Bottoms Up
Posted: February 7th, 2018 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 477 Comments »Tom Landry began his coaching career with five straight losing seasons before he could even get his first .500 record. After that, success was a constant companion.
Bill Walsh was 8-24 after his first two years. He broke through and won the Super Bowl the next year.
Bill Parcells was almost fired after going 3-12-1 in his initial campaign as coach of the Giants. Management decided to keep him around and the rest is history.
Joe Gibbs started off 0-5 in his first year. He won three Super Bowls in his legendary career.
Jimmy Johnson went 1-15 as a rookie head coach and the whole world, me included, thought Joe College was in way over his head. Things ended up working out okay for him.
Even the great Bill Belichick had early struggles. Four of his first five seasons resulted in a losing record. That was in Cleveland. Then he went to the Patriots and was 5-11 in his first year there.
Chip Kelly and Ray Rhodes each went 10-6 in their first season. Josh McDaniels was 6-0 as coach of the Broncos back in 2009 before the wheels came off. Rex Ryan went to a pair of AFC title games when he took over the Jets. Miami went 1-15 in 2007. Tony Sparano took over the team in 2008 and got them to 11-5, an amazing turnaround. He never won more than seven games in a year after that.
Struggle can be a good thing. Instant success sometimes is built on short term solutions. I think it can also affect the mindset of players and coaches. They think they are closer to where they need to be than they truly are.
Doug Pederson is considered a god in Philadelphia right now. That wasn’t the case on December 5, 2016. That was the Monday after the Eagles lost 32-14 to a bad Bengals team. The game wasn’t even that close, which is scary. There were questions about the effort of multiple Eagles players. The 3-0 start of September was long gone and there were serious concerns about whether Pederson was going to be a successful coach.
The Eagles had fallen from 5-4 to 5-7 and there were a ton of questions.
Did Pederson know how to motivate players? Was he too much of a nice guy? Could he put together a creative or aggressive gameplan? To some, game management was an issue. He made some questionable decisions in losses to the Giants and Cowboys.
Hitting rock bottom in December of 2016 turned out to be a blessing for Pederson and the Eagles. It got everyone out of any comfort zone they were in. Jeff McLane wrote a piece on Pederson questioning the effort of players publicly and how the players confronted him about that.
Doug Pederson meets with the Eagles’ leadership council every Tuesday, but this week was more contentious than others after the coach questioned the effort of his team, according to several players who were in the meeting.
A day earlier, Pederson said that “not everybody” on the team had played hard in a 32-14 loss to the Bengals. If he had intended to send a message, it wasn’t consistent with how he handled two earlier questions concerning effort when Pederson said that he had not seen any quit in his players despite a 29-0 deficit.
But a third attempt elicited the above response. Whether Pederson decided to finally take the opportunity to call out his team – he didn’t name individuals – or whether it was a slip of the tongue remains unclear. Either way, he took a narrative and gave it life.
“I think it puts us in a little bit of a tough position as players,” Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins said Wednesday, “because now everybody wants to know who you’re talking about.”
The leadership council consists of at least one player from each position as voted on by their peers. The 13 players are quarterback Carson Wentz, running back Darren Sproles, wide receiver Jordan Matthews, tight end Brent Celek, offensive linemen Jason Kelce and Jason Peters, defensive linemen Connor Barwin, Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham, linebacker Jordan Hicks, special teams representatives Chris Maragos and Jon Dorenbos and Jenkins.
Various topics were discussed during Tuesday’s gathering, but Pederson’s questioning of the effort was the primary focus. “Testy” was how one player described parts of the conversation. The issue for some players, specifically on the defensive side, was that Pederson implicated the entire team when it was believed he was referring to examples, particularly tight end Zach Ertz’s non-block, on offense.
Pederson addressed the entire team Wednesday and said that player response to his comments was “great” and “positive.”
“They’re players and they understand,” Pederson said. “I’ve been in that chair before, and so I get it. I think that’s the great thing about having played the game, is you can relate to those guys and you know exactly what they’re going through.”
Two Eagles players said they felt that if there was any lingering resentment over Pederson’s remarks it was resolved after Wednesday’s practice, which many described as spirited.
Pederson never panicked. He just kept coaching. The players responded to his message and played better in a couple of close losses. There was come controversy when Pederson went for two at the end of the Ravens game, with the Eagles trailing 27-26. “Kick the extra point and go to overtime!” the masses screamed. Pederson wanted to win. He wanted to be aggressive.
The Eagles closed out the season with wins over the Giants and Cowboys to finish the year 7-9.
Pederson learned a lot about his players, coaches and even himself in that initial season. He knew the team needed more talent. He also knew he wanted to remain an aggressive coach. Don’t worry about failure. Chase success.
Howie Roseman, Joe Douglas and Andy Weidl took care of adding the talent. They went and got players that fit the schemes. They also got players who could help the team right away.
Pederson and his staff did a lot of self-scouting. They figured out where they were good, but also where they needed to get better. They were able to learn from the mistakes of 2016. Good coaches are smart enough to see what worked and what didn’t.
The Eagles were a handful of plays from making the playoffs in 2016. It was easy to play the What If game and get frustrated. As it turns out, going 7-9 is the best thing that could have happened. Pederson and the front office knew they had a solid foundation, but they still needed to make key changes to significantly improve. Had the Eagles gone 10-6, Pederson might have been more patient with fixing the roster and pushing his players.
Pederson was greedy. He wanted to win. He told the team “7-9 sucks” over the summer. He had loftier goals and was going to push the team to meet those goals.
I think the biggest thing people don’t get is just how competitive he is. Pederson isn’t fiery when meeting with the media. He looks like a typical suburban dad. Somewhere on the inside, his competitive streak burns red hot. He wants to win.
Now that Pederson has his Super Bowl, it will be interesting to see how he responds. Something tells me that it won’t be too long before he starts thinking about 2018. Pederson did a brilliant job this year of always keeping the Eagles looking forward. Super Bowl LII is in the rear view mirror.
Winning that was great, but for a competitor like Pederson, it will soon be time to start chasing the next thing.
_
Not done basking yet…
Watch announcing crews from around the world describe Tom Brady getting strip sacked in Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, and other languages, while repeatedly being treated to images of Brady, Gronk, and Kraft looking shell-shocked, and Belichick seeming befuddled on the sideline!
https://screengrabber.deadspin.com/the-tom-brady-strip-sack-as-called-by-announcers-from-1822718984
Seriously, I don’t know that I’ll ever get tired of watching this play.
I love, in hindsight, that it was the only sack of the game. I was worried that the Eagles didn’t get any sacks early in the game, and what that would mean in the second half.
I don’t know how to live with this victory. It’s like when Morpheus tells Neo he’s using his real eyes for the first time: we’re using our champions eyes for the first time and it is glorious!
Will joe dougles leave us?
Also Josh McDaniels renegs on colts job after Kraft sweetened his deal. Does that mean BB is gone?
Now they are saying BB won’t retire THIS year. That’s what they’re saying now.
————————————————————
“Report: Josh McDaniels’ decision not made to replace Bill Belichick this year”
Posted by Charean Williams on February 6, 2018, 7:57 PM EST
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/02/06/report-josh-mcdaniels-decision-not-made-to-replace-bill-belichick-this-year/
There are no open GM spots, so the Eagles can block him and not sure he wants to leave unless its a real GM spot
Douglas is in an interesting situation, he is basically a GM light currently, pretty much handling all the scouting management roles a GM would traditionally hold, with Howie doing the grand vision and contracts and trades side of the GM. Lurie is not cheap when it comes to coaches and front office so will match most $$$ offers Douglas will receive.
I think Douglas stays until he finds the perfect situation, or if he develops a really different vision of team direction and gets into conflict with Howie.
Douglas stays another year. They’ll work something out for him to stick around, but he’s probably ready to run his own team. We will have a succession plan in place for him, but Howie will learn a lot from their time together.
It’s getting awfully late in the game for Douglas to leave this off-season. The scouting combine is next week. The Senior Bowl already happened. Usually when a team hires a new GM they want him in place for the entire offseason cycle.
I said this last year. I was “glad” the Eagles didn’t have a winning season Doug’s first year. Coaches with 1st year success usually flame out and get caught in power struggles.
Sean McVay is the one to watch next year. I’m guessing that he will be done after 2019.
Where Kyle Shanahan had to struggle this year. Watch for that 49ers team to put on a show next year.
Chip Kelly. Ray Rhodes. Rich Kotite.
Ben McAdoo, Adam Gase, Mike Smith… the list is huge of guys who won their first year and crapped the bed.
Maybe it’s like politicians and the economy. They won with the other guy’s team.
That’s a good point.
Some how through all this, I had forgotten that Duce Staley FINALLY gets his Eagles Super Bowl ring too. He was our offense for 2 years (98-99).
So many greats get their rings now.
I hope Lurie spends the money to give rings to all the great Eagles Players of the past 57 years (or their families).
Guys like Bill Bergy, Ron Jaworski, Randall Cunningham, Reggie White, Jerome Brown, Seth Joyner, Eric Allen, Andre Waters, Wilbert Montgomery, Harold Carmichael, Tra Thomas, Jon Runyan, Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook, Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent, Hugh Douglas, Trent Cole, Clyde Simmons, Jeremiah Trotter…
Even guys still playing that got screwed by Chip (Desean Jackson & Lesean McCoy)
Feel Free to Add to the list!!!!
The list is long but I think it would be fitting.
And I would give one to Vince Papale as a sign of giving one to the greatest fans in the world.
Papale should get a ring, man.
“He was our offense for 2 years (98-99).”
Only because we got rid of Ricky Watters prematurely.
I love most of the rest of your list, but I was never a Duce guy. Now if you want to put Keith Byars on there………….
Yup: Keith Jackson and Keith Byars and Chad Lewis and Mike Bartrum and David Akers and KEEP ADDING ‘EM!
We got rid of Watters because fans were beginning to hate the man and his attitude (“For who? For What?”). Watters was way more talented though.
And I liked Duce. He was a hardhat kind of guy and just seemed put his head down and run hard. Even against, what felt like, 11 man boxes in 98 and early 99.
Watters was an extreme douche, but the dude was talented on a level well beyond that of Duce. My dislike of Staley stems from his proclivity for being tackled from behind by fat people and leaving a lot of yards on the field. If you needed 1 yard, Duce would get you 3. If you needed 5 yards, Duce would get you 3.
Looking at past players… random thing I found. Jason Avant has as many tackles as Najee Goode (32). And 2 more than Kiko Alonso had.
Jason Avant for MLB?
Only if he’s forbidden from making that dumb hands gesture.
LMAO, I laughed so hard my coffee spewed out and it was worth it!
Although, when he made that gesture you knew he caught the ball.
Duce also had amazing hands and route running for such a big back.
Dude, come on. Duce was the embodiment of an Eagle. Nobody worked harder or played harder.
He’s one of my favorite Eagles players ever.
I think Jaws is working for the team currently, and has on and off through the years. He greeted Foles when the team plane landed in Minny.
Guys, it has been over 2 days since the Eagles last won the Super Bowl. There are babies that were born on Monday or Tuesday of this week that were not alive for the last Eagles Super Bowl win. My point is …. Pederson has to be on the hot seat going into next season, right?
Yeah, ‘Dman. I’ve been struggling with some different feelings about all this. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday morning now…
Sometimes I catch myself during the day now, or I sorta look in the mirror, and I go:
“Why am I not feeling like I used to feel as an Eagles fan? There’s nothing wrong that I can think of… Nothing to complain or worry about!”
Then I go “Oh! That’s because I’m a fan of the WORLD CHAMPION PHILADELPHIA EAGLES! Now it’s ALL DIFFERENT!”
But I must admit, it feels a little weird. When I wake up in the morning now, I go:
“Oh! It’s for real! It was not a dream! I’m a fan of the WORLD CHAMPION PHILADELPHIA EAGLES!” And it’s like… It’s like… a whole new world as a sports fan. It’s all different. You know..?
Oooops! CHAMPIONSHIP! Haha. Go Eagles!
So in rewatching some parts of the SB, a few things stand out clearer to me than they did at the time. Here are ten observations:
1) Kelce. What a game for him. If the MVP could ever go to a center, he might be in the conversation in this game. The pats lined up in diamond formation all game long, clearly they thought that putting the NT right over Kelce was going to be a mismatch inside. And all game long, our guy beat that dude like a rented mule. I havent exactly gone through the game snap by snap, but I can’t seem to come upon a play in which Kelce loses that matchup. He dominates that poor guy over and over again. We haven’t talked about it much, but down the stretch of this season he has played the position better than anyone else, perhaps save Alex Mack. And I am not even sure about that. And we were all talking about trading his ass for a 4th so Seumalo could get on the field ten months ago. He is not going anywhere.
2) Actually the entire O-line sort of embarassed the pats throughout the game. As fans, in the moment, it is hard to appreciate the O-line play because we are all looking at the ball. But they may have pitched the perfect game here. Guys constantly getting out in front completely devastated the LBs and took away their spirit. The last TD-drive reeling 7 minutes off the clock in the 4th essentially put the game under our control. The whole thing was a clinic. Stoutland must be very good at what he does. And watching Vaitai handle Harrison and whoever else time and again is a reason for great optimism about the future. Clearly this was another matchup the pats thought were going to give them something and it just didnt happen. Incredible how much he has improved throughout the season.
