The Time Machine
Posted: October 9th, 2017 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 276 Comments »The Eagles have had some 2nd half struggles this season. They gave up a lot of points to the Chiefs and the Giants, especially in the 4th quarter. The Eagles lost in KC and almost blew the Giants game.
Last week the Eagles ate up the final 6:44 of the game to seal the win over the Chargers.
On Sunday the Eagles were up at halftime 21-7. They opened the 2nd half with a 5:42 drive that ended with a Jake Elliott field goal. That put the Eagles up 24-7 and it had to be disheartening to the trailing Cardinals. The Eagles were up 31-7 in the 4th quarter when they got the ball back with 11:14 left on the clock. The Eagles then had a 13-play drive that ate up 9:14.
It is awfully hard for a team to come back when they can’t get the ball back to their offense.
The Eagles have big play ability, as you saw on Sunday, but they also can move the ball methodically and really work the clock. This is important. It keeps the other offense off the field and it shortens the game. The key to this is being able to run the ball and convert on 3rd downs. Carson Wentz and the offense have been masterful on 3rd downs this year, especially the last couple of weeks.
The offensive line has done a strong job of protecting Wentz. Give him a clean pocket and he will find someone to get the ball to. Eagles receivers have gotten open and they’ve caught the ball when it comes to them. Give the coaches credit for calling good plays. It also helps that Wentz can run for a 1st down when that is needed.
A big reason for the 4-1 start is the offense’s ability to move the chains, score points and shorten games. It will be interesting to see if they can keep this up.
*****
Patrick Robinson did not have a good spring. He was up and down in the summer, until moving into the slot. That seemed to make him comfortable and he began to play well. Robinson has arguably been the Eagles best CB this season.
Jim Schwartz moved him outside against the Cardinals. Rasul Douglas wasn’t a great fit against Arizona’s speedy receivers. Robinson moved outside and the Eagles put Malcolm Jenkins in the slot against Larry Fitzgerald on a regular basis. Douglas did play. Schwartz mixed and matched throughout the game, but it was interesting to see Robinson play so much on the outside.
As for Fitzgerald, he finished 6-51, but he was 2-20 on the final drive when the Eagles were playing prevent D with a lot of backups. It is rare for Fitzgerald not to destroy the Eagles. He seems to love playing against the guys in green.
I wondered if this might happen, and also how Robinson would fare when getting out of his comfort zone. Robinson had a terrific game. He had 4 solo tackles and broke up 3 passes. One of the tackles was a 4th down stop that ended a drive. One of the other tackles came on 3rd down and forced a punt. Robinson also contributed on STs, blocking a FG at the end of the 1st half.
Robinson should have had at least one INT. I’m sure Jim Schwartz will let him know that PBUs are good, but INTs are better. Robinson also had one bad moment late, when he missed a tackle and allowed a WR to get by him.
The Panthers have some big receivers so I think Douglas will go outside and Robinson will move back to the slot. So far, Robinson has played well no matter where the Eagles have lined him up.
*****
Kenjon Barner had a great game against the Cards. He returned three punts for 110 total yards (36.7 per PR). The long run went for 76 yards and took the Eagles from their own 10-yard line to the Arizona 14-yard line. That return set up the Eagles second TD of the game.
Barner ran 5 times for 23 yards. He drew a PI penalty on a LB in the 2nd half that helped the Eagles score more points.
The team doesn’t need Barner to turn into Gale Sayers, but he can help quite a bit if he is able to contribute on offense and STs. He made key plays on Sunday, so that’s a bonus.
_
barner looked like sproles out there today
damn i miss sproles already
Except Sproles doesn’t (didn’t?) run out of gas on long punt returns! Still a great return though.
Everyone is criticizing him running out of gas on that return without accounting for the double cross field moves he ran. He must have run 200 yards before all is said and done. I’m not going to get down on him for slowing down after that, especially after being only a week on an NFL roster.
I’m the most anti-Barner person here, but I can’t hold him up to a Sproles standard on returns. There was 100% a correct reason why Barner was issued walking papers and Sproles was kept. I’m glad we have a guy who knows how to return punts after we lost Sproles, but in a relative sense Barner is what he is.
no doubt, sproles has more long speed… talking more about the small jukes and body lean that helped him break those returns. u can def tell he learned from sproles
There aren’t a lot of Sproles level guys out there.
It amazes me that Barner has assimilated so well in such a short time. What a credit to him and to the Eagles for reaching out to him.
He knows the offense
he knew some of the playbook from last year
This is a top 3 team in the NFC if they can keep up this level of play.
Once Cox and Darby is back this defense will be so much better (goes from top 10 to top 5 defense)
I wonder if Odell can rub some dog pee on that broken leg.
I’m sure he keeps some in a jar for situations like this.
Did anybody see the play on which Lane was concussed? Is there a clip on Twitter of it?
How fun is this? Last two weeks – Eagles 2-0. Giants/Wash/Dallas – 0-5. 🙂
On first watch, I thought the team did an exceptional job of tackling – both in traffic and in the open field. I too was quite impressed with Robinson’s coverage all game long.
This is becoming a fun team to watch. I don’t think this team is capable of making a surprise run like the 2000 team, but I can definitely envision the team winning a playoff game this year and then continuing to improve with time. I still think we need a more dynamic and durable RB to complete the offense. Defense obviously needs better health and continued better play in the secondary.
I would love Royce Freeman as he fits perfectly in this offense
“I don’t think this team is capable of making a surprise run like the 2000 team, but I can definitely envision the team winning a playoff game this year and then continuing to improve with time. ”
That is exactly what the 2000 team did.
