Winning Up Front
Posted: January 23rd, 2018 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 334 Comments »As good as Nick Foles was on Sunday night, the Eagles won that game up front. The O-line got the best of the Vikings defense. The D-line limited Minnesota’s run game and kept Case Keenum under regular pressure.
Let’s start on the offensive side of the ball.
PHI runs a toss concept + is in a tackle-over formation with Lane kicked over to the left. Watch C Jason Kelce reach Linval & fight through to the 2nd level cut-off on the backside LB (Barr). Absolutely filthy against elite competition. pic.twitter.com/F2PhEOu9sN
— Brandon Thorn (@VeteranScout) January 23, 2018
Lord… look at the LT/LG dbl team. pic.twitter.com/k1ASmFCOV0
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) January 22, 2018
Foles had excellent pass protection. He was able to finish 26 for 33 for 352 yards and you don’t do that if you’re running for your life. He was sacked once and hit a few other times, but largely had a clean pocket to work from.
Minnesota didn’t just rush four. They tried blitzing and even that didn’t work. Foles and the Eagles were able to move the ball all game long.
The Eagles defense controlled the line of scrimmage. Minnesota ran 14 times for 44 yards in the 1st half. They had to abandon the run in the 2nd half and finished with 18 runs for 70 yards.
Case Keenum was 28 for 48 passing. He was only sacked once, but there was regular pressure. You do have to give Keenum credit for avoiding sacks. There were 3 to 4 other times when most QBs would have gone down. He is strong and elusive, even in the pocket.
There are times when pressure is better than sacks.
https://twitter.com/NFLUK/status/955487565813108736
Would you rather have Keenum on his backside staring at the Philadelphia sky or Patrick Robinson running 50 yards for a TD?
Keenum completed 68 percent of his passes this year. He was down at 58 percent in this game. The Eagles pressure rattled him. It got him to throw off-target more than a couple of times. The Eagles made him feel uncomfortable in the pocket.
Thanks to the Eagles DL, the clock struck midnight on Keenum’s Cinderella season.
How do you make up for losing Wentz, Peters, Spoles, Hicks and everyone else? By dominating up front. Football has always been about dominating the line of scrimmage. The Eagles have spent resources to build up their lines and the coaches have done a good job of both developing talent and then scheming to get the best out of their players.
*****
I am down in Mobile for the Senior Bowl. The timing isn’t great with the Eagles advancing to the Super Bowl, but I had to come down here to check out all the top Senior draft prospects.
Regardless of what happens in the Super Bowl, the Eagles will need to add some young talent in late April. Let’s hope they are picking 32nd.
I know none of you are too fired up about draft talk now. I’ll keep writing about the Eagles. I won’t have the time to do a game review until I get back home.
_
Thanks for all that you do with the site… have fun in Mobile and I guess I missed the annual Kickstarter/Fund Me for the trip this year…
Did anybody put that up this year yet? I didn’t see it and/or the list of names who contributed.
If it turns out we didn’t, lets start one. I’d like to contribute.
Definitely pumped for the opportunity the Eagles have to win it all. Yet, that doesn’t diminish the fact that I always look forward to Tommy’s reports from Mobile each year. This team can certainly maintain long-term contender status with the core they’ve established, and it’s built through events like Senior Bowl week.
Can’t wait for the practice notes Tommy!
Baldinger is making a good point in his film reviews; That McKinnon had a great game against us with his quickness and wiggle, and that the Pats have 5 guys just like that. I haven’t thought about this before, but when you do it seems obvious that one (small) weakness in this eagles D is small, quick scat-back types of players. And in this respect we do not match up great against Brady and that team at all. And if Schwartz has the corners playing off 8-10 yards against Belichick like he did for most of the game against the vikings, Brady will dink and dunk us to death. I guess the game plan has to be to play man press on the outside and just hope that the D-line can get in the way of deep passes to Cooks and Gronk.
Have we been badly hurt by a quick scatback type all season? I don’t remember it happening. Chris Thompson scoring a TD against us in the season opener is about the closest I can think of.
Not sure if Kareem Hunt can be considered a scat back, but he wrecked us. Andre Ellington went 9 for 65 (passing). McCafferty 10 for 56. Chris Thompson/Kelly 7 for 40. Wayne Gallman/Shane Vareen 11 for 55.
Obviously those stats posted without context. I just went through the box scores and picked out any running back that had a lot of targets. A lot of those numbers look fine if they were check downs, but would look awful if they were for 1st downs, and I’m not going on that deep of a dive this morning.
McCafferty and Hunt were the ones that gave us the most trouble, and I’m sure the KC tape is the one NE will be dusting off.
Kareem Hunt did hurt us, but as I recall almost all his yardage came on one big play.
Those other performances don’t strike me as particularly impactful.
Yea. I mean, no running back has really been good against us this year, so it is all relative. But as I remember, it is when they bounce it out wide or throw it towards the sideline, that we have given up some plays to RB’s. part of it is Kendricks in coverage, part of it I assume is the wide 9 attack plan that Jim Schwartz deploys. Expect to see a great deal of trying to get RBs lined up on the outside by the patriots next weekend.
McKinnon got most of his yards in garbage time, when Keenum was forced to throw it 50 times.
This team had the perfect vibe but now they are running their mouths. Feels like Rollins in ’09. Stunned if this isn’t the kiss of death.
It doesn’t look good. Most of the time when people are running their mouths it’s because they’re genuinely intimidated. Confident teams don’t need to talk loads of crap.
or just a little excited they just won the nfc championship…
I seem to remember the Seahawks talking plenty of smack even as they were running roughshod over the NFL. See also SB-winning Ravens, Bucs, and Broncos teams.
I think you’re imputing a correlation that isn’t really there.
It’s a case of bravado vs false bravado. We won’t know which one it is for sure until the game is played. But this Eagles teams play like bullies… so I’m leaning toward the former at this point.
Your negativity is punchable
It’s not negative moron. It’s realism. This Superbowl will be the Eagles vs Patriots and the Refs. No need to give them anything. I remember Chase completely ignoring a Rollins attempt at humor after an Utley hr in Game 5. Making threats thru a screen like a b.. fake tuff guy.
Ok buddy. No threat. But you know what they say “football is a game won by comments made by the players two weeks before kickoff”
We are all Eagles fans here. Times are good. No need for this non sense. But the Eagles players need to be checked by Doug. Beat the Patriots and then say whatever they want.
Agree fully. I think this has been an issue all year and Doug and the awesome core of vets plus bdawk in the complex has done a wonderful job of handling it. And they have a lot of time now to do the same
lol.
Get used to it. Embrace it. Love it. It’s gonna be a long 2weeks. Enjoy the ride.
Im a Anthony Miller fan wish he playing in the senior bowl
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3218e640b2e6a5ed76f97fb5f18bf7bc4e5ab70e17e1841e14f081bdf3dba616.jpg Not mine but it killed me aha!
I have to laugh at Giants fans, most of them love Shurmur and wants to draft Barkley at 2nd overall and keep going with no OL and Eli
Yeah, that’s not exactly the way to make that team better.
