Rants

THE OFFENSE’S UNSPOKEN PROBLEM

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/10/06
Posted in: Coaching, Offense, Rants. Tagged: , , , . 9 Comments

players-foles+mccoy550px eagledelphia

IT’S easy to blame the Offensive Line for the mess that our Offense has become, and while they shoulder part of the responsibility, the Offensive Line isn’t overthrowing WR’s, or dropping passes. The Offensive Line isn’t holding onto the ball too long, or dancing around before it hits the hole. We have other problems.

Of course, the first step to fixing any problem is correctly identifying it.

The first problem (nope, no foreplay), is that we’re missing DeSean Jackson. Or more accurately, Nick Foles is missing DeSean Jackson. And Riley Cooper is missing DeSean Jackson. And so is LeSean McCoy.

Last year in 10 starts Nick Foles got to just lay the ball out there, knowing Jackson has the speed to get under it. In case after case this year, we’ve seen that Foles no longer has a WR who can do that. That’s where all those rainbow shots are coming from, as Foles tries to put enough air under the ball to allow who he has left, to run under the ball. The result has been more than twice the interceptions in half the starts, compared to last year. You may say you don’t miss Jackson, but the numbers don’t lie. Nick Foles misses DeSean Jackson.

Let’s take drops out of the equation. Last year Riley Cooper averaged 17.8 yards per catch, and generally caught balls with lots of space around him. This year the coverage is tighter and he’s averaging a meager 8.3 yard per catch. I had a laugh when Chip Kelly said that aside from Calvin Johnson, no WR in the NFL sees double coverage. I’ll give Kelly the benefit of the doubt and say that instead of lying to make the loss of Jackson more palatable for fans, he merely doesn’t recognize bracket coverage when he sees it. Regardless of which one it is, Cooper is no longer the beneficiary of loose coverage. At this rate by season’s end, his new, over-inflated, NON-GUARANTEED contract won’t be commensurate with his play and will be expendable. I promise you, right about now DeSean Jackson is one n***** Cooper misses.

When the Free Safeties of most defenses you face, line up almost in the parking lot on most downs, it makes turning short runs into long runs much easier. On runs when LeSean McCoy can make it out of the backfield, he has plenty of those short runs to his credit. Problem is, there isn’t much space for him to create now. Now all the dancing around people loved about him last year, is getting him hemmed in most of the time this year. LeSean McCoy misses DeSean Jackson.

Getting rid of Jackson was one thing, but assuming that you didn’t have to replace his effect as a catalyst was outright foolish. But again, this is just to identify the problem. We don’t have a player on the roster who can do what Jackson did (try as Jeremy Maclin might). But there are things we can do to get us back on track, and what’s more, we can do it with guys we already have under contract.

And I’ll get into that, starting tomorrow.

FOLKS ARE TALKING SUPER BOWL!

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/09/22
Posted in: Defense, Offense, Rants. Tagged: , , , , . 6 Comments

card-nickfoles

 

YESTERDAY on one of the pre-game shows someone said that the last time Philly went 3-0 was 2004. He followed it up with “and you know what happened that year.” Five hours later after a hard fought win, we were indeed 3-0. The pride in that record was unmistakable.

The funny thing about being undefeated is that people stop talking about your flaws. It’s as if a perfect record somehow places a team above criticism of any sort. The moment anyone brings any flaw up, it’s “Aw man! Why can’t you just be happy with the wins?!”

To be clear, I am happy with the wins. However I also know exactly what they are.

We’ve beaten 3 teams, who’ve played a combined 9 games, and have all of 2 combined wins. Both against Jacksonville. In every game we’ve played so far we’ve had to stage comebacks against teams that can’t get big leads against other opponents.

All of our 3 sacks have come against Jacksonville. 145 of our 326 rushing yards came against Jacksonville. Last year’s Rushing Leader LeSean McCoy is averaging 2.9 yards a carry, and has 1 touchdown on 70 touches (60 carries, 10 catches) so far.

Next week we get a San Francisco team that is no longer elite (far from it actually), but they aren’t the barely warm stiffs we’ve been pounding on so far in 2014. While it’s been nice to see our guys battle back and never give up like they did HERE, we have yet to see them impose their will in regard to doing the grunt work that is at the heart of the game of football.

Despite our domination of bad teams, there has been nothing to indicate yet that this team can hang with a playoff caliber team. That is unless you want to say that Jacksonville, Indianapolis and Washington are your idea of playoff caliber teams.  (Well maybe Indy.)

