You can feel the tenseness in the auditorium today when Andy Reid came into the auditorium of the Eagles NovaCare Comples. It’s a playoff atmosphere and anybody who has been around the game for an extended period time. There’s a seriousness that you see in Reid that stands out.
Reid said the speed of the game is higher in the playoffs and mistakes are magnified. Field position and turnovers He’s lost only one time in the first round of the playoffs and that was last year in Dallas versus the Cowboys.
As Michael Vick said the other day, it’s win over go home.
Reid said it’s a new and exciting feel to be in the playoffs for the first time without Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook.
Reid said both Stewart Bradley and Max Jean-Gilles are improving but neither will practice today. He said everybody else is good to go.
Reid didn’t pay much attention to questions about how healthy Michael Vick is right now. He expects Vick to be 100% for the game on Sunday. Vick went through today’s walk-through and will practice today.
The team went over the new time out rules.
this is waht it’s all about and why he gets the big $$$.
It’s time to earn that $$$ and reputation as a good HC and come up with a well-balanced,original game plan to keep the PAckers off-balance, to get MCCoy involved early with touches and to establish momentum for the O/Line to control the line of scrimmage.. Can he do it, can his assistants do it and can the players then go out and execute it… The answer is of course they can. They are well-rested,playing at home and are favored to win.. A couple of players I would like to know about to see how they are profressing this week with their injuries
WR D-Jax
RT W Justice
CB A Samuel
DT T Laws
It appears that Nick Cole will play for MJG (which is about a wash) and that LB Bradley will not play at all but most feel pretty good about the job that J Chaney is doing and some like myself even think Chaney is playing better than Bradley did before his injury
Having a heatlhy Samuel is critical and improtant.. How is he looking, does his have his mobility and quickness when breaking on the ball, if he doesn’t the EAgles are in for trouble..
A heathly, ramped up DT T Laws is a big help with a solid pass rusher from the DT position so hopefully he’s readhy to roll
G – Can you give us an update on the recent signees along the DL in DE McCray and DT Clark..
Are these guys in Football shape and can they contribute
Also who is the 3rd Safety behind Mickell and Coleman.. Is it Colt Anderson or one of the new guys
and does CB T lindley figure in more snaps this week filling in for either Hanson or Patterson
3rd safety is Coleman P-domis.i agree…Laws and the rest of the guys should be nice and dialed in for this one. Like AR’s record at home 1st round. Man i didnt realize this is the first homer in the p-offs in a while..
Keep Rodgers square…he causes tons of damage outside the pocket. And his recievers are excellent getting open after the roll out.
This game screams rungame and Celek check downs.Or Clay…it doenst matter…give Mike a clean pocket and get the rock out fast.
Packers are coming off a tough division win last weekend and there beat up.
GO BIRDS.
To Erock,
Mickell and Coleman are the Starting Safeties, who do you think is the 3rd Saftey.. Anderson.
.
The Packers are 18th defending the run, yielding 4.7 yards per carry. Need I say more?
Okay, if you insist.
McCoy averages 5.2 yards per carry, our offensive line can’t pass block, our QB is injured, and we need to control the ball to keep Rodgers on the sideline.
I think my sister could design a game plan.
Erock
Great post!
“It’s a playoff atmosphere and anybody who has been around the game for an extended period time.”
Errr what?
My bad P-domis…Colts the third i believe. Dude is a player….lets hoep he makes a play this weekend.
D-wins….i think the only thing left too say is if we dont lean on the pound game we could be in for a tight tight game. I dont want them with the rock with 3 mins left and we’re protecting a 3 point lead. Amazing average for the 2nd year guy. Harrison needs to be in the gameplan.
And how about a nice kick return too start the game. Lets go AirForce Chad. And the announcer against the Cowboys says…He’s been working on f-16 bombers for the last year or so…idiot…F-16 ‘s arent bombers….ther friggin fighter jets. I had too mention that. Imma reel it in now.
Bulaga Bulaga Bulaga…….. He had 4 penalties against the bears last week at home……. Imagine in Philly with the crowd being amped going wild and him not getting the snap count correct……. False start city baby….. Thats something to look at……. Advantage us!!
