Perspective on Pederson
Posted: February 12th, 2018 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 159 Comments »Doug Pederson has won a Super Bowl and just started his coaching tree. Let that sink in for a moment. He’s come a long way since word leaked he was a key target for the Eagles in January of 2016. Exactly zero people were excited when they heard that news.
Doug Pederson?
Here is the first long piece I wrote on him.
This isn’t a resume contest. Pederson wouldn’t stand a chance if that was the case. This is about Jeff Lurie trying to find the right coach for the Eagles. It is possible that Lurie and Roseman will think Pederson is the right guy.
There would be no “wow factor” with this hire. But the Eagles made the wow hire 3 years ago and now they are in the process of looking for a new coach so sometimes the wow factor is completely meaningless.
The best hire Lurie ever made, Andy Reid, was the least celebrated of his coaching hires. Ray Rhodes had just won the Super Bowl with the Niners when he came to Philly. The Eagles were going to become SF East. Didn’t happen. Chip Kelly was supposed to revolutionize the NFL. He certainly had an impact, but the Eagles never came close to being an elite team under him.
Reid was the guy who never called plays or was even a coordinator. He was the consolation prize when Holmgren took the Seattle job. Nobody had Reid as their first choice. He came in with little fanfare, but left as the best coach in franchise history.
If Pederson does get the job, remember that while he could be the next Pat Shurmur, he could also be the next Andy Reid. Lurie has made good hires so far during his time as owner. If there is something about Pederson he likes enough to roll the dice, history says he just might be right.
Rather than say “I love this idea or hate this idea” I wanted to figure out what made him a candidate. If Lurie and Roseman were willing to hire Pederson, there had to be a reason. The more research I did, the more I could see what they might be looking at.
*****
Here was my reaction to Pederson’s hiring.
Is this a good move?
No one knows the answer to that question. People can talk about their feelings in regard to the move, but only history will really tell us if Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman and Don Smolenski made the right move. Just 3 years ago I thought the Eagles made a great hire when they lured Chip Kelly away from Oregon. Now he’s gone and there isn’t even a playoff win to reminisce about.
Pederson is not a sexy hire. He wasn’t interviewed by any other teams. To some outsiders, it appears the Eagles panicked and settled on a guy that no one else wanted. The problem is that we don’t know how high Pederson was on the list to begin with. He might have been close to the top. There were a few in the media who thought he would be a top target from the beginning.
You can still argue that they made a bad choice, but that’s different from panicking and settling for someone.
I don’t know if Pederson is the right guy. I know he can be. He needs the right people around him and he needs the right people playing for him.
And
Doug Pederson isn’t here to be Andy Reid 2.0, but he is here to move things back in that direction. Pederson played for Reid in Green Bay and Philly. He coached here for 4 seasons and followed Reid to Kansas City. Pederson has seen Reid when things are good and bad. He was part of the 4-12 disaster that led to Reid’s dismissal. He’s also been part of an amazing 11-game winning streak this season.
Critics see this as Lurie hiring a “Yes Man” type of coach who will fit in and not rock the boat. I certainly get that perception, but I think it missing a big part of the equation. Roseman’s future and reputation will be greatly affected by this hire. Lurie’s legacy will be affected. I don’t think the average person understands how much Lurie wants to win. It kills him to be the lone NFC East team with no rings.
Lurie would not make this move if he didn’t believe it could work. He isn’t an owner just out to make some money. Lurie has built the Eagles into a first class organization. He does everything he can to help the team out. He is more interested in winning games than making money. He wouldn’t just choose someone for the hell of it. Lurie believes in Pederson, whether you do or not.
Back in 2013, the Eagles went after the big names. They sold themselves to Chip Kelly, trying to convince him to leave college and come to the NFL. That process set the tone for the relationship. “Come save our team…” Lurie gave Chip every resource he wanted. He eventually gave him all the power. Lurie went all-in with Chip and it just wasn’t working.
This time out, Lurie decided he wanted a coach that would be part of the solution. Doug Pederson is not here to save the Eagles. He is here to be the coach. He’ll work with his staff, the personnel department and ownership to build the Eagles into a championship caliber football team. That’s the goal, anyway. Clearly, as we learned with Chip, there are no guarantees.
Based on Lurie’s history, the sexier the hire, the worse the coach. When Pederson leaves in 27 years, I hope Lurie hires someone we’ve never even heard of.
*****
Here was my reaction to Pederson’s first PC.
Pederson gave some generic answers. He wants his team to be tough, to work hard every day and to be aggressive. I’ve heard debate team coaches use the same description for their squad.
I hated the answer Pederson gave when he talked about not having specific schemes, but rather shaping things around his players. No, no, no. You absolutely need base schemes that you believe in. You tailor and adjust components of those schemes to fit the current players, but you must have schemes that guide your personnel decisions and are based on your philosophy. Trying to adjust every season to the players you have is not the way to go unless your name is Bill Belichick and you are a coaching freak. Mortal coaches need schemes. I hope Pederson simply meant that he’ll adjust his playbook to the personnel at hand. He better have some core beliefs and plays that he will build around.
