to be better on the practice field.

    Similar to why Trent Cole has started ahead of BGraham — regardless of what Graham’s done on limited snaps before yesterday.

    I don’t believe Kelly and Davis would keep Carroll off the field for 3 downs to preserve the 1-2 down Dime Package. That would be moronic.

  151. 151 Media Mike said at 6:02 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Yet they say it, so were forced to judge them on the words backing up their actions.

  152. 152 ACViking said at 6:05 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    MM:

    Do you buy the weekly coach-quotes being doled out by Kelly and Davis when it comes to players?

    Behind closed doors, I suspect the folks at Nova Care have very little nice to say about the fans.

  153. 153 Media Mike said at 6:07 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    They’re entitled to say what they like, but it is 100% up for judgement in the context of their actions week in and week out.

  154. 154 ACViking said at 6:18 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Actions speak the truth among coaches.

  155. 155 Media Mike said at 6:21 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Yes, and they’ll cede the explanation of those actions (or inaction) to the reporters and fans until such time as our division is re-captured and a playoff game has been won.

  156. 156 xeynon said at 7:05 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    If Kelly and Davis want to hide behind idiotic coach speak, that is their prerogative.

    However, it is also our prerogative as fans to question them if the explanations they give for their actions are patently moronic (regardless of whether they believe them or not).

    “We don’t want to upgrade at starting CB by replacing Fletcher with Carroll because it would mean downgrading at dime CB” is a patently moronic statement. Therefore Kelly and Davis deserve to be ripped for it.

  157. 157 NineseveN said at 2:01 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Yeah, but the coaches don’t answer to fans (despite rampant delusions to the contrary), which is awesome because most fans are idiots. If 99% of fans knew half as much as they like to blabber on about as if they do, they’d be coaching football for millions instead of making the median wage and going to bed with ugly wives. You guys should hear Pats fans criticize the Hoodie or Steelers fans rant about Dick LeBeau. Fans crack me the fuck up sometimes. 🙂

  158. 158 xeynon said at 7:22 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    That’s fine. I don’t expect Kelly to to answer to the fans’ every whim. I do expect him to take it like a man when there is legitimate criticism of his statements, and to not be smug and dismissive in answering what are completely legitimate questions from the media.

  159. 159 BlindChow said at 6:04 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    You have to hope. Otherwise their stubbornness is staggeringly disappointing. May have cost them the season.

  160. 160 NinjaP said at 6:06 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Well we know bradley fletcher is terrible. Why not give someone else a chance? hell throw the rookie out there even if he fails it wouldn’t be any different than flecther failing.

  161. 161 ACViking said at 6:09 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    NP:

    That’s my point . . . the coaches must think putting Carroll out there would have been even worse. And they have the daily practices on which to base that opinion.

    Otherwise, as BlindChow wrote, these coaches are stupidly stubborn not to mention just plain insane.

  162. 162 NineseveN said at 2:05 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Because from a coaches standpoint, perhaps it’s better to ruin Fletcher’s confidence because he’s disposable garbage who won’t be here next year anyway (admittedly wishful thinking on my part) than it is to ruin a developmental talent’s confidence who you may have high hopes for. I get the mantra that the NFL is a “win now” league, the tomorrow is no less “now” than today once the sun comes up.

  163. 163 Jernst said at 6:09 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Fine, then stick with Fletcher. But, realize that you can’t place him up at the LOS in press man against the fastest WR in the league with no safety help without being burned. Realize your weakness and hide it. That’s what good coaches do.

  164. 164 D3FB said at 6:09 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Yeah, but change for the sake of change ACViking! Carrol was obviously better. He’s practically Revis. We know this because we are all at NovaCare everyday…

  165. 165 ACViking said at 6:15 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    You have a point.

    Shake up the team.

    Give the fans what they want.

    I see that now. How foolish I was to think the staff actually made personnel decisions based on what they see every day.

  166. 166 D3FB said at 6:25 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Crowd sourced teams! That should go great!

  167. 167 anon said at 10:52 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    fans can affect player and FO personnel if they vote with their $$ Think chip would last a season if fans stopped showing up?.

  168. 168 D3FB said at 11:41 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    SHow me an example of that happening. One demand for tickets is too inelastic. Oakland averages 53 out of a possible 56k in attendance. The Eagles could play to empty stadiums and Lurie would still make money.

  169. 169 Tyler Phillips said at 6:48 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    So what’s the worst that could have happened? We go from being torched to being torched?

    The coaches aren’t dieties. They don’t always know what will happen. Hell, judging from Davis he doesn’t know what’s happening, as its happening sometimes.

  170. 170 Nicodemus_09 said at 7:32 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    LoL! So true on every level. Well done. The point isn’t submitting to the fans, just don’t let your goddamned egos get in the way of realizing that the rest of the entire friggin’ world might actually be right for once. Because you’re right, it’s hard to be MORE dead.

  171. 171 Jarock said at 8:19 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I realize that the media doesn’t see everything that the coaches do, but the last two seasons all we heard was that first Boykin was the best db on the field and this offseason it was Carroll. Unfortunately, moronic seems to be an accurate description.

  172. 172 Avery Greene said at 9:47 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I think when he got injured, that messed Carroll up going into the season. I think he showed up better than Fletcher in preseason, but after the injury he wasn’t ready going into the season.

    So in a sense, Davis was right that Fletcher was practicing outside and Carroll inside – I think it was more due to injury and consistency than anything else.

  173. 173 NinjaP said at 6:02 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Billy Davis said with a straight face that he didn’t regret not benching bradley fletcher the asshole doesn’t deserve a job in the nfl. Fire him.

  174. 174 Jernst said at 6:07 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    He still thinks that Fletcher lost a one on one battle with DeSean Jackson where he was asked to play press man with no safety help, because (and I quote), “Fletch is just in a bit of a slump and his confidence is low right now. I thought he’d break out of this slump, but it just didn’t happen.”

    Is he joking? That was a terrible plan because Fletcher isn’t fast enough, athletic enough or just good enough to execute that plan, not because he’s in some slump that he might miraculously break out of.

  175. 175 Media Mike said at 6:04 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’m curious to see some answers to the “Why did your team lose 3 straight” and “why did your team lead the NFL in turnovers” questions as we get to the off-season from Chip.

    Nobody expected to see a deep playoff run this year, but choking away a division title needs some answers.

  176. 176 ACViking said at 6:07 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Answer:

    “We have to do a better job training the players to protect the ball.”

  177. 177 Media Mike said at 6:09 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    so follow-up question; “who and to what extent is somebody held to account when the ball isn’t being protected?”

  178. 178 ACViking said at 6:10 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Answer:

    “We evaluate the players and coaches every week. It’s an on-going process. We’ll see where things go after the season — when we can do a full evaluation.”

  179. 179 Media Mike said at 6:11 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    and so going into next season what will have taken place to improve the turnover situation?

  180. 180 ACViking said at 6:12 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Answer:

    “Too soon to tell. We have the whole off-season to address those questions.”

  181. 181 Media Mike said at 6:14 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    And I’m you’re correct in that is how they’ll answer those questions, so we’ll be able to rely on the excellent level of reporting that takes place on this team to crucify the correct members of the team and/or coaching staff. We’ll ultimately have our answers on who to hold accountable based on what the team does, but they’ve earned quite a large dose of grief until they’ve won the division again.

  182. 182 ACViking said at 6:17 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    MM:

    Nothing more frustrating than “coach-speak.”

    The only time pressers were worth listening is when Buddy Ryan had the mike.

  183. 183 Media Mike said at 6:18 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    True enough there. Or when Ray Rhodes was talking about people from Dallas raping and killing family members or whatever he used as his motivational tactics.

  184. 184 xeynon said at 7:07 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    You won’t get answers, but the questions need to be asked, again and again. Kelly needs to be made to squirm.

  185. 185 D3FB said at 7:10 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    What purpose does that serve other than to placate fans? We know Kelly is high analytical and will self scout hard in the offseason.Does making him squirm suddenly make him coach better? Identify holes better? No, it makes the fan base feel a little bit better, which does nothing towards the ultimate goal of winning and losing games.

  186. 186 Media Mike said at 7:13 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    But if we don’t have Kelly on record with answers (or non answers) how can we make a full judgement of his moves (or non moves).

    We’re not that far removed from being “fine” with Pinkston and Thrash for season after season. We’re not that far removed from being “fine” without keeping Keith Jackson, Reggie White, Clyde Simmons, Keith Byars, Seth Joyner, and Eric Allen.

    Like it or not, the badgering of coaching decisions is part of Chip’s accountability as the coach of an NFL team.

  187. 187 D3FB said at 7:18 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Is it though? Ultimately his accountability is to his owner. And to win games. The fanbase’s opinion of the coach doesn’t matter. The Linc will be full next year. Lurie isn’t the kind of owner who is going to overreact and fire a bunch of people. Do you see New England’s fan base losing their shit when Bellicheck is up there and doesn’t pander?

  188. 188 Media Mike said at 7:22 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    But at some point the Linc stops being full if the wins aren’t there. And when the wins aren’t there, the questions are warranted. He can stonewall as much as he’d like, and that’s fine on his end because you’re correct that he’s accountable to the owner………. who is accountable to his ability to earn money with the team as a function of the support of the fans.

    I don’t expect Kelly to answer anything he doesn’t feel the need to answer, but the questions must be asked.

  189. 189 D3FB said at 7:27 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    But this is year 2, two or three years from now if the team is 6-10, ok. NFL demand is relatively inelastic. Oakland’s attendance this year was 53K. Their stadium holds 56K. They’ve been putrid for a decade. Plus the majority of the money is from the TV contracts anyways. No NFL team loses money in the modern era. Between team valuations skyrocketing as well as the sheer volume of business that NFL teams do, the Eagles would have to go on a 30 game losing streak before Lurie’s bottom line was noticably affected.

  190. 190 Media Mike said at 7:32 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I do agree that we’re not even close to talking coaching change in year two of Kelly’s tenure, but these guys don’t own teams to just be “eh” forever. Kelly needs to expect that getting 33 points worse to Dallas and losing to a Washington team on a 6 game losing streak in the space of 8 days is going to get people breathing down the collective neck of the entire organization. Again, you’re correct that he’s not required to give any level of insight to reporters for anything he doesn’t care to, but he has to understand the scrutiny level is going to be amplified until this team is back winning the division and a playoff game.

    To backslide form 9-3 (or even 9-4 after Seattle) and 100% in control of the division to out of the playoffs in 3 weeks is really putrid.

  191. 191 Avery Greene said at 9:08 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Doesn’t the NFL pull roughly about $10 billion a year?

    You’re absolutely right that it’s all based on tv money. As a side point, that’s why the Phillies stayed with their team until the contract was signed. That’s why the NHL went exclusively with NBC.

    Anyways, good point.

  192. 192 NineseveN said at 2:21 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Nonsense. Let us not forget the legions of fans, exposure (TV and merch $$$) the Kelly has brought from out of market who believe in him based on following him for years. If the Negledelphians stop filling up the Linc because Chip Kelly thinks he doesn’t answer to them, good, that’s more seats open for everyone else who appreciate the franchise that made the smart decision to hire him. Those people are fortunate that they don’t have your “we don’t have no rings on these fingers” obsession because that seems to be the main thing fueling this idiotic nonsense about demanding answers from a 9-7 or 10-6 NFL team in year 2 of a total offense, defense and culture transformation. This is the modern NFL, coaches don’t throw players or other coaches under the buss unless it’s personal (read a bad decision) and they don’t answer to fans due to the connection through ticket revenue any more than your local police officers answer to you because your taxes pay their salaries.

    It was a disappointing season because the potential was there for it to be so much more, but it was a winning season with some growth, some regression and some really wonky injury-related issues than had a significant impact on the season’s performance. Welcome to the NFL.

    Lol, when “the linc stops being full”.

  193. 193 Media Mike said at 5:06 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    You know that eventually happened under Reid, right?

  194. 194 NineseveN said at 4:52 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    “I fired my head coach once attendance waned because the fans stopped liking him” said no NFL owner ever. Reid wasn’t let go because attendance was down, he was let go because he could no longer maintain Lurie’s faith in his ability to not only bring in winning records (which he did more often than not) but also to go deep in the playoffs and ultimately win a championship. Laurie knows that if Reid starts the next season 5-0 or manages to go deep into the playoffs, attendance will rise. Reid was given how many years before he was let go? It’s assinine nonsense to speculate that Lurie would give Chip a truncated shot based on fan hyperbole and emotion. Unless the name is Jerry Jones or Woody Johnson, no owner is going to do that.

    With Kelly, the wins are still there and attendance and TV ratings are doing well, so there’s really no discussion unless we want to talk about your ability to predict the future. I don’t. You have more interesting things to post and I have more interesting things to read.

  195. 195 anon said at 10:46 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    He’s 9-7 or 10-6 which is fine except when someone else in your division is going to go 11-5. That’s just life in a strong division.

  196. 196 xeynon said at 7:26 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    The Redskins are terrible. The Giants are also terrible. I wouldn’t call that a “strong division”, Cowboys aside.

  197. 197 xeynon said at 12:38 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Chip Kelly would not be the first football coach with an arrogant blind spot.

    Being called out on mistakes is part of the job. He gets paid a lot of money, he needs to be accountable for his screwups.

  198. 198 Media Mike said at 7:10 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    And our reporters will be up to the task for sure. They do great work.

  199. 199 SteveH said at 6:11 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The Colts look terrible out there. Thanks Indy.

  200. 200 bdbd20 said at 6:25 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    They’re doing what they should be.

    This game does not matter to them. They’ll be hosting the #5 or #6 AFC seed. Luck probably won’t see the field next week. Can’t fault them.

  201. 201 Media Mike said at 6:30 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Exactly. We had a chance to do our own work over the last 8 days, but chose not to. I can’t blame Indy for our own lack of focus and drive.

  202. 202 Daniel said at 6:11 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Could you please discuss alternatives in the Billy Davis post? No point in talking about it in a void, if our best alternative is going jesus christballs Billy, shade a safety over there.

  203. 203 bdbd20 said at 6:11 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    As fans, we have to realize that coaches are not going to reveal anything during a press conference.

    They know that the secondary is bad. There’s really no better options at this point in the season.

    They obviously don’t like Boykin enough to try him outside so we just need to give up on that.

    The core is still pretty good (Kelce, Lane, Maclin, Ertz, Foles, Shady, Cox, Logan, Curry, Graham, Barwin, Kendricks).

    Let’s just try to enjoy the off-season.

  204. 204 Jernst said at 6:22 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The secondary is bad, Fletcher is particularly bad, and the coaches probably know this too. But, DeSean is right…the Eagles play their scheme regardless of that knowledge, regardless of what the other team is doing and they just trot out there and play the way they play and it doesn’t work.

    If you truly know that Bradley Fletcher is too slow and can’t cover, then putting him right up at the LOS and telling him to play press man with no safety help over the top against the NFLs fastest WR is even dumber than it looked.

  205. 205 SteveH said at 6:18 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Hard to believe watching Dallas steamrolling its way into the playoffs that just last week we had a 2nd half lead on them and all the momentum, on our way to eliminating them from playoff contention.

