SBLII: Patriots vs. Eagles, the Build-Up
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Steve Spagnuolo says the Pats knew the signals at SB 39. No evidence of anything of course, just conversations and assumptions.
https://247sports.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/Bolt/Steve-Spagnuolo-Patriots-knew-Eagles-signals-in-Super-Bowl-39-114352301
https://247sports.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/Bolt/Steve-Spagnuolo-Patriots-knew-Eagles-signals-in-Super-Bowl-39-114352301
Allen could get first ever punter MVP, if it's a low scoring game. Field position will be critical if we can't sustain our drives.
I was into it until they didn't have Harmon with the interception on the last play.
Wait, So how did Nick Foles Morph into a "Better QB" then Bortles.
Is it the 833/1386 60.1 completion % compared to 1318/2229 59.1 completion %?
Is it the 9700 career yards compared to the 14900?
61 Career TDs compared to 91?
I get that Foles has been a career Backup and that Bortles has started since being a rookie. So there is a Game discrepancy (39/61 Starts).
Whats interesting is that Ratio is almost EXACTLY the Difference between the 2.
Had Foles played 61 games
1302 Completions 2167 Attempts
15171 Yards
95 TDs
Remind you of anyone? Plus I think you could argue that Foles has had better weapons and or a better team then Bortles has.
So are we just basing this on the last game against the Vikings?
And lets not even talk about the Defenses and Jacksonville with the 2nd best Scoring Defense, while Phillys "Better Defense" had the 4th best. Or maybe the sacks where the Amazing Philly D had 38 (4 less then the punchless Patriots) and the Subpar Jags had 55. Or maybe its Interceptions Where Jacksonville had a Mediocre 21 and the Eagles had a high flying 19.
No sorry its Give Away take Away, where JVille had a pretty piss poor 10 and Philly had an amazing 11.
Guys Jacksonville was every bit the team that Philly is. Many of us expected a Blowout or at least convincing win in that one Because ...Bortles.
While that game was tough we played half of it without Gronk and With the sole mission of stopping Fournette. Hogan and Burkhead also to my eyes still looked Rusty/hindered. Frankly I dont see where Ajayi or Blount deserve that kind respect or Game planning and you still have Foles as the opposing QB.
I think this will be the rarest of SB Pats wins. As in we havent had one yet. A Convincing one.
Is it the 833/1386 60.1 completion % compared to 1318/2229 59.1 completion %?
Is it the 9700 career yards compared to the 14900?
61 Career TDs compared to 91?
I get that Foles has been a career Backup and that Bortles has started since being a rookie. So there is a Game discrepancy (39/61 Starts).
Whats interesting is that Ratio is almost EXACTLY the Difference between the 2.
Had Foles played 61 games
1302 Completions 2167 Attempts
15171 Yards
95 TDs
Remind you of anyone? Plus I think you could argue that Foles has had better weapons and or a better team then Bortles has.
So are we just basing this on the last game against the Vikings?
And lets not even talk about the Defenses and Jacksonville with the 2nd best Scoring Defense, while Phillys "Better Defense" had the 4th best. Or maybe the sacks where the Amazing Philly D had 38 (4 less then the punchless Patriots) and the Subpar Jags had 55. Or maybe its Interceptions Where Jacksonville had a Mediocre 21 and the Eagles had a high flying 19.
No sorry its Give Away take Away, where JVille had a pretty piss poor 10 and Philly had an amazing 11.
Guys Jacksonville was every bit the team that Philly is. Many of us expected a Blowout or at least convincing win in that one Because ...Bortles.
While that game was tough we played half of it without Gronk and With the sole mission of stopping Fournette. Hogan and Burkhead also to my eyes still looked Rusty/hindered. Frankly I dont see where Ajayi or Blount deserve that kind respect or Game planning and you still have Foles as the opposing QB.
I think this will be the rarest of SB Pats wins. As in we havent had one yet. A Convincing one.
Neither a fantastic nor a terrible performance from Foles would surprise me on Sunday. But before the hype train gains too much steam its worth remembering that this guy had one of the best statistical seasons by a 24-year-old QB in NFL history and then after that:
-Got traded for Sam Bradford (and was deemed to be worth less than Bradford given the draft consideration involved).
-Got benched for Case Keenum in 2015.
-Found no takers when looking for a starting job as a FA before the 2016 season.
-Found no takers when looking for a starting job as a FA before the 2017 season.
There is a long track record of a wide variety of NFL executives and coaches evaluating Foles and seeing a mediocre QB. If Doug Pederson can put him into positions to succeed and BB/Patricia can't make him uncomfortable, he absolutely could have a great game and lead the Eagles to a win. But its not like Foles is some hidden gem who is actually an above average starting QB in the league that just happened to be languishing on the bench before the Wentz injury.
