October 24, 2016
The Eagles are a football team that defies conventional wisdom, able to throttle elite opponents like Pittsburgh and Minnesota, but helpless against dogs like Washington and Detroit. They are amazing ... unless they stink.
Sunday’s surprisingly easy 21-10 win over the Vikings was the latest example of just how unpredictable the Eagles are this season, weathering three hideous turnovers in the first quarter and taking control behind a brilliant 98-yard touchdown return by Josh Huff and a reenergized defense.
Ah, yes, the defense. There is no more unfathomable part of this perplexing club than its defense. Last week against the Redskins, the unit gave up 493 yards – including 230 on the ground to a putrid running attack. This week, against an undefeated opponent with Sam Bradford at the controls, it yielded less than half the net yards – 239.
Go figure. Remember Jordan Hicks, who fans had assumed was in the federal Witness Protection Program after a promising 2015 rookie season cut short by a pectoral injury? The middle linebacker made 11 tackles, three for losses. Where was he when they played the Lions and the Redskins?
Connor Barwin, who was averaging less than two tackles a game, had a forced fumble and a sack. Rodney MacLeod, invisible in the previous two games, had seven tackles and the biggest play of the game, an interception in the end zone. Nigel Bradham, who whiffed repeatedly in the previous two losses, had seven tackles and a sack.
When I asked Doug Pederson this morning on my WIP radio show how a defense that was so bad in Washington could be so good seven days later, he laughed. The coach didn’t know the answer, either. All he knew for sure, he said, is that screaming would not help the situation. It was time for the leaders to lead – and they did.
Pederson is as much a puzzle in his rookie year as his players, in no obvious way a clone of his mentor, Andy Reid. Unlike Reid, Pederson takes calculated risks all over the field, going for a two-point conversion after a penalty, or a big fourth down near midfield. So far, the gambles have always worked.
Wasn’t Chip Kelly supposed to be the riverboat gambler, not Pederson? Wasn’t Howie Roseman a failure as GM, not the architect of a playoff contender right after a season in exile? And wasn’t there supposed to be a learning curve for Carson Wentz, a rookie from North Dakota State with no experience against elite athletes?
Granted, Wentz looked like the rawest of rookies in the early stages of Sunday’s win, handing the ball to the Vikings at the Eagles’ two-yard line (on an interception), on the Eagles’ 17 (after a fumbled handoff), and at the Vikings’ 39 (on another interception). But then the kid shook it all off and played a smart, efficient game.
Of course, there were some worrisome issues. Running back Ryan Mathews still refuses to protect the football late in games, Jason Kelce is still struggling mightily at center, and defensive tackle Fletcher Cox (two tackles) is still underperforming. There’s no question these Eagles are still very much a work in progress.
But when they’re good, they can beat any team in the NFL. They proved it with a 34-3 win over the Steelers, and now the conquest of a Super Bowl contender from Minnesota. There may be no better time to face the leaders in the NFC East, the Cowboys.
And make no mistake; the Eagles are capable of pummeling their most hated rivals next Sunday night in Dallas. Unfortunately, they could also allow 500 yards and 40 points in a spectacular loss on national television.
With these 2016 Eagles, you just never know.
***
Why is it so difficult for a $14-billion corporation, the most powerful sport in American history, to deal honorably with the issue of domestic abuse? How can the NFL allow the Ray Rice debacle to happen two years ago, and now repeat its mistake with Josh Brown?
The answer to those questions is obvious. It is commissioner Roger Goodell, who is much better at talking about dealing with problems than actually solving them. His behavior in the Brown fiasco is just the latest example of a leader with no grasp of the priorities of his sport, and no genuine desire to do what’s right.
Brown was suspended indefinitely by the NFL last Friday after new information surfaced about just how abusive the Giants kicker had been during his marriage to his wife, Molly. By her estimate, he had physically beaten her at least 20 times; he admitted in documents that it was a minimum of eight separate incidents.
The numbers don’t matter, not after the NFL adopted a zero-tolerance policy against domestic abuse because of the Rice case and not after a major ad campaign that involved some of the biggest names in the sport spouting the motto “No More.”
