Game Review – PHI 34, PIT 3 – The Defense
Posted: September 30th, 2016 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 122 Comments »You want this game summed up pretty simply? The Eagles had more sacks than the Steelers had points. Big Ben went down 4 times and Pittsburgh could only manage to put a single field goal on the board. That is dominance.
I was nervous at first. The Steelers moved down the field with a 57-yard drive and had a FG attempt. They should have had a TD, but Markus Wheaton somehow wasn’t able to catch a pass that fell right to him. Bennie Logan penetrated and blocked the FG to keep PIT off the board. The Eagles got pressure on Big Ben on that opening series, but he was able to buy time and make plays, which is what scares you.
The next drive resulted in a punt. After that, a 61-yard drive resulted in a FG. While the Steelers did move the ball on 2 of the 3 opening drives, it took big plays on each one of them. Once the Eagles took away the big plays, the Steelers had no chance. They simply could not sustain drives.
The Eagles dominated the game up front. The Steelers have put together a good OL in recent years, but they got manhandled. The 4 sacks don’t sound like that much, but Big Ben was hit a lot and under regular pressure. Pittsburgh only ran for 29 yards. There weren’t any holes in the 1st half and then the game got out of hand in the 2nd half and they didn’t have a choice.
Because the Eagles got pressure with just their DL, they were able to keep 7 people back in coverage. That made things incredibly hard on Big Ben and his receivers. The Eagles broke up 11 passes. DBs were able to keep things in front of them and then attack the ball.
Sometimes you will see a defense get sloppy in a blowout. Jim Schwartz kept his guys focused and attacking. After a 4th down stop late in the game, you could see just how intense he is.
More from Schwartz after that 4th down stop. Jim Schwatz for President: https://t.co/MQgqLNV6AE
— Patrick (@pcausey3) September 25, 2016
The game was well over at that point. But Schwartz never stops competing and that mentality has helped shape the Eagles defense this year.
I love it.
DE
Brandon Graham continues to play at a high level. He had a sack and TFL. He recovered a fumble. He was disruptive on other plays. PIT didn’t think their RT could handle him so they chipped blocked on Graham a lot early in the game. They went max protect at times, using 2 TEs to block Graham while the 5 OL blocked the other 3 DL. Graham blew up a run to his side by getting upfield and throwing off the blocking. Bradham swept in for the TFL. Graham had chances for other sacks, but Big Ben is a hard man to bring down. Played some on the inside as well as at DE.
Connor Barwin had one of those bridesmaid games. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. He was always close, but never could seal the deal. He did have one really good moment. PIT drove into scoring range. Ben was in the pocket and looked ready to pull the trigger. Barwin was in the middle of the OL and raised his hands and jumped. Ben couldn’t throw. Cox was able to get his hands on Ben for the sack. Barwin’s only tackle came on a run play in the 1st Qtr. Split a double team and got the RB right at the LOS.
Vinny Curry only played 26 snaps. There’s no reason to over-work him with big leads and any concerns about aggravating his knee injury. Played DT and DE. Disruptive, but didn’t make any plays. Came close to a sack in the mid-3rd. Flew off the edge and beat the RT with a terrific dip. Got his hands on Ben, but wasn’t able to bring him down. Used a power move to drive the LG right back into Ben on a pass play. Marcus Smith had some good moments. Set the edge on early run and almost got a TFL for Allen. Got the LT to false start in the 3rd. Drove the LT back in the 4th and then got in on tackle of RB after short pass. These aren’t great moments, but you’re seeing progress from Smith. The coaches aren’t afraid to put him on the field, whether the 1st Qtr or the 4th. Steven Means played DE. He was credited with 1 tackle.
