Some Hope for the Offense
Posted: October 23rd, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 214 Comments »It wasn’t that long ago that Chip Kelly had been exposed. Other teams knew the Eagles plays. The blocking schemes couldn’t work against NFL defenses. Without the threat of a running QB, there would be no running game. Kelly was in over his head and there wasn’t much hope for the offense.
In the last 4 weeks, the Eagles offense has averaged 24 points and 375 yards per game. What happened? Steroids? Voodoo? Is Kelly cheating somehow?
Think about the lineup from early last year to now. There is a new starting QB, RB, LG, RG and WR. Almost half of the offense is new. The QB and RB are completely new to the offense. The OL and WR were on the team in 2014, but were mostly role players.
The first two games this season were ugly. Sam Bradford was erratic. DeMarco Murray looked lost. The O-line was struggling to get any push. The receivers weren’t making plays. Dropped passes were an issue from everyone that had the ball thrown their way. That was bad football.
Kelly’s offense is build around the run game. When that was struggling, the offense wasn’t going to function well. The run game picked up in Week 3. Things started to click between the runners and the blockers. The Eagles ran 38 times for 123 yards. Nothing crazy, but solid.
The next game was in Washington. The Eagles ran 18 times for 87 yards. That was effective, but not as good as the team wanted. You have to remember that Matt Tobin played LT for most of that game and Dennis Kelly was the RG. That’s your #2 LT and #3 RG. And the Eagles were still able to have a lead in the 4th quarter. If not for dropped passes, the Eagles might have won that game.
Jason Peters returned to LT for the last two game, allowing Matt Tobin to move back to RG. In those games, the Eagles ran for 186 and 155 yards. It should be no surprise that the Eagles scored 39 and 27 points in those games. The offense was able to run the ball well and that opened up everything.
The more this line blocks together, the better they are getting. The more these skill players work together, the better they are getting. There is real hope.
Murray missed a game due to injury and was slow the next week. He is healthy now and looks more and more comfortable in the offense. This isn’t a standard run game. It can take time to get used to it. That doesn’t mean Murray is a bad fit. You have to give him some time. Last year LeSean McCoy had 69 carries for 192 yards after 4 games. That is less than 3.0 ypc. Right now Murray has 70 carries for 242 yards and 3 TDs.
McCoy finished the year with 1,319 yards. I can’t guarantee Murray will have the same type of turnaround, but you can see it is possible, in this offense and in a similar situation. McCoy knew the offense, but both he and Murray had less than ideal blocking. As the OL improved, McCoy’s stats did too. Murray’s are doing the same now as well.
Think about the receivers. Josh Huff has played well the last 2 weeks and looks to be a player on the rise. Riley Cooper is back from the dead (wasted 2014 season). Nelson Agholor is a rookie that should get better over the course of the year. The receivers are starting to make some plays and that will be key for this offense.
As to Bradford, I wrote a piece on him the other day. The coaches have confidence that he’ll get better. It is hard to find someone to compare Sam to because of all the weird circumstances with him (coming off injury, changing teams, joining unconventional offense, etc.). Let’s go with Carson Palmer from 2013. He went from the Raiders to the Cardinals. After 7 games, Arizona was 3-4. Palmer had 8 TDs and 13 INTs. Things weren’t ideal. The Cardinals finished 7-2. Palmer had 16 TDs and 9 INTs in those games. He had a QB rating of at least 100 in 5 of those games.
There are no guarantees that the run game will stay hot or that the OL will continue to get better or that Bradford will really get going. But all of those things are possible. And not just theoretically possible. They are realistically possible.
In the next month we’ll find out if this offense can eliminate the mistakes and play at a high level or if this group will be flawed all year long. I don’t think the last month is a fluke so I expect this offense to be productive. Explosive? Efficient? We’ll have to wait and see.
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So you’re telling me there’s a chance?
Outstanding
Tommy is out standing in his field.
http://img.pandawhale.com/58669-so-youre-telling-me-theres-a-c-Sm9B.gif
Man if our offense can take off with the way our defense is playing….shits about to get real
Thanks for being reasonable and keeping me stay reasonable when it comes to the offense and Bradford more specifically. Seems that Philly media is betting that bashing Bradford will get them listeners and clicks. A Bradford led offense has almost 1,000 yards and two wins (of course defense deserves more of the credit) the past two games. More than a few media members, callers and commenters in various places are asking for Sanchez, which is very clearly saying Bradford deserves zero more chances to ever play in Philly again.
The crazy thing is it is not like these fans are trying to get over the recent loss of having a Brady or Manning as an Eagle QB for the past decade, and forced to come to terms with a “Bradford”. We’ve had a Barkley and a Sanchez start more than a few games for us recently, and are more than a decade away from McNabb’s glory years.
So thanks again for this site being a place to read some sane criticism and analysis of Bradford and the offense. I am certainly frustrated at Bradford’s underthrows and interceptions, but I am gaining my Bradford optimism back. Good to hear he is working on transferring his weight, recognizing he has a problem with under throwing, and good to hear Kelly say Bradford needs to let it rip, that he is guiding the football. This gives me a lot of hope, along with being reminded that Brady after missing a year from a knee injury, dropped almost 20 points in passer rating, i think, the following year, after being in the offense seven years or something like that. Moving to a new offense, being off two years, mentally trying to trust the knee, … as long as he has support of coaches, coaches that also are upfront that he is having issues, and as long as he admits that he is having issues, i am looking forward to what he can do the rest of the season. Especially with the defense playing as well as it is, giving him support.
Totally agreed. Bradford is obviously throwing more interceptions than people would like, but it’s not as insane a number as some are trying to make it sound.
The list of QBs who have thrown 9 or more INTs through the first 6 games of a season includes: Brady in 2002; Brees in 2007; Eli in 2013; Rivers in 2011 and 2012; Peyton in 1998, 2001 and 2015; Romo in 2007 and 2012; Aikman in 1990, 1992 and 2000; Steve Young in 1993. If you extend it to 8 INTs in the first 6 games, you get another appearance from Brady, two each from Peyton and Brees and three from Eli.
We’d all like for Sam to reduce the number of turnovers, but there’s plenty of precedent of QBs bouncing back from a similar run.
Wow! Finally a few people with an optimistic view on this. People forget Eli was an interception machine, but still was able to lead his team to a couple of Superbowls. Bradford is pressing, but his past history shows he’s not a high interception guy. I think he’ll progressively get better. If the Eagles re-sign him and he doesn’t get injured, I believe he can still turn into that upper echelon QB in this system. Unfortunately, most Eagle fan don’t have the patience to allow his understanding and growth in the system.
Totally agree. The question that I’ve been asking, which I was some of the media and bloggers would address is – How do we decide how long is long enough for someone coming back from injury? A lot of the articles and posts I’ve read state that six games is long enough but give no reason why six games is enough. It seems to me that when you haven’t played professional football in almost 2 years, you’re adjusting to an ACL you’ve torn twice, are learning a new offense and learning new players, 6 games doesn’t seem like enough time. But maybe I’m just wearing the rose-colored glasses. I just wish someone could tell me who decided that 6 games was more than enough time to get acclimated.
