Bounce Back Week
Posted: December 9th, 2017 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 89 Comments »Somehow Alexander the Great popped into my mind on Friday evening and I ended up reading some quotes attributed to him. I saw this and thought it fit the Eagles.
“I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.”
Last week Doug Pederson played it safe. The team didn’t play well and lost the game. I don’t know that his conservative style had an affect on the players, but it is possible.
It will be interesting to see how Pederson handles things this week. Will he go back to being aggressive? Will he overreact and be really aggressive?
Pederson needs to get his team back on track, but he doesn’t want to go too far in the other direction. This is a critical game for the Eagles. Pederson has to find the right balance between being aggressive and being careful.
It would be wild to see him try to jump start things by opening the game with an onside kick. We haven’t seen that move in a long time. I don’t think he needs to do something extreme like that. Just an interesting thought.
Pederson has to be himself. He can’t start giving crazy speeches or doing things that are out of character. The players would see that as a sign of panic and it would hurt them. They need Pederson to be the guy he’s been all year.
Luckily, Pederson has been aggressive for almost the entire year. He’s gone for it on 4th downs. He’s gone for two. He’s thrown deep (or at least tried to) a decent amount. Pederson isn’t a conventional coach. He’s willing to take some chance.
The real key is for him to get his team’s mindset right this week. The Eagles were all over the place in Seattle. They need to relax and play good, aggressive football. Smart football.
Pederson said all he right things this week. He seemed relaxed and focused. If he’s any indication, the Eagles should play well on Sunday.
*****
We still don’t know if Zach Ertz will practice. He remains n the concussion protocol. Ertz did some light work on Friday, but the team will have to make a decision on him over the weekend. It would be great to have him as a weapon for Wentz and the offense, but the Eagles won’t rush him back.
*****
Kobe Bryant came in and talked to the Eagles today.
Rodney McLeod said Kobe talked to the Eagles about Mamba Mentality. Explained it this way. pic.twitter.com/JCNIV72lT5
— Sheil Kapadia (@SheilKapadia) December 9, 2017
A lot of players are big Kobe fans so this was big for them. Kobe is a big Eagles fan so this was big for him.
https://twitter.com/kobebryant/status/939237515176828928
I doubt his talk will have much impact, but that’s a cool story.
Unless…
Eagles will regret bringing Kobe in to talk to the team when Wentz refuses to pass the ball and tries to score every touchdown himself Sunday.
— Brad Rutter (@bradrutter) December 9, 2017
*****
One thing we do know about Sunday…the crowd noise will be very different from Seattle.
#Eagles Just flew back from Philadelphia to Los Angeles on plane jammed w @Eagles fans dressed in full regalia and chanting "E-A-G-L-E-S". They are jacked up for game w @RamsNFL Sunday
— Leigh Steinberg (@leighsteinberg) December 8, 2017
Seeing @Eagles fans all over Los Angeles today.
— Marc Sessler (@MarcSesslerNFL) December 8, 2017
Sounds like this could be a 50-50 type game or at least something close to that. Crowd noise was a factor in Seattle. Wentz and the offense won’t have to deal with the same type of situation this weekend. That should help quite a bit.
_
Eagles fans travel well. It’s amazing. We don’t get the credit we deserve.
Sounds like the West Coast travel strategy is working out well – a bunker experience with Sunshine and warm weather to boot. And cool guest speakers. Big “WOW” for the Birds!
Big game on Sunday! Go Eagles!
Check out Kempski’s (Philly Voice) article about FOX Pregame. They had to put out a casting call for Rams fans to show up for their onsite pregame show. WE are probably the bets traveling fanbase in the NFL.
I’ll be at the game tomorrow, my first Eagles game, but to be fair I’m from S. Cal. I live in Ventura which had the largest wildfires this week, an Eagles win would be a nice pick me up!
Drink lots of beer, throw a Rams fan into a fire, and piss on them both. You put a Rams fan in their place and help to stop a natural disaster; win/win!
I hope our fans boo Bradshaw and Strahan off of the set.
Daniel Craig article, not Kempski
Horrible Bond.
“WE”? Another fantasy loser.
Good practice for travel in playoffs Super Bowl.
We are the greatest fan base in the history of fandom and every other fan base should enter into a seppuku ceremony immediately if they care claim otherwise.
“WE”? You don’t travel with them nor work/play for the Eagles. Dumbass.
Awesome quote to start the article
Kinda funny Kobe comes in to inspire the Eagles right before they play LA. It’s like if Utley went in to inspire the rams this week… I’d be a little upset about that.
I would agree if we were currently in the 1980s. Loyalty to cities for players has been long gone in my eyes.
Yeah I get it. It’s just a little funny with the timing of it.
I mean, the Eagles spent the week in LA because of the upcoming game. Kobe lives there. It’s not like he flew out to Philly to give them a pep talk.
The timing seems pretty straightforward to me…?
Kobe is from Philly. His dad played for the Sixers. Nothing funny at all.