Zero tolerance? No More? Apparently, Giants co-owner John Mara never got the message, since he said last week that his team knew Brown had crossed the line physically with his wife, but not “the extent” to which the kicker did so. What happened to zero tolerance and No More? Were they just slogans to protect the NFL brand during a time of crisis?
\Yes, that’s all they were. The Giants (and the NFL, which investigated the original Brown allegations), did no more to find the truth than the league did to acquire the Rice elevator tape that ultimately ended his career. In fact, the independent investigator assigned to the Brown case never even bothered to identify his NFL affiliation. The Kings County sheriff called the private eye “a goofus.”
Goodell didn’t want to know what really happened behind closed doors in Josh Brown’s home any more than he wanted to see that elevator tape. The incidents were bad for the brand, bad for business. And the only thing Goodell cares about is the bottom line.
Josh Brown will never play in the NFL again because the public is disgusted by him, -- not the Giants, not the NFL and most certainly not Roger Goodell.
***
As the Sixers prepare for Wednesday night’s most anticipated season opener since ex-GM Sam Hinkie’s three-year tanking experiment began, there’s an obvious problem on the current roster. It has a name. Nerlens Noel.
Not only is Noel hurt again – this time with a knee injury that requires minor surgery – but he is also a bad fit on the team in every way. He can’t stay healthy, he’s the odd man out in a glutted front court and he has a bad attitude, too. As soon as he heals, he needs to be traded.
There may be no softer player in Sixers history than Noel, who has sustained, by my unofficial count, nine separate maladies that have sidelined him in two-plus seasons. Except for a torn ACL at the end of his college career and the current issue, Noel’s medical chart is filled with minor problems all the way from his ankles to his head.
And his head is a problem in more ways than one. He kicked off training camp late last month by declaring that “something needs to happen” with the roster because there are too many young centers. Who is he to complain? As the sixth pick in the 2013 draft, he has been a major bust so far.
Yes, he plays solid defense and is an elite shot-blocker, but for a pick that high, 11 points per game is not going to cut it. Nor was the report last year that he trashed the apartment where he was staying to the tune of $75,000 in damage. On and off the court, Noel has been a disappointment.
Once Noel does return, he doesn’t figure to replace either of the far more promising centers ahead of him, Joel Embiid or Jahlil Okafor. The return of Ben Simmons – the most promising of all the young players – early next year will make Noel even less a factor.
The conventional wisdom is that you don’t kick a player when he’s down, but the truth must prevail here. Noel’s latest injury just highlighted the growing need for GM Bryan Colangelo to rid the team of a player who is simply no longer worth the trouble.
And finally …
• Eagles GM Howie Roseman needs to trade for a young veteran who can add depth to the front line and protect the most valuable commodity on the team, Carson Wentz. Halapoulivaati Vaitai had a good game on Sunday, but now Jason Peters is hurt. If it’ll take a second-round pick (and more) to get Joe Thomas from Cleveland or Joe Staley from the Niners, Roseman should do it. The GM’s first priority now should be to preserve Wentz’s health.
• Whether or not you’re loyal to the Indians’ Terry Francona – who was a lousy manager when he worked for the Phillies – the Cubs are the team that deserves your support during the World Series. They have loyal fans, an iconic stadium and play in one of America’s best cities. It’s finally time to put to rest Steve Bartman and the Billy Goat. Go, Cubbies.
• If major league baseball actually cared about its dwindling fan base, it would make sure playoff games didn’t end after midnight on the East Coast. The final game of the Dodgers-Cubs series took four hours and 16 minutes, an absurd amount of time for a nine-inning game. Either the sport starts games earlier or finds a way to step up the pace. Young fans will not tolerate four-hour games, and older ones won’t stay up that late.
• The best thing about this new version of the Flyers is that they can actually score goals. Matt Read is unconscious right now, Jake Voracek is back from his season-long funk, and the kids are all right. It’s not just that the Flyers are a playoff team again – yes, they are – but they are fun to watch now, too. In a couple of years, look out. They should be back among the elite.
• Denasia Lawrence thought she was making an important statement about racist cops when she kneeled while singing the national anthem last Friday before the Sixers-Miami preseason finale. What she actually accomplished was far less impressive. She made certain she will never again sing the anthem at an American sports event. Shame on her, Colin Kaepernick and all the others who desecrate a country that made them who they are.
