Doug’s Message

Posted: October 17th, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 133 Comments »

I’ve shared this bit of coaching wisdom many times over the years, but it is appropriate for the Eagles current situation so here it comes again. John Madden said the time to be tough on players was after a win, not a loss. It was the coach’s job to keep the guys humble and focused. After a win, players could easily get complacent so they needed to be pushed. If you have the right kind of guys on your team (and I’m betting the Eagles do), they will be hard on themselves after a loss. They’ll pick apart their own play, wondering what they could have done differently. They hold themselves accountable. The coach then has to keep his guys confident by doing and saying the right things. There is no need to beat them down because they are doing that already and they will also catch hell from fans and the media.

“You guys suck.”

If Doug takes this approach, what will he say? Here’s my guess.

“You guys won 3 games, all by 14 or more points. You played good football. The two losses were filled with lots of self-inflicted wounds and dumb mistakes, but we were right there at the end in each game, just a play away from tying or winning it. Cut out the mistakes and this is a 5-0 team. You are beating yourselves. Stop doing that and you’ll beat the other team.”

“Yes, Lane Johnson is gone for the next 9 weeks. So what? We won without Leodis McKelvin. We won without Zach Ertz. We won with Ryan Mathews barely playing. We won those games because you played as a team. You raised your game to fill the void where the injured player should have been. We have enough talent in this room to win a lot of games, but we are only going to do that if we get back to playing as a team and playing smart football.”

“I believe in you. Believe in yourselves. Learn from the last 2 weeks and then let’s move on. I want us focused on the future. We can’t do anything about what just happened. We do control what happens next Sunday. That’s up to us. Let’s go to work and let’s get this thing right.”

Doug has his PC at noon. We’ll see what he says publicly and then I’m sure the players will give us a hint or two as to what his message was. I just don’t expect a gloom and doom message from him. That would make fans happy, because they see visible anger and rage as positives. That’s rarely an effective message. There are times when it is called for, but I don’t think this is the right time for this team. Certainly the coaches will be critical during film study, but I just don’t see the need for a fire and brimstone speech to this group.

If you listened to Carson Wentz after the game yesterday, he accepted the blame for a lot of the offense’s mistakes. He said that the pass to Ertz was too high and that is on him. Needs to get that ball lower to help his guy out. Clearly Ertz should have caught the ball, but you love the fact that the rookie QB is taking the blame. That’s the kind of ownership you see from a leader on a good team.

Buddy Ryan said he knew his Bears defense had gone from good to great when they took ownership of their mistakes. He didn’t have to ask who screwed up. The player spoke up and told the room what he did wrong. They held themselves accountable.

No matter what Doug says or what the players say, or what happens this week, the real test will be next Sunday. The team needs to get back to playing good football. Accountability is a good thing, but we need to see the right results, not just hearing the right words.

_


133 Comments on “Doug’s Message”

  1. 1 P_P_K said at 11:07 AM on October 17th, 2016:

    If the Eagles could beat the Steelers, then they can beat the Vikings this Sunday. Then they go on a tear and beat a bunch of those tough teams on the rest of their brutal schedule. Right? Please, right? Better be right, or close enough, because the alternative could be pretty awful.

  2. 2 ACViking said at 11:51 AM on October 17th, 2016:

    Steelers are a lousy road team and an excellent home team.

    Since opening day 2015 . . .

    4-6 road record (reg season)
    9-2 home record (reg season)

  3. 3 P_P_K said at 2:44 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Great stat, thanks. Let’s hope your fellow Vikings play lousy on the road.

  4. 4 Ark87 said at 7:48 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Factoring in recency, they had no problem demolishing a team while away when it was a division-winning Redskins. But going into the lowly Eagles’ or Dolphins’ house…they seemed to leave their heads in Pittsburgh. They seem to play down to their perceived opponent.

    But in general, it seems that great defenses travel better than great offenses, or at least in this case, it feels like the Vikings won’t be phased by traveling to Philly like the Steelers may have.

  5. 5 BobSmith77 said at 12:48 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Betters have jumped on the Vikings big time in the last 24 hours. Eagles opened as favorites in this game (-1.5) but the line has already moved to (+2.5).

    That’s a big swing especially considering the Eagles are at home. Eagles got no respect early on and the only way a line moves that much that quickly is if the pros/sharps put meaningful bets down. Pretty obvious that some pro betters have little respect right now for the Eagles.

  6. 6 Gian GEAGLE said at 3:37 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    The only undefeated team in the NFL coming off a bye week against a team on a two game losing streak that just set records for most penalized team over a two stretch…. Im shocked vegas ever had us as a favorite to begin with… That’s kind of fishy if you ask me, I take that as a good sign more than I take people betting the Vikings moving the line as a bad sign,,,, I guess I’d probably be much more surprised if people weren’t betting Big Money on the Vikings as an underdog….. But is that what vegas wanted? Fishy…..

  7. 7 Gian GEAGLE said at 1:40 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Very different type of challenge….

    Vikings scare me more because it’s harder and more important to deal with an opponent that dominates the line of scrimmage like the Vikings, than it is to deal with a team like the steelers who beat you with potent weapons.
    ..
    The battle at the line of scrimmage is most important, and the Vikings are exponentially a tougher challenge in that regard than what the steelers presented,,, why did we dominate the steelers? Because we kicked their ass up and down the trenches all game…. That will be so much harder to do against this vikings team

  8. 8 P_P_K said at 2:43 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    The Vikes are infinitely stronger at the line of scrimmage than the Skins. That can’t be a good thing.

  9. 9 Gian GEAGLE said at 3:32 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Less than ideal is probably an understatement.

