Tony Ain’t No Joke
Posted: September 17th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 299 Comments »There is nothing more fun than watching Tony Romo throw a horrible INT. Except maybe him getting sacked and the ball coming loose, only to be scooped up by the defense. Those are magical moments.
Unfortunately I think people tend to judge Romo on his worst moments. “He sucks. What a choke artist.” Things like that. The truth is that Romo is a very good QB. He’s playing the best football of his career. And the Eagles should be worried heading into Sunday.
A healthy Romo has won his last 4 games against the Eagles, including 3 in a row at The Linc. He did lose last Thanksgiving, but anyone watching the game could see something was wrong. He couldn’t throw the ball well at all.
Right now Romo is healthy. And the Eagles defense is coming off a tough game and playing on a short week. This is not the ideal scenario.
The good news is that the defense has plenty of tape of the Dallas offense. They know what the Cowboys like to do so they can prepare much better. Bill Davis and his staff can also use Monday night’s game to teach off of. They can point out the mistakes made by players. The only way to get better is to study the mistakes and learn from them. Finally having some real game tape is a huge thing.
The mystery element, as Chip Kelly discussed at yesterday’s PC, is how Dallas will play without Dez Bryant. The coaches don’t know how Dallas will try to replace him. Someone at the PC asked Kelly if he would rather face Dez and know exactly what Dallas would do or not face him and have some uncertainty. Kelly wisely said that he would rather not face Dez. I agree. Take the great player out of the equation.
So Romo will be missing his star WR. How will he handle that? Romo led the game winning drive last week without Bryant. And he went through the Giants defense like a hot knife though butter. A lot of that is on the Giants D. They looked awful. No pass rush. Struggled in coverage. Other than that, they were great.
Romo has enough talent and experience to still lead a good offense without Dez. Terrance Williams is a talented WR. Cole Beasley has developed into a good slot receiver. Jason Witten is 237 years old, but still somehow gets open and makes plays. This leads us to the odd stat of the day. Witten and L.J. Smith were part of the same draft class. Smith had 18 career TD catches. Witten has that many since he turned 30. Ouch.
We all know Dallas has a great O-line. That gives Romo time to throw and it helps the run game. The running back by committee (RBBC) was effective vs the Giants. Joseph Randle and Darren McFadden combined for 22 carries for 81 yards. Not great, but effective.
The pressure will be on Romo this week. In the past, that might have been tough for him. Romo is older and wiser now and he’s playing the best of his career. The Eagles better not think they can just roll out the ball and go beat Dallas without Dez.
Romo knows how to use his weapons. He’s also got that OL that will help Dallas win their share of battles up front. 22 carries for 81 yards won’t beat the Eagles. Dallas must run the ball more and more effectively. Without a huge star like Dez, Romo does need role players to do their part. He can’t win this game by himself.
If the Eagles control the line of scrimmage and limit the run game, we might just see the old Romo come out. It would be fun to see him throwing some picks and giving us the sad Gomer Pyle face we’ve all come to know and love.
As Tony Bruno likes to say…”Beautiful.”
* * * * *
My PE.com column covered Monday’s disappointing performance.
I also talked about not overreacting to the loss. Season openers involve a lot of emotional baggage since you’ve waited so long to see the team in action.
The 2012 Eagles won their opener and started 3-1. They finished 4-12.
The 2013 Eagles also won their opener. They went cold after that and were 3-5 before finishing red hot to get to 10-6.
The 2003 Eagles started 0-2 and looked dreadful, getting outscored 43-13. They went 12-4 for the year and got to the NFC title game.
The Eagles gave us reasons to be concerned on Monday. I don’t dispute that. I do think anyone who is ready to panic or thinks Chip Kelly/Sam Bradford/the team got exposed is reaching. The Eagles played a bad half of football. No one is ignoring that, but it is far different than playing a terrible game or looking like a completely helpless team.
* * * * *
For those who think I’m too positive, enjoy this piece from old friend Derek Sarley (of Iggles Blog fame).
Derek and I don’t always agree, but he is an incredibly gifted writer. Even when I hate his conclusions, I come away jealous of his writing. I always value and respect his opinion.
If you don’t follow Derek on Twitter, change that.
_
I tend to agree with Derek’s conclusions on this team. I think there are still some serious talent deficiencies that are going to hold us back this year, and despite his accuracy Bradford did little to convince me that his upside is anything better than an upmarket Alex Smith – which I don’t know will be enough to win with.
This weekend is going to be a difficult game even without Bryant. Romo is far and away the best QB in the division and he still has good weapons to work with and is operating behind a great line. I expect this one to be a shootout.
true, wonder what team we will not have a shoot out with?
Every team has weaknesses though. We have enough talent to do some damage.
RBs sort of neutered by having a bad o-line. I was impressed w/ bradford going 21/25 in that second half especially when he got no help from the running game AND he made good decisions, there’s not all-22s dropping of a bunch of guys that were wide open that he missed.
OL needs to gel. Major issue is that OLB spot it’s just going to be ugly this year. Think Vinny won’t be as good rushing standing up, and BG will get swollowed. Really have to hope that front 3 can help them out. But secondary will look terrible if QBs have 4 second in the pocket.
Biggest needs for next season in order are OLB, OL, CBs?
CB, OL, OLB
decent CBs are much harder to find than decent OL.
To me OL is #1, followed by CB and then OLB. Both guards need to be replaced, and soon enough so will Peters. CB could be okay if Rowe develops, but more depth there can’t hurt. At OLB I am not ready to give up on Marcus Smith just yet.
1) G/C
2) G/T
3) Safety.. Love our starters but Maragos can be our #3 safety
…
I think we have to see how this season unfolds to talk about those other positions.. For example:
1) BG had one of the best pressure per snaps percentages In the league the last few years, might wanna wait more then 1 week before we say that he can’t carry that production over to his new bigger role
2) MS2 is still a developing player. Today he is much better then he was last year, and now December he should he neuter then he is today, and next September he should be better then what we see in December after this season of growth
3) Vinny Curry has been an OLB for two weeks, depending how he develops over the course of the season, he can prove to be the answer at OLB
..
Warning: OLB is one of the positions where as a whole, we should see the most growth over the course of this season. What today looks like something we need to upgrade next year, by the end of this season, that could change and OLB could become a strength…. And If Dion Jordan cares enough to try and comeback and make something of his career, I would assume that if we see him try to win a job in training camp, it will be for the Eagles…
.
Very possible that what is a question today can prove to be a strength at the end of the year..
..,
I trust Maxwell, Rowe, Nolan, JaCorey continuing to grow over the course of this year. If Rowe develops how he is supposed to, we won’t be as desperate for corner help next year as it may seem today
…
lastly, I would expect this to be Coop and Miles last year in Philly, so we should be able to add another WR weapon next year. stylistically I would like to see us add 2 Types of WRs the next few years.
1) a 6’5, Big Body WR to replace the size we lose when we get rid of coop and Miles
2) I would like to see us add a smaller, Tiny, Burner who can be a deep threat defenses have to respect like Brandin Cooks, Juron Brown, Phillip Dorsett, Lockett, TY Hiltom types.,,,, part of this is my bias for Former Roman Catholic players, but a deep threat like 185lb Will Fuller who’s big plays keep willing Notre Dame to wins would be a welcome addition to this WR Corp
..
Sooner or later we need to find a bruising blocking TE to take over for Celek when his skills really diminish
Bradford is very accurate and quick with his throws, but he doesn’t drive the ball down the field enough and doesn’t generate big yardage plays. To me he looks like a guy who will win you 10 games if he stays healthy, but who won’t be able to beat elite defenses when it counts. I think he’s fine, but I don’t see the significant upgrade from Foles some here do – to me they are both flawed, middle-of-the-road starters.
The OL doesn’t just need to gel, it needs a serious infusion of depth, youth, and most of all talent. Gardner and Barbre just aren’t very good players and continuity will only improve their performance so much.
The front 7 I’m not worried about. It’s elite. But the secondary is a major concern. Maxwell is a guy I worried was made to look better than he is by talented teammates in Seattle and for whom we overpaid, and he did nothing to assuage those doubts Monday – he got torched in Fletcheresque fashion, and not just by Julio Jones. Carroll is a JAG. Rowe’s not ready. And the nickel back spot is going to be a weakness all year. We’re going to have to win a few 38-35 games this year.
Braford has more than enough arm. This play to JMatt shows it.
He throws it from the 24, it’s caught at the 48. He throws from the outside the left has and it’s caught between the right numbers and the sideline. We’ll call that 25 yards laterally.
Phythag tells us that’s a 35 yard laser.
He’s got the arm the game plan just didn’t ask for him to exploit it.
https://vine.co/v/eUOilT9DnKA
I’m posting an article I read in gif form about Bradford above. I’m pretty confident this is the guy to lead us to the big dance.
My takeaway from this game (which we had a lot of last year) was poor execution. Maybe it’s a lot of moving parts to start, but being down 17 on the road and coming back is not something a bad team can do.
I’m not questioning his arm strength. It’s his aggressiveness and decision making (in the sense of knowing when to pull the trigger and go deep and when not to) that I question. You can chalk it up to the defense the Falcons were playing/the game plan in this one, but he’s always been a dink-and-dunk guy going back to his days in St. Louis. He has the physical tools to correct that and become a more complete quarterback, but I’ve yet to see him demonstrate the mentality to do so.
generally agree with you but how can you base your opinion after 1 game? it’s not only 1 game, it’s his first game well over a year. He’s not going to come out and be Montana. And, he’s in a totally new system with real NFL coaches this time and real WR’s. Not sure what everyone else was expecting game 1. I expected him to be nervous and over pumped up until the game came back to him. Game 2, I’m still not expecting Montana. I expect him to start a little more calm. As his confidence and comfort with offense increases, so will his numbers.
…..
speaking of being little convinced — I agree about this game. I’m not convinced yet that this secondary is any better than last year. Beasley gave us fits last year. Will Davis dial up plays to try and get better(any) pressure? A year that Davis should be on the hot seat, games like this one is important.
