4 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

I was a big fan of the Hiff signing. I really can’t believe we couldn’t make it work even a little bit with him.

Just a clash of personalities, is my guess. Vic never was known for having a ton of patience, so if Huff didn't react well to his coaching or just rubbed Vic the wrong way, then it probably started off on the wrong foot without much of a chance to recover.

1 minute ago, Diehardfan said:

Sounds somewhat positive at least

yeah... assuming they wouldnt let him play if they suspected ACL...

Probably the case, but I feel like you never know especially with some of the tough guys we have on this team.

I posted here multiple times in the offseason that Huff as the #3 edge behind Smith and Hunt wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. But it's apparent that bridges were burnt last year and that fit was just never going to happen. We could really use good Huff right now.

Just now, eagle45 said:

I posted here multiple times in the offseason that Huff as the #3 edge behind Smith and Hunt wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. But it's apparent that bridges were burnt last year and that fit was just never going to happen. We could really use good Huff right now.

well, we never had good Huff, and who knows why...

7 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

I was a big fan of the Huff signing. I really can’t believe we couldn’t make it work even a little bit with him.

I thought it would be a really good signing too. Vic understandably walks on water around here, but we know what the Miami players said about him. That doesn't make the Miami players right (they weren't), but it is evidence that an otherwise viable player can go south here. This scheme and coaching style are not perfect for everyone.

1 minute ago, HazletonEagle said:

@we_gotta_believe I did a google search as well, because I know that I know what I know. And you dont know much.

You kind of had to start calling it Passer Rating to make it further from QBR which came out much more recently causing some confusion. But it was and still is commonly referred to as QB rating. And normally 158.3 is impressive. But today, it wasnt so much.

You accuse me of playing semantics then come back an hour later by citing an AI summary. This is getting sad.

Just now, we_gotta_believe said:

You accuse me of playing semantics then come back an hour later by citing an AI summary. This is getting sad.

Figured Id let you know you were wrong again since you wouldnt wanna lose at your own game. But, ya did. Sucks to suck doesnt it.

14 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

DB carries because it's man match, but then I'm not sure what you meant when you said Flores interrupted us from making mistakes. Which coverages wouldn't have done that? C2? C6?

I think he was meaning that Flores was making the mistake by not playing more zone with pressure looks, kind of like the pressure the Eagles used that turned into the pick 6.

15 minutes ago, HazletonEagle said:

Dean is giving them a jolt.

Im afraid Carter will never be healthy all year. His shoulder injury is significant. I doubt it gets better till he gets surgery in the offseason.

If he isnt going to be the force that frees up our edge rushers, then we need to significantly upgrade at Edge. Not just sign Graham, who will likely get injured anyway.

And improve CB2 to increase the chances of some coverage sacks.

The D certainly has enough issues to discuss. But, its still not bad and we are going to need the offense to step up to improve our chance at contention. I think this is still an above average D, than can become really good again when/if healthy. And if the offense were sustaining more drives, the optics and even stats would be much different, much more positive for the D.

I was not excited to see Nakobe, but he was playing fast - Vic was getting him downhill and off the field in coverage situations. He’s better against the run today and is more decisive as a blitzer, so you have him attack and Campbell sim from the edge.

Long-term teams might start cutting into the tendencies, but like you said it was nice change up today.

16 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

Huff with another sack…

1 minute ago, Iggles_Phan said:

not playing more zone with pressure looks

He did though. Most of his blitzes are 3 over 3 or 4 over 2 zone coverages with 5 rushing the passer.

3 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

I thought it would be a really good signing too. Vic understandably walks on water around here, but we know what the Miami players said about him. That doesn't make the Miami players right (they weren't), but it is evidence that an otherwise viable player can go south here. This scheme and coaching style are not perfect for everyone.

He stunk against the run, couldn’t rush from a two-point stance, hurt his hand…

But he has so much friggin’ juice rushing with his hand in the dirt. I just can’t believe we got nothing out of him.

13 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

I was a big fan of the Huff signing. I really can’t believe we couldn’t make it work even a little bit with him.

Agreed... but it worked out ok with the Super Bowl and all.

9 minutes ago, Waiting4Someday said:

2H coverages to take away the deep stuff, force throws underneath and ideally into windows. On the Smitty play they brought 5 and Harrison Smith came into the box/ short zone leaving Rodgers essentially in man coverage.

Well yeah, obviously playing with one less defender on the backend is gonna leave someone singled up on a receiver. That's why four verts puts the deep safety in conflict on a vanilla c3. And with a fire zone, somebody in the secondary won't be getting help but as a DC you're banking on the pressure getting home before the QB can figure out who it is.

Also… I’m actually bummed Graham is coming back. He got a great ending to his career. It just seems like a matter of time before another injury.

11 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

Just a clash of personalities, is my guess. Vic never was known for having a ton of patience, so if Huff didn't react well to his coaching or just rubbed Vic the wrong way, then it probably started off on the wrong foot without much of a chance to recover.

Yep. But, Huff also didn't set the edge very well. Pass rush only. Seems that Vic doesn't like that. "You have to pay the price on 1st and 2nd down to get the right to rush the passer on 3rd." I think that's the old line.

So, we are 5-2 and hopefully on our way up.