-Got traded for Sam Bradford (and was deemed to be worth less than Bradford given the draft consideration involved).
-Got benched for Case Keenum in 2015.
-Found no takers when looking for a starting job as a FA before the 2016 season.
-Found no takers when looking for a starting job as a FA before the 2017 season.
There is a long track record of a wide variety of NFL executives and coaches evaluating Foles and seeing a mediocre QB. If Doug Pederson can put him into positions to succeed and BB/Patricia can't make him uncomfortable, he absolutely could have a great game and lead the Eagles to a win. But its not like Foles is some hidden gem who is actually an above average starting QB in the league that just happened to be languishing on the bench before the Wentz injury.
Perhaps they did. And that could be from scouting and preparation, or cheating. The absence of any evidence of the latter is rather key, though, isn't it?
In other words, there's exactly as much evidence the Patriots stole the Eagles signals as there is that Spags' Giants stole the Patriots signals in 2007.
Yeah that kind of stuff never happens, and definitely not mid-season, leading to a superbowl appearance.
(I'm mostly joking...I think your analysis is more likely the correct one than a "he's gonna Tom Brady this thing".)
You know, I thought that this one meant less to me than the others did, just because...dayenu, right? But then I almost shat myself watching a Madden simulation, so perhaps I was wrong.
All true.
But he just needs ONE good game here. Not a whole career. And he's shown he can be great in a given game.
It was also probably legal to have taped signals from the sidelines before the 2006 memo and the 2007 rule change, so lol boo hoo Steve.
Pats also put up a massive 7 points in the first half of that game, so apparently the Pats sucked at using them.
...Ajai is going to be a factor. Foles (who autocorrects to ‘Folds’) will have to go out and win it.
I've never seen the game a 2nd time or looked at the stats or anything of that nature, but my recollection is that they were really cooking with a Woodhead/Hernandez-focused short-passing game on those two drives (to the point that I must have thought they were about to run away with it while an acquaintance who had a prop bet on a Latino MVP was feeling frisky) and then never captured that again for the rest of the game, obviously including the senseless bomb to Gronk. If I recall correctly, Herb was WIDE OPEN underneath on that play, which means you add 25 yards at least given his open field skills.
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Jesus, I just watched this at work, and it brought me 3/4 of the way to game-time stress levels.
You think the Lombardis have a phallic look?
When that airplane went to hangar, they didn't just pull in the tip...
And then hundreds of Patriots players, staff, and coaches spewed out into Minnesota...
Pretty interesting that both teams are staying at the Mall of America in hotels attached to the mall. Pats are at the JW Marriot on the north side of the mall while the Eagles are at the Radisson Blu on the south side of the mall.
Robert Mays has an interesting article on the Eagles O-Line today, but in the second paragraph, he has a statement that is lazy analysis in my mind.
In the regular season, the Titans were ranked 15th in the league and averaged 4.1 yards an attempt, but Henry on 12 carries averaged 2.3 yards against the Pats.
In the regular season, the Jags were ranked 9th in the league and averaged 4.3 yards an attempt, but their RB's averaged 3.4 yards against the Pats.
While the Eagles were ranked 3rd in the league and averaged 4.5 yards an attempt, that number has fallen off after Wentz got hurt and they are averaging 3.3 yards an attempt in the playoffs.
So while Mays has fun talking about all the cool things the Eagles do on the offensive line in, he seems to have no interest in looking at actual results.
The narrative of "good running game vs. bad run defense" is apparently more interesting than what the playoffs have shown us so far.
Now watch Mays be right and the Eagles will run all of the Pats.
https://www.theringer.com/nfl-playoffs/2018/1/29/16945182/eagles-offensive-line-running-game-super-bowl-advantage
I get that the Pats run defense was not great during the regular season, but in their two playoff games, they have been stout (3.11 yards an attempt vs. RB's) (I excluded Mariota from this as Foles is probably not a threat to run).
In the regular season, the Titans were ranked 15th in the league and averaged 4.1 yards an attempt, but Henry on 12 carries averaged 2.3 yards against the Pats.
In the regular season, the Jags were ranked 9th in the league and averaged 4.3 yards an attempt, but their RB's averaged 3.4 yards against the Pats.
While the Eagles were ranked 3rd in the league and averaged 4.5 yards an attempt, that number has fallen off after Wentz got hurt and they are averaging 3.3 yards an attempt in the playoffs.
So while Mays has fun talking about all the cool things the Eagles do on the offensive line in, he seems to have no interest in looking at actual results.
The narrative of "good running game vs. bad run defense" is apparently more interesting than what the playoffs have shown us so far.
