Game Review – PHI 34, WAS 24
Posted: October 27th, 2017 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 232 Comments »Last year the bye week proved to be part of the Eagles undoing. A 3-0 started was followed by a 2-9 stretch directly after the bye. The Eagles haven’t had their official bye week yet, but had a long layoff from the Thursday night game in Carolina until the MNF game against the Skins. Would that layoff affect this team negatively, as the bye did last year?
At first, yes.
The Eagles looked bad early on. They let Washington march right down the field for an early FG. The Eagles offense was even worse. Four straight penalties left them with 1st and 33 from the 2-yard line. Good luck calling the right play to get out of that.
This Eagles team has a toughness about them. Not just physical, but also mental and emotional toughness. They don’t panic. They do just enough to keep the other team close when things aren’t going well. Washington outplayed the Eagles, but only led 10-3. That’s when the Eagles snapped out of their funk and started to play good football.
Carson Wentz hit Mack Hollins for a 64-yard TD and it was like someone flipped a switch. The crowd came alive and so did the team. The Eagles basically dominated the rest of the game.
They weren’t perfect to be sure. Jordan Hicks got hurt early and Mychal Kendricks missed the whole game. That led to some sloppy LB play and some broken coverages. The defense played pretty well, but tackling was an issue all game long. Not just one or two guys, but the whole unit. The offense struggled with the Skins blitz, before and after Jason Peters got hurt.
The main reason the Eagles won this game was Carson Wentz. He threw 4 TD passes and made big plays with his legs as well. You could see a noticeable difference in him and Kirk Cousins. Cousins has become a good QB and he had some impressive moments, but Wentz was special. He was good on 3rd downs, in the Red Zone and in creating something out of nothing.
The Eagles are now 6-1 and this has gone from a promising start to what could be a special season.
It would help if star players would quit getting hurt.
COACHING
Doug Pederson didn’t have too many key moments to handle. The Eagles didn’t go for it on 4th down and there weren’t any situations where it looked like they should have. The one beef you could have with Pederson is that he didn’t challenge a spot on a Cousins run where he was pretty clearly stopped short of the sticks on 3rd down. WAS might have converted on 4th, but it would have been nice to force them to do it.
The offensive gameplan wasn’t working early, but the coaches and players made some adjustments and things opened up when the chunk plays started to happen. The Eagles scored as many points with Big V at LT as they did with Peters there. That tells you the team figured a few things out as the game went along.
The defense looked very leaky at times because of the LB situation. Against the base offense, you had Nigel Bradham, Joe Walker and Najee Goode on the field. That’s an unusual trio. The Skins burned the defense early with bootlegs and play-action passes. The D adjusted as the game went along and played those better, especially in the 2nd half.
PLAYERS
Carson Wentz was great. The numbers are good, 17-25-268 with 4 TDs and a pick, but they don’t come close to telling the story. Wentz made a couple of Houdini type plays that were huge.
The first play came in the 3rd Qtr. The Eagles led 24-17, but it felt like WAS had some momentum. Wentz dropped back on 3rd down and this happened.
Carson Wentz is a damn escape artist: https://t.co/59dNJ3h1y3 pic.twitter.com/ICzbgpsTcq
— Deadspin (@Deadspin) October 24, 2017
Anyone watching the game thought Wentz was sacked. Heck, knew he was sacked. And somehow he came flying out of that scrum for the 1st down. A few plays later Wentz decided to work his magic again.
https://twitter.com/LeadingNFL/status/922652334114586625
Another play where I thought he was going to be sacked. Instead, TD. Jon Gruden told the story about that being a college play that Wentz liked and how he convinced the Eagles coaches to put it in the playbook. Smart by him to ask and smart by them to say yes. What a drive.
The most impressive throw of the night was the long TD to Hollins. The OL gave Wentz a clean pocket and he took advantage of it. Even more impressive is that he had gotten sacked on the play before. He shook that off and delivered a great throw. The ball hit Hollins in stride. TD. Game-changing moment.
Wentz made some other terrific throws. He put great touch on a pass to Ertz late in the half that went for 46 yards and set up another TD (to Ertz). That long pass was accurate as well, hitting Ertz on the move and letting him add a few RAC yards. Wentz hit Jeffrey for a 24-yard gain on a 2nd half scoring drive.
Wentz is showing himself to be a true dual-threat QB. He was 8-63 on the ground, but one of those was a sneak and another a kneel-down. That’s really 6 carries for 63 yards. Ran for 21 yards on 3rd/3. Put a good move on DB to get extra yards on the play.
The lone INT came when the offense was backed way up early and he tried to hit Smith with a deep ball. They didn’t seem to be on the same page, but that turned out to be an effective arm punt. Did miss Jeffrey on a throw in the end zone, but hit Clement for the score on the next play so he made up for it.
RB
LeGarrette Blount struggled for most of the game. Finished 14-29, but 21 of those came on a single run late in the game. Give the Skins credit. They played the run well and Blount didn’t have much to work with. I didn’t like his vision on some of the runs. Looked like he made questionable reads on a couple of runs, but even those weren’t going for much. Just didn’t have room.
Wendell Smallwood helped to jump start the offense with some tough, physical running in the 2nd Qtr. Finished with 8-25 on the ground. His runs just seemed to spark the offense. Smallwood really fought for yards. A couple of plays later Wentz hit Hollins and the game changed. 2-14 as a receiver.
Corey Clement only got 2 touches but he made them count. Had the TD catch in the early 3rd. Adjusted his route on that and kept his eyes on Wentz. Then went up for the ball and made sure to get his feet down. Great catch. Ran for “6” yards on 3rd/6 early in the final quarter. Got a generous spot, but did a good job of getting everything he could on that run. Surprised the spot wasn’t challenged. Fumbled the ball late in the game, but fell on it immediately. Clement had some good pass blocks in the game.
Kenjon Barner was 2-5 on the ground. Didn’t have any throws come his way.
WR
Nelson Agholor led WRs with 4 catches. Finished 4-45-1. Caught pass on 3rd down in early 2nd Qtr and got an extra 7 RAC yards to help with FG position. Caught passes on 3rd Qtr drive to help the offense get going right after halftime. Added a nice TD grab later. Had to extend for the ball. Wasn’t easy. I don’t think he comes close to making that catch a year ago.
Alshon Jeffery was 2-37. Caught 13 yard pass on 3rd/4 to extend early drive. Key moment. Eagles were backed up and needed to get going. Drew PI call in the end zone late in the half. Made a terrific grab down the left sideline for a gain of 24. That moved the Eagles into scoring position in what was a tight game at the time.
Torrey Smith had one deep ball thrown his way, but it was picked off. Marcus Johnson had a deep ball come his way in the 3rd Qtr, but was just a bit too far out in front.
Mack Hollins only caught one pass, but it was for a 64-yard TD. Great play. Ran a good route and then tracked the ball well. Was in the air for 60 yards. Huge moment in the game.
