Much Better
Posted: December 11th, 2016 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 201 Comments »Another frustrating loss, but also a game with plenty to be happy about.
Losing 32-14 to the Bengals was embarrassing. Falling 27-22 to the Skins was very different. The Eagles played hard and had the ball deep in WAS territory at the end of the game. They had a chance to win.
But they didn’t.
Ryan Kerrigan blew by RT Matt Tobin, who replaced the injured Allen Barbre (who had replace Halapoulivaati Vaitai who had replaced Lane Johnson), and Kerrigan sacked and got the ball away from Carson Wentz. The Eagles had gotten all the way down to the 14-yard line when the disastrous play sealed the game for the Skins.
Everyone wants to blame someone. Matt Tobin is terrible. Carson Wentz should have gotten rid of the ball. Doug Pederson should have helped Tobin out. Let’s start with Tobin. He is a backup. He totally whiffed on the play and is at fault for that, but backups are backups for a reason. Also, Tobin is much better on the left side. He struggles when playing RG or RT. Because of injuries and suspensions, the Eagles had no choice but to play him there.
Wentz held the ball because he was desperate to make a play to win the game. This wasn’t a situation where you could just throw it away and casually move on to the next snap. There were only 21 seconds on the clock at the snap so Wentz felt pressure to get something out of the play. He trusted his protection. Unfortunately that didn’t work well.
As for Pederson, he’s getting 5 pass catches out on the play. He’s taking a chance that the OL and Wentz will do their part and that one of the receivers will get open. This was absolutely the right thing to do. You have to trust your players to do their job. Tobin is at fault because he didn’t even slow down Kerrigan. You can’t let a rusher beat you completely clean in that instance.
I think you should come away from this game encouraged by the Eagles. Think about that final drive. You had a rookie QB running the show. The Eagles were down to just one RB, and Ryan Mathews isn’t the guy you want on the field there. You had a rookie at RG and the #4 RT playing. You were missing a key WR in DGB. Wentz took the team down the field. He just couldn’t finish the drive. Better blocking and/or better weapons would have made a difference.
The Eagles did not catch any breaks in this game. There were tough injuries. There were some bad calls/non-calls. You aren’t going to win many games when the other team is better than you and the little things also go against you.
The Eagles also didn’t help themselves. Jordan Matthews couldn’t pull off a toe-tap in the end zone and the team had to settle for a FG. There was a play where a Skins WR put the ball on the ground and the Eagles pointed to it (hoping for incomplete call) rather than pouncing on it. Zach Ertz had a block in the back penalty that negated a Darren Sproles return TD. Wentz threw a costly INT in the end zone.
Too many mistakes.
Still, I’m more focused on the good. Ertz 10 passes for 112 yards and fought after the catch better than he had all season. Seems like he heard all the criticism during the week and it brought out the best in him. Trey Burton was 7-65 as a receiver and he came into the game as the #3 long snapper. He had a decent snap that helped the Eagles take a 22-21 lead on a 4th quarter FG. Isaac Seumalo seemed to have a good game, in only his second start. Wentz played arguably his best game of the year. Nelson Agholor had another solid outing.
The defense was good on 3rd downs. They came up with a couple of sacks, 1.5 by Fletcher Cox. Leodis McKelvin made a huge play when he jumped a route, picked a pass and ran it back for a score.
The result was bad. But the effort, energy, intensity and overall performance were good. You can build on this game.
_
Was a ‘good’ loss. We were the better team most of the game and just could not get past a few 50/50 plays that all went in the skins favour.
Think we can enjoy the last 4 games of the year if we play like that and i think we end up winning 1 or 2 more games this year if we can produce like that.
Didnt get to watch closely, but I never saw us as the better team. Everything else I agree completely.
We were not the better team, and we absolutely do not want them winning any more games this year
Why? To improve our later round picks? Cleveland has our first round pick this year and any losses has very minimal effect on improving our draft stock. This team should go out and get better, learn how to win and build towards next year. Loses don’t benefit us at all.
Im not upset at all after watching the game. When you have a franchise QB to build around, I’m thinking about the future as much as the present.
I’m not sold on Wentz as the franchise QB even if we had weapons and a great line he’s got more to show me before I’m a believer.
What exactly does he need to show you?
Idk something about him doesn’t get me fired up. I can’t quite put my finger on it.
