Big Day for Doug
Posted: January 13th, 2018 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 1,105 Comments »
The Eagles just won a playoff game. That’s a big deal no matter what. Then you think about the fact that the Eagles were missing:
QB Carson Wentz
RB Darren Sproles
LT Jason Peters
LB Jordan Hicks
ST Chris Maragos
PK Caleb Sturgis
That’s pretty incredible.
There is a lot of credit to go around, but Doug Pederson has to be at the top of the list. He has done an amazing job this year, getting this team to play at a high level no matter who is hurt. Pederson’s “Next Man Up” message is easy to dismiss by those on the outside, the players believe it.
I think one of the reasons the players buy into Pederson’s message is that he puts actions behind his words. I have used this example a few times this year, but the decision to make Halapoulivaati Vaitai the RT last year spoke volumes to me. Pederson trusted his rookie O-lineman and gave him a chance to play. Big V struggled initially, but Pederson stuck with him. Big V did a solid job. This year he had to play LT when Jason Peters went down. Vaitai has been up and down, but he’s played well enough for this team to keep winning.
Dallas LT Tyron Smith missed some games this season and you would think the Cowboys were missing the greatest player in the history of sports. The offense struggled to move the ball and the team struggled to win.
This year Pederson embraced UDFA Corey Clement. It was one thing for the rookie RB to make the team, but Pederson actually played him, and sometimes in some key situations. Clement got Red Zone touches. He got 3rd down touches. He got 4th quarter touches.
Some coaches embrace their star players more than others. Pederson has made it clear from Day One that this is a team. Everyone is part of that and is expected to contribute. This isn’t Carson Wentz and the 52 Pickups. This is the Philadelphia Eagles. If you are on the roster, you’ve got a job to do.
Pederson also helps matters with how he runs his team. With Foles taking over, Pederson could have started to be conservative and played not to lose. Instead, Pederson stayed aggressive. He let Foles know that it was his responsibility to play well and help this team out. Rather than lowering the team to the level of the backup, Pederson is forcing the backup to raise his game to the level of the team. That’s great coaching.
Think about the opening play of today’s game. Pederson had Foles throw deep. The pass was into the wind and it turned out to be a duck. The Eagles got lucky to get a PI call out of it. Still, I love the fact that Pederson was in attack mode.
Pederson isn’t careless. He’s aggressive. He pushes his players by challenging them. For the most part, that has brought out the best in the Eagles.
I’ll write about the specific game management later on.
For now, I’m just appreciating what a great job Pederson has done this year. Tonight was no different. He pushed the right buttons and got this team to win a tough playoff game.
The Eagles weren’t perfect. They turned the ball over twice. They missed an extra point. There were some costly penalties and missed opportunities. But the Eagles still found a way to win.
This is a damn good team. And they have a damn good coach.
*****
There was one magical moment in the game for Doug the play-caller.
Third down, #Eagles get creative.#FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/yGXVfzzosS
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) January 13, 2018
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen an NFL team run that. The Eagles have had it in all year, but saved the play for the right moment. It worked perfectly and set up the team’s only TD. Great call, great execution.
_
I’ve seen that play run by other teams. Don’t recall which or where.
Thought it was KC in eagles game.
Dressed up differently, but similar. They had Kelce run it out of either/both the FB or in line TE spots, and probably both between the couple times they did it.
I will happily eat my crow and toast to Nicky Foles. He found strength after that 1st half and did a great job. I like to think Carson had good words of encouragement at some point. Foles did enough for the win. I am happy he proved me wrong and didnt lose the game! Go Birds!
The best thing about Doug is that he’s not Andy 2.0.
Which is why we’re still in it minus Carson, while Andy’s at home eating BBQ.
I still can’t figure out how Andy never figured out how to manage the clock.
I think it comes down to being stubborn. Reid insists on calling the plays even though it’s obvious that it’s not his forte.
Yeah but how many games has he lost to it? At some point you have to reevaluate how you do things and come up with a better system.
He finally gave that up this season only for his play caller to emulate his worst quality, i.e. forget about running the ball, in a game they lead by 18 :P.
Or run the ball.
Agree but that bothered me less than the clock. Andy called a lot of screens that are basically run plays. Westbrook still got plenty of touches. Agree though.
Doug had some clock snafus tonight including not calling a timeout/poor clock management before the half and the WTF timeout call on 4th down on the 2 in the 2nd half.
Yeah they let the clock run down trying to run a play when they should have called a timeout. Then they get the false start and have to use it anyway. Never said Doug was perfect, but doesn’t seem as bad as Andy.
Eagles had 2 TO’s left at that point which allows you to at least theoretically call a run play, which keeps the defence a little honest. Keeping an extra TO in hand with 30 secs left allows 5-6 plays to be run and most of your playbook is open.
The problem was the false start that with the 10 sec run on would have reduced the clock to about 15 secs (clock would tick on the refs signal), which then forced the TO.
The whole sequence ended up being a mess, but not sure that is on Doug, who couldn’t predict that the OL would false start on that play.
To be fair Andy has had a lot of success when backup QBs came in- Garcia, Feeley.
Can we get Foles traded this off season for what Reid got for Feeley?
Good game from Doug. He went for it when it made sense, kicked the FG when it made sense on 4th and goal from the 2, used his challenge at the right time.
Nick made some big throws. Of course, one of his completions bounced off the defender”s chest back to Torrey Smith. Never saw that before. But looked much better than he did in the Dallas or Oakland game.
Great win, especially given the circumstances and since it’s been 2009 since the birds have won a playoff game. Erase Ajayi”s fumble and the muffed punt and they really outplayed ATL.
The muffed punt was on the wind. Not much could have been done there.
The cliche about coaching (which is a cliche because it’s true) is that a great coach adjusts his approach to fit the strengths of his players and builds game plans to get the most out of them. The coaches whose approach I admire most in various sports (Bill Belichick, Gregg Popovich, etc.) are like this.
So is Doug. He did a great job building a game plan for Foles and putting him in a position to succeed. Along with his aggressiveness, his creativity in play design, his open-mindedness about stuff like analytics, and the ability he clearly has to communicate with his players, it’s what has me sold on him.
Not bad for the “least qualified” coach in the NFL.
Simmons and Lombardi really need to eat crow on that one. That is just an embarrassingly bad take.
Instead of eating crow they will give credit to Schwartz and the defense. Sad but most likely what would happen before they credit Doug.
No way they’ll ever do that. They’re waiting for the big Dougie screw up to say, told you so. If it doesn’t happen, what they said will have faded from public memory by then possibly.
I am a life-long Spurs fan (the Admiral was my fav player as a kid so I chose the Spurs over the Sixers) so I have a very deep appreciation for Pop. Pop got the break of a lifetime in getting Duncan, but he’s proven time and time again that he is among the best coaches in all all sports in getting the most out of his players. He’s won with guys who many would consider cast-offs or scrubs. He’s won with multiple line-ups and he’s stuck with guys (Ginobli) who most other coaches would have cut or let go.
I sincerely hope Doug is half as good as Pop bc if so, we have some fun years ahead. I definitely doubted Doug’s ability to elevate this team to play beyond their potential, but this season obviously convinced me otherwise.
David was my favorite player too *high five* and I follow the Spurs as well. According to one statistical analysis (wages of wins, boxscoregeeks), there are only two coaches whose players consistently played better when they coached them–Pop and Phil.
The fact that we’re comparing him to future HOF coaches and no one is saying, “Stop, we’re getting ahead of ourselves,” is a testament to just how good Doug has been these last two seasons.
If he stays even close to this level for the rest of his career, I think the rest of the nation will put him in this conversation.
He’s still only coached two seasons, but he’s 20-12 in the regular season, has won a division title, and got his team to a conference championship game (at least) with a backup QB. I’d wager that resume stacks up against that of any coach so early in his career.
I thought for the Eagles to win, unless the Eagles defense suddenly became the Ravens defense of 2000, Foles would have to play better, the defense simply be good if not great, and no one made mistakes.
I thought the team would have be perfect and not make a single mistake. As it turned out the defense played well, if not great, and Foles played a lot better. The fact that the Eagles were able to overcome three glaring mistakes, Ajaxi’s fumble, the missed extra point, and the near disastrous mistake on the punt return is a testimony of how well focused the 53 man roster and the coaching staff was today.
An absolutely amazing gut check performance by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Doug has proved he is the real deal!! What a hire!! We all were like WTF?? when they hired him too… gotta give howie and lurie a lot of credit too
More like they got lucky that the Giants wouldn’t let them interview MxAdoo. Doug was their next choice.
We don’t know wether they would have actually offered McAdoo the job. They never got the chance to really sit down with him. So this is just a meaningless conversation. You might just as well assume that, if they had managed to interview him properly, they would have found him a flawed and uninspiring candidate without the with personality and moved on to Pederson anyway. They have been fairly clear about the qualities they were looking for during that search, and it is equally obvious that Doug has them while Ben does not. No reason to believe that they would not have come to the same conclusion regardless of wether McAdoo was made available or not.
idk about that
Can we say ‘elite defense’ yet?
BB Doug got only TD on fourth down!
It was amazing Atlanta didn’t score any points that weren’t gifted to them by Ajayi, Barner, and/or the refs.
eh, they scored all 10 off of turnovers, and penalties kept that touchdown red zone drive alive. But yeah, we were still very lucky considering.
That’s what I mean. Atlanta’s points were all gifted to them by entities other than our D.
ah. missed a word in there. it’s early.
A difference is Reid would of run it with Chad Hall. One of the biggest plays of the season and Peterson gives it to Agholor.
我有强迫症，看到好文就想顶！
If the saints win but Brees get injured then it will be foles vs daniel.
Lol. I like the way you think.
If the Vikings win and Keenum is injured, it will be Foles v. Bardford.
Rooting against the Saints today. My girlfriend is Saints fan, and I will be cheering for them publicly, but I don’t want to have to find a new girlfriend after next weekend.
What is said on Iggles Blitz stays on Iggles Blitz.
I played in and coach the Wing-T offense. That is a fairly common type of run in our offense – it just doesn’t go to our X/WR, it goes to one of our halfbacks (we have 3 backs in the Wing T offense). We would call that a Jet sweep and it’s run away from the strong side. The idea is to influence the defense to pursue strongly to our strong side using similar blocking scheme and RB’s faking toss/sweep right, then have the wing-back discreetly run opposite direction. The success of the play is almost always determined by the discipline/reaction of the backside DE and OLB. It’s definitely a great play to have in your arsenal – especially when you notice the defense has a tendency to over-pursue.
Ha I said during we ran that play in high school and we ran the Wing T
“The Eagles weren’t perfect. They turned the ball over twice. They missed an extra point. There were some costly penalties and missed opportunities. But the Eagles still found a way to win.”
You also missed that FGs of 37 and 21 should have both been TDs so we’d have been up 23-10 at the point Atlanta was trying to drive at the end of the game. Hell, just get one of them to be up 19-10. I really think red zone play calling is the only real quibble with Pederson from yesterday. Also a major complaint against Duce for sitting Ajayi for far too long.
I watched the interview with Doug on the field on the NBC postgame show. Reading between the lines, Doug called very “simple” pass plays and RPOs in the 2nd half because Nick is unable to run the offense otherwise. He paused when saying it, being careful not to throw Nick under the bus.
Doug has shown the ability not only to adjust to the personnel on the field, but to also adjust in game. Those 2 qualities seem like a rartiy in the NFL.
Yeah, but those simple things still need to be executed at sub par defense when we have a chance to get TDs instead of FGs.
Eh, I don’t think it’s the simplicity of the offense so much as the difficulty of the throws. Carson has the arm strength to make the throws on the seam routes and deep outs, Foles doesn’t – doesn’t matter if your reads are good if you can’t rip the ball fast enough (case in point, the INT against the Cowboys – Alshon was open on that play, but Foles through the ball a beat late and short, giving the defender an easy INT). Either way, Pederson called plays which Foles was capable of executing, which is good coaching.
By the way, do you still think they have to put in Sudfeld to have a chance to win the game? 😛
Foles had me really worried. He had that Dak in the headlights look in the first half.
I couldn’t be happier that Doing adjusted the offense. Nick only put up 6 second-half points, but looked worlds better.
I agree Foles throws a slow ball. Couple that with his inability to throw a receiver open, and it really limits the playbook. Doing can scheme a lot to maximize Nick’s strengths.
Hopefully they work on redzone and deep passes this week in practice.
Foles is not going to become any better at deep passes in a weeks practice. Rather they should add a few more plays to the playbook giving him quick reads on crossers between the hashes, which is what he does best. Play to his strengths and scheme it up so he can be efficient. All they need is to force the opponents D to respect the pass so the RBs can remain effective and win a low scoring game. This team is not winning any shootout.
Foles has always had a good deep ball. Riley Cooper would attest to that.
And yet, we won. That;s what counts.
Indeed! It is always nice to win AND have some very easy areas in which we can improve to win by more and an a less stressful manner the next time out.
I said this last night, but did anyone else notice Ajayi had a big white elbow pad on his left arm when he fumbled? The ball slide across the fabric with what appeared to be limited contact. From that point forward, Ajayi did not wear any padding on his arms.
I only noticed the vile, and well deserved, things I yelled at Ajayi for fumbling in a key game. Take that fumble away and we’d have been looking at 18-7 when Atlanta had the ball at the end of the game.
But an interesting point about his sleeve/pad.
Nice catch. .yes just rewatchng and that thing is huge looking ..his grandma maybe knitted it for Christmas for him so he wouldn’t get cold … its off when they cut to him on the sidelines during the defensive sequence
And he gets the 1st carry of the next offensive sequence. .isn’t wearing that thing. .
Sweet catch Dave
Turned on the NFL channel, just had to. Talking heads already saying NFC championship is today. Love being in this position, nothing to lose, no respect etc.
Hope the Vikings win today, will put more pressure on them to play the SB at home…..we win that game.
Talking heads are quite easy to disconnect from necks via guillotine. Not hard to collect names and set up a retribution zone in the Linc parking lot and/or just about anywhere in the city.
