Silver Linings
Walter Thurmond: Thurmond enjoyed a solid debut, carrying over the playmaking ability he showed throughout the preseason. He came up with the game-changing interception that helped get the Birds back in the game, and made a couple of nice plays against the run. The Eagles have been searching for years for an answer at the safety position, and while its too early to tell if Thurmond could be that guy, he certainly made a good first impression.
Fletcher Cox: Cox was the lone defensive lineman that I thought really showed up and played a good game against the Atlanta front. He picked up a sack, and could have had a second and forced fumble that would have been an Eagles’ turnover if not for a questionable illegal contact call on Kiko Alonso. Cox appears to be on his way to another stellar season.
Concerns
The Offensive Line: The offensive line was one of my prime areas of concern throughout the off-season. For the second straight year, the Eagles chose not to bring in any significant talent to boost their depth at the position. In fact, they only subtracted by removing Todd Herremans and Evan Mathis from the equation. Allan Barbre and Andrew Gardner did not play well on Monday night. They couldn’t generate a push to create running lanes for the Eagles’ running backs, and even All-Pro Jason Peters struggled. Most concerning of all was how they failed to hold up in pass protection, allowing Sam Bradford to take a ton of hits.
Wide Receivers: Jordan Matthews turned in a strong effort, but the rest of this group didn’t show up. First-round pick Nelson Agholor was invisible. Josh Huff, Riley Cooper, and Miles Austin also didn’t do much. Too early to hit the panic button regarding this group, but the fact that Agholor and the other veterans weren’t factors in the opening game was a little worrisome.
The Passing Offense: The Eagles rarely took any shots down the field, and seemed content to dink and dunk their way down the field. While they were able to move the ball this way, that’s not a formula that will produce long-term success. The struggles of the offensive line played into this approach, but the Eagles are going to need to find ways to stretch the field and loosen up the defense moving forward.
Billy Davis: Its no surprise that Davis made this list, as there have been questions all along about whether or not he’s the right the guy to get the most out of this defense. And sure enough, the early returns have not been good.
The Nickel Package: Malcolm Jenkins played nickel in the opener, and actually played it very well. However, the problem long-term is going to be Chris Maragos replacing Jenkins at safety. Monday night was the first time that the Eagles gave the league a look at that approach, and now that they’ve revealed it, its only a matter of time before defenses start scheming to test Maragos. I say again, wouldn’t it have been easier to just keep Brandon Boykin, Chip?
Byron Maxwell: Maxwell was absolutely dreadful in his Eagles’ debut. On his 11 targets, he allowed 10 completions, over 100 yards, and a touchdown. Not exactly what one would expect from a corner with a $63 million price tag. Even more troubling was attitude after the game, where he laughed when approached about the yardage and score he gave up to Julio Jones. I’m not usually one to make a big deal about players smiling on the sidelines during a loss or anything similar, but Maxwell’s reaction to his night really rubbed me the wrong way. Compare Maxwell’s attitude to that of Jordan Matthews at the end of the game. When Matthews let that ball bounce off of his hands and turn into an interception, he looked completely crushed and on the verge of tears on the sidelines. Again, too early to really panic here, but there are already inevitable comparisons to Nnamdi Asomugha here.
Same Response
1) Interior OL Play (Center and both Guards) – If they can’t Power Rush in-between the Tackles with Murray & Matthews, then this Offense is not going to be effective in the Red-Zone against the good Team has been their biggest issue for about 10 Years now
2) Lack of Experience & a Legitimate Deep Threat at WR – If Huff & Agholor can’t make an Impact then the Eagles have one of the easiest WR Corps in the NFL to contain and and defend against ..
3) DC Billy Davis — Enough has been Posted and Discussed about the ineptness of Billy Davis so no need for me to go over other than the fact that this pass-Off-Season was the Year to cut the chord with Billy Davis by Chip Kelly and he failed to do so…
The Chipper has to win 11 games.
Sam Bradford has to win 11 games.
Demarco Murray has to win 11 games.
Nelson Agholor has to win 11 games.
———————-
NO ONE except the Chipper wanted Bradford, Murray, or Agholor —
EVERYONE wanted Foles, McCoy, and Maclin —
———————–
the Chipper has to win 11 games or he has to go
As far as the O line is concerned, the Guards are who they are, they are that good and not starting quality offensive linemen, they were not good last year when called upon to fill in for injured starters, why anyone expects any different now is beyond me. Their talent will only carry them so far. Jason Kelce is good with sweeps, but he is not a physical push the pile type of center, his game is angles,but, when you have a powerful d linemen who is quick and also understands angles, Kelce will lose. The O line generates no push, they have struggled for 3 years to move the pile and get short yardage that results in 1st downs or TD’s.
Wide receivers- Matthews is good, Agholor is a rookie(remains to be seen what he can do), and Cooper …with all of the talk of his blocking, I did not see much Monday night, he’s just a guy, defenses will not worry about him as he is easily shutdown, and Huff, he struggles to keep his head in the game making costly mistakes (see the block when he was supposed to be looking for the ball as he was supposed to be looking for the ball per Chip’s post game presser, he may have ADD on the field because he made mistakes last year, and they are carrying over this year. Huff is not a natural receiver, I can’t view him as a legit wide out/he’s more of a hybrid football player. Kelly made a mistake by treating him like an established productive pro, for he has not earned that and not giving him as many reps as possible in the preseason only hurt Huff. This WR corp is not that good as it presently stands without a legit deep threat…sorry, but it’s not.
