A Child Shall Lead Them
Posted September 27th, 2016 | 317 Comments »I was wrong.
I watched Carson Wentz play at North Dakota State. I watched him in person at the Senior Bowl. I saw a really talented prospect, but one that I thought would need time to adjust to life in the NFL, on and off the field.
The NFL can be overwhelming to young players. Matt Leinart and Vince Young once faced each other in the national championship game. Leinart was a great college QB and lived in the spotlight. That was when USC was the biggest show in college sports and the number one team in Los Angeles. Forget the Lakers and Dodgers, L.A. was all about USC. Young is arguably one of the great college players ever. He did breathtaking things in leading Texas to consecutive Rose Bowl wins and a national title (over Leinart).
Both Leinart and Young were Top 10 picks in 2006. Leinart struggled on the field and showed that he wasn’t ready for the NFL off the field. He was more interested in partying than studying. Leinart managed to stay in the league for 7 years. He went 8-10 as a starter, threw for 4065 career yards and 15 TDs. Young was only in the league for 6 years, but left with a starting record of 31-19. The Titans won with good defense, a solid run game and some big plays. Young only led them once to a Top 15 finish in points scored. His athleticism helped him win games, but Young just never developed as a passer. He also had off-field issues, mostly to do with financial matters and not being able to handle the pressure of the NFL.
Carson Wentz is ready for the NFL. He is a “gym rat”, as Mike Mayock would say. Wentz loves football. Not just playing it, but the work that goes into preparation. He is willing to sit in the QB room watching tape for hours, trying to understand his offense and the opposing defense. Wentz isn’t afraid to ask questions, of teammates or coaches. He wants to learn. He wants to improve.
Think about background. Leinart and Young were elite high school prospects. Wentz played for a year and went to North Dakota State. That’s a great program at the FCS level, but isn’t the same thing as Texas, USC or other major football schools. Leinart and Young were used to being great players that dominated the competition. They were athletically arrogant, as the saying goes. That means they didn’t always have to do the little things to succeed because of their natural gifts. Wentz was a late bloomer who grew into his body and developed into a top athlete. It took time. It took work.
Wentz developed into a guy that any school in America would love to have. Can you imagine if he was at LSU? Les Miles would still have a job and who knows how good those teams might have been. Wentz didn’t lose the chip on his shoulder. The good kind, I mean. He stayed hungry. He kept the work ethic that helped make him the athlete and player he is. You get the best of both worlds. You get a guy who is 6-5, 237 who can run, throw the ball 65 yards or drop a pass into a bucket from 35 yards away. That same guy has the mentality of the 6-1, 210 scrappy QB from Purdue or Missouri or Boise State.
I watched the Sunday night game with Brian Hoyer at QB for the Bears. Ugh. He had a couple of plays where receivers were running down the field, open. Hoyer made terrible throws and didn’t even give his guys a chance. It really hit me at that moment. Wentz makes those throws. He gives his guys a chance to make those plays (insert joke here). Hoyer has thrown more than 1,000 passes in his NFL career. He’s smart, tough and hard-working. But he simply can’t do the things that Wentz can. All the experience in the world wasn’t going to put those passes on target. You can either make those throws or you can’t.
Wentz can.
So many people thought the season was essentially over when Wentz became the starter. Having a rookie starter changed everything.
Oh, it changed everything alright. Possibly NFL history. Wentz is doing things that no other rookie QB has ever done. He has the Eagles playing better than anyone would have expected even if Sam Bradford was the QB. Wentz just helped the Eagles beat the Steelers 34-3. The Eagles had scored 32 total points in the 3 previous games against the Steelers. And that was with Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick at QB. Not exactly chopped liver.
We have to give Doug Pederson a lot of credit here. He fell in love with Carson Wentz in the pre-draft process. Pederson saw something special in the young man. He saw a player that might have reminded him of former teammates like Dan Marino, Brett Favre or McNabb. But Pederson also saw a guy that might have reminded him of himself in terms of intangibles. Pederson did whatever it took to stay part of football. He played in 3 different leagues and held whatever side jobs were necessary to keep the dream of football alive. Wentz had to earn a spot at NDSU and then patiently sat and waited for his turn to play. Neither Pederson nor Wentz had anything handed to them.
Pederson wanted to take things slow with Wentz. He wanted to have Bradford play this year so that Wentz could prepare for the future and truly be ready when his chance came. But I don’t think Pederson realized how special Wentz would turn out to be. Rather than sticking to a pre-determined schedule, Pederson embraced the chance to let his star rookie play.
I remember watching Randy Pausch’s amazing Last Lecture years ago. One of the points of that talk that stuck with me was when he said to challenge kids and sometimes they will amaze you. Don’t dumb things down for them. Give them a chance to show just how gifted and talented they are. The Pederson-Wentz partnership is a great example of that.
Pederson didn’t make the offense incredibly simple. You see Wentz making pre-snap adjustments all game long. You see him throwing the ball 30, 40 and even 50 yards downfield. He makes NFL throws in tough situations. The Eagles faced 3rd/12 on the final play of the 1st quarter on Sunday. Pederson had Wentz drop back and throw a deep dig route for a 19-yard gain. That easily could have been a draw or screen or other safe play. Instead, Pederson challenged his rookie to sit in the pocket, find a receiver and get him the ball. Wentz threw a strike to DGB for the first down.
History tells us rookies aren’t supposed to play like this. Football coaches tell us rookies probably shouldn’t even play, if you can avoid it. Sure, they have talent, but they don’t have experience. They’ll make costly mistakes that will hurt the team.
I’m glad Carson Wentz didn’t listen to history. I’m glad Doug Pederson didn’t listen to conventional coaching wisdom. They are doing amazing things together and the 2016 season has a chance to be something special.
Let’s see where the kid takes us.
_
“The Eagles faced 3rd/12 on the final play of the 1st quarter on Sunday. Pederson had Wentz drop back and throw a deep dig route for a 19-yard gain. That easily could have been a draw or screen or other safe play. Instead, Pederson challenged his rookie to sit in the pocket, find a receiver and get him the ball. Wentz threw a strike to DGB for the first down.”
Wentz being willing to attempt and even successfully convert these plays should make the draws and screens even more effective when the Eagles choose to run them. When Bradford was in there on 3rd and long you know exactly what the defense was thinking…
The best part of that Dig route to DGB was that I think the play before that DGB dropped a pass, and Wemtz told him not to worry about it, and went right back to DGB the next play and converted.
[…] Tommy Lawlor I was wrong. I watched Carson Wentz play at North Dakota State. I watched him in person at the […]
It really is amazing what he is doing. I’m so happy we have a QB again. As long as you have a franchise QB in this league you have a chance.
