I know the NFL playoffs for next season are a long way up the road, but how are the Eagles going to beat Green Bay, when you think about how many good players they have on injured reserve.
Pro Bowler Jermichael Finley was considered the best playmaker and he’s missed most of the season. Middle linebacker Nick Barnett has also been a Pro Bowler. Ryan Grant is an outstanding ball carrier who had been the key to the Packers running game.
The Eagles must take some chances and that’s why I say go after Albert Haynesworth. Improving the defensive line is the quickest way to improve the defense, along with getting an outstanding cornerback.
Somebody tell me how Quintin Mikell was named to the AP 2nd Team. David Akers and Jason Peters were also named to the AP 2nd Team.
Packers cornerback Charles Woodson had a great line for President Obama who is a Chicago Bears fan and said he would attend the Super Bowl if the Bears had beaten the Packers.
Woodson said if the President doesn’t want to come see the Packers in the Super Bowl, they’ll go see him at the White House after the game. Of course you know that Green Bay will get the chance to visit the White House if they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers.
We finally know what really happened to Jay Cutler. He sustained a Grade Two MCL strain. I hear that an MCL strain is an MCL tear. As was said earlier, it wasn’t enough to keep him out of the game. I don’t know what was said on the sidelines, but it didn’t seem like Cutler was all that eager to get back in there.
It’s a fact that other players have played with Grade Two MCL strains.
In truth I don’t know how bad it was. The Bears should have come out and been very clear about his injury and why he wasn’t returning to the field. If I was Cutler I would have a word or two my the P.R. department for the team.
Giants GM Jerry Reese will explore the possibility of bringing back Plaxico Burress. It’s a stretch but Reese has said he will look into it.
I heard Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports say the the Altanta Falcons are a good team, but they don’t have enough “difference makers” He identified two “difference-makers” they have on their roster, Matt Ryan and Roddy White.
They already had the best D in the league. Nick Barnett coming back isn’t gonna add much to that. What their D proved is that they would be fine without Barnett. I think the difference would be offense with bringing back Finley and Grant, but even with Grant…… They were never much of a run team.
Looking at the playoff game against them though, I would say we aren’t really too far behind them even though our D was young and horrible. Plus, Marty/Andy doesn’t like to stay balanced and run the ball. That would go a long way, and would have against them if they ran more.
We lost by a TD and we had a chance if Mike Vick just didn’t throw that INT, or if Akers didn’t miss 2 FGs. I mean, there are a lot of ifs, and even though we lost and GB was the obvious better team….. Them ifs have to account for something. Shows how close we were. We also didn’t lose by much in the first game of the year against them. Again, a lot of ifs in that game. I don’t think we have to close much of a gap to beat them.
Like Most Superbowl teams, Greenbay will…
Draft low
Lose some players over money
Lose some coaches leaving for higher positions
Lose some insintive
Have a harder scheduel
Have every weak team trying to make their season by beating the defending NFC/NFL champions.
Lose Aaron Rogers to a concussion.
Normally at this point in the article I would look at all the bonehead things that “the 400” has done,but what’s the use. You could give that guy JIM BROWN and WALTER PAYTON and he would still throw the ball every play. Wear out the offensive line, defense and get the QB killed.
So make the upgrades,
Draft better, get a couple of good free agents. Then scream at your TV set when groundhog day returns.
G…you need to get a real time chatroom through ustream…you can report live at you specific times and have the link come straight through this page. That way those of us with ustream accounts can get direct realtime answers and give input while veiwing…you can have guest on and I think it would be the first realtime show on this level outside of syndicated censorship…USTREAM
once you do it i want a cut too.
When Reid fanatics defend him they always refer to Bill Cower and how long it took him to win a Super Bowl. I,for one, would like to compare him to Mike Tomlin who is 38 and in four years is in his third Super Bowl. Does anyone notice Reid wearing his Packers Super Bowl ring on the sidelines during Eagles games.
