Saturday Morning Predictions Update

52 predictions recorded thus far.  31 for an Eagles win and 21 for a Cowboys win.  The Average Predicted Score continues to be a tight Eagles 28 Cowboys 29.

As always, please tag your prediction post with @mattwill that way I will be sure to see/record it.  Score predictions can also have an optional "Bonus Pick" tiebreaker prediction.  So far over the course of the season 128 different EMB posters have made at least one prediction. 

We got 100 predictions submitted last week, lets see if we can get to 100 again.

A list of the predictions is presented below, sorted alphabetically by the name of the predictor.  If you don't see your name there, then I haven't yet recorded a prediction for you. 

 

@mattwill

Eagles 26

turds 17

Hurts 300+ total yards and Lamb 200+ receiving yards

2 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

 

It feels like the league is disappointed this didn’t generate more media coverage or lead to anything spicy, and are now trying to drum it up with some controversy.

@mattwill Eagles 24 Cowboys 27

BONUS: Cowboys get a 20+ yard punt return or a 50+ yard kickoff return. 

@mattwill

I had a bad feeling last week, especially because of the rest differential.  I realize this week has the same challenge, but I feel much differently.  I think the Eagles finally play a complete game and pretty much dominate it.  I have no logic here other than just gut feeling.

Eagles 40

Cowboys 23

Eagles rush for over 150 yards

the bears don’t have half the talent on defense the Eagles do. Yet they somehow have turned it around. Don’t want to hear any more excuses for this coaching staff.

@mattwill

Birds 27

pukes 38

@mattwill

 

Eagles 22

Cowboys 33

1 hour ago, wussbasket said:

It feels like the league is disappointed this didn’t generate more media coverage or lead to anything spicy, and are now trying to drum it up with some controversy.

Feels like the NFL script had a few WWE script pages shuffled in. I wouldn’t be surprised if a masked man runs out with a chair and domes Dak to end the game. 

1 hour ago, Sack that QB said:

the bears don’t have half the talent on defense the Eagles do. Yet they somehow have turned it around. Don’t want to hear any more excuses for this coaching staff.

I don't have the time or patience to look but.....could it also be the schedule played?  I mean last year our defense was dominant right?  But we also played like one of the easiest schedules.  This year, is there a prolific offensive team that we haven't played?  Our defense, not good.  You need to look at the teams the Bears played earlier in the year and those they played more recently to get a true answer on did they come together as a unit with better coaching or....did they just play teams that aren't as good?

Watched the JT O'Sullivan breakdown on Hurts vs. 49ers. Major opportunities to hit TEs on some of those routes. Obvious when watching Albert O across the deep middle, why they brought him in; he just hit parts of the field faster than the other TEs. But that's almost useless if Hurts doesn't look his way. Stoll running routes is a waste of time.

Having Goedert back is a big deal. What bothers me is that it shouldn't take having a top 5 TE to involve the TE in the receiving game. It shouldn't take a top 5 TE and 2 top 10 WRs to have a somewhat coherent passing game.

Some of it is Hurts being inconsistent. But the offensive philosophy doesn't help him enough. Why is there no back on this team who can pass protect? Why are so few easy outlets for Hurts when he's pressured? Why is there such little motion? Why do we keep running read option when Hurts has been a basic non-factor there all season?

The players are great and Hurts is clutch. The Eagles have a chance to win the SB regardless of what I wrote above. But they just make it too damn hard on themselves.

9 minutes ago, NYEagle said:

I don't have the time or patience to look but.....could it also be the schedule played?  I mean last year our defense was dominant right?  But we also played like one of the easiest schedules.  This year, is there a prolific offensive team that we haven't played?  Our defense, not good.  You need to look at the teams the Bears played earlier in the year and those they played more recently to get a true answer on did they come together as a unit with better coaching or....did they just play teams that aren't as good?

