Sports

[gardenman]

Yeah, this is likely to be a crazy offseason. Lots of quarterbacks could be moving around. Foles, Mariota, Rivers, Eli Manning, Cam Newton and others could all be moving. The Bengals will be debating between Joe Burrow, Tua, and the rest of the QB class. There might be five QB's going in the first round and any one of those five could go first overall based on their interviews, postseason play, combine performance, private workouts/meetings and any physical, legal, or psych issues that pop up.

Some big names potentially moving in free agency. Probably a few notable trades. Coaches and GM's in flux. There's all kinds of craziness coming in 2020. 

[gardenman]

And another one bites the dust. Zach Ertz will be out for the Giants game with his bad rib/back. So, that means Carson Wentz will be without DeSean Jackson, Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, and Zach Ertz, his four most prolific receivers, for the game. Despite all of that, Wentz is closing in on a four thousand yard passing year. He'll be the first NFL QB ever to achieve that goal without a wide receiver with at least 500 yards in receptions.

Carson and the offensive staff are pretty adaptable. Rather than try to force the kid receivers to adjust to the Eagles routes, they ask the kids what they do well and adjust to them. When asked about this, Wentz said that even though they're new in the system, they've been playing receiver for ten years or more in most cases, so getting them to change what they've been doing for ten years is harder than him adjusting to them. If they're used to running a slant at twelve yards instead of the nine yards that's in the Eagles playbook, Carson simply adjusts and throws the slant at twelve yards instead of nine. It's a bit more of a mental load on the QB, but so far, so good. 

Losing Zach Ertz (and Ronald Darby and possibly Jalen Mills our starting cornerbacks) will make Sunday's game a tick more challenging, but nothing's been easy this year. This is an absurdly resilient team. One more win and we're in the playoffs and God only knows what will happen then.

[Spurt]

Josh Norman is listed as OUT for the Cowboy game...due to "an illness"....I hope he uses this time to dust off his resume....because he will certainly be looking for another team....

And in an OMG PLEASE NO---Marvin Lewis has been listed as a possible Head Coach candidate for the Redskins.....SMH!!!  He wasnt even a good TV analyst with the Alliance Of American Football League....

There's a bit of controversey in the naming of the top 10 QBs for the 100 yr ALL TIME TEAM

The 10 quarterbacks are, in alphabetical order, Sammy Baugh, Tom Brady, John Elway, Brett Favre, Otto Graham, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Roger Staubach, and John Unitas.

YAY!!! the Redskin's SLINGIN' SAMMY BAUGH MADE THE CUT!    And @teganslaw so did Peyton...and an original Colt Johnny U.......

And no Aaron Rodgers & Drew Brees.....

And talking about bad selections....Kawhi Leonard was named AP MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR!!!...🙄..really..🙄..just the 5th NBA player to win the award....

[teganslaw]

Thanks for posting the list. Peyton Manning is definitely headed for the Hall of Fame.

Maybe the people who criticize Lamar Jackson wish that they received a Rolex watch! Many NFL quarterbacks give gifts like that. I don't understand the criticism; it's Lamar's money to do with as he pleases. 

@ redwingsgal, I saw on Facebook where Matthew and Kelly Stafford surprised three boys with Christmas gifts. They boys had just lost their father, and weren't expecting anything like that. The Staffords do a lot of charity work around the area. With him being on IR and Kelly having the tumor earlier this year, they have been through much themselves. Their three daughters are also adorable. 

[gardenman]

The Eagles' fans are thrilled Marvin Lewis is being considered as head coach of the Redskins. Mike Groh, Eagles OC, is reportedly on the potential list of Cowboys coaches which also makes Eagles' fans happy. The more incompetent coaches in the NFC East, the better.

[teganslaw]

After the season finale. Bruce Allen will no longer be in charge of foortball operations in Washington. It's not clear whether he will be fired or re-assigned. Snyder called in outside advisors about moves he wants to make, and Allen wasn't included. We should hear more on that next week. 

