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Posts Tagged ‘Nick Foles’

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“View from the Philly Pressbox” – How to Beat the Bears

In Philadelphia Eagles on December 21, 2013 at 11:40 am

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The Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears roll in to the week 15 Sunday night matchup with everything on the line, of course, this depends on whether the Dallas Cowboys show up to play the Washington Redskins or fold their tent and go home after last weeks 2nd half meltdown against the Green Bay Packers. Both teams sit atop their respective divisions by the slimmest of margins. For the Eagles, they need to take care of their own business so they won’t have to worry about Dallas. The Birds will face the most well rounded offense they’ve faced all season. The Bears have a terrific back in Matt Forte, who is currently 3rd in the NFL in rushing with 1200 yards while averaging 4.7 yards per carry. He also has 66 catches for 522 yards Also, the Bears are the only team in the NFL with 2-1000 yard receivers in Alshon Jeffery, 1265 yards and Brandon Marshall with 1185 yards. The pair have combined for 170 catches. Offensively the Bears can be very good while the Eagles defense, that ranks #31 in the NFL in pass defense, can be very suspect. Jay Cutler will again be the starting QB for the Bears.

Offensively the Eagles have their own weapons. LeSean McCoy still leads the NFL in rushing with 1343 yards and has added 45 catches for 507 yards. DeSean Jackson is 5th in the NFL with 1275 yards on 75 catches with 9 TD’s. Jackson is also 134 receiving yards from tying Mike Quicks’ Eagles single season record. Nick Foles still leads the NFL in QB Efficiency with a 117.0 rating. Peyton Manning is second at 112.9.

What do the Eagles need to do to win the game? They will have to do something they haven’t done real well this season, be patient on offense and don’t panic! The Eagles have the #1 rushing offense in the NFL while the Bears have the #32, or last, rushing defense in the NFL. The Eagles boast the #2 statistical offense while the Bears have the #27 defense. The Eagles need to run the ball, throw screens, control the time of possession and strike big occasionally with Jackson, Riley Cooper and the Tight Ends. The O-Line must control the line of scrimmage, something they didn’t do as well last week. The flip side is the Eagles have the #31 ranked defense against the pass and the #30 ranked total defense. With the weapons the Bears have, keeping their offense off the field will be their best defense.

What the Eagles don’t need is a shootout! They have given up more than 21 points 5 times this season and lost 4 of the games. The only win coming in week 1 against the Redskins. The Birds need to play this one close to the vest early, get a lead and open the game up some after that. Also, control the field position, no 4th and 1’s from your own 26, and don’t get beat on special teams.

This should be a really good game!

Fly Eagles Fly!!!!!

Philly Pressbox is proud of our association with the Kisses for Kyle Foundation. Please check out their link at http://www.shop.com/kissesforkyle  Every purchase you make helps families battling childhood cancer in the Delaware Valley.

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“View from the Philly Pressbox” – Do the Eagles have a Secret Weapon?

In Philadelphia Eagles on December 18, 2013 at 9:35 am

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As the Eagles head in to the final two games of the season and, hopefully, in to the playoffs is it time to see if they truly have a secret weapon as part of their team?

We all know that as you enter the playoff run that the defenses get better, well maybe not the Dallas Cowboys, and offenses have to be on top of their game. We know that the Eagles defense can be suspect itself so keeping the offense operating on all cylinders is critical. The Minnesota Viking exposed some weaknesses in the Eagles offense by rushing Nick Foles relentlessly throughout the game. The O-Line struggled some for the first time in several weeks and Foles looked a bit rattled early before settling in while playing from behind. Whether it be the Vikings defense or Chip Kelly’s play calling the running game disappeared with LeSean McCoy getting only 8 carries for 38 yards and Foles 5 carries for 41, a whopping total of 79 yards rushing. It’s safe to say the leading rusher in the NFL needs 18-25 carries and he will get 100 yards.

Nick Foles has done an outstanding job of running the Eagles offense, making good decisions, and maybe most importantly protecting the football.  Foles biggest weakness in the read option offense is his inability to run the ball well. He’s made the best of the situation and done nothing wrong while he’s running the ball but there could be more. That brings us to Michael Vick, the secret weapon! It’s time to have a read option package for Vick, from time to time, against these tough defenses. If nothing else the defense will have to respect him running the football. If keeping one man home gives McCoy more space to run or allows the O-Line to get a better match up then why not. If no one stays home then Vick can run for a lot more yards than Foles and open the field up for the rest of the offense.

Don’t get me wrong, Nick Foles is the starting QB. What I’m talking about is maybe 5-7 situational snaps per game. I don’t want Vick in there throwing the ball and being reckless. Foles has handled everything that’s been thrown his way so I don’t see this as a distraction to him or a break in his consistency but rather utilizing all the talent you have available on the 53 man roster.

Going down the stretch don’t be surprised to see #7 on the field. It won’t be a bad thing!!

Philly Pressbox is proud of our association with the Kisses for Kyle Foundation. Please check out their link at http://www.shop.com/kissesforkyle  Every purchase you make helps families battling childhood cancer in the Delaware Valley.

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“View from the Philly Pressbox” – FOR THE EAGLES THIS IS THE WEEK!!!

In Philadelphia Eagles on December 6, 2013 at 7:49 am

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The Philadelphia Eagles have run off four victories in a row, however, there is no bigger game in the season to date than this weeks matchup against the Detroit lions at Lincoln Financial Field. Here’s why this is a must win for The Birds:

  • The Eagles are presently 7-5 and sitting in the #7 playoff position making them the first team on the outside looking in.
  • The Eagles must gain at least one game on the Cowboys prior to the final week showdown in Dallas. As it stands now, Dallas wins the tiebreaker even if the Eagles beat them.
  • Detroit will be the toughest opponent remaining on the Eagles schedule.
  • An Eagles loss to a Detroit Lions team, that is presently in 1st place in the NFC North, would be difficult to overcome especially if the Cowboys beat the Chicago Bears.
  • The Eagles have the Lions followed by the Bears and Minnesota Vikings while the Cowboys have the Bears, Green Bay Packers and the lowly Washington Redskins remaining.

So what’s the good news?

  • The Eagles are the hottest team in the NFL other than Seattle and Carolina.
  • The Eagles have a 1000 yard rusher, LeSean McCoy, 1088, a 1000 yard receiver, DeSean Jackson, 1021, and a QB, Nick Foles, that has thrown 19 TD’s with 0 interceptions.
  • The Eagles defense has allowed just 102 points over the last 6 games.
  • Dallas is 11-16 in December with Tony Romo as the starting QB.
  • Aaron Rodgers should be back for the December 15 game between the Packers and the Cowboys in Dallas. The Cowboys are 5-1 at home, however the Packers are a completely different team with Rodgers.
  • The Bears will start Josh McCown against Dallas. McGown has done a nice job replacing Jay Cutler. Cutler may be ready to go the following week against the Eagles.

The bottom line:

The Eagles must win Sunday against the Lions in order to keep pace. A Cowboys loss to the Bears would be helpful but not a must. An Eagles loss and a Cowboys win dropping the Birds back a game and behind in the tiebreakers, with 3 games to go, would nearly kill the season.

The Eagles control their own destiny, just keep winning!!!!!

Philly Pressbox is proud of our association with the Kisses for Kyle Foundation. Please check out their link at http://www.shop.com/kissesforkyle  Every purchase you make helps families battling childhood cancer in the Delaware Valley.

Kisses for Kyle

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