Let’s Go Raiders!!!

Posted: December 30th, 2012 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 92 Comments »

If Oakland can beat San Diego, the Eagles will have the #3 pick in the draft.  Kickoff is at 4:25pm.

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Not much to say about the Eagles game.  That was very, very ugly.  I hate that Andy went out that way.  He deserved better.  Reid has a meeting with Lurie on Monday morning and that’s when everything becomes official.

The Bears won, eliminating the Giants from the playoffs.  We can at least rest easy on that front.

Tonight we have WAS/DAL.  Barf.  I have to cheer for the Skins, but boy this won’t be easy.

_

  • Baloophi

    RE: WAS/DAL

    Why not root for mutual destruction?

    • xeynon

      Can’t root for the Cowboys under any circumstances. I dislike the Redskins less intensely than them or the Giants, so if someone has to win the division other than the Eagles, it’s best if it’s them.

      That said… I hope the rest of the playoff field breaks so that they have an EXTREMELY unfavorable matchup and get pulverized in the first round.

      • D3Keith

        Funny. The Redskins are more endearing, given that most of their fans have forgotten what success feels like. They aren’t obnoxious, they’re like teenagers who are first learning to drive. You just kind of watch them and smile.

        But if they win I will have to work my balls off. So I need to root for the Cowboys. And since Dallas is actually the less-good of the two teams, they are the best bet for a nice tidy first-round exit. Washington could mess around and win in the playoffs.

  • ACViking

    2012 MVP – Jason Peters

    • Baloophi

      This is great. And sad.

    • bdbd20

      I would have gone with Owen Schmidt.

      • Crus57

        I’ll see that and raise you Dan Klecko.

        • bdbd20

          Tony Hunt doesn’t get your humor.

          • NoDecaf

            If only we could have added Casey Mathews to this joke.

  • Baloophi

    Dear Next Season DC,

    Here’s a thought on where to put Nnamdi so he’s in the best position to succeed.

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

      Have Kurt Coleman next to him so he won’t have to go anywhere when he wants someone to blame.

      • A_T_G

        Kurt would probably slide his rocker up and get his runners twisted up with Nnamdi’s while the nurse they had both been keeping an eye on strolls right by and goes out for a smoke.

    • Ark87

      Dear Nnamdi,
      Just saying

      • Baloophi

        Ha!

      • D3Keith

        I find it hard to believe NA was so bad. I found myself wishing for a Tampa 2 DC next year with a no-name secondary that plays a nice solid umbrella D and tackles what’s in front of them. Not so unappealing after this mess.

  • ACViking

    In post-game presser . . . Vick sounding like he thinks some other guys on the team did NOT give 100%

    • BobSmith77

      Vic’s probably right even if he is kind of foolish to come out and say so publicly. There were a bunch of times where I thought this team didn’t play hard and I thought they quite on Reid in the 2nd half of the Bengals’ game. Ditto last year vs. Seahawks.

      That’s the biggest and most damning incitement of Reid’s last few years here if you ask me.

      • xeynon

        Yup. It’s one thing to get up at the press conference after a bad loss and take the bullets for proud, high-character consummate professionals like Dawkins, Westbrook, and Runyan. Those guys know the coach is only covering for them and they need to do better. It’s another to do so with buck passers like Babin, Vick, and DRC. When players like that aren’t held to account, they get complacent. The makeup of the locker room seems really to have shifted for the worse over the past few years of Reid’s tenure.

      • D3Keith

        I agree that it’s damning of Reid. It’s been going on since — bear with me here — Castillo was fired/after the bye. They got blasted by the Falcons and Saints and pretty much quit after that. There wasn’t one great team on the schedule in the second half (Dallasx2, Wash.x2, Carolina, TB, Cincy, NYG) and they went 1-7.

