How Good?
Posted: September 21st, 2016 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 225 Comments »The Eagles are 2-0. That’s great, but it doesn’t tell us how good this team is. Last year the Falcons got out to a 5-0 start and looked really good. They completely fell apart and finished 8-8.
Football Outsiders has released DVOA rankings and the Eagles are…#1. Like all stats/numbers, that does need some context.
Things are looking very good for the Philadelphia Eagles, who sit atop our DVOA ratings after two weeks of the 2016 season. That’s a lot better than we expected before the season, when we projected that the Eagles would be one of the worst teams in the league. On the other hand, while we don’t have enough information on the current season to incorporate opponent adjustments into our numbers, Philadelphia’s two victories have come over two other teams we projected to be among the worst teams in the league. So, how much do we take from the Eagles’ strong start?
In recent history, getting out to a strong start in DVOA has generally identified a team as one of the best in the league for that season. This wasn’t always the case. For example, from 1998 through 2002, only one team that was No. 1 in DVOA after two weeks went on to make the playoffs. However, since the 2003 Kansas City Chiefs, every team ranked No. 1 in DVOA after Week 2 has made the playoffs and finished at least 10-6. These teams have averaged 12.5 wins and finished with an average DVOA rank of 3.6. Only the 2012 Houston Texans didn’t finish in the DVOA top six; they were 11th.
On the other hand, Philadelphia isn’t your typical team to rank No. 1 at this point. The ratings have never been more condensed at this point in the season, which makes sense when you consider how many close games there have been. Before we even consider the quality of the opposition so far, Philadelphia has the lowest DVOA ever for a team ranked No. 1 after Week 2. In most years, there are five or six teams at 30% or higher after two games. This year, Philadelphia is the only one.
No matter how you slice it, that is very encouraging.
No one thinks the Eagles are actually the best team in the league right now. There are some holes on the roster. But I think the notion that the Eagles are one of the weakest teams in the league is also way off. How often do we see teams get praised for playing good defense and being sound on STs? We knew the Eagles defense would be at least pretty good after seeing them play this summer. And the STs unit has been outstanding for the past 3 years. The key players all return, as does Dave “Mr. Eyes” Fipp, so there was no reason to expect a major letdown.
Obviously most people had doubts about the offense and coach Doug Pederson. That is fair on both counts. However, the offense and Pederson are both performing much better than anyone could have anticipated. At the very least, this is a middle of the pack team right now. That could change in a month or two, but we can only go on what we’ve seen to this point.
Inside the Pylon did something interesting before the season. They came up a way to rate all 32 rosters.
CIN – 82
DEN – 82
GB – 84
CAR – 88
Those were the top 4 teams. The Eagles had a rating of 79, tops in the NFC East. Here’s what they had to say about the Eagles.
The Eagles on the other hand appear to be on the rise. One huge caveat is that rookie Carson Wentz will be the starter at quarterback, perhaps signaling a need for a positional adjustment to my ratings given the difficult transition to the NFL for rookie quarterbacks. They have high talent levels on both sides of the ball, a crop of good veterans, and a coach they might be able to get along with in Doug Pederson replacing Chip Kelly.
And
What It Means for 2016: Despite all the turmoil in Philadelphia last season, the Eagles did go 7-9 and their talent seems to point to them as the division favorite. With the other teams looking like middling contenders at best, there’s a large weight on the shoulders of Wentz to lead a talented team to the playoffs.
ITP projected the Skins to take a dive this year. Right now these predictions seem pretty darn interesting and on target. I thought people overlooked the talent on the Eagles roster and focused too much on this as a rebuilding year. The Eagles had plenty of talent in place and were strong on the line of scrimmage. Remember that Chip Kelly got fired after going 7-9. It wasn’t as if the Eagles were some dumpster fire last year that struggled to compete. The Eagles were a few plays away from winning the NFC East. Instead of making those critical plays, the team made critical mistakes and that is part of why Kelly was fired.
Jimmy Bama compiled numbers that show how well the Eagles are playing right now. How about focusing on this simple one…point differential. The Eagles lead the NFL at +34. That tells you they are scoring points and not allowing them.
Jimmy also did a roundup of power rankings. The Eagles still have plenty of doubters out there. That is probably a good thing. Better to have doubters out there than a hype train getting out of control and leading to some swollen heads and bloated egos. I’d rather have a hungry team than a happy one.
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[…] Tommy Lawlor The Eagles are 2-0. That’s great, but it doesn’t tell us how good this team is. Last […]
Ok
Ok
Ok
BS
words hurt. letters too.
K.O.
https://twitter.com/theweirdworld/status/778798980427722753
Woah, man.
Nice.. like what i think of the phrase “it will be interesting to see…”
.. no it wont.. wishy washy and invisible meaningless phrase. . Like ok is.
I don’t understand. It will be interesting to see if you are just grumpy or if you are demanding everyone Confidently spout their opinions as fact.
What we need is more Steve A. Smith around here.
Yes to Both. Cool ?
It will be interesting to see if it is, in fact, cool.
OKool.
Ye might be interetested to know meow, that im okool wit it.
Go
I can understand ranking the Giants higher than the Eagles although it’s not as if they beat anyone good, but a lot of rankings have the Eagles lower than Dallas, who have only beaten the 0-2 Skins.
I sort of thought we were the beat team in the division (lretty strongly before the trade). Nothing I have seen suggest anything different.
Just a poor div overall.
The Patriots have played in a crappy division for almost all of Brady’s career. He’s a great player, but he’s been helped a lot by having no franchise QB to play against his entire career twice a year.
I however cannot. We were a game better than the Giants last year, beat them twice, and upgraded the coaching staff, while not losing any important players.
F the Giants
With out Romo and their decimated defense…? Eagles
Will Romo ever return?
I think we get crushed by Pittsburgh and our assessment becomes a little too down.
Pretty good defense, rookie leading offense…
Lets just watch how he develops and Pederson develops, both equally important.
Damn it, Tommy. I had myself prepared mentally for a season of enjoying the games and watching the growth while ignoring the playoff picture. So much for that.
We have two wins. We play 6 games in division. There is no reason we can’t win those games. That makes 8 wins. Now, we won’t win them all because division games are always tough and sweeping the division is nearly impossible, but we should be able to see steal wins elsewhere for the ones we drop.
So much for a relaxed enjoyment of the building process.
If we go 4-2 in the division, we most likely only need 4 wins out of the last 8 to make the play offs
With the injury to Romo and the nose dive from Washington I’m eyeing up an extremely gaudy win total in division.
No respect for the Giants as well.
I hate the G-men as much as you, but the DC over there has a ring with that organization and I do respect his defensive instincts. I am not sold on their new and improved DL, but I seriously doubt that it will be an easy line to run against. Spags likes big lineman to win at LOS, and his GM went out and got him that. They also have new blood in the secondary. They will win the NFC East if the Eagles don’t, I think. Of course, their QB is a wild card. He might be our best friend.
