Philadelphia Eagles

Could it be Tebow Time in the Arena Football League?

Twelve point two percent in my mind encapsulates the many issues that Reid faced when it came to play-calling. This figure I also think had such an impact on the team that it can be somewhat attributed to his eventual firing from his Eagles post as Head Coach.This article came from an after-thought whilst reading Eagles Rewind article on 4th downs and why coaches don’t go for it more than they currently do. It got me thinking, just how good were the Eagles at NOT giving Reid that option, convert a 3rd and no questions asked the drive continues, don’t convert and invariably it’s a punt or FG, field position dependent.So now you’re wondering what 12.2% is, are you not? That is the percentage of third down attempts that were running plays, a whopping 78.8% of the Eagles 3rd downs in 2012 went through the air.This is a massive issue as when 3rd down hit, everyone that faced the Eagles knew that the team would suddenly become one dimensional as they always went through the air. Even at 3rd and 1 Reid more often than not opted to go through the air so opposing teams knew they simply had to drop back into coverage.It had a demoralising effect on our QB’s, due to the opposing secondary backing off into coverage both Foles and Vick found no one open and coverage sacks reigned supreme. Vick was sacked on 8 occasions’ when it came to third downs, Foles had 7. Already we have found that Vick was better at third downs all be it by 1.87% when it came to sacks. via britisheagles.co.uk What about TD’s and INT’s, well Vick won that quite convincingly of his third downs just over 7 in every one hundred attempts were touchdown passes, Foles struggled managing just 3 in every hundred. What about Interceptions? Vick was again better than Foles as he managed two from every hundred passes and Foles lost four.Clearly Vick was the better QB when it came to a third down situation. Why the lack of love for the running game?I’m not quite sure in all honesty; despite the fact that statistically speaking the passing game was more successful. When you read through the Eagles games play-by-play (which I lovingly did) the running game was probably the more successful of the two.Take Bryce Brown for example, remarkably successful at third downs despite only participating in 9 of them. Of his nine, five were converted, 4 were not, 56% of his 3rd downs gave us the 1st. As ever stats are not everything, when you delve into each play you soon realise that of his four failed attempts, three were when the Eagles were at 3rd and 15 plus yards. Bar a miracle you’re only ever running for better field position for your punter. One play I believe was 3rd and 28. Wipe of the third and very-long failures and Bryce Brown suddenly has an 83% success rate. Why the hell did we not run it more?Again you have to be aware that the number was no doubt so over-inflated at 83% simply because Reid always passed so on the extremely rare occasion that he did run it the defense were genuinely caught by surprise hence the high success rate. All said and done Reid still didn’t run it enough.Brown started four games in total whilst McCoy was injured, McCoy started in 12 games. McCoys carries on third down, 11. He had 8 more games and yet Reid only put the ball in his hands three plays more than back-up Brown. It was not even so much Brown being a 3rd down back as the majority of his 3rd down plays were in his four games so again I have to wonder why Reid had so little faith in McCoy when he needed those vital 1st downs?McCoy did in fact have the worst 3rd down conversion rate out of the four key offensive players, Vick 58%, Foles 57%, Brown 56% and McCoy 46%. Again a few of his plays were third and very long, but not to the same extent as Bryce Brown so he was somewhat stuffed at the line on a few occasions was McCoy, but Reid seems to have given up on him extremely quickly and yet he’s your biggest weapon be it 1st

Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports Terrell Davis. Arian Foster. Priest Holmes. Alfred Morris. Danny Woodhead. Those are just a few running backs that come to mind when you think of brilliant RB steals in the late-rounds and undrafted free-agent signing period of the NFL Draft. Well, there was certainly a general excitement in Philly when brand new Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly and his staff decided to bring former FCS (previously I-AA) stand-out RB Miguel Maysonet aboard in a free-agent signing following the conclusion of April’s 2013 NFL Draft. Maysonet played ball at Stony Brook University, a member of the State University of New York (SUNY) network, where he rushed for an incredible 1,964 yards and 21 touchdowns during his senior year. It is also very encouraging that Maysonet consistently progressed throughout his college years, with 1,128 yards and 12 TDs in his sophomore season and 1,633 yards with 15 TDs during his junior campaign. Too bad Maysonet’s journey in Philadelphia was incredibly short lived, as the team decided to release him earlier this week just days after former Dallas Cowboys RB Felix Jones signed as an Eagle. Maysonet was quickly claimed off waivers yesterday by the Cleveland Browns, where he will scratch and claw for a backup role behind the almighty beast of a running back who is Trent Richardson. And for some reason I have this eerie feeling that Maysonet is going to become one of those no-name guys who emerges as an elite NFL athlete. Critics of Maysonet will tell you that he is generally undersized and is a ‘raw talent’ who does not show break-away, game-changing speed or acceleration. There is also the ‘elephant in the room’ which is that Maysonet played at a small school that faced inferior programs with inferior talent. But when a player is able to produce extraordinary numbers like Maysonet’s at any level of football, there is reason to believe that there is significant talent within that athlete. And in the case of Maysonet, I feel like the Eagles made a huge mistake in not giving the youngster a fighting chance to prove his worth. You can follow Joe on Twitter @EaglesRant for all Eagles/NFL insight.

At the 2013 NFLPA Rookie Premiere in L.A., the newest crop of NFL players took in "Star Trek Into Darkness" and shared their reviews with SB Nation, ranging from "I loved it" to "It shocked me" to "I fell asleep."

We're all excited to see what Chip Kelly will bring to Philadelphia, to see what he can do with one of the most athletic O-lines in the league, and to see how he plans to utilize all of the explosive talent the Eagles have at the skill positions. LeSean McCoy is a top 5 NFL running back, and Bryce Brown (ball security excluded) really started to break out when Shady went down with injury. Felix Jones has never lived up to his draft position (22nd overall) due to injury problems, but as a third running back behind LeSean and Bryce Brown, how dangerous can he be? And of course, what is Chip going to do about the quarterback situation? Michael Vick has been one of the most exciting players in the league ever since being drafted first overall in 2001 to the Falcons, but we all witnessed him struggle his way through last season before surrendering the starting job to Nick Foles, who showed glimpses but didn't perform much better than Vick had. We've all watched Chip load up on athletic and versatile tight ends, but what exactly does he plan on doing with them? James Casey was underutilized in Houston, can Chip carve out a niche for him to excel in Philly? Where does Celek fit in with the drafting of Ertz? We all have our speculations, but let me share with you my predictions: 1) Michael Vick will start in Week 1. Before you jump on me for this, let me state that I fully understand the sentiment for starting Foles or even Barkley instead. Vick is old and only getting older, this could very easily be his last hurrah. He's lost a step or two, he continues to struggle with ball security, he still somehow doesn't know what sliding is. It's frustrating to watch him try and make spectacular plays every time a play breaks down only to see him fail or even worse force a turnover, I'm well aware. But last year wasn't really fair for Vick. The O-line was dismantled, they had problems picking up blitzes and recognizing coverages all year. Yes, Vick is partly to blame for that, but it's not all on him. Vick's strength has never been the mental aspect of the game, we knew that when we signed him. He is at his best with a quick explosive offensive, and with the talent at RB and WR and now TE, compounded with the anticipation of excellent line play this season, Vick could surprise us all with another season like 2010 (a season where he was a legitimate MVP candidate, remember). So I don't think Chip Kelly will dismiss Vick just because he isn't the future, Chip Kelly wants to win and Vick very well may be the best option. Another reason I'm favoring Vick for the starting job is the up-tempo offense Kelly plans on using. Vick is experienced and actually prefers a fast paced offense, whereas it may overwhelm the likes of Foles and Barkley. Andy Reid never should have had Vick throwing the ball more than McCoy runs the ball, and Chip Kelly won't make the same mistake. 2) Expect to see a lot of 2 TE and 2 RB formations You may think the first prediction is obvious considering the tight-end pickups, but I thought I should mention it anyway. They can both block, one can block and one can leak out and catch a quick pass, both can release and run routes, etc. My point is, the possibilities are endless with the versatility of our TE's. Now onto the bolder prediction, the 2 RB sets. I think Chip will try to utilize some wishbone formation because of the explosiveness of our #2 and #3 RB's. Let me create a little scenario: It's week 1, it's the second quarter, and LeSean has been running the ball well, carving up the defense with his exceptionally quick lateral cuts as he has done his whole career in Philly. So, Chip decides to utilize Shady's success and run a misdirection fake to Shady, then pitch it outside to Bryce Brown. Bryce was able to bust some long runs as the featured back last year because of his raw talent, if LeSean can draw 3-5 defenders a couple steps over with the fake (entirely possible considering how dangerous he is with the

Players who fit under the Andy Reid scheme might not fit for Chip Kelly, as the Eagles' GM is finding out.