    Tragic. Just a tragic end to a promising season.

  206. 206 Media Mike said at 6:19 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Exactly. Eagles domination over Dallas on Thanksgiving is the proper order of things in the universe. The absolute disgraceful collapse of our team from the end of that game forward is nothing short of vile.

    They’ll need to own that until they win the division and win a playoff game.

  207. 207 SteveH said at 6:30 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Yes. I stand by my “Mark Sanchez demoralization theory”. Any team quarterbacked by Mark Sanchez simply cannot believe in itself, and will soon collapse.

    Hated that signing when we did it.

  208. 208 Media Mike said at 6:34 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I smell what you’re cooking, but he did finish out one win and get to 3-1 right after that. Same turnover prone dude in all of those games as well. So it cannot just be him.

  209. 209 xeynon said at 12:39 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Let’s dial it back a bit.

    Nothing that happens on a football field, short of Mike Utley or Darryl Stingley being paralyzed, is “tragic”.

    It’s just a game ultimately. Keep some perspective.

  210. 210 OregonDucker said at 6:22 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Bad teams lead the league in turnovers. And you know you are in trouble when your center, Kelce, one of the best O linemen on the team, cannot REMEMBER THE SNAP COUNT!!!

    How can members of a team with such fantastic potential make so many bonehead penalties and mistakes? I wish I could blame coaching but I truly believe there is something really insidious happening with these players. I can’t get my head around it. Kelce forgot the damn snap count!!!!

  211. 211 SteveH said at 6:28 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Whats incredible is we still almost made the playoffs DESPITE leading the league in turnovers.

  212. 212 Media Mike said at 6:29 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The massive stupidity attack has to be attributable to something. I’d love to know what it is.

  213. 213 Tyler Phillips said at 6:43 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    REmember this, the core of this team is still from the Reid Era. Those guys have ben making boneheaded mistakes for YEARS! Its part of what got Reid fired and nothing has really changed. Lots of boneheads

  214. 214 anon said at 10:39 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    kelly et. al. made the decision not to make a bunch of changes. we could have redone everything in years one and two and went through the pain,but we didn’t do that.

  215. 215 Tyler Phillips said at 12:16 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I’m not questioning the method. Just stating this group is known for being boneheaded, so why be surprised when the boneheaded plays appear.

  216. 216 jshort said at 6:48 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Think they’re still suffering from “Brain Freeze” since that cold day in Green Bay

  217. 217 Media Mike said at 6:51 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Or they just got knocked stupid by Seattle.

  218. 218 anon said at 10:38 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    djax had more fans than kelly thought

  219. 219 Nicodemus_09 said at 10:27 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I’m not aware of this “snap count” business. What’s THAT all about man?

  220. 220 mksp said at 6:22 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I seem to remember a poster here pounding the table that the Cowboys would melt down in December “like they always do.”

    This role reversal is not sitting well with me.

    We knew the Cowboys were for real when they went to Seattle and won.

  221. 221 Media Mike said at 6:24 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The real Cowboys existed on Thanksgiving, we simply put no urgency into doing that to them a 2nd time a week ago. Yesterday was just the quitter icing on the cake.

  222. 222 P_P_K said at 6:57 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I may or may not have been that poster. After Thanksgiving I was sitting around fat and content, proclaiming to all that Romo and the Cowboys were over and done. Now, with the Eagles having choked and Dallas on a frickin’ roll, I feel like I’m in Superman’s bizzaro world where everything is backwards.

  223. 223 Media Mike said at 7:00 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    You’re not alone.

  224. 224 bdbd20 said at 6:30 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    If Brees, Bradford, or Carr are available, I do wonder if Chip would pull the trigger.

  225. 225 Media Mike said at 6:32 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The Saints putting a nuclear bomb to that lineup would be the shock of the century. I doubt he’s available.

    Bradford can’t stay on the field – ever.

    Carr isn’t going anywhere.

  226. 226 BlindChow said at 6:33 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Bradford should be available, but like Jake Locker, he’s a glass man. Not worth it.

  227. 227 Jarock said at 8:16 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Bradford hasn’t proven that he’s good enough even if he could stay healthy.

  228. 228 xeynon said at 7:30 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Indeed. Bradford’s career passer rating is lower than Foles’ was this season, a year we all agree wasn’t good enough. No thanks.

  229. 229 Jernst said at 6:33 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The thought that Brees could be available seems insane but I’ve seen crazier things happen.

  230. 230 D3FB said at 6:36 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    $15 million dollars in dead money. Not happening.

  231. 231 Media Mike said at 6:36 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    To echo your earlier point on Howie writing contracts that haven’t F’d our cap; the Saints are in a bad bad spot.

  232. 232 holeplug said at 7:50 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    They would trade him not cut him

  233. 233 D3FB said at 7:54 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The team still eats dead money of prorated bonuses. They have two years at 7.4 million a year in prorated signing bonuses.

  234. 234 oreofestar said at 6:34 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Brews will fetch more.than his 35 year old self is worth.i wouldnt mind Bradford if hes cut and i cant see Carr available unless.they are in love with.Mariota or Winston

  235. 235 OldDocMcPolk-A-Lot said at 6:35 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I like Bradford but he can’t stay healthy. The others won’t be available.

  236. 236 Jernst said at 6:32 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    What I want for xmas, more than anything else, is a defensive coordinator that dictates to the offense not the other way around. I’m sick of watching us let the offense dictate the match-ups. Jim Johnson would routinely use a CB with a specific skill set (Bobby Taylor on Michael Irvin/Lito Sheppard on Randy Moss) and use him to shut the other guy down. He’d use Dawkins creatively to either blitz or take away another teams threat, like a TE. Watching teams go, “Umm yea…were gonna just put our best WR on your worst CB.” And, we just go…yea ok that sounds great … we will let you dictate that to us and just go play defense. It drives me nuts.

  237. 237 Media Mike said at 6:33 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’d settle for an every down terrorist at OLB or a safety who controls the entire middle of the field.

    I have HUGE problems with Davis, but we don’t have enough impact players to really dictate stuff to the O.

  238. 238 Jernst said at 6:36 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    True…I’m sure Cary Williams wouldn’t have faired any better if he was asked to man up with Dez and DeSean these past two weeks.

    Our front seven needs one more piece. Unfortunately, our defensive backfield needs to be 75% replaced. I don’t see it happening. We’ll be sold Earl Wolff and a mid level free agent at Safety and they’ll keep Williams and try to draft his replacement.

  239. 239 Jarock said at 7:50 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Not sure even having incredible talent would help as long as Billy stays. His insistence that playing Fletcher man-press with no safety regularly was criminal. A great linebacker or safety wouldn’t solve that.

  240. 240 Media Mike said at 7:55 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I think a part of that nonsense with Fletcher is that Nate Allen has no clue how to read the play to help out as often as he is supposed to. I’m not trying to excuse Billy Davis at all, but there a huge exponential increase in long passes we give up due to lacking a 2nd starting quality safety.

  241. 241 Jarock said at 8:02 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    You and I will have to agree to disagree on Nate. I’m not trying to say he’s an all-pro or even an above average safety, but he’s better than our fanbase thinks. He plays the ball better in the air than Jenkins and he’s been a solid tackler these last two seasons. He still bites on play fakes way too often and I don’t think that’s fixable at this point.
    Jenkins isn’t as good as you think. He’s mediocre in zone and his tackling has been better this year, but he’s no Dawkins. He played well for the first quarter of the season and has really tailed off as the year progressed.

  242. 242 anon said at 10:37 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    is that his fault, kelly’s fault or laurie’s fault? In one sense we talk about continuity, etc. this team isn’t going to do anything without wholesale changes at certain positions. looking back does it make sense not to do anything last year in FA?

  243. 243 Mitchell said at 6:38 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’m still amazed by OBJ he has 11 tds now this season and missed 4 games early…. Incredible.

  244. 244 Media Mike said at 6:39 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    He should have been kicked out of that game like 5 times already for his antics. I hope we decapitate him next week.

  245. 245 Mitchell said at 6:51 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Probably won’t happen. He’ll get 2 tds

  246. 246 Media Mike said at 6:55 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Not if Eli is spitting out teeth all day. I’m really in the mood for maximum violence next week.

  247. 247 Joe Minx said at 8:07 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Good luck with that. Rams fearsome front only got 1 sack today. We probably won’t sniff him.

  248. 248 xeynon said at 12:12 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    How can you even give a sh*t about next week?

    I literally could not care less about the results of that game. I’m not even going to watch, in all likelihood. What’s the point of twisting the knife that this team just stuck in our collective backs?

  249. 249 Media Mike said at 5:05 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I always care. I’m irate over choking away our division title, but I’ll always care and watch.

  250. 250 xeynon said at 7:00 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    OK, but you have to agree that winning this game is utterly pointless. Going all out to win it is worse than pointless, it is possibly counterproductive. As GEagle said, the last thing we need is a key guy like Barwin, Peters, or McCoy blowing out his knee in a glorified preseason game.

    The only possible good this game can do is as an evaluative tool. To that end, everybody who’s injured (not only Foles and Cole but anyone with so much as a sprained pinky) should be IR’d and we should sign as many young practice squad guys from around the league as possible. Then we should play as many of those guys as possible, along with our own young players like Barkley, Smith, Watkins, and Hart, on Sunday.

    Going all out to win this game for “pride” or some other such notion is dumb. There is no polishing the turd that is the end of this season at this point, so they might as well use it as fertilizer. This is the only only scenario under which I will watch this game.

  251. 251 Nicodemus_09 said at 7:46 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    So your saying he’s only going to play the first quarter? lol I kid. Sort of.

  252. 252 Joe Minx said at 8:06 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Only way that happens is if he clotheslines himself on the crossbar after streaking into the end zone for the 3rd or 4th time.

  253. 253 Media Mike said at 8:13 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’m going to have to break out some type of evil jinx.

  254. 254 Media Mike said at 6:40 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    And the whole Rams D can go f-ing kill itself. I’m playing against Beckham in the finals of my money league in fantasy today; and I’m out for blood!

  255. 255 xeynon said at 12:11 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I think we should put Bradley Fletcher on him and see if we can get him to an even 15 TDs for the year.

  256. 256 GermanEagle said at 6:41 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Let’s sign Dez away from Dallas.

    We already have to deal with facing ODB the next few years. I really don’t want to have to deal with Dez twice a year for the next decade too!

    Especially not if you have such mediocre defensive backs.

  257. 257 Media Mike said at 6:43 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Zero chance of Dez leaving Dallas for free. If he won’t sign what they offer him, he’ll be tagged for the next two seasons.

    I’d love to add that level of talent at WR, but I don’t see us getting Dez.

    And ODB is fragile, we just need to smash him until he breaks.

  258. 258 GermanEagle said at 6:44 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’ll take a ‘fragile’ ODB over a healthy Mac any day of the week. No offense to Maclin, but Beckham Jr is something special.

  259. 259 Media Mike said at 6:45 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Eh. F him and F everybody associated with NY.

  260. 260 GermanEagle said at 6:46 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Ok.

  261. 261 Media Mike said at 6:49 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Ha ha. I really have nothing but contempt for anything associated with New York in terms of sports. Rational or not, I expect every New York sports player to leave games on stretchers like Ike Hilliard did when Dawkins terminated him, when Concrete Charlie took out Frank Gifford, or that loser Rangers fan knocked out by the fat guy in the Giroux jersey in the Pat’s Steaks line after the winter classic.

  262. 262 Tyler Phillips said at 6:48 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    With our Matadors in the secondary? lol Cmon man who do we have that is going to smash anyone?

  263. 263 Media Mike said at 6:49 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Lee Havery Oswald Jr maybe? Andre Watters’ ghost?

  264. 264 Nicodemus_09 said at 7:54 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Sadly you’re right. The last guy we had in our secondary that smashed ppl was Patrick Chung. When he was cleaning our own collective clocks. lol

  265. 265 mksp said at 7:09 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    ODB has the opportunity to be one of the all time great WRs in this league.

    For the sake of football, I hope he stays healthy.

  266. 266 Media Mike said at 7:10 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Not for that team. F them.

  267. 267 Anders said at 8:58 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Let’s not overreact to 10 games right? Remember Cruz in his first year? Never as dominating again

  268. 268 anon said at 10:35 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    josh gordon looks normal too

  269. 269 Anders said at 3:43 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    yea. I do agree that OBJ is really good, but I also wont call him great just yet. Show it over 3-4 season and we can talk.

  270. 270 SteveH said at 6:48 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I hope the Cowboys get smushed in the playoffs.

  271. 271 bdbd20 said at 6:48 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    A first round matchup with GB would be nice.

  272. 272 GermanEagle said at 6:49 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I prefer them facing the Seahwaks though. GB is not that great away from Lambeau.

  273. 273 bdbd20 said at 6:50 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’ll take Aaron Rodgers indoors any day.

  274. 274 Bob Scatchard said at 6:51 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’d try to sign Revis, if available, for 2 years (at almost any cost…and keep fletcher as my other CB, if Watkins hasn’t improved enough by next season. This would limit the insane # of 20yd completions and have some to cover Dez, DJax and marchem Jr., as well as give Chip and bill time to address secondary and other needs over 2 years….
    Would you trade for Cutler, if the bears would eat some $$?
    He throws a good deep ball and I think with Chips “running” emphises, he could be good in Chips system and good competition for Nick…

  275. 275 BlindChow said at 6:52 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    What? How would keeping Fletcher as your other CB limit the 20yd completions?

  276. 276 Media Mike said at 6:54 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Because the safety would never need to be on the same side as Reavis. Sort of like how Seattle has a “no vacancies” sign up on the half of the field Sherman is holding down.

    I don’t think having Fletch still here works even with Reavis, but I think Reavis helps out a lot.

    I just don’t know if the $ is going to be able to work.

  277. 277 wee2424 said at 6:58 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    You are speaking of the man we know as Bradley Fletcher….correct?

  278. 278 Media Mike said at 6:59 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Hey, I’m not agreeing with that dude; I was just trying to explain his logic. I think you missed the “I don’t think having Fletch still here works even with Reavis………..” part of my comment.

  279. 279 wee2424 said at 8:14 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    My apologies..i replied to the wrong person. Im using a crappy smartphone and it makes it easier for me to make mistakes.

  280. 280 Bob Scatchard said at 7:23 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    he’d be on their #2 receiver….and i’d keep him over Cory b/c of less flags

  281. 281 wee2424 said at 8:12 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    its Carry, and i think he has just as many if not more, plus he is less of a CB, and doesnt bring tbat fiery attitude that Carry brings which is important to a D.

  282. 282 GENETiC-FREAK said at 6:54 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    You want to keep Fletcher??

  283. 283 Jernst said at 6:57 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Right? Ew

  284. 284 Bob Scatchard said at 7:16 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    If choice betrween he and Cory….Yes

  285. 285 Media Mike said at 7:17 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    You don’t need either if your top 4 are Reavis, Boykins, Carroll, and Watkins.

  286. 286 anon said at 9:02 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    revis will cost like $12m, and is a mercenary, in decine after the acl i love him but that’s steep.