    The stronger a team is in the trenches, the more I fear and respect them… I don’t care about weapons half as much as the media does when judging NFL teams

  10. 10 Dominik said at 12:24 PM on October 19th, 2016:

    You’re absolutely right, but: the Steelers have a very good OL. One of the best in the NFL (except for LT). Our DL ate their lunch in that game. That was a win in the trenches. Steelers Pass Rush sucks, so one could expect our OL would win that battle. Most OLs do. DL was the deciding factor.

    It COULD be kind of the same way against the Vikings. Very, very good Front Seven, but not a good OL. Our DL COULD dominate their OL.

    But to be honest (and that’s why we are rightfully the clear underdog at home): I think their Front Seven will dominante our OL far more than our DL (maybe, last 2 games weren’t good) dominates their OL.

    For us to win, Barbre has to be as good as in the first 3 games. Kelce and Brooks have to play their best game this season. The Vikings basically always threat to bring double A gap pressure with Barr and Kendricks on the LoS. Sometimes they do, sometimes they bail out. Our interior OL has to be physically and mentally ready for those mind games. Obviously, most OLs aren’t. The Vikings aren’t 5-0 because of their Offense…

    Big V will have problems all day against their DEs, but Douggy, Reich and Wentz have to gameplan against that. I think we can overcame this, if everything else works out our way.

  11. 11 Doug’s Message - said at 11:07 AM on October 17th, 2016:

    […] Tommy Lawlor I’ve shared this bit of coaching wisdom many times over the years, but it is appropriate for […]

  12. 12 Tumtum said at 11:26 AM on October 17th, 2016:

    Sick to my stomach today.. just sick. After the change in QBs, I really had no idea the direction the team would go. I just knew it would be a really fun experience to watch our QB grow. Did I even see him play yesterday? I can’t recall.

  13. 13 Chiptomylou said at 12:42 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    It was a complete team loss. They played terrible for a half last week and almost pulled it out except Mathews messed up that chance. This week was all team. The QB, the OL, the WRs, the defense. Only thing that showed up was ST who rarely ever get it wrong. I still believe this is a good team but expectations can finally be tempered. There is something here to build off but it’s just going to take time and patience.

  14. 14 Tumtum said at 11:31 AM on October 17th, 2016:

    Now to address the post.

    Of course DP has no need to tell his players they are horrible. They are going to see that in film. What he needs to do is figure out a way to stop the penalties. As horribly as we were outplayed yesterday, we were REALLY lucky too. Take half the penalties away (and it’s still too many) and we probably win.

    He can’t make the defense play in their gaps. He can’t make JM or NA or DGB catch the ball. He can make damn sure that we don’t encroach, false start, stupidly grab a face mask in frustration (has happened twice this year now). As the head coach he should be policing the hell out of that. The penalties not only reflect on the players but mostly on his ability as a head football coach. I hope he makes it his life mission to correct that issue.

    As much as we all love Fletch, driving the QB into the ground is ALWAYS going to get a flag. He was frustrated, and I don’t blame him. His coach needs to make sure he doesn’t hurt the team when he is frustrated.

  15. 15 MattE said at 1:08 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    i like that name for Agholor……. “N/A”

  16. 16 bdbd20 said at 11:39 AM on October 17th, 2016:

    During times like this, we do need to look at the positive. We have a stud QB. That makes corrections a lot easier. If we can get the OL stabilized, that will help the DL, and the defense as a whole. If we get points on either of our first two possessions yesterday, it’s a different game.

    It’s tough, but we have to let Doug learn his team and learn how to be a head coach.

    As fans, we tend to live week-to-week (often day-by-day). Our coaching staff is good, we just have to let them work.

  17. 17 P_P_K said at 2:41 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Having Wentz makes the future very bright. It will probably take a couple years of rebuilding, but we could have happy-ever-after-ending someday.

  18. 18 Sean Stott said at 12:14 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Not really sure any team has a d-line deep enough to handle the lopsided TOP we saw yesterday. The game got off script in a big way. I’m happy the two losses so far are away games, but time to get back on track.

  19. 19 GermanEagle said at 12:45 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    What hurts though is that both losses came in the NFC, which could be a deciding tiebreaker later in the year.

  20. 20 P_P_K said at 2:40 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Tiebreakers will only be relevant to playoff bound teams. Alas, I don’t think we need be concerned.

  21. 21 BlindChow said at 12:35 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Why did it seem like all our pass plays were these middle-to-deep, slow-developing routes that puts extra pressure on our OL to hold their blocks? It’s really reminiscent of Reid’s final year, when the OL was in shambles and he refused to adjust to a quicker passing game to make up for it…

    Quick passes is what we used in our first three games (the ones where we actually won). Did we move away from it, or am I just imagining things?

  22. 22 bill said at 12:53 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Couldn’t tell from the angles I saw yesterday, but I would assume that the D just sat on the short routes, knowing that their pass rush would destroy any chance of the deeper passes. We’ll know more as the week goes on.

  23. 23 ChoTime said at 2:51 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    It’s to be expected, since Wentz had so much success with short passes. Take away what the other team does well. Shake their hand if they beat you anyway.

  24. 24 The original AG said at 9:39 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    They played man most of the game I believe. Announcers said they changed their defense to play man because they felt the WRs were the weakest unit on the team.

  25. 25 Tumtum said at 2:58 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    There were short throws in there to the TEs and a couple WRs. We were almost exclusively playing behind the sticks. We never had a chance to get into the play book.

