1 minute ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

What appears to be more important, the first CB or WR off the bench?

yup...the Eagles need to go OT, CB, TE, and then OG maybe WR with their first 4 picks not in any particular order then go mostly offense ( maybe an S) the rest of the draft...

1 minute ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

What appears to be more important, the first CB or WR off the bench?

There's a very credible argument that it's WR -- AJ is gone after 2026 for sure since we won't give him another big deal going into his 30 year old season IMO. Assuming we resign Q and Coop - and both their agents got some serious leverage yesterday -- Vic has show he just needs a competent CB2 and he can hide him on the wide side of the field. Meanwhile, WR would be Smitty and...nothing. CB2 might continue to be vets on 1 year deals like Adoree or JB before him (not after we extended him).

24 minutes ago, Boogyman said:

I don't think the seeding mattered as much as the rest did, personally. There is no dominate team in the NFC, every team seems to have issues. SF just scored 3 points. Seattle looks like the most complete team, but they have Darnold lmao.

Yeah. I mean we def have as good as shot as anybody to play in the SB. Im just nervous due to the Ineptness of the O. Maybe the D can carry us like they have during the regular season.

As an aside, Q's agent is going to demand a 5 year, $1 billion extension after what we saw yesterday.

Raise your hand if you'll be happy you no longer have to see old Pete running down the side line and chewing gum like a teenager.

3 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

Uber athletic Kelee Ringo should be able to tackle 39 year old Josh Johnson around the 4 yard line if he explodes to the ball rather than doing whatever the hell he decided to do.

I've never been so wrong about a player. What an absolute trainwreck his is at CB.

Are we sure he actually makes the tackle? Seen him miss tackles he should make at times

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

Are we sure he actually makes the tackle? Seen him miss tackles he should make at times

I mean -- being fast and tackling are all he can do, which is why he is a good gunner on punt team. He likely stays on the 53 next year solely for special teams.

2 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

There's a very credible argument that it's WR -- AJ is gone after 2026 for sure since we won't give him another big deal going into his 30 year old season IMO. Assuming we resign Q and Coop - and both their agents got some serious leverage yesterday -- Vic has show he just needs a competent CB2 and he can hide him on the wide side of the field. Meanwhile, WR would be Smitty and...nothing. CB2 might continue to be vets on 1 year deals like Adoree or JB before him (not after we extended him).

That said could also add via FA a corner 2. I’m guessing that is under consideration. Especially with what they saw with Bennett and ringo.

I’d argue last year at the draft i don’t think LB and Campbell was their biggest need on the roster either. However the had him as their BPA and graded like they did. I’m guessing if they love a particular WR and he’s ranked higher than a corner they’d take the WR even if in the moment CB is a higher need

Just now, vikas83 said:

There's a very credible argument that it's WR -- AJ is gone after 2026 for sure since we won't give him another big deal going into his 30 year old season IMO. Assuming we resign Q and Coop - and both their agents got some serious leverage yesterday -- Vic has show he just needs a competent CB2 and he can hide him on the wide side of the field. Meanwhile, WR would be Smitty and...nothing. CB2 might continue to be vets on 1 year deals like Adoree or JB before him (not after we extended him).

I was referring to opening day 2026. We had a competent CB2. I was talking about CB3. I feel that there are more Zaacheouses available than Adorees to fill in as key backups.

Looking at the snap counts, there's some weird stuff that happened. Not sure if Nick changed his strategy and wanted to go for the win so kept some guys in longer than he expected.

Bigsby was good yesterday but if rest was the priority, why is he playing the most snaps with Shipley playing only 26 and Dillon only 2?

It would have been nice to give Fred Johnson a bit of a break instead of having him out there the whole game. He's been dealing with some injuries recently too. He will be a key piece as 6th O-line and priority backup in the playoffs. Understand you can't sit everyone though.

D-line is one the most confusing. Davis, Ojomo, Hunt and Smith all played close to their regular snaps. Davis and Ojomo in particular could have used the rest, especially after filling in for Carter the last month.

LB: maybe they wanted to give Campbell some reps to help him grow. A little odd Mondon didn't play at all on defense.

Just now, vikas83 said:

I mean -- being fast and tackling are all he can do, which is why he is a good gunner on punt team. He likely stays on the 53 next year solely for special teams.

He definitely has special team value and is on a rookie contract... but Ringo needs to be firmly set at CB5. How the mighty have fallen.