I have no problem with Shurmur as HC if they take the right QB and try to upgrade that OL first. Then draft a RB or two later
The move is trade Eli, sign a vet on a one year deal, draft the new QB at 2, use other picks to shore up the O-line, start playing the draft pick QB once the O-line has solidified.
Look at these delusional dimwits.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NYGiants/comments/7s9rfo/nyg_official_welcome_to_big_blue_coach_pat_shurmur/
Well, some of us wanted to draft Zeke at 2nd overall in 2016 and keep rolling with Sam Bradford. Remember?
I also thought they was stupid
I was so pumped when we got Wentz.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I might have been (almost) equally pumped when the Cowboys threw away their pick on Zeke.
I wanted Zeke at 8, but not 2
As of now, Barkley seems like the consensus #1 pick. But hey, it’s the Browns picking at #1 so you never know what their going to do.
Why? No RB is never good enough for 1st overall.
In general, taking positional value into the equation (and average NFL salary), the no. 1 overall pick should always be a CB, DL, OT or QB
Forgive me because I did not have my coffee, which tends to worsen my dyslexia. I read the name Barkley in your post, but thought the name Darnold in my head.
I would agree with your post.
The Browns might be stupid enough to take Barkley first over the right QB
Given the Browns’ luck, they’re going to finally make the smart decision to take the QB that falls to them, and it will be a massive bust. Browns gonna Browns.
Charles or Matt?
Charles might actually have been a great football player consider he dominant he was for his height
I think Shurmur is in a tough spot going to the Giants because he will have a tough time drafting a QB and moving on from Eli. Eli seems to have a hold on the media and a large portion of their fan base, no matter how bad he plays. McAdoo got approval from ownership before benching Eli and then they fired him for it anyway when the media acted like it was a national tragedy.
Still not mine but pure gold:”They said wait until they play Wash. Wait until they play NYG. Wait until they play Carolina. Wait until they play Wash again.
They said no more JP. They said wait until you play Denver’s D. They said wait until you play Dallas at Dallas. Wait until you play the Rams they said. Carson is done, they’re done they (I) said. Well just wait until they play the defending NFC champs, they said. Then they said wait until they play the best D in the league with Foles.
Now we have to wait til they play Tom Brady… they said.”
They can’t beat a team above .500…(they also said)
Very well said….the only thing I am worried about is Brady playing dink and dunk. He sort of did that against the Seahawks last time they played. We really need our corners to step up this time….but I had the same fear about Big V against the Vikes and that seemed to work out o.k. 😛
I believe our secondary excels at press coverage but zone might be a different story…I am not sure about that at all though.
For those of you with theathletic subscriptions, this is an absolutely DELICIOUS, well-written article depicting the Viking misery: https://theathletic.com/218446/2018/01/22/vikings-lose-to-eagles-nfc-championship-game-super-bowl-case-keenum-nick-foles/
I’m not at that level of smarts or that “type”(not that there’s anything wrong with it) to use delicious, in caps, to describe an article…..
That article will make you eat your words.
And they will be delicious.
I know some of them were obnoxious last week, but honestly I have a hard time taking pleasure in the disappointment of Vikings fans. Their championship history is even more tortured than ours, and all the Minnesotans/upper Midwesterners I’ve known in my life were nice people. Hell, our franchise QB grew up a Vikings fan.
I generally feel the same way, but I keep hearing bitter Vikings fans bashing Philly fans this week when there have been no reports of any violence by Philly fans towards Vikings fans.
It’s a perception/cultural thing. I moved west ten years ago and it took me six months to realize that, from a local’s perspective, I was behaving like a real asshole. There’s a pretty big difference in the way northeasterners and midwesterners interact. Normal behavior for us can easily come across as aggressive and arrogant to them.
For real… there’s 4 kinds of communication in America.
1. Canadianish super nice constantly apologetic
2. Normal
3. Sarcastic
4. Philadelphia Style Sarcasm
Internet sarcasm has to be in there somewhere, and gaining ground.
I’m not from Philly or anything, but I don’t find you guys to be particularly sarcastic–at least compared to the rest of the internet.
I find myself having to be careful when I get on normal social media after having spent time here… lol
Don’t forget Southern passive-aggressive politeness.
Haha yes
+100
OMG, you freakin’ nailed it! Nothing comes close to Philly sarcasm!
Sure, I get that – I went to college in the midwest and my wife is from there. But they came into Philly to see the game amid horror stories of how Philly fans were like gang members and then, as far as I heard, nothing violent or bad happened to any Vikings fan. Then, they go back after the game and complain about how terrible the Philly fans are. It just seems like it is coming from bitterness because their team lost and not from actual bad behavior from our fans.
Fair enough. As Eagles fans we can totally relate to the you-got-no-lombardis bullshit that Vikings fans get from Packers and Bears fans. It makes us all crazy when the next chance slips away.
“How much flights from Philadelphia to Minneapolis for the Super Bowl cost”
https://www.aol.com/article/finance/2018/01/22/how-much-flights-from-philadelphia-to-minneapolis-for-the-super-bowl-cost/23340283/
Dude, you just linked to an article from AOL.com that had an autplay video, 50 sidebar ads, a page break in the middle asking me to sign up for a subscription, a button rto click to get to the bottom of the page where there was another link to a slideshow article, and then I had to further scroll to finally get the answer while carefully moving my thumbs so that I don’t click another link.
The answer $2000 for the flight
Normally priced rooms at $84 rooms are about $800.
Sick. I get it that prices go up, but this is pure gouging. Going to the game is going to 7 to 10 grand.
Price gouging on a luxury item? Not possible.
Price gouging is not possible in a capitalistic system.
Is this OC job reversal by Ryan Day an opening for John DiFilippo?
______________________________________________
“Ryan Day not leaving Ohio State to join Titans’ staff”
Posted by Michael David Smith on January 23, 2018, 5:12 AM EST
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/01/23/ryan-day-not-leaving-ohio-state-to-join-titans-staff/
Not sure if Vrabel has any formal connections with him
FWIW, Louis Riddick said on ESPN last night that John DiFilippo is very happy working with Carson in Philly and doesn’t necessarily want to leave.
Im always very suspect of Riddick’s contact inside the Eagles FO, but he might know DiFilippo’s agent
He absolutely gushed about Pederson. Quite the opposite of Lombardi.
Particularly liked this one:
https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/955688440712056833
Baldinger can be over the top sometime, but it is fun to here his excitement about the line play in these clips.
.. on a 3yd run. Is he a little.. chemically enhanced? He sounded like he was about to rhapsodise about how vibrant the colours were any second..
Also, for all that Baldy raves about the blocking, Blount finds a Vikings defender in the hole anyway
3 yds for a 1st down. The defense should have expected a run and the OL got them all 3 yds without any effort from Blount. It’s worth the praise.
Fair point, I retract my criticism and blame an early start today.
They moved the entire line of scrimmage three yards down the field, so when he got hit “in the whole” he had already gained 3-4 yards and got the first down.
I remember that play in the game. It looked like little to no gain, but he easily got the first down. In fact, the offensive line pushed the d-line back so quickly, I thought the yellow first down line on tv was the line of scrimmage line.