  287. 287 oreofestar said at 9:09 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’d rather have Maxwell for less, and he is taller and younger

  288. 288 bridgecoach said at 12:57 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Completely agree. Byron Maxwell (Seattle) is the FA DB we should be talking about. Big, fast, smart and versitle. Depending on matchup and field personnel, exactly what Chip and Davis look for. Nolan Carrol will be better with another off season under his belt, no reason to keep Williams and Fletcher, who were given the whole season to correct their sloppy play with non-stop penalties. This years CB draft class is unimpressive, so I expect a FA push and some small school diamonds (Princeton, Alcorn St., Eastern Kentucky) to be drafted late or UFA.

  289. 289 GENETiC-FREAK said at 7:44 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Wow for real.. Thought it was a typo error at first lol

  290. 290 P_P_K said at 6:59 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’m still interesting in watching Foles play for a full year. But, I’ve always wondered how Cutler would do in a different system.

  291. 291 Media Mike said at 7:00 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Same way Cutler worked in Denver in Chicago. Coach killer.

  292. 292 P_P_K said at 7:24 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I know you’re right, but a boy can wonder. BTW, I had wondered about Sanchez, too. See how that worked out.

  293. 293 oreofestar said at 7:05 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’d rather try and trade for Newton, Rg3 or if we are taking a big QB contract Kaep before I take Cutlers ass

  294. 294 Media Mike said at 7:05 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’d take Cutler over those read one and run dopes, but that is still an 0 for 4 list in either case.

  295. 295 oreofestar said at 7:07 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I hate Cutlers face and attitude plus he’s more expensive then all of them I’d take Newton first out of all.mentioned names

  296. 296 Media Mike said at 7:08 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I am no fan of Cutler, but Newton is still too busy trying to be an icon rather than learn how to play NFL ball.

    Plus Newton is already showing major signs of having taken too many hits to the point where I have to question how many years he actually has left.

  297. 297 anon said at 9:01 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    cutler? you’d take a guy that ruined killed trestman after 2 years. who teammates hate, fo hates, just because why?

  298. 298 Media Mike said at 5:07 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I wouldn’t take Cutler, but I’d take him ahead of Newton, Kaep, and RGKnee if I had to take one. I want none of the 4.

  299. 299 Bob Scatchard said at 7:21 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    don’t think carolina will trade Cam, Washington might trade RG3, but doubt it will be in same div…..Kaep would be interesting…would you trade foles for Kaep?

  300. 300 Media Mike said at 7:25 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    No.

  301. 301 anon said at 9:00 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    maybe. i’d have to get kaep in the building which is impossible wth a trade.

  302. 302 fran35 said at 7:23 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’d rather keep foles for one more year and see who he really is than go with any of these guys. Although I think cutler would get murdered in this town by mid season

  303. 303 Tyler Phillips said at 6:55 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The sheer inflexibility/lack of creativity by Davis is mind numbing. DeSean is 100% right about it being naive. We don’t have the personnel to dictate on D like that.

  304. 304 Jernst said at 7:05 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Anybody find this quote from Chip to be concerning, if not a bit arrogant:

    This is what he said when asked if he watched tape on Sanchez and thus knew how turnover prone he was:

    “I talked to his college coaches more than I did that; I talked to his high school coaches and I knew what type of athlete he was and I knew what he could do. For me to study his tape from the New York Jets ‑‑ now I know other people studied his tape, but I personally didn’t study his tape because I know what he can do and I thought he could fit into our system.”

    “I didn’t personally study his tape.” Really Chip? You signed a back-up QB without watching him play in the NFL? Instead you asked his high school coach from 10 years ago what he thought about young 17 year old Sanchez. If that’s true I’m a little worried.

  305. 305 D3FB said at 7:07 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    He was a reclamation project. You don’t look at your carpet and go ask the previous owner what he did to ruin it. You go and look if there is hardwood underneath that can be restored.

  306. 306 GermanEagle said at 7:13 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I am not sure if I totally agree with this. His career totals in interceptions should have been alarming,no matter who the owner in the NFL was.

  307. 307 Jernst said at 7:26 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    No…don’t you see GE. You don’t watch any tape of the players you sign in Free Agency. You just sign them and hope that there’s hardwood flooring underneath.

  308. 308 GermanEagle said at 7:46 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Yes. I did see the hardwood flooring. It was right in front of Sanchez eyes though.

  309. 309 OregonDucker said at 7:30 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Correct. Sanchez wilts under pressure when the game is on the line and he has to perform. This is an important mental factoid that needs be part of the offensive scheme. You cannot rely too much on this guy, you need other players to step up.

  310. 310 Jernst said at 7:31 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Exactly

  311. 311 D3FB said at 7:40 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    That’s great but at some point its a tie game with 2 minutes left and you have to drive the field.

  312. 312 Jernst said at 7:43 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    We were at midfield with over 2 min left, still had all 3 timeouts and the 2 minute warning and only needed a FG to win the game. No reason to act like people’s comments have no validity even if you might not completely agree with them.

  313. 313 D3FB said at 7:50 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    We were at our own 35 at the 2 minute warning.

    The run game had been hit or miss all day.

    Kelly was calling high percentage, low risk passes.
    Your kicker had missed two kicks, including one from the 16 yard line.

    We likely needed to get down within the 15.

  314. 314 Jernst said at 7:55 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    All good points and part of a healthy discussion about the play calling

  315. 315 D3FB said at 7:57 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    All I have been doing is making counter points based off facts and well reasoned opposing viewpoints. At no point have I become profane or personal.

  316. 316 Jernst said at 8:14 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Agree to disagree, like I said many times earlier in this thread. I respect your viewpoint and think you have a lot of good things to say. But, I also think that recently you’ve been kind of sarcastic and dismissive of other people’s viewpoints and very absolutest in your determinations that things are a certain way instead of engaging in a discussion. Perhaps I’m reading too much tone into your posts and you didn’t deserve that, so if that’s the case I apologize.

  317. 317 D3FB said at 8:30 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’m naturally snarky, it’s one of my charms. Ladies find it irresistible, and it 60% of the time it works all the time.

  318. 318 anon said at 8:58 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    it’s true, stick throws had been working sanchez was throwing high percentage balls. he threw a pick. ok. there’s 100 other things that went wrong this game.

    sanchez vs. seattle what would you expect.

    sanchez vs. dallas mixed bag, but TONS of other people made mistakes. we aren’t yelling at celek or shady for the TOs, cary williams for the gamebreaking PIs.

  319. 319 D3FB said at 7:44 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The point was that he had some talent and value. Rather than focus on the negative, find the things he does do well and build around that.

  320. 320 Jernst said at 7:18 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    No but you look do look at the carpet before you move in. You don’t buy a house without looking at the carpet, but rather just ask the builder from 1 years ago what he thinks of the carpet.

    Again, you’re very knowledgable, but recently you’re just making crazy absolutest and antagonistic comments. Further, you’re bringing a lot of straw men to these discussion boards and making it seem like peoples positions are a lot more silly and stupid than they actually are.

  321. 321 D3FB said at 7:20 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Or I’m taking a reasoned non fatalistic viewpoint, not acting like the team is 0-15, and acting like I know more than the coaching staff.

    Also an analogy isn’t a straw man.

  322. 322 Jernst said at 7:23 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    again…incredibly insulting, bombastic, over the top and a complete straw man. I am in no way taking a fatalistic viewpoint or acting like the team is 0-15. I’m asking if people think its odd that our head coach didn’t watch tape of the QB he signed this off season. Is that so weird?

  323. 323 D3FB said at 7:36 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    It’s amazing that in 35 words I was able to be “incredibly insulting, bombastic, over the top, and a complete straw man” At the very least you have to give me props for efficiency.

    You said earlier in this thread that a comment by Kelly was “criminal”. I’m the one being ridiculous.

    It’s not completely absurd for him to have not watched tape of Sanchez with the Jets. Unorthodox yes, but not unheard of. Ozzie Newsome has a policy for his scouts. He says “I don’t give a shit what a player can’t do. Tell me what he can do to help this team.” RIght there I have provided an example of scouting not focusing on shortcomings.

    The point of Kelly not focusing on Sanchez’s tape with the Jets is he was a buy low asset that had hit rock bottom. Rather than try to pick apart why Sanchez failed in NY, (playbook, arms strength, lack of talent around him) why not focus on thing that he can do well. What purpose does it serve to go look at the Jets film and be like well, we probably shouldn’t have him run into the RG’s ass? Also these were public comments. For all we know he did go watch tape. Does it help Sanchez’s confidence which surely needed a boost for him to come out and say “shit he really sucked in New York, that why we signed him”

  324. 324 anon said at 8:55 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    true, it’s the only way to find value. but maybe value only goes so much in this league. hopefully that’s a takeway from this season / least.

  325. 325 fran35 said at 7:20 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Good analogy. I think the thing that has rankled me this season, especially the latter part, is the arrogance. When you fail, but sound like Billy Davis, it’s still hard to slam the guy. But when you have failed in some areas as a head coach, a bit of humility can go a long way with the fan base. See: Andy Reid’s last 2 years.

  326. 326 Media Mike said at 7:16 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I think the key part of this is “back-up.” Kelly’s answer, as stupid as it is, doesn’t change the fact that Sanchez was about as good as you were going to do with a backup player behind a guy who was 100% going to be the starter going into this season.

    I’m sure Kyle Orton would have been better, but Orton knew dumb head EJ Manuel was going to be benched in Buffalo.

    Sanchez was pure spec and is what he is.

  327. 327 Jernst said at 7:20 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Sanchez certainly wasn’t terrible. I really don’t have a problem with the signing, how it worked out or with him being a back-up with us this year or into the future.

    But, the process here seems weird, right? And, further, how do you fix something if you don’t know what he’s struggling with. Maybe if you saw how turnover prone he has been in his NFL career you don’t choose to put the ball in his hands 50 times in a must win game. Maybe you adjust the game plan a bit.

    It’s just such a seemingly dumb comment, I almost don’t believe it.

  328. 328 Media Mike said at 7:24 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    The comment is dumb, but I think Viking had the correct bottom line with coach speak in an earlier discussion on here.

  329. 329 Jernst said at 7:30 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    True…I’m in the rationalizing stage of grief. I’m trying to figure out why, in the big picture, the team fell apart this year. Maybe Chip and Davis keep doing things that don’t make sense because they’re arrogant and are doing things their way. But, you’re right…at the end of the day the reasons probably come down to the fact that we have a talent deficit that needs to be bridged over the next two off seasons.

    Except for Davis’ insistence on giving Fletcher no help over the top. That’s indefensible and totally on him.

  330. 330 Jack Burden said at 7:50 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Chip clearly watched the tape, he just told the media he didn’t so he wouldn’t have to achnowledge/explain how bad Sanchez looked on the tape.

  331. 331 Jernst said at 7:57 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    That’s honestly the most reasonable explanation I can think of. Thank you…I feel better.

  332. 332 Media Mike said at 7:58 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Yeah, the time to feel worse is if we see Sanchez back here again next year.

  333. 333 Jernst said at 8:08 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    If he’s a back-up…I can deal. If we resign Bradley Fletcher, I’m boycotting this team.

  334. 334 Media Mike said at 8:12 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    But you might need to expect to win games with your backup again. I think a new approach to trying to pull a guy off of the scrap heap is in order.

    As long as the guy isn’t a run-first player.

  335. 335 Jernst said at 8:17 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’m OK with Sanchez for 2-3 games. I’m not sure there’s many backups that you’d be completely happy with for an entire season, or a large chunk of it. I guess that’s why they’re back-ups, right?

    But, I think the 3rd QB spot needs to be re-looked. If Barkley shows nothing that would make us comfortable with him ever stepping in, then let’s start thinking about turning that spot over and using it to possibly find a diamond in the rough or develop someone with high level talent that hasn’t been able to put it all together.

  336. 336 Media Mike said at 8:19 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Barkley won’t be handed a roster spot again if he doesn’t earn it in the pre-season. But he also could go out and win the backup spot outright. We’ll see.

  337. 337 Jernst said at 8:22 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Let’s hope! I just think with all our reps in practice, we’re ideally positioned to use that 3rd QB (which on most teams gets little to no reps) has a tool to develop some real talent. I just don’t see the talent with Barkley.

  338. 338 Media Mike said at 8:24 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    His real game action with starters is so limited that I don’t know what I do or don’t with him.

  339. 339 Jernst said at 8:38 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    yea. he’s had minimal time in real action, all of which he’s looked pretty bad, but it’s a super small sample size. The thing I don’t like is that he doesn’t have a strong enough arm. He doesn’t appear to be able to threaten the entire field and that just doesn’t cut it in the NFL. Chad Pennington was great. Dude would complete 75% of his passes, but he couldn’t drive the ball downfield and no matter how good you are you’ll never really be successful as a QB without the ability to at least threaten the entire field. Foles doesn’t have a cannon by any means, but despite this he has enough to drive the ball downfield or throw a 15 yard out. Barkley hasn’t shown the ability to do that at all. And, that’s overlooking his multiple interceptions. I just don’t see a high ceiling at all.

  340. 340 Avery Greene said at 8:59 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’d take him over Cary’s contract. At least he can tackle. He can’t cover and he won’t be the starter, my issue was that they never benched him.

    We most likely can’t get rid of both, and I’d rather have the guy that tries and messes up than a guy who is all bluster and no game.

  341. 341 Jernst said at 9:07 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    True…it’s so hard to pick which one I dislike more. Cary is way over paid, that’s for sure. Plus I think Cary gets an easier assignment most times because teams choose to pick on Fletcher so much.

  342. 342 Henly125 said at 7:13 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Good news, only 60 more minutes of this garbage.

  343. 343 anon said at 8:48 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    ouch.

  344. 344 unhinged said at 7:36 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    What is it with the Rex Ryan talk? Is he some sous chef who’s going to whip up some veal parmesan with cream cheese and spam? Rex Ryan can do nothing to fix the Eagles D, that 20 or so DC’s cannot do, including imo, Bill Davis. Clearly our secondary needs more than short memories and thick skin. But what I don’t get is, this team was 4-12 two years ago, and the defense was pathetic. If the whole team improved as much as the D has in two seasons, we’d still be in the hunt. I like Kelly because he is fearless as a coach. He can’t fabricate wins out of thin air, and he will get a player or two who will be starting next season. Hopefully they will help this team turn a corner.

  345. 345 Media Mike said at 7:38 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    1) The D would battle and play a lot better for Rex than Davis. Rex’s teams always bring it above and beyond the 11 individual levels of talent.

    2) Rex isn’t taking a DC job, so I don’t know where that talk came from either. Rex could easily be the HC in Chicago or Atlanta in 9 days.

  346. 346 holeplug said at 7:55 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Rex just needs a QB and he’ll be fine. Even Belichick couldn’t win in Cle with bums at QB either.

  347. 347 Media Mike said at 7:57 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Rex will have a QB in Atlanta if he’s there.

  348. 348 unhinged said at 8:00 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    That is b.s. So the D isn’t battling for their own professional pride? Ryan won’t take on a secondary bereft of pro bowl “names”, and if he’s so damned good why isn’t every owner trying to hire him? Is the hype because he’s a Ryan, or is it that winning personality? He would fix nothing.

