Interesting Argument

Posted: July 2nd, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 204 Comments »

One of the most complicated things about the Eagles under Chip Kelly is trying to figure out the defense. Is it awful? Is it somehow underrated? How do you accurately judge the defense for a team that runs the fastest offense in the league and faces the most snaps?

Jimmy Bama wrote an interesting piece on the O/D and how you can argue the offense was overrated last year, but the defense was actually underrated.

The defense showed real signs of potential, but you also can’t excuse some of the huge mistakes they made as having anything to do with the style of offense. At the very least, it is fair to call the defense flawed.

If Bill Davis and the players can eliminate some of the big plays they gave up last year, the unit could take a big step forward this season. With a new DB coach and lots of new DBs, it is possible for the defense to right the ship and play better football. We’re not hoping the same guys magically improve. There were changes.

A couple of months from now we’ll find out if the right changes were made.

204 Comments on “Interesting Argument”

1 Insomniac said at 1:41 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
I gotta agree. There were some games where the STs and individual heroics that kept/won us the game. The defense did their job enough to let us win.
2 D3FB said at 7:50 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
Don’t do it people.
Do not say the scheme is fundamentally flawed.
I’m having a good day with the news of Hinkie’s latest swindling.
Don’t be the guy to ruin it by making an asinine argument.
3 Avery Greene said at 8:45 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
I think Hinkie and Hexy has a little thing going about who can fleece teams the most, and I think Hinkie just won that battle.
I don’t see how the Sixers don’t have 2 picks in the top 10 this year. Lakers can’t get free agents. Kings play in the West and I think they are a bottom 10 team. Then the following year, they get Miami unprotected and I think they’ll be around 9-11. The Kings next year have the same problems, and they might be around the same pick.
This deal was highway robbery and I’m thankful Hinkie is on our side.
4 A_T_G said at 10:28 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
I think the main flaw in the current system is that we don’t employ more wide-3 alignments. The idea of having a four-man line, but moving the 3-technique tackle out wide, across from the slot receiver, is something Billy is really under utilizing.
Nothing is more disruptive and disheartening to an offense that snapping the ball and watching as a tackle picks up the slot receiver, runs into the backfield, and throws him at the QB or running back.
I am sure there are low-brow Cox jokes I could make to try to gain favor for this alignment, but the look on Eli’s face as he is attacked with a Cruz missile is argument enough.
(Okay, hearing opposing centers yell to their QB, “They pulled Cox out, watch your ass.” would be another plus, I admit it.)
5 Jarock said at 1:18 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Scheme’s fine. I have no issues with running a 2 gap 3-4 defense. Coordinator, not so high on for reasons I posted above.
Hinkie’s a genius. What he’s done by being willing to admit his original team was mediocre and unlikely to get better and blowing it up is something many teams wish their gm would do. I only hope we start seeing significant return on investment this season.
6 D3FB said at 1:24 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Boykin was hurt last year. He didn’t play all that well. People forget because of Fletcher down the stretch, but Boykin was pretty meh. Also there is a reason our CB’s are bigger guys.
7 Jarock said at 1:45 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Advanced stats actually indicate Boykin played better last season despite the lack of picks. 51% stop rate in 2014 vs 32% in 2013 per Football outsiders. Tired of this myth.
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/player/29562/brandon-boykin
8 Ark87 said at 8:23 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
The best I can say is the Offense was overrated and the defense was underrated by most last year. Particularly early in the season. I think DVOA sums it up about right by my estimation:
Offense 13th in the league
Defense 10th in the league
Special Teams 1st in the league
I’m not saying that Chip is a fraud or anything like that, so calm down. The line injuries and QB inconsistencies really showed up.
9 daveH said at 8:38 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
injuries are the most guaranteed thing in the nfl.
every team suffers.
so we cant call ‘unlucky’ ..the year before we were unscathed so that was a gift and we didn’t do anything with it.
10 eagleyankfan said at 8:45 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
the biggest impact of any team for an injury is the starting QB. I don’t care about any offensive stats from last year once the starting QB goes down. Overrated offense with a back up QB is in the category of ‘well, no shit’…..
11 Michael Winter Cho said at 12:24 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Yes, it goes down to volume stats versus efficiency stats. The offense racked up numbers because of pace. That type of number doesn’t correlate with winning, because you are giving the ball right back to the other team. The defense looked bad because of volume stats, but it was actually better than the O. Add a few high-leverage bloopers by the secondary and the average fan thinks the D is a dumpster fire, even though it’s been keeping the team in the game (along with the excellent special teams).
A team with high efficiency ranks is at an advantage whether both teams get 4 possessions or 16.
Chip got great performance in 2013, so we just have to hope he can get the O moving again. Because we are never going to get a Bears 85 D.
12 Ark87 said at 12:52 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
great post
13 bill said at 8:25 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
My (much less bold than it was last week before these articles) prediction is that the defense is going to be very good after a rough first 3 or so weeks, while Kelly’s infamously “QB friendly” offense is shown to be anything but. The Eagles by the end of the season will be the hurry up equivalent of a defense-first, ball control offense.
14 daveH said at 8:34 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
time will tell
.
..
…
….
……
hows that for stating the obvious and adding no value
15 A_T_G said at 10:32 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
Well done. I usually try to add no value by stating the absurd, but hey, to each their own.
16 daveH said at 12:52 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
someone did it long agooo..added something sofa king obvious and lame and he took everyone down .. he was kidding.
that was quality humor.
I thnk something like “I hope our QB doesn’t get hurt” .. or anything marcus mariotta for a while
I love it.
17 eagleyankfan said at 8:48 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
meh – I’m not much of a fan of last years stat’s because there’s so much change from year to year. I’m only concerned with growth of the younger players n health of the new players.
18 MattE said at 8:53 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
You know what I got out of that Kempski article? It makes me wonder if other teams gameplan both for players (talent) and trends (scheme effectiveness) that they see both on tape and numbers throughout the season. If so would our extremely skewed numbers really help an opposing team week to week against us (especially with today’s metrics in every major sport) or would it cause mis-direction even before the game starts, i.e. Offensive Coordinator – A: sees that we have a very poor time of possession and plans on a low scoring ball possession type of game (which would benefit the opposing team), when in fact he is going to have to play catch up after 2 quick TD’s in the first half….ultimately offensive opportunities might go up for opposing teams, but opens them up for possible turnovers because even though they have another opportunity to score, the opposing team also has another chance to turn it over.
19 MattE said at 8:54 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
Chips defensive philosophy is simple, create chances for turnovers….. offensive philosophy is Score Fu*kin Points.
20 RobNE said at 9:34 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
Hinkie did it again. I just don’t see how people can be down on him.
21 Avery Greene said at 9:45 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
Short-sighted. I’ve been arguing with my sister (and bro-in-law) about the genius of Hinkie. They only see the team was bad for a couple years, but not that he got rid of bad contracts and is putting building blocks in place for the future.
My buddy told me this morning that next year (or 2 I forget) that the Sixers will have 4 1st rounders and $60 mill in cap space.
22 RobNE said at 10:00 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
right and the team was bad before that. It’s only slightly worse now. I can’t even believe what an incredible job he has done. There is no guarantee the team achieves but he is giving them terrific odds.
The shame will be if it doesn’t work people will say well he failed. No, it’s about the process.
23 Avery Greene said at 10:01 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
Exactly. Funny, this is the same thing Kelly preaches and it also seems to be Hexy’s attitude as well.
