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Honored Contributor
Posts: 25,463
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Week Three of the NFL Preseason!!!

It's dress rehearsal week in the NFL! This is the week when teams give us all a glimpse of what to expect when the real games start. Most teams will play their starters more this week and prepare as though it's a regular season game. They'll actually game-plan for the opponent and prepare as if it's a real game. A good showing this week can give you cause for optimism. A bad showing this week can be scary.

The Eagles have made a couple of roster moves. They cut linebacker Jason Phillips who was trying to come back from a torn ACL last year and traded for Kenjon Barner the former Oregon Duck running back. Barner was acquired from the Panthers for a conditional seventh round pick next year. We've got a stable of young running backs in camp, but most are injured, so Barner gets a chance to come in and show what he can do. Chip Kelly knows him well and wanted him on the team, so that says a lot. I suspect we'll see a lot of him next week in that final preseason game. His stats with the Panthers (8 yards on 8 carries so far in the preseason) weren't all that impressive, but he looked pretty good at Oregon.

The Eagles play the Steelers this week and it should be a good test for them. It looks like the starting offense will all be together for the first time all training camp and we'll get a chance to see how well they perform. It'll probably be the last chance for any of the starters to get any meaningful playing time as that fourth week of the preseason is typically devoted to the backups.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,661
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Week Three of the NFL Preseason!!!

Looking forward to seeing more of this Zach Minter. Last week he was literally just off the bus, but looked promising. Now we need to see him play against a starting offense. Hoping he ends up being a good find for our defense.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 25,463
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Week Three of the NFL Preseason!!!

And the Eagles and Colts have made yet another trade. The Colts had cut their rookie kicker (Cody Parkey) last night and the Eagles had cut their rookie running back (David Fluellen) this morning, but both GM's had their eyes on the kids who got cut and decided to revoke the waivers and trade them instead. The Colts need another running back and the Eagles could use another kicker and neither player was likely to make it all the way through waivers for either team to claim, so they traded them instead. It's a win for both teams that way. The waivers wouldn't go through until four PM today, so they had a window to work out the trade and they got it done. Fluellen's a decent little running back who has a chance to help the Colts. With the Eagles getting Kenjon Barner yesterday, there was a surplus at the position for the Eagles. Our current kicker is good on field goals but iffy (at best) on kickoffs, so Parkey could end up making the Eagles as a kickoff specialist. Having two kickers is a bit of a luxury, but all you need is for your kicker to grab a hamstring while warming up pregame to make it look a lot less like a luxury and more like a necessity.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Honored Contributor
Posts: 25,463
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Week Three of the NFL Preseason!!!

That was about as perfect a third preseason game as you could hope to see from an Eagle fan's perspective. Our first team offense and defense absolutely dominated the Steelers on the way to a 17-0 halftime lead. We pulled the first teamers and the second team Eagles still did a nice job against the Steelers first line guys. It wasn't until our third and fourth team guys took the field that the Steelers were able to do anything.

There were a couple of scares in LeSean McCoy leaving with a thumb injury and Jeremy Maclin collapsing and grabbing his knee, but both players are fine and should be ready for the season opener.

Nick Foles only threw one interception and that wasn't his fault. He was trying to throw a screen pass to Darren Sproles and Sproles and the offensive lineman pulling in front of him collided and knocked each other down just as Foles released the ball.

All in all it was a game to make Eagle fans very optimistic. Many of the local/national press had gotten off the Chip Kelly bandwagon after the first two preseason games, but they were hoping right back on during/after that game. One writer went from having the Eagles being 8-8 this year to saying they were more likely to go 12-4 now. It's amazing how one good game can influence those guys.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Valued Contributor
Posts: 664
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Week Three of the NFL Preseason!!!

Hi all, just jumping back in, late again, lol! Well, we already have star WR Sammy Watkins out with a rib injury with no deadline for when he can come back. Nonetheless, we are headed off to the game this afternoon to see if the Bills can actually score a touchdown once they get in the red zone, and to see the new and improved Ralph Wilson Stadium! Go Bills!!

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,008
Registered: ‎03-11-2010

Re: Week Three of the NFL Preseason!!!

The Colts are looking out of sync tonight. Halftime with New Orleans leading 20-10. Andrew Luck has been off with many of his throws, and he had an interception. The defense is leaving holes open for Drew Brees (who is out of the game for the second half.) Luck is taking some hits, also.

Maybe the Colts will come back, but they have to stop NO first. It is nice to see Reggie Wayne back and healthy. I'll see how the second half plays out, but so far not very impressive showing by the Colts.

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

Mark Twain
Honored Contributor
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Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Week Three of the NFL Preseason!!!

Other than the Eagles, the NFC East is looking like a bit of a mess this year. The Redskins first team offense still hasn't scored a touchdown. The Giants have had basically one successful drive by their first team offense. The Cowboys aren't looking all that impressive. Yikes! It might be a good year to be an Eagles' fan.

