Game Review – PHI 29, CLE 10 – Defense
Posted: September 15th, 2016 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 174 Comments »Jim Schwartz had the Eagles defense playing at a high level in the preseason. The question was how much of that would carry over to the regular season. Would the defense be good? Could they be dominant? One game doesn’t provide any definitive answers, but things sure look good after the 29-10 win over the Browns.
Cleveland had 288 yards of offense and scored 10 points. The last time the Eagles played D like that in an opener was 2009 when the Panthers scored 10 points and gained just 189 yards. Carolina had 7 turnovers that day. Sean McDermott used all kinds of new tricks and it overwhelmed the Panthers. They were just awful on that day.
Schwartz didn’t do a whole lot of creative things. He basically just “unleashed the hounds” and the Eagles D executed well. Back in 2009 the Eagles went on to finish 12th in total defense. That was pretty impressive considering the disaster that the MLB position was. A preseason injury to Stewart Bradley wrecked the position all year. From Omar Gaither to Joe Mays to Will Witherspoon to even Chris Gocong, the Eagles tried just about everyone. They even re-signed Jeremiah Trotter. Good D, but poor MLB play. This Eagles defense looks to be more talented so looking for a Top 10 unit wouldn’t be unreasonable.
I wrote in my preview that I didn’t think the Browns would be able to sustain drives. I was worried about big plays, either through RG3’s legs or his explosive arm. Cleveland had a couple of drives go 7 plays. Only one drive covered more than 60 yards. It really was chunk plays or punts. The Eagles had 4 drives of at least 8 plays and 3 that covered 60 or more yards.
On Cleveland’s one TD drive, they got lucky. WR Terrell Pryor pushed off on Nolan Carroll as the ball came down, but didn’t get flagged. A few plays later, the Eagles thought they had a 3rd down stop, but there was a late flag on Malcolm Jenkins that gave CLE a 1st/Goal. Two officials were watching the play right in front of them. No call. A third official was further away and behind the play. He threw the flag. Making matters worse, Vinny Curry was tackled on the play. That’s an obvious holding call that didn’t get made.
The Browns were only 2 of 10 on 3rd downs. They did run for 120 yards, but 68 of those came on draw plays when the Eagles were playing soft. Most of those yards came at the end of the half of the end of the game when the Eagles were willing to trade yards for seconds going off the clock. Still, you can bet Schwartz won’t be happy about his team giving up 120 on the ground. That figure has to come down.
DL
The Eagles were getting mixed results with the rush early in the game. Cleveland threw the ball quickly and also mixed in 6 and 7-man protections. They were aware of how good the Eagles pass rush was this summer. The DL started to take the game over in the 2nd half. That was very encouraging. There is nothing more frustrating than a DL that dominates early and then disappears.
Brandon Graham had the best game of the D-linemen. He was outstanding. Graham had a sack, FF and TFL. He was disruptive against the run as well as bringing pressure on the QB. He beat the RT for the strip-sack late in the game. On the next play he shot to the inside and was all over RG3. That led to a terrible throw that Barwin almost picked off. CLE tried to block him with 2 TEs and a RB on a deep ball in the 4th Qtr. Graham fought his way through that, but Barwin got the sack on the play. Love that effort.
Vinny Curry created a sack for Cox, but didn’t get one of his own. Curry drove the RT backward and put him on the ground. Cox had an easy path to RG3. Curry played DE and DT. Wasn’t credited with any tackles, but was disruptive. Drove the RT back toward RG3 in the 4th Qtr and forced a bad throw from the end zone. Connor Barwin beat LT Joe Thomas for a sack in the 2nd half. That was impressive. Barwin almost had the gift INT when RG3 panicked and threw the ball. Wasn’t an easy play and Barwin couldn’t get control of the ball. He chased down a play from behind. Love seeing that hustle from a DE. Finished with 2 tackles. Marcus Smith played only 6 snaps on D. He was on the field for the INT. Smith was moving the LT backward, but that didn’t affect the play. Dropped into coverage on a zone blitz on one play.
In case you forgot, Fletcher Cox is pretty good. He wasn’t dominant, but still had a sack and tied for the team lead with 4 solo tackles. Cox was right there for a TFL if Graham didn’t get that in the 1st half. Cox played NT, 3T and DE. Most snaps came at the 3-tech spot. He pushed the pocket on multiple plays and got plenty of attention from the Browns OL and the skill players who helped them block. Cox was lined up by the Browns C when he had the errant snap that became a safety. The C didn’t have to block Cox on that play, but you wonder if his presence partially caused the bad snap.
