When the Left Side is Right

You can almost hear the head-slapping down in Tennessee as Jeff Fisher and his coaches exclaim, "why didn't we think of that!" upon hearing the news that defensive genius Jim Johnson was moving DE Jevon Kearse to the left side of the defensive line.

Ostensibly, the move is about trying to minimize the stress on Kearse's surgically repaired left foot which is the most prudent and wise course of action to protect the investment in your new free agent. But it is also about maximizing your talent, and the Eagles' decision raises a league-wide question of whether putting your best pass rusher on the QB's blindside (the right side of the d-line) is an outdated or overrated strategy.

Because of the defensive emphasis on the blindside, the left tackle position has developed in response as the premier pass blocking position. But is this situation a chicken or the egg phenomenon? That is, which came first--- the refinement of the left tackle as a pass blocker to protect the backside which then forced defenses to match up their best pass rusher? Or did the best pass rushers get placed on the blindside and it was offenses that responded by matching with their best pass blocking linemen.

Any Eagles' fans who has seen Michael Strahan blow past Jon Runyan can appreciate the havoc a defense can create by counterintuitively placing their best pass rusher head up against the offense's right tackle. In many ways, the Strahan-Runyan example is illustrative of the benefits of ignoring the league's conventional wisdom.

Jon Runyan is a pure drive blocker. It's been almost unfair to have Strahan pinning his ears back to attack the QB and not really playing or respecting the run (have you ever noticed how much Runyan has neutralized him when the Eagles actually have the lead and Strahan can't presume pass on every play? I've also wondered why they didn't run at Strahan more and play to Runyan's strength, but that's a different story).

Runyan's physical rofile is the standard across the league for right tackles. Imagine how Kearse will excel, like Strahan, in going against tackles who may be stronger, but are not as quick or agile as the "Freak" (as opposed to the dancing bears posing as left tackles.) And Strahan was going against one of the most mobile and athletic QB's in the league. Being able to see him coming didn't seem to help McNabb out too much. Do you think it will matter much to the statutesque Vinny Testaverde that he will see Kearse an instant before he gets hit?

Sure there is the whole theory that the TE lines up most times next to the right tackle and who, theoretically, is available to help block Kearse, but that takes a whole receiver out of the pass play. It also means, in theory, less opportunities for Kearse to cause a fumble from the blindside. But turnovers are just an added bonus. His primary responsibility is to get to the QB. And it will be easier to do it from the left side of the d-line than the right side.

Run, baby, run

Interesting trivia question (from my desktop Eagles calendar). Can you name the six players in Eagles' history to gain more than 1,000 yards in a single season?


Duce Staley
Wilbert Montgomery
Ricky Watters
Herschel Walker
Earnest Jackson
Steve Van Buren

Kudos to Conlin

The Daily News' Bill Conlin is probably the city's best baseball columnist and he's really stepped his A game over the past few weeks. The columns on Pat Burrell, Ed Wade, and his memo to David Montgomery were insightful and engaging.

Bo Must Go

It is a sad day, but the conclusion has been reached that Phillies manager Larry Bowa has to be fired. Now. Before the team completely implodes and any hopes of making the playoffs are irrevocably dashed.

I take no pleasure from making this call, having grown up watching #10 play SS for the 1980 World Series team. Bowa's fierier demeanor was a refreshing change from the sleepwalking Terry Francona, and we all had high hopes that he could instill in the roster the sense of urgency and balls out play that epitomized his own playing career. Alas, the players appear to have tuned him out and he appears not to have an improvement strategy beyond his animated antics.

Sure, the pitching staff injuries have not helped the team this year, but injuries are a part of the game. Perhaps it may have been overcome if the supposed "ace," the not-soon-enough to be leaving Kevin Millwood, and offensive "studs" like Burrell, Lieberthal, and Byrd hadn't gone in the tank. It's also worth noting that such play can't be laid at Larry's doorstep. (I for one don't buy this whole national media storyline that the Phils are underachievers. Were they that good to begin with?).

Still, the ultimate responsibility still resides with the manager. It's obvious Bowa will not be the manager here next year. So why not make the change now, especially when the Phils are only trailing another no-account team--- the highly overrated Braves --- by 5 1/2 games? Especially when you've got a ready replacement in Charlie Manuel?

The season's not yet lost, but Bowa's tenure is. It's time for him to go.

