Know Your Enemy – DET

Posted: October 6th, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 137 Comments »

The Eagles head to Detroit to take on the 1-3 Lions on Sunday. Sometimes a record can be deceiving due to injuries or circumstances. This isn’t one of those cases. Watch the tape and you see a 1-3 team.

That isn’t to say the Lions are completely without talent, but they just aren’t a good team. They needed a last second FG to beat the Colts in the opener. Detroit lost to the lowly Titans and Bears and were blown out by the Packers. Not good. Beyond that, the Lions have been highly erratic in games. They blew a 21-3 lead in the Colts game. They blew a 15-3 lead in the Titans loss. The Packers stormed out to a 31-3 lead before letting the Lions back in it.

Last year the Lions started off 1-7 and then went 6-2 down the stretch. Maybe this team will do something like that. For now, I’m not seeing it.

OFFENSE

The Lions can move the football. They are 10th in the league in yards and 13th in points. QB Matt Stafford has been outstanding at times. He’s thrown 7 TDs on the year and has a rating of 93.9. Stafford has an explosive arm. He can put the ball anywhere on the field. He’s more athletic than people think. He has 8 runs for 64 yards this year. He can also run to by time. That puts pressure on DBs to hold their coverage. Check out the ridiculous play below.

That play also shows his issue. Great throw, but forced a ball into coverage and took a big chance. It worked that time, but he will throw some INTs.

Stafford a couple of terrific weapons in RB Theo Riddick and WR Marvin Jones. Riddick doesn’t have good stats (3.1 YPR), but he is very talented. He is an elusive runner that can make plays when he’s in space. He’s also a gifted receiver. Riddick has 20 catches and a TD in the air so far this year. He was 5-62-1 against the Eagles last year and gave Mychal Kendricks some headaches.

Jones is off to a great start with his new team. He is 23-482-2 on the year. That is 21 yards a reception. Wow. Jones runs good routes, but is also athletic. He has good hands and will make some tough catches. He doesn’t have to be open to be open. Jones is 2nd in the NFL in receiving yards and is tied for the league lead in catches of 20 or more yards. He is a major threat.

Anquan Boldin, Golden Tate and Andre Roberts are the rest of the key receivers. Feels really weird to write about the Lions and not focus on stopping Calvin Johnson.

Detroit has invested in their O-line in the last few years.

I see mixed things from the group. Stafford has been sacked 10 times this year. That’s not all on them, but they are a big part of that. This group is better when they run block. Warford is massive and has a real nasty streak. Swanson moves well for a C. Decker is huge and shows really good potential as a pass blocker. I’ve seen power rushes get the best of their OL several times. This could develop into a good OL, but they aren’t there yet.

DEFENSE

DE Ziggy Ansah and LB Deandre Levy are the Lions two best defenders and they’ll both miss the team (as will talented TE Eric Ebron).

The Lions once had a great DL, but that group has eroded over time. DE Kerry Hyder has 5 sacks, but doesn’t jump out at you when you watch the Lions defense. He is 6-2, 280 and is a relentless effort rusher. He’s just not explosive or dynamic from what I’ve seen. DE Devin Taylor has great length and 1.5 sacks. Veteran Haloti Ngata anchors the middle. This group hasn’t impressed me at all. Watch the Bears game and you’ll see Brian Hoyer with plenty of time to throw on a regular basis.

The key LB is Tahir Whitehead. Gifted athlete. Can run around and make plays all over the field. Unfortunately he’s playing MLB now and is awkward there so far. That’s a spot where you need to be able to read things and take on blockers. He’s always been more of a space LB to me, a guy who you want running to the ball. He does lead the team in tackles, but hasn’t made any plays (sacks, INTs, FFs, FRs). He was more of a playmaker at OLB.

The secondary is a mess. Opposing QBs have a rating of 120.2 so far this year. That’s insane. The Eagles defense had their own coverage issues last year and were at 92.8. The Lions were down at 100.9 then so the secondary has been a problem for a while now.

The biggest thing that stands out to me is that guys are wide open way too often. The DBs (and sometimes LBs) look confused on who to cover. The Lions have given up 12 TD passes so far. The Eagles haven’t allowed any. Crazy, just crazy.

Overall, the Lions are 20th in points allowed and 25th in yards allowed.

STs

I wasn’t impressed with the Lions kick coverage last week, but their overall numbers are fine.

Andre Roberts has an 85-yard PR for a TD. Came at the end of the game last week when 10 guys were on the LOS and he didn’t have any blockers near him. That’s pretty impressive.

P Sam Martin is having a great year. Of course that’s what you’d expect from someone who went to Appalachian State.

COACHING / MISC

Head coach Jim Caldwell is hard to get a read on. There are times when he looks awful. He will make some strange game management decisions to say the least. There are other times when his laid back style seems to bring out the best in his players.

