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EAGLES FANS: QUIT PANICKING

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/15
Posted in: Fans, Players, Reviews. Tagged: , , , . 11 Comments

CHOW BABY

WE were asking too much. We were all hoping that we’d wrap up the NFC EAST with 2 weeks to spare. And why not? We decimated this team two weeks ago, with everyone from that game playing in this one. And don’t hand me the “back-up QB” excuse for this game, because it was this same back-up QB (Mark Sanchez) that gutted our rival just two weeks ago. So we generally figured we had this.

Even if we didn’t blow them out, why would anyone expect to lose to a team that we had just systematically dismantled? We didn’t expect a loss. Granted most of you expected a close game, but no one was worried about a loss.

For my part I didn’t think it would be as close as the last time. CB Bradley Fletcher didn’t get ass-raped the last time we played, so why would he now? Our Offensive Line kept Sanchez upright and made bigger holes for RB LeSean McCoy the last time we played, so why wouldn’t they now? Same guys against the same guys, right? In fact, the law of averages said that the deck was stacked tougher against our opponent this time. It was simple.

And that’s where I fucked up. I treated an EAGLES/COWBOYS game like it was just another game. I overlooked one important law:

IT IS NEVER SIMPLE WHERE THE EAGLES AND COWBOYS ARE CONCERNED.

For the last few years (unless it’s a year where one of us goes 4-12 or 6-10), for one of these two teams to win this division it generally goes all the way to Week 17. And it’s that way again this year. Even if they lose next week and we win, we still have to win Week 17. And if we win next week, they can’t clinch until Week 17. And that’s only if they win. It’s NUTS!

I said back in April that our schedule was a set-up. I referred to it as a “a road straight through Hell” and as a “meat grinder”. As a former player, I hated this schedule the moment I laid eyes on it, yet I still didn’t grasp the entirety of what I was looking at. The only comfort I take now, is that at least our rival is getting a fraction of what we’re experiencing now.

There was never going to be an easy end to this. That just means we have to scrap until the end. So don’t let last night fuck up your process. “It always ends like this.” 

EAGLES/COWBOYS PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/11
Posted in: Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , . 12 Comments

12.14.14-Wk15

SUNDAY 8:30 Lincoln Financial Field – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 

SHOWDOWN

THIS is the biggest game of the regular season. Not because it’s against the Cowboys, but because it’s one of three division games at the end of the season. As long as two teams in this division were still alive in the race to win it, there was ALWAYS going to be a fight somewhere during these last three weeks.

Personally, I’m glad it’s the Cowpies. If we can string this and the va-giants game into wins, we can rest our starters in Week 17. If it were us and the Foreskins, we’d have to run hot the whole time, which might burn us out for the playoffs.

 

EAGLES

Defense

Except for the inability to contain Russell Wilson last week, our Defense was what I expected it to be against the Seahawks offense. Dallas plays with a similar mindset (pound the ball, draw teams into the box, hit’em up top vs 1-on-1 coverage), but Dallas’s QB can’t run around anymore. Somewhere out there DE Vinny Curry and OLB’s Brandon Graham, Trent Cole and Connor Barwin are licking their chops.

Then of course there’s the fact that this Defense took away all of Dallas’s weapons last time we met. It’s not like the Cowboys had anyone out on injury or suspension when we did that. They weren’t playing on a slick field that hampered their running. Conditions will be similar this time around. Except colder. Windier. And the crowd won’t be neutral this time. It’ll be downright unfriendly. Expect the Defense to repeat what it did two weeks ago.

Offense

QB Mark Sanchez cut Dallas’s defense up like a fork-tender steak the last time he saw it. And RB LeSean McCoy ran through their defenders like he was coated in Ex-lax. The excuse from Cowpies fans last time around was that they only had 4 days rest. Translation:

 cowboys ready

Fuck outta here, you whiny bitches. It was the same 4 days of rest we had, plus WE had to travel.

If you take Dallas now having to travel east to play outside in cold air (making breath harder to recover, trust me, I know), and add it to the fast paced Offense we tired them out with two weeks ago;  it might have these guys on the sidelines wearing oxygen masks like they’re playing in Denver.

 

COWBOYS

Defense

Really? They have one?

