Who Are You?
Posted: November 16th, 2017 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 138 Comments »Teams have personalities.
Part of that is designed by the coach and part is the players. Jimmy Johnson’s Cowboys were flamboyant because they had guys like Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith who were flamboyant stars. Their personalities were big and carried over to the whole team. Seattle has been a tough, physical team under Pete Carroll. I also think of them as the most competitive team in the league. That fits the personality of guys like Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson and Michael Bennett. Bill Walsh built a team that took a business-like approach to football. Those teams were perfectionists.
What about the current Eagles?
I wrote a piece for PE.com on Doug Pederson’s “next man up” philosophy. It occurred to me that “next man up” is kind of what this team feels like…a true team. The Raiders slogan used to be Commitment to Excellence. This feels like Commitment to Each Other.
Remember when Jason Peters got hurt a few weeks back? He was riding off the field on the cart and giving tips to Big V about what to do as his replacement. Peters could have been distraught by the horrible luck of getting hurt in the middle of such a great season, but he was focused on still doing what he could to help the team. I don’t think that’s common.
The Eagles brought in Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith in free agency. They moved Nelson Agholor to the slot and drafted Mack Hollins. Agholor and Jeffery have combined for 63 catches. To put that in perspective, Antonio Brown has 63 catches and doesn’t think he gets enough touches. The Eagles receivers don’t complain about passes coming their way. You know they’d all love more chances, but they’re more focused on winning.
Think about the secondary. Ronald Darby got hurt in the opener. Jalen Mills moved to LCB to take his place. Patrick Robinson had been the nickel corner, but became the starting RCB. When the team played the Nickel, he moved back inside. Rookie Rasul Douglas and veteran Jaylen Watkins split time at RCB. These guys each had roles prior to the injury, but that event forced them to change on the fly. No one has complained. The players have taken advantage of their new roles and helped the team continue to win.
You aren’t going to have players buying in like this without the right leadership. Pederson and Carson Wentz are a huge part of that. Both guys take the blame when things go wrong and they give others credit when things go right. That sounds simple and obvious, but it really can make a difference when you’re dealing with a group of people, especially athletes who tend to have big egos.
I also think part of what makes this team special is they have some “mutt” to them. LeGarrette Blount scored 18 TDs last year and the Patriots had basically no interest in bringing him back. Jay Ajayi got traded away from Miami because he was seen as a character problem on a team where the OL coach films himself doing lines of coke. Patrick Robinson didn’t exactly have a lot of teams trying to sign him. The Ravens dealt Tim Jernigan for the right to move up in the 3rd round.
Wentz wasn’t highly recruited at all and ended up at North Dakota State. When the draft rolled around and he looked like a franchise QB that just about every team should want, the Rams said “We prefer Goff” and the Browns said “You’re not good enough”. I know Wentz still went 2nd overall, but you could imagine him feeling a bit slighted by the situation.
I still don’t understand what the Saints were thinking when they let Malcolm Jenkins leave in free agency. Talented. Versatile. Great leader, on and off the field. That’s not the guy you want to leave in his prime. I’m certainly glad they did let him go.
It will be interesting to see if the Eagles can stay a tight-knit group as they continue to win. Sometimes success can bring out the worst in people. Quite the opposite has been true so far this year. The Eagles seem even more cohesive now than they did early in the year. Playing together has helped them bond and winning has helped to give this team an “it” factor.
I’m excited to see what this team does down the stretch. Sunday night can’t get here fast enough.
*****
Wednesday Injury Report
Full: CB Darby (ankle), TE Ertz (hamstring), S Watkins (hamstring)— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 15, 2017
Dez, Jeff Heath, Tyron Smith, Sean Lee AND Dan Bailey did not practice today for the #DallasCowboys. Still, #FlyEaglesFly are only modest favorites.
— Edward Egros (@EdwardEgrosFox4) November 15, 2017
Feels good to be the healthier team for once.
_
Malcolm Jenkins is a flat out stud.
Indeed he is TSOP.
