NFC Divisional Round: Atlanta @ Philadelphia Discussion

B.A.R.

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We'll do individual threads for each this coming week.

Lets start here...

Falcons chalk on the road.
 
Eagles:

Played 16 games (T-1st in the league)

In those 16 games, they played THREE teams that made the playoffs this year.

Points given up:

27
23
35

Yards given up:

344
305
307


Good play against those teams with a 2-1 record.
 
Atlanta played 8 of their 16 games against playoff teams (obviously helped by 4 in division)
 
Could Atlanta's defense get them to the Super Bowl this year? Since Thanksgiving they've allowed:

13
10
23
21
17
9
And 20 points.

They're now 11-0 when scoring 20+ points this year.
 
I was gonna go ballz deep on under in that anyway but thanks

ATL aren't going back to the bowl...this sets up Minny even better and I'd love to see a homer Bowl if sleep doesn't get in the way
 
I’d prob ride the dirty birds again. Not sure foles can exploit the falcon defense downfield. Then again the eagle d may do the scoring. If they set it high enough I’d look at an under
 
16th ranked SOS in the NFC vs the 3rd ranked SOS in the NFC.

Hate to say it but my Birds get beat and beat well.
 
No one is gonna give Philly a chance that's already clear given the talking heads today
 
Foles sucks.

Backups who are much maligned always suck.

They never prove anybody wrong.

If guys like Dalton and Carson Palmer completely suck in playoffs with good teams what hope is there for A guy named MANEKI Nick FOLES?

He just won’t get it done. Backups are backups
 
I might actually do a write up but think Philly D is #1 and Atlanta D is #2 in this one...remember dome team vs cold weather team and I do think that matters.

ATL o should be better than Philly o but how much? Best kicker on the field which could be a difference in the game will be ATL but he's a dome kicker as well so is that neutralized a bit?
 
Philly D looks good on paper.

They played no good teams.

Their offense scored enough that their D looked better than what it was.

Defensively they have a decent pass rush. Below average secondary. Average linebackers.

Coaching is average.


Nothing to get me excited fir Nick Foles.

In the era of terrible quarterbacking certain guys have no business being on the field.

Ryan vs Foles is the biggest mismatch of the playoffs
 
Freeman is about hundred fifty times better than Blount and Ajai.

Both are crap. Both don’t produce in key games.

Freeman will produce. He’s quietly been one of the most dominant offensive players in the nfl for the past 6 weeks.
 
Philly D looks good on paper.

They played no good teams.

Their offense scored enough that their D looked better than what it was.

Defensively they have a decent pass rush. Below average secondary.

I really have no feel for the game but I have to comment on these points that are utterly ridiculous.

1. They played no good teams? GTFO. You don't go 13-3 (with one loss being a game they didn't care about) playing only bad teams. They beat the Chargers (who we can prob agree are better than some teams in the playoffs) in LA. Their first Giants win was when the Giants were healthy and had high hopes for the year. They won in Carolna and held them to 23. Beat Washington twice, both times before their team got crushed by injuries. Beat Dallas in Dallas with the boys season on the line

Did they play a murderers row? Of course not, but no team did bc there are so many bad teams in the NFL now. Falcons skidded by the Bears, lost to the Bills and Dolphins. Barely got by the Jets. I don't mean to rant on you but there has been a lot of the "who have they even played" BS regarding the Eagles and it is utterly ridiculous. Of course, they had Wentz for those games, which is a good point to make, but to say the defense hasn't beaten anyone is not. And when they did play bad teams, they absolutely crushed them.

2. Great pass rush not decent. Secondary is not super talented but a good pass rush makes up for that. Hell look at the golden age Seahawks. What happened to Byron Maxwell when he left? You can make up for an average secondary with a good pass rush, it happens all the time.

I was going to dispute your take on the LBs bc I do think they are pretty good, but with Jordan Hicks out it is not a dominant unit.


Overall I really have no clue. I will be at this game and hoping for the best. I could see Atlanta winning, the loss of Wentz is just too big to overcome. But some of the points you made were frivolous and I had to set the record straight on them.
 
And I will also dispute your Freeman > Ajayi claim. Freeman hasn't really been the same since he came back from a concussion. I don't see him being a threat. If the eagles defense falters, it will be because the pass rush couldn't get to Ryan and allowed him to make plays to Julio and Sanu.
 
Freeman is about hundred fifty times better than Blount and Ajai.

Freeman will produce. He’s quietly been one of the most dominant offensive players in the nfl for the past 6 weeks.

18 for 66
11 for 23
11 for 36 (with a fumble)
22 for 126 (good but also 2 fumbles)
24 for 91 (with a fumble)
12 for 74


What exactly are you watching?
 
