WhitewalkerInPhilly

Thoughts on the matter... Pros: -Overall, the opponents have a weaker victory strength from last year. The AFC South has been pretty bad the past few years, and the NFC East, while having some good teams, aren't in the same tier as the Pats, Broncos, Packers and Seahawks. The Giants were only good last year in the eyes of homeriffic NYC based ESPN and NFL network writers and the 'Skins still look like a tire fire. -I don't mind the home opener. We were going to have to play the Colts at some point, and preparation favors the defense. Rex gets months of breaking down what the Pats did to Luck in the AFC Champ game. While the Colts are good, they are the the division winner I would be the most willing to face. They did well, but did it rolling up the Jags and Titans twice a year, and playing the weaker NFC East. It's a tough game, but the Bills should have a realistic shock with the fans bringing it for the home opener. -If the Bills are still in the hunt in December, they are in decent shape. They play their NFC teams, play the two Texas teams at home in cold weather, and close out the season with home field advantage against the Jets. Cons: -Seriously, do the Pats need any more of an advantage to start the season? They open with the Steelers without Bell, and then get a 10 day rest before taking on their biggest division rival. -The 3 division games over 16 games is BS, and is stringing along three NFC teams in a row. Would it really be that hard to mix it up a little? But as a mixed blessing, the only team the Bills really get screwed on are the Jets. They get a bye for Miami, and then return the favor to NE by getting a 10 day rest. -What is up with the massive roadtrip?Three straight road games is brutal, especially with it capping off at Arrowhead. -Again, no home PT game. In summation, the middle of the schedule sucks, but everything up until the away Jets game things aren't so bad and they finish strong. You consider the Colts and Cowboys juggernauts?

He still would be a good fit for what Pettine ran to years ago. Whether or not what Rex is trying to do this year is close enough to overlap,but he would be a 5-tech that could complete the D-line,and I bet he comes cheap.

Good interview. The Kiko thing...look, I love the guy, and will root for him when not against the Bills but I get it. But what really strikes a chord for me is that a lot of this team is the Island of Misfit Toys. Rex is a fantastic defensive coordinator who had his best players cut away. Roman is the run game mastermind who got abandoned when his boss got into a feud with the owner. McCoy was a franchise RB who got traded because he didn't give a smile and a yessir to the new Kommendant on his team.This is a team of new starts, fresh starts, and I am eager to see what happens.

They do make a point that he was ridiculously effective operating out of the I in college. From what I saw, I'm excited.

I'm also interested, even if I'm conflicted. (My girlfriend is an Eagles fan, and we plan to go together) I know there's a group of Bills Backers in the area. Perhaps they have something going.

I've heard a couple of different reports of what they wanted. But, in all fairness, we're going to need those draft picks, and Bradham stepped up to replace Kiko.

Are you going with the local Bills Backers group? I have a few options, but I'm sure there will be a tailgating contingent.

Honestly, all my experiences with Philly fans haven't been as bad as advertised. I remember watching a Sabres vs. Flyers game in a bar and the Flyers fans were shocking civil. They're passionate about their teams but they're better than NY fans IMHO.

Believe me, I've considered the idea. He has been considered before, especially after the 49ers deep runs the past few years. It could happen, but if it does, it means that he does something special with the offense with an average (at best ) QB. And if we get that, with a defense even close to as good as last year, that's a playoff team.

Philly for me. I live maybe a half hour from the stadium and my girlfriend is a die hard Eagles fan. We're already smack talking and we don't even know when it's going to be.

Yeesh, uncle, uncle.

Funny, I could have sworn this was a thread about Landry. Look, I can get how any discussion about a QB works back to EJ, but I have no idea how a safety relates to our O-line. But yeah, Landry seems like a better Leonard.

Yeah. If they can get a better SS than Seacry, for less money than Seacry I'm all for it.

Possibly the fact that he's 32, going to be 33 by the end of the season, only about a month younger than Jim Leonard. It doesn't bode well for a few years down the road, but he's posted back to back 100 tackle seasons. He's a hard hitting box safety. At worse, he could probably be a tweener in nickel sets to run the Heavy Nickel.

This makes me even more mystified. Yes, age is a factor, and PFF isn't everything, but you'd think that we were signing a rookie UDFA scrub instead of a solid veteran.

I'm a little surprised that people aren't more interested. I know PFF isn't everything and their grading needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but he was there 9th ranked safety last year. He fills the gap left by Seacry as a primarily hard hitting box safety. It seems like the only concern is his age. While we shouldn't just throw money at him, by now he should be a bargain.

Pretty much this. A lot of people would be annoyed at getting transferred to another city for work without having them talk to you first. Doubly so when you find out your old boss was lying through his teeth about why he did it.

It really wasn't anything that we didn't already know, or has been speculated to death on Philly sports radio. I took a look, and it pretty much breaks down like this: -Chip Kelly tries to run player management, conditioning etc. Like he was still coaching in Oregon -McCoy was slightly miffed after, having been entirely ok with restructuring his deal, they never talked to him or his agent before trading him. -McCoy is confused as to why, if he truly was a fit in Chip's offense why Chip just couldn't come out and say it, and explain how Shady put up 1600 yards their first year together. -Looking at his experience, DeSean getting cut for nothing after a Pro Bowl year, and Maclin being allowed to walk, as well as a lot of outspoken veteran locker room leaders getting cut McCoy has come, as have many, to the conclusion that Chip Kelly wants to be the star of the Eagles and he does not want outspoken voices in his locker room. Nothing Earth shattering.

Maybe, but that seems like kind of a waste to do more than occasionally. Dareus is a Suh like tackle, who can beat double teams at the 1-tech, while Kyle is optimal at 3-tech. I agree that D-line is a sneaky need. I do think we could get by with Charles playing heavy 5 technique like Pettine did with Branch but with Dareus' contract coming up and depth thin I can easily see taking a 3rd or 5th rounder.

I think that's what Clay is supposed to be for, since he has acted as a FB before. If we need another blocker, maybe I'm crazy but Im crazy but I think I remember Woods being tasked with blocking Clay Matthews. That's a pretty strong vote of confidence.

... Get 'er done Douggie.

If I'm picking 5 skill players to put out to form the core of our offensive plays it would be: Sammy, Woods, Harvin, Clay and Shady. From this you can break out of the huddle and run so many formations effectively to create mismatches. Run game: Power run with Clay blocking as FB HB handoff Sweeps with Clay and Woods blocking outside. Zone read. If they start blocking the zone read, they're probably using a LB to spy the QB and Harvin is unaccounted for. Run a jet sweep. Pass game: Screen passes to Sammy, Harvin AND Shady are options in pretty much every formation. 3 Wide, with Shady and Clay backfield blocking. 4 wide, Clay has the option to block on the line. 5 wide. That's a lot of things to have one defense to account for. Someone mentioned the heavy nickel, but few defenses are deep and/or talented enough to pull that off well every down. It's fun to think about!

I do like the part where they look at the Raiders, Titans, Jags, Vikings and Bills QB stats blind and it turns out that EJ is right in the middle of the pack of those young developmental players with so much promise that we should have taken a flyer on/traded for because EJ obviously sucks.

I thought that was the Sabres. Or is that just how many they've scored this season?

In know this has already been asked and answered buy it's buried. Basically: A) Yes in theory but... B) Murray took less money to go to the Eagles, likely because he wanted a winner and to stick it to the Cowboys for lowballing him by going to a division rival. The trade eliminated the risk of having to fight for it. C) Kiko is good but not a perfect fit in Rex's system. Bradham has developed nicely and the team was still a top 5 defense without him, so Kiko was replacable. I think that covers it.