Nicky Franchise
Posted: January 22nd, 2018 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 454 Comments »There are a lot of storylines from Sunday’s NFC Championship but one really sticks out. Nick Foles played the game of his life. I know he threw 7 TDs in a game back in 2013, but that was against an awful Raiders team.
Foles was brilliant against the Vikings, going 26-33-352. He threw 3 TD passes and didn’t turn the ball over. Foles did this against the #1 defense in the league with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line. And he made it look easy.
Going into the game, I thought the Vikings had a clear advantage at QB. Case Keenum started almost all year long. He played at a high level and was clearly the leader of his team. Foles had only been the Eagles QB for a month or so. He was still trying to get into the swing of things. It is one thing to know the playbook and to know your teammates. It is another to be the starting QB and run the team.
Keenum usually made one or two “wow” throws every game. Foles had not made any of those throws since taking over as starter. I think his deep ball to Nelson Agholor in the Denver game was a wow throw, but that was late in a blowout.
Foles made wow throws on Sunday night. The flea-flicker TD pass was a thing of beauty.
Flea flicker was nice. But let’s talk about this pass from Foles. Absurd. pic.twitter.com/uXJrAdrGf9
— Patrick (@PatrickMCausey) January 22, 2018
Wow.
Nick Foles goes DEEEEEP.
Got 'em!@TheWorldof_AJ hauls it in for SIX! #MINvsPHI #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/lHshfy11ge
— NFL (@NFL) January 22, 2018
That wasn’t a special throw, but the fact he kept his eyes downfield and didn’t panic in the pocket makes it a “wow” play.
I thought this was a terrific play.
https://twitter.com/NFL/status/955256540616826880
Foles spread the ball around. He wasn’t forcing it to anyone. There were plays where held the ball, not dumping it to the first open guy. Foles was aggressive, but not reckless. He wanted chunks of yards and took chances when they made sense.
The Eagles did something I didn’t think was going to happen. They moved the chains all game long. The Vikings allowed 51 3rd down conversions all season long. 51!!! The Eagles were 10 for 14 on Sunday night. That’s insane.
Give the coaches credit for calling the right plays. Give the receivers credit for catching the ball. Give the O-line credit for protecting. Give Nick a ton of credit for orchestrating an offense that did that.
*****
The Eagles signed Foles back in March. Here’s what I had to say:
I love the addition of Foles. He had an amazing 2013 season, but that proved to be an anomaly. Foles isn’t a guy you want as your full time starter. That said, he can be a terrific backup. I think Foles is a major upgrade on Chase Daniel. If Wentz has to miss a game (or god forbid multiple games), Foles is a QB I’m comfortable with. You don’t want him out there for 16 games, but he has proven he can be an effective starter in the NFL.
And
Let’s go back to Foles for a second. Doug Pederson was his QB coach when Foles got drafted. Pederson worked him out prior to that draft and really liked him. Beyond that, everyone in the organization loved Foles during his time in Philly. He was a terrific teammate. The Eagles wanted to keep him, but Chip Kelly needed Foles to make the Sam Bradford trade work.
The Eagles come out of that with Wentz, Foles, a 1st round pick and Bradford as a distant memory. That worked pretty well.
Foles struggled with the Rams, but that is a dysfunctional offense. No QB seems to play well there. Foles needs a good OL to be effective. He didn’t have that in St. Louis, but will in Philly. I think he’ll also benefit from having good offensive coaches. The Rams staff was just not good.
Foles is an ideal backup. He has experience and is a high character guy. This is someone you want on your team. He’s just not meant to be out there for a full season. Foles was a huge upgrade over Chase Daniel. Can you imagine if he had been on the field in that game? I doubt the Eagles are scoring 38 points.
Thank you, Nicky Franchise.
_
When Foles has a clean pocket pretty much all his flaws become neutralized, namely mobility, release and judgement. I haven’t seen too many bad games out of him when the interior line does its job
Even without a clean pocket he was masterful today.
Yep, there is no need to qualify Foles’ performance in this game. He played a legitimate great game in every way.
That touchdown to AJ was the type of play he stopped making after the 2014 Redskins game where got put through the meat grinder. Lowering the eye level, backpedaling, etc. It was good to see the old Foles again.
That’s exactly right. 2014 was a joke where Foles became the fall guy in more ways than one. With a good offensive line, he’s an extremely talented and proven performer.
He was 6 and 2 in 2014. SIX and TWO. 8 and 2 in 2014. This year, Came from behind against the Rams, carried the defense against the Giants and came from behind, came from behind against the Raiders in terrible weather conditions, played one quarter against Dallas in a 6 – 0 Eagles loss. Do you really think Nick woulodnt have put up more than 6 points if he played the whole game?
Beat the Falcons, killed the Vikings.
So to summarize, after his rookie season…. his record as the Eagles starting QB is 18 and 5 including the Dallas game this year.
Why does no one appreciate that all Nick does is WIN. Screw the “eye test” crap. I wasn’t the least bit surprised at his performance Sunday. I was paying attention in 2013
Wow…it’s nice to know someone else on earth can see Nick Foles for who he is. You give this guy a line that blocks and all he does is win. He’s got the heart of a champion.
He was ace in the game even when the pocket was collapsing. Even more, Minn has a tougher D line than the Pats.
Yeah, I think the plays he had to deal with pressure were the backbreakers and the truly surprising… heck, after those cold-weather fiascos, the whole thing was truly surprising.
Can’t wait to see him play in a dome.
Completely agree. One of my biggest concerns with Wentz was his injury history. I figured we were going to see seasons like this and, sadly, it didn’t take long. So I was glad when we upgraded to Foles. And now I’m downright delighted.
I had forgotten about Wentz being hurt so much in college. I’m blocking it from my mind for now and riding the Foles train.
Hurt so much in college…he started all 16 games of his RS JR year. His Sr year he had a wrist injury that sidelined him from game 7 till he played in the National Champ. game…In his rookie year he had a rib injury during pre-season and now an ACL…not to downplay and ACL injury but how is one injury mean that he was “hurt so much in college”…
You’re right. I was under the impression that he got hurt playing baseball in high school and it carried over into college. I did some research and found I was mistaken. Good to be wrong.
Philly “injury prone standards” = having been born
#negadelphian….but I get it…
Foles two worst throws of the night were on the first drive:
– Deep ball to Smith which was a bit underthrown and to the right a bit which enabled Waynes to make a ball on the ball; if that had been thrown on target it was a TD since Smith had Waynes beat
– Sideline throw to Burton which was ruled out of bounds where Foles was scrambling to his right, had a defender coming at home, and was a bit off balance & leaning to his right which caused the ball to sail a little bit
Numbers after the 1st quarter were ridiculous and I bet after the first drive even were pretty ridiculous too.
And both of those two throws should have been caught.
Smith could very well have made that catch and there was no way that Burton shouldn’t have kept his feet in bounds.
I still don’t know what Burton was doing. He just seemed to lose focus and forget to get his feet down.
I agree, especially since most players seem to excel in being able to do it.
Nerves probably. Meant to do a little hop and adrenaline caused him to launch too high.
I think what many forgot is how difficult it is for a a QB to get in sync with the rest of the offense. Everyone talked about how well Keenum played all year, but if I’m not mistaken he struggled initially after taking over. Then, everything fell into place and the Vikings season took off. It didn’t hurt that the Vikings defense was very good.
Well, today Nick Foles started his 5th straight game after taking over for Wentz. It seems obvious to me that just like Keenum it took time for Foles to get into sync with the offense. Not to mention that it wasn’t an accident that for the first time since the Giants game Foles played in decent weather. Oh, and it didn’t hurt that the Eagles defense is very good.
The bottom line is there has been a continuous discussion on whether Foles is a career backup or closer to being a starting QB. Most “experts” leaned toward him being a backup. Well, for today at least Nick Foles has proven the experts wrong.
Perception can change on a dime. Foles has three solid playoff performances under his belt, with one all-world game on the biggest of stages against the toughest defense in the league. That’s to go along with his history making season in 2013. I’d wager some football people see Nick Foles as a legit starter again after tonight. He just became a very valuable asset, in addition to being a Philly folk hero for life.
Very true. I’ve been making the same joke over and over again about us trading Foles for a first round pick, but after tonight’s game and if he has another good game in the Super Bowl, Foles could be a very valuable asset.
And then giving Foles his ring when his team played us at the Link
And with Carson still on the mend, Howie can rightly claim we don’t *have* to do anything with Nick. He can plausibly insist we have every reason to keep him. That’s leverage.
Ultimately, Foles is proving he needs to be a starting NFL QB. But for now, Howie holds all the cards.
I love irony. In this game, the irony took place at what I believe was a crucial part of the game when Derek Barnett stripped the ball from Keenum deep in Eagles territory. After all, wasn’t it Barnett that was drafted with the 1st round pick the Eagles got in the Bradford trade?
Someone made that prediction. .. probably 1800 comments ago .. ill try to find it though
What prediction?
That Derek Barnett would have a key strip sack
I didn’t see that, but it didn’t surprise me.
Blount and Long are back in the Super Bowl the very next year. Not only on a different team, but facing their old team. They will have 2 rings in 2 years.
Chris Long too!
And Blount !
And Long!
Don’t forget Blount!
Chris Long and Blount They’ll know all the plays! And player tendencies! Like stealing s player from practice squad week before. Doug stole a bunch of players from practice squads this season, some before games against their former teams.
More proof that Jeff Fisher is Richie Kotite in disguise.
Dumb a.. Lane Johnson.
??
Probably talking about Lane’s comment about dethroning pretty boy.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/22174644/philadelphia-eagles-lane-johnson-wants-dethrone-pretty-boy-tom-brady-new-england-patriots
Eh. Doesn’t bother me at all.