I’m not basing it one game, I’m basing it on his entire body of work in the NFL to this point, St. Louis included. There’s a lot to like about Bradford, but he’s going to have to be more aggressive and less risk averse to be a truly elite quarterback. All the arm talent in the world doesn’t mean anything if you’re not willing to use it.
But isn’t that a bit unfair? The rams have a history of poor HC’ing and brutal offensive line. I don’t know who their QB’s coaches were – but that franchise has been a mess for years. IF he stays healthy, he’s going to put his best numbers this year than any year he’s had in the Rams. It’s the same system that had Foles put up great numbers. Before Foles left, he was taking those chances(lol). Each week he’ll have more game tapes to see those open wr’s and understand CK’s offense. I don’t think he sees the big picture of CK’s offense yet.
I’ve always been surprised that Derek is only a writer. By all appearances, he should be a head coach in the NFL with a 7-figure salary. He just seems to know way more than these simpleton coaches an GMs;-)
I absolutely love football. Truly one of the biggest loves in my life. That being said I’m sad to say sometimes it’s becoming hard to watch with all the bull shit personal fouls or tacky penalties constantly being called and interrupting the game. Watching the Broncos game and I had to shake my head in disgust at 2 personal fouls called. It’s just turning away from the game I grew up with and learned to love and I’m only 26. It’s sort of painful at times.
Dallas made a huge mistake by letting Ware go. He is looking like a monster. Kansas Cities rookie CB Peter’s looks very good for a rookie CB. I understand he had some character concerns but I felt as though he was really the best CB in the draft. Wanted the Birds to get him.
I thought Peters looked great as well pre-draft. I wish we woild have seen more from Agholor on Monday. He sure didnt “pro ready.”
No he didn’t. I will say that he was being covered by one of the best CBs in the NFL though. His performance or rather non performance doesn’t sway my opinion of him to much though. I still think he will be a good WR in the NFL.
ATL knew we were going to be throwing the ball alot with the amount we were down. That didn’t help Agholor either.
If Peter’s continues to stay in the right mindset I think he could be one of the better CBs in the NFL along with Trufant.
Peters with the pick 6.
Lol yeah I was just about to say. Speak of the devil. What draft spot did we have this last draft? I forget.
I don’t know. The pick 6 was impressive, but I don’t think he lasts long before getting suspended. There is something in his body language that makes me leery.
Ehhhhh… many a player has had that body language and never been suspended. Are you speaking of his body language during games? If so I just call it competitive cockiness. Nothing wrong with that in sports.
Who really knows though. You could be right. I try not to telate a players body language to his character when he is in the emotion of the game.
KC also has a great pass rush that makes corners look good. We put Jmatt in the slot so he’s going to have easy matchups based on size.
Someone made the point that dropping 4 pro bowlers in 3 years means that you have to take people high in the draft vs taking OL/other positions of weakness.
Very good points. That being said I don’t think you can deny he has a serious skill set. The pass rush definitely helps him but regardless of that he doesn’t look like a rookie CB.
I wish our good pass rush made our secondary better last year. Granted KCs pass rush is better then ours and their secondary talent is clearly better as well.
Interesting point you stated about the draft and walking of high caliber talent. Possibly very true.
I thought he was easily the best corner coming out, but i watched a couple interviews and pressers with him….can’t say i was impressed, and the stuff that came out about him from Washington speaks for itself
That’s the problem with a lot of talented guys especially guys just coming out.
Do you feel that way about Sherman?
No, and maybe I will be wrong about Peters, but there is a difference. With Sherman, it seems to be about the team. With Peters, it seems to be about him.
20. Right?
It was no secret that in terms of ability he was easily the best corner in this draft… His skill and ability is unquestionable, his behavior will determine if he was a good draft pick, or if teams were smart to take him off their board for charechter reasons
..
Ware is a Monster.,,
..
all 22 actually shows agholor did a pretty good job getting open for his first game, but balls just weren’t going his way. Needs to clean up the dumb penalties. chip raced about his blocking (the curse of Cooper)
..
huff needs to step the fuck up and contribute to this team
No doubt. Everything you said is true. The people in charge of these decisions know more about him then we do. That being said it did truly seem as though he was attempting to turn things around. I wanted him due to his talent and again I felt as though he was sincere in what he said pre draft. I think his coach letting him come back for the Pro Day and speaking highly of him did speak about his attempt to mature.
Time will tell like you said. He doesn’t have to be a model citizen to be considered a success. He just has to stay out of trouble and work hard.
Kyle Fuller started off extremely well too before he fell off a cliff in terms of coverage. There’s not enough tape on Peters for teams yet.
Valid point.
Submitted for lengthy thought:
Marcus Peters would have been a better immediate bet than Nelson Aghelor, and we probably could have traded ahead of KC to get him. Would that have been worth it?
oops, didn’t see that there was already Peters thinking going on!
Highly doubtful he was even on the Eagles board at all. Too many off field problems for Chips liking.
He was my favorite cover corner in the draft, but Kelly doesn’t want character questions of ANY sort, and I think it’s a pretty big gamble to take a corner round 1 unless it’s a clear no-brainer. Early picks in recent years, Claiborne, Millner, Gilbert, Denard have not particularly flourished – which stings from 1st round picks, but maybe Peters is the exception. His early shining may also be, in no small part, a function of a consistently disruptive pass rush. Your question invites a retrospective, 20/20, simple answer, but we all know it ain’t nearly that simple in real time. I think Agholor was a safe and a sound round 1 decision, and as much as I like Peters, picking him first would be much more risky in my opinion.
Classic Big Red clock mismanagement and refusal to run the ball when needed.
Dudes been a head coach for like almost two decades. It’s friggin embarrassing.. “I goofed”.. Is he slow or something? I know 7yr olds that are way better at clock management when playing Madden then this half-retard head coach of 20 years who still can’t grasp such a simple concept… Owner needs to sit Andy down and tell him to eitger get his head our of his ass, and learn how to manage the clock, or find another job. It’s absurd to be allowed to coach for so long and consistently be a clock management mess.. And why isn’t their anyone on his staff, in his ear to help him with the clock if everyone knows he is dense in the head and just doesn’t get it
LOL.
If you ARENT going to Fix such a blatant weakness that has been costing you for 2 decades, it’s up to a good leader to be honest with himself about his own weaknesses and short comings, How Owners continue to put up with Andy Not improving his clock management I can’t even understand.
..
andy clearly will never improve at his clock management, so he should be fired if he can’t at least be et honest with himself about his own limitatiòns, and delegate to someone who can actually Grasp the simple concept of Clock management, I can’t respect a man who allows the same issues to cost his teams for two decades,.. Owners and Gms need to grow a pair balls, sit Andy down and tell him that if he doesn’t hire someone he can delegate the clock management to, then andy can’t continue to be a head coach. It’s absurd to let him get away with the same costly flaws for decades… KC can get a 10yr old madden video game champion to work as a free intern, stand by andy Reid all game, whos ONLY job is to be in Andys ears at all times and tell him exactky how to manage the clock over the course of a game
Damn Maclin. I kinda miss him now. He’s moving those chains. I’m willing to be patient but I hope Agholor starts to show some good things soon. We gotta beat Dallas. Period.
I bet Maclin is going to start missing the Chip kelly offense as much as we miss him.,,, can’t be fun from putting up career numbers in a chip kelly offense to playing with Alex smith who simply isn’t even good enough to use WRs.. I would HATE to be a WR of Maclins caliber, playing with a QB who can ONLY throw to the RBs and Zeus Kelce..
..
We would be AMAZING if Maclin was still on this team, but Agholor should be just as good if not grow into an even better player then Maclin. I was encouraged by seeing the All 22 of Agholor’s performance against Atlanta. He was getting open more then his stat line would suggest
Good point. I need to check that All 22 out!
Thinking sunday could be a great opportunity for Bradford to get Agholor and even Huff going by letting them isolate and Attack Morris Claiborne.
.
Good opportunity to get Ertz going and continue to use Sproles against average Dalas Lbs and Safeties
,
And whenever we need a play, we can look to our safety valve, Pope jordan to outclass the Pigeon tasked with replacing Orlando Scandrick in the slot ..
..
obviously scoring 1 more poïnt then Dallas is all that matters, but I would love to see Bradford use this as an opportunity to get our outside WRs going aganst Morris Claiborne,,,ideally convert a few plays to huff and Agholor down field
I don’t care about Romo. He isn’t the pathetic mess he used to be, but rough him up early and its known that he starts seeing ghost pass rush pressure and give up, take the sack before anyone even hits him..
..
Rough up Romo like our front 7 is capable of, and he shouldn’t be able to put up enough points to keep up with our offense assuming we don’t need an entire half before we start clicking
..
Use our tempo to destroy their depleted DL
..
Kendricka has an important job covering those RBs out of the backfield as pass catchers since they can’t run on us..
..
Barwin and Kiko take Witten and Escobar away from Romo and we should be celebrating a win Sunday night
The linebacker play in the opener is tempering my enthusiasm for our D this week. Ryans was a liability, and Kiko and Kendricks are still warming up to form. Barwin was himself, Graham was almost invisible, and as a group they gave up way too much ground yardage, which allowed effective play action from Ryan. I know these guys can be better, but it’s a short week, Alonso missed a lot of TC because of the concussion, and Ryans is compromised by his re-hab state. Graham has no excuse, so if he does not show up I see Romo torching us. As much respect as I have for MJ’s smarts and leadership, the guy has dropped at least a dozen picks since he’s been an Eagle, but I like what I saw from Thurmond, and I am not too worried about Maxwell. The linebackers have to pick it up. I expect our OL to start much stronger than week 1, and our ST should be an edge. For me, this week, our D is a mystery.
Graham was “almost invisible” if you didn’t watch the game. I saw him constantly in the backfield disrupting plays. He may not have been credited with the tackles, but he was in there directing the play away from him and into someone else’s arms. People are determined to paint him as a bust, yet he’s a damn good player!