Here is a solution….how about they decide to spend some money. Ranking 21st in the league in salary cap is not going to cut it. They could have signed Peppers and still wouldnt have cracked the top 10. This city is getting fed up with these losers and the 50,000 people on the season ticket waiting list is a joke. I could barely get face value for good endzone playoff tickets. This is definitely a baseball city now.
Well G, let’s see what happens if they lose the Super Bowl. The losing team in the Super Bowl usually doesn’t fair too well the following season for many of the reasons bsm mentioned. We don’t need to worry about chasing the Packers next year. We will have worry about still being atop our division. And who knows what team will emerge next year as a contender or threat in the playoffs. At least 2 of the teams that made the playoffs this year won’t make it next year.
BigE, Ike Reese said something very interesting on the show this afternoon. He said it a few weeks ago too but I thought I’d mention it again. Of all the coaches that have won Super Bowls only 1 coach took longer than 4 years with the team they won it with. That is a very interesting statistic. And when we look over the past 12 years, Reid’s best shot was in his first 5 years. That was when McNabb was at his best as well as the defense.
Big E,
I stole this from Wiki, because you trying to compare Cowher to Reid, and using Tomlin as a reason to fire Reid isn’t complete unless you compare the 2 franchises as a whole. See, Pittsburgh has been pretty damn good since the 70’s, although they did have some pretty down years in the 80’s. What I am getting at is, the Steelers success has more to do with Tomlin or Cowher, it has to do with the Rooneys.
“The Rooney family has been the majority owners and operators of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania since the formation of the franchise in 1933. Art Rooney was the founder and owner of the team until his death in 1988; ownership of the team was then transferred to Art’s oldest son, Dan Rooney. In the recent years more of the front office operations have been passed down by Dan Rooney to his son and team president, Art Rooney II.
The more influential family members included:
* Art Rooney, Team Founder
* Dan Rooney, Art’s oldest son, current team Chairman
* Art Rooney II, Dan’s son, current team President
The Rooneys have been credited for much of the team’s success.[1] The fundamental approach of the Rooneys to managing the Steelers has been through patience and consistency, both of which the ownership is continuously given notoriety for. As proof of the team’s stability, there have been only three head coaches employed since 1969, by far the fewest number of any team in that time frame. Dan Rooney has made it a requirement for any team interviewing for a new head coach to interview a minority candidate, known as the “Rooney Rule”.”
By the way, the Steelers didn’t fire Cowher, he left, and they would still have been as competitive with Cowher at the helm. I can’t say for certain that they would have won or been to them SBs after he left, but considering that the most successful franchise in the NFL preaches patience…… I would listen.
Jeffrey Lurie by the way took over the Eagles in the mid 90’s….. He took them over probably at the height of the franchise, because there were only 2 other times the Eagles were really even relevant other than when Lurie took them over, around 1980 when they went to the SB, and 1960 when they won the NFL Championship. They were pretty much a crappy franchise anywhere in between. Now for the past decade, the Eagles have been pretty much a top team in the league sans a SB trophy. They are trying to practice patience. The only problem is, they are in a city where the fans are anything but patient.
I understand that mentioning all this to you is pretty much pointless, because you think Reid is a problem and that ownership is a problem too. People love to mock the ownership with their “Gold Standard” remark, but the truth is, since they took over, the Eagles have been pretty much a “Gold Standard” franchise, one of the tops in the league. I know you want a championship, and so do I, for we all bleed Eagle green, but I would much rather have a franchise/team that is consistently good like the Eagles than to throw it all away because you/we are impatient, and have to deal with the Eagles pre-Lurie days.
I say get rid of Reid and this west coast offense crap. Everybody in the league can predict our plays and this pass happy AR crap. #5 and #7 is the real deal and AR hid behind those 2. Without them, AR and Kolb would sink fast. Mike Tomlin is a players coach just like Rex Ryan and Raheem Morris. They know how to better relate to this generation of players and bring out the best in them. We suck until we get rid of Reid and his type of thinking.