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

Couple things

My biggest issue with Pattulo is we’re week 18 going into the playoffs yet we have not seen improvements by him in his play calling. It’s the same thing we’ve seen from week one against Dallas to yesterday‘s game against the commanders. To me it’s OK if you struggle. It’s OK that there’s learning curves. You’re a first year offensive coordinator who’s never called place. So that was somewhat expected. However there should be improvements by the time you got to the end of the year they gave people confidence that you knew what you were doing. There is none. That to me is more damning on him than anything.

Secondly, their creativeness with the offense has never been remotely as great as the talent they had to overwhelm teams/defenses. Even last year it wasn’t so much that they were so creative. Their offensive line was so dominant in the running game that they could win new games by how great they were. The pass offense hasn’t been greatly schemed up for better part of 2 years. Frankly, they lived off it just being efficient in 2024 because of how great the running game was that they could live that way.

Third, they are very predictable. Routes and with their formations with what they are trying to do. The analytics tell you this. If teams know when you go under center that you are running the football 82% of the time they are going to gear up to do it. It’s why they’re bad at running the ball under center. It’s why they are so great when they throw the ball under center. Cause teams aren’t expecting them to do it every often. There are a lot more things you can go into that shows their predictability. This is not just a Pattulo thing, but this is also Sirianni isn’t McVey, Coen or some of these "guru” play callers and schemers. That’s not his strength. Unfortunate but that’s not his bread and butter.

Fourth I tend to think the eagles offense relies way too much on the fact that the eagle talent is usually greater than other team defenses. will eventually overwhelm other teams and break them. I thought Seth Joyner said it well last night that the talent gap isn’t what it was in previous years as guys aren’t playing at the level they did in previous years. the gap has shrunk. And it’s why you have to be better with your scheming and your play calling to maximize the talent that you have now.

Lastly, they kind of have a roster construction problem on offense based on what they try to do. Because if you want to use multiple tight end sets then can’t have Calcaterra or granson as your 2 backups. We have two tight ends on this roster that just can absolutely cannot block. (Goedert has also regressed as a blocker) And yet they continue to keep trying to use them in those ways and it continues to put them behind the chains. I’d add, if you keep Aj and smith then I’d like to see the 3rd option be more of a speed vertical threat. I think they could also use that. Add on need their guys making big money on the OL to start playing better (imo also could use better backups which might happen next year with Williams and Kendall stepping up)

I think he struggles with play calling because of points 2 and 3. The talent gap did allow them to hide that problem in the past especially in the run game. Incorporating Hurts in the run game helped mask issues too. The predictability in the passing game and use of hitch routes is more of an issue this season although it would not be as problematic if teams couldn't look at the formation and know what is coming. They reinforce tendencies more and never break them. All game, the Commanders were sitting on routes because they knew what routes were being run. Motion use would help this as would more creative play calling. Marrying pass and run formations would also help because it would keep defenses off balance. Run calls routinely fail because defenders know it's a run and rally to the point of attack. I think the failure of the run game exposed the passing game issues but the failure of the run game was also partly due to the uncoordinated offense.

Finally, personnel and roster construction are an issue. This is partly a Howie issue. The other part of it is that they have routinely put players in situations where they cannot perform what they should be doing. Having to rely on Calcaterra as a blocker is not the same as repeatedly using Calcaterra as a blocker. He's not able to do that job. The coaches must know he cannot do the job. They do not have to rely on him as a blocker. There are other options on the roster.

Just now, Connecticut Eagle said:

I was referring to opening day 2026. We had a competent CB2. I was talking about CB3. I feel that there are more Zaacheouses available than Adorees to fill in as key backups.

Honestly, I would bring back Adoree if he can be had for 1 year, less than $3 million. His deal was 1 year, $1.755 million this year with only $500k guaranteed. 1 year, $2.5 million with $1.0 million guaranteed should work -- can't imagine the league will be beating down his door.

3 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

I mean -- being fast and tackling are all he can do, which is why he is a good gunner on punt team. He likely stays on the 53 next year solely for special teams.

True however earlier this season he also whiffed on tackling and fangio called him out on it.

1 hour ago, NOTW said:

I will never forgive him for the dreadful performance in the SB while he had his mind on a HC job.

How easily confused the secondary was by the fake orbit motion was idiotic.

13 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

The only pass catches signed after this season are AJ Brown (potential trade bait), DeVonta Smith, Darius Cooper and an ACL recovering Johnny Wilson. That's it. No TE are under contract.

TE is the immediate problem not WR. Latu is under contract next year. So it's really Goedert and Calcaterra.

I'd draft a TE to be a day 1 starter but they don't like doing that. I hope they let Calcaterra go but since Goedert is likely gone, they'll probably keep him so they have someone with experience. I'd prefer they just sign a different TE, draft one high and add that to Latu.

