Philadelphia Eagles Discussion

[camp_eagles]

That was extremely disappointing. The Injuries really showed up tn specifically on the Oline.

[cunningham06]

Well, our gimmick offense was bound to bite us in the ass, and it did. We need consistency and the ability to put a real drive together.

Now it's time for the draft. I'm assuming everyone here watched the National Championship? My boy Sergio Kindle tore it up that game and played great. I wanna see us have a first rounder from UT this year. Either Sergio Kindle, or Earl Thomas. DE and S are big needs for us and we could use a big time player at both spots.

[brat316]

don't know what to do for the D. Seemed to get overwhelmed by either the cowboys O-line or just bad playcalling.

Could use some bigger bodies in the front 7 either at Lb and DE, cause their 310+ O line just wrecks at times.


For safety something needs to be done, Macho is good but he is just to small to play safety. He still had the cb mentality of knife tackle into the legs. Eagles could go another rookie or an experienced safety, something that would be much better.

[Thumper]

Let me start off by saying the Eagles had a fantastic season, they finished 11-5 and competed for the NFC East Championship but the Cowboys just beat them this year, no way around it, the Cowboys got the best of the Eagles. But why? I’ve come to the conclusion that the Eagles aren’t as tough as they used to be, they’re as talented as any team in the NFL and probably the most talented team in Eagles’ history except for maybe those old Buddy Ryan teams. I just don’t think the Eagles can handle physicality all that well right now, if a team comes out and punches them in the mouth the Eagles just seem to lose it, they’re not the same team and that was evident in all the Eagles losses this past season. They need mental fortitude, that will come with maturing as players, remember the team is very young and inexperienced and some of it was the fact that Sean McDermott was a first year coordinator and some of it was that the Eagles leadership while great in winning situations lacked the same effectiveness in losing situations and hopefully that will change as the Eagles mature as well because I think while the Eagles played very well, they still missed Jon Runyan, Tra Thomas, Brian Dawkins and Jim Johnson in crunch time.

I’m not going to get too down because I know that this Eagles team will be better next year, count on it. The Eagles this season were running with 2nd and 3rd stringers at some spots all season long and injuries really piled on the Eagles in the season, plus the Eagles were very young and they’re just entering what should be the best part of their careers. Jeremy Maclin will have been through his first full training camp, LeSean McCoy will fine-tune his game, DeSean and Brent Celek will become even better, Macho Harris will grow into his FS spot where he seemed lost at points in the season and hopefully Moses Fokou can grow into a solid LB. With that said, injuries got this team right from the start, day one of training camp Shawn Andrews is lost for the year, days later rising star Stewart Bradley was lost, Stacy Andrews was never really healthy and will finally be recovered next season. So not only will younger players likely improve, Stewart Bradley and the Andrews brothers will be back to contribute next season.

But lets just take look at why the Cowboys are able to beat the Eagles (at least from my point of view). The Cowboys aren’t more talented, they’re probably slightly less because lets face it this Eagles team in terms of just raw football ability is probably the best in the league but there are a few holes.

