Eagles Dominate the Browns 29-10

Posted: September 11th, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 174 Comments »

The Carson Wentz era is underway. So far, so good.

The rookie QB lived up to the hype and then some, throwing for 278 yards and a pair of TDs. He played really well, rookie or not. The Eagles offense did not look like a basic attack meant to protect the QB and keep things simple. They used multiple formations and did creative things. Doug Pederson called 40 pass plays, and that’s in a game where the Eagles always had the lead.

Wentz made some great throws. His 2 TDs covered 19 and 35 yards. Those weren’t gimme plays. They required Wentz to make the right read and then to make accurate throws into tight windows. He did just that on both plays. Wentz hit Zach Ertz on 4th/4 to move the chains prior to the long TD to Nelson Agholor. The throw to Ertz was really impressive. Wentz had a defender about to hit him, but put the ball exactly where it needed to be, low and in front of Ertz. There was another throw to Jordan Matthews that also impressed me. Wentz threw that low so Matthews could get it, but defenders wouldn’t be able to make a play on the ball. Smart and accurate.

Just watching Wentz at the line of scrimmage, he didn’t look like a rookie. He made adjustments throughout the game. This is a big part of what Pederson wants to do with his offense. Wentz did that in college as well so he’s used to reading the defense and making pre-snap changes. Wentz also used a hard count to get the Browns to jump on an early 3rd/short. Free 1st down.

Wentz went 22-37-278 with 2 TDs and no picks. That was a great debut. One game doesn’t make a career, but it sure feels like the Eagles got this pick right. Wentz is very talented. He’s smart. He’s humble, but also confident. Wentz is driven. His teammates seem to love him. Wentz looks like the real deal.

Wentz is the big story, but this was a total team win.

Matthews caught 7 passes for 114 yards and a TD. He and Wentz need to work on their chemistry a bit, but they made one impressive pitch and catch combo. Nelson Agholor was 4-57, including a 35-yard TD where he burned Joe Haden, a top flight CB. That’s the kind of big play ability Agholor has. The Eagles ran for 133 yards, with Ryan Mathews doing most of the work and Kenjon Barner showing some impressive wheels (4-42).

None of that happens if the O-line doesn’t control the line of scrimmage. It wasn’t a great day for the biggies, but they played pretty well, with some great moments.

The Eagles got big plays on defense and STs as well as offense.

The defense started red hot, not giving up a single 1st down in the 1st quarter. But then RGIII woke up and Cleveland started to make some plays. The Eagles pass rush seemed to disappear. Things changed in the second half. The Browns got sloppy again and the Eagles defense started making plays. The DL really came alive in the 4th quarter and roughed RGIII up. They sacked him 3 times and got some big hits on  him, in and out of the pocket.

Jordan Hicks had 4 solo tackles and tipped a pass that got picked off by Rodney McLeod. The defense forced a 4 & out late in the game. They also got a safety, but that was due to an awful snap by the Browns new Center.

The Eagles run defense was outstanding at times. The Browns ended up with 120 yards on the ground, but that is very deceiving. 59 of those yards came on runs at the end of the half or the end of the game when the Eagles were in a prevent defense and left the middle of the field open.

STs was a strength in the game. We all wondered if that group would lose anything with Chip Kelly gone. Say what you want about Chip, but he believed in the importance of STs play and it showed on the field. I’m happy to report that the Eagles look to once again be very good in the kicking and return game. Darren Sproles had a 40-yard punt return. Donnie Jones averaged 49 yards per punt and put a couple of them inside the 10-yard line. The cover guys were downfield to down those punts and pin the Browns deep.

Hue Jackson tried to trick the Eagles with a fake punt…without the punter on the field. Rookie Kamu Grugier-Hill read it and flew into the backfield for the TFL. What a horrible decision by Jackson. The Eagles think Grugier-Hill can be an impact player on STs.

The one concern is a missed FG. Sturgis was wide right from 46 yards out. Luckily, it did not hurt the Eagles.

This was a strange game for holdovers from the previous 3 years. The Eagles won the time of possession battle 39:20 to 20:40. That is a highly overrated stat, unless it is that one-sided. The Browns only ran 50 plays. Eagles defenders are used to being on the field for 70 snaps. 50 must have felt like a vacation. Training Camp was harder than that.

Great opening day for the Eagles, Wentz, the defense, STs and just about everyone. There are some things to work on (penalties and drops were probably the biggest issues), but I think you could see that this team has talent and potential. They may not contend for the Super Bowl this year, but anyone who thinks this group is at the bottom of the league is in for a big surprise.

_


174 Comments on “Eagles Dominate the Browns 29-10”

  1. 1 Dave said at 6:32 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    My work morning is shot tomorrow since I’ll be Googling Carson Wentz to read every write-up on his performance.

