It hasn’t been a fun time to be a Philadelphia sports fan.
There hasn’t been much to cheer about in 2012. The Flyers and Sixers generated a little excitement last spring with their playoff runs, but other than that we’ve endured some tough times over the last six months.
The Phillies were a failure in 2012, and we had to watch Ruben Amaro become a seller at the trade deadline. Later on we would see Hunter Pence step up and become a leader and a producer for the San Francisco Giants as he helped them capture their second World Series title in three years.
In the fall we’ve had to endure an equally (if not more) frustrating Eagles team. After watching the team seemingly make dramatic improvements in the off-season and get off to a fast start at 3-1, all of the sudden we haven’t seen a victory since September.
Let’s take a look at the state of each of the four major teams right now.
Philadelphia Eagles
Everything that the Eagles have worked towards over the last 14 years has come crumbling down around them, and this year’s implosion leaves all kinds of uncertainty surrounding the franchise.
Andy Reid is a dead man walking. He’s proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s no longer capable of coaching at a high level, and he’s simply playing out the remaining five games of the season while awaiting Jeffrey Lurie’s final word. Bizarre decisions regarding the construction of this team, the coaching staff, and in-game management have all caught up to Reid, and will cost him his job.
The Eagles don’t know who their next head coach will be, and they also don’t know what the future of the quarterback position is. Nick Foles isn’t doing much to inspire confidence right now, and Michael Vick will almost certainly not return next season (unless he’s willing to dramatically restructure his contract).
The entire roster is in need of a purge. There is a losing mentality lingering amongst the players, and the front office will need to do some major housecleaning in the coming months. They’ve already begun that process this week with the release of one of the most unlikable faces on this team, defensive end Jason Babin.
The only key figure who appears to be safe is general manager Howie Roseman, which could be a major mistake by Lurie. Roseman has had just as big a hand in this team’s poor decisions and failures than Reid over the last three years, and hasn’t done anything to prove that he’s capable of selecting a new head coach and rebuilding this team.
Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia fans were forced to suffer through one of the most disappointing seasons in recent memory as the Phillies spent most of the season playing inspired baseball and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2007.
The team has a limited amount of payroll space available to spend on free agents to help improve the club’s current standing, but they also received shocking news yesterday when they learned that popular All-Star catcher Carlos Ruiz will be suspended for the first 25 games of the season.
It will mark the third straight year that the Phillies will begin regular season play without one of their key figures. Losing Ruiz for a month is a huge blow to this team that already has some concerns about the health and availability of their other key figures.
Chase Utley’s knees remain unpredictable, and he hasn’t played a game in April since the 2010 season. Imagine the frustration if Utley reports to Spring Training, and is immediately held out of action due to “routine soreness” again.
Starting pitcher Roy Halladay spent the entire 2012 campaign battling shoulder problems. At his age, and with all of the innings he’s logged on his arm, there are no guarantees that he’ll be back in top form either.
The Phillies can’t afford to begin yet another season with multiple All-Stars out of action.
Philadelphia 76ers
While the Sixers have been playing fairly well during the first month of the season, their prized off-season acquisition Andrew Bynum has yet to appear in a single game with the team, and he has no timetable for a return.
The 2012-13 season has been one of the most highly anticipated years for the Sixers in over a decade, and all of that excitement has been generated because of the Bynum trade.
Without Bynum, the Sixers have a limited ceiling and aren’t likely to be anything more than a low seed in a competitive Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia Flyers
Don’t count on seeing hockey anytime soon.
The NHL remains caught up in a lockout with no end in sight. Negotiations are for adults.
Even before the lockout, the Flyers were caught up in some bad luck of their own. They tried desperately to hand out a contract worth over $100 million to some of the top free agents available (such as Zach Parise and Ryan Suter) but the available talent had no interest in coming to Philadelphia, and turned their noses up at Paul Holmgren’s offers.
Holmgren finally managed to find a taker for his boatload of money when he signed Nashville’s Shea Weber to a massive offer sheet, only to have the Predators surprise them by matching the offer and destroying the ideas Flyers fans had of acquiring what would essentially be a young Chris Pronger to anchor their defense.
Overall
Over the last six months, each of the four teams has built the city up only to let them down.
Michael Vick ran around screaming delusional nonsense that this Eagles team would be the start of a dynasty.
The Phillies put out a miserable effort for most of the 2012 season, got themselves back into the race in the final weeks of the year, only to let down against lowly teams like the Houston Astros to rip the hearts out of fans hoping for a miracle.
The Sixers seemed ready to assert themselves as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, only to have the key figure in those plans go completely MIA.
