Saguaro

2012 Rookie game 7 vs Washington

14:53 of the 1st, 0-0, at the Eagle 24

1st and 10: Pitch left to McCoy for 7
2nd and 3: Foles dumpoff right to McCoy for 5
1st and 10: McCoy open left flat but pass was tipped at the line, incomplete
2nd and 10: Bryce Brown run left for 9
3rd and 1: Brown stuffed at the line
4th and 1: Play fake and a good completion upfield to the TE for 15. Made it look easy.
1st and 10: McCoy run loses 2
2nd and 12: Pressure, Foles moves right, cuts left sees a relief valve, but throws too low.
3rd and 12: Pressure from both edges, Foles steps up into the pocket, hit a receiver 1 yard short
4th and 1: QB sneak is initially stuffed, Foles does a slow 360 roll around the right side
of the pile and get 3. Impressive strength, no style points whatsoever.
1st and 10: First Foles counts WA offsides, then drops in a clean pocket and releases
a beauty to Jeremy Maclin in the right corner of the endzone. Right in stride, right on time.
Philly TD.

4:38 of the 1st, Ph 7-0, at the Eagle 35.

1st and 10: Foles dump over the middle to McCoy for 6.
2nd and 4: McCoy for 4
1st and 10: Foles out to the right, too high.
2nd and 10: McCoy run for 8
3rd and 2: Brown run right for 6
1st and 10: Foles rollout right hits Celek for 17. It’s great for him to have Shady and Celek
back from injury.
1st and 10: McCoy run for 3
2nd and 7: Foles drops, middle pressure gets to him, he’s slung around in a circle
then down hard.
3rd and 15: Foles drops back, gets harassed by Kerrigan, eludes him, starts to drift
right and forward, but Kerrigan persists and catches Foles from behind, forcing a fumble
recovered by WA.

11:17 of the 2nd, Ph 7-3, at the Eagle 16

1st and 10: McCoy stretch right loses 1
2nd and 11: Foles rolls right, throws downfield between Maclin and Cooper, who are pointing
at defenders, no penalty.
3rd and 11: Screen is not open, Foles keeps and tries to find room to run, nothing so he slides
Punt

7:31 of the 2nd, Ph 7-6, at the Eagle 22

1st and 10: Play fake, then Foles pumps once, pulls it back down and is swarmed under for a sack.
2nd and 13: McCoy run left for 1
3rd and 12: Foles drops, sees something good and lets fly hard and flat. Pass is tipped at
the line and turns into a wobbling duck picked off by none other than London Fletcher.

3:30 of the 2nd, Wa 13-7, at the Eagle 20

1st and 10: Foles throws right sideline, and an unusual drop by Maclin
2nd and 10: A sideline pass left to Avant for 16.
1st and 10: Swing pass right to Shady for another 16. Led him well, and good blocking.
1st and 10: Quick screen right to Johnson for another 14.
1st and 10: Foles drops, pressure comes from both edges, but he steps up into the
pocket and finds Maclin open underneath for another 12.
1st and 10: Pass to Avant in the flat for 6. Foles and co. on a roll.
2nd and 4: Celek false starts.
2nd and 9: Maclin screen right for 4.
3rd and 5: Hits Avant open at the marker on a quick move across the middle.
1st and 10: Foles drops, waits, sees nothing, shambles in the pocket for a moment,
then starts an awkward run. No matter, holding penalty on the oline.
1st and 20: The Eagles run this play again where Foles fakes a pass one way,
then whirls and throws the other way. It isn’t successful enough often enough
to be worth it. This time Cofield is all over him as he makes his turn and he
barely gets it off to the running back, who gains all of two.
2nd and 18: Gets pressure and throws it deliberately at the outlet receiver’s feet.
It looked like he gave up just a little early on that play, but he’s trying not to
take a loss out of FG range.
3rd and 18: Deep throw to the right corner of the endzone to Cooper, caught but only one
foot in bounds. The throw was high and outside, but with two defenders there it had to
be that way.
Fg

Half

2nd half start, the Eagle defense is soft as butter, and allows and easy TD drive.

12:33 of the 3rd, Wa 20-10, at the Eagle 20.

