Projecting the Eagles
Posted: September 9th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 482 Comments »Let’s talk a bit about the 2015 season. I think the Eagles are going to be one of the better teams in the NFL. Chip Kelly is one of the best coaches in the league. The Eagles have built up a talented roster, and just as importantly, one that fits Kelly’s schemes. They escaped the presesason without any major injuries. This team has big time potential.
I think the Eagles are the best team in the NFC East. Dallas certainly has a good team and they are coming off a terrific season. But the 2014 Cowboys were built around DeMarco Murray. He’s now an Eagle. That is going to affect the team.
You certainly have to give the Dallas offensive line a lot of credit for how good the offense was last year. But you cannot ignore the fact that Murray just posted the best numbers of any RB in Dallas history. Better than Duane Thomas. Better than Tony Dorsett. Better than Herschel Walker. Better than Emmitt Smith. Murray didn’t get the ball, blink and suddenly appear 5 yards upfield. The line blocked well, but Murray’s running was crucial.
Beyond numbers, Murray was the most important Cowboy last year. He took pressure off Tony Romo, who threw his fewest passes in a complete season, but also finished with his highest rating and second most TD passes. Dallas led the NFL in time of possession, which doesn’t mean a thing to Chip Kelly but helped the Cowboys protect a very weak defense. They allowed one of the highest yards per play totals, but were among leaders in fewest plays faced so their porous defense was protected. All of this happened because Murray and the offense stayed on the field.
Dallas didn’t replace Murray with a workhorse back. They added Darren McFadden (career high 223 carries) and Christine Michael (career total of 52 carries) to Joseph Randle (career total of 105 carries) and Lance Dunbar (career total of 80 carries). None of those guys has carried an NFL offense on his back. Can Dallas succeed with RB by committee? Sure, but I don’t know that the offense will be the same. Running the ball with one guy is just different than doing it with a group.
I expect Dallas to score plenty of points. I think their defense is going to remain an issue. They have added some talent, but there are still gaping holes. That group overachieved last year and made timely plays. Can they repeat that? I don’t see it happening.
I honestly don’t know what to make of the Giants. I look at that roster and it is not in good shape. They have not added enough talent in recent years. But there is something that makes me nervous about writing off Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin. I get the feeling the Giants will be bad, but competitive. And they’ll have a good streak or two during the year.
Everyone is picking on the Skins right now. They have some good pieces in place, but you just don’t know if you can get good QB play from Colt Cousins III (clever or what?).
Taking a quick look around the NFC, I still think Green Bay and Seattle are the best teams. They have great QB situations and are proven winners. As much as I like the Eagles, they haven’t won a game in January since the 2008 season. The Packers and Seahawks have had postseason success.
I think the Saints are the best team in the NFC South, but that is historically a wacky division so nothing should surprise you.
The Lions would like to challenge the Packers in the North, but losing Suh has to hurt them. The Vikings could be a team to watch. Teddy Bridgewater will finally get to play on a regular basis with Adrian Peterson.
The team I really struggle with is the Cardinals. Bruce Arians drives me nuts with his complaining to the officials, but the man knows how to coach. The Cardinals somehow went 11-5 last year. Can they repeat that magic? I don’t see it. The roster still isn’t very impressive and they no longer have Todd Bowles running that defense. Some people think they could be one of the best teams in the NFC. I just don’t get that. Am I missing something?
It feels like confidence in the Eagles is growing.
A Super Bowl favorite? Chip Kelly's Eagles check in at No. 5 in our Power Poll http://t.co/sDKbDWUkgO pic.twitter.com/6LDvyOxyy7
— Around The NFL (@AroundTheNFL) September 9, 2015
Adam Schefter predicts Eagles will win the Super Bowl http://t.co/PSDmgoHI0s pic.twitter.com/InzQTDjwDB
— BleedingGreenNation (@BleedingGreen) September 9, 2015
Predictions: SB champs EAGLES !!! Chicago disaster (real shot at 1st draft pk) Khalil Mack proves should've been #1 pick Saints win division
— Joe Banner (@JoeBanner13) September 9, 2015
Should we start to get excited?
Is this just hype?
Initially I didn’t see the Eagles as a legit title contender, but watching them come together so quickly and play so well in the preseason changed my mind.
This could be a really fun season.
_
Tommy, I can’t wait for this season to start. Mainly because Dallas will be competitive and having other good teams in the division makes it better for game day.
I do think the Cards and Cowboys regress a bit, but something with the Saints has me convinced they might be a good team this year. Good coach + good QB is always a good starting point.
I can’t wait for the season to start tomorrow.
Saints have a really bad front 7 and no receiving threats outside of Cooks and Colston.
I don’t get all that love for the Eagles(but that’s for another post) but I really don’t get the love for the Saints. I’d go as far to say Colston isn’t even 1/2 the player he use to be. That leaves Cooks and .. and … and … Brees? A good(at best rb) and they have ? Who? A slew of unproven/unimpressive wr’s and TE’s?
A lot of buzz about Brandon Coleman (WR) throughout camp…i guess they are counting on him to be Colston’s successor
The killer is I drafted Brees for one of my fantasy leagues. I drafted Bradford way later. After the draft I sat there thinking — why the hell did I draft Brees. LOL. Week 1, I’m starting Bradford, a qb I drafted in round 10.
yea i hear ya, i have colston on my fantasy bench because the theory is he may see a bit of an increase in numbers with Graham and Stills as ex-teammates….but maybe i should be looking into this Coleman character (6’6″ 230) was quiet in preseason until the final game.
hmm, ok you have my attention on him ;).
Agreed with front 7. But Cooks taking the top off defenses, Colston working the intermediate areas and Spiller out of the backfield, while not the Greatest Show on Turf, is certainly enough for a QB like Brees to move the football, especially if they get a good year out of Ingram. They’ll miss Graham in the red zone for sure, and their defense is set up to continue their atrocious play. But, until Brees falls off a cliff that offense will have a pretty high floor when it comes to points even if their ceiling is diminished from previous years.
I think the Boys will look like the Eagles did when ever Brian Westbrook went out a few years back. Bad.
Agreed. Could be even worse for the Cowgirls because Romo’s back is a ticking time bomb.
Romo is already skipping practice days like they did with him last year for “precautionary” reasons. I watched him in the preseason and he was already diving to the ground before pressure got to him like in our thanksgiving game against him. I understand it’s only preseason and he should be trying to protect himself but it almost seems like he’s either tweaked something or had some sort of procedure done and they’ve kept it quiet in order to avoid stirring up more controversy.
So is Sam’s knee
Luckily, due to their chronic cap mismanagement, they’re financially obligated to that ticking time bomb for the next 2-3 seasons.
AFC:
South: Colts
North: Steelers
West: Broncos/Chiefs
East: Patriots
Wildcard: Texans/Broncos/Chiefs/Dolphins/Ravens
NFC:
South: Falcons
North: Packers
West: Seahawks
East: Eagles
Wildcard: Vikings
Wildcard: Cards/Lions/Cowboys
Coach of the Year: Chip Kelly
Comeback Player of the Year: Adrian Peterson/Kiko Alonso/Sam Bradford
OROY: Ameer Abdullah
DROY: Shane Ray/Vic Beasley
OPOY: Sam Bradford
DPOY: JJ Watt
MVP: Andrew Luck
Clowney ?
Good guess.
Meant to toss him into the consideration pool .. too much of an unknown longshot for DPOY.. maybe comeback poy
He would only fit in the CPOY, IMO.
Watching Hard Knocks, we all could see him recovery from his injury. Long rehab process, still bothering him.
He will start late in the season.
Yea he doesn’t appear like he’ll be at full strength to start. If and when he ever gets back to form…ugh…watch out. I’d have nightmares about facing a dline with him lined up next to Watt if I were on opposing player.
One possible hole is pass defense again, but the issue had been addressed and there is reason for legitimate optimism. Like every team there will be lapses in the rush and in someone’s coverage. Thurmond has looked good so far, Maxwell is going to have his bad moments, Jenkins can be beat sometimes, Carroll is relatively unproven, the slot is a potential weakness, like every team depth is an issue. But the unit has improved. The front seven is elite as is the run defense, so they have an improved defense.
The offense will range from effective and dangerous to overwhelming. Kelly has diversified his weapons to utilize moment by moment weaknesses of the opposing defense. This is an area where the league’s response will be better planned as the season goes on. If the Eagles do have a big year, the league will be gunning for them thereafter and will have elaborately planned a response to the hurry up read option combined with WCO, so the first year of Kelly’s full control will be unique in a way.
Seattle is the only NFC team that I think may have a better chance at the Super Bowl, and I’m not sure about that. The Eagles I think have moved ahead of the Packers. Scandrick going down (as well as, yes, losing Murray) demoralizes a team with a thin defense. If I were betting, I wouldn’t bet against the Eagles until someone finds a way to beat them in the playoffs. Veteran talent + strategy + element of surprise is likely to prevail, and I don’t think Lombardi hopes are unfounded.
They gave Wilson another legitimate weapon in Graham, and I think he can have a good year for them. Unless the Saints saw he was declining – then he won’t and I was wrong.
This should probably read: “gave Wilson A legitimate weapon” rather than “another”. It’s pretty impressive what he’s done with garbage WRs and no TE.
You know I was thinking in terms of Lynch being the other weapon, not necessarily the receivers. I probably should have made that clearer.
I figured as much. Just joking with ya. Lynch has definitely been a monster. I doubt that team would be able to survive an injury to him. Even in a run first offense with a great D, I’m always impressed with what Wilson has achieved with even worse WRs than McNabb had for most of his career.
Spot on. I can’t help but be legitimately worried about the nickel spot potentially being a constant thorn in our sides. Hopefully we can stay in base a lot and utilize our fast ILB and Thurmond who has excelled in the past covering slot WRs.
I think they’re a top contender.
Im looking for the Eagles to avg. at least 45 pts. PER GAME this ye per gamear…If we were a normal “huddle up” team runnig plays @ normal tempo, we should avg. about 24 pts. per game with our talent alone…but with Chip’s tempo we should be worth 3 more TD’s per game….reafy for Mon. Night…
OK I could see this, if special teams points and points from turnovers are factored into that number.
I’m saying it right now: we go 12-4, win the division, and reach the NFCCG. The secondary has been improved, I don’t see Bradford turning the ball over more than 12x and I think his injury problems are truly behind him. Nobody talked about how in the Packers game he got drilled after he threw a TD pass and he got up just fine.
“Should we start to get excited?”
Well, my signature on BGN is now:
“Super Bowl 50: Eagles 39, Broncos 20. Book it, Danno!”
So, yeah –
No way broncos … too uded to the preseason coolaid hihh hopes we aleays get every yesr … im just gonns watch as much as i can and worry
Tommy I generally agree with most you have to say, but I do think saying Kelly doesn’t believe in time of possession is actually very inaccurate.
He believes and rightfully so in a very high tempo offense but I think one of the things that frustrated him the most last year was players at key positions unable to grind or connect on key plays that would extend drives and therefore increase TOP. Those players have been replaced. He clearly believes in running the ball which is a huge contributor to TOP.
Example #1. Foles/Sanchezs inability to at times make the correct read or lacking the accuracy to hit the open receiver. The solution to that was the trade that brought Bradford here. Bradford has the ability to make the correct reads and the accuracy to hit the receiver.
Example #2. Shady was not the type of RB that will smash a D in its face and consistently fall forward. The inability to do so would at times result in a punt instead of a 1st down conversion converted from 3rd and 1 or generally short yardage situations. Furthermore it meant that second down at times could be 2nd and 8 instead of 2nd and 5. Or even at times 2nd and 12. Not consistently grinding and tiring out a D and not simply falling forward can be drive killers. The solution to that was trading him and signing 2 big tough RB that can rotate between each other and consistently fall forward or convert short yardage situations. Having that ability will increase TOP.