OC Jim Bob Cooter has the best name in the league. Joking aside, he’s done really good things with Matt Stafford.

DC Teryl Austin has a terrific reputation and has been under consideration for HC jobs in the past, but his defense is struggling right now.

_

137 Comments on “Know Your Enemy – DET”

  1. 1 Know Your Enemy – DET - said at 11:28 PM on October 6th, 2016:

    […] Tommy Lawlor The Eagles head to Detroit to take on the 1-3 Lions on Sunday. Sometimes a record can be deceiving […]

  2. 2 holeplug said at 11:55 PM on October 6th, 2016:

    I’ve never been more wrong about a coach than I was about Chip Kelly

  3. 3 P_P_K said at 12:18 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    I was never more right about a coach than I was about Bill Davis because I absolutely hated the hire. On the other hand, I was never more wrong about a draft pick than I was about Carson Wentz. I whined and complained the Eagles were giving up too much on a small-school prospect. Guess I’ll call it even.

  4. 4 Sean Stott said at 12:55 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    The defense didn’t look half bad in 2014 and 2015 in the first half of the season. CK was wearing them out way too much.

  5. 5 Anders said at 1:55 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    and Davis was a not a 3-4 2 gap guy at heart. He was more of a 3-4 under guy like the defense you see in Denver now, but Kelly wanted the 3-4 2 gap.

  6. 6 Howie Littlefinger said at 4:36 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    My biggest complaint with Chip was that he didn’t just want to win. He wanted to win HIS way and his way only because he knows better than everyone else.

  7. 7 Anders said at 5:28 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    All coaches are like that, difference is Kelly pro claimed that we would move slowly towards a 3-4 2 gap and see where we landed, but 2 weeks later and we was already going 100% 2 gap.

    Had Kelly done what he had said, he had landed around the 3-4 under as base instead due to the players.

  8. 8 ChoTime said at 11:54 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    This is a good point. The guy lives, eats, and breathes football. He’s obviously a very intelligent coach. Just too damn stubborn for his own good.

  9. 9 P_P_K said at 12:38 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    I wonder to what extent he values constructive criticism? Seriously, a strong leader surrounds himself with others who are strong enough to critique and challenge.

  10. 10 ChoTime said at 1:11 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Not always… apparently George Bush wasn’t big on alternative opinions, nor is Trump.

  11. 11 P_P_K said at 1:28 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    I was opening a window in order to reply to you my opinion this is evidence neither of these two are strong leaders. My computer stalled and I got a blank screen with a “Fatal error” message.

  12. 12 ChoTime said at 1:41 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    That’s creepy as hell! 🙂

  13. 13 A_T_G said at 1:59 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Quick. look outside your window for invisible black helicopters. But don’t look as if you are looking out your window.

  14. 14 P_P_K said at 2:45 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    “It was A_T_G that put me up to it. He’s our leader. He’s got the secret codes.”

  15. 15 A_T_G said at 3:33 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    …this will be my last communication. phone already in blender, tablet in microwave. oven is warming for laptop following this message…smoke thick from burning license, birth certificate, etc.

    …i broke the code.

    …Wentz.

    …code says Wentz is answer.

    …SWARM! SWARM! SWARM!

  16. 16 P_P_K said at 4:55 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    We’ll tell the world your story.

  17. 17 A_T_G said at 5:16 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    I have no control – who lives, who dies, who tells my story.

  18. 18 P_P_K said at 5:34 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    These would make noble last words.
    Better than, “Hey, you guys, watch this…”

  19. 19 stephenstempo said at 2:02 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    or any existing politician?

  20. 20 Sean Stott said at 1:43 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    literally the opposite of BB. Doesn’t care how he wins, how scummy it looks, what kind of gimmicks he needs to pull out, etc. A win is a win.

  21. 21 Dominik said at 8:12 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    Pederson is coaching great so far and Kelly struggled last year (his Offense regressed over the 3 years, which is a bad sign). But Kelly knows Offense. He brought the best out of Foles and Sanchez and that’s not much talent. I think the offensive struggles for San Fran are more due to a lack of talent.

    His stubbornness when it comes to Defense is what killed him here and will kill him in San Fran. We can talk about tempo – it really helps our D that we play ball control on Offense. But it’s also scheme. Schwartz basically has pretty much the same players Chip had. Bradham, McLeod and McKelvin are the only new starters on D. McLeod and McKelvin are upgrades on Thurmond and Maxwell, but it’s not like there are world’s difference. The biggest difference imo is scheme. Schwartz is a great DC, who coaches up his guys and calls good plays, but the 43 attack is just worlds better for this Defense and this players than the 34 2 gap.

    Chip let Davis basically do whatever he wants on gameday. I have no idea why he HAD to implement the 34 2 gap on Defense. He acknowledges that he doesn’t understand much about Defense, but it HAS to be his scheme. That’s just stupid, no other way around it. Look at the players you have – what are their strenghts und weaknesses? Then hire a DC who coaches the scheme your players are best at.