Also a fair point, I had not picked up on the context of the clip.
He definitely gets a little over excited. But is seems genuine, like he just really really loves what he is watching.
There are enough analysts out there who spend all their time sniffing the jocks of the QBs and and the flashy skill players. I like having a guy who loves the game and appreciates the huge part in winning it the big guys who never get to touch the ball play.
Almost as good as the shake he put on Smith, watch no-YAC Zach make Sendejo fall down on the tackle attempt.
https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/955696103390957569
Ertz torched Harrison Smith on that play. That was absolutely filthy route running.
It strikes me that you can sum up the difference between the Patriots and the Eagles by looking at their respective highlights packages.
The guys performing best on their team are the skill position players, and what drives their success is the Golden Boy QB making great reads/throws, and his receivers making great catches.
The guys performing best on our team are the big uglies, and Foles and Jeffery making highlight reel plays on Sunday aside what’s driving our success is our offensive line pounding the crap out of opposing defenders and our defense forcing opposing offenses into ugly, off-schedule performances and killer mistakes.
It’s a great contrast in styles. Reminds me of some of my earliest SB memories (e.g. the Giants against the K-Gun Bills).
While I’m sure Pats have many plays to match, it’s not like our skill position players aren’t making similar, unheralded highlights. Check out the clip I posted just before yours of Ertz getting 6 yds separation on Harrison Smith and then making Sendejo fall down on the tackle attempt. Ajayi beat Barr and Griffin unblocked in the backfield twice. The acting job by nearly all of our receivers at different points.
I’m not knocking the skill guys at all. They are doing a phenomenal job on the whole. Foles, Jeffery, Ajayi, Agholor, and Ertz were all balling on Sunday.
Our lines are playing football at the highest possible level right now though. I’d say the OL is what’s made this Foles renaissance possible and the DL is the reason we’ve only given up 17 points in two games to two pretty talented offenses.
While rewatching the game, I was initially annoyed by the fact that there were 2 commercials prominently displaying cowboy players. After some reflection, I am amused. That is the closest they have been to an NFC championship since 1995. How bout them boys.
Eagles playoff victories in the last two weeks: 2.
Cowboys playoff victories in the last twenty years: 2.
Priceless
We did almost go 9 years without a playoff win.
Anyway isn’t kind of crazy that they’ve gone so many years like that despite having so many talented players on their roster?
At some point these guys were top 3 at their position in the NFL: Sean Lee, Ezekiel Elliot, Dez Bryant, Tyron Smith, Zach Martin, Travis Frederick, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Dan Bailey. That’s 7/22 starters! They aldo have other good players like Byron Jones, Chris Jones, Jason Witten, and Cole Beasely.
Never have so few done so little with so much.
They also had a borderline elite QB in Romo and basically squandered his career.
Eagles 3rd string QB has more snaps in a NFC Championship game than a Cowboys QB in two decades.
(Sudfield with the kneeldown)
Haha. I was thinking…what kind of idiot thought it was a good idea to run those? Yeah sure…let’s associate our product with a failed franchise during a game watched by millions of its rival fans. Brilliant!
It’s still branding/marketing for the Cowboys while they’re getting paid by Pepsi. It sort of a way of saying we’re still one of the premeire franchises of the NFL and not a mediocre one like the Bengals.
I think you are trying to apply thinking and logic to an extremely loyal and formidable amount of incredibly stupid cowboys fans. (Pardon the redundancy).
It’s like when people question why drunk/druggies/petty criminals…do stupid shit.
Dallas fan loyalty is independent of any logic or reasoning. Jerry Jones could show up at their house and murder a new family member daily… wouldn’t change a drop.
The same geniuses who drink Pepsi because it’s “good.” (nasty brown sugar water)
Coke zero > diet pepsi > diet coke, for the diabetics among us.
I prefer Pepsi to Coke, as I think Coke tastes too much of caramel
Coke and Pepsi taste like robot sweat.
Have you ever tried Puma Cola?
Is it made from actual Puma?
Just nail clippings.
This sounds like the set up to great joke.
It really should be… but it’s a midwest microbrewer’s attempt at making a better soda, and I think it works. Honey, cinnamon, vanilla. It’s different. Probably not different enough to convert a non-soda drinker, but it’s interesting.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/15bbf069dd3eb51a4f2884ede32500f702ed05002019ee816ab848ec54a3e4b8.jpg
I used to kick back stuff like this once in a while. I’d go for the artisanal creme sodas and things like that -but cut it entirely about 2 years ago. The sugar content/empty calories are things I need to avoid. I’d give it a shot though.
hard enough trying to save some calories for beer
Yeah, soft drinks are just nasty.
In the mornings, I like coffee. Beer is always a good play, too.
I loved it. Just a reminder to all the Cowboys fans watching that their players are all at home watching the game, too.
I said it during the game, but it is infuriating that Dak is in so many commercials.
Could be Eagles also pick fifteenth (from Arizona Cardinals), seeing’s how Carson Palmer is likely to retire. Thinking on someone played their college ball in Arizona.
QB market is more saturated than I ever remember seeing. Cousins, Bridgewater, Keenum, Bradford, Jimmy G, Cutler, McCown, Fitzpatrick all FA’s (as of now), with older vets like Eli and Alex Smith possibly being tradable. Brees and Tyrod should be holding out for new contracts this year as well.
We will have to see how the dust settles before we know what Foles is worth.
We have a QB who has been to playoffs and actually played ‘ok’ and took his team to SB which none of the above have on their resume (except for Brees and Eli) 😉
Did you say that Tyrod Taylor should be holding out for a new contract? He probably won’t need to when Buffalo cuts him.
I was thinking the exact same thing. It will be tough to get anything of real value for Foles.
I do wonder if DeFillipo gets an OC job does he pressure them into acquiring foles to run his offense?
nah foles will get paid – qb that won 2+ playoff games? looked good in both? sanchez started for years
He is under contract. We would have to trade him. So a team would have to give up picks and money. I’m not sure teams will be willing to make that type of investment in Foles
Lol, tell me what team wouldn’t trade for this contract for a QB with playoff wins.
https://overthecap.com/player/nick-foles/773/
Well teams weren’t lining up for him this offseason. Foles is really benefitting from some outstanding coaching and the league’s best OL. If you don’t have those in place Foles will not succeed with your team. If you have those things in place there are a lot of QBs that will succeed.
If there were limited option out there I think we could get a good package for Foles, but not with the amount of quality QBs that will be available this year in addition to 4-5 1st round QBs in the draft.
I’ve talked as much shit on Foles as anyone, but he look like the happy feet 2014 version, and he absolutely doesn’t look like the Jeff Fischer QB hell version either. When the music stops, and your choices are throwing a contract at Osweiler, Cutler, or Josh McCown, tell me a 2nd rounder for Foles on that contract doesn’t look like the better option.
But it’s not.
It’s Alex Smith, Case Keenum, Kirk Cousins, Teddy Bridgewater, Sam Bradford in addition to Foles. (8)
You also have Josh allen, Josh Rosen, Sam Darnold, Baker Mayfield,
and Lamar Jackson. (5)
That’s 13 available QBs that could start for a team next season.