Trotter and the story of the Traitor

The second game of the 2002 season was a MNF down at FedEx Field in Washignton, DC. It was Trotter's first game against the Eagles. In addition to my nephew being born that night, and my brother vacillating between going to the game and being present at the birth of his first child, one of the more memorable sights that night (in addition to the whupping the Eagles laid on the Skins) was the Eagles fan walking into the stadium with his old #54 jersey. In masking tape he had taped over the "O" in Trotter and penciled in "AI." Sure it was spelled wrong, but we all got the unmistakable message. Trotter had become a "Traitter."
 
Welcome back, Jeremiah, to the town and the team you should have never left.
 

Trotter no longer a Traitor

Wow. If there was one free agent acquisition that could have overshadowed the signing of Terrell Owens, this was it. Jeremiah Trotter isn't the playmaker #81 is---certainly not now coming off a torn ACL -  but the return of the prodigal son and the pyschological ramifications it has for both Trotter and Reid will be a story worth talking about all season.
 
First off, it looks like the Eagles got a steal. They just got the leading tackler of a division rival for the veteran minimum hit to the salary cap and added some size if not some toughness to a LB corps that became considerably smaller after the departure of the 6'5" 255 lbs. Carlos Emmons. Trotter can still play. And odds are he will be that much better in Jim Johnson's defensive system that plays to Trotter's strengths. Best of all, this will be Trotter's second year after undergoing reconstructive surgery on his knee to repair the ACL he ripped up on Thanksgiving day 2002 vs. the Cowboys. Historically, most players take a full two years to recover from such an injury and even at that, Trotter played pretty well last year, leading the 'Skins with almost 130 tackles. (This timeline is also encouraging for Correll Buckhalter who is also now two years removed from tearing up his knee in an Eagles mini-camp that year. Here's hoping Bucky returns to the form he showed in the NFC championship game vs. the Rams).
 
While the media has focused on the large helpings of humble pie Trotter has been eating in returning to a team and a regime he very loudly and very publicly trashed on his way out of town, there is a fair amount of crow being eaten by one Andy Reid as well. The fact is, Reid never satisfactorily replaced Trotter. Kirkland was a mere stopgap measure, and Barry Gardner was, well, Barry Gardner. Simoneau has played well at MLB, but wore down over the season, especially with a decimated defensive line playing in front of him. Would DeShaun Foster run over Jeremiah Trotter...twice!...at the goal line? I think not.
 
Still, while fan attention and angst has been focused on Simoneau I will say again that among the coaches the weak link appears to be Nate Wayne. Note the line buried deep in one of Paul Domowitch's articles. "Bottom line is if Trotter is able to recapture his Pro Bowl form of three seasons ago, when he was named the Eagles' defensive MVP, he'll be on the field a lot. Johnson always has the option of sliding Simoneau over to the weak side, where Nate Wayne was often inconsistent last season."
 
The Inqy's Bob Bookover also adds, "Though the Eagles have insisted this off-season that they were happy with the play of Simoneau as their starting middle linebacker last season, the arrival of Trotter opens the door to speculation about who will be at middle linebacker when the season begins Sept. 12 against the New York Giants.  Simoneau, however, is not the only linebacker who should be feeling the pressure. When the Eagles initially obtained Simoneau in a trade with the Atlanta Falcons last year, he was penciled in at weakside linebacker."
 
My money says that Trotter starts the season at middle LB and Simoneau starts at weakside.

It's worth asking if Andy Reid would have made this move if he had won at least one of the last three NFC championship games. It's also worth asking if he would have won at least one of the last two NFC championship games if Trotter had been playing middle linebacker. Forget the NFL's famed "window of opportunity." If And Reid can win the big game in 2004 then the team's inability to win the previous three doesn't look nearly as bad as if they lose again and become the Buffalo Bills of the NFC, albeit without the conference titles to provide a smidgen of solace.
 
The bottomline is it took two grown men to come to terms with their egos and their history and reach this rapproachment - and both are bigger for it, which is saying alot considering how big Trotter and Reid already are.

Boston roadtrip

I was in Boston the other weekend for the Phillies-Red Sox series at Fenway. There were a tremendous number of Philly fans in attendance for the 3 games. In particular, the Saturday game must have had 4-5,000 Philly fans in the stands.

