The Joy of Winning
Posted: December 8th, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 339 Comments »I want the Eagles to win a Super Bowl. So do you. And Chip Kelly. And Jeff Lurie. And Barrett Jones, who’s been with the team for less than a week. While that’s the goal, it doesn’t mean we should ignore everything else. Too often people forget that it’s okay to enjoy regular season games.
The win over the Pats was great.
Whether the Eagles make a playoff run or end up 7-9, I’ll remember the day we beat Tom Brady for a long time. Games like this are what the regular season is all about.
I think back to the 1994 win over the Niners when the Eagles looked like the best team in the league. They won 40-8 and it was a magical day. Last year’s shutout of the Giants was absolutely a great game that will stick with me for a while. The 2010 win over the Colts was fantastic after so many years of losing to Peyton. Not everything has to be glorious. I still remember the Eagles beating the Bears 20-16 in 1999 to end a long road losing streak. That ugly win was pretty friggin’ awesome.
For a few days we get to put aside the long term questions about Chip Kelly’s future, who should be the QB, scheme/method talk and things like that. For one day, Sam Bradford and Chip Kelly were good enough to beat Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. Just enjoy the win.
You don’t have to apologize for having a fun Sunday in the middle of a depressing year.
Soon enough we’ll be back to the reality of a 5-7 season and talking about the uncertainty of the future.
*****
This wasn’t a great performance by the Eagles. The key to this game is that the team made big plays. The offense was 2 for 2 in the Red Zone. The defense came up with takeaways and had the long pick-6. STs scored a pair of TDs and played the weird KO well in the 1st half.
So often this season the Eagles have been the opposite. They would move the ball 60 yards and then miss a FG. That gives you nice offensive numbers, but nothing to show for it. The defense has dropped INTs and failed to recover fumbles on a regular basis in the past 3 weeks. STs has mostly been good, but not special like they were last year.
All of that changed on Sunday and the Eagles won.
Making plays is the equivalent of 3-run HRs in baseball. They are the great equalizer. They change the course of a game. How different is the Miami game if Malcolm Jenkins catches the batted ball in the end zone instead of Jarvis Landry? How different is the Washington game if Darren Sproles catches his 3rd down pass instead of Pierre Garcon catching the late TD? So many games are decided by a few key moments.
The Eagles haven’t been good this year at making plays. Whether dropped passes or missed tackles or whatever, the Eagles have been sloppy and hurt themselves. That changed on Sunday. I’d love to tell you that some switch got flipped and the team would continue to play like that.
No idea.
*****
So Dallas won and there is now a 3-way tie for 1st place in the NFC East.
Those of you who have given up on the season don’t like this. You want the better draft pick.
Most people, I think, still want to enjoy this season. Being tied for 1st place is fun, even if the division is crap (and it is).
The cool thing for me is that the Eagles control their own destiny for the most part. If they beat the Giants and Skins, they have a good shot to win the division. If they can also beat Buffalo or Arizona, they have a very good chance to win the NFC East crown.
The Eagles are 5-2 in the last 7 games where Sam Bradford has started and finished. I’m curious to see if he can keep that up. He’s got wins vs Eli, Drew Brees, and Tom Brady mixed in there. Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Jets is a solid win as well.
Bradford isn’t going to make anyone forget Donovan McNabb or Ron Jaworski any time soon, but he’s getting better and seems to be headed in the right direction. The last time he threw an INT it was before Halloween. That’s progress.
*****
Former Eagle CB Cary Williams got cut by Seattle on Monday.
Bradley Fletcher is still out looking for work.
Brandon Boykin is buried on the bench.
Yikes.
*****
Speaking of cuts…
#Eagles confirm that they have released WR Miles Austin.
— Jeff McLane (@Jeff_McLane) December 7, 2015
Austin was signed to play for a year and to help the young guys figure out how to adjust to the NFL and/or their specific roles in the NFL.
Austin blocked well. There were a couple of nice catches. But this hardly felt like the move Chip thought it might turn into. I think Chip thought of Austin as a Jason Avant type of blocker and leader, but with more size and speed. Obviously that didn’t work out well.
I hope the Eagles bring in a young player to develop, as they have with several spots this year. I’m all for adding a veteran, but it needs to be someone who is hungry and will work hard right away. I’m not sure many guys like that are on the street right now.
_
It’s going to be a VERY interesting stretch run for every team in the NFCE.
Why not both?
7-9 could easily win the division, indeed.
i called it right after week 2, eight wins takes the division.
I hope whoever wins the division goes 8-8 or better. I hate when sub .500 teams go to the playoffs and i really don’t like the NFCEast being this bad…. or well it can be this bad if we are 10-2 at this point in the season.
It would be unlikely, but if the division winner is 7-9 and Seattle is the 5th seed and has to travel with a 11-5 or 10-6 record and loses, it would be sweet football karma.
Lose to Buffalo and Arizona. Beat Washington and Giants. Giants eliminated.
Washington loses to us and Chicago.
Do we win the tie-breaker if both 7-9?
Eagles division record would be 4-2 and Washington 3-3 in that scenario.
I am pretty sure we are screwed at that point.
It would be 1-1 head to head
We would be 4-2 in the division and so would Was (they would sweep Dallas, we swept the Giants)
They have more conference wins. We would be 2-2 vs AFC East, they would be 1-3, which means they have more conference wins.
We really need to finish 8-8.
Washington didn’t win last night, so 3-3 at best for them. Eagles in potentially at 7-9 or better. We need help from Carolina (over Giants) and Buffalo or Chicago over Washington.
You’re right. Need more coffee and apparently a calculator. My bad.
And I work with three over enthusiastic cowboys fans.
I thought the same thing when I read that lol
Boykin finally got playing time this week. He even had an interception.
Rod Marinelli went to the Billy Davis school of defense.
There’s less than two minutes left & they’ve got the lead, so he stops doing what gave them success all game (blitzing), and instead goes into prevent, rushes only four, and gives up a big play anyway…
Honestly I’ve seen more DCs do this than I can count. Seriously just about all of them do this. That’s why the “all prevent defense does is prevents you from winning the game” is just about the most tired ‘joke’ in football.
Thats why I loved Jim Johnson throw the kitchen sink type defense around the Red zone and late in games
Selective memory here – JJ often went into prevent and we complained about it a lot..
Jim Johnson did it less than his peers back when everybody went into prevent.
I remember some ballsy blitzes, when they worked it was glorious, when they didn’t, we whined about that too lol. But retroactively, I stand by the aggressiveness.
My take as well. I hate passive coverage near the red zone. Make the QB make fast decisions in an area where there isnt space to stretch the defense
getting conservative late in games drives me nuts like nothing else. It’s blatantly saying, we’ll let you move the ball, but we’re hoping you won’t be able to move it fast enough. Except we’ve all seen it way too often, in 4 down territory offenses can shred 80 yards of prevent in under a minute with no timeouts.
Yeah, I just don’t get it either. Maybe it really works and our fan-vision just doesn’t allow us to perceive it.
I do see a fair share of final drives fail, but so often it’s a pick on a desperation throw or receivers just not securing the catch. Just seems like you can turn a desperate situation dire with some aggressive defense. But maybe prevent helps that happen more than we give it credit for?
PATs in prevent let us back in the game?
“Whether the Eagles make a playoff run or end up 7-9…”
I suppose I’m a Negadelphian because as fun as that game was — and it was great on so many levels — I still think 5-11 is a realistic possibility.
You are correct. you are a negadelphian.
Still not totally out of the realm of possibility you have to admit. Nothing would surprise me with this team at this point. 4-0 down the stretch, 0-4 down the stretch, anything in between…
Eagles actually control their own destiny now even if they lose to Arizona. Beat the Bills, Giants, and Redskins, and they are in.
I think the skins have the common opponents tie breaker.
It would never get to that; Eagles would have a better division record…..
If the Eagles beat the Redskins, the Eagles would have the better record, period.
If we both went 3-1…but we beat the skins; we’d have the same record but better division record….
They’re only first in the division because they have the head to head tie breaker….
But Washington should lose to Chicago and us.
