THE EAGLES NEXT HEAD COACH

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/01/09
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Fans, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . 4 Comments

normschultz

CHIP Kelly was fired before any other NFL head coach this year, which should have given the Eagles a considerable jump on getting the guy they wanted to lead this team back to being able to win playoff games, and contend for and win a Super Bowl. And yes, I’m already mentioning winning a Super Bowl. (Envision your goal and chase it relentlessly. Otherwise don’t be mad when some other city gets your parade.)

My point is that unless the guys (both GM and Head Coach) that Jeff Lurie wants to hire are still on the staffs of playoff teams, we should have already had one or both of those positions filled by now. And if the guys he really wants are still on the staffs of playoff teams, then the interviews we’ve been hearing about are just bullshit.

Personally aside from current RB’s coach Duce Staley, no one they’ve looked at so far even warrants raising an eyebrow. My prayer is that we stay as far as we can from fools gold. Adam Gase is a great example of HC fool’s gold.

Gase spent last year as the architect of a dreadful (ranked 23rd in scoring and 21st in yards) Bears offense. For two years prior to that, he was in Denver where he sat back and did whatever, as QB Peyton Manning was given as much free reign as any player, in any pro sport, on God’s green Earth. (This may be why once Gase got to Chicago, we all found out that he can’t actually coach offense.)

If I could sit down with Lurie for a cup of coffee, I’d tell him that I don’t want Doug Pederson. I don’t want any coach exported from Cincinnati. I don’t want Tom Coughlin. If we could get him out of mothballs, my ultimate dream would be Bill Cowher, and I’ve said as much. But with that being unlikely, I’d prefer a defensive guy like Wade Phillips. Or now that he’s on the market, Lovie Smith. And no, I still have no interest in Rob Ryan.

That all said, unless there’s a candidate that they’re really serious about hiring soon, it’d be better for all involved if the bullshit interviews came to an end. Where is the sense in wasting time, money, jet fuel and stirring up the fan base over what so far have been some really “Meh” inducing candidates?

The more they do this interview carousel, the more firing Kelly looks like Lurie’s knee-jerk reaction to that “Richard Pryor on fire from free-base” press conference that Kelly had a couple weeks ago. For the record, I don’t think his firing was a knee-jerk reaction, but this exhaustive search for Kelly’s upgrade is making the firing look less than well thought out.

EAGLES/GIANTS 2 PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/01/01
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Offense, Players, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 2 Comments

NYG (H)

SUNDAY      1:00      Met Life Stadium      East Rutherford, NJ

CHIP Kelly being fired and (giants coach) Tom Coughlin’s possible firing (or resigning), makes me think this game is all about losing to improve Draft position. As of today, 8 teams have fewer wins than we do and of all the 6 – 9 teams, we’ve only beaten two (giants and Saints), which would slot us at #11 overall if the Draft were today. Winning will only hurt that whereas we could move into the top 10 with a loss and some help.

There is nothing to be gained from a victory for two teams that have been eliminated from playoff contention already. This week the winner is the loser.

EAGLES

Defense

Our Defense…

randy marsh

Offense

Aaaaaand our Offense…

watermelon catapult

By the way, those aren’t water balloons. Those are watermelons.

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Giants

Defense

Jason Pierre-Paul‘s return to the club has not had as much punch as the team was grasping for when they re-cast him as a starter. Statistically they’re hands down one of the worst defenses in the NFL, as they’ve been unable to help the team hold onto leads. The worst part is it’s not just one aspect of the defense. You can’t just point the finger at the defensive line, or the secondary. Really it’s about time to blow the whole thing up. Until then, the end result is big thumbs off. I mean DOWN. Thumbs down.

Offense

They can throw the ball. All indications are that they can’t even run it in practices. The big story here is WR Odell Beckham returning from a one game suspension, after his complete emotional meltdown vs. Carolina over what have been referred to as “gay slurs”. Considering that players call each other EVERY NAME YOU CAN THINK OF out there, it will be interesting to see if our players try to bait him into another meltdown.