3) Agholar. It is easy to put the emphasis on Ertz, Clement and Jeffery who all scored great TDs in this game. But Agholar had a monster game and there is no way they win this one without him. Example: On 3rd and 6 in the third quarter he spins out of a tackle and get the first down on a play that should have been stopped well short. This was against Bademosi, who might not have been on the field if Malcolm Butler had been playing. Nelson led the team with 9 catches, 3 of them clutch plays on that drive in the third where Zach Ertz scored the TD. He also beat Patrick Chung who, for some weird reason kept lining up in the slot. He was the matchup against the pats DBs that schewed the advantage in our favor. And he delivered, big time. No more talk about bust, this is an impact player who can help you win big games.
4) There were no holding calls on the Pats. Not one. There also was no holding calls on the pats against the jaguars two weeks ago. That is no holding calls against a mediocre O-line playing against the two top-3 D-lines in the playoffs allowing almost zero sacks while passing a billion times. And you just see holding over and over again, especially against Graham. Some teams just seem to get away with that; the pats and the Cowboys I mean. But it is hard to complain too much because it seemed that the refs let them play on both sides of the ball. I saw a pick play or maybe two that could have been called against us as well. Mills probably got away with a bit of grabbing a few times.
5) Torrey Smith is a great dude, but he will not be on this team in 2018. At this point it is hard to see what he does really well. And he keeps leaving catches on the field. I think 2018 is going to be about Nelson, Hollins and maybe Gibson or Johnson filling that role. Or someone new. Smith is out.
6) The pats seemed to have decided to try and kick the ball short and returnable on kickoffs. They clearly did not fear our return game and maybe thought that they could come up with something there. Clement and Barner have not been great in the return game this year, but credit them with getting the ball out to around the 25-yard line on consecutive kicks in the first half while looking just dangerous enough, essentially ending that fantasy for the pats.
7) Jenkins hit on Cooks was fair and legal. And brutal. But he is a runner at that point and there was no ‘leadign with the helmet’ or launching by Jenkins. This is what every defensive player is asked to do all of the time. Jenkins might have made the difference in the game on that one play, and the one knock on Cooks is that he is not a big guy. It is what makes him quick. Upside in one area equals downside in another. Jenkins exploited that. Good move.
8) With Cooks out, how the hell do you NOT go to couble coverage on Gronk? Especially in the red zone, when he is split out wide. The moment you see Gronk in man coverage on the outside against Darby, you just know it is a TD right away. Every person watching knew that. I don’t know what Schwartz was thinking. He clearly didn’t want to blitz brady at all in this game, and that might have been a good decision – brady beats the blitz like noone else. But the single coverage on their best receiving RZ threat is confusing to me. At least shade the safety that way.
9) All together Schwartz didnt seem to have a very good game plan. He chose to go nickel and dime pretty much all game, matching up Dbs with their Rbs and TEs and daring them to try and run it. It worked in the sense that we didnt see great games from any of the pass catching RBs, which is what we were afraid of obviously. But the zone coverages were still there to be exploited all game long. It is difficult for an amateur like me to figure out wether the issue was scheming or execution on the part of the players, but my impression is that Schwartz kept it very simple and vanilla – pre snap reads made it quite obvious to Brady exactly what the coverage was on every play, and when you only rush four all the time you are not helping out your guys much scheme-wise. It is just too predictable and stale as the game moves along. Maybe Schwartz was thinking that you can’t outsmart the pats and you have to rely on sound fundamentals to beat them. I would have liked to see som more adjustments in the second half – of course this is easy to say knowing that they scored on all those possessions.
10) Chris Collinsworth was the worst commentator you can imagine. He doesnt understand the rules even when they are explained to him by the referees. He doesnt pay attention to the game flow. He doesnt take an interest in the play designs or concepts. He contributes nothing to the teams history or the players background or play earlier in the season. Essentially he seems completely clueless about everything except for one thing: That he LOVES Tom Brady and really really really wants the Patriots to win very much. He came across as just a patriots fan that somebody let into the commentators booth. Completely worthless and embarassing. What a joke.
…thats it. Sorry for the long post. I was going to write about how the Clement TD was the right call, but it has been covered in many other places and I’d have nothing new to add at this point.
CHAMPS BABY!
A few things to add.
– on point 4 with the holding; you’re correct that they let us both play. So Patriots fans crying about an illegal pick on the Ertz 4th down and/or Alshon’s illegal formation can drop dead.
-on point 9; our entire D is pass rush reliant. If the O line is allowed to hold, we don’t have the talent in our coverage group (yet) to make up for that vs. good teams.
Jeffery has come out and said that he checked with the line judge that he was on the line on that play and got an ‘ok’. This is standard routine for both WRs and line judges, and they do it all the time. It is not something the zebra ever get into the details of, as in a difference of a few inches doesnt matter to them. By definition then he is ‘on the line’. If the referee had told him no, he would just have moved up a few inches. The fact that he was an inch off makes no difference at all for the play or the matchup or the route or anything else going on there. Which is why literally NOONE EVER CARES ABOUT IT! There is NOTHING to see here, just one of the lamest, most pathetic excuses I can remember ever hearing, especially since he wasn’t even part of the play design! Pats fans, man.
YUP!!!!!!! The league even said that is a pure judgement call……..and Alshon asked the ref for a judgement.
I’ll bet Nelson asks the line judge ALL THE TIME now…
Haha, yes! Or maybe just look at them when they try and yell that he is not lined up! That was one of the weirdest moments I remember from that season. And I can’t believe that noone has created a gif with Greg Lewis screaming on the sideline.
That gif is out there for sure
Amazing that they don’t mention the Pats pick/rub plays when they complain about Ertz on that first down.
Celek ran the perfect route, and the Pats db chose to go through, rather than around. Great play design and execution by our coaches/players.
And that final TD drive would have taken another 30-45 seconds off the clock if Agholor stays in bounds on the one catch and run.
Such an amazing TOP performance when it counted though.
Agholar ran out of bounds because it allowed him to just pick up the first down. Yes, he stopped the clock there, and it was second down (as I remember), but he earned a new set of downs to run time off the clock and he might have been showed out of bounds regardless since the DB was coming from the inside. He clearly did the right thing.
I still think it was a SMALL mental mistake. He may have been able to get the first by running forward. But we will never know. And it didn’t matter.
I was just trying to note that we could have burned more time off the clock that dominating drive.
Yea. I mean, maybe he could have gotten both, right. But it just seems to me that this is what happens to teams who play the patriots and suddenly make weird mistakes they don’t normally make; you overthink it, you try to do too much, you hesitate, you think you have to overcome yourself or do something extraordinairy to win – suddenly, in stead of picking up that sure first down doing what you are used to doing, you begin some weird shit cutting back into the field of play, which you are not used to, or prepared for, because it isnt normal or has a very high rate of success, and you run into the arms of a DB who punches the ball out because you didnt exactly brace for it and now the game is changed. Sometimes just making sure that you keep the advantage and force the other team to exceed themselves to beat you is the right thing to do. Trust your ability to win without doing something ‘extra’ special. Take the first down. Get to the next frame. I think he did the right thing.
Was hoping he would have stayed down in bounds- but it’s a value call. Pick up a fresh set of downs, or run 35 seconds off of the clock?
Worked out in the end, but I’d prefer to get to 00 on the game clock.
To combine #2 and #10, remember that Harrison has Big V set up exactly how he wants him. Sometime soon, perhaps during the parade, Harrison is going to feign an outside move and drive inside the OL float and crash into the QB float.
He did actually get a few pressures during the game, and Vaitai was getting some help on other plays. He clearly still was the weakest link (on a very good line of course). So it is going to be interesting what they do in the off season there. I still think you have to look at LT for the future and wouldn’t mind at all if they found a good one at 32.
I think you are right. I just marveled at the absurdity of Collinsworth’s certainty that everything good the Eagles were doing was about to end and the Pats had them right where they wanted them.
I thought Schwartz did blitz more then he usually does, it is just that Brady was killing him when he chose to. Also pretty sure (could be wrong) that we did blitz on the Gronk TD. I was surprised to see Darby on Gronk as well. I doubt before the snap that is what Schwartz wanted, but I’m also pretty sure NE went hurry up and forced that matchup. Sometimes no matter who you are or how good you are you get caught with your pants down schematically when going against the likes of TB, BB, and McDaniels.
Not sure about this. I remember one big blitz Brady picked up like 3 yards (for a first down, true), thinking, shit that’s a lot better than these 25-50 yard screen plays and lasers we’ve been getting in base D.
Also, statistically Brady was not good against the blitz this year.
I remember Hollingsworth mention during the game that Everytime we blitzed Brady would beat us, and I remember noticing it as well.
There weren’t that many plays he didn’t beat us, tbh.
Well Im not sure about that. I remember something about Brady leading the league comfortably in passer rating and QBR when pressured. Wait, here it is: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-tom-brady-and-case-keenum-do-better-than-anyone-else/
Intereatingly enough, Keenum and Wentz are no. 2 and 3 in on that list.
You can find articles from other years documenting how Brady beats the blitz extremely well. It is not hard to imagine that Schwartz thought it foolish to give up underneath coverages to manufacture pressure against him.
Yea, but this is what I mean about being outschemed on Schwartz’s part. You have to have an answer installed for when they split Gronk out wide in the RZ. You just have to. And you have to be prepared for the hurry up and motions that manipulate your alignment trying to create it. Otherwise you are just conceding the worst possible matchup to the opponent whenever they want it. It is sort of the one thing you can not allow under any circumstances. I mean, what else are you confronted with that is more important – White? Amendola? In that situation I’d much rather the ball goes to one of them in man coverage and take my chances.
It was interesting that offenses dominated for both teams even though both teams have talented respectable defenses that are well-schemed.
It was an total anomaly of a game for sure. One punt. Probably it tells you that both teams had offensive coaches who are 1) great playcallers and schemers and 2) both willing and able to introduce new plays into the playbook specifically for a game like this and make it work.
We used to rail on Todd Pinkston back in the day, but the fact is that Pinky was a pretty reliable deep threat, and even in his worst (veteran) year put up better numbers than Torrey. Torrey made a few big plays this year, but if you have a veteran on your team and he’s not still excelling at just one thing, you might as well roll with the young guy.
need djax back!
God no.
We know they want a speedy deep threat to play in this scheme, they have been very clear on this. Unless Gibson or Hollins is a solution they will address that this off-season. Maybe they can get one of the Browns from the Cardinals for a reasonable price. There are a few young veterans out there that will not cost much more than Torrey and have a better skill set at this point. Let’s see.
#8, they kept coming out in 4-5 wide after half time, making it difficult to double any one receiver. And if there is a spot to be exploited, then Brady is good enough to find it.
They actually played a great deal in 22 personnel trying to force us into base defense and get Ellerby on the field. Schwartz went with ‘big’ nickel for most of the game, matching Jenkins up against White. That meant Corey Graham covered the left side of the field in cover2. I’d have wanted him to shade towards Gronk there and just take my chances with whatever the second read on that play was. As it happened, Brady never looked at anything else on that play. It was going to Gronk and only him no matter what, and everybody knew it wel before the ball was snapped.
Schwartz blitzed once, got burned bad. Played cards close to his chest. Tried to keep pats one dimensional and it worked out. May not have had a ton of stops but like all season defense got an impact play when needed – that’s not just on BG, that’s solid coaching – don’t go for sack, go for fumble, awareness of TO, jump on ball don’t pick it up, all that is coaching.
鸟儿叫，花儿笑，一年一季春来到！
Kendricks was on Sirius yesterday afternoon talking about how Pederson has improved a lot in how he talks to the team as a head coach from year one to year two. Kendricks also took some well-earned shots at the dumb f’ers who vote for coach of the year. I’d like to think all of the fan complaints, especially mine, did a great job motivating Pederson to really improve as a coach going into this season.
Don’t under sell it.
Who were the biggest targets of fan ire before the season? Kendricks, Kelce, Agholor, Pederson, Daniels. We chased one away (ahem). The others were the biggest improvements on the team.
I would add Ertz to the list as well. I was on the fence about him entering the season. I thought he was given a pass for his potential for far too long and it was now time for him to consistently be a reliable weapon in our offense. I think my skepticism was warranted, but I am happy to admit I was wrong about him. I still wish he had the physicality of a Celek, but he has surpassed all expectations and has proven to be an elite TE this year. His improved play had a direct impact on the Eagles success this year and for that, he’ll go down as an all-time great Eagle.
Watched the SB again on NFLN’s “NFL Replay” last night. Collinsworth stated that “Ertz had no dropped passes at all this season.” None. Didn’t catch that comment before.
That was a huge problem for all receivers last year, including Ertz to some extent. Agholor may have been almost the worst after DGB.
No dropped passes for Ertz at all? Agholor greatly improved? Big WOW for the job Mike Groh did as receivers coach, and for Pederson.
Ironically, Collinsworth is the one who insisted that Ertz “dropped” a pass that he had held in both hands and took three steps before crossing the goal line.
Not really, Ertz has been good for years now. He has like the highest catch rate of anyone, and puts up very good numbers. He’s always been extremely reliable, but he got a lot of criticism for not being Gronk.
OT: what if the Browns were right about Carson Wentz?
What if he really is Blake Bortles, but the thing is Bortles is really a potentially great QB who hasn’t gotten the chance to play in a great system? What if the reason Wentz was having an MVP season has more to do with Pederson and the rest of the coaching staff? Wouldn’t that explain the performance we just saw out of a QB almost every coach in the NFL had given up on in Foles?
I remember Chip’s first year some analysis speculated that he had a system which would make any QB into a star. Maybe that’s what’s we are seeing now with Pederson, and the real future of the NFL is every team being able to score at will like this with almost any decent QB?
