Trade Noise
Posted: November 1st, 2015 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 419 Comments »It’s that time of the year again. The NFL trade deadline is upon us. That means lots of speculation and wild rumors. The deadline actually means something in hockey, basketball and most of all, baseball. Those are the trading leagues. The NFL is not.
There are some deals, but they never match the hype. Right now there is a report that the Cleveland Browns have put LT Joe Thomas, C Alex Mack, OLB Paul Kruger and OLB Barkevious Mingo up for sale. Based on history, it is more likely that none are dealt than two or three of them.
There is an Eagles rumor. BGN has the story.
Report: Eagles are shopping Vinny Curry for trade https://t.co/Aho8yX4EgH pic.twitter.com/GBnEEYmUVe
— Brandon Lee Gowton (@BrandonGowton) November 1, 2015
I would hate to see the Eagles deal Curry. I’d actually like him to get an extension. The problem is that Curry may not have interest in staying here as a role player when he can pursue a starting gig elsewhere. He loves being an Eagle, but careers are short and money is money. This is the final year of his deal so there is logic to trading him. If he leaves in March, you get nothing for him. (Reminder that comp picks only come when your team doesn’t sign free agents…Eagles tend to be active shoppers)
Player for player deals make for fun talk, but aren’t real common. Most likely someone would give up a pick for Curry. Miami just lost Cameron Wake for the season. You wonder if they’d be willing to pony up a good pick since they’re still in the playoff hunt. The Giants would probably love Curry, but you don’t want to deal him in the division. The Colts could be another team that would make some sense.
We’ll wait and see if anything happens. Remember…
Annual reminder that this ain’t baseball, and very little tends to actually happen at the NFL trade deadline.
— Les Bowen (@LesBowen) November 1, 2015
Now for some complete speculation. If the Eagles don’t believe in Marcus Smith, they could see about dealing him for Mingo. One team’s disappointment for the other’s. There were reports back in 2013 that the Eagles considered Mingo a possibility with the #4 pick. We don’t actually know if they were interested or not. He would be a LB to develop for depth behind Connor Barwin and Brandon Graham.
This is all likely much ado about nothing, but speculating about trades is entertaining, especially in the bye week.
_
I wonder what it would take to get Mingo? I loved him coming out of LSU, had tremendous upside and is a pure pass rusher. Something the Eagles desperately need on defense is a rotational pass rusher. No depth there. I’d be willing to give up a 5th rounder for him.
MSII for Mingo?
I would drive him to the airport.
Make sure you pick him up on a weekday – he doesn’t seem to show up on Sundays…
Go Saints! Go Seahawks!
Half way there.
If Curry is traded the defense loses its best pass rusher. Doesn’t make sense if you have hopes this season. Unless they get a 2+ I would be pretty unhappy.
More like a 4th rounder.
5th?
6th?
7th?
Exactly. They will never match the production with the value they get.
Maybe that was the case last year; but he has 1 sack this year.
Ugh I still cant believe we lost to Atlanta
When you have 7 months to get ready for a game, but don’t get ready for a game……………………
I was actually excited this offseason when I thought they were cross training Curry at OLB to try and get him more snaps. Then he ended up playing drastically less before heading back to dline and returning to about 30% of the snaps.
But, if there’s one absolute law in the universe it seems to be that the moment you start cross training at multiple positions under Chip Kelly, you’re a gonner.
It’ll definitely be sad to see him go. First steps like his are absolutely rare. When you watch him in slow motion, at the snap of the ball, he’s a full yard in front of the rest of the D-line. Such a shame he never mastered 2-gapping. He got better, for sure, but what a line we could have had if he was able to play the run like Thornton while still being a phenomenal pass rusher.
Whether he’s traded this year or moves on in FA next year, we’re definitely going to miss his pressure on passing plays.
How is that an absolute law? All the OL have played multiple positions? Barbre, Tobin. They are still on the team. Smith is still on the team. Walter Thurmond is thriving. Barner has played WR and RB. Burton played RB and TE….
Maybe enlighten us all on this absolute law of yours?
Curry should be traded, he’s a poor fit. Get value for an asset, it’s basic economics.
First, I totally agree with you on Curry. It sucks to lose someone that provides such a critical value to the defense. However, if he’s leaving for nothing 10 games from now and we’re clearly not a contender this year, it only makes sense to get value in return now if you can. That’s basic economics just like you said. Allow me to feel sad though that were losing a good player both on and off the field simply due to scheme fit. Basic economic sense aside, it’ll still suck watching him rack up 10-15 sacks a year for the next 5 years on another team.
As for the law of position change followed by release. That was more a joke (in reference to it being an immutable law of physics) than anything else. But it is somewhat of a trend I’ve noticed. If there’s a player that the coaching staff likes but that doesn’t fit their needs at a given position, they’re often given an opportunity at a completely different position to see if they have any added value before being cut.
I’m not talking about position groups that routinely cross train players at similar positions as a matter of rote policy like offensive line where it’s typical across the league to have back up Guards train at OT and vice versa.
These are the players I’ve seen this happen to:
Jason Avant – given opportunity at CB prior to his release (http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2013/05/21/a-position-change-for-philadelphia-eagles-wr-jason-avant-could-actually-save-his-job/)
Trey Burton – was given time in training camp as a RB before being cut, then returned as an emergency TE/RB later due to injuries
Damaris Johnson – given snaps at RB before being released
Clay Harbor – given training camp snaps at WR, then LB prior to release
Isaac Remmington – DL moved to OL then later released
GJ Kinne – QB to WR then released
Jaylen Watkins – CB to S back to CB then released
Obviously, most of these guys were bottom of the roster types and I’m conveniently leaving out someone like Thurmond since he never played CB for us and was the starting S from day one of OTAs, so that doesn’t fit with my theory that players they plan to move get a shot at other positions first, and MS2 who has bounced between OLB and ILB, since that was done mostly due to a team need because of lack of depth not because we were getting ready to cut him a few weeks into his rookie year, but, he could just as easily end up on the list as early as this offseason. But, like I said it was more joke than anything I actually think is a static law of physics on par with those defined by Issaac Newton.
A lot of these dude’s knew they weren’t gonna make the team. G.J Kinne, Clay Harbor, we even still have Burton, so I’m not sure what you’re talkin about there, and Jaylen Watkins got hurt. Are you like one of those London fans who wore your 2011 Jason Avant jersey to the cheifs lions game?
Like I said … It was more a joke than anything else. Don’t get too hung up on it.
Pass rush has continued to be a weakness this season and now rumors Chip is willing to trade away one of their best pass rushers?
I realize they are rumors and they need to make a decision on Curry this season, but Chip better get good value or his already mixed GM record takes another hit IMO. You cannot keep moving out talent like this without replacement.
Well if he’s going to leave anyway, you won’t get anything at all.
Obviously, which is why I said, “they need to make a decision on Curry this season”. The point is IF they trade him during the season, they better get good value because then you have even less of a pass rush than we do now during the 2nd half when we want to make a serious run at turning this season around.
If they lose him in the off-season after making a fair extension offer because he wants more playing time and they do not feel he is worth that, that is how things go.
he will get nothing more than a 5th rounder, not sure if that is even posible
I think sack numbers are down but guys have been getting pressure.
If Curry isn’t in the long term plans then why keep him, unless you think we are making a deep playoff run this year? It doesn’t bother me either way… I can yell at Graham get an almost sack or Curry
Agreed. Although, I’m always amazed when I see the snap counts and Vinny was only on the field for like 15-20 snaps. I always think, “that can’t be right I remember seeing him a bunch more than that.” Then I check the stats and Vinny has like 16 snaps, a sack, 5 pressures, 2 QB hits and a tackle for a loss. It’s, one, amazing how much he produces and shows up in such limited snaps, and two how little snaps he continues to get. Regardless of his impact on the passing game, it seems like the staff would rather cede those snaps to a guy like Thornton who holds the point of attack, rarely makes plays of his own and offers nothing when the opposing team drops back to pass, but also is rarely out of position and does the dirty work of a 3-4 2-gap DE well.
All indications are that they have no intention of playing Vinny on 1sr or 2nd down. Hence the consistent 30% of snaps he gets each week. The issue then becomes, how much can you justify paying a specialist that plays 30% of the snaps even if he gives you great and important production in those snaps? Secondly, can you pay him, a guy who’s got the talent to rack up 10-15 sacks a year as a starter enough to keep him happy as a back up? If they’re not going to play him more, then I don’t think those two questions line up. He can make $8-10 million as a starter, and we probably couldn’t justify paying him half that much. So, unfortunately Vinnys gone next year.
Going into this year I thought there were two options: either Vinny plays more snaps or he’s gone next year. My hope was that cross training him as an OLB would help get him more snaps. I thought he’d continue to play dline on third down and in nickel getting 30% of the snaps there and could get another 20% of the snaps spelling Graham at OLB. If he was playing 50% of the snaps and generating 10-15 sacks, setting the edge well and not being a total liability in coverage that’d be great and we could justify paying him enough to keep him around as he’d be filling two roles. Unfortunately, when he moved to OLB he just took OLB snaps and was seeing the field even less than he had the year before. There was little pass rush on 3rd downs so they moved him back to dline and he’s continued getting 25-30% of the snaps and we haven’t seen him again at OLB. Therefore, all signs point towards him leaving in FA next year.