BOTTOM LINE

This week would be a great time to start guys like OLB Marcus Smith, S Jerome Couplin, TE Trey Burton, and RB DeMarco Murray again. If ever there was a time to get an assessment of what we have vs what we need to add, that time is now. If QB Sam Bradford were smart, he’d sit to prevent being injured on the cusp of being a Free Agent. If he sits, I’d like to get a look at 3rd stringer Thad Lewis.

PREDICTION

giants 17 – Eagles 10

GET US BILL COWHER

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/12/31
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . 11 Comments

Coaches-Cowher-2

 OUR team’s next head coach should be Bill Cowher. I mean why dream small, right? Owner Jeff Lurie said that he’s looking for a strategic thinker. One who understands the passion of Eagles fans, and who possesses emotional intelligence when dealing with those he expects top performance from. If this is the case, then the search should begin and end with former Steelers coach Bill Cowher.

Cowher proved his strategic mind as the Defensive Coordinator of a stifling Chiefs unit back in the early 90’s. I’m sure it didn’t hurt to have weapons like the late HOFer Derrick Thomas, Neil Smith, Albert Lewis, Kevin Ross, Deron Cherry and big ass NT Dan Saleamua. (Saleamua was a 300 pounder before it was all the rage.) It also didn’t hurt to have either Tony Dungy or Herman Edwards (I can’t recall which) on that staff.

As far as understanding the fan base here, Cowher actually played LB as an Eagle, so he knows what Philly can be like. In addition to that, he’s a PA native who made his fame coaching in Pittsburgh. So there can be no doubt about him understanding our passion, and he likely won’t wilt under its heat.

Emotional intelligence you say? The man’s players LOVED him. He was the proverbial coach that players would run through a brick wall for.

As a side note, Cowher’s background as a Special Teams Coordinator, could entice our current STC Dave Fipp to stick around. That means players like LB Byran Braman, FS Chris Maragos, and WR Seyi Ajirotutu would be well worth retaining. I remember the days of having one ST ace in former Eagle LB (turned local sportscaster) Ike Reese. I love the idea that we have three now. I’d love to retain them in meaningful roles.

I have no idea what it would take to land Cowher, but if it means we have to “pass the hat” down Broad Street, I’m all for it. I’m 100% in. What do you think?

HEY! SHARE THIS ARTICLE AND MAYBE WE CAN REACH LURIE’S EAR!

SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/12/30
Posted in: Coaching, Conspiracy Corner, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Roster, trade, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . 11 Comments

1000px-Philadelphia_Eagles_logo_primary.svg

OWNER Jeff Lurie wasted no time cutting out the cancer on his team. Former Eagles Head Coach Chip Kelly didn’t even get a chance to coach the final game of the season, or give a farewell address to the players. I almost said “his players” but unless you played at Oregon, I have severe doubts that he has many (if any) players in that locker room who considered themselves “his” guys.

Considering how much of his coaching staff was handpicked to coach specific techniques for his system; and considering how many soft and candy-ass players he bought in here, there will be a lot of debris from the tear down that is soon to follow. So lets take a look at what it will likely mean.

The coaching staff will turn over. Defensive Coordinator Bill Davis may as well not even show up for all the good he’s done. Fans hate him, and as you know (if you’ve been following this website for the last two years), his system is full of bad concepts which teams exploit almost in their sleep. If we switch from a 3-4 to a 4-3 it would make sense for the entire staff to go except for maybe Defensive Backs coach Cory Undlin. This unit was a train wreck before he got here and it’s hard to pin much blame on a guy for struggling within an already badly flawed system.

The worst part is the inability of this staff to develop our youth. Offensive Line coach Jeff Stoutland didn’t develop any of his second string charges into competent linemen, and even starting RT Lane Johnson is nowhere near where his potential suggested he could be when he was drafted. In the last two drafts we added WR’s Nelson Agholor in the first round, Jordan Matthews in the second round, and Josh Huff in the third round. While Matthews seems productive at first glance (145 catches, 1815 yards and 14 TD’s in two seasons) his production as you can see, has been HIGHLY erratic. Our WR’s mostly disappointing numbers (Agholor has 21 catches for 260 yards and a TD this year; Huff has 35 catches for 410 yards and 3 TD’s in two years) have more to do with poor coaching than anything else.