The Flyers failed to improve their team that was easily defeated by the New Jersey Devils in the second round of last year’s playoffs. Even if the NHL wasn’t in a lockout, the team would still be going through the ups and downs of Ilya Bryzgalov while struggling to get consistent play from the forwards and defenseman.
Its a hard time to be a Philadelphia sports fan. There’s not a lot to be optimistic about right now.
It’s not so bad Denny,
Some of these younger Fans have to learn what it really means to be a true Sports Fans and that means going thru th erough times as well as the good
The last 6-8 Years have been great time to be a Philly Sports Fans with the ascension of the Phils, the usual Playoff Runs of the Eagles and the consistent play of the Flyers so many of these so called Fans have become spoiled to a certain extent.. Now buying into the hype of the Franchises Front Offices and Local Media is another Story, not enough Fans really follow the Competition of our Philly Teams close enough to see who else is improving,and what challenges our Teams face which is the Fans fault for blindly buying into the Hype of their Favorite Home-Town Team..
The thing that bothers me the most is the Attitude and Work Ethic of many of the Players the Philly Teams get anymore and the adulation that’s thrown onto certain Players for playing a kids games while getting paid big $$ to do so.. The old we will out-work you, out hustle you and out-coach you are long gone for our Teams have way too many “look at me” type of Athletes where many of them seem to be going thru the motions to collect a nice pay check.. The Eagles were always a “Blue-Collar” type of Team that hustled, were smart and played for a full 60 minutes and we haven’t seen these attributes in about 5 years now which is reflection of their Coach AR who has allowed these team to become undisciplined and a lack of overall Teamwork to be a legitimate Playoff Team.. Too many showboats, surly attitudes and players to be honest are self-centered and really have not won anything to even brag about .. The Phils are too cool and don’t show enough emotion either with Players like Rollins/Utley/Howard who keep their cool and go about their business.What’s happened to the exciting passion of Werth,Ibanez and playing all 27 Outs and fighting to the end.. I just don’t see that passion from their Core PLayers any longer, maybe they are too comfortable aor figure they already won, so what’s the reason for urgency..
The Flyers had some young talented players in Richards and Carter but gave them too large of Contracts, coddled them and even made Richards a Captain when he was still immature and lacked Leadership and the respect of the Lockeroom…
I grew up in the 70’s and endured many Seasons of disappointment and overall Poor Ownership/Management, Poor Coaching & Poor Draft picks
so this current Downtime we are having with Philly Sports Teams was inevitable and probably needed to help educate these young Fans that not everything in life is easy and if you want something special and big , you have to work hard, plan well and execute and have some fortune along the way just like in real life..
I think the Fans can put with some losing seasons,but it’s the character and the effort of the players that Fans want to see, go ahead and get beat, but not beacuse a lack of trying,effort or commitment and in today athletes, as in Society in general, we just don’t see that kind of heart, that passion out of the modern day athlete where image,off the field endorsements are as important to the players,teams and leagues as the Players actual performance on the field.. They make so much $$S these days, and once they have won 1 or twice, the fire is gone for them and then it’s about a paycheck (and a pretty big one)… It’s become entertainment anymore and that’s why I don’t get emotionally attached to any of these Teams of Players anymore for they are not a reflection of the CIty and Teams they play for or the Fans that come out and support them.. Those days are long gone..
It’s not so bad…
If Andy Greed keeps losing we will be extra excited to get the number 1 pick in the draft.
No more trading out of the first round because we are soooooo much smarter that everybody else.
1. Trading out of the first round.
2. Waiting years to get wide recievers.
3. No drafting a center when the center goes down at the end of the year.
4. drafting the oldest 1st round player in NFL history.
5. hiring a offensive line coach to coach your defense.
6. putting jeremiah trotter on special teams to teach him a lesson
7. having reno mahe as your punt returner
8. starting the season with no punt returner
9. passing so much that you took the “play” out of play-action
10. not using the best RB in the league with a 4th quarter lead.
11. pitiful clock management
12. No kick off returner in the entire 14 years of the reid era
13. drafting undersized defesive players “fastballs” that were bums
14. no ability to make game day adjustments
15. being fat and expecting your athletes to respect you
16. collecting a team of softies who put heart on a t-shirt
Hunter Pence produced in San Francisco? He had a .210 batting average with 4 RBI’s in the ENTIRE playoffs. Stop it.
Colin Kap for Eagles 2013 QB?
