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Re: Week Six of the 2021 NFL Regular Season!!!

I wonder if Brady really had a thumb injury; it didn't look that way to me. I think it was exaggerated so that the Eagles would make more mistakes, thinking that Brady couldn't throw as easily. I don't always trust Brady even without Belichick's help. 

 

In the postgame show on NFL Network, the fans didn't like Stephen Smith saying that the Cowboys are the best team in the NFC. They were trying to shut him down. I guess that's a typical reaction in Philadelphia. 

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Re: Week Six of the 2021 NFL Regular Season!!!

All in all, it was an okay game for the Eagles. They only lost by six points and they could have won. The eight times they ran the ball (seven of them in the second half) they gained 55 yards, so maybe that will encourage the coaching staff to call a few more runs. The officiating wasn't fair last night, but that's to be expected. The Bucs were murdering Eagles receivers and not getting called for pass interference.

 

On the interception thrown by Brady that the Eagles were returning, Derek Barnett was trying to block Brady on the return to prevent him from making a tackle and the referee got between the two and pushed Barnett away from him. How dare Barnett try to touch the referee's precious Tommy boy! They might as well just give Brady the red practice jersey to wear in games. 

 

The taunting penalty that killed momentum and gave the Bucs fifteen yards and a first down late in the game was just a normal play. Something you see fifty times in a normal game. Earlier Leonard Fournette had headbutted an Eagle defender after getting tackled and Antonio Brown celebrated every catch as if he'd just won the Super Bowl, but neither of those was called taunting though they clearly were.

 

Still despite the officiating, which you always have to expect when you play Brady or the Cowboys, the Eagles were in the game to the very end. Some better play calling early on (fewer screen passes that go nowhere) and some quicker reads/throws by Hurts and the Eagles could have won despite the officiating.

 

The coaches need to rethink the RPO as Hurts is way too prone to make the wrong read on those. Call pure runs or pure passes and take away his options. Hurts clearly trusts his own legs more than he trusts his backs or receivers and giving him the option to use his own legs will almost always have him run first. Take away the option and glue him in the pocket. Make it run or make it pass, but have the coaches make that call and not Hurts. Once he gets far behind and knows he has to pass, he plays better. Make him have to pass the whole time and take away his run option.

 

Still, despite the loss, there are some positives to take from the game. No new major injuries that I'm aware of. The Eagles should know they could have won had they just played a little better. The defensive coaches have to give up on the bend don't break zone concept against a veteran QB like Brady. Once they went to more of a man defense they held him in check better. There are lessons to be learned.

 

Zach Ertz was very emotional after the game and people think that's proof that he's about to be traded. Eh, maybe. As a rule, if you've got a guy queued up to be traded, you don't play them so they don't get injured. Tyree Jackson who had a great training camp as a tight end is about ready to come off IR and the Eagles have some other young guys at TE (Stoll, Croom, and Togiai) so moving Ertz or Goedert isn't out of the question, but I'm not sure it'll be Ertz since he played the whole game last night.

 

As of this moment, if the draft were held today, the Eagles would have three of the top eight picks. Suffice to say defense should be the feature of the next draft for the Eagles. We need linebackers and DBs. The corners are solid with Nelson, Slay, and Avonte Maddox. Maddox was a tackling machine on the field last night. He's the littlest guy on defense but was in on nearly every tackle and I don't remember seeing any passes completed against him. He's having a really good year.

 

Oh well, on to next week and the Racist Raiders, er Las Vegas Raiders. then the Lions, Chargers, Broncos. Saints, Giants, Jets, WFT. Giants, WFT, and Cowboys. It's not hard to see five or six more wins in that group of games. The Eagles will likely be favored against the Lions, Giants (twice,) Jets, and at least one of the WFT games. If the Eagles correct the fairly obvious issues they're having, nine wins in those games wouldn't be out of the question. The games against the Raiders, Lions, Broncos, Saints, Giants, Jets, WFT, Giants, and WFT are winnable. We probably won't win them all, but they're there and able to be won if we fix the issues. That would have the Eagles at 11-6 if that were to happen. Will it happen? Probably not. We're more likely to get five more wins (Lions, Giants twice, Jets, and one WFT) which would put us at the 7-10-ish mark that I've largely thought we'd land on this year. We'll have to see what happens.

