3 minutes ago, NOTW said:

Defense rankings so far: dramatic improvement in pass defense, fewest 1st downs and points allowed

• 2nd in total yards (last year 26th)
• 5th in points allowed (last year 30th)
• 2nd in pass defense (last year 31st)
• 5th in rush defense (last year 10th)
• 8th in fumble recovery (last year 21st)
• 15th in total takeaways (gotta catch those INT opportunities, last year 25th)
• Check this out: 1st in fewest 1st downs by opponent (last year 29th)

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2024/opp.htm

Especially with that last stat, the best defense is a strong run game

1 minute ago, NOTW said:

Defense rankings so far: dramatic improvement in pass defense, fewest 1st downs and points allowed

• 2nd in total yards (last year 26th)
• 5th in points allowed (last year 30th)
• 2nd in pass defense (last year 31st)
• 5th in rush defense (last year 10th)
• 8th in fumble recovery (last year 21st)
• 15th in total takeaways (gotta catch those INT opportunities, last year 25th)
• Check this out: 1st in fewest 1st downs by opponent (last year 29th)

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2024/opp.htm

It's staggering really....and directly tied to 3 players in my opinion....Mitchell, DeJean and Baun....and I'm not one of these "stats" don't count guys...but playing against Rush, Jones and Watson the last couple of weeks can definitely help you move up in rankings!  That being said, the eye test to me looks like these guys are playing out of their minds.  Last year it was like the Keystone Cops or Benny Hill out there with WR's running 20 yards free.

4 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Yeaaaaa. Hereeee we gooooooo.

Was really hoping I wouldn't have to hear that with Dak out.  

3 minutes ago, NYEagle said:

It's staggering really....and directly tied to 3 players in my opinion....Mitchell, DeJean and Baun....and I'm not one of these "stats" don't count guys...but playing against Rush, Jones and Watson the last couple of weeks can definitely help you move up in rankings!  That being said, the eye test to me looks like these guys are playing out of their minds.  Last year it was like the Keystone Cops or Benny Hill out there with WR's running 20 yards free.

CJGJ was a big addition too. No one would say he’s an amazing player, but our safety position was awful last year; he corked a black hole

2 minutes ago, garingovt2000 said:

Was really hoping I wouldn't have to hear that with Dak out.  

Did he stop this?

 

1 minute ago, NYEagle said:

Did he stop this?

 

That crap is probably what caused the avulsion fracture…

1 hour ago, Alphagrand said:

Eberflus should have won coach of the year last year, winning 7 games with Fields at QB and a roster which just wasn't very good.  You can have a defensive head coach and draft a QB; you need to have an excellent OC and QB coach to develop the QB.  Waldron isn't very good and Kerry Joseph as QB coach?  He played in Canada for quite awhile -- and wouldn't be my choice to coach a young QB.

Who gets to be fired for drafting the wrong QB at #1?

Ryan poles also deserves to be fired as well as he’s made some trades that he got great value but then didn’t get good return on the field. However, I’m not letting Eberflus stay just because he 7 games last year.  First off 6 of those 7 wins came against teams that were below 500. Like beating a horrific commanders, cardinals (one Murray’s first games back) and panthers isn’t some grand accomplishment. Those teams were awful. Talk about lack of talent those teams severely had it. And 5 of the 7 or against teams that were 3 games or worse under 500. I said it last year at the end of the season when they went on the run it was fools good like when in 2011 the eagles went 8-8 but finished strong. It was due to fortuitous scheduling as their defense looked good and massively propped up an offense that was as bad as the previous year.

We can say the Bears didn’t have good talent, but their defense legitimately had good talent. They had DJ Moore, kmet and Mooney (he’s good again this year and previously 1000 yard receiver in Chicago). Those aren’t bad receiving weapons. Herbert and foreman aren’t awful RBs. Not great but it’s not 2018 eagles with Smallwood and Josh Adams. Their oline was an issue. There’s teams with oline issue that has less talent then that at the skill position that managed to get more out of the offense. 

