Eagles middle linebacker Casey Matthews played his best game to date and he did a good job on a number of running plays of reading the blocking scheme then attacking it before making the tackle on the ball carrier. I know Matthews felt like the entire weight of the world was on his shoulders when he stepped up in the middle during one of the early drives and put a serious lick on Browns running back Montario Hardesty.
The youngster jumped up and celebrated. Everybody in the stadium knew why. I’m sure he’s heard his critics. The rookie had finally put a good hit on somebody and made the type of play that he’s expected and we’ve expected for a couple of weeks.
Matthews also made a very good play in pass defense when he ran up under a wide receiver’s route while playing a zone defense. If he had been able to locate the football he would have had himself a pick six.
Eagles defensive coordinator Juan Castillo has decided to get Matthews off the field on 2nd and long as well as 3rd and long, so that he will be able to focus on stopping the run on the early downs. Fellow rookie Brian Rolle comes in as the middle linebacker on pass downs.
Each time Matthews gets in there and makes a play or two it will add to his confidence, but unfortunately the team doesn’t have a lot of time to give him the chance to focus. They probably figured they were overloading the young man with responsibilities by asking him to play all three downs, call the defensive fronts then recognize everything which is being thrown at him immediately.
This was a step in the right direction, now he needs to continue down the path.
This young man isn’t going to be the type of Superstar like his brother, who runs offensive tackles over and runs down running backs, but he can be a very good NFL linebacker. The fans and the Eagles coaches need to realize what he’s capable of doing and let the young man do his thing without comparing him to his brother.
Casey Matthews will be a good player, just give him time.
As far as this year goes, it’s up to Juan to maximize this defense.
Then, the players have to make plays when they are on the field.
Fast forward to STL let’s get this show on the road!!!
Sit Fokou down!
G:
No. If he’s playing Mike on day one, I want him to be the beast. No slack for the young man. I do not have to explain this to you, G. Upon what circumstance will an Eagles’ fan like me give Kelce a mulligan? Matthews last name pedigree is impressive, unless he misses a gap. Upon that happenstance, he might as well have a loathesome disease!
G:
From me to you: take a lap!
I will repeat my thoughts about the LB positon with the Eagles, that I stated 2 weeks ago… Put Chaney back in the MIddle, and have Fokou and Rolle as the OLB.. In passing situations put in Clayton/Matthews for Fokou & Rolle
Anyone notice that CB J Hanson did not play 1 Snap last evening, I believe he will be traded this weekend and the Eagles didn’t want him to get injured which would jeopardize a trade.. I belive it will be either the Seahawks,Dolphins, or the Panthers involved who all need CB help
I failed to mention that these 3 teams all have some LB depth to trade in return
I went to atlantic city today and got a physic reading and she told me about the eagles future and heres what she said..
Stewart Bradley makes the probowl this year.
Brent Celek will not be a eagle next year and he will express his displeasure of the eagles not using him to his ability.
Andy Reid will be back as head coach
Michael Vick will have a torn ACL this year and Vince Young will replace him but Vince will suffer a cracked rib.
Riley Cooper will be cut along with Philip Hunt
Trent Cole will suffer a mild concussion and Brandon Graham will replace him
Desean Jackson will have career numbers in drop balls
Eagles finish the season 3-13 with the first pick in the draft the eagles select Vontaze Burfict,out of Arizona State
@vricchini are you sure that wasn’t paulman you were talking to?
1. Tackles like asante
2. Can’t make his own path
3. One dimensional
4. Has to rely on gaping holes and even then he tackles off to the side
5. Can’t stop a short yardage down because he’s too small so he allows the back an extra yard
Everyone was on his jock last night. For what? He’s to friggin small. He relys on a DT or a DE to make his path. He can’t get through the first line otherwise. You all want to crown him, go ahead. I’ve said my peace with him. He could be Asomugh in the middle for all I care, he still can’t stuff the run.
realtalk777 are you pertaining to fokou getting ran clean over by peton hillis..
