Sports

[Spurt]

@gardenman v @teganslaw 

Former Redskin TE Chris Cooley said Landon Collins is playing so bad that he would trade him at the deadline...

"Landon Collins was a D [against Giants], more like a D-," Cooley said. "Landon Collins has been no better than a C- through this entire season. You have issues when your best player is not playing well enough. He's a big part of three or four of the nine total big plays they've given up this season."

To Cooley, the primary issue with Collins is his change in mentality on the field. Instead of reading the play as they happen and reacting to them at a Pro-Bowl level, he feels Collins is trying to diagnose plays ahead of time to try and make big plays. 

WR Robert Foster was signed from Packers Practice Squad.....Joshua Garnett retired...WHO?!?!?!?

Its always good to get a vote of confidence from your coaching staff----🙄

In Week 6, Washington rolled up 337 total yards with 24 first downs. 

In Week 5, Washington finished with 108 total yards and 10 first downs.

"I think we’re headed in the right direction. It’s better, not to be confused with good, and we have to get better starting with myself and the coaches and everything," Turner said Wednesday.

Although he's right....I wouldnt advertise it....

Looks like Fitzmagic is available.....

[teganslaw]

Trade alert! The Vikings sent DE Yannick Ngakoue to the Ravens for 2021 third round draft pick and 2022 conditional fifth round pick.

This is a good deal for the Ravens; they didn't give up much to acquire him. I don't understand why the Vikings made this move, though. Minnesota needs all the help they can get, and trading away a top DE doesn't seem in their best interests. Maybe they could have gotten more out of the trade, if they had tried harder. 

[Spurt]

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@teganslaw wrote:

Trade alert! The Vikings sent DE Yannick Ngakoue to the Ravens for 2021 third round draft pick and 2022 conditional fifth round pick.

This is a good deal for the Ravens; they didn't give up much to acquire him. I don't understand why the Vikings made this move, though. Minnesota needs all the help they can get, and trading away a top DE doesn't seem in their best interests. Maybe they could have gotten more out of the trade, if they had tried harder. 

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@teganslaw 

WOW! The Ravens sure are making a lot of moves before the deadline..  @sunshine45 

[gardenman]

That's kind of an interesting trade. Vikings just got him in August and gave up a second and a fifth to Jacksonville to get him. Now they're unloading him for a third and fifth. Essentially, it's just a fifth as they'd have gotten a third for him if he left in free agency. I wonder what the Vikings know that the Ravens are about to learn?

[Spurt]

SCHEDULE CHANGE---

The Seahawks-Cardinals game that had been scheduled for Sunday afternoon will now be played on Sunday night on NBC, the NFL announced this afternoon.

The Buccaneers-Raiders game that had been scheduled for Sunday night will now be a 4:05 p.m. ET kickoff on FOX.

The league said the changes “were made out of an abundance of caution” after two Raiders players were placed on the NFL’s COVID-19 reserve list and other Raiders players self-quarantined. Although the league is still expecting the Raiders to be able to play on Sunday, if it turns out that they can’t, the NFL didn’t want to be left without a Sunday night game. And fans are guaranteed games to watch both on Sunday afternoon and on Sunday night.

[gardenman]

Had em all the way! Ha! Wentz is dragging this team to wins. The one starting offensive lineman in Jason Kelce we had left commits a stupid facemask penalty on a first and goal, but Wentz and Boston Scott save his bacon by getting the touchdown. Not the best game I've seen, but a win is a win. I'll take it! Now we're alone in first place! (Well, until Sunday anyway.)

[gardenman]

The patchwork offensive line had big issues last night. The left side of the line had been solid with Jordan Mailata and Nate Herbig meshing well. But with Jamon Brown imploding badly at right guard last week and our only other surviving guard being Sua Opeta, who only plays left guard, they shifted Herbig to right guard and inserted Sua into the left guard slot. While neither guy was as bad as Jamon Brown had been last week, it affected all three slots. Herbig wasn't as good at right guard. Opeta was a bit overmatched at left guard, and Jordan Mailata had probably his worst game as a pro so far at left tackle. (Not horrible, but not up to his normal standard.) Lane Johnson rotating in and out as his ankle then later a knee caused him trouble didn't help matters any.

We came out of the game losing two more starters with Lane Johnson and DeSean Jackson both going down again. (Lane with the ankle and now a knee, while DeSean injured a foot/ankle and was in a walking boot after the game.) Defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway injured his biceps which means he's likely gone for a while. And backup corner Craig James was also forced out of the game with an injury.

I'm pretty sure the DeSean Jackson experiment ends after this season. The kids at wide receiver have shown enough to keep them over him. Travis Fulgham looks very good. Greg Ward just catches everything thrown his way. John Hightower consistently blows past the defenders. (He must have deceptive speed as defenders seem to be in perfect position then he's passed them.) When we get Jalen Reagor back (soon) that will give the Eagles a good foursome of talented young kids with a Quez Watkins waiting in reserve. DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery can hobble off to other teams or retirement.

