Vikings It Is
Posted: January 14th, 2018 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 425 Comments »You have to feel really bad for the Vikings Saints Vikings Saints right now. What a brutal way to lose a game.
The reward for the Vikings is a trip to Philly to face the Eagles in the NFC Championship.
Minnesota is going to be favored in the game, but that doesn’t mean anything. As you saw this weekend, anything can happen in the playoffs. The Vikings have a great defense (#1 in points and yards), but their offense is more up and down. They can be outstanding at times, but not on a consistent basis.
Both defenses will have the advantage in this game. The Vikings should get the best of Nick Foles and the Eagles attack. The Eagles should get the best of Case Keenum and the Vikings attack. I do give an advantage to the Eagles in offensive coaching and OL. They will need that to come up with scoring drives against Minnesota.
The Eagles will have home-field advantage and that should count for something. Minnesota was 6-2 on the road. Their best wins were at Atlanta and at Detroit. They lost at Pittsburgh and at Carolina.
The Vikings have been good all year. They have only lost one game since October 2, which is pretty incredible.
It will be interesting to see the toll that today’s game took on Minnesota. That was a long, hard, physical game. Winning like that gave them an emotional lift, but you do wonder if they spent too much emotional energy in pulling off that miracle. We’ve seen teams win like that and then come out flat the next week. Think about the 2003 Eagles. They had the 4th & 26 win over Green Bay and then lost the next week to the Panthers, 14-3.
Safety Andrew Sendejo was in concussion protocol and could miss the title game. That would be a key loss for their defense. Sendejo made a beautiful INT in the first half of today’s game.
Earlier today, I was asked about who the Eagles should prefer to play. I said the Vikings. My thinking is that the Eagles could beat them in an ugly, defensive game. The Saints are flawed, but have Drew Brees. He struggled in the first half today and the Saints trailed 17-0. Brees came alive in the second half and put the Saints in position to win the game. A horrible mistake by a rookie FS killed the Saints.
Neither opponent was going to be easy. Your choices were the #1 defense in the league or a Hall of Fame QB. That’s not a fun set of options.
The Eagles can beat the Vikings. Nick Foles must be better than he was in the first half on Saturday. The team can’t turn the ball over. The defense needs to play just like they did against the Falcons.
The big storyline will be this.
Former Rams teammates will face each other in NFC title game Sunday
Nick Foles was benched 2 years ago in favor of Case Keenum.
One of them will be going to the Super Bowl #Eagles pic.twitter.com/hRmEiIt0Rj— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) January 15, 2018
The NFC title game will be a battle of backup QBs who escaped from Jeff Fisher purgatory to find themselves battling for a chance to go to the Super Bowl.
Foles and Keenum weren’t great this weekend, but each made enough plays to help their teams advance.
Who will play better next week?
_
We were going to get a tough but winnable game no matter who we faced next week. There are no gimmes in the NFL at this point.
Unless you’re the Patriots. My God, I can’t believe how lucky that team is.
Not sure the Pats are that lucky
Only having to beat Tennessee and Jacksonville at home (and only at home because of a controversial call about a ball moving a smidge in a receiver’s hands after he’d already crossed the goal line in a key later regular season game) to get to the Super Bowl isn’t lucky?
I’m not saying they’re not also good, but they are lucky.
Im talking about them facing the Jags. The AFC is mostly trash but I dont think the Pats are just going to sleep the Jags next week.
I don’t think so either, but I think they’re an easier matchup than the Steelers would’ve been. I like the Jacksonville defense’s chances to give Brady problems, but Belichick is going to fillet Blake Bortles like a fish.
The Jags beat the snot out of the Steelers twice this year and you think the Steelers would have been the tougher opponent? Okay…
Part of that issue with Jags / Steelers is that Todd Haley is a dumb fuck and a complete pussy, so I’m not sure if the Jags would have that same edge vs. other teams.
Matchups man. Just because Team A plays well against Team B and Team B plays well against Team C does not mean Team A will play well against Team C.
The Steelers have the weapons to give New England problems and compete in a shootout. Jacksonville doesn’t.
So those “weapons” don’t work against the Jags? Don’t buy it. The Steelers paper defense is what did them in. Those “weapons put up 40+ points, but they still lost
You’re exactly right, you can’t compare what how the Steelers played against the Jags on how they would’ve played against the Pats. You want to know who’s happy the Jags are coming to town? The Pats, that’s who. Matchups is the key, had the same exact conversation yesterday with someone about these teams.
They wouldn’t be 9 pt favorites over Pitt.
Don’t need luck when you cheat. The patriots D.L. Is not as good as they looked against jags. Rewatch and you’ll see that they knew the plays.
Also, that photo of Foles and Keenum standing side-by-side in Rams uniforms is exhibit A as to why Jeff Fisher will never get another head coaching job.
The sorry thing is xeynon that despite what you say, chances are that some schmucky owner will give him a third chance
No way. Ditto Marv Lewis.
Marv Lewis will retire as the Bengals coach at age 96.
50% of the NFC playoff teams were QB’d by guys that looked like bums with Jeff Fisher as their head coach.
Minny’s best road wins were in domed stadiums – both losses were in games played outdoors.
*24 hours extra rest
*home
*that was a nasty game
*MIN has to travel in shitty weather
*shitty weather (?)
Lots of things lean towards the Eagles, I’m surprised this isn’t a Pick’em
It is supposed to in the low 50s right now next Sunday and I don’t see how cold/bad weather really helps the Eagles that much.
I want Foles to not have much wind or really any adversity at all. Our defense seems to play lights out regardless of conditions
Foles has a so-so throwing arm. Keenum’s is worse. He was throwing up wobbly ducks today in ideal conditions in a dome. Give him cold air and ESPECIALLY swirling winds and I think he has some serious problems.
What hotel do the Vikes stay in ?
Someone pull the fire alarm, Bill Belichick-style!
Didn’t this also happen to the Falcons in Philly at the NFCCG?
Somebody’s dog saw Vick and pulled the fire alarm. It still bugs me that Vick was ever allowed back in football.
It bugs me that he was never punished for animal abuse, just racketeering and tax evasion.
Yeah, it was awfully hard to get people to give honest testimony against Vick. A shame.
It bugs me that people expect ex-cons to crawl away and die somewhere instead of making a living.
Not sure, but it definitely happened when the Eagles played SF in 2014 – I was at the hotel.
Heartbreak Hotel
INDEED! !!MUST HAVE BEEN unbearable. . Bet they flew out at any hour to escape
Win the turnover battle and they win next Sunday night.
If Ajayi fumbles this week in practice, they beat him with bar of soap in a sock.
Yesterday Dave pointed out that Ajay fumbled 1st carry wearing one of those white arm sleeves ..the ball just slid out as if that was intended design.. he took it off as soon as his first foot hit the sidelines and he was good the rest of the game
Ajayi is the type of guy who’s hard on himself too, in a good way. He’s probably sleeping with a football every night.
Eagles had 31 takeaways this year which is virtually two a game. None yesterday. Is it ignorant to say we’re due at least 1 for next week?
4; we’re due for 4
We’re due. Hit Keenum and turnovers will happen.
He was chuckin’ and duckin’ today. Threw several up for grabs.
Actually we should have the two from this weekend plus the two we have on average. And then, to even out the variance we should have two more next week since we had two less this week.
Thats six. I am going to assume six is fair.
Sounds about right.
Really fascinated to see a defensive head coach (Zimmer) vs. an offensive head coach (Pederson)
Each was overlooked and not met with that much optimism from two highly passionate but highly critical fan bases.
Arguably the 2 best head coaches in the NFC right now even if I still like Payton a fair amount.
Don’t forget the Pat Shumur connection to the Andy Reid tree. Doug can give Schwartz some insight, just like Pat can provide some for Zimmer.
Should be another low scoring nail biter.
I thought Zimmer was a very liked candidate?
He was by me. If you saw how he humbled people on Hark Knocks, you’d be a fan.
Hard to hate the guy, just like Doug. Minnesotans are likeable bunch all in all. Like the 100 year old lady, but I’m sure we can find one in Philly like her and get her to the game. Feel good stories.
Yeah, I kind of like the Vikings. They had some cool dudes in the 80s and 90s, I cheered for their run with Randall Cunningham (best season of his career was there in 1998), and have generally found their fans to be really cool people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct7KBt5Blrs
Yelling at guys to keep contain some some piece of shit running QB doesn’t get outside of the pocket while f-boming the lot of them; GREAT COACHING as that’s what I often to do Curry.
He was passed over for HC jobs a bunch of times before he was finally hired by the Vikings. He was one of those top coordinators who interviewed a lot but never got hired.