  2. 2 Eagles Dominate the Browns 29-10 - said at 6:40 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    […] Tommy Lawlor The Carson Wentz era is underway. So far, so good. The rookie QB lived up to the hype and then […]

  3. 3 Dave said at 6:42 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    “He’s awesome,” receiver Terrelle Pryor said. “That kid’s going to be a baller.”

    “I’m no good at evaluating quarterbacks but all I can say is it didn’t seem like he played like a rookie,” left tackle Joe Thomas said. “He was standing back there even when he had pressure in his face getting hit and [was] throwing the ball on target. He was pretty impressive.”

    “He was more advanced than I expected him to be,” Haden said. “It was a really good ball. I gotta be on top. While I was running with the receiver he threw it on his outside shoulder. It was a really good ball, really good play. He’s a good quarterback.”

    http://cleveland.cbslocal.com/2016/09/11/carson-wentz-carves-up-browns-in-debut-eagles-roll-29-10/#.V9W6u83lhr8.twitter

  4. 4 GermanEagle said at 6:43 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    The at atmosphere at the game was great. Apart from a few douchebags Carson Wentz did get a pass all game long. Now let’s hope Dallas sucks and loses this game!

  5. 5 Jernst said at 7:05 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    I liked that people cheered him and said that’s alright Wentz when he missed a 3rd down pass.

  6. 6 Dan in Philly said at 6:44 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Wentz did not look like a rookie at all. He looked like he’s been doing this for years

  7. 7 Charlie Kelly said at 6:50 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Donnie Jones was fantastic! I mean every punt was perfect, should of had two more punts downed by the goaline

    running game was kinda meh.. BUT still worked. ryan mathews ran hard, not big chunk plays tho.Thought barner got some buig holes ryan didnt get.Expected to see sproles get more runs, was surprised barner got touches over sproles.

    That pass corey coleman caught with 3 DBs around him.. smh.. that pissed me off. But good day overall by the secondary.

    Wentz look def looked good!! Was worried a lil bit, esp in 1st half, at how he didnt look that comfortable throwing from the pocket. But looked better in 2nd half.

  8. 8 Jernst said at 7:01 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    It’s nice to have a punter that can drop it inside the ten from 80 yards away.

  9. 9 RobNE said at 7:02 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    even after all these years I still read your comments in Charlie Kelly’s voice.

  10. 10 Charlie Kelly said at 7:42 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    ya damn right you do!!

  11. 11 unhinged said at 6:59 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Two things that I believe I observed: After his first NFL TD throw, it appeared as if Wentz was ready to celebrate by leaping into somebody, and then called it off. It may be that he needed to numb his ribs to play today. And I think I heard JM in his PC say “it’s like the Spurs, you don’t know who’s going to score.” I can’t be certain if I really did observe those things, but I think I did. And I have not been drinking.

  12. 12 daveH said at 7:06 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Yes saw that.. was cool ..i felt like it wss ‘lets contain ourselves, tons of stuff still to do”

  13. 13 Corry said at 7:00 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Wentz’s ability to change the play at the line was the most impressive to me. The Browns didn’t confuse him and I think he won that chess match against Ray Horton.

    Of course I might just be unfamiliar with audibles after 3 years of Kelly.

  14. 14 A Roy said at 7:39 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Wasn’t that the sign with the ear on it?

  15. 15 sprawl said at 11:00 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Interesting thing is that there’s not exactly a lot of tape of the Browns defensive scheme with their new DC/coaching changes this year. Wentz must have just been going off fundamentals and loosely applicable game tape from 14-15 Titans or 2013 Browns

  16. 16 Jernst said at 7:00 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Sproles needs some stickum on his hands. He won’t be the threat we all think he can be dropping 2-3 balls a game.

  17. 17 RobNE said at 7:01 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    it’s been a consistent problem every year.

  18. 18 Jernst said at 7:08 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Yea … He’s been good for 2-3 drops a game every year he’s been year. I only followed him peripherally for most of his career. Was this a problem everywhere and if so, how the hell has he had such a prolific career as a scat back with bad hands?

  19. 19 RC5000 said at 7:18 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    In addition to being a yards-after-the-catch monster, Darren Sproles also has some exceptionally reliable hands. This year that meant he dropped no passes, and when you consider he has 71 catchable balls thrown his way that helps him stand out from the crowd. This marks quite the turnaround from the past two years where Sproles combined to put 19 passes on the ground (granted he was thrown to more), but is just another reason for the Eagles to be happy to have locked him down for the immediate future.

    https://www.profootballfocus.com/sig-stats-drop-rate-rbs/

  20. 20 Jernst said at 7:36 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    So he had butter fingers in 2012, some of the best hands in the league in 2013 and then has been hit or miss since then….weird. Thanks for the info!