Offense

My instincts say that with the colder, windier weather that will make the ball as hard as a brick, Dallas won’t want to throw the ball around too much. Especially if fans are loud enough to make it hard to hear in the huddle. (And just so you know: Run plays usually have short names like “23 Trap” or “31 Dive”; whereas pass plays have names like “Spider 2 Y Banana” or “Spread RT X Left Zoom Post 269”. So the louder fans are, the harder it is for an opponent’s passing game to be in synch.)

Basically this next game will be them attempting to get RB DeMarco Murray on track early. As long as we realize that and focus more on limiting him and don’t over-commit to stopping him altogether, we can throw a wet blanket over their whole offense again.

 

BOTTOM LINE

Dallas plays a style of ball that currently can’t beat us on offense and can’t keep up with us on defense. The only way we lose this game is if we’re careless with the ball and maybe not even then.

PREDICTION

EAGLES 40 – Cowboys 6

GIVE US FANS WHAT WE DESERVE!

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/11
Posted in: Crazy Talk, Fans, Front Office (F.O.), Rants. Tagged: , , , , , , . 9 Comments

article regular-fans

I’M so sick of watching our best players play their last down in a uniform other than ours. And don’t hand me that “One day contract” BS. I want their last down, their last inning, their last inbound pass, their last shot on goal. I want that. I need that. As a fan I deserve that. WE deserve that. Our loyalty has more than earned it.

You and I have spent years paying for that right. Not privilege. RIGHT!

Last night my ex and I were talking about the Jimmy Rollins trade…Actually she was talking about it. I was full-on bitching about it. Yeah, I get that we need to rebuild. I get that when you do that, you have to remove the old stuff first, but some shit is just fucking sacred. Or at least it should be. That thought prompted an exchange between my ex and I. Instead of telling you about it, I got her permission to show it to you.

 MyAnna

Okay granted, she was kind of a Madden 2K widow, but I later got help in the form of actually playing football. (Which she thoroughly  😉 dug!) But did you notice her lack of doubt in us winning a string of Super Bowls if I was the owner? It’s not as sweet as the blanket she made me for Christmas last year, but it was still pretty cool.

My point however, is I think to get a team that REALLY reflects US Philadelphians, we’re gonna need a Philly born, raised and based person to buy one of our teams. The current ownership regimes don’t feel this like we do. And here’s why:

The EAGLES owner Jeffrey Lurie: Boston Massachusetts.

The Flyers owner Ed Snider: Washington  D.C.

Sixers (principle) owner Joshua Harris: Chevy Chase, Maryland

Phillies primary owner Bill Giles*: Rochester, New York

(*part owner and team president David Montgomery is from Philly.)

The reason there’s so much disconnect between us and them, is because there is a disconnect between us and them. They don’t get us and we don’t get them.

I wonder if we could swing a Green Bay type of situation here? One where the public buys shares of the team and then pays a board to represent us and carry out OUR wishes. Be awesome if we could right?

Failing that, I’ll have to check my couch cushions and old coats to see if I have enough money to tempt Lurie into making that sale. That way there’s at least one owner of a Philadelphia team, who would finally give enough of a damn to give FANS of Philadelphian teams, what it is we truly deserve.

HITTING THE HOLES

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/10
Posted in: Defense, Draft, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , . 16 Comments

article regular-NFL Draft.640px.espn

 

WITH all the talk going on about which QB we want to win with or whether or not Chip Kelly (actually Howie Roseman) will draft a QB in 2015; what we haven’t really discussed is what we actually need. There’s been no real discussion on how to fill the holes on this team. Or even what those holes might be.

Let me get started by picking up where I left off:

GUARD: Last year I said the EAGLES needed to draft a young Guard. A real inside mauler. Just a big ol’, Popeye’s chicken eatin’ sumbitch. I know, I know. Our scheme is predicated on getting linemen in space, and running around in tutus and shit. That however is exactly why we do so much east west running. That’s cute in college, but in the pros, you need to be able to move the line of scrimmage. For that as you’ve seen this year, you need a mauler. So no more Tackles converted to Guard!

STRONG SAFTEY: We could also use a Strong Safety with some real speed. Even if employed in a Cover-Two, SS Nate Allen has been easy to run by for YEARS now. With a Safety being your last line of defense, he’s got to be able to run someone down. Since we won’t be able to pry UFA Rahim Moore away from Denver, I’m thinking the Draft is where I’d head for this spot too.