TE
Zach Ertz was lights out. He is having an All-Pro year. 5-89-1. Set up TD late in the half with a 46-yard catch and run. Caught short TD a couple of plays after that. Was possible pick play, but defender played it well and stuck on him. Caught 21-yard pass to set up another TD by running a great route and getting open inside the 10.
Brent Celek had a couple of balls thrown his way. Finished 1-3. That was a screen on 3rd/long that WAS played well.
Trey Burton caught pass in 3rd Qtr. Got a couple of RAC yards on the play.
OL
Jason Peters played pretty well up until his injury. Halapoulivaati Vaitai took over at LT in the 2nd half. He was up and down, but there was more good than bad. Generally effective in pass pro. Played with good pad level. Moved his feet well most of the time. Sloppy with his hands at times. Needs to mix up his pass sets so he’s not doing the same thing over and over. Had a false start near the GL. Whiffed on Gallette on run play and that led to TFL. Big V showed some potential as a run blocker. That’s an area where he must step up.
Lane Johnson played well. He generally kept his side under control. Did get called for holding early in the game. Legit call.
Jason Kelce was up and down. Great block on screen to Smallwood late in the half. Put LB on his butt. Got blown up on GL run and Blount was tackled for loss. Ziggy Hood got the best of him on a handful of plays. Was able to move Kelce backward. There were plenty of plays where Kelce helped give Wentz a clean pocket.
Stefen Wisniewski was beaten by Kerrigan for sack in 1st Qtr. He struggled at times in pass pro. Didn’t have any real highlights.
Brandon Brooks was solid. Struggled on some runs where he was asked to pull to the left. WAS got penetration and Brooks couldn’t get to the defender on those plays.
*****
DL
Vinny Curry was in on a couple of tackles. Had TFL on 1st Qtr run. Up and down showing. Eagles DEs love to crash inside vs run. WAS stressed them by using bootlegs. DE had to either honor the QB and be slow to help vs run or ignore the QB and go for the RB. Curry went for the RB early and that made life too easy for Cousins. Curry and the D adjusted as the game went along.
Fletcher Cox didn’t dominate like he did in CAR, but played well. Got pressure multiple times. Just overwhelmed the C and dropped Cousins for a big sack in the early 4th.
Brandon Graham must like facing the Skins. Played well against them, just like the opener. Stat sheet shows one tackle, but Graham was disruptive. Good pressure on early RZ trip. Forced bad throw. Planted Cousins on opening pass of the 2nd half. Tackled Thompson on screen pass on the other side of the field. Love seeing that kind of effort and hustle from Graham. Created INT for Corey Graham by hitting Cousins arm as he threw a pass. Effective from both LDE and RDT in the Nickel. Gave the LG fits when he was inside.
Tim Jernigan only played 17 snaps. His ankle was bothering him and the other DTs played well. No reason to force the issue.
Beau Allen was solid. Was in on 3 tackles. Blew up 3rd Qtr run play by driving C backward. Created TFL for Barnett.
Destiny Vaeao played for the first time since the opener and showed good potential. Was only credited with one tackle, but was disruptive on some plays. Good motor. Looked quick. Needs to play with more power.
Derek Barnett started off slow, but played well overall. Missed tackle of RB early on. Didn’t even try to use his arms. Went with a shoulder tackle and Kelley ran right through it. Ugh. Struggled with RB/bootleg issue. Eventually got going and finished with 2 sacks, 1 TFL. Got a sack on the final drive of the game. Beat the backup LT and got to Cousins. Beat TE Reed for sack on 3rd/2. Good burst, dip. Came close to knocking the ball out. TFL was a gift from Allen.
Chris Long was in on a couple of tackles and had some good QB hits.
LB
Jordan Hicks only played two snaps before tearing his Achilles. Ugh.
Nigel Bradham had 3 tackles and a TFL. Hit Cousins as he threw and almost forced a pick. Fired into the backfield to get TFL on RZ run.
Joe Walker took over for Hicks in the base sets. Blitzed in 1st Qtr and forced errant throw. Played 17 snaps. No tackles. Looked okay, but seemed to be a step slow on a couple of plays. Will be interesting to see how he plays with a full week of practice.
Najee Goode struggled early on. Seemed lost in coverage a couple of times. Finished with 4 tackles and was better once he settle down. Solid vs the run, which isn’t always his strength. Actually did a good job of shedding blocks a couple of times.
S
Malcolm Jenkins had another strong outing. Had 10 solo tackles and a sack. Good in the box vs run. Played in slot and back deep. Stuffed end around to Crowder. Made a great tackle of Reed on 3rd/1 catch to still keep him short of the sticks. Got a sack of Cousins in the late 3rd. Cox flushed him out wide and Cousins held the ball a long time. Jenkins flew up and put him down. Very active and involved with a lot of plays.
Rodney McLeod played his best game of the year at Carolina and then struggled against the Skins. Missed multiple tackles. Almost had an INT in the 1st Qtr on deflected ball, but couldn’t quite get his hands under the ball. Missed tackle of Reed on 4th Qtr pass play and let him get into the end zone. Very sloppy.
Corey Graham had a good game. Made tackle of Davis on TE screen that had a chance to go for a good gain. Held it to just a couple of yards. Tackled Thompson after he got loose on a screen pass in the 4th. On the very next play, picked off Cousins (who was hit as he threw the ball). Finished with 4 solo tackles.
CB
Patrick Robinson had an up and down game. Made key tackle on early 3rd down in RZ to limit drive to a FG. Missed a tackle of Doctson on quick screen and gave up 17 yard gain. Gave up TD to Jordan Reed on quick slant. Reacted too slowly to play the ball or break it up. Played in the slot and outside. Robinson might have been at fault for big catch by TE on early bootleg. It was hard to definitively tell who was at fault.
Jalen Mills was solid. He was in on 4 tackles. Called for PI in the 4th. Legit call. Worst part is that the ball was so off target that he didn’t need to interfere.
Rasul Douglas was in and out of the game. Good tackle of Grant on 1st Qtr play. That was his only tackle of the game.
Jaylen Watkins came into the game in the 2nd Qtr and made some nice plays. He tackled Thompson, holding him to just 4 yards. Got a TFL late in the game when he read a screen play and flew up to make the stop for a loss.
*****
ST
KOR – Barner was 1-22. Ertz recovered a poor onside kick at the end of the game.
PR – Kenjon Barner had a 22-yard return in the 1st Qtr.
Donnie Jones – Averaged 51 yards per punt. Had one downed inside the 20.
Jake Elliott – He’s human!!! Hit from 42 and 50, but had one from 45 hit the upright and bounce out. If you’re going to miss a FG, do it at the end of a 10-point win.
MISC – Kamu Grugier-Hill forced a fumble when he hit Crowder on a 1st Qtr punt return. WAS got the ball back. Good hit.
***
_
I’m glad they’ve ripped the wide receiver screen page out of the play book.
Thanks for jinxing it.