  21. 21 ChoTime said at 8:46 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    66% 2015
    64.5% 2014
    78% 2013
    Quite strange. The 60s is not good.

  22. 22 Jernst said at 10:06 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Especially when you consider the type of patterns that the dude runs. 65% is what you see with deep threats and guys that run low percentage plays. Scat backs that run short screen passes and out patterns and the occasional slant usually are in the 80-90s…

  23. 23 holeplug said at 7:48 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    noticed this last year too. Its so strange that he can catch a 60 yard punt like its nothing but can’t haul in a 5 yard out route to save his life.

  24. 24 Dave said at 7:02 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    https://twitter.com/Edwerderespn/status/775097081086156800

  25. 25 Fufina said at 7:19 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Wentz did a really nice job identifying blitzes presnap and making adjustments for the pressure. Where he had more problems is when they dropped 7 or 8 into coverage and he struggled to process those extra bodies.

    Think he will see a lot of zone and 4 man rushes for a while until he does a better job breaking down those kinds of plays.

  26. 26 scratcherk said at 7:07 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    F Dallas

  27. 27 daveH said at 7:07 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Dak is a strong sturdy dude… JPPs big swipe at ball hsnd didn’t even knock it loose

  28. 28 Jernst said at 7:13 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Was it the hand w no fingers on it?

  29. 29 daveH said at 8:00 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Ha!! I shudve known to check.. i don’t know

  30. 30 Jernst said at 10:04 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Haha … rookie mistake

  31. 31 daveH said at 10:35 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    But i was more in awe of how big JPP was snd how unfazed Prescott was… not so sure it was just a few missing fingers. . Prescott might not be as good a QB but he is ready and cool and athletic. . But i didn’t even see who won the game

  32. 32 Forthebirds said at 10:02 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    It has middle finger so he can still sit and spin.

  33. 33 Jernst said at 10:04 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Hahah

  34. 34 Jernst said at 7:16 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Off topic: Fabtasy football is infuriating. Demarco Murray out scores my top two rushers Adrian Peterson and Ryan Mathews on his own and my second round pick has 6 catches for 65 yards before his ACL snaps on a non contact cut halfway through the 2nd quarter. If it wasn’t for Wentz and the Eagles looking so good I’d be so pissed today, haha.

  35. 35 Tumtum said at 8:26 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Dems da breaks. I got over 50 points from Theo Riddick and Spencer Ware. Who knew?

  36. 36 Jernst said at 10:04 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Yea…it happens every year. But, man…sometimes I look at all the time I spend researching before my draft and think to myself, ya know what, this time would be better spent cleaning a fricking fish tank! Haha.

  37. 37 RC5000 said at 7:20 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Giants loss coming even without Coughlin?

  38. 38 RC5000 said at 7:26 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Nope . Cowboys dumb on that drive.

  39. 39 Ark87 said at 7:24 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    So bizarre to watch the Sea hawks and Dolphins play some of the most physical football you will see then switch over to see the Colts, wow. Can’t believe these guys play in the same league

  40. 40 RC5000 said at 7:24 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Wasn’t close to a 1st if yellow was right.

  41. 41 Dave said at 7:25 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Lol, cowboys

  42. 42 FairOaks said at 7:26 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    12 seconds to go, clear path to sideline, no timeouts… yeah, turn it upfield.

  43. 43 RC5000 said at 7:28 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Those Baylor players always screw things up one way or another. Dunbar should have gotten out earlier in drive.

  44. 44 HawaiianEagle said at 7:34 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Exactly

  45. 45 Dragon_Eagle said at 7:27 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Good coaching job there Garrett.

  46. 46 Dave said at 7:28 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    What did you expect, he had a rookie QB.

    http://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/austin-powers-dr-evil.jpg

  47. 47 Corry said at 7:31 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Yeah but he has the greatest rookie QB in the history of forever!

  48. 48 Tdoteaglefan said at 7:28 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Lmfaooooo @ terrance williams..what a damn fool

  49. 49 Jernst said at 7:33 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    So dumb!

  50. 50 Tumtum said at 8:24 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    I was more focused on Indy game. What happened?

  51. 51 Jernst said at 7:33 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Hey, I didn’t catch the Rams game today…how’d Jared Goff look?

    Hahahaha

  52. 52 xeynon said at 8:39 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Nobody sits inactive in the press box like
    Jared Goff. The kid has really impressive poise up there.

