The Philadelphia Eagles had not won more than seven games for nine-straight seasons including a 5-9 record in 1975. The team’s owner at the time was Leonard Tose and he decided to shake things up by hiring a head coach with no prior NFL experience.
Dick Vermeil came to Philly from the West Coast as the former head coach at UCLA. After winning just four games in his first season at the helm, he decided to shake things up by trading for Ron Jaworski to be his new starting quarterback. The Eagles won five games that season before things came together in Vermeil’s third year on the job with a 9-7 record in 1978 and the team’s first trip to the postseason since it won the old NFL title back in 1960. Vermeil led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl appearance in 1980 before leaving the team before the 1983 season.
Flash forward to 1999 following a 3-13 record the previous season when the team’s current owner Jeffrey Lurie went back to that old formula but with a twist. Instead of dipping into the college ranks, he decided to hire an assistant coach from one of the most successful franchises in the NFL. Andy Reid worked under Mike Holmgren at Green Bay, who earned his first NFL head coaching job with the Packers under the tutelage of Bill Walsh while an assistant coach in San Francisco.
Reid made an immediate impact on the Eagles’ fortunes by using the second pick of the 1999 NFL Draft to land Donavan McNabb after a stellar career as Syracuse’s quarterback in college. Philly went from three wins to five in Reid’s first year, but things turned around dramatically from there. It started with an 11-5 record in 2000 followed by four-straight trips to the NFC title game and one trip to the Super Bowl in 2004. All told, he coached the team from 1999 to 2012 and posted nine trips to the playoffs in those 14 seasons at the helm. Reid and McNabb never could bring home that highly coveted Super Bowl title, but it was one incredible ride over all those years.
After toying with the idea that a college coach could be successful in the NFL, Lurie dug out the origial recipe from 1976 one more time to try and get his team back on top as one of the elite franchises in the NFL. After the Chip Kelly experiment failed miserably, the Eagles went back to a much more reliable recipe to turn things around by tapping Reid’s new coaching staff in Kansas City to hire Doug Pederson as their new head coach. The lineage back to Walsh continued to the next generation in hopes that lightning could strike twice in the City of Brotherly Love.
Pederson’s first move as head coach along with team vice president Howie Roseman was to trade up to the second pick of the 2016 draft to select former North Dakota State standout Carson Wentz as their new franchise quarterback. The first season of Pederson and Wentz as the new coach and quarterback tandem in Philly went pretty much as expected with a record of 7-9. Pederson made some questionable calls at times and Wentz sprinkled in some excellent play while looking like a rookie quarterback in the NFL for much of the year. The big takeaway from last season was that two of the biggest pieces for success in this league appeared to be in place.
While even with this year’s fantastic 6-1 start, it is far too soon to make any direct comparisons to Reid and McNabb’s success over all of the years. That being said, you still cannot help from getting excited over the prospect of what the next decade or so of pro football in Philly might hold.
It has quickly become apparent that Pederson learned what he needed to learn from Reid, who learned from Holmgren after his mentor payed close attention to what Walsh had to say all those years ago. Some of the best recipes around are the ones handed down from generation to generation.
Friday, October 27, 2017
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Redskins Invade the Linc in a Monday Night Football Matchup
In what will be an excellent chance to open up some real breathing room in the NFC East Division title race, the 5-1 Eagles play host to the 3-2 Washington Redskins this Monday night at Lincoln Financial Field. Their current winning streak stands at four games following a big victory in prime time on the road against Carolina back Oct. 19. With home games against San Francisco next Sunday followed by a inter-conference matchup against Denver before a Week 10 bye, Philadelphia has positioned it self as the clear front-runner to claim its first division title since 2013.
The Eagles opened this season on the road against Washington and they were able to end a five-game skid against their division rivals with a 30-17 victory. Their only loss of the season was the following week at Kansas City and through the first six games they have outscored their opponents 165-122. The Redskins went onto to beat the Los Angles Rams at home and the Oakland Raiders on the road before they also came up short against the Chiefs. Last Sunday, Washington held on to beat the 49ers by two points to post its third win in five games.
