Balancing Emotions
Posted: October 31st, 2016 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 328 Comments »Losing to Dallas is a special form of torture. It tends to put me over the edge. I was too upset to head to bed right after the game and had to watch some TV shows to try to settle down my brain. Even then, I laid in bed going over each excruciating moment from late in the game. That is going to make for one long, miserable Monday.
Doug Pederson picked the worst possible time to have his worst game of the year. Actually, that isn’t true. He didn’t have a bad game. He had a terrible 4th quarter. When the Eagles had the 20-10 lead early in the 4th, I was pretty happy with Pederson and how things had gone to that point. There were small things to disagree with, but the defense was playing lights out and the offense was playing well enough.
Pederson had actually used a nice wrinkle to help the offense, going no-huddle. That caught Dallas off-guard and the Eagles got an easy TD pass due to confusion by the defense. That was a terrific in-game adjustment.
But then…
Things fell apart in the 4th quarter. After a 3 and out, Pederson decided to hand the ball to Wendell Smallwood for his first touch of the game. Smallwood was hit in the backfield and fumbled. I don’t have a big problem with giving the ball to Smallwood there, but the decision did not work. Dallas turned that into a FG and cut the lead to 20-13.
The Eagles got the ball back and drove down to the Dallas 32-yard line, in FG range. On 1st down they threw a lateral to Josh Huff and tried to have him hit Jordan Matthews with a pass. I wasn’t a huge fan of that. There was 8:06 on the clock at the snap. You’re already in scoring range. If you simply run the ball up the middle 3 straight times, you can burn almost 2:20 off the clock and you’ll be at the 30-yard line. You want a TD there, but just as important is working the clock and staying in FG range.
The trick play didn’t work. Barner ran on 2nd down and got a couple of yards. On 3rd/8, Pederson had his worst moment of the game. He tried to hit Darren Sproles on a screen. Sean Lee read the play and turned it into a 6-yard loss. The one thing you cannot do on that play is lose yards. You cannot throw backwards. You cannot take that chance. I have no idea what Pederson was thinking. He talked about how that play was designed to go against that look, but you have to think about the overall situation. You’re in FG range. You must go forward. What a horrible decision.
After the loss, the Eagles are at the Dallas 36-yard line. For some reason, Pederson passes on the FG and punts. Listen, there is no guarantee that Caleb Sturgis hits that kick. It would have been 54 yards away. But you need those points. Being up 2 possessions with 6:30 left is huge. You have to take that chance. Pederson didn’t. He punted.
Dallas responds with a long TD drive to tie the game. Ugh.
The Eagles get the ball back. They open with an 8-yard run. That’s a good start to what could have been the game-winning drive. On 2nd/2, Pederson calls for a quick pass to Matthews. Dallas gets a TFL and the Eagles lose 2 yards. I hated that call. Hated it. The Eagles had been trying those plays all game and they had not worked with any consistency. Don’t go backwards. Throw a slant. Run the ball. Anything, but don’t go backwards.
That set up 3rd/4. Wentz forces a ball to Trey Burton. Incomplete. On the most critical offensive play of the game, you need to get the ball to one of your stars. Feed the ball to Matthews. Get it to Sproles. Throw to Ertz. Another frustrating moment.
Dallas had the ball at the end of regulation. A sack had them in 3rd/20 with :25 on the clock. Pederson let the clock run and settled on overtime. The Eagles had all 3 timeouts. Why not use them and at least force Dallas to punt to Sproles? Dallas could have converted the 3rd down and kept going, but were backed up at their own 18-yard line. They had a long way to get to FG range.
Pederson badly misplayed the final 8 or so minutes of the game and it really hurt the team. Let’s not act like this game is all on him, though. The players had plenty of chances to make plays and win that game. They failed just like he did. This was a team loss.
Some people are now running with the notion that Doug Pederson did a good job before the bye, but hasn’t coached well since. That is silly. That is cherry-picking based purely on obvious results.
Was Andy Reid doing a poor job when the Eagles went 5-11 in his first season? Belichick went 5-11 in his first year with the Pats, and that was his second job. Pete Carroll went 7-9 in his first 2 years in Seattle. You have to look beyond the record.
Pederson hired a terrific staff. That counts for the whole season.
Pederson has done a great job at developing Carson Wentz. That is true for the whole season.
He got the team off to a 3-0 start, which skewed expectations.
In the Eagles absolute worst game of the year, a day when they played like crap, the team lost by 7 points.
They blew a late lead in Detroit. Pederson handed the ball to his veteran RB, who fumbled it away. I think all of us wanted the ball in Matthews hands on that play. You have to trust your veteran players in key moments.
After losing 2 straight games, the Eagles handed Minnesota its first loss of the year.
Last night, Pederson had the Eagles up 10 points on the road in the 4th quarter. He handled that game well until the 4th quarter. I’m ticked at him for that, but let’s not get crazy and try to now act like he’s not been a terrific coach this year. That is crazy.
Even after an absolutely horrible night, there is plenty to be happy about. The Eagles are 4-3 and they have a stud QB to build the team around for the next decade. That doesn’t take away the sting of blowing the game in Dallas, but there are times when you need to step back and remember that there is a big picture as well as living in the moment.
Nobody died. The season isn’t over. We still have Megan Fox, chocolate pudding and PBR. And we’ll get a chance to kick the Cowboys ass when they come to The Linc on New Year’s Day.
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[…] Tommy Lawlor Losing to Dallas is a special form of torture. It tends to put me over the edge. I was too upset to […]
Great writing Tommy.
We all have to take as step back today. Doug is learning on the job. He has to walk that fine line between aggressiveness and craziness.
The key here is really Wentz. We’re not winning anything without better talent at OL, CB, and WR.
Big V appeared to take a step forward. DGB had some nice plays (drop was really big).
It’s hard to be a fan on days like this. The fact that we’re on par with a team built to win now is a great reflection of the coaching staff.
yeah… we just have to cool off a little bit. the receivers play is killing.
Also, where is Zach Ertz ?????
tripping on a blade of grass, no YAC
Seems like they aren’t even throwing in his direction. What is this, year 3 or 4 of the “this is his year to take off” watch?
Tell me about it. Next year is always going to be the year.
Doug “the village idiot” pederson is dead to me. Kotite reborn.
After one game? You’ll hop back on the bandwagon next week.
Never a big pederson fan to begin with, and that was some of the worst playcalling I’ve seen at any level.
It’s pretty disturbing that Doug defended all his decisions today (and said he’d make them again). I’m willing to give him the benefit of a bad game, but not if he’s unwilling to self-evaluate after a loss to a division rival. We’ll see what happens, I guess.
Absolute bunk. The guy made some bad calls towards the end of the game which hurt us. He has also made some good calls throughout the year that gave us games. He is a rookie head coach dealing with completely overmatched WR and RB. Give the guy time, I think he has shown signs that he could be a good one.
We need to make a trade today!!! We need a Wr that can actually catch a pass.
I don’t understand why Wentz doesn’t throw deep anymore. Has he lost all confidence in his receivers? Why no deep jump balls for DGB?
Dink Dunk Clank.
I believe it’s a combination of play calls and receivers not getting open downfield.
He didn’t even hold the ball long enough for receivers to get open. Looked like gameplan yesterday to me…
Lane Johnson effect. Doug probably calling more quick passes to protect the franchise.
I do agree on some jump balls for DBG, though.
Especially in the end zone.
Its seems Wentz is losing confidence in his receivers because they keep dropping good throws.
What can he do if he has no receivers who get open, and when they do, they drop the ball? Lose-lose situation.
Pederson seems to be doing his best to turn Wentz into Alex Smith. Ags needs to be deactivated next week, as he has zero special teams value. He isn’t getting better.
He was unable to block a DB on a quick screen to Mathews in the first quarter. He runs an 11 yard route on a 3 and 12. He steps out of bounds and negates a first down catch. He drops a simple pass in the red zone.
He is an absolute liability but yet played more snaps than Jordan Mathews. At this point, Ags’ ceiling would be James Thrash, and that’s only IF he could catch the football and fix his mental mistakes. He cannot physically and mentally play the WR position in the NFL at a level that corresponds with playing 91% of the offensive snaps.
Agree. BEnch liabilities. . WOuld be good for Wentz to not even see him in his progression
Matthews should be on the field almost every (if not every) snap. He is without a doubt the best receiver on the team.
You know, I am all for not letting him dress. There are guys that are not as athletic, but can at least catch the ball. Is Paul Turner still on the practice squad? The guy clearly has pedestrian athleticism, but seems to catch everything thrown his way. He is not the answer, but Ags definitely is not. Jordan Matthews is a mid level No. 2 WR-limited speed and terrible hands. He does have good size and he tries really hard. It is depressing that just a few years ago we had Maclin and Desean Jackson. Now we have garbage, but a good young QB.
