I know everybody is asking the question this morning about the Eagles starting quarterback situation. I think we were all able to see what Andy Reid has discovered about his quarterbacks, his receivers and his football team.
Kevin Kolb played well last night and can run this offense, especially when they allow him to focus on making intermediate throws and getting the ball out of his hands. Kolb showed his accuracy and athletic ability. He put on an impressive performance last night.
Still we can see the limitations of his arm. His lack of the big time deep arm limits the contributions of speedster DeSean Jackson and to a lesser extent Jeremy Maclin. There’s no way in the world he can put the ball up 70 to 75 yards to let Jackson run under it.
We saw the Eagles take advantage of Jackson’s speed and Donovan McNabb’s arm strength last year. They were the best big play team in the league and broke a team scoring record. Earlier this season we saw them do the same thing with the arm strength of Michael Vick.
Jackson lights up the league when he has a guy who has a gun for an arm.
Kolb can run the offense but he can’t make the deep throws that Vick is able to make. Number four majors in intermediate throws because his velocity is good at that depth, but once you go farther downfield, you don’t see the same velocity.
If you saw the deep throw Kolb made last night to Jeremy Maclin on a go route down the left sideline, you know what I mean. He stepped into the throw, but the pass was badly underthrown. Maclin was able to adjust to the ball and came back to bring it down.
Vick could have thrown the ball farther than that without stepping into the throw. If he had stepped into he could have thrown a dart to Maclin.
Last week, Jackson ran a deep corner route and Kolb couldn’t get the ball to him. Jackson is a receiver who majors in deep routes and should major in deep routes. If he majors in the short to intermediate routes, there’s a lot better chance that he gets hurt. The deep threat open up the field for the other receivers.
If you want to sacrifice the deep speed of Jackson, then you make Kolb the starter. It’s that simple.
If you want to take advantage of the deep speed of Jackson and Maclin, you make Vick the starter and make Kolb the backup.
I think Andy Reid shared his findings with Kolb on that Monday and Tuesday when the decision was made. I heard Chris Collingsworth say last night, that Kolb acknowledged there were things Vick could do that he couldn’t do.
I’ll bet you I know which quarterback Jackson and Maclin want to be the starter.
I know there are people who don’t want to hear the truth, but Reid was telling the truth when he said he had two quarterbacks who could run the offense.
Reid took the heat for making the right decision. We can see the limitations that Kolb has from an arm strength standpoint and we haven’t even discussed Vick’s speed. His threat as a runner limits what coverages the Eagles will see because teams are afraid of him as a run threat.
It’s that simple.
right now san fran is a bad team team and when you are a bad team u dont get breaks
we got the breaks we needed to win
the 1st td pass was a no no no no dont throw oh yets type of td probably a ball that should have been intercepted but i will give credit forced it in there and it worked
the duck thrown up to maclin is what i would call that and we were able to make the play thses are game changing plays that we were able to make
thats y we won
are these the type of plays u wanna live and die on every week no and thats y vick starts
ha, pw making excuses already.
Here’s the thing, Kolb had major issues SEEING the deep routes v. Green Bay and so he took the dump offs…. He then had 1 throw to Maclin that G mentions above, and yes, he underthrew it. But that does not mean that as he becomes more comfortable and continues to develop that he can’t develop a deep throw/strong arm. That’s the kind of thing that he can develop in time, with weight lifting, practice and training. And Desean doesn’t only live and die by his deep ball, if he gets the ball in open space, intermediate, he can tear apart a defense, we HAVE seen that, even with Vick in.
G, I think you’re oversimplifying Jackson’s abilities – he’s not ONLY a deep ball threat. And you’re also jumping to conclusions on Kolb’s arm. He doesn’t have a particularly strong arm, like Vick and McNabb, but that doesn’t meant that he is incapable of developing the ability to make deep throws in time.
Right now, Vick when healthy is the better option, but, G you are correct, both QBs can have success in this offense. Some fans can only see either/or… but it’s both. That’s a good thing.
Celek dropped 2-3 nice saeam routes that would have put the game away if he hangs onto them…
They were tough catches to make, and Celek usually comes up with them..
There were a couple of odd-play calls and decisions by AR/MM last evening which I thought could have come back to haunt them against a better team
Up 17-10 at the end of the 3rd Quarter on 4th Down and went for a long-field goal..