24 Michael Winter Cho said at 12:47 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Notice that good teams find a way to get good players on their team. They do this by drafting and trading well–at whatever spot they are–and luring good free agents.
Bad teams sell hope to their fans via lottery picks, very few of which become even decent players. No one has ever perpetuated this scam on a city on the scale of Hinkie. Draft picks are extremely overrated; the players already in the NBA are too good and incoming talent is far too sparse.
Hinkie should be judged on his ability to acquire productive players, not pie-in-the-sky draft picks. Until shown otherwise, he is just throwing crap at the wall and hoping something sticks. That is not a good process.
25 anon said at 12:53 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
2 completely different approaches.
chip i think would much rather pay for vested players, except at wideout b/c i don’t think you need to be a genius, but i think chip recognizes that draft is a crap shoot, get players that you know how they perform in the league.
26 Avery Greene said at 12:54 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
I disagree. Hinkie’s plan was more than just lottery picks. Let’s shelf the draft and look at what else he’s done. He got rid of all the bad contracts, and have given the Sixers cap and trade flexibility (see the fleecing of the Kings). He got a good coach (BB) and BB put together a good coaching team that shows improvement in the players they’ve acquired to date.
Now lets focus on the draft. They tabled arguably the top pick in the draft (due to injury) for two straight years. Noel’s game improved dramatically, and he isn’t even the best big we have. Embiid (whether they shelf him this year or not) is someone you take a chance with. He’s a generational type talent that you had to draft. Okafor is a throwback, but a monster in the paint.
Right now they are looking at a rotation at PF/C of Embiid, Okafor, and Noel. All game long they will have someone to dominate the paint on both ends of the floor.
They just got Stauskas (shooter) and they have RoCo. The only thing this team is missing now is a PG. Hinkie is building the pipeline of talent (draft picks) and still has a 6’10 SF/PF that’s killing it overseas.
Patience is a virtue and Hinkie is making the right moves.
27 Michael Winter Cho said at 1:39 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
It still comes down to hoping and praying that low% things (draft picks becoming productive NBA players) happen. The NBA isn’t like college where Kentucky gets five high-jumping freshman and runs everyone out the gym. It doesn’t work that way. Good players are rare and acquiring them is the only thing that matters.
I’m sorry, but Stauskas does not look good at all. He is below average at almost everything, even shooting! http://www.boxscoregeeks.com/players/1491-nik-stauskas
28 Avery Greene said at 1:52 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
We disagree. Everyone wants to point to the Warriors as an example of the new league and they drafted 4 of 5 starters. It’s not like the guys the Sixers got were mid-round picks. We’ve seen Noel play, and he isn’t even the most talented one.
Stauskas starting shooting better toward the end of the season when he was getting more minutes. It’s not like he was surrounded with a lot of talent. He had Cousins, but IMO Embiid/Okafor/Noel > Cousins. Stauskas will have more opportunity here. You don’t all the sudden forget how to shoot.
Unless you are the Heat or Cavs, FA isn’t the way to a championship. Just ask the Nets, who are now paying for kicking the can down the road for marginal benefits right away.
This is more than just drafting or just FA. It’s about cap management, drafting well, and finding the gems in FA. Hinkie seems to be doing all 3 well, and I have no doubt this is going to work out. Seeing the big picture seems to be what Hinkie is good at. We still are $12 from the salary cap floor, and Hinkie might be able to pull another trade from a team trying to salary dump.
The Sixers are in a great situation with their flexibility, and now it’s just developing the talent they are getting.
29 Michael Winter Cho said at 2:57 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Okay, we really do disagree (which is part of the fun, no?)
The Warriors drafted well, but notice that 3 of their top 6 players were FA. Also that Green was a 2nd round pick and Curry was a small school question mark–it’s about hitting on what you have, not where they were drafted or how “talented” people think they are. http://www.boxscoregeeks.com/teams/gsw?season=2014
Damn, that team was stacked. They went 12 deep above average players (above 100 according to this scale).
Look at the NBA champs of the last 15 years and tell me that FA isn’t _key_. None of those teams tanked their way to a ‘ship, they are about half good draft picks and half good FA. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NBA_champions#NBA_champions
Again, I’ll say it one more time–productive players in the NBA are in short supply. The only criteria for a GM worth mentioning is getting those players on your team. Every team in the league will have cap space in one year when the salary cap rises, but only a handful of teams will succeed in acquiring enough talent to realistically shoot for a championship. If Hinkie does that, then he was a good GM. If he doesn’t, he was not. Or are people going to continue to make excuses for him if all he wins is salary cap champion?
The Nets got a bunch of good players who were a little too old, and it didn’t work out. Problem is, their productivity had already started to decline, and it was a long shot they were going to find the fountain of youth on the wrong side of 30. Still, stranger things have happened in the crappy Eastern Conference. It was a gamble–but getting good players is hard. Proven old players are by far a more surefire bet than a bunch of rooks.
Now about Staukas, we go back to hope. He was a high draft pick, so–overvaluing shiny high draft picks as we do–we assume he will be a good player. But since he has shown no ability to shoot or board in the NBA, and since his team got rid of him, the early returns are, he won’t be a good player in the league.
One of the cool things about the NBA, from a stat-geek perspective, is that player performance is fairly stable over time. And building a good team really is as simple as getting a bunch of good players, who are easy to identify. The problem is getting them on your team. There are a lot of possessions and marginal differences in efficiency reveal themselves over the course of a season.
http://www.boxscoregeeks.com/players
30 Flying B-Dawk said at 3:22 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
I think the FA part of Hinkie’s plan just hasn’t been executed yet. He’s been stockpiling cap space and assets so that when the time is right he has the ability to go big if he so chooses. The beauty of this is that when the time comes, he will have the flexibility to bring some real talent in through free agency instead of tying up that money now on players that may or may not produce by the time the Sixers are truly competitive.
31 Avery Greene said at 3:26 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
At least we can disagree respectfully.
Just because no one has tanked to the top before, it doesn’t mean it can’t be done (Thunder came close, but no cigar). Boston tried, but used the “assets” to get a ridiculous trade (discuss in a bit).
Okay let’s take a look at the teams that have won over the last 15 years. I’m going off the top of my head, so if I miss anyone – sorry.
Warriors – Curry, Thompson, Green were drafted and you’re right, it’s important to hit on what you have. The Sixers don’t need to hit FA yet until they know what they have in all their young players. But FA didn’t necessarily put this team over the top as much as Love didn’t play in the series at all. I think if he plays, Cleveland wins. That said, this team is built to be around for awhile. The draft in this case was important to the core.
Spurs – Their core was all drafted. Duncan, Ginobli, Parker, Leonard (came later) all provide that solid core, a couple free agents here and there over the years and they have 3 (4?) championships. This team has been around for over 15 years. The draft was important.
Heat – Wade is the catalyst, but we can’t give much credit to the organization for FA or drafting, because 2 of the top 5 players in the game decided they wanted to play together away from any GM. I don’t think this is a fair case. LJ is probably the best player in the NBA and has been for a few years. The championship before was just getting Shaq added to Wade. Kobe chased Shaq out of town and here they are with the inside outside game (which I think the Sixers are working towards). This isn’t a sustainable way to keep a roster.