If he’s playing more than Jmatt that’s on dougy p. Matthews caught 11 balls (for 65 yds). We ran the ball a ton, ags could be good at blocking. Or maybe doug is call up a lot of plays for ags and carson is checking out of them.
“Ags could be good at blocking”…nope, he missed a one-on-one block with a DB on a JMatt screen during the first drive. JMatt was dropped for a loss.
He missed one last night, but he’s been fine at blocking in other games.
I know this will fall on deaf ears. We must only remember the whiff….
He’s been fine at times and missed blocks at times. But we remember the whiff because he is struggling with consistency in all facets of the game. Every time he makes a mistake, it is amplified by his other struggles.
Pederson has no confidence in his team. He didn’t trust Sturgis to make that kick. He doesn’t trust Mathews anymore. He doesn’t trust his receivers to catch deep balls. And I bet we won’t see Smallwood for the rest of the year after that fumble.
The only player he trusts is Sproles.
Dougie’s in panic mode.
So you say he is in panic mode based on 1 quarter?
He’s in a panic mode based on Mathews two fumbles, and his play calling the past couple of games.
He also panicked by not putting Smallwood back in the game after the fumble. He should have shown the kid he has confidence in him and put him back in.
I agree with the decision to bench 24. RB’s have to protect the ball. He has to send a message, especially with the depth at that position.
Ryan can earn back playing time.
I thought we leaned a little too hard on Sproles, don’t get me wrong, he played well, just don’t want to run him into the ground. We have lots of young fresh legs that have been effective among the RB’s. Very disappointed in Smallwood, wonder how long it will be before we get to see him again. Maybe Pederson will be more lenient towards the Rookie, and just has zero tolerance for veterans fumbling.
Agreed. Dougie should have mixed in Barner and Smallwood if his plan was to punish Matthews. Not good for Smallwood to see his first touches that late in the game.
I’d like to see Barner and Smallwood play more.
I am really frustrated and mad too. But I try to look at it like the Sixers, we (hopefully) finally have a QB. But after that, the downside is it seems like we have a lot of upgrading to do and there’s only so many draft picks and FA to sign. The one RB we trust is about 53 years old. Matthews is a good slot WR who moves outside now and then. Otherwise you could say all the other WR, RB and TE (Ertz is so frustrating right now) won’t be on the team when it’s contending. And oh yeah, need some OL too. And the D still needs some help here and there mostly at CB. It’s a LOT of holes to fill.
I’m actually surprised given all this that they beat the Steelers and Vikings and were up 10 in Dallas late.
Big V played well, so theres optimism he’s our RT of the future, with Johnson being our LT. Kelce is a concern though.
Lane will be LT and Big V will be RT
I fixed that : )
I believe the team views Semulo as the center of the future. Maybe we bump JP inside next year at a reduced cost? Or perhaps draft a G/T with a high pick?
I like this…but that would mean 2 new starters at RG and C that have not played a down in the NFL and Big V at RT who is still a question mark…I wouldn’t mind targeting a center in FA and drafting a guard….unless D3 tells me that there isn’t a Center worth getting in FA next year…I just think Kelce is too small and thus inconsistent….
This post was great…what an awful Monday 🙁
People need to chill the hell out with firing Pederson, first time HC and people are freaking out…no need to do this every time we lose, this was a team loss
We need a WR1 desperately – as of right now, you can’t look at any receiver in this offense and trust them on 3rd and long or a 1:1 mismatch (i.e. Dez’s TD catch)…
Another terrible loss when we should easily be 6-1
I don’t think people want him fired, but we would prefer him to say yes you know what that was a bad play call and I’m going to learn from that rather than say the play was designed to beat the defense Dallas was in.
Great post Tommy. Losing to Dallas is the worst. Pretty much 4 plays haunted me last night as I tried to get to sleep, that damn swing pass that knocked us out of field goal range (not really, wtf Doug), the late fumble (again! feel snake bitten), the fake Punt, and the near-pick in the red-zone. Any of those plays go our way and we (probably) win that game.
The big picture outlook:
The good: I feel like we have a chance no matter who we play. Pretty sure we can and will beat Dallas when they come to Philly.
The Bad: Probably won’t be able to overtake Dallas in the standings with our remaining schedule. Most likely path to the playoffs is likely a wildcard, which I hate. Probably won’t get into the playoffs this year, starting to work myself back into those preseason expectations, but the team is way ahead of what I thought they would be.
The rest of the schedule is amazing. The playoffs start now for us. But if we make it, there won’t be a step up in competition.
Since Pederson (or Wentz) won’t utilize Ertz’s pass catching abilities, then trade him. Another team will appreciate his talents.
ertz can catch, he just cant get yards afterthe catch,
Wentz and Ertz are buddies. They will be fine. My concern is ertz can’t get YAC to save his life
Ugh, he was barely touched on that one pass last night. I facepalmed.
Maybe it’s time to bring back Riley Cooper as an upgrade to Nelson Agholor…
I disliked Cooper as much as anybody, and probably more than most, but at least he could block. That’s one more thing than Agholor can do.
Actually, Agholor has had some good blocks this year (not that I particularly want to defend him…).
Of course, I know he missed one last night (on a really stupid play to begin with) so to this crowd that means he has never had a successful block in the history of football.
Gang, we’re rebuilding. I think that’s clear. It’s awesome we’re playing so well considering the lack of top shelf talent at some skill positions (our RB situation is wackier than anyone acknowledges, for one thing, and WR is obviously lacking a playmaker). It’s a shame the defense is 5 years ahead of the offense…
yeah but we lost a winnable game against dallas…. that tends to put people on the edge … good point for the RB situation though
Rebuilding teams lose close games like last night’s game. Good teams win them. The Eagles are rebuilding after the Chip Kelly fire sale and subsequent collapse.
I get the sense that once Wentz pulls one of these out, his confidence will be infectious. He might just be thinking too much right now when it’s close.
I think they are sheltering him too much. Haven’t let him put the game in his hands at all. I think personally he’s being too cautious. Doesn’t move AT ALL, doesn’t take chances down field at all, think DP needs to draw him up some big plays to get his confidence back.
Doesn’t move at all? What?? Let’s see Sammy B do this:
https://twitter.com/pcausey3/status/788564007707877376
Good or bad, teams do not perform better in 1 score games then the next team over the long haul.
Bill Belichick is 62-77 in 4th quarter comebacks or Game winning drives. Right in front of Jim Caldwell in win%.
That means one of the greatest coaches of all time is not even winning 50% of his close games in the 4th quarter
We beat Pittsburgh, Minnesota, and should have beat Dallas.
We aren’t rebuilding. We need a bunch more pieces, but no this not a rebuild year dude
Is re-tooling a better word? I’m not down on the team at all — it feels like they’re actually playing above their ability.
Particularly the defense. If the O follow suit and we might be able to make something of the year.
Rebuild or re-tool, this year should not be looked on as a year the Eagles are contenders. It’s going to take Doug a year or two to get his team going – Reid’s first year was pretty bad too.
#1 defensive DVOA, best special teams in the league probably. Seattle went to 2 superbowls throwing to doug Baldwin and a bunch of other random dudes.
The word I’d go for is “not enough pieces to be a contender.” Guess that’s more than one word.
It’s tough to go through this, but our CB’s are not playmakers. OL is playing well above their expectations. Jason Peters is a modern marvel.
WR is tough because the guys are all early draft picks, not sure more drafting solves their issues.
We had a two score lead in the 4th quarter vs a now 6-1 team. You said rebuilding, I say bullshit.
Nice points. It was definitely a devastating loss. Big takeaway though: Its hard to be successful in the NFL without a RB who can get 4-5+ yards on what seemed to be every 1st & 10. Zeke was a beast and even though we didnt let him break off a huge run (besides the one that got called back for holding) he still got his team in 2nd & shorts the whole game. Eagles are SORELY missing that.
The screen throws are ATROCIOUS. Use them once or twice, but not constantly and what seemed to be back to back.
I love that it seems Sproles is seemingly getting the nod at lead back. He’s the best and most consistent offensive player we have so Im happy to have him in on most downs. He makes defense’s think and he opens up opportunities for other players.
Last night was devastating, but we’ll see how the next couple weeks goes. If we can manage to get a couple wins we can keep it tight and hope for a great and competitive December.
I think the biggest problem with our running game is the same as last year – that being too many sweeps and not enough running hard between the tackles. Defenses in the NFL are simply too fast to run the sweep too often – it will work once in a while. Your running back wastes 10 yards running laterally instead of getting a head of steam running straight at the line.