Expect to see Zach Ertz get moved in the offseason to a tight end needy team. The Eagles have Dallas Goedert, Richard Rodgers, Jason Croom, and now Hakeem Butler as tight ends. Dallas and Rodgers are do everything guys while Croom and Butler are more pure pass-catchers. Ertz has value and will likely get moved. A youngish (30 years old) pro bowl caliber tight end with a full year left on his contract is a good get for teams. I'd expect the Patriots to have some interest and likely other teams also. His value might be a late first or early second-round pick. The Eagles would get a third-round pick as compensation if they keep him and let him leave in free agency in 2022 so they'll want more than that to move him.

Now the Eagles need the WFT to toss someone out at QB on Sunday who can pick apart the Dallas defense. Given how the Dallas defense has played this year, a kid from one of the local Pee Wee teams might do. A Dallas loss puts the Eagles in first place all by themselves thanks to our tie against the Bengals.

We've now got ten days (or so) to patch together yet another version of an offensive line and toss them out there for the Cowboy game. The Eagles depth is being tested like never before, but so far, so good. The kids, by and large anyway, are holding up okay and getting lots of experience. You'd typically prefer to just work one kid into the o-line at a time, but this isn't a typical year for the Eagles. Carson Wentz is very happy he came into this season a bit beefed up, as he's taking a pounding, but he's getting the job done.

Boston Scott has turned into the Giants killer. His best games have come against the Giants. His game-winning catch last night was especially good. Wentz thought he'd overthrown the ball, but Boston went up and made the grab. Not bad for a little 5'-6" guy.

Eagles' Twitter was entertaining last night. The opening drive down for an easy TD had people talking playoffs and Super Bowl. Falling behind to the Giants had people talking about tanking to get a higher draft pick. Coming back to win has people mixed. Happy for the win, but a bit scared they needed to come back against the Giants. Daniel Jones falling down in the open field as he was running for a touchdown will be something he'll get shown a billion times over his career. Kudos to some on Twitter for making a neat GIF showing the win probability where the Giants went from a 98+% likelihood of winning to losing with the Jones fall animating the drop.

Now I get to just sit back and watch the games on Sunday with no stress. That's the good thing about Thursday night games. The team gets a few days of extra rest also.

[Spurt]

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@gardenman wrote:

The patchwork offensive line had big issues last night. The left side of the line had been solid with Jordan Mailata and Nate Herbig meshing well. But with Jamon Brown imploding badly at right guard last week and our only other surviving guard being Sua Opeta, who only plays left guard, they shifted Herbig to right guard and inserted Sua into the left guard slot. While neither guy was as bad as Jamon Brown had been last week, it affected all three slots. Herbig wasn't as good at right guard. Opeta was a bit overmatched at left guard, and Jordan Mailata had probably his worst game as a pro so far at left tackle. (Not horrible, but not up to his normal standard.) Lane Johnson rotating in and out as his ankle then later a knee caused him trouble didn't help matters any.

We came out of the game losing two more starters with Lane Johnson and DeSean Jackson both going down again. (Lane with the ankle and now a knee, while DeSean injured a foot/ankle and was in a walking boot after the game.) Defensive tackle Hassan Ridgeway injured his biceps which means he's likely gone for a while. And backup corner Craig James was also forced out of the game with an injury.

I'm pretty sure the DeSean Jackson experiment ends after this season. The kids at wide receiver have shown enough to keep them over him. Travis Fulgham looks very good. Greg Ward just catches everything thrown his way. John Hightower consistently blows past the defenders. (He must have deceptive speed as defenders seem to be in perfect position then he's passed them.) When we get Jalen Reagor back (soon) that will give the Eagles a good foursome of talented young kids with a Quez Watkins waiting in reserve. DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery can hobble off to other teams or retirement.

Expect to see Zach Ertz get moved in the offseason to a tight end needy team. The Eagles have Dallas Goedert, Richard Rodgers, Jason Croom, and now Hakeem Butler as tight ends. Dallas and Rodgers are do everything guys while Croom and Butler are more pure pass-catchers. Ertz has value and will likely get moved. A youngish (30 years old) pro bowl caliber tight end with a full year left on his contract is a good get for teams. I'd expect the Patriots to have some interest and likely other teams also. His value might be a late first or early second-round pick. The Eagles would get a third-round pick as compensation if they keep him and let him leave in free agency in 2022 so they'll want more than that to move him.

Now the Eagles need the WFT to toss someone out at QB on Sunday who can pick apart the Dallas defense. Given how the Dallas defense has played this year, a kid from one of the local Pee Wee teams might do. A Dallas loss puts the Eagles in first place all by themselves thanks to our tie against the Bengals.

