Yeah, I said it. I saw someone suggest it in one of the other strings, and I think they might have been kidding, but it makes sense to me. There are two people who Philadelphia owe the last 11 years of great football to. Donovan McNabb and Andy Reid. In my opinion, they are both done. But so is the Eagles season, so I would be perfectly OK with reuniting them so that they can retire (or be cut loose) at the end of this year, but with nothing to loose, we do owe these two guys so much.

I think it's clear no amount of coaching can turn VY into a competent QB or a leader and Vick is not the man he was last year. Kafka shows some promise and he should get a chance to play before both VY and MV are gone next year, but I would LOVE to see D.McNabb back, taking a few snaps this year before he goes to the big golf course in the sky - retirement - with his many millions.

Next, year, draft and trade for pure meanness, experience and attitude. Starting with hiring a vicious, ass-kicking head coach - Like the intensity of Mike Singletary - but with a clue. Reid in no Matt Millen, but this year he got close.

For the rest of this year, let's ride it out with some semblence of dignity - if the team can find any hiding somewhere in that locker room. Check the dirty laundry bins. It can't have gone far.

First order of business: Throw every single game for the rest of the season. Make sure they don't let teams like the Redskins beat themselves.  Have Asante interecept and run it in for a touchdown for the opposing team.  Just throw em all.  God knows we need the draft picks. 

Next thing, put the second and third stringers in and find out who is worth keeping. Give Kafka a chance to prove that he is worth anything or trade/cut him along with Mike and Vince. Get Cooper, Harbor and Steve Smith some reps to see if they are worth keeping. Deon Lewis needs some practice too - he might actually be worth something. Ronnie Brown isn't worth dookie. DeSean can stay if he keeps to his $500k salary and doesn't ming being activated only in emergencies. He's the team's new Chad Hall.

Graham has to show he can still move or cut him, too.  Put a hit out on Abiamiri. That's the only way we can get that gimp off the team. It's funny how his name has the letters IR right at the end, huh? Use the linebackers as tackling dummies, that's all they are worth. Send the safeties to the showers with Jerry Sandusky - maybe then they will learn to run faster. DRC = DOA, cut him. Assmugger can go, too. It'll get us cap space and maybe we can get someone who can tackle. Asante is still the best on the team but if Andy stays, Asante goes because of his age and all of the bad blood Andy created by shopping him like a cheap hooker.

Put Andy's head on a stake to show other head coaches what happens when they screw up Philly.  Replace Marty and Juan now.See if whatever crap we throw at the wall in their place sticks. Get a huge, Amazon, she-bitch Dominatrix to force the players to behave in the locker room and stop acting like a bunch of Charlie Sheens.

Be ready for several years of the Eagles like the 1970's, they were a sad, sick bunch with losing records, but they were still the Eagles. Go team!.

Greenismean, a newbie (probably) who just showed up yesterday or the day before has been cheering Jonathan Goff’s ACL tear and claiming that feeling sorry for another teams situation is weakness. He must be either a young teen or developmentally retarded.   The reason I bother to read comments on this site, an no other sports site, is the intelligence usually expressed by the members here. 

Big Blue Intervention shows up on our Board as much as his own Giants boards.  Do you know why?  Because he shows sportsmanship.  The guy is here to openly discuss – with good nature and a good head on his shoulders – the sports rivalry between the Giants and the Eagles.  He does so as a gentleman and with respect.   There are a lot of Eagles fans on this board who have the same attitude.  They are openly impressed when a competitor plays well. They like the competition and the spirit of the sport.  They show sportsmanship. 

And then there are the douche bags.  Countless numbers of rabid, tiny minded fans of all teams that talk shit and create ill feelings about the game. But they forget it is a game. And when players from another team, people with families and jobs and everyday lives, get hurt and maybe lose their careers playing the game we love, they cheer.  It’s sick. 

To me, cheering that Jonathan Goff or any other Giant who receives a season ending injury is just as stupid as if someone were cheering that NY Firemen died in the twin towers because they were probably Giants fans.  What the hell are you doing on the planet if you cannot relate to a fellow sports fan as another person who just wants their team to win?  Or a guy trying to do his job getting crippled?

Yeah we beat the Giants six times in a row.  An incredible statistical anomaly considering how close some of those games were. I don’t care who the Giants have left on opening day, I know they will bring their A-Game every time they play my Philly team because of this.  If the Eagles are lucky enough to go the distance this season – and there is no guarantee that a team with so many changes will even get a wild card berth – if they do go the distance, I will feel that it would have been better if the Giants were able to field their best players.

Good luck to the Giants.  It IS just a game, although real people play it. And I think I speak for the group when I say that most of us here in Philly would prefer that our first Superbowl victory, whenever it comes, should it ever come, would be in a year that the Giants were the best team they could be.  That is what rivalry is all about. That is what sportsmanship is all about.

Go Iggles.