The Giants are 1-4 in their last 5 games against us, That one win came 3 Octobers ago when they beat a Matt Barkley led Eagles team. The primary reason for our 3 year dominance of the Giants is our DL has terrorized Eli and that weak OL… Yet schwartz should have our DL playing better than ever, while the Giants literally did NOTHING to try and upgrade their OL.
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We swept the Giants in both of the last two seasons, and I like our chances to do that again since our DL has been Eli’s worse nightmare and they continue to start a really weak RT/RG tandem for us to pick on… If a DL dominates the game, all those flashy weapons become irrelevant
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If Wentz stays healthy, we will kick NY ass again!
From what little I’ve seen this season, we will get stuffed trying to run against that DL. If that leaves an open field for Wentz to pick apart, I’ll be elated. Janoris Jenkins is a new Giant CB, and he’s not bad, there’s a new safety whose name I can’t be bothered to look up who likes to punish ball carriers. I agree with your assessment of our D, but theirs is not as lame as it has been recently. I think your recitation of recent history between these teams is off the point. NFL=Not For Long! I may be oversold, but I don’t want to be shell-shocked if they have our number.
Throwing to our Tight ends and RB’s in a KC Cheifs style ATTACK, taking advantage of the weak LB and slow Safeties of the Giants is the key to that match up on offense
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Of course if our DL keeps dominating the gIants OL causing nightmares for Eli that leads to intentional grounding, or eli throwing up bad interceptions with Cox closing in on him like we have seen the last few years, our offense may not need to put up lots of points to beat that team
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We might need to whip out the QB run part of the read option, have Wents keep the ball and gash the Defense with a few big runs to create some space for our RBs and free them up to make some plays. We also have had plenty success running to the outside… the Giants defense is very improved, but they still have glaring weaknesses that we match up well against…
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And if we can’t run on the Giants, chances are they can’t run on us eitner
9-7 with 4 NFCE victories wins the division.
Yes, me and my blood pressure were looking forward to a season of serious mediocrity while watching the young Wentz slowly learn how to play in this league. They should’ve warned us.
Beat the Steelers and that hype train will go from 0 to 200 mph by 4:30 PM Sunday.
Quite true. Although I wonder if Pederson will be as bad as Reid going into the break and as unbeatable as Reid coming out of it.
So far, Dougie isn’t much like Andy. Wins on opening day, doesn’t waste time outs, manages clock, run-pass balance, actually talks to media, runs ball in short yardage situations at least occasionally, and no stupid challenges. Am I missing anything?
Although there is a caveat, in that the run/pass balance didn’t really come about until the 2nd half. That first drive was empty backfield. But even I can’t complain too much about that, given that they were all short, quick throws, with plays designed to allow Wentz to audible once he saw the defense. I think those plays were really well designed to take advantage of some small holes in the Bears’ D. Nothing earth-shattering, but like Pederson said, it helped get Wentz comfortable in the game.
Wentz has been a pleasant surprise to me, but Pederson is probably even a bigger surprise, so far. Have to see how both of them react when things are really not going well, but have to be happy with what they’ve done so far.
But the game is at 4
The train will be traveling that fast and it will cause a warp in the fabric of space-time. 200 Megalightyears per hour does that.
Perhaps this train will get you there… https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5e8c766f83be651b658b1b60f635417598c7284c88d4e911a6ac5c7c41193eed.jpg
Or… if they beat the Steelers–
http://ct.weirdnutdaily.com/ol/wn/sw/i58/2/2/15/wnd_fa5d287e57e0b69b3f4504996a2ec753.jpg
Someone make this hold a football or something.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/09/47/81/09478180c5d9364110cb1b047f1bd3b9.jpg
That or the nation will decide the Steelers are the 3rd worst team in America, it’s a coin-toss
Amen to that. The narrative before the Bears game was, “Now the Eagles get to play a real NFL team.”
Halfway through the third quarter it switched to, “The Bears are one of the worst teams in the league.”
I listen to the Ringer’s NFL podcast. They didn’t buy it when we beat the Browns. Mayes is miserable about his Bears team, so they do the podcast Monday afternoon, at the end He’s like: “tonight we get to look forward to the…Bears-” other guy chirps in “oh the Bears will beat the Eagles”, Mayes comes back “Yeah but can I be excited about the Bears beating a rookie QB?”
hehehe, I look forward to Friday’s podcast.
Even if the Eagles aren’t a great team, they’ve provided us with two highly enjoyable wins in the past week and a half. I don’t want to obsess over whether they’re “real” wins or not, whatever that means. I’m just going to cherish them, it’s been a while since I’ve seen this team play so well together on both offense and defense.
I’m 100% at that point as well.
You know what it is though?
It’s being able to watch the game and not hold your breath at every turn that something incredibly catastrophic is going to happen. This just dawned on me, as I was rewatching the bears game.. With this team – with Wentz and Pederson and Schwartz running the show – it feels like the floor is solid. Mistakes will happen of course, and better teams will beat us, but not because of those mindblowingly stupid kinds of mistakes and misdeeds that kept us all yelling at the tv and pulling our hair out under Chip. This team feels solid. And for some reason that is a very pleasant feeling indeed..
Yeah, its Chip’s fault I’m bald.
I actually felt doom during Reid’s tenure, too. He and Donny just seemed like a blooper ready to happen, though the good outweighed the bad by far.
Yeah Reid gave us a few nice calm wins each year, but most of them were edge of your seat/rolling on the ground in pain experiences.
I remember that feeling too, but.. Don’t you think that’s just what being emotionally invested feels like for any fan? Reids teams (except for the last one) consistently could be counted on to be competitive and productive, even when they made mistakes and lost a game. Very rarely fell apart during the golden years. I actually think this is why Reid is somewhat underrated in the national media. For a good long while there he was comfortably a top five head coach.
You are probably right, since I am a Spurs (basketball) fan and would even get jittery watching them. Although that team had some memorable meltdowns as well and probably lost 2 championships because of them.
That being said, do you think Patriots fans are worried when Brady has the ball down three with three to play? You knew 5/Reid weren’t coming back. At least I did…
Well it’s different for the patriots. I assume the thing they get jittery about the most is wether they will get caught cheating again or not.
Never. And he is in NOFa King way “underrated”. I just puked myself.
Chuckie and MNF had his big fat image of him up there w Peterson giving him credit for Wentz !!!
Those d!cks.
I’m sorry you are not feeling well. Get better soon.
I love me some Andy Reid in a Rams uni. Cant ever get enough of it.
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But as a coach .. he gave us s few great moments. But taught us ALL how to scream WTF at our tv’s. Alot.
Smart man.
And i use it the way its meant in the carribbean .. like he knows how to convince you that he’s great.
Also very schitty interior designer hee har.
Worst neighbor ever.
Yep the topic of him usually makes me sick.