Much to the annoyance and bewilderment of Boston fans, the first "E-A-G-L-E-S" chant began in the second inning and didn't let up for the rest of the game. Boston fans were simply baffled by this initially and not sure how to respond. Sure, the Pats won the Super Bowl, but it's not like they're rivals with the Eagles. They were also unsure about this since it was, after all, a baseball game in the middle of June. In fact, Red Sox fans seemed a bit reluctant to call attention to this situation since Boston has a worse record of ineptitude in America's pasttime than the Fightin' Phils. Hey, at least we've won a World Series in the last fifty years!

Many Boston fans settled on taunting red-clad Philly fans with a common jeer to the effect that "TO is going to be a disaster for the Eagles." I was simply astounded at the number of people, both Red Sox/Pats and Phillies/Eagles fans, that made reference to TO and/or had an opinion on his play for the upcoming season. Everyone, literally, was talking about him. Poor Jevon Kearse. He got a signing bonus three times as large as Owens', but it's like he's the forgotten free agent acquisition.

Finally, I was struck by the similarities between Boston and Philly fans. Both passionately root for their teams, both drink staggering quantities of beer, and each has a pessimistically fateful outlook for the prospects of their teams. The Pats' super bowl is too much for many to handle. As a friend of mine in Boston observed, "Boston fans aren't happy unless they're miserable." A similar case could be made for Philly.

BTW, major props to the guy masquerading as Smarty Jones in the Phillies powder blue throwback unis and a black horse head. What a terrific getup.

McNabb in rare company

In a stat sure to warm the heart of Andy Reid: In all of NFL history, only Neil O'Donnell and Jeff Garcia have been intercepted less frequently than Donovan McNabb. So says my Eagles desk calendar. This is perhaps the only time anyone might dare compare O'Donnell and McNabb.

Also, congratulations to Jim Thome on his 400th home run.

P. King, the cap and TO

Not to pick on one of the most knowledgeable scribes in football, but Peter King's misanalysis of Joe Horn's contract probably should have mentioned the hit the Saints would take in next year's cap space by whacking Horn now.

Still, he more than made up for his oversight by thinking that "if anyone can do major surgery on the image of Terrell Owens, it's the Eagles. And boy, are they trying."

That's the spirit.

NFL Salary Cap - even the experts can bungle it

One of the least understood aspects of professional football is the salary cap. It can be very confusing to the typical fan and even some journalists don't have a firm grasp of its intracies. Still, it was more than a little bit surprising that Sports Illustrated columnist Peter King would bungle an analysis of it. What was especially ironic is that King noted the "massive misconceptions about the way the process, and the cap itself, works" as a preface to then misconcieving it himself.

The subject of this error was New Orleans Saints' WR Joe Horn's contract. King earlier had speculated that the Horn might be cut for his off the field headaches, but was subsequently informed by the Saints' front office that Horn was definitely staying (this eyar) in large measure because of Horn's cap friendly contract.

King notes that Horn got a $5.1 million signing bonus in 2003 as part of a 3-year deal. His base salary for 2004 is $700,000 which King reports as the cap cost to the Saints. Problem is that signing bonuses are pro-rated over the duration of the contract meaning that Horn might be getting $700,000 in his paycheck this year, but his cap cost is $2.4 million ($5.1 million divided by 3 (years on the contract) plus the $700,000 in base salary for 2004).

Sure it's enough to make your head spin, but how the salary cap is calculated and managed by teams is the key to success in today's NFL. It's part of the reason why the Eagles have been to 3 straight NFC championship games and one of the raison d'etres of this blog - to comment and correct the inaccuracies so often published by the "experts" on the intracies of the game. I may not be an expert on the X's and O's, but I do understand the salary cap.

To see King's mistake, go to http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/writers/peter_king/06/07/king.mmqb/index.html

Smarty and Secretariat -- A new appreciation

Smarty Jone's loss in the Belmont was a painful but instructive reminder of just how impressive Secretariat's Triple Crown winnning race was.

It's easy now, with the distance of history and the benefit of hindsight, to see how epic Big Red's run for the ages was. But having watched Smarty this past weekend with a surprising emotional attachment, I have a newfound appreciation for how it must have felt to watch Secretariat at that moment in time.