A lot of teams are feeling pretty dumb.
Keenum dropped back to pass it 40 times today. No way he even lives to tell the story dropping back that much against the Birds. They will carry him off the field and then Cox will be slamming Sam Bradford around.
He had a clean pocket mostly all day. No way that happens against us outdoors in the cold next week. I predict their offense will be disrupted.
We have an army of DBs to run with their receivers. And they don’t have much of a ground game to rely on as an alternative. This plays to our strengths.
Meanwhile, Doug has schemed his way around almost all the best defenses he faced all season. Remember Denver? Remember San Diego? Remember Carolina? Remember the Cardinals? Remember the Rams?
This is the match up that I wanted to see. Go Eagles!
Ummm against all of those top defenses he had Carson Wentz. That makes a huge difference.
Not saying we can’t win, but that wasn’t the best argument for why
Granted we miss Carson. But I am predicting that our defense can handle the Vikes offense fairly well. Especially at home.
And then, I’m predicting that Doug can do enough with scheme to make our offense productive against even a top defense. Even with Nick Foles.
We missed Carson yesterday. But we also defeated the reigning NFC Champs without him. That was not the Redskins out there.
I get it, but we don’t know if Doug can scheme past the best defense we will face all year without Wentz. It will be a great test
Haha. We don’t need to blow them away like with Carson. We just need to win the game. I think we have the tools to do that.
Ajayi needs to set the tone for the game. I’d love a 20 carry 100 yard plus running performance and any receptions are a bonus. Play great against the run and let Keenum try to beat you. Eagles 17-13.
With Wentz Eagles remained the best offense in the league despite tough defenses, thanks in part to great game planning. There will always be a drop off without your MVP QB, but with the way Pederson has been all year it’s hard to imagine opportunities won’t be there. He’s created opportunities all year no matter the opponent, it’s just a matter of how many will Foles & co take advantage of.
I don’t anticipate this as being Bills offense vs Jax. Top scoring offenses don’t just come from the quarterback position
That’s an interesting counter-argument.
I think the key is that with Carson, we either beat tough defensive teams at their own stadiums (road wins) or blew teams away here at our home stadium (home blow outs).
Again, looking at @Chargers, Cardinals, @Panthers, Broncos, @Rams. Only the @Seahawks game got away from us. So it looks like 5-1 in favor of that trend.
With Nick, we just need to win a close one here at home to advance. I think Doug is up for the task.
Diggs and Thielen are absolutely expert man beaters though. Still underrated, they might be the best wr tandem in the league after AB and Bryant/Smith-Shuster. They are exactly the sort of outside WRs that our db’s have struggled with this year – quick dudes who can cover a lot of ground and create separation with excellent and complex route running. Of all the different match-ups in this game, their WRs vs. our dbs is one that I am not confident about at all.
I so want to spy on some Saints message boards right now. The stages of grief will be playing out in dramatic fashion.
I feel for them as that’s got to be the worst way to lose a playoff game imaginable. But not too much, as they’ve already won their SB.
Actually the Vikes have had a few similar losses in the playoffs themselves. Remember the missed chip shot FG that lost them the game against Seattle a few years ago? And before that, also on a failed kick from close range. And then there was the magical Favre-year (2009?) where they came as close as you can imagine. They’ve had heartbreakers.
Now the saints team is hard to feel bad for. Their head coach is about the worst personality you can imagine, just a nasty jerk. They had bounty gate and then proceeded to hire the even less likeable Ryan-brother after that. They are obnoxiously self-promoting (who dat?). They already have a recent superbowl and get to host it regularly because every league official loves to get drunk and messed op in New Orleans and talk about what a great place it is. They can’t play on the road to save their lives and have massive road/home splits despite having a first ballot HOF’er playing QB. And they spent the last couple of years trading away the likes of Jimmy Graham, Brandin Cooks, Darren Sproles and Malcolm Jenkins which somehow keeps getting forgot just because they draftet a very good RB this year.
Drew Brees is by all accounts a great player. But I have no sympathy for the Saints in all of this. I’d much rather see the Vikings have some hard earned success with a great team effort, an unheralded back-up QB playing above his pay grade and those fans finally getting the big play on their side.
I’d really like to know who Doug and Jim were hoping to face, and if they were in agreement.
Doubt they care prepared for each with their almost four weeks. Raiders and cowboys were barely game planned for.
They could still have a preference based on what they saw on film. The two teams are built differently. Maybe if they are confident enough, they don’t care either way. That would be a good thing.
When you get to top four teams you prepare and hope. The difference isn’t huge.
I’m sure Jim prefers the teams with weaker offenses and Doug the teams with weaker defenses.
It’s a coin-flip. Both teams led by former backup QBs.
Doug is genius that handoff to agohlor is going to make the LB a step late on every outside zone run, RPO and inside zone.
The jet screen will screw up defenses forever now.
Also notice that every throw was away from Atlantas amazing stud LB, mostly outs, which are indefensible and a staple of playoff football.
Weird how much better foles is with screens than wentz. He fakes throw then jumps to put feet in position and rockets a catchable ball. Watch for the double screen fake, chip play.
I’d imagine getting better at throwing screens is something Wentz is going to be able to work on this summer is he’s working his way back to starting week 1. The amazing part of Wentz’s MVP season is that he’s still going to improve in a few aspects of his game as he continues to ascend to total world domination.
Screen game is the glaring hole in Wentz’s QB game. I’m so happy that Doug identified that and pulled the plug on screens. Like Mike, I’m optimistic that it can be worked on in the offseason.
Thank you for mentioning Pederson smartening up and fixing a ton of what he was doing wrong with the play calls. Hopefully our strong efforts in screaming and yelling about play calls can get us an even better Pederson in year 3!
At first I wanted the Saints to win, because their D is worse than Minny’s, but after seeing Brees second half, combined with that WTF INT by Keenum, I’m happy with the Vikings. We just need to catch those INTs Keenum is sure to throw.
Keenum played like a complete bum on the road is a softer environment vs. a worse D last month in Carolina. He was sacked 6 times,threw 2 picks, and lost a fumble vs. a worse D line and worse DBs. Our D should absolutely shut the Vikings down for major stretches of the game. The question is can we improve the execution from last week.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=400951561
我有强迫症，看到好文就想顶！
Taking it a game at time.
Dear Eagles,
Please don’t add Case Keenum’s name to the Jake Delhomme and Brad Johnson list.
Many thanks!
Drew Brees left the field with a lead.
Karma is a bitch.
I’m sure if the Saints had Joe Webb, or some other run around clown, at QB that they’d have not lost the lead. Shame on Brees.
OT but I think the Brown Big Ben game was the best QB-WR game I’ve watched in my whole life, against the best Pass Defense in the League on top of that. It’s a shame they didn’t win. And I laughed so hard when that tool Joe Buck said during the Vikes Saints game that Bortles had a great game, I guess that means Foles had the best performance in the history of the NFL according to his standards.
I can’t help thinking that Vikings and Eagles are driven by the same team motivation string: the emotional one while the Saints and Falcons were more Rational. In a battle of who has the biggest heart I definitely trust our Eagles more. I was so afraid of the cold blooded duo Brees/Payton.
Narrative of this game: Battle of the Kendricks!
It better not be or we just lost.
Shame the battle isn’t Bobby Wagner vs. their Kendricks.
Who has the better offense and QB? Vikes or Falcons? We just held the Falcons to 10 points. Not saying it gonna happen next week, but we certainly have the potential to do it!
I would say
Run O vs Run D advantage Philly
Pass O vs Pass D advantage Vikes
Either way it’s really close.
I’m gonna be bold and say you need to win the turnover battle cause both D won’t be giving a lot of opportunities.
This season? Definitely Vikes.
Looks like Vikes do have them beat by ~1.3 pts per game and in rushing yards but Atlanta has them beat in most other offensive categories, including total yards. So I take your point but I don’t think it’s a “definitely” Vikes. Especially in paper and w/ Atlanta’s playoff experience which has to count for something. Maybe a small something. Definitely seemed to show against the Rams.
Either way, if we can hold the Falcons to 10 pts, we can very conceivably do the same to the Vikes.
I just don’t agree with your assessment of the Vikings offense, not even close to be honest. Theilen is a beast. Rudolph is a very consistent redzone threat at TE. Their offense actually worked this year (eye test) consistently, Atlanta, no way.
Case Keenum – 7th QB rating
Matt Ryan – 15th QB rating
I am curious if Minnesota’s dome is a factor in those ratings.
Matt Ryan plays in a dome as well…
I meant specifically to Keenum and the Vikings. Even Brees has been known to struggle outside of a dome.