For those who follow college, what do you think of Austin Blythe playing guard in this offense?
As a starter? No.
But he’s a late day 3/UDFA guy. He’s a bit undersized, but he can play center as well as guard (seems mandatory for anyone under 6’4 we’ve brought in). Iowa linemen are incredibly well coached, especially in zone blocking. He’s a guy I would have interest in to bring in as competition for Josh Andrews as the backup G/C. His floor is Vandervelde (Iowa lineman!) and likely profiles as a good option as first man off the bench at all 3 interior positions.
He’s a low cost acquisition with a good chance to stick. The Eagles will likely have interest. And it would make Tobin happy (they both started in 2012). And a happy Tobin makes me happy.
D3FB with his favorite Eagles Offensive lineman:
I’ll write a Tobin fanfic.
Don’t make me do it.
Tobin or not Tobin, that is the question!
D3fb–“Tobin, I’m the guard of your world”
Dear Matt,
I feel like I can call you Matt because you and me are so much alike. It would love to meet you someday. It would be great to have a sled session. I know I can’t block as good as you but I think you would be impressed with my stance……..
Mac!!! 🙂
This is a minor point and doesn’t really change the overall point you are trying to make in the article, but the second paragraph of this article just bugged me. It just seems silly, and frankly a bit biased, to site an average of 24 pts/gm and 375 yards/gm when one of those games is a HUGE outlier. In the Saints game, we scored 39 points on offense. In the other three, we scored 17, 20 and 20, respectively. As for yards, we gained 519 yards against the Saints, but at least with yards, while 519 is significantly higher than any other game, it’s not as egregious of an outlier.
Soiry, I just saw the 24 average followed by the 39 in one game and immediately that stat just bugged me…. okay end rant.
When it’s 1 of 6 games, I don’t think it qualifies as an outlier. You’re complaining that an average of 24 points is inaccurate when we’ve scored 24, 10, 24, 20, 39, and 27? I’d say that average is a pretty accurate indicator of our actual average scoring capability.
Funny how you don’t list our 10 point game as an outlier.
The numbers aren’t lying here. That 39 point game was not such an anomaly that “average” values are inaccurate. No more than the 10 point game was.
Negadelphian math
Not as good as Nagadelphian meth, but I digress
I actually wouldn’t have had the issue if the comment was about the season. Tommy wrote, “In the last 4 games….” and took the average of those 4 games specifically. In those 4 games, the offensive scoring was 17, 20, 39, 20. In that group of 4, 39 points is a significant outlier.
I did a poor job of making it clear he specifically focused on the last 4 games which takes out the 10 point game. Again, it doesn’t really change the overall argument, but it is a lousy use of statistics.
Only in Negadelphia do ST or Def points “not count”. Good lawd man! Now THAT is a “lousy use of statistics”!
They don’t count in this instance as the argument is about the Offense.
You’re misinterpreting what I wrote. The quote Tommy has is, “In the last 4 weeks, the Eagles offense has averaged 24 points and 375 yards per game. ” My comment is based entirely on this quote, so to be super clear, Tommy set the parameters of “the last 4 games” and “the Eagles offense”. So, again, using Tommy’s parameters, which do not include definsive TDs and special teams TDs, the Eagles OFFENSE has scored a total of 96 points in the last four games, which averages to 24 points per game. When in one of those games, the OFFENSE scores 39 of those points, and the other three games the OFFENSE scores 17, 20, and 20, respectively, the 39 point game is an outlier. Therefore, using the average of those four numbers is not a meaningful stat.
Not disputing your post, but some perspective: 14th in the NFL in yards, 9th in points (but consider the pace), 20th in offensive DVOA, which has been slowly trending up.
Comparing SB and Carson Palmer is objectionable, as CP has performed significantly better in his career. Check out the Y/A and Rate.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/P/PalmCa00.htm
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/B/BradSa00.htm
I believe the point being made is that despite Palmer having experience and better career numbers, he still struggled when moving to a new system, with new receivers but improved during the second half of the season.
The though of finally being able to bludgeon teams with Murray is quite exciting.
A lot of people (including Tommy I believe) gave Chip grief over his statement about if the Eagles had made a couple kicks they’d be 3-1 and nobody would be complaining. Well, people would still be complaining but if the Eagles were now 5-1 coming off 2 dominant wins, they’d be considered a favorite in the NFC.
I think this week is perfect evidence that Philly fans will complain no matter what happens with the team.
I’m not sure which is worse. Fans “complaining” about the team or fans complaining about fans complaining. I actually, I know what’s worse…
Or is it fans complaining about fans complaining about fans complaining?
no no, you can only go 2 levels deep 🙂
Well, that really stinks. Who made that rule? Where do I go to complain?
bloggingtheboys.com
Ohhh, a wise guy…nyuk nyuk. You nitwit.
ruff!!
I try to think but nuttin happens
https://worldwideweber2014.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/1343870018756_4184412.png
What is that little girl reaching for? These kids today!
Money, always money
One key thing the last few games is sustaining drives. Bradford obviously has to be better with the INT’s, but he’s making some throws to keep the offense moving.
That’s helping the defense and giving us RZ opportunities. If he can fix the issues (maybe 6-7 throws per game), this offense will be scary. That’s a big IF, but the defense gives us a chance every game.
Another 3-4 completions on the year and we may be 5-1!
To be fair, if i recall correctly, two of our sustained TD drives against the Giants came as a result of idiotic penalties by the Giants defense.
Good point. Just wanted to point out that Sam did make some good throws to keep things going. He’s taking a lot of heat right now. Although justified, we do need to look at both sides.
Without those sustained drives, maybe the defense is too tired to dominate.
The offense does deserves some credit for sustaining drives after those penalties.
The heat he is taking is not justified.. It’s fair to rip him for a bad game, but it’s not justified to conclude that SAM is a bust after 6 games in two years.. Wanna rip a performance? Perfectly fair…. To make a judgment on SAM after a handful of bad games is NOT justified… We have no fucking clue what SAM will look like in the second half, and what he will look like after an offseason as the man in this system… No one can say that SAM will absoluteely prove to be our answer, but saying that he isn’t the answer is just as ridiculuos at this point…
Part of the game. The Giants had a couple drives extended for the same reason.
the end result of the game is what each team did with those chances :). Eagles took full advantage.
This is the important thing. I think any team that gets TOs should capitalize on them. If our defense is averaging 2 TOs a game (slightly more I think), that should be 10-14 points we have to put up.
It also takes away 10-14 points from the other team. that’s a huge turn around!
I’ll say it again…good lawd!
Are you never happy with a win? Or are you just a troll?
Penalties are a part of the game. How many penalties did the Eagles have that ENDED drives or took away points? More than two in previous games (I can think of two bonehead plays by the offense that cost TDs!)!
