Your right, their o-line is in shambles. Thats the book on Bradford though. That defense is tenacious and can win you games, but Bradford can't do it on his own. He's a pure system guy. Bridgewater is a similar player but is tremendously athletic so he could do more with less.
I'm not sure what you mean by "can't do it on his own". If you mean he's no Brady or Rodgers, sure. But even they need to have decent protection in order to be successful. Prior to the Eagles game, Bradford was doing a pretty good job with respectable stats. The Eagles were of course aware of the O line issues and exploited it to their advantage. That's what good defenses do. If the Vikes have the same problem against the Bears, then I'll be concerned about the rest of the season. However, I don't expect a repeat performance by the Purple.
Got to agree with TD here, two weeks ago Philly laid a turkey on Washington about as bad and to be honest Philly didn't play all that great offensively last Sunday. If Minnesota hadn't had so many turn over's and near turn over's we would be talking about how many Philly had in the game. The Viking's have a top shelf defense and a competent offense that barring injury should only get better. There was talk that this game could be a trap game for them and I suspect it was. One of the worries I have as a Dallas fan is that they have yet to play a 'bad' game. It's coming for sure and suspect its the Pittsburgh game (may be the week where they have to deal with the will they/won't they on Romo officially). I think they will be focused for Philly this week, but you never know.
No way Dallas falls into a trap game this week in Philly. I think the two will fight it out in a passionate, gritty game.
I see your point. Yes, he's no Brady clearly, but Bradford is no superb athlete. He's accurate, a good decision maker (most of the time) and has a high football IQ. What gets him in trouble is his inability to show up in big games. He may dink and dunk you all day and find defensive soft spots, but he does not have the pocket presence of a top tier QB. He is serviceable. Of course, under Chip Kelly's garbage system he was not allowed to make his own reads and audibles pre- snap. And with LA (or whatever the hell they were called back then, can't keep track anymore) the offense was anemic. Personally I didn't mind him, but was glad Philly made the trade for the future. I just don't think he has it.
Eagles @ Cowboys, what to say? Sometimes its better to be lucky than it is to be good? Or, how to win despite your own blunders. Philly as a team played better in all three aspects than Dallas, yet Dallas won the game in a overtime thriller. I was worried that they were due for a bad game and coming from a bye week after dismantling Green Bay that this was the time for it. Biggest issue seemed too many silly penalties that extended Philly drives or shut down their own. Then came atrocious Special Teams play. In the first six weeks they were sharp on the penalty front and while Special Teams were not great, they didn't make very many errors. Next came Prescott who had a wild game, alternately looking like the rookie he is and then the potential top tier gunslinger he might become. Lastly the Coaching/play-calling was equally schizoid, too often forgetting the team was created to run, then pass and not the other way around. By all means Philly's defense and special teams played into Dallas's troubles, but self inflicted wounds were the real killers. Philly played a solid, smart game that should have won the game. Like I said sometimes better to be lucky than good, or just good enough to be lucky.
Well put. Dallas is the cream of the crop in the NFC east (and as a Birds fan that makes me ill, lol). Elliot and the o-line are the real deal. The Birds had it won if Doug Pedersen didn't get too cute in the fourth. A field goal may have iced it up 10 with 8:00 plus remaining. But hindsight is 20/20. Regardless, another epic Birds/Boys rivalry.
Jerry Jones can influence from the box. X-Men style...Eagles looked like they would walk away...Great game, great rivalry.
The only knock I have heard on the Eagles was they might have been conservative in Dallas, but that is always a judgement call. It does seems that we have 5-8 years of a tight race between Dallas-Philly each season. Dallas needs to groom a TE to replace Witten, Philly may need to draft a beast RB, but both teams have a lot of young talent. Seems the Giant's are slowly fading with Eli on the back end of his career and needs to reload, though they could plug gaps and stay in the mix. Washington is a mystery as I can't tell if they are coming or going. I think at least one and possibly two teams in the NFC East may come away with wildcard spots this year, and though Dallas has a two game lead at the mid point, the division is still up for grabs. Man the Viking's may be tanking all of a sudden.
The Chicago game was brutal to watch. The O line was again a sieve. Got to hand it to the Bears. They played a great game, and the "good" Cutler showed up as well. Today Norv Turner resigned, and Pat Shurmur is taking over as interim OC. They are 5-2, leading their division with 9 more games to play. I'm concerned, but not quite ready to describe it as "tanking". The O line is a serious concern, along with the lack of a serious running game. Whatever Norv was doing wasn't working, so hopefully Shurmur will figure something out. Maybe they'll be able to stop the bleeding this Sunday at home against Detroit. Though, after the Bears game, I hope the Vikes aren't taking the anemic Lions D for granted.