Nope.
Wentz and Bortles aren’t on the same level talent wise. The eye test tells you that. Bortles processes things slowly and seems to lack some arm talent (which is probably some coaching). You could argue that Bortles and Foles are on the same talent level though. And the difference between them is coaching. I’d buy that.
Wentz’s mental acuity AFTER the snap is what makes him special. Cleveland blew it big time. Pederson limited what Foles had to do post-snap and changed the offense to suit Foles. Wentz can run the same offense as Foles, plus another 300 or so plays that require awareness and post snap reads.
Wentz + Pederson is going to be something special to watch. Both are top tier in their field.
Wentz will be great because of his ability to read the game presnap, his character and work ethic, combined with elite physical tools.
Technically as a passer there is still progress to be made – he struggles with throwing loopy short passes accurately (screen game really improved with Foles), and generally struggles to take velocity out of his passes when it is not needed to make easier catches for his WR. Deep ball accuracy is still a work in progress, although that made huge strides in 2017. His post snap progression speed can and will improve with experience, as will his general feel for the game with more experience.
QB’s take 4-5 years to really grow into the passers they will be long term, Wentz will improve in a whole range of ways over the next 2-3 years (which should terrify the rest of the NFC East). Wentz is the best young QB in the NFL and its honestly not even close. Scheme and play calling helps him for sure, but his raw talent is blindingly obvious.
Inability to understand what separates Wentz from other QBs is what allowed Howie to trade for him in the first place.
The inability to evaluate the mental side of being is QB is also what allows guys like Manziel and Paxton Lynch to be first round picks.
What if every team in the NFL was right about Tom Brady, he really is just a 6th round career backup, and he’s repeatedly gotten lucky and benefitted from great coaching in winning multiple Super Bowls and MVPs and setting NFL records and isn’t actually that good?
Come on man. All you have to do to know that Wentz is a special talent is watch any of the “holy sh-t!” plays he made this season (TD throw to Clement against the Redskins, long pass to Agholor while falling down against the Seahawks, etc.). He must’ve made a dozen or more such plays this season. Bortles hasn’t made a single play like that in his entire NFL career. Come on.
I don’t buy it, especially because much of Wentz’s value has been the big plays when things break down. Those are all him. I do agree that Wentz benefits from the excellent coaching and system that Dug set up, which is why I think criticizing the Browns for not drafting him is silly. No one player could possibly turn around that team. This isn’t basketball.
You watched Wentz play this year and want to make this as a legitimate argument?
Seriously. All you have to do it watch the highlight tape of Wentz this season and ask yourself this question: What makes these plays succesful? The scheme is fine, but there just aren’t a lot of guys playing QB out there who can escape a hands-on tackle, outrun a DE at full speed and then uncork a perfect pinpoint sideline throw 30 yards downfield while being tackled to the ground horisontally. The scheme does not exactly call for that.
After rewatching the game and seeing how wide open the Pats receivers were, it seemed that our DBs would completely turn their backs to the QB to change direction. I’m no scout, but isn’t this what they harp on at the combine about DBs turning their hips to stay with the receiver?
Darby, Mills, and McLeod all have up big plays doing this.
How is Undlin not in the hot seat?
I fear sounding negadelphian or unappreciative, but I want to see an all-22 breakdown of how they were running free so often.
I don’t think there is anything negative or unappreciative for wanting to know why or how something happens. The quest for knowledge should be never confused with dissatisfaction.
Fair enough. But hot seat questions are therefore premature
I kept saying during the game the Pats were “college open”. I’m so happy with the win but I don’t understand how that could happen as often as it did (seemed like every play). It was like watching Florida football back in the day.
Can’t wait for the analysis. It was so weird.
Here are my ideas:
1. Patriots O-line holding. How does a crap O-line dominate an awesome D-line? No one can cover forever, and our DBs are the weakness of the team after all.
2. hurry-up. The Eagles are poor defending the hurry-up, statistically; their one weakness.
3. scheme. Schwartz was using some kind of odd zone and Brady had no problems dissecting it?
4. Hurry up + Quick passing + Perfect route running by Pats Wrs.
There’s a reason they go to the SB ever year
Worth noting that the Patriots’ O line isn’t quite crap (it’s above average, actually) and that it’s not fair to say they “dominated” (only one sack but much of that was Brady’s doing as he was pressured on something like 44% of his dropbacks in the 4th quarter, which is pretty high).
As far as hurry-up and scheme go, I think you’re right on. Most teams do not have the exceptional intelligence and precision necessary to consistently convert plays and avoid quick 3-and-outs and ending up looking like the bad Chip Kelly offense, nor to pick apart zone coverages as readily as Brady can. A defensive scheme that might be impenetrable against most quarterbacks is easy pickings for somebody like Brady.
We should note that Schwartz isn’t the first Eagles’ coordinator this has happened to. Jim Johnson, whom Eagles fans rightfully revere, had his defenses surgically dissected by Peyton Manning whenever we played the Colts.
Patriots use a shit ton of option concepts. So they motion pre-snap and force you to show them your hand (mixing tempo limits disguising as well) they then know what routes to run to beat the coverage. The Hogan TD was a Post/Wheel against Cover 3, a play that’s designed to fuck up cover 3, they threw the wheel earlier in the game to the other side.
Undlin’s not in the hot seat because you don’t fire a coach based on one bad game, or even two. The Eagles’ DBs were generally pretty good this year.
People are crazy. Do they not remember Fletch and Sconses? Our guys got a ton of turnovers, generally played bend don’t break defense. People expecting the 85 bears in every game – we just won the f’in super bowl and they want to fire the whole defense
The goal is winning. You seem to be missing that.
the goal is to get better, always, no matter what. I’m waiting for after the parade, then I’m bringing the hammer. Can’t be losing our edge
Absolutely. And there are people way more knowledgeable than us, who’s jobs are literally to focus on that, and who have time and resources to do it. And they’ll start that. Months from now.
I’m not concerned about it one iota. We faced an historically amazing offense with an historically amazing coach and qb, and beat them. Handily. Period.
then don’t worry about someone’s opinion.
Fair enough. I’m not worried, just expressing my own (opinion).
Once you win, the goal changes to sustaining success.
I see, so the bar is higher than facing Tom Brady and the pats in the superbowl starting next year? I thought the bar in terms of how hard it is to beat other teams, returns next week one to what it was last week one. If there is zero improvement, and zero regression, we should still be a top defense with the ability to win a lot of games, the division, and compete for a superbowl again.
I just don’t follow the logic.
Not being a smartass, but I honestly have no idea what you are talking about and I don’t see the relevance to my original post.
The defense gave up 10 plays of 23 yards or more in the game. That is way out of the norm not only for this defense but any defense.
I and many others are merely trying to understand how/why that happened. Was it miscommunications, bad technique, perfect play calls, or a combination of all three?
I think you’re reading way too far into something that’s not there.
I got you. I just don’t see the point in figuring out so we can better prepare ourselves to, uh, not win another superbowl?
I don’t care about number of wide open receivers (especially on plays they didn’t catch the ball), yards, receptions, anything but Ws.
I think I’m just more of a bottom line guy. We won. And I personally lack the curiosity of figuring out why there were seemingly faults or difficulties along the way (especially against such a worthy opponent).
Seems like your a fan of the team, but not necessarily the game.
Seems like you and I are fans of different games. Me, football, you, football perfectionism regardless of outcome.
Ugh! Again, I have no idea what you are talking about.
Ok, so, what is your concern about, results?
The Eagles defense had one of, if not the worst, performance of any defense in Superbowl history. Certainly any winning team. It was also a spectacular departure from its performance throughout the rest of the year. Any thoughtful fan would wonder how this happened. There’s nothing whatsoever wrong with discussing this.
There will self-scouting the offseason. The Chargers, Giants, and pats games will be looked at closely. We need answers bc that’s the blueprint to beat our defense.
Running 7 man protections and/or getting rid of the ball quickly when defenders are playing 7 yard cushions is one thing. I’m much more curious of DBs technique.
Here is the play when Cooks got knocked out by Jenkins. Darby turned his back to the QB and spun around leaving Cooks wide open. Again, I’m not a coach or scout, but this seemed to be a reoccurring theme during the Superbowl. McLeod did the same thing to give up a TD.
https://imgur.com/BvjYm2p
Is that not ok when there is great pressure?
I think you seem to be hoping for top production on every play by 15 NFL defensive studs. In a game where you only get to play with 11 human beings on that side.
He’s overcommited to the deep crosser. Given he’s got his right leg in front he’s never going to be able to redirect from that spot. Not so much a lack of technique,rather he just got suckered/gambled.
You need a veteran QB who can diagnose immediately and get the ball out quickly. And you’ll still lose.
We doing this ? Really ?
You know. Those other guys. On that other team. Even though we hate them and they’re cheaters and they’re dicks. None of that means they’re bad coaches. Belichick is a great coach. The pats had a great offensive game plan. And we still won.
Sometimes the other coaches just deserve a nod. There was a reason they were in the Super Bowl.
Ignorance is bliss.
https://youtu.be/7hectC9YFxQ
Mills’ thumb?
(I can’t watch the video right now. If he explains, I apologize.)
Jimmy asked if he broke it. He said it was a sprain….didn’t really say when it happened.
Hyperextended finger wag.
Repetitive-motion injury.
Ertz has gotten so much unbelievably better on camera. His rookie interviews were painful…
This is quite the read.
https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/columnists/gregg-doyel/2018/02/06/doyel-josh-mcdaniels-selfish-little-jerk-but-did-colts-indy-favor/304619002/
I didn’t know he had the Broncos taping opponents.
Another thing that you realise days after is that this game could have been much less close. Think about it; The Ertz false start penalty essentially cost them the first TD where they had 2nd/3rd and goal from the 1-yard line. Should have had an easy TD there with the run but in stead felt compelled to pass it against a defense that, for all their troubles, had been outstanding in RZ pass defense this year. So that is 4 points off the board. Add the first and second extra points (one miss, one failed 2pt converstion) they would have had if Elliot hadn’t missed that kick. And then go to the interception where Jeffery miraculously reflects the ball into the hands of Harmon. If he catches it, there is a very good chance they score a TD there. Regardless, they were primed to at least score a field goal in that situation with the way they moved the ball all game and that was just pure flukey bad luck. Add another three points there, and the score would have been 24-6 at that point in the game rather than 15-6. With more of a lead, Pederson probably kicks the extra point in the second half in stead of going for 2 there, and the eagles final score is 51 points, not 41.
of course I am happy with the win, but I would have loved to be able to enjoy the last few minutes with the game in hand. Next time!
“of course I am happy with the win, but I would have loved to be able to enjoy the last few minutes with the game in hand. Next year!”
Fixed that for you.
The legit 3rd down holding call on Kendricks extended a drive that probably would have been a punt otherwise.
Normally I would say getting ahead in the game would be to our advantage, but our D-line just couldn’t get to Tom. It was really odd.
I still can’t get over the fact that Doug Pederson became what we thought Chip Kelly was going to be.
The challenge now is going to be repeating this success every year with a new crew of players every year. Success is great, but continued success is the goal. And honestly, the Super Bowl win was AMAZING, but now I want a dynasty.
Yes, sustained greatness is what our goal should now shift to. Andy Reid *could* have had that, but both he and McNabb lacked the poise and big balls of Dougie P and Foles/Wentz (well, jury is still out on Wentz for postseason play).
If you go back to those great AR coached teams, AR rarely elevated his game in the postseason. I can count on one hand how many times his teams played relative to or better than their expected performance. On the flipside, I can recall way too many times his teams played far below expectations. Doug’s last 2 games (and Foles’s too) blow any postseason performance by AR and McNabb out of the water. Moving forward, Eagles players should have all the confidence in the world in Doug and that should help elevate their performance in future playoff games.
You just made me realize something that I hadn’t thought of yet. I bet McNabb is frickin salty right now.
I bet every player from that era is a little salty- Trotter, Dawkins, Westbrook, Runyan, Tra, and etc.
Yeah, I could see that, though I’d bet the grapes are a little more sour in Arizona. That’s just how McNabb seems to react to Philadelphia.
Next time I see Donnie, I’ll ask him how salty he is.
Come on guys, I still love 5.
I still have love for McNabb too and my intention wasn’t to take a shot at him. I just feel like as we get further and further removed from his playing days, it becomes apparent that he just lacked that ‘it’ factor to lead us to a SB win. As the stakes got higher, his game never elevated. Granted, from 2000-2003 he had sh*t for weapons, but those teams played down a level in the championship games. I put more blame on Reid and his stubbornness though.
I think 5 and Reid were sort of co-dependents. Instead of canceling out each others’ weaknesses, they somehow exacerbated them. That being said, 5 was a good QB and Reid is a good coach. It’s just that neither were quite good enough.I think either could win a Superbowl, but they both have/had significant weakenesses that make it harder.
Chip Kelly was supposed revolutionize the NFL.
Doug Pederson just out-schemes and out-motivates his opponents.
Revolutionizing the NFL aside (Doug hasn’t done that, I don’t think), Pederson does seem to be an offensive genius though and that’s what I’m pointing too.
So my neighbors just chuckled at the McDaniels thing and said haha screw the Colts (deflategate). I mean, this is the problem with the Pats coaches. They are mean treat people poorly and that can work if you are a wizard.
what about the assistants now under contract with the Colts? what does it say about your OC that he backs out of commitments? Say Belicheck leaves after his contract ends next year, would you want to be on McDaniels staff? I would not trust him, AND you are following the GOAT HC and ALSO Brady will be done or on fumes.
