SB Nation - Stewart Bradley

Comcast/NFL Red Zone stat of the week

JasonB — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:52:28 -0000

The Eagles "stat of the week" is brought to you by Comcast and the new NFL Red Zone channel

So far this year, I've been using this post to talk about the Eagles performance in the red zone from week to week. And week after week, they barely if ever get to the red zone. Whether they score from all big plays on a good day or can't get inside the 20 on a bad day, It's left me with little to write about.

So we're shifting gears. From here on out we'll be doing the "stat of the week" This week's stat comes from Andy Schwartz of CSN.com

(This week) Gocong becomes the seventh player to practice at middle linebacker for the Eagles, a domino effect that started in camp with the season-ending injury to Stewart Bradley.

He's referring to the fact that Chris Gocong will play middle linebacker this week against the Chargers. With Akeem Jordan out injured, Will Witherspoon will slide over to the WILL and Gocong will assume the middle linebacker role. Moises Fokou will start his second straight game at the strong side backer position.

So far this year Stewart Bradley, Omar Gaither, Joe Mays, Jeremiah Trotter, Moise Fokou, Will Witherspoon, and now Gocong will have taken practice reps at middle linebacker. It's a pretty damning representation of what injuries + your depth not being as good as you thought + the solutions you tried to bring in via FA not working + a trade + injuries at other positions can do to a team.

Comcast is carrying the new NFL Red Zone channel! NFL Red Zone lets you follow all the red zone action on NFL Sunday as it happens. When a team gets inside the twenty, the network cuts to that game. Not only is this cool for any big NFL fan, it would be awesome for out of market Eagles fans that can't watch the games. You're essentially getting the best parts of every Eagles game live for only a couple bucks a month as opposed to having to shell out the several hundred bucks for the NFL ticket.

They don't ever break for commercials and the action literally never stops. They don't just limit it to red zone trips either... I was watching last weekend and they would show any game live if no team happened to be in the red zone. This is probably the best thing ever invented for an NFL fan that's looking for something to flip to when the Eagles game goes to commercials...

State of the AFC West Week 9

Sam (sdsuaztec4) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:15:45 -0000

Well well well, here we are after week 9, a week I'd been looking forward to for awhile. I had a crazy day on Sunday which of course had a perfect ending. Last night's game was the proverbial "icing on the cake". The Chargers are now 1 game back at the halfway point of the season with 8 games to go. The Broncos still have the advantage with the 1 game lead and a win over the Chargers as a potential tiebreaker. As far as the schedules, of the 8 games remaining, 3 are easy division games (2 KC 1 OAK), but 4 are against tough teams (SD, NYG, INDY, PHI) and their game this week at Washington. On the other hand, the Chargers get the Browns and Titans, don't have to play Indy, but they only play the Chiefs one more time. As far as momentum, it is clearly on the side of the Chargers who have capped their three game winning streak with an emotional win at the Meadowlands. The Broncos on the other hand are riding a two-game losing streak that included two disappointing second halves. Oakland and KC are still out of the picture.

Jump the break for individual teams.

AFC West Standings

	W	L	PF	PA
Denver	6	2	150	124
San Diego	5	3	206	179
Oakland	2	6	78	201
Kansas City	1	7	126	205

(updated 11.10.2009 at 1:30 AM PST)

Oakland Raiders: The Raiders had a quiet bye week getting healthy and trying not to lose any football games. Running back Darren McFadden, wide receiver Chaz Schilens, left guard Robert Gallery and right tackle Cornell Green returned to practice Monday and are expected to play against the Kansas City Chiefs this week. So that's good news. Although Tom Cable won't be charged criminally, the NFL is evaluating the situation and sending out people to determine if Cable should attend anger management classes. The National League of Women (NOW) and other women's rights groups are calling for Cable's job. The Raiders next division match-up is this week's pillow-fight of the week in Oakland. Let the battle to determine the most dysfunctional team begin, too bad nobody will see it because it will likely be blacked out.

Oakland Raiders Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Cornell Green	calf	11/09/2009
Tony Stewart	chest	11/09/2009
Gerard Warren	toe	11/09/2009
Jon Alston	shoulder	11/09/2009
Ricky Brown	ankle	11/09/2009
Robert Gallery	fibula	11/09/2009
Tommy Kelly	elbow	11/09/2009
Chris Johnson	groin	11/09/2009
Chaz Schilens	foot	11/09/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
John Bowie	knee	09/30/2009
Oren O'Neal	ankle	10/14/2009

Kansas City Chiefs: The Chiefs played a close game against the Jaguars which inevitably ended in another loss. As the Chiefs march toward another top 5 draft pick, the big story is still the rapid fall of Larry Johnson which ended in his release from the Chiefs. Although they will probably end up paying him a lot of money since I doubt anyone will pick him up, this gives Jamaal Charles more opportunity to play and gets rid of a clubhouse cancer. Chris Chambers seem to have rejuvenated their offense, at least for the moment, with two TD passes. The addition seems to have helped the Chiefs and the Chargers at the same time, and Chris will probably be happier too. As already mentioned, the Chiefs next division game is at Oakland which I'm sure will be terribly exciting.