As far as the defense is concerned, what is there to be said, until Billy Davis and his piss poor schemes and inability to adjust in game is fired I do not expect much..sad but true. No pass rush to speak of, receivers running free like the wind, a draw play giving up 20 yards on a 3rd and 15 from Atlanta’s 10 yard line, and an opposing QB that stayed pretty clean and was not harassed much . So many different players, same result, the constant is Bill Davis.
Good Stuff EHL. I disagree slightly with the WR view though. Something to keep an eye on. However I think the tempo the run with short passing game will force teams force up and that will open up the downfield passing and also the WR screen game IMO.
Yes, but the key is to get the run game going, I obviously don’t think to high of Cooper as a receiver, nor have I been impressed by Huff outside of his ST’s returns. He needs as many reps as possible. So that leaves Matthews and Ag, do not be surprised if the Eagles draft another WR early in the 2016 draft, I’m calling it now. I’d use my two 3rd round picks for o linemen, but it’s early for that. I will be at the game this weekend, I will be focused heavily on the interior O line.
The Screen Game, Bubble Routes and Quick Passes to the Outside don’t work as effectively when there isn’t a legitimate Deep Threat to Keep Secondaries Honest…. If opposing Secondary’s & LB’s are already creeping in to counter the Eagles Rushing Game and inability to go Deep, then the opposing Defenses have that many more players closer to the line of scrimmage to defend the real short, quick passes..
The Short Pass requires “Space between the Defenders for the Big YAC”..
Lillte Space means fewer big gains for 2-3-4 Yard Passes and an increase on Fumbles by having more would be Tacklers closer to the receiver..
GCOBB talking to Ike Reese. Good stuff G. They shoudlve doubled Julio etc. IMO we need to FIRE BILL DAVIS. Also G said that this game was a “slap in the face” and it was. Good stuff G.
there was nothing wrong with Billy Davis’s game plan Monday night. He put his players in position to win that game.
Bill Davis had his team intercept Matt Ryan twice ( Kiko and Thurmond) ,
should of been a fumble sack by Fletcher Cox called back on a ridiculous flag,
and Malcolm Jenkins dropped 2 interceptions.
Billy Davis put his players in position for 5 turnovers.
I didn’t think the D was as bad as everyone is saying either. In fact, I thought they really held the Birds in the game first half.
1st drive held for a FG.
2nd drive got an INT
3rd drive forced 3-out
4th drive…admitedly a bad one that ended in a td…but were they getting any help? Eagles had 13 plays for 31 yrds at this point and 3 punts.
5th drive 3 and out
6th drive…began in Eagles territory and they held to a FG
7th drive….began at the 27 and Falcons scored a td
So D is getting ripped there….but seriously….I think they were holding their own….I was thinking…”well, Atl is dominating here, but they aren’t scoring. so that’s good….
until the 2 back to back scoring drives of course….but the eagles had 4 mins of TOP at that point. Atlanta was gifted the ball at the 46 (shanked punt) and then the 27 (int)….can the D be blamed??
They opened the 2nd half with a 3-out and then an INT….Eagles scored 2 times to take the lead….
For remaingder of game they allowed 2 fgs.
Straight up, the Eagles D allowed 16 pts against Atlanta at home. The other 10 were gifts from the offence. I don’t think that’s as terrible as anyone else.
I am as concerned as anyone that they can’t seem to get to the QB. I was losing it on the 3rd down draw play that was inexcusable…but they did have their hands on 4 ints, and a strip sack that was called back on a bogus ref gaffe.
Ike Reese is going off about the defense on WIP. He is ticked about the defense giving up X-Plays which has been an issue for 3 years.
maybe Ike Reese should teach Malcolm Jenkins to how to catch and stop blaming Billy Davis for Malcolm Jenkins choking under pressure.
The offense’s job is to score points, Billy Davis’ job is to limit the amount of points the opposition scores with his schemes countering what the offense does based on down, time on clock etc, make in game time adjustments and not wait until halftime to do so which Davis has continually struggled to do. The Davis lead defense was ranked like 31 in pass defense and gave up the most x plays in the NFL last season, Monday night they gave up 4. Davis failed to give Maxwell help with Jones although it was clear Maxwell could not cover him, Davis also admitted that last year he should have given Fletcher Bradley help with Dez Bryant but did not do it, he failed to do so again with Maxwell/Jones allowing the defense to get beat unchecked.This is Davis’ history regardless of the talent on the team, this goes back to Arizona and the 49ers. If it’s not Davis, then it’s the defensive players, and that falls on the HC/GM, either way the job is not getting done.
Agreed with everything on the list. Huff does look lost on the field. I think they’ll have to go full Agholor soon….but you can’t count on rookies.
Gardner and Barbre sucked last year. They sucked Monday. What a shock.
Lastly, I brought this up several times in the offseason….the turnover was (IMO) too much.
What are there? 10…11 new starters? Then throw in others in important backup roles like R Matthews…(QB, RB, LG, RG, WR, OLB, SS, CB1, CB1, slot, MLB)…And many of them…Alonzo, Murray, Bradford missed a lot of time in OTAs and TC ..Its crazy to think that can come together for the start of a season.
