QB Shuffle
Posted: November 18th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 157 Comments »Sam Bradford is still going through the NFL’s concussion protocol. He’s still dealing with a shoulder injury. There are reports he wants to play this week, but that just seems unlikely to me. If Bradford can’t go, Mark Sanchez will make his first start of the 2015 season.
Sanchez was up and down against the Dolphins. He looked just like he did last year. There were moments when he was really impressive, but critical mistakes overshadowed the good stuff. Just like last year. To be fair to Sanchez, he hadn’t played since August. Shaking off the rust and getting a full week of practice with the starters can make all the difference in the world. This week should give us a better idea of whether Sanchez has made any progress or is the same guy, only a year older.
The thing that stands out when you watch Sanchez is how fast he runs the offense. The Eagles are fast, but things go up a notch when Sanchez is running the offense. He pushes tempo to the max. That is great when it gets the defense on their heels and the Eagles are able to move the ball.
The problem comes when the offense moves so fast that it makes mistakes. We saw this when Riley Cooper wasn’t lined up on the TD pass that got negated. If Sanchez gets that snap half a second later, the Eagles have a score. But he’s pushing for the ball as soon as possible. Cooper isn’t quite set at the snap and there’s a yellow flag. Is Sanchez at fault for not giving his guys time to get set or is Cooper at fault for not getting set fast enough? Only Chip can accurately answer that.
The Eagles got the ball at the 6:27 mark of the 4th quarter. They snapped the ball on the 6th play at the 4:32 mark. That final play was the INT. Sanchez had marched the offense down the field. He was caught up in the moment and was being aggressive. That led to the INT. It sounds like he made a poor read on the play. That’s one of those situations where maybe taking an extra second or two would have been beneficial. Plays inside the 10-yard line are critical, especially in that situation. Tempo may have hurt Sanchez in that situation. Precision was more important than speed at that moment.
Sanchez looked instantly more natural and comfortable in the offense than Bradford had all year. Part of that is the fact Sanchez has now been working in the offense for almost 2 years. Sanchez is also more mobile. That helps with the read-option plays and the movement passes.
I’m curious to see if Sanchez is more in tune with the WRs. There is a certain rhythm to the passing game. Bradford was up and down in his ability to get the ball to WRs. We’ll see if Sanchez does a better job. He hit Josh Huff for a gain of 16 the other day. He just missed Miles Austin for a long TD. Sanchez and Jordan Matthews have had great chemistry since the summer of 2014.
The fatal flaw with Sanchez has always been turnovers. His INT last week was crushing. It doesn’t look like anything has changed with him, but we can better judge him after another game. Sanchez will have time to get on the same page as his receivers. He will get plenty of reps with the starting offense. This Sunday will be his chance to show that he can play well and not turn the ball over. We’ll see how that goes.
I’m confident the Eagles will have some offensive success. Will they have enough? Will they win the game? The Bucs will be an interesting test for Sanchez and the team.
*****
Jon Dorenbos had a terrible game on Sunday. Les Bowen wrote about the situation. As much as the Eagles love Dorenbos, on and off the field, they decided to bring in some long snappers for a workout.
Dorenbos knows he had a bad game and isn’t upset at the situation. He’s focused on figuring out what went wrong and fixing it.
“I was consistently off. I was high-right,” Dorenbos said. He said the fact that he kept doing the same thing should make it easier to correct than if he’d done different things wrong on different snaps.
“At least you can be like, ‘Is this tilted? Is that tilted? I’m too much right hand, I’m too much this. Maybe I’m not following through enough.’ . . . It’s all little things, and to me, the key is, forget about it, and just do what I’ve been doing for as long as I’ve been doing it. The worst thing a specialist can do is get in his own head,” Dorenbos said.
You would prefer he didn’t have bad snaps, but if they happen, you want him to acknowledge the problem and solve it.
*****
Chip Kelly told the Tampa press that he thought all the talk of the changes on the Eagles offense were overblown. Jimmy Bama disagrees. His conclusion makes a lot of sense to me.
The offense has little continuity, and it isn’t playing well. The defense has a lot of continuity and is. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
Simple, but accurate.
_
It will be great to get some continuity in this offense. It changes literally year to year. I don’t understand how Chipper can think they can be proficient when he keeps changing out pieces. I think Jimmy is 100% on target. There was 2 tds that were missed on Sunday. The long td to AUSTIN and the RZ int by AUSTIN. Note the name in caps on those 2 plays. He really dropped the ball on Sunday, literally.