And then there’s the blatant favoritism. Would anyone care to explain why 2nd round pick DE Vinny Curry has never started a game in four years, yet DE’s Brandon Bair (FA) and Taylor Hart (5th round) have? By the way size isn’t the issue, as Curry is 279 to Bair’s 280 and Hart’s 281.

In fact, aside from Special Teams coach Dave Fipp, Running Backs coach Duce Staley, and the aforementioned Undlin, I’d broom the whole staff.

It also means that you can just about kiss goodbye to QB Sam Bradford. Kelly trading away a second rounder for him was almost the equivalent to the purchase of Manhattan. Lurie will likely want to air out the stink of that trade.

Player movement in a regime change is hard to predict, but when you bring in a new coach he usually arrives with a wrecking ball. So as for PLAYERS to package in a trade or let go of, the smart list looks like:

QB’s Sam Bradford and Mark Sanchez: Draft a QB and get a back-up who can run the new system.

RB Kenjon Barner: He’s one dimensional and we’re loaded with the other three in a real system.

WR Riley Cooper: We never needed him. Eat the dead money and open up a roster spot.

TE Brent Celek: I love him but we need the cap space, and it’s time.

OT’s Jason Peters, Dennis Kelly, Matt Tobin: Peters is done (unless he moves inside) and the other two are disasters.

OG’s All but our starters: We need new starters but our current starters would be decent depth.

DL Beau Allen and anyone who played at Oregon: Cedric Thornton can rotate at DT in a 4-3.

OLB’s Connor Barwin, Marcus Smith: Barwin is good but doesn’t fit anywhere in a 4-3.

ILB DeMeco Ryans: Is more valuable as a leader than as an athlete at this point.

CB Nolan Carroll: I let him walk in Free Agency and let Denzel Rice push to start.

S Walter Thurmond and Chris Maragos: Move Eric Rowe to FS.

Again you don’t have to RELEASE all of these guys. Packaging and trading some of them with picks insures that we’d be in better positions to replace the players we can’t really use, with pieces that fit better. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of seeing guys walk for nothing.

“FIVE THINGS WE MUST CHANGE”

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/12/29
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 8 Comments

 

change3

OVERHAUL. This team needs one badly. You may not want to hear that since overhaul sounds a lot like rebuild, but that’s what is needed here. Not a re-tooling, but a full-on rebuild. That is, unless you think of 2015 as being good enough for you. Assuming that Head Coach Chip Kelly comes back next year (and I am assuming that), I’m telling you, there are five things we must change between now and February 16th.

I use the date of February 16th because that’s when teams start to designate franchise players, which has a ripple effect on Free Agency and the rest of the roster. Consider how much money the Eagles have tied up in players like RB DeMarco Murray, and CB Byron Maxwell. Now consider that players with expiring contracts (QB Sam Bradford, FS Walter Thurmond, DE Vinny Curry and CB Nolan Carroll) will all want considerable raises to stay here. The Eagles need to have a solid idea of where they want to go, and how they want to get there, well before they begin shuffling and re-shuffling the roster.

The first thing we need to change is the place where this team’s General Manager powers reside. The current holder of those powers (if not the title) has demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt and/or reasonable dispute, that he has no clue what he’s doing. He was hired to be an X’s and O’s genius. So, okay fine. Let’s allow him to spend his time doing that. If we’re going to hold onto him for another year, we should at least make sure we’ve given him every chance to succeed, before we deposit him on the curb.

The second thing that needs changing are some of the coaches. Defensive Coordinator, Offensive Line, and Wide Receivers are the one’s that need changing ASAP.

A) Our Defense isn’t conceptually OR technically sound, That’s largely why over the course of three years we haven’t been able to beat playoff caliber teams.

B) While certain outfits may use funny metrics to give grades to units, the bottom line is this Offensive Line crumbles against good teams because Jeff Stoutland clearly emphasizes scheme technique over fundamental technique. That’s largely why we aren’t developing any of our young linemen into decent pro players.