Running game way more effective 15 for 90 is really good. Kept offense on schedule all game. Doug called down field balls and Wentz checked out of all of them. That’s an issue. Can’t be that a guy 5 games in thinks vet pass catchers are so trash he wouldn’t throw down field. These are the same wrs Sammy had and no one thought they were so inadequate last year.
No one thought our WRs were inadequate last year? Huh?
He’s a Bradford fluffer. He’s just sore because people like Wentz more than his favorite QB, so he remembers things wrong.
People were all over the WR’s last year, too.
I didn’t see many sweeps or stretch plays outside outside of the tackles. In fact, it seemed like they ran a fair amount in between the tackles including several draws/delays to Sproles.
this was a good read, Wentz and sproles are our offense, no one else, but on D what was going on with Cox, and dont say double teamed, cause he was dominated one on one all night long,and in OT he just stood around, I guess getting paid like he did changes a man
Bury me in my jersey.
One burner on the outside and we have a whole different offense.
Only if they actually throw to him.
Apparently Doug said Wentz checked out of some downfield plays? Yikes. Did the Vikings game scar him or something?
I feel like Huff is an asset on ST’s, and he will hang around until maybe he can become a decent #3, like a Ginn Jr. sort of trajectory. So Huff can stick around as far as I’m concerned.
Matthews is a 2nd WR.
DGB is the lotto ticket
Agholar needs to go and be replaced with a #1 WR on the double
Can you imagine if we had Alshaoun Jeferryezzz?
Yeah….he’d be on the sidelines watching with a soft-tissue injury.
He’d still catch the balls on the sideline though.
That won’t help you at all. Nice thought though!
the new…..Urlaccckkkkerrrrrzzzz
We would have a huge contract and a guy who is going to be hurt in the next week.
I don’t celebrate injuries but I don’t cry over Dallas ones either……
Cowboys CB Morris Claiborne might have suffered a groin tear Sunday night against the Eagles & Cowboys S Barry Church suffered a broken arm Sunday night against the Eagles.
And yet, they will be 7-1 after next Sunday against the Browns…
They’re looking really good now, but their fans have gone through some pain the last few years. Let’s remember that they got Zeke because they were awful last year.
Bt imagine if …. go browns for once
They just got Jamie Collins for a compensatory 3rd. I’m starting to wonder what Chicago would take for AJ.
Probably a second rounder. If you’re talking about AJ Feely.
meanwhile the Eagles go on the road to face yet another team coming off their bye week.
anyone else starting to think the NFL fixes the results of their games?
So what? Even if they end up with homefield throughout, we get to laugh at them when they choke in the divisional round and get pantsed by Seattle or whoever.
2014 was one of my favorite Cowboys seasons in recent memory, because they actually had a good record and their delusional fans started thinking they were Super Bowl bound. When they lost to Green Bay their sweet, sweet tears were delicious.
Eff em
I kind of disagree with Tommy in terms of Doug up until the fourth quarter (despite the 20-10 lead), from pretty early on in the game I was really unhappy with the play-calling. Dallas has no pass rush, and their defense overall is not impressive, there’s no reason we couldn’t have been trying to push the ball down the field more than we did.
I think our longest pass of the night was the WR pass from Josh Huff, which is embarrassing enough on it’s own, never mind the repeated throws behind the line which were clearly not working as the game went along.
Pederson told us he didn’t want to restrain or harness Wentz’ natural aggression on the field, but it sure feels like the play calling is doing exactly that. Let the rook let it rip, no better way for him to learn than that.
And yes I’m aware our pass catchers are hot trash a lot of the time, but to me it appeared we were playing small ball by design, not because he was standing in the pocket for 5 seconds and no one could get open.
It doesn’t make sense to test Dallas deep.
1. Their secondary is playing out of their mind this season
2. We don’t have a receiver who can consistently come down with “50-50 balls”
3. Vaitai
4. They also run a ball control offense and keeping the ball in out hands is a good way to control the tempo
Also gotta give credit where it is due…Big V played well enough…but…Rob Marinelli is getting those guys to believe and play bigger than what we see on paper…
They have no pass rush, their secondary isn’t all that, we don’t need 50/50 balls to throw more than 10 yards down the field.
Ahh, here we go. Eagles lost, so they suck. Had they won, (this game went into OT), they’d be the best team in the NFC.
You guys need to stay on your meds.
Ahh, here we go. Eagles lost, so someone is going to call out the fans for being upset.
There’s a difference between being upset and acting like the team was exposed, Carson Wentz and the offense aren’t good, etc.
I’m not sure I follow. The team did get exposed by it’s three major weaknesses (secondary, WR, OL). I don’t think anyone is saying Wentz isn’t good, just the opposite.
You are nuts man. If we don’t let up a trick play and win the game do you still think this way?? Sure the WR suck. Dallas didn’t expose that. Those other two units had solid games…better than their Dallas counter-parts, if you ask me.
Their secondary didn’t let up any deep balls, yet you think ours played better?
Their line allowed their team to have 187 yards of rushing against a much better defense, yet you think ours played better putting up 97 yards?
I never said Dallas exposed our WRs, they exposed themselves as being a weakness all by themselves as they have in just about every game this year.
We didn’t try *any* deep balls. A good portion of those run yards came on some tricky type plays, using non-standard methods to open up gaps. I am not counting QB scrambles and other wonky anomalies that pad stats. I watched every snap of the game.
I watched every snap too, as did probably most of the people on this site.
I just didn’t see it the way you did I suppose. Didn’t mean to sound aggressive by the way. Re read my poat and it sounded that way. Just typed it out quickly at work.
No problem. .
It’s been clear for a while that the offense isn’t good. For example, by DVOA, they were ranked 24th, defense ranked #1. Dallas’ offense was ranked #1, the defense ranked 20th. And I’d say the game played out exactly as those rankings would suggest (a rare thing).
Upset is fine. Irrational is not. Eagles fans too quickly tip into the latter state.
Seriously. There’s always some tool coming on here to tell us the “right” way to be a fan…
It’s the equivalent of the media bringing up the Santa Claus incident any time a single Philly fan does something stupid.
or OFF lol
Need that lithium refill.
The clearly unwarranted hype over Dak is going to lead to a full-blown qb controversy in Dallas. It will be a sight to behold. I predict a disaster if the Cowboys make the playoffs. If Romo plays, he will perform his regular playoff choke dance. If Dak plays, he’ll collapse under the weight of not being Romo. There, now I can handle last nights loss.
I don’t think is is a chance in Hell that Dak puts up 23 points if he and Wentz swapped teams.
No way. He isn’t even that good. He had 5 or 6 McNabbesque worm burners. He was horribly inaccurate under any pressure. If he was on the Eagles he would have 12 INT’s.
Granted, he does have some mobility and is fairly calm when he stands in the pocket with all the time he gets from that OL, but if that OL hits a down cycle with injury he would be exposed.
Of course not
Exactly. Imagine how Carson would do with that O Line, wrs and Zeke.
I don’t know about unwarranted. He looked better than any QB other than Capn Kirk this year, against us. Granted, I missed the Lions game.
I think he’s a good rookie qb who is the new darling of the league because he plays for Dallas. Take any other decent qb and put him under center in thet Offense and you’ve got the same situation.
Can’t argue with you at all. Though being the salty Eagles fans that we are, I don’t think we give him enough credit. Wentz 100% looked like the better QB to me yesterday though.
The bright spot was Wentz was definitely the better of the two rookie qbs. It’s going to be fun over the next bunch of years as the guys face off.
If Romo gets back there and is up to his normal standards, they are going to demolish people.
Maybe. I think it depends how how healthy he truly is and how quickly he can synch up with the rest of the Offense. This is what I tell myself because the thought of Dallas doing well in the playoffs is a special kind of torture.
There is no controversy at this point. It is similiar to ’01 when Bledsoe got knocked out by Mo Lewis in Week 2, Brady came in, and stayed the QB the rest of the way.
This was despite Bledsoe still being under contract for huge dollars, Brady still being more in his ‘game manager mode,’ and Bledsoe coming back healthy for the later 1/3 of the season.
You say,”… at this point.” I agree but I am adding, “Wait, just wait.”
You just compared Dak Prescott to Tom Brady…gross.
GE’s quick hits:
THE GOOD:
– Carson MF Wentz. You must feel sorry for him – given the lack of WR who can’t catch a cold, but yesterday should have shown us all again that he IS the future in Philly. Give him a reliable go-to-guy and this offense will look worlds better.
– The Run D. Zeke might be a future hall of famer and holding him below 100 Yards rushing without arguably our best D Liner (Logan) is actually not bad.
