Posted November 30th, 2014 | 104 Comments »Even though the Eagles played on Thursday, today was a big day for the Eagles. The team is 9-3 and in the hunt for the top spot in the NFC. The other teams in the mix are the Cardinals and Packers.
Arizona played against the Falcons and lost 29-18. That drops the Cardinals to 9-3. Their offense has been awful without Carson Palmer. They went 10 quarters without scoring a TD. They broke that drought by scoring very late today in what was essentially garbage time. Arizona plays KC and then finishes with 3 division games. I don’t see them coming out of that stretch better than 2-2. If so, they’d finish at 11-5 and the Eagles have a good chance at topping that record. It is important that the Eagles have the better record since Arizona won head-to-head.
The Packers hosted the Patriots and it was a really good game, but unfortunately Aaron Rodgers played like Aaron Rodgers and GB won the game. That means the Packers are also now 9-3. They could easily finish 13-3 or 12-4 so the Eagles will need some serious help to get past them.
Of course the key to all of this is for the Eagles to keep winning games. If they win out, the Eagles have a great shot for the top spot in the NFC. If they go 12-4, things are trickier but they at least would likely be #2. Anything below 12-4 and the Eagles need a lot of help to even get the #2 spot.
This is so different than last year when the Eagles were fighting just to get into the playoffs.
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It was fun to see the Giants and Skins lose today because it’s just fun for them to suffer. But that does help their draft position. The question is now whether they waste those picks.
A bit of humor…
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Posted November 29th, 2014 | 566 Comments »Mark Sanchez. Epic failure.
Brandon Graham. Bust.
Nate Allen. Bust.
Casey Matthews. Failure.
These players have dealt with a lot of negativity since coming to the NFL. They all played key roles in beating Dallas on Thanksgiving and it must feel good to them to be finally be enjoying some success.
Sanchez didn’t turn the ball over. He ran for one TD and threw for one. He did a good job of running the offense at a high tempo and wearing down the Dallas defense. Sanchez unleashed a new weapon and ran the ball a bit. He was 5-29 on the ground (non-kneel downs). Sanchez ran for a couple of first downs. Kelly’s offense is boosted by a QB who can run the ball just enough to keep the defense honest. That’s what he did.
The best word I can use to describe Sanchez’s performance on Thursday is “smart”. He didn’t throw the ball recklessly into traffic. There were a couple of decisions that weren’t ideal, but that’s going to happen in an NFL game. Sanchez was aggressive when he needed to be, but made sure to put the ball where his guy could get it. Sanchez led an offense that piled up 464 yards and 33 points.
With every start that goes by, Sanchez the failure from NY gets buried a bit more. We’re not ready to anoint him as a Hall of Fame candidate quite yet, but at the very least Sanchez has shown that he can be a good backup QB. There wasn’t a hot market for his services in March. That will be different come this March. Is he a guy you trust as a starter? That’s still very much up in the air, but at least there is a discussion. That’s a step in the right direction for a player that was considered a total failure just months ago.
Graham still isn’t a starter, but he has become a highly productive backup. He is third on the team in sacks (5.5). Graham leads the Eagles in TFLs (7) and FFs (4). That’s highly impressive for someone that doesn’t start. Rather than worry about getting more playing time, Graham seems focused on making the most of when he is on the field.
Part of Graham’s redemption comes from the fact he’s embraced playing OLB. He was a DE in college and his first couple of NFL years. He was taught to attack up the field. Graham now is being used in a variety of ways and he has expanded his game. He can set the edge. He can drop into coverage, although it still isn’t something he’s especially good at. Graham can fly off the edge or use a hard inside move. On Thursday he got a sack by lining up at DT and beating the LG. The crazy thing is that Graham has failed to close out a few plays or his sack and TFL totals would be even higher.