Nope, that tiebreaker goes to the Eagles. One of the Redskins’s wins is against a non-common opponent (the Rams), while the Eagles lost to the Lions. Since the records are otherwise tied, if you remove that win from the Redskins record (which you need to do in order to get the record vs common opponents), then the Eagles have the better record. Aside from head to head, there are only two games on the schedule which aren’t common. The Arizona game is a non-common opponent for the Eagles, which is why a loss to them would be the least harmful — it would only matter for the straight-up record. In a tiebreak, a loss to the Bills would be more harmful than the Cardinals since that is a common opponent (which both the Redskins and Eagles have yet to play). Likewise, the Redskins could lose to the Bears and it wouldn’t affect anything other than the overall W-L.
man im still sour we let djax go for nothing, but man do i not miss him being a complete dumb ass.
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2015/12/7/9863746/eagles-patriots-highlights-video-philadelphia-new-england-merrill-reese-listen-radio
you guys probably already heard the calls and someone has probably already posted this link somewhere, but just in case, here you go.
my favorite part of the audio:
merrill reese (in absolute stunned disbelief): “maxwell did something positive!”
[…] The Joy of Winning – Iggles BlitzI want the Eagles to win a Super Bowl. So do you. And Chip Kelly. And Jeff Lurie. And Barrett Jones, who’s been with the team for less than a week. While that’s the goal, it doesn’t mean we should ignore everything else. Too often people forget that it’s okay to enjoy regular season games. The win over the Pats was great. Whether the Eagles make a playoff run or end up 7-9, I’ll remember the day we beat Tom Brady for a long time. Games like this are what the regular season is all about. […]
Great points as usual. Good to see the RZ efficiency. How does that first Dallas game change if they score a TD on the Sean Lee pick? Or in the Atlanta game if Kelce doesn’t get called for holding. Seems like the team’s focus was there for some reason Sunday.
PS guys who we should consider the use of the open roster spot to stash:
OLB Deion Barnes
WR Robert Herron
WR Jake Kumerow
C Dalton Freeman
CB Shaq Richardson
OLB Max Valles
S Anthony Harris
OLB Tyler Starr
ST/S/ILB Brian Blechen
OLB Zack Hodges
Loved max valles, anthony harris, zach hodges and brian blechen prior to the draft
i didn’t even realize we had harris on the squad!
I believe those players are from other team’s squads that we can steal if we put them on our 53 man roster.
Saw Joseph Fauria is on NE’s practice squad. Would be an interesting addition.
Didn’t include him because he can’t block worth a damn, so he would be a bit redundant with Ertz and Burton both being better receivers.
Agreed. He would be a luxury. Maybe he offers something on FG block team also.
It’s a travesty of human injustice that a guy with his frame can’t block.
He’s probably too small for Chip, but boy was Herron fun to watch at the Senior Bowl and Combine before the 2014 NFL draft…
I wonder if Miles getting cut has anything to do with Murray’s disgruntlement. It seems conceivable that having a link to his former, more successful employment makes it easier to avoid fully embracing his new environment. Since cutting Murray isn’t an option, cutting his tie to his old team is the next option.
That, and Miles sucks. I wanted him cut in preseason.
It’s funny, Tommy said that Miles was a Jason Avant-like player (just more expensive). Well, why did Chip cut Avant in the first place? At least we know he can catch and is a good guy to boot! It’s the same story with DeSean and Maclin vs Matthews and Agholor. Creating holes which then had to be filled.
I looked back at Miles’ stats and he actually was a pretty good player, previously. He has put up some numbers and has a respectable DVOA. I have no idea what happened to him this year.
Because Avant is not a productive player…
“It’s funny, Tommy said that Miles was a Jason Avant-like player (just more expensive). ”
…and faster and bigger)” FTFY.
You missed this part of what Tommy said: “but with more size and speed.” Chip’s measurables let him down here, although I’m not sure Avant wasn’t going downward pretty quickly, anyway. It’s like Herremans. You can claim Chip created a huge hole if you’re comparing this year to what Herremans was 5 years ago, but if you compare it to what Herremans has actually become, the difference is negligible. Which is not to say Chip didn’t fail at adequately replacing him, but that’s different from saying that it was wrong to move on from Herremans.
If the difference is negligible why didn’t Kelly value Herreman’s familiarity with the system and take that into account? So much of the O line mess is due to lack of continuity. And yes, thank God Miles, you are OUTTA HERE.
Barwin said he missed Sams shower speech early in the season,but in New eNgland, right before we went back on the field to start the game,” Bradford stood up and addressed the entire team in what Barwin described as a pretty awesome speech, that gave the guys a good feeling to take the field”.. Seemed pretty Genuinly impressed by Bradfords leadership for what it’s worth…
Good info, thanks!
It comes from the Monday Night “Players Lounge” where BARWIN comes to Chickies and Petes every Monday to talk to with Ike Reese and Jon Runyan, airs on 610 WIP for those that want to hear the entire segment.
..
I try to catch it every week because Barwin is a good interview , Amd I like the concept of a player being asked Questions by two respected former Eagles in Runyan and Reese..
yes, sounds good! Is this the huge Chickies and Petes close to the stadium?
Yes.
WIP is also 94.1 for those on the FM dial. It is usually to be avoided with the exception of providing context as to what Negadelpia actually sounds like and occasional worthwhile content like conversations with Barwin.
Agreed and one of the few things I actually make a point of turning into. Runyan and Reese tend to complement each other well with their perspectives and it isn’t over the top, cliche-BS.
Sam has gotten better as the season has progressed. A lot of people have commented about his strange stare or his playing scared,, but he certainly didn’t look scared in the pocket against the Pat’s rush. If he continues to play at this level,, the Eagles will have a tough decision to make about designing him. I think they will if they can get him at a reasonable price.
salary in the top . . . 15?
yep, def top 15. afraid that it might be top 10 because of other desperate teams.
Franchise tag for QBs last year was $18.544 million, so ~$19 million will be the ceiling on a one year deal.
i’m not arguing because i’m ignorant about salary, but i thought the tag was averaged based on the top like 2 or 3 at a position? so wouldn’t we be looking at something a bit lower?
The non-exclusive franchise tag amount is the average of the top 5 cap hits at the position over the previous five years.
I just posted that to show where Bradford’s agent would be negotiating from. Also, if you’re committed to Bradford, they may be forced to use the tag on him.
If I had to guess, I’d say a fair deal would be around 3 years, $52 million, with $23.5 guaranteed Broken down as:
Year 1: $15 mil, 100% gtd.
Year 2: $17 mil, 50% gtd.
Year 3: $20 mil, 0% gtd.
All depends on how the next 4+ games go, too.
That’s higher than I’d like it to be, given the totality of his work this season, but it’s probably more realistic than my preference.
Line if the night(last night) — winner of this division can still have a top 10 pick. Now that’s funny!
that’s not how it works.
it was a joke by the announcer…..
ok sorry I should have given you more credit than that.
This type of posting is exactly why igglesblitz is my first and last read. Thank you
You are welcome! Did your therapist tell you to be gracious today?
THAT’S why Chip cut De$ean…He knew it all along that DJ could help us more while on the REDSKINS roster…Brilliant move.
that’s just science
Wonder if the donkey is going to publically rip his coach and QB AGAIN, or if he is actually going to accept responsibility for his stupidity?
..
I miss his 60 yard TD catches, but good Riddens to everything else that comes with the immature mental midget
Good Riddens.
Whatever, he’s on a roll…
false flag operation
I guess that troll poster won’t be posting about Kelly’s mistake in cutting DeSean for a while.
What a friggin joke this country is.. Steve Sarkisian is suing USC for wrongful termination because he claims his alcoholism is a “Disability”..
Make a mockery of people born with real Disabilities, and make a joke of our judicial system… What a disgrace. The courts shouldnt even allow this crap in their courtroom
OJ’s racist cop tried the same thing back in the day, saying his racism was a disability
i think mitch hedburg said it best:alcoholism is the only disease that you can get yelled at for having.
dammit, Otto! you’re an alcoholic!
dammit, Otto! you have lupus!
one of those does not sound right.
TROUBLE IN PARADISE!!
..
Instead of enjoying the big win, Demarco Murray went to Jeffry Lurie to complain about his role in chips offense..
.
SMH…. It’s NEVER sunny in Phiadelphia..
players can’t wait to prove chip right
liking him less and less
If I were Chip, Murray would be inactive this week.
This should happen. You don’t reward a player for complaining to the owner (except in Dallas and Washington).