Celtics – Ugggh they had Pierce, but their tank ended up with #4 (Tank for Oden), which they traded to the Sonics for Ray Allen. Both teams made out from this trade. The Thunder became a force in the NBA from 3-4 lottery picks, and the Celtics won it for one year. The Wolves trade (which I’m still salty about) which sent Garnett to the Celtics for some large pizzas and cokes amounted to a windfall for the Celtics, and essentially proved why the Wolves will never be good. The Celtics were only good for two years really until people started breaking down. Not sustainable success.
The Pistons are in interesting story. Ben Wallace was the key piece, but I think it was Rasheed Wallace that put them over the top in FA. Billups I think was a FA, but also the coach (Larry Brown) put them over the top. They made one year. Also not sustainable.
Mavs – Another example of a FA championship, but only for one year. Nowitzki was their pick, but most of the guys they got were old (Kidd, Horry) and only went there for an opportunity at one title. Sustained success of this team also was not guaranteed.
Lastly, the Lakers. Kobe was their pick and arguably the #2 player behind Lebron (though 1st before he got in the league). They got Shaq in FA, and they got 2 with him. Good fleecing trade to get Gasol for the other one (or two?). But they couldn’t sustain it because people left and it seems Kobe is hard to play with. The only reason they’ve held around this long is Kobe, but generational players come along every so often. Also, not sustainable long-term if you aren’t one of the lucky 3 out of 32 teams to get that guy.
Now on to Stauskas. One year in the NBA doesn’t mean he can’t shoot or won’t get better. He played on a bad team where he probably didn’t get many good looks, while also not getting a lot of time. His stats from college to the pros is stark, and I think in a better situation his shooting improves.
http://nba.derekbodner.com/2015/07/02/sixers-acquire-nik-stauskas-1st-round-pick-from-kings/
So after all that, I don’t think FA is the key to sustained championships over the long-term. It might give you one, but Hinkie is building to try and win 6-8 and you can’t do that without a core you can keep in place. Many of the previous teams sans the Spurs and maybe Warriors run into cap issues going from one FA to another hoping that it will put them over the top. After the older FA starts to decline, now you’re on the hook for salary and a declining player.
Here the Sixers have cap flexibility to lock up the good players long-term and when the iron is hot get the one FA that can put them over the top. The long-term success can’t happen if you keep going after the short-term fix.
But at least we can agree that were along for a fun ride whether it works out or not.
Edit: words
32 RobNE said at 4:17 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
FA’s won’t come without a star already in place.
33 MCD said at 2:34 PM on July 5th, 2015:
Well it comes down to whether you trust Hinkie’s ability to draft then. There is YouTube video from the Grantland piece on the Kings 2014 draft. We tried to trade up for Staukas then – if I’m Hinkie, my opinion on a player shouldn’t change because he spent one year in a dumpster fire. As well as showed marked improvement towards end of season.
As for your opinion on draft picks, are you pointing to some empirical evidence that the best players in the NBA come from all over and it’s essentially random? Because you keep harping that good players are on good teams and that’s that. Isn’t it a pretty acceptable fact though, that the best players come from the top of the draft? So accumulating lottery spots at a rapid rate is a good thing; it’s 1/2 the channels available to get “good players.” I don’t know how you can disagree with this tactic.
If you need to see the FA results, the skill the organization shows in wooing premium players, etc., then that’s fine. But this seems to be vey negative without much support.
34 Michael Winter Cho said at 6:53 PM on July 5th, 2015:
Some of Hinkie’s tactics appear to be sound in isolation, but there are many problems. Besides being dishonorable, against all the values of sport, and utterly disrespectful to NBA fans, losing lots of games will diminish the value of the franchise. And losing will be a hard habit to lose. This is the history of the NBA.
Now as to the fact that the higher the draft pick, the better the player–yes, of course. But this relationship has held for decades, and yet rarely does the balance of power change. Look at the list of champions and you do not see worst-to-first. Why is that?
I think the two main reasons are:
1. there are not enough game-changing players in the draft
2. talent evaluation is too chancy
I only count about 4 franchise-level talents at the #1 draft position since 2000. The other positions are probably lower. This shows that the talent is thin in the draft, and also that it is very easy to pick a loser. And Hinkie has shown no special aptitude in picking talent.
Put those together, and Hinkie’s strategy is revealed as that of a gambler or lottery player. Yeah, keep going to the casino and buying lottery tickets, but don’t imagine it gives you a better chance than–well, the methods that have been shown to work. Houston, Toronto, and Atlanta are teams that are doing things the right way. I only count about 4 franchise-level talents at the #1 draft position since 2000.
That being said, it is possible Hinkie could succeed; he will just have to be very lucky, lucky like Thunder or the Warriors in getting top-shelf talent in the draft.
35 MCD said at 11:49 PM on July 5th, 2015:
That’s fair. I have more faith in his selection acumen because of our ability to pull at least marginal talent out of round 2; something I feel only a handful of teams in the league have shown a propensity for
36 teltschikfakeout88 said at 11:13 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
the 60M in cap space is chump change in relation to the contracts that are being given out now for average players….The cap is going to explode in the next few years so I wonder if the cap number, for when we can really be players in FA, is greater than 60M…regardless Philly ain’t getting no superstars anytime soon in FA and I would rather we not overspend in FA for average players as you can see in the last couple of days of FA…
37 Avery Greene said at 11:16 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
I don’t want them to. We have plenty of 1st rounders incoming, that we shouldn’t need FAs.
38 Michael Winter Cho said at 12:25 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Maybe because he is building his career on losing games rather than winning them? It’s a neat trick, really.
39 anon said at 10:57 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
so what is the timeline for the sixers — how long until you actually have players and not a bunch of picks?
40 Avery Greene said at 11:19 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
They are starting now. They got two SGs, a stacked frontcourt, and the only thing they are missing is an elite PG. Plenty in the pipeline to keep this thing going for awhile.
41 GEAGLE said at 9:17 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Remember the Name Isiah Briscoe,,, he will be the PG we draft next year, unless we can do what we did with stauskas, with mudiay next year, as in use our assets to draft a top 4’ayer like Ben Simmons or Brandon Ingram, and package the other two or three picks to get Mudiay off dysfunctional denver. They would never do it Now, but draft picks represent hope for teams that have a terrible year, they would never want to do the trade now, but during next years draft, Denver will have a high pick, and I wouldn’t be surprised if getting to draft another two players will appeal to them during next years draft…
,,
Brett Brown talked about stauskas a couple times this past year, he obviously liked him going into that draft, a year later Hinkie gets him for Brett.. Recently I hear we were indeed high on Mudiay and Hezonja,, two players I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hinkie continue to try and acquire the next two years…
..
But Briscoe has Serious talent. Stylistically he reminds me of a young Kyrie, if he can have a big freshman year at Kentucky the way Russell did this year, he could make us forget about Mudiay….. If Mudiay was with a healthy franchise their would be no point talking about it. But Demver will struggle, Mudiay will go thru rookie season struggles of PGs…maybe the Lakers and heat pick for example, can get them to give him up
During next years draft.,,
..
I hate that Kentucky has the PG returning for his 2nd season, so Briscoe will have to play some PG and some SG., like Russell, he has the jump shot to handle sharing the backcourt with another PG next year, but I would so much rather See the freshman start at PG all year long..
42 D3FB said at 11:40 AM on July 2nd, 2015:
I mean the this years itteration of the team is already going to probably win 25-30 games. (At this point shut down Embid until he’s 100%).
