Tickets Arrive!
happy day! my eagles tickets arrive in the mail. a little bittersweet though. all of the miserable seasons i've experienced being of fan of these underperforming professional sports teams of ours, and i'm too busy these days to enjoy the best run we've had since the late 70's/early 80's glory years.
Labels: miscellaneous
posted by The Mean Guy at 9:38 PM
51 Comments:
Very sad day. JJ was perfect for this city and will be missed.
Come on Boyz !!!! You guys complain about TMG not being around, he starts a new thread, and the silence is deafening ! What's the word ?????
Captain
On vacation and up to my teats in work. That said, not at all enthusiastic about the Birds this season. 1 devastating injury, no JJ, no B Wes, an O line who doesn't know how to play together yet, and Andrews typical absence makes for very little to get excited about.
And I'm on vacation in Avalon and it's raining! Anyone ever try to entertain little kids at the shore in the rain? Yuck!
Bumble
The word is we still have a month until we START to learn what this team's all about. Man I hate the pre-season. You NEVER know whether a team's going to be any decent until the games start to matter.
O-line and 36 issues notwithstanding, the offense lives and dies by whether 5 stays healthy.
I am less optimistic than last year, but this should still be an 8-8 team at worst and most likely a playoff team. Division looks weaker this year, which should be a benefit after a couple really, really tough years.
Bumble,
Get yourself a pack of Uno cards. Greatest beach game ever invented. The girls will love it.
Just who is this Mean Guy fellow?
Ed Wade
Regarding the rash of injuries: This might be the best thing to happen to this team. It seems like every year that they're supposed to do great, they open up flat and underperform. But when they're decimated by injuries, they rally around and end up about where they're supposed to be.
And frankly, as long as 5 and 36 are healthy, they can afford to lose all 3 starting LBs and they're still ahead of the game.
I heard someone (maybe Mort) say that DeSean was having the best camp so far. Being the most improved. And I gotta ask: how is that possible? He was pretty decent last year.
Is everyone else as unexcited as I am for tonight's game against the Pats? Preseason - its faaantastic.
Eagles sign Vick?!?! WTF is that all about?
I'd like to reiterate how much I hate preseason. Ugh. This game sucks. Will not watch the 2nd half.
The only good thing about this game is McCoy. I'm really impressed so far. Weaver also looks pretty decent.
Glad we spent all that money on Peters. Effing A.
All the penalties need to get fixed.
McNabb was hot and cold. Interesting that his first, second, and third looks all seemed to be to DeSean. Has Curtis regressed?
Oh, the secondary played decently. Very decently.
Single Wing! Vick rolls left, mcnabb rolls right. i love it
Tough game to gauge. Don was below average but could be rust or could be that awful O line in front of him. That will be a problem all year. Defense looked terrible to me, so don;t agree with the "as long as 5 and 36 can play they don't need LB" angle. The first string Pats team beats the first string Birds by 3 TD. The game was very liberating for me because it immediately establishes that the Birds are an OK team, but not elite. The Pats just play a different sport and would win 10 games out of 10 head to head. They easily could've popped a 40 spot on the first string D. It helps set reasonable expectations for the season and enables me to calibrate and understand that as long as New England plays football, the Birds have zero shot of a SB.
The Birds have a weak O and D line and I thought that was supposed to be Red's strength. And Akers needs to be replaced as well.
Bumble
Okay....I am an idiot. I love my dog. Steroids in baseball don't bug me. You still have to be able to hit the ball. I don't mind mind vaseline balls (gentleman's cheating)....if you are cheating you aren't playing....
that being said...sigh...I am really excited to have Vick. I love the excitement and mismatches he presents as a slash. I love the balls the Eagles have for signing him and the media hit they will take....him in wildcat excites me....am I alone with my excitement?
Big Dog
last post should have read "if you AREN"T cheating, you aren't playing".....I can't wait to see #7 in a direct snap, rolls left, pumps, tucks the ball....TD
Big Dog
based on the uproar on the radio this morning, i guess we're in the minority but i'm with you big dog. mike vick did his time. if he can help the team i hope he plays well.
what's worse? a guy who committed a crime, did his time, and is supposedly remorseful... or a guy who beats his wife and is defiantly unremorseful? the same people who have their panties in a bunch over this seem to have no problem rooting for brett myers
i was working last night and wasn't able to watch the game. can someone fill me in on how peters looked?
phil, did peters look bad?
Peters looked awful. Think Winston Justice vs. Usi and you get an idea how badly he played.
Bumble, you can't take what the D did and project that. They play a lot of man coverage to see how the players cover/react so they know what they have to cover for once the season starts. These games are not about winning/losing, they're about evaluating players.
Vick could be a good signing. We'll see. I'm not against giving him a chance. I just doubt what kind of impact he'll have. Is he worth the $1.6 million? Maybe.
PFT had an interesting take on the signing, which other NFL head coach would be more interested in giving a convicted con a 2nd chance than Reid given his 2 sons?