• -Let me start off by saying that I am done with McNabb, absolutely done, what has this guy done? Lead the Eagles to the playoffs, sure but other than that he has done nothing but come up short when it matters most, whether he himself is vomiting or he is making the fans vomit with disgust, he never seems to play well when the pressure is on. Also the Cowboys had his number from the start, he was making bad throws from the beginning of the first game last season and it continued all season, the 2009-10 Cowboys were his kryptonite, they just stuffed him, he skipped balls, he looked uncomfortable in all phases off the game, he looked dejected, confused and he really was never on target. Now I know that I probably won’t find a large following for this opinion and I’m sure half of you will say “I stopped reading when I read this”. But I am eager for the Kevin Kolb era to start, the guy has his flaws but he has improved and he was the first QB to ever throw for 300 yards in his first 2 starts, impressive regardless of whether or not Andy padded the stats for him a little bit and I noticed something with him in, aside from a couple missed throws over the middle which seems to be the big hole in his game, the offense seemed to flow better, everything was smoother, DeSean had more room to run after catches as did everyone else, the running game even seemed a little better. We were actually one Ed Reed interception from the Kevin Kolb era already, if Kevin Kolb doesn’t throw that interception this isn’t even a discussion, the Kolb era is already underway.
• -The Cowboys are more physical, the Cowboys offensive line did an amazing job in the past two weeks, I have to give them credit, they absolutely manhandled Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley. They gave Romo all the time he needed.
• -Winston Justice did a great job all season until the Cowboys game, for some reason he just couldn’t get a hand on Anthony Spencer and Spencer caused all kind of trouble for the Eagles offense and he was a major reason why McNabb had no time and why McNabb was jittery. The Eagles gave the Cowboys Spencer for what essentially amounts to Kevin Kolb and Stewart Bradley, so perhaps in a round about way this is their own doing but regardless Winston really struggled.
• -The offensive line was just bad, maybe it was the fact that Jamaal Jackson was injured or maybe Jay Ratliff just dominates in the run game but there was absolutely NO room in the middle to run on and on the outside Jason Peters and Winston Justice couldn’t get a hand on Ware and Spencer.
• -The defense. DEFENSE? What defense? Isn’t this supposed to be the Eagles defense? That defense that strikes fear into every QB? Right? Wrong, I remember those days though and they’re gone. The defense was just outmatched, the scheme couldn’t cover them up anymore, Mikell is mediocre (was fantastic when he played next to Dawk) and he can’t stop a TE and his tackling has really gone downhill and FS is a joke, Macho Harris has some potential and he is definitely physical but I don’t think he is the future and Sean Jones gets burned routinely. Sheldon Brown was toasted during both games whether he was getting roasted on double moves or whether he was getting pounded in the run game he just didn’t play well and Asante wasn’t his usual self, he does a decent job on Miles Austin but he still didn’t tackle well and he missed on a bunch of gambles. But the linebacker play was AWFUL and I don’t even need to go into that, Jeremiah Trotter played the best and that is not a good thing. The defensive line needs help as well Trent Cole was neutralized, Bunkley and Patterson were exposed and Parker, Abiamiri, Clemons, Babin and Howard were absolute non-factors. Shameful performance from a defense that is supposed to be carrying on the legacy of Jim Johnson.
• -The decline of Brian Westbrook, he is being phased out, the offense really lost its rhythm when he came in and in the second match-up he had 0 carries. Plus at this point as much as it pains me to say, LeSean McCoy is just better, he is faster, more explosive and while he isn’t as developed or experienced he is just more effective when he has the ball. Plus the Eagles are phasing him out, do you know how many carries he had against Dallas last Saturday, not one carry. It pains me to see him ‘leave’ but injuries caught up with him and he isn’t the same, one of the best and most explosive players of the decade just fizzled away right before our eyes and it really is sad to see because he was so good. Westbrook is done, I’ve been saying it ever since the Kansas City game where LeSean McCoy played very well and I hate it because Westbrook was this team for a while, he was the Eagles offense.

So my conclusions:
The Eagles need a C, RG (depending on Andrews bros), LE, LB, CB, S
Westbrook and McNabb are done as Eagles. Just writing that was painful, I mean these guys were the faces of the Eagles, McNabb holds all the passing marks in team history and he might be a hall of famer one day and if injuries didn’t catch up to Westy he would’ve been the best rusher in Eagles history. It truly is the end of an era, a very good era, not a great one and it is sad to see a chapter in Eagles history close on such a sour note.

One thing I liked from the 3rd Cowboys game was Jeremy Maclin, I got really down after he pulled an alligator arms stunt in the 2nd game and led to two interceptions in game 1. But man did he redeem himself on Saturday, he only reaffirmed my idea that he will be better than Jackson. I loved the fight I saw from him, when he stiffarmed Ken Hamlin out of bounds and when he shoved Mike Jenkins after one play (I forget) I knew he had pride, that he had the attitude I want in the Eagles, the I’m not backing down from a challenge attitude that I like, he ran as hard and as fast as I have ever seen him run during the entire season. I really do think he will be better than Jackson and that he will one day be a top 10 receiver in the NFL if not top 5, the only downside is that he will be listed right next to Miles Austin and Hakeem Nicks who are going to be absolute studs in their own right.

Some quick Maclin stats:
He was on pace to be second in receiving touchdowns for a 21 year old behind Randy Moss prior to his injury.
He is the youngest player in NFL history to catch a TD pass in the playoffs
He is also the new record holder for most yards by a rookie in a playoff game

Maclin has a bright future and I really like the fight he showed, during and after the game (here are some after the game comments):

"It's unfortunate. It's a little frustrating and that's pretty much it," Maclin said. "I'm still not going say they are better than us. They did a good job of coming out and playing football. But I'll still take my guys over anybody else in the league … They came up with some good things to throw us off-guard. If you look at personnel, I'm not going to say they are better than us. I think they played better than us today and last week."

[cunningham06]

Nice, Thumper's back.