Next years squad will have:
Nerlens
Okafor
Embiid
Stauskas
Saric
(Not all on floor at same time)
RoCo
2 likely lottery picks
At least one other first round pick (trade one for future assets, only so many spots on the roster) so likely a quality off the bench type guy
And your back of the roster upside guys:
Tokoto & Grant (3&D)
McRae (scorer)
Holmes (athletic big man, energy)
Micic (6’5, great distributor, can shoot a bit)
Plus all the cap space you could dream of.
43 Jarock said at 1:02 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
If this was the argument seven, heck, even ten games into the season, I’d have agreed wholeheartedly. The defense gave up too many big plays, even early in the season, but overall, they were much more efficient. The offense, while explosive, was also error prone. Then Bradley Fletcher completely fell apart in the last third of the season. That was bad, but what was worse was that Davis kept trotting him out there week after week and putting him in the same position. It was then that I started to lose faith in Davis as our d-coordinator. Like most fans, I find it maddening that he insisted on starting what certainly appeared to be inferior talents (Fletcher & Williams with the emphasis on Fletcher), while superior or at least equivalent talents (Bokins and Carroll respectively) languished on the bench. This season, the coaches once again announced that it’s an open competition for corner, but no one who has watched the team truly believes that Boykins has any shot (short of every other corner being injured, and I suspect Davis would move Jenkins back to corner then) of starting outside.
This is what scares me most about people saying “Oh, Carroll will start for a while, then Rowe will be moved into the starting lineup as he proves it.” What I believe has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt is that Davis values conformity and loyalty over talent. That and frankly, he’s scared to death of Boykins showing him up if he starts him outside. He started JAYLEN WATKINS, yeah him, the guy squarely on the roster bubble, instead of allowing Boykins to swing outside in a MEANINGLESS GAME.
Alright, rant over. I love the Eagles, and will support them with my whole heart. I just hope Bill Davis doesn’t bite us in the ass again this season with his inflexibility.
44 botto said at 1:46 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
I hear what you are saying, and you may be right about davis, BUT in no way ever has a game against the giants been meaningless.
I derive most of the meaning of the NFL from beating the giants as often as possible.
at the same time we could have started boykin to let him show what was up in that game just the same.
45 Jarock said at 1:47 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Hate the Cowgirls a bit more than the NJ Little Fairies but I agree with the principal there.
46 botto said at 1:50 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
most people do hate the cowboys more but I really am more fired up and stressed about the giants and redskins games. dallas is so Hollywood but the other two are close and the fans are close and they both suck and are fun to hate.
everyone hates the cowboys from the AFc West to the Nfc south.
47 Jarock said at 1:53 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Most of my hate of the Cowgirls extends from two things. 1992 and the fact that I have multiple relatives who have the audacity to cheer for that sack of !@#$ in Dallas. 92 was one of the first years I followed football closely and I watched the Eagles dismantle the Cowgirls early that season only for it to end in the beginning of one of the most dominant decades of football by a team that I loathe.
48 Bert's Bells said at 4:03 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
You’ve got to add 1987 to that list. The Eagles were a dominant defense that year and could made noise in the playoffs if the Cowboys didn’t play strikebreakers against scabs.
49 Jarock said at 5:48 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
87 was before I started watching football more than on New Years day. Neither of my parents are fans and I picked the game up late.
50 Media Mike said at 9:21 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
New Year’s day 1987 was the last time the voters in college football made a 100% correct call on the final rankings.
51 Media Mike said at 9:19 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
scabs
52 Bert's Bells said at 3:42 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I don’t hate the amateurs who stepped up to play for the owners. They weren’t NFL material and were taking their own shot at a paycheck to play.
But scabs -no. No respect.
53 Ben said at 1:14 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
The thing I really hope to see from our defense is obviously allowing less points scored.
The next thing I hope to see Billy do more often, is prior to the snap while the players have lined up, to have our LB’ers showing blitz more often by running up to the line, then falling back into coverage.
I recall several good defenses that would use this tactic on almost every down.
It has to confuse the entire offense when you never know which LB is coming, or if two, or even three are blitzing.
Maybe I haven’t taken notice as much as I should have, but I just feel we should be doing more of that, especially since we run a 3-4.
Having the illusion of pressure can make teams audible or have a QB rushing to get rid of the ball, only to find that we only rushed three.
This should show all of us, that Billy has truly evolved and has mastered the nuances of being a really good D Coordinator, and perhaps great if our secondary has improved as much as I hope they have.
54 D3FB said at 1:33 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Pre snap movement by the defense is highly overrated.
Yes it can help confuse an offense, but it’s also a great way to get caught out of position and give up a big gain, both in the run and the pass game.
Of all the things that would be an improvement, increased pre snap movement by the interior ILBs shows very very little. It looks cool, but by and large it’s not terribly effective.
Bail on it too early, and it’s pointless, bail on it too late and you’re out of position.
I’ve had LB’s who love to run up to the line and jump around and bounce between gaps. OL literally laugh at it. It’s not confusing. And it’s easy to make a team pay for it.
You don’t fall back to your LB depth? If it’s a run you’ve now taken your one advantage (athleticism and space) away from yourself. If it’s a pass, I’m gonna sell run action, you’re going to bite, and now the seam is wide freakin open.
You fall back to your depth presnap? Well gee golly whiz, that was a super fun dance you just did. Could you bother to show me the moves sometime?
55 iceberg584 said at 4:10 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Or the ball gets snapped during the linebacker’s backward motion to reset, effectively putting them off balance for the first critical moments of the play.
56 Avery Greene said at 4:49 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Is this the same as showing blitz and backing off (or vice versa)? Or is that similar but a different situation?
57 wee2424 said at 1:37 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
All that will happen is that you will be caught out of position more.
58 Nailed it! said at 2:51 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
So Sheldon Richardson and Rolando Mclain busted for the first 4 games due to NFL Substance abuse. Which is awesome because we do not have to face either to start the season.
More happy we don’t have to face Sheldon with our inexperience on the inside of our line!
59 Avery Greene said at 2:56 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
LOL – let the disintegration of the Cowboys begin!
60 MagsBestPlaceonEarth said at 7:15 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
I’m wondering if the Cryboys have enough players eligible to form a team, at this point!
61 FairOaks said at 3:03 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
The biggest thing that jumped out at me was that the offense, even when measured by drive, was *still* the worst turnover team in the league. That we won 10 games while turning the ball over more than anyone else in the league is pretty amazing (and probably due to the special teams). The defense actually did get 28 turnovers, which kept our differential to -8, but that’s still awful for a team that wants to contend. Improving the turnover picture from 2012 (where it was awful on both sides) to 2013 was probably the biggest reason for the jump in wins. If we can do something similar this year (it’s gotta go back towards the mean right)? then we could be in very good shape (though the complete revamping of the offensive personnel means there may not be much carryover there).
62 Avery Greene said at 3:30 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Yup, TOs killed us. If our offense cuts down on that, we are better virtually with running the same offense. I think about Huff’s fumble in the AZ game, which I think if he didn’t we would have scored a TD and won that game. Bad TOs at important crucial points in games is killer.
Even with 2 TOs (I think) in the Giants game, we still shut them out.
63 iceberg584 said at 4:06 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Yup, Foles threw two pretty awful interceptions, but the defense kept them off the board (with an assist to Victor Cruz’s knee exploding).
64 Avery Greene said at 4:49 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
That is one game I think that put the nail in Foles’s coffin. A game we won going away and he threw 2 ill-advised INTs that had no business of being thrown.
