There is an axim is sports that”defense wins championships” which has been embraced by Eagles fans after their tumultuous 2011 season. With the speed of a cornerback blitz, speculation for defensive coordinator Juan Castillo’s job began as soon as 
the season concluded. Compounded with the firing of Steve Spagnuolo as coach of the Rams, rumors began of a Spagnuolo-Eagles reunion with Spagnuolo taking over as defensive coordinator.
Being the architect of the defense that stopped the undefeated Patriots in 2007, this change would be the dream many hope would fix the biggest perceived flaw from the Eagles nightmare season. However, is this change necessarily needed?
Critics of Castillo point to the unprecedented five 4th quarter collapses in the Eagles 8-8 season. Prevent one of those and the Eagles would have won the division and made the playoffs where anything can happen. While the defense did relinquish five 4th quarter leads, there was also another thing missing in those games that no one mentioned – 4th quarter offensive points.
The Eagles lost five games by seven points or less. In four of those games, the Eagles scored a total of 3 points in the 4th quarter. In six of their 8 losses, the Eagles scored a total of 13 4th quarter points while committing a total of 14 turnovers. Furthermore, Michael Vick was responsible for 10 of those turnovers. The hiring of Steve Spagnuolo cannot fix that. Juan Castillo was not the main problem of the 2011 Eagles.
Turnovers, specifically those from the quarterback position, were the reason the Eagles did not make the playoffs. All of this talk regarding Spagnuolo replacing Castillo should be pure hogwash. Castillo’s defense ranked 8th in the NFL (2nd in the NFC). They allowed the 10th fewest points in the league and only San Francisco and Seattle allowed fewer in the NFC.
Castillo’s defense also led the league in sacks. Among the NFC playoff teams, only San Francisco had a higher ranked defense than the Eagles. If it was not known that Castillo was the offensive line coach the previous year, there would be minimal criticism of Castillo. In contrast, the Eagles were ranked 31st in the league in giveaways with an astonishing 40% more giveaways than the closest NFC playoff team- the N.Y. Giants.
The same Giants who squeaked by the Eagles for the NFC East crown. The same Giants playing in the NFC Championship game. While no one will ever confuse the 2011 Eagles defense with that of the historical 1991 Eagles Gang Green defense, it wasn’t the main reason the Eagles did not make the playoffs.
Of the twelve teams that made the postseason, the Eagles defense gave up fewer points than seven of them, ranked higher than seven of them and had more sacks than all of them. In contrast, only Cincinatti’s Andy Dalton at 80.4 (a rookie) and Baltimore’s Joe Flacco at 80.9 had lower qb ratings than Vick’s 84.9 (excluding Houston’s Yates who was a 3rd stringer forced to play because of injuries). Out of all the playoff quarterbacks, none had a higher ratio of turnovers per start than Vick (1.38 turnovers per start).
However, next year the Eagles need to do a better job defensively in creating turnovers. The Eagles defense ranked 17th in the league in interceptions and a putrid 29th in forced fumbles. And as bad as the defense was, the offense was even worse in the turnover department for an overall ranking of 31st in giveaways/takeaways.
Replacing Castillo with Spagnuolo, or anyone for that matter, will accomplish nothing if there are as many turnovers next season. To improve next year, the focus should be on a cutdown of turnovers. With the record breaking offenses this year, the Eagles have a good enough defense to compete for a championship.
Of the four teams remaining in the playoffs, the Eagles defense was ranked better than two of them (Giants and Patriots).Certainly improved play from the linebackers and safeties would make it easier but the main objective this offseason should be turnovers. Because while “defense wins championships”, sometimes the best defense is a good offense – with minimal turnovers.
Amen.
