JORDAN MATTHEWS LEAVING?

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/07
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . 2 Comments

Jordan Matthews card

“EAGLES Matthews Seems Destined To Play The Slot”. That was the headline for an article on Philly.com. I run a Facebook Eagles group called Eagles Maniacs where a similarly titled article also popped up. While the use of Jordan Matthews as a slot WR is a detrimental to the whole Offense, I also don’t like the split it’s setting up between Matthews and the Eagles.

Before you dismiss that as crazy, point to the time where I’ve been wrong about the Eagles losing a player…You can’t, because I haven’t been. EVER. Now let’s continue.

The headline is 100% accurate. “Eagles Matthews seems destined to play the slot”. Key word there is ‘Eagles’. Once he goes elsewhere, he will be allowed to line up as a starter on the outside. You’ll see him do things for other some other offense, that he has not been allowed to do here. Yes, I said and meant the word ‘allowed’. I will get into that later down the page.

Why would the Eagles intentionally hold back their own player’s potential? Two words: Price Control. The Eagles don’t want Matthews outside on the edge yet, (emphasis on ‘yet’), because once his (4y/4.94M) rookie deal is up after 2017, they’ll have to negotiate with him at market price.

For perspective, the most expensive slot WR you can think of was Wes Welker. In 2007 Welker signed an extension in New England for 5y/18.1M. In 2012 it was a one year franchise tag of 9.15M. He went to Denver in 2013 for 2y/12M. Collectively that’s 8y/39.6M, or roughly 4.95M per year.

The market for outside guys? Here are 5 guys who finished within 10 receptions of Matthews in 2015: A.J. Green 5y/70M (14py); Randall Cobb 4y/40M (10py); Golden Tate 5y/31M (6py); Eric Decker 5y/36M (7py); Jeremy Maclin 5y/55M (11py). I didn’t even touch the Calvin Johnson, Julio Jones, Antonio Brown, Jordy Nelson echelon of WR. I kept it where Matthews would be if his rookie deal were up today. Keep in mind that with inflation, those numbers will be higher in 2018, and things will also have to be bent around Fletcher Cox‘s impending contract.

Relegating Matthews as a slot WR changes his market and drops his price tag. Sure, after he’s re-signed the Eagles could always move him outside, and they’d have an outside guy at a bargain bin price. Sounds smart at first. The problem with that: If I can figure that ruse out, you can bet your ass that Matthew’s agent sees it too and is preparing his client.

Let’s recall two other players the Eagles tried to save a buck on: Reggie White and Brian Dawkins. Here’s another: Terrell Owens. Let’s do one more: Evan Mathis. Nickel and diming players has always blown up in this franchise’s face, and we always ended up needing the player, more than player needed to be here. Every one of those guys had success where they went next, and we ended up with holes that in some cases took years to fill. Why do that again? Especially considering that with the picks we traded away, it’ll be harder than normal to replace him.

I mentioned earlier that Matthews could be doing more for the Offense, if he lined up on the outside. Here’s what I mean. Matthews is a big WR who actually plays like one. He’s not the sort of WR that a CB wants to have to handle alone, after the catch. That means sliding a Safety out of the box and farther outside towards him. Not only would this loosen things inside for the running game, but it would open room to roam for a TE like Zach Ertz.

Cramming Matthews inside lets teams to keep a Safety in the box, which allows their LB’s to key on the run. How did Matthews in the slot played out for us? Well just look at us over the last two years. Our run game was sputtering even in LeSean McCoy‘s last year here, and it was all but dead last year. On the outside we had no mismatches to exploit, and it did nothing to make life easier on anyone. The results speak for themselves.

This is a naked attempt at price control and nothing more. It was cute of Head Coach Doug Pederson to say that Matthews will be “moved around” this year. It’ll be interesting to see how often Matthews starts games in the slot, vs how many times in a game he’s motioned to the outside.

All I can do at this point, is hope that Pederson has a change of heart. Or that others see what I see, give the Eagles hell for it, and maybe help shame them into doing what’s right.

AND THE WINNER IS…

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/06
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, poll, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . 2 Comments

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YESTERDAY’S “Most Delusional Fan Base” poll, was won by the Dallas Cowboys in a landslide. Or more accurately, it was won by their fans. It wasn’t even close. Cowboys fans took more than half of the votes, with the next closest team (Redskins) only garnering 25%.

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This poll was placed on not just on this website, but also on Twitter, Google Plus and a number of trash talk groups on Facebook. Putting this in just Eagles groups would have been unfair and dishonest. It would have served as rigging the poll, and not given me the cross-section that I myself was curious about, when I came up with the idea.

