A mid-camp look at the NFC East: Dallas in a landslide

[erod]

Yes he is. Foles had one ridiculous season where everything went right for him. Then in his second season, when defenses had time to scout him and the offense, all his flaws came out - poor under pressure, his weak arm started to show itself as he tried to make more difficult throws, etc. His decision making, which was supposed to be his strength, was awful.

Bradford, if healthy (again that's a big if) is better than Foles. I bet Foles flames out big time in St. Louis.

Last time Bradford was healthy, he was a bottom 10 QB in the league. He was just awful.

 

[Denim Chicken]

Some nauseating egals love in this thread.

 

[Sydla]

Yes, some good talent sprinkled around....like every team.

But, who's going to quarterback this thing? Where's the speed they had in McCoy? This is a terrible offense for Demarco Murray's style. Where's Jackson and Maclin? Is Jordan Matthews a No. 1 receiver?

I don't see how it holds up for full games, let alone a season.

Actually, the offense is very good fit for Murray and Matthews. Kelly wants a one cut runner that hits the hole. The reason they got rid of McCoy was that he was too bouncey and had too many negative runs. Kelly wants a runner who gets upfield right away and isn't bouncing around looking for holes.

And they had all these flaws in 2013 and 2014 and yet they still managed to win 10 games a year. The idea that they are now a 7 win team is peculiar to me.

I think we are a 10-12 win team, they are 9-10 wins, Giants around 7-9 wins and Skins around 5-8 wins.

 

[Sydla]

Last time Bradford was healthy, he was a bottom 10 QB in the league. He was just awful.

And the season before Kelly got Foles, he had a rating of 79.

Foles is an average QB. If Kelly can get that kind of play out of a mediocre talent like Foles, to expect worse from Bradford is funny.

 

[DeaconMoss]

You apparently didn't see Bradford play in St. Louis. He was awful.

Rams are so excited to be rid of Sam, they have already extended Foles....

 

[CrownCowboy]

Bradford won't stay healthy all year. He's never done it and he won't start now. The Eagles won't do anything special with Mark Sanchez. Their receivers are young and unproven. Just stack the box against them, blitz whoever it is that is playing quarterback that they trot out there more times than not, and watch them implode.

The Giants have no offensive line. I'd be aggressive with their receivers and press them off line and take advantage of their weakness up front.

 

[erod]

Actually, the offense is very good fit for Murray and Matthews. Kelly wants a one cut runner that hits the hole. The reason they got rid of McCoy was that he was too bouncey and had too many negative runs. Kelly wants a runner who gets upfield right away and isn't bouncing around looking for holes.

And they had all these flaws in 2013 and 2014 and yet they still managed to win 10 games a year. The idea that they are now a 7 win team is peculiar to me.

I think we are a 10-12 win team, they are 9-10 wins, Giants around 7-9 wins and Skins around 5-8 wins.

Murray is a deep I-formation running back these days, not a shotgun side kick. He's not shifty enough for that. He'll be very underwhelming this season, and I think Matthews gets the most carries by season's end.

They had a weak schedule last year early, barely beat some weak opponents, and pieced together a shaky record. When they played well, Foles was there, as were others now gone.

 

[WillieBeamen]

Iggles will win 9-10 games but we"ll win 11.

 

[Ken]

I think people are being shortsighted with the Eagles. Will they win the division? Probably not. But this is the best Eagles team on paper in the 3 years Kelly has been there. Their front seven is very, very good. They improved in the secondary by dumping Williams and Fletcher, their starting CBs.

It all hinges on Bradford. If (and that's a big if) he's healthy, they are going to be a very good team. Better than us? At this point, not really but the idea that we are 5 games better than them is wishful thinking IMO.

I would argue that this hodge podge of players is not their best team in three years. The team that fielded Foles at QB, Djax and Maclin at WR and Mccoy at RB and a very very good OL is WAAAY better than this. What does Chip do? Tears it down.

That first Eagle team that Chip had had mismatches all over the field and I honestly see no mismatches now. Who is drawing the double on that team? Foles had 27 Tds and 2 ints, that is insane!