I know he’s #28, but is it me of does smallwood run just like Correll Buckhalter?
I think the number is the only similiar thing. Smallwood is shifter whereas Buck was more of a 1 cut and go.
Loved Buck as an Eagle. He really fought back from a hand full of serious injuries, and when healthy was a good back for us.
I was really happy for him when he went to Denver and succeeded as a feature back after Mcgahee went down.
I do like that Smallwood had some success between the tackles. If Matthews is still dinged going into Detroit, we still have two RBs that seem they can share the load.
…matthews and his perma dings
I thought the exact same thing – felt like they had a similar shimmy.
Pederson should use Smallwood as much as possible this year so we’ll know if we need to draft an RB next year. Theres a few really good ones and I wouldn’t want to miss out on one.
RBs is like QBs, you should pick up 1 every year, be it 7th round or UDFA because you never know.
Sproles and Matthews won’t be on the team next year. I think the Eagles save about $7 million in cap by releasing them
Dont know if i agree on sproles. I think you hang on to that little guy for as long as he produces. He looks just as fast as hes always been. Great mentor teammate for our golden child QB
Wow. I actually had the same thought before the Steelers game relating Wentz to the student’s in Randy Pausch’s class. Weeks 1 through 3 had the perfect schedule to keep raising the bar.
Excerpt from Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture:
A wacky stat. 4 rookie QBs have started a game this year. All were 3rd stringers going into camp. None have tossed an interception yet! They are a combined 160/263 for 1975 yards and 6 TDs.
It would really make football fun if this is another blip where we get a group of really good QBs all come up together. It will be even more fun this time since we will have the best of the bunch.
Of course, we are still a long way from that becoming reality.
It is remarkable that Pederson put Wentz in his first game versus nfl players, sure it was preseason, but still nfl players, with less than two minutes left in the first half. So Wentz was put into a two minute drill situation for his first taste of nfl game play. Says a lot about Pederson wanting to challenge the rookie and a lot about Wentz how he handled it. He looked poise, comfortable, in control. It was the first time I paused and thought maybe Pederson was a bit more complex than we thought, a bit unorthodox, a chance taker.
Forgot about that. Good pointing out.
Random, but anyone else happy we aren’t seeing RBs run wheel route after wheel route?
i think we’ll see it – RBs on LB is a winning combo, especially for a guy like smallwood, barner, sproles that can catch
It’s a good route for the match up, unless everyone in the stadium and watching at home know it’s coming.
I’m glad we don’t see swing pass after swing pass (loss for 2 yards)…
wentz is great – but i just watched the fran duffy videos. Got Damn. We’re talking 4 rushers crushing 6 or 7 blockers, pocket straight collapsed. DBs are turning their heads around and driving on the ball and there’s always more DBs than WRs bc we’re so good at getting pressure. Straight ballin.
What’s Schwartz’s address i need to send him a present for making the eagles watchable.
Watching the defense it looks like the job of the safeties is to ball out. Jenkins reading routes and breaking up passes making tackles – looks like he has a lot of ability just to be the man.
Front 4 on every play it’s just like omg. can’t believe we spent so much time reading then reacting when we should have been rushing and crushing.
Jenkins was DAWKINS-esque type dominant against the Steelers, and McLeod is just a friggin Savage
..
Our Cornerback play deserves more praise than what they are getting, because I thought that would be the weakest Link in our defense, but they have done a solid job of battling. Wonder how many of Antonio Browns yards were meaningless? Either catching the balls for 8 yards on 3rd and 10 which is actually a win for the cornerback, or how many yards he got from us playing with a big lead so the corners backed off, let them have everything in front of us as long as we don’t give up the big play… I’d guess that like 40 of Antonio Browns yards were meaningless
..
Im curious to see how Jalen Mills does against ODB, after having plenty of experience going against him in Practice back at their LSU days
I don’t get the Jenkins/Dawkins comparisons I’ve seen over the past few days. While Jenkins is playing at a high level for the past few years, nobody is game planning to stay away from him. No receiver is intimidated by him. I’m not sure he ever disregarded his own health to lay a hit on a receiver, tight end, or running back.
Jenkins has been playing at a very high level the last couples of years, DAWKINS level? Probably not, but sunday Jenkins was as great as a safety could possibly play, blending a high level of Physicality, sound torpedo-like Tackling, as well as impressive coverage ability which is a combo of what made Dawk a hall of famer. He also blitzes well
This is torpedo-like Tackling…
https://giphy.com/gifs/football-nfl-sgIXzqAkDjlKM
https://giphy.com/gifs/football-nfl-aJ57dKCYAYXvO
Can’t say I’ve ever seen Jenkins hit somebody with authority.
Thanks, Dave. There goes my hope of accomplishing anything today.
仔细瞧瞧再说！
It’s exciting now for sure, however I sure hope the fans don’t turn on Wentz or Dougie when other teams get some film to study and maybe the Eagles lose! A loss will happen and oh, the crushed hopes and dreams!
Wait, I thought losing was a Chip thing. Didn’t we move past that?
You are absolutely correct, and it seems inconceivable at the moment. Here is another unbelievable thought: one day, fans at the Linc will boo Carson Wentz.
come on now, booing WENTZ? last time someone tried that their mouth was sealed shut for a month by unknown forces
I know Philly fans are known for overreacting. But this kid has played so well that when he has a bad game, I doubt the fans will be that mad. Everyone knows you aren’t going to win every game. We have seen Wentz play extremely well so we know he can do it. He would have to go a long stretch of bad QB play for this fan base to turn on him at this point.
You are very much a Philly fan. Even when things are going great you can’t help but find something to scold us about…
Can we all admit we were wrong about Wentz. His play as a rookie is simply unprecedented, no one could have predicted anything like this. And as good as his stats are, he looks even better on tape. It just makes me so happy I get to root for this guy.
As much as I dislike admitting it, it looks like the Cowboys might have their QB of the future in Dak. We might see these two spar for the division for the next decade.
I was thinking the same thing about the division. Both offenses might rival the defenses of the Ravens/Steelers and that rivalry before Cincy got better. As things stand right now, for the next decade plus, Dallas will be our #1 challenger and I wouldn’t be surprised to see both as yearly playoff teams. If we stay the better defensive team as we are right now, I like our chances more.
I hate all things Dallas. But Dak emerging for Dallas to be a rival to Wentz is the best thing to happen. It will make the rivalry more fun and both teams better.
No it won’t. Dak isn’t going to be a top QB in the NFL.
🙂 Tell that to the ‘Boys fans.
Why do I care about cockroaches lol? Seriously, it’s fool’s gold which will be beneficial for us.
those fools are going to put romo back in the game, even tho his career is over and his body can no longer hold up to any type of hits
Them and Romo himself. Romo needs to have a long conversation with some retired players who suffered back injuries, including Aikman. If he wants to be moving without the aid of a walker past the age of 45 he needs to get out now.
