Coaching

JORDAN MATTHEWS COULD BE A MONSTER

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/01/17
Posted in: Coaching, Offense, Players. Tagged: , , , . 12 Comments
(Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

(Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

JORDAN Matthews is not the fastest WR, but he has other tools that should make him a monster. However, look at the pictures below and you may notice some big holes in his game.

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Now these are just a couple of stills and they can’t, won’t, and don’t tell the whole story of what many fans noticed all year long. (Mostly because published pictures of incompletions are outnumbered something like 35:1 by photos of completed passes.) However, all season two things about Matthews kept jumping out. He doesn’t consistently fight for position or attack/high-point the ball when it’s in the air. And it wasn’t just Matthews failing to do those things consistently.

High-pointing and fighting for the jump balls are two things that coaches teach starting in Youth Football. I know this because my friend Joe Frazier coaches Youth Football, and he says that he teaches it. We both belong to a Facebook group called BirdGang Bangers, and it was not rare this season to see Joe posting (ranting) about the lack of fundamentals displayed by our own professionals.

I was content to tag the athletes with the blame for this until during the Ohio State/Oregon game I saw this:

dwayne stanford

During a “gotta have it” possession, on a “gotta have it” down, late in the game and behind in the score, Ducks WR Dwayne Stanford dropped a WIDE open pass. He dropped it simply because instead of attacking the ball, he was falling away as he caught it. Not falling. Falling away. As in, fading back in preparation to turn and run. Not quite running before the catch, but in there.

It occurred to me that Ducks WR’s had been doing that all game long. Then my stomach knotted up with a horrible question. What if they’re being coached that way? Not just the Oregon Ducks, but the Philly Ducks, I mean Eagles. What if this is a feature of our system, just to make it easier for refs to award full forward progress? It would be good for most moments in games, but it won’t make players fundamentally sound for moments when the system fails and athlete has to make a play.

I spent years hating (and writing about) our former WR coach Dave Culley, for the way he never seemed to be able to maximize WR talent here. (Terrell Owens mostly wouldn’t even work with him). Now I’m seeing that Culley’s successor, Bob Bicknell, doesn’t seem to know how to get the most of his charges either. I have to say that makes me concerned for the development of players like Matthews and Josh Huff. Matthews has the tools to be a monster, but I wonder if he’ll get the coaching he needs to fully develop those tools.

Perhaps the Eagles would do well to give Coach Frazier a call.

EXPLAINING CHIP KELLY’S “PROMOTION”

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/01/05
Posted in: Coaching, Conspiracy Corner, Front Office (F.O.). Tagged: , , , , . 14 Comments

DISRESPECT wasn’t my intention three days ago when I referred to Chip Kelly as having received a “promotion”. Putting the word ‘promotion’ in quotation marks wasn’t a shot at Kelly. I was driving home my point. I told you in a couple days I’d explain why I did it, and that you’d agree with why I did it.

And now I owe you an explanation.

While  Kelly will oversee blahblahblah, and people will report directly to him over blahblahblah, I think it’s extremely important to take an ACTUAL look at the Eagles Front Office and where Chip Kelly fits in it:

taken personnel

Did you notice the name that was missing? Seems that Kelly isn’t part of the Front Office at all. That’s no big deal until you realize that many Eagles fans think he’s not just part of the F.O., but that he’s a powerful figure in it. In reality (as you can see) he has no executive power at all, but publicly he’s in the crosshairs for all of the blame. That’s why I called it a “promotion”.

When this move was announced, I looked to see where Kelly’s name was in the pecking order, but it didn’t appear anywhere. Over the weekend the Eagles organization hadn’t updated Howie Roseman’s promotion either, so I figured it would illustrate my point better if I waited and let the organization make my point for me. And they did.

You know, when Andy Reid had “final say”, Jeff Lurie had actually made him the Executive Vice President of Football Operations. Chip Kelly on the other hand, is still just the Head Coach. Only now he has more public responsibility, but no actual authority to do anything that he wasn’t already doing the day the season ended. And it’s right up there on the that chart put out by the Eagles.

 

 

THE (LOL) LAST WORD

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/01/03
Posted in: Coaching, Conspiracy Corner, Conversations, Front Office (F.O.), Players, Rants. Tagged: . 1 Comment

chip rub

SO Chip Kelly now has the final say on personnel decisions. Really? (LOL.) Lots of fans (the ones not as smart as us), have gone all frothy over that news. Functionally speaking, how is that different from a week ago? While others had input in those decisions, ultimately the guys we brought in, were Kelly’s guys.