With the Eagles D shutting down the 49ers at the point of the game, I think the call to make there is punt and pin them deep and make them drive th elength of the field..
On a 3rd & 1 with the Eagles moving the ball pretty good, a Wildcat play with a direct snap to
Eldra Buckley who was seeing his first action of the game on Offense… With McCoy running well
the short passing working well, just don’t understand this play call …
Paul, why must you cherry pick ‘hindsight is 20/20’ stuff all the time?
Celek isn’t perfect, and clearly he’s your pet peeve of the week, but his contributions were CRITICAL in us winning this game. Quit your whining and bitching
what excuses am i making
and y tf do u keep saying right now
vick is better period now next yr 2 yrs from now
u say it like kolb is gonna get so much better but vick wont improve during this time
please stop saying for now
vick is the better qb and is the immediate future for our eagles
andy reminded me of of the monday night game when d5 was hurt and we played niners
aj played a good game but it was 1 of the best coached games i saw from andy reid same thing last night
he started kolb out with alot of A B progressions meaning its otion a or option b so he didnt have to actually go through progressions worked well in the 1st half
kolb did alright but his praise stems from him being so bad previsously lol
For the Record,
Candlestick Park is not the easiest park to throw the ball in, with a constant swirling wind that seems to change directions constantly, Overall I thought Kolb’s arm and arccuracy were pretty good…
I bet teams like Browns,BIlls,Panthers,Cardinals,soon to be Vikings, would love to have Kolb playing for their teams..
Vick gives this Eagle team the best chance to win and compete for a playoff spoyt, but having a godo back-up is very important and actually the EAgles are pretty fortunate to have both of the roster..
Think of what happens to the Giants,Redskins,Cowboys,Falcons,Colts,Patriots,Packers,Bengals,
Texans, if their #1 Starting QB goes down for any extende period of time..
i fully expected to beat the 49ers in a close game.
i came into the game to watch and study kevin kolb.
yes, he played well and his stats are good.
no, he is not a leader nor a starter, but he is a good backup qb more reliable than others
desean is getting categorized for no reason
lets forget about last weeks checkdown qb against the redskins in relief of vick
against the 49ers, desean was open all night long
remember last year when kolb hit desean on an intermediate crossing route against the saints?
or how about when kolb threw a dart to desean on a slant that he took to the house
(much like the play vick threw to desean against the lions in wk 2)
they played off desean at the line of scrimmage
he was open in the middle of the field with room to operate on crosses, drags, ins and slants
maybe theres something between these 2, but regardless kolb does not have vision
he makes his first read and on his 2nd reads he tends to lock on
his decision making takes too long which results in kolb scrambling out of the pocket
our oline was actually better than perceived, kolb didnt use his strengths of a true WC qb
(quick decision, release, accuracy)
he could have thrown for 400+ anywhere on the field and made a statement for himself
im not downgrading his performance, but he is not a starter at this time he is a work in progress
he is not that raw, but hes got a ways to go to become polished
i like having kolb as a backup, more serviceable and promising than other teams backups
the team obviously plays differently with vick in the lineup, we just flat out play better
i would love to see him play vs atl, but id rather have him healthy for the season
i think we can get by the falcons with kolb starting if he needed to which i think he will
i do have to throw this in tho, mccoys performance with a cracked rib
he is a tough, smooth and smart player (besides not getting that 1st down)
he is earning his respect and making a name for himself, i love that kid
he scored 20 pts wippty dooooooo
just like last yr d5 went down and we got the chiefs
#7 goes down thank God for the 0-5 niners
and same as last time we got all this kolb is the future bs lmao
i think i saw this movie be4 do we really need a sequel ? dont yall know how this movie ends
@wmonell in his defense most of his reads were made for him yesterday
they did him like the ny jets were using mark sanchez the 1st couple games of the season
1 or 2 options either throw it here or here
Game Ball to Mcdermet for using his personel wisely. Might want to get somebody other than Bradley to cover Witten when the Cowboys come to town.
Game Ball to Andy Greed for coaching up Kolb. As I stated previously…If he could do it with AJ Feely he could do it with Kolb
Game Ball to Shady. Tough as nails. Andy Greed you might want to run the fullback when you have a 2 touchdown lead. I thought for sure McCoy was going to get another rib broken by the end of the game. Note to RB Bell: put a mask on when you cash that check, because you are robbing the eagles. please pack your bags. you worthless…Sorry, family site.
