The 700 Level - Home of the Ginger Jesus.

[Sans Souci Saint]

Sirianni’s tears were forced and weird. He did seem to be trying get some extra attention here, no?

Who has 6 streams of tears down their face without wiping them?

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!

 

[nick87]

I dont think you understand how deep seeded the American pride/propaganda shit runs in that country.

People can like or not like Sirianni, i think if he was the coach of another NFC E team i'd find him infuriatingly annoying... but one thing is very clear, he's as genuine as they come. He is who he is and he makes no apologies for it.

Also, it's 2023 and you're still using the word "gay" in a derogatory context... Grow up.

 

[Haffa]

Sirianni is passionate. That’s just how he is.

Steichen and Gannon both appear to be gone. I’d like to see them look outside rather than promote from within again, at least for one of the roles.

 

[nick87]

Both gone.

Steichen is a HUGE loss, that guy was an incredible OC and play caller. Always knew the right buttons to hit.
Brian Johnson, the QBs coach will be promoted as OC. I'm VERY confident of that.
And im good with that. All reports are he's an excellent young coach and was highly sought after. He's been the guy working with Hurts and Steichen day in and day out, Sirianni is still going to have his hands all up in this offence, so continuity there makes a ton of sense to me

Curious to know if Johnson or Sirianni calls the plays. I could see a situation where Sirianni starts as play caller and once Johnson is settled in his role, and if he's comfortable doing it, i think they'll transition to him as play caller probably in his 2nd year


Gannon... hit the bricks pal. Sorry i appreciate everything he did and he was very good at a lot of things. But i can not have a DC who lines up and plays this passively and when elite QBs light his scheme on f**king fire despite massive amounts of talent, and there is no curve ball, no plan b.
I like a lot of his philosophies on defence and i think keeping that soft 2 shell zone coverage approach is good, but i need a DC who is going to be more creative with pressure looks out of that shell. Someone who is going to fire some f**king shots and not just sit back and let Mahomes walk up and down the field doing the same damn thing

Vic Fangio would have been SOOOOO perfect for this job. God im furious the cardinals dragged their heels on this. Because had they signed Gannon a month ago, Howie would have made sure he got Vic Fangio in the building. Now im not sure what direction they go. I tend to agree an internal promotion is not what im looking for here unless they're confident the internal candidate is a more aggressive minded DC.

Some names that i think will come up... Jared Mayo if they can get him out of the Patriots but i think he recently re-signed. I know based on reporting the Eagles were VERY CLOSE to hiring him. It was between him and Sirianni and they eventually leaned Sirianni

Lovie Smith could be a big splashy. Others ive seen speculated on - Broncos LB coach Peter Hansen who's a Fangio/Evero tree guy. Kris Richard, the Saints DB coach.
Mike Zimmer is a name to watch too. If they go grizzled old vet dc, he’s going to be high on their list

Internally i think there is a few candidates they'll consider strongly
DB's coach Dennard Wilson
LB's coach Nick Rallis (who apparently is a rising star)

If i had to bet, i'd say Wilson or Rallis will get the job. I think Sirianni is going to try to establish the Eagles as a place where young quality coaches can come, and if they're good enough be promoted and advance their careers

 

[nick87]

Eagles as expected have promoted Brian Johnson to OC... former QB's coach and has OC and play calling experience from his time in college. He's known and worked with Hurts since he was a kid. It's a natural fit and good to keep some consistency on that side of the ball.
The loss of Steichen in play calling is going to be tough to replace. But I'm confident the offence will continue to be very good and productive.

Sean Desai has been named as DC and this one I'm a little more reluctant about. The more I've read and learned about him the more concerned I am that he is too similar to Gannon in his approach. Primarily, I'm worried that like Gannon he is not going to be aggressive and creative enough and that he'll not be a big adjustment in game coach... the lack of plan B. He's very highly regarded and is said to be a future HC, so I'm sure the Monday to Saturday game planning and day to day coaching is going to be fine, but I worry we're going to see the the defence continue to sit back in soft shells and elite QBs are going to continue to dice them up.