  53. 53 Jernst said at 10:02 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Have you watched Hard Knocks at all? My god…the kid has the personality of a mildly retarded lobster. When I saw him sitting there breathing through his mouth, looking cross-eyed, unable to answer whether the sun rises in the east or the west I knew he was gonna take a millennium to learn an offensive playbook. It’s those sort of things you’ll never get from college film study.

  54. 54 HawaiianEagle said at 7:34 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    In case not mentioned already… F dallas.

  55. 55 A Roy said at 7:34 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    How BOUT dem Cowboys!

  56. 56 HawaiianEagle said at 7:36 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Dak may have to wait till second ballet now…damn.

  57. 57 A Roy said at 7:38 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    That felt almost as good as beating Cleveland.

  58. 58 HawaiianEagle said at 7:39 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Bout as close as u can get

  59. 59 anon said at 7:40 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    luck doing luck things

  60. 60 Jernst said at 8:21 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Is he being overrated somewhere again?

  61. 61 sonofdman said at 1:12 AM on September 12th, 2016:

    LOL!

  62. 62 Buge Halls said at 7:51 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Was there a count of dropped passes? It seemed unacceptably high again today. That being said, a good win.

  63. 63 Jernst said at 8:21 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Sproles dropped two, Matthews dropped two, Celek dropped one…that was my unofficial count…but, yea…again, way too high

  64. 64 Baloophi said at 8:41 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Huff dropped one to Agholor…

  65. 65 Jernst said at 9:56 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Imagine if the kid had a reasonable collection of NFL pass targets. He went 22/37 with 7 drops. Had they just done their job he’s 29/37 which would have been 78.4% completion percentage.

  66. 66 Baloophi said at 10:30 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    I also think Matthews stopped running on the near sideline overthrow… so make it 30/37, which if I’m doing the math correctly, would push his completion percentage to 120%.

  67. 67 Jernst said at 10:33 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    He absolutely did. As soon as the CB kind of arm barred him he stopped his feet and tried to play patty cake with him. He was already a step ahead of him, if he just powers through and keeps running hard, he hits that ball in stride for a big gain.

  68. 68 Rellihcs said at 7:47 AM on September 12th, 2016:

    Why must you focus on that? Drops happen in every nfl game. When we win, handily, they are not a problem. Period.

  69. 69 Buge Halls said at 8:02 AM on September 12th, 2016:

    Because 5 Plus drops is not something that NFL-caliber receivers should have happen. Yes, a couple drops are to be expected, but when multiple receivers have multiple drops, it’s a problem

  70. 70 Dave said at 8:00 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    https://twitter.com/NationOfEagles/status/775120577367531520

  71. 71 Fufina said at 8:08 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    213 yards on 43 is elite i say elite! that 4.9ypa is what winning is made of. Getting 8 yards out of my no.1 receiver because i cannot throw outside the numbers is really promising as well.

    Unfortunately the Cowgirls do not actually play a decent defense until the Bengals in week 5 for him to be truely found out.

  72. 72 Dave said at 8:11 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Zeke: 21 rushes, 51 yards, 2.6 yards per rush…DeMarco said Zeke left some meat on the bone.

  73. 73 RC5000 said at 8:14 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Jerry Jones is arrogant so maybe they stick with Dak for years.

  74. 74 BC1968 said at 8:11 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    People are talking about Dak, but I was happy seeing Ezekiel Elliott look just average, according to the stats anyway, unless I’m missing something.

  75. 75 myartz04 said at 8:12 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    He honestly had no where to run. But still very fun to forget about that and talk shit.

  76. 76 Dave said at 8:13 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    But we were told Dallas has the greatest offensive line in the NFL.

  77. 77 BC1968 said at 8:13 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    I was kind of thinking along those lines, nowhere to run makes me even more happy LOL

  78. 78 BC1968 said at 8:14 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Yep, and also Dak’s stats look very much like what you expect from a rookie QB and I bet you Cowboys’ fans are ready to pull Romo back up from under the rug.

  79. 79 myartz04 said at 8:17 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    But all the ‘smart’ pundits say Romo is never getting his job back….

  80. 80 BC1968 said at 8:24 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Jerry thought better than to put Romo on injured reserve which honestly surprised me, I thought he would have been the first to anoint Dak to King Cowboy.

  81. 81 Fufina said at 8:19 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    All of it is between the numbers throws – he does not have the arm strength to push the ball outside. DC’s will load up the box even more and leave their CB’s on the island outside – traditionally insane to do to Bryant but Dak cannot punish that.

  82. 82 BC1968 said at 8:21 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    All of this is music to my ears.

  83. 83 Jernst said at 8:24 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48H34ukFe8g

  84. 84 Bert's Bells said at 8:32 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Scott Tenorman Must Die is one the best half hours of television ever made.