        The worst part is they mailed it in for much of that stretch. These guys can’t give us our Sundays back, we can’t get the money back we spent on these guys. They have burned through the stash of love I had for the Eagles green this fall. I haven’t worn my stuff in weeks, not because I’m no longer a fan, but because I’m embarrassed to rep these guys. I can’t stand there and defend this group and say at least they tried they just had turnovers or need a couple safeties or had OL injuries or whatever … they just limped home.

        In short, f*&k this team. As much as I love some of these guys individually, as much as I rep the Eagles green, I will not feel one bit of sadness as they break up this sh!tshow, cut who they need to cut, hire who they need to hire and draft who they need to draft.

        How the hell did a team with this much individual talent lack cohesion
        and chemistry and effort and basic football acumen so badly that it
        regressed from a disappointing 8-8 to 4-12? I can’t wait to break it up and let someone else try their hand at this. And not have so many good players squander the prime of their careers.

        If there’s one thing we can always appreciate about the Reid era, it’s that it took 14 years (if you excuse the T.O./9 Pro Bowlers injured 2005) to find out what it was like to hate the team you love.

        • Skeptic_Eagle

          I feel like I saw a little quit in DeMeco Ryans over the past 4 or 5 weeks. Absolutely did not get off blocks, or flow to the football as he had previously. That’s concerning.

          There is no way you can convince me Dominique Rodgers Cromartie would have got beat one-on-one by Henry Hynoski, had he not been sandbagging it. I think Trent Cole has gone over the “physical cliff”, but was giving it his all. The bad players stunk, and a lot of the talented players weren’t motivated.

          The problems on this team are manifold, and the culture is stale and antithetical to winning, but the main problem for me, is the lack of talent on this roster.

          • D3Keith

            Interesting. If guys are loafing and underachieving, that to me says they could be better under a new coach. If guys are trying hard and still losing, a la Colt Anderson at safety, it means they lack talent.

            Respect your opinion though.

  • westy36

    As happy as I am that the Giants are eliminated from the playoffs, part of me wishes the Lions won so we would move to pick 3 in at least the even rounds of the draft.

    • aerochrome2

      How’s that?

      • westy36

        In the draft, teams with the same record reverse pick order every other round. Like last year the Colts and Rams picked first and second (originally) in the first round, respectively. Then in the second round the Rams had the first pick.

        • aerochrome2

          thanks

  • Baloophi

    Vick just used the word “exuberate” in his press conference. Perhaps he’s more of a Scrabbling quarterback now…

    • TommyLawlor

      As a verb, I think. Unusual to say the least.

  • Baloophi

    Chargers return opening kickoff for a TD. Vomit.

    • Baloophi

      You’d think after years and years of experience at intentionally blowing games, the Raiders would be a little less obvious at it…

  • austinfan

    AR didn’t deserve better, he let Bowles start the second half with Landri and Aso.
    He’s enabled this disaster, about time he took responsibility.
    That was an absolutely pitiful performance.

    • ACViking

      Austinfan:

      I agree with your observation.

      How would you (seriously) explain Reid’s choices . . . like the two you noted.

  • bdbd20

    On a side note, how good is Adrian Peterson. It’s amazing this guy had a busted knee 12 months ago! Superfreak!

    • TommyLawlor

      Simply amazing.

  • qwerty uiop

    This is the way Andy Reid’s tenure ends: not with a bang, but with a whimper.

    • Crus57

      Seemed more of a cough and a groan to me.

      • qwerty uiop

        The time is truly ours now.

  • BobSmith77

    I would like to see Roseman fired too on Monday and really start with a clean slate. For 3 straight years, Roseman has tried to address the defensive shortcomings this team has had. He’s had ample resources to do so including via FA and trade and a majority of the higher Eagles draft picks to do so. What the Eagles got was 2 subpar years of defense in ’10 and ’12 and very little talent that will likely start for them next year as true building blocks of an improved defensive unit.

    Given his contract extension though, Roseman and Tom Donahue are going to be the most important decision-makers for the franchise this upcoming offseason which is where I see the biggest problem lying.

