The Finale
Posted: December 29th, 2014 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 412 Comments »Before we start obsessing on the draft and free agency, let’s talk a bit about yesterday’s game. While it wasn’t significant, there were some interesting things worth discussing.
* The run defense was a big part of the win. Bennie Logan played a strong game and had a TFL, his 10th of the season. Can we finally stop with the questions about adding a massive NT? Logan is a good player and should get better if he stays healthy.
* It was good to see Jordan Matthews finish with a strong performance. He was 8-105-1. I especially liked his RAC skills on Sunday. Matthews catches a lot of passes on the move. He’s got to be able to turn some of them into big plays, which is what he did on the 44-yard TD.
* Zach Ertz was 4-56 and had a good game. He should have more catches, but Sanchez inexplicably missed him a couple of times.
* Speaking of which…Mark Sanchez is a tough subject. Part of me wants him gone ASAP. Then another part of me remembers that the Eagles backup QB led the team to 426 yards and 27 points. There are some teams who would kill for numbers like that. Sanchez mostly played well on Sunday, but his lack of field vision and his erratic accuracy are utterly frustrating. We regularly see open guys not getting the ball. Sometimes we see open guys getting off-target throws. We saw both issues on Sunday.
* The Eagles need DBs who can catch the ball. There were 3 or 4 dropped INTs yesterday. Listen, no one expects DBs to make circus catches. That’s for star receivers. But when the ball hits you in the hands, you have to get it. Eli kept trying to give the ball away and Eagles DBs refused to take it until Nate Allen’s pick late in the game. That’s one area where Nate is good. He can catch the ball. If only we could give those hands to Malcolm Jenkins…
* Nolan Carroll was up and down. He was beaten for some catches early, but actually had good coverage on those plays. Too often we have unrealistic expectations in regard to coverage. WRs are going to catch passes. You want CBs who can stick on them and make those catches tough. Later on, Carroll’s coverage got more sloppy.
* It is hard to conclude anything about Jaylen Watkins since he played so little this year. He showed some potential yesterday, but also was beaten several times. I’m not sure if the Eagles see his future at CB, NB or S.
* Trey Burton had a terrific season as a STer. Can he start to develop as a TE in 2015? His scoop and score on the blocked punt showed effort and athleticism. That’s a key combination on STs.
I know some people wondered how hard the Eagles would play yesterday. Would they show heart and crap like that? The 2012 played awful in a meaningless finale (vs the Giants), but that was a bad team. This is a good team. I know some people were stuck on this team as having all kinds of problems, but they were still 9-6 heading into yesterday. The Eagles did play hard and they cut down on some mistakes.
It was good to see them end the losing streak. It was also nice to sweep the Giants. Coughlin and Eli can’t ride into 2015 on a winning streak and full of enthusiasm.
I hate that the season is over. This has been an interesting team to follow. In the end, they were just too sloppy to make it into the playoffs and even if they had, it likely would have been a short stay.
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That DL is so young and can be dominant at times already. That’s the most exciting part of this whole team. They have been extremely durable as well ( I can finally go ahead an say that now that the season is over, well now one is going to blow out an achilles playing basketball). It’s something to build our defense around. We have a pretty good collective pass rush, would still like that 1 pass rusher that keeps QB’s awake at night, that offenses need to double, and the rebuilt secondary will have a little bit easier time of things next year.
Vision of the defense is starting to come together. Malcolm Jenkins was balling yesterday… I like Boykin future in Nickel, watkins in Dime. It would really be a big boost to our future if Watkins could yoke up and be out safety with Jenkins, but at the very least I think we can count on him to replace Nolan in Dime, since Nolan is moving outside next year…. Cary probably back for his last year, opposite of Nolan,but a young outside former will take over for Cary after this last eagle season of his THATS comig ip
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Front 7 is going to be one of the best 5 in the NFL whenwe upgrade CaseyMathews and everyone gets around the age of 26,27… We should be a scary defense
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It’s coming!!! I knew we had most of the personel in place for an eventual quality defense,we just needed to grow it and add 3-4 more players and the defense is set!
I’m looking to watch the coach’s tape to see what Carrol and Watkins did. Can’t write anyone off or give a job on 1 game, especially Watkins in more or less his debut as a rookie on the outside, but it will be interesting to watch to see if there’s anything we can build off of this off season for them to compete for a job on the outside.
Think fans are going to be pissed when they see that Nolan was a better option than Bradley all along lol.
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Brad had a solid game. ODB made some plays against him, but Nolan also had his moments. Nolan and Cary also dropped easy INTs
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If Nolan was a solid Dime corner, he will do even better n the outside. This was the first year he ever played inside. No way he is a better inside corner after 1 year, then he is after years and years of outside corner.
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Jaylen is Definitely going to have a future here, just not sure In which role…at the very least, he will be a quality interior corner playing Dime or Nickel slot….. Best case scenario, he bulks up and proves to be a savior at safety, but that’s a LONGSHOT IMO
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Still ridiculously impressive to have a rookie who learned 3 positions to the point he takes reps at all 3 positions during each of chips fast paced practices…lthat some impressive Ish for a rookie
I just watched Chip’s press conference. The one thing I learned is that Chip will talk to you about anything, just don’t ask him about tomorrow.
How can he? He doesn’t know. He knows what he wants to address but has no idea how. Or is it, he has an idea how, but has no idea if that plan is even possible. Even areas he’s thinking not address might change as players(FA’s?) might drop in his hands…
Relax. I’m just amused by how testy he gets.
he does get testy…lol. I’ll still take him 100 times over AR press conferences….
As a massive Ohio State homer, I’ve still got a team in the playoffs, but I’ve also started to think about which of the guys might fit in Philly. I know about Chip’s fondness for PAC 12 guys, but I suspect he’s starting to run out of players he recruited and/or played against, so I think we’re likely to see him look elsewhere – and given the connections between the Eagles and Urban Meyer (Davis was his college roommate and best man, Kelly has visited to share ideas a number of times) I think the Buckeyes are a team to keep an eye on.
With that in mind, I’ve put together a list of Buckeyes that might be good fits for the Eagles in case anyone happens to be watching the Sugar Bowl and wants to know who to look out for:
Michael Bennett – DT – Bennett is a guy who has been up and down this year. He started the season rotating with Adolphus Washington between the 1-tech and 3-tech but, down the stretch, he has played the 3-tech exclusively and has absolutely dominated on the inside. He’s athletic and plays with good technique, but he doesn’t have the strength (yet) to consistently take on double-teams. I see him as a similar player to Vinny Curry who only has a year left on his contract and has a decent chance of leaving for a 4-3 team next summer which would make Bennett an interesting replacement.
Doran Grant – CB – This guy has quietly had a solid season, but it’s difficult to tell how much of that is due to the quality of receiver he’s faced in the Big 10. At the moment he looks like a Day 3 pick, but if he can put up a good performance against Amari Cooper he’ll definitely be worth considering if the Eagles don’t take a CB early.
Jeff Heuerman – TE – He’s not an explosive athlete or a ‘matchup nightmare’ at TE like most teams are looking for these days, but he’s a good blocker, he’s tough and he’s a good presence in the locker room. Heuerman reminds me a lot of Celek and, as another projected Day 3 pick, could be a really interesting prospect.
Devin Smith – WR – Not the crispest route runner, but Smith has speed to get open deep and, much like in Philly, if you don’t block you don’t play in Ohio State. Combine that with some of the circus catches he’s made during his college career and a guy CBS doesn’t currently expect to get drafted could be a good fit for the Eagles.
2 things that jumped out at me: for a defense that is so challenged by its offense’s style and tendencies, our D is sooo much better than the wide-nine bs of a few years ago. And the secondary that folks love to hammer as the root of all that is wrong, is a vast improvement over the no-touching-permitted CB pairing in 2012. The other thing – Mark Sanchez takes a snap and very rarely looks like he knows what he wants to do. He scans over the field as if he is waiting to see something jump out at him…and then he’ll stare down a receiver and throw into coverage. That play where he forced a pass to a blanketed Ertz in the EZ while Mathews was alone in the flat was disturbing.
“defense that is so challenged by its offense’s style and tendencies” — I disagree with 100%. By that statement — if the defense got a lot more 3 and outs — would the offense be challenged by the defense style? No. There are plays, here and there, that put’s the offense(or defense) in a bind – say like the offense turning the ball over on their 5 yard line. Outside of those plays, the offense doesn’t impact the defense and the defense doesn’t impact the offense. There are just way too many variables in a game to make a blanket statement like that….
The defense is absolutely challenged by uptempo. Even if the offense scores on every possession, the defense is on the field for record number of snaps. Whether you can grasp that or not, disagree to your hearts’ content – it matters not. And your curious question about the offense being challenged by the defense getting off the field every time, yielding no points, what sport are you referencing?
It’s not that I can grasp it, it’s how obtuse you’re being. One would simply say — the defense should be in better or as good as condition as is the offense.
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My point is — if the defense spends every single series 3 and out, would you complain the offense is on the field too much? Of course not. That’s as stupid as saying the defense is on the field too much. If the defense does it’s job — then they aren’t on the field too much.
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I’ll slow down to help you — the defense doesn’t have the talent it needs to succeed. We’re all hoping that’s addressed in 2015. Once the talent is there, there will not be any need for silly comments like “the defense is challenged by the offense”…..
You don’t get that the more times your defense is sent onto the field, regardless of its competence – the probability for missed tackles, blown assignments and touchdowns by the opposition all increase. And I’m obtuse?
Realllyyyyy excited about Bennie Logan next year. Him and Fletch are going to be freakin monsters!!!
Reading this puts a smile on my face…. Nice change from last year when I spent the entire offseason arguing with people who thought Logan wasn’t good enough and that we needed to draft a NT in round 1…. SMH
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We would never draft a NT in the first round. Ppl are just clueless. Chip has said time and time again that he doesn’t want/need a huge, massive NT..Just a strong guy with long arms and good feet that can neutralize the opposing teams Center. Bennie’s THAT guy
Preaching to the choir bud… I knew Logan was a BEAST LAST YEAR… But you are absoluteky right.
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Best young NT in the NFL… Only NT Id take ahead of Logan is Marcel Dareus
PFF mostly agrees with you:
“Defensive Interior – Nose: Bennie Logan, PHI (+3.3)
A big performance against the run, where he had four tackles resulting in a defensive stop, sees Logan earn his place here to end a season where he has shown flashes but has been fairly up and down on a positive
note.”
Yeah, I seem to remember that many fans wanted to draft Louis Nix, the fat NT with the bad knee, who played at Notre Dame. He spent his rookie season on Houston’s IR.
Yup!!!! I knew we wouldn’t touch. NT TIL round 7..
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If you go back and look at my predraft posts, I had us taking the NT from Cal in round 7, and I had us bringing Beau Allen to camp as an Undrafted free agent lol. I WAS CLOSE
A lot of fans had a bad taste in their mouth from watching Drew Brees complete 3rd and 1 sneaks over and over int he playoff loss to New Orleans last year.
Despite this, Benny played much better this year and looks to be a player on the rise.
Fletch?
Fletcher Cox lol
It took me a second, I thought you meant the other Fletcher…lol…
Yea understandable lol All us eagles fans are scarred for life from that guy..At least we won’t have to deal with him getting toasted next year.
Yesterdays game is too much of a “means nothing” to even say what’s good or even bad. That game has zero impact and stock on 2015. Can’t take anything from that game other than — haha, we beat the Giants again. Why wouldn’t Chip bring in competition at NT? Isn’t that the name of Chips game?