Did anybody miss Bunkley? Tapp and Laws looked good.
The victory felt so good, but when you get 5 turnovers and you only win by 3 points there are fundamental flaws. Kick coverage, a joke. I think we can end the pro bowl talk about Celek. Somebody tell me why Queen Dunlap is starting over Austin Howard?
Thank goodness Jerry Jones has stuck with coach duffuss in Dallas.
phillywill – i agree for the most part but you gotta be a football player when your number gets called
i see what ur saying and he did what he was supposed to do and got us the victory thats all that matters
i love vick but i just wanted to see him succeed and light it up with his opportunity
yes i agree with ur entire post i thought he did well
and i think he did light it up for kevin kolb
i mean if u are comparing him to other starting qb’s it was just another day at the office vs an 0-5 team but most ppl without even realizing it are comaring it to himself kevin kolb
in that instance he was lights out and i can understand y some people may be excited
well we are about to dive into the tougher part of the schedule. i hope vick is good to go because he will be needed. good game by kolb. he plays differently than vick but effective in the short game. if he has to play longer i hope teams don’t pressure him.
on another note, just watched the blind side, can we trade peters for oher?
My Thoughts Eagles v. Niners
Once again, Andy Reid has changed his personality because of the loss of his starting QB. That’s a good thing!!! He actually put Kolb in a position to succeed.
Reid’s scripted first 15 plays were awesome!! He mixed up the run, screens and mid-range passes, thereby keeping the defense off-balanced.
Even better, he continued those types of calls throughout the game. I watched the Niners’ defensive linemen and they were hesitant (worried that McCoy would run past them). Again, that’s a very good thing. Because of their hesitancy, our offensive line was able to give Kolb time to read the coverage and deliver the ball. Given that time, Kolb looked like a capable NFL quarterback.
I don’t believe you need a superstar QB to win in this league. With a strong defense and solid all-around offense, I believe, you can succeed. We don’t need to lead the league in rushing. However, our run game must be a threat.
Unfortunately, when Reid has a QB with above-average skills, he likes to wing the ball 50 times a game. I believe he threw only 30 times yesterday and ran 27 times. That’s great balance. If he had done that with McNabb, we’d have some jewelry by now.
My opinion of Kolb is up for revision. I still have to see how he responds to the blitz and taking hits. I was certain that Singletary would blitz, but I was wrong. If Kolb can hang in during the blitz and not play scared after being hit, he could be anything from a serviceable back-up to a starter on a good, balanced team.
I like to stay consistant…I think Kevin Kolb is an NFL QB, NOT A ELITE NFL QB!..He is like a level above a type Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bruce Gradkowski. Like the level of a David Garrard. Even baby Eli level. You can win with those guys, but NOT BECAUSE OF THOSE GUYS!. Eli won the super bowl, but that was due to the REDICULOUS pass rush of the G-men that year, a solid running game, and Miracle plays in the 4th quarter(dropped int by Samuel, and then a once in a lifetime catch on a helmet?!”…Eli is not terrible, but far from elite..he will consistanly give you 250-275 yards a game..1 or 2 td’s and mostly 1 to 2 picks a game…THATS KOLB!…all the Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Payton Manning talk, WAS NONSESNSE! I dont blame HIM for that, HE never said “Im a upgrade from McNabb!”..”I do so many things better than a guy who’s been here for 11 years”..it was the media, and dumb overpassionate fans!…I like his attitude, and I hope he does well for the sake of my birds. I just think expectations of what he is as a player are unrealistic sometimes. Kolb will go, as far as Lesean McCoy, Jackson, Maclin, and the defense takes him.
Let me add this:
I don’t think Kolb was worth the forfeiture of our 1st-round pick. We should have added a weapon for McNabb instead.
Also, I loved Singletary as a player and thought he would succeed as coach. However, his team played terribly and Mike probably won’t last much longer.
Wilcher, I think you’re right on the MONEY!!!
Who would of thought it!! Kolb has a higher QB rating compared to Mcnabb 84.2 (81.9)
higher passing pct. 63.2 (56.5)
less interceptions 1 (3)
sacked less 8 (11)
drummer You hit that nail on the head! “That’s great balance. If he had done that with McNabb, we’d have some jewelry by now.”