65 iceberg584 said at 9:49 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Agreed, and I recall Chip Kelly, wired for sound that night, showing some visible frustration with Foles during/after one of the picks.
66 iceberg584 said at 4:08 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Also the Ertz fumble inside our own 20 in the SF game was particularly ill-timed.
67 jpate said at 3:33 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
I’m surprised enough focus hasn’t been placed on the TOs even Chip hasn’t really addressed it much, I think it’s the biggest component on us missing the playoffs.
68 GEAGLE said at 9:08 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
How would you like Turnovers to be addressed in terms of tangibly so a fanbase can see you have improved upon it during the offseason! We changed the RBs..agholor, huff and AUSTIN should cut into more and more of Coops snaps, Ertz should start playing more snaps then Celek. Bradford replaced Foles.. Most of the players who fumbled or threw picks last year are probably gone Except for Sanchez who should cut down on them a bit having a better understanding off the offense in year two… Changing all the skill players won’t guarantee us improvement in ball security, we have to see how the new guys do first… I’m just not exactly sure how you can show improved or declining ball security during this part of the offseason… We will just have to wait and see
..
One thing I think we can count in terms of the turnover battle, the DBs, specifically CBs and Thurmond, should be a big improvement from last year, not only in coverage, but also making plays on the ball because of the upgrade in talent and a secondary coach that is coaching them up to change that bullshit of CBs being too scared to turn around and try and make a play on the ball like we did last year… Kiko should also help improve our takeaways…. Guys like Thurnond and Maxwell will get after it, we would never see them too afraid to turn around like Bradley Fletcher and besides Interveptions, both former Seahawks are good at stripping WRs at the last second before they can secure the pass
..
One thing jumped out at me last year was seemed like BG started to have a gnack for forcing fumbles not just from the QB, but also punching the ball out of the hands on skill players.. Curious to see if a big jump in playing time will continue to show improvements in his forced fumbles
…
Think we can project to see improvement in takeaways from the defense because of a major infusion of talent and new DB coach… But we had talent on offense last year, now we have new talent.. Going to have to wait and see if the new talent can put up better ball security numbers then last years skill players… I do think that the types of players we added, big WRs, two Big Bruising RBs on paper does project to be an improvement in the redzone… But I don’t see how we can say whether our new offense will turn the ball over less or more then last years group at this point of the offseason
69 Media Mike said at 9:09 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
“How would you like Turnovers to be addressed in terms of tangibly so a fanbase can see you have improved upon it during the offseason!”
I’d like to see guys who turn the ball over be made to run the stadium steps after the game until the puke.
70 Bert's Bells said at 3:54 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
That’s the #1 reason why FOles is gone (in my opinion). If he could be a game manager and protect the ball, Chip might not have shipped him out. But he reverted to “old self” last season and cough it up way too much.
71 GEAGLE said at 3:21 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Rolondo McClain suspended first 4 games of season for Dallas, missing 1st eagle game.. #culture
72 Avery Greene said at 3:28 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
The falling apart starts now.
73 GEAGLE said at 3:36 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Can’t wait till they realize that their OL is over rated. It’s a damn good OL, but they are high if they think fbey can stick a backup RB behind that line and expect the run game to protect romo and cover up his short comings the way Murray did for them last year. At this stage they should be asking less of Romo and his bionic back, instead they are making his job much harder then it was last year… Waiting for the obligatory yearly Sean Lee injury .. Lol Randy Gregory setting the edge against Jason Peters week two of his rookie season? Don’t make me laugh 😉
74 Javi Echie said at 3:44 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
What happened to Demarcus Lawrence the DE they drafted last year that was supposed to be the “heir” to Ware? I haven’t heard anything whatsoever on him, most likely another bum they drafted.
75 b3nz0z said at 4:24 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
i hate dallas. i don’t have anything to add to your comment. i just hate dallas
76 Javi Echie said at 5:00 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
You don’t have to add anything else friend, your comment is sufficient enough and I totally agree with you I hate them to. I wish I could of expressed the sarcasm I was trying to use in that statement, I was basically saying how Lawrence did nothing and probably sucks.
77 anon said at 8:23 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
can’t speak for the full season he had big plays in the detriot game (sacks, strip sacks if i remember), we’ll see what happens, i tried not to talk about other team’s rookie pass rushers last year.
78 GEAGLE said at 8:51 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
He will be on the other side becoming Lane Johnsons Bitch! It will be the prison equivalent of Lane walking around holding Lawrence’s pants pocket in prison so everyone knows that’s his bitch..
..
You might have a really good OL, but you are going to need a running back when you face the Eagles. I can promise you the great Tyron Smith won’t be blowing Fletcher off the line of scrimmage all day long. That ain’t happening, I don’t give a shit who you have on your OL, I’ll take my chances with Cox….Dallas has a nice young center, but they will need a good RB when he faces probably the most under rated NT force in the game, Bennie Logan…Doug Free might be solid against the run, but no one throws barwin and Cedrick Thorton around all game.., our Elite DL matches up just fine against the cowboy OL, you want to then trust your backup RB against the likes of Mykal kendricks, Kiko, Meco, Hicks, Malcolm Jenkins, be my guest. Iool forward to it!!!
…
Apparently Jerry forgot what our young DL did to their prized OL on thanksgiving, and we had a bunch of puppies playing who weren’t close to having Peaked yet….
…
Bet they average less then 4 yards a carry against us in both games this year.. Our Front 7 can hang with their OL all day… Let’s see that Dallas front 7 stop our Run game… Good luck with that, fools!!!
79 MattE said at 8:56 AM on July 3rd, 2015:
their draft this year made up for it…. plus we got MSII not doing much better at the moment.
80 Javi Echie said at 9:05 AM on July 3rd, 2015:
Your comment holds no weight at all. They made up for it how by drafting Gregory? .He’s the problem solver?. Doubt it. As for MS2 at least he was stuck behind three established players last year as compared to the cowboys who had no pass rush and Lawrence still did nothing.
81 MattE said at 9:18 AM on July 3rd, 2015:
Byron Jones was a decent pick, Gregory and La El Collins on the cheap is arguable just based on value, IMO our daft this year was also heavily need based influenced which is fine as long as BPA falls somewhat into that region also, ala why we didn’t draft an OL prospect, draftees are not finished products, i was referring to value and upside.
82 MattE said at 9:20 AM on July 3rd, 2015:
cowboys market inefficiency angle = off field issues/character/high talent upside.
eagles market inefficiency angle = injured goods/ players in wrong situations/versatile talents.
83 botto said at 3:53 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
I think Willie Nelson said it best, “mamas don’t let your babies grow up to be Cowboys”..
84 Javi Echie said at 3:55 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
I cant upvote enough for the great Willie Nelson reference.
85 botto said at 4:15 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
he’s the man
86 b3nz0z said at 4:24 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Gang Green
87 botto said at 4:49 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
red headed stranger
88 HawaiianEagle said at 5:44 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
If you re-watch Sliver Linings Playbook, according to Dr. Patel, DeSean Jackson is the man…
89 MagsBestPlaceonEarth said at 7:12 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Really> If he was in the NFL, he’d be suspended more than all the others put together for stupid drug use.
90 botto said at 7:56 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
uh…yeah if made it to the nfl I think his whole la bit different ya know ?
91 Javi Echie said at 9:06 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Who cares?
92 MattE said at 8:54 AM on July 3rd, 2015:
….or Redskins or Giants.
93 Mike Marchlik said at 3:35 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
How can ANY defense be good if they are on the field for over 40 minutes of a 60 minute game?