The biggest difference between now and last week is, no one will argue with Kelly over “This player instead of that former Duck player” or “That player over this PAC12 player”. Now Kelly gets the final say without any argument first. It’s more of a stress saver for both he and Howie Roseman, than it is any actual, functional change.

What has me cracking up, is seeing people who are actually excited that Kelly has the reigns now. Like he’s been held down or was oppressed since he got here! Seriously. Show me another NFL roster with FIVE Oregon players on it. The closest is the giants with 4. Only one of those were drafted (in the 7th  round), by the giants, (2 were veteran FA additions, 1 an UDFA).

We drafted 2 (Josh Huff  and Taylor Hart  ), in the first 5 rounds just last year alone. For the last two years we’ve had Jeff Maehl  and Brandon Bair  taking up roster space. That’s it for Ducks if you don’t count attempts to shoehorn players like QB Dennis Dixon, RB Kenjon Barner  and WR Will Murphy  (who in three seasons at Oregon, totaled 24 receptions, 240 receiving yards, and one touchdown in 30 COLLEGE games and still collected pro money from US), onto this team.

Remember last year when Kelly hugged Taylor Hart and told him “We’re putting the family back together”? Brother, you had better believe it.

I included links in their names so you could see the level of talent we “kept from falling into enemy hands”. (LOL!) The only Duck on this roster prior to Kelly’s arrival was LB Casey Matthews. Long considered a flop by fans, Matthews has so far, been BY FAR, the best Oregon player Eagles fans have seen in an Eagles uniform.

And it’s not just the Ducks. It’s all the soft, candy-assed players who’ve come aboard since Kelly got here. We weren’t exactly brimming with roughnecks under Andy Reid either, but these last two years have been flat out ridiculous, and the on-field results are telling the tale.

Last year we had O-linemen who struggled to run block. RUN BLOCK! Please, if you played O-line before, weigh in and tell your fellow fans how ridiculous that is. I sound like a blowhard when it’s just me doing it. Somebody else please, if you played or coached it; tell people just how silly it is that your O-line can’t open a hole on a 22 Dive, on 2nd and 6. It goes right to the heart of the issue!

But now Kelly has full control so it’ll be different, right? Food will taste better, the sun will shine brighter, sex will feel better… MY ASS! This “promotion” changes nothing except who gets the shit shoveled onto their plate if it doesn’t work. By the way, there’s a reason I put the word promotion in quotation marks. It’s not a sign of disrespect at all, and when I bring it up again, you’ll see why and you’ll agree with why I did it.

PROMOTED, CHIP KELLY LOSES POWER STRUGGLE.

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/01/02
Posted in: Coaching, Conspiracy Corner, Front Office (F.O.), NFL. Tagged: , . 4 Comments

coach-chipkelly537px.nbcphiladelphia

MEANWHILE we still don’t know why Tom Gamble was fired. But to hell with that. They apparently fired him and promoted Chip Kelly whom Gamble served (as an advisor), to a position that would have had Gamble reporting to Kelly. Go ‘head, read that last sentence again. Now Kelly will “run the personnel department”. This promotion is such a boss move from Lurie, that it has my jaw on the ground.

Here is a direct quote from Jeffrey Lurie: “Chip will not be doing this work by himself, obviously. He has been charged with recruiting and hiring a new personnel executive that will report directly to him and together we will move forward with this new, highly integrated approach.”

Howie Roseman gets a “promotion” where they’ve taken away his ability to select players, and given it to Kelly. What’s interesting however, is at the end of that article, Lurie says that Roseman has also been given a contract extension. What makes that interesting, is that Kelly so far has not been given an extension.

Kelly is in a position to either make the Eagles look really good, or make himself look really bad. If he nails the player personnel gig, Lurie looks like a genius. If Kelly tanks it, nobody’s fingerprints but his are all over the decisions he’s made. Even Lurie’s golden boy, Roseman is insulated now. Oh yeah! Don’t be ashamed if you missed that. That sort of detail gets lost unless you look at the fine print. (Which is why you’re smart enough to come to this site.)

Last year’s three-headed monster of Kelly, Gamble and Roseman butting heads over players to draft is gone. This year it’s all neatly on Kelly.