If the Birds O line can get healthy, then this team could score a TON of points. The game is moving toward wildcat right now and Vick can do that. I agree TMG, the man paid his debt and the same idiots protesting with their dogs had Philly gear on. Didn't they fail to even punish a wife beater?
Bumble
Peters was absolutely terrible. A 240 pound backup LB made him look terrible. Yikes!
Bumble
Bumble,
But didn't McCoy look very good?
I thought there was an NFL rule that you could not line up with 2 QBs? So the fact that the Eagles gave him #7, says that Vick will just be a backup. If he was given #15, then I could see it.
Also, I thought that our WRs looked good, our secondary looked good, and our run block looked good. I wouldn't doubt Vick playing this year since our O-line looks awful and will certainly get McNabb hurt.
- Joe
I don't know, Joe. It's easier to block for a stationary QB than it is for a mobile one because you know where the stationary one's going to be.
Of course, there's no way Vick ever gets past his 2nd read so it's not like they'd have to hold their blocks as long as 5 who won't take off running until he's gone past his 6th read.
This game sucks too.
Nice touch on the 5 pass to DeSean for the TD.
Why play Vick at all in the pre-season? Will the reps matter when he takes the field 6 weeks later? Wouldn't it be better to give teams no tape on him to watch? Right now his performance is a big enigma. I'd keep that info to myself rather than broadcast it to the league.
great article by Ray Diddy. News flash fellas, this team blows. They may start to come together, but it starts and stops up front and their lines are absolutely atrocious right now.
http://www.comcast.net/articles/sports-nfl/20090821/Didinger-Eagles-Patriots-Issues/
Bumble
Very true about the 0-line. Though it's tough to say how good/abd this team will be considering half the offensive starters didn't even play against the Colts. Now if none of them are playing come the regular season, duh this team will suck. But if they're there? We still don't know.
Hello? Anyone?
There's only about a bazillion story lines revolving around this Eagles team, but no one wants to discuss them?
Sorry, Phil.
The story is the Phillies. For the Eagles, it's just boring preseason. If the players don't care enough to gear up, why should I?
A. The o-line is a huuuge concern. I thought we brought on Stacy Andrews, who I think has suspect knees, to help with his brothers head-didn't work. B. I don't see how Michael Vick fits on this team. He did more prison time than Donte Stallworth - so I'm ok with that part of it. Is he the back-up QB ? So is Kolb then expendable and Andy admits it was a mistake ? Is he a Kordell Stewart type "Slash" player who is fun but for limited plays per game ? I don't really get it. Our defense had some major breakdown late in games last year, one of which cost us a shot at the super bowl, and all we have in the way of change is a new young coordinator, no significant talent upgrades, a disgruntled corner, injured MLB, potential lack of toughness (Dawk) and our HOF safety gone (though I can't fault anyone for that, Dawk had to take that deal). It's not looking good gentleman. Oh, and our best RB is coming off surgury on his leg.
And what's up with Lidge ?
Captain
Down 17-3 late in 1H. But effing A are Avant and Samuels having great games. Maclin looks pretty good, too.
This team sucks. O line is out of synch and a few look over-rated. McNabb looks average at best, red zone play calling and overall play claling are terrible, entire defense looks slow, Joe Mays is not an NFL MLB, special teams look bad, and they take way too many stupid penalties. Other than that, they're great.
Bumble
I still don't think you can tell anything from preseason. I thought the O-line looked better.
Really? What made you feel that way? Their inability to run or their inabaility to keep the QB pressure free?
I think you can tell a few things from pre season
1. This team is not deep at all. Their LB were bad when they had the world's tallest midget in the middle, they are plum awful right now. Rightfully, that group doesn;t scare a soul. They just aren't game changers.
2. Their safeties look average.
3. Their O line needs to be healthy and could be good if they ever play together. Their backup O line is pretty bad.
4. Their special teams are bad. Poor coverage and return and even ball catching. Luckily that's only 1/3 of the game.
5. They are very undsciplined. When they actually got out of thier own way and ran a successful offensive play, 4 times out of 5 it was called back due to some silly penalty.
I don't like the lack of discipline and the lack of play makers. I definitely don;t like opening on the road against a very sound football team.
Bumble
I definitely agree the number of penalties are a concern.
I think "depth" is only a concern if a lot of starters go down. No team can win if they're only playing their "2s". Not even the Pats. That said, a lot of our starters are hurt (especially the o-line) so I would agree with you there. We still haven't seen 36 yet and there's no reason to believe he'll give us more than 9 or 10 good games this year.
On the plus side, these WRs are top shelf.
The WR are very good. I also like Celek's hands. As a team, they have a lot of people who can catch the ball. if Don has time, they should score points. For some reason they still look shitty in the red zone, but could be the patchwork O line.
Different note, have you heard snippets of Andrews rap where he professes to getting his Michael Phelps on. Too good to be real.