Been doing the airport thing all day but saw moat of the game. I didnt think for a second we would score on that last drive, but still was quite happy with the improvement.
I won’t get into shoulda couldas because I hate that, but you know what I am sayin!
Not even mad about this game. Wentz looks like a stud in the making. We kept it competitive with a JV squad.
What I love most about him is that all of his bad habits are super coachable.
Glad we got him. Build up this line and get a couple playmakers and we will be in business.
I’m VERY mad about this game, but I agree 100% about Wentz. He just keeps plugging and doesn’t seem to mope after a bad play. I’m really happy we have him.
Without realistic hopes for playoffs, it’s been much less stressful watching these Eagles. That wasn’t a bad game to watch in all honesty.
To address the non toe tap by 81. Thay is something he has never really had awareness or effort for in his career. He seems to lack the body control of elite receivera, even those bigger than he is. It makes me feel like he isn’t willing to sell out and it frustrates me. Thinking logically I doubt that is actually the case. It just isn’t part of his kit.
Jordan Matthews can be a solid #2, and damn fine 3. He really shouldn’t be the best WR by light years. Don’t get me wrong. I think he is a good bet for 1000 every year. Just is a possesion receiver, with poor poessesion.
I really like JMatt, he seems like a super good guy and from the looks of it he works his ass off every single day, but I just dont know how much more I can take.
In the end, whats the use of a WR who basically cannot catch the ball.
I watched it over several times, the sand on the grass was disturbed in replay. It was pretty evident he drug his toe in the end zone. I was screaming for Doug to challenge the play.
I don’t know man. Not sure I saw that. He certainly didn’t try to emphasize he effort.
I saw it, you could clearly see some turf getting chewed up in-bounds. I’m surprised the announcers didn’t make more of it.
Best loss of the season.
My only frustration with this game was that it took this long for Doug to make the tight ends and intregal part of the game plan. Ags was fine today. I’m assuming that has more to do with the game plan not revolving around him and keeping him as more of a complementary piece. Ertz and Burton need to be a big part of the off season plan for this offense. Bottom line is that are gamers.
AMEN! This team needs to be in “12” more often than they’re in “11.”
I think needing to keep them into block to make up for the mash unit OL has crimped his plans to utilize the TEs in the passing game this season. They were more involved before LJ went out.
Yes and no. When they were in, the were asked to block quite a bit. My problem was that Ags was playing 90+% of the snaps while Ertz was usually around 60% and Burton 20%.
“He totally whiffed on the play and is at fault for that, but backups are backups for a reason.”
Why does “next man up” never seem to apply to our backups?
Because is next man up X 3
Seems like it has been x 3 million with this o-line over the last 4 or 5 years. Nobody wants to stay on the f-ing field.
Amen. Though in terms of the RT, Tobin on that play not withstanding, it has worked out pretty well. In fact this year, much more than others,next man up has applied.
True, but they keep on being the next man laying down on the job. The lack of premium blocking on this team is on my last nerve.
Didn’t like Big V after game 1?
No, he teased us with improvements over about 4 games……………then laid down.
Dude people get fucking injured. What’s your problem. You’re completely delusional about this shit
4 straight losses in my problem. Anybody not involved with helping play winning football is a target.
Oh yeah. I forgot about how you feel about injuries.
Because our OL isn’t currently next man up.
It’s the man after the man after the man after the man.
We spent most of the fourth quarter one Jason Peters getting up gimpy from ZACH ERTZ: RIGHT TACKLE!
Makes one wonder why Dillon Gordon has been good enough to keep on the 53 all year, but can’t get a sniff of the active roster. I’m just fed up with bullshitty losses in games that should be wins.
Well he is a project guy, and they are developing him as a guard which we have had good game day coverage in Seumalo and Wiz during most of the year.
The team really really likes him. He 0% would have cleared waivers. He’s also super raw.
Andrews is JAG. He’s the Kenjon Barner of OL, completely fungible. They can get rid of him. Gordon is at least a developmental stash.
I hope that development pays off soon. I can’t deal with any more lame non-blocking from this team.
Unforunately next year is probably going to be more band-aids and building depth.
Shame we can’t luck into another Jason Peters situation where a team is too cheap to pay their superstar O-lineman and we can swing a trade.
Or possibly give the line a chance to tee off on the other team by calling more runs.
I think some better skill players and the line will be good enough for Wentz year 2.