Teams that need QBs: Browns, Cardinals, Jets, Broncos, Redskins, Vikings and Bills (6)
Teams that may look for a QB: Giants, Jags, Steelers, and Chargers (4)
So there are really 10 teams that could look to aggressively address the QB position. We know that the 5 guys in the draft will go, so that leaves 5 teams with 8 veteran QBs that will be available.
For once the supply is probably greater than the demand at the QB position. It’s just a bad year to get good value for Foles.
Maybe a surprise team like the Dolphins looks to go QB, but then a Tannehill becomes an option for other teams.
BradfordCutleMcGownOsFitz — aren’t really starters — Vikes can’t go into next season without a qb – so again, assume 1 of those Bridge/Kee/Brad are off that list as well…List isn’t very long..not sure of the list of teams looking for QB’s though…
mcgown stays in nyc
tt is on the market
He’ll be one of the last dominos to fall. Buffalo saves $5mil by waiting to trade him until after June 1.
https://overthecap.com/player/tyrod-taylor/1407/
I’ve never heard anyone here in Arizona talk about Nick Foles. Not exactly a hometown hero.
They do talk about him in Texas as a home town kid, though.
Oh, for crying out FRICKIN’ loud!!! How much longer do I have to wait for the Super Bowl??!!! This is unbearable. I’m writing to my congressman. This is torture. AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you, Tommy, football is the ultimate team sport and the guys in the trenches are a very important facet of a team. Thank goodness we did not get rid of Kelce and brought in Brooks & Wiz.
This does not have to be a franchise QB or die league – we saw what Keenum and now Foles have done just like we have seen QB like Johnson & Dilfer & Eli & Flacco win rings.
If a team can control the ball on O, play excellent D and have good ST, they can win. I am not denigrating Foles who I respect a lot, he is playing very well. Just saying that QB is not the be all-end all the NFL tries to make it seem.
If Kelce, Kendricks, and Curry didn’t have such high dead cap hit they most certainly would have been cut this year. Crazy isn’t?
I think you are basing that off of assumptions from fans..
A great OL can mask the deficiencies of an average QB – that extra half second of pass protection can allow somebody who doesn’t process information with the same lightning quickness of a Brady or a Manning to make the reads and get the ball to open guys.
Brady gets plenty of help as well…again no QB wins alone, it is a team sport. Brady had all day behind his OL vs the Jags the entire 2nd half and his WR made some very good catches not to mention the D and ST did their part to hold the Jags down.
I don’t deny that, but great QBs are still at least somewhat effective when pressured, mediocre QBs fall apart.
And don’t forget, his OL is allowed to hold or he will pout and yell at the Ref.
Brady and Manning also have some computational time trimmed by their offense system.
“Good ST”
Ours generally plays very well, but I sure wish they would stop the one monumental fuck up every week.
meanwhile – in other news – Franchise QB Brady lights up league again and is going after another SB … but you have a point…
I think for sustained long term success in which a team is a Super Bowl contender every year, you need a franchise QB. For a given season and certainty for a given game, a team can be very successful without a franchise QB with good play in the trenches, a good defense, and good coaching. Luckily for us, we are winning like that now and still have a young MVP-level franchise QB for the foreseeable future!
TLaw doing the heavy lifting all by himself this year.
Are we doing a donation push so he can stay fueled up on PBR, Pudding cups, and BBQ down at Mobile?
I’m on it. See post above.
Thanks for running it!
Another Baldy breakdown:
https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/955691777427730432?
Vaitai has improved significantly since he was drafted. His technique and recognition on stuff like stunts and blitzes are both markedly better. Jeff Stoutland knows how to coach linemen.
It’s really refreshing to have a coaching staff that’s good at player development. Other than Seumalo, I can’t think of a single young guy on this team who’s failed to get better since Pederson took over as the coach.
I think Big V will end up a long term starter for us. He is only get better and will continue to get stronger. I think we have another year of JP and then pass the torch to Big V, tho Vaitai may end up at RT ultimately.
He’s been solid. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Eagles moved to upgrade LT in the draft. No idea what kind of prospect will be available at 32 so maybe Big V’s job is safe.
There’s been a lot of talk about his future as swing tackle. If that’s his role and there’s a better player in front of him it’s really good news for the line.
I still have hope for Seumalo, but less hope than at the start of the season
Tommy,
I for one love the draft. I can be excited for the super bowl and keep an eye towards the future. Please pass a long some of those Senior Bowl observations.
It will also help to get us through the next two weeks of anticipation.
We still have two more weeks to wait? Shit
I’m pretty sure at least one day has gone by… 🙁
Without a doubt, the offensive line played a huge part in Foles success, but that argument can made for any QB having a good day. It was the precision in his passing that was lights out and unexpected.
Generally, yeah. But you’ve probably seen Rodgers light up the scoreboard with guys running free at him on every snap.
Ugh, or Wilson.
You’re probably right, but the again Rodgers is an elite QB and few can accomplish what he can. Hopefully, Wentz ends up being in the same category.
Pats chose to wear white for the Superbowl. I assume Lurie goes with green over black.
Don’t mess with success
How about the blackouts. Then we’ll crank Will Smith’s Men in Black for the parade on Tuesday.
Undefeated uniforms for the Birds:
https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2018/1/23/16923166/super-bowl-2018-jerseys-eagles-patriots-home-away-white-midnight-green-philadelphia-new-england-nfl
In two weeks, Tommy will be opening with the same statement, “As good as Nick Foles was on Sunday night, the Eagles won that game up front. The O-line got the best of the Vikings defense. The D-line limited Minnesota’s run game and kept Case Keenum under regular pressure.”
Just substitute Pats for Vikes and Brady for Keenum.
Props to Mac for bringing it up. Let’s get some cash flowing for Tommy’s yearly trip to the Senior Bowl. The game is being played on Jan. 27, so don’t delay. Donate and add your name in the upvotes.
75 of my fantasy winnings. Feels great to do it.
Done
He snuck off down there without fanfare, but our contributions will find him. Thanks a million, Tommy (worth a million, but my payment will lack a few zeros from that…..)
contributed, too
Always worth it. Done.
Done.
Good work, PPK. Good looking’ out, Mac.
Donated… and it feels so good.
Done
How do I donate? There’s nothing below the “donate” text
Oh. I refreshed and it appeared
It’s been noted that Nick Foles is only the 2nd QB, since the 1970 merger, to start his playoff career with 3-straight games of a 100+ QB.
The other QB?
Pats’ Tony Eason — all on the road, in the same season, against the Jets, Raiders and Dolphins.
What happened in Eason’s 4th playoff game?
SPOILER ALERT . . . it was 1985.
In the SB against the Bears, Eason went 0-6, w/ 3 sacks, 1 fumble — before being pulled.
_________________
The moral of the story? There isn’t one. Just cleaning out the notebook.
I think the only reasonable way to interpret this is that when a QB starts his career with 3 straight games of 100+ QB rating, the Patriots lose the Super Bowl in that QB’s fourth playoff game.