C) Speaking of not developing talent, Wide Receiver started off bad and has only gotten worse. With all the recent high picks we’ve spent on WR’s, I don’t buy that all of our WR’s lack talent. I think what they lack is refinement of their game, as none of them display any knack for craftwork. That is clearly the failing of position coach Bob Bicknell. It can be laid at the feet of no one else on the planet Earth.

Also I’m not sure what this team is paying our Offensive and Defensive Quality Control coaches for. Maybe those guys have never actually shown up to work. Either way, we either need new ones, or to eliminate the position altogether, because to this point they do absolutely bupkis for this team.

The third thing that needs an overhaul is the Offensive philosophy. The Offense needs to be slowed down so that the Defense doesn’t end up being fatigued by game 9 or 10. We’ve seen this thing run the same way for three years now and we can empirically say it doesn’t work. It has to change.

The fourth thing that needs changing is the Defense. The only thing wrong with our Defense is everything. While we do have a handful of players that we can build around like DE Fletcher Cox, DE Curry, SS Malcolm Jenkins, ILB Jordan Hicks and LB Mychal Kendricks, (and possibly NT Bennie Logan if he shows he can play 4-3 DT), almost every one of them would be far more effective in a 4-3.

The fifth thing that needs to change are the practices. They simply are too fast-paced. Players are lining up week in and week out, and showing the same weaknesses week in and week out. That says that either they aren’t being shown what they keep doing wrong, or they don’t get enough time to digest the coaching they receive. For example: If you’ve ever bought a new tool, you already know what it’s for, but you play around with it for bit, just to get the feel of it. Especially if it’s replacing something you’re really used to. While the tool may belong to you, it takes more than just buying it to make it yours. Same thing when you hand a man a new skill, or teach him to do something like cleaning up his back pedal, or how to use penalties to gain separation. A man needs reps to truly own new coaching.

So there you have it. The five things that need to change before we start signing players to god knows what system, for god knows how much money. Set a clear direction and clear the path to make the journey easier. Because all this stumbling around bullshit, simply has to change.

DO YOU WANT DISASTER OR HEARTBREAK?

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/12/28
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , . 6 Comments

sam1

DISASTER or heartbreak? Which one do you want? If you’re a Sam Bradford booster, you’re about to be force-fed one or the other. As a fellow Eagles fan I’ll almost feel bad for enjoying your misery. Almost. Because the truth is, I’m sick of folks making excuse after excuse for this guy. The shorthand says that I’m supposed to be a fan of any Eagle on my team, but I can’t support a guy who is a big part of why it got worse instead of better.

Let’s start with heartbreak. Bradford’s boosters are sooo happy, that he’s sooo comfy with the system now. “His play has turned a corner!” “He’s become a leader now!” “Just wait until 2016!” That last one is my favorite by far, because it ties together the overarching theme of what the boosters are thinking. They expect Bradford to perform better within this system next year. They actually expect him back here next year.The odds are so stacked against that, that it’s almost ridiculous to envision it at all.

(Let me set the mood: Back when we drafted WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy in 2009, both players alluded to their injury histories playing a role in deciding to enter the Draft early. They wanted to ensure some level of financial security in case the next football injury was their last. As young men still playing college ball, their football mortality was already on their minds. Now back to Bradford.)

After his second ACL injury, Bradford was considering quitting football. He was weighing it as recently as this calendar year. It was his college coach who talked him out of walking away from his NFL career. So after collegiate injury to his shoulder, and two pro injuries to his knees, you can bet your ass that financial security is very much on the mind of Sam Bradford. But how much security could he get?

Today Bradford is at the end of a rookie contract where he made 13 million this year. He gets to be an unrestricted Free Agent in just a couple of months, and in a league desperate for signal callers, Bradford on the open market could become a bidding war between the Eagles and teams like Dallas, Cleveland, San Francisco, Houston, possibly the Jets, and maybe even St. Louis again. So perhaps you think we should franchise him to keep him from entering the open market at all?

Franchise tags are the average of the top five contracts at the position, right? That would mean Aaron Rodgers (22M), Russell Wilson (21.9M), Ben Roethlisberger (21.8M), Eli Manning (21M), Phillip Rivers (20.8M). That works out to 21.5M for Sam Bradford next year even on a short-term deal. You may recall that the Eagles were trying to get Bradford to sign an extension during the preseason, but Bradford shot that down because he could see a bigger payday coming if he stayed healthy.

