The Philadelphia story " who didn't see this coming "

The Philadelphia story " who didn't see this coming "

A 1 & 3 start, coaches taking the blame for team's bad play, and players calling each other out to man up. And that folks give you the Philadelphia story. Now I ask you, " who didn't see this coming "? After in my opinion making the biggest free agency haul in NFL history And having fans and media putting them in the NFC championship game and the super bowl with all the moves they made; the Eagles have started the season by falling flat on their faces.

The Eagles had a 50-50 chance at best putting theses peaces in place with little time to prepare for the season due to the lockout. And now that we see the defenses around the league being the side of the ball most affected by the lockout, Andy Reid and his Eagle's team are left now answering question on why it is not working out for their dream team. With football being all about timing and chemistry and needing time to put the two element together, I ask my question again " who didn't see this coming "?

The biggest obstacle the Eagles faced going into the 2011 season was how were they going to make theses parts fit without destroying the team chemistry they'ed built with Mike Vick's coming back party of 2010. That bring me to timing which in the case of of pro football is everything. While the Eagles as everyone knows did pick up some very talented players to fill some holes on defense, as we now see theses guys needed more than 5 weeks to get their timing together. Your asking players who have been playing in other teams system's for a few seasons to come in with limited time to practice; your also asking them to work with a rookie defensive coordinator who has never coached the defensive side of the ball in his NFL career. ( " who didn't see this coming "? )

An NFL season ( 16 games ) give teams very little room for mistakes, and this season in particular because of the lockout has magnify defensive shortcomings with all 32 teams in the NFL. But unlike the other 31 defenses in the NFL, the Eagles put the self proclaim dream team tag on themselves and with that a huge target on their backs for everyone in the football world to see. Now a quarter of the way into the season the Eagles find themselves in last place in the NFC east looking up at the Redskins and Giants with the pressure mounting to right their ship before it sinks. Eagles fans will find out in the second quarter of the season ( games with the Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins, bye week, Dallas Cowboys, and the Chicago Bears ) what 200 million dollars buys you, as of today it's last place.

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

Can the NFC west really be this bad?

Can the NFC west really be this bad?
( yes it can )

With the NFC west already eliminated from super bowl contention, the only question that need's to be answer is which team will be the sacrificial lamb in this year's playoff. As hard as I find it to believe the NFL west division may be worst than is was last season. The only thing NFC west fans can be assured of is that by NFL rules one of their teams has to go to the playoff. Last season's preseason favorite San Francisco 49ers has a new coach ( Jim Harbaugh, ) no quarterback and no chance at all winning this bad division.

The Seattle Seahawks last season division winner with a 7&9 record, ( first time in NFL history that a team made the playoff with a losing record ) let their leader of ten seasons quarterback Matt Hasselback go to the Tennessee Titans to help tutor Titans first round draft pick Jake Locker. Than to make matters worst the Seahawks acquire Tarvaris Jackson of the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings through so much of this quarterback that they sent three players to kil Mississippi to talk Brett Favre off his tractor out of retirement with a bad ankle. The Seahawks will need a lot of luck to win three games.

The Arizona Cardinals made a big move in the division by signing Kevin Kolb the displaced quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles to a free agent contract. But with only a hand full of starts on his resume, the Cardinals are taking a huge leap of faith that all this hype of Kolb is real and not just fool goal. The Cardinals will be better than they were last season, however they won't see a 500 record or the playoff.

That leave's the ST Louis Rams the best team in a pretty bad division. With second year quarterback Sam Bradford looking to take another step forward after a very good rookies season. The Rams clearly have the best team in the NFC west, however they may be the next team in the west to win the division with a sub 500 record. The Rams have a nice young team, with a young quarterback you can built around, but the key word is young. The Rams will need to feed on their own division to have any chance of reaching 8&8 this season.

If there's a silver lining the NFC west can look forward to, is the fact of knowing the sweepstakes winner for Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck will be coming out of it's division.

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com

Five coaches who might not make it through the 2011 season

Five coaches who might not make it through the 2011 season

One might think The NFL lockout will force GM's around the league to take a more patient approach with coaches this upcoming 2011 season. With no ability to have contact with players this offseason, no rookies camps and very little time to game plan for this coming season. If there was ever a time for coaches to get a pass, this in my opinion would be the season coaches should feel secure in knowing their jobs are safe. However as we learn through out this offseason NFL football is big business so here is my list of five coaches on the hot seat going in to the 2011 NFL season.

Lovie Smith Chicago Bears
Andy Reid Philadelphia Eagles
Marvin Lewis Cincinnati Bengals
Gary Kubiak Houston Texans
Tony Sparano Miami Dolphins

These five coaches fair or not are sitting in the hot seat this coming season. Fans in Chicago are wondering out loud why Lovie got a new contract after the whole NFC championship meltdown. There's is no room for failure here, so if the Bears get off to a slow start a new contract might not save Lovie's job. In Philadelphia Andy Reid put his-self in the hot seat with the Kevin Kolb situation, and now that they have gone all in with their free agent signings there is no grace period for Reid. If the Eagles by the halfway point of the season are sitting at 500 Philly fans will be calling for Reid's head and they just might get it.

Why Marvin Lewis is still coaching in the NFL blow me away. This is a coach who has had no control of his team in years. Even knowing this team is in a rebuilding mode, Cincinnati fans may start calling for a new head coach to go along with it's group of talented players from this year's draft. In Houston Gary Kubiak has come to a make or break point of his head coaching career. Coming to the Texans in 2006 as one of the most sought after assistant coaches in some time, Kubiak has not live up to the billing with 9&7 being his best season and no playoff appearances a bad start to this season could bring early changes in Houston. There's very little I can say about Miami Dolphins coach Tony Sparano that has not already been said, Lame duck coach with a lame team to coach. If he make it through the season it would be a miracle. It's hard taking control of a team knowing ownership try everything they could not to bring you back. Miami is a hot mess and Dolphin's fans can't fire their team owner, however they may be the first fan base to see their coach fire this coming season.

Brought to by: AJ Jones from Cambridge
"Let's Talk Football" Visit- www.ajstakeontheNFL.blogspot.com