Bennie Logan got very little penetration, but played pretty well. There was a moment in the 2nd half when he actually dropped into coverage on a zone blitz. Schwartz doesn’t blitz much, but he will do some creative things. Logan and Cox did a good job of controlling gaps and limiting the run game in the base offense. Logan also did a good job of pushing the pocket. Beau Allen played a fair amount. He made a nice stop on a run in the Red Zone. Actually got some pressure on the play where Hicks tipped the pass and it was picked off. Destiny Vaeao played the least of the DTs. No real highlights for him, but he did seem to get better as the game went along.
Shot 4 – @brandongraham55 sets a hard edge, @JordanHicks & @Beau_Allen win their gaps. Great team run D #Eagles pic.twitter.com/cM1Ejox81R
— Fran Duffy (@fduffy3) September 13, 2016
LB
Jordan Hicks is really an outstanding player. He has very quietly become a key part of the defense. He had 4 solo tackles and made a key play by deflecting a pass that McLeod picked off to stop a potential scoring drive. Hicks covered a slot receiver on a play in the Red Zone. Schwartz will ask his MLB to do that in some sets. I saw it in TEN and DET. Hicks looked good in coverage. He also did a good job of getting players lined up correctly. He shifted the DL just before the snap on the play where Graham got his TFL. There was one play where Hicks flew outside and hit RG3 as he was going out of bounds. No call, but close. Hicks had one bad play. He lined up outside on GL defense and looked to be the defender responsible for contain when the Browns ran outside of him for their TD. Hicks lost his balance while battling his blocker and that let the RB get clean to the outside.
Nigel Bradham is the SAM and led the team with 5 total tackles. He played really well. Strong, physical tackler. Bradham was active and around the ball a lot. He seemed to do a solid job in coverage. Bradham is playing in the Nickel right now. One reason is because he’s playing so well. Beyond that, he knows the scheme. There were several plays where Bradham adjusted where people lined up. I only saw him do that in the Nickel. Mychal Kendricks only played 19 snaps. He didn’t have any tackles. There was only one negative play. Bradham was 1-on-1 with RG3 in space and got juked, letting RG3 run for more yards. MK is healthy. He did play on STs. You know he’s frustrated, but I didn’t see any lack of effort or frustration on the field.
S
Rodney McLeod is a huge upgrade over Walter Thurmond. Walt had a solid year in 2015 and seems like a genuinely good guy, but he was a highly inconsistent tackler. McLeod flew upfield on several plays and put runners/receivers on the ground with authority. He finished with 4 solo tackles, including a TFL. McLeod also had the only takeaway, an INT of a tipped pass. We need to work on his return skills. Had a convoy of defenders to block for him, but somehow got taken down by an OL. Solid game in coverage. Generally kept things in front of him. Was one of 3 DBs who gave up a deep ball to Coleman. In McLeod’s defense, the ball was a duck that came up short and he didn’t see that in time.
Malcolm Jenkins was up and down. He lined up outside on TE Gary Barnidge. Jenkins had tight coverage, but the ball came there. Barnidge dropped it. Jenkins got called for the penalty in the Red Zone. Questionable call, but it was called. CLE used a tricky alignment with OL out wide with receivers. Jenkins took on the blocker and let the TE run downfield, wide open. Luckily RG3 didn’t see that and threw the ball elswhere. Lined up in slot and was supposed to cover Pryor but bit on play fake and let Pryor get wide open for the middle for an intermediate gain. Tackled well.
CB
Leodis McKelvin had a solid game. Was in on a couple of tackles and didn’t give up any big plays. Hurt his hamstring in the 3rd Qtr and had to come out. Jalen Mills took his place and was really good. I was very impressed with how well he played. Granted, the Eagles had the lead and that forced CLE out of their comfort zone, but Mills was good. He looked natural and instinctive. He kept receivers in front of him and broke on the ball quickly. There was no hesitation or doubt in his game. Got in the passing lane on a 4th Qtr and was in position to pick off a pass, but the throw was too off-target. Had a physical hit of RG3 that looked to cause the injury to the QB. Mills held his ground and RG3 ran into him right along the sideline. Mills was fine, but RG3 not so much.
Ron Brooks played in the slot for part of the game. Shifted to outside CB on some plays after McKelvin’s injury. Brooks was up and down. Had good position on a deep ball thrown his way in the 4th Qtr. Should have been beaten for a TD earlier, but the throw from RG3 was too far out in front.
Nolan Carroll had an up and down game. Got beaten by Pryor on a deep ball, but that’s because Pryor pushed off and got away with it. Got beaten by Coleman for a deep ball. The pass was badly underthrown and Carroll never saw the ball. Ran right by the WR, who was going back to the ball. Carroll missed a tackle of RB on short pass on 3rd down. That led to a 1st down. Was credited with 3 solo tackles.