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We’re suppose to trust in Chip – or give him a leash because he new(however we want to word it). Chip is entering his 3rd year. I think it’s critical he shows “more” this year than last year. I don’t think enough of a step forward was taken from year 1 to year 2. In short, I expect a better team in 2015 and I expect changes at weak spots that weren’t addressed in the spring of 2014. Maybe too much of 2014 was derailed by injuries?
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One interesting fact about the Steelers/Cinci game last night that the announcer pointed out. A lot of the Steelers secondary were players who were cut from other teams. Now they are starters on a good playoff team. Diamonds can be found anywhere I guess….
Huh? Bennie logan is one of the top young NT in the NFL, and Beu Allen is a Steal…. NT is the last position we need help at
I agree 100%. I’m not saying that though. What I’m saying is — Chips philosophy is competition at all positions. Maybe Beu is Logan’s competition. But I wouldn’t be surprised if Chip brought in another NT or 2 for competition. What if a well established NT is suddenly available at a great price? I wouldn’t want Chip to turn is head and say — we’re great at that position, we don’t need help. I’m not saying it’ll happen and I’m saying Logan isn’t good…Chip shouldn’t leave a stone unturned….
No, no, no… No NT will be brought in… Beau and Bennies are here the next 4’years ATleast together
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Of course we move our DL around so for example, you see Cox line up at NT a few times a game also…Bair plays some nose too
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I assume only way we add to the DL is if we trade away curry
I’m ok with that – especially with their contracts and I’m more than ok with that…
We may lose Vinny sooner or later, when that haooens, we will have room for more DL. Also Bair is old but has no Mileage on his body, so not sure how much longer he will be here…. But you figure Bair, and possibly Curry will need to be replaced at some point the next couple years, so their will be room at some point, just not sure. If there is room for more this year…
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Who knows, maybe the draft a DL in first 2 rounds and then announce that they trDed vinny
oh my. Yes, the can trade him for the number 1 pick and get the QB everybody else wants….lmao!
the reality is no individual game tells much for the big picture of any individual player and the biggest impact is the emotional impact on the fans, so enjoy that. That said, year 2 as a whole for Bennie has been encouraging and Beau Allen (who hit his rookie wall a bit at the end of the season, but I have high hopes for him, we got too many needs to spend much more resources than grabbing a UDFA for camp competition).
Ike Taylor has been a Steeler for life.
Troy Polamalu has been a Steeler for life
Mike Mitchell has never been cut, and they signed him to a decent deal in FA.
William Gay played for the Steelers for 5 years, left for AZ, things didn’t work out, not uncommon, and he went back to PIT.
Cortez Allen who was their starting corner earlier in the year has been a Steeler his whole career.
Shmarko Thomas was drafted by the Steelers
That quote is misleading. It purports that the Steelers are turning trash into treasure.
Taylor has been out but still, I get your point. The announcer kept saying it over and over. Even Will Allen has been there for a few years. Casual fans, like me, took his word for it … can’t believe how wrong he was…
Color guys find a semi coherent point and repeat it to death.
Collinsworth is the fucking worst. Anything he says should be forgotten immediately.
“Why wouldn’t Chip bring in competition at NT?”
Is this sarcasm? There’s a lot of positions you can complain about, but thinking that Logan and Allen aren’t good enough isn’t a great argument.
Rex Ryan and Idzik…. FIRED!
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falcons bum coach Mike smith….FIRED!
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Harbaugh……FIRED,
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Bears GM Emry……FIRED!
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Rex has always been a joke as a HC. What a circus the Jets have been with him there.
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I’m certainly glad we’re not in the HC hunt. Do you think we retain all the other coaches?
Yeah, doubt our coaches get poached this year…. i could see them Not being happy with cornerback technique and change the cornerback coach or DB Coach.. but yeah, the main core of our staff should remain intact
I’m not sure how I feel about the QB coach though…lol.
Don’t blame you…. But the OL was such a mess, gotta give the QB and QB coach a better chance than they got this year.
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My worry is how the hell will we evaluate our offensive lineman? When it was so dysfunctional? Young kids can’t succeed when they are either playing next to someone different each week, or being moved to a different position or to a different side every week…. OL, Defense, and WR/QB are the relationships that can’t survive withou out chemistry,…. How do I judge tobin when one week he was at LG with Molk Next to him, next week Kelce is next to him, the week after he is moved to RG where he finds lane next to him, instead of jason Peters who he had been working with?…. How the hell can we evaluate OL, when they weren’t put in a position to have any chance at succeeding?
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If we had OL injuries, we would think that ATleast silver lining we could develop our bench, see what our bavkups look like.. Our luck, backups get to play a Ton, but it was so dysfunctional that they didntn even stand a chance…. NO CLUE how we will evaluate our OL with what a mess it was
I guess the good news is they trust Tobin enough to move him around. The better he can be in the future? I’m glad it’s not my job to evaluate these guys…
Could be wrong, because I didn’t watch him close enough.. But my impression is Tobin can have a nice future at LG, but he is one of those guys who struggles to move from one side to the other… Thought he was drastically better at LG then he was at RG… No surprise Ganer replaced him after a game or two on the right…. But Id bet that if Mathis got hurt, Tobin would have played, and Garner would be on the bench…
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Some OL can jump from one side to the other, some can’t…. My impression of Tobin is he could have a future here, but only on the left side. Wouldn’t be surprised if he is Mathis eventual replacement
think o line was just hurt all year. just bc you come back doesn’t mean you’re 100%
Can’t believe they left the Falcons GM alone. They have a bottom 10 roster at this point.
Damn it…stanford TY Montgomery not playing in the bowl game. Wanted to watch him one last time…got my eye on him, because he will fall to round 2, possibly even round 3
Watch Danny boy snyder hire Rex Ryan, either to replace Gruden or Haslett… He is dumb enough to pay whatever it takes to get Rexy
That would be hilarious!!!
After the games shady McCoy said he is “SURE that him and the Eagles can get a renegotiated contract done”… Happy McCoy knows he ain’t seeing that crazy money, and is ok with it…… Good for you shady!!
Buyers be ware in free agency.
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You don’t treat free agency like fantasy football. Be very careful how you spend your money and who you add to your locker room.. BUT WE SHOULD HAVE ALREADY LEARNED THIS LESSON!
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What the Dolphins give MIke Wallace? 50million? 60million?
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The kid litally comes out the game yesterday, told coach Phylbin he is done, and isn’t going. Back in the game, blatantky quitting on his team mates and coaches, pissing off the players…
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You don’t let BG or one of your homegrown talents walk. And then replace them with an unknown from another team.. For example let’s say Jabaal Sheard who I love. We Know how BG fits, we know how he works, we know if he can be counted on, and we know what sacrafices he is willing to make.. Even if you like a guy like Sheard a little more, it’s not worth making change for small upgrades… Unless you talking about a real upgrade like Jusin Houston, you don’t lose a known like BG, and go pay a slightly bett unknown, because you never really know who’s the new guy will fit
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Although in Sheard’s case, Billy Davis knows him from the Stint with the Browns
I agree this isn’t fantasy football but let us say you went and got Sheard or Worilds for 4 years 26mil and then BG goes to Atlanta for 5 years 40 players should be smart enough to know why the change was made especially if guys like Maclin, Cox and Kenny are kept.
My concern is BG said he wants to be in a 4-3 — maybe he is just saying that for more money? Don’t know…
I think he does
Doubt he cares.,, he rushes plenty as a 4-3 DE in philly
Dallas or the Lions? I HATE Dallas … but Suh is just a complete ass. Hard to cheer for him to win.
Lol we would love Suh if he was on our side! Lol Suh, bennie, Cox? YES PLEASE!!!! Lol
Damn straight what a D Line would that be, he is like Desean in the sense that you love him on your team but hate him when he isn’t, still do not hate him more than Dallas lol.
I will be rooting for him to punish romo and Murray every play!!!
break some bones
me too, then I’ll hate him!!! LOL.
Suh would never be here. Never. Too much of a problem on the field, can’t trust the guy to not do something like last night to get suspended for arguably the most important lions game in decades.
How in the world is this even a question? I mean, really.
Fletcher Cox is also a bit of a dirty player but I’ve never seen an Eagles fan complain.
I’ve never — ever seen Cox stomp on peoples ankles to purposely cause injury. The two are not even close…
to add — the nfl suspended him — with very good reason. This guy is an ass.
Burton is sort of blocked by Ertz and that’s the only blocking Ertz does.. that is they have similar skill sets as TEs since they are better at routes than blocks. Burton has elite hands while Ertz has always made drops, but Ertz’ route running and separation is near the top of the league. The team did well for themselves by keeping Burton around.
Sanchez is still young and even for me, who’s been defending him, it’s hard to fathom that his QB rating is so much better than Foles.. really not bad, and his INTs and fumbles aren’t out of line with other average starters. The frustrations are so similar to what annoyed Jets fans that whether they are correctable is unclear. He’s used to Philly pressure because of NYC but he may opt for a smaller market that needs a starter, or take a backup salary to stay with Kelly. I don’t see a better option in free agency. After 2015-6 there will be a bidding war for several top QBs if they don’t extend before that.
There is not 1 GM, nor should there be, a GM saying — “we need Sanchez as our starter”. He stinks. You can defend him though. It’s what we all do for our favorite players, even if they stink…lol… I still defend Arod. I can’t help it.
I’d say there’s a better than 50-50 chance there is one, but we’ll see. The other thing about Sanchez it is seems like the locker room is turning against him – when key losses mount and you don’t see open receivers the fingers start to point. In this respect Foles benefited by better defensive play as he didn’t see open receivers either, but seemed to find them in 2013.
True. Foles start is a concern for sure. I have more faith in Foles learning than Sanchez…
Please tell me Jay Gruden is safe!
I’m kinda sad that Jim Harbaugh took the Michigan job. The NFL has lost a great head coach.
yeah but can’t blame him
more FO money in amateur sports than professionals? Sends a great message.
A lot of 49ers fans were holding the door for him. One posted that Harbaugh is a great coach…for 3 or 4 years, and then he’s done. I don’t know his track record real well, but apparently he wears out a welcome pretty fast.
Lurie on Foles
“It’s not easy [drafting late in rounds]. You’ve got to really catch a break. You’ve got to find the players that are undervalued. That’s what happens. Obviously with Aaron, with Green Bay, they got an undervalued player at that point [late in the first round]. That has to happen for a franchise to have that type of situation.
“You’re always faced with that. Every team is faced with that. We didn’t go from Peyton to Luck – let’s put it that way.”
Aaron Rogers was under valued his whole career, including college. He was a late bloomer. Congrats to GB to finding him.
But even then, it was widely expected that Rodgers would be taken much earlier in that draft than he was. A bunch of teams decided they already had a QB they liked and had bigger needs.
Tom is officially back in New York THANK YOU BECKHAM!
yeah thats crazy — he should be buying ODB a house.
When they showed him getting apoplectic on the sideline yesterday I thought, “Aw, I’m gonna miss that.”
Just realized it is the first time in like 10 years with no worst to first team
dallas is first and they are the f%$#ing worst!
among the HOF comments here
well done.
It’s going to be hard to improve this team when you look at areas of weakness.
#1 Offensive production. Cody Parkey just set some records with points scored. That’s not a good thing.
#2 Defensive scheme and adapatation. You can’t just let Jordy Nelson and Dez Bryant run rampant all over you. Over and over and over again. I hate the stubbornness at CB.