DT
Fletcher Cox had a monster game. You see him play like this and understand why they paid him all that money. The stat sheet shows 5 tackles, 2 sacks and a FF. That’s impressive, but doesn’t tell the whole story. Cox lined up over RG David DeCastro a lot. He destroyed DeCastro, who was voted All Pro last year. Cox exploded off the ball and drove DeCastro backward over and over. Big Ben couldn’t step up in the pocket because Cox was right there on the way back to him. The sacks were nice plays, but there were 2 other moments that really stood out to me. Early in the game, Ben took off running. Cox was battling a double team and saw him run. He turned, chased and then tackled Ben. Later in the game, Cox stopped rushing, turned and chased after Antonio Brown. He was fast enough to get to Brown and tackle him. Wow. That combination of hustle and athleticism is what makes Cox a special player.
Bennie Logan played well. He was in on a couple of tackles and had a sack. Logan blocked a FG as well (more on that later). Limited 2nd Qtr run to a yard by clogging the middle. Threw off the timing on a screen with quick penetration. Drove the LG back to Ben on 3rd Qtr pass. Did a good job of collapsing the pocket in the 2nd half. Got his sack by beating DeCastro. Beau Allen had some good moments. He drove the C back on a run play to throw it off. Got the best of the LG a couple of times. Destiny Vaeao was solid as the #4 DT, but didn’t have any highlight moments. I do love his hustle. He knows he won’t play a ton so he goes all out on every single snap.
LB
Nigel Bradham had another good game. Had 4 solo tackles and a TFL. There were a couple of plays where he covered Antonio Brown on underneath routes. Bradham looked smooth in coverage and tackled well in space. Got his TFL on a run that Graham blew up. Drew a holding call on the LT on a run play. Jordan Hicks was in on 3 tackles. He flew out wide to make the stop on a screen and limit that to minimal yards. Blitzed up the middle and hit Ben’s arm as he tried to throw. The ball was a lob over the middle, but no one could get to it. Mychal Kendricks only played 9 snaps because PIT got down and the Eagles went to their Nickel. I did think Kendricks played well while in the game. Had one tackle. Stephen Tulloch played in both halves. He had 2 tackles. No punishing hits like last week.
S
Malcolm Jenkins was great. That was about as good as a S can play. He had 5 tackles and broke up 3 passes. Jenkins covered well and seemed to be all over the field. He stuffed a run up the middle. He flew out wide and tackled Brown on WR screens. Jenkins was covering deep downfield and making plays. I’m sure the Steelers felt like there were a couple of guys wearing #27 at times. Jenkins had some great coverage moments against Brown. You could tell he had done his film study by the way he ran the route as well as Brown and was there to get his hands on the ball.
Shot 11 – This play by @MalcolmJenkins = bonkers. Great route by Brown but he recovers and undercuts this throw for a near INT #Eagles pic.twitter.com/LBVAVHwfNB
— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) September 26, 2016
Shot 13 – Great range here by Jenkins as a split safety in the deep part of the field, dislodging the ball at the catch point #Eagles pic.twitter.com/u8jAXN8Jut
— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) September 26, 2016
Rodney McLeod played really well, but MJ was just on another level. McLeod had 5 solo tackles, picked off a pass and broke up a pass. The INT was crazy. McLeod hustled into the end zone on a deep pass and stole the ball away from the WR. That wasn’t great coverage, but it was a great recovery and really impressive play. McLeod was physical with receivers and runners. McLeod made the stop on a couple of big plays. You never want to give up chunk plays, but if you do, you want the FS over there to get the guy down so you limit the damage. Jaylen Watkins played some DB. He broke up a pass in the 4th Qtr. Made a good break on the ball.
CB
Nolan Carroll was in on a couple of tackles. He broke up 3 passes. Should have given up a TD early. Wheaton got behind him and open. Ben lobbed the ball. Carroll got in front of Wheaton and distracted him. The ball hit Wheaton in the stomach/hands and should have been caught, but the distraction got the best of him. Carroll got his hands on some short/intermediate throws to his side. Solid game.
Jalen Mills had some good moments, but definitely had his rookie moments as well. Got beaten for big gains by Coates (outside) and Rodgers (slot). Coates beat him with pure speed. Rodgers used a good move to get a step of separation. Brown caught a few passes on Mills as well. Still, managed to keep his guys out of the end zone. Mills battled Brown a few times. He was burned on some, but give Brown credit for making some really tough catches. Mills wasn’t leaving him wide open. Mills did get called for PI on one play. Led the team with 6 solo tackles. Ron Brooks had 2 tackles. I love his toughness and physicality more than his cover skills.