  85. 85 Jernst said at 9:46 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    It’s the most twisted/amazing thing ive ever seen on cable television

  86. 86 Bert's Bells said at 10:20 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    The end is a riff on Shakespeare (Titus Andronicus). I love how we’re run through the gamut of feelings about Cartman. Actually pitying him at one point before he shows everyone up.

    Plus “What’s a Radiohead?”

  87. 87 Jernst said at 10:21 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    He’s definitely one of the greatest “characters”, animation or otherwise, put out on TV in the last couple decades.

  88. 88 DJH said at 8:54 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    When I watched him in college, he seemed to work one side of the field per play too. Not sure if that was by design or due to a limitation on his part.

  89. 89 Jernst said at 8:19 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    But, but, but Dallas’ offensive line is the greatest offensive line of all time. How could he have nowhere it run?

  90. 90 BobSmith77 said at 9:21 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Yeah they stacked the box all day with 7 and 8.

  91. 91 Dragon_Eagle said at 8:23 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Not that it matters, but the new SNF opening sucks.

  92. 92 nathaniel driver said at 8:29 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    You couldn’t be more right. So bad. Also, what’s with Carrie Underwood doing a prancercise impression?

  93. 93 PacificPurl said at 8:52 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Hasn’t been the same since Faith Hill left. Regardless of anything else, she could sing.

  94. 94 laeagle said at 8:55 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Those show openings have always sucked. I can’t believe they treated a “new opening” as something worthy of a teaser trailer.

  95. 95 BC1968 said at 8:32 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Damn, plastic surgery can sometimes produce a frightening look.

  96. 96 nathaniel driver said at 8:34 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Who knew mannequins can sing

  97. 97 Baloophi said at 8:39 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    I know Starship sings a song in the movie Mannequin…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBQVrCflZ_E

  98. 98 BobSmith77 said at 9:31 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    What an awful movie that they actually made a sequel to.

  99. 99 laeagle said at 8:53 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    When we talk about how great was with special teams, we seem to forget that it was a strength of the early Andy Reid years as well. Harbaugh (the non-crazy one) did a great job coaching up that unit, and it was definitely a strength. It was in trying to replace Harbaugh that we had some struggles (“Bobby April is a GREAT ST coach!”).

    So, if Pederson is Reid 2.0, then it makes sense that the ST unit will do well, with good coaching. Those Fipp Crazy Eyes see everything.

  100. 100 PacificPurl said at 8:55 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Chip”s Fipp. ;-》

  101. 101 PacificPurl said at 8:54 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    A little interesting bit. The Patriots Ted Karras is Mongo’s great nephew.

  102. 102 A Roy said at 10:29 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Mongo only pawn in game of life.

  103. 103 HawaiianEagle said at 8:54 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Meanwhile, over at blogging the boys there is mass hystetia. I LOVE IT.

  104. 104 myartz04 said at 8:58 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    I love that a lot of you guys go on the blog sites for the other teams.

  105. 105 Dragon_Eagle said at 8:59 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Cool. Please repost some choice comments here please. Very entertaining I’m sure.

  106. 106 HawaiianEagle said at 9:15 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    “Cut Terrance Williams” “Romo would have hung 35 on the Giants today” “Nobody wants to say it, so I will…
    Zeke reeks” Just to skim the top.

  107. 107 BobSmith77 said at 9:30 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Cats and Dogs living together . . .

  108. 108 HawaiianEagle said at 9:32 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Overriding theme over there: with Romo we would have won. Well, he’s broke so get over it.

  109. 109 BobSmith77 said at 9:38 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Probably right and I was rooting for the Boys to win today because the Giants are the better team right now.

  110. 110 HawaiianEagle said at 10:15 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    CANNOT root for boys.

  111. 111 Jernst said at 10:19 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    CANNOT root for the giants…but yea that was a tough one to root for. I kinda was hoping the busses would slam into each other and give them all concussions on the way into the stadium. It’s so hard to pick who I hate more. When I lived in Philly and the Cowboys were great it was easy. I hated them more than I hated anything in the world. When they sucked but the Giants were winning Super Bowls with horseshoes in their arse I hated the Giants so much I couldn’t see straight. Now I live in Texas and, my god….Cowboys fans are the worst humans on the planet…no one talks more shit and knows less about their own team than these mouth breathers.

  112. 112 HawaiianEagle said at 10:22 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    I grew up outside LA. Dallas and Rams were in same div when I was a kid. My hate spans 5 decades..

  113. 113 Jernst said at 10:22 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    God Bless you

  114. 114 P_P_K said at 10:22 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Eagles fans are blessed that within our humble Division are two teams so worthy of hate.