The press seems to have decided to turn on EJ Manuel this year. I've seen quite a few negative stories popping up about the kid this past week. I'd thought he was doing okay for a second year guy, but the press is trying to kill him.

A lot of negative QB stories are popping up all over the league this week. I'm thinking the rumors of Mark Sanchez heading someplace might not be so far fetched. He's had a brilliant camp and preseason and the Eagles are happy with Matt Barkley and GJ Kinne too, so Sanchez could be gone if the right deal came along. He's only on a one year deal in Philly, so some teams might just wait another year and pick him up in free agency, but he's looked pretty impressive so far and I suspect quite a few teams are watching him on film and trying to decide if they want to take the gamble on him. If they get the Mark Sanchez we've seen in camp, they'd be getting a top ten to top twenty NFL QB. Those guys don't pop up on the open market all that often.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Honored Contributor
Posts: 34,634
Registered: ‎03-20-2010

Re: Week Three of the NFL Preseason!!!

On 8/24/2014 gardenman said:

Other than the Eagles, the NFC East is looking like a bit of a mess this year. The Redskins first team offense still hasn't scored a touchdown. The Giants have had basically one successful drive by their first team offense. The Cowboys aren't looking all that impressive. Yikes! It might be a good year to be an Eagles' fan.

The press seems to have decided to turn on EJ Manuel this year. I've seen quite a few negative stories popping up about the kid this past week. I'd thought he was doing okay for a second year guy, but the press is trying to kill him.

A lot of negative QB stories are popping up all over the league this week. I'm thinking the rumors of Mark Sanchez heading someplace might not be so far fetched. He's had a brilliant camp and preseason and the Eagles are happy with Matt Barkley and GJ Kinne too, so Sanchez could be gone if the right deal came along. He's only on a one year deal in Philly, so some teams might just wait another year and pick him up in free agency, but he's looked pretty impressive so far and I suspect quite a few teams are watching him on film and trying to decide if they want to take the gamble on him. If they get the Mark Sanchez we've seen in camp, they'd be getting a top ten to top twenty NFL QB. Those guys don't pop up on the open market all that often.

Hey GARDENMAN,

I bet your heart stopped beating a couple times there didn't it Wink.....well glad no serious injuries......

TEGAN---I think your Colts will bounce back and just be thankful you have a really good QB.....

SHELTIEMOM -- how are ya---saw your old QB Fitzpatrick and he played decently for the Texans in the game against the Broncos.

As for my REDSKINS---let's say the O line was shaky and Robert was PATHETIC---Robert took off running too early, held the ball too long, and looked like he regressed to last year's performance.....I'm sure he will tweet again about us "doubters".....{#emotions_dlg.glare} And there seems to be a growing consensus among the media types that Kirk Cousins has outplayed Robert in the preseason.....A concern with rookie OT Moses with right knee injury MRI will be performed just what we did not need....he did walk off the field although limping.., On D Rak suffered a minor ankle injury.......the defense is being more aggressive and Jason Hatcher made his debut and played well....Keenan Robinson (Fletch's replacement) had a nice game as did David Amerson....overall the first string D did a good job.

It doesnt matter if we have good receivers, good tight end and a good running back it all boils down to the QB play....If this was the DRESS REHEARSAL---OY!

And if misery loves company Eli is really struggling too.....

Animals are reliable, full of love, true in their affections, grateful. Difficult standards for people to live up to.”
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,997
Registered: ‎10-21-2010

Re: Week Three of the NFL Preseason!!!

The colts never have very good preseason then always have a great season.
Honored Contributor
Posts: 25,463
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Week Three of the NFL Preseason!!!

And a new market has just developed for Mark Sanchez and/or Matt Barkley. The Rams have now announced that Sam Bradford tore his ACL again yesterday and is out for the year. They've suddenly got a big hole. Do they give up on the upcoming season, get a high draft pick and draft a kid next year like Marcus Mariota or Jameis Winston (the Indy approach,) or do they trade for a good QB and hope to get lucky and eke out some wins?

They've got about two weeks before their first game so they could get a guy in and get him up to speed in two weeks, but will they? I'm pretty sure the Eagles would want at least a second round pick for either QB, and maybe a bundle of picks. Sanchez has history behind him but Barkley has potential. We could even see the Redskins move Cousins to nip any QB controversy in the bud, but I'm not sure how sold they are on RGIII and trading away the better of your two QB's is usually a bad idea. Would the Redskins even consider trading RGIII? I doubt it, but who knows.

This will be interesting to watch and see what the Rams do. They've had a ton of high picks over the last few years and have a pretty deep roster except for at QB. They've been betting on Sam Bradford staying healthy and that's now looking like a very bad bet. I'm thinking if I was the Rams I'd be more likely to trade for a Matt Barkley/Kirk Cousins with a cheap contract and some potential over a Mark Sanchez, even though Sanchez gives you the best chance to win now. Get one of those guys halfway cheap and hope he turns into a solid pro.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!