Did they keep a fake-WR-screen-and-Go though?
That seemed like what happened on the play where Kelce was penalized for being downfield (play didn’t work and Wentz essentially threw it out the side of the end zone).
No, that was the bubble, slant combo. It’s an RPO and the Redskins just took everything away.
Well no excuse for Kielce being downfield on that one then…
?
Can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not.
Not sarcastic, shouldn’t be more than 5 yards downfield on a RPO or the pass part would never actually be an option.
But that’s not bothering me because he’s overall having a great year and that play was a bust anyway.
I want to see one go to Hollins. He is the perfect candidate to run that. Size, speed, and very aggressive running style.
Are the other guys going to get it blocked up properly?
I think they should keep at it. Not as much as earlier in the season, bit maybe once or twice a game. They’re still a young team and it doesn’t make sense to just completely abandon it. Screens can be very effective. Wentz had some accuracy/timing issues with that throw.
If this team can develop an average-to-good screen game (WR or otherwise), that’d be a huge boost to the offense
My complaining about Pederson’s play calling died weeks ago; along with that particular play call.
I heard CW’s throw to Hollins was the longest throw in the air that wentz for a TD in the last 2 seasons in case you missed it.
Can we just forget about last season?
I meant in the NFL so I edited it.
I think I saw the stat as “longest throw in the air in the league over the last two seasons”, did I read it wrong?
Ertz has had 55+ yards in 6 of 7 games and 81+ yards in 4 of 7 games.
He’s had 5+ receptions in 6 of 7 games .
He already has a career high 5 TDs.
Yeah, but when’s he finally going to break out?
Still waiting.
Is Dario ever coming over?
Opposing teams better watch the fuck out come November.
I couldn’t be happier to see this level of production. I’ve been griping non-stop he hadn’t lived up to his deal………..he responded big time.
Niners starting right guard Fusco (biceps) and starting right tackle Trent Brown (concussion) did not participate in practice for second straight day.
Neither did deep threat Marquise Goodwin (back) who had 116 yards and 80 yards in 2 of the last 3 weeks.
Shanahan expects Reuben Foster to play despite his rib injury but he was a limited participant. Expect the Eagles to test him with Blount.
Anybody hear a Joe Staley trade rumor? Anything to it?
It’s been speculated by the internet yokel community. No, there is likely nothing to it. He’s expensive. We have young guys to pay, and not many draft picks for next year.
He is expensive this year .He does have a reasonable number in 2018 and 2019 which is enticing though.:
4.8 million salary + 500,000 roster bonus each year.
There has been speculation. I hate “rumors” like this. What does that even mean?:
One name that has been linked to the Eagles has been San Francisco 49ers 33-year-old left tackle Joe Staley.
http://www.nj.com/eagles/index.ssf/2017/10/joe_staley_to_the_eagles_49ers_coach_mike_shanahan.html#incart_river_index
Furthermore , Pederson heaped praise on Staley but has a trade occurred after something like that?
He’s a bargain for next two years but he’d use up nearly all our cap space which we obviously would like to carry over.
In order to do what we need to next year, we’d have to make a lot of cuts if we got Staley. And we’d have less picks because we’d have to give something up for him.
I’d love to have him and we maybe are in position to make a playoff run but would a big negative affect on our future.
We’d have virtually no cap room next year and no carryover so we’d have the following possible cuts we’d have to decide on with Jernigan, Bradham, Jeffery unsigned. Not sure I want Jeffery back but teams do have to worry about him. Torrey Smith is probably gone.
Dead $ Cap Savings
Peters $6,333,334 $5,333,332
Curry $6,000,000 $5,000,000
Kendricks $3,200,000 $4,400,000
Kelce $1,200,000 $6,000,000
Smith $0 $5,000,000
Celek $1,000,000 $4,000,000
The other one I’ve heard, not as a rumor just an intriguing idea, is going nuts and trading for Duane Brown who’s held out from the Texans for the first 7 weeks for contract reasons. He’s good and the Texans and him may be willing to part ways.
Downside: we don’t want to (or are able to) pay him any more than the Texans. And I don’t know much about Duane Brown, but if he’s not better than Lane, we will want him to play RT in the long run and that isn’t the money he’s looking for.
Would be cool to have bookend tackles set going forward, but the plan is probably let Lane be our premier tackle, and let someone grow into the RT spot on the cheap (Vaitai if he does well this year, probably).
Lets keep our VERY limited draft resources.
Let’s trade him for Donnell Pumphrey.
I’ll never get tired of watching the play, but it came in the 4th quarter, not the 3rd.
Kirk Cousins has somehow fooled the Redskins and their fans (hell, the entire NFL it seems) into thinking he is a great QB. His record against teams with .500 or better records is 5 – 13 (total record 19-21-1). If you can only beat the bad teams, how are you going to win in the Playoffs! Washington would be smart to let him walk!
People talk about the cost of moving up to get Wentz, but so far, look at the return on investment! Worth every draft pick he cost…so far!
I think he’s a quality QB, I just think they have a bad team; little talent at WR & RB, below average inside LBs, below average Safeties…
He had two pretty good receivers in Jackson and Garcon last year along with a pretty stout defense and still rarely beat the teams with winning records.
Great? Haven’t hear anyone call him that. You don’t agonize on whether to pay a great QB or not.
General consensus is: not good enough to win a superbowl for you, but you can win a superbowl with him playing QB. So if you’re a one piece away type team and you just can’t seem to find your guy (like the Texans were until Watson), he worth signing. There just aren’t many good QB’s, and not enough promising young guys coming up to go around, which will be making Cousins a valuable commodity.
If Big Ben retires, I wonder if they make a play for him. Would probably be the best fit.
Get out of Philly for a while and come down to DC – he’s the next coming of Theismann to many here!
So they think he is destined to be the worst football announcer on TV when he playing career is over?
He’s got a real career selling Abercizers with Suzanne Sommers.
No thanks, I’d rather you get out of DC. That place is crazy, and not just the sports.
I kind of enjoy being a Philly sports fan in DC. Every year, the local fans talk themselves into this being the year the Nationals and Capitals finally get it done, and every year those teams choke in the first round of the playoffs again. It’s kind of cute.
I’ve been in NC for the past 10 years. Very interesting sports experience here. First and foremost the most important sport is college basketball. Duke, UNC, and NC State fans loath eachother. Football wise, the folks who grew up here and grew up loving the NFL tend to be Steelers, Redskins, or Falcons fans. But the local sports media is all about Panthers. And it’s funny watching Cam go through all the crap McNabb went through beat for beat.
Which Eagle gets to snap his leg in half?
I think this isn’t exactly the right take on him. He’s good enough to win 10 games and get to the playoffs with. He can carve up a bad defense. But he doesn’t have the same elite cerebral qualities that allow guys like Brady and Brees to overcome their physical limitations and win, and he doesn’t have the pure physical talent to pull game-changing great individual efforts out of his hat the way Rodgers, Wilson, or Wentz can. He’s the Andy Dalton of the NFC.
