Other Sports: Philadelphia Eagles (NFL): Vegas, Baby! (2023 Regular Season)

[Beef Invictus]

For serious, people. You should all have deep dread of Rivera being connected to the Eagles. I had to watch Joe Barry defense. Barry sucked, and couldn't get off the field, but damnit you could tell he was at least trying. The same cannot be said of Rivera and JDR. If an offense was remotely creative, their solution was to spend upwards of the entire game in man coverage. Despite the defense being massively worse in man coverage and allowing a QBR something like 20 points higher than in zone. They just couldn't be assed to put in the work to figure out what coverage schemes could work. Everyone lines up, whoever is in front of them is who they cover. The other team notices and puts their best receiver on Forbes to shred him the entire game? Eh, just let it happen for 3 quarters before benching him entirely instead of adjusting anything. Just swap him out and keep everything else the same. At least Barry would have tried something else, even if it wouldn't have worked.

I thought that Barry's historically useless defenses would be rock bottom for my football life. They were not. Ron and Jack ran preseason level defenses for entire seasons. THEY WENT WHOLE GAMES WITHOUT CALLING BLITZES. ENTIRE GAMES.

 

[RockLobster]

Scratch Nielsen off the list, Jacksonville is hiring him as their new DC.

 

[DancingPanther]

I will never top this phrasing, so please consider this my hopes for the coordinators.

Would you consider a defensive coordinator who I know is a great man because he golfs with my wife

 

[BrindamoursNose]

The defense Howie built is dogshit. The coordinators he hired were dogshit. Keeping Sirriani is dogshit. At some point, the GM has to be held accountable for the moves he's making today, not the success he had yesterday.

Yup - but last year it was pretty good (got to the Super Bowl) and this defense is a lot of the same foundational pieces. Now he gets the chance to come back and fix these issues. If he can't, then that's a pretty valid discussion to be had. The coordinators weren't as good as the previous ones.

Accountability isn't immediate firing. We made the SB last year with what many called the best roster in the NFL. If you want to say he made mistakes, I think that's fair. I will say that he messed up things, too. But he clearly has earned the opportunity to get this team on a better track.

 

[RockLobster]

 

[BrindamoursNose]

He's not going to date you

Well then I'm dressed up for nothing on a Saturday night

 

[JojoTheWhale]

This is a wild move at a respected book on a game that may not even happen in 30 minutes. Wild. Especially with decent but not huge limits and the total sticking.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

Doug wanted out because he knew that he had cache in the league and was tired of Howie and Jeff's meddling. He quit just as much as he got fired.

Sirriani? He's a puppet that after the Eagles let him go won't see another HC job but that's what the owner and GM want.

I think this just reinforces the idea that Howie does indeed have the balls to make tough decisions. Doug felt he could muscle Howie, Howie said nah. It got uncomfortable/bad and then Doug was fired. Right or wrong (which isn't my point - whole different discussion), Howie clearly is fine with removing personnel when he wants to. (which is what you were saying).

I actually do think Sirianni is a puppet as well, but that's just what I get from it.

(also sorry I didn't have all responses in 1 post...is the forum not auto-merging anymore? Huzzah!)

 

[Beef Invictus]

I am an entire idiot. 225 leebs of massive stupidity. My vow this season was to finally get good at truly grasping NFL defenses and being able to recognize their trickery and see through it. I failed. It's over my head. Somehow, I was able to recognize weeks before Rivera and JDR that a terrible Landon Collins was no longer able to keep up at safety and could better fill a team deficiency and ease his burden by making him some kind of nickelback or whip/jack role instead of trying to make him run all over the field chasing guys with untorn tendons. They lucked into it on accident because injuries left them with no other choices. He and the defense were instantly better. Those two bags of boiled donkey buttholes should be imprisoned for assaulting my eyes and soul.

 

[Beef Invictus]

Wait. No. I mean, I sincerely thank Ron and Jack for giving me such a unique experience.

 

[Chinatown88]

The Ravens are the model. You go from Ozzie to DeCosta who was there forever. They know what they want. They know how they want to develop. They know how they want to manage their cap. They pretty much have nailed everything.

I'm gonna get in trouble if I press the reply button after I type out a Howie rant. I just know it.

 

[DancingPanther]

Well then I'm dressed up for nothing on a Saturday night

It's Monday

 

[BrindamoursNose]

Well Sirianni is for sure back then

It's Monday

I'm a time traveler

 

[achdumeingute]

Yup - but last year it was pretty good (got to the Super Bowl) and this defense is a lot of the same foundational pieces. Now he gets the chance to come back and fix these issues. If he can't, then that's a pretty valid discussion to be had. The coordinators weren't as good as the previous ones.