Kolb put up good numbers against a better D than Vick faced in Det and Jax and without a left tackle, but the Vick slurpers won’t admit it.
drummer, where would we fit a weapon? Any TE would be behind Celek. Any WR would be behind everyone on our roster except Hall. Any RB, behind McCoy. We got Allen for him and we have a pick next year from that trade too….. What makes you so sure that they could’ve gotten a 1 for him? And by the NFL standards, we did get a one. The high two (Nate Allen) plus the other pick, in terms of the draft value board, equals a first round pick….
tydm – in much less time though, that’s a huge difference.
My question is why did no. 5 not audible more.(instead of pass, catch the d off guard and run the ball) i think it was not just Andy but Donovan wanted to throw all the time. All the incompleted passes, sacks, and int(not in reg season but playoffs when it counted) hurt us. Even Manning’s only SB win happened when he ran the ball more(Addui) . I do perfer Brady’s boring intermidiate passes to no name wr’s that helped win him 3 Superbowls, which kept the other O off the field and got the D tired then his recent yrs with Moss and very quick scoring 0 SB’s.
hey drum im with u i loved singletary as a player but his coaching style is outdated in my opinion
kudos to alex smith after being embarassed on the sideline coming out and at least showing some fire
i dont know if the drill sargeant thing is the way to go anymore
he seems to embarass players constantly
when u do it to 1 guy in a few seasons thats fine but this guy is in some1’s face week after after week sometimes u need to look in the mirror
Schils…
Can’t recall where I read or heard it recently, but some football person said that arm strength, related to throwing the very deep ball, is not a physical attribute that one can develop significantly through any kind of weight training/conditioning. What they were saying is that the person either had that physical ability early on, or they didn’t. Vick, McNabb, Elway, Cunningham, Young, etc etc all had big arms way back in their late HS days and GREW stronger in college. Some pitchers can throw 100+ balls and others never will; it’s in the genes to form correct skeletal/muscular structures. Apparently big muscular arms don’t guarantee throwing footballs 70yd in the air.
I think better technique and knowing the receivers can help a QB stretch his distance, but otherwise not so.
Anyway, that’s what I read/heard. Could very well have been from one of those football jocks, QB types on NFL TV.
@ Mugzy
What # ‘s are you reading……mine says Vick 6 TDS O INTS …Kolb 1 TD 1 INT
just wondering ?
I thought last weeks throw to Jackson was an overthow not and underthrow
Gotta Luv It
That INT was the Hail Mary Pass which technically goes as an INT
And Avant should have caught the ball but I wouldn’t have consider that a TD for Kolb even if technically it would have been
And Kolb put up better numbers against the Skins D than Wonderkind Rodgers did yesterday
He had the same QB rating 76 but take away that Hail Mary TD and it is in the 90s
Wasn’t Kolbs fault the delay of game cost them 4 points or that McCoy’s fumble stopped another drive
hey tydm kevin kolb is 1-2 at the helm d5 3-2 so please stop the nonsense
hey rcp dont worry u dont have to worry about watching kolb to much more this season
and next yr u can enjoy him in a new uniform lol
NOW WE CAN ALL SEE Y ANDY MADE THIS DECISION REGARDING HIS QB’S
hey if u cant see it ur probably colorblind lmao
Falcons will be a tough game
On the road
Least points allowed after 5 games in the NFC
And biggest differential +43 PF vs PA
Avant makes that catch The Eagles would be on top of the NFC East
Het Philly –Vick takes a couple more of those hits You will be seeing Kolb more this season
Vick was lucky he got up after that one sideline hit
o yea falcons got that 86 bears d i forgot lol
All this Kolb defending doesn’t make sense to me. I thought we were a no nonsense tough town, but maybe that is just for SOME athletes. I know football. I’ve played, and I now coach on the High School level. I attend and run camps and attend coaching clinics where I talk to many coaches on all levels from throughout the country with that said, you don’t have to be an expert to see that Kolb can’t make NFL caliber throws that you need to make to be successful in the league. Why do we want to limit ourselves with this guy? The fans need to understand that the coaches have seen enough on tape of Kolbs inability to make significant throws and that is why the coaches made the change. Since when is “OK” enough for us? We got rid of Donavan because Kolb was supposed to be a better leader, more accurate, a guy who lights a fire under the other players blah.blah,blah. All these things Kolb has not done but Vick has. We need to ride with Vick because he gives us the best chance now and for the next few years
PW, how do you get Kolb is 1-2? Does that make Vick 2-2 then as well? By your math Kolb won 1 (49ers) lost 2 (Packers and Skins?) But if Kolb came in relief for an injured Vick..and gets a loss..then Vick should get a loss for the Packers game too (same reason) and also for the Skins game because you gave a loss to Kolb for getting hurt early in the Packers game. So we’re 3-4 now? Don’t add up, playin pin the loss on the donkey?