I did like Pederson talking about creatively using the players on offense. He talked about lining up guys in different roles and different spots. He talked about not being static, as in RCB vs LCB or Riley Cooper almost always being on the left side and Jordan Matthews mostly being in the slot. Move players around. Mix things up so you don’t become static and predictable. Chip was very disappointing in this aspect.
I liked it when Pederson talked about giving the QB freedom at the line of scrimmage. Pederson is a former NFL QB and I’m sure he would have loved to call his own plays. KC gave Alex Smith a lot of freedom at the line and he helped the team get red hot and make the postseason.
It is really funny that I compared his ideas to Belichick after that PC. I had no idea that Pederson would prove to be such and X’s and O’s guru that he could in fact do things on offense that Belichick does on defense.
Pederson showed an amazing ability this year to adjust the offense. We saw an incredible amount of versatility and creativity.
No one had an idea just how good of a coach the Eagles were getting, the Eagles included.
*****
I assume you aren’t too tired of Super Bowl talk…here is a good piece from a Patriots site on how the Eagles got the best of the NE defense.
Winning is fun.
_
“No wow factor” – Crow-eatin’ Tommy L.
Seriously though, I remember reading that line the first time, and the subsequent line about Chip. Couldn’t have agreed more.
Now I cannot stop saying “wow!”
The thing that most impresses about Doug to me is how flexible his scheme and play calling is. The scheme can attack and exploit every blade of grass. Doug makes you defend horizontally and vertically. It can attack the middle of the field or the edge, has consistent man and zone beaters. I have seen very few schemes that are as comfortable in attacking a defense in almost any way.
And then as a play caller Doug just takes what you give him. Stack the box? he will pass on the outside and vertically. Spread out to cover our WR’s? he will run the ball. While he was great (obviously) in 2017 as a play caller, when you have a great OL, QB and multiple weapons you should have success, 2016 when the Eagles were a mess on the OL, lacked weapons and had a rookie QB i was consistently impressed with his ability to manufacture offense and find a way to put up 20+ points in games.
The other strength people haven’t talked about enough is Doug’s ability and willingness to delegate roles and responsibility. Doug lets Schwartz run his defense. He lets Howie run the front office, he lets his position coaches run their unit. His focus is working with his QB, calling a great game, and managing the team emotionally, and lets other people carry the load in other area’s. Too many coaches try and control too much and get involved with too many different roles they can never be true masters in (waves at Chip).
“Trying to adjust every season to the players you have is not the way to go unless your name is Bill Belichick and you are a coaching freak”
Mmmh…. let’s update this sentence a bit:
“Trying to adjust every season to the players you have is not the way to go unless your name is Doug Pederson and you are the coaching freak who can beat Belichick in a Superbowl”
Better!
This is nuts. Two years ago, we were getting dealing with the following:
– Getting over the shock of Chip getting fired and hired by the 49ers
– Wondering if Sammy was coming back
– Critiquing Doug’s poor public speaking ability and lack of experience
– Dealing with Demarco Murray’s and Byron Maxwell’s me-first attitudes
“I hated the answer Pederson gave when he talked about not having specific schemes, but rather shaping things around his players. No, no, no.”
I’m curious Tommy, do you still feel this way about new coaching hires in the NFL?
Doug’s X’s and O’s acumen aside, his ability to adjust on the fly to what the defense is giving him is incredible.
I posted something about this a few weeks ago.
I was not a fan of the Pederson hiring. I thought it was Lurie trying to recreate the “Good Ole Days” of Andy Reid’s tenure.
I was more convinced after year 1 that he was in over his head. His play-calling was suspect at best – he forgot about the run constantly. He had a rookie QB throw the most passes in franchise history to what could arguably be called the worst receiving corps in the history of the NFL
I never saw this SB win coming. I am so glad to have been wrong about Doug. I have complete faith in him to rebuild a staff that can continue to be successful. What a difference a year makes!
I disagree he ‘forgets’ the run. If you stack the box Doug will pass the ball. Our OL and scheme is not designed to power through an 8 man box, in Doug’s mind that is idiotic – you pass around the packed box and exploit your 1v1 options.
Problem we faced in 2016 was lack of talent at WR – the amount of drives ruined with drops or bad routes drove me nuts, not the lack of a running game.
Doug will run 40 times in a game if that is what the defense gives him, and will just run it 15 times if the defense tries to take it away.
It’s the bias of looking for Reid faults in Doug. Many fell into that trap.
Doug fielded an offense that was top 10 in DVOA with trash skill position players in 2016. That was quite a coaching feat in and of itself.
No, it was 20th.
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamoff2016
Right you are. It was the overall team DVOA that was top 10.
Nevertheless, I’d argue that even 20th in offensive DVOA is an accomplishment when you’re starting Ryan Mathews, Jordan Matthews, DGB, etc. and have a rookie QB.
Ryan Mathews actually might have led the league in DVOA that year. And Jordan Matthews is a solid #4. Oh. I think we agree.