I mean, I can sort of see them doing it since there’s a good bit of parity in the NFL at large. Back in 2000 though, that team took a major leap forward much in thanks to the development of McNabb and the dominant defense. Our defense simply isn’t on that level though.
In 2000, they made the playoffs and won 1 game. You said that “I don’t think this team is capable of making a surprise run like the 2000 team,” but then you said “I can definitely envision the team winning a playoff game this year and then continuing to improve with time,” which is exactly what the team did in 2000. I am confused as to how you can envision them doing exactly what the team did in 2000, but also don’t think they are capable of doing what they did in 2000?
Maybe you are thinking of 2001, where they went to the NFC championship game (not 2000, where they lost to the Giants in the second round of the playoffs)?
Either way I get your point, even though I am hopeful that if they get healthy with Darby and Cox back this defense can start playing a lot better by the end of the season.
Yeah, I probably should have checked Pro-Reference first. It was 2001 – my Freshman year of college. I should know that bc they played in the NFC Title game each year I was in college.
Although they had won a playoff game the year before, I don’t think anyone assumed that ’01 team would have advanced to the NFC Title game.
I think if they get everyone on this defense healthy and you’ll be surprised how good they can be.
Current 9 (minus CBs) with Darby and Jones next year. Lethal.
We have the perfect combo at RB. Of course everyone would love a Hunt or a Bell, but we have a true bruiser, a true top end complimentary back (if he continues blocking at a high level), and a solid N-S runner as a 3rd option. Oh, and another guy who has had success running in the NFL and returns punts.
Honestly, I think anyone could run behind this line, with this QB.
Couple observations from yesterday: Ertz seems to be getting more physical. He is embracing some contact and while hes not breaking tackles, he’s alsonot falling immediately upon contact. Second, Ags TD reminded me of what I saw from him in college, love that he is contributing this year!
Ertz played the last 2 years with significant injuries. It’s so easy to overlook that and criticize.
Wow! Best two weeks of football in a long time. Eagles’ offense is beating down opponents. CB’s are holding up better than expected. Wentz is looking more and more like the franchise QB we hoped for. Peters is still amazing and the front seven are getting constant pressure. Special teams are, well…special.
So the Dolphins O line coach was snorting coke before a meeting and videotaping himself doing it… no wonder their oline blows. (:rimshot:)
I can understand doing coke in that business but why videotape it?
apparently was trying to impress a girl (presumably not his wife)
Nothing more impressive than addiction. SMH
Hopefully he gets some real treatment.
I can’t. Caffeine is effective. Cocaine is illegal, dangerously addictive (whereas Caffeine generally is not), and infinitely more dangerous.
Why do I feel like the gas mask bong video actually raised their grade on Tunsil?
So far an astounding amount of preseason narratives about players/positions groups – that focused on the negative – have been flat out wrong.
– “running back by committee means you have no quality at RB position”. Ha
– Blount – ha
– Carson’s deep ball – ha
– Agholor – so many wrote him off as a done deal – nope
– Kendricks
– Barner (ok, stretch, but)
– Patrick Robinson (I was basically called an idiot for saying that in a change of scenery, with a good pass rush, and quality safeties around him, he could be better than all the negative hype)…
– Mills
– Doug Petersen’s play calling/overall coaching
– Ertz
I’m not saying that negative comments are not allowed or that they’re never right (what up Cho), but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to point out how at this point, the list is hard to ignore…
There’s so much BS there, it’s not even worth addressing each one. But I will challenge you – who said ‘running back by committee means you have no quality at RB position’? I’m not a fan of it but I never said it couldn’t be productive(nor have quality, I’m a huge Sproles fan). NE does this every year and it’s hard to argue their model. Oh – just to throw out facts — leading rusher in the second half(going into yesterday) with yards per run – Hunt. Reason given – HE wears down defenses….RB by committee can do that too — but Hunt will have a better feel for the game as the game goes on…
The reason it’s all BS is because everyone on this board can do exactly what you did. I was on here screaming that starting a rookie QB would NOT ruin his career. I was on here screaming – Sproles(while being a huge fan of his) wasn’t needed at his age while rebuilding. I’d rather young talent being developed – blah blah blah list goes on….
….
People really questioned Blount and Ertz? Splitting hairs there… Barner is beyond a stretch. After the last couple of years – YOU were on here screaming Agholor is great? That makes 1 of you.
….
I’ll never like Pederson calling plays. Ever.
Yes people questioned the RB committee, Blount, Ertz, Pederson plays etc. He’s not talking about just this website I think but coverage of the team in general
To clarify, i wasn’t only talking about igglesblitz.com, i was including bleeding Green Nation (they were SUPER negative on the rbbc thing), radio, etc.
Hunt is incredible and i really really wanted the birds to draft him after Tommy and Kempski wrote about him. But that doesn’t say anything about how great our running game has been.
Some were saying Blount was just a pats fluke, old and overused, and some even said he should be cut after poor preseason. Many were saying he looked terrible in preseason and that the struggles would continue.
Many trashed Ertz for lack of consistency, toughness, and blocking.
I never claimed i said Aghs would be great. Not a bust written in stone doesn’t equal great.
“Hunt is incredible and i really really wanted the birds to draft him after Tommy and Kempski wrote about him.”
I don’t think it’s fair to get worked up over not taking Hunt unless Jernigan leaves as a free agent.
Generally agreed. But Hunt is and was special.
That’s valid, but a guy who lasted until mid-round 3 was a bad pass-over by a lot of teams.
The list of things that _different_ people said, put together as if they represented one person’s viewpoint? Dirty pool.