  115. 115 Jernst said at 10:24 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    I’ve lived in DC too…while they are more deserving of pity than anything else, they really deserve almost an equal amount of hate. They almost rival Cowboys in their homerish ability to know nothing about their own team while being insistent that they’re super bowl bound. The NFC East is a great division.

  116. 116 P_P_K said at 10:34 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    True, there are evil minions in DC and NY, while the Dallas team is verily owned by Beezlebub hiself’.

  117. 117 FairOaks said at 10:40 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Two?

  118. 118 P_P_K said at 8:28 AM on September 12th, 2016:

    NYG and C’Boys, of course. Harder to despise the one-legged idiot stepchild down in DC. More pity than hate (though Baker is making it easier).

  119. 119 FairOaks said at 12:30 PM on September 12th, 2016:

    It’s easier for me living nearish there, but before Snyder they were anything but idiotic. And they may have found a GM who ignores the idiot and does the smart thing.

  120. 120 P_P_K said at 10:21 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Ever. No matter what.

  121. 121 Jernst said at 10:16 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Yea, but, who would have guessed that a 36 year old with a back made of twigs held together with duct tape and a crystal collar bone wouldn’t make it through an NFL season?

  122. 122 Iskar36 said at 10:19 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    That seems like a theme that has been argued for awhile. Seems to me, it really should be, “With Romo, we would have seen our starting QB get injured…”

  123. 123 HawaiianEagle said at 10:20 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Hicks: “I’ll huff and I’ll puff…”

  124. 124 Jernst said at 10:24 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Hahahaha

  125. 125 Mitchell said at 9:02 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Couple observations: 1. Even though the Browns are crappy, Wentz’s 2 tds were thrown into good coverage, they were just perfect throws. 2. Im so glad the Eagles didnt have the usual 3 turnovers that was a theme in Chips tenure.

  126. 126 imnotsorryisaidthat said at 9:17 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    love wentz but his ribs wont last if they don’t protect him

  127. 127 BobSmith77 said at 9:20 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Witten is a machine. Led the Boys today with 9-66 and shows no real signs of slowing down in his 13th NFL season.

    Doesn’t get the coverage that Gronk, Graham, or other more athletic TEs have gotten the past few years but all he does year after year is play 16 games and produce at a high level even when the Boys have had scrub QBs.

    Definitely adding to his HOF resume career especially if he has another strong year or two.

  128. 128 Dave said at 9:28 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    I feel about Witten as the Rams will soon feel about Wentz.

  129. 129 Anders said at 2:03 AM on September 12th, 2016:

    a 9-66 statline is why. Under 8 yard per catch is bad.

  130. 130 John Galt said at 9:31 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Interesting stat I just saw,

    Sammy Sleeves has exactly two career games with 275+ yds, 2+ TDs, 0 INTs and a rating of 100+.

    Carson is halfway there

  131. 131 Tumtum said at 9:32 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Wow..

  132. 132 BobSmith77 said at 9:33 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    That doesn’t surprise me given how pedestrian the Rams offenses were outside of Stephen Jackson and his passing numbers per completion.

  133. 133 Jernst said at 10:14 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Still…6 years in the league. The dude has two games total with 275 yards and 2 TDs. That’s astounding.

  134. 134 BobSmith77 said at 9:36 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    No Brady, no Gronk and the Pats are still up on the road vs Cards.

  135. 135 myartz04 said at 9:40 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    I was impressed with Doug Pederson’s coaching and gameplan. It was nice to see professional football again.

  136. 136 Jernst said at 10:14 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    It’s really sad because Chips decision to limit the offense to 8 total plays was all his own. He had multiple different plays and variations off of it, plus motions and multiple alignments his first year and then inexplicably made his offense the most bland and unchanging offense in the league. But, yes, it was so nice to see a bunch of different formations, motions, and plays and to not sit there watching and know before each play which play was being run.

  137. 137 James said at 9:49 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    You know who is the most pissed off fanbase today? The Cleveland Browns fans.. not because they lost, but because of the agony of trading down with the Eagles and missing out on a franchise QB.

  138. 138 Jernst said at 10:09 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Ah man…did any of us have any doubts in Wentz the moment that moribund franchise passed on him….they are so bad at evaluating QBs it’s insane. Weird that adding a baseball, economics guru to head their scouting hasn’t turned that around. I know it was just one game, and I don’t want to be hyperbolic, but can you imagine how Browns fans will feel if eventually Wentz turns into a pro-bowl QB and they had every opportunity to draft him but some baseball guru decided to pass on him. Ahhh the schadenfreude is almost too much!