I’m not giving a coach who show me very little in terms of offense a chance to ruin or stunt the development of another high first round quarterback. Really this wasn’t about whether or not Eberflus deserve to keep his job or not. This was about I need to do what’s best for my organization and the number one pick where we’re taking a quarterback so I can maximize him and reach his full potential. Eberflus has shown he is/was never going to be that. Can blame it all on fields and Williams but at some point your HC (along with Poles) might be part of the issue why the offense has been bad for 3 consecutive years  

Secondly, what did Justin Fields do better last year that he didn’t do the year prior that gave you confidence Eberflus could make williams good or pick the right OC? He was the same qb with the same issues. Some of that’s on fields and some of it’s on your coaching staff. Shocking same issues this year with a new OC and new highly drafted Qb. i can find a solid to good DC with the talent they had to have them playing well as opposed to much harder to find great offensive minded HC that is legit. Optically that job last off-season is much more desirable with no. 1 pick rather than a defeated, frustrated and loss of confidence Caleb Williams that might be broken. Imo Ben Johnson and slowik would’ve come if you paid them and let them have whatever Qb they wanted at 1. Frankly Johnson probably deserves that based on maximizing Goff as well if not more than mcvay. It’s much harder to draw people to that team when you potentially have to fix a quarterback that’s broken due to his poor play and bad coaching 

Commanders hired a defensive coach but Quinn had nfl HC success and shown he can put a good staff together on offensive side of the ball. He got to Atlanta hired Shanahan, lafleur and Mike McDaniel  

 

 

1 hour ago, MF POON said:

The underlined just made my point. And Allen has had talent around him throughout the majority of his successful seasons in Buffalo. He didn't really take off until the season Diggs got there, which was 2020. 

And yet both mahomes and Allen can elevate the talent around them. Same can’t be said about hurts

 

Great to finally have some juice in this rivalry. 

Enter Cooper DeJean...

 

I know the competition hasn't been stellar.  But dominance is dominance.  Best back 7 in the NFL.

I think I do this every year.

45 years ago today was one of the most memorable days of my Eagles fandom. November 12, 1979. We were scheduled to play the Cowboys in Dallas that night. The Eagles had not won there in more than a decade and had never won a game in that stadium ever. In fact they were routinely blown out. My entire childhood consisted of slaughters. But we were finally a "good" team that year. Vermeil had really turned the program around and we were looking like a playoff team (okay, maybe not a Super Bowl team quite yet). The Cowboys were defending NFC Champions.

The Eagles had started the year 6-1 but were on a three game losing streak and were just coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Browns when they gave up two touchdowns to blow a lead in a game they seemingly had won. It was an important game. Monday Night Football. National TV. Howard Cosell. MNF was still an "event" back then.

I was a freshman in college. Living in a dorm. I had a Western Civ test that morning but nothing else on my agenda for the rest of the day. When I got to class, the teacher informed us that she had accidentally left the tests at home and since she had no lecture planned, the class was cancelled. I was free for the rest of the day. I went to the Student Center and bought a newspaper to get myself more psyched for the game and headed back to my dorm room.

I didn't have a TV in my room (very few students did in those days) but my friend across the hall (we later became roommates and have been close ever since) had one and we watched the game together there. Dallas marches down the field methodically on their first possession and quickly takes a 7-0 lead. You can actually hear it in the voices of the announcers that they're expecting another romp.

A little while later the Eagles are in Dallas territory and decide to "go for it" on fourth and one. This might seem like an obvious thing, but in those days teams almost always punted on fourth down. It was seen as somewhat reckless to do something so outlandish. But the Eagles went for it and threw a deep pass to Harold Carmichael for a touchdown. And from that moment on, the Eagles dominated.

Ron Jaworski got knocked out of the game at one point and Johnny Walton came in for a while but Jaworski soon returned to continue the domination. Late in the first half, Tony Franklin kicked a 59-yard field goal, which at the time was the second longest kick in history, behind only Tom Dempsey's 63 yarder nine years earlier. Kicks THAT long were super rare. But Franklin was a phenom at that point (he later had issues) and had a huge leg. It was a huge moment.

Funny thing was, though the Eagles were dominating, the score wasn't quite as reflective of that. Franklin missed a couple of field goals later on and the Cowboys were still within a couple of scores midway through the fourth quarter. And then the expected happened. Dallas got rolling. From out of nowhere they scored a couple of times and got to within one score with about two minutes to go. The Eagles needed to move the ball to run out the clock. They were around the Dallas forty (I guess they recovered an onside kick), and on a third and short, they gave the ball to Wilbert Montgomery (he was really good, folks) who turned the corner and took it to the house. Game over. We had finally beaten the hated (even then) Dallas Cowboys.