CORNERBACK: This is a weird one, because I think soon to be FA Bradley Fletcher is fine at CB, but I don’t think he’s pay raise worthy out there. Before yelling about drafting someone or adding another expensive FA, it makes sense to see what we have on the roster. But things are going too well (as far as wins and losses) right now to go sitting starters down just so we can say “let me see something”.

LINEBACKER: What every defense needs at its heart is a guy or two who will not be pushed around, and who will grab teammates by their short and curlies if they get caught being pushed around. If we do cut ILB DeMeco Ryans (as my friend Chris suggested could happen) to make cap space, a sneaky good addition could be current Bronco and soon UFA, Nate Irving. He’d be both the playmaker and the vocal leader you expect from a MLB.

Oops! Did I say MLB? This is assuming that DC Bill Davis gets canned after we get shelled in the playoffs. I love my EAGLES, but come on; we aren’t exactly holding our own vs playoff caliber teams this year. Part of that is the Defense. Actually a large part of it is the Defense. What do you think of Rex Ryan? I think it’d be nice to have another Ryan coaching our Defense. But not Rob.

 

EAGLES FUTURE: SANCHEZ vs FOLES

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/09
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Fans, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Roster, trade. Tagged: , . 2 Comments

players-nickfoles.marksanchez.4712EAGLES fans are at each other’s throats in regards to whether Nick Foles or Mark Sanchez is the QB of the future for this team. Fans of one QB are outright attacking the guy who isn’t their QB of choice. It’s to the point now where fans are showing more respect for Dallas QB Tony Romo than whichever guy they aren’t backing. Let me hip you to a few things that too many fans keep missing:

  1. Both of our QB’s have won more games than they’ve lost this year.
  2. You shouldn’t be rooting against either one of them.
  3. Sanchez is here on a one year deal. While he could resign with the EAGLES next year, it is far more likely that he’ll want to go somewhere and start. Dallas, Washington, Tampa Bay and Tennessee are all far more likely to give him that opportunity.
  4. If you’ve been looking at it as “Foles OR Sanchez” as our future options, you’ve missed the point entirely.

Here’s the point: We’re drafting a QB in the Spring of 2015.

Why now and not before? 

  1. Most NFL head coaches hired out of college with no (even positional) pro coaching experience, do poorly. So when Jeff Lurie hired Chip Kelly on a 3-year deal, it was a gamble.
  2. You don’t compound that gamble by risking a high draft pick to run an experimental Offense.
  3. Every QB Kelly has had except 4th rounder Matt Barkley has been a re-tread.
  4. With Kelly doing this well in his first two years, you can bank on him getting an extension next season.
  5. That extension will NOW give him the carte blanche and more importantly the time to groom his flagship QB. And what offensive minded head coach doesn’t want that? Make a list. You’ll find way more do’s than don’ts.

I’m on record here as saying that Foles isn’t a franchise QB, and I said that because he isn’t. True franchise QB’s put in work during the offseason. Foles didn’t. The results were evident. Blame his turnovers on the line or the run game if you like, but know these three facts:

  1. Sources (that’s multiple) inside the EAGLES say that GM Howie Roseman and others soured on Foles  even before his injury.
  2. Kelly may control the roster, but Roseman controls the purse strings. If Roseman isn’t sold on Foles, he will not give him a huge deal. Roseman has made too many mistakes already with throwing money around and with the coming cap crunch, he will have to be much more cautious with every dollar he spends.
  3. With the new CBA and rookie salary cap, even an expensive rookie QB taken in the 1st round would still be much cheaper (from 2015 through 2018) than Foles would be starting in 2016. (e.g. Blake Bortles was #3 overall in 2014 and has a 4 year 20.6M$ deal.) That alone makes drafting a QB a no-brainer for us.

It’s my thinking that Kelly would want Oregon QB [Marcus Mariota] as his guy. There’s a school of thought that says Mariota would be out of our reach pick-wise. I find that hilarious.

  1. Since Kelly’s system was instituted at Oregon in 2007, every QB that started in it has put up gaudy numbers. Thing is, with the NFL long being leery of System QB’s, not one of Oregon’s was drafted high. And that’s if they were drafted at all (Dennis Dixon 5th round, Jeremiah Masoli UFA, Darron Thomas UFA).
  2. Mariota has yet to have a pro day, an interview, or a Combine showing. But I won’t bet against him. In fact, what the hell, I’m generous. Let give him the benefit of the doubt: Let’s say he does go in the top 10.
  3. Considering the teams who’ll have a high pick that could use a star player to help put asses in the seats and who also don’t need QB help (Oakland, Jacksonville, Carolina), a trade could help the EAGLES both move up significantly and save some serious cap space in one master stroke.

