Game Review – PS Opener – PHI 17, TB 9 – The Defense
Posted: August 18th, 2016 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 466 Comments »There has been a lot of optimism and even excitement about the Eagles defense. Doug Pederson hired a terrific defensive coordinator in Jim Schwartz. He has a strong track record of success. And Schwartz moved the team back to the 4-3, which is a better fit for the Eagles personnel. Good coach. Good players. Good scheme.
Last Thursday we finally got to see the new Eagles defense in action. It was everything we hoped for. There were sacks, forced fumbles, interceptions, tackles-for-loss and just some overall good play. Tampa ran 21 times and gained only 31 yards.
Schwartz is a demanding coach and he will have plenty of things to correct. Screen passes were way too effective. Those are going to burn you when you attack the way the Eagles do, but you still have to limit their effectiveness. There were some plays where defensive backs took bad angles or were in bad position. There were a few missed tackles. There were some dropped interceptions. The Eagles played well, but that’s not good enough for Schwartz. He wants the defense to be great.
I thought the defense looked surprisingly cohesive. There were a lot of young and new players on the field, all in a new scheme. There weren’t many missed assignments from what I could tell. There wasn’t a lot of confusion. The defense played well as individuals and as a group. That’s very encouraging.
One of the real highlights for me is that the new staff has gotten several players to up their game. That’s a sign that the coaches know how to teach and to motivate.
DL
I’m not going to say much about the starters. We know these players well. I thought everyone looked comfortable in the new scheme. If Fletcher Cox didn’t get his strip sack of Jameis Winston, Bennie Logan was there to sack him. Connor Barwin and Vinny Curry brought heat off the edge. Brandon Graham stood out on a couple of run plays. The starters on the DL should have a big year. The questions I had were all about the backups.
Beau Allen – I wondered if Allen would be traded, or even cut. I didn’t see him as a good fit for the new scheme at all. He was a 3-4 NT as a Senior at Wisconsin and then for the past 2 years in the NFL. He looks like a NT. In watching the game live, I thought he was okay. When I went back and studied the game, I was blown away. Was that really Beau Allen? He was quick off the ball. He was disruptive. He used his strength and power well. I loved his motor. Used his hands well in shedding blocks. Had one play where he used a club move to get by the LG and hit the QB just as the ball was out. Used quickness on another rush and got a big shot on the QB. He had a TFL and half a sack. Based on what I saw, he not only will make the team, but deserves to be part of the DL rotation.
Taylor Hart – The Training Camp reports have not been encouraging on Hart. But he played well in the game. I always thought he could be a player that Schwartz might like. Schwartz tends to like tall interior DL. And Hart is more athletic than most people realize. Hart was quick off the ball. He looked like a natural fit at DT. Had one TFL. Got to the inside and the OG couldn’t block him. Hart was a playmaker in college and you could see that ability in the game. Also did well when he had to take on double teams. Got some pressure on the QB.
Destiny Vaeao – The UDFA has generated good buzz at TC. You could see why in the game. He showed a good combination of size, strength and athleticism. Had one TFL. Didn’t stand out like the others, but looks like he could be an ideal practice squad candidate.
Aziz Shittu – Solid showing. Made one tackle. Shed block and grabbed RB as he was headed upfield. Got off blocks and helped on some other run plays. Expected to see more quickness out of him.
Steven Means – Fantastic game. Played RDE and got pressure on several plays. Used quickness off the edge to get by the LT. Used a spin move to pressure the QB into throwing an INT. Had a strip-sack where he got by the LT and knocked the ball out of the QB’s hand from behind. You want backups and young players to jump off the screen. Means did exactly that, living up to the TC hype. Not just a 1-trick pony. Did a good job of setting the edge on run plays.
Alex McCalister – Up and down game. Played LDE. Got pressure on the final couple of plays of the half. Set the edge well on the play where Vaeao got his TFL. RB had nowhere to go. Got pressure on the final series of the game. Used a great shoulder dip to fly by the RT. Has serious potential Must be more consistent.
LB
Jordan Hicks – Good game. First time playing MLB in the NFL. Was in on 2 tackles. Made smart reads and played his gaps well. Just watch this clip from Fran Duffy to see how Hicks combines IQ and ability.
Shot 1 – #Eagles scheme allows whole front 7 to attack. LBs blow this Trap play up thx to instincts & decisiveness pic.twitter.com/qxIR1x0ZWY
— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) August 13, 2016
Nigel Bradham – SAM. Up and down game. Got burned on a couple of screens. Was unable to beat the blocker and stop or even slow down the plays. Stuffed one run play for a short gain. Was physical with blockers in the run game.
Najee Goode – Great game. Opened things up with a strip of the returner on the opening kickoff. Flew down the field and hit the KOR hard, knocking the ball loose. Played WLB with the starters and then SAM with the backups. Had 3 tackles on defense. One time he put a receiver down short of the sticks on 3rd down. Blitzed and lit up the QB on a pass play. Flew around the field and was physical. Definitely the top backup at LB.
Joe Walker – Solid showing in his first NFL game. Backup MLB. Played well enough the team can be comfortable with him for another week, if not more. Walker didn’t make any obvious mental mistakes. He showed good range in coverage. He shot up the field on run plays. His highlight moment was getting a TFL on 4th/1 run. Walker made a good read, penetrated and made the tackle. Also had a couple of tackles on STs.
Deontae Skinner – Backup WLB. Had a couple of tackles. Blitzed and hit the QB. Didn’t stand out, good or bad.
Myke Tavarres – Played on the 3rd string D. Has a long way to go. Showed his athleticism late in the game when he came up and hit receiver quickly and physically. Has some burst and is a powerful hitter. Looked raw, but talented.
Don Cherry – Good game. 3rd string MLB. Got in on a couple of tackles. Looked solid in coverage. He’s not going to push for a roster spot, but does have some talent.
Quentin Gause – Picked off a pass. CB broke it up and ball got knocked into the air. Gause hustled over and picked it off. Added a nice return.
S
Rodney McLeod – Didn’t play a lot. Was in on a couple of tackles. Had some pop. Mainly played deep.