All that offensive explosion this season didnt mean anything in the playoffs, which goes to show, in the playoffs, DEFENSE still wins ballgames! I dont care where we were ranked this year, not being able to cause turnovers were our doom this year, without having studs at safety who know how to hit and strip the ball will only make us average next year, if people keep talking about Allen n Colemen being improved players and should be even better next year doesnt have a clue, they are backups at best, after watching these games the past two weeks i believe it should now be safety first, LB second as far as needs for the Eagles.
GM-in-Training- Paulman’s Mock Draft (#159)
1st Rd PIck (#15)- Safety Mark Barron (Alabama) 6-2 220lbs Runs a 4.55
2nd Rd Pick (#45) – MLB Vontae Burfict (Arizon St) 6-3 250 lbs Runs a 4.67
2nd Rd Pick (#47) – OLB Ronnell Lewis (Oklahoma) 6-2 245lbs Runs 4.63
3rd Rd Pick (#79th) – WR Dwight Jones (UNC) 6-4 225lbs Runs a 4.53
4th Rd Pick (#101) – DE Alex Okafor (Texas) 6-4 260lbs Runs a 4.62
4th Rd Pick (#111) – OT Tony Bergstrom (Utah) 6-5 310lbs
5th Rd Pick (#143) – DT Derek Wolfe (Cincinnati) 6-5 305 lbs, Runs 5.1
Use the 3 Selections in the 6th Round for depth at RB,FB,TE,C/G
Paulman, I like your picks for the Eagles but I’m willing to bet a lot that Vontaze will not be there at #45.
Your are probably right BTC,,
I have seen him (Burfict) Rated anywhere from the 20th Selection all the way to the 40th Selection..but he did not have a very good Senior Season and had some real issues/questions with his Coaches and Teammates are far as maturity and coachability issues which has caused him to drop
Not to change the Subject
Does anyone know if the Indy Combines allow “Junior Players” who have filed for the Draft to participate in the Drills/Evaluations or is it simply for Seniors…
I am pretty sure the Senior Bowl Week dowin in Mobile, Alabama at the end of January is only for Senior Players but not sure about the Indy Combines..
1st – Safety Mark Barron
2nd –
Paulman, I wouldnt have a problem with those first two picks at all, btc24, remember, we have extra picks in the second round, we can always make a trade to move up to get him, whatever it takes, but you have to get that LB also.
“Castillo’s defense also led the league in sacks. Among the NFC playoff teams, only San Francisco had a higher ranked defense than the Eagles. If it was not known that Castillo was the offensive line coach the previous year, there would be minimal criticism of Castillo. ”
You have to be joking.
Washburn would get more credit than Juan for the Sack total.
Juan moved a successful middle linebacker and replaced him with a complete bum. Then everyone acted like they could not see what every Eagle fan saw…A bum at Middle Linebacker.
Juan was lost for most of the season.
Juan missused our prize free agent pick-up at cornerback.
The run defense was a complete joke.
Yes…Juan would have been critisized for being a bum, whether he was a offensive line coach or not.
Having “Bozo the Clown” for a defensive coordinator affected the offense.
Marty Morningweg and Jim Washburn fight on the sidelines.
You don’t think that the offensive players had similar emotions of anger and no confidence in this complete bum.
Spags or any real NFL qualified defensive coordinator would bring confidence and swagger to the defense. Instead the defense was lost and clueless.
Steamrolled by the Seahawks, and complete outclassed by the Patriots.
“there would be minimal criticism of Castillo. ”
Minimal criticism in Philadelphia of a sports bum…
Yes that’s a reality we all believe.
The first line of business is to see what the Eagles do with Desean. I think that will have a big impact on what the Eagles then do in free agency and the draft. While we all talk about the defense, our offense left a lot to be desired in various games throughout the season and a big time WR to go along with Maclin shouldn’t be out of the question. I mean, just look at the Patriots, Saints, Giants, and Packers. All had extremely potent offenses yet their defenses were ranked at the very bottom of the league. Just goes to show that a defense doesn’t necessarily win championships anymore.
Andrew….