Brady’s going to be motivated for this game. When you get to the point he’s at bulletin board material is irrelevant.
I feel the same way. Matter o’ fact, I like it. Lane and the boys will now need to back it up.
My gosh what a game! I don’t know why but when the Vikings scored and did that shameful curling celebration I knew they weren’t going to win, ah!
Though I have to admit that no sideline catch by Burton reaaaaaaally scared me!
I know, right? I just rolled my eyes at that. Might want to dial it back a bit, boys…lots of football left, ya know.
Once again, How awful was Joe Buck. I don’t get it, absolutely no passion.
He hates the Eagles – you can hear it in his voice every time he calls them. Aikman too, it’s just not as obvious!
I was so sick of them telling us how great Mike Zimmer was at 3rd down defense play calling… even after the eagles were 6 of 8.
Someone needed to take that script away from them and beat them with it.
2nd Turnovers on downs by the D on the Goalline in 2 straight games.
Wentz got us home field advantage, but Foles got us to the Superbowl. That’s real, baby.
Great line.
Better than the opening line for SB LII…
That’s a good point about the points.
So I’m the guy who for about 2 months has been preaching that the Vikings were the Eagles’ top competition in the NFC. I’ll gladly take the L on that one. Nick Foles was astonishingly good. Couldn’t ask for better QB play if Wentz was back there!
#FlyEaglesFly
I’m saying the Vikings were the Eagles top competition in the NFL. Eagles will beat the Pats.
I don’t think you were wrong… Just that a mouse is of no concern to an Eagle.
Haha, Well said!
So here is what I want everyone to do. Go to twitter. If you don’ have twitter, go and create a profile. Then, write tweet beginning with @mlombardiNFL . And shame the man relentlessly. Then write another tweet. And another. And another. Proceed with this every day until the super bowl. By the time we reach the kickoff I want there to be 8 million tweets on this mans timeline about what a lame fraud he is.
Together we can do it.
@mlombardiNFL Care to qualify your qualified apology to Doug Pederson about not being qualified?
Done.
I listened to the GM Street podcast this morning and there were no qualifications about it this time. Lombardi straight up admitted that he was wrong about Doug and said he’s now a believer.
He had no choice, his exact wording was that Doug Pederson was the least qualified coach he’d ever seen in 30 years in the NFL, he couldn’t not admit he was wrong at this point.
Sensational. I think we are wearing him down.
So if you are an evil person (I know you are, all of you) you should stroll over to bloggin the boy for a few minutes and read the comments in stead of doing whatever it is that you are supposed to be doing at work, but are obviously not doing because who cares about work today, right. I especially like how several cowboys fans lament that we have an actual coach who calls good plays while they are stuck with a man who just claps his hands in stead and tries not to blink. Highly recommendable. https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2018/1/21/16916220/nfl-championship-round-live-game-discussion-vikings-eagles
The future must look bleak to our opponents in the NFC East,
It’s beginning to look a lot like the AFC East around here, with the Eagles playing the part of the Bull and the rest of the division being the china shop.
Doug may be a better game planner, play caller, motivator, teacher, clock manager, in-game adjuster, strategist, talent evaluator, and team leader, but by gum, nobody claps like Jason Garrett.
That was fun! I could only take it for about 10 minutes though. Those folks are delusional and hilarious.
Yes, it feels like your brain is literally shrinking the more you read of it.
FOles!
The deep ball is what I was waiting for with Nick. As Riley Cooper can attest, Nick has always had a great deep ball. It completely opens up the offense when they have to respect the big play.
Foles to DeSean was not joke either.
He always had enough arm for it, but early on his really deep throws were very, very inaccurate. That was the biggest problem in his game in 2013 — it was always a bit of an adventure. Cooper and Jackson adjusted to several (and got lucky a couple times), while several others luckily weren’t near defenders either and were incomplete. I think he gradually improved in that department over 2013 and 2014, and yesterday he was very good at them, so that may be a thing of the past (unless there is wind). In 2014, it was the disintegrating line that turned into a bigger issue. Sort of like his play this year when Wiz was out. Night and day.
I seem to remember his deep ball much differently (note: my memory is absolutely terrible so you may be correct).
A quick check of just his long TD throws in 2013 reveal the following:
Cooper 47, 63, 32, 45
Jackson 55, 30, 36, 46
I vividly remembering Riley Cooper and DeSean being praised because they could track deep balls (esp. Cooper with his baseball outfield experience in college).
I don’t know how true this is – I don’t listen to idiots(ok, they may not be idiots, but their jobs are not brain surgery type of mentality – more of – ‘I pick things up and put them down’) – anyway – here are the picks of the experts who get paid to do this type of thinking… https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/eca6e2aee8d94bbe4ea531fb579558b4cd45b5acb1b78b301f5b12ce2b097867.jpg
But my hat gets tipped to brilliantly stated prediction by Boomer(or was it Sims? they look the same to me) — Boomer said he’s picking the Vikings because the running backs on the Vikings will control the game and have over 100 yards rushing.
….
I don’t mind him picking the Vikings — but what exactly is that opinion based on? Is it based on the Eagles have the best rush defense in the entire NFL? I guess he did zero research to make that comment. Hearing comments from idiots(see above) like him makes me turn off the channel as quick as I turned it on.
…
2nd place finisher — the guy on the NFL network morning show who said last week that the NFC champion that’s going to the Superbowl is playing tonight (in reference to the Vikes/Saints game). Well done sir.
ESPN picks gave me a lot of confidence in Eagles win.
I hope Howie Long gets to give Jimmy Johnson a purple nurple after the Eagles victory.
It is my personal opinion that these folks try to sway the betting population with their picks.
However they pick, it’s a win-win situation. They’re paid to get a reaction more than to be accurate. Plus, when so many are wrong it makes for a great story in general. But not specifically because they don’t really address it as a group. At least not with the passion and conviction they have when they make the picks.
Holy crap– Golic cheated! Or someone messed up big time.
I still am expecting to wake up, and it’ll be the morning of the NFC Championship. If this is indeed real, this I’m struggling to think of another game like this, where they exceeded expectations so much. The playoff game against the Lions? 1980 NFC Championship? (I don’t remember that one. I was 3). 44-6 is my most similar and the stakes nor level of competition not similar. I thought they would win a close, low-scoring game like last week. I didn’t expect total annihilation of a very good team.
44-6 is a good comparison. Lots of doubt, yet everything came together. But, this is bigger. By far.
Harrison worries me most
James Harrison?
George
Same age.
We’ve faced twelve of the top 20 sack leaders this season. They have a total of four sacks against us.
#1 Chandler Jones (1)
#3 Demarcus Lawrence (0+0)
#4 Everson Griffen (0)
#4 Ryan Kerrigan (.5+.5)
#7 Joey Bosa (0)
#11 Mario Addison (0)
#11 Aaron Donald (0)
#11 Julius Peppers (1)
#15 Melvin Ingram (0)
#15 Khalil Mack (0)
#18 Von Miller (1)
#19 Adrian Clayborn (0)
Harrison is screwed.
That’s an incredible stat.
Unless he’s gonna try to break Big V’s leg by humping it I’m not worried.
Reassuring cool. . I’m willing to believe you
Great game called by the refs. They let the big boys play. Now if they can cutdown the commercials a bit, we might enjoy the game all the way through.
It was a pleasure watching a game w/o the constant flags. As for the commercials, I saw enough beta males to last me a long time.
What a night. What a morning after. What a throw to Ertz when he pulled it down, reset and threw again. I could get used to this feeling of euphoria!
I never miss a chance to throw shade at Joe Buck. I’ve always said that he’s the worst commentator in sports. His calls are always like, “Throw. Catch. Touchdown Philadelphia.” Just wow, Joe.
But I had a change of heart last night when Troy Aikman said something to the effect of, “They’re really hard to run against because their run defense is good and they don’t give up many rushing yards.” So you’re saying that they’re hard to run against? Gotcha.
Why couldn’t we get Romo? That man is a treasure in the broadcast booth.
I always thought Buck was fine. He doesn’t do emotion, that’s good by me. The game is exciting without announcers shouting. I hate that Tom McCarthy stuff.
I don’t like announcers shouting, but some voice inflection would be nice over the monotonal drivel.
I hear that.
Joe Buck is smarter than us and the tone of his voice serves as a constant reminder during the broadcast.
Aikman would better served with a play-by-play guy who keeps him on target and talking about the x and o’s. Skip the “heckuva guy” platitudes and offer us some real analysis or historical context please.
By 2020 the Phillies’ P.H.I.L. artificial intelligence program will have accurately recreated a Tom McCarthy personality that turns on the organization and ultimately the city — the nation is saved as Philadelphians band together and the AI fiasco ends similarly to the HitchBOT incident five years prior.
Good points. There really aren’t many good NFL play by play guys. It’s a lot harder than baseball, that’s for sure.
Joe Buck has been pretty good the last 5 years. People still hate because of how terrible he was 10 years ago. But IMO right now he’s one of the best in the game.
Yes he is. Now who was that Jagwires team he kept talking about? SERIOUSLy, he is the most insightful commentator I heard in a long while.
What a time to be an Eagles fan.
I said Foles would play better than anyone expected, but that was an insaane performance. Go Eagles! Go Foles!
I like hearing this…
https://twitter.com/MoveTheSticks/status/955427771269959680
This will tickle Media Mike pink.
Still envious of the Saints’ draft — did they just get lucky or do they have good scouting too? 😉
Our drafts over the last two years have been pretty damn good. I bet there are a lot of fans of other teams out there looking at the Eagles and asking how it is that they found starting caliber players like Mills, Clement, and Vaitai in the late rounds or UDFA.
Yeah, I’m not complaining. Wentz alone makes everything else pale in comparison.
