Hey you Eagles fans, what happened with Dawkins?

Jstas

He's a Bronco now? Couldn't Jeffie boy pony up to keep his best defensive player on the squad?

Maybe Westbrook will bail on the Eagles too so he doesn't end up like Barry Sanders as one of the best to never get a ring.

jabrax

Personally, i understand the move. Don't get me wrong, I love what the Dawk brings to the game. However, he is definitely past his prime, and for those who really appreciate the game and position, you can definitely see it (aside from the highlight reel.)

The reason the eagles and other teams remain competitive year after year, is their ability to manage the system. It seems that ever other year they let go of a popular veteran and most fans get all emotional over it. However, they have been correct everytime, and will probably be correct on this. We will revisit 1/2 way through next season

Now Westbrook, they need to get the man a real tightend and full back. Of course the overemotional fans will still be yelling for a rec, but that is for a different thread .

Jstas

But the Eagles aren't competitive year after year. They are fairly inconsistent, getting to the super bowl one year and failing to make the play offs the next and so on.

Dawkins may be "past his prime" 'cause he's old for a defensive secondary player but he can still do what he needs to do. Add to that, he's a veteran with many, many years at the Eagles and in his position. He knows the organization and he is a leader on the field and off. That right there was enough, IMO, to put the money in the man's pocket to make sure he retired with the Eagles.

I just wish he was going some place with the ability to go to a super bowl in the next year or two. He would have been a brutal addition to the Ravens or brought some much needed experience and guidance to a very young secondary on Dallas or he would have been a great compliment to Washington's acquisition of Mr. Haynesworth.

The thing about the Eagles is that I cannot remember a time when they were not defense strong. The problem with the Eagles has always been the offense.

pearsall001

Jstas wrote: »

He's a Bronco now? Couldn't Jeffie boy pony up to keep his best defensive player on the squad?

Maybe Westbrook will bail on the Eagles too so he doesn't end up like Barry Sanders as one of the best to never get a ring.

Why so much concern about the Eagles? Don't you have enough problems to worry about with your Cowboys to keep you busy in the off season? I really wouldn't let it bother you. If anything you should be glad he's gone...he loved beating up on the Cowboys!!

George Grand

A local sportswriter indicated that the money saved on Dawkins would go directly towards pizza and cheesesteaks for Andy Reid.

Jstas

pearsall001 wrote: »

Why so much concern about the Eagles? Don't you have enough problems to worry about with your Cowboys to keep you busy in the off season? I really wouldn't let it bother you. If anything you should be glad he's gone...he loved beating up on the Cowboys!!

That was lame

Jstas

George Grand wrote: »

A local sportswriter indicated that the money saved on Dawkins would go directly towards pizza and cheesesteaks for Andy Reid.

I heard The Rotund One's job is possibly up on the chopping block. He might not be coaching Philly next season.

markmarc

As a Bronco fan, I see this as a replay of the John Lynch signing four years ago. That pourous defense just got an infusion of big time leadership and play making. i couldn't be happier, and the price for his services is quite reasonable. Leadership and locker room chemistry are way undervalued in the NFL.

pearsall001

markmarc wrote: »

As a Bronco fan, I see this as a replay of the John Lynch signing four years ago. That pourous defense just got an infusion of big time leadership and play making. i couldn't be happier, and the price for his services is quite reasonable. Leadership and locker room chemistry are way undervalued in the NFL.

I think you'll be quite pleased with what Dawkins brings to the field & the locker room. He'll be missed in Philly for sure. Sometimes you have to wonder about the bone head moves the Eagles make over the years. I think money & age cemented this deal. Our loss for sure.

jabrax

Jstas wrote: »

But the Eagles aren't competitive year after year. They are fairly inconsistent, getting to the super bowl one year and failing to make the play offs the next and so on.

That is an phenomina (sp?) in the NFL that noone can explain. Losing superbowl teams not making the playoffs the following year for whatever reason.

I have to disagree with ya. The birds have been one of the top 3 teams in terms of consistency over the last 10 years. Im sure many football fans would love to have a team to root for consistently, year after year. Keeps it fun.

jabrax

pearsall001 wrote: »

I think you'll be quite pleased with what Dawkins brings to the field & the locker room. He'll be missed in Philly for sure. Sometimes you have to wonder about the bone head moves the Eagles make over the years. I think money & age cemented this deal. Our loss for sure.

That had to be a really tough decision, but I can understand the business end of their model. Can't hold back the future of the team. He has been an incredible man and player for the team and city, and he will surely be a plus to the Broncos. They have a real mess over there

But we can't forget the fact that he was slowing down, it was even being questioned earlier in the season, when it was obvious that he lost a step in the secondary. Corners were left short on a couple of pretty big plays. The defensive scheme was adjusted nicely second half of the season to use his strengths (brains) up close to the line.

In the end, the defense couldn't stop drives in big games when they needed it most....