    And to be honest, most of the Eagles fans were happy when the 43 came back. And I don’t think that was nostalgia, that’s looking at Cox, Curry and Graham and thinking: what do those guys do best? It’s not read and react, it’s attack. I don’t think many would have thought that the Defense would be as good as it is so far in this season, but all we couch coaches were pretty sure it will be better. Sometimes swarm intelligence works.

    I’d say: Chip is still the HC if he would have kept the 43. After watching the first three games with Pederson and Wentz and what Howie did this offseason, I would add: it’s a good thing for us it happened the way it happened.

  22. 22 Jbirdss said at 9:23 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    I think he said he preferred the 2 gap scheme because that’s what he believed was the best scheme to stop his offense. Which is pretty moronic.

  23. 23 Dominik said at 9:42 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    Yeah, that’s what he said. But like you said, that’s idiotic. Chip may very well believe his Offense is the best, but it doesn’t mean all the other teams will run it after his Rookie season in the NFL…

  24. 24 Ankerstjernen said at 1:38 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    I seem to remember special teams also being a part of it according to Kelly. With a 3-4 you carry more linebackers on your roster, which helps on special teams more than big dl. Kellys emphasis on st was at least part of the equation. Also, the man believed in possessions, remember. He wanted more possessions because his offense was more effective the more time they spent on the field. To that end he mentioned valueing a defense where the playmakers up front were more unpredictable and could also make plays in coverage. Hence, the desire to build towards linebacker.

  25. 25 Smoky said at 9:45 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    If you look at Chips offense with the Eagles it got worse every year. His up tempo spread schtick was a gimmick that surprised everybody and looked brilliant for a season, even though it put a ton of strain on the defense. Watch some Nick Foles highlights and you’ll see he’s throwing to wide open people. Then DCs figured it out and the offense became a liability, with 3 and outs that piled up and killed the defense. Chip couldn’t adapt to his personnel or the defenses he faced because he didn’t need to in college. It’s not what he did. Not only was he a bad head coach, Chip was a bad OC. Good riddance.

  26. 26 P_P_K said at 12:37 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    “Chip couldn’t adapt to his personnel or the defenses he faced because he didn’t need to in college.”
    Truth that.

  27. 27 A Roy said at 8:33 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Only 5 paragraphs? Looks like you’re finally over Chip.

  28. 28 Dominik said at 3:41 AM on October 8th, 2016:

    I think you’re mixing me up, mate. I never was a Chip apologist. My disqus picture is pure laziness on my part.

  29. 29 A Roy said at 5:24 AM on October 8th, 2016:

    Nah. I just meant you spent a lot of keystrokes on a guy who’s gone. Most of this thread was talking about the CK era. Didn’t even notice the avatar because it’s pretty small on the phone. Cheers.

  30. 30 Insomniac said at 7:24 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    Same.

  31. 31 ChoTime said at 11:52 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    There’s no way to know in advance about these things. If there were, we wouldn’t need 1000 media experts who can each point to being right a handful of times in their lives 🙂

  32. 32 P_P_K said at 12:36 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    I’m planning on deleting my old posts where I was wrong. This way I can brag I am always 100% right.

  33. 33 A_T_G said at 12:52 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Another strategy that can be successful is to post at such a prolific rate so that when your wrongness is revealed, even if it is a mere week later, the offending posts are so deeply buried beneath other soon-to-be-wrong posts that no one bothers to look for them.

    Rinse and repeat.

  34. 34 P_P_K said at 1:30 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    From now, whenever I’m wrong I’m just going to claim A_T_G posted in my name.

  35. 35 ChoTime said at 1:39 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Almost sounds like you’ve seen someone do that before.

  36. 36 ChoTime said at 1:56 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    In reply to self, there have been studies about how expert experts really are. In fields such as music, athletic skills, chess, an expert’s performance is greater than an amateur by far larger amounts than in any other human measurement*. For example, the chess masters who play 20 people while blindfolded at the same time and beat them all. Or the prodigy pianist who can execute hours of extremely complex music by memory, while the scrub who’s hacked at it for 20 years can’t manage a single Beethoven sonata.

    But there are also many fields where experts, despite their admittedly vast knowledge and experience, do not perform much or even any better than average people. For example, wine experts. And doctors get worse the further they are from medical school, not better!

    I think we see a lot of this in football. Peter King is hip deep in it, but his power rankings and analyses are worse than the average blog commentator, and no better than some chick who picks by uniform color or butts. And even people who are more intelligent than King and can back up their pronouncements with legitimate experience and analysis aren’t able to consistently pick games against the spread or draft well or pick the right coaches.

    Probably the problem is that football is too complex. Like making a movie, there are too many moving parts and too many things contingent on other things… so a good director can make a bad movie and a good coach can put together a bad team. It happens.

