Storylines Aplenty For The Eagles As They Face Off With The Ravens Saturday Night



Marcus Smith, last years disappointing 1st round draft pick, has suddenly been thrust in the spotlight due to him tweaking his hamstring in yesterday's joint practice. In fact yesterday he was trending on Twitter which I'm sure was news to him because of how little he has contributed to the Philadelphia Eagles' football team.  Nevertheless it does put the team in a spot because the depth at outside linebacker is extremely thin due to Travis Long's ACL tear earlier in camp. Vinny Curry is going to play in Smith's spot, although he's used to rushing the passer exclusively and the position is new to him.  The good news is it will only keep Smith out of 3 preseason games and he should be back for the start of the regular season.

Sam Bradford is slated to start but according to him "you never know what coach is going to do" but he's hopeful as the second preseason game approaches.  His health is of major concern to everyone as the season honestly hinges on his ability to stay healthy and it's why Head Coach Chip Kelly is thinking long and hard about whether getting Bradford some reps in a meaningless game matters. Most people and that includes me believe that he should at the very minimum get a quarter's worth of action to get over the jitters of playing in a live contest after a two year layoff.

DeMarco Murray has been coasting ,honestly,  in camp and Kelly is managing his reps with a keen eye especially after coming off a 400+ touches season last year with the Dallas Cowboys.  The media in Philly thinks DeMarco is hurt and Kelly isn't spilling the beans but as told to MMQB's Peter King, Kelly is very aware of the downward slope of backs after handling the ball 400+ times the season before and said "it matters how he was managed coming into the next season". 

These are the storylines coming into preseason game number 2 for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Eagles vs Colts PreSeason Game Observations

I know it's very early and it was the first Preseason Game but I'm take this opportunity to knock off the rust and start writing again.  Here's what I saw after watching the game a total of three times and noted some things.

1. Marcus Smith Is A Project - He needs a coach to keep their foot in his ass and to emphasize when you go out there you need to play like every play is a resume builder! Encouraging signs still looking for violence (in my Coach Azz voice)

2. Jalen Watkins May Be Chopped - He cant tackle and he looks queasy as a outside corner. Nickel job is going to Biggers if he continues to play well.

3. Najee Goode Looked Bad - I Liked Goode till I saw him Sunday, he didn't shoot through the gaps when he had to and waited for contact from a lineman instead of going for the ball carrier. He battling for a spot, better play better next game.

4. Taylor Hart Didn't Impress - He didn't get off blocks or stun his blocker and I always saw him going sideways or backwards, he has to improve to get in the rotation.

5. Bryan Braman May Be The Third OLB - I was impressed with his violence and will to be a game-changer. Need more angry players on Defense which was lacking last year.

6. John Moffitt Will Win RG Battle - He needs to knock the rust off after his 2 yr. layoff and will not start until game 3. Tobin and Gardener are backup types who offer depth, Moffitt was a starting player and looks like he fits he just needs to get back and comfortable.

7. Nelson Agholor And Miles Austin Will Play More Than Riley Cooper and Josh Huff - Huff needs to get the ball more in the pre-season and show something  or they will go with Austin who's at the very least reliable and I'm a Huff fan.

8. See you Earl Wolff, Get Comfortable Ed Reynolds - Wolff is injury prone and you cant make the club on the sidelines. Ed is ball hawking like he did at Stanford but what happens when the safety is asked to cover which we ask them to do in this Davis defense.

9. Raheem Mosert Is A Practice Squad Stash - I like what I saw with him, he's in a battle with Kenjon Barner but will lose because Barner offers a little more in Special teams.

10. Sam Bradford Watch - I'm waiting to see how he performs with these open receivers that Chip Kelly's offense seems to always produce.  Mark Sanchez is a backup period and we saw that. Matt Barkley played well but against 2nd and 3rd teams. Tim Tebow is a gadget dude and stays as a third stringer. Wonder how many games he's active though.

 

NFL Team Sites Review - Denver Broncos

Photo courtesy of Flickr

 

I must admit right up front that I'm a football junkie who cruises NFL team websites top to bottom to get as much information about them as I can to win all my sports bar arguments.  I also learn their blog site information to get a pulse from not just their websites but the people in their area who are a little more objective about the team even as fans of that team. The 49ers started out the cruise and now we travel to Denver to look at the mighty Broncos who are really popular in the west and because of their Super Bowls they have a national following.  We'll start the off the Broncos cruise by going to their NFL Home site to see how their represented.

