pretty sure my cowboys are o-fer. I'm not paying a lot of attention.
If I had known then what I know now...
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Tebow or Barkley? I say who cares? The 3rd string qb never really matters...
Bigger concern for me was Rowe looking a little shaky again..,
In this case it might. If Braddy (I am calling him this, it will bother the hell out of my wife, who despises everything Patriots) gets hurt and Sanchise goes in you may find yourself calling for the 3rd stringer.
Actually Barkley got traded to Arizona so Tebow may make the team.
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
oh, goody....with the phillies season in the toilet, the eagles thread is back.
Toilet? Dude they're 23-16 since the break. Real, rational fans are paying attention and can see light at the end of the tunnel. These young bucks have been fun to watch over the last 6 weeks. Another nice performance last night.
But yeah...tis the season for football, my friend. Birds look like they might make some noise.
GO BIRDS!
real, rational fans know that 40 meaningless games don't mean anything. the phillies organization is a dumpster fire
oh, goody....with the phillies season in the toilet, the eagles thread is back.
That's how this city rolls. Always 100% straight trash eagles fans. At times they pretend to like baseball.
The linc parking lot before an Eagles game is legitametely something I wouldn't wish on anyone
I mean honest to god, it's like white trash saved up all their money for a year and bought football tickets
Lol
95% of eagles fans who consistently attend home games are ex-high school football players who think they could play in the nfl...even though most of them are 50-100 pounds overweight and couldn't run 50 yards without keeling over due to hyperventilation or cardiac arrest. they all 'have heart and passion'.
I will always be an eagles fan but they have the worst fanbase of any team in any professional sport in the world. bunch of fucking losers.
the linc sucks and so does going to the game and having to listen to the dumbest fans in the country.
the nfl is terrible. if you don't bet on the games there is no reason to watch. it's a joke
eagles fans are making super bowl plans based on the preseason. fanbase of window lickers...it's embarrassing
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
oh, goody....with the phillies season in the toilet, the eagles thread is back.
Toilet? Dude they're 23-16 since the break. Real, rational fans are paying attention and can see light at the end of the tunnel. These young bucks have been fun to watch over the last 6 weeks. Another nice performance last night.
But yeah...tis the season for football, my friend. Birds look like they might make some noise.
GO BIRDS!
real, rational fans know that 40 meaningless games don't mean anything. the phillies organization is a dumpster fire
yeah i thought he had a good shot after Barkley got traded and did well in the pre-season.
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
It’s impossible to look at this final roster and not marvel at Chip Kelly’s handiwork as GM.
Forget Chip the coach for a moment. Let’s talk about Chip the general manager.
How do you cut ties with Jeremy Maclin, LeSean McCoy, Trent Cole, Nick Foles and Evan Mathis –- five Pro Bowlers –- not to mention Todd Herremans, Brandon Boykin, Chris Polk and everybody else who was shown the door and come back with a better team?
Because that’s what I see. More talent. More players who fit Kelly’s culture in the locker room. A superior coaching staff. More depth. Way more depth. A team better equipped for a deep postseason run than Kelly’s first two teams.
It takes some guts to tear apart a 10-6 team. Most coaches, most general managers, would have tweaked the roster, rebuilt the overmatched secondary, and tried again.
And why not? Going into Week 14, the Eagles shared the best record in the NFL at 9-3. They had just destroyed the Cowboys in Dallas. We were all thinking first-round bye. And maybe more.
It’s easy to start rebuilding a bad team. But rebuilding a good one? That’s tricky. Especially for a guy in his first months as a general manager just two years after his first day on an NFL payroll.
But when you sit down and examine the team that the Eagles will take down to Atlanta next weekend, you have to be impressed.
Yes, there are a higher-than-normal number of guys coming off serious injuries, but all of them seem OK and they don’t appear to be at any more of a risk than anybody else in the league at this point.