Everyone everywhere was wrong about everything. This team, Doug Pederson, Wentz, the offense, this list goes on. What has happened so far has been absolutely bonkers.
Wentz specifically, we make fun of the Browns for being so so wrong. But all the draftnics were saying that there weren’t any QB’s going in the top 5 or 10. And only because it’s a qb starved league. Wasn’t until insiders started getting reports a week or 2 before the draft that some teams had 2 QB’s up there that we even considered a Winston-Mariotta scenario.
I think we should all be very excited about Dak Prescott for the Cowboys. He will be just good enough to make them believe they can win with him, and not good enough to put their team over the top, keeping them from drafting at the very top of the draft for the foreseeable future. His game is clearly limited, and they have been nursing him along with easy underneath passes, cutting the field in half to simplify his reads. Everyone is so impressed that he has not thrown an INT yet, they forget he doesnt really push the ball down the field at all. With Cousins playing up to his expected level and Eli not gettign any younger, I like hwo things are stacking up for the iggles for the next ten years.
(Insert joke here):
Wentz gives his WR’s a chance to drop it
Can’t even fathom how good his debut would be had he sat on the bench for a year to master the offense before ever taking the field.. Inexplicably this kid is such a freak that he didn’t even need to sit a year to look like an absolute stud
..
However, im not the least bit surprised by how our defense and weapons are playing. Drove me mad how much our weapons and defense was being under rated, when it should have been obvious that we would clearly have the best defense in the division…last years 7-9 team under achieved, so I don’t know why people thought we would go 6-10 when everything was supposed to be better than last years underachieving terribly coached “team”
..
We also had a big advantage over our division rivals that people didn’t respect, in that we had the best combo of OL and DL talent. Win the trenches and you will usually give yourself a good chance to win, and the trenches is where our domination Of the steelers started
..
We are really going to find out how good this coaching staff is by seeing how they overcome the loss of Lane Johnson
So far our LB and Safeties have done pretty well against TE’s and RB in coverage.. Gary Barninge was irrelevant in the Browns game, the RB and Zack miller were irrelevant in the Bears game, and steelers didmt get much of anything out of DEangelo Williams who was playing as well as any RB going into sunday, and Jesse James was also a non factor, although Big Ben overthrew him on a play that he was open
..
Jenkins, McLeod, Hicks and Bradham are beastng
Having two great safeties can cover up a lot of warts.
and only rushing 4 guys every time makes your DBs look better.
This is why the Giants superbowl winning defense was so good. That secondary wasn’t that good, but that front four could always get pressure.
It’s the little things with this team that are so damn impressive.
Take this play for example. It’s blown up. Barbre is supposed to kick out the DE, and Burton is supposed to lead up through the hole for an ISO/kickout on the linebacker. The DE plays it perfectly and “wrongarms” Barbre. Play should be dead in the water.
Instead Barbre has the wherewithal to wrap around and use the DE’s momentum against him, Burton reads it and goes around instead of inside like planned and Smallwood has the patience to let it develop and not bounce it or just stick it up in there for 2 yards.
https://twitter.com/JoshPaunil/status/780214085900181505
I think Allen Barbre deserve huge credit for his play so far
Steelers #95 looks silly as Smallwood runs right past him.
A ton. Last year he seemed consistently confused on who to block on a zone play. Very simple stuff. This right here is the kind of savvy veteran understanding he simply hasn’t shown to date.
How do you think he’ll fare if/when he is moved to right tackle?
He seemed ok there in the preseason. I’m sure it will be an adjustment but he’s played it before and is a vet. I’m not terribly worried the wheels completely fall off.
Brooks is also getting stronger each week
Went a bit more in depth on this play for Eagles Rewind if anyone wants more details/explanation.
https://eaglesrewind.com/2016/09/27/its-the-little-things/
Besides Howie Roseman, lets give credit to the person most responsible for us drafting Carson Wentz.
Chip Kelly.
If it wasn’t for his arrogance as a GM in releasing D-Jax, his buffoonery in not re-signing Maclin, and his stupidity in trading Shady, the Eagles would not have ended up with a 7-9 record.
Which led to Kelly being fired.
Which led to the hiring of Doug Pederson.
Which led to the hiring of Frank Reich and John DeFilippo.
Which led these guys to fly out to Fargo, ND to interview and workout Carson Wentz.
Which led to Howie trading a cranky, overrrated running back and sullen linebacker to the Dolphins to move up to the 8th spot in the draft.
Which led to Howie trading draft draft picks to move up to the 2nd spot where we took our franchise quarterback Carson Wentz.
So a lot of credit goes to the Chipper, and a few shoutouts to the equally idiotic Dolphins, Browns, and Rams, and all the other QB needy teams who chose not to move up in the draft.
I think you meant trading a cranky, overrated cornerback
I’m getting Alonso, Maxwell and Murray confused. Good riddance to all 3!
You can also credit some of our success this year to Chip. This team had a draft slot much higher than our talent indicated. That led to overall better rookies added to a roster finally demonstrating its potential.
Yeah, sometimes bad things work out for the best. For example, when Dubya was elected it seemed like a very bad thing, and it was for a lot of people, particularly Iraqis and the men and women in our armed forces who lost their lives and/or limbs. But on the other hand, if 9/11 had happened while a Democrat was president, we’d never hear the end of it. But, since it happened under a Republican president, it was nobody’s fault and we could just move on without anybody taking responsibility for it.
I can’t tell if this is intentional irony or not? If Gore had won that election, we almost certainly never would have gone into Iraq, and that’s more important than who got blamed for what.
But if Gore had been the cause of 9/11, which would have been the case if he was president when it happened, we’d be talking about another democratic president in maybe 2024… There would have been no President Obama.
Maybe, maybe not, but I don’t see what’s so great about Obama that we needed to pulverize Iraq to get him. His policies were largely a continuation and expansion on Bush’s, and if Hilary manages to win, she would be the same. She is a bigger hawk than Bush ever was.
If McCain had won we would still be in Iraq and Afghanistan today, in force.
Seen the news recently? We are…
Obama has been pretty awesome. There are multiple lists of his accomplishments out there you can google up.
He managed to help screw up our health care even worse than it was by punishing the middle class, helped keep millennials under the boot of government by signing off on tyrannical laws written by thieves and liars like Frank-Dodd, and kept himself busy by insulting people who questioned him and writing executive orders instead of suggesting legislative solutions that everyone could agree on.
CK only won 6 games in 2016, not 7.
Shame that shurmur won every game that he coached and didn’t get a chance at the HC job.