How long will that take to “gell”? 6 weeks? 8? Can the Eagles afford that?
The sched has a few “should win easily” coming up in Washington, Saints and Giants….but the next 2 are Dallas and @Jets which no longer looks like a freebie.
Billy Davis’s Game Plan worked —
the offense lost this game not the Eagles Defense.
How can that be E0SB..
It was 20-3 at Halftime and to be honest the Falcons should have had 10 More Points in the 1st Half if Ryans doesn’t underthrow Roddy White for a TD and has better Red-Zone Efficiency.. The Game was basically over until Ryans begins their 1st Series 3rd Quarter with an inexplicable freebie Interception to Walter Thurmond in the middle of the field with no Falcon Receiver within 15 Yards of that Pass.. How does that happen???.. Eagles got a short field and go in for a cheapo TD changing the entire complexion of the Game, but not because of a Good Defensive Game Plan by Billy Davis, but only the poor Play and Pass by Matt Ryan who admitted so after the game by stating that he had no Idea on why he threw that pass….
penalties, penalties, penalties…. you can’t keep having HUGE plays overturned by penalties.
Kelce’s Holding where he got both arms on the outside of the Shoulders of a Falcon Defender 20 Yards down the field on that Drive where they were moving the ball for the lead was a “killer”– Kelce is better than that and that was completely unnecessary as the Receiver Matthews (I think) was already down the field ..
Kiko’s lunging his arms at a Falcon PLayer 10 Yards down the Field on a Pass ROute was Stupid also
The Eagles giving up a 3rd & 15 Run to Falcons Coleman from inside their own 10 Yard Line when they had all the momentum was also a killer
The Eagles are simply not good enough to overcome these type of Foolish Plays
Probably the Best thing out of this Game was the Fact the Eagles did not Fumble at all which is something they’ve had issues with the last few Seasons.. Bradford threw a bad Int in the 1st Half but he had a Falcon Defender diving right in at him and he chucked it as a prayer but that was it as I though he made pretty good Decisions all Game with the ball in terms of passing into Trouble..
Eagles will have to play a relatively clean game as not to give the Cowboys additional chances with the Ball this Week
New Expectations from Eagles Fans ..
Unless the Eagles Offense Scores 30 Points a game, they cannot Win…
Paul..is there any chance that Chip has the ability to realize that this is the NFL so you go with your best hand and through self scouting realizes that a 4-3 hybrid is his best bet when he hires a new coordinator in January? Maybe hire a Seattle assistant. Go with that bigger DE on the left and use Graham where he is most effective with limited snaps as a pass rush specialist.
Maybe this is your line up left to right
DE-Taylor Hart
DT-F Cox
NT-B Logan
DE-V Curry
OLB-Barwin
MLB-Alonso
OLB-Kendricks
My assumption is no way he does this because he insists the 3-4 two gap is the best way to go despite obvious lack of success.
I don’t see Kelly switching to a 4-3 Base Scheme anytime soon
I do see Taylor Hart getting more and more Snaps in place of Cedric Thornton who was invisible versus Atlanta the other night… Thornton needs to pick it up big time and had a very sluggish game versus the Falcons as did Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry.. All 3 need a fire lit under their asses if this Defense is to improve any..
ILB DeMeco Ryans should have been placed on Short-Term IR and sit out the first 4-5 Weeks of the Season (I stated this all Summer Long that he would not be ready to Play from the get go)
TE Zac Ertz should not have been Active Monday for he was stiff, with little explosion and simply is not in football condition yet to take advantage of Mis-matches. Trey Burton would have been on the field for Game 1 in place of Ertz who probably needs another week or 2 before he’s 100%
In Terms of the NFC which is Wide Open as I mentioned it would be many times.. Do not Count out the Panthers, Rams, 49ers & Falcons as Contenders for the Playoffs as a couple of these Teams have a real good chance of Starting out 2-0 which history tells us when you do that you have a strong Probability of making the Post-Season with a fast start..
Success begets Success, Winning becomes Contagious, Players, Coach’s, Fans feed off of Winning…
Just like the opposite easily occurs when a Bad start to the Season occurs like going 0-2 or 0-3 where the wheels fall off, bickering and finger pointing,
between Coach’s PLayers and Fans .. we’ve see it all too often before..
Getting Better and Better as the Season goes along is what every Coach and Player will say but the Reality is in the NFL with only 16 Games is that you can’t take a Week off, You cannot give Games and Wins away.. There simply is not enough of them to make up for it at the end.. There is also only 6 Teams that make the Playoffs in each Conference and starting 0-2 in your Division and Conference is not the way you make the Post-Season
Seattle 0-1 goes to PAckers and could be 0-2
Falcons 1-0 go to Atlanta and could end up 2-0
Rams 1-0 go to Washington and could be 2-0
Cardinals 1-0 go to Chicago and could be
Panthers 1-0 Host Texans with Ryan Mallet as Starter and could be 2-0
Lions go to Vikings and both are 0-1 but 1 Team will Win and end up 1-1
49ers 1-0 on a short week for them go visit Steelers who will be rested and probably drop to 1-1
Eagles Beat Cowboys and go to 1-1, they are right in the Mix
They Drop to 0-2 and could be behind many other NFC Teams besides the Cowboys already and it will be difficult and this is the way it is..
