** Official 2014 Philadelphia Eagles Thread ** (2 Viewers)

[Billy Bats]

Shady leaves a .20 tip in city burger joint and owner responds:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/PYT-owner-responds-to-LeSean-McCoy-20-cent-tip.html

 

[Bigboy10182000]

Shady leaves a .20 tip in city burger joint and owner responds:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/PYT-owner-responds-to-LeSean-McCoy-20-cent-tip.html

I have left nothing a couple times cause the service was bad I'm sure this is what happened here.

 

[Insein]

Shady leaves a .20 tip in city burger joint and owner responds:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/PYT-owner-responds-to-LeSean-McCoy-20-cent-tip.html

Congratulations on never getting another sports figure to come to your place guy.

 

[fred_1_15301]

Shady leaves a .20 tip in city burger joint and owner responds:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/PYT-owner-responds-to-LeSean-McCoy-20-cent-tip.html

I have left nothing a couple times cause the service was bad I'm sure this is what happened here.

Why are you sure that is what happened here? I'm not sure what happened but I see no reason we should believe the owner is lying. It's possible that he is but it's also possible that McCoy and his posse were just being #######s

 

[fred_1_15301]

Shady leaves a .20 tip in city burger joint and owner responds:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/PYT-owner-responds-to-LeSean-McCoy-20-cent-tip.html

Congratulations on never getting another sports figure to come to your place guy.

Well he acknowledged that he expects to receive a ton of hate mail. It seemed like he carefully thought through his decision to make that post without concern of the backlash. That makes me think that he's probably telling the truth and legitimately pissed off.

 

[Bigboy10182000]

Shady leaves a .20 tip in city burger joint and owner responds:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/PYT-owner-responds-to-LeSean-McCoy-20-cent-tip.html

I have left nothing a couple times cause the service was bad I'm sure this is what happened here.

Why are you sure that is what happened here? I'm not sure what happened but I see no reason we should believe the owner is lying. It's possible that he is but it's also possible that McCoy and his posse were just being #######s

Other store owners sent receipts from him showing very generous tips at other places. The store owner admits there was an issue but of course they weren't at fault at all. I'm calling BS. The guy got his little bit of fame that he wanted.

 

[fred_1_15301]

Shady leaves a .20 tip in city burger joint and owner responds:http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/PYT-owner-responds-to-LeSean-McCoy-20-cent-tip.html

I have left nothing a couple times cause the service was bad I'm sure this is what happened here.

Why are you sure that is what happened here? I'm not sure what happened but I see no reason we should believe the owner is lying. It's possible that he is but it's also possible that McCoy and his posse were just being #######s

Other store owners sent receipts from him showing very generous tips at other places. The store owner admits there was an issue but of course they weren't at fault at all. I'm calling BS. The guy got his little bit of fame that he wanted.

I wouldn't call it "fame". As lnsein said, this guy's business is going to suffer because of this decision. I just don't understand why he would do it unless he was legitimately pissed. Oh well, ultimately it was probably a bad decision either way.

 

[Ash]

Shady leaves a .20 tip in city burger joint and owner responds:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/PYT-owner-responds-to-LeSean-McCoy-20-cent-tip.html

This made the news websites here in Australia.

 

[Bigboy10182000]

Shady leaves a .20 tip in city burger joint and owner responds:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/PYT-owner-responds-to-LeSean-McCoy-20-cent-tip.html

This made the news websites here in Australia.

"Here in Australia"?

 

[Ash]

Shady leaves a .20 tip in city burger joint and owner responds:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/PYT-owner-responds-to-LeSean-McCoy-20-cent-tip.html

This made the news websites here in Australia.

"Here in Australia"?

 

[Bigboy10182000]

Shady leaves a .20 tip in city burger joint and owner responds:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/PYT-owner-responds-to-LeSean-McCoy-20-cent-tip.html

This made the news websites here in Australia.

"Here in Australia"?

Well g'day mate! Live out there all your life?

 

[Ash]

Shady leaves a .20 tip in city burger joint and owner responds:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/PYT-owner-responds-to-LeSean-McCoy-20-cent-tip.html

This made the news websites here in Australia.

"Here in Australia"?

Well g'day mate! Live out there all your life?

