RBBC
Posted: November 16th, 2016 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 183 Comments »A lot was made of the fact that Eagles WRs not named Jordan Matthews were basically invisible on Sunday. Bryce Treggs, DGB and Nelson Agholor combined for 2 catches for 7 yards. That’s…not good. But the Eagles still piled up 429 yards and 24 points.
In my game preview I wrote that the Eagles needed to feed the RBs.
Darren Sproles has been the featured runner in recent weeks. The Eagles need to get the ball more to the other backs. There is nothing wrong with going “running back by committee,” as it is known. The Eagles need to give more touches to the entire group. Last week, there were 25 touches. In the team’s 3-0 start, running backs averaged 32 touches per game. You want to feed the ball to your backs. It can be run or pass. It can be a workhorse or spread among a group of players. You just need to make sure you feed the backs.
That’s exactly what Doug Pederson did.
Eagles RBs combined for 44 touches, 34 runs and 10 receptions. I loved what I saw on Sunday. Throwing the ball to WRs generates bigger plays, but feeding your RBs can work as well. You are going to be more physical and you can wear down an opposing defense with that style of football. You can’t solely feed the backs. Carson Wentz got the ball to his TEs, 7 catches for 64 yards. That is a total of 51 touches for RBs and TEs. There weren’t a lot of opportunities for the WRs because of that.
This isn’t a case for defending the WRs. Clearly they are the weak spot of this team. Rather, I’m just trying to point out that Doug Pederson built a smart gameplan on Sunday and it worked. His WRs are struggling. How do you deal with that? Feed the other guys. Sounds obvious. Simple. But sometimes coaches are their own worst enemy and they keep trying to make something work.
I’m interested to see if Pederson continues to feed the RBs. It can work. Back in 2003 James Thrash, Todd Pinkston and Freddie Mitchell were really struggling. None of them finished the season with more than 575 yards and they combined for 5 TDs for the whole season. Yikes. Andy Reid decided to feed his backs (feel free to insert fat guy joke here). Brian Westbrook, Duce Staley, Correll Buckhalter and Jon Ritchie averaged 27 touches per game for the year. It actually was lower early in the year, but over the final 10 games the offense went through the RBs and thrived, averaging 28 points a game.
I would love to see Pederson continue to run the offense like he did on Sunday. No one thinks Ryan Mathews, Darren Sproles and Wendell Smallwood are great players who can carry a team to the Super Bowl, but they are a talented trio that complements each other well. I would much rather see those guys getting hand-offs, screens, swings and other short passes than watching DGB look lost and Nelson Agholor dropping passes.
One of the benefits of feeding the RBs is that it lets the OL do more attacking. They aren’t always retreating in pass protection. The Eagles have a big OL. Let those guys attack the D and wear them down.
Brandon Brooks out here embarrassing people: pic.twitter.com/Ou0FxLPF7m
— Josh Paunil (@JoshPaunil) November 16, 2016
Shot 7 – Classic 'Split Zone' run from #Eagles. Great double teams at point of attack, Mathews reads safety and cuts off Kelce's inside leg pic.twitter.com/8FA0kObbKw
— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) November 15, 2016
As a bonus, one thing the Eagles receivers do pretty well is block. By feeding the backs, you give the WRs a chance to help move the ball as well.
We’ll have to wait and see what Pederson does with the offense in the coming weeks. I loved the gameplan he had on Sunday and hope to see more of that.
*****
I wrote about the win for PE.com. You hope that finally winning the close game will give the team confidence in future close games. There is no more hoping they can win. They know they can. Sometimes believing is a key part of making plays in tight situations.
*****
Sometimes I think we forget Carson Wentz is a rookie.
Odd stat of the night. Carson Wentz has 25 or more completions in the last 3 games. Donovan McNabb never did that in his career.
— Tommy Lawlor (@lawlornfl) November 16, 2016
As with any stat, you can argue what that really means and you need context to really understand it, but it still is pretty crazy to see that.
*****
Seattle waived RB Christine Michael on Tuesday. Should the Eagles have interest?
I don’t think so. Michael is talented, but Seattle letting him go at midseason isn’t a good sign. I don’t think he would be an upgrade. I’m fine with the Eagles RBs for now. It is a position to address in the offseason, but the group is good enough for now, especially coming off their best game of the year. I want to bottle what they did on Sunday and see more of it.
Adding an outsider would be awkward at best. I’d only do that if the player was too good to pass up. I don’t think Michael fits that description.
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[…] Tommy Lawlor A lot was made of the fact that Eagles WRs not named Jordan Matthews were basically invisible on […]
I know heavy hands are a good thing for blocking but for guys that have to catch for a career? Nope.
“Odd stat of the night. Carson Wentz has 25 or more completions in the last 3 games. Donovan McNabb never did that in his career.”
Well that’s because McNabb just wasn’t that good of a QB when compared to his peers.
It’s also a different league now. You think guys like Matt Stafford and Derek Carr would be posting 4000 yard seasons back in McNabb’s day?
Comparisons like this are annoying because they ignore context completely. We can talk about the difference between the league now and, say, back in the 60s, and few of us remember that time to remember the context shift. But most of us here lived through the shift that happened between 2003/2004 that led to a distinct uptick in passing numbers. So when I say “the league is different”, I’m not talking about long history. I’m talking about recent changes to the game that have led to noticeable differences in passing performance, where there was a very clear line drawn between the before and after that most of us have very clearly in our memories.