Luckily for us, the ’85 Bears defense isn’t walking through that door for the Patriots.
he got pulled after just 6 passes? yikes.
Yeah, but it was after 9 passing plays. He’d managed to kill four drives and turn over the ball.
I’m only going to make this complaint once, but we could have been playing the Jags for a SB title. I would be so much more confident.
I’m obv not saying we can’t or won’t win. But they are made for us, running game (against our #1 D) and QB who can’t make plays when you tee off when they are behind.
I saw a really good thread on twitter where someone broke down the Jags choke job, they ran every 1st down in Q4, threw 15+ yards every 2nd down, snapped the ball with like 15 seconds on the clock. Just atrocious.
But we would probably be favored against the Jags, which would mess up the whole underdog “nobody believes in us” thing we have going right now.
assuming the odds somewhat represent reality, I’d rather have a 55% chance to win than 35% or whatever being a 6 pt underdog represents.
they don’t represent anything. You set a line at where you think you get even bets. And it takes a generous line to get half of betters to pick against Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
The odds have not been representative of reality, as we saw.
But yes, objectively, the Jags just aren’t as good as the Pats, and Bortles is easier to beat than Brady. I would say our odds in reality is anywhere between a 45-55 chance of victory. The Eagles are just so much more talented than the Pats. Foles vs Brady, not an equal comparison, as Brady has a much more difficult task than Foles. We’ve seen what Foles is capable of against a tougher defense. Brady would have trouble matching that against our defense imo.
Just comes down to that wild 4th quarter when the defense is tired and Brady is unstoppable.
The irony is that the Patriots haven’t really played to a level of dominance that would justify bettors having that much confidence in them. As a favorite, they’re 1-4 against the spread in the Belichick/Brady era, including suffering one of the biggest losses in SB history in SB 42, and their only cover came about as a result of a historic choke by the Falcons last year.
Spilled milk, and not even a cup that we knocked over.
The way I look at it is this: a victory over Brady and Belichick, after hearing them fellated nonstop by the national media for two straight weeks, would be SO much sweeter. I’d love to see Fletcher Cox become the Attila the Hun leading the barbarian horde that sacks Rome and makes everyone realize the New England empire really is decaying and is coming to an end. I want to make Brady look every bit the 40 year old statue he is, punish his hubris for thinking he’s immune to the ravages of time, and kickstart a round of recrimination that leads to the implosion of that locker room. I want to be the team that emphatically punctures the Patriot mystique once and for all. I think the chances we win this game are significantly higher than 35%, and if we do, there will be no more second guessing how good this Eagles team is or how great a coach Doug Pederson is.
While the Eagles’ chances of beating the Jaguars might be mathematically higher, a win over them, while it would obviously still be fantastic, would be comparatively anticlimactic and not nearly as emotionally satisfying. I’m not afraid of this Patriots team. I want to see the Eagles beat the best. Bring on the champs.
I love the metaphor.
Crush Caesar (Kraft), too.
You’re a very good writer, Xeynon. What do you do for a living, if I may ask?
He’s a janitor at a college. Sometimes when the professor leaves a problem up on the chalk board, he goes in and solves it.
Oh yeah. Then the professor walks in in the morning, sees his problems solved and thinks it’s the aliens, right? And it’s only the janitor! Hahaha!
Good flick.
Not for the next two weeks it isn’t.
I heard he’s an ex-barbarian.
So you mean like, American social scene Barbarian?
Or you mean like, Medieval swords, shields and horses Barbarian?
Or both??
(Haha.)
Since he talks about being a former lineman I can only assume he’s an underwear model.
Thank you, you’re too kind.
I actually do write for a living (sort of) – I’m a market research analyst. So most of what I write is colossally boring.
I’ve actually lost weight since I stopped playing football (which was many years ago) – or perhaps more accurately, lost muscle mass. Nobody would pay me to model underwear in any case.
My girlfriend would probably say she’s still working on the ex-barbarian thing. 🙂
I think what’s weird is that when you changed your avatar, I imagine you as this middle aged guy into conspiracy theories now, really just based on your avatar.
what was it before?
Just a dude
Avatar pic is taken from The Onion:
https://www.theonion.com/tag/gorzo-the-mighty
I agree, I’m just nervous. I’d certainly rather beat the Pats than beat the Jags.
The Patriots really failed to match the energy and intensity of the Jags out of the gate. I think we will have the same advantage. If we get a lead we won’t squander it like the Jags.
Brady is the GOAT, but their overall roster isn’t great. We have the formula to beat them.
If the Jags got a good game out of Bortles I’m not so sure we could stop a balance attack. Their running game is the best we we’ve seen all year.
I’ll trust our D. I don’t care how great Brady is. It’s 11 vs 1. (Maybe 2 with Gronk). I like our guys in that matchup and love our offense against their D.
I honestly think NE is a better matchup. Brady isn’t going to be able to move out of the pocket, and he’s just going to be a huge statue we’ll tee off on. You can already see him making business decisions when the pass rush is too intense.
Well the Jags got beat by the refs
NE is just the next lamb being led to the chopping block. Now we get to hear for TWO weeks, how great the other team is and they are legends…..
This season has been very poetic. Hopefully the best is yet to come.
Something I love about this team they are not afraid to fail.
Coming back to Torrey, the defense not panicking, going on 4th downs, throwing deep with the backup QB, going for points before the half (h/t Rob’s post just before mine), the flea flicker…this team is willing to risk failure in order to succeed. And when they fail, they move on and try again.
I thought that came from Wentz, because he seems to embody that trait. I think it might be Doug, though, and I couldn’t be happier.
They often go back to players who make mistakes early in games, and those players typically redeem themselves with big plays later in the game. For example, Ajayi and Braman in the Falcons game and Smith in the Vikings game.
Oddly, I think this might be our single biggest advantage going into the SB against the Patriots.
The mystique of Belichick and Brady is so powerful that teams melt down facing them and start to do dumb things because they’re afraid they have to either get cute to win (see Falcons, Seahawks, Chargers many years back) or because they turtle up and try to protect a lead that isn’t big enough (Jags this year) – you rarely see a team come into a big game against them with an approach of calculated aggression. But when you do, the Patriots lose as often as they win. The Ravens, Jets, and Broncos have all been teams that are willing to punch the Pats in the mouth and come at them without being dumb about it, and all have beaten the Pats their share of times.
I think Doug is likely to mimic the approach of these teams.
“The mystique of Belichick and Brady is so powerful that teams melt down facing them ”
100% exact.
Yep. I’m a Duke fan. I’ve seen plenty of team over the come in scared and it was over within 10 minutes or less.
Brady/Belichick are in that mold. Once they get in your head, get you nervous or second guessing, you’re in trouble and meltdown follows. We all know the examples.
We need Doug’s big balls. That’s how we can win.
Doug’s balls get upvote, not your duke fan-dumb. 🙂
Yeah, I don’t expect a lot of love for that, even though (because?) they are the best. 🙂
People who buy into the mystique are pretty much losing themselves the game before it’s played.