    • TommyLawlor

      Roseman won’t be fired. He’s got a hand in the struggles, but the biggest problem has been coaching. Too much talent for the defense to be so mediocre.

      • BobSmith77

        I respect your opinion Tommy (favorite Eagles blog by far) but it is hard to see with some of the mind-numbly bad numbers this unit put up this year vs. pass.

        Guess we won’t know until next year until a bunch of these guys are on other teams including DRC, Nnamdi, and Jenkins do along with what some of the holdovers do.

        Expect there will be more wholesale changes made on the defensive-side of the ball than even after they were routed by the Boys after the ’09 WC game.

        • ceteris_paribus1776

          I’m with ya Bob. This guy hasn’t made the team better by any stretch. His blue print to bring in new guys and force a team together was an epic failure. I like Cox, Graham is going to be ok after all but not special, curry??, Kendricks is decent but lacks elite skill- eagles fans are just so starved for a good linebacker that anything that flashes passes for excitement now, who knows about Boykin, and all of his other big acquisitions have flopped and are overpaid. A team with “this much talent” doesn’t go 4-12 and get embarrassed weekly. Reid is a boob at times and deserves to go, but lets not pin his solely on the coaches. Reid isn’t a complete idiot when it comes to building a team. Looks to me like Wunderkind failed as Reid was on the way out and was forced into rash decisions to try to salvage anything at all.

      • D3Keith

        Roseman deserves to stay. No personnel man hits on every draft pick or free agent move, but the bottom line is this team was stocked with enough talent to be really good and instead it was really bad.

        You fire the GM when he hasn’t given the coach enough to work with.

        • BobSmith77

          But where is the young talent on the defensive side of the ball after spending spending a majority of their last 3 years of high draft picks on it?

          This was a team that lost by double digits in 8 games this year and was downright embarrassed in a bunch of them.

          Roseman has also been the GM for 3 years now too. Not like he only had a year or two in that spot. Certainly has shown little on why he should basically be promoted this offseason to have a commanding role (if not the final say) in personnel and organizational moves.

          • Neil

            Cox, Kendricks, Boykin, Graham, Ryans, Thornton, Curry

            A lot of those guys, to my mind, suffered from bad coaching this year. Kendricks seemed amazing before Juan got ousted, etc. And I wouldn’t be surprised if we held onto DRC some way and he shaped up into a good CB. Same possibly with Nate Allen.

          • BobSmith77

            Curry did nothing outside of one game (TB). Boykins is a slot corner who was up and down this year. Kendricks was up and down with a lot more down after the bye.

            Cox and Graham will be starters (Kendricks too) unless they go to a 3-4 scheme. I bet Thornton’s ends up as a role player type and Boykins too as a nickel/dime corner. Ryans will likely be brought back but he isn’t a staple guy who seems to have limited upside at this point in his career.

            New coaching staff will have to look at some of the younger holdover talent like Marsh, Cheney, and Allen to see where (if they fit) but it is really hard to see this defense making notable strides next year into an above average unit.

          • Gregory Post

            Its odd to see two pro-bowlers in Asomugha and DRC both struggling at the same time. I can understand one, but both seems like coaching is partly to blame. Same with Nate Allen. If we can restructure Asomugha and tag DRC, lets give them one more year to operate under a new coaching staff and see if it pays dividends.

          • Gregory Post

            I believe the main point that Tommy is trying to get across is that it is Howie’s job to go get the guys that Reid wants. Sure, Howie has a team to evaluate talent and has weight in decisions, but ultimately Andy needs the players that fit his system and it is Howie’s job to go get those guys. I think he did an extraordinary job 2 years ago when he plucked all of those free agents and we still had significant cap room. It was then the coaching staff’s job to get those players to execute, and they failed miserably.

            I am not exonerating Howie from blame. But I think Howie has done a great job as far as getting talent and hitting home on the 2012 draft, where he clearly had more power.