Excellent work
McNabb was not nearly the short- to mid-range passer as Wentz, Carr, Stafford, etc. But all you have to do is rewatch any of his games from his first few years in the league to know he was absolutely special when he was behind center. And his deep ball…legendary!
I couldn’t even imagine the type of numbers McNabb would put up in a Chip Kelly up-tempo offense with his running ability. Heck, even Andy has Alex Smith running zone read plays to take advantage of his running abilities. I firmly believe if Donny was drafted today, most coaches would tailor their offense to match his skill set much better than the west coast offense he was shoe-horned into running and he would put up prolific numbers.
Ryan Tannenhill has better passing numbers than McNabb, and I wouldn’t hesitate to take McNabb over Tannenhill. I don’t know why Wentz’ numbers keep getting compared to McNabb’s. Back in 2004 only 5 QBs had more than 4000 yards passing. That number has more than doubled last year to the point that a 4000 yard season isn’t really special anymore.
I love Wentz but I’d love to see his numbers compared to players more recent players like Luck, Carr, and Stafford.
I think Mcnabb was actually an important factor in ushering in the modern NFL. First of all, he was a prototype. Not the first running/passing qb, but one of he best. He was also one of the first black players of this type who ran a hard core west coast offense, and he set the stage for players like cam and arguably russel Wilson. He almost never threw interceptions and he made big plays, which was just what we needed with a lights out JJ defense.
But he nfccg vs Carolina was also huge historically. Our receivers got mugged all day. the modern emphasis on not touching WRs quickly followed. If the refs had called that game like they would today, we might’ve been facing the pats in the Super Bowl that day.
Mcnabb wasn’t the kind of player to run a precision offense on sustained drives. But he was good enough in that regard, kept the games close, and made plays with both his arm and leg when needed. I actually wish he ran more later into his career because that’s what seemed to really get him going in the air too.
That’s exactly right about the NFCCG. Most people point to the AFCCG that year when the Indy receivers got mugged by the Patriots, but the NFC game was actually worse. It was the combination, as well as similar calls all year, that led to the rule change.
As for McNabb, 2001-2002 McNabb was pretty darned special. He had the same kind of excitement that rookie RG3 had. I remember how he singlehandedly won a game for us against the Skins. And this was when our wide receiver situation was arguably far worse than it is now. I can’t remember the player, but one of the Skins was quoted as saying, “I don’t think they make Tylenol that big”, regarding McNabb. Still don’t know what it means.
If they called the games then the way they call them now, we would have been facing the colts in the Super Bowl that year.
To answer your question of why Wentz is compared to McNabb: If it feels good, do it.
Stafford and Carr? Yea they probably could since they’re more accurate passers than McNabb/Favre. I guess I should have been more clear on the QB part and I did mean strictly as an evaluation as a QB. McNabb was a fine player but he lacked in areas that would make him a guy that you would take over 5-10 guys in his era as a franchise QB.
I think you’re overestimating the effect of the rule changes. Yes it did help inflate the stat sheet but you’re disregarding other changes like the evolution of players and schemes. Accurate passers like Manning, Brees, Brady have long lasting success because they played to their strengths. McNabb wasn’t a traditional QB and it showed when he tried to be one.
No, I’m not. Look at the number of 4000 yard passers now versus before the rules changes. It took a few years, but offenses learned to adapt to the rule change and were far more prolific. Players like Carr and Stafford would very likely never have reached that plateau. Before the rules changes, it was rarefied air to cross 4000, and it required a QB at the top of his game as well as an arsenal of talented receivers.
For example, last year, there were 12 (12!) quarterbacks with over 4000 yards, including such Hall of Famers as Blake Bortles, Ryan Tannehill, and Kirk Cousins.
2015: 12
2014: 11
2013: 9 (*)
2012: 11 (*)
2011: 10 (***)
2010: 5
2009: 10
2008: 6 (*)
2007: 7
2006: 5
2005: 2
2004: 5
2003: 2
2002: 4
2001: 2
2000: 2
The numbers fluctuate in the years between 2000 and 2010 between 2-5, but then start climbing steadily upward from 2007 on. And those asterisks indicate the number of 5000+ yard passers in that year, a phenomenon that simply never existed before the rules changes, but is now starting to occur with something near the frequency with which 4000 yard passers used to occur.
I am most definitely NOT overstating the effects of the rule changes.
As far as McNabb, if players like Wilson and Tannehill can cross the 4000 yard mark, McNabb certainly would have been able to. He’d at least have been knocking on the door, particularly in a pass-heavy offense. He was a far better passer than you’re making him out to be. His deep ball, for example, was one of the best around when he was playing, even if he was a bit weaker on the short routes (too much velocity), and even if he could inexplicably never throw a fade.
