• March 29, 2024

Eagles Should Be More Conservative Offensively

I think the Eagles need to dial their offense back more and focus on staying away from turnovers or they could lose this game to Arizona.  Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg was asked yesterday if the Birds offense should be more conservative in order to stay away from turnovers.

“No, why would you ever do that”, Mornhinweg said.  “No, really, you have to score points in this league, typically, to win. We’re playing just the way that I expect us to play with the exception of the turnovers and so, you get that fixed. I think we can be pretty good, now, if we get the turnover thing fixed.”

I know Mornhinweg and Andy Reid can do a great job of finding the weaknesses in a defense and putting up big yardage, but this particular offensive players that they are working with are mistake-prone.  They were mistake-prone last year and they have been mistake-prone this year.

I think the Birds offense could be more conservative but still put up big yards, but eliminate the turnovers.  The offensive attack is leading the league in total yards, but they have also been leading it in turnovers as well.   They don’t have to throw out everything, but they need to try to be more conservative with what they ask Vick and his teammates to do.  I think they could take fewer chances, not be as explosive but emphasize taking care of the football more.  I would take the ball out of Vick’s hands more often and not ask him to make so many dangerous throws.

The current Eagles offensive line is suspect.  Dallas Reynolds and Demetress Bell aren’t going to the Pro Bowl this year and the Cardinals have some outstanding defensive personnel.  They’re capable of not only causing a turnover but also putting Vick out for a game or two.  Regardless of how conservative the Birds get offensively, they’ll be able to outscore the poor Cardinals offense. The only way the Cardinals win this game is if the Birds turn the ball over a few times or if they win this game with their Special Teams.

 If the Eagles take the same chances offensively that they did against the Ravens and they turn the ball over, it could open the door for a Cardinals offense which is mediocre at best.  Arizona would like nothing better than shortened field to work on thanks to some Eagles turnovers.  They’re going to limit the chances they allow Kevin Kolb to take.
If Mornhinweg has Vick out there throwing the ball all over the place, you can expect problems for the Eagles.  The Cardinals have an outstanding defense which has a front seven full of playmakers, who will pound Michael Vick every chance they get. They’re going to play the same type of game this week, that they played last week against the New England Patriots.  They were very conservative offensively and forced Tom Brady and the Patriots to turn the ball over.
The Cardinals let their Special Teams take some chances and they made the play of the game when they blocked a New England punt attempt and set up an easy touchdown.  We can’t let them work the same game plan this week with the same result.

GCOBB

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bugsyhawk
bugsyhawk
September 21, 2012 9:24 am

I agree 100%. Run the ball, screens, quick outs and Celek over the middle. Get the ball out of Vick’s hands early to limit what the O-line has to do. Limit the opportunities for mistakes.

vinnietheevictor
vinnietheevictor
September 21, 2012 9:27 am

This team reminds me of the 1989-1992 teams.

Solid D. Inconsistent O.

RealTalk777
RealTalk777
September 21, 2012 9:50 am

This offense has too many weapons to be conservative…As tough as the Cardinals defense may be, Eagles just played a tough defense this past weekend and won…Play your game! I agree with MM all day long on this one…difference between you G, and MM….MM has confidence in the QB…

bsmvideos
September 21, 2012 9:57 am

One of the problems of having a moron coach that wins games. Everybody sweeps it (turnovers) under the rug until you lose in the playoffs to a team that is more fundamentally sound.

Like him or hate him, McNabb protected the football. What is hard about throwing the ball away or taking a sack instead of an int. Some int’s are not bad when you throw it deep because it can be the same as a punt. But throwing int’s in the red zone is just silly.

I have always been a fan of Vick since watching him in the Peninsula district at Warwick HS and later VA tech. But he is getting on my last nerve with these silly turnovers.

RG III is a rookie and he’s playing more fundamentally sound football.

And yes I am blaming Andy Reid. For all the crime in Philadelphia to global warming. He is the source of all pain. Just listing to him at a press conference takes a year off my life. He makes me a sore winner. I can’t wait for the day he leaves philadelphia.

14 years of wasted illogical football.

paulman
paulman
September 21, 2012 10:01 am

I would run right at CB Petersen’s side and bang him around a bit
Then Screens, DOuble TE sets, Backs out of the Backfield and attack their middle..
Cards Secondary is one of the best in the NFL so I expect that D-JAx will be covered up for most of the game but you still have to take a couple of shots down the field to keep their Safeties honest.. Maybe look for D Johnson or M Gilyard run a FLy pattern or 2 as D-JAx runs a shorter crossing route which may catch the Cards by surprise and allow Johnson/Gilyard to have 1 on 1 Coverage since Cards Safeties will most likely be following D-Jax ..

vinnietheevictor
vinnietheevictor
September 21, 2012 10:52 am

If MM had confidence in his QB, I don’t think he’d feel the need to have to constantly give him hugs and dither on with the “I’m so proud of you – you did it!” business that he normally reserves for his 5 yr old grandchildren.