Well, there he is again, floating in the toilet on the Injured Reserve life preserver. Why can't we get rid of this guy? You can count his career in minutes on the field, not games played. He can injure himself just straining to fart. He kind of reminds me of  the Glass Man from the M. Night Shamalamadingdong movie 'Unbreakable' or maybe Steve Urquell on steroids.  Is there some kind of clause in his contract that says if we cut him we have to fire Andy Reid and accept Mike Shanahan as our head coach or is he screwing someone's daughter in the front office?  I mean seriously, what is the upside of keeping him at this point? Can't you cut someone if they are on IR?  WTF already?

(end rant)

While the Eagles arguably had two of the best receivers in the game before signing Steve Smith, one has to wonder how this signing will affect negotiations with DeSean Jackson. Obviously, the Eagles knew that Smith was a possibility during the DeSean holdout, but how sure a thing it was is not clear.  Maybe this is why so little movement has been made to nail DeSean down long term. Do the Eagles actually see DeSean as expendable?

With a Avant and Cooper waiting in the wings,  and even more young talent behind them, the Eagles now have a very strong receiving corps - so long as there isn't something terribly wrong (career threatening) with Maclin.

 It is possible that the Eagles will expect DeSean to soften his demands, given such a talent may now be starting with or ahead of him, but I am not sure that the signing of Smith really puts DeSean in a much weaker negotiating postition. DeSean's capabilities are unique, note even Steve Smith is as dangerous, and any team in the NFL could find a place for him. I would sure rather have DeSean on my team than playing against it.

The offense just looked sick today. As they ran their 11 on 11's this morning, especially with the first string, there were a lot of defensive ends running getting into the backfield, and a lot of plays being blown up.  Babin accidentally sacked (knocked down) Vick - profusely apologizing with a lot of arm waving afterwards. At one point and Cole had 'cleaner' sack where he just contained the QB and the whistles blew.  Babin was in the backfield so much that at one point Shady and he had a pushing match that ended with Shady hauling off and punching Babin in the head.  That got the crowd going!

I really think that the O needs Maclin and Jackson out there to get them psyched up.  And that line has got to improve the pass protection. But it looked like the O-line was doing a better job opening holes for the running back wannabes and Shady than when they were in pass defense.  Dunlap got a lot of reps today. Rod Harper (#83) was the only WR that looked consistenly good while I was watching.

I thought trainng camp was where the guys who were on the bubble had something to prove.  Not this year. Babin is an animal. He's come back with an obvious chip on his shoulder and there is going to be a huge competition between him and Cole this year for sacks. Asante is flying all over the field.  I think he is the happiest man out there. He runs and runs after the whisle just like a happy little kid.

At 10:30 when the rest of the players slugged off the field Winston Justice stayed on while Howard Mudd ran him through a bunch of of mobility drills. Andy and Juan (I think) were both standing a bit off watching very closely. This went on for about 15 minutes.  Justice did not look injured, he was moving just fine. I just had to think if Justice was trying to prove that he has the athlecism it takes to be a Tackle on Howard Mudd's line. They say he isn't the kind of guy that Mudd likes at OT. Was he fighting for a starting job out there or was it as bad as getting a position on the  roster at all?

There were thousands of people out there today.  Training camp is quite an experience and I highly recommend that every fan go at least once. I left before the 2:30 practice. Maybe someone else can report on that one.

Iggy

So it looks like we have the O and the D pretty much set up for a good run, as long as all the new players and coaches and schemes can gel before the season opener, which IS a tall order, no matter how great the players and coaches are.  But then there is one area that I have heard very little about, and that is Special Teams.  Seeing Dmitri is gone and expecting Eldra Buckley to be dropped, plus expecting a number of other reliable ST players to disappear through the cuts, I'm wondering if anyone has an (intelligent) take on where we'll be with ST at the season opener.

The guy's interview was stellar. Talk about a humble, soft-spoken gentleman. Every time the press tried to get him to talk down his old team or trap him in conflict he jinked the tackle better than LeSean in open space. I think he'll be a credit to to the Philly sports community. He pretty much said money doesn't matter when you get to go to the organization that you repsect the most.  That is refreshing.

That's right kids, send your money to the Save Asante Foundation.  I know we have two new stud CB's and Asante is - arguabley - tradeable. But I don't think so. I love the idea of DRC covering the slot and making up for the inexperience of the Linebackers. 

I mean, what is worth trading him for?   The only thing worth considering now is a pro-bowl LB or Saftey - but who out there is worth trading away the mighty Asante Samuel?  Right Tackle seems to be solid enough and we aren't desperate in any of the offensive positions.  The Eagles now are not desparate enough at any position to trade him away for an upgrade. A high pick for next year?  Forget it.  We already have 12 picks next year. You can't replace the whole team in one draft (except we kind of did last year).  And we are so young now, that 12 picks is almost a waste. (Except that the braintrust front office will use those picks to leverage amazing things.)

Last thought - age. Sure Asante is 30 years old, but so is Nnamdi.  There is no guarantee which of these two will decline first.