There are still a few glaring questions facing the Eagles nine days before the opener.
Who’s the third outside linebacker? Who’s the nickel slot? Is there any quality depth on the offensive line? Can Sam Bradford build on his eye-opening preseason performances once opposing defenses start blitzing and gameplanning? Can the rebuilt secondary really slow down elite quarterbacks so they’re not picking apart the Eagles down the field like last year?
But it’s hard to look at this 53-man roster and not see upgrades across the board.
Defensive line? Same guys, but one of the best in the biz, and another year playing together should elevate their level of performance.
Linebacker? Gain Kiko Alonso and lose an aging Trent Cole? I'll take that.
Secondary? Younger, faster. Better at corner, better at safety, better coach.
Offensive line? Not better than last year but not worse. Solid group.
Running back? Cut ties with LeSean McCoy and Chris Polk and add DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews and Kenjon Barner? A ridiculously talented bunch.
Receiver? Lose Jeremy Maclin and add Nelson Agholor and hope for big improvement from Josh Huff and the usual Year 2 jump from Jordan Matthews? We’ll say push for now, with the chance of a net improvement in time.
And quarterback? I’m still a Nick Foles fan. I've seen him win games in the NFL. No matter how much you can't stand Foles, you can't argue with 14-4. And Bradford still has a lot to prove. But he has looked awfully sharp. I’ll say push again, but Bradford with these weapons does look intriguing. I just need to see him do it consistently in regular-season games.
In all, there are 18 players on the roster who weren’t here on opening day last year, and that’s not an inordinately huge number. But what’s significant is how much talent Kelly shed in order to bring those guys in.
The big question about overhauling the roster of a winning team is whether all the changes will mean it takes some time for the whole thing to come together, for all the new parts to function as a single efficient unit.
And honestly, from what we saw in the preseason, that won’t be an issue.
We can re-visit this in 17 weeks, but for now, I give Chip a solid A-minus for his first offseason as general manager, and the only thing keeping him from an A is the Boykin move. I like trading a non-starter for a conditional fourth-round pick, but I’m not sure there’s a capable replacement on the roster right now.
This is a talented football team, a dangerous football team and in most areas a deep football team.
The whole Chip-as-GM thing was a leap of faith for owner Jeff Lurie. Unprecedented in NFL history for a guy with such little NFL experience to be granted final say over all personnel decisions. But Kelly has such a knack for not only evaluating talent but evaluating whether talent will fit seamlessly into his program that it really does make perfect sense.
In the span of eight months, Kelly has rid the roster of a number of very accomplished players and replaced them with a bunch of guys who are probably just as talented but also truly fit Kelly’s vision of what he wants in a football player on the field, in the locker room and outside the NovaCare Complex.
A lot of coaches would be thrilled to go 10-6 every year and be in the mix. The fact that 10-6 convinced Chip to tear apart his roster and start over should be incredibly encouraging for Eagles fans.
He wants it all. Just like you do. And this offseason was a major step in that direction.
It’s impossible to look at this final roster and not marvel at Chip Kelly’s handiwork as GM.
Forget Chip the coach for a moment. Let’s talk about Chip the general manager.
How do you cut ties with Jeremy Maclin, LeSean McCoy, Trent Cole, Nick Foles and Evan Mathis –- five Pro Bowlers –- not to mention Todd Herremans, Brandon Boykin, Chris Polk and everybody else who was shown the door and come back with a better team?
Because that’s what I see. More talent. More players who fit Kelly’s culture in the locker room. A superior coaching staff. More depth. Way more depth. A team better equipped for a deep postseason run than Kelly’s first two teams.
It takes some guts to tear apart a 10-6 team. Most coaches, most general managers, would have tweaked the roster, rebuilt the overmatched secondary, and tried again.
And why not? Going into Week 14, the Eagles shared the best record in the NFL at 9-3. They had just destroyed the Cowboys in Dallas. We were all thinking first-round bye. And maybe more.