Yep. I started following the NFL about 1990 so Gang Green and Randall were why I became an Eagles fan. I played out here for 7 years during the 90s. We used to get guys come out from the US after they'd finished playing college ball for a kind of sporting holiday. Play a season in our league then have a few months holiday here. My first season we had two guys, one was a TE from near Philadelphia, he played with Lee Woodall at West Chester. The other was a 4 year starter and captain at MLB from Harvard. Both those guys said our league was about D2 college standard.

They were both great teachers who'd talk football with anyone who wanted to listen, and I was like a sponge. I started that season as someone who could play Madden 92 and finished as a S who could read the uncovered OL's footwork for run/pass and directional keys, pick route combinations etc. One of the other teams had a QB who was a backup at Virginia Tech, I picked him off twice in the semi final game that year. Glory days

 

[Deamon]

Shady leaves a .20 tip in city burger joint and owner responds:

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/phillygossip/PYT-owner-responds-to-LeSean-McCoy-20-cent-tip.html

This made the news websites here in Australia.

"Here in Australia"?

Well g'day mate! Live out there all your life?

Yep. I started following the NFL about 1990 so Gang Green and Randall were why I became an Eagles fan. I played out here for 7 years during the 90s. We used to get guys come out from the US after they'd finished playing college ball for a kind of sporting holiday. Play a season in our league then have a few months holiday here. My first season we had two guys, one was a TE from near Philadelphia, he played with Lee Woodall at West Chester. The other was a 4 year starter and captain at MLB from Harvard. Both those guys said our league was about D2 college standard.

They were both great teachers who'd talk football with anyone who wanted to listen, and I was like a sponge. I started that season as someone who could play Madden 92 and finished as a S who could read the uncovered OL's footwork for run/pass and directional keys, pick route combinations etc. One of the other teams had a QB who was a backup at Virginia Tech, I picked him off twice in the semi final game that year. Glory days

Wow that's awesome. Was wondering your background in the football world. Sounds great and we love your breakdowns in here.

 

[dhockster]

Ash or anybody else: Were the Jags playing 8 men in the box to stop the running game in the first half? If so, what did the Eagles change in the 2nd half to get the offense going? I saw most of the first half in a sportsbar and missed most of the second half because their directv went out.

 

[Bigboy10182000]

After seeing the All-22 I come away with a couple of things:

1. To say DJax was needed to open the field seems WAY overblown. We had guys WIIIIIIDE open downfield all day.Some with defenders trailing by 5-6-7 yards. There was at least 7 plays like this and Maclin was open on like 5 of them.

2. Foles' game should have been around 450 yards passing and 4-5 TD's. The zones Jac ran really threw him off. In the rpesser Chip mentioned that they thought they would see a lot more man and maybe that was the reason behind Foles missing these guys.

 

[Ash]

I think Jenkins (as well as Williams) was the goat on the 1st Jacksonville TD. It was a balanced 2 TE formation, both WRs ran verticals, the right hand TE stayed as a blocker, the left hand TE released vertically, without showing a run block and broke to the sideline at about the 20, Allen went with him. The RB released into the left flat. On the replay you can see Jenkins between the hash marks as the ball goes overhead so I'd say he had the deep middle in Cover 3. Both Williams and Fletcher were playing outside leverage so they were expecting someone inside, they were both beaten by a couple of yards as well. Williams let the cushion close then Hurns just ran by him. I think they were surprised the Jags took a deep shot.

Looked bad for Allen because he was the one trailing in shot, but I think he did what he was supposed to do.

Sorry Malcolm, this was Allen's fault. It was quarters (4 deep) not Cover 3. For some reason Allen jumped a route Kendricks had well covered in trail position and the ball went straight to where he should have been. Couldn't see Kendricks on the original view, so I thought Allen actually had the TE.

 

[Ash]

Two bad plays in a row for Foles at 7:42 and 7:09 in Q1

On the first it's 2nd and 10, he has Sproles open in the right flat for 7 or 8 yards and he pumps to him which has the S react that way which leaves Matthews open down the left seam. Babre got beat outside then as Foles pulled down that pump Mathis lost control of his man and he starts to roll right and got tackled about the LoS. Herremans held as Foles started to move, so if he'd hit Matthews then it would have come back, but he didn't seem to see it.