Anyone think Smallwood is starting at some point this season or are we looking at next year most likely?
I still think he’s best as part of a smash and dash combo. I don’t see him as a true feature back. Which is fine.
Gimme a Samajie Perine, James Connor, or Jalen Hurd in the mid rounds and that’s a solid duo.
How is his pass blocking? Rookies typically struggle in that area and if he is a typical rookie he is a liability until we are looking to eat up clock.
It’s part of the reason Sproles still plays alot.
Kempski has highlighted he was typically shit at it in college.
Yup. Until he shows he can recognize and pick up blitzers, Matthews and Sproles will continue to play.
Thank you sir!
Need to see more of him. They just should start him and see what kind of RB he really is; that way we know if we “Need” to draft a RB
At this point I see us going 12-4. Losses against the Vikings, hawks packers and hawks. And we could easily win any if those games
You have hawks listed twice.
Meant the bengals
I definitely have a brighter outlook on the season after the first 3 games. I know this team isn’t going 16-0, but I don’t look at any game as unwinnable anymore. Seattle, if Wilson is healthy, will be a good test, as will the other teams you mentioned. But like I said, I think we have a chance of winning each of those games now with this defense and with how well Wentz has looked. This team is young and hungry, can’t wait to see them grow as a team and hopefully get better as the season goes on. Its a good time to be a Eagles fan!
Nanobubbles will save Wilson.
I thought the nanobubbles just prevent concussions. They work on high ankles sprains too? That stuff is amazing!
Bengals? NAh. But I see us splitting with the Giants and maybe the Cowboys. I don’t see us sweeping the NFC East this year.
Have you seen the seahawks OL? I think our DL is going to dominate that game lead us to a win over seattle
..
Vikings scare me tho
If Russell Wilson isn’t able to scramble around like he normally does, I can easily see our defense dominating that game. Vikings defense scares me as well. I think they might be the toughest defense we face all year.
Unless we were to make it to the Super Bowl and face Denver’s defense. Think I would rate Denver’s D #1 with the Vikings at #2 then I would pick us as #3. But who knows, our defense seems to get better and better every week. And what better way for our young QB to prepare to face these top defenses than to go against one in practice all season long? This last paragraph is just me thinking at loud. I don’t expect us to make the SB this year, but I’m not going to say it can’t happen either.
Vikes have no real run-game threat. What makes them a L for us?
Way better defense than we have faced so far. Pitt has been good against the run, not as good against the pass.
I’ll give you that they have a stronger D, and I also think Diggs is not as nice as Antonio Brown. I think we win this one. Hope I’m right!!
SAM BRADFORD
The Eagles play the Vikes right in the middle of playing three road division games. Could be a trap game.
The Vikings are widely considered one of the best teams in football. A trap game insinuates that our guys would “sleep” on them. If anything they might lose sleep over them.
So were the Steelers!
The Cowboys at home would be a trap game.
pump the brakes…we will lose at least a game on our division…it is rare to win all 6 games in a division…history shows that….
At some point we will face adversity — bad luck, fumbles, something. It will be interesting to see how Wentz plays when behind — will he start pressing, etc. It’s a good situation to be sure — our defense has been great and that will take a ton of pressure off. But there is lots more to see before we can start predicting lofty records.
Atlanta was 5-0 last year and crashed. It’s a long season. We have been flying high before — once we crushed Dallas on MNF to go 4-0, and we were flying high, and we stumbled after that. We beat a great 49ers team 40-8 once… they went on to win the Super Bowl, we struggled some later.
Becoming cautiously optimistic we can win the division, but not expecting much more just yet.
History is littered with the broken bodies of hopeful young QBs who come to the NFL, pedigree or no, and fail. It used to be a guarantee that you could take advantage of rookies QBs. Even Ben, Flacco, and Ryan were eased into their roles much more gradually than Wentz.
Lots of extremely talented college players come into the NFL and fail miserably when they play the best in the world. Wentz’ sparkling, intelligent play is truly amazing. To me, he almost looks better than he did in college against future accountants and insurance salesmen. He also looks more in control against regular season D than he did in preseason, where he seemed wild and coltish.
He leveled up!
D coordinators have three games on the Wentz/Pederson combo. What will the adjustment be, and will he be able to recognize it and defeat it?
If he is truly elite, the only thing that will effect his game is getting hit. Even the best stumble with constant pressure and a physical beating. Denver’s defensive plan seems to work too, constantly hitting a QB in the head.
This is true.
FO has Dak’s game ranked #1, Wentz #4. Maybe Bayless was on to something.
I’m not sure what their numbers are seeing, but it’s probably some arcane thing.
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/audibles/2016/week-3-quick-reads
If you notice, Wentz passing game was higher, Dak added some running that makes the total higher
Not so arcane, then 🙂
Skip Bayless says Dak is way better. So it must be true.
I truly hope that Dak Prescott becomes the Cowboys’ “QB of the Future” so that they have mediocre starter for the next 10-15 years.
Go Dak!
(also, nice name loser, what are you a fucking acronym?)
I think Dak is doing fine. Without getting wrapped it in all the hype he looks like a legit QB. He’s playing like a much better QB than I’m comfortable with the Cowboys having.
Like Romo? Because I’m pretty comfortable with Romo’s 2 career playoff wins.
The guy is in his 3rd start and he has looked legit; im not taking him over Wentz but im not going to pretend he straight sucks because of Cowboys.
So far it looks like Dallas can actually do a lot worse at QB than Dak.
It’s annoying that Dallas had such a soft schedule to start the year. And they play the 49ers next. Ugh.
When Romo was hurt i thought their season was over. Not really happy about them and WTFs still hanging around.
Cool, rooting for Chip Kelly!
Think the Niners beat Dallas this week and it will be the beginning of a 2-4 stretch of next 6 games
haha teams living in glass houses can’t throw rocks
But once you throw one, you can throw as many as you like.
As surprising as he is as a rookie QB, a dominant defense and an offense that does not turn the ball over generally wins games. Certainly not to take away anything from Wentz, but they are playing complementary football to a T. Keep the D fresh, no short fields, win games.
I love Wentz and he is doing amazing things, but we need to collectively pump the breaks here team.
We are in the 1st quarter of the season. Not that this comparison holds a lot of water, but if you were to take a snap shot of the score 3/4 of the way through the 1st quarter of any game thus far this season, you would never guess the final score.
I am not going to guess the final score here. I am just going to enjoy every game (same philosophy I took with Os this year).
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/c0/34/e3/c034e386f0626e88f902a33b18b7727a.jpg
380-0. 20 years unbeaten.
Buckle up.