One of Kelly’s biggest weapons is the fast paced offense. Due to that being one of his biggest weapons he wasn’t going to stop using it just because our TOP wasn’t good. Our TOP may never be great, but he just didn’t have the players to run that and have a somewhat decent TOP. How many times were drives killed due to the inability to run and gain positive yards at times and the QB missing the open receiver or not making the right read? Too many times. He has replaced the players at fault for that. The players added will definitely result in a better TOP. One of the biggest contributors to TOP is first down conversions. Consistent first down conversions generates a higher TOP. The additions and replacements that he aggressively sought out are highly geared to converting 1st downs. Due to these additions I think it does show that Kelly cares about TOP more then people will realize or will admit.
The purpose of high tempo is to wear a D down, not allow them to make proper substitutions, and to catch them off guard. The side effect of that is reduced TOP. I think Kelly is clearly shooting for the purpose while trying to minimize the side effect. Meaning running the high tempo while still managing an increase of TOP from years previous. It’s a balance he is trying to achieve. If that balance is reached then this O could be unstoppable.
Kelly have directly said that he does not care about TOP or total plays, he only cares about scoring points.
It’s actions that count not words. Do you disagree that the players that have been aggressively pursued and added to this team will not result in higher TOP due to increased conversions? Increased conversions add to TOP.
The inability to consistently convert hurt our TOP. I highly doubt he liked that and he addressed that this off season by key additions to this team that can directly result in increased conversions therefore increased TOP. Sometimes you have to make a judgment based on what is done not said. Kelly has repeatedly made that obvious over his tenure here as HC and now also GM on many of an occasion.
The additions was made to score more points. This might lead to more TOP, but TOP isnt a goal in its self, like it is for a team like the Cowboys or Chargers, its just a bi product of scoring points
The issue is whether TOP is a tool or a marker. My understanding is that Kelly doesn’t subscribe to any approach that tries to manipulate TOP. However, low TOP for the Kelly Eagles has been indicative of a Defense that cannot get off the field.
Hard to keep your defense off the field when your offense is turning the ball over at an alarming rate.
Which leads to the addition of Bradford.
Yes.
Very good point. You summed up what I was trying to say in a much shorter method.
I don’t think Kelly uses TOP as a tool. However I think he looks to increase it by sustaining drives which increases points and has the D on the field less.
I don’t think he cares about TOP in itself at all.
But he cares about sustained drives which increases TOP. I also think he would want our D on the field less which does mean that he would care about TOP.
With the correlation between sustained drives, points due to sustained drives, and TOP I don’t think it can be said that he doesn’t care about it at all.
There are much better stats to use than TOP. I like the Drive Stats from FO. Offensive drive stats from 2014:
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/drivestatsoff2014
The Eagles were 8th best in the league at avoiding 3 and outs. That could certainly be improved, but as I keep harping on, the biggest issue was turnovers. The next biggest issue was red zone effectiveness.
I think CK cares more about plays run, than TOP. Yes running more plays means more TOP, but it’s not like we’re talking about adding a significant amount of TOP.
He cares about number of plays, not TOP. However you are right that three and outs have the effect of killing both stats, and he absolutely hates those. I think he’s just fine at 3 and ins, which hurt TOP but help with the points thing, but does not like to be stopped on offense. So negative plays are a huge issue — be those sacks or negative runs. But he’s going for TDs, wether they come fast or slow, and I don’t think he looks at TOP specifically (i.e. I don’t think he favors slower scoring drives over faster scoring drives).
When I speak of TOP with Kelly I think it is more of a term for efficiency. He doesn’t care in the sense of TOP to control the clock. I am simply saying that sustained drives regardless of the speed in which the plays are ran generally have a higher TOP then drives that were not sustained.
You are absolutely right and you really are seeing the big picture in all of Chips offseason moves on offense. I think you’re just getting bogged down in the semantics of using the term TOP which is taking away from the very good point you’re making.
TOP I think in Kelly’s eyes, is a natural byproduct or result of what he ultimately desires, but not something he sees as a cause or something that by itself generates what he wants. If the offense drives down the field in 2 min every time they have the ball and scores a TD and the defense forces 3 and outs every time, TOP will go up. It’s a result of his team functioning properly. But, it doesn’t cause anything he’s looking to achieve.
Whereas efor Dallas, TOP is an means to achieving a desired outcome all by itself. They actively try to manipulate the TOP so they spend a high proportion of each game on offense with their defense on the field. They actively try to increase their TOP because it benefits them schematically.
Chip tries to score as many points as fast as he can with no concern at all for TOP. Even if TOP ends up increasing when things go as he plans. What he really wants is more plays. More OPPORTUNITIES to score. He wants to run plays as fast as possible while burning as little time as possible to maximize the number of PLAYS that he gets to run.
Dallas, wants to snap the ball with as little time on the clock as possible to artificially increase TOP to decrease the amount of time their d is on the field.
Bingo! More fumble recoveries, more interceptions, and more defensive stops = greater TOP.
The goal period is to score points. In order to score points you need to convert. There is a direct correlation between converting and TOP like you said above.
I highly doubt Chip disagrees with the notion that the D was on the field to much last year. It just simply was. As smart as he is he can also be very basic. The more our D is on the field the more chance the opponent has to score. By consistently converting you not only end up scoring but it means that you increase your TOP. Increased TOP means less chance of allowing the other team to score.
I’m not saying he cares as much as other teams regarding TOP. I’m saying he just doesn’t not care at all about it. There is a direct correlation between sustained drives, points, and TOP. Due to that direct correlation which leads to points and possibly less points by the opposing O then how could it be said he doesn’t care at all about TOP? Cares less then most teams? Yes. Does not care at all? No.
I never said he is focusing directly on TOP. I said he was focusing at sustaining drives which again like you said increases TOP.
It was painfully obvious that last year the lack of TOP hurt this team. By running the high tempo O and increasing the TOP with the players we now have this team has the ability to be a serious threat as long as there are no major injuries and the secondary holds up.
Me and you are pretty much saying the same thing due to the correlations between points, sustained drives, and TOP. I’m just simply saying because of this correlation and having the D on the field less I don’t think you can say that Kelly does not care about TOP at all.
You can sustain drives and score points without increasing TOP, if you just score faster.
In the two years under Kelly, the Eagles have run the fastest offense both years and had the lowest TOP both years.
Decreasing 3 and outs and converting instead of punting will increase TOP.
I’m aware he has had the lowest time of possession in his first 2 years. I think that is something in which he would like to increase by not going 3 and out and punting. By not doing that it naturally increases TOP. That is clear as day. The players added should help in that regard.
The goal isn’t to have the lowest TOP. The goal is to run the fastest offense he possibly can while also having the highest TOP he can.
What that means is running the O as fast as possible while sustaining drives which clearly means higher TOP. That is clearly the goal and if anyone thinks the goal is different they are horribly wrong.
The RB group he has obtained points to him running the ball possibly more then in the past which also increases TOP.
Furthermore the refs will only let him go so fast. I don’t think he can go much faster without the refs slowing him down.
Kelly’s only goal is to score points. If he scored on the 1st play on every drive, Kelly would love it.
The fast offense is just a tool and why do you ignore everything he has said about TOP and number of plays?
If he could score on the first play of every possession then of course TOP doesn’t matter. That’s not realistic.
Every coaches goal is to score points whether they highly care about TOP or it is not as important to them.
Does Kelly like going 3 and out? No. Does decreasing 3 and outs increase TOP? Yes.
Does Kelly enjoy having to punt? No. Do sustained drives that result in points instead of punting generally increase TOP? Yes.
Does running the ball more with 2 big N/S runners generally increase TOP? Yes.
Sustained drives correlate to to an increase of TOP. True statement.
Do we agree that Kelly would like his drives sustained? Yes.
Does Kelly run an offense with the intent to control the clock? Absolutely not. He runs an extremely fast paced O.
However if Kelly runs the fast paced O and the TOP increases then wouldn’t that be an indication that the drive were sustained?
Simply he can run the O as fast as he possibly wants to. If the clock keeps ticking on our side then that means that the drive is still going and hasn’t resulted in a punt or TO. It generally takes longer to score then punt or turn the ball over.
Again I’m not saying what he said is untrue. It has to be looked at in context just like everything needs to be. He doesn’t care about TOP as a way to run the clock. However if he were to run the O the same speed as last year but the TOP were higher then couldn’t it be deduced that drives were then sustained for longer?
Hmm, I really think it’s about points, not TOP. The main problem with the team last year was that the O did not score enough. This may seem ridiculous, but they played at a frenetic pace but were inefficient. If they scored at a high rate with high pace, it would be college scores. That is the goal.
As I have stated the goal is to score points. A higher TOP means more sustained drives and less 3 and outs which can result in more points.
What everyone is saying to you which you are not fully comprehending is that what you are describing, although clearly reasonable and rational to equate is conventional logic that Kelly doesnt subscribe to.
I am 100% fully comprehending what is being said to me. I just clearly disagree with it. My opinion is not swayed by the amount of people that disagree with me. That being said I am not unreasonable and I have more times then remembered corrected myself upon realizing that the point being discussed I may have been wrong about. I simply feel as though I am not wrong on this while 100% comprehending what is being said to me.
What I do think is not being comprehended is that I am not speaking of TOP in the sense of ball control or how an average team views TOP. I have stated multiple times Kelly does not care about TOP in that regard. Or maybe it is fully comprehended and I am wrong. That being said…..
When I speak of TOP with Kelly I am speaking more about efficiency. Kelly’s goal for O is to score as many points as possible. His high tempo O is the method he chooses to do that. Due to that TOP is always going to be low. However no matter if you run high tempo O or just average speed you want your drives sustained. Sustained drives and not punting result in more points. Sustained drives and non punting also mean an increase in TOP. Direct correlation, correct?
The comments have been made that Kelly cares about points and the amount of plays ran. That is correct.
In order to maximize the plays ran that means you need to sustain the drives. If you are not sustaining the drives and it is resulting in punts then how are you maximizing plays ran? You are not. Therefore sustaining a drive is critical in running the maximum amount of plays (which Kelly says is important) which then directly results in points. Can we all agree that points scored equates to maximum amount of plays needed to achieve that objective of points scored? I think we can.
Maximum amount of plays ran means a sustained drive which means points scored which means the TOP is maximized within the high tempo O.
Simply the higher the TOP is within the fast paced O that should mean more points scored.
He doesn’t care about TOP so much as a way to play ball control but as a measurement for efficiency. The higher the TOP is means the more plays he ran.
People saying he doesn’t care about TOP he cares about how many plays he can run are contradicting themselves. Due to the fact there is no wasted time that means amount of plays and TOP are really the same thing. One way to simply count the number of plays ran is by time, the other is to simply count.
Is there a point in there in which you do not agree upon? Judging by many people’s responses I think i did not initially explain correctly as to what I meant.
I agree with everything you just wrote. Again, it’s a minor semantic issue that is bogging down an otherwise astute point. Unfortunately, it seems everyone is arguing around the same agreed upon points, and parsing the minutia of your word choice.
The issue seems to stem from the inference that Kelly is actively trying to increase TOP. And, I agree with most the people that responded to you. That’s not entirely true even if everything you wrote above is and TOP does in fact correlate with all the things Chip is actively attempting to achieve.
Chip runs the fastest blur offense in history that by its very nature minimizes TOP to an extreme. If the other team comes out and runs the ball every play and refuses to snap the ball until the play clock is at 2 seconds, they’ll force our TOP to be low. And, Chip won’t care one bit as long as his offense scores every time they have the chance. The other team simply won’t be able to keep up if they try to slow play the game, if his offense is scoring in 2 min every time they get the ball back.
And, he’ll do nothing schematically or strategically to inflate our TOP. Even if, when everything goes as planned, TOP will naturally increase. It’s an outcome not a goal.
That’s the only thing you’ve been arguing about in these posts. Everyone agrees that his plan will lead to potentially higher TOP by being a more efficient offense. No one agrees that it’s a goal in any form.
Further, Chip himself has said that he doesn’t care or even look at TOP because it’s such a secondary indicator of success and is poorly correlated to success. He looks at plays ran and points scored and how efficient his offense is at doing those things. If that means increased TOP, which as you clearly laid out, it often does, GREAT! If it doesn’t because the other team tried to slow the game down or because we scored too quickly, who cares. Chip wants his offense to possess the ball, no doubt. But, he cares about how many times they possess the ball not how long they possess the ball.