A SB trophy would fix all the problems. Reid probably would never be called out again, and the ownership probably wouldn’t either. That is exactly what happened with the Phillies. People were constantly complaining about any coach that came in here, even Manuel, and called this same Phillies ownership cheap way before they won the WS.
Now, Manuel couldn’t more be loved, and the ownership is called anything but cheap. Although, Ruben still hears it from time to time with certain stuff he does. Like, trading away Lee the 1st time. We as a city/sportsfan are never satisfied. We are diehard sportsfans and expect only the best. Sometimes though, our impatience and fanhood gets in the way of what is really best for our teams.
Rocko,
I don’t agree about Reid hiding behind them 2 QBs. I mean, Vick admitted that he wouldn’t have been this good without Reid and he really doesn’t want to go anywhere else, because he doesn’t feel like he would have the same success. McNabb was good all the way til the Eagles traded him, then he immediately became an average QB in Washington. Those are 2 cases where it would seem they were/are hiding behind Reid and not the other way around.
If you want to say that Reid just happened to get rid of McNabb at the right time, then you can. They have done that a lot over the years. Seem to always get rid of people at the right time. Maybe he does get rid of them at the right time, or maybe it is our system that makes these players. Either way, you can’t fault Reid for that. If anything, you have to give him credit for it. That is a major skill to be able to find players that he can hide behind and use in his system, then know exactly when to get rid of them and find someone new for him to hide behind.
Get a new owner, president, coach, and talent evaluators.
Broncos hired Dennis Allen Fox Sports is reporting..
SportsBum, very good thoughts brother. As I have said before this organization is rated among the top 10 or 20 sports franchises in the entire freaking world…THE WORLD. You are right for all our overwhelming defensive history we have not been a relevent franchise, over the last 12 years we have been a force.
Like I say the only legitimate demand that a Fan can call for and has a right to expect is to have a winining season, (Sorry thats the truth). We can hope for Conf Champs, or Superbowls but how the hell do you demand them. I would go as far as to say the as fans we even have the right to demand making the plaoyoffs every year. That is every fan for every team to expect a winning season, that is what is called presenting a good product to your customers.
Well friends the Eagles have presented us with a damn good product. If you want Reid fired for not moving us forward that is FINE not going to argue that point, just don’t sit here like little Cutler fans and dang on cry about this team franchise not being good!!!
Some philly fans think they are the gold standard of football fans, yeah you might want to think that one over also. If you want change say so, but don’t tell me that wininging seasons were not fun and you are not even remotelty proud. We haven’t won a superbowl, but when I sit at the table with other football fans, my team is relevent in any arguement becasue we played better than any team but maybe four in the entire league over the past 12 years.
As always LONG LIVE THE EAGLES……with, or without Reid….just LIVE LONG
Stop drinking the FO koolaid. I’d trade 10 bad seasons for 1 Super Bowl and you would too. Period.
@ scorp…I am sick of hearing the people…..you know, so-called experts like Chris Berman or coke-head Michael Irvin tell us… the “be careful what you wish for” bullsh**…….what would it matter if we did?? What…we might actually NOT win a SB?? Well stupid (Berman, et al) …that is actually where we are now…SO WHO CARES about “being competitive”…..I want to win it all.
Many often point to the Ravens as an example of a team the “sold out” to win a championship….they went after players that would put them over the top at the risk of hamstringing them against the salary cap in the future…..well how did that work out? They got their SB an they didn’t fall into this pit of being pathetic for the next decade. WHY CAN”T WE DO THAT HERE FOR ONCE??