Understand, my point isn’t to bash or point fingers (notice how I didn’t place ANY blame), my point is only to say there is plenty here that we need to work on before we start with the “You know what happened the last time we were 3-0?” type of talk. Let me be the first to say it: A division win coupled with another one and done playoff run, would be hollow. If that’s the best we can do, I’d rather have a better Draft pick.

If we’re gonna make a REAL run, we need to make some REAL improvements.

MARK MY WORDS

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/09/04
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Rants. Tagged: , , , , , . 4 Comments

mark

 

SOME fool almost made me spit out my coffee this morning. You see that picture up there? It was put up in a Facebook group I’m a member of. Now as you know (if you’re one of my regulars), I don’t generally post stupid shit on my site, but there was so much wrong with this, that I HAD to put this up. 

First, see how it’s a post made by a Redskins fan? They have no right to talk about someone else’s football team. Their squad has been so bad, for so long that I’m not sure those people even know what football is anymore. If RGKnee faked the handoff, and jump-shot the football, their fans would be mad that Garcon didn’t grab the rebound.

Second, when Dan Snyder is your team’s owner, where do you get off talking about another team’s? Jeff Lurie had to borrow money to buy a franchise that was beginning to tank, and turned it into a profitable, and consistent winner. Our former GM Joe Banner set the standard for cap management used by teams across the NFL. Synder on the other hand has had his tenure marked by bad coaching hires, legendary Free Agent disasters, and fan attendance that despite what sales numbers indicate, keep showing up on television as rows upon rows of empty seats. And the seats that are filled are often left empty well before games end.

Third, this dude is only running his mouth because we made it possible for them to have one besides Pierre Garcon. Seriously. Last year they SPLIT starts mostly between Leonard Hankerson and Josh Morgan with 7 apiece. They didn’t feel either man was good enough for a full half-season. This is what their 2013 Receiving Stats looked like. And you want to talk WR quality????

Fourth, for as much as ‘skins fans SAY they don’t care about any other team this dude certainly seems to be up on out deets. Knows our cap space, and our depth chart. But naw! That ain’t stalking. 

Lastly, this guy sound DISAPPOINTED at the effort being made by our teams owner. Read those last two sentences. Wow right?!

‘Skins fans…. Got me shaking my head.

THERE ARE NO COWBOYS OR REDSKINS FANS.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/09/03
Posted in: Fans, Rants. Tagged: , , , , , , . 6 Comments

cowards

 

COWBOYS and Redskins fans have turned their backs on their teams. It’s clear why they did that. It’s because they’re ashamed of them. Notice the way they do anything they can to avoid discussing the current versions of their rosters.

When was the last time you heard one their “fans” talk about how good their teams are now? All they want to talk about is how good their teams used to be. The embarrassment of what they’ve become has driven them to this.

What you’re seeing is pain, fear and shame brought about by decades of abject humiliation.

ASK any Cowboys fan who their favorite defensive player is. Their immediate answer will be “5 rings!” They hide behind that statement like a child behind a mother’s skirt. What’s sad is that Cowboys are supposed to be symbols of rugged American forthrightness, but these fans exemplify only soft cowardice. And to bring out this cowardice you need only ask a single direct question about the current state of their team.

WHEN our EAGLES went 8-8 then 4-12, we fans didn’t hide. No one could been more vocal than us. When Andy Reid moved Juan Castillo from Offensive Line Coach to Defensive Coordinator, we were the first to say it was a bone-headed move. I still happen to love Reid as a coach, but that was a dumbass move and we sucked in part because of it. But we’ll come right out and say that. We didn’t look at 2011 and 2012 and say “Yeah but what about 2001-2004?” We didn’t bail. Because bailing would have been a bitch move.

SPEAKING of bitches, Redskins fans (by law) should be forbidden to talk about football. Two decades and change of irrelevance does not equal valid shit talking. In fact, ‘skins fans should have less to say than JFK.

Instead what you hear is “3 rings!” as they try desperately to pretend that the last quarter century hasn’t existed. That they haven’t been reduced to a struggling, flailing, laughingstock of a franchise. That they haven’t been run into the ground by their owner. They tried to return to glory by bringing back the coach who led them to that last Lombardi trophy, and all they did was drag him down with them and stain his legacy.

It’s no wonder they avoid talking of themselves today. What would they say? What do they have to be positive about? They have nothing. Nothing.

IT’S true. Since the NFL Championship was re-branded, our EAGLES have never won it. In fact, we’re 0-2 when it comes to playing in Super Bowls. But the difference is you and I can face it when our team sucks. We aren’t afraid of the bad times because we’ve been bad before, and we got better. We didn’t bail on our team when things got hard for them. We didn’t forsake those we watched during the low times, for the comfort of our memories.