I agree Jernst, Chip/Billy seem very set in how they use Curry regardless of production. They did similar with Graham, but then extended him since they realized they needed an OLB with rush abilities. Cole was let go etc. On the DL, the depth is more skilled and thus the need less, but Curry still is the best rush guy they have. He must freelance too much for their liking or is not as good a tackler or something; otherwise it does not make sense.
If you rewatch some of the plays from the last 2 years and focus on Curry. Two things stand out. One: he’s a rocket off the ball and is almost always a full yard past the LOS while the other guys are still just getting out of their stance. So, when the opposing team goes back to pass, he’s almost always causing immediate disruption. And, two: when the opposing team runs he’s no different, incredibly fast off the ball and attacking, but then he’s more hit or miss. He either blows the play up immediately or he’s out of position, the RB cuts in the opposite direction of his penetration and there’s a big hole. A lot of our blown third and longs converted with runs show Vinny leaving a huge hole by attacking so hard upfield.
So I see why they don’t want him in there on run downs. It just doesn’t play to his strength. And, if he’s allowing other teams to run effectively there’s less use for his pass rush skills on third and long simply because the opposing team is avoiding those situations.
There were two ways that Vinny could have overcome this. By getting stronger as a two-happen and learning how to play the run effectively like Cox has, or get pass rushing opportunities at both dline and OLB. Unfortunately he never developed as a good two-gapper and we never seemed to get comfortable with him playing OLB.
Because he’s 280lbs and can’t two gap.
this NYG-NO game is like the NFL version of TCU-Baylor
C’mon Brees
i have eli, big ben and russel wilson as my fantasy qb’s. went with eli and it’s paying off
Cooks is looking good. We really got screwed in the first round that year
Yeesh. We sure as hell did.
I lost it when the Saints moved ahead of us.
If I was Brady or Foles, I’d be worried watching Brees and the Saints game right now..
I don’t think the Saints’ D can stop Brady…. It would be a shoot out.
Edit: Ah, you’re talking about that record huh?
Sure.
I don’t know whats happening
🙂 Well they now have company atop the record book, but still not broken. OT might have changed that… the only thing forcing a field goal that game was the clock.
Good D right there, Saints.
I swear if the Giants win this game…….
FAAACK. And as I type this they just tied it.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
SMH
So with the Giants winning I can only repeat myself: if the Eagles lose to the Cowboys next weekend their season will be over.
Why so down?
With the who doing what? 🙂
Screw you and your hit DRC
Saints win!
Giants love to punt to returners late in games, Saints win!
Giants lose in a very Tom Coughlin way
LolGiants D.
AHAHAHAHAHA
SUCK IT NEW YORK
Now all go kill yourselves!
Was just checking the box scores of some other games. J.J. Watt had NINE QB hits today.
Now we know why Mariota wasn’t “ready” yet.
J.J. Watt quietly turning in another otherwordly season. It’s a shame his talent is wasted on such a shit team. He should force a trade to the Eagles.
WTF how can you overturn that
These replay people SUCK
Blandino
And two Cowboys just blocked Seattle guys after the whistle; shocking there was no flag.
So after watching other teams in the 1PM games, I’ve learned some things.
1 – There’s a lot of bad football in this league
2 – AFC South is worse than the NFC East
3 – Outside of GB, we have the talent to beat any other NFC team
4 – We should win our division
Big Ben let his team down. That was a winnable game for the Steelers. Nice win by TB. Chicago choked, but bad teams find ways to lose.
Lets see what kind of team we have coming out of the bye. If our Offense can be average we should be ok. Hope Ags is ready to go next week
5. Everybody is hurt now.
Dude, I totally agree. Especially with no. 1. Shocking how much parity in the NFL these days…
Well, apparently the Falcons, Cowboys, Redskins and Panthers have the talent to beat us too. Which they did, hence why the Eagles need to win some football games.
I think the Vikings could surprise people, especially if AD finds even a small vial of the fountain of youth. Zimmer has that D playing better than expected
I am so glad I am not sitting next to a Bears fan today. Never mind their choke, that Ditka in a Packers sweater commercial must be causing bazooka vomit in the windy city. It would be like seeing Dawkins in a Cowboys jersey.
That commercial doesn’t even make sense. I would be so pissed if I was a bears fan.
They had one with Jerry Rice wearing a Cowboys jersey.
I didn’t see that one. What a load of crap.
lol, J.J. Watt questionable with a back injury? 2.5 sacks a forced fumble and 9 QB hits. Wish he played in a bigger market so I could see him play more often. Truly a generational player.
LolFox.
How can you not show Drew Brees as the top Performer at QB (early headlines), but instead put up Carson Palmer?!!
That was a bit foolish.
greg hardy being helped off field
Hope you don’t play again you sack of scum
Just to clarify, this was meant for Hardy. I hope Lockett’s OK.
What happened to Hardy?
Some type of injury. Not sure the extent.
Wow what a flustercuck on the field
no shock that Derek Dooley coaches the Cowboys special teams. One of the worst college coaches of my lifetime.
And how is Mark Richt working out down there? Poor Georgia fans.
Whoops. I didn’t realize he was the idiot son of the guy who used to coach Georgia, he’s his own idot.
I don’t think much of Richt either
He’s still there, at least for now.
Glad to see that thumbs up. Huge.
Yeah, you hate to see a non-villainous player hurt that way.
People will look at the stat line after this game and think that the Cowboys run game was legit, ignoring the fact that Cassel is the leading rusher. SMH
Cowboys are a classless team.
https://twitter.com/JoeGiglioSports/status/660955111804522496
Not excusing Dez but we have no idea what was said or what happened before that moment. And I think Dez said that before he knew Lockett wasn’t getting up
You’re right. But it doesn’t help my opinion that he’s a classless person.
I don’t know or care enough about Dez to argue that one lol
Is our saints win looking any better?
Yea but our ATL one is looking worse
And so is the Jets win.
Carr is ripping them
Geno Smith = why play hard.
Really doesn’t make sense to release Curry. Cox, Barwin, and Graham are literally the only players we have that can consistently get pressures. Cox is the only one who can do it inside.
I hear what you’re saying, but Curry is going to be gone for zero compensation at the end of the year. Why not get something now?
I think they’re talking internally with him, and simply trying to see how much he’s worth. Then they’ll re-sign him maybe.
I get what you’re saying. From a production standpoint it makes absolutely no sense. A guy that can get 10 sacks a year in spot duty and cause that much disruption is a very valuable asset.
The problem is that he’s a FA next year and a 4-3 team will offer him big bucks. I could see him making $8-10 million per year next season and getting an opportunity to start. The question is, “is Curry worth $8mil a year to the Eagles when he only plays 20-30% of the snaps each game, even if he’s ridiculously effective and productive in those limited snaps?” The answer is undoubtedly no. There’s just no way in the salary cap era to have one of your highest salary capped players only playing 25% of the snaps. And, Curry’s not going to want to make less money and play less snaps when’s he’s offered a starring role and higher salary elsewhere. So the new question, knowing he’s gonna leave this coming offseason, is, “what’s 8-9 games of Vinny Curry worth to the 2015 Eagles?” Would you be willing to take a 4th rounder to give up his last 8 games with us this year or would you rather have 8 more games of Vinny and then no 4th rounder AND no Vinny next year? Tough call.
No way does he get a 8-10 million, he’d be lucky to get half that. Compare him to Brandon Graham, who is a better FA prospect, and look at what BG settled for.
I think Eagles could afford to get him for something like 3-5mill avg deal
After the 2013 season Everson Griffen (who had 0, 4, 8, and 5.5 sacks and had never been a full time starter) signed a deal worth $8.5mil per season. That was two years ago. The cap has gone up over $20mil since then.
A year after posting 9.5 sacks as a full time starter, Jerry Hughes signed a contract worth on average $9mil per season.
Jared Odrick signed a contract this past offseason for $8.5mil per year. Last year he had 4 sacks, the year before 4.5 and the year before that 5.
Carlos Dunlap signed a contract in 2013 for $8mil per year. The previous 3 years he had 4.5, 6, and 7 sacks.
Cameron Heyward signed a deal this offseason worth just shy of $10mil per year. He had 7.5, 5, 1.5 sacks in the three previous years.
I could keep going, but you get the point. Coming off a year where a guy gets 9.5 sacks while playing only 30% of the snaps usually results in a big pay day. Plus the film shows tremendous burst and penetration whenever he’s out there. When you’re getting sacks and pressure regularly and the film matches that production and shows it’s because of elite skill people take notice and pay good money, especially when you’re young and just entering your prime.
Finally, well just simply have to agree to disagree about Brandon Graham being a better player. Graham’s never had a season with more than 5.5 sacks. He’s undersized as a DE and slower than you’d like at OLB. He doesn’t have any elite traits that jump off the screen like Currys first step. He has one pass rush move, the bull rush. And, he got $6.5 mil per year from the Eagles last off season.
In 3 years and zero starts Vinny has 14.5 sacks, in 6 years and 18 career starts Graham has 18 sacks. I have a feeling Vinny will get paid by a 4-3 1-gap team that sees his potential. Much like when the Raiders paid Burgess as a FA after flashing some potential with minimal playing time a few years back. And, I wouldn’t be surprised if Vinny racks up 10 sacks a year over the next 5 years either.