This is why I stand by my statement that Week # 2 Versus the Cowboys is Chip Kelly’s Most Important Game as HC of the Philadelphia Eagles
They will only get bigger from here, unless they keep losing
Eagles have now lost 4 of their last 5 Regular Season Games
Man…we need to find a miracle waiver pickup on a CB and OLB. This is the reason i would have kicked tires on Aldon. Sometimes you need to bring in trouble and not only use his talents…but use the talents of this so called strong culture. Help the guy with these veterans to show him the ropes. Let his talents help us..we need a pass rush.
Vinnie…I think the gelling can set in four weeks. That means assuming the team comes out properly ready for Dallas, we start 2-2 because the Jets defense causes trouble or the dumpster fire that is the Skins absolutely has to have a win at 0-3. Then we should be able to get rolling over the Saints, followed by Giants and Panthers. We go down to Dallas with a 5-2 record and a real shot to win that game coming off a bye. That game may be the difference between 10-6 or 12-4 division champs with a bye.
It the Eagles couldn’t establish the run against an Average Falcons Front 7, wait until they play the Jets,Bills, Panthers, Patriots and Dolphins Front 7
Eagles do not match up Well versus strong Physical Teams that they have on their Schedule this Season …
Bradford is going to have to carry this Team in 2015 is he isn’t hurt by Mid-Season taking more shots like he did the other night.
Paul, the question above please
Things are presenting a little different than planned in the NFC. I think Detroit may be a fraud. Minn isn’t ready. Seattle troubles are real and I would be shocked if they are not 0-2 on Monday. Dallas can’t run the ball and it will be back to Romo with no Dez until mid-season. The South just sucks. We can still finish in good standing especially if Seattle can dig early hole. Packers are getting a bye, but I think we can get the other if things break the right way.
Detroit is a fraud, and Stafford is quickly becoming the next Jay Cutler (if he isn’t already) where you just know the backbreaking 2nd half collapse/int is coming by looking at his demeanor 10 mins before.
Holy shit julio franco is still playing baseball the guy has got be 60 at least
Then i guess bradford gonna ear, that 14 mill this yr
Folks saying, give the defense time to gel….Gel to do what? get sacks? get picks? to excel in pass coverage? Well in order to do that, they need help from their DC, to call decent plays and put them in better coverages…Stop making excuses for this DC….If the offense plays inconsistent like that the next 4 games, the damn season could damn well be over. Every other NFL team has new players on the defensive side of the ball as well. For a safety and DB, your job is your job, it doesn’t change. Don’t complicate things any further,other than Davis not being the right man for this defense.
I don’t get it –
It is like you people commenting on this site watched a different game then the rest of the country.
THE DEFENSE IS & WAS NOT THE PROBLEM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
& BILLY DAVIS DID NOTHING WRONG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chip Kelly’s offense could not run the football.
All of your venom should be placed solely on Duce Staley, Jeff Stoutland and Chip Kelly with that shitty offensive game plan specifically the run game plan.
Alot of nerve coming from a guy with the name Eagles 0 SB’s….isn’t that something that us real Eagles fans hear from Giants and Cowboys fans? this clown is a joke!
The defense is and was not the problem? what the hell does that mean? you most definitely weren’t watching the same game…Ryans had time to throw throughout that first half, no pressure behind soft ass coverage…had Alonso not made that pick in the end zone, that game would have been very ugly…
Also if you can read, which I know you can’t…you’ll see my response was solely to those that were mentioning the defense needs time to gel…was not about the offense…
Yes you are correct about one thing…The offense could not get anything going in the first half..Couldn’t get a running game going, Bradford was missing some throws….I’m not worried about the offense as much as I am worried about this defense! Myself and many others have been displeased with this defense for years!
I am addressing the elephant in the room which is this Eagles defense and has been for years! When’s the last time an Eagles offense was ranked in the bottom of the league in offense?
I guess being 25th in the league in pass defense is ok with you as long as its not 31st like a year ago, right?
You complain about what you want to complain about and let me do the same…
Eagles rushing offense is 31st in the NFL.
Eos after 1 damn game….dude u need to calm down
Dude eos billy davis made some good calls but we gave up a lot of yds to matt ryan and that no name offensive line, and why yes the offense struggled you cant tell us as fans we cant complain about our defense….who da fuck are u
It was a team lost and that means billy davis sorry ass giving up another damn 3 rd and long trying to be conservative
Pman u have stated all year long that we would take time to gel on defense just wanna make sure u still on that side right?
1 – I just read that Marcus Smith is practicing fully and will be ready to play Sunday! So there’s that!! 🙂
2 – Why isn’t anyone asking, especially after watching a “rusty” Bradford in the first half….why did he only played 4 series in the pre-season?
Scratched his nuts in game 1. one series against Baltimore…less than a quarter against GB?
There were a whole lot of “Don’t risk it” types in here…agreeing that Bradford should have been standing on the sideline holding a clipboard. I thought that was BS and the guy needed to play 3 halves. Dude hadn’t run an offence for 2 years, and he gets 4 series? What was it 15 throws??
Does that look like a very good coaching decision right now? Not to me.
The pre-season does nothing than allow the coaches to evaluate players on the bubble. Bradford wouldn’t shake off “the rust” in pre-season. That will only happen as the season progresses.