#3 Bradley Fletcher/Cary Williams. As much as we like to rip them apart, they’re not the worst corners around. It’s not going to be easy to find a FA or drafted corner that can replace either of them, let alone both.
#4 QB play. WTF happened to Nick Foles? Why does he always seem so panicky and fearful? Why is a 6’6 245 lb QB already having durability issues?
#5 The defense is just as good as the offense is. http://www.advancedfootballanalytics.com/index.php/home/tools/vizualizations/advanced-team-stats-viz and the only reason this team wasn’t 8-8 (league average in both OFF & DEF) was that the ST influenced multiple games.
#6 BG is no longer free, T. Cole is no longer affordable (or worth it?), need to extend Cox & Kendricks, need to give Maclin a lot of money, need to rework Shady’s deal, probably have to cut Todd Herremans. Need to fix Cary’s contract or cut him. I don’t think we should cut him based on depth, but 8 million for him is simply not worth it.
all good points.
except number 4 — durability issues after 1 broken bone?
You must be new. He broke his hand in year 1. He had concussion issues in year 2, and then broke his clavicle year 3.
you must be new … he wasn’t the qb year 1 … nor year 2…
Since this is year 1 of him being the starter — it’s stupid to question durability…
Doesn’t that make it even worse? Major injuries / games started.
That quotient is pretty important.
Just noticed this thread after posting mine, but to repeat, those are injuries that just about any QB in the league is going to sustain after taking those hits. Tissue injuries are much different. There’s variability to how a hamstring or ankle gets injured, what might injure on player might not injure the other. But taking hits that break bones, those don’t.
I agree with most of what you’re saying, however the assertion that braking bones is not variable, I don’t agree. Some people simply have more durable bones than others. It’s a small sample size at this point, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
Foles has durability issues because of his play style. Like our last few QB’s he likes to hold the ball and he absorbs some nasty hits because of it. On top of that, running the R/O means he’ll take a few more hits and we all cringe when he attempts to slide. Not sure if it’s correctable as I’ve yet to see a QB change this particular habit. We all laud Foles for his toughness, but I wish he’d learn to avoid some of the nastier hits.
Cole is probably back on a cheaper deal. Same with Shady.
BG is gone.
I wouldn’t put anything past the FO, generally the people they let walk aren’t great anyway. it’d be interesting to see what happens with both of them. BG is not the answer the fact that they didn’t find a way to give him that 2.5m says something to me as well.
I don’t think they let BG go. They need a young pass rusher, and he’s the only one on the roster at OLB.
He’s a free agent and thinks he is best as a 4-3 defensive end, and thinks he would be a starter on a team that needs one. I think he will find that opportunity.
But he could also be the 3-4 OLB starter in Philly next year.
But are you giving big money to an incomplete OLB who wants to play in a 4-3 when there are options
I’m not sure he’s incomplete though. Unless the Eagles can get someone like Justin Houston, there’s not really anyone better out there who would be available.
He isn’t all that good in coverage at all, isn’t in the best shames and only gets his stats in bursts in limited snaps and has done nothing the second half of the year including his last 2 weeks where he had a chance to prove something. You can get away with some of that stuff as a 4-3 end but not a full time 3-4 OLB and I am not convinced we wouldn’t be better off with a guy like Worilds, Sheard etc.
He played very well in the past two games, especially WAS. He covers just as well as Aldon Smith does, yet he never gets shat on.
I think Smith is better in coverage and twice the rusher, plus he is much better shape and does his damage full time, BG has gotten some numbers up in short bursts when fresh but no sacks in the last 7 games and he can disappear when he is out there for a while, I don’t hate him but if I am BG and Atlanta, or some other tea offers me big money to be 4-3 DE that the Eagles shouldn’t match why the hell would I take less to play OLB where I am asked to do things I clearly don’t excel at.
I’d take Sheard over BG.
same
With regards to #1, Parkey gets a point every time the offense scores. That stat doesn’t mean much of anything without context.
Good point. Just checked, and he made 32 FGs, league high was 35FG.
My point was more along the lines of “This team has trouble in the Red Zone”
Agree with most except #4. You don’t think you can call breaking a collarbone “durability issues.” Consistently pulling a muscle, or having recurring soft tissue injuries is one thing, but dealing with a concussion and broken bones are not things that can vary from person to person. Anyone’s hand or collarbone would have broke with the hits he took. I would consider Aaron Rodgers more injury prone than Nick Foles if thats your definition, and I think we can all agree he’s not that.
Nick has his issues that we can, and should, be concerned about, but having said that, I’m all for giving him next year to prove it, if and only if he has a quality OL to work with. Otherwise, you can’t know what he’s capable of after the OL he was dealing with earlier in the year.
On Howie Big Boss Roseman Laurie must love him. He’s a great accountant but I don’t think he’s ever had decision making power over personnel. I can’t tell if that’s a great way to operate. I guess that’s why Tom Gamble is on the pay role, but it sounds like CK thinks he’ll move on.
Be interesting to hear why they have such a “cold” relationship.
Howie might be the 2014 MVP when you look at the good contracts he did. He’s the least of the problems.
Nevermind. I instantly changed my mind when I thought about who we took in the 2014 draft.
“Part of me wants him (Sanchez) gone ASAP”
I’m all for letting the “Sanchize” move elsewhere – San Diego, where he can hook up with Ronnie Brown, seems most fitting to me.
we had the same record as last year and the team looked worse but remember the only reason we made the playoffs last year is we beat Kyle Orton by two points.
and that win in Lambaue without Mr. Rogers…
our Db’s faced megatron in the snow.
this team will look better next year no doubt.
we need to be set up to compete with the big boys on defense.
our db’s will be facing some tough wide receivers in our division for a while too.
I think Foles will come out firing, polk can be used more, and huff is going to shock some people.
Agree on all accounts. I really am excited by Huff. He has shown talent and serious RAC abilities. He is tough to bring dow. Very violent runner for a WR. The mistakes he made can be corrected. Felt bad for him. He made a knack of messing up durring worst time possible everytime. You can tell he is a competitor and he will.work hard to get better.
I pray Suh isn’t suspended for Sunday
Rex would be perfect for Atlanta
Re: Some Comparison Drafting
Here are the Eagles’ 1st two drafts under Chip Kelly (listing only picks who’ve been played more than a few snaps here and there):
2013 (8 picks):
– 1st Rd, ROT Lane Johnson: Rookie Starter
– 2nd Rd, TE Zach Ertz: part-time receiving TE
– 3rd Rd, NT Benjamin Logan: Rookie Starter
– 5th Rd, S Earl Wolff: backup
2014 (7 picks):
– 2nd Rd, WR Jordan Matthews: Rookie Starter
– 3rd Rd, WR Josh Huff: kick-returner, part-time WR
– 7th Rd, NT Beau Allen: rookie part-timer
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Here’s Pete Carroll’s first two drafts with the Seahawks:
2010 (9 picks):
– 1st Rd, S Earl Thomas – Rookie Starter / All Pro since 2nd season
– 1st Rd, LOT Russell Okung – Rookie Starter
– 2nd Rd, WR Golden Tate – became full-time starter in Y-2
– 4th Rd, CB Walter Thurmond – Rookie Starter at Nickel CB
– 5th Rd, S Kam Chancellor – starter Y-2 / All Pro since Y-2
2011 (9 picks):
– 1st Rd, OG James Carpenter – Rookie Starter
– 4th Rd, OLB KJ Wright – Rookie Starter
– 5th Rd, CB Richard Sherman – Rookie Starter / All Pro Y-2
– 6th Rd, CB Byron Maxwell – backup
– 7th Rd, OLB Malcolm Smith – Rookie Starter at Nickel LB / starter OLB Y-2
** All 10 of those picks started in Seattle’s SB win last season.
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Carroll took over a team coming off 4-12 and 5-11 seasons under Jim Mora.
In 2010, Carroll’s first year as Seahawks coach, he had only 4 carry-over starters on offense from the Mora regime and just 4 on the defense.
In Year 2 for Carroll, he had only *one* carry-over starter from Mora’s team on offense – Center Max Unger (from Oregon) – and just 3 on defense.
In 2013, Chip Kelly also took over a sliding team with 8-8 and 4-12 records.
Kelly’s first Eagles team had 10 carry-over starters on offense and 6 on defense from the Reid regime. This season, Kelly started 9 carry-overs
(when healthy) on offense and the same 6 on defense.
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So in Year 2 of the Kelly program, he had 15 carry-over starters out of 22 from the Reid regime. Whereas Year 2 for Carroll had him down to only 4 out of 22 for the Seahawks.
The numbers show that Carroll chose to overhaul the core of Seahawks roster — and he did so very quickly and very successfully.
Kelly chose not to overhaul the Birds’ core group, for whatever the reasons.
(Not judging. Just drawing an inference.)
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So now, with Kelly’s program entering Year 3 in 2015, he and the Birds would seem to face a couple of related — and colliding — challenges.
On the one hand, the carry-over starters from the Reid era are getting older, more expensive, and are or will become free agents. (Same for some key rotation guys like Boykin and Curry.)
On the other hand, Kelly’s first couple drafts have not generated the quantity or quality — not yet, at least — of high-quality replacements needed to replace, or at least push, many of the Reid-era carry-overs.
Bottom line . . . those data suggest that for the Eagles to continue being competitive, not to mention improve, I think the Birds will need to be far more productive on draft day. As free agency has been proven not to be the answer.
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NOTE 1: I didn’t include the Eagles 2012 draft because Kelly wasn’t involved. So there’s no way to know if he’d have selected Cox over, say, Chandler Jones. Or Kendricks over Bobby Wagner. Or traded for Wilson, instead of sitting pat and drafting Foles. Just no way to know.
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NOTE 2: Generally, 1st Rd picks have about a 58% chance of becoming full-time multi-year starters (defined as 3-4 seasons).
That success rate drops precipitously — to 6.5% (15 years’ data) — if a 1st-Rd pick fails to start a single game his rookie year. (That number excludes QBs because not only can’t you can’t rotate players at that position, the failure rate is disproportionally high anyway.).
For example, among the other 93.5%, are former Eagles DE Jerome McDougle, along with the likes of CB Rashad Anderson, DE Jamal Reynolds, DE Erik Flowers, DT Kentwan Balmer, CB Jason Allen, WR Rashaun Woods, DT Jimmy Kennedy, DE Michael Haynes, DT Jon McCargo, OT Derrick Sherrod, and OLB Aaron Maybin (just to name a few).
Among that 6.5% are former Eagle CB Lito Shepard is a– after playing behind
CBs Troy Vincent and Bobby Taylor his rookie year of 2002, both of whom made All Pro that season.
Also, former Colts DE/OLB Jerry Hughes overcame his very slow start — but only after the Colts released him after his 3rd year and he signed with Buffalo (notching 10 and 9.5 sacks the past 2 seasons).
And Hughes is a free agent this year.
Wow. Great analysis and anecdotal information. Rough odds for MSII. Jerry Hughes come on down to Eagle land. Remember him from TCU in the… was it Danny Watkins draft?
hughes was 2010
eagles traded up for Graham
It is necessary to put some context when comparing the beginning of Kelly’s and Carroll’s era. The most important thing is that the Seahawks fired their GM and brought John Schneider, while the Eagles stayed with Roseman – it was not a restart like the Seahawks did.
If Roseman was fired, i think the Eagles would not carry-over so many starters from Reid’s era.
