Greetings all,

I know the Super Bowl might be a sore subject for most of us Eagles fans, but if anyone happens to wander into Indianapolis for the festivities this week, I thought I might be able to offer some helpful advice. I've lived and thrived in the Greater Indianapolis area for a good 6 or 7 years now, so I'm pretty familiar with just about anything in the area. Whether you want a good place to go eat away from the humbub, or a somewhere to go drink where there isn't a 500 dollar cover, just post your questions here and I would be more than happy to answer them with the best of my abilities.

Also, if you do plan on being around, I will be in the area for the weekend, so if you want a drinking buddy or someone to show you around, just let me know and I will do what I can to meet up with you.

Safe travels everyone, and have fun in Circle City!

P.S. That goes for Giants fans as well! Except for the drinking buddy thing...too much whiskey and I might just throw a jealousy punch =)

I know we have a lot of great football heads around here that know about a million more things about schemes and defense than I do, so I want to pose this question:  Now that we have been through all the preseason games, what do you think of Castillo in terms of a DC so far?  I haven't really been able to tell what it is we are even running at this point as far as defense, so hopefully some of you have an idea of how good of a job he is doing.  This is a pretty broad question and I meant as such as his job encompasses a lot of things, so feel free to discuss any facet of his job and your opinion of how he is doing at it.

 

To get things started properly:

via partykoozies.com

 

One of our biggest concerns after Week 3 was the complete breakdown of run defense.  Our LB's lacked the physicality and speed to stop running backs from the bouncing to the outside or run it up the gut, and our line was unable to plug the gaps.  McDermott eventually made some adjustments, moving Dixon in after the Bunkley injury, Fokou in for Akeem Jordan at SAM, and a couple of different looks defensively.  Since then, we've held some of the best RB's in the league to minimal yardage, but as I'm sure we have all noticed, our pass defense has GREATLY suffered.   Now I pose a couple of questions to you fine folk to start a friendly discussion:

 

After last weeks game, making Kerry Collins look like the third Manning brother and Kenny Britt like Reggie Wayne, do you think the trade off of Fokou and Dixon is part of our problem in pass defense?  Or is it something deeper rooted either in our secondary personnel, or just poor scheming?

 

Is McDermott a liability, or a genius?  After reading the csnphilly article on McDermott, could you see this guy as the head coach of the Eagles in 5 years?  What adjustments would you make right now if you were him?

 

What personnel do you think gives us the best balanced defense?  Who would start for the front 7?

 

Lastly, who would you replace Ellis Hobbs with after his dismal performance last week?  Dimitri Patterson, Joselio Hanson or Lindley?  Or do you replace him at all?

 

 

Just interested in starting a friendly discussion.  I may be off on a couple of points, but this is more of a way to get some ideas from the fan-base as to what you all think would give us the best chance to improve our defense.

Iowa quarterback Ricky Stanzi is 66 of 99 for 999 yards (completion rate of 66.667%), has 9 TD passes, has been sacked 9 times.   Also, the longest pass by Stanzi this year is, you guessed it, 66 yards.  Further proof that most hated rival is Satan spawn.  I for one, am glad that Purdue has taken up this crusade against the evil Hawkeyes.  I look forward to numerous crushing victories against our most hated, bitter rivals.

Three things that I've noticed off the bat:

 

1. Brandon Graham looks like a scary hybrid of a bulimic and anorexic.  I think DJax looks bigger.

 

2.  Running Game is a blast.  Shady seems really slippery, which is appropriate. 

 

3.  Anyone else having problems with the in game menus and lag?  Every time I go to a new menu in game I get 2-3 seconds of lag.

 

 

Only played one game so far, hopefully have more later.  What are your all's thoughts on the game so far?  Accurate portrayal of the Eagles?