Rams uni.. Rams uni…
I mean in the playoffs sure but Reid usually had his team pretty ready to go during the height of his run and the Eagles would consistently handle the bad teams they played. I like at least feeling confident that we should beat the Browns and Bears of the league. It’s sure as hell a lot better than being the Browns and Bears of the league and a step up from last season where after a few games I never felt like I knew what was going to happen.
Umm we beat the patriots last year. that was probably our biggest win since the days where we actually won playoff games.
I am very encouraged by Wentz and the Eagles. However, one must take context into consideration. The Eagles offense failed to score a single touchdown against the 1st string Bears’ defense. Once both safeties and the slot corner went out, we woke up. Wentz mania is ridiculous, it’s been two games against bad teams in an offense-friendly, modern-day NFL…everyone needs to relax.
The defenses don’t matter. The reason for optimism is not that we have two wins with Carson. And its not his athleticism either, we knew that from a year ago. It is what he is doing before the snap, that has us all excited: Surveying the defensive formation, using his hard count, recognising coverages pre snap, making the right adjustments at the line and then beating the defensive playcall with the right decision and execution. And this is a west coast offense, it’s not some boiled down college-like offense designed to ease him into the NFL. It’s the real thing. So, what we are seeing a young rookie do in his very first games, after not being on the field in most of the preseason, is the very thing that people like Jay Cutler, who is a 1o year vet, just cannot do. And we imagine, most naturally, that he will only get better in the future. This is very encouraging, and it does’nt really matter at all what kind of 3rd stringer the other team had in the backfield.
What has me optimistic is his consistent ability to make a decision quickly, get the ball out quickly. That is the single element of his QB play that I was not expecting. Eagles fans have not seen their QB roll like that since Roman Ildonzo Gabriel Jr. came to town. He’s been better than most of us expected, but if he gets better at what he is already pretty good at, he can be grea…..he can be very good.
Did you happen to see the Chipwagon article on the Cleveland game?
I did. You think I’m jumping the gun?
We all are, but it’s fun, right? Half of me is jumping on board with everyone else, half of me is suitably suspicious. Two good games against awful teams is, well, still good for a rookie.
Things tend to tighten up against good teams and when DCs get film on people. Contrast the Foles train when it was rolling against the depths of last year.
I am pretty cautious by nature, and I don’t really buy into much hype, but Wentz came from a small program in a division 2 conference, threw fewer passes in his 4-year college career than Goff COMPLETED in 3-years. Forget the opponents, forget the diligent prep work. To come in and show he’s reading, seeing, reacting in a time-frame that is very compatible with NFL standards, that is inspiring. Sure he’s going to go through rough patches, he’ll throw picks, he’ll occasionally make wrong decisions, but he’s exhibited an NFL QB clock in his brain, and that cannot be overrated.
FCS not D2.
Thank you for clarifying. I am not clear on the differences but I know both are 2nd tier college football programs.
D1: Penn State, Temple, Pitt, Rutgers
FCS: Villanova, William and Mary, Lehigh, Penn
(only about 75% as many scholarship players, top 10-15 probably comparable to like a MAC school, biggest difference is these guys don’t go 3 or 4 deep)
D2: West Chester, Ship, Bloomsberg, IUP
(Only a handful on full scholarship, most on partial)
D3: Del Valley, Muhlenberg, Johns Hopkins, Gettysburg
(No scholarships, the all confrence kids in high school who don’t fit the HWS profile for bigger schools)
Aren’t Ivy League schools academic scholarships only? So, if Penn is FCS, they have clear disadvantage v their own conference, even against some D2 teams, I would think.
Ivy’s also technically don’t play in the playoffs either (nor do NESCAC schools in D3)
Every now and again, I’m guessing what is an institutional disadvantage must be a kick for the gifted athlete who gets to show off his ball skills to a tougher conference. Ryan Fitz , Zak DeOssie, who I believe snagged a ring w/Giants in ’07 – those guys from Ivy’s and then guys like Garcon and Hauschka (who also has a ring) from D3 – the big brains in the NFL, who probably have a ton more options than their average colleagues from FBS. If I had wicked talent for the game and a decent sat/gpa, I’d definitely go to the most academically challenging school that would have me. I think academics is largely an afterthought in FBS programs. It’s one of our big scandals staring us in the face that nobody seems to know anything about.
Yeah? I noticed him holding the ball a good amount, at least the first game (didn’t get to watch most of the 2nd game). That was also a knock on him in the pre-draft scouting reports. And decision making is the hardest and most important NFL QB skill/trait, IMO. So we’ll see. I sure as heck think he’s played way above expectations so far.
There was some of that, but it was offset by the other. We had a franchise QB here for 11(?) years who habitually held the ball until he was sure he wasn’t throwing into coverage. It made for drama and spectacle and crushing frustration, but it rarely varied. DMAC finished with a very good interception rate – one of the lowest, but his deliberate pocket approach was more of a gift to NFL defenders than a bludgeon. But sure, every QB is going to have plays where nobody is open. Hitters with high batting averages still strike out.
I don’t want to overstate the point. I just see a willingness to take the early punch and so far he’s mostly connected.
The shitty Big 12 should pick up NDSU
people going to believe what they want
WAAAAAH YOU GUYS ARE ENJOYING YOUR SPROTS TOO MUCH!
Even if he doesn’t turn out to be great, he’s going to be our quarterback for the foreseeable future. He’s shown enough already and you give #2 picks plenty of chances even when they don’t look good.
So, that right there is a reason to be excited: We will not be shuffling between mid round rookies and 2nd chance journeymen for the next 5-6 years at least.
You sound like the guy at a childrens birthday partying saying “why are we celebrating this? They didn’t even do anything except be born. I coulda done that and I did.
dayum.
So Wentz went in and pretty much led the team in dominating 2 very weak opponents. What you’re supposed to do! Did we do that once last year? Go in and beat a bad team handily? There’s a very good reason to be excited. When was the last time we had a QB that we knew was going to go in there and do what they’re supposed to against a bad team?
It’s also not just Wentz. This team had a lot of question marks. Pederson. The D. Whole new staff. OL. It’s the rookie playing well AND all the other questions coming up on the positive end of the spectrum that leaves a very good feeling.
I can be as pessimistic as they come but sometimes you just need to let yourself have something. I am totally going in on Wentz. If I’m wrong fine it’s just sports but dammit if I’m right I’m going to have a time of it.
I’m excited too but I don’t want to get carried away just yet.
Didn’t care before the season, still don’t care about wins/loses. This year, there was(is) only 1 question – WWWD(What would Wentz do)? After 2 games, he has exceeded expectations. Keep him healthy, keep him pointed in the right direction. Enjoy the season.
I’m really glad this guy made it. I just wish he was playing for us. http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/20160922_Discarded_by_Eagles__Villanueva_now_a_heavy_hitter_with_Steelers.html?nlid=9992911
Never understood why Kelly took a guy who play OT, TE and WR in college and tried him at DE
There were no roster spots for TE or OT and he’s not making it at WR.