I’m not determined to paint anybody. He didn’t look damn good to me on monday night, and he was on the field with the other LB’s noted when Atlanta’s running was causing problems. If you want to stipulate that Graham played good enough while the other LB’s didn’t, feel free. I thought Alonso looked much more engaged than Graham, but I believe Alonso can and will be better still. Graham’s biggest talent is pass rush, and there wasn’t much of that for a whole half. If Romo gets the time that Ryan had in the first half, Eagles will probably go into halftime again looking at a deficit.
Mychal played the entire game which should really helping knocking all that rust off. kendricks wasn’t bad at all, but he is capable of so much more the. What he showed against Atlanta, fortunately their is no better way to get in game shape then to play an entire game, so I expect Atlanta to have been great for Kendricks and fingers crossed we see him put on a show on Sunday.
..
I didn’t see anything wrong with Kikos play, but while Kendricks played the entire game, we rotated Kiko and Meco to ease them back in, but I got the impression that for Kiko it was just precautionary not a necessity, so I expect to see them turn the Dail up on Kikos snap count this week. our TEs all RAVE about Kikos coverage anytime they are asked about him and without Dez, Romo is going to Need Old man Witten to have a Big Game and at his age, Kikos athleticism and size should be a nightmare for Witen in coverage.
..
Throwing to TEs Witten and Escobar, and throwing to RBs Dunbar and Randle is crucial for Romo with Dez out especially if they struggle to run the ball against our DL, so Kiko, Kendricks and Barwins coverage should be crucial to this weeks game plan.. So i think we will cease to ” ease them back into the games” and unleash Kiko and Kendricks at home this week…fingers crossed of course
“if they struggle to run the ball…” Exactly my concern. Let’s hope that “the best OL in the league” can’t get untracked and force their QB to take to the air. That will mean our DL, including ILB’ and OLB’s are stout and mobile at the very least. If QB pressure is a continuation of last week’s 2nd half, I expect we’ll be fine. Like you, I think a good showing from our D begins with stingy run D.
Yeah man, I don’t expect to see “The Nobodies” allow Dallas to run the ball against us. Fingers crossed of course. I assume our stingy run she se will force them to switch to throwing to the RB to try and get them going, and then it’s up to Kendricks to cover RBs trying to catch passes out of the backfield while Kiko and Barwin focus on taking the TEs away from Romo
That means Billy D needs to get some blitzes early. I hope he does. Dallas does have a good Oline and if they keep 6 or 7 in to block, gotta bring more than 4.
I think Billy should blitz 60% of thr time or the DL needs to keep Graham and Barwin clean. Good luck with a double A gap blitz from Kiko and Kendricks. I like the jail break Billy used at the end of the Falcon game.
Think it’s important for Kendricks To shut down the threat of their RBs catching passes while BARWIN and KIKO shut down tbeir TEs. Kendricks is very experienced with Green dog blitzes the past few years, so we can trust him with the responsiblity of giving him the freedom to blitz every time he sees the RB he is matched up against stay in to block, Nuetralizing the offense trying to keep an extra blocker in against us…
..
Dallas is going to try and block us with 5 guys, I need cox, VINNY, BG, BARWIN and the Rest of Gang Green to prove to Dallas what a mistake it is to think their OL can block our Front 7 with Only 5 lineman..
Doubt they can keep 6 or 7 guys to block us like Atlanta did,,
..
it was No secret that Atlantawouldt trust its OL to block us with 5 guys, and they had HIGH end Talemt at WR to be able to attack us with only two Wrs.,
.,
dallas Lacks QUALITY weapons, so they will need to ask their OL to step up, block us with 5 guys, so they can put 3, 4 WRs on the field and try to attack us wifh QUANTITY… Plus, our Nickel and Dime defense is a question right now, so teams that have a good enough OL to ask to block us with 5 guys are going to want to try and spread us out and try to attack our Nickel and Dime defenses until we prove its not a weakness..
..
the Dallas OL has to be fantastic to win this week.. if Dallas has to give its OL help this week, it will take away from what already is a depleted arsenal of weapons … they are going to ask 5 lineman to step up and Block us, So hopefully our Front 7 plays up to its potential and makes them pay for not keeping in extra blockers…
..
IF Dallas can’t block us with 5 guys on sunday, they are in trouble
Evan Mathis just got beat very badly by Justin Houston
98% of the OL in the league looks bad against Houston
Same argument was made for Maxwell going against Julio but no one wanted to hear it.
He wasn’t only getting beat by Julio though.
Roddy white is no Riley Cooper..,
. But no matter how we slice it, we clearly didn’t see the best Byron was capable of in Atlanta… I’d be much more concerned if Maxwell played with perfect technique and got beat like that…
..
Also think the fact that he never played against Julio before probably makes it more difficult. You can watch all the film you want but you gotta go up against a guy to really know what he is capable of…. iTs hard enough to match up against the elite WRs we see today, Matching up against one of the elite WRs for the first time, can’t be much fun.,
..
Curious to see how he does against Dallas because he has a lot of experience matching up against their guys because Romo avoided Sherman like plague and Byron got plenty of work against the Cowboys WR’s who are the same as last year.
What’s the excuse for all the other KC defenders that beat Mathis last night?
..
Heck I counted 3 plays where he was totally confused and literally didn’t block ANYONES… he was NOT very good last night, and not just a few bad stretches like JP had, I watched him get beat all night, blow assignments, even when he had double team help, KC defenders were splitting his double team and getting thru, and Denver should be worried considering their is a rookie linned up next to Mathis, and he had the same issues last week getting whipped on by Canty and the Ravens DL
..
Doubt anyone who watches Matbis snaps from last night would say that we miss him
He didn’t have Peters next to him
Not many guards will be able to block him one on one in pass pro
Dude, I don’t give a shit what PFF says this week. I watched Mathis closely most of the night and he was getting beat like a drum by a bunch of different defenders, in different ways.,,
..
I challenge ANYONE to go watch Mathis snaps from last night and come back I and tell me that they miss mathis… And if PFF Gives him a great grade this week they can’t continue to be allowed to distort reality in fans minds with bogus evaluations
Remember when people wanted De’Anthony Thomas? lol..
I know that there are still adequate weapons for Romo, but if there is one guy on the Cowpatties O that gives me the Vapors a bit this week, It’s that little pain in the arse Jitterbug Cole Beasley. With our, I’ll go with “unsettled” Slot CB situation, I really see him giving us Indigestion this weekend. I would be giddy as a Sadistic Little School Girl to see Kiko De-Cleat that little bugger on a Slant or the like this week!
Beasley’s easy to hate isn’t he! Haven’t disliked a player as much since Jeremy Shockey. The thought of him celebrating important 3rd down conversions is nauseating. Here’s hoping for your Kiko medicine.
he’s the Joe Dirt of the NFL
If he’s coming out of the slot, he probably will see Jenkins this week. I feel comfortable with that matchup.
I didn’t see our nickel being an issue in Atlanta., jenkins and Thurmond can both easily handle nickel CB responsibilities and Maragos actually held up better at safety then I expected… Putting Jenkins or thurmond on Beasly doesn’t scare me..
..
I didn’t think we would see much of Maragos on defense, but seems like coaches like him more then I thought as a defender, yesterday chip talked about how we brought him here because he is one of the very best ST players in the game but when he got here, Chip and the coaches to not sell himself short as a defender because the coaches thought he has potential to eventually contribute oh defense and chip seems to think he has made great strides on defense since last year… It didn’t expect him to win the #5 DB role over BIGS, Couplin or ROWE, but Maragos didn’t seem like he didn’t belong in Atlanta.. I was pleasantly surprised..
..
As long as Maragos can hold up at safety in our Nickel, I actually love seeing Jenkins and/or Thurmond lined up on slot WRs..
I was very surprised to hear nothing about Maragos one way or another while he was getting playing time with the D. That, in itself, is really the second highest compliment that you can give a Safety IMO. Meaning, if I’m not hearing his name called at all, I have to assume he’s doing at least OK. I’m absolutely comfortable with Jenkins or Thurmond coming down to cover the Slot as well. The big worry for myself & presumably everyone else was who was going to fill in for them when they are called upon to handle the Slot duties. So, here’s to more of any of our reserve safeties remaining anonymous when they take the field. Barring the unsuspected big play by one of them of course.
Little quick guys should be trouble. Our’s DB’s are strictly versatile in the sense that most can play safety or CB. It isn’t versatile in the sense of the types of WR’s it can cover well. The theory being you want the next guy up to have the same skill set as the guy they replace. So nothing changes when a player gets injured in theory. The downside is obvious.
You can expect to see a lot of zone if we struggle to cover little guys in man coverage.
Andy Reid will never run the ball again.
My Wife’s entire Family is from East Kansas. I was at her Family reunion talking to her Uncle. He couldn’t believe that Philly Fired Reid and he was now coaching the Chiefs. I told him I hope he likes the idea of Smith passing 45 times a game and the rb’s getting 10 carries total a game. He laughed at me and said,” Why the hell would we do that? We have Jamaal Charles, one of the best backs in the League.” I smiled and said You will see. I will be seeing him in a few weeks. I am dying to hear how he feels about Reid year 3.
Lost on a sloppy fumble.
Just take an Fn knee
Or pass downfield. I get playing to win, but running the ball from 80 yards out with 40 seconds left doesn’t seem to be a smart thing. When he gets tackled after a 6 yard gain, the clock is still running.
Andy Reid is a great fucking coach. Amazing coach monday to sunday until gametime, and then goes back to being amazing right after the game is over. But those hours when the game is on, he is just a terrible coach.
I think this is accurate. Terrible clock management. Play calling was at best adequate. Knew he had to run the ball, said he planned to, but when the game situation came around, he saw every situation as a passing situation, and running the ball as an obligation. Always outsmarted himself, they think I’ll do this (because it’s the smart thing to do), so I’ll do THIS.