If the Eagles don’t pony up the cash for him, Bradford’s boosters will see him flee Philly over “just money”. All that time they spent defending him and piking him up as the Messiah, only to have him leave them standing at the altar over “just money”. I can already smell the burning jerseys.

Next up we have the disaster. Let’s say that the Eagles write that check. Hooray, right? Only if you’re a masochist. Serioulsy, 21.5M a year for a guy who’s never thrown more than 21 touchdowns in a 16 game season? 21.5M for a guy with fewer playoff wins than Tony Romo?? 21.5M for a guy who has never been on a .500 team??? It would just be 8M more than he’s making this season, but considering how much guaranteed money is tied up in other players, signing Bradford would mean that so much of the roster would have to be bargain bin level players.

Bradford has never proven that he’s a special QB. He has never demonstrated an ability to carry an NFL team. Seriously, when was the last time you heard of a QB attempting 59 passes in a single game with only one of them being a touchdown? His mediocrity is almost statistically impossible. Still, desperate teams will bid for him next year, and whoever gets him will be overpaying and limiting their teams options for adding help.

That team could be us! Oh goodie.

So either the Bradford apologists will have their hearts broken over “just money”; or they’ll get their wish and have to admit this time next year, that they spent the last two years backing an expensive lemon. A lemon whom we may be stuck shoveling years worth of guaranteed money into.

So it’ll be heartbreak or disaster. Either way, find yourself a Bradford booster to follow and screenshot their posts often. Because man, this one oughta be good.

 

EAGLES/REDSKINS PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/12/25
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . 7 Comments

WAS (H)

SATURDAY   8:25   Lincoln Financial Field   Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

PLAYOFF football starts tomorrow night in Philadelphia. If we don’t win this game, the next one is mere formality. A win doesn’t automatically put us in the playoffs, since we’d still need to win the last game; but a loss means the team can head back to the locker room, shower, and then start throwing their shit in Hefty bags.

EAGLES

Defense

We have a bunch of fatigued players, some of whom are overpaid, all of which are playing in a bad scheme. You can only expect so much at this point in the year. If Defensive Coordinator Billy Davis had any ideas for shoring up this unit, you’d have seen those ideas three years ago. At this point, we are what we are until he’s fired.

Offense

QB Sam Bradford had his best statistical game as an Eagle vs the Redskins, and that was before he was said to be “getting comfortable” or “turning a corner” within this Offense. Only attempting 18 rushes is how the Head Coach Chip Kelly handed a win to the ‘skins in our first match-up this year. If he repeats such a formula and we lose, it will be time to run him out of town on a rail.

There is no reason this team should perform worse in this game than we did the last time we faced this defense.

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Redskins

Defense

The good news is that the ‘skins can be run against. They aren’t soft, but they are overly aggressive and allow teams to find room to run against their 3-4 front. OLB Ryan Kerrigan is of course leading the team in sacks with 8.5, but his counterweight OLB Trent Murphy isn’t producing at the rate the team was hoping for when they decided they could release Brian Orakpo this offseason. The ‘skins are active and aggressive, but they aren’t as tough or tough-minded as they purport themselves to be.

They can be had.

Offense

The last time we faced QB Kirk Cousins, he pretty much did anything he wanted to do, and that was with WR DeSean Jackson inactive with a hamstring issue. Jackson is back and he’s playing on a tear. While the ‘skins have struggled to run the ball all year, they did a pretty handy job running against us in our first meeting this year.

There is a potential bright spot as in recent weeks it’s been easier to get to Cousins than it was earlier this year. The only knock on that bright spot is that even when you get in his face he’s still completing passes over the 70% mark.

BOTTOM LINE

It would be smarter in the long run to lose this game and put ourselves in position for the team to get better pieces to build a stronger future. Instead, what’s going to happen is this team will come one step closer to winning the division which will sandbag ourselves in the arms race vs. our rivals.