1 minute ago, vikas83 said:

Honestly, I would bring back Adoree if he can be had for 1 year, less than $3 million. His deal was 1 year, $1.755 million this year with only $500k guaranteed. 1 year, $2.5 million with $1.0 million guaranteed should work -- can't imagine the league will be beating down his door.

I think your Q's agent post earlier may apply to Adoree's agent as well. The Rams are starting Forbes. There are more playable WRs than CBs on the planet.

4 minutes ago, LeanMeanGM said:

Looking at the snap counts, there's some weird stuff that happened. Not sure if Nick changed his strategy and wanted to go for the win so kept some guys in longer than he expected.

Bigsby was good yesterday but if rest was the priority, why is he playing the most snaps with Shipley playing only 26 and Dillon only 2?

It would have been nice to give Fred Johnson a bit of a break instead of having him out there the whole game. He's been dealing with some injuries recently too. He will be a key piece as 6th O-line and priority backup in the playoffs. Understand you can't sit everyone though.

D-line is one the most confusing. Davis, Ojomo, Hunt and Smith all played close to their regular snaps. Davis and Ojomo in particular could have used the rest, especially after filling in for Carter the last month.

LB: maybe they wanted to give Campbell some reps to help him grow. A little odd Mondon didn't play at all on defense.

Felt like they went with a lot more 5 DL looks yesterday, likely since they figured Josh Johnson couldn't beat them through the air (Vic didn't count on the purposefully underthrown deep ball strategy). Added to the overall number of DL snaps. I too would have given JD and Ojomo a lighter load.

Just now, Connecticut Eagle said:

I think your Q's agent post earlier may apply to Adoree's agent as well. The Rams are starting Forbes. There are more playable WRs than CBs on the planet.

Fair point, but I'd be SHOCKED if someone paid Adoree more than $3 million AAV.

15 minutes ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

What appears to be more important, the first CB or WR off the bench?

Whomever is higher on their board will be prioritized, but broadly speaking I believe their focus of the offseason will be OL, TE, and CB2. And Edge if Phillips isn't retained, though I expect he will be.

I'm with Vikas, Howie needs to Moneyball Calcaterra, don't resign him so the coaches can't use him. Draft a TE that can block, paired with Latu.

18 minutes ago, Connecticut Eagle said:

What appears to be more important, the first CB or WR off the bench?

Corner depth is way more concerning. I think they need to clean house at corner between CB2 and depth. Sign a decent guy, draft 2 corners (rounds 3-7). If there's a WR they like in the draft that's great too. But they are gonna need a TE, OT as well. I could see a WR at some point to develop but not high.

Eagles will know their opponent before they play should they beat the Niners.

Consider that this defense is elite despite some weak spots in the secondary with CB2 and safety. Fangio and the core of players are strong enough that the defense is always going to be very good, perhaps elite. They had to make decisions this past offseason and they had replacements and the defense has been great most of the time this year. They have to keep focus on future contracts for the core guys that you simply cannot let leave the franchise. Others will be tough to see go, but necessary and will be replaced. They have the defensive coaching to handle it.

On offense, the writing is on the wall. They have to get younger and cheaper to prepare for big contracts on defense. Lane will retire this year or next, Goedert will be gone, another year and Brown will be gone, probably Barkley as well. First priority is O line and TE, if they can get a WR in this draft that's great, otherwise the following year WR will be a higher priority. After a new OC next year (hopefully) we'll see how the scheme looks and hopefully will be more confident with losing Brown. Smitty is a true #1 anyway and awesome. By then hopefully they have a rookie TE entering his 2nd year ready to contribute more, and you add a top WR prospect to the mix and that should work.

31 minutes ago, vikas83 said:

There's a very credible argument that it's WR -- AJ is gone after 2026 for sure since we won't give him another big deal going into his 30 year old season IMO. Assuming we resign Q and Coop - and both their agents got some serious leverage yesterday -- Vic has show he just needs a competent CB2 and he can hide him on the wide side of the field. Meanwhile, WR would be Smitty and...nothing. CB2 might continue to be vets on 1 year deals like Adoree or JB before him (not after we extended him).

I've seen multiple mocks with the Birds taking Denzel Boston from U of Washington ( 6 - 4, 209 and 88 grade on PFF ). it wouldn't surprise me but I think we would be better off drafting a tackle or CB round 1. One guy I'm looking at in the later rounds is Malachi Fields from Notre Dame ( also 6 4 )