The 2nd one was a really bad miss. The S jumped right over Matthews in the left slot as he releases having just seen him streak down the seam open, he runs a deep cross. Maclin clears the underneath coverage and is wide open down the right seam Foles has a good pocket at that point and just doesn't see him. He then gets hit and fumbles, for a turnover that should have been a TD. The first one was on Peters, but this was on Foles, the ball should have been long gone before he got hit.

 

[Ash]

Ash or anybody else: Were the Jags playing 8 men in the box to stop the running game in the first half? If so, what did the Eagles change in the 2nd half to get the offense going? I saw most of the first half in a sportsbar and missed most of the second half because their directv went out.

Pretty vanilla as far as alignment went, they just line up the same way and play. They put a man directly over each split WR/TE with a single high S. When the TE was in line the SS played over him about 8 yards off. They kept a 1 man advantage in the box with either 6 or 7 depending on whether we were in a 3 wide or 4 wide set. That's what we saw most of last year though. The Jags front 7 is a good unit, the secondary is still catching up. If you take off Sproles long run where they weren't lined up properly they kept us to about 3 yards/carry. Part of that was play calling, Chip kept trying to run the outside zone against a fast, swarming front but give them some credit as well, they played well. Their DEs did a good job on the outside zones of just getting a yard or two of push so that the pulling G/C and the RB had to get depth to get outside it which gives the pursuit time to arrive. On one play like that I noticed they had Celek trying to single block Red Bryant, which isn't going to work most of the time.

They were all over those misdirection screens as well, Bradley had them prepared for that. Their numbers were terrible last year but they'll be an above average unit this year if they get any help at all from the offense.

 

[Ash]

Couple more things;

• For the first quarter and a half Foles looked really bad then picked it up a bit but was still up and down the rest of the game. Missed Matthews and Ertz on routine throws, didn't see a couple of other big play opportunities as well. Forced a few balls to Maclin, including one on a packaged play where Maclin had no separation at all. Made some good throws on the final drive of the first half, the TD throw to Ertz was perfectly placed and went through progressions much better as the game went on.
• Wasn't just Foles though, the whole offense was sloppy early and just looked not ready to play. Peters got beat multiple times both outside and inside. Mathis wasn't having a great game before the injury either. Babre was up and down but I expected that. Heremanns was solid.
• I've been hard on Maclin but he had a good game. Couple of tough over the middle catches, blocked OK. One handed effort on the ball in the end zone, but his other arm was possibly being held. He appealed for the flag on that one, but that doesn't mean much.
• Cooper had an odd game, couldn't quite pull in the ball in the end zone or the outside shoulder throw, seemed like he lost that one in the air and he usually tracks those well. Looked like Foles tried once or twice for a back shoulder throw as well but they weren't in sync on those and never came close.
• McCoy had a really good game without much run blocking help. 6-8 times made good yards out of nothing at all.
• Tough spot for Molk since he'd never played G before, but he was bad. Couple of times the DT dismissively slapped his hands away and put a swim move on straight into the backfield. Missed a couple of blocks awkwardly reaching in the run game. Gardner was solid though.
• Cox, Logan, Kendricks, Barwin and Jenkins had good games on D. Graham had a few nice plays as well, spelled Barwin as well as Cole. Bair made a couple of solid plays on D, as well as the FG block.
• On both Cole and Allen's sacks it looked like they deliberately targeted the throwing arm for the turnover.
• Davis called a really good game. There were a couple of execution breakdowns and one TD came from a short field due to a turnover, but they didn't give up much else. They were ready for the boot plays, Barwin crushed Henne a couple of times on those and knocked down a pass as well.

 

[dhockster]

Thanks, Ash. Your posts are awesome.

So Jacksonville wasn't doing anything specific in the first half to stop us, we were executing poorly, and Jacksonville has a pretty solid overall defense. I can live with that.

A lot of people in the offseason were convinced that the NFL would catch up to Nick Foles and also with Chip Kelly's offense, and I did not feel that way. Just trying to determine where the truth lies after one game.

 

[ShaHBucks]

Thanks, Ash. Your posts are awesome.

 

[ShaHBucks]

How about a week 2 preview Ash? *crosses fingers*

 

[ShaHBucks]

Andy is doing a number on the Chiefs. 7 freaking carries for J. Charles and he has the worse WR group in the league perhaps. Sounds all too familiar.

 

[babydemon90]

Andy is doing a number on the Chiefs. 7 freaking carries for J. Charles and he has the worse WR group in the league perhaps. Sounds all too familiar.