PREDICTION

EAGLES 26 – Redskins 20

EAGLES/CARDINALS PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/12/19
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 9 Comments

Wk15- 12.20.15

SUNDAY       8:30       Lincoln Financial Field       Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

ODDSMAKERS across the spectrum expect the Cardinal to come into the Linc and leave holding up a “W”. They almost make it seem like it’s an automatic. However, with having to face Green Bay next week, and then  division rival Seattle the following week, Arizona may be looking past our 6 – 7 team just enough to let down their guard.

EAGLES

Defense

Did you know that even after these last two games, our Defense is still ranked 28th in rushing yards allowed, 21st in points allowed and 24th in passing yards allowed. Due to three huge (two of which were scoring) plays made by our Special Teams in the last two games, we are 6 – 7 instead of 4 – 9. It’s great to get to get great Special Teams play, but you can’t bank on splash plays by that unit to bail you out every week.

Teams are still moving the ball and scoring against our Defense. There will be no “fixes”enacted this deep into the season. We are what we are. That said, I have no idea how this unit is supposed to stop or even slow down this weeks opponent.

Offense

Depending on who you talk to, this Offense is either about to seriously rev up, or continue to do what it’s done all year, which means being a lower mid-level offense (15th rushing, 21st passing) coached by what was supposed to be a genius.

Optimists will tell you that QB Sam Bradford has only thrown 2 interceptions in his last 5 starts. They tell you that over that span he’s gone 3 – 2. They leave out the fact that in those 5 starts he’s only thrown 5 touchdowns. Conversely, this weeks opponent in his last 5 games, has 12 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. (He also has 2 lost fumbles). Over that span he’s 5 – 0. One of those guys has numbers which all but lock up a division. The other is a 13 million dollar mistake.

So this week we’ll play “Guess The Starter” at RB, cross our fingers that LT Jason Peters can string together a whole game, pray that C Jason Kelce doesn’t snap the ball past the QB, hope for a meaningful contribution from either Josh Huff or Nelson Agholor, and cringe when WR Jordan Matthews gets hit in the back after running yet another 4 yard crossing route.

Ahhhh, good times.

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Cardinals

Defense

#7 vs scoring, #5 vs the run. They can reach your passer and they have a shark tank of a secondary that can take the ball from you. There is no standout pass-rusher unless you count DE Dwight Freeney. (Yes, that Dwight Freeny) Then again not many people would call 4 sacks by Week 15 a standout number.

At first glance they look water-tight, but there’s a chink in their armor. They play a 3-3-5 concept that they mask as a 3-4. They do that by playing a 211 pound SS at ILB. (It’s not dissimilar to what we used to do last year when trying to take advantage of Nate Allen‘s Safety speed when they played him in the box.)

As a result of using a SS at ILB it means they can be out powered in the middle of their defense. Put bluntly: This is a game that is right in the wheelhouse of RB DeMarco Murray. Now let’s see if he gets the ball.

Offense

I read years ago that QB Carson Palmer sees passing lanes like he has ESP. That statement has echoed in my head ever since. Every time I see him throw a WR open, I feel a sense of bitter envy for something most Eagles fans don’t even realize they’ve been missing out on for a quarter century. If you’re one of those “I only watch the Eagles” type of fans, you have no clue what we’re even missing.

This offense spreads you out, and has a run game component that takes advantage of spacing. It’s the grown-up version of what we run, without all the gimmicks thrown in to try and deceive. As it was designed to engage in weekly shoot-outs, they average 31 points per game and have actually rung that bell 7 times in 13 games. So that 31 point average isn’t the result of a fluke game here and there. These guys can actually get the pig to the pen.

BOTTOM LINE

Winning a shootout with this team is highly unlikely. If the Eagles are going to win this game, we have to find our offensive consistency and run the ball up the gut. I don’t like the match-up of our QB vs their secondary, but their LB’s can be exploited in coverage. I like the idea of TE Brent Celek on intermediate routes to loosen up the box and give the run room to get push inside.

Is that the way to go? Certainly. Will Kelly draw up such a game plan? Not likely. We could beat the Cardinals by out-toughing them, but that’s not how this team is built to think.

