Something Special
Posted: September 28th, 2016 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 263 Comments »People love to make comparisons. Carson Wentz is Ben Roethlisberger. Jim Schwartz is Jim Johnson. Doug Pederson is Andy Reid. And so on.
I’ve been trying to figure out who this team reminds me of. We’ve seen a few Eagles teams get off to good starts. I wrote about some of them in my column for PE.com. This feels different.
The Eagles are 3-0. They have a young QB playing terrific football. The defense is arguably the best in the league. Beyond that, there is a great vibe with this team. The 1992 and 2004 Eagles were full of stars and built to win now. This team has young players all over the place. They were 7-9 last year, not exactly on the cusp of winning a Super Bowl.
This team has an “it” factor that I don’t think the previous teams did. The 1992 team started with that, playing for Jerome Brown. He had died just a few months earlier and that created a great bond among his teammates. But with an idiot like Rich Kotite as coach and flaky QB like Randall Cunningham, that team didn’t have staying power. The 2004 team was unified to break through and get past the NFC title game. That team was really good, but did have a bit of a mercenary feel to it.
The 2016 Eagles really do feel like a team. They remind me a bit of the 1993 Eagles. Remember them? They started 4-0, but it wasn’t your typical 4-0 start. They Β were down 10 or more points in the 2nd half of 3 of those games. I can’t find the stat to verify it, but I think they were the first NFL team to be down like that and come back to win all 3 games.
The 1993 Eagles didn’t have Reggie White. They also lost Keith Byars, Mike Golic, Mike Pitts and Ron Heller, among others. Even though plenty of stars remained (Cunnignham, Barnett, Herschel, Seth, Byron, Clyde, Eric, Willie T.), the team felt like underdogs. They were gritty and awkward, but very clutch in the first month. They got down 21-0 to the Jets and did lose Cunningham and Barnett in that game, but found a way to win 35-31. That team had a great vibe. Unfortunately the injuries were too much to overcome and the hot start turned into a wasted season.
The current Eagles have that overachiever vibe, but they aren’t playing like that. This team hasn’t trailed in the 2nd half. They are playing like stars. That’s part of what makes it so hard to figure this team out. I thought the Eagles had a chance to contend for the NFC East title, but that was partially due to the division being so mediocre. This isn’t the NFC East of 1986-1995, which produced 7 Lombardi Trophies.
I haven’t had a chance to watch every NFL team extensively, but I have seen the top teams in action. The Patriots and Broncos both look outstanding. The NFC is more confusing. Seattle and Green Bay are both 2-1, but have legit flaws. The Panthers are 1-2 with an ugly loss on Sunday. The Vikings are 3-0, but I don’t know what to make of them after some key injuries.
Is anyone clearly better than the Eagles right now?
That question is tough to answer because the Eagles have yet to be really challenged. Are the Eagles so good, they’re just putting teams away? Or have the Eagles just not played any good teams yet? We thought the Steelers would be good, but it is always possible that group could finish 5-11 and make the win over them seem far less important.
Time will show us how good this team is, but I’m done putting limitations on them. The 2016 Eagles are ahead of schedule and might be one of those title contenders that leaves you scratching your head. “Where the heck did they come from?”
I can’t wait to see what this team does from here on out.
_
Speaking of something special, I was reading an article and this video popped up on the screen: Simms’ Hidden Truth: Eagles’ DT Fletcher Cox Is Best Defensive Lineman in NFL
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2666456-simms-hidden-truth-eagles-dt-fletcher-cox-is-best-defensive-lineman-in-nfl
Terrible video…hard to tkae thee guys seriously…
Yeah, I should have mentioned that. This is the kind of video that would normally annoy the hell out of me and I’d turn off as quickly as possible. But, this one is about Fletcher Cox so I let it run.
[…] Tommy Lawlor People love to make comparisons. Carson Wentz is Ben Roethlisberger. Jim Schwartz is Jim Johnson. […]
Reminds me of the 2000 Eagles. Team on the rise, no one knew how far they could go.
same here. A better version of the 2000 Eagles, but yea, that’s for sure who they remind me of
Carson City, Wentzylvania. . Thats wher I live
Soon, Cowboys will be reDaktid…
We are the northDak kid
Thst idiot rich kotite has pretty much the same win-loss percent as the fat man. … .563 vs .583
BFD.
So for 20 f in basis points the fat one got nice and rich for essentially suckkking most of the time. . So that makes us the real idiots
He was handed an incredibly talented team (especially defense) by Buddy Ryan, and rode it straight to the ground and kept going. Reid took a pretty awful team and built it up. Take out the first two years of each coach and where are they?
Although, it’s worth noting that Kotite had a better record, in both the regular season and playoffs, than Chip!
If Chip had inherited the defense that Kotite did, the results might have been off the charts, at least the first year π Chip was pretty poor at personnel himself, but Jordan Hicks alone means he has a better drafting record than Kotite.
With the Jets, Kotite was handed a 6-10 team (a lot more analogous to what Kelly got in 2013 and Reid got in 1999), and turned that into 3-13 and 1-15.
As for playoffs… yeah. Kotite beat a relatively poor New Orleans Saints wildcard team led by the legendary Bobby Hebert, before being utterly destroyed by the Cowboys. Kelly lost (and just barely) to a New Orleans Saints wildcard team lead by Drew Brees. In 1991 we won the turnover battle 4-1 vs the Saints, in 2013 we lost 2-0 — both of which were probably decisive.
Chip inherited a better defense than Schwartz did. If Kotite inherited the offense that Chip did, who knows what could have happened!
…and do you somehow think that the 2013 Saints weren’t “a relatively poor wildcard team,” haha?
Chip sucks. Get over it.
Chip inherited a 4-12 team with virtually no secondary and suspect linebackers beyond Ryans. You do remember 2012, don’t you? The one with the historically bad defense? The six-game stretch of allowing 120+ QB ratings? That didn’t happen in 2015 as bad as it was. Chip turned that team around…more on offense… but then started sucking once he had personnel control and got more of “his guys” in. Schwartz inherited a defense with a stacked DL, one very good safety, and at least an acceptable set of CBs (2012 did not have any). And Howie plugged a lot of holes that were left. Kotite inherited probably the best defense in NFL history. We saw what Kotite did with a 6-10 team with the Jets — that is what would have happened to us.
The 2013 Saints had Drew Brees… the 1992 Saints had, oh, somewhere between Mark Sanchez and Blaine Gabbert. The 2013 Saints were beatable and we didn’t — and that was the high point of the Chip era. The 1992 Saints would have been a downright embarrassment to lose.
In my defense…I have no memory of saying that, because I was piss-drunk at the time.
Although, I do think it’s worth noting that if Chip had inherited Kotite’s defense, he would have destroyed it by immediately switching them over to a 3-4.
You might be right about that π There was probably too much talent to be bad in a 3-4, but it wouldn’t have been historically good, that’s for sure.
Lies, damned lies and statistics…all you need to look at is overall wins by Reid and number of playoff appearance….I know this is a trolling post but can’t resist…saying that Reid sucked as bad as kotite is highly misinformed…Reid made the playoffs 9 out of 14 years as coach…
Wins, playoff appearances (and wins), NFC East titles, NFC Championship game appearances, and a Superbowl trip – how many of those did Kotite have? Andy’s last four years or so in Philly dragged his percentage down – anybody can cherry-pick a stat and make anyhting look bad.
That stat stands on its own.