 

[Haffa]

If someone would have done a mock draft with the Eagles getting Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith and only giving up a 2024 4th round pick, they'd be ignored haha

 

[nick87]

If someone would have done a mock draft with the Eagles getting Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith and only giving up a 2024 4th round pick, they'd be ignored haha

The entire draft was absurd really

Carter at 9 was somewhat possible and i like that they made the move to do it
Getting Nolan Smith without moving at all... jesus christ... and the Steen who has position versatility... could start at RG for us this year, or might just be good depth. Sydney Brown was one of my favourite safeties, and they nabbed him

Kelee Ringo at the top of the 4th? Cant believe he got down there. Ojomo has no business being there in the 7th. Wild
Cant fault howie on this draft, even with McKee who i dont love.

And here's one i love.. Eli Ricks as an UDFA... this time last year people mocked him in the top 10-20 picks. That's how highly he was thought of. Will he work out? Probably not, but a high calibre talent at a big time programme at a position of need is a great UDFA bet to make

10/10 draft from Howie. No notes. The players may not work out from this class, that's drafting but i wont kill Howie for it if doesnt. This feels like a home run and a much needed injection of youth and talent for a team pretty close

 

[Valheru]

What do you lads think of the schedule.

It's an absolute landmine with the 2 east divisions playing each other. We have the hardest SOS bases on last year's records.

Our 17th game is away to chiefs

I still think we win the division but I reckon the 1 seed comes from the west or the north.

 

[nick87]

What do you lads think of the schedule.

It's an absolute landmine with the 2 east divisions playing each other. We have the hardest SOS bases on last year's records.

Our 17th game is away to chiefs

I still think we win the division but I reckon the 1 seed comes from the west or the north.

I think it sets up pretty nicely... it opens with honestly 8 games we should win.
We should be 8-0 or 7-1 out the gate... 6-2 at absolute worst... anything less than that is a disaster.

lets say worst case scenario and it's 6-2

Then we hit this brutal 6 week stretch ... Cowboys, KC, Bills, Niners, Dallas, Seattle... that's as hard a 6 game stretch as you might have in the league... Split the cowboys games, split the AFC games and split the NFCW, 3-3 in that stretch...

That's 9-5
Finish with Giants x2 and the Cards... to me that shapes up as a 12-14 win season imo

 

[Valheru]

I think it sets up pretty nicely... it opens with honestly 8 games we should win.
We should be 8-0 or 7-1 out the gate... 6-2 at absolute worst... anything less than that is a disaster.

lets say worst case scenario and it's 6-2

Then we hit this brutal 6 week stretch ... Cowboys, KC, Bills, Niners, Dallas, Seattle... that's as hard a 6 game stretch as you might have in the league... Split the cowboys games, split the AFC games and split the NFCW, 3-3 in that stretch...

That's 9-5
Finish with Giants x2 and the Cards... to me that shapes up as a 12-14 win season imo

I do think that opener against Pats is not ideal and a banana skin game.

Giving Bill Belichick a whole off season to prepare has generally not been favourable for opponents and to add to that it is f**king Tom Brady Day.

But yes if we are not 5-3 at absolute worst after 8 games then something is wrong.

 

[nick87]

I just dont think that shit should matter much when the talent disparity is what it is in the Pats-Eagles game
But it is week 1, BB is going to have time in the off season to think about and install something to try and disrupt the run game, and weird shit can happen in week 1 given how pre season is handled theses days

So yeah, that and Miami are the two games in the opening 8 weeks which are on my radar as unexpected loses... that's the 6-2 scenario

The other thing im mindful of is we had 22/22 starters healthy in the SB last year, that is absurd luck with injury. No way we get that lucky. But i actually think this team has a chance to be better than last year and IMO could even be deeper so we've got the ability to withstand some injuries... just hope we dont get the full injury regression

 

[Haffa]

Siposs gone. About time!

 

[nick87]

Siposs gone. About time!