Kansas City Chiefs Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Jon McGraw	thigh	11/09/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Devard Darling	knee	09/01/2009
Jarrad Page	calf	11/04/2009
Jackie Battle	shoulder	10/14/2009
Colin Brown	undisclosed	09/05/2009

Denver Broncos: Will the real Broncos please stand up? Are they the 6-0 team or the 0-2 team? Are they the second-half juggernaut or the second-half duds? Is Kyle Orton the QB who threw one INT in 7 games or 3 INT's in one game? Are they a punishing opponents on the lines or the team that didn't get ONE rushing first-down against the Steelers? The answer is probably somewhere close to the middle. Teams are starting to key on the Broncos weakness and adjusting their game-plans as such. Kyle Orton looks nervous as opposed to the pillar of strength he looked like earlier in the season. Either way, the Broncos are much better than everyone thought but they still aren't an elite team. The Steelers were clearly the superior team last night, even at Mile High. The Broncos have lost some momentum going forward but they are still healthy and still have the advantage over the Chargers. Now is the time for Josh McDaniels to adjust to the adjustments that other teams are making. Going forward, we will see if the Broncos and McDaniels are studs or duds. The game at Washington this weekend may tell us a lot about the Broncos. Their next division match-up looks to be a huge game with playoff implications at Mile High against the Chargers.

Denver Broncos Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Ryan McBean	knee	11/10/2009
Peyton Hillis	other-excused	11/10/2009
David Bruton	groin	11/10/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Nick Greisen	knee	08/05/2009
J'Vonne Parker	knee	08/08/2009

San Diego Super Chargers: The Bolts are flying high after an emotional victory at the Meadowlands and gaining the momentum in the AFC West race if not the advantage. They are finally getting healthy, emotionally and physically, as well and it looks like All-Pro center Nick Hardwick will make his return to Qualcomm Stadium this weekend against the Eagles. The Chargers are still a little banged up at the linebacker position; SP95 was injured in the Giants game and Kevin Burnett and Tim Dobbins are still ailing. It looks like Phillips and Burnett will play this weekend while Dobbins will sit. LB Jyles Tucker is also most likely out this weekend. It looks like the Eagles are having the same problem the Chargers were earlier in the season: inability to keep anyone healthy. If Westbrook is out and the Eagles must depend on the passing game, the Chargers could win big with improved pass rush from Shawne Merriman and Shaun Phillips. The Chargers are also only 2-2 this season and they need to improve their play at home. The game is already sold out so we know it will be loud this weekend. Our next division match-up is Week 11 at Mile High Stadium.

San Diego Chargers Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Tim Dobbins	knee	11/09/2009
Nick Hardwick	ankle	11/09/2009
Kevin Burnett	ankle	11/09/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Ryon Bingham	arm	09/05/2009
Jamal Williams	triceps	09/19/2009
Antwan Applewhite	hamstring	10/20/2009
Brandon Hughes	knee	09/02/2009

Philadelphia Eagles Injuries

Probable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Max Jean-Gilles	shoulder	11/09/2009

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Victor Abiamiri	knee	11/09/2009
Chris Gocong	other-excused	11/09/2009
Akeem Jordan	knee	11/10/2009
Brian Westbrook	ankle	11/09/2009
Quintin Demps	ankle	11/09/2009

Out (IR / Out / Suspended / Physically unvailable)

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Shawn Andrews	back	09/15/2009
Stewart Bradley	knee	09/01/2009
Omar Gaither	foot	10/22/2009
Cornelius Ingram	knee	09/01/2009
Fenuki Tupou	chest	09/05/2009

The Linc - Time is trouble

JasonB — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:08:33 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

about 1 month ago: Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb covers his mouth in the second half of an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009, in Philadelphia. Dallas won 20-16. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

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Phil Sheridan: Once again, time is trouble for Eagles | Philadelphia Inquirer | 11/09/2009
Andy Reid's reasoning wasn't terrible when he sent his field-goal team out with 4 minutes, 33 seconds showing on the clock. His math was another story.

Eagles come up short against Cowboys | Philadelphia Daily News | 11/09/2009
RED FLAGS and red faces were the story at the season's halfway point, as the Eagles stumbled last night when given the chance to take control of the NFC East.

Cowboys bury past, McNabb - NFC East - ESPN
It wouldn't be wise to make any sweeping judgments on the Dallas Cowboys until their cruelest month arrives in December, but it's fair to say they took an important step at the Linc on Sunday night. They returned to the site of one of the most regrettable performances in franchise history and seized control of first place in the NFC East with a 20-16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

Brown Eager to Forget About Blown Coverage, Loss
It’s not easy being a cornerback in the NFL. Not during the game, and often not after it, either.

