TURN UP, EAGLES FANS!!!!

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/07/20
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Fans. Tagged: , , , . 2 Comments

 

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EAGLES 24 Cowboys 22. How do you prefer to remember that game? As Brandon Boykin’s national coming out party? Maybe Kyle Orton’s retirement ceremony? I like to think of it as Chip Kelly’s first playoff game.

BTW the NFL Network is replaying it Monday at 5:30 p.m.

While it doesn’t count as an actual playoff game, there can be no doubt that there was a playoff atmosphere to it. It was literally win or go home for both teams. Same as a playoff game. While I think it wasn’t the stiffest test since Tony Romo wasn’t out there, the job is beating whoever they put in front of you, and our guys managed to get that done. 

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On Monday those of you who wish to re-live it, can watch it again. I’ll have it on but I won’t be able to actually watch, since it cuts across the time I usually reserve for researching and writing the next days article. Plus I have to get my fantasy rankings in order, because repeating as champ is FAR from automatic, (and I’m chasing a 4-peat this year).

I just thought I’d get the news out, that for once the NFL Network remembered that our games DO exist. Maybe if enough of us tune in and the ratings are high enough, they’ll be encouraged to show more of our games. That’s why my cable box will be tuned in even though I’m not.

SO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT! Share this article with fellow fans and get the word out!

 

TALKING ABOUT EAGLES TOUGH GUYS.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/07/19
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Players. Tagged: , , . 4 Comments

Eaglnaut

LAST week a friend of mine said that part of the Eagles problem on Defense is that we don’t have any tough guys on it. I shared that with you all and some of you went nuts over that statement. Some of you pointed out Eagles that you yourselves identify as tough guys. 

I went down to the bar specifically to talk to Rhodie about some of the names some of you mentioned. He laughed so hard that I almost started to take it personal. I haven’t seen him laugh that hard since a couple guys in Kensington caught the guy who raped an 11 year old girl, and beat him to Death’s door with 2×4’s. (Thankfully they weren’t charged.)

“Cary Williams is a tough guy? Why, because he fought Riley Cooper while surrounded by Black guys? Those guys know where each other parks his car. If Williams had a real issue with Cooper, he coulda waited by his car to settle it without a million people there to break it up. Williams wanted an audience and insurance.

[Mychal] Kendrick and [DeMeco] Ryans? I like them guys they play good. But tough guys? At linebacker a tough guy is guys like Singletary, Butkus and [Chuck] Bednarik. [Seth] Joyner was a tough guy. Lambert was a tough guy. You know who else was nails? Jack Youngblood. He played one playoffs on a broke leg. Not bruised, broke. He was an End not a linebacker. But he didn’t play End like an End, he played End like the linebackers play linebacker today. Linebackers used to scrape. Nobody even knows what scrape is today. Everything is blitz or cover.”

It’s not an accident that Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher aren’t mentioned on his list. He talked about them, but I decided to edit out that part. Suffice it to say he respected them as athletes, but he wouldn’t list them as intimidators. As far as Jeremiah Trotter, his tickling Tiki Barber after tackles, ruined his tough guy cred with Rhodie. “Tough guys don’t tickle.”

Which is sort of why I wrote this. While I won’t question anybody’s heart when they play, you have to admit, it has been a while since anyone was scared of any of our defenders. Seth Joyner is on my friends list, and even though his picture is smiling I swear you can still see the derisive, withering sneer that we all thought of as his only facial expression. The man had exactly 2 modes when he played: Hitting you and chasing you. For my money he’s the most intimidating LB we’ve had in a quarter century, and in that department he’s the standard I judge by. Since then we’ve had no one even come close.

When I asked about tough guy D-linemen, he told me to give him a minute. Then he made the bartender laugh by ordering me a “Virgin Special” (it’s an inside joke), while on his way to the can. When he got back he gave me his answer: Darwin Walker.

That made me feel good because I’m a Darwin Walker guy as well. To me Walker was versatile, strong and workmanlike. But I wouldn’t call him an intimidator. Then Rhodie (yet again) turned on spotlight.