Good to see you. It has been awhile. You should drop by the Blog some time. A lot of the old gang is back posting. Rhino, RealCrippler, purplefiggy, justrelax, ConnecticutEagle, FranklinFldEB Upper, McMVP, V-Rod. There’s more yammering than I would like, but winning has kept that to a minimum/
Matt
Can you drop a link? I always loved reading those discussions.
Yup, glad he is here.
The Saints gave us Jenkins and Sproles.
I’m sending them a ticket to our Super Bowl victory parade when the time comes around.
Yeah Tommy,
Back in the day they used to talk about how a certain team is a “blue collar” team, or even a “lunch pail” team – teams that bring that workmanlike attitude to the game they played. The Eagles are kind of like that too.
Definitely unselfish. Definitely very soldier-like, very disciplined. It’s a great team to watch. Spreading the ball around. Spreading the credit around. Taking care of each other. Their style represents the city and the region well.
Compared to the Cowboys’ glamorous reputations, the Eagles represent TEAM in the best sense of the word. And it’s always fun to put a bunch of glamor boys in their place on the field of competition. Looks like it will happen just that way.
Go Team! Go Eagles!
I think this fits the QB as well, there are just certain clown personality types I don’t want leading a team. I’m glad Wentz fits this team.
潜心学习，认真拜读！
You’re a flat-out gem, Tommy. Nah, strike that–yer a mutt!
I’m just happy that besides there’s no obviously grimy dudes on the team, barring the Bradham cabana escapades. I’d have trouble putting an Adrian Peterson type on my fantasy team, let alone cheering for him on a weekly basis. Vick was bad enough, but at least there I could talk myself into some kind of redemption story.
As far as the rest of team culture is concerned, I generally get the feeling that there’s a chicken/egg situation between winning and team culture, and I hope the good times keep rolling long enough to never find out who can’t handle losing like an adult.
I was skeptical of Vick at first but over time it seems to have been borne out that he genuinely transformed himself as a person. After reading what he personally did to those dogs I thought he was a real whack job but, people can surprise you.
Well, except for one thing……………
http://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=5342532
I don’t think he was really doing anything wrong, but it may have taken one additional scare to keep him from hanging out with the wrong element.
“I’m just happy that there’s no obviously grimy dudes on the team, barring the Bradham cabana escapades.”
Agreed x 100000000000000000000
I still can’t cheer for Brett Myers because of how he hit his wife. Same with my lack of excitement when talking Jerome Brown.
“the OL coach films himself doing lines of coke”
Judging by the context here, this is frowned upon right?
If you care about your privacy, filming just about anything should be frowned upon. Pro tip: it *will* end up on the internet.
I was under the impression that cocaine use is probably pretty rampant in the league, but being filmed doing it is a big no-no.
So long as it’s not PEDS.
The Dolphins coach didn’t film himself doing coke, a Vegas hooker recorded him. Get it right, man!
Good Lord! If you can’t trust a hooker, who can you trust! Stupid is as stupid does, my mom used to say. Oh wait. That was someone else’s mom.
Well he did it via face messaging on a computer, so he was dumb enough to put it in front of a camera and she was smart enough to record.
Vegas hookers are a riskier proposition than I used to think they were.
So it wasn’t him but rather someone more respectable, honorable, and worthy of respect?
Yup. I’ve never worked with one, but I’m a big fan of hookers. There’s no more honest form of labor.
Semantics but I think he filmed himself prior to a Dolphins meeting and sent it to a Vegas hooker.
Steelers – Titans
Vikings – Rams
Redskins – Saints
Falcons – Seahawks
Eagles – Cowboys
This week feels like Playoffs. Can’t wait.
The big difference between this week and the playoffs is the Cowboys play this week.
I’d say we’re a pretty tough team, too. We’ve got a mean, aggressive defense at all levels. Our secondary even seems to revel in supporting the run. Our top two running backs are basically Thunder and Thunder. And Wentz is a very tough player with all the shots he takes standing in there to deliver throws. I love the personality of the team and accountability they show.
Wentz is definitely a “toughness-generator” for the team. But it helps to add dogs like Jernigan and Bradham who can help instill that hard nosed mentality
“Ajayi got traded away from Miami because he was seen as a character
problem on a team where the OL coach films himself doing lines of coke.”