7 of the 8 playoff games have gone “over” the total this year. Winning scores this week were:
45-10
36-32
37-20
20-13
One “defensive” game. Each other winner scored over 32.
Last week:
31-10
45-28
29-23
24 -3
So…..of the 8 winners. 6 scored 29pts or more. There have been perhaps, 2 “defensive” victories so far…..NYG vs ATL and Balt vs Houston (and they playing a 3rd QB).
You must score 30 to be successful in today’s NFL. The bird’s scored under 24 pts a whopping 10 times this year and were 3-7 in those games.
Even worse…Ealles scored 20 or less in 7 games!! and were 2-5 in those.
Was it “defense” that had GB drop the ball 700x? Did the D cause the Saints to muff 2 punts inside their 20?
Bsm Videos
“steamrolled by the Seahawks” Was 31-14.
The game whereYoung threw 4 ints in what was one of the worst QBing displays in the history of the NFL.
Where INT 1 was at the 40 and led to a seahawks td
Where int 2 was at the 30 and led to a TD
where pick 3 was a pick 6
Where the Eagles’ 1st half posessions went: Int, 3-out, 3-out, 4-out, Touchdown!, 3-out, 4-out, 3-out.
Is that the game that you balme on our terrible defense???
Or the NE game: Where after taking a 10 point lead the Birds went: 3-out, INT, 3-out, fg, 3-out. You going to blame the D? For what? Giving up 38 to New England? Newsflash…they scored over 30 in 12 games this year, They only had 3 games with less than 20 pts (and we’re a predictable 1-2 in those games). The Birds had 7 games less than 20 pts.
There’s your season. Our O did not score pts.
Did you know our D held 10 teams under 21pts this year (8-2) ? Not too shabby. Especially for a team with an entirely new coaching staff and 8 new starters on D.
Lets look at some of these other “defensive” teams (I’m assuming you’re talking about the ones left in the playoffs) and see how many times they held opponents under 21pts:
NYG: 9x
SF: 12x
Balt: 11x
So the eagles pretty much in line with those teams….how about the Pats (as they’re still alive)
NE: 8x (though there were 4 20 and 21s in there)
This team has problems on offence…most specifically at the quarterback position.
I am not saying that I would object to an LB or safety being drafted in the first round….but the #1 issue on a team that scored less than 20 7x this season is on offence.
Vinnie, those strips by the backers had everything to do with the outcomes, u cant overlook that, as for our stats? people want to bring up how we were 8th in the league in overall D but we were 29th in force fumbles, that explains why we couldnt keep alot of those leads this year, we need ballhawks in the D backfield.
I feel better now….AR is back from his vacation.
Pman anyone meeting the NFL and NCAA requirements are eligible. A.J. Green participated last year as a Junior.
I like your picks, but I’d like to see the Eagles bring in a solid vet to man the middle (I’m looking at you Dave Hawthorne) and let Burfict fight with Chaney for the SAM (although I think he’d excel at the WILL). I’m not convinced Burfict has the head for the MIKE and needs to improve his ability to get off blocks.
Hawthorne, Burfict and Barron would immediately sure up the back 7
3-4 Major Decisions the Eagles really need to address before a Complete Draft Strategy can be implemented…
#1) Decide if Eagles want WR D-Jax or not, even by franchising him or let him walk…
#2) Decide if Eagles will resign LG Evan Mathis to keep OL Continuity
#3) Decide fate on CB Samuel , maybe trade with one of those 2nd Round Picks to move up to a 1st Rounder (Cleveland & Cincinnati each have 2 1st Round Selections) or do they end up releasing him to get nothing in return
Other trade pieces for the Eagles to use
— RT W Justice is under contract and could probably return a 4th/5th Round PIck as OT with starting experience are always in demand
— DE D Tapp who is due a $3.8 Million Salary in 2012 which is very high for a rotational player.. If Graham is good to go and with the emergence of DE P Hunt, Tapp may be expendable to trade for 4th/5th Round Selection or again, used with one of their 4th Round Selections to move up in the Draft..