Your right but Joyner argued you can’t today this late in the season. Made a pretty compelling case too since all of a sudden it threatens to become the dominant issue in the locker room.
Instead, Joyner argued that Kelly needs to talk to Murray, tell him privately that this shit won’t fly and until then his carries will be limited, and that he should think of his carries as an audition tape that will make it easier for the Eagles to deal him this offseason to a team that is a better fit for both parties.
This doesn’t seem to fit into Chip’s professional culture concept. He’s not really going to care about that, explicitly. He’s going to claim to be making decisions based upon what gives him the best chance to win the week. He’s not going to let a personality conflict affect coach Chip’s decisions.
If Mathews is healthy and good to go, though, that rubric probably leads to Murray being inactive. 🙂
And I don’t think offseason GM Chip is going to be blind to this. He’s set enough precedents to be fairly confident on that one.
i hope you are right and Chip is strong enough to sit Murray for two straight weeks. Chip the GM has certainly shown his willingness to cut or trade or not resign star players, from his GM’s office in a quiet novacare complex. Different to bench a healthy player and see him face to face nearly everyday, definitely need to worry as a coach during the season about a disgruntled Murray or any other star player like that affecting other players.
There have been a couple of turds in the punch bowl that Kelly added from a culture and attitude standpoint. Just another reason I have serious doubts about Kelly the GM being adequate. Austin had little to say today and he should have been released weeks ago.
Funny how he didn’t really get vocal until after the trade deadline.
If there is one reason why I think fans aren’t supportive of this team (besides Kelly’s public persona) is that there are a number of dislikeable players on this team including Murray, Maxwell, Cooper, Austin (former player), etc.
https://media.giphy.com/media/mcH0upG1TeEak/giphy-facebook_s.jpg
does anyone know the details of the rules regarding that onsides kick that Cooper knocked out of bounds? in the game, they were saying that it was a smart play, but then there was a flag… and they never mentioned anything else about it.
was there a flag on that play or no?
is it legal for a player on the receiving team to just hit the ball out of bounds like that? it sounds an awful lot like the ‘batting’ thing out of the endzone that happened earlier this season.
i’m thinking that if that is a legal move, i’m genuinely surprised that we don’t see that more often. there would be a lot more volleyball-esque plays on those kickoffs.
if it was illegal someone would have complained.
If it were illegal Belicheck would have already gotten away with doing it.
Classic!
My understanding is it’s OK as long as you do not bat it out of the end zone. I could be wrong.
Completely unresearched, but I thought batting only came in to play if you bat the ball forward.
right great job by the announcers. There’s a flag. I have a mini stroke. Then Eagles are running a play. No explanation.
I don’t think there was a flag. I think New England was complaining there should have been for reasons unexplained.
You can’t bat a ball forward (or towards the opponents goal line as per the rules). You can’t bat a ball in any direction in the end zone. But it sounds like Cooper was fine batting it sideways or backwards.
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/153427942/nfl-batted-ball-rule-seahawks-lions-mnf
nice! thanks! i’m surprised what Cooper did is not seen more frequently. i would think it would be easier to hit it out of bounds, but maybe it is risky since you could be penalized if you hit it even slightly forward?
If you let the fans make the decisions, you will soon be joining them.
Many fans were tired of DeMarco and thought he was dragging down the offense. Quite a few blamed Miles Austin for bad play. All of us wanted some more Sproles.
Chip took care of these things, and the team won. Is it possible that us casual fans who mostly watch the team on TV were right about some things, and Chip was wrong?
we were able to look at a few things he wasn’t doing correctly but of course that’s after he did a zillion things right. it’s like telling an airplane pilot his blinker is on. doesn’t make us pilots
A zillion? So the teams with winning records have done a quadrillion things right? The 49ers have only done 10 billion things right?
you got me. i exaggerated the total number of things. several hundred is more appropriate.
That makes sense. I also agree that I have no business flying planes or running NFL teams. That being said, we went from 10-6 to an ugly losing record. Bad decisions were made.
If this was true, Chip would have calculated a regression equation by now.
Those were pretty obvious problems (I’d include slowing down the offense). I think Chip is just stubborn.
In fact, I fully expect Chip to go back to business as usual next week (except with Austin, of course). Murray running to the sideline 20 times, Sproles averaging 8 ypc on 2 carries…
It’s the “Andy Reid finally ran the football and we won!” Syndrome. By the next week he was right back to his all-passes offense.
cough grumble uh cough we need to put them in a better cough position
unfortunately, by Murray going to Lurie and then to the press, it seems that Kelly will by using Murray more. Coaches have to deal with personalities. A lot easier for fans to just say, like myself, bench him. Maybe this is why fans sometimes are more ahead of the curve than coaches when it comes to players that are not performing, like Williams or Fletcher last year. Even if it hurts the team, the offense, Murray is the type of star player a coach tends to play in front other players, if the star makes a stink.
Chip needs to use his lifeline and ask the audience (of IB) more often. Then we could all vote.
first place baby
Washington is first
tied for first baby
No tiebreakers before week 17.
So, about challenges…
Is it just me, or were there a couple plays that looked like they could have been challenged successfully during this game? There was Rowe’s near-interception (it looked like he was dragging that right foot when he initially grabbed the ball), and another one I can’t remember later when we were on offense (Collinsworth mentioned it might be worth a challenge, but the Eagles had already snapped the ball).
This is one of the most aggravating things to me. We will lose a game soon because Chip refuses to challenge.
I thought Rowe was out of bounds on the interception, but there was a NE fumble on a reception (I forget whe receiver) that wasn’t called right.
Ah, that’s right! It was declared an incomplete pass…
Amendola on a lob pass following a Brady scramble. He had it in his hands, took two steps and then fumbled it while tucking it. It was certainly debatable but to my eyes, a fumble, and probably called as such 70% of the time. Two “interesting” things: 1) they should have ruled it a fumble so it could be challenged either way (catch or no-catch); and 2) we ran a 99 yard INT back for a TD a few plays later.
I also think New England’s very last play was a catch and a fumble (knocked out by Rowe) but I guess since the result would’ve been the same either way (incomplete vs. turnover… either way the game is effectively over) they chose not to review it “upstairs.”
great play by the rookie
The pick 6 more than made up for the non-fumble call.
It was debatable. He didn’t complete 2 steps, which if I’m not mistaken, would have qualified him for having performed a “football move” or whatever they call it (one of my favorite dumb uses of verbiage in the rulebook). Before he could complete the second step, the ball was coming out (or he was at least losing control of it).
Could have easily gone either way, and I understand the non-challenge.
They changed “football move” to “clearly established himself as a runner” this year. In order to make it less subjective, though I find the former easier to understand.
I thought announcers said you can’t challenge an incomplete pass ruling on the field.
Chip’s lack of challenges = Reid’s clock management. I hope Chip can get on board with making some challenges.
Pretty sure there has to be a philosophy on Chips part that he doesn’t challenge. Rowe play was pretty obvious though. He was out.
he has a guy in the both the runs challenges. gave it up after the first couple of games when he was missing calls.
Agree. On a big time play like that, even if you think there’s only a 20% chance you get the challenge correct, you should challenge it.
Correct me if Im wrong but wasnt there supposed to be a committee of backs this season because both have an injury history and Murray had a large workload last year? Currently Murray has over 550 yards averaging 3.5 ypc with 4 rushing tds. Ryans has over 420 yards averaging 5.7 ypc with 5 rushing tds. Sproles has over 200 yards with 2 tds. It seems like the committee approach is working but the frustration is tied to the lack of effective running of Murray and the decreased snap count from Mathews. Couple that with Murrays big contract and you have a lot of fruatration. Without Murrays contract it would be easier to snag a good WR in FA like, dare I say, Alshon Jeffrey?
No way Alshon hits the streets.
I cant even dream?
Dream the dream brother. I could happen! Maybe he secretly hates Cutler. Don’t all his team mates?
I have heard no update on Ryan Mathews. Cleared protocol?
He has cleared.
Lovely.
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/eagles/Source-says-Mathews-clears-testing-could-practice-Tuesday.html#47eZfeGkvkvZaaIH.99
According to Les, he cleared the baseline test yesterday. Needs to see independent neurologist today, but could be practicing today.
