How fearlessness helped the Eagles win

[Mr. Scot]

We discussed here recently how the Jaguars let the Patriots get into their heads and wound up losing.

Doug Pederson made absolutely certain that didn't happen to the Eagles.

MMQB: Underdog Eagles played fearlessly against the Patriots

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You know what’s crazy about this Eagles team? They didn’t seem to stress about anything. Safety Malcolm Jenkins, the team leader, says it was the easiest team to lead. They never came close to a players-only meeting. The day after star quarterback Carson Wentz went down with a torn ACL, with everybody in Philly freaking out about their Iggles, coach Doug Pederson met with the team and “erased all that,” Long said. They would be fine, he said.

Maybe we didn’t think Foles would beat Brady and the Patriots. The Eagles expected it, partly because they were sure they were the best team in the NFL. As Foles said afterward, “I felt calm. The big thing that helped me was knowing that I didn’t have to be Superman.”

 

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The Patriots spook teams sometimes—they trick them into thinking something awful will happen, and then it does. The Eagles had one play like that, when Foles threw a good pass to Alshon Jeffery that somehow bounced around and got picked off by a safety who wasn’t even covering Jeffery.

But Foles made it clear from the opening drive that he would not be spooked. On the drive following the interception, on fourth-and-goal from the one, Pederson called a trick play called “Philly Special” (it sounds like it was named after a cheesesteak) in which Foles caught a touchdown pass from TE Trey Burton. They had been practicing it for a few weeks, but even Burton didn’t think Pederson would call it on fourth down.

 

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These Eagles are a blend of advanced thinking and basic values. They go for it on fourth down and practice hard, and they show Foles that they trust him by letting him rip the ball against a dynasty. Long dismissed any magic formula, saying “The reason we won is we’ve got good people, unselfish people, and we’ve got really good players.”

 

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Belichick, the league’s preeminent genius, got outcoached; defense and special teams, his first two loves, both failed him. Malcolm Butler, hero of the Patriots’ fourth Super Bowl title, didn’t even play. Belichick said Butler was not injured or being disciplined. The Patriots are answering questions other teams usually have to answer. Brady said, “We had a lot of yards (in the first half). We just didn’t have a lot of points. We never really played on our terms.”

The Eagles? They played it cool. Graham accepted congratulations from his friend Draymond Green. Running back Jay Ajayi—who was dressed traditionally in a Super Bowl champions t-shirt and a Union Jack wrapped around his shoulders, sporting gold teeth—talked about how easily he fit into the Eagles after a mid-season trade.

 

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“Philly’s burnin’ down!” Ajayi said in the locker room after the game, after seeing reports of the celebration in Philadelphia. He has not been there long, but he has been there long enough. He understands what this means.

None of them seemed surprised. Underneath those dog masks, they were all laughing this month. “The world thought we were underdogs,” Jenkins said. “We didn’t.” He is Tom Brady. But they are the Philadelphia Eagles, Super Bowl champions.

 

[insert "Fear is the mind killer" speech from Dune here]

[JakeDel5674]

You really are hammering home this point today. LOL. You might despise Rivera more than anyone on this Forum. 

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, JakeDel5674 said:

You really are hammering home this point today. LOL. You might despise Rivera more than anyone on this Forum. 

Not really.  I think Rivera's as good a guy as you'll find.

I would say though that I'm not a fan of playing scared.

[raleigh-panther]

1 minute ago, Mr. Scot said:

Not really.  I think Rivera's as good a guy as you'll find.

I would say though that I'm not a fan of playing scared.

And going into a shell against another NFL team with a 10 point lead and 26 mins left in the game is a good example

he must truly be delusional about his defense

[Mr. Scot]

5 minutes ago, raleigh-panther said:

And going into a shell against another NFL team with a 10 point lead and 26 mins left in the game is a good example

he must truly be delusional about his defense

My biggest in-game issues with Rivera have been failing to adjust and sitting on a lead.

Norv Turner likely helps a lot of that change on the offensive side.  Here's hoping that Washington also doesn't back off late in games.  Wilks showed a few times that he was willing to stay aggressive. Maybe Washington will too.

[Jase]

There’s the other side that says the saints lost their game because they got too ballsy and cute.

It’s almost as if the play calling only carries you so far, and 90% of your success is dependent on whether the players make the plays or not.

[Mr. Scot]

8 minutes ago, Jase said:

There’s the other side that says the saints lost their game because they got too ballsy and cute.

It’s almost as if the play calling only carries you so far, and 90% of your success is dependent on whether the players make the plays or not.

I think it's more about whether your choices are smart.

There are times to be aggressive and times to be cool.  You have to know which is which.

I'm not so sure our current leadership has that sort of discernment.

[parker]

Philly won because they executed.  They could have been ballsy and lost if they didn't make the plays.  

[cheynehowell]

Agree with OP- This coaching staff took the bye week going into the Divisional round to develope a masterful gameplan- It really was a thing of beauty watching the O gameplan against the Vikings and Patriots. It really hurt to think how unprepared we were in our own SB against the Broncos had how we didn't adjust to what they were throwing at us in the second half. I have optimism for our team next year but Rivera is awful at situational football and I don't see us winning a SB until he improves in this area. Hopefully Turner can turn this around for us but we need to be creative and add personnel to compete  with the explosive Offenses we have in the NFC.

[ras977]

Just now, Uncfan said:

Ron Rivera sucks 

Great insight.

[Porn Shop Clerk]