WTS Superbowl Part 1 is up: https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2018/2/12/17000110/what-theyre-saying-super-bowl-edition-q1
TB Eisen has been masterful doing these this year but this might be his magnum opus.
Not a huge Peter King fan, but this morning’s MMQB is fantastic.
It’s clear Groh was much more involved in the offense than previously thought. After reading this, I have no fear Doug will put together a good offensive staff.
When reading about Doug’s delegation skills, it’s no wonder Reich and Flip got promotions from other teams.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/02/11/eagles-super-bowl-zach-ertz-touchdown-wristband-145-mmqb-peter-king
I read that piece also – I think that’s the thing that has impressed me about Pederson. He really seems to be able to check his ego at the door and be able to listen to lots of voices on his staff. But not only that – he seems willing to actually implement their ideas if he believes they are better than his.
I have to believe it’s pretty unusual in the NFL, and certainly a big change from the guy who coached the Eagles before Doug.
There’s just so much good stuff in that article. This quote really stick outs to me.
““For me,” Pederson said, “this story is simple. I hired these coaches for a reason. I hired Frank as my OC for a reason. This is a collaborative effort. It has never been about one guy, one coach, one player. This is a daunting task for one guy. It’s way too much. I trust these guys to study the tape like they do, and Frank gives out the assignments during the week. Guys know their lanes, they stay in their lanes. If a play fits our personality, offensively, we will try to get it in the game plan somewhere. It’s a credit to our coaches, all of them, that they found the little gems all season.””
While that is a great thing to have in a HC, it also means losing his assistants and coordinators could be a bigger deal than many think.
I mean, if these people were as involved as the story suggests, their loss will be felt. Hopefully the replacements prove to be as good as their predecessors.
Doug has proven himself willing to borrow ideas even from people who aren’t on the staff (witness all the Chip Kelly plays and concepts he started to incorporate once Foles became the QB). There’s reason to be optimistic I think.
..and the guy who coached before the guy who coached before BBD
I think the fact that Groh was there for this interview is quite interesting. Had Flip still been here, I bet it would have been him instead. This might be a hint that Groh will indeed be the next man up…
I thought the same thing…
That’s was my first impression too.
Nice post, Dave. I reposted the link above. Next man up might be Mike Groh, the passing game coach.
Tim McManus says Duce has been rumored to be in consideration for some offensive coordinator jobs this offseason. There was talk last night in here that he wasn’t involved in any external rumors but it may not be the case.
Tim doesn’t have much else new to add besides the hot take of making no one OC and making Duce run game coordinator and Groh passing game coordinator.
I love that idea which some suggested last night whether you bring in an outside OC or not. Then I would still promote Press Taylor to QB coach. Maybe promote another assistant to WR s coach depending on what Groh thinks….
http://www.espn.com/blog/ph…
Stoutland is the current run game coordinator. According to D3FB, that is the norm, having the offensive line coach coordinate the run game.
FYI, your link isn’t working. Here is the working link.
http://www.espn.com/blog/philadelphia-eagles/post/_/id/24566/with-frank-reich-defilippo-gone-eagles-could-get-creative-to-fill-void
Well that’s all McManus said that was new to me so I don’t care about the link now lol.
Dave (sunglasses avatar) brought up Demarco Murray below in a good post about how far we’ve come as far as transitions in such a short time.
I was just thinking of Murray while reading the pats site article Tommy posted. We dominated using runs and rpos from the shotgun. Haha, Murray would have made this win impossible.
I was foolishly hyped when we Murray based mostly on Tommy’s analysis and crush on him from pre draft. Haha
I like him because I had a cat named Murray.
Bet your cat was more open minded and humble.
It’s a push.
Both we’re a puss
This is the kind of top notch Tommy Lawlor work you pony up the big bucks for and send to each teammate after winning the Superbowl if you’re Chris Long.
Jeff Lurie has 30 billionaires saying “WTF” to one another. His Andy Reid hire was by his own admission a calculated risk. Big Red bowled him over with his interview preparation which displayed an elaborate game preparation. He knew what he had in Doug. He saw his habits as a back-up to DMAC (actually as a starter before 5), and he had daily opportunities to get a HC’s perspective on Doug the assistant. Jeff Lurie had nothing to do with the game of football before he became a member of the elite billionaires’ club. The same club that told Donald Trump to take a hike (his USFL franchise went down inflames) is now collectively awed by Lurie’s people-reading skills. Well done, JL.
Probably, but Lurie actually cares about winning. He’s willing to hire people who know what they’re doing and let them do their job. Presumably most billionaires do this in their other businesses, but too many of them seem to let their ego get in their way with football. I figure it’s because it’s their hobby, and mostly for ego-glorification. Actually most billionaires probably see it as a business and don’t feel it’s worth it to spend much money, since the $ is going to roll in whether the team is good or not.
Also known as the Jimmy Haslem strategy.
I think there’s actually probably more competitiveness between the owners than we realize, since they probably see their teams as an extension of themselves, and people who get that rich are generally obsessed with winning.