*****
STs
Donnie Jones only averaged 41.3 yards per punt, but didn’t always have a lot of field to work with. Caleb Sturgis nailed FGs from 29 and 38 yards out. Darren Sproles had a 14-yard PR and Josh Huff a 23-yard KOR.
There was one real highlight. Logan blocked a FG. He got by DeCastro with quickness/power and was free up the middle, allowing him to stretch and hit the ball.
There was one lowlight. Chris Maragos tried to block a punt. He hit the punter, but was only flagged for running into the kicker. PIT decided to go for it, but MJ broke up the pass to Brown and saved the day. The Eagles had a good lead at that juncture. I didn’t like them going for the block. You know you’re getting the ball back. Why chance that? I mention this because it looked like a designed play and not just luck or poor blocking.
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[…] Tommy Lawlor You want this game summed up pretty simply? The Eagles had more sacks than the Steelers had points. […]
What’s really impressive about Pitt feeling as tho they needed to start the game by giving the RT extra help to block BG is that their RT is considered one of the better pass blocking RT, for them to not even try to łet him start the game blocking BG one on one shows some serious respect for how BG is playing..
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DeCastro was flat out Dominanted. Must be Dissapointing for a guy they just gave a big extension.
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Cox is Amazing. Thankfully we signed him before letting him play under schwartz
Brandon Graham is playing out of his goddamn mind to start the season, he must be super hungry after all the years of hearing the bust talk.
Straight Beasting #BdotGrizzle
Praying MS2 is on similar trajectory
I think MSII’s ceiling is an all-round DE like Barwin. He doesn’t have a great first step, not squatting and powerful like BG, he’s gonna set the edge, be able to drop on a zone blitz, pressure and hit the QB and get some sacks. He has gotten better, but probably won’t live up to his pick..
If he turns into a Barwin caliber player that works for a late 1st rounder. I’d be thrilled if he ended up being Barwin 2.0.
#MS2Breakout2021!!
2018 will be too late
That was another great move by the Eagles FO.
It seems this year they cannot make a mistake.
Also, you have to love the fact that every player Schwartz has acquired has made plays for us.
Brooks, Bradham, Mckelvin. Mcleod, and Tulloch have all made plays and are important pieces of our D.
Yes sir
Last night, the Bengals threw some quick screens to AJ Green and let Him use his size to break Tackles… I’d like to incorporate that for DGB, instead of always giving the screens to Huff or Nelson.
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Also want to throw more deep balls to DGB. The ENDZONE isn’t the only time he can out jump corners
Funny how a good defense coordinator knows to attack a probowl guard.
Also have to appreciate Doug Pederson, not being a control freak as a first time head coach, and giving the freedom to a DC like Schwartz to run the defense however he sees fit… Chip kelly couldn’t even do that much
Favorite sack was when Cox got his hands on Ben but Ben didnt go down. They just kind of wrestled then the play was blown dead. Lol
Cox had his throwing arm wrapped up, Im kind of surprised he didn’t try one of those switch hands toss away things he does that are super annoying.
your favorite Cox play was when he had his hands on big ben and it didn’t go down until they wrestled and it was blown ? what a sack that was
That just goes to show you that the moment Cox gets his mits on you your done.
You know who’s going to be the king of this city if things keep turning up roses for us? Howie motherfucking big balls Roseman. This offseason will be legendary if it keeps going the way it has been.
everything is coming up Roseman
Well, Ethel said it but Alice Cooper is more relevant.. “Cold Ethel”…
It really is an impressive job, especially after watching Kiko struggle and Maxwell getting benched before October. To not only get the Maxwell deal off our books, but to also move up into trade up Range for Wentz was masterful and almost immediately recouping our lost draft picks in the Bradford trade.