You have to keep in mind that the EAGLES are first and foremost a business; and that what they’re doing is investing huge amounts of money, time, and even their own jobs in human capital. There are drivers to this QB situation that go way beyond who you may or may not like.

It’s high time that was recognized.

I DIDN’T RECOGNIZE THE EAGLES

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/08
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players. Tagged: , , , , , . 5 Comments

headshot

Seattle 24 – EAGLES 14

 

NOTHING I saw yesterday was familiar. Beyond the score and the results and the yards, I didn’t see the EAGLES out there yesterday. Particularly on Offense. Defensively, however I definitely saw my team. But let me talk about the Offense first.

It would be one thing to see us failing at what we’re good at, but we didn’t even seem to be trying. The biggest thing was the pace. When have you seen us look that slow under Chip Kelly? Not even the Green Bay game featured that snail’s pace. Don’t get me wrong, by normal NFL standards it was fine, but this Offense isn’t run by normal NFL standards; and last night it seemed like it took forever between plays. Worse still, there seemed to be no move to correct it after the half.

There didn’t seem to be a concerted effort to push the ball down the field either. QB Mark Sanchez (10/20 – 50% – 96 – 2 – 1) averaged fewer than 10 yards per completion, with his longest completion being a 35 yard catch and run touchdown by TE Zach Ertz (2 – 39 – 19.5 – 1). Unstack that and aside from that one completion, Sanchez was 9 for 19 (47%), while only throwing for 64 yards, with a completion average of 7.1 yards per. Not yards per pass mind you, but yards per completion.

Add to that all the east-west run plays we ran. RB LeSean McCoy (17 – 50 – 2.9 – 0) saw a decent number of carries as he quietly became the EAGLES all-time leading rusher. But even without his costly third quarter fumble, it was hardly an effective day by he or the Offensive Line.

Defensively we were who we are. We did a pretty decent job of handling RB Marshawn Lynch, but as is always the case, when we face a playoff caliber QB, everything wrong with our basic defensive concept gets lit up like Times Square. Seattle did nothing jaw dropping out there yesterday, but by playing common sense offense and not getting flustered when they made a mistake, they were able to shoulder past us.

I’ve said before that our problem on Defense is the guy who runs it. Until we replace him, we’ll be stuck with concepts that don’t work against playoff caliber teams. I said in the first article on this website, that as long as we stick with Bill Davis at Defensive Coordinator, we won’t be able to win a Super Bowl. Granted, maybe we’ll hit the playoffs, get hot and he’ll prove me wrong. However at the rate we’ve been going versus playoff caliber teams, both this season and last, it seems so far that I’m right on the money.

But again, I’m really kind of stunned by what I saw out there from our Offense yesterday.

LOCKING DOWN THE NFC EAST

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/03
Posted in: NFL, Players, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

bighurt

POOR Cowboys fans. 33-10 on our way to locking down the NFC East and it wasn’t even close. It was 33-10 in your HOME. 33-10 in front of a national audience. We humiliated you. Bullied you. Beat you.

BROKE YOU. And  it wasn’t even close.

Look at your QB. Look at him.

card-graham and curry

Giving up on the play to save his life. Feeling the heat. FEARING the hit. His nerve deserting him in front of the world. His back may have been injured, but his spine was missing entirely.

We took that from him.

We took HIM from you. We took Bryant from you. We took Murray from you. We took Witten. My god, we took it all. We just came and TOOK whatever we damned well pleased.

And in 2 weeks, we’re going to do it all over again. 

Prior to the last game some of your fans were saying how they hardly saw this as a rivalry. And I have to agree. Cats don’t consider mice rivals. You’ve become prey. The Cowboys are almost a food source now.

And in 2 weeks someone is going to lock you in our cage. Again, in front of a nation audience. Want to guess at how that will turn out? My prediction is-

First, we have this Seattle situation to handle. But you are on the menu. Don’t doubt that. Never doubt that.

See you in a bit.

TRADE NICK FOLES TO THE…

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/03
Posted in: Draft, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Roster, trade. Tagged: , , . 8 Comments

trade nick foles

IT’S time to trade Nick Foles.