Ain’t life wonderful?
https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2018/02/12/last-22-years-numbers-tell-story-cowboys-become-nfls-version-kardashians
Yes! Tie for 5th in playoff games and tied for 6th in playoff wins since 1996 if that’s accurate. We have 6 championship game appearances since 1996. They have a graphic that we have 3 SB appearances since 1996 which isn’t right.
The simple fact is there isn’t such a thing as a template for finding a successful head coach in the NFL. I mean I hope Frank Reich is successful, but it’s not as if he hasn’t been around awhile. More often than not, coordinators from Super Bowl teams don’t succeed. Why, it’s my guess many underestimate the dynamics of all factors it took to get and win the Super Bowl. It’s simply impossible to recreate something that’s difficult to obtain in the first place.
It’s no accident that few Super Bowl winning coaches are able to recreate what got them to that point. As said, Belichick has the ability to retrofit his team around his personnel’s abilities. How many times has a player not considered talented turn into a good player with the Patriots. I think, or at least I hope, that Doug has many of the traits Belichick has, not to mention a heart, but only time will tell if Pederson can repeat his feat by winning one or more Super Bowls.
A good leader needs wise counsel. Wise counsel desires the opportunity to be heard by the leader. Being a leader renowned for accepting wise counsel should increase the likelihood of wise counselors wanting to work for the good leader…
I’m not worried about the brain drain effect hitting Pederson as hard as it hit Reid, because I think Pederson’s method should attract new coaching hires. The hurdle will be Pederson’s ability to evaluate the options and pick the right guys. Pederson’s ability to accept counsel should also be an asset in the area because he can (and will) pick up pointers from the Roseman/Lurie brain trust.
It’s not “a lock” that all this transitioning will go smoothly, but there are good reasons to be optimistic about it.
Agree.
Two thoughts:
a. Does Pederson’s success get credited to Reid at all? It’s impossible to say Reid is still the best coach in Philadelphia history but he should share a little bit in the victory being as how Pederson’s coaching tree is, ultimately, Andy’s.
b. I wonder to what extent Pederson’s long history with the team is significant. This is an Eagles team that drew a lot of strength on their ties to the city, their shared identity (as underdogs, as scrappy, as straight-talking and sometimes vulgar). Could they have done this with a coach who didn’t have such a long history with the Eagles?
I don’t think Doug’s tree is ultimately Andy’s – he himself came up under Andy but neither Reich nor DeFilippo ever coached under him.
AR gets no credit m that’s a laff.
Had decent conversation with a neighbor yesterday about the SB. One interesting take he had is that the Pats shouldn’t have gotten rid of Blount b/c he ran for [6? 7?] yards a carry in the SB. It’s interesting to me b/c that’s such a narrow view giving Blount so much credit for that. He’s a fine back (not great), but the OL played at an insanely high level and the scheme (see the Pats Pulpit article) aided the running attack.
Blount has had a wierd career. He’s been an effective running back for 8 years but no one wants to pay him anything more than the vet minimum. He did play an important role in this season. Without him we probably lose against the Chargers and without him Ajayi isn’t as healthy and fresh during the playoffs. And the Eagles did trust him with the last 3 runs in the SB. They were worried that Ajayi or Clement would fumble it
I think his issues are that he is a one-trick pony. He cannot be counted on the pass block, is no threat as a receiver, and doesn’t play special teams.
So does he stay an Eagle for another season ?
Name recognition effect. I also saw a comment from a pats fan friend on facebook expression regret about losing Blount.
It’s just a shallow understanding of the game.
The dominant play of the OL was definitely a factor, but Blount was balling out notwithstanding – he was great in the postseason and had several tone-setting runs where he trucked defenders on his own. I think Andrew Sendejo and Patrick Chung still have cleat marks on them. He strikes me as a guy who steps it up a level in the playoffs.
true true but I took it more as not acknowledging or recognizing the OL play. You know, I had to find a slight in there somewhere to keep the chip on my shoulder.
The casual football fan who thinks about OL is a rather rare bird. It doesn’t help that TV sets up every game as an epic battle featuring the glamor boy QBs and WRs and RBs as the stars and everyone else as just scenery or storm troopers.
totally true
He and Ajayi both averaged over 6 ypc in the Super Bowl. The Patriots were known to have a weak run defense (one article even suggested this as the “football reason” Butler was sidelined…if your best CB is out, the other team might be inclined to pass more).
But yeah, I’d say it’s recency bias from your neighbor. Blount had that good goal line run where he trucked a post-concussion Sendejo, but that was it for the postseason. Other than that he was averaging 2 yards per carry against Atlanta and Minnesota.
He did score TD’s in all 3 games. Regarding the concussion remark about Sendejo, even if he never got the concussion I think Blount was still going through him.
Ok with that reasoning do the Birds keep him next year ?? (I don’t know his contact but id say he shud stay another season)
“If there is something about Pederson he likes enough to roll the dice, history says he just might be right.”
How did you know this about him back 2016 prior to him coaching the Eagles? I didn’t realize how agressive he would be.
I think “he” in that sentence refers to Lurie, not Pederson. Tommy is saying that if there is something Lurie likes in Pederson enough to roll the dice and hire Pederson, Lurie might be proven right.