@larrwd
Fokou just seems to hurt us more than he helps us…he doesn’t do ish against the run and can’t even cover intermediate routes, that cat is wack!
Fokou will not be the last player that Hillis runs over or through.. Any tacklet trying to take him on shoulder high will be going for a ride.. The man runs thru holes like a bull with it’s nuts tied up.. Tackle him around the shines and ankles and you have a chance…
I agree hillis is a beast but it was just funny that fokou met him right in the hole and hillis ran right through him .. @ realtalk777 maybe rolle will take over eventually .. rolle can play..
If he doesn’t play like a stud right away, I say we crucify him outside Lincoln Financial Field. Then light him on fire, and toss gasoline filled bottles at him, and then quarter him and spread his limbs out in each quadrant of the city, while throwing his head in the Delaware. Eagles fans are such tough guys, no slack for anybody, ever. Get it done in the preseason, in the games with no game plans, against whatever slop is out there on the field at any one time, or you are a complete bum. There is no need to try things out, who wastes time trying to learn anything? I mean, heck, the coaches have had these guys in camp, what, 25 days or so? They should have it all figured out by now.
I agree with wmonell… also why did we get rid of s.bradley? And does anyone know the status of tatupa?
Do any of you guys think that the eagles were smart enough to overload mathews in camp knowing that it would only make him better and be able to play faster during the season when the reduced his responsibilities.. I wonder if the eagles could be that smart.. i doubt it.. anyway ive been knocking mathews but he didnt look too bad last night..
and about the point phantastic makes .. getting rid of stew bradley was just plain stupid.. yeah he had knee surgery and played a whole season after tha,t the elbow was a totally different injury.. he would have been fine, now if it was the knee again i would have been concered but it wasnt.. would could of had bradley in there instead of fokou would have gave us some good size and i think bradley would have done better on the outside
For the umpteenth time, The Eagles did not get rid of Bradely, He was looking and received a longer, better deal from the Arizona Cardinals than what the Eagles were willing to give him based on him missing so many games due to injuries during his career in Philly,. So everyone needs to get over it, Bradley and Eagles both have moved on and so should the fans who continue to clamour that they should have kept him, It wasn’t ther choice…. It’s like saying the Packers should have kept C Jenkins..
This is the first time I’ve seen you say that pman… I know you guys may not like this, but I think we should have resigned ernie sims… ino he not good, but atleast he’s a vet, and we prolly could have gotten him cheap too
you may be right i liked ernie sims better than fokou and hes young hes only 26.. but nothing we can do now.. eagles just dont value linebackers..but i do like rolle.. im just sick of fokou starting than not starting than starting again he can do everything just ok .. but the main thing that killed us for the last few years has been tight ends and running backs out of the backfield.. i think chaney will take care of that along with pressure from the line
Mattews makes progress!? That’s the least he could do, since he has been flat out miserable beforehand!!! Our LB’s are flat out horrifying!!! But it isn’t Mattews fault, it’s Square peg in round hole Andy’s fault! “Okay Howie, here’s our offseason plan- We will make our O-line coach, DF Coordinator, we will take our only bright spot at LB last year & change his position, we will then put our undersized 4th rounder at Mike, out of position, as a rookie, as the defensive QB, we will use our 1st rounder on a 27 year old fireman, then change his position too, in free agency we will sign the top CB in the league to huge $ & make him a 5ç slot CB, we will sign a great 3-4 DE & make him a 4-3 DT, we don’t have to worry about Safety & RT, Allen & WJ’s health will be ok, *wink wink nod nod.* Don’t worry Howie this is an aggressive plan, age & experience of the players don’t matter, we are the Gold standard football Gods, we can do it!
F U ANDY, YOU’RE A @$$ CLOWN! BTW STICK THAT RED FLAG IN YOUR BIG FAT @$$!