– Sproles. He’s not to be blamed for Doug P.’s pitiful playcalling in the last quarter. I really hope we will see him again next year. He certainly doesn’t look like a 33 year old RB.
THE BAD:
– Fletcher Cox. Such a shame he doesn’t play up to his 100m dollar contract. You would expect more from a ‘difference maker’.
– Jordan Matthews. Despite his TD he always has at least one drop a game. That 3rd down drop was massive and would probably have sealed the game.
– The lack of snaps to Ryan Matthews.
THE UGLY:
– Ags. Patience must be running out. What’s even more shocking are his latest comments re drops and the obvious lack of accountability. If I was Doulg I’d bench him next week against the Giants.
– Doug P.’s playcalling. I don’t know how many times I have shouted out loud ‘run the friggin ball between the tackles’. That was as frustrating as it gets.
– Zack Ertz. When was the last time he made at least one defender miss. Ever?!
Ertz is starting to remind me of Riley Cooper. For a big man, he seems to go down very easy when hit, and he doesn’t run anyone over (a la Celek).
I don’t expect him to run over people. But it would be nice to see him at least run by or around a guy. His big contract extension doesn’t look so good anymore.
I am really unhappy with him, but those routes last night never gave him an opportunity for YAC. That was fine though, they were designed to do what they did. They just never seem to be testing the middle of the defenses in any capacity with seam type routes. Would be nice to see those. Andy ALWAYS used those.
Feels like none of our pass catcher have broken a tackle or made someone miss. Scratch that, I’ve seen DGB break a tackle, which blew my mind, feels like it’s been a while.
That’s the real killer, your bread and butter can’t be dink and dunk if your guys can’t get yac
Huff consistently breaks tackles and makes defenders miss…and I think he has still yet to drop a pass. He has shown the most of any of the WR when he does touch the ball. It is time to give him more opportunities. I don’t really care who’s snaps he has to cut in to.
he doesn’t drop passes, only fumbles it away
He dropped plenty of passes last year, and had fumbling issues. Haven’t seen any of that this season. Give the man the ball more. Our skill positions are lacking.
Cox is not far off the level he has always played. I think holding him to a higher standard than before is a little unfair. He didn’t have the impact we hoped for last night, but he is having a very good season.
Nice job .. wuold read this every single time
Thanks. Felt like writing more than just a one liner today. It’s called depression therapy.
Clean & concise approach. . ANd i think the cowboy movie named GOOD The BAD & The UGLY has a german composer.. Martin Boettcher .. so that ties in nicely .. except that its a Cowboy movie
You are selling Cox short. He played well yesterday, although did have a couple tough plays. He gets doubled A LOT. BG is great, but he gets a lot of 1 v 1 by lining up next to Fletch. Fletch collapsed the pocket a few times – and he was going against a double team of a pro bowl C and RG.
What a great first line. 😉
Oh hell no…. Lack of snaps for Ryan Mathews was a GREAT THING! We could have used his talent last night, but im thrilled Pederson dropped the hammer on him punishing and holding him accountable for his costly fumbles. Pederson supported him after he lost us the Lions game, but there is no way Pederson could łet the second fumble in crunch time slide without holding him accountable…
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Im sure we will see Ryan Mathews get backed to being a key contributor to our run game, but Pederson had to at least sit him for one game. We have too many impressionable young players we are developing to just accept those inexcusable costly mistakes from a veteran RB..,..Regardless of how much not playing him may have hurt us, I respect and applaud Pederson for sending him and the rest of the team a clear message… Penalties and drops are one thing, but you can’t be fumbling like that. if he were on the Patriots he would have been cut After the lions fumble and Bellichek would have replaced him with someone working at Home Depot
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He sat in Dallas, I think they can give him 10-15 touches against the Giants, but that run game sure looked esplosive with SPROLES so he needs to keep that #1 RB spot going into the Giants game.
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I didn’t love the play calls at the end. We got burned handing off to Matthews with so called safe plays and I am sure that was in the back of Doug’s mind.
Still considering we had 2 subs on o line and a gimpy Kelce and receivers who cannot catch a cold, we were still in this game. This team will take time to fix Kelly’s drafting and gutting the roster of several stars. We all knew that and tempered our expectations accordingly until we got those first three wins. I like where this team is headed. With a few play makers on offense, some o line and cb help in draft, we could be a competitive team for some time.
Wentz 32/43, 74%, 202 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT, QBR 49.0 , QB Rating 91.4
Dak 19/39, 49%, 287 yards 2 TD, 1 INT, QBR 69.0, QB Rating 79.8
Such a stark contrast between Total QBR and QB Rating.
One had 6 drops !!
One also had Dez Bryant.
Did Dallas outright drop any balls? Is that like not an acceptable thing other places in the NFL? Am I wrongly becoming accepting of the fact that our team catches ez balls.
If you go back and look at the scouting reports on Mathews, Agholor, Huff, and Ertz coming out of college, drops were an issue then too.
Agholor: Questionable ballskills with too many double-catches and focus drops. Tends to misjudge deep balls with waning concentration vertically, also a few botched punt returns on his resume. Not a physical ballcarrier and won’t do much after initial contact. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1996508/nelson-agholor
Mathews: Lets some throws into his body and is not immune to concentration drops. http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/jordan-matthews?id=2543500
Huff: Makes tough catches, but drops too many easy ones. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/players/1737474/josh-huff
Ertz: Needs to do a better job coming down with contested throws and will drop some easy ones, seems to have at least one drop each game. http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/zach-ertz?id=2540158
yep, definitely was the case. I think Chip even said that it was basically a market inefficiency with these players, that the drops they had in college was lowering their market value, but the eagles believed drops were something easily corrected at the pro level, they could coach the drops out of them. I remember this because i bought into it at the time.
So i think a case can be made that the eagles looked for players (that were very skilled and had good physical attributes) who had issues with drops because that would lower where they were drafted.
In retrospect, Chip really appeared to have a God complex.
No one accepts except maybe the players and coaches .. drives us fans to .. to …. to … to dark places
For some reason I have just started to accept it this year.
I do feel a little PTSD about this. When I see a ball go toward one of our guys, I assume he’s going to drop it. When I see it heading toward the enemy, I assume he’ll catch.
I mean it is generally the case.
That doesn’t sound like a disorder to me at all. Now if you expected them to catch it, that would be insanity.
Its because Dak get extra credit for playing better in the last 10 min of the quarter and OT, like the first 50 min does not count
Both are really weird statlines.
49% comp enough said.
Thats with a great Oline, Hall of fame TE, All pro WR AND more than likely a probowl RB
AND he was at home.
If Dak has a 15 year career, he is not likely to have a better o-line, better group of receivers, and better rb. He might have what he has now for the next few years, but ten years from now, (since their offense players are so good) it is just unlikely the offensive players will be as quality. AND STILL he threw 49%, that is Tebow-like. (i am just getting prepared to hear on ESPN this week, “Did the Eagles make a mistake taking Wentz at number 2 instead of Dak?” and hearing “Duh. Of course…”)
Yea your right long term I feel really good where we are headed. We are winning now when we aren’t really built to win now. Wentz really is going to be the Philly Phenom.
Lets not forget the cowboys will probably be in cap hell again soon.
Yup; total QBR is garbage.
I forced myself to watch a full hour of that painful torture 800 kars for kids ad on a loop
Wow, patriots trade jamie collins to the browns for a 3rd round pick
Collins must be really sad
Like being a Google employee only to find out you’ve been outsourced to McDonalds.
We could’ve done that.
I would have traded them Kendricks and a 3rd for Collins.
I can’t believe people are so down on the receivers. Sammy B had less talent last year but no one made excuses for his dinking and dunking or all of the tipped picks and dropped balls that killed drives and games last year. What’s changed?
It can’t be that a rookie has so lost faith in his WRs that he won’t pass the ball after 5 games. I thought in the first few games Dougy P did a great job of scheming WRs open – where’d that go? Wentz also said he checked out of a lot of downfield calls to go underneath.
League leaders in drops and passes for losses
no difference from last year. I think both QB and WR share blame for some of the drops, not all balls tossed are good balls.
Passes for losses is play calling. I understand WRs aren’t great, but you can’t give up on them after 6 games.
This is a bottom 5 group of WRs this year and it was last year too.
“I can’t believe people are so down on the receivers.”
Do you not think we need to seriously upgrade that position?? Might not be a #1 priority but it’s definitely a need. Nobody is fearing our passing attack, let alone really respecting it.
Receivers are same as they were. I think you put them on another team and they’re good. Matthews is a 1000yd receiver, Ertz has caught a ton of balls, DGB had 800yds last year and was Tenn’s leading receiver. DGB isn’t getting great calls his way. When’s the last time he got a jump ball. Dude runs like a 4.3 – how can’t we get him open?