For Lurie and Roseman it’s ‘heads I win, tails you lose’. It’s downright Machiavellian. Quite frankly I’m a little stoked. I had no idea that Lurie had something like this in him. It takes balls to even try this, let alone pull it off: Fire a guy’s right hand man; promote the guy you isolated; make him the point man for hiring his buddy’s replacement; and then give him enough rope to hang him and only him, as you insulate you and your buddy from any mess he could make. IT’S FUCKING BRILLIANT! I have to like it.

Meanwhile in the event that Kelly tanks and is fired, the Eagles handling of Tom Gamble, will come back to haunt us; as candidates to replace him will weigh this organization’s past, against their own futures.

This situation is a lot of things, but the one thing it isn’t, is over.

LURIE COULD BE HURTING THE EAGLES FOR DECADES

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/01/02
Posted in: Coaching, Conspiracy Corner, Front Office (F.O.), NFL. Tagged: , . 5 Comments

article regular-red-pill-blue-pill

TOM Gamble being fired as the Eagles VP of Player Personnel may hurt the Eagles for decades. Yes Eagles fans you read that right, and no I’m not exaggerating. I did in fact say decades.

Prior to our December collapse I said that you could bank on Chip Kelly getting an extension. However with the Gamble firing, reports are all over the map about whether or not the Eagles will want to keep Kelly after this season; and whether or not he’d even want to stay.

Scour the internet. You won’t find any mention of the Eagles extending Kelly beyond 2015. Or of even making an offer. This is something to be concerned about. With no unified vision in the Front Office, our next Draft could be a bigger mess than our last one. As horrible as that would be, there are ripples from this firing (so far) that go further than the Spring of 2015.

It’s not the firing of Tom Gamble that’s an issue, as much as it’s all the speculation that surrounds it, and that is being allowed to keep surrounding it. I can’t say how it looks to those inside the situation, but from out here, it looks like Jeffrey Lurie is a king with little control over his castle or direction for how it should be governed.

Over the years we’ve bleed some pretty solid Front Office talent: Tom Heckert, Joe Banner, Tom Gamble, Ryan Grigson…just too many self-inflicted wounds.

When the Eagles fired our All-time winningest coach in Andy Reid, no stream of candidates to replace him knocked on Lurie’s door for the job. In fact if you recall, it was getting to be sort of embarrassing how no one seemed to want the job. Even Kelly said ‘No’ before he said ‘Yes’. 

Now imagine we let Kelly walk after this season. Or worse if he decides not to re-sign.

If you were a head coach looking for a job, would you want to work for a team that chews up winning coaches, and bleeds top evaluators of football talent without  so much as a decent explanation? We could end up with the same problem that Oakland has had with hiring coaches. Or Buffalo. Or Detroit.

The perception of Jeff Lurie being someone you don’t want to work for could haunt this franchise for as long as he owns it. Good coaches attract good players. Sometimes for less money than they’d sign for elsewhere. That impacts who we can get and possibly make room to keep, on an annual basis. Stretched out over decades that’s high damage. And Lurie will likely own the team for decades.

That decades-long problem could be stemmed right now, and needn’t be a problem at all. Just tell everyone why Gamble was fired. Don’t make it a guessing game. Don’t make it a thing where it can be speculated that you can be fired over a “power struggle” or any other popularity contest. If there was a legitimate reason for firing Gamble, it needs to be known. Not just by fans and the media, but by any professional who may wish to manage, coach or play for the Eagles, as well as any player or coach or executive the Eagles may now or someday covet. Otherwise we may end up as a place that talent avoids instead of runs to.

OUR DEFENSELESS COORDINATOR

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/30
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Fans. Tagged: , , . 10 Comments

article regular-red-pill-blue-pill

THE season just ended Sunday. Players were cleaning out lockers on Monday. Here it is Tuesday and we’ve already had our first collective kick to the balls as a fan base. According to Head Coach Chip Kelly, Defensive Coordinator Billy Davis will return for a third season in 2015.

Chip Kelly said that he thought Davis’s unit did a “really good job” and even made some improvements. A MOMENT IF YOU WILL!

I’m guessing that Chip Kelly isn’t counting on Eagles fans looking beyond whatever he says. Seems he’s underestimated you and I. Look. Here’s where our Defense ranked in 2013 and 2014:

 

Interceptions did jump from 8 to 21. Sacks (not on that chart) also went up from 37 to 49. Those are the bright spots.