Well, I understand what you’re saying, and for me, this isn’t a question about whether you are right or wrong in thinking this. I think everything you are saying is logical. However, what I’m saying, and what I think a lot of people are saying, is more to the point of how Kelly sees this same issue. I don’t think he makes the same natural correlations as you. I think what you’re describing is a conventional approach to managing a game and playing winning football. The truth is that there are advantages to gain by winning TOP and by running the most plays, etc. But I think what Kelly is not just saying with words but also backing up with his actions is that just because running long, sustained drive and managing a game via TOP (when done well) provides specific advantages, doesn’t mean that the converse of that inherently creates a disadvantage. I think running high tempo, and being satisfied with scoring without using plays or time of possession such as with special teams, defensive turnovers, or through very fast pace and X plays, just because they don’t represent the advantage that comes with chewing up the clock doesn’t mean it specifically produces the opposite effect, namely a burden. It also provides specific advantages, they’re just different kinds of advantages. The biggest advantage as far as I can tell is the ability to put the defense into an auto-defense. The point is that Kelly has looked at the conventional logic that you’re describing and he’s weighed the positives and negatives, and he’s looked at the advantages and negatives (such as a higher number of plays for your defense to face) of his own, high tempo system that emphasizes scoring points over and above conventional game management, and he has quite clearly chosen the advantages that come with a high tempo offense. To me, this isn’t really a question of whether what you’re saying makes sense. Obviously it does, since it is conventional logic. What I am pointing out is that nothing you’re describing is lost on Kelly. He is simply prioritizing a different set of advantages. 🙂
Again, I think you have it slightly backwards. A higher TOP doesn’t mean (or cause necessarily) more sustained drives and less 3 and outs. Rather, more sustained drives and less 3 and outs MEANS higher TOP. TOP is correlated, it is not causative. Chip recognizes this and thus is looking for more sustained drives and less 3 and outs, BECAUSE that means MORE POINTS, not because it means more TOP. You’re 100% correct in your other assessments. Don’t get so bogged down on the TOP thing, it’s a secondary indicator that is a natural byproduct of the offenses success, not a causative factor or something that he is trying to achieve in and of itself to make his offense successful.
I really don’t think Chip cares how much the defense is PUT on the field. Sure if they get stops and turnovers they’ll see less snaps and less time on the field. But, I don’t think Chip views anything about football strategy in terms of trying to limit the amount of plays his defense runs. Chip does not view football through a defensive/avoidant prism. Every play is an opportunity to score points. He wants his offense to score on every single play. And, when the defense is out there, that’s just more opportunities available for them to force a turnover, score themselves or get the ball back to his offense so they can score again. Chip isn’t trying to use his offense to keep the defense off the field. He’s using the offense solely to score, the defenses whole purpose is to get the ball back to the offense so they can score more.
But isn’t that like me saying I don’t care about the fuel in my car, only that it gets me to work?
We both know it is a true statement – after all, I set the fuel on fire, some days at a high rate – but we both also know that the fuel factors into the getting to work part. And so, while the fuel level isn’t an end goal unto itself, it is something I monitor and aim to insure stays at adequate levels.
But Kelly does not monitor TOP at all. He most likely care more about cutting TO’s and negative plays (TFL, Sacks and penalties).
I don’t care about water I just care about staying alive
No, time of possession isn’t required for winning the way fuel is for running a car.
Plenty of games have been won without winning the TOP “battle.” No car has been driven without fuel.
If you score on every drive, time of possession won’t matter at all. There’s no analogy for fuel where that’s the case.
And plenty of cars have completed the trip without a full tank. And no team has won without possessing the ball. There is a minimum required amount of each needed.
I don’t think he is trying to win TOP, but I find it impossible to believe he doesn’t monitor it. There are exactly zero measures of the team that we know and he does not.
The only difference is that the amount of fuel in your car directly causes your car to get to work. TOP does not cause anything except it keeps your defense off the field. TOP is something that often, but doesn’t always, indicate that your offense was successful.
Using the car analogy, if getting to work in one piece and on time at the highest success rate possible for those parameters is the goal, like winning a football game is for Chip Kelly, you need to track the things that help you achieve that goal. IE the health/maintence/reliability of your car (sports science), the gas mileage (a measure of efficiency in achieving that goal), the time it takes you to get to work vs the time you gave yourself to get there when you left your house (your score vs your opponents score), the amount of gas you put in your car to achieve that goal (the amount of plays you get to run) and then whether or not you actually got to work on time (your W/L record). You could measure your boss’ happiness with you (TOP) because it’s certainly correlated or caused by you showing up to work on time. But, it’s not really a great measure of how well you’re specifically achieving your goals and can be effected by a host of other things.
Certainly valid points.
I’m certain Chip cares about time of possession. The 3 and outs caused the defense to be gassed during games, created mental lapses and big plays. Hence why Murray is now the running back and not Shady.
Chip covets first downs, one of the reasons is that it keeps his defense off the field. I don’t think the Eagles defense were as bad as the numbers tell last year. When you have to face so many snaps, big plays will come eventually.
Awesome, well thought out post, and well written and really, I agree with everything you wrote. Just semantically, I think Tommy is correct (while you’re also correct).
Chip doesn’t give a lick about TOP, but he does care about number of plays run. He wants to control the ball and extend drives, and grind out first downs, like you say, but he could care less how much game clock he uses doing it. Sure, if we extend drives, accumulate first downs and control the ball, TOP will naturally increase in our favor. But if he could run a 100 plays a game and score 50 points with a TOP of 20 min he’d be thrilled.
Whereas a team like Dallas is truly attempting to achieve a high TOP. They don’t JUST want TDs and points out of their offense. They want to slow the game down and keep that atrocious D off the field and limit Romos exposure. It’s a slight semantic difference, but one I think is important to schematically understanding to the differences in these two teams overall goals.
The biggest problem we had last year on offense was turnovers. We were the worst in the league turning the ball over. Both fumbles, and interceptions.
If we’ve solved that, we’re in great shape for a good run.
This, in my opinion, is the most important factor. Even more so than the leaky secondary.
Turnovers and red zone percentage. Both should improve.
Special teams will regress towards mean, a little.
Luckily turnovers tend to regress towards mean, from year to year. Ask Eli?
So the Eagles will finally do what I what wanted em to do when Boykin was here.
Carroll will start outside, but against certain slot WR types, he will move inside in nickel and Rowe or Biggers will play outside.
Against the smaller shifty types, it makes sense to play Carroll over Biggers in the slot.
I do hope we play more big nickel next year with Couplin as the 5th DB playing a rover role and then have Thurmond or Jenkins as the slot guy
you are doing a lot of assuming for a coach who refused to disclose our Nickel plans before the Atlanta game… My impression is we could end up seeing different nickel personel from one game to the next depending on the matchups… You can switch it up when all your DBs are so versatile and intelligent enough.. And we could end up staying in base more then most teams. I’d rather sit ROWE on the bench all year but it sounds like we will see him in action this season…. If I had to guess on the starting Nickel in ATLANTA! I think BIGS would be the safe bet…. Not sure they are going to ask much of ROWE in week 1
Rowe being on the field would be a mistake. He’ll make Eagles Nnamdi look like Revis.
Okay I don’t think he’ll be that bad, especially with over the top help.
Based on what we saw so far I’m going to be picking the lesser of two evils here.
Thurmond: can’t really tackle but can cover
Rowe: can’t cover and takes horrible angles to tackle
Couplin: lays out the wood and more like a traditional SS
I’d go with a combination of Thurmond + Couplin
I like the idea of Thurmond in the slot and Couplin at SS in the nickel. I hadn’t considered that.
Yea for all our handwringing over Boykins use, with seeing that they are in fact open to playing someone outside and having them move inside in the nickel and Boykin’s inability to crack the top 3 on a new team with no CB depth, perhaps we were a bit premature in our frustration.
The Daily News sportscasters (many) and the Inquirer (2) have published predictions that range from 10 to 13 Eagle wins and average an Eagles 2015 11-5 record. Sportscasters will be the first to tell you they cannot predict those outcomes, which means they are all wrong. So we need to explore other results. Most likely choices outside their predictions would be 9-7 or 14-2. I’ll go with 14-2.
16-0 regular season. 19-0 including playoffs. Suck it, 1972 Miami Dolphins.
Rumors say Chip was mad because he didn’t get the perfect preseason. So I guess he will only compensate it with a perfect run to the SB…
I’d say — 0% of the rumor is true. Nobody cares about preseason w/l records…
But but… Howard Eskin said it… So it must be true!
Wait, there actually was a rumor? When I credit something to rumors it means I am about to make something up.
I was being sarcastic saying that Chip was pissed in not getting a perfect preseason so he would compensate it by getting a perfect season with a superbowl.
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/videos/videos/2015-Philadelphia-Eagles-It%E2%80%99s-Time-to-Work/8ba99b2f-da53-44d1-817b-fe466b0cad2f
Must see and listen
Ifeanyi Momah amazingly actually makes the Cardinals this year and is listed as a co-starter. Tears his meniscus in practice, going on IR before Week 1. Bummer.
I was just about to post something about this. I really feel bad for the guy.
wow that sucks. i was pulling for the guy, even if i don’t like his team/coach.
Let’s hope our front seven is as daunting against the run as it seems to be, can pressure the QB, and then let’s see what the secondary can do. If they hold up decently and create turnovers the Birds will set all time NFL scoring records. Cox could be our real MVP.
Well we were #2 in sacks last year, and only allowed 1 runner to get a 100yards… And our front 7 should be even better then last year….. The last thing eagle fans need to worry about is our Elite Fromt 7 amd run defense
The only thing I’m worried about is the first couple of weeks. Kendricks, Alonso, and Ryans are all still a bit rusty coming off of injury. Once the rust is knocked off, then I’ll be fine. But in the interim there may be some mistakes to exploit.
, Meco always looked “rusty” in the preseason, everyone worries, then the season starts and he starts Beasting… It has literally happened every season since Meco was traded here.. Clearly he just goes thru the motions in PS games
..
Amd let’s say they are rusty, Atlanta sure as hell doesn’t have the OL or RBs to exploit our “rust”..
..
Giving the team time to gel is a great thing. Don’t want to peak too early. The defense and offense will have a couple bumps to work out. After the break, I expect better…
I agree – just nervous about the revamped secondary that will be severely tested as result
especially since we have a pass rusher at olb now.
Even if the secondary improves on either limiting big plays or increasing turnovers, they will be vastly improved and from what Ive seen so far, they can do both. I do, however, share your anxiety about the secondary.
I am definitely optimistic, but until we see actually happen – hey, we all know our history of getting too optimistic!
Agreed on the Cards missing Bowles. Part of that may be a dislike of Arians, but D is not going to carry that team like it did, and the O is still far from scary. That division is no longer the runaway “best in football”.
The offseason built a reserve of potential energy. The preseason experiments gave some optimism that the energy could be tapped. Now it’s time to drop the nuke on the rest of the league.
#HowILearnedToStopWorryingAndLoveTheEagles
national media ridiculed Chips moves all offseason saying chip didnt know what he was doing. 15 preseason passes later, every where I turn the National media has us in the Super Bowl conversation.. So much for flying under the radar this year
Cardinals are going to take a step back tbis year, because they are weaker in the trenches then past years.. They have been playing musical chairs with the OL all summer, and that DL lost Dockett, williams, and Docketts replacement..
I don’t see how you can avoid taking a step back from last year when you have so many more issues in the trenches then you had last year.. Carson Palmer is going to get beat up this year.
..