Bradford was fine vinnie a lot of drops by receivers which u forgot to mention of course
It was drops, it was the oline, it was what the Atl D was giving him, it was it was it was.
Man, sounds lie Mike Vick was at QB for the number of excuses I’m reading.
Look, all I said was guy was clearly rusty the first half, and its pretty fair to wonder why the hell Kelly only gave him less than a quarter of work all pre-season.
That’s ridiculous, is it not?
Lol vinnie i thought it sounded like the excuses I made for nick foles but I see you had to get a shot at vick again but the problem I always knew vick had terrible awareness in pocket I tried to back foles but he showed the same awareness as vick did but you cant stand having nick foles in negative light….u never cease to amaze me…..but yes i guess not playing sam more im preseason hurt him when it comes to rust
Conspicuously silent here is the play of the qb
He did not play well enough to win the game, unlike the guy in st. Louis
The biggest concern is kelly.
He gutted a prolific offense in exchange for more expensive but less productive players, especially at qb and running back.
he’s neglected the o line in the draft for two years and it shows.
he missed at the secondary, a position of great need, in the draft and over paid and missed in free agency with maxwell.
These critical errors will come to roost this season.
6 wins
Billy Davis,did one thing wrong EOS.he made the team flight to Atlanta..
I’m trying to keep a level head it’s only week one but if this continues I’m going all caps Henski style if they go 0-2. Billy Davis needs to go, Huff and Cooper needs to go. Demeco needs to sit his ass down somewhere. Maxwell doing his Asomaugh impersonation ain’t gonna cut it either. Woosah
Let henski out big….lol
You guys are good at reading the tea leaves. The draft, FA period, and protein shakes have all been a disaster. Lol. 6 wins? Why not go 4?
Who can watch this dink dunk offense and get excited. It’s like driving a Hyundai, when it works it may be efficient, but it sucks to drive
Its basically the same dink and dunk offense NE has parlayed into dominating the NFL the last 15 years. lol NE has run a dink in dunk offense minus the Moss year for about 14 out of 15 division titles, 4 SB and 6 SB appearances since 2000.
Bradford is the ultimate game manager and Hyundai jockey
Dink and dunk is because the WR stink.
Matthews is a baller
Aglohar looks small, frail and scared.
Huff gives you nothing. He may be the dumbest receiver I have ever seen on the Eagles.. Theres no excuse for him to constantly not know what to do.
Cooper looks like Jerry Rice compared to Huff and we all know Cooper stinks.
Miles Austin is 50 years old and is on the field way to much. You cant tell me Jeff Mahel or Rahard Bailey werent better options.
Should of paid Maclin what he wanted. The sides were only about 1 million apart.
Josh Huff gets 1 more week. to prove he belongs on the active 53 man roster. No more KOs hitting the ground. No more footballs thrown into his back. No more bobbling 4 yard passes. I would design a few plays for him this week and if he doesn’t perform I deactivate his ass and bring Barner up for KO returns. and move Sproles into slot when need-be empty sets. Im done with Huff.
It’s Dallas week girls. Get your snip together.
We run all over them this week.
LOL.. I owned a used Hyundai “Pony” when I was 17. The window defroster was so weak we had to drive with credit cards in our hands scraping the frost off the inside of the windshield. Good times.
Oh this fan base….I shouldn’t even be surprised anymore.
Media and overacting fans saying how they are not hitting the panic button yet, but then following that up with all the reasons they are panicking.
D played average game, but what everyone needs to get through their head is that this is an average defense. The defense’s job is to come away with turnovers and let the offence outscore the opposing team’s offense. For better or worse that is the Chip Kelly way. And, for the most part, they did their job on Monday.
As far as the offense, everyone with half a brain (including vegas) knew this team would start slow based on the new faces. Frankly, I am impressed they clicked as quickly as they did in the second half. But, as you saw in the second half, when this team jells it will be a scary bunch.
Side note for all those screaming about the dink and dunk offence….NEWS FLASH…chip Kelly’s offense is MEANT to be a dink and dunk offence. Did any of you watch Oregon play at all? The goal is to throw 10-15 yards and let the receivers/rbs pick up huge YAC. That is why Bradford is so perfect for this system as his accuracy in that range is unmatched.
The running game will be there when we need it, but if the D puts 8 in the box I can guarantee you Chip will be passing all day long. That is just the way his mind works….look for the numbers advantage and exploit it. Then, when teams are getting killed with the intermediate stuff, you will see them adjust and then we will go deep. When they adjust to that, then we will run.
Bet the mortgage, this team will stomp all over Dallas this week (again look at the vegas line) and then everyone will be happy again.
Please don’t use logic with these people. They want flash.. They want bombs away… They want stars and a 4-12 record.
It is very good to see that some of you still have patience and think of only the positive…I used to be the same way. But it comes to the point where you get tired of the same ol same…
Unfortunately, I know that the wolrd is not all fast cars, big breasted sexy women, and sunny days.
I know that when it rains and sometimes pours and that there are some real big breasted ugly women too! I see the positive and negative…as for Monday night, I saw more negative than positive. Been seeing the same negativity with this defense for years! Davis does not get a clean slate just because its the first game of the year…
Canttakeit – Based on stats the defense did not play average, they played bottom of the league based on that, so as far as the team playing well on Monday night…If they continue with that type of play, they are on pace to be 20 best defense in rushing and 25th best defense in passing…That my friend is not ‘average’ that is underachieving, that is the same ol same..