Shame we can’t make that process happen in reverse. I don’t want to be the Colts where Grigson has “invested” in WR and RB, but Luck get killed due to poor blocking.
At some point, we have to do what the Cowboys did and just spend 3 first round picks in 5 years on offensive linemen, if we really want to fix the offensive line.
Hyperbole of course, but we hit with Lane, assuming the stays on the field and not the juice. We signed Brooks. Both seem like good moves. In terms of resources, availability and cap room, we need to pump high picks into the OL. Not necessarily first rounders, but high picks. Seumalo was a start, but discounting Lane Johnson, it seems like the last time we put any actual resources into the OL, was when he picked Danny Watkins in the first round. Need to hit on the pick to obviously, as evident by Watkins, but with Wentz on the roster, its time to protect the franchise.
Especially when we can’t seem to draft a WR despite 3 picks in the first 3 rounds, not to mention 1 2nd round TE.
I agree, I’m just not sure this is the year to force a pick.
Well, I haven’t been watching the game, but Jared Goff’s 12/22 for 122 yards and 2 interceptions while losing 42-0 doesn’t look so great.
The Rams might be the only team that could be worse than we are offensively.
Que the dolphins next week with Tannehill.
Say what you will about Wentz, but theres not a lot of moments where you think: That guy will never be THAT GUY.
Seriously. Anyone complaining about Wentz just needs to go watch what we might have gotten if Goff hadn’t gone #1 overall.
Zeke? Lol
Its not even a dig at Goff, i’m just saying:
Wentz might have made mistakes and we might not look good as a team, but Carson Wentz sure as shit looks like a franchise QB for this team for the foreseeable future, barring injuries.
Bro, that dump off pass when I was sure he was going to get sacked was truly impressive. He turned -5 into +3, that was an incredible play.
I can honestly say that nothing I have seen from him has ever made me think that.
So did Ertz actually ball out or is he continuing the trend of looking promising at the end of the year?
He played like a young Brent Celek…he fought for extra yards and didn’t go down at first contact. He could always run good routes and catch the ball. He is a beast when he wants to be.
Still had stupid penalties.
Ertz, Kelce, and Peters seem to be good for one penalty per game each.
If we are lucky
I have seen a young Celek and sir Ertz is no young Celek.
Today he was sir.
He has had a game like this almost every year late that really padded his overall stats:
– Last year it was the final 2 games vs Skins/Giants
Skins: 13 rec, 122 yards
Giants: 9 rec, 152 yards
14 games prior – 53 rec, 579 yards, 2 TDs (averaging 3.8 rec/41.3 yards/0.14 TD per game)
– In 2014, he had a huge game vs Skins late too
Skins: 15 rec, 115 yards
14 games prior – 39 rec, 531 yards, 3 TDs (averaging 2.8 rec/38.0 yards/0.21 TD per game)
– In 2013, he had a two of big games vs Cards/Vikings later in the year:
Cards: 5 rec, 68 yards, 2 TD
Vikings: 9 rec, 57 yards, 1 TD
12 games prior – 22 rec, 273 yards, 1 TDs (averaging
1.8 rec/22.8 yards/0.08 TD per game)
Ertz is certainly a guy who has started slow, had a big game or two late, and really helped to increase his season total. This year has been no different.
It appears he was not a big part of the game plan earlier in the year when he came back from injury. He and Burton were a focal point by Doug, just like Ags was all season up until a few weeks ago. Wentz is clearly looking for him now too.
I’m sure it has absolutely nothing to do with being greatly motivated in late season division games.
Actually had at least a couple borken tackles and maybe 10 yards after contact. Fairly impressive for him. He potentially played with more fire than I have ever seen him.
The latter
Ok. Trevor Siemian 35/51 for 334 1TD and no picks, Mariota 6/20 for 88 yards.
Titans win Broncos lose.
Statlines make no sense whatsoever.
Rodgers or Mariotta was my big decision in elimination fantasy league with big buy ($100 ever year and 12 teams). I choose Rodgers.
http://i.imgur.com/9j7duug.jpg
I can’t figure out that Titans team or Mariotta. Been an enigma to me all year.
Russell Wilson with 4 interceptions… Rodgers nearly flawless. Today is a topsy turvy day in the NFL.
