DMN: Best of Rick Gosselin: Two key factors favor Cowboys over Eagles

[CowboyGil]

They've shown explosion in the preseason, but until Sam Bradford shreds defenses in games that count, I'll remain unconvinced. He's never completed more than 60% of his passes for a season in his career. I'll wait and see before I believe in all the "downhill" hoopla about their running game too. Kelly's RB's during his three years at Oregon were LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner, both of who went about 5-9, 185 and depended on their speed. The guys Kelly recruited to replace them were the exact same type of back, if not a little smaller, so I'm not sure what to make of his claim that Murray fits his scheme better than McCoy. Philly got a lot of love for their great run blocking in 2014, but I didn't see that at all. It looked like to me that McCoy often made yards where there were none and averaged a whopping 4.2 yards a carry. They get Kelce and Johnson back healthy, but they lose both starting guards, one of who was an All Pro, and replaced them with a couple of journeymen. How can the Eagle OL be better? They let Maclin walk, drafted Agholor and brought in Miles Austin. So, they trade a quality #1 for a rookie and an aging vet who, bless his soul, has never been anything but inconsistent. Matthews had a stellar rookie campaign opposite Maclin, but can he be THE guy? If he can, I think WR could be the strongest position group on the team. Celek and Ertz are part of that, two big, speedy TE's who can catch.

They really upgraded their secondary with Maxwell and Thurmond, and drafted Rowe (who I think was a little overrated). Their inside linebackers will be better too, with the return of Ryans and the addition of Alonso. Benny Logan is an above average NT and, of course, Cox is a beast. Pretty good personnel. But their outside pass rush is a huge question mark with the exit of Trent Cole. Barwin had a great year in 2014, but he'll be getting the double teams now, so it will be up to Graham to step up, and thus far in his career he's been mediocre at best. They will spend more time on the field than any other bunch of defenders in the league, too, which should help their outlook.

My guess is that the offense slides some and the defense gets a little better, but as of right now, I don't buy the preseason hype.

See bold part. I didn't know Romo was one less incomplete pass away from completing 70% of his passes last season. He would've been only the 6th QB in league history to do that.

 

[Sydla]

See bold part. I didn't know Romo was one less incomplete pass away from completing 70% of his passes last season. He would've been only the 6th QB in league history to do that.

When it comes to Kelly's offense, I don't think what Bradford did in St. Louis is applicable. Mark Sanchez never completed more than 57% of his passes in NY. Last year he was over 64%.

Kelly's system is QB friendly (more bubble screens, quick dump offs, etc) so I suspect Bradford will eclipse that 60% mark fairly easily (unless he gets hurt).

 

[VACowboy]

When it comes to Kelly's offense, I don't think what Bradford did in St. Louis is applicable. Mark Sanchez never completed more than 57% of his passes in NY. Last year he was over 64%.

Kelly's system is QB friendly (more bubble screens, quick dump offs, etc) so I suspect Bradford will eclipse that 60% mark fairly easily (unless he gets hurt).

Bradford's completion percent will undoubtedly go up, but it has to. Like Ben Macadoo, Kelly depends on his QB completing a very high percentage of his throws. Sanchez's 64% is really not very impressive, and if Bradford doesn't do better than that I doubt he'll have much more success.

Romo was .1% shy of completing 70% of his passes last year, and that was with a league-high 8.5 yards per attempt.

 

[DogFace]

The Eagles style of play gives them a particular advantage in the preseason. Teams don't prepare for them and their players don't get a chance to get tired.

 

[Dodger12]

When it comes to Kelly's offense, I don't think what Bradford did in St. Louis is applicable. Mark Sanchez never completed more than 57% of his passes in NY. Last year he was over 64%.

Kelly's system is QB friendly (more bubble screens, quick dump offs, etc) so I suspect Bradford will eclipse that 60% mark fairly easily (unless he gets hurt).

I was going to mention the same thing regarding Kelly's system; it's QB friendly.

 

[mitchell2254]

Chip Kelly really has turned Philly in to Oregon. Feast on lesser competition with your high tempo game and get the public hyped up. But, when they run in to the big boys late in the year they will flake out.

 

[conner01]

The Eagles have a chance to be a solid team
They have a good defensive front and an explosive offense
The Eagles also have a chance of imploding with the team if they have a bad streak
There is very bad team chemistry there
Those things don't show up when you win but can really blow up if you lose

 

[Idgit]

This is supposed to be the best of Gosselin?

Even when I agree with his conclusion, his reasoning is bad. Now that he's not aggregating other peoples' draft notes, this guy is just bad at what he does. We're not carrying 4 RBs on the active roster, there's nothing wrong with preseason ticket pricing if the market will bear it, the Hardy suspension is not set in stone for Sept, and we're hardly dependent on Byron Jones on defense. Just bad reasoning, all around.

