Pats vs Eagles

Brady_to_Moss said:

But we all agree..Eagles must and have to win...but will they? I don't think so. Pats just can't start off slow again

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Here's a perspective about their chances from a Philly writer.

Eagles playoff scenarios | Philly | 11/24/2011

The Eagles are two games back with six to play. Do they need to win out? It depends on what the Giants and Cowboys do. If either of them go 5-1 or 6-0, the Eagles have no shot. If they go 4-2, the Eagles would have to finish 6-0 to have a shot.

But if they go 3-3 or worse, which is possible, the Eagles could get by with one loss in the final six, as long as that loss is not to the Cowboys or Redskins.

The Eagles are actually in a pretty good position to win the tiebreak over Dallas and New York. The first tiebreak is head-to-head. Again, assuming the Eagles' one loss is not to the Cowboys (the two teams square off on Christmas Eve in Dallas), they would win that one.

The Eagles are also in position to control their own destiny in the tiebreak against the Giants. The two teams split their head-to-head matchups, but if the Eagles beat the Redskins and Cowboys, they would own a 5-1 division record, which would be the difference. The Giants have the second-most difficult remaining schedule in the NFL, per Football Outsiders: at New Orleans, vs. Green Bay, at Dallas, vs. Washington, at Jets, vs. Dallas.

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Interestingly they have a much better chance of winning the division than they do of making the playoffs as a wild card.

The Eagles are three games behind the Lions and Bears, and two games behind the Falcons. To make matters more complicated, Chicago and Atlanta both would own the tiebreak over the Eagles since they won the head-to-head matchup.

In other words, the path to the postseason through a wild-card berth would be more difficult than an NFC East title. The Eagles would have to leap three of the four teams currently ahead of them. The Bears are without Jay Cutler, but they have the most favorable schedule among the group.

Eagles fans should put their support behind Green Bay in today's Thanksgiving Day matchup.

And I mentioned the Giants and Falcons scenarios above.

So that's where the Birds stand entering the final six weeks of the season. It's amazing how much better things would be looking if the Eagles had held on against either Arizona, Atlanta, New York, San Francisco or Chicago. Instead, they need help the rest of the way and almost definitely need to win at least five of six down the stretch. Not an easy task for a team that's won back-to-back games just once this season.

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RIpats88 said:

No one is saying that the Eagles are a good team. their record isnt an abberation...BUT they have the talent/ability to turn it on at times. like they did against the cowboys/Giants.

this isnt a team you can fall asleep against and expect to get the win.

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They are desperate right now..that makes them dangerous. IMO they are better than the Jets with Vick playing

One would almost think that the Eagles coordinators have been reading the debates in this forum when it comes to their comments about the Pats.

Vick, Maclin Still Day to Day | Eagletarian | 11/24/2011

Mornhinweg said the Patriots tend to give up a lot of yards but not points. He said they had some really high yardage-allowed games early in the season, before they got some things straightened out, and then they sometimes allow inflated totals because they're protecting big leads.

Mornhinweg said the Pats can adapt their defense to what the opponent does, play coverages you haven't seen on tape, without mistakes.

Defensive coordinator Juan Castillo said it was important for his unit to see its hard work pay off against the Giants last Sunday. He said with timing offenses, QB pressure is almost always created by coverage -- the cover guys need to make the quarterback take a second "hitch.' Second hitch, there should be pressure, he said, third hitch, QB has to be on the ground.

A lot of the questioning of Castillo concerned the Pats' two excellent tight ends, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Castillo understandably didn't give away his plans, but he said it would be hard to trick or flummox the Pats with elaborate coverages -- they've pretty much seen it all.

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It has just been reported that Nnamdi suffered a knee injury at practice today and was carted off the field (per Price twitter).

more injuries, this is getting ridiculous.

Both teams are looking fragile, Eggs vs Pats, "When glass collides".

No Aso or Cromartie.

This week just got bigger with Balt winning..need to keep pace with them in the AFC

I'm with the "this game scares me" crowd. Eagles have underachieved but they're talented and motivated and still, if barely, in it. I'm very worried, but I'm glad to have a challenge on the schedule. Hope we rise to it.

patsox23 said:

I'm with the "this game scares me" crowd. Eagles have underachieved but they're talented and motivated and still, if barely, in it. I'm very worried, but I'm glad to have a challenge on the schedule. Hope we rise to it.

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Last tough game IMO we will play..i want a big W

Such a tough game to figure out because the Eagles are so talented yet wildly inconsistent and the Patriots rarely play a strong 60 minutes on both sides of the ball with Brady being as inconsistent as anyone.
This game is a pick 'em all the way. If the Patriots are losing another regular season game this year this is the one.

I thought we would lose this game all year leading up until a couple days ago, but you have to like our situation compared to theirs.

Gostkowski for 3 said:

I thought we would lose this game all year leading up until a couple days ago, but you have to like our situation compared to theirs.

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Paper tigers. They are 4-6 for a reason.

As for Sunday, Vick missed practice again today so it looks like Vince Young will be starting. DRC was back today but no sign of Nnamdi...

hopefully Nndami is out


then he makes a miracle full recovery for the following weak.


take a week off dami give it a little time to heal

TheSolderKing said:

hopefully Nndami is out


then he makes a miracle full recovery for the following weak.


take a week off dami give it a little time to heal

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Nnamdi is a mediocre player in the Eagles scheme. If they choose to jam our WR's at the line and play more man, a strategy that has been known to give the Patriots fits, than he becomes an important piece of the puzzle.