Aww man. You didn’t account for the inevitable change in the CBA (2020) that will add 2 games to the regular season. 380 games only gets us 10 games into the 19th season. 🙁
Ugh. Another person who thinks it’s their job to tell us the “correct” way to enjoy our sports… [extreme eye roll here]
Thank you so much for your concern! Imagine if we enjoyed our wins without having to first stipulate that the wheels could come off at any time! Crazy! Would we be any less disappointed when it finally happened? Well, no, but at least your way will prevent us from fully enjoying the precious few good moments this franchise has seen lately while they were actually happening!
What WOULD we do without you to look out for us?
Dude! Careful, you can hurt your eyes that way!
me after reading another patronizing post about people having too much optimism
http://i.giphy.com/DBrtj8fM7dpsc.gif
Do you have a blindness fetish?
It suites you.
It’s why I have to wear the blindfold.
Oooo what a salty peanut.
Sorry, that doesn’t work in Philly. Before the season we were going to be horrible and win 6 games max. And now anything less than 16-0 will be a disappointment.
Before the Sam trade I was thinking 10 with a shot at 11 if the right guys stayed healthy. Thinking that is still the number.
I was thinking 8, hoping for 9, and now I’m thinking the same as you.
I’ve been saying we could have the makings of a top 10 defense with Schwartz and the players we have (since he was hired). I’m not pumping the breaks on this defense. They have a shot at being historically good.
This was my feeling. I was hoping they could get around 9 or 10 and that could propel us to a decent season. I didn’t know it could look this good. I’ve made comparisons to the Giants D that won two superbowls and that I think our front 7 is just as good as their was. Difference is we have better Safeties.
I have been expecting to win this division since before this summer, so why would I expect anything less now? Been on my soap box preaching about having the best defense in the division, and our weapons being much better than we were getting credit for just because we don’t have a big name superstar WR
NFL exec: ‘If the Browns draft QB Carson Wentz at No. 2, they’ll be set for 15 years’
Yikes, this is from January 2016.
http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2016/01/nfl_exec_if_the_browns_draft_q.html
Yeah, but no one knows shit until he gets out there and does it. I wish people would stop pretending they did. Draft busts and draft successes are not predictable.
But everyone knew Luck was the greatest QB to come out since Peyton.
There’s a big difference between a consensus once-in-a-decade talent and a so-so prospect in a so-so year. In any case… Luck has had some amazing success as well as some failures.
The general consensus was that ships would sail over the edge of the world because the earth was flat.
That was never the general consensus. Greek scientists had already accurately measured the circumference of the world 1700 years before Columbus sailed.
Who said anything about Columbus?
I did. It gives historical perspective. Would it have been better if I said, “Greek scientists had already accurately measured the circumference of the world 2300 years ago”?
The general consensus of the Mesopotamians was that the Earth was flat.
I guess we should just forget about every map from the middle ages showing the edge of the earth and ships sailing off of it?
Fanciful and usually symbolic illustrations and selected cases of ignorance does not make for general consensus, apropos to our topic that everyone did not “know” that Luck would be as good as Peyton or that Wentz would be as good as Steve Young.
Yes, becasue all of the illiterate masses knew much more than the “educated” folk of the time. Makes sense to me.
And Luck can’t even carry Peyton’s jock strap yet – he’s a barely a mediocre talent, yet he’s been ordained the “next coming” already!
I’ve seen more maps displaying sea dragons than ships falling off of them, the latter quantity being zero.
You being the definitive expert on medieval cartography
Maybe, maybe not.
But its hilarious that the organization that has drafted more QBs than anybody in recent time passed on the QB that is actually a franchise guy.
I actually feel sorry for those bastards myself! But seriously, Wentz might look bad up there too. There would probably be flashes, but I highly doubt he would be playing like this.
I just think that organization is destined to fail.
I wonder how long the league lets them play moneyball and tank before something happes
Does it really matter if they tank, when they have been a fixture picking in the top 10 of every draft for the last two decades?
Best thing that’s happened to the Eagles from a cosmic standpoint was getting the QB the Browns didn’t draft.
I feel like the Browns draft a QB every year except for the two times they showed “restraint” passing on Wentz and Big Ben
A little trolling today…
“Wentz doesn’t show off fear of delivering the ball against contact but expecting him to break down coverages properly when standing in a completely clean pocket is irrational, never mind when he is facing pressure.”
“If (Jameis) Winston was 80 percent of where he needed to be to excel in the NFL, Wentz is closer to 30.”
The Warts of Carson Wentz
http://presnapreads.com/2016/03/27/the-warts-of-carson-wentz/
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/author/cian-fahey
Not even worth reading if you have seen Carson play.
Article is a bit dated…its from March 2016 before the draft…
That’s was my point of posting it, it was a before the draft.
All of a sudden we are a top 10 power ranking SMH.
3 dominant games to go from pre-season expectations of bottom-dwelling to top third of the league. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to me.
More just SMH at the people making these rankings. We never belonged in the bottom 5 of the league. Not even close.
Well, I disagree. The team appeared to be on a downward trajectory over the last 2 years, lost several games by historic margins, fired their coach, was starting a rookie QB, seemed to have no talent at the skill positions, and brought back the equipment manager to be GM. It is not unusual for teams in such chaotic conditions to fall hard, and thus the consensus that the team was in decline.
Did the media not get the “Stop Being So Excited About the Eagles!” memo…?
Did your avatar climb into your pant suite this morning?
What was wrong with this one?
Is there a blind rodent in your trousers?
I understood your comment, I was asking what was wrong with mine. This one was innocuous I thought?
Easy boys.
Lots of talk about Wentz. Sure Wentz has the skills and frankly, i think he has the IT factor too, but you can’t undervalue the (a) coaching and (b) complimentary football that’s making Wentz look great. Just look at BG – went from perennial underachiever, to STUD. Wentz has 30+ years of NFL QB experience mentoring him, night and day in the film room. Most QBs don’t get that. In a QB-driven league I don’t totally understand why you wouldn’t nurture a guy like that.
But will say it doesn’t work for everyone Brock sat behind Peyton for 4 years and still looks terrible.
Takes a village so tons of credit to Wentz, to Howie and to the coaching staff.
I never got the impression that Peyton was all that interested in mentoring his backups. Great quarterback, selfish guy…
True. He wouldnt even let Brock take snaps in practice or during garbage time
Was that selfish, or selfless? He may have helped Brock bank some cash by not showing his hand.
That immediately takes my mind to when they should have ran it in at the goal line but Peyton insisted on throwing it and got mad at his center for pointing it out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUlrCH6gLQw
I’m pretty sure Peyton-led offenses ran the ball inside the 5 yard line more than any other offense in the league, so uh, I guess I disagree with your point.