Chad Clifton who played pretty well against julius Peppers….. But Julius Peppers motor isnt as good as trent Cole’s ability to not give up on plays……. Advantage us!!!
TE Tom Crabtree is a TE who Aaron Rodger’s loves to have on the field……. He is really a no name player who the Eagles have to be aware of the NO- NAME HALL OF FAME GAME against Philly LMAO! Like all the other no-name players who seem to fade as time goes by and we dont hear from them anymore!!!
James Jones Wr. who is very solid and reminds me of Jason Avant…….. He’s another guy we have to pay attention to as well as Jordy Nelson who reminds me of a Brandon Stokley type slot player…… The Packers have alot of guys to go to…. But they have weaknesses within the front offensive line…… THe Birdz have to smell blood…… Going at Bulaga will bust open alot of PIPES if you ask me!!!
GO PHILLY
So would you say there full of Bulaga!!!?
Thank you.i’ll be here all week.
good stuff about the oline. same things ive been saying.
turn all that talk about gb def against our oline, and its an even bigger problemt han ppl realize
with our starters, i dont think we have been yielded to 10 pts like gb was last week
Aaron Rodgers was the most sacked Qb last season…… This season he’s been touched alot….. If it wasn’t for his mobility and his athleticism….. He’ll be another David Carr when he was drafted by the texans….. You take the bad with the good and just work with what you have…… The Eagles need to deliver and jump into a good start early……. This Gb team kinda reminds me of our team…… O-line troubles, alot of injuries, pass more than they rush… Have trouble running the ball in the redzone just like us………. Mirror mirror type game….. But we have the edge above GB……
word jroc
@Wmonell……. What I’ve noticed about Gb is that if defenders play man-under they are ineffective….. The Detroit Lions Secondary is terrible but there front 4 make them a heck of alot better…… My whole thing is that we need to play man defense and challenge every pass……. Wmonell I read your post’s and you are right on the money……..
GO BIRDZ
The Chicago Bears have had the same formula for years…… A good pass rush can give a secondary a big big thumbs up…… I think the NFC north has if not the best Pass rushers….. THe lions, Bears, GB and the Vikings…….. The Eagles focused this season primarily on the pass rush and wish they had the same type deal…….. We were good early in the season but seem to slack as of late……
Mr. Cobb, that pic of big red, too funny, would somebody put a pin in big red’s belly and let out some of that “air”
@Jakedog LOL……. Or better yet put an Apple in his mouth and lay him on a plate for thanksgiving LMAO……… THat Pic is priceless…… He was probably thinking of Arby’s……..
Jroc its the same theme every year. Cole and Parker start out on fire and by week 8 the pass rush is non-existant. We blitz in the beginning of the year and its effective. By week 8 were the only team in the league who blitzes 8 and everyone gets picked up. Wasted draft picks. We moved up for an undersized Graham who frankly did nothing. I watch Pierre-Paul from NY taken 2 picks later and doesnt he look like a stud? They try to improve the lines they just are terrible with thier selections.
Graham was having a solid year..id hold up on calling him a failure. Dude got a tough injury and was a tough loss.
Pierre Paul wasn’t anythign special..lacked technique and was getting handled by the better tackles in the league.And he was playing on the Giants d-line….they’re pretty stout. Pass rushers are the hardest too draft…so we should wait on calling B-Graham a total bum. They did get Tapp off the FA pool. I like his motor.
jorc- thank you bro lets cap this season off with an AR press conference next to the lombardi
the lombardi trophy…not michael lombardi!!!
Good point erock. I agree that it is WAY too early to call Graham a bust. He’s just a rookie and typically, rookie defensive ends don’t come into the league and light the world on fire. The night we played the Giants the first game this year, I texted a buddy of mine who is a huge Giants fan and asked what the hell was up with Pierre-Paul who had been non-existent through most of the season. The Giants d-line is better than ours which will help Pierre-Paul. Chris Long didn’t do a whole lot his first two seasons with the Rams but he is starting to come into his own and become a stud DE. Outside of his upcoming rehab, I have faith in Graham.