 

The Eagles aren't a bad team. They're just playing dumb football. Correct a few issues here and there and they'll be contenders. Run the ball more. Play a more aggressive style of defense. Use the speed at wide receiver more. Glue Hurts in the pocket more. The wins are there if they want them. They've just got to go out and get them. It's not a lack of talent or ability. They're just killing themselves. Timid coaching, timid playing. Attack and win. It's that simple. Screen left and screen right are safe plays, but every defense is looking for them and blowing them up. Attack and win!

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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Re: Week Six of the 2021 NFL Regular Season!!!


@teganslaw wrote:

I wonder if Brady really had a thumb injury; it didn't look that way to me. I think it was exaggerated so that the Eagles would make more mistakes, thinking that Brady couldn't throw as easily. I don't always trust Brady even without Belichick's help. 

 

In the postgame show on NFL Network, the fans didn't like Stephen Smith saying that the Cowboys are the best team in the NFC. They were trying to shut him down. I guess that's a typical reaction in Philadelphia. 


The Cowboys are the best team in the NFC East, but not the NFC overall. I would put the Cardinals, Packers, Rams, and Bucs ahead of the Cowboys in the whole NFC. Their record is a bit of a mirage. They lost to the Bucs in week one. Eked out a win over the Chargers in week two.

 

Since then, they've played the Eagles, Panthers, and Giants who are three pretty bad teams, or teams that are playing poorly. They have the Patriots, Vikings, Broncos, and Falcons up after that. Those should all be wins. Then the Chiefs, Raiders, and Saints. If the Chiefs don't fix their defense all three of those could be wins. Then the WFT, Giants, WFT, another likely three wins.

 

Then they face the Cardinals. That will be a real test for them. That's the next real test they face in this schedule. The Vikings, Broncos, and Chiefs, could trip them up, but realistically the Cards will be their next real test game. And I suspect they'll fail that test. They wrap up against the Eagles. They could end up 15-2 and then lose in their first playoff game.  (I kind of figure them to be more like 13-4 though.) A lot of their record comes from the teams they've played. They're the best team in the NFC East, but when they face other good teams, we'll see what happens.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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Re: Week Six of the 2021 NFL Regular Season!!!

The Eagles have now traded Zach Ertz to the Cardinals for a fifth-round pick and CB Tay Gowan. That's about the right value. The Eagles would have gotten a fourth-round compensatory pick had they lost Ertz in free agency, so getting back a fifth-round pick and a player (who the Eagles valued as a sixth-round pick) pretty much evens out in terms of value. A fifth and a sixth for a fourth is about the right value.

 

Now Tyree Jackson gets to come back off of IR and show what he can do along with Jack Stoll, and Noah Togiai. Dallas Goedert will likely get paid now. The Eagles had largely finalized the trade on Tuesday and told Ertz about it then, so he knew last night was his last game as an Eagle. (I'm a little surprised they played him last night with the trade pending.) The trade wasn't finalized until this morning, but they let Ertz know what was pending.

 

It's a great opportunity for Ertz to go to a top contender to finish the year. He's going to a sure-thing playoff team with a good shot at making the Super Bowl. If he finishes strong, he'll be a free agent in 2022 and can go where he wants. It's good for him. 

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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Re: Week Six of the 2021 NFL Regular Season!!!

Kliff Kingsbury and his QB coach tested positive for Covid so they're not going to Cleveland. That could be a problem for the Cards. Defensive tackle Zach Allen is also out along with GM Steve Keim. Since Zach Ertz just played on Thursday night he can't play for the Cards this week, but he's traveling with the team to get a jump on learning the system.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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Re: Week Six of the 2021 NFL Regular Season!!!

