Coordinator Day

Posted: October 25th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 34 Comments »

Thursdays are when the coordinators speak.  Normally I don’t make too much of this, but coming off the bye and with Todd Bowles being new, I figured this was worth addressing.

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The word on Bowles earlier in the week was “unpredictable”.  Naturally members of the media asked about that.  Bowles resisted the word several times.  What gives?  My guess is that Bowles wanted to be careful with expectations by fans and the media.  The defense will remain largely the same.  Bowles will mix things up situationally, but not in any major way.  The defense will be less predictable, but as Bowles pointed out today…all defenses are predictable to a certain extent.  You must have a base scheme.  If you try to mix it up constantly, you’ll have confused players that make a lot of mistakes.

I was impressed by Bowles.  He did a good job of explaining things in a reasonable way.  He answered when he could but other times didn’t give good answers because he doesn’t want to announce his plans to the Falcons.

Bowles said he has not made up his mind on whether to be on the sideline or in the pressbox.  There is no hard and fast rule.  The only concern with him being up in the pressbox is that he needs someone on the sideline to act as the primary liaison with the players.  Forget Jim Washburn.  He’d be lost talking to DBs.  I think you’d have to go with Mike Caldwell or Mike Zordich.  Both were leaders as players so I’d be comfortable with either doing the job, but there are no guarantees they would do a great job of it.  The only way to find out is throw ‘em in the water and see who can swim.

I do trust Todd running the defense.  I always had questions with Juan because he never gave the impression of being “the man”.  He talked about concepts that showed some depth of knowledge, but did so in a way where it felt like he was less than an expert.  Todd seems natural, both as the speaker and the guy running the defense.  Can’t wait to see how things go on Sunday.

* * * * *

Marty was less interesting.  He really focused on the need to eliminate turnovers.  You almost got the feeling that he believes if the turnovers go away, things will be okay.  There is some truth in that, but I hope he realizes that the playcalling has had a hand in some of the turnovers.  That’s not all on Vick and the skill players.  They need help from the coaches.

Marty and Andy have both talked about the 1st half problems.  They haven’t given clues as to what they think is wrong (aside from turnovers).  It will be interesting to see what changes are made on Sunday.  Do they run more early?  Do they throw short to get Vick in a rhythm?  Do they go no-huddle?

* * * * *

Bobby April was pretty funny.  He was asked at one point about whether he was worried about getting fired after Castillo was let go.  Bobby responded by quoting Godfather, Par II…”It’s like Hyman Roth told Michael Corleone, this is the business we’ve chosen”.  Great answer.  Coaches can’t worry about getting fired.  It is just part of the life of being a coach.  They’re all hired to be fired.

April said that the lack of good returns is due to a couple of things.  First, bad blocking.  He said that the Eagles just aren’t winning enough 1-on-1 battles.  He stressed that it is technique and fundamentals, not effort or talent.  This certainly is true, but also discouraging.  If a proven STs coach like Bobby April isn’t getting through to players by October…that is not a good sign.

He also mentioned that they need to pressure Punters more to speed them up and eliminate some of the hang time.  Too often our PR has several guys near him when he catches the punt.  Can’t do anything in that situation.  You need some space.

April’s son, Bobby III, is part of the Eagles staff.  Bobby was asked to talk about him but begged off.  He admitted that his opinion would be highly biased, “I think he’s better than Lombardi”.  And Bobby was laughing as he said that.

I’ve been a big Bobby April fan for a long time.  Really bugs me that he’s struggled so much here.  He’s got 10 weeks to show serious progress or he will be polishing up the resume.

* * * * *

One interesting development came out of practice.  RG Danny Watkins missed time because he’s dealing with an ankle injury.  Rookie Dennis Kelly took his place.  Watkins is not a lock to start on Sunday.

* * * * *

I’m still doing research on the Falcons.  Does sound like weather will be an issue on Sunday with the storm headed for the East coast.  All the more reason to run and throw shorter passes.  Andy…Marty…please be smart.

_

  • A_T_G

    So, with all the talk of throwing quicker routes the last two weeks, we give Asante a pump and go double move and send DeSean to the house on the first snap, right?