Accountability isn't immediate firing. We made the SB last year with what many called the best roster in the NFL. If you want to say he made mistakes, I think that's fair. I will say that he messed up things, too. But he clearly has earned the opportunity to get this team on a better track.

This is kind of where I'm at...I think it's way more on the coaches than the roster. There are plenty of video reviews out there, in the playoffs where a guy like Bradberry has inside help, yet isn't playing the WR route to the outside. This isn't a talent issue, this is mental, lack of clear communication, fundamentals ECT. Something like this SHOULD be fixable.

 

[RockLobster]

 

[BrindamoursNose]

This is kind of where I'm at...I think it's way more on the coaches than the roster. There are plenty of video reviews out there, in the playoffs where a guy like Bradberry has inside help, yet isn't playing the WR route to the outside. This isn't a talent issue, this is mental, lack of clear communication, fundamentals ECT. Something like this SHOULD be fixable.

FWIW I think there was a talent issue on defense. Bradberry is the one I point to as an unfair criticism because no one knew he'd immediately fall off a cliff this year.

However, criticizing him for not adding better LBs or another S is a very fair bit of criticism that I also share. Coordinators didn't work out and now we work to correct it.

 

[achdumeingute]

FWIW I think there was a talent issue on defense. Bradberry is the one I point to as an unfair criticism because no one knew he'd immediately fall off a cliff this year.

However, criticizing him for not adding better LBs or another S is a very fair bit of criticism that I also share. Coordinators didn't work out and now we work to correct it.

Well, cards were placed on Dean who was hurt...

There's only so much you can do in one off-season.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

Well, cards were placed on Dean who was hurt...

There's only so much you can do in one off-season.

And I get that - but I have to admit, I don't think Dean has it. Maybe if he has a wildly strong support group, but I don't think he's the guy we were hoping would pan out. But regardless, the other LB spots weren't good enough.

I don't blame Howie for not keeping CJGJ, or Hargraves, etc. but I pray he realized the S and LB groups need a little more attention.

 

[Kermit the Prog]

I'm a time traveler

Can you help me with picking my Super Bowl squares?

 

[Beef Invictus]

What in the Flyers is going on with chucking interviews to so many prior connections

 

[ponder719]

And I get that - but I have to admit, I don't think Dean has it. Maybe if he has a wildly strong support group, but I don't think he's the guy we were hoping would pan out. But regardless, the other LB spots weren't good enough.

I don't blame Howie for not keeping CJGJ, or Hargraves, etc. but I pray he realized the S and LB groups need a little more attention.

I don't know that I'd be prepared to make that decision after a season and a half where he spent most of that time as a backup, but we'll see. Either way, we don't have anything like the depth we need at either position, so we need to invest resources there in a way they haven't in quite some time. My priorities for this offseason from a personnel perspective are a guard to facilitate Jurgens' move to center, keeping Swift, maybe one DE, and then everything else into the LBs and secondary.

 

[StreetHawk]

And I get that - but I have to admit, I don't think Dean has it. Maybe if he has a wildly strong support group, but I don't think he's the guy we were hoping would pan out. But regardless, the other LB spots weren't good enough.

I don't blame Howie for not keeping CJGJ, or Hargraves, etc. but I pray he realized the S and LB groups need a little more attention.

LB has been a declining group when looking back at the past few draft (guys on their rookie deals as first rounders). So many not getting their 5th year options picked up.

2020 - AZ - Simmons, but he was a hybrid who played a lot of S at Clemson. Murray, Brooks, Queen all had their 5th year options Declined by their club.
2021 - Parsons (converted to DE now), AZ Collins, WA Davis. (Neither Collins/Davis expected to have 5th year options picked up).
2022 - GB Walker, Jax Lloyd
2023 - Hou Anderson (is he a LB or DE?), Det - Campbell,

 

[Halladay]

Defensively I think it is much more the personnel than coaching. Watching these games the past weekend further illustrated how slow the Eagles are defensively.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

Can you help me with picking my Super Bowl squares?

I can only time travel from this Saturday to today. Not enough plutonium

 

[Rebels57]

Yup - but last year it was pretty good (got to the Super Bowl) and this defense is a lot of the same foundational pieces. Now he gets the chance to come back and fix these issues. If he can't, then that's a pretty valid discussion to be had. The coordinators weren't as good as the previous ones.

Accountability isn't immediate firing. We made the SB last year with what many called the best roster in the NFL. If you want to say he made mistakes, I think that's fair. I will say that he messed up things, too. But he clearly has earned the opportunity to get this team on a better track.

Is it though? There were more new guys then returning players this year and most of them had bad seasons. Most of the returning players regressed. They don't really have a defensive foundation anymore. It was supposed to be the D-Line and it was awful.