“If you can find the tape or old games you’ll see. Reid moved that kid around. Played him at both Ends and Tackle. What you’ll see if you look is that wherever he lined up, teams didn’t run there. Intimidating a player is one thing. But intimidating a whole coaching staff is entirely different.”

Of course I had to ask if he thought of Trent Cole as an intimidator .

“If it’s Halloween and I’m dressed as fuckin’ Bambi, and he comes in with bow and arrow, ask me then. Shit, if he gets here late and I’m already pickled, we might all just stuff that bastard in ******’s cleavage and forget about him.”

At which point the place erupted in laughter.

DRINKIN’ MY HATERADE.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/07/18
Posted in: Crazy Talk, Players. Tagged: , , , . 3 Comments

 

gatorade

GREATNESS. I can see putting Peyton Manning on your cover, and using the word “greatness” on your cover in conjunction with him. I can even see using Eli Manning.

But Gatorade using BobG3, Cam Newton, and J.J. Watt?! You know what, I’ll backdown off of Newton and Watt. While neither has won anything, at least they’ve been consistent high level contributors for years now. But what about Bob? What has he done?

Being too dumb to know when to sit out a game? Mortgaging both his and his team’s long term success by playing on one knee? Those somehow seem like the opposite of great. Not helping his case was when he followed it up with his team being the dead last in the division, along with his failure to act like a leader and rally his team, DESPITE the fact that the Head Coach whom he’d been at odds with being on the way out… I mean the biggest thing Griffin has done since getting his team into a playoff game (that everyone knew they couldn’t win), was go clubbing with DeSean Jackson and the rest of the Redskins gang. (I didn’t just go there, I built my home there.)

I’m not saying an Eagles player should have made it (though Shady has been a BEAST under 2 different coaches in 2 different systems), but there is NO WAY that you and me should have to look at the word “great” being applied to any Redskin since Darrell Green. That my friends, is some bullshit.

MANY HAPPY RETURNS

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/07/16
Posted in: Players, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , . 3 Comments

player-joshhuffduck.500

JOSH HUFF and Darren Sproles. I’m hoping this year it’ll be those guys who assume the mantle of our primary KR/PR. If so, I hope they absolutely rip shit up, because I’ve been hungry for good KR/PR who was NOT also our primary WR, for some years now.

Looking up and down this roster taking in both their pro and collegiate histories, the pickings for the position are really kind of slim. Would you believe that this roster currently has 13 WR’s on it and only 4 of them have any significant KR history? Out of 6 RB’s, only 1 has any. The reason most teams try not to use DB’s, is because they usually aren’t natural ball carriers, and generally lack the same level of awareness/radar/ “Spidey Sense” in traffic that you will get from an offensive player.

Last year, our main guys were Damaris Johnson and Brandon Boykin. Neither man has proven to be much for returning kicks, and it would surprise me to see either of them offered a primary role in doing it. (Considering that Johnson’s role as a WR also declined sharply from 2012 to 2013, and that he was just buried under even more competition, I’d say it’s safe to say he won’t make the 2014 roster.)

While Huff wasn’t much of a threat as a return man in college, he has experience with it, and I think Chip Kelly will give his 3rd round draft pick (and former Duck), every opportunity to make the roster. If Huff ends up the KR, he could make an immediate contribution in his rookie year, and help sell the draft stock of Oregon players, who despite the schools run of success over the last few years, tend to not be high picks.

Sproles is no spring chicken, and he really hasn’t been scary as a PR since he left San Diego for New Orleans. Considering how poorly we’ve fared since 2012 with Johnson fair catching as many as he returns, Sproles might still be able to help us just by virtue of giving us someone who won’t pussy out, and help us get a couple more yards of field position here and there.

That field position could end up being crucial, especially on field goals given the lack of range for Alex Henery (and the likelihood that he’ll win the job again in 2014). The 5 yards we get from a short punt return could be the difference in a 4th down decision to kick the FG, or to punt. Multiply that over 10 to 12 possessions in a season, and you can see how Johnson’s FC rate was hurtful to the team.