Chris Maragos – Best game as an Eagle. Recovered fumble on opening KO. Started at S. Played near the LOS a lot and was very good against the run. Credited with 2 tackles. Helped clog running lanes on a regular basis. Picked off a pass. Looked like he was in Cover 2 and made a good play on an overthrown pass. Did have to go up and catch the ball up high. Not a gimme. Had a big hit on STs.
Jaylen Watkins – The best game he’s played since 3rd grade. Maybe ever. Missed a couple of early tackles. Immediately I thought “Here we go again.” Oops. Watkins got his stuff together and started making plays and tackles all over the field. Credited with 4 solo tackles. Sure seemed like more than that. Biggest thing for me is that he was aggressive. Old Jaylen reached. He wanted to look like he was trying, but his heart wasn’t in tackling. The guy on Thursday went after people. That’s a huge step forward for him. Was outstanding in coverage. Only credited with one pass breakup, but he was all over guys on several plays. Covered TEs on short routes, but also covered well when playing back at deep Safety. Took a huge step forward in trying to become the #3 Safety.
Ed Reynolds – Like Jaylen, another guy with a history of bad tackline. Like Jaylen, he looked like a completely different player against the Bucs. Led the Eagles with 7 tackles. Had a TFL when a run got spilled to the outside. He flew up and put the guy down. Looked comfortable in 8-man fronts where he had to play in heavy traffic. Had one bad moment in the game. Could have tackled the WR who caught the lone TD, but didn’t make the play.
Blake Countess – I had high hopes, but he didn’t stand out in a good way. Had a STs penalty. Later screwed up in coverage by taking a bad angle and turning a short gain into more than it should have been. Needs to get a lot better in a hurry if he’s going to challenge for a roster spot.
Nick Perry – Dropped an easy INT late in the game. Ball came right to him. Just dropped it.
CB
Leodis McKelvin – Made one mistake, but it was costly. Dropped into zone coverage. Read the play and knew where the ball was going. Got there, but for some reason didn’t get in front of the WR. Tried to play the ball from behind. Missed and the WR had an easy TD. Should have been broken up at the least, possibly picked off. No idea what McKelvin was thinking on that play. Quiet game other than that.
Ron Brooks – Played inside and outside. Highlight play came on 3rd down. Allowed short catch, but kept the receiver just short of the sticks. Good tackle.
Eric Rowe – Disappointing. Continues to struggle in the new defense and I don’t know why. Drew an OPI call, but that was generous. He’s not terrible, with receivers just running by him left and right. But he looks nothing like the guy who flashed good ability last year. Doesn’t seem to be playing with confidence. Had a STs penalty as well.
Aaron Grymes – Played Nickel. Covered well on short throws. Got in on a couple of tackles.
C.J. Smith – Outstanding game. Aggressive and instinctive. Read routes and broke on the ball. Broke up 3 passes. Picked off one. One of his PBUs was the ball that Gause picked off. Smith deserves more playing time in the next game. Need to see if he can repeat that performance.
Jalen Mills – Up and down game. Looked good in coverage on some plays. Did draw a PI call and got away with PI on another play. Had perfect coverage on a throw over the middle and drew an OPI on that. Needs to tackle better. Also made mistakes on STs. Showed good ability, but way too sloppy.
Denzel Rice – Solid night in coverage. Played inside and outside. Got in on a couple of tackles.
Randall Evans – Tackled well. Had 4 solo stops. Didn’t stand out in coverage. Played outside.
STs
Donnie Jones – Averaged 47.4 per punt, but did have one shank and a couple of touchbacks. Had one 62-yard blast that completely flipped the field.
Caleb Sturgis – Nailed a 42-yd FG. Right down the middle.
The Eagles had the guys doing different things on kickoffs. They weren’t just crushing the ball. Tried kicking right to the goal line to force returns. Both Sturgis and Parkey did pretty well at this.
Cover units allowed 21-yd punt return and 25-yd KOR. That needs to be cleaned up.
_
You do not want to be on the other end of Beau Allen’s club move. I’ve seen him in real life and his arms are roughly the circumference of a grown man’s chest.
From what I hear, you also do not want to be on the other end of an Agholor club move.
savage
Beau is a super cool guy, always rooting for him. He has these big tree trunks for limbs, so people are always surprised by the way he moves.
He does the goofiest as shit commercials with Bob’s Furniture too.
[…] Tommy Lawlor There has been a lot of optimism and even excitement about the Eagles defense. Doug Pederson hired […]
Awesome breakdown Tommy. This defense is really exciting for the first time in a while. If Najee Goode continues to play well it would be a huge relief.
As for the game tonight: the silver lining to Wentz not playing is that I don’t feel any obligation to stay up to watch the abysmal 3rd string offensive line. Thanks ahead of time for being a true hero to watch that second half to tell me how bad they stunk in detail. 😀
Awesome work, Tommy. Now where’s the gameday thread?! 😉
Well shit won’t be home in time for opening drive and maybe first half of first quarter. Relying on you wonderful people to keep me filled in.
Its amazing how great Maragos is. He’s everywhere and Im glad to see him getting more field time on DEF. Put him in at QB? (i kid)
Omg haaaaaaaaaaaa thats so funny Caleb Sturgis. Concussed by a punt. I mean it’s not funny, but it is.
It’s amazingly hilarious. Let’s be honest.
Is MSII playing tonight?
Don’t think so. May be wrong.
Sturg got bonked on the head by a punt in pregame and has a concussion…wtf?
tuned in late, and that was the only thing i got from pregame. i can’t believe that actually happened.
Are our CBs allowed to knock down passes like that?
The coaches allow it this year.
Interesting. I wasn’t sure they were even allowed to look at the ball before it was caught by a WR.
Cox was a beast on that run stuff there.
Who had the pass breakup vs heyward bey on the first pass? Good coverage
Nolan.
You know Media Mike, I know you despise Barner but… he looks like a natural PR.
penalty, bring it back
Sammie Coates with a great contested catch showing above average hands!
lol
Laughing because you know its true.
Pitt has some great linebackers
great play call right there,
Donnie Jones rules the universe.
He even did the right thing and injured Caleb Sturgis so that Cody Parkey can get his job back. Good guy Donnie.
best play so far is from our punter
Nolan begs to differ.
pick six
Wooo! Nolan!