It’s easy to start rebuilding a bad team. But rebuilding a good one? That’s tricky. Especially for a guy in his first months as a general manager just two years after his first day on an NFL payroll.
But when you sit down and examine the team that the Eagles will take down to Atlanta next weekend, you have to be impressed.
Yes, there are a higher-than-normal number of guys coming off serious injuries, but all of them seem OK and they don’t appear to be at any more of a risk than anybody else in the league at this point.
There are still a few glaring questions facing the Eagles nine days before the opener.
Who’s the third outside linebacker? Who’s the nickel slot? Is there any quality depth on the offensive line? Can Sam Bradford build on his eye-opening preseason performances once opposing defenses start blitzing and gameplanning? Can the rebuilt secondary really slow down elite quarterbacks so they’re not picking apart the Eagles down the field like last year?
But it’s hard to look at this 53-man roster and not see upgrades across the board.
Defensive line? Same guys, but one of the best in the biz, and another year playing together should elevate their level of performance.
Linebacker? Gain Kiko Alonso and lose an aging Trent Cole? I'll take that.
Secondary? Younger, faster. Better at corner, better at safety, better coach.
Offensive line? Not better than last year but not worse. Solid group.
Running back? Cut ties with LeSean McCoy and Chris Polk and add DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews and Kenjon Barner? A ridiculously talented bunch.
Receiver? Lose Jeremy Maclin and add Nelson Agholor and hope for big improvement from Josh Huff and the usual Year 2 jump from Jordan Matthews? We’ll say push for now, with the chance of a net improvement in time.
And quarterback? I’m still a Nick Foles fan. I've seen him win games in the NFL. No matter how much you can't stand Foles, you can't argue with 14-4. And Bradford still has a lot to prove. But he has looked awfully sharp. I’ll say push again, but Bradford with these weapons does look intriguing. I just need to see him do it consistently in regular-season games.
In all, there are 18 players on the roster who weren’t here on opening day last year, and that’s not an inordinately huge number. But what’s significant is how much talent Kelly shed in order to bring those guys in.
The big question about overhauling the roster of a winning team is whether all the changes will mean it takes some time for the whole thing to come together, for all the new parts to function as a single efficient unit.
And honestly, from what we saw in the preseason, that won’t be an issue.
We can re-visit this in 17 weeks, but for now, I give Chip a solid A-minus for his first offseason as general manager, and the only thing keeping him from an A is the Boykin move. I like trading a non-starter for a conditional fourth-round pick, but I’m not sure there’s a capable replacement on the roster right now.
This is a talented football team, a dangerous football team and in most areas a deep football team.
The whole Chip-as-GM thing was a leap of faith for owner Jeff Lurie. Unprecedented in NFL history for a guy with such little NFL experience to be granted final say over all personnel decisions. But Kelly has such a knack for not only evaluating talent but evaluating whether talent will fit seamlessly into his program that it really does make perfect sense.
In the span of eight months, Kelly has rid the roster of a number of very accomplished players and replaced them with a bunch of guys who are probably just as talented but also truly fit Kelly’s vision of what he wants in a football player on the field, in the locker room and outside the NovaCare Complex.
A lot of coaches would be thrilled to go 10-6 every year and be in the mix. The fact that 10-6 convinced Chip to tear apart his roster and start over should be incredibly encouraging for Eagles fans.
He wants it all. Just like you do. And this offseason was a major step in that direction.
to be determined. way to early to say the offensive line and receivers are upgraded. heck not sure the running backs are an upgrade yet. let's see how these guys perform in the regular season before we canonize (again...) Chip Kelly.
It’s impossible to look at this final roster and not marvel at Chip Kelly’s handiwork as GM.
Forget Chip the coach for a moment. Let’s talk about Chip the general manager.