He was the culprit on the unguarded play where he didn’t look for the ball also had a couple of drops. For a vet wr not only is he not producing he’s not thinking like a vet on the field. Even small things like a toe tap in the end zone.
miles has been dropping passes or just showing no connection with the QB all year.
They wanted to keep Maclin but Andy Reid was desperate after his team went an entire season without throwing a TD to a wide receiver and made him an offer that the Eagles couldn’t match.
Let’s pause for a minute and think about that—for all the complaining about the production of Riley Cooper, Miles Austin, Huff and Agholor can you imagine how desperate we would be if they had 0 TDs combined at this point in the season?
What if they had 0 TDs at the end of the season?
I’m pretty sure that all of them have at least 1 TD each right now but you get the point… Andy was probably one of the only guys who we weren’t going to be able to match offers with because he desperately needed a guy he was comfortable with even if he knew he wasn’t exactly swinging for the fences with a superstar franchise WR
Losing Maclin to a big money free agent deal to another team isn’t the reason we have a lack of talent at WR right now. You’re spot on with the logic behind why he’s a Chief.
Maclin is a Chief for the same reasons Maxwell is an Eagle
Could’ve taken the guaranteed million that Austin got and gave it to Maclin.
yeah maybe that’s the biggest travesty. rather take maclin and pay martino $500k
A little late to your comment. However, let me preface my next statement by saying I am not a Sanchez fan. Noodle arm and poor decision making. With that being said, the RZ interception was on Austin. I have watched the play repeatedly and it was a well thrown ball. Austin quit running a half step before the ball got there and didn’t make any effort to catch it. Was the throw risky-especially when we only needed 3? Yes. But truthfully, if Austin had at least kept running, the ball hits him in the shoulder. Austin is so damn bad, I just can’t believe he brings anything to the table. This guy makes Jeff Maehl look like an All Pro.
maehl makes that catch no doubt. for real
Don’t we have as many if not more New starters on offense than we do defense? Secondary is completely different with the exception of Jenkins (Carroll didn’t start last year, what a mistake that was). ILB s are different (hicks / kiko). There’s DL continuity but that hasn’t improved the secondary. I think eagles are winning in trenches on defense and position on offense. That’s the biggest difference to me.
Do we need a new OL coach? I would not say anyone on the line is “outperforming”.
Defensive backfield is different RCB, LCB, S, and nickel QB. ILB has two new starters, including one of the most productive players on the team, Hicks. Offense is different with WR, RB, QB, G. Jimmy’s quote really doesn’t make much sense.
Chip’s offense was firing on all cylinders from day 1 in 2013. No continuity, completely new scheme. Foles was HOF-effective in that offense after playing only 4-5 games the previous year in a vastly different scheme.
Maybe the difference is Foles had a Probowl-level WR, a dominant LT, an All-star RB. In other words, TALENT.
We could stretch the field then – cannot now.
we had issues running the ball then too, once vick left we started needing OL + TE blocking the edge defender for runs to work so you really have to question how effective we’ve been at zone blocking all 3 years. Really starting to wonder if coaching is an issue. That said everyone not named AP is having trouble running the ball.
Want to pause for a second and say how is AP crushing the rushing competition at age 30, amazing.
LeSean was the top RB in 2013 by DYAR, 3rd by DVOA, very high success rate, too. Last year he dropped to 15th and 24th in those categories. This year, Murray is 33rd and 32nd. (However, Matthews would be the best in the league if he had enough carries, I believe!).
FO does not like AP at all, maybe because of the 5 fumbles?
Last year, there were 18 qualifying RBs with positive DVOA (=they contribute to winning), this year, there are 17. So not much change there. In 2013 there were 21.
Did anyone already discuss the problem with the exchanges between Sanchez and Murray being really bad? I’m sure they’ll get it cleaned up this week but that looked like they’d gotten zero reps together all season. Is it only during training camp that Murray would get reps with anyone besides Bradford?
The way Chip is running his practices is starting to seem less like a competitive advantage and more like an issue when every week we are hearing about problems with execution…
I am hoping after a week of practice that clears up for the most part. DeMarco was not used to “waiting” that extra count for the read option handoff because Sam never pulled it back.
I thought for sure Tommy would mention this issue. All the talk about how Sanchez was comfortable and quicker but nothing the terrible exchange on every hand off.
….