PREDICTION

Cardinals 29 – Eagles 19

WE NEED A FRANCHISE QB

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/12/16
Posted in: Conversations, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Uncategorized. Tagged: . 6 Comments

 

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I’M too smart to buy Sam Bradford as a franchise quarterback. I said the same thing about Bradford’s predecessor if you remember. Years before this website was born, I said similar things about the would-be-successor to this franchise’s All-Time Best QB. Funny thing is, I was met with fierce opposition every time, by fans staunchly supporting players who had proven nothing in the NFL. In the end those players proved me right, and made their supporters look foolish.

And it’s about to happen again.

Many fans booed the drafting of Donovan McNabb. Despite the games won, playoff games won, and half of this franchise’s Super Bowl appearances, those “fans” spent years continuing to boo rather than admit they were wrong about doing so in the first place. In spite of these people, McNabb merely went onto become this franchise’s standard bearer for excellence at the QB position. Considering Eagles fans appreciation for QB’s, a case can be made that this fan base can’t tell a good QB, from garbage one. Just look at the guys this fan base has idolized since Randall Cunningham left town.

Remember Bobby Hoying? Finished out 1997 starting a handful of games, while tossing 11 TD’s and 6 picks. During the offseason, fan’s thought he was the bee’s knees. Then 1998 started and he struggled badly. Fans here quickly turned on him and utterly destroyed him. I think that more than anything else is what permanently broke him. He ended up in Oakland where his meltdown slowed but continued, and he was soon was out of football.

Remember Kevin Kolb? He was a total fuck-up, and yet fans badly wanted a reason to love him. Any reason would do. Most of the arguments people made on his behalf were speculations of what one day he “might do”, since there was no way to defend him based on what he produced on the field. Between the concussions, the interceptions, and being outplayed by back-up, (Wildcat) QB Michael Vick, Kolb’s bid to ever be “The Man” in Philly never really got any traction.

Nick Foles! Remember when Eagles fans loved him? Seems like it was only last year. Wait! It was last year. His supporters went at my throat like crazy wombats because I didn’t love him too. I never hated him, I just said that his one season was a total fluke. Now look at him. Nobody admits to having been a Foles fan anymore. It’s easier to find a former Nazi than it is to find a former Foles supporter. (I wonder what his former fans are going to do with their copy of his Pro Bowl jersey?)

Today we have Sam Bradford. His accomplishments so far include not having his season ended by an injury, and not being Nick Foles. Seriously, if you criticize Bradford, his supporter’s quick comeback is “Would you rather have Foles?” That’s like asking if you prefer the husband who slaps you, over the husband who punches you. Both are doing the opposite of what a husband is supposed to do. However, many of our fellow fans here have now set the bar so low, that they’d need a shovel just to see that.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to reset the bar to at least chest level. You need to see what we currently have, and compare it (apples to apples), with what we really need.

Here is Bradford and 6 other NFL QB’s. In order to keep it even, all these QB’s are within 15 passing attempts of Bradford.

 

PEERS QB

Notice how his performance is noticeably behind all of their’s despite the fact that he attempts more passes per game?

Here is a breakdown of Sam Bradford’s season so far, game by game. Pay attention to the wins and how big of a difference he made in those games by scoring. 

Bradford

Now notice how big of a difference THESE QB’s make in their teams wins. In order to try and make Bradford look better, I didn’t include rushing stats. (You’ll have to click the chart to make it large enough to read.)

QB_PEERS_2

These QB’s play in varied systems, with varying levels of talent to throw to. Yet Bradford is clearly the runt of his peers. In fact, if you look at just QB performance, he’s barely outplayed his back-up this year.

1 and 2

Yet he’s worshiped by some.

Let me clue you in on something. Notice how we haven’t won a playoff game since we had a franchise QB? Until this team drafts another special QB, and stops trying to win the race while driving on a doughnut, you can expect this team to not be in a position to do anything but say “We were competitive” before drafting 16th – 20th again.

When the Eagles organization samples public opinion, and sees fans who are alright with worshiping mediocrity, they’ll have no reason to get our team the franchise QB it needs.

Demand better.