One thing I noticed during the game was our corners cannot get off blocks. Asante and Sheldon were both getting blown up by blocks and getting taken out of plays. That was what was so frustrating to me, seeing them get pushed out of the play. That's where I miss Dawk the most. You think some WR is gonna block Dawkins? Hell no, they are just likely to get embarassed. We need a hard hitting safety who can come fill in against the run, that's a big need for our defense right now.

[Todd Bertuzzi]

McNabb>Kolb

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by Todd Bertuzzi

McNabb>Kolb

lies!

I like McNabb but he hasn't played well this month at all and I am starting to think that his best football is behind him, he can still move but the negative is that he holds the ball far to long, he doesn't hit people in stride, his accuracy is terribly spotty, he commits genocide on the worms and he was just overall sketchy for the past month. The whole situation with McNabb was that he didn't suceed because he didn't have the weapons, well now he has more than his fair share of weapons and he played arguably two of the worst games of his career.

Kevin Kolb made some bad mistakes against New Orleans but he nearly hung 400 on them despite not even having Jeremy Maclin as a viable weapon yet. The guy was more accurate with the passes, the receivers had room to run, he has a good arm, he is mobile and overall I was impressed with him in his 2 starts aside from 1 pick which really was just a young QB mistake of not seeing a LB.

Perfect Example:


I know all of you are going to pull up the 15 of those McNabb did but if you watch those you'll see him have to adjust to the ball, slow down, speed up, stop etc. etc. This ball was thrown perfectly, not to long, short, wide left, wide right, it hit him right in stride and it is a perfect example of all the skills Kolb has because you see him step up in the pocket to buy time, we saw that same scenario a bunch of times the past two weeks with pass rushers wide and getting pressure and in those situations McNabb would get happy feet and run around, the ball was thrown accurately, it shows he has the arm strength and I can't find a good highlight video of him in the NFL but he is actually fairly mobile. And he will stare down the barrel of the defense and take a hit, just like he did in that video, if that was McNabb you would've seen him try and evade the pass rusher instead of firing it deep.

[eagles6606]

Originally Posted by cunningham06

Nice, Thumper's back.

One thing I noticed during the game was our corners cannot get off blocks. Asante and Sheldon were both getting blown up by blocks and getting taken out of plays. That was what was so frustrating to me, seeing them get pushed out of the play. That's where I miss Dawk the most. You think some WR is gonna block Dawkins? Hell no, they are just likely to get embarassed. We need a hard hitting safety who can come fill in against the run, that's a big need for our defense right now.

Our corners were eaten alive by Dallas last night. The Cowboys recievers were just flat out beating us. Even Roy Williams who was having a disaster season prior to last night. The Eagles definately need a starting free safety. Sean Jones is a strong safety, Macho doesn't have the physical skills or discipline, and Demps doesn't have the intelligence or discipline. The Eagles need a safety who can match up in coverage, as well as defend the run. This will allow Mikell to be a player in the run game, like he was last year.

[Todd Bertuzzi]

I agree that Kolb gave me hope with those two starts, but this is still McNabb's team. Last night was a lot of the receivers not being able to get open than McNabb holding on to the ball too long. McNabb is still a top QB in this league.

[brat316]

Mays for safety.

[Todd Bertuzzi]

Thomas>Mays

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by Todd Bertuzzi

I agree that Kolb gave me hope with those two starts, but this is still McNabb's team. Last night was a lot of the receivers not being able to get open than McNabb holding on to the ball too long. McNabb is still a top QB in this league.

I find it very hard to believe that Dallas had perfect coverage on nearly every play. It makes it hard for us fans because we don't know who to blame but McNabb was just holding onto the ball way too long and meanwhile on the opposite team Tony Romo was just firing away hitting players in stride, something McNabb couldn't do to save his life these past 2 1/2 games.

I just want to end this era of disappointment and see what Kevin Kolb has got, if worst comes to worst at least we can get Mark Ingram or Ryan Williams.

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by Todd Bertuzzi

Thomas>Mays

Took the words right out of my mouth! Earl Thomas plz!

[Todd Bertuzzi]

Originally Posted by Thumper

I find it very hard to believe that Dallas had perfect coverage on nearly every play. It makes it hard for us fans because we don't know who to blame but McNabb was just holding onto the ball way too long and meanwhile on the opposite team Tony Romo was just firing away hitting players in stride, something McNabb couldn't do to save his life these past 2 1/2 games.

Well Dallas' defense played a lot better than ours. Romo had all the time in the world meanwhile McNabb was getting pressured non stop thanks to our make shift o-line. Romo had receivers getting open, McNabb did not. Dallas balanced a good run game with a good passing game, Philly did not. We only ran the ball 10 time and passed 37, whereas Dallas ran 30 times and passed 35.