IMHO, I thought Sanchez handled those “reads” a lot better. It appears that DM doesn’t want anything to do with “reading”. He wants the ball and he wants to go. He looked clearly bothered by Sanchez and the way Sanchez was handling this. I do think they work on this but — it begs the question: CK prides himself of repetitions. Bradford missed a ton of time in the offseason. I get that Sanchez hasn’t played all season — but shouldn’t all those reps have helped? Again, CK prides himself on his team have more reps than any other team…why is there a break down with hand offs? I can see timing with the snapper being off or even timing with the WR’s — of all the functions — a handoff should be the easiest but was the biggest issue….
murray didn’t play a lot in the summer remember?
has he been practicing since week 1 and during the bye week? If we discount all preseason, we’re still over 2 months of practicing…
sanchez is too fast to pull the trigger while sam is slow. sanchez sometimes doesnt let the WR ans such get into their routes while sam waits a lil too long. its funny how that is.
I think CK prefers Sanchez’s get the ball out style tbh. I don’t know if I love the reckless pace, but I feel like Sanchez was doing exactly what Chip wants. Timing, speed, everything. That’s why he was resigned.
nah, see what im saying isnt about pace. sanchez timing is too fast! he doesnt let the routes develop enough. chip def likes his pace in terms of getting the ball snapped in and out of every play to wear out defense.
I see what you are saying and the receivers were not ready for the change.
I’m just saying is I think Mark’s timing (of his throw) is what Chip wants.
i think its the timing of pace he wants, sanchez has to let rutes develop and go thru progressions, that red zone austin pick was a good example. he should of went to ertz.
I was more specifically thinking about the play that hit Murray in the back. If he is ready for that ball and catches it there it goes just as far if not further than if he waits 10 yards to throw it. Shorter throw would be an easier completion.
I don’t claim to actually know what Chip is thinking, but I thought it was always advertised by Oregon Ducker that he was looking for shorter completions with RAC, in his offense. Longer developing plays don’t seem to work in the NFL anymore. Mike Martz was once a considered a genius. Towards the end everyone hated his offense. Chip wants to run plays and gas the defense. Running your own guys around on every play just tires everyone out. Quicker plays = more plays = more points. Not to mention the longer the QB holds the ball the more likely things are to go of script. Kelly seems like he would hate off-script.
Think of the best offenses of recent memory. Of course there are deep routes built in, but most of it is based on quick hitting.
You are very right that he rushed his progression on the INT. It was a horrible play, and he can’t do that. That was just bad football all around.
longer plays work, just need the right players to go long.
Dorenbos is in his last season playing football this year, but no hate here, hes a really good dude.
I will miss the relevancy of his wife. She is nice to look at.
Will be interesting to see what sanchez’s numbers look like w/out Maclin. Does Ags get more involved? Ertz? MAtthews? Huff? I think right now the bulk of the passing yards are to positions other than WR and most of Matthews’ yards are in inbreaking shallow routes.
I do wonder if Mathews doesn’t get more playing time b/c he’s got stone hands.
The rise of Matthews last year seemed to overlap with Sanchez playing. Hopefully Jordan has a breakout game on Sunday.
yeah my fantasy teams are performing a lot like the eagles, hopefully jmatt can break out.
I think he and Agholor will. Seems Bradford is better w/TEs and RBs, and that Sanchez is better with the WRs.
Or at least it seems that way.
As long as Sanchez doesn’t get Jordan killed.
there were some viscous hits all over the league last week.
Besides the turnovers, Sanchez also has limited arm strength which hurts his ability to through the deep ball (not that Bradford was excelling in that area). We’ll see, but my hopes are certainly muted..
his arm is stronger now I think, shoulder all better
capt dink n dunk reverts to his old ways too often, just takes forever to see guys get open come gametime. Wonder how long fans want to call it a getting up to speed thing. I aint buying it, plain and simple. Shouldve kept Foles and Sanchez but whatever, I get the gamble, just may cost him his job even if he does get another year.
Foles is proving otherwise. unless its just that CHip is a good coach?
Foles is on the bench and he isn’t hurt, so…
He took some shots downfield against Miami…. I bet you he takes more shots than Sam
“Is Sanchez at fault for not giving his guys time to get set or is Cooper at fault for not getting set fast enough?”
Yes.