I hope you’re right though! If they can get him locked up for $3-4mil then that’s a steal and they should not try to trade him at all.
Curry would tell them to pound sand at 3-5 million.
7 mil a year is the absolute floor of what he’s going to get.
I know our boys are not on fire but can Seattle GIVE it away? Man…
I would hate to see Curry go.
The way the cap works makes it not a good investment to keep him, so I get the logic of trying to scare up some compensation now.
Cox, Logan, Thornton and Curry. Pick 2.
Cox and Logan.
Yep. I like Thornton as a player. I find it crucial to have a run stuffer of his caliber. I love Curry as a person and his ability to get pressure in very few snaps from 3 or 4 different positions is amazing.
However, Cox will get a huge contract, around the 100 million mark with 12+ per year, by the standards set by Suh, McCoy and Dareus. Logan probably won’t get the same deal as a NT, but could very well get at least half that amount per year. We also have huge money in Jenkins and Maxwell and decent money in our LB, considering Kiko will at some point inherit Mecos contract.
On offense Peters and Lane are expensive, a lot of money in RBs, Ertz and Matthews will get some money too, if JMatt stops sucking and we still have to find someone to play QB, which cost a lot too.
Cox and Logan ate absolutely essential to lock up long term. They really make the defense go. Cox will take a mountain of money to resign. I thought it was dumb this offseason not to lock him up before the big contracts started getting signed. With his breakout year this season he’ll get a nice paycheck. But he’s the one player on the entire team that deserves big money. You don’t get rid of your teams only stud player. Especially one that’s so young and still hasn’t even hit his prime yet.
Logan will be undoubtedly cheaper. Not as big a market for undersized run stuffing NTs regardless of how good Logan is. But he’s almost as essential as Cox and I’d like to see them offer him an early contract extension before he really breaks out and makes a name for himself.
Thornton’s a good player and I’d love to have him back. But, he’s be fairly easy to replace, especially with Hart and Bair still on the roster. I don’t think there’s a huge drop off from him to Hart and if he wants a big salary, it won’t be hard to find a run stopping 3-4 DE that can do what he does for cheaper. His market will be smaller as hell be of little interest to 4-3 teams, and really fits mostly with a 2-gap 3-4 which is getting rare these days.
Vinny is a luxury to have as a situational pass rusher that only plays 30% of the snaps. He’s too good at pressuring the passer to not play more but he’s never improved enough against the run for us to want him on the field on 1st and 2nd down. A guy who can get 10-15 sacks a year gets paid big money in this league. He’s 100% gone this offseason since we won’t pay him that kind of money for 30% of the snaps and we won’t play him in our scheme every down.
Cox and Logan
Is it just me or is this fill-in actually worse than Joe Buck.
No, all your problem. Joe Buck is an gangrenous wound of a human. His anti-Philadelphia announcing across two sports is too much to stomach.
lmao.
Anybody less “accurate” and “fair” than Coatesy doing a Flyers game is a bad broadcaster.
I believe it’s more to the point that Joe Buck has a man crush on Troy, hence his perceived disdain for the birds….
I like him doing baseball. He’s absolutely f’ing atrocious for football though. It’s because he was raised on baseball.
i’ve began watching games with the volume down and just play music during the games…..i like it so much better compared to listening to the bum broadcasters during the game
He can never be forgiven for this:
https://youtu.be/5dmqGg6Ccvw?t=16s
I’ll take
Khalil Mack
Derek Carr
for
Bradford
Smith II
may the ghost of Al Davis approve of this trade
I’d rather have Aaron Rodgers.
So would 30 other teams in the league.
Yes, everyone would love to have Rodgers or Mack.
well duh
I mean I would give Bradford and Smith + a 2/3 for just Carr
Time for Jimmy Graham to earn his money
That’s why he was traded away from New Orleans; he ain’t earning it.
I thought a PA was coming his way
Lynch kinda screwed them up running out of bounds on first down. He also took his run outside when he should have cut off the backside of his FB, he probably would have ended up close to goal line. plus he stopped the clock
Not sure what he was doing by running out of bounds
Whatever. Injury TO anyway
Why kinda? That was a huge mistake.
ok fine, HE’S A FRIGGIN BUMMM!!
Would have been 30 seconds if he hadnt gone OOB
Even less. Wilson knew on the scramble the play before and got his knee down; Lynch let himself be run out of bounds. Lynch also did it earlier but it was ruled his forward progress was stopped; not this time though.
Please dont play 15 yards off…
I’m more scared of Dan Bailey than anyone on the Cowboys offense
We need a Sherman pick 6 when Cassel stares down Dez
refs gonna give them the game
That was earned
beat me to it…
Why!?
looks like thighs to me
i miss real football
Real footbal is too dangerous now. Not even kidding.
It will be touch soon just to keep the stars and most known players in the gizame
HILARIOUS!!!
I’m giving 6 in my pool.
That hit would have been legal if Cassel had handed off the ball.
That’s because refs are too afraid to just call it the incomplete pass that they know that it is. Why not just make the call that will be automatically reviewed, even if it’s essentially a waste of 5 minutes.
Id rather they let it play out and review it then make the wrong call if they aren’t 100% sure
It was actually close — looks like the hit did knock Cassel’s pinky off the ball so he had less control. If he had lost full control and pushed the ball forward, that would have been a fumble.
Dean Blandino! Jerry is on the phone
wasnt taht first down
LOL its the Cowboys, they are almost as bad as us, no worries
they have a much better kicker
correct
That was great.
That’s not ideal. Bad rule.
Lynch should’ve just went out of bounds and saved me 10 minutes of my life
this is rather satisfying though
If this were the Giants. Eli would lob up a terrible pass with no chance of getting caught and get a gift PI call 40 yards down the field.
Their D would give up points on that incomplete pass…..somehow
LOL
I feel like I just ate a snickers. so satisfying.
Good day for the Birds! Thanks New Orleans and Seattle.
enjoyed seeing the falcons lose too.
how come they never show jerry in the booth after they lose?
Giants 4-4
Redskins 3-4
Eagles 3-4
Cowboys 2-5
I want to be optimistic but we are soooo bad
will come down to those divisional games…
This thing is so wide open. We might end up with a 7-9 division champ out of the east this year.
7-9 wins might win the division this year
No it won’t. Dallas’ 2nd half schedule is cake. If Romo is healthy, they are at least .500 easy.
Dallas can;
lose to us, win at Tampa, lose at Miami, win vs. Carolina, win at Washington, lose at Green Bay, lose vs Jets, lose at Buffalo, win vs Washington.
6-10!
I don’t care what schedules look like on paper with so many teams being week to week… I don’t think anything is given.
We need the bye. I am hopeful. Totally biased though.
Need better Oline continuity and team play, need WR’s to be able to catch a football and Bradford to pull his head out of his ass and we could be a pretty damn good team.
Our Defence and special teams are good enough to take us far and if our offence can just be above average we will be a very tough team to beat.
Our shitty record is 100% on the offense. Our defense has held teams to less than 20 points per game on average (19.6 to be exact). And they’ve only given up more than 24 twice (26 to the Falcons and 27 to the panthers … And the panthers tacked on 3 garbage points after we turned the ball over on downs with less than a minute left on our own 20). If our offense put up just 24 points per game we’d be 5-1-1. The average team puts up 23.3 points per game. So we’re just talking about being essentially average in each of our games. So far as a team we’ve only scored 22.9 points per game and that’s with two return TDs and a defense that leads the league in takeaways. Take the two return scores away and our offense is good for 20.9 points a game. That’s pathetic.
The defense is holding people to less than 20 points a game, averaging almost 3 turnovers a game and our offense can’t consistently put up more than 21 points.
In games not against the Saints, our offense has averaged 17.8 points per game…ew
Pile of hot poo.
We’re awful. And the fact that the entire division is equally awful makes us even more awful.
Tallest midget. Bury the Boys’ season next week and go from there.
Yes the Seahawks won, but why didn’t they take a shot for the TD?
to milk more time plus its Wilson so you can get an lolpick
Vegas told them not to kick the field goal
Not until they’ve finished converting 2 of their O linemen from defensive linemen. And breaking in a UDFA.
Perhaps you don’t remember how the Superbowl ended?
Dez doesn’t like when you tell him what he did
https://twitter.com/DezBryant/status/660983096414629888
Things Dez Did
Tell Lockette “That’s what the phuck he gets”.
Hit his own mother.
Things Dez Did Not Do
Get on one knee and pray.
Catch it.
What a piece of crap to then deny it. You said it, it is on tape, people heard you. Own up to it. Explain that you thought he was hurt, not injured, and that you regret it now.
I wish we would go PA on the first play of the game
I would totally give up Smith for Mingo…the Browns cant hate that dude THAT much can they lol
Haha, I could definitely see them having interest in trading him since he hasn’t done much in his 2.5 years there, but the thought that they’d take MS2 for him straight up is completely laughable. Dudes got zero sacks and only 1 assisted tackle in 2 and a half years and can’t even get on special teams. Mingo at least has 61 tackles, 33 assists, 7 sacks, 1 INT and 11 PD.
Mingo hasn’t been great but at least he has shown SOMETHING
Mingo is lighter than Smith. Better pass rusher but he’s not as good in coverage
I didn’t know MS II is good at anything.
