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LONDON – On London, Andy Harmon, Jim Schwartz and why London is one of my favorite countries in Europe.
It's 10 Random Eagles Live Observations from England!
1. It will be interesting to see how the Eagles react on Sunday in a crucial match that is going on in another country. In talking with the players on Friday, it was easy to say how do not in the journey they were. It was really painful, flying at night, arriving in London at sunrise, going straight to team meetings, then training to train with little or no sleep. The Jaguars do this every year, so most of their players have followed the routine and know how to prepare for it and how to handle it. For the Eagles, they are unexplored waters. NFL players – and professional athletes in general – are creatures of habit. They like to do the same things all the time, and the Eagles are out of their comfort zone here. But it's a huge game, and long after we've all forgotten where it was played, we'll remember if the Eagles dropped to 3-5 with their fourth five-game defeat or if at least they straightened out temporarily the ship overcoming a difficult pass. week and finding their way back to 4-4 with a week off, then the meat of the NFC East calendar approaching. All that matters is how the Eagles play, not where they play.
2 I would really like to see Carson Wentz sink deeper into the back. Corey Clement and Wendell Smallwood are capable receivers, but each has only 13 shots. I admire Wentz's aggressive mentality and the fact that he's always staring at the field. But this attack works best when the quarterback takes the shot under the target when he is there instead of forcing him. And it's not just a reaction to the 3rd and 2nd weeks last week (more about this piece here). I have always thought that in some cases it would be advantageous for Wentz and the offense to take the safe under the safe. Hopefully, he learned Sunday.
3 His aggressive approach really makes Wentz's career interception ratio even more ridiculous. He only started one INT this year and it was his first match. He chained Sunday with 173 consecutive passes without interception, 63 fewer than Nick Foles' team record set between 2012 and 2013. Wentz now has the third lowest interception rate in NFL history, well that he rarely takes security. Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Russell Wilson and Wentz are the only QB to feature in the top 10 in the history of the NFL in the highest percentages in TD and INT. Amazing business.
4 One statistic that strikes me is that the Eagles faced 76 assists in third place this year and that they only have four sacks. Only giants (3) have less. And of these four, two were linebackers, one by a defensive tackle and one by a defensive end. It's a third of the defensive duel in almost half a season. Michael Bennett, Chris Long, Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett combined 28 sacks last year, Bennett and Seattle. These four have a combined eight this year and now Barnett is out for the season. This is something that is seriously missing from the defense.
5 When people defend Jake Elliott by claiming that two of his failures this year were between 54 and 55 yards, remember that the NFL kickers are more than missing in recent days. Elliott is 0 for 2 out of 54 and out, but the rest of the NFL is 17 for 27 (63 percent). Elliott had the historic 61-yard win against the Giants last year, but it's his only career since 54 years. In total, Elliott has 11 points for 15 this year, the second worst among the 24 kickers who scored at least 10 goals on the field this year. I'm not ready to disconnect because we know what kind of leg he has, but I'm getting closer.
6 I still can not believe that Jim Schwartz started a half corner against the Panthers who had not played in an NFL game for 11 months, had never started a match. the NFL, were in the street five days earlier and had not even been on the list. for two months. There is no chance that Rasul Douglas felt like it makes sense to start a guy who was out of football since the training camp that preceded him.
7. Do you know what is incredible? As bad as the Eagles have played, they still have the fourth highest number of wins in the NFC. If they find how to win games, especially division games, they can recover in this situation.
8 Being in London with the Eagles recalls many memories of the 1989 and 1991 trips to London for preparatory matches. In 1991, the media gathered early in the morning in the hotel's upscale hotel hall to talk with head coach Rich Kotite. Everyone had flown all night without sleeping or sleeping and we were all exhausted. As we waited for Richie the K, a few journalists, including Merrill Reese, fell asleep in the comfortable armchairs in the lobby. We are all sitting and discussing our flights and plans for the week in London. At one point, Merrill suddenly woke up and still half asleep let out randomly: "They really like that Andy Harmon. "Forget the Super Bowl. It was my favorite call from Merrill.
9 My other favorite memory of this trip is about a writer who was very close to Buddy Ryan, Kotite's predecessor, and who had, say, a hideous relationship with Kotite. Ryan had just been fired in January and replaced by Kotite. This suburban journalist was pursuing the unfortunate Kotite on every occasion. There was a musical about the life of Buddy Holly who was playing at the time in the West End of London and called "Buddy". So the guy went to the show and bought a t-shirt to be able to present himself to Richie the K's press conference the next day at Crystal Palace and sit in the front row with a "Buddy" t-shirt.
ten. I heard by chance the Eagles cheerleader in the Grosvenor Square Marriott lobby: "I've always wanted to visit London and all the other countries of Europe."
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