94 TypicalDouche said at 3:42 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
There’s a new thing in the NFL called getting stops and if you can force 3 and outs consistently then that a defense can be good regardless of how much time they play.
95 Mike Marchlik said at 4:45 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
How can you get off the field if you rush your offense and they go 3 and out ALL THE TIME. Watch the Seattle game. This is high school crap.
96 botto said at 4:46 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
wow a high school team that goes 20-12 in the NFL?
amazing
97 Mike Marchlik said at 12:05 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
There isn’t a super bowl in high school either.
98 Avery Greene said at 4:47 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
What about the secondary getting burned vs. Bryant and Jackson? Rodgers exposed our secondary and everyone followed suit.
99 TypicalDouche said at 4:50 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Your usage of caps is the real high school crap. Look dude you clearly know nothing about the basics of football. The defense feeds off the offense and likewise so if the offense isn’t clicking then yes it is much harder for the defense. But for you to say that the offense goes 3 and out “ALL THE TIME” is an absurd and ludicrous statement considering they’ve been a top 5 offense in both of Chip’s seasons. The defense couldn’t make a stop on 3rd down if there life depended on it during Seahawks game. You got any other genius statements that need a rebuttal? I’ve been getting good laughs reading your stupid comments to past couple of days.
100 Bert's Bells said at 9:21 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
ALL… TEH…. TIME!!!!!!
101 Media Mike said at 9:04 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
So wasn’t part of the reason we moved on from McCoy to Murray to keep the offense “on schedule” with moving the ball in more reliable increments on first and second down runs?
102 A_T_G said at 9:05 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
You could argue the same for DeSean.
103 Media Mike said at 9:07 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
One could, but I will not for two reasons.
1) DeSean is my boy, so I wont.
2) The team was worse at staying on schedule in 2014 w/o DeSean than they were in 2013 with him.
104 Avery Greene said at 1:23 AM on July 3rd, 2015:
I think it was other problems besides him.
105 FairOaks said at 9:05 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
3 and outs are really bad. The goal is more plays though, not time of possession. 3 and outs happen to hurt both badly. The true goal is to score more points than the opponent; Kelly is betting that more plays will help the offense more than it hurts the defense.
106 MattE said at 9:24 AM on July 3rd, 2015:
….
107 SteveH said at 3:45 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Misunderstanding snaps vs. ToP.
108 botto said at 4:57 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
is this Cary Williams?
109 TypicalDouche said at 4:58 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
From his previous statements recently he seems like the love child of Williams and D-Jacks.
110 MattE said at 1:10 AM on July 3rd, 2015:
Bruce Arians
111 MattE said at 8:46 AM on July 3rd, 2015:
…someone can do math.
112 Ark87 said at 4:17 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Tommy we don’t argue here, we discus loudly.
113 EagleNebula said at 10:30 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
http://gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/anchorman-i-dont-know-what.gif
114 HawaiianEagle said at 5:50 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Droppin like flies!!…
The San Diego Chargers announced Thursday that tight end Antonio Gates has been suspended four games without pay for violating the NFL Policy and Program for performance-enhancing substances.
115 GEAGLE said at 8:42 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
I wonder how long a player his age has been getting away with cheating?
..
McClain, Sheldon Richardson, Gates all suspended today
116 A_T_G said at 9:03 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
And that is part of the real danger to a good player’s legacy with something like this: it leaves you wondering if the PEDs are because he was a good player who can’t stand to get old, or if he was a good player all along because of the PEDs.
117 wee2424 said at 9:32 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Part of me thinks it’s the former, because you would just assume he would have been caught beforehand. Right? It’s only been 12 years.
118 Media Mike said at 9:34 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
I’d be inclined to agree with “old man problems” because the real “cheating” with PEDs is that they shorten recovery times for nagging old man type injuries.
119 GEAGLE said at 10:28 AM on July 3rd, 2015:
You DONT get caught failing 1 drug test and get hit with a 4 game suspension……multiple dirty drug tests leads to the 4 game suspension
120 GEAGLE said at 2:57 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I really hate when older athletes fail their first PED test… If you like the athlete, you hope that it’s just a case of him trying to fight old age, or overcome injuries at his age, if you don’t like the athlete you probably assume he has been cheating for a while..
..
hate when this happens, it can be a disaster like the case of Anderson SIlva, one of the top 3 MMA fighters of all time, long dominant career never heard whispers of PED scandals, yet his shin bone snaps in half, has a long rehab to return fighting close to the age of 40, and in his comeback fight he fails his first PED test… It’s a disaster. One of the greatest careers we will ever see, is now tainted with Questions about if he was getting away with taking PEDs all these past years… For what that man accomplished, to fuck up your legacy when you are so close to the age of 40 with your first failed PED test is a Disaster… Now it’s human nature to question what was real, and what was enhanced.. Dude had like 2 or 3 fights left, and he did this to his legacy, truly a disaster!!!
121 wee2424 said at 12:32 AM on July 4th, 2015:
He is only I think 12 TDs behind Gonzalez on the all time TE TD reception list. I don’t think it will, but I hope that doesn’t mess that up for him.
122 Media Mike said at 9:02 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Does that explain why Kendricks couldn’t cover him?
123 wee2424 said at 9:30 PM on July 2nd, 2015:
Saw that on PFT.com. Wasn’t aware he put up over 850 yards and 12tds last year. I guess I just assumed he fell off. I really hope whatever he was doing wasn’t a big reason as to why he put up those numbers at the age of 34. Always liked him.
I think the big one is Sheldon Richardson. Wonder how that will affect contract negotiations.
124 GEAGLE said at 10:26 AM on July 3rd, 2015:
For him to be suspended 4 games means he failed 3 or 4 drug test, so he can’t act like all of the sudden he decide to use performance enhancing drugs because of his old age
…
I’m just happy Sheldon will miss the Eagles game
125 D3FB said at 10:37 AM on July 3rd, 2015:
Thats 100% bullshit and false.
Don’t spread false information because you’re too lazy to google “length of suspension for first time PED offense”
126 Insomniac said at 1:16 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Look at who you’re replying to.
127 D3FB said at 4:24 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I know, but a subsection of people actually think he makes valid points.
So on something so obvious and easily disprovable, I reserve the right to call BS.
128 Ark87 said at 12:49 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Lane got suspended for 4 games last year and it was supposedly an honest mistake, a matter of not checking something with the football docs before taking or some such.
129 GEAGLE said at 2:38 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I was actually wrong… The PED 4’game suspension is for 1st time failed performance tests… You need to fail multiple recreational drug tests to get that type of suspension… Which is why Lane got 4 games last year for his first Failed PED test. And why Datone Jones has only been suspended 1 game, because it’s his 1st recreational drug failed test…. I literally just logged on to post the correction…
130 botto said at 3:54 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I would have been eliminated from the league a long time ago hanging with Gordon on sundays…
131 wee2424 said at 12:27 AM on July 4th, 2015:
Lane Johnson got caught once and was suspended for 4 games. Same as Hanson when he was with us and got caught.
132 Mike Marchlik said at 12:11 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Disgusting Seattle stats 9 first downs to 28. 139 yards to 440. 18:04 to 41 TOP. How is this a good team and or coming of a new era. It was a game they needed to win and got shellacked. Get real.
133 Ark87 said at 12:46 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Cheer up, it’s July and nobody’s even played a snap in pads. Chill out, crack open a beer and Enjoy the weekend, cheers!