This year, Chip has gone against conventional NFL wisdom and it is going to blow up in his face. His moves that I have issue with:

* Trading Mccoy- The guy gives us nightmares and still is highly effective and durable.
* If you do trade him citing $...then why go out and sign Murray to big bucks and give more FA money to Matthews? Makes no sense. At most, should have signed Mathews and drafted another back. Much smarter move.
* Give big bucks to a back that has the wear and tear that Murray has. Obviously Dallas knows him best and they weren't about to budge, I guarantee the Cowboys know the player better than Chip does.
* Jettisoning Mathis and Herremans and replacing them with journeymen. Doesn't even draft 1 OL(2 years in a row no drafted OL). The Cowboys...for comparison, drafted a OL and Picked up another stud in RFA when that is already a strength for them. DUMB MOVE.
* Giving big bucks to a #2 cornerback. Ask the Cowboys how that worked out for them.
* Trading their best slot corner Boykin early in camp because of perceived surplus. Should have waited because now their replacement they were so high on is gone for the year.
* Losing Maclin. They needed to retain him and then were forced to draft Agahlor who may be good but they could have had our boy Jones who could have filled either their huge cb or FS need.
* Blaming everything on Boykins who Pitt picked up and is raving about and Fletcher, who Belicheat picked up and seems to think he can utilize, and released Cary Williams who Seattle seems to think can help them and they gave him pretty good money to boot.
* Jettisoning Foles who had one of the best years a QB could have a couple of years ago for a fragile always hurt player. The Rams are so high on him that they already extended him and again....they know Bradford better than anyone and they couldn't wait to get rid of him.

Not looking good for Ol' Chip.

 

[erod]

And the season before Kelly got Foles, he had a rating of 79.

Foles is an average QB. If Kelly can get that kind of play out of a mediocre talent like Foles, to expect worse from Bradford is funny.

He was a rookie when his QB rating was 79. That's not a fair evaluation of him. Kid can play.

 

[erod]

I would argue that this hodge podge of players is not their best team in three years. The team that fielded Foles at QB, Djax and Maclin at WR and Mccoy at RB and a very very good OL is WAAAY better than this. What does Chip do? Tears it down.

That first Eagle team that Chip had had mismatches all over the field and I honestly see no mismatches now. Who is drawing the double on that team? Foles had 27 Tds and 2 ints, that is insane!

This year, Chip has gone against conventional NFL wisdom and it is going to blow up in his face. His moves that I have issue with:

* Trading Mccoy- The guy gives us nightmares and still is highly effective and durable.
* If you do trade him citing $...then why go out and sign Murray to big bucks and give more FA money to Matthews? Makes no sense. At most, should have signed Mathews and drafted another back. Much smarter move.
* Give big bucks to a back that has the wear and tear that Murray has. Obviously Dallas knows him best and they weren't about to budge, I guarantee the Cowboys know the player better than Chip does.
* Jettisoning Mathis and Herremans and replacing them with journeymen. Doesn't even draft 1 OL(2 years in a row no drafted OL). The Cowboys...for comparison, drafted a OL and Picked up another stud in RFA when that is already a strength for them. DUMB MOVE.
* Giving big bucks to a #2 cornerback. Ask the Cowboys how that worked out for them.
* Trading their best slot corner Boykin early in camp because of perceived surplus. Should have waited because now their replacement they were so high on is gone for the year.
* Losing Maclin. They needed to retain him and then were forced to draft Agahlor who may be good but they could have had our boy Jones who could have filled either their huge cb or FS need.
* Blaming everything on Boykins who Pitt picked up and is raving about and Fletcher, who Belicheat picked up and seems to think he can utilize, and released Cary Williams who Seattle seems to think can help them and they gave him pretty good money to boot.
* Jettisoning Foles who had one of the best years a QB could have a couple of years ago for a fragile always hurt player. The Rams are so high on him that they already extended him and again....they know Bradford better than anyone and they couldn't wait to get rid of him.

Not looking good for Ol' Chip.

That was a perfect summary, and better than my points in the OP.

 

[Blackspider214]

Hahaha @ this being the best Eagles team Chip has had. Good lord.

 

[Sydla]

Rams are so excited to be rid of Sam, they have already extended Foles....

And the Rams have proven they are a well run organization that makes smart moves.

 

[CowboyGil]

I agree.

Erod has brought us some good reading and analysis. Sadly, this time he's lost his ball in the weeds. He doesn't get Chip Kelly. The guy is an extremely astute coach. Philly was one game behind us last year and will be battling us for the division again in 2015.

They were one game behind us because they blew the division lead they HAD. Not like we were leaders the whole season.

 

[Sydla]

Hahaha @ this being the best Eagles team Chip has had. Good lord.

I think it is.

Their defense is the best one they've had since he got there. And I think Bradford is better at QB than Foles, if healthy, in that system.

What's downright hilarious is that when Foles was the QB of the Eagles, this board was littered with posts about how middling and mediocre he was. Now all of a sudden, man, what a terrible mistake it was to get rid of him. Hahahaha.

 

[CCBoy]

And the Rams have proven they are a well run organization that makes smart moves.