 

[jday]

I have to say the Eagles have been impressive preseason.I thought they would be lousy we'll see if the injury bug gets them, they don't have any depth qb here.most teams don't..

This is more due to a difference in Head Coach philosophy than it is offensive/defensive talent. Jason Garrett line 1 for preseason is to make it to the regular season as healthy as possible. I suspect Chip Kelly is more concerned with the overall confidence of his team going into the season and wants them to hit the ground running, so-to-speak. Couldn't tell you whose philosophy is better; but I do think the Cowboys offense will be just as potent if not more come regular season....if (big "if" here) they can get there running game to be at least serviceable.

 

[Gameover]

Goes using the old reverse jinx approach, I see..

 

[CATCH17]

I don't know. I'm not a believer in Bradford but the Eagles have looked good, even if it is only pre-season. I know if we looked that way, we'd be overflowing with optimism around here (me included). In any event, the Eagles lost their #1 receiver, their #1 QB and their #1 RB and they still look good. If we were to lose Bryant, Romo and Murray all in one year we'd be on suicide watch. Someone didn't give Philly the memo that it takes 4 years to rebuild a team.

That system has made every QB significantly better.. Might as well believe in him if it can get Foles to a Pro Bowl and Sanchez completing 65% of his passes.

 

[Dodger12]

I'm not pretending anything. I'm just not ready to anoint Philadelphia NFC East champs and Sam Bradford League MVP based on a fricking preseason game. Lots of people are (not necessarily here).

As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a believer in Bradford. But I won't dismiss what Chip Kelly has done in Philly; he's basically on his 3rd QB in 3 years (4 if you count Vick). Interesting though that folks here pimp DMac after a career in futility but dismiss Bradford in the same breath. Same with Chip Kelly who has rebuilt the roster and replaced his skill position players and still managed two 10 and 6 seasons while we marvel at Garrett's 3 consecutive 8 and 8 seasons during his mystical rebuild in which he maintained his franchise QB.

 

[JBS]

maybe for secret philthy fans it is.

48 or 49 sacks last year...that's not Damn good?

I don't know...I thought 2nd in the nfl was pretty good..

 

[VACowboy]

As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a believer in Bradford. But I won't dismiss what Chip Kelly has done in Philly; he's basically on his 3rd QB in 3 years (4 if you count Vick). Interesting though that folks here pimp DMac after a career in futility but dismiss Bradford in the same breath. Same with Chip Kelly who has rebuilt the roster and replaced his skill position players and still managed two 10 and 6 seasons while we marvel at Garrett's 3 consecutive 8 and 8 seasons during his mystical rebuild in which he maintained his franchise QB.

1) If we're sniffing the jocks of NFL coaches with great starts to their careers, why aren't we crowing about the genius of Bruce Arians? He's 10-6 and 11-5 in his first two years. You wanna talk about winning despite a mess at QB? Say hello to Drew Stanton and Ryan Lindley. Chip had a Pro Bowl QB to work with when he walked in the door, not to mention a Pro Bowl WR, RB and a quality offensive line.

2) Or how about Mike McCoy? He's ONLY 9-7 and 9-7, but he's been to the playoffs twice in his two years, and he has a playoff win under his belt.

3) Chip's record against playoff teams: 4-7. Arians and McCoy: 5-8 and 7-5.

4) Who's fault is Philly's revolving door at QB?

5) I'm not discounting McFadden having success in Dallas, but I'm not "pimping him out," ether.

6) I didn't dismiss Bradford. I pointed out his career history and said I'm not going to predict wild success for him in 2015 based on a preseason game.

6) Chip Kelly had to rebuild his roster only because he tore it down. The skill position players he replaced were almost all players under contract that he got rid of. Chipper actually inherited a very talented team, with Pro Bowlers at RB, OL (multiple), WR, QB, DE, LB and CB, not to mention very talented guys like Jason Kelce, who went to the Pro Bowl in 2015, Fletcher Cox (great young DT) and Mychal Kendricks (team's leading tackler), who are integral to the Philly defense, and Brandon Boykin, maybe Philly's best corner, who Kelly traded to Pitt for a conditional 6th-round pick in 2016.

7) Who is marveling at Jason Garrett's 8-8 seasons???

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I actually like Kelly. He talks like he's all coach, like Belichick without being a jerk. But unlike a lot of people, I don't think he's smarter than every other coach in the league and am certainly not ready to hand him a bunch of trophies based on pre-seaon games.

 

[AsthmaField]

They have an offense. Do they have a defense that compliments it?

I think so. Why just the other day I heard Fletcher Cox tell the offense that they looked nice.

 

[AsthmaField]

maybe for secret philthy fans it is.

 

[AsthmaField]

48 or 49 sacks last year...that's not Damn good?

I don't know...I thought 2nd in the nfl was pretty good..

With Philadelphia's offense having like a 8 minute time of possession per game , the Eagles defense has like 52 minutes per game to try to get a sack.