To most fans ‘fair catch to return ratio’ isn’t even a thing. (Since you follow this site, yet again you know something else they don’t.) Sports analysts don’t bring it up; sportswriters don’t mention it because they don’t want to have to explain it/don’t think you’ll get it anyway; and I dare you to Google it. I last brought it up before the Draft. 

As a former OT I will tell you, you develop a preference for who’s called on to field a punt. Not due to your confidence in whether the guy can break it, but based on whether or not you think he’ll even try to. I’d bet money that the Eagles offensive players would also like to see more of a gap between returns and fair catches. They won’t say that outright, but if you ask a player about punt returner “A” and punt returner “B”, look at the players face before they start giving the safe answer. Sometimes truth is silent.

So again, with how few options we have for the KR/PR positions, Huff and Sproles are the two that I think make the most sense and give us the best chance at improving on what was one of our least talked about Achilles Heels in 2013.

“WE’LL BE LUCKY FOR 7-9”

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/07/15
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Fans. Tagged: , , , . 11 Comments

meh

THAT is the prediction of a true die-hard Eagles fan who was alive the last time they were NFL Champions in 1960.

On the 10th of  July, I was down at the bar celebrating that bastard’s 58th birthday, because he’s also been a friend of mine since 2009. His name is P.W. Rhodes, but everyone calls him Rhodie. Some of you know who I’m talking about, so you know you’ll get a kick out of this one.

When he said we’d be lucky to win 7, I asked him if he thought we’d be hit hard by injuries or something. He gave me his ‘You’re kidding, right?’ look, wiped his tongue on his napkin and raised his glass to Heaven. “From my lips to your ears!”

By this point I’d gotten out my tape recorder, because that ritual of his always means he’s breaking out the soap box, and that the bar was again, in danger of learning something. You know up til now, I’ve written over 100 articles on this site, and never before have I written a single, solitary word about a man I love like an uncle. So this article is as much about my friend Rhodie, as it is about the Eagles.

He finished his glass of Wild Turkey and off he went:

“Here’s the thing. You can’t win a football division without defense. You can win in baseball with just offense. You can be competitive in basketball with just a good offense. But if you don’t play good defense in football you’re dead in the water. Hockey too.”

“After we won in ’60, none of our teams could stop anybody. We used to chant “We’ll settle for slowin’ ‘em down! We’ll settle for slowin’ ‘em down!” Didn’t matter who bought the team or who they fired, the turd never lost it’s stink. We burned in hell for 16 years and then Vermeil gets here− Wait. Let me say this. At least under Kuharich we could score points. And that’s my point.” (Orders another drink) “The guy we got now has an offense but the defense has no tough guys on it. You can’t win like that. You need tough guys, and not just one either. This guy Kelly is like Kuharick.”

“Here’s the thing. We got fed dirt on defense last year and what did we do to change the feel of the defense? What did we do? Huh? Nothin’! We did nothin’! Those kids think what they did last year is fine because they all come back and will all start!”

At that point he said something that I have to admit kicked my enthusiasm for 2014 square in the balls.

“People expect them to be better because they played the same system last year. Here’s the thing, the Redskins kept the same system for the last few years. Did they improve? Did Pittsburgh? Did the Jaguars? All failing last year and getting to start this year teaches you is that you got away with failing. That’s the opposite of how you build a winner. Trust me. The only time I spent away from the Eagles was Vietnam, so I seen all their ups and downs.”

He and I fundamentally disagree about the Defense, since I think a year should help and I wrote as much. It wasn’t a year sucking in system they already knew. It was a year sucking in something they were learning on the fly.

But he does bring up a hell of a point. Shouldn’t there have been at least a minor tremor? We were out-toughed in a nationally televised playoff game, and so far it’s all copacetic.

The Defensive Line that was man-handled will all return as starters. Our un-clutch Kicker isn’t even being seriously challenged by management to improve; and no move has been made at bringing in an obvious upgrade. then there’s the over-matched O-line that had trouble getting the kind of clear rushing holes for our RB, that New Orleans seemed to find all night long for theirs. Aside from a possible suspension for PED’s none of that has even the potential for changing this year.

