What stuck out like a sore thumb to me last night watching TB is how good their linebackers and pass rush are.  The Eagles desperately need to upgrade both.  The Eagles racked up sacks this year but they didn't seem to be "impact" sacks or opportunistic sacks.  What I mean by that is that TB got sacks when they absolutely needed to.  They got after it when it counted.  The Eagles need to find a young DE in the draft or maybe pull off a player for player trade.  

I don't need to go in depth with the linebacker.  TB always seems to have at least one good linebacker going back to Hardy Nickerson.  I loved Derrick Brooks at FSU, hated that he went to TB.  We always talk about Pitt and Balt having great 3-4 linebackers but TB, Seattle and even Dallas are great examples of teams who know how to draft 4-3 linebackers.  Last night proved that good-great linebackers can still impact a game.  I hate the mindset that you don't need to play linebackers anymore.  That isn't true, you just need good, athletic linebackers.

If the Eagles do end up with pick 20, Zaven Collins would be a heck of a pick.

13 minutes ago, ToastJenkins said:

Dony buy that at all. This is the qb that peters called The General

Personally I only use rich gasoline on fires.

3 minutes ago, Ipiggles said:

Just a few things i have predicted correctly in the past, that went against the grain when I said it:

Here are two more of my predictions: 

1) Drafting Hurts in the 2nd was a complete waste of a second rd pick. Hurts will never be a franchise type QB. 

2) Trading Wentz away will be the biggest mistake the Eagles have ever done in my lifetime (mid 50s). 1000x worse than trading away HOF receiver Chris Carter, or letting Reggie White walk away. This will be the largest blunder and will haunt them for a decade.  

#1 doesn't really go against the grain.  It seems only the Eagles viewed Hurts as a franchise type QB in the draft, and anyone that actually watched him play would say that there is a LONG road ahead of him to even sniff 'franchise' QB status.  

#2 - I can't disagree that this is a disaster in the making.  But, it seems the die is already cast.  Time to deal with the outcome... the part that infuriates me is that one of the primary architects of this mess hasn't been shown the door.   Howie made the moves to get Wentz... Howie gave Wentz the contract... Howie failed to put pieces around him for the last 3 years...   Doug is gone, Wentz appears to be heading out the door, but Howie remains entrenched, untouched by all his failures.

1 hour ago, greend said:

I thought Wentz was perfect this year. It was everyone else's fault. Even when he missed wide open receivers it was because one of the o-linemen tickled him while he was trying to throw. When he wouldn't throw the ball away it was because Duce (that trickster) super glued the ball to his hand. 

R.C. is really beginning to lose credibility in my book quite honestly.

He has an agenda, it seems.

1 hour ago, Original Sin said:

Some of you sound salty ,the most balanced team won , and in dominate fashion. 

On to the draft and free agency 

Congrats. Some in here should eat crow - they will not, however.

2 hours ago, Iggles_Phan said:

The calls from the zebras certainly went the Bucs' favor like a home game for Brady.

They kept saying in the playoff games how her crew was the best refs and did fair games. They did not

36 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Well... thing about that is... for him to get his wish, which is a trade, he's going to have to waive that for someone.  So, they better be fielding calls.

 

But, the price for him will likely be lower than his value, because he can limit the number of teams in the bidding, and can try to strong arm the Texans with sitting out.   

HC said he took the job because of Watson. GM said they're not trading him

So it's looking like a holdout may happen

4 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

What stuck out like a sore thumb to me last night watching TB is how good their linebackers and pass rush are.  The Eagles desperately need to upgrade both.  The Eagles racked up sacks this year but they didn't seem to be "impact" sacks or opportunistic sacks.  What I mean by that is that TB got sacks when they absolutely needed to.  They got after it when it counted.  The Eagles need to find a young DE in the draft or maybe pull off a player for player trade.  