It looks like Rodgers and the Packers are peaking at the business end, Seattle are flawless at home but haven’t been great on the road, 3 points against that D though is crazy
Yeah I’m not too surprised Rodgers is ripping them up because he is definitely peaking now, but the Seahawks O coming up snakeyes against that packers D? That’s surprising.
SEA is also missing Thomas and plays just ok on the road
Oof, 5 interceptions for Wilson. Thought he was supposed to be getting his mojo back.
One of them bounced off of Baldwin’s face. Not sure about the others
I can’t imagine all 5 were not his fault.
3 of them were the receivers fault according to Gil Brant.
Couldn’t be, none of them are named Nelson Agholor or Josh Huff.
Maybe he’s getting his absolute stinker out before the playoffs this year.
More in terrible winning QB statlines: The Texans (who I can’t believe are going to the playoffs) Brock Osweiler was 14/24 for 147 yards and an interception in the victory.
Who is the worst starting QB in the NFL? I nominate Osweiler, Fitzpatrick, Bortles, Kaepernick/Gabbert, Goff.
That’s a lot of floaters in the toilet.
If you combined the best parts of all 5 of them you might end up with a middling starter.
or a really large turd
Like the men’s restroom in the Port Authority in NYC – Lots of unappealing choices . . .
Hard for me to hate on Goff this soon.
Kaepernick because he contrived concern in a serious issue to his side to keep him from getting cut
Honestly Kaepernick is in a league of his own for terrible. By far the worst, I don’t think it’s close.
In more news to make us feel better: Chip Kelly’s Niners lost to the Bryce Petty lead Jets.
Fuck off back to college Chip.
This is a bit more appropriate if your an Eagles’ fan:
https://media.giphy.com/media/EMnPN8y2iJsU8/giphy.gif
That man’s night didn’t end well at all.
Old friend Matt Barkley has been playing really surprisingly good on a shitty bears team. Bizarre. Chip Kelly holding him back?
Who didn’t he hold back?
Foles?
The anomaly year!
The dropped passes from Bears receivers have been positively Eagle-like.
Sunday night silver lining; Flyers win again.
Stolarz looked good too.
Yes, very encouraging. Hopefully that allows us to trade Neuvirth rather than losing him for nothing as a UFA.
Yeah, I hope so too.
We have been burned by so many young goalies who looked like they could be the real deal, only to fall apart… Boucher, Ouellet, Pelletier, going all the way back to Snow and Soderstrom… I will believe one of them has broken the curse when they actually win a Vezina and/or are raising the Cup at the WF Center.
Honestly I’m waiting on Carter Hart. He looks to have all the tools, now he needs the seasoning.
So hard to tell with goalies. They’re like pitchers in baseball or quarterbacks, you can have all the physical tools but if the mental aspects aren’t there they don’t come through.
The thing that makes me optimistic about the Flyers is that Hextall has the right philosophy – carpet bomb the draft and college free agency every year, acquire tons of young prospects, and let them fight it out. Some of them will develop and you get cost controlled homegrown talent plus lots of organizational depth. Much better than the old Ed Snider-driven model of spending huge free agent money or trading prospects for the available superstar du jour was. I liked Roenick, Forsberg, Pronger, Hatcher, Briere, etc. but I don’t think you build a cup contender by mortgaging the future for those kinds of guys. Pittsburgh and Chicago both built through the draft and that’s what we should’ve started doing a long time ago as well.
From what I’ve seen this season in Allentown, Lyon has potential to be a Red Wings type goalie in the NHL. He’s not going to be great, but he’s a battler, and will play well behind a good team. Haven’t seen enough of Oulette yet to have a good opinion.
Sam Morin has been a disappointment so far. The two games I’ve attended (I can’t evaluate a Dman’s game on TV), he’s still struggling with positioning, giving up too much ice purely by being out of position. He’s still got the tools, (he can certainly skate the position, especially with his reach) but he’s not ready to be brought up yet. Though, if Hakstol were willing to play him and Ghost in a hybrid scheme, he could be serviceable in a pinch. I don’t think Hakstol’s going to do that with this team at this point, however.
Sanheim needs work, but you can see the potential. He’s got further to go than Morin, but he may develop faster. He’s still very young.
Hagg is the guy that’s been impressing me so far. He doesn’t have the ceiling of the others, but he’s going to be a solid depth guy.