Seriously though, with Philly's offense scoring so many points, opposing offenses were having to throw a lot to keep up. There were a lot of chances to sack the QB for them.

 

[ActualCowboysFan]

1) If we're sniffing the jocks of NFL coaches with great starts to their careers, why aren't we crowing about the genius of Bruce Arians? He's 10-6 and 11-5 in his first two years. You wanna talk about winning despite a mess at QB? Say hello to Drew Stanton and Ryan Lindley. Chip had a Pro Bowl QB to work with when he walked in the door, not to mention a Pro Bowl WR, RB and a quality offensive line.

2) Or how about Mike McCoy? He's ONLY 9-7 and 9-7, but he's been to the playoffs twice in his two years, and he has a playoff win under his belt.

3) Chip's record against playoff teams: 4-7. Arians and McCoy: 5-8 and 7-5.

4) Who's fault is Philly's revolving door at QB?

5) I'm not discounting McFadden having success in Dallas, but I'm not "pimping him out," ether.

6) I didn't dismiss Bradford. I pointed out his career history and said I'm not going to predict wild success for him in 2015 based on a preseason game.

6) Chip Kelly had to rebuild his roster only because he tore it down. The skill position players he replaced were almost all players under contract that he got rid of. Chipper actually inherited a very talented team, with Pro Bowlers at RB, OL (multiple), WR, QB, DE, LB and CB, not to mention very talented guys like Jason Kelce, who went to the Pro Bowl in 2015, Fletcher Cox (great young DT) and Mychal Kendricks (team's leading tackler), who are integral to the Philly defense, and Brandon Boykin, maybe Philly's best corner, who Kelly traded to Pitt for a conditional 6th-round pick in 2016.

7) Who is marveling at Jason Garrett's 8-8 seasons???

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I actually like Kelly. He talks like he's all coach, like Belichick without being a jerk. But unlike a lot of people, I don't think he's smarter than every other coach in the league and am certainly not ready to hand him a bunch of trophies based on pre-seaon games.

That's how you light up a strawman.

 

[kramskoi]

They've shown explosion in the preseason, but until Sam Bradford shreds defenses in games that count, I'll remain unconvinced. He's never completed more than 60% of his passes for a season in his career. I'll wait and see before I believe in all the "downhill" hoopla about their running game too. Kelly's RB's during his three years at Oregon were LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner, both of who went about 5-9, 185 and depended on their speed. The guys Kelly recruited to replace them were the exact same type of back, if not a little smaller, so I'm not sure what to make of his claim that Murray fits his scheme better than McCoy. Philly got a lot of love for their great run blocking in 2014, but I didn't see that at all. It looked like to me that McCoy often made yards where there were none and averaged a whopping 4.2 yards a carry. They get Kelce and Johnson back healthy, but they lose both starting guards, one of who was an All Pro, and replaced them with a couple of journeymen. How can the Eagle OL be better? They let Maclin walk, drafted Agholor and brought in Miles Austin. So, they trade a quality #1 for a rookie and an aging vet who, bless his soul, has never been anything but inconsistent. Matthews had a stellar rookie campaign opposite Maclin, but can he be THE guy? If he can, I think WR could be the strongest position group on the team. Celek and Ertz are part of that, two big, speedy TE's who can catch.

They really upgraded their secondary with Maxwell and Thurmond, and drafted Rowe (who I think was a little overrated). Their inside linebackers will be better too, with the return of Ryans and the addition of Alonso. Benny Logan is an above average NT and, of course, Cox is a beast. Pretty good personnel. But their outside pass rush is a huge question mark with the exit of Trent Cole. Barwin had a great year in 2014, but he'll be getting the double teams now, so it will be up to Graham to step up, and thus far in his career he's been mediocre at best. They will spend more time on the field than any other bunch of defenders in the league, too, which should help their outlook.

My guess is that the offense slides some and the defense gets a little better, but as of right now, I don't buy the preseason hype.

I was watching Oregon vs. Arizona on ESPN classic today and I kept noticing some little back with a lot of wiggle...that being LaMichael James. The whole damn team looked liked midgets to be honest. It just looked too damn funny. They were winners though. I remember Warrick Dunn (5'9"/185) and James to me looked a tad smaller, if that is even possible...definitely light in the "glutes" department.

 

[VACowboy]

I was watching Oregon vs. Arizona on ESPN classic today and I kept noticing some little back with a lot of wiggle...that being LaMichael James. The whole damn team looked liked midgets to be honest. It just looked too damn funny. They were winners though. I remember Warrick Dunn (5'9"/185) and James to me looked a tad smaller, if that is even possible...definitely light in the "glutes" department.

Yeah. I'd always thought Kelly's offense was about speed and quickness, so the whole "Murray fits our scheme better than McCoy" thing doesn't ring with complete honesty in my ears. It kind of felt like a "grab the offensive MVP, make a splash, stick it to a division rival" kind of move to me.