1st and 10: Foles starts to throw a swing pass right to McCoy, sees that the defense
is ready and has it covered so he pulls it down, steps out of the pocket right,
then stops and stabs it out to Maclin for 27. Excellent recovery and vision on that play!
1st and 10: Foles hits Cooper on a crossing route for another 16.
1st and 10: Maclin open for the pass on a little sitdown for 5.
2nd and 5: They remembered the run! McCoy right for 5.
1st and 10: Foles drops, then has to run up the middle for 1.
2nd and 9: Untouched blitzer is on Foles before he can blink, sack.
3rd and 16: Again with the fake 180 pass, it’s getting dangerous because Wa is all
over it by the time it develops. Foles is being tackled as he turns, but uses his
height and arm length to get it off to Celek. The timing is disrupted and Celek gets
nowhere near the 1st down marker.
FG

6:02 of the 3rd, Wa 20-13, at the Eagle 45.

1st and 10: Draw to McCoy is swallowed up in the backfield, loss of 4.
2nd and 14: Low, hard pass to a covered Avant is incomplete.
3rd and 14: Foles hits Avant over the middle for 12
4th and 2: Foles drops, receiver not open, tries to escape up the middle,
and goes down on a shoestring sack.

1:23 of the 3rd, Wa 27-13, at the Eagle 21. Starting to slip away.

1st and 10: McCoy run for 6.
2nd and 4: McCoy for another 6.
1st and 10: Impromptu shovel pass to McCoy with Kerrigan draped on Foles. Gain of 3.
2nd and 7: Roll right and throw 20 yards down the sideline to Cooper, just out of bounds.
3rd and 7: Foles under pressure misfires to the checkdown, incomplete.
Punt

11:27 of the 4th, Wa 27-13, at the Eagle 39.

1st and 10: Washington is having some success with a delayed blitz. Forces incomplete pass.
2nd and 10: Brown run for 2.
3rd and 8: Foles drops, has a free rusher right in his face, throws a strike as he’s hit
to Johnson for 15. Courage. Skins have too many guys coming at him unblocked.
1st and 10: Now the underneath stuff is being given by Washington to eat clock.
Foles to an open Avant for 10.
1st and 10: Dumpoff to McCoy for 20.
1st and 10: Lewis on a draw for 20 and a TD.

4:15 of the 4th, Wa 27-20, at the Eagle 15. Clutch time.

1st and 10: Quick screen to Johnson for 3.
2nd and 7: Foles under pressure but shows nifty lateral movement, buys a ton of time
moving first right, then left, always looking downfield, and then finds Maclin for about 20.
1st and 10: Pass left flat to Avant for 5.
2nd and 5: Draw to McCoy for 4
3rd and 1: McCoy should have been dropped for a loss, but uses quickness and moves to get 7.
1st and 10: Foles quick pass over the middle for 6.
2nd and 4: Short wheel route to McCoy for about 8 and a 1st down.
1st and 10: Pump fake deep, then a 2 yard pass to McCoy.
2nd and 8: Slant right to Avant for 4.
3rd and 6: Foles pump fakes, sees a little grass to his right, runs across the marker and slides.
1st and 10: Underneath pass to McCoy for 8, but time is running out, 28 secs.
2nd and 2: Foles rockets the pass high and deliberate out of the endzone.
3rd and 2: Maclin was wide open in the endzone. Foles underthrows him by 5 yards. Ouch.
4th and 2: Underneath to McCoy again and he runs it out of bounds at the Wa 5. 11 seconds.
1st and G: Slant hard and low to Celek but catchable, he drops it at the goal line.
2nd and G, 8 secs: Pressure, but Foles spends too much time scrambling before throwing it
under duress, incomplete. Uh, oh, the ball didn’t get back to the LOS, intentional grounding,
10 second runoff, game over.

32/48 345 1 TD 1 Int

Not a particularly inspiring game despite the near comeback at the end. Eagles may have been
playing out the string a little at this point, or at least their defense was. They also
abandoned the run way too early, then went back to it late. Foles was under a lot of pressure,
but ran hot and cold with his accuracy and decision-making.
This was his last rookie game, his hand was broken in the 2nd Q of this game.
Tough kid and may have affected his throws thereafter.

Foles showed enough as a rookie to be very intriguing. Next I’ll start looking at his
amazing string of games in 2013. I’m eager to see if it was talent, team, or luck.
Or some combination.

Zooey wrote:

s wv mentions above, Fisher may think that JT broke confidence sometime in the past

Yeah it could be something more personal like that.

Will we ever know the truth?

Well…there’s a reporter involved.

So…no.

Zooey wrote:

Except your message still shows as unread, and my response isn’t there in my box. So did you get my response?

Yes I got it.

And no I don’t want to pay for vegetables you grew yourself and are ready to ship cross country. Thanks though.

Anyway there’s a delay in PMs…fwiw.

Zooey wrote:

Maybe Philadelphia wanted to keep it quiet, too. The last thing GMs want is the media and fans all going berserk with their trade scenarios.