People criminally underestimate how good McNabb was. Every time I look at his stats, I am surprised. At his peak he was consistently a top five QB. And yet, nobody ever talks about him as a borderline HoF’er. I mean, if Romo or freakin Eli Manning or Philip Rivers are in that conversation, so is No5. No question. But, people nationally don’t really want him to have been good. Maybe because he was kind of an ass, maybe because he didn’t quit in time. Maybe because he never won the big one or whatever. Nationally speaking, the same thing goes for a lot of the things that happened with the eagles in the 00’s. Reid for example. Everybody are going crazy for Carrol, Payton, Harbaugh. Noone ever really talks about Reid as a top head coach. People talk about Ed Reed and Polamalu, but never mentions Dawk. Compare the stats and career achievements, and he is every bit as good – you can easily argue better. And while we all refer to the legendary defenses of the steelers and the bears, nobody really brings up that great eagles defense in that conversation, although they were every bit as dominant. And every year the cowboys are the favourite to win the NFC East. Every. Single. Year. It bugs me, as you can tell..
Just to add to what you and a few other guys are correctly saying; McNabb is chided for ‘having a chip on his shoulder’ or ‘being a tool’ or whatever, but considering the lack of credit and whitewashing of his legacy (and from Philly fans in particular), I don’t blame him at all.
Regarding him being elite; his accuracy was never at the level of Manning or Brady (since hooking up with Moss he transformed his game to the become the best of his generation), but he was an exceptional QB. He had well-rounded game, was exciting and able to make plays with both his arm and legs and never had the luxury of playing home games in a dome
He could beat you a number of ways, its a shame he never had the players and play-calling that Manning & Brady enjoyed, all you have to do is look at the his record with T.O (21 games, 20 TDs, 1900+ YDS) to see what he could do with one elite weapon at its peak. Take into consideration that during their time together both T.O and McNabb suffered serious injuries that diminished their effectiveness (T.O’s ankle and McNabb’s hernia injury) and its all the more impressive.
McNabb has had other playmakers on his team but in my opinion none of them were at their peak while he was on the team (DJax was good but he 9sn’t a WR that takes over games and Maclin & McCoy were rookies in McNabb’s final season), while Westy was only used properly when McNabb was injured.
If you look at Manning, he was surrounded by playmakers like Harrison, Wayne, Dallas Clark, Edgerrin James and then Addai. You could argue that Westy was better than both those RBs, but the bottom line is that they were utilised better.
I can only imagine how good Westy & McNabb could have been had they had an elite WR and play-calling that was both balanced and maximised their abilities.
It’s true that the number has increased but there were guys in the 90s throwing for 4000 yards too. Albeit, most of them were the cream of the crop. Now the standards have increased and guys throwing for 4500-5000 yards are the new cream of the crop. I don’t want to call it an inevitable upward trend but the passing game was going to take over at some point according to the numbers.
The game has been constantly evolving and the no contact rules did have an impact on it. Most teams no longer have pure blocking TEs and a FB who can’t catch. Almost every position player is bigger, stronger, and faster than before. Almost every RB/TE/WR are wearing gloves that are almost equivalent to stick’um these days. RBs used to be valued for their running and blocking abilities but now they’re expected to do it all. If you look at the yard of scrimmage leaders, most of them are from the 90s/2000s. The era we’re in now is probably the most stacked it’s ever been in the league.
Did the rules change the mindset of what coaches wanted? Yea it did but we don’t have solid evidence that it was just the changes and not the players.
Sorry, but the contact rules were one of the main reasons why we have 5000 yard seasons these days. Yes, there were 4000 yard throwers in the days before the rule changes. But those were invariably highly skilled veterans with a very high caliber, multi-faceted receiving corps. Now you have relative newcomers throwing for that kind of yardage, simply because it’s easier.
Players say the rule change is the reason. Coaches say it. Announcers say it. The numbers back it up. I’m not sure where you are coming up with the idea that I’m overstating what is well-known, well-backed-up fact.
I wonder how many worm burners Carson has thrown yet? Still our best franchise QB in history.
McNabb does not stack up against Peyton or Brady
But compare him to Daunte Culpepper or Vick. Compare him to who was drafted same year…
Also the year we got the legendary WR Na Brown!!!
Carson seems to miss high when he misfires. For example, look at the two interceptions in the first quarter of the Giants game.
McNabb threw the worm burners, but for the most part did a good job of avoiding costly interceptions. I hate the revisionist history that a seemingly large portion of the fan base when it comes to McNabb.
Carson still has mechanical issues with his throws. He misses high because his footwork is off, whether its due to pressure or slipping into bad habits.
It’s not even revisionist history, revisionist history would be what if McNabb and TO weren’t such morons? McNabb was elite for a short time but he was too inconsistent to be in the top 5 ever in his era.
What revisionist history from me did u see? I said McNabb was our best but never the best(of his era)
I think Carson could be the best in the NFL and soon. He is that special and has proven to be worth every investment the team spent.
I agree with what you said. No revisionist history there. I was talking about statements like “McNabb just wasn’t that good of a QB when compared with his peers.” (said by Insomniac, not you). McNabb was not as good as Peyton or Brady, but he was a very good QB in his prime.
I am also very optimistic about Carson!
Yea I hope McNabb makes the HOF. He was good enough and made the Eagles a contender every year he was here
Not quite worm burners but overthrowing guys has happened a lot. We’re going to need a new term for that.
Air mailing
not as catchy as worm burners
Bird beaners?
Interceptions?
