Why Fighting with your Grandkids NEVER works

Dear Owners of the NFL,

You are DUMB, you are SO DUMB. You basically just walked into a wall and full speed and DON'T even realize it. But allowing your players to STAY in the Locker Room if they wish to Protest during the anthem, you have basically given them Free Reign to use social media against you. I am protesting, I can record a QUICK 2 to 3 minute video(a portion of the time set up for and performance of the anthem usually takes), add a few quick pre-thought out hashtags too, and set it for delayed posting, and then run out onto the field while the coin toss is going on. Cause lets be real, you ain gone LET me be a Game Captain so that I can run out for the coin toss now are you. It sounded good right, but this AIN the 50's, 60's, 80's, 9-'s or EARLY 00's. It's 2018, every one has 2 HI DEF cameras on their smart phones(especially Athletes you are playing 100 of thousands PLUS to), they have Social media accounts, THOUSANDS OF FOLLOWERS, and people who are ONE highlight reel play away from SEARCHING for their name AND social media accounts.

Yup that's right, you just gave them EVEN more exposure. I still follow some FORMER EAGLES on Social Media(Shady, Djax, and Jmac), as well as our CURRENT QB(injured), and will probably Follow Nelly since I talked so bad about him in 2016. I Googled them, found their names and have been following them SINCE THEY WERE ON THE TEAM. If they are a favorite player BOOM you know it is going to be retweeted. And most people have their social media accounts linked(EVEN if I PERSONALLY find it annoying as hell. Not everything is for every account, but I'm weird like that), so if you drop a video on twitter, it is probably hitting the gram, FB, Tumblr, YOUTUBE, and what ever the new hot social media site is(I'm in my 40's I ain even TRYING to keep up no more). You took away the TV cameras, WHOOP DEE TV is chasing social media. I have my phone in my hand way more than I am watching my TV. Portability is king, and if they DELAY the release of it until say 15 or 20 minutes later REAL TIME so that they are already on the field and HAVE POSSIBLY made a big play, then what? SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH yup every one who wants to know more about them, see where they came from is gonna see that video. By the time the SECOND interview of their AWESOME play comes about interviewers will be asking you about their protest video.

I'm gone need my Eagles to be a little stronger down the stretch

4 weeks in the books, my Eagles are 3-1. one tough loss, one strong victory and two "it doesn't matter if it's ugly as long as you win" games. Now to be fair this weeks win was wire to wire. We got up by 13 on the Charges and never looked back, they got close, acted like they wanted to take the lead, but never got over the hump. Which wouldn't be so bad if we weren't coasting into the fourth quarter before the floor drops out. Now I don't know if it's due to injuries on our defense(because we have lost a few players, especially in the secondary), I don't know if they are just wearing down as the game rolls on. But this is the second week in a row that we have given up double digit points in the fourth quarter.

Now I am not just going to complain, I know that versus the Chiefs and the Giants I complained about how much we ran the ball, even though last week we had 193 yards rushing which was more than we had passing. WELL this week Doug Pederson decided that you know what, the RUSH kind of worked last week. Maybe I should try it again, and he did to the tune of 214 yards on the ground. And what do you know the LEADING RUSHER wasn't Carson Wentz, it was the Bruising "Short Yardage Back" you picked up during the off season. Yup Legarette Blount had 136 yards, no TD(because of ONE HELL OF A TACKLE), and a few yards receiving. Some might said his yards are artificially inflated because of a 68 yard run, but ahem if you ain want him to chew up the field ya should have tackled him.

Week 1 is fast approaching(9/9/11)

I'm scanning injury reports, I'm constantly on the Eagles website trying to catch the next little tidbit of news, video, commentary. To say that I have a jones is an understatement I have loved football for the entirety of my life, and since I first learned how to sit up straight have watched the Philadelphia Eagles play football. Unlike others I had no doubts that we would have football this season too much money in it and unlike basketball, where people have become tired of all the sideshow antics both on the court and in the owners box, there is too much outside pressure from people in states who take their football seriously. If Roger Goodell let this lockout remain on too long I guarantee you there were a few states that he would have been persona non grata in most of the states who have pro football have a deep passion for it. Regardless to if you have a Lombardi trophy sitting in the case or not we go out in 0 degree or lower weather, rain, sleet, hail if you don't cancel the game(and if you do we will have some choice words for you) we will be there.