Howie Roseman indicated that not everyone would adapt well enough to stay in Chip Kelly's new scheme.

Pro Football Focus recently released some interesting data regarding the responsibility of NFL quarterbacks taking sacks. Here, we'll focus in on how the Eagles QBs, Michael Vick and Nick Foles, ranked in 2012. PFF defines QB sack responsibility based on the following: [Q]uarterbacks who brought the most sacks on themselves or, to put it another way, those players who took too long to throw and got taken down or simply ran straight into a defender when other options were available. Four seconds is the time over which we say the QB takes responsibility, but this excludes instances where they were pressured within that limit, had to take evasive action with no opportunity to throw the ball away, but got taken down after it. You can see the complete charts for all qualified NFL QBs in the PFF article. Here's how Vick and Foles ranked: Eagles Quarterbacks Responsible Sacks: table.tableizer-table { border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: <?php echo $tableFont ?>; font-size: 14px; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #002F30; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold; } Rank (out of 33) Name Drop-backs Sacks %Sacks Hits Pressures 7 Vick 434 5 1.2% 3 0 25 Foles 313 1 0.3% 0 3 According to this data, not only was Vick responsible for more sacks than Foles was in 2012, but he was also among the highest in the league in this category. It should be noted that Vick's sample size was a little larger than his counterpart, but the data seems to match the eye test here. It's clear that Vick was guilty of holding onto the ball too long and is responsible for a number of sacks he takes. This is important to consider when trying to place the blame of Vick's poor 2012 performance solely on the poor state of the Eagles offensive live. Was the Eagles O-Line bad at pass blocking? Absolutely. They were among the worst in the NFL. The offensive line wasn't doing Vick any favors at all. But Vick was also responsible for holding onto the ball for the second most-longest time on average in the league (3.07 seconds, only ahead of rookie passer Russel Wilson at 3.35). In short, both the OL and Vick were to blame. This data also shows that Foles wasn't as responsible for the sacks he took. Here's how the Eagles QBs ranked when throwing after 4 seconds: table.tableizer-table { border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: <?php echo $tableFont ?>; font-size: 14px; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #002F30; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold; } Rank (out of 36) Name Drop-backs Att. Comp. Yards TD INT QB Rating Total PFF Rating Rating/Drop-back 10 Foles 54 50 20 338 2 0 95.6 6.0 0.111 29 Vick 92 41 12 274 2 3 40.7 1.0 0.011 Here we see that Foles was proficient when throwing after 4 seconds or more. This data matches the eye test which tells us that Foles generally made some good decisions when throwing the ball. The same can't be said for Vick. The numbers show that Vick wasn't a good decision maker, especially when holding onto the ball. * * * The Eagles QB competition appears to be wide open going forward and will ideally be won by the best performing QB. If this data is any indication of future performance, it's an encouraging sign for Foles and bad news for Vick. It remains to be seen how these QBs perform in Chip Kelly's offense as compared to Andy Reid's, but I imagine coach Kelly values getting the ball out quick and not taking sacks. If that's the case, the data here confirms that Foles may have an advantage. (h/t @PFF_John)