CK has 100% control over the roster and brought gamble in for talent eval. Things would have been the same rather or not Roseman was here (though I think Gamble might be GM if Roseman wasn’t here — may be the tension between Howie and CK)
Great post with some really useful information. Thanks.
I don’t know how you fix all the problems the Eagles still have. So they have to do the best they can.
The Eagles can’t afford to have players as bad as Fletcher and Nate Allen starting; they probably also need to upgrade over Casey Matthews assuming DeMeco Ryans is not returning. Cole and Graham both might not be back, also.
Meanwhile, they have to be considering one or two offensive line positions due to the aging at that position. If Maclin’s not returning, they need to replace him, and they probably would be looking to upgrade Cooper as a starter as well.
There’s no way they do all of that in one offseason.
(and all of that assumes that we continue to have Foles as our QB.)
You can;t fix everything in an offseason but every team has a weak link there is not a team that is set at all 22 positions, you can resign Maclin, maybe get a mid tier LB or G, maybe invest some money in DB or look to the draft and hopefully fill some of the holes
While I think two of the biggest needs are clearly in the secondary, this team never goes anywhere without upgrading the offense. Bringing it back at least to where it was last year.
Scored more points this year. All of them special team and defensive TD’s helped a lot.
Crazy as it sounds, I think Casey Matthews should be re-signed. If you view him as a back up ILB, he’s tough to upgrade. He played adequately down the stretch. Relatively speaking, he filled in for “the QB of the defense” as well as the back up QB filled in.
As a starter -no doubt- the spot can be improved.
All ILBs will be back except for maybe acho. Between D and ST Matthews should be back he just doesn’t have the range that you need in a 3-4. It’s a huge liability for the secondary, all the LBs except Kendricks.
Here’s a relatively specific non-specific solution:
Sign Maclin.
Sign high end DB in FA. Preferably that corner from Seattle (Maxwell?)
Sign/trade for mid-level OL or preferably, 2, with eye to one replacing Toddfather. Physical guy with some athleticism, as opposed to athletic guy, to help balance out Kelce’s weakness against physical DTs.
Sign/trade for mid level ILB to compete with Goode, etc.
Draft an OL in first round.
Draft a DB in 2nd. (or switch the last two).
Draft a ILB in 3rd.
Draft a “1 cut and go” RB in later rounds.
It’ll put them close to the cap with keeping some talent on the roster, most likely, and Howie will need to be creative, but it’s doable. The key piece will be whether that’s enough to fix the OL/run game problems. I’m not sure it is. You also have to hope for improvement from players already on the roster, but I think that’s not unreasonable, given past results.
Meco will be back based on CK’s press conference. “I’m a huge Meco fan, I think we need him, he really sets the tone on defense”
Not at 6.9mil
The salaries of half the players on the team are too high.
honestly I’m down with cutting Williams, Meco, Cole, Casey and Toddfather cuz that’s 30mil
I’d rather restructure all those guys, it’s just too much to try to replace in one year.
IS FA before or after the draft? That also makes a huge difference. If MSII had shown more we probably could get rid of an OLB but he didn’t and we don’t know where he’ll play so it’s hard to tell what move to make. Terrible that Goode was injured this year.
FA is before, I would def. cut Williams ( he sure as hell won;t redo his deal) and Casey and one of Cole, Meco, Todd while restructuring the other 2
yeah maybe you keep graham at a cheap number, and cut cole? Or just get a better 3-4 OLB, especially if the secondary is weak.
Try to trade for Jordan again?
I’ve said it and I think we just let Graham walk go after Sheard or Worilds (maybe Orakpo if the guarantees are real low) or maybe try Jordan again but I would want to keep Cole at a low number if we go the Jordan route
Jordan? Well, his value has certainly dropped.
Guaranteed Meco is an eagle next year.
Cleveland has 2 first round picks for the freaking 3rd straight year and will find a way to ruin them
Bills are a joke for making that trade for sammy watkins. Whoever made that trade. Can’t possibly get to keep his job. The Bills would have a top 15 pick this year, and they could have chosen between ODB and Mike Evans… Not to mention maybe Sammy would have Fallen to them
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To give up a first round pick to get a WR in the most stacked WR class imaginable should point blanks be an IMMEDIATE FIREABLE OFFENSE
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NOTHING would make me happier than seeing the Browns take a public dump All over Johnny “clipboard” and use their two first rounders to go draft Martiotta!
Watkins had the highlight reel coming out.
And nice measurables.
But he wasn’t Randy Moss (without the head problems).
Crazy-ass trade. More crazy-ass than Washington’s deal for Robert Griffin.
By the way, in scouting Griffin, were any yellow flags going up about his football aptitude?
I can’t blame them their pick is down and 19 this year and Sammy was a serious prospect I don’t think Sammy would have made it to them probably goes 5 to OAK while 7 stays the same, in hindsight yes take ODB at 9 but whatever. I never loved the trade but it wasn’t “OH WHAT A STUPID TRADE’ in real time
We regularly see open guys not getting the ball. Sometimes we see open guys getting off-target throws.
This was a problem all year for us.
Execution in general was never as clean as last year, at least it seemed that way.
Our DB’s remind me of those inflatable arm guys!
Those guys have a 50/50 chance of turning to the ball. Fletcher and Sconces -not so good.
DAMN IT SUH GOT SUSPENDED!
good. the jackass deserved it. Win or lose — Dallas isn’t going far anyway. Glad the nfl did this and not a “suspend for next season”…
just fine him
They fined him a bunch, his peers have smeared his name and is now known as a dirty player and he’s never changed even a little on the field. had this one coming.
I rather think Suh has smeared his own name. He has hurt his team every year and still hasn’t learned that there are cameras everywhere.
I keep seeing people here say this about Dallas’ playoff chances, yet didn’t they say the same thing about Dallas during the regular season?
I don’t get why people are so confident that Dallas isn’t going anywhere. This could get excruciating.
All year people were saying this…..unreal.
“Wait until ROmo Chokes in Decmber!!!”
Uh huh.
That offense is built for playoff success as long as Romo doesn’t have a meltdown. Defense is terrible, but they have the firepower to compete in a shoot out. Not like any of the other high-powered offenses have great defenses either. Definitely haven’t written them off.
Just realized that ROMO has been their QB for almost 10years. That’s a lot of patience for so few playoff experiences. I guess I can hold onto Foles for the long run?
I was hoping Detroit could be them but I don’t see it now I just don’t know if I would bet on them going into GB AND Seattle and winning
It’s no gimme, but if they can beat Seattle at home (they did), they can beat anyone at their home.
Seattle is a different monster then the team they played back in week 6
Agreed, would be a heart-breaker if Cowboys make it to the Superbowl through so many juggernauts.
Yep I hate to say it but with Suh out I think Dallas wins but hopefully GB takes care of business next week. Personally I don;t see Dallas getting much better in the offseason Murray or Dez is likely gone probably murray and if Demarco doesn;t go off this year you are looking at another 7-8 win team
Who knows, Dallas hasn’t been very good at home, Redskins pulled off a win there, Detroit might have some magic in them.
DET has an offense that can put up points, even without SUH the D isn’t that bad.
Because Dallas has to go through either Seattle or GB — it’s not happening…
Y’all need to chill about the Cowboys. That is not a Super Bowl caliber team. The defense sucks and Romo, as many plays as he makes, can be counted on to self-destruct at some point, Favre-style. Even without Suh I think they’re only 50-50 to beat Detroit, against whom they do not match up well, and they will have to win on the road as serious underdogs against both Green Bay and Seattle to get to the Super Bowl. Relax.
Leonard Williams (best player in the draft if you ask me) officially declaring if any of you care
Lock to become a jaguar
No way Suh gets suspended if he did that to Foles.
he’d get freaking NFC player of the week if it was against us
How is Manziel going out and missing meetings? He needs a code red
http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Mt-Dew-Code-Red-mountain-dew-game-fuel-170884_403_504.jpg
Wasn’t Romo supposed to be choking in December, and Murray wearing down by the end of the season. Yet some fans think the Cowboys won’t go far in the playoffs.
Dallas is my dark horse in the NFC now. And I will certainly not be surprised if they reach the championship game.
Let’s all hope we will not witness this nightmare scenario.
I’m not watching a cowboys – pats SB.
I won’t be watching football in 2015 should the Cowboys win it all.
Granted he deserved it, but Suh missing the game will help the Cowboys.
Dunno if anyone mentioned it yet.. But what was up with the lack of pass rush? Is Thorton replaceable/upgraded? Good run stopper but non existent in the pass rush
Everyone is subject to upgrade, but we’re a run first defense.
that’s certainly the job of our front 3 in this defense first and foremost. On passing downs Curry steps in for Thornton I believe. Thornton is fantastic value in this defense.
Sure Thorton can be upgraded but with who? He is a solid young player no need to create another need pay the guy
No… Ced, logan, Cox need to be left alone. Once we lose Curry or Bair, there will be room for a DL(DONT know if that will be this year or next year)
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Think it would be really foolish to lose Cedrick
yeah I agree he may not be a complete star or whatever but solid young players don;t grow on trees
Young technician!!! CED, Cox, and Logan, need to be left alone. Not only to grow as individual monsters, but if you let those 3 grow up together, I know they will develope into one of the best front 3’s in the NFL for years to come… They will be GREAT having gelled together playing next to each other for years!!
Can’t believe you haven’t mentioned Taylor Hart. I know he didn’t make an impact this year, but he’s got the tools to be a successful player in this defense. I expect him to beat out Bair next season.
2015 is Ced Thornton’s final pre-free agency year.
No question he’s been an important piece to the implementation of Kelly’s stop-the-run first defense.
The question with CThornton now is how much the Eagles are willing to pay him to stay.
This past off-season, the Eagles absolutely screw-balled him on his 2014 salary (NFL 3rd-year player minimum w/ no bonuses). Team management made the decision to pay him the rock-bottom least amount possible to keep him.
Not even a measly extra $100,000 for a team about to be something like $20M or $30M under the cap. And which is perennially under the cap by many millions.
Will the Eagles cut a multi-year deal with CT this year before he reaches free agency?
If not, when FA comes, seems like CT should be looking to max out his compensation. 2016 will likely be his only shot at a big contract (relatively speaking). And he’d fit nicely on a couple of good teams that can’t play defense at the moment or are about to lose their best DT to free agency (Colts; Lions).
And I don’t see why Thornton would give the Birds any kind of I-love-it-here discount. (A chance to match, maybe. But no discount.)
Who would step in for Thornton in 2016? Taylor Hart, apparently. And Hart’s back up would be 32 year-old Brandon Bair. Or maybe Bair’s the starter with Hart the back-up.
I love Thorton, I danced when we got him as a UDFA. I cussed out everyone who said he was trash in year two and three. But he also plays a position that you can draft later and develop. Look at 49ers and Baltimore. They draft them on day 2 or 3 stash them for a year or two, and let them walk in Free agency. Pittsburgh just signed Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel to like (50 year, 40 boxes of rogaine for beards annually) deal back in the 70s. I’m not opposed to keeping him, I would love it, but from resource allocation standpoint, it may not be the best idea.
34 Base DE’s are run stoppers first, second, and third.
The frustrating thing about our DB’s is often they are in tolerable coverage (which great throws will beat), but they aren’t playing the ball. Most of the time they are running for their lives to keep up, so they are taught to just try to watch the eyes and hands and try to get their own hands in there for the PBU, but more often they just end up with PI’s than PBU’s. Going to need some guys with “easy” speed, where they can run and play corner at the same time.