  139. 139 HawaiianEagle said at 10:19 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    You imagine how stoked Carson is that they DID? Dodged one shit sandwich there…

  140. 140 Jernst said at 10:25 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Cleveland…where QBs go to die

  141. 141 MaybePederson said at 10:29 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    RGKnee was in a vegatative state before cleveland, they just pulled the plug

  142. 142 Jernst said at 10:31 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    I thought he made a great scout team safety last year in Washington.

  143. 143 Anders said at 2:02 AM on September 12th, 2016:

    Most Browns fans rationalize that Wentz would go to die with them and they can draft one once the rest of the team is better

  144. 144 A_T_G said at 10:10 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    I am interested to hear how the LBers were used today. All the talk about rotating packages and new guys, yet I didn’t get to really focus on who was in.

  145. 145 Jernst said at 10:11 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    I obviously haven’t gone back and watched the tape yet, but it seemed that Hicks was in for most of the game, Bradham had a bunch of action and I saw Tulloch some, Kendricks was in too, but mostly I just saw him get roasted by RG3 on the scramble he blew the tackle on.

  146. 146 Jernst said at 10:12 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    overall though, the browns only had 50 offensive plays. So I think rotating was pretty minimal.

  147. 147 Iskar36 said at 10:17 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    I’m sorry, but the one thing I can say I definitely learned from the Chip Kelly era is that time of possession IS NOT overrated. Sure, you can make the semantic argument that what matters isn’t time of possession but number of plays, but with more time of possession you get more plays, so it is a semantic argument not a meaningfully different argument. Keeping your defense off the field and your offense on is in fact valuable. No, it doesn’t necessarily mean you will win or lose, but it helps significantly, both game to game, and long term effect throughout the season.

  148. 148 MaybePederson said at 10:22 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    also: time of possesion=increased rest intervals for the defense which means more recovery time and better overall play

  149. 149 FairOaks said at 10:25 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    If your offense is picking up first downs with regularity, it can work. We did see it some. It does put a lot of pressure on the defense. But… when the offense sucks, it’s suicidal. You’ll lose the plays battle too. Yet Chip never altered the approach last year when the offense was terrible — 3-and-outs are much more damaging when you do the tempo thing. That, and it was awkward when the team tried to slow it down. Does seems better to vary the pace if you’re going to try it, and back off if the offense is struggling. Belichik did that when he experimented with tempo.

  150. 150 Jernst said at 10:31 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Yea exactly…if running more plays is an advantage, that goes both ways. It’s an advantage when you run more plays but it’s also an advantage when the other team gets to run more plays. Chip never seemed to see the other side of this. He saw the advantage of trying to run more plays, but when his tempo had the opposite effect, because his offense was going 3 and out, and the other team was benefitting with more plays, he never seemed to see that he was giving them that advantage and that he could alter his tempo to keep them from having that advantage.

  151. 151 anon said at 10:53 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    The way it’s supposed to work is that if you’re scoring every time and D get some stops i means the opposing team has to get a little reckless – and you hope you can get turnovers and really play downhill.

    Problem is we could only play one speed, when winning and losing and regardless of the opposing offense was better than our defense.

  152. 152 Jernst said at 7:56 PM on September 12th, 2016:

    Well yea, if you score every time you have the ball while getting a few stops on defense you’ll win every time. But, that has nothing to do with how fast you’re playing or how many plays you run as it would work whether you went slow or fast. And, it’s totally unrealistic. If your plan requires that you score every time while also stopping the other team….um good luck, that’s everyone’s “plan” figuring out how to do that is the real problem.

    Anyways I was just talking about Chips flawed logic when he defended his obsession with number of plays run. When talking about his offense he’d rave about how running a ton of plays was a huge advantage, a key stat he tracked for his offense, but when shown that his tactics were leading to his defense facing tons of plays and thus the other teams offense having a ton of plays suddenly it wasn’t an advantage for the other teams offense.

  153. 153 ChoTime said at 11:03 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    If you have higher efficiency, it’s to the advantage to run more plays. But when the offense broke (for a variety of reasons), the smart play was to dial it back and lean on the D. He never adjusted.

  154. 154 PacificPurl said at 11:21 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Not to be labeled a conspiracy theorist or some such, but I have wondered occasionally if Chip wanted out after Tom Gamble was treated so shabbily. He had been hesitant to sign in the first place and it wouldn’t be difficult to create an atmosphere that would almost force Lurie’s hand. After all why didn’t they wait that last couple of games? Wonder how the last conversation went?

