Eagles Win Against A Depleted Saints Team

The Philadelphia Eagles for the first time in 5 games this season looked like they constructed and then executed a fundamental gameplan against a NFL team. Chip Kelly made some changes to his kinetic tempo offense and put together a plan of attack that looked like he spent a week studying tendencies, weaknesses, and players of the team he was facing that week. This is called improvement my NFL friends and humbling oneself rather than saying EXECUTION was the issue which to all who heard these words sounded like a code word for it's not my gameplans, it's the players.  Ok I got that off my chest and now let's talk about the game.  Sam Bradford still is rusty and it showed in the game as he missed two redzone throws that would have put the Eagles up 14-0 in the first quarter but instead they were interceptions that sucked the air out of the stadium. The good news was before those throws he was leading the team and moving the ball down the field which speaks to having a game plan as mentioned before. 

The Saints had problems though because of a strong defensive effort led by Fletcher Cox didn't present much offense beyond their early 7-0 lead in the first quarter.  The defense allowed Bradford and the offense to finally start cashing in on the movement and they led 10-7 going into halftime with Bradford throwing a 41 yard touchdown to Josh Huff and a field goal by Caleb Sturgis.  The third quarter showed the grit of Bradford as he began, through a balanced attack featuring DeMarco Murray, to pull the team ahead while Drew Brees had to deal with constant pressure from the Eagles defensive front and was sacked 5 times with one resulting in a fumble. Bradford and the defense buoyed the team and they exploded with touchdowns from Ryan Mathews, Brent Celek, and DeMarco Murray ending up with a 39-17 win.

It was a strong second half and that's been the usual case for the Eagles as they seem to still be getting used to playing with each other.  The star of the game was Fletcher Cox who finished with six tackles, 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovery which is the stat line which he said after the game is the first of his career.  Next up for the Eagles are the New York Giants on Monday Night Football next week.

Eagles Beat The Jets And Secure Their First Win

The Philadelphia Eagles used stellar special teams and defense to beat the New York Jets 24-17 in week 3 action. Darren Sproles scored on a punt return to get the Eagles started and pushed the lead to 10-0 and the Eagles used that energy with Ryan Mathews hard running jumped out to a 24-7 lead at halftime.

 

The Eagles defense mobbed Ryan Fitzpatrick and caused 4 turnovers with an outstanding performance from Linebacker Jonathan Hicks who recovered a fumble and caught an interception. The rookie who filled in for a depleted linebacker corp really showed up and showed out in his first start totalling 10 tackles, 1 pass defense, and the aforementioned interception and fumble recovery. The Eagles needed every bit of their defense's contribution as the offense was stymied in the second half.

 

Sam Bradford continued to look uncomfortable in Chip Kelly's offense and failed to get the ball to receiver not named Jordan Matthews. The win nevertheless was the most important outcome and winning while not performing the best gives hope. The hope of course is that the offense can match the defense and string together a strong performance and start winning multiple games.

MetLife Stadium could be the start of something good but only time will tell.

Eagles Lose And It Looks Like A Lost Season

The Dallas Cowboys rolled into Lincoln Financial field and for the fourth time in a row defeated the Philadelphia Eagles on their home turf 20-10. The 20-10 score is not indicative of the kind of football played by both teams as Troy Aikman best said it, "This is bad football by two teams expected to contend for the NFC East title". The first half, which was marred by inept offense and penalties, concluded with the Cowboys leading 6-0 on two field goals.

 

The developing story of the season, though for Philadelphia, is how terrible the Eagles offensive line is as DeMarco Murray at one point had 8 carries for -15 yards. Sam Bradford when he had time watched his receivers drop passes which could have helped them develop a rhythm but that never happened. Jason Kelce, an emerging player, looked very average as the Dallas defensive line just physically whopped up on the line and caused confusion, mayhem, and chaos. Chip Kelly in the post game presser said rather clearly, "We couldn't block anybody and you're not going to win any games if you cant run the ball".

 

The defense played 40 minutes because of the offense's inability to run an offense and while they played heroically they wore down in the end as Terrance Williams late game touchdown sealed Dallas' victory. Byron Maxwell surrendered that touchdown but he and his teammates caused turnovers and generally kept the Eagles in the game. The Eagles now are 0-2 and a victory looks far away for this team. Their immediate concern should be sticking together and working harder because it quite frankly looked like they didn't practice on offense. The noise in the press and on talk radio will be loud and angry next week so the message has to be "Stick Together".

The season is fragile now and Chip Kelly is on the hot seat while everyone waits and watches for a response to these two bad games.

Eagles Credentialed For Big College Football Games

Per A College Football 24-7 Report, Eagle scouts were credentialed for several national college football games. Lets take a look at the games and maybe who they are interested in:

Georgia Tech vs Notre Dame:

Notre Dame has a blue chipper at Linebacker named Jaylon Smith who could be of interest as a rush linebacker.

Florida vs Kentucky:

Offensive lineman David Sharpe and Linebacker Antonio Morrison could be interesting esp since depth at these positions is low.

South Carolina vs Georgia

Several blue chippers in this game including Wr Pharoah Cooper, Linebacker Jordan Jenkins and OT Brandon Shell.

BYU vs UCLA

Myles Jack is a superior athlete and can play safety in the Eagles defense and instantly upgrade the backend.

H/t Chase Goodbread of College Football 24/7.