I agree blount is trash; the team gave him carries later in the year to let him get a big bonus (that kind of stuff matters in the clubhouse) and keep ajayi fresh, I hope they know better than to give him more than 4-6 on Saturday
 
Dan,

There are a lot of crap NFL teams but that schedule was still weak as can be. Lets not hype up those NFC East opponents too much.
 
Their 3 games against playoff teams, they did play very well. In fact, damn well. That was Pre-Injury though.
 
Dan,

There are a lot of crap NFL teams but that schedule was still weak as can be. Lets not hype up those NFC East opponents too much.

division was garbage but you can only beat who the schedule has you playing. 13-3 is 13-3. and my point was just that not all wins were trash. plenty of quality wins mixed in there...wins in bad spots where the "sharps" would consider it a let down. and when they played bad teams, they destroyed them.

pats play the AFC east trash 2x every year. Steelers get the browns twice a year. Nobody ever seems to use that as a point to take away from their accomplishments.
 
by no means did they play a lot of good teams, but its not like they eeked into the playoffs by just scratching by cellar dwellers either.
 
pats play the AFC east trash 2x every year. Steelers get the browns twice a year. Nobody ever seems to use that as a point to take away from their accomplishments.
I know I’ve pointed out the crappy list of QBs the Steel feasted on multiple times.

Trashing the Pats schedule is laughable. They won at Pittsburgh, at New Orleans, and oh yeah they have 15 years of pedigree with five Lombardi’s as their bonafides.
 
that's fine im just saying that they go 13-3, 14-2 every year getting to play the bills jets and dolphins twice. it is what it is, you can only play who the schedule says you play. im just saying its not a reason to knock the eagles.
 
Best quadrant on the field going in will be Philly defense. I like that.

kJ Atlanta has the fastest defense in the entire league!
Deion Turbo Jones is becoming the new Luke kuchly. Gurley was held in check because of Turbo Jones and his speed. The guy is everywhere on every play.

Grady Jarrett is dominant, victor Beasley and Tak McKinley provide speed rushers.

Trufant is an elite corner while Alford could be the best second corner in the league. Neal Poole Claiborne I just don’t see the comparison with the Mickey Mouse Eagles defense.

Eagles have so many holes on defense. Their entire team was based on a college style offense that had success early on.

Devinta Freeman is one of the best runners in the league. Those floridastate kids can ball out.

Matt Ryan is quietly playing good ball. Falcons have a very complete team with also the best kicker in the league.

Not sure of Atl had enough to win in Minny but they can easily dispatch Philly.

I seriously doubt it Philly even cares about this game. Why would they? Every single player in that locker room knows Foles cannot win. They know their season is over.
It’s easier to lose right away like the chiefs did.

I really see Atlanta asthe motivated team here. I think they realize they are the better and more motivated team.
 
Belief is big in playoffs. You have to believe.

Rams vs Falcons. Which team early on did you think felt hey we are the better team with a better qb, we are going to win this game.

That team was Atlanta. They knew they had the stud Matt Ryan throwing. The rams early on probably thought fuck our Goff is no match for Ryan. We are basically going to lose this game.

Hard to see the eagles believing that Foles can beat solid teams that are peaking like the falcons.

If this was a bowl game falcons win easily.
 
And I will also dispute your Freeman > Ajayi claim. Freeman hasn't really been the same since he came back from a concussion. I don't see him being a threat. If the eagles defense falters, it will be because the pass rush couldn't get to Ryan and allowed him to make plays to Julio and Sanu.

You can discount Freeman in this game.

But don’t forget this guy was the starting running back for the Florida State national champs and also the starting running back for the 2016 Falcons which was one of the best offfense in lleague history.

Freeman was on both teams. Guy is a baller!
 
Fast defenses become not so fast on grass in potential weather. Samuel that's the cat whisperer.

It’s ok. Cats can adapt. They can handle all climates from snow to sleet to rain to jungle climate to extreme arctic cold.

Cats are the best!
 
Weather-wise...

Falcons have already played in horrid conditions at Jersey against the Jets...

It will be dry for the game... but very windy...
 
Quite simply I break this into the 4 main units on the field and rank it this way, obviously some will disagree.

1. Philly defense
2. Atlanta defense
3. Atlanta offense
4. Philly offense

Not including special teams because no clue which team will see the field more but just as a buffer Bryant is a top 3 kicker in the league, however outside this time of year neutralizes that imo. Especially if it's windy. Makes it close to a wash. And offensively, I'm not sure they're much different out the dome anyway. Obv Ryan has more cred but this ain't in the dome, gonna guess this game is slow paced as Philly tries to wear down the ATL defense pounding it but allowing Foles to make plays on 1st down occasionally.

Whole world isn't giving the Eagles a chance so it seems. Their defense can absolutely win this game. Under for me and Eagles, it could be ugly, ugly, ugly.
 
Dome teams are 4-23 SU outdoors in the playoffs in contests where the game-time temperature is 35 degrees or lower.
 
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