I'm reminded of William Nack's retelling of Secretariat's Belmont run in ESPN's profile of the horse for its "Athletes of the Century." Nack says that as he watched Secretariat jump to the early lead, he thought "the horse is going to damn fast" and that Ron Turcotte, the jockey, was going to burn him out well before the mile and a half. Like I said, the result seems obvious now - even foreordained, but I can now see how I would have been similarly freaking out. What I still can't imagine, however, is the feeling, the epiphany, the overcoming emotion specators must have had when they suddenly became aware that not only was Secretariat not going to fade, but was getting stronger and faster the closer he got to the finish line.

The story's been often told that golf legend Jack Nicklaus wept as he watched Secretariat win the Belmont. A sportswriter later attributed Jack's reaction to one penultimate athlete/competitor acknowledging another's bid for athletic perfection.

That feeling that Nicklaus and the rest of the witnesses to Secretariat's win must have felt is, I think, the very reason to watch sports and why I am such a fan. Because sports offers us moments when greatness announces itself in such a time and such a place that it lifts me, and all of us, to a better place. If only for a little while. (If you don't know what I mean, then check out the cook's explanation to Loudon Swaine why he took the night off to watch him wrestle Shute in Vision Quest for a better description).

It's also why I've been so distraught over Smarty Jone's loss. Sure I feel bad for John Servis, Elliott Stewart, the Chapman's and Smarty himself, but more than that it's a selfish reaction to the joy I personally missed out on. The feeling I would have had had Smarty been able to hold on for that last 1/4 mile. What might have been. Ahh.

More TO repurcussions on the field

Here is one of the 10 things SI writer Peter King thinks he thinks on June 1:

"I think the one factor in Terrell Owens' arrival in Philadelphia that I haven't heard discussed much is the impact it will have on TE L.J. smith. Last year, as the season progressed, teams began paying more coverage attention to Smith. Now, with the big-bodied Owens in the lineup, Smith should see single-coverage pretty exclusively, and fewer strong safeties playing over the top of him. They'll hae to be more concerned with Owens."

What happened to Smarty? Expert analysis

Andrew Beyer is the country's foremost writer on horse racing. Here is his analysis of Smarty Jone's defeat at the Belmont published in the June 6 edition of the Washington Post.

"If anybody's failing cost Smarty Jones the Triple Crown, it was not Elliott and Servis, but the beloved horse himself. Smarty Jones had accomplished his triumphs in the Derby and Preakness by overcoming his pedigree; he is the son of a miler, and his female family is dominated by sprinters and milers....Like so many Triple Crown aspirants before him, the Belmont distance defeated him."

For the full story, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18877-2004Jun5.html

Smarty...a good run

Well, the anticipation of Smarty's Belmont race was as exciting and nerve wracking as a Phillies or Flyers playoff game. and the results and feeligns were pretty much the same too. So close, yet so far Heartbreak.

Still, it was a good run. And it certainly made the last five weeks truly exciting for Philadelphia fans everywhere. At least we can console ourselves with the thought that Seabiscuit didn't win the Triple Crown either.

A rival's take on the 2004 team

The Washington Post's former beat writer for the Redskins, Mark Maske, has been moved to cover the NFL in general. Towards that end, he is anaylzing each team leading up to training camp. His reports aren't in the paper but are posted to the Post website.

Maske looked at the Eagles yesterday. Interesting to get a distanced view of the team from a guy that used to cover their division rival.

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6316-2004Jun1.html

Smarty Party, let's drink

Wow, Smarty Jones got a police escort up to Belmont Park. Now, I'd expect that of PA state troopers, but was kind of surprised that NJ and NY staties gave him the same lead. Just imagine what kind of motorcade he gets if he actually wins the Triple Crown.

Speaking of which, I'm having a Smarty Party on Saturday. Anyone know if there is an "official" drink of the Belmont or of NY? The Kentucky Derby has their mint juleps, and the Preakness has their "black-eyed susans" (a drink and the state flower), but is their a Belmont drink? I mean, other than Manhattans, Martinis and/or Cosmopolitans?

And is there an official Philadelphia drink? I suppose the default is a shot and a beer. Of course, the classic was a warm, watery, overfoamed Bud draft from the Vet concession stand. Mmmm...Vet beer.

Trotter and salary cap

Related to the Skins roster whacking of J. Trotter. Could there be a starker contrast between two teams' approaches to the salary cap.

Say what you want about Andy Reid and Joe Banner, but they have been flawless when it has come to managing the salary cap. They have not had to release a player or renegotiate a single contract to clear cap space. The way the Trotter talks imploded may not have been handled well, but you've got to give Big Red props for refusing to overpay or to overvalue Trotter's talent.