Denny, this is a carbon copy of the 1990’s. It ain’t looking like it is getting any better, any sooner, either! The Birds & the Phillies, both need to be blown up. The Sixers are mired in continual, groundhog day, of mediocrity. The Flyers, while are always promising & in the hunt, are locking horns, in a lockout, & haven’t won since 1975! Well, at least we have Beer & Wing Bowl! LMFBO!!!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
@bsmvideos.. i never wanna hear the term fastballs again for this team.. you would think as fat as andy is he would love big lineman linbackers and receivers. what is his obsession with small rotating lineman?? And all his little mormon affiliations make me sick. mahe, bloom, havili, i think kevin curtis was the only one to ever produce..In his 14 year history he’s never drafted a great player on defense, NEVER!!! thats ridiculous to miss that many years in a row and keep your job
but those fastballs also had HIGH MOTORS! thats the term i never want to hear again!
The phils will make the playoffs this year in one last efffort!
You have to have Vick restructure his contract to a 1 year deal and have him compete with Foles at QB next year. You cant tell a new coach all we have is Nick Foles welcome to Philly. Then you play out 2013 and get a QB in 2014. If Foles is your starter next year you still need a backup and Vick would be a top backup in this league. If Vick doesnt restructure to a 1 year deal then he is gone.
i kind of agree with that dag– hadn’t thought of it that way but…
The chances of foles being a player are low- not based on what we’ve seen so far but based on history. The league is littered with more highly touted qb’s than him that were busts-
Not having a QB absolutely handcuffs a team for years! Look at what happens to a team when they have a qb bust mediocrity forever– scarey times.
Doesn’t work. Divided locker room.
@ haveacigar the one good thing about Philly teams is that they find a way to get marquee players here. They may not always be the right players but they do try. From the Phillies and Flyers always making big moves to the Eagles bringing in big name bold move players. Eithier moving up in the draft or FA. So some way some how I think they will get a frachise QB in here in the next 2 years.
Its gonna be divided no matter who the backup is if/probably Nick Foles sucks. Hes not a top pick or a franchise QB so I would think the next coach could care less about Foles feelings. honestly.
Lets trade for Jimmy Clausen to back up Foles so we dont divide the locker room. Gotta make sure the backup is worst than the starter. hmmmmm. Can you imagine how thats gonna work out. You bring any QB in here and Foles remains terrible its gonna divide the locker room.
Meh its been a lot worse in Philly sports so I can take the birds rebuilding a year, the Phils getting ready for a last push, The Sixers getting Bynum off the rolls and Maybe the Flyers coming back and looking strong. As a fan all I can do is root and suffer along with everyone else here. Not gonna change my teams or root for single players. Here’s to better days.
@ Vinnie I think you live in a fantasy world.There would be no DIVIDED locker room. I would guess 95% of the team would want Vick to strt. He is very popular and right/wrong very highly regarded. And after watching Foles play (only 2 games) i dont think DJax, Celek, Maclin etc are standing up and yelling give me some more of Foles. So no the locker room wouldnt be divided I would gather to say it probably would be 98% give me Vick to be honest with you.
Yes Dag I agree with bringing back Vick under a new deal, no way he sees anything close to that money from any team. Foles isn’t the answer I don’t want Alex Smith or any Qb who gets pushed off another teams roster, unless his last name is Manning. Nobody in the Draft to get excited about so we are pretty much stuck.
There’s some merit to dags suggestion, without earning the job over a highly popular Vick, foles will not win over the support of this receiving corp, especially djax, but that’s why I would get rid of djax and maclin, get big strong, fast wideouts, get a Wes walker type for the slot, the eagles receivers are weak, foles will struggle like Vick did with these weapons, except he can’t run, so don’t expect much from him either
How does this always turn into a Vick thing? I dont care we are gonna stink either way next year. Bottom line is we need leaders on this team, not popular guys real leaders. Where they can be found? I dont have that answer, I just know this team has no generals on the field.
Exactly.
1 – 95% of the players do not like Vick. This became very evident with Dennis Kelly’s comments a few weeks back (“Peyton Manning would have seen that coming,” Eagles guard Dennis Kelly says of Vick’s not recognizing the blitz. “There are just times when he doesn’t see things. He never really had to worry about reading defenses.”) Vick is not as popular as you have been led to believe, especially among the lineman who have seen their reps completely torn apark with Vick under centre. Whether thats his fault or not is irrelevant, they think its his fault. One thing that is for sure is that Vick makes their job more difficult.
2 – I would agree that DJax and Maclin probably do prefer Vick. Djax especially who loves nothing more than dancing backwards into endzones on TV highlights. I’m sure he believes Vick gives him the best chance at that.
So right there you have a divided locker room.
If Foles wins the job and struggles then a vocal group grumbles for Vick. Vick wins job then starts season getting sacked at his usual rate + turning ball over at career average and you have another divided locker room.
No win scenario,
Only option. Purge. (and that is what is going to happen)
Good-bye vets (Vick, DJax – hopefully), Bell, all gone on O, Jenkins, Nnamdi, DRC, – hopefully- Cole, all gone on D
Team of 1st and 2nd year players with Foles at QB…team will struggle mightily, but that’s ok. They will expect it. As long as they see slow progress forward. IF Foles is a disaster (distinctly possible) not that big a deal because he’s the guy you have so roll with it, and you can look forward to a #1 QB pick in 2014.