SAVE ASANTE!!    SAVE ASANTE!!    SAVE ASANTE!! 

I've been looking for detailed information on Winston's Injury and all I came up with was this article:

http://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2011/2/21/2005937/winston-justice-knee-surgery-philadelphia-eagles

As you know, he is now PUP (knee) and expected to be back for opening day, but does anyone know the real deal?  The article listed everything from an arthroscopic clean-out (3-4 week recover), to a microfacture surgery (possible game-over.) The birds would have dumped him if that were the case, but I can't find any info on him beyond that article. I don't even know if it's he  same knee.

Anybody know the real deal with Winston Justice?

 

In the Middle East it's called the Shuk. The Arab market where trading and negotiation is an art form.  In the heat of the desert they share a glass of hot, sweet tea and the negotiations begin.  The Eagles are going to need some serious negotiators because there are some major holes that have to be filled if they want to be contenders this year.

Yeah, I know, this ain't news to nobody, but here it comes - Howie's second test in the Arab market. There are a few good Cornerbacks on the market, but none of the best really seem to fit the Eagles Defensive scheme - at least the old scheme. An experienced Safety (whether or not  Mikel walks) and a solid linebacker (even if Bradley can stay on the field for while) would be greatly appreciated. An upgrade to the defensive line, both at Tackle and at End would come in handy, especially after the news on Graham's microfracture surgery.  Another offensive Tackle might be on the wish list, too, according to some (not me).

So here comes the test.  Can Howie and Joey and Andy pull together a championship team during free agency?  I doubt it.  But it would be interesting to see where they are going to put their money.

Anyone care to predict?

Here are mine, and I suck at this....

Nnamdi - no. They will find a better compliment to Asante, not a match to his weaknesses.

Haynseworth - yes. I think they are going to go for him - and probably regret it.

Farve - no. Expect another seasoned vet, similar to Garcia. Farve won't be a team player. Kafka will get the full Kolb treatment (groomed then doomed?).

OL -no.  Watkins is in, Justice has healed, and Jackson is back. There is actually a bit of depth.

Babin - No, (unless they know that Graham is done) I think they will find another competent DE, less expensive, as a stop gap until Graham is back. 

DT - no, I think they have some great young raw material.

Safety - WTF knows?  The more I see, the more I think Mikel is a safe, if not boring bet. There's too much shit to fix with he D to have to think about replacing Mikel, too.  And any Safety worth anything will probably cost as much as he would.

OK, my BS aside, let the predictions begin.

Well it looks like the Eagles are getting their props from the people who matter - the players. Look at the three of the four highest profile Free Agents out there right now and who do the openly tell the press they want to play for?  The Philadelphia Eagles. Break it down: Babin, Hanysworth and (errr) Burerss all say publicly that they would love to come to the Eagles - two because of Washburn and one because of Michael Vick. 

What that says to me is that some the most controversial moves the FO have made in recent years have earned a lot of respect from players that matter. What I'd love to see is Nnamdi joining the bandwagon and stating he wants to play opposite Asante. 

I suppose then even the media might have STFU for a little while and give the Eagles a little respect. (Forget about the fans - they'll never get any respect) It's time to get and agreement, have Scotty engage the warp drive, and get Starship 7 moving.

Sure all teams are going to be less prepared than normal for this season, should one even occur, due to lack of practice. But consider the Eagles. They are not the average team this year.  The Eagles have a largely new coaching staff that will have little time to learn about their players and vice versa. The new DC will undoubteldy be changing the playbook. The OL will also change in substance and style.

The Eagles have a very young team that would benefit more than older veteran teams from OTAs in the off season. And while the FO has done a very good job in the draft meeting many of their needs, they are still relying on FA to make them a whole team. The FA's that the Eagles will bring in will also be new to the Eagles and  to a largely new coaching staff.  The will also be surrounded by very young players. For these reasons I feel that older, experienced  teams where the coaches and schemes have not changed will have a serious advantage over the Eagles this season.

Lurie has shown that he has no favorites when he wants to win. Not Dawk, not McNabb, Not Runyan or Thomas. He has given Andy free reign to reorganize this year and I wonder; if this year turns out to be less than at least a NFC Championship run, will Andy get a pass because of the strike or a pink slip?

Complaints

1. Who really gives a fleep whether the players or the owners carve up the $Billions in question?  You would think they'd want to get back to selling us suckers tickets and products and raking in our hard earned cash ASAP. Greedy mother-cluckers!

Continue reading this post »

Now would I make up some ridiculous comment just to freak everybody out?  Would I?

Well yes, I would! 

But now we have a little problem at KR and who better than an OL to catch, hold onto and move the ball forward? Anyone, I guess.  Except maybe Jason Peters.  Few people know this, but Jason Peters started his college career as a Tight End (really). Of course, his knees would give out on the first return and I can't expect that he could run the 40 in less than a minute.

In any event, KR is now a weakness.

It was the middle of October when I posted a diatribe about how - with all of the talent on the team - that it was the coaches responsibility to get the Eagles back on track.  Some people told me I was dead wrong on that but something has changed with the birds - something for the better - and I blame the coaches.