“Unlike last year the NFC East ain’t just gonna lay down roll over and play dead for us again and we don’t have the talent to dominate on defense. It’s gonna be the 1960’s out there all over again. You watch.”

I don’t agree with Rhodie’s assessment, but arguing with someone who’s been there and done that, only makes you look like a complete dope if you bust your nose because you ignored their warning. Normally I do a prediction article every year after the pre-season, but this year I may just hold off on that.

Loving Your Sports Loving Man

Posted by parismaryann on 2014/07/14
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 1 Comment

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When it comes to sports, there are four things you need to understand before you enter into conversation with the people of my house.  The first being that the Eagles are the absolute best football team to ever grace the sport.  Secondly, the Dallas “Cowgirls” are the absolute worst football team to ever bring shame to the game.  Third,   Philadelphia’s teams are the only teams that count in any sporting event. Lastly, figure skating is NOT a sport no matter which woman who you love, loves it. Unless that skater is from Philadelphia. If you keep these things in mind, you’ll do alright in my home.

Other things I know about sports are the names of the original Dream team members and the faces of Dr. J, Wilt Chamberlain, and Magic Johnson.  That’s it. That is exactly all the solid sports facts that this little writer knows. I am proud of all that I have managed to learn about sports in my many decades running about this earth.

My husband, however, is the walking, talking embodiment of this website. Facts, figures, diatribes of every nuance of the sport from the players to the coaches to the color of the locker room floor greet me every time I walk into his room! During football season, my usually ideal ‘happy home’ becomes dull and depressing. So many football games on so many televisions coming from so many channels, makes every ‘Sports Day” the most morbidly boring day in the year.

Every Autumn, there goes anything fun in this home because, hey, it’s football season, damn it!  The big screen televisions (bought in anticipation of Eagles season, mind you)  are permanently tuned to whatever channel is playing.  Whenever you catch the hard-working father of five alone and relaxed, he prefers that you ignore him until the commercials. I swear, it’s an endless cycle of grown over-paid men chasing teeny tiny balls while trying to harm each other in the process!

So what I’m saying is that I dislike sports, especially football.  Unfortunately for me, loving my hubby means suffering through his team’s High’s and Low’s, having to schedule romantic and family outings around play times/play offs/the Super Bowl etc…

There is a good side to all this football mania and that’s what I’m here to share. The best reasons to love a sports fanatic:

I Am Always Secure in my Relationship:

On a cold Super Bowl Sunday eighteen years ago, my hubby and I went out for a romantic evening.  We danced in Rittenhouse Square to a street performer, walked the entire length of Market Street ending at the waterside, light reflected water of the Schuylkill where we sat beneath a blanket on one of the benches and watched the sun set.   That’s where he proposed to me, beneath the fading sun in front of the river.  A few hours after I said “Yes”, I found out it was Super Bowl Sunday and that he’d chosen it specifically to prove his love.

You Get Romantic Surprises Randomly During the Week:

Because I lose him on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays, my hubby has been known to bring home the most thoughtful gifts during the week. Sometimes it’s flowers, my favorite Chocolates or a new movie. Sometimes the sweet thing he does is small and simple. Things like taking these rambunctious children out for a walk while I take a nice relaxing bath. Things like cooking a meal while I read to the babes.

Those of You Not Into Sports Find Great Things Around This City to Do.

It’s odd the things you can find to do when your main goal is getting away from the loud sounds of T.V. announcers and sports cheering.  After church for the last few seasons, the kids and I have made a point of finding great things to do around Philadelphia on Football day.  Some of it has been great, nature hikes and treasure hunts through different sections of Fairmount Park. Exploring the plaques and statues around Olde City and Penn’s Landing. Watching street performers along the South Street Bridge and running through Rittenhouse Square.