Niw if i were to emphasize his most franchise losses i will certainly agree thats an unfair spin.
I just cant be on board with un tethered love for andy.
Im a “joe must go” guy also.
Paterno knew. For years.
Cant get onboard as his big fan either.
If you actually were a fan during the Kotite years, you would worship Reid. Reid had his faults, but he is still the best Eagles coach since at least 1960 or so. Vermeil was close, Ryan was fun but much more flawed than Reid, and the gap is pretty big to the rest — and Kotite is about at the bottom. Go look at his drafts — he drafted maybe two decent players in four years. The defense he was handed was Ravens-with-Trent-Dilfer good, and he couldn’t manage any more than a wildcard win in the playoffs. Granted, he had a terrible owner who let guys like Reggie White walk (and was hired mostly because he wouldn’t publicly complain about that fact), but he made the least of what he was given.
The first 7 or so years of Reid were terrific. He faltered a bit more after that, mostly due to an inability to replace good assistant coaches, but for those who lived through the alternatives know that we could do waaaaaaaaay worse than Reid, and most hires would be worse just based on the odds. Pederson is off to a hopeful start though.
Yuck to kotite but i also got off the reid bandwagon when i he started schitting on us at every presser
Eh… I wouldn’t confuse the media with “us”. The media doesn’t just try to get answers, they try to bait people into misspeaking so they can use it as headlines. It was frustrating to have Reid say the same things at press conferences in response to legitimate issues that he never improved on, but he was also often just protecting the players — which is his job at those things. We’ll see how far Gruden gets in Washington by being more honest with the media — it can cause problems in the locker room. Parcells and Belichick routinely crap on the reporters; never hurt them.
Agree. Very level headed asseesments.
He didnt think he had to answer to anyone. . Not press not us.
BtW no one had figured out yet how to put a mic near the person asking the question
I don’t think he really does need to answer to the fans — the answer is the product on the field, wins against losses. Belichick couldn’t care less about the fans either. The coach does have to answer to the front office, and deal with his players — the media doesn’t really help with either of those. The primary job is to not harm the team with the answers, so I usually preferred it when the media went away irritated, and learned to just ignore most of what was said. Kelly started off entertaining but got pretty adversarial himself. As the saying goes, a coach who cares about what the fans say will soon join them (as in, lose their job). In the end, the product on the field got away from Reid, and he was justly fired at that point.
Very well put. I think im putting it behind me .. Appreciate your insights.
“If you actually were a fan during the Kotite years, you would worship Reid. ”
Not correct. Logical fallacy.
Never ever ever ever ever a kotite fan.
disdain for andy probably started when he let Trotter walk… why? He wudnt pay him. It cost us but he still paid himself.
I just dont have this fanatic love for the dude. Wouldnt be in my top coaches list ever.
The Chiefs playoff loss was predicted by all.
I think he even fucckkjed up the timeouts right ??
Don’t think Reid had complete say with Trotter — that was a Banner/front office thing more I’d guess. They did not like to pay linebackers, period. Even when we had a free agent play well (Shawn Barber) Banner basically told his agent we would not pay top dollar even once they proved their worth. So they knew up-front they would be looking elsewhere once a free agent.
Don’t think that Reid ranks with the all-timers, just tops in Eagles history (maybe Greasy Neale was better, or others in that era, but no way for folks today to judge). Odds are most guys you hire will be worse, that’s all — but there are better out there too. Maybe Pederson can be that guy. It was time for Reid to go, no doubt. I’d probably take him over Marty Schottenheimer though — another really good coach, but who had very bad over-conservative flaws in the playoffs. Reid was much better postseason than him.
Agree
Kotite has a career coaching record of 40-56 (0.417). He had 1 team in 6 years as a HC that made the playoffs as a wild card team. He won zero division titles in his 6 years as a HC. Zero. Reid has a career record 163-111 (0.595). 52 games over 0.500 as opposed to 16 games below .500. Kotite would have to come back to coaching and win his next 68 straight games just to match Reid’s career record. Reid has made the playoffs in 11 of his 18 seasons as a HC.
In short…what the hell are you talking about?
If you watched the American Presidential debates, supposedly an audition to become the most powerful person in the world, you would know that facts, logic, and evidence have very little to do with how people make decisions.
Sadly…this is true
I hated hated hated when kotite was named head coach. But how is it.. please someone explain to me htf the great andy reid is only .20 better.. yet he is sofa great.. he isnt i say so there!
.563 vs .583 .. worst vs greatest.
It just dont add up.
Im not a kotite fan. Not even close. Hated HATED the hire. Turned the eagles off.
But i dont give fat andy a pass either.
Andy’s fake ‘im just a blue collar guy’ humility bugged the schit out of me.
He shouldn’t be so close to kotite in any respect if one was so idiotic and the other was sofa king great.
…that blue-collar attitude is exactly who Andy Reid is, haha.
Its not.
I’ve spoken to someone who grew up with his kids, and their main impression of him was how genuinely sweet and kind he was.
He got the Eagles job out of nowhere by bringing a binder with his five year plan to the interview.
Well that certainly was a great way to go about it. And i give him his credit for excelling.
I will fault him for being power hungry and not paying key players that critically hurt the team. He snubbed the press and in doing so snubbed us. Neever called Dawk ??? Literally wtf.
Ok, things fall thru the cracks when your in the limelight. . But who has a worse family? And the way he paraded the nfl out for his son.. pure embarrassment.
I was also “joe must go” and it turns out he was in the know for years. Creepy. So im not ready to give him a pass just becsuse he got us to 1 supet boel. Bfd, ALL those who werrnt there were screaming bloody murder at the tv.
lol. k.
Haha ..
Not that its bad, it just is limited and we all watched snd hoped for more.
So with limited success i just cant join the raves for reid.
Thats all.
Go Birds.
sucking most of the time? Come on dude. Guy coached flawed teams to 5 NFCCG in his first 10 years as a HC. If “sucking most of the time” to you is reaching the NFCCG every other year, then sign me up. I’d like the Eagles to suck all the time.
1961 Nat Champs, 2 SB appearances, some playoff wins, some great games, some great meow players .. deSeans runback!!!
All the NFC East has multiple rings man … im just frustrsted
First off Andy has a win% of 0.595 and Kotite has a win% of 0.417. So, for 178 f’in points the fat one did, in fact get nice and rich.
Second, Marv Levy has a career win% of .561, Greasy Neale 0.594, Mike Holmgren 0.592, Pete Carroll 0.583, Bill Parcells 0.569, Chuck Noll 0.566, Chuck Knox 0.588, Sid Gillman 0.522, Tom Coughlin 0.531, Dick Vermeil 0.524, Dan Reeves 0.535….I could go on…but I think you get the point. Are all those guys people that sucked most of the time? For Coaches that have coached as many games as Andy Reid, only 7 in NFL history have a better winning percentage. Only 17 coaches in NFL history have coached more than 150 games and have a better record than Reid. Only 24 in NFL history have coached 100 games and have a better record than AR.
Simply put…your post was incredibly stupid.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/
Ill tak marv over andy every every day. . (I didnt read all your comment yet .sorry)
Marv had a career winning percentage 34 points less than Reid. And, check your numbers dude. Reid had a career winning percentage of 0.595 and Kotite had 0.417. The biggest difference is in playoffs, playoff wins and how far he took his teams. The difference between a perennial 8-8 team and a perennial 10-6 team doesn’t look huge based on win percentage, but in reality it is.