And no one will sympathize because you treated people like crap because you could.
On the flip side, I love our team.
Unless, of course, you win a bunch of games like Doug. Then nobody cares (Belichick, of course, is the great example of this).
Yeah, McDaniels better HOPE he gets the Pats job when Belichick leaves, because between the faceplant he pulled in Denver and his backing out on the Colts and screwing over both the organization and the assistant coaches he was going to hire I’d think he’s pretty much firebombed his reputation around the league.
his own agent quit on him.
Definitely screw McDaniels. At the same time, teams do this kind of thing to players ALL THE TIME!
It was fair to question Pederson’s ability to maintain the reigns on this team especially with how the season progressed last year.
I just didn’t understand some of the ludriciuos calls to fire him last year or even this offseason unless this team somehow won 2 or 3 games with players openly calling out Pederson.
Needed at least 3 years to really see what they had with Pederson and Wentz. Things just fell into place a lot sooner than I expected and even I bet the Eagles’ front office.
I am willing bet it would have been very satisfied with 10-11 wins and a playoff win this season.
Colts are requesting an interview with Frank Reich. If we lose Reich fine, I say we promote Flip to OC and shift the offensive staff a bit. I don’t want to lose Flip AND Reich in the same year.
I read that the inside guy for the Colts job is the former Cardinals Special Teams Coordinator. Sure wish the best for Reich. Sure don’t want to lose him either.
I’m greedy, I don’t want to lose ANYONE! Except Torrey Smith. He needs to go IMO.
Eagles at Rams full game replay on NFL Network at 1PM.
In the NFL copycat league, I am very interested to see what other teams try to pick up from the Eagles.
The success of the Eagles running the ‘RPO’ in the playoffs is what really jumps out to me. I bet we’ll see a notable increase in the % of plays that start utilizing it.
I think what should stand out to every team is the performance of the offensive line.
Same for every winning team, win in the trenches. RPO has been around since at least 2013
It’s like every good NFL gimmick. There’s no reason to not mix it in to your play calling. But to base your offense on it is fool’s gold.
Apparently you can’t just mention RPO, you have to also mention that it stands for Run Pass Option
And you are morally obligated to remind everyone that it is a “college offense” that “doesn’t work in the NFL.”
What I’m focusing on is going for it on 4th down. Stat geeks have known for decades that coaches are losing games because of their conservatism. Essentially, they choose to lose games closer and forgo the chance to win games (playing not to lose). Doug has blown that paradigm out of the water–or at least he should.
I hope other coaches continue to p—-y out on fourth down, though. It’s a nice advantage to have.
I hope other coaches continue to p—-y out on fourth down, though. It’s a nice advantage to have.
Until the results-oriented mentality of fans and media changes, I think they will. NFL coaches tend to be conservative because they get torn apart if they take a smart risk that doesn’t work out, whereas if they make the “safe” call and end up losing the blame is always a little more diffused. Look at the Jags in the AFC Championship – Marrone lost them that game with his conservative approach from the 2:00 mark of the first half onward, but in the aftermath people have talked about the pass rush collapsing, Bouye committing DPI penalties, Bortles being unable to complete that pass to Fournette on the sideline, etc. more than anything, with only the smarter and “edgier” commentators pointing out that Marrone quite likely left points on the field and cost them the game.
Even Dug got hammered last year with some of his aggressive and “interesting” playcalls. Mostly because they didn’t work. Given that almost everything he did worked this year, he’s going to enjoy a nice buffer when the inevitable bad plays happen.
… although…. Bellichick has gotten his share of flak this year. How quickly they forget!
The more Doug wins the more capital he’ll have to burn and the more forgiving people will be of decisions that don’t pay off.
Belichick is at the point where even when he does something that might be genuinely dumb/inexplicable (such as benching Butler the day of the Super Bowl after giving him all the reps in practice leading up to the game, and inserting a cold, unprepared Rowe as his replacement), the media gives him the benefit of the doubt and assumes he must have had a good reason for doing it.
yeah i agree – they should. I was always thankful this year when the eagles stopped a team who had achieved a couple first downs on a drive with on say 3rd and 3 and they punted. It seems such a bad decision to punt from the 50 when your offensive has been on a bit of a roll.
I think they only ran 9 actual RPOs in the SB. that thing is not new and it has gotten way too much hype.
Too damn funny!! Giants fan meltdown!
https://youtu.be/YDM3wyUqNjU
rofl!!!!! I’m dying here during my lunch break!
Haha! I was laughing so hard!!
someone rescue that poor woman!
LMAO…Oh you mean BABYDOLL??
Instant classic! And I don’t even like Giants fans!
I really like that commercial now.
I remember that ERock dude he called from the EMB. One of those shoulderpad kind of guys.
“Consider yourselves 3 and 14!” I love it!
Homeboy should chill out – he’s got the Pat Shurmur era to look forward to. If everything breaks right, they might go 8-8 next season!
Oh, thank you. I’m going to have some fun in the comments section with this one. 🙂
Watching these clips, I’m in awe over Kelce’s performance in the Superbowl. His awareness is astonishing. Check out the entire thread.
https://twitter.com/VeteranScout/status/960999757417144320
It was perfectly reasonable to consider moving on from Kelce this year. Best non-move since signing Frank Gore.
That’s sickening. I can’t believe a man his size did that.
Lombardi admitted his mistake. Your turn re: Kelce, Guy Media.
Even I can’t believe Foles did it! The whole team stepped up.
dude that first clip is insane
My favorite was his simultaneous double block on (I think) the Alshon touchdown, but this was another amazing play.
I remember this one as well. Seemed like he was blocking one dude with his left arm and another dude with his right arm. Looked downright crazy.
FYI, there is a simultaneous double block on the clip from horn on Torrey Smith 1st down play on the 3rd and 12 play. This play was very big as i kept that opening drive alive.
This is the AJ TD:
https://youtu.be/qW1xbhW2PEE?t=3m54s
The a**hole Patriots fan. Only gets funnier:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxqGf22X87E
I’m not a trash talker by nature, but there are some Pats fans and NFCE fans already talking crap. I need some conversation stopping one liners at the ready. Here’s what I’ve got so far:
For Dallas fans: At least our SB win took place in the 21st century, after the invention of the car, the forward pass, etc.
For Giants fans: Our franchise beat Brady and Belichick as well as Vince Lombardi. And we would have beaten B&B twice as well had they not cheated the first time.
For Redskins fans: No one cares
For Pats fans: Alshon checked w/ the line judge. Clement didn’t lose control. All Pats SB wins boil down to cheating, opponents choking, and luck plays.
QED
I only use these if necessary. Any further suggestions welcome.
So far, Steelers fans have been really cool. They are fellow Pennsylvanians of course, love Wentz, hate the Pats, and are not threatened by the Eagles at all.
Most Steelers fans are grateful that we kept the Pats from matching their records of 6 SB titles.
My suggestions:
Dallas fans – “The Eagles have more playoffs wins in the last two months than your team does in the last two decades. Your QB would be the 3rd stringer on the Eagles. Have fun trying to win with the Honda Accord of quarterbacks as your franchise standard bearer.”
Giants fans: “Enjoy the Pat Shurmur era. If he’s really on his game he might be able to put up 10 or even 14 points against the Eagles’ defense next season.”
LOLSkins fans: “Any time you have a chance to give up premium assets to sidegrade to a 5 year older player because you screwed up your franchise QB’s contract negotiation, you have to do it. You’re stuck in purgatory as long as Snyder is the owner and oh yeah, the nickname of your team is still racist.”
Patriots fans: I don’t think it’s even necessary to trash talk them. I think their fear of football mortality is already palpable, they realize all the avocados in the world aren’t going to keep Brady playing at a high level forever, and they know deep in their souls that they’re likely never going to have it this good again – they’ve been riding high for nearly 20 years now and the karmic bill is about to come due. Also, the Eagles just fired a proton torpedo that is currently making its way down the exhaust shaft toward the center of the football Death Star and there’s a good chance we see a spectacular explosion in the near future.
In general: I really think bringing up the fact that the Eagles have won four total championships is a more workable trash talking point now. In the past, people would always retort “the last one was before there was a Super Bowl!”, but now they can’t do that anymore. The 1948, 1949, and 1960 teams were great teams that featured a host of all-time great NFL players (Chuck Bednarik, Norm Van Brocklin, Tommy McDonald, Steve Van Buren, etc.) and we can now talk about them as part of the glorious lineage of a premier NFL franchise rather than as faded memories we cling to because we don’t have anything newer to point to as a franchise success. We were the only team ever to beat Vince Lombardi and Bart Starr in a post season, and now we’re one of only two teams to beat Belichick and Brady in a Super Bowl. There are some high quality trophies hanging on the wall of our franchise’s hunting den, we should brag about them.
And yes, our last two championships were over two of the great coach/QB duos in history. We can make the “quality over quantity” argument as well.
What’s sad is it’s not even their nickname that’s racist, it’s the official name that I have to stare at for 3 1/2 hours twice a year.
Scoreboard
As my Steelers fan college roommate tells everyone: “Suck it!”
for Pats fans:
U mad bro?
Tuck rule
Brady crumbled when it mattered in the 4th. What Alshon, Clement did doesn’t matter when “Mr Clutch” can’t get it done.
Brady might have had a shot if he wasn’t 60
Brady crumbled when it mattered in the 4th.
This one is amazing as a troll, but perhaps not quite as effective as trash talk since he has won before.
I’d suggest spicing it up a bit by adding “he obviously has trouble when his coach hasn’t videotaped the opposing team’s defensive signals ahead of time” to maximize trolling impact.
For NFCE:
don’t even engage. They are not relevant nor will they be anytime soon , meanwhile we have a real shot at a dynasty, not just a SB.
Here’s another one for all of them…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF7NE-IrfMQ&t=61s
Patriots have to take a QB at 31, right?
Can they take a QB who can play defense?
They’re not in good shape, because other than Brady (40), Gronk (only 29, but beat to hell physically), Donta Hightower (injured), and Edelman (injured) they’re pretty bereft of high end talent. They have a bunch of decent spare part skill players on offense, but nobody who’s a difference maker outside of Gronkowski, and an offensive line that’s decent but neither dominant nor deep. Their defense, meanwhile, is a wasteland – their DL are pretty much all JAGs (Flowers is probably their best DL and quite possibly wouldn’t even get on the field for the Eagles), their LBs are abysmal, and their defensive backs are all guys that will get torched by any decent QB. They need upgrades across the board on that side of the ball.
One that can catch?
After the tantrum that Brady threw over Jimmy G, we’ll see who has the real power in that franchise if they do.
Dammit, I was just about to say the same thing, then I scrolled down and saw you beat me to it!
Yes they need help, but so does every roster in the NFL. They had two QBs that while maybe not the successor to Brady, certainly aren’t now that they’re out the door. When Brady’s time comes, their cellar is empty. Maybe this year shows that you don’t need the greatest QB in the world to stay competitive, but you gotta have *something* back there. It’s a deep QB draft, and they can Aaron Rodgers one they like at 31.
I think they’ll absolutely take a QB in the draft somewhere. But there’s a huge opportunity cost to doing so at 31 when there are so many holes elsewhere on the roster. They’re faced with a very difficult tradeoff between maximizing their chances of success while Brady’s still there and being prepared for life afterwards when he leaves.
I think you are right. I think they are in 100% win now mode. I think they take a field-ready player and try to ride this horse until it drops dead.
What did they get for Jimmy G anyway?
a high 2nd, I believe.
they are screwed and watching it all go down is going to be delicious. It’s already started.
I’m on record here, Pats don’t make it back and then Brady not as effective following year and then to hell with no QB. Gronk retires when Brady does. We killed the dynasty.
Gronk might retire this year.
I might retire too. I’m not going to. But I might.
Most underrated coaching decision of the game for me: Ags had a bad drop on second down. Peterson went right back to him on 3rd (it was the one where he shook the defender by slamming on the brakes). Don’t let him get in his own head.
Yup. Noted that at the time. Classic move to give the guy a chance at redemption.
I pointed that out to my wife, but since she doesn’t even know who Ags is, didn’t have much impact.
I don’t remember seeing this one back in November. Chris Long went up to Menelik Watson after the Broncos game to build his confidence back up. What a bro.
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2017/11/chris-long-eagles-broncos-menelik-watson-soundfx-nfl-conversation?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=exchange&utm_campaign=rightrailrecirc
The newest one will probably be a little shinier… https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/185f51d7a938a446c1569c4dc3c492fa79dea72c941a1af7462095ff02b16b9f.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/21e667852626a9ad4e784f4dddf7423539e3b7d52e0d1e87fe1144332c57a599.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/97d913563f360c394562c6284b0b5c554d3f74df1a897e8757d1a502c86b6f2e.jpg
If they want to make it “extra edgy” they can contact Ark87 for design ideas.
they can use my Ark87 created avatar if they want.
I’m going to go ahead and give us credit for bringing this trophy to Philly. I don’t know that people realize how improbable the scenario depicted in your avatar was when it was created.
I will be outraged if it isn’t designed by Kempski in MS paint
McDaniels’ agent just dropped him.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22356955/josh-mcdaniels-agent-bob-lamonte-quitting-colts-mess
Coach of the Year Tony Sparano (AKA Mcvay)
“Tony Sparano took over the team in 2008 and got them to 11-5, an amazing turnaround”
For me and many others, I would imagine is that nobody expected Pederson to be the best coach in Football much less in our division.
I remember reading about him after the first season and people were saying how he won’t last through next season.