But you can’t argue with his record and achievements. He’s a fantastic coach with some great strengths. He just has a bad habit of pissing away big games on gameday (but he still won a lot of games by building a well-run team and preparation).
Maybe some day someone will write an article titled “Sam aint no joke.”
It might be dumb to run, but it’s probably just as dumb that Charles wasn’t 2 hands on the ball and holding on for dear life in that situation, rather than holding it loose enough that a guy knocked it out with barely a punch.
Just me, or someone else would like to see Curry taking some snaps at Thornton spot? Specially in pass situations. He so disruptive on the middle of the OL.
And Rowe at safety. Man, every time I watch his college tape playing safety, I’m desperate to see that happen. Think soon or later will happen.
Where do you think Curry has been Linning up the past 3 years on 3rd down?
.
Chip even said yesterday that even tho we are trying to grow his OLB ability in our base package, we still are intent on keeping him as an interior pass rushers no our nickel spot, basically replacing Thornton when we are in 3rd down passing situations like he has done since chip arrived
Sorry , I didn’t explain right.
He plays more the 4-3 hybrid that Chip often uses than the 3-4 base.
And he plays a lot Cox spot too, meaning they don’t play togheter.
He keeps 7 DL. Taylor Hart has upside, but Bair is there for more ST reasons. Curry have great value, he is 6-3, 280 lb.
What I’m trying to say is that he should’ve more play time.
You are saying that Fletcher Cox doesn’t play enough on 3rd down? I dunno about all that,,. I see curry and Cox lined up next to each other in nickel in every game…. if Curry is going to replace Cox who is the other interior pass rusher on our 3rd down 4man Lines?… We Often see a kind of “NASCAR Package” of Barwin, Curry, Cox, BG on 3rd down, 4 Lineman who are all capable of Linning up as 4-3 DEs
..
I’m expecting Double digit sacks from Vinny this year, while playing more snaps then previous year..
..
I want to see BARWIN, BG and Curry combine for at least 30 sacks this year..
..
The Atlanta game was the first time Hart has played for us, and I thought it was a very encouraging first game for him. looking forward to watchng Hart closely, his confidence should grow a little more with each game he gets under his belt..
..
But If all 7 DL stay healthy this year, I would be really SURPRISED if a DL ends up playing more 3rd down snaps then BARWIN,BG, Curry and Cox..
..
curry needs more playing Time? You won’t get any argument from me, VINNY is my favorite Eagle, and I think we will get our wish..it’s no secret that all pffseason they talked about expanding Vinnys roles, Linning him up all over the place, partly because we want to get him on the field more.
.
Im not worried about his snap count against the pass, he will be on the field hunting QBs often… What im curious about is if we see his snap counts increase when we aren’t in pass rushing situations,,
.,
I was very annoyed with both BG and Curry in Atlanta, mostly because of how highly I think of them. They are capable of so much more then what they showed in Atlanta, so I need them to put it behind them and put on a show against the highly rated cowboy OL… Tyron Smith is No excuse for Vinny and BG not showing up this week… We are an elite Front 7, I don’t care who our opponent has on the OL, I expect this DL to produce against any OL and I need it to start this week vs the Cowboys
I was very optimistic about the team even after the defeat, but sometimes the front 7 worries me. Falcons OL is not great and we didn’t pressure Ryan enough. Maybe is time to go for Billy Davis.
He have so potential in his hands, and can’t turn this defense in a juggernnaut.
Cox and Logan seems to reach they potential, but they are full starters. Curry can get there, but he needs to see the field more (and he will). Maybe he end up reaching this in another team, unfortunately.
wasn’t front 7’s fault it was 4 on 7 and we couldn’t cover 2 guys – we started getting home when we rushed 5+ in the second half, billy b was just slow to adjust, even though ATL runs the same max protect scheme all the time.
Blitzes. Thats thing I like most in Bowles. He so creative in his blitzes.
As much as I HATE Billy Davis, comparing anybody to Bowels is rough. Bowles is a straight up genius.
Front 7 is the least of my concerns.. I believe they will prove to be a top front 7 by the end of this season.
..
This defense shoutout be top 5 in sacks, top 3 in forcing turnovers, hopefully in the #5-10 range in terms of points allowed…
..
The defense didn’t really lose the Atlanta game.. The
Chip jelly offense came up short. When our defense holds a team under 30, Chips offense is supposed to deliver the win.. Take away 3 defensive plays in the second half and the defense did a great job getting us back in the game..
..
But this is a team with so much change that we are going to have to grow into the offense and defense we hope to be capable of as the year unfolds and we gain experience..with each game that passes we should be seeing growth from the previous week
Yeah, one thing that gives me hope that this team will click is our schedule.
We don’t face any offense like Atlanta, with 2 big targets. Of course, there is Gronk, OBJ, Fitzgerald (urgh), D-Jax. Maybe Calvin Johnson and Tate, but 2 at the same time no more.
They can use 11 personnel (even 12 personnel) to protect the QB and let these two guys out there to make the plays, like Atlanta. Good move by Quinn.
About Davis, he never shown he can run a defense successfully. And this is putting Chip in a bad situation. Don’t know what Lurie thinks, but maybe we should’ve give him full control before.
If they have another season that ends 10-6 without a playoff win, Chip ain’t taking a bullet for Billy.
Andy deserves to lose that game. Twice, they gave up 40 seconds on the clock to end the halves. 36 sec and a time out to get a field goal, and instead he makes the best player on his team take meaningless hits, one of which being a fumble that could rattle the shit out of his confidence.
Derek is a great, I miss that guy:
“And “taking what the defense gives you” is the football equivalent of letting your power forward shoot three-pointers all day because no one bothers to guard him all the way out there.”
Im sorry but im not going to follow Derek. Sadly he has turned way to negative for me
I stopped following him when he was calling everyone an idiot for not recognizing how awesome Vick would be in Kelly’s offense because it didn’t require him to make any reads – even the read option didn’t really involve a read, just watching a player and making your decision based upon what he does. Since then, the snippets I see from him inevitably are trying to tear down everything that made his Vick obsession fruitless.
Yeah, I’m not sure what happened to Derek. I unfollowed and haven’t looked back.
Yeah his opinion doesn’t interest me at all..
Just because someone has a negative opinion doesn’t mean you should completely disregard it if someone has experience in the area along with making some conclusions based upon their observations.
No but if word there comes out on Twitter is negative and iknowbetter stuff then I won’t follow
Well, it sounds like we should be fine. As long as our defense doesn’t turn into the Giants, “…No pass rush. Struggled in coverage. Other than that, they were great.”
Wait…
damn.
This is the same defense that had more sacks then every team last year with the exception of the great bills defense,
..
And even if we will be a bend but don’t break operation certain weeks, we seem to have a ballhwaking Defense.,. 2 Turnovers against Falcons should have been 5, the 2 INTs jenkins dropped and the sack fumble they stole from Cox because of the bogus Kiko penalty….. And we accomplished that against a quality veteran QB while BG and Curry had a down game… I’m sure we will get more out of those two then we saw in Atlanta, while also turning up the heat on our ILB blitzes
..
I’m also encouraged by our coverage. obviously the CB have to play Better, which im certain they are capable of, but I’m excited to finally put a decade of safety problems behind us… For Walter to be playing safety the way he has after moving to safety for the first time just a few months ago is very encouraging..can’t wait to see what the Ballhawk looks like after he gets a few games under his belt…. funny that Thurmond at Safety kind of reminds me of Jarius BYRD
I’m nervous as to how they are using Curry right now. There was a quote in a story on Birds 24/7 that said he mainly played on running downs because they didn’t want him to drop in coverage. It seems like a waste to have him only play on running downs when he should be brought in to rush the passer on passing downs.
he is mainly playing OLB on running downs,,yesterday Chip said VINNY will continue to be an interior pass rusher in our Nickel defense.. So I expect to see VINNY struggle a bit on 1st and 2nd down as he learns the nuances of playing OLB position… But Come 3rd down passing situations and Vinny will be used the same exact way we saw him used the past two years when he was wreaking havoc with his pass rush…
..
So at least we can count on VINNY on the MONEY Downs (3rd down) while he gets more and more comfortable on 1st and 2nd down in his new role in our base defense… Most important is VINNY needs to set the edge against the Run and not let anyone get outside him, which isn’t the most complicated role in football…. As long as BARWIN and BG remain healthy, we can bring VINNY along Gradually
wonder what the role change does to he contract demands.
Think it makes it easier to justify paying what it will take to keep him here, assuming he grows into the role well this year, but he will need like w month of game experience to really get comfortable
Good. I hope that is true and he will keep being used in his role from last year on third down. It did not seem like that was happening in game 1.
As long as we line up in a 4man line in passing situations, Vinny can pressure the QB for any of the 4 spots.. Think the plan now that guys have been in the system for 3 years is to move Vinny, BG, Cox all over the 4 man line, keeping OLineman from getting comfortable because we keep throwing different stylistic pass rushers at them all game..
..
VInny will struggle as he grows into his standing OLB role, but as long as we are in a 4 man line when it’s time to rush the passer, Vinny can stick his hand in the dIrt and generate a pass rush from any spot on that 4man line…it’s the stand up OLB role he needs to master,
Fortunately we don’t really see too many stand up OLB plays when it’s time to rush the passer in 3rd down
I am excited about the team, I was just having a little fun with Tommy’s choice of phrasing. No doom and gloom here.
Have you seen the Cowboy’s offensive line. Yes it will happen again.
I guess we’ll see in the game against Dallas, but I think I disagree with Derek right now. A lot of teams look bad in their first game. Aaron Rodgers barely played this preseason (like many of our starters) and was lethargic the first half of the bears game before GB pulled ahead in the 2nd half. Like us, but good enough to win.
We had a ton of roster turnover, and it could take a few games to really get in the flow of things.
And Bradford drove the ball well in the preseason. I think there is still grounds for optimism, 1 mixed game to me not being enough evidence one way or the other.
aaron Rodgers better hope the injury Baluga suffered in practice isn’t too serious. doubt he wants to see Don Barclay replace Baluga on the OL.