Reid has been to the playoffs 11 times. And, has won 11 playoff games. Kotite has been to the playoffs once and has one playoff win. That should end the debate right there. That’s a HUGE disparity. Please stop trying to act like they had similar success and we just choose, irrationally, to like one guy more than the other. Reid was an infinitely better coach.
Was just looking at Eagles records.
Appreciate your insights.
Never a kotite fan.
He is my most hated.
But i get riled up for this too much love for AR.( Same with Joe Pa actually).
Im over it & value your points.
Im over kotite
Im over reid
Im over water on both.
I hear ya. Reid used to drive me nuts too. He certainly wasn’t perfect. But, I still have to put him in another world from Rich Kotite.
Well i was sofa king pissed when they hired kotite i tried to boycott the team .. ha! He did ok a bit and i coouldnt stay away.
Yep andy. . Enigmatic.
You make many great points. Id take any one of those coaches over reid all day long.
Like the phillies GM once said, and i paraphrase … i can guarantee mediocrity but for alot less.
Andy paid himself too much. Took more responsibility than he deserved (that coach & GM ego move ) Dollar for dollar he might only be topped by only by Fisher.. certainly delivered way less than all those names you mention ..and he made himself a ton more.
Yes he was our best.
Bfd we got to 1 super bowl
And he fucckkked it up.
Stupid prep. Stupid game plan..legendary stupid clock cluelessness.
Some great wins. .but peers were better.
The Steelers are going to finish 5-11 because we ground their pride and confidence into the dirt and then spit on it. Did you see Ben’s face towards the end? That’s a man searching for answers.
They brought this up in the telecast. We annihilated Ben (not the Steelers) in 2008-2009 in the 3rd game of the season winning 15-6. He suffered 8 sacks , had 1 interception and 2 fumbles lost. Threw for 131 yards. It probably was his worst game ever or one of them. The Steelers won the Super Bowl that year.
We should have been playing them again in the Super Bowl. The loss to the Cardinals still pisses me off.
I have also seen some people suggest that the Eagles would have won that game because of the defense.
man the NFC championship game losses still sting. Cards (b/c we had beaten the Steelers and we had beaten the Cards by like 172 points weeks before), the Bucs game, the Panthers (where they just tackled our 150 pound WR’s at the line of scrimmage every play, like the Pats did to the Colts which led to the rule change).
sigh. Hopefully that will make the 1st SB win that much more special. Then by the 4th we can become ugly fans like the Pats and I won’t feel bad at all.
Or disgusting fans like the Steers fans by our 6th!
No need to draw comparisons. Let these guys shine in their own right: Carson Wentz, Jim Schwartz and Doug Pederson.
I feel like while the competition has been getting tougher, the Eagles have yet to face a good defense with a good pass rush. The good news is Carson has to face that every day in practice, so when a good D comes along, he should be ready.
I think where Carson and the Eagles offense will struggle is against a good defense that will be physical and maul their receivers at the line of scrimmage, while also getting a good pass rush. Of course, every QB and offense struggles against good physical defenses, so this would not be particularly surprising.
The Vikings will be the first big test for the offense else it will be the Seahawks game. For the defense it will be the Cowboys, Bengals, Falcons and Packers game
I’ll be very interested to see the Seahawks game after what they did to us , and especially to Jordan Matthews a couple years ago (Byron Maxwell roughing him up etc)
Our DL is going to destroy the seahawks OL… Problem is the seahawks DL may also destroy our OL especially if we are without Lane
I’m hoping we will see 3 tight end sets the rest of the season. Not every play obviously but have all three healthy, and have that option.
They got down 21-0 to the Jets and did lose Cunningham and Barnett in that game, but found a way to win 35-31
………
I was at that game in the Meadowlands. A friend of mine who was a Jets fan invited me, so I was one of the relatively few Eagles fans there. I was in the seats behind the end zone where Eric Allen was running towards on an incredible long interception return, “waving him in”. Great memory. Bittersweet because Cunningham had been lost and we got news that his season was over.
I don’t think this team reminds me of any former Eagles team. They just keep surprising us and its all fresh which is what makes this that much more exciting. Its new territory for us as Eagles fans and that’s a good thing.
If I would pick an analogy, one team that comes to mind is the 2012 Seahawks. Stout defense, Russell Wilson’s first year after surprisingly winning a QB competition, wowing people as a rookie, team went from 7-9 to 11-5 and won a playoff game. Seahawks fans, I’m sure, were getting pumped seeing what they had in Wilson. The next season they won the Superbowl obliterating the Broncos.
That’s a pretty good comparison.
combination of 2007 Pats and 1985 Bears.
I like that comparison. Didn’t they also have some QB weirdness just prior to that, trading too much for some nobody? And then Wilson showed he was smart and good enough to take over?
They overpaid for Matt Flynn.
I’ve been watching football for a long while now, and I don’t remember ever once seeing a rookie playing like Wentz is now. Time will tell if this is on him or on Pederson’s system making him look good. I remember years and years ago, back when running backs were actually considered more important to winning than quarterbacks (I guess this was the early 80s) someone once said a great running back doesn’t remind you of anyone else. That’s Wentz so far to me. He reminds me of Carson Wentz and nobody else. Just so blessed to watch him play, hopefully over the next 15 years, as am Eagle.
Coaches can scheme but players have to play. BTW, don’t we all agree that most coaches try to maximize strengths and hide wesknesses?
no I do not believe Kelly did this last year.
Yeah, not the Chippa!
Bobby Hoying in 1997?
Well, then go and watch Dak Prescott.
Trying to really dig in on w/l record for this team is really challenging. The franchise has conditioned us to expect some choke losses, but this team hasn’t given us any evidence to doubt them.
A humbling of our division opponents would a great theme for the season.
Speaking of divisional opponents, the Eagles’ all time record vs the Giants is 85β81β2. We’re getting there…
I’ve heard quite a few people question, “Is it Wentz, or is is Pederson?”
My response is, I think it is a bit of both. Wentz has done a fabulous job of executing what Pederson has setup for him. He’s doing a great job with the hard counts trying to get the defense to tip its hand. He’s been surprisingly accurate and is doing a great job keeping his eyes down the field. Film watchers have noted that he’s rarely having to go beyond his first read. That’s a credit to Pederson, but also one of the few things I believe he needs to improve on.
What can’t be ignored is how good a job Pederson has done of putting average talent at receiver in position to make plays. Hands have still been spotty, but they have been open. That’s great coaching. The team hasn’t made many mistakes of the penalty variety. That’s coaching as well. Meanwhile, Pederson, despite being a rookie coach, has the combination of ego and self deprecation to say, defense is Jim Schwartz’s, I don’t interfere with that side of the ball. When you hire quality people, that’s an incredible thing for a boss. I’ve worked for some bosses who had to have their hands in everything. Some who were clueless and didn’t want involved at all. The best though, were those who let me do my job, but were there to support me when needed. It is early, but Pederson really looks like that third variety of boss. For a first time head coach, that is extraordinary.
If we have a “is it Belicheat or Brady” problem that’s a great place to be
I think its the defense as much if not more than the offense. The defense playing the way they are playing makes it so there isn’t pressure on the offense to have to score every possession, knowing theres a good chance we get the ball back without points on the board. If the defense wasn’t doing what they were doing Wentz would most likely have to start forcing things or at least he might think he needs to force things, but with the ability for the defense to shut down the other teams he can take whats given to him.