I dont to understand how anyone can think the Giants won’t be terrible this year….For starters, they won’t be able to stop anyone. They probably have the worst defense in the NFL! There is no worse combo then Lack of pass rush in front of a disaster of a secondary, and their OL may be even worse then past years…. I don’t believe a team so weak on the OL and DL has any chance to be decent….. JPP is a big loss, because their pass rush is non exsistent. They keep signing scrub safeties that they have to cut two days later. Losing JPP is going to be a nightmare for Giants safeties., Sure Eli and ODB can score some points, but they won’t be able to stop anyone..
ok — so what changed? CK has had ok seasons with 10 wins. He pissed off most fans with the DJ move. He refused to play Maclin. He refused to move on Mathis. He shipped Shady. He traded for a QB that tends to get hurt when he sneezes. Signs rb riddled with injury history. He signed Tebow(pissed off fans). Sent Boykin packing. Pitch Forks n torches for everybody. Bradford wasn’t playing preseason. Neither were the LB’s. He cut Tebow(pissed off all non-Eagle fans) Shipped off a fan favorite defensive player. Then the improbable happened. Bradford played a few snaps in pre-season and BAM! SB here we come!!!!
…..
Wow. I expect the fans to go nuts, but the local and national media? So seriously — what changed? What happened to get the media(I won’t pick on the fans) to go from ‘CK will be coaching in college next year’ to ‘he’s one of the great coaches in the nfl’?
….
I’ve been a CK supporter from day 1. That won’t change, neither will my opinion on the Eagles as a whole. But what is making everyone say “title contenders”? My view — defense is not a question(maybe safety/corner play) but as a whole – solid. Offense — always like Bradford. in great shape at RB. WR, we might have a great one in JM. But the rest of the wr’s? Huff(I know, people like) I’m not as high on. Aggie? I’m rooting for this kid but still a rookie. Miles(who’s old enough to be my dad) is there. TE we’re ok at too. OL, we have serviceable guards. Monster T’s n C. Is the media really grabbing onto a QB that most say has underachieved and a very young wr group that hasn’t proven anything yet? (again, I think Eagles are fine, I’m just trying to figure out why all the media attention out of the blue)
Yeah, the national media is acting more like eagle fanboys then our fanbase.. 15 passes in a preseason game and chip went from not knowing what he was doing, to Super Bowl contender…
it’s almost sad how they are jumping on the train. woot woot! All aboard! Eagles will lose a game this year(I know, they’re supposed to be 16-0) and the media will jump all over it and question CK after 1 loss. (Good thing us fans know better 🙂 …lol
Wait until we shred the Falcons on Monday night – they want to start the SB parade next week.
That will probably get more people in the Eagles SB chances. Hype aside, I think the Eagles should have an easy win since the Falcons team lacks talent in their defense and their offense (aside from JJ and Matt Ryan)
I will try to argue the positive and then the negative since i am pretty conflicted.
Positive spin:
QB – Chip has never had a great QB before (Chip missed Mariota’s best 2 years in college), and Bradford has Andrew Luck level raw talent that could if everything goes right give Chip a top tier QB to work with.
Running game – should be more consistent due to style change. 3rd and long is a disaster for the Chip offence that likes to attack every inch of the field, and limiting running, screen and short passing options curtails much of what he tries to do. More consistent run game should assist sustaining drives as well as increasing the no. of plays the Eagles offence has per game increasing the pressure on opposition defences due to fatigue.
Defensively – we have an all star front 7 who are dominant both against the run and pass. While the degree of improvement is unknown it is hard to project a worse secondary performance than last year.
Turn overs – Chip has historically had a low turn over offence his entire career, with last year a massive abberration statistically from any other season. There is a significant chance that regresses to a more standard number and that should improve the offence significantly.
Last year we had an average offence and defence (on a per play basis) and league best special teams. There is significant scope for improvement in both offence and defence and if they can achieve that we beat most teams.
Schedule – We avoid the best 2 NFC teams this year and play a soft NFC South.
The Negative spin is this:
Bradford has not shown at any point he is a good QB let alone a great one. Injuries and rust slows him initially and his issues reading and controlling the game with the Rams. Or he gets injured. Sanchez is Sanchez.
Running game – 3 ageing backs, the 2 work horses with significant injury history and tread wear. New and less talented guards with an ever ageing LT.
WR – no proven WR’s, Matthews needs to show he can transition to being a No.1 guy.
Secondary has been changed but Biggers/Carrol/Thurmond have not yet shown they can be consistent NFL quality starters. This could go horribly wrong and be worse than last year.
Injuries – Eagles have been the top 5 best in the league for 2 years with injuries, and there is a chance of regression and we have brought in a boat load of injury prone and recovering guys.
Special teams regression. We had a historically good special teams unit that won us games with an average offence and defence, that can and should regress a degree, and if other areas do not improve that will cost us games.
The reality is somewhere between the positive and the negative but it is hard to be sure exactly where at this point…. Monday will tell us a LOT.
I think what changed wasn’t solely Bradfords 15 passes (although that certainly sent the optimism into orbit), but the entire preseason performance as whole. That was the most dominant preseason statistically and from just the eyeball test that any team has had in maybe ever. While preseason record has almost no correlation to regular season record, I don’t think preseason play as a whole should be so discounted. It’s just impossible to measure statistically.
Every year we were contenders it seemed to show up in the overall play during the preseason. I knew 2004 was going to be a great year from the first play of preseason against the Ravens. Conversely, I’ve seen struggling performances carry over into the regular season too many times. Foles looked off the entire preseason last year and played the same throughout the year. This year the offense hummed like we’ve never seen before, special teams looked like they were just as dominant as ever, the defense looked really good even without the exotic 3-4 blitz packages that generate most of our pass rush. The team looked the part of the best team in the league for all 3 games that the starters and second string played. That has to count for something.
And, I’m positive that’s the major driving factor in the excitement. Watching it in action, you can see Chip’s entire, beyond thoroughly thought out, vision coming into focus and all the questionable moves seem to be showing why they were so important to make. Seeing the difference one cut runners make on the way the offense functions, seeing a quick decision maker at CB, Thurmond at safety, Barbre and Andrews at G, platoons of WRs with run after the catch ability, Sproles in the slot, and Graham at OLB all start to look like puzzle pieces coming together perfectly.
Jimmy K giving out laughs again.
http://www.phillyvoice.com/nfl-season-predictions/
‘Bama is cool. He knows his football and has a good sense of humor.
Eric Rowe practiced at safety today
Are they treating him like MS2 now?
No, I think he can actually play all these positions; rather than not being good at any of them
Eventually (or so we hope)
Bout time!!
Malcolm too made that transition, so he will have a good mentor.
As most know that was most of his college experience, and whether they restart or continue the CB training, he can contribute sooner at safety imo. Maybe soon enough, with Couplin doing well, that it would make sense to move Thurmond back to slot CB at some point.
that is what i am thinking. It’s been reported that Carroll will move into the slot this week with Biggers and Rowe seeing time outside. I would love to see rowe emerge as the safety sometime this season as i feel he is better suited in that spot and also have thurmond move back into his old role as a slot
yeah he was ugly at CB but i think thurmond will still be better cover safety. problem with rowe is that in base he still can’t cover slot receivers.
Slot is a newer, less traditionally valued position than outside WR and CB but Chip seems to think it’s more important, putting Matthews at WR there and Carroll, the fastest CB, there, because the action takes place in front of the QB and there’s timing routes I guess. I’m not a mindreader and my looks at the three DBs have been limited. My concern about that is whether Rowe and Biggers will get burned out there. It’s a question of where your fifth guy has his strong suit and where he can potentially do the least damage. As Kempksi says, the first two opponents have small, effective slot WRs.
hmm. i wonder if we will do something when he comes on the field in nickel or dime, that either one of the Safetys works like a CB, and Rowe comes in to be more of a S.
Jesus christ, so we’ve had the rookie come in and try boundary, slot, and safety now. Can we just give someone a goddamn position and let them learn it before we bounce them around like that?
3rd Safety in a Big Nickle set?
Maxwell and Carrol outside, Thurmond in the slot, and Jenkins Rowe at S?
I could see a situation later in the year where Rowe comes in to play safety and Thurmond plays slot CB when we go to the nickel. Always thought Rowe looked more like a safety than a CB. Love him at safety. My favorite safety in the draft last year. Thought he was more of a project with potential at CB.
Damn! Cox’s agent must be rubbing his hands with glee.
wow.
doubt he’s getting anywhere near that here – hopefully it’s funny money.
Yeah, it’s all about the guarantees and the structure. We’ve seen plenty of $100M+ contracts that were really not as-advertised, including Vick’s.
…they are saying that there is 60M guaranteed. That is incredible, if true, especially if the guarantees are for more than injury.
Banner has been on all off season how next FA period is going to be INSANE. over $1bil of cap space, no where near the supply or talent to spend it on, so the best guys are going to set new markets massively. Think Luck/Bradford could set a new stratosphere for QB contracts ($30mil+). Could see players that we consider very average get $10mil+ deals.
Curry/Bradford/Thrumond/Caroll could be some of the very best names in FA and if we are splashing the tag on Bradford could be very hard to retain core talent.
Does this mean football is going the way of baseball with the salaries?
as long as the salaries are not guaranteed it’ll only look like Baseball when you look at the total number. Teams still hold all the financial cards. What you’re gonna see is teams like the Raiders that need to hit the salary cap floor handing out $30mil per year contracts to players like Cox that will get lured to black hole teams for obscene money and middle of the road players like Nate Allen getting huge yearly salaries.
Holy shit
ugh, I’ll cry if Cox becomes a Suh type player that we can’t keep because some bottom rung team is willing to pay him like an elite QB. Always thought we should have tried signing him to an extension this offseason and locking him up relatively cheap before his stock sky rockets
New Eagle Eye article looks at how Davis uses his OLBs for coverage.
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/article-1/Eagle-Eye-Davis-Will-Bring-The-Heat/9a52f303-2d51-498a-94e3-5d5e4a930b21
Here’s Fran Duffy’s Vine page, by the way
https://vine.co/u/1239620123414163456
Nice. Don’t know why I didn’t look this up.
Cox tipping cap to Dareus…
Uh oh
Nolan Carroll is expected to serve as the Eagles’ slot corner in Week 1.
golden tate put up 1300 yds and is making $3m this year.
yet another reason why paying a good but not great WR like Maclin $12mil per would have been foolish. Too much young cheap talent infusing into the position and with the deck stacked in the rule book to ensure they realize that talent with insane production, no need to spend big on WR unless you’re talking about an insane matchup nightmare like Calvin Johnson or someone like Gronk (even though he’s a TE technically)
suicide pool this week? I don’t want the Pats b/c 80% of my pool will take them, so on the 20% chance they lose I am bam in the final 15 people.
GB? I think this is my favorite but at Chicago
Bengals at Oak not bad
Eagles?
kind of a tough week
im torn as well… buddy of mine thinks Jets but we have a buy back option til week 3 so hes going risky but jets over cleve isnt bad…
I’d be wary of that pick. Jets still don’t have a QB, and as John Madden would say, “You can’t wins games if you don’t score points.” And still, the Jets defense on paper is supposed to be good, but we saw how that worked out for us in 2012.
I took the Jets, yes, it’s a risk.
I’d take Mia @Washington.
seems like a solid pick
I agree, I’m taking them too
Always take the most obvious game week 1 and 2, as things get ‘easier’ once form and injuries express themselves.
Think Greenbay will destroy an awful Bears team.
thanks that’s my likely choice. Most obvious choice is Pats and I think they might score 60 and all flip off the TV, but I have to stay away.
Don’t be too smart. It doesn’t matter if you save the better teams for later in the season if you don’t make it there. Take whatever is the surest thing regardless of whoever it is.
I still want to know if we finally have a QB that knows how to slide
Oh i will piss my pants worrying about him sliding on those ACL’s!!!
Better then the “crash landings” Vick and Foles finished their runs with, crashing to the floor head first while defenders land on their ribs smh
nothing more infuriating than watching your QB stumble over a simple slide, dive forward and fumble the ball as he hits the ground untouched. I will not miss that one bit. Vick just had a stupid mental block with sliding he was plenty athletic enough to do something ever pork bellied out of shape baseball player or 10 year old little leaguer can do with ease. I always wondered semi sarcastically if Foles was just so slow that he couldn’t even build up enough speed/momentum to actually slide and just had to gracelessly fall to the turf in a flailing mound of unathleticism.