I don't need to go in depth with the linebacker.  TB always seems to have at least one good linebacker going back to Hardy Nickerson.  I loved Derrick Brooks at FSU, hated that he went to TB.  We always talk about Pitt and Balt having great 3-4 linebackers but TB, Seattle and even Dallas are great examples of teams who know how to draft 4-3 linebackers.  Last night proved that good-great linebackers can still impact a game.  I hate the mindset that you don't need to play linebackers anymore.  That isn't true, you just need good, athletic linebackers.

If the Eagles do end up with pick 20, Zaven Collins would be a heck of a pick.

Nice thing with Collins is not only is he the best cover backer in the draft , but he can get after the QB too.

He runs well ,and he could crack the top 10.

Just now, Desertbirds said:

Congrats. Some in here should eat crow - they will not, however.

I don't care for the taste of it.  Bucs did what I didn't think they could though.  Hats off to them.

11 hours ago, vaeagle2 said:

wanting to act like that now doesn't fly , he's a deranged lib

SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK ......

Huge aviation geek here.  This was awesome.

1 hour ago, greend said:

Here's a weird question. Why would Wentz be getting offers but Watson not? I'm a big Wentz fan but I would rather have Watson at this point.

It's been known for a few weeks now that the Texans refused to even take any trade offers on Watson. They won't listen to offers right yet I think they're trying to fix the situation and trying to talk him into staying

2 hours ago, Iggles_Phan said:

Oh good... advanced stats.   Do these advanced stats include OGs that adjust their gloves in the middle of the play?   Give me a break with this 'advanced stats' crap.

Oh, Jamon Brown was the worst. What an awful decision to play him.

Advanced stats matter. Sacks and time to throw are just as much as a QB stat as an OL stat. The OL did not magically get better when Hurts played. Hurts made it easier for them by getting the ball out on time. 

16 minutes ago, greend said:

 

While I don't want Wentz gone I agree with you guys that the best thing for Wentz is to get out of this cluster F of an organization. 

I think at this point, from what we've heard (and of course we don't know how much we can believe), it may be best for all parties to go their separate ways. It is certainly best for Wentz though.

1 hour ago, UK Eagle said:

Thanks for the drunk posting and convincing me not to watch the Super Bowl. 

And this just dropped

https://www.phillyvoice.com/carson-wentz-eagles-locker-room-trade-rumors-doug-pederson-jeffrey-lurie-nick-sirianni/

Nothing very surprising there. Except no one mentioned that Lurie's first HC was Rhodes, a hard ass leader, but simply lacked HC qualities other than motivation, which wore thin after a few years. Doug is the opposite, the players' coach who works with a veteran team with a lot of internal leadership, but when those leaders age out, he loses control.

However, the idea they chose Sirianni b/c he'd baby Wentz like Doug is off the mark, it's obvious that Sirianni is more organized than Doug, in a week he put together a much better staff than Doug (who inherited a bunch of coaches), which tells you he was preparing to be a HC and had already contacted people (if I get a job, would you be interested?). Howie has been clear that this team is rebuilding the next couple years, which is why they're not worried about the Wentz cap hit - if Wentz gets traded, it's because Sirianni feels Hurts has more upside.

The comments about Hurts are interesting, we just watched a 6th rd pick win his 7th SB, why was Brady a 6th rounder, thin frame with average arm strength coming out of college - high IQ and off the charts work ethic made him into the GOAT. You don't need a gun to win in the NFL, you need average to above average arm strength, above average accuracy and above average anticipation/football IQ. Hurts is going to have a staff that knows how to coach up QBs, we may find out what his upside is, but if he's merely an "average" starting QB, that's great value at #53, most top 10 QB draft picks are average or worse. I'll take an Andy Dalton (in his prime) who can run or a stronger Jeff Garcia with a better arm.

Watched the future HOF Mahomes struggle - which simply shows that QBs are overrated - without his starting OTs he got exposed by the TB pass rush. Build the OL, then find a QB. Put a top young talent behind a bad OL and you'll ruin a young QB's confidence and health. Fortunately for Mahomes, Big Red makes the OL a priority, so this should be a one game thing. Meanwhile, Brady spent all night with 5-6 seconds to throw, which is why DL who can pass rush get paid a lot of money.