What’s really frustrating, is we were actually excellent at not giving up big plays last year. But teams could throw underneath on us all day long….
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If we defended the X plays as well as last year, with our improved front 7 our defense would have been elite… but we ended up fixing up front, and now we get killed by X plays….and that’s really frustrating, especially since the same DBs who didn’t give up the X plays last year. Kept everyone in front of them, are getting roasted deep this year..and it really,sucks when half the time, our DBs are actually In position to stop it….
I think the rule change got the better of them. without any contact with their speed they either play too deep and give up the underneath stuff too easy, or not quite deep enough and they get into a foot race with people much faster than them. IMO Fletcher simply is not fast enough to play corner in this league anymore.
Someone should be fired if “The rule change got the better of them” the league has been limiting allowable touching over the past few years, unless you’re SEA. I just wouldn’t build my D based off press man, isolation.
That will always make your talent look worse and your scheme better.
Yeah, screw CONTINUTY or the fact that we simply lacked the horses back there….somone should be fired! F it! Let’s make some change for the sake of change baby!!! Fire someone!!!!!
firing was facetious but to me it doesn’t make any sense to build a secondary based off bump and run when the league is phasing out that type of coverage. Does that make sense to you? Did continuity make the secondary any better this year?
Hard to argue against any of that…
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I have a feeling Fans are going to get pissed of when they really see what Nolan is capable of on the outside lol. Don’t think he will be a Probowl corner, but I expect him to be drastically better than what bradley was this year, and fans are going to be pissed when they see what he is capable of and how we let Brad play ahead of him this year.
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Overall. I would say fans view signing Nolan as a solid addition, he has played well In different roles like Dime, Gunner… But outside corner is really his position. That’s what he play when the Eagles evaluated his film and decided they wanted to sign him…. He wasn’t GREAT yesterday, up and Down game against ODB… But you give him continuity and just let him be the outside corner, and there is little doubt in my mind he can do much better than what we got out of Brad this year
it’s eagles, fans are pissed regardless. Shady had a PB calibur year we went want to cut him. We’re going to play really good WRs, corners will get burnt. Hopefully not mental snafus and that he gets some safety and LB help, etc. Think the whole pass defense needs to be tightened before anyone can look good.
Yeah. Agree 100% on this.
Think we need much better safety play.
You think? You sure you don’t want another season of Nate Allen?
I’d take him off the bench, but he has no instincts. you think we should have paid someone last year? Think $10m for byrd would be too much (assuming no injury). I wasn’t fully on that bandwagon but you gotta think a guy like him would have like 10 picks the way QBs were throwing over the top.
With better safety play we’re probably in the playoffs (thinking about the Cardinals game alone but also Dallas) Is that worth $8m (net salary difference between Byrd and replacement). How much do you think we pay this year (we have to pay someone, right)?
Knowing what I know now, our starters this year should have been Malcolm Jenkins and 30yr old Antoine Bathea who we should have signed to a 2-3yr deal, we would have to high caliber safeties that could be more than enough to win with the next two Years while we develope young safeties to eventually replace them.
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I had no idea Bathea was still playing at such a high level
Safety is deep in this draft imo.
Do you? I haven’t fallen in love with many yet…but there is still time. What do you think of the Virginia kid, what’s his name, anthony Harris?
Yeh another one who looks really good. I’m telling you these safeties are SO much better than last year. I really see a huge difference. Last year how many safeties where there that would be of interest? Maybe 3? This year I have Eskridge, Derron Smith, Anthony Harris, Kurtis Drummond and even some later rounders like Clayton Geathers from UCF and Jacob Hagen from Liberty. It’s a good year to need safties in the draft.
Derron Smith from Fresno State is a very rangy and explosive guy and may be my favorite. He is one of the smaller safties at 5’11” 200lbs but he still has hard hits plays special teams and NEVER lets up the big play. If he puts on 5-10 lbs….. look out.
Dream scenario is keeping Trae Waynes and Kurtis Drummond together.
Williams and Fletcher are both better when they can play physically.
It was a coaching failure to adjust to stricter contact calls.
But they both still stink.
Boykin is the only guy on the team who can cover.
FOles exit press conference was awesome. Kid is a stud.
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I don’t know how everyone else feels, but today was the first time I really felt like Chip is officially a professional coach, and he wants no parts of going back to college. Thinking he will stay in the Pros as long as he can, and it’s a solid opportunity. Chip mentioned how attractive our healthy cap situation is.
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I just get the impression that chip is a true competition junkie, and the weekly war/challenge of the NFL job is something he just enjoys too much to want to go back to coaching, when half the games You know you have no chance of losing. Think this guy is a real competitor. I don’t think chip is content with the pro coach he is today, thinking he wants to grow and improve as a coach, and he is really in this to hunt SUPERBOWLS. Challenge/competition junkie. If he isn’t good enough coach to win a Super Bowl today, he will grow and improve as a coach, learn from his mistakes TIL he becomes gpod enough
“Chip mentioned how attractive our healthy cap situation is.”
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Sounds like the siren song of free agency roulette?
Scotch the “Maxwell’s too expensive” theory. I think Kelly’s going to bust the bank for him.
The guy wants to win now. While they’ve still got the muscle.
Doubt it..
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Plenty of times he also mentioned how he would love more great players, but not if adding a great players forces us to cut or not resign 4-5 of our guys..
.,.
I’m sure if there is an immediate upgrade thatt fits, which won’t cripple our ability to keep our core young players chip will jump on it. for example, I don’t think RB was a major need in Chips mind last year, but a great, affordable player wh fits everything we do in Sproles was made available, and we jumped on it…I’m sure chip will Do the same thing with Corner. And Safety position, but fans should prepare for a real possibility of Cary and Nolan starting on the outside in September, and our DB additions coming n the draft instead of free agency. DB is IMMEDIATE NEED, so I prefer fixing it with game ready veteran free agents, but there is a real chance, we wll have to go through the draft….
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But If a corner on the market is only marginally Bette than Nolan, we won’t make changes just for the sake of it
Kelly will want to sign them all (the good Eagles reaching FA).
But besides Cox and Kendricks, who are the “must keep” Eagles?
Kelly, according to a CSN account of his presser today, wouldn’t even commit to bringing back Maclin or McCoy. What he said sounded like, “that’s a business decision,” rather than, “we’ll find a way to get it done.”
I think what Kelly saw among the DBs the last month will drive him to make a big move back there.
Lurie’s post-game comments yesterday suggests the same thing.
And — as you’ve argued many times — rookie DBs aren’t the answer.
Kelly was non-commital for trades (if someone offered 17 firsts for mccoy…)
Yes, non-commital.
That trade comment was made yesterday, after the game.
Today, Kelly was using the business-speak.
I guess he’s saying that if McCoy won’t re-do his contract to the satisfaction of whoever has the last word on money, then McCoy’s gone. Same with Maclin’s FA deal. Both seem unlikely. But you never know.
I’m rooting for the 17 first rounders.
McCoy already said he is open to renegotiating and he is sure he and the Eagles can work it out
Despise rookie DBs… I sure as hell am rooting for you to be proven right
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I’m sure we hope to improve our secondary, I’m sure thats a position we hope for immediate improvement, NFL ready free agents…. I’m just really worried about this being the worst year imaginable for free agent DB market…
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I assume any corner worth a damn will be kept from reaching the open market like Revis, and if There isn’t a comperable alternative to Byron Maxwell, I assume we won’t be able to match what the dumb teams offer the top DB on the Market. Dan Snyder, Oakland, jerry Jones, Bears are desperate for Corners, Jets need corners… The bidding war to sign a young stud, when there aren’t other comperable options will be too absurd for us…
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I will pray to Be proven wrong, a defensive fanatic like myself would like nothing more than to poach from the Legion of Boom…. I just really don’t have much confidence in us getting the neccessary DB help in these years free agency.l
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HINDSIGHT, HOWIE SCREWED UP, should have traded for Vontae Davis when the Dolphins made him available a few years back
Tons of corners last 2 years. I guess it was hard to forecast what this year would look like. Be interesting to see if they blame corner play on Nate Allen and keep corners, or blame it on the corners and change everyone.
Revisionist history:
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Steal Vontae Davis from the Colts when Miami made him available for a trade(what was that 2 or 3 years ago?)
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2013 draft, trade our 2014 first round pick(marcus Smith) to get a second first round pick(late rpumd 1) and Draft Desmond Trufant in between Lane and ERTZ.
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Sigń Malcolm Jenkins and Bathea:
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Trufant………Bathea………..Jenkins………..Vontae
Its not going to be a case of blaming anyone…
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It’s pretty simple. The eagles won’t drastically overpay for anyone. If there is a signifcant corner upgrade who we can sign at fair value, they will sigń him.
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We will give a corner 45mil, if he is worth 45mil… But the Eagles won’t want that 45mil corner bad enough if a bidding war drives up his price and it takes us 57 mil to sign Him…
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I have no problem with that approach, even if I don’t end I with the upgrade a defensive fanatic such as myself will desperately want
Cost the Colts a 2013 2nd Rd pick to get Davis.
If Eagles made that deal, there’d be no Zach Ertz.
QUESTION:
Ertz for Davis, straight up . . .
Do you make that deal?
You have to consider it… Probably not Tho. But that’s just because I Genuinly believe ERTZ can be a top 5 NFL TE for a long time
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Im thrilled with marcus smith and think he has a big future here, but not knowmg who we would draft, I would have traded this years 1st rounder, for a second 1st round pick in the Lane draft, so we would have drafted Lane, Desmond Trufant, ERTZ, Logan.
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I don’t know what it is, if I’m not good at evaluating corners, or just hate that they take so long to become NFL ready….. But Desmnd Trufant was the last comer prospect I really loved and believed in, and that was the 2013 draft…
Trufant and Davis . . .
Great NFL bloodlines.
And the measurables to support a 1st Rd projection.
(In contrast to Casey Matthews. Bloodlines for sure. But I don’t think his combine numbers supported even a 4th rd selection.)
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Speaking of ILBs . . . Travis Long must have just been beside himself after Ryans went down.
Long was the next man up ahead of CM.
That’s someone who might have brought something more to the table in terms of Davis’s pass-rushing schemes.
Back to back ACLs . . . and huge missed oppty to play . . . ouch, and double ouch.
Yeah really feel for the Long kid.
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Tho, I feel good today hearing that it looks like Meco will remain part of this thing going forward. For chip to publically show his hand like that and show so much confidence in Meco, you can get Chip consulted the trainers and is getting really good feedback about how his rehab is coming along.
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Since he arrived, literally every summer our media rips Meco and says he will be cut. Every year since he arrived I spent the summer arguing with fans who’s minds our worthless media pollutes about Meco, and before the injury I would have bet anythng he would be an eagle next year, but I have to admit that the injury was the first time I questioned if I would ever see Meco lead our defense today, and what I heard today, and the impression I got was music to my ears, and I look forward to seeing hm eventually take the field again as our Leader….. Also like that he is a big believer in FOles. Heard him talk in chickies n Petes off the air, just having a normal convo and he was just raving about Nicl and what he will become
Folks think finding CBs is hard.
Finding top-flight ILBs is right up there.