134 MattE said at 1:30 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
…
135 MattE said at 1:30 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
…..dude every time you talk people get dumber
136 D3FB said at 4:22 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Did you respond to yourself saying this?
I’m all for self loathing, but damn.
137 botto said at 3:53 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
back up qb vs the best defense in the league. shady fumbled,
don’t forge some blatant missed calls, like that illegal man down field on 3rd and long, plus cole forgot Russel can run, and Seattle was a super bowl team that beat everyone else just about too.
only 1 team each year can end the season (playoffs) with a win. just one team.
138 MagsBestPlaceonEarth said at 5:35 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
So, it’s wandered over here too. Context. Try comparing Seattle’s defense to everybody, not just one team. When they are on their game, nobody is going to beat them.
139 Mike Marchlik said at 8:01 AM on July 4th, 2015:
Unfortunately the next week against Dallas the stats were very similar. Cary Williams was right this team got tired.
140 Mitchell said at 1:44 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
When does football activities actually start. This period is worse than the one leading up to the draft. For D3FB: This defense is fundamentally flawed.
141 GEAGLE said at 2:42 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Training camp is first week of August no?.. Shortly followed by preseason games, joint practices with the Ravens, then we get HardKnocks, fantasy football drafts. And before you know it we kick off in Atlanta to hand them an as whooping
142 AsianEagle said at 2:56 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
What fundamentals do u think r flawed?? or r u pulling his leg??
143 Mitchell said at 3:22 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Pulling his leg. He needs a good kick in the trousers.
144 D3FB said at 4:21 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Your trousers are fundamentally flawed.
145 Insomniac said at 3:04 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
This defense would look better as a 4-3 team on paper.
Ced and Bennie clogging up the middle as DTs
Cox and Curry as the DEs
Kendricks, Barwin, and Kiko are interchangeable for the LB spots.
146 Media Mike said at 3:13 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I’d go with Cox at DT, bench Ced, and put Graham at DE.
147 Insomniac said at 4:07 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I had to go with Curry. He’s done so much more on limited snaps compared to Graham.
148 Media Mike said at 4:08 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I didn’t bench Curry, I benched Cox. The line would be Curry – Cox – Logan – Graham
149 Insomniac said at 4:13 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I wouldn’t bench Ced for Graham. Ced might be one dimensional but he’s dominant at it. Graham on the other hand isn’t that dominant.
150 Media Mike said at 4:17 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
But do you neuter the ability of Cox if you put him at 4-3 end I think. So I basically think you’d be better with Curry-Cox-Logan-Graham than you’d be with Cox-Ced-Logan-Curry.
151 Insomniac said at 4:23 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
No? You’re letting him get after the QB instead of making him responsible for containing the run.
152 Media Mike said at 4:25 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
But around the edge? I’m a huge fan of his skill set, but does Cox posses the speed to turn the corner at 4-3 DE?
153 Insomniac said at 4:30 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I don’t see why he can’t. Cox is just as fast as Watt in a straight line and Watt has no issues getting sacks.
154 GEAGLE said at 4:09 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I’m not sure how true that is, maybe in terms of sack stats, but Graham has been praised for having one of the top pressure percentages for some time now… Truth is both have really been extremely effective with the snaps they were given, even more so then the sack numbers indicate
155 Insomniac said at 4:17 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Yea I was wrong. Curry got more snaps and sacks. Graham had more pressures.
Graham
225 snaps
51 total pressures
Curry
294 snaps
34 snaps
I would still give the edge to Curry though. Getting through those big old guards and centers to finish the job is a lot harder than flying off the edge.
156 GEAGLE said at 3:21 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I’d assume Barwin would be more of a DE, then a SAM… Not that he can’t play SAM, I think he can play that position at a high level for sure… But I’m not sure we can take our best edge rusher and play him at SAM… Yes he can cover TE better then anything we seen since Carlos Emmons, but he is way too valuable as an edge rusher to play at SAM… That’s like Miami Dolphin type absurdity…
…
But yes, we have the personnel to Probably be able to play either defense, which speaks to the roster we finally built up for our Multi Front Defense,,,. The defense will have a BIGTIME breakout season, but 2016 is when we should go into the season respected as a top NFL defense, and perform at a top 5 level during a complete season…By the end of this year, it’s possible that we feel like we don’t need many new defenders at All… even if you want to upgrade the safety spot next year because you feel like George Illoka or Tashuan Gipson are as perfect fits for what we do as you can ever hope to find, if Thurmond stays healthy this year we will probably won’t to sign him again even if it’s at inside or outside CB instead of starting safety… But other then possibly adding a starting safety talent, and a 4th OLB, there aren’t many other positions where we need to make changes, assuming ROWE can prove to be the starting outside CB of the future opposite of Maxwell…. This of course assume good health..
..
Think we end up finding out that we don’t need more then a new defender or two, Safety and OLB, and that what we really need to do is retain our defenders. hopefully we don’t lose any quality defenders, but if we do, we could end up having to add more defenders next year, but if we can just keep our defenders in place, I doubt there will be more then a new player or two starting that aren’t on this roster today, when this defense becomes respected Nationally as a top unit…. If this group of players does what I expect them to do, I expect retaining our defenders will be a much higher priority then adding too many new defenders… Hopefully we don’t have to lose and replace young talent
157 Insomniac said at 4:09 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
You have to keep Barwin as a LB. Meco doesn’t have the range to be a MIKE compared to the other guys.
158 GEAGLE said at 4:15 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I wouldn’t start Meco,,,,
..
Kendricks WIL, Kiko in the Middle, MS2 at Sam,.,. Eventually Hicks should also be able to take over the MIke, slide Kiko over to SAM and Kendrick at will, or lose Kedricks, and have Kiko at WIL, Hicks at MIke, and MS2 at SAM… Pass rush is the most valuable single skill set to a defense,. We can’t take the best pass rusher in the NFC last year and waste him in coverage. Misplaced priorities IMO….. And I doubt Trotter had that much more range then Meco, but Hicks seems build well enough to handle MIke duties..
159 Insomniac said at 4:25 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I’d keep MS2 as a backup until he can beat out someone. You have to earn your spot in that front 7.
160 D3FB said at 4:19 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Your mother is fundamentally flawed.
161 GEAGLE said at 2:59 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Anyone from the Utah area, familiar with Utah area, or will possibky be in the Utah area next week? I could use some recommendations…
…
162 Media Mike said at 3:03 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I heard of a pair of guys from there once.
http://www.motifake.com/image/demotivational-poster/small/0909/two-utes-september-challenge-the-two-youths-demotivational-poster-1253040183.jpg
163 A_T_G said at 10:16 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Utah? Yes, I’m tall.
164 Bert's Bells said at 3:03 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I’m pretty familiar with the Pennsylvania area.
165 Nailed it! said at 4:34 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I live in Park City, Ut
166 GEAGLE said at 3:06 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Curious and trying to Find out if Lane or Ertz happened to be working out with Glazier while Moffitt was there training..
…
There aren’t many people in the media who take their credibility serious. Glazier is one of the few who’s word I take as Gospel. Really intruiged by Moffitt because he has Glazier in his corner…. Hopefully his mind is right, Deamons in the past, hungry because of missimg the game, instead of just trying to fool us long enough because he finds himself missing NFL checks… Very curious to see what he looks like in the preseason/joint practices
167 Media Mike said at 3:10 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
What is the timetable with Lane’s PED suspension and working with Glazier? Glazier’s affiliation with a dubious “sporting” event like MMA and PEDs unnerves me a bit.