Helps when the only offense (ppg) in the last 8 weeks in the top 10 of the league is the lions. And that was the game they gave up 29 (2 points on fields safety) even with getting 4 turnovers. Second best was chargers and they gave up 30. 

meanwhile eagles over the same 8 game stretch played the no. 1 offense in ppg in Dallas, no. 2 offense ppg in Miami, no. 3 offense in ppg in Sf and the no. 5 offense in ppg. And no. 11 in KC. 

6 minutes ago, NYEagle said:

I don't have the time or patience to look but.....could it also be the schedule played?  I mean last year our defense was dominant right?  But we also played like one of the easiest schedules.  This year, is there a prolific offensive team that we haven't played?  Our defense, not good.  You need to look at the teams the Bears played earlier in the year and those they played more recently to get a true answer on did they come together as a unit with better coaching or....did they just play teams that aren't as good?

It's part of it, but the drop off from last season is so stark, I tend to think it's a lot more than that. Especially when they got lit up by Washington twice and the Patriots had their best offensive game against the Eagles. Their DL went from 1st on 3rd down last season in sacks to last in the NFL this season. That simply can't happen. In a bunch of categories this defense is last in the NFL or close to last. 3rd down, red zone, EPA per drive, sacks on 3rd down, pass defense, etc. It needs to be fixed.

24 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Feels like the NFL script had a few WWE script pages shuffled in. I wouldn’t be surprised if a masked man runs out with a chair and domes Dak to end the game. 

 

@hputenis

Hit up the Asian bar at Harris Teeter earlier. Absolutely crushed it but man oh man 💩💩💩

13 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

It's part of it, but the drop off from last season is so stark, I tend to think it's a lot more than that. Especially when they got lit up by Washington twice and the Patriots had their best offensive game against the Eagles. Their DL went from 1st on 3rd down last season in sacks to last in the NFL this season. That simply can't happen. In a bunch of categories this defense is last in the NFL or close to last. 3rd down, red zone, EPA per drive, sacks on 3rd down, pass defense, etc. It needs to be fixed.

They lost edwards, kazir white, maddox (he missed way more time this year), Marcus Epps, CJGJ, suh, hargrave from the defense last year. Replaced with Blankenship, half season of byard/half season of Evans/edmunds and a rookie, Cunningham, Dean, morrow, Roby and Carter. I’d take 2022 talent over 2023 even with Carter. It isn’t rocket science to know why this team isn’t as good. Their safetys were playing better last year. When maddox got hurt last year the solution was to put CJGJ in the slot and use Blankenship and Epps (Which they can’t do this year). So they have replaced maddox with Roby who’s old and not very good anymore. Even when CJGJ and maddox were both hurt, they had issue with the slot position. Just so happens the overlap wasn’t nearly as bad as no maddox for 75% of the season. Their linebackers went from above average (and people really need to accept the fact that last year Edwards and White were way better than what they were given credit for at that time) to below average.

That doesn’t even include the fact I don’t think Bradberry or slay are playing up to the level they were last year. And the defensive line does not have the depth/rotation it had last year. It’s why Josh sweat has played over 600 snaps this year with 5 games remaining and last year he was right below 600.

the stark difference is that the 2022 had better talent and depth. Add on desai in his first season with the team trying to figuring out his personnel while relying on street FAs at linebacker and slot corner.  

 

27 minutes ago, Saltpeter said:

Watched the JT O'Sullivan breakdown on Hurts vs. 49ers. Major opportunities to hit TEs on some of those routes. Obvious when watching Albert O across the deep middle, why they brought him in; he just hit parts of the field faster than the other TEs. But that's almost useless if Hurts doesn't look his way. Stoll running routes is a waste of time.

Having Goedert back is a big deal. What bothers me is that it shouldn't take having a top 5 TE to involve the TE in the receiving game. It shouldn't take a top 5 TE and 2 top 10 WRs to have a somewhat coherent passing game.

Some of it is Hurts being inconsistent. But the offensive philosophy doesn't help him enough. Why is there no back on this team who can pass protect? Why are so few easy outlets for Hurts when he's pressured? Why is there such little motion? Why do we keep running read option when Hurts has been a basic non-factor there all season?

