In our weekly Eagles chat on Thursday, there were a lot of questions that we could not get to in time or other questions we did answer but could use more color. And so, let's do a mailbag post to answer some of the overflow.
Question from Pop: If you were to say, ‘In order for the Eagles to have success in January, they must _____,’ what would that No. 1 thing be?
Get after the opposing quarterback.
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Obviously, Nick Foles can’t play the way he did last Sunday, or they have no chance, but that’s just understood at this point. But for the purposes of a realistic way the Eagles can win, think back to the preseason, waaaaaay before anyone knew how good Carson Wentz was going to be this season. If you were to ask, ‘What is the strength of this team,’ the answer would have nearly unanimously been, ‘The defensive line.’
Well, once again, with Wentz out, the defensive line is the strength of the team, and they are going to have to get after opposing quarterbacks in order to win. Defensive lines have carried teams to championships in recent history. The Giants’ two unexpected Super Bowl runs were both fueled by their defensive lines, as was the Broncos’ of a couple years ago.
It’s time for Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham, Timmy Jernigan, Vinny Curry, Derek Barnett, Chris Long, and Beau Allen to go out and put the team on the defensive line’s back.
Question from LostInChiTown: As well as the defense played Monday, Fletcher Cox did not seem to have a great game. He seems to have dropped off over the past month or so. Does he lose effort as the season wears on? He should be better rested than in past years.
I think that’s a fair question, and I agree that he has been quiet. I’ll also note that in the past, Cox has looked disinterested during training camp, and then when the season began, bang, he began dominating and making plays.
I can maybe see where Cox is looking ahead to the playoffs, knowing that games against the Giants or the Raiders are comparatively meaningless. The NFL season is a grind. I mean, I’m tired, and I’m only a freaking writer, whereas a defensive tackle is mashing his head into opposing offensive linemen all year.
I can’t say if the above is what is happening with Fletch. It’s just a guess. But I do think he’ll be ready on January 13th/14th.
Question from Doug Pederson: Is this Eagles team good enough to win with Nick Foles playing average? Or do they need him to play well to win in the postseason?
That depends on what you mean. Average, for him? Or average for a normal NFL starting quarterback? I think they’d sign up all day for the latter.
Question from Tim Jones: Would Mike Groh be an option for the QB coaching job when DeFilippo gets his head coaching opportunity? Or is Groh strictly here as the WR coach?
That’s an interesting thought. Tim asks because Groh, who is currently the Eagles’ wide receiver coach, was a quarterback himself in college, and was a quarterback coach at various points in his coaching career at the University of Virginia, and later at Louisville. In the NFL, Groh has always been a wide receivers coach.
Would they let him interview? Yeah, I think so, but I think they’d ultimately go in another direction.
Question from Wayne: What position do you think the Eagles will target in the first round?
To begin, I’ll state my usual disclaimer that I’m a big proponent of ‘best player available,’ within reason. Certainly, the Eagles aren’t going to take a quarterback in the first round, no matter how good one may be when they’re picking. If a few players with similar grades are all available, however, I think offensive tackle is their biggest need. After that, I think there are strong arguments for drafting a wide receiver, linebacker, or continuing to load up on the defensive line.
Question from Cornell: Who replaces Jim Schwartz? A buddy told me a Panthers blog has Al Holcomb linked to the Eagles. I heard similar about Mike Zimmer’s son Adam. Those teams have great defenses. I wouldn’t be mad at either choice.
I’m not so sure they’re going to lose Schwartz. Most of the teams likely to fire their head coaches will be looking for quarterbacks this offseason. The exceptions are going to be the Colts, and the Bengals, depending on what you think of Andy Dalton. (I’m not a fan, personally.)
As such, I think teams around the league would have to be blind not to notice what the Rams and Eagles were able to do this season with their young quarterbacks, after surrounding them with quarterback-focused coaching staffs. The NFL is a copycat league, so I think Schwartz may find it difficult finding teams that aren’t leaning heavily toward hiring offensive-minded head coaches.
That said, thank you for the names. I’ll keep them in mind if/when I’m wrong.
Question from Pragmatic: I know a lot went wrong for the Eagles this season – MAJOR Injuries, etc. But a lot went right too. 13 wins is really hard to do even for great teams. I fear next season, with what looks like a tough schedule.
Yeah, the big unexpected thing that went right for this team was the absurd number of guys who came out of nowhere and had expectation-exceeding seasons, like Patrick Robinson, Stefen Wisniewski, Nelson Agholor, Corey Clement, Jason Kelce, Nigel Bradham, etc. That can’t be expected every year.
And you’re right – the schedule looks brutal in 2018. I know a lot of people thought that this year’s schedule was tough. I never saw it that way. But next year, they’re going to play all five of the other teams that made it to the playoffs (assuming Atlanta gets in), in addition to a Cowboys team twice that presumably won’t have to deal with the same level of nonsense from their best player like they did a year ago. I agree that 2018 is going to be a huge challenge.
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