In 5 of their 6 loses they had the lead in the 4th quarter. To underestimate this team is just plain stupid. They have as talented a roster as any team in the league, and to expect them to just fall apart for the Pats is just stupid, especially in a situation where half our starting line up is STILL practicing on a limited basis. And the fact that its a road game doesn't make the task easier.

They have just as many good match ups on us as we have on them. Just to assume Vince Young is going to throw multiple interceptions is short sighted. In fact I'd RATHER see an 80% Vick than Young.. Don't forget that Young took the Titans to the playoffs twice, and has a winning record as a stater.

I'm worried, regardless of who plays, the Eagles have 2 VERY mobile QBs and the need to have a "controlled" pass rush will mitigate our ability to get as much pressure on the QB as we woul.d if they where a more stationary target

The thing that makes this game so interesting is how it becomes a great example of flash vs substance. The Eagles have a great advantage in the area of skill players at RB, WR, and DBs, while the Pats O and D lines are their strengths

Another thing that we will find out is how well the Pats offense is becoming at adjusting to teams playing them with tight coverage underneath and bracketing Welker. the Eagles have the DL and DBs to put this plan into action. And I'm interested in seeing how the Pats have adjusted to what teams are gong to do.

I think they will try to be conservative with the first few drives in order to see what Philly is doing. So I wouldn't be surprised to see the offense start slowly again. I'm just hoping that it wont take most of the first half before they start to get going.

I look for the Pats to try to establish the run early and to take a few deep shots down field.

This is the best talent we will see before the playoffs. I don't think ANYONE in the AFC has more, especially at the skill positions. So this will be a true test of where we are right now.

patsfaninpittsburgh said:

Hey supafly

See Kontradiction agrees with you.

When some clown that thinks we lost to Baltimore because of TOP and yards surrendered....agrees with you, time to rethink.

No doubt he thinks we lost to Baltimore because of pass defense.

Clueless has company. "Dumb and Dumber"-the sequel.

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Actually, my big complaint was that we lost to Baltimore and gave up a backbreaking TD run right off the bat even though we KNEW they essentially had one arm tied behind their backs and COULDN'T throw. That's how bad that 2009 run defense was. But please, continue to misrepresent what I said because you, apparently, can't make the correlation that limiting yards and T.O.P. = giving your high powered offense as many opportunities to score. You're all about points, right? This should make a world of sense to you but it doesn't. And that, my friend, is just laughable.

If Young plays, Arrington may reach double digit INTs.

SVN said:

Eagles are a very fast team like the steelers so will be a huge test for our Defense hopefully with better results.

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The Steelers didn't beat us with their speed. They beat us by throwing short and intermediate routes right into the holes that our pathetic zone defense left. It's not a mystery why we started playing more man after that game. It's because our secondary isn't very good (and that's putting it lightly) and better QB's can take advantage of the zone, eat up T.O.P., and keep Brady off the field. When he DID come on the field, Pittsburgh played tight man to man coverage (a change from the zone they usually played), re-routed our receivers, and got pressure using a three to four man rush. The result was a lot of back breaking three and out's followed by a defense that couldn't get Brady back on the field quickly enough to score enough points to ensure a win. Pretty much everyone understands this except for patsfaninpittsburgh, and that guy talks as if the 2011 Pats defense is the second coming of the '85 Bears.

MoLewisrocks said:

Paper tigers. They are 4-6 for a reason.

As for Sunday, Vick missed practice again today so it looks like Vince Young will be starting. DRC was back today but no sign of Nnamdi...

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IIRC, the Eagles carried a losing record into Foxborough against an undefeated team setting all sorts of offensive records, made a battle out of it, and eventually were credited with setting the blueprint for slowing down said undefeated and record setting offense. The Eagles last week showed the ability to generate all sorts of pressure with their front four against an O-Line that is, at the very least, comparable to our's. That ability and the ability to play tight, physical man coverage to re-route our tiny receivers has been the blueprint to slowing or even shutting down our offense since 2007. And yet you're taking them lightly?

KontradictioN said:

The Steelers didn't beat us with their speed. They beat us by throwing short and intermediate routes right into the holes that our pathetic zone defense left. It's not a mystery why we started playing more man after that game. It's because our secondary isn't very good (and that's putting it lightly) and better QB's can take advantage of the zone, eat up T.O.P., and keep Brady off the field. When he DID come on the field, Pittsburgh played tight man to man coverage (a change from the zone they usually played), re-routed our receivers, and got pressure using a three to four man rush. The result was a lot of back breaking three and out's followed by a defense that couldn't get Brady back on the field quickly enough to score enough points to ensure a win. Pretty much everyone understands this except for patsfaninpittsburgh, and that guy talks as if the 2011 Pats defense is the second coming of the '85 Bears.

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Exactly, but it isn't exactly a result of our "pathetic" defense. That was the game plan- to sacrifice the flat to cover the deep field. Unfortunately we didn't expect Ben to be so disciplined and patient with his short field offense.