Tommy – this might be my favorite sentence of yours I’ve ever read.
Pure poetry.
A fun loving team. You can tell they have fun out there with each other. Maybe something along the lines of a “Band of Brothers” theme.
I think most of us were lamenting the lost season in week 1 when Darby went down, much less some of these other losses.
Absorbing Fletcher Cox being gone for a couple of games on top of the early injuries we had in the secondary was very impressive.
This does seem to be a team that genuinely loves playing with each other. Sometimes it feels more like you and your friends’ rec team than a buttoned up professional organization, the way they interact with each other, and I don’t mean that as a slight.
Ultimately, this “rec league” mentality is something that is only permissible *because* we are winning. While pretty much every expert I’ve ever seen says to practice how you perform, and perform how you practice, the second your team is losing, the expectation from both coaches and fans seems to be that players drop the loose and fun facade and adopt the killer exterior of Ivan Drago. I’d imagine every team in the league during practice is more similar in mood/tone to the mic’ed up videos that you’re basing this impression off of, but most don’t end up as winning teams.
Makes me want to be out there. More accurately on the sideline because I would probably be killed on the field.
Has to be an entertaining sideline to be on.
I like the “Broad Street Brothers”.
This team has a really strong family mentality. Tough on each other but celebratory when one succeeds.
Next Man Up is a good approach for a team, but hardly uncommon or special on its own in my view.
I think there is a clear and well trodden formula for the Eagles success this season:
1. Strong defense – pass rush + focus on stopping the run
2. Balanced offense – focus on TOP by running the ball + play action pass
3. Good special teams
4. Get the lead and build on it
5. Improved team chemistry – winning breeds chemistry, confidence and energy. It feels good to win and they want to keep that feeling going
6. Overall health – Peters & Hicks hurt, but we’ve gotten everyone else back from injury or replaced effectively
7. Improved depth – Eagles have done a much better job with roster depth
8. Lucky breaks – every good team needs them; key injuries, suspensions, bounces, referee calls etc.
Anyone else think this “Zeke is out of the country to focus on training” thing is bullshit? I bet he’s in some low key tropical paradise getting high out of his mind and railing hordes of prostitutes.
What fun is being young, in shape, and rich if you can’t rail hordes of drug-covered prostitutes in a tropical paradise?
When you’re likely to physically assult them because you have a history of domestic violence…………….
Probably one of the most difficult tasks for any leader is to get people working under them to not only buy into what they are preaching, but willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish the set goals.
This is what the nitwits that “think” they know what qualifications are necessary to become a good head coach haven’t been able to figure out. Players have to accept and execute what the coach puts in place for things to work out. It’s obvious that guys like Ben McAdoo and Adam Gase weren’t able to get their respective teams to where Pederson got the Eagles.
Andy Reid is largely successful because players have and continue to buy into him and what he wants done. There’s a reason Reid initially brought Pederson to Philadelphia in 1999. He knew from his experience as the Packers QB coach what Pederson could bring to the table. These skills, that are extremely rare, are being displayed repeatedly on a daily basis.
I believe one of the reasons Pederson was sold on Wentz was he saw the same type of leadership skills he possesses. It’s this combination of leadership skills along with the same type of skills present in Malcolm Jenkins that have gone a long way toward the Eagles success.
“Probably one of the most difficult tasks for any leader is to get people working under them to not only buy into what they are preaching, but willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish the set goals.”
Exactly. Although lucrative, starting a cult and being a cult leader is a lot harder than one would think. Which is why I have the utmost admiration for them.
“Cult leaders make more money, cult followers have more fun”
Creed Bratton
Lol.
Yes, when you think about it there’s no one better at mesmerizing than a leader of a cult.
Well said. And here is the single biggest reason Chip was a disaster as a head coach in the NFL. Disastrously bad leadership skills.
Prob can’t happen but who will deserve GM of the year this year more than Hinkie.
Howie,
Why not both? We can combine them into one Voltron-like super-GM, Howie Hinkie, capable of building championship dynasties in multiple sports simultaneously.