Eagles' Stewart Bradley, Cornelius Ingram making progress with injury rehab -- themorningcall.com
Two injured Eagles who are rarely seen during open locker room sessions reported encouraging news about their recoveries Thursday at the NovaCare Complex. Linebacker Stewart Bradley and tight end Cornelius Ingram, who each underwent surgery to repair torn anterior cruciate ligaments suffered in the preseason, are making excellent progress with their rehabilitation work.

Eagles dominate Panthers 38-10

JasonB — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 20:25:28 -0000

More photos » by Rick Havner - AP

3 months ago: Philadelphia Eagles' DeSean Jackson (10) returns a punt for a touchdown as Carolina Panthers' James Anderson (50) chases during an NFL football game in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Rick Havner)

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The Eagles won big today, but could potentially have come out the losers in the end. There's a ton to talk about with this game, but we have to start with the injury to Donovan McNabb. He took a pretty tough hit as he plowed his way into the end zone for a TD. He spent a few minutes on the ground before walking off under his own power and eventually heading to the locker room. He did return to the sidelines, but was still in obvious pain. Trainers were working on his lower back and the Eagles called it a rib injury. The best case scenario seems to be a bad contusion, the worst is probably a broken or cracked rib. Obviously his health will be the big story this coming week.

The other big story is going to be the absolute domination by the Eagles defense. The D forced seven turnovers including five picks and two forced fumbles, while also sacking 3 different Panther QBs a total of five times. New defensive coordinator Sean McDermott certainly earned an A+ in his first game as Eagles defensive coordinator. He seemed to bring pressure at the perfect times to the perfect places & pretty much everything he called worked. His attacking mindset and love of the blitz certainly showed that he was paying attention to Jim Johnson all those years and gives many hope that he will follow in the footsteps of former Jim Johnson proteges like Steve Spagnuolo and become great himself.

The play that will define Sean McDermott to me was the second to last of the game. With just seconds left, the Panthers had a 4 and goal from the one yard line down 38-10. Unwilling to give up even a meaningless TD, McDermott re-inserted his starters into the game and the Eagles' D stuffed the Panthers 4th down attempt and took the ball back. That was an attitude play. He was sending a message to this team and every other team that they won't willingly surrender an inch no matter what the situation.

Headlines after the jump.

[Note by JasonB, 09/13/09 4:39 PM EDT ] Comcast sportsnets' Derrick Gunn is reporting that McNabb sustained a cracked rib and will likely miss at least two weeks. Certainly puts a damper on an otherwise fabulous win. Andy Reid confirmed the injury in his post game press conference and indicated that McNabb might be able to play next week.. but that certainly seems unlikely.

Delhomme in postseason form

Jake Delhomme was in postseason form today throwing 4 picks before Panther's coach Jon Fox mercifully pulled him, which was probably the only reason Delhomme didn't equal the 5 picks he threw in the playoffs last year. Jake did manage to turn it over 5 times when you include the fumble that was recovered in the end zone for a TD. The Panther signed Delhomme to a 5 year, $42 million extension this offseason which includes $20 in guarantees. Ouch.

Who gets singled out?

It's hard to even pick out which members of the Eagles defense to praise. The unit as whole was dominant. Sheldon Brown certainly stands out with his two picks. Asante Samuel absolutely shut down one of the great WRs in the game, Steve Smith. Smith and Asante lined up against one another 20 times. Smith had one catch for 8 yards and Asante had an INT. Shut. Down.

Trent Cole played like a madman today. He forced the fumble that ~~Omar Gaither~~ Victor Abiamiri picked up in the end zone for a TD and although he tallied just one official sack, he was in the face of whoever the Panthers trotted out to play QB play after play.

I said this when Stewart Bradley got hurt, Bill Barnwell of Football Outsiders said this in our interview... The reason the Eagles were so good against the run last year was primarily because Broderick Bunkley and Mike Patterson were so good. Stewart Bradley did a very good job last year, but he was not the main reason this Eagles D was so strong up the middle. Those two DTs were dominant today holding one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL to 86 total yards rushing... now you could say that the low rushing totals were because the Panthers were forced to throw to make up the big deficit, but the 2.9 yards per carry shows that their run game was never effective.

O-Line impresses

The Eagles much maligned offensive line certainly did it's job today. Other than two lack sacks on Kevin Kolb, they pass blocked well and paved the way for a 185 yard rushing performance. Can you believe an Eagles offense had more than twice as many yards rushing as it did passing? Hopefully Andy Reid pays attention to that...

