9 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Season is basically 1/4 done. This was one of the weirdest offseasons for Howie that makes it almost impossible to grade.

*Convinced Sweat to take a paycut, trade Reddick, replace him with Huff: I'm lumping these three together. It sucked but it was smart to avoid the Reddick situation. It was also smart to make Sweat take a paycut as he has clearly lost a step already. But Huff has been non-existent and unplayable. I guess I'd say Grade: D- overall. 

*Signed Saquon Barkley: Went against the traditional norm and gave money to a RB. And he should be thankful he did because this team might be 0-4 without him. Certainly would be 1-3. Grade: A

*Signed Zack Baun: Our accidental ILB. He's been up and down and it's hard what to make of him long term. At the moment as he has looked like our best LB. Not a high bar, of course. Grade: B

*Signed CJGJ: Not much to add other than he has woefully underperformed besides some splash plays. He's also not the playmaker he was in 2022 which makes him look worse. Grade: C

*Signed Devin White: Our actual ILB that Howie spent the most money on, who hasn't played a single snap, appears to be a malcontent and was kicked out of the accountability group chat. He never seemed like a fit for Fangio either. Grade: F.

*Traded for Kenny Pickett: Meh. Grade: C+

*3rd WR: Lumping these together also. First it was Devante Parker, who did Howie a solid by retiring a month later, giving him a second chance to address the position. He followed that up with Parris Campbell and John Ross. When that wasn't good enough, he panicked traded with a division rival for Dotson who is a complete non factor. He also drafted Ainias Smith who looks like a bust and Johnny Wilson who might be a role player one day. Grade: D-

*Signed Mekhi Becton: This is his annual Plan B or C move that turned out way better than the initial Plan A. I truly believe Howie wanted one of the first round T/G versatile linemen. He ended up with Mitchell who has been one of the only bright spots on D and signed Becton after the draft to fill that hole. Becton so far has been solid fitting in at RG. I don't have a strong feeling on this one. Grade: B+ to A-

Overall, it's a mixed bag of peaks and valleys. It wasn't good but he made some good moves to counter the bad. I guess to put a single letter grade on it, it would have to be C-. 

Their entire offseason felt bizarre and un Eagle like. They paid a lot of money to a RB. They kept a coach that had clearly lost the team when in recent history Lurie has pulled the plug sooner rather than later. They signed a LB they aren't using. They drafted CB in the first round which they never do.

But overall the whole offseason felt like they had no clear vision of what they wanted to do with the team. Which makes me wonder if some of the front office people aren't on the same page.

Well, I'm ready to look forward at this point. We are where we are, and not much is going to change -- we aren't firing coaches or making major changes to the roster at this point. Here are some thoughts on how to get this back on track, if it is possible.

1. Maddox needs to stop playing and DeJean needs to be the nickel going forward. I know he missed camp, but let him learn on the job against the Browns and Giants. Maddox is cooked, and DeJean is a more physical player (or he was in college). Guessing Cooper will offer more against the run. I'd honestly look to cut/trade Maddox when Brown is ready to come off PUP.  

2. I don't know how we teach tackling, but if I see one more guy wildly dive at someone's legs, I'm going to lose it. Stress wrapping up. If Dean can't handle it, give White a chance to play. Frankly, either play White or cut/trade him at this point. He's a waste of a roster spot. Try Burks if need be.

3. We need to play more 5 DL looks, even against 11 personnel. BG/Williams/Davis/Carter/Smith should be on the field on 1st down. If the other team is 3 wide, drop CJGJ down to take the slot and play with one safety. Stop letting offenses dictate to us by running nickel against 11 personnel exclusively. We did tis against the Saints, who don't play a lot of 11, and looked like an elite defense. So try it against 11 personnel.

4. BG is out best edge. Accept it and play him more.

5. Someone explain to Fangio that playing 10 yards off coverage on every snap makes the team susceptible to the quick passing game. Q is a solid off coverage CB (and is clearly the best CB on the team already), but we need to mix it up and press more often. Maybe not against Watson and Jones, but Burrow will eat us alive if we play this way.