Degree to which Hinkie is overrated in this town borders on mind-boggling.
Just convinced owners to lose for a prolonged stretch to accumulate high draft picks and maximize free cash flow. Nothing brilliant about that idea especially with PE owners who were only likely too enthusiastic to make a huge annual profit while doing so.
Hinkie made a few really good deals (Holiday deal – which he lied about Holiday’s health and the Sixers got fined $3M by the NBA and the deal with the Kings)
Record in drafting players isn’t impressive including the Okafor flub. Norlens and MCW didn’t amount to much either. Simmons is great but he was the consensus #1 pick every other GM would have picked too.
Covington was a great find but he was the exception to Hinkie’s front office finding great undervalued bargains among the small army of players Hinkie went through during his tenure here.
#HeDiedForOurWins
It is bizarre to me, too. He got carte blanche to rub the Sixers and the NBA’s face into the dirt for years, and so far all it’s added up to is a degradation of the team and overall product, a cynical slap in the face of the sportsmanship, and a nearly unprecedented number of losses.
You’re going to have to explain to me why Hinkie maximizing collection of assets and building for the future and as a result losing is worse for the league/fans than the Knicks or the Kings or any number of other teams being just as putrid over the same time span with no plan or stated goals.
Why is losing with a deliberate, forward-looking, ultimately rational strategy worse than losing as a result of sheer incompetence? The Sixers are now poised to become a contender in the next few seasons. Those other terrible teams appear likely to pick in the lottery for the foreseeable future.
The Sixers haven’t had players near Embiid and Simmons level since 1983ish. Not Barkley, not Iverson, not Iggy.
No one even cared about the Sixers for about ten years before Hinkie.
Almost everyone is excited as shit for this.
I disagree with you re: Barkley – he was a great, great player, one of the best power forwards ever. They just never put a supporting cast around him. Iverson was also great, but very flawed, and I agree with you that it’s likely that Simmons and Embiid will be better players if they stay healthy.
I don’t think Charles was at that Olajuwon/Magic level and PFs were usually garbagemen so he stood way out at PF but traditional PFs couldn’t impact the game at the level of the great centers and PGs. The center is called a center for a reason and the point guard runs the offense.
AND he wasn’t an all-around player to the extent of Embiid and Simmons. He was primarily a scorer and rebounder. He was neither great making his teammates better or defensively. That’s significant imo.
Embiid and Simmons dominate both ends. Embiid’s impact is as large as you can get on both ends. He is an Olajuwon level player both in eye test and numbers.
Simmons is a great visionary , passer and defender and far more versatile than Barkley could ever hope to be. Simmons can make teammates better. He is very unselfish. Charles was an ISO player and ball hog who used up the shot clock.
I personally think they will both be better than the mound round of rebound. Embiid and Simmons are transcendent players. Embiid is a dominant rim protector and can do it all offensively – inside and out and pass. That wasn’t the Chuckster.He was a back to the basket guy who defended PFs. There were only a handful of dominant PFs. They were mostly trash collectors.
Embiid can help outside and then recover inside. There’s no way CB could come close to that. Simmons can and does defend up to 4 positions. He drives teams crazy. Barkley never did that.
So argument that C and PG are more important positions than PF, but I don’t hold that against Barkley.
I think his tendency to dominate possessions when he played with the Sixers was a result of (1) the dominance of iso ball in the NBA in general at that time and (2) the fact that he didn’t have high-quality teammates to play with here. Even with those factors he still averaged about 4 assists a game when he played here, a solid number for a forward. When he went to Phoenix, and had guys like Kevin Johnson and Dan Majerle to pass to, he showed himself to be a very solid passer (he averaged 5.1 assists in his first season there).
I agree with you that Embiid and Simmons both have the potential to be better than Barkley was – 7’2″ guys as athletic and coordinated as Embiid and 6’10” guys who can push the ball and pass like Simmons are both exceptionally rare. But that shouldn’t be any sleight against Sir Charles – he was still an all-time great NBA player. The only reason he’s not as good as Embiid and Simmons could be is that both of them have plausible “top 5 to ever play their position” ceilings.