Don’t know if I’ve heard this before about the Eagles game planning:
“Love the Eagles’ game plan, which is captained and put together each game by Reich, with veto power from Doug Pederson—and then Pederson calls the game.”
https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/01/15/vikings-saints-case-keenum-stefon-diggs-walkoff-touchdown-nfl-playoffs-peter-king
Question: Is this season a success already or would it take a Super Bowl appearence for it to seem worthwhile?
NFCCG is a success for sure.
Doesn’t mean it won’t suck if they lose this week.
Speaking of which, watching the end of that Vikings/Saints game I could only imagine how bad that would have felt if the Eagles lost that way. And I was rooting/hoping for the Vikings!
The last play the Falcons ran against the Eagles was a real gut check. Seems like Eagles teams of the past would have allowed a td. I like these Eagles, version UD (Underdog).
Ding for done commentary on it .. JJ was in the site for 2 TD passes tossed near perfect but he had been pressed to the endline, so probably would have been unable to bring either one down .. so was it good defense ?? Certainly well defended i think
On that last play. Mills did a great job. Even if the pass was perfect, JJ wouldn’t have brought it down inbounds. I didn’t realize quite how well defended the play was until reading this http://www.phillyvoice.com/film-breakdown-jim-schwartz-owned-falcons-final-fourth-down-play/
Just talking about that play/Mills 10 mins ago.
That play was indicative of how far Mills has progressed this season. At the beginning of the year, I thought he was more “finger wag” than quality cb. Now, he’s shutting down one of the best wrs in the League owith the game on the line in the playoffs.
Playoff football favors Mills (and the rest of the Eagles D) more aggressive/handsy play style.
The Jags got away with a lot of “handsiness” yesterday.
reading that was like eating at the thickest slice of my favorite cakeand then being offered another slice that was great I loved that thank you so much that was awesome thank you
We’re at home vs. a team other than the 85 Bears, 88 Niners, 98 Broncos, etc.; so I’d rate things as sub-optimal if we don’t beat the Vikings to get to the Super Bowl.
I can’t call it a failure because I had “par” for this team as 9.5-6.5 coming into the season with pushing for, but not getting, a playoff appearance.
They made it to the NFC Championship Game with their backup QB in for their MVP caliber QB and several of their other best players also on IR or missing huge chunks of the year.
I think Minnesota @ home is a winnable game, so of course I’ll be disappointed if they lose, but there’s no way this is anything less than a very successful season already.
We’re playing with house money at this point. Carson’s not available. A second playoff game is gravy.
I starting to get the feeling that not many people think the Eagles are going to win.
Confirmation that we have a transcendent franchise QB can be viewed as nothing less than a highly successful season, regardless of how we finish.
Anyone who doesn’t understand that it’s a success already doesn’t understand football.
It was a brilliant season marred by injuries. If you’re giving a performance review to Dug and the remaining players, it’s a big ‘ol thumbs’ up.
As a fan, I’m greedy. There are only two games left and I want both of them. It is possible.
I don’t mind facing the Vikes if they win I will root for them I guess
Now I love that we are clerkly better than the salted Rams and the Salted Saints
Both those fan bases should be ashamed of the vitriol they spewed at our team. The Vikes seem like our team in a lot of ways.
All that being said I think this is our game!
Mularkey out in Tennessee. ESPN says the rumor is they want McDaniels, at least as the first target.
I think, but I’m sure, that’s a job that McDaniels could actually get full roster control from the GM if they’re desperate enough to get Mariota going. That job would also be a good fit for Shurmur as he could blend some of the stuff Mariota is good at with real NFL passing.
That’s an interesting point. I couldn’t imagine a team wanting to give McDaniels that much control again, but the Titans may fit that bill.
Not sure how good Mularkey is as a coach because I don’t really watch the Titans, but playing Murray when he had Henry all year is criminal.
Also, I’m still laughing at Dallas for not taking the Ramsey/Henry combo. Dallas Sucks!
I thought he got an extension…
They were talking extension. Guess ownership wanted some coordinator changes, and he didn’t, and … no more extension.
‘Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement the team did discuss an extension “but in those discussions about the direction of the team, it became evident that we saw different paths to achieve greater success.”’
Kinda seemed like NO shut down the Vikes run game.
Murray- 19 carries- 50 yards
What are we gonna do to them (Hint, what we do to everyone else)
Beat them like the 12 other teams we beat this year? (I know it’s 14 wins, but we doubled up like Mix a Lot on the Giants and Washington)
Because Coleman exploited outside runs I’m thinking The Vikes will try that shit with McKinnon and a WR reverse with Diggs.
^^^^ Calling it now.
Tell Curry to set the f-ing edge and our LBs to stop running to dumb spots
I feel like it may have been scheme related. They sold out to stop Freeman. He is the real motor on that team.
When Coleman is in it’s an outside run or a short pass. It’s actually the most predictable thing I have ever seen in the NFL.
We have an edge with our Oline and Dline. This is our game to lose
I love Curry to death and know what it means to him to be apart of this team…
I will let him know
Courtesy of Kempski….
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fb7665899d650bf9400f8d524f3acfb110a1a66d5bf0a2e3dbf3321eb6c5d6ca.png
so…………………………………..need to win the takeaway battle to win.
That’s what they said last week too;-)
They just need to win,
by any means.
The Vikings are frauds, we should be facing the Saints. We will send them home wondering what happened, just like last year.
Statistically the Vikings’ defense has a slight edge, but I think that’s somewhat mitigated by the fact that they’ll be playing on the road and the Eagles will be playing at home. Crowd noise does have a measurable effect on defensive performance because it limits the offense’s ability to audible, can produce false start and delay-of-game penalties, and increases the likelihood of miscommunications that lead to negative plays. With home field I’d guess we’re about level.
I was thinking the same thing. I would love to see the same with just the eagles numbers at home and the Vikings on the road. I bet it’s advantage eagles.
Very slight edge, but it’s there. It might be so slight as to not even be statistically valid. Basically, they’re the same, and HFA gives us a significant edge.
However, their offense is much better than ours with Foles under center.
I think all of these factors means the Vikings should be slightly favored.
Yep, slight edge to the Vikings is how I’d handicap it as well.
Hard to quantify factors like the Eagles having an extra day to prepare or the possibility the Vikings come out flat after such a dramatic victory though.
Our OL >> than theirs.
When you think about the recent trade history between these teams, with the Eagles moving up to get Wentz and then recouping picks by trading Bradford, it’s a weird turn of events that both teams make the NFCC but neither QB is playing.
Both are playing with back up QBs and killer defenses.
This is from the interview on the field after the game. Les Bowen is correct to state this is definitely not a compliment to Nick.
https://twitter.com/JClarkNBCS/status/952931688203550721
It’s not about compliments. This is fact. Nick will tell you the same thing. he’s not a Carson, or Peyton Manning or Aaron Rogers type of “coach on the field” using his brain as a weapon all the time.
No big deal. He’s a backup QB.
And yet, we’ve seen how Foles can use his skill set to identify where a play should go on the fly. Not every QB can do that… (I’m looking at your Sanchez)
Get your eyes off my Sanchez!
Haha… Oops!
Yeah but not nearly enough such that the offense didn’t need to be adjusted (which again is totally fine).
And it’s also wrong to view it as a slam on Nick. It’s an acknowledgement of who Foles is as a player. The good news is that Pederson can elevate him because he isn’t trying to force Foles to be something he isn’t.
This is what makes Peds a good coach. He tailors his game plan to his players, the opponent and what he thinks will win. If it’s not working he will change it. There is no ego there.
Foles is a see it throw it guy, like Dak. Wentz will throw his guys open with Great anticipation. Minor scheme adjustment
Look for our secret weapon to be prominent next week
(Ertz and Burton are gonna eat)
I agree with everything you wrote but I take offense at any comparison of our guys to a Cowboy. How dare you?
That was out of line. Perfect example tho of the difference between good coaching and good clapping.
NFL is a mesh of talent and coaching blended together. NBA is an example where talent is all that matters.
I don’t view it as a slam at all. I think it’s more that sometimes Doug can be honest to a fault. This is not something a head coach normally verbalizes to the media.
It does provide some context on how Foles can look completely lost at times and why he was so successful under Chip’s offense.
I also don’t take it that Foles is dumb or unintelligent. I think that it just underscores how intelligent franchise QBs actually are compared to everyone else.
The media, fans, and sometimes it seems even GMs/coaches/ownership get infatuated with a Qbs potential based on film, physical attributes, love of the game, winning record, etc.