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Even better is that during a draft where we had so little picks, one month into the season we have a handful of rookies contributing In Wentz, Smallwood, Mills, Destiny.
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He also did a great job in being able to get our talent under contract even tho chip made a disaster last season. And most of the extensions he gave out are giving us our Morneys worth so far this season.
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For HOWIE who was known to be power hungry at times,you also have to respect him for recognizing that schwartz knows what he is talking about and that we should give Schwartz what he wanted in terms of signing Bradham Who has been really good, Leodis, Brooks, and Tulluch, and McLeod.
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If the Eagles can eventually grow DGB to realize his full astronomical potential, that will be the cherry on top of the brilliant offseason. dennis Kelly played 3 snaps so far for the Titans 🙂
I agree that he should be. I wonder, though, if he will be. I bet no matter how high the bar rises through success, as soon as we fail to reach it talk radio and casual fans slip back into their familiar NoWayNoHowie mantra.
My biggest pet peeve when media talks about Howie is how he was “demoted”. While technically true, Howie wasn’t sent down because of job performance, he was sent down because of a hostile takeover by an egomaniac. That’s a distinction that people either fail to grasp or choose to ignore and it drives me nuts.
And Lurie doesn’t get enough credit for playing it smart and keeping Roseman in the wings in case Chip flamed out, which he did spectacularly. Philly should be loving both Howie AND Lurie for how they handled the whole situation, and how goddamn fucking magical Howie made our offseason.
By all rights, Chip’s failure should have taken at least a few years to correct. It remains to be seen if they can get us over the hump from good to great, but entering each season and each game as a contender is an achievement and it looks like we quickly resumed that status.
GET YooooOOOOR
Howie motherfucking big balls Roseman
T Shirts HeeEERE
Howie, god bless him will wheel and deal and try every angle to find a trade, make a move in the draft and even stir the bottom of the roster to get a competitive edge.
It was only a matter of time until he refined his skills to where it is today.
Although, this year is the year that he cannot do wrong.
Every single move and every trade he has made this year has been wins for the Eagles.
He has come a long way and deserves all the accolades.
A job well done.
I imagine his sense of decorum will stop Cafone from reposting this, but this is too good to be missed by readers because of unlucky timing between his comment and the new thread.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/127ba922802ee0eee881182aa3737227f47f63f3d17ab89b64f33f14b457e341.png
Haha hahas i tried 4 times to upvote the image !!!!
the Giants won’t be able to protect Eli this week. He is going to take a beating which means he probably coughs up a couple INT’s and a few inevitable “Eli Face” moments,..The Vikings DL should dominate this game the same way our DL has pounded them during our current 4 game win streak over NY. This Vikings win should show exactly why the Giamts can’t hang with us. Everson Griffin is a monster, but Linvale Joseph is no Fletcher Cox.
this is tough. I think we can win the division, we are just better. Am I crazy to want the Vikings to lose? I really want them not to make the playoffs so our pick is better.
I never want the Giants to win, so hush up that anti-Vikings talk for a week.
I agree. Now, to whom would my hate be better directed, Cowboys or Chip’s 49ers?
Knocking Dak down several pegs is more important at this juncture. Chip will be losing tons more games on his own.
You’re right. Maybe Dak will crash into Chip on the sidelines and get hurt.
Gotta be directed toward Big D All Ass
Yea, I’ve never, not once in my life, wanted anything good for the C’Pukes.
That’s a no brainer.
F Dem boys, is all that needs to be said.
No mercy on them ‘boys!
Chip ISNT worthy of him mattering enough to us that we would actually want to see Dallas beat Him… He doesn’t deserve to be that Important to us… IMO he is inevitably going to get laughed out of the NFL so I can comfortably root for him to beat teams that help us. He isn’t important enough for me to have a problem rooting for him against a rival…
I hope you’re not going soft on us, GG. I mean, not hating Chip?!
I thought about it, and emotionally I am totally with Media Mike..a Giant loss is always a sunny day in Philadelphia. But psychologically, it may be better for DP and the position coaches to have the Giants hanging around. So it is a wash for me. We win either way.