Then, like many times in the past, you ask JT to keep it quiet for the time being. Like he does on a different front in the chat above.

==

Jim has anyone tried to get a comment from Chip or Lucia about the move? They always supported St. Louis? What are they thinking?

JT: I did talk to Chip on this a couple of weeks ago. But he didn’t want to talk on the record _ i.e., for a story _ so I’ll leave it at that.

==

That aside I have been trying to contact you: http://theramshuddle.com/topic/zooey/

bump

As bust rate rises, NFL free agency carries more risk than ever

by Don Banks

http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/03/19/nfl-free-agency-2015-mike-wallace-greg-jennings-percy-harvin-brandon-marshall#show_more

This can’t be the way the NFL envisioned it back in 1994, when the league first began awarding teams compensatory draft picks in relation to their free-agent losses from the year before. The Bengals are slated to receive either a third- or fourth-round pick this year for losing pass-rusher Michael Johnson to Tampa Bay during 2014 free agency, and yet they’ve already re-signed Johnson after his disappointing one-year tenure with the Bucs, who cut him this month.

You could make the case that Cincinnati inadvertently gamed the system, in essence loaning Johnson to Tampa Bay for one underwhelming season and then getting the player back with an extra draft pick for its trouble. That’s earning a pretty sweet interest rate on your money if you’re the Bengals, who last season proved they can make the playoffs and lose in the first round with or without Johnson. It raises the interesting question of whether the league should give a team the extra draft choice in the first place if it manages to reacquire the player before it gets to spend the pick.

Cute coincidence or not, Johnson’s boomerang trajectory highlights something of a recent trend in NFL: the propensity of early flameouts in free agency, with so many teams willing to cut their losses and move on from players who were hailed as major acquisitions not long before.

Roughly 10 days into this year’s free agency shopping season, winner labels have been affixed to the Jets, Bills, Dolphins, Eagles, Colts and a few select other clubs. And yet as Tampa Bay showed this spring in cutting loose three of the main cogs of what was once considered a strong 2014 free agency class—Johnson, offensive tackle Anthony Collins (another ex-Bengal) and quarterback Josh McCown—the picture can change dramatically almost overnight, and the notion of success in free agency is fleeting. The Bucs lured those three free agents with deals that reportedly totaled $83.75 million, with Johnson alone collecting $16 million from the Bucs for his one injury-plagued season.

Not only did the Bucs not get better after their spending spree of last spring, they bottomed out in spectacular fashion, going 2-14 to earn the first overall pick in the draft for the first time since 1987.

But the Bucs aren’t the only team swallowing hard and admitting their recent mistakes, feeding into free agency’s flameout factor. How about the interesting little cautionary tale that Mike Wallace and Greg Jennings represent? Both accomplished veterans hit the jackpot with sizable deals befitting No. 1 receivers two years ago in free agency, with Wallace jumping from Pittsburgh to Miami and Jennings from Green Bay to Minnesota, where they were supposed to use their successful postseason experience to help elevate the Dolphins and Vikings to perennial playoff contention.

Not so much. Neither man played on a winning team once, and saviors they were not. Jennings struck the wrong tone from the start of his Vikings tenure with pettiness and bad blood toward his former quarterback in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers. His lack of a difference-making connection with any of the four starting quarterbacks the Vikings used the past two years limited his effectiveness to 127 catches for 1,546 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Jennings signed a five-year, $45 million deal with Minnesota in 2013, shortly after Wallace spurned a larger Vikings offer to sign a five-year, $60 million contract with the Dolphins. In many ways, Wallace’s time in Miami was even worse than Jennings’s stay in Minnesota, even though he had decent production with 140 receptions for 1,792 yards and 15 touchdowns as a Dolphin.

Wallace never seemed entirely on the same page with young Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill, and late last season he argued with Miami coach Joe Philbin, ultimately either quitting on his team or being benched for his poor attitude in the second half of the season finale. The Dolphins put him on the trading block this offseason and could only get a fifth-round pick in return for the receiver who was supposed to be a game-changer for the Dolphins.

Wallace landed, of course, in Minnesota, the team that coveted him when he was on the market in 2013. And less than 24 hours after the Vikings acquired him, they released Jennings, in effect replacing him with a receiver three years younger who hopefully learned something from his tumultuous tenure in Miami.

Cashing in during free agency used to buy you some time with a new club, because patience was thought to be necessary in order to get a sufficient return on what was usually a sizable investment. But many NFL general managers and decision-makers today seem much more willing to make quicker, bolder moves to cut ties with a player who has not produced, big-ticket free-agent investment or not. Get it done early, or get lost.

