Casey Matthews took to Twitter today to apologize/defend his comments to Tim McManus of Philadelphia Sports Daily earlier today.
So how’d this all go over with Eagle fans? Some like it – some, not so much. The funny thing is, Matthews blocked a number of twitter followers who mocked his tweets. To which one tweep replied – “Blocked, he knows what that feels like.”
Classic.
I really don’t feel like sitting down and writing a lengthy and coherent post so you’re going to get Peter King-stylee nuggets today.
Why the hell is Chad Hall getting playing time at the expense of others?
According to Sheil Kapadia over there at Moving the Chains these were the following snap counts for the offense against the Patriots:
Chad Hall: 26 snaps, Steve Smith: 5 snaps, Ronnie Brown: 4 snaps, Dion Lewis: 0 snaps
Chad Hall: 5 targets, Brent Celek: 6 targets, Riley Cooper: 5 targets, Steve Smith: 0 targets
Why the hell is a guy who was waived in the preseason, and just recently signed off the practice squad (November 16th) getting more attention than established (and big-monied) veterans and young guys with much higher upside. This is another failure of cohesion between the front office and the coaching staff (is the left brain talking to the right one?). I’m sorry, when I watch Chad Hall I see a borderline NFL player. He may be quick, but he’s not that fast and he can’t break tackles or make anyone miss. Why the hell do you draft Dion Lewis and sign Ronnie Brown to have them usurped by a less skilled, undrafted guy with zero upside? I don’t get it. It baffles my mind. He’s the new Reno Mahe.
Just to note – McCoy is questionable with a toe injury for Thursday night – I wonder who’s going to be the lead back? If Chad Hall gets the majority of the carries, somebody should put Howie Roseman and Andy Reid in touch with one another because they need to talk about things.
Casey Matthews says he wasn’t treated fairly
Great article by Tim McManus at Philadelphia Sports Daily regarding the “treatment” of Casey Matthews. I had a fleeting tinge of sympathy for the guy since the coaching staff had no regard for his professional development, but, c’mon dude:
“A lot of the blame fell on me, which I thought was a little unfair.”
Yeah, sure, you were unprepared – the lack of an offseason does that to a rookie, but to absolve yourself of blame? Give me a fucking break. What a baby. In the end, that’s what this team is made up of – not men, but sniveling little babies. Speaking of – Matthews went on to say the following:
“No. I don’t think anyone will ever understand these fans. When we win they love you but when we lose it gets rough. That’s just how it is here. It’s like that in some other places, but not to this extent. Hey, just win and keep them happy.”
Go play in Jacksonville then you pussy. Jesus Christ. Underachievement creates acrimony. Welcome to reality. It’s the same way in any profession. By the way, can we get more complaining about the treatment dished out by the fans? Pull on your big boy pants and play. Casey Matthews is making $811,000 this year, yet he can’t handle criticism for his incompetence. Cry me a river.
Here’s my idea for drafting players going forward – I want football players who can handle the pressure. I want mature guys who can stand up to criticism. Enough with the fantasy football statistic divas. There are too many of them on this team to even count (Babin, Samuel, DRC, Jackson to name a few). I want team-oriented, mean football players. Preferably from big-time, high pressure football programs.
Speaking of statistical divas – Jason Babin!
Yesterday Babin came out with his little personal vendetta about being “mistreated” in Seattle. Hmm, sound familiar?! Let me ask you this Babin – why the hell should I give a shit? Will this little wrong help you actually play the run this week in hopes that you actually make a tackle outside of your gaudy sack numbers (10 sacks – 15 tackles outside of those sacks – 25 total in 11 games). Enough talking. Play football.
Trevor Laws doesn’t get it either
I know you’ve heard it already because it’s a couple of days old:
“Watching the film, I think it’s an easily winnable game,” Laws said. “If we play our game, we should blow these guys out. That’s just how I feel.”
And this is exhibit one of why the Eagles suck this year – even marginal rotation players act like something is owed to them – the superiority complex that comes with the “dream team.” The Seahawks aren’t good – I get it, but they did beat the Giants, Ravens, and (gasp) the Cardinals. They have the same record as the Eagles. The Birds have to travel out west on a short week and play in a tough environment. The sharps in Vegas have the spread at -3, a telling sign of what kind of sentiment surrounds the Eagles right now. Please shut your mouth Trevor Laws.
Well, this is what the bottom feels like. Look, the Pats are a very good team, and losing to them is nothing to be ashamed of. But, they are not THAT good. Not to mention, the same old tired nonsense continues. And really, it’s the same old tired story we’ve all heard before.