We didn’t because we’re tougher than that. Because we’re better than that. And that makes us better than Redskins and Cowboys fans who dishonor their teams every DAY! And who fail daily in teaching their children (the next generation of fans), what fan loyalty REALLY is.

MY fellow EAGLES fans, I submit to you that if you haven’t met a Cowboys or Redskins fan who can discuss NOW, that you have never met any Cowboys or Redskins fans at all.

THE FIRST WAVE OF EAGLES CUTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/08/24
Posted in: Coaching, Front Office (F.O.), Players, Rants. Tagged: , , , . 3 Comments

chippah!

 

LOT has happened in the 24 hours. For one thing I haven’t slept yet.  Oh yeah, and then of course, yesterday 14 EAGLES players learned that their dreams of playing in the NFL may be totally dead, when they were cut from the roster in the first of two waves of cutdowns (August 26th and August 30th).

None of the guys who were cut were big losses for the team, but there’s something about these cuts that’s really irritating me. Most of my followers already know what it is.

It’s the Ducks.

No! You know what? It’s not the Ducks. It’s the blatant favoritism shown by Chip Kelly towards the Ducks (his former players). It’s not production that has kept them here, so let’s not delude ourselves into thinking this is a “comfort level with the system” thing. In fact, let me get you some examples.

Of the players cut here’s how they matched up against their Oregon counterparts who still have jobs:

 

WR:

STAYED:                   CUT:

Jeff Maehl                  B.J. Cunningham

Will Murphy                Kadron Boone

 

DE:

STAYED:                   CUT:

Brandon Bair            Frances Mays

Taylor Hart               Alexandro Villanueva

.                                Joe Kruger

 

LB:

STAYED:                   CUT:

Josh Kaddu                 Jake Knott

 

Knott was cut due to a numbers crunch and an upcoming 4 week PED suspension, but in each of these cases, the guys cut out performed at least one of the Oregon guys who got to stay. This wrong. merit is not deciding these battles. 

Maybe it’s the caffeine talking, but if you add to this the continued benching of Vinny Curry (just because DC Bill Davis keeps underestimating him), it feels a lot like we may not be putting our best guys on the field. If we can do that and manage to still win the division, hey who am I to argue? But if we fall short this year with all of these iffy players on the roster, Kelly shouldn’t be allowed a 3rd year here.

 

MY DEAREST HATERS,

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/08/17
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, Rants. Tagged: , , , . 1 Comment

HatersBall

WHEN I don’t like a food, I don’t eat it. When I don’t like a place, I don’t go. I also don’t support artists who I think are mediocre. Why? Because I’m a grown ass man.

Every day I get at least a few responses from whiny little bitches, who claim to hate my work, but who never miss a page of it. Seems to me if it was so bad, they’d find something else to do. Right?

But that would be too much like not being full of shit. So everyday it’s the same handful of tubesteak-eating ass-hats, who read me HERE, and then drag their raggedy asses elsewhere (Facebook, Google+, etc.) to complain that they hate today’s article as much as all of my other ones.

It’s usually some bumpkin from Never Heard Of It, Pennsylvania, or Not Even On A Map, New Jersey. Places that don’t understand Philadelphia, it’s fans, OR it’s football. Places with populations of 300 to 1,000, where the gene pool is so shallow that it’s less of a pool, and more of a sidewalk puddle. Which I guess explains what appears to be a pandemic of low-level mental retardation amongst these hate-filled hillbillies.

The sane and smart thing to do, would be to simply stop reading my articles. Lord knows I wouldn’t miss the clicks that these cousin-riders generate, because they represent such a small number of my daily views. Also I don’t make a dime off of per click ads. Never have.

Notice that you don’t see outside ads on Eaglemaniacal.com? (In fact, right now even my ads are off temporarily). My followers and I don’t have to tolerate these mouth-breathing, idiots because this site doesn’t chase high volume. It’s designed to not need it. It’s why I sell custom fan gear. It’s why I can aggressively take down blatantly offensive, and/or disrespectful comments on here. It’s also why you’ll see complaints on other sites from chicken chokers who had their asses tossed and were blocked from posting here. They can still read articles and buy all the merchandise they like. (And a couple have.) Why shoot myself in the foot, right? (Funny how the ‘191’ jerseys never got a single complaint during their run. Guess I’m not all bad.)

Look around at the comments and you’ll see everyone here can spell and has some class. This place is exclusive, because I keep it that way. Some people are flat out not good enough to be on here, and I don’t mind saying so.  

