BillyV's Blog

There are several factors that I think will be critical for the Eagles, not only for the season opener, but for the season as a whole. 

1) Andy's willingness to run the football.  That's always a big question.  Even more so in game one, and for the first several games of the season.  We know Kevin Curtis is out.  Reggie Brown, who's been unable to practice the last two days, may also miss the game.  Going in with a rookie, DeSean Jackson, and backups shuttling in and out, there's no way you can take the usual pass, pass, pass approach of Reid.  I mean, would you rather have the ball in the hands of Brian Westbrook or Greg Lewis?

What's more, the Rams are susceptible to the running attack.  They finished 20th in the league last year against the run, and while this is a new season, they still have a very small linebacking corps.  Middle linebacker Will Witherspoon is small and quick at 240 pounds.  He's a good pass rusher, but will be giving up 100 pounds if Shawn Andrews can get to him while blocking in the run game.

2) The play of the Eagles tight ends.  Again, the receiving corps is decimated, and they'll need to get a big impact from L.J. Smith and Brent Celek.   The Eagles have blamed their lack of production in the red zone last year on L.J's absence.  I don't buy it; I don't recall L.J. ever being a force near the goal line.  But they'll need him to become one. 

3) The play of the Eagles safeties.   Can Brian Dawkins, at age 35, bounce back from an injury-riddled season?  Can Quinton Mikell, who looked mighty good in training camp and in the preseason, be as effective in the games that count?  I think it will be important for Mikell and strongside linebacker Chris Gocong to shut down the Rams tight ends Sunday.  The Rams didn't use their TE, Randy McMicheal, a whole lot last year.  But new offensive coordinator Al Saunders might change that.  He comes over from Washington, where the Skins' tight ends, Chris Cooley in particular, tortured the Eagles the last couple of years.

4) The pass rush has to be better.   They need someone, other than just Trent Cole, to get some pressure.  I hate to keep harping on it, but who knows if Cris Clemons can rush the passer after he missed most of the preseason?  As for Cole, he might have a field day against the Rams, because Orlando Pace, the star left tackle, is coming back from injury and, according to some reports I've read, is nowhere near the player he once was.

9/2/08

THE BAD:  So what exactly is the preseason for, anyway?  Jerome McDougle was one of the best players on the field  throughout the preseason, and the Eagles cut him anyway.  I can understand that they wanted to keep Chris Clemons after signing him as a free agent, even though he barely could get on the field because of an assortment of injuries.  Really, they had to keep Clemens, because otherwise they would have wasted $4 million of salary cap money.  And they weren’t going to cut Bryan Smith after using a 3rd round pick on the rookie.  But they needed to find a way to make room for McDougle because his 2 ½ sacks led the team in the preseason games, and he consistently put pressure on the quarterback.  Now he’ll play for the New York Giants and will haunt the Eagles twice a year. 

Meanwhile, you wonder whether Clemens is ever going to get on the field.  Like McDougle, he  has a career long history of injuries, but while Jerome is healthy now, Clemens is still suspect.  He did practice Monday and claims he’ll be ready for the season oepener.   

THE GOOD:  The Eagles discovered a late round gem in Joe Mays.  Mays,  a 6th round draft choice, was outstanding throughout the preseason.  He has a linebackers build, he hits hard, and he's always around the football.  I honestly think that, after he gets a season under his belt as a backup middle LB, he may be ready to challenge for a starting job next year on the outside.  Maybe he will challenge Omar Gaither, who is similar to Mays in that he was drafted way down in the 5th round and is a tribute to the Eagles scouting department.

MORE BAD THAN GOOD:  The Eagles didn’t too well in free agency.  Asante Samuel is a very good player, but that didn’t really address a position of need.  Wide receiver was a position of need that didn't get addressed, which becomes even more critical with Kevin Curtis’ injury.   Tight end Kris Wilson was cut.  Special teams guy Rocky Boiman was also cut yesterday when the Eagles added Tank Daniels.  That means only Samuel, Dan Klecko and Clemens made the team out of the free agents they signed. 