Finding five starters in the first three rounds is astounding though, which I think is what the Saints did (one of them went on IR after four games though). Impact starters, too, even if one missed a high-profile tackle last week. Granted they had many more gaping holes than the Eagles did, but they filled them incredibly well.
There’s no question they had a great draft. I’m just saying I don’t think you need to be envious – given similar resources (5 picks in the first three rounds) I think the Douglas/Roseman brain trust would do similarly well.
Saints are watching US in two weeks, so there’s that.
Clement starting caliber? Bold. I like it
This is the same team that let go of Malcolm Jenkins to sign Jarius Byrd to a monster deal;-)
Last year was a great draft for the Saints though. It could turn out similar to the Eagles 2002 draft in terms of impact players.
It looks even better than that. But yes, not sure if it was a one-year fluke or if they have suddenly gotten better scouts. They traded us Sproles too. They have made plenty of bad decisions in the past for sure.
One thing I feel confident about is Doug’s aggressiveness. Many of Brady’s recent comebacks (Atlanta last year, the Jags this year) are when the other teams gets a lead and takes a conservative approach.
Looking at the snap counts, after the first series where the defense got roasted, Najee Goode and Nate Gerry didn’t get another snap. Kendricks was the LB in base while Corey Graham came in with the nickel package for the rest of the game.
That was a great in-game adjustment by Schwartz.
It looked like Kendricks had a good game.
Thanks. I was wondering if Goode got his act together or got pulled, but I forgot to ask.
Tremendous!
I just ant to thank Chase Daniel forcing his way out of town
I was very critical of the Foles’ signing because it put them at a $8 million cap hold for a backup QB on a team up against the cap. Boy am I happy they signes him.
And Chase Daniel can go suck a dick.
I was the same way. I don’t like wrapping $$$ into a back up QB, but Nick isn’t playing like a typical back up QB. I’m so happy to be wrong.
This is a weird feeling for an Eagles fan to have, but I am not scared of the Patriots at all.
When I look at them, I see a mediocre team with a great QB, a great TE, and a great coach. Brady is one of the best of all time and Gronk is a Hall-of-Fame caliber TE. Those two are capable of beating us on their own.
But other than QB and TE, I don’t think there’s a single position group where the Patriots aren’t at a talent disadvantage compared to the Eagles, some of them significant. Outside of Gronkowski, their backs and receivers are mediocre. Their O line isn’t great. They don’t have a single player on defense you have to game plan to neutralize while we have guys capable of making game-changing plays on every level of the defense. And as great as Belichick is, I really don’t feel like Pederson and Schwartz are going to be outmatched in this game, which is a testament to how Doug has developed as a coach.
Teams that can generate a consistent pass rush with their front four and chew up clock and don’t make mistakes on offense have always given Brady and the Patriots trouble in the playoffs, and that’s exactly what we’re built to do. Our team is quite similar to the Giants teams that beat him twice in the SB, as well as to the Jets, Broncos, and Ravens teams that have beaten him in big AFC playoff games over the years. I’m actually more confident we will win this game than I was that we’d beat either Atlanta or Minnesota. Of course nothing is guaranteed, but I really feel like the oddsmakers and national pundits are severely underrating our chances.
I do think our lines are better, which in the end made us a better team against the Falcons and Vikings. Turnover differential can change everything — it made that first game close, and yesterday’s game a blowout. Without them, we probably win by maybe a two-score margin each game. So those can absolutely flip the script.
I do worry about Brady and Belichick though. Eli carved up this defense twice this season, partly because they were happy to use what Schwartz normally likes to give up. But they were able to successfully use that, and in the second game they had nobody remotely good at receiver either, but still made it work. Brady/Belichick seem to be able to morph into whatever they need in order to beat an opponent, and they may well be able to find the cracks in Schwartz’ defense.
We may need to have some nice long ball-control drive on offense to keep Brady off the field. And if we do somehow get a good lead… do not get conservative. That last part I feel confident about with Doug.
Don’t get me wrong – I respect the hell of out Brady and Belichick and if we’re going to win the SB, we’re going to have to earn it. They will figure out the best way to attack our defense and they’re going to be prepared.
I just don’t think people are paying enough attention to the fact that there are significant talent gaps that are in the Eagles’ favor in this matchup. The Vikings have a great defense and the Eagles just ran them off the field. The Patriots defense is outright bad. I can see a scenario in which Brady is fantastic and it’s still not enough. I can also see a scenario in which Fletcher Cox and co. wreak so much havoc that the Pats offense is discombobulated. I think we have multiple avenues to win this game.
The Eagles have much more talent on both sides of the trenches. This will make the difference.
Yeah, that is how we are going to have to win. Jaguars have a fearsome rush as well, and the Patriots did handle it to an extent. We need to keep that rush up for the full game, unlike the Jaguars (and Falcons last year), but our depth gives us a great shot at doing that.
Agree, the depth is a significant factor.
The Jaguars pass rush is overrated. They racked up a ton of sacks against the Titans and Colts. Their numbers against everyone else aren’t that impressive. We will do a much better job of pressuring Brady.
They Jags also should have won. They got way too conservative. That won’t happen with Doug.
This to me is the biggest thing.
The Jags came out with a good game plan and had success against the Patriots. But they didn’t have the self-belief to stick with it and keep throwing punches when they had them on the ropes. They switched to “play not to lose” mode and wasted opportunities. As soon as they knelt on that ball with 55 seconds left in the first half and two timeouts I had a feeling they were going to blow it.
Pederson is not going to make that mistake. If he gets the Patriots in a hole he’s going to go for the knockout blow.
Notice how Doug, with only about 15 more seconds than that, drove down and kicked a FG before the half. COACHING
Doug had 26 fewer seconds.
The Pats will get their points, but the Eagles should be able to sustain drives and keep Brady off the field.
It is a weird feeling — but — Julio Jones – “best” wr in the nfl. Vikings – best defense in the nfl. Etc. Etc. Playoffs – throw all that stuff away. You never know what’s going to happen so I don’t worry about Brady/Gronk. it is what it is…
I said as the Patriots game was ending that we can beat them. Many disagreed, but I still believe it.
I believe. The team that beat up the Vikings can beat the team that squeaked by the Jags.
We can play defense almost at the Jags level, we can move the ball much better.
Most importantly, we will not lose focus or let off the gas. Did you see Cox grab and scold Watkins when he got the 15 yard penalty with the game decided? This is not a group that lacks killer instinct.
This Eagles team has the talent and passion to bring down the Pats.
Yeah, the Watkins penalty was goofy. And Cox took care of that quick!
Penalty yards on defense and special teams were not acceptable at that point in the game.
no one really said we can’t beat them. We just said we prefer the Jags.
I would’ve preferred the Jags too. I think the Eagles’ defense would’ve annihilated Bortles.
But I think both are relatively favorable matchups given that by definition you’re likely to be playing an elite team if you make it to the SB.
the difference (one difference) is I could open my victory beer late Q3. Keenum (or Bortles) were not throwing for 2 TD’s and a FG or whatever, or even more than that by then.
I was hoping for the Jags as well.
Maybe “many” was overstating it, but I was definitely told we can not beat them. (Edited to not be that guy who throws stuff back in people’s faces.) https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/a9168acb0bf61582d3173d19a65dd1250b07bf54241a14d53c7b08a63c43bb4c.jpg
ATG bringing the receipts!
what the heck is this, I only see your name. Oh I see you redacted.
I wanted the Jags to win, but secretly I wanted the Pats to win because I think we match up well against them.
Truth. If the Eagles come out focused, they can take care of business and bring home the Lombardi. They are the better team.
Just keep an eye on the footballs and keep the spies away from the practices.
I feel like Fletch is a guy that doesn’t always play to his potential, but he certainty has during these playoffs. I expect him to be a one man wrecking crew in the SB. That sets up the rest of the defense. They feed off of him. I think Brady is in for a long day.
Fletch has certainly risen to the occasion these past two games.
“SPYGATE 2: The Rematch!”
Call up Tonya Hardings people, and have them set up to defend the Eagles practice facilities.
I know man. As you know I wanted the patriots. I trust this defense to dominate and limited Brady. I also think the Pats defense sucks. Foles doesn’t need his A game to be effective against them.
As you know I wasn’t liking our chances during the bye week. This defense changed my mind. Bring on the GOAT. I’ll still take our defense.
The only part of the Patriots that scare me more than the Vikings is Brady and Belicheck’s uncanny ability to find a way to win.
That is no small thing, but otherwise the Vikings are a better squad.
I think the Patriots and Jags were both winnable matchups – I agree with you 100% about the Patriots wrt to everything other than how big a deal Brady being their QB is. That defense doesn’t scare me at all and I think unless we kill ourselves with self-inflicted wounds Doug’s offense will give them fits. Gronk is the only receiver they have that scares me, and I think our DL is going to get in Brady’s grill. The main thing that concerns me is going up against an all-time great QB.
If I were the Patriots, I’m popping in the Giants tape from our last three meetings and asking Brady/Amendola/Grok why can’t we do this.
I’m sure they’ll try. But it’s not like the Eagles can’t also make adjustments. The Falcons and Vikings both tried to beat the Eagles with short passing and failed.
No, haven’t you been paying attention? The only reason the Falcons and Vikings failed to move the ball against the Eagles is because their offensive coordinators called the wrong plays and inexplicably didn’t call all the plays that would have easily shredded the Eagle’s crappy defense (we know the Eagle’s defense is crappy because they had a bad game against the Giants and that game is definitive). It had nothing to do with the Eagles.
Are only hope is that the Patriots stupidly choose to run the wrong plays like the previous teams we played.
You remember that the Eagles played at NYG as their 3rd straight road game, right?
It was after a tough west coast back to back swing, at Hawks and at Rams. It was an emotional week, the week that Carson went down.