Mike always the savage
Underdogs eat talking heads.
After the AFC Championship Game: “The real Super Bowl was played today.”
After the Super Bowl: ????
You know… the injuries this year have been few in number but most of them seemed to come from our *best* something. QB, RB, OL, LB, STer. That is the part that shows how good this team is. Top to bottom.
Howie thanks you.
Oh for sure Howie deserves an apology from many he will never get it from. Coaches get it too though. For not only keeping the Mills and Clement types but for coaching them up.
Clements is nothing special as a runner, but his ability to be on the field for 3rd downs with pass blocking and catching ability makes him indispensable. It’s a shame Blount never dedicated himself as a pass blocker.
Clement is rewarded with some nice holes as teams cannot assume it is a run when he is on the field, unlike Blount.
Some guys seem to play better than their skill set. Clements isn’t fast or special in any way, but he always seems to get positive yardage and come up with a few big plays.
He reads his blocks well, has excellent timing hitting the hole, and knows his assignments. All things that can make a guy with average measureables play way quicker and faster than he tests.
And he stays healthy.
Special? Maybe not. He had a lot of Buckhalter in him though. Like a faster Buckhalter even.
I like that comparison. Hadn’t thought of it before.
I thought Buck was pretty fast, just injured a lot.
He wasn’t slow.. no. He was not as fast as Clement by my eye.
I was pointing out yesterday how many of our late rounders and UDFAs were floating around in the playoffs. Blake Countess is a safety for the Rams. David King was inactive for the Titans. Fluellen was the RB2 for Titans. Dion Lewis is killing it for the Patriots. Dennis Kelly for Titans. Jordan Poyer on the Bills.
Something in that scouting department is working.
Blake Countess gets dumb penalties, big fines, blown coverages, and my scorn for being a waste of a pick.
Good call on the other names however. I especially enjoy them taking Poyer, a frequent pick of mine on first pick, but was upset when he was cut.
Chip was pretty bad at identifying good talent under his own nose, wasn’t he?
Measurables.
Oh, and Villanueva. Forgot about him. Apparently he made the Pro Bowl.
Ummm Thanks!
I find it unprofessional that CBS shows the starting lineup’s PFF grades during the opening drives. These grades are only available to the general public if they pay a subscription. Collinsworth being a majority owner is just as troublesome.
NBC, but yes. Plus PFF is a bunch of made up bullshit. The number of games in which they rated Dak higher than our QB was proof positive that PFF sucks and “advanced metrics” are fabricated pay walled fake garbage that should be shoved up the assholes of their adherents in all sports.
Like some baseball guy trying to tell me how many WARs Scott Rolen had makes him a HOF player instead of a pussy quitter. NO SALE.
I spent my whole childhood watching CBS on channel 10 and NBC on channel 3. It’s been 22 years since they switched and I still get them mixed up.
Likewise; here’s how I remember it……..NBC 3 was the bunch of fuckups who showed the loser ass costume wearing makeup caked douches on New Year’s Day during the first quarter of the Penn State / Miami title game.
Thanks for making me spit out my coffee all over the keyboard. Too funny.
Siri what’s a keyboard ?
No no no… I left the area in 2004, and still think of NBC as 10, CBS as 3, Fox as 7, and ABC as 6. People here in Orange County CA will be like ‘channel 2’ for CBS and it’s just so wrong.
And Prism!
We only had Prism when we tuned to channel U (UHF) and then rotated the round tuner knob until Prism came on the screen. Since we had a cheater box, we could keep tuning until we got HBO.
GE was Live at the Linc! Probably the best day of my life.
Hope we were loud enough on TV?!
Winning is for the birds!
Glad you were there, I’m sure it was awesome. Care to repeat any of what was said when the refs invented a new version of the rule book when they called that illegal hit on McLeod?
This wouldn’t even qualify as explicit content and parent advisory..
Good. Shame there isn’t “bring you own brick” to the game day as seeing that ref pelted with heavy objects would be excellent.
Collingswood noted how quiet “and nervous” the stadium was when Folesy tossed that duck and Ajay fumbled ..
..
Later in the game he noted one play they generated mayhem for the crowd in a good way. .
“Collingswood”, ha! I guess a trashy community is a pretty good descriptor of that bum calling games on NBC.
Today is a real advantage of being the #1 seed. Yesterday’s win was huge, emotional, draining, exciting… for me – let alone the players and coaches. Today, those guys can take a deep breath and by the evening be locked in on the next opponent and back in game mode. The other team (Vikes/Saints) will have to wait a day to exhale.
Here’s to hoping that game goes to overtime. I am going to root for which ever team falls behind so that it becomes another nail biter.
Yeah, should be good for all involved to be able to watch today’s game with an eye on stomping a mud hole in the “winner.”
Doug Pederson deserves to win Coach of the Year. He’s done a simply amazing job of keeping the team together through all the ups and downs. Just fantastic.
(Also, has anyone else noticed how much better his press conferences are?)
I actually like his “bad” press conferences a lot more as we was prone to saying a lot of things he shouldn’t have, but I feel he had a moral obligation to share with me.
And he’s 100% the coach of the year. That Pokemon playing diaper wearing not shaving yet little punk ass who coaches the Rams choked a home playoff game, was only 11-5, and got beat by Pederson head to head.
Too bad that the postseason doesn’t factor into the voting. What should have was the rams got beaten by Nick Foles after Wentz went down.
Quite true. I’ll be looking for names / twitter handles of McVay voters to dole out some abuse for sure.
And had ZERO major injuries to deal with. Doug was running a team that was half in the triage unit and he just kept this team winning
Patricia taking the Lions job according to ESPN. I swore I read that that Giants were going to get him. I guess all of those deluded self-important piece of shit New York Giants “journalists” missed the mark on overrating the value of the job coaching a piece of shit franchise and fan base.
Let’s just hope Schwartz doesn’t end up there. Not because I think he can make the Giants respectable, but because I’d like to retain him as DC.
Good point. But in any case, people acting like the Giants are some kind of better job than any other NFL team is vile. Seriously those fucks overrate every franchise in that wretched region.
Good. That means McDaniels is still in the running. The dream is alive.
McDaniels, allegedly, is asking for full roster control wherever he goes. I’d laugh in his face.
I know. That’s what makes it an excellent fit 🙂
My counter offer would be “You drafted Tebow. You work with a GM.”
McDaniels and nut-job OBJ. Yes please!
Colts
First Trump, now Patricia. 0 for 2…
I honestly think McDaniels will be much better the second time around. That team has weapons. If he can figure out QB and retool the OL they can be good quickly.
Rumor is he will be HC of Colts
That’s really unfortunate. I would love the Giants to have had such a smart coach. You know the guy who uses a laminated play sheet but carries a pencil around behind his ear.
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Dave below scouted Ajay’s huge left arm band as the slippery fumble issue. .thing was gone as soon as he hit the sidelines. . Reassuring to know
Carson looked like the computer tech on the sidelines
My son called him “Ginger Jesus.”
Not sure i get it but has a real nice ring
I’ve been fortunate to go to many games over the years. Crowd was great yesterday. There’s moments when you just want to sit and watch, or moments when you’re exhausted or down and it’s hard to cheer. But we maintained steady noise and energy.
Here’s video of Atlanta’s last play on the goal line. I’m to the left whistling my brains out. You can see me almost pass out after the play when camera swings to the left. I have the dark beanie on.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mb1aoxct2d4mpf0/Video%20Jan%2013%2C%207%2039%2019%20PM.mov?dl=0
That’s awesome!
Awesome awesome! !
My cousin has been a season ticket holder for a long time and has really good seats (near mid-field right below Lurie’s box).
He said even the more usually passive fans around him and the luxury boxes were loud yesterday for a change.
He said it was the loudest crowd at the Linc he could remember since the 2004 Championship Game.
https://youtu.be/LRsa-IVw5z8
https://youtu.be/6qnwYrOlOrA
How on Earth is Doug Pederson not coach of the year?
Rams improving from 4-12, Goff improving from a lower starting point, LA being a glamour city where much of the national sports media is based, etc.
There’s zero substantive reason. I take nothing away from McVay, who has done a terrific job. But Doug has been better.
The NFL might want to see that award go to their newly reborn football market out in LA. Big markets are everything to the NFL.
But Doug has obviously done the best job, especially in light of losing Carson too. He has a chance to win it.
Just like the Cowboys were 4-12 in 2015 and then 13-3 in 2016, securing coach of the year for Garret and offensive ROY for Dak in the headlights.
#70 Jake Matthews clearly held Barnett on the Falcons TD. He would have had him. Go back and watch it. Our defense didn’t complain though, great discipline and focus. Other teams would have let the frustration get to them. Especially after that special teams debacle.
I noticed it as it happened. I was still pissed because I thought Barnett could have gotten a fistful of jersey to hold Ryan up but obviously the refs botched that one.
Cuthbert and Michaels missed it too. To busy blowing sunshine up Ryan’s ass. “Oh my, Thats amazing quartterback play, right there!”
Hey guys, um… that was fucken penelty yah know.
It wasn’t even that great of a throw. He basically softballed it 5 yards. They were like HOW DID HE EVEN SEE THE GUY STANDING 12 FEET AWAY OH MY GOD.
I expect that out of Al Michaels because he’s a Giants homer but Collinsworth, you’re not good Collinsworth but you’re better than that.
It was amazing. It’s like he has eyes on top of that pencil neck.
It was great because he was being chased around by extremely fast big skilled men, he got spun around, and still managed to get the ball to a guy who’d just come open. Give credit where it’s due, mang.
Everyone – go read Jimmy K’s breakdown of that 4th-down goal line play.
That’s journalizin’ without the sarcasm. Great stuff.
http://www.phillyvoice.com/film-breakdown-jim-schwartz-owned-falcons-final-fourth-down-play/
Watching the replay, I’m not sure why Mills didn’t jump to defend the ball. He looks like he barely got 6 inches off the ground.
Regardless, Julio would have been OB even if he caught it.
https://twitter.com/MattLombardoPHL/status/952382987773120512
He got caught flat footed and Julio gave him a bit of a shove before jumping. Unsure if it’s intentional or not, but it looks like Mills swung his leg around to try to kick Julio’s feet out of bounds as well.
https://twitter.com/Eagles/status/952341837385146374/video/1
http://www.nfl.com/videos/philadelphia-eagles/0ap3000000906000/Field-view-Ball-sails-through-Julio-Jones-hands-on-final-play
I think, like a DB catching an interception, this is one of those things that looks easier than it is.
Outstanding.
I posted before the game that I thought Foles would play better than expected. He had a clean pocket much of the time and knew where he wanted to go with the ball. He missed a few open targets, but played well, keeping drives alive on 3rd down. Eagles won time of possession and defense was huge. As for what the “experts” had to say, who gives a shit. I’m sure Eagles will be six point underdogs next week no matter who wins today. One more win and the Birds are in the Superbowl! The magic continues
He was mediocre-to-bad in the first half. Really turned it around after halftime though.
And we were still in the game with that level of play
Have you guys checked out any Vikings fans after the game last night?
Those guys are unbelievable. They are looking right past the Saints to facing us in the NFCG and saying they can’t wait to face us.
Personally I would rather face the Vikes here than the Saints. Looking at defense for defense, offense for offense, the two teams are pretty evenly matched. And we hold the home field.
But I think the Vikes have their hands full today. Will be checking out the game at 4:30pm hoping they are right.
Go Eagles!
Like what the Steelers are doing. I hope those arragant, unfocused, undisciplined, poorly coached fucken clowns get smoked today. Bortles throws for 300 and 4 scores. Shutting the world up for good…Give them the Foles treatment.
A lot of Eagles fans are the same way especially in the early 2000s
Just a reminder, the Saints put up 17 points and lost to the Falcons one month ago.
So a couple of bizarre things happened last night. One was a punt actually ricocheting off of 3 different Eagles before anyone realized it was a live ball, don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.
Also never seen a defensive back jump up and knee a ball like he was trying to score from the edge of the 18 yard box before. That’s new.
All in all a really really messy, wild game, but so glad we came out on top.
I’d love to see some breakdown on why the Falcons were able to bottle up the running game in the 2nd half. They must have done something schematically.
They stacked the box and had safeties/LBs shooting the gaps to stop the run.
Two words: nine man box.
I wish I knew enough about football to say, but it was nice to see that Foles/Dug were able to figure out a counter. So often with Eagles in the past, we’ve seen them take away our first option and we had no answer. I mean WTF? It was so cool to see us make them pay for their choice to stop the run.
That punt fumble was embarrassing. The guys need to get out of the way and Barner needs to get up there and fair catch the ball.
The ball was a terrible kick. Returners aren’t supposed to go near those.
We NEVER supposed to have a fumble on a punt return, so somebody(ies) is/are a massive fuck up of a person and needs to be blamed. I’m cool with flaming the douches who didn’t get out of the way instead of Barner if we need to, but in either case that should really never happen.
Need better awareness by both blockers. It hit not one but two guys. That shouldn’t EVER happen. Whether it’s on Barner for not screaming or on the blockers, only the Eagles will ever know.
Yeah, total combo shit for brains effort.
I think the punt had a lot to do with the conditions. Barner was about 10 yards off from where it landed and it was a wobbly duck the whole time. It was just a terrible kick that Atlanta benefitted from.
I saw that as a weird fluky play attributable to the elements. That one went against us.
They 20-yard pass with an assist from the DB’s knee to end the 1st half went our way.
We stopped fumbling, we won the game.
Fuck “the elements” and “went against us” that shit shouldn’t ever happen.
I can only imagine how much fun it must be to be a part of that locker room.
I love these guys!
http://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/story-behind-eagles-dog-masks
By far, the best line: The idea was for Long and Johnson to walk off the field together, both wearing the masks.
“We were looking for each other,” Long said. “But I couldn’t find his scent.”
“But I couldn’t find his scent.”
Thought it was weird he was going around sniffing ppl
Jeff McLane at Philly Dot Com reveals another Dog Mask Conspirator:
“As the seconds ticked down and the Eagles knew that they had advanced to the NFC championship game, Jason Peters reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a dog mask and handed it to Lane Johnson.”