That was my first thought after his apology for not involving Charles more. "I need to do a better job putting them in position", etc...

 

[Ash]

Andy is doing a number on the Chiefs. 7 freaking carries for J. Charles and he has the worse WR group in the league perhaps. Sounds all too familiar.

Oh c'mon! He saw some things he liked in the passing game...

I wish Andy all the best but I don't miss his coaching style. I was thinking what Reid would have done on that 4th and 1 play Sproles ran in. Something like this, I imagine:

1. Send punt team out on the field.
2. Change mind, call timeout.
3. Send offense out.
4. Call play action pass to Na Brown. Incomplete.

 

[Bigboy10182000]

Andy is doing a number on the Chiefs. 7 freaking carries for J. Charles and he has the worse WR group in the league perhaps. Sounds all too familiar.

And 13 targets for Avery

 

[Ash]

How about a week 2 preview Ash? *crosses fingers*

I've watched part of the Colts game, I'll watch the rest and write something in the next couple of days.

As a preview this game will feature Reggie Wayne, one of the two WRs still playing in the league we could have drafted in 2001 instead of Freddie Mitchell. The other is Steve Smith (the good one). Others we could have had with that pick include Chad Johnson, Chris Chambers and 7th rounder TJ Houshmandadeh who had a sneaky good career with over 600 catches. #StillBitter

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

this isn't directly philly stuf, but details a few plays from the jax game for anybody interested

 

[ShaHBucks]

Andy is doing a number on the Chiefs. 7 freaking carries for J. Charles and he has the worse WR group in the league perhaps. Sounds all too familiar.

Oh c'mon! He saw some things he liked in the passing game...

I wish Andy all the best but I don't miss his coaching style. I was thinking what Reid would have done on that 4th and 1 play Sproles ran in. Something like this, I imagine:

1. Send punt team out on the field.
2. Change mind, call timeout.
3. Send offense out.
4. Call play action pass to Na Brown. Incomplete.

Not the dive to the 3rd string FB that was a CB in college? That play was money

 

[ShaHBucks]

Andy is doing a number on the Chiefs. 7 freaking carries for J. Charles and he has the worse WR group in the league perhaps. Sounds all too familiar.

And 13 targets for Avery

When I seen that stat I immediately start thinking of Thrash/Pinkston

 

[Ash]

Andy is doing a number on the Chiefs. 7 freaking carries for J. Charles and he has the worse WR group in the league perhaps. Sounds all too familiar.

Oh c'mon! He saw some things he liked in the passing game...

I wish Andy all the best but I don't miss his coaching style. I was thinking what Reid would have done on that 4th and 1 play Sproles ran in. Something like this, I imagine:

1. Send punt team out on the field.
2. Change mind, call timeout.
3. Send offense out.
4. Call play action pass to Na Brown. Incomplete.

Not the dive to the 3rd string FB that was a CB in college? That play was money

No shortage of options that's for sure.

 

[Buddy Ball 2K3]

Eagles hire replay official to help on challenges

Seems like a pretty obvious thing to do and I wonder how many other teams have done this

 

[Bigboy10182000]

Eagles hire replay official to help on challenges

Seems like a pretty obvious thing to do and I wonder how many other teams have done this

There are SO many things that Kelly has done that seem obvious. Professional athletes eating right, getting proper rest, practicing before a game, larger than normal coaching staffs etc.

 

[unckeyherb]

Eagles hire replay official to help on challenges

Seems like a pretty obvious thing to do and I wonder how many other teams have done this

There are SO many things that Kelly has done that seem obvious. Professional athletes eating right, getting proper rest, practicing before a game, larger than normal coaching staffs etc.

And yet he is the outlier with regards to coaching methods. It's pretty ridiculous when you lay it out like that.

 

[roarlions]

Eagles hire replay official to help on challenges

Seems like a pretty obvious thing to do and I wonder how many other teams have done this

There are SO many things that Kelly has done that seem obvious. Professional athletes eating right, getting proper rest, practicing before a game, larger than normal coaching staffs etc.

And yet he is the outlier with regards to coaching methods. It's pretty ridiculous when you lay it out like that.

Wonder if he will ever consider playing his starters in the 4th game of exhibition season so they don't go into the 1st real game after 2 weeks of not playing?

