Eagles @ Lions

[Vin+ 3,121]

STATS LLC Associated Press

Oct 05, 2016

 

DETROIT -- The Philadelphia Eagles have gotten off to a memorable start under new coach Doug Pederson. He would prefer for them to forget it ever happened.

 

The Eagles were the most surprising success story during the opening month of the season, dismissing three opponents by a combined score of 92-27 despite starting rookie Carson Wentz at quarterback. That included a stunning 34-3 pummeling of Pittsburgh prior to their bye Week 4.

 

They return with a road game against the stumbling Detroit Lions, who have lost three straight. Philadelphia is one of three remaining unbeaten teams, along with Denver and Minnesota.

 

"Really, in my opinion, our season starts now," Pederson said. "What we've done already is great. We're in a good position but we need to buckle down and prepare as if this is Week One."

 

Wentz became the starter when Sam Bradford was traded to the Vikings just before the regular season. He has justified the team's faith in him, completing 64.7 percent of his pass attempts and throwing for five touchdowns without an interception.

 

"I'm going to continue to coach him up, coach him hard and try to put him in the best possible situations on Sunday, where he's not having to hold the ball a long time," Pederson said. "We'll utilize the run game, play-action passes, all that stuff you've seen in the first three games and keep that formula."

 

The offense should get a boost from the return of starting running back Ryan Mathews and tight end Zach Ertz. Mathews only had two carries against the Steelers before exiting with an ankle injury. Wendell Smallwood rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown in his absence.

 

"Ryan is still our primary guy, he's our go-to guy," Pederson said. "If he's 100 percent we'll go with Ryan and mix the other guys in according to the gameplan."

 

Ertz sat out the last two games after suffering a displaced rib during the opener but has been cleared to play and returned to practice on Monday. He has six catches for 58 yards in 2016. Philadelphia's leading receiver has been wideout Jordan Matthews with 15 receptions for 204 yards and two touchdowns.

 

But there are some looming issues for Philadelphia.

 

Linebacker Nigel Bradham could be facing a suspension after he was arrested for bringing a loaded gun to Miami International Airport over the weekend. Offensive tackle Lane Johnson is facing a 10-game suspension for taking a banned substance, pending the results of his appeal, which took place earlier this week.

 

Very little has gone right for the Lions since their opening-day victory at Indianapolis. They lost a late lead to Tennessee in their only home game thus far, then fell to division rivals Green Bay and Chicago.

 

The 17-14 defeat to the injury-ravaged Bears, who were without their starting quarterback, top two running backs and several key defenders, was particularly troubling.

 

All this has put coach Jim Caldwell on the hot seat.

 

"You know that's one of those things that we don't worry about," he said. "My job is to coach this team and to get this team headed in the right direction."

 

The Lions have been held to 66 and 50 yards rushing, respectively, over the last two games after starting running back Ameer Abdullah was sidelined with a foot injury.

 

Quarterback Matthew Stafford couldn't overcome the lack of running game in Chicago, throwing for just 213 yards and getting picked off twice. He's eager to turn things around.

 

"Honestly, after you play like we did in Chicago that's the first thing I want to do, get back on the field," he said. "I wish we could practice after the flight home. But, practice is all just leading up to Sunday. We're preparing to try and play better this Sunday than we did last Sunday, and we need to, we have to."

 

Getting underperforming wide receiver Golden Tate more involved could help the cause. Tate had just one catch against the Bears, caught an earful from Stafford after a miscommunication led to an interception and was benched for part of the game.

 

Detroit's pass rush has been mostly ineffective since premier defensive end Ziggy Ansah left the Titans game in the first quarter with a high ankle sprain. He's questionable to return this week.

 

The teams met last Thanksgiving, with Detroit romping to a 45-14 victory.

 

 

 

It's Wentz's world, we just live in it.

[RazorStar 4,025]

Fuck having any confidence in the Lions.

 

40

10

[Cherry 1,302]

38

 

13

 

RIP Jim Caldwell

[SteVo+ 3,702]

 

 

Wentz throws his first INT, while Stafford torches our secondary.

 

27

17

[BwareDWare94 723]

Wentz will throw his first INT to Glover Quin, but the Eagles should still win this game.

 

Zach Zenner breaks out if given carries, but the Eagles passing game should take advantage of backup LBs and Lions secondary pieces not named Slay and Quin.

 

The Eagles will need to blitz to beat the Lions, though. You can't let Stafford sit back there and take a nap. If you don't hit him, he'll torch you.

Edited October 8, 2016 by BwareDWare94

[Bay 2,003]

Shootout, Eagles defense back down to earth for one week.

[BwareDWare94 723]

Schwartz needs to start blitzing or Stafford's going to drop 450 and 4

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Well, I'm right so far. The Lions should have 2 INTs but they dropped them.

 

Bware, good call on the Eagles needing to blitz. They haven't, and Stafford is burning them. This was evident in the Pittsburgh game too, but Roethlisberger failed to take advantage, somehow.

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

This defense is so bad...

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

Lions in full chock mode.

[BwareDWare94 723]

These Eagles receivers are going to force Philadelphia to keep track of dropped TD passes...

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Win or lose, I'm happy with the way the team responded to start the second half. When you're in a new HC/new QB season, things like that matter.

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

The Eagles have been targetting Whitehead all game... Not sure if I should be happy that he's done a decent job considering how much they are targetting him, or be sad cause he's still made some huge mistakes.

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

Lions needed 7, and Caldwell goes conservative for 3...

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

BIG PLAY SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

dfbsndb j fdjbsndb;bjdfbvjsdbvjbvjfdbl!!!!!!

[SteVo+ 3,702]

 

 

 

[Cherry 1,302]

Lions are the biggest enigma in the NFL.

[BwareDWare94 723]

What happened on the Slay pick?

[RazorStar 4,025]

Carson Wentz got his Bon Jovi on.

 

WHOOOOOAAOAOAOA, LIVING ON A PRAYER!

 

He just hucked a deep pass down the field on the first play of a two minute drill, into double coverage. The interception was inevitable.

[DonovanMcnabb for H.O.F 2,241]

What happened on the Slay pick?

 

He aired it out and Slay made a great play. Wasn't the worst throw, just a great play.

[SteVo+ 3,702]

Wentz got some rookie mistakes out of his system today but was still poised AF.

[Cherry 1,302]

POISED

[BwareDWare94 723]

I understand he was targeting Agholor on the play. Agholor fucked up multiple times today. Time to elevate DGB.

Edited October 10, 2016 by BwareDWare94

[SteVo+ 3,702]

We only needed a FG on that drive. There was plenty of time left, even with no timeouts. No reason for Wentz to go downfield unless he has a capable receiver in single coverage. Agholor is not capable and there were two Lions in the area. Rookie mistake. Wentz will learn.

[BwareDWare94 723]

We only needed a FG on that drive. There was plenty of time left, even with no timeouts. No reason for Wentz to go downfield unless he has a capable receiver in single coverage. Agholor is not capable and there were two Lions in the area. Rookie mistake. Wentz will learn.

 

Yeah, there was plenty of time left. Some mistakes are inevitable. And it's not like the Lions are some terrible team, so this loss isn't really a bad loss, either.