Man i was so worried they'd keep him
Been a terrible punter for a long time now

Not a lot of shocks with the initial 53

Eli Ricks was considered a shock but anyone that had seen him play pre season knew the eagles werent going to risk him on waivers. He was a UDFA that i thought had a good chance to make the team, and actually thought how pencil thin the CB room was, and boy has that changed.

From the draft Ringo has looked good, Ricks has been a stand out as UDFA and Josh Jobe had an awesome camp, and the highly paid UDFA from last year Goodrich came back and earned a spot too. Suddenly the eagles CB looks loaded with young talent ready to step in... we'll see if they're called on when the real bullets start flying but good signs
(Also picked up Isiah Rodgers who is suspended this year for gambling, doesnt count to our roster but is a good player who will be hard to leave off a roster next year)

The big trade for Albert O was a pleasant surprise. I also thought there was a lack of depth behind Dallas Geodart who always missed 3-4 games. They gave up nothing for Okwuegbunam and i think he can really play. I think he's a awesome TE2 who can step in for Dallas when he's out and fit in. Great move by Howie

At LB, the eagles kept only 3 guys, Dean, Cunningham who we signed a few weeks ago and Elliss who was on PS and flashed a little. Think they'll be on the look out for a veteran who's cut once the initial 53 man roster janga has settled down

All in all i think this team is again talented and deep and ready for another tilt.

 

[nick87]

And here's one i love.. Eli Ricks as an UDFA... this time last year people mocked him in the top 10-20 picks. That's how highly he was thought of. Will he work out? Probably not, but a high calibre talent at a big time programme at a position of need is a great UDFA bet to make

Been on that Eli Ricks wagon from day 1. Earned his spot on the roster

 

[Valheru]

Well we did that the hard way but got away with the win.

I always saw this as a banana peel game. Give Bill belichick 4 months to prepare for any offence and he is going to have something up his sleeve, that's just what he does. I always thought they would nullify our offence in week 1 but our defence would get us over the line and that's how it turned out.

Plenty of improvement to be done on offence and I expect a better outing at home against the Vikings on Friday. Really good debut from Jalen Carter who looks like he is going to be a complete menace all year up front on the defence.

Offence as mentioned was rusty but the starters barely had a snap in the pre-season and this Pats defence is no joke. Hurts needs to protect the ball and himself better than he did with that fumble in the 4th quarter. It was first down and he picked up 6 yards, we didn't need a first down conversion right there and then, just slide.

I thought the decision to go for it on 4th & 2 was the wrong one. I know if we convert it is game over but the coaches need to read the situation better. We weren't converting all day and punting the ball inside the 10 gave them next to 0 chance of winning as their offence wasn't productive either. Turning it over on the 40 yard line gave them a chance to win. If it was against Mahomes you go for it all day but you had to have faith in our defence to not give up 80 yards (minimum) against that offence

Vikings next who looked ordinary today.

 

[nick87]

I am very much not concerned on offence
I think that Pats D is actually really good and i think giving BB 4 months to think about how to get after Hurts and this offence and he'll find answers... add in a healthy dose of rust and all that week 1 jazz and its fine.

I do think this was the worst Hurts game we've seen since 2021 so that's a little troubling but i dont think that will hold out. We'll be ok. He missed a lot of layups and primary reads. The running game was stiffled with weird fronts and straight up good play. Hurts was just a little off... everything kind of sucked, even the play calling was not great but that's Brian Johsnons's first game... lot of teething problems and things i expect them to work through

Defensively... now i have concerns. A LOT of miscommunications , a lot of dudes looking at each other not knowing who had who and who was where. To some extent that is to be expected but some of it was also pretty bad

The bad of it was the LB's including Dean got abused. Cunningham cant make a f**king play. It's a problem man. I mean TJ Edwards was no star but he did his job, he was in the right place and made plays. Dean is now hurt again too, which is becoming a theme.

The silver lining of the game for me was Jalen Carter, 6 pressures and a sack. Dude was dominant and won every rep he had 1 on 1... dude is a legit beast. And i think whilst the sack rate was low the DL did a good job of getting pressures. Corners played well, and Reed Blankenship might be realllly legit.

Justin Evans needs to f**k off out of my life and we need a real LB.