Painter had sat behind Manning for two seasons, and when he was needed he came in looking like an undrafted rookie. That’s the result when you let your QB be selfish. Then again, that’s what happens when you draft poorly and don’t replenish your aging veterans.
This is pure comedy gold.
https://twitter.com/Cianaf/status/780498918446620672
They have to go to Kaep eventually. Thats just embarrassing
That’s a Chip Kelly special there, mang.
yeah, especially since Kaep seems made for the offense. Sort of feel bad for chip he has lots of great qualities.
Why? Gabbert is almost as fast as Kaepernick, has a better arm, is more accurate, much more intelligent, and doesn’t telegraph his throw via a 2-second baseball pitcher windup.
plus Kaep’s contract becomes fully guaranteed if he goes out with injury. They might be off the hook for next year if he stays healthy.
Why? Have you watched Gabbert play?
Yea, he’s looked much better than Kaepernick has. Kaep is trash, there’s a reason he’s riding the bench.
Not gonna argue about which of these bums suck less. sorry.
Have you watched Kaepernick?
yeah, in the super bowl.
If he was quicker to the hole (or the guard held the block 1/2 a second longer) he had a least five yards in front of him.
so excited for the rest of the season, its been GREAT so far. Lots to be excited about.
The only thing Pederson’s done wrong as a coach is not have Wentz penciled in as the starter before the Bradford trade.
Hallelujah.
It juiced Bradford’s stock and led to the trade though
Ahhhh, that explains it!
All part of dee plan!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0U42G_4yqQNeXBraUtxS2tGNDg/view?usp=sharing
http://i.imgur.com/kQo5ifa.gif
maybe he did. Maybe he did.
No way. Bradford’s value would have decreased and the distractions would have increased. Wethersfield it was intentional or not, penciling in Bradford to start was the right move.
I was mostly being facetious, but yeah.
Redskins placed C Kory Lichtensteiger on injured reserve with a calf injury, ending his season.
Let’s trade them Kelce and start Wiisniewski.
Kelce for DJack?
1st and a 4th
Did Kelce actually play well against the Steelers? I don’t remember seeing him rollerskating backwards during this one…
I HATE Kelce, but he played much better. Only a few really bad plays and was competent for major stretches.
Then again he played against a 305 lb 3rd round rookie, so he wasn’t really that undersized this week.
After the bye he’ll have to contend with Haloti Ngata, who will have 50 lbs on him.
Other than a bad shotgun snap, nothing stuck out. I’ll admit I wasn’t really paying attention to his play as I was fixated on Wentz the entire time the offense was on the field.
LOL what is more surprising?
..
niners OT Anthony Davis retiring again after 3 games or Greg Hardy getting arrested for cocaine?
Here’s the crazy thing. If we alternate wins and losses after the bye starting with a win in Detroit (we lose every other game),’we’ll still be 10-6 and likely win the division
Agreed – win one for Jimmy Schwa in Detroit, and the team could possibly make the playoffs going 6-6 the rest of the way (as long as those losses aren’t all divisional).
Tommy, I’m confused. You say that Pederson hasn’t simplified the offense, but shah8 says that it is dumbed down and Wentz will be exposed when he has to run a “big boy” offense. How can that be?
good question I was thinking the same. I’d like to hear from people smarter than me on this whether what he is doing is advanced and why, and say compared to other young QB’s.
I lost you at “Shah said”
He threw a lot of short passes. Air yards were in the bottom third. Not sure if this is a West Coast thing or a conservative thing, but hey, it worked. I posted the charts yesterday. Although I’m sure you understand shah8 tends to write on instinct. He likes deep passes and spectacular athleticism.
I hope no one thinks Wentz is going to be this effective every game.
right this is the floor
Thinking Dallas is going to lose @ San Fran this week as crazy as that sounds. The one thing that worries me is dallas familiarity with chips offense since we know he hasn’t evolved, but I think Hyde may run all over Dallas defense, and with the Dallas OL showing a chink in its armor (injuries to Lael and Tyrone Smith) and possibly no Dez Bryant, thinking the Niners front 7 is going to cause some problems for Dallas traveling to the Westcoast. If the Niners pull of this upset, I think it will begin a rough stretch where Dallas may only win 1 of its next 4 or 5 games, two wins at most
..
I really don’t see how the Giant OL is going to hold up against Everson Griffin, Anthony Barr, Eric Kendricks and the Vikings front 7, and that Vikings secondary is no slouch either, the Vikings DL should dominate that game, and hopefully Bradford will do us a solid and knock off a Rival who he was 2-0 against last year
..
But I don’t have the balls to go “Full Homer” and predict the Browns beating the skins. maybe if the game was in Cleveland we could see a funky upset with weapons like Terrell Pryor and Barnidge causing a banged up skins secondary some problems, but the Cousins led skins made a name for themselves off of beating the bad teams so they should take advantage of facing the Browns at home..
..
after week 4, I expect to see
Eagles 3-0
Giants 2-2
dallas 2-2
Skins 2-2
Not sure how NYG will fare the rest of this season, but my gut tells me that Dallas will be pesky all year. Much like the night I went to my first ever Eagles game in Philly, the SNF shutout of the Gnats a few years back. A+ game, but dampening that euphoria was the fact Dallas miraculously won in Seattle that day. Everyone was crowded in the concession areas as that late afternoon was ending and we all walked away feeling down.
Damn you, Dallas. Always.
Crazy stat via Rueban Franks
..
Carson Wentz managed to complete at least 50%, 1 TD, No INTs in the first 3 games of the 2016 season(His rookie year)
..
The first time McNabb put up those numbers in the first 3 games of the season was McNabbs 6th year in Philly
3 straight games with no interceptions is very good. That’s the probably the difference.
McNabb was extremely intelligent about not throwing INTs. I’d be more worried that he had too many worm burners in a given game and dropped his completion % too low.
Extremely intelligent about not throwing INTs, or afraid to pull the trigger unless the wide receiver was wide open? I think it was more of the latter.
I guess I’ll hold McNabb in higher esteem than you did.
Either way, #5 will always love us
Or – bouncing the pass and pounding his chest to say “my bad”
He did want to see the receiver open, but he had the arm to make that work. When he missed, he missed low — so we got worm burners and bounced passes, but no sailing passes that were intercepted by the DBs behind the receiver.
The worm burners were frustrating because you knew immediately the play was done and crushed hope; on a sailed pass hope isn’t dashed immediately. But it’s the latter which turn into the really bad plays.
We mostly wish he just had fewer worm burners. Wentz’ accuracy is definitely better.
Perhaps it’s worth mentioning that Carson Wentz’s totals would probably be more impressive if he wasn’t sitting on a 2-3 touchdown lead every 4th quarter.