The Broncos NFL Home site is a mess and doesn't load entirely when you enter.  That as a first impression is terrible because you're left to wonder what is trying to load instead of enjoying what else the page has to offer. They have some videos, some galleries, and the ticket center which is smack dab in the middle centered in the page.  It looks like a rookie setup and I'
m amazed this organization is represented like this.

Denver NFL Home page scores a 60 on a rating scale of 100 ------------------->NFL.com Denver Page

The SB Nation Page Mile High Report is pretty well done with loads of multimedia content. SB Nation does a real good job of mixing reporter content with fan posts and fan shots which gives a voice to the fan who of course pays all the bills.

Denver Mile High Report blog scores a 90 on a rating scale of 100 ------------------>Mile High Report

Fansided offers the Predominantly Orange blog as a voice of the fan with editorials, team news, rumors, and opinion. The Fansided Network, which is a subsidiary of Sports Illustrated, does a really good job of putting links together to form a view of a team from various sources in addition to the aforementioned editorials, news, and opinions. 

The Predominantly Orange blog scores a 90 on a rating scale of 100 ------------Predominantly Orange

We'll close out this review and cruise with the juggernaut media leader ESPN who offers a team page through their NFL Nation link.  Jeff Legwold is the Broncos' reporter who covers the team and he does a pretty good job of reporting what's happening with the team.  ESPN has done a great job of hiring a beat reporter that has already established a base and supporting them with their resources.

Denver ESPN NFL Nation scores a 93 on a rating scale of 100-----------------------Denver NFL Nation

HBO Ballers Review

Photo courtesy of Flickr

 

The anticipated HBO pilot Ballers aired Sunday night starring Dwayne Johnson used the glitz and glamour of  Miami and of course, the cache of the NFL.  The concept is the life NFL Ballers lead off the field and how hectic it is with balancing financials and lifestyles with athletics. The opening scene jumps you in with a star athlete speeding in his Bentley with his love crazed "girlfriend" who tells him she loves him so much she would kill herself and shortly afterward kills the both of them when she loses her mind over his infidelity right there in the car and starts to fight him making him crash at high speed. The next scene is the funeral and the news from the grieving wife that the star athlete left his family unsecured and penniless. This is where Dwayne Johnson's character, who is a newly retired former NFL player but connected, comes in and gets the brainchild through some prodding to "broker" and handle his connected baller friend's financials.

 

Spencer is that dude who's there for his ballers and we see already that John David Washington, who's the hothead baller, needs him to work his magic and get him out of a mess and back into the NFL on a team.  The plot lines are already formed as Spencer is "kinged" using his connections and it makes him a trusted information man and connector and from the looks of his circle they will need him to look out for them. 

 

It's a good start for the show and I'm looking forward to watching if HBO picks up the season.  I'd give it two thumbs up!

NFL Team Sites Review - San Francisco 49ers

Photo courtesy of Flickr

I must admit right up front that I'm a football junkie who cruises NFL team websites top to bottom to get as much information about them as I can to win all my sports bar arguments.  I also learn their blog site information to get a pulse from not just their websites but the people in their area who are a little more objective about the team even as fans of that team.  We'll start off this 32 team review and cruise with the 49ers and as you enter the team site on NFL.COM the first thing you notice is the mixing of noir and red on the photos which brings out that 49er red really nice. The site has a good mix of video and photos which are fan favorites and will curb some of the fanatics appetites until Training Camp starts back up.  The site also has a great mix of headlines, articles, and galleries to click into which makes this almost more than a team site and makes it into a 49ers content meeting space.  The producers of this site are doing a fantastic job and I leave out of the site impressed every time I visit.

49ers nfl.com site grades out as 95 on a 100 scale --------------------------------> 49ERS NFL Team site

The next stop on the 49er review is SB Nation and I was introduced to these blogs two years ago and I have been going back ever since. The 49ers site on SB Nation is called Niners Nation and they do a pretty good job of keeping fans up to date with stories, videos, and fanposts surrounding the 49ers that give it a unique flavor.