Matthews has never gotten to 1000 yards and he is by far our best WR
Lol, he had 997 yards last year. In the practical sense, he did have a 1,000-yard season. In a technical sense, he was 3 yards short.
Well I can reasonably say if he didn’t drop so many catchable passes he would in reality be a 1000 yard receiver
Matthews and DGB maybe. The rest can go. For what Ertz does/produces, trade him for an O-lineman for all I care. #opinions
I’m not sure how to respond to the first part. I guess you’re more forgiving than I am, but the part about Duh-gy Fresh scheming wide receivers open, I think can be explained by how defenses have responded. We’re seeing less zone and more man to man. Also not seeing as much single high safety.
Pederson stated that we saw a lot of 2 deep zone last night against the Cowboys. I would loved to have seen Wentz check to a run in those situations to try to force them into a single high look, but that requires us to have a decent, consistent running game.
He checked into the run or run like plays (lateral passes) a lot. I actually think our ball control game is pretty good.
Even if we played a ton of man with 2 safety looks gotta have a bunch of man beating plays – we used to run that wheel route or crossers, etc. all the time – it’s not like Dallas’ secondary isn’t good.
And I agree, our ball control offense is good except I have 2 major problems with it. 1) we don’t balance it out with throws over the top. You can’t keep throwing those short crossers, comeback, curls, etc. and not have the defense adjust and start squatting on those routes. We did that to Dak at the start and made him look bad. He started to beat us over the top in the 2nd half. We need that kind of threat as well. And 2) a ball control offense is great if you have receivers who can catch the ball. One dropped pass and we’re behind the chains and it upsets the rhythm of the offense. This is where we need a guy like Jason Avant. Dude was as slow as my grandmother but he ran precise routes and caught damn near everything. Or if not Avant, then we need a Welker/Edelman/Short-white-Cowboy-receiver-who’s-stupid-name-escapes-me.
Regardless, if we’re going to play this kind of short passing-ball control offense, we cannot have receivers with a serious case of the dropsies.
Agree 100%, was surprised how close Dallas was to the line of scrimmage in the second half – even if you toss on over the top and it’s incomplete it at least lets teams know you’re not afraid to go there.
Yeah but you do have to complete some of them though. And that’s where our personnel gets us into to trouble. We’re dropping far too many of them.
Actually, excuses were all people made for Bradford. Anyone who said anything about him had to accompany their comment with an excuse.
Yeah but those last 7 games though….
so average it was amazing
Actually thought Bradford had a long leash last year although WRs he was throwing to were worse when Cooper & Austin were this starting options.
Did he really say that??!
1a. OT
1b. WR
2. CB
3. RB
Before the season, I prepared myself mentally for the shitshow that was going to be this season with a rookie quarterback. And then, 3-0 happened. I let myself buy into the hype. Got excited even. And then we were reminded that this year was still going to be that shit show. My fault.
No way we beat Dallas. They’re going to demolish us. Then there we are, sitting on the lead at half time. Sitting on the lead at the end of the 3rd. And I let myself buy into the hype again. I just don’t learn.
This outcome is exactly what I would have expected preseason. Hell, it was encouraging even.
Nah team is good. #1 in Def DVOA by far halfway through the season? We have an offense that can sort of ball control it’s way to wins. Problem is that offense is too conservative, trying not to lose instead of trying to win. Think couple of games have gotten into Carson’s head – haven’t seen that gunslinger mentality that was the plus side of him over Sammy Dolla$, need that guy back – and need that guy to give some confidence to his WRs.
Bingo. And the short-arming you saw from wentz is all on Doug – Wentz knew the lateral passes were going nowhere, and yet he couldn’t change the game plan on his own. Doug is fucking up, and he is gonna write his own ticket out of here.
He could have stopped throwing them behind receivers guaranteeing a loss of yards.
Cause fuck Dallas and I like overreacting to bad losses:
Your Picks:
Round 2 Pick 1 (CLE): John Ross, WR, Washington (B+)
Round 2 Pick 26: DeMarcus Walker, DE, Florida State (B+)
Round 3 Pick 1 (CLE): Dorian Johnson, OG, Pittsburgh (A-)
Round 3 Pick 26: Nick Chubb, RB, Georgia (A+)
Round 4 Pick 26: Ryan Switzer, WR, North Carolina (A)
Round 5 Pick 26: Chidobe Awuzie, CB, Colorado (B)
Round 6 Pick 25: James Conner, RB, Pittsburgh (A-)
Round 7 Pick 26: Amba Etta-Tawo, WR, Syracuse (A+)
Ross: cause deep threat
Walker: possible replacement for Connor Barwin should he not be on the team next year.
Dorian Johnson: cause OL has 0 depth and we don’t know if Seumalo will pan out
Chubb: cNext year, Mathews = gone, Sproles might be ineffective, Barner has had limited touches but I’m not a huge believer in him
Switzer: matchup nightmare in the slot. I know we have JMatt (who has underwhelmed) but Switzer is in that Edelman type mold of receiver who can get YAC. Add in the fact that Doug doesn’t call deep shots, this could be a good fit. Plus he can catch and go vertical.
Awuzie: not gonna lie, haven’t watched too much of him. I do know Colorado’s defense is much improved and the secondary is a big reason why. 28 PBUs in career and has decent size.
James Conner: Love his story, toughness, and feet for a big RB. Not ideal to pick 3 RBs in two years but really good player.
Amba Etta-Tawo: cool name, good deep threat
Worth pointing out: the Eagles have played a really tough schedule. Only two teams with losing records, the others are all in playoff contention. At least three of them are considered legit Super Bowl contenders and we beat two of them. Doesn’t get much easier from here, but it’s not like they’re losing to bad teams.
that’s what made the DET and WAS games so hurtful. Need to pick up the easy ones.
Skins wasn’t an ‘easy game’ especially since it was on the road. Skins whipped them too.
Good teams find ways to win games. (Also applies to well-coached teams). We tried not to lose and it happened as it frequently did with Andy. I lost faith in Doug after last night and his pressers. He lacks an ability to think critically and look at the big picture. He coaches scared. We have a talented team (with liabilities like every other team), but we lack decision making skills in the 4th quarter and it has been evident. We can only win blowouts and lose smaller leads because of this decision making. I’m sure I’m overreacting, but I’m enraged at how Doug justified his decisions and refused to admit several key mistakes on his part.
I’m really hoping he’s privately reevaluating his decisions, despite what he’s telling the media.
Dougs arrogance in the pressers is starting to become Chip-like. He’s more toned down but his inability to admit very clear mistakes shows a lack of accountability on his part. Obviously he doesn’t want to publicly admit he fucked up and hurt his job security, but everyone saw it.
And contrary to Tommy, I don’t think he was doing that great of a job thru three quarters. He just did a horrible job of game managing in the fourth. You trust your defense “so much” but you don’t trust them enough to try a FG (that was hit from even longer earlier in the game)??? Not to mention the 3rd and 8 call, or the Huff pass that was the longest pass from scrimmage. Im still disgusted today. It would be one thing if they outplayed us the entire game, but we pissed the game away with multiple chances to ice it. Quit being Mr. Nice Coach and do something!
Big time over reaction, imho.
Fran Duffy putting in his usual good work over on Twitter with some play break downs. He noted that Wentz’s ability to use his eyes to manipulate the defense took a step up this week. Wasn’t enough obviously, but he is progressing still.
https://twitter.com/fduffy3/status/793140413507010560
https://twitter.com/fduffy3/status/793148436627456000
BUT WHAT ABOUT HIS AIR YARDS
his air yards are despicable. Worse than Sam Bradford’s – who even last week was ridiculed for not going downfield. It’s especially bad since best thing about the kid was arm talent. But he’s a rookie so I gotta put that on the coach.
You clearly didnt get the joke…
I figured you were being sarcastic.
Gotta read Kempski too. He’ll tell you about air yards… But really you have to have receivers that can catch to throw it downfield… And these receivers can’t even catch some of the short stuff.
Our receivers are good at catching “jugs machine” passes. When the turn and face the QB, they do well, when they have to catch it on the run, not so much.
He does a lot of small things well, carrying out play fakes 100%, using his eyes — think it’s indicative of him being smart and detail oriented.
that last play was a better throw than anything Dak threw in the game. Dak will get all of the hype, and deserves it for being the QB that brought them back, but just dont see Dak with the strength to throw that last pass. Maybe he can, but not yet. He can sure as hell hit a standing by himself wide open Witten so hype train continue. (do love his mobility in the pocket though – just held my nose and surprised myself i wrote that)
just waiting for the trade winds to blow.