Its not that the offence doesn’t have weapons. Its that its terribly inconsistent. Big play. Int. Big play. 15 yard sack. Even the “game winning drives” only happened because blind luck fell in the Eagles’ favour.

Its not a winning formula.

eagles0superbowls
eagles0superbowls
September 21, 2012 11:05 am

the NFL networks would like to see a NYG vs. Eagles week 4 battle for 1st place in division — DJax owe us fans for that no show vs. the cards last year

jakedog
jakedog
September 21, 2012 11:06 am

Bsm, haven’t you listened to the new, friendlier Andy Reid press conferences? I also think that Andy Reid will bone it again, somewhere, somehow, they should dial back this offense until Vick stops being mr. Turnover, in the last 20 games twenty pics, you may beat the browns, jets, etc. with a reckless quarterback but no way in hell will they win when the weather turns cold

pheags88
pheags88
September 21, 2012 11:09 am

Realtalk, Do you think Harbough has no confidence in his QB Alex Smith right now because he doesn’t let him throw it 50-60 times a game?
Its called recognizing reality in what you have at the position. I totally agree with GCOBB here and i’ll say the Marty comments drive me crazy. Just because you are conservative doesn’t mean you will not score enough points in this league to win. Plain and simple. Are the Birds not near the bottom of the league in POINTS per game right now. We are always up there when it comes to yards but instead they try and get all fancy instead of playing conservative football when it matters.
49ers are the best team in the league, totally destroyed a high power offense in the Packers by killing the clock on offense and playing control methodical football.
Why in the hell would Marty/Reid call a passing play for Vick at the 1 yard line on second down? You have maybe the best RB in the league to get that 1 yard in 3 chances or you could give it to QB who is a turnover machine in the redzone…There is no excuses for stupidity like that. Imagine if these replacement refs didn’t call that play back? or called intentional grounding and it was 3rd and long.

Just saying this team has a potential to be something special this year. Getting to the Giants game at 3-0 would be huge. And i think the best way to do that is play smart conservative football on O, using the players to the best of their ability.

eagles0superbowls
eagles0superbowls
September 21, 2012 11:15 am

The NFL issued a warning to Head Coaches complaining about refs so everything they say can be considered disingenuous. If the TV Networks had any balls every bad ref call they should stick the camera in the owners box and let the fans see their sour puss face instead of the coaches.

eagles0superbowls
eagles0superbowls
September 21, 2012 11:25 am

Darnell Dockett is going to have a great game – the birds cannot stop him and he will have to be double team every snap

bugsyhawk
bugsyhawk
September 21, 2012 11:28 am

I know that If I had an O line that had difficulty protecting the QB already, then I lost 2 of my starters I would be more conservative. They will still score points.

That is not lack of confidence in a qb, it is just adjusting to the situation.

RealTalk777
RealTalk777
September 21, 2012 11:45 am

@Pheags –

That is all on Vick….The decision making is all on Vick, not Marty or Andy. That is up to Vick to fix, not throw the ball for a INT in the end zone, not to throw a pass while being tackled. That is up to Vick, all of which he admits himself…Alex Smith didn’t drive his team down the field the last two weeks and pull out a victory. Alex Smith isn’t the Eagles QB, so I don’t give a lick about any confidence Harbough has or does not have in him. Vick may have thrown some INT’s, but still has not looked as bad in one half of football as Smith looked in the 2nd half on Sunday…McCoy got a lot of touches this past weekend, Brown also got a number of touches.

Between McCoy, Brown, Havili, DJ (rook) Eagles had 31 carries out of the backfield…34 if you count the pass receptions from McCoy and Havili….Also you have to add the designed runs called for Vick…which there were at least 3….which will bring this total to around 37…

Eagles ran a total of 75 offensive plays…for a 38 (pass) to 37 (run) ratio…
if you want to add the receptions of McCoy and Havili to drop backs stat then the ratio is 41(pass) to 34 (run)

In my opinion any way you look at it, it was a balanced attack….probably one of the most balanced football games from the Eagles offense in quite sometime!

This team is what they are…you don’t dial it back, you dont play conservative…this team isn’t conservative, let them play their game…

RealTalk777
RealTalk777
September 21, 2012 12:04 pm

you guys act like the Eagles have been running the ball down teams throats…If not from some amazing ability by McCoy, half the positive runs he’s had would have been negative…I am not impressed with the O Line run blocking one bit! There was a few times we ran the ball on short situations and could not get the push up front to gain 1 yard. Also if teams are stacked up against the run in the situations, against a line that isn’t getting any push up front, what do you do?