“The problem comes when the offense moves so fast that it makes mistakes. We saw this when Riley Cooper wasn’t lined up on the TD pass that got negated. If Sanchez gets that snap half a second later, the Eagles have a score. But he’s pushing for the ball as soon as possible. Cooper isn’t quite set at the snap and there’s a yellow flag. Is Sanchez at fault for not giving his guys time to get set or is Cooper at fault for not getting set fast enough? Only Chip can accurately answer that.”
How about we just get rid of Riley Cooper? Nobody needs to be held up anywhere for slow people.
How insensitive!
Turtles around the world are weeping!!
Racist!
Lose a game………………send me to a mock draft
Your score is: 6658 (GRADE: A-)
Your Picks:
Round 1 Pick 28 (DEN): Jordan Jenkins, OLB, Georgia (B)
Round 2 Pick 28 (DEN): Germain Ifedi, OT, Texas A&M (A)
Round 3 Pick 5: Greg Pyke, OG, Georgia (A-)
Round 3 Pick 19: Gunner Kiel, QB, Cincinnati (B)
Round 4 Pick 19: Kevon Seymour, CB, Southern California (A)
Round 5 Pick 2 (DEN): Kenneth Dixon, RB, Louisiana Tech (A+)
Round 5 Pick 18: Nelson Spruce, WR, Colorado (A+)
Round 5 Pick 23: Travis Feeney, OLB, Washington (A-)
Round 6 Pick 19: Jamal Golden, FS, Georgia Tech (B)
Round 7 Pick 19: Dillon Gordon, TE, LSU (B-)
Round 7 Pick 27: Cole Toner, OT, Harvard (B)
[…] QB Shuffle – Iggles BlitzSanchez was up and down against the Dolphins. He looked just like he did last year. There were moments when he was really impressive, but critical mistakes overshadowed the good stuff. Just like last year. To be fair to Sanchez, he hadn’t played since August. Shaking off the rust and getting a full week of practice with the starters can make all the difference in the world. This week should give us a better idea of whether Sanchez has made any progress or is the same guy, only a year older. The thing that stands out when you watch Sanchez is how fast he runs the offense. The Eagles are fast, but things go up a notch when Sanchez is running the offense. He pushes tempo to the max. That is great when it gets the defense on their heels and the Eagles are able to move the ball. […]
In regards to tempo: Bradford was able to run the fastest offense in the the NFL but it didn’t feel fast. Sanchez runs it even faster, but it feels like everyone’s hair is on fire.
Which way is better?
It’s fun in between the 20’s, but once they get into the RZ, all you can do is hold your breath.
i think people are overblowing the interception narrative. bradford has like 11 tds 10 ints through 9 games. He’s had a ton of picks in the end zone. but no one cares about that really. Sunday he had a pick called back because o penalty and two fumbles recovered by d. kelly. that’s 3 turnovers in less that 3 quarters but no one talks about that.
even after the pick, ertz had a drop, murray had a drop on a screen pass, austin just flat out doesn’t want the ball when he’s wide open.
Protection was piss poor on Sunday. Of course D. Kelly should recover a fumble, if he’s chasing the guy he didn’t block.
The entire offense looked like doo-doo.
that’s true
Blaming SAM for anything in this past game is absurd… I don’t care who your QB is, fail miserably to protect him and he won’t look good,and you mess around and get your QB hurt….. Plenty you can blame SAM for, but not for anyhing that happened in the miami game
no blame, just saying it’s not like mark sanchez is the only guy that’s turned the ball over.
Sam Bradford holds the ball too long and doesnt see the field. He loves rolling out because it buys him time to make longer reads. This is what fans killed Foles for but now its a learning curve for a new guy in a new system. Sanchez is what he is but Id take that gunslinger with mistakes over the alternative. We shall see in these next few games what the offense looks like. Sometimes that timing will help the O line get into a rhythm also, another thing ignored.
Theres more than 11 people to blame on any play
WHo cares. THey suck.
WHy DId YOu USe CAps FOr THe FIrst TWo LEtters?
DOn’t FEed THe TRolls!
WAIT! There was another commenter who wrote that way, back when FOles was on the team. Has anyone ever seen the two of them at the same time?
I’ve never seen them in the same place at the same time…makes one wonder…
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/667351743072604160
I need you all to set a limit. Set a limit as to when you give up on Chip Kelly. Set a limit so that when it happens, you react and help get this slime ball out of this city and as far away from our beloved Eagles as possible. Set the limit so you stop the rhetoric. Set the limit so he goes. Is it another loss? Two more losses? Three losses in a row. When it happens. give up. THis Chip Kelly is total crap.