Jerry will talk them into moving to LA.

 

[perrykemp]

Sam Bradford isn't going to win 10 games.

Who knows... the combination of Michael Vick, Nick Foles, Mark Sanchez, and Matt Barkley enabled the Eagles to have the 2nd best scoring offense in the entire NFL (beyond the Broncos) since Kelly starting coaching the Eagles.

How do you explain it?

 

[Sydla]

I would argue that this hodge podge of players is not their best team in three years. The team that fielded Foles at QB, Djax and Maclin at WR and Mccoy at RB and a very very good OL is WAAAY better than this. What does Chip do? Tears it down.

That first Eagle team that Chip had had mismatches all over the field and I honestly see no mismatches now. Who is drawing the double on that team? Foles had 27 Tds and 2 ints, that is insane!

This year, Chip has gone against conventional NFL wisdom and it is going to blow up in his face. His moves that I have issue with:

* Trading Mccoy- The guy gives us nightmares and still is highly effective and durable.
* If you do trade him citing $...then why go out and sign Murray to big bucks and give more FA money to Matthews? Makes no sense. At most, should have signed Mathews and drafted another back. Much smarter move.
* Give big bucks to a back that has the wear and tear that Murray has. Obviously Dallas knows him best and they weren't about to budge, I guarantee the Cowboys know the player better than Chip does.
* Jettisoning Mathis and Herremans and replacing them with journeymen. Doesn't even draft 1 OL(2 years in a row no drafted OL). The Cowboys...for comparison, drafted a OL and Picked up another stud in RFA when that is already a strength for them. DUMB MOVE.
* Giving big bucks to a #2 cornerback. Ask the Cowboys how that worked out for them.
* Trading their best slot corner Boykin early in camp because of perceived surplus. Should have waited because now their replacement they were so high on is gone for the year.
* Losing Maclin. They needed to retain him and then were forced to draft Agahlor who may be good but they could have had our boy Jones who could have filled either their huge cb or FS need.
* Blaming everything on Boykins who Pitt picked up and is raving about and Fletcher, who Belicheat picked up and seems to think he can utilize, and released Cary Williams who Seattle seems to think can help them and they gave him pretty good money to boot.
* Jettisoning Foles who had one of the best years a QB could have a couple of years ago for a fragile always hurt player. The Rams are so high on him that they already extended him and again....they know Bradford better than anyone and they couldn't wait to get rid of him.

Not looking good for Ol' Chip.

One, the amount of money they spent at TB is largely meaningless in the context of this season. Now if we are talking about what franchise is going to be better over a 3-4 year run, then contracts is a concern. But for this year, it doesn't really matter what Murray and Matthews are making. I suspect they are better off at TB now, than they were with McCoy. Even before they traded him, there were stories that the coaching staff was bothered by the fact McCoy causing so many negative plays with his bounce style of running. And the Eagles were downright awful in the red zone because McCoy wasn't physical enough in short yardage situations.

Herremans stunk last year. Mathis, that's peculiar and I agree that it was weird to cut him. That could be a problem for them.

Again, in the context of this season, them overpaying for Maxwell is meaningless. It's a simple question of skill. Which is a better CB tandem? Maxwell and Carroll or Rowe or Williams and Fletcher? Williams and Fletcher were terrible last year. We saw that up close when Bryant and company were shredding them in December. Belicheck is going to use Fletcher in certain situations, not start him like the Eagles were doing. And the Seahawks can take a chance on a cheap Williams because they have three all pros manning their other secondary positions. They can try to hide Williams. You couldn't hide him in Philly.

Dumping Boykin when they did looks stupid in hindsight.

Rams got rid of Bradford because they just didn't want to take on the injury risk anymore. Plus, the Rams aren't exactly one of the better run organizations. They fact they extended Foles without him even playing, coming off a bad season in 2014, probably isn't a good indicator of their quality front office decision making. Foles is a mediocre talent at QB.

I think Dallas fans are downright delusional thinking the Eagles are some 6-7 win team.

 

[Ken]

And the Rams have proven they are a well run organization that makes smart moves.

Honestly...the only thing that held them back was Bradford constanly being injured.

They have talent all over the field.

 

[Sydla]

Honestly...the only thing that held them back was Bradford constanly being injured.

They have talent all over the field.

They really didn't when Bradford was there. Average WRs, OL was mediocre. Defensively they had a bit.

So to say they had a talent all over the field like they were the Seahawks being held back by a bad QB is as laughable as claiming the Eagles are suddenly a 6 win team., or as the OP in this thread stated, that the Cowboys are 5 games better than the EAgles in the standings.