    And this is why I like to look at the numbers rather than rely on the opinion of even an ex-coach on the air, let alone a random blog reader who believes in the “eye test” or a meathead who used to play tight end or something.

  37. 37 Mac said at 4:26 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    An expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less.

  38. 38 A Roy said at 8:30 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    As if that’s the only time you’ve whined and complained. 🙂

  39. 39 P_P_K said at 10:47 AM on October 8th, 2016:

    Next time you’ve got 10-12 hours, let me know and I’ll give you my whole list of complaints.

  40. 40 BlindChow said at 12:57 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    Pacific Purl watching the 49ers game

    http://i.giphy.com/Bw7fyRylzteWk.gif

  41. 41 Dan in Philly said at 6:02 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    The league adopted his ideas much faster than he proved able to adjust to the league. After the first year, the only thing he was doing the rest of the league wasn’t was uptempo, which defenses were able to adapt to and turn into a weakness for Chip’s teams.

  42. 42 A_T_G said at 6:32 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    Me two. Kelly was certainly the most disappointing coach and second worst Chip in my life… https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/f3ac73705ec791b656ffafd3e1771e4aa1bded557eb631432a6c232614c87748.jpg

  43. 43 Mac said at 10:15 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    You need to get out more often if that’s the worst you’ve had. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/ce5daba3e714ac400799f665b5214578035591088a27e926d711a40f1e88fee9.jpg

  44. 44 A_T_G said at 10:26 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    No, I disagree. Crushed walnuts is a great Doritos flavor.

  45. 45 Bert's Bells said at 10:57 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    The guy in yellow agrees with you.

  46. 46 ChoTime said at 12:06 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    It appears to be seaweed flavor.

  47. 47 A_T_G said at 1:00 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    You read Japanese? Or are you going by the green Doritos in the corner?

  48. 48 ChoTime said at 1:11 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    No, my 20 credits in college are far beyond me. Actually, I’m not sure. I don’t see “Nori” anywhere.

  49. 49 A_T_G said at 3:28 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    That is impressive.

    For me, I am certain that if I first saw Japanese writing in a movie I would question why the film makers didn’t at least try to make up something realistic.

    It feels as if there is some long-running joke where over a billion people all pretend that these nonsense characters actually mean something and then laugh at the rest of us.

  50. 50 ChoTime said at 11:50 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    Only Japanese, man…
    https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/9f/0f/48/9f0f48a56887015f079e9de3ad8822d3.jpg

  51. 51 Tumtum said at 10:26 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    Had to google haggis. Sounds like scraple. I.e why arent those chips in my cabinet

  52. 52 A_T_G said at 10:30 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    I love new foods. I love traditional foods and the history with them. I watched this video on making haggis. I will never eat haggis, and I love and have made scrapple.

    https://youtu.be/k07zCHODCkY

  53. 53 Bert's Bells said at 10:56 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    The Scots (mostly) consider it a tourist food. Kind of like Pats and Genos but more touristy.

  54. 54 A_T_G said at 1:16 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Interesting. I can believe that. Local foods are fading. Some would same the same about our scrapple.

  55. 55 Mac said at 11:25 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    If you haven’t already, give Hog Maw a try.

  56. 56 A_T_G said at 12:59 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    The PA German version was an occasional meal in my house growing up. My distaste with the haggis wasn’t the stomach but the lungs and such that turn the product into an indistinct grey mush.

  57. 57 HawaiianEagle said at 1:36 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    While in the Navy, I spent 3 years in Thurso Scotland – way up North – and after perhaps one to many pints of heavy, I tried haggis…That was in 1989 and I’m still recovering.

  58. 58 Tumtum said at 10:23 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    I thought we jumped too soon. Becoming pretty clear he is out matched in the NFL.

  59. 59 Julescat said at 10:47 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    to be fair, he has no healthy talent at all on his team

  60. 60 P_P_K said at 11:01 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    Even if he did, he’d get rid of them.

  61. 61 Tumtum said at 1:48 PM on October 12th, 2016:

    I don’t know his players well enough to make that judgment. I just know that when I watch his teams play the QB looks terrible and everything else I personally notice is the same scheme based problems we had in Philly.

    His scheme is supposed to transcend players. Seems more like he is just garbagio at this point.

    That being said I hope he doesn’t get fired because I want him to keep running the hell out of Hyde while he is down 50. I need dem points!

  62. 62 ChoTime said at 11:49 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    Thing is, when he was hired some people already hated him and called him a fraud. I didn’t get that at the time and still don’t understand what they saw. But he is starting to look pretty bad…

  63. 63 Blackfoot said at 12:48 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    gabbert is who looked bad in that game and the others too

  64. 64 anon said at 1:41 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    yeah but kelly wanted gabbert. He had other options in the offseason.