  26. 26 BobSmith77 said at 12:45 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    It was pretty nondescript Tommy. The media wants to obviously harp on Vaitai and the penalties. The only thing of real substance was the injury update and Pederson making it pretty clear Vaitai will start next week at RT too.

  27. 27 Tumtum said at 2:56 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    That sucks….

  28. 28 Gary Barnes said at 12:50 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    I think it is pretty clear that opposing offenses know how to attack the defensive scheme and talent holes.

    DET used the slant and screen games and attacked the edges to gash us hard in the first half. Any QB with some experience and a quick release (like Stafford) should be able to negate our pass rush the same way and take advantage of our mediocre LB and CB.

    WSH expanded on the effective run game DET used that takes advantage of the gaps/edges and punishes our LB and forces our S to make hard choices about moving up to support the LB or stay back and help out the CB.

    We got absolutely shredded on the ground, giving up 220+ yards. Schwartz needs to figure out answers because the talent he has got is likely what it is for the season.

    Offensively, again it is the OL, the engine of an offense that failed. Sure, Wentz missed some throws, the WR/TE had some drops, the RB missed some holes etc., but all of those issues derive from a OL being dominated at the line of scrimmage. We knew the depth was a problem coming into the season, but the Eagles have known for over a month that Johnson likely would be suspended. Big V is clearly not ready so they need a better plan.

    Playing with a lead is a luxury for a defense and scoring early does not always happen for an offense. If everything goes well, this team can be effective. Reality is, as we’ve seen, is other teams are better and not everything goes to script. MN and DAL are better than WSH IMO, Pederson needs to get things fixed quick.

  29. 29 DJH said at 12:59 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Re Schwartz. One assumes with his experience and past success that he can diagnose the issue and fix it.

    Jimmy K posted a list that pretty much showed Schwartz’ defenses always have a lot of penalties. So that may not be the issue here. (Although you want to minimize them of course.)

    My biggest concern is whether Schwartz is basically a scheme guy (like Chip). Will he run the same scheme even if he doesn’t have the LBs and DBs to execute it the way it has to be executed?

    In my humble opinion a good coach adjusts scheme to talent.

  30. 30 Gary Barnes said at 1:20 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Agreed – we’ll see.

  31. 31 MattE said at 1:07 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    the counters and misdirection runs seem to be an issue.

  32. 32 Gary Barnes said at 1:18 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Yes, the DL rushes the QB without concern for gaps leaving the LB to fill them. That is what he scheme calls for – it makes sense for the opposition to take advantage of that since it negates our rush and allows them to exploit our mediocre LB.

  33. 33 Gian GEAGLE said at 1:45 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Going into the season, I thought washington would be the team we have to compete with to win the division… dallas is better than expected, but I think I still respect the skins as a tougher challenge,,,, our DL tends to get jacked up to face the Cowboys OL, and that is the key to beating Dallas

  34. 34 Gian GEAGLE said at 2:18 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Teams know how to attack a 3-4, teams know how to attack a tampa 2, teams know how to defend a west coast offense, teams knew how to attack a jim Johnson defense….. Doesn’t mean they can always stop it..
    ..
    Most schemes are recycled. Your not going to pull something out of your ass that a defensive Coordinator or offensive coordinator HASNT seen yet, and bill bellchick ain’t walking thru those Novacare doors any time soon to run chameleon schemes that change drastically from one week to the next, and even if we had Bellichek, he probably wouldnt be implementing that extreme level of variety in his first year coaching a new team..
    ..
    You can out execute an opponent even if they know what’s coming

  35. 35 Tumtum said at 2:55 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Good post. I think you give far to much credit to the offense against our D though. Missing tackles where you get two hands on someone and abandoning assignments doesn’t mean the opposition is good, it just means you are garbage.

  36. 36 Ark87 said at 7:37 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Washington had us beat in the trenches, when you draw up your scheme you don’t do it with Fletcher Cox getting planted on his butt, but that happened a few times this game, sort of foreign to watch our guys get pushed around like they did in Washington. I know the Vikings have had some issues with their O-line (they were a total disaster in pass-pro to start the year), hopefully our boys up front can get it back together against them.

    Now our O-line vs their Defense, hoo boy…

  37. 37 BobSmith77 said at 12:52 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Funny to hear ESPN this morning talking up the Pats vs Steelers matchup next week only to disclose that Roethlisberger isn’t going to play.

  38. 38 Gian GEAGLE said at 1:00 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Yesterday was disgusting, but one game doesn’t have to define us unless we łet it…. An NFL season is about navigating thru the inevitable highs and lows(both come with challenges), and overcoming adversity no matter what form it takes (injuries, suspensions, mistakes)… Even when we were on top of the world at 3-0, most would have admitted that facing some adversity was inevitable.
    ..
    With that said, yesterday was about as painful as it gets,,, as an eagle die hard, for me nothing is more difficult than seeing our defense give me flashbacks of the Chip kelly/billy Davis Eagles defense consistently failing to get off the field on 3rd down, THATS the hardest failure for me to endure so it was painful day day for me.. Hopefully the fear of facing an elite team like the vikings that can Embarress you at how if we don’t Bring IT is enough to get our heads out of our asses and get back to playing Discaplined football, cleaning up the penalties..
    ..
    If we were to give the coaches truth Syrum, I assume they would admit that in a one game season, Wisnewski would have given us a better chance to win yesterday than Vaitai.. But I think the coaches viewed dealing with the Kids initial struggles as a long term investment that they hope will pay off over the course of Lanes 10 game suspension… Im sure they thought Big V could do a solid job, but you can bet they knew it wasn’t going to be perfect and that they would have to put up with some struggles, in hope that he would improve with each week and prove to be a better option over the totality of the 10 games. Hopefully investing in Vaitais development by playing him yesterday will pay off as he gets more and more comfortable with each game that passes. More than his individual performamce, his growth from one week to the next in the starting lineup is what’s most important, and if he isn’t showing significant improvement from one game to the next, they will have to consider moving Barbie to RT, but it’s too soon for that now that now…. Don’t want to be flip flopping on decisions because of how a rookie looked in his first game
    ..
    Drives me insane to see our defense not be able to hit Cousins, and get our asses dominated at the line of scrimmage while they run the ball down our throat… Losing Bennie Logan turned into a disaster against the run