@Doggolden…. Lol its a repeating cycle i know it…….. I just thought they will get over the hump finally….. Why…. IDK they just dont perform well second half of the season with the pass rush……. If a team focuses so much in a particular area….. There must be improvement…… I just hope they perform in the playoffs….
@Vmonell….. I feel you bro….. I hope AR can hold that trophy up proud instead of holding up a ham sandwich with the works this time around LMAO!!
Erock,
I think most observors would say that Graham was disappointing this year, Not a bust by any means, but many including myself thought he would make a bigger impact.. The biggest question or disappointmetn to me was his lack of condtioning anmd stamina, he would really tire out and become fatigued just after a few plays, so he will work and improve on that I am sure as his strength and skills will also improve.. When a team moves up from #24 to #13 and trades away 2 3rd Round picks to be able to get him, your expecting more of an impact player.
.To move up to #13, the selection should have been Safety Eric Thomas in my opinion, or just stay put at #24.. There were a few teams, most notably the Giants,PAtriots,Falcons and Steelers all very high on Graham, so he’s lots of good teams with good scouts had the same grades/optimism about him..I don’t think he will ever be a D Freeney/J Tuck type where he could dominate a game, but he will be a solid Pro and contributor who should do very well in the rotational sysstem that the Eagles use..He reminds me of T Cole and is actaully further ahead of Cole when he came out of College and hope this knee injury doesn’t set him too far back in his development .
Draft DE/DT’s is very difficult..
Look at some Rookies who came on to have strong seasons at DE that were not dratfted early
C Wooten – (Bears 4th Rd)
EJ Wilson – (Seahawks 4th Rd)
G Hardy – (Panthers 6th Rd)
C Dunlap ( Bengals 2nd Rd)
Eagles missed the boat last draft at the DE position with Selections Graham, Teo and R Sapp
Graham will be a solid contributor, but Teo and Sapp I believe will not make it in the NFL and were
reaches in my book, but time will tell
This year, the DE will still be a point of emphasis and will need to be addressed…
Parker and COle are another year older, Tapp is a solid rotational player, but then what..
Paulman, for every one of those rookie defensive ends that you mentioned as having solid rookie seasons, I could probably give you 5 that either didn’t even start or would a non-factor on the field. There are always rookie players who have successful rookie seasons at pretty much every position.
I just left the NovaCare Complex and I don’t know if the Eagles are going to adjust to the blitz this week, but it won’t be because they’re not talking about it enough.
It’s hard for rookies to have a good 1st year. Having said that, as a pass rusher, you would have hoped to see some promise because that’s what you do. No scheming, or dropping into coverage…. just rushing the passer like you did in college. This is what happens when you are going against NFL tackles. So we will have to see if he’s able to be more productive next year. I firmly believe that some positions don’t take a long time for a player to become a good one. It’s like a RB position on offense. Not counting blocking schemes but just running the ball. It wouldn’t take years to develop that. Either you have it or you don’t. And for many, the same can be said for the DE position. Either you can rush the passer at this level or not. It’s shame that even next year we may not get to see what he really is because of the injury. They always say it takes a full year to just get back to where you were before the injury. Graham has a lot of work to do over the next 2 seasons to show he’s not Jerome McDougle part deux
G, as we know our defense likes to blitz (when we can). How has our defense been practicing with our offense? Has McDermott been dialing up blitzing all over the place so the offense can really practice against it? I mean like sending DBs off the edge like our opponents have been doing. Just acting like it’s a real game (besides the hitting) to put that pressure on the offense to make them more prepared?