I’m was trying to tell you guys you need linebackers and safeties that play with reckless abandonment thats why I wanted Donta Hightower as the Eagles linebacker you guys worried about coverage skills when guys are scared to come across the middle because you hit with intentions it matters just look at San Fran and Baltimore teams. I don’t want London Fletcher I want a guy who’s good and put fear into ball carriers.
This is not really accurate since some bush-league elements of the organization have been put in the spotlight and are being force checked. I tend to believe that if Spagnuolo becomes the DC it will solve a couple more critical problems. DeSean Jackson clearly and justifiably played out of character for the vast majority of the season, impending free agency is around the corner. With Washburn lashing out at Morningweg and subsequently seeing the Eagles run the ball more I firmly believe Morningweg fears another fiery sideline outburst from Washburn roaming in his direction and that’s a good thing. Spagnuolo, after being a HC, is going to demand to have some significant say in the personnel, so that should help transistion the LB situation into a better one. Hopefully, he sees having Washburn as a potential ally and the “Wide 9” as a new and powerful element in his defensive bag of tricks as very beneficial. My only concern is that rumors out of St. Louis seemed to be that he was a possessive, micromanaging ego maniac. Hopefully, that’s just an apparition.
Paulman, although that draft would make me happy, they ain’t drafting a safety #1, & neither Burfict, nor Lewis will still be there, at 45-47. They’re both ranked top 20, in mostly all mocks.
Dcar,
I use a lot of my rankings from NFCDraftScouts.Com whi I find to be a very reliable source of informations, trankings, player strengths and weaknesses, etc,etc…
Most have Burfict as the 3rd MLB in the Draft behind Kuechley and Hightower and I see no way 3 MLB will be selected in the 1st Round of a Draft.. Burfict will most likely fall to the early 2nd Round and the Eagles will have a very good shot at getting him when you look at the teams ahead of them who have good MLB already and have other other needs to address (I could see the Vikings,Buffalo,or maybe Jacksonville as potential teams with needs at MLB enough to use their 2nd Rounder on him)
The Rankings on OLB Lewis have been consistently in the #40-#55 Range so I am not sure where you have seen him on the Top 20.. Lewis is Ranked d as the 5th Top OLB behind Ingram,Upshaw,Zach Brown who will all be 1st Rounders) and then D Lavonte Bobby Wagner and Lewis all in the 2nd ROund… What Ranking source are you using…
Defense still does and will always win championships…when you don’t have a Brees, Manning, Brady, Rodgers throwing the ball for your team. The best fallacy is when people try to shut this down by just looking at the past decade of SB winners. Again, think for a second and realize we don’t have any of those Qbs so we will need exceptional defensive players and coaches on that side of the ball to win it. Vick is not throwing for 400 plus yards like Brees will do…or throw 5 tds in a first half like Brady. Defense will have to win championships if your an EAgles fan
fools gold!!!!!! by the way……I’m selling the delaware river at a serious discounted price.
BTW, its ridiculous in how these TEs are playing right now. They make their Qbs so much better its a joke. Jimmy Graham basically gets half of Brees yards by himself. Same with Gronk from the Pats. They make those QBs look ridiculous…Just look at that last TD from the Saints…Brees just threw that ball up there in double coverage and Graham did it all for him…Same thing happens for Brady and so on…
Don’t get me wrong, Im a huge brent Celek fan (prolly my fav eagles right now) but imagine having that elite TE on the other side of him. I think it would do wonders for Vick. Does anybody think any potential TE’s in the draft could be that good? I havn’t really been paying attention the the TE position in the NCAA this year? Paulman you know any? I think I’ve actually seen the eagles tied to the guy from Clemson (i think) in the 2nd round in some mock drafts
There was a recent discussion on TV among players about the myth of defense winning championships… that it was just that, a myth. They said it takes entire team rising to the occasion, limiting mistakes and taking advantage of other team’s errors. That’s what the Giants did to the Pack, with Eli, WR’s and backs playing on offense at a high level, not just the D. Even the Ravens championship years ago took an average QB in Dilfer to rise to the occasion and manage the offense with no turnovers. Even the Steelers with the young Rothisberger proved plenty of great offense to finally win for Cowher, Brad Johnson and offense beating the Eagles and eventually winning it all. I have never seen any team win a SB with bad plays on offense and the defense actually winning the game. There may have been offenses with fewer skilled players, but they still played skillfully and up to their potential.