No.
How about we set a limit for you to be gone…how about now!
Help get him out of this city? You understand that none of us have any power to effect the decisions made by the organization, right?
Bad mouthing them on blogs? Nope.
Stop watching? Nope.
Refusing to go to games? Nope, the waiting list is plenty long.
Stop buying merchandise? It will still sell.
We are just spectators.
You actually do have influence.
I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that tempo is now being considered a factor in Eagles sloppy 2015 season. A lot is made of the theoretical advantage that an uptempo pace can have over a game/season. The prospect of a machine-like offensive unit victimizing a defense on its heels is music to any fan’s ears. But when proven football players like Kelce, Peters, Murray, Matthews, et al. commit penalties, or worse, drops and turnovers, and when no rhythm can be achieved because one seemingly small error by one person can blow up a possession, it is high time to put the “advantage” under the microscope. And, please spare me the knee-jerk “they practice that pace everyday” response. The duration of a single football play is seconds – sometimes 15, but typically much less. It seems to me that there is a minimum recovery period that must occur after each play. Processing what the play achieved or failed to achieve is close to immediate, but it is brain and nervous system activity that cannot be skipped. Then there is the discovery of the next play called, which, under CK, is incredibly close to instant. It seems that Kelly MAY place a higher priority on the speed of his play call than the content of the call. I have no data to suggest that this is the case, but just the unrelenting pace at which he spits out plays makes that a question to be answered. Then there is the 11 players on the field, some of whom may still be focused on what just happened, and some of whom may need to go through a mental progression to anticipate their given options on any particular play. Without an accelerated tempo, these mental processes still happen pretty fast.
Then there is the fact that the NFL has no Division 2 opponents to allow the players to mail in a performance. It’s probably unfair for a talented group to go uptempo against an untalented group, but there is no such opponent in the NFL. So in going uptempo, Kelly is asking his players to see the play, process the play, see the called play, process your job in that play, line up, stay in sync and run the play. What was already a pretty fast set of mental processes has now become a very fast set of mental processes, and it is a thing to behold when it works, but is it a thing to tone down when the slop factor kills possessions?
Kelly impresses me as a guy who will find every conceivable advantage in an effort to win, but is it possible that his devotion to uptempo blinds him to the risks and negatives that may accompany it? Anybody who has watched NE march down the field with Brady dissecting defenses, RB’s gashing 6-8 yard gains – it’s impressive, because it is methodical and uninterrupted. And then in the same game NE will go fast, and it is akin to a 13th round furious flurry from the boxer who already was winning on points. The defense all but waves a white flag. Anybody think our tempo has cost us a win?
Wow. Heckuvan artivle. Brilliant hypothesis. Well done.
https://i.imgflip.com/uee1j.jpg
Not getting a qb in on this team is no beuno. Even bad teams are starting to find franchise guys, jags, vikings, oakland, TB all look like their off the qb carousel.
yup and we could’ve gotten few of those QB’s ourselves. Bridgewater, Carr, bortles?, right?
Carr seems like a guy Kelly would have liked I thought…he is athletic but a smart pocket guy.. oh hindsight, its the best way to look at things
yeah foles peaked at the wrong time, lots of good qbs in that draft. surprised we didn’t try to get hundley.
yeah hundley looked good in preseason I thought.
there was another QB that looked unstoppable too though…….
we must have taken preseason a lot more seriously than other teams.
Preseason, baby:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMBKYPb49l8
ew. No thanks on Hundley.
Would you take Cam and be 8-0 or Bradford and be 4-5?
4-5 obviously why?
This team would still be 4-5 with a 55% passer.
Yea same here. The only real concerns with Carr was his competition and his ability to adjust to the pros. Well he adjusted pretty damn fast and man I wouldn’t mind having him as our QB.
Yeah but there werent any QB’s in the draft that Coach Chip or GM Chip wanted. . .
Tampa? With who?
You know his name
Do you think we wouldve taken Mariotta if he fell to 16 ?
Everyone thought we had a franchise Qb after Nick’s crazy season… def hurt us in the long run
I thought this was cool:
Ogden listed Simmons as one of the five toughest he has ever had to block …
“I don’t have massive respect for Clyde because he’s the biggest guy I ever faced or the fastest. Clyde has a spot on this list because he fundamentally changed the way I approach the game of football.