It’s a team sport. There is no magic spell on the playoffs that says “so and so can’t win here”. Guys like Brad Johnson, Trent Dilfer, an even Brady and Roethlisberger in each of their first Superbowls were not key components in those Superbowl winning teams.
Cousins can’t drag your team out of the fire, but some great teams don’t require that from their QB. I wouldn’t be surprised if a guy like Cousins could win a Superbowl with an otherwise super talented team like the Steelers. The only guys that truly sink a team’s aspirations is a guy like Trubisky who you only trust to throw 7 times a game (not a viable strategy to beat elite teams in the NFL). Ditto with Bortles.
It’s true that the most dramatic change of a team’s output for the smallest change and input is to change the QB. Get a stud QB and you are immediately relevant. But you can still be a great team with a competent QB.
I agree Cousins is good enough to win a championship with if you have the right supporting cast. I think he’s better than guys like Dilfer and Johnson for example. But the margin for error is much smaller because he’s not going to make the otherworldly plays a guy Rodgers can or play with the same metronome like consistency even against good defenses as someone like Brady.
He’s good. He’s cut out most of the big mistakes, and when the designed plays work and he’s throwing in rhythm, he can do a lot of damage. Not as good when the plays don’t work, and when pressure gets there ahead of schedule. Pretty good runner. I would still prefer him off the Redskins because I’m not sure they are going to be able to replace him — should be interesting.
Eagles were in a similar boat with Bradford. Howie pulled that off quite well, but don’t think the Redskins are going to be able to do the same. Cousins will be a full free agent, and will likely have more suitors than Bradford did.
Eagles gave up an extra 1st (2017), 2nd (2018), 3rd and 4th (both 2016) to move up. In the Bradford trade they recouped the 1st, and also 4th (though have to wait for 2018 for it). So in the end they got their franchise QB by giving up a 2nd and a 3rd, and delaying a 4th round pick two years. That is not a ton at all. I’m still amazed that was pulled off, and will likely be the moves that make Roseman’s career.
I don’t know if the numbers reflect it, but anecdotally he looks good when there is no pressure but does not look good under pressure.
People forget how absolutely amazing Rosemans maneuvering around that entire draft was. Never seen anything quite like it. Compare it to the Redskins trading up for RGIII, and that tells you all you need to know.
we overpaid by a 2nd rounder. They overpaid by two 1st rounders. It’s disgusting how well Howie did on that deal when the whole league knew we had a hard on for Wentz.
I would put Cousins in the same category as a Kerry Collins, Jake Delhomme, and Brad Johnson type player.
Good but not great. They even started in a Super Bowl, but it was never because they were great.
And FYI, I put Romo in the Vinny Testeverde category. Great regular season numbers but never believable numbers.
The difference is, none of those guys was ever in line to become the most expensive player in the league, which is right where Cousins is.
That’s the best conversation with Cousins. I’d put him into a 5 year / $120 range. But Washington hasn’t come up that high. If they lose to Dallas this weekend, they should trade him to Miami for their 1 and be done with it. Tannehill is easily cutable after this year.
Cousins is better than any of those guys, bar maybe Collins. And I think you’re being unfair to Romo. He was better than Testaverde.
Maybe… I just look at how a team plays for a QB. Cousins doesn’t inspire. Neither did Romo. It’s just my take on the “smell” of the QB’s.
And it is REALLY hard to compare QB’s today to yester-year. The passing game has dramatically changed. It’s like fuel efficiency in cars. Things change and numbers change.
I think Cousins is better than those guys personally.
He had 4,917 yards last year. He has a 67% completion % or better the last 3 seasons. He has 66 pass TDs, 26 Interceptions , 10 rushing TDs the last 3 seasons.
Collins has a career 55.7 completion %. His best season he had a 61.5 completion % and 4,073 yards. His career TD to interceptions was terrible 208 TDs, 196 interceptions.
Delhomme career 59.4% completion %. His best year he threw for 3,886 yards. Career 126 TDs, 101 interceptions.
Johnson’s best year, he had a 60.9 completion %, 4,005 yards, 24 TDs, 13 interceptions. Career 166 TDs, 122 intercepions. He’s a little closer to Cousins.
I’d say he could be pretty close to Phillip Rivers but not quite. Rivers had two seasons where he had 62 touchdowns, 20 interceptions and 8,964 yards. He has a career 64.5 completion %.
He compares to Matt Stafford statistically but I don’t think he has Stafford’s gun.
Statistically yes… But statistics aren’t all that goes into being a QB. And ease up the rules the way they are now and I’m guessing those guys numbers would improve.
I’m just saying that he isn’t going to take a team on his back and win. He might win a few here and there. He won’t lose you many games. But he isn’t special.
I think he’s a good QB. Sure looked like one to me the other day.
I agree. I think he’s good.
he’s good, maybe not great but a lot of teams don’t have that. He will be the rare good QB hitting free agency, so he will get paid.
He’s a franchise wrecker at this point. I don’t mean he’s not good, he is good. Really good. Just not great. He needs a solid supporting cast on both sides of the ball, which he had more last year than this year. With a solid supporting cast, and a decent amount of things falling the team’s way, they could contend at some point.
He’s a franchise wrecker specifically because once you pay him top dollar, which he will fetch, you no longer have the resources to build up that supporting cast that he needs to succeed. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. You pay him top dollar and then watch a bunch of 9, 10 win seasons with no playoff success, because you can’t afford weapons or a good defense. You let him go and now you can afford all the weapons you want, but you’ve got no quarterback.
It’s a terrible situation for WAS to be in, and it makes me giddy.
well at this point I don’t think he would take a deal before FA from Washington. But to your main point, yes he will get a premium above perhaps his true value (or does FA represent true value?), but is that excess really the difference between being able to compete? Maybe. Having bad QB play is also a bad thing.
I’m just kind of glad to see, contrary to all the pro-owner sentiment, a QB just keep playing out the franchise tag to reach FA. The fact that it’s Wash losing its QB just makes it sweeter.
Being shackled to a good-but-not-great QB with a massive contract is the NFL equivalent of being a 45 win team with no superstar in the NBA. In both cases you’re arguably worse off than the worst team in the league because you’re locked into being mediocre and have little-to-no shot at climbing further up the mountain.
He’s pretty good. “great” is thrown around to everybody in the NFL. Just listen to any announcer lol.
….
Keep in mind – his offensive guru left. Huge reason why Redskins offense is off tilt this year…
Tommy, you mentioned it above but after this week, would you be able to take what you saw from Vaitai in college and since he’s been drafted and talk about his run blocking? I feel like he can be serviceable in pass pro and Doug will give him help when needed, but I just hope the dropoff from JP to him isn’t Grand Canyon sized.