“Your the King until you ain’t”
Well then let us engage in regicide gents
“Kings are the slaves of history” Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
As long as the king in the “dilly dilly” commercials is second on the list behind the Patriots.
It’s the little things. At the end of the Vikings game, Watkins got a 15 yard penalty for banging helmets with a Vikings player. Fletcher Cox ran up to him, screaming at him for doing it. The score was 38-7.
This team—especially the team leaders—are dialed in. They want this. They know they have to play physically but also mentally to beat the Evil Empire.
They can do it.
Tough, smart situational football for 60 minutes.
Yes they can do it. Go Eagles!
https://twitter.com/MekkaDonMusic/status/955834985755398145
that’s got to hurt for them
They deserve it.
If you don’t like it you should have beat us when you had the opportunity. It’s like complaining when someone dances after a TD. If you don’t like it don’t let them score.
I hope they drug that damn horn out of that building.
My side business just made its first sale
I finally have a good work/life balance as of yesterday
My daughter was just cast in a local musical
All these things are great, Super even.
But that picture just gave me so much satisfaction. Almost there!
In order: congratulation, excellent, wonderful.
May some of your good fortune spread to the Eagles.
I would wish all my good fortune to the eagles between now and Feb 14th
It’s going to be worse when a sea of green is doing the Skol chant in their own stadium…and they totally deserve it
Gold Jerry!
https://www.facebook.com/MEMES.of.the.NFL/videos/1798516266861720/
Not sure if these were posted yet.
Vikings – https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q20P2o-P9C0
Eagles – https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iWxEP0AL6qE
Heh heh heh heh heh… That’s an amazing wink and nod to the team and the fan base.
The Philly Philly one I mean. The Minnesota troll one is funny too. Cool stuff.
Those are fun!
NFL selling shirts with a dog mask on them. Long and Johnson (hee hee) calling them out and saying that the proceeds should go to Philly public schools, line the shirts Lane is selling:
http://www.phillyvoice.com/eagles-players-nfl-sales-dog-mask-shirts-should-go-philly-schools/
The NFL is full of dumbasses. Seriously what selfish douche bags
I do love both our lines. Against Atl I was grandstanding to my friends how it was disrespectful they were only double teaming 91, of course he was going to make plays. Then he beats a 3v1 and of course I had to declare how disrespectful it was that they would only triple team Fletch.
Fun stuff.
If you’re not devoting at least four blockers to him full time, you’re really not showing him proper respect.
So I’ve been trying to pin down exactly what the Minnesota miracle hang over means. Because it’s been cited a ton of times to hand-wave off this game. Does it mean they showed up sleep walking? Because they came out red-hot. Does it mean they thought it would be easy or victory was their destiny and they didn’t try hard? Because when I watch McKinnon take on Darby’s block on the int I come away knowing he brought it, all of it. Were they not prepared? Again, they came out with a masterful plan. They just got out played and out coached as the game went on.
The hangover analysis is so damn lazy, just to make talk about whether the refs robbed the Jags or not, which is also lazy analysis.
No one likes the Eagles, or their fans. Excuses will be made always, no matter what. On Saturday a Washington fan sports-talk guy on Baltimore radio actually used the fact of the last second victory as a reason for why they would win it all “team of destiny”.
We stopped Matt Ryan and Julio Jones on the goal line in the last second. Did he mention that? Hell no! That wouldn’t support the narrative.
No one likes us. Just have to get used to it.
**win or lose we were the best team in the NFL this season. We might even be the best with a back up QB… who knows..**
So much of football is emotion and energy. I think it does take an emotional toll on a team after a win like that. However for every “hangover” we’ve seen a play like that spring board a team as well.
Bottom line is the eagles dominated them. We were better prepared and didn’t need a miracle to win our divisional round game. The better team won, but doesn’t match the national narrative, so people are looking to justify it.
It’s a narrative. People like stories, people like patterns. There has to be a reason, a conspiracy, a God. Best not to overthink why this particular one was chosen.
https://scout.com/nfl/vikings/Board/102855/Contents/Dome-teams-are-0-11-in-title-games-played-outdoors-114039865
Anyone have a rule of thumb for how much time you need on the clock to surmount an X point deficit?
I.e., when could you be reasonably, say 99% confident, that the Eagles would secure the victory based on their lead and time remaining? What about 100% confidence?
A couple websites do win probability graphs. I know some do it in real time, but ESPN has it on the left side here if you’d like to look after the fact:
http://www.espn.com/nfl/game?gameId=400999174
Or if you want, compare that to the graph of last year’s SuperBowl
http://www.espn.com/nfl/game?gameId=400927752
Saints/Vikings graph for the faint of heart: http://www.espn.com/nfl/game?gameId=400999180
Crazy.
It’s weird that the chart shows the Eagles started the game with a 58.4% probability to win. Was that home field advantage or something?
Probably HFA + some statistical model that incorporates both teams’ performance over the course of the season.
The Vegas line was clearly nuts on the NFCCG. But that’s how gambling works, trying to even both sides of the bet.
Yeah, both that line and the Falcons line were suckers’ bets for sure.
Many models actually use the vegas line as starting point as it has proven to matter (its almost like Vegas knows roughly how good teams are better than most).
Not sound statistical practice to do this if the Vegas line is derived using the same information that you’re already feeding into the model. Vegas lines also notoriously overvalue/undervalue teams depending on the public’s propensity to bet for or against them.
the absolute ludicrous limit is 7 points every ~20 seconds. Onside-kick+ 1 hail mary repeat. Realistically, it gets hairy
I finally relaxed at the 2 minute warning. What can I say? I have scars…
28-3 in Q3 was 99%.
I’ll say 0:00.
Just skip the words in this article and scroll down to the gifs. The 3 of Cox are laugh out loud fun.
https://www.theringer.com/nfl-playoffs/2018/1/23/16921786/eagles-fletcher-cox-defensive-line-super-bowl
He’s a bad man.
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000827108/article/nfl-preseason-power-rankings-concerns-for-cowboys-ravens
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2017/07/24/nfl-record-projections-predictions-patriots-cowboys-raiders-steelers/500328001/
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2725577-nfl-power-rankings-where-does-every-team-stand-at-start-of-preseason
http://sports.cbslocal.com/2017/08/01/preseason-all-nfc-east-offense/
http://www.theherdnow.com/colins-complete-preseason-predictions-for-all-32-nfl-teams/
Thanks, Mac. The one that stands out to me is the bleacher report, where the Rams are ranked next to last.
Yep. Not a lot of love for this team at the beginning of the season, but holy crap everyone (even folks with an anti Eagles axe to grind) who meets these players seems to fall in love with them.
From Drew Magary today:
“Also, I have no compunction about rooting for the Eagles. They’re the underdog. They’ve never won a Super Bowl. They trashed my team fair and square. The Fuck Millie sign was probably going too far but I do admire Philly’s steadfast determination to remain on-brand. I saw that one local Minnesota newscast warning traveling Vikings fans about Philly and it was like watching the intro to the “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)” video.”
I have seen Eagles’ fans treat opposing fans fairly lousy in the parking lots especially if they have been drinking for a while including vandalizing their cars.