I’m happy we won. With that said, I see major flaws in this team and I am not the type to were the midnight green colored glasses just because we won. The whole point of the moves we made this offseason was because the Eagles FO and Chip Kelly decided that being a 10 win team was not good enough. Chip basically made the decision that in order to win big, we can’t accept being a mediocre to above average team, but we need to be a great team. If you are going to buy into the Chip Kelly strategy, I think you have to be willing to recognize that winning ugly still can be disappointing.
As for my point above, I’m simply commenting in response to the original comment. Part of what helped us sustain drives were those penalties. While they happen in the NFL, if you are relying on them to happen you are not going to win with any regularity. As others have pointed out, the other part of what helped us sustain drives is that we took advantage of those penalties. We did manage to sustain the drives after the penalties which was a good sign. The question still remains however whether we can sustain drives on any consistent basis.
This is high time for Huff to really make his mark.
https://twitter.com/Jeff_McLane/status/657276004575133696
They need to throw him the ball
The door is certainly wide open for him. If we don’t see anything from Huff soon, the odds start to get longer and longer that we ever will. The flashes are encouraging, but nothing consistent enough to demand coaches find a way to get his on the field yet.
Wish Tobin wouldnt have gotten in his way when he had one last man to beat and he could have taken that screen to the house.. He breaks that last tackle and Huff would have had like 40 yard TDs in back to back games which could have been great for his confidence
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“Best guess is after the bye”?? Thanks Captan obvious McLane.. Thats like saying, my best guess is that tomorrow will be Saturday
good guess
I would guess someone is going to complain about the media. Soon.
CK is perceived to be a groundbreaker and/or innovator. I can buy that a new OL needs to learn to play together. OK, I can’t buy that. I can buy the RB is in a new system. (PUKE). There’s only 1 excuse(I mean, that’s what’s happening right, we’re giving excuses for terrible play) that I can except that is Bradford. Bradford road back is well documented.
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Why can’t I buy the excuses for the linemen and rb? RB. What has he been doing since OTA’s? IS he not learning the playbook? It’s funny that Matthews hasn’t had any problems coming to a new system, but we want to give DM excuses. Next argument will be that he has to learn the blocking scheme and since the players are new — they need to gel — blah blah blah blah.
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As I started, CK is an innovator. Maybe the pre-season is not being used to it’s fullest purpose? IF players(I don’t care if they are new — it’s their job — 24 hrs a day – football) come into the season unprepared, I expect CK to look at that and make adjustments. I get that once the season starts, the game is faster than what they do in pre-season. IF that’s true(and I believe it is), I expect CK to change that and get pre-season closer to mirroring the regular season speed? Slow start this year, I expect a faster start next season.
The OL have been getting better and better and Murray looks like hes starting to trust what he sees.
Bradford is the one holding the offense back
Agreed. And that’s the important thing is that they continue to improve. Murray is forming into a beast.
The two runners who ran the most out of shotgun last season were Mathews and Gore. It is not a coincidence that those were the first two power backs we targeted. It is also reasonable to expect the back coming from a similar formation who had more reps in preseason would be more comfortable to start the season.
Also, Mathews is better than people realize. Having Mathews outperform you isn’t like having Lorenzo Booker outshine you.
I think Mathews was the better signing, but I think Murray is going to justify his cost very soon.
I think YOU sir, make a lotta sense..
I’ve always like Mathews. Eagles did sign him first before getting a call about DM.
They signed Mathews after signing Murray.
official signing — yes – but deal was already in place…were they announced on the same day, something like 3/15(of memory and my memory stinks)
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from BG*Nation:
The Philadelphia Eagles signed running back Ryan Mathews and shortly after, they also added the league’s leading rusher from last season, DeMarco Murray. When it was reported earlier in the week that Mathews had agreed to a three-year, $11.5 million deal with the Eagles, many suspected this meant that Murray wouldn’t be defecting from one NFC East team to another.
Things I wonder(for example- the OL). During camp, CK says it doesn’t matter who runs with which team. So it doesn’t matter if JP runs with the third team as long as he gets his reps in. While I mostly agree with that but — if ‘cohesion’ of OL is important — shouldn’t JP spend more time running the starting the 5? That’s what I’m trying to say above. I do think CK will adjust on things like that because CK to too much of a perfectionist not to examine every aspect of the game, including his own camps…
I think it’s more that Murray hates the sweep plays and is taking a while getting used to them. He wants to run down field, not across it! He’s finally starting to see what the line opens up on those stretch plays and is taking what’s offered. It took 5 games for him to do it, but I hope last week wasn’t the anomaly! And those sweeps help tire out the defense by running further.
I hope some of the Sam-hating crowd got a chance to watch Kaepernick last night. *That* is what a bad QB looks like.
LOL. 2nd in the NFL in interceptions, 1st in the NFL with endzone INT’s. Just the facts ma’am, just the facts. (disclaimer: not hating nor predicting future play)
Talk to me about ranking stats at the end of the year. For now, here’s an in depth explanation of the Sharpshooter’s fallacy:
http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/09/11/the-texas-sharpshooter-fallacy/
This has been one of the worst weeks of media coverage in city that I can recall.. We won 3 of our last 4, yet this entire week in philly has been miserable.. All you hear the media talk about is how SAM isn’t good enough, how we already know SAM isn’t going to be good enough, and even talking about how we will get a QB next year…. How pathetic….. Sorry, but after seeing SAM play 6 games in two years, if you think you know what SAM will grow into under chip, you are either a liar, delusional. Or just a miserable clueless moron…
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We are allowed to talk about what SAM needs to improve on without ripping the kid in every way immaginable starting moments after our Monday night win
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Teams and players can improve drasticallyi from one week to the next. So to thinki you already know SAM isn’t our answer is a basic misunderstanding of the NFL game… NFL season is a marathon of adversity.. Teams grow over the course of the season or they can also Implode, to think you already know what SAM will or won’t be for us in week 7 is so ridiculuos…
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Should be able to talk about what SAM needs to improve on without already thinking you saw the best he will ever be capable of..
Trashed the OL, and two weeks later they shut everyone up
Trashed Murray and he is beginning to shut everyone up
Instead of sounding like ignorant fools talking about Bradford, maybe we should learn from our past mistakes…. But at this point, that won’t ever happen in this city, not while this media is such a piece of trash .. The ignorance of our fans drive me crazy, but what hope do they really have in this city with this joke of media coverage?
“Teams and players can improve drasticallyi from one week to the next.” [sic]
This happens, but statistically it’s unlikely. All indications are that past performance usually predicts future performance. This is especially true in the NFL where most teams are +/- 2 wins from season to season.
That’s why people have legitimate worries about Bradford. He’s been playing long enough that there’s little reason to hope his pedigree finally shows up.
Then again, he’s had a rocky path professionally and could very well be that statistical aberration.
Chip thinks Sam will be the aberration.
Could be. He’s had some odd setbacks in his career.
Sorry, Tommy, but you are starting to sound like an apologist for Chip. Everyone knows the media and fans over-react, it is part of the landscape, but that does NOT mean there was no basis for criticism of Chip and his program. There was and still is IMO. The argument you make that the OL is the foundation for the entire offense is correct which makes it even more mind boggling why Chip did not do more to improve it and allocate more resources to making sure it performed from Day 1.