  349. 349 Media Mike said at 8:11 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    All I can ask you to do is go read anything the guys who played for his Ds in Baltimore and New York have to say. They’d disagree with you.

  350. 350 Tyler Phillips said at 8:14 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    His team had nothing to play for with trashcans in the secondary and held the patriots to 17. Rex is a Hell of a DC, his brother is the overhyped one

  351. 351 Media Mike said at 7:41 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    WOW! Do these refs suck this year. These clowns just flagged Justin Tuck for 15 yards for complaining about a non-call on an obvious hold. I hope he b-slaps the ref into a seizure.

  352. 352 anon said at 7:43 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Wow talk about taking care of business

  353. 353 Media Mike said at 7:49 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Draft pick be damned, I want a win next week. But I’d also like to see that win be achieved by playing a lot of our young guys.

  354. 354 OregonDucker said at 7:49 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    You know guys, I am so pissed about this last game that I’m going to take a break. I am finding myself typing vindictive bile at posters who I respect and appreciate. Fortunately, I have come to my senses and not hit the Post button.

    Let’s hope our team can find some answers and make us proud again in the last game of the season.

  355. 355 Media Mike said at 7:50 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I would be proud to see some Giants on stretchers. They’re the appropriate target for vindictive bile. New York scum.

  356. 356 Jernst said at 8:05 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    At the end of the day, this team does not have stability at the QB position, and aside from Foles amazing stretch last year, hasn’t even really had good QB play. It’s pretty amazing we thought this team was going to make serious noise in the playoffs this year. This is a rebuild and we should be proud of the impressive progress the coaches have made (except Bill Davis … I still hate him right now. And, I hope he gets Syphillis this holiday season for making me watch Bradley Fletcher play DeSean Jackson by himself).

    But, the future looks bright. We have a good system in place. A foundation of a program in place. Some top notch young players scattered throughout the roster. However, talent-wise, we need to accept that we are more on par with the Buffalo Bills than we are with the Denver Broncos, Seattle Seahawks or Green Bay Packers. We’re a better coached Buffalo Bills. We have good running backs, one good WR and a nasty front 7, but we won’t be elite until we shore up our secondary, fix some oline issues and most importantly get a real QB (who might still end up being Foles…who knows). But, this last month has made me re-calibrate my expectations for this team.

  357. 357 Media Mike said at 8:10 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I didn’t think serious noise in the playoffs, but I expected 11-5, a division title, and a home playoff win in the wild card round before bowing out at Green Bay or at Seattle.

  358. 358 Jernst said at 8:24 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    That’s actually exactly what I was predicting…but I guess after 8 years without a playoff win, a home playoff win, or maybe even a first round bye if Arizona crumbled and we stole that 2nd seed, started to sound like serious noise…

    I just thought this team would be playing in the divisional round. Probably would lose, but they’d make that step and they wouldn’t be a push over when they got there.

    Not making it at all is a big change in perspective. When we were 8-2, I thought we were going to get our offensive line healthy and go on a tare. Never happened though.

  359. 359 Media Mike said at 8:27 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    When we got to 9-3 a lot of people were making attempts to talk themselves into a win over Seattle. That was silly and I told folks as much. I also expect to stomp a mud hole in the Cowboys, Washington, and Giants to close out the season 12-4.

    Something with the team, other than the roster because we didn’t suffer any major injuries in the Seattle game, changed.

    And that is why I’m livid and want answers in the form of scalps.

  360. 360 Jernst said at 8:30 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Yea…I’m not sure what happened in that Seattle game. The team has looked like a shadow of itself since that loss.

  361. 361 Jernst said at 8:29 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    If you remember, prior to the GB game, Seattle looked imminently beatable, Arizona never seemed like a serious contender and they’d eventually lose their starting QB, we were 8-2 with 2 close losses, and yet the oline was a mess, but was going to get healthy and come back in the next two weeks and things were gonna start rolling. I really thought this team was going to finish strong at that point and make a strong push to be a contender.

  362. 362 anon said at 8:47 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    what? Cowboys are good aren’t changing, they are getting better. Can’t just assume we’ll win the division. Cowboys have better wins than us this year. Could you imagine if we’d clobbered a playoff team 42-7, no matter what the circumstances?

    When’s the last time we’ve had a win like that.

  363. 363 Henly125 said at 8:53 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I agree. Dallas is getting better and better, and they will continue to look better than us until we have some stability at QB.

  364. 364 xeynon said at 12:18 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Say what? Two of the best Cowboys’ best offensive players (Romo and Witten) are over 30, they just gave DeMarco Murray about 800 carries (which usually doesn’t bode well for the next season), their defense is still Swiss cheese, and their coach is still Jason Garrett.

    Give them credit for winning the division this year, but color me unconcerned about the possibility of a nascent Cowboys dynasty.

  365. 365 Media Mike said at 8:09 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    So to baseline 2015 in terms of judgement of the team:

    I’ll start with the end – division title and a home playoff game win.

    Do we get 16 healthy and productive games out of Foles?

    How do Howie / Chip upgrade OLB, ILB, CB(2), S, RG, WR.

    What production do we see from; Marcus Smith, Josh Huff, Jaylen Watkins, Taylor Hart, Ed Reynolds, and Beau Allen. That draft class needs to be more than just Jordan Matthews.

    We’ll have our 6 games against the busters in this division, New Orleans and Tampa here, at Atlanta and Carolina, Buffalo and Miami here, at New England and NY Jets, at NFC North # 2 (Detroit), and NFC West #2 (Arizona) here.

    That had better be at least 11 wins. At least. Not a legit team on the schedule except New England.

  366. 366 D3FB said at 8:53 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’ll take a crack at the rookies in year 2:

    MSII: Plays 50% of snaps. Becomes solid part of the rotation at OLB. 7.5 sacks. Solid in run support. Good in coverage. Inconsistent in pass rush but starts to flash the skills that got him picked.

    Huff: Becomes a good return man. Settles down. Becomes outlet valve who breaks a tackle and puts up good RAC. 500 yards. 3TD.

    Watkins: Becomes the dime corner. Plays a couple games outside due to injury. Plays well enough to comfortably project him as Boykins replacement, and possibly to compete for an outside corner job.

    Reynolds: Never puts it all together. Cut at the end of camp. Put on somebody elses roster. Bounces around the league for a few more years.

    Hart: Replaces Bair. Becomes solid rotational player. A guy you feel comfortable being a starter should we catch an injury bug at the position.

    Beau Allen: Continues to be a good backup at NT. Still incredibly awesome. Opens clothing line of cutoff T-shirts for plus sized men. Retires from NFL and makes millions. Lives in the woods of Wisconsin where he becomes a folk tale of a man. Youngsters in town claim to see him late at night dancing to disco music on backroads.

  367. 367 anon said at 9:04 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    7.5 sacks?

  368. 368 Cafone said at 9:13 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    well, in this scenario he is playing 50% of the snaps. I guess we are assuming Brandon Graham isn’t coming back and maybe an injury to Cole or Barwin.

  369. 369 anon said at 9:32 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    oh i get it he was being sarcastic.

  370. 370 D3FB said at 9:39 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    30% at ROLB. 20% at LOLB.

  371. 371 D3FB said at 9:37 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    You can split sacks

    http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/defense/sort/sacks

  372. 372 Media Mike said at 5:18 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Not a bad set of growth from guys in their 2nd year at all.

  373. 373 anon said at 8:50 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    My question is if my name is nolan carrol, or brandon boykin i’m looking at numbers 24 and 29 every week wondering why i can’t touch the field. does that make me want to play well, better?

  374. 374 Insomniac said at 8:53 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I’m feeling bad for whoever has to cover ODB next week. If Fletcher was still starting, I’m pretty sure ODB breaks every single receiving record.

  375. 375 anon said at 9:05 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    odb plus cruz next year? terrible.

  376. 376 Henly125 said at 9:38 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Assuming Cruz is the same player after that injury, I’d second that.

  377. 377 Insomniac said at 1:00 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    It’s going to hurt a lot more if Boykin decides to leave.

  378. 378 Henly125 said at 8:59 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Caught an article on Brandon Boykin’s brother stating that he doubts Brandon will want to stay here and get disrespected by not getting playing time over our bum CBs.

    Understandable…

  379. 379 Cafone said at 9:06 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Maybe Marcus Vick thinks so too.

    I’m wouldn’t be so sure other teams would be willing to pay big money to bring Boykin in as a starter. He’s really short.

  380. 380 oreofestar said at 9:11 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    There are lots of good “short” corners

  381. 381 Cafone said at 9:17 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Shorter than Boykin? Who? I’m pretty sure he’d be the shortest starting cornerback in the league.

  382. 382 oreofestar said at 9:25 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Boykin is 5’10 taller Than Grimes about the same size as Verner and Revis among others

  383. 383 oreofestar said at 9:29 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I think Haden and Davis are around that height too

  384. 384 D3FB said at 9:36 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Boykin is 5092.

  385. 385 oreofestar said at 9:38 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    ??

  386. 386 Henly125 said at 9:39 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Boykin is 5’9

  387. 387 D3FB said at 9:41 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    5’9 and 2/8ths. You’ll see heights listed like that around the time of the all star games. First digit is feet, next two are inches, last digit is eighths of an inch.

  388. 388 oreofestar said at 9:47 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Thanks didn’t know that I’ve always thought he was 5’10 that is what he’s listed as in some places but 6/8ths of an inch doesn’t change my point that many of the league’s best corners are sub 6 feet

  389. 389 Henly125 said at 9:36 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Lotta good Coners out there under 6 ft. Revis isn’t much taller than Boykin.

  390. 390 D3FB said at 9:46 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Revis is 2 and 1/8th inches taller than him. His arms are also an inch longer.

  391. 391 anon said at 9:50 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    i don’t think his measurements have anything to do with it. he’s got great hips and great instincts.

  392. 392 Avery Greene said at 9:51 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    that’s what she said…

  393. 393 D3FB said at 9:51 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    But also 3 extra inches of length. Obviously size isn’t the only reason Revis is good.

  394. 394 Avery Greene said at 9:52 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    that’s what she said…

    Okay, so it’s not my fault, but this conversation is getting out of hand.

  395. 395 Cafone said at 9:03 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    My theory is that Bill Davis sees them every day in practice and doesn’t see the logic in replacing Fletcher with a guy that’s even slower.

  396. 396 Sean Stott said at 11:10 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    How many times does Brandon Boykin need to get burned until people stop acting like he’s Darrelle Revis-in-waiting ?

  397. 397 D3FB said at 11:25 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Yes, thank you.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXpsFGflT7U

  398. 398 RIP Worms said at 12:51 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Boykin seems to have regressed from last year. And not just statistically (no way he was going to duplicate those INT numbers). I feel like he’s given up a lot of 1st downs on 3rd and 7+ this year that he simply did not give up last year.

  399. 399 GermanEagle said at 9:15 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Let me shed some more light on my thoughts from last night when I was wondering if we see Chip Kelly back in 2016 should the Eagles miss the playoffs again next season.

    Most of you guys seemed to assume that it would take a really bad record for Lurie to fire Kelly. However what if Chippah himself decides to opt out of his contract. He’s really seen the cruel life of the NFL with the press these days. I am actually not sure if he’d love to go back to college in case the public pressure increases, which will happen should the Eagles miss the postseason 2015 as well.

  400. 400 anon said at 9:22 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    he could but he doesn’t seem like a quitter.

  401. 401 Avery Greene said at 9:22 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I really don’t think Kelly wants to go back to college. There’s a lot more headaches in the college game than the NFL. He strikes me as someone that just wants to coach, and he can’t do that in college.

    There’s dealing with 18-22 year-old kids, getting them to go to class, making sure they pass, fund raising, recruiting, alumni, faculty – it just seems Kelly is more happy in the NFL.

  402. 402 D3FB said at 9:34 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Chip doesn’t have to kiss Lurie’s ass 50 nights a year.

    Chip would have to do that with boosters at a powerhouse.

  403. 403 Henly125 said at 9:44 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I doubt it. Chip wants to win the big game. He’s climbed so far up the coaching ladder the last 6 years, going back to college would be foolish.

  404. 404 xeynon said at 12:20 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Please just stop with the ridiculous speculation about what will happen two years down the road. It’s pointless.

  405. 405 GermanEagle said at 9:34 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Probably the most frustrating fact of this weekend:

    Cowboys playing Ryan Lindell at home in the wildcard round.

  406. 406 Media Mike said at 5:14 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Doesn’t Detroit become the 6 seed if both they and Arizona finish 11-5? Detroit should lose at Green Bay, but Arizona is playing Kaepertrash. That should be an Arizona win.

  407. 407 oreofestar said at 9:55 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Anyone like Ekpre Olomu past round 1 I know he is 5’9 but look Boykin was an u dersized 1-2 round prospect who fell due to.injury plus Olomu has the Oregon connection and could be Boykin insurance cuz I think he is gone after next year

  408. 408 Avery Greene said at 10:00 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I think he’s a projected 1st rounder.

  409. 409 oreofestar said at 10:01 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    But he just tore his acl

  410. 410 Avery Greene said at 10:02 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Better not tell the Sixers…

  411. 411 oreofestar said at 10:03 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Lol but yeah hr tore his acl and he wasnt a perfect prospect to begin with so I’m talking past round one

  412. 412 Avery Greene said at 10:05 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    As much as I joke about the Sixers, taking a flyer on an injured player is not bad. Especially if the player is special (i.e. Embiid).

    I wouldn’t spend a high draft pick on him, but if he’s available round 3 and he’s legit – they should do it.

  413. 413 oreofestar said at 10:09 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Sixers are drafting fir long term so you take the best player regardless of when they’ll play as for Olomu I was referring to 2nd or 3rd round

  414. 414 Jarock said at 1:56 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I like his game and I like him as a prospect, but given the Eagles hardheadedness concerning starting corner height, it would be a waste of a pick.

  415. 415 D3FB said at 10:07 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    He’s pretty flawed as a prospect anyway. Washington State flat out picked on him.

  416. 416 mksp said at 9:57 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    We should absolutely play the kids on Sunday, and frankly hope for a loss.

    Right now we’re picking #20, but could move up couple spots. Would be totally worthwhile.

    http://www.sbnation.com/nfl-mock-draft/2014/12/21/7432085/2015-nfl-draft-order-buccaneers-titans-no-1

  417. 417 47_Ronin said at 10:01 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Possibly move up so they draft another player who basically redshirts his first year?

  418. 418 Avery Greene said at 10:02 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    In football, it’s never worthwhile to lose purposely unless it’s a top 10 pick. Outside of that, it doesn’t make sense.

  419. 419 mksp said at 10:45 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I think we probably disagree on this point. Its one game, not half a season.

    And its an intended consequence of seeing what we have with Barkley, Smith, et al.

  420. 420 Avery Greene said at 11:05 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Okay, there’s a few lines of thought here that I think I need to split up.

    I’m not for losing purposely, moving up from 20-22 to 18-20 is not that big. I don’t see the benefit.

    If we play some of the rooks, it’s to see how they handle game situations, not to lose purposely.

    Now I’m parsing your statement, so I don’t want you to think that I’m using semantics to disagree.