Coming out of college Vaitai had good feet and could kick slide well. In a normal draft that kind of skillset typically dries up completely by the end of the 3rd round. He wasn’t anything to write home about in the run game, typical air raid 2 point stance run game type tackle. Alot of just walling guys off and winning with position blocking.
He’s got good size and length. He can hold up reasonably well in pass pro. He can physically handle that stuff, his bigger issues in that regard are from technique standpoint. He gets lunge happy, seems to have developed weird habit where he like sticks his ass out and overly crouches likely as a reaction to alot of the bull rushes he struggled with last year.
Run game he’s ok. Not going to crush people still more of a position blocker, that’s ok. Pad level is a bit high at times. Better at down blocking.
Overall he’s not JP. He’s not a stud. He’s a league average RT (yes i know he’s currently playing LT). There will be a dropoff, but it’s unlikely that the whole deck of cards comes crumbling down because of him.
His issues seem to relate mostly to technique and polish. He’s got the raw physical tools. You can coach a guy to fire out of a three point stance better, take better pass sets, use his hands better, etc., you can’t coach him to have longer arms or quicker feet. Hopefully Stoutland is working with him 10 hrs./day to help him improve.
Thanks D3, I had a feeling you’d respond
Great review of a great game. Thanks, Tommy. Thanks, Eagles.
This article about the owners/players meetings re: national anthem is interesting.
http://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/21170410/gaffes-tv-ratings-concerns-dominated-nfl-players-forged-anthem-peace-league-meetings
veterans day weekend could get ugly
I love the image of Troy Vincent going head-to-head with Jerry Jones during the meeting.
Also, Lurie, as we’d expect by now, comes off as one of the more thoughtful, progressive owners.
another great segment from QB coach:
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/videos/videos/Tape-Study-John-DeFilippo-Evaluates-Wentz/2f9a64b9-08a5-47a2-b9d6-2516168eb5f9
I can’t wait for the Eagles to trade for DRC, whom NFL.com mentioned as a potential trade target. Lol.
What are they smoking?
I had my experience with “Mile Marker 23” and have no desire to repeat it.
Idk but I want their stuff!
He’s a loser.
Was anyone else anxiously waiting to here “Big V had an outstanding game.”
Well, I am picking the Eagles to win it 37-13. Big spread I know, but I am not a gambler. Just saying what I think. I think the Eagles cruise to a win on Sunday. Maybe a big statistical game for Alshon, finally.
There will be rain though…
Oh, rain?
Maybe 24-10 then.
On only one side of the field?
Watching Wentz throw that 60 yard strike, his form, profile and follow through looked just like #5 used to look.
He won’t match McNabb’s scarmbing skills though. But that’s not needed since he’s already the better passer.
Yeah, I don’t see the Wentz/McNabb comparison. McNabb was a more dynamic scrambler, threw a more consistent and accurate deep ball, and was better about not throwing into coverage. Wentz is better on the small window short-to-intermediate throws like slants and crosses and better at some of the touch stuff like back shoulder throws. Both top 5 talents though, and I agree with Donovan that Wentz is likely to break all his franchise records.
My memory on 5 is not even close to yours. “threw a more consistent deep ball’? (I don’t even think it’s close).. I hate using terms like this but 5 was a more athletically physically gifted player that overcame his inabilities as a QB. Wentz is a QB. Wentz might be a QB+ :).
agree with this for the most part…McNabb had a good deep ball off play action…Hank Baskett anyone??? As for him not throwing picks…this is true…cause he was overly cautious and when he did throw..he mistook earth worms as WR’s…the eagles grounds crew shed a tear of relief when he was traded…
You can’t compare Wentz yet to McNabb overall fairly. Mcnabb did not have a good deep ball early in his career as I recall.
It was a dink and dunk offense (he averaged 5.9 yards per attempt in 2000 and 6.6 yards per attempt in 2001) and I remember he missed Charles Johnson early in his career here and there but his WRs were barely average. Still, my memory is he struggled early on with deep throws.
I remember his deep passes getting intercepted often in 01′ and 02′. After 04′ I felt like he was one of the best in the NFL at it.
If he did, it was probably from lack of repetition. He was a bomb machine at Syracuse, (I once saw him drop a 60 yard pass in the gut while he was running). AR wanted timing and accuracy in the dinking, and that was not #5’s strength.
Plus the WRs were crap
In his late career, Reid emphasized the bombs, which was when Donnie’s beautiful deep ball came into its own. By this time (2008ish), the offense had started to get a bit stale, though.
Well yeah I agree he needed to get reps like any young and inexperienced QB. That’s the same with Wentz. He’s inexperienced and he’s already improved greatly on his deep ball accuracy.
I saw him at Syracuse too. He hit some bombs. But that has nothing to do with him as an NFL QB.
I just remember he missed some bombs early and people criticized him but me and my friends thought the criticism was stupid. I saw all of Donovan’s home games in person but 3.
I just can’t remember which year he started throing deep with some success whether it was his 3rd or 4th year but I do remember being mad that he had such bad and mediocre WRs.
The Eagles receivers were atrocious early in McNabb’s tenure, and to the extent he did have competent players around him, they were guys who were better in the short-to-intermediate range part of the field. When he got guys who could run deep patterns effectively, his natural ability to throw the deep ball began to shine.
I thought McNabb was one of the best at throwing deep balls in the NFL at the time.
Donovan had his issues with the occasional low throw on short stuff (the infamous “worm burners”) but he always threw a beautiful deep ball. Witness these:
https://youtu.be/6785WGVtTT4
https://youtu.be/i8VrfoztIyc
https://youtu.be/kM13X288Z-E
https://youtu.be/6785WGVtTT4
All perfect throws hitting receivers in stride. Wentz has improved in that area but still misfires a lot. Please don’t be one of those Eagles fans who doesn’t appreciate how good McNabb was. He was a bona fide superstar and with a better supporting cast earlier in his career and/or better injury luck likely would’ve won us at least one SB. Wentz is off to a great start but has a long way to go to match that level of accomplishment.
Unfortunately the stats are limited but my memory is deep passes were one of Donovan’s weaknesses early in his career. I also think Wentz can throw it further.
It’s really too early to compare them unless you’re comparing Donovan with the same experience level as Carson’s now.
McNabb had lesser weapons early in his career.
Carson’s deep accuracy seems to be improving a lot too but the sample size is small.
“…better about not throwing into coverage.”
I liked DMAC a lot, but – and this is partly AR’s demands, I think – he would let opportunities pass him by. He has a record (I believe) for int%, and that reflects not just his football IQ, but also a determination not to fail > a desire to win.
Donnie was streaky and IMO was not greatly gifted at diagnosing coverage. This might be related to information processing (IMO the most important QB skill, and not teachable), film study, and IQ. Wentz looks to be good at all three indicators, at least from what we can judge so far.
Just playing devils advocate here, but does anyone think HR somewhat regrets the Darby trade AT THIS POINT OF TIME with how our CBs have been playing above expected levels, considering the lack of draft resources next year, Rowe looking to be a 4th not 3rd, and SJ in the wings?