I’m sure some of you were expecting to come on here and see some drama. See some names dropped, and dragged through the mud. Maybe an argument or two. That’s not how I do things on here. 

What I will do is say to my haters,  THANK YOU. Over  these last few months some of your comments have drummed up far more attention than I could have ever done on my own. Some of that has helped generate sales for me, and (MAN, do I want to name names here), a couple of you have even made purchases yourself.

So keep it coming haters. As you can see, I’m doing me on my terms, and a couple times I’ve done it literally at your expense. So either walk away and never look back, or keep on working for me for free. I’m good either way. In the meantime, my loyal followers and I will continue to enjoy our EAGLES fan-site for classy and intelligent grown-ups

And now for: THE TRUE MEANING OF THE PRESEASON

FEELING DEFENSIVE ABOUT VINNY CURRY

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/08/13
Posted in: Defense, Players, Rants. Tagged: , , , . 5 Comments

card-vinnycurry

EAGLES Defensive Coordinator Bill Davis told the world that Vinny Curry doesn’t have what it takes to start in his 3-4 system. Or put better, that Davis doesn’t think that Curry at only 278 pounds, can be very good there.

Citing Curry as being under-sized, Davis said that Curry wouldn’t be able to handle the job of playing the run, and essentially said that he is strictly a pass rusher.

Remember last year when Both Davis and Chip Kelly said that the Defense wouldn’t be a 3-4 or a 4-3, that it would be “Multiple”, that it would be a “4-3 Under”?

WELL WHERE THE FUCK DID THAT GO? Because I sure as hell haven’t been seeing it!

Now we’re being told that career underachiever Bill Davis can’t find a way to get what could be our best lineman, out on the field.

This despite Curry’s dedication to get better. This despite the fact that any time Curry is out there, he makes his presence felt. Meanwhile there’s a role enough for drafting 281 pound Taylor Hart? With his 16 sacks in 4 years of COLLEGE? What the fuck is that all about?  If 278 is too small to be a regular contributor, why draft that small at all, let alone reach to do it? Every player is an injury away from starting, right? Why stick yourself with a little guy, if you don’t believe in them on principle? Something doesn’t add up here.

So on top of being lied to about what we’re running (run whatever system you like, but don’t LIE to fans about it), we’re now being told that putting out tour best guys isn’t how this system works. Seeing as how it only yielded 39 sacks and finished dead last against the pass last year, I’m thinking that maybe it wouldn’t hurt to re-evaluate that aspect of our system.

ENDING THE McNABB DEBATE, FOREVER.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/08/04
Posted in: Fans, NFL, Players, Rants. Tagged: , , , , . 5 Comments

Card - GOAT MCNABB

 

DONOVAN McNabb is the Eagles all-time best QB. Whether you love him or hate him, his current standing as the All-time best QB in the history of the EAGLES franchise, is a fact.

While that fact can and may change in the future, for the present and back it is immutable. It is rendered immutable by every single recognized standard which is used to measure the success of an NFL QB.

Here is a list of reasons McNabb is the EAGLES All-time best:

Games Played:   148  <#1 All-time>

Starter W/L:  92-49-1 (.647)   <#1 All-time>      (Next closest: Randall Cunningham 63-43-1 (.588)

Playoffs:   9-7 .562  <#1 All-time>                      (Next closest: Ron Jaworski at 3-3 (.500))

Passing Yards:   32,873  <#1 All-time>             (Next closest: Jaws with 26,963)

TD’s:    216  <#1 All-time>                                  (Next closest: Jaws with 175)

Completion %:   59.0  <#1 All-time>                   (Next closest Cunningham 55.7)                         (NFL minimum 1,500 attempts to qualify)

Rating:   86.5  <#1 All-time>                              (Next closest Cunningham 78.7)                             (NFL minimum 1,500 attempts to qualify)

 

If you want wins, McNabb has the wins. If you want numbers, he owns every relevant franchise record we have. If you want a Super Bowl win to be the qualifier, the fact that there is no other Super Bowl winner automatically means you can’t disqualify any EAGLES QB, and have to pick new criteria.

As far as going to the 1960 NFL Championships to be the qualifier, I dare you to look at the rest of Norm Van Brocklin’s career as an EAGLES player. Go ahead and get back to me. I’ll wait.

You may want to cite Tommy Thompson, winner of the 1948 and 1949 Championships. Only problem there is that he wasn’t the full-time starter. He was sort of…platooned in and out. And of course he was also a bit of a turnover machine. In 8 years with the team in 1,396 attempts, he threw 90 TD’s and 100 picks. That means 7.2% of his passes were interceptions! This may be why he could never nail down the starting gig.