 

[gchip]

Andy is doing a number on the Chiefs. 7 freaking carries for J. Charles and he has the worse WR group in the league perhaps. Sounds all too familiar.

Oh c'mon! He saw some things he liked in the passing game...

I wish Andy all the best but I don't miss his coaching style. I was thinking what Reid would have done on that 4th and 1 play Sproles ran in. Something like this, I imagine:

1. Send punt team out on the field.
2. Change mind, call timeout.
3. Send offense out.
4. Call play action pass to Na Brown. Incomplete.

Stop trying to give me nightmares.

 

[Ash]

So this game is going to be a good benchmark for this team on both the offense and defensive sides of the ball.

The Colts offense all comes down to Luck. They have 3 solid WRs but no stars. Hilton is the deep guy Wayne and Nicks work underneath mostly. They use Trent Richardson and Ahmad Bradshaw in the running game. Neither is scary. Richardson looks sluggish and doesn't seem to have anything in the way of burst. He does run hard and will move the pile on occasion. OK hands, but lack of speed and moves mean he's not any more than an outlet as a receiver. Bradshaw is a bit better in this area and will get more time on 3rd downs and if they're throwing (2 min, trailing etc). No idea if this is true or not but Richardson runs like a guy who's 20 pounds too heavy.

The OL for the Colts has some issues. The Ts are solid but the middle 3 are below average and had some assignment confusion early in the DEN game. There was a Nnamdi/Kurt moment complete with pointing where the C (Shipley) and Bradshaw both picked up the same man and let Ware clean through the middle for a sack. There were a few others as well, but they did seem to decrease as the game went on. Still, that's an area I think they should target rush wise.

They shouldn't be able to run on us at all, they seem to be trying for a power running game, lots of inside pull & lead plays from OGs but they don't get much movement. They were behind, but were completely one dimensional against Denver, something like 10 runs to 53 pass attempts.

Luck is as good as advertised. Accurate, strong arm, can make every throw. He's aggressive with the ball and will throw into tight spaces, resulting in two picks off tips/rebounds last week. Overall in his career that hasn't been an issue though. Not as a passer but as a pocket presence he reminded me of McNabb. Big, strong guy who can shrug off sacks, good speed for a QB and athletic, he can make plays as a runner. He's basically all they have on O but he's so good they're still tough to handle.

Coverage discipline will be key, can't afford any breakdowns this week. This will be a game where we see how much difference Jenkins makes.

On D, their DL isn't great, the RE #90 (Cory Redding) made a few solid plays, but their NT gets moved a lot and spends too much time on the ground. They don't have much pass rush without Mathis, last years 1st rnd pick #92, Werner looked like just a guy. No explosiveness that I saw and didn't seem to be a power rusher either. Made a couple of hustle play down the line against the run but nothing spectacular.

Their LBs, Jackson is like Ryans, he's good v. the run but can be targeted in coverage. Gave up a big play to Thomas last week in man coverage. The other ILB, #50, Freeman gave up a couple of plays in coverage as well but was actually in good position, but it's Peyton Manning, what do you do?

Vontae Davis is a shutdown man corner. Don't remember a completion on him, if there was it wasn't significant. Almost had a pick on an underthrown deep ball. The other CB, Toller is inconsistent, gave up some plays both short and deep but not so many you couldn't live with it. Landry at S is a weakness in man coverage, he also gave up a long TD.

They play single high S man coverage about 3/4 of the time, 2 man under (2 deep S over man coverage) straight Cover 2 and a bit of Cover 3 as well. Overall this will be a day for TEs and RBs to make plays but I expect a fairly quiet outing for the WRs. If we can't pass protect in this game, I think we'll be in trouble over the next few games.

Overall, I don't have a great feeling due to the OL issues and Foles performance last week, and the Colts are very tough at home. On paper, I think we should win, but I'm picking Colts 27-24.

Edit: So Freeman (ILB) is out and a couple of other OL/DL are Questionable.

Oh, and I might have been wrong about the Jags defense. Wow.

 

[Snotbubbles]

So this game is going to be a good benchmark for this team on both the offense and defensive sides of the ball.