6. Maybe move Carter around the line more to scheme him some one on ones? Show any variation in looks at all?

7. I really don't have any idea how to fix Hurts' turnover issues. Hopefully AJ and Smith coming back will help, but what's really missing is he no longer makes big plays off script. He had a golden chance to Barkley on the 1st play of the game -- 2022 Hurts makes that play. He needs to stop trying to be Superman and just play within the offense. It's not like going to Pickett will help...

8. That Barkley guy is good. Maybe give him the ball more. And dump the read option and just have Hurts hand it off.

9. Have we heard of a RB screen? Or a TE screen?

This is a team that can win. The coaching on both sides is just terrible. 

 

47 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

And the other side doesn't have players of that quality to be down.  🤷‍♂️.  Their 'regular' players are players that likely shouldn't be playing... paging Bryce Huff, Nakobe Dean and Avonte Maddox.  

I wasn’t asking the D to win the game. Just keep us mildly in reach. 

 

13 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

To me, the passing charts say a lot.  Look at how Stroud, Love, and Daniels use the entire field -- and these are not 10-year veterans.  Then look at Hurts' chart.  Again, he simply does not utilize the middle of the field.  This is the case far too often.  The only passing chart I could see with similar results in Week 4 was Caleb Williams, a rookie in his 4th NFL start.  Just look at the way Stroud and Jordan Love use the entire field.

There's no way a 5th year NFL QB should have charts like this:

 

 

 

Love was awful early in that game. Like really bad. He looked like he was unsure of his knee and rusty as he basically hadn’t played a football game in 3 weeks and didn’t play much in the preseason. As the game went on he got better. Daniels didn’t utilize the middle all that much but for a rookie it’s still more than what we did with hurts and really the cardinals defense couldn’t stop him. I believe one of the incompletions was a drop 

I don't think tackling can be taught. I mean it can to a degree, but I think it's one of those things where you actually have the talent to do it or you don't. They don't. Howie skimped at linebacker again after those linebackers flat out embarrassed last year. It's really unacceptable.

Howie did such a bad job with this defense. And Fangio has been bad at getting the most out of the players he does have. I have no doubt in my mind if Jalen Carter was on the Ravens he would be wrecking games every week.

1 hour ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Have any of you ever used an eraser before?

 

 

 

Yea, that's what I thought!

Large quantities of alcohol is a KIND of an eraser.

24 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

Well the more I read about McClellan the more I think he had some sort of anxiety disorder.  He tripled the estimate of Johnston's forces as an excuse to do nothing.  I am not sure the criticism of Meade is fair for failing to pursue Lee after Gettysburg.  

I pretty much agree about McClellan. He loved the pomp and the glory. His men could march on parade with the best. He was organized, but he was not a fighter. It didn't help that he had Alan Pinkerton giving him "information" about the enemy. Pinkerton, who lusted for glory and recognition, routinely double and tripled his estimates of Confederate forces to make himself more indispensable. McClellan had plenty of reason to be skeptical but there was that anxiety you mentioned. He never expressed doubt of Pinkerton's intelligence that I'm aware of and always anticipated the worst (what Johnston and later Lee would do to him, not vice versa). He was also arrogant and narcissistic. He reminds me in some ways of Field Marshall Montgomery, who was as contemptuous of Eisenhower as he was of Lincoln.

I also agree with you about criticism of Meade in his pursuit of Lee after Gettysburg being unfair, It is due, IMHO, to Lincoln's expressed frustration rather than actual performance. Consider: first, Meade did pursue Lee, with his cavalry in what has been described as one continuous fight all the way to Falling Waters. Second, he had been in command of the army for only three days before the battle. In fact, when he was awakened to be told that he was replacing Hooker, his first thought was that he was being arrested. Everything he did in the next few days was almost impromptu. His chain of command was uncertain, the condition of his troops unknown. His knowledge of Lee's position and intentions was unclear. More importantly, he had lost three of his corps commanders, including his two best. Reynolds, commander of the First Corps, was killed on Day One; Sickles, commander of the Third Corps, was severely wounded on Day Two, and Hancock, commander of the Second Corps, was severely wounded on Cemetery Hill on Day Three. He had lost a quarter of his army in the battle, almost 24,000 casualties including an uncounted number of officers and non-coms. He had at all times to stay between Lee and Washington and Baltimore. Finally, when did at last catch up to Lee, Lee was in a prepared position and The Army of the Potomac could smash itself to pieces assaulting that position. 