I’d always gotten by on my physical talents, but Clyde was the first guy who forced me to become a film room junkie. When I played against him early in my career, he knew exactly how I liked to punch, and could just grab my hands, cross them up and then walk me back to the quarterback. He did that to me a few times while playing for different teams, and I was kind of helpless against it for a while. Clyde didn’t possess any otherworldly abilities that I hadn’t seen before — he was just a crafty veteran who knew how to give me the business. He was just sneaky. I’d be blocking him fine all game, feel good about myself, and then he’d wait for his opening and expose me.
Clyde taught me how important it is to vary your movements and strategies in the NFL. Once you perform one move during a game, that’s on tape for every coach and player in the league to dissect, and figure out how to counter. Once I started hitting the film room, I got better at knowing the different ways I can attack a pass rusher. Instead of just blocking them the same way, I began planning out well ahead of time where the most effective place was to punch them would be when I came off the line. I looked at their go-to move and their counter to that. I tried to find their tell.
Clyde ended up trying the move where he crossed up my hands up later in my career and it didn’t work. Not this time, buddy. By then the student had become the master.”
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/article-1/The-Read-Option-Pressure-Is-On/997bb8bf-865c-4db7-9cd2-88415125944d
Interesting when you read stories like this. Strahan gave the same type of props to Runyan when he gave his HOF speech.
Josh Huff missed Thursday’s practice with back spasms.
Sanchez was at fault… Yes Riley has to line up faster but ultimately it’s up to the QB to be responsible for his Offense, look around and make sure his guys are all set before he calls for the snap…. Of course Riley deserves blame for taking so long To get lined up, but it was avoidable if Sanchez was under control of his offense… I don’t give a shit how fast you want to play, it’s QB responsibility to make sure his guys are set before he calls for the snap
sanchez caught MIA with 12 guys on the field AND not set. if you watch the 22 we 2 had guys running free in the end zone, that’s the whole point of the offense.
that said it really is a split second thing, but coop has to know it’s go time. both coop and austin doing a poor job of being situationally aware.
Doesn’t matter… can’t do shit if everyone isn’t lined up, so no matter how fast you want to go iTs up to the QB to not snap the ball Til everyone is set…
It’s not that I can’t read, but all l see is, “Riley Cooper messed up, AGAIN.”
This is what happens when feelings get in the way of me trying to objectively look at something.
Its pronounced San Chez … as in rhymes with MIA
Like he is french oui.
I’m curious, Bradford has a sprained shoulder yes? And it is his throwing shoulder right? Doesn’t that usually take a little longer than a week to come back from, regardless of whether he wants to play or not?
not his throwing shoulder
Why did I think it was his throwing shoulder. Hmm.
not sure
He hurt his most accurate shoulder
Har har
Recent reports suggest its a seperated shoûlder on his non throwing arm, but he insists he can play, but he can’t test it out until he clears concussion protocol..
..
I’m worried that we have seen the last of SAM this year which would be a disaster
i’d be ok if sanchez played well if he’s terrible we’ll see sam i 2 weeks. i’m for resigning sam on a team friendly deal.
I thought it was a separated shoulder.
Separated not sprained is what I heard
Sproles can’t ONLY be on the field for 16 plays, especially when we ran so many plays in the Miami game..
..
I hope SAM gets back for Lions or pats at the latest, but I’m hoping some temporary Sanchez can help get Sproles, Jordan and Ertz going more. Sanchez scared to throw down field so I good chance he looks for Sproles more. We know sanchez will look to Mathews, hopefully he doesn’t get his head knocked off like he did last week leading Jordan into a VISCIOUS hit.. Like to see an effort to start force feeding ERTZ and get him going…. Need those 3 weapons to get it Going before I can even worry about getting something from the outside WRs.
..
Hopefully Sanchez gives us a jolt that we ride to two wins, and hopefully SAM can comeback before the clock strikes midnight and sqnchez turns back into a pumpkin…mSanchez can be good in small doses. Rely on him too long and he will bite you
“The offense has little continuity, and it isn’t playing well. The defense has a lot of continuity and is.”
Am I losing my mind here? Wasn’t there even MORE change in the defense than the offense?
1 New Safety
2 New Cornerbacks
2 New Interior Linebackers
1 New Outside Linebacker
That’s SIX new players and Jimmy Bama is claiming that there’s continuity?
Have I missed something. Are my numbers all wrong?
We had cornerbacks last season?
they were scarecrows
I think this is the best description of our starting CBs last year that I’ve ever heard.