Balancing Emotions is the perfect topic for today”..
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While im extremely excited about our future and our chances of contending for a playoff spot this year, im not taking this loss so well. It’s a rough one to swallow. I have been avoiding all forms of sports media today and I’m completely out of the loop towards anything that has happened since that game ended. This freakin hurts about as much as any non playoff loss.
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There was so much to like from last nights Eagles, but not enough to overcome some big mistakes from playërs and coaches
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Once the shock and pain of losing that game starts to fade, I’ll probably be able to appreciate having a young good (but not great) team in place that can play with anyone even teams who are viewed as Bonafide playoff teams even tho We have some flaws that will need to be upgraded in the offseason if we are to take that next step and start knocking on the door of greatness
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We have so many important Longterm building blocks in place already, and a coaching staff THATS doing a nice job developing young players, and who’s Gameday coaching has been way more good than bad… I don’t care who your coach is, there are going to be down games that they would like to have back….. Hopefully this team can get over the loss and use it as a big learning experience
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THANK GOD for an opponent like the Giants to Quickily command our attention. We OWN the GIANTS, perfect opponent to excersize some dei abs and get the dallas Dissapointment off our chest.., I feel bad for Eli and that Giants OL, because schwartz will have this DL foaming at the mouth for revenge come Sunday…… Giants will have a hard time scoring 17pts on Sunday
reason to be excited (stretching it here) – the Cowboys have just about zero players on offense that they would need or want to upgrade reasonably (of course every team would want to upgrade to Brady, etc., but reasonably if you have Dez your GM does not spend too much time trying to get someone better than Dez). Maybe Free on the O-line could be upgraded. RB – more than solid. Receivers – zero need for upgrades. Williams – their 4th receiver maybe, would be our best receiver, an edge on Mathews. AND STILL we barely lost, and had a few things all go against us (decision making mostly) for them to lose, even with an offense with a ton of holes.
The eagles best player on offense is Sproles (Peters is doing great, just in awe still, but he is older, and Lane can’t keep from getting suspended) and I just love Sproles but he definitely can be upgraded on as the RB. Mathews would be a great number 3 receiver, OK number 2 option, and no way a 1st game changing type of Dez like option. DGB shows promise and should have the “receiver in training” number 4 receiver position wrapped up on a good team. Aggie is not showing he is worth even being a fifth option, let alone number 2. Huff is the same, great for special teams, but not at receiver. So every option at receiver needs an upgrade, every o-line position could be reasonably upgraded (Peters cus of age).
AND STILL the eagles were in command of the game in the fourth quarter against a brutal offense with great options from RB to their 4th receiver (Williams, if Witten is counted)
I’m still livid at the entire team for such a gutless and impotent choke job in that 4th quarter and OT.
I’m hopefully everybody learns from it, but I don’t care to see that level of lay down at the end of a game again any time soon.
next week is big
Yeah; 100% a gut check game.
Defense came up big on that last drive. OT drive on defense was terrible.
D came up SMALL on the game tying drive as well.
What hurt me the most last night is going into the second half, I thought our OL and SPROLES were ready to Trample and run all over the Cowboys in the second half.. To have a lead while SPROLES was also feeling it and causing the dallas run defense all kinds of problems, I really wish we would have been more run heavy in the second half
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In true west coast offense style, I liked how the Eagles opened the game using short passing game as a replacement for the run game, but in the second half dallas run defense seemed Ripe for the taking, and I wish we would have turned it up a notch and leaned more heavily on the run. I would have liked to see them even run more on 3rd down, just do it away from Sean Lee
can only call so many run plays at some point those run plays have to be used to set up the downfield pass game.
What plays down field did you see?
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Much rather stick with the run the way SPROLES was gashing them instead of throwing a swing pass to SPROLES with Sean Lee who was playing out of his mind matched up against him
Lee made a tackle in space vs Sproles but it was right after Sproles caught it.
Simply Kelce got being able to get out there and block due to what leg injury he had.
It was another low snap on that play too, which I think affected the timing… Also on Kelce…
Kelce botched the snap b/c he had to run 5 yards to catch sean lee, while on that bad leg. Bad play to call when your center is barely mobile.
I’m saying dp needed to change it up and take a downfield shot, even if it missed have to try to keep people honest. Only so many screen variations you can run at a certain point they’ll start getting blown up.
I can’t speak on that, I haven’t seen any all 22 film to have any idea what was going on down field, how much seperation the WRs were or weren’t getting.
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Carson Wentz is allagedly a gunslinger who likes going deep by Nature, without knowing what happened down field, I have to assume that there weren’t many good opportunities to take down field…. Maybe once the media starts breaking down the All 22 I will feel differently, but I have no clue what was happening down field at this point
Have to have confidence in receivers to go downfield.
Well yeah sure, but I try not to speak on things I havent even seen.
I understand. I think part of the game plan was to keep things short to protect the oline. And in turn protect Wentz. But at some point i think you have to open it up, go downfield and see what happens.
The big picture at the moment is that WE MAY HAVE A HC PROBLEM… This game IS in fact all on Doug, and the playcalling and game mgmt over the 4 games – 3 of which were losses – has been questionable at best. Doug is taking the ball out of the best players hands (Wentz), and his offense and situational awareness is Reid-esque. He is officially on the clock, as far as I’m concerned.
Don’t think it’s like that. I actually think Wentz is playing very conservatively. DP said he called a bunch of downfield plays that Wentz checked out of. Wentz has totally stopped running, and while we don’t need him to be cam, when WRs are covered he should make a move instead of waiting. Needs to get the Brett Farve back in him and give the recievers confidence by trusting them to make plays.
Interesting theory. I need to do more reading before I can further comment…
i watched DPs Pc and Wentz’s PC they both said the same thing. Doug said it’s gotta be touchdown then checkdown mentality. But looked in the game like mostly a checkdown mentality.
I believe you, but I have looked and have seen nothing in print to back that up. I’m sure Wentz checked down a few times, so I’m happy to give him part of the blame. But Doug made too many bad calls to even list here; the game is on him, no question. If you don’t see it that way, you’re on an island…
i am still waiting for a long, like 20 yards, run from Wentz. I dont want to see zone reads, just no need to put him in that kind of danger. But after 7 games, there had to have been at least one time that there was open space in front of him, room to run for 20+ yards. Even Cousins had a 20 something touchdown run. Wentz can run, he even has moves, from his college days at least, it is a dimension of his game we have seen little of.
And I am not talking of running for your life in a crowd of defenders – he had one or two of these good type of runs, one really nice cut that made a defender miss. Instead I want to see running 20 yards in open space and having a CB there to push you out of bounds or give a stiff arm to.
I won’t have Doug’s employment here “on the clock” for a long while. Probably not until year 4. There were some stupid decisions last night for sure, but I expect him to learn better as he goes.
Year 4?
Yeah, at the end of his 4th year is when I’d want to determine if he’d be worth re-signing to a new deal so he doesn’t go into year 5 as a lame duck. I’m not one for changing head coaches that often. I’m more into complaining and criticizing them into better coaching.
I agree you have to give a coach time… It took 3 years for Kelly to show his true colors. You could argue that 2 years were enough but after doing things his way in the 3rd year, the wheels came off. But changing coaches quickly is the fastest way to never winning the SB.
I was going to make myself be ok with Kelly year 4 until the stuff came out about not holding any players accountable for poor play / mistakes. And when Lurie saw that the org was torn asunder due to Kelly, I was fine with the firing.
Yeah and in hindsight he set them back a good bit. To me it’s amazing that the defense is as good as it is after switching to 4-3.
I guess if said HC shows signs of growth and a willingness to take direction from above, then fine, give him time. But that has not been our experience with head coaches here for oh, say the last 20 years or so.
It’s definitely strike one. He has been bad for 5 weeks now, and last night’s head coaching performance was note worthy. If you’re owner / GM, it’s in the back of your mind… how can it not be?
I don’t think I’d be that hands on as the GM or owner for a while.
Nah.
Deep
I’m bummed the Eagles lost given the circumstances of the game but there is too much overkill on Pederson’s play-calling.
It does bring up the larger issue though of having him with the play calling responsibilities as well as being the head coach. Rarity in the NFL and for good reason. I’d reason see Reich be given responsibility full-time to lighten Pederson’s game day responsibilities next season.
Tough road ahead but they just need a split over the next 4 to keep themselves in strong playoff contention. Each of them are winnable games even if the matchup in Seattle is a likely ‘L.’
Is it rare? I thought it was common for the offensive minded HCs to call plays. Maybe just because ours always do.
reading fran Duffy’s twitter it’s like “bubble screen, bubble screen, bubble screen, bubble screen.”