168 MattE said at 3:27 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
no one is clean, Come On Man.
169 Media Mike said at 3:28 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Probably true, but MMA strikes me as fixed and a near-cousin of WWE in terms of legitimacy.
170 MattE said at 3:29 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
false
171 MattE said at 3:29 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I wrestled in high school/offers for college. Please do not mention WWE and MMA in the same sentence.
172 Media Mike said at 3:30 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I wrestled as well in HS. I don’t care for MMA in the slightest.
173 MattE said at 3:31 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
i’m a 2nd degree black belt too, so they go hand in hand in my opinion, now i got a chocie whether to kick you in the face or bury it in the ground.
174 Media Mike said at 3:31 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Assuming the outcome wasn’t determined in Dana White’s office.
175 MattE said at 3:32 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
meh, i watch sports for entertainment not moral grounds lol
176 Media Mike said at 3:33 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Hey, if UFC wants to brand itself as entertainment I would give it mush less of a hard time.
177 GEAGLE said at 3:58 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Crazy talk… The most intense individual competition in the world… These athletes don’t train with basketball or football teams in the summer, your favorite players go train with THEM!
178 GEAGLE said at 3:55 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Ronda Rousey and 115lb woman’s straw weight champion Joanna “Champion” Jedrzejczk are probably 2 of my 5 favorite athletes in the world out of all the sports,.
…
Joanna Jedrzejcyk is about to take the world by storm and become a BIGTIME main stream athlete…
..
I think I’d rather watch those two woman compete, then any men in any sport… trust me, I NEVER envisioned feeling this way about woman fighters, but there literally ISNT an athlete today in any sport that I would rather see compete then these two woman
..
179 MattE said at 3:31 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
none of promotions going on are as bad as boxing/WWE
180 GEAGLE said at 3:35 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
That’s insanity… That’s like Tin foil hat type shit, come on man…. You are talking about a sport sanctioned by athletic commissions and now regulated by Wada and the top anti doping agencies in the world. New PED testing is stricter then any pro spot…. Trust me when I tell you, not only DOESNT the UFC need to fix fights, but a company that at one point was 40mil in dept and now valued at more then a Billion dollars, would NEVER NEVER NEVER risk their entire empire fixing a fight, when they don’t have to… The money they get from Foxsports alone is insane, and most of the middle and lower level fighters are grossly underpaid..
…
That’s a ridiculuos comment for athletes that really kill their bodies 3 times a day training, and dumping 20-40k of their own cash into training camps for upcoming fight… It’s a spit in the face to some of the hardest working, most under paid athletes in the world…
181 Media Mike said at 3:36 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Not
a
fan
182 GEAGLE said at 3:38 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
You don’t have to be to not make absurdly false statements and spit in the face of some amazing athletes … But whatever..
183 Media Mike said at 3:40 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I’d agree that they’re amazing athletes, but I lack the belief that the outcome of their contests aren’t fixed on the UFC level by Dana White for marketing purposes.
184 GEAGLE said at 3:43 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Not to mention you can’t fix fights. So many fighters feel under paid, and have ugly breakups with the UFC at the end and try to smeer the UFC in the media, any idea how man fighters would have been happy to rat the UFC out to the media if there was fightfixing… And for what? There is no upside To it,… You don’t fix a fight by letting someone smack you across your head with their Shin bone, ich is basically like getting hit in your head with a baseball bat lol. causing concussions and all types of injuries..
185 MattE said at 3:28 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
pro sports really should just let athletes take anything they want and then we just have giant/mutant/monsters vying for our dollars lol
186 Media Mike said at 3:29 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Paging Victor Conte………..
187 Bert's Bells said at 3:29 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
At least one year apart. Johnson was suspended last year.
188 Media Mike said at 3:31 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Thank you. I wasn’t sure which came first. I also have a passionate hatred of Glazier for his friendship with that massive gap-toothed piece of human excrement Strahan.
189 MattE said at 3:32 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
hahaha
190 Media Mike said at 3:33 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I learned a long time ago to judge somebody by the company they keep. If you’re friends with New York Giants you’re a poor human in my book.
191 MattE said at 3:35 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
men maybe, women i judge solely on appearance lol
192 Media Mike said at 3:35 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
If that women dates anybody on the Giants or is a Giants fan; she’s a pig.
193 MattE said at 3:36 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
unfortunately pigs get fed (the only upwardly mobile group in society are good looking women lol)
194 Media Mike said at 3:37 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
I’m going to have leave that comment to a far away portion of a sociology book.
195 MattE said at 3:38 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Darwinism lol
196 MagsBestPlaceonEarth said at 5:30 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Blatant pimple-faced 13-year-old nonsense is more like it. (Ooh, ooh, look at what I found between my legs!! I am a man!!)
197 A_T_G said at 10:11 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Your tone in this comment makes me think I am misinterpreting where Mag’s Best Place on Earth is located.
198 Media Mike said at 3:47 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Somebody writing contracts in Buffalo needs to kill themselves (and shoot that piece of garbage Bylsma first)
O’Reilly just got a 7 year / $52.5 mil + extension.
For a player who is a career minus player and coming off of seasons of 64 and 55 points.
That just made Voracek VERY expensive.
199 MagsBestPlaceonEarth said at 5:28 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Who’s O’Reilly?
200 A_T_G said at 10:08 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
He is that rich guy from Buffalo.
201 GEAGLE said at 4:24 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Improvements in the Defense im really looking forward to:
..
1) our 3rd and long “NASCAR Package type” when we go to our 4 man lines and get after QBs.. Using Barwin, Curry, Cox, Graham… For a young DL, we have also done an excellent job in twists, stunts, and we really do rush the passers as a very Discaplined group, not as individual pass rushers which is pretty damn impressive considering how much youth we have up front.. Think this will only take a big step up in improvement after another year of chemistry and grow under the belts of our young DL..
..
2) really excited at the improvement in ILB Blitzes,,, when Kiko and Mykal are in the game together, it’s similar to the mirrored safety Dynamic, teams can’t know which ILB is blitzing and which is dropping into coverage because they are both so well rounded linebackers, and they get to fly around behind a young DL that really has gotten the hang of eating Up Blockers.. if Mykal and Kiko play a big percentage of snaps together, curious to compare their numbers at the end of the year to the Tandem of Kuechly and Davis.. Jenkins is also a quality blitzing safety, and I look forward to ROWE and Maxwell CB Blitzes,..
..
3) Another year of maturity, improved pre snap disguise, and more importantly holding the disguise well and not let QBs force you into topping your hand TIL the ball is snapped..
..
4) By now, we are already established as a top Run defense, I look forward to being able to count on that for an entire season… I don’t think its a case of needing to wait for week 4 to gel into a top run defense, I believe we will see it opening day in Atlanta and in every day after that,.. Hold every Back we face under 4yards per carry!
202 Media Mike said at 4:26 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Nascar package???? They all turn left endlessly and are extremely boring?
203 MagsBestPlaceonEarth said at 5:27 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
But, but…they go fast!! It seems funny also, that being in the stands when a moving blob of bright colors whips past at 200 miles an hour is a waste of time. Better to watch TV, where someone can explain what is happening. ;~)
204 shah8 said at 5:29 PM on July 3rd, 2015:
Training Camp is almost here, and the dead period is almost dead. Soon enough, I won’t have to pretend that the Moffit signing is a big deal!