This one of problems with Reid-coached teams: no balance on both sides of ball through intelligent drafting and FA signings. Bringing in a bunch of FA’s proves exactly that the FO has not drafted well over the years. I agree that hiring Spags does not guarantee anything for this team; the offense turned ball over too much and the LB and DB situations were awful.
Pheags, I gave a list of Top TE’s on one of these postings the other day..
There are some good ones coming out ..
Can we please give up on this notion that the eagles will draft a safety in the first rd of the draft,they just use 2 senond rd picks in back2back years on safety’s so,and also they will not draft a lb in the first rd either for they will be in the same spot as last year with having young guys outhere on the field and may not know what they are doing.So with that said the eagles will either draft a 1.de,2.rt,3.dt in rd1 they may take a shot with a lb in the 2nd rd since they will have 3 second rd picks after the asante deal goes thru but not in the first it will be a vet like fletcher,or curtis lofton that they may sign or somebody via trade.AND THE safety spot unless they have no hope at all for jarrett,and i dont see that being the case after one year no ota’s or mini camps and no real training camp the eagles dont give up on early picks that soon see abiamiri,mcdouggle,frd-ex,stankston,bunkley,reggie brown,shawn andrews,lito,ect…..you get the point the eagles brass gives players at least four years to show them something sorry brandon graham man the eagles drafts have sucked do you right now our de’s could be cole,tuck,jpp but instead its cole,graham,abiamiri we took graham over jpp,and victor over tuck great job guys hell for that this year since we have no luck in the draft outside of late rd picks i would take 1st rd pick and babin and trade it to houston for mario williams
Paulman, the two mock drafts on NFLdraftscout.com don’t even have Hightower going in the first round.
This team broke the bank to create an elite defense, one that would flourish when we had the lead.
Now, suddenly, the defense was not at fault because the offense didn’t build a big enough lead, or they built it too early, or they didn’t regain the lead? The philosophy was to throw “fastballs” once we got the lead, which lead to turnovers.
We finished 8-8, missed the playoffs and blew 5 4th quarter leads!!!!
The Kool-Aid always tastes better a few weeks after the season has ended. That’s when memories begin to fade.
Personally, every time I watch a playoff game, I’m pissed. Lurie, FINALLY, opened his check book. The front office ID’d and addressed the primary area of concern. How is it, now, that the defined area was not really the area of concern?
Give me a break.
Butch…..Jackson, “clearly and justifiably played out of character for the vast majority of the season”
Justifiably…of course…. ‘Cause he was disrescected by the FO right? Didn’t get him his dollaz!!
And they signed Steve Smith for more $$ than him….an INSULT!!!!!
So he justfiably played like shit. Totally Justifiably. He is the only guy in the NFL to be treated this way!! Injustice from a notoriously cheap front office. (you might as well as “damn jews” to the cheap comment)
I mean all he did was act exactly llike Lesean McCoy did when they brought in Ronnie Brown at twice his salary.
Or just like Adrian Foster did making league min despite leading the league in rushing last year.
Or Ray Rice at 500K despite 2 years as a top 5 back in the league…
or Forte…
or Gronkowski (10 tds last year +17 this year – getting league minumum – he scores more tds in a game than Desean did this year),
Or Mike WIlliams who is better than Desean and gets paid less.