I’ve noticed when there’s pressure up the middle early in games this happens. Strangely the WR always seemed to just watch it happen (Not Celek)
And andy constantly had him throwing more than 50 passes a game
Disagree, McNabb was not elite, but was a very good QB who was a big contributor to our success during that era. If Wentz develops into a QB as good or better than McNabb, we’ll be quite happy as fans.
I actually think he was elite in his prime years when he was the total package (before he became the total tool). Not Canton-bound elite, but regular pro-bowler and top-5 QB elite. And yes, we would be extremely pleased if Wentz can be that.
Too bad McNabb missed 2005 and 2006. Especially the 2006 season because he was on pace to have a great year. He was rusty in 2007 and lost a lot of his athleticism by then.
It was amazing how quickly he broke down. That ACL and sports hernia surgery took most of what made him lethal away; add in the fact that he wanted to be known as a pocket QB, and the writing was on the wall.
Andy made the right move to trade McNabb away when he did; his error was projecting Kolb into the spot. Saved by Vick, the flash in a pan didn’t last long and Andy was out the door.
Looking back on it, its crazy to think how quickly that era ended.
He was also straight-up, “no I’m a pocket passer because black QB’s can be pocket passers and I’m going to prove it.” It’s like, yeah Don, I agree, but your size and mobility are a part the package for you specifically. His late career should have looked like Big Ben, but he was stubborn as could be.
Dumbest mistake of his career.
He was on a Canton pace at one point for sure. He finished with Canton debatable numbers. I put him up against a guy like Fouts… at least as comparable.
Can we just agree that he was better than Eli has ever been? Good? Good.
He’s obviously being facetious. Don went to 6 Probowls; he was a pretty good QB, even compared to his peers. Just not in the class of the very best ones.
And consider:
McNabb Yards per Completion career: 11.8 (same as Tom Brady)
Wentz Yards per Completion against the Falcons: 9.24 (over a yard worse than Kyle Boller, Joey Harrington, David Carr)
If you’re dinking and dunking, you throw more passes.
Brady has like 5 years on McNabb too. God damn.
? It’s a rate stat…
Rates usually go down when you’re playing into your 40s. That’s impressive considering that Brady wasn’t a guy who didn’t air it out very often.
Brady’s yards/per completion is higher now than it was earlier in his career, when he was a true dinker. He is a damn good QB.
He was good to very good. McNabb was hurt by the lack of weapons but the total package doesn’t make him top 5 of his era to me. His mechanics, mindset, and accuracy just wasn’t up there.
Just curious who the top 5 of that era are? Peyton, Brady, Brees, Ben, and? Even if he does fall outside of the top 5.. that era is insane in comparison to any other era for top shelf QB talent.
Top 5 gets ambiguous depending on who you ask. I’m not a Favre fan but I would put him in at 5. I know it’s an insanely stacked class he’s going up against but that’s who he had to compete against.
Yeah I’ll have to give you Favre without debate, but now I want to debate myself that Ben shouldn’t be in McNabb’s era.
Not to mention, this was always kind of a big play team with McNabb. 6 play touchdown drives count the same as 16 play drives do.
to be fair, this game was all about the ol, they play well the team has a chance to win
Agreed…fans always love talking ’bout the weapons, but the games are won in the trenches. The OL must control the LOS to give the QB and weapons the best chance to execute at a high level. The DL must control the LOS so the LB can fill gaps and the secondary does not need to cover for too long. We have a pretty strong DL already which we need to keep fortifying, but the OL still needs work to make it more consistently productive. Those areas should be addressed before we think about a RB or WR etc.
Maybe on the offense side of the ball. The key to victory was the performance of the defense though.
The line was ok, but damn, they better be verse the Falcons.
2nd video shows that Zach Ertz still can’t block for shit, but he at least got in the way.
Have they announced a fine for the hit on Matthews yet? Really getting tired of pro football not having pro referees.
They said it was incidental contact.
https://twitter.com/Tim_McManus/status/798583050552639488
Haven’t we been told for the last few years that even accidental and incidental contact to the head of a defensive receiver will be penalized and it is the defender’s responsibility to lower his target point and make sure there is no contact to the head or neck?
Also, there is no way that was incidental.
http://www.phillyvoice.com/report-nfl-acknowledges-obviously-illegal-hit-jordan-matthews-was-illegal/
If Wentz and Sproles can keep that option route going, it’s going to be deadly. This was kinda the offense we expected this season. Lots of running along with attacking the middle with Ertz/JMatt.
Occasional deep shot to Treggs and the offense is pretty effective.
Offense needs more Treggs and Ertz.
Hopefully Wentz will have an itchy Treggs/Ertz finger.
Ertz had THREE false starts on Sunday. All I was thinking about on Sunday was how Brent could have made every catch and ran every route Ertz did. Pretty sure those false starts were on pass plays too.
“This isn’t a case for defending the WRs. Clearly they are the weak spot of this team.”
The primary 3 corners playing right now are NC3, J. Watkins, and a 7th round rookie, and I don’t think anyone would argue with this quote. Pretty sobering, considering the “talent” at WR.
J Watkins is a safety. He’s only in the nickel packages to replace Jenkins in at the Strong Safety spot when Jenkins shifts down to corner.
But that takes away from the shock value of my post. Kindly delete sir.
No seriously though, you are right but that is pretty much semantics, and not at all focused on the point of my original post.