Cool that Kobe is an Eagles fan. i almost like him now.
Almost is correct. He needs to do the following things for me to like him.
1) apologize for his anti-Philly comments made as a member of the Lakers.
2) Tell every person who complained we booed his ass in the all start game to shut up.
3) Admit he’s inferior to Iverson
4) Explain how playing at public school did nothing to detract from a HOF career and call every person associated with a private, catholic, and charter school a disloyal sellout piece of shit.
Not me. Most overrated player ever and obsessed with getting his above team success. Not a good role model. Probably never better than the 4th or 5th in the L at his short peak, and usually way down the list. But hey, I guess if it gets these kids pumped up…
IMO the crowd noise factor is something people are really overlooking in analyzing last week’s loss. Discombobulation due to having to rely on the silent count was a factor in the Seahawks’ D line giving us problems, with Big V particularly struggling with it – at least one of the sacks he gave up to Clark looked to me to be directly attributable to him getting out of his stance late. Shouldn’t be an issue this week.
FWIW, I had a bad gut feeling going into last week’s game and was quite nervous about how the team would play. No such anxiety this week – I think they’ll come out and play well. That’s no guarantee they win (the Rams are a legitimately good team), but I think they’ll play a good game.
You’re not wrong, but they had all of last year’s loss at Seattle to use to get ready for that.
Not every problem has a solution.
I can’t agree. All problems must be solved in a Philadelphia-centric manner.
One negative is that we will not be forced to face that type of crowd noise again unless we go on the road in the playoffs. The 2 times we’ve face hostile environments (KC and seattle) our offense has failed to score points. It’s something i wish we had a chance to work on again before it’s playoff football
Only one way for that to not be a factor….HFA.. At the very least they’d have to secure a Bye..
Then root for the Vikings to flame out or they only play one away game in the NFCCG…
To me, them not having to face another hostile environment before the playoffs is a good thing, because it’ll help them get home field advantage.
Teams can always practice with fake noise, if it comes down to that.
I get that, but it would be nice for this team to prove they could overcome it.
Also if they haven’t practiced with fake crowd noise before the KC and Sea games than shame on Doug. If they did, well it didn’t help
I get your point, but if they failed (again) they could lose home field advantage and the bye. They would be setting themselves up to play in yet another tough environment. If they get home field advantage, who is going to look back and say they its a shame they didn’t prove they could win a tough away game in the regular season?
This reminds me of people boasting that they would rather play Dallas with Zeke, Green Bay with Rodgers, etc…
Sure it would be NICE if the team could prove themselves, but what happens if they lay another egg? Just hope that they can win the NEXT time? We can already do that now.
I’d much rather have a deep playoff run and a Super Bowl. And if that requires certain breaks (injuries, home field advantage), I’ll take it. It’s not like we’re healthy. Let’s make the OTHER teams prove they can beat US in a hostile environment instead.
I think it’s more along the line of the we need to prove we can win a tight game conversation.
If we get HFA then great. Just as winning every game with a blowout would be great. However If we have to go to Minnesota for the NFCC game I give us no shot based on the info at hand.
Also I’m not saying I wish we were tested against a juggernaut. The raiders typically have a good HFA. Plying there instead of Philly would be good practice for hostile environments.
So there won’t be any big crowd noise until our first regular season road game in 2018?
Was in LA for the chargers game. Saw some drunk eagles fans sleeping on a bus bench on Hollywood boulevard. Dawkins jerseys.
Hopefully that was a different day, because Hollywood Blvd is nowhere near Carson.
When targeted on third down, wide receiver Nelson Agholor has caught 16-of-22 targets for 342 yards and three touchdowns. His third down catch rate of 72.7 percent ranks third among all players with at least 20 targets on third down, while his near-perfect passer rating when targeted on third down of 154.4 ranks first.
Per PFF. I did not see this one coming before the season.
I said this is his best chance for a breakout year. He is in a second year with the same coaching staff. Has a real wr coach this year. 3rd year in league… He had his breakout season his junior year of college… Has Alshon and better receivers (at least Smith seemed like he’d be better) around him, which takes focus and pressure off him. But… I gave him a 25% chance of taking advantage of the situation, so I’m not going to take credit for seeing it coming.
I thought his best was going to be “Didn’t cost us any games this year”
Most improved player I think I have ever seen.
Nobody did, and if they say so they’re lying.
Agholor made a decision to start playing hard and it’s great.
I didn’t like Kobe as a person or a player, but I’ll be damned if his mentality about devastating his opposition would be perfect for this team. If we want to become a dominant force for the foreseeable future, we need to adopt the killer mindset.
If the other team is on the ropes, go for the kill.
Exactly.
A few points:
1) Everybody who is an LA sports fan is a pussy and they need to concede that Philly has taken over their shitty insignificant city and accept their loss in an affable manner or be subjected to a beating of a lifetime.
2) Failure of the Eagles to win this week and basically lock up an bye week will be met with the most aggressive level of recriminations possible.