How in the world do the Packers only have one Superbowl with Aaron Rodgers?
Remember last year they totally fucked themselves out of a super bowl berth with that abysmal end to the Seahawks game.
I think a lot needs to go right to win a super bowl. I mean Peyton Manning only has 1 super bowl win too, which is kind of astounding really.
Manning and the Colts would at least get to the Championship game and lose to the Pats.
I think the Packers could have done a better job helping Rodgers out. How many years did he play with a shaky OL?
Pretty much the same amount of years he played with a shaky, at best, defense.
Mike McCarthy and for some reason Rodgers is one of the worst QBs at comebacks
Good question! They’ve lost to some fairly lame teams in the playoffs.
I guess the NFL really will let guys light up the Qbs on these play fakes…. Clay passed up a kill shot on Manning
Something tells me if Clay went for Peyton’s knees, there would have been a penalty. I know the NFL said that the Suggs hit on Bradford was legal, but I still think the ref throws the flag if the defender takes a cheap shot like that.
I feel you on that…. but the hit to the knee rule is like the catch rule. its varies game to game. SEA got called for a hit to the knee in the Dallas game but Atlanta lost with a guy shooting in on Matt Ryan’s knee on the final play.
I was advocating for Mathews to cave in Peyton’s chest
When mighty ELI got accidentally hit in the knees, with the ball still in play, the lineman was penalized. When the Dallas quarterback was tapped on the knee, a penalty was called on the Seattle player. Both today. Yet it was okay to dive at Sm’s knees just because he was standing and breathing? Tommy, you have contacts. Why not get Blandino on Monday Night Football to make an even bigger fool of himself telling us all how it’s not okay to touch a New York or Dallas quarterback, while it’s okay to destroy the rebuilt knees of a QB from another city?
I’m serious. This issue is beyond belief.
It’s all about the perceived scheme of the Eagles. The officiating crews haven’t liked the style from day one (more work for them?). Before they ever played a game, don’t you remember refs coming out and saying that they dictate the pace of the game? Terrible analysts talk all the time about how the QB has an option on almost every play when Chip tells us he basically never has an option.
Giants only 2nd team in history to score at least 49 points and lose. Love it.
Bold statement out in Denver. Pat Bowlen bravely initiated into the Ring of Fame of the team he owns. Not every franchise would be so brave.
He’s so brave, indubitably even more brave than any other person who’s ever had alzheimers. I’m sure my grandparents weren’t as brave as rich and famous person Pat Bowlen who had alzheimers.
Damn, forgot he had Alzheimers. While I get your point and agree, now I feel like kind of a d-bag…
I wouldn’t.
Bowlen bought the team, then ponied up $$$ to help make it into a championship contender. You notice how many former players really liked him. Years ago, I followed the Broncos a bit because I lived in Edmonton (go Oilers!) and this:
http://www.edmontonsun.com/2014/01/25/edmonton-native-pat-bowlens-30th-year-as-denver-broncos-owner
Mathis with a lovely pair of blocks on that td run by Anderson. It doesn’t happen without him.
Sometimes I wonder if the bye week will be a turning point and we come out guns blazing next week. I saw quite a few teams putting up a ton of points this week and wondered, “Why can’t that be us?”
I’m hoping for the best but I’m expecting more of the same…
Chip does seem like he needs a half of something to do anything well.
I’m getting some of my preseason optimism back. The bye has been good for me.
It is like when the roller coaster goes up the secondary hill in the middle of the ride and you hear the ratcheting sound…
no it’s like the Rocky movies and we are at the part where Adrian says “win, Rocky. Win.”
“WHAT ARE WE WAITIN FER!?”
You are clutching the person next to you with your eyes closed saying; “Not like this, not like this.”?
I saw a lot of beatable slop this weekend.. I felt the opposite of “why can’t that be us”..
..
I saw more “Good teams’ show Flaws, than “Bad teams” looking good
OT: Found an interesting piece on some talent evaluation issues via an unrelated search. http://www.footballoutsiders.com/futures/2014/futures-six-memorable-lessons-about-talent-evaluation
There is some good stuff there. The way I came to it was comparing the career stats of Matt Leinart and Bradford. As you might expect, they are very similar. I hadn’t realized, though, how short Leinart’s career really was.
Great find man! My take as it relates to Bradford:
Trust what you see: Well, what I see is a guy who has been infuriatingly inconsistent this year. If there’s anything consistent about his play its the amazing level of inconsistency that he routinely displays. He goes from looking unstoppable for short stretches to looking like a third string rookie seeing his first pro action. Sometimes in the same game often times in the same half of play. He makes quick decisions, which is good, but sometimes he’s too quick with his decision and settles for the easy short throw when if he’d wait just a half second longer he’d have a wide open option coming free deeper down the field. But I’ll take the guy who moves the ball forward routinely over the gunslinger that’s always holding the ball waiting for the big play. More often than not he does see the field well, he’s only thrown one or two INT all year where he lost track of a defender. More often than not his INTs are the result of bad throwing technique leading to inaccurate throws rather than bad decisions. His accuracy is occasionally stellar, more frequently though in a reasonable catch radius rather than pinpoint stellar accuracy, and rarely if ever way off. And he clearly has the type of top level arm to make all the throws. He looks like a guy that could go either way. He’s either a guy that could catapult to the top ranks of NFL QBs if he’d just clean up his technical inconsistencies and get comfortable operating in the same offense over a couple seasons, or he’s just a guy who is and always will be infuriatingly inconsistent and that will never change. I have no idea what he’ll ever become even if given ideal circumstances and a chance to grow in the same offense for a few years.
Operating within and outside the system: lacks ideal improvisational skills, but not detrimentally so. He’ll never be McNabb or Wilson or even Eli for that matter in this regard. He has surprised me though in his ability to avoid the rush, run and pick up positive yardage when needed and to throw on the run when he has the opertunity. His mechanics fall a part and get rushed at times when avoiding the rush and his accuracy suffers, but again not detrimentally so and he has shown some good accurate throwing ability on the run as well. Most importantly he doesn’t ever seem to take his eyes off the field and focus on the rush and he works the pocket masterfully, climbing up instead of bailing out the back and makes some great throws doing so.
Protecting himself: seems to know when to run and when to eat the sack. Seems to know when to stand tall and take one on the chin to complete a pass and when to live to fight another day. Very selective in when he runs and particularly when he exposes himself to a hit while running. Slides very well. Gets out of bounds when he can, but will dive forward and lower his shoulder on a critical 4th down if he can pick up the first. Both his ACL tears were not his fault. First one happened when a defender dove at his plant leg as he threw, just like Brady’s and his second came when he was running towards the sideline and got drug down awkwardly after he threw it away.
Ultimately, I think it all comes down to whether or not he can improve his consistency and how much you think 2 years off and learning a new system gives him room for improvement over what we see now. If he solidifies his mechanics and starts to consistently throw with the accuracy we all know he’s already capable of and gets more comfortable in the current offense he has the chance to be an elite QB. At this point though, that might be a big “if”…he might just be an inherently inconsistent QB that will always check down just a bit too much.
Excellent, Jernst!
Kurt Warner’s career rebirth was the dagger in Leinart’s career birth. He was what he was anyway. To Wisenhunt’s credit he didn’t try and force the young QB (hi Geno Smith, Blain Gabbert, EJ Manuel, etc. etc. etc.).
Is Bradford Leinhart and Sanchez Warner, in our sad little world right now?
Demaryius Thomas in an Eagles uniform would be sooooo nice.
He’s been Mr. Dropsby all year long, maybe even worse than Jordan Matthews.
Are you seriously comparing his few games of drops to someone who doesn’t even have 1/4 of the talent that Thomas has?
He has tons of drops and has been unreliable, just like the WRs we have. He wouldn’t be sooooo nice, he would be status quo business as usual.
Give me what you’re drinking. I’ll have the guy with 3 consecutive seasons of 1400+ yards and 10+ TDs with some drops over some guy that can’t even catch routine passes, hasn’t even broken the 1000 yard mark, and only has an SEC record (LOL) to his achievements.
Right?!? 94 catches for 1434 yards and 10 TDs, followed by 92 catches for 1430 yards and 14 TDs, then 111 catches for 1619 yards and 11 TDs, and this year he’s on pace for 128 catches, 1589 yards (with a 57 year old Peyton Manning who’s playing worse than Bradford this year)….sign me up for that type of unreliable production any day! It’s not even the slightest bit of a stretch to claim that he’s easily been the most reliable and productive WR in the entire league over the past 4 years.
And, while DT has a drop rate of just under 8% this year, he had a drop rate of 5.4% last year and 5.6% the year before which is really good. Meanwhile Matthews has a drop rate this year of 12.7% and is on pace for 89 catches, 909 yards and 2 TDs. Or in a completely alternate universe….the exact same as Demaryius Thomas.
The entire WR corps has 82 catches total.
DT has 56 by himself.
I’d settle for a guy that would make up almost 70% of the receptions on the team. The drops aren’t even that bad Julio has 1 less drop than DT but these guys are so good that it doesn’t even matter.
If you could get two of those guys, that is 140% of the catches right there.