*****
STs
Donnie Jones averaged 49 yards per punt and had a 72-yarder!. That’s nuts. He had 3 downed inside the 20, including one at the 1-yard line. Jones was a field position weapon and had an impact on the game.
Caleb Sturgis hit from 22 and 38, but missed a 46-yd FG. Generally got good depth on his KOs.
Darren Sproles had a 40-yd PR.
The Browns did not have one return yard all game long. None.
Jaylen Watkins downed the punt at the 1. He did a solid job on STs in the game.
_
Plain and simply if the Eagles D-line is dominating on MNF and we pressure Cutler early and often and our offense does not turn the ball over then we will win this game vs Chicago. What scares me the most is Cutler hitting on big plays vs our corners with Alshon Jeffrey.
Honestly every Bears offensive play should just be a fade route by Jeffrey
That’s the plan for every nfl game, for every nfl team….
If we are pressuring Cutler, we will win. Outside of Jeffrey, this is not a good offensive team. Forte/Marshall are at the Jets. This is a very beatable team.
Tommy you should put up the replay of Curry pancaking the OT which lead to Cox’s easy sack. Really goddamn impressive.
Do the Bears have a decent run game this year? The way the defense was biting on play action against the Browns makes me think that the emphasis was on stopping the run only and letting RG3 have the air. I’m hoping Schwartz can flip that the other direction this week, because Carrol and Mills are going to get eaten alive by Jeffrey if they don’t get some significant help from the safeties and LBs.
Bears RB’s went 18-61yards in the opener. Granted the Texans have a tough front but as far as RB talent, Jeremy Langford and Kadeem Carey don’t exactly keep you up at night.
Their OL should be but is really new. The LT is a 7th round pick from ’14 who I don’t really rate highly. The interior three should be very good. Sitton-Whitehair-Long is pretty solid, but Whitehair is a rookie and Sitton’s only been there 10 days. RT Massie is also new this year. I personally don’t think he’s that great and he had a clunker vs Houston, but he played well for stretches in Arizona.
I think at worst the interior three for the Bears finally gels but gets cancelled out by Cox and Logan, and then it’s about the DE’s getting after the Bears suspect OT’s.
Kevin White is apparently off to a Nelson Agholor-esque start and other than Jefferies none of their skill position talent is that good.
Curry, Barwin and Graham has to win versus their tackles.
Also, I hope the challenge Whitehair with Curry, A gap blitzes and Cox.
Don’t forget MS2!
dont think Cutler has the same mojo without Gase. He will be reduced to prior years horrid version. Jeffrey is a beast and they may beat us for some long plays. On the flip side, I think the D line gets after him per not having to contain a mobile QB like RG in wk 1.
Mychal Kendrick played 19 snaps. Eric Kendrick made Defensive Player of the Week. Rats! Wrong brother again.
Quick, sign Gronk II to play FB and TE so that we can complete the set.
Glad to know my impression that the D played really well is confirmed. Totally overshadowed by Wentzmania but over the whole season the D will be the key to winning the division.
Promising start against an inaccurate QB. I’ll see where we go from here.
The offensive play design in the video is straight garbage. Almost looks like the Browns are just trying to set it up to run a load option out the back door later in the game. My goodness.
Dougie P mic’ed up
https://youtu.be/l4WSVjDYJUQ
Love the confidence he shows. He comes off as lacking confidence to the media at times. Not at all the same with his squad.
Luckily he has steadily improved with the media. Hasn’t had to have that nightmare game pc yet. But he was pretty natural in victory.
I don’t know if it was discussed, but I really enjoyed to move to more of a narrative, paragraph format to the reports instead of a dictionary-like entry for each player. I wouldn’t have expected that to be the case, but the comments are always interconnected and this flows very nicely.
Thanks, as always, for the supreme effort that goes into these.
Eagles at #2 at DVOA! Here’s one for the people unsatisfied by remaining ranked in the low 20s after the 1st week. 🙂
#12 offense, #4 in defense.
There’s no opponent adjustments, of course…
And SF is ranked #1, mostly due to defense (or Ram’s ineptness in offense, it comes out to the same thing in a stat).
We were often ranked very high in DVOA during Reid’s tenure, partly because we were good, partly because, perhaps, the style of our offense and defense pleased this particular system, which is based on play-by-play “success rate.”
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/dvoa-ratings/2016/week-1-dvoa-ratings
Before game 1 the Eagles were ranked something like 25-26 in defensive DVOA which hopefully will prove to be way off our final mark in February
Are you talking about preseason? How could they have any statistical ranking prior to the season.