You have to credit what Schwartz has done with the D too, but the only success teams have had against our D so far has been early. That would seem to put more pressure on the O to respond and press, but so far that haven’t done that. Huge props to both Pederson and Wentz for that.
I don’t kno if our WR talent was really justt “average” or if it was just fans impatiemce with the development process of young WR’s…. I expected Jordan Mathews to have a monster year, so far he is on pace for a big year.
..
Problem is too many people make up their minds about a playΓ«rs entire career because of what they see as a rookie… It’s not a lack of talent at all, different WRs Develope at a different pace..
..
You cant tell me Agholar lacks Talent, you can’t tell me DGB lacks talent… The problems is fans need to stop making their minds up about players after only seeing their rookie season… Not all of the top WRs in the NFL were great players as rookies
..
Think the lack of “Talent” in our weapons narrative going into this season was always grossly exaggerated
We have no true #1. Matthews is a superb 2, but do you expect him to win versus Richard Sherman? No. Playing Seattle, if Sherman and Matthews are matched up, you expect him to take 95% of what Matthews does away.
Agholor has talent, but the production just hasn’t come close to matching that talent. He was truly awful last season.
DGB has always been a talented but flawed guy. He’s yet to produce near the #s, even in college, that you would expect from someone with his athletic ability.
You didn’t even mention the perennial tease that is Josh Huff. Always been talented, but so very, very inconsistent.
Yes, they are young and yes they could improve, but I do believe the accurate descriptor for them at this point is average.
True #1s are overrated. Clearly not necessary for championships, or even success. Furthermore, when you have a QB who throw a WR open, and hit tight windows, you can beat a Richard Sherman with solid route running, like what Matthews does.
It’d be great to have one, but they’re far down the list on things you want or need for a championship team.
Nothing to really disagree with there. I’d like one, simply because a guy who cannot be completely taken out of his game on his own merits is a huge weapon. It can’t be neutralized, but you can limit the damage, much like the Eagles did to Antonio Brown.
While a great QB can throw his receivers open, Aaron Rodgers is the poster boy, it makes it harder and places more pressure on your QB. If we want long term success, it would be best if the Eagles gave Wentz all the help they can.
One comparison may be the 2013 Kansas City Chiefs under old friend Andy Reid. The year before they had finished 4-12, but in Andy’s first year, KC turned it around and finished 11-5. They also had a fairly good defensive turn around as well under veteran DC Bob Sutton.
2 things that are obviously different to me is that 1) Reid isn’t a rookie coach and 2) Alex Smith wasn’t a rookie, though I believe he was new to KC and Reid obviously. I also think, at least on offense, the Eagles are vastly more talented than KC, but that kind of turn around for us would be fantastic.
This year proves one thing – we had really lousy coaches last year. Chip Kelly and Billy Davis were clueless.
I think we need to seriously throttle back with the hype on this team. Great start and some very good signs of players developing and the team coming together, but they have not done anything yet. Comparing Wentz to PManning, Kelly, Favre etc. and comparing this team to 1980 and 2004 teams that went to a SB is beyond silly.
I get it, it is very natural and we are starved for good news, but 3 games is an small sample size. We need to see how DC start to adjust to Wentz and the Eagles O. We need to see what happens when the turnovers come. We need to see how the injury situation develops. There are going to be ups and downs – we have a tough schedule and the division I think will be stronger than expected.
We’ll know a lot more over the next 10 games. I think Wentz is the real deal and Pederson has the potential to be a good HC, but I’m not convinced of the other talent on the roster at the CB, RB, WR and LB positions outside of JMatt, Sproles and Hicks.
no one here (as far as I can remember) has made those comparisons. ok I’m not sure, but the comment sections sure aren’t making parade routes yet (southbound from city hall is my vote) We don’t need to dial it back b/c talking heads on TV etc. say crazy stuff. I think we all share those concerns too. But it’s exciting, and I’ll be disappointed when they lose no matter how happy I am now, so I choose more happiness now.
You’re right, you can say or believe whatever you want and, if you wish, focus on the present excitement and promise.
All I’m saying is do not be surprised if things change during the rest of the season and we have a more mixed bag of results at the end. Building a winning team is a tough process; the development line usually does not go straight up and never waver. We have a long way to go to know what we have here.
The HC and OC have already compared Wentz to the three HOF QB and another likely HOF in Luck. I prefer the school of staying humble and not putting the guy in an impossible expectation situation.
I hear ya, just a couple of years ago we though Nick Foles was the real deal after his 27-2 season
How crazy is that, Nick Foles went 27-2 TD-INT !?
but he looked lucky as hell doing it, and Wentz does not.
I think that is hindsight. At the time, almost everyone was stoked by what Foles was doing and never brought up luck as far as I remember. After the Raiders game when he threw 7 TD, some were over the moon. I remember being very excited about Foles that year.
Bradham doesn’t have you convinced?
Not yet, again three games is a small sample size.
Bradham has been a solid player way before he ever got to philly
Every situation is different, many teams plug guys in and think they’ll be the same as they were on other teams. It does not work that way even if the DC is the same. Bradham has done well so far, but no I’m not sold on him in this defense after 3 games.
Ole Andy Reid saying, You’re never as bad as you look, You’re never as good as you look. Which isn’t so bad, because we look like we can win a superbowl right now. I think it’s safe to say we can compete with anyone, though.
Agreed
Why not the comparison? People have been comparing Luck to Manning since he was drafted! And he still hasn’t lived up to 1/2 the hype!
And I think that has hurt Luck and been unfair since it is clear to me he does not have a good enough roster around him yet. Luck has done very well, but it is a team sport. Unless the Colts get their heads on straight and build around him, Luck may never win and he’ll be blamed
Hey man, thanks for the heads up. I’ll be looking for your post letting me know when I can be excited about the team.
Ha! I LOLd IRL
Yea man, that’s what I said, lol
π
I throttled back my hype before the Pittsburgh game, but then the Eagles beat the living crap out of them.
I hear ya, all 3 are good wins, but the Steelers one was great. I’m just trying to stay somewhat even keeled
Years ago I decided to accept the fact that the Eagles will never win a Super Bowl in my lifetime. It has helped me manage expectations.
A mature approach; I’m just not there yet. I’m still hoping with very fiber I get to see the first SB parade.
I never got there – but I did come to a mature conclusion that I can enjoy the season – and the whole year crazy NFL always is relevant insanity – without needing a SB win. Obviously that would be amazing, but I don’t fee like 2008 made the Phillies sucking any less painful in 2013-16 ish….
I understand that you are cautiously optimistic about this team, most people are. But the Eagles can only play the teams on their schedule and the 3 tests they have had so far, they passed with flying colors! The Wentz comparisons aren’t really off-base either. Pederson said Wentz prepares like Manning, not that he was Manning. People said that his play style was similar to Big Ben and they both came from small schools, not that he was Big Ben. Peters said that he throws accurately on the run like Rodgers, not that he was Rodgers. They may be taking it a little far, but nothing here is absolutely false.
People really aren’t comparing this team to the Eagles of the 1980 & 2004. The only comparison I have heard is about the 1st 3 wins by more than 15 points, they made the SB that year comparison. That is a fact, and no one is saying that this team will make the SB. But are you going to sit here and saying that there is no way possible that this team could make the SB? I’m not going to say that they will, but anything can happen. If this team stays healthy, I can see us winning a game or 2 in the playoffs. There is nothing wrong with being excited about this team right now.