How do you cut ties with Jeremy Maclin, LeSean McCoy, Trent Cole, Nick Foles and Evan Mathis –- five Pro Bowlers –- not to mention Todd Herremans, Brandon Boykin, Chris Polk and everybody else who was shown the door and come back with a better team?
Because that’s what I see. More talent. More players who fit Kelly’s culture in the locker room. A superior coaching staff. More depth. Way more depth. A team better equipped for a deep postseason run than Kelly’s first two teams.
It takes some guts to tear apart a 10-6 team. Most coaches, most general managers, would have tweaked the roster, rebuilt the overmatched secondary, and tried again.
And why not? Going into Week 14, the Eagles shared the best record in the NFL at 9-3. They had just destroyed the Cowboys in Dallas. We were all thinking first-round bye. And maybe more.
It’s easy to start rebuilding a bad team. But rebuilding a good one? That’s tricky. Especially for a guy in his first months as a general manager just two years after his first day on an NFL payroll.
But when you sit down and examine the team that the Eagles will take down to Atlanta next weekend, you have to be impressed.
Yes, there are a higher-than-normal number of guys coming off serious injuries, but all of them seem OK and they don’t appear to be at any more of a risk than anybody else in the league at this point.
There are still a few glaring questions facing the Eagles nine days before the opener.
Who’s the third outside linebacker? Who’s the nickel slot? Is there any quality depth on the offensive line? Can Sam Bradford build on his eye-opening preseason performances once opposing defenses start blitzing and gameplanning? Can the rebuilt secondary really slow down elite quarterbacks so they’re not picking apart the Eagles down the field like last year?
But it’s hard to look at this 53-man roster and not see upgrades across the board.
Defensive line? Same guys, but one of the best in the biz, and another year playing together should elevate their level of performance.
Linebacker? Gain Kiko Alonso and lose an aging Trent Cole? I'll take that.
Secondary? Younger, faster. Better at corner, better at safety, better coach.
Offensive line? Not better than last year but not worse. Solid group.
Running back? Cut ties with LeSean McCoy and Chris Polk and add DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews and Kenjon Barner? A ridiculously talented bunch.
Receiver? Lose Jeremy Maclin and add Nelson Agholor and hope for big improvement from Josh Huff and the usual Year 2 jump from Jordan Matthews? We’ll say push for now, with the chance of a net improvement in time.
And quarterback? I’m still a Nick Foles fan. I've seen him win games in the NFL. No matter how much you can't stand Foles, you can't argue with 14-4. And Bradford still has a lot to prove. But he has looked awfully sharp. I’ll say push again, but Bradford with these weapons does look intriguing. I just need to see him do it consistently in regular-season games.
In all, there are 18 players on the roster who weren’t here on opening day last year, and that’s not an inordinately huge number. But what’s significant is how much talent Kelly shed in order to bring those guys in.
The big question about overhauling the roster of a winning team is whether all the changes will mean it takes some time for the whole thing to come together, for all the new parts to function as a single efficient unit.
And honestly, from what we saw in the preseason, that won’t be an issue.
We can re-visit this in 17 weeks, but for now, I give Chip a solid A-minus for his first offseason as general manager, and the only thing keeping him from an A is the Boykin move. I like trading a non-starter for a conditional fourth-round pick, but I’m not sure there’s a capable replacement on the roster right now.
This is a talented football team, a dangerous football team and in most areas a deep football team.
The whole Chip-as-GM thing was a leap of faith for owner Jeff Lurie. Unprecedented in NFL history for a guy with such little NFL experience to be granted final say over all personnel decisions. But Kelly has such a knack for not only evaluating talent but evaluating whether talent will fit seamlessly into his program that it really does make perfect sense.
In the span of eight months, Kelly has rid the roster of a number of very accomplished players and replaced them with a bunch of guys who are probably just as talented but also truly fit Kelly’s vision of what he wants in a football player on the field, in the locker room and outside the NovaCare Complex.