I dunno dude…DT is on pace for 30 more catches and 600 more yards than Matthews and he’s playing with the only starting QB in the league who’s been statistically worse than Bradford this year. Also he’s averaged 12 TDs a season over the past 3 years. Matthews has 1 so far through 7 games. Oh and DTs been doing this consistently, putting up better numbers than anyone over the past 4 years all while being the number 1 WR drawing the other teams best CB every week rather than playing the slot against nickel CBs. Would he really be status quo?
So your saying he would fit right in with the current team chemistry!
Well JM leads the league in that category. Difference between them right now is that DT makes the highlight reel catches all of the time.
So… The Broncos looked pretty fucking impressive tonight. I’m starting to think maybe it wasn’t a mistake for Manning to give it one last try after all. That defense is suffocating and Manning seems to be getting on track with his arm.
http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000570880/Thomas-makes-defenders-bite-with-great-fake
This is a guy that really didn’t know how to run routes coming out of college. Maybe some people who played WR could tell us which one is harder to learn, catching with your hands or running routes?
I think hands is something you either have or not. See a guy like TO, that had stone hands, but won with pure strength, speed and route running ability.
Of course route running is the same to some degree, but I think every player with NFL type athletisme can learn to run routes good enough.
Couldn’t disagree more. Jerry Rice always said his hands weren’t good naturally. Attributed hard work to his ability to catch the ball better.
Catching the football is just like any other physical repetitive act. Do you have big hands? Yes? Then you can catch the ball well if you work on it hard enough.
“Jerry Rice always said his hands weren’t good naturally”
Must run in the family.
Was waiting on that.
I don’t know, it’s like trying to teach a QB to have football IQ. Just doesn’t seem to happen too much in the real world. There probably are some fixed attributes involved.
Re: QBs and football IQ, I agree that there is some level of fixed attribute, but I think the real problem is that if you don’t get the reps in while you’re young(ish), you aren’t going to develop the traits at the lightning pace the NFL works at. You need to walk before you run, and if you’ve been a run first kind of QB your whole career until age 22, asking you to read defenses from a pocket in the NFL is like asking a toddler to compete in an Olympic sprint.
So no, not everyone can become Drew Brees through repetitions, but guys like Kaep are really done in by their lack of reps in the pocket when they were younger. HS and college football coaches need to win games, so they’re going to allow a guy like Kaep to do his thing, and not force him to develop his game in the pocket. A developmental league for the NFL is the only way I see a resurgence in quality pocket quarterbacks, but we all know that’s probably never going to happen.
Practice does make you better, but the ceilings and floors are probably fixed attributes.
Agree very much on QB football IQ. To compare that to catching the ball is really not fair though. Catching is all about muscle memory.
Catching is 1st grade addition, and NFL QB non physical requirements is like quantum mechanics. They really aren’t even the same subject.
Agree. The way I look it is like the best point guards in basketball. They are always one step ahead of everyone else, they see the game faster and more completely. Somehow, their understanding of the game is such that they can predict who’s going to be open and how to get the ball to them before the rest of the players.
Now try to do that when 300 pound men are trying to body slam you.
Maybe… except with Matthews, his incredible work ethic has been well documented, including while he was in college. Still, outside of last year, the knock on him has always been his hands. I dobut he has ignored working on his hands as part of his work ethic, so while I do think there is some ability to improve your ability to catch, I have to imagine that there is also a significant need for natural talent as well. There are just not many examples of going from bad to good at catching the football. Maybe bad to average/functional, but I just don’t think hard work is enough.
I guess I can tend to agree there. A lot of it is mental, I think. If it is in your head that you suck at catching, I guess it could be a real problem. Sort of like how Shaq’s career FT numbers were way worse than you would expect if he just closed his eyes and lobbed it up there every time.
I can relate to both guys. I myself am a choke artist of the highest caliber.
I doubt many people work harder on his hands than Matthews yet he still has bad hands.
Also I wouldnt say Jerry Rice had great hands, his greatest tool was his route running.
Great hands is ODB, Jason Avant or Chris Carter.
Kwon Alexander is the man. This guy provides an excelling example of how to do one’s job with focus, dedication, and professionalism.
https://twitter.com/ranacashSN/status/660970675788730368
remember torry smith did the same. it’s crazy how many of these dudes deal w/ violent deaths of relatives.
did we use patrick chung wrong? he seems to be a legit starter in ne.
He also had some injury issues. Lingering shoulder problem I believe.
Think he got benched there last year at one point before injury put him back in the starters seat. Don’t forget he came to us from them in the first place so he is very familiar with their scheme.
To you answer your question though: yes. We asked him to be a warm body that occupies an area and doesn’t let the bad guy go past him. He failed miserably.
We were telling our DBs to not turn and find the ball in man coverage. Dropping the hit sticks on his own teammates was his fault though.
He played in NE to start and is playing next to an all pro S, that def helps his game imo
I love when the Giants punt late in games.
Wonder if Oakland would give a 4 for Curry.
They have insane amount of cap room next year so they can extend him easily.
They are a young ascending team making a push for the playoffs. They have Mack and Aldon Smith, but Smith’s future is uncertain, and they could rotate the three of them to absolutely terrorize QBs.
Essentially Oakland gives us a 4th rounder for 9 games of Curry this year. They use it to sell him on their future and get him to sign a fair market deal. He’s a better talent than anything they could get with the 4.
Pass rushers are always desirable, but I can’t see them giving up a 4th for a possible 9 game rental. Conditional 6th or something like that, maybe; but no way would they offer a 4th.
I don’t think most teams would give much. But there is a reason I specified Oakland.
While I don’t think they will have as hard of a time going forward, they have been a joke for FAs for a long time. Anyone decent won’t take their calls, and they have to pay way over market for middling talent. So if there is a team that may value the “bird rights” at more of a premium it would probably be Oakland.
Probably not, but I would let Howie or Manowitz call.
Howie? Does the Colosseum have clogged toilets?
No they need help with logistics for the LA move.
yea but whats his 40 time
Wonder if Oakland would give a 4 for Curry.
They have insane amount of cap room next year so they can extend him easily.
They are a young ascending team making a push for the playoffs. They have Mack and Aldon Smith, but Smith’s future is uncertain, and they could rotate the three of them to absolutely terrorize QBs.
Essentially Oakland gives us a 4th rounder for 9 games of Curry this year. They use it to sell him on their future and get him to sign a fair market deal. He’s a better talent than anything they could get with the 4.
I feel like that would be an amazing deal for him. Like you said he is better talent than anything *anyone* is gonna get with a 4. I understand we lose him after this year, but isn’t the goal to win now? Isn’t trading Curry a sign of not wanting to win now?
I would rather let him walk than take anything we would realistically get in return, unless it was a player for player trade. Those are a pipe dream in the the NFL though.
This is a good call.
OAK is a fun team.
I kept picking against Oak in my weekly spread pick league. I am going to stop now.
https://twitter.com/Anthony_DiBona/status/661183510611259393
And red zone interceptions. Without even playing this week
Yeah he’s not been good. Receivers haven’t been good either.
for a second I read “Tarde Noise”, thought Tommy was addressing the comment section again.
My take is we should keep Curry around even if we know he won’t stay here. He’s disruptive, and if there is any hope for the season, him contributing to keeping this defense elite (we don’t have much to spare in the pass rush department). That’s worth more than the scratch-off ticket we’d get for a guy who will be a Free agent at the end of the season. Unless we write 2015 off, of course, then by all means.
What would you guys give up for Joe Thomas. 30 years old. Probably a better player than jp at this stage iii his career. But you wouldn’t be able to give him jps spot. That would be a slap in the face to jp. Would you be able to get him to play guard or is that a complete waste of his talent. If only we could get jp to play lg with Thomas at lt. That left side would destroy people. I would love to watch jp pull and destroy guys on the edge. And he can move people in the run game which our guards have been awful at in recent years. Maybe his desire to win a championship would Trump ego. Then again this would acrew up our olines chemistry
Nothing. Thomas may be arguably the best LT in football. However he turns 31 in December, so you would only have 2 maybe 3 season of him, and the wheels could come off at anytime. There would be no dead money, but he has cap hits of $10 million a pop for 16, 17, and 18. It would piss off Peters because he would have to kick to LG. It would piss off Lane because it would mean he wouldn’t get to play LT before he’s up for a new deal, limiting his earning potential. And it would take a good chunk of time for Peters and Thomas to get comfortable with new techniques and terminology, so it would be up and down for at least a month if not the rest of the season.
Cleveland likely wants at least a 3 plus maybe a conditional. Expensive in both cap and draft resources. Only short term fix. I’ll pass.
He hasn’t missed a game in his career. Why would you say “The wheels could come off at any time.”
watch the Pats will get him for a 6.
Unrelated to the Thomas question, do you think there is a possibility of moving Peters to guard next season? Would you rather draft a guard to put next to Peters, or draft a OT, either RT or LT with Lane at the other spot, and Peters to guard?
we’d always like to draft a great OT rather than a guard at the same draft slot.
I thinking more along the lines of our first rounder on an OT or our third on a guard.
Which 3rd rounder?
I didn’t think that deeply. It was more of a hypothetical of keeping Peters at OT or transitioning him to a position where he can be the best for a few more years.
Gotcha; I’m just trying to take requests for my next mock.
Would Peters even move to OG?
I have no idea.
I think it depends on how the draft plays out.