It was against a division opponent and a Super Bowl winning QB in Eli Manning. And they went with the quick pass, slant pass ball control passing offense.
And remember that Ron Darby was only 1-2 weeks back from injury. He hadn’t hit his stride or returned to his peak performance level.
So that’s not a road map to beat the Eagles. You can’t recreate all those circumstances. And it will never the first time in the season again when they see that type of dink, dunk attack.
Having seen it, they can respond to it. And it makes for long, drawn out, error prone drives. Sooner or later you will not convert on some early downs. You will face some third and longs.
Not too worried about that game plan approach. Go Eagles!
Try reading my comment again, but this time with the knowledge that I was being sarcastic and parroting ridiculous arguments used by people who don’t want to give any credit to the Eagles for their success. 🙂
I thought I made it ridiculous enough to be obvious, but I forgot about Poe’s law.
The Patriot’s X-factor, as we saw again yesterday, is their ability to raise their level, or at least keep it the same, while others crack under pressure. There may be no such thing as clutch, but there certainly is anti-clutch. It reminds me of Jack Nicklaus, who said you can win a major championship shooting par because other people are going to crack.
This Eagles team has the right attitude, and it comes from the top down. They may not win, but I don’t see them quailing from the pressure and blowing it out of playing not to lose.
Certainly we have enough talent to beat them if they can manage to get in Brady’s face.
If Pederson had been coaching the Jaguars yesterday, I don’t think the Patriots are even playing in the Super Bowl.
it’s tricky right b/c the Falcons got too aggressive. I think BB just makes you out think yourself, like playing final round against Tiger back when he was Tiger.
I think the Falcons weren’t aggressive enough, then they got too aggressive at the wrong time.
They had plenty of chances to try and add to their lead before they melted down in the last 4 minutes.
They are masters at the 4 yard passes, the rub routes, the shake and bake, then also throw deep and get a PI. They rarely make mistakes.
I’d still much rather be playing the Jags. Of course we can win, but let’s not think yesterday’s game is our new baseline either.
Who is saying yesterday was the new baseline?
The Patriots are a formidable opponent, but they’re not invincible. They been beaten in high stakes games – repeatedly – by teams using the exact same recipe the Eagles use (dominant line play, big play defense), and that was when they had better rosters than they do now. Even if you want to leave the Giants Super Bowl losses out of it, they’ve lost playoff games to teams using this formula quarterbacked by Jake Plummer, Mark Sanchez, and broken-down-noodle-armed Peyton Manning. Are any of those three guys significantly worse than Foles?
It’s not going to be easy. But let’s not make it out like this version of the Patriots are an all-time great team either. Outside of Brady and Gronkowski, they have a pretty mediocre roster.
no one, but no one is saying we can’t win either. I’m just talking. ok back to work….
I know… I guess I’m just not awed by this Patriots team. I respect them. I don’t expect them to beat themselves. But I have faith that our players and coaching staff can beat them.
The key to beating Belicheck… don’t get cute!
Seahawks got cute trying to pass from the 1.
Atlanta got cute trying to pass on 3rd down in FG range.
I’m sure I could go back and find where the Rams, Panthers, & Eagles got cute in the previous Super Bowls.
Play your game. Punch them in the mouth when comes time. Don’t get cute.
They should have lost to the Falcons and Seahawks as well. Falcons played not to lose and the Seahawks forgot they had Marshawn Lynch.
I give them credit for being in position to take advantage of other teams’ mistakes, but they are very beatable.
I think we have the roster that will give them fits.
You are right on with how the other teams were able to beat Brady and the Patriots. What’s so frustrating is how Belichick makes adjustments on the fly. The Eagles coaching staff must be prepared to offset those adjustments with adjustments of their own.
Need 3 playbooks/styles on both sides of the ball.
1st Half
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Keep Brady and Belicheck on their heels and don’t let them figure out what you are doing. When they figure you out, they throw two TD’s to Amendola and hold Fournette to 1 ypc in the 2nd half.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Pederson isn’t planning to do just that.
gotta let the euphoria wear off before analyzing
It’s not euphoria. This is my straight-up Xs and Os based opinion.
We obviously could lose the game. I have too much respect for Belichick and Brady not to acknowledge what they can do. But this is one of the weaker Patriots’ rosters in memory and I think the mystique that’s built up around them is obscuring that fact for a lot of people. They are far more beatable than e.g. the 2007 Patriots, and the 2007 Patriots were beaten by a team that played a very similar type of game to that of this year’s Eagles.
yes AFC was quite weak this year and AFC East even weaker than its normal weak.
I’m looking forward to this one. I thought the top of the AFC was overated all year because they were shiny in a garbage heap. Most experts has it as Pats and steelers, drop off, the clump of 8 NFC teams, drop off, the rest of the NFL.
I call BS. I always thought the class of the NFL was that clump of NFC teams. Furthermore- Andie with KC, and by extension Doug, has had the Pats number. The Eagles as way more talented to KC at this point, especially on defense.
I say bring it on. Eagles just need to stay focused, be proud of the devastation you wrought on a great team in the Vikings. Then use that when the nation blows you off again and says you’re 6 point underdogs. Were they not watching? outragous
The seemingly mediocre-ness of them is what really scares me .. it gives them an understated underrated sneakiness
Also we know that the AFC competition this year was sub par. Pittsburgh was inconsistent. Very inconsistent. Jacksonville was very inexperienced with big games. Many of their players and coaches are relatively new to each other too.
The Patriots haven’t had to battle it out in the trenches this year like they will have to against the Eagles. Meanwhile, Dougie and the Eagles coaches have shown the ability to match schemes with the old ball coach, Billy B.
I think you are selling them short. A dude like Cooks can break a game with a couple of 70-yard TDs and you can bet they are scheming up double moves for him right now against Mills. Dion Lewis is probably the most elusive back in the league, and if you close your eyes and imagine him motioning out wide with Kendricks in man coverage, I bet you are going to have a very bad dream. The patriots have quick guys who can beat man coverage with great route running, and this is exactly the type of skill position players the eagles tend to struggle with. I’d rather face Julio Jones.
In the lockeroom, Pederson and Jenkins keep their team focused.
https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2018/1/22/16918932/doug-pederson-postgame-locker-room-speech-eagles-win-over-vikings-malcolm-jenkins-video-watch-nfl
The Jags had a 10 point lead with 13:37 left in the game. Before NE took the lead they had 3 drives that lasted 11 plays and a total of 4:52!
The Eagles on the other hand had the ball in the 3rd Q with 6:21 left in the 3rd and didn’t score till 50 seconds into the 4th.
That’s a pretty significant difference between the two teams.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I will be diligently watching the NFL Network and ESPN’s NFL Live every evening for the next 2 weeks. I can;t get enough of the Eagles national coverage.
Same here. Every night gets to be Eagles football night.
The biggest problem that the Pats bring to the table is the No Huddle Offense. They are incredible doing it and the foundation of this defense is in the rotation of the DL. It will be a big challenge for us.
It comes down to constant pressure from our front four.
That one is a double-edged sword as we saw during the Chip Kelly era.
If you can force them into a couple of three-and-outs, and move the ball yourself, all of a sudden their (not very good, not very deep) defense is on the field a lot, and their offense gets off rhythm.
We’ll see. Brady is 0-2 against teams that can hit him consistently in the Superb Owl.
Jon Oliver approves.
If Belichick is Emperor Palpatine then who is Dougie? Yoda?
Obi-wan, of course. Luke lost his hand, so he’s out of commission. Luckily his robotic friend, C-3PO is a freaking golden god (that’s Foles, they move alike).
“You’re probably wondering about my red hot arm.”
(offers no explanation for said arm)
I’m wracking my brain to try to pick a Jedi to match up with Doug (to no avail), which has me thinking that maybe he’s Han Solo.
I was think Han Solo too, but couldn’t come up with a good reason why.
Doug: “Don’t ever tell me the odds … unless we are talking about whether to go for it on fourth down in which case I will consider the odds and make the decision that increases our odds of winning, unlike almost every other coach in the league.”
He’s Luke Skywalker. Can here under Andy (Obi-wan) for a short time (Tattoine). Left with Andy and learned from others in KC (to Alderaan), after Chip had nothing for him here (Uncle Owen & Aunt Veru dying). Has to leave Andy to die in KC (the ruins of Alderaan). Now it’s time to face Darth Vader (Tom Brady) and blow up the Emperor’s Death Star (New England’s dynasty).
Nick Foles is just Han Solo.
I hope we don’t need help from this guy to blow up the Emperor’s Death Star:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/472c16b74b28bf5aa0a668d305abe7e8f4f78b88ba84a37f1595a736d4f6ae31.jpg
well Brady is a young, whiny Anakin.
With a reconstructed hand and knee… So, he’s even half way there on injuries.
Anakin would have never turned to the Dark Side if the Jedi Council had named him Patriot of the Week even one time.
Doug is Doug.
He’s C3PO with two BB8’s between his legs
Let’s thank Ark87 again for this avatar, that I’ve been using for years in anticipation of this game. Playing the long game.
Holy Shit! I forgot about that! I’m framing that masterpiece if we win!
Need 1 more boyzz
Lets hope this game wasn’t an anomaly and Foles keeps rolling in two weeks!
Nick Foles’ completion percentage – 78.7%!
That’s almost 80% completions to attempts!
Almost 4 out of 5. Man that’s on fire!
Let’s not forget that stats like that don’t happen when Was are dropping balls. This is like the first year in the last decade + where our Wrs seem sure handed.
There is just so much going on in this video I had to watch it twice.
http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/videos/videos/Exclusive-Merrill-And-Mike-Go-Crazy-On-Sunday/d2edce1a-f4eb-4f71-96d3-1861168fdc45
So why does the dude with binoculars keep doing karate chops? I assume it has to do with the production somehow but I haven’t a clue what.
