Did anyone see the pregame interview with Joe Banner. During that interview, he was asked about Jeremy Maclin. His response was very interesting. He said that Maclin had a personal illness, and that Maclin prefers to keep it private now, but maybe one day he will share with everyone what he is battling through. This response seems to indicate that the Eagles are fully aware of Maclin's diagnosis. Therefore his testing is not to diagnose his illness, rather its to treat it and determine his prognosis.

This is in stark contrast from what Andy Reid stated after the game. Andy reiterated that the Eagles were still unaware of Maclin's diagnosis, and that he is still being tested.

The question is, why would Andy lie about the Eagles having full knowledge of Maclin's illness.  Lets consider, Maclin's father is a Doctor, and he is well aware of privacy laws that apply to medical conditions. Is it possible that Maclin's father is pushing for Maclin to keep his Non football related illness out of the medias hands. Or is Maclin's illness something that he may want the world to know he has. Either way, somebody is advising him to keep it quite (truth be told, that is his right). But I don't understand Andy's stance in acting like he doesn't know what it is! That just makes it look suspicious, especially coming of the heels of the Steve Smith signing.

Keep in mind, we could have gotten Moss who is cheaper, and ready to play now. But Smith is a better long term answer, but why would we need a long term answer if we don't know what Maclin has, the answer to that question is clearer now that Joe Banner has indicated that they know what Maclin has. While having full knowledge of this diagnosis, we still went forward to find a suitable long term solution. This can't be good!

 

Kevin Kolbs, Strenghs and Weaknesses.

 

Strenghs:

Super Accurate: Kevin has great touch on his passes, and is very accurate in short to mid range throws. If you look back at his film, you will see him make some passes into some small spaces.

 

Effective in Red Zone: Former Eagles Secondary coach was on the record saying that the biggest challenge he faces with the Eagles secondary was beating Kolb in the Red zone in practice. Time and time again, Kolb throw the TD in practice with the scout team on the Eagles starting Defense. He is excellent and making those short throws. He has GREAT velocity on his passes, and still maintains touch.

 

His passes have Touch. DeSean Jackson was asked the different between McNabb and Kolb, Jackson responded "Kolb’s passes are like catching pillows". Jason Avant was once asked the difference, he said "Donovan puts the ball on your body; Kevin puts it away from you so you can extend your arms". Kevin was trained to throw the ball 1-2 feet away from the WR, as to allow him to extend his body, and get him running in specific direction. He does not throw directly to a WR, rather a tad bit away. You cannot mistake this for inaccuracy, rather he is making it easier to catch the ball for WR.

 

He is one of the best QB I have EVER seen throwing on the run. Yes, you heard that right, this man practices every day in throwing off the run, and he is accurate at doing it. He doesn’t have Elway’s cannon, but he can sling it in middle of a dead sprint. Trust me on this, is very odd to see this skill from a QB

 

Improved pocket presence. He once struggled at that, but he is better at it. He steps up well in the pocket, Granted its not yet a strength of his, but he its not a problem. He feels the rush well and will step up and deliver the ball.

 

Surprisingly mobile. He isn’t Michael Vick, but he isn’t the statue Kurt Warner. Kevin isn’t afraid to tuck it down and run. He is slow as dirt, and has no athletic cutting skills, but he has surprising escape ability. And he is a willing runner.

 

He makes a ton of safe throws, He was trained by Andy to read the Defense and take what they give you. If that’s a check down, that a check down he will take. He was trained not to press; He can run a offense safely.

 

He is an excellent nature leader, a lot like Drew Brees. He always says the right thing.

 

Let me address is Interceptions.

First off, anyone who saw him play would tell you at least 4 of those were not his fault. Kevin came off the bench from time to time, and the change of velocity from Kevin and Donovan or Vick is a lot for a WR. So a lot of his picks were passes that bounced off of WRs shoulder passes or helmets that bounced STRAIGT in the air.

That happened at least 4-5 times with him. Not his fault, chance of pace hard for WRs, they just didn’t adapt quick enough, for the most part, the passes were there.

 

He also 2 a hail Mary that was picked a few dropped TD passes that were desperation throws that were picked. Not really his fault. I would say he threw a good 2 legit picks, maybe three.