The idea of keeping Vick around to “mentor” somene is a joke. The idea to keep vick around to “win now” is a joke (Honestly he’s 11-17 since his 2010 run….where exactly does the “win with Vick BS come from??”
2 –
Vinnie, Dennis Kelly will be out of the league next year
HAHAHAHAHEHEHEAHAHHEEHEHE – WOOOOOO- sis you never cease to amaze me…Dennis Kelly? Who? Who TF is that? (I know who it is, BTW, just really, Dennis Kelly, really? thats who you quote? C’mon, seriously???
I disagree, He is a huge guy with some skill and he is young. Next year we will probably have a more conventional Offensive line coach. Which means he will be looking for a young big Tackle. Move Herrimans back to his Guard position.
You 2 are missing the pooint (as usual).
Someone on here said that 95% of the players would prefer Vick. I do not believe that is true.
In factI am quite sure he is pretty disliked by the members of his Oline. Who constantly get bashed in the media for being the worst ever, when they, and many of u, know that Vick plays a huge roll in that.
I bring up a player who pointed this out, and of course he’s suddenly a POS – because how dare he mention the obvious in regards to the untouchable former superstar.
So if we mention 52.other guys who want Vick in there it wouldn’t matter either right? Who cares I am angry that they suck no matter who they prefer.
my worry is the nfl is a league where you can go from bottom to top or top to bottom in a year. check out tampa– but you need a qb- i would never say vick is elite but chances are foles will not be a franchise qb.
People Forget that Tampa Was a good Team in 2010 and then Lockout last Year rewally hurt their Team and Coach who were young and cocky (like the Eagles) and gave up halfway thru the Season last year, but when you look at their Roster, they have a very Talented Team acorss the LOS, a promising young QB , a good WR and RB Corps.. They lacked Discipline and Focus (again, similar to the Eagles) and new HC Greg Schiano has cleaned house and got rid of malcontents/ego players like TE Kellen WInslow, CB A Talib and it’s whole new Attitiude and Committment he has going on there and brought in some Players with leadership Qualities like Safety Mark Barron, RB Doug Martin, CB Eric Wright, etc,etc
Owner Jeff Lurie should be paying very close attention to how Tampa Bay bounced back with a no-nonsense,strict disciplinarian HC and should follow suit if the Eagles are to bounce back to relevance next Season
Eagles needs to look
Veteran Players that will be Purged from Eagles This Office
Offense – Vick, D Bell, Avant, Dunlap
Defense – C Jenkins,J Chaney, Asmo, Coleman
TB drafted their QB in the mid first round of the 2009 draft.
He sat on the bench for 6 games before starting his first week 7. The team stuck with him despite a pretty miserable first year where he through 10 tds and 18 ints through 10 games. He had multiple multi-interception games, including a 5 int disaster at Carolina. Finished the year around 50% completion rate. 6 of his 9 games under 220 yrds, including a 93 yard, 3 interception bucked of crap he dumped in his 6th game!! This coming off the heels of his 5 int performance the week before. 6 games in and he was TERRIBLE. It is to be expected.
Did the coaches/fans announce he was “nothing special” at that point, like several are so quick to do here after 2.5 games??
No.
Season 2 showed marked improvement. Much higher comp%, and a great TD to Int ratio at 25 to 6….very promising especially as his 4 or 5 best games all came at the end of the season. I would argue that his first “good” game came in week 9 that year….16 games into his career.
What? You mean it took a complete season before he began looking like a competent QB???? That’s odd!
But year 3 was a disaster. 15 tds and 22 ints. Though there were perhaps other circumstances that surrounded this collapse. Cancers were purged.
Now….Freeman is having a very solid year and the team is competing.
4 years. And it wasn’t untill around game 16 or so of his career that Freeman began “showing promise”.
Enough of this “keep Vick around” BS. It is absolutely pointless. To evaluate Foles, he must be given at least 16 starts. That means the rest of this year, and into next. We will start getting a feel for him around week 10 next year.
If by the end of next season he stinks, then talk about a first round QB selection has merit.
@ Paulman/Vinnie Do you understand what is coming Sunday night? Do you understand Foles might not make it through the game. If you think passing for 100 yards vs the Carolina at home was difficult can you imagine what is in store for Foles against Dallas and D Ware and 2 pretty good CB? Dallas needs this game and honestly I see a 5 sack 12-36 yard 116 yard 3 int 42-6 blow out. I didnt catch the former GMs name on WIP this morning but he stated to Angelo and company that it didnt matter what Foles did the rest of the year. No new coach is gonna come in here and have him start.They will definetly want thier guy. Foles will be a backup at best next year.