Full disclosure, I voted for the Redskins. Their fall back to Earth this year is going to be epic, and I’m blown away that their fans are completely oblivious to it. Imagine if Thelma and Louise didn’t know that cliff was there. That’s what this is, and I can’t wait to watch it all unfold.

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I was pretty sure the giants would finish last. They’ve won Super Bowls in this millennium, but their fans have at least had the decency to shut the fuck up while their team wallows in mediocrity on a yearly basis now.

The fact that such a low percentage of fans picked Eagles fans as delusional surprised me frankly. I didn’t expect us to “win” this, but I expected more rivals would think we were nuts for believing in our team. This poll says that they don’t think our resurgence is such a crazy idea. Fellow Eagles fans, our rivals are watching us. And they are apparently very concerned with what they see.

The Cowboys getting so much of the vote was a stunner. Like many NFC East contests, I expected it to be close, but clearly the voters felt otherwise. To be fair though, the number of voters did not equal the number of readers; and this poll would likely have had more of both had I not released it on a Sunday.

Fact is, not only do division rivals read these articles, but even some AFC West, NFC West and NFC South fans make their way by here. (Thank you for your readership.) It makes me wonder how many of those fans also voted.

In any case, (barring a recount) we have our Champion. Dallas Cowboys Fans, you are the 2016 Most Delusional Fan Base of the NFC East.

MOST DELUSIONAL FAN BASE

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/05
Posted in: Conversations, Crazy Talk, Fans, NFL, Rivals. Tagged: , , , , . 1 Comment

NFC EAST

WHICH fan base in the NFC East is the most delusional about their team?

Is it Redskins fans for looking past this year’s schedule, expecting wins because the team was above .500 last season, and ignoring the fact that their QB can’t beat decent teams?

Is it Eagles fans, for thinking the team has a chance despite navigating a coaching regime change, a new Offensive AND Defensive system, and Sam Bradford as our starting QB?

Is it the giants fans for telling everyone that their QB is elite, saying that Josh Norman being a Redskin doesn’t matter, and not telling Cornelius Beckham that beards belong only on faces?

Is it Cowboys fans for trusting Jerry with another Draft, calling themselves America’s team despite 31 more fan bases, and saying “The quest for six” despite being one hit away from being a JV squad?

Vote in the poll to see which team has the most delusional fan base in the division.

AAAND, NOBODY CARES.

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/04
Posted in: Conversations, NFL, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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REDSKINS fans all over the place are acting as if 2015’s 9-7 season was some sort of an accomplishment. Fact is, almost everyone who writes about/covers the NFL thought they were likely to have the year they had in 2015. Let me emphasize the words “likely to have the year THEY had”. Their record was no surprise. The fact that it was enough to win the NFC East, was the surprise.

This is part of the reason that the national media isn’t claiming the Redskins will do it again in 2016. Nobody buys into the notions that A) The Redskins can even be 8-8 again or B) that that record would win the East.

When I look at who in the NFC East people are talking about, it seems to be focused on your Philadelphia Eagles and on the team in Texas. Not even new york is garnering much fan fare, but at least their fans are smart enough to keep their traps shut.

Like I said though, nobody is talking about the Redskins. It’s like they’ve become invisible. Like they’re fading away. 

WEIGHING IN ON TRUMP

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/04
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 1 Comment

donald-trump

TODAY I want to discuss something not football related that’s been on my mind for a while now. Specifically that would be this Presidential race. (If you don’t care to read about this subject, don’t whine about it, just don’t click the story. Be a grown up.)

There’s a small, sick part of my brain that wants to see what things would be like if Donald Trump is elected President. Not in terms of Washington’s political fallout, or the national media’s coverage of him. What I’d want is to keep an eye on anyone who I found out voted for him. Basically to watch the decline of a person who enthusiastically caused the demise of themselves and/or their beloved family.

The people who think that he can “make America great again” are exactly the sort that will get caught in the undertow of his policies. Right now they’re looking to vote for a guy who hopes to win on his crass style, because he lacks the ability to even talk about their issues. I won’t get too deep into why his crassness isn’t a turnoff for those voters. It suffices to say however, that if you lack grace, class, and dignity, you are likely incapable of recognizing those qualities or lack thereof in others.

I’m already preparing for what I’ll do if he gets in office and food prices skyrocket due to his isolationist stance on trade. Or if hundreds of millions of tax dollars get spent on a wall to keep out Mexicans. It’s a good idea, right? Sure. Unless they come through the tunnels that drugs move through. Or if they come in by sailing up the Pacific coast. Or are smuggled in. Or bribe border patrol agents. Basically all the stuff that they already do today. But that wall tho!