I think it’s win-win for us. If the Vikings lose, we get a better pick. If the Giants lose, the Giants lose.
Love the confidence. I still want the Giants to lose because F them.
Eli gonna die.
Here comes the BOOM
If the Vikings DL was able to go on the road and sack Cam Newton 7 times last week, Eli is in big trouble playing behind that suspect OL especially on the road in the Vikings brand new noisy stadium aganst their scary defensive line…
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I dont see this going well for Eli at all.
This author asks how much we can tell about a future QB’s career by the first few starts. The short answer is, the QBs begin to group themselves within a few games, the more games the more sure we can be, by two years it’s generally clear, but it took Drew Brees 4 years. There will be charts.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/17675934/dak-prescott-carson-wentz-passed-one-big-test-others-await-2016
He should release this data. Pretty interesting.
Mort says the target Date for Tony Romo is October 30th against the Eagles. Jordan Hicks will be licking his chops
I don’t know… my my money is on Brandon Graham knocking him out this year.
I want Dak. I want to bury Dak. I don’t want that clown Romo, give us Dak.
Romo for the first couple of drives then we can go after Dak 🙂
I like your style
I’ll actually feel bad for Tony. No chance he wouldn’t get hurt.
Yeah but if Tony starts, odds are that our front 7 will knock him out the game and we will end up facing Romo and Dak..
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Going into the season I strongly believe that Romo is DONE and his body can no longer withstand even average NFL hits. You don’t even have to hit him hard any more, it seems like his body can no longer hold up to a playërs body weight landing on his frail, battered upper body…
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Even if they start Romo against us, odds are we would knock him out the game by halftime.. I really believe his career is over. Because of the money he is owed, Dallas will play him again when he is healthy, and I suspect he will get hurt again so soon after returning to the lineup that the next injury will be the wake up call to Jerry Jones that Romos career is over, and they will have to eat that crazy Cap hit
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Romo is frail, so we are going to face Dak at least one of the two games
HAHAHA !!!! Brilliant !!!!
Dak gets knocked out the game and in comes Sanchize LOL.
I can’t wait !!!
So Steelers have 7 players out w/ injuries this week. Coincidence. Eagles will straight destroy your team.
Luckily, the Giants get to face the Vikings before we decimate their ranks.
We’re the new Seattle; play us, get body bagged, lose worse the next week.
So, technically, it’d be better for us to play teams on back-to-back weeks.
Thursday night football is stupid enough, but I can’t believe a potentially division deciding game against the Giants is on a Thursday Week 15. Stupid assholes.
I kind of like it because a huge Thursday night win will keep the entire NYC area from enjoying their entire weekend.
Who knows? By week 15 it may be meaningless game.
I’m in the NYC area (North Jersey) and I would enjoy that very much!
We’re going to have it locked up by then. Unless all the sudden the Giants can make up 4 games from one win.
It’s kind of like a mini bye going into week 16. Kind of actually nice, if we are heading to the post season.
The NFL acting like they care about playërs safety, is 100% crock of shit. Thursday night games are the ultimate proof that the NFL doesn’t give a shit about its playërs…. You play on Sunday, Monday is an off day, so essentially teams get Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for a Thursday night opponent, is so ridiculous especially for veteran players and banged up guys playing thru injuries. Thursday night games are a disgrace…. And the proof is in the pudding, just look at the low percentage of Thursday night games that actually turn into good games. Seems like most Thursday games are a sloppy mess
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As a fan, I like being able to watch football on Thursdays, but it’s really not fair to The playërs, and often it provides an iferior product
The decision will already be made by week 14 where we will be resting our starters. Book it.
Browns might release Josh Gordon. Any interest since he’s free?
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000711886/article/cleveland-browns-planning-to-release-josh-gordon
Fuck yes.
You’d think it’s a bad move for him to go from rehab straight back to the NFL this season. So I imagine he would play next in 2017, at 26, and 3 years since his last full season.
I don’t think our expectations will match what he is today.
Interest? Yes. But that bidding war for him is going to be stupid ridiculous and the odds are good that oneof 32 teams are going to pay well beyond what they should.