  155. 155 FairOaks said at 11:54 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    He clearly didn’t respect Roseman from the get-go, which was probably the source of a lot of the problems. Not sure that lack of respect was warranted, either. But yes, he was clearly fired for front office issues. He did not take responsibility for the personnel movies that did not work out (and as coach, he seemed unable to change course when the offseason plan proved poor). It may have been growing pains for a guy making NFL personnel decisions for the first time, but most can’t do both jobs well. But it does stretch the imagination that Chip was doing it all to get fired. Maybe he gave Lurie an ultimatum after Gamble got fired, not expecting Lurie to go for it, though that seems unlikely. He admittedly would have had much better job choices if he changed teams a year earlier.

    Lurie said Gamble’s firing was a “long time coming”, so he must have ticked off Lurie himself. That’s not all that easy to do, so I’m not so sure it was “shabby” treatment. And Chip pretty much had his choice of guys in the front office that last year (other than Gamble). Lurie clearly wanted to take some control of the situation by firing him one game early.

  156. 156 D3FB said at 6:54 AM on September 12th, 2016:

    Fired for cause (Insubordination) isn’t exactly being treated shabbily

  157. 157 Jernst said at 10:28 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Exactly! Plus the thing that blew my mind the most with Chip was that he would sit there and say that plays run was the most important stat. And, that having more offensive plays run was a huge advantage to his team. Then when presented with the fact that his struggling 3 and out offense was giving the other team a bunch more offensive plays by losing TOP and giving the ball back to them so fast and the fact that his opponents ended up running 2 more full games worth of plays against his defense and asked whether that might be an advantage to the other team. He’d just shake his head and casually say, “no, not at all.” while condescending the person who asked that totally reasonable question.

  158. 158 BobSmith77 said at 11:34 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    I always felt the ‘TOP’ was already overblown and in some cases very much so in regards to why this defense struggled.

    Just didn’t have very good personnel especially in the secondary and Davis was just a really bad coordinator. I’d be shocked if he ever got a sr. position with an NFL defense again.

  159. 159 Ark87 said at 12:13 AM on September 12th, 2016:

    It is over-rated in the sense it is a useless stat. The process of having a comfy lead results in a big time discrepency. The team with the lead tries to burn clock, the losing team isn’t going to care that conserving the clock will hurt their T.O.P battle. Trying to win the T.O.P battle would assure their defeat. The correlation is there, but causation is flipped.

  160. 160 Donald Kalinowski said at 10:27 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Dak looked alright. Elliot on the other hand wasn’t anything special. I thought Alfred Morris was clearly the better back.

  161. 161 HawaiianEagle said at 10:28 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Dak had no pressure and open receivers and was still “ok”.

  162. 162 Baloophi said at 10:34 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Doing a little bit of scoreboard ogling and as of right now we are the owners of the largest margin of victory (+19). AND, I can predict who will have that title next week… if you tell me who the Browns are playing next.

  163. 163 FairOaks said at 10:36 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    They host the Ravens 😉

  164. 164 RC5000 said at 11:05 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    David Johnson and Fitz doing their magic in 4th to put Arizona up 21-20.

  165. 165 RC5000 said at 11:34 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Cardinals bad snap, missed FG. Pats win 23-21.

  166. 166 HawaiianEagle said at 11:36 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    They need the magic of Dorenbos!!

  167. 167 Rambo said at 12:42 AM on September 12th, 2016:

    For a 1st and a 4th? DEAL!

  168. 168 Bert's Bells said at 11:48 PM on September 11th, 2016:

    Garoppolo Era!

  169. 169 BobSmith77 said at 12:14 AM on September 12th, 2016:

    I do wonder if Pederson played the ‘Rodney Dangerfield card’ today and that no was respecting them prior to the start of the game today.

    Corey Seidman
    ‏@CoreySeidmanCSN

    Sep 7

    82% of bets on the Eagles’ over/under win total of 7 are for the UNDER. Largest percentage in the NFL, per @BovadaLV

  170. 170 BobSmith77 said at 12:15 AM on September 12th, 2016:

    https://twitter.com/CoreySeidmanCSN/status/773600653717286912

  171. 171 BobSmith77 said at 12:15 AM on September 12th, 2016:

    Reuben Frank
    ‏@RoobCSN

    11h hours ago

    Last time Eagles scored a TD on their first drive of a season was 2008 against the Rams. Donovan 1-yard TD to Westbrook.

  172. 172 BobSmith77 said at 12:17 AM on September 12th, 2016:

    Eliot Shorr-Parks
    ‏@EliotShorrParks

    6h hours ago

    Since at least 1960, only three NFL rookie QBs have posted 275+ passing yards, 2+ passing TDs and 0 INTs in a season opener. Wentz is one

  173. 173 BobSmith77 said at 12:18 AM on September 12th, 2016:

    Curious who the other 2 are though.

  174. 174 Anders said at 1:57 AM on September 12th, 2016:

    The 3 others are Jim Kelly, Cam Newton and RG3