Truth…. I’m really really Curious to see how we Attack this offseason. I couldn’t wait to have two offseasons worth of data so we could find trends and better learn how to predict the way this current regime will operate.. But after the 2nd year of data, in some aspects, I’m more confused than ever. For Example:
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1) Wasnt surprised to see chips first free agency us shoot for quantity Instead of Qaulity. We had a roster to turnover and a foundation to lay. When you need to fill so many holes, makes sense to throw a ton of crap at the wall andhope a good amount sticks. A good percentage of those signings helped us make this transition and Bawin proved to be a HOMERUN aquisition.
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2) Last year, we knew we didn’t have as many holes to fill so we would go with “Quality” instead of “Quantity” like the year before, and we added Jenkins and Sproles in a trade, so we did go with Quality, but a major curveball none of us expected, was to use free agency #2 to stack our special teams…
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3) I know what we would Like to accomplish in this years market, but it’s a weak market for our needs so it’s complicating trying to figure out what this team is a going to. We also have a ton of players to extend, so I assume some sacrafices may have to be made…Im very confused because it’s a terrible market to have the Needs we have this year….Obviously, this isn’t my ideal situation, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we shock everyone and piss us all off with a really quiet free agency, mostly just taking care of our own guys..
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You would think having more draft Intel helps, and while I’m able to predict who we draft way way way better than I ever could under andy, because chip is rational. Andy was just insane, there was no predicting how he would outsmart himself next.. While chip is much easier to predict because he is so rational, the extra Intel we learned last years draft sucks, because basically we learned this Regime will value Character and football intelligejce even more than everyone else does which sucks, because it’s very hard for us fans to get info on the character or intelligence of college prospcts…. Sure I know that the real idiots won’t even be on our board
Deep draft at ILB.
Thrilled? No. Perhaps encouraged. There’s nothing Smith showed to be thrilled about. (Of course, you may have seen him in the shower…)
Thrilled with us drafting MS2
So, you have seen him in the shower…
http://draftbreakdown.com/players/quinten-rollins/
Maybe get a couple of those backups from Pittsburgh. The Sunday Night announcers were full of praise (or something) for the job they did, and ALL of them had been cut somewhere else. The Steelers have that tradition of special defenses and these guys were backing up Polamolu, etc.
Harry Enten ✔ @ForecasterEnten
“The Seahawks won 9 games by at least two scores (9 points) and lost only 1 (a game which they lost by 9). No team was better.”
Also tack on 10 consecutive quarters with no TDs allowed to finish and a dramatically improved statistical team down the stretch. Physically whipped a pretty physical team in St Louis on Sunday who has played them tough over the past few years.
Seattle is heads and tails above anybody else especially at home. There playoffs to lose.
Dallas can beat them. Rodgers can beat them too.
I think Dallas would be hard-pressed to beat them twice in Seattle. Especially since the Hawks are significantly better now.
Brady restructures and gives the Patrits 24mil in cap space….
Revis stays put.
Definitely lived up to the hype as the season wore on.
where was this seen or is this speculation? confusion
I just saw F the Pats lol
Compare Brady’s approach to Peyton Manning’s.
Actually, the right word would be “contrast.” Because they’re polar opposites.
Brady’s banked many millions.
But Manning? Seems he won’t leave a nickel on the table to help his team get better, despite banking millions and millions.
If I’m wrong, I’m happy to be corrected.
We’ll see what happens this year — now that they actually have people to pay.
Besides Revis, whom do the Pats have hitting free agency?
McCourty?
Anyone else?
I’m not very familiar with their contract situations.
Revis, Mccourty, Vareen. Broncos have to pay the Thomas’ and probably some others.
Right. Got it.
Thx
Solder too
Chandler Jones will need to be paid soon
yep they were getting ready for cap hell but Brady saved them for now, still think Revis leaves
Chandler at the bargaining table: Pay me or I’ll sick my little brother on you.
I think he’s going to seriously damage Cormier.
I would love to see Cormier give him the beating of his life. Lol I won’t hold my breathe expecting it to happen, THATS for sure
I’ll be pulling for Jones. Something about Dan rubs me the wrong way. I think Jon puts Cormier on his back, passes up multiple easy submissions, and pounds him out just to make a point.
Cormier’s an amazing wrestler, but Jones has rag-dolled other great wrestlers just to show he could. He’s out-struck strikers just to prove he could. Cormier’s claim to fame is out-wrestling a 93 year old middleweight and competing in the Olympics a long time ago. He’s getting put in his place (said with much more confidence than it deserves lol)
Cormier has ragdolled heavyweights, a.chllenge Jon Jones hasn’t accepted yet… If Cormier really can hang with Cain Vallasquez like they say he can, it should be a good fight.
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This is dumb anyway, because Gustafson Already busted Jones up. After how Gustafson beat his ass, Jones should have wanted to fight GUs again, instead he avoided GUs Like the plague..
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I’m not so sure Jon JOnes could dominate Barmett for 5 rounds the way Cormier has… I wouldmt be surprised if it’s a really close War, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if Jones proves to outclass him like he did in the Rashard grudge match. We Know Jones is one of the special ones….is Daniel? We don’t know yet, but no one can for sure say NO….HE HAS beaten everyone they ever put in front of him…I also think Cormier as a former Olympian knows how to maximize his lower center of gravity advantage and use all that leverage against Jones… it’s interesting, because you can envision either man putting the other on his back, but you can also see them struggle to take each other down….I’m intruiged, and normally Jones fights at LightHeavyweight bore me unless he is fight ing Gustafson, because he is too good,
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I’d like to see Rumble Johnson fight Jones too
I was thinking Hernandez, but he’s not that free at the moment.
Doesn’t impact the cap. So what was the point? To help a billion dollar company’s cash flow? I don’t get it.
wait it doesn’t impact the cap?
$24M new cap dollars.
Not sure I’m understanding your comment.
I read the articles where it says this does not affect their cap only cash flow.
can you please share said articles because every one I have seen said otherwise
I did as a new post up top.
Brady wants history, he may get it. He might be the most competitive person I’ve seen in my lifetime in anything.
Harbaugh
ooo, good suggestion. That’s the thing, if Brady was forced to be a non-participant, in some coaching function like harbaugh with everything on the line, couldn’t you see Brady doing the exact same stuff, just bat ish crazy?
Good point. Although one former QB says Harbaugh even put on his game face for Battle Of The Quarterbacks…one of those made for TV things.
Ever hear of Michael Jordan?
Good suggestion, Mike was the perhaps the GOAT of any sport. But he more emulates Payton’s competitiveness on a bigger scale. Wearing on his teammates to work as hard as he does etc etc. His competitiveness got handy capped (never got the chance to be tested I should say) though because he was soooo great, he achieved everything he ever wanted, retired in his prime. Play some baseball the come back older, and do it all over again a few years older having been out of the sport, maybe make it harder? Brady is a low draft pick with no physical gifts. He has to carry but also rely on 53 other guys and a coaching staff to go anywhere. He’ll take pay cuts and establish great relationships with the most unfathomably unlikable person in the universe to have the best chance to win. And most notably, the guy just might be out of his mind. Like you’re a grown man playing a game for a living, It is your singular obsession to a point greater than almost anyone with anything. If you weren’t wildly successful with your obsession you’d be institutionalized. You get the feeling some athletes have to lie to themselves or just sort of have to work to take the whole thing seriously sometimes. Guys like Brady, Manning, and Jordan, all incredibly smart guys but I’m not sure the thought ever crossed their minds.
It’s a weird Cap v. Cash situation. It’s accounting, not charity.
Comparing one to another, you could make a point that one is more charitable than another. But considering how much their respective teams make off of Brady and Peyton, Peyton has the right idea. I don’t feel the least bit bad for either of those organizations.
But to answer you more directly, Brady’s wife out earns him by a large margin. He doesn’t need to be thinking about his next business move so nakedly yet.
Someone asked about our coaches being poached… I forget the one name who really really put himself on the Map, you can bet NFL front offices league wide Know who coach Fipp is these days…. Not sure if a big promotion will be available for him THIS offseason, but no chance that we will have him much longer if he has another season like this past one…..mhe I just his ability to breakdown opponent special team protection schemes and allow us to block so many punts is going is so impressive,, I will never forget the 2014 special teams
Special teams coaches don’t usually get offered HC jobs (harbs had to get on the defensive staff to get consideration) and he is already a coordinator so Fipp won’t get poached.
If he wants to keep moving up the latter, we will see him ask to get moved to like a defensive position coach… If he is content for right now, he wI’ll remain a secondary coach.. But you can bet everyone knows what an amazing job he did this year
That may be but my understanding is that you can’t hire a coach who is under contract with another team unless it is a promotion. The only promotion from coordinator is HC. That is why I am saying it is extremely unlikely Fipp gets poached.
But eagles could give permission
Teams will typically tell other teams to piss off the fist year. Then in year two they’ll allow the guy to go talk to people.
How about DC and Assistant Head Coach?
Justin Smith is retiring, Jim Harbaughs gone… Nice to get that powerhouse Niners team out of our way.
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Feel horribke for Sen Derrick Marks, best player on the Jaguars, tore his ACL in week 17. That’s horrible
I am glad Harbaugh is gone.
49ers can get back to being irrelevant
maybe Pete Carroll will go back to USC?!?
Loved Nick FOles press conference…
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“So Nick, if the eagles decide to sign a free agent QB or draft another QB are you ok with having to compete with a QB for your job?”
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FOles: “ABSOLUTELY!!!! Eagles can bring in whoever they want……… Basically, he doesn’t really care, because he will beat out who ever he needs to and be the QB of the Philadelphia Eagles next year…….. MUSiC TO MY EARS!!!
He won’t beat out Mariota 😉 who we are obviously trading for
right it’s easy to say that when you know upgrading the position is almost impossible.
Yeah honestly the absolute most competition he could have is what Petty? locker? Hundley? He shouldn’t be too worried
i would not be happy to trade FOles for Marriotta. I would be ok with it if chip did it
Why not exactly (it won’t happen so you don’t have to worry)
Well, Say chip left us today, and we had a new coach. I would 100% be against Marriotta. but If Chip traded FOles for Marriotta, I would be OK with it.
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Basically l have a feeling that chip kelly thinks much more highly of FOles than the media thinks. I think chip sees a special Young QB in Nick, and he knows both QBs really well, so I know chip isn’t a dumb media member and knows how special he can be, so if he made that trade it would mean he is convinced Marriotta can be Unbelievable…
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But if Andy Reid was our coach, who didn’t know Mariotta so well, I would hate to see him make that trade.
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I don’t trust people’s oppinipn of Marriotta being viewed as a cant miss andrew Luck. There is just something that doesn’t sit right with me…but I trust chip, and I trust he knows how special Nick is, and if he made that trade it means Marriptta can be an NFL MVP down the Line in chips eyes…. But I personally, am not in complete love with Marriotta enough to be ok with that trade if we didn’t have a coach who Knew Marriptta so much better than anyone…
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Notice, all these years you really don’t see me talk much about Marriotta. I just don’t believe he is as can’t miss as people think, I trust Winston more in the NFL
.l.
And I know that no matter how good Marriptta and Winston arel they will need years of grooming just like FOles… I think FOles is good enough on year 3, to make me want to start from ground zero with another young QB
I live Mariota for us. But that is because of the offense honestly assuming he goes to TB, TEN, or NYJ I don’t think he is a cant miss prospect because of many things I don’t feel like talking about this moment but I can bring it up later, he is not in the same class as Luck
Nick FOles and chip kelly together are 14-4, and they did that the first two years of chips career, which means we accomplished that with a half built team. Last year our D struggled, this year our OL was a complete mess (we DIDNT have to play 10 offensive lineman in 2012)..
the WR core hasn’t been built up to what it will be during the chip era yet….