8/21/08

The Eagles are still not giving a timetable on the return of Kevin Curtis, even though they had said they'd know more after his surgery.  That surgery was performed today at Hahnemann hospital, but the Eagles made no statement on how it went or what the future outlook is.

We can safely assume he'll miss some regular season games, but how many?  Andy Reid is, apparently, betting that it won't be many, because he said he wouldn't try to replace Curtis.   No, Reid is not going to sign Joe Horn, the longtime standout receiver cut by Atlanta recently.  That's because, at age 36, Horn is way past his prime.  He had just 27 catches last year for a dismal 9.0 average and only  one TD.

Also, forget about Anquan Boldin.   No way the Cardinals give up a quality receiver like that, no matter how disgruntled he is.  It's the same thing I said when folks were talking about the Eagles acquiring his teammate, Larry Fitzgerald, during the offseason.  Fitzgerald eventually signed a new deal with the Cards.

But it's hard to imagine Reid won't be looking around for someone to come in and help, especailly since the receiving corps is not that great to begin with, and that Reggie Brown has been hampered by a couple of injuries of his own.  Maybe he plans to wait until teams make their final cuts a week from Saturday.

Speaking of teams making their cuts, I bet the Eagles will have a surprise or two in store.  In fact, one source tells me the Eagles will cut some high-salaried veterans to save money.   Is it possible they would even cut a guy they signed as a free agent?  Pass rushing specialist Chris Clemons was their second-biggest free agent signing behind Asante Samuel, but he's missed time with injuries, and I'm told the Eagles feel he should be making a better effort to get on the field.   Besides, Jerome McDougle has been making a mark in the preseason games.  And they've also decided to use Darren Howard at left as well as right end to get him on the field more. 

The first few cuts have to be made Tuesday, and then the tougher decisions come when they cut down to the roster limit of 53 on August 30th.

I'll be on vacation when those dates roll around, but willt try to respond if you want to give me your thoughts.   

8/17/08

Life as a football player can sure be unpredictable.  When veterans reported to Eagles training camp this year, a couple of offensive lineman appeared to be on the fence, in danger of falling over backward.

One of them was Todd Herremans.  The starting left guard had, according to most observers, not played well last year.  It was expected that Max Jean-Gilles would compete to take over his starting job.

Then there was Scott Young.  Young was drafted in 2005, the same year as Herremans.  He was taken one round later, Herremans in the 4th, Young in the 5th.  But unlike Herremans, Young had not been able to win much playing time.  And when he suddenly disappeared during the Eagles last mini-camp, it wasn’t much of a story.  I, along with some others, asked Andy Reid about it, and he said he knew what it was about, but wouldn’t elaborate.  When training camp began, no one even asked Young what his boycott was about.  He didn’t seem to figure in the Eagles plans anyway.

But then, Shawn Andrews didn’t show for camp, and everything changed.  Jean-Gilles became the starter on the right side, leaving Herremans unchallenged at left guard.  And when William Thomas suffered from a back problem and couldn’t play, Herremans was moved to left tackle for the preseason game against Carolina, and Young started the game at left guard.

Who would’ve thought that a left side of Herremans and Young would do so well?  But they did.  Young used his considerable strength to bull his opponents on both run and pass blocking.  (At the scouting combine, Young had bench pressed 225 pounds an amazing 43 times.) 

Herremans, meanwhile, is more naturally a tackle than a guard, anyway.   Their fortunes are changing, and it’s all good for the Eagles offensive line.

8/13/08

Eagles camp is over.  Three weeks of two-a-day practices at Lehigh University that Andy Reid says helped his players build and display character; he liked the way players worked to come back quickly from injuries.   Interesting comment, in light of the fact that the team’s top free agent signee, Asante Samuel, was injured in the first full-squad workout, and missed 25 practices before finally returning. 

            Of course, Pro Bowl right guard Shawn Andrews missed every single practice, but is rumored to be ready to return when the team starts workouts at their practice facility in Philly on Saturday.  Reid didn’t confirm that.  He did say “we are just in the process of getting a support staff set up for him in Philadelphia.” 