What was ridiculous about that warning was talking about where the Linc is located.
It is located in a sea of parking lots. Even if you take the Broad Street Line down to the game, you don’t pass any residential neighborhoods.
I just honestly would not wear opposing team’s gear to any stadium. I’m not extroverted enough to enjoy/tolerate being heckled, and worse in a lot of places if you come across the wrong person (drinking or just mean) you could be in trouble. I know maybe that isn’t how it should be, but that is how it is. I would never think oh I’ll go to Philly wearing Vikings gear and people will likely invite me to their tailgate like it’s Harvard – Yale or something.
I live in Chicago and have gone to some Bears/Eagles games in Eagles gear. You stand and scream and get heckled. I got some popcorn thrown at me. But it was really fun. The crowd was much chiller than in Philly for sure. If people started to have visible problems with me, I would’ve probably just gotten up or tried to laugh with them. It’s the number one rule for avoiding fights: Just be cool. I actually got a bunch of complements on my Cunningham jersey throughout the day the last time I was there. Dude was the Ultimate Weapon.
I sent a bunch of gear to my in-laws in So-Cal for the Rams game. My mother in law thought that her kids were going to jumped, but it turned out to be a home game.
I’ve always had the same rule. I’ve been to plenty of opposing stadiums, I always stay low key and gear-free, and I never have any trouble.
I broke that rule at Stub Hub field for the Chargers game this year. I knew we were taking over the joint and wanted to be green for the cameras. It was glorious.
If you wear Harvard gear to a game at Yale or vice versa, you will get heckled. The Ivies may not be very good at sports but that doesn’t mean they don’t take the rivalries seriously.
I heard that happened once and some of the participants got reprimanded and almost had letters of reproachment affixed to their dosier
Being rich snobs doesn’t make them well-behaved, trust me.
You trash talking “The Game”?
In 1989 at MSG at a Rangers/Flyers Game i saw 3 dudes in Flyers jerseys and goalie masks walk around the arena. . The place was upside down in pandemonium .. the security guards escorting them out were beyond soaked in beer
I wore my Eagles gear to the Eagles / Rams game, but that might as well have been a home game.
I live in New Mexico, and have been to games in Arizona, San Fran, Denver, and Dallas (the old Texas Stadium), and always in full gear. I never had anyone threaten me, or my family for that matter, when we were out. I have had the usual wise crack, or being told to go home, but I most people are friendly and eager to talk football. The fact that I don’t drink may have something to do with it, maybe it doesn’t. Just my stories.
what’s a Drew Magary?
He’s a guy that writes amusing stuff on deadspin.com. He is also a Vikings fan.
https://twitter.com/mlombardiNFL/status/955258607657824257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdeadspin.com%2Fajax%2Finset%2Fiframe%3Fid%3Dtwitter-955258607657824257%26autosize%3D1
I love how he tweets this as though anyone gives af what he thinks.
The good news for me is that I like the website he works at for everything EXCEPT when the Eagles come up because they all had to have his back when he made that idiotic flaming hot take (which is nuts, their staff has like 7 eagles fans in it). He made a semi, “k he’s fine I guess, he won a playoff game. So then the rest of the staff was able to be like, yeah he’s good, but Zimmer is waaaaay better”. Sunday changed that tune, and now that the the Eagles and Pats are the only teams left, it was critical for my enjoyment that they did a full reset on their Dougy P opinion.
classy how he slides the knife into Foles.
I just tweeted @mlombardiNFL to #buzzoff.
Is there another side to the story of me claiming that Tim Jernigan ripped us off and we shoulda gave that money to Graham?
https://twitter.com/BaldyNFL/status/953101372706172928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Figglesblitz.com%2Fpage%2F3%2F
Yo, for real, how many times do you DL critics have to be wrong about this for it to stop being a thing?
Yes. That’s a flaming hot take. Splash plays aren’t the only ones that matter.
Jernigan is playing hurt, which has impacted his explosiveness a bit, but he’s still eating up double teams and stoning blocking schemes on the regular. If you don’t think having a DT who is stout at the point of attack is important, you are sentenced to go re-watch All-22 of the Eagles offense destroying Tom Johnson and cranking out plus play after plus play for the offense by doing so until you realize it is.
Toward the end of this article http://m.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/article-1/Eagle-Eye-How-The-Eagles-Offense-Dismantled-The-Vikings/178f83ac-6829-4bc2
Going by one of Joe Banner’s major requirements for a new head coach is that they must show they have quality assistant coaches.
Mike Vrabel gets hired by the Titans and wants to name Jason Day (former Chip Kelly disciple) his OC. Day turns him down to be the OC at Ohio State.
Now Vrabel is supposedly targeting Flip.
Jason Day = Ryan Daly
And yeah, that looks like the perfect slot for Flip. Could be a done deal.
Lol, I’m watching golf and mixed up Jason Day with Ryan Day.
Well then Jason Day is dumb.
Anyone know if NFL Network’s replay tonight will feature the Vikes-Eagles game?
According to my TV guide, they are replaying the Pats/Jags at 9 and at 10.
Thanks you both. Will try to catch it.
10 p.m. tonight there is a one hour replay on NFL network.
I wonder how Daks putting is coming along. Has anyone heard anything?
His long game is still weak but he’s on par when Zeke caddies.
I think SteveH might have some insight on that.
My sources tell me he is trying to work on his wood game off the tee, but birds keep intercepting the ball midflight.
What’s our record in Green Jerseys ???
This season, we won all our games in green jerseys except the meaningless week 17 game against Dallas.
Cool .. even the SI Jinx won’t stop us this season
ESPN has Nick Foles’ interview video at Jon Gruden’s QB Camp from 2012.
It’s the headline video clip. It’s interesting too. Nick from his days at Arizona.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/team/_/name/phi/philadelphia-eagles
Eagles dominance doesn’t mean we have “momentum”: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/sorry-eagles-conference-championship-routs-dont-mean-much-in-the-super-bowl/?addata=espn:frontpage
It’s an interesting idea, but I haven’t actually seen anyone argue the point their supposedly refuting. They couldn’t even link to such an argument as an example.
Sounds like someone there just wondered if there was a link between Conference Championship performance and Super Bowl performance, discovered there wasn’t one, then decided to write an article to justify their time…
… Which is okay…
Think FO wrote years ago that blowout victories over good teams are less predictive than both smaller victories and blowouts against bad teams.
I don’t think there’s momentum per se.
I do think you can say that the Eagles just ran circles around a defense that is much, much better than the Patriots’ is, and that that has some predictive value in handicapping the SB.
Random, but Long has really mastered the art of the strip sack, or just being g around fumbles such as a FR.
Just watched the Eagles-Vikings again on NFL Replay.
Coolest TV hour ever.
The scores and conversions for 1st downs were distributed all over the team:
Eagles Scoring-
2 TD’s – A. Jeffery
1 TD – L. Blount, T. Smith, P. Robinson (INT)
1 FG – J. Elliott (FG)
Players with Big First Down Conversions-
TE’s – Ertz, Burton
RB’s – Ajayi, Blount, Clement (3 touches, 3 conversions!)