The Colts offense all comes down to Luck. They have 3 solid WRs but no stars. Hilton is the deep guy Wayne and Nicks work underneath mostly. They use Trent Richardson and Ahmad Bradshaw in the running game. Neither is scary. Richardson looks sluggish and doesn't seem to have anything in the way of burst. He does run hard and will move the pile on occasion. OK hands, but lack of speed and moves mean he's not any more than an outlet as a receiver. Bradshaw is a bit better in this area and will get more time on 3rd downs and if they're throwing (2 min, trailing etc). No idea if this is true or not but Richardson runs like a guy who's 20 pounds too heavy.

The OL for the Colts has some issues. The Ts are solid but the middle 3 are below average and had some assignment confusion early in the DEN game. There was a Nnamdi/Kurt moment complete with pointing where the C (Shipley) and Bradshaw both picked up the same man and let Ware clean through the middle for a sack. There were a few others as well, but they did seem to decrease as the game went on. Still, that's an area I think they should target rush wise.

They shouldn't be able to run on us at all, they seem to be trying for a power running game, lots of inside pull & lead plays from OGs but they don't get much movement. They were behind, but were completely one dimensional against Denver, something like 10 runs to 53 pass attempts.

Luck is as good as advertised. Accurate, strong arm, can make every throw. He's aggressive with the ball and will throw into tight spaces, resulting in two picks off tips/rebounds last week. Overall in his career that hasn't been an issue though. Not as a passer but as a pocket presence he reminded me of McNabb. Big, strong guy who can shrug off sacks, good speed for a QB and athletic, he can make plays as a runner. He's basically all they have on O but he's so good they're still tough to handle.

Coverage discipline will be key, can't afford any breakdowns this week. This will be a game where we see how much difference Jenkins makes.

On D, their DL isn't great, the RE #90 (Cory Redding) made a few solid plays, but their NT gets moved a lot and spends too much time on the ground. They don't have much pass rush without Mathis, last years 1st rnd pick #92, Werner looked like just a guy. No explosiveness that I saw and didn't seem to be a power rusher either. Made a couple of hustle play down the line against the run but nothing spectacular.

Their LBs, Jackson is like Ryans, he's good v. the run but can be targeted in coverage. Gave up a big play to Thomas last week in man coverage. The other ILB, #50, Freeman gave up a couple of plays in coverage as well but was actually in good position, but it's Peyton Manning, what do you do?

Vontae Davis is a shutdown man corner. Don't remember a completion on him, if there was it wasn't significant. Almost had a pick on an underthrown deep ball. The other CB, Toller is inconsistent, gave up some plays both short and deep but not so many you couldn't live with it. Landry at S is a weakness in man coverage, he also gave up a long TD.

They play single high S man coverage about 3/4 of the time, 2 man under (2 deep S over man coverage) straight Cover 2 and a bit of Cover 3 as well. Overall this will be a day for TEs and RBs to make plays but I expect a fairly quiet outing for the WRs. If we can't pass protect in this game, I think we'll be in trouble over the next few games.

Overall, I don't have a great feeling due to the OL issues and Foles performance last week, and the Colts are very tough at home. On paper, I think we should win, but I'm picking Colts 27-24.

Edit: So Freeman (ILB) is out and a couple of other OL/DL are Questionable.

Oh, and I might have been wrong about the Jags defense. Wow.

Jags D not as good without Cyprien at safety.

 

[Bigboy10182000]

So this game is going to be a good benchmark for this team on both the offense and defensive sides of the ball.

The Colts offense all comes down to Luck. They have 3 solid WRs but no stars. Hilton is the deep guy Wayne and Nicks work underneath mostly. They use Trent Richardson and Ahmad Bradshaw in the running game. Neither is scary. Richardson looks sluggish and doesn't seem to have anything in the way of burst. He does run hard and will move the pile on occasion. OK hands, but lack of speed and moves mean he's not any more than an outlet as a receiver. Bradshaw is a bit better in this area and will get more time on 3rd downs and if they're throwing (2 min, trailing etc). No idea if this is true or not but Richardson runs like a guy who's 20 pounds too heavy.

The OL for the Colts has some issues. The Ts are solid but the middle 3 are below average and had some assignment confusion early in the DEN game. There was a Nnamdi/Kurt moment complete with pointing where the C (Shipley) and Bradshaw both picked up the same man and let Ware clean through the middle for a sack. There were a few others as well, but they did seem to decrease as the game went on. Still, that's an area I think they should target rush wise.