I’m still not a fan of any of their forwards, but Cousins has been better with the big club than I would have predicted. Leier’s at least as good as Cousins, but he may not be able to fill the same roles. Laughton seems to have regressed. Danick Martel makes an impression, but he can’t play that style in the bigs – he wouldn’t last a week.
76ers also, and without Embiid playing. Both teams are still a ways from contention IMO but they are on the right track.
I struggle to watch the Sixers on nights when Embiid is not playing. I also really wish Colangelo didn’t choke on getting Okafor traded away for the 3rd pick from Boston.
They can still look pretty ragged even when he is on the court. But unlike previous years they actually have young guys I think have a chance to stick around once they get good. Covington can be a legit starter as long as his shot is falling, Saric is promising, and Stauskas finally looks like he’s figured out the “white two guard who shoots the hell out of the ball” thing. Even TJ McConnell looks like a guy who can be a backup on a winning team (one assist short of a triple double tonight).
And Simmons isn’t even back yet.
I am extremely excited to see what Simmons looks like once he gets back. With the right high pick next June I think we could be looking at a team that takes a big leap next season, and is recognized as one of the league’s better young teams by 2018-2019.
Its looking like a great draft class for the sixers as well – deep (we will probably be picking top 5 and top 10 from LA) and with lots of guards and wings who are quality defensive options. We could be a really fun bad team next year and suddenly take a big step forward in 2018 (which is my expected big trade/FA date before we cap out having to pay Simmons)
Yup, both the NFL and NBA drafts appear to be lining up well for the Eagles/Sixers in terms of matching talent to team needs. I’m looking forward to following the draft processes in both leagues more than I usually do next offseason.
Covington is terrible becuase when he shoots the ball well is a rare occasion…his D has stunk as well…as for Stauskas will never shoot the ball well or not at least be the 3 point killer we thought..he will get dribble drives and other junk points….TJ McConnell is not a good backup pg…need to do better at all these positions…of these 3 I think Stuaskas has the best chance of sticking,,,
Covington isn’t shooting well this year but has done so in the past. He’s a good defender. Stauskas is shooting 39% on 3s, which is six points better than his career average coming into the season. Still has a ways to go but he is still young (23) and guys with his profile take time to develop. As for McConnell, I think he’s a backup PG at best, but he’s tough, passes well, and plays good defense so I think he can have a long NBA career in that role.
None of these guys are centerpiece players anyway – that’s Embiid, Simmons, and perhaps Saric. They are just young guys who have the chance of being part of the team when it finally gets good again, which is a welcome change from watching mediocre veterans like Ish Smith and Carl Landry get PT in previous seasons.
That was never offered straight up, otherwise Okafor would not be here. They wanted a ransom for the 3rd pick and i am pretty happy we did not trade the kings ’18 pick or the LA pick and throw in Okafor to get the 3rd pick in a 2 man draft.
Yeah, I am not impressed by what I’ve seen of Jaylen Brown so far. Looks like Jumaine Jones 2.0.
I wish it was a season of ‘strange ‘ … but nope, just another schit schit schitty season
Not that bothered really by it. This is not a team capable of going deep in the playoffs so really what is the difference between 6-10 and 9-7? Yeah we threw away some games this year but i would rather they worked this kind of stuff out of their system in a fundamentally development year.
You could reasonably make the claim that at this point Johnson is the best player on offence on the Eagles (definately the only probowl worthy player) – loosing him for 10 games has taken our offence from competent to poor.
I like the fact that Tommy is admitting that the effort the last couple weeks has not been there (big indictment of the coaching, IMO).
I disagree that the last play call was “absolutely the right thing to do.” No way the OL holds up in that in that alignment in that situation – guaranteed to fail.
was a called quick pass – Wentz was winding up to release it. You have to expect your RT to be able to get a hand on a pass rusher and give you 1.5 seconds to pass. If it was a 9 step drop with slow developing stuff – sure then criticise the call but that was not what was called at all.
How quick a pass, like .1 seconds?
You can’t keep the tight ends in for blocking when outside of JMatt, they were the only ones catching the ball. On top.of that, Celek was hurt. Would you rather the TEs stayed in to block while relying on Ags to get open and make the catch. I’d rather take my chances throwing to the TEs and hoping Tobin can block for.more than 1.5 seconds.
How bout having the running back in to chip on Kerrigan..?