I emphasis this point in time because we really havent seen Darby play yet.
Hell no. Darby – when healthy – is still our best CB.
Ha, see my comment – great minds think alike. Cheers.
I get that, but our CB play has still been good enough. Like I said, just playing devils advocate.
Easily. He can be a number 1 corner (he is, I stand corrected). Mills is a good corner, but he’s very limited; he compliments Darby well, as does Douglas.
Uh, no. First, Darby wasn’t just acquired for this year, second he wasn’t just acquired for the first 7 games of this year, and third, Howie didn’t have the benefit of knowing how well the other CBs would play, so he could only evaluate based on what he knew then.
So recapping – hell no.
I understand all of that, hence why i said at this point in time.
Nope.
no still will be Darby and Jones on the outside when they win their first [second?] SB next year.
No because Mills still is too slow to play outside and that won’t ever change.
Darby is a clear upgrade if he is healthy than either starter outside.
I would expect that a GM’s job security would be 1) playoffs with one ps win almost every year = untouchable; 2) playoffs regularly with no ps wins = still untouchable, but with ten thousand experts troubleshooting the consistent ps flameouts (kinda like AR era w/Philly media including Iggles Blitz); 3) has a track record that is dependent upon having a franchise QB, and has a knack for landing franchise QB = 90% 4) has consistently respectable field performance, occasionally gets into playoffs, but has off years and has no PR skills = 60% favorable; 5) has a notoriously a**holish owner and does exactly what the a**hole wants = 99/5% favorable.
Howie is secure, I think first and foremost because JL loves him, but he also has demonstrated improvement in his position. He never had an issue with dealing and achieving favorable negotiating outcomes, but getting the right players…let’s face it the last person in Philly who was exceptional at getting talent in uniform was Buddy Ryan. So if HR is calculating the acquisition of Darby. He has – at this time – NO regrets.
I doubt the current crop of CBs will turn out to be sufficient, even if they’ haven’t caused us to lose for less than a handful of games, so no.
We have a great DL that masks the CB deficiency. Having great CB’s would turn this defense into one of the best units in the league. Combining great pressure and great coverage forces QB’s to either take more sacks, throw the ball away, or throwing into great coverage quickly which leads to more picks.
If we had a Very good set of Corners as opposed to adequate, the defense would be so good you could purchase your Superbowl tickets now.
Long story short, investing in really good corners was absolutely worth it. If Darby and Jones get healthy (as a tandem we are more looking at next year), look out. This Defense can be scary, and with Wentz leading the offense, we’ll be a legit elite team that terrifies people.
Never a problem to have too many good players. If the top 5 CBs on our team are Darby, Jones, Mills, Douglas, and Robinson, how much better does that look than anything in the past decade?
I was really hoping the Eagles would have picked up a veteran LB this week.
Any even semi-credible rumors?
They picked (up) a Cherry.
Which is better than a Gerry.
No vets would come in and help against the 9ers – and we don’t need the help.
Chill.
They don’t need the help because Walker and Goode are sufficient? Que?
And Grugier-hill and Gerry, plusignificantsafety help, against an 0-7 team w a rookie QB starting his second game, and with our dl? Que?
Not about the 49ers and Grugier-Hill and Gerry aren’t the answers.
Guess i overreacted to “this week”. They could make a move later. But those available are for a reason…
Gerry is the answer to “who is a sucky bastard who was a total waste of a draft pick?”
And Grugier-hill and Gerry, plusignificantsafety help, against an 0-7 team w a rookie QB starting his second game, and with our dl? Que?
We played the nickel a lot last year (Kendricks didn’t see the field that much), so yes, if we do that Walker/Goode are quite possibly sufficient for the remaining snaps. And maybe a couple of the younger guys improve with some on-field experience.
Bringing in veterans who do not know your schemes can sometimes be worse.
Need Kendricks to stay healthy and what are the odds he does?
Goode doesn’t do much for me (can’t cover and gets pushed around) and Walker is to slow to play snaps in a ‘Big Nickel’ package where he’ll have to cover a lot too.
Assuming Kendricks is healthy, Walker wouldn’t be playing in the Nickle packages.
The Eagles will be Good(e) enough.
Anyone worth trading for isn’t worth the expense. Anyone available isn’t going to be better than what we have. And both groups will be useless until they learn the scheme.
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/free-agents/2017/linebacker/available/
Here is the list. I’d be interested in working out Daryl Washington.
OL
I left this up around co workers.
are you a Russian bot?
KL
I left this up around co workers
why?
lol, let my guard down.
you should prob sign off your dad’s account he will get mad.
What’s this crap?!
Let my computer up around co-workers. They have been trying to do this for years. I was able to delete what they stated, however you cannot delete a full comment on Disqus for some odd reason.
mature group you work with. They’ve been dying for years to jump on and make “I’m gay” jokes? that’s sad.
I manage a sales floor. Should be enough said if you know a few sales ppl.
Your silly non-locking PC is forgiven.
If you click/touch the square with the minus sign on your own post, there is an option to delete it.
Edit: the drop down triangle, not the square. It is in place of the block user option on other people’s posts.
Lay off the bath salts
Down here in FL it is flacka.
What did they say?
“I’m gay and that I want to play TE.” They could have done better.
Interesting to hear from Trotter that the Eagles are going to use more of the ‘Big Nickel’ as their base defensive package moving ahead forward with Jenkins playing up more in the box and putting Graham in as an extra S.
Eagles’ DL (especially the DEs) has been so good this year vs run they probably can get away with this.
I believe Jenkins was playing linebacker on that Green Dog sack
Yep. Best available playmaker and can play safety, corner and hybrid LB.
I’m a fan of that. I think it allows them to be more versatile……….as long as their D-line is winning at the point of attack.
Especially if we are coupling it with an explosive offense that puts up a lot of points and forces teams to lean toward the pass to keep up with us, I think we can get away with this.
I hope DeAndre Hopkins demands a trade to the Eagles.
That owner is a fucking idiot. I’d be mad as hell if my boss degraded me like that.
Yea that comment…. WOW
Why…. would… you say that?
Hopkins for Alshon. Who says no?
Probably Houston?
Definitely Houston.
So… I am anti-billionaire white asshole as much as anyone, but it seems to me that it was just a figure of speech. What it showed, IMO was contempt for workers and their autonomy as human beings, which is par for the course for our capitalist, bizarrely anti-union society, using a very unfortunate metaphor (inmates running prison like inmates running the asylum). However, I wouldn’t necessarily interpret it as racist. It may reflect that he thinks of black people as like prisoners, but it may not, too.
I’m speculating, but I think Hopkins wasn’t “offended” by the cavalier metaphor, but the sentiment behind it. Jerry Jones flat out said players must stand for the anthem, and the stupidity of that arrogant demand prompted the whole team to meet without the owner. Funny how these Texas billionaires think they own the ether. But I doubt that DH’s anger will rise to the level of a trade demand. All he’s asking …is for a little respect!