            I think it’s great that they want to get him some support.  A lot of people don’t understand what Shawn’s going through.  They wonder how a pro football player, who makes millions of dollars, can get depressed.  I talked with a psychologist who told me that there can be a physical cause for clinical depression, a chemical in the brain. 

            Offensive tackle Jon Runyan has made some comments that don’t sound too sympathetic to Shawn.  But in talking with Jon, I don’t get the impression that he dislikes Shawn, or that he’s thinking Shawn is faking.  (Some of the media have made it sound that way.)   It’s more that he’s just saying Shawn problems are not his problems, and that each guy has to work out their own situation. 

8/11/08

The questions I asked in my blog before the Eagles first preseason game: 1) How will their pass rush look?  And,  2) How will their run defense look?

The answers?  I think the pass rush was so-so.  They ended up with only one sack, and that was for zero loss.   (Rookie Trevor Laws got it.)

The statement I had made, in relation to question one, is that Jerome McDougle, though considered a long shot to make the roster, is as good as any other defensive end on the team (I meant to say "other than Trent Cole." ) 

Am I just wanting to make myself correct?  Because it sure seemed to me that McDougle had a very good game,  using his speed to get some pressure on the quarterback.  I felt like he helped his case for making the team. 

Answer Two, about the run defense:  Also so-so.  Going back over the tape of the Steelers' first drive for the game's only touchdown, it looked like strongside linebacker Chris Gocong got blocked pretty well, but Stu Bradley looked good in the middle.  Bradley had two tackles during that drive and turned back another play that was designed to go wide.  The Steelers only averaged 3.4 yards per rush,   but in the first half, they averaged 4.3, and that was mostly against the Eagles starting defense. 

I also mentioned that Donovan McNabb and the wide receivers have looked good in camp, but wondered how would they look in a game.  McNabb, who completed 10 of 13 passes, may have been the best player on the field Friday.  Or maybe it was rookie receiver DeSean Jackson, who caught  five passes.  Jackson's looked good in camp, and now in the first preseason game.  Still too early, though, to think that the Eagles finally have the big-play receiver they need.  But it's a start. 

8/7/08

I’m liking the possibilities of three quality cornerbacks, although Asante Samuel probably won’t play, leaving Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown as the starters, same as last year.  (By the way, I sympathize with Lito over owner Jeff Lurie’s comment about Lito having a high YPA—yards per attempt—against him last year.  Sheldon said he’d never even heard of such a stat. “No,” he said, “have you?”  I admitted I hadn’t either. As Brown said, if you’re playing a “cover two” defense, and the corner checks the receiver off to the safety, who is held responsible for the completion yards?)

The thing I’ll look for is the pass rush.  They have so many small but quick defensive ends, designed to give them a pass rush.  Believe it or not, I think Jerome McDougle, the former first round pick, is as quick and effective as any of them.  But with his injury history, he’s never had a chance to prove it, and he’s considered a long shot to make the team.  I think he will.

The run defense.  Can any of those small but quick defensive ends possibly stop the run? Especially with Victor Abiamiri, their biggest end, injured?  Will the bigger linebackers this year make up for the smallish guys up front?

Like everyone else, I’d also like to see the wide receivers.  They’ve looked good in camp, as has Donovan McNabb.  But the number one offense is always running against the number two defense.  Let’s see ho they look against a starting defense. 

7/30/08

When I’m at Eagles training camp, I like to watch the offensive lineman.  With one of the biggest stories of camp being the absence of Shawn Andrews, I especially wanted to see how big Max Jean-Gilles would look filling in.   And he looks good.  We knew, coming out of college a few years ago, that Massive Max could move people out of the way in the run game.  The question was his pass blocking.  Of course, pass-blocking usually involves moving backward, and Max is not the most mobile guy.  But Max has worked at it, and he seems to be using his bulk and strength to attack the pass rusher, pushing him sideways in the trenches.  Of course, we’d all still like to see Andrews, a Pro Bowl player, come back. Then Max could go challenge Todd Herremans for the starting job on the left side, as he was expecting to do when camp began. 

Donovan McNabb is looking good.  Still, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg   got carried away today when he talked about McNabb as a possible “first ballot Hall of Famer”—hey, let him win a championship first. 