Sorry, I’m pretty fried from work, and I’m not sure I follow your post to be perfectly frank. (I’m assuming it’s glaringly simple and my Swiss cheese brain isn’t registering it)
He’s saying “here are the corners. They aren’t good. And yet no one would argue that they are the weakest spot on the team. That’s how awful the WRs are”
Oh yeah, that’s a really good point. Swiss cheese brain wasn’t working. My bad Tumtum.
Oh, my fault. Just that it is pretty sad those guys are the corners and it isn’t even really debatable that they are the worst position group. The WRs are so bad that a 7th round rookie outside corner is part of a group that is better than the WRs.
Yeah it’s pretty sad. I was trying to think of an excuse as to why, but when your QB is as accurate as Wentz is and putting the ball in good places, there’s no excuse for the number of dropped passes.
And by “putting the ball in good places”, I mean hitting them in the goddamn hands. Agholor in particular is god awful. At some point, Wentz is going to have to pull a Necessary Roughness and throw the ball hard enough to stick into Agholor’s facemask.
I imagine opposing Defensive Coordinators might also be thinking, “There isn’t a case for defending the WRs.”
I just had a vision of Nelson’s corner blitzing and him standing at the line of scrimmage completely uncovered with a ball bouncing off his hands. Nothing but Nelson’s wide eyes, green grass, and a football slowly coming to rest on the turf.
Consolation prize Jordan Matthews: Keanu Neal should have been flagged according to Dean Blandino.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/18064177/philadelphia-eagles-coach-doug-pederson-says-atlanta-falcons-safety-keanu-neal-flagged
That really makes me feel… not at all any better.
Jordan Matthews likely feels the same way.
They should take the amount fined and award it to the other player as “Hazard Bonus”
Falcons always seem to lay a dirty or highly questionable hit on our WR and usually they get away with it.
Hey guys, I need some help. I watched Romo’s presser and for the first time I find myself admiring the guy. I’m worried my Cowboys Haters card could be revoked. What should I do?
Give in to the hate, let it consume you, let it mold you! Be angry that the media is ALWAYS all over the Cowboys. They say Dak is better than Wentz despite the differences in resources around them. How Jerry was such a dumb drafter and now stumbled into some good drafts despite his incompetence.
The reasons are endless…
It’s understandable. You and Romo have a common enemy now, and his name is Dak.
I’ll be honest – I never really could bring myself to hate Romo, even though I hate that team with every part of my being. Maybe it was the comedic relief his late-game turnovers would provide, or maybe it was the tragic injury he would have just as everything seemed to be going his way.
I always thought he was underrated as a QB, certainly compared to guys like Eli or RG3 (a few years ago obviously), just to name a couple. Perhaps he’ll get a chance to finish up in some place like Cleveland or Arizona – those seem to be the “Elephant Graveyards” for QB’s.
As soon as someone puts on a Cowboys uniform ,I find it easy to despise him. My son has been trying to get me to watch a video about what a fine man Whitten is in his private life. I’m afraid, though, first Romo, then Whitten; it could be a slippery descent into reasonableness.
He’s going to be off the Cowboys and then it will be okay.
His statement about being a backup was pure class and a great model for athletes. If he wrote it himself, I am very impressed!
what to do with that contract though?
Swallow the $20m in dead money and enjoy the second round pick from the Jets.
Honestly don’t think the Jets could afford his extremely high salary for the next few years. His contract is NUTS
True. But I’m pretty sure the Cowboys will find a trade partner who could afford him.
Just looked into it, a cut seems most likely, I don’t think he’s worth a team trading for given his age and injury history. This would be like the Peyton Manning FA signing, with less overall production, and an arguably more extensive injury history, at an older age.
“If the Cowboys determine the Prescott era is underway heading into the 2017 season, it will cost the franchise $19.6 million to sever ties with Romo. That number hits the book whether the quarterback is traded or cut.”
If he wants to play, he should renegotiate it, I guess.
And will be the first athlete in history to do so… 🙂
He can’t renegotiate the $20 million of signing bonus yet to be accounted for on their cap. Even if he just retires, he screws them.
Rekindle the hatred but direct it towards Dak and Zeke….and their entire offensive line that makes them look so good.
Romo is at the end of his career anyways. He won’t be a Cowboy for much longer.
Yes, and as long as Jones own the team and they remain in Dallas, there will always be just cause.
Could be your left-brain is expanding, crowding out the other side’s cells. It is logical and righteous to hate the big-star bastards, but seeing the human side of your enemy probably means you’ll die a quick death cos that M-F is looking at you as dinner.
Can’t argue with logic like that!
Romo is alright as a person. and the cowboys all suck.