Wouldn’t mind having him on our OL now.
Yeah, but Chip could have put him on the practice squad. If Pittsburgh hadn’t picked him up he would have had to return to active service so it seems like kind of a dick move for Chip to cut him outright.
Chip gave the guy a shot, it didn’t work out for him in Philadelphia and the Steelers signed him.
He wouldn’t be an NFL starter today if 1) the Eagles didn’t invite him to camp 2) the Eagles used him as a practice player.
It worked out for him which is what you hope for these fringe players.
Considering we had plenty of talent on the DL, but he loved long DL, could never get enough of it. Compare that to the situation on the OL…just another move in a long list of moves that make you doubt that Chip valued OL. More likely though is he was the definition of a camp body as Barwin said and Chip was doing a make-a-wish for a highly decorated Veteran. Probably needed a body to take some DL practice reps with no real intention of ever retaining.
In 2014 he would have been behind the following: Peters, Johnson, Barbre, Kelly, Tobin, Bamiro, Graf.
…and?
He would’ve been screwed and not kept in that scenario either.
Even to stash away on the PS like the Steelers? I guess I do remember the team was high on Bamiro and Graf.
Graf started at USC, Villenueva wasn’t going to surpass him. Bamiro actually didn’t make PS that year. Only PS OL were Graf and Andrews.
I think it was his length which provides leverage against behemoth OT’s. Remember he drafted Taylor Hart and Joe Kruger. He recruited Buckner at Oregon. Also, a 6’10 DE at 290-300lbs can still be spry. Villenueva is at 340 now, so he looks the part of OT more so now than when Kelly brought him in.
I’ve been as vocal as anyone on how disgusted I was last year with the job Chip did coaching, but I think it’s kind of reaching to really blame him for not seeing Villanueva as a starting quality OT. Then again, he did love to ignore any opportunity to strengthen our Oline. Still, Villanueva is one of those 1 in a million type stories that are easy to see in hindsight, but a lot more understandable in the moment.
Finally people are realizing how ridiculously the Eagles talent level was being under rated. I been on my soapbox all summer preaching how absurdly under rated we were being, on the other hand, I really apprach beung able to fly under the radar thanks to Incompetant media. This summer it was almost as if “having Talent = having a big name WR and RB”, we don’t have that, our divisipn rivals do. So the “Eagles have no talent, and are the worst team in the NFC” narrative became the prevelant assumption… What an Ignorant crock of shit…. They should have been worrying about who was strongest on both sides of the trenches instead of overvaluing flashy weapons.
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Going into this season, I didn’t think we would be ready to play with the legit contenders, but I thought we were being massively underrated in our division. And I think we measure well enough against our Rivals to Where I will be as dissapointed as ever if we don’t win this division. While we were being underrated, our Rivals were being overrated. My expectations were that the division would be decided between the Eagles and Skins, while dallas and NY compete for 3rd and 4th place just like last year… The Only change in my thinking is that NY might replace the skins as our competition for the division title. Until the Giants upgrade their OL, we are a nightmare match up for them, even if the silly media is oblivious to it. for those that haven’t notice, since October of 3 YEARS AGO, the ONLY Eagles QB th Giants have beat is Matt Barkley. When VICK and FOles were both injured, Barkley was thrust into action and that’s the ONLY time the Giants beat us in our last 5 matchups and that was 3 years ago, we are 4-1 against NY in the last 5 games and the primary reason for our success is our DL has terrorized Eli and that suspect Giant OL, specifically the Right side.
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This year our DL should be better than ever, while the Giants are starting the same OL we have been terrorizing for years, yet the Giants are the media darling? Give me a break.. I do think that while we are a bad match up for NY, the Giants are better equiped than the skins in terms of how they match up against the rest of the league, even tho the skins have done better against us, so on the field head to head, I don’t worry about the Giants, but in terms of overall record, they might end up being our stiffest competition to win this division, assuming Cousins won’t be as good as he was last year..
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The media who said we have no talent should be ashamed of themselves
Since when is having the best DL in the division Not a big deal?
Since when is having the best LB in the division Not a big deal?
Since when is having the best safety tandem in the division, if not the entire NFL Not a big deal?
Since when is having one of the best special teams in the division not a big deal?
Since when is having the best group of Tight ends in the division not a big deal?
since when is having the best Offensive Tackle tandem in the division not a big deal?
Ryan Mathews, Sproles, Barner may be better than what the skins and NY have at RB, possibly even Dallas if Zeke doesn’t get it going..
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Im not here to suggest that these facts mean we are ready to contend with the Big Dogs, but the media members who pumped this Eagles have No Talent, and that the Eagles are the worst team in the division are absurd. Fuck what you heard, this Eagles team is very much a player in this week division, we are talented enough to where every Single Eagle fan should be upset if we don’t win this division, and consceding this division to flawed overrated Rivals is ridiculuos..
Basically the media said that because we don’t have the big name WR that the rivals have, it means that we have no talent and will finish last in the division, such a poor understanding of what matters in this game. Instead of worrying about who has the big name weapons, what’s more important is who is the strongest on both sides of the trenches, and we measure up pretty well in those areas compared to our division rivals.
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Doubt we are good emough to contend for anything significant, but we are good enough compared to our Rivals that no Eagle fan should be conceding this division to grossly overrated flawed rivals. This division is up for Grabs.
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My Only real concern is how we will manage the loss or Lane. But we won’t be the first team that has to overcome a loss of a quality starting OL. Happens all the time. Heck the Vikings have to deal with a loss of their LT. Also think this coaching staff will make sure it gives Lane’s replacement a ton of help via scheme. We haven’t beaten anyone good yet, but even before the season started it should have been obvious that we had way more talent than we were being credited for by The media…
Well, maybe you were right, but I think we’re a little early in the season for taking victory laps…
his are broken-clock victory laps
Fastest 40 time in history was clocked on a broken stop watch.
Have to give u credit, u have been preaching this all summer. Lets knock the Steelers out this week: One thing we have seen so far is our new Head Coach has been very creative in play calling. Lets dream big, hopefully our first major test this week will bring us a positive result.
I hear you man, this is a very tough test for us, and we are certainly the clear underdog, but the best team doesn’t always win. Hopefully win or lose, we step up and prove that we can hang with a team of the steelers caliber and at least make this a battle to the very end. give ourselves a Chance to win late in the game and I’ll live with the results.