Carry-over from last season maybe?
It was their yearly ranking that was used to generate their playoff prediction simulations before game 1. If preseason is used at all it does not lend much weigh to the data. I think they try to base it on trends in continuity for most NFL teams since they are more likely than not to perform somewhat close to their previous season.
Obviously there are lots of cases where you can expect big changes though
Its based on ranking last year + taking into account what changing DC historical does for your defense and take regression etc.
I think it was exactly the same as last year’s ending rank, I didn’t notice any difference.
BLG quoting Reich:
“We know it’s a physical game; you’re going to take hits. But we’re not trying to take hits unnecessarily just to prove that we’re tough.”
That answer just struck me as particularly nuanced and pragmatic compared to the typical cliches. Reich doesn’t get much limelight, but I like what I have heard.
http://www.phillymag.com/birds247/2016/09/16/eagles-carson-wentz-quarterback-jim-kelly-hall-fame-frank-reich-quotes/
Sounds like he was blaming Ertz for the unnecessary injury here.
“But we’re not trying to take hits unnecessarily just to prove that we’re tough. Unlike some Tight Ends I know…” (glares at Ertz)
when did that happen in the game?
I thought he was speaking strictly of the QB position.
Yeah, like Bert said, the article in the link is totally about Wentz.
This kneeling thing seems to have caught on — people must be actually
unhappy with the treatment of minorities in this country. Who would
have thought.
Seems it’s gone on long enough that we’re almost allowed to stop qualifying who is allowed to protest and when and start actually having the real discussion. Almost.
poor little rich guys pretending to be down with some faux cause in order to promote their street cred
you mean that conversation?
When someone close to you is gunned down unarmed feel free to call it faux. If you don’t know what is provoking constitutional expression, STFU!
2 cops attacked in NYC last night based on your twisted lack of thinking. When someone close to you is attacked for wearing a uniform and protecting the community then you can call it faux cause! Guess what, people who disagree with you have constitutional rights too!
stop polluting this board with your racism!
I thought you were being driven away by Kaepernick.
this is my last refuge. the social justice warriors are ruining the NFL.
So I guess you’re opposed to social justice.
no. just trolls like you
Deplorable!
Glad to see that even on IGGLESBLITZ, we foster an environment that supports acceptance, openness and respect for all to practice their right to freedom of speech. Guess we have more than just a race (perceived or not) problem in the good ole US of A.
Sorry for the bad form (answering your own comment), but if you are looking to the business of the NFL to solve our social issues…well, that wouldn’t be my first avenue.
The thrust of the American social system is that private industry is the solution to everything.
If you don’t think the most popular and inclusive entertainment can address an issue, then, well, you must be a socialist or something.
What?
Simple. Half of the country is constantly crying that the government shouldn’t do anything, that “the market” (which is almost always wrong, by the way) should be the driving force of society.
If this is a person’s opinion, then private industry like the NFL should be prominent forces for justice as well.
Pretty sure Republicans want “hands off” fiscally but “hands on” socially. Not “hands off” for both
“Libertarian” is a phony epithet that people who’ve read a couple books give themselves because the phrase “greed-centric” isn’t ad friendly.
The whole post-Reagan direction of the Republican party is to have private corporations look after the public welfare -their religiously inspired stance on abortion notwithstanding. About 1/3 of the country identifies as Republican.
Feel free to disagree all you want . It’s what makes the world go round. Have you not seen the numerous video clips of unarmed black males in non-provocative positions being shot by members of various law enforcement agencies? That is NOT law enforcement. That is murder, and uniform or not, murderers need to be prosecuted. When grand juries are convened and they turn a blind eye – just as you are doing here – it is honorable and just for all who believe in fairness to speak out. And you need to look up the definition of “racism”.
cops pulled back in Baltimore and the residents are begging for them in patrol again. the toughest job is having to go into a community and deal with the criminal element.
I grew up in a community bordering on sketchier areas. If you wanted to find trouble, it was there. Everyone I knew who was in trouble said the cops had it out for them. Maybe if they weren’t looking for trouble, the cops wouldn’t be bothering with them.
time to grow up and act like an adult. stop blaming others.
[kneels] Now go away.
do you do anything but troll this site?
Now grow up
I also post on birther sites. I’m really upset that mah boy Donald did an about face on THE TRUTH!
try to keep the conversation about football
Rubber/glue, pal.
it just is not that easy, and not that cut and dry.
Now you’re just being an asshole.