Seriously, after a few games you’re going to claim that all of these claims are wrong? Wentz hits on a few bombs and so the problem is solved? The CBs manage to do their job for once, and so it’s fine? The Eagles beat up on some weak/winless teams and Doug Petersen’s a good coach? What was their record at this point last year?
The only thing I’ll agree with is the Ertz criticism was unjustified. The raw and advanced stats show that he’s a top TE, people just complained because he gets paid a lot and doesn’t fight for yardage.
I don’t follow you about, “put together as if they represented one person’s viewpoint” – at all. I didn’t write or suggest that, nor did i intend to.
As to you paragraph starting with “seriously”, I didn’t make any of those claims at all.
Your post reads as though you skipped the first two words of mine.
I guess I just don’t get the point of your post, then. It looks like a weirdly constructed “gotcha” toward the “haters.”
Perhaps trying to paint u as a typical negadelphian. I got a laugh out of it.
Personally I find u to be realistically pesimistic
The interwebz, tunz O’ fun
Either way with those types of things I will gladly be wrong. We won and I’m happy to be wrong about Agholor
So here’s what I have to say about that (please understand that I’m being 100% honest and I think reasonable in what I say here):
(in no particular order)
– It is absolutely at least in part “gotcha” – no doubt. However, not that much. I didn’t predict specifically that any of these (positive outcomes) would happen – at all. But seeing as though they all contribute to our favorite football team’s success – and that I’m usually on the “positive/optimist” side if you will (duh, you and I talk about that regularly) – YES – some of it’s a “gotcha”. Guilty as charged
BUT
– Again, I didn’t predict any of these specifically. It’s more of an underlying of my point that – instead of “be positive all the time and assume everything will be lolipops, BJs, and lombadri’s! – my overall point – especially about the view that certain players won’t improve/change/mature and other similar ideas during the offseason – is to actually keep an open mind.
Those who ascribed to those (neg.) narratives (not saying it was one person or that many believed every single one) – seemed certain that they had figured out each player/group – and that the conclusion was permanent, objective, and most likely a definite prediction of the future.
In fact I’ve been told many times that players don’t improve much in the NFL, change of scenery doesn’t bring out different outcomes in players, and after a year or two, you know who a guy is and always will be.
That was my point.
Okay, that seems much fairer, though undoubtedly less fun to write. Basically, people like to make up their mind because of emotional reasons–big, vivid failures at important times, or upon seeing things that support what they already thought. This is compounded in sports, which after all is based on rooting interest and fanaticism. This is why I prefer things with a numerical basis, all things being held equal.
Of your list of narratives, things are currently looking good due to the win streak, but do you really think they’ll continue to do so? Most likely, we’ll fall back to the mean in most of those categories. Ertz is probably not going to continue at quite this trajectory. Wentz will run into some ugly games. Most of these CBs really are probably bottom-tier, and will continue to have difficulty even riding on the coattails on this very talented defense.
I guess I do tend to think people show at least a good glimpse of their future with their past performance, but football is too random and chancy thing to assign a Madden score to a player anyway.
I appreciate your fair (equitable, I’m not ranking it, ha) response.
Sure, Wentz will have ugly games including trouble with deep balls (he’s a human, a quarterback – Brady, Manning, list any other great has them). But the narrative that his whole career will be plagued by that “fault”, may not be correct.
Sure, Kendricks will have down games or even stretches of injury problems.
I never claimed Patrick Robinson will be a stud CB for the rest of his career, but the narrative was that he sucks, will suck this season, and he poor play will cost the Eagles wins.
I’m not much of a stats guy myself – but I appreciate your philosophical ethic there, and intellectual prowess that it requires. And I most certainly agree with you about the emotional aspect of how people comment/narratives form.
But Agholor for example, past stats would say that he was entirely incapable of what he did so far this year. People wrote him off with very strong confidence, and they were wrong. Period. Kempski for one owned up to it.
The other thing that helps Ertz is he’s no longer competing with Matthews for similar types of targets.
I was nervous about trading Matthews away because he has been so solid, but that trade has allowed Ertz to take over that middle of field role, while Agohlar is used as a weapon out of slot. I am pleasantly surprise how well it is working out.
I wasn’t too concerned because of the number of guys they had who could eat up the volume (and I didn’t want to pay JMatt because he and Ertz were relatively redundant)
Yep, I 100% wrote off Nelson. Glad that he has become a contributing member of the team. If he could really fulfill the expectations of his draft position and become a dependable staple of the offense I would be thrilled.
I think anyone watching should of been nervous about Wentz’s deep ball accuracy after the first couple games. Never thought for a second he wouldn’t get it cleaned up, just wasn’t sure how easily that could be done before the bye. It has been on point the last couple games. Now it just needs to stay that way.
https://twitter.com/CoachBillick/status/917076190762078208
Patrick Robinson and Kenjon Barner had huge roles in yesterday’s win. Barner looks like an Eagle. He looks like he belongs here.
He never should have left
Beg pardon? He was redundant with Sproles here. That was absolutely the right move.
Like Dion Lewis was redundant
He’s on the injured list so often his name appears redundant on there. No great loss.
I am definitely more of a glass half full kind of guys but I am a bit surprised by the DL production the last 3 weeks. Maybe I have really high expectations cause I’m criticizing the best run DL in the league but the pass-rush against a really weak OL didn’t seem to be that dominant. Week 1 was so much fun, I want to see pain in the QB eyes.
Fletcher Cox not getting doubled on every snap probably makes it a little harder for the other guys. Just goes to show how good he really is.
I’ll take 7 points over 7 sacks all day.
Why not both? I’m getting greedy with this team.
We didn’t get a ton of sacks last year, and didn’t make a ton of changes this year. I never got why people thought sack production would be dramatically improved.