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Im hoping that facing a Contender like the steelers at least pushes our young players to play at a higher level. for Example, the steelers secondary is average, middle of the Pack unit at full strength, and they don’t have the greatest pass rushers, so im hoping that Wentz, Jordan, Agholar, DGB step up and connect for some big plays down field, wipe the bad taste out of our mouth from the big plays we failed to take advantage of last week. Big Ben is going to make plays down feild to ANTONIO and Sammy Coates, we Need our WRs to step up and make big plays against a secondary that won’t scare anyone…
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Thinking that having Tullochs physicality is going to help against a physical run game like the steelers.. curious to see which of our young playërs elevate their game against this increase in competition. If we find a way to steal this win it could be huge for the growth of this team and all the young developing players we are counting on
I’m realistically hoping for a performance like we saw in week 1 of 2001 when we played the greatest show on turf tough as hell and even though we lost, we put the rest of the league on notice that the Eagles were a team to be reckoned with and were no longer push overs against top teams. That was a real turning point for the Eagles under Reid.
Never understood all the dire 4-12 predictions from fans and media alike. This was a 7-9 team that stumbled out of the gate with some truly disastrous performances, was dealing with Bradfords ongoing rehab from 2 years out of the game, and was severely hampered on both sides of the ball by a ludicrous scheme.
Then this offseason we did nothing but improve and the vast majority of losses via trade and free agency were of the addition by subtraction variety (looking at you Kiko and DeMarco).
If this was a team last year that had enough talent to hover around .500 all year INSPITE of Chip Kelly’s scheme, how anyone saw us taking a substantial step back is beyond me. Sure, I didn’t see Wentz playing this well from week 1 (or Bradford for that matter if he were still here) and our improvements weren’t drastic, but simply replacing our schemes with real professional level NFL schemes I figured would be enough to put us in the 8-8 to 9-7 area. If Wentz continues to ball out, 10-6 is not an unreasonable ceiling. But, 4-12, 6-10 are way too low of a floor for the talent on this team.
Destiny Vaeao FTW
dude got pancaked bad on that play, kudos to him for turning WTF into FTW
Tackled, not pancaked.
https://twitter.com/fduffy3/status/778596582572888064
It’s kind of a funny play now that I can run an infinite loop, Kyle Long commits holding, Tackled his man into the RB taking out Cutler’s check down. Then let Vaeao get back up after Cutler.
My favorite part is the poor TE on Curry
and #70 trying to come to the rescue like “oh” haha
When that ball hits the ground, it is not Hicks’ ball. He reacts quicker and wants it more.
Hicks has such a nose for the ball.
Yeah I would say that is a penalty.
If the Eagles win the Super Bowl this year, Destiny will play a part.
If Villanueva manages to stone wall our edge rushers im going to want to strangle Chip.
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We may have had jason Peters replacement and chip had him playing DL. Talk about offensive “brilliance”… I’d like to think that an offensive Guru knows what a OT with real potemtial looks like. Then again, chip didn’t see that Tobin could help us as a blocking TE, or that our War Pig NT could have helped as lead blocker in certain situations. Chip DIDNT even realize that our best WR (Jordan Mathews) was good enough to where he did NOT have to come off the field when we weren’t using a slot WR, it’s fantastic that Pederson is not taking Jordan off the field and he has him linning up outside and in the slot..
..
Go figure that the “sexy hire” offensive genius was a disaster, and the “boring” Golly Gee, aww schucks Pederson is Quickily fixing many of our Fundametal flaws such as the ridiculous notion that time of possession DOESNT matter…. The Niners have some talent on defense, yet it won’t be long until the niners defenders play double the snaps that our defense is on the field for… Doug is looking more and more like he has a chance to grow into a great hire, and its not just him, he put togethet a solid staff that hopefully we can keep together for a few years,.. Hopefully having a talent like Wentz and Cox to build around entices our coaches to stick around for a few years and see if we can build something special..
He weighed 100 pounds less than when he was with us… physical freak no doubt, but no way he could have played OL that year.
No he didn’t,,, he was like a 290lb DE with us… 100 lb less would make him a WR? CB? No way
250. Probably even less when he came — he put on a lot of weight during training camp apparently. He was 340 a year later with Pittsburgh.
250. He may have gained a lot during training camp, so maybe he got to 290ish near the end, but he started 250 or so.
http://phi.247sports.com/Bolt/Graham-facing-an-all-too-familiar-foe-in-Villanueva-47652590
He was 340 or so for the next year’s training camp at Pittsburgh. Don’t think there was any way we try him at OL with the weight he was then. Admittedly, Tomlin saw it and they put him on their practice squad as OL right then. They had screaming needs at OL at that point, while in the 2014 preseason we thought we were set at OL after a great 2013, even if we had to live four games without Johnson. Oops.
I see a fair number of Steelers games; he’s not stonewalling anybody. In fact, I expect Curry and Graham to get all kinds of push on that dude.
Too bad the Vikings are 2-0, they could have been a Bradford injury away from a top 10 pick (not wishing for it– just saying)
They still can be. There’s lots of football left.
They lost their star RB and their left Tackle… That really sucks for Bradford
We we get them to 6-10? They still need to beat Carolina, Washington, Dallas, and the Giants.
If the Incompetant Rams want any chance of salvaging Goeffs career with Fisher getting a 3 year extension which no one can explain, they need to trade us Todd Gurley for Ryan Mathews and our QB coach lol
.
If not, they can continue to waste the careers of both Gurley and their second #1 overall QB in the last decade
I think people are being a little premature in lamenting the loss of Villanueva. Just because he’s starting for Pittsburgh doesn’t necessarily mean he’s any better than Allen Barbre. Let see him play against the Eagles defensive line before we elevate him to a top spot on the list of Chip Kelly’s bad decisions.
I’m not one of those…lamenting. I am happy for the dude, who apparently ran down a dream with vengeance. My comment about wishing we still had him was more of a lament for the present state of our OL. Fortunately for us, we still have serviceable LT and RT starters, and should be okay with Johnson’s absence. But there’s no depth there, and our interior line is not impressive at all. AS things stand, We will not impose our will on anybody via ground game this season.
I have been having nightmarish visions of DW running through gaping holes for chunk plays. 1gap seems so feast or famine in the run game.
This week would be a very opportune time for Cox to have a big game that matches his salary. He’s been a little quiet so far this year. Time for him to wreak some havoc.
One sack and one forced int in two games. If he can do better than that as a DT I’m all for it. Not expecting but all for it.
Decastro is a tough matchup. He’s one of the best G’s in football.
Some people just like to beat the Negadelphian traffic.
A
M
E
N
And if you watch Villanueva play; he misses a ton of blocks.
Any Koolaid left or did you guys hog it all?
Next batch set to come in on Sunday around 8:00
What’s weird is to see so much of the local media head over heels in love with Wentz… I don’t know the last Time I heard Eskin gush over a Player like he gushes over Wentz
..
Even usually critical media members like Seth Joyner adore this kid
..
Hopefully Wentz rewards everyone admiration ten fold
A lot of them gushed over Kelly initially too. This does feel different, but a lot can change in a short amount of time. I have faith though that the kid has what it takes between the ears to continue on an upward trajectory.
There were still a lot of If’s when people were praising kelly. The wents praise is really more ‘awe.’
We got the long island iced tea left if you want to join the cautiously optimistic crowd.