Just one man's perspective and opinion

Jstas

jabrax wrote: »

I have to disagree with ya. The birds have been one of the top 3 teams in terms of consistency over the last 10 years. Im sure many football fans would love to have a team to root for consistently, year after year. Keeps it fun.

Wait a minute, we're talking about the Eagles here. Or at least I am, I don't know who you're talking about. The only things they have been consistent at in the past 10 years is stupid personnel decisions, boneheaded coaching policies and just general sucktasticness.

jabrax

Jstas wrote: »

Wait a minute, we're talking about the Eagles here. Or at least I am, I don't know who you're talking about. The only things they have been consistent at in the past 10 years is stupid personnel decisions, boneheaded coaching policies and just general sucktasticness.

Touche' LOL

If you look at it, they have been contenders in the playoffs about 7 of the last 10 yrs with 5 NFC championship appearences (aside from NE and maybe Pittsburgh i cant think of anyone better). I might be off 1 or 2

Ploblem is a loss weighs much heavier than a bunch of wins emotionally, and they tend to over shadow the overall success.

Honestly, there has been a bunch of this one needs to go, and that one needs to go, but noone ever says who would be better.

AsSiMiLaTeD

Whatever mistakes or miscues made by the Eagles don't hold a candle to the comedy of errors made by the 'Boys down here in Dallas.

I know there are alot of Cowboy fans on here, but I don't think anyone in their right mind can deny the ridiculousness with which this team is run and players are drafted...

Jstas

jabrax wrote: »

Touche' LOL

If you look at it, they have been contenders in the playoffs about 7 of the last 10 yrs with 5 NFC championship appearences (aside from NE and maybe Pittsburgh i cant think of anyone better). I might be off 1 or 2

Ploblem is a loss weighs much heavier than a bunch of wins emotionally, and they tend to over shadow the overall success.

Honestly, there has been a bunch of this one needs to go, and that one needs to go, but noone ever says who would be better.

Better for the Eagles? That's hard to say.

Back in the 80's and early 90's, the Eagles had a team that played well together. They just lacked the real stand-out talent. Because of the losing record and consistent bad play, they had a bum rap with everyone, even the owner. But honestly, if they had a few good talents rather than one or two to carry the team, they would have been something worth remembering. But coupled with the bad play issues was the ownership's unwillingness to spend money on players. If you don't pay, the talent stays away.

Consequently you had tremendous judges of talent in Dick Vermeil and Buddy Ryan and they consistently set the team up with young, cheap but very potent young talent. Problem was, they never opened up the pocketbook to keep anyone but Randall Cunningham or Reggie White. So you'd have a team that was on the cusp of realizing it's full potential, one off season away, but they would hemorrhage talent from March to July and be decimated before training camp even started.

The sore spot was Rich Kotite who, while wasn't the most loved guy because of his personality, was a capable coach in Philly. He was hobbled by the ownership though and not allowed to run the way he wanted to. Then came Lurie and in an effort to win friends and influence people in Philly, he 86'ed Kotite whose team was performing poorly much to the cheers of the Philly fans. But in reality, the Eagles had a wide gap in talent and a bunch of older players on the team and that was why they were playing badly. So Kotite went to the Jets who were playing high school level ball and they gave him no money and no leeway to build a talent pool. So he floundered for a couple years and said "Eff this" and walked after they canned him. I don't blame the guy.

Lurie bought the team with big financial backing and a smooth talking way of getting what he wanted. Yeah, he put big bucks in pockets but he never really rewarded veteran Eagles. He would give them just enough to pacify them or he would trade them off. Sometimes he'd just not pay enough and get them to leave on their own, like Dawkins and White did. But the thing that sucked was that Lurie has always put big money in big talent for one or two players and wanted an automagical Super Bowl win out of it. Hence stuff like the T.O. experiment or the Duce Staley effort and even the Donovan McNabb effort. All of which were or are prominent talents that were heralded as the next big thing and performance has been lackluster to the point where the only one left from the initial "Lurie is a god" era is McNabb and he's the most over-rated QB in the league.

Add to that the feeling of this overly-macho, male-bravado, almost thug gangster feel to the way the players carry themselves on the field and even off it to some point. You watch the team and sometimes you see it but overall there is a lack of cohesiveness to the whole thing. Sure T.O. brought a big pile of drama to the Eagles but I really think that all he did was amplify a problem that was already there. I think Reid is at fault for the same reason I think Wade Phillips is at fault. They have the persona of a push-over and that they lack discipline. The Eagles of Buddy Ryan were a much different squad than the Eagles of Reid. And, for that matter, the Cowboys of Landry and even Jimmy Johnson and Bill Parcells were vastly different to the Cowboys of Phillips or Switzer.

I'm not bashing the Eagles, I'm pointing out where I think the problems are. Honestly, they are a tremendous talent mill for the rest of the league. But for once it'd be nice to see a professional Eagles team take the field, play good, solid, honest ball with out their supposed team captains pulling stunts like mock calling the opposite team's defensive coordinator from the opposite teams sidelines phones or dancing like a jackass on the opposite teams' logo in the center of the field, not the endzone, the center of the field. Right now, the same goes for the Cowboys. I think the Eagles need alot of work in the personality department.

