The Chip Wagon

Brandin Cooks to the Eagles?- Yes Please

Earlier in the week rumors were abuzz that the New Orleans Saints have put their young explosive Wide Receiver, Brandin Cooks on the trade block. Given the huge need the Eagles have at the Wide Receiver position, naturally they are said to be in the mix. The Eagles were rumored to have interest in Cooks in the 2014 draft before the Saints leapfrogged them and selected Cooks. Jeff McLane has found sources that said the Eagles actually tried to trade for Cooks before the trade deadline last year. Despite the rumors, should the Eagles be interested?

In short, Absolutely, but the reasoning goes far beyond filling a massive hole on the team. Brandin Cooks is a legitimate playmaker and looks like an idea fit in Doug Pederson's scheme. Let's have a look. 

New Wrinkles or Breaking Tendencies?

First and foremost, big apologies for the complete lack of posting in the last month. I started a new gig in September and the ramp up has kept me pretty engaged. However, quite frankly the last couple of games before the bye really left very little to get excited about with this team. Sunday night came with some of the usual warts, but did provide a little room for optimism moving forward. While some might not like the fact that it took the Eagles overtime to beat Matt Cassell and the Dallas Cowboys, as we've learned over the years very few road divisional games are gimmes. The Cowboys fought hard for their season and the Eagles were just able to wear them down. 

One Step Forward?: Gameplan vs. Execution in the Passing Game

In my last post, I talked about the Eagles improvements in the running game vs. the Saints being a mix of better execution from the personnel and better game-planning from the coaches. I think its fair to say that the same can be said for the passing game last Sunday. First and foremost, I thought Chip did a good job deciding to attack with the passing game from the start and even his decision to go for it on 4th down on the opening drive (more on that in a bit) was a good one to try and extend the rhythm they have had such a hard time establishing in the first several games. That said, I think it's important to note that the Saints do not have a good defense and were beat up in the secondary. It played a major role in making the Eagles offense looking good. 

A Momentary Sigh of Relief but QB Struggles Continue

Let me first start by saying that it's great to get the first win. Especially combined with a Cowboys loss. The defensive play was very encouraging and Darren Sproles gave us another instant classic on STs. All I can say is thank the Pope that the defense and STs unit showed up. We'll have more on the running game a bit later once the All-22 comes out. Lots of interesting stuff mixed in and it was great to see so much outside zone eventhough the execution remains a hair off. But let's get right down to it. I'm generally not the guy who dumps on the team after a much needed win, I'll generally take wins anytime I can get it. But I have bigger aspirations for this team than simply a title in a crappy NFC East and a playoff appearance. It was widely acknowledged that the biggest thing Chip Kelly needed to get this team over the hump was a franchise QB. Unfortunately, Sam Bradford continues to NOT look the part. 

All-22: Bradford and the Deep Ball and the Sproles Match-up

After the Monday night debut there has been some discussion about the Eagles gameplan and how they chose to attack the Falcons defense. Heading into the game we knew this was going to be a Cover 3 defense and we talked about a variety of ways the Eagles would attack that Cover 3 defense. Certainly we were expecting a heavy dose of the running game with our 60 million dollar backfield and some deeps shots against that Cover 3. Turns out, we didn't see much of either. So what did we see?