I would like to reiterate a point I made last week, Lurie really screwed the fans this year by signing a fucking contract with Comcast. As a satellite TV owner, I and many thousands of other fans, cannot watch tonight’s game because it is blacked out on the NFL Network since we live in the Philly media market.
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
For once I lucked out then, I don’t have TV, but the game pass I buy fron nfl.com for re watching the tape during the season lets me watch preseason live.
Nolan having a great game..1 pbu and a pick six so far
Please welcome your opening day starter at CB, Nolan Carroll!
He played really good last year too, right up until he had a horrific two-game stretch before going on IR. Carroll is fools gold.
Carrol up to his usual off-season dominance
maragos
I wonder if they let sammy throw one past 10 yds tonight
nolan is huge tonight
I hate how opposing WR’s always seem to push our corners around on screens but our guys always seem to get stonewalled.
wasn’t well executed on their part, they went for a double on Carrol and left Mcleod unblocked, real bad angle on his part, should have been stuffed, Carrol got the tackle though, having a nice game.
pitt bullying the eagles D
A CB that hits?
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Hell yeah, nice play Mcckelvin, knocked that sucker out.
Jenkins with the hands.
Probably the first time since he’s been an Eagle that we can say that.
true, he’s dropped his share of ints
what a play, worried about getting the PI on that coverage though, hate it when the CB’s aren’t looking for the ball.
thought a flag for sure right there
I said this before: this Eagles team reminds me so much of AR’s Eagles in the early 2000.
yep, I believe it true
WR with a catch, wow
are they going to eagles announcers in the 2nd half
Now lets do about 60 of those this season ags and we’ll be cool
Someone tell Dougie to hold that damn card over his face or the play calls will be stolen.
and just go ahead and run on 3rd and 2, guess it is better than the old Reid, 3rd and short, “throw it deep, they’ll never see it coming” trick
its preseason I know, but dang
All Graham there. Nice play.
not very good coverage on that punt. barner could have had some room to run
the protection on the outside has been real bad so far in the preseason
Eli Rogers would be the best WR on our team
brave call to have a double fake and hang Sammy out there for that long waiting to get crushed with this line lol
yikes
…I just don’t understand this offense
This offense is rough to watch.
don’t understand the route, no reason for celek to be a read if he sits on a route before the sticks
Let’s hope opposing DCs feel the same way, but don’t hold your breath.
This is so hard to watch. I know it’s preseason and it’s supposed to be. But without the Carson Wentz possibility, this is just brutal.
well we know the O seriously lacks talent. It will take some serious x’s and o’s magic to get anything out of this O. Doug wouldn’t be showing that in the preseason, but it’s fair to doubt it will be there.
Hopefully more Ertz in the regular season. Matthews is missed here as well
that turf is interesting, maybe the most interesting thing tonight
Defense is tackling well
3rd down is still the achilles heel of this Defense so far.
was that a problem in the Bucs game, too? i didn’t catch most of that one…
1 drive only. Got killed with screens. But as usual, seems like 3rd and long we just struggle. I’ve seen some nice things on 3rd and short
I guess that is better than first down being the Achilles heel…
My decision after last year is that i refuse to evaluate any scheme based off preseason – individual players sure you can look and see positive signs but schemes i have no idea. Problem is you do not game plan so a lot of these 3rd down completions are against vanilla defense.
Smart defense by the “rookie” by pushing him out. More guys should use that. Just let the guy go up for the jump ball, then carry him out.
haha i always wondered why that doesn’t happen more often
before forward progress I always wondered why the defense didn’t kidnap the runner lol.
That is hella good body control.
watkins with a pretty nice tackle there
another one. Nice call by Tommy in this DGR
and another
is this game as bad as the stat line indicates?
pick
wowwwww grymes
that was nice, was having a meh game so far, he needed that. Good for him.
Maybe we should try Gryhmes at WR?!
Anyone have confidence that our WRs make that catch?
No.
You’ve been mentioning this reminds you of early 2000’s Eagles. Yet another way, teams moved between the 20’s well enough, but the teams has been super stout with the endzone in sight so far, just like JJ’s defenses.
JJ’s redzone, especially against the run, was awesome. I loved it when teams went for it on 4th down against the D. JJ coached those teams so well in that situation.
I remember the days when I would get excited when the opponent threw deep, knowing there was a good chance the outcome would benefit us.
Defense just keeps bailing with these endzone picks and TDs. Gonna win the game by themselves.
Fuckin A the defense came to play.
I know it’s only pre-season, but this defense has all the potential to be as good as Brian Dawkins’ led D back in the early 2000.
Agreed. I was arguing that point here the other week.
Plus with good special teams play there shouldn’t be any reason to not believe in winning this crappy NFCE..
Agreed think this could be like KC in 2013. Unnoticed top 5 defense with good special teams. Teams and Defense score 7 points, and Bradford has to score 2 TD’s with short fields and not turn the ball over. Think he should be able to deliver that and that should be enough to win a lot of games and compete in the NFC Least.
Dear Sam,
In order to run the 2 minute offense you may have to throw further than 3 yards.
Looks like my illicit feed is about 30 seconds slow. Excuse any late comments, please. It takes a long time for those tiny electrons to go from Philly to Eastern Europe and back.
Holy crap they caught it.
And then he dropped it.
and dropped it…
good call on that OPI, i think
Is this the first team Steelers D or second team.
“Great catch?!”
I don’t understand.
Good thing Bradford got as much money as he could, going to be a long season.
Aghs???
I can’t tell if the WRs are being decent or if the Steelers still have god awful DBs.
is that a Boykin joke?
Nope
these penalties are killer. This O isn’t good enough to shrug those off too often
It’s like every other play too. So painful to watch.
def not two in the same drive. oof.
i think they got away with a false start on the first play too
1 step forward, 10 yards back.
knew that check down was coming. So we blew 2 first downs on that drive?
Which unit was our O against that drive? Were the Steelers still with the first unit?
shut it
?? The fuck.
wow, TO
That answers the clock management question
thats funny right there
We have stopped scores, but we have been giving up long drives for the most part. Not sure it makes sense to be that confident in the defense.
And with that… proved worthwhile, but seems to me that is a situation where we got a good result for a bad process.
“That is called getting tossed out of the club.”