3) Kobe, Jordan, Lebron, Magic, Kareen, etc…………WHO GIVES A FUCK. Wilt is the true GOAT and if you don’t agree fuck you, fuck your disloyalty to Philadelphia, and go fuck yourself because you’ve disgraced both your math and history teachers.
4) Also go fuck yourself if you’re rooting for Carolina over the Vikings. The Vikings will get their L vs. Green Bay in a few weeks. The Eagles will just win out and get that home field by being 14-2.
Enjoy a nice win tomorrow gang!
Go CAM NEWTONZZZZZZ!!!!!!
Go to the IR and ER after getting knocked out!
Watch him shit all over that female reporter, dude is a scumbag
He’ll get KTFOd tomorrow.
“The Vikings will get their L vs. Green Bay in a few weeks.”
Never stop being you.
Can do! Rodgers is coming back next week to humble Cam, beat the Vikes, but come up “this” short of a playoff appearance.
Did you learn a new word, mang?
Ha; Thesaurus Saturday!
Gotta be honest, #1 is simply not true. The 76ers have had the worst attendance while they sucked. Yet the Lakers fans remained strong when their team sucked. LA cares more about SC, UCLA, and Lakers than anything else.
No way. Soft fan base. Beach ball passing, late arriving, non NFL supporting, punks!
I love Philly, don’t get me wrong, but Philadelphia invented the ‘leave halfway through the fourth quarter (or third period or 8th inning) to avoid traffic’ maneuver.
I can’t accept that as true.
While watching an eagles home game in which the score is not closer than 8 points, watch as fans leave the stadium with 10 left in Q4. I hate that.
Optical illusion; they’re all just peeing.
Lakers have about 7 championships in the last 35 years too.
They average about 1 every 5 years. Keeps ’em interested.
Wow; I just found out a good reason to root for Navy today.
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/21717081/west-point-investigations-found-insufficient-evidence-rape-allegations-army-black-knights-qb-ahmad-bradshaw-report
Army’s QB is a rapist, cheat, and more fit for a castration / hanging than he is to represent out nation and/or carry the burden and honor of a West Point education. What a creep.
Yup. I teach at West Point, and I’ll tell you, he’s not a good person. The lionization of him makes the team tough to root for.
Wow, thank you for the inside info on that. I’m really sorry your great institution has to be sullied by that level of creep.
..wait, soft on West point but he is the bad guy? ? Looked liked west point took it seriously, did a full investigation did a full , investigation and exonerated him .. then why is he a creep ??
Full cover up. Bradshaw is guilty as sin.
Cover up by whom ??
http://taskandpurpose.com/west-point-ahmad-bradshaw-rape-allegations/
Seriously a bad person. Raped a girl, lied about even having sex with her, and then had her run out of West Point.
And how is West Point not complicit in that serous of sketchiness???
F them too!
That’s the G Media I was looking for !!
..
Thought someone had hacked your login
Yeah, the leadership there should be ashamed of themselves.
Liars and hypocrites .. I’m sure the Skeleton closet there is big as the Cowboys Dome
F Kobe also ..ask time bad guy .. turned Shaq in! ! Can never ever ever be forgivin for that massive code violation
Kind of like the Lionization of Kobe
Another rapist
Nice!
Presented without further comment:
https://deadspin.com/fox-is-seeking-los-angeles-area-actors-who-can-pretend-1821152419
We run the world!
Phillyvoice… Not kempski, had that. Pretty sad Fox is doing that.
Eagles fans should sign up and take off the rams gear fox provides them showing their Eagles jerseys underneath.
Sign up to be an “actor”, tear off your fake ass rams gear and go full Eagles on them, get paid anyhow.
Apparently you can’t tailgate in the visitor area! Is this common? Maybe I never parked in a “visitor” lot before. Any ideas? https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c3991d8e8f284c6d67d35ab79fff39f2515a61330dc89406e1032ef3d93c3eab.jpg
#lame
Yup. I guess we’ll look for eagles fans in the home lot.
The segregated parking seems weird to me. Is that common?
Does anyone else struggle with hating Lonzo Ball even though it’s not his fault his father is a total tool?
Like on one hand I instinctively root for him to fail, but on the other I realize I’m really just punishing him for the sins of his father.
Nope. He’s going to be judged vs. Simmons and Fultz; so F him and F the Lakers.
Well obviously I want him to suck compared to Simmons and Fultz, I’m talking about more in the context of his father.
That certainly doesn’t help him any.
He seems like a good kid. I dont care about his dad being a tool. Its not his fault.
Why are we supposed to hate him again? Because he has a loudmouth father?
Not to be a downer, but LA seems a total mess right now. Crazy they’re playing a football game.
The Sixers really need T.J. Mcconell to run the 2nd unit, they’re so lost with Bayless trying to run it.
Also it’s so frustrating to see Lebron get such generous calls. I get that Lebron is an awesome player, but the preferential treatment he gets is ridiculous. The amount of pushoffs he gets away with every game is absurd.