 

Weaknesses,

 

Kevin has a tendency of staring down receivers. Wiz has gotta get him to stop doing that. It will burn him eventually

  

Although he customary runs an offense as designed. If the offense isn’t running smooth he feels the need to make plays and begins to PRESS throws or make the wrong read or throw into double coverage. He is a GUN SLINGER and a half. He makes Jay Cutler look timid. Kevin has monster stones to even attempt some of the passes he does. He is just trying to make a play, he naturally is a lot like Favre, but the coach has to stay on top of him to not let him loose focus and freestyle. Some QBs can pull off that style of free styling, but it tends to burn Kevin as he will not look for the Safety of check to see if an LB is hiding, because he is focused on making a play and not following his progressions. This causes some dumb passes and some senseless picks. This is a result of frustration, it doesn’t happen much, but if you are trailing, he will let it fly without caution.

 

I didn’t like his body language his first GB game, he kind of showed his frustration and lacked energy. Very rare for him, but you could see the pressure got to him. Maybe it was butterflies, hopefully a few starts shook that off of him, as he performed well the remainder of the year.

 

He doesn’t have a great deep ball, but its adequate.

 

Overall, Kevin is a very good QB, if he came out the draft last year, he would have been the number 1 pick. So even though the price you paid was high, you are getting a true stud. It Kevin’s limited play he ranked # 14 last year in most QB stats, only off of 4 starts. He has won Offensive player of the week 2 times, and should have won it 1 more time.

 

Bottom line, with good coaching and a decent protection, Kevin can read a defense and make the right throw. If you call a ton of 10-15 yard passes and throws he can make in 3-5 steps, he will murder a defense. If you need Kevin to throw deep all day to Fitzy, then you made the wrong choice. Kevin is a mid-short range guy who sets up the long throw. He is a LOT like Warner, he needs to be in a rhythm, when he is, he is as good as they get.

 

Enjoy him, he will put you in the playoffs in at least a year. Trust me.

(Please excuse my indenations, had a problem in fixing it on this site)

First off, I want to start by admitting that I did not read every comment posted in regard to this. By the time I checked in, the forums were way too flooded to read. So excuse any duplicate ideas.

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This was posted by ronjohnson @ bigblueview. I posted in on our blog as part of our bet. Love seeing people eat crow.

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First I want to s ay that it was a great game. Two of the best teams in the NFL going toe to toe. And it was competitive to the end. I think there is no arguement from anyone that these are the two best teams in the NFC.

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Its a beautiful thing, but I was trolling over to the www.bigblueview.com blog and noticed how afraid the Giants fans and bloggers appear. Here is one of the headlines they had on their blog "Eagles can’t be beat, so why should Giants try - NYPOST.com"

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This is my case that Kevin Kolb is a good QB. So be warned, if you are a Kolb hater, this may be the part where you stop reading. For those of you objective enough to hear my argument please read more after the jump.

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I couldn't beleive the lack of football I was hearing from that Fox broadcast crew yesterday. And how they were urging Kolb to throw the ball deep vs Washington. That surprises me coming from a QB like Aikman.

From what I was, Washington never blitz, they refused to compromise their defense and leave any CB man up on any of the Eagles WR. In fact, they just sat back in a soft base man cover 2 just about  99 % of the game. How are you supposed to go deep on that? Kevin would have gotten picked off, and it would have took time in the pocket to get the pass off. The last thing Kevin needed was to go back in the 7 step drops again with out first getting in a rythme.

Next thing that irked me, was in the few instances where the iso'd the camera on the Eagles WR, and they start saying how they were wide open. But in those instances the defense was in a zone, with a LB sitting under. Kevin would have to lobb the ball over the LB and still get it in that small space. Chances are he would have gotten picked off doing that. That is an impossible pass, just ask AJ Feely. It was negligent for Aikman to say those WR were open when in the bottom of the screen you have a defender between Kevin and the WR. Just because there is space between the WR and the CB doesn't mean the WR was open.

I thought Kevin took what was given to him. Washington stood back in that cover 2  forcing the Eagles to go small ball on them. And Kevin took it, just as Michael Vick did. Truth is, evan if Micael Vick stood in that game he wouldn't have throws those passes the critized Kevin for. That wasn't Kevins fault, rather he did what Andy told him to do. Just take what you get.