It isn’t completely the fault of the line. They are good at rushing, and teams get rid of the ball quickly because of that. So that just means, while good, they aren’t great. Sure the rookie could step up and change that, but he hasn’t yet.
Teams are going heavy 3-step and anything longer they are damn near max-protecting
Brandon Graham must be irate that he finally got the Eagles to shake some achievement bonus money loose, but nobody is giving him enough chances to get sacks.
Ehhh he’s got 3.5 already. The incentives start kicking in at 7. He’ll get at least some. 7 sack is worth a 250k bonus plus a 250k escalator for next years base
I agree, I just get a chuckle out of Howie setting the incentive level a half sack higher than Graham has one in any prior years.
I do not watch a lot of Carolina games but it feels like a really tough road game, especially with Johnson out.
Especially when I think that except Agholor, all the players on Our O are doing their job on their expected level of talent, the only thing making it so clicking is that our OL is ballin’ atm.
Ertz and Wentz ballin too.
I mean Ertz is a top 5 talent in my book and of course Wentz is the front runner for MVP and President of the Universe so they are not exceeding the expectations I have of them!
Are all their LBs healthy?
I watch a fair amount being in Charlotte. They have not looked that impressive for a 4-1 team. Cam still has the same issues. Inaccurate on short and intermediate. But he’s still a load to bring down and makes plays with his feet. Their OL is VERY suspect. l would imagine our DL is licking their chops. Kurt Coleman is the best player in their secondary. But he’s actually been playing Probowl level football since playing for them. Their CBs are decent but lack deep speed and very susceptible to the deep ball. Their front seven is excellent. McCaffery has been OK but I think we will contain their ground game. Their WRs are big and physical and Funchess has been playing very well to go alongside Benjamin.
I still think the Eagles should win this game but being a Thursday game, everything goes out the window.
Yes, it is. They’re strong up the middle on D and present some matchup problems with their power/size on offense. I still badly want a win, but Thursday road game is ill stuff.
Annnnnd PFF delivers again. They’re the best comedy of the year!
https://twitter.com/PatrickMCausey/status/917375951142572032
Okay. This is getting out of hand. They have to explain the metric that is at fault here or lose all cred.
I remember someone saying they were going to have Brissett rated higher than Wentz… Well it was pretty fucking close!
Must know why!
:raises hand:
PFF is dead to me
Well PFF had no credit in the first place..people just like it when they toot our horn.
I’m always more interested in what the opposing teams players and coaches have to say about Wentz after the game.
Patrick Peterson had high praise: “He’s soon to be a top-tier quarterback as he continues to grow,” Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson said after Wentz threw for 304 yards and a career-high four touchdowns in a 34-7 victory on Sunday. “His ability to get his receivers open with his legs was the most impressive. … He’s a guy that has great pocket presence and he understands where the pressure and blitzes are coming from. He knows where the outlets are and he moves very well.”
From ESPN
Anyone touting statistical analysis always get the benefit of the doubt from me, until proven wrong. I am a big ole dummy though.
Their grades aren’t statistical analysis
I’m more Goose Gossage when it comes to that.
I’ve looked at the reviews, 99% sure it is a program that narrates stats and, generates a score on them based on said stats, then adjusts it with prior score.
In mental health we’ve gotten to the point where we document by check boxes and inserting minor manual input via slider bar. And the programs now generate narrative format on that alone. Very sophisticated software. Would also explain how they are so efficient.
So.. in my humble estimation, very flawed system. Player plays bad last week, balls out this week. Gets shitty score because he was shitty in another game. Eh what? Maybe that would work in baseball.
That is amazing. I can imagine a program that trolls internet forums and Facebook and makes mental health diagnoses. Minority Report, here we come!
Yes, it’s possible for such a program to exist, though it wouldn’t be very effective, but I could totally see someone doing it and abusing the crap conclusion it draws. So the NSA is definitely doing something like it.
Just to put people’s minds at easy, in my field it is strictly for expediency of documentation. 99.9% the documentation being more for insurance company audits than the clinicians, who work with manageable caseloads that they rarely have to refer to notes. But insurance companies will occasionally check to make sure a patient needs the service they are getting and that the services are not a total waste of money.
…That’s pretty much what the NSA is already doing.
Their grades are an anonymous person trying to quantify inherently subjective information immediately, off of TV copy.
If one of the beat reporters tweeted out 10 minutes after the game: Carson Wentz blah blah stats, so he gets a 36.038 on the Bowen meter! people would call Les a loon.
Wait… there are people who don’t think Les is a loon?
I like Les!
Les is fine. He’s by far the best of the old school media types.
Wow, they hate Carson Wentz. Do they have a hidden -WENTZ flag? Because the guy played great yesterday.
Bwwhahaha. The second after the game I posted a joke that PFF grades were out and Wentz scored lowest amongst QBs.
Dude’s barely better than Brissett.
Somebody should slap the BS out of Collingsworth over this. And then find Cian Fahey and beat his butt as well.
So that worm burner Wentz threw was to impress Mcnabb after all. Now #5 is on the Wentzwagon being there in person for such a display of arm strength
I was shaking my damn head at that throw to Ertz; especially because Mack Daddy Hollins was actually more open and would have scored.
We’re 5 games into the season so stats start to mean a little bit… So lets look at some anomalies and oddities around the league.
Kareem Hunt is dominating, a full 140 yards ahead of the 2nd place… Leonard Fournette?? There’s a youth movement at running back this year for sure.
Legarette Blount is actually 10th in the league in yards, despite a 0 carry game against KC, and is actually ahead of players like Jay Ajayi, Lesean Mccoy, Devonta Freeman, Demarco Murray… All of whom have far more attempts per game than Blount.
