Good afternoon, Eagles fans! We are in the midst of another holiday week and the team is preparing for its final game of the 2015 season. To get caught up on all the latest new, look no further than the December 29th edition of the Read-Option ...
The Pain Of Reality Faces The Eagles - Dave Spadaro
"This is a hollow feeling. The disappointment is extreme. A season that opened with so much anticipation and promise ends on Sunday, with many questions to follow. Until then, the Eagles will prepare as they do, they will work hard and train to beat the New York Giants.
Nothing is meaningless in the NFL. A win on Sunday is the goal for head coach Chip Kelly and his coaching staff and the players, no questions asked. Competitors compete to win games. The greatest of the great reach the NFL level because they prepare for success on the field every time they put on their pads. The Eagles are playing to win on Sunday, and that is a unanimous goal.
But for all of us, deep in the core, there is pain. The players expressed it on Saturday night in the aftermath of the loss to Washington. The sting is deep.
'We had great hopes for this year,' linebacker Connor Barwin said. 'To be in this position is very painful.'
Why are the Eagles 6-9? Too many mistakes in every phase of the game, "self-inflicted wounds" as Kelly and his players have said repeatedly, and the promise of the season has wilted into the sobering final week and a trip to New York with only pride on the line.
'When I look at the roster and I look at every guy in the locker room, we have talent and we have guys that can play,' safety Malcolm Jenkins said after Saturday's loss. 'But for whatever reason as a cohesive unit, we're not that good. I think that everybody in this organization has a hand in that. We just couldn't figure it out.'"
Tweet Of The Day
Community Monday: Tradition Boxes
Jordan Matthews, Cody Parkey and Mark Sanchez packaged tradition boxes with Family Lives On for children who have lost a parent ...
On Community Monday, the Eagles packaged tradition boxes with Care partner Family Lives On
Family Lives On works to support the lifelong emotional well-being of children whose mother or father has died
Jordan Matthews, Cody Parkey and Mark Sanchez all attended the event
Each wrote cards for the kids receiving the packages
The boxes all contained specific traditions for each child
The players all felt this was an important event to help with, especially during this time of the year
They made around 10 boxes in all
They also took time to read each story and learn more about the contents of each package
Here, Matthews was reading about a boy named Sam
All the players did their best to make the boxes look as nice as possible!
Parkey got a little help from the kids with Family Lives On
It was another great Community Monday event!
Fan-Demonium: Moving On - Tommy Lawlor
"The Eagles had parts of games, and sometimes even whole games, where they played at a high level and you could see the team's potential. That's what makes this team so frustrating. There is talent. There is potential.
There have been some Eagles teams that underachieved before. Usually there was a good reason. The 2005 team had to deal with the Terrell Owens situation and then was devastated by injuries. The 2007 team was hurt by Donovan McNabb's recovery from an ACL injury as well as some personnel and scheme changes on defense. The 2012 team was dysfunctional for a variety of reasons.
The 2015 Eagles had some issues to deal with, but none were overwhelming. Quarterback Sam Bradford was coming off an ACL injury and adjusting to a new scheme, but he had a full year to heal before the season began. There were quite a few new faces in the starting lineup. Still, there was continuity on the coaching staff. There were plenty of returning starters from a team that went 10-6 last year. This team had high expectations and those were fair. This team had the potential to be very good.
Unfortunately, the NFL is all about results. Potential means nothing. Playing well for part of a game means nothing if you lose. Something about this team just didn't work as Chip Kelly expected it to."
Road To Victory: Jabar Wright
Other Views
Lots Of Questions - Tommy Lawlor, IgglesBlitz.com
"Scheme – I would love to see the Eagles switch to the 4-3 or 4-3 Under, but Chip seems to really believe in the 3-4 and the creative looks it lets you show QBs. I don't anticipate change.
QB – Keep Bradford? Spend a high pick on a QB? RG III?
I think the ideal situation is to bring back Bradford and then to find a young QB to develop behind him. I hated losing Stephen Morris to the Colts. He was a young QB with some talent and he had been here all year long. He understood the offensive system and style of play.
I will admit some fascination with RG III, but I also have concerns with the stories about him not getting along with his teammates. They might be bogus media reports. Or they might be accurate. All I know for sure is that the Skins have been controversy free this year (player wise) and RG III has been out of the spotlight.
Personnel moves – Should the Eagles focus on OL or OLB or WR? Do they cut Jason Peters? Do they re-sign Vinny Curry?
I don't think there is an obvious move that has to be made. The Eagles need more talent at several spots. The OL needs help for sure, but I don't have strong feelings for the best way to make those moves right now.
Up-Tempo – Is there any chance Chip adjusts his offense? Chip says he always looks for the best ways to do things. He believes in always questioning why things are done a certain way. I don't get the feeling he is looking to change his offense, but it will be interesting to see if he at least studies the idea."
NFL Can Pick Eagles To Participate in HBO's Hard Knocks - Jimmy Kempski, PhillyVoice
"Because the Eagles have been eliminated from the playoffs in 2015, if Chip Kelly remains the head coach of the team, the NFL can force the Eagles to be the subject of the show.
In the past, HBO and the NFL have not exactly found much in the way of volunteers to do Hard Knocks, so the NFL came up with rules that allow them to force teams to let HBO cover their camps. NFL teams are off the hook if they can claim any of the following three things (via Deadspin):
1) They made the playoffs in one of the previous two seasons.
2) They have a new head coach.
3) They already appeared on the show in the last 10 years.
The Eagles cannot claim any of the above, and you can bet HBO would love to cover Chip. The other teams who are eliminated from playoff contention and fit the criteria above (for now) are the 49ers, Bears, Bills, Browns, Buccaneers, Chargers, Giants, Jaguars, Raiders, Rams, Saints, and Titans."