Hmm.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/dc/77/71/dc77712fad766cd9b1443261596da432.jpg
No, that can’t be right, he is looking back.
I wish I could upvote this comment more.
Good point
Continuity on DLine for sure but outside of that, the STers & TEs nothing has remained remotely similar to last year
Coach snd GM tossed continuity out the window long ago. It cant be an issue.
Go to Kempski’s site and read the whole piece. He means mostly the front 7. Also, DBs always say that they couldn’t do their job well without a nice, mean front line.
i just now read Jimmy’s article and it is 100% wrong. There are five new starters on the Eagles offense. There are SIX to SEVEN new starters on defense:
1. Kiko Alonzo (Interior Linebacker)
2. Nolan Carroll (Cornerback)
3. Brandon Graham (Outside Linebacker. Backup last year just like the Eagles two new guards)
4. Byron Maxwell (Cornerback)
5. Jordon Hicks (Interior Linebacker)
6. Walter Thurmond (Safety)
If you want, you can throw E.J. Biggers (Slot) in as the seventh new starter.
The premise of Jimmy’s article is backwards. If lack of continuity is hurting the Eagles, it would be the DEFENSE that was suffering the most.
Alonso and Hicks weren’t really starters because Kendricks and Ryans still played a lot of snaps when healthy. Alonso and Hicks weren’t opening day starters.
I’m skeptical to say that because it’s a “new” starter that we should look at continuity through that lens, because some of these guys were in the offense last year. Carroll & Graham know the defense from being in it for over a year.
On the offensive side of the ball it’s only Bradford, Murray, and Mathews that weren’t here last year. Everyone else has familiarity with this offense.
So I guess in much less words, I totally disagree with Kempski. I think when we look at the replay/tape, it’s a lot of self-inflicted wounds that are killing this team.
Maybe it’s continuity, but these mistakes aren’t related to people not knowing the offense/defense. I don’t think mental errors of this kind (drops, penalties, etc.) are due to continuity, but something different.
I’m not sure if it’s practice, trying too hard, or just lack of concentration. Maybe it’s a combination of all three, I just don’t buy it’s continuity.
Just my personal belief. On this board, I’ve been wrong tons of times before, so take it with a grain of salt.
You could argue we still had Kendricks and Ryans as starters at ILB, with Alonso filling in originally. Hicks only played due to injury. The defensive backfield, absolutely — that is three new starters. Graham is a fourth. But there was some continuity especially on the DL, and somewhat on ILB — though that did disintegrate some as the season has gone on.
On offense, it is mostly new skill players, and even many of the backups. On the OL, none of the guys had really played next to the guy beside him. I don’t know exactly know that point which breaks the camel’s back, but it could be an issue. I do sorta wish that we had kept Mathis, and kept with the known performance there, and just tried to plug one new OL hole.
I agree that the discrepancy isn’t so big and that Kempski’s point might well be overstated, but the OL did not play well to start the season, Murray is still not comfortable running out of shotgun (i.e. bringing in players not used to the offensive style, which is part of continuity), and Kelce especially seems to have concentration lapses which have not been present in past years. Maybe the explanation is elsewhere, but it could well be that there is just one too many changes which have Kelce thinking about too many other things.
Wow, you and I come to the same point basically. I think.
Partly… on offense, it is Bradford, Murray, Mathews, Agholor, and two OG which are new starters this year. The OG have practiced before, some, though Barbre was on IR all last year and could not practice, and OL continuity may be the most important of all. Even if the issues are solely confined to Kelce, that may be enough to disrupt the functioning of the line.
True. While my feelings for Kelce at this time are known here, it’s those types of mental errors which is driving me nuts. All it takes is one player to screw up the other 10.
I have this really weird feeling that the Eagles are going to stomp the bucs this Sunday… Sancehz will play well and so will the defense.
there is no QB controversy at all… or is there?
no definitely not….. unless…. no no
If Sanchez gives us 2 wins, they’ll be a QB controversy as long as he’s here.
QB controversy? In Philly? Nah, no way something like that can happen around the Eagles.
Just don’t see the dropoff from Bradford to Sanchez being meaningful and that is more of an indictment of Bradford.
Mathews being out is to me a bigger issue.
yeah if Sancho had Mathews to hand off to we’d be looking ok for sure
I understand I am opening myself to potential ridicule…
Colin Kaepernick would be very effective in this offense if:
a) he can read the D
b) throw with 70% accuracy
c) stay healthy
d) learn the offense
e) stop kissing his arms
Let the man kiss his arms…. he grew them he can kiss them.