My point is, his voters don’t think things through. Unfortunately for them, that very flaw is what will cost them if he’s elected. Seriously. What is Trump University, besides a course to teach sharks how to fleece poorly educated suckers out of their property. Hold on now! Who are Trump’s voters mostly comprised of again? It’s almost comical, right?

Me personally, I’m a registered Independent and a Progressive. Progressive is a movement started by Republican Teddy Roosevelt, but is touted today primarily by Democrats. That’s because Republicans seem to be in a race to show America which one of them is the most stuck in 1955.

The funny thing about Conservatives is that the root word is “conserve”, which means to keep something the same. In a changing world, America staying the same is how everyone was able to pass us and leave us behind. If his voters truly believe America isn’t as great as it used to be, then “keeping it the same” won’t return us to glory. They need to make progress. They need to be progressive.

A Trump voter however, would read that and still fail to make the connections. In anger they’d call me a Liberal or some such nonsense, and for my part, (though I’m not a Liberal), I wouldn’t argue. I’d just sit back, smile, twiddle my thumbs and wait.

I seriously hope he doesn’t win, (and I think Clinton was a better suited candidate 8 years ago than she is today), but even if Trump does win, I won’t be fleeing to Canada. I will simply supplement my income by finding some of his suckers supporters to fleece. After all, why should a Trump presidency hurt anyone besides his voters?

Don’t be afraid of Trump, America. Just be prepared. After all, we’ve been through crazy before, right?

I survived bush

CAREFUL WITH CARSON WENTZ

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/03
Posted in: Coaching, NFL, Offense, Players, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

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“THESE idiots want to ruin that kid!” That’s a direct quote from my football guru, Rhodie. While I would have chosen a different way to word that, I fully understood where he was coming from. Mostly because he’d been making the same point repeatedly for the last twenty or so minutes. But in his defense, he (yes I really mean WE) had been doing some drinking.

Look, most Eagles fans are sick of QB Sam Bradford. They want to make the jump to rookie Carson Wentz sooner rather than later. Reports are that Wentz is picking up the Offense quicker/better than Bradford is, and so far players on this team don’t have a bad word to say about the rookie. It’s just glowing review after glowing review. Throws a ball that’s “easier to catch”, flaps his arms after TD’s, shits rainbows, farts hundred dollar bills… Since he’s so great, we should start him right?

Hold on. Pump the brakes. Ease back, Tito.

OTA’s is a bunch of guys in shorts, running basic concepts and drills. No one is hitting anyone yet. It’s grown men playing catch, with a touch of choreography thrown in. Be glad that Wentz looked good, but don’t ask for him to be the starter just yet. You may get what you ask for, and you don’t want that to happen.

Fans generally don’t understand the size of the leap Wentz is making here. Most fans think “college football” and visions of teams like Alabama, Michigan, Penn State, USC, University of Miami, Ohio State, and Texas (Longhorns) come to mind.

Wentz didn’t play against that level of competition. Now he’s playing vs the best of what that level had to offer. Admit it. Last year if someone said N.D. in relation to college football, you’d have thought Notre Dame not North Dakota. There is a jump to be made here, and OTA’s can’t give him a real sense of how big it is yet.

Conventional wisdom says if you start a rookie, you should expecting a losing season. If he wins, great. If not, it’s an investment in his education. Problem is, there is no patience for that here in Philly. Eagles ownership wants to compete in 2016. That would toss Wentz into the meat grinder immediately.

Many of those fans who want him over Bradford would be the first to bail and turn on him if he won fewer than the 7 games Bradford won last year. Between the expectations and the carnivorous media here, Wentz would likely end up shell-shocked before he learned the nuances of his position. He’d be ruined in same fashion that Bobby Hoying was. The fact is, Wentz needs time to sit and learn.

The sensible thing is to sit him for at least four games. When I say sit, I mean just that. Four games of no action at all. Hold the clipboard, wear a baseball cap, and stay close to Head Coach Doug Pederson. Ask questions, learn how to work the refs, wave the rally towel at the crowd, and offer words of encouragement to teammates after they blow a opportunity. Let him hone his game day demeanor.

Games 4 through 8, if you want to give him the last possession/mop-up duty in a game we’re winning or losing by at least 10, that’s great. However, barring injury to both Bradford and Chase Daniel, Wentz should under no circumstance, no circumstance, start a game before Week Ten. By Week Ten if we’re 2-6 or worse, you give the kid the keys and let him learn on the job. If we’re competing for or leading the division then you stick with him doing mop-ups.