We’ve gone on the horse-drawn tours of Philly and gone to the Please Touch and the Art Museum. During Halloween, we do the haunted tours of the city. We have found a treasure at the Comcast building on  17th and JFK.  From Thanksgiving through New Year’s from 10 am through 8 pm, every hour except 5 pm, you can watch on their huge ( 83.3 feet wide by 25.4 feet high, 2,100 square foot) LED screens scenes from “The Nutcracker” and a “magical sleigh ride” that ends with actual snowflakes falling from the ceilings and even performances from Broadway and our own Walnut Street Theatre.

Whatever we chose to do, we always have super fun, come home tired, well-rounded, closer to each other and have managed to miss most of the tedium of my husband’s obsession.

 

So there you have it, several reasons why loving a super fan works wonderfully for a non sports lover.

By MaryAnn Paris

TRAINING CAMP BATTLES: KICKER

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/07/14
Posted in: Players, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Kickers Alex Henery (6) and Carey Spear (1)

Kickers Alex Henery (6) and Carey Spear (1)

WANT to hear something crazy? Here in 2014, there are still NFL fans who regard Kickers as unimportant. Anyone who says that is only showing how little they understand this game.

For instance, last year the Eagles scored 442 points, 114 of which were scored off the foot of K Alex Henery. (BTW: That’s 25.7%) Besides that, having a Kicker who is clutch, can win you a close game. Having one who is not (New Orleans 26-24) can cost you dearly. Kicker is an extremely important position to get right. Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT the least important position in football.

That’s probably why Special Teams coach Dave Fipp is on a mission this offseason. While Henery was great in some areas, he was sorely lacking in others. As Fipp tells it “The biggest challenge with Alex is he’s very accurate, over his career, on field goals 48 yards or less. A year ago, there were only two guys that were better than him in the National Football League. So when you’re looking into improving the position, it’s an interesting dynamic. You’ve got a guy who’s a really accurate field goal kicker, but his kickoffs are not up to par.”

The team’s answer to that was to bring in some competition in the form of undrafted rookie Carey “Murderleg” Spear. Back in May, I wrote that Spear was just here to push Henery, not replace him, and based on the inaccuracy shown by Spear in June, he may not only fail to replace Henery, but he may fail to give him much of a push either.

The bottom line on Henery is that he just doesn’t have a very strong leg, which is a killer here in the Mid-Atlantic region, where in cold weather barometric pressure isn’t combatted by eddies of rising air, so the ball doesn’t carry as long. (Think tire pressure winter vs summer.) A weak legged K in December is a liability, not just on long field goals, but on kick-offs, and kicks vs the wind from anywhere but dead center.

I said earlier this month that my hope was that Spear would beat out Henery in camp, but from everything I’ve been able to compile since then, unless the Birds go out and sign a guy like Rob Bironas, or unless Spear has found himself a Mr. Miyagi between OTA’s and Training Camp, this is Henery’s job.

My Early Favorite: Alex Henery

 

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TROJAN FANS!

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/07/13
Posted in: Fans, Rants. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

z-one off GWcrybaby550wborder

IF only condoms were this sensitive!

When you do anything short of praising Nick Foles, there is this lunatic fringe out there that starts screaming, crying, and throwing themselves on the floor. You can’t talk reason to them, or cite history, or even point to stats. It’s like talking to retarded children on a sugar high. They can only hear what they’re screaming. If that.

Yesterday I wrote an article about why the Eagles Offense was becoming more horizontal in 2014. I also made it clear that I believe more changes are on the way for 2015. Specifically, a change at the position of Quarterback.

Most of what I wrote had to do with how much running of the ball there would be, and how much action the 2nd string RB would see. I however, also addressed the penchant Chip Kelly has for having his QB’s run the ball about 100 times a year. (In college that works out to about 7.6 rushes a game.) I said that I don’t see Foles as a 100 carry per year QB.  (Who does?)

The overwhelming majority of my readers simply ‘Liked’ the article, or left a small comment about whether or not they agreed with me. Some did, some didn’t. However, there was a small (but overly vocal), contingent of crybabies who acted like I said Nick Foles was a scrub, when in fact I actually complemented his play. Hell, a good portion of the article had dick to do with him.