I did say 'may be' after all Still two poor games in a row, one against a very good team, the other against a not very good team has to be troubling. A change in OC may provide a spark needed to turn in the right direction, but with another division opponent coming up that is better than last week's Bear's, they can not afford another bump in the road. Green Bay is slowly getting their act together, so must Minnesota if they want a post season berth.
Week 9 in the books and the NFC East seems the big winner this week. All four win, though they were all very close games that could have gone the other way. At the moment the road to the Superbowl runs thru Dallas, but Seattle is charging hard and after a epic win at New England they can't be discounted. Nor can the rest of the East, Dallas has to play all three (two of them road games) and the standings could be flipped all too easily. It is possible the NFC East may send 3 teams to the playoff's this year which makes me wonder, will one team fall by the wayside on their own or will they lose out because when the music stops there will be one chair too few.
Its an impressive division so far. My bet is on the Eagles or Washington to fall off. The Birds have no WR options and the secondary has been exposed at times. I believe the Washington Here Before Yous have an overall poor defense. We shall see.
Seattle looked good last night. They have guys coming off injury in the future. Not a fan of Seattle anymore, as their management didn't shut down the kneel/whiney voices at anthem time. Any team that had players who took a knee- is in my bad books...Kapernick didn't even vote...what an
Caught a rare Monday Night Football game this week as I live in the Houston market. Texan's should have won that game, but for a variety of reasons they didn't. Before I go further I must offer a, DISCLAIMER I am not now, nor have I ever been a fan of the Houston Texans or theirpredecessor's, the Houston Oiler's. In fact even when they play against teams where theirvictory would aid my Cowboy's I can not generate much enthusiasm for a Houston victory. Where was I... oh right, the Texans should have won that game in Mexico City. First the Raiders slept walked through much of the game against a team they should have crushed had they played all four quarters like they did in the fourth. Oakland laid it out there for the taking. Next came the usual Keystone Kops nature of the Officiating. It seems to be getting worse year to year with no consistency in calls. Three times questionable calls directly impacted the Texans, with one wiping a touchdown off the board. On balance even the Texans played well in a game against a quality opponent and in a marquee game (for a change). Their run defense was spectacular and Oswieler seemed to have tumbled to the fact that he has a pro bowl caliber receiver on his team, granted it took most of the season to realize this. They also won the time of possesion. But have to say they were not blameless in this. Oswieler had a fair number of his traditional 'who the hell is he throwing the ball to?' pass's and he didn't put a dent into his anemic TD to INT ratio in this game. To be honest his good day is a average one for most quarterbacks, but at least he passed for more than 100 yards this week. There is a growing sense of buyer's remorse within the local fanbase on the 70 million dollar man. Nor does the Houston Coach, Bill O'Brien get off scot free as they have rarely played as a team all season. He should have challenged the first bad spot and punting on 4th and 4 with less than 3 minutes to go on what turned out to be the final Houston chance to put the game into overtime put the final nail in the game.
Were you able to see the laser directed at Osweiler....that could have blinded him. http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000744200/article/laser-flashes-in-brock-osweilers-face-during-game edit- sp
Remember(berry), when Janet Jackson presented her boob (Superbowl)?...Almost like a green laser to the eyeball...wonder if her mooselim husband remembers...because - honour killings and all that stuff.
Turkey Day Football next! If Luck had been cleared to play we likely would have potentially 3 great games to watch today as everybody has something real to play for. Beginning with Vike's and Lions and first place on the line should be a good, but low scoring game. Viking's seem to have found their mojo again as a defensive monster, but you can't count upon Special Team's/ Defensive scores every week, while Detroit has been doing it with last minute comebacks which have to fall short someday. A real toss up, but I give the Lions a slight edge for playing at home on Turkey Day. Next up Dallas & Washington. On paper Dallas should win this going away, they are used to playing on Turkey Day, they are at home, they are playing red hot, they know the 'skin's' and their tendencies, they have been outstanding at second half (often second quarter) adjustments when thrown a curve by the opposing team and this would offer a chance at separation from the pack in the NFC East......but. This is the NFC East and strange things happen. Washington is also red hot and in many ways like Dallas, they do most things well, run, pass and defense. Their special teams may be a bit better and it could come down to that. Still with fingers crossed I'm picking Dallas in a tight one....hopefully......please. Last is Steelers at Colts. as said above If Luck was cleared I would give them a even money chance at home in a close game, but unless Pittsburgh has one of those brain dead games they have had this season, this could be a ugly one very fast. Both teams need this one, but the Black and Gold have too much talent I think and Indie has never quite jelled as a team this year. This one may be a go to bed early event, helped along by too much turkey and pie.