The players are great and Hurts is clutch. The Eagles have a chance to win the SB regardless of what I wrote above. But they just make it too damn hard on themselves.

I agree that some of the fault lies on Hurts and a part on play calling / design. To me Jalen Hurts is a good all around QB if you take running etc. into the equation. As far as only being a pocket passer, I think he has limitations because he doesn’t see the field that well compared to others and he doesn’t do a consistent job of throwing receivers open. He throws a nice deep and intermediate pass, but the short passing throws are not so great from what I can tell. That’s why Purdy is so effective. He is really good at throwing to certain spots and underneath. He also leads the receivers to where they can get those YAC yards. That’s not the strength of Hurts. 
 

I don’t understand him not looking at other options either. It seems that Purdy and also Dak get those no name receivers / tight ends in the game fine. Maybe that is by design - I can’t really tell. 
 

I also would like the team to run some basic running plays where he is under center, even if the other team expects run. Change things up and make the other team think more. Who knows if that solves anything, but doing the same stuff over and over again with mixed results isn’t it either. 🤷‍♂️

2 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

They lost edwards, kazir white, maddox (he missed way more time this year), Marcus Epps, CJGJ, suh, hargrave from the defense last year. It isn’t rocket science to know why this team isn’t as good. Their safetys were playing better last year. When maddox got hurt last year the solution was to put CJGJ in the slot and use Blankenship and Epps (Which they can’t do this year). So they have replaced maddox with Roby who’s old and not very good anymore. Even when CJGJ and maddox were both hurt, they had issue with the slot position. Just so happens the overlap wasn’t nearly as bad as no maddox for 75% of the season. Their linebackers went from above average (and people really need to accept the fact that last year Edwards and White were way better than what they were given credit for at that time) to below average.

That doesn’t even include the fact I don’t think Bradberry or slay are playing up to the level they were last year. And the defensive line does not have the depth/rotation it had last year. It’s why Josh sweat has played over 600 snaps this year with 5 games remaining and last year he was right below 600.

the stark difference is that the 2022 had better talent and depth. Add on desai in his first season with the team trying to figuring out his personnel while relying on street FAs at linebacker and slot corner.  

 

Losing those guys does not account from falling from the top in the league in many categories to dead last or near dead last in those same categories this season. This defense still has plenty of talent and more than enough to not be completely inept in so many areas. It's understandable they'd be worse. It isn't that they be the worst in many categories. If Sean Desai and the staff don't have any culpability for this ineptitude then we've set the bar incredibly low.

14 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

Losing those guys does not account from falling from the top in the league in many categories to dead last or near dead last in those same categories this season. This defense still has plenty of talent and more than enough to not be completely inept in so many areas. It's understandable they'd be worse. It isn't that they be the worst in many categories. If Sean Desai and the staff don't have any culpability for this ineptitude then we've set the bar incredibly low.

Please show me teams using street FAs at linebacker and an old broken down slot corner having great effectiveness while having faced one of the toughest schedules in the league…. I’ll wait because I’m gonna let you know you’re not gonna find very many of them. If any. Do you wanna know why the Bears looks so good they played one top 10 offense in 8 Fing weeks. Same Fing team gave up 41 to the chiefs and 29 to the lions and 30 to chargers. I’m sure they’d look really good against Dallas, Miami, SF and Buffalo all top 5 when they gave up 29+ to the 3 best offenses they’ve faced all year 

gonna  have a hard time finding a good DC if we think any smuck off the street can play linebacker and any smuck off the street can play slot corner at the highest levels. But hey let’s live in the universe where anyone off the street in august into the season is just going to be competent. There was a reason they were on the street. So I guess bar has been raised that’s any guy off the street is good and having massive holes in the defense is just overlooked by opponents so they won’t attack morrow, Roby, our linebackers, a rookie safety, udfa in ricks and jobe.

maybe when Kyle shanahan made his plan against the Eagles and he didn’t attack Bradbury at all and barely attacks slay, he was thinking I’ll just keep attacking the biggest weakness the eagles have in their linebackers ans slot corner. really hard to compensate for that when you have crap out there.