Total Yards we went from 29th to 28th. Technically that is an improvement. Qualitatively, it really isn’t.

Points Allowed we went from 17th to 22nd. That’s a regression.

Takeaways went from 3rd to 6th. Also a step back.

Kelly said that he felt that the run defense improved. The truth is no, it really didn’t. In 2014 teams attempted fewer rushes than in 2013, but we fell from 10th best run defense to 15th and rushing TD’s allowed went from 15 to 21.

Pass defense shows no signs of improving. We went from 32nd to 31st in passing yards allowed, and from allowing 14 TD’s to allowing 28.

There are conceptual inefficiencies that our opponents have become expert at exploiting. Add to that Davis’s inability to make in-game adjustments, and you have a recipe for failure.

Some might want to argue that Davis’s system has helped us to 2 consecutive 10-6 seasons, or 20-12 overall. Maybe. But I’d wager that Davis’s system has more to do with that 12 than that 20.

Regardless, we’re gonna roll the dice on this guy for a third year. I feel a little less optimistic about 2015 already.

EAGLES/GIANTS PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/26
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Preview. Tagged: , , , , . 5 Comments

12.28.14-Wk17

SUNDAY 1:00 Metlife Stadium – East Rutherford, New Jersey

 

STUPID. STUPID. STUPID.

SO we’re gonna play our starters, because Our coach wants to put our best guys out there and WIN. Despite the fact that this will likely push our draft position (reportedly at 20th right now) even farther back. And before you say dropping a spot or two is no big deal, let me just say 4 word in dispute of that: Ha Ha Clinton Dix.

Because we missed Dix by one pick, GM Howie Roseman and Head Coach Chip Kelly decided to traded back 4 spots. We drafted Marcus Smith #26 overall. We’re about to deliberately jack-knife our own Draft.

 

EAGLES

Defense

Many fans want to pretend that our pass defense JUST became an issue this year. But last year when everyone (except me) was cheering about playoffs and what a genius Chip Kelly was, we were ranked DEAD LAST against the pass. DEAD LAST. The 253 passing yards per game we’re giving up this year, is down from the 289 per game we were giving up last year. If you’re just now upset over our spotty coverage, shame on you for not paying better attention this whole time.

Since we don’t commit much to playing pass defense, it allows us to play more guys up front so we get decent pressure and shut down the run pretty good. Which is a shame, since the NFL is a passing league now.

Offense

Our pace is slower and we’ve stopped doing certain things like calling for deep routes and calling Bubble-screens to spread out the opposing secondary. We also don’t involve RB Darren Sproles anywhere near as much as we should. None of these can be laid at the feet of execution. What you stop calling and who you stop playing are coaching decisions. These are deliberate moves spanning weeks.

 

GIANTS

Defense

They bleed points and cough up as much rushing yardage as any team in the league. We’re talking total bottom feeders here. But the giants won’t be playing to win, since THEIR coach isn’t an idiot.

Offense

The giants will be playing their starters too, BUT the difference is, Tom Coughlin’s team will be giving work to young guys that they’ll depend on for at least another year. We on the other hand will be allowing guys we don’t want to keep to audtion while guys we need to learn about will sit.

 

BOTTOM LINE

I’m so fucking disgusted, that I’m almost numb. Unless Chip Kelly has a trick up his sleeve (the likes of which no one has ever heard), we’re about to add insult to injury. No! Scratch that! We’re about to add long-term injury to short-term injury. Because Tom Coughlin can recognize the faux value in winning what’s basically the first preseason game of 2015.

PREDICTION

EAGLES 21 – Giants 14

 

 

CHIP KELLY IS AN IDIOT.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/23
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Draft, Front Office (F.O.), Players, Rants, Roster. Tagged: , , , . 9 Comments

kellyore

FIRST off, I wasn’t a fan of his hiring to begin with. So before your mouth begins to form the word “bandwagon” you can just dry swallow that.

Here is an excerpt from Monday’s press conference when Chip Kelly was asked about playing his back-ups:

“It’s not about trying to see what the future is,” Kelly said. “It’s about we got a game. I would not be fair in any of my beliefs and I would not be fair to any football player right now if I said to some guy, ‘Hey, I know you’re a better player, but I’m going to play a younger guy now.’ That’s not what we’re all about. If you want to go do that, go somewhere else. That’s not us.”