  39. 39 Gian GEAGLE said at 1:06 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    As bad as yesterday was, Marcus Smith earned some love with some BIGTIME play before he left the game with an injury
    ..
    MS2 threw a key block that helped lead to the smallwood KR TD, and Marcus also generated the key pressure that forced Cousins to throw a stupid pass that Jenkins Intercepted and returned for a Td.
    .
    Those two plays might be a bigger contribution than the rest of his eagle career combined… Hopefully it was a spark that leads to bigger consistent contributions from MS2

  40. 40 Gian GEAGLE said at 2:37 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Another of Eagles fans favorite whipping boys, Josh Huff also deserves some props. Like how he battled yesterday, with some gritty special teams play
    ..
    Bradham was on fire to start the game, he was making plays all over the place in the first few drives, but looked to get warn down like the rest of the front 7.

  41. 41 RobNE said at 2:41 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    he also pushed the kicker in the back as Smallwood was about to score. That was dumb.

  42. 42 MattE said at 1:06 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    ugh. Penalties are in the forefront of my mind, what is it like 30+ in the last 2 games?

  43. 43 Corry said at 2:09 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    27. 14 against the Lions, 13 against the Skins.

  44. 44 Gary Barnes said at 1:13 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    I think the other angle reflected, as one example, by playing Big V at RT is one folks do not want to probably consider, but with new coaches, a rookie QB, new schemes etc.still may be relevant in the Eagles’ eyes.

    This is still a rebuilding season even after the surprise 3-0 start. The Eagles are fine playing young players like Wentz, Big V, Mills etc. this season so they gain experience and the coaches can evaluate. The record and playoff hopes may not be the top priorities for the Eagles.

    Most of us knew this is an unfinished and largely mediocre roster. We got caught up in the quick start and got stars in our eyes a bit. I know I did. Unfortunately, the division looks much stronger than last season and the toughness of our schedule is bearing out as feared.

  45. 45 Sean Stott said at 1:27 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Completely disagree. No roster is perfect, and this is absolutely a top 10 roster or even better, not mediocre. The top priority is still playoffs. I don’t see any teams out there other than maybe the Patriots or Vikings who are in a class above the Eagles.

  46. 46 Gary Barnes said at 1:56 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Love the confidence, but disagree the real priorities are so clear cut or that our roster is top 10. Trading Bradford days before the season started was a huge rebuilding move

    On defense, we have one elite player in their prime (Cox) and on offense we have really 0 (Peters and Sproles used to be, but are on the back 9 of their careers).

    The roster has very little quality depth across the board. The QB is a rookie. Our RB, CB, LB and OL personnel is an odd mish mash of aging vets, mid-career guys who’ve never done much and young inexperienced players learning the craft. The WR are a young growing group.

    Our DL is the best asset, our ST as a unit are quite good and otherwise TE and S are pretty good. I’d still like to see a Graham or Curry step up and be more consistent. Barwin looks cooked to me.

  47. 47 meteorologist said at 9:39 AM on October 18th, 2016:

    Our safeties are elite talent in their prime

  48. 48 Blackfoot said at 5:14 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    like the confidence, just don’t have the same glasses as you I guess.

  49. 49 bdbd20 said at 1:47 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    There’s a lot of truth here. Tough for fans to accept, but our depth is built on lower draft picks and low end free agents. The past few drafts have really set us back. LJ was the one draft pick who was a stud.

    The team will upgrade the OL, WR’s, CB’s and LB’s this off-season.

    It’s gonna be a rough few weeks, but we have to keep looking at the big picture, the development of Wentz and the other young players.

  50. 50 Gian GEAGLE said at 2:04 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Think depth is mostly a crock of shit… I can’t name one team in the NFC East who I would view as significantly better depth..
    ..
    Teams barely have a good player for every starting position, łet alone depth at every position across the board…. Maybe you can be deep at a position or two, but team Depth is a fairy tale for the most part
    ..
    And I damn sure don’t know of teams that have high draft picks on their bench at every position
    .
    Think its disengous to act like lack of depth is more of an issue than anyone else in our division… The trick is to be strong enough in the important areas to overcome inevitable lack of depth in other areas..
    .
    Our depth is no worse anyone else..
    ..
    Take our Linebackers for example, Tulloch and Najee Goode aren’t scaring anyone, but it’s Disengenous to pretend that teams have backups that out class them..
    .
    We have depth at DE
    ..
    Decent DT depth
    .
    We have depth at Guard
    .
    Wisnewski is probably one of the better back up centers in the league
    ..
    We have depth at RB
    .
    We have Depth at TE
    .
    We have a young Backup CB doing a decent job for the most part
    ..
    Jaylen watkins has done a decent job as a #3 safety in a limited role when called upon.
    ..
    Could we use more depth? Could we use better depth?…. Not any more or less than most teams..

  51. 51 Insomniac said at 2:18 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Can’t disagree here. It showed last year and it’s showing this year again. One injury to our starting OL made it pretty much impossible to protect our QB. We haven’t found a CB that is worth keeping for more than 2 years. WRs were gutted by Chip Kelly.