Ok, gonna off topic unload a bit with a pet peeve here. I’m sure D3FB will come in and tell me why I’m wrong, but what the hell is going on with all the position changing?
I know Chip loves versatile players, but it seems like he’s bouncing around guys who aren’t ready to be bounced around.
Jaylen Watkins was training at boundary, slot, and safety, never really was set in a position and is gone (for reasons unknown really, I thought he looked like a better cover guy than the ones we kept).
We took MS2 out of position last year and that clearly hurt his development.
We’re bouncing Eric Rowe all over the place now, first boundary, then slot, then back to boundary, now safety. The kid was getting roasted by 8th string receivers in the final preseason game, can we let him settle at a spot and try to master that?
Vinny Curry worked his ass off to quickly become one of the best two gap pass rushers in the league, something that works completely against his natural 1 gap skillset, and his reward is getting bounced to OLB.
Ironically, one guy he wouldn’t change position on despite a desperate need for it was Boykin.
End rant, throw tomatoes at me and tell me why I’m stupid.
Glad football is here, think the Eagles are primed for a big season!!!
Watkins is a bit of a frustrating case. Bounced everywhere, gained weight for safety, then cut at the beginning of his 2nd year. You have to wonder if off the field stuff was going on. MSII was moved because of shaky ILB depth but i understand your frustration. Perhaps part of Rowe being moved around is 1. Watkins dodnt work out like they wanted, 2. Thurmond worked better than they thought and 3. We lost bot Shepherd and Boykin.
I wonder too about it being the sports science stuff. Maybe he wasn’t sleeping enough for chips liking.
I guess that’s kind of the point, if you have a roster hole, why move a rookie who is still trying to adjust to the league and learn 1 position, fuck with their development, and not get much in the way of performance out of them anyhow? Find a fringe guy or a practice squad guy if you’re that desperate, why mess with a young guys development? If he’s still struggling to get his first spot figured out why load a second onto him later in TC or the season? Makes little sense.
I don’t think that cross-training is particularly bad but for rookies it just seems like too much. Let them learn a position and see how they do before trying to make him learn other positions. It’s not like you’re lowering his learning curve if he doesn’t get it in the first place.
For Rowe, it just seems like experimenting since he’s not very reliable at anything right now. People want to point out that Malcolm Jenkins made the switch to safety but they also forget that he was a bust as a CB.
Listening to chip talk he wants every 53 man on the roster to be able to contribute if needed, and if that is a raw rookie he needs to be flexible and able to play special teams and an array of positions if he is not going to start.
That is great with the 45 actives on gameday but the reality is that you are going to have 4-5 players who are going to be inactive most of the season, and i think the best way to use those is to pick the best 3-4 prospects who you do not want to loose to the waiver wire and let them work on their game.
Smith should not have moved to ILB because he was never going to do better than an ILB signed off the street for the team.
I do not like Rowe getting safety reps. I think he can be an outside corner but he is raw as hell and has technique issues in and out of cuts that cause quick receivers to get easy separation. We are going to draft a lot of raw high character athletes with the strict criteria Chip has – we need to invest 1-2 redshirt years into them to get the best out of them long term and i feel that we are not always doing that.
still have to be able to play a game. We’re weak at CB, i think CK thought Rowe would be better, but if he wasn’t a 2nd round pick he’d have been a first cut.
W/R/T Rowe we’re talking about one pre-season, i think they tried to find a place where he was suited, inside, outside, but he was getting beat down in every position so back to safety where he might be more comfortable. Coaches could have kept him in the slot but he’s not quick enough to ever really play there.
#hottake man
Rowe has NFL starting CB tools, but he is raw (reason why he is a 2nd round pick), and ALL rookie DB’s suck pretty much. The technique and coverages are just so much more advanced at the NFL level. He got matched up on some quick receivers in the preseason and his technique let him down. That does not make him a bad player or a ‘first cut’.
I mean it’s a mixed bag for me.
Watkins- It made sense to move Watkins around. He played all three positions in college. He never made any one of them his own. His two valuable skillsets were his athleticism and his versatility. So I understand moving Watkins around. His likely upside was as a top backup and spot starter at all three positions.
MSII- Moving him inside was short sighted. I never really loved that move They should have just made a roster move and signed a new ILB.
Rowe- Slot was never going to be a position he excelled at. They clearly want him to see some PT this year and get him blooded a bit so he’s ready for next year. I wouldn’t make a big deal of him getting a few snaps at S in practice. It’s likely low level cross training.
Curry- This really doens’t change Curry’s status much. They now have 6 solid 2 gappers so they don’t need to moonlight Curry inside anymore. He’ll get more work on his pass rushing, and they can still move him around in subpackages as an interior pass rusher.
Boykin- They actually let him practice outside in practice similar to what they are doing with Rowe.
Matt Ryan is Taking a beating on Monday! It will look something like the beating Jim Johnson and Dawk unleashed on Vick when he was a falcon!
..
That falcon OL was thrown together last week, they won’t be ” Justin timber lake” aka n-sync… Throw a little DL disguise at them and half of them will think we are doing one thing and the other half of the OL will think we are doing something else. That’s when pass rushers start coming free to fuck Matt Ryan’s world up!.,. Levitre was added last week, center was recently replaced, when an OL isn’t gelled, they don’t know how to all react the same way to the fronts and disguise the defense is showing, and that’s how pass rushers come thru untouched.., my main man V-dot will make it hurt. Ryan won’t enjoy his Monday night opener
I posted a link below to the Eagle Eye article. In it, he has a gif of Levitre getting beaten by Barwin.
Thanks for that link. That was great stuff!
When you acquire your starting Guard the week before the season, recentky switch centers, and this week working out always injured Jake Long, it’s safe to say you won’t be ready to stop Barwn, Vinny, Cox, BG, Bennie..
..
I’m setting the Over/Unders for how many times we sack Matt Ryan at 7…
Would you do this trade?
My: Teddy Bridgewater & Nelson Agholor
FOR
His Sam Bradford & Pierre Garcon
Sam would be my starter over Flacco. Standard scoring TD heavy league.
(I also own Sproles, Matthews and Parkey) 🙂
yes, though i’d maybe get rid of some other guys, think garcon will be a stud for skins this year since no RGIII, none of those guys have an arm for djax.
Thanks. So you don’t think I’m losing? I’m trying to upgrade my QB but Yahoo has Teddy and Sam finishing pretty even with projected points.
ehh, sammy will crush teddy (i say that as an eagles stan obvi). Nelson is going to do well but jordan is a stud, ertz could be a stud, demarco, sproles, mathews, huff are all capable of catching balls. On Skins, they have no TE, morris can’t catch and garcon is capable of bringing in 100 balls
projections are just that… Go with your gut sometimes Rambo…
Yes, without a doubt.
in a heart beat Bradford has top 5 fantasy upside, with a substantial injury downside to be fair as well, but Flacco isn’t the worst backup despite his lack of weapons. Agholar will be a great player but not a huge fantasy option in my opinion. Too many mouths to feed for the rookie to be more than a high variance with potential big play ability as a flex player. Garcon could see a bump in targets now that RG3 is on the bench.
Chip just trolling the f*ck out of the Atlanta media I love it!
so awesome. I love my team.
what’d he say?
Refresh, there is an image.
I think this is Chip feeling very good about his team.
“We’re just trying to get the game over quicker.” Awesome. (The question about the tempo offense had already been asked and answered, so the reporter deserved that.)
how did he answer the first time? does he really say it’s to create mental and assignment mistakes in the defense?
Going back and looking, it wasn’t exactly the same question, but here’s what he said.
Q: What was the origin of thinking that the tempo offense would work in the NFL?
A: Probably the Buffalo Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals back in the 90s. (Sam Wyche) did a good job with it. Marv Levy did a good job with it. A lot of people have done it. The Patriots have done a good job with it in the National Football League we are not the only guys.
Chip leaves no stone uncovered… He found Denzel rice at one of those regional combines for kids who didn’t get invited to the main combine
Eagles were smart to get Kendrick’s deal done before Kiko’s: MLB Luke Kuechly to a five-year, $62 million extension through 2020. details to come.
Kuechly >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>. Kendricks
Damn CJ Mosley will get paid in a few years too then.
IT’S OFFICIAL!!!!!! All Philly sports teams are moving in a positive direction.
I want to thank everyone that’s been involved, and I hope I don’t miss anyone. I want to thank Jeff Lurie for bringing in Chip Kelly. A thank you to Josh Harris for Hinkie and Brown. Dan Snider, you did a good job giving Hexy the reigns. I didn’t forget about you Andy McPhail. Great move today, and welcome to the right side of sports.
I like to thank Amaro for pissing me off so much that I stopped watching baseball, only to be brought back by his dismissal. Thank you Stefanski for ruining basketball in Philly, by bringing in a clown as a coach to destroy this team. Thanks Billy King for all the bad contracts, as know we know how a GM should handle that. A big thank you to Holmgren and Clarke, for showing us that yes, bad contracts can be had in the NHL.
My parents made this possible, wait… I think I’m tearing up…
Think you meant Ed Snider. 🙂
Fixed. I’m so happy I’m all over the place.
New Phils President Andy McPhail served 27 years as a team’s GM/Pres before being hired here.
In those 27 seasons, his teams reached the playoffs 4 times, and just twice in the last 21 seasons.
On the other hand, I understand he’s a great raconteur.
Yes, true. But he got rid of a big albatross, and so I’ll be happy at least until the end of the season. David Montgomery was terrible, so I’m hoping +McPhail > -Montgomery -Amaro.
wow the past few years I never thought it would happen.
I’m not ready to be happy for Hinkie yet.
the one thing I keep thinking will be missing is trent cole.
I always had faith that he would bring it to the qb in big games, all games.
he was aging I know and so on, but he was such a fierce competitor.
is BG really going to go off this year?
he better.
i think that pass rush production will come from curry.
cole was a great eagle.
we haven’t seen a team without him in a while.
Cole seemed less productive last two years. Regardless of stats.
Cox will make sacks for edge rushers.
Tommy, I vote for “or what”.
https://twitter.com/CSNPhilly/status/642038998991400961
On the next episode of premier football soap opera, “Chronicles of Shady McCoy – Buried in Buffalo”..Lesean complains about???
daaaaaamn
Lol @ Demarco treating shady like an obsessed, scorned ex girlfriend… Cry me a river build a bridge and get over it…
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Don’t THNK I ever seen a player in the AFC be so obssessed with the Eagles..
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I find it pathetic When someone can’t keep the name of a person who doesn’t even know they exist, out of their mouth… It’s teenage girl behavior. Poor excuse for a man,..
Eh, I wish Shady the best, but a lot of athletes are like him. We call them Divas, which put the negative conotations aside, basically translates that they are driven by emotion, it’s the source of their drive and energy. It annoys us, but without it they likely wouldn’t have “it” to succeed. Was the same deal with TO. We all love to look back and say “imagine if TO would just have manned up and was mature”. He would have been a bum.
I enjoy a coach who isn’t keen on accepting those types of Players. chip has proved that you can find elite Talents without having to put up with DIVA types… I used to think Diva behavior was the cost of doing business at certain positions like WR, and then chip proved that wrong by introducing us to Pope Jordan, ArchBishop Nelson and Cardinal Huff..
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Demarco Murray and Sproles DONT come with Shadys behavior (im not as familiar with Ryans personality)
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When I was younger.less mature I used to subscribe to the thinking that “you can’t have a team full of choir boys”, and then chip showed me how wrong that thinking was, and TODAY, as much as I enjoy the elite Talent chip brought to Philly, I appreciate the Charecter and personalties he brought to this roster just as much… The personality and Charechter of our Talent IMO is what will really make this an era of special eagle football..
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Chip showed us that you don’t have to put up with Jackasses because they are talented, because you can find Elite Talent that comes with class and Charechter, the two aren’t mutually exclusive.
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There aren’t many key players on this Pffense that you can compare to shady, Desean and we are just as talented as those Eagle teams if not MORE Talented…
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The Charechter and Personality of the Chip Kelly Eagle Rosters is what will really make this a special era of Eagle football
R
Agreed.