JASON PETERS CONSPIRED TO UNLEASH THE DOG MASKS!
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/eagles-falcons-score-analysis-offensive-line-lane-johnson-underdog-mask-20180113.html
Nick Foles has more post season wins than:
(Have played at least one play off game)
Dak Prescott
Tony Romo
Kirk Cousins
Jared Goff
Matt Stafford
Brian Hoyer
RG3
Andrew Dalton
Connor Cook
Tyrod Taylor
AJ MCcarron
Teddy Bridgewater
Matt Cassel
Matt Moore
Joe Webb
(Have not played play off game)
Sam Bradford
Jameis Winston
Derek Carr
Ryan Tannehill
Carson Wentz 🙁
Hahaha you included Joe Webb
Didn’t Romo beat us when we played them back-to-back weeks.
Romo’s actually got two wins. Beat us and Detroit.
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/R/RomoTo00/gamelog/post/
Shit my bad
Joe Webb for the Lolz!
I purged that “playoff game” from my memory. I think that was my beloved #5s last game too
A non-comprehensive list of QBs with Super Bowl rings:
Eli Manning
Joe Flacco
Trent Dilfer
ok? Thanks?
i know u have an irrational hate of Nick but u have to accept the facts at some point and say he is a decent level QB. He could be the 21st to 32nd best QB in this league no problem.
When he had a WR (Djax ’13) he was successful
When he has a defense and good TE/WRs he won a play off game
I’ve told you before, I like Foles. I don’t think that requires me to blow smoke up his ass, though. He’s one of the best back-ups in the league.
But you want to play the scoreboard game, I can play, too. Dilfer is up on the board.
Where is the smoke? All I ever said is he is capable of winning, looks like I was right.
We over rate the QB position like none other in sports. I don’t think Dilfer or Hoyer or Yates or any other that u have compared him to would have been able to win yesterday.
You mean Super Bowl winning quarterback Trent Dilfer isn’t better than Foles? He’s got playoff wins, though.
Throw Brad Johnson in there too. Yup I would take Foles over both those guys everyday and twice on Sunday (Saturday too)
Manning and Flacco win that game for us yesterday and Nick is not on their Elite level but he is far and away a better QB than Dilfer. He is probably a better analyst than Dilfer too
Dilfer – 5 playoff wins
Foles – 1 playoff win
QED.
(I really don’t care whos better. I’m just saying your argument is dumb in a team sport)
My argument that Foles is not the whole team and he is more than capable of winning for us?
U seeem to have a different argument/ narrative
U called Foles a Hoyer type. Say if then. Does Hoyer win yesterday?
I don’t think Foles won the game so much as got out of the way of the Defense winning the game.
So with that said, yeah, I think Hoyer could have scored 15 points yesterday to win the game.
And so I counted. He has scored more than 15 points 32 times, and less 12 times (Playing for Cleveland, Chicago, Arizona, and San Fran)
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/H/HoyeBr00/gamelog/
Ok I respect u standing by that. As crazy as I feel that notion is. Username checks out
hopefully we can argue this next week too! 🙂 (after another W of course)
I’d be ok with Cleveland’s 1st round pick.
It can be a fun list, but Foles’ 1-1 playoff record ties him with:
Active players:
Matt Schaub
Brock Osweiler
TJ Yates
Marcus Mariota
Jay Cutler
Past players:
Bubby Brister
Pat Ryan
Tim Tebow
Mark Malone
Steve Beuerlein
David Garrard
Aaron Brooks
Scott Brunner
Dieter Brock
Chris Miller
Steve Fuller
Tommy Maddox
Rodney Peete
You can play all kinds of fun games with small sample sizes like this.
In the end, Ike Reese had it about right — Foles doesn’t have to be the reason the Eagles win; he just can’t be the reason the Eagles lose. And yesterday he wasn’t.
In fact, he played Ryan about even. I figured we would win the battle in both trenches, with the Ryan/Foles disparity making the game close. In the end, we won the trenches, but Ryan/Foles were pretty similar, and it was the turnover differential which kept the game close.
I made an edit to reflect that. Was only looking at active players and commentators (apparently)
off the top of my head I did pretty good with that list lol
Props to our rookie kicker. Mr. Elliott was clutch.
Except for that missed extra point . . . .
I’m with Barchard . . . take a penalty every time 😛
Butterfly Effect: if we don’t miss that XP and are up 13-10 when we get to 4th and goal from the 1, I think there’s a good chance we go for it instead of kick. Every single point is important when our D is leading the way.
Maybe. Difference between 5 and 6 points is negligible. Smart move is to kick the field goal and keep the margin over 4.
It was 4th and 1 though. We could get a 1st down without getting a touchdown. And a TD seals the game, meaning we wouldn’t have had to suffer through the four goal-to-go plays. Which honestly was probably just as much of a coin flip as going for it.
It worked out, but I could definitely understand going for it in that situation as well. With Wentz I bet we would.
Up 3 going for it is the right choice.
German Eagle Attends Game, Eagles wear German Shepard Underdogg Masks…
Illuminati Confirmed
We had a member question whether Lombardi or Fahy was the bigger fool for their hot takes. I said Lombardi and it was pointed out that Fahy kept doubling down on his Wentz take. Welp, Lombardi wants to join Fahy in his idiocy. According to Jeff Kerr, Falcons lost that game, Pederson certainly didn’t do anything to win it.
My hot take . . . neither are worth listening to at all.
Don’t forget the air yards loser and the Benjamin Allbright scumbag.
All world Aaron Rodgers air yards this season . . . 5.5 or third to last in the league.
Completely meaningless stat.
Speaking of Hot Takes…
Guess what, everybody? The Eagles just proved they are not the Packers.
A. Rodgers goes down, the team falls apart. They basically lose out.
But C. Wentz goes down, awesome as he is, and the teams survives and advances in the playoffs!
Mcarthy is a criminal who owes everything to Rodgers.
Go Jags!!
On that 2nd-and-goal play, there was a Pittsburgh player offsides for several seconds, who almost looked like he gave up figuring he got a penalty, then realized that the Jags had not hiked the ball and no flags were thrown, and got back onsides. Jacksonville could have hiked at any point to get a free play.
They end up scoring on 4th down, so no harm in the end.
You can put the Jags in the playoffs, but they’re still gonna play like jagoffs.
My word the Steelers defense was ghastly on that opening drive.
This is going to end with the Patriots getting to curb stomp another mediocre team en route to the super bowl isn’t it.
Except this year in the SB they get mauled by the Philadelphia Underdogs.
whoever #54 was on the Steelers, he had a shot to stop Fournette short on that dive but went underneath him for some reason. The Steelers don’t look like they even want to be here right now.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/player/_/id/15264/l.j.-fort
LJ “I just failed to hold down the” Fort.
The Jags only weakness on defense is runs up the middle so of course the Steelers call 3 strait passes to open it.
The more I think about it the more I think I’d rather see NO next week.
The Vikings have the type of defense that could simply shut down our offense. They already stop the run well, but can really sell out against the run and have the talent on the back end to make it work. They will force Foles to complete passes in tight windows, which does not bode well for us. I think they will limit our TOP and give their offense a ton of opprutubitiea to score. Their offense also features Theilen, Diggs, and a competent running game. They should have some success if given plenty of opportunities.
Drew Breese scares me, but their offense is similar to Atlanta’s. They feature a 2 headed rushing attack, a physical outside WR, and veteran QBs. I think we could slow them down enough to give ourselves a shot. Carolina flat out shut down their running game last week. More importantly is that their defense is susceptible to a strong run game. They would give us a better chance of having a balanced attack where we can dominate TOP and limit the amount of times Breese & Co have the ball.
Breese is not the guy i want to face with the game on the line, but I worry that the Vikings defense might stifle our offense to the point where we aren’t even in the game late.
Am I alone in thinking this way?
Another point for NO is the fact that they have the travel home after a late game before having to travel to us. We already have a 1 day advantage, but they would have lots of travel to contend with too.
I also think cold weather would impact them more than the Vikings.
They also rely on 2 rookies, heavily.
I don’t care who we draw next week. I feel good. I guess if I had to pick one give me the Vikings because I want to win it in there house 2 weeks later
Would be kinda cool to put closure on ’13 post season if We get Saints. I always felt like Chip and Davis lost that game for us.
Min. plays in a dome.
But when they drive to work it’s cold.
I’m talking more that a defense travels well, where a dynamic offense tends to struggle more in the elements. Both are some teams, but the Vikings are built to play in GB late in the season. NO is more of a strict dome team that plays Atl, TB, and Carolina.
No, not at all. I go back and forth. I tend to prefer the Vikings because I expect that match up to lead to a low scoring grind it out game. We can win those. A game against the Saints is more likely to be a shootout and I feel we’re at a real disadvantage in that type of game.
But I’ve read logic like yours and it makes me rethink.
At this point I just hope the Vikings and Saints push each other to the limits and the winner is just drained by the time its all over.
Pittsburgh appears to have overlooked the Jags and were mentally getting ready for New England. Its going to cost them.
The Steelers are imploding, absolutely crazy.
Holy hell, Miles Jack. Poor Gus. If only he ever had his players healthy.
Jax def legit.
Wooooow Pittsburgh may as well go home. This is wild.
The whole warm weather team going to a cold weather stadium is so overrated. The Steelers look like they’re ready for a hot chocolate and a warm fire.
That infographic was fucking brutal.
Rushing TDs at Heinz field this season:
Fournette – 4
Bell – 3
Finally, a run up the middle.
Jacksonville is our only hope of NE losing next week. I hate NE almost as much as I hate Dallas
No, there is another…
terrible play
My word, Jax is destroying Pitt.
Jax is kicking Pitt right in the shorts…
I guess all of Pittsburgh’s talk about beating New England was a bit premature
Maybe Jax does have a chance against NE…
guess you dont need a good qb to win in playoffs
It’s like ppl forget it’s a team sport unlike any other
Bortles is also being hidden by a great defense and run game. I doubt he throws 30 times today. Jacksonville is the only defense I feel is better than ours
So I’m starting to think that Pitt might not cover.
Eagles came out of the last nights game very healthy as well. Very important.
Go Jags!
I hoping for a NO to win, but come out of a physical game completely out of gas. They would have to deal with lots of travel and hopefully cold weather against a well rested eagles team. Think that’s our best chance.
I hope its a war and the tie and go to like quadruple over time so when we win next week everyone can point to that as the excuse.
My favorite thing about this team :
No excuses
That looked like the trap play we run. Take notes, Doug.
Not watching checked score wtf. Fluky or no?
Nope just like week 5
No. Jax has been legitimately outplaying Pittsburgh.
There was one INT in there which helped a lot. And the Steelers failed on a 4th-and-3-inches play. But Jax has been driving the ball well.
Antonio Brown with a ridiculous catch to get one TD back.
uh -oh fournette injured
Ivory is out too so hopefully he comes back. He is a lot of fun running the ball
Critical series coming up. Stop ’em here and Jax can go into 1st half up comfortably. Pitt scores, and its game on.
https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2018/1/14/16890122/philadelphia-eagles-players-celebrate-falcons-advance-nfc-championship-game-pictures-videos-twitter
If u haven’t seen this yet, this was so much fun and great to see what a real team this is. Has there ever been a better city to not be given a chance as the #1 seed. Being under dogs is just Philly
oof.
Jags D with a huge play. Pittsburgh is going to need turnovers the other way to have a chance now.
wasnt the taunt done prior to reaching endzone?
Yeah but don’t think it negates a TD.
That’s not a rule in the NFL, only in college.
Yes, but I don’t think that affects the TD.
Kickoff from the 20 ended up not going anywhere — returned to the 49. So that penalty could still be kinda big.
Who wins tonight?:
Saints or Vikings
My money is on the Saints. Keenum is cinderella at the ball and the clock is about to hit midnight
I’ve got the Vikes. They’re going to totally smother the Saints and I don’t think the Saints can cover the Vikes in the pass game. I like Vikings 24 Saints 13
This is exactly why I want the saints to win.
I think Vikes take it tho
Its a tough call but the Vikings play outstanding defense, plus they’ve had a week of rest, while New Orleans is coming off a nail biter.
Vikes 30 Saints 16
I think the Vikings D and home field are too much. But it’s a fascinating matchup where I really don’t have a great feeling either way. Sort of like the Eagles/Falcons game — was leaning towards Eagles there but was not really sure either.
The Eagles just keep overcoming. If they hadn’t fumbled 4+ times who knows how much they win by
82-2
Nope,
27-2
Bortles sucks and the Jags are still up 28-7.
The Yintzers looked shell-shocked and I’m sure they’ll be plenty of ‘fire Tomlin’ calls on Monday.
They’re all welcome to jump into any one of the 3 rivers and down themselves.
Vikings need to win today. I don’t know how but the championship game will end on a 4th and 8 for the Vikings down 4pts with 1 minute left at the Eagles 30, and Bradford who has got in the game somehow checks down and Eagles tackle the receiver short of the down marker. It was written in the stars i tell you!
A Vikings / Eagles tilt portends to be a very tight and violent affair.
Rather see the Vikings all-things considered. I just don’t see the Eagles being able to keep Brees and company under 20.
It happened once (Week 14 loss to the Falcons when they lost 20-17).
Vikings have been held under 20 4 times this year including 3 times on the road.
As much praise as Keenum has got this year too, their offense still relies upon their running game to put them in manageable 3rd dones and Keenum to look for Thelien or Randolph.
Eagles just can’t afford to lose the turnover battle again because I don’t see them being good enough to beat Saints/Vikings if they do lose it again.
For all of the crap Foles took the last few weeks, he still is a better QB than Bortles and the career numbers support.
Worst QB left in the playoffs.
Preach
Foles is mediocre but we can win with that!
Meh. Both are inconsistent. Bortles has better tools and can create something with his legs, while Foles is probably better at processing info. I wouldnt say one is better than the other, but the bar isn’t set very high for either of them.