He is not a vested veteran. Therefore he would be subject to waivers.
No. I think this part of his life is over.
That ship has sailed.
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Im hoping nothing happened and he is really entering rehab for all the right reason, but the skeptic in me thinks there is something fishy about the timing of him entering rehab… I have a hard time believing his motives are pure and he just decided to get help right before he was going to get reinstated…. I hope that is the case, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he entered rehab to avoid Taking a test he knew he would fail, or that he may have actually taken a test already that he will fail, and is trying to get ahead of it and enter rehab before the results of another failed test are released.
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this is a horrible waste of special talent. And all the people with sever drug problems, it’s a joke that this special talents career was taken away because of Marijuana, it’s really ridiculous that NFL players are tested more often for drug use than the other sports like the NBA Who test athletes for drugs much less than the NFL does… Half the NBA smokes weed year round, and the NBA is smart enough to not try to catch them smoking weed since it’s so ridiculous and insignificant compared to real drugs and PEDs…. You are NEVER going to police Weed use out of sports, understanding that, I respect the NBA for not trying to catch its playërs smoking weed the way the NFL does..
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Ypung men in the NFL have a small window to play the game and make a living doing it. To not let athletes play in modern day America over individuals smoking pot on their time is absurd. This effects josh Gordon, his family, Browns fans, the Browns, and we are cheating NFL fans everywhere out of a really special talent and for what? Because he smokes pot which realistically is no worse than drinking a glass of wine
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Hope one of the big issues in the next CBA is to Eliminate marijuana suspensions.. Just don’t test for it as often like all the other sports do.
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What has been taken away from Josh Gordon DOESNT even come remotely close to matching the crime
Pretty sure Jerry will claim him.
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/videos/videos/Sounds-Of-The-Week-Jordan-Matthews-Micd-Up/a5965a2c-4a92-42ca-a0cc-c94254048d7e
Jordan Matthews mic’d up.
is it just me or is curry seemingly the designated pre-game huddle hype man? Seems to always be the dude. Seems appropriate, if anyone is living the dream and loaded with emotion to spare it is him.
Also love the the Rick Flair WOOOOOO Curry has the whole team doing.
Since Curry was an Eagles fan since birth it’s only right that he be the hype man.
Any chance LJ gets his suspension whittled down to 4 games?
6.897%.
Dude, stop giving people false hope. The six in the thousandths place would not round up to a seven.
http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/fc/fc2fca5cc8833d35c92822a6af386914480a4e7c2411a6329d9742eb6bc89110.jpg
I’m thinking 6-7 games. Given the circumstances of both offenses, if they were ever going to show leniency on a suspension, this is the time to do it. That said, since it is the second offense I think it will remain above 4.
Don’t forget as Seattle taught us. Guys can claim suspension for any reason. The league isn’t legally allowed to discuss it. I believe Lane too, but always something to remember.
approximately 3,720 to 1!
nerf herder.
You have no idea how big of a Star Wars fan I am. And while this isn’t “football related” I took this picture last Saturday for the premiere of Season 3 last weekend (Rebels).
Umm, he had Eagles gear for each game, though I need to get him some pajamas for the winter so he’s geared up for the games.
Have a Flyers and Sixers onesies in the wings for their first games, though he’ll be in bed before the first Flyers game since they are in LA.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2d487db55286a75460d087b2247a8e2684ff26c034bc5221664e9b069238a047.jpg
Eagles game day.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5e755420bf037506c5838faf32b8aa5780ae2b389328c76b93a3f87dc1b24c69.jpg
Raising him right AG!
And I bet he’s better than Cody Parkey already.
Goes without saying.
Looks like a healthy and happy kid. Well done, Mr. and Mrs. AG. Raising the next generation of Iggles Blitz posters.
Thanks.
Gangster. Hopefully my wife will get on board with having one of these lil guys soon. We could have matching Wentz jerseys.
6 months, +/- ??