I agree BTC which is why if you are going to move up 11 Spots and trade away 2 3rd Rd Picks,
You better get a difference maker and probably the only one who was still availalbe at #13 that
has “Star or Pro-Bowl” written all over them was the following
Safety – Eric Thomas (who went #14 to the Seahwaks)
Here are other later 1st Round picks who have ad great Rookie Seasons and will most likely be
Pro-Bowlers within their 2nd/3rd Seasons
Center- Maurkice Pouncey (who went #18 to the Steelers)
T/End – J Gresham (who went #21 to the Bengals)
WR – D Bryant (who went #24 to the Cowboys)
CB – D McCourty (who went #27 to the Patriots and was named to the Pro Bowl his 1st year)
Obviously, the Eagles really didn”t have needs at the TE/WR postion, but at Center & CB
I am sure some of you remember how I liked Center M Pouncey, & DB’s McCourty and K Wilson
I took a lot heat for selecting Pouncey in my Mock Drafts, but he would look good in the SIlver & Green..Then McGlynn could have move to Guard (which is his natural position) and then the O/Line would be set for a years… but that’s another story for another time…
Eagles will have 5 Selections out of the Top #125 Picks in the 2011 Draft and the Eagles need to hire me to help them with scouting..
Good to know Gary. Thats what i want to hear. They have to know its coming. Itsa the only thing that has worked against us all year.
Man-Man- Vick runs all over them.
Any Zone- he has picked it apart with great passes. Our speed help in this area because we get to the holes quick.
Blitz- I dont care where it comes from..middle, left, right or in most cases….EVERYWHERE. The answer on how to stop it is simple. Quick passes… hot reads… screens… and run up the gut will help. Vick was dropping WAYYYY back to open stuff up.. now he’s settling in closer to the line. Stop it Mike. This should be easy.
Couple of Updated from other Playoff Teams
Saints have placed both RB’s C Ivory and P Thomas on IR and are out of the playoffs leaving them
with R Bush (who is not 100%) and veteran J Jones ….
Chiefs signed WR Kevin Curtis to active roster after one of their regular WR’s went down,
He will be on active roster as the 5th Wr for teh Chiefs..
about our D- My DREAM is that we scrap the whole friggin thing next year. It sucks it sucks it sucks. Get a monster in here who wants to kill something. I dont care if its 3-4, 4-3, 46, 2-9… anything. This D sucks all around. It cant be worse. Jim J style has been broken for years, It doesnt work in the playoffs. It HAS not worked in the playoffs. Move on from little red and get me a D cord.
Fair points Paulman. We’ll see.
id trade 3 of the early picks for a Dcord that knows what hes doing paulman.
Wade Phillips just signed on with the Houston Texans..
Here is a couple of names out there for Potential D/C’s who have either been D/C or HC in the NFL
Dick Jauron- Fomer HC of theBears and BIlls, former DC for the Lions,Bears and Bills
John Fox – former HC of Panthers, former DC of Giants
Ron Meeks- former DC of the Panthers and the Colts
Eric Mangini – former HC of Browns and JEts, fomer DC with the Patriots
Greg Robinson – former HC of Buffalo,Syraucuse and DC for numerous teams
Rob Ryan – Current DC of the Cleveland Browns and brother of Rex and son of Buddy
Greg Manusky – former DC of Broncos, formerly worked for BIll and Steelers Defensive staffs
Mike Nolan – Former HC of 49ers, DC at Denver,Washignton son of Coach Dick Nolan
Mike SIngletary – Former HC of 49ers, for Defensive Coach & player with the Bears..
Stevo…. .you are right about the D. Other teams do not fear facing us, not like they used to years ago. A monster would be great, but where do we find one?
I like this Rob Ryan guy..
Young, energetic, kind of cocky like his brother and dad are and were
He did a nice Job with Oakland Raiders Defense the last few seasons and then went to Cleveland where they simply don’t have the talent and the studs up front to be very good,. but they have lots of young players and have played hard for him all season..I think he would be a great fit for the Team, Players and the Fans and bring some Energy back to this Eagle Defense..
I like Sean McDermott as a person but he’s too cerebral and just not aggressive or emotional enough for my liking.. I want that DC to be a risk taker, to have that “throw the kitchen sink at them” atttiude..
I just don’t see it with McDermott, it’s almost that he’s too nice of a guy and kind of reminds me
of one of my sisters boyfriend’s instead of a Football Coach…