My observations after Eagles game

[adam]

• Velus Jones is not going to be anything. I would not be surprised if he was cut in the offseason. At his age, they touted this maturity and work ethic. The dude is a WR that can't catch and fumbles, which is 50% of his job. It doesn't matter how fast he is if he can't catch or when he does, fumbles. 
• The Gordon that was drafted finally showed up. He was all over the place, INT, fumble recovery, and some great tackling. This is the guy everyone expected. I hope he finishes the season like this.
• I have been mixed on the coaching staff, but what they are doing with this roster is quite impressive. From last year, the defense lost Mack, Hicks, Quinn, Smith, and Jackson and almost beat the best team in the NFL. 2 INTs and a forced fumble was awesome to see. That has been missing the last few games.
• On the flip side, the offense WR corps was down to Pettis, Jones, Pringle, and Webster and somehow held a lead and almost won. 
• Leatherwood and the O-Line as a whole struggled. The same thing that plagued him in LVR are still there. He needs more work. They need to sign at least 2x top end FAs this offseason with some draft picks.
• Fields now has 1K rushing yards on the season and needs 207 in the last 3 games to take the record, that is 69 yards per game and he had 95 vs Philly, so it will be possible.
• I still don't understand how Fields doesn't get the calls. There were two plays that should've been easy flags. First Suh literally punch Fields in the side of the head on a tackle, and there was another play where Fields got sacked and the dude landed right on top of him.

[lemonej]

The defense actually rose to the occasion and Fields can make Chicken salad out of Chicken poop. I'm watching him take the snap and Cody Whitehair continuously whiff on the outside in stunts that the Eagles kept running. Leatherwood is not an OT. Try him at LG and tell Whitehair you're moving in another direction. Jaylon Johnson is a top CB.

[Stinger226]

I agree with most of your points. I can see Poles moving on from a bad draft pick, but suspect he is coming back and it would be next yr not this season end. It honestly takes 3 yrs to judge a draft. A lot of first yr good draftees every yr but the majority take 2 to the three yrs to develop. Hurts is a good example of that. His first yr wasnt anything to brag about, got better last yr and broke out this yr. If they judged him his first yr, he may never made  progress. 

Leatherwood will compete next yr for RT but they will bring someone in to compete with him for the job. If Whitehair continues to play bad, he may be replaced next yr. The problem is, we played the best pass rushing team in the league, not sure that should be your ultimate game to judge a players worth.

The referring hasnt been good this yr not just in our games. 

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Thought I’d jump on your post Eagles thoughts and add what I found on the interwebs this AM.  Cool shit…(and this is with third and fourth tier WRs). 

 

[Mongo3451]

Leatherwood has a fatal flaw that he must fix or his career is done.  When he gave those 2 quick sacks, the exact mistake happened.  Pre contact his positioning was good. His next move should have been a strong punch, directly followed by a one foot step to the right.  At that point, he should lock on and ride him him out.  His failure started with the punch, it was weak and failed to slow the defender down.  When you follow that without sliding your feet, your QB is done for quickly.  He is different from Borom because he actually read it well.  Even if he punches and slides, he can still be beaten with a bull rush, but not so quickly.  Clean it up kid!

[lemonej]

I believe Leatherwood needs to be moved inside because he is struggling against speed rushers. The Bears are on the hook for his rookie contract, so they need to exhaust every possibility to develop him. This is a first rounder that his team discarded.

[Lucky Luciano]

49 minutes ago, lemonej said:

The defense actually rose to the occasion and Fields can make Chicken salad out of Chicken poop. I'm watching him take the snap and Cody Whitehair continuously whiff on the outside in stunts that the Eagles kept running. Leatherwood is not an OT. Try him at LG and tell Whitehair you're moving in another direction. Jaylon Johnson is a top CB.

exactly. someone should have been on the sideline showing how to counter the stunts they ran multiple times.

 

[Stinger226]

They need to just sign Elton Jenkins and Pocic at OC  and let the best 5 start.

[adam]

2 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Thought I’d jump on your post Eagles thoughts and add what I found on the interwebs this AM.  Cool shit…(and this is with third and fourth tier WRs). 

 

and Hurts only had a QB Rating of 64.6 against the Bears Def. If not for 3 super EZ rushing TDs, his overall stats would be crap. He only completed 59.5% of his passes and 113 yards were on two plays. So he had 35 other attempts that netted 202 yards (5.7 Y/A). 