Sam Bradford ranked #11 on Quick Reads today. Behind Bortles, Tyrod Taylor, Hoyer, Fitpatrick, Dalton, and Jameis Winston. But slightly ahead of Brady and Mariota!
hot take: Even considering the current opinion of Murray, he’s still the best skill player on the field when he checks in at RB. These young WRs can’t get better fast enough.
is he? I can’t tell. Ryan Mathews is better, sproles is better,
They’re (usually) not on the field together.
Yes, they are a huge liability. Check out this chart that ranks them. http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/wr
The only one with enough targets to qualify is Matthews, who is the 50th ranked WR in the league (-10.8% DVOA). Austin at -12.8%, Agholor -22.2%. Huff and Cooper grade out positive.
Compare:
Maclin 20th at 9.9%
Avant -16.6%
Jackson -17.9%
John Brown 42.2%
R Matthews 37.7%
D. Baldwin 33.3%
S. Watkins 32.5%
etc.
I think that the guy who hands him the ball is better. Probably Ertz, too.
Ark87 thanks again for the avatar. No matter what happens I have this win for the next 4 years or whenever they play again. Which is nice.
Wishful thinking they said!
I heard they will be playing again in February.
Belicheck better have more than 2 trick plays for us in Feb. You can’t beat a superior team with only 2 trick plays.
I heard he is going to take a tip from Kelly and run each one 20 times.
I remember someone saying that would ironic soon. I thought they were right. Glad they weren’t!
was Djax really wrong for trying to make something out of that punt return?
was he really that open for the TD?
the thing about him is he is not just fast, he has great hands.
but he sure makes a scene if the ball doesn’t come him way.
13 catches the whole year?
He was wrong, it was a tie game, and he went backwards and fumbled near the goal-line. The conservative play is the right one in that situation. If they had been down a TD then, yeah, do everything you can to make something happen.
Barner’s fumble against the Pats was nearly as bad, though. Wrapping up is #1 in that situation.
The thing with Barner’s fumble is you can see him trying to keep two hands on the ball all the way, but once his momentum is stopped his instincts seemed to take over and he took a hand off to fight for more yards.. which left the opening for the NE player. I guess it’s one of those things where he just needed that little bit more experience of that situation to know better. I bet he’ll remember it next time, though.
if you want conservative, do you put djax back there for a return?
Tie ball game in the two minute drill. They didn’t need a touchdown to win. They needed to prevent Dallas from getting the ball back and kick a field goal to win. If he hits a home run, Dallas gets the opportunity to tie with plenty of clock time left.
Kind of like how McFadden screwed up twice by going out of bounds and scoring, leaving Washington with wayyyyy too much time on the clock.
He just knew they needed to be in a desperate situation for them to pass him the ball, so he created that situation.
I can see him trying to make something out of nothing, but you shouldn’t seriously risk losing the game either. Going backwards some, fine, but to the two yard line 20 yards back? You bring in a possible safety right there, and running that far back usually makes it almost impossible to make a return anyways, and hurts the field position the team could have used for a field goal drive. And once you know you are getting tackled, two hands on the ball and just go down. A safety or fumble is catastrophic in that situation; it’s not worth that much risk for a good return.
Gruden did say trying to make a play was OK there, just the ball security was bad. He ended up getting lucky that Dallas was mind-numbingly bad at time management in that situation. McFadden screws up by going out of bounds then doubles down by screwing up even worse by getting to the end zone. Get a first down, kneel, then run out the clock for a chip shot FG.
That worked for him like once here. Then it ruined him as a return guy.
It was bitter sweet witnessing the Patriots win. I love the Eagles but we need an infusion of talent. We are not going anywhere. I am not satisfied being mediocre with a highlight win here and there. We need quality players in the draft. The lower we draft the better the percentage of acquiring talent. Don’t lose on purpose but continue to play the young guys and see who will be future. If we win so be it.
Eagles signed OLB Steven Means off the Texans’ practice squad. They worked him out earlier in the year. I live in Baltimore and the Ravens were reportedly high on him before he got hurt in training camp. They eventually released him off IR with an injury settlement.
wow, so even at the bottom of the roster we’re believing in our “bring us your wounded and sick” mantra. Then again, if you’re going to gamble I guess that’s the place to do it.
i know. why didn’t Chip just go get a healthy All-Pro?
Just exactly what were you expecting anyway?
He was hurt in TC. He’s spent the past few weeks on the Texans’ PS and is healthy now.
Pass rusher?
Thank you for this,Tommy! I always hate that whenever the Eagles do well there’s always this contingent of naysayer, “Debbie-Downer”, fans that want to point out that nothing matters, and no success is meaningful unless we win the Super Bowl. First off, we get enough of the, “yea, but how many Super Bowls have you won?” From other fans, let’s not add to that as well. Second, bullshit. Everything is not meaningless without a Super Bowl win at the end of it. I’ve had so much fun and excitement and so many great memories from 26 years of rooting for this team. Was all that meaningless without the Super bowl victory? No! If it was I wouldn’t still be a fan. And, no, I wouldn’t trade all my great memories of Reggie, Seth, Clyde, Jerome, Dawkins, Trotter, McNabb, Westy and replace them with 25 years of 0-16 misery to be guaranteed one super bowl win next year. 4 and 26, the 3 different miracles at the meadowlands, the NFCCG against the Falcons, the snow bowl, these were all amazingly fun memories and none of them were the Super Bowl.
Preach, brother, preach! Amen.
44-6
The way that day and game unfolded, was like a fairy tale.
a drunk, cussing fairy tale
It is completely revisionist bullcrap too about how fondly Buddy Ryan is remembered at the end of his tenure.
After the Skins came into the Vet and dominated the Eagles in that 20-6 win (it wasn’t even that close of game), the fan base was calling for Buddy’s head after losing 3 consecutive games in the playoffs without a win to his credit.
Surprising no one has brought up the demarco conversation about his role with Lurie.
gotta scroll down more. It’s a little crazy. Of course there’s rumors of whether he’ll be back next year. I think he’s been disgrunteld with role all year — clearly not the same guy.
At some point the team has to decide if they want to use him in a way he can thrive. Otherwise it is probably better for both parties to part ways. I think he is going to be back and unhappy again next year though.
I think if you improve the line — make them better at downhill power blocking then he’ll fit. Problem is they aren’t good at that right now (i’m guessing) so Chip’s trying to do what we are good at. Demarco isn’t bad in space, but he heeds a nice size whole, whereas the other guys can sort of slip between lineman.
That has been taken care of. I am making him inactive this week and bill is dumping him in the off season.
bill?
The guy who responded to my comment.
(Let’s see if this works…) @billmodo.
never heard of him
Moi. And to be clear – I’m making him inactive this week “for football reasons” if Mathews is good to go.
Or at least all that would be true if my name, instead of bill, were Chip Kelly.
I don’t really care. Wasn’t a fan of signing him initially. I thought we could have drafted a rookie back to pair with Mathews and Sproles. Is it too late to grab Mostert?
Is this a fire-able offense? “Kurt Coleman has 50K more votes than Honey Badger in Pro Bowl voting. Almost 70K more than Earl Thomas.”
Guy is ballin out
Question: “What’s your evaluation of DeMarco performance?”
Pat Shurmur: “We’re going to do everything we can to be ready to play Buffalo.”
Sounds like Pat “Bellichick” Shurmur…
Listened to the PC, he was fumbling for a while trying to give the party line on Demarco.
Most Interceptions by Safeties since 2011
20 … Reggie Nelson
18 … Charles Woodson
15 … Kurt Coleman
15 … Glover Quin
15 … Earl Thomas
The fact that Charles woodson is on the list is crazy.
Kurt Coleman with the turn around. Looks like a different player when he isn’t responsible for a running lane
funny how playing to someone’s strengths will do that. it also makes me wonder about guys like Q Demps and Macho Harris. talented kids who didn’t pan out here, and maybe it was more of this square hole/ round peg junk where our DC didn’t care what someone was actually good at.
Does this vindicate Howie’s drafting?
as far as i’m concerned, it just proves that reid and the FO lost all patience and acted desperately towards the end of the Reid era. i mean, there was no sense of development. think of jamar cheney as well. these guys all had talent but were thrust into starting roles too soon and given up on too soon.
The wide 9 where Safeties were responsible for the B gap and simultaneously a deep half was such a clusterfuck.