It's game day! Well for you slackers who didn't get around to playing on Thursday like the Eagles. We have another in a series of bad 9:30 AM ET games from London as the Dolphins and Jaguars face off. (We must really hate the Brits to send them these games.) Then I'll probably get to watch either KC/WFT or the Giants/Rams, followed by the Cowboys/Patriots, and then finally the Seahawks/Steelers. It should be a fun day of football-watching with no stress added. The highest-scoring game of the week could very well be the KC/WFT game as neither team seems to have remembered how to play defense this year.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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Re: Week Six of the 2021 NFL Regular Season!!!

"Slackers who didn't get around to playing Thursday" LOL. 

 

The early games in my area are Texans-Colts CBS and Packers-Bears FOX.

 

The Cowboys-Patriots are 4:25 FOX. 

 

The Bears are televised a lot in this are, almost as much as the Colts. I've noticed that there are a lot of Bears fans living here. I see people wearing their apparel often. 

"The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog."

Mark Twain
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Re: Week Six of the 2021 NFL Regular Season!!!

[ Edited ]

@teganslaw wrote:

"Slackers who didn't get around to playing Thursday" LOL. 

 

The early games in my area are Texans-Colts CBS and Packers-Bears FOX.

 

The Cowboys-Patriots are 4:25 FOX. 

 

The Bears are televised a lot in this are, almost as much as the Colts. I've noticed that there are a lot of Bears fans living here. I see people wearing their apparel often. 


@teganslaw @gardenman 

 

GARDENMAN---My WFT should play PERMANENTLY on Thursdays-----it would be better to not make it so obvious about the fact that so many WFT fans are "disguised as stadium seats."...😥😞...Coach Rivera said its up to him to get wins and bring the fans back! (it also has to do that the location of Fed Ex Stadium stinks---no park and ride buses available--just difficult to get too--they DO need a new stadium in a better location---at least the opponent's fans get to purchase REAL CHEAP SEATS! anything to get any kind of fans in the stands!).............

 

TEGANSLAW I understand what you are saying about the Bears, people here started a campaign to try to rid ourselves of always being FORCED to see the Cowboy games---we are NOT Dallas, and the sentiment has changed about the Cowboys here....more and more we are seeing a variety of fans in NFL gear other than the Cowboys.....

 

 

And the Texans really have no fan following here either despite being just a SHORT hop, skip, and jump away....even their own players made that comment when on a PR tour here.....

 

BUT the effort FAILED and we are STUCK with always seeing these two teams when we should be seeing the BEST NFL game possible....I guess the local Fox network made a deal with "the devil" aka JERRY JONES..😈..🤣🤣

Animals are reliable, full of love, true in their affections, grateful. Difficult standards for people to live up to.”
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Re: Week Six of the 2021 NFL Regular Season!!!

[ Edited ]

@gardenman @teganslaw 

 

When did the Bears get stripes on their helmet and upper sleeve...now they look like the NCAAF Michigan Wolverines and NOT Bears...OR semi Bengals.🙄

Animals are reliable, full of love, true in their affections, grateful. Difficult standards for people to live up to.”
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Re: Week Six of the 2021 NFL Regular Season!!!

[ Edited ]

Same ole, same ole for my WFT---slow start...the defense gets an interception,  Gibson fumbles....Mahomes takes off long run, and then Chiefs fumble.....Offensive pass interference Scary Terry.....KC doesnt convert to a first down, WFT with the ball..... nice long pass from Heinicke to Seal-Jones for a TD!!!! and Hopkins even makes the PAT and has made 2 FG----AMAZING---Perhaps there's hope!m 1:04 left before half Chiefs driving on wash 21 its 3rd and 1 23 sec left... Mahomes INT!!! At the half Chiefs 10 WFT 13!!!

Animals are reliable, full of love, true in their affections, grateful. Difficult standards for people to live up to.”