It’s finally here!!
https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2018/2/12/17000110/what-theyre-saying-super-bowl-edition-q1
“What they’re saying about the Eagles?” by TB Eisen?
Yessir!!
It’s a heavy meal. Delicious, but heavy. I’m saving the read for this evening! Can’t eat like that in the middle of the day.
Lol I’m snacking here and there!
After Doug’s 1st presser, Tommy said:
“Trying to adjust every season to the players you have is not the way to
go unless your name is Bill Belichick and you are a coaching freak.
Mortal coaches need schemes.”
At that time, Tommy also said:
“I liked it when Pederson talked about giving the QB freedom at the line
of scrimmage. Pederson is a former NFL QB and I’m sure he would have
loved to call his own plays. KC gave Alex Smith a lot of freedom at the
line and he helped the team get red hot and make the postseason.”
Flexible scheme and schematic adjustments. QB freedom at the line of scrimmage. These are the two biggest keys to the transition from Carson to Nicky at QB, and to all those playoff play-calling successes that are typified by “The Philly Special.”
Doug retooled the offense in-season during a playoff run. He tailored it to play to Nick’s strengths and barely missed a beat while doing that.
Big Wow to Doug Pederson. And Big Wow to Tommy for the insights after Doug’s first press conference. Hard to tell who deserves the biggest Wow here to be honest. Great stuff, big guy!
It helps if your QB has an extremely high IQ like Carson.
And Nicky, the Super Bowl Hero! Isn’t that amazing?
Well, Nick only scored a 29 on the Wonderlic, which is not very high (Carson=40). But looking at this chart, I’m not seeing a massive correlation with Wonderlic score and ability. What really stands out to me is that Peyton Manning only scored a 28.
The Wonderlic is an odd little test. Apparently Eli scored a 39, but he certainly doesn’t appear to be smarter than big brother.
http://nflwonderlictestscores.com/how-smart-is-your-teams-qb/
I think Nicky is football smart. Athletics smart. Which is weird too because on surface he seems kind of geeky and gangly. But he’s very well coordinated, evidenced by his passing talent, his obvious receiving technique (Philly Special), and his former basketball experiences too. I don’t know what Wonderlic measures unless the score is really sub par.
I think it’s not IQ, or even Wonderlic. It’s a specific skill set that allows a player to see the field as a whole pattern, instead of individual data points. The true greats then have a subconscious analysis occur – they don’t even need to think it through, they just react.
As a skill, practice can make it better for anyone. But there are probably genetic constraints to the ceiling that varies by person.
Would you describe that ability as having “football smarts?”
Whether Carson becomes a true great or not, I felt that this is a strength of his, for sure. He always seemed to be a step ahead of the defense, especially on 3rd downs. He seemed to know, pre-snap, where an open guy was going to be.
I actually think, right now, it’s his greatest virtue as a QB. Superior to his arm strength, accuracy, mobility, etc.
I would agree. To me, IQ measures certain academic skills that might help in the study process that precedes that special zone where you see what’s going on sometimes even before it happens. IQ basically measures the intellectual skills relating to abstract learning, which help in picking up playbooks and memorizing Xs and Os and such.
But there are probably people with 90 IQs who are athletic geniuses.
Sounds like Press Taylor will be the new QBs coach. Probably will teach the same stuff as Flip.
Groh to OC then?
Sounds like a definite “Maybe…..”
Definitely.
That MMQB article posted earlier is very complimentary of Mike Groh. Coach’s son too. Son of the great Al Groh. Might be the next OC of the Philly Eagles! Read this.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2018/02/11/eagles-super-bowl-zach-ertz-touchdown-wristband-145-mmqb-peter-king
I’m with that. #teamGroh
The tears of the enemy! Haha! Here’s an excerpt:
“Jerry Jones is Miserable about the Eagles’ Super Bowl Win” by Rob Tornoe
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/super-bowl-eagles-jerry-jones-cowboys-dak-prescott-miserable-20180212.html
>While Birds fans have been celebrating the Eagles’ historic Super
Bowl victory for the past week, 1,500 miles away, the Dallas Cowboys are
miserable. As Dallas Morning News reporter David Moore described it, the mood in Big D last week was “abject depression with a side of shattered dreams.”
>In Dallas, no one is more unhappy than owner Jerry Jones, who told
the Fort Worth Star-Telegram the Saturday before the Super Bowl, “The
muffled voice you have been hearing is me screaming in my pillow over
not being here and seeing Philadelphia.”
>Jones added that he felt “uncomfortable” about the Eagles’ success
and indicated that he wanted changes, though he didn’t make any moves
after the Cowboys’ 9-7 season to shake up the coaching staff.
The only thing better for the Eagles than Jason Garrett in Dallas is Jerruh Jones meddling and trying all sorts of idiotic things to be relevant.
We are fortunate that he sees himself as being an important part of the product that he’s selling.
I think Jerry needs to meddle more. I would really like that.
I hope Jerry lives to be 105 and never relinquishes control of the GM position.