This is going to be an interesting week. We get to test ourselves against a legit Super Bowl contender. the Steelers are going to bring a really physicak Brand of football to the LINC and try to Bully us. curious to see how we respond to that Physicality. Hopefully it takes Us to next level and brings the dog out of us. The steelers certainly deserve to be the favorite and I don’t know many reasonable fans expecting the Eagles to win, but the best team on paper doesnt always win the game which makes football great… Cant Imagine how insane this city will be if Wentz and the defense can pull off this upset.
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word out of DC is that Josh Norman is going to follow Odell Beckham all over the field sunday except when he lines up in The slot. Don’t get much more interesting than that match up.. At 0-2 with anti cousin rumblings coming out of the skins locker room, the skins seem to be in a fragile state. If this matchup blows up in the skins face and ODB goes off against the skins high paid CB investment dropping them to 0-3, things could really get ugly in that dysfunctional organization… This is a dangerous Gamble the skins or making because Norman has had the most success locking down one side of the field and the skins defense isn’t very experienced moving a CB all over the field. Cousins is struggling and he has to face the second best DL in the division, behind our DL of course, and Cousins also has to face the best group of CB in the division, so this is a dangeorus week for the skins, and the defending division champ might be the first team to fall apart in the NFC East.
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Who the hell would have ever imagined Carson Wentz being more NFL ready than the polished RB stud, Zeke Elliott? Unfortunately the Bears are a mess with half their team getting injured in the modern Body Bag game against the Eagles on Monday night. Hopefully Zeke DOESNT get to build his confidence up too much against the battered Bears defense
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The Texans better not let the Pats go 3-0 with a 3rd string QB
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Will the bills and their loud mouth coach fall to 0-3 against the Cardinals?
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Interesting week
mmmm, battered bear. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5cf7631aff59298eec22f987a1649f088d61d3305caa3da6e1eb7535a0d4e1b8.jpg
Vegas only as the Steeers at 3.5 pt favorites, which should make me raise and eye brow. When I see lines like Dallas -8 and Dolphins and Sea at each -10, I start to think the odds makers are on crack.
I didn’t know the lIne was that low. I figured the steelers would be like a 6pt favorite
I love this team…but that line is too low for my liking. I’m not overly worried about our offense, I think we match up reasonably well with them, but our defense (featuring Nolan Carroll, Jalen Mills and Ron Brooks at CB) against Big Ben and that cadre of receivers is straight up scary. We have no one that can cover Antonio Brown one on one. If I’m Schwartz I’m parking both my safeties in cover 2 for most of the night and daring Ben to beat us with long sustained drives of short passes. For as good as Ben is, he relies more on the big play than most QBs and certainly is better at that than precision short passing.
Ben also negates some of our pass rushing advantage since he’s so hard to bring down and so adept at turning a seeming sack into a huge play once the receivers go to their scramble drill. Hopefully we keep him contained like we did with RG3, bring him down when we have a clean shot and make him move off his mark without breaking the pocket. And, hopefully with both our safeties deep we’re able to keep DeAngelo Williams in check and force Ben to throw a bunch of short passes. He will eventually throw a ball up for grabs or be off target or simply fail to convert if we can take away the big back breaking plays.
Or the football fan gamblers are. Vegas only sets an initial line and then lets the gambling market shift the spread to where Vegas is breaking roughly even. If you see Steelers as 3.5 favorites, it probably means lots of Philly fans are/were betting on the Eagles at anything higher. Check the opening line, was probably higher than that.
It has moved 2 points. Didn’t expect to see much movement by Thursday morning when I checked. Still think Pitt is a very safe bet.
I love that one thing we can always count on is that the Redskins will always be a dysfunctional mess.
I love watching their delusional fan base convince themselves beyond any doubt that “this is the year” every single offseason only to watch their inevitable bumbling organization dash their hopes and dreams. You can literally set your clock to it.
Sloppy coach, sloppy ownership. No discipline, across the board.
2-0 is great and all, but just imagine what our record would be if Paul Turner had been active…
69-0 because he’s so nice
As the nurse-cheerleaders in the movie M.A.S.H. sang …
“69 is devine”
Woah woah woah, we’re not talking about Nate Illoa here.
Post of the day right here. 🙂
The same, but Wentz has more passing yards because balls are being caught?
Think you’ve uncovered a refrain from a soon-to-be broken record.
1.5-0 because he is so slow that we haven’t fully won the Bears game yet?
Ertzy still not going in practice today, that makes it pretty iffy for him and Sunday. Would have loved him for this matchup.
I’m going to have to drop Cole Beasly to add a TE (probs Burton). Sucks man.
Eff Cole Beasley
Eff Scott Fitzgerald
you mean larry
That sparked my interest. Do you guys yell the Oh near the end of the anthem up in Philly? I know it started for the Os long long ago but heard it has made its way outside of the area.
If you’re starting Cole Beasly in fantasy you’ve got more problems than needing a TE
Yeah seriously unless youre in a deep 12 or 14 team league
12 team two flex. 16 roster spots. Waiver carcas is scavenged to the marrow.
In this league he is a damn good player.
I picked him up for a pretty nice FAB chunk last week. He is pretty much a lock for double digit points every week as long as Dak is the QB.
In a 12 team two flex league full of people who know their shit, he is the type of guy you win a championship with come injuries and byes. Hell I will probably consider him at the 2 flex on a weekly basis even after Josh Gordon is off suspension.
Haven’t started him yet and probably will never get to if Ertz doesn’t play. He won’t stay a FA.
Agree it would have been nice to have him for this one but there is a 0% chance he plays with the bye next week.
Yea, the one matchup I really do like is our TEs vs their LBs and safeties. Shame with Ertz being out. His injury is pretty rare. I know from trauma medicine, a broken first rib is a sign of significant trauma, particularly to the head and neck, because it’s different from all the other ribs pretty well protected in there under the clavicle and surrounded by all the shoulder musculature, plus its very broad, flat and the shortest rib. With all the major vessels and nerves running in that area around the neck I completely understand why they’re being extra cautious as complications can definitely occur from a fracture and I assume as well with dislocations like Ertz has. I’d expect Ertz to be out 4-6 weeks with this injury.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1756150/pdf/v033p00131.pdf
That injury sounds like we really should mess with it. It isn’t like “soft tissue” Kendricks milking extra weeks.
I’m fine waiting until after the bye week for Ertz to be able to safely return to the field.
Sounds like Alshon will not play for the Bears so Dallas must be loving the Eagles this week.
Like Eagle fans, Steelers fan travel well. I really hope that don’t see a bunch of yellow and Black allowed to infiltrate the LINC. Eagles fans better not sell their Tix to the enemy…
“and the social awarness it’s leading to,”
huh?
How about making enough noise that the despicable cop in the Tulsa murder is being charged with manslaughter… Not a bad first step in social awareness
I don’t think they travel well so much as they are just everywhere.