      • mhrinda

        It might turn out to be a big mistake to NOT fire Roseman. He might not be completely to blame but the Eagles need a fresh prespective on talent evaluation and the GM does share the blame for bringing in players that got worse, systems(asst coachs) both offensive line and defensize line that didnt work, and seriously — he thought this team had a shot at the Super Bowl (4-12)… A new GM and a new coach is the way to go. He is part of the problem which will go overlooked by Lurie but if our GM is a dreamer (not grounded in football reality) its going to be a long stretch of mediocrity and losing. I will take a GM with a strong football background any day of the week. Eagles 2012 RIP

        • BobSmith77

          Yup. Roseman has been here 3 years as the GM and there is very little here from an organizational standpoint on why he should potentially receive a promotion this offseason with final say on personnel decisions.

          Time to just clean house entirely on an organization that has been on a clear downward spiral the last few years and hopefully has bottomed out.

          New change might not bring much improvement and the Eagles might continue to waffle along as a mediocre franchise but I would rather take that risk than keep the existing structure in place.

          • mhrinda

            Agreed. Roseman has no track record as a football man. We need not only a fresh set of eyes on outside talent but a new prespective on guys we have (who we really should keep and should go). If Howie stays, we have no guarantee that the current personel will be given the true evaluation every one of them deserves.

          • Ark87

            I think Howie is great from the perspective of digging up options in FA and trades and getting deals done, whether it’s negotiating/structuring a trade, extension, or signing. He’s been something of a cap wizard. He is the perfect compliment to a coach the has full reigns on personnel decisions. As long as the Eagles FO understands that, that could make the Eagles a very attractive destination for some of the premium coaches.

          • A_T_G

            I’m with you. From the things we know, Howie did well. Nnamdi was the free agent steal of the year, it is not Howie’s fault that by the time he was used correctly he was to slow to do it. He got us the guys the coaches wanted at good prices.

          • BobSmith77

            Nnamdi was absolutely the wrong guy to sign and went against everything the Eagles had done the past decade or so in FA – they didn’t go after free agents over 30 generally and certainly not high dollar ones. They did pay for quality but for established NFL players but were under 28.

            The guy they should have pursued was Joseph who signed with the Texans. He has been a much better player than Nnamdi the past 2 years & still will be a key player for the Texans next year (and likely through the end of his contract in ’15).

      • Skeptic_Eagle

        Again, where is that talent? They need to replace the entire secondary. DRC is physically talented, but apparently needs constant threats (??) to stay focused and motivated. That’s it for the secondary. They don’t have a starting quality safety on the roster, and Nnamdi is a below average player at this point. The defensive line has some solid players, but Cox is the only player that strikes me as someone who can be a consistent difference maker and top 5 at his position. Trent Cole is getting blocked to the ground by skill players–fullbacks and tight ends–at this point, let alone the legit LT’s. Graham has flashed, but has not yet started to draw chips or extra attention, so we’ll have to see how much of a difference maker he is when he’s not just matched up 1 on 1 against the opponent’s lesser tackle. They have 2 starting quality LB’s, one of which (Kendricks) is very much in need of a big second-year step.

        Sot that’s probably 5/6 positions that need to replace starters, with none of the balance being the kind of players that are considered the best or nearly-the-best at their position. I just can’t see any more talent than any other lower level NFL team.

    • The_Reddgie

      Andy has final say on all personnel decisions. This has been reported ad nauseum. Why do people still want to lay blame at Howie’s feet?

      We have no idea who Howie has reco’d to Reid to draft or sign, so we have no idea if his reco’s have been quality or shit. For all we know, he reco’d players that have been stellar NFLers but was shot down by Andy and that is why we drafted the likes of Watkins and JaiJar and etc….

      If Howie was responsible for the 2012 class, then he absolutely needs to stay.

  • Crus57

    If I wanted to find a bright side, the only significant difference between the 2012 Eagles and the 2012 Giants is the size of the TVs they will be watching the playoffs on.

    • D3Keith

      I want to LOL … but who has the better TVs?