There is absolutely a chance it gets reduced to something like 4 or 6 games. I feel like every year we see a suspension get reduced via the appeal process .. How likely is it to be reduced? No idea
天昏地暗，也阻挡不住我对你博客的爱恋！
The defense is a lot of fun to watch, and Schwartz deserves a lot of credit for that, but the position coaches are doing a pretty damn good job too. Chris Wilson, in particular, has his unit ballin’ and they’re coming in waves too. The starters are taking the headlines, but the back ups are playing pretty well too.
Here is fascinating read about the Cowboys “fixer”…
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/when-the-dallas-cowboys-have-a-problem-this-is-the-man-who-makes-it-go-away/2016/09/30/a7bdeaf0-84e8-11e6-92c2-14b64f3d453f_story.html?tid=sm_tw_ps#comments
A resourceful, experienced soldier. No billionaire should leave home without one.
When you sign players with questionable character as the cowboys do as part of their credo, you are forced to make these types of hires.
Lurie? not so much.
https://twitter.com/OSU_AD/status/782258193372241925
Guy is just a class act all the way around.
Except he works and gets paid in Pennsylvania now, which also has a state university, but we can let that slide.
Great read as always Tommy.
Quick unrelated question to anyone who can answer it.
I was contacted with a trade proposal on my fantasy football league.
I have Jeremy Hill, Carlos Hyde, Spencer Ware and Matt Jones as my RB’s.
An Owner wants me to give him Jeremy Hill for Carson Wentz.
I am leaning toward pulling the trigger as I feel Wentz is only going to get better and I feel his upside far outweighs Jeremy Hill.
Should I do it?
I thank you in advance for taking your time.
If it’s not a dynasty league, I don’t think that’s a good trade–Hill is likely to be more valuable as a quality RB option (in terms of TD vulturing, anyway) than Wentz will be THIS SEASON.
If it’s a dynasty league, you’d be foolish not to take this trade.
The recent CBS NFL Mock draft is a dream scenario for Eagles fans short of us winning the Super Bowl.
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It reflects them predicting the Eagles losing to the Vikings in the NFC championship game, while the Steelers lose to the Patriots in the AFC championship game, and then they have Vikings losing to Patriots in the Super Bowl… That’s a dream scenario for this year. This scenario means that the Vikings give us the #30 pick in the draft, while the 4th rounder they owe us becomes a second rounder. the Cherry on top is the pick we owe the Browns would be the #28th pick. Way worse than they were expecting when making that trade. Plus I wouldn’t want to see the Vikings actually win the Super Bowl with the QB we gave them, but if we can’t get to the Super Bowl. Im certainly going to root for the Vikings to get there since they don’t need to actually win the Super Bowl to turn the pick into a second rounder. Just getting to the SB is enough.
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Seems like most fans are rooting against the Vikings hoping they miss the playoffs and lose enough games so that our first round pick is much better than expected… For Me, I think Eagle fans are better off rooting for the Vikings to succeed,because their defense is just too good, playing in an average division, that I don’t see any way they will lose enough games to give us a top 15 pick unless SAM and a few other key players get hurt.
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I think it’s probably more valuable to root for the Vikings to make it to the Super Bowl unless they face us in the playoffs. The 4th round pick turnng into a 2nd round pick is probably more valable to us than the 24th pick in the draft turning into the 18th pick in the draft (or Somethng like that
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In most drafts there are only 15-20 first round prospects, and the rest of the teams are stuck spending 1st round picks on kids with second round grades anyway, so I think we are better off Hoping that the 4th rounder turns into a second rounder, than to root against the Vikings making the playoffs.
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If SAM suffers a serious injury in the next couple of weeks, and they lose a few other key players, maybe then it becomes worthwhile to root against them making the playoffs, but without injuries decimating their team, I suspect that they won’t be bad enough to worry about the first round pick they owe us,.,
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Would anyone actually prefer gettng let’s say the 18th pick in the draft and a 4th rounder, instead of getting the 30th pick and a second rounder? In most drafts I think we tend to grossly overestimate the difference of Talent that you can get with the 18th pick and the Talent you can get at #30. think there isn’t as much of a difference in talent as we tend to think.. Think turning a 4th round pick into a 2nd round pick is a bigger deal.