[adam]

Yeah, I can't believe how many times our guys missed the stunts. It was like they never played the position before. Once your guy rubs off of you, you have to know someone else is coming around.

[AZ54]

3 hours ago, Lucky Luciano said:

exactly. someone should have been on the sideline showing how to counter the stunts they ran multiple times.

 

Whitehair is in his 7th season and is the 6th highest paid LG in the NFL.  If he needs coaching to figure that out we have the wrong man for the job.  I only got to see replays during the game but it appeared even Braxton Jones figured out they had to switch off their blocks.  Whitehair just continued following the DT until he (Whitehair) ran into Jones and lost his balance.  There is a lot of cold/flu stuff going around and we had some players miss time for illness leading into the game so perhaps he was having an off day but I agree with others who have pointed out that he hasn't been the same player since he returned from his injury.  

[AZ54]

1 hour ago, adam said:

and Hurts only had a QB Rating of 64.6 against the Bears Def. If not for 3 super EZ rushing TDs, his overall stats would be crap. He only completed 59.5% of his passes and 113 yards were on two plays. So he had 35 other attempts that netted 202 yards (5.7 Y/A). 

Hurts threw some dimes but also had quite a few passes that were off the mark a bit.  If you swapped one of these two position groups:  Oline or WR corps      I think we win that game and it might not even be close.  

[Mongo3451]

Picking up stunts isn't very difficult if everyone is on the same page.  The best two we've had is Jenkins and Jones.  It's seems on a weekly basis that someone is late on a switch off.  The adjustment becomes more difficult when there is blitzing, but that's not the case here.  I'm going to give Whitehair a pass here, due to him entering the game as our highest rated OL.  Sometimes that guy on the delay stunt is the running backs responsibility.  I forget what quarter it was otherwise I'd look on my DVR.  

[adam]

1 hour ago, AZ54 said:

Hurts threw some dimes but also had quite a few passes that were off the mark a bit.  If you swapped one of these two position groups:  Oline or WR corps      I think we win that game and it might not even be close.  

Those two outside moon shots were perfectly thrown. Fields still doesn't put enough air underneath his like that. He has thrown some but those were literally perfect. It also helps to have WRs like that.

[BearFan PHX]

I think a new center will fix a lot of this. Its usually the middle guy who has to see the stunts coming anyway, and the center calls the protections too.

I wouldnt be shocked if we had four new OL starting next year, none of whom is on the roster currently - especially by, say, week 8 of next year.

Poles is an OL, he knows when it's bad.

[AZ54]

1 hour ago, BearFan PHX said:

I think a new center will fix a lot of this. Its usually the middle guy who has to see the stunts coming anyway, and the center calls the protections too.

I wouldnt be shocked if we had four new OL starting next year, none of whom is on the roster currently - especially by, say, week 8 of next year.

Poles is an OL, he knows when it's bad.

That's interesting because when I saw the first stunt go past Whitehair I saw Mustipher in the middle with no one to block.  He looked left and saw nobody coming (before the stunt) and then turned to his right to help out Jenkins or maybe Schofield who didn't need any help.  If he had just stepped back and stayed in the middle he would have been in position to help on the DE stunt inside.   Instead he had his back to the DE as he came through.  

 

 

[Stinger226]

Poles is going to stick with the growing of B Jones at LT next yr. Jenkins earned a start so that's two spots. The OC spot has been disrupted and its the head of the snake. I think he brings in a top OC (Pocic), my choice to settle down the OL. Leatherwood will get a shot to start but he will not count on it and bring in a vet and a draftee to fight it out. Probably stays with Whitehair for another yr, but his future is not set in stone. Patrick will stay to compete and back up, but I hope he brings in Elgton Jenkins that will fit in where ever a player fails and play  in the top 5. So ( my thoughts) Jones-Whitehair-Pocic-Jenkins- E Jenkins. One you stabilize the OL, then the passing game will take flight. I dont think he keeps adding rookies to delay the growth. 

[BearFan PHX]

4 hours ago, AZ54 said:

That's interesting because when I saw the first stunt go past Whitehair I saw Mustipher in the middle with no one to block.  He looked left and saw nobody coming (before the stunt) and then turned to his right to help out Jenkins or maybe Schofield who didn't need any help.  If he had just stepped back and stayed in the middle he would have been in position to help on the DE stunt inside.   Instead he had his back to the DE as he came through. 

That's what I saw too. And too many times this year, I've seen Mustipher standing all alone, arms out, looking around while chaos burns behind him. On a weak line, he's a weak spot.