I know that my teams Offensive line is in flux, I won't lie and say it doesn't worry me than again speed kills and all we have is speed on the offensive side of the ball. I am waiting for a big announcement that Djax has gotten a new contract, I know we had better sign him and soon. I understand that football is a business but personally while we lost the older loudmouth wide receiver to Jerry Jones and his Blue Star we damn sure better not use the young, electrifying one. I will spare my giant fan readers the video(no it isn't saved on my desktop yes I have watched it a few times on youtube), but Desean Jackson in the open field is a coaches worst nightmare I watched some highlights of him in college, because I was bored and there are no 2011 highlights yet, and to see that he's always done that to DB's and punt teams is just wow. Yes I am still chomping at the bit to see Dion Lewis in a game situation, the kid just tears up the field and looks so illusive. I heard that Jeremy Maclin is going full speed and that possibly Steve Smith will play too, I will not lie and say that Jason Avant is another speedster but hey sometimes you just need a possession receiver and he's it.

Comprehension is the thing

I don't know if any of you have notice, but the farther I get away from something mentally the clearer I see it. Now let us make a few things crystal clear, for what I saw of the NFC championship game I thought it was the worst officiated debacle I had seen in quite some time. Hell right before "the play" I was in a hang out with some friends talking about how if Kaepernick did lead that comeback he would be legend(even if you don't win the Super Bowl come back victories like that are discussed for years, 4th and 26 anyone?). So honestly I thought the game was going to go a different way

But then, as happens so awesomely in football, a player made a play. Not only did he make a play but he found a way to make it when he looked out of position, beaten, or even a step late. Richard Sherman deflected the pass in the end zone that Earl Thomas intercepted. The Seahawks won the game and then all hell and stupidity broke lose

Yaaaay the real refs are back, now get ready to boo

Don't get me wrong, I am happy the real referees are back. I am saying now get ready to boo NOT because I expect them to be inept like the replacements but because no matter what you will ALWAYS feel your team could have gotten a break. A holding penalty is gonna be missed, a Helmet to was it his helmet or his shoulder and did he duck his head changing the trajectory is gonna be called.

Here is the thing they are calling THE RULES, some of the rules many of us grew up not ever seeing be used so they are new and seem so touchy feely. Some of them you will feel are biased because(say like Donovan in his Philly hey day) not everybody is as well protected. I do know one thing, when it is time to spot the ball, it won't take 3 committees. And then afterwards they still blow the whistle and move the ball. Yes the real refs will make some mistakes, but they won't be mistakes because they don't know the rules, it will be a mistake because they are human. The human eye can't catch everything, and on some instances it may be close enough where it just depends on interpretation.

Pay the DAMN REFS

Okay, I never thought I would say this but they need to pay the regular Referees in the NFL. If the Eagles vs Ravens game is any indication of exactly what kind of stupidity we are dealing with this year as much as I complained about the striped shirts before "I want that old thing back." I swear it was almost like I was watching the Keystone cops out there, except the Keystones were actually trying to be funny. These guys were serious as they screwed up the rules repeatedly, I mean if nothing else have the "spotting of the ball down."

I mean seriously I want somebody to go through and see how much time was added to the game as they had to blow a whistle, conference, and then respot the damn football after every penalty, dead ball situation or change of possession. Yes the game is fast paced, yes you have to remember the rule book as you attempt to judge the action to decide what is going on and if a foul happened. Seriously though you make a forward progress call when a guy is VISIBLY still in the air moving? The stretching of a jersey is a holding call on one side of the field but just let them play on the other(yes HOLDING happens on damn near every play in football, but seriously as chippy as that game was I think up til the 4th quarter there were only like 7 penalties)? They seemed to miss a lot of the "helpless reciever calls", I saw a few Eagles and Ravens players take shots to the head that should have been called. As well as a lot of out of bounds contact where last year we would have seen flags(granted on one of those plays I am glad they didn't call it, that would have extended a Baltimore drive). I swear it was almost like those phantom calls in a game of Madden where "it happened because we say it happened" not because you could actually see it.

NFL Week 2

These are my thoughts and my thoughts only.