They all bitched and complained when other guys came in or signed for more than them
They all alligator armed half their catches….
They all started signaling fair catch the moment the kicker made contact like a certain #10 did this year (honestly, at any point did you feel Jackson was making any attp at returning punts. Oh, another fair catch – that’s a suprise)
They all missed meetings….
If I hear one more, Jackson was “disrespected” business I’m gonna lose it. You know who feels disrespected? Just about every player in the league! Every time a new contract gets signed for more $$, which is just about every 2 days in the NFL. Jackson didn’t get the $$ he thought he “deserved” and instead of going out, ratcheting it up, putting on a show and making himself both a gazillion dollars in contract and endorsement $$, to go with the support and loyalty of a rabid fan base, he pouted and whined and sulked and bsically showed his true colours as the baby-la-la that he is.
Too bad for him I guess. I hope he enjoys the Raiders.
Oh, Vinnie go root for Kolb! lol
Raiders have plenty of young promising speedy WR’s already under contract and don’t need D-Jax since they Jacoby Ford, Heyward-Bey and Louis Murhpy..
D-Jax will sign a deal for the 49ers who have no real deep threat and he will give them a home town discount but still get a bigger Deal than he will from Eagels… 49ers already released WR Braylon Edwards and have Wr’s Josh Morgan and Ted Ginn Jr as Free-agents after this Season and still have the underachiening Michael Crabtree under contract for 1 more Season
Gloomsmitty….I tend to agree….I have a feeling the Birds will go DL with the first pick too. I would not be suprised with OT at all.
Drummer…you’re half right. The Eagles problem in 2009 was defense. And the FO went out and did an overhaul to fix it. Clearly it was going to take a half a season for 8 new players and a new coaching staff to figure things out. They were playing well the final half of the season….they showed some promise for next year…….the defense imporved over the course of the year, and improved from the year before…..
The offence, however, was worse than the year before. They regressed. Points down. Turnovers up. Of course that this was going to happen was predicted well in advance by a certain someone – (though I won’t sing my own praises here) who figured it was pretty damn obvious that the first half of 2009 was an offensive mirage.
The team scored 20 or less 7x last year. Putrid. 24 or less 10x.
We scored 28 pts 5x this year (and were a predictable 4-1 in those games)
Take a look at the remaining playoff teams and notice how many 28 pt games they’ve had…
NE 13
Balt 6
NYG 9
SF 4
Offence and D work together…I’ll give you that….but over the course of the year the D continued to improve and the O wasn’t any good. I see promise on D. I think with the addition of a new LB, expected improved play from the ridiculously young safties, NNamdi with a year…a pretty ferocious pass rush, with perhaps the addition of a new pass rusher in the draft….promise….
Now on O. I think there is promise in a young and imporving oline that will get even better, a stud young wr. Solid, pass catching options in Maclin and Celek…….and what area needs the most improvement. Well there’s the rub isn’t it. An about to be 32 yr old veteran QB, who survives on his legs and just isn’t a good QB. Do you see hope there?
meant stud young rb
Once again, Reid’s team beat up a few cupcakes, especially after its season had already ended. Stats tell lies. What happened to the statistically monster offenses of the Packers and Saints? How about the undefeated Pats against the Giants?
Whoever claims that defense doesn’t win championships is dead wrong.
Obviously, any one phase of a team can lose a game for you. So, yes, it takes an effort by everyone. However, a dominating D can make everyone else’s job so much easier.
There’s a huge difference between managing a game (not making mistakes) and winning a game (making game-changing plays), especially against a playoff-caliber opponent.
All of these passing records mean nothing. In fact, I believe, these passing teams are causing their defenses to suffer. The defenses are getting no rest. Like Buddy used to say, a defense’s best friend is a running game. That’s why he punched Kevin Gilbride in the mouth.