    I don’t think playing the rooks to see what we have and losing is an intended consequence, if they think they want to see these guys in game situations. I hope they don’t go in thinking that they may lose if they play these guys. If they are just throwing them in to just play them and they’re not ready, it could backfire and these kids could regress. I don’t want that. I’d like to see them, but I want to win too. I don’t want to see them at the expense of good play.

    At least in my mind and my expectations is that this is a program and it’s for the long term. If they lose a game purposely, it sends the wrong message. I don’t want that and I expect more.

  421. 421 xeynon said at 12:23 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I’ll put it this way: there is no point to winning this game. None. So they should try to extract what value they can out of it by getting a look at the young players.

    If they play the vets and go all out to win I’ll be pissed. You blew your chance this season and there is no redeeming it, time to start thinking long term.

  422. 422 GermanEagle said at 10:05 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Chip won’t play the backups. We’re from Philly and we fight, remember?!

  423. 423 Tyler Phillips said at 10:06 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    yea it’s not happening. We have a one game season to be the champs of…

  424. 424 BobSmith77 said at 11:09 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Is it wrong for me to want to see Beckham matched up 1-on-1 with Fletcher next week?

  425. 425 Jarock said at 1:52 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Yes. Unless you’re rooting for the Giants 😛

  426. 426 BobSmith77 said at 11:13 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    If Davis really believes the comments he has made publicly the last day or so, I really do wonder if Desean’s flippant comments he made post-game actually hold some water.

    Tommy – The issue with Davis is that he has been mediocre at best his 2 years here and during his entire career. I would rather the Eagles take a gamble on a new DC hire instead of bringing back what they have in Davis and this is mediocrity. Winning organizations don’t do that.

  427. 427 shah8 said at 11:15 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Marshawn Lynch just topped his Beast Mode run.

    Holy Mary Mother of God…

  428. 428 anon said at 11:30 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    culture over talent every time.

  429. 429 Insomniac said at 1:15 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    When you have both..damn.

  430. 430 Sean Stott said at 11:22 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    1. Stubbornness at LCB cost us at least one, maybe even 3 wins.

    2. This offense was very mediocre this year. Approximately league average. Our defense arguably played better, and the ST definitely did.

    3. This is the offense of the 3-and-out.

    4. This defense has better numbers on 3rd&3 than it does on 3rd&13.

    5. Tired of excuse making. Tired of Chip Kelly talking about “execution” and “preparation” and “one-week-deal”. None of that means anything if you are going to come out flat and play awful football for 3 consecutive weeks (and lots prior to that) when it matters most.

    6. Arrogant drafting. MS2 was such a horrendously bad pick. Josh Huff has done almost nothing, and has made countless mistakes. Taylor Hart played 0 snaps. Jaylen Watkins played 0 snaps. Ed Reynolds played 0 snaps.

    7. This team was sitting on tons of cap money, and had they gone after a 1-year CB or, hell, even retained Desean Jackson, they would be in the playoffs.

    8. Wasted season. Don’t know who the QB is. One more year off of Peters’ prime. One more year off of Mathis’ prime. No more cheap Maclin. No more cheap BG/T. Cole.

  431. 431 Mitchell said at 11:28 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    #6. Can we stop with this already? Who else were you going to take in the first round? The Eagles traded down and still got the guy they wanted who would have gotten picked very soon after. It’s not his fault he got jumped to a different position for half the season out of necessity and had 3 better OLB’s in front of him.

    To say Josh Huff has done almost nothing is forgetting the fact that he has shown to be a very good return man. Just from his performance on KR tell me another KR we had that was better in the last 10 years. He has also shown good/great RAC potential, look no further than the Dallas game where he had a great RAC. And yes he has fumbled the ball probably more than he would have like but so did everyone on this damn offense.

    Taylor Hart suffers from being behind great D-line players and he was a bit on the small side. Who would you have taken out for Hart? He was also a 4th rnd pick. How many of those pan out in the first place?

    Finally, in regards to Reynolds: He didn’t even get to go to half of the summer activities and is a 5th round pick. I think passing judgement on him next year would be much more fair.

  432. 432 Sean Stott said at 11:31 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    It’s only one point out of many, and #6 at that.

    There’s no way to justify the MSII pick right now. I don’t even get bothered by the other ones really, but the worst part is that they have showed no confidence whatsoever in him.

    Josh Huff has been garbage other than 2 plays.

  433. 433 Mitchell said at 11:32 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Your statement about Huff is inaccurate. Exactly there is no way to justify or condemn the MSII pick, it’s his first year. Who did you want him to play instead of?

  434. 434 Sean Stott said at 11:34 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Huff couldn’t even get on the field for the first handful of games. Then, when he did, it was nothing but drop after drop after drop, after fumble, after mishandled kickoff return, etc. You can’t say he’s been good because he had 2 or 3 decent runs and a kickoff return TD where the ST unit parted the red sea for him.

  435. 435 Mitchell said at 11:35 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Huff was hurt the first handful of games. I can’t say he’s been bad either, especially lately. He has flashed a large amount of potential.

  436. 436 Sean Stott said at 11:36 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Yea, I remember because he got injured in the preseason on a boneheaded return. Tried to stay up and got destroyed.

  437. 437 D3FB said at 11:43 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    So you want kick returners just falling down now? He lowered his shoulder and got hurt. If he goes down you would complain that he’s “soft”.

  438. 438 Sean Stott said at 11:44 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I know, but I’m just venting and nitpicking at this point.

  439. 439 BobSmith77 said at 12:43 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    It is fair to say that this team was going to have to help help from the draft to take a real step forward this season given the lack of moves in FA & releasing Jackson. Besides Matthews, they got almost none.

    It certainly is a reason why they didn’t take a step forward this year.

  440. 440 Mitchell said at 1:13 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    We did get help from the draft in the area where we lost the most. WR. As far as the other positions, there was already players with more experience ahead of them. We weren’t a bad team last year so we didn’t need to count on rookies to come in and play extended meaningful snaps.

  441. 441 Mitchell said at 11:34 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    What is frustrating about the offense is that on first down, there we several instances where it would either be a false start/hold or McCoy would get dropped for negative yardage. We got killed SO many times on crap like that.

  442. 442 Sean Stott said at 11:37 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    No doubt. 1st down, run for 2 yards. 2nd down, run for -1 yards. 3rd down, 3rd&9. Pass to Riley Cooper incomplete. 3-and-out.

  443. 443 Mitchell said at 11:41 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    I think this is on replay in my head over and over. I can just see it unfolding everytime we start a drive.

  444. 444 Mitchell said at 11:42 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    Does anyone have any clue on Cam Thomas from Western Kentucky? Only found one vid against Illinois.

  445. 445 anon said at 11:56 PM on December 21st, 2014:

    From BGN. which qb on top which on bottom

    http://i.imgur.com/7tpEUKs.png

  446. 446 D3FB said at 12:01 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Brent dug a little deeper on the numbers and came to a different conclusion.

    http://eaglesrewind.com/2014/12/21/the-eagles-qb-situation/

  447. 447 Mitchell said at 12:12 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    That may have been the best article I have read this month (sorry Tommy). The only real concern I have with Foles is his injury history. I think this year is pretty understandable considering the line he was playing with. He was getting hammered so much you would be silly to not think he wouldn’t get hurt eventually.

  448. 448 D3FB said at 12:17 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Yea but this was really the only serious injury. If it was the playoffs and not the end of a garbage year when he was a rookie, they would have found a way to let him play with the bad hand. And concussions are concussions. He’s not particularly prone to them. If he was tearing hamstring and getting ankle sprains all the time I’d be more concerned.

  449. 449 Mitchell said at 12:20 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Agreed. I was trying to remember what his injuries were from before. I look forward to seeing more from him next year.

  450. 450 anon said at 12:21 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    As with everything else about him we gotta wait until next year.

  451. 451 Anders said at 3:19 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    No matter what, 3 injuries in 3 years is a pattern, remember some people just are more fragile.

  452. 452 A_T_G said at 1:12 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    After the last three games, I’m feeling particularly fragile.

  453. 453 Mitchell said at 12:13 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Watched some Randy Gregory film and came away unimpressed. Idk if he is just playing in the wrong position (hand on the ground as opposed to off) but it just wasn’t “wowing” in any way, not even from a potential standpoint.

  454. 454 D3FB said at 12:20 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    He had his knee scoped at the beginning of the year, a flare up from an old injury.

  455. 455 anon said at 12:20 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Is it that much different? I don’t totally agree with his DVOA conclusions, some team Ds look way better now than they did then (i’m thinking of the rams) other teams look way worse after we played them (Carolina) / NYG.

    Undoubtedly, MS played to expectations, even on an adjusted basis he’s better than some starters.

    Foles ranks high teens, adjusted. That said, SF v SEA, who do you think played better, so me it’s a was even those sanchez help put up Tds against SEA? Take away ST TDs we probably lose against rams and redskins, would those two losses affect the way you think about foles? With a ST Td maybe we beat SEA, DAL, Skins, would it change the way you think about Sanchez?

    That said — i didn’t post the story to make a statement just an obersvation. Foles has another year to do his think but we aren’t going anywhere if the play next year is the same as this year

  456. 456 bill said at 8:29 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    The Eagles’ offense, specifically, the OL, was much better at the end of the year than it was at the beginning, and Shady had some of his best games after Foles went down, while having his worst in the beginning. Kelly’s offense is supposed to be run-centric; this year’s version was far from it. It’s pretty easy to see why – the OL was starting arena league rejects for a stretch, and even the starters struggled when they were healthy.

    It’s all guesswork. You also have to factor in that Foles is young, and QB progression is not linear. Foles is still a question mark, on that we can agree. I think his ceiling is around “edge of top 10,” which is good enough if you have a good team around him. I’m willing to give him time to reach it while searching for diamonds in the rough to hedge the bet.

    Where I disagree with the current narrative is that I want a *huge* focus on OL this offseason. This offense isn’t what it’s supposed to be without an above average OL. The starters, currently, are about that, but there is zero depth, and the best players (Peters, Mathis) are well past 30. They both struggled early and late in the season. IMO, Peters is clearly in decline, it’s just not as noticeable since he started from such a high peak. Kelce is great in space, but a liability against physical interiors. Johnson is average, but young; he can certainly get better. Both of them could use an above average, physical RG to help them out. Currently, RG is a gaping hole (Herremans was not good even when healthy this year).

    No QB they get this offseason is going to help the run game as much as improving the OL. And once they get the run game fixed, any QB will look better in the offense.

  457. 457 SteveH said at 12:24 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    We just need Nick to get his act together. We know he can play better than he did this past year, but he played poorly enough despite the circumstances that we need to think about bringing in some serious competition. Not saying we need to get rid of the guy, but I think we need a backup plan that ISN’T Mark Sanchez.

  458. 458 D3FB said at 12:31 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I agree that we should bring in better competition. The question is from where though. The NFL guys all have big warts. Mariotta isn’t happening in a million years. Hundley needs fundamentals rebuilt completely, and there are questions about his ability to make progression reads. I like Petty but Air Raid QB’s scare the heck out of me. Nobody else project as anything more than as projects with backup ceilings.

  459. 459 anon said at 3:32 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    rig doesn’t make it out of washing. CK might make it out of SF but he’s expensive considering where we are financially based on yesterday’s conversion. Sanchez isn’t bad, he’s cheap, and will be cheap;next year if he stays

  460. 460 Anders said at 3:35 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    “Hundley needs fundamentals rebuilt completely, and there are questions about his ability to make progression reads.”

    I disagree on this. I just think Mora tried making him something he isnt and its not like the UCLA OL and skill position players are all that great.

    Regarding Petty, he has a terrible arm:

    http://draftbreakdown.com/players/bryce-petty/#report

    Look at that passing chart, he cant really hit outside the hashes.

  461. 461 Media Mike said at 5:11 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    If he can’t make progression reads, I don’t want his read one and run junk on this team.

  462. 462 Anders said at 11:19 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I can make progression reads, its just that I think Mora coached him a lot like he coached Vick.

  463. 463 Dvon1 said at 11:42 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Hundley has taken 100+ sacks in his career. If has taken that many sacks in college, it will be worse in the pros

  464. 464 Anders said at 11:51 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Have you seen his OL? Also as said, Mora is not a great offensive coach

  465. 465 Dvon1 said at 12:19 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I actually like Hundley, but I hate the idea that any Qb can take over the eagles’ offense and succeed. Like Chip said QBs are like teabags, you don’t know what you until you put them in hot water. I’m just pointing out concerns about Hundley sack rate

  466. 466 D3FB said at 1:53 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I haven’t watched anything more than live so I’m not positive on the progressions, but his fundamentals are sloppy and needs fixed.

    Petty’s arm is stronger than he showed this year. Remember he had a broken back and couldn’t really torque the ball like he wanted.

  467. 467 Anders said at 1:57 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    The passing chart is from 2013 college season, so before he broke his back

  468. 468 mksp said at 11:05 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I think the conclusion that Foles > Sanchez is the correct one.

    But that alone is not a reason to think that Foles is the franchise guy.

    The utter lack of QB talent in the NFL on the other hand…..is reason enough to stick with Nick for another year.

    Really hope they take a developmental type guy at least. Hundley will probably go too high, but maybe a Brandon Bridge?

    I don’t love his throwing motion, but the athleticism and arm strength is there.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o46h5fJcKig

  469. 469 D3FB said at 1:44 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    He’s tall, He has a cannon for an arm, and he can run. but he plays in a system where he only reads half the field. His accuracy is all over the place. He’s being compared to Kaep but he’s way more raw. You’re talking about 2-3 years to rebuild his mechanics and teach him to read defenses.

  470. 470 Anders said at 1:57 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I think Logan Thomas when I see Bridge

  471. 471 D3FB said at 3:54 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Not a bad comparison.

  472. 472 mksp said at 4:02 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Agreed on this, but if you’re potentially taking him in the 3rd or 4th round, thats not an unreasonable timeframe.

    The challenge the Eagles face is finding a true franchise quarterback when they won’t be drafting in the top-10 for the foreseeable future.

    That guy could be Nick, but I definitely want to explore other avenues in the meantime.

    One of the few avenues available to the Eagles is potentially reaching (by, what, a round?) for a developmental guy that at a minimum has the physical traits you look for in a QB.

  473. 473 D3FB said at 4:15 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Oh god no, I wouldn’t take him nearly that early. He’s a 6/7th UDFA guy. Theres maybe a 15% chance he turns into Terell Pryor. The chances of him turning into a legit QB are really small. A 3rd or 4th round pick is a guy who is contributing and could be a starter by the end of his second or third season.

  474. 474 mksp said at 11:20 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Yeah I was thinking he’s a 4th/5th that we take in the 3rd/4th. QBs are funny. But I defer to you here.

  475. 475 anon said at 12:54 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    SEA really rounding into form. It’s depressing.

  476. 476 Insomniac said at 1:02 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Really depressing to see Lynch do what no one on this team will ever do..

  477. 477 anon said at 1:34 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    you really gotta question how bad our scouting team is. offense going wild even after they lose a TON of talent in FA.

  478. 478 Anders said at 2:31 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    What talent on offense did Seattle lose?