I have know idea but I found him hilarious.
That is excellent.
So, against the Patriots, we all know that darth hoodie wants to try and take away what you do best, but as has been noted we kind of spread the wealth, we don’t have a thing we do best really.
So I think the question is, what is Belichick going to do to try and rattle Foles? I think that’s the real question, because you better believe he’s going to be coaching the shit out of his D on defending the RPO stuff that helps get Foles comfortable.
If I’m Dougie that’s the aspect of the game I’m looking the most at.
Definitely…analyze how teams have beaten them and anticipate how they may try to defend us.
Also Identify what plays they run when they go no huddle – there is a limited amount of simple plays they run in those situations. We need to identify those —defend them well and force them into multiple 3 and outs so their defense comes back on the field and stays on the field for long clock eating drives. kinda like what teams did to us during the Chip era
Right, if I’m Doug I’m thinking, what would I do if I wanted to get creative to take away the RPOs?
The Pats were always excellent against read-option teams, so I assume they’ll probably have excellent discipline against RPOs as well.
I’d also go in with the mindset that you’re going to see something unexpected, so be prepared to adjust quickly.
With our OL dominating DL’s so far, the problem with our RPO game is the only way to really take it away is to bring your safeties down and play them both in the box, leave them to protect the inside on slants, and then let your LB’s play as if it is a run. Problem with that it leaves you naked on the back end and the Eagles have so many weapons someone will get open deep, and if Foles is dropping dimes he will make you pay in massive way.
That sounds like a very Belichickian bargain though. Making Foles beat you with deep throws instead of getting picked apart on long drives seems like exactly the kind of thing he would do.
Problem that Darth hoodie faces is that the Eagles OL is playing out of their minds at the moment, especially the interior 3 of Wiz, Kelce and Brooks, and the Patriots really lack talent on their DL to create pressure against an OL unit with this much talent and ability to play together.
The 2 things Belicheat would like (and probably will do at times) is to rush 3 and drop 8 into coverage and confuse Foles, and to overload blitz up the middle to get Foles back peddling, where his technique falls apart. Problem with both options is our OL is playing too well and too consistently, if you drop 8 then Foles will have all week to throw, and we have enough weapons that someone will get open, and the interior blitzes are countered by RPO slants if you even slow down the pass rush half a step, and the OL is playing well enough to pick those up.
I imagine what Belicheat will do instead is forget Foles to an extent, and just focus on trying to disrupt the OL, i imagine they will face stunts and moves that our OL has never seen before, and hope that is enough to get Foles out of rhythm.
The overload blitz will definitely be a thing, he wants to get Foles out of his comfort zone and bringing unblocked rushers is a good way to do it.
And the screen game (a Foles strength) is the perfect counter. This game is going to be epic.
Have to be able to see which side the blitz is coming from to make this work. Hopefully Dougie P is ready to call another masterful game.
He did get that Vikings player to bite on a hard count. Maybe we can see more of that from Foles too…
He’s going to try to confuse Foles, which isn’t going to be that hard to do, probably. Zone blitzes, changing looks, three man rushes–anything to get Foles thinking instead of reacting. The game will hinge on whether Dug can–not exactly protect Foles, but shield him from having to deal with too much information.
He’s gonna blitz all night. And buzz guys underneath the slants.
This is nuts!
https://www.facebook.com/6abcActionNews/videos/10155381571016378/
My eyes are burning.
lol yeah I saw that last night.
I feel so happy knowing how much misery all cowgirls fans must be feeling.
The perfect cherry on top would be winning a Superbowl and going to the Draft in Dallas to Rub it into their faces this year. Every time a pick is announced for the Eagles it would be preceded by the “current and Reigning 2018 superbowl champions – The philadelphia eagles!”
He may have coached the Cowboys during their most loathsome period, but he hates Jerry Jones so he can’t be all that bad.
Haha… yeah… I can’t get over it. I hate them both.
Ok so I have a question. Since teams always seem to be utterly unprepared for when the Patriots go tempo late in the game, like it’s some kind of goddamn shock that the Pats are going to go no huddle and run plays fast when they’re behind with 6 minutes to go, why the hell don’t coaches call timeouts when they see the Pats kickstart a drive to kill the momentum?
If your defensive players can’t keep pace or aren’t ready (which is totally your fault as a coach, this has been the Pats MO for over a decade and honestly I think football coaches are morons) then why don’t you call a timeout to interrupt their pace?
Also the Jags are hilarious for how they treated Bortles yesterday. Dude was making throws all over in the first half but they still treated him with the kiddie gloves. In the second half they seemed truly terrified to let him do anything until it was a game winning drive situation.
My concern about this game is the short rhythm passing game that Brady can do better than anyone in NFL history. The way our corners play off man all the time Brady will just devour. 3 steps, 5 yard passes up and down the field. Eagles have been willing to give those up all year, and gamble that the other QB/play caller will not be able to just take those all the way into the redzone. Problem is that is the patriots bread and butter, Brady will take those on 1st down, 2nd down and 3rd down all game, never call a running play.
Schwartz needs to dial up something to take away the short passing game, even if that opens up deep chances for Cooks, as Brady will just march on this defence and our DL will never get the chance to affect him.
agree
I think Schwartz’s biggest problem is achieving consistent DL pressure enough to keep TB uncomfortable. When Brady sees the rush he loses the look-off eyes and checkdown options. If he isn’t harried our D will get abused.
I just realized that the Shrine game and Senior bowl are being played this Weekend and I haven’t even had a single thought about them..
usually at this time of the year i’d be knee deep into scouting rookies and playing first-pick, and fanspeak mocks. Is Tommy even going this year?
Was was already played on Saturday. I DVR’d it to watch at a later date.
The shrine game right? I believe the Senior bowl is on Saturday
Correct
Our off season used to start a lot sooner…
I just noticed that Chris Long changed his twitter avatar to a picture of Tommy Wiseau. I love Chris Long.
So I slept in yesterday and got woken up to a notification that the Flyers were playing in 15 min. On a whim, I checked the prices of tickets after the game started and got in to the Caps stadium for $27, and got there right as Raffl scored the first goal in the second period. There was a ton of orange in the upper decks. A lot of Eagles chants. Got to see them win in OT live.
Then I kept the drinking going and went to the DC Eagles bar and got another rowdy time. Thanks, Philly sports, for the good day.
After watching some replays I just want to share one nugget that says a lot. You all remember the play from the Falcons-game where they fake it to the tail back and run Agholar inside. They ran it twice in that game, the first time it was very succesful. They ran it again last night. But this time they faked it to Agholar and made it into a quick pass over the middle to Ertz who picks up a crucial 3 and about-a-5. The linebackers were immediately keying on Agholar, allowing Ertz to gain the last 3 years needed right up the middle. This is just so brilliant you have to marvel at it. Pederson runs that play last week for the first time all season to eek out a win against Atlanta. Runs it twice, just to make sure everyone sees it properly on tape even though he has kept it in his back pocket for all this time. Then, knowing the Vikings have been looking at the tape of this play, out of this alignment, and talked about it (the falcons stopped it the second time around) he comes out, runs it just like before, but this time it is designed to move the LB off Ertz in the passing game. This is literally what chess vs. checkers looks like. Vikings are playing what they have seen on tape. Pederson knows this and is already drawing up a wrinkle to not just get around it, but specifically abuse it in a critical spot. Honestly, if this is who he is going to be as a play caller, we are going to enjoy the next decade of football very much. Tremendous.
Yeah. That’s game planning.
Planning on what you saw us do last week. Planning on what you saw us do on the last play.
Making you look here. Then running it or passing it over there…
I guess the question is; Does a coach do any of this sort of thing to a man like Belichick? Or is that more like playing chess with a dude throwing knives at you?
Yes.
You build plays on top of plays to fuck with defenses.
First there is the inside zone
Then there is the RPO IZ-Bubble
Then there is the RPO-Bubble/Slant combo
Then there is the RPO- Clearout/Slant combo
It wouldn’t be suprising to see them go RPO-Bubble/Sluggo or RPO-Post/Slant
“Nick Foles has a historically great postseason passer rating”
Posted by Michael David Smith on January 22, 2018, 12:14 PM EST
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/01/22/nick-foles-has-a-historically-great-postseason-passer-rating/
3 games though?
Worked for Flacco once.
Why would anyone be scared of a team who’s best WR is a guy who couldn’t even make the Eagles final 53?
Because of the guy throwing to him.
I thought we should have kept Amendola back when we cut him. I liked him in the preseason and was disappointed when we let him go. Not sure why we did let him go, but hey, he’s made a good career for himself.
I liked him a lot too. Just thought it was decently high level anecdotal sarcasm.
That totally wooshed right over my head. I blame staying up late last night and sleeping in.
No lie… my wife and I when trying to figure out how to calm down a bit to get some rest after that high flying game played a game of Warcraft III before finally heading to bed.
I’m still flying high from that game, and I’m not normally an emotional person.
Holy shit, Warcraft 3 is old school entertainment lol.
injury iirc
They had some quality WRs in training camp that year.
DeSean
Maclin
Avant
Curtis
Brown
Baskett
Amendola
Gibson
I agree with you and I respect Amendeloa, but I’m not upvoting anything remotely positive related to the Pats. A man has to have principles.
Cooks could have a big day.
Or he could be haunted by that giant drop he had Sunday. Does he enjoy being belittled? Because I’m sure he’s gonna hear about that a lot from Tom Terrific in the coming weeks.
I like all of their WRs
Or a team that starts Patrick Chung and gives Eric Rowe playing time.
So many candy bars.