I was a little bit (okay very) dubious of how strictly Chip adheres to the guidelines of “we’re going to get high character guys who are big and athletic”. And it was like, yeah Chip, everyone wants those guys, all the guys like that with real talent go in the first round, adhering to that too strictly is going to lead to a serious degradation of talent. I really am surprised at how much talent he’s actually managed to get, without straying from his personnel philosophy.
I do think the corner that was cut this off season to acquire as much talent as he did was with health history. Otherwise he simply wouldn’t be able to come up with this much talent. The premium would just cost too much. That seems to be the area that Chip is confident is lowering these players’ market value in an exaggerated fashion. Or perhaps sports science will minimize that risk.
The other part is I think Chip manufactures culture and “talent” (in the sense that he’s been good at getting the most out of these big athletic boy scouts who were available because scouts weren’t high on their actual ability to play ball).
Moral of the story, this team has way more promise than I could have imagined, I thought the premise was naive.
Well said mate… It certainly changed my mind frame, and exceeded all my expectations….to the point where I am now proud of our team full of choir boys…. Amazing what this “college Coach” has been able to build… The only thing the doubters can point t these days is the “If so and so stays healthy” caveat that you hear when someone picks the Eagles.. But in reality no Matter who we have ever had on our roster, I have ALWAYS been a nervous wreck when it comes to possible injuries… Even if Bradford was known for iron man durability, because of the nature of tbis game and what a big role injuries play I now every season plays out, I ALWAYS worry and put “If we can stay healthy”at the end of my predictions/projections,,
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Every player in this league can easily get hurt, Injuries are such a big part of each season, that ever single FANBASE should include the “If we can stay Healthy” concern…. I ALWAYS worry about injuries. Even tho bradford, and Kiko, and Murray have had injiry questions, I don’t worry about staying healthy Any more then I do every year, because even with 53 durable playërs. Potential injuries are always a major concern.
Hah, good point. Shady was always healthy and I always worried every cut was going to be his last with a blown Achilles or exploded knee. Injuries haunt everyone’s hopes and dreams.
Will be interesting to see what happens, most 21 year olds aren’t saints, especially defensive players. Been a lot of churn in the mid-late round picks already, looks like MSII has been demoted already.
2012
Rounds 1-3 all studs
everyone else gone.
2013
LJ – stud
Ertz – great player, may never play if OL struggles
Logan – emerging stud
Every other pick gone
2014
Smith — to be seen, might not be active
Matthews – epitome of a CK player
Huff – TBD
Wakins – gone
Hart – emerging
Reynolds – gone
Allen – great pick in 7th
Is that good? I can’t tell.
Yeah it’s probably not a coincidence that our team has gotten older (not in the sense that everyone on the team got a year older, doy! but replaced some younger guys with veterans). I do think it’s getting easier to bring in young guys and figure out how things work here now that things are getting established. So they wouldn’t all have to come in with the Jordan Matthews drive as a standard feature, just be able to learn that is the expectation.
Or maybe this will be another thing we will have in common with the Patriots, find a ton of Veterans we would have drafted if some garbage franchise didn’t get to them first and land them on the open market at a diminished value.
But I do think, well put it this way, if in the summer of 2013 you told me we will be getting rid of Vick, Nick, Jaccpot, McCoy, Boykin, and Mathis after the first 2 seasons, and not necessarily been exceptional in the draft, and the biggest name we get out of free agency during that period was Demarco Murray or Byron Maxwell, (or big name the very wrong way in Bradford, sanchez, and Tebow) the team I would have envisioned would have been a big heap of garbage. I do know where you stand on this, that having even more talent on this team was a lay up. And a part of me will always agree with you there. But whatever the case, it’s come together way better than I thought it would.
agree — glad too see chip be aggressive to fix bad parts (fixing secondary, improving run game), and leaving that front 7 alone. I’m happy to do it the Billy B way, they stay in the playoffs. To be fair it’s hard to get quality players picking in the 20s all the time.
Wow, interesting theory. The upside of it being that I can now claim that I am not a professional football player because I am too manly and mature. I will try this line on my wife this evening and report back.
Emotional people are driven to run from the lows that are experienced so much lower than you or I experience, and chase the highs that are experienced so much higher. Like being chased by the “end of the world” stick for failure, and chasing the greatest carrot there ever was for success at the same time. Most end up beating the hell out of themselves with the failure stick and end up where I work. The ones that are so gifted they can actually catch the carrot go a long long way.
Just to clarify there are plenty of mature and driven individuals in the NFL. Divas specifically are driven by emotion. Without that, they are just ordinary people. It doesn’t just get replaced by another trait that drives them to greatness.
If Shady’s hamstring isn’t too messed up, he should have a monster game against a pathetic colts defense… That defense is a disgrace, how can you be a contender with such a poor defense, and come back the next season hAvent improved your defense?… Shady could have a big game if he isn’t too hobbled
especially their run D. Yikes. Buffalo has a garbage O-line, but sometimes that type of O-line can still run block some. I’ll be honest, I hope he is the angriest and most driven he’s ever been in his life. When he is on, he is really fun to watch. Him wreaking havoc on the AFC wouldn’t break my heart.
McCoy is acting worst then both DJax and TO, COMBINED, after they left. He is really cementing the argument for why Chip shipped him off to Canada.
Canada Lite, but yeah.
Last hurdle between Kelly and immortality . . . .
The championship colors:
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i313/jweber26/Bednarik/DSC05744.jpg
Well, it is already named after him. Now we just need to start wearing it again…
that’s a flag and a fine in 2015 no? 1 more thing to fix, do it Goodell.
“This F*cking game is OVER!!!!”
I need to get this for my Eagles Den
I’m thinking the bandwagon is going to explode when our MNF game with Atlanta looks a lot like our first game under Chip: a hyper-drive-fast slaughter
When national media members are calling lBradford a blend of Joe Montana and Dan Marino, I’d say it’s already All ABOARD a the Gang Green WARWAGON..
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We will probably impress Sunday night, but the Falcons are not a good team. After we smack around the Cowboys in week 2, THATS when things will really start to get crazy
During my afternoon drive I heard SVP and Russillo pick us to go to the superbowl as well. Trent Dilfer was also very complimentary…sheesh. I appreciate the respect but the bandwagon filling up makes me nervous
I hear you man.. Shefter, Joe Banner, everyone is starting to talk about us as a potential Super Bowl team. It really crazy to see Boomer and Phil Sims join the bandwagon…. The only National media that I have seen continue to resist our charm as contenders and proceed to bad mouth us is Stephen A Smith, Skip Bayless, and Heath Evans, the Usual Donkeys.
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I would much rather fly under the radar, but thats old Negadelphian, scared, whatever can go wrong, will go on, jinxed mentality… I don’t feel that way under chip any more. We need to ditch the old scared, Loser memtality and welcome the praise, welcome a bullseye on our back and learn to perform regardless of extreme praise and expectations,, we can’t be champions until we embrace that high level of praise and expectations
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I always prefered flying under the radar, but any chance of flying under the radars is GONE.. The bandwagon could get crazy these next few weeks, especially if we smack around the Falcons and Dallas, while Seattle Gets off to a slow start with Kam out and Earl playing hurt things will really get crazy…GB is Lucky they have the crappy bears because with Jordy out and Cobb shoulder still hurting from the ROWE hit, if GB and seattle get off to a slow start, while Eagles beat up on Dallas In week 2, the overreacting will reach new absurd heights..
We looked really good in the first half of pre-season games, terrible in the second half. But all that is meaningless.
Don’t shoot the messenger, sounding like ERTZ and MS2 won’t play this week… Both Should be ready to go for the Dallas week 2 “No Vaseline Bowl”..
When i try to envision Monday night, what keeps coming to mind is the Eagles vs Bears DECEMBER 2013…. Thinking we something similar where our Front 7 beats up the QB so much, the elite WRs won’t even matter.
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Eagles and Falcons were the two worst pass defenses last year. Think we improved our secondary much more then they did.. I love desmond Trufant, but I trust our starting secondary personel more then that of the Falcons.. And in terms of getting pressure on QBs, it’s not even a competition. We should get significantly more pass rush on Ryan then the Falcons get on sammy.
That game was a fucking beatdown of the highest order.
Yeah that was a fun night… What was really awesome is the game didn’t count for us. We could have easily played it safe, sat all our starters, instead we chose not to play scared, laced em up and Proceeded to dominate the Bears
The closer we get the more I realise what agony Sunday will be, starting the season with a Monday night game is going to be pure torture. It’s great that football is finally back today, but it’s not quite the same as Eagles football
If it was up to me, we,would play 1pm sunday every week..
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Waiting Til Monday is Torture. Hopefully they air good games that will make sunday more bearable.
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I really want to see
Colts vs. Bills
FOles vs Seattles “Legion of Greed”
Ravens vs Broncos
Sunday night Cowboys/Giants is interesting for eagle fans
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Unfortunately you know we are going to get stuck having the skins vs Dolphins air in the philly era… Watching the skins TRAINWRECK isn’t as fun when RG3 isn’t the QB taking a beating… Donkey Kong Suh is going to rough up Cousins pretty bad….
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WTF is going on with the TRAINWRECK Skins and getting RG3 cleared of that concussion? It’s been weeks and he still wasmt cleared today
It’s going to be even more agonising for those of us across the pond; the game won’t finish until probably after 3am on Tuesday morning.. so do we stay up and write off tuesday, or record and watch later? Damn you MNF.
See ya Tuesday..
Thanks for reminding me that I won’t even be able to watch the game until like 4th quarter 🙁
Only good thing is that all Tuesday national radio is only talking about Eagles, assuming we win of course.
if we lose they’ll all be talking about us too, gleefully.
There is the 49ers/Vikings game Monday night too. So not ALL of national sports radio will be about the Eagles.
yeah going to be a late night monday
I like it. When the Eagles play early and lose, I can’t enjoy any other game that week. I can watch all the other teams lose and root against them while waiting for the Eagles to play.
i don’t know that I ever been this excited to watch A,STINKIN Patriots game, I have this giant craving to watch a real football game, and for a non eagle game, certainly some intruiging things to watch tonight between two potential playoff teams
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Jacked up Psycho Tom and a coward commissioner who is too chicken Ish to do his commissioner duty and attend the season opener
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Which potential high scoring offense can better overcome the loss of their starting center?
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we have an opening game between two teams who are playing without their starting center, and without their starting RBs, because the two RBs got arrested together and suspended for the same incident… An NFL first I assume?
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Boykins play, and his role..
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two Average Secondaries.. Bye bye Browner and REVIS, hello Bradley Fletch and Butler
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Patriots has one of the elite Front 7’s that can rival ours
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How bellicheat decides to defend ANTONIO Brown? Knowing bellicheat, he wil
Take their #1 weapon away from the steelers, which makes it a horrible time to be without Laveon Bell amd Martevis BRyant due to suspensions.
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How Badly will TEs GRONK and Scott Chandler OWN the middle of the steelers D?
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So excited for NFL Kickoff!
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I just saw the new Demarco Murray Adidas comercial… Not bad….
We are getting more Eli Face people!
that’s a million for every interception
Sammy B is going to want like $30m a year
Said the same thing earlier today… 2016 is going to be EXPENSIVE. I am praying that the Eagles get deals for Curry and Bradford done by Monday since i do not want to see the kind of money they will be looking for next year.
So, you think Sammy B is going to throw 30 picks? Boo!!
Bwaahaaaaahaaah!
Awesome.
We’re getting Eli twice a year till he’s like 38?
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/24/76/86/247686472f637452bab15086efa22c33.jpg
Anyone worried about quin’s familiarity with our DBs and being able to exploit them. Julio giving me nightmares already.
He’ll get his, don’t worry about it changing the outcome of the game. So Julio goes 10-187-2…………… we still win 42-14
Most of his yards will be in garbage time when we are up by 20 and we go prevent, he will rack up a bunch of worthless yards throwing underneath when we back up off them…. i expect him to be held to like 30-40 yards until the game is out of reach and we go prevent and loosen up our coverage
Benjamin style
So you mean that 3 journeyman DBs starting for us don’t already scare you??