Stevo
Stevo
September 21, 2012 12:59 pm

Our Oline sucks. Period. The Cards are coming to get Vick…. keeping BC in to block is not going to fix that. Spread the D out and make quick throws. Check down, Check down, check down.

haveacigar
haveacigar
September 21, 2012 3:07 pm

As for the o line getting criticism I get it but you have to remember that the sprint draw that they put in last year has been very effective… They have had something to do with shady’s success. They won’t be quite as good in the short yardage.. But getting shady in space is what they are good at, and if you haven’t noticed it’s fun to watch.

vinnietheevictor
vinnietheevictor
September 21, 2012 5:10 pm

One point no one has mentioned is the numer of offensive plays the Eagles have run.

The Birds may be 1st in yards gained (ignoring the NYG and Car as they’ve played 3games), but there should be a little asterix beside that stat.

Eagles are also 1st in offensive plays run, at 168….the NFL average so far has been 130. This puts a little perspective on the “1st in yards -super offence” calim.

Yards per play, the Eagles’ are 10th

Eagles are 2nd in pass atts, but 26th in net yards per pass att

Eagles are 4th in rush atts, but 16th in yrds/att

Pro football reference has a “expected points” metric, where theycalculate the expected pt for the amount of yards gained, and the Eagles are dead last, coming ni at -15 (below the Cards, Browns and Titans!!)

The Eaglesh have a very inconsistent scattershot offense. Notconsistent enough for success unless it improves. It will not improve ith Vick at the helm(yes – it alwas comes down to Vick)

Gotta Luv It
Gotta Luv It
September 21, 2012 6:04 pm

Well I guess It’s a good thing that the Defense has to play too

Gotta Luv It
Gotta Luv It
September 21, 2012 6:11 pm

What’s over/under on Vinnies
” It almost…” ” It should have been a…” posts for Sundays game

Gotta Luv It
Gotta Luv It
September 21, 2012 6:15 pm

What’s over/under on Vinnies
” It almost…” ” It should have been a…” ” It could have been…” posts for Sundays game

Stevo
Stevo
September 21, 2012 10:51 pm

Bla bla bla…. *itch *itch *itch…. 2-0. I like what i see on the D side… the O needa to improve. We will be 3-0 sunday night. Lets go birds.

SONGSRME2
SONGSRME2
September 22, 2012 4:13 am

I’ve never seen an offensive line that let linemen get through every time a QB steps back to pass. Mathis is a penalty waiting to happen and the fireman get’s stunted constantly. The majority of pressure comes from the inside ad that’s the reason Vick seldom have a pocket to step into. We need better players at the guard positions.

SONGSRME2
SONGSRME2
September 22, 2012 4:15 am

Another thing..Whisenhunt have andy’s number.

Arizona 27 Eagles 20

navyeaglefan
navyeaglefan
September 22, 2012 12:37 pm

songs you ass sucking douche bag – showing up again – s go through the list – our safeties sucked and were going to be targeted – drc was going to be targeted, our linebackers were suspect, you actually had the balls to complain about Celek NOT being a top flight TE, you bithced about our backup QB situation (how many times did you ask why Edwards was onthe team?)

dude – you spent an entire offseason mocking castillo asking how we felt about it –

you just go from one negative bitch to the other.. but I am actually happy you bitched – you are so dead fucking wrong about everything…. no I am sure theEagles will win..

and asshole – our bet is to 10 wins – not the end of the season – the day the eagles have the #10 in the win column – you are done – the day the eagles have a combination of 7 in the loss and/or tie column I am done – I want you gone as quickly as possible – you lower the average IQ with each posting you smelly rodent.

Eaglehaslanded
Eaglehaslanded
September 22, 2012 4:45 pm

LMAO, Navy you’re vicious to songs

bugsyhawk
bugsyhawk
September 22, 2012 10:25 pm

If they are stacking against the run, then you an still go short passes to Celek, screens. There are plenty of options besides big strike. Without Maclin and D-jax nullifed by Peterson, they are not going to have a lot of opportunities to go deep.

RealTalk777
RealTalk777
September 22, 2012 11:19 pm

Bugsy I hear what you’re saying and I do agree…I was opposing the word “conservative”f it meant running the ball more..Ravens game we seen a balanced attack, and it wasn’t all about the big strike…but I have no issue with more.screens, quick outs, shorter passes….

bugsyhawk
bugsyhawk
September 23, 2012 10:55 am

Makes sense. I am just concerned with the protection for Vick with Bell and the new C today. I feel like they don’t have to try to force it.

pheags88
pheags88
September 23, 2012 9:42 pm

“The Eagles have scored 47 points in three games. Worst in the NFC.”

Yea playing safe conservative methodical football will not score you points Marty. The offense you are calling is clearly working based on the facts and making you look like genius. Keep it up dumbass