You’re leaving out the part that the media likes to blow up those cases, and ignores cases where the victim is white. In fact, police shoot white people more frequently than black people, even controlling for population differences.
But that’s not as juicy of a narrative.
Yeah but its the circumstances of the shooting that is different. Come on pal.
I work in media, and I see a lot of stuff I’m not looking to see, but I would love to get the link to video of any cop shooting an unarmed white guy with his arms raised and being as non-threatening as he can be, as he has had to learn to be. This narrative as you label it is taken from newsreels on a too regular basis. If you think all the concern is over the color of a victim, you need to look past your own bias.
They don’t collect data on arm positioning in police related fatalities, so not sure how you nor I could possibly know that.
Because it has been and will continue to be documented on camera.
I think the bigger issue he ignores is the anti police dynamic that police have to deal with in Those neighborhoods… Im sure there were some of these bad police shootings that happened because of genuine fear on behalf of the police officer and not every bad shooting was some racist cop who didn’t value black lives. Im sure there are also plenty of those cases…. But this can’t be fixed by the police alone, and it can’t be fixed by the black community alone… Both sides share some blame, and the ONLY way to truly make progress in this area is if both sides come together and play their role in Police/civilian relations
Washington post says:
According to the most recent census data, there are nearly 160 million more white people in America than there are black people. White people make up roughly 62 percent of the U.S. population but only about 49 percent of those who are killed by police officers. African Americans, however, account for 24 percent of those fatally shot and killed by the police despite being just 13 percent of the U.S. population. As The Post noted in a new analysis published last week, that means black Americans are 2.5 times as likely as white Americans to be shot and killed by police officers.
U.S. police officers have shot and killed the exact same number of unarmed white people as they have unarmed black people: 50 each. But because the white population is approximately five times larger than the black population, that means unarmed black Americans were five times as likely as unarmed white Americans to be shot and killed by a police officer.
This is good, but it’s not controlling as to the inciting behavior and culpability of the people being shot. In other words, are the rates and severity of crimes these people committed also the same?
Having an outlook like this is deplorable, it just shows that
certain members of society are seen as sub-human and are judged from the
outset, and this outlook allows cops to be judge, jury and executioners
without being held accountable.
Being incited or a civillian having a criminal record does not give a police officer or the police force itself carte blanche to shoot/kill/execute black men/women/children (or men/women/children of any race for that matter)
Then shouldn’t everyone come together in demanding accountability from police officers?
I’m tired of the battle being fought over “racist or not”. In the justice system, even accidentally killing someone has potentially serious consequences. If BLM wants justice in these highly publicized cases, whose interest does it serve to deny them that? Not just for the highly publicized racially charged cases, but the ones that aren’t. If liberty and justice is given to all, does that not make all better off?
Um, this is 100% false. Adjusting for population, you’re far more likely to be shot by the police if you’re black. C’mon.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-police-shootings-race-20160711-story.html
There is plenty of fault on both sides, and there is a lot that both sides need to do to clean up this mess. This isn’t 100% on the police to fix, and it’s not 100% on the black community. There is plenty of blame to go around that has contributed to this mess.
..
I think we often forget that slaves and the black community DIDNT win their freedom all on their own. it also took white people to step up and fight slavery even if it wasn’t in their best interest financially because it was the right thing to do from a humanity stand point…..and just like Slavery it will take whites, blacks, police officers, and all types of different people to come together as a United people to fix and improve the biggest problems and injustices in today’s society.
..
For too long, good police covered for bad rogue cops because of the belief that at all times, everyone in the police department should stick up for every cop and remain united at all times no matter what. That is a big problem that needs to change because there are a lot of Genuinly great people working as police officers who get a bad rap because of the rogue cops…
.
for Too Long we also have this ignorant “stop snitching”, “Fuck the cops” anti police rhetoric in the poor african American communities and this also needs to change if we are to demand better of our police department
.
both sides share some blame, both sides have work to do, and the ONLY true way of improving things and fix this social mess is for the two sides to come together, and work together to finally fix what has been wrong with this country for far too long.
..
Until we all truly unite and tackle this problem together as a society, we won’t get any where
you have to take history into account as well. this has been going on for a very long time with cops killing unarmed blacks, a very long time.
I don’t understand the accusation of racism, where is that coming from? Seems uncalled for on this board.
Wow white America is the most sensitive group ever. And I am white but thats just sad what you wrote.
Yes, NFL players potentially risking their careers to take a stand are doing for street cred. What world do you live in?
It is a fascinating and risky csll to play it eithrr way indeed.
..
I like the market you both just established. .is it
Self promotion / career risk
..