  479. 479 oreofestar said at 2:40 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I guess Tate and Harvin midseason if you count his nonexistent contributions

  480. 480 anon said at 3:30 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    yeah was thinking teams as a whole, but 2 best WRs is big. I don’t even know who catches balls there — doug baldwin? Not even sure he’d make our team.

  481. 481 Anders said at 3:33 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    You mean Harvin who played like 1 game total in 2013? Tate was a lose, but he isnt a great WR.

    Seahawks offense is pretty much Lynch and Wilson doing magic

  482. 482 A_T_G said at 1:00 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    It is pretty similar to what our receiving core suffered through last year. We still did okay without a key receiver and a potential contributor that never panned out.

  483. 483 BreakinAnklez said at 3:36 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    They lost all of their talent on Defense…and its still pretty damn good. Harvin played in like 2 games…he was a non factor pretty much all year. Only playmaker they lost on offense was Tate.

  484. 484 bill said at 3:48 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    That offense was averaging under 200 yds/gm passing through the late season. Make no mistake, that team’s heartbeat, identity, and lifeblood is the D. Lynch is a stud. Wilson is extremely conservative with the ball and makes enough athletic plays during a game to get the 10 pts/gm necessary to win.

  485. 485 xeynon said at 1:51 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I’ll enjoy watching them pulverize the Cowboys though.

  486. 486 Media Mike said at 5:25 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    We’ll get there one day. We just need to keep adding talent.

  487. 487 P_P_K said at 12:06 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    As a fan of the game of football, watching their defense is a pleasure.

  488. 488 Insomniac said at 5:44 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Packers vs Hawks
    Broncos vs Patriots

    At least the postseason should be good if there’s no upsets, Unless the Falcons/Panthers pull off a miracle and win it all.

  489. 489 GermanEagle said at 9:07 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Or the Cowboys.

  490. 490 Avery Greene said at 9:57 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    They aren’t that good. I can’t see them beating Det. If they get lucky and get AZ, they’ll lose to either GB or Seattle.

  491. 491 GermanEagle said at 12:46 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Let’s all hope so.

  492. 492 Alan Milnes said at 6:38 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Rex Ryan – has anyone’s reputation ever exceeded his achievements more than this guy?

  493. 493 Corry said at 7:39 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Rex is a very good defensive coach. In the last 9 years, the lowest one of his defenses has ranked in yards is 11. As a defensive coordinator his Ravens teams always ranked very well in scoring too. The Jets haven’t been as good but then again the Jets haven’t been a very good team.

    I view Rex the same way I view Romeo Crennel, Wade Phillips, and Dick LeBeau: excellent defensive coordinators, horrible head coaches.

    Now ROB Ryan is completely overrated.

    Of course I’m not sure any of this matters since he won’t be a DC here.

  494. 494 Jernst said at 8:10 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Yea, Rex gets a bad rep due to his shortcomings as a head coach. He’s not a good head coach at all, which makes people think he’s therefore not a good coach. Nothing could be further from the truth. He’s a phenomenal defensive coordinator.

    I’d be thrilled with him as basically “Head Coach of the Defense”. What I think is more likely is that Billy Davis is merely a place holder for Azzinaro who is being groomed as the next DC. There’s a reason our defensive line coach also has the title assistant head coach. Chip just didn’t want to make him a DC right off the bat without giving him some NFL experience. I guarantee Azzinaro becomes the DC in 2015 or ’16. Book it.

  495. 495 unhinged said at 4:01 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Has ever a Ryan DC – going all the way back to Papa – put up stellar numbers with a mixed bag like our defense? I’m not arguing that Rex is not a very good DC, but in Baltimore he had a roster of studs, and he took a few of them when he became the HC in NY. And I will be first to admit that Buddy knew, and Rex knows talent. But how would that fix our problems? He’d never have signed Fletcher, perhaps, but isn’t that a different subject?

  496. 496 Corry said at 5:03 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    To answer your first question, I’m not sure. I do know that the Jets defense doesn’t exactly have future hall of famers scattered across the roster the way the Ravens did. I do know that the Jets do have a good defense in terms of yards allowed, but not very good scoring defense. Of course, not having watched a lot of Jets games, it’s hard to say if that’s a by product of a REALLY bad offense and special teams, or if it’s some other reason. Any score, whether it’s the offense turning the ball over or special teams score, goes against the Jets defense.

    The theory behind the Rex Ryan talk or is that a better coordinator could cover up the talent deficiencies with better scheme. So with that in mind, Bradley Fletcher wouldn’t be left on an island as much. I have to say, I’d be intrigued by Ryan if only because he’s actually got Jaiquawn Jarrett to have a good game, but I don’t see him every coming to the Eagles. I don’t think the Eagles want a DC with one foot out the door, nor do they want to screw up the continuity by firing Davis. I also don’t think Ryan wants to take a step back to a coordinator again.

  497. 497 KAJomo said at 9:09 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    If we are going to replace Davis I would rather try to steal Vic Fangio. No gaurantee he follows Harbaugh and he consistenly puts out good D even with all the injuries they had this year. Other than Eric Reid they don’t have anyone real talenetd in their secondary. He seems like a great fit here.

  498. 498 Tyler Phillips said at 9:51 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    You are thinking of Rob. Rex is a great defensive mind.

  499. 499 The Linc – Too early to give up on Nick Foles? | nflfans247.net said at 6:46 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    […] More on Chip and the 3-Game Dip – Iggles BlitzI said earlier that I still fully believe in Chip Kelly. Let’s take a minute to discuss that. First, it doesn’t mean I blindly agree with everything he does or says. That would be utterly ridiculous. It also doesn’t mean that Chip is perfect. That also would be ridiculous. The man is a darn good football coach, but he’s going to make some bad decisions. Paul Brown did. Bill Walsh did. The Hoodie still makes some head scratchers from time to time. […]

  500. 500 eagleyankfan said at 8:20 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    It’s pointless to argue draft picks – because you don’t know the future. What you can argue is what they’ve done so far. We can argue till we’re blue in the face about Huff. My opinion from draft day, until now, hasn’t changed. It was a reach of a “dime a dozen” draft pick for an Oregon player. He’s never going to be a “number 2” wr. Ever. He doesn’t have the size nor the speed. BUT, that’s just a guess as to what I’ve seen so far. He’s not impressive. Maybe he can be, I’m just going off what I’ve seen so far. I haven’t seen a glimpse where I’m thinking — oh boy, wait til he rounds into form. Before the blowhards say “did you see that return for a td”? Yes, yes I did. I’m glad we used a number 3 pick for kick off return guy who would have been on the board in round 5.
    ….
    That goes with our number 1 pick so far too. Wasted pick!!!!! However, with him and Huff, I have no idea. Just what we’ve seen so far. So far, we see a project. Again with the “well, he was moved all over the place blah blah blah”. If he was talented enough, at either position, he would have stood out — at least in practice. Normally there’s whispers about how someone looks at practice and comments made like “he’s starting to get it”. Never happened with him. So far, to this point, no good — but the future — we have no idea.
    ….
    Draft picks 1 and 3 to this point of their career — meh, at best. Lets hope they grow into what the Eagles need. Because the Eagles clearly need better at those positions.
    ….
    That same judgment applies to Chip and Davis. We need to grade them on progress and talent. I didn’t see progress from last year to this year. I don’t care what the Eagles did week 1. I care about what they just did. I saw two game where the offense and defense were brutally unprepared. You can blame the Fletchers and Sanchez’s all you want. It was the coaches who brought them here. All the critics “we need the talent”….well, no shit dr. obvious — so who’s responsible to bring the talent?

  501. 501 eagleyankfan said at 8:33 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Having trust/faith in Chip. That’s hard to do right now. All the drinks, curfews, change in practices – in short — the culture, as of today = no playoffs. If we’re grading Chip on his second year, well, the team went backwards. At the end of last year, there was nothing but promise of better things to come. This off season, I still have faith in Chip — just not as much I had last year going into January. Every move made last year, we had to say “we trust in what he’s doing”. The trust factor has diminished…

  502. 502 unhinged said at 3:49 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    What if year one was the outlier? 4-12 to 10-6 because a) coach is a genius; b) schedule is cakewalk; c) sports science is the shit; d) new players are all better than the ones that left; e) tempo rules; f) no injuries. If we went 8-8 last year, then this year would look like progress, but the whole 2 years gives everyone – CK too – a clearer idea of what we have and what we need. I saw very little from Lane Johnson this season that looked like growth or improvement, and Jason Kelce is still recovering from his injury. 2 years ago Eagles were a dumpster fire, and they are not close to that today. I don’t see a quick fix out there, but I cannot abide that the team went backwards.

  503. 503 DzyEagle said at 8:33 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    The issue with Chip isn’t that he is a great coach, it is that he is stubborn in his way of thinking. His mindset is to prove everyone wrong even if it in the end proves everyone was right.

  504. 504 Avery Greene said at 9:53 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    He can only do so much. A lot of the issues are execution like he says. He can’t fix talent in one year.

  505. 505 BobSmith77 said at 8:43 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Watching the Seattle and Dallas games this week didn’t make me feel as bad about those games but something about losing to just a dog$hit team that was in completely disarray with a coach who I bet is fired at the end of the season still has a worse aftertaste than sour milk.

  506. 506 P_P_K said at 9:20 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I’ve never tasted sour milk so I can’t say for sure, but the taste after the loss to Wash sure is awful.

  507. 507 BobSmith77 said at 8:49 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I still have faith in Kelly but he put a mark on his back by clearly stating his bar for success this season repeatedly & then releasing Jackson. Prefer to hear that as a fan but there are going to be a lot of people who are going to question him this offseason especially if they lose the Giants’ game too.

  508. 508 Todd Ressel said at 8:54 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Tommy, thanks as always for your analysis. Actually this loss and being out of the playoffs is a good thing. Haters, please bear with me. The team was hopeful after last year that all of the new methods brought by Chip and his staff would be enough. It wasn’t. Remember that diamonds are created under heat and pressure, so too are great football teams. This year’s team had several fatal flaws that would not have allowed it to go very far in the playoffs. Our great teams under Dick Vermeil would never have happened had not their been strong teams from New Yrok and Dallas. We need those guys to grind off our rough edges and make us work to fix our flaws.

  509. 509 BlindChow said at 10:59 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    This is what I was thinking. The team (and Kelly) needs a wake-up call. I’m not confident this will do it, but we can hope.

  510. 510 oreofestar said at 9:15 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I really hope the Lios/Cardinals/Packers destroy the Cowboysnin the wildcard because I’m already sick of seeing the cocky douche bags

  511. 511 JaketheSnake said at 10:52 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    actually who cares…they have a good team…better qb, receivers, o-line than us….lets stop with the stupid cataldi hate for a team cause we lose.

  512. 512 JaketheSnake said at 9:23 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    stop pretending chip kelly is something special…he has proven he doesnt’ know what he is doing…cutting desean….playing fletcher…drafter mr nobody in the first round….not doubling top receivers over and over…..this aint oregon or new hampshire…..plus his boy billy davis is like a defensive version of kotite.

  513. 513 daveH said at 9:59 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    the desean move will haunt him forever.. we all knew it at the time and we always keep bringing it up. yup. I cant let it go. nonsensical move to cut a great player because you aren’t coach enough to identify with him .. hmmmm
    ..
    missed Shady this season. wher was Polk this last game and what happened to Sproles all of a sudden ??
    ..
    ..never ever a fan of sanches. cant even stand look at his game face…and just cant stand him in an eagles uniform.
    ..
    missed marcus smithers this entire season, and losing the best mlb we’ve had since trotter (or maybe sean Bradley his 1st year) was painful but all teams lose good players to injury so im not crying, im just crying
    ..
    ..Brandon graham didn’t seem to have such a great presence for an entire game .. can you imagin hitting the QB in the freaking face in a critical pivotal moment of the game ?? !!!
    .. literally W T F ..way to go vinnny. as lame as going offsides in the 1 biggest moment of the game

  514. 514 A_T_G said at 10:14 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    “…or maybe sean Bradley his 1st year…”

    The man could certain fill the lane, that is for sure.

  515. 515 daveH said at 9:28 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    deSean Bradley it is !

  516. 516 Avery Greene said at 10:06 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Yes, 2nd year coaches are usually perfect. We haven’t seen any improvement and Kelly hasn’t shown us anything. /s

  517. 517 A_T_G said at 10:29 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Two years ago, when the ‘Skins were bad (shocking, I know), if they had signed Chip as their coach and gone on to have seasons like our last two, it would make me nervous. I would think that they don’t have everything put together, but they have the potential to be scary.

    Instead, he is here. We have the potential to be scary if we can put everything together. Washington has the potential to continue to flounder in the muck, directionless.

    With which coach would you like to see the Eagles replace Chip? Your anger and disdain at his continued employment here leads me to believe there must be coaches available who haven’t cut a good player, haven’t been forced to play a bad one, haven’t missed the playoffs, and are smart enough to have better ideas while be less arrogant in that they never stick with their ideas, but smart enough that their ideas are never wrong, but never arrogant enough to believe in those ideas through tough times.

    Since the holidays are coming, lets try to maintain a short list, maybe your top five?

  518. 518 JaketheSnake said at 10:50 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I don’t know.but we all have been stunned by this guys bad moves….how can you not double team the best receivers with your cupcake secondary……all these mistakes are adding up…this is the NFL not Oregon/New Hampshire……I see a disturbing trend and am hearing lies when he is interviewed….just a frustrated fan

  519. 519 A_T_G said at 1:19 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    And that is fine, we are all frustrated. The comments about kissing Kelly’s butt don’t help that, or help the conversation.

  520. 520 jay ray said at 1:42 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    “I don’t know.”

    We should totally take your emotional opinion seriously.

  521. 521 JaketheSnake said at 1:54 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    genius…just because I don’t have an alternative doesn’t mean I shouldn’t criticize him for his arrogance and stupidity….this guy is paid a ton of money and is accountable for failure….i guess you feel ‘lucky’ we have a coach so smart he’s been outcoached by Garrett, Gruden, Carrill the past 3 weeks

  522. 522 JaketheSnake said at 9:23 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    how many mistakes based on a combination of arrogance and stupidity do you need to see before you stop kissing kelly’s butt?

  523. 523 the DONALD said at 9:45 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Eagles Wish List for 2015 Season: GO!

  524. 524 the DONALD said at 9:46 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    id like… 1-2 CBs, Rex Ryan, and some on the fly adjusting..

  525. 525 oreofestar said at 10:33 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Spend big on Corner, be bold in the draft and make trades, extend the core Cox,Ken,Ced,Maclin need go get paid

  526. 526 Anders said at 11:19 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Byron Maxwell, Jason McCourthy and Marcus Mariota

  527. 527 oreofestar said at 11:50 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Jason? Hes signed lol

  528. 528 Anders said at 11:52 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    meant Devon, not sure why I wrote Jason 😛

  529. 529 Mitchell said at 1:49 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    That is quite the wish list!

  530. 530 oreofestar said at 2:11 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Ikr I will take any one of those three let alone all three

  531. 531 Insomniac said at 7:03 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Trade Cooper
    Sign Justin Houston, Byron Maxwell, and Devin McCourty.