Very good to get the W and get out of that shit show and move on, ugly wins count as much as pretty ones do and im eager to see what happens in the vikings game
Think it will look a lot better.

 

[nick87]

2-0 and a few thoughts

Offence:
- the opening qtr and half offensively was appalling really, just dropping back and trying to throw it all over the yard, not how this team should play
- back end of the half and into the 2nd half, they figured it out. Run the rock, you got a RB room that is stacked and the best OL in football, big boy these sucks and then then you get the LBs and Safeties cheating up, then the big plays open up behind it
- Jordan Mailata is having himself a rough start to 2023. Lot of pressure coming off his side. Granted he's gone against guys like Judon and Hunter who are good players, but he needs to lift his game
- Swift looks incredible behind that line, absolutely absurd he got 2 touches last week and Gainwell got 18.

Defence:
- DL not quite getting home but the pressure is there. Jordan Davis, Fletcher Cox and Jalen Carter are having an impact. Josh Sweat is having an impact. Hassan Reddick still dealing with a broken thumb and is struggling a bit, but that's expected.
- Outside corners are mostly playing well, even on the deep Addison TD, Jobe was in good position, just didnt find the ball and then made a bad play worse by missing the tackle. Jefferson had 150 yards but overall its weird to say but i think Slay won that match up again.
- Miscommunications in the secondary again this week, i actually expected that, they were there in week 1 and on a short week i dont think there is the time to clean up that sort of thing properly on 4 days turnaround. They've got 10 between now and the Bucs game. No excuses then. Get it cleaned up.
- The LB and S spots are a disaster and we're going to be targeted in these spots all year long. Howie might have to make a move to shore up at least one of these spot. Get me Budda Baker already.

One more thing... im going to need AJ Brown to cut this bullshit out. I love this man, i really do. But we cant be having a guy on the sidelines complaining about targets. We were running it down their throat, about to take a 34-14 lead and then because he's complaining we come out in the 4th qtr, force some targets his way, next minute PUNTING the ball.

AJ has his deal. He's been paid. And he'll get his targets when the game calls for it. He's contracted for another 3 years, so his targets arent impacting his money

When the team needed him on a 3rd and 5, they got him the ball, he converted and we roll. Sometimes its like that. I need him to cut out this shit and just let the offence cook. We dont need some WR diva bullshit.

2-0 and i dont think we've played better than a C+ game yet. Can't keep doing it. Gotta find some answers to some of this, but better to be winning ugly early whilst we find ourselves than losing.

 

[Valheru]

Hard to disagree with any of that. We looked unstoppable when running the ball. Even though passing in the first quarter was the wrong tactic I think they are just trying to find that passing game which we will need at some point. Not sure what is going on with it at the moment but they will need to work.

We got lucky with that fumble through the end zone at the end of the first but we also copped the world's worst non PI call in the 2nd half which would have ended the game.

At the end of the day we are 2-0 with two new co-ordinators. Definitely have to improve but starting 2-0 is a 70% predictor of making the playoffs and I'm more than happy for all the NFC hype to be about the 9ers and dem Boyz at this stage.

 

[nick87]

And those teams deserve the hype
This is still a big 3 in the nfc, but right now we’d be power ranked 3rd in that group

good news is it’s week 2 and we have no idea what this team will eventually be or what injuries and issues will those crop up for those teams

it’ll come down to the play offs, and who’s healthy and who executes on the day
But right now the eagles have a bit of work to do

 

[Valheru]

And those teams deserve the hype
This is still a big 3 in the nfc, but right now we’d be power ranked 3rd in that group

good news is it’s week 2 and we have no idea what this team will eventually be or what injuries and issues will those crop up for those teams

it’ll come down to the play offs, and who’s healthy and who executes on the day
But right now the eagles have a bit of work to do

I need to see more from the Boyz before I can agree. That was putrid from the giants last week and it remains to be seen which team that game says more about IMO

9ers... look primed for a SB run with a chip on their shoulder to boot.

I wouldn't sleep on Detroit being number 1 seed either just due to schedule with the NFC East and West playing each other.