They said he was unqualified, timid, even afraid to coach against the best coaches the NFL has to offer.
They said he couldn’t coach his team to be the best in the division and that he was a carbon copy of Andy Reid.
How wrong they were.
Pederson has long silenced his toughest critics and some of them have even come out publicly to apologize for their misconceptions. I think they did it to save face and show some semblance of credibility.
Being that we are now World Champions, all of those voices have been silenced and Doug is finally getting some respect.
What I like about Doug is that he has not yet reached his pinnacle and I feel he will come back even better next season.
The way this season unfolded to where we are now leads me to believe that our team remains grounded and hungry to win yet another SB to keep proving to the world that this was no fluke and our team will avoid the old adage of a Superbowl hangover.
I think many Eagles feel that being an underdog is nice, but deep down inside I am sure we would prefer that teams fear us and give us the proper respect this team deserves.
Just maybe next season teams won’t look past the Eagles, no matter who’s starting.
It’s time for the Eagles to make regular playoff wins and SB appearances.
This team has a dynastic feel to it and the way it’s ran from top to bottom is top notch.
For all the reasons above, I think we can do it again sooner than later.
E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES !!!!!!!!!
I love that three days later, Pederson comes out and says that “this is the new norm” Translation: get used to working to get to the Super Bowl every year or move on. Three days later. Haven’t had the parade yet.
uareamoron
Hey, friends. How many of you are planning to go to the parade tomorrow? I live 2 hours away from Philly and am wondering how others are planning to be there. Where would one even park when they are expecting 2 million people to be there?
I am not going, but I would suggest finding the most outlying train station between you and Philly, park there and ride in.
I will be there
Park in nj and take patco. Good parking lots most places and the ride in and out will be fun.
I’ve heard Septa has sold out of tickets. You might need to park near one of the last subway stops like near Fern Rock or 69th street and go in from there
I would suggest watching on TV. Chances are, you will have a horrible time to and from, and achieve standing thousands of feet away and watching on a screen…
Pe.com says they will broadcast it live on their website.
I live in DC and am contemplating going up for it.
DC represent. If you haven’t gotten your train ticket yet, you’re not going up for that parade.
I was actually thinking of taking a bus or driving up.
I may end up just watching it on TV though as I have a ton of work to do.
How, may I ask? Prospects aren’t looking good for me.
I’ve decided to just watch it on PE.com – Sadly I’ve got a ton of work to do, and it seems like it’d be an enormous pain to park/find a spot on the parade route.
Hey Eric. I’m not going. But listen to a born and raised Philly guy.
If I were going, I would drive to Philly and try to park a car just past the Art Museum on the East River Drive. There’s meters that take quarters.
Go maybe a quarter mile to a half mile away to the north, there on the east side of the river. It’s a major roadway that extends north behind the Art Museum. I would try to park at 9:30am or no later than 10am.
The parade will leave the stadium area in South Philly at 11am. It should take the procession until 12:15-12:30pm to arrive at the Art Museum.
The main ceremony is at the Art Museum. I would want to see the main ceremony. That’s why I would park near the Art Museum. It’s supposed to be over by 2pm.
Then I would walk to my car after and drive to any restaurant or other scenic stop, or just hit the road back out of town again. Best of luck. Dress warm! Go EAGLES!
Are you referring to Kelly Drive as the roadway that extends north?
Yes. Art Museum is on east side of river.
I will be there. You may need to park farther away than you’d like. I was hearing all day that people had started camping out already. Parking will be your biggest challenge. Be prepared for a walk to get to the parade route. That said, I sure expect it to be worth it. City is just electric these days.
Just watched the follow up Dutch Destroyer piece and it made me cry. It can’t be possible to love a team more than this!
NFL Network is cranking out Superbowl specials.
At 6PM is NFL Turning Point, an in depth look at key moments of the Superbowl.
At 8 PM is Sound FX, top sounds bites of the Superbowl.
Love it!! It’s a celebration bitches!!!!
So this is what it’s like to win an NFL Championship in the era of mass media exposure.
All the pundits that knocked you eat their words subtly or not so subtly. Then they go on and on about your team for weeks……. Ha!
The “Inside The NFL” Mic’d Up Super Bowl Footage Is Undoubtedly The Greatest Piece Of Cinematic History
https://www.barstoolsports.com/philadelphia/the-inside-the-nfl-micd-up-super-bowl-footage-is-undoubtedly-the-greatest-piece-of-cinematic-history
Back in 2016 after the Eaglea fired Kelly, I secretely wanted them to go after Josh McDaniels. I thought he’d be the perfect head coach for Bradford
Wow, well, that’s honest.
There’s an alternate timeline in which Josh McDaniels just coached a Sam Bradford-led Eagles team to an 8-8 record amid rumors of dissension in the locker room due to players clashing with his authoritarian personality, while Carson Wentz is coming off his first MVP award as the obvious franchise savior of the Browns.
*shudder*
Scary thoughts. McDaniels-Bradford may have just gone 8-8 for sure in Bizarro-World.
Then Josh may have just tendered his resignation two days after the Super Bowl hoopla saying “My family left me. They left Philly and are headed back to Massachusetts. I just have to quit. I just have to follow my family’s wishes…”
The Eagles would be scrambling around for a head coaching candidate to interview now after everybody else made all their hires.
I don’t buy any QB having an MVP season at the Browns… I can’t recall any QB going to the worst team in the league and turning it around. It doesn’t happen.
But I can definitely see the Eagles being merely mediocre if we didn’t get Doug and Doug didn’t get Wentz.
Doug wants his players to adopt the mindset that having less time off than guys on other teams is “the new norm” because the team will be playing deep into the postseason every year:
http://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/pederson-wants-eagles-dynasty-which-requires-offseason-sacrifices
Love it. One reason sustaining success is hard is that it’s difficult to remain as hungry after you’ve tasted it. It’s especially hard for a players’ coach like Doug. But while he’s great at connecting with players, it’s clear he won’t go soft on them. Between this approach from our coach and Carson’s desire to win one where he’s actually on the field, I think we’re going to do okay.
Someone said several of the players themselves have been talking about Atlanta next year. So it’s not just coming from Doug. They’re a self-motivated team to a large extent.
I’m going. Let’s do this.
All ways thought NFL has the longest offseason. We play from February and if you make the end year tour thats until November. Preseason training kicks off in December if you didnt make the tour. Then season kicks back off end of Feb beginning of March. Its a full time job.
Yep. Its still real.
We even beat those clowns in their lucky white unis.
and Brady ran off the field without offering any congratulations to anyone
self absorbed ass
He did this in all 3 Superbowl losses.
Very Cam’ish…
Except Cam gets called immature and Tom gets called fiery.
Rewatching the game in NFL network. Eagles may have stripped the ball from Amondola in the 4th at about the 10:15 minute mark. It’s the drive Gronk scored on.
It looked like Amondola’s progress had been stopped but the whistle had technically not sounded yet… and the ball was out and recovered by Eagles.
It was a close, bang bang play, and ultimately moot, but also arguably a missed call.
Missed replay, too . . . a problem throughout NBC’s broadcast
Apparently, the NBC bigwigs decided that casual fans have little interest in replays . . .
They wanna hear Al Michaels and Chris Collingsworth talk about how great the Patriots are . . .
And how no one on the Eagles made any legal catches.
And I know it’s not just eagles fans who feel that way. There needs to be a serious petition started next year to make Collinsworst never does a SB again.
Yeah while watching the game I was shocked we didn’t get another look at this. NBC started the replay but cut out before the end of the play.
the whistle had not blown when the ball came out and Amendola was fighting for yards. I could’t believe they wouldn’t show that play again
Instead we were treated to one of CC off topic stories that undoubtedly began with “this guy….”
They just showed it on NFL Turning Point. He was up, the ball was out, in bounds, before the whistle. Moot now but Pats got one there.
Agreed I said the same thing live.
the hyper-coverage of the superbowl gives us so many extra nuggets of info and additional angles to view things that we just normally don’t get in regular games. Not to mention we’ll all be watching at least clips of this game for the rest of our lives.
So that one TD they got on a much too long run that featured the sorriest tackling of the season: Corey Graham gets the first crack at him, Mcleod comes in and rings his bell and they both fall off the tackle. Then Mills, who I love to death, comes in and makes a pathetic effort wishing one of them would make the tackle. Turns out, the missing bit of info, Mills had just messed up his hand. You can see him protecting it when he attempts the tackle. He tries to clamp onto the guy’s arm with his good hand, and doesn’t even try to use his bad hand, opts to awkwardly throw his shoulder into the guy (and not the high speed missile thing DB’s like to call tackling either). Just kind of interesting, there are 22 stories on the field for any given play, and it’s interesting to dig into a couple of them.
Well said. The “22 stories” thing is part of what makes the sport great. We know the QB position rises above all others, but it is the ultimate team sport nonetheless.
I haven’t seen any interviews or quotes from Schwartz… Has anybody else?
None. That IS interesting.
Even though the Eagles won the Super Bowl, Schwartz can’t be happy about his inability to slow down the Patriots. Notice I said slow down and not stop.
His low profile is completely justified, unfortunately
I think it’s been proven time and again that NE’s offense forces every defense to pick its poison. Jax has an awesome, physical defense and Brady was barely impacted. NE’s OL is not all-world, but 12 sees the field and unloads the ball quickly enough to frustrate superior DL’s. I will concede that our pass coverage in space was ugly, but those receivers get a step and 12 throws them open. We could stand to have a bona fide shutdown cover corner (most teams could), but as far as Schwartz goes, I think he’s a sound judge of talent and ability, and he still needs a few pieces. Our D held two playoff teams in two games to a total of 22 points, so he’s doing something right.
Yeah, this is kind of how I see it. With very rare exceptions, nobody “holds” the Patriots to anything – they’re generally able to score as many points as they need to to win a big game. It wasn’t a good defensive performance, at all, but we have to remember it came against one of the greatest QBs of all time, who has one of the greatest TEs of all time as one of his skill position targets. Tough assignment.
I think a goal of Schwartz in the game was to mix up the looks enough to make the dink and dunk less of an option. That was successful pretty much, but our achilles was the deeper routes. I thought Darby had decent coverage on Gronk, but he is a beast. The later completions to Hogan looked like D was starting to feel the pace.
I guess my problem is its inability to make adjustments. Yes, Brady is the best QB of all time, but rarely was a receiver not wide open on a completion. On the other hand, Foles often had to make perfect passes against tight coverage. In other words, where the Patriots defense was able to make adjustments, the Eagles defense wasn’t. This difference was Foles was making throws that many could only dream about.
I guess I’m still spoiled from the days of our great defenses of the late 80’s, early 90’s, and the days of Jim Johnson.
Good points. I want to thank you for feeding me an anonymous quote. I read your response and your point stuck, and I plagiarized it, because I forgot where I read it. I would like to see more ability to smother WR’s, but with a QB that takes the snap and fires almost immediately, even great corners will get beat. I marveled at Jim Johnson’s ability to devise blitzes, but great QB,s love to see blitzes. Our D is probably top 5…but it can get better.
Statistically TB is the GOAT, but, like Tommy, I’d take Rodgers in his prime over Brady in his prime. I don’t hate Brady, but he’s part of a franchise that I despise, so I’m slightly conflicted by the fact that he means to continue in his role. On the one hand, I don’t wish injury upon anyone, but this gifted QB who owes at least 2/3’s of his rings to his HC, is making a bet with fate that he won’t get clocked and regret his ego. Part of me wants him to get hit hard enough that he quits then and there, but I’d settle for (and prefer) to see him healthy, competing and getting beaten. And on the subject of lethal hits, Gronk had no business playing in that game. Yes, he was their 2nd best player Sunday night, but his mannerisms and unscripted movements AND his eyes betrayed a brain in need of healing. I’m afraid for the guy.
I thought he seemed off, robotic, less animated than normal.
I’d take prime Peyton over anyone.
I love all of you
NFL Network’s “Turning Point” program is doing miked up coverage of the Super Bowl. They just showed The Philly Special, miked up with all the sideline chatter. Man that play made Super Bowl history.
It’s a play people are going to be talking about 50 years from now, and not just Eagles fans.
If you haven’t seen it yet, you should check out Inside the NFL on Showtime. Lots of good sounds and scenes from the game. Watching Pederson’s stoic demeanor on the sideline gave me the chill. That man is a legend. This team is legendary.
FYI: If you don’t have a subscription to Showtime, you can get a free one week trial (make sure to cancel it within a week so you’re not charged).
Thanks for heads up. Great show.
Great show. I already recorded it.
You want Philly Philly?
….. sure let’s do it
Philly Special on 3 break. Let’s go LET’S GO
..
rest is history
.
Short , sweet and very meaningful.
Makes for the best ad ever for anything for ever.
Had to do something https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/07c884c37a2905c26aa6765e5861efb9a296201abed938cbb7c843c1e8012ffc.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5874cd12aa80fb7281188050c7a99c7351cc2f97a052a40910669ae5e7888115.jpg
Damn, that’s fine work there.
https://twitter.com/Rotosurance/status/961388257970966533?ref_src=twcamp%5Ecopy%7Ctwsrc%5Eandroid%7Ctwgr%5Ecopy%7Ctwcon%5E7090%7Ctwterm%5E0
Ha!
I can spot Photoshop a mile away, and that has no signs of being altered whatsoever. That is 100% real.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3fc987926f4003fe1b1b3447300f963e321cb959da01d4ebabe78c3bc12eaf90.jpg
It’s becoming apparent why the Eagles are trying to hold on to DeFillipo as long as they possibly can (his contract expires February 14). Reportedly, not only have the Vikings been waiting to interview DeFillipo for its offensive coordinator job, but Frank Reich is being considered for the Colts head coaching job. If Reich leaves, the obvious move will be to promote DeFillipo to the coordinator job.