Good for Kurt. Not a great player here, but he was hard to hate. Undersized, gave his all and was a 7th round pick…we got what we could out of him.
I disliked Coleman and still do. He constantly yaps and gets into shit during the course of a game even when he has no business being there or involved. Never impressed me either on special teams and sticking to his assignment either.
QBs must think he’s beatable. that’s why they keep throwing his way
He’s def put in a good position to make plays. I’m sure most of those are him playing centerfield and just ball hawking. Game is easier when you’re playing w/ a lead and your team’s cover guys can cover.
“We’ll play the guys that give us the best chance to win the football game.” Shurmur non-committal on DeMarco:
To me, Murray has clearly looked the least good of all the backs when running this year. Even Kenjon Barner looked better against the Pats than Murray, late game fumble notwithstanding.
If I was Murray I’d be careful about complaining to Lurie, he might not understand that he’s not in nearly as powerful a position as he thinks he is.
kenjon hit the hole hard, looked good for sure
I don’t know how people can’t be interested in this team given they have a good shot as any team in the NFC East to win it. Would they prefer the Eagles missed the playoffs, played a bunch of meaningless games in Dec, and then pissed and moaned as Kelly wins 1 or 2 of them?
I’ve grown so tired of the overall fan base here bitching and nagging all season long. Same people who watched preseason, thought this was a 12-4/13-3 team, and still would be bitching and nagging too even if this team was headed to a 11-5/12-4 season.
At the 2 games I have been to this year at the Linc, the crowd has been pretty crummy. As soon as something goes slightly astray, their go quiet. It reminds me a lot of watching games at the Big House in Michigan. As soon as something goes wrong there, it suddenly becomes the quietest group of 100k+ gathered in one place.
I’ll add I did think this season was over after the TB game and they got routed.
Just didn’t figure the NFC East would be winnable at 7-9 or that this team would win in Foxboro.
They are playing with house money right now and fans should be psyched the last few games are going to mean something including that game vs Skins the day after Christmas. I am headed to that game and looking forward to it.
that’s what makes it so awesome
I was at the TB game and admit I left in the 4th quarter early too. We with were my friend’s young son and he was tired/bored. No reason to stick around at that point.
this has been one of those years where if it’s only on GameDay i skip and just watch the live stats
I think some fans would still be moaning about the Eagles winning a Super Bowl after going 7-9 rather than 16-0?!!!
“just one SB? we stink”
“genius” chip can only win one super bowl a year just like everybody else
he’s too arrogant to win more than that at a time.
how many points did we win by?
“I know we won the Super Bowl, but it was a fluke and does anyone really think they have a good enough team to win again next year?”
The most apt analogy I have heard for the NFC East race is either the ‘Three Stooges’ with Skins, NYC, and Eagles respectively taking the roles of Larry, Moe, and Curly or ‘Three Blind Mice.’
Personally I think either works well to describe a division where the any time the division leader appears to have the slightest momentum they lose it.
Dallas is curly Joe
the stooge nobody liked
Mathews said he was full go in Tuesday’s practice, and is ready to
return from his three-game absence. Mathews’ return coincides with coach
Chip Kelly declaring his backfield a week-to-week proposition. With the
Eagles no longer tolerating DeMarco Murray’s struggles, Mathews could
easily lead the backfield in carries this weekend. He should be 100
percent owned in 12-team leagues.
Ryan Matthews, the RB with the highest DVOA in the league, will be a welcome and much-needed help to the O.
So Murray has been playing like shit and giving questionable effort while tumbling more often than he scores and averaging 3.4 yards per carry after signing a huge deal with $18mil guaranteed. He’s been outplayed by everyone, even street FAs like Kenjon Barner. Other players have called out his lack of effort. By all measures, he’s been a complete disappointment. And, now he’s got the balls to complain about playing time? And the little cry baby goes over the coaches head and whines to the owner, while having his agent release a statement through Ed Warder that DeMarco is obviously a hard working team player that doesn’t want to make any waves, he just wants to put his coach on blast for not giving him enough unwarranted playing time in a game that we won by beating the Patriots with a very functional run game on offense.
I hope Lurie busted out laughing in his face. The balls on Murray…my god! I’d tell him straight up to seek a trade, and if he couldn’t find anyone willing to take on that BS contract, he’d have to wait until the second it made financial sense for us to release him and not a moment longer before he could go somewhere else.
If I were Chip, I’d make an example outa Murray. He’d be relegated to 4th RB status the moment Mathews was back on the field. Best players play. Players who haven’t produced jack can STFU.
yeah bad signing. Most people were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt b/c of style differences but the minute he opened his yap all that is out the window. Just take the win and move on.
You know at one point the Cowboys wanted Felix Jones to have his job. Just thought about that.
I pretty much agree with your POV, but I cannot begin to imagine the state of a mind conditioned by success, and owning a self-image that has been mythically fabricated by the fruits of success. I love sports, but I learned long ago that I’m crap, and I’ve had to learn to deal with it. The adulation and the $$$ that accompanies it are probably hard to put in perspective for the spoiled pro athlete. Still in all, I get your contempt.
Traditionally, we probably hear a bit too much about division strength in football. none the less I like to check the head to head records for reference.
This year the NFC East took on the NFC South and AFC East
The NFC East is:
4-7 vs the AFC East
4-11 vs the NFC South
Yeah the division is bad
the AFC South sucks too. I’m getting a little tired of all the NFC sucks articles.
I don’t like to hear about it either. But boy does this division get bullied lol
oh I agree the division stinks. But it’s not like this is once in a 100 years wow look at this. Just last year a team was worse than the NFC division winner will be.
not that I read national writers anyway, so why do I care.
It all comes down to what the division winner does in the playoffs. NFC West sent the Cards to the Super Bowl off of a poor record, and the Seahawks had a massive upset on the Saints off a 7-9 season I think. Shuts people up
It’s bad this year, no doubt. Last year we were 10-6 and missed the playoffs; that would be a laughable walk to a division title this year. Of course last year Carolina made the playoffs with a 6-9-1 record; we all laughed at their division last year but it rebounded quick.
and they won a playoff game right?
i think they just hammer the NFC east because of the teams and markets compared to the AFC south….college football is much bigger to those areas anyway
Good piece in the Altantic by Gregg Easterbrook on how taxpayers greatly enrich the NFL owners.
“All are at least partially publicly funded: some, entirely so. Judith
Grant Long, a professor of sports management at the University of
Michigan, estimates that taxpayers provide about 70 percent of the cost
of building and operating the fields where NFL teams play. Yet the NFL’s
owners keep more than 90 percent of revenue generated at their
subsidized facilities, while AT&T, CBS, Comcast/NBC, Disney/ESPN,
Fox, Verizon, and Yahoo profit through transmission of the copyrighted
NFL images produced in publicly subsidized stadia.”
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/12/how-taxpayers-keep-the-nfl-rich/418971/
John Oliver did a good bit on this. His bit on daily fantasy sports was great and hilarious.
being a sports owner is a golden goose ticket.
He and his writers do a pretty incredible job in general. I try to keep up with things, but I’m always surprised by the stuff he brings up.
One reason why I pretty much always side with players in contract talks.
Exactly. And double for me when talking CBA.
“For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.”
Is that from the bible? It sounds wholly unchristian, so I’m thinking maybe it is.
Some crazy stuff in the Bible 🙂
If Washington has an easier schedule how are we more favored to win the division. Can Washington really continue to be so BAD on the road. I think just saying “those are road games so they are losses” seems too easy.
I think they’ve lost all road games this year. They really needed to beat cowboys.
Cousins is night and day at home vs the road
Let’s start the rumor now: Murray to Dallas in a mid-season trade for their nr 2 pick next year and their nr 3 the following year.
After those two fumbles yesterday and cowby’s anemic run game i wouldn’t be surprised if he wasnt thinking about going back.
Would you jump that trade? You think they would give us a 2nd or a 3rd for him?
In a trade i think we still have to eat his dead $$. I’d take a 2 and re-sign mostert and be happy.
Problem is you never want to let someone go back in the division. They’d be a 12-4 calibur team again next year.
Just out of curiosity, but who will be their QB next year?!
Duct tape can do some amazing things for a person.
Romo and a few thousand yards of it.