Now watch Mays be right and the Eagles will run all of the Pats.
https://www.theringer.com/nfl-playoffs/2018/1/29/16945182/eagles-offensive-line-running-game-super-bowl-advantage
If you are picking on my choice of words, you are correct. I was searching for a synonym of "connotation" that would apply to a visual image and just gave up. All suggestions welcome.
I hate the MOA, but it makes sense to have them there with Radio Row in the mall, as well. Easy access, only a couple miles from the airport, and the hotels are nice. Of course every Boston radio person is complaining about being "in a mall!" like it's the biggest insult ever, as opposed to being put in one of the hotel's ballrooms, where Radio Row would normally be. And they are being rather smug acting like the fucking mall is the entire city.
Well, to be fair, no one wants to get sent to Minneapolis in January for work (A) and (B) be placed in a suburban mall instead of near downtown.
I've gone from worrying about Brady, to worrying about Gronk, to worrying (again) about LaAdrian Waddle. Even if Fleming can give you most of what Waddle does now, if Waddle is out, and either Fleming or Solder I don't even know who the guy is who steps in. I mean I see it is someone named Cole Croston, but you know what I mean.
Anyone hear anything on Waddle?
Anyone hear anything on Waddle?
Don't forget the Hooters!
I once met a friend in Minneapolis. He was flying in, I was driving. I asked him where to meet he said "at the mall". When asked why he said "so I don't have to give you directions...you'll be seeing signs for it from 100 miles away". Smart! (this was pre-iphone, so I was using, gasp, paper maps)
So I asked where in the mall, because, yknow, it's big. He says "Hooters", without hesitation. How do you know it's still there? (It was his first time back int he city in like 4 years or something) and he said "oh, it's my mom's favorite restaurant."
And yknow what? It was so logical and simple and easy.
I'm looking forward to some nice audibles at the line on Sunday. "Hooters...Hooters...69 hut HUT"
Which of course mean Gronk is going right up the middle.
Anyway...sorry, the bell just rang and my jr. high classroom break is over, so I better get back to it...
Last year's Madden simulation had the Pats winning 27-24 on a 4th down TD pass with 20 seconds to go. I remember watching that and thinking "holy shit, at least the actual game won't make me that tense". So much for that.
I mean, that's fair. But shitting on the host city in a general sense is a dick move.
It's sports talk morons, so whatever. But it's especially rich that a bunch of guys from a market with a football stadium that's 30 minutes outside of town are complaining about having to be so inconvenienced by Radio Row not being downtown.
I will definitely do my own sim. I've done it every year they've been in.
Last year we got CRUSHED by the Falcons.
Last year we got CRUSHED by the Falcons.
Not every one. Toucher & Rich were saying this morning that they like being at MOA and that it’s a million times better than the set up in Phoenix because they can actually get something to eat.
Madden sim is a farce and a lazy effort, although I thank you for showing me the clip, always enjoy seeing these for a slight pump up.
Zapruder analysis of flaws: I thought the depth charts were always altered for injuries, but not entirely so this year beyond Foles for Wentz and no Edelman. At the minimum, I saw Jason Peters' #71 (rather than Vaitai's #72) in three different down shots of gameplay. Also saw Bennett, Mitchell, Cyrus Jones, Cannon, and Brissett(!!) on the Pats sideline in a separate shot (despite said shot also showing Hoyer), plus Jordan Hicks sidelined for the Eagles, which kind of implies these players were all active and somehow got snaps. Hicks is confirmed to do so at 0:58. Additionally, Hightower(!) is on the field at 1:22. There's also a really odd shot at 1:17 with a Patriots player wearing 51. Only guys to wear that on the team now currently are Trevor Reilly on the PS and then the NFI/IR'd Keionta Davis. WTF? Crazy oversight list for a multimillion corporation.
Being set up in a mall, even if it makes sense for other reasons, is low hanging fruit for the radio guys to make fun of. Even T&R who had some good things to say about it were making fun of the mall walkers who were in there getting their steps in at 6 am.
My guess is that what really gets them going is that the NFL staffers and corporate sponsors are staying downtown or near downtown, and the media members (who fancy themselves "part of the show") are out at the mall.
I doubt it's meant as a slight on Minny. Great town, btw.
Minny is a state. The towns are St. Paul and Minneapolis, affectionately known to locals as the Twinnies.
I don’t want to sound too defensive over what some blowhards said to go into commercial with a bang, but someone on 98.5 said it was a “mickey mouse town” and that the fact that “a mall” is a “major destination” for Minnesota it “says a lot about Minnesota.” Then said “Indy wasn’t as bad. And have it in a real city like San Diego [note: smaller than the twin cities], not these fake ones.”
Mind you, he had previously said that he got into town the night before.
It was like a parody of asshole Boston fans.
Anyway. Yeah. It’s cold. Get over it.
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