What happened is multi-faceted: Chip adjusted his scheme and the play calling to help the OL and RB so even he thought there were legitimate issues. We played the Redskins, Saints and Giants, none of whom would be considered great or even good teams. The OL play has improved due to the adjustments, but also the usual cohesion that occurs amongst an OL after practicing/playing together for several weeks. The defense has stepped up due to an improved pass rush, the same cohesion dynamic as above and better game planning by Chip/Billy.
Reality, however, is still reality. We are 3-3, a record we’ve earned as the mediocre, inconsistent and flawed team we have been so far. Hopefully, the future is brighter and we can make the playoffs this year, but the standard continues to be getting to a SB and winning it. I do not see a team close to that right now, but we have 10 more games to prove otherwise.
I like what you’ve said.
I think Kelly has the potential to be a legendary coach, which is why it’s puzzling how the OL was treated in the off-season. Hard to believe there were no viable upgrades. It’s a matter of “value”, I suppose, balanced with need. Maybe they felt the OL would be “good enough” and focused on fixing the atrocious secondary.
And the acquisition of Jordan Hicks.
Jordan Hicks = HOF GM Kelly
He’s basically Ozzie Newsome, just because of that one pick.
Ozzie Newsome has a picture of Chip Kelly with the word “ASPIRE” in his wallet.
Agreed, I realize the resources are limited by the cap and whatever the Eagles own internal positional priorities are and understand that we had other areas that needed attention/resources like S, CB and LB and areas that Chip wanted to upgrade like QB and RB.
The choices to fill those gaps – signing Maxwell as a FA, trading for Bradford, signing Murray/Matthews as FA, trading McCoy for Alonso etc. will need to be judged eventually and thus give us more insight into Chip’s acumen as a GM.
However, it does worry me that Chip did not see Peters’ play fall off in the 2nd half last year, did not understand how having 2 new OG would impact Kelce, Bradford and the run game and did not seem to grasp that his OL depth, which had proven to be insufficient last season, did not need to be improved to challenge the starters and provide better insurance for injury.
They had to get rid of Herremanns. There’s a reason he was benched in Indy. He was definitely not worth his salary and they would get comparable play at the very least from one of the backups.
Mathis, there’s an argument to be made that maybe he should have stayed. I understand why he was let go, and I actually think it was a good move long-term. I think from my perspective that non-football reasons were the tipping point for his release.
Also, could have concluded that this is going to take more than one year to fix all the holes, combined with all that other stuff, as well as a lack of available FA options that fit, as D3FB has argued. Better to not handcuff yourself with contracts for square pegs in the future in the hope that they’re better than what’s on the roster this year.
Chip apologist? So having hope based on legitimate and quantifiable improvement is being an apologist? I really don’t see blind optimism in Tommy’s writing and he has been critical of Chip recently.
I removed that first sentence shortly after I posted as I thought it was too critical of Tommy and unfair.
Chip apologist = Chipologist? Chipologist? Chipiohagiographist?
Who hasn’t criticisized chip and his program? The one thing you can count on is plenty of criticism of chip… This is the Philadelphia Eagles we are talking about, which means we will NEVER BE SHORT OF CRITICISM… That’s the last thing you need to worry about
I agree with some of your points, but a few stick out in which I think you don’t give Chip enough credit. Both the Redskins and Giants had the top run defense when we played them. To be able to put up yards on the ground against them should not be belittled. Everything else though I agree with. However, I am happy that we beats the Saints because its a step in the right direction seeing us beat teams we should beat. That wasn’t the case in the first month of the season.
[…] Lawlor of IgglesBlitz.com explains why this offense can work, despite a slow start to the season […]
I don’t really get why people can’t enjoy wins in October if the offense isn’t playing great… The Broncos are winning based soley off of good defense, why are wins no good when they come on the backs of our Defense?
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I can understand last year not feeling that we can sustain winning while having to count on ST making a bunch of huge plays, but Winning with your defense is much different than winning off of a remarkable amount of ST TDs..
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We have like 8 new starters in the game at times on offense and we are in the beginning of October with a QB that didn’t start practicing TIL August first, ISNT it much more rational to assume that a defense that has been together for years is going to be stronger at the start of this season than a new offense put together this summer?… We play tough, solid, team defense, we havr had one running back rush for 100 yards against us in the last 24 games which is amazing.. That’s no fluke, you can’t tell me shutting down the run for the past year in a half is some fluke we can’t continhe to count on like last years ST TDs… So I don’t really understand why fans don’t enjoy wins when they come on the back of our defense instead of our Offense leading us to a win?
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Call me crazy, but at some point chips offense will start rolling, racking up yards and points,.. Who cares if the Dfense instead of bradford is leading us to wins in October? We need to keep winniing, no matter how ugly, so that when it clicks for SAM and he gets comfortable, it won’t be too late..
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I really don’t think its that crazy that this team carries a New QB early on until he can get comfortable.. Who SAM is today really doesn’t matter, His Growth Rate is what will matter to us, and nothing to do but wait and see, and in the mean time, hopefully we can grind out wins with defense and a budding Run game..
I think we’ll see a different SB after the break.
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Eagles beat the Jets. A pretty good team. Eagles beat the Saints( even I said, big deal, they stink). Eagles beat the Giants – who were 3rd(I think) in points scored at over 27 and on a winning streak. A group effort has this team looking nice and pointed in the right direction. What a game coming up vs. the Panthers. Should be a great one.
How can peiple continue to complain about how chip treated the OL this summer, when this unit is starting to come together nicely, after only like 3 weeks or OL turmoil when we used 3 different RGs… This OL has been pace blocking well all season, and now they are getting it goung in the run game, so how can people continue to bitch about how chip handled the OL where we are right now in the season? Recently it has looked more like chip knew what he was doing with the OL, than a case of his failing to address the OL costing us this entire season,,,. Yet the dirreah of the mouth continues..
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Ultimately we still have to see how his OL decision plays out, and while it was absolutely fair to rip it durimg september, you can’t be complaining about chips OL decisions while they are in the middle of a 4 game stretch of showing growth and solid play….. We really have no idea if we will need to add a bunch of starting OL next year, or it’s very possible that Tobin and Barbre grow nicely into their starting roles in which case, chip would be right about his OL decisions this offseason, and all the bitching and crying about the OL will prove to just be NONSENSE… We play some good DL this year, we will find out if chip was right or wrong about his OL moves this offeseason or lack their of
The performance vs cowboys was so pitiful it takes a while to get that taste out of the mouth so it might take a few performances like these for people to come around. But if OL can just continue to play like they did vs jets and giants gotta give lot of credit to chip and stoutland.
We could go thru this season and feel that Tobin and Barbre ARENT good enough to continue starting, but it’s also very possible that they grow into their starting roles…. How it plays out will determine if Chip was right about his OL decisions or not this past offseason.. But we have been seeing a few promising signs these past few games…. to be determined…
If healthy, I think Barbre/Gardener were a good move.