So we’re gonna play to win. That’s right EAGLES faithful; we’re gonna get one more long look at QB Mark Sanchez (expiring deal). “OLB” Brandon Graham (expiring deal). WR Jeremy Maclin (expiring deal). CB Bradley Fletcher (expiring deal). SS Nate Allen (expiring deal). DE Cedric Thronton (expiring deal). Naw. No need to get an extended “live” look at the guys behind those guys though.

So instead of getting a long look at the depth on our roster, we’re going to be playing to win. WHY!? Of what POSSIBLE benefit could a win by our starters be NOW!? If our back-ups can win a game, then maybe we don’t need to draft so high, but starters winning tells you nothing. It nets you nothing. Apparently picking 20th in the Draft isn’t low enough for Kelly’s taste. We’ll be looking to deliberately dig our hole deeper.

Here’s the deal: You get to be an arrogant dick when you WIN playoff games. Not when you get manhandled by a finesse team like the Saints one year, and then utterly fucking face-plant while running away with the division during the following year. He is one more bushel of Oregon bench-warmers away from setting this franchise back 4 years, after his bitch ass goes 8-8 next year and he bails for the comfort of the college ranks.

“It’s not about trying to see what the future is,” is a direct quote. Right out of his mouth. He just doesn’t fucking get it. The future is literally half of this game. It’s what the film study is for. It’s why scouts work year round. It’s why teams trade picks sometimes years in advance. Then again, not looking ahead may be why his draft record is so shitty. It would explain why the EAGLES Draft board was in so much disarray this year, when a couple of guys they wanted were off the board already. For a college coach Kelly certainly has no feel for young players.

Seriously, name one player drafted here in the last two years who developed into an NFL starter with a dramatically better game than they had coming out of college. The closest you get is Bennie Logan. Our last 1st round pick, sucks too bad in practice to even play. He’s making 1.5 million to watch football games. Us they charge for the same thing. But this is who Kelly wanted. Because the future. “That’s not what we’re all about.” You said it, Chip.

DISCUSSING WHAT WENT WRONG

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/23
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Crazy Talk, Fans, Rants. Tagged: , , , , . 1 Comment

Mick

SO I go down to my favorite bar, hoping to have a talk with the Mickey Goldmill of football, my friend Rhodie, about what went wrong this year. No sooner than I walk through the door, Danny is up and ushering me to the back. “Where the hell have you been?” he asks me.

Rhodie is not on his perch at the bar. A sick feeling hits my gut, and in a flash I wish I’d stayed home. My first thought is that something happened to Rhodie, and that the bar wants to break it to me gently. Instead, seated at a table like some guest, is Rhodie. He doesn’t say hello, he just points to the chair. Grateful that the old fuck is still with us (still with me), I sat my ass down.

“They could still go 10-6” he cackles. “That what you want?”

I could have been smug about basic math and said that 10-6 or 9-7 is better than the 7-9 he predicted.  Except that if you don’t make the playoffs, 10-6 or 9-7 isn’t better than 7-9. It’s worse. It’s a lower pick in every round. We screwed ourselves as badly as we could have this year. So I didn’t get all smug about how 9 or 10 wins is more than 7. Truth to tell, in this situation he was right, we would have been lucky to go 7-9. Total case of irony.

So I sat and waited to learn something from someone who had CLEARLY demonstrated (yet again) that he knows more than all of us. Or at least knows something we don’t. I turned on the recorder as he wiped his tongue with his napkin and raise his glass in a silent toast.

“What do you think of the Defense? Don’t bother. I get to read what you write on ######’s computer when he brings it in. You think it’s the scheme, but I think it’s that we don’t have any tough guys. And when (DeMeco) Ryans went out, it only got worse.”

I asked him if it was the Defense that he pinned this collapse on, and not Mark Sanchez.

He chuckled. “What you’re really askin’ me is, if I agree with you. Like I said, I read what you write. So relax. The answer is, yeah I agree with you. When you can score like the EAGLES do and still miss the playoffs, that ain’t nobody but the Defense. Look, you know a lot more about schemes and crap than I do, but I know football, and these EAGLES are missing a ticker. Who’s the heart and soul of that Defense? Nobody that’s who.”

I asked him what he thought about Nick Foles. That discussion became a whole other article. Or two, depending on how I split it. I’ll just sum up and say that compared to Rhodie, I look like a Foles cheerleader.