And by “their guy” they mean who exactly?
A top 5 pick? Geno Smith will go first to the Chiefs who will regret it for the next 4 years. Barkle comes next and whoever gets him will enjoy the curse of USC QBs.
There is no “their guy” at this coming draft…none that I’ve heard of anyway.
Who cares if Foles does what you say anyway? I don’t put much stock into rookie QBs until weks 12-16 the earliest….neither do most GMs/coaches. That’s how long it takes.
You realize that McNabb, in his 4th start (against the Cowboys) was 7 of 17 for 49 yards and an interception? Before he left that game with an injury.
I guess you would have wanted Reid to bring in a new guy at that point right? Because obviously he was a complete failure. Hitting only 40% of his passes and all….In his 4th start no less (+2 earlier 1/2 games). Shoulda given up on the guy. He was a BUM!
As for what is really in store…I dunno….I’m very interested in seeing what will happen. This will be the first time Foles will have seen the same opponent 2x. His first action against them was decent. I hope he improves.
If you guys are hoping for us to get a franchise QB, within the next year, or so, you all better hope that the Falcons don’t franchise tag Flacco. Because that’s the only franchise QB available, soon. There ain’t no franchise QB’s coming out of this draft, & Foles ain’t the answer. That’s why in my opinion, they need to rebuild both lines to be physically dominant, get a big, play-making WR, 2-3 play-makers in the secondary, that ain’t allergic to contact, & a natural SAM.
If they do this, they can get by with a good QB, & won’t need a quote, on quote, “Franchise QB.”
do you mean franchise ryan or flacco? and i’m not basing my thoughts that foles might not be able to play based on the last couple of games or even the next 5- i’m saying the number of qb’s that make a big impact are few and far between.
hey if he turns out to be a flacco that is 20 for 30 for 250 2 td’s and 0 pics.. hey i’ll take it!
OOPS!!! Meant Baltimore. Thanks for the correction. Was just watching highlights for tonights game
I’m pretty sure that Holmgren knew Parise/Suter were not going to sign in Philly, but made the large offers to get division rivals out of the running for either player. The Flyers were locked in on Weber since the beginning. Who in their right mind thinks that Weber is ever option 3? (that’s farking stoooooopid)
@ Dcar I can’t agree with you there. The most important position in all of prosports is QB and you need that Franchise guy. I agree with your layout for building up the lines ect but throughout the Superbowl era Only Earl Moral, Jim Mcmahon, Doug williams, Jeff Hostetler and Trent Dilfer were Not Franchise guys. Thats one every 10 years or so. Im not saying we couldnt win without one…Just the percentages go down tremendously for a non franchise QB to win a SB.
You don’t have to have a franchise/ top tier QB, to win a SB. But I agree, they have to be at least solid-good.
Look at the Probable PLayoff Teams this Year and see who is an Elite Qb
NFC – Giants,Packers ( Eli and Rodgers are Elite QB’s)
49ers,Seahawks,Bears,Falcons,TB Bucs.- are any of these TeamsQB’s Elite..
AFC – Patriots, Bronco’s have Tom Brady & Peyton Manning
Texans,Ravens,Bengals,Steelers,Colts. Do these Teams have QB’s considered Elite .. I don’t think Schaub,Flacco,Dalton,Big Ben and Luck are
Elite at this Time..
What these Teams do have is Solid Coaching, a Committed Roster of Players who play hard and have each others back and play with Pasion and Energy on a week to week basis and are strong in Fundamental Football..
Eagles couldn’t hold a candle to any of the these Teams
Ok lets switch the words of elite and change it to FRANCHISE QBs. Eli and Rogers are Elite. Cutler, Ryan are Franchise QBs. Wilson and Kirkpatrick/Smith are on dominating defensive teams with great run-games. 49ers are so dominating in all aspects they can actually win with game manager. Seattle a nice team but will never win SB IMO with Wilson, nice little player. AFC Brady, Manning and Rothlisberger(hes friggin elite). Shaub, Luck, Flaco, Dalton are all franchise QBs.
Those QB’s may not be elite but they are having elite seasons…because their team as a whole, is well, pretty damn good!