On the prospect of running a lot more to take some heat off of the rookie and as an alternative to the alternative, I’m not confident that our OL can be consistently effective. Atlanta is notorious for collapsing right about this point in the season, and they may have been expecting the rookie to give them all an early christmas present. I have to believe that they are not as bad as they showed on sunday, just as I believed (and still do) that our front 7 was not as awful as they showed vs Washington. I seriously doubt that Seattle will be cheating on our passing game come sunday. I expect DP to try to run, and I will be ecstatic if our guys can replicate their last performance, but I am not holding my breath. Running is always a necessity when the cold weather hits, and many teams are good for a great showing on the ground at least once or twice a season. Can we run when the opponent is waiting on it? That, to me, is a key question. If our season-long success at running is not where it needs to be, I hope that is our FO’s first priority in the coming off-season.
from http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000741022/article/brock-osweiler-tops-2016s-biggest-freeagent-flops
1) Brock Osweiler, QB, Houston Texans: Nine game into his Texans career, Osweiler represents one of the trickiest franchise question marks in the league. After scapegoating Brian Hoyer and billing Osweiler as the savior this past offseason, Houston ranks 30th in offense while their quarterback ranks dead last in Pro Football Focus’ grades and near the cellar in Gregg Rosenthal’s meticulously curated QB Index. A lumbering Osweiler has yet to demonstrate the accuracy, field vision, pocket movement and streamlined delivery of a franchise player. By any measure, he represents a clear downgrade on Hoyer.
How problematic has Osweiler been? He’s coming off one of the least-efficient three-game stretches in modern history. In fact, Lamar Miller is averaging more yards per rush attempt (4.65) than Osweiler has averaged per pass attempt (4.29) over the past three weeks. At 5.8 YPA, Case Keenum is the closest to Osweiler’s futility level since Week 7. The Rams have turned to No. 1 overall draft pick Jared Goff as Keenum relief. The Texans, meanwhile, are stuck with a $72 million boondoggle.
—————
That’s staggering. 4.29 YPA over 3 weeks? He even has Deandre Hopkins to throw to. Christ on a cracker that’s bad.
Bill O’Brien tied his coaching career to Brock’s coat tails. Looking at what he did with Hackenberg as a freshman, I surprised Brock has been this bad.
If McNabb had TO for most of his career then he’d be a first ballot HoFer.
Depends on if TO went full nuclear drama like he always did or not. Happy TO was a force, insane TO was a team-wrecker.
I was basing my theory upon a nice TO.
Yeah, nice TO probably gets Donnie to the hall.
And probably one or two rings.
And have a bunch of SB rings on his fingers.
Yeah man, imagine those 2001-2003 teams with TO…
Ha – see my post below. 😉
Great minds think alike.
And so do ours.
we should have one for ’04, but Br*dy and Belicheat got away with it.
I was talking to one of my Eagles buds and asked him, “if Dallas and NE make the SB, what should we do?”
His answer, “We’ll watch the Sixers.”
I was going to say root for “Giant Meteor, Super Bowl LI Champion.”
If the Giants end up in the SB and the meteor hits, I will consider you a prophet.
Dont blame it on 2 of literally the Greatest EVER. blame it on the fat know it all who probably paid himself more than belichek
I prefer to remain salty and bitter and blame the 2 Greatest Cheaters EVER.
2 biggest wud be barry bonds, mark mcquire and bud selig as a liar
Downvote
You downvote upvoted.
TO would have been the #2 WR of all time if he kept his mouth shut and stayed with us. Dawkins would be the best safety of all time. Fredex might have became something. We would have never drafted Reggie Brown.
Do I stop here?
Yes, please. 😉
I in all fairness I’d take a Reggie Brown over any WR we currently have on our roster.
Reggie Brown was a solid player. Crazy how he dropped completely out of sight.
One of the guys covering the team mentioned that Brown wasn’t particularly dedicated to football.
That was Roob, I saw that too.
Nothing worse than a co-worker who isn’t interested in doing their job.
Tell me about it. After too long it starts to negatively affect the good ones as well.
Yeah, usually when you have a young talented player just drop off without injuries that tends to be at least part of the reason.
Yeah, what was up with that? My guess was lack of love of the game.
I was thinking about this the other day. Very weird.
I would stick with Mathews over him. There is a reason he fell off the face of the Earth.
.. groan.. if you keep going ill read … AR fukkkced up tge TO ditch.. oh sndy sofa king the yough guys who sticks by the rules ..guvchkkn asss know it sll sofs kjng much hes sm idiot
ya know, reggie brown had all the tools, big wr, but he just sucked, just like most the wr’s the eagles draft
I just threw up in my mouth when I saw that both No. 1 and No. 2 leading rushers in the NFL is a current and a former Cowboy, respectively.
Well, if you invest in your line and actually call plays suited to your RB’s strengths………………
Demarco looked like shit last year, regardless of the blocking. He was passive and slow, wasn’t interested in attacking. I’m guessing he looked at the shit show Chip had going and said fuck that, I’m making a business decision.
He’s not a back that plays too well w/o being in the I-formation. He constantly was handed the ball with out getting a full head of steam. Not to mention Chip would constantly try sweep plays with him. Pure N-S runner. That’s on Chip (amongst the zillion other thing he did to destroy this team).
I think bennett missing the game is huge. Line does not play with the same intensity when he is not out there. Pound the rock.
Kelce is going to get tooled by either Rubin or Reed on WAY too many snaps.
Scared to death of Rookie Vaitai, rookie Wentz, and rookie Smallwood struggling to communicate in that noise chamber they call a stadium
Man, Okafor can play, I wonder what the sixers will end up getting for him. Shame the Lakers are doing so well, would have been money if they sucked.