.,,
I was pretty encouraged by what Bradford showed in atlanta
It’s crazy to think how Romo is playing his best football at 35 when McNabb, arguably our greatest franchise QB, went through the following:
Benched at 31
Benched at 32 and traded at the end of the year to a division rival
Benched at 33 and traded
Benched at 34 and released during season…end of career
Seriously, I wonder if he fell into the category of a fixed mindset person.
edit: spelling
I actually never even thought of this. Good point. for a QB who stopped using his athleticism while still in his prime, weird to see a QB take such a career nose dive early in his 30’s…
…
Wonder exactly when McNabb started to drink the way he has in recent years
he had issues he never wanted to deal with, mechanically, he could probably still be playing if he decided to deal w/ those instead of thinking he was too good.
Romo didn’t start until later in life and dallas put up w/ a lot – probably knowing how hard it is to get a qb. plus he started off w/ TO then got Dez which makes life a lot easier.
Sean Payton offered Dallas a third round pick for Tony before he ever played in a game. Three of the first four years he started, he made the Pro Bowl. Not sure I would say Dallas put up with a lot…they knew he was pretty good, once he was given a chance to start.
I don’t think he was ever benched in 2009, the season before he got traded to Washington. He started throughout that whole season and in the playoffs.
Nonetheless, you make a very good point. I think you nailed it with fixed mindset person. I am a huge McNabb fan and I dislike the hate he gets, but it does seem at some point he stopped being able to take coaching to improve his game.
My bad, he broke his rib in the 2009 opening game, not benched. I just remembered Kolb played a few games early in the season.
I loved Donny, but he definitely seemed to be set in in ways later in his career.
The Good, Bad, and Ugly from Sam Bradford in gif form. Good article from Sons of Penn.
http://sonsofpenn.com/eagles/sam-bradford-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-gif-recap/
Thought I had gotten over the officiating from that game then I read this article and watched the Mathews dropped pass, if Kiko’s touch of the receiver was illegal contact then what do
you call what the DB does to Ertz on that play?
Felt Atlanta got some calls going their way during that game.
this is excellent and the first time ive heard of that site, is this something i can usually find there after a game?
Not sure. I started following them on twitter earlier this week, so I don’t know what they do.
chipwagon has a new article as well, getting no work done today
It’s Friday, don’t feel bad. Obviously I’m not either as I’m heading there after this message.
Jeez, look at the difference between the size of the DL’s leg and SB’s toothpicks!
Hey Tommy,
I think you should put Fran Duffy’s Vine account under your blog roll. He puts out some really good stuff.
Predictions :
1. Eagles lose AGAIN
2. Bradford gets hurt
3. Eagles offensive line shows its true colors AGAIN
4. Witten scores two TDs
5. KIKO ALONSO – concussion
6. Byron Maxwell smoked – AGAIN
7. Cowboys offensive line steamrolls the Eagles’ joke of a defense
8. Shady McCoy has more yards than Demarco Murray – even though McCoy wont suit up for the game due to injury
http://media.giphy.com/media/12ClTeBg4yvkiI/giphy-facebook_s.jpg
Tommy for the love of god please ban this cowboys fan.
Don’t feed this little bitch troll. He’s clearly a loser that changes his name to troll this board, just minimize his comments and read on.
I’m under the impression it’s hard to ban posters on Disqus because you can’t block an IP address. They can re-register with different user names.
You can block an IP. Tommy just has to add it to his blacklist.
I happily stand corrected. Thanks.
I believe the moderator can also flag the poster as a possible spammer. He can post but his posts will disappear until approved by the moderator.
IP addresses are pretty easy to change.
At least we know if the Eagles win this week, this board won’t have any nuisances.
I’m sure someone will complain that we didn’t win by enough/only cause Dez was out/refs helped/some other BS way to find fault. But it should be minimized.
[…] Lawlor of IgglesBlitz.com explained why the Eagles need to be concerned about Romo headed into this weekend’s […]
Apparently, according to chipwagon no deep ball is a CK thing.
http://chipwagon.typepad.com/eagles/2015/09/all-22-bradford-and-the-deep-ball-and-the-sproles-match-up.html
Yeah, it’s one game. The offense was moving fine in the 2nd half without it.
Bradford has a laser guided GPS Missle delivery system for a throwing Arm.. We will see him take plenty of shots down field, but they will most ly come out of play action. So once we start running the ball, the play action BOMBS down field will be unleashed
,,
..”it’s only one game”…Especially when the Textbook says you Attack the atlanta/seattle secondary schemes by throwing intermediate crossers all game, Attack the center of the field wifh 10-15 yard passes.. going into the Atlanta game it was no secret that you Attack that secondary scheme the way Brady shredded the Seattke defense in the Super Bowl, short, intermediate crossers, and if you want to take a shot or two down field you do it by sending 4 pass catchers on Go routes, with a RB Checkdown underneath…
..
intermediate to short passing game, with Yards after the catch is a main principle of what Chip does, which is why he meshed west coast principles in his offense when he came to the NFL… But a coach who is obssessed with scoring as quick as possible, Probably isn’t going to comp
Be careful Chipwagon, lest ye get the Jimmy and Derek treatment.
“Bill Davis and his staff…”
I’m afraid this is a big part of the Eagles defensive problem.
its 90% of it imo
Even if we do fire Davis who do we replace him with?
Az or Jenkins ha.
I rather have a known quality DC as our next DC. I love Az but his track record as a DC hasn’t been good.
There will be DC’s shaking loose after the season.
I’m not saying we should fire him at this point in the season. I hated the hire in the first place. Of course, I didn’t like the Chip hire, either, so take what I say with a grain of salt. I simply want to see some D adjustments so our backfield doesn’t keep getting scorched like we did last year and against Atlanta. I know we’re not loaded with Pro-Bowl dbs so Coach has to make do with who he can play. All the more reason to get away from the current schemes which end up with one of our weak-links getting exposed.
I have trouble with Derek’s & the opinion in general that complexity is only seen through the complexity of plays. That is actually an over simplification and ignores the nuances. Furthermore, as any engineer will tell you, if you increase the complexity of a system you increase the number of places for failure to occur. also, sometimes the most brilliant insights are found from simplicity – graphien was discovered by basically pulling layers of tape off of a piece of graphite… And that won a Nobel prize. Einstien’s paper that he initially published for special relautivity has less than 10 lines of algebra.
It’s a trade off. The chances for failure occur on both side of the ball. It’s somewhere between simple elegance of engineering and the difficulty of a dive or dance routine. I would say typically the more complex your scheme, the higher the variance, the trade off being higher ceiling and lower floor. The better you team, the more you’ll trend towards the ceiling. Kind of like German engineering, tremendously complex, hard and expensive to fix if something breaks, but the quality and precision creates enviable results.
If I have one concern about chip it’s that Chip is a rigid guy. I think he will have a great record when he’s done here. We are built to be consistently good. But his philosophies could work against him in the playoffs. We are going to put out same thing no matter what, we condition our guys to not let the emotion of a moment affect their play. Most teams pull out all the stops in the playoffs, Innovative game plans, faster play, the works. It’s a lot to ask of a team to do some stuff people haven’t seen from them, and where most teams would fall flat on their faces in the attempt, the best teams can pull it off. I don’t know that we have that extra gear to hit in the playoffs. Chip seems philosophically opposed to the very concept. Kinda like (a very very different coach) Marty Schottenheimer, put superior teams on the field year after year after year, but didn’t have that playoff gear to compete with the teams going for broke.
I agree there needs to be a trade off, but I guess I should have been clearer, because something is overtly simple, it doesn’t mean it is once you consider the nuances. Take the classical gravitation problem, very simple when it’s just 2 bodies, earth and moon for example – it’s taught in high school when you are introduced to physics. But add a 3rd body and the problem, though it seems simple and the same as the previous problem, it is analytically unsolvable. Te complexity is in the nuances not the overt appearance
I agree there is a ton of nuance to what we do here.
Let’s not encourage Sarley by confusing sarcasm with cleverness. The gist of his article is in his own sentence – “It’s a mistake to overreact after the first game”, but he decides to do it anyway.
Taking what the defense gives you does not mean doing something stupid. What a ridiculous analogy. Here’s the appropriate extreme counterexample to his: If the defense puts 11 guys on the LOS, should you continue running the ball up the middle because you don’t want to let them dictate to you?
And Sproles is the only receiver who’s dangerous with the ball in his hands? Wow. It’s true that he’s the most dangerous, but there are 25-30 teams in the league where that would be true. Doesn’t mean the other guys aren’t still threats after the catch.
Anyway, lots of bs posturing in there. Which isn’t to say that there aren’t some legitimate issues, ones that could threaten the season if not addressed quickly. But articles like that discourage intelligent discussion and replace it with trying to be witty. I’ll take an intelligent football article over a witty editorial any day.
We did exactly what Brady did to beat the Seattle secondary in the Super Bowl. the second half of the Atlanta game, offense was far from a problem, so it sounds pretty stupid to rip a team for taking what the defense was giving them, especially when we are attacking the secondary exactly how the textbook says you attack Seattle and Atlanta secondary schemes..
..
What a stupid argument,,, he doesn’t deserve a platform for his opinions . he is like half a step above Eliot donkey parks
Sorry, you lost me when you implied that sarcasm is not equal to cleverness…
A more accurate basketball analogy to “taking what they give you” would be pounding the ball inside if they spread the D to take away the perimeter. Or kicking the ball out if they collapse into the paint. Not really all that radical a concept
I think taking what they give you is somewhere in the middle of what you and Sarley say. Good teams have a core strategy, grounded in their philosophy, of how they want to play ball. If teams give you what you don’t want to do (say, throw the deep ball when you’re all about pounding the rock up the middle), it is like giving the forward the 3 point shot.