Hindsight is wonderful
And to be fair to Tolbin – he was passable most of his time in the game – its hardly as if he was being beaten like a drum every snap. At some point you have to take a risk and ask a player to make a play. Tolbin looked like he felt and inside move or bull rush was coming – set his feet and then was caught flat footed while Kerrigan just went hard outside.
今天真冷，哈哈！
So mch better losing close ones that we shouldve couldve won, than some schit 4-8 team taking a dump on us & getting blown out
Whats sad is Thornton is having a better year than curry
Well he is a really good player. Not sure he gets on the field over Benny and Cox however – and it never made sense for him to be 3rd string DT. Currys lack of production and performance is really worrying – however he has struggled to adapt to scheme change before so im crossing fingers that he can work it out and come out and perform next year at his level… and we need him to because Barwin will be gone and he is going to need to play starters minutes.
Fucking Eli, you’re a vet make the throws.
If Tobin wants to get into theater this offseason, he would make an excellent windmill in a ‘Man of La Mancha’ production.
This text on Tobin from a friend summed it up:
Weaknesses: Regular season
Fucking Eli, why can’t you do this for us.
After a week of comments lamenting Doug losing the team and predicting that if the players didn’t respond with an increased effort it would signal his inability to coach, I look forward to a week of comments complimenting Doug’s ability to motivate a struggling team and beefing with optimism for his future as the Eagles HC.
It’s amazing to watch the different narratives emerge from the ether, because we have to blame SOMEONE for these losses… It can’t possibly be a complex cluster of interacting factors including things that are out of everyone’s control.
Much easier to just say fuk Dug.
Blaming Doug is perfectly acceptable in my mind. You really cant go wrong there. He is always going to be responsible in some way for a loss.
To think he has no chance to improve and is total garbage is where I start to take exception.
He does scare me with how ballsy he is on 4th down…I really like it though.
His ballsiness on 4th down is among the best things about him IMO. Shows that (1) he actually does make decisions in a cool, rational, data-driven way and (2) he’s not afraid of being criticized. Those are two very good (and extremely rare) traits for a coach to have. They are two of the things that make Belichick so special (not at all saying Doug is going to be that good, just that in this regard he is similar).
Or that somehow the best course of action is to replace him with some unnamed alternative.
So it’s not all Sam Bradford being terrible?
I feel like people are being way too hard on Doug. Expectations weren’t high coming into the season, justifiably so. When they got off to that hot start people ratcheted them way up and haven’t been able to bring them down as the team has reverted to the expected mean.
He hasn’t been perfect by any means but I think there’s been more good than bad and I don’t look at him and see a guy who’s overmatched as an NFL head coach. I think the Andy Reid career track (bad first year with rookie QB and terrible offensive roster, followed by improvement as the team adds talent) is still perfectly in play with him.
I’ll compliment him. Effort and focus was there on both sides of the ball today and for a change for the very outset too. It was nice to see.
Philly sports media always create unnecessary drama but in this case it was a bit warranted and important to see how this team responded.
I wish we had Janoris Jenkins. Just that 1 guy who can line up 1 on 1 with the other team’s best.
We had Maxwell, oh yeah…
lol, Maxwell was not that guy.
Clearly. It wasn’t a joke about losing Maxwell, it was a joke about his performance.
Dolphins have been putting Maxwell on the opposing top WR this year and he has played pretty darn well especially of late.
Maxwell was playing so poorly that he was benched for a game. As in, played zero snaps for a full game. Then injuries happened and he got back on to the field.
He may be playing “pretty darn well…of late”, but he hasn’t been playing well all year.
“Dolphins corner Byron Maxwell attempted to stake his claim, via the Miami Herald. When told that Arizona Cardinals corner Patrick Peterson is probably the best cover corner in football right now, the cornerback begged to differ.
“Man, listen, if he wants to say that, he can say that,” Maxwell
said. “I’m pretty sure he believes that. Just like I believe I’m the best.
“Nothing against him, he is a great cornerback. The answer depends on who you ask.”
The answer also depends on the week, the opponent, the weather and the venue among other factors. While Maxwell will get killed for saying this, he’s not crazy. The former Eagles
castaway is having an excellent 2016 and seems to be reborn under defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. Maxwell has had an interception in two of his last four games. He has four forced fumbles and is already tied for his career high in passes defensed.”
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000753929/article/byron-maxwell-believes-hes-no-1-corner-in-the-nfl
Alonso has also been great too this year for the Dolphins and while it looked like Roseman easily won that trade it has turned out the other way.