“Team sport” is a concept that you guys just don’t get! To have a solid team in all areas, wow, definitely helps the QB win games….
to Xevious
Do you consider Bob Griese as a “Franchise QB”, I don’t he was a great game manager and smart player that played within his physical limitations
QB Brad Johnson of Tamp Bay was no great Athlete of Elite QB either
Jim PLunkett of the Raiders who beat the Eagles in 2000 could barely move
As far as playing Foles for the rest of the Season
Why not, what is there to lose, VIck will be gone after this Season
There is not going to be a restructure deal, he is dead gone,
Owner Lurie and Banner did not want him to begin with and it was only thru the Lobbying Efforts of Andy Reid and Don McNabb that Vick even got a chance to play for the Eagles.. Now fast-forward 4 Years later and Vick has not proven to be consistent enough to be a Winner in the NFL but his 10-16 Record over his last 26 Games as a Starter for the Team..
With Coach AR and Staff Gone, there is no vested interest in keeping Mike VIck around by Owner Lurie, new VP of Ops Tom Donahoe nad GM Roseman since they are not tied to Vick for any reason..
Eagles HAve Foles and trent Edwards under Contract for next Season and will pick-up another QB from somewhere to compete next off-season/summer camp and of course a lot will depend on who the next HC will be and what their Philosophy will be but my guess is that Eagles will have a Defensive Minded Coach who will rely on McCoy/Brown and a Strong Running game meaning having an Elite QB will not be neecessary to run the Eagles Offense for the next Season or 2..
Eagles can rebound and need to look at the Ravens and 49ers Systems for these Teams have been productive enough Offensively with limited QB’s and WR’s the last couple of Seasons
Look at the NFC East– QB’s Eli MAnning and his WR Corp, Redksins with RGIII and a good young RB In Morris and some young WR’s .. These Teams are goign to be around for a while…
now the Cowboys have improved their OL and Secondary which were their biggest weaknesses comign into this Year and expect them to remain competitive for the short-term as they will keep Romo and live or die with him
Paul Really? Bob Griese is a 6 time Pro-bowler 2 time superbowl winner and a HOFer. I agree he wasnt flashy but he was a franchise guy. Made the bowl 3 times. I forgot about Johnson But Plunkett was the #1 pick of the draft and came into his own as a Raider Not only did he win in 1980 not 2000 but he won in 1983 also. He wasnt mobile at all but what does that matter if he won? Franchise QBs win because they beat good teams with other franchise or good Qbs.
I dont understand why it’s even discussed not to start Foles. This Offense has 2 Starters 3 if you count the FB Starting where they should be this weekend. Maclin and Celek. Mathis is going to be starting at center it seems. Foles needs to get experience, and this is the perfect time for it. We need a leader on both sides of the ball next year. For all this Demeco is a leader talk in the preseason…he isnt a leader. On offense all you had was Dynasty talk…lets not forget that stupid pronouncement from the mount. Clean out these clowns and build a team full of winners. Draft from winning programs…sign free-agents from winning teams…all these former Titans and bengals…..begone.
Heres a better question. Name me 1 starting QB in the NFL between the ages of 20-30 you would take Nick Foles over TODAY. Then tell me 1 team in the NFL that would trade thier starting QB to the Eagles (today) for Nick Foles, any team. Then after you cant find any team that wont do that your telling me hes the starting QB for the Eagles next year. So basically the Philadelphia Eagles are the ONLY team in the NFL that Nick Foles can start for.is the Philadelphia Eagles. Un f$%king believable. Can you imagine the NY Jets calling the Eagles and saying we will take Nick Foles over Vick as our starting QB next year. lol
I’ll give you 4. I’d take Foles because these guys don’t seem better or have proved no upside potential exists, while at least Foles may have upside.
Gabbert in Jax (if you still consider him a starter)
Quinn/Cassel in KC (both have proved horrible)
Lindley in AZ (he’s a fill-in starter just like Foles)
Sanchez in NY (terrible – even worse than Vick)
I think most people would take a prospect over a resurrection project any day. Vick is a proven turnover and injury specialist with a couple playoff appearances. If you don’t strive for better, your team won’t get better. Sometimes that means trying someone out who isn’t an instant All-Pro and dealing with the consequences.
Xevious
Phil Simms,Lenny Dawson,Joe Theisman,Doug WIlliams,Trent Dilfer,Brad Johnson,Jeff Hostetler,Bob Griese,etc,etc..
It’s about the entire Roster,the Coaching Staff, the SPecial Teams play and a lot of things going your way to Win a Championship.. The last few Seasons we have seen Teams like the Giants/Packers get into the Playoffs with 9-10 Wins and then get on a roll and dominate thru the Playoffs..
We have also seen recent Teams like the Seahawks,Cardinals,Bears with Rex Grossman no less, get to the Super Bowl over the last 7-8 Years, only to lose, but make it in without having dominating Seasons..
Who cares if you get there and lose? Thats one of the reasons they lost because they didnt have the franchise QB. Wait your saying Simms Dawson THeisman Griese werent franchise QBs? . Those guys played in a different era and certainly were franchise QB’s in their time. Granted today they would be seen as game managers but as the time flows so does the definition of a Franchise QB. Those four were definitely Franchise guys for their eras. Im not gonna insult you by questioning your knowledge man but seriously you have to take each Qb in context.