But there’s lots of room for tactics in game and, to a large extent, Kelly’s philosophy is grounded in the idea that the ball should go where the opposing team doesn’t have numbers. The Patriots have been good for a while at finding different weak spots and attacking them from week to week, so “taking what they give you” can mean different things to different teams.
In the end, I think it’s a balance. If you get pushed off your core strategy because you’re taking what’s there, it’s a problem. It’s also a problem if you don’t have enough effective ways (e.g. constraint plays) to make other teams pay for giving you what you don’t ideally want to see.
Even if the opposing D is taking away the long ball, you need to test them. Sometimes there are coverage breakdowns or biting on the short game. Chip used to do this all the time but has gotten more conservative in the NFL. I don’t like it – he’s playing from a position of fear instead of aggression.
Where are the going for 2 and the 4th down plays, too?
I think he just hasn’t really trusted his personnel.
Exactly. The Seahawks win by inflicting their will. The Pats win by “taking what you give them”. Either is a valid strategy, and not the reason for last week’s loss.
Our awesome local media wastes what little Access to chip they get to provide fans with info from something they are so passionate for by wasting the few questions they get to ask on why Chips play card against Atlanta looks different (smaller) then it normally looks?… Like REALLY? You wasted the last question chip was going to answer on the appearance of chips play card? And you get to cash a check today for the job well done? Really? That’s a damn shame and its spitting in the have of the most passionate fanbase in America to get this level of coverage
It happens with every team. Good questions don’t get answers, if we would find the answer interesting or informative or help us understand him a little more, there’s a solid chance it helps an opponent. AKA, no chance in hell a good question gets a good answer. You sprinkle silly questions that you think he might answer with an entertaining response OR you try to trap him into saying something of substance or force a contradiction like a dick and ultimately come up empty handed but get to boast about it in the news and smear him. Ultimately they’re all in it for a paycheck, they won’t go down with the great journalism ship, because that leaves them with nothing.
Disagree..you can get chip to talk football and get his opinions of how he views things, you just have to package the question in a way that isn’t asking him to give away info to our opponents. But as long as he isn’t in one of his moods, you can get chip to talk football and give Insiteful answer…I’m not going to lower myself to explaining why a reporter asking about the appearance of his play card makes him a fuckim joke. If someone needs that explained, they have bigger problems then that.
..
You get minimum access to
Chip, if you are lucky they will let reporters ask 10 questions, if 7 questions are retarded to where chip won’t dignify them with a response, you don’t get to ask 7 more. it’s up to the reporters to ask questions and approach chip in best way to get him to give up some Intel.. It’s your responsibility to know what you have no shot of getting answered.. And asking about the appearence of his play card is blatant mailing it in at your job..
.
press conferences is where we will feel the loss of Kapadia the most. He was one of the best at asking good questions and dressing them up so that chip quod actually give an Insiteful answer.
..
There is a woman who has access to the novacare press conferences. I don’t know her name or what media outlet she works for, but if you pay attention you will usually hear her ask one of the better questions that get some info out of chip,,,,
..
after Andy Reid, we actually have a coach that’s willing to talk football, explain his views on aspects of football in detail, it’s really lazy, hack, mailing it in to waste what little access they get asking dumb questions or asking questions that you have no shot at getting a half decent answer to
If you were there, what questions would you have asked?
And what kind of responses would you expect to get?
That is, Kelly opening up to you or talking in coach-speak?
I bet we could convince Kempski to take question requests, would make for a fun social experiment.
He, can open the questions with:
“Chip, the people want to know…”
Go to random players with random questions, would probably make for a ton of story-time with uncle Jimmy pieces/asides.
I don’t know if Kelly would offer much on this, but I would ask what the past two season openers have in common, other than a team that did not look ready in the first half? We all know about this year’s major turnover of personnel, Kiko’s TC cut short by concussion, Sam’s PS playing time VERY minimal, Kendricks’ TC interrupted by minor injury. Why was OL out of sync? Is Ertz fully recovered? 2 years running, Eagles look at sea in the first half. Is Peter Laviolette a consultant? Or, seriously, could it be related to very little contact in TC?
“Chip, Don’t you think the Philadelphia Media SUCKS Donkey Balls?”
“Chip, I tweeted @ Vinny Curry and he said, he’s angry about the ATL game, do you agree?”
“Chip, have you read IgglesBlitz.com? Don’t you think the posters their (sic) are idiot fans who know less about football than me?”
“Chip, I’m hearing that you miss Nick FOles, is this true?
“Chip, don’t you want to see Tony Romo hurt badly in the game on Sunday?”
Simple: Crest or Colgate?
Boxers or briefs?
Chip; was 7th months of having knowledge of playing in the Falcons along with 20 years of the Shanahans calling the exact same playbook not enough time for Billy Davis to prepare to cover Julio Jones? In either case, does Billy have any idea on how to match up coverage on an elite WR?
wow, Roddy ripped the Eagles DBs.
“This is a different week, this is a different team,” said White, via ESPN. “To me, they’ve got better corners than the guys we played last week. So, it will be different.
“They’re good players and they can run. [Dominique] Rodgers-Cromartie has been in the league a long time. He understands stuff. Prince [Amukamara]
is kind of following behind him. They’re going to try and put their
hands on you and try to disrupt timings of routes. To me, they’re just a
better bunch than the guys we just played. So, we’ll have to be on our A
game.”
Unfortunately Romo is kind of hard to hate for me even when I hate everything Cowboys. Wish he still focused more on golf in the offseason, sounds like he changed that up last few years.
I hope the eagles read this
like eagles dbs didn’t know people thought they were trash
yeah but its always nice to see in print that its confirmed
I hope that bulletin board material is a motivational tool that chip uses… Had Roddy said this about the Patriots, Bill Bellichick would have them Steaming over these comments Til his players are ready to run thru walls.. Bellicheat loves when people run their mouth about his team, he really seems to believe in it as a motivational tool, and who am I to argue with his results
Roddy is such a Negadelphian.
This is just a player saying complimentary things about the guys he is going to face, and explaining why he has to continue to work hard. I don’t think it is about the Eagles as much as it is him saying he had a big game last week, but he isn’t complacent. Poorly done? Sure, but I am not going to make too much of it.
he can do that without including the previous team but he chose to. I wont make much of it either but anything to help that sorry excuse for execution Im all for
lets hope Byron makes much of it
Yes, but I absolutely Love Hearing this. If losing to atlanta, playing the Cowboys ISNT enough to get our juices flowing, nothing like being publically ridiculed and challenged by your colleagues to put that chip on your shoulder.. ill Take all the Bulletin board material and motivation we can get.
..
I have been dissapointed that im not hearing Cowboys run their mouth this week, Wish the Cowboys would take some shots at us in the media before the game, makes beating them even juicier,.,
“I have been dissapointed that im not hearing Cowboys run their mouth this week, Wish the Cowboys would take some shots at us in the media before the game, makes beating them even juicier.”
_____________
Are you saying that you expect Cowboys players to trash the Eagles to the media? Or say that they’re better than Eagles?
C’mon.
There does seem to be a lot of meat left on that trash talking bone.
be interesting to see how teams guard sproles / perimeter, hopefully it helps the run game. We do need to hit on a deep ball or two, just so people know they have to guard that portion of the field.
yeah at least a few tries deep to nelson would be nice again dallas
If they decide they don’t have to cover it, that’s the time to hit it.
I hope they try to cover him with Lee.
Didn’t Lee show that he was more effective playing OLB last week? From the Star-Telegram:
“Sean Lee had a team-high nine tackles against the Giants”
He’s a beast, just think that putting him on Sproles would largely negate his effectiveness without slowing Sproles down. Don’t think they’ll do it, but a guy can hope.
Lee is a great linebacker but no way he’s fast enough to cover Sproles. It could slow Darren down some but, like you indicate, it would take Lee out of being as destructive as he is capable.
Linebacker with safety help over the top I assume. With an accurate QB it’s pretty much impossible for a linebacker to cover Sproles with no help on a.wheel route… As soon as their was no safety help we saw,Sproles burn the LB down the left sideline in Atlanta, shame he stepped out of bpunds after picking up like 15 yards… It’s up to other players to make the defense pay for the extra attention it gives to Sproles Til we get him isolated in man to man against a defender
..
Pigeon Morris Claiborne coming to town, good opportunity to try and get Huff and Agholor going at his expense… Safeties are nothîng special, nothing Ertz can’t exploit.. But the Matchup Of the week has to be the Pope vs. orlando Scandricks replacement, Toole, Poole, or whatever his name is..
..
I hate that we finally have physicak battering Ram Backs Murray and Mathews, yet I can’t ever see Chip Kelly go with a Heavy Power package, get Physical and smash them… He can line us up in shotgun all he wants, but stick Lane next to JP(unbalanced line), put Celek in the game, put Tobin in as the Jumbo TE, Line up and blow them off the line of scrimmage
last year we came from behind in what? the first 3 games or so?
it was a huge deal those comebacks.
we blew our first chance this year but adversity like this should help the eagles get tougher and start to put some wins together, starting sunday. first quarter.
That’s my hope. The number of non-motivated losses over the years have been vile. Maybe having that happen in game one will be a good season one wake up call; it’s certainly better than having it happen in a playoff game.
Kelly mentioned that New England short-passed its way to beating the 2014 Seahawks in the SB.
So, therefore, because Atlanta is now coached by Seattle’s former D.C., short-passing against the Falcons was a formula for winning.
Two points.
First, the Falcons didn’t have two safeties nearly as good Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor. Or CB as good as Richard Sherman. (Trufant’s not there yet.)
The Seahawks can play a great single-high safety defense because Earl Thomas covers more ground than any other safety in the NFL.
So — to my second point — was Kelly really suggesting that the Falcons, running the same defensive scheme as Seattle, is actually as talented as the Seahawks 2014 defense?
Seriously?
I think Kelly was putting a positive spin on Sam Bradford’s first regular season game in 1.5 years. As Kelly should do.