It’s very telling that the Rams and Browns didn’t see Wentz the same way Pederson, Reich, and Fip saw him. I think that points to the intellect of the Eagles coaches. Doug was initially panned for his lack of “salesman qualities” in front of the media and how he didn’t seem like head coach material. But that always seemed shortsighted in the same manner that politicians mainly get elected based on their persona instead of their actual ability to govern and solve problems.
I agree that Pederson seems like the kind of coach that can elevate Nick’s play by scheming the offense around Nick’s strengths. But at the same time, I wonder if Wentz would have gone to the Browns if Hue Jackson would have even known what he had in Carson.
I agree. It is not about intelligence at all, but processing speed during a play (and immediately before the play). While Wentz is able to consider multiple factors regarding what the defense is doing very quickly and make very fast decisions, Foles seems to get bogged down in his own mind and slowed down when he has to think about too much on a given play. That is why it is important for Doug to give Foles plays in which he can make a quick decision based on one or two quick reads.
We don’t *know* any of this. We’re not inside Foles’ head, or Carson’s for that matter. Even watching film there’s only so much you can guess at.
Sure, it is my impression from watching the games and it seems to be consistent with what Doug is saying.
This is true of literally any backup QB who hasn’t been getting starter’s reps all season.
I 100% disagree.
Human beings only fully master complex processes (and football plays certainly count) through repetition. This is doubly true of variations on complex processes (which is what wrinkles that build off of existing plays are). The starter gets the lion’s share of practice reps for a football team, especially after training camp when practice time is limited – he is therefore going to know the offense better than the backup in almost all cases.
There might be exceptions where you have a long-time veteran with extensive starting experience in your offense serving as a backup, in which case the backup might have the same level of mastery as the starter, though even then there will be rust. But that’s not really the case here. Foles has played a total of 4+ games in a Pederson-style offense.
When I watched Doug talk to John Clark, and seeing his other interviews and press conferences Saturday evening (& during the previous 2 weeks), I get a completely different vibe. I’m not sure if you watched Doug speak at all Saturday. If not, it’s worth a look as he doesn’t seem to be talking about Nick’s problems arising from lack of practice or playing time.
There may be some inherent differences in their mental characteristics as well. By all accounts Carson seems to be a football savant of sorts, and to have a coach’s mind as far as thinking of the game in terms of play design and concepts. It’s perfectly possible Foles is more of an instinctual player who prefers a quicker, cleaner, and less complex decision process.
Nevertheless, it remains true that in almost all cases the backup QB is going to have less mastery of the offense than the starter and will require a simpler gameplan to excel as a result. So I stand by my original statement.
Foles started 39 games and played in a total of 49 during hsi 6 year career. He’s not a rookie. But you know who is, Nate Sudfeld. He didn’t seem to have a problem grasping the offense playing with the 2nd stringers against the Cowboys first string defense.
Foles and Wentz aren’t even in the same zip code as Wentz. Carson was better as a rookie thrown into the fire with very little training camp than Foles at any point this season.
You’re taking the standpoint of a person can do anything they put their mind to with practice and repetition. That’s just not accurate.
Foles started 39 games and played in a total of 49 during hsi 6 year career. He’s not a rookie. But you know who is, Nate Sudfeld.
Foles hasn’t played most of his career in this offense so that experience is largely only tangentially relevant.
Sudfeld came into a game nobody cared about and had a little success running a handful of plays against a defense that wasn’t game planning to stop him.
Nobody is saying Foles is Carson, but he played reasonably well the other night, and he’s definitely a better option than Sudfeld at this point in time. Stop with this idiocy. Just. Stop.
Carson was better as a rookie thrown into the fire with very little training camp than Foles at any point this season.
Carson showed major flashes as a rookie, but his overall level of performance was mediocre. This simply isn’t true.
You’re taking the standpoint of a person can do anything they put their mind to with practice and repetition.
Where did I say any such thing?
I said practice and repetition will make any player better. Not that it will enable them to do anything.
If you want to have a friendly debate, I’m good with that, but your constant name calling/insults are uncalled for.
What constant name calling/insults? Where did I call you a name or insult you?
I referred to your claim that Sudfeld playing well in a few meaningless snaps somehow demonstrates that he is in better command of the offense than Foles, who has now won both meaningful regular season games and a playoff game running that offense, as “idiocy”. That’s because I think that’s a stupid argument.
This doesn’t mean I think you’re an idiot. Everybody says dumb things sometimes, me included. But it’s just not a smart take. 3rd string QBs playing well in limited playing time against uninterested defenses in meaningless games has proven time over time throughout NFL history to be about as meaningless as it gets in terms of gathering useful information. Pederson is in far better position to know who gives the team the best chance to win than either of us and he clearly thought it was ridiculous that anybody would even ask if he should put in Sudfeld.
Anyway, nothing personal. I’m just not inclined to mince words when I don’t think much of a particular argument.
Maybe not, but when Nick is in the flow and reacting, rather than thinking, he’s very effective. If Dug can scheme a way for Nick to get in that zone, we’re probably going to win.
What do you mean “reacting, rather than thinking” for a QB?
I think reacting is just a sped-up version of the same process – you want it to the point where things are second nature and the time from information input to decision is minimized. Reps can certainly help with this, as can reducing the number of decision points – I’d guess Foles has probably improved as a result of both.
Titans and coach Mike Mularkey “mutually agreed to part ways.”
The news comes from ESPN’s Field Yates. It is a stunning development considering the Titans reportedly offered Mularkey an extension following their loss to the Patriots over the weekend. It is possible that extension came with caveats Mularkey would not accept, such as firing an offensive staff which underperformed in 2017. It was also an open secret the front office wanted to go in a different direction even as ownership stood behind the coach, so perhaps the front office finally won out. Whatever the reason, a prime job with a young and promising quarterback has suddenly opened, and that could spell trouble for teams still looking for coaches. That is especially true for the Colts, who could watch their No. 1 candidate, Patriots OC Josh McDaniels, end up with a division rival.
I don’t know how “promising” their QB is anymore
Mularkey might be Jeff-Fisher level when it comes to developing QBs.
He reminds me of Russel Wilson and if they don’t have the defense that kind of player is a coach killer
RG3
Kaepernick
Vick etc..
I read on twitter he refused to fire assistant(s). I think this is great for the Titans.
So by beating the Falcons, we ripped the Vikings out of their comfy home, dragging them out to play in the cold. And then if we beat them, we then take over their house while they watch us play for a Superbowl. Got a feeling they don’t like us.
But we gave them Bradford!
Howie’s generosity is legendary.
How great would it be to see this on Sunday:
Barnett- 2.0 sacks, 1FF, 6 QB hits
benn following this site for 4 years…barely commented….CAN YALL BELIEVE WE ARE HERE….feels good and I love the match up….
Vets CHECK
guys with playoff Experience Check
Run Game Check
Defense CHECK
Trenches CHECK
Eagles Pls come out an dominate
Great Work all year Tommy
Long Cox Johnson
Check
Vikings know they shouldn’t have won that game and now they get to come here favored.
I think we dismantle them and have it wrapped up pretty by the 3rd quarter.
Then the question becomes who is favored in Minn, The Bortles or The Foles….
I have the slightest defense for the Saints defender who will be a goat for all eternity.
Disclaimer: his form was atrocious and coaches around the league will be talking to their DB’s about this if they don’t already emphasize it, see what you hit!
That being said. So the Saints are emphasizing protecting the boundaries. Because if Diggs catches that and goes out of bounds, they are in field goal range with time on the clock for 1 kick. So at that depth of the field, he really needs to either tackle him in bounds (should have gone for this obviously) or hit him hard enough to go backwards going out of bounds. Forward progress would be marked in bounds, game over. So the kid opts for the hit stick in the direction of the sideline. Now if he had his head is up He’d see that Diggs stopped on a dime to make that catch and easily do enough to make sure Diggs doesn’t stay on his feet to get out of bounds or score a TD.
Still a goat, but his job was more than just “don’t let Diggs score a TD” and I don’t think people are factoring that context into the level of difficulty.
Yes, was clearly trying to keep Diggs in bounds. But I think he mis-timed it, and was early, and would have gotten PI if he hit Diggs (which was just as bad as allowing the catch and tackling OB), so he avoided the hit. Unfortunately he took himself completely out of the play, and nailed Crawley as well, taking him out too.
Williams was the guy who got the pick earlier, and was a season-long starter as a rookie (damn that Saints draft class was ridiculous), so I’d imagine he’ll get better.
Saints should have had more than one guy back there anyways. Can you imagine Schwartz not having like six guys back there?
That’s the real kicker for me. Why was the other defender trailing?