What is Graham’s future? No idea. You cannot just assume that his success in the current role would make him an impact starter. He still could be in better shape. Playing in more snaps might wear him down. Or maybe he would thrive. Does he want to stay in the 3-4 or would he strongly prefer to get back to being a DE? We’ll start to find out the answers when the offseason rolls around. For now Graham is just enjoying the fact he’s no longer a bust that is relentlessly judged against JPP and Earl Thomas.
Allen is having a mixed year. The hope was that Year 2 of playing for Bill Davis would bring out the best in him. Allen has bounced from system to system to system with a plethora of coaches. Finally, some stability. Unfortunately he’s proven to be the same kind of player. He’s better than his harshest critics would like to believe, but you can’t call him a good player.
Allen has been productive in recent weeks. In the past 5 games he has 2 INTs, 1 FF and 3 FRs. He’s making plays. There are still mistakes in those games and that is why you have to limit how much you praise him. Allen is a free agent at the end of the year. Will the Eagles want him back? Will some other team want him as a starter? This is a complex question because there are so few good Safeties in the NFL. The one thing I think we now have to concede is that Allen is what he is. He might still improve a bit here and there, but he’s not going to get significantly better.
If you want to appreciate Allen, just re-watch the Dallas game. Don’t focus on him, but rather the Dallas Safeties, JJ Wilcox and Barry Church. They were awful. And look at the season stats.
Wilcox and Church combined: Â 3 INTs, 0 sacks, 2 TFLs, 8 PDs, 1 FF, 2 FR
Allen: Â 2 INTs, 1 sack, 0 TFLs, 3 PDs, 1 FF, 3 FR
The Eagles could do a lot better than Allen, but they could also do a lot worse. He had an INT and FR in the win over Dallas. He had another INT taken away by penalty. I guarantee you that a few Dallas fans watched him play and said “Why can’t we have a guy that good?”.
Matthews is only here because of Chip Kelly, right? Kelly forced Andy Reid and Howie Roseman to draft him back in 2011. He forced them to start Matthews at MLB as a rookie in a year without a normal Training Camp and offseason. Right? Believe it or not, there was a time where there were high expectations for Matthews. Kelly was busy recruiting Marcus Mariota when NFL teams were scouting Matthews. The Eagles and Ravens showed a lot of interest, with Philly actually taking him.
Matthews was made the starting MLB, which normally would be a dream for a rookie. But that was the strike season. There were no mini-camps. Training Camp was different. Complicating matters, the Eagles were installing a new scheme. Matthews couldn’t lean on teammates for advice since they were also learning. Disaster ensued.
Matthews started a few games before being relegated to the bench. He was mixed in as a role player at times, but largely spent the next few years on STs. To his credit, Matthews embraced that and did a good job on STs. This was supposed to be the year that Matthews finally got cut. Instead, Jake Knott got suspended and then hurt. His absence opened a hole and that helped Matthews to make the team. Then Najee Goode got hurt and that moved Matthews up the depth chart. Injuries to Mychal Kendricks and DeMeco Ryans put Matthews into the starting lineup.
What happened? Matthews stood up to the challenge and is playing the best football of his career. He has 1.5 sacks, 2 TFLs, a FF and a FR this year. Matthews is now playing the MIKE position and he’s responsible for getting the defense lined up correctly. Kelly and Davis have praised him for the job he’s done with running the defense.
Does Matthews have a future in Philly? ILB is hardly set for the future so it is possible, but let’s also be careful not to make too much of a few games. Having a guy step up in the middle of a season and play solid football is different than seeing him as a 16-game starter. Matthews could be brought back to compete for a spot as a backup and STer. The key word there is compete. Matthews helped the Eagles shut down DeMarco Murray and Dallas, but he’s a complementary player. No matter how things play out in the future, Matthews has shown that he can play in the NFL. That has to give him a sense of satisfaction after several years of frustration.
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Want to read something funny?
Check out this Skins blog post on the Eagles and why they would fail this year.
Always fun when trash talk backfires.
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