$32m in dead $$ says tony romo.
Yeah… there is that.
i doubt you would get anything higher than a 4th rounder at this point with the way his season has gone. Teams think he has hit a wall and his career is over and then they would have to take that contract? no way. Team would have to be seriously desperate for Murray and i don’t think anyone is. The Jets only had to give up a 5th for Brandon Marshall and he was actually still producing like he has his whole career pretty much….Bears just wanted him shipped out so they could rebuild though
Wasn’t a serious question… and it was only brought up on account of Dallas needing him more than we do.
oh didn’t realize sorry lol
I know he’s basically untradeable right now
Id rather go with Anon’s suggestion of Demarco Murray to Cleveland, Josh Gordon to philly… Unfortunately, high risk players like Josh Gordon are pipe dreams as long as chip is in charge
I don’t know about that. Chip touts the character trait, but he’s had some “characters” – Alonso being one, Blount being another, who grievously erred and got back on the wagon. If Gordon said the magic words, and IF the $$$ is right, I think Kelly might see no harm in testing the waters.
he’s been remorseful on social media watching his team lose. WR is clearly not a position of strength.
Yeah, but he can he stop puffing?
league needs to mind its biz. this is 2015 dammit
I think the whole thing is ridiculous…. but as long as its a rule in the NFL; I’m not trusting Josh Gordon to be on the field
you’re right of course
it’s also crazy how a relatively harmless pain reliever is banned in a league where players are in constant pain. Yet pharmaceuticals aren’t banned for the most part. That’s just crazy to me.
I’m no lover of that whole scene, but society as a whole (and pro sports leagues especially) need to start treating marijuana in the same manner that booze and tobacco are for regulatory and taxation purposes.
Agreed. Think of all the additional money from regulation and taxes that the NFL could get handed to them by the cities and states as subsidies!
Yes and marijuana is considered several times more potent than it was 30 years ago. Besides users stink like a dead pig. They make the air around them stink too. It costs as much to remediate the stench from a rental suite as it does to remediate a little mold behind the old bathroom tiles. The second-hand toxic waste in the air causes asthma attacks, too. And now the 20-somethings are using cocaine for their casual recreational weekend soirees. Is that the next one to campaign for? You know. A little plant product that makes you feel good? A very slippery slope.
not really. you could use a little education on the subject and the fact that you compare it to cocaine proves that you don’t know as much about the issue as you think you do. also, do you really think “the 20-somethings” JUST started trying cocaine? i can play you songs from the 20’s referencing it as a party drug. all of that is besides the point – even if it’s more potent, smells bad, ruins rental suites, and whatever your point about cocaine was supposed to be, you’ve got no business telling other people what to put in their bodies.
Is it weed with Gordon? I was under the impression it was alcohol, but I have not been following that story.
He keeps getting popped for weed but I wouldn’t be surprised if has a general substance abuse issue
Its weed with gordon..justin blackmon was the one with alcoholism issues i think
Nope Gordon got suspended for failing a drug test..for alcohol.
he was suspended in college and in the NFL for weed….i think his last 2 suspensions were alcohol related. He was arrested for driving while impaired and suspended for that and at that point was under the NFL substance abuse policy which means he cannot drink or obviously do drugs for a period of time…he violated that again by drinking wine on a flight ( that was his story).
Meanwhile, Manziel is starting in the league after a DUI earlier this year and probably will get busted for more DUIs. Gordon’s case still baffles me.
i’m guessing this is Manziel’s first incident?
I don’t think so. This might be his second this year if I remember correctly
“For example, in a large-scale survey published in 1994 epidemiologist James Anthony, then at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and his colleagues asked more than 8,000 people between the ages of 15 and 64 about their use of marijuana and other drugs. The researchers found that of those who had tried marijuana at least once, about 9 percent eventually fit a diagnosis of cannabis dependence. The corresponding figure for alcohol was 15 percent; **for cocaine, 17 percent**; for heroin, 23 percent; and for nicotine, 32 percent.”
– from Scientific American.
This study is 21 years old. And as mentioned elsewhere, many 2o-somethings now believe that a little cocaine never hurt anybody.
Because of the cap cost, I don’t see Murray being traded until after the 2016 season at the earliest. I realize the cap is rising so that the percentage impact of a release/trade of Murray makes a deal technically feasible I doubt the Eagles would want that much dead money on the books.
you do realize trades are over, right?
Looking back at the punt return by Desean… yeah it was a really bad idea and it cost him the game, but his teammates hardly threw any blocks once he reversed field. I’m not defending him, just pointing it out.
That very easily could have been one of those plays where you go, “oh no, no, no…..Yes!”
If RMatt is back, it will not overly surprise me if Murray is a healthy inactive on Sunday.
I’ll have to disagree with you there. Murray, complaints and all, is the only guy we have I trust to grind out tough yards late in games. Sproles is too small, Barner sucks and shouldn’t be on the roster, and Mathews fell down when we needed tough yards late in the Atlanta (or Dallas I forget which) game early in the year.
I’m not overly pumped with Murray’s crying about touches, but the guy is still the best talent we have there.
Murray also seems to get better as the game goes along, taking advantage of tired defenders. I know you were high on one of the lower depth RBs in preseason, but why do you say Barner sucks?
lol, other than his potentially game-losing fumble >.<
Yeah the fumble was bad. But it was one bad play. Murray fumbled and cost his team a win in the playoffs vs GB.
I wouldn’t put Barner in the Austin category for one bad play just yet.
That’s probably fair! I just won’t really ever tolerate Barner on this roster because I see him as the lesser of the two options to have kept.
I wanted to keep Mostert too but its hard to be upset over the 4th RB.
Im more concerned with the Qb/WR connection and us not going deep against single coverage
Because I wanted Mostert on the roster over Barner and that fumble was flat out putrid at the end of the game on Sunday.
And you’re 100% correct that Murray is a guy who gets better late in games after he’s in a rhythm.
If a defender hit the ball on Murray, Mathews, or Sproles the way he hit it on Barner, the ball would have been loose. Simple as that.
I understand why people are down on the fumble, but I think you have to look at the context. And you also shouldn’t devalue his other contributions in that game.
Come on, Mike. You are better than that. Don’t let your irrational dislike of Barner cloud your judgement. Murray’s actions are the kind of thing I would expect from Kaepernick. How would you react to Kaep acting this way?
Poorly, most likely.
Where I’m torn with Murray is that I really liked the signing and really see most of why he’s not running well as a function of my dislike of the run blocking from our G-C-G combo and play calling which is ill-suited to Murray’s style as a player.
I’m also having mixed emotions on the guy going to Lurie to gripe if he legitimately was lied to by Kelly about what the play calling was going to be this year as was stated in the Pro Football Talk story.
So I guess I’ll have to stand guilty as charge with applying the Jimmy Johnson version of “fair” to my views on the actions of one player vs. another.
After everything this city and team has been thru this past month of misery, I find it disgusting that something good finally happens, we win our biggest game of the season, and this selfish prick went over the RB coach’s head, Shurmurs head. And even over Chips head to go cry to the owner about his touches… We have had some selfish players in Philly like DESEAN.. But this is such an extreme level of selfishness where Murray is showing he cares about NO ONE but himself
..
This wasnt just our biggest win of the season. This win meant so much to Jeffrey LURIE im sure, after years of losing to his friend Bob Kraft and the Pats.
For This City, sundays wins TRANSCENDS This season. Whether we finish 5-11 or 9-7, every single person on this site will remember the first time the Eagles beat Tom Brady, and it’s even more special that we did it in Brady’s house… 10 years from now, we will probably have forgotten most of this season, But EVERYONE in philly will remember the 2015 chip kelly team that finally beat Tom Brady… The Players and the coaches DESPERATELY needed the win, and this was a SPECIAL WIN for EVERYONE from the Owner, Chip and the coaches, Bradford and the players, and it will be remembered as a special win in the eyes of the Fans… Such an Important and Specual win. And this Selfish Cowboy chose NOW to go cry to the owner? I hope LURIE kicked Him out of his office for being a selfish Prick.
..
This,really disgusts me….. And you know why this happened right? Because this is behavior that was acceptable in Dallas. Im sure he is used to going to complain to Jerry Jones, which has created a CULTURE that has Nuetered it’s head coach Jason Garrett.. Just look at Jerry Jones overruling Garrett about Greg Hardy… this is normal behavior in Dallas, but it’s so NOT ACCEPTABLE in this city, and the fact that you do this NOW AFTER such an important and special win is just despicable… I am baffled by this selfish behavior.