Right on the money Real, if not for that ridiculous interception by Kiko, the 2nd half would’ve been garbage time. I saw plenty of positives but the defense and bad offensive line play is alarming. The Cowboy front 7 makes the Falcons look like kids so yes after week one it’s time to worry a bit. And that doesn’t make anyone less of an Eagle fan.
Real – have no problem being negative when it is warranted. But as you were responding, you bring up something that a lot of the negadelphinan’s love to harp on…total defensive stats.
Understand that our defense will NEVER, NEVER be towards to top in those categories because of the amount they are on the field. Get over those stats because if you harp on them you will never be happy.
What matters most is turnovers and keeping people to more field goals than touchdowns. In those categories the defense did its job (mostly) on Monday night.
And here I agree. The TOP has been an issue for 3 years.
When The score got to 10-0, Eagles O had been on the field 4 times. For 5 mins and 36 yards.
That’s ridiculous.
The Eagles engineered a 3:26 drive for a FG, but followed that with 1:15 and 0:06 drives. Atlanta gifted the ball at the 47 and the 27.
WTF do you expect….that Atlanta isn’t going to score then? Eagles D had been on the field the entire Q AND Atalnta got 2 straight posessions in Eagles territory.
I really wasn’t all that angry at all with the way the D held the Birds in the game through the first half despite the offensive ineptitude. They couldn’t run, they couldn’t throw, and they turned the ball over. The D, for the most part, held the fort.
I am as angry as anyone that they gave up that ridiculous 3rd and 14 on the draw play…..but…..How long do we expect this D to hold when they play 1.5 games every game?
Canttakeit – We’ll see…As a fellow fan, I hope you are right in regards to this defense. You are right a team can pass for 500 yards but turn the ball over in the redzone on 3 drives and lose the game. No doubt…But my stance is strong and its mainly about Davis, not the personnel so much. With a better DC the Birds could be very well in the middle of the pack as you’ve stated (average) instead of the end of the line in those categories.
Real – I agree we should be more in the middle then the end and if we have a DC that could adjust more that would happen.
Regardless, as you stated we are all fans of the same team here. We all want to see them succeed which sometimes gets lost in translation when these debates get going.
Can’t …take it..points well taken ,but one omission..If the defense plays 8 in the box ,why never go over the top of the defense and at very least stretch that defense?
Simple….intermediate stuff has a higher percentage chance of moving the chains on a more consistent basis. Did you see how open guys were on Monday night and how they were getting first downs at ease. When you take shots down field and miss you are behind the chains. That is exactly how Chip’s offense was designed to work.
It’s obvious that a home opener vs a hobbled Dallas team ,will be the elixir the team and fan base needs .Getting to Romo is a must ,making him the focus without Dez ,forces The Eagles to get after the QB and make his day miserable.Watching the motivation of Demarco vs the stars on the helmet will be worth the price of admission.
22% of Brady’s passes were considered “deep” last weekend (though I will admit the game log characterizations are skewed as a “deep” pass is anything over 10 yards)…..Anyway….22% “deep” including the 29 yard pass interference throw.
Conversely, using the same “10 yard” metric….8% of Bradford’s passes were “short” Under 10 yards. Of his 4 “deep” passes, none traveled even 20 yards int he air.
This with them crowding the LOS and using 1 deep safety.
NO ONE is espousing a “Bombs away” offence. I actually love the idea of a short, controlled passing attack.
BUT
Every now and then a QB has to let one fly, especially when he has guys running down the sideline open. (as there was last weekend).
A team must take a couple shots downfield every game.
The issue is, Bradford has thrown the lowest %age of “deep” balls….not just Monday, not just for 3 games, not just for 10….but he has been the 2nd lowest ranked player in this category over the past 5 years.
He doesn’t pull the trigger.
This isn’t new.
This isn’t an aberration.
This is a problem.
Sorry it upsets some of you so much.
Real talk ..we share a boob obsession..you should come to Scottsdale ..there’s a minimum D cup requirement seemingly..it adds new meaning to Big D ..I’m not in disagreement with your feelings ,in fact I share them.We aren’t obsessing over the teams (one bad game) ,however when the coach and GM shake things up and validation doesn’t come ,it’s unsettling.Thats a by product of that formula.In pre season there appeared like a desert oasis ,a deep waterhole ,that made sense ,a north south run game ,an accurate quick processing QB ,a young in synch looking receiving corp.Im not all willy Nilly that the sky’s falling ,but in a 16 game season ,each setback is cataclysmic ,that’s called being a fan..we all are so thirsty for a winning championship team ,and like an endowed woman ,we all have our eyes on the prize
Why does this concern you so much if you “actually love the idea of a short, controlled passing attack”.
Because a passing attack can’t be so completely one dimensional.
Gotta Luv It all Vinnie is doing is covering his bases because what was shown in the second half can be built upon and shows a more exact version of what this offense has always meant to be. Making the last two years of GCobb infighting over Pocket vs Run QB look moronic.