Barbre is already coming into form nicely next to JP. Mathis is good for missing games during the year (2nd year in a row he’s missing games) and if you can’t count on an OL to play, then I’m okay with moving on.
Tobin is interesting. He’s got a huge opportunity and lets hope he makes the most of it. I think the line will continue to improve, but how much more is the key question. I think the left side will be fine, I think Barbre can be a good/solid starter. The right side though, Tobin and LJ need to start getting some better chemistry.
I hope Kelce gets out of his funk. There is not a person who covers the Eagles that could have foreseen Kelce’s issues.
Kelce is preplexing, he struggled last year too but we thought that was due to coming back from injury. Another bad game and I think it’s a really worrisome.
What sort of struggles did he have last year? Physical or mental. Can’t recall. Thought he did ok.
Mostly physical I thought. He wasn’t quite the same player when he came back from injury. I think right now, it’s mostly mental for him, but that’s just my opinion.
Physical, he was whiffing on blocks
Gardner is my favorite of the bunch, shame he got hurt, I really believe he would have settled into his starting RG spot and hopefully improve enough this season to move forward with as our starting RG past this season
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I liked Tobn more on the left side but he seems to be doing a solid job bringing stability to the RG spot… Be Great if he can continue to improve as the year plays out… Just because a young kid like Tobin wasn’t ready to win a starting position last year doesn’t automatically mean he will never Develope into a NFL time.. We can assume every young backüp is doomed to always be a bum, but sometimes they just need the right opportunity at the right Time…
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Lane has played next to Gardner, Tobin and Dennis Kelly already this year, him and Tobin have done a solid job on the right side the last two weeks, but two games is nothing, I’m sure they are capable of jelling more, and when that happens it would be great if Tobin can develope and settle into a starting role..
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Kelce hasn’t been as sharp as he usually is, but I have to believe that at some point he gets it together and we see the reliable pro bowl center we have come to love… As long as Kelce stays healthy, I have to think he will be fine..I just can’t see how he could struggle for an entire season if he is healthy
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Barbre and JP should be just fine and I doubt it will take them more than another game or two to really get comfortable and start firing on all cylnders on that left side…
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Hopefully the OL injuries are over so we can really find out just how good this OL can be, which needs to happen before anyone can rip Chip for not better replacing Mathis and Herremans…. For the most parts after the first two games, the OL hasn’t been bad at all
Reading this has made me think about that game and how poor the O did. Then I realized how very bad the Cowboys defense actually is.
At least its Friday.
“Yet the dirreah of the mouth continues..”
L.O.L.
Real question here. Is it not also true that Chip has changed play calling quite a bit? Thing I feel like I have noticed recently that I didn’t through the first 3 games: Shots down field, i formation, misdirection along the offensive line, spreading the ball around, first down passes, slowing the pace down, play diversity.
It just feels to me like Chip knows the offense isn’t going to operate exactly like he wants it to right now. They are not clicking well enough just yet, so he has changed it slightly to play to the strength of what he has. This makes me happy, but I haven’t seen anyone acknowledge it. The first 3 games felt like it was a very- ” cram what worked in preseason down your throat” – kind of game plan. It took longer than I hoped but that changed. Maybe as the team clicks more we can get back to running 4 plays at break neck pace though…
I’m hoping he will work more double TE sets. Sure Ertz can’t block a lineman, or pancake a linebacker. But he can keep someone from flowing to a slow-developing run play. And the fact the he and Celek are underused weapons, feels like there are a lot of potential there. I know Chip likes Jordan Matthews, but he’s struggled and isn’t a guy we need to feature an offense around (and if he was you slide him to the outside to keep him on the field for sets that don’t have a slot WR, don’t start with the BS football-heads, you can line a RB up on the outside, you can line a slot receiver outside).
I almost mentioned the use of both TEs but that seemed more situational to that game than an overall change in idea.
I do think Jordan can be a top flight WR. Perhaps not this year, but he could turn it around with just one play.
I’ve re-watched the games recently. He’s done a ton of good stuff, first and foremost he is getting open and remains our most productive weapon by far. But he is dropping a ton of balls. He could be having a great year. He’ll be fine. But I do want to see some formations with our best weapons on the field all at once.
Yeah he is just on tilt I think. I mean remember what he did in the preseason?. Seems like a distant memory.
That being said I am considering benching him for Rishard Mattews this week in fantasy…
The two te set seems like their best personnel grouping to me, at least until we have three legit wrs. I also like the versatility of the formation. We probably have a better 1-2 lunch at te than most teams in the league. I tend to think it should be a prominent element of any of our game plans.
We have been having success with the two TE sets the last few weeks. Celek is playing so much better than his early season atruggles, and it’s obvious Ertz has improved his blocking or we wouldn’t see chip run the ball as much as he has recently when ERTZ has been in the game…. And if we end up with a lead in the second half, I assume we would see a lot of 2TE when we are trying to run the clock down and wear down the defense like we saw last week…
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Panthers have Safety Roman Harper who is old as dirt.. He was always better against the run than in coverage so I would assume that he would struggle having to cover ERTZ so this is probably a favorable match up for Zack especially if the Panthers try to go man against us…. We just have to make sure Sproles is also in the game so that Keachly has to match up with Sproles and we can have a better Shot of using ERTZ to pick on Harper
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But we can’t play 2 TE all game, because of how much success Jordan Had against the Panthets last year. He Lit them up from the slot for like 7 catches, 138 yards and 2TDs… Our WR depth has taken a hit, so I imagine we see plenty 2TE to take some pressure off our banged up WR corp, which would aLso help us stay away from CB Josh Norman who has turned himself into a Ballhawk since fighting Cam Newton in camp, and has been as hot as any CB so far this year… if SAM is going to try and test him. He better be come correct and be sharp because the kid is playing aome damn good ball
Any smart people that can confirm I am an idiot, or if I just got lucky and these things are happening and different than early games?
There have been some gameplanning/playcalling wrinkles, but the scheme is the same.
It’s still a spread inside/outside zone scheme in the run game and a healthy dose of crossers in the passing game, he’s replaced some of the packaged plays with bootaction (he’s run it before) to act as a constraint for backside DE’s.
Also note: we haven’t run I-form, I-form requires a fullback, we have just been running single back from under center.
Well said… I think he’s simplified and changed a lot – and I think that has led to some moderate success. As I said above, need to stay with that until we get more experience and / or talent on offense
I don’t know guys, 3-3 feels pretty good to me. That Saints game almost felt like winning the Superbowl after how much we’d sucked, and taking care of the Giants so easily just felt like coasting. The D is a legitimately good unit, and you can win a lot of games with good D and bad O. SB well, he is what he’s always been. Big on so-called potential, small on results. The team will have to continue to carry him and hope the lights go on someday.
I don’t see any reason we can’t take out Carolina. Just keep doing what we’re doing and hope SB plays a little better.
The ST are pretty good, too. I fear we won’t see any consistency out of SB this year, given all the circumstances. I just need to see a few ‘wow’ games out of SB sprinkled in with the dreck.