Agholor knows about that.
we aren’t going to ever be able to use that word again. I won’t be ordering the sandwich for years for fear of a savage Agholor burn lurking from you.
Woo! Marcus, way to flash.
he was literally lined up offsides. got a good jump, but started offsides…
and another pick
Apparently they don’t want to get out of this quarter.
Steelers may need to look for another backup QB.
Wow Steven Means… is going to make this team. Who is this kid? He’s been spectacular.
Nice job securing the pick Watkins.
nice job securing a job Watkins
very pleased with him. That’s a late bloomer.
steven means
Marcus Smith is going to be cut. What a terrible pick.
MAAAAARCUSS DARLING, AM I RIGHT?
Would have WAYYYY preferred our OC from last year. What are we even watching on offense?
why even throw it to huff
So Means and Smith each get their name called in one drive…for reasons that will explain their futures with the team.
Smith is toast. Adios amigo.
Team needs to be disciplined. Can’t let this shit fly in the regular season.
Huff doing Huff things
That’s an NFL catch Huff needs to make – Sammy Dollaz getting no help.
Nice drop Huff. Now get dropped off from the team.
how is he still on this team
Pretty sure this is the Steelers second unit that the Eagles O still can’t score on.
Oh good, I thought that was Sammy narcing out on Peters lol
IF Ertz could break a tackle he’d be a beast.
paul turner, he’s our best wr
Sammy puts the ball in the right place.
he’s showing some very nice things, if he ever gets more comfortable getting the ball downfield he’d be a very good qb
The problem is you don’t get to stand in a clean pocket and line up your shot all the time.
ertz not even looking
I have trouble putting Randle and Huff ahead of Turner.
good kick
Eyyyyy 3 points. Generated off the 4th turnover from the D lol.
Parkey perfect.
4 picks, we manage 3 points of turnovers
This offense is ugly… and this second half is only going to further emphasize that.
Offense is on a roll.
you should think about all the positives of this O so far……………………………………………………………………………
I did. Took 5 seconds.
I’m starting to have some doubts about our week 1 game against Cleveland lol.
Why? Because we might only force III turnovers from Robert Griffith?!
Rowe has been a headcase in coverage, but he is a very nice tackler
He had good coverage on that play on last drive.
didn’t see, will look for it when I rewatch though.
Skill still there, consistency lacking.
He didn’t press but he covered. Smith penalty though.
yeah, sometimes he has been pretty solid so far. He had some good snaps last week. But one play he jumped so hard on a route, so so wrong he went the wrong way so hard the ref thought he got pushed and drew an OPI, literally no contact lol
are you referring to the ST tackle after the kick off?
Obviously I wasn’t.
oh right, that play. i completely misread your post and thought you said ‘tackle’ – he had a good ST tackle on the kickoff.
It’s the preseason, but I’d still like to see Ertz out run/jump an inside LB. Also, Huff…? Like, how did he get to this point and he still can’t catch?
So, as long as our defense causes more turnovers than they allow points, we will be competitive? That sounds like a reasonable expectation. Super Bowl!
Worked for the ’85 Bears.
How bout that Huff?
Shotput on NBC right now. Love the yelling during the throw.
Remember when Chip Kelly promised Huff to draft him?!
Yes. That’s right. F u Chip!
How can he remain on the team? If it’s not a drop, then it’s a fumble. Maybe he could gamer a conditional late round pick.
Tbh I liked the pick. Huff never showed this level of incompetence in college.
that was a pretty dreadful kick return
Sooooo chase daniel?
nowhere to go but up?
you spoke too soon
If I had a dollar for every time we incorrectly made that assumption…
MM, so happy, so pissed
The main problem here, is that although the defense looked good with all the picks, most opposing QBs won’t suck at the level of Landry Jones.
Are you sure?
http://p.fod4.com/p/media/614c9ab47f/ZmzSu3lTROBVMKj7FI9A_manning2.jpg
That’s the issue I have with what we saw. It’s a bit of a false read potentially. We were giving up lots of long drives and got bailed out by TOs at the end. TOs are not exactly the most reliable thing game in game out, and especially considering the guys playing for the Steelers right now, I don’t think it is worth getting overly excited about.
On the other hand, you obviously rather see them get the turnovers than not, and it is also good that we were not seeing a ton of miscues with the defense as a whole leading to big plays and breakdowns.
The most positive thing, IMO, is that although the Steelers moved the ball, they had to earn it. No big yardage plays.
two penalties on this drive and we haven’t had a yard yet.
OMG! I liked it better when Sam came in threw 7 passes for 3TDs and we could all dream of a SB.
We don’t like Pittsburgh worms either.
Nice Barner run created hole.
Have we see that TE get on the field yet? Not ERTZ but the other good one that never plays?
haven’t seen any Trey so far, I think he’s injured. Pantale has had a nice camp so far. keeping an eye on him
Burton just got a decent play for almost a first down. ok, when i say that back it doesn’t sound so special but whatever.
Pantale had a catch earlier this drive
Fuck Walker knee inj. Grymes shoulder inj both out for game.
idiot
Yeah, that is a shame for both of them.
Give Chase credit there. Nice throw.
wow. that was really nice play
that was nice. tough play
Looking a TON better tonight than last week. So far, he is doing his job.
Pantale not helping him out any there. good throw. off his hands.
Yep.
Missed another wide open WR that wouldn’t have gotten him almost killled tho
Paul Turner baby!
he’s our best WR
Maybe it’s just me, but I always felt that Chip never really let guys compete to earn jobs. He had his preconceptions of who should and shouldn’t win jobs and unless was absolutely forced to change his opinion, that was the way it was going to be, regardless of TC and preseason performances. I’m hoping Pederson actually rewards players who perform well. So far, Turner has played well and if he continues playing like this should earn a job even if it means cutting some of our offseason pickups.
We have a WR.
Paul turner is a lock for the team
Guys like Paul Turner are why coaches are always bullshitting when they say the best guy wins the job.
Paul Turner needs to play with the 1s
wowzer turner!
Is that you Avant??
That’s who he reminds of but Turner might be a little quicker and more fluid.