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With a half built chip kelly team, they went 14-4 together. How hard is it going to be to beat Chip kelly and Nick when they have all 3 phases of the game playing solid(something we haven’t had yet) and Nick is further matured as an NFL QB?
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We aren’t even close yet to seeing chip and FOles best, yet they are still very tough to beat together. that record coulda easily be 16-2 if we beat Niners and Cardinals
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Can’t be a prisoner of the moment. Fans want instant gratification, but development and Bulding requires patience…Nick will be the QB this city grows to love, they just don’t know it yet…once he gets the developmental time he needs, philly will see they had their gunslinger all along
Instant gratification is the bomb
14 wins and not a statement victory among them (maybe 2012 Cardinals, but there’s an argument that the refs helped). How long will it take for us to beat SEA, an Aaron Rodgers led GB, DEN, NE, etc. How many points will we have to put up per game in order to cover up our defense? 35…40?
Ok, not saying you are definitely wrong regarding Chips belief that Foles is a special young QB. However, why would Chip, Howie and Jeff refuse to give any type of endorsement of Foles at all? The guy defends Fletcher tooth and nail but refuses to say anything nice about the guy you are claiming he thinks is “special”? Not sure thst I buy that.
We complain about MS…rotoworld stat:
“RGIII threw the ball 41 times for 336 yards against the Dallas Cowboys,
but only 22 of those yards came before the catch. Simply put, this is
the most ridiculous stat I’ve posted all year, and I’ve truly never seen
anything like it.”
How can you gain 22 yards without catching the football?!
Some catches made behind the LOS? Laterals?
I am not sure if that is a bigger indictment on RGIII or the Dallas secondary.
to renew the Brady discussion. See this quote
“It does not impact the Patriots’ salary cap situation.”
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000451534/article/tom-brady-reportedly-restructures-deal-with-patriots
I hope you are right F the Pats
he got a raise of $1M for 3 years ($3M) for freeing up CASH, not cap space. But it’s not like the Pats don’t have all the cash they could need, so this restructuring is not big news.
how is Suh making it to unrestricted free agency? how did the Lions let that happen?
Pats will sign him.
Lions cap is f***ed up Calvin is making ridiculous money and they are paying stafford a lot of money too and are in no position to give Suh the huge contract he will get
He is a scumbag who can’t be trusted. How many big games is he going to get hikself kicked out of?
We want instant gratification, but no matter how much we are slaves to instant gratification, it doesn’t change the fact THAT patience is often required. It’s a growth PROCESS, as in, you won’t see immediate gratification..
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It’s funny how everyone wants to jump to judge the rookie class. When judging the rookie class after year 1 is impossible…..HOWEVER, time has gone by, and we do have the neccessary Data to start to judge the 2012 draft class.
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This is when we can really start to judge 2011 and 2012 draft…after next year, we will really Know EXACTLY what we got out of 2012
Given where we stand talent-wise as compared to “contenders” where do you think that puts us?
ACViking gave some info regarding SEA drafts. If other teams are getting quick production out of their draft class (or value in terms of trades) does that affect how you analyze our draft class, even after year 1 or 2?
A fair comparison requires study of all teams and where an individual team sits within the entire distribution. Comparing to a single team will not give an accurate not a full picture. Also, for completeness where each draft class sits in comparison to all other draft classes is necessary. Even with that data, circumstances can also dictate how early a player gets on the field, Shady playing behind Westbrook or Rodgers behind Farve isn’t an indication that they were poor picks, so long term success of a player is important to consider as well.
In other words, judging by 2 seemingly outstanding drafts after a coach gutted his team shouldn’t really tell us much about how well the Eagles drafted in any year except that it may not have been as good as those 2 isolated drafts.
I understand what you’re saying but the reality is that we’re really trying to compete with like 8-10 teams. If those teams are (a) spending more in FA and/or (b) drafting significantly better i don’t see how we catch up.
I don’t really care if the Titans or the Jets don’t spend any money or that the bears are terrible. None of those teams is even sniffing the playoffs.
It isn’t about caring, it is about understanding the full implications of a choice. If you ignore teams who are bad, you will not know the full picture, and may make misguided assumptions. In any trade study, you need to know what doesn’t works as well as what does to make a truly informed decision.
I think I understand what you are saying — it could be worse than it is…I think studies have to be competition relevant. Google doesn’t care what yahoo is doing as much as it cares what amazon, apple and facebook are doing.
Perhaps that is why a lot of googles projects are lacking, for instance their docs are pretty weak, and I’m not that fond of their cloud system.
I understand where you are coming from but my thinking is more along the lines of…say you want to make a healthy snack, well apples and oranges are healthy, maybe I should emulate them. But if the only data is gather is from what apples and oranges are made of I may come away thinking “hey both of these have sugar, that must be why both are healthy!” If I had stopped to look at what makes an unhealthy snack, I would have known the sugar isn’t what makes fruit healthy…tasty yes…
No team is without flaws, no system is without points of failure, understanding what doesn’t work is as important as understanding what does. Identifying a breaking point is also extremely important for determining margins of error you are working with. Also, knowing where you stand overall tells you not just how far you have to go, but how quickly you can fall if you make the wrong choice, or miss an opportunity.
Been saying this for months. So many people making blanket definitive statements about Eagle players, without considering the play of others in similiar positions throughout the league, gets frustrating sometimes.
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/20141230_Eagles__Kelly_says_D-coordinator_Davis_will_return.html
An endorsement of mediocrity.
yeah i mean you have eli manning putting up 400, RGIII putting up like 300+, Tony Romo doing whatever he wants, Rodgers, Wilson, Cousins…Palmer lighting us up to win the game, even the Rams QB put up like 300 on us, very frustrating,
You can say that for in an area they improved they experienced a failoff in another.
Davis isn’t a first-time coordinator either. He got canned after his 2nd yr in both SF and AZ after neither one of those defenses showed any kind of notable improvement.
Same thing should have happened this offseason.
But maybe the brain trust knows there’s nothing else out there at DC that’d be better than Billy “No D” Davis. Sounds like he’s a great teacher. He could be one of those guys that’s such a great talker that he gets kept around for longer than he should.
Azz has the d-line looking like monsters (though there’s a lot of high draft picks invested in that front 7 so they should be awesome).
I was actually curious if Azz had DC ambitions. He is the assistant head coach, right?
yeah they gave him a good title.
Azz said specifically when he came here he doesn’t want to be a DC. He loves working one on one with players. He’s been a DC at Duke and Zoomass.
Hard to say the defense performed below it’s talent level though. I kinda go back to the guy before Bobby April as ST coordinator. Solid coverage units. Jackson had a great year as punt returner. So we do the natural thing to improve and grab the biggest name in the ST biz…and it didn’t work out. Not saying we should never try to improve or anything, but I think we are looking for something safer and sustainable through improved personnel on the back of the D, and growth on the young front. For better or for worse this team’s identity will be as an offense minded team and they probably aren’t in the mood to roll the dice and possibly have their next few seasons sunk by having a completely dysfunctional D searching for an identity.
It is an interesting thought experiment, what is the most anyone could get out of this secondary this year? Like you wonder how far Pete Carroll could take this secondary. It’s hard to even fathom any sort of success. But maybe he would coach up the young guys and get them playing well?
If you don’t have LBs that play well in space or rangy safeties you’re sort of limited and i think that’s what we fell prey to.
I think we wanted to stop the run and improve pass rush. I think we did that. As a result maybe our x plays shot up, I think coaches have to figure out if that’s scheme related or just personnel.
My personal thought is if your scheme relies on players covering 1 on 1 why not just pay to get great cover corners. I don’t think 2011 is that dispositive b/c I think on the whole the organization is a lot better / stronger than then.
Yeah we can’t be completely avoid big and bold moves because of 2011. Just going to have to face it, someone will be overpaid to play decent ball in out secondary next season. Because we need help there more than any other team with any real Superbowl hopes. Our demand is high, supply is limited, and that makes it an expensive proposition. We can try to pull 1 Connor Barwin or Malcolm Jenkins out of the bargain bin every year, but you’re going to lose talent faster thank you f ain it at that rate. Pleasant economic surprises are nice and a key to building a Superbowl roster, but as a supplement to the guys earning the big bucks, not by themselves.
Pay to get great cover corners from where?
yeah that was a should have. heck cromartie might have at least allowed us to rotate in that position.
“The guy before Bobby April”. You mean John Harbaugh?
Technically yes. But no I was talking about Ted Daisher, had the job 1 year, Jackson had a great year as a returner, but he got dumped for Bobby April.
Depends on if the issues were scheme, talent, teaching. Based on the play of the front 7 and the fact that i was often yelling for the DB to turn his head around or catch the damn ball, I am more inclined to blame talent and teaching. With teaching it may mean a change in DB coach, with Davis, or with the philosophy they are pushing, we don’t know cause we aren’t in meetings or at practice. With talent, we know they are lacking… So maybe not an endorsement of mediocrity, maybe a telling statement that the root of the problem being talent…and a CB who loves getting Inopportune penalties.
Have to wonder about DB coaching. Coordinators are more administrators than coaches. If Azz is to be praised for the very effective D Line play, where are the DB coaches in all this? AC Viking brought up the subject a couple of days ago also.
There are a few people here who will be ecstatic to read that…
Biggest frustration with Billy Davis was his inflexibility. I have no issues with running a single high press defense if you a – have the athletes to play it and b – it’s working. It’s impossible to argue that it worked at all in December and Fletcher’s struggles go back even further. Combine that with the Eagles refusal to replace Fletcher with either Nolan or Boykin and my rage new no bounds in December.
Not a fan of running any one coverage. Gotta keep mixing it up, keep throwing different looks at QB…
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If I’m not mistaken Nate Allen’s INT sunday was out of two high safety set
Every team has a coverage style that they play most of the time. For us, it is single high man press. For Seattle it’s 3-deep. Tampa Bay ran predominantly a version of 2-deep for years under Monte Kiffen. Each team mixes in other coverages, but those are the predominant coverages utilized by each team.
I realize changing your identity mid-season is not easy, but I have a real problem with defaulting to a coverage that exposed an obvious weakness in our personnel. Combine that with being unwilling to shake up our starters when Fletcher was so clearly struggling and this was a flat out failure the Eagles’ coaching staff.
I always wondered how the Dolphins traded from 12 to 3 and only gave up a second like how does that happen
No QB’s or elite talent/ The Raiders were desperate to get extra picks.
Yeah but still so weird to make that kind of jump you are usually talking a lot more look at the Bills last year just really weird
Raiders basically would have taken whatever they could get for that trade because they were hell beant on drafting the corner. The corner they drafted aything #12, is who they would have drafted had they stayed at -#3, so I’m sure it’s better to accept any compensation for you to move back and draft the kid you wanted all along anyway
They were ready to take Hayden at #3.
I feel bad for that kid. He’s just always banged up. But is fun to watch when healthy.
Titans said they are content with Mettenburger and won’t draft a QB high it could be a #smokescreen (too early for this :P) but if its true it shakes up the whole draft and put them in a power position which will be fun hope the Skins give up another 3 first rounders
what about a kurt cousins type? Worse than sanchize?
Are you talking about getting Cousins? Not getting this comment 😛
yeah — hew wants out of DC, can’t imagine them being able to trade him, maybe they cut him?