    QB is cemented
    RB needs to be addressed
    WR we pretty much only have 2 of them
    TE solid but needs to replace Celek soon
    OL one injury away from a heaping pile of shit

    DL very solid but needs to groom younger guys
    LB has to replace Kendricks and needs younger depth
    CB we have them?
    S probably our best position right now?

    I’m not sure how people think we have a top 10 roster but to each their own.

  52. 52 Gian GEAGLE said at 2:23 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    I actually think we have some decent OL depth.. The problem is offensive Tackle depth was our biggest problem, and that’s the area we need a backup to play at the moment
    ..
    I don’t think you can rip guard depth too much when you have Wis and Seumalo on the bench..
    ..
    And maybe a handful of teams have a more Capable backup center than Wisnewski
    .
    Think we are currently much better equiped to handle an injury to an interior lineman than offensive Tackle…. Hopefully Vaitai proves to make some big growth from one week to the next……but we certainly have to invest draft picks in offensive tackle come draft night

  53. 53 Gary Barnes said at 2:32 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    How does an OL unit have “decent depth” if one acknowledges the OT position, the most important to protecting a QB, is mediocre? Seems highly contradictory to me. Its like saying we have a “decent interior line”, but our C is weak. *scratches head*

    Roseman knew about the LJ suspension for over a month before it was official. No move was made to shore up the OT position. They fiddled around with internal options and then chose to go forward with Big V at RT. He and that strategy both got exposed vs WSH. If he starts again vs MN, I think the evidence for a rebuilding season grows.

  54. 54 Gian GEAGLE said at 3:26 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    We have solid depth at 2 of 3 OL positions,… You know how many teams can’t even say that? We have Rivals like the Giants who don’t even have starting Talent at all 3 positions,.
    ..
    Btw, you might at least want to wait more than one game before we decide what we even have in Vaitai….im sure the Eagles coaches expected some struggles for Vaitai yesterday, but chose to start him anyway in hopes that what he grows into after a couple weeks will be rewarding.
    ..
    Regardless of what anyone thought about Vaitai going into the game. We could have Probably all agreed that he would be expected to look better in his 4th game than he would in his first taste of rookie action… If we give the coaches truth Syrum, they would probably admit that in a one game season Wisnewski starting would have been the better option, but because this is a 10 game problem they felt it was worthwhile to deal with Vaitai’s early struggles in hopes that his growth will pay off as the better option over the course of lane’s 10 game suspensions… So while of course I would have liked to see Vaitai do much yesterday, it’s a little to soon to judge what we have and don’t have at OT… By now we should know how drastically things can change from one week to the next. the growth rate Big V displays the next few weeks will be so much more important than what we saw from him yesterday…. But it’s certainky possible that 5 weeks from now we will be lamenting the lack of OT Depth, but big picture, I don’t think our team depth is any worse than the average NFL team depth…
    ..
    I think most fanbases would not be content with their depth

  55. 55 Tumtum said at 2:47 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Giving Big V a chance was a great plan. I love letting young guys try. Just know when to admit failure. Sure it doesn’t mean his career is over, but this really was shades of Winston Justice.

  56. 56 teltschikfakeout88 said at 3:18 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    when you say shades of Winston Justice…I think it is a bit hyerpbole…Winston was left on an island and gave up like 7 sacks in that game…We left TE’s and used WR and RB’s to chip as well…Big V got help…just when he did go one on one…Kerrigan ripped him…two similar situations that were handled by the coaching staff in very different ways…Outside of benching him I don’t think we could do anything more for the guy…Players gotta play to get better…

  57. 57 Tumtum said at 5:59 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Yes. Bench him. Try to win a game. Put Lane in that spot… we might have one. Pretty big deal.

    Was I exaggerating for effect and because I am upset at the team? Sure. Not even close to hyperbole though. It was easily the worst single game by a OL on the Eagles since that game.

  58. 58 teltschikfakeout88 said at 3:08 PM on October 18th, 2016:

    Lane was suspended…how do you put him in…do you mean Wiz or do you mean Barbre?

  59. 59 Tumtum said at 8:50 PM on October 19th, 2016:

    I mean that changing out him alone could have been the difference in the w. Your fill ins arent supposed to win you the game but they can lose it.

  60. 60 meteorologist said at 8:42 AM on October 18th, 2016:

    So true!

  61. 61 Gian GEAGLE said at 1:29 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Very underrated factor that led to yesterday’s disaster:
    .
    With Means being inactive for the game, losing both Logan and MS2 to groin injuries yesterday, destroyed our DL depth and helped lead to our front 7 getting worn down and eventually trampled by the skins run game, think this is an under rated aspect that contributed to us looking so bad yesterday

    It’s almost impossible to play this style of defense built around generating pass rush with 4 defensive lineman if we only have 3 defensive ends, and 3 defensive tackles available during a game. And things will really get ugly when the defense struggles to get off the field completing wearing us down with our lack of available bodies on the DL
    ..
    The way that game was going, we needed our DL rotation more than ever. It was like the worst possible situation to only have 6 DL available, and they made us pay for it…. When our DL struggles, it exposes our CB flaws

    Painful, ugly, disgusting sunday afternoon….hopefully they take advantage of facing the last undefeated team in the NFL and use them as a springboard to get momentum back on our side but this is a scary match up….. Facing the Vikings and @Seattle are like the worst possible games to not have Lane available

  62. 62 TXEaglesFan said at 2:06 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Agreed on the injuries and depth, but they sort of made their own bed by not getting off the field in the 2nd quarter. The return TDs helped on the scoreboard but they must have felt like last year having to go right back out.