    • TommyLawlor

      Don’t give Marty any ideas. Jerk.

      • Mac

        To be fair, I’m pretty sure ATG didn’t have to “give” this idea to Marty.

    • Doctor Claw

      LOL. The game against Washington in 2010 was the worst thing to happen to Vick, Marty and Andy. Once they realized Vick could play big-play “Andyball”, it was the ultimate hit of the crackpipe for Andy and Marty. (they even extended that hit to Vince Young, who shouldn’t have been throwing some of the stuff they called to the Pats last year)

    • Ark87

      If we can work a double-move into a bubblescreen with a back powering his way towards #22 all in one play, I’m pretty sure we can call it a moral victory and end the game right there.

  • http://twitter.com/theguyotc the guy

    Pretty clear to me. Todd Bowles wants to be unpredictably unpredictable.

    • TommyLawlor

      That’s my prediction.

    • Anders

      Does that not make him predictable?

    • eagles2zc

      What about being unpredictable at unpredictably unpredictable?

  • SteveH

    maybe our secret is we should turn the ball over 5 times a game. That may be the only way for AR/MM to call a balanced offense!

  • McMVP

    Please be smart is right..it’s not as if the Falcons have a great run defense regardless of the weather.

    And it they’re not smart in that area? Would you have have seen enough Tommy? By that I mean…well, I think you know what I mean…

    • Ark87

      Might be a good day for Bryce Brown if the field is a mess. That fast and decisive play will have a lot of defender slipping and sliding to get into position to make a play. I worry about shady’s effectiveness in slick conditions, those insane cuts just don’t work without superb footing (this is besides the point but I also worry about shady’s knees on turf, dude can make the sharpest cuts of his life on that turf that has no give, but you blow out knees after a while on that stuff).

  • DanJ3645

    Tommy,
    you mentioned that there was a video of Kendrick’s draft interview. Is there a link available for it? Or the name of the video?

  • Zachary Kaplan

    Jim Washburn isn’t qualified to talk to the DB’s….but Juan Castillo was? I’m pretty sure we could pull random fans to act as the liaison on the sidelines for Bowles and not have much lost.

  • Ark87

    Tommy, with the bad weather, they’ll never see the big plays coming!!!! Bombs awaaaaay! Hopefully they don’t over-think it like usual…I’d like to see us build an offense around Shady, and maybe we can’t with the O-line. The switch back to Dunlap tells me that we will still be passing to set up the run rather than running to set up the pass, same as always. It bugs me, Andy and Marty can really work their creativity in on passes if the other team is selling out to stop shady. I get it, It’s a QB driven league, but you still have to do what is most potent for your offense. And if you have Eli or Peyton Manning, yeah throw your way to the suberbowl, but if not….

    Some people figure that this would wear him down and shorten his career but I don’t think so. When he isn’t the center of the offense, he either is getting the ball and taking a hit, or picking up a charging blitzer, contact on every play anyway. If he is the center of the offense, he would at least be used as a decoy on some of the snaps.

  • Ark87

    Hey guys, went to http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/ and right on the front page is an old friend of ours putting Christian Ponder “flat on his back”. Go figure.

    • http://twitter.com/tst69 Thomas

      Good for him. I never thought he would amount to anything in the NFL. I still don’t, but it’s good that he is getting another chance.

      • Ark87

        sad part is he has 2 more tackles than Trent Cole and is only behind by .5 sacks….If ever there was a sign of underachievement…

        • http://twitter.com/JackfinBauer Jack Bauer

          To put it in context his 2 hurries (1 sack) both occurred when he went unblocked and Ponder was (searching for the superlative..screw it) not good in general last night

          • Ark87

            that’s fair

  • ACViking

    Re: Who’s the Best Mudder?

    The best rain-soaked field runner I ever saw was Gale Sayers — not Jim Brown, or Walter Payton, or Emmitt Smith.

    I’ve argued in the past that McCoy — though not as fast in a straight line (relative to the competition) — is the closest RB I’ve seen to Gale Sayers in over 45 years.

    So, while there’s an argument to be made for Bryce Brown’s style, I’d like to believe that in rainy weather, if the O-line ups its game from 2 weeks ago, McCoy could have a big day.