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The ONLY Vikings scenario that I rreally don’t want to see is them losing in the first round of the playoffs. That would really suck, but im fine with any other scenario. Vikings IMO are way better overall than the Pakers are
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Btw, the Mock draft had us taking the offensive Tackle from Notre Dame with the 30th pick we get from the Vikings
Look at the converse: would giving up the 30th pick and the 62nd pick be enough to to get the 18th pick and a 4th rounder?
Another thing to consider, that potential 2nd is awful close to the 3rd round.
30th + 62nd = 620 + 284 = 904
18th + matching 4th rounder = 900 + 66 = 966
I’ll take this one, personally.
I think the Vikings actually have to win the Super Bowl for us to get the second rounder.
My favorite scenario would be beating the Vikings in the nfc champ game. We get the third rounder in 2018, bit better pick this year…. And the Eagles *play* in the super bowl. No way does any dream scenario involve us losing that far into the playoffs. Won’t be thinking about draft position at that point.
Im staying with the 49ers beating Dallas out right as my week 4 upset.
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And my lock of the week is the Vikings beating down the Giants on Monday night…..
If the Vikings sacked Cam Newton 7 times last week @ Carolina, WTF is the Vikings defensive Line going to do at home, playing against the crappy Giants OL?
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Not only is the Panthers OL signifcantly better than the crappy Giants OL, but Cam newton is also harder to sack than Eli, and the defense will get to enjoy the advantage that is playing in a very noisy atmosphere provided by an undefeated team playing on Monday night in a brand new stadium…
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Vikings are winning this game!
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Odell Beckham is about as dangerous of a WR as there is, but defending him becomes so much easier when you know that your DL ISNT going to give Eli more than 2 seconds to get rid of the ball
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Im really tempted to say that the Browns steal a win against the Niners based soley off the fact that the skins are such a dumb, Undiscaplined mess that they are the type of team that would get a big win against the Giants and follow that up by losing the next week to a putrid roster such as the Browns, but Hue Jackson’s Browns are soooo bad, and I feel like I have to respect the fact that Cousins is Getting 20million this year all because they beat the teams they were supposed to beat. They still haven’t beaten a good team with Cousins at QB. so while I can’t go that far take the Browns to beat the skins, I do really like the Browns covering the 8point line. I don’t think I’d bet on the skins beating anyone by 9 points
I just don’t see CK’s offense beating Dallas’s defense. It’s been an issue every time they’ve met, save the thanksgiving game.
What to think about “air yards.” It’s been noted that Wentz has been throwing a lot of short passes and screens. And it’s true, he’s currently lower than Alex Smith for the season, who is known to be the shortest thrower of all NFL QBs. Can anyone guess who’s the 2nd shortest?
But I’m not sure what it means. Check out this chart, which shows air yards over the last decade. I don’t see any kind of reliable correlation between QB quality and air yards. Brady and Brees are below-average in the stat. Cam and Eli are near the top.
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2016/quarterbacks-and-progression-air-yards
I think it just means Wentz is playing within Pederson’s offense. I’m not sure why there’s such a big argument about it over on Twitter. It’s not like Wentz hasn’t shown the ability to hit the deep shots and hit them almost perfectly.
It’s easy to measure lots of things in life. The hard part is linking that measurement to something in a way that leads to knowledge. If I measure a thousand people large toenail, what sorts of knowledge will I gain? What if I measure a thousand football players?
Science is hard. Lots of wannabe moneyballers just don’t understand science, even if they understand a portion of the mathematics that make up statistics. Real science involves eliminating variables. NFL football doesn’t lend itself well to that process, for a lot of reasons. The best of these statistics are arrived at through the gunslinger’s fallacy. The rest are worse than that.
Thank you!
Check list for tomorrow:
Go 49ers! You owe us Chip.
Go Vikings! Sammie you own the Giants.
Go Cleveland! You suck, but we still love you.