    They did ok the first two drives, then on the third drive fell apart after that long pass to DJax.

  63. 63 Gian GEAGLE said at 2:12 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Yeah the 3rd down defense was beyond frustrating,,, it was like the billy Davis defense all over again: solid work on first and second down, only to blow it with some dumb penalty or poor execution on 3rd down..
    ..
    Failure to get off the field, with depleted DL depth is the perfect storm to make it a long day for us… The deal at cornerback is that our DL provides enough pressure to help corners like Leodis, Nolan, and Mills hold up long enough to be successful. When we can’t create pressure, we all know that our Cornerback Wharts will be exposed…
    ..
    All things considered, kind of amazing that we were even in this game late in the 4th quarter
    ..
    Not a lot to be excited about yesterday, but at least this team is showing some tougness, continuing to fight and not mailing it in when things go bad…

  64. 64 Tumtum said at 2:46 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    I think they had dropped 21 on us by the time Logan was hurt.

  65. 65 peteike said at 3:12 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    ya, Schwartz doesnt seem to like blitzing much. He wants the front 4 to get pressure, and when they dont it puts a lot pressure on the rest of the D. At that point, they start dictating

  66. 66 Tumtum said at 6:03 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    That is the scheme though. I think it is pretty clear the Steelers are a far better offense than the Skins, and it shined vs them. I was just pointing out that losing Benny didn’t weigh all that heavily.

    It was just a bad day. While I think it is very valid to be scared by the corners and even the LBers, that front 4 will be fine. I have no doubt in my mind they will show far better vs a far better O-line next week.

  67. 67 John Galt said at 5:35 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    I’m not sure you can underrate Stephen Means being out of the lineup because he literally doesn’t matter at all. You can underrate something that doesn’t even rate. Stephen Means would have made exactly 0 difference.

  68. 68 Gian GEAGLE said at 1:34 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Is it just me or as ODB totally become the most unlikeable Jackass in the NFL?

    He is a corny, unlikable, version of Chad Johnson
    .
    What’s crazy is Chip and his Draconian ways loved Beckham. Would have been interesting to see how Chip could reconcile banishing talent like Desean and Shady while loving a complete jackass like ODB had we been able to draft him, chip claimed he was his #1 rated player in the draft.
    .
    IT would have been interesting to see Chip clash with ODB’s ridiculous behavior

  69. 69 Julescat said at 1:55 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Kelly was due some payback from McCoy

  70. 70 Gary Barnes said at 2:18 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    I’d take ODB on our team in a nanosecond. He and Wentz would be very good together.

  71. 71 Gian GEAGLE said at 2:28 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Of course… I’ll take that level of talent above all else(especially if he isn’t committing crimes)… Doesn’t mean he isn’t an insufferable jackass when he plays for another team. Hopefully he never stops hurting his team with stupid costly penalties and Undiscaplined behavior….
    ..

  72. 72 GermanEagle said at 5:06 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    And here was me hoping that Vernon Davis penalty would have lost the game for the Redskins. It almost did.

  73. 73 GermanEagle said at 1:57 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Great to know that the Eagles became the first team with a winning record Kirk Cousins has ever beaten. Good job, Eagles!

  74. 74 bdbd20 said at 2:31 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    They beat Baltimore last week.

  75. 75 GermanEagle said at 4:23 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    The Ravens don’t have a winning record anymore. However the Eagles might suffer the same fiasco soon. 🙁

  76. 76 John Galt said at 5:33 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    But they did when he beat them – that was the stat.

  77. 77 GermanEagle said at 2:01 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    …meanwhile…Joe Thomas is on the trading block…

  78. 78 Nick C said at 2:05 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    would love to see something done, but how many years does he have left at 31 and would it be worth what he costs? I don’t see them giving him away for a 4th. Also would Peters get on board with kicking into Guard when LJ comes back? A lot of moving parts, and some teams out there with Tackle injuries that should be willing to pay more.

  79. 79 GermanEagle said at 2:05 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Totally agree with your points. Though I’d be willing to part ways with a 3rd rounder.

  80. 80 Nick C said at 2:07 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    A 3rd rounder for 9 games? Seems steep for me. We have so many depth needs on this team. OL (at least 1 maybe 2), CB (2), LB, WR, and even DL depth need to be addressed this offseason.

  81. 81 GermanEagle said at 2:10 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Wait. Is he gonna be a free agent next year!

  82. 82 Nick C said at 2:24 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    No but where do we put everyone? Guess we could cut JP but he has looked OK to me this year (I didn’t think he could make it through a game at the beginning of the year). We will be paying Lane to be our LT. We also have to look at his salary next year. 10M. We are going to need a center as well. I have given up on Kelce unless he has two Pro Bowlers next to him. And we do not have that luxury.

  83. 83 GermanEagle said at 5:05 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Cannot disagree with you right there n

  84. 84 Tumtum said at 2:44 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    I think anyone in the league would give that up. I think he nets a 1.

  85. 85 Gian GEAGLE said at 2:13 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Mychal Kendricks for Joe Thomas….. You can’t ask for a fairer trade than that 😉

  86. 86 Nick C said at 2:19 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    That I am on board with!!! lol

  87. 87 GermanEagle said at 5:04 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    I swear I saw both working at Trade Fair last Sunday.