Vinnie… Question, once he hit his stride and was only completing the short stuff (which is a huge problem according to you), was he moving the chains? Was he scoring points? That is what matters most. This offense is predicated on short throws and YAC. Bradford talks about it all the time. The QB in this offense is like a PG in basketball. Don’t need to do anything fancy just get the ball in the play makers hands.
And regarding the deep throws…you need time for those routes to develop. Is it possible that the game plan for week one when you have a QB with his first game back in over a year and an offensive line with its first real game action together to stick to much more intermediate stuff? He will take his shots when they are there.
Any by the way…who was running open down the sidelines on Monday. I didn’t see one play where there was an obvious deep throw he missed.
This is all about his obsession with Foles man, he’s mad the his savior can’t hit the broad side of a barn over 15 yards. He’s seen fit to harp on this with both Sanchez and Bradford while being blissfully unaware when it came to Foles. After the Jax season opener last year there was a ton of reaction on twitter and various blogs showing receivers running open day long, a clean pocket, and Foles either seeing ghosts in the pass rush or not see anything downfield. He’ll keep this up until the season progresses and Bradford shows what a clear upgrade he is.
As for your earlier post about this being the first game, it is the first game but we have the same damn problems. On defense it’s the same old story. Useless dbs and an even more useless Billy Davis. The talk coming from Kelly was that the secondary talent was deep. That’s why Boykin is in Pittsburgh, we didn’t need him. Sunday proved that to be a fallacy.
We have new problems on the o-line created by Kelly. As Chris Brown of Grantland said on twitter, the two guards are why the inside run game produced squat, and why Kelly had no confidence in it. Yet he saw fit to cut an All-Pro at the position.
After cutting or outright releasing Pro Bowl players at multiple positions, and those decisions biting us in the ass in this game, Kelly doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt. Nobody gets rid of players of that caliber in the manner that Kelly got rid of them. Even Foles, who I consider mediocre, was a move no other coach would’ve made. So if Bradford gets hurt, or doesn’t play dramatically better than Foles, Kelly doesn’t deserve a wait-and-see approach.
You don’t get the benefit of the doubt in the wounds look self inflicted. Monday night lies right at the doorstep of Kelly’s offseason decisions. People aren’t Monday qb’ing Kelly. They were questioning those decisions well before the Falcons game.
“After the Jax season opener last year there was a ton of reaction on twitter and various blogs showing receivers running open day long, a clean pocket, and Foles either seeing ghosts in the pass rush or not see anything downfield.”
They won.
“They won” Lol….Kaepernick fans said the same thing. UhOh………
Good thing we were playing Chad Henne at home instead of Matt Ryan in the dome huh? I’ll give Foles credit for one thing, he always managed to walk in between the raindrops by not having to play against top qbs. Either they were hurt, or he was hurt. Has a 14-4 record because of good luck more than anything.
So now we’re trying to pimp the Atlanta Falcons as some sort of really good team that Bradford was “unlucky” to play against as opposed to the “always lucky” Foles.
The same Falcons who were 10-22 over the past 2 seasons. WHo have an entirely new coaching staff, who have 5 new olinemen (a scrub fest at that) new RB, a D that was 30th in sacks last year, terrible against the pass, and 31st (I think) against the run.
That formidable Atlanta Falcons team??
Then again…you are right about all that Foles luck…there he was having to lead a last min drive to tie the game, then another in OT against the Sheawks. I mean, all that guy does is catch lucky breaks.
You guys are getting more pathetic every min in here.
I have no problem with Foles outside of fact that I didn’t think for this offense he was the guy. I don’t see him as elite on his own and inconsistent. For every big win I could point things like SF game etc. and I’m not a long ball guy in today’s NFL. Only truly elite QBs deserve to have win loss stats glorified. They can lift teams to wins and make players better than they really are for example this past weekend Aaron Rodger making James Jones look an All Pro. Foles is 16-10 over 4 seasons. Kapernick is I think 30-16 and been to the Super Bowl. Again it shows it’s a team game. Vinnie I just get annoyed when you go all world on Foles and knock others for same criteria you praise Foles…wins.
What’s pathetic were the excuses you were hurling after Foles played like complete dogshit against the dogshit Jaguars. Are you serious right now? You’re going to highlight the Falcons record and ignore the Jaguars have won even less over the last two years? Matt Ryan has still played well over the last two years, while Chad Henne hasn’t played well in any year. It didn’t stop you from claiming stupidly that the home opener was somehow a ‘donut’ game. LOL
You’ve been pathetic for a long time, beginning with the way you made an idiotic bet that you quickly reneged on. You’re every bullshit questioning of Bradford leads back to your love affair with Foles Gold.
Jaguars are shit. Never said they weren’t.
Its you in here touting how difficult the 10-22 Falcons are and how unlucky Bradford was to have to play them. Gimmie a break.
I didn’t tout anything other than to say Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and Roddy White are credible opponents in their stadium. Matt Ryan and the Falcons are competitive in the Dome. The Jaguars lost to their next 3 opponents by an average of 25 points, whose qbs all picked them apart in the process, including the immortal Kurt Cousins.
Gimme a break cuz your full of shit. Your tone about the qb’s play was way different when he wet the bed against that garbage. His play was atrocious to the point that screenshots of his awfulness proliferated around the web. Had he had to play the Falcons last year in that first game we would have lost by 20.
“Had he had to play the Falcons last year in that first game we would have lost by 20.”
Why?