Niners Nation blog site grades out as 90 on a 100 scale ------------------------------------> Niners Nation

Bleacher Report is a good follow as well as they have 23,084 following them on Facebook which indicates a few things to me and it's they have work to do and how competitive it is to get views because the 49ers are a national team with 5 Super Bowls in their cabinet.  They have a lot of content on their page but it's not well organized and it's a lot of white space on the page. This is not a knock on the writers and contributors as they have plenty of updated features and content but the site looks disorganized when compared to their competitors.

Bleacher Report media site grades out as a 80 on a 100 scale --------------> 49ers Bleacher Report Site

Fansided, which is a Sports Illustrated subsidiary, keeps 49ers fans updated with their Niner Noise page which is a mix of editorials, news, and web links to information about the 49ers.  It's a well put together page with great information about the team.

FanSided media site grades out as a 90 on a 100 scale ----------------------------------------->Niner Noise

We'll close out this review and cruise with the juggernaut media leader ESPN who offers a team page through their NFL Nation link.  Paul Gutierrez is the 49er reporter who covers the team and through the sheer size of their network and the resources they just cover the team from top to bottom and add content through writing and reporting that dominates the others on this page.

ESPN NFL Nation 49er team site grades out as a 96 on a 100 scale ------------> 49er NFL Nation Site

Mini Camp Is Over, Training Camp Awaits

Players, prospects, coaches and scouts have all just finished mini camp which honestly is the start of the new football year for 2015. The scouts and coaches worked hard adding prospects to the roster and mini camp was the time to add them in with the players and see how they process instructions and perform. What amazed me was the business of football during this time with writers clamoring for stories and Philly's media is renowned for chomping for stories. Here's some of the storylines we've seen so far at the start of the 2015:

• Can Sam Bradford stay healthy and flourish in Chip Kelly's offense.
• Is this year's version of the Eagles a rebuild (5 new starters of offense, 5 new starters on defense) or a reload?
• Can Nelson Agholor and Eric Rowe contribute as 2015 high round draft picks?
• Will Marcus Smith erase last year's unremarkable year as the team's 1st round draft pick?
• Is Chip Kelly a genius or a clown? 

The last question is really why everyone is captivated by Kelly as they are intrigued with his unique methods of football management. It's the only way you can explain the 101 reporters showing up for Kelly's opening Organized Training Activities press conference. The national media can't get enough of Kelly and while he appears disinterested, something tells me his ego loves it. As an Eagle fan I'm kind of in the middle because I appreciate that the team is getting coverage but honestly I just want to win and if Kelly wants to flip the roster and he's confident that the team can jell then I'm onboard. Time will tell but training camp is next up and I want to see how this rebuild or reload comes together!

What storylines do you expect or are hopeful of coming out of training camp?

Physical, Tough, Blue Collar Football

I saw this coaching clinic excerpt from Chip Kelly, provided here by Matt Lombardo, where he talked about his running back getting into the line and getting yards because we play blue collar football and we dont want the back tinkle footing it to try for a homerun. I like that approach for Philadelphia which is as blue collar as it gets. I must admit that at first I was "shook" with all the changes as Kelly literally replaced proven players like DeSean, Mike Vick, LeSean, and Maclin and not all the players brought in were proven replacements. The players he brought in all had common traits though and that's they are hard nosed physical players. Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff, Ryan Mathews, and the hardest of them all DeMarco Murray all play a physical brand of football and that's a style of football that's radically different from past years in Philadelphia. 

 

DeMarco Murray, who I didn't start looking at until Michael Irvin said on 97.5 the Fan that the Eagles were favorites because of DeMarco, is downright physical and nasty as a running back. I watched Dallas' games from the 2014 season and just wanted to view DeMarco (in my head from Chip's viewpoint) and I honestly came away saying Chip is going for a hard nosed team starting in the run game.  I wont call out players but I can see where Chip said I have to deconstruct this thing if we're going to really compete for a Super Bowl while I'm here because we're not going to compete with the top teams with this finesse brand of players that Andy Reid built in his time here.

Andy Reid, who liked to outsmart you with a 1000 page playbook, built a small fast team that was a reflection of his philosophy and those teams could not compete with the physical teams in the tournament. There was still a faction of those types of players still on the team and the result was the same. The old saying is "insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results" and that's what the Front office was doing. It was the lets "hope" we get hot in the tournament and let's see what happens, problem is what's happened for this team is it cant get off the field defensively or get that clutch play offensively when everything is on the line. Are we insane or is it time for a new way?

We are bound to find out in 2015 and Im not insane!