..
After everything we have been thru, to do this NOW after a special win just shows you care about no one but yourself.. but even without the Patriots win, going above your HEADCoach is NOT ACCEPTABLE behavior, and if you knew anything about Jeff LURIE, you would KNOW that he is a handa off owner who will NOT Respect such selfish, sneaky behavior circumventing the HEADCoach of the Eagles.. We can Thank Jerry jones for Murray thinking that this is acceptable behavior.
..
Hopefully Chip has LEARNED a thng or two about the importance of accountability and has enough balls to deactivate Murray for the Bills game…even if Ryan Mathews can’t play sunday, Murray needs to be deactivated…. If Chip announces tomorrow that Murray will be deactivated sunday, I bet we see a team that plays its ass off… While Murrays actions are disgusting, he is providing chip with an opportunity to really seize control of the Lockerroom and unify the team for the final stretch of games
I guess some tendencies don’t go away. I am sure Murray is so used to going up to Jerruh Boy over there, as do the rest of the cowturds, that he didn’t think it was a problem to go cry to the owner. Simple solution for Murray, stop running the ball out of bounds and running like a bitch by falling before hits come. I see people are still trashing Barner but at least him and Sproles were all about grinding out hard yards and Murray has just refused to do that.
Outside of the fumble I thought Barner played well.
My thoughts exactly Will.
This is an excellent point about his prior situation. This kind of thing was probably the norm.
Yup… I wrote something similar above… This behavior was normal in Dallas, which is why they have a coach with no power who has been completely Nuetered by jerry Jones, see the Hardy situation as a perfect example..
..
We need to set him straight now, I assume a hands off owner like LURIE doesn’t like to see a RB go over chips head… Clearly we need to teach Demarco that the pussy cowboy behavior DOESNT work in Philly.
I hope chip deactivates him. Worst thing he can do is try to get him more involved. That would set a dangerous precedent.
Yup! It doesn’t have to be some big Issue… He can increase his carries in the Cardinals game, but he has to be deactivTed for one game,,..you can’t have a guy being upset for his own reasons after the 1st win in a month.
..
I don’t believe the Tampa and Detroit losses wouldhave been the worst two game skid in Franchise hstory had Murray and Austin been held accountable for their disgraceful lack of effort in the Miami game. I don’t know if punishng those two would have won us the Tampa and Detroit game, but I damn sure don’t THNK we would have seen such a gutless effort, so bad that we had to wonder if players quit on chip in the two games after the Miami game. I believe we would have seen players actually fight for us against Tampa and Detroit had chip made it clear to the locker room that such a lack of effort would not be tolerated.
..
i think we have a better chance of,beating the bills if chip takes a stand and deactivates Murray. Then everything can get back to the Cardinals game. we NEED to start holding guys accountable. Can’t let murray continue to get away with crap, like sliding in the Miami game. Just because of his high paid contract… Deactivate him for one game. Instead of using the big win to try and turn the season around, this team now has to spend the week being bombarded with questions about murray…. What makes it worse is he is crying about touches when he is being paid more than what we are getting out of him, and crying about more touches when he has like a 3yards per carry average…. You want to complain about lack of touches, do it AFER A LOSS!
..
Beating The Patriots should allow us to enjoy one week without drama and negativity, yet we are now going to spend the week talkng about demarco.
..
Id be embarressed to be demarco, taking this shit to the Owner, When LURIE is probably enjoying beating the Pats more than anyone..
.
CLEARLY this year hasnt worked out the way Murray and Chip would have liked, crying to a hands off Owner isn’t going to solve anything. We are Stuck with Murray at least 1 more year. chip either has to design some packages that put Murray in better position to be successful, for example łet him run a few plays from under center with Trey Burton as his lead blocker….but he may not even need his own package next year…. With a much improved OL, and an offseason to get more comfortable running out of shotgun, he may start producing the way chip envisioned in his offense… I think the lack of offseason reps and OL struggles have really hurt his game especially early in the season.. And he made all kinds of comments about how much he is valuing each Practice rep he gets, which says he was not yet confortable running in this very different offense than what he ran out of in dallas..
..
Improve the OL and another offseason of getting comfortable running out of the gun could solve his problems… EITHER HE needs to adjust to this offense, or chip has to adjust to his talents and add some different packages for Murray for next year. Because we are stuck with each other for at least 1 more year
I don’t know about all of that with the way you paint Murray. First, he has been unhappy and willing to show it for weeks. I am giving him the benefit of the doubt that he worked his way up the chain of command with his complaints. Second, I don’t think it is selfishness. I think he wants to play better, but I am giving him the benefit of the doubt again, that he wants to help the team more, not better his stats at the expense of the team.
That said, I am still not having him active this week. You earn playing time by making the most of your opportunities. Not only can Murray not get any better at the sweep, he is not even the most effective between the tackles.
If he is dressed, Chip can’t win. Play him one additional snap and he is caving to whiny players. Play him less and Murray becomes a distraction on the sidelines. Play him the exact number and Chip is a petty, arrogant prick. He can’t win, so Murray doesn’t dress.
We don’t really know if Murray was complaining or just making conversation. Was the plane bugged? Did a Dallas reporter have a spy onboard?
Ed Werder reported the story….he is still very plugged into the Dallas Cowboys and may know some contacts who know and still speak to Demarco or Werder may have spoken to Demarco’s agent……or this could be the work of Demarcos agent to do a bit of damage control for his client who was more or less benched on Sunday and could be on his way out of here.
Why would he be on his way out? Seattle has found Jimmy Graham to be a poor fit for that team, but I don’t see national headlines about it.
There were some headlines earlier this season about Graham being unhappy, especially when the Seahawks opened the season 0-2. It may not be a huge factor but i think the volume gets turned up a little for a story about the Eagles because it’s about Chip Kelly, who i think has become an even more polarizing figure in the NFL especially since he became GM. Also Demarco is seen as the only “star” on this Eagles team from a national perspective.
I think it’s possible he is moved in the off-season, but not likely because of the financial ramifications and due to the fact not many franchises are going to give up much for an over-payed and relatively used up RB which is exactly what Murray has looked like this season.
a dallas reporter, perhaps murray or his agent has connections with the reporter. makes sense that they do. and then perhaps murray and his agent felt the need to go public with it, make it a stink, make it a distraction for this week to pressure Kelly into playing him more to get rid of the media and fan chatter about it
This is it guys… Our path to the super bowl is clear. Do you believe?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swo51-CG9Ss
I believe I’m going to go back to screaming and yelling on every close play like I was until the Tampa choke took the wind out of my sails.
Coming back. Triumphing against all odds. Speeded-up fight scenes. Avenging a friend. Okay. But wrapping oneself in the flag? Very strange. Although the Kool Aid drinkers seem to like it.
Eh, I only chose the song not the picture ;).
I think people need to read into the context of the Murray/Lurie interaction.
Here’s what probably actually happened: Lurie went around congratulating the players on the plane. He talked to Murray, told him good job, and Murray says something like “I’m happy to contribute. I just want to contribute as much as possible because I believe in this team. I want to carry the load on my back as much as possible.”
Then it gets misrepresented and turned into a grown man whining to his boss’s boss.
That’s the trouble with “reading in”. Every reader reads at a different level…
There is reading between the lines, and there is inserting something juicy yourself between the lines.
That’s certainly reasonable.
I also tend to think Shurmur’s comments, or non-comments, on the subject have bearing on people’s thoughts of the situation. With what happened Sunday, Shurmur being non-committal on Murray, and the article coming out that he went to Lurie is really looks like was just whining. Your take on it is certainly feasible but its hard to read it that way with everything else that has transpired.
From my understanding, This is a seperate incident from LURIE going around talking to everyone in the locker room.
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Joe Banner thinks this is a very big deal for whatever THATS worth
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Guess we will find out sunday…. There are players in the locker room that have been down on Murray since he slid against Miami. this probably isn’t going to make those players feel better about Murray.