That raises an interesting question: If Nick Foles is legitimately so good, then why the hyper-sensitivity? If he’s actually a Top 5 QB as they keep making him out to be, then shouldn’t that speak for itself? No one gets this agitated if someone says that Peyton Manning isn’t Top 5. Us Eagles fans pick on Tony Romo ALL THE TIME and Cowboys fans don’t get this agitated. But right now we have some Eagles fans crying and catching emotions like bitches if someone disagrees with them over whether or not Nick Foles can turn water into wine, raise the dead, or make a dollar out of fifteen cents.

They talk like those of us who aren’t 100% sold yet, are somehow traitors or some shit. Half these cats weren’t even drawing breath when I became an Eagles fan, so NO they don’t get to set the standard for me for what a fan is. I like who I like, when I like, how I like; and anyone who can’t deal can freeze a fat turd and ass-fuck themselves do to death with it.

 

Make no mistake, I like Foles, but last I checked: He got beat out in open competition by Michael Vick for a starting job, was only elevated by Vick’s injury, hasn’t started a whole season yet, and failed to win a playoff game. Shit, even Rodney Peete won his first playoff game here! Folks, if you’re gonna dick eat somebody at least make sure the muthafucka’s accomplished something first.

Stats be damned. Last year we got as close to the Super Bowl as the Cowboys did, but we played an extra game to get there. Gimme 15 starts and 2 playoff wins, then we can start to talk about where Foles fits. Until then, he’s just a guy with a lot of potential, who had a really good run last year, and that we HOPE can do it again.

And with that I can get back to my calm self again. 

WHY THE EAGLES SYSTEM IS CHANGING

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/07/12
Posted in: Coaching, Offense. Tagged: , , . 4 Comments
NICK FOLES!

NICK FOLES!

THE truth is, many of us knew that the system was going to change, what’s more important however, is to understand why the system is going to change.

Lots of people (and I’m one of them) don’t completely trust the assertion by Chip Kelly that Nick Foles is his guy at QB for the long haul. I’m just not sold that Foles fits Kelly’s system.

It’s not that I think we need a running QB for this system. Nick Foles isn’t a running QB, and last year he ran this system just fine. Of course that all depends on which “this” you mean when you discuss this system.

What we’ll run in 2014 will be decidedly different than what we ran in 2013. I first said that on March 18th when I wrote about the Sproles Effect; and I said it again on March 20th  when I discussed how we’d be fine after trading DeSean Jackson. Now it seems that a few days ago (July 8th), Eagles insider Ron Jaworski has also said it. Everybody who follows Eaglemaniacal.com was probably glad to see that Jaws had finally caught up to what the rest of us had known for months.

Last year we ran a kind of “Vertical Spread” but we no longer have the pieces (DJax) to do that. In football when you can’t go vertical, you go horizontal, so Kelly is countering by doing something sneaky. He is gradually transitioning us to a system that almost mirrors what he ran at Oregon. Oh, you don’t see it? Well then allow me to break it down.

 

First, we’ll look at what it is. Do you know why Kelly’s system is so QB friendly?  Because it doesn’t require the QB to lead the Offense in the traditional sense.  As a collegiate coach (both as an OC and a HC) only once in 6 years did Kelly’s offense even attempt 400 passes.

OC

2007: 413 passes/ 607 rushes

2008: 373 passes/ 581 rushes

HC

2009: 338 passes/ 540 rushes

2010: 395 passes/ 614 rushes

2011: 386 passes/ 619 rushes

2012: 373 passes/ 672 rushes

Every year after 2009 the passes went down and the rushes went up. FYI: Last year, the Eagles: 508 passes/ 500 rushes. If things go well, expect that ratio to change sides. At least.

In a system like that you don’t need a DJax or an Andre Johnson, or for that matter even a Nick Foles. The QB isn’t so much making reads as he’s simply delivering the ball. It’s almost idiot proof. So far no QB Kelly has started going back to 2007 has had any trouble operating this system. And so far not one of them has been a viable NFL starter away from it, as Kelly doesn’t teach QB’s how to be QB’s. (Buyer beware poaching an Eagles QB while Kelly is here.)