We need Foles to maintain his level of play against what will be better competition next week. Let’s hope he and Doug are up for the challenge.
I would take Foles over Bortles at this point. Bortles only real advantage is that he can get away from pressure and maybe get a first down or two.
Sure Belicheck is praying the Jags come to Foxboro next week especially with no Fournette.
I foolishly bet on the Titans and the Pats went into FU mode this week with Brady just obliterating them in the middle of the field all game.
Steelers not totally quitting just yet.
Yep. With no Fournette, I still like Pitt’s chances to win. They aren’t covering, though.
I know we’re past Falcons hype videos but I missed this one and it was the best
https://t.co/CSMc8ouoV6
That was really well done. Took the Good Morning Football rant as a soundtrack and put in a bunch of other video.
If Jax called a timeout with a minute left, Pit would have had to punt instead of going for it. So dumb.
Who gets the ball after half? I missed the start
Pitt I think
Am I wrong or should Gipson not have let anyone get overtop of him there? It looked like he was hedging his bets between Brown and Bryant and as a result Bryant ran right by him.
In that situation I’d think you would never want to give up the over the top play, if Brown gets the 1st down, you’re probably still just looking at a field goal.
You don’t let anybody over top of you there. Especially if your job title is “safety.”
Fournette looks ready to roll. C’mon Jax!! Bounce these fools.
The first play of the game was a deep, 40-something yard pass by Nick Foles that fluttered and sputtered through the air
Best call of the game as far as I’m considered. Came out with a statement from the opening play. Doug is COTY to me
https://i.imgflip.com/22olc8.jpg
That Kelce shovel pass on us week 2 was pretty nasty, Big Red specialty
Wow, more bad officiating. Could Smith Schuster have made that anymore obvious he was shoving Ramsey into Bell? And two officials staring at it. Just crazy bad officiating.
That was interesting. Ramsey was pushed but he gave an extra shoulder into Bell once he was.
I can still see the call. Could understand that either way. James just had a play where he was hit a little OB as well, and they let that go.
Jeez, now Bell with the circus catch. Brown, Bryant, and Bell all with big TD catches. Game on.
He didn’t give an extra shoulder, Schuster literally had Ramsey off the ground when he shoved him, and frankly I’m not even sure what you were looking at.
Going back and taking a look, Schuster gave him a big shove, but Ramsey stopped his momentum, then Schuster shoved him again (not quite as hard), and Ramsey went into Bell — but it seemed like he led with his shoulder a bit more than the second push would suggest. He also pushed off Bell with his arm, which was not completely related to the shove (if somewhat instinctual), and it was that shove which probably made Bell fall and made it look bad.
Given replay, I probably would not have called it, but I don’t think it’s a clear-cut bad call either.
Every time I hear the HEP-C commercial I hear “Pepsi” instead…..
Subliminal messaging works I guess
BTW
(I hate Pepsi, makes my teeth feel dirty)
Pepsi sucks and is marketed to the lowest class of people.
It’s probably better than Hep-C,
I mean maybe
I guess Bortles gonna Bortles
That taunting penalty on Telvin Smith at the end of the first half was costly. Set up the TD to close the gap to 14.
I’m so glad to be a fan of the Eagles right now, they might screw up, but at least they don’t hurt their own team because they just can’t help but be assholes.
Eagles would have just sneaked it with Wentz on both of those 4th and inches. Roethlisberger is huge IDK why they aren’t doing the same.
The Steelers DBs remain trash in spite of how many draft picks they’ve used on DBs; amazing. Like Seattle with O-line.
I’m so pleased I swapped Fournette out of my fanduel lineups at the last minute. Also glad I was all in on Pittsburgh’s defense. Barf.
Sorry to hear that.
so you are to blame?
100%. I can’t say I fault my logic though.
Go Jags!
Steelers are toast
So, Cousins to Jacksonville then? Bortles has no dead money on his contract next year.
Foles to Jacksonville
They have any OL or TEs worth taking in trade?
I’d take anything to be rid of this contract.
https://overthecap.com/player/nick-foles/773
Foles needs to be traded because I’m not seeing him take up $7 mil or $5 mil on our cap next year.
Makes all kinds of sense. With a average to good quarterback this team could be really really dangerous.
Yeah, I could see that.
Brown showed up today!
Holy shit these Steelers receivers.
Jaguars got away with a roughing the passer penalty.
But then Antonio Brown goes all Antonio Brown. Sheez.
Damn, that was impressive.
Ok, so, I don’t think that was actually roughing because he kind of brought him down pretty gently, but given what the rules are, how do you NOT call roughing on that one.
His name isn’t Brady. Duh!
If that was Brady it was an ejection.
That was a blatant call. Usually doesn’t matter if the player doesn’t know the ball is gone.
Usually the extra force of throwing a QB to the ground when the ball is gone is *always* called.
Yeah, just the fact that he brought him to the ground so long after the ball was gone should have been automatic, given the rules. Crazy.
antonio brown is the best
Brown is awesome, but why was Buoye on the outside in coverage there lol.
yeah, he held brown all the way into the end zone
Ben is just gonna Eli this shit today.
Who would have thought Roethlisberger was the fantasy QB play today. I mean none of the 4 was super appealing but, the Jags pass D is letting them down in a huge way.
who would’ve thought this would be a high scoring game?
My fantasy team sure didn’t.
cant get off the field
Good, the Steelers are dirty as fuck and the Patriots own them. Let the Jags get a crack at bringing the Pats down.
I like a low scoring game with defense battling it out than this shootout Pitt is having!
This is a fun game.
Pittsburgh wanted em, and Pittsburgh got em.
is that game? think so
has to be over now
Not quite. There is still enough time / time outs. But I don’t think it happens.
Eagles over Jags 5-3. Epic SB.
You know it’ll be Pats 49 Jags 3 next week; brace yourself.
Oh I know. But I can dream.
Eagles vs Jacksonville is the game America needs in 2018!
You’re getting it; In London.
I am up for a superbowl rematch in London!
This is reminiscent of the time back in the mid 90s when Jacksonville shocked the world and beat the Broncos to advance to the AFC Championship. They had no business making it that far, but yet they pulled off the upset.
And then the Pats crushed them?
The Parcells/Bledsoe Patriots, yes. Who then lost to Favre in the SB.
That’s the Keith Byars Patriots to you bub!
And then got beat the next week………………
Steelers can’t cover now. I’m glad I’m only betting low dollar amounts with friends. I can pick winners with the best pundits online, but I can’t pick against the spread *at all*.
I won my bet on the Eagles yesterday.
Start betting $ lines
I’m just gonna stop betting.
I haven’t bet a football game since USC let that big piece of human excrement Vince Young beat them in the title game.
My girlfriend went to Texas, so I’m obligated to say the following to you:
Hook ’em.
BOOOOOOOOOO!
I’ve absolutely mugged my friends with sports bets over the last couple of years. I can’t believe they still keep coming back.
No one can.
NOBODY called this a shootout ahead of time.
Straight up I’m undefeated this post season
Got us winning two more?
Actually I really DO!
I’m on a Flacco-esque run here 🙂
So are we rooting for Vikings?
Maybe. Either matchup presents more issues than Atlanta. I’m rooting for a brawl of a game with two really really really beat up teams as a result.
I think its a coin flip. I cant decide who I’d rather face.
rooting for a brawl. Get them super exhausted and beat up. Root for someone important to lose their mind, punch a ref, and get suspended.
Exactly. I’m rooting for whoever is behind and slugfest.
So Drew Brees, Michael Thomas, and Alvin Kamara fight Barr, Griffen, and all of the CBs.
Ramsey is a really really really good corner.
Thank god that texas team wanted Belly Shirt Elliot
That was a lateral.
Yes it was. Amazing play.
I mean, I hate Rothlisberger, but that was impressive. Gotta tip the hat to that.
That was actually a lateral, unlike that bullshit that Russel Wilson got away with.
I don’t like Pittsburgh, but that was a sweet play by Ben.
True!
384-4-1, not bad by big ben
Plus at least 3 or 4 other passes that could have or should have been intercepted.
When you have those receivers, huck and chuck is the right way to play.
I disagree with Fouts and the announcer. Onside was the right call, even though it was crappily executed. Pitt needs the ball and quick. Regular KO or failed onside, defense still needs to make a stop and quick. Doing an onside KO gives you one more opportunity to get that ball.
I agree with you.
Yeah, onsides is often the better call to me. On the other hand, would be better to execute it such that Jacksonville is not inside FG range already when they recover the ball.
How so? If they KO, as long as they get the 3 and out which they should, they would have the ball back in decent field position with almost 2 minutes left in the game. Persuade me that onside kicking makes more sense in that situation.
Getting the 3 and out is your only opportunity to get the ball. Need to do that either way with onside kick or deep kick. Onside gives you another opportunity to get possession which what they desperately needed.
But getting the 3 and out is almost a given, because you know they’ll run 3 times, and the odds of getting an expected onside kick is what, 1 in 20?
A 5% shot to get the possession they desperately needed? Yes, had to take that.
But they get possession on a 3 and out, and likely in good field position, with almost 2 minutes left on the clock. I’m still not persuaded.
Had the Steelers defense shown the ability to stop Fournette and the rest of the Jags offense I might agree with you. But, Blake freaking Bortles was shredding them and they couldn’t stop Fournette. Pittsburgh needed the ball in a hurry.
They were never going to risk an incompletion with a throw though, it was an obvious run situation on all 3 downs. And Pittsburgh did stop them on 3 downs, they just had the misfortune of an especially shitty onside kick, which lead to the 3 points that prevented them from being able to tie the game. If they get that 3 and out back at the Jags 35, they’re going to catch the punt likely at around their own 20 with a chance to return. With almost 2 minutes left on the clock I give them a good chance to drive the 70 yards or so they would need to tie the game.
about 1 in 5 I think
And if this is right, even more so.
Is it that high? It doesn’t seem that high.
That stat was from a 2009 article — about 20% when the other team was expecting it.
Recent years may well be less though. Maybe more like 10-15%.
That’s crazy high. It feels like it happens a lot less often than that.
If you at least get it to say the 45, and you stop them, they probably punt. If that goes into the end zone, you still get the ball at the 20 with about the same amount of time left, and with the extra chance of getting it on the kick itself.
But you can’t let them get into FG range down by 7.
Given the outcome here, it would have been better for them to kick off. With say a 2 point lead, giving up the FG means you are still within one score, but you can’t give up that FG. You either need to make sure the onsides kick is further down the field, or just kick off.
They should go for it and end the game.
They just did.
FG basically ends it.
The FG does it. 2 score game. FG easier to execute than 4th and short. Right call.
I can’t believe steelers have a long shot chance at this game.
Ok so who does everyone want to win the NFC game? I’m rooting for saints
A really exhausted, battered, bruised, drained, wasted, limping off the field team.
The Eagles
(Reply fail to Kajomo)
what the fuck was that, MacDonald
He had to get the 1st down, so he had to turn upfield, but he could have made a better effort to get OB after that.
Think he was talking about the easy drop
Yeah, he got the first down and then flopped in bounds for no reason.
Only guess is that he wasn’t sure where the 1st down marker was and just dove to make sure he got it.
These announcers make me wish Romo were here instead but of course he’s nowhere to be found in January
Didn’t he do the NE TEN game last night?
Shhhh. It was a good joke, even if inaccurate.
There was no game last night. That was a 3 hour bye week tune up for New England
Boom. Good one.
Pitt offense too good for team to lose first game. So much elite talent.
NFL gonna be mad when the SB rematch is in London.
Actually, I think they would love that.
You think NFL ever hosts a SB in London? With a week off it gives the teams plenty of time for travel.
Interesting. Yes, I could see that. No reason London couldn’t bid for it.
Not sure they would risk the weather there — not sure they have any domes big enough.
Interesting thought though.
The time different would be an issue. The game would have to be a mid-afternoon start in the EST (early-afternoon start for PST). I doubt the NFL would want to give up a primetime Super Bowl.
They’ve should move it to sat or make Monday a national holiday.
You know if Antonio Brown had gone out of bounds at the end there rather than getting tackled in bounds, Pitt still would have had a chance for an onside kick and a hail mary.
Well if they hadn’t gone down 0-21 that would have helped too.
Or if MacDonald didn’t belly flop in bounds for no reason.
Winning the SB over Pats with backup QB is too delicious to think about.
Those Brits struck gold next year. They get to watch a rematch of the Superbowl when the Eagles play the Jags London. Most of those fans are going to be confused when the Superbowl MVP isn’t even in the starting lineup as QB for the Eagles.
He might be playing for the other team next year. Tom Coughlin had a front row seat for the 27-2 season, just sayin’
I was thinking about that last night, it would be a conundrum for the NFL because isn’t the first game of the season usually a SB rematch these days? yet the Jags are committed to playing in London every year, which is scheduled for 21st or 28th Oct.
Carson Wentz, had a 123.7 third down passer rating
MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP MVP
Now we get to see what kind of meat we get to eat next week.
Hopefully it’s well done
Nothing against Keenum but
Foles vs Bradford would be fun to see next week
Now that we’re here I get the feeling the Saints are going to get wrecked. They are missing their best lineman, against that front 7 gonna be ugly.
(Andrus Peet)
Well who did u pick
Saints, now I’m nervous about my streak lol
fuck both these teams
I hate how the Vikings took the skol chant from the Iceland national soccer team. Come up with your own team shit.
Seahawks took 12 man from Texas A&M
Its a copycat league
It’s a copycat world. Also, it’s actually awesome when real descendents of Vikings do the skol chant, not when yokels from the midwest do it.
True I hadn’t considered the mis-appropriation of another culture but it is a really cool culture!
I don’t care about cultural appropriation, I just think it’s lame when teams don’t build their own identity. I also think it’s lame when a populace that are almost Canadian in terms of politeness try to be badass.
I’m so happy. .not just for the win (s) but for who this team is. . Character, resiliency and grit.
Worried; and all fingers and toes crossed. . But i BELIEVE. . Im ready to wear a dog mask under my Eagles hoodie and Bradham shirt.
these dome weenies.