Meh he wants out of WAS because if Robert stays he will likely not start doubt he would want to go here where he would also not start
yeah but he’d likely get to play as a backup which means he’ll probably play half the season. I can’t see anyone except a Shanny giving him an opportunity. But i’ve been wrong once before.
I actually got depressed when you said that half a season thing
News flash…cousins ain’t starting regardless of who he plays for next year. Dude made a fool out of himself ending the season behind Bob griff and Colt McCoy on depth chart.
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Some how I doubt you can go from 3rd string QB of pathetic skins team, to startng QB for some OTHET franchise. Kids friggin delusional
Ok Titans.
https://twitter.com/SportsNation/status/549705697282519041
1. How dare they not mention Jarvis and 2. Innacurate, Zack isn’t the reason why he actually had a good season last year
Curis Marsh is on the Broncos practice squad — you think we missed something? Will he be the next champ bailey?
We missed everything involved with Curtis Marsh.
suh is a fucking dumbass, so pissed he is suspended for the dallas game. god damn it.
How can a team give him 50million? How do you give a guy a brinks truck who you can’t count on. If there is a big game, good chance this jackass dos something ridiculous to hurt his team
Whether He is getting kicked out of thanksgiving day rivalry games, or getting himself suspended for a playoff game, I just don’t get how a team can given i,my so much much. You can sign 3’good players for Suh’s price, and you can’t even count on Suh as a team mate
I believe you’ve previously crowned Suh, “N-donkey Kong.”
That about sums it up.
That one comes from a Cam Newton press conference, in which he tried to do the Marshawn Lynch/Arian Foster non response by saying that he was preparing for his friend and former Auburn teammate, N-donkey Kong Suh, to every question asked, but still ended up having to apologize for it. Politics are stupid sometimes.
Thanks. Had not seen that.
The whole “interview” thing is sort of useless.
Once Bull Durham came out, athlete interviews were never the same — that is, they became exactly the same. (Hyperbole to make a point)
Rarely does any player or coach reveal anything useful.
Once in a while you get a Mora “Playoffs” rant or a Green “They are who we thought they were” rant.
It’s been about 15 years since we’ve had something that good again.
Depends on if you still think you recieve value from him at the position and if you have the opportunity to keep him from going in division.
[…] The Finale – Iggles BlitzThe run defense was a big part of the win. Bennie Logan played a strong game and had a TFL, his 10th of the season. Can we finally stop with the questions about adding a massive NT? Logan is a good player and should get better if he stays healthy. […]
[…] The Finale – Iggles BlitzThe run defense was a big part of the win. Bennie Logan played a strong game and had a TFL, his 10th of the season. Can we finally stop with the questions about adding a massive NT? Logan is a good player and should get better if he stays healthy. […]
Looking like the Browns are fed up with Josh Gordon and will “Dangle him in trades”
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If only he could be trusted…..
Really is a shame I’m scared about Bellicheat getting him, and Josh turning his life around to be a weapon for the Patriots God would that be awful
Kind of wish we would have drafted Martevis BRyant instead of Huff.
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I’m really really high on Huff. I think he will be loved in this city, but stylistically, Martevis BRyant was probably more important.
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Maclin is a #1 possession WR.
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Jordan is our slot Machine.
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Huff is our “Queen chess piece” move around and line up all over… While THATS an important role and a really valuable weapon, I think you need to worry about your two outside WR’s before you worry about the joker/queen WR.
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Martevis is a big, long, fast, deep threat. he would have been great for replacing Desean Jackson… Basically he would be a deep threat like Desean, but he comes with height and size Desean lacks..
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A big Long Deep threat like Martevis instead of Cooper, with #1 WR Maclin opposite him At the other outside WR. And then we would have Jordan, Huff And ERTZ to attack the middle of the field
GE:
Last year before the draft, I think you had Bryant as one of your value WRs. I’m sure of it.
You were spot-on.
He did. It was a good call by GE.
Huff is a dime a dozen player. Not a game changer. Bryant can be that type of player. wasn’t he taken later in the draft too?
Yeh he was taken in the fourth. He is basically Desean with height. Doesn’t like the contact that Huff does. While Huff certainly isn’t a dime a dozen. Bryant would have filled the constant deep threat we had last year.
What’s special about Huff that makes him not a “dime a dozen”? Where are people expecting him to stand out? As a 3rd wr? I’ll be happy if he turns out to be a great return specialist. Outside of that, I don’t see any upside other than a player to make a play or 2 each game.
His RAC has potential to be elite imo. Couple that with his return abilities and you have one hell of a third rounder. Should he have been picked in the 3rd? Probably not. Will we make the best of him? Yes.
I think it will be seen next year Huff is a beast
a beast of burden maybe. Are you Huff? Huff is a nice player and that’s it. He’ll never be a beast nor a number 1. I’m hoping he’s a great compliment to what we currently have.
“Jordan is our slot Machine.”
Good one. I think the kid is going to explode next year. He’ll be a Pro Bowl wr before long.
bryant benefits from the fact that people are so worried about bell and brown.
O:
That’s a great call. Gordan’s exactly the kind of player Bellichick will take a flyer on.
The Pats have become the post-free agency Raiders of the ’60s-80s when Al Davis was running his boot-leg operations in Oakland and LA — with guys like Alzado, Tatum, Matuszak, Atkinson, Stabler, et al.
I will sacrifice a newborn lamb to ensure that this trade will never happen.
Conspiracy theory on the street is that he had something in his contract about needed 6 games played to count as a year on his contract. Suspending him for the last one puts him at 5, and make him a RFA at the end.
SEASON is over, shouldn’t we be seeing the Eagles announce the signing of like 8-10 “futures contracts” and camp bodies one of these days? Some teams already signed 8-10 players yesterday
No but we’ll probably find out what Jason Kelce’s beard is up to. This is what I’m picturing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo-x0IlgrE0
Here’s hoping Suh will win his appeal…
Let’s make it as tough as possible for the Cowgirls on Sunday!
Couldn’t Suh have waited until this week to stomp on a quarterback’s leg?
Raiders to interview Pat Shurmur for HC opening.
Why . . . w/ a 9-23 record as Browns HC?
Because Oakland GM RMcKenzie’s been using Mike Holmgren as a sounding board for possible hires.
And Holmgren of course hired Shurmur to coach the Browns — before both were fired by Cleveland owner Haslam, after he hired (and later fired) Joe Banner.
Plus, there’s the Kelly connection. Can’t hurt.
For QB coach Bill Lazor took the Kelly scheme to Miami and jacked up the offense down there. Made Tannehill look like a real QB.
Also, Kelly’s been very generous in giving Shurmur credit for developing the passing side of Kelly’s scheme and for constructing weekly game plans.
Just based on what Lazor did with the moribund Dolphins offense, Oakland could do a lot worse than hiring Shurmur.
“Why”
Raiders
Holmgren still regarded highly in some parts.
McKenzie worked up the management ladder at GB while Holmgren was coach.
Not saying he’s the best adviser.
Only that he seems to have McKenzie’s ear.
Anyway . . . who else is out there as the next “hot” HC?
Dan Quinn from Seattle? Looks like the next Gus Bradley.
Josh McDaniels from Pats? Retread.
The Broncos OC is on the hot list, too. Another Trestman?
yeah once you get to a certain level you can be a HC or Coordinator for as long as you want it seems like. Almost like being a presidential hopeful every 4 years someone will throw out your name for the big job.
Jim Brown completely ripped mike Holmgren.
Holmgren actauly fired jim brown .. I mean literally
w t f ! ??
Jim BRown is legendary/think he has a ton of credibility.
Bowles, Gase (Denver OC), and Quinn seem to be the hot candidates.
my first two calls would be to Mora JR. and Art Briles.
I wouldn’t hold a losing record with the Browns against anyone.
I think Raiders would be pretty interesting for Shurmur.
No doubt he has learned a lot from Chip in the last two years. Would be expected to bring tempo and sports science with him, as well as scheme I imagine.
Raiders have some pieces as well.
Shurmur got a raw deal in Cleveland. It appeared he had the team heading in the right direction when the new regime came in and decided ‘we want new EVERYTHING.’ I hope the Raider’s don’t hire him because I think he has helped Kelly in adapting his passing game to the NFL and he’s provided a good sounding board for Chip.
[…] The rest of the article can be found here: Iggles Blitz […]
Chip Kelly already committed the first mistake of this young off-season by bringing back Billy Davis. *sigh
he needs a chance to prove that it’s his players not his scheme. Just like Foles needs to prove it’s the line not him, just like McCoy.
Billy Davis has had a lot of chances in the past to prove it’s the players and not his scheme. His track record doesn’t really speak for him though.
last years defense went on a hot streak of not allowing over 21 points for a bunch of games, made the playoffs..etc..
That’s why I was expecting this trend – if there was any?! – to continue this year instead of regressing in his second year.
yeah we sure did go backwards quite a bit it seemed.
Fletcher looked better last year, boykin too
d concepts not catching anyone off guard anymore. be nice to see what wolff can do.
Wolff who?!
Exactly. That guy might as well be gone. Doubt he ever contributes or even gets another chance with us
I am not actually blaming the individual performances of these players. I am blaming Davis’ stubborness and incapibilities of adjusting his scheme to the respective players’ skills.
Yup and in his previous 2 gigs he got canned after the 2nd year and not showing enough improvement.
Could we take a cheap flyer on a guy like Cecil Shorts? Often injured but he’s done some things in fantasy for me in the past. Is justin blackmon coming back?
I’d rather take a flyer on Josh Gordon than on another injury-prone player.
Eagles pro personnel director Rick Mueller is being considered to replace John Idzik
BG in his last 3 games as an Eagle:
13 total tackles, 0 sacks, 0 forced fumbles.
Not sure if I’d make him a full time starter with 20 Mio gtd….
I wouldn’t and I’ve been adamant about this. I’m not a big BG fan
I am afraid that BG will have to shed some baby fat in order to produce great stats as a full time starter…
I don’t think it’s coincidence that his stats took a big dip when he replaced Trent Cole.
Mid-round WRs of Insomniac’s interest
Vince Mayle
Stefon Diggs
Dezmin Lewis
Antwan Goodley
Tony Lippet
Ooooh I like Goodley
He’s heavy for a WR his size. He has good speed and he’s pretty strong. Scouts compare him to Kendall Wright but I see him as Huff on steroids and if he reaches his potential. He needs to work on his hands and route-running though.
Tall Huff in steroids is nice 🙂
Any relation between Stefon Diggs and Shelton Diggs (starred at USC as a WR on John McKay’s last national champion in 1974)
No clue. Diggs is a dynamic shifty player though albeit..a knucklehead.
Did Brandon graham get his rookie bonus? What % of snaps did he end up getting this season and what number did he need?
no, think he needed like 10% more snaps.
Suh to play. Henry Melton out. Yes!
Yes!
Triple yes!
I really hope Howie & Co. will focus rather on ball skills than height when valuing their upcoming DB draft prospects.
I can not remember when the Eagles had worse stone hands at CB/S than this season….
Here’s a question to ponder: Would bringing Vick back to backup Foles sound like a shot? It didn’t work for Vick in NY and he was looking to become a starter there.
Goal #1: Get Maxwell!
Goal #2: Find solid backup QB
Goal #3: Look for possible replacement for WR (Jackson, Cooper); needs top speed with soft hands.
Goal #4: Find solid CB, S in draft to groom and play in situations.
If all that gets thrown out the window, it’s because they gave up the farm for Mariotta.