Yesterday, during the 2nd half, the Packers sent the Giants into two consecutive 3 and outs. I was blogging with a few buddies at the time. I told them that if the offense didn’t mount at least a 5-6 minute drive, they’d lose the game.
Sure enough, the Giants’ offense did mount a drive, although they failed to score. Although the momentum had shifted in GB’s favor, I told my buddies not to worry, because the defense was well rested. Two plays later they picked off Rodgers, and the rest, as they say, is history.
This is a game of balance. While the powers that be want an exciting passing game, the defenses have begun to catch up. Everyone has “fastballs” at linebacker and DE.
The name of the game, now, is “ball control.” Ice the other team and give your “fastballs” some rest. The opposing QB can’t win from the bench and a well-rested, top notch defense almost has an advantage over the offense, because when you pass the ball, only 3 things can happen and two of them are bad.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, Eagles should draft Russel Wilson from Wisconsin. I really think this kid can play.
You guys can guess all you want as far as who we will pick, but we all know that Reid and the FO will pull a rabbit out his ARSE and trade our 1st round pick for a 2nd and 3rd round 2013 pick. you guys are to drunk off of the green koolaid…come on and get with the program after 13 years of this crap. Then, our 1st pick will be a 2nd round Casey Matthews type of Lb who is already coming off an injury in college who gets hurt in training camp and sucked prior to that anyway. Trust me boys! After a recovering addict coming out of this drug called “green kool-aid” for 13 years, nothings gonna change until the supplier (Reid) is ran off this block.
Now that I can see clearly now the rain is gone, i can only tell you guys from experience. Trust me; you’re waisting your time trying to guess on which drug you’re going to try to get high off of next year. Just go ahead and get in recovery like I have so that you can see clearly and get a new lease on life as an Eagles fan. The sooner you get admitted, the better you will become! Trust me on this guys; good luck!
Fair point Rocko; however, keep in mind that Reid knows this may in fact be his last year so he knows he better get it done and once again “go all in.” Reid doesn’t have time to try and develop players or play the salary cap game anymore. I would have to assume this could change his approach to the draft.
Vinnie
You’re half wrong. lol
They improved, but to what degree? What powerhouse did this “improving” defense beat?
Just another typical Reid cream-puff-beating team. Those regular-season Superbowls flavor the Kool-Aid, and that’s it.
26-44 against playoff bound teams during the reg. season and much, much worse against AFC teams. This record was built with Jim Johnson at the defensive helm.
Reid is a sure-fire mediocre-team-beating coach.
So, drummerwinslow–this is what I say to everyone that brings up that stat against Reid–do you think coaches like Walsh, Gibbs, and Parcells built their resumes around beating powerhouses? Nope, they did not. Same with Belicheck–how many teams with winning records did Belicheck beat this year? Try ZERO–the only teams with winning records they played, they lost to–at Pittsburgh and at home to New York. And as far as having Jim Hohnson at the defensive helm, I can’t understand why the guy is revered so much–yeah, he helped them win a bunch of games in the regular season–but when it came to the playoffs–specifically the four NFCCGs and the SB the Eagles lost–he got outcoached. But no one wants to admit that.
And G Cobb–got a 2question for you–I’ve been readong on another board that Micah Warren has been saying the Eagles won’t bring back Spagnoulo because he’s got issues with Joe Banner. If that’s true, I’d like to see him put it in print here.
Of course the name of the game is “ball control”. And our O, led by the turnover machine, is exactly the opposite of “ball control”.
Unless by ball control you me controlling how many times the other team gets a freebie. We excelled at that this year.
I was suprised by how the GB O fell apart yestterday – though I think its a complete misnomer to say they were shut down by the NYG D. I think most of GBs offensive troubles were self inflicted.
I, in no way, am saying the D isn’t important. I think that both GB and NO were hampered by themselves having historically terrible defenses. I think this might not bode well for NE, though Flacco is mediocre at best, so they should be able to handle the Balt O.