Worse case scenario, the Colts don’t make their decision until after DeFillipo moves to the Vikings and decide to hire Reich.
“Vikings will interview John DeFilippo on Thursday”
Posted by Mike Florio on February 7, 2018, 8:08 PM EST
The Eagles are making the Vikings wait until next week to interview quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo. Unless they aren’t.
Adam Caplan of SiriusXM reports that the Vikings will interview DeFilippo for the still-vacant offensive coordinator position on Thursday. Adam Schefter of ESPN previously reported that the interview wouldn’t happen until next week.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/02/07/vikings-will-interview-john-defilippo-on-thursday/
The effect on the Eagles depends on how much Pederson leans on both men. It’s inevitable that DeFillipo eventually leaves. Hopefully, we don’t lose both.
It will be interesting to see if Duce is ready to move up the ranks.
Some have said that Duce is going to the Giants to OC for Shurmur. No interview announcement was made public that I know of though.
Now everybody knows we have a top notch group of coaches.
Some say Mike Groh would move to QB Coach from WR Coach if flip goes elsewhere.
I’d have to think Duce would prefer a shot at the OC job here rather than in NY. He’s a lifetime Eagle and coordinating an offense with Wentz at QB is likely to set him up better for eventual HC opportunities than working with a rebuilding team in NY, especially given that he won’t have playcalling duties in either spot.
Duce may have to choose between the comforts of home in Philly or the chance to be an OC elsewhere and build his chances to some day be a head coach.
I’m certain Duce would like to stay in Philly and also get promoted to the OC job. And I would like to see Duce stay in Philly either way.
If Reich stays, he’s the OC. If Reich leaves, it’s very possible that Flip is 1st in line for OC. Passing game and QB coaching experience may make Flip 1st in line compared to Duce.
But if Reich and Flip both depart, I think Duce is strongly considered for OC of the Eagles!
Duce is an Eagle! Jeff and Howie obviously love Duce as do most all Eagles fans.
If either Reich or Flip is the OC next season and then Pat Shurmur calls Duce about being OC for the Giants, I wonder what his decision would be…..
It would be unfortunate but the offensive staff has Duce, Press Taylor and Groh who could all be fine with promotions.
THis may be typical, don’t know, but the players have expressed so much excitement to bring this home for the fans. It’s incredible.
Biggest “needs” this draft season. Gonna start tonight. LB, RB, WR, OL?
Always BPA among any positions of need, which for me are the following:
LB: This is probably the shallowest position on the team even if Bradham comes back, even if it’s not the most critical in this defense.
OL: JP says he’ll be back but he’s 36 and a long-term successor needs to be in place – perhaps Vaitai is that guy, but it can’t hurt to have competition. Plus it’s almost always a good idea to draft linemen as you can’t have enough good ones.
S: Neither Jenkins nor McLeod is a young player at this point and we could use a developmental guy behind them.
WR: Torrey probably won’t be back. We need a guy to play opposite Alshon. Again, maybe he’s already on the roster in form of Hollins, but again there’s nothing wrong with competition.
TE: Celek may retire or be cut (and is pretty much just an extra lineman at this point anyway) and Burton is a FA who quite possibly won’t be back. Ertz has the starting spot on lockdown but we need depth here.
DT: Another depth spot. Cox and Jernigan will be the starters for the foreseeable future but Beau Allen may depart in FA and I don’t feel comfortable with Vaeao and Qualls as my backups.
As for RB, I don’t think it’s a pressing need with Ajayi and Clement both under contract and Sproles/Pumphrey perhaps coming back. Blount may be willing to re-sign on a cheap deal to chase another ring as he seems content here, and even if he doesn’t, I don’t think it’s too hard to find a guy with his skill set. Wouldn’t spend higher than a 4th rounder here, and even then only if one of the top backs falls as it’s a deep class from what I’ve read.
Good list.
I always viewed Mills and perhaps Douglas as the future at safety. Has Mills played himself out of a position change?
With Blount, keep in mind that is the exact scenario he rejected in NE to bring him here. We will see if we are truly a better place to play.
It’s a long offseason for the CB group. Lot of competition for starting spots. Jalen probably played well enough to not get immediately switched into the Corey Graham role, but he’s likely going to see more snaps in the slot at least through TC. I’d expect they’ll find ways to drop him into deep zones, and if guys motion away drop him back and rotate Malcolm down. Those kinds of things will help them kick the tires on a move to S, without having to outright do so.
Blount didn’t exactly break the bank with the one year deal he signed here, and I can’t imagine any teams are going to be breaking down doors to hand a 30 y/o back a huge deal.. I also get the feeling that these guys genuinely did love playing together and LGB may not want to give that up at this point in his career. We shall see though.
As the always true saying goes, “If you have 2 starting quarterbacks, you have no starting quarterbacks.”
We’re going to be the new 0-16 Cleveland Browns. I know it.
never too early to start eh?
In the Eagles’ case, the saying should be “if you have 2 starting quarterbacks, you have 3.5 starting quarterbacks”. You can’t forget about Sudfeld, and after his performance in the SB I’m not ready to give up on Trey Burton as a passer just yet either.
I bet Gruger-Hill cam play some QB also
I can’t wait to say “that’s it, grease the poles” at the end of the next game we win!
This is a good retrospective from Tommy, IMO… Incredible how much things changed in a short period of time. A couple thoughts on this post:
I wasn’t as hard on Doug as some, but I did think that he seemed too stubborn to learn from his mistakes, and that for the Eagles to be successful, he needed to give up playcalling responsibility. Incredible how wrong I was on that one.
I don’t fully understand McLane’s article from last year (he’s a terrible writer, but in fairness, Tommy only lifted a portion of his piece), but I do remember being 100% in agreement with Doug that some guys – especially on D – were not giving their best effort. I’m still not sold on Schwartz, but that discussion is for another day.
The more I think about Mcdaniels the more I wonder what in the everloving fuck he is thinking… Even if he is being groomed to be BB’s successor, he’s going to take over the team post-Tom Brady with no real quarterback heir apparent after having traded away Garropolo (which looks like a big mistake).
At this point he has no real options outside of New England, so he’s going to be taking over a declining team with massive expectations, and he probably won’t get another shot outside of New England.
Outside of generally being an incredibly shitty thing to do, it doesn’t even make sense for him from a career perspective.
McDaniels drafts the next Tebow. That would be glorious.
He’s burned himself with 31 other teams. Leaving the Colts at the altar like that kills his career. Whatever Kraft promised him better be good.
I would think that taking over for Belichick would arguably be one of the worst possible head coaching positions ever. The pressure, scrutiny, not just from fans and media, but the players will be immense. “I ain’t doin’ that shit. You ain’t Bill.”
To me, the emotional intelligence and judgement that McDaniels just showed, reveals he is unfit to be a head coach. The Colts dodged a bullet.
What you and a lot of people are doing is approaching it from a vantage point of level headedness, knowledge, and the luxary of perspective. I think McDaniels is a smug egotost, saturated with foxborogh koolaide, which constantly and severely clouds his judgement.
If Luck comes back healthy and the next HC can find a good DC and draft some OL and DL, that HC would be shoe in for coach of the year
Luck is already rumoured to be missing this season as well.
Agreed.
There’s probably multiple layers there. One is that the Colts probably sold him on Luck and then after he agreed to terms, they let him know Luck is looking at another surgery and another year of IR. And then all the Patriots shit on the other side that’s been beat to death.
“Want a free online Eagles-Patriots Super Bowl program”
By Jimmy Kempski
PhillyVoice Staff
If you are a Philadelphia Eagles fan and were unable to make it to Super
Bowl LII because you didn’t have an extra $5,000 (or a lot more) just
laying around, you can still get an online version of the game day
program, via the people at Gameday HQ, who put it together.
http://www.phillyvoice.com/want-free-online-eagles-patriots-super-bowl-program/
Not sure if this is the same Mic’d up footage that was on Inside the NFL (I don’t have Showtime), but NFL Films has 40+ minutes of Mic’ed up footage on YouTube. It’s pretty awesome – gave me chills. Also gives you a much better appreciation for how brutal the sport is and how amazingly athletic NFL level players are than the TV broadcast.
https://youtu.be/Hpv3jqmYRjk
That was amazing. It’s long but 100% worth watching
The best part is the final two minutes of celebration shots at the end: Foles holding his head in disbelief while coaches around him shout “we won” and Sudfeld repeatedly tells him “it’s over bro”, Jenkins falling to his knees and shouting in ecstasy, Warmack doing snow angels in the confetti, Dawk embracing one of the Eagles’ players with tears streaming down his face, Foles and Kelce embracing, Ajayi shouting the E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles chant. You can tell how much it means to these guys.
No matter how much success they have in the future, there’s nothing like your first.
And it also gives us a clear view that Amendola indeed fumbled the ball!!!!
I think they ruled something like stop of forward progress (if the player has given him self up to the tackle, the play is dead)
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-02-07/new-england-patriots-fans-turned-porn-after-stunning-super-bowl-loss
Pats’ fans found a way to console themselves after Brady’s fumble.
Lol. From the graph, it looks like Eagles fans watched the post-game stuff and then found a fun way to celebrate.
Blount got to stick it to the Patriots with 90 yards and a TD. Very cool.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/bf06e47d643a8390dc0da7220f1fe2f9293cdc5523e2a240b9fbfb420430ec6f.jpg
Very cool, except it kind of looks like a bird is pooping on his helmet.
Lol yeah I noticed that.
I don’t live in the city anymore, but my Mom does. Says her nurse coworkers literally don’t know how they’re going to get to/from work on Thursday. Apparently all the train tickets are already sold out! Not gonna be able to find parking anywhere, it’s going to be a ZOO!!!!!
It’s going to be worse than when the POPE was in town!
What is Corey Clement?
A god?
A starter?
I’d be satisfied with Sproles 2.0
Clutch
I saw a docu-whatzit on Facebook. Tom Brady is the subject of a series in which we learn that Tom’s number 1 love in life is football. He is married to a super model, has children, but they are second and third fiddle. Tom Brady sees his life as a movie in which he plays the hero, and he is consumed with using his resources to show the world how devoted to his craft and how excellent he is. He is the personification of FACILE. Tom’s fixation on Tom got me thinking about Nick Foles’ comments following the game. He was going to retire from the game because he wasn’t having fun. He talks of his wife and his baby and his father in a gentle tone that communicates reverence. He deflects the light on him to his loved ones, his teammates and his faith. How satisfying it is to see the relaxed, humble QB outperform the self-absorbed QB who sees his obsession with winning and extending his phenomenal career as virtues. If you’re a TB fan or if you just want to get a sense of his priorities…the series is called “Tom vs Time”.
Tom is abnormally driven and focused, and it takes some “interesting” psychology to sustain it. Tom is the Goat, but it while he was winning SB’s he wasn’t a great QB in his first 5 years in the league, but he has grinded and grinded, and he is probably in better physical shape now than when he came into the league. Tom played out of his mind in the Superbowl, watching the game again he was under pressure a lot, but just balled out. It may be the best QB performance i have ever seen in a big game.
Foles has more natural talent that Brady, but will never win like him because he doesn’t have that hint on insanity that many of the greatest have to be abnormally driven.
Had me until the natural talent statement. Cmon. Is processing speed not partly natural talent? If your body had the genes etc to become this strong and flexible you had to work to get it there but you had a better starting point. It’s more likely Tom wasn’t fully utilising his talents early than to say Foles has more talent.
Natural talent perhaps is the wrong word, he has better physical tools… and as prospects Foles was significantly better than Brady.
Brady has made himself the greatest – it took him years, and i would argue he is better at 39-40 than at any time in his career.
yep I’m just sensitive to Pats saying over the years that the Pats win because of teamwork and hard work etc. You don’t get to be GOAT at anything without an absurd amount of talent.
Everybody who plays any professional sport at the highest level has an absurd amount of natural talent, though. Lots of them wash out. What separates the guys who become all-time greats from the first round busts is a combination of luck (avoiding injuries, etc.) and what’s between the ears – intelligence, drive, passion for the game, etc.
Brady was, at best, a middling QB prospect coming out of college. But the guy is clearly supremely driven and competitive and I think that’s the main reason he’s one of the greatest to ever play the game.
Now that the Eagles have beaten him I have no problem complimenting him. Just makes them look better to have beaten such a great player in such a huge game. 🙂
I will die on this hill that Brady does not have more talent than almost all other QB’s. His separation from the pack is not luck and hard work. You may not easily see the talent, but it’s there and it’s spectacular. Jordan was cut in high school was he not talented? How many QB’s have “middling” talent and work hard and avoid injuries? How many are Tom Brady? What’s the difference? He worked 8 times harder than everyone else? Or his hard work was able to express his god given talents in a way that others could not?
I think it’s a combination of luck, talent, and hard work. If didn’t have a lot of natural ability, he doesn’t become great. If he’s not drafted by New England and coached by a coach as great as Belichick, he doesn’t become great. If Bledsoe doesn’t get hurt and give him a chance to play, perhaps he doesn’t become great. If he gets hurt himself, he doesn’t become great. If he doesn’t work as hard as he did, he doesn’t become great.