I don’t care as much about ‘playing the game the right’ way or even the losing. He just took advantage of the rules that were available to him and pushed them to an extreme to try to maximize future benefit.
Just don’t see what was so brilliantly innovative in what he did though or in the actual moves he made especially in the draft.
His basic philosophy when you drill it down was to be terrible until you run in a generational talent with a Top 3 pick. That is brilliant how again?
Hinkie argued that he should have gotten 8 years to be allowed is strategy to demonstrate results which is ridiculous.
Pretend for a moment that you’re talking about going for it on 4th down. Everyone had the stats, and only a few coaches are actually going for it. Why does that make those coaches better? Because they’re the only ones doing it.
Of course, the problem with comparing tanking with going for it on 4th down is that one is independently a rational idea and the other only works in a certain context outside of your control. Or, to put it another way; If all teams decided that tanking was a good strategy, you’d have a bunch of teams trying to be the worst team. Naturally all of them, except for one, would fail at this. But the rest would still do everything to try and be even worse.
Imagine two teams, trying to lose, playing each other. It would destroy the sport completely. Tanking only makes sense when none of your opponents are doing it. Nothing stops them though. Which is what makes it a fundamentally problematic strategy.
But you’re pointing out the brilliance of it and claiming it’s a fatal flaw. Any strategy (Baltimore’s reliance on compensatory picks, Belichek’s trading back, Howie’s trading for undervalued vets) only works because everyone else isn’t doing it. If everyone was tanking, Hinkie wouldn’t have gotten anywhere. But because he was the only one to fully commit to it, it worked and worked well.
Oh yes. I mean, you are right in that these strategies work under certain conditions. Props to Hinkie for gaming the system. All I am saying is that there are legitimate reasons for being against gaming the system like this. Namely that you risk breaking the system all together and turning all the fans away from the sport.
It is a paradox, in a way. If it works, everyone will do it, but if everyone does it, then it won’t work. In other words; it only works really well if it doesnt.
This is a fundamental flaw of the same kind that creates financial bobbles and high way queues. If the best solution can’t carry the majority, then it is not sustainable as a solution at all.
Heh. Sounds like we’ve found ourselves at the Nash Equilibrium.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nash_equilibrium
Massive upvote for reference. Now I will go and re-watch A Beautiful Mind.
I don’t know that I’d call Hinkie brilliantly innovative, but he was smart enough to realize that much as is the case with the NFL with quarterbacks, you can’t win in the NBA without a cornerstone superstar, that unless you are a destination city (LA, Miami, etc.) the only realistic way to get one of those guys is through the draft, and that as a result the best strategy for a team like the Sixers who were never going to land a Lebron James or Kevin Durant in free agency was to hoard as many high draft picks as possible and hope to win the lottery in a year when a player of that caliber was available.
That, coupled with being willing to prioritize future potential over immediate gratification by taking more talented but further-away prospects like Embiid and Saric in the draft, is what sets him apart. Given that the strategy appears to be paying off now I don’t see how we can second guess it.
You’re completely lost as usual.
Okafor was a bust and a bad pick, but if you’re going to give credence to unsubstantiated rumors, that pick was supposedly forced on Hinkie, who preferred Porzingis, by ownership. I prefer to judge him by his record, which suggests that he drafted a generational talent in Embiid (if he stays healthy) and a bust in Okafor. 1 for 2 either way.
The rest of his moves were mostly good. MCW was a mediocre player but no worse than anybody else drafted around that spot in that draft, and he flipped him and got a high lottery pick for him before it became apparent he wasn’t going to be a good NBA player and his value dropped. He stole a first round pick from Orlando by moving down two spots and picking a guy (Dario Saric) he wanted anyway and who is better than the player the Magic got (Elfrid Payton). In addition to Covington, he uncovered other useful NBA players (McConnell, Holmes) in the second round or in the undrafted ranks. And he got the team so many draft assets that they were able to move up to #1 to take Fultz and STILL have additional high draft picks from stinky other teams on the way.