I forgot desai is going to waive his magic Harry Potter wand, and morrow, Ellis and Bradley Roby are going to be good so that Kyle Shanahan can’t keep attacking them.

What's the evidence for Roby being broken down and terrible in coverage? Because he lost a deep ball in single coverage to 4.3something MVS?

Not saying those people are wrong, but it sure seems like people saw the Purdy truck and just started making assumptions.

On 12/8/2023 at 11:10 AM, pisceschica said:

10 Years ago

 

Wow 10 years already,  I was in my old section then. 

 

39 minutes ago, Saltpeter said:

What's the evidence for Roby being broken down and terrible in coverage? Because he lost a deep ball in single coverage to 4.3something MVS?

Not saying those people are wrong, but it sure seems like people saw the Purdy truck and just started making assumptions.

I know pff gets a lot of crap but he was a 45 grade in 2022. Big time reason he sat on the streets until he did. And this year he’s a 57. The  downgrade from Avonte Maddox to old Bradley Roby is significant.  Roby is not anywhere in the same universe at this stage of his career as maddox or CJGJ when the eagles moved him into slot when maddox got hurt.

 

maddox/CJGJ —> Roby  downgrade

edwards/white—> Cunningham/Dean/morrow significant down grade 

CJGJ/Reed/Epps—> half season evans/byard/edmunds, brown and Reed downgrade

suh, Joseph and hargrave—> Carter lack of better depth. Carter is an awesome rookie but he hasn’t reached where hargrave is at this stage of his career. That’s also a downgrade 

we haven’t talked regression of bradberry this year 

3 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

Please show me teams using street FAs at linebacker and an old broken down slot corner having great effectiveness while having faced one of the toughest schedules in the league…. Oh wait because I’m gonna let you know you’re not gonna find very many of them. If any. Do you wanna know why the Bears looks so good they played one top 10 offense in 8 Fing weeks. Same Fing team gave up 41 to the chiefs and 29 to the lions and 30 to chargers. I’m sure they’d look really good against Dallas, Miami, SF and Buffalo all top 5 when they gave up 29+ to the 3 best offenses they’ve faced all year 

gonna  have a hard time finding a good DC if we think any smuck off the street can play linebacker and any smuck off the street can play slot corner at the highest levels. But hey let’s live in the universe where anyone off the street in august into the season is just going to be competent. There was a reason they were on the street. So I guess bar has been raised that’s any guy off the street is good and having massive holes in the defense is just overlooked by opponents so they won’t attack morrow, Roby, our linebackers, a rookie safety, udfa in ricks and jobe.

matbe when Kyle shanahan made his plan against the Eagles and he didn’t attack Bradbury at all and barely attacks slay, he was thinking I’ll just keep attacking the bugferedet weakness the eagles have in their linebackers are slot corner. really hard to compensate for that when you have crap out there.

Mac Jones looked like a good QB in week 1 against the Eagles and that was back when everyone was healthy. Let's be real, this defense has been awful all season except for that Miami game. The Bears held Washington to 20 points, they put up 31 points twice against the Eagles. The Giants held Washington to 7 points. Every week on red zone I see teams out there who provide greater resistance than the Eagles on defense, teams who have very little to play for and don't have a whole lot of talent.

I agree having weaknesses at these positions is going to hurt the defense, but again, there's a difference between struggling and being the worst in the entire NFL in several defensive categories. That isn't acceptable. I don't think asking for the defense to not be the worst on several fronts is asking too much.

18 minutes ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

 

I forgot desai is going to waive his magic Harry Potter wand, and morrow, Ellis and Bradley Roby are going to be good so that Kyle Shanahan can’t keep attacking them.

Well that's a relief to know. I was worried the defense wouldn't get better.