Part of it was the scheme but I also think Davis was a horrible defensive coordinator. He never accomplished squat in the NFL and I do put a lot of the blame on the crappy Eagles’ defenses under Kelly on him.
we still won that trade
Scheme fit is huge and while I don’t think Maxwell is as bad as he looked with us last year, I don’t think he deserves to be mentioned with guys like Patrick Peterson who would excel in any scheme either. If he’s playing in a Seattle-type scheme where he can be physical and has help over the top on every play, he can be effective. If you’re going to put him on an island, or ask him to play zone, he will be significantly less effective.
I wish we had any of their 3 CB.
Encouraged is a pretty strong word. Less frustrated? Sure. lol
I try to avoid watching the Cowboys, but I am just dumbfounded at how Wentz’s job is degrees of magnitude more difficult than Dak’s. Dak rolls out, just for variety not to avoid pressure and has the backfield to himself to lob a TD to a receiver open by 10 yards. That receiver catches it, and isn’t even their best receiver.
Of all the dumb narratives that are sure to emerge from this season, the “OMG Dak is the best young QBzzz in the NFL!!!” one is among the dumbest.
He’s not bad – he looks like a very competent NFL starter – but the degree of difficulty there is just absurdly low. It’s about as favorable a situation as you could possibly thrust a rookie into.
I was not a Dak fan pre draft- and frankly i still don’t think he is ever going to be a true top 5 QB (although like Wilson he could well be pushed there in media rankings with team success). But he has been excellent this year and is going to be a good long term starter.
Dak has done enough in 2016 to be given 2-3 years to learn the game – and in his case he will have training wheels on making it even easier due to their offensive talent by which time he is going to be a good long term QB.
Which sux because i wanted the Cowgirls to double down in trying to chase a SB with Romo – get into further cap hell and then fall apart for a decade plus while they bounce between short term QB options and fringe prospects.
The problem with Dak is he hasn’t yet battled through adversity. He hasn’t played a game like Wentz did yesterday, getting battered, hit, and hurried.
The league is full of 1 year wonders who had everything go their way for that one magical season. Anybody remember Nick Foles of 2013, or how about Matt Cassell of 2008.
It has been really popular on here to short change Dak but he has played and played well when they have needed him to.
Yeah comparing him to Wentz is kind of pointless but I understand why Boys’ fans are ecstatic with him this year. They went from a broken, down old sports car in Romo to a sleek and fast model that will be their vehicle of choice for years to come.
Jones still isn’t a good personnel manager or GM but as they say it is better to be lucky than good.
I’m not shortchanging him at all. I think he’s been very good this year, way better than I expected.
But I see.. I dunno, a more athletic but less accurate Alex Smith or Andy Dalton. A game manager, very solid, borderline top 10 guy in his best seasons – but not a franchise QB. He has not made one single play this year that made me say “wow – nothing the defense could’ve done there; he’s just that good”. I don’t think that’s an insult to Dak, it’s just realistic. He’s not a sleek sports car – he’s more like a Nissan Sentra. Still very solid, nothing wrong with it at all, you’re happy to have it, but you’ll need other things to go well if you’re going to win a race with it.
How can he be a borderline top 10 qb and that not equate to a franchise qb??
Do you think Joe Flacco, Andy Dalton, or Alex Smith is a franchise QB?
I’m defining “franchise QB” not as a long-term starter but as a guy who is a perennial Pro Bowler or near Pro Bowler, can regularly make “wow” type plays, etc. I don’t think there are more than 5 or 6 in the league at the same time generally and I don’t see Prescott as in that tier.
I think their organizations do or they all 3 would not have been given “franchise qb” contracts. I define “franchise qb” as a long-term starter so now that you’ve clarified what your definition is I have nothing to add.
Dak is so shit when he has to deal with an actual pass rush. Fuck Dallas.
DAL’s offense is soooo conservative right now.
But seriously, if your RB is running for 100 yards, and you’re not attacking downfield with the protection you’re afforded, then that says a lot.
Another game today where I wonder what difference having Murray vs Mathews would have possibly made.
Murray grounded out another decent game against a tough defensive team on a day where Mariotta had nothing and the Broncos had 8 guys in the box an awful lot. Today was the kind of game where I wish the Eagles had a back they could have ridden today and been decent in pass protection.