If this 76ers core wins a championship, Hinkie will deserve the credit for laying the groundwork.
Fair enough if he really had Okafor imposed on him by ownership (which I think was BS) and that he really wanted to draft Embiid all along.
Draft track record is much more impressive.
His plan was designed to get the obvious picks so it’s silly to criticize him for drafting Embiid and Simmons. That was the point to get first round picks for players like that. He also very methodically cleared out players when he got here and won two big trades and many small trades and had a 3rd good trade. All with agents and the NBA spewing hatred in his direction. Casual NBA/Sixers fans don’t understand the NBA and how it works.
The armchair QB can pick apart anything if they want looking back in retrospect. He had the courage to do it and stay disciplined and his detractors in NBA corporate basically got him fired.
Was he a great scout? Probably not but Ainge botched many picks and has a team built around a ball hog, a boring and aging soft big man in Horford and a star but not top player in the NBA Hayward.
The bottom line is his actions resulted in Embiid and Simmons and without that, the Sixers are not sitting there with two transcendent generational talents and and a potential superstars in Fultz and a star who puts up amazing analytics in Covington.
He also has been humble and was treated like complete shit by Josh Harris..
But jealous fans like Howie Eskin want to cut him down over petty nitpicking. These people just don’t get it because they might not be true NBA / Sixers fans. My buddy and I fight and I tell him you paid no attention to the Nba & Sixers for 15 years lol.
These same casual fans love the Celtics.
This in no way means Howie hasn’t hit it out f the park snce he got his job back.
My god Ainge started with better players and picks. Hinkie had to make moves just to trade for our picks back.
There can only be one. Hinkie might have died for our sins but Howie sold his soul to (insert evil entity here) for the Eagles.
Hasn’t he been working on this thing for years(stockpiling top picks)? The pick from this year isnt even playing.
There’s that, but also, isn’t “GM of the year” not a thing? And not trans-sport?
And also, isn’t he unemployed?
That too. Its not like the man is unpaid, poor, suffering, unable to watch enjoy and appreciate, or dead. Haha, not at all to pick on Rob, but some take it overboard. He deserves a ton if credit, obviously, b but he knows, and is doing JUST FINE…
I know one thing for sure about this team identity:
It is physical in every aspect. I can’t wait to watch this team as it starts to get colder
The team identity is the opposite of 2011 Eagles and 2017 NYG. There is no quit. There is a stubbornish way about them. A refusal to lose. Sure they might lose, but they are gonna fight their heart out till the bell.
I was listening to a Dave Wingburg (sp) spot on the philly espn youtube (he sucks really really bad btw). Apparently he had tweeted that the 04′ team would mop the floor with this team. I started to think about it, and I think talent-wise he is absolutely right. I just feel like this team would win. A mark of Andy’s time here was that when we needed a yard, we didn’t get it. Just a stink of choke in the air, at all times. Maybe a lack of mental toughness (at least offensively). I think this team is the exact opposite of that. Perhaps it boils down to the QB.. I dunno. I just feel like this team is everything I used to wish Andy’s teams were…despite lacking talent.
I don’t know if they would kill them but the ’04 team was better. Better OL, especially with Peters out, and overall skill players even if this team has better depth at the skill positions. Westbrook and TO could just do things that Ajayi and Jeffrey can’t.
Take ’04 McNabb too over Wentz right now. McNabb still doesn’t get enough respect for what he did his first 5 years here as the starter.
Defense is tough because this team has a better and deeper OL but the overall ’04 team had a better defense due to the secondary.
The ’04 team was a more mature team that had better top tier talent. This team has more depth and maybe argue versatility though than the ’04 team
I don’t think the talent level presently is lacking or less than ’04. Our collective WR corps is better. All props to TO, but as a group we had a pedestrian TE and unexceptional WR’s. Our QB was a running threat,which would present defenses with problems, but our current defense devoured Cam. It may have been interesting to see how CW would respond to Jim Johnson’s blitzes. I think he’d get burned by a few, but he’d also probably make the Eagles D pay for sending more than our OL could handle. And when the JJ defense could not overwhelm a QB via scheme, we usually lost. I do think there is a degree of resolve and confidence that the AR teams did not feature.