Anyone read this?? haha Oh man some good comments
http://www.phillyvoice.com/reliving-eagles-nfc-championship-game-win-through-eyes-cowboys-giants-and-redskins-fans/
“Vikings need to do what we did against Philly in Week 17. (Then someone replied)… Play against their 2nd/3rd stringers? (Cowboys)”
This was by far the best comment on there. Kudos for the one Cowboys fan who ripped on the other dumber Cowboys fan.
My two favorites: (underscoring ENVY and DELUSION)
“• Eagles trade Foles for Bradford, trade Bradord for a number one, get Foles back for free. Rip-off kings of the NFL. (Cowboys)”
“• Let’s see TD, onsides kick, TD, onsides kick, TD, onsides kick, TD. It’s doable. (Cowboys)”
It’s easy this week. Just target our old friend Chung. All day long.
Or our old friend Eric Rowe. Or James Harrison. Or Kyle Van Noy. This Patriots defense has several guys who can be exploited in pass coverage.
I want to apologize to AJ Boye for saying he had a stupid pass interference penalty on Cooks yesterday, this was just dominant coverage.
https://twitter.com/PFF_Sam/status/955188757753421824
I forget which Jag did it, but I think that was a “makeup flag” for missing the flag on another deep ball where the Pats player was having his arm held down before the ball arrived.
That is a bad call.
I hated that call.
I feel 100% better about Nick playing in the Superbowl (a 70 degree dome), and not just because of last night.
Something a scout (I think) said on Twitter last night had me curious. He said Nick Foles is a warm-weather QB.
I threw his stats in excel and checked historical weather records to check this out.
Here are Nick’s stats for 1.) all of his games, 2.) just games where the high temp of the day is above 60 degrees, and 3.) just games where the temp is above 60 playing on a team not coached by Jeff Fisher:
COMP ATT % YDS TD INT RTG
19 31 62 223 1.40 0.62 90.99
19 31 63 229 1.4 0.5 95.2
20 31 65 247 1.7 0.5 102.5
When Nick played for anyone not named Jeff Fisher and it was above 60 degrees, he had 2 terrible games out of 25 starts. Otherwise, he played very well.
Here is a breakdown for anyone interested:
DATE TEMP COMP ATT % YDS TD INT RTG
11/11/2012 68 PHI 22 32 68.75 219 1 1 85.3
12/2/2012 70 @ DAL** 22 34 64.71 251 1 0 96.6
12/9/2012 78 @ TAM 32 51 62.75 381 2 0 98.6
9/29/2013 75 @ DEN 3 4 75 49 1 0 155.2
10/6/2013 70 @ NYG 16 25 64 197 2 0 114.9
10/13/2013 86 @ TAM 22 31 70.97 296 3 0 133.3
10/20/2013 63 PHI 11 29 37.93 80 0 0 46.2
11/3/2013 66 @ OAK 22 28 78.57 406 7 0 158.3
11/10/2013 66 @ GNB 12 18 66.67 228 3 0 149.3
11/17/2013 69 PHI 17 26 65.38 298 0 0 104.3
12/15/2013 70 @ MIN** 30 48 62.5 428 3 1 103.5
12/22/2013 68 PHI 21 25 84 230 2 0 131.7
12/29/2013 70 @ DAL** 17 26 65.38 263 2 0 124.4
9/7/2014 83 PHI 27 45 60 322 2 1 87.5
9/15/2014 70 @ IND** 21 37 56.76 331 1 1 84.4
9/21/2014 79 PHI 27 41 65.85 325 3 0 114.4
9/28/2014 73 @ SFO 21 43 48.84 195 0 2 42.3
10/5/2014 66 PHI 24 37 64.86 207 2 1 86.2
10/12/2014 64 PHI 21 34 61.76 248 2 2 79
10/26/2014 87 @ ARI 36 62 58.06 411 2 2 75.4
11/2/2014 70 @ HOU** 9 12 75 124 1 1 100.7
10/30/2016 70 @ IND** 16 22 72.73 223 2 0 135.2
11/6/2016 65 JAX 20 33 60.61 187 1 0 86.3
12/10/2017 85 @ LAR 6 10 60 42 0 0 69.6
1/13/2018* 61 ATL 23 30 76.67 246 0 0 100.1
** Dome 20 31 65 247 1.7 0.5 102.5
This is next level type stuff. +1
Nice. Although I’m curious whether this isn’t also true for lots of other QBs – my guess is that cold weather and wind are likely to have a negative impact on most if not all QBs’ performances, and it’s a question of whether the magnitude is larger for Foles than for other QBs.
Regardless, he has played excellent football for the last six quarters and appears to be in a groove. This Patriots defense is easily the least talented he will face in this playoffs. Never put it past Darth Hoodie to scheme up something, but I’m not actually too worried that he’s going to revert to “bad Foles” in the SB.
It also likely took Nick time to get into a groove with the wrs and the #1 Offense.
Nice work.
You know I stopped watching a lot of the post game interview stuff a few years back for whatever reason. Going back now and watching them it kind of made me feel really good. Having not seen him talk since he was basically a kid, it is good to see he is all grown up now.
Not sure if anyone reads Peter King, but I hadn’t read his stuff for a long time before today. It is amazing how much of a New England cheerleader/homer he is. Dave Spadaro would be embarrassed by that level of homerism.
He actually argued that the Myles Jack / Deon Lewis play should not have been ruled a fumble:
“Re the fourth-quarter confirmation of the fumble call on the field by Dion Lewis of the Patriots: I don’t like a ruling of a fumble when the player never loses the ball, his knee hits the ground, and he still hasn’t lost control. He doesn’t have a vice-grip on the ball, but he is controlling the ball enough so that it’s not on the turf. ”
I don’t know how anyone with even the tiniest bit of knowledge about football could argue that was not a fumble. He clearly lost control of the ball way before his knee was down. The test isn’t whether the ball hit the turf before his knee was down. I could understand some disagreement over whether Jack should have been ruled down on the recovery or not (I still maintain he should not have been ruled down), but how could anyone argue that it wasn’t a fumble?
They think the .1 seconds of Lewis trapping the ball against his body with his index finger counts as control.
I tried this morning and I couldn’t even get thru the Pats stuff, even trying not to read it. He once wrote like 2 paragraphs about how Brady likes to work with the centers on getting the perfect snap. I can’t think of many who have kneeled more to the Pats than PK. He is a dying breed, it’s all access. There is no (valuable) analysis at all.
That is why I stopped reading him years ago, but given the events of yesterday I went looking for national eagles coverage.
same here.
Ugh. It used to be Brett Farve that King gushed over. There was an excellent parody somewhere back in the day, portraying Peter King going on a hunting trip with Farve. Can’t seem to find it now.
oh I forgot about his Favre love
Here’s the parody! From 2003.
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/ramblings/2003/monday-evening-quarterback-homage-peter-king-contest
Cardinals hiring Steve Wilks, not sure if posted here. Looks like Gym Shorts will be ours next year!
Talks of him taking Flip as the OC though. And Flip possibly taking Groh as his QB coach.
not sure why the Eagles wouldn’t give Groh the QB job here if Flip leaves. Would think he’d rather work with Carson then whatever the Cardinals bring in.
That’s my thoughts as well. I’m assuming that’s why Groh came here in the first place, for the opportunity to move up when Flip moves on.
Unless Groh is out of his contract the Eagles can block that
What day would the parade be in Philly?
typically Tues after the game
So no chance for Monday?
I highly doubt it unless they don’t plan to sleep. They will still be in Minn Monday late. Tuesday is my guess.
So how was the game experience, GE?????
Wow! Give us details!
I’m practicing not jinxing: wow we beat you with our backup QB when you don’t know our plays beforehand.
If we win SB and somewhat annihilate Cheatriots O, I think we need to dedicate this season to the great Jim Johnson!
That should be next season. He died right before the 09-10 season.
More OL porn: Vaitai and Wisniewski absolutely annihilate the Vikings’ DT and MLB on this play:
https://twitter.com/fb_filmanalysis/status/955341094727819264
…Yeah, but can you imagine how great it would be if they had done the sensible thing and signed Joe Webb instead of Foles?
This is cool from Lane Johnson:
“Johnson, Coors Light in hand, told reporters after the game that Philly’s line would intentionally point to the wrong linebacker before a snap when the Vikings were using head coach Mike Zimmer’s trademark double-A-gap pressure. The idea was to dupe Minnesota into sending the rusher whom the Eagles intended to block. Johnson also noted that the Eagles spotted a tell from the Vikings’ defensive ends that signaled a Harrison Smith blitz. When the ends aligned head-up over the tackle, a difference of about a foot or two from their usual positioning, the offensive line knew that extra pressure was coming.”
from https://www.theringer.com/nfl-playoffs/2018/1/22/16918844/championship-sunday-recap-eagles-patriots-super-bowl
That is some Belichickian shit right there.
No . . .
“Belichikian shit” is not telling the media you’ve cracked an opponent’s code.
Or, stealing the opponents code and then denying it.
Perhaps. Seeing as the Vikings game is over I don’t think it matters though.
If they pick up any similar tells from the Patriots, they’re not going to be divulging them.
I was kind of thinking that. Though him drinking Coors is absorbing most of my attention.
I mean it’s pretty common to pick up tendencies. I’d be shocked if most of the league didn’t already know that about the VikingsDEs cheating inside (fuck we were taught to look for that in HS)
Bout damn time. I always wondered why there isn’t more deception at the line. How many times have you heard of defenses calling out plays just from the context of the game and formation, and the offenses never audible. We pegged that crappy 4th down call from the Falcons, and they went for it anyway.
There are some teams/players that do it. The Patriots, obviously, and Peyton Manning was a master at it. I think you need to have a veteran unit that knows what it’s doing to pull it off tough. One reason offensive line continuity is so important.