It did remind me a bit of when Reid would get ‘screen crazy’ at times and keep running it despite it not working in the 1st half.
its alright when your screens go to westbrook
Biggest issue to me right now by far is the state of the OL. Peters and Brooks are banged up, Kelce might not be able to go next week, and their already down 2 OL now.
If Kelce is out, it gets pretty close to ‘fling shit against wall, see what fits’ mode.
Kelce, Brooks, Peters, Vaitai played 100% of snaps last night and are all expected to practice Wednesday. barbie is probably the only one who will be out this week
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Wis did a pretty solid job in spot duty, Vaitai was not perfect by any means, but much more good than bad and is holding up admirably for the most part the last two weeks. Nice to see him have a solid game on the road…
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The OL played well enough to win last night… I came out of that game feeling better about the OL, not worse… Sounds like complaining just to complain, think there are bigger fish to fry, And areas that need to be better next week against the Giants… But that’s just me I guess
I’d like to see a Seumalo LG – Wis C grouping to go with Peters, Brooks, Big V.
I think if Seumalo gets a few weeks to start, Kelce won’t regain the starting job.
From your lips to God’s ears.
Maybe it’s time to bring on the future
I am not sure the shit-flinging approach will work, there have been a lot of people losing theirs.
Im demoralized, but to put things in perspective, at least we didn’t spend a second round pick on a kicker that already missed 7 FGs this week and we aren’t even at the halfway point of the season… Holy hell is that Bucs kicker a disaster. I don’t even know how he has the balls to walk around that practice facility this week…. Speaking of which, Much props to Caleb Sturgis who has drastically out performing my expectations of who he was when he became our kicker. Kids having a real nice season, hopefully it continues the second half of the season…
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Gotta continue to give props to Josh Huff, Marcus Smith, and I think Beau Allen deserves to be added to that list of young role players getting better each week.. Win or lose, Marcus and Huff have been pretty damn good in their modest roles. Think they have both earned the right to increase their snap counts by 5 in the Giants game on Sunday. Both marcus and Huff have been really nice Special team contributors, but they have also done some Nice things on offense and defense. MS2 has improved so much against the run, and managed a snap against a great OL that was having one of its better pass blocking games even tho he Only got 15 snaps… Like to see that number increase to at least 20 against the Giants in what I expect to be a dominating Sack Fest leading to a convincing Eagles win, and ODB blowing and making a fool out of himself like he typically does when they lose
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LOL @ Bill Bellichick putting young players and their agents in check,,, Jamie Collins and his rep were allegedly asking for VON Miller money which is Absurd, so Bellicheat made an example of them sending him to Football Hell aka The Browns,,.. Real nice player, but the Browns are crazy for giving up a 3rd round pick for a LB who’s contract is expiring and is allagedly asking For 100 million… Kind of confusing trade for a team that has been on its NFL version of Moneyball approach.
I’m only into perspective when we play teams that are better and/or not hated rivals. I’ll catch up with you after the Atlanta game.
It’s said to be a cond. 4th round pick in 2018. Which doesn’t make even more sense.
Makes my skin crawl that a tie for washington is basically like they won this week compared to us losing,..
..
I hope we have an insane number of Ties this year forcing the NFl to get rid of this ridiculous rule… Washington didn’t win a game yesterday, but they sure won compared to our loss in our competition for the #2 spot in the division and hopefully a wild card spot if we fail to catch Dallas.. The Cowboys can look at the skins as Losers yesterday, but Washngton won as far as we are concerned..
..
We just played a draining hard fought battle and fell short, while washington is rewarded more than us even tho they didn’t win a game yesterday,… That Tie better not cost us a playoff spot this year..
Our tie vs the Bengals got us into the play offs, didn’t it?
yea, had we lost, we wouldnt have made it, but a win was just as good
Pederson began Wentz’s career in the preseason with a two minute drill before halftime. Wow, i thought at the time, Pederson is not holding back, throw the rookie into the fire. I liked that. First two or three games, Wentz was lauded as not looking like a rookie partly because of the trust Pederson showed in him, having him throw all over the field. Wasnt that Mathews touchdown in Wentz’s first series, a long end zone pass? I miss that Wentz and I miss that ballsy Pederson. In the press conference today, Pederson said the Chiefs won 9 games in a row without throwing the ball long. That is the Pederson i was afraid we were getting, the Pederson that was the OC on a team that took forever to get a WR touchdown. Ugh.
I hate to think we have another coach that accepts what the defense is giving them, instead of trying to dictate to the opposing defense. (maybe this is because of the lack of good receivers). The Cowboys dictated to the Eagles to throw short passes all game long, so that is what we got. I suppose this is who Pederson is, and i guess the first 2 or 3 games the opposing defenses did not dictate short passes, so Wentz got to pass all over the field. I would suggest to Pederson to expect defenses to continue to allow us, encourage us, to throw screen, screen, screen, short slant, screen, etc.
It also seems like Wentz is “killing” more plays. I get the sense that the defense is playing with Wentz, they know the look they need to show Wentz in order for Wentz to “kill” a play. They bring a safety or CB up to the line of scrimmage to make it look like a blitz, knowing Wentz will “kill” the play, then the CB or safety goes back to their original place. Toying with Wentz, making the Eagles scrap a likely more complicated, perhaps down the field play, for a Sproles off tackle run away from the fake blitzing player. I know all teams do this, but maybe as Wentz evolves, he will be able to not just “kill” a play, but call a new play from a few options at the line.
The good thing about yesterday is that coach is still in his like 15th or so game calling plays in the nfl and in his 7th year in coaching or (maybe im wrong on the numbers). The other good thing is that I don’t think he has a big enough ego to react like chip and for ex call 30 fckn swing pass in a row when they dont work, i think(hope) some of his egolessness will help him see the situation as it is and make the proper adjustments and grow as a play caller. Because there are some things I really like about his play calling especially sticking to the run and keeping the defense off balance in some key situations.
If we don’t make a trade today I will lose my shit
Prepare shit to be misplaced…
I lost my shit 4 times already today.
I did that with my virginity once. Good day.
Hopefully they lose dragholor somewhere
I hope you find it in time
We should get rid of Matthews and get Henry…. Yes I know won’t happen but it should and we should trade for Pryor
The only guys I wouldn’t trade on offense would be Wentz, Peters, maybe Sproles and Lane if he can get his shit together. Everyone else is on sale for the right price.
The offense isn’t that bad. Most teams don’t have players as good as ours. We went 10-6 two years in a row with a worse squad
I’m pretty sure most teams do have offensive weapons better than we do. We overrate our players way too much.
Think our talent is firmly middle of the pack. We don’t have a “guy” be we also don’t force the ball to players – personally I think that’s a good thing, especially if you have a smart QB w/ a good arm.
I don’t think so. I’m not going to inflate our offense based on their potential right now. If they don’t reach it then they’ll stay in the lower 20s where they belong.
I agree, but our lack of a core strength like vertical passing or running for consistent yardage/first downs limits play-calling options and gives defenses too much confidence. Our interior line blocking is often lame, and this makes it harder than it should be for our receivers to find space and for our QB to have the time to find them.
Agree.
And with more film for DCs, as the season progresses, it’s gonna get harder and harder for Wentz.
‘Cause it sure isn’t getting easier.
Yeah hopefully he doesn’t get a reputation for being a statue that always throws short of the sticks.
Re: Who’s the Future?
Someone in the thread wrote:
“We have so many important Longterm [sic] building blocks in place already”
_______________
Before considering the Eagles, I looked at Dallas’s roster.
1. 4 of their starting O-linemen, which includes 3 Pro Bowlers, are 25 or younger (TSmith, LCollins, Frederick, Martin)
2. Their RB is 21 and already either the best or 2nd best in the NFL
3. WRs are 27, 27, 28 — and both outside receivers have deep speed.
4. A pretty good S at age 23 in Byron Jones.
5. DE DeMarcus Lawrence, 24
6. Prescott? Behind that O-line, with Elliott and Bryant, he’s more than okay. And’ll probably be their QB the next 10 years.
That’s 11 players — 5 of whom are premium players.
(OT TSmith, OG Zack Martin, C Frederick, RB Elliot, WR Bryant)
____________________
So who are the Eagles’ “many” building blocks? I count 5.
1. Wentz (makes every Eagles game a celebration, as Bill Walton would say)
2. Lane Johnson (as long as he’s not suspended again)
3. Jordan Matthews (good #2 receiver)
3. Cox
4. Hicks
5. McLeod
Any others?
Ertz? Hasn’t been close to the same player since his Week-1 injury.