I used to travel a lot for work. Steelers fans and Packers fans definitely travel to support their team. I used to run into them in airports more than fans of any other team.
I do believe that, but especially Packers, Steelers, and Cowboys fans, maybe even 9’ers and Raiders. They have fans across the country.
I find it kind of odd to travel to away NFL games (obv where you aren’t otherwise happened to be in the away city for something else). Like for college games, ok. But for your professional team?
I disagree. My buddies and I pick an away game per year to travel for. This year we are going to Detroit. It’s a city that I’d otherwise never visit, and there’s something very appealing to the notion of being a hostile invader to another team’s home turf.
I hope to start this next year with some buddies of mine. It sounds like a good time. I’m hoping one year to catch the Flyers on their Western Canada trip and try to hit all 3 games (Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary).
You Viking you.
Yeah I will be in Seattle for the game and I have tickets. Super excited to experience that stadium and feel the noise the 12’s bring. A little worried about getting blown out of the stadium by the Hawks as they usually are in full stride by that point of the season.
I went to an Eagles game in Miami once. The Miami security and fans were a lot different than Philly. Most of the Philly fans sat in the corners of the stadium. After the Eagles scored and an Eagles fan ran to the front of the section to do the Eagles chant, he was taken away by security.
The security guard yelled at the section “You stay in your seats or leave”
Lame. Somebody should have “chatted” with that security guard.
I would have loved to have gone to London to watch the Eagles stomp the Rams.
Having been on the sideline during the MNF game in DC it sure felt like it was close to 50/50 on there. Those pathetic excuse for fans were opening the season after winning the division too.
Anyone mention Shariff Floyd having surgery for the Vikes? Injuries could be a huge factor for them now which is looking mighty nice for the Iggles.
Feels kinda shitty to root for injuries.
that’s pre-injury, which is not what’s happening here.
Oh sorry I wasn’t trying to say Nailed it is rooting for injuries. Just that it feels shitty knowing that we benefit from that team getting injured. I don’t like to even think about it because karma
Just want to clarify, I suppose I’ll root for Peterson to get injured. Dude beat his kid so hard that he left marks on his scrotum. Ridiculous.
I hear that and I would never root for injuries just saying that this is working in our favor.
omg. The eagles twitter account hitting jimmyk with his own stick-figure choke job in the media kicking competition. this is amazing.
bhahaha
I love the way all parties don’t take themselves too serious.
That’s hilarious
Hey T-Law:
You remain the king of Eagles blogery.
On draft night, you wrote:
Even though the Eagles had to settle for the number two pick, they may have gotten the best player or best QB in the entire draft. That doesn’t guarantee that Carson Wentz will pan out, but it makes you feel pretty good about his odds.
You’ve been firing on all cylinders ever since . . . turning out new material nearly every day since mid-June.
I’d hate to think about where we’d be without IGGLES BLITZ.
Cheers, my friend.
Definitely agree. This is especially worthy to note given the recent upheaval/deterioration of quality over at Birds 24/7.
You think that’s bad, you should read what they’re saying at BGN.
This isn’t bad
http://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2016/9/21/13005846/ask-the-eagles-fans?_ga=1.176132006.504276862.1473816597
And
http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2016/9/20/12987380/ask-a-steelers-fan?_ga=1.135106485.504276862.1473816597
Baltamore?
I meant the comment sections on both fan posts.
I remember the board being pretty evenly split as far as Goff / Wentz were concerned.
*Some* of us were super psyched about the trade up and prospect of getting Wentz, though I admittedly can’t peg just how much of that was simply drinking the kool aid since the deal was already done.
But man, Wentz just felt like he had *it* during the draft process, and hasn’t done anything to change my mind since.
Yeah, I remember the same. I don’t really watch college ball. Watching the combine, I asked why I should be wanting Goff be cause Wentz was out doing him at the combine. There were plenty of responses, most of them with very intelligent reasons.
We should all be grateful the Eagles scouting department is smarter than us, and that the Rams and Browns scouting departments are not.
And Chip smarter than all of us.. uhm only 2 games in.. plenty of yime for them all, even andrew luck pan out
Luck is an amazing QB on a horrible team.
Archie Manning sitch
Early on, well before draft day TL wrote something about “talking ourselves into a #1 pick who really hasn’t earned it…” or words to that effect. I felt like he was a sane voice in an asylum of desperate fans, and I celebrated his calm steady. But when the first shoe dropped (13-8) the desperation was sounding a little less loud and some, dare I say, hope creeped into the ether. Then came the other shoe (8-2), and what felt like a quasi-rational fan base suddenly took on the insecurity of a fool and his money. “We’ll likely blow it…” So the narrative is now commandeered by Howie Roseman, and he exemplified the steady hand of a leader. Initially the Eagles were going to take whichever QB the Rams did not take, and live with that. We needed a franchise QB, and the Eagles viewed both as future franchise QB’s. It was at this point that the trillion comparisons were everywhere, and the “expert” consensus was that Goff was the plug and play guy, and Wentz was the project with more upside. Then the Rams told the world that they were picking Jared Goff, and HR and company embraced the one not chosen.
Here’s where the cynic meets the huckster. Slowly the word about Wentz got a few “names” on his bandwagon. Mike Mayock was one of the first. Then there were a few more. Gruden and Jaworski liked him, but I believe the latter had a question about how much mentoring would be required before the Eagles put this guy in a real game. Then we hear that DP believes that Wentz will be fine, but Sam is his #1 and this was repeated a few times by HR. Then the nuggets appear all over from Nova Care Complex: “Wentz is wise beyond his years…this kid is all business…he’s getting his reps and never makes the same mistake twice…he’s super-competitive in everything he takes up…this rookie is the real deal…he looks better everyday…everyday he gets more comfortable…BUT, Sam is the no.1.
At that point I took the chatter to be corporate stroking the kid and blowing smoke for the fan base. And then Teddy Bridgewater had a seriously bad injury.
In the late 60’s, Star Trek aired an episode titled “Amok Time”. Little did they know: https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/sacramento-mayor-former-nba-star-132320270.html
F’n Pats 3rd string QB doesn’t look half bad.
Washington will trade a 2nd rounder for him by March.
I wonder how many stiffs new england needs to trot out there before other teams figure out that they aren’t getting who they think they are in New England coaching/talent acquisition.
Thank god the Eagles didnt sign Osweiler.
Denver’s roster is so talented the dessicated corpse of Peyton Manning “lead” them to another super bowl. He didn’t exactly light it up when he filled in anyhow. I think the Texans are just another of those snakebitten franchises constantly making crap decisions like the Jags and the Browns.
re: Texans, it’s their uninspired coach
RE: Premature Education — Some Coaching History
Doug Pederson’s off to a 2-0 start.
Will he thrive here and enjoy a long coaching career?
Or will he Kotite (yes, it’s a verb; it means to disappear)?