Dag common sense is in short supply here, how bad must Edwards be that he isn’t in the equation. I will say this again Foles only had a third round grade on the Eagles draft board everyone else had a fifth round or higher grade on him. Ladies and gentlemen your 2013 starting QB.
Xevious any player who is a Starter you can call a “Franchise QB” since he’s that Franchise’s Starte
MAtt Hasselback for Seattle, good QB, their Franchise QB but not elite by any stretch
Same with Bob Greise, played on a great Team with an awesome OL,RB’s and WR and Coaching.. He played smart and was a natural Leader and won some SB’s with some great Teams..but stop confusing a Franhise QB and an ELirte QB which are 2 Different Things..
Rex Grossman was the Bears “Franchise QB for a couple year, took them to a SUper Bowl, was he Elite, hell no..
Brad Johnson was teh TB Bucs “Franchise QB” for a couple years, took them and won a SB, was he Elite and can win a game on his own, hell no..
Wake up and smell the Coffee..
Eagles don’t need an “Elite QB’ they need a complete better Team and better Coaching and a more physical ,run first mentality and philosophy
No Elite and Franchise should be interchangable. Just because you don’t understand the difference in Era’s or that those intangibles are what make a great QB isnt my fault. You play semantics to prove your point, No football person would have to play the word game to prove their point. Calling Hassleback, Grossman and Johnson Franchise guys to prove you are right is amatuer hour dude. They are clearly journeyman guys that had career years. To call compare Grossman and Griese is laughable man….Not every Franchise guy has a cannon…Thats why before every draft they ask who is a potential Franchise QB..Someone who can be built around and lead a franchise to a superbowl…Elite my ass. I know the game and I know it’s History..Dont try to belittle my opinion with a “wake up and smell the coffee” comment. Your opinion is yours and your welcome to it….but dont play semantics with me…play it with someone who doesnt have a clue.
Biglion dont laugh but I swear to you I thought Trent Edwards was the best QB on this team. I honestly believe he is the best choice at runnning this WCO. I think the Eagles (like usual) cant evaluate draft picks and thier own players. I thought he was very similar to Jeff Garcia. Hes only 28 years old and he Could be your stop gap until a franchise QB is brought in.
He’s better then Foles.
Why play Edwards at this point, the Season is over, you spent a 3rd Pick on a QB that you hope has some upside and can play in the NFL, this is the time when your out of Playoff Contention to find out about these things just like playing Vinny Curry and releasing Babin who is no longer in their future plans for when Coach AR and his Staff are fired on 12/31/2012, there will be no more Wide-9 so why bother keeping Babin around.. .
If the Eagles finish 3-13 or 5-11, does it really matter..
As far as Draft Postion, I would rather the Eagles play their young players, lose out and finish 3-13 and they should have a Top 4 Pick in every round
and then try to Trade a Vick,Asmo,C Jenkins, T Cole,J Avant, and see if you can add 3-4 Draft Selections.. With the current Eagles Roster, we have already seen over the last 2 Seasons with their 11-16 Record, of what they can do so what’s the point of bringing these overpaid players back, we already know that they can’t win so let’s move forward
@timm please refresh my memory when Nick Foles has proven ANY upside. That is Philly fans made up propaganda. Oh yeah he was a 3rd round pick, (Eagles draft history tells us he is a stud)lol. Oh yeah he threw for a couple tds in preseason. Didnt Edwards do the same? Hell if we go by preseason stats Phillip Hunt should have 30 sacks by now. D Johnson should have 1500 yards recieving. Philly fans make up shit. He has more potential then Sanchez? really? says who? For as bad as Sanchez is hes led 2 Jets teams to AFC championship games. But Nick Foles two pathetic starts and his 50 qb rating has shown more potential? really? hmmmmm. Eagle fans made up shit at work.
If you believe that starting 2 games in a horrible offensive scheme with a lame duck coach and weak offensive line is a solid test on which you can make an accurate and sound assessment, then your opinion just doesn’t mean anything at all. The guy has made some good throws and some bad. He fumbles as badly as Vick. But the only way you can tell if a QB can keep up with the speed of the pro game is to give him snaps against starters. He hasn’t had enough yet.
Sanchez has been given several years of snaps. He’s not getting much better. And if you think he IS good, then since his first year’s QB rating of 63.0 is worse than Foles’ 65.3, you’ve made the case that Foles will be a playoff quarterback – which is a nonsense conclusion to make… why?…. because Foles hasn’t played enough to reach any conclusions!