Scorp,
Here is the problem with your logic. There is NO WAY to guarantee a SB win. If I could throw away 10 years to have 1 SB, sure I would probably do it, but there is no guarantees like that. You can fire Andy Reid, but then you are playing with fire, because there is no coach out there (besides maybe Bill Belichick) that we could get that would guarantee us a SB victory. If there was/is, then they would be snagged up already and have a lifetime contract as the highest paid anything in the NFL. You want to fire Reid because we haven’t won a SB, but he consistently gives us chances. You want to hire someone in hopes of getting us a SB, but considering that there is no such thing as a guarantee, you basically want someone that will give us a chance, and that is exactly what Reid does year in and year out.
Do you understand that no coach is guaranteed a SB win? They are only here to provide a team with the best possible chance at doing so, and I would say Reid does. Considering that he has been coach for 12 seasons and we have been to 9 of those times (75% chance at making the playoffs), and been to the NFC championship 5 times (42% chance at getting to the NFC Championship game). Winning the SB is like the lottery, it is a crapshoot, you have to get lucky, and Reid gives up the best chance year in and year out. I love the odds.
Bum again good. My point is if it is time to move on from Reid fine do it, just don’t blow smoke up my arse about this team not being good during his run. with all his flaws and holes in the team he still won games, and five Conf Champs win or lose you have to achknowledge the achievement.
“Stop drinking the FO koolaid. I’d trade 10 bad seasons for 1 Super Bowl and you would too. Period.”
Ah thats sounds good but you know you would not. In the real world where the FO, coaches and Owner live you don’t make silly trade offs like that. The teams obligation to us fans is to put out a winning season every year, do any less is failure. The goal is to win a superbowl, their obligation to the ticket holder, viewer and fan is to have a winning season.
Every team will tell you that they want to win the superbowl, but get real fellas that is their hope and desire, their real organizational goal is to have as many consecutive winning seasons as is physically and fiscally possible, and that is the truth.
32 teams trying to win the one game that determines whether you are a success or failure, who the hell thinks like that? No body, every team talks that superbowl smack but in the end they want to win games and look good doing it which is why the Eagles will get more prime time showings next season then any of the final four teams or the superbowl champion, and more than most other teams. In the real world behind the scences world of sports the Eagles are among the kings.
To catch up to the best next season the Eagles need to rebuild their defensive line and there are quite a few free agents or free agents to be that the Eagles could tap for that if they are aggressive enough. I don’t know about switching to a 3-4 considering there probably will be no summer camp and it typically takes two seasons to turn over a complete defensive team from one system to another.
Haynesworth can be had for little money
Ray Edwards can be had for little money
Haloti Ngota is the best tackle in football and he’s a free agent
(he played as a tackle in a 4-3 in college so there wouldn’t be transition issues)
Eagles need to do the following to become Championship Caliber Team next Season
Here are the Eagles 5 pressing areas of need (Positions) that need updgrades thru Free-Agency since they don’t have 2-3 Years to develop a top CB, DE, or OL if they want to legitimately contend for a
Super Bowl next Season
1) DE – C Jenkins, or R Parker or Charles Jonson
2) CB – Ike Taylor,or Cromartie or R Marshall
3) OL – M Light, or C Nicks, T Clabo, R Kalil, H Dahl, C Johnson
4) LB – S Tulloch, or B Leber,or J Anderson or K Burnett
5) S – D Landry or E Weddle
The Eagles must address at least these top 3 Position with quality NFL Veteran PLayers who can make an impact next Season. I stayed away from any Free-agents who will cost too much or are too old since the Eagles don’t pursure any players over that 30 years of age so forget about Asmogoah,
Champ Bailey,Ngata,Greenway,Haynesworth,etc,etc
If these Eagles can solidify thes POsitions with proven quality NFL players, then they can address
the other positions thru the Draft and have the time to develop quality depth along the OL/LB/TE/S
positions.. Remember the Eagles will have a need at FB (to replace the injured/probably the retiring
L Weaver, They have 1st year players n Defense coming back from Surgeries in DE B Graham,
DT J Owens & S N Allen, so it may be a reach to count on much from these players early in camps and early in the 2011 Season since all these players had injuries late in the 2010 Season
Remember