  88. 88 Nick C said at 2:27 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    I’d like to pick a part of Doug Pederson’s press conference that I really did not like (Disclaimer: I have liked his moves and the way he has handled the team this far)– He stated that he never thought about taking HPV out and was concerned what message that would send to the team. It is great being a player’s coach and not trashing the guy publicly, but I hope he truly doesn’t feel that way. Guys have to be held accountable for their performance. You are not the player’s best friend. You are their coach. Don’t be scared to make a move and hold a player accountable.

  89. 89 The original AG said at 8:55 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    HPV played better in the 2nd half. He wasn’t totally prepared for the speed of the game. Most of his issues I think are technical and can be cleaned up.

  90. 90 Gian GEAGLE said at 2:34 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    If schwartz leaves us for a HC job in the next year or two, chances are Todd Bowles will be fired and looking for a job around that time..
    ..
    I always felt like Bowles would be back with the Eagles at some point in the future..
    ..
    I do hope to see what Schwartz can do given 2-3 years to build this defense.

    Do we have any assistance on our defensive staff who have a chance to work their way up to defensive coordinator job a few years down the road whether it’s here or with someone else?

  91. 91 RobNE said at 2:44 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    we are short on CB’s. What would we have to give the Pats for Rowe, who they put on AJ Green yesterday.

  92. 92 Insomniac said at 3:10 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Didn’t they only put him in for the 2nd half?

  93. 93 DJH said at 3:07 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    In the first three games, if I recall correctly, the Eagles held opponent to 0 or 3 points on opening drives and then scored 7 on ensuing possession.

    That did not happen in the following two games. The defense couldn’t get a stop and the offense couldn’t get a score (at least not on the first or second drive).

    On the one hand you could say those are independent phenomena, but on the other one could argue it’s a feedback loop. If the other team gets a big lead, that changes how they play on offense. They are playing with a lead and can be multidimensional. As opposed to focusing on passing to catch up.

    On the other hand, the offense is behind and it is forced to play catch up.

    Sure, I’m probably overthinking things haha. However, If we can manage to hold the Viking to 0-3 points in their first 2 drives and the offense can muster 7-10 points on their first 2 drives, the entire rest of the game may unfold differently than if we get down 10-0 early.

    Just a thought.

  94. 94 daveH said at 7:52 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Very good angle . Nice nfl csi.
    Ncely used haha as well meow.

  95. 95 Gian GEAGLE said at 3:09 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    For as tôugh as our remaining schedule is, we are really fortunate that some of our upcoming opponents look like significantly more manageable than they did when the schedule was released:
    Packers: Aaron Rodgers is not playing like an elite QB, their pass defense struggles, and the OL is having some trouble with Bulaga being banged up after cutting all pro Guard Sitton before the start of the season. Facing the packers in Philly ISNT as scary as we thought it be..
    .
    The Ravens are a mess, I kind of feel bad for their fans because nothing Is worse than being so decimated by injuries this early in what they expected to be a promising season. Their best playërs are dropping like flies..
    .
    The Begals DONT look like the same regular season juggernaut we are accustomed to seeing. The OL ISNT what it used to be.
    ..
    That’s the good news. The bad news is our other 3 opponents look like very tough games: Home Against the Vikings, home against the Falcons, at Seattle… Hopefully we can at least go 3-3 outside the division. If we can do that, we will control our own destiny because the rest of the schedule is all division games… Of course we love this game because it’s so unpredictable, so Chances are we win a game or two that we are supposed to lose, and lose a few games that we are supposed to win, but at least on paper, winning the division still looks as manageable as it does for all our rivals

  96. 96 Nick C said at 3:33 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    A-Rod will look like his usual Hall-of-Fame self when he plays us.

  97. 97 Gian GEAGLE said at 3:46 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Not if his OL doesn’t get it together… If he thought it was tough facing the Cowboys DL in Lambeau, I like our chances at home.
    .
    Think it’s under rated How much Wentz has energized the home crowd creating what may be the best home field advantage we have had in some time.. The last thing you want to deal with is OL trouble on the road against a team with a big Homefield advantage… If our OL plays the way it did yesterday when we go to Seattle, we will get slaughtered
    .
    Their defense is also suspect so we could have a shot at beating them in a shootout at the LINC. If we are going to beat A-Rod, this looks like as good a time as any

  98. 98 Nick C said at 4:07 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    We are over a month from playing them. So much can change

  99. 99 Blackfoot said at 4:47 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    you mean we can get good?

  100. 100 daveH said at 7:50 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    And some previously unknown RB or WR will have their career game vs us

  101. 101 Sb2bowl said at 12:00 PM on October 18th, 2016:

    I still have nightmares because of James Starks

  102. 102 daveH said at 8:09 PM on October 18th, 2016:

    That Titans WR…

  103. 103 GermanEagle said at 4:33 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Stat of the day:

    Eagles are 0-2 since their bye…

  104. 104 Nailed It! said at 4:44 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    0 SUPERBOWLS!

    Just in case everyone forgot this stat….

  105. 105 GermanEagle said at 4:56 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Nailed it !

  106. 106 daveH said at 7:48 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Championship in 1961 !!

  107. 107 Tom33 said at 6:40 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Maybe Doug is just trying to prove he is his own man. He won’t copy everything Andy did.

  108. 108 GermanEagle said at 4:40 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    No 4 and 6 are embarrassing:

    http://www.barstoolsports.com/philadelphia/eagles-replacement-rt-halapoulivaati-big-v-vaitaivaitai-was-emasculated-to-the-core-vs-the-redskins/

  109. 109 Tom33 said at 6:41 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    It looks like he should have been credited with 1/2 a sack in the first one.