      • Crus57

        I was imagining the Giants do, what with being in NY and being defending champs they probably get freebies, but the Eagles have probably had more use out of their TVs in recent years.. tough one to call.

    • D3Keith

      If I wanted to find a bright side, it’s that the Eagles failed so spectacularly that there’s no rational argument for bring the coaching staff or most of the players back. Should be a nice, argument-free offseason filled with tempered optimism about the new coach/quarterback/Top-five draft pick.

      That’s a bright side as well, that our non-Super Bowl season doesn’t leave us picking 15th. Even though this is a crap year to be this high it’s better than picking in the middle in a crap year. The second-round pick should be like a bonus first-rounder too. Chance to add two good players. (pretends like other second-rounders have been good picks)

      • Crus57

        I am kinda hoping that a few players ride a hype bubble to the top of the draft and we can trade down a few spots + make a killing for future drafts.

        • D3Keith

          Not a bad thought. At the moment, pre-cuts, for me it’s all about who the new coach is and how he assesses the talent. I don’t think I can fall in love with any draft prospect or defend anyone on this current roster at this point.

          Whatever happens in the draft will be good, IMO.

      • Ark87

        I see what the team did tonight….new coach is going to blow it all up and rebuild, no franchise QB, don’t worry- I’m sure we will have good draft position in 2014 as well.

  • T_S_O_P

    NFL reporting that Reid has already been fired

    • TommyLawlor

      I don’t doubt that at all.

      • Baloophi

        Report was that Lurie informed Reid on Friday

    • Ark87

      WHAT!!!!!!??!?!?! WHY?

  • Baloophi

    Off Topic

    What do people think of Charles Davis in the booth? I like him but I know he drives some people nuts…

    • TommyLawlor

      Too positive.

      • Baloophi

        He definitely wouldn’t work as a Philly fan… that’s for sure.

      • D3Keith

        Positivity doesn’t bother me though, and Davis does. Maybe he’s too cliche? I’m not sure what it is.

  • T_S_O_P

    Is there any coaches anyone wants retaining? Personally I want to keep Duce

    • Baloophi

      Eugene Chung, maybe? Should know the best of both Mudd and Castillo’s schemes…

    • TommyLawlor

      Ted Williams is a good RBs coach.

      • T_S_O_P

        But he is 71

  • Baloophi

    WARNING!

    This should go without saying in this learned environment, but brace yourself for the “Andy Reid was underappreciated” and the “be careful what you wish for” finger-wagging from the national media and friends who are fans of other teams.

    It has already started and we’re going to hear a lot of it – possibly for quite some time. Stay strong, everybody, and remember: none of them have sat through the mind-numbing decisions and “football” that we have for fourteen years, and in particular the last two… which have felt much longer than the previous 12.

    Also, when Reid immediately wins a Super Bowl at his next destination, let’s try not to seriously hurt anybody.

    • xeynon

      Such people just don’t get it.

      I think most of us do appreciate Andy Reid. He was a very good coach here, and likely he’ll be a very good coach at San Diego or BYU or wherever his next stop is. But all coaches have lifespans at particular jobs. Eventually star players retire and or go elsewhere and are replaced by inferior new players who can’t create the same synergy of coaching and on-field talent that’s required to win, assistant coaching talent is depleted, messages grow stale, other teams catch up, and the negative effects of organizational weaknesses begin to compound as failures repeat. In Reid’s case I think all these things have happened. How could anyone who’s watched this team over the past few years even a bit not realize that?

  • Skeptic_Eagle

    I was really surprised at how poorly Vick played today–and how unwilling he was to pull it down and run from the pocket. I really though we’d see the “Mr. Mayhem” Vick we saw in relief of Kolb at GB. Also really curious as to whom he was referring when he mentioned that he’d like to be able to play other positions in the post-game comments.