RB?
No argument. BW was special. I can not decide if he or Jason Peters was the best acquisition made by Reid. But, Reid really utilized Westbrook as a receiver. Our running game was not bad in ’04, but The AR way was to complete enough passes so that running lanes were gaping. I like the way DP leans on CW to read what is happening and call the best play at the line. Our run game is more effective now, I think.
I have never had as much confidence in our Eagles. I loved the old team but knew we would find a way to come up short. There is no flash to this team. Talented or not they believe in each other and it shows.
I couldn’t be happier rooting for the PEOPLE that we have on this team.
THIS IS HOWIE DO IT!
I wouldn’t say Smith was a flamboyant player either on or off the field. Also applies to Aikman and Novacek as well.
Other players on those 90s Cowboys’ teams were as well as the coaches especially Johnson and Switzer.
The NFL mandated that players couldn’t remove their helmets in celebration because Emmitt Smith had to punctuate each touchdown with an egocentric routine of showing off his ugly face for the camera. He wasn’t on an Irvin-level, but he was a showboat too.
Ajayi was a really nice move by Roseman but this team kind of feels like they are at a tipping point with the serious injuries they have sustained.
Surprisingly overcome them so far but this feels like a team like they wouldn’t be able to sustain a few more and still make a meaningful playoff run either.
U are Cowboys fan , correct?
Well when u have a franchise QB there really isn’t a tipping point. I will point to RW, TB, AR etc.
No matter who is on the field with those guys, their teams have a shot. I think the Eagles are experiencing that effect this year. It is really what is breeding all this confidence, more so than the 8-1 record.
Alshon Jeffery was added to the Eagles’ injury report with an ankle issue on Thursday, getting in a limited session.
He say’s he is most definitely playing.
YES!!!!
Who is WR1?
Ertz?
Fantasy football reference. Don’t sit him. Feel comfortable to play him at WR2. Maybe don’t count on him for your WR1 points unless you have no other choice.
Okay, so Tyron Smith, Trent Williams, Joe Thomas, Terron Armstead, Joe Staley, Duane Brown, and Jason Peters are hurt. Who’s the best LT standing?
MLB also pretty decimated this season as well … biggest story in the nfl moreso every season is injuries
They really need to expand rosters. I don’t know if that will cut down on injuries, but it will as least offer better trained reserves when they do happen. That’s only good for the game.
Andrew Whitworth?
Yeah probably. I didn’t realize Brown got hurt, what is it with players getting hurt right after they get traded. Brown, Darby, Matthews.
Please Ajayi , stay healthy mate!
Easy: Halipoulivati Vaitai. Peters was the best LT in football but with him hurt Big V takes the top spot. 😉
I know the NFL does not work this way, but I won’t accept anything less than a total humiliation of the Zeke and Smith less Cowboys.
I want to see double digits sacks by the Eagles D Line, 5 total TDs of Wentz and at least one pick 6 by Jenkins.
Eagles 44, Cowboys 6.
Thank me later
GE
I’ll take a win.
Just a win would be a consolation prize. This is the real coming out party for Wentz and company
Style points are fun, and I enjoy them when they happen (see last few games).
Also, i expect a blowout in dominant fashion.
But i’ll gladly take a win which in itself will tell the story – period.
Eyes on the prize, which is division, NFC seeding… and so on.
I mean i agree but they are so banged up and have poor coaching (IMO) to boot.
If it’s not a blowout it’s because the players on our team are not executing, not because what the other team is doing. in that sense anything less than a blowout means Wentz and company came out flat/ unfocused
Ok, but I’ll give dallas SOME credit… They are pros. Weird penalties could occur, and dallas could step up in a must win game, gets close, and they eek it out. Hope not, and doubt it, but i don’t think its necessarily an indictments if the Eagles lose
Way to temper ur expectations. I watch just as many Cowboy games. This is our chance to crush their season hopes, on national television, after 2 weeks to prepare and scheme.