Technically I think “meddling” is the wrong word. The Cowboys site lists Jones as Owner/CEO/General Manager. Jones is just not a great GM. Now Dan Snyder will pay and overpay established HC’s and GM’s, and then tell them what to do and either drive them to quit or he’ll fire them. The former has delusions of pretense, and the latter has delusions of delegation. Both resemble adolescents drunk with power and I think neither understands the limitations of power.
Good point. More GM Jerry!
Maybe less clapping on the sideline is the answer?
One should have a healthy rivalry with one’s division opponents, but Dak’s statement that he’s “anti-Eagle” smacks of pettiness. I hope we sack him 10 times next season.
He’s jealous Trey Burton has more Super Bowl touchdown passes than he does.
Are Eagles players who are “anti-Cowboy” petty? Just wondering if it goes both ways or not. I say this because I actually found Kelce’s “fuck you,” kind of stupid, although I enjoyed most of his rant.
F*ck Dak!
He’s having a tantrum now. Going Full Brat on us. Haha!
Dallas competes with us. We compete with the Patriots!
Meh. We eat it up when Eagles players say they hate Dallas. I really don’t have a problem with Dak saying that.
He should dislike the team that’s going to be beating his brains in twice a year for the next decade.
Why would he ever admit that? I hope we surpass the 5 rings before he dies.
I think he is acknowledging similar frustrations among their fans. They have been in a Jason Garrett “process” for 8 years now. They also thought they were on the brink last year.
Congratulations to the Dallas Cowboys on winning the 2019 XFLBowl, They emerged victorous after beating the Texarkana Troops and Birmingham BlueLivesMatter (owned by Jerry Richardson) in the playoffs and capping it all off with a win over the New England Patriots.
When the Lombardi Prize gets its display spot do you clean, buff and shine it up .. or do you keep it streaked and smeared in players respect ??
Dave,
You are asking Philly Fans whether to leave it raw and nasty or not. You know you might get some amazing answers, right? Lol!
It was interesting seeing it become visibly smudged with the bodily fluids of big, sweaty men after the game.
Hey Cho!
Chap stick balm, sweat, spit, beer…. Let’s leave it like that!
Never polish the Lombardi #52!
Indeed we literally watched it go from unwrapped in gloves and shiny to a schlurp smeared mess !
.
Historical and cool. . All it needed was Enrico Palazzo to bounce a few trails of spit & chew
I have woken up every morning this last week thinking, “The Eagles are Super Bowl Champions (ESBC).” Wife is mad at me, doesn’t matter because ESBC. Roof is leaking, doesn’t matter because ESBC. Megan Fox keeps pestering me about fixing her up with Tommy, doesn’t matter because ESBC.
Because ESBC, life is really good.
ESBC!
I was going to post this on it’s own, but may as well as a reply here.
I’ve noticed that I’ve not been in a hurry since the SB. At all. I have all kinds of patience. I can honestly say–and I’m sure many will agree–having the Eagles win a SB was on the top of my bucket list.
I’m curious to see how long this peace and patience lasts haha.
What I am really curious about is whether it will affect how I watch and experience regular season games. I get so amped up during games it’s ridiculous. My heart rate is through the roof. I’m curious whether I will be more chill now when I watch games.
The other thing that is bringing me peace is knowing that Carson, Doug, and the rest of the team want another SB win just as badly as I do. And they have the skill, intelligence, and work ethic to get it. Amazing feeling.
For the last week, my teenage daughter has prefaced everything she’s said to me, including hello, with “Eagles won the Super Bowl (EWSB)”. Smart kid.
After the victory, my 15 year-old son said, “I’ve been waiting for this my whole life.” Ah, kids.
Say, if the dowry is sufficient, we could talk about a marriage.
Just watched turning point on nfl films. So good. I am just so happy, still. The Eagles won that game. All of that really happened! Freaking Foles! It’s just so perfect. Think back to the draft, I think the magic kind of started then. The football gods took notice and we were rewarded. Tested mightily, but rewarded.
Dave Spadaro is always interesting to read. Today’s entry is about replacing the Eagles’ two departed coaches.
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/dave-spadaro/article-1/Addressing-The-Coaching-Staff-Plan-Of-Succession/3d6cc3bc-c6c8-4d43-a521-bb9140611574
Besides Pederson and the two guys that have departed – Reich and DiFilippo – the only other coach mentioned by name in the entire article is Mike Groh.
No external candidates. No other internal candidates. But Mike Groh is mentioned by name.
So, there’s that. Could be a hint. Or maybe not. Who knows? Go EAGLES!
#teamGroh!
That old article Tommy linked had 600 comments. Shame some of those dudes commenting have gone missing since then.
Bunch moved to PhillyVoice and comment on Jimmy Kempski articles
I tend to like here better than there, so I don’t hit that joint up as often.
this place is hard to find? except for that Vikings fan who stumbled in after that game.
Yeah. Kinda surprised we didn’t see more of them resurface (from Kempski’s site) after the SB win.
Also… saw you had Studfeld in that draft class. Nice.