  110. 110 Blackfoot said at 4:47 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Lane blew it, then Doug blew it, not long after, Schwartz blew it, but Ertz really blew it, then Doug again taking the ball out of Wentz’s hands and then punting, but the refs blew it too, and man we commit a lot of bad penalties….how many ways can you blow it in one game? thank god they don’t give us 2 losses for that game.

  111. 111 ChoTime said at 4:50 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    I blew it, too. Sorry, team.

  112. 112 Blackfoot said at 4:57 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    on to Minnesota

  113. 113 Tumtum said at 5:56 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Not the refs fault we commit penalties. Most of them were extremely clear.

  114. 114 Blackfoot said at 6:12 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    yeah but last week they were not.
    and this week there were a couple questionable, but definitely we made them this week.

  115. 115 Julescat said at 5:18 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    how many teams will the eagles face who are coming off their bye weeks?

  116. 116 GermanEagle said at 5:24 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    32.

  117. 117 Blackfoot said at 5:41 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    facing the eagles’ o-line is almost a bye week itself

  118. 118 Media Mike said at 6:03 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    How many times are we facing teams coming off of their game vs. the Giants?

  119. 119 GermanEagle said at 7:07 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    That’s awesome:

    https://t.co/2w6HPXdl1s

    Let’s hope the D will get the nod for player introductions on Sunday.

  120. 120 Dave said at 7:25 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Kelce and Peters are really hurting the offense. No surprise our CBs are really hurting the defense.

    https://twitter.com/RoobCSN/status/788076773745446912

  121. 121 Dave said at 7:26 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    More…

    https://twitter.com/RoobCSN/status/788076933573545985

  122. 122 daveH said at 7:45 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    But Refs are part of the NFL Big Bad Brother Coporate Conglomerate Conspiracy in progress..yes the BBBCCC. Yes like NBA and Pro Baseball the corporate FIX is happening. so part of this is inescapable

  123. 123 Mitchell said at 7:59 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    I think some of the delay of game on Wentz are probably because of Kelce as well, he just seemed outmatched on a consistent basis.

  124. 124 levdog said at 8:04 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Can we have an asterisk next to the Sproles penalty? Sproles puts the guy flat on his back , does his job and gets 15 yards. I am still upset!

  125. 125 Mitchell said at 7:58 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Under Chip it was penalties and turnovers that killed many many drives. Under Pederson the turnovers have stopped but penalties remain an issue.

  126. 126 RTP210 said at 8:07 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    I’ve seen a lot of headlines saying Wentz looked like a rookie, but did he really? Sure, he had a couple of inaccurate throws early but I thought he was great for the most part (considering all the chaos around him w/ penalties, pressure, and dropped passes).

    Wentz is the second highest graded QB on PFF. He’s behind only Brady. He and Brady are the only QB’s with 90+ grades and the third best QB is Luck at just under a grade of 87. Say what you will about PFF’s grading, but it at least tries to be better than metrics that don’t account for poor help around a player and only consider the outcomes of plays (QBR and QB Rating).

  127. 127 Rellihcs said at 8:20 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Held onto the ball too long, especially late. Missed some open receivers. Missed seeing others. You could make the argument that he got rattled by being sacked so much… but to all of that – it took THIS FAR in his ROOKIE year when he WASN’T EXPECTED TO PLAY to look like a rookie.

    Mmmmm Mmm bi…

    I’m looking at this whole thing long-term. Weeks like this one – not fun at all. But arrow points up with a likely franchise QB phenom on a rookie deal. We NEED to get a very good OL. Some other pieces obviously (CB,LB, RB, WR…) but OL first and foremost.

  128. 128 anon said at 8:24 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    what makes me sad is that dallas has two ROY contenders.

    Bad OL play is always going to make a rookie look like a rookie. He didn’t have Ryan Kerrigan’s running at him in college.

  129. 129 Dave said at 8:31 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    But he did have Vinny, Brandon, and Barwin during training camp.

    Dak hasnt had a pass rush in his face like Wentz yet. Give it time, he’ll get hit and rattled. It happens to everyone.

    Zeke doesn’t worry me. He runs hard is bound to have a career similar to Ryan Mathews…always injured.

  130. 130 Insomniac said at 10:18 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    God I hope the DL shows up against the Cowgirls..that’s the only game I’m looking forward to.

  131. 131 The original AG said at 8:50 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    I agree about OL. The Redskins and Cowboys have spent at least two high draft picks on their OL and it is what helps their offenses. We have a #4 in LJ who isn’t playing. Peters is slowing down and isn’t as dominant as he used to be. Kelce’s only consistency is that he isn’t consistently good. Maybe HPV is the future, but he’s still raw and there’s going to be growing pains there.

    WR is a very close 2nd. We have the worst unit in the league.
    – Matthews our best WR only comes out of the slot
    – Agholor is what he is. He plays small and he can’t beat 1-on-1 coverage
    – DGB is horrible at route running.
    – Huff. Well they seem to only be able to get him the ball behind the LOS or a couple yards out.

    We have to find a stud somehow, but we also need OL.

  132. 132 Rellihcs said at 8:24 PM on October 17th, 2016:

    Tommy – so with Dave’s post below in mind – With so many vets getting penalties at this rate – how much can you attribute that to adjusting to the new system(s) or is it more coaching?

  133. 133 Iggles Blitz » Blog Archive » Wise Coach said at 8:07 AM on October 24th, 2016:

    […] Last week I wrote about his message to the team after the ugly loss to the Skins. I said Pederson would keep things positive and sure enough that’s exactly what he did. Pederson learned from Andy Reid, who studied Bill Walsh. Ranting and raving to appease fans or the media just wasn’t going to happen. There was a time and place for that, but it had to be the right situation. […]