            McNabb’s backup, Kevin Kolb, is now getting a lot more reps as the second-string guy.  He’s got a good arm, and I always like his attitude, smart and confident but not cocky.

            Tony Hunt, completely forgotten by the Eagles after being drafted in the 3rd round last year, is catching the ball well out of the backfield.  I hate the fact that Andy Reid didn’t use him as a big back in short yardage last year.  But we know Andy is all about the passing game, and if you don’t catch the ball well you won’t get on the field.

            The entire afternoon practice was devoted to special teams, which is good because the Eagles finished 24th in both punt returns and kick returns last year.  New punt returner DeSean Jackson is small but fast and new kick returner Lorenzo Booker is small but quick.  (Jackson, listed at 169 pounds on draft day now weighs 175 according to the Eagles.  Booker is 191.)  Since the Eagles don’t allow any tackling of the ball carrier during special teams, it remains to be seen how these two guys handle it when they do get hit.  Rookie safety Quinton Demps, who has a little more size at 206 pounds, is their number two kick returner.  Last year’s return men, Correll Buckhalter and J.R. Reed are also still in the mix.

            Final observation for now:  You can tell it’s training camp because Greg Lewis has been one of the best receivers on the field.  I think I wrote the same thing during last year’s camp.  And the year before.  

7/23/08

HE’S BAACK.  Yet again.  Bernard Hopkins told me today he’s going to return to the ring to fight middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik.  It hasn’t been officially announced yet,  but it’s going to happen October 13th  in Atlantic City.

Bernard has retired and come back too many times to count.  He retired briefly after his record 20 defenses of  the middleweight championship ended in a close decision loss to Jermain Taylor in 2005.  But he came back for a rematch with Taylor, (close decision loss), followed by Antonio Tarver (decision win), then Winky Wright (decision win), and most recently, Joe Calzaghe (decision loss.) 

Hopkins, of course, still thinks he should’ve gotten the decisions over Taylor and Calzaghe.  That’s why, at age 43, he says he will no longer fight in Las Vegas, where both of those losses took place.  When he was first approached about facing Pavlik , Hopkins told promoter Bob Arum the fight would have to be in Atlantic City.  He also said he wanted $15 million.

In the end, Hopkins settled for a little less than  $15 mil. But he told me he wouldn’t have settled for any other location than Atlantic City.  “I’d have been $15 million poorer.  It wouldn’t have happened.  Because if I’m going to do anything else between now and when I really say I’m done, it’s going to be close to home where my fans get to see it.”

RECORD WHEN ROLLINS GETS A HIT    29-17   .630 PCT

                         WHEN HE DOESN'T         6-14    .300 PERCENTAGE.

If last year's MVP, currently hitting just .274, can get on base more and the Phils do a better job of manufacturing runs, they can hold off the surging Mets and win the division.

For the first time since the days of Moses Malone and Charles Barkley, the 76ers have a player who can score down low in the paint. 

The signing of free agent Elton Brand is the biggest addition the Sixers have made in a long time. 

Over the last few days, there’s been a lot of debate: should the Sixers--now finally under the salary cap after years of being hamstrung—go after Brand or Atlanta’s Josh Smith?  Smith is younger, but Brand was an unrestricted free agent, whereas Smith was restricted.  Ultimately, I think Brand was the right decision because he’s just what the Sixers need, a low post option.  He can draw double teams and kick it out to open shooters on the wing.  He’s one of only four active players who have averaged more than 20 points and 10 rebounds a game over their career.

Skeptics think he’s too old and beat up, but he’s actually only 29.  It is true that he’s coming off an Achilles injury that kept him out most of last year.  But Brand says he’s now 100%, and the Sixers doctors performed every imaginable test to confirm that. 

He’s also has a great attitude, and will team with Andre Miller to give them some great veteran leadership.  In fact, during his news conference today, Brand talked about the pleasure of playing in the NBA All-Star game (the year it was held in Philly) with Miller. 