There were some miscues. Two offsides from Peters and one from Nick Cole are things that need to be fixed, but overall that unit did it's job. Peters almost blocked the entire left side of the Panthers' D himself on a 17 yard Westbrook run. I still don't think he's fully in the flow yet, but you can see the raw talent there is great. Winston Justice was arguably the most impressive of the bunch. Not only did he do a good job in pass protection, he was sealing off the edge effectively on run plays. Julius Peppers did beat him on a strip sack of Kolb late, but overall Justice looks more like the second round he was than he ever has an Eagle.

Omar Gaither named Philadelphia Eagles starting middle linebacker

JasonB — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:18:20 -0000

More photos » by Rich Schultz - AP

4 months ago: Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Darren Howard, left, talks with linebacker Omar Gaither during the morning session of NFL football training camp at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., on Friday, July, 31, 2009. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

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Just yesterday we called Omar Gaither the "leader in the clubhouse" for the starting middle linebacker job despite the fact that he's yet to play there in the preseason. A few hours later, the Eagles named Gaither the starting middle linebacker.

"I'm going home," Gaither said Sunday. "I feel like Dorothy. I didn't click my heels, but I got down on my knees and prayed a lot. I'm here to stay," he said. "I'm not coming out this time."

Gaither is referring to the fact that he was replaced as the starting middle linebacker by Stewart Bradley, then moved to the starting WILL job, only to be replaced by Akeem Jordan.

Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott talked about the move.

"It's a work in progress," defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said. "There is competition at that position. We're just looking for consistency out of whoever is in the middle in order to execute the defense.

"I think any time you are an aggressive defense you have to be able to react to play-action pass. My biggest thing is that I want to see Omar come out and handle the reins of the defense in terms of the leadership, make the huddle call, get us lined up, quarterback the defense. Then, from a health standpoint, he has to have confidence in his leg."

Gaither has been slowed by a knee strain the past few weeks, but returned to practice yesterday and said his knee feels fine. Frankly, the Eagles should count themselves lucky that they had a sold veteran with plenty of starting experience to step in at the middle linebacker position. It's very much in contrast to the position they found themselves in in previous years with punt returner and fullback.

Thanks to Joe D in the fanposts

The big Tony Ugoh v. Charlie Johnson debate

BigBlueShoe — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 16:00:20 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

Indianapolis Colts coach Jim Caldwell is big on accountability. Thus, if Charlie Johnson does not outplay Tony Ugoh this pre-season, Caldwell's judgment to bench Ugoh will be questioned. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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The one positive thing to come out of the benching of Tony Ugoh is that all the negative energy readers once directed at Joseph Addai is now firmly fixed on Ugoh, and by extension Charlie Johnson. You all know the story: Tony Ugoh has benched for Charlie Johnson one week into training camp after Johnson returned from the PUP after pectoral surgery. Many of us ranted and raved over the benching for the obvious reason that Johnson is not as good a player as Ugoh. Indeed, as pre-season has progressed, Ugoh has continued to look better, at least in my opinion.

Is he lighting the world on fire and making all of us go "OMG! He's a changed man!" No.

Is he playing better, overall, than Charlie Johnson? Yes.

It's for this reason that I've called Jim Caldwell's judgment into question. Please understand, I personally feel Caldwell has done a masterful job transitioning from QB Coach-Associate Head Coach to Head Coach, replacing the legend that is Tony Dungy. He is intelligent, thoughtful, and (most importantly) respected by the players. He is a little more vocal than Dungy, holds players and coaches more accountable than Dungy, and appears less stubborn than Dungy. Dungy was a unique coach with a brilliant method at focusing on details in order to win football games. He didn't out-scheme, out-wit, or out-plan his opponents. His teams played harder, tackled better, and executed better than his opponents. That's Dungy Ball. Caldwell seems to be using a similar method, and for that he deserves a ton of props. It's not easy taking over for a coaching god, and Caldwell is making it look so. That's impressive, indeed.

My questioning of Caldwell's decision stems from a personal belief that the guys who should be playing are better players than the guys sitting on the bench. If a 6th round pick (Antoine Bethea) practices and plays better than a 2nd round pick (Mike Doss), than the 6th rounder should play. And like the Bethea v. Doss camp battle of 2006, which helped mold both players into better safeties, my criticism of Caldwell stems from him naming the starter (Johnson) when Johnson clearly had not earned the job.

Before I elaborate, here are what John Oehser and 18to88 are saying about the Ugoh v. Johnson debate.