  532. 532 Avery Greene said at 9:50 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Anyone who is comparing anyone on this staff to Rich Kotite needs to get a clue.

    That is all…

  533. 533 JaketheSnake said at 10:56 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    why? because davis gives a friendly interview?…I look at results and listen to what he is saying….I haven’t heard reasoning and justification this stupid since Kotite..just saying

  534. 534 ac134spectre said at 10:36 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I don’t lay this on Billy Davis. Basically they lost Meco so the safety help they could have for Fletcher and Williams went away. S is a big need but so is MLB. You are seeing the symptom of having issues in the middle of the field at the edges. Not many corners can cover in the league on an island like some people are expecting.
    Other issues for the team this year. OL health. Everyone went down and finally so did the QB.
    Look for a LB/S/OG heavy draft as you try to get a few more years out of Jason Peters.
    Lots of great pieces for the team. Tommy needs to do a retrospective of the pre and post Meco positions of the FS/SS.

  535. 535 JaketheSnake said at 10:55 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Billy Davis is at fault…what?…the guy can’t adjust and makes stupid decisions…not doubling Dez and DeSean are just the most recent..look at how he defensed Kirk Cousins in the first game…no press coverage…and cousins looked like steve young..the next week the Giants pressed their corners and destroyed cousins….
    Billy Davis is the rich kotite of d-coordinators

  536. 536 unhinged said at 3:21 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Good points. We’re still waiting on a playmaking edge rusher. Not critiquing Smith, but this 3-4 scheme is so dependent on exceptional linebacking play, and we’re not there yet. The middle of the field is frequently wide open. Run game: A- ; passing game: D+. One more draft can help, but the two FA corners might be easier to replace w/two FA replacements.

  537. 537 BobSmith77 said at 11:18 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    One idea that everyone on here can support – the Eagles should not acquire another ex-Jets QB next season (Geno Smith) to be their backup.

  538. 538 P_P_K said at 12:04 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Mike Vick will probably be available. He’s a Chip kelly qb, right?

  539. 539 anon said at 12:50 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    healthy vick / desean we prob win these games

  540. 540 P_P_K said at 1:07 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Probably. Do you think a healthy Foles means we win both?

  541. 541 b3nz0z said at 11:55 AM on December 22nd, 2014:

    so do we use our first round pick on a wide-9 specialist or someone to run the wildcat?

  542. 542 76mustang said at 12:06 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    For Giants game I want to see Barkley, Polk, Huff, Matthews, and Ertz starting on offense along with first team O Line. On defense, let Marcus and Nolan start.

    Sanchez is a serviceable backup QB in this league, nothing more – amazing the number of missed reads in the losses, especially when teams brought pressure. Can’t seem to throw a receiver open.

    Foles didn’t have the benefit of playing behind healthy O Line this year, and still finished 7-2, and both losses came down to final drives. I still think he can be special, but if Foles, Sanchez, and Barkley remain the QBs, Chip needs to expand the route trees and add a heavy package for the red zone (want to see this happen regardless).

    If Polk can’t stay healthy, Eagles need to land a power back. And I’d like to see a lead blocker mixed in the run game (especially in the red zone). Doesn’t have to be a pure FB – Casey or Burton seem capable, just an added grouping that has to be prepared for and provides versatility.

    Between FA and the draft, not sure how quickly the Eagles can solidify their CB/S situation. Boykin seemed a step slower all season long (injury?), Williams continues to have mental lapses in key moments, Fletcher can’t succeed under the current rules, Allen is a solid backup, not sure on the rookies and whether or not Wolf will experience any diminishment after rehab. On a good news/bad news note, Jordan Poyer started for the Browns yesterday and held his own against KB. First round picks in the 20s are less likely to provide meaningful impact in year 1.

    Overall, would have to give Chip and staff a C+ on the year – not his best coaching – year 3 will reveal a lot about Chip’s adaptability to the rigors and scrutiny of the NFL.

  543. 543 P_P_K said at 12:15 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Great post. I agree with everything you say, except I’ll grade Chip and staff on an NFC East curve and give them a B-. The Eagles did finish with a record that is generally good enough for a playoff spot, but the team didn’t fulfill their potential. If I take into account the backup qb was under center for half the year, I’d have to give them a B+.

    On Chip’s report card, I’ll write him a note, “Chip, you did a good job considering you are still relatively new in this bigger school. You did a lot of things right but you need to understand things are harder here than you are used to in your old school. I’d also like to see you spending less time playing with Billy, I think he’s holding you back.”

  544. 544 ACViking said at 4:13 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    At 10-6, a team historically has had a 67% chance of qualifying (I believe).

    At 9-7 — which this team could finish — has only a 34% chance of qualifying.
    ______________

    On the other hand, an NFL team that starts 9-3 — like the 2014 Eagles — had a 97% chance of qualifying for the playoffs.

    Until this year.

    Now that figure’s down to 95%.

  545. 545 anon said at 4:17 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I think they’ll evaluate strengths and weaknessess in the offseason. I think it’s hard to add a whole new position in-season, especially since chip doesn’t use them.

    I think he’s gotta try to be successful on his own terms. Otherwise he looses the essence of the offense. The offense is very good, unclear if over time it will regress to the mean and look like everyone else’s offense.

  546. 546 370HSSV 0773H said at 12:42 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    My biggest criticism of Kelly is his obsession with “measurables”. His big guys beat up small guys philosophy is flawed. We saw a small, fast guy make our tall corners look bad. And now we get to play Odell Beckham JR, who is 5’11”. Will our big corners beat him up? Ha! Doubt it!

  547. 547 jay ray said at 1:32 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    but our big, tall corners aren’t talented. That’s the difference.

  548. 548 GermanEagle said at 12:45 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    500

  549. 549 Corry said at 1:08 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I’m follosing Chip’s press conference on Twitter. He thinks Toast Fletcher has played well this year and the decision to stice with Toast as the starter is ultimately Kelly’s.

  550. 550 Jack Waggoner said at 1:37 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I don’t know if we had any better alternatives. Probably not. But we all know what they say the definition of insanity is.

  551. 551 anon said at 1:42 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    how do you not like desean but like fletch. i just don’t get it. But maybe there’s other stuff going on in the defense that we just aren’t seeing on the tape. By you i mean CK coaching staff.

  552. 552 Corry said at 1:49 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Some of that is Chip not throwing his players under the bus, but I have to wonder just how terrible Nolan Carroll is in practice.

  553. 553 Jack Waggoner said at 1:33 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Congrats to Logan Square for beating my team, Sconce Patrol, 113.02 to 110.58, for the Igglesblitz championship. Logan Square was led by a strong performance by Tony Romo. Sconce Patrol would have won had Cody Parkey connected on either of his field goal misses. A painful parallel reality, or something.
    Anyway, great season. It has been fun.

  554. 554 anon said at 1:41 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Logan Square is Anon. CHAMPION!!!!!!!!!!

    I feel your pain with Parkey, eagles really let me down in the fantasy finals / semi-finals in other leagues.

  555. 555 tball_man said at 2:41 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Congrats

  556. 556 botto said at 1:42 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    its crazy looking back at this year.
    it seems like we were all (mostly) onto something after the very first pre-season game. remember Foles looked bad, threw some INT’s right away, the Defense looked bad too. we chalked it up to pre-season but guess what, it never changed. it was a pre-view of the season, I guess that’s why they call it pre-season. and we all said it was just pre-season and don’t get all worried about it, but nothing changed. and now I’m worried

  557. 557 Crus57 said at 1:50 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    .. and then we stomped the Steelers who are now 10-5 and in the AFC playoffs. Pre-season is very hard to judge anything.

  558. 558 botto said at 1:52 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Im just saying if you went by the first preseason game, it was the same all year, turnover’s and deep passes undefended.
    and yes we beat the steelers, they obviously got better, we did not. that’s all.

  559. 559 jay ray said at 3:21 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Yeah, I remember the pre-season too. Fletcher Cox looked like he regressed.

  560. 560 botto said at 3:50 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    ok so he got better…anyone else get better?

  561. 561 botto said at 1:51 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I do however, think that this will be an actual wake-up call to Chip and Co.
    I know he is pissed about what went on this year with everything and so should make him pretty fired up to come back and compete in a much better fashion.
    I do expect good things next year. Geez this year went fast.

  562. 562 Mitchell said at 1:53 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Can’t wait for the draft…… So far away.

  563. 563 Joe Minx said at 2:17 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Well Chip won’t play any of the young kids because “they didn’t earn it.” He only cares about winning this game.

    I’m getting more pissed off at him by the day.

  564. 564 anon said at 2:31 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    i mean what’s the point really they have to go re-evaluate everyone at the end of the year. CK watches all of them in practice every day. He knows what they look like.

  565. 565 RobNE said at 3:00 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    we want it. We want to see Barkley and Smith II.

  566. 566 GermanEagle said at 3:15 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I don’t necessarily wanna see Barkley. Ever.

  567. 567 RobNE said at 3:29 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    you’d rather have Sanchez start again? I would rather give Barkley the game plan the whole week and see what he can do.

    what is there to learn about Sanchez?

  568. 568 anon said at 4:06 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    no you dont. How easily we forget how bad MB looks. Sanchez moves the offense, leads to points. MB is terrible.

  569. 569 botto said at 4:29 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I don’t believe it I want to see it again this year one last try, barkley.

  570. 570 anon said at 5:36 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    SMH, eagles fans are gluttons for punishment.

  571. 571 RobNE said at 4:30 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    he’s never had a full week. I want to see.

  572. 572 GermanEagle said at 6:46 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Idk man. Can we not see Santa instead?!

  573. 573 botto said at 3:49 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    yeah but what have the starters done that screams “earned”?

  574. 574 anon said at 4:05 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    why wouldn’t he come back? who would you prefer as a backup qb?

  575. 575 botto said at 4:29 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I like him as a back up, I just thought he would go somewhere else

  576. 576 Mitchell said at 4:06 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Lol @ “Sancho.”

  577. 577 D3FB said at 4:06 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    They are better football players. They have practiced and played more consistently.

  578. 578 Henly125 said at 2:44 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    “Bradley Fletcher played well this season.”

    Chip Kelly has a good heart.

  579. 579 GermanEagle said at 3:13 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    It’s xmas, what shall he say?!

  580. 580 Henly125 said at 3:27 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Idk man. The #24 hasn’t been the same since Sheldon Brown left :'(

  581. 581 ACViking said at 3:43 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Actually . . . since Nate Ramsey roamed Franklin Field.

  582. 582 since1961 said at 8:45 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Joe Scarpati’s 10 ints!

  583. 583 GermanEagle said at 3:58 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Missing Sheldon and Lito. And Troy. And Bobby T. Heck I am even missing Al throw the flag Harris!!!!

  584. 584 anon said at 4:05 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    that would be a hilarious answer.

  585. 585 RobNE said at 2:59 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I think the call for a pound of flesh right now, today, in Chip’s press conference or before the next game, is unwarranted. Do we want Jay Gruden?

    This is about winning a SB. Chip can replace Fletcher and whoever he wants. Telling the world Fletcher sucks might make us feel better, but that isn’t how you treat professionals. You want people to want to work for you (Eagles). Jay Gruden is I think being short sighted but doing that to try to keep his job.

    There is no reason other than fans’ wrath for Chip to cut people today, or say yeah that guy sucks. There is no upside, the downside is other people maybe don’t want to work for you, and there is a downside of being cruel to feel better about yourself.

    Chip made some mistakes this year, but he seems to me to work on a high plane where he respects everyone. Not publicly throwing Fletcher under the bus aligns with his personality. I agree with this approach.

  586. 586 Henly125 said at 3:05 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Jay Gruden would be an awesome TV personality.

  587. 587 b3nz0z said at 3:32 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    unfortunately a lot of fans demand the token gestures, the easy fixes.

  588. 588 JaketheSnake said at 3:16 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    ‘we don’t regret releasing DeSean’ – chip kelly today
    anyone else with a brain sick of this guy yet….i realize this is the ‘we love chip’ blog but c’mon guys…grow a pair and be critical instead of trying to make excuses for Chip and Billy Davis.
    he gets SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS a year for this…he must be held accountable when he screws up over…and over…and over…

  589. 589 GermanEagle said at 3:19 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    .he must be held accountable when he screws up over…and over…and over…

    May I kindly ask you to elaborate the word ‘over’ in this context?!

  590. 590 JaketheSnake said at 4:48 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    mistakes in order
    1= cut desean
    2- draft stiff linebacker first round
    3- forget to run polk during short yardage

    4- forget to get the ball to sproles against seattle
    5- don’t double team dez, don’t double team desean
    I went over my overs.

  591. 591 Avery Greene said at 5:32 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    1 = would not have had a measurable affect to the outcome of the season, unless he was playing 2nd string QB or CB.
    2 = Who was he going to replace? Barwin is having a pro bowl type year, and Cole is not far behind him. Graham got snaps by coming in for both of them. Who was he replacing?
    3 = I don’t think they forgot to run Polk, most likely he felt he had a better matchup using McCoy. He adjusted later in the year and used Polk more.
    4 = I don’t think they forgot to get Sproles involved, I think Sanchez just couldn’t find him. That’s not the coaches.
    5 = They doubled Dez and Desean quite a bit in both games. But you have to mix up your coverages and both Romo and Griffin took advantage when they were singled covered. It wasn’t like they left them there all game without help.

  592. 592 D3FB said at 5:53 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Don’t let facts get in the way of a good narrative though.

  593. 593 JaketheSnake said at 7:18 AM on December 23rd, 2014:

    1 – you don’t know that….they wouldn’t have lost to wash at least so thats 1 more win
    2. you are missing the point…he should have drafted corners, corners, corners in rounds 1 and 2 ..if he kept DeSean he doesn’t need a receiver in round 2
    3. polk is better than over the hill shady in short yardage…most nfl coaches would tell you that
    4. they did not use sproles against seattle…go watch the replay of the entire game
    5. they did not double them ..they let dummy nate allen have the option of doubling vs. telling him to double

  594. 594 GermanEagle said at 6:46 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Philly, we got a problem. Over.

  595. 595 Ark87 said at 3:19 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    You would prefer him to say….what exactly.

    Remember he’s not in a bar being ribbed by his boys and he can just candidly be cool about it. Whether he regrets releasing DJax or not, he wouldn’t publicly admit it, no coach would, so I’m not sure where the expectation to do otherwise is coming from

  596. 596 JaketheSnake said at 4:46 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    some mea culpa here, some ‘ desean hurt us and we made a mistake’….some ‘our defense needs overhauling’ for a start….not wise ass answers at his presser.

  597. 597 jay ray said at 3:20 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Pound sand, bro.

  598. 598 JaketheSnake said at 4:45 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    bend over and i’ll pound it all day skippy

  599. 599 Mitchell said at 4:01 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    It’s his second year removed from a 4-12 season, with 2 winning records and a trip to the playoffs. What other coach with 2 years of experience can say that? You’re not even being critical you’re just jumping o conclusions. You aren’t in the NovaCare complex everyday, behind the scenes.