Looking at the sack list it’s surprising to see Demarcus Lawrence out in front right now. I haven’t been super impressed watching him play outside of when he beat the Cardinals RT all night like a rented mule, but he must be doing something right. I’m not worried about JP or Lane’s ability to shut his ass down though.
Otherwise lots of the usual names dominating the sack list, The one that really jumps out at me is somehow Julius Peppers has 5.5 sacks so far, the dude must be about 57 years old now so that’s remarkable.
Receiving yards, big props to Ertz for being 6th in the league so far, and obviously 1st among tight ends. It’s basically Ertz – Kelce – Gronk and then everyone else falls off pretty far pretty fast. Gronk sat out the Bucs game so he would probably have gotten the 70 yards he’d have needed to pass Ertz, and he also averages more yards/game than Ertz does.
You’ll be pleased to know that wentz has a higher QB rating (97) so far than Prescott (94), and the only other thing you need to know is that Alex goddamn Smith has a 125 QB rating through 5 games. Dude looks like the MVP so far.
In terms of bad QB play, among Qb’s who are actual starters, there are some pretty appalling numbers for some.
Bortles has a 78, roethlisberger and Cutler have 75, Flacco has a 71, and waaaaay down in last place Deshone Kizer has a 50, which I guess explains why he was benched.
Would love to see the Eagles get their sack numbers up a bit (Graham with 3.5 leads), Cox has 2 through 3 games, he’d most likely have one or two more if he’d been playing the past couple of weeks, but I was hoping Curry and Barnett would have notched a few more than they have.
Teams going to the quick passing game have obviously hurt that category as well. Sooner or later Graham is going to pop off with another multisack game, I think it’s realistic that he’ll finish with 11 or 12 this year. As for Fletch it could be anything, he just needs to get healthy and back on the field.
And there’s your stat oddity rundown. Stay tuned for more pointless content as I am sick today and have nothing else to do.
Good stuff.
This is good stuff, I kinda’ hope you don’t get well too quickly.
… Thanks? :p I am feeling a bit better now, and much better than last night thank you.
WOW Blount has more yards than Shady
Surprised Alex Smith’s QB rating is that low actually
DeShone Kizer will never be a top 20 QB.
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s–FLoHu3RG–/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/p5hn8darxtwohq3n2urg.gif
Leonard Fournette calling for safety Mike Mitchell to come get some before they collide. Fournette has been pretty badass so far in his NFL career.
Mitchell had a long day yesterday of getting run over (just based on the highlights). Power running is so damn fun to watch.
It sure is. He won’t be doing that stuff in a year because he is gonna realize the body gets old fast. That was really cool though!
I think he was better off avoiding that hit.
Shoulda hurdled
Yeah man. So glad I traded him for Amari Cooper before week 3. I was so deep with Lev, Cook, and Mixon. Great trade right? Trade away a guy I couldn’t start every week for a top 5 (in my head) WR!
Where is that trombone video from yesterday?
Sheesh
looked pretty even since Mitchell is giving up some pounds…
Mike Bitchell
Vaitai seemed like he held his own in the second half. Am I mistaken?
Tommy, it’d be great to get your read on his game if Lane won’t be able to go on Thursday.
They’re saying Celek camped out on his side of the line a lot playing more snaps than usual in the game.
Then good, let’s do that again.
Yeah, I noticed Celek on the field but didn’t know if it was more than usual.
Good work by Dug to put Big V in position to succeed.
I was reading people who review snap counts and watch game video all day. That’s what they reported.
Whatever made it work, it worked well. No noticeable problems. I’m with “Or_____” then. Do that again!
Functional if unimpressive, had help.
They won’t leave him on an island or try to run off tackle right 30 times, but they won’t have to completely alter the offense
I know this doesn’t mean much but here’s the supposed draft order currently for our rivals in the division.
NYG – 1
DAL – 10
WAS – 17
PHI – 29
Its very early but I imagine NY picks somewhere near the top of the draft. Maybe the beat the Niners or fluke out a division game.
Would be something if the Giants got #2, and the #1 overall forced a trade to NY.
I heard a rumor that the pics at 1, 10, and 17 are all busts.
So Lane is in the concussion protocol and very likely he misses Thursday. Big V is up next and Seomalo will be the back up tackle.
Welp…you know what happens when Lane doesn’t go.
Forunately it’s just old ass charles johnson not von miller
Hopefully, unless they put old ass Julius Peppers over him who is somehow still effective despite being an old ass defensive end.
Given all the edge rushers we have to face this year this is still probably one of the better weeks for Lane to have to miss.
True, having Big V in there for the Bosa/Ingram matchup would have been problematic.
I haven’t watched much Panthers this year. Statistically it seems their defense is strong, but outside of Kuechley what’s strong about it? Any thoughts?
I haven’t seen them this year either.
Thomas Davis and Shaq Thompson can both fly around as OLBs. Short and Star are both stout DTs.
Charles Johnson and Peppers are both wily vet edge guys but are both in the twilight of their careers.
Their DBs aren’t much to write home about. FO has them pretty poorly ranked against WR’s, but they are good against TE’s and RB’s (ie the CBs suck but the LBs lock shit down)
CBs are decent, but slow and get burned. Front 7 is playing great IMO.
Wait, which defense are we talking about now, us or them?
Nobody locks down Baby…, I mean Ertz.
Could be a breakout game for Alshon then, since he’s finally not getting locked up with an elite CB all game.
Our passing game usually seems to go pretty evenly between TE and WR, maybe this week Ertz sees a reduced workload.
I’d love to see us really utilize guys like Hollins and Agholor this week, just throw anywhere that Kuechley isn’t.