John Oehser:

Here's one to BigBlueShoe's thoughts on the game on Stampede Blue. As usual, the "Shoe" does a great job of breaking down the game and raising some intriguing questions. I will say this: while I love BigBlueShoe -- and while mentioning him so high in this post shows how highly I consider his views --Stampede Blue has done a lot of questioning of Caldwell's handling of the Tony Ugoh-Charlie Johnson situation at left tackle. I find the handling interesting, too, but while BigBlueShoe is questioning Caldwell's competence and saying he looks inept and ridiculous, I'm not quite ready to paint it like that. Johnson didn't look great against Houston Texans DE Jason Babin Thursday, but Ugoh really didn't, either. Typically around the Colts a major decision such as changing left offensive tackles isn't going to be made whimsically by one person in the organization. There are long discussions, meetings and evaluations each offseason, and from what Caldwell has said about the timing of the decision to start Johnson -- it was made well before OTAs starting in May -- the Ugoh-Johnson decision was made sometime around those meetings. The long and short of this entry is pretty simple and that's that clearly the decision to start Johnson is a hot-button issue, but if Johnson is still starting in early September, it doesn't mean Caldwell's incompetent.

18to88:

Charlie Johnson was an abject disaster. He gave up a big hit on Peyton on the first TD drive. Manning avoided a sack with his lightening release on a sweet pass to Addai. Then CJ followed it up on the next Colts possession by getting whipped again, leading to a sack fumble. In fairness, Pollack got beat on the play as well (not that this makes me feel any better).
Unfortunately, Ugoh didn't play well either. He picked up a couple of penalties (although the second was not a good call), blew some run blocks, and looked generally lost. Johnson left the door wide open (as we knew he would), but Ugoh didn't walk through it. Instead, he laid down on the welcome mat and took a little nap.

I'll respond to John's solid point by saying that the decision to bench Ugoh certainly was not done on a whim. If I conveyed that thought that in my earlier writings, that's my bad. However, the decision on who starts and who sits rests solely with Caldwell. If it doesn't, then we have a BIG problem. Since I'm certain the team I love is the Indianapolis Colts, and not the disaster in Oakland known as the Raiders, I'll state confidently that all decisions on who starts and who sits reside with Caldwell.

This means he is directly and solely responsible for benching Ugoh for Johnson.

Caldwell is big on accountability. It is something he has stressed since he first took the podium last January as head coach. And since Caldwell wants to hold players and assistants accountable for their actions and decisions, Caldwell himself must be held to the same standard. Thus, if benching Ugoh results in worse play at the left tackle position, Caldwell is responsible, and least partially. That's all I'm saying.

Regarding 18to88's take, I'm not as harsh of Ugoh's play last night as they are, but I can see their point. Charlie Johnson was awful last night. When a scrub like Jason Babin makes you look like a chump, you stink as a starting LT. I shudder to think what Mario Williams will do to Charlie. And yes, I realize Charlie is returning from injury, as John Oehser correctly reminds us.

So what?

If you are healthy to start and play, my assumption is you should be able to handle the Jason Babins of this league. If you are too injured, or too rusty, to do that, then what the hell are you doing out there in the first place? If the injury excuse was never good enough for Ugoh, Charlie shouldn't get the pass either.

This brings me to my biggest beef in this whole, stupid mess: The way Caldwell has handled it. I always seem to come back to one key question whenever I read blogs or comments from readers about this debate: Why was Charlie Johnson named the starter?

Certainly, Charlie did not "earn" the job. He's been injured all off-season, recovering from surgery. Why didn't Caldwell state that there is an open competition for the job, and may the best man win? Let Charlie, Tony, Daniel Federkeil, and Tom Pestock all compete for the starting LT job. Then, at the end of (perhaps) the third pre-season game, you name your starter. This way, it looks as if the guy who won the job actually earned it.

That is not how the situation currently looks.

Even factoring in last night's game, which was not a "light's out performance" by Ugoh, he is still clearly outplaying Johnson. He's better in pass protection, run blocking, and has more physical overall ability. Ugoh's also looked better in practice, handling Dwight Freeney much better than he did in the past. By all measures that we evaluate "camp competition," or competition in general, Ugoh is beating Johnson. Last night's game continued to reinforce that.

So, why is Johnson still the "named" starter? It's an unanswered question.

If there is one constant in all this, it is there is tremendous uneasiness about the LT spot. The coaching staff are visibly frustrated by the lack of consistency at both tackle spots, and we fans are scared as all hell at the fact that in two pre-season games, Peyton Manning has been sacked four times in about a quarter and a half's worth of work.

Barf.

It is very unlikely a left tackle will fall from the sky (a.k.a., a team will cut someone to get down to 53), which means the Colts are stuck with Charlie and Tony. In my not-so-humble opinion, this whole thing could have been handled better. The perception among some fans is Charlie simply has not earned the starting LT spot, and if things were this dicey going into camp, why didn't the Colts try and make a trade? Or, draft another left tackle?