  65. 65 Blackfoot said at 3:22 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    he looks ok at moments but then when they tried to do something he stinks.
    they need kap starting

  66. 66 anon said at 6:24 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    he looks ok doing anything other than throwing more than 10 yds down field.

  67. 67 stephenstempo said at 1:54 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    The problem is the people who called him a fraud were right, but almost universally for the wrong reasons. More of a lucky guess by those people.

  68. 68 Ark87 said at 1:06 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    I’ve have. Doug Pederson, so far anyway.

  69. 69 A_T_G said at 1:43 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Nearly this entire thread is in response to this comment, making it possibly the most discussion-provoking comment since, “Hey, what do you think of the new green?” by MyHandsKotiteAroundYourNeck on March 3, 1996 at 14:47.

  70. 70 Ark87 said at 7:41 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    We shall henceforth refer to the Eagles as a pile. This thing is gold
    https://m.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/568osx/nouns_for_groups_of_animals/

  71. 71 Bert's Bells said at 8:08 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    Convocation

  72. 72 Ark87 said at 8:23 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    Yes, as much as I wish “a 101.5 ‘the hammer’ of moths” was a thing, alas it is a satirical encyclopedia of nonsense via The Onion.

  73. 73 Rellihcs said at 10:28 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    Shame on you – it’s “Wentzforth”

  74. 74 A_T_G said at 12:53 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Last year’s team was certainly a pile.

  75. 75 eagleyankfan said at 9:48 AM on October 7th, 2016:

    Zach Ertz, TE — START: The Lions defense couldn’t locate a tight end with Google maps. Now that Ertz is back, get him in your lineup. (from nfl.com)

  76. 76 Gian GEAGLE said at 2:28 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    The only problem is Celek and Burton can also do some damage against this Banged up, average at best Lions defense that clearly lacks depth to begin with, And they will probably eat into a nice portion of The TE targets.. ERTZ is our best TE weapon, but Celek and Burton can also do some damage which is great for The Eagles, but less than ideal for Ertz’s fantasy owners
    .
    Anyone know If any of our media members took the time to analyze the tendencies of how the Lions have matched up defensively when teams have gone with 3 TE’s against them so far this season?

  77. 77 Nailed It! said at 1:53 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    OT: but I was just reading some Niner articles and all their fans are pretty much blaming the FO and not Chip for the awful start this year. I get it that the team is devoid of talent but come on. Chip is basically last in all major Offensive stats and they think he can grow into a great coach. Haha those poor Niner fans.

  78. 78 Gian GEAGLE said at 2:01 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Chip is fundamentally flawed!!
    ..
    Instead of focusing everything on Executing NFL plays and “out executing” his opponents, he prefers to try and use tempo as a Gimick to catch defenses making mistakes,,, what type of message does that send to your team?
    .,
    Obviously it’s great to catch a defense off balance and make them pay for mistakes, but at some point you have to be able to line up, no tricks. The defense knows what coming, yet we will kick your teeth in and execute better than you anyway…. And that thought DOESNT even seem to cross chips mind.
    ..
    Obviously it’s great to wear down a defense and see them huffing and puffing half way thru a drive, but using tempo full time is NOT the ONLY way to wear down your opponents,,, The Eagles tempo has been slow and methodical and we been wearing opponents down in the second half of each game, just look at how we are ranked 9th in rushing with the majority of our rushiñg success coming in the second half which shows some aspect of wearing down opponents
    .
    LaConfora “reported” that playërs are starting to chirp and make noise in that Niners locker room…. Honeymoon seems over

  79. 79 RogerPodacter said at 3:10 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    an offensive genius should be able to get decent results from below-average talent, right?
    seems like his offense is playing about on par with the talent – below average.
    i would think any coach could get average players to play average football!

  80. 80 RogerPodacter said at 3:08 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    maybe chip is just tanking it to get better draft position for next year? eh, i don’t know if he really plans that far ahead…

  81. 81 ChoTime said at 4:08 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    We’re from San Francisco and we fight!

  82. 82 Blackfoot said at 3:20 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    I watched that game, the issue is gabbert. he can’t make the throws.

  83. 83 Tdoteaglefan said at 3:59 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Yup Gabbert is TERRIBLE..guys were Wiiide open and he was missing them by a country mile…i counted at least two potential touchdowns that were missed because of terrible throws…and it wasnt even like he was pressured at the time ….he stood in the pocket stared the receivers down and just completely missed them…i was furious and i dont even care about the niners…..so imagine how the fans must’ve felt!

  84. 84 Blackfoot said at 4:08 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    it was really bad, wide open guys like you said.
    and if he had hit the torrey smith who was wide open against dallas that would heave been nice too

  85. 85 anon said at 4:58 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Surprised he dind’t call up nick foles.