That’s 100% true. Their CBs are JAGs and mega-reaches.
I forgot Charles Johnson was still a thing.
Funnies from Tanier:
“The Eagles offense. Carson Wentz has gone from Captain Screen Pass to a human highlight reel! Nelson Agholor has gone from Jitters McPassdropper to an innovator of the end-zone celebration! The Eagles are balanced, tough on third down and capable of stomping on the clock in the fourth quarter. Eagles football hasn’t been this much fun since the league figured out that Chip Kelly ran the same five plays over and over again.”
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2737605-monday-morning-digest-the-bell-tolls-for-big-ben
Yesterday was almost better than Chips first game crushing Washington
Jeffrey stinks.
Tommy has some stuff over at Eaglesblog. http://eaglesblog.net/ It’s kinda old but just thought I’d share
So I am rewatching the game today because I missed the first half yesterday (duh). Since I know the outcome, Im looking at a few things. Specifically I am looking at Warmack. Full disclaimer; I have never played the game, I am a complete amateur. Which makes it sort of annoying that even I can see how much he sucks. Anyone who has doubts about this should just go and watch the 4th quarter, and just look closely at Warmack. There is not a bullrush that doesnt push him straight back into the pocket. It is infuriating to watch a man that big getting moved back so easily, almost automatically, at the moment of the snap. He doesnt seem to anchor at all. In the run game, he can hold the line of scrimmage when he gets his hands on the defender, but he never creates any push. Anytime a defender gets on his side, he reaches and lunges and gets off balance. This is what happened when he got called for the holding penalty that negated the Blount TD. Imagine this was a close game against a division rival – and Warmack cost us the TD like that.
At this point, Pederson – who has done a tremendous job so far – just seem to be trolling us with his insistance that Warmack and Wiz are precisely equally good and that it doesnt matter who is in there. Even an amateur like me can see it. 50.00 fans in the stadium can see it. What the hell is happening here?
Warmack needs to go back to the bench for now and to the inactive list once Lane is back.
The coach needs to stop gaslighting the fanbase too. Its insulting.
Fanbases should stop listening to mandatory press conferences tho
Yea. I mean. I agree. Any competitive advantage there is to being secretive with the media, I’m all for it. In this case it is just really hard for us to even think of, what it might be, or what Doug is even thinking. It bothers me, because it makes my brain hurt. And because I actually like Doug a lot so far.
I think they are trying to develop all 3 guards (well, ok maybe at this time their developing Seomalu technique seems to be more practice based, not game snaps).
I think it’s unconventional, but I think they’ve made the decision that the value of potentially developing Warmack outweighs the negative impact on continuity/play success. It’s certainly fair to question that, but i do believe that’s their calculus – which is not no calculus at all…
And in my opinion, when the team is winning, it’s a moot point.
Thats revisionist history though, to be thinking like that. If you don’t play your best players, you’ll perform worse and you will lose some close games that you would have otherwise won. The fact that they are 4-1 doesnt change this at all. I’d even argue that we might be 5-0 if they had played Wiz against the Chiefs. Of course we don’t know. Which is the point. You can’t know what will happen, so the only way to make sure is to play your best players when you can.
I do think you are right though. Pederson had no problem letting developing O-line men play in Kansas. And if Warmack gets better, maybe the team will be better off in the end. But you are taking an awfully big risk for a potential reward like that. You are risking losing games that might really matter come january. And you are risking your franchise QB getting seriously injured. Just look at what happened in Tennessee.
If Warmack whifs on a block, as he is want to do, and Wentz tears an ACL, there will be no mercy for Pederson. He is gamling with his entire HC career here. I don’t see how the risks equal the rewards at all. Why not just play Wiz and let Warmack walk – and go on winning games. I don’t understand the thinking.
Fair enough. To me though, that violates my personal ethic of “don’t be silly and question the coach when the team is winning”.
Watched replay of Panthers Lions game and Keuchly missed more open field tackles in one game then probably his whole career. Something wrong with him? He wasn’t on injury report last week. Let’s hope whatever it is can last one more short week.
If we can get any type of stuff going in the shallow middle vs. Carolina, I like our chances a lot better.
Mike Vick was on the Herd. He’s pretty bullish on the Eagles, but then everyone is–they’re officially flying “above the radar” now. Colin has annointed Wentz, Dak, and Goff as the future of the NFL, and said that Wentz looks like Andrew Luck. That’s pretty good, and I’d never thought of that comparison.
Vick had an interesting quote. He said, “The coach makes the players, but most people think it’s the other way around.” He was extremely complimentary of Andy Reid, and seemed to give him all the credit for his success on the Eagles.
So Doug is a great coach then?
Pardon me sir, but your transaction has been declined.
Yeah, I mean, if Vick didn’t have Mike Vick like talent in the first place, I’m not certain that Reid or any good or great coach would have been able to do that much with him. It’s definitely a combination. But kudos to Vick for giving Reid some well deserved credit.
I agree. I wonder what would have happened if a HS coach would have humbled Vick and forced him to work on developing the passing elements of his game. Or if Beemer had done so at VA Tech. Of if Atlanta had done so.
Imagine how great Vick would have been if somebody showed him how to Steve Young extend plays to pass, but with Cunningham’s arm?
For sure. To a certain extent I’ve always felt similarly about McNabb’s ego and Reid…
Vick was too short.
so are Drew Brees and Russell Wilson.
But he’s not them.
True, but I think some of that may have to do with the lack of disciplined coaching of him as a youth. We’ll never know I guess.