EAGLES/BILLS PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/12/10
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . 7 Comments

Wk14- 12.13.15

SUNDAY         1:00         Lincoln Financial Field         Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

BOTH the Bills and the Eagles need this game to keep their playoff hopes alive. The 6-6 Bills are hoping to win out and for some other teams to give them some help to secure a wild-card berth in the AFC. The Eagles have to win the division to see the postseason. This one should be a lot of fun to watch if both teams show up with empty bellies.

EAGLES

Defense

Yes, last week DID happen, but if you’re still excited about it then you really haven’t taken a GOOD look at it. In a game that featured a very beat-up Patriots team, their QB still managed to throw for over 300 yards and score 4 touchdowns (3 passing, 1 rushing). We even let him have a 36 yard reception, just for shits and giggles. Oh and they averaged 4.1 yards per rush.

So while last week was a great win to have, it was more the result of a handful of splash plays. It was by no means a sustained effort by a Defense ranked near the bottom of the NFL in points allowed (25th), yards allowed (26th), passing yards allowed (24th), and rushing yards allowed (27th).

After watching this unit allow 90 points over a two week span, it’s hard to go out on a limb and play the optimist over a few plays in one game.

Offense

I have no idea what our Offense is like now. Apparently RB DeMarco Murray is no longer a factor here. My guess (and at this point a guess is all it is), is that returning RB Ryan Mathews will be the lead dog that he was expected to be when he was originally signed ahead of Murray this Spring. For too many reasons Kelly couldn’t be serious about a backfield headed up by RB Darren Sproles.

WR Miles Austin was cut 7 months too late for it to make a difference in 2015. I said this move should have been made back in May. Had it happened back then maybe you’d be happily wearing a Nelson Agholor jersey right now. (BTW: If you happen to be wearing an Agholor jersey right now, you have my condolences for the money you parted with.)

I’m seeing fans now are back on the bandwagon for QB “Super” Sam Bradford again, after his 14/24 – 58% – 120 – 2TD game against the Patriots. There are some numbers out there that suggest that he’s getting better suited to the Offense, and if you’d like to buy into those, be my guest. They however overlook a far more important metric that once seen, cannot be unseen and will give you the most accurate picture of Bradford.

.

Bills

Defense

There’s really nothing great about this unit. In fact they make me think of the “Bend but don’t break” style that Buffalo played in the 90’s when they were thwarted in an unprecedented four straight Super Bowls. That 1990’s team had better players than this 2015 edition and even they had up and down results with that style of defense.

Basically I think the Bills 6 losses this year have more to do with their defense than anything else. They get interceptions, but they don’t get to the QB much. The little pass rush they do generate will likely be compromised if (lead interceptor) CB Stephon Gilmore misses Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury.

Offense

This unit is one of the best kept secrets in the NFL. They’re 4th in rushing and 10th in scoring. They have QB Tyrod Taylor who sports a 17:4 touchdown to interception ratio, and is averaging 5.0 yards per rush. To top it all off, they have enough depth to squeeze by rough patches that would derail an entire season for most teams. Not that they need it since they’re also a pretty healthy bunch to say they’re heading into their 13th game.

Though they have some strong points, this unit is not without it’s weaknesses. They will allow defenses to touch their QB, and their 3rd down conversion rate is only 36%. The biggest weakness though is WR Sammy Watkins.

Yes. I said Sammy Watkins. Read on.

For all his talent, there are too many games where he just seems like he’s going through the motions. By all rights this guy should be killing defenses on a weekly basis, but he spends too many Sundays just running his routes. He’s been on a tear these last couple weeks, but that’s no guarantee that he shows up looking to really play this Sunday. I for one, hope that he doesn’t.

BOTTOM LINE

I think this one comes down to coaching and styles. Bills coach Rex Ryan will come in looking to impose his will on our Head Coach. When teams commit to pounding the ball at us the losses tend to be humiliating. (New Orleans 2013, Minnesota 2014, Tampa Bay 2015 for examples.) I have no idea what Kelly will be looking to do, but the real question here is whether or not he’s willing to adapt and adjust in-game. And in three years I have seen no reason to believe that he will.

PREDICTION

Bills 26 – Eagles 21