Thats how we used to show markrts as:
Bid / Offer
the world where they don’t even read the ingredients to supplements they take.
I know I now consider Lane an OG.
I would say that Brandan Marshall put his money where his mouth is for “the cause” considering it has cost him two of his endorsement deals which he lost because of the protest, and is taking it a step forward and is going to witness first hand, police department training sessions where they teach police when it’s ok and not ok to fire their weapons so that Marshall can educate himself and familiarize himself with what the other side of this issue goes thru
..
That’s a lot to go thru to “improve your street cred”
haha that’s real smart
the NFL driving away fans as quick as they can
Umm they are breaking records for tv viewership again this year. Please stop posting. SAD!
You seem to have very strong views against this practice, yet here you are. Which fans are being driven away?
most browns fans are now gone. but it was the play on the field not any other stuff.
TV ratings down
Have you noticed the TV coverage making a point to start their game feed in time to show the NA since all this started? They wouldn’t do that unless people were tuning in. This is drawing viewers, not driving them away.
Ya think?
Does anyone think that Kap really cares or is he just using it as a lightning rod to keep his job ? Ie, play the race card so it’s too dangerous, way way too dangerous to cut him. Lest the team looks like they are bigots. .
I don’t think so .. in fact im even scared to duggest it evrn here amongst friends and rspected debaters. ..
..
but that was part of the conversation at a bar recently.. fascinating play.if he did
I believe if you took the time to hear what he has been saying in interviews about these issues then you would know he is being genuine. But if you just read the hot taeks on some sports websites then you would come to your conclusion above.
Go listen to the interviews and his thoughts on the protest and I believe you will come away with a different opinion.
Far be it for me to appropriate his feelings on this issue and make you believe it.
TY. Well said & appreciate that ya didnt beat me up about not knowing completely.
does that include wearing socks with cops depicted as pigs?
or is it OK for him profile but not the police?
The socks were over the line. They were in poor taste.
I’d imagine he was genuinely angry and looking for a way to express it. The second idea was much more effective than the first.
why wouldn’t he care?
Dunno. He’s rich. He’s the 1%. Goes home to a nice house and a bright future. Dont know if national & international issues really reach him
Agree with Kaep or not, its pretty safe to say he didnt do this for his football career.
Out of curiosity, is it OK for me to be unhappy with the way minorities treat me?
Or course. The way government treat people is different.
It’s not okay to generalize based on race, no.
What is a minority? I’m over 50 n white in Hawaii….
Haole.
Me too but also bald .. in nyc I’m essentially invisible. If you don’t have at least some minimal ethnic twist in this town your are invisible. A flat invisinke bust. And mix of german dutch Scottish welsch doesn’t count.
I knew a lot of white kids in high school in Hawaii who had their first taste of being a minority there. It was a major wake-up call for some of them, and some of them were quite bitter about it.
Malcom Jenkins says him and some teammates will be making a symbolic gesture on Monday night but it will not be kneeling.
In Chicago
How appropriate.
how about just symbolically playing well?
Proud of 27. Consummate pro and leader.
Wentz mania is officially in full effect.
..
I was visiting my native South Philly today and saw an old lady with a shopping cart standing in the middle of the street (10th n Oregon) selling Kelly Green colored Wentz T-shirts…
10th pick from Oregon St ?
Good article about Daniel teaching Drew Brees methods and habits to Wentz.
http://www.csnphilly.com/philadelphia-eagles/carson-wentz-learning-drew-brees-method-preparation
I use sports to escape politics (and life, and worries therein). I respect you all, but let’s just leave those discussions outside Iggles Blitz.
agreed
too late, everything is involved now.
This isn’t how it works.
I know, I know, I know. Oh but were it so…
If politics is all you want, comrade, there are blogs with that expressed purpose.
Comrade, nice…
The talk of revolution wears on me, as do all political conversations on a football blog
So the bills manage to score 31 pts against the jets ..which was 21 more pts than they scored last week against a less imposing defense. Unfortunately their Defense gave up 37 pts. But it seems like they solved the problem by firing their offensive coordinator Greg roman!
Rex and Rob will be out if the league for good next year. Rob is just plain bad as a DC and has been for numerous teams now. I’m not sure any other head coach gives Rex a DC job, or that Rex would even take one after he is fired.
Rex used to legitimately be good. His last few years with the Jets I chalked it up to the dysfunction of the organization, but maybe his time has passed.
I sort of think it was Rex that led the team into dysfunctional turmoil.
In hindsight, maybe. At the time it looked like the gross incompetence of Woody Johnson and the GM (Tannenbaum? can’t remember his name).