Good post – as I said I’m excited about this team and never said that was not ok; all I’m saying is we’ve achieved nothing yet and have a long way to go before we’ll really know what this team is. We’ll see…
Thanks! We haven’t achieved anything yet, I agree. But most people going into this season thought the Steelers game was going to be a loss, and we crushed them. Sucks we have to wait another 10 days for the next game. We are turning a lot of heads with how we played so far, so all the national attention is understandable. Wentz seems like a levelheaded guy though, I don’t think he we be complacent with where is. He said he wants to be a great football player and he works hard to be one everyday. I don’t think his success so far is going to change that.
Vikings will be another good test for us, as will the Packers and Seahawks (if Wilson is healthy).
It’s only right that the bye week comes during Joel Embiid’s NBA debut (Tuesday)
Can’t overload this fanbase with too much excitement all at once!
I’m just going to enjoy it and kind of let the rationality by the wayside for a moment. Yes, my brain knows that CLE and CHI are rated 31 and 32 in DVOA, and now Pittsburgh is rated 22nd (after the beatdown, of course). That injuries have played a hand in the wins. And as great as Wentz is playing, Prescott, Garropolo, and the kid in Denver are also playing very well (what the hell’s going on?). The Eagles have drawn first blood, but there is going to be a counter to what they’re doing on offense. But it is fun to let things slide and just enjoy the unexpected success.
Yep. I was a downer about this team all summer. They’ve exceeded my expectations and made me eat a little crow so far. I’m just going to enjoy it while it lasts.
Even if you were high on this team, they are still exceeding those expectations
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The start of this season has been Boderline Euphoric for birds fans
Oh I’m enjoying it for sure, no doubt, but your other points are on target too. There are other professionals very good at their craft that the Eagles need to play and there is now real film on Wentz and the O. Good defenses will be able to challenge them; if they still defeat them then I’ll get even more excited.
Film on Wentz may be overblown if Wentz grows throughout the season… Once a DC catches up to what he did the first 3 games, hopefully Wentz wll improve and yesterday’s tendencies will hopefully n longer be applicable two weeks from now if he keeps getting a little better each week, continuosly evolving
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We also just saw 3 different NFL defensive coordinators trying to confuse Wentz by throwing something totally different at him. Yet not Horton, not Vic Fangio, and not Tomlin were able to confuse him even tho they all threw new looks at the kid
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Obviously we aremt going 16-0, but hopefully Wentz growth remains a few steps ahead of the majority of the defenses on our roster… But im sure the kid will throw an INT, im sure he will fumble, im sure he will lose some games, but hopefully they will be few and far between. Wishful thinking? Maybe…. But im going to enjoy every last win we get this year
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None of the three we’ve faced so far are high level defenses; we’ll see what happens vs teams like MN, Seattle, Cincy. Teams that can make us one dimensional and attack Wentz not only schematically, but physically punish him. Get us into 3rd and longs consistently and apply relentless pressure. Those will be good tests for the whole offense, Pederson’s play calling and how Wentz audibles too.
Every QB and every offense has tendencies and weaknesses that can be exploited. You’re right that it will then be up to Pederson/Wentz on how they adjust to the attacks and can take advantage of them.
Steelers defense deserves some respect. Doubt they look that bad all seasons
.l
We may not have faced great defenses, but we faced some well established Defensive Coordinators who tried to confuse the kid by throwing different schemes at him each week, and so far none have been able to confuse him and stifle him the way they have done to the majority of the QBs they faced….. Best of all the kid has done it from the pocket, whenI feel like a lot of typical rookie success has come from yoΓ»ng QB mobility
There aren’t many, maybe a couple of teams in the whole league that are exceptional on one side of the ball and very good on the other. The Patriots are the most consistently exceptional defense in the league across years, and when Brady isn’t being punished for being a horse’s ass, their offense is usually very good. Denver has a stellar defense, has had the past 2 or 3 years, under the hand of the brilliant Wade Phillips, and their offense appears no worse now than it was last season when they won it all. Playoffs may expose the limitations of Trevor Siemian, but that D is still the best in my opinion. Then there are the Packers, who have had a hard time achieving the coveted balance. Rodgers makes the offense exceptional, even with a 2nd rate running threat, but the defense has struggled to be consistent. Cincy has had off and on exceptional play from its defense, and the offense has been off and on very good. That franchise seems to have a curse on it. Talent, scheme, preparation seem not to matter in post-season. A fragile collective psyche.
Seattle has a number of limitations on its ability to put up points offensively. Inconsistently good there. Exceptional on defense. Bruce Arians has molded Carson Palmer into a formidable weapon, and his use of David Johnson has been very effective to achieve a very good grade on offense. They are not exceptional on defenseβ¦not bad, but not exceptional.
So far, our guys have looked pretty exceptional on defense and good – very good on offensive. By all indications, Wentz should improve as he plays more. I have not accounted for ST play, but we are strong there. If the play of this team remains effective and aggressive throughout the season, a division championship will be a rather mundane achievement. Conference championship is a very realistic goal, I believe.
And I’d say you’re way out over your skis. Sorry, I cannot say with any confidence that a conference championship is a very realistic goal after three games. I get why you’re saying it and you stated the obvious caveat that they need to continue playing as well and stay aggressive, but I just think it is premature. There are going to be ups and downs in the learning curves for Wentz, Pederson and many others on the team over the next 13+ games. I’m confident they’ll be competitive, but I’m not expecting the NFCCG, no way.
Guilty as charged. To be clear, I am not predicting anything. But if I am Pederson and FO in this franchise, I am taking the bull by the horns and raising the heat level on the expectations of everyone connected to it. If their self-belief is not inviolable, they will turn out to be pretenders instead of contenders. DP has vocalized the need to remain humble, and that is a first step in raising expectations. In a sense, the better showing the Eagles have going forward, the harder the work becomes. Distractions are louder, praise is seductively immobilizing, and satisfaction and contentment are waiting to pounce on the fool’s ass. Pederson knows that the next game must be the only focus of everyone’s attentionβ¦everyone on the team. Organizationally, the message has to be steady and resonant: “We expect to win every game. We know that we won’t, but we are capable of winning ANY game.” When a QB who is competent has that ethos it is a contagion.
It is not cockiness or over-confidence so much as it’s the willingness to put in the hard work that contributes to the desired results. Wentz has exemplified in his work habits an appreciation for that connection between hard work and success.
in a way its good that all these other young QBs are also succeeding (except Dak of course). Takes a bit of the pressure off of the natl media just being all over Wentz, they are forced to spread it around. Watched inside NFL last night and they barely covered it. Irvin went right to Dak when it came to his take, no surprise.
Here it is, folks, your daily rebuke for enjoying your team’s winning too much!
Hey whatever, if that is really how you took my post then not much I can say. Thankfully, there were several others that responded with respect and wanted to have a real discussion on the topic.
I agree. I think any speculation about how the year will unfold needs to be done with qualification and acknowledged “assuming.” For example, assuming we play at this level, I think…
However, we have a rookie coach and a rookie QB. We can’t know for certain that either of them will maintain this level of performance all year.
If this were a coaching staff and team that have performed at a consistently high level for the past several years (patriots, Steelers, sea hawks, packers, etc) then projecting our early success into year long success would be less risky.
As it is, we can certainly enjoy it and anticipate more success, but a note of caution is still warranted.
Agreed, that’s all I was trying to say. Enjoy it, absolutely, but understand the sample size and context.