And by God, if we’re competing for the division, under no circumstance do you ever yank the starter from a losing game, in hopes that the rookie can spark a comeback. Whether we win or lose the game, you are putting him personally in a no win situation afterward.

Making Wentz the starter right out of the gate is the perfect way to ruin him if the team doesn’t do well. This level of competition, expectation, media scrutiny, and fan intensity are all new for him. It’s too early to toss him into that meat grinder. We have Bradford and Daniel. Lets start with those two for now, and see where we are by the time we get to Week Ten at Atlanta.

There is nothing easy about building franchise QB’s. If it were, then everyone would be doing it. That means we have to be careful with Carson Wentz and careful of the process we use to mold him. If we don’t, then we risk as Rhodie put it “Fucking this kid’s career in the ass with a punkin” (meaning pumpkin).

punkin

IGNORE THE GREG HARDY RUMOR

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/05/31
Posted in: Crazy Talk, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . 3 Comments

no hardy

THE rumor that Greg Hardy might become an Eagle is exactly that. It’s a rumor and nothing more. Today I’ve been to a number of sites and blogs that ALL cite the same source (Pro Football Rumors) for the story that they have perpetuated.

In the source story, PFR doesn’t cite a source, offer a quote or even say that Hardy’s agent has called the Eagles or that the Eagles have called Hardy’s agent. There isn’t a single solitary shred of evidence to lend a gram of credibility to that article. If you had a blog and wrote the same thing, it would be just as true.

So if you’re an Eagles fan and you became worried or sick at the sight of the article, you can calm down. Until and unless you read from someplace CREDIBLE, that this is happening, have faith that your team wouldn’t do something so stupid.

For those who’d compare signing Hardy to signing Michael Vick, there are two massive differences:

1) Vick did not escape justice

2) Vick was remorseful, repentant and continues to keep his nose clean.

Signing Vick was a gamble. Signing Hardy would be stupid.

So again, you can ignore the rumor for now; and in the future be more careful where you get your Eagles information. Many sites have ads and make money off of your clicks, so they don’t care what they have to say to get you there.

Hey look! No ads here. Hmmm….

BACK THAT UP!

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/05/29
Posted in: Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . 5 Comments

Eagles RBs 2016

SO am I the only one here who’s concerned about our depth at Running Back? Honestly we could do worse than Ryan Mathews as a starter. However, only once in six NFL seasons has he been available for all sixteen games. He has also never started more than fourteen in any year so far. So common sense demands that we get a back-up who we can lean on in case he goes down.

Looking at who’s behind him, it’s hard not to get nervous.

Darren Sproles is a spark plug who can and has turned games around (that comeback against Jacksonville started with Sproles). The thing is, he’ll be 33 in less than a month, is 190 pounds soaking wet, and is coming off of one of the worst seasons in his career as a RB. If Mathews goes down, Sproles cannot be our bell cow. He just can’t handle the rigors of the job at this point. (FYI: His career high for carries in a year is 93. In 2009.)

Some people are excited about Kenjon Barner, but I don’t see why. He’s been in the NFL since 2013 and has yet to ever earn serious playing time. On two teams. In fact, in 2014 he was out of football altogether. Last year his college coach (TIK) pulled him off his couch to return kicks, and Barner excelled at it. However, he still offered little to no value as an NFL RB.

Then we have rookie Wendell Smallwood who is a little on the smallish side at only 201 pounds. I still take issue with him saying that 75% of the men in Philly are gay and that he doesn’t want to be here.

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Even when I put that to the side, when I watch his film what I see is an amazingly ordinary athlete. Average burst to and through the hole, not much in the way of second effort yardage, taking what is blocked for him because he doesn’t create… To be fair he is a fifth round pick, but where he was picked won’t be a good enough excuse if his number is called and he can’t respond.

Then we have rookie Free Agent Cedric O’Neal. He’s got decent size at 213, so that’s a plus. My big knock on him is he doesn’t have game tape that I can spot tendencies on. He just has a bunch of highlight reel stuff out there. While highlights are frequently unreliable, these do show that the guy’s style of play is Fizz E. Kal. I have to question the level of competition he played against, but seeing him run over and run away from guys made me think of (former Redskin) John Riggins, just in a smaller package.

There is also Byron Marshall but he’s more of a WR than a RB. He didn’t log a single carry in 2015 at Oregon.

So that’s it. That’s every RB on the roster. So you’ll have to excuse me if I’m slightly panicky over the idea of Mathews getting so much as a mosquito bite.