It’s probably wiser than trying to reach some other body parts.
If you have it like that then you have like that
I once had questionable brownies that made me think that Vick could have won the Superbowl if Cooper could
a) catch the ball
b) catch the ball
c) catch the ball
d) catch the ball
e) stop being so southern
Those must of been some real potent brownies to think Vick could have won a SB in general.
read the D and 70%?
do that and Weeden would work too, or anyone really, but I get it because he can run.
he has a strong arm but his mind is weak right?
Between Vick and Bradford and Kaepernick, that would be quite the collection of coach-killers, forever tantalizing with “potential” and kissing their arms or wearing long sleeves as the case may be.
Yes, but if he did all those things, how would we know it was Kaepernick?
I have zero interest in Colin Kaepernick and RG3. One was just benched because of his terrible play and other has been inactive for most of the season because he can’t beat out the second string quarterback on the Washington Redskins. Yikes!
The theory seems to be that, yeah, Kaepernick and RG3 are bad now, but they’d be GREAT in Chip Kelley’s system. I respectfully disagree.
So we’re 0 for 5.
uh-oh http://www.crossingbroad.com/2015/11/does-sam-bradford-need-contacts-huff-ertz-agholor-celek.html
Well, it’s not like glasses for a player haven’t worked before.
http://images2.citypages.com/imager/u/original/6646674/charlie_sheen_wild_thing_rick_vaughn.jpg
Besides, seein is the most important thing…
Wait, I thought knowing was half the battle?
I would have preferred to hear Dorenbos say, “It was a one-time thing. Kendra got this new lingerie that buckles on the left – here see it in this picture – and it had my right hand sore for the game. Luckily, the article was destroyed when it got caught in the shower door while she was showering – here look at this picture – and we trashed it. “
“Is Sanchez at fault for not giving his guys time to get set or is Cooper at fault for not getting set fast enough? Only Chip can accurately answer that.” No, I respectfully disagree. The QB has the ultimate responsibility to determine whether his teammates are in position and ready for the snap. Cooper may have been too slow getting set but the QB is the field general and is responsible for seeing his players are in the right position and set before calling for the snap.
That may be true in theory, but we see linemen and WRs commit illegal procedure faults every game, with every team. On many teams it is the centre’s responsibility to theoretically control the LOS.
I agree with all of your points. Still, we don’t need to check in with Chip to know that the QB has the last and ultimate responsibility to see if the team is set before the snap.
Depends on how he is “training” everybody. If he tells the QB to wait so long and then to snap, and charging everyone else with getting to the line within that XXX time limit, rather than look around to see if everyone is actually settled, then the QB may be following instructions. It would help of course if the QB noticed someone was late, to wait an extra beat, since running a play with someone extra in motion is kinda useless.
I doubt that Kelce can delay the snap (i.e. be responsible for that kind of thing)… if the QB asks for the ball and people aren’t ready, it’s going to be a false start if he doesn’t hike it.
Riley Cooper doesn’t have the speed to get to the line and get set.
Sorry if this has already been discussed and I missed it, but why the hell was Chris Maragos out there so much on defense? He looked horrible.
They like him as the floating free safety in the nickel and dime. He’s okay at that role IMO, but not something I’d keep doing over and over. He’s a stop-gap guy IMO.
That said, I really think with Jenkins/Thurmond playing well at safety, and Carroll/Maxwell improving at corner since Atlanta – he’s flown under the radar.
Rowe is getting more snaps in the dime defense this week, so you may see less of him.
Maxwell has looked SOOO much better. If we can get Maxwell and get Rowe in there, that would be one hell of a defensive secondary. Who do they take off in sets where they have the 3 safeties?
If Rowe is there, then Maragos comes off the field. I’d think Thurmond would become the ball hawking free safety.
I was referring to elsewhere in the defense. There would be 3 safeties, 2 CB’s, 3 DL and 3 LBs or 2 lb’s and 4 DL?
I would think that it would look something like this.
Cox, Logan, Curry – DL
Barwin, Kendricks, Alonso – LBs
Jenkins, Thurmond, Maxwell, Carroll, Rowe – DBs
Wow. That is one sexy lineup.
I think this would be awesome, and I calculated with injuries. I still believe this team has a ton of talent.
My goodness those Jaguar uniforms!!!
leagues is clearly fucking w/ them