Honestly this is kind of a dumb rule. I could get it being a year. But 2 years seems overkill 

9 minutes ago, Mike030270 said:

Yea but Hurts is missing Brown, Smith, and Lane

I'm not paid $55M per year so my opinion (in the grand scheme of things) means squat .... but, if you told me I'm playing the game without WR1, WR2, and my top-tier RT, I'm getting the ball out quick and peppering the middle of the field with throws to Goedert, Barkley, and Dotson in the slot.

2 minutes ago, Sack that QB said:

I don't think tackling can be taught. I mean it can to a degree, but I think it's one of those things where you actually have the talent to do it or you don't. They don't. Howie skimped at linebacker again after those linebackers flat out embarrassed last year. It's really unacceptable.

Howie did such a bad job with this defense. And Fangio has been bad at getting the most out of the players he does have. I have no doubt in my mind if Jalen Carter was on the Ravens he would be wrecking games every week.

I think tackling can be taught. Hell, these guys could tackle in college. It's almost like someone tells them to dive wildly instead of wrapping up.

My view on the talent is simple -- we can see the measurables and the evaluations of guys like Carter, Davis, N. Smith, etc. Bryce Huff did get 10 sacks last year. Josh Sweat has produced in the past. I don't believe that all these guys now suck at football. They are being used improperly.

1 hour ago, Mike030270 said:

Do other teams fans compare their team and players to Chiefs or is it just us?

The thought process to use Mahomes having a bad start to the season to justify Hurts is just hilarious to me

People tend to compare to the best as the standard. For years people pointed to things the Patriots/Belichick/Brady were able to do and used it to show the Eagles were a failure. Why can't they be just like...the GOATs. Then there were times people would say so-and-so is the next Brady (There was a topic at one time that Foles was the next Brady when he had his 27/2 season). So I think because people compare our players to the league's best, when those league's best players play badly then someone will inevitably turn the tables and say see? He had a bad game, bad stretch, bad season, etc. But the elite players who win multiple championships get a pass (pun intended) because they've proven they can win. 

With Hurts, over his short career he's been compared to other QBs like Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen among others. People would point to other QBs to say they are doing well, why can't he? At one point a lot of guys said they wished they had Josh Allen instead of a "running QB" like Hurts, yet Allen also had a lot of rushing plays that season. Eagles fans also tend to magnify the mistakes of their own team and then compare them to the positive highlights of other teams. When you watch other games around the league, other QBs make dumb throws, throw INTs, miss open receivers. It's an offense driven league, so other teams have defensive drives where the offense just marches down the field, even though the defense knows it's a 2 minute situation and they're passing. But we beat up our own team and hold them to a much higher standard and don't have much grace or patience for any mistakes or losses.

quick question besides Graham, who else on defense is a leader? Feels like Graham is the only adult in the room as slay isn’t a leader and just goes off on Twitter every time something goes wrong 

1 hour ago, Mike030270 said:

Do other teams fans compare their team and players to Chiefs or is it just us?

The thought process to use Mahomes having a bad start to the season to justify Hurts is just hilarious to me

There are people who view Hurts as being on Mahomes's or Josh Allen's level when in reality he is closer to Purdy or Tua. 

Just now, vikas83 said:

I think tackling can be taught. Hell, these guys could tackle in college. It's almost like someone tells them to dive wildly instead of wrapping up.

My view on the talent is simple -- we can see the measurables and the evaluations of guys like Carter, Davis, N. Smith, etc. Bryce Huff did get 10 sacks last year. Josh Sweat has produced in the past. I don't believe that all these guys now suck at football. They are being used improperly.

I think it's a combination of both. I do think they aren't being used properly. It's either the biggest coincidence in the world that Huff magically can't get sacks anymore and Dotson can't make plays anymore. But also when you see Dean being ran through like he's a child, maybe a tiny LB without a ton of strength just looks like that at the NFL level. He's not tackling college athletes anymore. Maybe Maddox is shot, and Jordan Davis just sucks. I think some guys aren't having their best brought out of them and others just probably suck. Namely most of Howie's Georgia picks. Except Carter.