1. Complete and total pass wackiness. The leading rusher in the entire NFL gets only 6 carries? Certainly Andy, there is no need to keep the greatest QB in the history of the game off the field, right? Oh yeah, and for good measure, the fact that the Eagles had a 2nd string QB playing the game and were even fronted a 10 point lead? Six carries?! Additionally, just last week they ran a balanced offense and unbelievably the defense played 1,000 times better because they were rested. Yes, the Pats pass defense is terrible. But, this is the classic Andy Reid situation. Each time the Eagles have played a team that shows even a scintilla of a weakness in pass defense, the game plan devolves into the play calling of a shitfaced college kid playing Madden at 2 in the morning. Really, there is nothing left to say as to this issue, and it will obviously never be rectified. Andy needs to go because he cannot run a balanced offense, and it is costing the Eagles game after game after game. Lurie, please stop the madness.
2. Complete Defensive Inepititude. Yes, Castillo just plain stinks (Again, why does he insist on just playing the same defense the whole game without any adjustment like a computer progam? Wasn’t the obvious gameplan to try and pressure Tom Brady? Sigh). But, I’d like to refer to this list:
Casey Matthews, Jaiquawn Jarrett, Curtis Marsh, Brandon Graham, Nate Allen, Daniel Te’o Nesheim, Trevard Lindley, Keenan Clayton, Bryan Smith, Trevor Laws, Quintin Demps, Jack Ikegwuonu, Victor Abiamiri, Stewart Bradley, Brodrick Bunkley, and Chris Gocong.
Who are these guys? The roster of an Arena League team? Well no, obviously, they are all (or were) Eagles. They are the Eagles defensive draft picks over the last 5 years on defense, 4th round or higher. Clearly, around this time the Eagles started a movement to rebuild the defense after the dominant defense of the early part of the 2000′s began to age. In hindsight, most of that dominant defense was assembled by the non-Reid regime (eg. Dawkins, Douglas, Trotter, Vincent, Taylor, Emmons). And I’m not counting players drafted or acquired by Tom Modrak, the GM prior to Reid taking over the whole shabang (eg. Emmons). Also, the draft with Lito Sheppard, Michael Lewis, and Sheldon Brown doesn’t look as sexy in hindsight, as Lito and Lewis turned out largely as disappointments after hot starts. Back to the last five drafts, which are particularly dreadful defensively. Most of the picks who did play for sometime are not even with the team anymore (Gocong, Bradley, Bunkley, Abiamiri), or never (or hardly) even made it on the field (Lindley, Smith, Ikegwuonu, Demps). Some are just absolutely dreadful, and seen as such immediately upon the selection, eg. Te’o Nesheim and Bryan Smith, both in the 3rd round. This is just a putrid job of drafting defensive talent over the last five years. That is why they have three 7th round picks starting on the defense. It’s getting pretty clear that this regime is incapable of assessing defensive talent appropriately. By comparison, in roughly the same period, the Packers have drafted the following defensive players: Morgan Burnett (starting FS), BJ Raji, Clay Matthews, AJ Hawk, and Pat Lee (3rd corner) all above the 4th round. Think our failure on defense is a coincidence?Yes, in their defense they were able to steal Trent Cole in the 5th round, however, this is not in the 5 year period and really sometimes even the blind squirrel finds a nut. Anyone else ready for a defensive coach to bring some pride back to this team’s once proud defensive history? Frankly, I think this goes all the way to the top, and perhaps clearing Reid would not change this. It may be time to completely clean house and get a real profesional General Manager in here. because the last time they had one, they were able to build a heck of a defense.
Remember this guy? No? It's Tom Modrak. He might have been the last Eagles front office person to acquire a truly talented defensive player.
Dr Malcolm would say: "The Eagles are an excellent example of chaos theory."
It’s been awhile since I provided an update on DVOA. Around midseason and into the playoff drive, DVOA has a way of separating the contenders from the pretenders:
Well, the Eagles are who we thought they were, a middling team coming in at 14th overall. 9th in offense and 14th on defense. To succeed, this team needs to be better on offense, no question. Also, it does show really how unlucky this season has been for the Eagles. Case in point: their closest DVOA facsimile: The Detroit Lions, who are 7-3 and poised for their first playoff appearance in probably like 15 years. Going further, the Eagles weighted DVOA (which takes into account strength of schedule) has the Eagles much higher, say, 11th overall, and on par with the likes of NO and Dallas. Actually, this sounds about right to me. Troubling is that the Eagles still have some DVOA juggernauts on the horizon, eg. Pats (3rd) and NYJets (5th). Perhaps it doesn’t matter, because as I mentioned, the Eagles are complete chaos, and there is no telling what is coming next.