The question now is, will his teammates be able to hit those open shots that Brand will help create?  With Thaddeus Young moving into the small forward spot after a great rookie showing, Andre Iguodala becomes the shooting guard.  Everyone knows that, despite averaging 19.9 points a game, Iguodala’s outside shooting needs to improve.  He works hard at it, so hopefully he will get a little better in his 5th NBA season.

He’ll have to, because barring a trade involving Iguodala, the Sixers won’t get a significant outside shooting threat.  They used all of their available money to sign Brand and can’t add another free agent.  

But if they don’t get an outside sniper, a 3-point specialist,  it’s okay.  Last year, they started the season with Kyle Korver and they actually had a losing record prior to trading him December 29th.  They were 13-16.  After the trade, they had a winning record, 27-26.

They didn’t miss Korver’s shooting touch because they were able to run their fastbreak better without him, using their athleticism to score, and to play better defense. 

Those are the keys to winning again this year, and with Brand starting the fastbreak with his solid rebounding, they’ve got what they need to be a very solid contender right now.

Littleball.  It’s what the Phillies played last night.  And I think that’s why they finally broke their six game losing streak.  

The Phillies offense has been way too reliant on the longball.  When they hit homers, they win.  But they don’t hit consistently for average, so without the HR ball, they don’t score.

Last night against Oakland, they found ways to score without hitting any homers.  Jason Werth keyed the first inning by drawing a walk, stealing third after a Chase Utley single, and scoring on Pat Burrell’s sac fly.  One  hit, one run.  They scored later on a sac fly as well.

Of course, the fact that Kyle Kendrick pitched magnificent ball, allowing 4 hits in 8 shutout innings, was the biggest key.

But the fact that he had a little lead to work with may have helped, too.   The Phils had a 1-0 lead for a few innings in the previous night’s game in Oakland, but they never led at any time during their five losses on their previous homestand. 

Here are the numbers I crunched and broadcast during a recent Fox 29 "Phils Breakdown" analysis.   I thought it interesting, because my first thought, in light of the Phillies recent inability to score runs, was "put Chris Coste in at catcher.  The guy can flat out hit."

But I also know, just from off-camera conversations with Phillies coaches, that the perception is that Coste doesn't handle the pitchers as well as Carlos Ruiz.  The question, then, is whether hitting or handling pitchers is more important?

( I know the mistake I always made playing Strat-O-Matic baseball over the years is that I would get good hitting catchers who couldn't throw out baserunners, and I never won a championship ! )

The numbers backed up Phillies'  coaches claim.  The pitcher's are more effective   when Ruiz is calling the game, averaging significantly fewer runs allowed:         

                                   Coste                  Ruiz

Team ERA                    4. 25                3.60

Of course, Coste has much better numbers at the plate:

                                   Coste                 Ruiz

Batting Avg               .307                   .226

HR                                  6                          2

So which is more important? Ultimately, wins and losses tell the story. The Phils record is much better with Ruiz catching:

                                 Coste                    Ruiz

Wins/Losses         15-17                  27-18

That's why Ruiz, despite his struggles at the plate, remains the numer one catcher.

6/1/08

Good things are happening at Citizens Bank Park these days.  The Phillies are scoring runs like never before—more than I thought they would.  They’re in first place—better than I thought they’d be.   And today, they welcomed back Mike Lieberthal and allowed him to retire as a Phillie—and the reception from the fans was better than I thought it would be.

In Lieby’s last several years as a Phillie, the radio talk shows were full of hosts and listeners blaming Lieby’s attitude for the team’s problems.  They called him a “cancer in the clubhouse.”  It simply wasn’t true.

It’s always hard to figure where these type of assessments come from.  Most of these talk show hosts never even go into the clubhouse, so how would they know whether someone is causing a problem there?

In all my years of covering the Phils,  I never saw Lieby cause a problem. And when I asked a former teammate of Lieby’s whether the veteran catcher was a guy who caused problems, the player was shocked by the question: “Mike Lieberthal? No way.  He’s a great guy.”

Lieby spent 13 of his 14 big league seasons with the Phils.  He received lots of cheers from fans when he threw out the opening pitch today, proving that you can go home again.