It was at that moment that you just knew in your heart that the Eagles were for real. This Vermeil dude had actually done what had once seemed impossible. He inherited a team in 1976 that was a complete trainwreck, and without any high draft choices until 1979 had somehow gotten them to be legitimate. You have to understand, for about a decade it felt like the Eagles weren't even in the same league as teams like the Cowboys, Steelers, Vikings, Dolphins, Rams, and Raiders. Those were the "real" teams. Not us. We were an afterthought to fans around the country. We existed but that's about it.

But we did it. That night. Forty five years ago today. Okay, sure, this doesn't compare with winning the Super Bowl. I understand that completely. But it was a HUGE turning point in the history of the Eagles franchise and one of the most memorable days of my life.

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

Ryan poles also deserves to be fired as well as he’s made some trades that he got great value but then didn’t get good return on the field. However, I’m not letting Eberflus stay just because he 7 games last year.  First off 6 of those 7 wins came against teams that were below 500. Like beating a horrific commanders, cardinals (one Murray’s first games back) and panthers isn’t some grand accomplishment. Those teams were awful. Talk about lack of talent those teams severely had it. And 5 of the 7 or against teams that were 3 games or worse under 500. I said it last year at the end of the season when they went on the run it was fools good like when in 2011 the eagles went 8-8 but finished strong. It was due to fortuitous scheduling as their defense looked good and massively propped up an offense that was as bad as the previous year.

We can say the Bears didn’t have good talent, but their defense legitimately had good talent. They had DJ Moore, kmet and Mooney (he’s good again this year and previously 1000 yard receiver in Chicago). Those aren’t bad receiving weapons. Herbert and foreman aren’t awful RBs. Not great but it’s not 2018 eagles with Smallwood and Josh Adams. Their oline was an issue. There’s teams with oline issue that has less talent then that at the skill position that managed to get more out of the offense. 

I’m not giving a coach who show me very little in terms of offense a chance to ruin or stunt the development of another high first round quarterback. Really this wasn’t about whether or not Eberflus deserve to keep his job or not. This was about I need to do what’s best for my organization and the number one pick where we’re taking a quarterback so I can maximize him and reach his full potential. Eberflus has shown he is/was never going to be that. Can blame it all on fields and Williams but at some point your HC (along with Poles) might be part of the issue why the offense has been bad for 3 consecutive years  

Secondly, what did Justin Fields do better last year that he didn’t do the year prior that gave you confidence Eberflus could make williams good or pick the right OC? He was the same qb with the same issues. Some of that’s on fields and some of it’s on your coaching staff. Shocking same issues this year with a new OC and new highly drafted Qb. i can find a solid to good DC with the talent they had to have them playing well as opposed to much harder to find great offensive minded HC that is legit. Optically that job last off-season is much more desirable with no. 1 pick rather than a defeated, frustrated and loss of confidence Caleb Williams that might be broken. Imo Ben Johnson and slowik would’ve come if you paid them and let them have whatever Qb they wanted at 1. Frankly Johnson probably deserves that based on maximizing Goff as well if not more than mcvay. It’s much harder to draw people to that team when you potentially have to fix a quarterback that’s broken due to his poor play and bad coaching 

Commanders hired a defensive coach but Quinn had nfl HC success and shown he can put a good staff together on offensive side of the ball. He got to Atlanta hired Shanahan, lafleur and Mike McDaniel  

 

 

I agree Eberflus should be fired, and he should have been fired last offseason. But we need to start accepting the possibility that Caleb is a bust. I was never a big fan, as a lot of his big plays in college were on broken plays and scrambles -- that doesn't translate. And there were questions about his mental toughness as well. There were scouts that had a 2nd round grade on him, but morons like Nick Wright hyped him as a generational talent. 

He may just be a bust like the last "generational" talent -- Trevor Lawrence. 

Or said another way, bet against any QB that Nick Wright claims is good.

7 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

I agree Eberflus should be fired, and he should have been fired last offseason. But we need to start accepting the possibility that Caleb is a bust. I was never a big fan, as a lot of his big plays in college were on broken plays and scrambles -- that doesn't translate. And there were questions about his mental toughness as well. There were scouts that had a 2nd round grade on him, but morons like Nick Wright hyped him as a generational talent. 

He may just be a bust like the last "generational" talent -- Trevor Lawrence. 

Or said another way, bet against any QB that Nick Wright claims is good.

