Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Context

Posted February 13th, 2024 | Comments Off on Context

The Eagles got off to a 10-1 start. That was the best record in the league, but anyone who watched games would agree that the Niners were the best team in the league. They lost some games when they had injured players. When healthy, SF was dominating most opponents.

What did that get them?

A trip to the Super Bowl (good) and a painful loss (not so good).

No one who watched the Chiefs during the season thought they were the best team. They went 11-6, which is certainly good, but they had a lot of issues. Dropped passes were a huge problem, costing them a couple of games. Penalties were an issue. Erratic blocking was an issue.

But KC won the Super Bowl.

Andy Reid made some adjustments to his offense. Receivers quit dropping balls and started making plays. The OL played better. And Patrick Mahomes continued to be Patrick Mahomes.

Sports can be so funny. You can have a team dominate the regular season, but a playoff loss ruins it all. Another team can be up and down during the season, but then get hot in the playoffs and they get a place in history. The Chiefs are now a dynasty, having won 3 Super Bowls. The Niners look cursed, having lost 2 Super Bowls in five years.

If a couple of plays go differently, KC has one title and the Niners have a couple of more Lombardi’s in their trophy case. There is a fine line between success and failure. Right now Kyle Shanahan is all too familiar with the bad side of that line.

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There is an old saying…”to the victor goes the spoils”. That is certainly true in sports.

A year ago Jalen Hurts got a lot of hype. He led the Eagles to the Super Bowl and played at a really high level. Hurts was listed as a top QB on all the offseason lists. He got a ton of praise.

This year didn’t end so well for Hurts or the Eagles. Hurts deserves his share of blame for how things went, just like he deserved credit for how things went in 2022. Hurts won’t be considered a Top 10 QB by a lot of people this offseason.

That is absolutely fair. You can’t take just the good. You have to mix in all of his results.

If player evaluation is done right, it is constantly changing. Very few players stay at the same level every single year. James Bradberry went from being a good CB to one of the worst in the league. Jordan Mailata was better in 2023 than he was in 2022.

You always take in the newest information and make your evaluation.

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The Eagles gave Reddick permission to talk to other teams so he could get a better idea of what his contract value is. They aren’t necessarily looking to trade him and he sure didn’t request a trade.

The Eagles want him to be happy, but they know he’s not right now. He wants more money, which makes sense on his production. But as I mentioned in the previous post, Reddick isn’t a fit for all 32 teams. That is going to affect his value. He’s also getting older and still lacks ideal size. Just how much of a raise do you give him?

The two sides need to figure this out in the next month so they can plan for free agency.

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We all get emotional when watching sports. We yell mean, sometimes awful, things at the TV.

“Cut that bum!”

“Get him the heck out of Philly!”

But players are people. They have real feelings and emotions. I feel terrible every time I rip James Bradberry because I’ve heard he’s a good guy.

Siposs really hurt the Eagles in the Super Bowl, but I certainly don’t wish ill on him in real life. I hate that he had to go through something like this.

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Edge Drama

Posted February 11th, 2024 | 1 Comment »

The Eagles offseason has gone about as expected. There wasn’t a whole lot of drama with the coaching changes. Those moves weren’t surprising at all. Most of that stuff is over and we’re now on to the player side of things.

This was unexpected news.

Reddick is in the final year of his deal. It is possible that he’s been pushing for an extension and a raise and the Eagles said no to that. Now they have given him permission to talk to other teams, to see what is out there.

Reddick is a gifted pass rusher and highly disruptive player. The downside with him is that he lacks ideal size and freelances more than you’d like in the run game. Reddick is a valuable player, but won’t appeal to all 32 teams.

I wonder what Vic Fangio thinks of him. Most of his OLBs have been in the 260-pound range, about 20 pounds heavier than Reddick. Fangio might prefer a bigger, stronger OLB who can consistently set the edge vs the run as well as rushing the passer.

The Eagles aren’t going to give away a pass rusher as good as Reddick. Some team will have to show real interest in him and make a good offer. There are plenty of teams out there who need pass rushers so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

If the Eagles do move Reddick, they could look for OLB help in free agency or the draft. I don’t see a player who is likely to be available at 22. UCLA DE Laiatu Latu will probably go in the 10 to 20 range. He is a terrific edge player. The Eagles would likely have to move up to get him. I haven’t looked at free agency to see who is available.

It is possible that other teams won’t offer the kind of money Reddick wants. That could lead to him being an unhappy player for 2024. That’s not ideal for either side. Let’s hope the situation gets worked out, either with a new team or with the Eagles.

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Are you excited for the Super Bowl?

I can’t say I’m fired up for SF vs KC. I think plenty of us have Chiefs fatigue. They’re on TV constantly and Mahomes/Kelce/Reid are in a ton of commercials. As for the Niners, they are the Eagles biggest rival right now. None of us wants to see them win.

I’ll be pulling for Andy Reid to get his third ring. That sentence just feels impossible to anyone who suffered through 2011 and 2012. But it just might happen. Good for Reid. He helped turn this franchise around.

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