With just a couple of tweaks to the rosters, April has made a huge change to ST coverage and proved he was a good hire, Morningwhatever is finally getting good performances from everyone but Brent Celek - same cast (except for one running back) but much better performance, and Castillo has turned a bunch of 2nd stringers into a pretty reliable group. We have two of the best QB's in the league and now the Eagles are playing like it.

The weakest link here is still Opie McDermott, but he has also shown a good bit of improvement.  Certainly they are strong against the run, not so much against the pass. McDermott's corps are improving, but still have a way to go. I'd love to see Hobbs healthy and concentrating on returns now - where he shines like the sun.  He can be a backup CB and I wouldn't complain.

This team has a truck load of talent, and we are now deep enough in the season for the Bradley and Peters knees to be 100%.  The team is healthy.  The rookies have enough game experience that they are no longer big liabilities. I feel like my 8-8 prediction will be blown out of the water.  If they stay healthy and they will have a long post-season.

But now, here's a thought:  The only skills gap on O that I can see is a high performing Tight-End.  I love Brent Celek and will not give up on him, but what a about Cornelius Ingram?  Now that his knee problems have settled down, might it be a good idea to get CI on the field?  TE is a dormant position for the Eagles right now - except as an additional blocker. I would still love to see why all the insiders were so high on CI during camp last year. And with 1 additional skills weapon on the O - what D could stop them?

I didn't see Astley asking obvious questions about this weeks game like he usually does, so I thought I would help out.

I'm concerned about how the Eagles will peform during the game this week. I haven't checked the TV schedule yet, but I'm sure they will be kicking off right about the same time my wife has me spending time with family or doing the bills, or reshingling the roof.  That's how it works every week.

Will the defense will hold up and be able to play 3 quarters, or will they head out to Starbucks for the 4th like they did last week? 

Are the corners are going to be able to cover and tackle? And why are our corners midgets anway? Last year's spine compression on Ellis Hobbs was so bad that it looks like he has a tail now. Bad for speed, but good for stability.  I can see it wagging every time he gets a pic or breaks up a pass.  And how will Samuels be able to tackle? His only move is spearing with his helmet, now that's outlawed he better start tieing peoples shoe-laces together because Ugly Betty is better tackler than he is.

The safetys have been mostly OK this year - certainly better than expected. WTF knew? Coleman sure knows how to rack up those penalties but he's aggressive. Kind of like my ex-wife was with my credit card. His rookie year looks a little like Fokous' did - aggressive, lots of promise, some dumb mistakes.

Linebackers? Stew isn't what he was before he was injured. Better than the rest of them, but still no pro-bowler for sure.  I expect him to improve the 2nd half of the season as he trusts the knee more.  They are doing better with the run and they have only changed on starter so far.  Acceptable in the middle isn't going to win a super bowl, but it is sure better than the Zombie-Corps that we had to suffer with last year.

And what's with Trevor Laws, Antonio Dixon and Juqua Parker? I mean just when I really started to dislike all three of them, they get their games on. Jerks! They made a liar out of me. The crap I have to put up with.

Then we have to ask WTF is up with O-line. I mean jeez.  How many times will Peters get injured this week or do we have him wrong?  Maybe he just like to roll in the grass like a happy dog between downs and we just THINK he's injured.  Will Dunlap come through?  He had one really good game, which no one would ever have guessed. Does he have a second solid game in his career?  Will Nick Cole continue to accidentally snap the ball while they are still in the huddle?  Is Herremann's head too big? Is that what's up with the offsides?

Quarterback  - who is our starting QB this week? Kafka? McNabb?  Cunningham?  I'm so freaking confused. Forget buying a Jersey until Reid is gone. Maybe I'll just get a fat suit and walrus mustache to dress up like Reid for the games. He's the only one who has been there long enough to make buying a jersey a worthwhile investment, and he doesn't even have one.

Running backs and fullbacks - We don't need em. Never used them.  Why start now?  What do they do anyway? 

And we don't have wide receivers, we have 'concussion receivers'.  It's a freaking revolving door out there.  It's like you can't be a WR for Philly unless your brains are dripping out of your nose.  Maclin hasn't done his share this year. Where's HIS concussion? Talk about selfish. He should be hitting his own head with a hammer on the sidelines to prove he wants to play.  I think they should all start wearing Darth Vader helmets and be allowed to use their heads as much as they like.

Wait a minute.... This is BYE week.  They aren't even playing.

Never mind - Sorry to waste your time Astley.

CDA = Coaching Dysfunction Anxiety; A disease documented and displayed by fans of teams like the Oakland Raiders, Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins. It occurs when the coaching staff can no longer "get it up".  This is a different disease from AOD (Asinine Owner Dysfunction) which was invented by Al Davis and Jerry Jones.

Let's look at what the press says about the Eagles coaching staff:

Bobby April - "the best special teams coach in the business."