PHILLY RESPECT!! 😉
the players are employees. it’s not necessarily “arrogant” for an employer to request employees to perform their jobs in certain ways. if the request is unlawful or out of bounds then the union should step in and negotiate.
The players are NOT employees. They’re contractual self-employed men, and they have freedoms not proscribed by their status as players.. They have a cba, and they violate it at their risk, but tmk, the cba does not specifically state that a player will stand for the anthem. If it did, that point would have been repeated ad nauseum from Goodell the spokesman for the billionaires, and the complicit media. It is definitely arrogant to think that grown men have to be talked down to by the likes of Jerry Jones. His wallet size does not make him a voice of conscience.
I’ve wondered this but never bothered to ask: are the players independent contractors or employees?
Basically, do taxes come out or their game day checks?
It’s more of a generally interesting question to me than anything specific.
I don’t think there is a clear boundary, but the manner in which individuals are issued contracts – aside from their membership in the players union – implies a degree of independence that does not pertain to typical job applicants. I’m not sure the manner in which taxes are paid offers any insight. But the mere fact that the more highly demanded performers have more negotiating power suggests they are not employees. They buy into being yelled at, treated as property, driven like animals, and when their note is up, the best ones call the tune. An employee becomes a free agent when he/she retires.
There’s a definitely a clear boundary to independent contractors and employees. Players, from the outside, don’t meet the standards (set your own work times, risk of profit and loss, provide your own materials, carry your own Workers’ Comp). But still, maybe there’s an area I’m unfamiliar with.
It generally comes down to taxation. The employer is liable for payroll taxes on employees but not on ICs. That could tally maybe $5million + per year for each club.
Being unionized doesn’t have much bearing on status. Electricians, for example, are often in a union but still work as independent contractors.
I’m just wondering legally more than practically.
Re: bizarrely anti-union society
Speaking from the Eastern US perspective: Every manufacturing job that was lost to globalism (or before that, the south), was blamed on the Unions. Where the union was once acknowledged as a critical component to having a middle class, Rust belters that lost factories were told it was because of the union, and other folks got opportunities because they weren’t unionized. So unions became a dirty word for everyone.
Of course the powerful are experts at this crap. You’re poor and white? It’s those freed slaves we’re exploiting, they took your jobs it’s their fault. You’re poor because of taxes. You’re poor because immigrants are stealing your jobs. You’re poor because unions chased the jobs away. It’s never “you’re poor because we won’t do business with you unless you allow us to exploit you.” It’s always “go be mad at them, it’s their fault”
/rant
Not a rant, just good words.
To add, us poor folks aren’t innocent in all of this either. There is a strong urge to drag others down with us, for company I guess. Instead of looking on the protections that union workers enjoy and thinking one day I might also, i become jealous and undermine unions in general. Or, as it was explained to me, the “my neighbor has a nice cow; I want that cow dead” mentality.
Don’t know about you, but I get the feeling that the unwavering support for an embarrassing pretender in the WH is, in part, to spite those who support the one-party sham. I totally get the anger and frustration, but why give carte blanche to a boor with a fifth-grade level vocabulary? A large portion of our electorate, for decades, has bought into the demonization of government, thought and good works. Union and liberal are dirty words for many. Fake news is not a new thing. It has dominated talk radio for decades. Our blessed corporations are happy.
Unions are a net negative to society. They are cartels which, due to being a cartel, allow lobbying, inflated wages, and substandard quality. You get what you pay for – unless what you’re paying for has been legislated to protect special interests like unions.
Y’all need more Milton Friedman!
There were some bad ones that were incredibly powerful and plagued with corruption, but many if not most were fine and established collective bargaining which was critical for establishing several basic workers rights, as well as claim a bigger slice of the fruits of their labor.
And there’s nothing wrong with someone lobbying on behalf of the working man in the face of the legions of corporate lobbyists at various legislatures around the country.
Anyways, Friedman’s theories haven’t done squat for the common man. Inferior education, inferior business acumen, inferior resources, a government rigged against him in favor of the wealthy: there is just no way to compete with the corporations on the open market. Especially as corporations continue to merge to make us captive consumers.
Unions were flawed but they gave the working man a seat at the table, which is key because if you aren’t at the table, you’re on the menu.
Some of the most productive and efficient societies on the planet (e.g. Germany) have strong labor unions. Your statement is not supported by empirical evidence.
Totally disagree. In terms of lobbying, it is more rampant then ever except now the only ones represented by lobbying are the ones with deep pockets.
In terms of quality, education provides an easily documented measure. Use any measure of educational quality you like – state tests, highest degree achieved, college entrance exams, employability measures, career earnings – take your pick. Look at the rankings by state and with no more than a handful of exceptions you can draw a line through the list where all the states with teaching unions are above and all the states without are below.
You do get what you pay for, but that applies to the input as well as the output.
This take really doesn’t track the research on US teachers unions. Research on the results that unions have for kids in any number of indicators is mixed and unclear at best. We really have a knowledge gap about how unions generally affect student learning. I’m not sure exactly what evidence you’re referencing, but my understanding of teachers unions is that it’s more complicated.
I generally think they’re good for some stuff but not others. It’s like thinking about sports matchups. Allow them to bargain over certain things but not others. Like Goldilocks might think, not too much, not too little.
Without unions, our workplaces would be the same as Third World sweatshops.
Yeah, show me one example please of any country that had widespread prosperity following laissez faire principles…just one. We are moving toward that type of system here because our politicians and our judges are bought. And look how well we are doing? Collective bargaining is a constitutional right that is undermined at every turn in this land. It is the essence of a democratic society…which we used to be.
I recommend that you read Naomi Klein’s “Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism”
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=chrf-yff25&p=the+shock+doctrine+youtube#id=1&vid=d9205d09cebaa7eeaba8691b25d31d6a&action=click
mistakes are happening because owners are under great pressure now. the TV ratings are tanking (approximately 10-15% down from 2 years ago). Major sponsors are threatening to pull out. Both owners and players should take a pause and think about saving the game that’s been lucrative to both groups.
it’s likely a mistake to blame the ratings drop purely on protests. There are a lot of factors, and that is probably one of them to a certain demographic. While another demographic might be driven away more by head trauma and the general negativity around that. Others are likely disinterested because football is weird this year, stars are injured, there aren’t many good teams. And then general football over-saturation. They’ve got a lot to figure out, not just the national anthem.
Ratings were dropping before the protests began.
notice I never mentioned protests
Sorry, seemed like that was the general topic of the thread, my mistake.
There are global media factors too: young people don’t watch TV.
That is so true. The NFL was making money hand-over-fist when journalists helped dethrone a president who would be king, but now the MSM can be trusted to report what is whispered in their ears, and stay mum on all else. Isn’t it curious that the pentagon, and the whole national security arm of the government denies NONE of the information reported by Assange and Snowden, but the MSM reports it as a yawn. Millennials know the media are tools of the state and largely stay away.