That is an average minimum output you’re citing, right? Wentz’s totals aren’t too pedestrian either. Two big differences, Wentz is way more WC ready than DMAC ever was. I always believed that Reid’s decision to go WC with McNabb was not playing to his QB’s strengths. Also, the pacing of the offense now is much more consistent. Every other game AR would have to blow timeouts because the play didn’t get in in time.
Lets assume that the Eagles maintain this level of play throughout the entire season. In other words, let’s assume the Eagles are as good as their current numbers.
We might assume we’ve got a great defensive coach, a great offensive coach, and a good head coach. It looks like we’ve got a good QB, a good offense, and a great defense. Considering the play of Wentz, Smallwood, Mills, and the other added talent this year, it seems like Howie and Joe Douglas are doing good things with personnel.
Regardless of what happens this year, I am very excited about the future. Based on Wentz’s play and Howie’s ability to get back a 1 and a 4, the gapping hole we were in got a little smaller. If Smallwood becomes a 3 down back, even better. If Mills materializes into a permanent starter? Wow.
Having said all that, it seems the two biggest needs remain WR and CB. Which is a shame considering the value we’ve spent with picks on those positions the past couple years. Can you imagine if Rowe and Agholor were both true number 1s? Can Agholor still become a true #1 WR?
I think we need a true #1 WR for Wentz, an upgrade at CB, and more depth at LB and OL to truly be scary. I think Howie and Douglas can get us there, and we may have the coaches to teach them up and use them.
get DGB more involved, Ags is just not that good and I love mathews but he’s not a true number 1, I wonder if DGB could become that threat, our corners are OK, but if they keep pounding the qb like last sunday then the corners will be fine, but yep an upgrade there too
yeah, this is the dream scenario: that the Eagles coaches can unlock the potential of DGB.
Disagree about Agholor… I think he’s better than DGB. Doesn’t have to be either/or though. If they both keep developing, we’d have three complementary 2’s and no 1, which might be just as good.
I think Wentz has great weapons, all the RBs can catch, Ertz, Celek and Burton can all run routes and catch, Matthews gets open, DGB is a great chain mover / red zone guy, Ags and Huff are good in space.
I don’t think it’s helpful to anyone to have Wentz throwing to the same guy 20 times a game.
I honestly thing Ags is going to be ok. He wont ever be that guy that wins jump balls but he doesn’t seem to have any issues getting open this year
I think DGB need more targets a game. He really just takes the ball out of the air.
Matthews needs to get out of his own way.
The guy who i want to see is Treggs. He tracks the deep ball better than anyone on the team.
I think a CB upgraded is needed.
I’m tired of big name FA cornerbacks. Let’s just pick up a bunch of fast rookie DBs from the SEC and other southern conferences every year and let them fight it out in camp.
No one said anything about a big name FA CB.
But i really dont care how they upgrade the position as long as they do it.
I was at the game so haven’t seen replays yet. How bad was his drop in the end zone? It looked like he had it and should have had it. If I recall correctly, Wentz went right back to him.
I’m still very high on DGB!
The CB had his arm in between DGB’s body and the ball. It went flying out when they hit the ground.
It was a catchable ball but he CB made a good play.
Treggs also has the “Cast Off By Chip”® stamp of approval, so he is almost guaranteed to succeed.
I think we have some time before we prioritize our draft needs.
Who says we have to wait until the draft to address those needs?
I don’t like the Eagles’ WR core, but OL is a bigger need than WR.
OL has been amazing at pass blocking so far.
But without Jason Peters? Father time, and the salary cap, are both looming.
Well Lane will move – we need a new RT, i’m sure that’s something they have in mind. We will have a late first next year.
I think we are ok at receiver. I think this defense will be fine at DB. I think we desperately need another top 5-10 OT for the future. I fear we will realise this once Lane gets suspended and Peters goes down. We are not set for the future at tackle, and the FA market is brutal for that position.
Which QB would you rather have for the next 5 years?
Wentz with a slight lead over Prescott: http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/215797/vote-which-quarterback-would-you-rather-have-for-the-next-five-years
I did my part (voted Wentz, jsyk).
It’s funny to me that the extent of the statistical analysis was the record.
How is this close? Dak hasn’t looked bad, but his ceiling is a good game manager.
I think he’s going to be good. His stats don’t look all that great but he should have more than just one TD but who cares about that.
Mobile, until he gets hit too much, Chad Pennington.
This question really makes no sense at all.
Clearly, every single team in the league valued Wentz much higher than Prescott pre-draft. If they hadn’t, then they would have drafted Prescott in rounds 1, 2, or 3. So we know that all NFL teams had him as at least a 4th round prospect, or were too scared to develop him and trade him, which also points to him not being a first round graded pick.
Then, since the season started, Carson has inarguably looked like the better QB. So Wentz has a better pedigree, 32 teams agreed he was better than Dak Prescott pre draft, and post draft CW has looked better.
There’s no rational reason to want to have Prescott over Wentz for the next 5 years, especially if we aren’t talking about draft capital given up to acquire him.
I saw someone in the comments there imply that in a re-draft Wentz would go #1 and Prescott would go #2. I know he’s done well, but I’m not sure Prescott is a clear #2 pick in a re-draft.
He’s still a 4th rounder. VERY limited game and benefiting from teams selling out to stop the run.
Skip Bayless said Dak is the better QB. Good enough for me.
/S
BTW – When I heard that my eyes rolled so far back, I could see my thoughts.
Dak is better than Romo unfortunately
It does make sense in the world of ESPN and Cowboys nation, where Dak is playing a little better than Wentz.
https://twitter.com/fduffy3/status/780876993348927488
Steelers D just looks absolutely demoralized here. The two defenders overrunning the play hardly attempt to get Barner.
Mostert would have scored TWO touchdowns there!
And Josey would have scored 3. The blocking there was amazing.
Marshall would have come up from the practice squad and scored 1.5 TDs on that play.
There were two unblocked guys coming right for him. Are you just in denial, or…?
I mean, sure, Josey would have scored 3, but those are CFL TD’s. Canadian touchdowns are actually worth less than a single American TD!
Barner can never undo being worse in live action against the same level of talent as Josey in 2014 and Mostert in 2015. So there really isn’t anything he’d ever do that those other two wouldn’t do better.
Mostert wouldn’t have needed the blockers.
Such a nice cut by Barnyer.
Yeah, they were toast once they saw where this thing was headed… They were either smart enough to save some physical / emotional energy for a long season and future struggles vs division rivals, or not tough enough mentally to stand up to the challenge.
Time will tell, I guess, but either way I remain very surprised that Tomlin did not replace a few key starters late in the game, like Roethlisberger and Brown..
This is really such an enjoyable team to watch develop! The pleasant nature of the surprise here is really something else!