In a divisional clash between two evenly matched teams, Monday night's game will probably come down to a couple of big plays just like it did in Week 1 when Fletcher Cox scooped up a Kirk Cousins' fumble and ran it in for a score to put things out of reach late in the fourth quarter. The Eagles probably have the over all edge in this game because of their highly opportunistic defense, but you still cannot ignore Washington's dominance in this series over the past few years.
Please check out the link below at SportsBettingStats.com for my complete game preview & free game pick.
LINK: WASHINGTON REDSKINS AT PHILADELPHIA EAGLES FREE POINT SPREAD PICK - ODDS - ATS PREDICTION
The Eagles opened this season on the road against Washington and they were able to end a five-game skid against their division rivals with a 30-17 victory. Their only loss of the season was the following week at Kansas City and through the first six games they have outscored their opponents 165-122. The Redskins went onto to beat the Los Angles Rams at home and the Oakland Raiders on the road before they also came up short against the Chiefs. Last Sunday, Washington held on to beat the 49ers by two points to post its third win in five games.
In a divisional clash between two evenly matched teams, Monday night's game will probably come down to a couple of big plays just like it did in Week 1 when Fletcher Cox scooped up a Kirk Cousins' fumble and ran it in for a score to put things out of reach late in the fourth quarter. The Eagles probably have the over all edge in this game because of their highly opportunistic defense, but you still cannot ignore Washington's dominance in this series over the past few years.
Please check out the link below at SportsBettingStats.com for my complete game preview & free game pick.
LINK: WASHINGTON REDSKINS AT PHILADELPHIA EAGLES FREE POINT SPREAD PICK - ODDS - ATS PREDICTION
Thursday, October 12, 2017
Eagles Face Panthers in a Thursday Night Battle of NFC Frontrunners
Given the early Thursday deadline of this week's Eagles game against Carolina, I decided to bypass my normal keys to victory. In its place, I have added the link below to my full game preview and official game prediction as part of my ongoing coverage of Thursday Night Football for SportsBettingStats.com.
The obvious key to the Eagles winning their fifth game in six tries is to maintain the form that led to last Sunday's lopsided 34-7 victory against Arizona. They played relatively mistake-free football in every phase of the game while taking full advantage of any Cardinals' miscue. Carson Wentz finally connected on the deep ball on a consistent basis and the defense stepped up its game to make Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer a non-factor
in one of Philadelphia's most dominant performance under the guidance of second-year head coach Doug Pederson.
Wentz will need another strong game on the road this Thursday night against a much better defense and the Birds will also need to limit the damage that Carolina quarterback Cam Newton can inflict with both his arm and his legs. Accomplish these two things and finish the game with a positive give/take ratio and Birds are flying back to Philly on the wings of another victory.
This should be a good matchup between two of the hottest teams in the NFC this season. The winner will take their place as one of the early favorites to win the conference title, while the loser will fall back into the ranks of being just another contender try to jockey for position in the crowded pack.
LINK: PHILADELPHIA EAGLES AT CAROLINA PANTHERS GAME PREVIEW & FREE PREDICTION
The obvious key to the Eagles winning their fifth game in six tries is to maintain the form that led to last Sunday's lopsided 34-7 victory against Arizona. They played relatively mistake-free football in every phase of the game while taking full advantage of any Cardinals' miscue. Carson Wentz finally connected on the deep ball on a consistent basis and the defense stepped up its game to make Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer a non-factor
in one of Philadelphia's most dominant performance under the guidance of second-year head coach Doug Pederson.
Wentz will need another strong game on the road this Thursday night against a much better defense and the Birds will also need to limit the damage that Carolina quarterback Cam Newton can inflict with both his arm and his legs. Accomplish these two things and finish the game with a positive give/take ratio and Birds are flying back to Philly on the wings of another victory.
This should be a good matchup between two of the hottest teams in the NFC this season. The winner will take their place as one of the early favorites to win the conference title, while the loser will fall back into the ranks of being just another contender try to jockey for position in the crowded pack.
LINK: PHILADELPHIA EAGLES AT CAROLINA PANTHERS GAME PREVIEW & FREE PREDICTION
Saturday, October 7, 2017
NFL Week 5 Keys to an Eagles Victory against Arizona
The Eagles moved to 3-1 on the year with last Sunday’s 26-24 victory against the Los Angeles Chargers. Carson Wentz threw for 242 yards and a touchdown while the combination of Wendell Smallwood and LeGarrette Blount added another 170 yards on the ground as part of the team’s 214 total rushing yards.