You’re comments make your opinions even less credible – like saying Eagle fans make stuff up while this Eagle fan quotes actual league stats above and you make up a bogus 50 QB rating for Foles. So spare me that crap.
Foles may be the next Bobby Hoying – but more time is needed to come up with a grade for the kid.
Paulman why not play Edwards? Hes 28 years old. Hes as old as 1st round pick Weeden. Why not see what Edwards can do. At 28 he can play QB for next 3-4 years while you get a franchise QB. I would take the odds that his next 2-4 years are better than Foles. He seems like a great option at game manager. Why not? We arent talking about replacing a top 10 pick. Foles is a 3rd round pick with a 5th round grade.
Xevious,
15-20 Teams in the NFL have their “Franchise QB in place” even though most of them are not “Elite QB’s” yet due to their inexperience,new Coaches and Schemes but they are not the same and don’t understand why you think they are interchangeable..
Teams Draft young QB with hopes that their Franchise QB becomes an Elite QB but thus takes time to develop
Matt Ryan is in his 4th-5th Year with the Falcons and is finally playing at a high-consistent Level.. Packers Aaron Rodgers rode the Bench for 3 Seasons, then struggled his first year as a Starter before settliing and is now one of the Top 3 QB in the NFL..
Teams like the Titans with Locker, Browns with Weeden, Dolphins with Tannehill, Seahawks with Wilson , Jags with Gabbert, Vikings with Ponder are all hopeing their “Franchise QB”s become good to elite NFL QB’s but this will not occur in 1-2 Years
You are the one confusing the 2, not me..
No dude its you…They draft potential franchise QB’s and hope that they develop into a Franchise or Elite QB. Im not letting you off the hook with this man…you think a team wants to call an ok or fair QB their franchise guy…No never…They hope that the guys you named will potentially be the franchise QB to lead their teams to a Superbowl…If they are that good they are usually GONE….Franchise QB’s Dont usually leave their teams until the end…Exceptions of course are Brees and manning. Keep trying to twist it so your correct though….its entertaining to say the least.
Your making too much sense Daggolden.
if Andy Reid gets a new head coaching position next year – I offer him Watkins, Graham, Allen and Kendricks for a 7th round draft pick
The Ol and WR’s don’t need another QB who hasn’t played in 4 Months to run the Offense these last 4-5 weeks
Now have an open competition next Summer is fine and needed, but since the Decision was to go to FOles, who the Team has more invested in him and is under Contract for a coupld of Years, then get him out there and see what he can do..
I am not sure how many of you relalize how little/few snaps a 3rd String QB gets during the Season, they are relegated as playing on the Scout Team for the Defense’s beneifit and not really working with the #1’s and oever #2’s on the Offense.. Pro Players practice about 2-3 Day’s a week anymore which is some of the reason why the overall play in the NFL has gotten worse over the last few years and why such fundamentals like blocking/tackling are just not focused enough ..
Take the training wheels off of #9 and let the dude play
enough of this RB leading recvr crap..
lets go downfield with some 5 and 7 step drops…some throws to the TE down the seam
We featured Brown last week…
Let’s feature Foles this week
Paulman really,he is one sack away from playing Sunday night. Snaps or no snaps.
Oh wait Vinnie says Foles hardly ever gets sacked so never mind.
Yes,BL821 and that can happen any week with any game, but you game plan with who you are planning to play and right now it’s Foles which means he gets all the snaps with teh Starters, etc,etc.. There is not enough time with 2-3 Days of Practice Time to give Reps to 2 QB’s and at this point
to change to a 3rd QB with a bunch of Back-up players along teh OL and now even with D-Jax out with 4-5 weeks to go with a guy who hasn’t taken a snap since August makes no sense at this point.
What does make sense is that the Eagles need to find out about Foles over these last 5 Games and see if he can be a legitimate NFL Starter and right now after 2 Games he has not looked at that good, but if he can improve little by little each week and develop some thythm/chemistry then who knows.. Edwards is under Contract for 2013 and will battle with Foles next Summer Camp while Mike Vick is playing for the Arizona Cardinals, NY Jets or up in Canada..
Trade Alert
Eagles Trade QB Vick, CB Asmo and WR Avant to the NY Jets for Sanchez and CB Derrel Rivas who the Jets will not re-do his Contract after injury and have an out with him after this Season..
Paulman I would bet you that Trent Edwards could come off the bench and throw for 116 yards with 0 practice and look better than Foles. So what your telling me is Foles got all the reps last week, played a pathetic Carolina team at home and looked that bad? I cant wait until Sunday night lol. 8 in the box, take away Bryce Brown and tell Napolean Dynamite beat us. What improvement do you think your gonna see Sunday night. Oh yeah I love this one. That was a nice audible to a run play.lol. That was the extent of his praise.