This year, Jacksonville released defensive lineman Red Bryant a year into the four-year, $19 million deal it gave him, having already addressed their defensive line needs by signing ex-Dolphins defensive lineman Jared Odrick and re-signing end Tyson Alualu early in free agency.

The Lions parted ways with running back Reggie Bush on the heels of his injury-shortened 2014 campaign, a disappointing follow-up to his strong first season in Detroit. Bush was only halfway through a four-year, $16 million contract he signed in 2013, but the Lions didn’t think he was worth a $5.27 million cap hit in 2015 after rushing for only 550 yards last year.

And the quick exits aren’t just free agent busts. The 49ers traded a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2015 draft for Bills receiver Stevie Johnson last May, then saw him post an underwhelming season for his hometown team (35 catches for 435 yards and three touchdowns). Rather than ride it out, San Francisco cut Johnson this month in a salary cap move, shortly after signing ex-Ravens receiver Torrey Smith in free agency.

Two teams gave up on dangerous receiver-return man Percy Harvin in the span of about five months. Seattle acknowledged he was a bad fit and shipped him to the Jets in a surprise trade last October, and New York released him this month, just days after acquiring receiver Brandon Marshall through a trade with the Bears. Harvin ultimately signed with the Bills, his fourth NFL team since March 2013. Marshall is himself now on his fourth NFL team, continuing a vagabond-like career that has seen him spend three years in Chicago, two in Miami and four in Denver.

By comparison, clubs and free agents who struck one-year deals last season fared far better and got instant production, with headline names like Darrelle Revis (the second year of his contract with New England was never realistically going to be honored), Brandon Browner, Antonio Cromartie and Owen Daniels all paying off handsomely as short-term answers. All four of those players have re-located again this offseason, improving upon their 2014 salaries in the process.

But the latest lesson of free agency is if you think you’ve arrived, you’re probably already on your way out. With the big deal and big dollars comes the temptation to rest on one’s laurels. But beware: The journey from being seen as part of the answer to part of the problem is a short one in today’s NFL.[

Agamemnon wrote:

Your message was successfully sent!

But not received.

Zooey wrote:

They did NOT want the story to leak. They considered a leak of that story to be an unacceptable risk. Of what, we don’t know.

Also, maybe they just don’t care because at this time next year, JT will be covering high school football.

Yet, the story had already leaked. From the Bradford camp, we know that they were hearing about trade talk during the combine. We do know that Kelly talked to Bradford’s OU coaches…chances are very likley that got back to him. In fact one reason Bradford refused a paycut, according to his side, is because they thought it was just a way to make him more tradeable. Regardless of that detail, if the agent is hearing that kind of thing, chances are, he conveys it to Thomas.

So the trade wasn’t a secret. In fact–there was no reason to keep it secret.

Nevertheless, it goes like this. Thomas hears things from Bradford’s agent, and possibly other sources. So he directly asks Fisher one on one.

Fisher has any number of options there short of direct revelation. He could say, please keep this to yourself for the time being, but, we’re keeping our options open.

But instead, on the strength of Fisher’s denial, Thomas goes public hours before the trade and says “I was told directly by the best source that there’s nothing to this.” Then, wham, the trade happens, and the result of going public is, some people are laughing at JT and calling him a dupe and saying he’s not credible.

Meanwhile, JT says, no coach ever lied to me under those conditions before. And we have seen JT say yeah I talked to them, but I have to keep it to myself. If no coach ever lied to him, given his reaction to this, that includes Fisher–otherwise, JT would have said long before this “no one ever lied to me before except Fisher.” Yet what are the odds JT never asked a question like this before?

That means there’s a protocol they have that has been in place for a long time. JT asks, they don’t lie, though we also know from the past that JT DOES sometimes say in effect “I am not at liberty to discuss it.”

Fisher must know that JT had heard things about the trade. JT was basically saying, I will put this story to rest on the basis of your word. Fisher would also know that coming out with an official denial would make JT look bad after the trade.

I usually don’t take the PD’s side against the team. For example, I thought the entire “equipment manager scandal” thing was absurd.

But I cannot help but think Fisher comes across as a prick on this one.

..

— X — wrote:

zn wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

RamsMaineiac wrote:
I just updated the bbpress plugin… did it fix the issue you were trying to address here?

Yes. Looks like it.

Rams Made Right Decision with Bradford, Even if He Succeeds with Eagles

By Anthony Stalter

http://www.101sports.com/2015/03/17/rams-made-right-decision-with-bradford-even-if-he-succeeds-with-eagles/

Hop into the DeLorean… we’re taking a trip into the future.