I don’t disagree with you that he might be a bust. That might be the reality. Frankly it probably is at this point cause even if he wasn’t i think the coaching has killed whatever confidence he did have.

My whole thought process in last off-season was if I’m taking a quarterback at number 1 I am trying to maximize that Qb with the best offense minds I could get. Not the guy hoping the Hc could just do it with another highly selected qb when he just had two years of bad offense, no development of Justin fields and didn’t have a pedigree of hiring good OCs like a Dan Quinn had shown. 

5 minutes ago, FranklinFldEBUpper said:

I think I do this every year.

45 years ago today was one of the most memorable days of my Eagles fandom. November 12, 1979. We were scheduled to play the Cowboys in Dallas that night. The Eagles had not won there in more than a decade and had never won a game in that stadium ever. In fact they were routinely blown out. My entire childhood consisted of slaughters. But we were finally a "good" team that year. Vermeil had really turned the program around and we were looking like a playoff team (okay, maybe not a Super Bowl team quite yet). The Cowboys were defending NFC Champions.

The Eagles had started the year 6-1 but were on a three game losing streak and were just coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Browns when they gave up two touchdowns to blow a lead in a game they seemingly had won. It was an important game. Monday Night Football. National TV. Howard Cosell. MNF was still an "event" back then.

I was a freshman in college. Living in a dorm. I had a Western Civ test that morning but nothing else on my agenda for the rest of the day. When I got to class, the teacher informed us that she had accidentally left the tests at home and since she had no lecture planned, the class was cancelled. I was free for the rest of the day. I went to the Student Center and bought a newspaper to get myself more psyched for the game and headed back to my dorm room.

I didn't have a TV in my room (very few students did in those days) but my friend across the hall (we later became roommates and have been close ever since) had one and we watched the game together there. Dallas marches down the field methodically on their first possession and quickly takes a 7-0 lead. You can actually hear it in the voices of the announcers that they're expecting another romp.

A little while later the Eagles are in Dallas territory and decide to "go for it" on fourth and one. This might seem like an obvious thing, but in those days teams almost always punted on fourth down. It was seen as somewhat reckless to do something so outlandish. But the Eagles went for it and threw a deep pass to Harold Carmichael for a touchdown. And from that moment on, the Eagles dominated.

Ron Jaworski got knocked out of the game at one point and Johnny Walton came in for a while but Jaworski soon returned to continue the domination. Late in the first half, Tony Franklin kicked a 59-yard field goal, which at the time was the second longest kick in history, behind only Tom Dempsey's 63 yarder nine years earlier. Kicks THAT long were super rare. But Franklin was a phenom at that point (he later had issues) and had a huge leg. It was a huge moment.

Funny thing was, though the Eagles were dominating, the score wasn't quite as reflective of that. Franklin missed a couple of field goals later on and the Cowboys were still within a couple of scores midway through the fourth quarter. And then the expected happened. Dallas got rolling. From out of nowhere they scored a couple of times and got to within one score with about two minutes to go. The Eagles needed to move the ball to run out the clock. They were around the Dallas forty (I guess they recovered an onside kick), and on a third and short, they gave the ball to Wilbert Montgomery (he was really good, folks) who turned the corner and took it to the house. Game over. We had finally beaten the hated (even then) Dallas Cowboys.

It was at that moment that you just knew in your heart that the Eagles were for real. This Vermeil dude had actually done what had once seemed impossible. He inherited a team in 1976 that was a complete trainwreck, and without any high draft choices until 1979 had somehow gotten them to be legitimate. You have to understand, for about a decade it felt like the Eagles weren't even in the same league as teams like the Cowboys, Steelers, Vikings, Dolphins, Rams, and Raiders. Those were the "real" teams. Not us. We were an afterthought to fans around the country. We existed but that's about it.

But we did it. That night. Forty five years ago today. Okay, sure, this doesn't compare with winning the Super Bowl. I understand that completely. But it was a HUGE turning point in the history of the Eagles franchise and one of the most memorable days of my life.

Carmichael beat Charlie Waters on a post route on the 4th and one play.

Agreed.  That night was the "moment" when we had actually become a competitive team.

 

2 hours ago, Freshmilk said:

He's not.  Just pivoting rather than simply acknowledging.  I am not blind to Jalen's deficiencies- and I think he has a bit of Jekyll and Hyde to his game, but he is playing well right now.  He was not earlier in the season. He deserved criticism earlier as he earned it.  He deserves praise right now as he has earned it.  The script could flip, but until it does it's not difficult to see he is playing top tier QB right now.  Pretty simple.