It is a tale as old as time (or at least the NFL). A member of a team's front office or coaching staff leaves for another organization and wants to build around guys they trust and who can handle their system and style. That is why it is not a surprise that teams like the Colts and Chiefs are peppered with former Eagles players, with former Philadelphia executives manning their front offices. Still, one team has seemingly made it their mission to acquire all the former Eagles talent that they can, and they are not being shy about it. The Cleveland Browns have made a hobby out of collecting the Eagles leftovers over the last few years. Over the span of the last four offseason, Cleveland has acquired a plethora of former Philadelphia talent. In 2009, former Philadelphia general manager Tom Heckert traded for Eagles defensive starters, Sheldon Brown and Chris Gocong. In 2010, the team signed former Eagles tight end Alex Smith along with wide receiver Jordan Norwood (who was on the practice squad). The team signed cornerback Dimitri Patterson in 2011 and then signed defensive end Juqua Parker in 2012. Heckert was fired this offseason following the purchase of the team by Jimmy Haslam. This offseason, the Browns infatuation with the bottom of the Eagles roster has been even more apparent, with the arrival of new CEO, Joe Banner, who served as the team president in Philadelphia. In the past three months, the Browns have traded for running back Dion Lewis, and claimed both, Ryan Rau and Miguel Maysonet , off of waivers. The Maysonet move, which happened Monday afternoon, almost seemed like the Browns just claimed the young running back for fun (they waived Rau in a related move). The team currently has a very strong group at the position, with 6 other running backs on the roster, including Lewis. But while the Browns may seem like they are just searching for scraps that were under-appreciated by the Eagles, Philadelphia has also made a habitat of collecting Browns throwaways under Howie Roseman. The 2009 trade of Gocong and Brown brought draft picks along with Alex Hall, who lasted just a few weeks with the team. In 2010, the team signed running back Jerome Harrison. Last year, the team traded for David Sims just before the start of the season. When the team hired Chip Kelly this offseason, he was later joined by former Browns head coach Pat Shurmur (also a former Eagles QB coach) as offensive coordinator and former linebackers coach, Billy Davis, as defensive coordinator. Obviously, the teams will be connected as long as Banner and Roseman reside over their respective organizations, but the team-to-team transactions have been ridiculously high. Several fans have joked about last year's frequent trade partner, the Colts, looking to be the "Eagles of the Midwest." but now it seems that the Browns are proudly taking that title. Still, it remains to be seen which team has truly found the treasure in the other team's trash. Either way, will it matter to anyone other than but the two executives?

Dennis Kelly ahead of Lane Johnson, for now | Comcast SportsNet PhiladelphiaDennis Kelly freely admits it. When the first Eagles depth chart came out, and his name ranked above Lane Johnson at right tackle, it caught him by surprise. He hadn’t expected to be summoned to run with the starters. “No, to be honest,” the second-year tackle said Monday after practice. “Lane is a good player. They’re bringing him along and I’m just trying to take advantage of the opportunity I have.” NFL helping Eagles improve the Linc | Comcast SportsNet PhiladelphiaEagles fans will notice some changes this coming season at Lincoln Financial Field designed to upgrade the stadium and enhance fan experience. ??The NFL on Tuesday approved a plan to give the franchise some financial support as the venue undergoes cosmetic enhancements. The league announced the decision at the Owners Meetings in Boston.?? Trent Cole Rejuvenated By Transition "It's a new challenge. I'm a very competitive person. I'm really a stubborn-type person. I don't want to fail at anything. I'm going to go all-out so I can be successful at it. I think that's helped me through my whole career. I'm just going to keep moving from here," said Cole, who will still play defensive end in certain packages. "I've been in the league for nine years now. I've got to get my mind mentally ready to start back over again. I've got to wipe my slate clean." Browns claim Stony Brook star Maysonet - ESPN New York Blog - ESPN New YorkIt didn’t take long for Miguel Maysonet to find a new team. The former Stony Brook star, released Monday by the Philadelphia Eagles, was claimed on waivers Tuesday by the Cleveland Browns, according to a source. Bigger Eagles receivers could mean tiniest one stands out - mcall.comDeSean Jackson figures to thrive in Chip Kelly's offense, or be the main reason why others do. Forecasting the Philadelphia Eagles' offense - ESPNMichael Vick should love this offense, and the read-option likely also will be a part of this offensive package, but not the primary scheme. Vick won't have a lot of seven-step drops and unnecessary hits -- the ball should be out quickly with fairly easy reads and not a lot of audibles. There is nothing that Kelly will require that Vick is not capable of doing -- but he must be more consistent.