A lot of coaches would be thrilled to go 10-6 every year and be in the mix. The fact that 10-6 convinced Chip to tear apart his roster and start over should be incredibly encouraging for Eagles fans.
He wants it all. Just like you do. And this offseason was a major step in that direction.
to be determined. way to early to say the offensive line and receivers are upgraded. heck not sure the running backs are an upgrade yet. let's see how these guys perform in the regular season before we canonize (again...) Chip Kelly.
okay dude. he covers the eagles. it's kind of his job to offer opinions on the state of the team.
Sports Illustrated has the Eagles finishing 12-4 and having the #1 seed but losing to Seattle in the NFC championship game
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Sports Illustrated has the Eagles finishing 12-4 and having the #1 seed but losing to Seattle in the NFC championship game
i think 12-4 is probably a stretch but i think high side could definitely be 11-5. I'll go with 10-6 again though. Schedule is not bad at all with very little travel. Farthest trips are Dallas and Detroit. Opening night on the road followed by Dallas scares me a little bit. be a lot of pressure in the Dallas game if you lose the Atlanta game.
A lot of anger with a week to go before football. Waiting for Monday nights is frustrating. My wife got me tickets for the Oddball comedy fest this Sunday @ 5pm. She didn't check the Eagles schedule before purchasing them and dodged a bullet. Go Birds! Saw Dave Attell @ Helium on Sunday night. He's awesome.
Alright, alright, alright!
Tom O. "I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"
-The Writer
Sports Illustrated has the Eagles finishing 12-4 and having the #1 seed but losing to Seattle in the NFC championship game
honestly....if bradford can remain healthy, the sky is the limit for this team.
schedule appears favorable. if they can get to 5-2 by the bye week (i think they will be favored in at least 6 of those games), with all those home games lined up at the end of the season, i can see 11-5.
IF healthy, i think this has the potential to be the best birds team since '04...gonna be fun.
Comments
Vegas 93, Vegas 98, Vegas 00 (10 year show), Vegas 03, Vegas 06
VIC 07
EV LA1 08
Seattle1 09, Seattle2 09, Salt Lake 09, LA4 09
Columbus 10
EV LA 11
Vancouver 11
Missoula 12
Portland 13, Spokane 13
St. Paul 14, Denver 14
Cooper looked good last night. Raiders may have finally gotten it right.
so who stays Tebow or Barkley?
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Bigger concern for me was Rowe looking a little shaky again..,
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
I will always be an eagles fan but they have the worst fanbase of any team in any professional sport in the world. bunch of fucking losers.
the linc sucks and so does going to the game and having to listen to the dumbest fans in the country.
the nfl is terrible. if you don't bet on the games there is no reason to watch. it's a joke
eagles fans are making super bowl plans based on the preseason. fanbase of window lickers...it's embarrassing
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
It’s impossible to look at this final roster and not marvel at Chip Kelly’s handiwork as GM.
Forget Chip the coach for a moment. Let’s talk about Chip the general manager.
How do you cut ties with Jeremy Maclin, LeSean McCoy, Trent Cole, Nick Foles and Evan Mathis –- five Pro Bowlers –- not to mention Todd Herremans, Brandon Boykin, Chris Polk and everybody else who was shown the door and come back with a better team?
Because that’s what I see. More talent. More players who fit Kelly’s culture in the locker room. A superior coaching staff. More depth. Way more depth. A team better equipped for a deep postseason run than Kelly’s first two teams.
It takes some guts to tear apart a 10-6 team. Most coaches, most general managers, would have tweaked the roster, rebuilt the overmatched secondary, and tried again.
And why not? Going into Week 14, the Eagles shared the best record in the NFL at 9-3. They had just destroyed the Cowboys in Dallas. We were all thinking first-round bye. And maybe more.
It’s easy to start rebuilding a bad team. But rebuilding a good one? That’s tricky. Especially for a guy in his first months as a general manager just two years after his first day on an NFL payroll.