I just want to end this era of disappointment and see what Kevin Kolb has got, if worst comes to worst at least we can get Mark Ingram or Ryan Williams.

um what?

Also something I haven't heard a lot of discussion about is the atrociousness of Ed Hochuli.

[mellojello]

I just hope the Eagles don't draft a WR in the first round.

[LonghornsLegend]

Originally Posted by Thumper

Took the words right out of my mouth! Earl Thomas plz!

Took the words right out of my sig :D

[brat316]

No Mark Ingram, Ryan Williams I don't mind. But you might have to wait till next year.

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by Todd Bertuzzi

um what?

I'm sick of the same story year after year, McNabb leads the team on a late season run, they're the hot team, they're the cool pick and boom disappointment, happens every single time. Screw it, I'm sick of McNabb coming out and playing like poop in tough games, I want to see what Kolb has got and if he doesn't work out (aka he falls on his face, which I doubt he does) I would be content to grab a stud from the college ranks with a high pick.

[Todd Bertuzzi]

Originally Posted by Thumper

I'm sick of the same story year after year, McNabb leads the team on a late season run, they're the hot team, they're the cool pick and boom disappointment, happens every single time. Screw it, I'm sick of McNabb coming out and playing like poop in tough games, I want to see what Kolb has got and if he doesn't work out (aka he falls on his face, which I doubt he does) I would be content to grab a stud from the college ranks with a high pick.

Well we just spent a 2nd on Shady so let's see what he does with a full season as a starter and I'm sure if Kolb fell fat on his face we'd be deciding between Mallett and Locker.

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by Todd Bertuzzi

Well we just spent a 2nd on Shady so let's see what he does with a full season as a starter and I'm sure if Kolb fell fat on his face we'd be deciding between Mallett and Locker.

Oh don't get me wrong I really like Shady but I just think that you don't pass on guys with Ingram or Williams type ability, they could be the next LT or AD.

But if that situation arises I'm pulling for Jacory Harris in the QB race over all the others.

[camp_eagles]

About Kolbs two "Monster" games 1) he played the Cheifs 2) alot of his yards against the saints were in the 2nd half when the game was out of reach. "While Kolb put up spectacular numbers on the day (31 of 51 for 391 yards), the effort was largely amassed during garbage time and had no real impact on the game's outcome." - Bucky Brooks.
Also if you think Mcnabb falls apart in the playoffs whats Kolb gonna do if they get down after half he threw 3 2nd half picks against the saints.
The Eagles seem to run the ball alot more when ever Mcnabb is not playing remember our run to the playoffs with Garcia.
Conclusion:
Giving up on Mcnabb now means this team is giving up on the superbowl. and wanting change for the sake of change is dumb there are plenty of teams that would take Mcnabb in a heartbeat.

[cunningham06]

Yes, that's why I would like to see what we could get in a trade for McNabb. We could probably get a high pick from a team like Tampa Bay for him.

[Sniper]

Originally Posted by cunningham06

Yes, that's why I would like to see what we could get in a trade for McNabb. We could probably get a high pick from a team like Tampa Bay for him.

For a QB in his mid-30s with a terrible injury history? Mmmmmk.

[bigbluedefense]

I think injuries finally caught up to you guys. To be honest, I was thoroughly impressed with the Eagles this year.

How could you not be? They had catastrophic injuries and STILL made the playoffs, and were 1 game away from the 2 seed. Thats amazing. The depth on this team was amazing, the coaching for most of the year was great, and it just shows how strong this team is.

Having that said, there is a fatal flaw with the Eagles moving forward offensively. You've become too vertical in your passing game. Its great to have weapons like that and on paper its deady, but you NEED that one guy who is a major threat up the middle. It should be Celek, but Celek has actually been used vertically this year more than I expected. Avant should also be that guy, but wasn't used as much as he should have been used.

Also, be more creative with DJax. More WR screens. More slants. The guy can do it all, he's one of the best WRs in the game in my eyes. Reid fell in love with Jackson's ability to clear out the field for everyone else and made his routes too predictable late in the season. He made it easy for DCs by being vanilla with Jackson.

As for defense, you need a Safety. Another End too. But safety is definitely the biggest need.

[cunningham06]

That's a good point, but with the new qb rules its getting exceedingly more rare to see a starting qb knocked out for a whole season. McNabb's probably got another 3 or 4 seasons left in him, someone would be willing to roll the dice on him. Maybe not Tampa Bay, but Oakland for damn sure might. I'm not saying a team would part with their first round pick for him, but maybe a second or third rounder.