Cant remember the last time I saw an Eagles WR do that.
awesome catch, liked the throw too
Beckham blocked the int. Good job.
wouldn’t have minded seeing a Mulligan on that and try that again
He was held too. CB disguised it but he impeded DGB imo.
Thought he wasn’t gonna play
seemed to be a last minute thing.
there were reports that he might get a few snaps tonight
in a very limited package, the one we just saw apparently
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2016/8/18/12545364/dorial-green-beckham-eagles-inactive-steelers-game
Thanks!
how much better is the OL play in this game just due to Lane Johnson being out there?
TD
I am amazed.
Yo Media Mike
Your boy Barner is looking pretty good. :-p
haha you beat me to it. i am genuinely surprised with what i’m seeing.
Barner=lock
Would like to see Smallwood (is that his name) before calling him a lock, but I think there is a case for 4 backs
And maybe 2 WRs.
Matthews, DGB, Paul Turner…and I guess Ags. That should suffice lol
yeah, but its shameful outside of matthews
smallwood is inactive today.
right, same last week, which is why I’m eager to see him play
So was Mostert. Henry Josey?
He’s probably flipping tables right now
I want to see more of DGB. Next offense series, let’s just throw fade routes every down.
Daniels needs to just chuck it up. Not that sissy shit throw he did.
Your not kidding. 4 feet higher and that’s a TD.
That was a poor throw it should have been easy but at least he looks a lot better with blocking in front of him.
We don’t want to give away our gameplan for the regular season.
Barner showed he’s got some wiggle on that drive. I’m feeling a bit more confident with him.
Um, what’s with the orange donut? I have no sound.
Oh, is this a riddle?! I love riddles!
Marcus Smith sighting!
What are the chances of a shutout?
Since you just jinxed it…zip!
I just reverse jinxed it, 100%
please no, if we shut down the Steelers without Roethlisberger, Brown, and Bell tonight, Karma dictates they will beat us about a 105 to nothin in week 3
he thought he was djax there for a minute
Media Mike is going to mention that punt return.
But we’ve already established that it was just like DJax.
Too many commercials with people whistling
Wow, Brandon Graham throwing up today. Played really well for a dude who was yucking.
love the reaction in the booth lol
Down to many guys who have no shot to make team.
speaking of the booth, shout out to Eagles for getting some very nice preseason guys in the booth. I watch on the nfl game pass, in previous years I almost always got stuck watching the other team’s broadcast and it’s been dreadful.
i’m not a fan of mayock calling this game. he’s a little too enthusiastic about… pretty much everything.
I like Mayock a lot. But I actually like Gruden as well, and he gets knocked for that same thing. Must be a style that works for me.
i appreciate what mayock has to say when he has a second to calm down first
sometimes he just comes across as constantly interrupting. i dunno. i just wish i got mike & merrill with the tv feed : (
That would be excellent too. But I should have prefaced, I have a VERY low expectation for preseason broadcasts lol
yea, i guess i should be happy… i usually end up muting the preseason games. so i guess that makes him better than most!
Mayock is better than Quick for preseason. Mayock knows the players.
that is true. i give him a lot of credit for that.
Lot of times they don’t eve know half the players names. Mayock gets on my nerves some. He’s wrong about some of his game analysis or misses points.
Like Seumalo just got beat on a play but Mayock didn’t mention his hold protected Bradford too.
Except Denzel Rice. I am pretty sure that guy slept with his wife.
him and Blake Countess
He’s best preseason announcer ever for Eagles and I disagree with him some and he’s overly critical at times as well. Graham stinks.
I appreciate that our WRs find new and interesting ways to drop passes. “Bounced off my hands” gets old. The double tap and the leave it in the grass behind me moves were a good way to mix it up.
Creativity in the offense.
Last year, we would have focused on dropping it the sme way as quickly as possible.
He should have batted it down too after the first tip.
jimmyk with the excellent stick figure art, as always.
Rowe looking sharp
Marcus Smith II, making the most of his audition for the CFL.
Marcus Smith domination
wow. that was a nice hit.
that was nice to watch. do that about 4 more times this preseason and I’ll allow him out of the (IC)Dog(g) House
Who is this Smith II guy? He might be PS material.
I do not miss the hurry up.
I don’t miss the shotgun sweep right for -6 yards.
That was our first play of the game.
hahahah was it really?! i missed the first drive
But only once…
It was a tribute play
And there it was again with predictable results. Yay. >:(
Ahh the good ole days.
Strange, but me neither. I thought I would.
Eh, well if you are going to hold I suppose you might as well mug the guy too
Quack
Daniel shows some decent athleticism. I like the decisiveness when he decides to scramble
Ah, swing pass for -1 yards!
Stay on your feet Marshall. This ain’t Olympic hurdles.
Don’t you also want to stay on you feet in Olympic hurdles?
Hot takes:
There is a zero% chance that Barner doesn’t make the team.
If Paul Turner isn’t the #4 receiver at this point, I am very disappointed.
#2 receiver
Gordon looked sweet at FB Lol. Be Great at goal line.
Dennis Kelly’s exit might get him a spot.
lets just do fun things in the preseason when we get to the redzone. alternate between running behind him and trying to throw it over everyone to DGB. Just haven’t seen any of that in a very, very long time
Did anyone just hear the ref say, “69 is now eligible?” He must be bored.
or excited
He did say it twice, so you might be right about being excited.
Good squibber
The Assassin strikes again. I’d be pleased if Kempski managed to coin a new nickname for him lol
This defense is going to make the season fun. Last year, nothing was fun.
Wow, can’t defend that
well he certainly did everything he could, including mug the guy lol
Why bother challenging
Why not?
For one thing, the game doesn’t count
So . They’re all getting ready. They are not as easy as it looks. They have to wait for feed, make decision, call it down.
Peterson needs to practice this stuff. Lord knows we hope he’s better at this than AR.
I dunno, thought the same thing about the snap count. It’s the preseason, why are you having the back up QB practice his hard count for a gimicky first down. Just freaking go for it and get a meaningful snap to evaluate
Why give the coaches challenges? It wastes time in a meaningless scrimmage.
Exactly
It involves comunication. New staff too.
yea, i’m glad they would try out their process a few times when it doesn’t matter too much. its better than waiting until mid-game and they don’t know what to do or do something wrong
The offense needs the practice more than the defense.