I just hope the offense and SB dont wait for the second half to start to do something. Its really frustrating as a fan. Id love to see some consistency there but I worry SB will be extra careful in the first half to limit turnovers and mistakes. Thats the smart thing to do but you cant put yourself in a hole every week and expect to come back with 2nd half adjustments and win a lot of games. Although if our D holds up their end which I think they can, then it could just be an ugly low scoring affair. Run game is key but I also think this is a Sproles game. He is how you can exploit a faster aggressive D. They have to find ways to get him in space and use the TEs more.
I want to win games… Which players carry us to the October and November wins means nothing to me… I don’t care if the offense only scores 20 points, I don’t care which playërs are playing well as long as we scored one point more than our opponent….
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I just NEED to see SAM, the OL, the RBs, Our Kicker all improve over the course of the season so that they can play well for us in December and January because THATS when it will be tough to overcome bad performances from our QB, OL, RB or Kickers… If we want to make some noise in January we will need all hands on Deck… So for the next two months, just win the game, and continue to Improve individually and as a cohesive unit….
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Does How we win a game in October really matter, when we know that if we don’t continue to improve, we won’t be good enough to win when it counts anyway?
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Why does it matter if the offense doesnt get hot TIL the second half as long as our Defense is carrying us to wins in the mean time?
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Come January, one unit won’t be able to carry the other, we NEED to play our best ball in January, until then all that matters is that to we do enough to be allowed to play in January….I wouldn’t care If We need Donnie Jones to throw 3 TD passes on fake punts to win on Sunday, just get the damn W…
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Style points only matter in the BCS, thank god Pro football ISNT jusged in such a stupid way..l
The averages can be misleading though. This team see’s a lot of drives and a lot of opportunities. As terrible as the Eagles have looked on offense, our defense has made sure the opposing offense did even worse. And that’s the silver lining I’m rolling with.
I have hope for the offense, but we really need to get the run game going before the other team is dog tired. We need to be effective on an equal playing field, and dominant once they’re tired. And Sam has to do better when he is given a clean pocket. Seems like he gets worse the more safe he is.
I think the 2nd half of the Saints game kind of showed how good the offense can be. They drove the field and scored on almost every single drive. Bradford just needs to be better.
Against the worst defense in the league.
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamdef
Sure, it was like punching a baby, but at least they executed against someone. And like I said, it showed how good the offense COULD be (albeit against the worst defense in the league).
I don’t know. I have a pretty firm anti-baby punching stance, but I enjoyed that game immensely.
Baby punching builds character.
That last sentence is what I was seeing up until this week. When he was rolling out, or under some duress, and just letting it rip, he was doing better. It seemed the more time he had to think about the throw, the more he’d screw it up. Can’t remember specific instances from this week’s game, but I remember while watching it I thought that there were some counter-examples.
Sam just needs to keep firing and throw his way out of it?
hopefully? Best case scenario for the Eagles is he becomes the guy Chip thought he was getting. We have no control, so just got to buckle up for the ride.
I pretty much agree with you here. But Andy Reid’s ghost keeps coming back to me sometimes. I thought he was a great coach for a while, but we all knew he had some serious flaws. E.g. his inability to change when a game plan or even bigger strategy wasn’t working.
Chip’s more flexible for sure, but I’m just wondering how long we should wait. I don’t think there’s a better alternative for now given risk/reward, but it can be frustrating to watch.
All Chip has to do is bring back the ghosts of Jimmy Johnson. Then he will be able to match up with Andy.
Old friend and feel good story Alejandro Villenueva is expected to make his first start at tackle for the Steelers.
Good for Villaneuva, but I won’t be able to not feel disappointed if he turns into a great player for another team.
tough tôugh match up for Villanueva to have to match up aganst Houston and Tamba Hali all game… Probably not a “feel good story” as far as steelers QB Landry Jones is concerned, but I’m certainly rooting for “G.I Joe” Villanueva
djax home invasion in LA. He wasnt there at least but gang ties possibly. Is it possible NJdotcom got something right, cant be lol
http://www.tmz.com/2015/10/23/desean-jackson-home-invasion-victims-attacked-cops-gang-involvement/
My wife sent this to me earlier. He’s got ties.
he’s got friends in high places.
tie places.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
Who got ties?
Brutal! That dude was a stumbling, bumbling, clown. An overall poor replacement for Carlos Emmons.
Air guitar after downfield tackles…
Victims-attacked-cops
How is that not misleading?
Let’s not get caught up in the hoopla and forget about the real story here. A group of responsible gun owners successfully fended off another group of responsible gun owners in the Valley. Guns win!
Perfect! Clearly this is the way to go
A+++
duplicate of Desean post n/m
Good read on Sam Bradford:
http://eaglesrewind.com/2015/10/23/diagnosing-sam-bradfords-struggles/
thats really good write up actually, lot of sources in there
This is what I was saying the other day, about him not driving from the back leg. I guess it’s just a question of if he’s caught the David Carr syndrome, or if it’s something that will get better as his knee heals.
I don’t remember that issue as much earlier this year, but it was definitely a problem in the Giants game. I don’t remember him throwing behind the receivers (i.e. missing left and right) as much as earlier games, but he was definitely short an awful lot. Some were still caught, but two of the picks were probably OK decisions but just short throws.
this is just what I have been saying, he sucks now and forever more.
nah, just kidding the article just says he’s not that good at playing QB not that he sucks.
he just can’t read, react, throw, anticipate, drive the ball, or figure anything out… but he can certainly get better and become mediocre someday, for someone, maybe.
Bradford does deserve an entire season to truly judge him. I am concerned that his past performance implies we won’t see a huge turn around if any, and that he’s making a lot of the same mistakes Foles and Sanchez did last year. But the weirdness of his injuries and the ineptitude of the Brian Schottenheimer Rams offense makes me more lenient than usual.
What does Foles have to with the way Bradford is playing this year? Was he an under study of Foles or Sanchez?
I respect all opinions on this site, and I’m extremely appreciative that there is a place where (mostly) reasonable and intelligent people can discuss our favorite team. I’m also someone who will reserve judgement until all the facts are in, which they are not. Having said that, I’ve watched the Giants game 5 time since Monday and I have to say that Bradford really does look awful. The offense is pretty much unwatchable with him behind center. It’s a shame because I love to watch replays of dominant wins, but I think I’m going to have to make an edit of only the defense. Ok, just needed to vent for a sec.
It was more watchable than the Dallas game? I get the frustration with Bradford because that should have been a laughable blowout and ended up (only) a 20 point win. They are moving the ball now much more consistently. It is indeed Bradford holding them back from being a dominant offense (especially if Kelce remembers the snap count from now on, and the drops continue to get better), but that’s not the same as unwatchable to me. It might be more frustrating because they get your hopes up so much more often now and then dash those hopes all too often, as opposed to beating hope into complete submission like earlier this year.