If you take a T who is day 1 ready you tell JP you want to move him to guard or he’s getting the Mathis treatment. He’s due 9.3 million with 3 million in dead money. So you would like to keep him, but he’s in decline and if he’s going to fuck up the OL rebuild then you move on.
Of the first round OL:
Tunsil and Stanley will be gone
Not a huge fan of what I’ve seen of Conklin and Decker
Best move to me is move back a bit and take Cody Whitehair. Will be above average G from day one.
How bout them Chiefs!
my sincerest thanks to Jerry and the Cowboys for making a tough eagle season much easier to endure, at least for today..
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1) Hardy spazzed out on ST coach and teammates
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2) DEz BRyant lost his mind and cursed out all the reporters after the game..
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3) and the underwear Theif who was supposed to replace Murray is having a mental breakdown and is like 1 more loose screw away from reaching Titus Young level on insanity
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Beating the Cowboys always tastes good, but this week we have a chance to beat a Cowboys team, with a fragile and leaderless locker room spiraling out of control which could be the straw that broke that locker rooms back and really set off that powder keg scumbag locker room..and jerry and the Cowboys deserve it all… Talent over humanity? Ok… Don’t come crying when your house come crumbling down…. And for Murray and the Eagles to beat that franchise at this point would be one of the few satisfying wins from this season… Eagles better NOT cheat me out of the opportunity to step on that franchises throat and set the match to their powder keg franchise..
What the fukc does this even mean : “Beating the Cowboys always tastes good”
You could ask that about most of the word soup that kid cooks up.
What’s confusing about that statement? Fucking beat Dallas.
Please don’t feed the trolls under my posts man. Minimize the troll and keep it moving…
Mike McCarthy is pretty overrated IMO.
I’d agree with that,,, their success is a credit to their QB, McCarthy is just along for the ride..
Ive been saying this for a while. I would throw in Tomlin and Coughlin too. Yea Yea they all when SB. But that was never BECAUSE of the coaching more like despite the coaching lol
jeff fischer is my #1 overrated coach currently, tenure of Andy Reid with half the success.
I went with the ones that somehow got lucky enough to win a SB
I missed the Cowboys game, are they not as bad as I hoped (was Cassell any good?) or are the Seahawks just not themselves still.
both teams were Putrid… Good defense, bad offense, all around.
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you confident for Sunday night?
hard to be confident about THS eagle team since you have no idea what you will get each week, but if I can’t be confident about beating this joke of a cowboy offense, then when can I be confident about this eagle team?
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They kicked 4 FGs, they are really bad, DEz Caught like 2 passes,for 16 yards.. Their #1 RB Randke is away from the team suffering a mental breakdown. Calling the police to his own house because he feels “paranoid”.. DEz Bryant flipped out on all the reporters, Greg Hardy belongs in a straight jacket..
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Dallas D has been ok… But if our Defense lets that offense score 17 points, Id consider our D a Failure,,. Cowboy offense is THAT bad. Scoring 17 points is way too good for them right now… Weedman may be better than Cassel(not really sure which sucks more)
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Zero expectations for our offenses,but our D better not let them score 17 on us
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The entire NFC is a mess, Carolina may be the best team right now
I hear you but we seem to play down against back up QB’s. Huge game, I’m nervous.
They are averaging like 12 points a game since losing Romo… We NEED the win, if at the very least our Defense doesn’t show up Sunday and we lose to an offense that can’t score 14pts a game, for me, that would easily be the worst loss of this season, ROCK BOTTOM..
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Chip kelly teams score 20 points in there sleep, if we can’t score more than this Undiscaplined joke of a cowboy team, that would almost be “2012 Eagles type of Putrid..
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If they DONT beat this cowboy mess, they shouldn’t even be allowed to come back to Philly
Don’t forget GB. I think they are better than Carolina at this point.
Meh… I’m starting to view them like the PeYTON Manning Colts, 1 Super Bowl win, then spend the next decade being regular season champs while chocking in the playoffs… I wouldn’t want to play GB in the regular season, but in the playoffs I welcome an opportunity to be the latest team they choke against….Eddie Lacy has fallen from Grace… I need to see them make it to the Super Bowl again to believe it after choking the past 5’post seasons.. I saw this regular season juggernaut dance before..
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Carolina scares me more, go figure, two weeks ago I thought we matched up well with them lol… Quality Defense and a smash mouth run game travels well in January…
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Truth is, there isn’t anyone in the NFC that’s not beatable… Cardinals seem to be an elite team, but they just don’t scare me, one 3rd down stop away from being 0-2 against us.
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Seattle’s OL makes them very beatable..
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saints Defene is terrible
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Everyone in the NFC sucks including us,.., Then again, we really don’t see what the teams will grow into Til November/December, so maybe a team or two get their ish together and start separating themselves from the rest of the average pack, but as of Today, the scary teams are in the AFC.
,.
I guess that’s what makes this season TORTURE, no Matter how much we shit the bed, the rest of the slop in our Confrence gives us hope.. NFL seasons are Marathons of attrition, so maybe a team of two grows into a quality playoff team, but today, everyone is very beatable..
They were a crazy onside kick fluke away from going to the Super Bowl last year, against a really good Seahawks team. Their defense is suspect to be sure, but Rodgers still plays really well in the playoffs.
Sea Hawks still developing an almost totally new O Line, hence the numerous sacks of Wilson. The national media types just don’t bother to mention that.
I think this is who the Seahawks are
Beating the Cowboys tastes good.
La’el Collins was a beast yesterday. The Cowboys have 4 probowl/all-pro talent offensive lineman and they are all under 25.
I mean he’s good and the offense stinks with Cassel vs. Seattle D but Dallas only had 220 total yards.
does no good when Cassell/Weeden are worse than Bradford.
Can’t wait until they have to pay them.
Yeah the Giants’ lost but man Beckham is fun to watch. He got doubled almost all day and still carved up that Saints’ secondary.
that game was utterly ridiculous in general lol.
I am really starting to hate him and it is pure jealousy. He is fun to watch but I hate that he is on the Giants.
i’ll trade for a torn-achilles Steve Smith Sr., rather than see Cooper/Ag/Matthews drop any more passes.
Admiral Lord Nelson hasn’t even been on the field for weeks.
I just noticed all the teams the eagles have beaten (all 3) are .500 or better, yet Pig face’s team has not beaten 1 team .500 or better have they?
2013 Draft Class Status:
1 RD: Lane Johnson (OT): a good pick who has performed well, but has yet to become a dominant OT at this level that one might expect from the #4 overall selection.
2 RD: Zach Ertz (TE): another good pick who has again played well overall, but struggled to reach higher levels of performance due to injuries, drops etc.
3 RD: Bennie Logan (DT): Developed into a very good DT/NT on our strong DL, very good pick
4 RD: Matt Barkley (QB): Never developed past #3 QB – traded in 2015 for conditional 7th rd pick, bad pick
5 RD: Earl Wolff (SS): Never developed mostly due to injury, but even when healthy never showed skill set, aptitude or mindset for NFL level, bad pick
7 RD: Jordan Poyer (CB), Joe Kruger (DE), David King (DE): All washouts, picks this late are always shots in the dark, but value has been found by the Eagles and other teams here so it can be done.
3 of the 8 picks remain on the team today, overall the draft is a success due to the first 3 selections, but we need to see Johnson or Ertz become a dominant player to make it a great draft IMO.
Also King is part of the Seahawks DL rotation & has played well for them.
jordan Poyer has done ok for himself in Cleveland…
Good to hear about Poyer and King, too bad they could not be developed here and help us.
After reading some comments you must be aware that players aren’t allowed to develop in Philadelphia. In their first 6 games, they are either HOF or a bust.
Think you’re underselling Logan. That was a GREAT pick, easily the best of Chip’s tenure.
This defense is not nearly as good without Logan in there.
..meh Lane has been better than the (3) picks before him (Fischer/Joeckel/D. Jordan)
Wolff flashed talent enough when he was healthy. His health unfortunately didn’t last long — he was injured during his rookie year and still hasn’t recovered. He wouldn’t have been brought back this past summer if the coaches hadn’t seen NFL level talent to begin with.
Poyer was picked up by the Browns and is now a backup safety. Sticking in the league three years isn’t bad for a 7th round pick — he just didn’t with us. I didn’t realize until just now, but King actually made the Seahawks this year.
weird that so far this year in prime time we have played in two of the worst games ever according to the broadcasters.
Aikman said the eagles cowboys game was the worst game he had seen in the pros. then the giants eagles game was called something similar by the broadcasters.
Cowboys @ Eagles was not @ Prime time. Eagles @ Cowboys this Sunday is though.
oh yeah it was game of the week.
game of the weak.
Aikman apparently never watched some of his own early games where he nearly got killed. Or maybe he missed the shoddy perfunctory performances from London.
What’s with Kiko, Nelson are they coming back in the next few weeks
KIKO had Targetted this weeks Cowboy game for his return. no idea if he is still on schedule… Personally, I would have preffered KIKO shutting it down for the year, get completely healthy and try to put his knee issues behind him for good while we,are fortunate enough to have KEndricks, Mufasa and Simba healthy for the second half of the season…
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I still have high hopes for KIKO, and he is still so young that BIG PICTURE for me is way more important than right now when it comes to one of our most talented young players.. Unfortunately he seems intent on playing this year, hopefully once he gets on the field, he can stay on the field, I will be sick if he comes back and has another knee problem this year
Simba 🙂
2014 Draft Class Status:
1 RD: Marcus Smith (OLB): Right position to focus on, seemingly the wrong player selected unfortunately due to performance so far 1.5 years into his career. Hopefully we’ll see progress in the 2nd half of this season and him pushing to start next season.