I still see a 7-9 record. Losses against Dallas, Washington, New York Giants, Baltimore, Minnesota, Seattle, Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Green Bay.
Scratch off that Giants loss and I can pick up what you’re putting down.
The Giants, and especially their gutless puke fans, are a FRAUD!
What makes us lose to Dallas tho?
Romo’s return from injury after Dak loses the next 3 straight.
But what makes us lose?
Exactly, with the pressure from just the front four alone, Dak or Romo are getting killed.
Why not both?
Bodybag part 2, I like it.
Seems we split with them where we own them in Dallas and they come here and win (recently). Division games are never easy.
I’ll settle for a tough win.
Also remind you that a bad LA team beat Seattle.
agree, division games are different
I know bad teams beat good ones. I think we match up well with them especially our 1st matchup with all their suspended players, and Dez hasn’t done much at all 3 games. I refuse to concede a loss to Dallas until it happens.
How dare you try to throw a wrench in the works of the Positivity Express.
http://jokideo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/308456_438401749535829_183425236_n.jpg
Unlike the “experts” around the league and on this blog, I am refraining from picking our season ending record. Too many variables. Happy to be 3 and 0 with a guaranteed no loss this week.
So, you see the team that is leading the league in points scored and leading the league in points allowed going 4-9 the rest of the way?
I hope you don’t have a gambling problem.
Well actually you didn’t call a loss against Detroit, so I guess you expect a 4-0 Eagles team to go 3-9 the rest of the season.
I can see us from anywhere between 8-8 to 11-5. Most of those games you listed might be a coin flip.
Glasses bro, glasses
haha what? we got rid of Bradford dude, come on wake up
I see drugs in your glove compartment, step out out the car please.
Re: More on Pederson v. Reid in the Turnover Dpt
Doug Pederson’s started his HC career with 3 consecutive turnover-free games on offense.
How’d Andy Reid do — a coach whose offense, year and year out, was pretty darn good at avoiding turnovers?
Well . . . it was not until Y-11 of the Reid regime — in 2009 — that Reid’s Eagles played turnover-free football for 3 consecutive weeks.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/phi/2009.htm
Maybe more arresting is that the Eagles went 30 seasons — yes, 3-0 years — between Reid’s 3-game streak in 2009 and the previous 3-game streak of no offensive turnovers.
That was 1979, when Dick Vermeil was in just his 4th year as HC. And the Birds were still a year away from reaching the SB.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/phi/1979.htm
One take . . . What Pederson’s done is R-A-R-E in these parts.
It’s hard to believe Huff or Nelson haven’t fumbled yet.
Or any of the RB’s really…
Great stat.
Unfortunately, it would appear some regressing toward the mean is on the horizon.
So, I’m actually wondering how rare this is league-wide. Zero turnovers is not easy in 1 game let alone 3 in a row.
Can someone explain what makes Antonio Brown so damn good? He’s not big, and he’s not ridiculously fast either. Yet he clearly plays like the best WR in the league right now.
great feel for the game and route running ala Jerry Rice without the stick’um.
It’s amazing how good a guy can be when he has great hands. Too bad Chip was more concerned with growth mindset than natural hands.
Maybe he’s an OT level 8 Scientologist and has super powers like Tom Cruise.
Hmm it checks out
http://i.imgur.com/4rnj5mF.jpg
Ridiculous body control and hands, his ability to turn to grab a ball that is behind him, spin and keep running at full speed is crazy.
He is great at playing the ball in the air. It doesn’t hurt that Ben throws some great deep balls.
Great in and out of his breaks. Creates separation there and then has great hands
The last time the Eagles were able to generate this much pressure without blitzing you have to go back to Jerome, Reggie, Pitts, Simmons days, but more of a rotating d line here. All 4 sacks generated without a blitz against Ben. What a fucking waste of three years of these guys’ careers thanks to the shitty 3-4 we ran. Not saying 3-4 is shitty, Pittsburgh made their rep off of it, but fuck you Billy Davis.
such language, idiot
You’re that crybaby pussy who isn’t happy unless things are going bad. You’re the asshole who disappears if you don’t have anything to complain about, it really must be hard to be you lately. You really are one unhappy shithead, pardon my language.
What the fuck is your issue with his language?
Grow up.
Part of the blame is him, but Chip is the one that wanted the 3-4. Maybe when Chip ends up at LSU, Davis can redeem himself with a good 3-4 there. Shouldn’t be any shortage of good players at that school.
That’s true, I was going to blame Chip but I’m tired of of his name. Chip wanted a 3-4 with 4-3 players and that really put Davis at a disadvantage. I don’t know how Davis is doing now, hope he does well, but it was a curious choice for a coordinator who never had been successful anywhere really. This defense had some horrible stretches against the likes of Tampa, Detroit and that goes back to being on the field 40 minutes a game, 3 and outs where they barely got a chance to sit.
Don’t know if this was posted before, but great video in the locker room after the game.
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/videos/videos/Exclusive-Postgame-Locker-Room-Speech/df3e8107-32ed-4d66-aa5a-e91a234d45d5
“family on 3” was my favorite part. Way different than the ethos last year. Also liked the part about believing your a great team. Whereas kelly blamed players for not executing probably 100 times last year.
Something feels special about this team. It took Denver on it’s 2nd try to get the ring, but I’d take that. This defense is on another level, and the offense is only playing better because playing with Wentz is forcing them to. Players are going to want to come here to play with him. I like that.
I look at the schedule and the only teams that worry me (outside of GB) are teams with a good defense (or historically).
If I had to guess losses and tough games, I’d say:
– Minn (great defense)
– GB (A-a-ron)
– Seattle (great defense)
– Cincy (good defense)
– Ravens (good coach)
– @home vs Dallas (seems they own us here)
Granted, probably another division loss in there, but if we could get a win in one of these six games, we should win the division easy.
Chip Kelly would have gave them a cold ass stare and everyone would have felt bad.
Wentz, Smallwood, & Mills. When is the last year we had significant contributions from 3 rookies?
2013
Now if only he can catch the damn ball more than 50% of the time.
Do you think he pushes off there to help the defender fall or is it more of an outstretched hand to get a feel of where the cb goes?
I posted in the wrong thread, anybody feel confident Chip can use his familiarity with the Cowboys to pull out a win and help us out?
Not really. Their O looked terrible against Seattle. If they do pull it out will because of their defense. Unfortunately I imagine an all-pro vet like Navarro Bowman wishing he was on another team where the coach cared about TOP. And that will permeate quickly.
San Francisco has not been playing “tempo”. In the Rams game the 49ers TOP was 32 minutes plus. Bowman has stated more than once that he is delighted with their new HC. And perhaps you missed Ken kins commenting on his admiration for Kelly. You really must keep up.
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