I mentioned that I still don’t think Chip Kelly is leveling with the fans, and at that point Rhodie hooted and asked what I was drinking. I said I wanted a Cosmo and he responded with “Are you fuckin’ serious?” I was. I wanted a Cosmo. So I got a Cosmo.  Then I asked him where he thought it all came apart. I drank while he talked.

“He’s in over his head. Last year he was good against shit teams. This year he’s good against shit teams. Last year was10-6 with a playoff loss, this year is 9 wins and no playoffs. That look like progress to you? And this arrogant prick don’t think he needs to change nothin’! He insists on running a pro team like a college one. I told you how 2013 would go. I told you how this year would go.”

 “Here’s the thing. Kelly wasn’t a great finisher in college and now he can’t finish in the pros. He doesn’t build sound offensive players, just guys who play well in that style he coaches. His deal is, don’t worry about the Defense, just outscore the other guy. Don’t worry if players are tired, just keep going fast. Don’t worry about tryin’ to coach players to understand the game, just make sure they understand their assignment at that moment. (Jeff) Lurie replaced the EAGLES all-time winningest coach with an imposter. He traded in a workhorse for a show pony. A show That’s what the EAGLES have become now. Just a good show. Now we gotta watch that fa***t Cowboys team parade around like they did something, besides watch us collapse. They didn’t win the division, we dropped it on the ground and walked away from it. You ask me why we came apart?! You ask me?! I coulda told you in the fall.” (He did in the summer actually) “We didn’t come apart. We were never together. This guy is (Joe) Kuharich all over again.” Then he yelled for the Primo’s menu.

I ordered a Big T Diablo (a whole on a Sarcone’s roll), and resolved to take a much closer look at the 2014 season than I did the 2013 season. Just a total deconstruction, start to finish. Break it down by the first round of Free Agency, and bounce it off my readers as I go, to see what you have to say about it.

And I’ll of course bounce it off of Rhodie too.

START MATT BARKLEY

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/22
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , . 3 Comments

Card-matt barkley

THE 2014 EAGLES season is over. This next game is a preseason game with stakes. Or it should be. If Chip Kelly has any sense at all, he should start Matt Barkley. It’d be smart to know if our second year QB can serve as a viable second stringer in his third year, or if we should free up the cap and roster space for someone who has a chance to be of use to the team.

Now is the time to get a look at our roster and see who can deliver when the lights come on. All indications are that we’re going to lose some key players this offseason, so it’s better to know before Free Agency and the Draft, who is and who is not for real.

Not only should Barkley get to start, but so should:

  • CB Jaylen Watkins. This kid may have been a college CB, but he’s an NFL FS. Regardless, until he gets some playing time, he’s just a wasted pick. Be nice to see Malcolm Jenkins take this kid under his wing.
  • OLB Marcus Smith. He’s made 1.4M$ to do nothing this year, and next year is on tap to pull down 1.7, on a 4 year deal worth a fully guaranteed 7.99M. Even if we cut him today, he counts against our cap for at least one more year in dead money. And that’s space we can’t afford to waste. Not to mention the roster spot. Time to see if this guy has anything to contribute.
  • WR Josh Huff. Give the guy a whole game. Let him be the guy who has to erase his mistakes. Let him learn the progression of why things in this game happen, not just what things happen. He plays like he doesn’t recognize moments, or situations. This throw-away game is a perfect laboratory for him. He’d have a number of plays that he can get wrong and also get right, so then he can compare him vs him in both instances. Let him mature himself this offseason, and maybe he’ll make fewer boneheaded mistakes in 2015.
  • SAK Trey Burton. He’s the anti-Josh Huff. He just makes heads-up plays when called upon. Undrafted, unheralded, nobody’s darling, a total dark horse to make the team. I was rooting for him in the preseason even though I didn’t think the guy stood a snowball’s chance in Hell of sticking. Kelly surprised and impressed me by keeping him. Burton’s a (SAK) Swiss Army Knife who plays QB, TE, WR, and RB. He’s already logged 5 carries for 10 yards this season, and I’d like to see him get a few more of those.

Week 17 finds us standing knee-deep in the debris of what was (not that long ago), a successful 2014 season. However, despite the wreckage that surrounds us now, this season could have one more gift to give down the line. When the dust of 2014 finally settles, things heading into 2015 could be clearer than they ever were heading into 2014.