Isn’t this amazing, the Eagles will start the season against the Green Bay Packers with the identical offensive line which helped them win 11 games a year ago?
The difference this time around is the fact that the center and both guards are returning to action after injuries. Despite the fact that they’ll start against the Pack, there’s no guarantee that all of them will be able to stay healthy.
Jamaal Jackson will get the start at center. Nick Cole will be at right guard. Todd Herremans will man the left guard position. Jason Peters will be at left tackle and Winston Justice will line up at right tackle.
Jackson starting at center has to be good news for head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, who had to be concerned about the prospects of seeing their line out of position for the Packers’ blitz schemes. The veteran center has a good feel for adjusting the line for blitzes.
Returning to action in only 8 months after a knee surgery is quite an accomplishment, but it might make Jackson prone to re-injuring the knee. That’s a chance they’re taking and hopefully it works out.
Herremans had off season foot surgery and spent just about the entire training camp on the sideline watching. He played in only one game this preseason. The big fella got in three quarters of action in that ugly performance by the offense against Kansas City. I hope he’ll be able to stay in the lineup.
I tend to believe the foot injury has drawbacks to it that the Eagles have decided to keep to themselves. It wasn’t an accident that Herremans played in only one game and missed nearly all of training camp. At first they made it sound like he wasn’t going to miss much practice time, but the wait for him to return to action wound up being much greater than we thought it would be.
Cole will start at right guard after recovering from knee swelling and stiffness. He’ll be in there instead of the disappointing and recently-traded Stacy Andrews. It will allow the Birds to run their entire offense, which includes screens and sweeps with the right guard out in front of the ball carrier. Andrews appeared to be immobile in their at right guard.
Early on in the season, this group will have work on their communication. It’ll help that they played together in last year, but they’ve got to get on the same page immediately about the Packers’ 3/4 defense. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Pack defense giving the Birds some looks they haven’t shown.
It’s a guarantee that they will blitz quite a bit because of what happened against the Chiefs. Hopefully we won’t see any motion penalties on Peters.
Today, the Eagles added wide receiver Jeremy Williams and tight end Garrett Mills to the practice squad.
thats great 2 see that guys who can play together and that know each other im happy 2 see this and nick cole looks better at rg them him playing at center!!! yes i hope that jamal jackson isnt rushing this injury into re-injuring him self!! take your time big man you have your spot at the center but if he says he’s fine you gotta take a man’s word!!!!!!!!!!
All the more reasons to not be satisfied with a 8-8, 9-7 year. No excuses. Defense should be better, o-line is near the same and skilled position players are more mature and better than they were last year. Since Kolb is supposed to run this offense more efficiently we should see no drop off. We are not rebuilding and haven’t lost anything. No playoffs = failure. Period.
hold on now scorpiodsu we have a more accurate qb in kolb and we have a offensive line who was in shambles last year getting healthy now and you tell me either 8-8 or 9-7 you have 2 remember dallas, redskins, and giants have tough schedules as well 2! who knows maybe 9-7 may win the division this year like the nfc west! rivalry games those are toss ups expecially in the nfc east you know how tough those games are!!!!
In the next offseason and in ’11 draft you know they’ll be working hard at trying to get several immediate OL starting talent. Only Justice seems to have been totally free of any kind of injury these past several years. Howard is future LT, and will probably start getting reps at LG too for versatility. He’s got that foot speed & nasty streak to manhandle defensive guys.
Juan can only do so much with whatever talent he is given. Wells is here to backup any guard that goes down this year. He’s probably better than either MJG or Cole and has history of endurance.
This O-line is key to sub-par or good season because it has to be able to handle blitzing and execute all blocking assignments and not get hurt. I believe Reid and FO are very concerned about keeping Kolb upright and with enough time to make right decisions. If the current, opening day starters start getting hurt, this season and the new QB could be in for “long” season.
If our defense plays well enough to get plenty of 3 & outs, that puts a suspect OLine back on field trying to hold down the fort for Cobb and skill positions. Could be disaster if interior OLine starts breaking down or Peters keeps getting calls against him.
Hell, I say we win the division, NfC championship, and make it to the superbowl. I believe we shock the NFL this year! I really believe that. “NOTHING LESS”!
jroc757… exactly. That’s what the Eagles and the local media want us to believe. So no excuses. More accurate QB + o-line getting healthy = Division champs right? No excuse from anyone. If McNabb was the QB it would be Super Bowl or get out of town. Well that should stand for Reid.