I think that the broadcasters negative reaction to Kevin really made for the fans speaking badly about Kevin. I had 3 or 4 guys already trash Kevin today, saying receivers where "Open" when in fact they weren't. I had to explaine to people this fact. Kevin didn't play good, but he didn't play bad. Last I checked he threw for 200 yards in a little more than a half, 1 TD and 1 garbage pick. Kevin wasn't why we loss, We needed a better game plan.

How lucky we are to have drafted him instead of Ricky Williams. Because we all know how much a bust Ricky was. He never made any pro bowls. At the time, he wasn't the best running back EVER to come out of college. How were we sooo blinded?

 

I mean, Donovan graced us with his presence for 11 years. And he turned us to a good team. He did this all by himself. He had to put this team on his back, because he never ever had a Running back who could catch, or a good offensive line. How could you succeed with a defense like that? I mean, Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent’s were horrible. And Trotter sucked in the middle. Huge Douglas and Brian Dawkins were horrible teammates.

 

I know, he never had a good receiver to throw to. Dante Stallworth was HORRIBLE, and Terell Owens was the worst. We all know what he did to this team. We never made an attempt for Javon Walker, Anquan Boldin, we never inquired on Larry Fitzgerald, and even Randy Moss. We just don't care about Wide receiver. We gave serious consideration to signing Plaxico Burress when we already had TO, that was never EVER on our Radar. And bringing in Antonio Freeman was a total waste of time. And Kevin Curtis was NEVER gonna be more than a 50 catch 500 yard receiver.  We just don't draft WR high, I mean Fred Ex, Todd Pinkston, Reggie Brown, DJax were all late draft picks. How could we do that to Donovan.

 

This team has never succeeded while Donovan has been hurt. I mean AJ Feely, Koy Detmer, Jeff Garcia, Kevin Kolb all just couldn't keep the ball rolling in Donovan’s absence.

 

Lets be real, Andy Reid had nothing to do with Donovan’s success. After all, he just doesn't know QBs.

 

Ok, OK. This statement isn't gonna be sarcastic.

Andy Reid is just as much a factor to Donovan’s success as Donovan's helping Andy. If Donovan were to be drafted by any other team, he would have faded away like all of the other QBs in that draft. Andy made Donovan who he is. He should be glad he came here, I'm sure Michael Vick wishes he were here as long as Donovan. Look at all the help they have given to him. Andy is a great QB coach; he put Donovan in the best situation possible for years. So what, he never signed the top WR every season, but its not because they didn't try. They made multiple serious attempts at a top notch WR. They just refused to pay big bucks for bad Big name WRs. They have been correct 100% of the time. Just remember TJ Houshmendzadeh. We won't just sign a WR just because. He has to be worth the money.

 

Again, Donovan is LUCKY he was here. He would have been out of the league if the browns or bears would have taken him. So I don't want to hear how lucky we are, he needs to realize how lucky he was. I'm sure Michael looks at Donovan’s career with envious eyes. Not everyone has the privilege to play for a good team and good coaches and organization. I mean, he support this team. Last I check, we still have a 60,000 fan watiling list for season tickets.

 

No more poor Donovan, poor us for having a QB who had such a good situation and just didn't

appreciate it

 

(Also, I don't want to hear anymore coments about Donovan getting booed in the draft, last I checked, Kevin Kolb got booed to, he got over it)

I am so confused now. What just happened? Should I be happy? Should I be furious? Let’s go over some possible motivations over this move, and try to sort out how we should feel.

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(uploaded picture late)

Over the last few weeks, I've been a little irked by the number of people who oppose the wildcat formation without even understanding it. Its even more frustrating hearing people like Ike Reese start to bad mouth the formation. I used to trust that the media understood football. But apparently they don't. So I wanted to give a quick explanation of why the wildcat is here to stay, and why it isn't bad.

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I keep reading reports on the net about Revis not wanted to come back to the Jets. And I keep saying to my self, why can't we trade for him?

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With all the Mike Vick news floating around, I'm surprised no one created this poll yet. This one is an obvious one. Do you think Mike Vick will be in the NFL come the start of training camp?

Poll

Will Mike Vick be in the NFL at the start of training camp?

69%

Yes

143 votes

30%

No

64 votes

207 votes | Poll has closed

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I head notice that as this year advance, a lot of us who used ot support McNabb have become very tired of his act. Many of the die hard Eagles fan have grown a strong dislike for Donovan McNabb. But I didn't want to accuse, so I figured I would put it out there to the people.