But to argue — as at least one commenter keeps saying, over and over — that the Eagles adjusted at halftime against a Falcons teams that’s clearly inferior to the 2014 Seahawks defense by adopting the Patriots’ 2014 SB offensive scheme seems like a fan-boy apologia.
Not saying Bradford didn’t dice the Falcons by throwing short. He did.
I’m saying that elevating the Falcons’ defense by implication to the level of the 2014 Seahawks is more than a little ridiculous. Running the same scheme as Seattle-2014 is not same as defending like Seattle.
Bradford chose not to go downfield. I’m skeptical that the reason is because the Falcons have such incredible D-backfield talent that they were as good as the 2014 Seahawks.
I agree Kelly is putting a spin on things, but I am assuming it’s less nefarious (depending on your point of view). I just figured they are trying to ease Bradford back into game speed play. Build comfort and confidence with high percentage passes and avoiding tough 3rd and long situations as much as possible. I am hoping that the down field passes start to come as the timing issues get worked out and the comfort level grows. But, the poor play of the line blocking makes me nervous that the dink and dunk nature of the 2nd half was in part to compensate for the lack of a decent push up front.
I on’t care if they dink and dunk 300 times a game if they get downfield and score several touchdowns. One caveat: that the receivers catch and do not drop the ball!
yeah why does it matter how they get down the field?
dink, dunk, holding, dink dunk, run, walk whatever. just score some points.
Works well in a dome and/or when the weather is good with little/no wind.
If not, why not play 7 or even 8 in the box vs this offense.
Felt it was also a matter too of how poorly the OL played in the first half including the number of simple missed assignments even on non-blitz pickups. Bradford got hit a ton in the first half and even in the second half he was still getting touched despite short drop backs & quick releases.
Need at least 3-4 weeks to see if Bradford has blinders on about going downfield while seeing how the WRs are doing at getting downfield & the OL is playing in pass protection.
Not offered as a rebuttal to your argument, merely a piece of evidence, but the announcers were commenting during the game that the way to beat this defense is to be extremely patient and not get greedy.
Which means they were prepped on that in pregame meetings with the staff.
Good points, but beating a scheme doesn’t really have anything to do with talent level. The difference is that Seattle can stop the short pass, even though it’s their “weakness”.
Also worth noting that from watching both games, Atl looked more like Seattle than Seattle did. Quinn clearly makes a difference.
The difference in talent doesn’t really matter, it’s up to an offensive coach to exploit the sweet spots of opposing defense scheme, and that’s the textbook way to attack the schemes Seattle and atlantas secondaries use.. And no one with a clue disrespects the talent level and ability of Desmond truant, William Moore is also capable of playing some solid ball..
..
Intermediate crossers, or 4 go routes with a RB underneath as the Check down is how you attack those scheme.. Tom Brady became the best QB ever by being smart, and disciplined to take what the defense gives you, and kill them with it, so sounds a little ridiculous for people to complain about how chip and Bradford attacked Atlanta in the second half. iT was pretty text book.. Funny to hear the complaints from the same people who had Bradford forced the ball downfield turning down easy 10 yards in a wide open middle of the field, people would be ready to chase him out of philly
..
Bradford wasn’t the problem in the second half. He wasn’t the one commuting all those atrocious holding penalties shooting us in the foot, taking away big plays we created, not only was Bradford not the one who was killing us with penalties, but Sam was the bad mofo who no matter how many penalties would put us in terrible positions, he refused to let them end our drives, overcame all of them and brought us back into to game.. Shame our Young WR Jordan didn’t secure that pass and give Sam a chance to try and complete what was turning into a great comeback… Not Many QBs would have been able to overcome like 3 major penalties on a scoring drive, robbing us of huge plays, and still throw our way out of all the bad positions the penalties put us in and take us into the end zone
..
We reached a new low as fans to be complaining about our QB not forcing the ball down field, opting to attack the wide open center of the field
Are there really that many people roasting Bradford?
I’m too busy killing Billy Davis, both “starting” guards, the refs, Chip (for not having the team ready to play), and Billy Davis.
Wait, you said Billy Davis twic… Oh, I get it.
I just hope we’re not stuck saying it 6 or 7 times rather than 1 or 2.
No. A few people expressing concerns.
Nah, we’ve been lower.
Maybe you haven’t heard, we threw snowballs at Santa. 😉
[…] Lawlor of IgglesBlitz.com explained why the Eagles need to be concerned about Romo headed into this weekend’s […]
Taking the steelers in suicide pool
I did the same. The Steelers will be on 4 days more rest than San Fran, San Fran has to come three time zones east, and just played on Monday night.
Plus Kaepernick SUCKS.
Recipe for a Pittsburgh win.
Steelers defense looked pathetic, Everyone raving about the Niners performance.. As soon as I saw Vegas set the line at steelers as a 6 point favorite, to me that line SCREAMS big Steelers win…the common better will look at how San fran looked in a win, and how bad steelers looked in a loss and think getting 6 points from the steelers is a steal so I expect a lot of stuff sucker money bet on the Niners, and the steelers are going to trash them… Seems like a sucker bet. Not Only do the Steelers win, watch them cover the 6 points easily
The line is now at 7 on ESPN, so that’s telling you a about 16% more than it was a while ago.
Seems like the niners is a sucker bet to me, and the Steeler not only win, but also cover the points and win big…
..
I don’t gambe tho.. Just a suicide pool
steelers got embarassed opening game, not going to get embarassed at home opener
The crowd will have a nice welcome ready for Kaep as well I’m sure.
Nah. Follow the dogs and ride them home. Take Fins vs Jags or Ravens vs Raiders. Feel better with the Fins with limited travel time.
I took the Saints at home vs Bucs though. Owned the Bucs the last few years and especially at home. Good time to try to squeeze out a W with a crappy Saints team.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2015/09/18/96-of-surveyed-nfl-players-test-positive-for-brain-disease/
“96% of NFL players in study have tested positive for brain disease
Another staggering, if unsurprising finding from the Boston brain bank:
Nearly every former NFL player in the study was suffering from chronic
traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, at the time of his death.”
This is even worse than expected. Now granted there is some obvious sample bias because of who donates their brain upon their death but essentially you will get some level of CTE if you play professional football.
“And this isn’t just an NFL problem; nearly 80% of all ex-football player
brains that Ann McKee’s team has studied (including college and high
school players) showed signs of CTE, too.”
That is going to be the death of the sport if they can’t fix it quickly.
People can rational college grad(ish)s making a career decision that involves the chance for ungodly amounts of money at the cost of near certain long-term injury and possible death. Men have been making that choice for as long as history has been recorded.
No one is going to allow their child, teenager, or young adult under their care play a game that promises brain damage just for recreation. And it won’t even be an issue after a few institutions get sued for offering an activity that is known to cause brain damage.
Sadly I bet they will at lower SES levels but I would love to see the numbers among more affluent white households and the effect this is having already especially on Pop Warner enrollment numbers in particular.
Pop Warner claims that enrollment has continued to rise since ’10 but I wonder if that is really true including for this fall.
i doubt it’ll change too much, maybe some at the edges, same people who didn’t want their kids to play for safety reasons won’t let their kids play now.
There is no way I would let my kids play Pop Warner.
For all the completely ridiculous concerns that helicopter American parents have today, this is actually quite a valid one yet it still seems to be below the radar with poor coverage outside of the NFL.
I’d go with the;
– touch/flag until 7th grade
– tackle in MS/HS, but hope the head coach was a teacher at the school who’d be afraid to lose his real career if he played kids through concussion symptoms.
What’ll turn the tide is if some of the lawsuits start to trickle down to high school teams and liability insurers / school boards just start causing programs to be cancelled.
Yeah that is what I see too happening ultimately. People say I am a cynical bastard at times but things ultimately don’t get fixed in the US until people die (usually women/children in a high profile incident) or it simply becomes too costly otherwise to continue with business as normal. At least though over the past century or so, it does get addressed to some degree which isn’t the norm in most of the world today.
‘murica
Better than most yet but the gap is really narrowing and since most Americans don’t even possess a passport they have no frame of reference for comparison.
US is just really fortunate it has 2 large oceans on either side and friendly neighbors on either border.
Nightly local TV news makes you dumber and less informed I’d argue and even BBC/PBS aren’t great. End of rant.
And the incestuous relationship between the NFL and network TV is vile. NBC/Comcast Sunday night, Fox Sunday day, CBS Sunday day, ABC/ESPN Monday night. How does one expect any high profile media outlets to do any authentic reporting?
And don’t forget that persistant rumor that the NFL intentionally gave a bad slate of games to ESPN on Monday night this year to punish the network for having a few too many employees (who magically didn’t get contracts renewed) that were all over the NFL / Goodell.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2015/07/09/did-the-nfl-punish-espn-with-bad-monday-night-football-games/
Didn’t even see that about NFL and ESPN. Make a lot of sense and some of the biggest and most vocal offenders (Simmons, Olbermann) were sacked too.
I love the game, but I hate some of the stuff done by the league office. HATE!
wow
That sounds bad. And I can’t stand baseball.
haha, Michael Carter Williams botched a first pitch at the Brewers game. Hit the camera guy behind the catcher
Essentially is a ‘must-win’ game this week. Since divisional
realignment in ’02, only 9% (10/107) of the teams that opened 0-2 have
gone on to make the playoffs.
No team that has opened 0-3 has made the playoffs and only 26% of teams that have opened 1-2 (36/141) have.
Yup
Particularly because it is their key division-rival at home that is playing without a few key players.
Some of the news/media guys keep insisting it isn’t but the odds sure as heck don’t say that.
They’d be down 2 games plus a tie-breaker to Dallas with a loss. That ain’t good.
Those are disturbing stats. It’s going to suck being Dallas after they lose to the Eagles, then Atlanta the following week.
Yeah. Odds of even 26% are bad but not overwhelming. 9% though is getting into long shot territory especially in a division where 8 or 9 wins won’t win it.
Can’t see this team going 10-4 or better either the rest of the year.
I would be really surprised if the Eagles lose this Sunday though. Expect an inconsistent yet decent performance from the Eagles.