For that, you should look at the Skins where Danny Snyder throws money at anyone who's played in a pro bowl and where the salary cap day of reckoning is looming closer every day. We'll have to save for another day the post/analysis of the new Joe Gibb's "short term plan (four years max) to get the team to the playoffs, recertify me as a football genius, and let some boob (the 21st century version of Richie Petibon) try to clean up the mess after I go back to my NASCAR garage" blueprint.

Jeremiah Trotter cut

Well, it's official. The Redskins cut Jeremiah Trotter, two years after signing him to a seven year, $36 million deal which included a $7 million signing bonus.

I don't mean to gloat over Trotter's misfortune, but it seems pretty clear that his career took a nosedive after leaving the Eagles, and which was just compounded by tearing up his knee in the Thanksgiving 2002 game vs. the Cowboys.

In retrospect, it's laughable now to think that Trotter was demanding "Ray Lewis-type" money from the Eagles when he became a free agent after the 2001 season. In fact, the high point of his career probably came during the divisional playoff game vs. Chicago when he was being favorably compared to Brian Urlacher and was considered, at worst, the second best LB in the NFC. Nine months after that game, you could have made the case that he wasn't even the second best LB on his own team (LaVar Arrington and Jesse Armstead).

Having watched him play in DC, Trotter confirmed all of the negative knocks against him the Eagles whispered to the media when the franchise tag was removed (ie, the Eagles defensive schemes played to his strengths, he was weak in pass coverage, and that he was undisciplined (particularly frustrating to Skins D-coord Marvin Lewis)).

The saddest thing about the Trotter situation is that it didn't have to be this way. His agent should be sued for malpractice. Had he accepted the Eagles' extension offer way back when he was a restricted free agent (the 2000 season I believe) he would not have gotten the gaudy signing bonus that was so obviously important to him, but would instead have earned the equivalent in annual salaries that he eventually wound up getting from the Skins. Plus, he would have been putting in the years to fulfill the contract's length (and not risked a career ending injury before getting the big signing bonus) and still been in a position to sign another deal while still in his prime. From the Eagles perspective and for all his faults, Trotter would have stayed an Eagle and was clearly a superior talent to the situtational run stopper Leviathan, er Levon, Kirkland or the second stringer Barry Gardner.

Finally, maybe the best thing that can be said about the entire situation is that it sticks the Skins with $5 million in dead cap money next year as they retire the Trotter signing bonus pro-rated portion.

Cap casualties - Jason Gildon?

There will be some cap casualties today, June 1, the date on which teams can cut players and pro-rate the remainder of their contracts (i.e, signing bonuses) over both this year and next. Eddie George, Jason Gildon and Jeremiah Trotter will lead the list. We'll get to Trotter at a later post, but Jason Gildon could be an intriguing player for the Eagles.

Most everyone I know is down on Mark Simoneau. Everyone but the guy that matters most, Jim Johnson. From what I've been able to gather, the team is generally pleased with Simoneau, although he did appear to wear down as the season went on last year (which was only exacerbated by playing behind a decmiated D-line). Still, while the focus has been on Simoneau it seems that at least internally, the disappointment of the LB corps has been Nate Wayne.

Fans have become accustomed to the team just plugging in a player at that position and them excelling: Mike Caldwell, Shawn "the playmeker" Barber, etc. Depending on his price, Gildon might not be a bad pick up to compete with Wayne for the weakside spot, or to play Gildon at strongside and move Dhani Jones over to weakside. Plus, with Gildon at 6'4" 255 and Wayne at only 6 foot, 237 lbs. it would add some size to the LBs that they currently don't have having gotten the smaller Dhani Jones to replace Emmons and, of course, there is Simoneau in the middle. Just something to look at.

Hello. Welcome to the Eagle Eye blog. As I've mentioned in my profile, I hope this blog will provide insights and information about my favorite football team, the Philadelphia Eagles. While not privy to any inside information myself, I hope this can be a forum for intelligent analysis, commentary and an alternative to the conventional wisdom of the mainstream press, which I have found to be rather pedestrian and pedantic in their reporting. Having said that, I admit to having to rely on them for a significant amount of news, but hopefully using multiple sources and mediums and "reading between the lines," this blog can offer new news on occassion. Enjoy.