Ha, did I have a mock up in that one? And yes, Studfeld was a guy I like as a late round developmental friend. And BOY did Wentz and Goff both shoot up boards from where they were in January. I was primarily on there checking receipts on my comments about Pederson to make sure I wasn’t in factual error when I flipped out on RC in the last article.
This offseason is taking forever!! When’s opening day?
I’m still in Superbowl euphoria
So I read that Packer Board of Trustees went and fired their GM, OC, DC and QB coach. I can completely understand canning Capers (DC), but nobody consulted their franchise QB about firing his QB coach, and Rodgers was pissed. Mike Pettine will stiffen that defense but who knows if Joe Philbin will do a better job as OC than his predecessor. It all makes me wonder how Green Bay parses job titles. The OC goes but the HC stays. And the former GM, Ted Thompson has just switched titles, and the same is expected to happen to Edgar Bennet, the aforementioned fired OC. But how did they determine that Alex Van Pelt (fired QB Coach) was not doing a good job without consulting Rodgers? If they didn’t have a world-class QB, I think that franchise would be a sorry cellar-dweller.
They never got rid of the main problem, Mike McCarthy.
Clear sign of a lack of intelligence with McCarthy; Pittsburgh accent.
Good for us!
Van Pelt:
1. Google him. I think there is a chance the board thought they were talking to McCarthy.
2. McCarthy should’ve been fired for this as well, but when the guy you spend a midround pick to be your backup QB looks completely lost in year 3 y’all deserve to be fired.
Maybe your second point was why Van Pelt was kicked.
D3 talked me into Rankin at 32…………and the trade down offers took me too far down from 32, so………………….
Your score is: 18278 (GRADE: B-)
Your Picks:
Round 1 Pick 32: Martinas Rankin, OT, Mississippi State (B+)
Round 4 Pick 31: Deontay Burnett, WR, Southern California (A+)
Round 4 Pick 32: Folorunso Fatukasi, DT, Connecticut (A)
Round 5 Pick 19: Dorian ODaniel, OLB, Clemson (A)
Round 5 Pick 32: Durham Smythe, TE, Notre Dame (A)
Round 6 Pick 32: Austin Corbett, OG, Nevada (A+)
Watch every one of these dudes go earlier than this in April.
Considering Rankin and Corbett are the only ones I’m sure aren’t from a random name generator…
Like Rankin. Love to get Smythe for blocking but this is a great receiving TE draft and I’d love to get one of them too with Burton leaving though we have guys like Brown, Perkins and Zaruba so it’s not a must. Smythe is a decent receiver too and athletic enough.
Don’t know fat ass (that name for a DT ,he must be Samoan).
I’m going to veto the second pick. I cannot handle parsing comments about Barnett and Burnett. Especially since they are both DB.
https://www.si.com/nfl/2018…
I posted this on the last article right before this one came up. Anyway, it’s an awesome read. Gives you an idea of how much of a collective process Doug uses with the coaching staff. With this process I’m not too worried about losing Flip and Frank. Groh seems to be a part of the process and should get a bigger role. Doug really knows what he’s doing.
I loved it.
It’s kind of funny you point out that the less sexy the hire, the better, as far as this owner with Coaches. But it kind of feels that way for this franchise with player acquisition too.
Seems like every time we get a player that we want he is an unmitigated disaster.
Asomugha and Maxwell come to mind
TO was glorious for 1 year and possibly shattered a team that went to all those championship games the next.
On the flip side, we all wanted Byrd, got the less sexy Jenkins, and that has been awesome for us.
Evan Matthis, no one cared about
P-Rob
Wiz
so on
It’s a pretty short list of sexy, poppy, player acquisitions that work out for us in recent memory.
Asante Samuel? Good, definitely… recent, maybe not.
Reid hit on a few big acquisitions in the middle there. Asante and Peters (via trade) come to mind, which might have sort have set the stage for 2011.
Many times the high profile players come with big contracts. Expectations are higher for those guys and they often don’t live up. Spending less on decent guys allows you to acquire more decent guys and put a team together like Howie did this year.
true, the nature of expectation, unassuming guys can only surprise us in good ways, great players can only surprise us in bad ways. That said, it seems like we’ve done well above average at scouring the bargain bin than most teams, and seem to get burnt more often by the high profile guys.
People were pretty excited for Alshon though. Though it was a one-year deal, I’d call it a splash signing.
The smart thing was, it was fairly low risk. It was a win win for him too since he got a year/half season to prove himself outside of Chicago.
There’s the splash a rock makes and the splash a boulder makes…
Alshon Jeffery was the #1 WR. He made a great TD catch in the Super Bowl.
Maybe he wasn’t a superstar but many wanted Bradham including myself.
Ajayi and Darby were pretty big trades imo but not humongous names.
Just to put some push back on Alshon, since he’s come up multiple times. While a ton of people were super excited about him and he came up big in the playoffs: I don’t count him because he was on a modest contract and had modest production, clocking in at 789 yards.