I'd be remiss if I didn't say 'I miss you Covey'. Him being out caused a domino effect of issues. Similar to AJ being out and thus having Smitty run his routes and now he is out. Grrr... this bye is right on time.

1 minute ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

quick question besides Graham, who else on defense is a leader? Feels like Graham is the only adult in the room as slay isn’t a leader and just goes off on Twitter every time something goes wrong 

Probably Bradberry 

I don't think he's a traditional "leader" per se but he at least sets a good example that others should take note of. He's accountable taking the heat for the flag at the end of the SB. He doesn't pout on the sidelines or rush to Twitter to argue with fans. He's humble enough to know he lost a step but will shut up and do what he can to help the team in anyway he can. 

2 minutes ago, BDawk_ASamuel said:

There are people who view Hurts as being on Mahomes's or Josh Allen's level when in reality he is closer to Purdy or Tua. 

I just want him to stop fumbling.... stop it... stop it. I do respect that he took accountability for his bad play but come on man.

1 hour ago, e-a-g-l-e-s eagles! said:

ROI has been bad. I would also like to point out if you’re a great defensive coordinator you’re gonna get more out of less. You’re gonna make guys better because your scheme and your system and your mastermind/genius is going to get more out of them. And figure ways to get more out of them. If Fangio is as good of a defense coordinator as they Fing think he is and what he used to be then he is going to be able to do that. The fact of the matter that Desai and Matt Patricia is getting as much out of this defense as he is kind of tells me we have a personnel problem and fangio isn’t as great as he used to be. 

Hot take: DeSai was actually doing fairly well considering he had garbage at LB and secondary was half the talent it is this year. Plus the offense was hurting the defense and putting them in bad position. He was adjusting at halftime and in many games held teams to 0 points in the 2nd half. He became the scapegoat and Patrecia was worse. The players apparently liked DeSai and didn't like the move. I wouldn't have minded seeing DeSai with this roster. Fangio is stubborn and thinks he's the Bill Walsh of defense.

4 hours ago, bpac55 said:

Sorry that it's ESP, but all he's doing is breaking down the play. It's RIGHT THERE. Make an NFL caliber throw. The only thing I disagree with ESP on is that he says the Eagles needed Hurts to be special. No, the Eagles need Hurts to be a competent NFL QB. Make the reads, make good throws. 

 

 

That’s 7 of the 17 points he left on the field.

32 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

To me, the passing charts say a lot.  Look at how Stroud, Love, and Daniels use the entire field -- and these are not 10-year veterans.  Then look at Hurts' chart.  Again, he simply does not utilize the middle of the field.  This is the case far too often.  The only passing chart I could see with similar results in Week 4 was Caleb Williams, a rookie in his 4th NFL start.  Just look at the way Stroud and Jordan Love use the entire field.

There's no way a 5th year NFL QB should have charts like this:

 

 

 

I think there's still an open question of how much of this is about scheme vs. Hurts.  It's undoubtedly some of each but who knows how much.  

The defensive tackling WAS bad.

This also explains how it got so bad.

 

The Eagles may not be able to get Reddick back, but that doesn't mean they can't trade Huff. Honestly, I'd trade him back to the Jets before his value totally plummets. He's not doing anything anyway. It would essentially just be like buying a draft pick. Then maybe the Jets will just cut Reddick and the Eagles could sign him. If not, just use Hunt, he started getting playing time this week anyway.

1 hour ago, Mike030270 said:

Ego not letting him change is going to cost him his job again

I don't think it's hyperbolic to say, if Doug were here and had the same setup Sirianni has, Eagles would be 4-0.

1 minute ago, Sack that QB said:

The Eagles may not be able to get Reddick back, but that doesn't mean they can't trade Huff. Honestly, I'd trade him back to the Jets before his value totally plummets. He's not doing anything anyway. It would essentially just be like buying a draft pick. Then maybe the Jets will just cut Reddick and the Eagles could sign him. If not, just use Hunt, he started getting playing time this week anyway.

That horse has left the barn.