Juan Castillo - "the best offensive line coach in the business."

Marty Morninhweg - "the offensive coordinator who manages the game clock with a sundial" (OK, I made that up...)

Sean McDermott – “trained by the best in the business”

Andy Reid - "One of the best in the business."

Earlier this season, JimmyK gave me some guff when I asked why we should consider Juan Castillo the best O-Line coach in the business. My question was, if this guy is so great, why has the O-Line been so consistently bad disappointing.  Jimmy is a passionate fan and I can understand why he might have taken my question kind of hard, but he is also becoming an excellent journalist. (Even if he disagrees with me).  So I hope he’ll take this one objectively.

For my part,  I re-opening the question and expanding it to the rest of the coaching staff.  Considering the talent the Eagles can field, is there a problem with the coaching staff? BTW, I will not threaten to post one of these each week, and no, I will not mention peas either.

But here we go:

Juan Castillo -  Juan has had some personnel challenges this year and last.  I suppose when you think about it,  anything that can go wrong with the line is a personnel challenge so I cannot give him a pass on this.  He has done some good things recently, like rehabilitating Winston Justice and resolving a huge question mark at center, but 'best in the business'?  I still don't see it.

With the lack of depth that the line is showing, I'd say he's too short sighted to be best in the business.  He's had a week to prep King Dunlap and if he does half the job with him as he did in fixing Justice, Castillo will get my full support. For now I'd say that I'm less than impressed.

Now Bobby April - I think everyone can agree that special teams performance is terrible. Close to the bottom of the league. The draft and some of our trades should have been very positive for special teams this year. I think the quality of the individual players on ST has improved while the overall performance has gotten worse. To me, that means that the issue is coaching.  April may have been the best in the biz at Buffalo, but he is not improving anything here.  Maybe it's a style issue.  Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but I think the Eagles have the talent to cover kicks and punts far better than they are currently doing. Again, I am less than impressed.

Marty Morninhweg - has the youngest, fastest, most talented offense in the league (that MIGHT be a little biased, but I love our offense). Why aren't they eating other teams alive yet?  Growing pains?  Mid-season is on its way. It's time these boys start stomping ass.  Can anyone argue that they don't have the talent?  Again - this points to coaching.

Sean McDermott - He's had his rookie year where we gave him a pass for some pretty lackluster performances from the D.  The guy has been handed a LOT of new talent. Now it's time for little Opie to fire up his boys and create some good 'ol Iggles merciless mayhem. And keep the pressure on, all game long? How many seasons does it take to fix coverage problems in the middle? I'm getting impatient with 'Little Doogie Howser, the child coach'.

Andy Reid - I love his back office ability. Game day, I am less impressed.  Not anti-Reid here, just want better performance from him, too. Sure the “I take the whole responsibility” post-game comments are all anyone can say and yes, he adjusts to problems very well from week to week.  But maybe it's time for Andy to start benching some coaches to get the point across that it's time for his lieutenants to get some better results or move on. I want to see him getting angry and kicking some staff ass.

"Hi, my name is Iggy Green and I suffer from CDA..."

With the protection as good as it has been so far, I expect Kolb and Vick to trading weeks between concussions, contusions and broken ribs.  They might want to get Garcia back  (Shut up, I know, not available) and put Kafka on IR to protect him.  The Tight Ends should carry little shovels this year to dig their quarterbacks out of the turf after sacks.  How fast can they dig out the QB during a 2 minute drill?  Now that's clock management. I have a funny feeling Vick will be talking like Mohammed Ali by the end of the season.

Kolb looked like a Chia pet after they planted his head in the ground during game one.  He was about as  close as you can get to having a piano dropped on your head. Thinking about it, I guess what we really need a good cartoon quarterback - someone you can flatten and then he pops right back up again - and I guess Vick will do.  Smart move Andy. 

Since this is the way it seems it will go this season, I think that the games would be more entertaining if they pipe in those cartoon "Whang!" and "Splat” and “Boingg!!" noises every time our QB suffers a potentially career ending tackle.  Woo-hoo.  And then the opposing teams could do professional wrestling aerial moves on our QBs rather than just boring old horse collars and face masks. Considering the QB’s are sitting ducks, we might as well enjoy watching them getting maimed.

Or maybe… just maybe… Andy could stop dicking around with the offensive talent players and sure-up the Offensive line.  Just a thought.... But hey, what do I know, I'm an optimist.

- Iggy

My two favorite players were carted off the field last week and I haven't heard much about either. What's up with DeSean and Trent Cole?  Anyone have the skinny on the complete injury list? 

For that matter, is there a website that tracks the Eagles Injuries.  The official site has nothing up right now.  I can't find information anywhere and as the Cowboys proved last year, if you stay healthy, sometimes  you don't even have to be all that good to make the playoffs.

Put Paul Castillo on notice. He's not getting the job done. No improvement from this time last year.  It's actually scary how similar the line is to last year: We have a bunch of backups playing, an Andrews is undeperforming, and we have a backup tackle who we are sure is worthless (Ths year it's DungFlop).   