  86. 86 Gian GEAGLE said at 4:02 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Kaepernick has never been known to be “accurate” either…

  87. 87 Blackfoot said at 5:38 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    couldn’t be worse

  88. 88 Media Mike said at 5:50 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Yeah, he is. And that’s saying a lot with Gabbert being that horrible.

  89. 89 anon said at 6:24 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    did Kaep get to a super bowl?

  90. 90 Media Mike said at 7:21 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    via a gimmick system which has since been figured out and a very strong D that kept giving the team great field position. Kaep is hot trash and his entire style of football needs to go into the dumpster.

  91. 91 ChoTime said at 7:28 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    I kind of thought he ripped several teams new ones and got to the Superbowl.

  92. 92 Blackfoot said at 6:44 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    couldn’t be true just no way

  93. 93 A_T_G said at 3:21 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    We all went through the same stages to reach acceptance, too.

  94. 94 Nailed It! said at 3:25 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Reminded me exactly of our threads last year when we started our losing streak.

  95. 95 A_T_G said at 1:56 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    I saw the Panthers cut CB Bene Benwikere after he was torched by Julio last week. They don’t seem to see that position as particularly valuable.

  96. 96 Gian GEAGLE said at 2:20 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Damn they cut him? Takes a lot of balls considering they lack talent at that position… Im surprised to hear that even if he hasn’t played well… You obviously believed in him enough to not pay Josh Norman even tho he said he would give them a hometown discount, If you believed in him enough to go into the season counting on him to start and replace a player of Normans caliber who had a big year last season, then I feel like you should believe in a young player like Benwikere enough to not cut him after 4 games,,
    ..
    That Panthers team better get it together fast, or they are at risk of possibly spiraling out of control and completely imploding which would be really bad considering how great that team was last year
    ..
    Sean McDermott did his best Billy Davis impersonation asking a struggling young corner to match up against Julio 1 on 1 with little to no help for a lot of that game.
    ,
    the Panthers OL ISNT smashing opponents in the run game.
    ..
    That “scary” DL is not generating the pressure that made them an elite defense last year
    ..
    “Cocky” Cam, and thinking he is superman who is impervious to feeling big hits, seems to have started to catch up to him in a negative way and that’s great for us, because you can bet that Reicht and Pederson are using the implosion of Cam Newton as a teaching poïnt to try and get thru to Wentz learning to protect himself.
    ..
    Cam played at an MVP level last year, and now he has become the perfect example to show Wentz the importance of protecting himself goes beyond getting injured and not being able to play

  97. 97 RogerPodacter said at 3:06 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    a deadspin user found some tweets giving more insight. i don’t know how to link to the user’s post, so here are the tweets.

    Benwikere told @josephperson that Falcons exposed his conditioning, using consecutive deep routes to get a step on him. Smart from Shanahan— Conor Orr (@ConorOrr) October 7, 2016

    Pretty genius by Kyle Shanahan if you think about it. Picked up on it, took out Julio, ran deep route with replacement, then put Julio back— Conor Orr (@ConorOrr) October 7, 2016

  98. 98 Gian GEAGLE said at 3:29 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Yeah that’s an interesting approach…but if im a Panthers fan, I’d be dissapointed to see them completely give up on a young player that Quickily, especially now when it’s not like you can find better talent on the street.
    ..
    You would think that they wouldn’t go from trusting in him being able to replace Josh Norman, to cutting him 5 weeks into the season. Why not Bench him first and give him a chance to prove he can earn another shot in practice for a few weeks before going so far as to cut him?
    ..
    I know the kids stock is in the toilet, but if he is healthy, I assume he won’t be out of football for too long considering there will be secondaries that get completely decimated by injuries. I’d think someone will give him a chance
    ..
    Not a good look for The Panthers GM and coaching staff

  99. 99 A_T_G said at 3:36 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    I guess that means give up on the guy. Conditioning is something you either have or you don’t. You can develop stamina through effort.

    Oh, wait…

  100. 100 Blackfoot said at 3:46 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    oh oh stamina! can we start talking trump now?

  101. 101 anon said at 4:56 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    would still have a job if he was conditioned by Coach Kelly. Kyle Shanny must not be a bad OC.