If Murray had here this year and Mathews moved, I do think they definitely would have 2 more wins right now and be 7-6.
Titans Murray would have been a big help. Cowboys Murray would have been a big help.
Eagles Murray… not so much.
Agreed. The only question is whether last year was Eagles’ Murray or just Chip’s Murray. Regardless, Howie could not wait around to find out.
God, Eli is doing everything he can to give this to the Cowboys.
Hell yeah….BIG DUMMY
Timeouts didn’t even matter yet there was plenty of time left, they should have play action on first down, they had to throw to get it. Fucking dumbasses.
I just know the Giants are going to blow this. Goddamnit.
YAAAAAAS!!!!! I love Dez Bryant!!!!
Game blouses
??
Hah, fuck Dallas, fuck me, fuck everything, this is great.
Then you realize NY won. These are the two fakest teams with good records man…
I really, really want to beat either Dallas or the Giants. Getting swept in the division would blow, and it would be nice to knock somebody out of the playoffs/hurt their playoff seeding.
Jaylen Watkins WTF ..shud be embarrassed like schmErtz was last week for avoiding the block to protect Sproles. WTF
??
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8940e5c4ec60901ccd2cd83a23b458fce3077ada10c3a582c1c683a665c0caf0.png
Eagles247 has the video… i couldnt cut&paste the link so. i just frame grabbed
other option is block in the back, also illegal.
If he didnt let up 2 steps prior he could’ve made the block .. id rather ssve a guys life and let the refs look stupid
He also has to give Sproles room to catch the punt
Watch it and if you dont feel he wussed out or bailed or got beat or out was out hussled, out worked or out committed to the gsmea or he let up early. .. or he let his buddy the opponent do a better job .. then i might just be too hard on him after all
I do not.
He would have had to presuppose that a cheap shot was a reasonable expectation of an outcome, and then The only way to stop him would be a blantant clip, and also run the risk of blowing sproles up himself.
Ok im cool w that. Thks for the look again.
I do think the other guy ‘wanted it more, worked harder’ .. but the hit is unadulterated cheap shot
1 more glaring example of how neglgent the ref’ing is
Perfectly said nice
I rewatched.. he didnt even get pissed after he saw thay cheapshot right in front of him… ok, gotta let it go
Lets him go right by … quute distasteful decision
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/816e296487b5c88e2426757c28481506ed8a93d91ff810ececa15a297d5dc215.png
Yea. The guy is already by Watkins. Its not like Watkins just let Sproles get lit up because he Ertzed the block
Other option is get there f in first becsuse you care more
Redskins guy going in full steam and watkins pulled up 2 steps ago .. Watkins had that guy in his vision and coulddve blocked him out .. its high speed but waTch the reply (eagles247 has it.. thd angle from above is even better )
Not surprised, that’s always been his knock. Sad though, he had been doing better.
I think that is coached. From my limited experience seeing these types of plays, if the defender is being blocked, he gets a lot more leeway in terms of interfering with a catch, possibly negating the penalty.
Or, if the guy had swerved out of the way like happens every other time, then Watkins is in Sproles’ way and the ball hits Jalen.
If yourr ok with his effort then ill let it go …
Fuck everyone, Dak is shit and I love it, Dallas OL masks so many flaws. Zeke got fed tonight, fed a can of whup ass. The Dallas December meltdown is on boys, like an illusion every year.
I wouldn’t go that far. Its just one game against a division opponent at that.
I’m unhappy with the amount of targets the PT Cruiser had this game. He is the key to our success.
i am in the Philippines, watched the game live at 2 a.m. and then saw the replay on game cast. I thought that the best thing was the Redskins getting that touchdown with just under 2 minutes left in the game, gave the offense plenty of time to go down the field for the winning touchdown.
It would have great to give our young qb his first come from behind win, unfortunately our 4th string right tackle missed his block and it wasn’t to be. Many of our losses this year came down to one penalty or a dropped pass. Its a shame we could not finish that drive for Wentz moved the team down the field efficiently until that fatal play.
The team didn’t have a lot talent to begin with and now we’re the walking wounded with guys who weren’t able to beat out the low talent starters we had. The effort was there but it just isn’t enough at this point.
https://twitter.com/JordanRaanan/status/808322064763469824
*throws up in mouth*
Many thanks Tommy, for looking beyond the score to do some critical evaluations. That is precisely what HC and the FO must do to improve and develop this team.