Scorp/Rock, there is no way this team makes the playoffs because the wildcard is not coming out of NFC east. 9-7 won’t get you in…. unless something bad really occurs to Dallas (and to some extent with Giants) during season and Eagles luck into 1st. Our season doesn’t ride on the QB, but on health and unity of OLine. Team from either the NFC north or south could easily be the wildcard with a 10-6 or 11-5 record. Packers don’t play well in Philly and always possible Eagles get big upset win over them. Kicking game could determine outcome.
iggles, I don’t disagree. I was just stating that I don’t want to hear all the excuse when they don’t make it. The season doesn’t entirely ride on the QB but he’ll play a big part. Different QBs can compensate for lack on the o-line. Kolb is supposed to have a quicker release and get the ball out quick as everyone so often says. So in my mind he should do better with this o-line that is the same starting bunch from a year ago. Or at least this is what they want you to believe but later on will ask for a pass because the team is young.
Iggles, I’m just a believer in our teams chance of getting to the top that’s all. Without 5, there shouldn’t be any excuses. I’m just hoping the miracle of all miracles happens for us this year. I think and believe this every year. Lets go EAGLES!
Our Schedule really isnt that bad besides the colts, packers and vikings every other game is winnable. Dallas has a very simular schedule like us. They play the bears, vikes, colts texans jaguars as well so when it comes down to this year is if we can win our division games. Winning this sunday I think is critical to send a message.
we can beat the vikings you never know what circus show that brett favre might perform!!!! hell he might throw lottery #’s out there for int. relax we are going 2 be good this year!!! bar none i believe in this team colts a big ? we can beat the bears,jags,maybe even the texans if you put matt shaub on his ass and frustrate him which our front line will do i believe we go to the playoffs and shock the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This OLine we have is really not young anymore, half of them were merely drafted as back-ups and nothing more. Some of recent teams, other than a Dawkins or Trotter or Runyan, did not have enough players with pride not to bring a knife to a gunfight. A team has to man-up, and that’s rarely the QB alone.
I think too many fans looked at making the playoffs so many times as being ready to win a SB, when in reality in past this team was never really built by FO to win a SB, just a bunch of playoff wins. Personally, I’m not happy with a team that “just” makes the playoffs year in, year out. That’s not success; a SB ring is measure of success. Until you have a smart GM (Parcels, Bethard & Gibbs, Jones & Johnson) and a sharp head coach you aren’t going anywhere long. It feels worse when you’re so close, yet so far. Appearing in 5 NFC championships (most against a weak NFC in general) are stats which mean nothing. We might have beaten the Patriots if we had a coach like Sean Payton, but Reid does not have adaptability to help the team bring home the bacon. I’d rather see Eagles play a mediocre season every once in while because the high draft picks restock your team with better talent, then make playoffs and go farther, then win the big one every half-dozen years or so back to back.
Just don’t believe you must have a super-duper QB to win a SB (look what Parcells and Gibbs won with, and Romo is no Aikman!!!), but Kolb has no consistent game experience and holding a clipboard behind Donovan teaches you very little. He’ll only learn on-the-job like the rest of us do in life. Reid has no savvy or personality of guy you’d trust when you’re in a foxhole near enemy lines. A SB team nearly always has some guys on the team with some “dog” in them. Somebody around the team has to grab others by the collar and say, “Let’s go get ’em!” That’s not in Andy Reid. I actually think there are some young leaders here who are going to “git er done” in future… a Bradley, a Weaver, a DJax, a Cooper, a Coleman, an Allen, an Austin Howard, a Graham, a Cole together, but not this season ’cause some weak areas need to be fixed. In the end, it’s going to have to be some gritty players on a mission, ’cause Andy would never inspire me to defend the Alamo or charge up Pork Chop Hill. The FO and/or coaches in this town have stunk up the place so long that I believe it’s going to take some special talented and focused players to say “enough is enough”; we want a SB ring – we want a parade so badly we can taste it. Shoot, is it possible that little non-football guy Howie Roseman could actually draft a bunch of killer bees?
Good stuff Iggles,
But did you ever see the size of those “Pork Chops” up on the other side of the hill….