    Then again, maybe not.

    • Ark87

      I haven’t look at the rainy results of McCoy but it’s almost counter-intuitive if he excels in bad weather. You would think he would lose his footing on those wicked cuts that he does

  • ACViking

    Re: Bobby April

    T-Law:

    I think April’s response on job security confirms that the Godfather (I & II) covers all of life’s situations. It’s life’s true bible.
    ____________

    Re: What will Bowles do?

    Never tell anyone outside the family what you’re thinking.

  • ATLeagle

    I am now worried about Watkins. As he isnt a football lifer, just a guy with natural talent and strength, who is now facing criticism poorly… is he starting to give up. Declining to talk to media, and then finding a nagging injury to get off the field, makes me worry if we are going to watch another Shawn Andrews-esque deterioration.

    My money is on Marty picking the wind to his back so Vick can throw it the full 100 yards in the air. The game plan this week will be to pin DJacc into the ground like we are playing yard darts

    • Ark87

      I’m not too concerned about him not talking to the media. He isn’t that first round diva sort…just a guy from sticks British Columbia where respect and disrespect goes both ways.

      But I do share your other concerns. As you mentioned, he just kind of picked up football on a whim. The guy is crazy about fire-fighting…the first thing he did with his contract was buy a fire truck. I question whether his heart is really in this game. He’s a great kid, just don’t know if he’s cut out for the NFL life-style.

    • http://twitter.com/tst69 Thomas

      Jesus Christ.

      Is it just Eagles fans that like to play psychologist as they analyze a player’s life story and his mental capacity based on a few stories they read?

      • http://www.facebook.com/michael.w.cho Michael Winter Cho

        I don’t know, but I doubt Cowboys fans are letting Dez Bryant or Tony Romo off too easy, either )

      • ATLeagle

        well, nobody is criticizing Cam Newton for his body language at pressers, and the potential of his inability to handle adversity and criticism. This happens, these guys have every mistake thrown out there in public, and some people dont have the personality to handle it.

        • http://twitter.com/tst69 Thomas

          Not wanting to discuss these things with some random reporter and not wanting the discuss and address these things with his coach are two different things.

          • ATLeagle

            I want to agree with you, but the timing makes me worried. I fear this :
            Coach : Danny, why do you suck sometimes?
            D : my ankle is hurt, i cant go
            C: What? since when? It was never hurt
            D: It has always hurt, since, like , forever. It is one of those , you know, cronic things
            C: Dont tell me you are getting your Michael Phelps on too ?!

  • http://twitter.com/tst69 Thomas

    Bubble screens and double moves. Let the past 3 years of frustrations turn into joy for this one week.

  • http://twitter.com/tst69 Thomas

    Todd Bowles has the best press conferences

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OXe6r9uhgc

  • http://www.facebook.com/michael.w.cho Michael Winter Cho

    Doesn’t look like the guys at Football Outsiders give us much a chance. Look at this nasty preview:

    http://www.footballoutsiders.com/film-room/2012/film-room-falcons-eagles

    Tommy, do we have a chance? (or only in the Dumb and Dumber way?)

    • Ark87

      It wasn’t THAT bad. Looked pretty accurate to me, we got our work cut out for us, they may be overachievers but they ARE 6-0. Didn’t get there by accident. But we have a few things working in our favor:
      Home field…not so much that we are THAT much better at home, but the Falcons are a lot more vulnerable away from the Georgia Dome.
      Bad weather, a great equalizer. We should have a strong running game against a weak running defense.
      Bye week: Yes we both had one, but Andy is particularly effective with his bye week. The other thing is when the Falcons film scout our defense, they will only be able to get so much out of it.

      Todd Bowles and his defense is the X-factor in my opinion. If the defense can maintain the effectiveness it’s had all season, and maintain it for 4 quarters, maybe sprinkle in some sacks and turnovers, I like our odds. If the D comes out as a mess with bad playcalling/effort (who REALLY knows how the locker room will react to the coaching changes until Sunday) this will be disastrous.

      Offense…what can I say, don’t think it will be so bad that we can clearly bench Vick… but won’t be good enough to get people to stop talking about when the benching is going to happen either.