Philadelphia Eagles Sign Nnamdi Asomugha

There's a lot of fanbole surrounding the Eagles this morning. Are they loaded up for a possible SB run? Yes, they are. Do they have a stronger roster than the NFC's elite class (Giants, Packers, Saints)? Can't see it. They're weaker at quarterback than all those teams, maybe stronger at WR than the Giants, but all of those teams have an elite pass rush whereas the Eagles have an elite passrusher (Cole), and a bunch of average guys around him.

At best, the Eagles are the 4th best team in the NFC.

Gtripp, I would've hoped that you of all people wouldn't underestimate the impact that Jim Washburn going to Philly has. If I had to rank their transactions at the top of the list, he'd be right below Nnamdi in terms of potential impact, and right above Jason Babin, which is my next point.

Washburn is one of those guys who is a career lifer as a d-line coach, and he likes it that way. The guy has taken no-name guys and transformed them into elite pass rushers all the time in Tennessee. That's why they were so successful when their d-linemen kept leaving in free agency, they were able to just keep plugging new guys in and keep playing. Washburn made Jason Babin a Pro-Bowl pass rusher in Tennessee, and I have no doubts he'll be able to make a very solid bookend tandem with him and Cole in Philly. The guy knows how to take his players and put them in the absolute best chance to succeed. He is extremely creative.

And also thanks for the kind words guys. Just trying to help a fellow fan out.

Eli > Vick? Last season says you're wrong. And don't you just get the feeling that should something happen to Vick, VY will step in and shine?

I know Eli is a better pure passer than Vick and has a better body of work over his career, but it's hard to argue that Vick isn't a better offensive weapon right now. Granted it's only one season, so we'll see how it goes this year for Vick.Eli's yards per attempt, net yards per attempt, sack rate, TD proficiency, and completion percentage all moved up into the Peyton Manning/Phillip Rivers elitest of the elite territory over the last two years.

Any argument that Vick was better last year or is better now is pretty much based on the interceptions statistic, where Vick had that long streak of interception-free games in the middle of last season and Eli threw a bunch of tipped passes off the hands of backup receivers which landed in the hands of dbs.

As basic as I can put it, Eli threw for 4,000 yards last year, pro bowler Vick threw for 3,000. Yes, missed time is the biggest reason why that happened. But still: we pick pro bowlers stupidly. Film analysis would back the idea that Eli does a much better job of working with bodies around him and quickly finding the open guy than Vick. Perhaps that's just a function of Vick being a first year starter in his own offense. I kind of doubt it though.

Anyway, once the INTs for each player regress towards the mean, you're left with a system QB in Vick, and maybe a top 5 to 8 QB in Manning.

Gtripp, I would've hoped that you of all people wouldn't underestimate the impact that Jim Washburn going to Philly has. If I had to rank their transactions at the top of the list, he'd be right below Nnamdi in terms of potential impact, and right above Jason Babin, which is my next point.

Washburn is one of those guys who is a career lifer as a d-line coach, and he likes it that way. The guy has taken no-name guys and transformed them into elite pass rushers all the time in Tennessee. That's why they were so successful when their d-linemen kept leaving in free agency, they were able to just keep plugging new guys in and keep playing. Washburn made Jason Babin a Pro-Bowl pass rusher in Tennessee, and I have no doubts he'll be able to make a very solid bookend tandem with him and Cole in Philly. The guy knows how to take his players and put them in the absolute best chance to succeed. He is extremely creative.

And also thanks for the kind words guys. Just trying to help a fellow fan out.Jim Washburn is a well respected coach, but his units results just haven't been there since Schwartz left. Babin was fantastic for 7 or 8 games last year when he had something like 9 sacks at the midway point. From that point forward, he was pretty much just Jason Babin and his team went 1-7.

Cole is a superstar that no one ever hears about. But I feel like his effectiveness could be limited in a "wide nines" rush scheme of sorts, the kind of scheme Washburn used sans Haynesworth to make players like Babin useful. I don't know what Washburn is going to do with his unit, but I don't see it being any better than the Eagles DL last year.