True. Once the NFL figures out how to stream games acceptably think “ratings” will rise
And there is no badass ever risen to replace Dawkins !
Ratings are down for EVERYTHING. Reality TV, baseball, Sportscenter, MTV, hit sitcoms, NASCAR, etc.
It’s a fact of life in the cord cutting era.
The NFL already hit it’s peak in the US. If they want to continue to sustain growth… it’s going to have to go global. Otherwise regression should be expected.
No need to interpret. People are gonna get outraged but if they would read the article…
“McNair later pulled Vincent aside and apologized, saying that he felt horrible and that his words weren’t meant to be taken literally, which Vincent appreciated.“
https://twitter.com/beaner_426/status/924002234106548225
It seems that way to you because it is. Anyone who thinks he is literally comparing his players to prisoners is a fucking moron.
That being said if Hopkins is mad and wants out, who am I to say he shouldn’t come here?
I think once they got rolling the only play I was livid over was the nonsense surrender of the 3&13 in the red zone that led to the TD to cut it to 24-17. Not cool dudes; get off the field when I’m yelling at the TV to get off of the field.
So the weather forecast will make me change my pick for the Eagles game. Until yesterday I had them covering the spread. Not so much more any more: https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a0db263de0fa358ae3daac681e56093fde0bb0db8130b20c88ef0c1a53fd099b.png
Does it only rain on our side of the field? If the Eagles don’t cover it’ll be because they played soft and down to the level of an inferior opponent. If we get some rain…..DROWN THEM IN THEIR OWN INFERIORITY!
I’d rather play in rain at home than travel 3000 miles to get balmy weather. Some teams and coaches prepare better than others for the travel thing, but our guys should definitely have more gas in the tank.
plus we know what footwear works best on our field; they don’t.
My concern isn’t weather, but mental approach. The Eagles all know they’re the only team with one loss in the league, they know it’s a bitch to play fighting jet-lag, they know San Fran is courting humiliation, and they know that many of the idiots in the stands expect a mauling. They cannot lose respect for the opponent, and they cannot mail it in. The is a big test of DP’s coaching prowess. I’m pretty sure if AR was still here, we’d get our asses handed to us.
And we still might lose, but I can’t blame the weather.
The bigger concern is that poor weather is considered a great equalizer in an otherwise unequal match up. So technically poor weather is better for the 49ers. But I agree, no excuses, no let downs, just win.
I’m not a believer in any type of equalizers.
Even the snow bowl when both teams had to learn how to move in the snow from scratch? It’s certainly anything but whatever you draw up on paper.
Like if you take the classic roster designs of 3-cone/quickness build vs a size speed power roster build, advantage to the guys that don’t depend on traction
No, we were better than Detroit and kicked their butts. Cream rises!
Hmm, maybe, but I’m still bitter about the fog bowl and will forever wonder how that game would have turned out in anything close to standard football conditions.
That was amazingly horrible.
People focus on the times AR’s Eagles teams lost games where they were favored and ignore the many, many, many times they steamrolled bad teams in games like this. Reid was generally pretty good at having his teams ready to play.
I’m not knocking the big guy. He did a lot for this franchise. I always had the impression that he budgeted his attention time. His guys would often play their division games like the cream of the NFC, and then a week later look very beatable against inferior opponents, and, across the years, they did lose a fair share of those kind of games. I thought he was exceptional when given ample time…after a bye, he might be undefeated (I’m not sure), and he definitely had the Eagles ready for the SB. I just recall a number of occasions where his team was strong against their toughest competition, and not so impressive where they were heavy favorites.
The Bills just traded Marcel Dareus to the Jags. Wow.
They must want leverage to jump the draft cue.
I guess the whole superbowl thing is lame, you’ll never have has many as Brady/Belichick. Might as well shoot for glory as the team that was really good with Blake Bortles throwing a dozen passes a game.
That defense is loaded. Jax could soon be able to replicate the 2000 Ravens.
This tells me they’re ready to dump a bunch of draft picks into getting the QB they want in this year’s draft.
I mean, it’s reported to be a 6th rounder in compensation. That’s not going to get them very far up the board.
But it still baffles me how much GMs over value late round picks.
No, I mean Jax is. They’re putting all of the cash into the D, so it leaves them in need of a rookie QB to build around while the D talent is eating up all of the cap space.
for a 2018 sixth-round pick
holy shit.
Dareus was traded to the Jaguars on October 28, 2017. The Jaguars pick up the balance of the Dareus’ 2017 and 2018 guarantees. The Bills gained $5.73 million in 2017 cap space with the trade.
https://overthecap.com/player/marcell-dareus/1830/
Why is Hicks still on the active roster?
F**** knows. I guess they are waiting for the trade deadline to make a move..?
We are finalizing a three way deal. We will combine parts of Hicks, Kuechly, and Lee into a single linebacker. Each team will get to use him for 5 games. The other game he will be hurt.
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/ndamukong-suh-choked-ryan-mallett-tried-attack-173903163.html
I’m not even sure what to say about this except it feels like every day parody is becoming closer to reality.
There is a funny exchange in a Soprano’s episode with Pauly Walnuts talking about having a right to defend himself. Seems apt.
Would you rather have the entire Jaguars D or Wentz?
Are you high?
🙂
Who’s our QB ?
A warm body
Then we are fffar better off w Wentz
Wentz. No question. A franchise QB automatically makes your team relevant for a decade plus. See Pats with Brady, Colts with Manning, Packers with Rodgers, Steelers with Roethlisberger, etc. Heck, we don’t even have to look at other teams – we can just look back at McNabb’s tenure here and remember when the question before each season was “is this the year they finally get over the hump and win it all?”, not “can they squeak into the playoffs if everything goes right?”
A great defense can also win you a SB, but it is much harder to sustain success at that level based on the play of an entire unit rather than one player. Guys get hurt, leave in free agency, decline, etc.
They delay on IRing Hicks is interesting. Let the speculation begin. My turn: Saving the spot for Jones to come off of NFI?
may as well wait until you identify how you are going to fill it. The NFI guess may be a good one.
It can be hard to parse the CBA, but there may be a provision in the practice squad rules which may limit eligibility if a team does not have 53 players on the “Active/Inactive List” at all times. I guess the intent was to punish teams which had fewer than the allowed 53 players being paid in full, i.e. using the cheaper practice squad to stash players instead of paying them more and making them inactive.
“An otherwise eligible player may be a Practice Squad player for a third season only if the Club by which he is employed that season has at least 53 players on its Active/Inactive List during the entire period of his employment.”
But, I’m not sure if players on IR count towards the “Active/Inactive List” there or not. If so, that clause is generally inoperative since all teams carry the 53 players coming out of camp. But if not, then putting a player on IR without immediately replacing him may have CBA consequences.
Hollins seems like everything we also wished Huff would turn into.
And Hank Basket
and Riley cooper