Eagles 2023-2024 Season

[zambonir]

Well, Dallas has already clinched its playoff spot and decided not to show today. And the Seahawks have been pretty bad for the past month (and might not have their QB either). But I believe this means the Eagles could lose tomorrow and still control their own destiny in the East if they win out.

[zambonir]

Everybody's backing in!

Eagles clinch third straight playoff berth thanks to 49ers' win over Cardinals

[zambonir]

Both starting QBs active tonight.

[Patchmk88]

This team does not have it. Bradbury is the worst corner in the league.

[Docs]

How do you let a receiver get behind you?

Sorry to go Mahomes on this board but did the CB run through AJ Brown on the interception?

[zambonir]

Boy, it really looked they were gonna run 'em over early. But it's more of the same.

[gmwannabe]

very very poor. on that late drive, short passes, running swift (who did a great job on that 12 yard run to stay in bounds) they are moving the ball and using clock and THEN throw the deep ball to Watkins!!!! they don't deserve to win. Stupid. even though there was a holding there, hurts under threw him (threw it late) whatever. same to brown at the end. underthrown. Even though they are in the playoffs, they night not even make the playoffs, they are that dumb. Props for the kid trying to gut it out. he really has not had a good year. they might not even win another game. maybe one Giants game. Defense very old looking.
gm

[bkeich]

I have said it before, but it is becoming very clear that Bradbury is from elite, or even ok anymore. He spends a lot of time chasing people, not sure what has happened, bur he has gone from one of the best CB (vs passer rating) to one of the worst (at one point this season he was actually dead last in the NFL).

I think it is clear he is a release candidate in the offseason, what is questionable is whether he continues to start. He simply cannot cover anyone this year.

[MichaelJackSchmidt]

The Defense stinks - no doubt. I'm more interested in what Hurts has been doing. I haven't gone back to watch games from 2022, but I've read some ancedots that Hurts was ignoring open receivers underneath last year - it's just that opposing defenses hadn't made any adjustments to Hurts's style yet, and he got away with it. If this is true, then the Eagles are going to have major problems unless they can get someone to teach him to throw underneath instead of forcing the ball down field (usually his #1 or #2 target). He doesn't seem to play smart - this is troubling.

[gmwannabe]

Merry Christmas everyone. Hoping for one more present later today. Although, I can see the Giants coming in here and beating the eagles. Hurts' confidence at a big time low. Devante is hurting. I think they have to lean on Swift and the offensive line today and hope Barkley doesn't run wild. Does Boston Scott have one more killer game in him? We'll see. Have a great day everyone.
gm

[zambonir]

I think the fact that things have been going so badly for them is probably a plus. Yeah, there's pressure and drama but there's also no way they are looking past this one. I'm feeling a blowout (or at least a cover) though a narrow escape (a la the Commanders games) also possible.

[zambonir]

Same team we've seen most of the year. Clearly better than most teams, but not enough to put them away easily. And not clearly better than the other good ones.

Yup, I lost money on the game line, and shouldn't have.

[phillychuck]

They killed them for the first 30 minutes. Then the kick returner and blocker collided, and Goedert stumbled on an out route (pick six) and lo and behold, we had a close game. Once again they abandoned a successful running game...

[bkeich]

We were really lucky that Tyron Tailor is such a bad throwing QB. He had guys wide open in the last drive that easily could have tied up the game. The fatal flaws on this team are hard to watch since it was obvious before the season even started, this was NOT a good job by Howie, he ignored the problems and they were the unraveling of a promising season.

[phillychuck]

Tyrod Taylor.

The Howie take is really wrong to me. They had the consensus best roster in the NFL going into the season...NFL Network, ESPN, PFF, all had them rated #1. They have had bad injury luck, too many injuries at the same positions.

[allentown]

This was a game of too many stupid plays and way too many stupid penalties. What looked like a blow-out win, really could have easily been a loss. Two more games to right themselves for the playoffs.

[zambonir]

I don't think anyone thought it was an elite defensive roster coming in. Injuries have mattered. But I also think you can't discount the coordinators, on both sides of the ball. And clearly some complacency (and arrogance?) coming off of last season.

But, we're still talking about a likely 13-4, #2 seed with four quality wins and three losses to quality teams (all in a row before this one, as it happens). And last year's team had the playoff luck (facing a bad team in the first playoff game, the injury to Purdy). This year's still could. And none of the other teams in the NFL look especially perfect. For a while it seemed like the Niners were but now the Eagles still have a chance at the top seed. Maybe the Ravens are the best team in the league.

And both of last year's SB QBs (and also Purdy) are diminished somewhat (relative to the high standard of, MVP-calber).

[VoteForKalas]

The players at LB and S were not good enough even when healthy for a SB contender and the depth at DE was also weak. Reddick and Sweat have been forced to play too many snaps and the pass defense has been an issue from Game 1. Extending the aging Bradberry and Slay turned out to be a mistake as well.

Those issues are on Roseman, but like zambonir says the coordinators and Sirianni too have come up short in their planning, coaching and adjusting, again from Game 1.

The playoff luck is not a thing IMO. Eagles did not get lucky to play the Giants. They earned the #1 pick and HFA which gives them a better matchup. They also were not lucky with the injury to Purdy. They knocked him out of the game fair and square. Just like they knocked the backup QB out as well. That is called winning football. The playing surface for the SB was rough and they did not adapt well to it unfortunately.

[zambonir]

Yeah but they got lucky to play the Giants because the sixth-seeded Giants upset the 3rd-seeded Vikings. And the Giants were also a great match-up for them specifically. Sometimes it can go another way (i.e. you get a lesser team/lower seed but don't match up as well). The home field part would have been the same either way.

But sure, being the #1 seed obviously wasn't luck. As the #2 seed (most likely) this year they won't have the same benefit (or a bye week) though you could argue that if the current bracket holds and there are no upsets the #1 Niners would have a tougher game (#4 Dallas) than the Eagles would (#3 Detroit). Don't know if it's true but it is at least arguable. Either way this Eagles team will have earned home field for that round (if the bracket holds).

And injuries are also still partially luck. I mean, had the Eagles actually blown it last year at the end of the season would we have lamented bad luck or tipped our cap to the Bears for playing winning football against Hurts? Tackling is football but serious injuries are still pretty random.

[xogfog]

Avonte Maddox is back, hopefully when Slay gets back they'll be a little better in the secondary, meantime it's good to see Ringo get some run.