NFL analyst Mike Mayock, who will be calling the Eagles preseason games for NBC10, was on 94WIP Morning Show yesterday with Angelo Cataldi and he laid out the Eagles 2015 season. They need new quarterback Sam Bradford to stay healthy and play better than the quarterbacks did in 2014 by not turning the ball over. They need their secondary to play much better than the 2014 group played, by not giving up so many big plays.
“If your Eagles are going to win the division they’ve got to do two things,” Mayock said. “One is offense, which is they’ve got to cut their turnovers in half. They were the worst offensive turnover team in the league. They had 36. And to give you a benchmark, the two Super Bowl teams—New England and Seattle—had 13 and 14. So they gotta cut 36 in half on offense.”
That’s an amazing statistic. The Eagles had more than two times the number of turnovers as the two teams in the Super Bowl. It’s simple, if you turn the football over in the NFL, you lose. On the other hand, if you don’t turn the ball over, you win.
“On defense, they were the worst team in the league on big plays, and we all know that. They’re defense, on the back-end, they were awful. So on paper, their corner situation is a lot better.”
I agree with him about the upgrade to Byron Maxwell at the cornerback position making a difference, but I’m not so sure that making Walter Thurmond a starting safety will make them better. I think the main reason they’re better in the secondary is because of the addition of secondary coach Cory Undlin, who will make them technically sound.
“Last year, with pedestrian quarterback play they won ten games and they gave up a lot of points on defense,” Mayock told Cataldi on Monday. “They weren’t as talented as they needed to be, yet they still won ten games with average quarterback play. Now, what I think the Eagles did, is they went out and took a little bit of a chance to get dramatically better at quarterback.”
He talked about the tremendous impression Bradford made on him in 2010.
“So I thought he was one of the most accurate quarterbacks I’ve ever seen on tape coming out of college,” Mayock said about Bradford in 2010 . “There’s no denying his arm strength and his accuracy. The only issue is durability, and it’s a significant one. So I think the Eagles rolled the dice a little bit and said we can protect him better. We’ve got a better offensive line and we’re gonna run the hell out of the ball, which is a quarterback’s best friend.”
I hope we don’t find out that the guy who was working out for the scouts back in 2010 is no longer the guy, who is wearing Bradford’s uniform. Remember, despite all the glowing evaluations, Bradford hasn’t done anything remarkable in the NFL during the time he has been healthy. I don’t you can immediately say Bradford is an upgrade over Foles because Foles has had a better NFL career than Bradford by far.
The Eagles must be able to run the football effectively. Mayock says the Eagles are clearly a better football team because they’ve also added DeMarco Murray.
“Oh, I don’t think there’s any doubt they’re better,” Mayock said. “Again, they were 22nd in points allowed last year and they gave up all kinds of yards. They’re gonna get better on defense and if they take care of the ball on offense, run the ball with DeMarco—we keep forgetting about DeMarco Murray and running the football again. Run the ball, take care of Sam Bradford. Yeah, I think they’re a better football team.”
Yup and Yup.
I fully agree… the addition of our DB coach, Madmax and drafting big corners will pay dividends on D.
Healthy Bradford is better than healthy Foles. Our 2 new RB’s are better suited for this O than McCoy is… and they will lean on the run game a ton. I expect this Eagles team to win 11 games this year…. maybe 12.
I agree as well. I just hope that Davis doesn’t interfere with what coach Undlin wants to do with his DB’s. And my thinking is that coach Kelly and the Eagles front office were going to eventually cut ties with Foles. They figure why not gamble on Bradford in hopes that he performs at the level when he won the rookie of the year award. If he doesn’t, well then they address QB in next years draft. And honestly, I have a sneaky suspicion that if Russell does not reach a deal with the Seahawks and enters free agency, the Eagles will go after him hard. He would be perfect in Chip Kelly’s offense. Maybe just wishful thinking..
DC Billy Davis still will call the Coverages as he is the DC regardless of how well Secondary Coach Undlin coach’s the DB’s up… Hopefully Undlin can shed some light to Billy Davis Coverage Schemes and how to best utilize the Talent that they have .. but it’s not like Billy Davis is only going to Coach the Front 7 and Undlin handle the DB’s…
Actually Paulman… Ive heard that Davis wants to return to his homestate of Ohio and might be leaving the Eagles to coach the youngstown yellowbelly yahoos prior to camp. You heard it here first folks!!
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I hope that’s the Case.. If no real marked improvement by the Eagles Defense in 2015, then Billy Davis will be Terminated by Chip Kelly..
I could see Chip Kelly heavily pursuing Kirby Smart from U of Alabama,
Justin Cox of USC or Dave Wommack of Ole Miss
Mike Stoops of Oklahoma and Will Muschamp of Auburn could be in the mix also…
But i thought Chip will be pursuing his dream job at Notre dame next year? you’re a very confusing poster paul
That’s after 2017 Season in which Kelly’s Contract is up and he’s failed to make the Post-Season for 4 Years in a Row.. The Chump is supposed to be an Offensive Genius and he still has not Developed or Drafted a Top QB after 5 Years with the Eagles.. Good Riddance..
It will be fun watching you flip once the season starts.