They shouldn't be able to run on us at all, they seem to be trying for a power running game, lots of inside pull & lead plays from OGs but they don't get much movement. They were behind, but were completely one dimensional against Denver, something like 10 runs to 53 pass attempts.

Luck is as good as advertised. Accurate, strong arm, can make every throw. He's aggressive with the ball and will throw into tight spaces, resulting in two picks off tips/rebounds last week. Overall in his career that hasn't been an issue though. Not as a passer but as a pocket presence he reminded me of McNabb. Big, strong guy who can shrug off sacks, good speed for a QB and athletic, he can make plays as a runner. He's basically all they have on O but he's so good they're still tough to handle.

Coverage discipline will be key, can't afford any breakdowns this week. This will be a game where we see how much difference Jenkins makes.

On D, their DL isn't great, the RE #90 (Cory Redding) made a few solid plays, but their NT gets moved a lot and spends too much time on the ground. They don't have much pass rush without Mathis, last years 1st rnd pick #92, Werner looked like just a guy. No explosiveness that I saw and didn't seem to be a power rusher either. Made a couple of hustle play down the line against the run but nothing spectacular.

Their LBs, Jackson is like Ryans, he's good v. the run but can be targeted in coverage. Gave up a big play to Thomas last week in man coverage. The other ILB, #50, Freeman gave up a couple of plays in coverage as well but was actually in good position, but it's Peyton Manning, what do you do?

Vontae Davis is a shutdown man corner. Don't remember a completion on him, if there was it wasn't significant. Almost had a pick on an underthrown deep ball. The other CB, Toller is inconsistent, gave up some plays both short and deep but not so many you couldn't live with it. Landry at S is a weakness in man coverage, he also gave up a long TD.

They play single high S man coverage about 3/4 of the time, 2 man under (2 deep S over man coverage) straight Cover 2 and a bit of Cover 3 as well. Overall this will be a day for TEs and RBs to make plays but I expect a fairly quiet outing for the WRs. If we can't pass protect in this game, I think we'll be in trouble over the next few games.

Overall, I don't have a great feeling due to the OL issues and Foles performance last week, and the Colts are very tough at home. On paper, I think we should win, but I'm picking Colts 27-24.

Edit: So Freeman (ILB) is out and a couple of other OL/DL are Questionable.

Oh, and I might have been wrong about the Jags defense. Wow.

Jags D not as good without Cyprien at safety.

Jags had like 6 months to prepare for us too.

 

[need2know]

Pretty pumped for this game tonight. Very similar teams in relation to where these two teams stand in their conferences. Imo both are top 5 teams in their conferences but not in the top three yet. Both have questionable defense. Both are very entertaining . Think eagles win by pulling away late 41-30

 

[Bigboy10182000]

I'm expecting a close game and 3-4 point win...I just dont know by who yet. It all depends on our OL

 

[Snotbubbles]

I have this game as a loss. It's hard to win on the road in the NFL, especially on Monday Night in the other teams home opener. I just hope they put together a strong 4 quarters and look like they belong in the conversation with the elites in this league.

 

[Amused to Death]

I have this game as a loss. It's hard to win on the road in the NFL, especially on Monday Night in the other teams home opener. I just hope they put together a strong 4 quarters and look like they belong in the conversation with the elites in this league.

This is my feeling as well. As long as they look more like the second half of game 1 and not the first half, I think they can withstand a loss tonight. Although a win would obviously be huge!

 

[need2know]

after watching the Bears come back last night and beat the 49ers in their new stadium for their home opener I think anything is possible

 

[renesauz]

I have this game as a loss. It's hard to win on the road in the NFL, especially on Monday Night in the other teams home opener. I just hope they put together a strong 4 quarters and look like they belong in the conversation with the elites in this league.

This. I'd love a W, but I'm really just looking for a solid performance on the road.

 

[Billy Bats]

Marcus Smith deactivated, again.

 

[GoBirds]

Marcus Smith deactivated, again.

Just about to post, wtf.

 

[Thunderlips]

If the Eagles lose...they weren't expected to. If they win....they've beaten a trendy AFC pick for the Super Bowl at their home opener in a prime time game. Win/win.......as long as they don't get smoked.

 

[jon007]

Let's do this. GO EAGLES!

 

[Awful Waffle]

Pretty pathetic first half.