I have been frustrated at times this year watching us play sticks defense and end up giving up the 1st down. But at least our defenders were all between the ball and the goal line.
Crawley was covering another receiver (Wright) who was also on the sidelines but a few yards shorter. Keenum threw to the deeper receiver. Think there was also a tight end on the same sidelines but much more shallow, who somehow also drew a defender.
they had corners defending the quick out, for a 65 yard FG chance. I feel bad for the CB, and I blame the coaches a lot. They defended against the FG and forgot about a TD.
For me HFA is the difference. Our line should be able to take advantage with crowd noise. I also think the media will be hyping the Vikes defense all week and that plays into our hand as well…
If defense wins championChips look at what our defense did to last years MVP,
now Case Keenum gets to follow that up after getting incredibly lucky yesterday
Conversely:
If Minn defense is so great what were Drew Brees Stats yesterday? He had his way with them in the second half and as far as I’m concerned that defense let the Vikes down. If it was up to them(the D), they really wilted at the end.
I’m pretty sure everyone is happy we are facing Keenum and not Brees. I also think our O matches up better against the Vikes D, than vice versa. Combine this with HFA and this is a winnable game for the Underdogs.
Did u see GMFA and Lombardi try to back track how they felt about our birds chances?
Bunch of ass clowns,
It’s an insult to asses and clowns to compare them with those guys.
Haha touch’e
I don’t disagree that we have a good shot, and I think we will win, but you are relying on some really small sample sizes in drawing your conclusions.
My conclusion is they are over rated and basically the same team that came here last year 5-0 all hyped and we out physical’D them
My sample size on our defense being stout is all year and that is the same team that lost to Scam Newton late in the season.
I was more talking about drawing conclusions about the relative strengths of the defenses based only on the previous games against Atlanta and New Orleans. Regardless, I agree with your conclusions anyway. 🙂
Like I said above and if u want I will scour through all the games but:
Our defense steps up in big time moments ALL Year hears a few off the top of my head:
Skins Game 1 – Cox sack fumble TD
Panthers game- Mills actually catches int with 3:00 left
Rams- BG fumble recovery to end it (I think)
ATL- 4th down stop, Held ’16 MVP scoreless in second half, only gave up 10 with 2 turnovers causing very short fields
Agreed. I’m with you!
Sorry I’m too amped up
No such thing. Just don’t peak before Sunday.
What I’ll keep hammering as my expectation, as we have a better D and DC than Carolina, is an equaling of the 6 sack, 2 INT, 1 fumble taken away performance the Vikings managed at Carolina in December.
On the same exact page. I feel our D is better and specifically our D just seems to step up in the biggest moments
Conversely that D wilted in the biggest moment of the season
Re: PHI Defense v. MIN Defense – Birds’ Big Edge
Commenter Ryan Rambo posted a side-by-side comparison of the Birds and Vikes’ defenses compiled by Jimmy Bama.
Overall, MIN allows 15.8 ppg vs the Eagles’ 18.4 ppg — abt a 1-FG advantage.
Seems like the Vikes’ “D” has the edge.
Not so fast . . . .
________________
The correct numbers to consider, respectfully, are Home and Away PPG.
For the season
– Birds’ Defense @ Home (9 games): 13.0 ppg
– Vikes’ Defense @ Road (8 games): 19.0
Last 6 – home v. away
– Birds’ Defense @ Home (post 10/29): 10.3 ppg
– Vikes’ Defense @ Road (post 10/29): 18.2 ppg
_______________
Since 10/29 — when both teams have clearly settled in — what we see is:
– the Eagles’ “D” @ home improved by nearly 3 ppg
– the Vikings’ “D” @ away improved by less than 1 ppg
_______________
So comparing “overall ppg” vs “home/away ppg” —
The Eagles’ Defense gets an 11-point swing in their favor.
(Birds +8 better @ home / Vikes -3 worse @ away)
These ppg-numbers should be the key metric going into Sunday.
_______________
Sure the Eagles’ 2017 defense is not the ’00 Ravens or the ’02 Bucs —
that is, OVERALL (home + away numbers + Conf playoffs [excl. SB]).
But compare the 2017 Birds @Home vs. those teams @Home for . . .
– (i) @home post-10/27 / (ii) @home all games / (iii) home + away
(all calcs include playoffs)
’17 Eagles “D”: 10.3 / 13.0 / 17.9
’02 Tampa “D”: 12.3 / 13.0 / 11.8
’00 Ravens “D”: 7.0 / 10.2 / 9.5
So . . . in terms of PPG, the Eagles’ @HOME are better than the ’02 Bucs.
Not quite with the Ravens down the stretch. But not far behind.
_______________
Now . . . let’s compare the Vikings @Away with the ’02 Bucs and ’00 Ravens:
(i) post-10/27 @away, (ii) all @away, and (iii) overall + playoffs:
’17 Vikes “D”: 18.2 / 19.0 / 16.2
’02 Bucs “D”: 13.6 / 10.5 / 11.8
’00 Balt “D”: 8.9 / 10.0 / 9.5
Not in the same solar system.
__________________
What the PPG numbers appear to show is:
(1) The ’17 Eagles — @ HOME — are a very, very dominant defense.
Right there w/ the ’02 Bucs. Not far from the ’00 Ravens.
(2) The ’17 Vikes — @ Away — not in the same ballpark.
_______________
The 2017 Birds @home may be — as T-Law has called the ’02 Bucs and ’00 Ravens — a “Generational Defense.”
And . . . with these numbers . . . I like the Eagles’ chances.
A Lot.
So win the game 20-10!
This was awesome I was gonna g=dig into the split stats later but really enjoyed this.
I do however recommend a user-name change, at least for the week.
The “Viking” part of “ACViking” refers to the high school mascot for my high school alma mater, Atlantic City High School . . .
Of which I’m a proud — and long-ago — graduate. No change.
Ah, I’ve wondered about your monicker for awhile.
almost a let down after watching the Viking show on TV
Same
wouldn’t “Gamblers” be a better mascot for Atlantic City High School?
Post 84 it might
I went to Eastern so I understand.
AC is the OG in the Igglesblitz community. I think we will give em a pass, eh?
I know he is a great poster here. This week that is just hard to look at lol
Great stuff.
NOTE:
One big difference between Birds@home vs. ’02 Bucs & ’00 Ravens
in the last 6 games, including playoffs . . .
Turnovers.
2017 Birds “D”: 12 TOs
2002 Bucs “D”: 18 TOs
2000 Balt “D”: 19 TOs
PS – Vikes “D” @away last 6 games . . . 8 TOs.
we stopped trying.
I love the enthusiasm and confidence! I am not quite on that level, but have certainly gained much since having watched Foles play his first 3 games.
We don’t have enough data, to make valid O arguments, with Foles at QB. I don’t think I would want to look at that comparison though.
Thanks for doing this – I made the same point but was too lazy to look up/compile home/away splits. HFA makes a big difference in the performance of a defense.
From Football Outsiders:
Defense by DVOA: -13.9% V -12.6 P
(very slight edge to Minnesota; they actually have a 2% lead in offense, mostly due to our free fall once Wentz went down.)
Drive stats:
Yards per drive (defense) 25.91 V 27.48 P
Points per drive 1.39 V 1.52 P
Turnovers per drive .103 V .159 P
Drive success rate .633 V .643
These numbers are _very_close. Note also that Philly had to defend 8 more times than the Vikings, which is what accounts for most of the difference in conventional stats. Basically Jacksonville’s D ran away with it this year, Philly and Minnesota are in a group of 5 or 6 teams about the same, and New England had the worst stats in the league for this stat.
There is a 2% difference in DVOA between MIN and PHI.
There is a 7% difference in DVOA between NO and PHI (yes, the NO that just lost last night).
There is a 1% difference in DVOA between NE and PHI (and we have the lead)
There is a 8% difference in DVOA between JAC and PHI (and we have the lead)
Basically, the remaining teams are very close. The Wentz injury adds a lot of noise and uncertainty.
Let’s say we fall from what was the #1 offense to #16. Then we’d be
25.1% V to 10% P. That would drop us to the level of the following teams: SEA, ATL, WAS, DAL.
Vikings message boards…..
https://scout.com/nfl/vikings/Board/102855/Contents/I-live-outside-Philly-113722138
http://www.vikingsmessageboard.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=30199
They being reasonable over there?
Lol about like us. Some cautious optimism, then outright overconfidence due to Nick being our qb.
Seems less rude than that Hotlanta dopes.
Definitely. Although all the Foles talk is probably the same level.
I’m a little surprised at the Vikings fans overconfidence. There are a lot of factors about this game that would scare the crap out of me as a Vikings fan.