WR’s – Smith, Jeffery, Agholor
INT’s – P. Robinson, C. Graham
Fumble Recoveries – Chris Long
Over 100 Yards – Jay Ajayi, 78/26 rushing receiving
I can’t stop watching that game.
Have it on right now.
Watched it at 10pm.
Watching it again now at 4am.
What everyone famously says about Belichick as a defensive strategist is that he’s great at taking away what you do best.
I think what we’re beginning to see with Pederson is that he’s great at doing best what the defense doesn’t or can’t take away.
This isn’t like the ‘04 team, where shutting down Owens and Westbrook meant shutting down the offense. This team has no marquee stars but every skill position group is 2 or 3 deep with guys who can kill you on any given play, the offensive line is elite, the QB is playing the best football of his life, and the play caller knows how to counterpunch. This is no Titans or Jaguars offense. The Patriots’ defense is going to have its hands full in two weeks.
Andy was the weak link in 04
Comparing the ’04 team to this one is really interesting inn several ways:
– ’04 team had all the expectations in the world they were going to finally get to the Super Bowl after finally trading for a legit stud WR (Owens) and signing Kearse to a then record contract for DE via FA; the sense was if this team won 10 games and made the playoffs it was a good year
– Veteran QB in McNabb who already had his share of doubters vs a 2nd year QB (Wentz) who didn’t seem to have a firm opinion among the fan base yet
– The ’04 team had better top end talent on both sides of the ball; this is the deepest Eagles’ team I can ever remember especially on the DL and at WR/TE
What an opportunity!
For those wondering where Tommy went,
http://scoutsnotebook.com
http://www.phillyvoice.com/data-suggests-have-super-bowl-home-field-advantage-over-patriots/
WTF, North Dakota?
Viking fans.
And maybe a little of Jimmy’s other thought – they don’t want to see the Eagles win without Carson.
That’s what I was thinking.
So Minnesota aren’t Vikings fans, but North Dakotans are?
Yeah, that’s crazy. It must have something to do with Wentz, but it surprises me that they’d root against his team just because he’s not playing.
They’ll come around once they see him rooting for his team on the sideline.
As slow of a start the Eagles seemed to have, there were plays that were there to be made. Smith drops the long pass off his back shoulder. Burton jumps while catching and cant get 2 feet down in bounds on 3rd down. He was wide open. On the Vikings opening scoring drive, Bradham made good contact with RB short of sticks on 3rd down, and the runner just spun and lunged for the first. The TD pass was a result of confusion on D. Someone should have called a timeout. At no point do I think the Vikings outplayed the Eagles. The slow start was a number of self inflicted breakdowns.
My main concern with the patriots is the dink and dunk offense we will see from Brady. I think he will go up tempo and get the ball out fast. It could be frustrating when guys are just getting to the sticks and D can’t get off the field.
It’s just what the Eagles did to the Vikings. That was vintage Brady offense. Get it slightly beyond the chains. It happened again and again on Sunday. I can both demoralize and gas a team. That’s been the Brady MO over the years. One thing to counter that, of course, is to do the same thing to their defense and control the clock.
I don’t know if this is good news, bad news, or unimportant, but I didn’t see it shared…
https://twitter.com/pfrumors/status/956134494330867712
https://twitter.com/MattChastain_/status/956187624317833216
Yes, please! I’d love it if they went through a few “Billy Davis” square-pegs-in-round-hole years…
Could take at least 3 years to unravel with JPP and those guys.
Shurmur and Bettcher seem like a couple of solid hires in NY.
But not scary or anything. You guys agree?
http://www.phillyvoice.com/after-criticism-chris-long-and-lane-johnson-nfl-donate-underdog-shirt-proceeds-philly-school
It is really common that NFL players’ wrong-doings get lots of attention but the good things they do usually go unnoticed or under the radar.
How do we view Nick Foles in 5 years if he wins the Super Bowl? Is he forever in Iggles lore or a footnote to the season that got us homefield advantage and a bye?
C’mon. It will be a ‘Forever in Iggles Lore’ regardless of what he does afterwards.
His performance in the NFC Championship Game guaranteed that already and if he has another good game he’ll never have to buy a drink/meal in town again.
He’s already a forever Eagles with the 7 TD game over the panty Raiders.
This is an odd question from “Koy: The Legend of Neckbeard.”
Some are born a legend (Koy), some become one (Foles)
A little bit of both, but much more of the former. I honestly think that the vast majority (understatement) of birds fans can and should appreciate him and Wentz at the same time with zero detraction from one another. We had an amazing season from Wentz and (pending a SB win with Foles), a superb/historic “backup” QB performance for the ages from Foles.
Both should be Philly kings for eternity.
I think he’s already achieved the status of notable franchise QB due to the 27-2 season and this playoff run – he’s one of only 3 SB QBs in franchise history.
If they win the SB, I think he’s a major figure in franchise lore even if he never plays another down of football for the Eagles – there’s no way the first SB winning Eagles QB and first Eagles championship QB of the last half-century is only a footnote.
He wins his statue goes next to rocky. He loses his statue goes in the Camden waterfront.
The team grew so much so fast that Wentz’ role has to be recognized. I think the team is now standing on Carson’s shoulders.
Wentz showed everybody the possibilities. He took them to 11-2 through the heart of the schedule when nobody thought that to be possible in the beginning of the season.
And Pederson’s hand is in that as well. But then Pederson’s next challenge was to get it done without Carson and with Nick Foles. Slowly, and even unsteadily at certain times (Haha!), Nick has been up to the task.
Now we all see the Nicky we thought we all saw in 2013-14. Just in time for the NFC Championship and a Super Bowl bid. It’s a very crazy story. But it’s exciting.
If Nick wins the game, he stands alone in a way as the only Eagle QB in franchise history to win the Super Bowl. First ever in 52 years!
And at the same time he would be standing on Carson’s shoulders in order to stand so tall. And I can picture Doug close by holding onto Nicky holding him steady the whole time in a certain way while he stands taller than all the others.
Amazing story if it happens. Yay team! Go Eagles!
Hopefully in five years, Foles will be known as the first Eagle QB to win a Super Bowl and not the only Eagle QB to win a Super Bowl.
Funny how all of the accolades that went to Foles and Pederson the past few days and yet there has been very limited public comments or interview with Roseman.
If you look at the players who were in the box score, Roseman’s finger prints on moves he has made since he has come back were all over it.
Never seen a GM in any sport come back to the same team after previously having been the GM with such a resounding and triumphant comeback.
Sounds to me like you shop at walmart when it comes to looking for spcruorts media. Since the game, Maxwell club named him executive of the year and there’s been plenty of quality articles about him. If you only watch the national tv networks or local cable news, or fox crap or whatever, sure they’re ignoring that.
But The Athletic group, Philly voice, BGN, comcast sports net etc… they’ve been all over the Roseman praise. And I don’t think it’s typical for the GM to be interviewed in the days following the NFCC game given there are 2 whol weeks prior to the SB complete with media day and all.
But no doubt, it’s huge. Roseman absolutely crushed it.
The Daniel Jeremiah quote is big time too.