And while they've been playing bad offenses, they've also played some very good defenses.

Just now, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

I don’t disagree with you that he might be a bust. That might be the reality. Frankly it probably is at this point chase even if he wasn’t i think coaching has killed whatever confidence he did have.

My whole thought process in last off-season was, if I’m taking a quarterback at number 1 I am trying to maximize that Qb with the best offense minds I could get. Not the guy who just had two years of bad offense, no development of Justin fields and didn’t have a pedigree of hiring good OCs like a Dan Quinn had shown. 

Oh I agree -- they should have thrown all the money in the world at Ben Johnson or Bobby Slowik to be head coach. And if they weren't going to do that, then they had to bring in a top notch OC to run the offense under Eberflus. Going with Eberflus and Waldron made Williams busting a lot more likely.

Just now, vikas83 said:

Oh I agree -- they should have thrown all the money in the world at Ben Johnson or Bobby Slowik to be head coach. And if they weren't going to do that, then they had to bring in a top notch OC to run the offense under Eberflus. Going with Eberflus and Waldron made Williams busting a lot more likely.

Im surprised they didn’t hire Kingsbury. They interviewed kliff Kingsbury for 8 hours in LA for the OC job. He was the offensive coordinator when Caleb Williams was at USC. So comfortability for Williams. Plus Kingsbury has nfl coaching/qb experience that could helped Williams with the transition from college to nfl. Imo would’ve been a top notch OC or even Kellen Moore. 

What the heck do people want from Hurts?

No, he doesn't have a cannon, but he's one of the best deep ball throwers in the league, that pass to Brown was perfect.

One reason he gets sacked more this year he's staying in the pocket and trying to make big plays - and that's probably mostly on Moore.

Notice the end of the half and second half Moore started dialing up more quick throws and boom, the game was over.

I think Moore is still feeling out this offense, they've rarely had Brown, Smith and Goedert on the field at the same time, they're missing Mialata, Johnson was out a couple games, etc. One key will be to get Dotson and Calcaterra more involved as secondary pieces to pay when teams try to take away the outside WRs, Smith in the slot, Barkley lined up outside, etc. I think he may well be hiding a bunch of plays he'll use in the second half or the playoffs - but it you don't need them right now, don't show them.

29 minutes ago, RLC said:

Great to finally have some juice in this rivalry. 

They've been bottom the barrel for so long I just don't care about them as a division rival. I usually just pray our players don't get injured during the games

9 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

 

Probably coming down to Lamar or allen. Hurts and Goff on the outside. Henry also on the outside. I’d have said Goff had a more realistic chance before his implosion against the Texans. Although he has jags, colts next two weeks so good chance he could go off 

So my son was in a car accident Friday night and has been in the hospital since. He's ok, a little banged up, but was concussed. He's gradually getting better, but he's been almost incoherent, a little delusional. The family and I have been pulling shifts 24/7 since he's been there so he's not alone.

Anyway, I'm posting this in a football message board just to say I have a new appreciation for what these players endure when they suffer a concussion. I can't imagine being concussed multiple times and still wanting to suit up. ☹️

2 minutes ago, austinfan said:

What the heck do people want from Hurts?

No, he doesn't have a cannon, but he's one of the best deep ball throwers in the league, that pass to Brown was perfect.

One reason he gets sacked more this year he's staying in the pocket and trying to make big plays - and that's probably mostly on Moore.

Notice the end of the half and second half Moore started dialing up more quick throws and boom, the game was over.

I think Moore is still feeling out this offense, they've rarely had Brown, Smith and Goedert on the field at the same time, they're missing Mialata, Johnson was out a couple games, etc. One key will be to get Dotson and Calcaterra more involved as secondary pieces to pay when teams try to take away the outside WRs, Smith in the slot, Barkley lined up outside, etc. I think he may well be hiding a bunch of plays he'll use in the second half or the playoffs - but it you don't need them right now, don't show them.

He's getting sacks because he's holding the ball too long. That Brown deep throw was great because it was quick and decisive. Snap, step back, and then let it go. He didn't hold it for 3+ seconds

12 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

 

I know the MVP is a "QB award", but Barkley has clearly been the Eagles MVP to this point.  I'd put Barkley and A.J. Brown as the two most important offensive players, with Lane Johnson right there in the mix.