An impressive 27-0 shutout against the division rival New York Giants puts the Philadelphia Eagles at an impressive 5-1 record. Heading into the bye week, there is a lot to like about this club, but there is a lot of work to do ahead. If you would have told me that the Eagles would be on top of the NFC East at the bye week I would have expected it to be that way, but if you were to tell me that record would only get to a tie in the East with the Dallas Cowboys at the same record of 5-1, I would have called you nuts.
A lot of fans and analysts around the NFL are pushing aside the Eagles 5-1 record and claiming that this team is not as good as it's record shows. Let me be the first to say that I am not satisifed with how everyone on the roster is playing, I believe that Nick Foles has not played up to expectations as he leads the NFL in total turnovers with 7 interceptions, I also think the two outside corners have played very poorly besides the Sunday Night bout against the G-Men. Yet besides all the trials and tribulation including two vital offensive lineman down with injuires in Evan Mathis and Jason Kelce, the team is still 5-1!
Yes they should beat the Jacksonville Jaguars and St. Louis Rams, but the agrument that the Eagles have not played contenders is not close to the truth. Wins against the Colts, Redskins, and Giants are wins that I consider to be impressive ones. The Colts since losing the Monday Night game to the Eagles have gone on to win four straight. The New York Giants before getting stomped by Philly was on a three game winning streak of their own. The Redskins are better than their record shows in my opinion.
The Eagles have gotten a huge boost from their special teams and defense since the match up against the Redskins. 3 blocked punts, 2 for touchdowns, 1 kickoff return touchdown, 1 punt return touchdown. That is just on the special teams side. The defense has recorded 2 fumbles recovered for touchdowns as well as 3 interceptions from Malcolm Jenkins. The defense had a league high of 8 sacks last game including 3 from Connor Barwin, 2 from Vinny Curry, and 1 from Trent Cole, Brandon Graham, and Brandon Bair. This defensive front is 9 players deep and is sneekely the deepest position on the roster. Vinny Curry continues to make plays when he is on the field. Already having 4 sacks in the snaps he gets. He and Graham have made huge contributions on the pass rush which seemed to be lost after the first three weeks. Brandon Boykin continues to impress completely shutting down Victor Cruz before #80 suffered a season ending injury in his leg.
As for the offense. You would think it is the strongest link on the team with how dominant they were last season, well they rank 20th among total offense in the NFL. That doesn't mean everyone has under played though. Darren Sproles has been absolutely phenominal this year not only returning and receivng the ball, but actually running the football! Yes a running back that is running! Lesean McCoy rebounded against the Giants posting 149 yards rushing. Maclin, Cooper, and Jordan Matthews have provided consistency at the receiver position with some big contributions from tight end Zach Ertz as well in the passing game. The offensive line has improved each week with backups Matt Tobin and David Molk in the lineup. They have held opposing defenses to 0 sacks in the past two weeks against what seemed like two formadable pass rushes.
As for Nick Foles, I am a skeptic. I believe Chip Kelly's system is plug and play. Foles is built from the system not vise versa. Yes he has had his bright spots this year, just look at the Washington game. Yet week in and week out he continues to make the costly mental errors of forcing throws and hanging onto the football too long which tend to coinside with each other. When he is on, don't get me wrong he is stellar. The first half against the Giants was nearly perfect for Foles including a perfect ball in the end zone to Ertz. Even with all these mistakes, Foles still is 5th in the NFL with 1,628 passing touchdowns and 10 touchdowns. Turnovers are costly though, if Foles can fix these mistakes which he even says are very fixable, this team can get to the next level which we know they can do with how well they are playing under some tough injuries and bad Quaterback play.
A lot of fans and analysts around the NFL are pushing aside the Eagles 5-1 record and claiming that this team is not as good as it's record shows. Let me be the first to say that I am not satisifed with how everyone on the roster is playing, I believe that Nick Foles has not played up to expectations as he leads the NFL in total turnovers with 7 interceptions, I also think the two outside corners have played very poorly besides the Sunday Night bout against the G-Men. Yet besides all the trials and tribulation including two vital offensive lineman down with injuires in Evan Mathis and Jason Kelce, the team is still 5-1!
Yes they should beat the Jacksonville Jaguars and St. Louis Rams, but the agrument that the Eagles have not played contenders is not close to the truth. Wins against the Colts, Redskins, and Giants are wins that I consider to be impressive ones. The Colts since losing the Monday Night game to the Eagles have gone on to win four straight. The New York Giants before getting stomped by Philly was on a three game winning streak of their own. The Redskins are better than their record shows in my opinion.
The Eagles have gotten a huge boost from their special teams and defense since the match up against the Redskins. 3 blocked punts, 2 for touchdowns, 1 kickoff return touchdown, 1 punt return touchdown. That is just on the special teams side. The defense has recorded 2 fumbles recovered for touchdowns as well as 3 interceptions from Malcolm Jenkins. The defense had a league high of 8 sacks last game including 3 from Connor Barwin, 2 from Vinny Curry, and 1 from Trent Cole, Brandon Graham, and Brandon Bair. This defensive front is 9 players deep and is sneekely the deepest position on the roster. Vinny Curry continues to make plays when he is on the field. Already having 4 sacks in the snaps he gets. He and Graham have made huge contributions on the pass rush which seemed to be lost after the first three weeks. Brandon Boykin continues to impress completely shutting down Victor Cruz before #80 suffered a season ending injury in his leg.
As for the offense. You would think it is the strongest link on the team with how dominant they were last season, well they rank 20th among total offense in the NFL. That doesn't mean everyone has under played though. Darren Sproles has been absolutely phenominal this year not only returning and receivng the ball, but actually running the football! Yes a running back that is running! Lesean McCoy rebounded against the Giants posting 149 yards rushing. Maclin, Cooper, and Jordan Matthews have provided consistency at the receiver position with some big contributions from tight end Zach Ertz as well in the passing game. The offensive line has improved each week with backups Matt Tobin and David Molk in the lineup. They have held opposing defenses to 0 sacks in the past two weeks against what seemed like two formadable pass rushes.
As for Nick Foles, I am a skeptic. I believe Chip Kelly's system is plug and play. Foles is built from the system not vise versa. Yes he has had his bright spots this year, just look at the Washington game. Yet week in and week out he continues to make the costly mental errors of forcing throws and hanging onto the football too long which tend to coinside with each other. When he is on, don't get me wrong he is stellar. The first half against the Giants was nearly perfect for Foles including a perfect ball in the end zone to Ertz. Even with all these mistakes, Foles still is 5th in the NFL with 1,628 passing touchdowns and 10 touchdowns. Turnovers are costly though, if Foles can fix these mistakes which he even says are very fixable, this team can get to the next level which we know they can do with how well they are playing under some tough injuries and bad Quaterback play.
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