Green bay 43 “The Best Roster in the NFL” 17—-10 in garbage time
The press conference with “BIG RED”…….PRICELESS
“TIME’S YOURS”
iggles, I agree with you about the playoff thing. A lot of fans thought because you make the playoffs a few times in a row, the next logical step is Super Bowl and that’s not the case in football. This isn’t like basketball where teams most progress each year. In football you can go from 11-5 to 5-11 or 1-15 to 10-6. There’s not always a consistent progression. A lot of times teams come from out of nowhere to surprise everyone. Arizona was in the Superbowl, New Orleans missed the playoffs the season before last and then come back and win the whole thing. Steelers go from champs to not even making the playoffs. Cowboys went from being the favorites to get to the Super bowl when they went 13-3 to missing the playoffs the next when we destroyed them the last game of the season. This team has always been missing key positions. In the beginning of the decade we had a stout defense but lacked offensive weapons at the WR position to go with Westbrook and McNabb in their primes. And for the last few years, it’s been the opposite with an explosive offense but inconsistent defense. We just haven’t been able to put it together. A lot of it is the players and also Andy. Andy deserves as much blame as anyone.
Rocko, it’s nothing wrong with believing in your team but at the same time be realistic. Of course no one knows what will happen this year, but right now on paper, this isn’t a Super Bowl team. Too young at key positions, first year QB, questionable o-line, questionable on defense as well. This just isn’t a Super Bowl team. There will be surprises this year, both good and bad.
so you’d rather them not go to the playoffs a bunch? I don’t buy that there’s a way to build a team to make the playoffs,but not a superbowl. Every team’s initial goal is to make the playoffs. You guys make it seem like the Eagles sat down and looked at two plans – one for playoffs and not winning the superbowl, the other just geared toward the superbowl, and then made a choice. That’s absurd. If the patriots weren’t cheating, this could have been a whole lot different. If TO and Donovan were able to control their egos (Dawkins too because he just up and walked away), things could have been different. Guess what guys THERE IS NO FORUMLA FOR WINNING THE SUPERBOWL! You try to have your team win as consistently as possible, and that’s all you can do.
And honestly, some of you give way to much power to the media, allowing it to shape and even ruin your entire fanhood. “but the media said this”, “but Andy or Banner said that” – fuck all of what they say. The media isn’t primarily concerned with reporting just facts and being unbiased. And nobody on the team ever wants to talk to the media, so they say stuff to just say stufff. But some of you let the media BS rule your whole perception of the team. That’s a shame.
Schill, we know very well the Eagles have no formula for winning a Super bowl…Don’t speak for other teams for every Superbowl winner in he last decade had the threat of a running game with good defense and smart QB play…That’s the formula….print it, and show it to Reid who continually triy to reinvent the wheel. .
I agree with Schill above,
The media makes too much of an impact with the “bandwagon fans” whose reality gets distorted
The Front Office and Media Relations dept of the Eagles are always going to put a positive spin on everything just like the other 31 teams do in the NFL,. What do people expect, the Coach,GM or President of the Team or it’s own Home Web-Page to come out publicy and be critical of players,coaches,front office perfomances and be totally honest of their plans.. If you do, then I have some swamp land in NJ to sell you..
Anyone who pays attention to the pattern of actions & decisions of this Eagles Organization should have a pretty good feel of how they operate. They all tow the company line which is not uncommon for any franchise or business that has had the stability that the Eagles have had..
But if Fans are going to base their expecations on how good a team will be based on what the Organization’ says or states, then you would have 32 teams all favored to be in the Super Bowl every year for that is every team’s goal and ambition.
Each season is a unique season with new players,new coaches,rules,opponents,schemes,draft picks,free-agent signings,and each team emerges with a unique personality based on new players,new schemes,injuries,good fortune,bad fortune,etc,etc..So until the Season starts
no one (and not even Paulman) can state with any level of certainty how a player,team,unit is going to react and perform once the real games begin. This is one of the beauty’s of the sport and why they play the games… We will know how this 2010 season unfolds and I expect some up and downs but an overall successful season, whether this means it’s good enough for a deep playoff remains to be seen but there are in good as shape all most other teams..
What ha
“Schill, we know very well the Eagles have no formula for winning a Super bowl…Don’t speak for other teams for every Superbowl winner in he last decade had the threat of a running game with good defense and smart QB play…That’s the formula….print it, and show it to Reid who continually triy to reinvent the wheel. .”
Great post Songs. Your response only magnifys my issue with many of our fellow eagles fans. If they did just a little research, they’d see that what you have laid out has unanimously won chips. I agree, this coach thinks he’s smarter than everyone else and doesn’t have a damn thing to show for it