True
Coaches need practice too.
incomplete, not controlled inbounds.
OK. Pre-season or not. Am I imagining it, or is our defense, 1st, 2nd & 3rd string, tackling well?
oh my god that poor guard is so cut
Good. We need some depth.
genius, Jim Schwartz just needs to keep turning O-lines in flaming wreckages. We need prospects lol
Welcome to the team Destiny Vaeao
Paging Mr. Tulloch…
https://twitter.com/caplannfl/status/766449546041974784
Ugg
Ouch
Crap, where’s Tulloch? Tulloch might make some $
Tulloch isn’t signing until you have a starting job for him. If Cranberry Juice Kendricks continues to miss time, maybe we see Tulloch.
DGB bouncing balls of his hands like he was born an Eagle.
Dumbass penalties
wtf was that Perry, get the ball
surprised no penalty on that deep throw. i guess he hit him square in the chest, which is ok. he probably could have had the INT if he was playing hte ball
yeah, i was sure there would be a flag for the sheer potential violence of it lol. was not looking for the ball at all
“Shittu cleans up.”
The 12-year old in me finds that funny.
They should have given him the number 2
Howie moving to potty humor?
rush with the back to back stiffarms
Villaneuva would be a good replacement for Lane. Thanks, Chip.
I am liking what i am seeing from Dillon Gordon since he has played about 10 seconds of Tackle in his career so far. Think he could be interesting in 1-2 years time.
that play when he was in there at FB was pretty cool, too.
thanks to JP I feel like every severely overweight tight end is destined to be an amazing left tackle
Gordon is a guy who I really hope doesn’t get poached from the P-squad.
I think they’re going to keep him as TE4/FB/10OL.
Also once guys clear waivers you don’t really have to worry about them getting poached. The Eagles can pay them rookie minimum to stay on the PS, they’ve been aggressive with this a couple of times before for guys they are high on but need time (I know they did with Ced I forget the other guy).
Akeem Jordan?
Never understood why he was a DE here. He played OT, WR and TE in college. So lets make a 6-9 guy a hands in the ground DE.
That doesn’t compute. At all. Player is cut from here = player exists perpetually in a state of terrible skill.
Xavier Rush…
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7umOPf4ghv0/VeAzCp52PGI/AAAAAAAATd4/enHxftq7RRI/s1600/who.gif
His knee was down. Challenge it Doogie.
wtf was that alarm in the stadium? was it just feedback from the PA?
yeah heard something like it earlier, was horrific. also pretty sure i heard the panther growl a couple of times, but that might be PTSD from living in NC and being forced to watch all these Panthers games.
im in the same boat, panther games
pretty sure he was down?
Feh
ouch
OK. Make this the last play of the game.
Great game for Deez.
the last guy in the shot just reminded me, guys lets bring back Vandervelde, just keep that thing going!
Brilliant. Is he signed currently?
Unsigned , we could use someone to sing the national anthem at home games and he could lead the fight song. That’s value
Went fine good offense to unwatchable defensive. To unwatchable both at the end of the last year now to unwatchable offense and good defense.
Shutout, yay
Are these real? Is Twitter planking me?
https://twitter.com/davespadaro/status/766407554167631872
https://twitter.com/jasonlacanfora/status/766440030818734080
The Sturgis thing is real, Kempski has dubbed Donnie Jones “The Assassin” with a sweet stick figure to go with it
Bradford & Daniel only sacked once.Bradford one who got sacked.
Surprised Tommy L didn’t mention the Grymes interception. That was played to perfection.
This review is from the first game.
And I wasn’t even sure I knew who Grymes was before the game. I thought he looked pretty compelling .big kid I think they keep this guy right?
He is a CFL All Pro
..
Depends…. If we keep 6 CB’s, he would probably make the team, But we could decide to only keep 5 corners since most of our safeties have cornerback experience, Then again, i don’t think you can put Grymes on the practice Squad without him getting poached so maybe they do decide to keep him
.
He isn’t getting much credit but I liked the way Rowe played last night
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I thought Blake Countess would make the team as a Safety keeping 5 safeties and 5 Corners, but Blake had a really poor game on special teams last night, and if he doesn’t get his ST performance up to par they could decide to keep 4 safeties, 6 CB’s (Grymes) and try to put countess on the practice squad
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Looks like Jaylen Watkins is def making the team
.
No idea how this regime feels about JaCorey, but missing both preseason games probably ISNT helping
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Looks like Ed Reynolds is at the bottom of the depth chart and is officially behind both MARAGOS and Watkins
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Is Randal Evans even still on the team? I don’t remember the last time I heard his name
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Not sure if Denzel Rice is showing enough to even get a practice squad invite
I’m 99.9% sure that we’re keeping 10 on the D line. Figure Graham, Curry, Barwin, Means, Smith, Cox, Logan, Martin, and two DTs to be named later as the group.
Makes sense. Right now I think its Shittu and Beau (1 3 tech and 1 NT)
That could easily be the case.
I agree with 10 – you need to go deeper on DL than other area’s because you dress 8 on game day, and it is a high injury position.
I’d say probably only 4 DT
DT: Cox, Logan, Beau, Martin (PS Vaeao and Shittu)
I think Hart is going to be trade bait for a backup ILB in the next week.
DE: Graham, Curry, Barwin, Means and then Smith or Braman depending on how Smith shows in the next two weeks. (PS McAllister)
So I’ll put you down for “9” in the D-line group.
Is smith worth a roster spot? Anyone seen Braman this preseason? I’d like to see him get some reps rushing – he’s been a monster when he actually gets in games.
i think he split a sack with one of the backup DTs late in the game. word was that he just missed blocking a punt at some point in the game, but i missed that.
i think if it comes down to the two of them, you have to keep Braman for his STs play. thats what the bottom end of the roster should be for.
Right now I’d lean no but if he shows well enough in the final two weeks I’d at least consider it.
I wonder if it would be possible to make a google Forms survey that has the 90 names and allows respondents to select 53. It would be a fun way to compile our roster projections.
Translation: Someone make a google forms survey.