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Personally, I think chip has to deactivate him for one week, Take away all his practice reps this week and order the players to shut up about this to the media … Keep this mess in house, and Murray can have his spot back after the Bills game.. Id rather have Murray on the field, but I think the team will respect chip more if he sends Murray a message and holds the high paid RB accountable, because CLEARLY, cutting his touches in the Pats game DIDNT get thru to Murray, it only made things worse.. We already heard players grumbling about Murrays lack of effort when he slid. I Think it would be a mistake if Chip DOESNT deactivate him for sunday… But that’s just speculation… gess we will find out sunday
You don’t deactivate your 8m running back, especially when he’s shown a history of character and has never had issues before. You might limit his touches, but benching him doesn’t really make sense.
Lol ok… Your 8mil running back who averages 3 yards, and slid to avoid contact from a 190lb corner 3 weeks ago which already rubbed teammates the wrong way, complaining after the first good thing that haoened to this team in a month
I think this is more accurate of what happened. Demarco doesn’t strike me as a guy to throw a fit or thinks of himself as some superstar. With that said it isn’t good when a player goes behind his coaches back, but like someone else has said he may think this is ok because of the way things were in Dallas.
When Chip first signed Demarco i didn’t like it from a financial standpoint. I didn’t see the “fit” as much of a problem because i thought chip would run the ball between the tackles more, but this hasn’t been the case. I have a tough time getting upset at Murray because of the way he has been used in this offense. How many times can Chip run a sweep for a guy who has trouble getting to the edge when he is a guy who made his bones running in between the tackles. People can get mad at Murray for his stat line but it’s a direct result of Chip’s playcalling for him. 2 weeks ago in the Bucs game Murray strictly ran between the tackles and averaged 4.9 ypc. he only ran it 13 times because the Bucs scored at will and the Birds were trying to play catchup. Also the o-line especially in the middle has been below average all year. I’ll admit Murray has been lethargic at times and has been reluctant to hit holes or not having the vision to see them quickly enough, but his production is more the fault of our coach and GM than it is Demarco. He should have never of been signed if this is what Chips plans were for him.
it seems really simple – we all have seen it, havent we? he is slow. i remember after his first few carries, nothing much happened, no big deal. but then someone ran the ball, did not see who it was at the moment, maybe Murray was still in. But how fast the rb ran caught my eye, was like wow, look at that. then turns out it wasnt murray. the rb looked so fast because it was in contrast to murray. all three other rbs have been this way. if i am not paying attention,and look up during a play, i can tell just by the speed of the rb, and it is not close.
That’s kind of what I figured too. Although don’t know why the Dallas mouthpiece guy is involved
The egos on professional athletes are astonoshing. He watches the film. He sees his stats. He watches the other guys have success that he isn’t having and somehow it’s not his fault? How about keep your mouth shut, grind it out, and prove to your coaches and teammates that you deserve the carries. Everyone that has watched the games knows he’s not even better than Kenjon Barner. Let that sink in Demarco. He better run like his ass is on fire against the Bills.
I hear you… If you are gpimg to complain about your role, how about you wait to do it after a loss.
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Murray has been an eagle for 3 months so he doesn’t care, but BEATING the Patriots is special for Eagle fans,. 10 years from now, every single one of us will remember when the 2015 Eagles went into Brady’s House and won.. This win probabky means more to LUrie than anyone, and this hands off owner, who finally beat his friend Bob Kraft has a player going behind chips back, coming to him to complain about hs role in the Offense? I can’t imagine This made a good impression on Lurie
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We had players who were complaining to the media about Murrays lack of effort. Sliding against Miami, since then we had a Miserable month, and we Finally win a Game, a BIG ONE at that, and teammates are hearing that he went to the owner to cry about his role? That’s just not a good idea..and I don’t think it leaves a good impression with Lurie, the coaches, the players or the Fans.
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Hopefully Chip learned hs lesson about the need to hold playërs accountable, we will find out Sunday..
This is something Ryan Mathews should do, since he’s averaging twice as many yards per carry than demarco. Now that would make sense.
let me know when Kenjon Barner rushes for 1845 yards in a single season
he was a good back last year, but we are talking about right now
People going gaga for 9 carries and 43 yards now? Let this sink in for you. Almost half of those yards came from one run.
Going around the coaching staff entirely and going directly to the owner is generally followed by one of two things:
1. The player is moved/released
2. The coach is fired
One of those is coming this offseason and it will be Murray.
last week it wouldn’t have been so clear.
Shady went On Ike Reese radio show today and said he stands by his comments about chip…
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Going to be a fun week
Repeating myself
“This guy went to college for 4 years? After deciphering the gibberish falling out of his mouth, I believe he is saying he stands by his previous gibberish comments? Hard to tell. I do know one thing. As a female type person, I definitely don’t want him standing by me!”
are you referring to Ike or Shady?
A majority of the NFL.
Certainly didn’t do anything to enhance my opinion of McCoy. Punk move by a guy who I think is generally a punk off the field.
So totally OT but I have literally nowhere to go to discuss NBA things online (yahoo comments are frightening) but the GSW right now I think are doing something unprecedented in sports, they haven’t just beaten the record for consecutive wins to start a season, they’ve shattered it. It’s not unrealistic that they might go for the record for consecutive regular season wins, which they’re currently 7 back of.
I truly believe the Bulls record of 72 wins in a season will be threatened, and Steph Curry is playing in a whole different universe from the rest of the NBA.
Lebron who? This is the Warriors league now.
there was an article i read somewhere the other day that went back and looked at reactions from writers and people around the league when GS decided to give Curry a 4 yr. $44 mil ext. a lot of people thought it was risky but mainly because of his history of ankle injuries and now it looks like a steal…..i never saw the guy becoming this special…..and i love watching the team.
Yeah… That is a ridiculous steal. I love that he’s not publicly griping about getting more money too, that’s refreshing from an athlete. There are never enough millions to satisfy them.
Curry was also born wealthy
Yes, barring injuries, 72 is there for the taking. It will be interesting to see if the Spurs can get their act together enough to seriously challenge them. With Kawhi and Green, they have two wings who can put a serious dent in the Warriors’ perimeter game. They also have a two good bigs who could bully them on the inside. Their current problem is integrating Aldridge, specialist of the much-aligned long two, and getting Danny Green’s 3-point stroke on track.
More Spurs fun:
*the Spurs are leading the world with a 92.0 defensive rating. For some perspective, the Warriors led the league last season at 98.2, while the Spurs were third at 99.6.
*The Spurs have held opponents to 85 points or less in 12 of 22 games — all last season they turned that trick just seven times.
* the Spurs have trailed for fewer fourth quarter minutes this season than the Warriors.
http://www.poundingtherock.com/2015/12/8/9870134/spurs-smothering-defense-golden-state-offense
I don’t blame Demarco for being frustrated but he’s being immature as shit letting this continue to get to the media. The interior OL stinks and this is a guy that made a living running through the gut not jet sweeps (leave those for Mathews/Sproles).
Worse than that. Kind of move that precipitates a move either with that player or coach. Even more amateurish after a week where Murray saw his PT reduced.
I’m sure Staley and Shurmur have turned on Murray after that instead of coming to them first. Question is what does Kelly do this week. Does he worry about the longer-term implications of benching Murray or does he see this as a direct challenge to him as the coach which almost necessitates a direct response by him?
I would stick to the rotation. People are forgetting that Murray had like 400 carries last year. I’m sure Chip has that as a sensible argument to keep him fresh next year (when we might be a better team). As much as I like getting into the playoffs, this simply isn’t a team that will win in it so why run him into the ground like Dallas did last season?
All that is true, except Murray has been less successful running between the tackles than Sproles, Mathews, and now even Barner it seems. He just seems to take so long to get up to speed.
I went back and watched some highlights of Murray in his career year for the Cowgirls. Murray has always hesitated behind the line for a hole to open up. The problem is..there’s no holes opening up anywhere here. He’s not a creative runner like our other 3 backs so he’s not really a fit for us until we fix up our OL.
Has it been definitively reported when the conversation between Murray and Lurie took place? I read somewhere it may have occurred on the team plane, but have not read a report of when in occurred.
Is is possible that this conversation happened before the Pats game instead of after? That could explain why Sproles got the start instead of Murray and why they used Murray so little in that game. It also seems weird that Murray would think he would get any support from Lurie after they just beat the Pats.
maybe lurie said “why so sad?”