The biggest problem with the Eagles DL this year is that Brandon Graham is still hurt. He's the next top NFC East pass rusher. But perhaps not this year.

Jim Washburn is a well respected coach, but his units results just haven't been there since Schwartz left. Babin was fantastic for 7 or 8 games last year when he had something like 9 sacks at the midway point. From that point forward, he was pretty much just Jason Babin and his team went 1-7.

Cole is a superstar that no one ever hears about. But I feel like his effectiveness could be limited in a "wide nines" rush scheme of sorts, the kind of scheme Washburn used sans Haynesworth to make players like Babin useful. I don't know what Washburn is going to do with his unit, but I don't see it being any better than the Eagles DL last year.

The biggest problem with the Eagles DL this year is that Brandon Graham is still hurt. He's the next top NFC East pass rusher. But perhaps not this year.

Alls I'm gonna say is I think the problems in Philly last year were a mix of lack of talent and lack of good coaching. With Washburn in there, there definitely won't be a lack of coaching. I think he'll be able to play to his players' strengths and we're going to see Philly's d-line looking way better this year.

Alls I'm gonna say is I think the problems in Philly last year were a mix of lack of talent and lack of good coaching. With Washburn in there, there definitely won't be a lack of coaching. I think he'll be able to play to his players' strengths and we're going to see Philly's d-line looking way better this year.Another thing: the Kyle Shanahan offense is almost the ideal counter-attack to what the strength of the Eagles defense is this year: limited formation diversity, play action heavy attack, outside runs at poor tackling corners (basically, anyone but Asomugha), just limiting the amount of dbs who can safely be on the field.

Would not shock me if we go 6-10 this year, but beat the Eagles twice.

Another thing: the Kyle Shanahan offense is almost the ideal counter-attack to what the strength of the Eagles defense is this year: limited formation diversity, play action heavy attack, outside runs at poor tackling corners (basically, anyone but Asomugha), just limiting the amount of dbs who can safely be on the field.

Would not shock me if we go 6-10 this year, but beat the Eagles twice.

I agree with you on those points, but we won't beat the Eagles any time if we can't stop Vick. He absolutely destroyed us in the 2nd game. They are beatable, but not if Vick can exploit every single opportunity against us like he did last year.

I agree with you on those points, but we won't beat the Eagles any time if we can't stop Vick. He absolutely destroyed us in the 2nd game. They are beatable, but not if Vick can exploit every single opportunity against us like he did last year.You just have to get pressure on him. When we played him at FedEx last year, the field conditions basically prevented us from getting close to him all game.

No pressure on a locked-in Vick and those receivers? Yeah, you'll be chasing 4 TDs at some point.

You just have to get pressure on him. When we played him at FedEx last year, the field conditions basically prevented us from getting close to him all game.

No pressure on a locked-in Vick and those receivers? Yeah, you'll be chasing 4 TDs at some point.

If we can contain Vick we will have a shot. But last year showed that's no sure thing. I think Haslett will definitely be more creative this time around. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

If we can contain Vick we will have a shot. But last year showed that's no sure thing. I think Haslett will definitely be more creative this time around. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.Last year, again because of field conditions, we couldn't even tackle him in the open field.

But outside of that, I wouldn't worry about containing him. Just don't let him break the pocket to his left. If he wants to step up and run: fine. He's 31 years old. You pay your LBs for a reason.

Haslett makes good adjustments as games go along. He sometimes amplifies existing personnel issues by being hardheaded, but unlike Blache, if one of our division rivals came out and moved the ball on us in the first half, we generally had them figured out by the second half.

To clarify: the decision to start Kedric Golston after Week 6 was indefensible, and continued for seven games after that. Lost maybe multiple games because of a refusal to start our best players up front. But even in games we lost, we typically did better in the second half than first half. It's been years since that was the case here on defense.