No… If they can’t block our pass rush, the secondary doesn’t even matter.
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our pass rush was dirty last year but we stayed getting tossed on.
Not sure what Bradley fletcher, Cary, and Nate have to do with anything..only corner who was here last year was Nolan who was solid in the role he played. New coach, new corners, best free agent corner, new safety, new backups.. Not sure what last year has to do with anything, when we changed EVERYTHING
After overhyping him all offseason, the Browns cut Terrell Pryor, picked up Robert Turbin
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After cutting Louis Nix, Giants signed him again lol
Pryor is a classless bum.
Kinda harsh
Nope. Disrespected all of my tax dollars spent educating him in HS by going to Ohio State and was kicked off of Ohio State’s team for nonsense with the hepatitis factory tattoo parlor stuff.
Man, let that go. He was a dumb kid. People have done far worse.
I can’t let that go; he’s a defector and must be admonished at every turn!
I think there are far more deserving people in the NFL for your hate.
Agreed, but I’ll always have some hate in reserve for Pryor!
I can dispense hate as frequently and endlessly as a male dog can dispense urine on stop signs, fire hydrants, Eli’s face, etc.
where does he rank on your hate list?
It fluctuates based on where Ohio State is in the football standings relative to Penn State…………so right now he’s risen a lot!
That sounds exhausting
Not really, I have a great memory.
Chip is drafting Cardale Jones after Bradford walks next season.
That should earn you a “go kill yourself.”
I was hoping that all of our draft picks would be bundled to get zeke. I think Cardale would be a good choice, but he’s gotta sit a year. Can we tag sammy b?
Sammy B can indeed be tagged. And then tagged again.
I love Zeke but he’s probably going to be a Cowgirl next year.
hopefuly a brown, though they have to get a QB, maybe they take Cardale
Whoever they take I guarantee it wont be a WR…
Its about time for them to blow through another QB
At some point the Browns just have to give up on taking QBs, don’t they?
i’m sure if they took a QB with every single pick they’d still miss the one good one in the draft.
More worried about him becoming a Giant… This is why I desperately want to beat dallas, but I want them to have a solid year,win 9 games and miss the playoffs
Love Zeke, but we are too rich at RB…
Rather bundle the picka for Jaylen Ramsey.. When ROWE and Ramsey mature our secondary could go from Good to ELITE!
Ha
Any thoughts on suicide picks this weekend?
I am looking at:
Dallas over NYG in Dallas
Cincy over Raider in Oakland
Jets over Browns in New Jersey
I like to try to take teams that other folks wouldn’t early to try to avoid being stuck in a mass wipe out, so I’m leaning Jets.
The overall lack of home teams as lock winners is really frustrating this year in week 1.
Packers over Bears is my first game. Take the banker week 1.
There is a world where the Dallas run game sucks early but they stick with it, Giants WR’s and Manning run out to a 2 score lead early and the Cowgirls never catch up in a shoot out.
I see no way these Bears beat the Packers.
Green Bay hasn’t been so hot in openers recently…………..and why couldn’t that game have been in Green Bay, I’d feel better about it.
I would agree if they were not playing one of the 3 worst teams in the league. Bears are the worst defensive team in the league, and lack offensive power outside of Forte who i love as a RB but is not a guy to carry an offence on his own.
I hear you again, but I think I’m going to wait to use Green Bay for later in the season when they’re at home.
I see no way the Bears beat the Packers….EVER
Ugh… picking between Dallas and NY….Where’s the option to have Bane show up and sink the stadium?
I kind of enjoyed him blowing up Pittsburgh.
Try Miami.
I could because Washington is putrid, but Miami is doing way too much telling itself how good they are. That scares me on the road.
Now if the game was in Miami.
True, but that DC team is a mess enough to not take advantage. When DJax isn’t sure that they are good this season, you can already tell the prevailing attitude in the locker room.
I don’t disagree with a single thing you said, but for some reason that game has me scared.
I wouldn’t touch Cincy/OAK with a $5-dollar pole.
Miami should kick the shit out of the skins.
article from the boyking on his trade / feelings: http://www.theplayerstribune.com/brandon-boykin-eagles-steelers/
The kid has a bright future whatever he does. He will not be stopped, his stock is just too good. That much talent/maturity/ intelligence/drive has him set to have a good life. He just gets it.
I read it as overconfident and borderline arrogant. He was never that great here like he’s acting like.
You’ve seen how almost everyone else handles being let go from here right? Someone actually articulates the experience, comes to peace with it, acknowledges the fans and moves on with his life. Screw that guy right?
And yes he was good here. 2013 he had the picks. Last year people weren’t throwing at him. Why throw at the guy who doesn’t give up anything past or even near the sticks http://www.footballoutsiders.com/player/29562/brandon-boykin When Bradley Fletcher is right there to pick on. Also happened to be the best gunner in the league.
People need to get off of our hype-boat, I’m pretty sure we’re to capacity here, anymore and we seem bound to sink. Get out of here nationals who never know what you’re talking about! Get back onto the Cowboy’s boat.
I predict the Eagles will be right on that borderline of a playoff team. I think they’ll miss the playoffs but it wouldn’t surprise me if they squeezed in. Continuity, depth on the o-line, and the secondary are the issues I’m concerned about.
Good thing you’re wrong.
Toby, I really hate to jump on commenters, but I cannot in good conscious remain silent. The third to last character in your avatar name should really be a d.
Also, prepare to be amazed.
They haven’t even played a game yet and they have all these issue?
4-12 Season. Chip ends up coaching at Sacramento State Univ.
weak forecast/prediciton
Love this blog, love the eagles. I hope all of you are right and I’m wrong, I’m just saying what I see.
you see a borderline team?
sanchez could get this team into the playoffs….
I agree with you. With our running game, wrs and tight ends, I think Mark could manage the team. I don’t think he could lead the team past GB or Seattle. Thanks a job for Sam.
you think?
I don’t get how you come to that conclusion though. They had tons of injuries last year, lost their starting QB, didn’t have a cohesive O-line until halfway through the season, and have completely replaced all remnants of the secondary, including the position coach. Your logic doesn’t really make sense.
Davis pointed out that the entire Eagles secondary cross-trained at both cornerback and safety this summer. It’s all by design, he said.
“Everybody comes through the door through the corner door,” Davis said. “We start from there, and then we grow you to where your skill set takes you. How much nickel can you play? Do you have the safety ability? E.J. Biggers still has safety ability, so he’s another guy that we cross-trained.
“As we go through this, we’re cross-training and trying to make sure that we’ve got flexibility through a long season, absorbing injuries and finding who the best fit is, week to week.”
Sounds like he’s trying to be more flexible week to week depending on matchups, unlike last year.
Or he has no clue what he’s doing.
“Or he has no clue what he’s doing.” yup
I wonder if the corner door is really in the corner. I wonder if the safety door is padded.
Do I start big ben or bradford this week?
Bradford. Pats over there still got solid D.
I wouldn’t… No Laveon Bell, No Martevis bRyant, and Bellicheat is known for taking your #1 weapon away from you, so ANTONIO Brown should have a quiet night, leaving Heath Miller, Markus Wheaton, and SammyCoates for Ben to throw to…
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Wants a Fantasy stud for tonight?.. Start DION LEWIS, taking over the Vereen role lol
was thinking about that, but then wondered it if was the same dion lewis that tried the toss-back at the goal line and decided against it.
That was Ronnie Brown?
got it, was surprised that he’d still be in the league after that display.
Lewis was the one that pulled the fire alarm for fun, wasn’t he?
Yeah and then got locked out or something foolish
I wasn’t sure, Lewis was here in some rough years, wasn’t going to put it past something ridiculous like that happening with 2 of our running backs lol.
And both starting. Centers are out Tonight, so you are talking about ben on the road, with his main weapons neutered, against a scary Patriots pass rush with guys like Chandler Jones, Jabaal Sheard, Stinkovich, Collins, the rookie beast, Malcom from Texas.., shitty to be without Pouncy on the road against a pat team that will be fired up to have Brady out there.
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Saving grace: steelers defense sucks, Big Ben has to get in a shoot out to stand a chance at staying in this game..
Patriot RBs scare me. Belichek seems to randomly bench RBs without any warning.
To my,fellow Brady haters…. Cameron Wake, DonkeyKong Suh, Sheldon rIchardson, Leonard Williams, Mohammed Wilkerson, Quinton Coples, Mario Williams, Jerry Hughes, Marcel Dareus, Kyle Williams…. Those are some scary, heavy hitting Monsters that will try and batter Brady twice a year… pats OL is always solid, but this years line ISNT one Of the best OL theyhad during the Brady era……
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bad News: SAM Bradford has to face all those monsters too this year. Thankfully we don’t have those types of defenses in our division
Interesting to hear Jordan Matthews say that it is tough for the Eagles players at least on offense to watch film of other teams. Other teams play the Eagles so different than they would play the other 30 teams that it is really useless to watch them. Instead he says he likes to watch individual players and their tendencies, like how early do they get tired if a team goes into a two minute drill etc. Also, interesting to note that he says he watches how a team had played the Dolphins as they are the only ones approaching what the Eagles can do offensively, speed wise.
Yeah my one concern is the coverage we see in the regular season will be so different from what we saw Bradford have success against… For example, we can forget about gettng Sproles one on one against a linebacker in the regular season. We will see a lot of zone and if Sproles sees a LB matching up with him, you can bet their will be safety support over top…. But even if that bottles up Sproles, it should open things up for Jordan, ERTZ, Huff, Nelson… ITS a RARE WEAPON to have a RB that commands over the top safety support because teams are scared to death of the wheel route…going to have to take advantage the attention Sprolez will command and gash defenses with our other weapons to then free Sproles up a bit…
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can’t wait to see how Bellicheat defends us…
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Loved Hearing Chip rave about Agholor today.. He said he will be a rookie that we should see contribute right away..
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My favorite change in this years offense is we will see Sproles on the field at the same time as Murray or Ryan, we rarely went 2’RBs last year… But this year there will be times we see Jordan Mathews out wide, Sproles lined up in the slot commanding defensive attention, and Demarco or Ryan in at RB.
..
Can’t wait to see this offense with such a talemted passer who is allegedly going to see the field well and find our open weapons that are always running free
My fantasy league uses Yahoo, and Yahoo tells me that Bradford is only starting in 28% of leagues at the moment. I just don’t get it. I think it would be very difficult to name me a QB that Bradford has no shot of matching statistically this week.
Or all season.
Generic “Chip Kelly QB” if you average the 2013 and 2014 combined stats is like the 5th or 6th rated fantasy QB.
I don’t get it either.
RG3
Zero is hard to match!
Hell, I think there is a chance Bradford matches RGIII for number of incomplete passes this week.
oohhhh.
zeropointzero
I play 2 leagues online with people outside of philly, and he is going late. I have managed to pick him and big ben (who is a top 5 fantasy QB imho) in both my leagues…
Mathews has also been a constant in both drafts – pick him up right at the end of the draft and if Murray gets hurt he is a top 5 RB easily.
the thing I really liked seeing in the preseason from Bradford was how fired up he was to be playing.
And we should all thank Suggs for getting THAT out of the way right off the bat.
we didn’t want to see it but we had to see it.
We will “Thank” Suggs next year when the Ravens are on our schedule.. Hopefully Boykin signs an extension with the steelers because it would be fun to face him next year… And if the football gods wanna throw us a bone, Hopefully they make the Browms start manziel against us…
As for the bengals, YAWN… I’ll pay attention to them when you get the balls to
Cut Dalton, and finally stop a crying mediocrity and fire Marvin Lewis. How Marvin Lewis is able to keep his job all these years is a joke. It’s like if we would have kept Andy all those years without him winning a single playoff game.. I never seen a coach keep his job all these years without winning a playoff game, how the hell do bengals fans accept that?
You can add Louis Riddick, Andrew Brandt,Terrell Davis, Brian Dawkins, Ashley Fox, Shefter, Banner to the list of media picking Eagles to go to the Super Bowl.
..
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have Stephan a smith, skip bayless and Heath Evans who think we suck..
.,
It’s like Eagles to the Super Bowl is the cool new trend..