No player gets to that level without a number of factors in their favor. As for Jordan, yes he was talented, but that’s not what made him one of the best players ever. There have been other guys who ran faster or jumped higher, had longer arms, were equally or better coordinated, etc. I think what made Jordan different was that he combined 99th percentile physical talent (which almost all professional athletes possess) with an unusually high level of drive and competitiveness. It’s no different with Brady, except that he didn’t have the same level of raw (physical) tools.
I think we agree.
I agree, Rob. I see processing speed as the #1 ability for QBs, and it’s also apparently the least teachable and the least observable. Any definition of talent which avoids the most important part of performance is inadequate and misleading. Unfortunately, this mistake is so often made, when people with big arms and quick-twitch legs get picked up, with apparently little regard for their instinctive ability to play the game.
So often we see this: Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan… mostly these people are wired differently to normal mortals, and not in a way we’re apt to find pleasant.
He did this as pre marketing for his post playing days. He’s going to sell supplements and or lifestyle fitness books and classes. They talked about this on sports radio.
FOles also sees himself as the star of his own movie. Dug sees himself as the star of his own movie. Tommy Lawlor sees himself as the star of his own movie that ends with Megan Fox and pudding.
That’s how we live these days.
FOLes sees Jesus as the star of the movie. Dug is the star of the movie. So is Tommy! Unfortunately, Ms. Fox’s agent has been unresponsive to all attempts to bring her onboard the film.
Starring Jesus
and
Nick FOles
as
Big Dick Nick
Watch Foles in the celebration after the game – he’s as low key as ever. Dude is just like “wow.. I can’t believe it.”
He’s one of the most unassuming professional athletes I’ve ever seen. With a lot of guys I think the humility they espouse is false but I’m not sure that’s the case with him.
Im the only one who does not care for the draft at all right now? Normally I know a ton about the draft in december. This year, I only know a few names outside of the top QBs
I’ve looked at some stuff but I’m not up on it from watching as many games as usual , not even close really.
I like OG Will Hernandez and LB Leighton Van Der Esch possibly after a trade down. Also LB Rashaan Evans . There may be some OTs. Everyone seems to like Brian O’Neill who’s supposedly athletic. But we might be ok at OT if Peters comes back. Is an OT going to beat out Big V?
I’m really intrigued with DT Taven Bryan but just from watching a lot on youtube.
McShay has us taking him right now and says : A twitchy one-gap DT with the tools to continue to develop, Bryan is raw, but he has the athleticism to mold and good get-off quickness.
CBS Sports says:
Bryan is scheme-diverse — he can be a run-halting strongside end who’d exploit weak right tackles in a 4-3. On third down, he can kick inside and overpower guards. In a 3-4, he’d be a quality block-eater on the outside.
I think he can play outside in a 4-3 a little bit too vs. the run and that versatility is very interesting to me.
https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/2018-nfl-draft-prospect-rankings-floridas-taven-bryan-has-some-j-j-watt-to-his-game/
Taven Bryant sounds like a perfect match in this scheme and we really need some DT depth
Baker Mayfield, something something… yeah hard to care. I kind of think the Eagles are in nearly pure BPA mode right now. I guess OL, CB, WR, LB could all use some more help.
A lot of it is the Super Bowl won obviously, but a lot of it is nondayb2 pick right now.
I’m curious as to what they’ll do.
Here’s an interesting contrast. Watching NFL Turning Point again.
They show all the major drives, then cut in with press conference comments about the plays, and they also cut in with sideline comments from coaches and players as the game is unfolding.
You can really see how urgent the Eagles were and how passionate. Spurring each other on. Correcting and encouraging each other. It actually reminded me of the old Ravens championship teams that beat the Patriots to go to the Super Bowl.
Then you could see how routine and casual the Patriots were on their sideline. Big contrast between the two team styles and the intensity levels. The Patriots don’t yell and gesture and get excited. They just tell each other “Do your job.”
That big difference on the sideline led to that slight difference on the field and on the scoreboard. A handful of plays made or not made over 60 minutes on the clock led to the outcome.
It takes a lot to beat TB and BB. But the Eagles had it on Sunday in Minneapolis.
I don’t know if I buy that. The Patriots easily could have won the game, passion or dissension or not. It’s not clear what the correct balance of emotionalism versus intellect is in sport. I do remember the old Reid Eagles being noticeably calm and professional. It seemed to serve them well when they routinely clawed seasons out of bad starts and decided to stop losing, but the teams that beat them in the playoffs always acted like mad dogs next to them.
I also think it’s not really accurate to talk about the Patriots as if they are a bunch of emotionless robots… not sure if it’s in the Turning Point movie because I haven’t watched it yet, but NFL films had footage of one of the Pats’ defensive captains (McCourty maybe?) giving a fiery pregame speech that was very similar to Malcolm Jenkins’. Brady, Harrison, and others were all also pretty damn fired up at times.
I honestly don’t think you can play a game as intense as football without a lot of emotion.
Yeah I heard McCourty, or McCourtney. I thought they were both loud speeches. But to me it sounded like the Pats guy was going through the motions compared to Jenkins.
Maybe it’s just that they’ve been there and done that. But the intensity and urgency difference stood out. Completely different sidelines. Whatever the Patriots have going for them, it’s been working. Maybe the difference is the personality of Belichick versus that of Pederson. Maybe after our 8th appearance, we’ll sleep walk through it too. But it doesn’t seem like a Philly team would ever be like that.
Yeah, I don’t think there’s a right or wrong approach. This was a great example of game that could have been won by the losers if not for a few plays. Both teams attitudes put them in position.
With as much respect as I can muster with the following statement, the “they wanted it more” theory will never not be lazy analysis.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9w_XUQyJJQ
The Eagles and The City of Philadelphia are having a Super Bowl Parade today! The Eagles and The City of Philadelphia are having a Super Bowl Parade today! The Eagles and The City of Philadelphia are having a Super Bowl Parade today! The Eagles and The City of Philadelphia are having a Super Bowl Parade today! The Eagles and The City of Philadelphia are having a Super Bowl Parade today! The Eagles and The City of Philadelphia are having a Super Bowl Parade today! The Eagles and The City of Philadelphia are having a Super Bowl Parade today! The Eagles and The City of Philadelphia are having a Super Bowl Parade today! The Eagles and The City of Philadelphia are having a Super Bowl Parade today!
Jason Kelce is ready for the parade:
https://twitter.com/stefenwiz61/status/961587178253012994?ref_src=twcamp%5Ecopy%7Ctwsrc%5Eandroid%7Ctwgr%5Ecopy%7Ctwcon%5E7090%7Ctwterm%5E2
“I LOVE A PARADE!”
so quiet you can hear a pin drop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxaKn4ULlww
My friends who are Patriots fans have all been very gracious, but I’m amazed how many salty Pats fans there do seem to be out there. I understand you want to see your team win it any time they’re in it, but I’m like “dude, seriously – you’ve had an unprecedented level of success for almost two decades. Nobody’s gonna feel sorry for you.”
Hahah just noticed the girl in the Tom Brady jersey who immediately goes to check her phone as soon as the Hail Mary falls incomplete. Great metaphor for the phenomenon of bandwagon Patriots fans.
She got a text from an Eagles fan. He’s coming over to collect on their bet.
No shit. I would have buried my head against the floor and stayed that way for at least an hour had the Birds lost.
Parade Prediction: Sly runs up the stairs with the trophy!
I think the Philly Special may have just pushed Burton out of our price range.
Let’s be real, we all like to dump on Dak, but he’s probably a $10 million/yr. QB. How much is a guy who’s better than him going to be worth?
Anyone aware of a live feed of the parade?
PhiladelphiaEagles.com is streaming it.
Pederson already got out and walked around a little bit holding the Lombardi.
LOVE KELCE
He’s from Cleveland originally, where they have a very similar mentality to Philadelphians, so I think he gets the fans in Philly.
this is so outstanding, from the outfit to the cheer to the glee.
A lot of the employees on the buses?
supposedly there are like 24 buses filled with players and their families (and I Imagine the whole organization and theirs)
Has BGN put up the post where they compile all the NFCE posts from their message boards? I live for that greatness!
Kempski did something like it if you want an appetizer. http://www.phillyvoice.com/reliving-the-eagles-super-bowl-win-through-the-eyes-of-cowboys-giants-and-redskins-fans/
Thank you!
Any Schwartz sightings at the parade?
I saw him stationed at a light pole, trying to prevent people from climbing up, but he couldn’t stop anybody.
….(sorry)
What a difference one game makes in that narrative. The defense was absolutely dominant in two playoff games, and then lays an egg in the SuperBowl. Now Schwartz is the goat and Peterson the GOAT. Okay then.
D3FB made the point that the blueprint for beating this defense is a veteran QB who can get the ball out quickly. There aren’t too many of those in the NFL right now.
However the eagles are likely to encounter such a QB any and every time we make it deep into the playoffs.
I’m not calling for Schwartz’ head. I’m just anxious to hear what he says about the game. It’s no mystery that our secondary is our weakness. How do we fix it? One strength of our D is the vanilla, pin your ears back scheme, but it’s also a weakness.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m soaking in this victory now and for the rest of my life! But I do want to hear Schwartz’ analysis of the game.
The blueprint was getting receivers wide open all over the field. Even Dak could have made some of those throws…
Plenty of those were great timing throws only a guy like Brady could’ve made.
#TimingThrow
http://www.bostonglobe.com/rw/Boston/2011-2020/WebGraphics/Sports/BostonGlobe.com/2018/gifs/patriots/SuperBowl/NEO4.gif
“Plenty of” ≠ “all”. I never denied there were plenty of blown coverages as well (in fact I said the opposite in a previous comment).
Good. Glad to see you’re not one of those fans pretending this awful defensive performance was all about Brady being awesome.
I’m definitely not, I just think it’s an exaggeration to say they were horribly blowing coverages on every play, or that the only reason they got lit up was incompetence. There was some of that, but a fair amount of it was Brady/the Patriots being great at offensive football as well.
Tell me the Vikings Defense isn’t good just because we pasted them. Tell me the Rams offense isn’t good just because the Vikings defense pasted them. Some days you’re throwing scissors and they’re throwing rocks, but at the end of the day, we got the win based on one defensive play–One their defense didn’t make.
I said our defense had a “bad performance.” I didn’t say they were “bad.”
Are you ESL or something?
As far as I’m concerned, his full analysis should be: “scoreboard”.
There were at least two plays in the first half that should have been touchdowns if not for defensive pressure on Brady making him throw off the mark. There’s no shame in giving up yards to a very good QB running the very good game plan of a very good OC and very good coach. Replace “very good” with “best ever” as many times as you’d like. But they did enough to win the game.
We won in spite of the defense. Schwartz’s unit could have hardly performed worse. His DL is absolutely loaded, with three first round draft picks and tons of $, and it only got a hand on Brady once. They nearly wasted a once in a lifetime performance from our gutsy backup quarterback and an all-time coaching job by Dug.
Schwartz has elevated the defense since he’s been here, and we don’t get HFA without that improvement. But just about every other team that played the Patriots did a better job at defending Brady this year than Schwartz did in the Superbowl.
Most likely, we’ll never have to play B/B again in a game that matters, but I sure hope the team isn’t resting on their laurels and thinking that the D performed as expected in the Superbowl.
“His DL is absolutely loaded, with three first round draft picks and tons of $, and it only got a hand on Brady once.”
Lol. That’s an absolutely bullshit lie, bud. Brady was under pressure the entire game. Sacks =/= defense.
I’m glad you said that .. think the DL was playing tougher than it appeared
Guess we watched a different game. One sack. Three hits. Only holding the ball 2.55 seconds/pass. Guys so open I could have caught the ball. Brady setting yardage records.
https://www.patspulpit.com/2018/2/6/16976500/advanced-stats-report-new-england-patriots-tom-brady-mastery-defense-super-bowl-52-eagles
He was pretty the third quarter (maybe not, I haven’t re-watched) but running around and knocked down in all the others.
There was one hit (IIRC in the first quarter/early 2nd) that seemed to sting him, too. Got up a little slowly and looked shaken.
Also, there were several throws in the first half that were not typical Brady throws. I was watching with a Falcons fan friend, and we agreed two of 1st half attempts were wounded mallards that were unusual. I’ll go back and re-watch it tonight to see when they happened. But he certainly was affected early in the game.
In defense of the defense, I’ll take the 15-10 win over Atlanta and the 38-7 win over Minnesota to get us to the big game. But no doubt that the offense had their day in the sun on Super Bowl Sunday!
His DL is absolutely loaded, with three first round draft picks and tons of $, and it only got a hand on Brady once.
I thought this too while watching the game, but it’s not true. Go back and re-watch the game without the nerves – the Eagles DL pressured Brady a lot, and knocked him off his spot many other times. They came to play, he’s just really good at getting the ball out.
It’s true he was pressured more than I thought. 40%, which is only a bit lower than our DL’s average pressure rate for the season (41%). Still, there is pressure and there is pressure. The guy was able to evade almost all of it with a step right or left. He was able to step into plenty of his throws. Very rarely was he under severe duress, the kind that can bother him.
It was nothing like the typical game where an opposing DL forces him into a bad performance.
But I think that had more to do with the breakdowns in the secondary than it did with the DL. I agree with the analysis that Pats’ receivers were running wide open far too much, far too quickly. The question is, why? What happened? We all knew CB was the weakness on the team coming into the season. But it seemed to have tightened up as the season went on and become “good enough.” Why, in the SB of all times, did it revert to expectations?
Don’t ask those questions. Just blame the DL /s
I’m a bad, bad fan. Someone make me push sleds around for my disloyalty. Hep, two three, hep two three…
Seriously, and there were at least 3 plays where a poor tackle gave the Pats an extra 20+ yards!