The Sad History of Bill Davis As A Defensive Coordinator

Bill Davis has become a buzz word around the Delaware Valley because to be frank his defenses leave a lot to be desired especially from a coverage standpoint.  The results last year really frustrated Eagle fans as the defense surrendered 90 plays of 20 yards or more. Simply math gives us five and half plays of 20 yards or more a game.  This will not win many games in the NFL and but for Chip Kelly's offense and tempo the team could have easily been 8-8 last season because a couple of games saw some lucky bounces.  Well let's dig a little bit into Bill Davis and look at his defensive philosophy.  

Davis started off with Pittsburgh Steelers under Bill Cowher as defensive statistical analysis coach and that means he studied games and looked for trends in formations, play-calling "tells", and helping with Linebackers.  He then went to the Carolina Panthers as a OLB coach for Dom Capers.  He studied under 2 pretty good defensive coaches and formed his defensive philosophy for attacking offenses and one would have thought that it would have translated as he became a defensive coordinator 13 years later with the San Francisco 49ers.  Bill Davis' defenses at San Francisco in 2005 and 2006 look like this though:

Year    |  Points Per Game         | Yards Per Game             | League Rank

2005               26.8                           391.2                               29th

2006               25.8                           344.2                               32nd

These numbers led to him getting fired but since the NFL is a good ole boys club he was hired as a Linebackers coach the very next year with the Arizona Cardinals in 2007.  Arizona was not the contending team it is today but they were a young team with emerging talent that they collected from drafting high due to losing.  The losing eventually gave Davis his chance again as a defensive coordinator with Arizona Cardinals. Here's his numbers with Arizona:

Year      |  Points Per Game      |  Yards Per Game            | League Rank

2009                20.3                        346.4                               14th

2010                27.1                        373.6                               30th

What about these numbers excite you about Bill Davis?  Three of the four years he was a defensive coordinator his teams finished 29th or lower in the league and one year his defense finished dead last! Lets now take a look at his Eagle numbers as a defensive coordinator:

Year    |  Points Per Game   | Yards Per Game                | League Rank

2013                                                                                         29th

2014                  25.0                     375.6                                28th

I didn't add the 2013 year's numbers because according to Davis it was an install year and everyone was still learning the defense but do you see a trend?  Of course you see the trend and it's all of these defenses rank 28th or lower in the league (except for the one outlier in 2009) . IT'S 32 TEAMS IN THE LEAGUE! The passing defense ranked 31st in the league last year and that is salt in the wound at this point but it magnifies my point.  THIS MUST CHANGE if this team is going to contend and ultimately this will be on Chip Kelly because the information is out there about how to attack and defeat Bill Davis and his defense.

Chip Kelly the failure of this defense will be on you not Bill Davis because you chose this.

Eagles Look To Rebound vs A Dangerous Dallas Team

Chip Kelly in his Tuesday and Wednesday pressers stressed penalties and technique as two areas that need to be cleaned up as they approach their game against the Cowboys. Kelly appeared calm as the Philly beat writers asked question after question about the team's preparation, fire, and readiness and he stood in as the questions came about his approach on the field goal attempt that Cody Parkey missed. Kelly backed his Pro Bowl placekicker and said the team must move on to the Dallas game. Oooooh yes it's Dallas week and a rival game, a division game, and the possibility of going 0-2 should be enough to get this team ready!

 

Speaking of readiness, everyone saw the lack of passrush and Marcus Smith is needed as a passrusher. Is he ready to rush the passer and help this team? Everyone is waiting to see because Vinny Curry is needed back on Dline duties.

 

Brian Baldinger, Herman Edwards, and Ron Jaworski all weighed in on Sports Talk radio and gave their insight and by their accounts the Dallas game is a must win and will go a long way in this season.

Eagles Lose To The Falcons 26 - 24....Over Reaction Tuesday

The Philadelphia Eagles game against the Atlanta Falcons was a great game for fans of the NFL as Chip Kelly's blitz style on offense and loose covering defense makes for an exciting brand of football, almost has an Arena League feel to it at times.  I have some observations of the game from the Eagles point of view with some interesting facts.  The Eagles are 1-4 in their last five regular season games and I see a blue print that defenses are using with Kelly's offense.  They are attacking the offensive line in the middle and this is where it seems to be weak. Jason Kelce, a fan favorite in Philly, made two bonehead mistakes by unnecessarily blocking men that had no chance of making the play and it negated two huge plays that could have shifted the game.  When he wasn't doing that he was getting run over in the run game and it's an identified weakness now. Andrew Gardener didn't do too well either as the Eagles decided to pass the ball 52 times and run it 16 times. There's some work to do on offense and defense as x plays (plays of 20 yds. or more) hurt the team and one 3rd down and 15 was especially painful as the team was clawing back into the game.  Julio Jones had his way with Byron Maxwell and lit the lamp for 9 catches, 141 yds. and 2 Tds.  It was an evening very similar to what was routinely seen last year.  Here's some other observations about the game again from the Eagles perspective

Chip Kelly Has To Decide what this team's identity is. If you bring Murray and Mathews here then use them in the run game which zaps the defensive lineman and  it gives Sam Bradford a chance to lather up and the receivers too. He looked like a rookie coach in the 1st half and he left his team looking confused on offense and defense.  Every play someone looked lost and that my friends is coaching.

The team will get better but now I'm looking at Kelly's calls and Bill Davis' defense with my magnifying glass because again they are 1-4 in it's last 5 games.

Ok, that's what's called Over reaction Tuesday after a Monday night loss.