[BearFan PHX]

1 hour ago, Stinger226 said:

Poles is going to stick with the growing of B Jones at LT next yr. Jenkins earned a start so that's two spots. The OC spot has been disrupted and its the head of the snake. I think he brings in a top OC (Pocic), my choice to settle down the OL. Leatherwood will get a shot to start but he will not count on it and bring in a vet and a draftee to fight it out. Probably stays with Whitehair for another yr, but his future is not set in stone. Patrick will stay to compete and back up, but I hope he brings in Elgton Jenkins that will fit in where ever a player fails and play  in the top 5. So ( my thoughts) Jones-Whitehair-Pocic-Jenkins- E Jenkins. One you stabilize the OL, then the passing game will take flight. I dont think he keeps adding rookies to delay the growth. 

I think Poles will look to free agency, and bring in more OL players than you think. There's no reason to stick with any of these guys if an upgrade is available. We have the bucks and there are a lot of good FA OL out there. I wish there were good WRs available, but OL help is deep,

[Stinger226]

1 minute ago, BearFan PHX said:

I think Poles will look to free agency, and bring in more OL players than you think. There's no reason to stick with any of these guys if an upgrade is available. We have the bucks and there are a lot of good FA OL out there. I wish there were good WRs available, but OL help is deep,

I agree to a point but he aint going out and spending all his money on 4 OL. I think if he adds two , that would be a lot for him. Otherwise if he goes with inexpensive players, that will keep us in a rebuilding position longer. Even if we he drafts a high pick at OT, that doesnt mean that become a blue chip tackle in the first yr With basically 3 yrs left of control of Fields, he sets the stability in the line down next yr with who I previously mentioned. 

[BearFan PHX]

I dont see why he wouldnt spend money on 4 Free Agents if he thought they were good players at fair prices. They dont all have to be highest paid free agents. Why keep Leatherwood as a starter, for example, when you can pay someone $8 Million a year to be much better than him. With $160 Million+ to spend, you can afford that.

[Stinger226]

1 hour ago, BearFan PHX said:

I dont see why he wouldnt spend money on 4 Free Agents if he thought they were good players at fair prices. They dont all have to be highest paid free agents. Why keep Leatherwood as a starter, for example, when you can pay someone $8 Million a year to be much better than him. With $160 Million+ to spend, you can afford that.

Leatherwood is just going to be competing with someone else, he's not given the job. I just don't think he's replacing players at 4 spots. 

[BearFan PHX]

Leatherwood was just an example, and goes for any player. Including Braxton Jones. if we can get a serious upgrade, then we will do it. It doesnt matter if you tried hard and did better than expected. We have a lot of cap room, and so I think anything is possible on the OL. We have no loyalty to any of these guys.

Jenkins is a keeper on merit. The rest? Depends on what the options are.

[Stinger226]

5 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

Leatherwood was just an example, and goes for any player. Including Braxton Jones. if we can get a serious upgrade, then we will do it. It doesnt matter if you tried hard and did better than expected. We have a lot of cap room, and so I think anything is possible on the OL. We have no loyalty to any of these guys.

Jenkins is a keeper on merit. The rest? Depends on what the options are.

Technically other that Fields, we could upgrade anyone on the roster but if you're building a team, why fill spots you already think you filled with upside players? You cant bring in 21 new players in in one season. Braxton may not be the answer, but he will get next yr to prove that. Why would Poles say ( I can find better) after one yr. So is he going to bring in a new SS and CB in because you can find better players than Gordon and Brisker? Nope

He has potential  core players that he started with in his first yr, it may not pan out, but I dont think he chucks his first yr of trying. 

B Jones, Jenkins, Brisker, Gordon, Sanborn, Justin Jones, D. Robinson, Claypool, Jaylon Jones, E Hicks, Leatherwood. These are players he brought in. 

[Mongo3451]

11 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

I dont see why he wouldnt spend money on 4 Free Agents if he thought they were good players at fair prices. They dont all have to be highest paid free agents. Why keep Leatherwood as a starter, for example, when you can pay someone $8 Million a year to be much better than him. With $160 Million+ to spend, you can afford that.

I'm thinking a little more like Stinger.  For continuity, I'd rather see two good upgrades come in and think they would help improve the others, especially when young guys are expected to improve.  Money is funny, even when it's crazy abundant.  Looking at years and balance between O and D are imperative.  I don't want to see us in any sort of cap situation for at least five years.