But the Birds are not historically bad on D anymore. And there is a lot of promise and hope on D. Plenty of young promise.
And perhaps that’s what I’m getting at. Honestly, are you at all excited about the QB position on the birds? Do you have faith Vick is going to magically revert to 1st half 2009? I don’t.
I think the fanbases in Det, Car, Cinci, Denv (though misguided) – they right now have hope. Hope that their QBs will continue to improve. Grow. Get them to the level they need to win a SB.
Do you think they’re worried about their safeties? Do you really think the reason SF is continuing thru the playoffs is because of their defense??
Its because their QB gave the ball to the other team only 5x this year.
Do you feel that with the Birds? You still holding out hope that a 32 year old guy is going to raise himself up to a level of above-average consistency?
I don’t.
Do you know that Vick was 6th in the league in % of passing attempts that were picked off? Behind only Carson Palmer, Christian Ponder (note – never draft a QB with initials CP) John Skelton……Sexy Rexy and of course the incomperable Vince Young!!!!!!
That’s pathetic company. Not “bad” company. Pathetic company. A rookie, a second year bench warmer, and 3 washed up never-wases.
100 million dollar superstar my ass.
Drummer…as I poted earlier…..most of the teams in the playoffs have losingrecords against other playoff teams.
I think the only 2 that had winning records against above .500 teams (GB and NO) both lost.
Most every team in the league has a winning losing record against “winning” teams. YOu’re going to find that same stat with just about every single coach in the league.
Former Saints D/C Gregg Williams takes the DC postion with the Rams to rejoin freind and HC Jeff Fisher, Saints also offer FIred Brian Shottenheimer the OC Position with the Rams..
Don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but Spags will be the next DC of the NO Saints, expect an announcement come Thursday/Friday or so..
I will repeat for the umpteenth time, that Spags has very little interest in coming back to Philly and especially at this stage with this dysfunctionble Organization that the Eagles have become.. As far as Spags having issues with Banner, I have no idea, but word is, that Spags has no interest in coaching with DL Washburn and his Wide-9 Scheme..
Correction,, Shoud be the Rams offered former OC Brian Shottenheimer, from the Jets, to be the new OC of the Rams
Spags will only make an impact with better talent…
Round #1 – S Mark Barron, Alabama
Round #2 (from Cardinals) – CB Stephon Gilmore, South Carolina
Round #2 – LB Vontaze Burfict, Arizona State
3 players who could start as rookies and make an impact…
@Paulman – DJax is the missing piece to the 49ers offense…. add him to Gore, Crabtree and Davis…
Paulman your right about Spaggs he’s not coming here but I don’t understand this organization the season has been over two weeks ago and the elephant in the room hasn’t said a word and like last season all the coordinators are being snatched up leaving us with the scraps just terrible.
I agree jott1972 and like your Draft picks
CB Gilmore could be an All-Pro CB in 2 ytears time and may be the most complete CB in this Draft in my opinion…
I am not sold yet on DCR who will be entering his final year of his Contract in 2012.. If he has a big time year and makes the Pro-Bowl, he will demand crazy $$$ and maybe leave Via Free-Agency next Off-Season
There is little doubt in my mind that D-JAx ends up with the 49ers, it’s a perfect match for him and for them.. He basically replaces Ted Ginn Jr and provides with a deep threat that they don’t have on their Roster..
The main problem is Andy, no playoff win in 3 years and counting!!!! He did not run mcCoy in Pats game this yr(11 rushes), 11 rushes in 2011 playoff game, 6 rushes in 2010 Cowboy playoff game……oh well atleast Pats rushed 30 times and Giants know what balance is 27 rushes(34 passes)
Vinnie
What are those records? I’m reading a lot, but I see NO stats. Don’t make it up as you go.
BULL!
In comparison, Bill Belichick is 40-17 against playoff teams since 2003.