This is my question to the Eagles fans. Is Donovan McNabb a hated player? Simple answer, Yes or no. We can get to our reasonings in the comments section. I hope to get a good idea of what McNabb's legacy is now.

Poll

Is McNabb hated now?

22%

Yes

85 votes

77%

No

296 votes

381 votes | Poll has closed

This is a slow time of the offseason, and there are very little stories coming from the Eagles. So I find myself jumping from site to site just to see if some kind of news may have developed.

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I know this isn't Eagles related, but its still football related.

Yesterday I just bought that new backbreaker football game. I gotta tell you, that thing is off the chain bro. I mean, that game is GREAT. I had so much fun playing it. Has anyone gotten the chance to check that thing out.

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Yeah, Yeah, I know its early, but its fun. Tell me what you think of my 53. After we drafted 13, I wondered how do we fit these guys on the roster, and after I looked at it, they fit easily. Notice how I put Marlin Jackon's as a started CB, I don't think we have much space for him right now as a Safety. Also notice how I put Ricky Sapp as backup Sam. Andy made a point to mention that Ricky can play LB. And do to our depth and his size, I think he plays Sam. I think Clayton makes the team, just as a 3rd down coverage LB, we need one badly. Abiamiri stays, the coaches love him, and he can play DT on passing downs. He wasn't Horrible last year. I think Juqua's time here is over, I know some guys are gonna argue that DTO will be cut, but I youtubed that kid, and he didn't look bad. He isn't athletic, but is very aggressive, the kind of guy we love. I think he plays a lot like Babin, so he will take that role. Tell me what you think. Please let me know if I forgot anyone.

 

	Starters		Reserves			Cuts
QB	Kolb		Vick	Kafka
RB	McCoy		Bell	Scott		Buckley
WR	Jackson	Maclin	Avant	Cooper	Hall	Baskett
FR	Weaver
TE	Celek		Ingram	Harbor
T	Peters	Justice	Tupou	Dunlap
G	Herremans	Andrews	Jean-Gilles	McGlynn
C	Jackson		Cole
DE	Cole	Graham	Tapp	Abiamiri	Te'O-Nesheim	Parker
DT	Bunkley	Patterson	Laws	Dixon		Owens
Sam	Fokou		Sapp	Clayton		Hall
Mike	Bradley		Chaney			Mays
Will	Simms		Jordan			Gaithers
CB	Samuel	Jackson	Hobbs	Hanson	Lindley
FS	Allen		Harris			Demps
SS	Mikel		Coleman
P	Brooks					Rocca
K	Akers
LS	Dorenbos
	Inactives (To meet 45 man active roster requirements)
1	Kafka
2	Hall
3	Dunlap
4	McGlynn
5	Te'O-Nesheim
6	Dixon
7	Lindley
8	Coleman
	Special Teams (No nonactive players included)
1	Weaver	(starter)
2	Fokou	(starter)
3	Bell
4	Scott
5	Cooper
6	Harbor
7	Sapp
8	Clayton
9	Chayney
10	Jordan
11	Harris

Updated: Changed colors, since someone called my roster "UGLY". I also included my active roster, and special teams. Also, All players in green are newly drafted players.

I want to start by saying that I was very surprised by the pick. Only because I never even bothered to check any film on Graham. Most had him listed as OLB, so he fell off of many radars for the Eagles.

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Per gcobb.com

Yesterday,  I learned from an NFL source that the Philadelphia Eagles have made a contract extension offer to fourth-year quarterback Kevin Kolb.

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I think it would be appropriate for the Eagles to show up to the world series and support the Phillies after a win vs the Giants.

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I know its ta-bu to discuss anything anti McNabb to some people. So I will do my best to be as fair as possible in this Post.

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via a.espncdn.com

We can't Wait to host the pinstripes down here in Philly. We are foaming at the mouth at the ideas of playing a World Series vs your beloved Yankees.

Poll

Who was your honest preferred NL opponet?

28%

Phillies

25 votes

71%

Dodgers

62 votes

87 votes | Poll has closed

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Lets keep it real for a minute. I think its becoming clear possible that Jackson is not impressed with McNabb's return. Just in the same way Reggie Brown wasn't happy with McNabbs return, after having career games with backup QBs.

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I was a little confused as to what title I should use for this post. I was gonna call it "Men who stare at goates" or something else with a "Goat" reference. That because we have plenty of goats to go around.

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