I would fill it out 🙂
Make one with 2 names: Hilary / Trump … get it around and challenge the pollsters
Surprised that the starting OL wasnt a complete mess considering the starting LG Seumalo had a pretty rough game. If he doesn’t have a much better showing next week, they are going to have to go Wis..I noticed a bunch of glaring mistakes be the rookie, but I didn’t notice any bad plays out of Barbie
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Really impressed with how Physical slot CB RON Brooks was laying the wood against the run
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najee Goode making me feel better about Princess Michelle Kendricks being such a pussy
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Barner ran well
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Where did this narrative about Huff being inconsistent come from? Nothing inconsistent about him, he is consistently dissapointing, I really don’t want to see him make the roster, he infuriates me
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Drives me crazy that Chip gave the Steelers a starting LT….
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I’d like to see Trey Burton get some looks with the one’s
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Our young special team Gunners aren’t very good. Hopefully Pederson allows Fipp to use some starters like Nolan Carroll on defense the way chip used to that helped form a bad ass ST unit
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Jaylen Watkins continues to play the pass well, but I was happy to see him play physical and stick his nose in run support this week. He showed some solid tackling last night
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Dress Rehersal against the Colts should be a good test to further evaluate the pecking order of our corners
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The list of players Chip gave away is something I would really rather not think about.
What makes it even worse is that Chip did even try Villanueva at LT. He had him playing DE the entire offseason. So we cut him, the steelers pick him up and this will be his second season as their starting LT smh… Giving away a starting RT would be bad enough, but a LT? How much better would we feel if we could trade for Villanueva today to back up JP?
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Fuckin chip…..
To be fair Villa gained like 100lbs over the course of the season – not the same player really.
If Big Ben, Brown, Bell, and Williams all get hurt the first two weeks, I am going to feel pretty good about our chances in week 3.
behind Media Mike, i might be the second most anti-Barner people here. but i have to admit that he played really well last night. if he can just protect the football, i think he has a really good chance of making the team.
i wish we could get a better look at smallwood…
Does that mean he fumbled. Didnt see game
i don’t think he fumbled in this game, he just has a history of it i would say.
He was generally “solid” last night. I just see him as a dead-end player who has ball security issues. My major beef with him was that he was kept on the roster in 2014 longer than Josey (who outperformed Barner) and kept on the team in 2015 when Mostert outperformed him. Mostert wound up in the league leaders in kick return average last season. It just befuddles me as to why Barner would be kept on the team. Smallwood not playing so far has been irksome for that reason.
Me too – and how we didn’t find another mostert or josey this year? I guess Turner is the new Josey.
Adrian Peterson has 22 career fumbles. Barner has 2.
Now – those are regular season stats only, and Barner definitely had a few more in my memory in preseason. But it’s hardly a major chronic issue.
wow and they must have about the same number of carries right, or else this would be a pretty misleading state.
Im one of the few who likes everything I see out of Byron Marshall. Guy just looks natural, snagged a ball in traffic over the middle and made it look easy. Blocks well and looks like he has burst. I want to see more though
Be nice to see some of these bottom of the roster guys make the team.
has anyone seen any action from Givens so far this preseason? i haven’t heard his name called at all, but maybe i missed it. I read that he was one of the starters last night.
Wasn’t targeted last night.
Had 1 target last week.
He won’t make the cut.
he’s a deep threat so (a) not sure they’d call his number during preseason and (b) even if they did it’s sam bradford.
Bradford is really the only QB Givens has had significant success with as a “deep threat”
..
his deep threat Label originated from playing with Sam
TO so wants to be involved i don’t understand why we haven’t reached out (i understand but don’t understand). TO had drop issues but that never stopped him from being one of the best route runners in the game.
Not sure what’s going on w/ the drops on this team – havea bunch of hard working guys that can’t catch.
How did we do va screens last night? Havent watched any PS yet. Am I even a fan anymore??
I blame it on PE.com for taking their video documenting of TC out.
Stay away unless you want to see our defense force 8 turnovers in 2 games…
i remember one play (third gif down here: http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2016/8/19/12551502/eagles-film-room-observations-philadelphia-preseason-win-steelers-tape-review-gifs-highlights)
where the steelers had a bit of a success with a screen.
Edit: sorry, the gif doesn’t show the end result of the play. Carroll just misses the diving tackle, the other DB on that side eventually gets the runner out after a reasonable gain, but it was 2nd & 19, so i think they were playing it safe.
i remember another play where it looked like the entire defense read the screen the whole way and it resulted in a sack. i think that was the Marcus Smith sack play.
Yeah, if the Eagles are going to be putting teams behind the sticks they’ll be susceptible to screens. Giving up 10 on 2nd and 19 isn’t ideal, but I think it’s something to live with.
yea, i think opposing offenses are going to know that everyone on the DL is going to pin their ears back and rush the QB. screen play is the obvious counter.
Not a lot of job security for the underachieving receivers in Philly.
https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/766644546549800960
I appreciate their steadfast attempts to churn the foul bottom of the roster.
Unfortunately we have 4 of our recievers in that bottom of the roster zone
At least.
Wish we would make a statement and cut Josh Huff with two weeks left to go in the preseason. I don’t see how the coaches can cut a guy like PT when Huff has done nothing to deserve another free roster spot
Is Jacorey Shepard still around? I don’t think I’ve seen his name.
he was inactive against the steelers.
Think he missed both PS games with an injury
What if
The Eagles never resigned Sammy Sleeves
Had signed RG III instead
Saved all the draft picks for Carson Wentz
And had invested heavily in upgrading O line and WR…?
Where would we be in 5 years time?
Same place we’ve been since McNabb left.
Here on Iggles Blitz hoping that someday the Eagles will win the Super Bowl.
Also, the team would have kept Sanchez so he and RG3 could maintain the quarterback controversy tradition.
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/766690547541024768
dorky kicker smacking around his way? What a tough guy
..
I’d like to think beating your wife on multiple Occassions is worth more than a 1 game suspension,.. Guess Goodell hasn’t learned from his disgraceful handling of the Ray Rice scandal
Walker out for season. Guess we will sign Tulloch after all.
An old, two down Backup LB that can’t play ST joining our bench?
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Was the presence of 7th round rookie Joe Walker really what kept Tulloch from signing with us if it was true that we were having serious negotiations with him weeks ago?