You don't lose the ego and gain a team spirit by letting one of your best veterans and most respected men let alone player walk off and join another team. Dawkins departure is a shining example of what is wrong with the Eagles. The man said he would love to retire with the Eagles and he played his heart out, even injured, every time for them. He was a rally point and the life of the defense and Lurie let him walk cause he didn't want to pay him the money 'cause he's "old".

I think Westbrook, another self avowed "company man", will be next to walk. He'll either asked to be traded or pan out for free agency and go someplace where his immense talent will be utilized by a coach with an actual playbook and not some scribbling in crayon on the back of a laminated Denny's menu. Then McNabb will get the axe the season after that cause he just gets worse and you can see more and more that his heart isn't in it, especially when he starts losing. But it doesn't matter. Lurie will just buy the next big thing, bless him and send him out to the field to ruin his career as a superstar caliber player languishing away in mediocrity on the greatest team to never win a Super Bowl.

fossy

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

Whatever mistakes or miscues made by the Eagles don't hold a candle to the comedy of errors made by the 'Boys down here in Dallas.

I know there are alot of Cowboy fans on here, but I don't think anyone in their right mind can deny the ridiculousness with which this team is run and players are drafted...

AMen brotha --- Latest being a "gag" order on the coaching staff ?? WTH

Dawkins is still a heck of a player & will add to any NFL team

hearingimpared

John I am extremely impressed with your knoweldge of the Eagles. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you are a closet Eagles fan.:D

pearsall001

Damn, doesn't his computer ever run out of ink. Those posts are sooooooo long winded. Yawn!!!!!

Jstas

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

Whatever mistakes or miscues made by the Eagles don't hold a candle to the comedy of errors made by the 'Boys down here in Dallas.

I know there are alot of Cowboy fans on here, but I don't think anyone in their right mind can deny the ridiculousness with which this team is run and players are drafted...

That's only recently though. Landry was a god among coaches and Jimmy Johnson was arguably one of the best at not only picking talent but managing a coaching staff. Jones was stupid for firing Landry but honestly, how much more time did Landry really have anyway? Not to sound callous but Landry should be somewhat grateful to Jones for being the goat and allowing Landry to get out and obtain almost martyr status.

One thing Jerry is good at is finding the right people to put around him to make things happen. Problem is that he hasn't really had the right people lately. It's kind of sad too because Jason Garrett is the best example of the broken Cowboys system right now. He's a good talent that hasn't shone this year because he can't control his players as the O.C. Why? Because Jones doesn't back him. He backs his prima donnas. He consoles Owens and praises Romo's rather unpraiseworthy performances. But he'll come down on guys like Witten and Garrett who open their mouths and say how much it sucks. Where is the discipline there? It sounds like Philly when T.O. and McNabb had the "Drama Hour" every week on the radio show.

One thing Jones is bad at is allowing his prima donna players to run rampant on Dallas and act like hooligans off the field. It's distracting and destroys team morale. You never saw BS like that when Landry was coaching and Tex Schramm would have been busting heads if anyone even thought of stepping out of line. He knew he had to do it because if Landry got a hold of the player first, they'd probably never see him alive again. Not today, Phillips is likely to say something stupid like "Boys will be boys!" Bottom line, Romo needs to get his head out of his butt and Jessica Simpson for that matter. Somebody needs to bust some heads on that offense or get a quarter back with his head in the game and talented receivers without the last name Owens. It's a shame to see one of the baddest defenses in the league work so hard and put up elite defense numbers only to have it wasted by an ineffective offense.

jabrax

Reference to post #15

Very interesting opinions. However, I have to respectfully disagree with most of it. We seem to be around the same era, maybe oneday hit a local jazz establishment, throw back a couple of cold ones or good single malt and respectufully debate some football LOL.

I'll keep few opinions short and sweet.

#1 Buddy Ryan - ability to pick defensive talent (was a friggen genius) - Coaching IQ and judge of offensive talent (an Idiot) he routinely got outcoached by the good coaches. His great defense, got even better after he left with the players he had in place

#Dick Vermiel - Great coach, team got old during their run to the bowl. Either he or the management/owners at the time did not evolve. Held onto older players too long (my opinion). He was came off as very loyal.

Rich Kotite - Horrible!!!! It seems to me that you are saying all of the bad personel decisions were made my upper management and owners, but I have a hard time believing that the coach is not the major player in personel decisions. The fact that he went to another team and produced identical results says that maybe he was not a very good coach or judge of football talent.

Eagles a bunch of thugs - Again, I have to say probably one of the more clean cut teams in the league. A few of the fans may be drunken idiots, but the players themselves are very good standup citizens, that doesn't stop with Dawkins.

Lot more we could discuss, jut too much to type. - Seriously, we are in the same neck of woods. I'm up for meeting a few local yocals to put faces to the polk alter egos.

Jeff