They should flush a good part of the O-line and start over.  Pick up some aging vets on August 31 and September 4 when the  rosters go to 80 to 75 and then from 75 to 53. I've been waiting for Queen Doneflop to play up to his size for two years - but unlike Justice, he has never shown any real promise. Time to let hm go. Develop what you can and mercilessly replace what you can't.  Too many of these guys suck. And WTF is wrong with Todd Herremans, for real?  He is needed out there, now. Not because these games matter, but because the line has to gel. JUST LIKE LAST YEAR.

Stop trying to turn Vick into a pocket QB - I said this last week. He is proving why the McNabb worm-burner was actually a good tactic. As long as there is no pocket, let him run his ass off.  Vick is a wildcat asset that can pass -  sometimes.  Use his legs. It's not like we expect him to stick around next year, so if he gets creamed, WTF cares? 

Teach LeSean how to do the "Brian Westbrook Bounce". I rarely saw Brian or Buckhalter hesitate, even when there was no hole. He would just run into the back of the Guard or Center, allow himself to get lost from sight for a second, and then roll right or left - popping out where the best available gap looked to be.  Again and again they turned blown plays into big gains that way. LeSean sees nothing and dances, waiting about three yards back which allows Linebackers and Safeties to move into him.

Be what we are:  I thought West Coast offenses were all about quick dump passes.  Except for Andy's West Coast.  Is this really a West Coast offense, at all?  This is a Cheesesteak offense:  West Coast talent with an old-school pocket mentality. Andy seems to have turned Kolb into McNabb in just one offseason with the long deep looks before throwing.  Where are the quick pops to the right and left?  Even without an O-line he should be peppering them out all day long. Better get quick Kevin, or they are going to mangle your ass.  And while I love thought of Texans getting creamed, KK is OUR Texan.  Andy can protect him best this way..

It's not like Andy can't figure out who the majority of the special teams players are going to be this year.  Stop giving the zombie-walking-dead guys - the guys he's gonna cut anyway - any more reps.   Special Teams needs  a lot of practice and a lot of coaching by Bobby April right now.  What's with the gunners?  It doesn't matter if you are fast if you run the wrong direction. Which reminds me, we should try out Sav and Akers as backup Mikes. They tackle better than anyone else on special teams right now (especially Sav - but remember Akers' Judo throw tackles last year?).

Finally, Andy should reverse Max J-G's laproscopic surgery and take it on himself. I've never seen Max play so bad. He was better when his leg was broken.  He's lost enough weight now it's Andy's turn. Max needs the energy and how many fat coaches have you seen win the Lombardi? Stuff's gotta change or dreams of a winning season are nothing but optimism.

Always positive,

Iggy

Watching Michael Vick out there last night against the Jaguars reminded me of someone.  Don't laugh, but he reminded me of early Donovan McNabb -  when he used to run.  Watching Vick trying to be a pocket quarterback last night was a very solid affirmation of Marty and Andy's coaching abilities and at times very frustrating. 

Vick was holding onto the ball much longer than either Kolb or Kafka and as the pocket collapsed you could see the man fighting himself NOT to run. There were a few plays where, no doubt, he could have picked up at least a first down, maybe broken open, but he did what he is being coached to do, and that says a lot about the guy. Last year I thought he was an uncoachable, 'loose cannon on deck'.  This year, I am watching change his game like Rocky switching from being a southpaw to a right handed fighter. (OK, so that was just a movie.)

All this is nice, but I still say that if Donovan McNabb continued to run the ball after his ACL tear as much as he did before the ACL tear, two things would have happened:

1.  The Eagles never would have considered a need for a Wildcat formation because McNabb was an "Always-on" Wildcat.

2. The Eagles would more likely have won a Lombardi Trophy.

Conclusion: Don't over coach Vick to the point that his greatest assets are lost. He is a square peg - a scrambling quarterback and one hell of a runner.  While you can shave down some of his corners so he fits the offense a little better, reads better and passes more effectively, don't turn him into the round peg that never leaves the pocket. What a waste of natural talent that would be. 

Right now I see him not only as a backup, but also as a great Red Zone assest and an excellent momentum changer should the offense get bogged down.

Not!!!

Well, here we are, with NFL training camps about to begin in earnest and finally, FINALLY, T.O. has become the Gary Coleman of the NFL.  I am so happy this jackass can't find work.  Like I said last year, he'll probably get a meager contract this year from some desparate team (meager for him, not for us working stiffs.) and then be found in another five years, broke, bitter and drunk sitting in a sleazy dive bar next to CNCINFO and ProfileENT (who will still be under age).

Sure he ruined three teams and was a nothing on a fourth, and the rest of them may eventually forgive that media-hugry jackass, but Philly fans, when we boo, we boo forever. So T.O., I only have on thing to say to you:

"You could have been the best receiver to have ever played the game, but because of your childish antics you turned yourself into an 'also ran'.  I hope you enjoy obscurity for the rest of your life. Nyah-Nyah."