If he returns to Week-1 form, I’d put him on the list.
Brandon Graham? Already 28 (like the Curry). Hard to call him a “Longterm [sic]” building block — unless the future is over in 2 years. [Very few DEs produce after age 30, says Joe Banner.]
Brandon Brooks? Already 27. Seems okay. A Pro Bowler? Hasn’t been in his career so far. But he’s not a disaster. Does that make him an “important Longterm [sic] building block”?
Vaitai? Smallwood? Huff? DGB? Agholor? Seumalo? Dillon Gordon?
Benny Logan? 1-dimensional DT who may be gone after this season.
Bradham? On a 2-year deal. He’ll be 29 after the deal expires.
Jalen Mills? (Sure, Mills hasn’t allowed a TD yet, but only because of some bad passes by Cousins and Prescott.)
Anyone else? Anyone who’s actually *produced* in their career?
__________________
I’m not seeing all of the so-called “important Longterm [sic] building blocks”.
But I’m open to conversion
Yeah, but the fact that wentz will be, in your words, a “premium player” makes everything else matter less. The advantage in qb play (and I think everybody thinks we have that) makes up for a lot of other things. I think we are a deep threat reciever and a corner or two away from contending, and even though the boys are a better team now(qb’s not included), I think that in 5 years, we will be the better team
Not arguing the Eagles won’t be good.
I’m just saying — right now — I don’t see “many important Longterm [sic] building blocks.”
Agreed, but once the QB is in place, we can build around him. For the boys to be successful, they will have to keep that support system around him, which will be hard when Dak gets a big money extension and they run zeke into the ground after 5 years. That will be less of an issue for the birds.
Why is that less of an issue for the birds? Wouldn’t the same extension logic apply? Adding the pieces later would seem to mean that Dallas has a head start.
Yeah, but because I believe that Dak needs a more extensive support system to succeed, the birds will be able to do more with less as long as wentz is at the helm
I get that. It seems like Carson has better tools than Dak, but I don’t think the difference is as big as we’re making it out to be. Or at lease it’s not as critical. And there are a lot of decisions that have to be made correctly over a long period of time to take advantage of that difference. Don’t get me wrong, I’m most upset because the Eagles could have and should have won yesterday. However, I would take the Cowboy’s offense over ours in a minute. Defense is a different story, but there’s a lot of (GM) work to maintain the high level of play there also. The sky is not falling, it’s just that at this moment Dallas’ future is a little brighter. Had the cowboys not won yesterday, I might see things differently, but then the world would also be a different place.
Think of it like this Dak put up better stats with Our team or Cowboys? How about wins? I think this is pretty much what it is. DaK has a better situation, Wentz is a better player
I absolutely agree. My point is that it doesn’t matter. Unless our situation is improved and/or dallas is worsened this what we get. The question is, what’s more probable? We find a probowl rb, wr and 3 probowl offensive linemen or dallas field a passable defense? With the way Howie’s been dealing, you never know. I just wonder if Wentz is great enough to overcome the shortcomings in the meantime.
Maybe, but not with our current interior line. No QB can thrive with average OL play. WR’s and CB’s are luxuries that cost $$$ and cannot be worth their cost if line play is not very good.
I Just assume that doug, like his mentor, will invest heavily in the OL, so I’m not worried as much about that as I am getting a half-decent recieving corps. Not looking foward to fredex 2.0
Add Alshaoun Jeffreyezzzz to the list. He’s only 26.
Great post. I think Benny Logan would have to be added to that list – if the Eagles resign him. Which is a big IF though given the amount of money already invested in our D line.
On offense there’s hope that Smallwood may develop into a pretty decent RB. However also those chances are relatively small.
I really need to think hard actually. Good post!
DGB could also be a lottery ticket…
He has looked better every week. Star potential if he applies himself, learns the playbook, and gets on the JUGS
If he’s in fact not already doing those things, the Eagles organization has to figure out how to get him to do them.
ugh
Dallas has drafted O-line better than us – but can’t tell me that a defense that #1DVOA doesn’t have building blocks.
27yo Terrance Williams (who?) and the other dude they have are “building blocks” but Brandon graham and curry aren’t?
Elite – Impact players that are arguably top 5 at their position
Cox
Mcleod
Hicks
Lane
Graham (for now)
Good – top 10 players at their position that can either regress or progress to the next tier
Peters
Wentz
Jenkins
Curry
Bradham
Sproles
Above-average – limited players that are typically good in one role
Logan
Matthews
Barwin
Ertz
Barbre
Brooks
Average – expendables but serviceable
Kelce
Celek
DGB
Mathews
Everyone else
the rest of the roster
Trash
Vaitai
Agholor
Huff
Logans an above average DT and Vatai is too soon to say trash
DGB could become a superstar … lets see what he does with a full training camp before we write him off.
I give up on Ags… i have no tolerance for players who don’t give effort. He has no place in Philly with his Stev Smit attitude/effort
No I’m pretty sure Vaitai is a fringe backup player. Doesn’t have the footwork or power to do anything. Awareness in space is non-existent. Just because he improved slightly after being just a blocking shed doesn’t mean he’ll amount to anything.
I like DGB but I’m not banking on him reaching his potential.
Im not banking on either working out just not writing a player off after what his 3rd start. Winston F’n justice became a serviceable starter for crying out loud. I hate how reactionary this fan base can be
Ags is the only player we have def seen enough of, imo
Vaitai makes King Dunlap and Winston Justice look like Pro Bowlers. I’ve seen plenty enough of him already. Get him out of here.
Did he play poorly last night? I didn’t notice him which usually is a good thing
He has played poorly since he was named the starter. He has no push or recovery. No name players just straight up making look like just a blocking shed. Nothing works going to his side. If Wentz wasn’t just checking down all game, it would have been just like the last 2 drives of the game.
Few points for perspective
These All star Lineman have to get paid at some point soon
Any WR not named Dez is a nobody (beasly is good in slot tho)
Bennie Logan is a play maker…. Period
Elliot beats women and then steals their belly shirts
Prescott is vastly over rated. He’s like an imitation Mcnabb
If Lawrence is a building black than so is Marcus Smith
Byron jones wouldn’t be starting on our team
One of these teams is run by Jerry Jones the other Howie…
Who do i have more faith in….. pretty easy
Not to mention they have all those things and still went to over time against us in a game we should have won
I would say Eric Rowe is a building block…for the New England Patriots.
If you count Graham at already 28, like Brooks at 27, then you have to put the Dallas receivers you named in that category too. You can’t say Mills hasn’t allowed TD passes because of bad this or that, there are a lot of bad this and that that you consider in game. Like if this happened, or that happened, or that or that, the Eagles win yesterday, and two weeks ago, and three weeks ago lol Overall good post though, thanks for concerning me for the long term.
I really think though, with good drafting and free agents we can fix this and even things out because we have the qb. Doug talks about a learning process for his players, but let’s remember, he’s going through a learning process too. I think we’ll get our share of divisions and hopefully more with Wentz going forward.
What happened on second and short? It seems to me there were at least five times that the Eagles got eight or nine yards on first down only to lose ground on second down.
bad offensive calls
Kelce
has anyone explained to Nelson that its the jugs MACHINE! it doesn’t take Ones, it doesn’t dance, it makes you better. at football catching
First LOL
Second:
This guy clearly doesnt understand Philly. We love heart and Toughness which he sorely lacks both. If he thinks we wouldn’t be upset about his redzone drop with a W, then he doesnt get it.
The jugs machine doesn’t work – Jordan Matthews
Youre saying that like you think theres a problem
He bought a jugs machine in the off season. He (and Huff) are typically fine catching passes while he is standing still facing the QB. Where they drop them is while they are in motion. Hence all the screens.
Heck. Jordan dropped like 3, DGB 1, Nelly 1, Sproles, and can’t remeber if Burton’s was broken up or dropped. Spread that blame butter over the whole slice of bread!
And what was chip thinking with that bass akwards screen pass on 3rd and 8? to essentially blow the game.
the up tempo worked great for Wentz on that one drive.
and now of course the defense has had to play an extra quarter already! they must be tired.
damnit Chip!
Chip coaches in San Francisco.
This team would be 8-0 if Wentz wouldn’t keep checking out of the totally great deep passes to our All-Word receivers!
We haven’t played 8 games yet, mate.
Sarcasm
Some people call this facts. Or maybe this is all rigged. Idk
It came from reading too many Anon posts.
Speaking of rigged, I finally found a way for the Eagles to win the Super Bowl. Don’t concede any games all the way to, and including, the Super Bowl.
Ha!
If you think the Eagles are the least talented offensive team, pleas turn on MNF.
Oh wow even the Bears offense is better than ours,,