Punter hurt already.
Hell of a tackle though.
missed it, NO punter?
Yeah. He made a big boy tackle, and you know how coddled punters are. Probably the first real hit he’s taken in years.
nice tackle, but he hurt himself.
if vikes win its going to be chip kelly offenses playing each other
soooo we rooting for MIN?
We are rooting for an all out war of attrition
I can’t decide. I don’t fear Minnys O, and I don’t fear the Saints D.
Minny’s o is solid. Saints D is inconsistent . We bothered Brees in 2015 into some tos but he also moved the ball against us. Kamara is only weapon that scares me. Ingram a little too. Thomas is good but he’s a pretty good matchup for us.
Not in my opinion.
Was not close to 45 for first! No challenge .
nice pick route
Wonder if we will see the same “rested team effect” today. Falcons were talented. But they ran out of gas late.
Wonder if the star-studded Saints will run out of gas… Vikes look pretty spry running around out there. Saints look a bit heavy-footed out there so far anyway.
Sean Payton never runs out of gas….
what a tool
*coke. he never runs out of coke.
HA!
He’s a scary old ball coach. Formidable, but…
Minny is running around like world beaters so far.
I just think he is a super Douchebag but a solid coach
I’m glad we got Doug, He seems nice and calls a good game for the most part
Where is that vaunted Saints D?
This is gonna be a good one
nice play to wright
well i dont want to play MIN either. whats option 3?
Vikings need to work on their TD celebration game. That was pretty weak,
what was that? a line of planes?
I think it was supposed to be, but the 2nd guy in line just kind of stood up and started jogging. If one of our OL put in that kind of effort he’d get chewed out.
I don’t think they will need to worry to much about that one way or the other next week
🙂
We’re that much closer to Sammy Sleeves in trashtime.
“what’s a computer”
“It’s what I just grabbed out of your hands and am smacking you with,”
Somebody needs to beat that kid.
I don’t think any other commercial has ever given me such a viscerally violent reaction.
I think about all the Apple ad guys practically spooging themselves thinking about how they’re redifining technology and are such disruptors.
Been saying it for at least 2 months. The Vikings were our biggest threat in the NFC
I may feel differently with Wentz back there, but they are going to make life really hard on Foles next week. I think our defense will show up, but our offense may struggle to get anything going. Could see us scoring less than 10 against them.
Any given Sunday and all, but they scare me the most
You forget, we have Doug.
shurmur knows that whole 27-2 playbook, he was the OC – will be interesting if doug can find another way for foles to be effective.
That works both ways. We know Shurmur’s.
Didn’t u get the memo? We lost yesterday because of Foles. All the media said so.
Never mind that game we played with 52 other angry men that had something to prove. We are a team on a mission
You can’t ignore that Wentz can do things Foles can’t. Their defense is legit. Vaitai will struggle against Griffin. We will struggle to run the ball. Wentz can do special things. Foles can take what is given. I’m not sure the Vikings give us much
I feel like we can beat them though at home if our OL plays well..
100%. Those WRs scare me the most! (after taking their defense for granted)
Thielen is amazing this year, and Diggs is still a pro bowl/all pro caliber WR when healthy. Only thing is can Keenum get him the ball.
Teams having more than one GREAT WR can counter our good CB depth (us lacking any true shutdown guy).
The Vikings will be able to put up points on us, whereas I don’t see Brees being able to do much (we would shut their run game down)
Gotta be a lot of pressure on Vikings to get that home SB game
How many years has this new Minny dome been open?
Think this the 2nd season
“Plans now call for the Metrodome to be torn down in February 2014 and for the new stadium to be ready to open by July 1, 2016. “The Vikings are operating under the assumption that 2013 is our last season in the Metrodome,” Bagley said”
2016 looks like
Remember that time Howie traded a QB to the Vikings for a first round pick to serve as their backup QB for the playoffs?
seems like theyre doing ok
Somehow. They stumble ass backwards into career journeyman Case Keenum, who has somehow turned into a perfectly respectable quarterback all of a sudden.
So really they gave up those picks for nothing at all. Thanks Vikes!
Lucky 4 them, all 3 of those QBs are free agents.
keenum follows shurmur bradford could be done
spent most of his career with shurmur
All three of their QBs are free agents at the end of this season. They have some decisions to make.
So’s Derek Barnett.
Kind of reminds you that Brees is past his prime.
Imagine if he was throwing in yesterdays conditions
I think the Saints will rally. Kamara and Ingram are too good to not contribute. And Brees is battle tested, unlike Keenum
lol. what horseshit
Terrible call
That wasn’t really PI on Crawley.
lol Diggs grabbed Crawley’s arm and just fell down. More bad officiating.
TWO HORRIBLE CALLS ALREADY!
They call was atrocious
Yeah, he flopped on the play. Smooth too. Drew the penalty.
must have watched torrey’s tape
So who would we put on Diggs? Darby??
Mills, baby. Mills!
Diggs is kinda fast. I’d be nervous about that matchup.
…Graham?
Brandon, I mean.
Ron Darby can stay with him.
Diggs is one of the most underrated players in the NFL
Just sack Keenum in 1.5 seconds and it doesn’t matter.
ha The fans booing that 3rd down non call. How many gimmes do you need?
these vikings players are just going for flags. kinda weak
Our guys will have to be careful. That Diggs flop was smooth as they come. Haha.
Should have gotten two minutes for embellishing
What’s that? A hockey foul?
I don’t know hockey…
Yes hockey. aka diving
The power play is my favorite in all of sports and I’m not really into hockey
Wouldn’t it be some shit if all three of MIN’s QBs walk this offseason?
Teddy may never be the same again. Sam will never be a starter again.
But if they let Keenum walk, they are crazy.
Sam is gonna be paid by somebody to be a starter next year. Though I agree that they probably shouldn’t.
I thought Sam’s knees were shot. I’m no Doc, so…..
They just took him off IR. And he’s active, so he’s the No. 2 QB today. Bridgewater is inactive. Doubt they would do that if he couldn’t play.
I can’t see Sam playing a 16 game season. I think he could spell a starter for a couple quarters or a couple games.
This year he played one game and went out on IR didn’t he? That’s how Keenum became the starter.
The Eagles should trade Foles, sign Bradford to be Wentz’s backup, wait for another injury to a starting QB on another team, then fleece another team for a high pick for Bradford again.
Sam could probably be highest paid backup but he seems like he’d be butt hurt and retire if he can’t find spot he can start.
Sam doesn’t need the money, obviously. He’s playing for pride. Already loaded.
He’s a free agent so they’d have to franchise him.
Bradford also a free agent. Bridgewater… not sure. Contract is up but they may try to claim some CBA thing to keep his rights.
They might be able to do a UFA thing with him, but according to UnderTheCap, none of them are under contract next year, and we should just assume that they’re going to tag one of them.
Rule: “Any player placed on a Physically Unable to Perform list (‘PUP’) will be paid his full Paragraph 5 Salary while on such list. His contract will not be tolled for the period he is on PUP, except in the last year of his contract, when the player’s contract will be tolled if he is still physically unable to perform his football services as of the sixth regular season game.”
Note the “except the last year of his contract” and “as of the sixth regular season game”. His contract may have tolled, meaning the Vikings have him another year with the same salary as this year’s deal. There could be a grievance fight over that, which Bridgewater could win (he could claim he was healthy enough to play, and ithat fight could be nasty), but it may be a path of last resort for the Vikings.
The talk was Shurmur & Keenum going somewhere else together but if Vikings tag him or Shurmur doesn’t get job it obviously can’t happen.
I hear Swartz wants Shurmur as OC after he completes that coup
Plus their OC.
Cousins would/should jump at that if it happens
Saints punt game is strong
he pulled an oblique or bruised ribs making tackle on first punt
So of course the offense does him no favors. Missed it but looked like he was hurting
Let’s see if Brees/Payton can get something going, but Vikes defense is just completely shutting them down right now. Impressive.
Saints defense finally gets a stop and Brees gives it right back.
What a pick.
That int was sick!
Wow, really good interception.
Good pick but if Brees gets 2-3 more yards on that Ginn walks in for a TD. Brees is showing his age.
yeah, it’s kind of sad. Father Time…
father time always wins
Speaking of infuriating commercials, how is that dude supposed to get out of his driveway after Brees parked him in?
Yeah. And what’s wrong with jazz fusion?? Hahaha.
U know I just realized the Falcons got blanked in the second half
Case Keenum kind of looks like some guy came up from the couch and put a helmet and jersey on.
Some storylines if Eagles/Vikes play:
Just realized Kendricks bros would play each other to go to SB
Shurmur of course
Minor but I think Wentz grew up a Vikings fan and went to some games.
bradford / foles trade
Yeah it would be a lot more interesting if Bradford was playing. Case would have to go down.
Don’t forget the “Foles and Keenam both were on the Rams together” storyline.
Derek Barnett (acquired with the Vikings’ 1st round pick)
This is the same Vikings team that won 14-9 in Atlanta on December 3rd… ain’t scared
Can you imagine how good they would be if Dalvin Cook was still healthy?
Can u imagine how good we would be on 3rd down with Sproles or how about our PR game
Not as good as us if we were fully healthy!
I guess this year would have been the year to be healthy. We would have coasted to a trophy
Where is Cam Jordan been? Is he even playing?
I don’t think Case Keenum and these throws are going to work in Philly.
….wow.
Good thing we have a pass rush right…..
Vikes run game is not something to worry about.
And the Eagles have pass rush and DBs to play that offense.
I’m not worried at all in an almost odd calm at peace kind of way. I think God owes Wentz one and we got this. That Neal knee to Torrey Smith (Of all PLL) is proof enough for me
Hope we don’t get this crew!
Steratore is awful. How is he doing this game lol>..
That was the right call. CB held the right arm.
They were doing that stuff all game in Steelers game. Let em play.
I have a hard time thinking Brees will go out with a fizzle but last time we went to the big show
We beat ATL
Then we beat Vikings
We were the one seed
Pats were deep into spygate tactics
This our shot at redemption. Someone convince Wentz he only needs one leg to win
Actually, we beat the Vikings then we beat Atlanta, but same teams in a different order
We played the Vikings before the Falcons, but otherwise yes
Beat you by a few seconds 🙂
C’mon Saints. Make a game of it.
well thats that.
oooh, that hurts.
My big takeaway from today’s games is that teams can’t make mistakes like we did yesterday without falling behind by a lot. The Steelers found themselves in too deep a hole and the Saints look close.
It is a testament to our coaches and players that they were able to stay in the game and overcome.
That bodes well for the future. If we get that cleaned up, gives us more margin for error
Unbelievable amount of heart and trust in each other
“We all we need” Indeed
One good thing from yesterday is that Julio has time to enjoy using that Visa card.
Kamara …he finally gets a touch, he’s had 4!
Saints OL was great last week and terrible today. Vikes D the whole difference ?
They lost their best OL Andrus Peet
Not that I feel bad for them we lost our best lineman ages ago.
That left side is getting killed.
Might help make the Vikings over confidant. People are gonna be slurping them all week over us….
Could work out to our advantage
Kendricks hurt????
Just bloody I think. He looked ok.
wow, the saints just look incompetent here.
Dumb penalty!
They are getting frustrated this has been about as bad as possible for the Saints
I still think they can win
maybe brees from 5 years agowins this
Then can, but unless you are a fan, forget it
I thought the Saints defense is good. That did not look good.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4748e9d792350db631d0f67361eb38f447be9cbbfbea037b2a0f6e681deea4a9.png
I’d take the Eagles at WR and DE (due to superior depth) over the Vikings. I’d also take the Saints at CB.
Saints at CB I think also, Eagles and Vikings seem like a push at WR and DE to me.
Push seems reasonable.
Not even close to a push at WR! We dont have a pro bowl caliber WR! Vikings have 2!
Agholor = Diggs. I would take Jeffery all day over Thielen personally, although I get some people would feel the opposite.
Agholor is not even close! Let me know when Nellie goes for 160+ yards (something diggs has done 3 times)
No way you take the Eagles WRs though I appreciate the depth! Thielen and Diggs are both Pro bowl caliber for me
I could see the taking the Birds DEs, but the Vikings DEs have production rather than just hurries
And the Eagles have superior CB depth to the Saints.
I think the Vikings are good but you’re sucking on em. I like our WRS, DEs, safeties, lbs vs Vikings. Bradham is a total stud
We dont have a pro bowl caliber WR, Vikings have 2
DE: I can see that
LB: Kendricks are a push, Bradham vs Barr…
S: you are wearing Green colored glasses here
Our CBs will match up with Thielen. We spread it around so we don’t need a pro bowl wr and that’s partly why. Ertz was Wentz’s go to guy earlier. I like Jeffery’s ability to go up and get it and win battles. Diggs/Ags….I like Ags better but that’s a push.
So it’s a push at best to me. I think we can take em away if we get pressure. I like Thielen but he’s not going to do more than Jones did vs. us.
Bradham has been all over the field all year.
The Vikings are a good team, but they’re not a juggernaut.
They are better than the Saints. My point was they are our top competition in the NFC, and have a LOADED roster
I’m not so sure. Matchups play into these things. Both teams were very similar by point differential.
Eagles have the best Safety trio in the NFL with Jenkins, McLeod and Graham.
Eagles have numerous young Corners that can hang with anybody, playing as well as anybody.
Looks good on paper, but we’re the home team next week. They just look good in a dome.
100% Home field is a legit advantage. We have a shot
This seems…. positive
🙂
Back to the “rested team effect” which says – once the tired wild card round team takes it down at halftime, they have a lot of trouble revving it back up again.
That’s how Atlanta looked in the second half yesterday. If they theory is correct, Saints should be even more sluggish than the first half, if that’s possible…
I think there’s a significant chance Brees gets it going and makes a game of it. But…. good chance it just gets worse, too.
Can it get any worse than a first half shut out though?
if you add two bad halves togeter, the sum is worse
Yeah being shut out again in the 2nd half might be more impressive than the 1st half shutout
As for matchups, we can shut down the run game and get to the QB, so the question becomes who has WRs who can make plays?