  102. 102 Gian GEAGLE said at 3:18 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    On Paper, we win this game. But if games would play out the way it always looks on paper, this sport would be no where near as great as it is.
    .
    I think most Detroit fans would have no trouble admitting that we are the better team. Unfortunately we are going on the road to face a desperate team so we would be fools to take our foot off the gas and not take this match up as serious as possible. And after how they Embarressed us and completely wrecked our season, ruining our thanksgiving holiday last year, shame on this team if they don’t take the field, as a well prepared, focused team, jacked up to rip this Lions teams heart out and take them to the woodshed for 60 minutes.
    ..
    The Lions ruined the season for the 2015 Eagles, and now we have an opportunity to go into their house, in Front of their fans, and Wreck their season dropping them in a 1-4 hole that will be almost impossible to climb their way out of in a division with the Vikings and Packers.
    .
    Not only do we get possibly ruin their season, even better is the opportunity we have to improve to 4-0 during a week where all 3 of our rivals are underdogs expected to lose. We can use the Lions as a platform to create some more seperation from the Rest of our Rivals who are all at risk of losing this week..
    …
    Historically, as a fanbase, when times are “Too Good”, we have been conditioned to be pessimistic and expect “The Other shoe to drop”… But for some reason, I can’t help feeling that we have the right Ingrediants in place to put an end to that type of conditioned Pessamism. We aren’t going 16-0, we will lose games this year, that is certain no matter how great everything looks but I feel as tho I no longer have to automatically expect “the other shoe to drop” just because we have had so much success.
    ..
    As Great as This season has been, I have a feeling that the coaches have this team focused, and just as hungry as they have been going into each of our 3 wins, if not more Hungry now that we tasted success and put ourselves in position to be a Very strong contender in our division. This group doesmt make me feel like we have to suffer a łet down just because we have enjoyed so much success, they make me feel like they will continue to work, grow and build on this amazing start.
    ..
    I 100% belíeve that what we have seen is REAL, and while defenses will surely catch up to our tendencies, we are young enough in age, and young enough playing for these coaches in the new schemes they brought to the Eagles, so the hope is that once teams catch up to what we did the first 4 games, we will have grown and evolved staying ahead of our opponents
    ,,
    Its obvious that the kid is growing and improving with each week that passes and If that trend continues it will be much more difficult for defenses to catch up to the tendencies of a kid who is consistently growing/Evolving. And while im sure that the more games we play, the more opponents will learn about the tendencies of our coaches. Like we saw the NFL Blatantly catch up to the “genius” of chip kelly, eventually opponents will also have a book on Doug Pederson the head coach, fortunately that problem won’t apply to this season because we know that Pedersons playbook has a ton of stuff we haven’t even shown yet. His playbook should be big enough to stay ahead of defensive Coordinators This year, but past this season, that is an aspect To keep an eye on, because it will play a huge role in how Great of a HC Pederson grows into ..
    ..
    But when it comes to this year, we have yoûng, developing players being coached up who are showing some new growth each week, and we have Pages of plays that we haven’t shown the rest of the League, so for at least this one season, this should be a huge advantage that helps us stay ahead of most of the pack throughout this season. Hopefully we use that to our advantage and make the most of it this year because It’s an advantage that we won’t enjoy every season. Eventually there will be a “Book” on Doug Pederson the HC…

  103. 103 A_T_G said at 3:49 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Vikings might be putting OT on IR
    http://www.profootballrumors.com/2016/10/vikings-to-place-andre-smith-on-ir

    You think we can pawn Lane off onto them for the first in ’18 and ’19? Icksna on the uspentionsa.

  104. 104 Media Mike said at 5:20 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Andre Smith is such a turd. I can’t believe they signed him over playing Clemmings or signing Schwartz.

  105. 105 Nailed It! said at 3:57 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    https://twitter.com/RoobCSN/status/784481939994533888

    And around and around they go!

  106. 106 Bert's Bells said at 4:06 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Someone made the good point that by shuffling PS players, the Eagles can keep them around by essentially splitting the salary between two players (Shepherd and Greene, e.g.).

    It’s not NFL active roster money, but PS isn’t bad two weeks pay for a guy just out of college.

    If that’s really the thinking, we’ve got to give great credit to Roseman on that.

  107. 107 RogerPodacter said at 4:08 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    i wouldn’t think their pay would even count against the salary cap. that only counts top 51 on the team, IIRC. i doubt the PS guys would be higher than roster guys, but i dunno.

  108. 108 Bert's Bells said at 4:09 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    It’s not against the cap, they all get a set salary. $6,900/week.

    So basically Shepherd gets $6,900 every two weeks. Greene gets $6,900 every other week. Enough to keep the guys football active and “on the team”.

  109. 109 Anders said at 4:25 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Its against the cap, but its so low and there is no dead money for releasing them. Also teams can give PS guys more and they sometimes do to keep them.

    Some PS guys get almost rookie minimum if teams wants to keep them

  110. 110 Bert's Bells said at 4:46 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    My bad. You’re 100% right per the googling.

  111. 111 FairOaks said at 3:52 AM on October 8th, 2016:

    Top 51 is only for the offseason. It counts but these amounts are tiny. Also I believe the Eagles guaranteed greene’s salary so he probably gets paid regardless (possibly why the Eagles are using him for this). I thought banner has done this kind of thing in the past.