It was nothing like the typical game where an opposing DL forces him into a bad performance.
How “typical” are such games, though? There were the two Giants’ Super Bowls, the AFC championship loss to the Broncos, maybe a couple others? Brady is very rarely forced into a “bad” performance even when he’s under constant pressure. That’s part of what makes him an all-time great QB.
I agree, I never really thought it was likely that we’d be able to dominate him like the Giants did–and we didn’t. Basically, he didn’t appear to be affected at all by the defense. How many times has he ever put up this many yards, so effortlessly, even against bottom-feeder teams? In any case, while I give JS huge props for getting us to the Superbowl, I think it’s pretty clear he laid an egg once we got there. How much worse could the D really have been? Give up 600 yards? 700? BG saved his bacon. What’s the narrative if Foles happens to misfire on one of the passes, or the ref brings back Clements’ TD?
Schwartz didn’t have his best day in the SB, no argument there. A lot of guys don’t have their best days against Brady and the Patriots’ offense, however. While he doesn’t get credit for the SB victory itself, I’m not going to throw him overboard or ignore the contributions he made to getting us there in the first place. They gave up 7.5 PPG in their other two playoff games.
There are no “what if”s for the past, only for the present,future possibilities.
Foles was accurate the whole game and Clement`s TD was not overturned because it was the correct call.
BG did his job, right on time, and didn’t`t save anyone’s bacon. After all, they were playing(in the second half) an on fire Brady-Belichick-led offense.
It’s funny to me that you are arguing that the numbers don’t tell the whole story 🙂
They do tell the whole story. 500 yards!
in a loss!!!!
brah – it’s tom brady. and we barely blitzed
Got him when it mattered
We won in spite of the defense.
Just watched the replay(4th time:) ) and in the first half plays were made to stop drives that ended in a missed FG, and one that ended in a FG…that`s 11 points deducted from NE`s total, and the strip sack (another possible 7 points), SO,you could say the Eagles won BECAUSE of the defense.
🙂 🙂 🙂
It was the most yards in any NFL game ever. Underselling that a bit.
Most yards ever in a loss*.
Last paragraph yes.
Thinking that Ron Darby is good to very good. He and Mills both are keepers on the immediate front. . We get help back from IR next season so we could still have a very athletic group.
..think it was as much Pats being great and Schwartz playing of the WRs
Not so high on Darby as you. He had some big plays this year, but was roasted all day on Sunday.
I’m hoping there’s a legitimate competition with him, Jones and Douglas to see who gets to start next season.
Darby saw more targets than Mills throughout the playoffs, too.
Mills was easily the best of our three CBs in the Super Bowl. He got beaten badly on a sluggo by Hogan once, but other than that was pretty solid as far as I could see. Darby and Robinson each got roasted repeatedly.
Watched a film breakdown in which the analyst (might’ve been Greg Cosell) basically said the Pats did an excellent job of using formations and pre-snap motion to determine what coverages the Eagles were playing, and deploying route concepts to put defenders in tough positions where they weren’t able to cover every guy who was out in a route because the Patriots were consistently hitting the stress points of the defenses they were playing.
We can improve this with better schemes, perhaps, but talent is not really the issue. The Patriots’ offense is just really freakin’ good, and will shred even really good defenses at times.
D3FB made the point that the blueprint for beating this defense is a veteran QB who can get the ball out quickly. There aren’t too many of those in the NFL right now.
Not a bad description of Matt Ryan. I think there’s more to it than just that.
It’s no mystery that our secondary is our weakness. How do we fix it?
Adding a top two prospect in a loaded CB class would help. Where would we find one of those? Oh my, we just happen to have a spare one lying around!
We already have a top cornerback prospect waiting in the Wings, so to speak!
I wouldn’t say J Mills is “waiting in the wings”
that’s the story of the season. Those units definitely took turn bailing each other out of the fire all year. The games they both showed up to resulted in total blow outs.
“THIS IS HOWIE DO IT!”
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=montell+jordan+this+is+how+we+do+it&&view=detail&mid=7053B7835E09870781837053B7835E0987078183&&FORM=VDRVRV
“EAGLES FIGHT SONG!”
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=eagles+songs+youtube&&view=detail&mid=B3A1F9F617E33A312DF9B3A1F9F617E33A312DF9&&FORM=VDRVRV
“FLY LIKE AN EAGLE – STEVE MILLER BAND”
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=fly+like+an+eagle&docid=608024855599385792&mid=B53862E1C5E76EE91B9FB53862E1C5E76EE91B9F&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
“FLY LIKE AN EAGLE – SEAL”
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=fly+like+an+eagle&&view=detail&mid=CF6A9D4ABBE660F8B6B4CF6A9D4ABBE660F8B6B4&&FORM=VDRVRV
“FLY LIKE AN EAGLE – TRINI LOPEZ – THE VIDEO”
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=fly+like+an+eagle&&view=detail&mid=0635A2EAA1D1415F7D870635A2EAA1D1415F7D87&&FORM=VDRVRV
Garoppolo just made the highest paid player in NFL history… really good day for Carson!
https://twitter.com/MikeGarafolo/status/961668166211522561
That seems crazy to me. I like Garoppolo a lot, and I realize he’s set to be a free agent so they have to pay to keep him, but he’s started what, 10 NFL games? That’s the same number Foles started in his record setting season. Major sample size problem there.
Have you watched him though?
He looks like Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady had a kid.
Like I said I like him a lot. I think he’s good. But the highest paid player in NFL history? That’s crazy.
Seeing this contract really puts into perspective why the Pats had to trade him…
Do we have to worry that we’ll need to pay Carson $250M?
“I WON’T BACK DOWN!”
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=won%27t+back+down+tom+petty&&view=detail&mid=D5B59D691B23D31A1B90D5B59D691B23D31A1B90&&FORM=VDRVRV
Crowd goes nuts for Howie!
Based on quality of speeches, I can say confidently that Jeff Lurie is *not* running for president.
Kelce *is* running for president.
I sware JP and Howie got louder cheers than Nick.
Chris Long was fired up!
This parade is a great example of the plus side of the passion of the Eagles fandom. I don’t think most championship teams get this kind of turnout for a parade or this kind of love from their fans.
Kelce doing a Howie speech. Kelce goes off on “some clown named” Mike Lombardi lmao and everyone else. That is a classic speech!
Damn, Kelce is fired up and passionate
I’m just gonna assume that sound cutting out on my stream was Kelce saying some words he shouldn’t.
I heard him say “fuckin” …
Kelce absolutely stole the show I love it I love this team!
I HATE THEY JUST BLEEEPED IT OUT
That was awesome! And in a mummer’s costume!
LEGENDARY
Don’t know why everybody goes crazy about Gronk. Kelce is clearly the most lovable meathead in the NFL.
The funny thing is that he’s no meat head, easily one of the smartest guys in the lockeroom
Yeah and he had a lot to remember in that speech.
I meant “meathead” more as a description of his persona than his intelligence level.
I think that’s the new language of talking to a crowd. Seriously, one of the biggest influences of public speaking in the past 50 years is freaking pro wrestling.
Beat for beat, Chris Long, Lane Johnson, and Jason Kelce nailed the cadence and patterns of pro wrestling. Trump won an election on it. For better or worse, that’s the most efficient way to communicate ideas and emotions today.
it’s broke, and the sound on my feed went out 🙁
Kelce’s rant is a pretty good indication that players do in fact hear the criticism and use it as motivation. It was like he had a checklist of anti-Eagles hot takes from the last two years he wanted to smack down one by one.
Kelce’s always been one that publicly acknowledged criticism. He was one of the guys who took offense to some of the criticisms of Reid in his final years.
Yeah, but he was aware of every criticism made of pretty much every guy on the team, going back to college, as well as guys in the front office and on the coaching staff, and was intent on calling out each and every one of them.
I love that he put Mike Lombardi on blast too.
is there a transcript available? I missed it.
Not sure if there was a transcript, but it was basically “Everybody said Peters is too old, Wisniewski’s not good enough, I’m too small, Johnson can’t stay off the juice, Brandon Brooks is a headcase, Big V isn’t good enough to fill in for a starter, Ertz can’t block, Blount isn’t fast enough, Carson went to a small school, Nick got released twice, Jalen Mills is too slow, Doug’s the worst coaching hire ever, Howie got demoted for not being a ‘football guy’, Schwartz failed as a DC, etc.”.
It was a masterpiece of umbrage taking.
Edit: BGN has the transcript –
https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2018/2/8/16992456/jason-kelce-super-bowl-parade-rant-most-epic-speech-all-time-fuck-michael-lombardi-philadelphia-nfl
You just know Jason Kelce is undercover on some Eagles blogs, the way he has every single one of our bad hot takes on lock lol.
yeah, the “they’re pros, they don’t listen to that stuff” cliche is very very dead. Kelce, double-tapped, triple-, quad-, well he unloaded an arsenal into it.
I feel like the cliche started out as meaning “they hear it, but they don’t believe in it” and slowly transformed into “actually we keep them in a simulated reality like the Truman dome and they are very much oblivious of everything that isn’t football.”
We’ve had a lot of discussions about guys taking hometown discounts to stay here. After today you do get a real sense that these players really enjoy plying in this city. I don’t expect players to leave huge amounts of money on the table, but playing here has value that can overcome some smaller financial disparities.
I definitely think it will be meaningful enough to at least be a tipping point factor if the money is equal or close. The organization is now an unequivocal winner and Pederson has a reputation as a guy who listens to and empowers his players (which the NFL Films footage of him deciding to go with Foles’ call of the Philly Special on one of the critical plays of the SB can only enhance). I’m sure NFL players get tired of playing for egomaniacal autocrats and the idea of playing for a coach who listens to them will appeal to many.
Kelce brought the raw stuff man. Wow!
“Lane Johnson can’t lay off the juice”
I can’t even imagine the shit Lane gets on a regular basis from the o-line about that.
I love the Eagles and the celebrations by everyone except Ike Reese. He doesn’t speak English.
classic line before the Super Bowl started: “I knew I never liked Steph Curry”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hpv3jqmYRjk
(Reposting my comment from below)
The best part is the final two minutes of celebration shots at the end: Foles holding his head in disbelief while coaches around him shout “we won” and Sudfeld repeatedly tells him “it’s over bro”, Jenkins falling to his knees and shouting in ecstasy, Warmack doing snow angels in the confetti, Dawk embracing one of the Eagles’ players with tears streaming down his face, Foles and Kelce embracing, Ajayi shouting the E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles chant. You can tell how much it means to these guys.
No matter how much success they have in the future, there’s nothing like your first.
This majestic bastard became a legend today.
https://media0.giphy.com/media/tg862mvosqzfy/giphy.gif
Kelce was awesome this year, but in the playoffs he attained another level. He played out of his mind. People would delay double A gap blitz, and he would help Wiz, and somehow pick up both blitzers and block them dead. On run plays he put DT’s on their asses, run down field and take out a safety. Genuinely the greatest set of center performances i have ever seen.
Oh and he is a Philadelphia LEGEND forever for his rants since the superbowl.
The entire offensive line was awesome in this playoff run, with Kelce leading the way. I can’t wait to watch the all-22 of them in the SB.
Repeating is really hard, its hard to have the same intensity and drive as players, its hard to keep the same quality of roster in the free agency. Every team has watched and broken down your film to steal your best plays, and work out how to counter what you do. Coaches get poached, as do your best scouts.
Belicheck had to turn his team and organization into robots to help sustain the success.
But you know what, i saw some hungry dogs out there today speaking on the parade. There are some Brady like chips on peoples shoulders. I think this team could have the hunger to come back and try and do it again. The secondary should be better next year with another year of growth. We have a lot of fallen hero’s who should be back and make the team better. We will lose some key depth and it will take a smart off season and draft to protect and grow that… but i think this team will want to be great again, to climb the mountain again together, to hunt greatness together again.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Doug has already pointed out to the players that even after beating them the Eagles are still underdogs to the Patriots, since they have longer odds to win the SB next year.
I didn’t see the Kelce speech live, but now that I have: Jason Kelce for President.
Um no.
https://twitter.com/PSchrags/status/961689444234514437
Interesting that Kelce was that aware of the Roseman situation, obviously the players notice when stuff like that go down, but I didn’t think they would care all that much about what goes on with the FO.
Just got home and it was well worth dealing with the aggravation and traffic.
I was in the city on Sunday night and the crowd today was night and day. Much more diverse especially in age, more laid back, and a lot less intoxicated/smoking weed. Didn’t smell any weed today and in general only saw a few people who were asking a bit out of control. Only issue was the lack of adequate restroom facilities which always seems to be an issue with any large event in Philly including the Marathon, Broad Street Run, etc.
People at 30th & Market were calm and orderly waiting in line and even not crushing one another on packed trains.
Just made a memorable day that much more enjoyable including the weather working out well too.
Kelce’s speak is going to get all of the attention and be what people remember the most.
I actually liked Foles’ speech the best. Short, heart-felt, and low-key.
It was the kind of speech I would expect from the most unlikely guy to lead this team to an NFL championship.
Dead wrong when I thought the season was over when Wentz went out or that Foles didn’t have to play well for the Eagles to win in the playoffs.
He was historically good and I hope people remember that.
He was historically good and I hope people remember that.
People in Philly still talk about how good Jeff Garcia was for a team that lost in the divisional round more than a decade ago. I would go out on a limb and say nobody’s going to forget Foles having one of the greatest postseason runs in NFL history while leading the franchise to its first Lombardi Trophy.