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I don’t know if an injury to Joe Walker changes how Tulloch views signing with us… And Najee Goode is having a pretty good preseason. Im not sure he deserves being pushed to #5 on the depth chart so that we could add Tulloch when Najee has EARNED the right to be the first LB off the bench for us this year
What / Who comes after Goode?! Not so much Good(e) I am afraid…
Beats me… Skinner I guess? But najee has earned the right to be the first man off the bench if an injury occurs to Kendricks or Bradham…
Of course he has. But adding Tulloch mainly due to depth reasons makes just too much sense.
can Goode backup all 3 LB spots? i had assumed he was strictly a backup at WILL
He is best suited for the WIL spot in a 4-3, but he is capable of playing Sam Too. But I don’t know if he is big n Physical enough to play in the middle. In fact, schwartz had him as our backüp SAM on the depth chart until princess Michelle Kendricks puller her fragile Hammy for the 37th time in 4 years and najee filled in for him at WIL. So he can play WIL and SAM. Probably not the MIKE tho.
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Hicks is very valuable because he can play all 3 LB spots
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. Bradham can play SAM and WIL, And he may be physical enough to also handle Middle LB but im not certain about that. I also have no idea if Najee or Bradham can handle being the QB of the defense playing in the middle.
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Think it would be easier to add Tulloch, if we were to get fed up with KEndricks hamstring issues, move Hicks to the WIL spot (which is the playmaking LB role), łet Tulloch start in the middle, and demote Kendricks, put his ass on the bench and turn him into the second of the two Nickel LB’s…. But Schwartz listed KEndricks and Curry as two players who were handcuffed by the 3-4 who he thinks can flourish in his system, so i don’t know how he would feel about Benching Kendricks since Schwartz hasn’t had to deal with 3 years of hamstring injuries already
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If Schwartz is willing to Demote Kendricks to the bench, start Tulloch in the middle, move Hicks to the WIL and ONLY use Kendricks as the starting Nickel LB, then I think Tulloch would definitely sigń with us. But I don’t know if they reached the point where they want to demote Kendricks for a guy Tullochs age,
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Think there is a better chance of Bradham being able to play in the middle than Goode but I don’t know that for certainty. If Bradham can play in the middle if need be, we could just play Goode at SAM. For sure Bradham and Goode can both play SAM and WIL, but I don’t know if they can handle The physicality of Middle LB’s or the mental QB of the defense part which Kendricks allegedly struggled with last year when hicks got hurt
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Hicks isn’t that Big either, but he is smart, and sheds blocks well enough to play in the Middle, but physically he may be best suited as the WIL playmaking role, but that wastes his mental QB of the defense ability…
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I’d like to hear a reporter ask Schwartz what he thinks about Bradham playng in the middle in emergency situations..
ahh yea, i remember Goode being penciled in at SAM back in the day. thanks for the reminder.
Takeaways & defensive TDs sre the Best !!
https://twitter.com/SellBlock18/status/766707583998693377
https://twitter.com/LesBowen/status/766710447391305728
Such a shame. I was really looking forward to see what Walker could grow into over the course of this season. hopefully he can come back strong from this and it not ruin his ability to make next years roster.
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Walker is probably a bigger loss in terms of ST than he is in terms of LB depth since he wasn’t getting on the field unless two of our three starting LB’s got hurt
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From Tullochs point of view, I struggle to understand how Joe Walker getting hurt has any bearing on how he feels about joining the Eagles.
.
I could see why the Eagles might want to sign him more now that Walker got hurt, but im not sure an Injury to Walker changes anything from Tullochs point of view
I think Walker had a really good shot to become the next borderline roster guy that is inordinately popular because he is white.
I don’t know what it’s like to factor that type of garbage in my evaluation of a football players ability so you will have to discuss that with someone else. I doubt Walker being black would change my on field Evaluation of him this preseason
.,
I have No clue if he is Capable of ever growing into a starting Caliber LB. but im confident saying we will feel his loss on Special Teams, and he seemed like he was clearly one of our best 2 or 3 Backup LB’s… I like the promise he showed as a ST player and a backup. He still has a long way to go before we can even think of debating if he will ever grow into a starting caliber LB
Okay, I need a few brave souls to give this a try. Once I get some feedback and make any tweaks that are needed we can run with it.
https://goo.gl/forms/ojSRD2dtFWgSKJho2
Comment here with any feedback or issues.
The name thing didnt seem to work
Thanks. I just added a question where you have the option to enter a name.
Also, I noticed that Dillon Gordon was missing. What a travesty.
awesome. nice job adding all of the “[position] not currently on roster” options
Thanks. I was torn. I didn’t want to make separate questions for each position, because then I would need to pick the number of guys. I did want a separator, though, and giving this option seemed to serve as a good option and a separator.
also, should we even bother to select Joe Walker? I assume the sheet expects exactly 53 selections
It does. Don’t pick him, it just felt too cold to delete him today.
Gordon should be in the right spot now. Good call.
If you load jquery, total selected would be something like:
var total=$(‘input:checked’).length
Yeah, I don’t know coding. To me, it looks like a toddler started hitting your keyboard with his sippy cup as you typed that comment.
Done.
Please note that Lane Johnson will not count against the 53 during his suspension. That’s why I did not vote for him. Vaitai Maitai will then make room for him later.
Oh yeah, good call.
I made a note with his name.
Good boy. 🙂
Thanks ATG!
Wonder who the one guy was with barner not making the team…..hmmmmmmmm. *cough* Mike
Wonder who it was that cut Donnie Jones !?
New thread up.
With regard to the clearly improved play of three familiar defensive names, Watkins, Reynolds and MSII, my first inclination is to hail Jim Schwartz, but I think the names Hauck and Flajole and Wilson and Daniels may also be worthy of some praise. Hauck was a fearless, punishing tackler, and his mindset may be rubbing off on the DB’s. With regard to MSII, Ken Flajole has an impressive history with LB’s (see John Fox’s HC tenure @ Carolina), and both Chris Wilson, who is the DL coach, and Phillip Daniels, Wilson’s assistant are in their first years w/Eagles. Maybe Smith’s awakening is simply maturity, or maybe it’s the Chinese Calendar year, but these improvements, if they endure can have serious implications regarding 2016 Eagles defense.