We are only promised 16 games. Personally, I am going to get excited about every one, and dream about the possibilities in between. Soon, it will be the long off season, and there is a 31/32 probability that we will not be celebrating our superiority. I don’t want to wait until it is too late before I get excited. I accept the consequences of being premature and/or wrong.
Besides, as the HOF procedures show, a proper sample size and perspective doesn’t develop until years after careers have ended. This would be a pretty boring discussion board if we limited our excitement to players and teams about which we had a valid sample size.
Again, I never said do not be excited. Never said it. What I said is keep things in perspective and understand we are at the very beginning of a process with many players and a HC that are still growing, developing, learning, evolving. None of that happens in a perfect straight line up.
I disagree on your sample size point. 10 games or a full season or two seasons are fine sample sizes to make evaluations. 3 games is too small IMO. I am very happy about their start and look forward to the future, but context is important.
If Wentz and the O struggle for the next 3 games, I’ll say the same thing – too small a sample, let’s see how things go.
I’m just now celebrating the great 2004 season.
so fun
There is literally no downside to being as optimistic as you want to about this team. In fact, that’s basically the whole point of fandom, isn’t it? The disappointment when everything comes crashing down will be exactly the same whether you predict it first or not. Some people just want to actually enjoy it first.
On the other hand, if you don’t tell tell people they’re being too optimistic you can’t later say “I TOLD YOU SO!” if something does go wrong, so…
Aim low to avoid disappointment and trying is the first step towards failure with some fans I guess. Personally I enjoy every seasons roller coaster ride. Including the off season. Keeps me coming back to the blogs and commentors. If I as even keel I guarantee you I’d find better things to do with my time.
You expressed this perfectly. This is exactly how I feel as well.
It’s supposed to be fun.
As long as we’re throwing back to the nineties, I’ve got two comparisons that struck me this weekend.
First, the October 5, 1992 Monday night game against the Cowboys. The Eagles flat out dominated the eventual super bowl champs. Humiliated them on national tv. I was dreaming of the super bowl, thinking that things were all kinds of sunny for the Eagles. They weren’t. That, arguably, was a game that motivated the Cowboys to play at a truly dominating level for the rest of the year. And the Eagles weren’t really as good as they looked that night.
This Steelers win could be a very similar sort of game when viewed in hindsight.
Second, Smallwood’s game reminds of Charlie Garner. I’m not comparing speeds, etc., just that I remember watching this little guy hit little holes like a freight train and he was suddenly ten yards down field. Smallwood’s runs looked a lot like that to me. He’s fun to watch. Hopefully, he can keep it up.
Great article Tommy. Loving every minute of this, but so early on we all want to be cautious. How can a rookie QB and coach look this good? How is the CB problem, Antonio Brown putting up 140 on us, not sinking a dominant defense? A lot of national folk are calling our O-line one of the better units in the league, which was sort of a crisis position for us going into this season. The lack of Wr’s hasn’t sunk this offense. How are we overcoming every single one of these concerns that were there? Seems too good to be true.
But, Like you, I’m done putting limitations on the team. Just going to sit back and enjoy as long as the Eagles will let me. If the other shoe drops, so be it.
Unfortunately, the other shoe might be where the B-sample was stored, and our OL might be about to tell us, “Urine trouble.”
Brilliant! at least we have our scapegoat in place if the whole thing goes to hell
But Carson Wentz is a whiz under pressure.
Half of antonio Browns yards were meaningless garbage yards that actually show our CB playing well for example:
1) antonio Brown may get credit for the catch and the yards, but in reality when its 3rd and 10 and a CB gives up 8yard catch and makes the tackle short of the first down, THATS a win for the CB even tho the WR will get credit for it in the box score
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2) in the second half playing with a big lead, the CBs Εet the offense throw underneath because they are focused on not letting anyone get behind them…. Those are meaningless garbage yards
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I think Schwartz was much more happy with how the corners played in the Steelers game, than the stat sheet that shows them giving up 140 to Antonio
Absolutely, Brown was contained. And that’s what counts. It’s still surreal that his performance didn’t even add up to a garbage time TD.
See, as fans we are capable of being optimistic. We see a whole bunch of uncertainties, we can easily imagine the best case scenario, and somehow imagine a scenario where each uncertainty comes out in the best case scenario, where the rookie plays the best version of rookie he can. The questionable depth never has to be tested, etc. As a rule of thumb, to be unbiased and you try to imagine the uncertainties adding up to a wash, some good, some bad, some eh, and you end up mediocrity. A laundry list of uncertainties are supposed to keep you from being a good team. But here we are. Everything has gone our way. Everything has turned out fine or great. It’s unreal. Loving it so far.
Great points Tommy. I feel the same, definitely excited to see where they end up but you never know in this league. Wondering more and more about the Eagles running game and if it really needs to be anything more than it is? Its great to see Wendell step up like last week, but its interesting to see we havent had that solid of a run game all year. I’d personally never want anyone as a RB2 over Sproles, he’s such a weapon, but Im wondering more and more if maybe its our inconsitency and uncertainty at that position that maybe ADDS to our depth and illusion? If we had a bell cow would it be more predictable and would we be using him more. I dunno, just a thought.
I agree that it is odd we did not have a full game of solid running attack. It is particularly weird that we seem to be more successful when we are working the clock and the defense knows what is coming.
The Eagles Offense Drago’d them.
He kinda looks like Smallwood, too.
He kinda looks like Smallwood, too.
https://youtu.be/ygQvB6OjHOU
Perhaps the run game will open up more now that people realize Carson Wentz is weapon #1. Maybe Cleveland and Chicago figured that if they took the run game away from a rookie QB he would be easier to handle. And Pittsburgh is just really good at stopping the run and not as good at stopping the pass so Pederson probably recognized that and planned accordingly.
Since most of the ways in which Carson Wentz is awesome have been covered, I’d like to mention one of the smaller things I love about him: He really tries to sell his play action fakes. Just one more weapon in the arsenal.
That was one of the many things that always annoyed me about McNabb. His play action fakes were lazy and rarely fooled anyone. (In McNabb’s defense, I probably wouldn’t work too hard trying to sell a play action fake either on 3rd and 10 after Andy Reid called passes out of the shotgun on 1st and 2nd down. )
I was always jealous of P. Manning for his fakes and Rodgers for carrying his through to fake jump passes. If you fool the one guy that would have made the TD stopping tackle…
Yep, Play-action fakes were never going to fool anyone with AR’s play-calling. π
Wentz rookie of the month.
In other news, the Eagles are not getting ignored any more, and they’re not getting underrated. Let’s kill that meme!
Carson Wentz Named NFC Offensive Player Of The Week
Fletcher Cox Is NFC Defensive Player Of The Month
Carson Wentz: NFL Offensive Rookie Of The Month
Eagles #1 at Football Outsiders
#4 at SI
#7 at ESPN
#6 at NFL.com
#4 at USAToday
#5 at the Washington Post
#9 at WalterFootball
Very cool
Well, screw you Walter.
He’s a Giants fan . . . what do you expect??
Wow, looks like Chip really scored some points with his team re: Anthemgate.
http://www.espn.com/blog/san-francisco-49ers/post/_/id/19960/chip-kelly-earning-praise-from-players-for-support-of-colin-kaepernick
There are a few more important tests I want to see:
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Eagles vs Scary Vikings defense
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Wentz on the road in noisy Seatle against that top rated defense
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Wentz and the eagles defense playing from behind in the second half
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Shootout vs Rogers @ Lambeau should also be interesting
I’ll be at the Seattle game with all my Eagles crap on. Bring it.