I think Brees and Wilson have a special kind of mind, like a Steve Nash or John Stockton, where they can see the game so well they can succeed among the trees. Otherwise, there’s a reason they want QBs to be 6’4″.
Vick did mention Pedersen and Reich.
I was dead set against Vermeil winning a title with the Rams as I hated Kurt Warner, but I’d love to see Reid win one with KC.
Just curious as to why you hated an unknown qb (at the time) who went from bagging groceries to the arena football. Yeah, I disliked him when he beat us with the Cards, but I was all in for Vermeil that year with Kurt, who at the time, when I heard his name thought cool, he has the same name as the great Penn state running back.
I’m not into the whole “like me because I’m a church guy” type players.
AO1
I lost respect for Russell Wilson with the day of SB “today is all about jesus” tweet… But I look the other way when it comes to Wentz
Wentz lives his faith in a very positive way. He’s not out there spouting anti-science garbage and/or making full on sermons.
Yeah, but still…
I don’t expect MM’s dislikes to be rational… 🙂
Warner was a god of football when he was on. I don’t listen to interviews, so I never really cared about the religious stuff.
You’d be correct in that for sure.
Combo of Rodgers and Favre to me. Still a bit gunslinger, but Rodgers typr athleticism and mental focus. Luck took much more of a beating, Wentz is being smarter.
You’re forgetting that when you look up “stupid asshole” in the dictionary, this appears.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MWGfx9iRddM/maxresdefault.jpg
Wentz also belongs to a _much_ better organization. Luck carried that damn team, poor guy.
A new (superstitious) trend seems to be building up:
2 visits to Shorty’s has led to 2 Eagles wins.
Big question for this Thursday night: stay at home or go out??
Time’s yours!
Go!!!!! Or its your fault. If you go and they lose its my fault. ‘Spit shake’
Ha!
You knew the correct answer before even writing this. You go out!
Ok dad. Lol
However I do hate those late games during the week.
If I go out I probably won’t be back before 12.30am. Plus I have a very important meeting at 9am with the head HR lady from Germany.
Tough decision actually..
Imagine how badly your meeting will go if it’s your fault the Eagles lose.
And girls soccer !
Still 2-0 record. However there’s no soccer practice on Thursday..
Random thoughts: how about those 0-5 Giants?? ….did anybody see Aaron Rodgers eat Jerry Jones’ lunch?… happy for Nellie…the VP is an asshole…is DeShaun Watson already an elite QB? …will LeGarrette Blount be an Eagle in 2018?…what are the odds that Miami takes a big step back when NE starts looking vulnerable? …what position will next drafted Eagle play?
Bleep the Giants
Rodgers rules
Good for Nellie, but I’m not extending him after this year
Pence fooled nobody
Watson had 3 INTs dropped and 3 TDs were garbage time
Blount might be one and done
Miami will fold under pressure
next pick is an Olineman like D3 said yesterday
Watson sure does look awesome chucking those long lasers. . And with his athletic wr’s stealing them in tight coverage it just gives them room to grow .. the NFL NEEDS him to be elite !!
No thanks.
unlike the kneelers, Pence wasn’t trying to fool anyone
Maybe next time you can cough up the 250k that stunt cost the taxpayers.
But they fundraised way more than $250k from it.
My favorite part is they tweeted out a picture from 2014, couldn’t even be bothered to take an actual picture of Pence at the event that day.
As a person about to graduate with a journalism degree, I don’t think that kind of dishonesty matters at all, people who don’t like Pence will obviously hold it in contempt, people who do like Pence will not be bothered at all by the dishonesty.
Welcome to 2017.
Not for the taxpayers
Obviously.
VP was an obvious stunt, he knew the niners would kneel. Love Blount, but he’s a one and done guy imo.
the players kneeling also an obvious stunt?
Get outta here with that garbage response.
Jules is immovable on this. I just don’t follow it on this topic.
Right, a stunt for equality.
Hey, can you tell me what the protest is about?
the kneeling players would fall into the a-hole category
have any of the players demand Michael Bennett apologize for lying about the police in Las Vegas?
Thanks for reminding me why I wanted to block you. Goodbye
Ha, that’s a step harsh. I don’t think it trolls on all topics here, it just isn’t a fan of the protesters.
To each their own
Unless it is the roster or draft, in which case it is to each what I tell them to do.
Keeping this sports related…where is the fun if you can’t debate opposing view points.
Yeah, I’m just on “shaking my damn head” mode at Jules on this as I understand I irk the hell out of people with a lot of my venom and fury on football topics. But I get what or is getting at.
I guess the lack of fun comes from it not being a discussion anymore. it’s like how young children don’t really play with each other, but next to each other. I’ve delved into the politics of the national anthem on this board more than most, but it’s obvious at this point that if I blacked out into a Will Ferrel in Old School perfect speech, the response would be a “Yeah, but what about Benghazi?” level of engagement.
Chip lied and DeSean’s roster spot died!
Sad thing is the when conversation gets political people lose their IQ and their fucking mind.
Nowhere, but i didn’t block them for sports reasons
My view of enlightenment doesn’t mesh with society.
You know he lied due to your omniscience? Since the body cams were off part of the time, against procedure. Careful about getting your info in echo chambers.
Kneeling to fight rascism is only being an a-hole to racists.
“Since the body cams were off part of the time, against procedure.”
Funny which particular “part” of the time wasn’t recorded.
Nah he can’t be elite yet. Guys like Cassel and Foles and Josh Freeman are proof you have to let the timer ding before taking them out of the oven.
THAT DIRTY NI GGER PAVEMENT APE HILL HAS BEEN SUSPENDED BY ESPN.