 

If the Eagles trade Wentz for peanuts, then I hope they go 0-16 next year. That would:

1) give the idiot fans exactly what they deserve;

2) give me a small measure of schadenfreude; and, most importantly,

3) punch Howie's ticket out of town.

Just now, Desertbirds said:

If the Eagles trade Wentz for peanuts, then I hope they go 0-16 next year. That would:

1) give the idiot fans exactly what they deserve;

2) give me a small measure of scadenfreude; and, most importantly,

3) punch Howie's ticket out of town.

3 won't happen b/c they're rebuilding, just means they get to pick #1 and #33.

11 minutes ago, austinfan said:

Nothing very surprising there. Except no one mentioned that Lurie's first HC was Rhodes, a hard ass leader, but simply lacked HC qualities other than motivation, which wore thin after a few years. Doug is the opposite, the players' coach who works with a veteran team with a lot of internal leadership, but when those leaders age out, he loses control.

However, the idea they chose Sirianni b/c he'd baby Wentz like Doug is off the mark, it's obvious that Sirianni is more organized than Doug, in a week he put together a much better staff than Doug (who inherited a bunch of coaches), which tells you he was preparing to be a HC and had already contacted people (if I get a job, would you be interested?). Howie has been clear that this team is rebuilding the next couple years, which is why they're not worried about the Wentz cap hit - if Wentz gets traded, it's because Sirianni feels Hurts has more upside.

The comments about Hurts are interesting, we just watched a 6th rd pick win his 7th SB, why was Brady a 6th rounder, thin frame with average arm strength coming out of college - high IQ and off the charts work ethic made him into the GOAT. You don't need a gun to win in the NFL, you need average to above average arm strength, above average accuracy and above average anticipation/football IQ. Hurts is going to have a staff that knows how to coach up QBs, we may find out what his upside is, but if he's merely an "average" starting QB, that's great value at #53, most top 10 QB draft picks are average or worse. I'll take an Andy Dalton (in his prime) who can run or a stronger Jeff Garcia with a better arm.

Watched the future HOF Mahomes struggle - which simply shows that QBs are overrated - without his starting OTs he got exposed by the TB pass rush. Build the OL, then find a QB. Put a top young talent behind a bad OL and you'll ruin a young QB's confidence and health. Fortunately for Mahomes, Big Red makes the OL a priority, so this should be a one game thing. Meanwhile, Brady spent all night with 5-6 seconds to throw, which is why DL who can pass rush get paid a lot of money.

 

I agree with the young qb part..brady was touched 14 times during their 8 game win streak, partly OL ,partly smart QB play

 

 

Mahomes was under pressure in 2.5s or less on 24 plays (43%). Brady just 3 such plays (10%).

7 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

Huge aviation geek here.  This was awesome.

I was bird watching near Holloman AFB, when my wife and I witnessed a low altitude flyover involving a P-51, F4, F16, and a F22. They were practicing for an upcoming celebration. They flew right over our heads and were low enough that we could see the pilot's heads.

Would be funny if he's not traded and the team just ignores all of these reports while this place goes insane all offseason

9 minutes ago, RLC said:

Oh, Jamon Brown was the worst. What an awful decision to play him.

Advanced stats matter. Sacks and time to throw are just as much as a QB stat as an OL stat. The OL did not magically get better when Hurts played. Hurts made it easier for them by getting the ball out on time. 

🤦‍♂️   

1 - No one said that it did.  It was getting better throughout the season.  Watching Mailata alone showed improvement.  Mailata and Seumalo started to get some chemistry.  Downside, Kelce got dinged up and was playing with basically one arm.  The right side remained a disaster.   But, game 1 was 3 players starting the game that were not expected to be starting.   Peters at LT (without practicing there, because he was busy extorting the team), Herbig at RG (who was running second team, because Peters was supposed to be RG, meaning he got limited reps, and Driscoll at RT (without being expected to start, but Lane was a last minute scratch).  And that's pretty much how the first half of the season went along the OL.