First off on my Eagles, that loss Sunday night was hard to take. We were kicking Atlanta's tail and we let them off the hook, the coach admitted it, the players knew it, and if ANYBODY starts talking how over rated and overblown our team is I can't wait to play yours. We had a guy with NO regular season NFL snaps in the game and I wonder if the coach would have taken the leash off earlier if we wouldn't be talking about the 2-0 Eagles instead of the gritty 1-1 Falcons. We need to tackle better, it wasn't just Casey Matthews while everyone wants to blame him, even on the last drive there were at least 4 missed tackles before he crossed the 50.  As for the Offense, if we can cut down on the dropsies, that 4th quarter doesn't even matter. I also think Andy Reid needs to fall out of love with some of those gadget plays, one gadget play cost us field position(that lead to the first fumble), and the other one made a 3rd and 3 a 4th and 4.  We have the backs to run screen plays, we are the Philadelphia Eagles in the Andy Reid era we have been known as the "screen kings" why not let Dion Lewis or Shady Mccoy who had been eating Atlanta up all game long have a go at them, get it to a 4th and one maybe or even the first. Hell do a play action and get Kafka to stop being so focused on Maclin, and give Djax a chance in the open field(unless his arm injury was so severe that he was really just a decoy out there).

Defenses

I think we are gonna see quite a few new Defensive Coordinators at the end of the year, it may be good for the league to see games coming down to the wire and things being so run and gun, but I think I saw at least 4 games this weekend and possibly 5 last where the team with the lead through 3 quarters wasn't the team who won the game. Talking to my dad he thinks that defense was hurt by the lockout, I think that with all the turnover we had when free agency began a lot of teams are playing looser since they have an excuse no OTA, two a days, and fewer 10-10-10's if you start slow you have a ready made excuse. This is bringing a lot of parity to the league and making a lot of teams wake up and stop hitting cruise control like they have some kind of edge just because they brought back a strong team from last year.

You wibble, you wobble, but you get the "W"

For at least two quarters of the week one game of the Philadelphia Eagles vs the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome it was a nail biter, watching it on gamecast on CBS I teetered on the bow of the mighty over reaction. Every long run, every penalty, every long pass a reason that this player was useless or that needed to be benched. For the offense it was even worse anger when I didn't see madden like bars hitting the screen as players whom I could control with such perfection and have scoring points in bunches appeared in real life not to know how easy the process was.

After the second quarter fumble return and that last minute field goal I calmed down a little and then when Michael Vick and Desean Jackson combined on a few critical pass plays before Djax's 6 yard td grab in the end zone while I did not exhale a 24-10 lead is pretty easy to manage deep into the 3rd quarter. The defense had a great goal line stand in the 3rd that allowed the Rams to only score a field goal after a (what by some Eagles fans online was called a questionable) Pass Interference call which had given them 1st and Goal on the 1. The Eagles didn't have a good goal line D last year. Giving up way more points inside the 20 then most fans could stomach, it's cost former Defensive Coordinator Sean McDermott his job, and gave us another quick playoff exit. That was last year though, this year the new Wide 9 style got us 5 sacks and a decent amount of stiffening on the goal line. While it wasn't Jim Johnson's Blitz happy style and our safeties and line backers were a little overwhelmed for a while our corner backs and down lineman handle their parts quite well.

Week 1 is fast approaching

I'm scanning injury reports, I'm constantly on the Eagles website trying to catch the next little tidbit of news, video, commentary. To say that I have a jones is an understatement I have loved football for the entirety of my life, and since I first learned how to sit up straight have watched the Philadelphia Eagles play football. Unlike others I had no doubts that we would have football this season too much money in it and unlike basketball, where people have become tired of all the sideshow antics both on the court and in the owners box, there is too much outside pressure from people in states who take their football seriously. If Roger Goodell let this lockout remain on too long I guarantee you there were a few states that he would have been persona non grata in most of the states who have pro football have a deep passion for it. Regardless to if you have a Lombardi trophy sitting in the case or not we go out in 0 degree or lower weather, rain, sleet, hail if you don't cancel the game(and if you do we will have some choice words for you) we will be there.