Pederson is is 1-0 in the playoffs. Zimmer is 1-10
I look forward to seeing all Vikings stomped into gruel (With the exception of ACViking).
1-1 as a HC though?
Yup. The other losses were in his various other positions. Still, his mojo is questionable, right?
If you count those, you gotta count Pederson’s too, though, right?
Oh, man, I honestly forgot all about those. There goes my mojo.
I feel bad for Drew, but defense wins in the playoffs and they don’t ever seem to care all that much about theirs. Sort of get what you pay for.
Drew has a hundred million in the bank I don’t feel sorry for him one bit
Meh, they’ve already won a SB.
I would’ve felt worse for Minnesota fans if the Vikings had lost. That fanbase is just as tortured as we are.
My feelings are for Sproles and Peters! !
And Maragos.
i was absolutely sure this Atlanta game was it for the eagles.
now after watching the vikings saints game i have more confidence than before.
the vikings are not unbeatable at all.
if our D can stop Julio and Sanu they can stop the vikings.
i was more worried about Kamara
Agree. . But keeping the undergod mindset with intention and confidence is a great place to be …
..
Reading Kempski analysis is a difference maker
“Undergod?” That’s brilliant, I’m going to steal that.
As soon as I saw that I thought the same thing!
UNDERDOGS if they win it all/……
My spell check did it and said to myself, “thanks for once spellchecker you dick”
Time to break out the Hades masks for this game?
HOMER BS FANTASY: So if we have one of those games and the DL just pounds the heck out of Case Keenum and eventually the score gets out of hand he doesn’t want to go back in, and you’re Sammy and Cox has been up in the face all game long, do you go in? Or just say, “nah, I’m good coach. For what. For who?”
This should happen right around the time Sidney Jones takes the Eagles 4th pick six of the game to the house, so midway through the second quarter, right?
At halftime Keenum, Sam, and Bridgewater will be doing rock, paper, scissor to see who has to play the second half.
Which Rams starting QB (2012-present) would you most like to have leading your team this weekend?
1. Foles
2. Keenum
3. Goff
4. Sleevie Wonder
5. Mannion
6. Davis
7. Hill
8. Clemens
I would take Goff over Foles, that’s about it. And that’s only due to Goff having more upside. At this point we know what Foles is
I think it’s just for this weekend though.
Oh good point. Foles baby ALL THE WAY!!!
WAR FOLES
I want to see a giraffe run of 20 + yards on Sunday
With the worst slide u have ever seen
Keenum and Foles are about equal to me at the top of the list.
Goff if I’m starting a team for the long haul of course, but he looked jittery in his first NFL playoff start and I don’t totally trust him yet.
1. Bradford
2. Keenum
3. Goff
4. Foles
5. Hill
6. Davis
7. Mannion
8. Clemebs
Nah. Bradford is the antithesis of a big game QB.
Bradford has never been in a big game but I’d take his accuracy and quick release over everyone else’s on that list
Bradford has never been in a big game
There’s a reason for that.
Even in high leverage moments in non-big games, he plays too conservatively. Way too many check downs and risk averse decisions in general.
But can you take Bradford’s knees for more than a half of football..?
I was with you a couple years ago. Not anymore, this is an “in theory” quick release hypothetical.
Can we officially change Foles’ nickname from Rainmaker to Axeman?
Or is it too soon?
But Trotter was the Axeman.
I know he was. He should get on that field and symbolically pass on the axe to Foles on Sunday!
Thought only GEeagle called him the RaInMaKeR lol
Ironically “Rainmaker” would have been an approriate nickname for GEagle.
I hear Ags is known as the Rainmaker around Philly….
What happened to that guy? He was here when i first started posting.
It was so meta like a blog within a blog
Napoleon?
Undergod?
I just don’t want to see NE win another championship. At this point it seems like the fans, Bill, or the players really care about winning a title.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8014e7a282cb9e4a8056d63893080afa07ef6f065bb158363365ac028dbb6da7.jpg
I’m surprised Foles’ passer rating was that high when under pressure. To be fair he did make one throw that by all rights should’ve been intercepted, but that’s still encouraging.
He stepped up instead of peddling…. Good coaching can make a difference and that OLINE can pass block, run block, and screen block.
Wow. Now I’m even more optimistic.
Vikings O line = trash.
Report: Pat Shurmur expected to take Giants job.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/01/15/report-pat-shurmur-expected-to-take-giants-job/
So it appears the Giants are going to hire Shurmur as their next coach:
https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2018/1/15/16893688/pat-shurmur-giants-hire-vikings-offensive-coordinator-eagles-rams-philadelphia-browns-nfl-news-rumor
He went 9-23 in his first stint as a head coach with the Browns and in the six seasons he’s had playcalling responsibility, his offenses have finished ranked 32nd, 30th, 25th, 27th, 26th, and 5th in DVOA, with this year’s Vikings offense being the outlier.
I’m quite enthusiastic about this hire. Shurmur’s done nothing to lead me to believe he’s a genius offensive mind who just hasn’t had a chance to blossom, and he’s already failed as top dog once. Never say never, but I think the Giants may have just hired a guy Doug can easily outcoach twice a year for the next few seasons, to go along with the one down in Dallas.
I was hoping for McDaniels.
Report: Josh McDaniels expected to be next Colts coach
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/01/15/report-josh-mcdaniels-expected-to-be-next-colts-coach/
I wanted him in the NFCE.
Because he’s not impressive to you?
Like Shurmur is not impressive to Xeynon?
Pederson didn’t impress anyone with his hire
(I reserved judgment because I was steering the Chipship when we got him)
Pederson also didn’t have an established track record of failure as an NFL head coach – Shurmur does.
I mean did that HS he was coaching at least win the states lol
Shurmur is gonna have Sammy B as his starter. They are pretty much a package deal
I would actively exclude Pats coordinators from my HC search. Tell me about BB’s successful coaching tree. He’s no Any Reid !!! (in this category)
McDaniels has a higher chance to be an outright debacle, but I think he’ll flame out quickly if he does fail.
Shurmur is the kind of guy who could hang around for a while and give us several seasons of uninspiring, low-key mediocrity in NY, much like the Clapper has in Dallas.
As with coaches, so with QBs – if you have a good/great one, you want your rivals to have “meh” ones, not spectacularly bad ones.
Next year he can replace the Clapper or Gruden (He’s not even the best coach in his family) lol
HE is gonna bring his boy Sammy B!!!!
This is great news
To be fair, 9-23 with the Browns translates to 20-12 with an actual NFL team.
Here’s the thing, we up 10 on Vikings with 8 minutes left and we can pin our ears back and attack. Frenzy. I am confident.
Same but Saints, I’m terrified. (Or Pats).
Ha! Let’s save the Pats discussion for next week…
The Pats are about to get Bortled so we won’t even have to worry about them. 😉
Go Jaguars!
An Eagles/Jaguars Super Bowl would be the Phillies/Rays WS of football.
would be even better by all the people pissed off about the teams making it.
I was thinking the same thing.
It would have historically terrible Super Bowl ratings.
Phillies/Rays Game 3 is the lowest-rated WS game since 1980 and the second-lowest rated World Series besides the 2012 Cardinals-Tigers WS which it barely beat.
Why it’s gonna be the Jagz all day
Blake Bortles twitter facts lol
hey when the time comes I think I can sell my avatar for a big markup!!
Ok so just made my media rounds and realize the shift in narrative about last Saturdays game:
We only won because the Falcons were tired and had to go on the road and had an emotional win against the Salted Rams. (How do these people get paid for this shit)
Will the excuse be the same next week when we destroy Vikings after their emotional win against the Salted Saints…..
Who cares, dude? Scoreboard.
I enjoy it. I watch what they said going in back to back with what they said today.
Just crazy how much disrespect this team gets all year long. That Chode Skip Bayless is saying because we won Carson doesn’t deserve the MVP..
I know its a schtick but c’mon how do u say that with a straight face
Ha, that’s some dumb shit.
The Vikings have a great defense and is going up against a backup QB. Keenum and the offense has played well all season. If I was a nuetral observer I would say that the Vikings would win.
If they are so great how come they need Case Keenum to win on a freak play.
They are no greater than our Defense.
My whole point with that was how quick the excuses change while we just keep winning…..
And who knows what would have happened on 4th down had Julio not slipped. It works both ways. Secondly the Vikings just won a miraculous play led by a journey man QB. The whole country is rooting for them.
Slipped? SLIPPED???
The Green Goblin stole his lunch money on that play. He didn’t slip he got jacked up and followed up with an all time finger wag
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8e29e9fc5f8a4e62c2755539e22382b463a75ef88a92db355c3dd4ea265db821.jpg
Saved.
