After this year, these guys should be cooked. (Funny)
Juan Castillo
Yeah, we've been scratching our heads, too.
This should come as no surprise to
most of you because everyone (as always) is in an uproar about the Eagles. This
time it just happens to be about the defense. Normally, the blogging twins are
very patient about our coaches and personnel, but this time we are a little
tired of this coach. Now, don’t get us wrong, we don’t blame Juan for
everything…
Should Andy have named him
defensive coordinator? Probably not.
Are the players on the defensive
side of the ball playing to the best of their capabilities? No way.
We understand the guy’s passion and
enthusiasm for coaching, and that is all fantastic, but he could have done that
with the offensive line. It is just clear that the guy is in over his head, and
maybe he shouldn’t be the one tweaking the defensive schemes of a good number
of over-priced, big-headed defensive players that are struggling to find their
way.
You have to know that there is a
problem with where a team is headed defensively if a head coach (who just put a
whole heap of faith in making you his defensive coordinator) is talking about
hiring a ‘defensive consultant’ a few weeks into a season for help. Andy
basically created a new position to fill a gaping void.
Yes, the defense has definitely
played better over the past few weeks, but can we really say that this is
scheming or is it finally just top quality defensive players playing up to
their paychecks?
A big test will be this Sunday against
a Patriots’ offense that will require more than just talent to stop. It’s going
to require a good game plan, and we’re going to see if we’re going to get it.
Kurt Coleman
Weird, it looks like he knew how to tackle in college... Wonder what happened?
Is anyone seeing a trend here on
the defensive side of the ball for the Eagles?
Listing Kurt Coleman here should
get one of two reactions.
1.
Kurt Coleman, why? He is in no way important
enough to get a turkey distinction.
2.
Now that I think about it, he has been pretty
awful.
Our thought process is following
number two in the above reactions.
Go back through the Eagles’ games
this year… How many times do you remember yelling at the TV (maybe the yelling
part is just in our house) about how Kurt Coleman took a bad angle to a ball
carrier, or couldn’t wrap up a tackle, or blew pass coverage and had you
ripping your hair out? Our bet is that even if you didn’t realize it before
–you are realizing it now.
This was even more apparent earlier
in the year when backs like Michael Turner, Stephen Jackson, and Frank Gore
were running free in the secondary with no one around to wrap anyone up.
For a guy that went to THE Ohio
State University, shouldn’t we expect a little bit more?
Michael Vick/ Darryl Tapp
We really have nothing to complain
about with these two guys. Michael Vick has not played as amazing as he did
last year, but its not exactly easy to play an MVP caliber season every year.
He was bound to ‘disappoint’ some people this year because it is hard to
duplicate the year that he had in 2010.
Darryl Tapp has also been highly
productive for Jim Washburn’s defensive line this year. He has 2.5 sacks in a
reserve role and has a total of 17 tackles (11 solo). Since coming over in a
trade from Seattle, he has proven to be a valuable asset for depth at the
defensive end position.
So you may be asking yourself… why
are they turkeys? HOKIES BABY! In case you are unfamiliar, these two played
their college ball at our Alma Mater “Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University” which is more often called Virginia Tech. They have to be turkeys…
that is what they were in college. Go Hokies! (#5 BCS)
Things to be Thankful for:
Brian Rolle
Such a handsome young man.
We bet you didn’t see this coming…
A defensive player on the ‘Thankful for’ list?
This is one Ohio Stater that has
lived up to his school’s billing.
Brian Rolle came into the outside
linebacker role a bit later than he probably should have this year, but he has
been a big part of turning around a defense that was hurting big time. He has
been a factor in the running game which has solidified itself after the early
going, and he has definitely been an impressive option for shutting down a
pesky TE or two in the passing game that has plagued the Eagles in the past. We
really haven’t had too many games this year where Brian Rolle was in charge in
which the TEs went crazy against the Eagles.
Brian has had 33 tackles this
year, 8 assts, 3 passes defended, and 25 solo tackles. While these numbers
aren’t staggering in themselves, there are no stats for the amount of times he
has been in the right spot to stop a runner or occupy a blocker – allowing
someone else to be freed up for a tackle. He has been a pleasant surprise for a
team that came into the year assuming that Casey Matthews was going to be its
starting linebacker.
Not to mention that Brian is still
very young. He is 23 years old and still has time to develop to become even
better. Even if you’re sitting there saying that this season is over (which we
don’t buy yet), there is still something to look forward to with this defense –
we still have young players to build on.
Thank you, Brian. The city of
Philadelphia should gather around their Thanksgiving day tables and say thanks
for you.
Andy Reid
You Beautifully Jovial Man
Stop right there. We are sure that
there are a bunch of smart comments coming out of everyone’s mouths about how
crazy we are and how Reid needs to go.
If you’ve read this blog before,
you know we completely disagree.
Andy has been a great thing for
the city of Philadelphia and its beloved Eagles.
Don’t use the argument that we
haven’t won a Superbowl under his tenure as our head coach because we can play
that game too. There are plenty teams in the NFL that haven’t won a Superbowl
under their current head coach’s tenure.
You know what else we can do?
We can name a bunch of teams that
have turned over coaches year after year and have not been nearly as
competitive or as well run as the Eagles. The Birds have been perennial
favorites to win the division for years and have had Chris Berman pick them to
win the Superbowl almost every year for the past 6 or 7 years.
The reason is the stability that
Andy has brought into Philadelphia.
We’ve made this argument before,
but the players love Big Red. Even when he has to hand out orders (for example,
benching Desean Jackson), he has kept a great rapport with the players and they
want to perform for him.
Can things be said about his
inability to manage a clock? Sure.
Can things be said about his
penchant for throwing the ball too much? Yup.
Is it possible that we need a
change at the head coach position? Sure.
But right now, he IS the head
coach of this team, and his contribution to our team over his tenure is
immeasurable. So, sit back and give thanks for Big Red and just enjoy.
The Washington Redskins
We admit, on the surface, this
looks like an odd addition to the ‘Thankful for’ list.
But think about it.
No matter how disappointing our
year has been – our little buddies to the south always outdo us with
disappointment. They started with such a bang this year and then slowly but
surely declined to their old forms in the NFC East (actually, it was a pretty
sharp decline right as they played the Eagles and we embarrassed Sexy Rexy).
It’s nice to have the stability
and familiarity of those Redskins being awful.
Not to mention, we are almost
assuredly going to be heavy favorites against the Redskins on Sunday, January 1st
at 1 PM on Fox (even if we are still lower than them in the basement of the NFC
East).
Thank you, Washington. Your
consistency in stormy weather has been a lifeboat for this football town.
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