Hell no! I had a gig the day of the Dallas game, so Icould only watch a little of the first half. I still haven’t seen the whole thing. Maybe unwatchable is too strong, but It is definitely the least enjoyable blowout that I can remember on the offensive side. Still a blowout though. The offensive possessions don’t inspire confidence that’s all.
seriously, I haven’t watched that game again because of Bradford.
5 times?
that’s hard core
I keep telling myself “it wasn’t THAT bad”. And each time, like with most ex-girlfriends, I regret giving another chance. But, who am I kidding, I’ll probably watch it again tonight. Honestly, it like muscle memory. Eagles win, rewatch.
Bradford is awful right now. The best we can do, is hope he gets better. But I see no fire, or desire.
I do see that out of Murray.
I see that also. But Sammy is stealing money.
Give it time. We just need him to get to competent. If he does that we’ll be fine.
I have been ” giving it time” since the Sonny for Norm trade.
LOL – So has my dad. He still has faith if that helps (he’s 76), and he’s pretty good about reading the team.
I always have faith in the team as a whole. There are always good thing to look at. But, that trade this year stuck in my crow.
McCoy or Foles?
Foles for nothing.
This is how I talked a friend off the ledge, so I hope it helps.
Foles wasn’t the guy. He was given a year and a half and regressed. They knew he wasn’t the guy. So, go after a guy who has higher upside and see if you can salvage him. If not, then move on to someone else.
Franchise QBs are hard to come by. If you know Foles isn’t the guy, then there’s no use in holding onto him hoping that will change. It won’t and you’re not going to win a Superbowl with him as your QB.
There’s a slim chance for a franchise QB picking in the early or late 20s every year. Go to the garbage bin and see if you can refurbish damaged goods and see if you can strike gold.
If not, it’s okay. Nothing is lost. You weren’t winning with Foles and there’s no harm in trying out a different QB to see if you get lucky.
I’m not mad at the Foles trade. There’s no disputing that Bradford has higher upside and the pedigree. Whether that translates to the field is what this year is for. If it does, we go deep. If not, maybe one and done.
And there it is. Sonny had regressed, ask your dad. We were going to get the upside with Norm. Like I said when this happened, ” I think I have seen this movie before” Foles was 14 and 4 starting under Kelly . So your upside would be that Sam has lost one less game under Kelly. I don’t know of any other way of looking at it.
I know it doesn’t totally ‘defeat’ your argument (not my intent), but let’s not forget that SB also cost us a 2nd round pick
It cost a lot, so we want it to work out. If it doesn’t, it only cost a 2nd rounder to take a look at what could be a franchise QB. It all depends on how you look at it. If it pans out, we won the trade.
If not, well we lost a bit.
Well I looked at it (and still do) as a bad deal… Foles for Bradford would have been one thing (and worth the risk), but what we gave up for what we got did not / does not make any sense to me. Keeping my finger crossed, however…
Me too. I’m by no means saying we won the deal. But I understand the logic.
That’s ok the 3rd round pick is our most valuable one apparently.
Maybe he just needs some Rick James.
[…] Lawlor of IgglesBlitz.com explains why this offense can work, despite a slow start to the season […]
Some hope for journalism and Eagles’ beat writers:
http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/2015/10/22/the-teachings-of-professor-azzinaro/#uRJphudpsMpUq7YJ.99
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/Chip_Kelly_Evolution_of_a_play-caller.html
McManus has always been solid IMO. I’ve had no issues with his work. McLane on the other hand is different.
You want defensive games, fine. That makes it even more important that your QB isn’t a turnover machine. That he doesn’t quickly put the defense back on the field. But let’s not pretend that the offense has not been awful.
I think 49ers offense is what would be considered “awful.” I’ll put the Eagles in the category of ‘maddeningly inconsistent,.’
He has 12 turnovers in 6 games. 2 games without picks. Statistically, that’s not inconsistency.
Not all about the numbers. Part of it is the eye test. I see mistakes…also see good passes, not to mention potential tds dropped. The throw to Ertz for the TD was awesome. (The one that was called back.) There were two perfectly thrown wheel routes that had the chance for TDs. One of the INTs was a drop on what could have potentially been a Sam Bradford last minute drive to win the game. Point is, you can make numbers and stats to fit any agenda that is desired, but in my humble opinion there are enough flashes to label him inconsistent and not all bad. Definitely needs cleaned up, but there are definitely worse QB play around the league.
Think some of the frustration is that we have a super bowl quality special teams and defense, and if we could just find a decent NFL average offence (10-15th in league) to go along with it, we could be looking at a deep playoff run or even Superbowl.
Considering that is this coaches ‘strength’, and that we have a QB ‘proof’ system it is hugely frustrating to some fans. The reality is that we are early in the process, This is a hugely changed offence, with new WR’s, RB’s and QB, as well as new offensive line group and was always going to take time to bed in. Our QB is coming back from double ACL’s and historically QB’s struggle their first season back from that.
Bradford needs to be better for us to have a chance and that may not happen in time or ever for us to have a super bowl chance this year. Which is frustrating since we have a limited window with both significant free agents on defence and limited 2016 cap space to retain them (unless we do not retain Bradford).
out of all the potential playoff teams in the NFC, Panthers are easily the team I would want us to get matched up against in the first round of the playoffs if we are able to make the playoffs.
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I just love this match up for us..
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What more can we ask for than an opponent that is so reliant on running the ball, or looking to throw the ball down field and connect on some X plays?
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panthers want to run like 35 times a game, and I need to see someone be Able to run on our front 7 before I can believe it, not when we shut down 23 of the last 24 run games we faced..and I think running against Power runners like Jonathon stewart, Eddie Lacy types plays right in the hands of our DL strengths… You shut down the Panthers run game, and they are in trouble..
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Their passing game isn’t some efficient well oiled machine, they basically want to run all game, and take shots down field trying to convert X plays.. Well in order to throw Deep, QB has to hold onto the ball a bit which also plays to our strengths.. Our Front 7 did an excellent job using a 4 man rush to get tons of pressure on Brees and Eli Who were being praised for being QBs that get the ball out so quickily, yet it didn’t Matter and our Front 7 battered anyway… cam newton is awesome this year, but he isn’t a guy that will get the ball out in under 2 seconds, and you are playing fire holding the ball in the pocket against this front 7
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One of my favorite strengths of this Eagle front 7 is how Discaplined and selfless our pass rushers are. Guys care more about rushiñg as a cohesive unit, cutting off escape lanes, and chasing the QB into a teammates arms letting some one else get the sack… So Naturally they already do every thing you Need to be able to keep a Running QB in the Pocket…
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Shut down the run, keep Cam in the pocket, and we should be able to force plenty of turnovers against a QB who will hold onto the ball looking to take shots down field.. Our defense is tailor made for this matchup I feel like
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Jordan Mathews against a Team who’s slot cornees he ROASTED last year, burning the Panthers to the tune of 7 catches, 140yards and 2TDs..
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Old man Roman Harper at Safety, ERTZ needs to be able to have some big plays against him.. Roman was ALWAS better against the run, so now that he is no longer in his prime, ERTZ should be able to light him up on Sunday for some big plays..