But when you sit down and examine the team that the Eagles will take down to Atlanta next weekend, you have to be impressed.
Yes, there are a higher-than-normal number of guys coming off serious injuries, but all of them seem OK and they don’t appear to be at any more of a risk than anybody else in the league at this point.
There are still a few glaring questions facing the Eagles nine days before the opener.
Who’s the third outside linebacker? Who’s the nickel slot? Is there any quality depth on the offensive line? Can Sam Bradford build on his eye-opening preseason performances once opposing defenses start blitzing and gameplanning? Can the rebuilt secondary really slow down elite quarterbacks so they’re not picking apart the Eagles down the field like last year?
But it’s hard to look at this 53-man roster and not see upgrades across the board.
Defensive line? Same guys, but one of the best in the biz, and another year playing together should elevate their level of performance.
Linebacker? Gain Kiko Alonso and lose an aging Trent Cole? I'll take that.
Secondary? Younger, faster. Better at corner, better at safety, better coach.
Offensive line? Not better than last year but not worse. Solid group.
Running back? Cut ties with LeSean McCoy and Chris Polk and add DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews and Kenjon Barner? A ridiculously talented bunch.
Receiver? Lose Jeremy Maclin and add Nelson Agholor and hope for big improvement from Josh Huff and the usual Year 2 jump from Jordan Matthews? We’ll say push for now, with the chance of a net improvement in time.
And quarterback? I’m still a Nick Foles fan. I've seen him win games in the NFL. No matter how much you can't stand Foles, you can't argue with 14-4. And Bradford still has a lot to prove. But he has looked awfully sharp. I’ll say push again, but Bradford with these weapons does look intriguing. I just need to see him do it consistently in regular-season games.
In all, there are 18 players on the roster who weren’t here on opening day last year, and that’s not an inordinately huge number. But what’s significant is how much talent Kelly shed in order to bring those guys in.
The big question about overhauling the roster of a winning team is whether all the changes will mean it takes some time for the whole thing to come together, for all the new parts to function as a single efficient unit.
And honestly, from what we saw in the preseason, that won’t be an issue.
We can re-visit this in 17 weeks, but for now, I give Chip a solid A-minus for his first offseason as general manager, and the only thing keeping him from an A is the Boykin move. I like trading a non-starter for a conditional fourth-round pick, but I’m not sure there’s a capable replacement on the roster right now.
This is a talented football team, a dangerous football team and in most areas a deep football team.
The whole Chip-as-GM thing was a leap of faith for owner Jeff Lurie. Unprecedented in NFL history for a guy with such little NFL experience to be granted final say over all personnel decisions. But Kelly has such a knack for not only evaluating talent but evaluating whether talent will fit seamlessly into his program that it really does make perfect sense.
In the span of eight months, Kelly has rid the roster of a number of very accomplished players and replaced them with a bunch of guys who are probably just as talented but also truly fit Kelly’s vision of what he wants in a football player on the field, in the locker room and outside the NovaCare Complex.
A lot of coaches would be thrilled to go 10-6 every year and be in the mix. The fact that 10-6 convinced Chip to tear apart his roster and start over should be incredibly encouraging for Eagles fans.
He wants it all. Just like you do. And this offseason was a major step in that direction.
GO BIRDS
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
Go Birds!
Saw Dave Attell @ Helium on Sunday night. He's awesome.
Tom O.
"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"
-The Writer
schedule appears favorable. if they can get to 5-2 by the bye week (i think they will be favored in at least 6 of those games), with all those home games lined up at the end of the season, i can see 11-5.
IF healthy, i think this has the potential to be the best birds team since '04...gonna be fun.
BIRDS!
Yikes, I don't know if I can bring myself to do that though.
Tom O.
"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"
-The Writer
I can't bet on the Eagles, so I won't be able to pull the trigger.
Tom O.
"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"
-The Writer