McNabb also threw 100 interceptions…in 11 years, and 4,746 attempts. His 2.1 interception percentage is the lowest ALL-TIME in franchise history. FYI: At the time of his trade to the Redskins, his was the 2nd lowest interception percentage of All-time. PERIOD. As in all of NFL History.

Yes, he threw up in the Super Bowl. And? Did he keep playing despite being sick? (Michael Jordan still gets praise for doing that, but then those are Chicago fans.) Yes, McNabb threw 3 interceptions in the Super Bowl. He also threw 3 TD’s while Tom Brady only managed 2. (And don’t get me started on that whole Spygate thing.)

I’ve always found this kind of funny: Jaws also threw three picks in a Super Bowl. ALL TO THE SAME LINEBACKER!  He also threw only ONE TD, but fans (most of whom have never seen him play) have fully embraced him. This, despite him being a career .500 (actually .503) player, who was also a bit of a turnover machine, which is supposed to be what so many hated about Michael Vick. Weird, wild stuff.

 

McNabb’s greatness as an EAGLE isn’t even debatable. There isn’t a single fact to support an argument against it. When you end up talking to someone who tries to free-climb that glass wall, you hear a shitload of personal bias, but nothing that factually stands up. They of course can always recall “that pass” they didn’t like (out of 4,746), or that game when he “did X instead of Y”, or “Air Guitar-gate”. The entirety of their argument is “No Super Bowl” plus their personal bias, weighted against his entire career.

And the worst part of all of this is that no one attacks him harder than the fans he played for. Well SOME of the fans he played for. Meanwhile because of these idiots, the national media looks at our entire fan base like we’re all drooling retards. If only some of these EAGLES fans had the loyalty of even a Cowboys fan.

Well I for one am putting a stake in the ground and declaring my stance on the matter. And the great thing is since I’m not one tiny voice on a dinky message board, I can circulate my ideas as searchable articles which will hang around for years and be used as reference material. That’s the advantage that writing an article has over posting a comment on Facebook, or Igglephans or PFT; you get a louder voice, that is heard longer. (It’s also why I almost always respond to comments here, and almost never to comments on Facebook.)

Here on Eaglemaniacal.com we honor our EAGLES greats. And today, I’m recognizing Donovan McNabb as: The Greatest Of All-Time, Quarterback of the Philadelphia EAGLES.

OH NO THEY DIDN’T! OH YES THEY DID!

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/08/03
Posted in: Fans, NFL, Rants. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

cowboys playoffs

 

JERRY Jones! Jer-ry Jones!

Not since Leon Lett, has there been a Hall of Shame case of showboating of this magnitude by the Dallas Cowboys. And yes that includes T.O.

I actually first saw this on Friday, but I thought it was one of us (EAGLES fans) just making a joke. But it’s no joke! F-Troop actually sent out playoff tickets which, (I shit you not) even includes tickets for the NFC Championship game, to their season ticket-holders.

Yes! The NFC Championship game. Yes! Those Dallas Cowboys. The perennial 8-8, stuck in limbo, “Hey does this rag smell like chloroform?” Dallas Cowboys. As if the EAGLES didn’t wax that ass when they at least had DeMarcus Ware. Now with Ware in Denver, and Sean Lee losing to the EAGLES at home on Madden, they’re supposed to somehow just ease on past us? Nah bruh. AIN’T HAPPENIN’! We’re talking prison shower scene in 2014. Just stroll up to their 50 yard line, and throw the soap on the ground. Right on “the star”.

This year is going to be special! Most of you are just getting know me, since Eaglemaniacal.com only just came out this year. FYI: I was never what you could call “gentle” to Cowboys fans, but this year…

This year it isn’t just Open Season; I’m treating it like I’m getting paid a ransom for every Cowboys fan I bag. And by “bag” I mean take ownership of. Yes. I will collect names. Yes. There will be a page for those names on my site. Like I said, I’ve never been gentle to Cowboys fans.

Jerry Jones has thrown down the gauntlet and I’m going to make his supporters pay for it. Especially since their trolls love crashing EAGLES pages, and there’s few things I love more than the taste of troll.

Surely Cowboys fans, (like all fans) want their team to go to the playoffs every year, but this year they need it to happen, because the mocking will be relentless if they don’t make it or suck from Day One. And I don’t mean mocking just during the off-season. I mean from NOW until at least Opening Day 2015. Yes my fellow fans, I’m starting TODAY, because until they prove otherwise, the Cowboys are just writing checks their asses are too broke to cash.

Playoffs? Yeah. I got your playoffs right here.