Walt, I was on the road and missed the friggin game. I know Eagles got their ass kicked, but how did the starters look? I caught the first drive on the radio and things seemed to be going pretty well. Did the scrubs get demolished in the second half or were the first-stringers weak as well?
When the starters came out of the game, it was 7-0 Patriots. The Eagles' first unit produced 8 penalties (6 accepted) to the Patriots' one. They didn't look focused. Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens connected on 3 short passes. Freddie Mitchell and Todd Pinkston dropped two and one passes, respectively (surprise). On defense, Marc Simoneau and Nate Wayne made a few nice tackles, which was surprising, because they are terrible tacklers. ND Kalu got to Tom Brady, but couldn't bring him down; instead, Brady managed to stay up and completed a 14 yard pass to Christian Fauria. Sheldon Brown was burnt by David Patten (Patriots' 4th WR) for a touchdown. The Eagles looked disgraceful, but its only the preseason. Someone who really impressed me was Reno Mahe. He looked like Duce Staley. Quick and powerful. But thats about it.
As far as running the football, I feel that the trio of Brian Westbrook, Correll Buckhalter and Reno Mahe are fine. The Eagles will miss Duce Staley, however. He is one of the elite blocking running backs in the NFL, and saved Donovan McNabb from being sacked on numerous occasions.
I think they needed Troy Vincent or Bobby Taylor more. Their starting corners are young and unproven, while their backups are a bunch of no-name rookies. Sheldon Brown was burnt badly by David Patten against the Patriots... and he's supposed to be better than Lito.
Another problem that the Eagles are facing is the loss of ND Kalu for the year. Now, the often injured Derrick Burgess starts at defensive end. I'm also hearing that Jeremiah Trotter is looking sluggish.
I think you might be right, but I really think they would have been better off if they kept Staley, how ever they would have been in more contention to win the Superbowl, than be in it, if they would have kept Vincent and Taylor, and let Kearse sign with another team. As one of my friends pointed out, Kearse gets injured constantly, Im not sure that there was one year with Ten that he was in every game.
The eagles made the right decision picking up Kearse cause he will help with the run defense. Plus Vincent and Taylor (who sucks and can't tackle) are old and the eagles are thinking about the future by starting sheaperd and brown (two solid young cbs). And one more thing, why are we all concerned over a preseason game?
I don't think Kearse helps with the run defense. He is a pass rusher, and as Joey pointed out, he gets injured often. He'll have four solid games and then get hurt for ten. He hasn't been healthy since 2000.
Vincent and Taylor are old, but they should have kept one of them. There is very little experience at the cornerback position. Remember, Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard were not high or mid first round picks. Sheppard was taken late in the first round, while Brown was selected at the end of the second. They are not ready to start in the NFL. Luckily, no other team in the NFC East has a dynamic aerial attack. However, once they go up against Seattle's incredible offense in the playoffs, they'll look pitiful.
Like I said, Andy Reid is 7-13 in the preseason, so no Eagle fan should be concerned...yet.
I disaggree. The Cowboys did bad in preseason, because Roy Williams, Darren Woodson, Terence Newman, and Dat Nguyen never played the entire game. From what Walt said ALL of Philly's main starters were in. I am not talking about little people, I mean starters that affect the game. All 4 starters I named that never even played greatly affect the game for Dallas. If all of Philly's main starters were playing and they still played poorly, its a bad sign.
The Eagles have about a million penalties during the first quarter. I don't think they were prepared for the Patriots, because Andy Reid doesn't emphasize the preseason like other coaches do. His 7-13 record backs that up. Meanwhile, Bill Belichick is 14-4.
I was thinking about that last night during the Eagles-Ravens game. I have the records on my computer, so I'll give you some (these records don't include the Thurs or Fri night games this week):
BAL Brian Billick 13-7 (Won Super Bowl)
CAR John Fox 6-3
DAL Bill Parcells 12-5 (Won Super Bowl)
DEN Mike Shanahan 18-9
DET Steve Mariucci 14-9
MIA Dave Wannstedt 9-9 (With that team, his record should be better)
Yeah, thats weird. But boy how does Erickson do so good in preseason. But his record will go down, because I think that San Fran is going 0-4 this preseason. AND HE'S TRYING TO WIN! That shows how good of a coach he is.
I think they go into Minnesota and win. Like I said in my predictions page, talent level has very little to do with the outcomes of pre-season games. Also, when teams start out 0-2 or 0-3, they do everything in their power to win because the Rams started out 0-4 in 2002 and that did not bode well for them. No one wants to be winless during the pre-season.
I aggree, but did you see the score of New England v.s Cincinnati. That is weird. I havent seen New England get their ass kicked like that since Buffalo. I still wonder what happened in that game. Apparently it is not too good to go 4-0 either because the Pats went into Buffalo, got spanked, Arizona (Fluke anyway) got spanked in Detroit, Carolina almost lost to Jacksonville, and the Chiefs barely won their opener.
I didn't think teams looked ahead in the pre-season, but apparently, some do. The Patriots have the Carolina Panthers this week. I bet Bill Belichick was preparing for that game ahead of time, and did little preparation for the Bengals. It didn't look like the players cared much either.
Yeah. It looks like Belichick is coming up with a master plan against Carolina. I guess he thinks "If we beat their starters in this game, maybe if were in the Superbowl against them again we will beat them." So maybe it is smart because you can tell how you would play against them in the Regular Season.
Yeah. Who would have thought the Bucs would deteriorate this badly in only 2 years. They could be Dead last this year. By then, New England could be too. But, I doubt Bill Belichick would do the same as Gruden. I think Gruden fooled alot of people. Including me. He won with Dungy's team and in 2 years he has destroyed them. Bill Calahan made the Super Bowl with Gruden's team. I think Dungy will win eventually with the Colts if he builds a Defense. Yeah that would be great if they did. I dont like the NFL's schedule system. I wish they would just have each team in a division play each other twice, And get a group of 8 other teams in the NFC they could play, and 4 in the AFC. And have a Superbowl rematch every year.
I don't think Jon Gruden is a fraud. The Raiders probably should have made the Super Bowl two years in a row before he went to Tampa Bay. In 2000, Rich Gannon got hurt against the Ravens in the AFC Championship. In 2001, they lost because of the tuck rule. In 2002, the Raiders were beaten by their old coach.
I don't see Dungy building a great defense in Indianapolis. With Peyton Manning's mammoth contract, they'll have trouble brining anyone in, especially since they have to resign both Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James next offseason. The only way he'll develop a great defense is if he drafts well, and so far, he hasn't done that.
I dont mean Top Ten, I think that they could win with it this year. I thin Gruden has destroyed Tampa Bay. After the season last year, I was picking them to make the NFC Championship but lose, that was before John Lynch, Warren Sapp, and the rest of the old Bucs left. He destroyed them in my oppinion.
I still think Jon Gruden is a brilliant coach, but I don't like him as a GM. You're right, he did destroy the Bucs. How could he let the cornerstones of that franchise get away?
After what he did with the Bucs, if I owned the team, I would have told him no on letting those players go, and I would have fired him if he persisted, he is no Jimmy Johnson, hes no Steve Mariucci as far as I am concerned he did not win that SuperBowl, Dungy did.
Well, even if he didn't win the Super Bowl, his other team got there.
The Bucs had a brilliant GM in McKay but Jon Gruden wanted more power, which is why McKay went to the Falcons. Ever since Gruden took all the power, the Bucs have been going downhill.