Having seen only two postings and subsequent strings from ProfileENT - both incredibly abusive and ignorant, I am interested in developing a psychological profile of this BGN user and would like to see what we can come up with as a collaborative effort. To that end, I will bullet item some things that I recall about him and statements that he has made, add some deductive logic in order to come up with a psychological profile.

Observations:

• The subject is belligerent. He attempts to goad anyone who does not agree with him and even some that do.
• The subject is delusional.  Several statements  support this observation:
  • He stated in one string last month that he was off to go wake boarding. But it was night time where he was claiming to be at the time.
  • He claims to be attending a university yet also claimed to be leaving for Cabo during finals week.
  • He states his physical prowess, athletic ability and impressive physical dimensions yet his demeaner is that of an early pubescent child who has been malicously bullied on a regular basis.
  • He claims to be matriculated at a highly regarded University - one that requires a considerable degree of dedication and intelligence in which to gain acceptance. He displays none of these traits in his posts.
  • Mr. ProfileENT tells us that he is a serious 'Karate Guy' and regularly threatens to kick the collective asses of his detractors. A guy with that attitude would be thrown out of pretty much any martial arts system before he got past a white belt.
• The subject is irrational and immature. He displays behavior, postures and threatens like a child.

Analysis:

I do not think that ProfileENT is an emotional adult.  I suspect that he is not a physical adult either and would guess that he is less than 15 years of age - most likely twelve or thirteen, and he displays only average intelligence for that age group.  My guess is that he tests in the 40th percentile - a good bit lower than average.  

ProfileENT is friendless and often abused and feels that the anonymity of the Internet can allow him the opportunity to create a persona that will be respected and feared. When his subteffuge is exposed his brittle psychological defenses are shattered he becomes belligerent, insulting his detractors as best he can - until his defenses fail and he starts to rant nonsense insults and goes into a pre-catatonic state of confusion that can often be seen with boderline personality disorders.  His physical threats  would be laughable if he did not threaten to murder people. That is of course criminal behavior and instead it shows a propensity towards mental illness.

ProfileENT would best be ignored, except that it might be fun - if not somewhat tacky - to taunt him.

Collaboration:

Please feel free to add your own analysis of this subject. I find him most intrigeuing and entertaining. 

+++ please note - while this message was not typed on blackberry, the author does not really give a flying fart about correct spelling or perfect grammar.  Sorry, that's just the way it is.+++

look i have seen all this crap on this blog about how klob is this awesomme qb who is gonna hlep our O a ton this season and its just frikin stupid cause he sux and cant play football at all. And if ne of u knew about football u would kno that.

its just hype and klob stinks.

there are sooo many reasons y he sux and 4 some reason none of u are seein it well im gonna show u all y he sux so bad.

so number 1 he is slow. like super slow. he def the slowest qb on our team and probs the slowest in the nfc east. we need sped on the field and he doesn have enuough 2 evin catch a wyld pig with a hunting nife. all u need 2 do is watch him compared 2 Jamarklyn Russell and you will see hes wayyyyy to slow to be a good qb in the nfl which is different from col;lege.

number 2 he cant throw his hands suck. he didnt make a single tuff pass last season all the receevrs were rite were he threw them. every single catch was super easy n he never eveer did nething with the ball after the catch not even once. 2 be a good qb you need too have good hands and Kevyn Klobs hands are sucky. It’s like the have sucky cups on them like an octopussis testicles.

number 3 hes got this weird crease in his forehead when he has his hemlet on that looks like a klingon or something. U cant throw passes when ur hed is all folded up like that cause u cant c nothing right.  U c dubble so if you have three receevrs running the same pattern at leest heal hit the middle guy.

and last number 4 he takes a spot away from other good qbs we have like McNybb and Vick. Russel needs to be startin with Ryin Leaf running wilde egel to give us consistency n neway Vick is way way faster than klob n duznt have crease-head. y reid doesn see it i dont kno but we should have McNybb startin with Vick to give us a better qb setup.

so thats y klob is no good. we need feely to start w/detmer n we can be way better. Klob was a waste pick n we need to move on.

JasynB - you can dlete this ne time and I wont feel 'not good'.

It seems to me that there is a strong movement here for some BGN readers who want to rehab every ex-con and problem child in the League in order to get some experience on the team.  Look at recent history - One guy is promoting Pacman Jones, another is pushing Ben Rothelsrapist, and we already have Michael Vick.  Now I want experience on the team as much as the next guy, so why not just save some money and field an entire team with current convicts?  I mean, we could get some quality guys from the prison systems - through work release, of course - and we would be able to pay them less than minimum wage.  If you add in the mental halfway houses we could get T.O. and Freddie Mitchell back for nothing.  Then we could fill whatever gaps there are in the depth chart with torn ACL's and back injuries.