I will take the win but if it’s not a blowout it will feel alot like the 49ers game to me
Oh i expect blowout. I just separate my feelings from my expectations from my consideration of what could happen and conclusions we could draw…
I suggest enjoying the ride and getting your hopes (Some what) UP
cheers
If anything constructive can be gleaned from the Bellichick/Brady dynasty, it is that efficiency trumps flare. There is some credibility, I think, to the argument that a given opponent will be more predictable and less provoked if the tenor of your team’s play is solid and not incendiary. A humiliating ass whipping will not win the division race any sooner than a mundane victory, but it will be resented and remembered and serve as effective motivation to return the favor.
In addition, it makes us all better observers of all of the little things that are done to win. New England’s first 3 SB victories were each 3-point wins. Its latter 2 wins were by 4 and 6 points respectively. I am not suggesting that winning by a small margin is a strategy, but rather a consequence of being efficient. If you focus on winning the individual contests, winning at the LOS, keeping the opponent’s most talented player in check, whether it’s a great RB or a dominant WR, deploying strategies to disappear the player for long stretches of the game, you don’t need to make phenomenal plays to win. This approach also serves to keep your team in most games, even games where your opponent is superior.
There’s no argument that it doesn’t feel better when your team destroys its opponent, but that good feeling does not compensate for multiple losses by many or few points.
I
Teams I hate:
1. Patriots
2.Cowboys
3. Cam Newtons
I do agree with your point tho. This staff prefers to win by any means. Our last 2 staffs preferred to only win “Their way” which was contrived , stale and predictable. I like the idea of game planning our strength against your weaknesses
On the other hand, HULK SMASH!
Did you read the first 9 words?! 😉
Ha, yes, yes I did. Go birds and cheers (down a few Sammy Smiths for me)!
Ha, yes, yes I did. Go birds and cheers (down a few Sammy Smiths for me)!
https://twitter.com/SlaterNFL/status/931267076467118081
NFL Network’s Jane Slater reports Cowboys LT Tyron Smith (groin) won’t play Week 11 against the Eagles.
It’s a huge blow to a Cowboys’ offensive line that yielded eight sacks in last week’s loss to Atlanta. After being manhandled by Adrian Clayborn last week, Chaz Green will revert to the bench with Byron Bell filling in at left tackle. Smith remains week to week
Byron Bell was just as bad as Green on Sunday.
Let’s hope Sunday is a competition between Vinny Curry and Derek Barnett to see who can top Clayborn’s total of six sacks first.
Who am i, who are we ?
“Who am I? Why am I here?”
Admiral James Stockdale, 1992
Who are you? Where are my pants?
Who is john Galt ?
Only 1 answer to that …
..
Me. We.
Muhammed Ali, Harvard Commencement 1975
“Who Are You” by The Who or Black Sabbath?
Who are we? “we’re from Philly and We Fight!” For real this time
ok I’ll see myself out now lol
That might be the cringiest of Chip lines.
I bet it’s part of his schtick everywhere he goes
“We’re from ESPN and we fight!” lmao
He’s from New Hampshire.
I know just goofin around
😉
I really enjoy watching Bell run with that patience.
So, Tommy’s next classic rock reference will be….??
Missed on Paint it Black for the Broncos.
I’ll go for Under My Thumb as sung by Fletcher Cox to Travis Frederick.
For Whom (Byron) Bell Tolls
He tolls for thee, Dak…
https://twitter.com/brandongowton/status/931273754231140352
We Gotta fight for our right to party in mid Jan
How do we feel about this camera angle? It’s kind of nice to see the safeties in the play
Madden cam is the way the game was meant to be watched.
It sounds funny, but seriously, the game designers could have programmed the view from anywhere they chose. They picked that one.
Yeah, they put the camera there in the game because it makes the most sense. It’s both immersive and clear.
I like it a lot. It is like getting to see the All-22 without waiting until Tuesday.
How long do we have to wait for helmet cams
.. i mean its actually overdue
I like it, esp in the redzone
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ftw/2017/11/16/terrell-owens-revives-beef-with-donovan-mcnabb-says-carson-wentz-is-better/107752092/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatodaycomsports-topstories
OH T.O.