It’s January, 2016 and the regular season in the NFL has just concluded. The playoffs are about to start and there’s Sam Bradford, preparing to lead the Eagles to their second wild card appearance in the past three years. The Rams, meanwhile, missed the postseason after Nick Foles helped engineer a .500 season.

It would be a nightmare scenario for Rams fans to finally watch Bradford put together a winning season and lead his team to the playoffs, yet in a completely different city. And while some hate to admit it, that scenario is entirely possible. Chip Kelly’s system is as quarterback-friendly as they come, and plays to Bradford’s strengths as a signal-caller. Just like at Oklahoma, he’ll have the ability to make quick reads and get the ball out of his hand quickly, or turn around and hand off to a talented running back in DeMarco Murray.

But even if that nightmare were to become a reality, the Rams still made the right decision in trading Bradford. First and foremost, none of us have the benefit of hindsight when it comes to making difficult decisions. If we did, the definition of “risk” would be useless. In that snapshot in time, the Rams made a decision to unburden themselves of Bradford’s contract and injury history, all while acquiring a capable starter in Foles and a second-round pick in 2016. It was the right decision at the time, just as it will be the right decision a year from now even if Bradford soars (sorry for the pun) and Foles fails (sorry for the alliteration).

Even if Bradford does soar (last time, I promise), there was no guarantee that he was going to post similar production in this city, with this Rams team, under this coaching staff. In order to have success, he may have needed a different environment under a completely different coaching staff. His 2015 season in Philadelphia and his hypothetical 2015 season in St. Louis aren’t mutually exclusive. Just because he’s able to stay healthy and productive with the Eagles doesn’t mean he would have done so in St. Louis.

And what if Bradford does have success in Philadelphia: what do the Eagles do then? If he leads the Eagles to the playoffs it might be an easy decision to sign him to a contract extension. But those two blown ACLs aren’t erased from his medical history. Handing an injury-prone quarterback another fat contract based on one good year doesn’t seem like a shrewd business decision.

This is why I used the term “unburden”. The Rams have completely unburdened themselves from the Bradford situation. The free agent options at quarterback were brutal and this year’s draft class is shallow at the position. They were stuck. Bradford was the best option and even with that being the case, the Rams would have had to hold their breath that he would stay healthy for an entire season. His contract also would have prevented them from eventually addressing needs along the offensive line and/or adding quality depth like Nick Fairly.

But now Bradford is Kelly’s problem (at least until he swings another trade that nobody sees coming). I don’t mean to be flippant: I felt bad for Bradford when he tore his ACL again after working his a** off to get ready for training camp last year. It wasn’t fair. In fact, his entire career in St. Louis wasn’t fair. It was as if the football gods used him as their go-to whenever they were in need of a cruel laugh.

I hope Bradford does succeed in Philadelphia.

But even if he does, the Rams made the right decision. Foles is still largely an unknown. His 2013 season was a thing of beauty, but turnovers and accuracy woes doomed his 2014 campaign long before the broken collarbone did. From a skill set standpoint, Bradford is a better passer than Foles if we’re comparing apples to apples.

But we’re not comparing apples to apples because one of those apples has browned in several places. The fact that Bradford has only played seven games the last two years, coupled with the reality that Foles won’t be running Bill Walsh’s West Coast Offense (which is to say the Rams’ offense is not complex), it was a no-brainer trade for the Rams.

I’ll say the same thing next year regardless of what transpires this fall.

Zooey wrote:

zn wrote:

Jed York: 49ers got away from “core strengths” under Jim Harbaugh

Michael David Smith

San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York thinks replacing Jim Harbaugh with Jim Tomsula is a step toward winning a Super Bowl.

York told Bloomberg Television that he doesn’t think the 49ers were playing up to the standards of the franchise last year, and change was needed.

“We’re trying to win a Super Bowl,” York said, via the San Francisco Chronicle. “We haven’t been able to do that. And I think what we’re trying to do is build a team that focuses on our core strengths. I think we got away from that a little bit. I think we tried to do too much and be something that we weren’t. …”

I agree with that totally. You know, the 49ers just need to be themselves, who they are.

And they should get to know their teammates. And, of course, get to know the locker room.

Because that is what it’s about.

Test 1.

Zooey wrote:

And they should get to know their teammates. And, of course, get to know the locker room.

Because that is what it’s about.

znhater wrote:

Wow it’s September all ready? Lol just kidding.

Thanks for spotting the typo. I fixed it. And also added this post. Cause otherwise…you would look purrtee crazy.