What do people think of Smith in this offense. Glad he got his td but I can’t help but think that hollins would be better for this team on the outside. Aghs has comparable speed and gives them a decent deep threat and hollins gives them two big bodies on the outside and has pretty damn good speed as well. Can’t help but think that Torrey won’t just start making tough hands cathes again. He caught the easiest td possible yesterday but that doesn’t mean he’s gonna stop dropping everything that doesn’t hit his chest
I’d like to see Hollins get some more work, but Smith’s speed can’t be discounted. I think this week we might see more 4 wides than we have in past weeks.
Yeah but is he that much more effective running a go than hollins would be? I get that he’s fast but he’s not running a 4.3 anymore
I think Smith is a low cost guy to have in the mix as a 3ish catch a game deep threat. I’m looking forward to seeing him displaced by Hollins, but I don’t need to see it be tomorrow.
Yeah I respect that. Might be the wrong message to send to the locker room too
And Smith is who we thought he was. He’s a deep threat guy with limited overall use. But he has a role here.
Yeah I guess I have PTSD from eagles drops in the past few years. Whenever I see a drop I want them cut
I get most upset at guys who have an opportunity cost (by draft round, cap hit, or getting I guy I liked better cut) with their mistakes. Smith doesn’t hit any of those areas for me.
I honestly think aghs looks faster. He was flying on that deep ball yesterday
I’d like to keep Ags in his current role for this year, see if he’s ready for more next year, and make a decision on him after that. We have him under team control for a while at a low risk cost.
And Sam Bradford is falling back to earth hard.
Having a 300lb fat body fall on you will do that.
Oooffff. Bradford is 1/5 for -5 yards and a safety. Yikes.
I need 26 from diggs and trubiscky
I need a 3 way with Gal Godot and Karen Gillan……
Gal Godot ok but, Karen Gillan is a pretty esoteric choice lol.
Trust him, he’s a doctor
No worries, more Karen for me.
Now that I know who she is it makes more sense.
Good deal.
Gal Godot & Priyanka Chopra ..and my wife because if i left her out on that dream date she’d never forgive me
I had to look up contestant #2. Good call.
Had to look your girl up also ….thot she was going to be the AT&T girl
Wait, it took a while to register, there must have been some bad luck if your QB is Trubisky. Carr?
I’m in a 14 team league with only 4 bench spots. Had to pick someone up as I have Ryan(ugh) and he was the most intriging option. Keenum and Bradford were owned haha
That was ugly, Bradford held the ball in the endzone for 5.26 seconds on that safety. Crazy.
Vikings and Bradford looking like hot garbage.
Bradford is the ultimate fool’s gold
He’s unwell physically / mentally right now.
He usually is.
Up one game. Down for 4 games. Up another game…
Quintin Demps is still in the league?!
I keep forgetting that the game is on in the background and yet somehow still manage not to miss a thing.
Don’t half step; Star Wars trailer is at half time.
Yeah, don’t care. I’m going to see the movie regardless of what the trailer shows, so I might as well go in blind.
I think the coaches said the same thing about this game.
The hits in this game are far more violent than anything 7 volumes of Storm Troopers have ever done
I feel like I’m the only one in the world who thinks the new ones kind of suck. Rogue One in particular I thought was awful.
I’m with YOU !! The last one was sofa king lame and mindless. I really think it was a massive rip off and truly lame movie making
JJ Abrams model for success!
I think you are right. You are the only one.
Yeah probably. *shrug*
I mean, I won’t be watching them a dozen times like the old ones…I am also 40 now. My boys love them at least as much as I loved the ones I grew up with.
storm troopers are worthless. . They never kill anyone and they die in droves and they are so 80s .. obviously not designed by Elon musk
My son has a joke about Stormtroopers vs Star Trek red shirts. The troopers keep missing, but the red shirts keep dying anyway.
I LOVE IT.
Lord of the Rings also
Spaceballs revealed their just all assholes anyways
I thought Rogue One was good, but hokey. Episode 7 was good only because it took literally no risks and therefore couldn’t be bad. But I’ll still keep watching them all because I’m already in for 8 movies. They’ve got me hooked, and I don’t even care if the rest are bad.
It has such a built-in market in the US and overseas that it could be a real turd and it will still draw huge numbers.
Question is the other movies they are going to try to develop off of it including the young Han Solo film which has had a lot of issues already.
Which is a shame because pretty much everybody attached to the project is really good except for young Han Solo.
I hated Rouge 1. Went into Force Awakens very jaded.. and it turned me around. Loved it.
I didn’t think Rogue One was awful, but I didn’t particularly care for it. The one with the girl and the black stormtrooper was worse, IMO. The 3 prequels were all some variety of awful. To be honest, I think even the originals are currently overrated. I mean, they were great when I was 6 years old, and I had the toys, but at some point it was not cool to wear the T-shirt, and I think it still is not.
Trailers are spoilers if you know you are gonna see it.
Star Wars now is Nowhere near as good as Galaxy Quest
Cox limited in practice, great news that he is practicing at all. Maybe he suits up, that would be huge.
Bradford is out of the game.
Lol, I can’t wait for that shot of the trainer working on the Vikings player’s groin to be GIFed.
And that might be the most gruesome knee injury I’ve ever seen.
that group TD shtick was creepy embarrassing
The Bears only pass 30+ yards this year is by the punter to a RB. The next longest is 29 to the TE. Think they miss Alshon?
This suddenly just turned into an exciting game.
At the Kansas City airport, there are a bunch of ‘Your in Chiefs’ Kingdom” signs.
Since when did it get that moniker?
So glad the Eagles didn’t sign Bradford to a huge extension and be mired in NFL purgatory for the rest of the decade.
The decision to dump Bradford and get Wentz.