Me too! Boom
That’s going to be a great Battle and one of the best road games you could catch as an Eagle fan…
My “checkboxes” left to be checked are:
Close game
Playing from behind
Love the way this team plays with a lead. Go into half-time with a lead. Absolutely blow teams out in the second half. All other iterations of Eagles teams I’ve personally witnessed in my lifetime have turned me into a nervous wreck while they supposedly are trying to protect a lead. This team is by far and away the best I’ve seen at playing with a lead.
I don’t doubt the ability for them to play a close game or anything, they just haven’t had to opportunity to see a close game yet.
Two questions:
1: FF guys are thinking Smallwood is worth an add. Anyone really think he is going to get the touches needed to be an asset going forward?
2: What are teams going to try and expose on us? For Andy’s teams it was running on us and the screen.
Smallwood will not be getting the touches. It’s a bye week too.
Eagles OL has been playing better than they really are. Also the misdirection plays, fake jet screens etc. will have less of an effect.
Eagles CBs will be exposed. There will be games like last year where the opposing qb just throws jump ball after jump ball and CBs get exposed.
If OL and DL play at this level eagles will keep rolling.
Not having Lane could be huge. Really hope it doesn’t turn out to be a Hicks like domino effect.
Sproles is the only Philly RB worth having, and that is only if you are in a PPR league.
Ryan Mathews will probably be fully healthy when we get back from the bye week. Healthy Mathews and healthy SPROLES make it unlikely that smallwood will get enough carries to be a consistent factor in fantasy footbalL
On the same page with you guys on that. Just checking because had friends getting excited over him, wanted to make sure I wasn’t high.
Pass on Smallwood unless Mathews goes out with a serious injury that will cost him at least a month.
Otherwise his carries & touches will be way too limited. If if Mathews goes out, I imagine they’ll use a rotation of Smallwood/Barner at a 60/40 split unless one really stands out which hurts Smallwood’s value a lot unless you are desperate for a flex player.
Screw comparing this team to the past….. Let this team be the start of when future teams are compared to….
Like the 2019 Las Vegas Raiders or the 2026 Beijing Jaguars?
I heard they’re changing the logo to a thong, and making the team name the Panty Raiders.
If there is a God, it will be the London Jag-u-uhs, like in the car commercials.
Nah, I’m thinking more like London Jag-u-ufs.
Especially since the hope is that Wentz will be something special that we haven’t had before..
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Im just trying to live in the moment with this team. enjoy each win. and worry about the next matvhup on our schedule
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The Lions were the team that Embarressed us last year and the begginning of everything falling apart. The Eagles defenders who were on the field last year when the lions owned us, better be amped up to go into Detroit and get revenge for what they did to us last year. I imagine Schwartz will be amped up in his Detroit homecoming, I don’t think he got to play @Detroit in his one year coaching the Bills. This may be Schwartz first game back in Detroit. I’d like to think the proud veteran Tulloch will also be interested. Their top pass rusher Ziggy Ansah may not be back for the Eagles game and we might still have Lane for the lions game…Detroit has a banged up defense Wentz should light up..
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Unfortunately Stafford is playing some pretty good ball so far this year, golden Tate and Marvin Jones are a pretty potent outside WR tandem.
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Ultimately I think our offense should have an easier time with the Lions defense, than the Lions offense against our defense
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How has the Lions OL looked so far this year?
yeah Schwartz did play against them when he was with the bills, the players lifted him up and carried him off the field after they beat the lions.
Nevertheless I agree that both him and our players that were here for last years embarrassment on thanksgiving are gonna be pumped to play against them.
Oh that was the game they carried him off the feild? Makes sense,
Is it too early to be sad at the age of our D players?
I was just telling a bewildered coworker that this group reminds me of the 2037 team in a lot of ways.
VON Miller and Fletcher Cox named Defensive players of the Month… Guess those two are giving teams their Money’s worth for the big extensions they got..
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200million on the Giants defense and they still can’t force a turnover yet?
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Brandon Graham has almost been as good as Cox. jenkins and McLeod are playing as well as any safety tandem
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Bradham/Hicks have been a pretty damn good Nickel LB tandem especially with Opponents being forced to play from behind, and throw against our Nickel package
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Injuries are starting to pile up for Dallas: Tyron Smith dealing with back spasms, La’el Collins is on IR. DEZ with the hairline fracture.. These aren’t major injuries, but they are injuries that can linger and lead to bigger problems especially since both Smith and Dez will probably Rush back and not miss many games…. Dallas better hope they can get a win in San Fran because the next game is against the Bengals that will be a tough game for Dallas to win. Dallas schedule is getting difficult now so it would be really bad if they lose against the most manageable opponent they face in this next stretch of games (San Fran)
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The Giants are already down two RBs Vereen and Jennings for the match up against the Vikings Defense,,that Viking DL is going to dominate eli and his OL.. DRC is also dealing with an injury
I remember watching that ’92 team which everybody in town here was ready to anoint as a Super Bowl-contender after thrashing the Boys on MNF at the Vet to open 4-0:
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/199210050phi.htm
I’m sorry, but if you bring up the NFC Championship loss to the Bucs again, I will have to take an oath that we will be sworn enemies for all time. Either that, or drink myself into forgetfulness.
I remember that MNF game against the Cowboys vividly. I was living abroad in a country with no American football and this was before the internet. So, I had to avoid the news for a week waiting for the VHS tape to arrive to watch the game and find out what happened. That was a season I thought we really had a shot. Team looked dominant those first 4 weeks.
And when you the tape it was NTSC so you had to send out for PAL conversion.
QB’s vs Eagle defense in the second half, combined stats: (RG3, Cutler, Ben)
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16-for-41 for 193yards
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Zero TDs
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2 Int, 2 FF (I think)
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33.9 passer rating
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Via Statmaster Rueban Franks
Saints defense Stat NFL Rank
Yards per game 448.3 31
Points per game 32 31
Yards per play 6.7 31
First downs per game 24.3 28
Passing yards per game 336 31
Yards per pass attempt 8.5 27
INT 0 T-31
Opposing QB rating 104.8 26
Rushing yards per game 149.3 32
Rush yards per attempt 5 30
Kempski posted these Saints D numbers, cant believe how bad they are, its impressive
Poor Brees.
Ironically, Brees wanting to get paid as one of the top QBs is one of the main reasons the Saints are not good. Granted, they made some horrible roster moves, but his salary has really killed their cap for the past several years.
Yeah he clearly doesn’t give a fuck.
How do the other teams do it?
They were atrocious Sunday night. Brees scored points most of his drives, but it wasn’t nearly enough. I think Atlanta punted twice, one of which was muffed for a turnover.
Via IgglesNest:
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On 20 carries, Wendall Smallwood has 5 runs of 10+yards
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On 71 carries, Zeke Elliot has 4 runs of 10+ yards
Has anyone done a study on the Law of Diminishing returns as related to investment in the RB position?
The rule is that not even the best rb in nfl history is worth been taken top 10 in todays nfl rules
It’s a crap shoot. But for a team like the cowboys who figured they were set if they got a RB i get it. Plenty of high picks that are duds.
It’s just like on fantasy – you’d rather have a stud than have to stream TEs or a running back every week. These late round pick guys are very hit or miss. Look at most teams doing RBBC.
I think you are correct, but I think whoever looked at their defense full of head cases and scrubs and thought, “Yep we are good there, just need a RB.” should never work in the NFL again.