Thing is, on a budget like this, BGN could band together and field an entire NFL team with shared beer money.  We could use the parking lots by the link for practice. That should toughen their knees up. Pads?  Helments? Who needs that crap? That's for healthy guys and non-convicts.  On the BGN team you EARN your pads.  Maybe Vick could be allowed one or two if he can steal them. Anyone have a football we can use?

We can charge obscene prices for the tickets and outrageous prices for the Jerseys. Doesn't matter what color they are, so long as they have stripes. Then we'd be rich and we could rule the world.  Bwah-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Now we need a name for team. Any suggestions? (Oh boy did I open myself up for abuse with this one!)

The Bills let T.O. go today, which just makes me happy. 

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AlsccLn8I_KTuE_jbRb.vchDubYF?slug=ap-bills-owens&prov=ap&type=lgns

I hate that jackass and I think he has to be the least popular player in the NFL, but I could be wrong. Who do you think is the least respected player in the NFL, past or present. OJ Simpson doesn't count because he became a monster so much later, but other than that, pick anyone.  And there is no truth to the rumor that JIBTA is OJ Simpson and Octomom's love baby, in case you were asking....

The Eagles released Westy, which wasn't unanticipated but it was still unwelcome. Our city is loyal to our players - when they deserve our repect, and Westy sure deserved it.  But we are learning that sentimentality has no place in the Eagles front office. Sure we've seen the lessons before, but in the last two years, with the release of Westy, Runyan, Thomas and Brian Dawkins, we are seeing a new stress from the team on the acquisition of youth and speed.  Much more so than ever before.  And leadership has taken a back seat.  Talk about trading McNabb doesn't seem so far-fetched after today's release. 

So now, moving into the draft season, will we see more of the same? The birds are well situated with draft picks and cash, especially if they hold to their current pattern and release Kevin Curtis, Reggie Brown and at least one of the Andrews brothers, and while there will be no salary cap this year, you have to know that the team still has operating costs and will try to keep their salaries down anyway. Besides, none of these players, at the present time, are giving the team the value that their high salaries should represent. Remember that every million given to a player is a million that comes out of Jeff Lurie's wallet.  And while we can say, it's an uncapped year, and the Eagles are rich, you try asking a billionaire for a million dollars for nothing.  They don't get rich for being loose with their money.

With this being the case, a young, talented, but less experienced team, and the potential for either a lot of draft picks or a lot of horse trading for the younger free agents out there, but I would like to see AR and Lurie looking for some experience now, especially on D.  And should the Eagles actually trade Donovan McNabb and make Kolb starting QB the team becomes even less experienced. 

I think we've learned that the Eagles are always in a 'rebuilding year', whether they need it or not, and if the process is too accellorated, like it was last year, it can hurt the team more than help it.  Sure, I want to see some good draft picks, but I'm hoping that they can find some quality experience on the free agent market this year because, for the most part, this team is plenty young enough. 

We are speculating our brains out here.  Who's gonna get traded? Where's McNabb going? Who are we going to draft?  Which Free Agents are we going pick up? 

But who was the most accurate last year? Did anyone predict (or even imagine) Jason Peters, Stacy Andrews, Michael Vick, etc.  We all feared that Dawkins was going, but did anyone expect Justice to come through so strong?  That McNabb would play so well, that our secondary was as weak as it really was?

It's time to strut your stuff about what you predicted last year.  But if you make it up, I know Joe_D will catch you in that act.  Dudes got a memory like a steel trap. 

(I didn't see any of this stuff coming, although I did think that Justice was better than most people thought, I never expected him to be as good as he was. Oh yeah, and I was on record as thinking Shawn Andrews was going to be a monster this year.)

So admit it, if you were dead on, boast it, if you were wrong, big deal. I hope next year is half as amazing as this year was - without the ACL bullshit, and with a Lombardi trophy.

With all the great arguments going on over McNabb vs. Kolb there seems to be something missing - Michael Vick.  I mean, doesn’t anyone think that Vick has a chance at all?  After all, we do have three - count 'em THREE - starting-quality quarterbacks, not two.   Has anyone else noticed that around the Link and Lehigh it seems like ACL's snap like popcorn?  The question here might not be who does Andy choose so much as who survives the off season. 

And then there's the general drama of the NFL.  All that stars and wanna-be-stars seem to need is a single whisper in the ear from Drew 'Satan' Rosenhaus, and the next thing you know, they are demanding a trade in front of the media and instantly committing career suicide.  Any one of the three could succumb to the desire for a little more green; Legal tender green, not Eagle Green.

And then there's the one thing that is genetically designed into so many NFL players - pointless self-destruction.  Kolb could get injured hunting a wild 500 lb. razorback hog with a pair of tweezers.  McNabb could try to pick up all four of his kids and once and wind up with a career-ending hernia. And Michael Vick, well forget that thought, Michael would never do anything self-destructive so we can rule that one out. 

But I digress, so back to the point;  as long as everyone seems to be speculating, doesn't anyone think that there is potential for Vick to be #1 QB next season, if not by merit, by attrition, and if so, would that really be such a terrible thing?

- Iggy