Ron Rivera is apparently another top candidate for head coach of the Redskins. 

[gardenman]

It's the final regular-season game day of the year! Whoo-hoo! The Eagles travel up the Jersey Turnpike to take on the Giants today in a win and you're in scenario.  Carson Wentz will be without his top four receivers in today's game with Zach Ertz out, which makes things a tad more interesting than it should be. The Eagles need the defense to play big in this game. Sadly we're giving up about twelve more points in road games than home games this year. The defense has to step up big time today.

This is a game where getting ahead early and not giving the Giants any life would be smart. Hard to do, but smart. Teams facing the last game of the year tend to be more prone to folding their tents and looking to enter the offseason as healthy as possible if they fall behind early. Why risk tearing an ACL in a meaningless game when you don't have to? 

Expect to see the young guns come up with a few big plays for the Eagles. Little Boston Scott, our Darren Sproles sized running back, had a fun play in last week's game. There was a play where he was supposed to chip Cowboys defensive end Demarcus Lawrence who'd lined up way wide for a pass rush. Instead of chipping him Scott just nailed him with a solid block and then just stayed on him and drove him back about three yards preventing him from getting any pressure on Wentz. You don't often see those 6'3" 265lb defensive ends getting blocked by a 5'6" 200 lb running back and driven off the line of scrimmage.

Deontay Burnett, one of our wide receivers promoted from the practice squad, could be a playmaker in today's game. He's only been with the Eagles a couple of weeks, but our backup QB Josh McCown played with him with the Jets last year and loves the kid. He's worked with him and Wentz on what Burnett does well and he's likely to get a few looks today. He made some pretty impressive catches while with the Jets last year and impressed the players on the scout team. Greg Ward, another scout team promotion has played very well and on a per-game basis is out-performing Nelson Agholor.

A win today puts the Eagles in the playoffs. They could still make the playoffs with a loss and a Cowboy loss, but it's easier to win your way in. (I kind of expect the Cowboys to lose today anyway. Reports out of Dallas makes the team sound a bit flat and defeated. You've got to play football with emotion to win and they don't sound overly enthusiastic right now.) 

By the end of the day we'll know who's in and who's out of the playoffs and the matchups for next week. Hopefully, the Eagles sneak in. A 9-7 record isn't great, but given that there were three or four games lost by dropped passes at the end of games, it's not so bad. If those balls had been caught, we'd be fighting for the home-field advantage all through the playoffs instead of scrambling to get into the playoffs.

[gardenman]

The Eagles restructured the contracts of Brandon Graham and Isaac Seumalo to free up an additional $8 million in cap space for 2020. That should give the Eagles nearly $45 million to spend in free agency. Last year this time we were looking at being $20+ million over the cap, so there's a nice swing there. I'm guessing wide receiver and cornerback will be priorities.  Maybe linebacker also. Offensive line, quarterback, running back, tight end are solid. Defensive end and defensive tackles look solid. If someone great is available they could grab a d-lineman, but I don't see it being a priority. Robby Anderson the wide receiver of the Jets is a guy they've loved since his college days and have tried to get pretty much every year, so he could be a target. It'll be an interesting off season.

[teganslaw]

Miami beat new England 27-24, so the Chiefs are the #2 seed!This is the first time I can remember that NE doesn't have a bye. 

The Colts know all too well how dangerous Miami could be. It was Fitzmagic once again. Have to give Miami credit; they started the season badly but ended on a high note. Congrats to the Dolphins! 

[gardenman]

The Eagles are continuing to drop like flies, losing Avonte Maddox, our starting corner, Miles Sanders, our starting running back, and Brooks, our starting offensive guard in the first half, but clinging to a 10-3 lead despite it all. If we can win the game, whatever players we have left will be in the playoffs. Assuming we have any players left.