This offseason I had hopes that Foles would show some traits of a franchise QB. That he’d rent a house for more space (since he lives in a condo not far from me), and call a few guys down to work on some concepts and get into each other’s heads a bit more. To learn to see what each other sees, like Peyton Manning and Demaryius Thomas; Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski; Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson. Like Donovan McNabb used to do at his home in Arizona.

I was hoping Foles would put in that kind of work, but he wasn’t interested. This season showed the results of that lack of commitment. The league caught up to him, because he was fine with standing still. And it’s that lack of inner fire that makes him expendable.

QB Mark Sanchez is 3-1 as an EAGLES starter. He also came to our rescue in relief against the Texans, after Foles had thrown the pick six that tied the game and was injured. Considering that Sanchez played ¾ of that game, and since it was essentially 0-0 when he came in, he’s basically a 4-1 starter.

Foles on the other hand has regressed badly this season. This was of course after Head Coach Chip Kelly declared him his QB for the next 1,000 years. That statement made Foles the franchise QB in name, but there was never the faintest hint of him living up to it prior to OTA’s.

He’s under contract for another year, so we could keep him in case of emergency.  However, to get value for him, it makes more sense to trade him. You won’t get much for him as he’s a 3rd round pick, with just one good year, which wasn’t enough to convince 50% of his own team’s fan base before he regressed. But if you can package him with a pick to a QB needy team, then it improves the value of whatever pick you put him with (Foles and a 4th is good for a 3rd. Foles and a 3rd is good for a 2nd …).

With teams like Dallas, Washington, Jacksonville, and Tampa Bay all looking for along-term answer at QB, Nick Foles is a better option than virtually any QB likely to be on those rosters in 2015. Or we could just sit pat and watch him got to one of them anyway after his contract expires after 2015. (If Foles is going to be a Cowboy or Redskin, I want something for him!)

TWO WORDS: FINISH STRONG

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/02
Posted in: Coaching, NFL, Players. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 5 Comments
players-lanejohnson.jasonpeters.andrewgardner.evanmathis..leseanmccoy.510.usatoday

Image courtesy USA Today

JUST four games left. Seems like only a week ago we were all screaming for the season to start. Everybody was knee deep in hope, ready to fight, holding two fistfuls of “I wish your fucking team would!” Today, already buried under the hope are the bodies of New York and Washington. It’s all but decided now. It’s ours for the taking. If we can just do one thing. Just two words: Finish strong.

As I type this while listening to Freeway’s verse in “Two Words”, I realize how close his native city is to being the last team standing in the NFC East. In one hand we hold the collar of the Dallas Cowboys. Their eyes rolled back in their head, mouth open, barely conscious. Our other hand raised in a fist, ready to be brought down strong to finish the job.

With the Cowboys being 8-4 to our 9-3 and one more meeting between us; a loss to our EAGLES leaves Dallas 11-5 at best if they win their other 3 games. Let me say that again. If we beat them, they can’t do any better than 11-5 this season.

For the EAGLES any win coupled with a win over the Cowboys and we sew up the division with an 11-5 record at worst. Again, that’s any win, plus beating Dallas. The numbers suggest that any 2 wins should do it; but if we go 2-2 while Dallas runs the table over their last 4, when the smoke settles on Week 17 we’d be 11-5 to their 12-4. With Detroit and Seattle out there, 11-5 may not guarantee a Wildcard. So we need to be all about following these two words: Finish strong.

 

EAGLES FANS, I NEED YOUR HELP  

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/11/30
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Crazy Talk, Fans. Tagged: , , , , . 5 Comments

FIGHTER

EAGLES family, I need your help! Let me start by first saying I’m sorry. I have seriously messed up here. Or maybe I didn’t and it’s no big deal. That will all hinge on what you do next.

I make memes which I post and many of you share to, show support for our team. Almost all of these have been good luck and are in constant use.

However, earlier this year I created the above meme, and I put it up before the 49ers game, and then right before the Cardinals game. We lost both.

Maybe I’m being superstitious, but we could wrap up the division if we win the next two games, and I don’t want ANYTHING to jinx it. So I’m asking my fellow fans to come on the site and help me remove this evil meme’s power by insulting it, and berating it. (Not me, the meme 🙂 )

If enough of you show up, I’ll destroy it.

Or maybe it’s no big deal, we don’t need any luck, and I should just put the meme up before we face the Seahawks next week. Your silence or your voices will tell me which is the right answer.