Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Random Stuff

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Here's my PE.com column. I talked about the importance of winning close games.

--LINK--


ROSTER MOVES

We cut RB P.J. Hill and put him on the Practice Squad. We promoted TE Martin Rucker from the PS to the regular roster. This was done for 2 reasons. The first is that Brent Celek is banged up (thumb, back). The second is that apparently some other teams were sniffing around Rucker. The Eagles must think he could challenge for a roster spot in 2010. Rucker was a gifted, productive pass catching TE at Mizzou. He does fit our pass happy mode.


FINAL GIANTS NOTE

Check out this blurb from Paul Domowitch:

* On their last 8 carries Sunday, Giants running backs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw gained 6 yards. On their first 21 carries, they ran for 109 yards.


Our defense did get their act together late in the game. At least to a certain extent.

-- link --


RE: Darren Sharper

He simply wasn't very good last year in MIN. Darren had 1 INT. He wasn't making plays and he's never been a gifted run defender. Darren has fit in perfectly with the Saints scheme and he's also benefited from playing with the lead most of the year. I'd be willing to bet that most of his picks have come when the Saints were winning and he could focus on the pass.

Darren has been great this year, but I wouldn't count on a repeat performance. This really feels like one of those magical years that veteran players have every now and then.

I would not have been happy had the Eagles signed him in April or whenever. I thought he was done. I was wrong about that. Still, I don't know that he'd have been nearly as good for us as he's been for the Saints. They play a ton of Cover 2 and that is a great fit for him. Also, we haven't had the lead for 75% of the season the way the Saints have.
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10 comments:

Cliff said...

In case anybody missed it: Cole was fine $15,000 for the "brawl." Haven't seen anything about a suspension, but I suspect one isn't coming. The fine was given out and it's already Wednesday, so it looks like Cole will be playing.

And Reid said Maclin's injury is a "one or two-week injury."

Tommy Lawlor said...

No suspension for Trent. I've talked to some sources and the fine is all that will happen.

Cliff said...

Ha! How's this for an anecdote - in an article from the NYT about what John Madden's been up to since retirement, he mentions who his frequent text messaging partner is... our very own Andy Reid.

Tommy Lawlor said...

That's hilarious.

Cliff said...

Eagles fans always seem to question Donovan's leadership, but DeSean Jackson was on Mike & Mike this morning talking about how Donovan's helped him. According to DeSean, McNabb has helped him learn how to take care of his body over the course of the season.

And "you never know what you're going to get with Donovan. He always has a joke for you."

Jamie said...

Tommy:

do you think their inability to run later in the game was because of their RT going out of the game. it seemed our pressure stepped up as well.

Tommy Lawlor said...

I think our defense simply tightened up and started winning some battles. Their backup RT is a highly thought of rookie who has played this year. He's not a complete scrub. He did get beaten a couple of times, but pass pro was his biggest issue.


@ Cliff...

I was reading an old book on QBs and they talked about how Namath was a good leader, but not a fiery guy. Too many fans think leadership means yelling. Not at all. Leadership is inspiring and leading others. You can do that in many ways. Joe Montana wasn't a screamer, but I think he did okay as a leader.

Cliff said...

Yeah, Tommy, I actually like that about Reid and McNabb. I think guys like Josh McDaniels look foolish jumping around the sideline, throwing their fists. If I'm an owner spending millions, I'm thinking this is the guy I want running my multi-billion dollar business?

Coaches and QB's should behave differently than linebackers.

channa02 said...

The thing that jumped out at me from the Domo article is not only were we 3-4 in the red zone, but ran 6 runs and only 4 called pass plays. With McNabb under center (no Vick), it was 4 runs and 3 pass plays. Now if that doesn't show AR's growing confidence in our current running game, I don't know what. Me likes this trend...

Unknown said...

About Darren Sharper, he's had two long returned INT's for TD's: against Kevin Kolb in his first career start and with the Saints leading by 19 pts in the 4th quarter, and against Mark Sanchez.
Just saying...