5 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

Clean Bonds was almost as good a hitter as Griffey; he was a 25-30 HR guy and .285 or .290 hitter.  Griffey hit over .300 regularly and had just as much power.  Defensively, Bonds was never in the same class as Griffey even in his best day.  Griffey is one of the greatest defensive center fielders of all time, in recent times only Devon White and Trout come to mind as comparable — although Garry Maddox was special, too.

Human gargoyle Bonds is disqualified from consideration of any kind.  There were lots of steroid users among players, but what Bonds, McGwire, Canseco, and Sosa did to their bodies was purely disgraceful.  IMO Pujols is part of that list as well.

Andrew Jones was better than them all defensively. 

2 minutes ago, Casey @ Bat said:

Andrew Jones was better than them all defensively. 

Hated the Braves, but you’re right to say that Jones was pretty amazing at the position 

23 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

Clean Bonds was almost as good a hitter as Griffey; he was a 25-30 HR guy and .285 or .290 hitter.  Griffey hit over .300 regularly and had just as much power.  Defensively, Bonds was never in the same class as Griffey even in his best day.  Griffey is one of the greatest defensive center fielders of all time, in recent times only Devon White and Trout come to mind as comparable — although Garry Maddox was special, too.

Human gargoyle Bonds is disqualified from consideration of any kind.  There were lots of steroid users among players, but what Bonds, McGwire, Canseco, and Sosa did to their bodies was purely disgraceful.  IMO Pujols is part of that list as well.

eh… I never understood the big deal and why people are always so up in arms over steroid users. 

Bonds was a phenomenal player. 

5 minutes ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

eh… I never understood the big deal and why people are always so up in arms over steroid users. 

Bonds was a phenomenal player. 

The same reason why Bonds would never admit it openly when he was asked.  He knew it was cheating.

 

Btw — todays Immaculate Grid for baseball is a fun one and, yes, I used Barry for one of the answers 

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5 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

The same reason why Bonds would never admit it openly when he was asked.  He knew it was cheating.

Oh well. I just don’t care and never understood how many fans take it personally. He’s probably a crappy human but steroids have nothing to do with that, imo. 

7 minutes ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

Oh well. I just don’t care and never understood how many fans take it personally. He’s probably a crappy human but steroids have nothing to do with that, imo. 

Strange thing is, I’ve always actually thought they go hand-in-hand ….

11 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

Strange thing is, I’ve always actually thought they go hand-in-hand ….

I’m with you on being shiddy for not owning up to it. But in most cases, I don’t hold it against athletes for doing it. 

The worst part is the owners, league officials, etc. all knew it was going on but didn’t care because $$$$$. Now of course it’s all on the players, their trainers, and the people supplying the products. 

6 minutes ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

eh… I never understood the big deal and why people are always so up in arms over steroid users. 

Bonds was a phenomenal player. 

Because it's a slap in the face to all the other players who aren't using. Some of us actually care about the integrity of the game and detest cheating.

1 hour ago, Aerolithe_Lion said:

Pre-steroid bonds was pretty phenomenal too. I remember 1995ish we thought we were watching the 1v1 for title of greatest ever. But then Griffey fell off a cliff de to injuries and Bonds got way better… but in the worst way possible

Griffey didn't have the ability to recover like Bonds... because... well, you know.  And Griffey played a much much more demanding position.   Griffey > Bonds.

10 minutes ago, we_gotta_believe said:

Because it's a slap in the face to all the other players who aren't using. Some of us actually care about the integrity of the game and detest cheating.

1000x this.

It’s a Philly thing 

 

33 minutes ago, Alphagrand said:

Strange thing is, I’ve always actually thought they go hand-in-hand ….

Because... cheaters cheat.  People who have integrity... don't.

Don’t think Howie should ever take anyone in the first round not from the SEC again. Their success rate has been damn good.

3 hours ago, TEW said:

I think Brown can win deep balls as a physical jump ball type. He’s so big and strong that jump balls are more like 70/30 than 50/50.

I agree with a caveat ... Hurts needs vto release the throw considerably sooner than he did on Thursday.  that way AJ doesn't have to deal with a defender who can track the ball.

Nice day against a typically good MissSt. secondary…

3 hours ago, eagle45 said:

I think last year was some good luck and irreproducible deep productivity from Brown.  I do not see him as a deep threat moving forward at all.

I respectfully disagree, and join in TEW's alternative assessment to yours.

3 hours ago, TEW said:

The next couple of games will tell us a lot. If the offense gets back on track in the pass game and the defense cleans up in coverage, I think it will be safe to say we were just knocking off some rust. If it continues, then the reality may be that we have regressed to "contender” rather than "favorite.”

I think it is more than knocking off "rust."  Integrating in the new players is another major factor ... as is the Coordinator transition.

2 hours ago, eagle45 said:

Pass defense: 652 yards, 7TD, 1INT, 37 first downs

Pass offense: 363yds, 2TD, 1INT, 12 first downs

The actual QB rating, completion %, and efficiency numbers aren't so bad...but at some point, they are going to have to lean on volume from their passing game.  Right now, the offense is built on the running game, qb runs, horizontal caretaker passing, and sporadic deep shots.  

Will wait to see what our defense looks like when we're not playing 4-5 backups in the back 7.

3 hours ago, eagle45 said:

Brown had 6 over 40 and 23 over 30 last year.  This year, I bet it’s 3 and <15.

Belichek and Flores had a lot to do with that.  I also suspect that Steichen would have been quicker to adjust to and counter those Defensive Scheme wrinkles.

Don't even think the pass defense was bad vs Minny if you look at it in the proper context. Played a lot of backups. Short week. Eagles had a big lead so the Vikings were gonna throw the ball and with arguably the game's best WR. And that was their game plan anyway. You're going to give up passing yards in an offensive league as it is. Especially so when a team comes into the game wanting to throw it and having to throw it when trailing.

They got stops and forced turnovers, I thought it was fine.

Reminder for the draft enthusiasts:

Ohio State plays Western Kentucky now. Kentucky’s WR Malachi Corley is the man to watch. It will be his only game against top competition this season.

Corley is one of the most exciting WRs in the country, and his RAC skill set is the definition of unique, as he boasts both elite elusiveness to evade tacklers as well as strength and power to break tackles. He’s very physical and finishes runs like a 230 pound RB.

I’m extremely curious to see how he fairs. He would be a perfect fit as the slot WR here if his game translates to the NFL. As of now most draft trackers have him as a late 2nd round type of prospect. I think a good showing here along with a strong combine could make him a first round pick. If he flops here and has a mediocre combine, he could tumble to day 3.

I’m excited to see what he can do. 

52 minutes ago, mattwill said:

I think it is more than knocking off "rust."  Integrating in the new players is another major factor ... as is the Coordinator transition.

There really wasn't much in the way of new players for the offense.  There's Jurgens... and there's the RB.  But against the Pats... the RB was mostly Gainwell, who isn't new.  

6 hours ago, wussbasket said:

Howie rarely drafts CBs high, and when he does it’s not too pretty. 2017 was the last time they took a CB early and it didn’t work out too well for them with Sidney Jones in the 2nd and Rasul Douglas in the 3rd. 2015 was Eric Rowe in the 2nd. Then you have to go all the way to 2011 with Jaiquwan Jarrett and Curtis Marsh.

Howie’s MO has mostly been to bring in mid tier vets, with the exception of Slay, and I think he’s going to continue to do that.

Not really.  We shall not name the 3 'big' names he brought in before Slay.  They value a #1 CB very highly.