I don’t remember anyone being particularly excited for Bradham. Those that were, were faaaar outnumbered by people who said “who?” To which the most common response was “he played for Jim Schwartz in Buffalo, so he knows the scheme”- to which you respond “oh”
Darby wasn’t a guy I knew anything about before hand, but a lot of people really liked him and that got me excited, but he hasn’t really broken out yet.
Ajayi might be the biggest counter example. He was highly recognized thanks to fantasy football, definitely an impact trade with impact results.
He was on a one year 12mil dollar contract. That’s pretty large.
Then He was paid a pretty large amount for his modest production.
So we’re just gonna ignore context today huh?
go on
He had minimal TC time on a new team, there has to be some acceptance of a slow start and he had tiny pecker foles for the last 3.25 games.
You also omit the fact that he was tied for 4th most TD recs
I’m not unhappy with the guy. He came up huge in the post season. If we get more of that he’s fine (foles definitely developed chemistry with him faster than Wentz). He just never felt like the true #1 I thought he was, a guy that doesn’t disappear in stretches. He was definitely a huge addition to the team and by far an away the best receiver. But lets be real, guys like Gilmore can make him vanish in that second half. Yes I’m aware of the context that they went to school together, but I don’t buy that that goes so far in favor of the DB.
Not saying he was terrible by any stretch. I just don’t consider it the slam dunk acquisition (yet).
He’s not an elite WR, but he’s a WR1. He had other guys around him who can eat. If you had put him on the Redskins and forced the ball to him a ton he could’ve had 1200 yards.
Yeah, we spread the ball to everyone in this offense, which no doubt hurt his stats. Like I said, I’m not unhappy with him. Only Pass catcher I’m looking at improving upon is WR2. I like the idea of a speedster that make the field huge where everyone else can feast. Would just like to see him eat a bit more himself.
WR2 can definitely be upgraded and at 5 million for TS next year, the Eagles have the perfect excuse to move on. If they could get a 1A speedster, they could be close to unstoppable.
Id argue that his presence on the field has opened things up for the offense. It was just last year that they were throwing bubble screens to DGB… Look at what Ags has accomplished this year. I don’t think that happens without a legitimate WR1. So while he hasn’t put up huge numbers, he is a big reason why this offense has been so dynamic. Doug is no longer limited by wrs. AJ was a major piece to this championship offense that defenses had to adjust for. I think he is a solid #1 receiver.
Why should today be any different?
Clean Lombardi
Or
Eagles smeared, celebrated & smudged Lombardo
?
Clean trophy. Smeared Mike.
Ha!!! .. literally took me 5 fulls seconds ..beauty.
So where do we go from here? I hear a lot about how we are in a good place to be able to sustain (with a little bit of cap wizardry), but we did start the season believing the team would be better in 2018 than it would be in 2017. Obviously the goal should be to get better, that’s the default, but it might be necessary to improve to sustain success.
The 2017 Eagles are my favorite team of all time. Great personality and general resilience. But we definitely want to take the next step from scrappy underdog to historically great team building a dynasty. For context in the general historical measuring stick, by DVOA, the Patriots steamrolled the AFC and they still were only the 8th best Patriots team featuring TB/BB. How do you guys think we make the leap towards becoming a dynasty?
Maybe the answer is obvious, Carson Wentz getting healthy and having better injury luck. But just crossing your fingers for injury luck is no fun.
There are a few spots in the roster that can sti’ll be upgraded. Howie and Joe will be looking to provide that depth this year and strengthen it even more.
ok I need IB advice. I want to get my buddy (from PA) and me some SB merch and split my authentic confetti from the game into the frames. Some choices:
1. SI subscription you can get Eagles football, a jacket, magazine for a year (don’t care) and a Eagles type book with pics from the year. That’s not bad.
2. I can get SI cover framed (and stick some confetti in it.
a. one has Philly Special and Foles catching the TD
b. one has Foles with the trophy and confetti coming down.
3. There’s a framed plaque I found on NFL and Eagles website, but I don’t really love it.
I think I like the Philly Special SI cover. But the SI subscription with all the dorky gifts isn’t bad.
Please advise.
I could paste links but I doubt needed. ok here’s the book you get from SI subscription (or can buy separately):
https://backissues.si.com/storefront/hard-cover/si-presents-2018-nfl-super-bow-lii-champs-eagles/prodSIHB18NFLSB.html
I’ll make you both hats .. but to make it really sweet will have to wait for the Lombardo Trophy patch to get made ..
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/1a8af770f595e8d160421d4a4124faf26f712a71a2c683e681175b884f5d6788.jpg ver
this is a very generous offer.
The SI deal kinda blows unless you were gonna subscribe anyway. The jacket sucks, the football is ok but not a particularly high quality keepsake, the year in review book is nice.
Honestly, I’d just save some cash for a few months and look for some nice shit on the from the collector store type places this spring.
I’m sure some of you may already be aware, but eBay is selling confetti as well as pieces of field turf from SB52. Pretty cool. I’m gonna get some just as a keepsake.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Philadephia-Eagles-Super-Bowl-LII-52-Champions-Confetti-15-Authentic-Pieces/263490151763?hash=item3d593ca553:g:~cQAAOSwrnRafcq3