_______________
In the NFL’s history, there have been 478 men who’ve coached at least 2 games. The list of NFL coaches who started 2-0 but then fell off the NFL terra firma is not especially short.
In fact, three members of the list coached the then-St. Louis Cardinals (with a combined 6-1 record) — including two in the same season who were each 2-0 that year and never coached another game. [Those crazy Cards.]
_______________
Pederson seems like a sort of “every man.” A guy who shows up to work. Talks straight. Does his job. A grinder.
He’s not a Sid Gilman- or Joe Gibbs-type. Established offensive gurus when they became NFL HCs, whose genius for the game trumped their fairly humble public personas.
Pederson’s not been very Andy Reid-ish, either . . . mumbling “time’s yours” followed by a handful of maddening platitudes designed to drive fans and media crazy.
And Pederson does not remotely project as a slick talking, black-shirted, bullshit artist — like one recent Eagles’ coach (and I say that as someone who criticized that coach on this blog several times for that reason).
________________
So, with a full preseason and 2 whole regular season games as a head coach, is it too soon to start asking . . .
Whom does Pederson resemble so far among the brotherhood of former NFL players who became HCs (a data point that keeps the list more manageable)?
The answer’s yes, of course. It’s too soon. But let’s do it anyway.
________________
The Great Coaches . . .
1. Don Shula — the winningest coach in NFL history, who played DB for 7 yrs?
Shula succeeded the legendary Weeb Ewbank, who’d won back-to-back NFL titles just 3 years earlier. So he inherited a loaded roster that included . . .
HOF QB John Unitas, HOF RB Lenny Moore, HOF WR Ray Berry, HOF OT Jim Parker, HOF TE John Mackey, and HOF DE Gino Marchetti — plus 8 other multi-time All Pros.
But Shula was a much younger 33 years-old when he replaced Ewbank, compared to Pederson’s relatively “old” 48. Shula was a notorious screamer. And Shula’s roster was absolutely loaded.
2. Marty Schottenheimer — 7th in wins, most w/ no SB title, 6 yrs as an OLB?
In the coaching fraternity, known as “Mr. December,” as his teams finished strong only to lose in January. Conservative coaching philosophy — unlike Pederson.
Schottenheimer liked to say before games, “there’s a gleam, men, there’s a gleam.”
So far, Pederson’s sticking to talking about the game plan . . . a good move if he wants to avoid becoming “Mr. September.”
3. Chuck Noll — 8th in wins, 4 SBs, 7 yrs as an OG w/ Paul Brown (2x champ)
Tough. No-nonsense. Hard-nosed. A lot like Don Shula (without the yelling) . . . and, coincidentally enough, Noll was Don Shula’s D-coordinator on the excellent Colts teams of the late ’60s.
After the Jets shocked the Colt in the ’68 SB, both Pittsburgh and New England [then-Boston] were hiring new HCs. Both were deciding between coordinators for the two SB participants.
The Patriots pulled the trigger first, and decided to go offense — choosing the Jets’ OC Clive Rush, who didn’t last 2 seasons after going 5-16.
Pittsburgh had to “settle” for Noll.
Coached the greatest collection of post-merger talent. Opened up the Steelers’ offense in ’78-’79 when Bradshaw had WRs Swan and Stallworth — ‘specially in ’79 with the new 5-yard chuck rule on DBs.
4. Bud Grant — 17th in wins, 4x SB (all losses), Birds’ 1950 1st Rd pick
Rock solid. Unflappable. Strong, silent type. Took a young, talented Minnesota Vikings team from mediocre to perennial NFC title contender.
Similar to Noll’s Steelers, won with a great defense. But also had a very good offense, with HOF QB Fran Tarkenton, All Pro RB Chuck Foreman — the first RB who routinely split out as a WR on passing downs — and 2 HOF OLs.
___________________
The Not-So-Great Coaches . . .
5. Norm Van Brocklin — 13 yrs as a HC, 11 yrs as a HOF QB
Coached like he was still in the huddle. Loud. Rude. Unforgiving.
Remarkably, survived as a HC for 13 years, despite having only 3 winning seasons.
His players hated his guts. Couldn’t translate his genius as a QB to the sidelines.
6. Dick Jauron — 10 yrs as a HC, 8 yrs as a DB
Seems like he shares some of the same personality traits as Pederson. Although, even at this point, DP appears to project more inner strength than Jauron.
Even crazier than Van Brocklin’s coaching run is Jauron’s . . . only 1 winning season in 10 years.
But he’s a hell of bridge partner . . . and lots of owners like that game.
7. Bart Starr — 9 yrs as a HC, 16 yrs as a QB, 5x NFL champ
Quiet. Walking legend on the sidelines. Made the 3rd-and-1 play-action bomb a staple of the great Packers’ teams that he QB’d.
2 winning seasons in 9 years. Survived that long on his rep as a player.
Couldn’t ask to have a nicer guy as your coach.
But never found the formula for coaching success.
Best QB was the very serviceable Lynn Dickey . . . kind of the Sam Bradford of his day.
____________________
BOTTOM LINE.
After 2 games and 1 pre-season (OMG!!!), if I had to pick a coach from this list with whom Pederson shares the most, and best, qualities — or I’d like to hope he does — the answer would be . . .
Former Eagle Bud Grant.
Grant replaced Van Brocklin with the Vikes in ’67, a team that’d had only 1 winning season in 6 years.
Grant had a rough first year, going 3-8-3 . . . losing four games by a total of 14 points.
The next year, the Vikes were in the playoffs, going 8-6, but losing to the SB-bound Colts (who were headed for their own Waterloo against Namath).
In Y-3, Grant led the Vikings to the first of four SBs in 7 years.
ON THE OTHER HAND . . .
Dick Jauron’s a hell of a good guy. Like Doug Pederson.
We missed you.
Love it, ACV! Great job. Let me throw one in since you’re going way back: there is a resemblance albeit not in appearance to the great Buck Shaw who brought the last NFL championship to Phildelphia. I happened to be at the game in 1960. Talk about NVB, he was a master at the helm, but the glue on that team from a coaching standpoint was stoic and steady-handed Buck Shaw.
Deandre Hopkins wishes he had Carson Wentz to throw him the ball.
So how is Barbre going to do this week at right tackle? Any predictions?
This week? Did something change with the 10/4 appeal hearing?
oh yeah, was thinking he was playing this week. nevermind
Carson Wentz is already so good that I feel like we’re spoiled getting to watch an actual QB play football.
Brock Osweiler was basically Nick Foles with a stronger arm. Guess what? Still awful.
There’s something about Bill O’Brien that makes me enjoy watching him lose. Maybe it’s that he looks like a huge hardass, while not actually having a shred of talent.
The not talked about benefit of our tendency to go for it on 4th, against teams that we know can’t stop it, is that it puts it on tape that might actually do it. It makes the hard count actually effective in the future when we need it, as opposed to all the teams that go out there and fake it when everyone in the stadium knows it’s not going to happen.
good point