Bumble
Andrews is the goofiest guy to come down the pike in a number of years, and consequentially, my favorite Eagle.
well this squad better have an offense that can pop 35 a week because they've got a D that's going to surrender 28 a week.
Guys who I'll be glad to see the last of
1. Booker
2. Brown
3. Feeley
Bumble
Yeah, I have to agree with that list. Brown turned out to be a disappointment though I think that's only heightened by how well DeSean's been playing.
Still way too early to say that about this D though. They don't scheme in the preseason to see what kind of players they have so they know what they have to scheme to cover up once the games start up. The LBs might be a little weaker than last year, but you can't tell me our D-line and secondary have dropped off that much. I say it's scheme in meaningless games and not personnel.
I'm more concerned with our o-line right now.
I pray you're right on the D and the O line gels, otherwise it's 6-10 city. I hate that early schedule a lot.
Bumble
7 days to football!
Hey, I just read/realized we get 4 games against the AFC West. That's at least 3 wins right there. You telling me that can't squeeze out at least 6 more wins (.500 percentage) out of the other 12 games?
And I'm not sold on DAL or WAS so that could be another 3 wins. Is NY really THAT much better? I don't think so.
All this team needs is a couple breaks.
Hope you're right, Phil. I think this team needs a lotl to go right to achieve 9 wins. Healthy OL, healthy 36, healthy 5. I guess the same is true for any team. Should be a fun season. The Eagles typically deliver. They'll always be decent win Big Red at the helm.
Ed Wade
6 days to Eagles football!
One of the reasons I'm a little more optimistic is because of McCoy who looks like a decent replacement for 36 if (more likely when) he goes down. In prior seasons, this has killed the offense and probably lost us 4 or 5 games. McCoy's probably 75-80% of Westbrook right now with blocking ability the biggest issue.
So while the team depth might be a little lower at o-line/LB than we'd like, I see it as better at the one key position. This in and of itself might save us 1 or 2 wins this year.
Their defense looks shitty to me right now. Average DE, lousy LB, average safeties. They won't stone anyone and they won't scare anyone. Defense wins in this league and in your wors last year Phil (and it was true in many ways), the D was their undoing. The D as it appears right now is clearly worse than last year, so why the optimism?
Bumble
4 days to football!!
Partially because I'm a glass half full guy. Reasons to be optimistic:
1) As bad as the D may end up being, the offense looks to be as good or better.
2) Depth at RB for a change with McCoy.
3) 4 games against the AFC West.
4) NFC East looks to be weaker than the past couple years.
5) and because at some point you just have to believe in Reid/5. Look at how screwed up last year was for example. They tied CIN for crying out loud! The season was d-e-a-d DEAD. So what happened? Reid/5 kept winning and gave themselves a shot then won 2 playoff games on the road. Which is the hardest thing to do in the NFL. Any team with a decent head coach and legit QB has a shot and that's what this team has.
Does the team have questions and issues? Sure, but there's no reason they can't overcome them and every reason to believe they can.
2 days!!!
Andrews and Herremans out for Sunday. Westbrook practicing.
Why are the Eagles favored? CAR isn't that bad of a team.
I have never been so unexcited about the start of a new season. Is anyone else apathetic toward this team? Just not a lot of good things happening with them thus far this year, no reason to raise my pulse.
And I'd cut Shaun Andrews. He is killing them with hsi psychotic and immature approach to being a professional.
Bumble
1 day!!!
I'm a little excited. There's no reason to think this team shouldn't be halfway decent. And there's tons of drama surrounding the team. Lots of questions for them to answer.
Andrews is definitely an enigma. Tough to tell what's real and what's in his head.
I'm getting my Michael Phelps on, big time.
You've got to be pretty happy with that performance. Major questions were
1) defense: held CAR to 10 points, lots of pressure, lots of turnovers - very well done
2) offensive line: decent protection and good run blocking - well done considering they were down 2 starters. Some early penalties were biggest issues.
3) Westbrook - looked good.
I don't think anyone could have hoped for a better game from them all around. And this wasn't a DET or SF, but playoff team from last year who I don't think got that much worse over the off-season.
wow! Did not see that coming at all! D was so putrid in pre season, just totally dominated a very good O line. WR looked sharp, running game sharp. Not much to go crazy over. Save one sack vs. an elite pass rusher who floored him with a nifty inside move, Justice played Peppers very tough. Peters is a much better run blocker than pass blocker, but wow did he and Cole look great leading sweeps. They just opened 10 yard wide lanes. I haven't seen a Birds team rush that well, well ever. Kudos Red!
Now McNabb injury sucks almost as much as no flag with the piling on that led to it. Love how Carolina has done that to him twice now and has yet to be penalized I am extremely thankful they have Vick because Kolb can't play. He has zero feel for the pocket (the sack fumble was 100% his fault after 8 seconds of no throw), he has terrible mechanics (always throws off his back foot and backpedals away from the blitz), and he makes bad decisions (jump balls in traffic). They aren't winning jack with him at the helm, so hurry up week three.
Bumble
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