The answer, overwhelmingly is the Vikings, though the Saints have Kamara in the pass game. Diggs is tremendously underrated. I saw someone compare him to Agholar. Let me know when Agholar goes for 160 yards (something Diggs has done 3 times!)
Offensively, we have to fear teams who can shut down our run game and have depth and talent to match up with our weapons (Ertz, Agholar, Jeffery)
Vikings have Rhodes, Harrison, and bountiful depth to match up.
I will just add that…
Our D line doesn’t let Keenum stand back and tee
off in the passing game all day like we’re seeing. And our defensive
backs don’t let the Vikes WRs roam the playing field all day like we’re
seeing.
No way the Vikes go one dimensional like that by choice and pass, pass, pass their way down the field every possession.
It will be cold, outdoors and against our D front and secondary. Different type of game would be my prediction.
Our CB depth is amazing! But depth doesnt help against STUD WRS. Falcons had 1, Vikings have 2
But it is not like we are relying on one stud CB to match up against a stud WR. CB depth is exactly what you need against a team with multiple good WRs.
Hope so
yeah, the saints defense is getting schooled here.
diggs #1 target, ags #3
Another key point is that we will have the edge in coaching against either of these teams. That’s something a lot of people are overlooking.
This, so much this. It’s like a hidden nuke we have and everyone thinks it’s a pistol lol
I’m not so sure we have an advantage over the Vikings in coaching. Zimmer and Shurmur have done a fantastic job.
Yeah, maybe more of a “possible edge”, than a clear edge
That’s not a knock on Payton or Zimmer, who I think are both solid coaches.
No but you are still wrong. We don’t have a clear edge over the Vikings. That’s eagles bias. They are coached extremely well.
LOL. The “I know more about football than you” argument. Gotta love it. Zimmer and Shurmur are good coaches that have done a tremendous job this year. I’m still going to take the more aggressive coach in the playoffs.
It’s just different styles. You claimed we had a clear advantage in coaching. We don’t have a clear advantage. Both coaches deserve COTY consideration. I don’t know how any reasonable person can say we have a clear advantage.
I think Doug’s aggressiveness has probably added a couple points a game on average for us, and that’s something that no other coach in the league matches. In what I expect to be a slugfest, that seems like an edge to me.
That’s a fair point. I think we have some advantages in this game. His aggressiveness may be one of those.
I attribute sloppy play to a HC. Zimmer instills consistency in his team. They play sound football. It’s the biggest area DP has to improve. They have different strengths and weaknesses.
That’s a fair point about sloppiness as well, and one that I was not considering. That’s been an issue too often for us this year. We’ve been able to overcome it all season, but hopefully we don’t have to next week.
I think it’s more of an even match. Zimmer’s an excellent coach, but so is Doug.
I’ll take the more aggressive coach when points will likely be at a premium.
That’s a fair argument for Doug.
No I agree. I love Doug, but I don’t think the original poster realizes how good Zimmer is. Shurmur too
Yeah I’m agreeing with you – should’ve made that clearer.
Glad we won’t have to hear that annoying horn every 1st down
It’s pretty easy. The Vikings are not some dominant, unbeatable team. They are however a very good, a very balance, a very well coached, and a very complete team. At full strength I think we are better, but as we know that is not the case. They are the better team right now. We will need to ply our best game and have a few breaks go our way to win.
We have home field, extra day of rest, no travel, and the weather to our advantage. The players and coaches need to execute at a high level on Sunday. The odds are against us, but we still have a chance.
that was an impressive half, but theyre not as good as all that. I think we have a good chance, but we’ll need to bring it.
Being away from their stadium will change a lot. They will be favored and are likely to win, but there is a reason we play the games. The Steelers were in that situation today
Case Keenum has a huge adjustment if the weather is bad.
100%
Excluding QB, I like our roster better top to bottom than the Vikings, albeit it’s close. The x-factor is that their backup QB is playing a a couple higher levels than ours. That may we’ll be the difference, but I don’t think it’s a total given.
You like our DBs better? I’d take Diggs and Theilen over AJ and Agholor.
So we are talking the guy that throws the ball, the guys that catch the ball, and the guys that stop those guys from catching the ball. They have an advantage in the passing game. That will force our defense to respect a balanced attack. They can focus much more on stopping the run
I didn’t mean that we are better at every spot, just better overall. Maybe I’ll eat my words, but Thielen doesn’t seem like the kind of WR that usually hurts us.
It’s because a he’s white isn’t it?!
( joking for the ultra senesitive types
He’s certainly has a lot more speed and athleticism than most people give him credit for, but we tend to struggle with either the physical freaks (like Julio) or the absolute burners. I think it will depend on if our CBs are able to make plays on the ball, because Thielen is good at going up to get them.
We spread it around. Jeffery if he had Wentz is as good as Thielen if we didn’t spread it around. He was dominant when he had Cutler who leaned on him. Thielen doesn’t scare me vs our D not like a Julio. Diggs and Ags are a push.
They spread it around too. I’d also take Treadwell over Torrey Smith, but would take Ertz over Rudolph.
I think you get my point though. If we both force each other’s QBs to beat us vs our respective defenses I think they have the advantage.
I still think our HFA could play a major role, but I think their current roster is better than ours.
I think next week we go up tempo and not let them sub
See that scares me. I want to shorten the game. I want to snap with 2 seconds on the play clock. Give them as few opportunities as possible. I got the idea, but I think we will struggle to move the ball consistently. I don’t want any extra pressure on our defense. They have to carry the load as it is
We can go no huddle and not let them sub and still take time off the clock and snap it with 2 seconds left on the play clock.
Sure I guess, but then that let’s the D get a good feel for what you are about to run. My point is we need to stay on the field as long as possible to minimize their offensive oppurtunities. We will need to hold them to 17 or fewer to have a shot. They have good offensive talent. Can’t give them lots of opportunities to score or for our D to get gassed
I don’t think there is much risk in Doug turning into Chip before next week.
We can go to the line like the Rams do just to stop the sub doesn’t mean we won’t do ball control.
I actually think Peds believes in TOP and ball control as part of most game plans
You said up tempo. That normally means snapping the ball quickly
a value pack of index cards? I think that’s the first funny thing I’ve ever heard Buck say.
So I was out at a party and missed the first game and the first half of this one.. How the eff did the Steelers give up 45 points to Blake freaking Bortles? Even without Shazier, that’s embarrassing. Then again if that quote from one of their defensive players was accurate and they were looking forward to the Patriots, it’s not a surprise, and it serves them right.
As for this game – the Vikings are a tremendous team and I think will be a very difficult opponent. They’re not AS formidable outside their dome, but that defense is legit. Weather could help, but we’ll need our “A” game to beat them next week.
They started off running it like crazy and Pittsburgh gave them a few turnovers. In the second half Bortles stepped up and played well, making a bunch of big plays.
Just how bad is that Steelers defense? Wow.
They can’t stop the run. Period. Fournette ate them for lunch, which allowed Bortles all the time he needed.
Hmm. I actually think the Jags will have a shot next week, because the Pats aren’t good on defense either, and that D is the kind that Brady’s always had trouble against.
Agreed. Jags have been underrated.
what’s a party?
Maybe blake bortles and wentz is a good comparison. 🙂
A friend who lives over 800 miles away was in town for the weekend so I wasn’t going to miss a chance to see her for a game that doesn’t involve the Eagles.
wth is wrong with zendejo?
Doesn’t look good. Wasn’t moving much. Hopefully, its nothing.
Hopefully it’s nithing major, but just enough to keep him out next week
Did anyone see what happened? That did not look good.
So glad Shitsburgh lost. Jags are my AFC South team and I just can’t help not loving some of their talent. Jalen Ramsey, Myles Jack, Telvin Smith, and Leonard Fournette is just insane for a young core.
You have an AFC South team?
I kinda wanted a PA Super Bowl though it’s not like I’m crying over it..
I just want someone to beat the Pats. Preferably before the Super Bowl, so the Eagles won’t need to play them if they make it.
I’d really enjoy seeing Tom Brady lose an AFC Championship game to Blake Bortles at home.
Yes please
Jags gave up points vs. Big Ben. I’m not a Bortles fan so that would be cool if he beat Brady.
If that happens then Bortles gets to join a rather exclusive club of QBs that beat Brady in the playoffs
Jake Plummer
Joe Flacco
Mark Sanchez
Peyton Manning
Eli Manning
Yup. I also like the Cardinals but uhh lets not talk about that. I despise the entire AFC North for some un-explainable reason.
That was a pretty throw.
and route.
ooooh, a football game just broke out.
It ain’t over yet!!
I don’t think I’ve ever watched a movie where the guys wore desert camos.
Foles type throw!
That was worse than any throw I’ve seen Foles make this year, which is not to say Foles hasn’t made some bad throws.
That throw was an abomination. That was maybe the worst throw I’ve seen all season. Maybe Savage or Kizer made one that beat it, but not by much. It was that bad.
but was it bad?
That was both an atrocious decision and an atrocious throw by Keenum. If we can make him do that next week it will help.
Pressure!
Saints are alive!
Saints gonna win.
Vikings are going to blow this, I can feel it.
I just don’t fear Keenum or the Vikings offense.
Good things the Vikings have a long tradition of pulling out the close ones and not choking.
This will be an all-time Vikings heartbreaker if they blow it, which is saying something given the history of that franchise.
Just like Matty Ice
Most undeserved nickname ever
I have compared Keenum to Foles so much that it’s only fitting Brees would end his season.
Football is poetic
Vikings getting banged up… hope they win…
I’ve been in and out so haven’t been able to watch it as closely as I’d like. Who has gotten hurt in their team other than sendejo?
Safety – Sandejo – concussion.
CB- Rhodes went in the tent thing. Not sure is he is ok or not.
A D-lineman – Stephen went down in the first half.
Rhodes is back
Rhodes, Sendejo (both went into the tent, Sendejo is confirmed to be in the concussion protocol).
I fear Kamara more than the Vikings defense. I trust that we’ll scheme our way to some points but I can see us giving up huge plays to the Saints.
I don’t. Kamara is a good RB, but we haven’t let a good RB beat us all season.
Other advantage is there is a huge coaching mismatch between Doug and Zimmer. Doug will actually take the risks to win a game while Zimmer will always be conservative, which means he is both predictable and will let you get back into the game if you are down.
Saints D is very beatable imo. We run the ball without fumbling and we should win at home and our D keeps teams out of the end zone pretty well.
Agree. I also think the Saints offense is not going to be as formidable both on the road and outdoors.
We’re in a good spot either way. Under dogs to these two teams? lol
Probably a good time for Terence Newman to retire.
Nah, wait until after next week
Thomas is killing the vikings single handedly
Mike Thomas is a nice young receiving talent.
Ted Ginn Jr. is not bad either.
now thats hurry up
suck it payton
That was a panic challenge that is going to cost Payton a time out
Didn’t have much time to look at it because the Vikings hurried it up. But it wasn’t really that close.
That was a catch.
please take this back mr. payton.
that dude holding the screen really staring down gene
payton wasting all his challenges
Why isn’t that intentional grounding? I’m not sure that ball was close enough to a receiver.
Knee was down before the throw? Edit: no it wasn’t. Guess it was close enough to a receiver.
i think it was close enough
It landed not that far from a receiever
The standard is “a receiver in the area”, right? How is “in the area” defined?
Depends who the QB is.
For example, for Eli Manning “in the area” is defined as in same stadium.
It landed a few yards short of a Diggs, who had been running a crossing route and may have been coming back to the QB (he was certainly looking for the pass). They will allow that a hit could affect the throw. It was close enough.
I saw that, but it really looked to me like (1) Keenum was just trying to get rid of the ball and (2) Diggs didn’t even enter the frame until after the ball hit the ground.
Well of course he was just trying to get rid of it, but he threw it right at Diggs but it came up 6ish yards short. It just has to be plausible, plus the hit would have affected the throw, so the intent was certainly plausible.
This is really close, but I don’t know if there is enough to overturn it
Payton you dumbass!
Payton is having a coaching meltdown here. Two questionable decisions which cost you both your challenges and 2 of your 3 timeouts when you’re trailing?
exactly
He is another overrated HC. He’s better than Mike McCarthy, but some of these guys with elite QB just skate by without actually being good coaches.
Yea there is a difference between being a good head coach and being a good play caller.
I think Payton is a good play caller and an ok coach
Yeah I don’t disagree with that. That 4th down playcall last week was atrocious and almost cost them that game.
Personally I think if you have a QB as good as Rodgers or Brees one Super Bowl win should be the minimum expectation over the course of a decade. Not even getting to a second one is indicative that there isn’t much value added there as far as coaching.
sandejo going to be in concussion protocol this week, a starting DT seems to be out, Rhodes went out, not sure if serious but hes banged up. Not rooting for injuries but they seem to be adding up for MIN
rhodes back
Kamara is everything a RB should be
Payton should have gotten him more involved much earlier.
Yeah see my comment below:
Payton is a great play caller, not a great coach. That WR pass was there , wide open actually.
snead apparently a hs qb
He knows he should have hit that one. That was a game changer
except an eagle
I wish. I really wanted him or Hunt to be Eagles
I wouldn’t have called that on 3rd and 1, that’s a 2nd and 1 call. Sean Payton is really costing his team now.
Yup
If you’re going to have a non-QB throw the ball, it should either be a short throw or it should be someone who can actually throw accurately throwing the pass.
shut up payton
Bad call. Lattimore was just jamming him and he fell down.
Minnesota seems to be getting all the calls today.
I enjoyed how they let both teams play yesterday. it was refreshing
Was just going to post that. GMTA.
Case Keenum does not scare me at all. His arm is no better than Foles’ is.
turn of events!
I feel conflicted. I love Lattimore but I need the Vikings to win.
Why do u need the Vikings to win?
Better match up for us.
I like the saints match up better
Saints D doesn’t scare me at all.
I want Saints. I think we can dominate their DL in the running game.
Oops
game time
Is it just me or have there been an unusually high number of blocked punts this year?
still want the Vikings. Not feeling good about it.