I remember reading that Peyton used to call fake audibles when a defense was lined up in a good position to stop the play. After the fake audible, the defense would change it’s formation/coverage and the initial play would be set up with a better chance to succeed.
Still shocked it isn’t common practice in a league that looks to smoothies before they look to the basic stuff.
Like ok, Matt Ryan heard Malcolm Jenkins call out his play. Season is on the line. He was playing Russian Roulette, saw the bullet go into the chamber, and pulled the trigger anyway. And obviously it’s not common to change a play, because defenses love to tell the offense they know your play.
In fact, Clay Matthews once guessed a play on Cam, and Cam was kind enough to tell him that it was a perfectly educated guess, but he was quite wrong.
Seriously, the honesty at the LoS is shocking.
I get the sense that very few QBs are given the authority, or have the actual mental ability, to audible to a play of their liking at the line of scrimmage. They might be given a run or pass play choice, but no ability beyond that or calling a timeout.
On that note though, there is a Mic’d up clip somewhere where Ryan goes to Julio, mentions it’s gonna be a high one and he’ll have to go up and get it. The play was pretty much there is Julio hadn’t slipped.
I’m not sure in a world where players false start and sometimes even line up wrong, that they want to be introducing that extra complexity.
I don’t want anyone to be alarmed, but Michael Irvin is on the bandwagon…
https://twitter.com/michaelirvin88/status/955515184478597120
Just don’t let him get a hold of any scissors.
Looking at some highlights from that ringer post, and MAN, Burton stonewalled a DT on Blount’s TD? Trey Burton, the move TE? If Pederson can count on that sort of effort, it’s no wonder the run game has been effective.
“Like I told [Timberwolves guard] Tyus [Jones], ‘Listen, there’s a lot of hate out there for me right now, but it’s all good.’ Just understand, Feb. 4, 6:30 ET, make sure you catch us, we’ll be on TV. See us there.”
Towns is a big Eagles fan lol.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22181142/born-bred-philadelphia-eagles-fan-karl-anthony-towns-not-worried-minnesota-fans-criticism
What. A. Day.
I have been to quite a few homes games at the Linc but personally I have never seen so many Eagles fans tailgating. That was insane even.
I want to imagine you just woke up from the hardest night of partying in your life.
I think your presence at both post-season victories necessitates your attendance in Minnesota.
The Eagles are 11-0 when GE is attending a game at the Linc..
Wow, what a run.
Just checking, but that really happened right? 38-7?
Damn right. The only thing better is going to be repeating that score in the SB.
I’m not greedy. I will be overjoyed with any SB win. But if we somehow managed to blow out the Patriots with Foles at QB I might just retire as a sports fan because I don’t think it would be possible to be happier than that would make me.
Honestly that’s what I’m worried about. I invest so much time and energy into the Eagles. If they finally win, and beat the best team ever, it will feel eery next year, only being able to look down, not up.
I am a Spurs fan, and after ’99 (their first ‘ship), that took a bit of an edge off things. But in a good way.
I have been thinking about your words for 15 minutes and come to the conclusion I couldn’t agree more.
my too. My head might explode.
I’m feeling greedy. It looks to me like the Pats team is vulnerable. I would like to put stakes through the hearts of B&B and put that era into a deep hole.
Yea, any victory would make me happy, but one that causes Beli to mumble during his post-game, and results in Brady hanging his head in shame is my version of ecstasy.
I’m with PPK. I want to see the Empire burn.
The blood lust is strong in this one.
Burn it all down.
Saw we are 6 point underdogs so I’m pretty sure it was all a dream.
Tell you what, playoff football is draining. Talk about being on the edge of your seat. I even got back to my old ways, when things weren’t going right was in the garage listening on the radio. With the delay would come back in the house and see the play on TV.
Ha! That’s awesome
..i was watching on 5 min recording delay but was using this comments section to peek ahead
Hey, looks like you got the score right, more or less. Just for the wrong team.
Schwartz v. Brady . . .
Last time a Schwartz defense played Brady and the Pats was in 2014 —
midseason tilt w/ the Bills on the road at New England.
(Pats @ Buff in meaningless game 16 in 2014.)
Result should not be a surprise. Bills’ 3 turnovers doomed them.
Here’s the boxscore and stats from the midseason game:
https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201410120buf.htm
I was going to look this up, but figured someone else would.
That was with Leodis McKelvin playing 96% of the snaps at CB.
Serious question – to the (many, many) of you who were super down on this team after Wentz got hurt, how are you feeling now?
Do you regret being down on this team, or does it not make a difference?
It really bummed me out to see how many people acted like the Eagles would be 1-and-done in the postseason due to the Wentz injury.
I didn’t think Foles would play this well bad the defense was coming off its worst stretch of the season. I felt they peaked as a defense too early and that without Wentz and his sucess in 3rd down the defense would be exposed.
Once I knew we were hosting Atlanta I started to change. I knew we would beat them. Seeing a rested eagles defense at home made me optimistic about this game. Foles playing as well as he has Ibthink caught everyone by surprise.
My biggest take away is that Doug is a great coach. I wondered how much was Wentz making him look good. Doug answered that question without a doubt.
I don’t regret it because I was giving my honest opinion. I have happily admitted I was wrong last week. We all have the same goal. We are all loyal fans. I’m glad they proved me wrong and expect us to win the SB. Go Birds!
There was some serious bridge jumping going on.
I was hopeful but ready to jump. .. still bumming about Sproles and JP but it’s the storyof simultaneous heartbreak and success
Honestly, I shifted into a wait-and-see mode. For two reasons:
1) I’ve felt all year that a large part of Wentz’ success was coming from superb game planning and play calling from the coaching staff.
2) I’ve always felt that Foles has never been given a chance to prove himself in that kind of situation.
While I felt like our cinderella season took a big hit, I wasn’t devastated. I was genuinely interested to see if my senses were correct. I’m glad they were.
What did really p*ss me off was when the offense started playing half-*ssed after the injury. Wentz was never a one-man show; it took a full team effort to get where they were. It was bullsh*t that they all just started moping and looking like they’d thrown in the towel. Fortunately the coaching staff smacked them all upside the head and knocked the poor-me attitude out of them.
You aren’t addressing action, your talking about belief. I was NEVER “super down” on my team, but did I believe it was a much steeper climb? Yes. Why would I regret believing my eyes? If you’re bummed out by fans who don’t march to your rah-rah requirements that’s tough for you.
As the day goes on, I’m now finding out Nick did much than we even thought last night. Incredible.
https://twitter.com/Will_Bunch/status/955253165863112705?ref_src=twcamp%5Ecopy%7Ctwsrc%5Eandroid%7Ctwgr%5Ecopy%7Ctwcon%5E7090%7Ctwterm%5E0
unfortunately the Vikings team thought the government shutdown applied to them
Brilliant.
Pats I think have never won a SB by more than 3 and we are 6 point underdogs.
They did win last year by 6, but that was OT so your underlying point is valid.
I know that i is compulsive posting to bash Aikman here, but I was absolutely in admiration when he stated that he could not be happier for Nick Foles (with total authenticity).
Hah, interesting historic symmetry, the vanquished teams in the Championship week, Jacksonville and Minnesota, once hosted a Eagles-Pats SB and will host an Eagles-Pats SB, respectively. So really they collectively hosted the 2 Eagles-Pats SB’s, and this time personally delivered them to the Superbowl. Such bros.
Last time we played the Pats, we beast MN then Atlsnta to get there
In reverse order, and the mirroring of the Super Bowl sites means that one more reversal is in necessary to preserve the universal pattern or the fabric of reality will implode. A lot riding on this game.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/df0a5a10f33287b2be9aeff44fa11883f51c26b89332cac12bf1768d0b2310f0.jpg
This made me laugh too hard not to share on here.
Priceless.
If we manage to win, I’m going to have to modify my old gif:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e0469b8ec4d0981931959f9b18f55dd934341657c8e7805aa3d0b845120ba763.jpg
Awesome.
Hahahaha.
so if you were given 1 million dollars, and you had to bet on the sb winner, straight up, no points, who’d you pick, me, the pats,…………?
birds, easy come, easy go
The logical bet is the Patriots -if they win you get the money. When they lose, the Eagles get the Lombardi.
win/win
If you bet half on each team, would you be a net winner either way?
(Excuse me if that is a dumb question. Not much of a bettor.)
It’s almost like lots of things happen in 14 years
The Legend of Nick FOles
Doug’s Balls
If he gets us a win in the SB it will be Nick FOLes
But it seems like just yesterday…….
On LeG Blount’s sweet 12 yd run .. Doug brought the TE to block the inside and i think it was Burton. . He. CRRRRRUSHED his man, and he follows up and is list the 2nd poison to congratulate him ..there are SO MANY SWEET PLAYS TO WATCH OVER AND OVER
https://youtu.be/wSVHAu2_1Wk
Big play by Clement with the block. UDFA playing above his grade.
Cory Clement is one of my favorite new Eagles! He plays his butt off.
Yesterday 2 rushes/20 yards and 1 reception/8 yards. I think all three touches for 1st downs.
Underrated for sure! Its good to see the coaching staff have confidence with him in 3rd down plays. Thats swing pass and spin out of Barr tackle for a 1st down yesterday was another standout play.
Almost since the beginning of the season. Change of pace on 3rd down. Good pass blocking. Doesn’t fumble. Hits the hole fast. Soft handed receiver. Always giving 100%.
He has been great on a team of many likable players.
This is excellent.
I’m still not sure if I’m done being hype from last night’s game. WOW!
It will last for two weeks and the SB win buzz will last until next season.
Okay, so I know we don’t want to cheapen the term shutdown, but holy hell Jalen…
https://twitter.com/eaglesrealist/status/955552164864253953
Jalen has been one of the best surprises of the season. Not bad for a 7th round pick.