I know that my teams Offensive line is in flux, I won't lie and say it doesn't worry me than again speed kills and all we have is speed on the offensive side of the ball. I am waiting for a big announcement that Djax has gotten a new contract, I know we had better sign him and soon. I understand that football is a business but personally while we lost the older loudmouth wide receiver to Jerry Jones and his Blue Star we damn sure better not use the young, electrifying one. I will spare my giant fan readers the video(no it isn't saved on my desktop yes I have watched it a few times on youtube), but Desean Jackson in the open field is a coaches worst nightmare I watched some highlights of him in college, because I was bored and there are no 2011 highlights yet, and to see that he's always done that to DB's and punt teams is just wow. Yes I am still chomping at the bit to see Dion Lewis in a game situation, the kid just tears up the field and looks so illusive. I heard that Jeremy Maclin is going full speed and that possibly Steve Smith will play too, I will not lie and say that Jason Avant is another speedster but hey sometimes you just need a possession receiver and he's it.

Are you ready for some Football

It's been two preseason games, my Eagles are now 1-1 first was a win vs the Baltimore Ravens where the starters quickly marched down the field scored a quick touchdown and sat down, and the second was a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers where the starting offense posted a goose egg and the starting defense surrendered 21 points. Now to be honest in the first game it wasn't actually all of the starting offense because Desean Jackson was still holding out and Jeremy Maclin was still suffering from his then undisclosed but highly speculated disease. It turned out to be a virus and Maclin should be able to practice by next week and hopefully play on opening night. Jackson played versus Pittsburgh and in an example of what SHOULD happen for the rest of the year with no Maclin on the other side he was tripled covered on the opening play just in case the Eagles decided to go for their opening play quick strike(which they unsuccessfully did).

The Plight of Donovan Mcnabb

Let's be honest here anybody who sees what is going on in Washington and doesn't think the culture of disaster is contagious is delusional. The Washington Redskins should be 6-1 right now, the have lost two games because of defensive collapses in the fourth quarter.

So if you defense has not been able to hold your opponent to field goals in the fourth quarter when you are unable to run out the clock what do you do? You bench the QB. Yup that dang QB can't cover anybody in the secondary, can't get any pressure on the QB and can't stuff the run. I mean looking at who they are trying to work out (jamarcus russel, yes Oaklands jamarcus russel) claiming anything other than for some out strange reason trying to alienate your QB is a stretch right now.

I mean you'd do better just saying "hey, we feel the team isn't where we thought it would be(tied for 2nd in the division right now) so we are just gonna start our rookie QB for the rest of the season." You'd get the 0_o face from people or the >.> but at least you could claim some kinda plan for the future, I mean Mcnabbs not under contract so having a Rook who was sitting behind him waiting in the wings and start to prepare him for next seasons challenges that at least makes a little sense.

Not Jamarcus russel though, this guy couldn't handle it in oakland, and if claims are to be believe blew up to close to 300 lbs this off season. You claim it was a cardio issue with Mcnabb, so you get the guy completely out of game shape. You claim mcnabb didn't know the two minute drill well enough, so you work a guy who doesn't even know your offense. Now if the issue is you weren't expecting to win this fast, or have to be playing with the lead in most games say so. Maybe you thought "hey get the old QB we'll still suck, we'll get a high draft pick and I can mold him into my leader of the future". Which as coach of the washington redskins most would see that as an honest assessment of your situation. Because for the better part of the last decade they've been horr.... Hmm what word that starts off with those 3 letters best describes the redskins of the '00s you know what all of them. Type in horr in websters and ever word that starts off that way describes them.

So you start the season off first tied for the division lead and then tied for second, and you bench the QB. Yeaaaaaaaaaah are you sure you ever coached before cause that don't sound too smart. To top it off as it was defensive miscues that have killed you, your soon to be EX QB has the resume' of making you relevant until you decided to become captain ego. Cause you don't think he's gonna stay after being treated like this do you?

First you get caught being a tool to a defensive aquisition then you take a pedigreed QB, one who has accolades under his belt, one who brings a winning attitude and work ethic to you and you bench him. Yeah good luck with thos future contract negotations, you're gonna get dinged with the tool penalty til you leave, "yeah I need an extra 2 mil a year to deal with his ego, yeah that's non negotiable. If you don't like it I will leave and take less money elsewhere"  and I know next year is a potential lock out year, but ladies and gents you do not want to be the team that nobody wants to play for because you have the ego maniac coach. It takes years for teams to recover from that player mentality. It's okay if you are winning(say like Bellicheck) and it's your philosophy and methods that have lead to the turn around, but when it just looks like you're trying to prove you run the team and it's your way or the highway minus the results, nobody wants to deal with that.

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