I am not scared of either of these teams. I think we could easily lose to either, but we could also easily beat either.
This is my exact feeling on this matter
Complete push either team, either way
My streak is looking good , just saying
U heard it here first
Nah. I’m more worried about our offense than our defense and Minnesota’s defense than Saints.
These 2 teams are looking more bearable by the second.
The announcers really want to give credit to #7 instead of the guy who actually blocked the punt.
Ok I’d rather play Minnesota
lol
Yeah. In the first half I was ready to change my mind, but now I’m back to wanting Minnesota.
how about we just get mad and want which ever time loses. Then we are safe with being bitter.
This is exactly right. I want the worse team. So whoever wins, I want the other one.
hey we should have had that double digit win yesterday
We were right in spirit!
They are both good but flawed teams. I don’t have a strong feeling either way.
here comes a missed PAT
DAmn it
a lot of time left
I have no faith in Keenum or Forbath lol
I know that’s why I want to play them!
Maybe this is the reverse of the 2013 Eagles playoff game.
“Brees left the field with the lead”
dont care who wins…didnt want this game to be easy on either team
If we had Wentz I wouldn’t fear either of these teams.
The future is bright. We’ll see how it goes next week. We’re home.
Brees scares me the most
We beat him in 2015 and his arm is weaker now. We get a good pass rush and he’ll throw ints. His LT Peat is out too.
Kamara is who scares me most.
Door have to worry not it now. . I think i like our D against their O right? ? Even if we score once and 3 FGs again. .
I like the odds of our defense stoppinga very good offense than our offense scoring points against a very good D. Give me the saints who are not built to thrive outdoors and will be on their second straight road game if they win.
Outdoors in the cold is one side of the argument.
Big play ability and comeback ability is the other side of the argument.
We’re the home team. Bring ’em on.
I think that’s a good argument for the Saints.. the thing is, I think our D could force Keenum into a game-changing mistake or two. With Brees the best we can realistically hope for is to contain him and limit the damage.
I worry the Vikings will do the same to Foles. I think we can run the ball and keep a balanced, creative attack against the saints
Last time I checked the Saints has the best run game in the post-season. and a QB that can dink and dunk on us as well. Not built for the outdoors huh..
They have struggled to run the ball 2 weeks in a row. I like our chances of shutting down their run game.
I’m not saying either game is easy, but I like our defense at home. I also like that we can run the ball kn the saints and control TOP.
I can see either argument. My fear of the Saints is probably more irrational than anything, but they are a team you can never count out.
We’re in trouble if we can’t run the ball. We can still run on Minnesota but we can dominate Saints D.
Going into the game I was hoping for Minny. That was looking pretty stupid. I’m still more scared of the fact that the Saints can score in a hurry (and in bunches). It will be a very tough game against either of these teams, but both teams look beatable.
Saints give up 111 yards rushing per game. Vikings 83. Us running the ball is a big key so I like a Saints matchup.
Brees is better than Keenum but I think our D can keep them out of the end zone when it counts.
But we can beat either. If Foles really struggles and things go wrong, we could lose to either of them.
Now, that looked like intentional grounding to me.
Do they not call intentional grounding any more
He wasn’t under immediate danger of being tackled though — does that matter?
He definitely was. He was about to be hit by two guys.
Yeah, not in the grasp or anything, and was moving forward. They do often let those go. The ball was in the direction of a receiver but way way short. Could see the argument.
Bet Payton wishes he had those timeouts now.
That was a dead duck of a throw which Thielen somehow tracked down. That dude is a good receiver.
is the kicker in range yet?
no sorry thought they were at the 35
ok now I’ll ask
Plays like that to a Theilen are why some of you are sleeping on the Vikings offense way too much. Maybe not as dynamic as the saints, but they can score points while playing great D.
I think we get either game will be tough.
Right..3 points in the second half.
Thielen is really good, but Keenum isn’t. He’s made a bunch of really bad decisions/throws in the half of this game I’ve watched.
I would feel better if we didn’t struggle to pick off those kinds of passes.
Julio Jones didn’t kill us. Thielen is really good but we can match up with him and keep him out of the end zone which is what we do.
One more two-yard completion at the end and he would have killed us
Yeah that didn’t happen and it was low scoring even if he did.. Mills won that battle.
They scored 10 points. What more do you want from the defense with Wentz out reasonably. Oh sorry no shut out.
He could’ve also scored 2-3 tds which he’s capable of.
Keenum playing with fire on these punt throws.
That was a ridiculously dangerous throw in that situation. Wow
why throw deep? kill the clock get 7-8 yards kick the FG with 5 seconds left.
53 Yarder … what kind of coincidence is that
LOTS of similarties between vikings and eagles this year
I’m confident that we could beat the Vikings if it comes down to just kicking FGs.
Lots of time left. Drew Brees.
wow a lot of time left.
They’ve left Brees way too much time. Running an out pattern that sent Rudolph out of bounds and then throwing a deep, likely-to-be-incomplete pass on 3rd down were both very questionable play calls.
they should have been running and not throwing deep.
Haha yeah edited my comment to say precisely that.
reminds me of the Falcons. I think here the 2 minute warning they were on like their own 35 or so. They took off like 30 seconds before kicking a fg on 4th down?!?
Brees 12/13 with 3 TDs in second half
I think we are playing the Saints next week
Same but I hope not
My money is on Lutz missing.
The extra point? 😉
we can beat them
so Saints need like 10 yards? looks easy from where I am sitting.
Does Brees ever throw to a wide receiver other than Thomas?
False start, Scott Young.
Oof went through his hands
Gonna be another crushing postseason loss for the Vikings. Ooof. I feel for those people.
Hope Lutz whiffs
I honestly don’t have a preference between these two teams. Minnesota’s offense doesn’t scare me at all, but their defense does, and defense travels. The Saints on the other hand have an excellent offense but I think we can move the ball against their defense.
We’re in the same area as the Vikings offense wise. The Saints have a better pass rush than the Falcons, they might not be on the Vikings level but it’s not a joke.
I think we can exploit the Vikings offense more than the Saints and grind it out. The Saints won’t ever go away in a low scoring game.
too late
Me too every attempt he has next week
We’re kindred Spirits.
Vikings didn’t even make Saints use their one TO last drive. Pitiful clock management. Unbelievable.
incomplete?
very close
his leg might have gotten under the ball
he trapped it in between his thighs so it’ll be hard to overturn without the proper angle
not catch
Vikings playing off coverage. Schwartz would be proud.
I feel so validated calling the Eagles and Saints in the NFC Championship
so you have us and the Jags right?
Yes
Sure do. Nobody else was picking Eagles or Saints. i have a lot of friends, we all shit talk each other and I got so much grief for calling it how I see it. I try very hard not to be a homer and call it how I see it.
Brady is gonna have fits next week with that D and Bortles will eat up man coverage by running it. This should be a fun ride!
if that happens I’ll feel relieved when our game starts. Ours is second right?
Ours is in the 6:40 time slot
I love that our defense doesn’t rely on blitzing. The Jags are the same and that is the exact style defense that gives Tom Baby a hard time, historically
Lol
I was robbed lol
we all thought that was over. I was batting 1000 until the vaunted Saints D showed up.
Funny thing is Minni needed their offense to win it, not the D, that D looked gassed to me
Why do some of the players have darth vader on their jersey?
It is for the Walter Payton man of the year nominees. I don’t know why it is Darth Vader.
Chase Daniels sighting
Is there more than one of them?
Sorry, that was supposed to say Chase Daniel$
Chase Daniel revenge game….
Why do I have the feeling that we might get burned by that trick play from Willie Snead next week.
Ted Ginn is my worry.
Darby gotta be on his A+ game since he’s the only guy that can run with Ginn.
Schwartz will keep Mills on him because he likes the way he remains confident after getting beat deep:-(
Stop it 🙁
Jones!
Pass rush is the key. Our defense has gotten the job done most games.
well now we can stop arguing about who we would rather face.
I feel like the line should be no worse than PK, but it will probably be NO -2.
hahaha!
Holy shit!
what happened? not watching
Diggs 61 yard TD. Saints defender flat whiffed on a diving tackle when he could have just waited until the catch and wrapped up.
they weren’t all deep? wow.
Vikings were down to 4th and 10 and Keenum threw up a prayer that Diggs caught and ran in for a 61 yard TD with no time left.
Saints’ S made a terrible play and would’ve been called for interference if he’d actually managed to make contact with the receiver.
wow cbs sports took a minute to update and tell me that play.
Holy shit
Seriously?
WOW
OH MY GOODNESS
Well fuck.
O WOW
holy shit
Saints D lol
Oh my god, now I’ve seen everything.
Marcus Williams will be left behind in Minnie
he should just turn in his stuff and not even go into the lockerroom
Marcus Williams would be murdered by the fans if this was Philly. I’ve never seen such a bad defensive play, that’s all time.
oh my god.
There is no god
streak broken 🙁
WOWOWOWOWOWOWO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
there goes my streak
That’s why they play the game, best game ending in a while
Best game ending since an awesome goal line stand last night
Whaaaaaaaatttttttttt?????
I am not mad. That’s the matchup I wanted!
Keenum, Foles, Bortles and Brady
One of these things is not like the other one of these things is:
yep one is old as dirt
haha.
lol
my god are Pats fans going to be putting in for PTO for the parade that Tues, starting tomorrow.
Don’t worry the “Eli” effect is in play. We will be ok
Keenum vs Foles just like we all predicted the NFC championship would look like
Just send Keenum in to kick it.
Go for 2
Just end the damn game.
Spreads and betting lines and what not
Crazy game. I feel exhausted, can’t imagine how the players and coaches feel
That kind of stuff usually only happens in college.
Yo, #43 is never playing another snap in the NFL, that’s beyond the pale.
Seriously. Just tackle him and the clock runs out or he fails to make the completion. That was an “I am sorry, there isn’t room on the plane back to New Orleans for you, those seats are reserved for football players” type tackle.
Who gets paid more next year, Sammy or Keenum?
Sammy goes to the Broncos.
What field of work is Sammy getting himself into next year?
He could open a Physical Therapy Clinic!
Just actually laughed out loud about how fitting that was
Good one!
I’m laughing too. The legend of Sammy Sleeves!
You can laugh, but somehow he would get paid 20 million dollars to own that clinic
Pat Shurmur gave Stephon Diggs a BIG HUG!
diggs just upped shurmers price
Yeah he did. Sent him out with a bang! Not a one and done.
I liked the matchup vs the saints better, but bring on the Vikes. Our defense can make like difficult on Keenum. DP needs to find a way to keep the offense efficient.
Payton u piece of shit, get ure team out there
Well…..this is what we have been asking for!
Crazy bounces we got and Vikes ending so who’s the destined one?
That was luck and a fuck up on the Saints part
God owes Carson for what happened. We are the pick of destiny
i would have laughed if they called offsides on #50
Here’s to an overconfident and emotionally drained vikings team.
OK fellas, we have to just beat Case Keenum to go to SB.
And the vikings are thinking “OK fellas, we just have to beat Nick Foles to go to SB”
Hope we don’t have to beat the refs & Minny at home for SB thingy!
vikings are favorite, -3 1/2. – bring them on!!
for real? about what i expected
yes for real, wear your dog masks!
Is that the point spread, or the number of ducks Keenum will throw compared to Foles?
That’s ridiculous but expected which I know sounds absurd.
Agree on both statements,
UNDERDOGS SWEET
Dog masks.
How many dog masks at ther link next week ? ..
Hopefully many, no respect.
Makes no sense to me.
Foles is a clear weakness for the Eagles, but so is Keenum for the Vikes.
I will take Foles over Keenum – and our defense over the Vikings. Clearly we are the better team. Plus home field advantage. No respect.
Not sure how we’ll deal with Diggs since he’s what Maclin could have been if Mac wasn’t self-tackling.
What’s a word that means there are no words to describe what you just witnessed.
unbelievable!
Miracle.
The Auburn runback
DeSean
Goal line interception with 0 time
Need to come up with some catchy nickname for that play — that is the only way.
keep seeing the reply, boy did the CB go low on his hit.
Maybe he thought you give him the catch there (around the 33) they call TO and kick the FG to win?
shrug, they didnt have TO
Vikings had used all theirs? ok got it.
But as of he expected the WR to step OB just to stop the clock. .
right. I think the coach could have put them in a better position to succeed. Dropped more back.
My only guess is that he mistimed his tackle and decided to avoid the pass interference call. But he took out the other Saints defender there instead.
There were no timeouts left. Tackle in bounds the game is over. Just wrap up, don’t do the diving tackle thing.
Good to know the Vikes are capable of choking though.
They came out of that a little banged up, too, I think.
The CB actually takes out his teammate too.
I can’t believe this. I lost power right when the Vikings got the ball back at the end. My brother called and told me what happened and I didn’t believe him.
…and he is your twin brotherthat you never knew about separated at birth
You just made my story way better!
He called your old cell phone which you had lost years ago
Next time I have a slightly interesting story, I’m commissioning a re-write from you before I tell it.
I had to go to the Olive Garden, so I missed the last few minutes.
I’m sorry both that you had to miss the end of the game and that you had to go to Olive Garden.
43 is a rookie too, ouch, that’s an inglorious way for your career to end.
Love that this is on Payton’s watch.
BRING THEM ON!
Hope that was a draining win for them…
it was exhausting for me so must have been for them
they should celebrate for the next 6 days
On ESPN, they are talking about how good Case Keenam is and he “is not just a game manager”, but I am not particularly impressed. He throws a lot of crap up there for grabs.
he had some very good throws.
Thought he was pretty bad. He had numerous awful throws that he didn’t get fully punished for.
Under pressure he will toss it up for grabs.
There’s no way that Keenum stands in the pocket with ease and passes all day like that against the Eagles. He will get destroyed.
Vikes will have to mix it up a lot more than that. That’s an edge for us.
Agreed.. I was not impressed either. He gets the most out of his ability but he has clear limitations.
So. .. about Stefon Diggs…
Have faith in our defense.