    What excuses have we made? Billy D doesn’t have a very talented secondary, that’s a fact. We have Sanchez as our qb, that’s a fact. Our O-line had A TON of injuries this year, that’s a fact.

    Calm down dude, holy crap.

  600. 600 A_T_G said at 4:04 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    It is the easiest thing in the world when the team is losing to say they are a bunch of bums with a stupid coach and should all be fired.

    The thing that takes a pair is to resist that urge and have confidence that we should stay the course.

  601. 601 JaketheSnake said at 4:44 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I am not saying fire him…but there are warning signs here…do you want every win a playoff game again? can’t just cross your fingers and hope when you coach a team…you have to adjust.

  602. 602 D3FB said at 4:49 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Chip Kelly makes hundreds of adjustments throughout the year that you don’t even notice. The split WRs take on certain route combinations, what sequence of plays to call to set up a play that builds on them, is the backside WR blocking or running his man off, based on injuries to the offensive line what is the best combination of players and what plays work best with them.

  603. 603 GEAGLE said at 8:04 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    There’s no arguing with that type of comment…

  604. 604 botto said at 4:01 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    the reality is this game only means more then preseason if we lose, cause we get a higher pick. so why would we not play some other guys?
    the starters essentially “earned” everyone a spot on the couch watching the playoffs right? get MSII in the game…have barkley throw deep… lets see Nolan cover ODB… start polk please, how does a N S running do in there?… get huff in the slot…let Ertz practice blocking…heck i’d be up for Pratt off the PS going deep… who did I miss? Burton? Tucker? come on lets see these guys already. 2014 is over Chip.

  605. 605 Mitchell said at 4:02 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I don’t wanna see any of our secondary cover OBJ….

  606. 606 anon said at 4:04 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    see when chip was asked about that in the pressure, he almost kicked that reporter’s ass.

  607. 607 Mitchell said at 4:05 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I don’t understand.

  608. 608 anon said at 4:07 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    One of the last questions was about Fletch on ODB, he was like “is that some sort of wise ass comment”. Gotta respect the coach he doesn’t let people pile onto his players.

  609. 609 Mitchell said at 4:08 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Yeh, that’s true. It’s probably a good quality as someone said below. TBH I don’t want my coach throwing a hard worker like Fletcher under the bus.

  610. 610 anon said at 4:10 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Gotta think he’s a players coach, also think it’ll help us in FA. Although some players get motivated the other way, need chips on their shoulder, but i don’t like the coach/player mind games (see Gruden and Djax last week saying that MAC’s a better receiver).

    Hopefully FAs will want to come here even though we don’t pay $$.

  611. 611 Mitchell said at 4:11 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I would hope Chip understands this and uses his own techniques and personal to motivate players in different ways to get the most out of them.

  612. 612 47_Ronin said at 4:32 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    It might be the case with all coaches, CK might be liked by some players but I’m confident that some in the locker room did not like what went down with DJaccpot.

  613. 613 anon said at 4:39 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I don’t think they cared after last year (winning) i don’t think they cared halfway through this year (winning) i think they care now.

  614. 614 D3FB said at 4:43 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Who on the team has played well enough to be beyond reproach? I doubt they are worried about what Djax would have added and more concerned about how to fix their own shortcomings as a player.

  615. 615 anon said at 4:57 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    eh, this is in response to anonymous comments by starters that they wish djax was here, it was a mistake to let him go, etc. Was much different than the anonymous comments we heard last spring / summer, though there could be some gaming of the system as “reporters” are paid per click.

  616. 616 D3FB said at 5:00 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    If a player refuses to put his name to a quote like that, then it shouldn’t bear much credence. Kelce himself said “You’ll never see me hide behind the title ‘unnamed source'”

  617. 617 GEAGLE said at 8:03 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    DJax might average 120 yards against the Eagles, but he averages 64 yards a game against everyone else, and has done nothing for Washington…don’t see what the crying is about,…
    ..
    As if chip kelly, obssessed with offense isn’t going to build a stacked WR arsenal of beasts? It just doesn’t happen in one offseason bud..

  618. 618 ACViking said at 4:17 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Depending on tone and wording, that’s a perfectly fair question.

    Fletcher’s yielded several TDs and long passes the past few weeks.

    Beckham’s playing at an All Pro level.

    Why wouldn’t it be fair to ask, in light of the factual data, how Kelly sees the Eagles — and, apparently, Fletcher — dealing with Beckham.

    That said . . . I’m framing this topic the way I would in court. I suspect the media rep didn’t handle it quite this way.

  619. 619 anon said at 4:18 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Media had asked several times about game plan, and chip said they hadn’t made a game plan for next week.

  620. 620 D3FB said at 4:22 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    It was the Philly media. You know damn well the tone and wording. Also I don’t know what the media would expect Chip to say. He’s not going to come out and give away his defensive gameplan. He’s not gonna say “oh yea we’re gonna park a safety right over top of him, essentially forcing us to to play cover 0, so Kevin Gilbride, please disregard that and don’t just run verts and man beaters”

  621. 621 47_Ronin said at 4:29 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Actually it’s Ben McAdoo running verticals and man beaters now. 😉

  622. 622 Tyler Phillips said at 7:57 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    McLane lol It was right after chip said no big picture questions, we’re focused on the Giants game

  623. 623 GEAGLE said at 8:14 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    McLane is such a jackOffs. I would slap the shit out of him if I was chip
    ..
    After the heartbreaking lost he immediately asked chip if while he was calling plays during the game, he was thinking about how he regrets losing Desean? Mclanes behavior this year has made him more of a joke then worthLES bowen. You can ask anything you want, it’s HOW YOU ASK IT, and there is a place and time. Man rule #1’dont act like a cunt

  624. 624 Avery Greene said at 8:52 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I stopped liking him when he said Brian Baldinger is a shock jock. This was when the Eagles traded McNabb and Baldy said that Reid covered over a lot of his flaws and that he wouldn’t do well in DC.

    In his chat following those comments, he pretended he didn’t know who he was, and said he was just looking for attention.

  625. 625 botto said at 4:24 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    don’t worry they won’t

  626. 626 anon said at 4:20 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Interesting article. Maybe the core of the team isn’t one we should build around?

    articles.philly.com/2012-06-13/sports/32195973_1_zone-desean-jackson-eagles

  627. 627 D3FB said at 4:24 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    A WR coach who helped guide the team to a 4-12 record thought speed was more important than size, so we should abandon our teams core?

  628. 628 anon said at 4:27 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    they drafted big WRs, but not ones that made plays. So maybe it’s getting better football players instead of guys with measurables.

  629. 629 Anders said at 4:34 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Well Kelly have drafted a 6’3 WR and a 5’11 WR

  630. 630 Insomniac said at 6:55 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    The smaller one plays bigger than the bigger one…

  631. 631 47_Ronin said at 4:40 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Finding talent is what it comes down to, and the Eagles Brain trust need to do extremely well in year 3 in the Chip Kelly Experience. I was watching the Shehawks dismantle the Cards last night and noticed Safety Deone Buchannon the Cards 2014 1st rd pick (picked right after MS II) Eagles can’t have 1st rd picks not contributing anywhere on the field, maybe MS II gets better but I’m beginning to think the Eagles whiffed on him.

  632. 632 Mitchell said at 5:07 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Sammie Coates.

  633. 633 Gary Barnes said at 4:34 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I see several issues Chip & Roseman need to address:

    QB – I’m a Foles guy and I would go with him and build the best team possible around him. Drafting and developing another QB will take 2-3 years and they may turn out to not be any better than Foles. Sanchez could be the backup here, but I have zero trust in him beyond 1-2 starts. Barkley has never been given a shot to show what he can do so it is even more strange Chip/Roseman picked him and have kept him. This last game vs the Giants would be good to start Barkley and see what you have.

    Red Zone – On both the offensive and defensive sides, they have been awful and not just this year. On offense, it has been mostly QB and OL play coupled with bad play calling. The offense much attack north/south, use Polk to punish run and use the TE & Matthews more. Play the QB under center so the RB can get up to full speed. Have the QB run if necessary to force the D to pay attention. On defense, they must attack the QB, blitz and force errors. You cannot sit back in the red zone and let the offense dictate to you.

    3rd Down Conversions – Again on both the offensive and defensive sides, they were awful. This goes back to the inconsistent OL and QB play, but also the RB running too much east/west against fast defenses and too much of the shotgun set where the defenses know exactly what is coming. Be creative with the personnel, quick slants and cross patterns where the QB can get the ball out quick and hot guys in stride. Defensively, again, one must attack the QB and force a quick decision. Rushing 3 while dropping 8 has NOT worked at all.

    Balance – Chip fell in love with the pass this year and needs to be much more balanced. The run game supposedly was the foundation of this offense and I understand it struggled, but Chip also went away from it too quickly in games and with our QB (especially Sanchez) that was an invitation for disaster re. turnovers and bad decisions.

    Adjustments – On both defense and offense, the coaches were very slow and late in their adjustments between games and in-game. Why would it take so long to realize our CB cannot play one-on-one vs good WR like Bryant, Jackson etc? Why did it take so long to adjust the offense to combat teams either loading up the box or sitting back in deep coverage? Why did the Eagles not replace Jackson with another deep threat to stretch the defense? Why did we go games where Sproles, Polk, Ertz and Matthews did not get utilized? Why did we continue to play passive defense as teams kept converting against us?

  634. 634 anon said at 6:43 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I don’t blame him. If the run isn’t working, which in many game it wasn’t there’s nothing you can do if the line is playing well. Think the line is much better at pass blocking than run blocking this year.

  635. 635 GermanEagle said at 6:45 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I just threw up on our xmas tree:

    Tony Romo leads NFL with QBR of 82.3, including 91.1 in 2nd half or overtime this season, on pace to be best of anyone in past 9 seasons.

  636. 636 anon said at 6:46 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    not surprised gets a lot of help from divisional opponents

  637. 637 Henly125 said at 8:06 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Crazy how Dallas is 3-0 in December this year… As opposed to us bieng 0-3.

  638. 638 botto said at 8:35 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    the tide has to turn sometime, and hopefully it goes back again next year to favor the eagles

  639. 639 MagsMightyMutt said at 7:35 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Indianapolis let Whitten and Bryant go deep. The Colts must have the worst DBs in the whole league!! Oh, wait. Minnesota scored 35 points. The Dolphins must have the worst DBs in the whole league!! Oh, wait. Miami just scored 37 points. Minnesota must have the worst DBs in the whole league!! Oh, wait. Arizona’s Pro Bowl DBs must be the worst in the whole league!! They let Seattle score. Oh, wait. Richard Sherman let a receiver get behind him! Sherman must be the worst DB in the whole league. etc. etc. etc. blah, blah, blah.

  640. 640 botto said at 8:24 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    no, we do.

  641. 641 GEAGLE said at 8:00 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Why you don’t get carried away with rookie production
    ..
    Justin Gilbert is an excellent corner prospect, I’d take him tomorrow happily. Yesterday, Joe Haden didn’t play, and Justin Gilbert still barely played. 4th Rd CB Desir played ahead of him, even Jordan Poyer(who you all like to trash) played ahead of him…… Long term, doubt it matters and he goes on to have a quality career, instead of going the Claiborne, Millner route..

    Dawkins was awesome on the radio. Wanted to remind everyone all the good Billy D did with the front 7.. He says billy should not be scapegoat and put the blame on Nate Allen. Says he should know by now that everyone will test bradley when they are in single high, so he should fake like he is leaning towards the right side of the field but immediately run to help bradley as soon as the ball is snapped, citing THATS how Dawk intercepted Favre in the playoffs. It’s up to the safety to have some instinct, and by now know that everyone is going to go after Bradley…Dawk says we need 1 safety, and 1 CB…shocker lol
    ..
    He was asked if our players who have nothing to play for will show up next week and he responded ” You asking me that question? Really? I can’t look in the soul of TODAYS player but man, if that’s me, I’m playing next week so mad, and giving them the biggest beating they can imagine, take out all my anger on them for not making the playoffs”…lol and you KNOW DAWKINS wasn’t lying!!!!
    ….
    Wonder how this final 3 game collapse alters our plans? Business as usual! No reason to over react? Or will heads roll, that might have been safe otherwise had the collapse not happen??
    ..
    Oh Bdawk also says he has a problem with our CB technique or lack their of THATs being taught… Wonder if Bradley isn’t enough of a Sacrafice, and we see the CB position coach on the chopping block as well.
    ..
    Silver Lining: no one will poach our coaches now lol
    Negative that really sunk in today and led to depression? We lost to Robert Griffin? How the hell can that even be possible? He isn’t very good

  642. 642 Avery Greene said at 8:01 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Isn’t Todd Lyght the coach?

  643. 643 GEAGLE said at 8:06 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Yeah that’s him

  644. 644 47_Ronin said at 8:33 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Lyght is an assistant John Lovett is the DB coach

  645. 645 RobNE said at 8:45 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    from SNL?

  646. 646 47_Ronin said at 8:50 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Lol, keeping Fletcher out there when it’s obvious he can’t cover certainly looks like the SNL alum was coaching

  647. 647 anon said at 9:22 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Azz is in control of the line — does billy d get credit or does azz? be interesting to see how much azz / chip controls the defense.

  648. 648 GEAGLE said at 8:08 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Also, so much respect for Cody Parky.. Tonight howie talked about how so many players who have bad games like that almost hide from the media, yet here was this young man, standing tall in front of all the media, taking responsibility for letting down his team mates, didn’t utter a word about the injuries.. Howie talked about how special they think he will be, and how impressed he was with how he handled himself yesterday, and wanted to make it clear, it wasn’t Coys fault we lost…

    Finding this young kicker was a friggin score, I’ll pretend we spent that 4th round pick on cody instead of henrey

  649. 649 Tyler Phillips said at 8:13 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    So are we content to spend another year w/ Foles at QB?

  650. 650 GEAGLE said at 8:15 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    You can not be… But you better get used to nIck… He isn’t going any where anytime soon 😉
    ..
    Unless you can get Luck or Wilson, FOles will be the next best QB once they all develope …

  651. 651 Tyler Phillips said at 8:25 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    I really don’t care. He’ll get hurt, again. And the conversation will be over.

  652. 652 botto said at 8:33 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    then we better resign the back up or get a new one….

  653. 653 GEAGLE said at 8:39 AM on December 23rd, 2014:

    Lol ok

  654. 654 botto said at 8:36 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    one thing that is driving me crazy is how far will the cowboys make it?
    they should win the first round, they looked tough yesterday, not matter what was happening, but they can’t get any further right?
    please!
    imagine how horrible it would be if they made it to the bowl on this lucky streak….
    they better not win a single playoff game

  655. 655 anon said at 9:07 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    they have a very good qb, elite rb, wr, te, if they can use the running game to keep people off the field they can go pretty fair.

  656. 656 GermanEagle said at 8:56 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Disclaimer: there’s no intention of crying about DeSean.

  657. 657 anon said at 9:05 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    daaaaamn. Philly media is brutal.

  658. 658 Tyler Phillips said at 9:31 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    and that’s the cartoonist lol

  659. 659 anon said at 9:26 PM on December 22nd, 2014:

    Even andy dalton running read option. Using Greshman as sift blocker and lead blocker, so silly.