U are my Patriot of the week for posting this.
Just F’N awesome!
The slip didn’t really affect the play much as Mills was in good coverage at that point and Jones recovered to be able to make a leap for the ball (with Mills still in good coverage).
Don’t think you can say the Eagles’ D doesn’t deserve credit for the outcome of that play – they diagnosed it right away and had it very well defended.
Did u see Kendricks stay with his RB after he fell…
Seeing him buy in and stay disciplined was borderline amazing in itself.. I will find the video if u didn’t see it yet
Didn’t see it but I believe you. Kendricks has really blossomed this season as far as becoming smarter and more disciplined in this defense and his improvement in coverage is a story that hasn’t been reported on enough.
Hope u enjoy this like I did. They are doing all the small things:
http://theeagleswire.usatoday.com/2018/01/14/eagles-lb-mychal-kendricks-made-a-big-time-play-that-no-one-noticed-on-the-goal-line-stand/
The eagles have a great defense and are going up against a backup dome QB at home. Keenum throws balls up for grabs and had a 5.1 QB rating under pressure yesterday.
This and the Vikings have shuffled their O-line all season including yesterday.
Prefer to go against Keenum than Brees. Brees doesn’t nearly have the arm he used to beyond 7-8 yards but he is still capable of going off for a half like he did yesterday.
Exactly. I’d rather the future hall of fame QB be completely out of the equation.
The Eagles also have a great defense (especially at home) and are going up against a backup QB. They’ve also had an extra day to prepare and have HFA.
I think the Vikings are slight favorites too, but it’s not at all ridiculous to think the Eagles can or should win the game. I think neutral observers are likely to be fairly evenly split.
Luckily for the Vikings they don’t have to go on the road to philly after an emotional win….. oh wait….
Keep it coming.
If the Eagles win the SB, I’m sure they’ll be calling them the worst team to ever win it, saying they got lucky, etc. I don’t give a crap as long as we win.
Being underdogs can only work to our advantage and the Vikings’ disadvantage anyway.
I am more than ok with being the worst team to ever win a SB.
Eli’s legacy can’t last forever lol
I’m the biggest Bortles fan this week!
That’s not possible as the worst teams to even win the Super Bowl are already:
71 Cowboys 72 Dolphins, 74 Steelers, 75 Steelers, 77 Cowboys, 78 Steelers 79 Steelers, 82 Washington, 86 Giants, 87 Washington, 90 Giants, 91 Washington, 92 Cowboys, 93 Cowboys, 95 Cowboys, 2005 Steelers, 2007 Giants, 2008 Steelers, and 2011 Giants.
Each and every one of those teams was overrated, given too much credit by the press, and cheered on by legions of douchebags with little or no football knowledge. A complete bunch of fuckfaces; the whole lot of them.
*All teams were enumerated by year of regular season.
I’d also like to shout out 85 Bears >>> 72 Dolphins. And 2012 Ravens + 2015 Broncos for keeping POS bums from winning a title.
Damn, you just gave me a flashback of that 2005 Super Bowl. That was one of the worst games ever.
95 Cowboys was bullshit but 93 Cowboys was legit, much as it pains me to say that. 95 Cowboys was the “I’m Neil O’Donnell and if I don’t throw this INT I’m going to get my legs broken by my bookie” Bowl.
Oh, and we would have won that 2008 game. Not even a question.
Had to watch 2005 sb with a Steeler fan. I made no bones about rooting against them and said they were one of the luckiest teams I’ve ever seen. They had no business being there let alone winning it.
I read some things too where it’s like did the Eagles win or did the Falcons just lost. Whatevs. We are moving on.
I always say for our second title we can ramp up the impressiveness, level of difficulty etc. I’ll take the first one, however it comes.
At the very least we pushed them to a level that they could not execute
they just keep finding creative excuses
at this point the delusion is impressive
Tomlin’s decision to kick that onside kick might be the single worst decision so far in the playoffs.
The last ten years when the opposing team expects an onside kick it is only successful 18% of the time.
That is way too low with two timeouts even given how poorly their defense had played in that game.
Tomlin was totally out coached yesterday.
Tomlin isn’t that great of a coach. He has been lucky to have a great QB all these years.
Pittsburgh fan friends of mine are LIVID.
I think Tomlin belongs in the McCarthy/Payton “won a Super Bowl with an all-time great QB and have since become massively overrated” basket.
I didn’t like the decision either, but I can understand thinking there was less than an 18% chance his defense would actually get a stop…
under the new rules, could Mills have just shoved JJ out of bounds on his way back down? Then he’s out of bounds?
Was wondering same thing. .. poetically not because that’s what aints db’s could’ve done also .. do that all day
Yes, I believe that is correct. Every once in a while, too rarely I think, but you see a smart CB do exactly that. Just shove the WR after the catch.
he should have been doing that. No one he comes down in bounds if that is your focus.
Kind of an unfair rule, no?
I think that takes extremely good timing and athleticism to do, and probably can only be realistically done in certain situations (ie, you’re already running toward him and will probably get to the WR around the same time as the ball).
Yes. Its a good play, but the DB has to be very aware and sure. Besides, Julio outweighs Mills by what, 40-50 pounds? Not just timing, but strength with a guy like that.
The shove out rule was totally bogus, so I like the current rule. I lost a bet because Gates got shoved out under the old rule and the cheatin ass refs didn’t give him the TD catch anyway.
Yep. Underutilized option in my opinion. Maybe it is much harder than I imagine, but on all those leaping grabs on the boundary, just catch the guy and carry him out.
Kinda like when we had guys who wouldn’t turn their heads and locate the ball lol
oh carry him out even better, his feet can’t hit. Like in this case, JJ is hovering on the line, if you shove him on his way down seems like an easier play to make, less chance of PI, etc.
wait if you catch him, and you are in, then you walk out….he’s out of bounds right?
Yep. I would think the timing might be hard because too early and it’s pass interference. Can’t catch him or it’s holding. And he’s have to be high enough to have time to make the shove, you don’t know if that’s the case. Probably easier to play it straight up.
He kind of butt checked him out anyway, but as others have said the rule now is that if you’re out / you’re out.
For anyone else who didn’t see it , enjoy
http://theeagleswire.usatoday.com/2018/01/14/eagles-lb-mychal-kendricks-made-a-big-time-play-that-no-one-noticed-on-the-goal-line-stand/
Nice to see Kendricks being disciplined there and sticking with his assignment, if he decided to rush the QB the end of that game could’ve been totally different
Yup. It still sticks in my crawl that one of the TDs we gave up to Seattle was Kendricks leaving the RB. Coach Schwartz probably had a nice conversation with him about that.
Schwartz will be having that same conversation with Jenkins.
True, but I bet it won’t be as often as he’s had it with Kendricks.
Shurmur as the new Giants coach could be a distraction for them this week. So theres that
Spags probably stays with Shurm…do they go QB at 2 or does Shurmur bring one of his boys from the Vikings and take Saquon and take a QB later?
I lean to them still taking Rosen but Rosen’s off the field reputation might be an issue for them.
They have 3 QBs with starting credentials on expiring contracts. I can’t imagine Shurmer doesn’t take one with him. How funny would it be if they take Bradford, then draft a QB at #2 anyway?
That’s the current internet hot take. And flip Eli to a team that overestimates how much he has left.
I smell another strike!
http://media.phillyvoice.com/media/images/Sammy_picket.width-704.png
Yeah copy the Eagles but don’t get as good a QB as Wentz in the draft and an even more battered Bradford would be my dream.
Rosen is classic boom or bust and those SoCal party boys who are allergic to the film room are scary. But Rosen does possess a pure motion and strong arm.
Taking Bradford with him to the Giants is a real possibility because twice (to Kelly, to Zimmer) Shumer recommended Bradford.
ZERO chance they’re passing on QB at 2 if they hired a guy with a QB development pedigree.
Yeah you’re probably right but what if Rosen isn’t a film room guy and they fear he’s a party boy in NY. Are you saying you think Rosen is a lock if Darnold goes to Cleveland ?
You hate running QBs and Jackson and Allen are dual threat QBs.
I’d love for them to reach for Mason Rudolph.
Until proven otherwise, I think Cleveland will ultimately land another another run around idiot. So I’d assume Mayfield or Jackson is a Brown. Oddly enough, I think NY is a market that can tolerate Rosen’s outspoken nature. Broadway Joe as a case in point even though it was the other NY team.
I actually hope Rosen is a shit and the Giants pass him up or they take him and he relatively busts . He’s not Carson but he’s very talented so I’d just as soon see him out of our division.