Need a bit more from their special teams which notably let them done last week (crappy punt from Johnson which helped to set up a score, obvious missed GW FG)
These kinds of historical data offer nothing in terms of predictive value. The circumstances of each team are different. Maybe there were injuries/suspensions at the beginning of the season. Maybe that was the tough part of their schedule. Maybe new players hadn’t quite jelled with the team yet.
I mean, most teams that lose their first two games do so because they suck outright. Those teams weren’t going to the playoffs even if they did happen to win their first two games…
The sample is large enough that it does largely answer those questions. Basically is saying that regardless of those contextual issues, teams face a very long odds of making the playoffs starting 0-2 under the current alignment & playoff system.
“Unfortunately I think people tend to judge Romo on his worst moments. “He sucks. What a choke artist.” Things like that. The truth is that Romo is a very good QB. He’s playing the best football of his career. And the Eagles should be worried heading into Sunday.”
If they can’t scheme up a way to beat a Dez-less Dallas team in our building…………….Billy Davis needs to be worried about his job.
I don’t give a crap how many yards Dallas can get on Sunday, but Billy D. better not give up more than 21 points.
Agreed. I’m sick and tired of the X plays in the pass game. There were about 7 months to get ready for Julio Jones in the opener and the Mike Shanahan / Gary Kubiak / Kyle Shanahan play calling system HAS BEEN THE EXACT SAME FOR 20 YEARS!
Davis is officially on notice.
https://twitter.com/adamlevitan/status/644912794702360576
How about we apply some of this logic to getting Ertz on the field for a few more snaps than Celek as Ertz gains health.
use Ertz as a slot receiver and kick Mathews outside
Anything that gets our best 5 weapons on the field in the 5 skill spots…………..
Why? They have a pigeon replacement for Orlando scandrick in the slot for Jordan to dominate
You’re missing the whole point; I want Celek off of the field.
Brother with the o-line not looking great week 1, I would actually argue that Celek must play more snaps then Ertz this week to stay in and block.
Ertz and chip kept their “promise to you” and he played, he even played Ertz way more then Celek last week, figured you would be happy to get your way.,,,Not sure how I feel about it, Ertz was supposed to miss 4-6 weeks, he came back after 4, now he is talking about how he still isn’t 100% but every day he is getting healthier and he hasn’t suffered any setbacks yet… Well if he is at risk to suffer setbacks and isn’t at full health, why the Hell is he playing week 1 against Atlanta? I’m happy that he is back as long as he is able to contribute and doesn’t suffer any setbacks.. I’ll be furious if he ends up reinjuring something and have to miss another month all because he couldn’t sit out the Falcons and maybe the Dallas game, hopefully he knows what he is Tony
Okay, I concede. I thought I’d either figure it out, or it would fade but neither has happened. So, I’ll ask. Why pigeon?
Pigeons; they make me sick. They should all go home and babysit.
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cB345GSCSvA/hqdefault.jpg
Pigeon
Female who goes out looking for dates
by false advertising. Then they try to get them to do something ill mannered like pay for their bills.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Pigeon
My favorite line all week to recap the Falcons’ game:
“For a team that is supposed to be built around a power-running attack, the 2015 Eagles played a lot like some WIP caller’s nightmare of an Andy Reid dystopia.”
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/a-tale-of-two-halves-in-atlanta/
NyTimes Roasted Reids playcalling last night: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/sports/denver-broncos-kansas-city-chiefs-andy-reid.html?ref=sports&_r=0
He said, “We were trying to bust one.” Has the man gone mad?
Said it last night but this Chiefs’ team reminds me a lot of this Eagles’ team. Good but flawed teams with several holes who I see as playoff/borderline playoff teams (9 or 10 wins)
Now in Davis’ 6-year tenure as a DC his defenses have given up an average of ~370 yards/game and 25 pts/game.
(courtesy of Comcast this morning)
I would love to see what the stats are against teams that were better than .500 too but those were surprisingly bad along with a few others mentioned.
I have BIlly Davis hate fatigue at this point
I have a cure for that; a 3-13 season from Jacksonville and Gus Bradley being suddenly available as a DC.
Please let this happen.
We need to summon the same forces that led us to trade for TO and Honk for Herschel!
Ditto. Basically this team has to put up 27-28 pts/week to have a decent chance to win.
Just a really high bar of expectations to clear even with a capable offense.
yeah that’s the problem we have to put up 30 to win, in yeah one we were keeping people around 17 for a long stretch of the season and that coincided w/ our win streak.
Yeah, it’s definitely gone over the top. He made adjustments in the second half, just like Kelly. They got two turnovers, should have been three (which also would have resulted in one less td). They are on the field more than any other D, by a lot. And when things are going bad for the O, it allows the other team’s offense to get into a rhythm, which is tough on any D.
Atl has a solid offense, one which can score on anyone. They have one of the best QB/top 2 WR combos in the game, and the max protect scheme exploits that.
Way too early for all this sky is falling crap.
If you were a DC and game planning against the Eagles offense facing a QB that hadn’t taken a game snap in @600 days, and had a backfield of DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews, and had an OLine starting 2 journeyman guards, wouldn’t your first priority be to stop the run and make Bradford prove he was all the way back?
The thing about Chip’s offense is that he has the weapons to use the pass to set up the run, and vice versa. It really is a pick your poison scenario that DCs are faced with when game planning the Eagles. For now, I imagine DCs are going to load up in the box and take their chances with Bradford and the Eagles’ receiving corps.
My hope is that Chip and Pat realize this and counter with the type of play selection they used in the 2nd half (as it relates to scheme/personnel on other side).
Chip was very rusty in his play calling. He needs to step up his game and be ready for whatever the Cowboys decide to throw his way.
I’d buy that for a dollar. My main lingering issue is that the whole team was rusty in the first half. That represents a totally gutless lack of effort. I expect it to be corrected going forward.
Didn’t see a lack of effort in the 1st half but just a team playing in a mental fog that missed or screwed up assignments.
Getting mentally prepared to hit the ground running takes effort.
C’mon, is there anything about this team that implies lack of effort? (Going to ignore the gratuitous use of gutless).
Yes. The entire malaise demonstrated for the first half. Effort goes far beyond physically doing one’s job the the best of their abilities. It also requires the mental fortitude to prepare oneself to be at 100% from the moment the whistle starts the game. So a dog dirt effort vs. a 6-10 football team for just about an entire half of football goes down as a gutless lack of effort in my book. It doesn’t indict the team for an entire season, but that doesn’t diminish the complete lack of acceptability of that result.
Malaise – nice. They aren’t a 6-10 team, though. They are 1-0. Don’t think the Eagles would’ve lost if last year’s Falcons showed up.
well it takes a couple of series to know if something’s working or not working. probably at half he got a change to digest, he’s a pretty good coach in that second half we were on fire. opposite of billy-zero adjustment-davis
So tell me more about this Julio Jones rookie who has never played a down of NFL football…………………
billy way trying to take away the run to make them one dimensional, he just forgot that one dimension was their best one.
Rather than a rusty QB or team with new players, I have a different theory. I believe the tempo and play selection contributed to confusion.
First, it is the first game of the season. Please, please slow the tempo enough for players to settle down. Second, go with plays that are burned in the brain of all players – while this may be predictable, or a tendency, give your players a chance to settle down.
Once everyone is executing, and settled, kick some ass!
Headed to Eagles Jets game next week — thinking about getting a new jersey any suggestions? TO, Sanchez, Freddy Mitchel, prefer to get a former player — although there’s a current player that has my last name so i’m tempted…
I’m just glad the Eagles never signed Chad Clifton or Steven Ridley; Declo would be twice as brutal.
But a kelly green Keith Byars or Seth Joyner throwback would be fun.
you have to go for #81.
or big #91
92
A sacred treasure I only take out for very special occasions!
I just purchased 4 new jerseys and they consist of Murray, Agholor, B-Max (hopefully it turns into a good investment lol) and the legend Kiko. My suggestion to you would be either the pope, kiko, or agholor because you know they’ll be here for a few years. Also helps Kiko and Pope made plays last week.
yeah was thinking jmatt but kiko could be nice too he’s going to be a stud
Is your last name Cooper?
It’s Bullafarht.
if it was i’d change it
Personally, I think it looks best when people match their jersey to their general body shape. Obviously few people have the muscle mass of the actual players, but football is the one sport where every size is represented. The thin 6‘ guy shouldn’t get a Sproles jersey, the short, stout guy shouldn’t get Agholor, and the little guy shouldn’t get the Cox jersey.
So, if you are looking for former players, I suggest Dawkins, White, or Westbrook.
If your last name is “Tebow”, I hear those are going cheap.
I mean if your going former player its white or Dawkins dude. Like is that a real question?
If you want obscure… Dahni Jones mannnn.
There’s an anonymous player on the team?
Who cares how Bradford passed the Eagles back in the game Monday? Every time he got the ball he took them down for either a td, a missed FG attempt and then an int that went off the receiver’s hands. So after a rusty, terrible first half by the offense and coach they adjusted and did everything they had to do to win the game. Thing is, when you put yourself down 20-3 you leave 0 room for error. They actually made two. Missed FG and then the ball bouncing off the receiver’s hands.
Don’t care if he was throwing short passes, passed it through his friggin legs, threw it with one hand covering his eye, tossed it behind his back, whatever worked, worked in the 2nd half. Atlanta’s defense sucks? It sure did when the Eagles brand new team finally got their shit together. Even if they suck in general, they didn’t dominate the entirety of the game, then there would be a huge problem. The biggest problem I have with the lousy first half was the limited amount of preseason play from the starters. That seems to be the main culprit of the horrible start and the reason they are 0-1. We’ll see going forward.
Every time after the first half you mean? I’m as on board as anyone with this team, but they showed they aren’t the 72 dolphins. Derek can be that dude that knows better than Chip right now. It’s pretty easy in hindsight.
Problem is he has to stand by that article. It won’t hold up for long.