Casey is coming along, and rather quickly actually. Think about the short period of time,no OTAs, a new position, yes he called the plays at oregon but he wasnt the MLB. Give him some time and he will be a very good player. You guys for some crazy reason keep saying hes small, what are you talking about? Hes avg size for a LB or a MLB. See Vilma, Patrick Willis, Tatupu, among others. So when i keep hearing 6’1 245 Ibs is small i scratch my head because thats pretty avg for the position. We dont play a 3-4 Defense where we need LBs that are 6’4 265 270 edge rushers, hybrid type LBs. So dont compare us as a 4-3 defense to a 3-4. And cut the non sense that Casey is too small hes avg size at LB and is getting bigger and stronger… Look for him to play more in the Jets game so he can get the reps bc they are vital fo him at this point, were about 2 weeks from the opener and he needs to be ready…
JON, I love your optimism & positive attitude, but he is too small/ short, especially since the other 2 LB’s are just as small. It is also very unfair & stupid to put a rookie as the QB of your DF, at a position he has never played before, with no experience, if you are going for a SB run. Just saying.
Jon…which of the 2 you would prefer?
A middle linebacker that’s coming along that may or may not succeed?
or
A middle linebacker who have proven he can play the position?
DDcar, too small? too short? How big do you want him to be? 6’4 260 right? Cmon man, look at patrick willis, jonathan vilma, they are the same height and weight as casey. Stop with the hes too small arguement. It sounds foolish. They figure hes smart enough to play the MLB position and has enough size which he does he just needs to keep making plays. Your forgetting DDCar that he was the “Qb” of the defense at oregon calling out plays. He ll be just fine… and yes iam optimistic im not a Negadelphian lol…
he’s typical of this defense, more suitable to flag football in comparison to the type of defenses that win championships
Songs I would obviously prefer a All pro MLB, proven winner. Patrick willis? Jonathan Vilma? David Harris? Yes. But who says Casey cant be that guy?Give it some time Songs, you cant expect him to look great with only limited snaps. When he was given more time he made plays, its hard to deny his performance on thursday night. Does he have more work to do? Yes. Does he need to improve his run stopping ability? Yes. But he does have bright spots such as his coverage ability, man hes quick and can cover like a blanket, all the starting LBs we have can. They do need work in stopping the run though and theyre working on it. Chaney is a special player already just in his second yr. Expect a big yr from him and Casey right wih him…
Jake, how do you figure that? Because hes not 6’4 260? Cmon. As long as he keeps making plays everything else has no bearing… hes 6’1 245 the same as vilma and p willis…
he can 6’1 245 but he better bust through the line like he’s 6’4 260 which he doesn’t. He’s little. Way to little. He stutter steps coming to the line and looks for his opening so he can tackle off to the side like he did his entire collegiate career. He’s soft, his game tapes showed he was soft too. Sorry that all of us fans want someone who’ cut the F up and has a screw loose.
Why does everyone want to give Casey Matthews time to develop? Especially when this is supposedly “our time” if this front office really thinks this is our time, which they obviously do by their statements and by their actions, why are we the fans to expect a LITTLE rookie middle line backer is going to take us to the superbowl and help us win it all?
I think Matthews will develop into a very good player.. But like with most young players, it will take time, he will learn more,get bigger and stronger and if nothing else, all these reps with the #1 all camp long has helped his progress and development big time.. I still think they may pick-up a Veteran or shift Chaney back to the MLB, but then you have a SAM Position with really no one experienced to step in….. Not being albe to sign a Veteran ILB during Free-agency has held this Defense back , but you can’t have everything.. Give the kid some time and I think he will reward the team and fans with some solid play for a long time..
Run – “Especially when this is supposedly “our time” if this front office really thinks this is our time, which they obviously do by their statements and by their actions”
Other than Vince Young, where did you get THAT from? Yeah, they added a bunch of good players to the team and shook things up. They saw this unique year and pounced on it, presumably making the team a lot better (which was needed – we all know how much the defense sucked last year and has been hurting for several years really…). BUT – anything beyond that was media driven. Heck, even blabber mouth #9 VY effectively only said that there’s a lot of stars on the team, not that ‘it’s their time’ or that ‘they will win the SB this year’.
Look – I know banner said some dumb stuff too, but it’s foolish for fans to listen to him. And it’s foolish for fans to worry about January/February in August.