What also makes this Ugoh v. Johnson issue stand out is it is the only truly negative thing we've experienced this pre-season (knock on wood). Injuries have occurred, but are not devastating like previous years (more wood knocking). Last night, both the offense, defense, and special teams overall looked damn impressive. I mean, if you think the Colts have issues at this point, kindly take a step back and look at the team Indy just played, Philadelphia Eagles. They had only one starter on their o-line last night. Everyone else is hurt, including Jason Peter, the LT they trade for from the Buffalo Bills. Their #1 pick, Jeremy Maclin, played terrible. Their defense, currently, is a shell of its former self. Stewart Bradley is gone for the year. Brian Dawkins is with the Broncos. Trent Cole is hurt. Jim Johnson has passed, and a new coordinator (Sean McDermott) is soldiering on with this unit. For a truthful perspective on the Eagles, look no further than Bob_Q at Bleeding Green Nation:

In one of the most disappointing performances the Eagles' faithful have seen in a while, the Birds fell tonight to the Indianapolis Colts 23-15. While excuses can can be made that many of our starters were sitting out with nagging injuries, the fact remains that both our offense and defense failed to fire on all cylinders.

Like all things, I hold out hope that the LT situation will shake itself out. This is a very good Colts team that is highly motivated to kick the snot out of people. Like most of you, I love the subtle "tweaks" and changes I am seeing. I love watching Antonio Johnson and Ed Johnson stuffing the run on third and short. I love Dwight Freeney spinning like Fred Astaire on crack. I love Peyton Manning looking like he is ready to eat your young.

I mean seriously, folks. This is our man before a PRE-SEASON game. Imagine him before games that actually count. I swear, lasers or something shoot out of his eyes.

I hope this LT shakes out. But, if it doesn't, then Jim Caldwell bares much of the responsibility. This is especially true if Charlie Johnson continues to struggle while Tony Ugoh continues to look better by comparison.

Eagles vs Colts coverage

2009 Pre-season Preview: Eagles at Colts

BigBlueShoe — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:01:13 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

I want to see Melvin Bullitt and the first string defense dominate a little bit tonight. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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Here are a few notes from other bloggers on what to look for tonight when the Eagles visit the Luke to play the Colts in pre-season game #2.

John Oehser:

Caldwell made it clear he was disappointed that the Vikings controlled the line. DT Antonio Johnson, who is the starter beside Ed Johnson, was out last week and he practiced several times this week, but with or without him, the Colts no doubt want to see the interior hold the line a bit better against the Eagles.

Dave Schwab at Bleeding Green Nation

While the Colts would certainly love to come away with a victory, the more important goal will be to keep moving forward with the Dungy to Caldwell transition. The players need to continue to gain confidence in their new head coach and his ability to lead this team. As much as Caldwell has learned from Dungy and tries to follow in his footsteps, he will need to put his own stamp on this team to truly make it his. The Eagles on the other hand will try and make a stamp in the preseason win column.

As we all know, despite what the team says, the Colts do not give two craps about pre-season. Eight players are out for the game, but by my count three of those eight would play if this game were real. Also, only three of those eight who are out are starters.

The Colts are something like 5-17 in pre-season the last few years while averaging 12 wins a year the last six years in the game that actually, you know, count. Winning in the pre-season does not build confidence. The Lions went undefeated in pre-season last year. Need I say more? Pre-season is about keeping important players fresh, giving rookies reps, and finding cohesion as a team.

For me, I want to see three very specific things in tonight's pre-season game:

Indy's defensive first unit must control the line of scrimmage. Philly's o-line is completely rebuilt. I want to see the defense start dominating a little bit. We know the secondary is fine (or, at least, should be fine). The d-line needs to start looking like it should.
The first team offense needs to score a TD. Philly is without their MLBer (Stewart Bradley), and Brian Dawkins is gone to the Denver Broncos. The first team offense should score on Philly. If they don't, I'm going to start getting irritated. Indy's offense is better than Philly's defense, historically.
Charlie Johnson. If he stinks, he needs to get benched and Tony Ugoh re-promoted. This silliness needs to end.

What are you looking for?

Also, following the game, we will have a special podcast of Stampede Blue Radio to discuss who looked good, who looked bad, and what needs to happen as the team moves forward into 2009.

Bill Barnwell of Football Outsiders talks Eagles

JasonB — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:38:57 -0000

Earlier this week, I had a chance to talk with Bill Barnwell of Football Outsiders about their new Football Outsiders Almanac 2009. Football Outsiders focuses on advanced statistical analysis of the NFL. If you've never heard of them, here's a good primer.

If you're a hardcore football fan, I don't think there's a better reference than the Football Outsiders Almanac 2009.

We dissected a little bit of the Eagles 2008 season and looked ahead to 2009. I think you'll be surprised to hear an objective perspective on the Eagles' philosophy and some Eagle players.

Actually, until last night I thought this interview would be what Eagles fan were talking about this weekend...

The one stat in the book that really jumped out at me was that the Eagles only pass 5% more than the league average. What would your response be to the "Andy Reid needs to run the ball more" chorus that we hear so often as Eagles fans?