At this point we don’t even have the right parts for a RB by committee approach. (An approach that I detest by the way.) So I’m certain at some point that the Eagles will have to dive back into Free Agency in the next couple of weeks to get us some real depth. I just hope they get us something good.

NOTE: For my money, I’d like to get a long look at this O’Neal kid and maybe add someone like (former Eagles) Bryce Brown or Chris Polk. Both are unsigned as of today.

WE’RE A MESS, BUT WE’RE THE BEST

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/05/27
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . 3 Comments

HUNTING

ANYONE who says that the Eagles don’t have major issues right now is either retarded or high, or maybe a little of both. There is a breakdown in leadership throughout this franchise that right now, almost suggests that we were better off under (TIK).

I said almost.

Things are being handled poorly right now, that’s without a doubt. However, I’m willing to give this staff the benefit of the doubt as they try to find their legs. I’m not just being lenient because Doug Pederson is a first-time Head Coach. That’s in there too, but it’s not the major reason.

Pederson is coming in here relying on many players that never played for any NFL team besides the Eagles and for no other NFL HC other than (TIK). There is an entire revamping of culture here. Approaches to preparation, and how the team handles players will be different now; and Pederson has to help those who only knew the NFL through (TIK) to adjust their mindsets. It’s a huge job.

Which is why this lack of leadership has me on all fours, vomiting up my organs out of anger a couple times a week. But everyone is still in shorts right now. Just like you can’t get too high on what guys do now, you can’t get too low either.

Which brings me to the guys! How do I see us winning the East if we have leadership problems and Sam Bradford is still the starting QB? Excellent questions! Get ready to feel really positive Eagles fans!

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First off, even with last year as bad as it was, we were only 1 game under .500, and just 2 out of first place. And that was with Bradford going 7-7 (he missed two games). That of course was in a year when our division rivals weren’t very good. The good news for us is that they haven’t really improved significantly.

Second, we on the other hand, have improved drastically with the subtraction of one man and the tearing out of his faulty culture.

Third, in the West Coast Offense we’re installing is an offensive system that is more stable than the system we ran last year. Being more stable it will keep our Defense from being as beat up as it was over these last two seasons.

Fourth, we’re about to have a real Defense again. Even if it isn’t the nightmare machine that I envision (SOOOO looking forward to this year), having a middle of the pack unit that doesn’t hemorrhage big plays through the air will be a huge improvement over the last 6 to 7 years.

We’re better in so many fundamental ways today and that’s with guys still running around in shorts.

Our rivals?

The Redskins improved an already scary receiving corps. Given that the game is still only played with one ball at a time, they didn’t add anything they didn’t already have there. They did however improve their secondary with CB Josh Norman. However with them not having a bottom-feeder schedule and a QB who can’t beat winning teams…well let’s say that barring a miracle, the Redskins 2016 season ended horribly at the conclusion of the 2015 season.

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The giants? They added a CB who likes us better, and raided the Dolphins for a middle of the road pass rusher. Hey JPP, what do you think?

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The Cowboys got a really good RB. In fact, I wanted him to come here. The idea there is that he’s going to allow them to return to the 2014 formula that produced a 12-4 record, and kept their QB from spending his year on Sean Lee. Excuse me, I meant Injured Reserve. Aside from their first pick, everyone else they drafted either seems to be injured or a project. Oh yeah, they did get Cedric Thornton from us. Maybe that will help?

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So with us being better and the rest of them chasing their tails, us improving that 7-9 mark and the Redskins likely failing to make 8-8…well it’s just basic math. Keep in mind until this becomes history, I realize it’s just me forecasting. Then again my track record for seeing these things is pretty solid.

(TIK).

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/05/26
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , . 11 Comments

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FREQUENTLY I make reference to someone named (TIK) and it’s confused a few people because up until now I’ve done a poor job of clearly explaining who I’m talking about. 

(TIK) stands for The Idiot Kelly. That’s Kelly as in Chip Kelly. You remember him. He’s the guy who decided that he was going to run an NFL franchise like an NCAA team. The same guy who decided to push 45 NFL veterans like they were 100 or so 18,19, 20 and 21 year olds. The same guy who thought that telling grown men when to eat and sleep would be good for team conditioning, while giving no consideration to team morale. The same guy who came in after our 4-12 season, to lead us to 10-6 (vs a last place schedule), without making many roster or lineup changes; yet who had a harder and harder time winning, the more he was allowed to implement his vision. The same guy who gave/traded away so much talent that Native Americans in Manhattan were clowning him on Facebook. 

THAT is who (TIK) is.