CB competition next season gonna be good. But thats next season. Its Superbowl time!!! hehe
Howie’s gonna deal him for a 2nd + 4th after he scores a pick six off Brady.
Jim Schwartz’s kid wore a Mills jersey to the game. He’s not going anywhere.
…unless Jim does.
Sure I’ll take two 1’s for the goblin
Ha!
Wag that finger Goblin
So now that we beat the Vikes, here’s the new buzz.
_________________________________________
“Vikings need a true franchise quarterback”
Posted by Mike Florio on January 22, 2018, 5:55 PM EST
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2018/01/22/vikings-need-a-true-franchise-quarterback/
They’ve had tough luck there. (Sure we all knew Bradford wouldn’t last 2/3rds of a season and it’s lucky that Keenon played as well as he did)
I think they should roll with Bridgewater, a vet re-tread backup, and their current #4 guy who they like.
Case and Sam are playing it safe.
Right. Don’t think you can make Keemun the guy. I know he was under tough circumstances but he didn’t pass my eye test. Which is fine but you tie up money and cap space on him I couldn’t do it.
I’d go Teddy more upside.
In playing poker, the worst possible hand is one that’s good enough that you keep putting money into the pot, but not good enough to actually win the game. That’s what the Vikes qb situation looks like to me.
I move that we call a hand like this “the Prescott”.
HEAR HEAR!!
Genius!
Why? We don’t….
Haha. I know. They do need that.
But last week it was “THE GREAT CASE KEENUM!”
But not this week… Hahaha.
Just dissect and take the best parts of Bradford, Keenum, and Bridgewater this offseason.
Frankenstein franchise QB.
After watching the highlights, Doug really prepared the team well for playoffs. Last night it seems the team is playing at a different level than the Vikings and they had no idea what hit them! The whole team increased the level one notch above from the last game.
Wondering what BB is going to have up his sleeves since it’s virtually impossible to record our plays now!
I hope we hit the crap out of TB that he will be lucky to walk away from the game
Obviously more goes into being a good head coach than what can easily be discerned, but now that all the head coach vacancies have been filled, not one of those 7 spots have been filled by a coach from what is probably the best team this season(looking at the season as a whole), the team that has gotten the most out of pretty much every player on the roster, and adapted to significant injuries.
It’s still likely that Flip will get an OC job somewhere, but losing just one assistant, considering the stellar job this staff has done, seems kind of crazy.
I bet Flip is the new OC at the Titans with Coach Vrabel and QB Mariota, or else at the Cardinals who will draft a QB.
Vrabel was just quoted as saying he wants to see Marcus “in a Chip Kelly-like offense.” That says RPO’s all day. The Eagles staff has been very successful with that this year.
Tennessee would be an ideal position from Flip’s POV. Talented QB, probably get free reign of the offense -if the team fails, it’s on the rookie HC, any success you look like a genius.
Didn’t they hire Ryan Day?
Correct! instead of getting a guy to improve Mariota, they’re going to install a gimmick offense. Brutal.
I think Kelly’s version was gimmicky. The read option. League caught up to it quick.
Placards with pictures of cheese steaks, Road Runner and Rocky Balboa to call plays? C’mon. Even the hand signals he used in the pros was kind of primitive.
But I think that the Eagles implementation of RPO’s is cool. Post snap reads with pro style options off of it… That’s the wave of the future.
It’s hard to stop. Seattle is trying to go to it next year too.
Do you think it’s gimmickry when Foles sticks the ball in Ajayi’s gut while eying the flat, pulls it out and hits an open Ertz? That “gimmick” put your team in the SB!
Didn’t hear. Thought TN might have been the spot for Flip. His attitude and body language lately seems to say he’s going somewhere.
A post Supe OC hire is not as unlikely as a head coaching hire. Those jobs are like seats in musical chairs.
But Flip could land an OC job in 3 weeks. Maybe he knows where he’s going already. Seems like it.
Ryan Day is staying at Ohio State.
people here want chips
These chips please:
https://www.yoderscountrymarket.net/Goods-Potato-Chips-Blue-11oz/image/item/CHDV526053
If an offensive line could score a touchdown, the TD to Alshon would have to count. Foles had all day to throw and plenty of room to step into it and launch it. Sure credit qb and wr for connecting, but that doesn’t happen without stellar play by the OL. Amazing.
My thoughts during the flee flicker play. “OK a run up the midd… Oh no, not a flee… What a high lat… Foles is gonna get sacked… Or get hit and throw an interception… He’s letting it rip… What a waste, the receiver’s well cover…did he just catch that?… In bounds? Torrey Smith?!? Is that really a touchdown? What is happening???!!!!”
Perfect throw by Nick into double coverage.
The safety rolled to Smith after the throw. The flea flicker action drew him up a bit. It took long enough to develop that he could start to close but Smith had one one one coverage when he was targeted.
Smith’s fake out was brilliant. .he literally stopped all together like he was lazy … and then took off wham sped away
True. He sold that well. He’s improved recently. I still think they can upgrade at that spot, but that’s for another day.
Im rewatching in slow motion .. Thielen’s sneaky little drop that he tried to pull off at a TD catch is a sneaky little cheaters’ move
He caught 4 passes on that drive but that TD Had to be his season highlight .. and i think he was scared with relief that he didn’t F in drop it. .
Had to be. I was still scared after he caught it.
His season highlight and Philly baptism was last week. “Bank Shot”
This was a close second and good addition. Torrey Smith now has 3 Eagle highlights.
Yes indeed. the bank shot was some sweet great heads up playing. .convinced that he does have his head in the Game
3rd and long to Ertz. He makes the catch at the sticks but gets knocked back. Instead of going down on first contact, he keeps his feet moving and barrels across the line for the first. Also Clement on a third gets hit short, he spins and keeps his balance to get the first. Skillz.
We also snapped the ball with a huge stale 00 on the clock. .that was a nice non call by th refs
Missed that. I’ll have to check it out.
Actually i found it . 10:45 point in the 3rd .. pass to Smith gets like 8 on 3rd floor a 1st down … but at normal speed is ok .. yay im wrong! ! I def don’t want th other team every to say we got home ref’Ing
Saw it. Split second late. Those get missed at times.
JP and Sproles have to be licking their chops to make it back next year.
I hope they do !
I really doubt Sproles is coming back here unless he comes dirt cheap. Even then he’s like 35 coming back off an acl where his strength is quickness.
I think he’ll be in camp. Whether he makes the roster is another story.
We don’t have the cap space.
If I’m spending money it’s on Bradham, Robinson, or Burton. I’m not wasting it on a year of an old injured Sproles.
I doubt it. Nope on Robinson either. Too expensive and the Eagles drafted a ton of CBs including Jones.
Robinson is gone unless he is willing to take an extremely team friendly deal.
We have Mills, Douglas, Jones, and Darby. All young. Douglas has looked impressive in his playing time. Mills has exceeded expectations. Darby has been good. Jones is extremely promising. Most teams would kill for our CB situation.
Jenkins can also play in slot at times. With all of these young promising bodies we will figure out what to do at slot.
I would rather keep Bradham if possible. Burton is gone and will be missed offensively and on ST. They will look to draft a replacement considering Celek is gone as well.
JP and Sproles will be interesting to follow.
This wasn’t a PRob argument, just against bringing Sproles back. Of everyone he makes the least sense.
JP I think will be back due to the fact that he will not pass a physical any time soon. Since we cannot use his cap $$$ to improve the team via FA we will probably keep him 1 more year.
Sproles is already a FA. We have to pay that guy to add him back to the roster. Unless he comes back dirt cheap no way we spend money on him. Plus I’m not sure he is a vast improvement over clement next year. He will be 35 and coming off an ACL injury. Clement should only get better.
I’m not sure he’d make a dent in the salary cap in the preseason.
If he is one of the top paid 51 players he makes a dent any time after March 3, 2018. That is the new league year when we are required to be under the salary cap
And JP is probably due like 12M .. better off trying to smooth him into a dcoaching role. … except he’d probably still be a heckofa player
Hate to say it but I don’t see Peters being brought back now unless he is willing take a notable pay cut on a renegotiated deal.
Bigger needs including resigning Bradham.
Bradham is good but not a huge need, the huge, glaring need is locking up Graham long term. He’s gonna have a Von Miller – esque Super Bowl MVP performance, bet on it.
should jp retire? he’s like 45, crazy injury history. i’ll be glad to see barner replaced by sproles – wonder if smallwood is here next year?
And Hicks.
Check out hussle from Darby on PRob pick six. Darby is really deep on opposite side of the field. He runs all the way down to throw a huge block, that Robinson wouldn’t score without.
He more absorbed a block than threw it. McKinnon put him on his ass. Still great effort to get in the way.
Just rewatched it. Definitely took one for the team.
Which makes it more impressive.
At 6:21 left in the 3rd ..the cameras cut to Charles Barclay and Aikman drops a sweet little dig about his golf swing
Something a little over looked in the blowout. With 29 seconds left and 3 timeouts the Eagles drive from 20 to 20. Only use one timeout. Kick field goal before half. Jags with 55 seconds left and 2 timeouts kneel on it before half. The Eagles kept the foot on the gas all game. That had to sting for the Vikings going into the locker room at half.
1st question on the next post:
TOMMY ARE YOU GOING ??
Is tommy going to the senior bowl this year?
Is it just me or do Viking fans seem really bitter and love to grasp at straws to justify how “classless” Eagles fans are?
In my mind, there is a fine line between classless and the most passionate fans in the NFL. Classless is physically harming someone when unprovoked. These people are not just in Philly, they exist around the league, but still only account for a small fraction of the fans. Opposing fans should know not to escalate matters. I don’t support violence, but people have to expect the worst when poking a bear.