    Nnamdi claims he wasn’t benched, that Bowles told him they were putting all the number 2′s in, but clearly, we saw that wasn’t true. I hope that the PI on a double move he bit on was his ignominious last play as an Eagle. How terribly frustrating! We all had such high hopes! I’m reading now that he will be paid 4 million dollars whether or not he’s cut? Does that mean they’ll bring him back at 4 million, if he re-negotiates? I wouldn’t even want him at that price, I don’t believe he can play in the NFL any more.

    • TommyLawlor

      I’d say no to Nnamdi, but I’ll trust the new coaching staff. If they think they can get something out of him and he takes a major cut, I won’t complain.

    • xeynon

      I think “Mr. Mayhem” Vick is gone. Age and adjusting defenses have sent that guy away for good.

      As for Nnamdi, I couldn’t agree more. I don’t want him back at any price. At this point he’s a mediocre CB who needs help against faster receivers at best. We can get a guy like that much cheaper in the FA bargain bin or the middle rounds of the draft. And he doesn’t tackle well enough to move to S like Rod Woodson or Troy Vincent did late in their careers. He’s not only overpaid, he’s pretty much useless at this point.

  • Baloophi

    With the season officially over (game-wise), I’d like to extend my thanks to Tommy for fueling our shared addiction, and for slogging through what must have been an especially arduous year as an Eagles blogger. Thank you, sir.

    Also, thanks to all of you in the Iggles Blitz nation for – if nothing else – an entertaining season full of insight, inspiration, and enjoyable inanity. I surely hope that after the off-season evaluations, you all will be returning next season.

    • Ark87

      Hear hear! But I don’t think anybody is going anywhere Baloophi. We will be in need of your wit for the coming months! Anybody who is still here has been patiently waiting for this day. Now we get to see, whose the new coach. Who will be his(? you never know) assistants? How many people will get cut right out. Then the senior bowl, then the scouting combine. And before you know we’ll be into the OTA’s.

      Tommy as been hording material on us. Worst case scenario for him is that the Eagles announce the new coach tomorrow….and release our draft board….and disband the funyuns company.

      • A_T_G

        Wow, that is a dark image. No pudding?!

    • A_T_G

      Returning? Are you hinting that we are supposed to leave? I feel like I just watched a horrible train wreck that took weeks to finally come to a rest and the fires die down. At least now I can be excited to go look for survivors and start the cleanup.

      By the way, if we hire Chip tomorrow, can we start a grass roots push to go back to Kelly green, in his honor?

      • Ark87

        Oh wow, I think it could be time for the Kelly green to return.

        • Neil

          we must stand for what is right

    • TommyLawlor

      I will miss the bizarre fun of our gameday discussions, but this should be a really interesting offseason so I fully expect you guys here 24/7 to question why I’m pushing for the Eagles to draft Matt McGloin at #4.

      • D3FB

        You don’t think we need to trade a future first and move up to get him?

        • TommyLawlor

          Heck yes. He’s the next RG3…but better.

      • P_P_K

        Of course we’ll be here. Who else would have us?

  • xeynon

    So, the Raiders come through in the clutch, locking us into the #4 pick. Who’s it going to be?

    NFL Draft Countdown says Luke Joeckel, with Manti Te’o as an alternative… I’d like Joeckel as Peters is no guarantee to come back in previous form, and even if he does we could put Joeckel at RT and move Herremans back to guard and upgrade two positions at once with that pick. Te’o I wouldn’t be nearly as happy about. How man MLBs are impact players in today’s NFL? Seems like a CB would be a much better alternative to OL.

    • D3Keith

      So far this is my preference. At first I hated the idea, but with skill players in place and a potentially shaky situation at QB, the best thing we can do offensively is put a great OL in front of them.

      If there were an Eric Berry-level safety in this draft, I might lean that way.

  • bridgecoach

    Tommy – Any idea what pick we are getting from Denver from the Brodrick Bunkley trade? OR what pick we lose to Cleveland for the Sims trade?

  • ale

    everything will happen come’on silver black lets’go oakland raiders !!!!!

    Raider nation !!!