2 RD: Jordan Matthews (WR): A good pick who has played well overall, but struggled to reach higher levels of performance so far. Still plenty of time to grow and his opportunity should continue as the #1 WR option for the team.
3 RD: Josh Huff (WR): Flashes, but nothing else so far; too many fumbles/drops and mistakes with too few big plays to balance them out so far. Still plenty of time to develop, but unlike Matthews his opportunity will likely coincide with his production. If he continues to struggle, he’ll eventually be passed over, pun intended.
4 RD: Jaylen Watkins (CB): What is it with 4th rd picks under Chip? Watkins never developed, had some good showing IMO this past TC/pre-season, but got caught in the numbers game and need to fix the secondary quickly.
5 RD: Taylor Hart (DE): Barely played as a rookie, but has shown good development so far this off-season/season albeit in a rotational system that limits what he can show to some extent. Still on a good track if growth continues and hopefully will push to start next season.
5 RD: Ed Reynolds (S): Did not play as a rookie and now on the PS – showed some good improvement during TC/pre-season, but Eagles decided to go with Thurmond to start and the ST guys to backup. Eagles did keep Reynolds so they have not given up and hopefully he’ll make a stronger push next season to stick on the roster.
7 RD: Beau Allen (NT): Showed up from Day 1, great value from the 7th round and has become a solid and reliable backup on the DL. Could push for more time if we lose some talent here next season.
5 of the 7 picks remain on the full roster today, with Reynolds on the PS. Overall it is too early to fully evaluate the draft, but IMO Matthews was the best selection. If he continues to develop into a high level WR and either Smith or Huff become good players combined with Hart and Allen as solid backups, it will be a very good/great draft IMO.
How will Matthews develop into a high level WR? A good WR doesn’t drop that many balls.
I think reviewing all of these players is why Chip Kelly got rid of all of his draft picks for Sam Bradford.
Jerome Brown was *developing* for 5 years, yet people adored him. Develop means improve. A player in only his second year has barely started. Also, if you can manage it, try really hard to look up “sophomore slump”. It’ll give you a break from desperately trying to boost your 13-year-old ego.
He is not good. Plain and simple he is no where remotely close to a number one receiver.
There’s no O lineman on that list, or on your previous post about the 2013 draft. Oh, right…
lane
But then my post isn’t as witty.
Thumbs up.
Olb in rd 1 = statistically likely mistake
When I look at around at the top teams in the NFL today, Stability and continuity seem like the common denomanators.. I don’t see many teams with a ton of roster turnover, trying to incorporate new QB, RBs, WRs, and OL leading dominant offenses..
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1) New England, top QB/top head coach been together for over a decade
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2) Im no Marvin Lewis fan, but their core has been together for years and are starting to be rewarded for their Stability and continuity
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3) Broncos been together for years, their BIG change is a Head coach who inherited a top defense and a legendary QB smarter than most offensive coordinators
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4) Ron Rivera used to be on the hot seat, but keeping Ron and Cam together for like 5 years is starting to pay dividends.,
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5) McCarthy and Rodgers been together for over 5 years, their QB,OL,RB,WR have all been together for years for the most part
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Teams like the Ravens and Giants tell us that Continuity ISNT ENOUGH unless you have the Right core of players in place, but when I look around at the top teams, I don’t see teams that are In the process of incorporating a new: QB, 2 RBs, 2 WRs, 2 OL… I don’t think all this change NEEDS to be a death sentence that costs us the entire season, but are starting point was clearly worse than any Eagle fan had hoped.. So far we are relatively healthy, so for me, I need to see GROWTH during the second half of the season, and hopefully the season ends with us feeling good about this core, and BUILD on it Next offseason, for me the worst thing possible, is chip going thru this season and feeling like he has to,drastically alter the roster again Next offseason…
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look at Bruce Arians, hired,at the same time chip became our Coach. After their first two seasons, Bruce chose to continue and build on the foundation he put in place the first two years, where as Chip felt like we were maxed out and opted to Rebuild in our 3rd offseason… cardinals are getting off to a solid start, where as our Offense had a complete make over and we are still trying to come together after an inconsistent start….. For me, the worst thing possible is the year ending and chip feeling like he needs a new QB and change half the starting offense again..This team was always going to have to grow and be a better second half team, hopefully they show chip enough to where he feels good about what he has and spends next offseason BUILDING ON IT..
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If we get thru the year and SAM doesn’t show growth and chip feels like he needs to take a Flier on another QB, that’s the worst thing that can happen to this franchise.. We won’t ever get where we need to be, having to break in a new QB each season.. Carolina game def showed promise, but hopefully SAM stays healthy and continues to show growth the second half of this season, because,we won’t ever be the team we hope to see until we find a QB chip trusts to be his leader for the next few years…. Continuity for the sake of continuity is no better than change for the sake of change.. But without QB stability, we will remain on the 8-10 win Hamster wheel
This is true; stability at coaching/OL/QB etc. is a hallmark of consistently good/great teams.
But it’s also a bit of a chicken-and-egg style debate: Are they good bc they’re stable, or are they stable bc they’re good?
Probably a bit of both. I’d prefer to keep everyone from this season, and see how this team does next year, after having a full season AND a full offseason together. You’d expect improvement in that scenario.
But free agents come and go; rookie contracts expire; people get offended by lowball contract offers or rookie draft picks to replace them; people get more lucrative offers elsewhere…
We’ll see how the offseason shakes out, but I agree with you–I’d like to keep everyone together, not make any major roster changes (aside from draft picks, obviously) and build on what we’ve already got. I’d like to see how much the players improve over the remainder of 2015, and I think they’d all play better together in 2016. If they continue to improve, the 2016 might even live up to the offseason hype from 2015!
I don’t believe in getting into bidding wars for our own playërs, and im hoping that Chip losing Maclin has taught him that lesson, and work out extensions with guys we DONT want to lose before other teams are allowed to bid on them…of course in some situations we will need OTHER teams to set the market for a guy who thinks he is worth more than he thinks, for example we,needed free agency to agree on the money with Brandon Graham (hopefully it works out with Curry also)
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We don’t really have that many Free agents that we dont want to lose this year.. We extended a few of the backüp OL,KEndricks, MEco… Curry and Thornton need to be extended, I think Bair might also..
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Who else is in a contract year? Sproles has another year left, coop is under contract but I assume we cut him, Barbre, Petwrs, KELCE are all under contract, Not time yet for Lane, Cox, ERTZ, Logan,KIKO… Who am I missing? ..
Who am I missing besides Bradford? If SAM stays healthy, I think we will want to keep him,and unless the Eagkes and sam have a big second half of the year, Sams agent may have made a mistake not accepting the extension we offered, which I heard was good money like 4 years 18mil per year, 30mil Guaranteed that we could get out of after two years,… If the season ended today, doubt he would get the 18mil per year we offered….. But whatever, the money can be worked out, we NEED him to stay healthy AND keep playing like he did in Carolina, hopefully his WR show up this time…
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“Chicken of the egg”??? not neccessarily… Marvin Lewis was given a decade, he was given security and stability long before he ever found Dalton… Rivera was on the hotseat last year and his owner was smart enough to stay the course and he has been rewarded for it.. A QB ISNT the entire story.. COACHING MATTERS:
Jim Harbaugh Kapernick vs Tomasula Kapernick
chip Kelly Nick FOles (fantasy Monster) vs Fishers Foles (bottom 5 fantasy QB)
Mathew Stafford is a franchise QB, he has stability, but they can’t find a coach they like..
I think your analysis of the contract situation is right on. I think they will (and should) keep Bradford on a reasonable multi-year (e.g. 3-4 yr) contract. I agree that they’ll prob cut Cooper.
Walter Thurmond is on a 1-year contract–they need to extend him, to maintain our solid safety play. They should extend Fletcher Cox now (even though they picked up a 5th-year option on him) because he WILL command a premium on the open market. They need to lock up Fletcher Cox long-term, before he even sniffs free agency! If he leaves this team, the defense will suffer. Badly.
I said it was a chicken-and-egg style debate, not that coaching doesn’t matter. Coaching ABSOLUTELY matters! However, many of the teams that lose consistently (like Cleveland, Oakland, Washington) often change players/coaching staff/front office personnel–do they lose because they change personnel often, or do they change personnel often because they lose?
As I argued in my prior post, I think it’s a bit of both. Players will never play to their max potential if they constantly have to learn new plays, new techniques, and adapt to new schemes and new expectations–and the team therefore won’t win very much. Likewise, when the team isn’t winning a whole lot, the players/coaching staff will be replaced, in hopes of getting better-performing replacements.
It is very difficult to sustain winning in any case. It is EXTREMELY difficult to sustain winning if you’re constantly changing the coaching staff and/or the players.
Stability is a necessary, but not sufficient, factor among winning teams. [That is: winning teams are stable. However, a bad but stable team will NOT win a lot.]