Well, I'd say that there are situations in which the Eagles would be better off running the ball more frequently, but on the whole, the team benefits from passing the ball. We take a very detailed look in Football Outsiders Almanac 2009 into the Eagles' playcalling tendencies, and compare them to the league average performance in each of those situations when running and passing the ball.

One situation that definitely stood out in 2008 was second-and-short (three yards or less). When Philly runs the ball in those situations, they pick up 4.1 yards per attempt; the league average is only 3.7 yards per attempt. When they throw the ball, though, despite the fact that they have the much-vaunted big play potential in those second-and-short situations, the Eagles averaged only 4.3 yards per attempt -- barely more than the running plays -- when the league average was 6.0 yards per attempt. They were also far less likely to pick up first downs in that situation when passing.

Stewart Bradley became the Eagles first major loss to injury this season. While he certainly played at a high level and was becoming very popular amongst fans, I always felt that he owed a lot to the play of Mike Patterson and Broderick Bunkley. Do you agree with that and how do you think the Eagles' defense will fare without Bradley?

I absolutely agree that Bradley's level of play had a lot to do with the performance of the two defensive tackles in front of him. Every middle linebacker's play, to an extent, is dictated by the players in front of him keeping blockers off him for as long as possible, but very few middle linebackers have such a great set of tackles in front of them. Philly had the second-best run defense in the league in the second half of 2008, and I felt like a lot of that had to do with Bunkley and Patterson beginning to just dominate opposing linemen as a combination.

Sticking with the linebackers... the book calls strong side LB Chris Gocong "probably the unit's best player." What is is that you guys saw in Gocong that made you feel that way?

Truthfully, the bar for Philly linebackers isn't that high. Gocong was great in pass coverage last year, as his pass defense metrics were superior to any of the other linebackers and ranked among the top linebackers in football. He was a sure tackler, and made his tackles closer to the line than any other one of the team's linebackers. Some of that is his role in the Eagles' scheme, but we've perceived him to be the most reliable of the team's starting linebackers.

We've had a lot of debate here on the blog and amongst all Eagles fans about TE Brent Celek. Some say he's a backup at best, some say the guy is a legit starting TE. Much of the optimism about Celek came from his incredibly strong end to the season and playoff run. Should Eagles fans take those last few games as a sign of what's to come, or should the team be looking to upgrade from Celek at some point?

Well, I think we can all agree on something: He can't be worse than L.J. Smith.

We've appreciated Celek for two years running now, placing him on the "Top 25 Prospects" list in our book. If the expectations for him are that he'll catch ten passes a game, well, he'll end up being a disappointment. A more reasonable expectation is that of a sure-handed receiver who isn't a great blocker, but offers a safety valve in the passing game and has no qualms about going over the middle or up the seam. If he had something like Chad Lewis' career from this point forward (although perhaps without the Pro Bowl selections), I think that might be a fair expectation.

The Eagles were at the top of your DVOA rankings for a good part of last season. Their struggles at certain points led a lot of people to question the rankings. Did you take the Eagles' postseason run as any kind of validation of your system? Piggybacking on that... you talk a lot about luck as it related to the Eagles last season. How much of a factor was luck on their actual record vs their DVOA rank?

I mean, yes and no. The line between success and failure in the NFL is remarkably slim. The Eagles' postseason run came, of course, after the Raiders beat the Buccaneers on the road in a 1:00 game without their best player, Nnamdi Asomugha, or anything to play for. If the Raiders lose that game, Andy Reid and Donovan McNabb probably aren't Eagles right now, and the team's rebuilding.

It's hard for me to justify saying that the Eagles were able to validate our system thanks to a playoff run that never really should have happened in the first place. On the other hand, 16 games isn't a huge sample. There was a really interesting study on pro-football-reference.com a couple of years ago that simulated the 2005 season 10,000 times based upon a set of win percentages that would be taken as each team's "true" talent level.

The idea was to figure out how often the true "best team" in the league -- as measured by that "true" win percentage -- actually goes on to win the Super Bowl. The answer was about 30 percent of the time.

The reality is that variance can play a huge role in the course of winning one game, let alone a few out of 16. If the referees throw a flag for pass interference on fourth down of the final drive in the Eagles-Cardinals game, and the Eagles go down the field and promptly score, were they the better team? Were they the worse team because the refs didn't?

Our methodology is simple: Go play-by-play and figure out how a team does against the league average. If they play really well and put up good numbers, but don't win, we know that DVOA -- our core metric -- is a better indicator of wins in the subsequent season than wins themselves. Philly's playoff run was nice, and made the act of writing the Eagles' chapter way easier, but it didn't prove anything with regards to our numbers for me.