I keep Okafor around the next 2 years. There will be minutes available in the front court and let him eat up 2nd string while continuing to develop his defensive game will be valuable in the short term and i don’t think you loose that much value while you do so… and frankly i am not going to go all in on Embiid until he has a couple of years major injury free.
Could be smart. It’s hard to say what this team should do without seeing Simmons on the court first. I like that Saric is a high effort guy, gets a lot of boards, and his shot is starting to fall.
I’m a huge Saric fan, high basketball IQ players who put effort and can shoot tend to long and productive NBA careers.
Lack of Simmons sucks because the Saric/Simmons smallball line up would just hoover up rebounds and have so many tools and options in transition.
Lakers will fall down to earth and tbh better they end up around 5-7 than not getting it this year
Ertz with a hammy… as if we can afford to lose any decent receiving threat against Seattle’s secondary.
I think our only prayer to score some points is try and small ball them, use the running game, kick field goals if we have to and let our defense try to carry the game.
I just can’t see us throwing downfield much with our current crop of receivers.
At least we worked out Kenny Lawler who also has a habit of bad drops!
And knowledge of their scheme.
你的博客就像冬天里的一把火！
Eagles should be running vs weak run defenses(not sure why that’s a revelation). If the Eagles give rbbc 30+ touches this week and it’ll be a long game with very little total yards. Game plan vs. team you’re playing(until you define what you do well). Eagles are not good enough to impose their offensive “will” against good defenses.
….
Identity. Thinking that should be a headline soon(or I guess next year). Who ARE the Eagles? Good to great teams have an identity. Eagles are too young and lack talent for that right now, so maybe that’s a question for next year. That’s when we’ll know when this team has turned the corner. For the first time in a long time…you can feel that coming: A team that will define itself is it progressively gets better….
They do have an identity: dynamic, attacking DL, opportunistic safeties; great return game; bad offense.
The choice, as I see it, is:
1. conservative, run and dink offense, or
2. pass-happy, wild offense.
I would choose #1, because it gives a better chance to win. Keep the game close, rest the D and trust it to give you the advantage, and hope to come out on top. Wentz makes too many mistakes for #2 and the WRs and OL aren’t good enough.
Think the offence is better than people give it credit for we are averging 25ppg which is good for 10th in the NFL and generally we score enough points to be competitive in games with the team never scoring less than 20.
Is it an explosive offence? not at all, it is a ball control long sustained drive approach that helps our defensive and restricts the number of plays in the game. Reality is that if our RB’s dont fumble in the last few minutes against Lions and Cowgirls we would be 7-2 and people would be putting us as SB contenders in a 2016 NFL lacking elite teams.
3 ppg are coming from defense/ST (not counting field position). That’s #1 in the NFL by a wide margin.
is the team avg. 25ppg or is that “only offense”?
By DVOA (in which each play is evaluated separately), offense is ranked #20, defense #1, special teams #1.
#20 is some flavor of low-mediocre–moderately bad. With the best D and special teams, the offense has a large advantage in getting into scoring position _and_ the D and ST score.
25.1 PPG is 10th in the league, so moderately good–high averageish (these are technical terms). Take away the 3 PPG Bert mentioned and they are now scoring 22.1 PPG, which drops them to 21st. THEN add the effect of field position, and you see that this is a very mediocre offense at this point.
All good points. I’m thinking identity that other teams fear. When you think NE, you think Brady/Gronk. Denver(last year) you think Peyton/Defense. Seattles run(few years ago) you knew they were going to go to Beast mode. Another words, this is what we’re going to do AND we do it well AND you won’t stop it. I do think they are headed in that direction though. Few more pieces….
good call!!!
So it’s looking like while both Nolan and JMatt will be a go, Ertz might miss the game on Sunday.
Ertz status was limited participant because of hamstring. Wondering if he left early and that’s what made him limited, or he had the hammy and went through a limited practice. First is obviously worse than the second.
It’s hard to imagine this team without Ertz and Matthews. I mean, wew that would be pathetic.
Sounded like Ertz went through the walkthrough and then left. He did not participate in individual or team drills from the sounds of it.
Matthews looked like he was back as a full participant.
OL porn:
http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/2016/11/17/jason-peters-philadelphia-eagles-film-review-age-34/#more-3206662
Check this out:
“He’s just a marvelous player. For the guys who play that late in their career, they had to have been really good athletes early on so when they’re later in their career as their skills diminish somewhat, they’re still better than most guys, and he’s one of those guys”
This is why “old man skills” is _not_ a thing. People who aren’t very athletic and rely on skill and intelligence don’t usually last long, because when they decline, they just get steamrolled.
Wow. The big thing is injuries, or should I say lack thereof this season. Chips tempo offense really seemed to suck the life out of him while Doug seems much more cognizant on keeping him healthy.
Peters is playing better now than he has in the past two seasons.
I was definitely on the “he’s toast in 2016” train, but he’s -thankfully- proven me wrong.
So since JP will be back at LT for one more season is it safe to assume that the Eagles will be serious playoff contenders IF they get:
– 1 starting CB
– 1 or 2 starting WR
– 1 starting OL
– 1 RB
Doesn’t look to be too many holes to address in one off-season if you ask me….
Many will be jumping on the Barwin and Kendricks need to be replaced train. Myself, I’m on the Kelce needs to be replaced train. Otherwise, I agree with your assessment except I think we need 2 starting CBs as the slot is more important than Kendricks.