Rather have McCarthy/Lewis/Rivera?
For me I would probably take Lewis?
Rivera I guess… I like Defense, and from what I hear Rivera is smart enough to know what he doesn’t know so he focuses on the defense and is hands off on the offense, which I guess minimizes McDermott the DC if true, but whatever..
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Rivera is accomplishing what Marvin Lewis needed over a decade to accomplish. I believe in stability, Continuity, BUILDING the right way, but I don’t know if Lewis deserved the Ridiculuosly long andy Reid length Leash that he was given by the Bengals
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Carolina had a rough year last year, Rivera was on the Hot Seat, owner was smart enough to stay with the course and Rivera has rewarded him with a team that’s much tougher than I thought.. When Tommy has Keachly next to him, that Defense becomes a Bad ASS even overcoming average safety play.
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The offense lacks,talent at WR, and Cam ISNT efficient passer, but they make it work with a a few big X plays…
I’d take Rivera too. I think he adjusts better than the other two. GM in Carolina has done Rivera no favors, but he seems to get his squad to play hard every game. I respect that.
McCarthy has the ring.
It’s Aaron Rodgers and the GMs ring… McCarthy was just along for the ride ..
I think part of that is perception.
One could just as easily point to NE as a franchise always in flux. It seems as if the coach and QB are the only positions that don’t get shuffled each year.
And, sure, those are pretty important spots. But then it brings us to Denver, where swapping out those two led to immediate improvements in both cases. Meanwhile, RBs and receivers get plugged in as needed. Remember when losing Decker was going to be a big deal?
As for GB and Carolina, I think the fact that Rodgers only has one ring is more of a sign that they are doing it wrong than right. And Carolina isn’t an argument for anything, yet.
Not sure if you can use broncos there. this is sanders’ second year, peyton’s third, ware and the whole secondary have been together for a year or two. That’s a mercenary team if there was one. But peyton + winning is good enough to keep it together.
This is Peyton’s fourth season there. Thomas has been there all four years too. And that offense, with a new coordinator, was not good before their last game. Their defense has made the difference… which is a bit surprising.
their d is stacked w/ pro bowlers. i’m surprised it’s been so good, but not totaly surprised.
Broncos Get Vernon Davis..SF and Denver swapping 6th and 7th rd picks in 2016 and 49ers get Denvers 6th in 2017
I can’t wait to see what kind of junk he talks on Kaep on the way out.
Apparently he already has, according to NFLN. Politely no doubt.
Davis will be a weapon on that team.
I’m just the messenger
Howard Eskin: Eagles Offered Sam Bradford 4 Year $18 Million Per Year Contract
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2015/11/02/eskin-eagles-sam-bradford/
“They’re not big fans of Kaepernick,” Eskin said of the Eagles. Eskin added that the distaste for Kaepernick does not mean the team is incredibly high on Bradford either.
“They were big fans of Bradford,” Eskin explained. “They’re not as big of fans of Bradford because obviously they will not sign him to the contract that he turned down which was about $18 million a year.”
That’s the going rate.
And I agree on not being a fan of Kaepernick; that whole style of play is a dead end that we’re wise to avoid.
And Bradford can be tagged if the Eagles really need to.
Yeah, but I think it was really 30mil GUARENTEED that we could get out of after year 2 if I’m not mistaken..
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I don’t get how ANYONE that has been paying attention could even think there is any chance Chip would want KAp.. Poor football Intelligence, NOT the LEADER chip is looking for from the QB position… We should have learned from the nonsense talk about Johnny Manziel being the perfect Chip QB.
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Now it’s Kapernick and RG3 talk? At some point fans and media have to realize chip cares more about QB then being able to run fast.. How this concept HASNT been Grasped yet I have no idea..
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I’m not takking about you RC, but it baffles me how so much talk From eagle fans and Media about Kapernicks, when Chip would NEVER work with that dude..
Kaep is such a bad QB but can make a really great looking play with his arm or legs a couple times a game. I guess that’s another reason why some fans latch onto him. He gets overhyped when he throws a long bomb few QBs can make or runs fast for his size.
Preach brother, PREACH!
I saw that play where the WR was uncovered, and he ended up handing it off. No field awareness at all.
Sam turned down 18M a year?… Jeez. Only a handful of Qbs are making over 18M this year. I’m glad we dodged that bullet
yeah what did he think he would get? 19?
he’s not aware of much is he?
who’s open, what’s the route, when’s the snap, where the defense is, what he’s worth….
He seriously turned down Aaron Rodgers’ money. I was thinking they offered him 13-15.5M a year before the season…. Not the big money out of the gate
that’s what 10 snaps in the preseason will get you apparently.
what a dumby, but lucky us.
well we aren’t lucky I guess, the lucky part would be if sam goes off the rest of the year
I cant imagine what he and his agent were thinking….
He didn’t turn down Rodgers money lol
You’re right.. I read the cap hit instead of the annual average salary which is 22M. Its still a lot of money for a mediocre QB to turn down.
I doubt much of that Bradford offer was guaranteed. Contracts are hugely dependent on the bonus and guarantees. For example… Tannehill signed a big-looking contract, but it really wasn’t all that much more guaranteed than he was already going to get. If he turns out badly, they can get out easily. Even Kaepernick really isn’t guaranteed anything past this season — they can save 9 mil on next year’s cap by cutting him. Cam Newton on the other hand got real money. I’m guessing the Eagles offer was more Kaepernick/Tannehill area. Plus, Bradford can afford to bet on himself.
Was a fair offer, probably only had 2016 guaranteed, and even then the Eagles might have had options to cut at start of league year.
Will be interesting to see how this plays out, as you could be able to sign bradford for a LOT less this offseason if the team things it could still work. I imagine the agent will be getting fired however 😉
If he hasn’t been fired already
Do we really trust anything this man says?
https://nbcprofootballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/minireid.jpg
Lord have mercy.
If this is true i am so thankful he turned it down.
Eff it curry and a 6 for megatron
$$$$ makes no sense for either team
Yeah that contract is a deal breaker…. He isn’t going anywhere
Paying for a WR that can actually catch the ball makes sense to me.
Maybe we will find a receiver on the pup list
Okafor on fire right now.
I was not in love pre draft, but there are so few players who can post up in the NBA these days people have no idea how to play against him.
Think what he will be like in 2 years when he is 10lb’s lighter and fitter with the same level of strength.
He can put it on the floor too, he looks like the real deal.
I wanted him on draft day, even if Embiid was healthy. Guys like this don’t come along often, and he’s already got great presence on the offensive end of the floor.
Yeah he looks like the real deal. Every young guy needs to develop but you gotta love where he’s starting from. Nerlens has come a long way too, plus Stauskas already looks like a player, not a star but a nice offensive weapon.
Stauskas I think will look better when we get a PG. The inside/outside game that is about to develop on this team will be awesome. Okafor already creates space, now we just need a PG to know what to do with it.
Well we got a shitload of first rounders incoming on that front… Embarrassment of riches really.
I know. I don’t fault Hinkie for that, because if it pays off everyone else will try to do the same thing.
Kelly would be smart to trade for a WR like Tate. or anyone with 2 hands.
would you believe one hand and a magnetic hook?
Panthers up 10 w/ this stat line: Cam Newton1/7 13yds
Rivera is living or dying with Cam’s ability to take punishment
Yeah he’s running a lot and not sliding.
Is this how Cam normally plays? He’s taking some hits. He’s running through people.
Yep
Cam just threw a bomb off his back foot and was well under thrown and intercepted. The downside of being athletically gifted is you can get away with bad form, but not always.
Still, he’s playing better than Luck in that heavy rain. Luck can’t get anywhere near his receiver on anything more than a 5-yard pass. He is *way* off. He has a fumble and a pick (on a badly overthrown 8-yard pass) and their only offense is on the ground (and it’s not that good). Panthers 10 points came off the two turnovers and they didn’t need very many yards (and the TD required two 4th down conversions on like a 30 yard drive).
This game is a slopfest. I’m not one of those football fans that loves “weather” games.
I’m watching the Flyers game. Holmgren did a number on this team.
Hockey is the one Philly sport I don’t follow at all. Hockey just has 0 interest for me. I do hear people bitching about the Flyers pretty frequently on talk radio though.
Hextall has a mess that he’s still cleaning up, but I think he’ll get this team right overall. He’s made some nice moves, but bad contracts really hamper a team.
My father took my brother and I to games when we were younger, so I just developed a love for the sport over time.
As bad as Bradford and the Eagles offense looked last week against Carolina, Luck and the Colts look way worse.
Luck has been bad a lot this year
When they didn’t have bad Luck, they had no Luck at all.
I wonder if the center messed up that snap because of a Bad Sign.
spoke too soon, colts could win this game.
I thought he dropped it…
Luck needs to lead these WRs on these deep throws
probably did, but why let the rules stand in the way of a comeback?
Wouldn’t be MNF if they didn’t mess up calls
lots of clock shenanigans too
Like the Colts not getting out of bounds
Yep.
Why is the clock still going?
chance of sammy b leading that type of come < 0%
In fairness, he could have led two comebacks this year with just some help from the ball-catchers.
5%
He was on his way in that ATL game. Guy was hot but the Pope wasn’t having it
Ginn may have cost them the game