Giants were hot, and yet are just 2-5

Washington is 3-4 and probably not going to improve. If Daniels misses a few weeks, theyre likely digging themselves a deep hole.

Dallas is 3-3-1 and seem like a team who can be dangerous with their offense. But NFC East has a tough schedule this year so I dont think theyre going to make any kind of great run. Theyll play opponents who can beat them throughout most of the year. They should be right around .500 Maybe slightly better but not much.

For a minute, I thought Giants might challenge for the Division if they kept looking improved and the eagles continued to struggle. But now, an eagles win next week really puts a major cushion between the teams. Giants are already at the top of what they are capable of being this year and the eagles have barely scratched the surface.

1 minute ago, ManuManu said:

Also… I’m actually bummed Graham is coming back. He got a great ending to his career. It just seems like a matter of time before another injury.

When did that get announced?

40 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

Stepping away from the Hurts discussion…

Y

I think the defense was pretty meh. We were aided by an overturned TD (correctly) and a TD negated by a hold (incorrectly IMO), not to mention an errant snap on third and 10 at the 19. Who knows what happens if the snap was good, but we certainly didn’t earn a stop on that down). We got a pick six on a well-designed blitz, and that matters obviously, but I didn’t see much from the pass rush (mostly ineffective while losing discipline). The coverage wasn’t great. The tackling was poor, especially from Campbell and Mukuba.

Agree with a lot of this.

Defense was down Ojalari most of the game and Smith all of the game. Adoree was playing ok before he got concussed. You could feel the attrition in the 2nd half.

Unless Jalen Carter goes back to 2024 level, the best it can be is above-average with good tackling. It's average without it.

7 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

I think he was meaning that Flores was making the mistake by not playing more zone with pressure looks, kind of like the pressure the Eagles used that turned into the pick 6.

Yeah, I’d never bring 5 - but showing blitz would be the honeypot to draw out a pass into zone.

1 minute ago, ManuManu said:

Also… I’m actually bummed Graham is coming back. He got a great ending to his career. It just seems like a matter of time before another injury.

Yeah. And Glazer talked about it like its a done deal and he will sign tomorrow. Its happening.

Id like to see them hardly play him. Id prefer to just see him in high leverage situations. Like, needing a sack at the end of a game or something, play him at DT instead of Davis or Ojomo.

2 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

When did that get announced?

Glazer pretty much announced it pre-game before SNF. Said he can sign as soon as tomorrow.

3 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

Well yeah, obviously playing with one less defender on the backend is gonna leave someone singled up on a receiver. That's why four verts puts the deep safety in conflict on a vanilla c3. And with a fire zone, somebody in the secondary won't be getting help but as a DC you're banking on the pressure getting home before the QB can figure out who it is.

Don’t do that… zone cover, don’t blitz against Jalen Hurts.

Just a couple thoughts on the state of the team after they got back on track...in order of importance, IMO:

1. Hurts. Jalen Hurts, obviously, cannot be expected to have a perfect QB rating every week. But the running game is not going to be the foundation of this offense for the foreseeable future. Hurts needs to be more 2022, less 2024. 2024's passing volume isn't going to cut it with this ground game. They need to establish the passing game week in, week out. This week needs to be a sign of things to come, not a blip on a radar screen full of otherwise underwhelming passing performances.

2. Clarity. Howie needs clarity at the trading deadline. I don't care that he's the best GM in football; we all know his downside tendencies. He can try to do too much and he can make some really bad moves at the deadline. If the OL can get their $#%^ together and the edge rushers can wake up and re-enter the picture, then Howie can almost certainly go all in at CB2 and definitively solve that problem. I'm worried he's going to pull an offseason Dave Dombrowski and add 3 crappy players, one at each of those positions. Edge is too expensive, OL is tricky because they don't often move at the deadline....CB2 is just right and attainable.

3. Nolan Smith and edge. Right now, it's not good. Not good at all. Nolan Smith was a downright stud down the stretch last year. He was fine this year. Eagles fans better pray that his IR stint was less a setback and more a chance for him to rest and reload because he came back too soon and wasn't playing at the level he is capable of. They need late season 2024 Nolan Smith, not early season 2025. Jalyx Hunt looks great in coverage and all, but he doesn't look great as an edge...which is kind of his position. He needs to show signs of life.

4. AJ Brown. I still need to see him run in the open field. He can bully a CB in contested, congested matchups. But I remain concerned he has lost some explosion and separation-ability. With this offense starting to understand it is pivoting to a passing one, he needs to show he can still do this.

5. OL. I put this last simply because I feel it's nearly a fait acompli already. They have done a respectable job in pass protection. They aren't moving bodies or opening holes. At this point, I just don't know if that's going to change this year. I think what we see is what we are going to get. Rather than relentlessly run Barkley into a wall with generic futile carries, they might as well preserve him and start dishing out a much heavier dose of the other capable backs that they have invested in.

One more thing...I don't think Campbell has been quite as good this year as an off ball LB as the hype would suggest. That's not to say he's been bad or even disappointing, but I'm not seeing anything precociously special to be perfectly honest.

Nakobe Dean was outstanding today and a huge boost for the defense. Given that he is the elder statesmen and immediately played so well, I think it's really hard to put him on the sidelines.

With the imminent and severe need at edge and how downhill explosive Campbell is, I just don't understand why they can't lean into him at edge.