Eagles are playing Falcons at home aren’t they..
WR R White and TE T Gonzales will be tough match-ups
I would go by which QB started the game, therefore Kolb is 1-1 and Vick is 2-1.
Paulman’s Top Teams in the NFC as of today
#1) Falcons (4-1)
#2) Redskins (3-2)
#3) Bears (4-1)
#4) Giants (3-2)
#5) Saints (3-2)
#6) Packers (3-2)
#7) TB Bucs (3-1)
#8) Cardinals (3-2)
#9) EAGLES (3-2)
Hey Philly I guess the best D in the NFC is a LOL
Sounds logical to me
Paul
You are right The Falcons is a home game–My screw up
I thought I heard one of the announcers talking about Vick wanting to play because he would be going back there but I guess they were just referring to his old team
Paulman
Avant catches that Hail Mary and Clay Mathews doesn’t get hurt the Skins would be 1 and 4
RCP.. Please stop. Kolb probably had to ice his arm for 2 days after putting everything he had into the hail mary throw.
And McNabb did what he has always done. Win Games. Clay Mathews or no Clay Mathews
Schiler
Do you actually read my posts?
Kolb was drafted in 2007 and we gave our No. 1 pick to Dallas, who in turn drafted Anthony Spencer.
Schill, Kolb is a 26 year old man…..How strong do you think his arm can get?
He is what he is…”G” got it right….He have an average arm that takes away the big play abilities of his outside weapons…He’s a number 2 or 3 QB in this league at best and that’s not bad. The bad thing is this organization hyped him and made everyone believe Kolb was a number 1. He did what was needed against the 49er’s and that’s great but the sooner he’s on the bench and our starter is back…the better.
Avant’s job was to deflect the Hail Mary pass to Celek, not catch it.
My Logic for having the Redskins at #2 in the NFC is there 3 Wins are agains the Cowboys,Eagles and now Packers which are all quality wins by most observors
Where as the Bears are 4-1 with wins over Detroit,Dallas,Carolina,GB and an ugly loss at NY Giants
The Eagles can catapoulte up a few spots to maybe the top # 5 in the NFC with a win over the Falcons
By the Way, It appears the DT Bunkley is out for the season with broken elbow,
He will probably have surgery and be placed on IR putting him out for the Season. The Eagles could possible activate V Abriami (very doubtful) or call up DT J Owens from Practice squad and go with a rotation of Patterson,Dixon,Laws and Owens…
Also expect A Howard to take some snaps at LT with the #1 team this week in preparation to play for
the injured J Peters..
I’d already said Corn on the Kolb wouldn’t be a total bust, but I hope people are not putting too much weight on this as it’s another Kansas City from last year type of win (I think KC was actually win-less, around this time in the schedule last year too.)
It’s crystal clear to me that the 49ers still have a ways to go to become a competitive team and the Eagles could have lost that game. The 49ers should have gone after him defensively and they didn’t even do that until the end of the game. What kind of team is not going to blitz a first year starting QB? (Answer: a bad one) The good thing for Kolb is that Atlanta’s defense is also a little suspect so he should look pretty good next week as well…unless Atlanta turns the blitz loose on him. I’m pretty certain Vick will be there as an emergency QB, but I doubt they’ll let him play.
Whatever the case may be it’ll be interesting to see a defense that will have a some kind of footage on the guy to prepare the week in advance. The more teams know about a QB the harder it is for that QB to be successful particularly when his success is predicated on defensive scheme deficiencies alone (holes in the zone). Most good defensive teams end up using
The nonsense is actually thinking wins and losses are better than stats. Kolb is doing better than 5 right now because playing about the same amount of games he has less interceptions, higher passing completion, higher qb rating and less sacks. It’s the same in baseball, u look at pitcher’s ERA rather than wins cause the team can lose so many games for the pitcher like Phillies did for Hamels their championship year.