We've now got ten days (or so) to patch together yet another version of an offensive line and toss them out there for the Cowboy game. The Eagles depth is being tested like never before, but so far, so good. The kids, by and large anyway, are holding up okay and getting lots of experience. You'd typically prefer to just work one kid into the o-line at a time, but this isn't a typical year for the Eagles. Carson Wentz is very happy he came into this season a bit beefed up, as he's taking a pounding, but he's getting the job done.

Boston Scott has turned into the Giants killer. His best games have come against the Giants. His game-winning catch last night was especially good. Wentz thought he'd overthrown the ball, but Boston went up and made the grab. Not bad for a little 5'-6" guy.

Eagles' Twitter was entertaining last night. The opening drive down for an easy TD had people talking playoffs and Super Bowl. Falling behind to the Giants had people talking about tanking to get a higher draft pick. Coming back to win has people mixed. Happy for the win, but a bit scared they needed to come back against the Giants. Daniel Jones falling down in the open field as he was running for a touchdown will be something he'll get shown a billion times over his career. Kudos to some on Twitter for making a neat GIF showing the win probability where the Giants went from a 98+% likelihood of winning to losing with the Jones fall animating the drop.

Now I get to just sit back and watch the games on Sunday with no stress. That's the good thing about Thursday night games. The team gets a few days of extra rest also.

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@gardenman 

CONGRATS on the Eagles win---WHEW-What a game.... and Twitter shows how fickle fans are ............😉

[gardenman]

@Spurt 

The bad part of a game like that is winding down afterward. You have all of the adrenaline from the game then you've got to go to sleep somehow. Still, a sleepless night or two isn't a bad price to pay for a big win.

The Eagles have a few things to work on over the next week, most important being taking advantage of trips inside the red zone. I think we got there seven or eight times yesterday and only came out with four scores. You've got to do better than that.

I have no idea what Jason Kelce was thinking when with a first and goal from the three-yard line with less than a minute left to play, he grabs the defensive tackle's facemask, rips his helmet off, and then stands there holding the helmet with his fingers still in the face mask. Can you possibly make it easier for the officials to call a face mask penalty? He's typically a pretty smart player, but that's just nuts. He might as well have reached in the official's pocket and thrown the flag himself. He's very lucky Carson and Boston hooked up for the TD on the next play or he'd have been getting killed today. You go from a first and goal at the three to a first and goal at the eighteen-yard line? Ugh! I was screaming at my TV when he did that. You just can't do that at that stage of the game.

But despite all of the problems, we got the win. Now we have to root for the WFT to take out what's left of the Cowboys. The WFT defensive line should dominate the Cowboy's o-line. That means that Andy Dalton will be having to get rid of the ball quickly. That lets the WFT cheat the safeties and corners up a bit and they should be in position to make a few plays on the ball. It'll be a fun game to watch. At worst, the Eagles end up a half-game behind the Cowboys and then we play them next week.

[Spurt]

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@gardenman wrote:

@Spurt 

The bad part of a game like that is winding down afterward. You have all of the adrenaline from the game then you've got to go to sleep somehow. Still, a sleepless night or two isn't a bad price to pay for a big win.

The Eagles have a few things to work on over the next week, most important being taking advantage of trips inside the red zone. I think we got there seven or eight times yesterday and only came out with four scores. You've got to do better than that.

I have no idea what Jason Kelce was thinking when with a first and goal from the three-yard line with less than a minute left to play, he grabs the defensive tackle's facemask, rips his helmet off, and then stands there holding the helmet with his fingers still in the face mask. Can you possibly make it easier for the officials to call a face mask penalty? He's typically a pretty smart player, but that's just nuts. He might as well have reached in the official's pocket and thrown the flag himself. He's very lucky Carson and Boston hooked up for the TD on the next play or he'd have been getting killed today. You go from a first and goal at the three to a first and goal at the eighteen-yard line? Ugh! I was screaming at my TV when he did that. You just can't do that at that stage of the game.

But despite all of the problems, we got the win. Now we have to root for the WFT to take out what's left of the Cowboys. The WFT defensive line should dominate the Cowboy's o-line. That means that Andy Dalton will be having to get rid of the ball quickly. That lets the WFT cheat the safeties and corners up a bit and they should be in position to make a few plays on the ball. It'll be a fun game to watch. At worst, the Eagles end up a half-game behind the Cowboys and then we play them next week.

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@gardenman 

I hope the coaches figure out what happened to the the D Line---the strength of the WFT---and make the necessary adjustments so they can put pressure on the Cowboys O-Line & Dalton......We lost Matt Ioannidis for the season in September with a torn bicep, that was a big blow...Also the WFT secondary is in need of some help..

With games like the one you went through, and especially with stupid penalities, it gets you worked up so you cant sleep because you are HAPPY or.....you are so MAD....probably like my sis, the Giant fan was....she couldnt believe Jones fell down... I wonder if they've called Eli and begged him to come out of retirement...LOL!