Lucky play of the year, that was a gift that I could’ve ran in.
you’ve been drinking.
You spelled Marcus Williams wrong.
Crickets from the Diggs = Agholar crowd. Love it!
Is there a crowd who says Diggs = Agholar?
no that’s why there is crickets.
Yes a couple people disagreed below in this thread when I said Vikings WRs are better than Eagles WRs. They said Jeffery = Thielen and Agholar= Diggs lol
Yes lol couple people earlier in this thread. I pointed out Diggs has 3 160 yard games in his career and didn’t have to say anything else lol
Diggs and his 849 yards. HOF’er.
Diggs is really, really good, but he has a lot of trouble staying healthy.
Oh come on. That had nothing to do with the receiver on that play.
Wut?
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/06ff8507646b3572416e5db8b5721650edfb79bb4e15f609a8ea441745c4c46a.png
Check out the comments at the top and bottom
Diggs and his career 12.4 yards per catch… wow he’s a legend.
Go back to your Vikings fan hole.
Brees, Rothlisberger, Mariota, and Matt Ryan all fell this weekend.
can we start arguing over who we want in the first game. Jags for me 100%.
Jags.
is there something to argue? Jags.
*hold my beer* says daveH
Pats just to make it memorable all time
See if we get the Pats then we would have to beat the refs too
So double down on the Jags who I think we match up beyond well with
amazing how the country thinks Pats get every break and Pats fans think their team is the most wrongly persecuted in all of sports.
It’s a little absurd, but to be fair, every fanbase thinks that.
(Cowboys fans too) By my count the Pats won 3 games with questionable at best calls. They get all the breaks just look at the “Tuck Rule”
Its called being delusional (Pats and Boys) What’s ur take?
it’s kind of two separate things, there’s the league stuff (Spygate – everyone was doing it; Deflategate – it was BS) and then calls/plays. I think here the first part gets conflated into the second. In fact the first part is prob 90% of their argument that everyone is out to get them.
100% agree
On the field they get the calls, every time. U can almost bank on it.
Everson Griffin is really making me like him on ESPN.
I kinda like the Vikings in general.
Obviously I want to beat them next week, but if we do lose I’ll be pulling for them hard in the SB, especially if they’re playing the Patriots.
Plus if Pats lose next weekend their OC’s can get hires as HC, thus (maybe) weakening the Pats and giving those new teams bad HC’s.
I wanted nothing to do with Drew Brees but I also didn’t want to go up against the Vikings defense.
I don’t know how to feel about this.
Regardless, this game was fucking incredible and this has probably been one of the best playoffs in recent memory.
just choose to be happy. No right answer.
So the final 4 QBs are Foles, Keenam, Brady, and Bortles.
One of these four is not like the others…
wait, deja vu here. Wormhole.
Only one of them has thrown for 7 TDs in their career.
Awesome. Great Answer!
The Pro Bowl MVP?
Another winner!
So obviously Marcus Williams made an atrocious play there and gets a ton of well-deserved blame. But seriously, don’t we also have to call out the Saints’ defensive coordinator here?
It should not be hard to design a defense that only has to (1) not give up a 61 yard TD and (2) not let a guy catch a ball 20 yards downfield and get out of bounds.
You could just line eight guys up in coverage like a picket fence along the sidelines and across the endline. That situation is almost impossible to screw up.
yes Banner said as much on Twitter. Said there were like 8 guys within 15 yards of the LOS.
and he’s a rookie. I feel bad for the CB. I blame Payton and the coaching staff.
There was 10 seconds left at the snap. He caught the ball about 3 yards from the sideline with 5 seconds left in the game. The safety made a TERRIBLE play. That was completely on the safety. If he just tackles they guy in bounds the game is over.
How, as a DC, do you leave just one rookie as the deep guy?
It was an atrocious play, but it looked like he mistimed the tackle and avoided the PI by missing him (which would have been just as dumb). Really, stunningly bad play — like the Broncos against Flacco — but some of that had to be on the DC.
well it was on the sideline, you can’t sit back too far and let the catch happen.
I agree it was a terrible play, and I agree the safety has to get a ton of the blame. But when the only thing you have to do as a defensive coach is stop a 25+ yard plus completion from going out of bounds or to the end zone – anything over the middle up to and including a 60 yard gain is fine – there’s no way you should be fielding a defense that lets a guy get deep, to the point where there’s only one defender between him and the end zone.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/06ff8507646b3572416e5db8b5721650edfb79bb4e15f609a8ea441745c4c46a.png
Earlier this thread
please post this 17 more times to prove your point
You guys are loco. First it was “Saints and Rams are the threat not the Vikings ”
Now it’s “Vikings WRs are comparable to the Eagles’ ”
Lol
What’s your point?
I happen to agree with you that the Vikings have better wide receivers than we do, but I don’t think it’s outrageously wrong to say otherwise.
Agholor is better than anybody they have in the slot and with Hollins the Eagles also have depth.
I think he was just so mad I liked the Eagles as much as the Vikings or more at many positions.
Um, Thielen and Diggs both have spent time in the slot. And they are both pro bowl level receivers which we have 0 of…
I get it. He caught a td pass to win a game, put him in the HOF. It’s exciting for Vikings fans. Ags had a big run to help Eagles win.
Diggs has avg’d 12.4 yards per catch in his career. He’s a good player. Ags avg’d 12,4 this year.
I wouldn’t trade the Eagles WRs for the Vikings. I like Eagles style of WRs with AJ in end zone and red zone which has been an issue here for a long time. We’re a great red zone team with Wentz.
Thielen has 10 career tds. Jeffery had 9 this year. 35 in his career.
Jeffery & Ags 17 tds in reg season. Thielen & Diggs 12.
If i was the company that makes those dog masks, creepy party, id drive a bus to the Linc
An entire stadium filled with dog masks. Make it happen.
Cleveland didn’t make the playoffs.
80,000 dog masks
So much for a cold weather NFC Championship game. Weatherman is calling for 53 and partly cloudy next Sunday.
It’s too early for that to be reliable. Forecast for last night’s game a week out was similar.
Philly weather has never been reliable.
So guys. I don’t… My girlfriend might be dead after that. I don’t know how to proceed.
It’s long distance, and the general feeling is… Not enough distance.
(she’s a pretty committed Saints fan)
better than if the Eagles did that to the Saints.
It saved me a lot of money. I was going to try to get tickets to the game and fly her up.
well never say you preferred the Vikings if you did, just say wow that sucks unbelievable totally not right. Saints deserved it.
when Saints hit 7-17, i put $10 on the Saints. And I told her. I have no outs here.
Me be so close to winning that bet was as improbable as that fucking catch.
Oh snap!
https://twitter.com/TeamGleason/status/952714891818921985
That’s amazing.
Oh my god, that is incredible.
Gleason got dealt a terrible blow by life but he has handled it with grace, class, and obviously, humor. Who says athletes can’t be role models?
so that spread means about 40% chance we win (if spreads were set on that and not who will wager). I think it’s more like 45%. But whatevs.
What is the spread?
I saw 3.5
Agreed. I think the Vikings are a slight favorite to win the game but not overwhelming. And there are numerous factors (their secondary getting banged up in this game, possible emotional hangover after such a dramatic win) that are impossible to incorporate into any statistical model.
We’ve got a very solid shot and that’s all I wanted.
Vikings have to go outside against a strong D on the road; I like our chances.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=400951561
Of note
– Carolina’s D line isn’t as good as ours and they got Keenum 6 times.
– Carolina’s DBs aren’t as good as our and they got two INTs
– Jonathan Stewart is a broke down old fuck who put my money to sleep in fantasy this year and can go fuck himself with a .45 and pull the trigger a few times…………..and he was 16/103/3
Vikings; not a good road team
https://twitter.com/howardeskin/status/952721477656367104
has anyone checked on the health of that 100 year old lady? for real, she must be dead.
That’s fucked up. It’s just as fucked up that I laughed
Greg Richards (where’s he been) reporting Giants will hire MCDaniels. hahahaha. Computer, make it so!!
Greg is the man.
my worlds collide a little on twitter and here
I hear you.
Since it’s Keenum and not Brees, do we care as much if the weather is a little mild? I don’t think I care as much.
I don’t.
I honestly care more about the wind than the temperature. Keenum was throwing up some wobbly ducks in that second half even with ideal conditions.
Foles doesn’t have a cannon arm either but he at least is used to throwing in swirling winds and will have a good sense for what throws can and can’t be made given the conditions.
Titans offered Mularkey an extension. Unbelievable.
Poor Marcus.
Worst part is Mularkey is ostensibly an offensive-minded coach so there’s no way they bring in a QB guru-type OC to work with him.
Banner (who I love on twitter) has been relentless in saying he’s awful and should be fired even with the one playoff win.
It’s probably more a case of him and his agent forcing it, as an apology for all the rumours leading up to the play-off win, I knew that would happen. It’s a real shame too
On that last play, New Orleans’ win probability dropped from 96% on the previous play to 0 (obviously).
Has to be one of the biggest swings in NFL history, no?
http://www.espn.com/nfl/game?gameId=400999180
DeSean punt return? Music City miracle?
Yeah those would be others.
Desean punt return was a tie game.
Could be the Westbrook punt return (the younguns might forget that we have twice inflicted dagger losses on the Giants at the Meadowlands with last second punt return TDs).
The original Miracle at the Meadowlands must have been inverted odds
That’s a good point, that has to be the biggest of all time. Literally the ONLY way the Giants could’ve lost that game was by doing something unfathomably stupid and completely unnecessary.
There was less than zero chance of losing.
Yet ..
Giants actually got to the Eagles 44 with 1:05 left after that play — they had a pretty good chance to win the game at that point. They only got 6 more yards though.
Definitely not DeSean. The game was tied at that point.
Music City Miracle, probably even bigger swing.
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200001080oti.htm
Looks like the Titans had a 0.3% chance of winning in the Music City Miracle game. Not entirely sure how to read that chart though.
Auburn run back
Butler interception
Pats comeback
Westbrook runback
Me every morning
I saw the stat and it was 99%. Incredible.
S/T -Pretty even
Defense- Call it even
Coaching- Even I guess
Offense???
I think our offense is better aside from WR. I think Keenum is going to get crushed and we do just enough on offense
watching the replay of the missed tackle on Diggs, he was definitely ducking to avoid contact/PI. Not a missed tackle
Now he’s gonna be ducking off the field too. He’s gonna be the scape goat when really the DC should not have had him 1v1 in that situation
Agree, think he mistimed it. On the other hand, no reason whatsoever for a diving tackle there. Go for the tackle, not the big hit. And you have to positively make sure you aren’t early.
I don’t care if he’s a rookie this season, he should retire in shame. That was atrocious by the Saints D and that safety particularly.
The only guy I saw on the field during the Saints-Vikings game that made me think he could be an Eagles-killer was Drew Brees.
Bring on the Vikings for another 15-10 Eagles victory.
The only guy? Sure.
But football is a team game, and the Vikings’ defensive unit is really, really good.
True that. But I don’t see anyone in a Vikings uniform who the Eagles can’t handle.
Saints D couldn’t handle our OL and running game imo nearly as well as Minny. We’ll need a running game to win. We can still do it against the Vikings but they had the #2 run defense so we’re going to need to have a good plan.
I cant see any team beating the pats,period
The KC loss was devastating because it would have been NE vs Jax, which is a tough matchup. And if NE had won they would have faced Pittsburgh or KC. They just cakewalked through Tennessee and had one two tough opponents in the AFC knocked off.
But we wouldve played saints right. .
Here’s my prediction:
Pederson outcoaches Zimmer.
If Todd Pinkston went up for a pass while Marcus Williams was closing on the tackle, who would screw up first?
Pinkston got thrown to the ground at the LOS. It’s a trick question.
The matrix we are in would implode from such a scenario
The ball would have been picked off by Ronde Barber.
This event would tear a whole in the fabric of space-time and lead to the immediate implosion of the universe.
Pinkston alligator arms it. .. doesn’t go up fot it if he sees a DB
If the Saints were going to have so many players near the LOS, why not just tackle the receivers within 5 yards? 5 yard penalty but probably wastes 5 seconds. It might be poor form, but if it will win you a playoff game…
Obviously there were plenty of other ways they could have approached it as well.
That’s Belicheckian.
I don’t think you can run the clock out by deliberately incurring penalties.
Even if you could, the refs would quickly tack on an Unsportsmanlike Conduct (or two) and move the other team into FG range.
You do it once, and it chews up roughly half their time. Even if they call Unsportsmanlike instead of holding, it wouldn’t have put them in FG range. There would probably just be time for a Hail Mary attempt.
That’s the thing – if I’m not mistaken, there’s a rule that under 2 minutes, defensive players can’t deliberately commit a penalty with the sole purpose of bleeding clock – sort of the mirror image of the rule that imposes a 10 second runoff to prevent offensive teams which are trailing under 2 minutes from committing penalties to stop the clock.
I honestly would support such a rule, just wasn’t aware of it.
15 yards may have gotten them very close. They were at the 39 yard line, 15 yarder puts them at the 46. That would be like a 63 yarder. One more quick play and they could be in range.
But, maybe you could have one guy just tackle Diggs, then have everyone else play defense.
49ers did that last year.
There is now a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty for multiple penalties being committed like that when trying to manipulate the clock. They may even add time to the clock if it happens a second time.
http://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/49ers/nfl-acts-against-49ers-holding-strategy
Ravens did something similar last year on a punt — they held all the rushers, and the punter held the ball for a safety in the end zone as time ran out. Games can end on an offensive penalty. Unsure if the league closed that loophole.
I’m pretty sure that Dog Masks will make all the difference this coming week. That’s the edge we need for the NFCG.
Jags are 9 pt underdogs
My early instinct is to say that’s too many points.
I think they should be favored, and will win the game. But Jacksonville has the kind of defense that has always given Brady trouble.
What will Eagles be vs Pats if it’s them?
-14 based on the way the public views Philly and N.E. respectively.
new thread
http://igglesblitz.com/2018/01/vikings-it-is/