Maybe he just aint a HC. He will gwt another shot there. To be fair he had far more success with less talent than our beloved JS as the captain.
I’d love to see Rex go to college and try to build up some historical loser.
Rex Ryan HC of: Maryland, UCONN, Kentucky, Tulane would be fun.
If Rec came to ole MD I might go see a few games.
Did you watch that game?
First, 7 of those points came from their defense.
Second, that offense is garbage. They got extremely lucky on only a couple of plays. One was busted coverage. The other was Revis misjudging the speed of Goodwin, who can’t catch at all and had a miracle grab that is completely unrepeatable and fluky.
is it their O line or is NY that good on defense?
Go figure I was out all last Sunday and missed the game and Wentz’s debut. Now that the Birds are on MNF, it’s gonna rain all day Sunday and I’ll be inside with no birds to watch.
DVR my man!
Oh, I DVR’d it and watched it that night.
If you get the NFL Network, they have the replays of all the games on OnDemand.
I’ve had a DVR for 16 years, no replay needed.
I wish I lived in the area, then I wouldn’t have to figure out ways to watch/rewatch the games.
Too bad you’re not in Canada. Our cable package includes several American channels as well as numerous Canadian ones so we can sometimes get 7 or 8 different out of market games. Our media can be as obnoxious as anywhere else but we do see and hear about events in other countries.
Redbirds, Ravens, and Seahawks are all avians and should be playing.
Out of respect to everyone, I’d like to point out that characterizing people as racist, not-racist, social justice warrior, asshole, liberal, libtard, conservitard, or any other category is really lazy thinking. People have a variety of opinions on a variety of topics.
You don’t know their personal circumstances, and you definitely don’t know exactly what’s going on in their head. Just because someone disagrees with the race narrative doesn’t mean they’re racist. Just because someone whole-heartedly agrees with Kaep doesn’t make them a socially conscious person. The world is ridiculously complex, and fitting complex situations into neat little simplistic boxes just makes you intellectually lazy.
here’s what I don’t get about Kaep. he brings up a problem and then makes cops the bad guys by calling them pigs. This will only make their jobs harder and increase the chance for problems to occur.
this would be like SF’s O line saying “Kap you don’t throw TDs” we won’t block for you until you do. The chance of him throwing a TD while the line doesn’t block isn’t great.
if you want to point out a problem bring some solutions to the table.
I agree somewhat. I don’t have a problem with all cops. Wanton antipathy for all cops is certainly uncalled for. Most cops are good people who serve with noble intentions. However, when a cop does seriously mess up, he needs to be held accountable. A trial by jury needs to occur. A cop’s role is not military, their jobs is not to protect by identifying and eliminating enemies. Their job is to find crime and deliver alleged perpetrators to the justice system that determines guilt and punishment. Everytime a trial by jury (a constitutional right) is denied by a bullet, we as a society have a duty to heavily scrutinize it.
And that’s where the generalized resentment comes in. None of these cases get trials. generally these cops are protected, either by other cops, the DA, or the system that gives them the licence to fatally screw up. Internal investigations just won’t cut it anymore. Trials are public, and the public needs to see if justice is really being served.
All cops are not assholes, this is true. I just got let off a U-turn violation (which would have been a rather harsh interpretation IMO) by a cop a couple of weeks ago. This was very shocking to me, being a long-haired, goattee-wearing minority!
Did you explain to the cop that you thought the sign said “No! U Turn!”
Most cops are cool, but there are a lot of really bad ones too. The problem is the culture that forces the majority to defend or ignore the crimes of the bad ones.
I also think that mandatory steroid testing would go a long way to cutting down on the violence.
Yeah, there’s a strong link between testosterone and violence. It’s kinda just how it works.
Certainly having solutions would be ideal. The notion that we cannot raise a conversation unless we know the answer defeats the entire point of having a conversation, though.
The OL analogy is pretty flawed. Kaep isn’t criticizing police for not doing their job well enough. He isn’t protesting them failing to eliminate all crime. He is protesting some police who commit crimes.
This would be more analogous to the OL saying, “Kaep, you keep throwing the ball to the other team and then kicking out our knees and destroying our careers. We are going to continue to do our part, but we are going to huddle sitting down.”
Kap has explained that the socks were old news. He has police relatives and the socks had been a family joke. The lovely false media brewed up a narrative that they were a deliberate insult that just occurred.