I still need to do a lot more reading about the QBs in this draft, but I find it highly likely that there aren’t any of them better than 10th – 15th ish in the league ceilings.
There’s usually not more than 1 or 2 actually and sometimes none.
If they get someone good not great , that can be a good thing because then they keep thinking they’re set.
Shurmur taking the job and bringing in Sammy Sleeves as his starting QB is a dream scenario.
Fran is at it again. This I found particularly surprising. Mills wasn’t doubling Julio downfield on his almost pick. He saw where it was going and went to help.
https://twitter.com/fduffy3/status/953040537170440192
Fran is the man. And he liked my tweet requesting they start making that Mills bobble hand figurine.
Yikes, looks like Darby would have gotten burned on that one if it weren’t for Mills.
Well, beaten by a star making a great adjustment to a terrible throw. Not so much burned, but, yeah, it would have been a frustrating completion.
Great adjustment? Jones just kinda slowed down and stopped. That wasn’t anything special. Even the route didn’t look like anything but a standard deep post. (Impressive pass deflection on his part at the end though.)
Darby is the kind of guy who will make several great plays and get burned several times in the same game.
He’s definitely overdue for an INT against the Vikings.
Thanks! Jalen is so smart and instinctive and relentless in those clips.
There’s always a place in my heart for high effort guys even though they often need to be that way to survive in this league.
Fran Duffy is a treasure for Eagles fans. I learn so much from his play breakdowns.
The Linc sound system operators need get the Underdog theme song cued up for Sunday. Its a must.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pv4xmZF_EI
Would be awesome.
Just not this chick…..although Howard Stern tormenting her over the years has been fun.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OKVB4aNwtL8/hqdefault.jpg
So it looks like most people would be ok with Reich leaving and sad if flip goes. I don’t get it, sure Flip is great but how come Reich doesn’t get any credit for the way our O is executing. Is he getting the Doug P treatment 2.0?
I liked Reich when hired because I figured he’d help out Pederson a ton.
No one really knows what the responsibility split is between Pederson and Reich, but they credit Flip for Wentz’s development.
I posted earlier on this thread a blurb from Peter King in the MMQB today. He said Reich develops the game plan while Doug has veto power and calls the plays. If true, I’d say Reich has very much to do with the offensive success and the development of Wentz.
Reich was the one pinning the season’s offensive success on “Wentz does something awesome to get us out of another 3rd and long”?
I don’t really get it either. We don’t know with certainty who deserves the most credit for Wentz’s development, and it might well be Reich.
I deserve a major part of it for telling Pederson to get better at play calling this off season.
I feellike Wentz is a generational talent so whoever does get the most credit probably doesn’t even deserve that much.
Now that year Bill Lazor got out of Foles, that was some QB whispering
Wentz is clearly a tremendous talent. But tremendous talents do flame out all the time.. it’s really hard to say what the formula is. I think if it had been figured out there wouldn’t be so many draft busts and failed coaching hires.
As much as I hate him I have to ask:
Who do u credit for Brady being Brady? Does McCarthy get credit for Rodgers?
Wentz is probably still living football , I think he is addicted lol.
He is a tremendous talent sure. But I believe he is a generational talent like Peyton was. If u give him Mularkey he will still get the job done. Our coaches deserve some credit but I think we will be fine without one of those guys being back next year. (If both leave somehow that would def suck)
My question is honestly who means more to Pederson having success?
Peyton doesn’t get the job done with a crappy team, IMO. No one does.
More to the point, Peyton *didn’t* get the job done with a crappy coach.
There have been lots of great or near-great QBs over the years who I think were stunted by poor coaching.
I agree but Peyton was special and could make any O coordinator look good. They are both very coachable and have the drive to be the best.
At 8PM – Eagles/Falcons Game Replay on NFL Network!
Nice, but I’m not sure if I can watch some of that garbage from the offense in the first half again.
MM, you mean you didn’t record the game?
Yeah. Might watch it again anyway since it’s on.
Would we still be underdogs with Vick at QB…
Bad dog EFF U, Bad! Go! Sit!
I just had this image of him freaking out on Sunday when everyone has their masks on. I just had too
Ha! Flashbacks!
Trick question. We’d have already been knocked out of the playoffs.
Just saw this headline from the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Oh, it sucks to be a Saints fan this week. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/fb42bb70cada4888487cf2c1942929b71228308073d3b9c273d1c9ce97140da8.jpg
Horrible way to lose a game.
At least it happened to Sean Payton…my apologies to others traumatized by it…
Shoulda been Belichick
It was a really tough way to lose a game, but my sympathy is somewhat limited by the fact that the Saints have won a SB in the last decade.
The Eagles and Vikings, on the other hand, have two of the NFL’s most long-suffering fan bases, and at least one of them will get a chance to break their curse.
U would think there was some clever cajun slang to use. I guess not.
WHO Dat gonna miss that tackle
Reminds me of this…the fan reaction not the play…Seahawks win the Super Bowl the next year tough so it’s not as poignant anymore.
https://youtu.be/bpOoR86Wy9U
This is masterful.
https://twitter.com/timlefebvre/status/953054391652757505
My Steelers-fan wife enjoyed that.
It’s even funnier if you say the word cheetahs in your head with a Boston accent.
How else can you say it?
https://www.facebook.com/philadelphiaeagles/videos/1632295633474870/
Greatest fans of any NFL team.
Incredible
TYVM for sharing.
No matter how great our fans are, we’re always going to hear about snowballs and booing Santa Claus.
The kid with the Jalen Mills hair-do with tears in his eyes got me. Kid got taken to a game and saw his hero make a game winning play, doubt he’ll ever forget it.
Good news everyone, word on the street is that Sarkisian is the worst coach ever for blowing the easiest path to a superbowl ever and that the Vikings hosting a superbowl against the Patriots will be really fun!
So, are they just going to be handing out those creepy dog masks at the gate oorrr…
That would psych the shit out of them actually. Just 70,000 people wearing dog masks, dead silent.
Attention Minnesota, a public service announcement from your friendly, local football team.
https://pittmanmoviereview.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/youre-next-bloody-door.jpg
I hope they keep the disrespect coming. If we do win the game on Sunday and go to the Super Bowl it’ll be all the sweeter.
https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/26804851_1484534758340673_5111500577492231646_n.jpg?oh=be1c70b35663ca7d338416d77224f2f7&oe=5AB32A85
Woohoo! Eagles signed this guy small TE Josh Perkins to futures contract – U of Wash grad in 2016.
https://youtu.be/0vzHYf5faWs
Our Trey Burton replacement?
Hopefully looking towards a day when Celek hangs them up…but unfortunately Burton might be getting paid somewhere else next year.
In case anyone missed it, AC Viking had a meticulous analysis of home defense vs. away defense over on Jimmy’s post about the Eagles defense being as good as the Vikings (http://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-defense-as-good-vikings/).
The takeaway is that the Vikings defense away from Minnesota is not nearly as good as at home, and the Eagles defense is much better at home than on the road, but you should read over the whole thing because there’s lots of interesting numbers in there.
He also had that post here. 🙂
Everyone carry on then. lol.
My link didn’t work. . 404 link not found
Watching the replay on NFL Network. I feel much better about the Foles throw before halftime that bounced off the defender’s knee that should have been intercepted. Lane got beat by an outside stunt and Foles was hit while releasing the ball. He looks like he was throwing deep to Ags.
I have no idea why Collinsworth doesn’t mention this at all during the replays or timeout that followed.
Because Collinsworth is a scam artist?
He’s not just the president of Hair Club for PFF, he’s also a client!
collingsworthless is about the worst announcer out there, I sometimes wonder if the guy with him, is thinking this guy a complete moron
Yeah I noticed that after re-watching too. At first I thought that was either just a bad throw that Foles completely airmailed or a miscommunication between him and his receivers, but as you say the defender arrived quickly enough to influence his throwing motion which I think resulted in an errant throw.
I hope we can keep Trey Burton.
Me too. He’s a ridiculously versatile player who does lots of unheralded things. You’re not going to use I-formation much in today’s NFL, but when you want to it’s nice to have somebody who can line up at fullback while also being able to do other things.
We keep saying that, but I’m pretty sure the only time I’ve seen him line up at FB in 4 years was this weekend’s touchdown run.
I wonder if we would have been underdogs to the Saints.
Definitely. They only lost because of a miracle play.
and a few bad interceptions
pretty sure we wouldve been underdogs against any team in the conference during the playoffs besides Carolina and WHEN we win, well be underdogs in the SB too
The Vikings don’t have a QB signed for next year.