One of my keys to victory last week was establishing the run game right out of the gate, but even more important was Philadelphia’s ability to effectively run the ball at the end of the game while sitting on a slim lead. Through the first four weeks of the season, the Birds are averaging 143 rushing yards a game, which is ranked third in the league.
This week, Philly returns home to host the 2-2 Arizona Cardinals to renew an old-school NFC East rivalry when the team was still in St. Louis. As with every game, I have come up with my three keys to victory for this Sunday’s contest.
Offense
The obvious key on offense is to keep the Eagles’ highly productive running game churning. They may need to rely heavily on Blount’s power game on Sunday with Smallwood nursing a bad knee. You may see more of Corey Clement as the team’s only other healthy running threat along with Kenjon Barner, but whichever back is running the ball will have his work cut out for him against a Cardinals’ defense that is ranked 10th in the NFL against the run. My top key this week is Wentz’s ability to connect on the deep ball. If there has been one glaring weakness in his game this season it would be his 33 percent conversion rate on passes of 15 yards or deeper. With Alshon Jeffrey and Torrey Smith in the starting lineup, he has to do a better job utilizing their deep threat ability.
Defense
There is a gaping hole in the defensive line with Fletcher Cox ruled out for the second-straight game with a calf injury. The Eagles gave up 347 yards passing against the Chargers partially because they could not keep consistent pressure on Philip Rivers. This Sunday they face another veteran quarterback in Carson Palmer, who also has the ability to carve up the secondary if he has all day to throw the ball. This week’s key is Jim Schwartz dialing up a few new stunts and blitzes that he did not employ in the first four games. If the defense can keep Palmer running for his life, it will help to minimize the deep threat that Larry Fitzgerald brings to the table.
Special Teams
With Darren Sproles done for the season and Smallwood hobbled with a knee injury, the Eagles are going to need someone to step up their game returning both kicks and punts. Barner is the likely suspect since he is listed at the top of the depth chart in both categories, but Clement is also available if the need arises. The Eagles thrived on special teams last season because of big plays in the return game and it may take one or two on Sunday to help cement that fourth win.
One of my keys to victory last week was establishing the run game right out of the gate, but even more important was Philadelphia’s ability to effectively run the ball at the end of the game while sitting on a slim lead. Through the first four weeks of the season, the Birds are averaging 143 rushing yards a game, which is ranked third in the league.
This week, Philly returns home to host the 2-2 Arizona Cardinals to renew an old-school NFC East rivalry when the team was still in St. Louis. As with every game, I have come up with my three keys to victory for this Sunday’s contest.
Offense
The obvious key on offense is to keep the Eagles’ highly productive running game churning. They may need to rely heavily on Blount’s power game on Sunday with Smallwood nursing a bad knee. You may see more of Corey Clement as the team’s only other healthy running threat along with Kenjon Barner, but whichever back is running the ball will have his work cut out for him against a Cardinals’ defense that is ranked 10th in the NFL against the run. My top key this week is Wentz’s ability to connect on the deep ball. If there has been one glaring weakness in his game this season it would be his 33 percent conversion rate on passes of 15 yards or deeper. With Alshon Jeffrey and Torrey Smith in the starting lineup, he has to do a better job utilizing their deep threat ability.
Defense
There is a gaping hole in the defensive line with Fletcher Cox ruled out for the second-straight game with a calf injury. The Eagles gave up 347 yards passing against the Chargers partially because they could not keep consistent pressure on Philip Rivers. This Sunday they face another veteran quarterback in Carson Palmer, who also has the ability to carve up the secondary if he has all day to throw the ball. This week’s key is Jim Schwartz dialing up a few new stunts and blitzes that he did not employ in the first four games. If the defense can keep Palmer running for his life, it will help to minimize the deep threat that Larry Fitzgerald brings to the table.
Special Teams
With Darren Sproles done for the season and Smallwood hobbled with a knee injury, the Eagles are going to need someone to step up their game returning both kicks and punts. Barner is the likely suspect since he is listed at the top of the depth chart in both categories, but Clement is also available if the need arises. The Eagles thrived on special teams last season because of big plays in the return game and it may take one or two on Sunday to help cement that fourth win.
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