As long as Kendricks is serviceable I’d rather have him than an unknown. Like most folks here, I’m a Barwin fan but just can’t see the Eagles keeping him with his cap hit.
I’m pretty sure that the Eagles will re-structure Barwin’s contract to make it more cap friendly. Don’t think he’s going anywhere.
I’ll believe that when it happens. Vaeao is 22 and impressing at DT as a rookie. He could move to DE and probably be more productive than CB, who will be 31 next season. Curry is usually on the field at DE when pass rush is on. An upgrade over CB could get Curry at DT in a similar situation. I know Barwin is still bringing it, but I doubt that HR is going to forget everything Joe Banner taught him.
And at the same time I doubt that Lurie is going to regret again to let a highly ranked/seen player – on and off the field – go too early.
Barwin has a very strong presence in the locker room, that should not be overlooked, a la Brent Celek. Neither is a stud anymore, but they are effective in their roles.
There are clear D-line winners and losers in the change from billy davis to jim schwartz.
The problem with Kendricks is his salary. He’s getting paid a lot of money to play 19 snaps a game. Barwin is a good locker room presence, but they do need to restructure or something. His production is way down.
In training camp, Kelce allegedly told the media that he sees “Probowl Center” in Isaac Seumalo’s future… And I assume that’s an honest evaluation because if he was going to lie, it would probably be hyping Seumalo up as a Guard not Center, for self preservation.. He didn’t have to go out of the way to tell the media the kid we just drafted in the 3rd round looks like a future probowler at his own position….if Kelce is right, we won’t need to draft a Center
.
If the Eagles see Suemalo as a Center, than we should draft another Guard, but if they see him more as a Guard, than we draft a center..
..
JP won’t be an eagle forever. Never too soon to start developing a future #3 OT behind Lane and Vaitai..
Totally agree with Mrs EDIT: re-signing Benny is imperative for a successful off-season.
We have more work to do than that unfortunately..
..
I could even argue that STACKING our Front 7 with more DL and LB talent is a bigger néed than each of those positions, especially if we are talking about making the Playoffs.. Before we worry about the rest of the NFL, we have to worry about building a team that can consistently beat our division rivals, and unfortunately Dallas Has built an OL and a run game that needs to be respected for years to come, and it’s probably time we need to start respecting the OL that washington built.
We need to build a team that can overcome the strength of our rivals, and to do that, an elite NFL front 7 is probably non negotiable. A lot of people scoffed at the thought of spending a top 5 pick on Zeke Elliot, but I don’t think there is any Eagle fans laughing at the Cowboys draft pick now, and it’s not a flash in the pan, the dallas OL/Run game is going to be a problem for years to come. Our front 7 can compete with them now, but it’s not enough. We need another BIGTIME LB, a young beast of a DT on a rookie contract while cox and Logan are on their expensive second contracts, and eventually we probably will need more DE help unless Marcus continues to improve or McCalister grows into a gem
,,
We obviously need a corner, but it’s more important to make sure the skins and Cowboys Rbs can’t ram the ball down our throats.. We need to build such a scary front 7 that even Tom can play CB for us,,.
..
Defensive wishlist:
Impact LB unless Kendricks plays out of his mind in the next 7 games
.
CB.. Although I want Nolan Carrol to remain with the Eagles..
.
DT… This player NEEDS to be on a rookie contract for the next 4 years. We need him to be at a higher level than Beau and Destiny
.
DE. But maybe not this offseason since I don’t believe we are getting rid of BARWIN after this season
Offense:
OG simply because OL is always most important
.
Impact WR who’s strengths are Hands and Speed.
.
RB..
.
You still need to draft an OT tackle high. Good option would be to draft an OT who can play LG and shift to LT when Peters retires.
You still have to draft BPA, you don’t know what kind of injuries will come up next year. If there’s a stud LB, the Eagles should take him regardless of how bad they are at CB, OL, or WR
Yes sure. I was just trying to point out that with the return of JP the off season needs might not be that catastrophic.
Also what team in the NFL can address all its needs in one year anyway?!
Birds signed Maragos to a 3 year contract extension.
does that mean he’ll finish his career an eagle?
Probably. He’s signed through 2019 now.
Let’s hope Benny is next…
It seems likely Fipp gets poached for a promotion before that contract runs out, but it is good to know Fipp will have his best coverage guy as long as he is here.
Special Teams has been such a strength for the team, so I’d imagine the team will do all it can to retain him…by backing a dump truck full of cash to his front door.
Think Fipp may be here a while. There is no obvious career progression for him in the NFL unless he is willing to take a step back first. His highest non special teams position was San Jose State DC for one year and 3 years of being co-DC at San Jose and Nevada.
He would need to probably go get a DC position at a top college or go be a secondary coach somewhere in the NFL and work his way up towards being a DC. Now maybe some team thinks he can go straight into being a HC, but that is very rare – think the last i can remember is John Harbaugh with the Ravens.
If i was the Eagles i would be getting him to pitch in some ideas of X’s and O’s defensively and if you think he has the mind for the roll maybe try him as DC if/when Schwartz gets a HC job.
The league is going to miss this guy.
https://twitter.com/nfl/status/799311161258700800