…
This doesn’t mean anything, but I like that Dallas cowboy scum and their trashy fans have to sit thru all the Eagles to the Super Bowl talk that’s sweeping the nation… For the Cowboys being “america’s team” lol,
Besides a homer moron like Skip bayless, I haven’t seen a single national media member countries predicting Dallas and the auperbowl. Dallas is nationally recognized as a top 5 NFC team but
It must suck to be a Dallas or Giants fan and see all this Eagles to the
Super Bowl talk in the national media.
..
For guys like shady and Deaean talking trash, how sick would they be of we win the auperbowl this year? Lol
I never saw what did Louis say about the Eagles and where?
I didn’t see his exact quote either.. Just saw a tweet listing all the guys predicting us to go to the Super Bowl., curious to hear what Riddick thinks so I’ll try to find it
“Antonio Brown is hoping beyond all hope that he can get matched up on Bradley Fletcher…”
Did you see Antonio Browns haircut? What a freak! I don’t even know how to describe his hair
Adam Caplan also tweeted that Louis Riddick has the Eagles beating the Broncos in the auperbowl and that we are getting a lot of Super Bowl love from the experts, and the Ravens are also a popular pick
no way the broncos go .
we will play the colts or steelers
Louis Riddick has us beating Broncos in super bowl
..
Shefter has us beating the Ravens in the super bowl.. To make it to the auperbowl and win it against scumbag Suggs and the Ravens would be perfect karma, Poetic justice, to break Suggs and Harbaughs scumbag hearts
..
Looking for the exact comments, Adam Caplan tweeted it under title, ESPN Insiders SB predictions
id rather beat the patriots honestly
but the steelers would be fun too
Ravens or the Patriots is what I want…
..
Tho I wouldn’t mind seeing Bradford prove he is the best young QB in the game by beating Luck on the auperbowl stage
Thanks bud
let the games begin!!
Is football?
is
nothing like superbowl talk before the first game has been played.
bring it on down a notch.
make the playoffs first.
In fairness, before the first game is kind of the point of preseason predictions, but I feel you., don’t need the uneccessary attention
I still think the Eagles should have opened the season against the Patriots tonight.
they should open the season in the superbowl apparently
Nooooo! You don’t want Bellicheat having like a month to game plan for our offense
Can we just draft all of JJ Watts Brothers just in case they turn into freaks? This is one curse of the “other brother” I would risk… Wouldn’t mind drafting both Baby Watts, one can eventually replace Celek
wow. Can’t believe I’m about to watch a football game. This is awesome!!
Start already!! 8:30 my ass
5:30 🙂
Just now.. Opening drive
season don’t start til Monday bro.
this is all window dressing
Scouting.. We are watching one of the Eagles key opponents this year
Taintriots vs. Stealers. I’m routing for a double loss.
tipping my hat to whoever said williams could have a big day, dind’t believe.
Dangelo Williams running well..
..
WTF, Pats put starting Center on IR designated for return for a concussion
He suffered a month ago? That means the concussion will cost him 3 months. That must have been a terrible concussion I don’t wish on my enemy
Stupid play…
Moving the ball well and they try to get cute with a WR pass against a Pats team that scored on Edelman pass in playoffs… Dumb, you tried to get too cute and you pissed away what was looking like a good drive… So dumb
Agreed. They wasted a good drive. No points.
Watching teams huddle really sucks!!!
every other team really looks boring now compared to the eagles.
its crazy
DE’s double loss is still in play.
wow, what a wasted possession. They were gashing the pats and just wasted it. doubt they’llbe able to run so easily the rest of the game.
Mr. Brady, here comes Goodell’s payback bitch. Guess who employs the refs.
I am hoping Pats receivers drop 10 passes and the running backs fumble 4 times, sparking another outlast about the deflated balls.
Nice to see Dion lewis doing well!
Let’s hope he doesn’t get locked out of the hotel tonight…
I wonder if Lewis finally learned to pass block. I remember that keeping him off the field in Philly.
He didnt look too bad at it during the preseason.
Good for him. He looks faster than I remember.
Looked like Brady had too much air in that one, er, um, under that one.
OK. Now that Brady was on the field, I guess I **really** want the Patriots to lose and suffer. Steelers can just lose.
Is it possible for both teams to lose ?
I wonder how much Windows Surface is paying to have it called an iPad on national TV.
Holy hell, that catch.
Bwahahaha these dudes have no shame.. The radios of the steelers coaches don’t work In Gillette stadium., amazing!! Pats have some balls… The steelers can’t use their radio communication, they are getting a feed of the Pats play by play on the radio… Crazy. Mike tomlin should pull his team off the field and stop the game til they fix their radios
What number is Boykin?
25
Thanks.
How about Fletcher?
You should see the back of his jersey soon enough
24
Mike Tomlin needs to pull his team off the field and refuse to play til they fix their radio,. This is absurd. Everything just happens to happen to the Away teams every time they come to this stadium. Stop this bullshit game until the radios are fixed, if not, the regs should take the Pats radios so no team has radio communication
Who is covering edelMan for us?
Maxwell had a bit of trouble keeping up with him in the Super Bowl…..everyone did
Maybe Watkins shadows him on the outside and slot, I think Watkins is our fastest starting DB.
We cut both of our Watkins.
This is the 2nd time in as many days that I’ve made that mistake.
I think Carroll is fastest DB, maybe on the team. I don’t think Jenkins is too far behind Carroll though. And Maxwell is a low 4.4 guy too.
I was thinking of Carroll, but put Watkins. I just got out of class and my brain isn’t working so well.
Jesus Edelman is torching this secondary.
I think it is Julian.
Commas certainly can help
Time to bring out Boykin.
Steelers secondary is trash,, see how long it takes for them to pull a corner and bring Boykin off the bench… Nice use of tempo, hurry up snap the ball, catch the secondary slipping.. Good thing the steelers talked all this shit about how they knew how to shut gronk down… How the hell do you leave Gronk of all people wide open? Steelers defense has some nerve talking trash, you suck!!!
And Scobee missed a FG for Pitt
I came just in time for the TD, what else happened in the 1st quarter.
Antonio Brown made a sick catch around Butler’s head and the Pats are blasting local radio into the Steelers head sets
The steelers coaches radios didn’t work, surprise surprise. They were getting a feed of the pats play by play in their radios so they couldnt communicate. Cheating pricks have no shame..
..
Steelers opened game on a nice drive, then they tried to get cute and lost yards on a WR reverse pass, next play offensive holding, pissing away what was a promising drive. FYI steelers secondary sucks
We learned D’Angelo Williams can still run, the Steelers play calling is moronic, Dion Lewis not only lives but is thriving, Tom Brady is a smug git who should be eaten alive by fire ants, and the Taintriots continue to blatantly cheat.
Basically….
Oh, and the Steelers new defensive coordinator has decided not to cover Edelman ever to confuse the Pats.
My god this is the greatest synopsis of the 1st quarter I’ve read. Please post more.
That Adidas Ad was pretty sick…. I thought it was a new TV show
What the Demarco commercial? Saw it earlier it was pretty good
No it was a college football one with a bunch of kids at practice. Kevin Sumlin was in it too
Oh… I saw a Demarco Adidas comercial a few hours ago. Never saw it before, assume it’s new
Ive seen the Murray one a few times. This was the first time I saw this one…
Hahahahahahahahaha
There is Fletcher!
Welcome to New England Fletcher.. Even Bellicheats magic won’t fix him
I picked up Ammendola this week and considered using him as my flex (we get return yardage) but stu k with DeAndre Hopkins. So far, so good.
Hopkins should have a Monster year… I’m hoping Agholor can develop into a Hopkins type
Im hoping he turns into Antonio Brown
Isn’t Antonio much smaller?
I meant skill wise, but yeah. Brown is like 5’10”
Stuck with DeAndre Hopkins? He’s a legit WR2 this year in my opinion. Much better play than Amendola. Don’t look back my friend, I think you’ll be very happy your “stuck” with him.
I meant stuck in the contents of I didn’t swap him out for Ammendola. I have high hopes for him, at least until Foster returns to playing.
This guy looks familiar.
They didn’t narrow the goalposts, right?
Job opening in Pittsburgh.
Kip Smith would have made that 🙂
What did they trade for scoobie?
No more than a bag of snacks hopefully
Zoinks!
Rothlisburger supplied the phone number of three young ladies who can be paid not to talk to the cops.
sucks for Pitt, Suisam gets hurt, sign Garrett Hartley then he gets hurt, trade for Scobee and he can’t hit nothin
Wow, draft kings getting Ed Norton for their ads. *Useless comment of the night*
I watch a lot of pats games. The other team always leaves someone uncovered or misses field goals. Pats never seem to. They are so well coached. I hate them. I hope we are ready when we go there.
On a similar note, when the Falcons was coached by Mike Smith, in the years they were actually a good team, didnt they play incredibly disciplined and well coached? Very few penalties, winning the turnover battle every game, never leaving their defensive gaps or coverage assignments?
Then they started to get sloppy, committed penalties and turnovers, went for big plays. Suddenly they became thrash.
You need something special on your team, but playing disciplined and being well coached can make an average team look really good. I agree that the Pats look like the most well coached team in the NFL. Just like when that Seahawks defense is on the field, you vividly see that style they all play with.
I’m so used to the Pats catching every lucky break at this point that it’s just boring.
Ever since the tuck rule it’s seems like they’ve had a horseshoe lodged firmly up their asses. That or they sold their soul to the devil himself. The fumble by Lewis that was recovered by Gronk was just the perfect example of the Patriots never catching a bad break.
I’m not a coach or anything, but that Edelman guy should probably be covered at some point.
No, no,no. That’s exactly what they’ll be expecting.
If only they had a good slot CB
They should trade a conditional 4th for one or something. Just spit ballin’
Once he tires himself out running around with the ball in the first half, a rested Boykin is going to prey on him in the second half.
pats are playing with a rookie backup center and a rookie RG… Gives me hope our unheralded guards can also step in and do a good job
rookie LG i think too
nvmd im wrong
Dick LeBeau who?
Now, they LeBlow.
I hate Eledman always talking shit. Without brady he would still be a punt returner
So…think we’ll see Boykin in the second half?
I can’t believe he couldn’t beat those scrubs.
Good thing the steelers defense talked ish all week about how they knew how to shut down Gronk.. He has 2 TDs in first half, hate to see how many TDs he would have if the steelers said thei didn’t know how to shut him down… Smh
..
Still haven’t seen Boykin yet
Feel bad for him, wish he gets a shot. Steelers DBs suck as is.
He has to, this secondary is Trash. Imagine at some point they will be grasping at straws to find an answer amd make the change
I think the Steelers are sitting Boykin to not give up a 4th.
Edit: /conspiracytheory
With the way the secondary is playing, it will be top of the 4th.
Why would they piss him off and risk him not signing an extension with them? It’s the first half of the first game and the steelers secondary blows, think we will see plenty of Boykin
Is he active? Did anyone check the inactives?
LOL
And Ammendola.
World isn’t a fair place.
I’m shocked that Boykin can’t even crack the nickel spot on that squad. Really puzzeling.
Should Manning really try to mimic the bubble-head? His head might fall off with his neck issues
Fletcher let his man get in behind him. Again. I’ve seen this episode before….
I hate the Patriots
Lots to hate.
https://twitter.com/MattLombardo975/status/642154165838348289
How bad is the state of CBs in this league that Fletcher is still starting, and just starting but starting for a contender.
The rules have made it virtually impossible for them. Sure you’ll get a couple who can, but certainly not enough.
So true. With the way the rules have changed over the past 10 years, you essentially need to be superhuman at this point to shut down most teams WRs.
I guess I’m part of the minority that really enjoys a good defensive struggle just as much, if not more, than the crazy high scoring affairs. Watching a team like NE march up and down the field completing easy, non-contested 10 yard passes over and over and over, just doesn’t do anything for me as a viewer.
It used to mean something to be a WR that was even willing to go across the middle. I haven’t heard anyone talk about a WR needing guts to play in the middle of the field in years. It’s really sad actually.
new link is up guys