 

2 - Hurts was sacked quite often himself, and was better at escaping the pocket than Wentz given his fresh legs, better speed and more elusiveness... But, he had a completion percentage that never reached 57%, and the team was shut down in the 2nd half of every game he played in (which would actually be a defense for Doug to pull Hurts for Sudfeld, because that last game was the WORST by Hurts all season as a passer... 35% passing with an INT.)  Sudfeld was terrible too.   The biggest difference between Sudfeld and Hurts in that game is that Hurts was a runner, Sudfeld was not.

11 minutes ago, Desertbirds said:

If the Eagles trade Wentz for peanuts, then I hope they go 0-16 next year. That would:

1) give the idiot fans exactly what they deserve;

2) give me a small measure of schadenfreude; and, most importantly,

3) punch Howie's ticket out of town.

I feel like the 0-16 wouldn’t matter to the fans at some point cause they would be excited about the no. 1 pick and getting a new QB then. So that wouldn’t be like they deserved that. Plus they weren’t going to be very good next year. 

Like if you were going to stick it to fans, lurie and the eagles it would actually be they trade wentz and he becomes a franchise QB again for a decade. Meanwhile the eagles spend the next decade looking for a franchise QB and failing. 

11 minutes ago, austinfan said:

3 won't happen b/c they're rebuilding, just means they get to pick #1 and #33.

he's Lurie's long lost love child...

8 minutes ago, Desertbirds said:

I was bird watching near Holloman AFB, when my wife and I witnessed a low altitude flyover involving a P-51, F4, F16, and a F22. They were practicing for an upcoming celebration. They flew right over our heads and were low enough that we could see the pilot's heads.

That would be incredible.  The heritage flights are awesome to see.  The size difference between the F-22 and P-51 is pretty amazing.  Finally saw an F-22 fly this September down in VA Beach.  Would love to see an F-4 fly.  I think there are only 1 or 2 that do demos through the Commemorative Air Force.  

3 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

🤦‍♂️   

1 - No one said that it did.  It was getting better throughout the season.  Watching Mailata alone showed improvement.  Mailata and Seumalo started to get some chemistry.  Downside, Kelce got dinged up and was playing with basically one arm.  The right side remained a disaster.   But, game 1 was 3 players starting the game that were not expected to be starting.   Peters at LT (without practicing there, because he was busy extorting the team), Herbig at RG (who was running second team, because Peters was supposed to be RG, meaning he got limited reps, and Driscoll at RT (without being expected to start, but Lane was a last minute scratch).  And that's pretty much how the first half of the season went along the OL.

 

2 - Hurts was sacked quite often himself, and was better at escaping the pocket than Wentz given his fresh legs, better speed and more elusiveness... But, he had a completion percentage that never reached 57%, and the team was shut down in the 2nd half of every game he played in (which would actually be a defense for Doug to pull Hurts for Sudfeld, because that last game was the WORST by Hurts all season as a passer... 35% passing with an INT.)  Sudfeld was terrible too.   The biggest difference between Sudfeld and Hurts in that game is that Hurts was a runner, Sudfeld was not.

1) Some OL got better (Mailata, Driscoll, Herbig). Some got worse (Kelce - injury, Seumalo - injury). Jalen Hurts had 3 starts with Matt Pryor at RT!

2) Hurts absolutely sacked himself...but that's what I mean. Sacks are NOT just an OL stat. They're also a QB sack. Wentz also got sacked too much by holding onto the ball too long. Both our QBs were guilty of this. This issue is a combination of coaching, poor receiver play and poor QB play.

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

I feel like the 0-16 wouldn’t matter to the fans at some point cause they would be excited about the no. 1 pick and getting a new QB then. So that wouldn’t be like they deserved that. Plus they weren’t going to be very good next year. 

Like if you were going to stick it to fans, lurie and the eagles it would actually be they trade wentz and he becomes a franchise QB again for a decade. Meanwhile the eagles spend the next decade looking for a franchise QB and failing. 

Do we know if there's a QB worthy of the #1 pick for next years draft yet?