Because you think so? Did you dream this event? Fantasize about it?
Dude stop making shit up. Talk about what did happen, not what your “I have an irrational hate for Foles” imagination dreams up.
Both Qbs had terrible first halves. Both had olines that were turnstiles (though the one at the start of last year was worse). Both were playing inferior opponents. One led the team to a win in the 2nd half, the other didn’t.
Move on from your invented hypotheticals already.
Except in Paulman-esque over the top fashion Vinnie there WASNT guys running down the sideline deep. PURE NONSENSE.
haha…DD town! I’m jealous that its not like that here in Jersey! .Agree with you Desert! agree!
“Was he scoring points? ”
Not enough
“He will take his shots when they are there.”
People have been saying that for 5 years.
21 in a half isn’t bad. Not enough to compensate for his first half of football in over a year, but not bad.
Sam Bradford has always been a short to immediate QB with an accurate arm and excels in this type of offense. Chip Kellys offense have never been predicated on the long ball. Some of you clueless dopes fail to realize that he adapted his offense to the talent that he had here. Year 1 he had DeSean and teams were attacking the line of scrimmage to stop McCoy and that opened up the long ball. Year 2 the long ball option was going however there were multiple times intermediate balls in the seam to Maclin etc were there….this site went nuts for or against Foles because of the big plays that were converted and missed. Year 3 it doesnt take a rocket scientist to see that this is offense that Kelly wants. Take the talent decisions out of the equation at guard…he wants a short to intermediate passing game and heavy use of the RBs out of the backfield which he sees no differently than a long hand off.
Foles/McCoy/Jackson fit their version of the Kelly offense.
Bradford/Murray/Matthews fits this version of Kelly offense.
Jesus Christ football is not that damn to hard analyze if you take your bias out and have some common sense and knowledge.
Exactly Izzell.
We like to call ourselves an intelligent fan base, but unfortunately, some of the loudest fans and the ones that write on blogs and call in to radio stations are as unintelligent and as irrational as they come. I listen to sports talk radio and cannot comprehend the level of stupidity.
Parkey is a major concern….this is not the town to have confidence issues. If he misses any kicks the crowd will turn on him. His only saving grace is if he struggles they are going on the road and he can block that out.
Donnie Jones struggled a bit Sunday as well. Special teams is a huge part of this Eagles team success under Kelly would like to see more from them.
I’ll give Parkey a pass right now for 2 reasons:
1 – He was aces for an entire reason
2 – I put that miss on the coaching staff. Unable to make a decision that should have been made prior to the 3rd down play. ht to do if run is good/not good…..perhaps all the “hurry hurry hurry” doesn’t allow time for such thoughts. Anyway, I feel a lot of the kickers in the league would have had a lot of difficulty with that bumbled situation.
That being said, he did seem to struggle (with an injury or whatever) all preseason….but I am no where close to abandoning a 2nd year guy who shows incredible promise because of a couple of bad games. I’ll leave the abandoning of promising young players to other people on this board.
I’m not giving up on Parkey. He missed a kick it happens. I have more of a problem with his lack of distance on Kickoffs since the end of last year. He says he’s not injured so I take his word but he shows all the signs of a player compensating for an injury.
Omg jpp hand looks like a ninja turtle
Almost feel bad for the guy. He’s done. Hopefully he saved a good portion of his $$ and has enough to take care of himself. Financially, he should be in a better place than most people who suffer career-ending injuries.
Self inflicted but still sad
One thing I haven’t heard people say…but if they stay healthy…Kiko and Kendrick’s have a chance to be RIDICULOUS tandem. I’ve been high on Kiko since draft (bias upfront he’s Boriqua) and when he was an Oregon player we should have drafted. He will allow them to unlock Kendrick’s. Excited to see the two.
Yea those two get me excited behind that dline but billy d gotta set these two free to destroy offenses
Parkey has missed 7 kicks in the last 9 games he was the primary reason we lost to the Redskins last year, and he was the reason we lost last Monday. The worst part is they were not extremely hard kicks to make. At this point the Eagles have no other options than to ride it out with him, but I have a strong feeling he’s gonna cost us more games down the road.
Even if Parkey makes that Kick.. There is less than a 50/50 Chance the Eagles go onto To Win.. Giving Matt Ryan with Julio Jones 3+ Minutes only needing a FG to Win so that’s why the correct decision would of have been to go for that 4th Down to try to Win the Game…
It’s like when I read that it’s WR J Matthews tipped Int as another reason they loss.. He catches it and Eagles still need 50 Yards with a shaky kicker
Stop with the over analysis. They lost because they played like shit in the first half on both sides of the ball. Damn simple.
They lost b/c of a bad 4th and 1 decision.
Nah TS , I would have gone for it but one play doesn’t hide all the flaws. Hell the 3 and 15 was far more a back breaker. Changed field position took time off the clock and they got a field goal out of it.
No Over-Analysis needed.. The Eagles Lost their 4th Game out of their last 5 Contest because of their Coaching.. Both Chip Kelly & Billy Davis failed to have their Team Ready to Play from the first snap which is needed ..
The Eagles are not good enough to turn it on when they want to , if they can’t play hard & smart for 60 Minutes then they are not winning many Games
Yes Izell it really is that simple they slept walked through the first half period. They would have lost that game to anyone except the Jags.