Finally, we talked a lot this offseason about sentimentality vs actual production as it related to Brian Dawkins. Would you have matched the 5 year $17 million deal the Broncos gave him if you were running the Eagles?

It's hard to say. They can afford it, certainly, considering the amount of cap space they usually have available. But if they were planning on phasing him out of the starting lineup anyway, would Dawkins have wanted to stay? Probably not.

I would've told him after the season that we were moving in a different direction, and that we'd love to have him as a third safety and coach on the field, offering him a deal commensurate with that role. That might have hurt, and it wouldn't have been the $17 million deal, but it would have given Dawkins the option to finish his career in Philly.

This interview just scratches the surface of what football outsiders has in the book in regards to not just the Eagles, but the entire NFL. If you're interested in the book, Football Outsiders Almanac 2009, click the link for more details on how you can get it.

Eagles vs Patriots - Five things to watch for

JasonB — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:10:46 -0000

The score of the game doesn't count, but it doesn't mean it's meaningless. For a number of Eagles, this is a very important game and a big opportunity. For fans, it's a chance to get a sneak peek at some of the guys we may not yet know, but could have a major impact on the season ahead. Here's my 5 things to watch for, in no particular order.

Winston Justice - We've all read the reports about the progress Justice has made in camp this year. Members of the coaching staff and of the local media have all mention of his improved play in camp. Andy Reid told Chris Mortenson that "the light went on" with Justice in this camp. While it's not entirely uncommon for some guys to take a few years to adjust to the NFL, Eagles fans are still understandably apprehensive about the prospect of him actually starting in a game that matters. Tonight, he has a chance to start to prove that his resurgence hasn't just been a camp anomaly.

LeSean McCoy - Skill players can always be somewhat iffy to evaluate in the preseason because of the vanilla nature of the playcalling, but McCoy's job is to find a hole and run through it. I think we'll have a good idea if he can do that. Also worth watching will be the job he does in pass protection. Reports from camp were positive on the progress he was making in the blocking department, but he didn't do much of that in college and it will be a major transition to do it in the NFL. His ability to pass block may very well tie directly into how much he plays this year.

Special teams - Particularly, the return games. We've got some pretty exciting options on both kick and punt returns that should be on display tonight. Jeremy Maclin was a great return man in college and should have chances to return both kicks and punts tonight. Newly acquired(and ex-Patriot) Ellis Hobbs led the AFC in kick return yardage last year and will feature on kick returns tonight. I'm not sure whether Desean Jackson will get any punt returns in this game, but he's a possibility as well. In addition, Danny Amendola should get a few cracks at returning punts. Last preseason, both Desean Jackson and Quintin Demps returned kicks for TDs against the Patriots.

The free safety battle - Second year man Quintin Demps and free agent signing Sean Jones have been doing battle all camp for the starting free safety job vacated by Brian Dawkins. Reports out of camp say Sean Jones might have a slight lead right now, but in reality this battle will be decided in the preseason. Whichever guys outplays the other in these next 3 or 4 games wins that job.

Joe Mays - Mays had a nice preseason last year and then was pretty much never heard of again. With Stewart Bradley locking up the MIKE job and Omar Gaither playing the utility backup man for the LB corps, there wasn't really a place for the rookie on the field. However, in his second year Mays finds himself as the probable starter after Stewart Bradley was lost for the season. Tonight, I just want to see Mays and feel like he belongs on the field with the starters.

And one more thing... I'm interested in seeing what happens to newly signed QB Adam DiMichele, who might have a chance to play a quarter after not even being on the team as of Wednesday morning. I actually don't believe he's even had a full practice with the team. It could be quite an adventure watching the kid try to survice out there.

The Linc - Chris Clemons, Jason Peters, & Winners/Losers from Eagles camp

JasonB — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:02:18 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

Browse more photos »

Clemons set to step in at defensive end for Eagles | Philadelphia Daily News | 08/12/2009
Chris Clemons, a free-agent disappointment at last year's camp who started to come on late last season, is prominent in the mix of guys looking to distinguish themselves in the preseason.

The Jason Peters interview - NFC East - ESPN
Matt Mosely had a chance to visit with new left tackle Jason Peters. We talked about some of the differences between the Bills and Eagles organizations.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Football analysis and NFL stats for the Moneyball era - Authors of Football Outsiders Almanac 2009
Football Outsiders pays tribute to Jim Johnson

Wing Tips " WINNERS AND LOSERS AT LEHIGH
Geoff Mosher lists his winners and losers at Eagles' training camp

Bradley Has Fans Atwitter | Philadelphia Daily News | 08/12/2009
Eagles middle linebacker Stewart Bradley is not saying he will be back from a torn ACL for the playoffs, even though his Twitter feed did say that.

PhillyBurbs.com: DiMichele may get some playing time
The former Temple quarterback has been working out with his brothers and doing some painting in his spare time since the Eagles released him in the spring.