Eagles 2019-2020 Season

[zambonir]

IIRC someone (Howie? Doug?) wasn't too interested in keeping DeFillippo. Or paying him. Or working with him. Even if they did get burned on the timing.

Only so much play-calling/design can do with no receivers, and a struggling QB to boot. A lot of chicken/egg in there of course.

Well, by blowing it up I meant replacing the coach or the GM. Certainly a year away (at least) from replacing the QB or tanking, not that I think either is in the cards. They made their decision.

[zambonir]

I guess the only other thing I'd ask is would you rather...

A) Have the limited satisfaction of winning the division and knocking out the Cowboys (and not being 0-2 against them)

or

B) Stumble to 9-7 or worse, get the draft pick, and hope a Cowboys division win keeps Dallas from changing coaches (though a change could certainly go badly too).

[phillychuck]

Knock Dallas out, no matter the circumstances. There is no better alternative. That defines a successful season.

[schillingfan]

Knock Dallas out, no matter the circumstances. There is no better alternative. That defines a successful season.

Great minds think alike.

[zambonir]

I don't disagree, but that's a pre-championship mentality. The bar is higher now, though we're obviously not going to clear it - i.e. be one of the two or even four best teams in the NFC - this year. So just winning the East and having rivalry bragging rights doesn't feel like success to me.

I think people are making too much of these last two losses, there was no real reason to think a team that started 1-2 and 3-4 and just kept adding injuries would do anything against the Pats and Seahawks. Question is can they avoid losing one of the winnable games, and beat Dallas on top of that. If they trip up before the Cowboys game I'd be hard-pressed to care how it ends up, better to just go 8-8 and have a Top 15 pick (today they'd be 13th, a playoff team would be 21st or higher).

[gmwannabe]

"avoid losing 1 of the winnable games". i'm hoping they WIN 1 of the winnable games. the defense is playing pretty well, but at some point the offense has to score. and from what i'm seeing that doesn't look to promising. They won't beat Dallas and could lose a game to the giants also with Wentz as the QB. Instead of being the "Franchise" Ha Ha, Howie made a franchise mistake. The team is fairly old now, with not much depth. Too bad.
gm

[phillychuck]

gm, I certainly feel your pain, but you have to be the most pessimistic fan I've ever read posting. There is always the possibility of a turn-around. Look at the Giants' team that beat the undefeated Pats in the Super Bowl. They were barely competent through most of their season, then got hot at the right time. Don't give up until they slam the door in your face. Beat the freakin' Cowboys!!!

[bkeich]

Don't give up until they slam the door in your face. Beat the freakin' Cowboys!!!

For the 2nd season in a row we have had a strange bad luck. It isnt the number of injuries we have, that is probably about normal, it is the fact that they all hit in a key area (last year secondary, this year WR). Mack Hollins was our #1 WR on Sunday, a guy who was originally though to not even make the team. The rest of the WR corps were either unemployed 2 weeks ago (Matthews) or on the practice squad (Ward) and no one had any interest in stealing them. Orcega-Whiteside couldnt be more disappointing, he just doesnt seem like he is an NFL WR. No separation on ANY play and his hands are not the amazing strength we had hoped. No one is a bust as a rookie, but he has shown absolutely nothing.

I can't blame Wentz for anything at this point. He has no one open, so bad throws are obvious, but they stand out even more when he can't get easy throws. Yesterday was bad, very bad, but wind was clearly an issue and he had a bad game. Wentz needs to have NFL receivers to be judged and at the moment he has zero that qualify as this.

[Lawman]

Me three.

[zambonir]

That's GM's thing! One might even call him a Cassandra except it's Philly sports, so he's right a lot more often.

My optimism is simply that Wentz can't possibly continue to play this badly against bad teams, and the defense just played well enough against the two best QBs in the NFL (and also beat a third one) that even a mediocre overall showing should still get them the next three games. The finale at Giants stadium strikes me as the trap game.

Also, Wentz is banged up. Hopefully not too badly. For all the disappointment, and despite the history, not sure we actually want to see a back-up.

[bkeich]

The finale at Giants stadium strikes me as the trap game.

We might get lucky and they let Eli play. That would make it an easy game.

[allentown]

One might even call him a Cassandra except it's Philly sports, so he's right a lot more often.

Cassandra was always right, just never believed, so it fits.

This is part bad luck and how the Eagles built a very old roster. Age catches up faster in NFL than in other sports. It is not a league which often rewards the nostalgic retention of an expensive older former star. or betting on an expensive older FA.

Wentz need to take fewer chances with his body -- it leads to sacks, lost fumbles, and injuries. He needs to slide feet first.

[zambonir]

Ha, my bad, yes, believed more often, then.

It's almost like we were the 2013 Red Sox. Howie did a masterful job that year filling in the holes around some peak talent (and also got lucky with Foles) but unlike the Red Sox there was no future talent in the wings (obviously NFL is very different than MLB), and the more recent drafts haven't delivered either, overall.

[xogfog]

The 2013 Red Sox did have a rookie Xander Bogaerts who had a great postseason.

[el-pietro]

I thought Carson had a really bad game at the time but I thought these tweets were interesting. I certainly don't know enough about the sport to disagree with Orlovsky, and his video is very telling. So perhaps Wentz is being hampered by his receivers even more than we realise.
https://twitter.com/danorlovsky7/status/1199042434921050112

https://twitter.com/danorlovsky7/status/1199055984938934273

[phillychuck]

And Dillard was tipping plays while he was in with his stance. Hard to win with this kind of lack of attention to detail:

https://twitter.com/72TraThomas/status/1198915797357342729

[Lawman]

What's wrong with the Eagles' Carson Wentz? It's complicated

[Patchmk88]

And Dillard was tipping plays while he was in with his stance. Hard to win with this kind of lack of attention to detail:

Dillard has been a huge disappointment and one of the many 1st round busts drafted in recent years.

[Lawman]

I disagree with this. He's a first year player who played well on the left side when filling in for Peters. He's never played on the right side before, and asking him to do so at the last minute is not putting him in position to succeed.

[Patchmk88]

Ehh. I think he’s been pretty bad no matter where they put him. I have constantly seen him get beat by his man.