  112. 112 Gian GEAGLE said at 4:00 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    How the hell does Stafford lose to Jay Cutlers backüp?
    .
    How does Brian Hoyer put up more points throwing to Alshon Jeffries(banged up), Zack Miller Amd Eddie Royal, than Stafford puts up throwing to Marvin Jones, Tate, Riddick, Anquan? Especially when it’s not like Stafford was facing a good defense..
    ..
    We can’t just show up and expect to win this game, but It would be a huge letdown to blow such a great opportunity to improve to 4-0. we are going to lose our share of games this year, but it better not be against an inferior team like the Lions,
    .
    Our schedule is so tough, that we can’t afford to blow games we are supposed to win..
    ..
    We are going to find out a lot about this defense seeing how they handle a murders row of quality WRs:
    Alshon Jeffries,
    Terrell Prior
    Antonio Brown
    marvin Jones
    Desean jackson
    Stefan Diggs
    julio jones
    AJ Green
    Jordy Nelson
    Dez Bryant
    That mental midget brat ODB
    .,
    If having Big name WRs is EVERYTHING, like the media seemed to think when they were shitting on us going into this season, we wouldn’t even stand a chance this yeàr consider the amount of elite WR talent we have to face. Fortunately the game is won in the trenches, not with the flashiest WR talent like the media seems to think and we can bang it out in the trenches with almost anyone..

  113. 113 Nailed It! said at 4:08 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    https://twitter.com/Eagles/status/784484740862611456

    Just going to leave this here….

  114. 114 Fufina said at 5:23 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Thats awesome – so much winning. Eagles have the best team media in the NFL by a mile.

  115. 115 mksp said at 5:30 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    16-0

  116. 116 Dave said at 8:20 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    For the love of God, how can the Eagles allow that video to go out without reshooting the Wentz scenes. Dude had a huge whitehead pimple between his nose and upper lip.

    I kept thinking of Jim Candy in Uncle Buck watching Wentz.

    “I’m Buck Melanoma. Moley Russell’s wart. Not her wart. Not her wart! I’m… I’m the wart. She’s my tumor. My… my growth. My… uh, my pimple. I’m Uncle Wart. Just old Buck “Wart” Russell. That’s what they call me, or Melanoma Head. They’ll call me that. “Melanoma Head’s coming.” I’m the uncle! Maisy Russell’s uncle!”

  117. 117 A_T_G said at 4:26 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    This makes me wonder if perhaps the plan to replace Lane has more to do with the options at guard than it does with Vaitai.
    https://twitter.com/geoffmoshernfl/status/784479497949155328

    Might the coaches be unhappy with Wiz and/or Seumalo?

  118. 118 Mac said at 4:29 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Isn’t Seumalo injured?

  119. 119 A_T_G said at 4:29 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Sorry, Nailed It, I see you have this posted already.

  120. 120 Blackfoot said at 4:26 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    I am hearing that Wentz is going to throw an interception this weekend.
    I don’t know if its true, I hope its not, but I am hearing this from some people.

  121. 121 BlindChow said at 4:47 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    You are “hearing” that? Like it’s something he’s planning in advance?

  122. 122 Blackfoot said at 5:37 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    I hope it’s not true.

  123. 123 Media Mike said at 5:49 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    I heard that Dak throws 3 vs. Cincy and Dallas loses badly.

  124. 124 Sean Stott said at 6:24 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    As long as we win I don’t care and would rather he pop his cherry then it always being something to worry about

  125. 125 stephenstempo said at 8:30 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Well eventually one of those balls that go through the stone hands of our receivers is going to land in a db’s chest.

  126. 126 A_T_G said at 5:14 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Okay, who had $24,309 in the pool? Anyone? Anyone?
    https://twitter.com/sportscenter/status/784492294435172352

  127. 127 Media Mike said at 5:51 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    It’ll be $100k and a game off when he and Mr. Mills have a sideline throw down when we play the Giants.

  128. 128 Sean Stott said at 6:24 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Agree, I hope they put Mills on him a bit. I don’t see Carroll as having a nasty streak, at all, but Brooks and Mills will go for his throat.

  129. 129 Media Mike said at 7:20 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    I’ll take a double ejection

  130. 130 Dave said at 7:54 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Not sure about that as they are both LSU grads and were teammates for 2 years.

  131. 131 Aaron said at 6:22 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    know your enema

  132. 132 Dragon_Eagle said at 7:04 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    My enema has a first name. Its D-A-L-L-A-S.

  133. 133 Aaron said at 7:12 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    acutally its a line from MASH, frank burns

  134. 134 Dragon_Eagle said at 7:27 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Man, I can’t recall the last time I watched that show. Great stuff.

  135. 135 Aaron said at 8:15 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    on Metv, one of my fav shows

  136. 136 anon said at 7:34 PM on October 7th, 2016:

    Story now is that Kaep is benched b/c they don’t want him to get injured in a way that would prevent him from passing a phyiscal next year (and thereby guaranteeing his 2017 salary) apparently a contract negotiation is underway to address this.

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