Unless that guy continues to work for the Cowboys, then y’know, give that man a raise and make sure he never leaves.
That would be the owners.
He’s gotten better each game though, along with Prescott. We’ll see.
I’m hoping Pederson won’t be the new Andy Reid, he’ll be even better. Reid was a really good, maybe great, coach. No argument. But his flaws were troublesome and persistent. Let’s hope Doug is better than Andy at calling running plays, in-game adjustments, and clock management (low bar, here).
Usually the flaws are different, but yes thus far it looks like he doesn’t share Reid’s in-game flaws. If he can pick up the rest from Reid, things could be good. It was a few years before Reid’s problems really became apparent though.
so far so good.
Reid was a really good, maybe great, coach. No argument. But his flaws were troublesome and persistent.
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Perfectly stated.
Would it be smarter to get someone else than Barbre to play LT, since he and Peters seem to be doing well together? Instead of changing two positions, we only change one?
Or is Wis/Seumalo just that much better than what we have at backup T?
Think Tobin be the best fit as backup LT. See Barbre moving to RT n Wiz/Seumalo to LG when Lane gets suspended.
Wait we’re benching Brooks?
Peters – Barbre – Kelce – Brooks – LJ
Huh? We benching Brooks? Man better catch up on the news or you pulling my leg lol
Doh!
My reading comprehension is a bit slow today. I’m reading that as LG but thinking RG.
haha cool cool. No worries.
I think putting Wiz/Seumalo in at LG and moving Barbre out to RT puts your best 5 linemen on the field.
Anyone post this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIPDmI4-25I
Kinda cool, kinda awkward, going down the phone train. Good to see how much the coaches wanted him. Also you could see the comfort level between the coaches and player as soon as they got on the phone. Great that Howie made it happen, kind of mind blowing really, he put everything on the line to make it happen. It all seems out of character for this to be an Eagles’ story. This is nice!
ya puts a bit too much of the corporate slant on it even though we know that exists. To see it like that is a tad different, maybe its the suits lol. Carson starts to run out of ways to say the same stuff
Pretty cool, though that pick was basically known as soon as the trade happened, so there was no real surprise (just rubber-stamping the known outcome). But still cool. Wonder if they would have released that video if Bradford was still here π
I’d like to see some awkward conversations between #1 draft picks and crappy teams they don’t really want to go to.
wow, geez, Gordon to rehab
Good for him.
indeed, not his career though
At this point its obvious it must be a real issue. Sucks to see a generational talent go to waste. Hope he cleans it up and makes something of his life. Not even all that upset I have him in two fantasy leagues.
Yeah clearly he cannot handle the fame, money and responsibility that comes with being a star in the NFL. I hope he made this decision on his own and really wants to get better.
Think he made this decision knowing if he got suspended again it’d be over for his career.
Is this like rehab until he’s supposed to start next week? It must be something in the water in cleveland.
Maxwell is benched for tonight they are starting Lippett. Man, what a trade Howie pulled off!
Unreal! I just read that on Twitter. It seems to be more about lack of effort than talent for Byron.
Growth mindset my ass.
How is big 54 doing there?
Howie wins again.
This is such an odd situation thus far. The whole Chip Kelly/ Howie Roseman off season, the Bradford dump at the beginning and now a team that in a lot of ways I don’t recognize. As a fan for 40+ years, honestly I do know of a previous Eagles team they remind me of. This is the best balance of O/D/ST that I have seen. Stars on both sides of the ball, aggressive and smart coaching.
I know you would think through all the upheaval and change throughout the FO and the coaching ranks over the past 4 years that we would be seeing a team struggling to find an identity and leadership. Yet we so far have seen a fairly well oiled machine ready to take on the challenges of being an upper end team. Crazy really.
It’s called having a head coach with emotional intelligence.
I think it’s more about having a coach that has been allowed to focus on being an offensive coordinator. After Chip, I think Lurie and Roseman wanted a coach with compartmentalized responsibilities. (Howie certainly didn’t want a guy who was going to demand his job in a year or two)
They found a guy who was not in a position to demand more responsibilities and could become part of the team rather than a new coach who would become the team.
Looks like the boys just lost randy Gregory for an additional 10 games once he’s done with his initial 4 game suspension
Wow. That’s going to hurt a defense that already wasn’t very good to begin with.
Well, more accurately won’t help them, since he’s already not playing (and would have been in rehab if not suspended).
Yeah, I think it was a week or so ago the news came out that he wasn’t going to fight that suspension anymore.
Dolphins wearing their hunting pajamas to the game tonight.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/2cf3424e22d94655778a906121034eeb3e440aa65ab4a05acdd103f5533674b2.png
Nice, trying to bring back memories of the 1970s and 1980s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They looked like that most weeks.
They are playing like the 70s and 80s Buccaneers as well!
I just came here to post about those uniforms… holy shit they are atrocious.
As bad as the Dolphins jerseys look, the Bengals jersey look awesome as hell.
I agree. The first “color splash” uniform that I actually like.
Love when the pyrotechnics before the game come across as smog during the game. That’s not how you gain TV audiences.
Its funny that this happens ALL THE TIME but they keep doing it. The pre-game pyro crews must be in an union.
How does a line with Mario Williams and Suh and Cameron wake not literally kill people?
They’re old.
The Miami Herald reports the Dolphins are scaling back CB Byron Maxwell’s snaps for Week 4.
NFL.com’s Mike Garofolo reports Maxwell has been outright benched, and that Tony Lippett will start opposite rookie Xavien Howard. Maxwell’s dismal Eagles play has carried over to Miami, where he’s been one of the league’s worst corners on 244 snaps. A second-year fifth-rounder, Lippett is also a disaster waiting to happen. He hasn’t played a defensive snap this season. Miami’s secondary is a massive
Only problem with that narrative is that Maxwell did not have a dismal season last year, and was honestly not that bad.
Yeah he wasn’t dismal, just underperformed bigtime, but appearantly now he’s dismal haha!
Yep, he was still our best CB last year, possibly better than anyone we have this year. But not by much, and not nearly worth the salary.
Maybe you should join Josh Gordon in rehab. Opponent QBs had a 100.7 rating when targeting Maxwell last year and he was ranked 93rd among all CBs in 2015, according to Pro Football Focus.
Chip and his 49ers need to beat the dog piss out of the Cowboys this weekend. #please&thankyou
The problem is that Marinelli has CK’s number. We’ve seen it firsthand, and it is painful. Like, total rushing 15 yards painful.
But, but…with Chip’s growth mindset…
Any given Sunday. GO CHIP GO!
Is Tannehill that bad or was Gase not the QB whisperer that people thought he is?
Did you see his throw on second snap of game?
And what has he done since then?
dat bomb doe
Yes
The ’93 season was probably the first season that I watched every single game start to finish and really absorbed the games. I was in in 5th grade and it was first year of organized football for me.
What I remember most about that season was Eric Allen’s incredible play. He was on a mission that year. His INT return vs the Jets was electrifying. I remember Herschel had like 3 90+ yard TDs (run, catch, and return) which was a record at the time (I think). Our LBs were beastly – Byron Evans, William Thomas, and Seth Joyner.
But the injuries to Randall and Fred Barnett just sapped the life out of the offense. I remember some really dreadful games in the middle of the year.
Personally, I think this team is different. Much different. And I hope and pray Wentz stays healthy. I’m trying to contain my excitement, but I do feel he’s going to be a special player.
New Thread!