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another Primetime game for our youmg defenders to continue and make a name for themselves,. By the time we smack around Cam on Prime time and then get our revenge by kicking the Dallas OL’s ass on Primetime after the bye week, the National media will know how good this Eagle defense is becoming… 3 primetime games in a row, better get Cox the recognition of an Elite player that he deserves and is long overdue
Hilarious that some here don’t buy Cam Newton.
We may beat him on Sunday, but he’d be the best QB this city has had in 10 years, by a large margin.
https://twitter.com/fduffy3/status/657327165839683584
I can’t stop watching this. He sidearms a ball, with a flick of his the wrist, with anticipation, in traffic, throwing his guy open between 3 defenders.
Just a bad ass throw.
It’s INSANE.
And yes Cam Newton is good. He’d be scary good with a line and playmakers.
He also flicked it twenty yards without stepping into it and without the ball ever getting higher than helmet height.
that is pretty sick no doubt.
Fran is going to make Media Mike’s head explode.
I just watched that on my portable phone over the wifi in a subway in this city. Wow f in teckmology is f in cool. If he did that in an eagles jersey wevwud rip hom for being sloppy teknique
Clearly you also typed it on a portable phone while riding the subway…possibly while getting mugged.
At least he has his priorities straight. Get the comment out on IB and take that beat down.
Wait, what do you mean “this city”? Who’s side are you on!
He can do amazing things physically. But… not sure he does them incredibly consistently. Against the Jaguars, he was 18-31 for 175 yards (5.65 yards/attempt, and under 10 yards per completion) with one TD and one INT. Overall, he’s a very solid quarterback, but has never been special. He has been incredibly consistent — ratings of 84.5, 86.2, 88.8, 82.1, and (so far this year) 83.2. QBR of 56.16, 57.59, 61.06, 54.35, (this year) 52.68. In 2014, he was (it looks like) about #22 in rating among starting QBs (10+ games started). At this point, that is probably who he is. Overall he is probably better than those numbers, which measure passing, since he’s also a good mobile quarterback who can run. But not amazingly better. He’s been basically the same guy since his rookie year… probably an average starting QB. If he has a good defense, he’s good enough to win (and win a lot). If it’s a bad defense, they are going to lose. This year, looks like a good defense again.
He’s playing better than Bradford though. And their defense may be about as good as ours. So this could be an interesting game.
they have worse WRs and OL than even we do.
So did Sam Bradford in St. Louis.
Trade for Brett Hundley!!
I hope we keep Kendricks on the bench. Give him the two full weeks to be back 100%. Hammy’s are so fickle why risk reinjuring by putting him back in before he’s 100%.
That means you have a full game with Goode. I like him, but we need either Kendricks or Ryans to go. Ryans might not play Sunday.
Maybe keep him on the bench unless Goode is awful, then stick him in…
I think Goode is average, but I’m thinking more in terms of rotation. If both Kendricks and Ryans are out, that means Hicks/Goode for all the snaps. Unless MS2 is getting snaps at the ILB again.
I like Goode, and I agree I’d like to let Kendricks rest the next two weeks, but Goode and Hicks might need a spell during the game unless Billy D decides to go more nickel to give those guys a rest.
Does Brad Jones (I think that’s his name…not looking it up, sorry) play ILB as well as ST or does he fill in as an OLB?
I think that the team has medical personnel and outside experts who can make this type of judgment call. If a player is considered medically ready, he’ll play.
I think with all things football related we all have a tendency to be effected by the fallacy of immediacy. We make a lot of determinations and conclusions on the entirety of a fluid situation based mainly on what immediately just happened.
Prior to the Giants game, the narrative was that Bradford had just strung together a couple of games where he looked a lot better and despite a couple poor throws looked to be rounding into form, getting the hang of the offense and was moving in the right direction.
A week later, after 3 really terrible throws/decisions in an otherwise perfectly decent performance, we’re back to Bradford is terrible and will never be otherwise. He’s an inaccurate QB, that isn’t reading the coverage correctly and he’s a total interception machine.
Certainly, it’s reasonable to see trends. Two weeks in a row we’ve seen him make some poor decisions and even poorer underthrown passes that have been picked off, often times in the end zone. This is definitely a concerning trend, but it’s far too small of a sample size for us to come to any complete conclusion about Bradford. If he proves through the rest of this season to continue to be prone to those types of plays, then he’s absolutely not good enough to lead this team.
But, for a guy that has a couple years of data points that indicate he’s actually very good at protecting the football and has demonstrated long stretches of gameplay with impressive accuracy, it’s just as likely that he just had a bad game and made a couple bad throws. And, next week there will be another new narrative based on this weeks game.
We might find out that the trend continues and that narrative will be rightfully negative, or he might come out and light the world on fire and most observers will conclude that the Giants game was just an outlier, a blip on the radar, simply a bad game.
The point though is that we can’t assume to know for sure what the ultimate outcome will be. My personal thoughts on this are that Bradford has the physical skills and mental capacity to make those throws on a consistent basis and that he’s a smart enough football player that he’s not going to continue throwing picks at such an alarming rate, since he’s never before in his career done so. The issues seem to be a combination of him mentally getting in his own way (trying to aim the ball too much, baby his throws and forgetting to properly step into his throws and drive the ball), as well as the inherent rust in not playing football in 2 years, plus being very new to this offensive system and the weapons he’s throwing to.
That doesn’t mean that I’m confident that he’s going to suddenly become Tom Brady back there. In fact, that’s not likely at all. But, he certainly has the skill set to function at a high level in this offense, and I have every bit of confidence that he can get back to being a deadly accurate QB that can grow in this system while protecting the football.
Let’s just not forget that one game is one game.
We’re hoping that Bradford can turn it around like Andy Dalton. Man that’s going to be a lot of suffering.
I think if you’ve seen all 6 games and are really objective, it’s hard to be genuinely optimistic about this offense… That’s not to say they can’t get better as the season progresses, but if you’re looking for excitement you have to reach back to the pre-season, and we all recognize that’s fools gold at this point.
The conventional stuff (like man-to-man blocking, play-action from under center, etc) has produced the most success so far, so if I were Chip I would stick with that stuff, and mix in the “fancier” stuff opportunistically. We can run more of Chip’s style of offense once we get more experience and / or talent and better QB play on that side of the ball.
For now, I’m keeping my expectations muted, and hoping individual play gets better with more experience, and team play simply continues to progress.
Well balanced…hard to do as a fan. We tend to overeact when our expectations aren’t being met…I know I do. I want Sam to do well, and hope coloectively the offense can work out the kinks as the season progresses, but it’s hard to watch!
Lol Michael Irvin said that “we could end world hunger with the meat Randle’s leaving on the bone”
http://www.nbcdfw.com/blogs/blue-star/Irvin-We-Could-End-World-Hunger-with-Meat-Joseph-Randles-Leaving-on-the-Bone-336330931.html
Irvin has been less annoying recently. I like it.
I think he’s mad at his team.
Well I couldn’t tell since I’m always mad at his team.
Add “flight to this week’s game” to the list of things that Dez didn’t catch.