 

And now for the “Why”! At Oregon where Kelly was the Head Coach from 2009 to 2012, he frequently rotated 2 RB’s. In fact, take a look at how many carries the second string RB got in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. Respectively, that’s 61 (in 13 games), 91 (in 13), 152 (in 14), and 92 (in 13). Last year Bryce Brown logged just 75 in 16 games, and you can tell just by eyeballing it that the big back didn’t get as many opportunities as his collegiate counterparts.

Kelly has had most of his success with smaller, quicker RB’s like 194lb LaMicheal James, 190lb Kenjon Barner, and 176lb DeAnthony Thomas. So out goes 220lb Bryce Brown, and in comes 190lb Darren Sproles, along with 200lb WR/RB-tweener Josh Huff. Coincidental, you say? Okay. I’ll keep going.

Look at Oregon’s 2011 again and also the Eagles 2013. Tell me if you can see any similarities between Foles and Oregon’s QB. And please, don’t forget to also compare those rushing stats!

Now in any of those other years, 2009, 2010, or 2012, take a look at how many rushes there were by the QB… Wow right?

What Nick Foles ran in 2013, was NOT what Chip Kelly prefers to run. We have yet to see Kelly’s actual system, and Nick Foles does not strike me as a 100 carry per season QB.

Basically this shift to a horizontal approach is a slow transition from what Kelly has to run, to what he’d like to run.

So yeah. The system is changing. And now you know why.

 

ANDRE JOHNSON CATCHING ON WITH THE EAGLES.

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/07/11
Posted in: Front Office (F.O.), Players. Tagged: , . 2 Comments
Andre Johnson and rented mule Cortland Finnegan

Andre Johnson and rented mule Cortland Finnegan

ADDING Pro Bowl WR Andre Johnson to a potent offense that includes RB’s like 2013 Rushing Champion LeSean McCoy, and every down mismatch Darren Sproles; a QB like emerging star Nick Foles; WR’s like rookie Jordan Matthews, and Jeremy Maclin; not to mention TE’s Zach Ertz and Brent Celek, sounds awesome right?

Let me stop you right there.

First of all, I’ve already mentioned that in 2015 the Eagles will have some serious belt tightening to do. Johnson’s $10M price tag in 2015 ($11M in 2016), isn’t friendly to that mission. Even if we play him in 2014 and cut him in 2015, his dead money figure in that year is north of $7M. On top of that we’d have to trade to get him, which only makes him more pricey.

Secondly, with Chip Kelly saying that Matthews will start in the slot, that says either Maclin, or Riley Cooper are making $5 to ride pine this year. Either that or Matthews sits as one of them moves inside. If Matthews goes to the bench it only buries Josh Huff further down the depth chart, which then stunts your youth development, which hurts double considering again that you gave away a draft pick.

Third, at 32, is Johnson even physically able to adjust to Kelly’s up tempo pace? He’s far from a pristine 32, as his body has quite a bit of wear and tear on it. As far as body type goes, we just drafted a big WR who seems to be picking things up well, and is working out with some of the NFL’s best WR’s in order to live up to Kelly’s expectations of him. If he’s pushed aside for Johnson, it could damage his attitude early on. Why play with fire?

Lastly, what exactly would we be getting? It’s not like he’s a dangerous scoring threat, with only 61 TD’s on 927 career catches; and yes I said only. His catch to TD ratio is 15.1:1, which is dead lowest among active players with 40 career TD receptions. In a system predicated on the run, we don’t need a 100 catch WR. More to the point, this system won’t produce a 100 catch WR. (More on that tomorrow.)

Put bluntly, we can’t afford him, we don’t need him, he’s too risky, he doesn’t fit what we do.

I’m probably going to “catch” hell for this and I welcome it. It’ll be good to get the blood up before camp. Fans need to get in shape too.

I look forward to responding to the Comments you post below.