Here’s a real simple one: Professional law enforcement officers of all counties, states, stripes and colors should acknowledge and promote the truth – that SOME cops are racists, that SOME cops are cowards, and that SOME cops hide behind their badges to perform criminal acts. When all you have is various and sundry police chiefs who “sympathize” with the aggrieved, it stains the whole profession. The “thin blue line” has turned a cultural/racial divide into a chasm. When a moronic police union (what a joke) makes verbal threats to punish a law-abiding protester, it displays an ignorance and contempt for what is true and what is real. Any citizen not wedded to an agenda can see that not prosecuting criminal acts committed by ANY officer of the law undermines the law!
Out of respect for lazy thinkers and intellectually lazy people, I’d like to…ah forget it…
“Socially conscious person” is a great compliment. I hope to be called that.
I think if you’re voting for Trump you’re bigoted, racist, and don’t deserve American citizenship.
How about that?
Oh, so now you’re calling us lazy?
(Kidding. Good comment)
Ah shit. It’s come even to here. We’ve even managed to avoid electoral politics squabbling,but not this.
Well, it is football. Sort of…
This blog tends to attract a more intelligent subset of Eagles fans so most of us liberals. There’s not much to argue about.
Gotta love Rex firing the offensive coordinator, who managed to put up 24 points on a respectable defense, instead of his brother the defensive coordinator, who let Fitzpatrick drop 37 on them. Desperation, nepotism, incompetence, scapegoating… It’s all part of the soup up there in Buffalo.
I would like to apologize for throwing the grenade earlier in the day that started all this political talk. Agree blog is better when it’s football only — hopefully tommy will put up a new post soon so that we can all move on.
Don’t apologize.
These are conversations that we should be having. Things we should be thinking about.
“Escaping” politics is something only privileged white men have the luxury of. We should be throwing social injustices in their (our, as a privileged white dude myself) face whenever possible, until that’s not the case anymore.
The power of Kaepernick’s demonstration is that it forces us to confront what he is saying during our “escape.” If he wrote an op-ed in the NY Times, we could just ignore, but instead we’re talking about it.
Kaepernivk is about as priveleged as it gets. He is very much the 1%.
Who is allowed to speak up?
Stephen A is
I ask because you don’t seem to have an answer. You seem to think that Kaepernick is not allowed to speak on the matter because he’s rich. I’ve seen others say he’s not allowed because he’s half black. Etc. Etc. It’s a completely bullshit argument that you can’t stand up for someone else if you are not directly experiencing the same pain that they are. Teammates should not protect each other then. Friends shouldn’t stand up for each other. Neighborhoods should all fend for themselves.
All of which is to say that if people were listening to those that it affected in the first place, none of this would be necessary. Instead, we’re hearing a ton of noise from people that would rather not admit that things suck for a fairly large percentage of the country.
I’m neither rich nor poor but I wept for the innocent people attacked with Germany Shepherds and firehoses by their own wrapped in the flag countrymen. For the little girls murdered in a church in Birmingham. For the Muslim woman set on fire in New York City because of the vicious lies of politicians and military. For the half dozen Muslim athletes who won medals for the US in Brazil. For everyone of us who is different.
Lol
I am not sure how to read this comment. Are you congratulating him for not hiding behind his privilege?
I think the point is that because he is successful, he therefore has no right to advocate for the people who are being beaten up and killed. One of those very strange, but common logical leaps.
I happened to read some studies today showing that rich people are consistently less empathetic and giving than the poor.
Didnt intend to do that but id agree that he does deserve credit. yes good insight in your part.
Well stated. Our current political reality is a story that dwarfs just about every other. Racial injustice is but one chapter in that book.
This is a public service announcement.
Cowboys suck.
FINALLY after hours of you, no you…NO you . A voice of reason. Nice work Dragon.
After careful consideration, I have decided to upvote your post.
Should there be a benefit to Wentz that both Pederson and Reich are former QBs in the NFL? Seems he’s surrounded by guys that understand and have a unique perspective on his position. Maybe they understand what works and doesn’t for a rookie better than other non-QB coaches?
Just a thought, but it seems he’s surrounded by a lot of guys that understand the position.
It’s an interesting way to build a franchise – QB centric league so we should have QB centric guys at the center of it (Pederson, Reich, Cha$e). Question is whether it should matter how good the QBs were. It’s not like they hired Peyton manning.
I’d argue you don’t want the guys who are great players. You want the guys who found a way to get it done and hang around because they had to do all the little things perfect and understand everything to the nth degree .
Also, these two were around great QBs. They weren’t backing up journeymen.
Should we be worried about Kelce on Sunday?
https://twitter.com/fduffy3/status/776846501297389568
He was handled fairly well by the center. The best play part was running down the ball carrier and stripping him from behind.
I mean, maybe worry about Kelce. But not based on that play. Worry about Huff.
Worry about Deez
I worry about him on every snap.