The truth about the Eagles

[Dawkins2112]

Um, no. Hate to nitpick here, but I went to every home game from 95 - 2007 and Eagles fans never out numbered Cards fans. There was a fair number of you, but nothing like say the Cards/Cowboys game of '95.

This is the most overblown piece of hyperbole that we endure as Cards fans. Though we have had to endure legions of opposing fans, I can count the times we were outnumbered on one hand. Hell, the Steelers fans at the '07 game probably only accounted for 25% of the bodies in the stadium. Mind you, that's a lot, but not what certain sports writers would have you believe.

Now onto the game. The Eagles may be a better team but I think the Cards actually have the edge when it comes to talent. But talent isn't always what makes a team. Chemistry, maturity, discipline, experience: the eagles have the edge here.

I honestly think that if you compared the teams you'd find that the Cards have more talent on their roster. But the Eagles strengths match up well with the Cards. The redbird's WRs are leagues better than those of the Eagles. But Fitz doesn't line up against Jackson, he matches up against Assante Samuel. There's the rub.

One last thing. I don't feel comfortable about this game. I never make predictions, and I won't start now. But I want you take one thing into consideration. As an Eagle fan going to Cards games in the '90s, how often did you leave disappointed? Home field advantage can be huge. I'm hoping that plays into our favor.

No, I didn't say we outnumbered you guys but I never really felt like I was in hostile territory.. Even the Cards fans were mellow.
Your Cards may have more talent at the skill positions, but I prefer our depth at DB and on the lines. I also like our big game expereince.
I think I only went to 3 or 4 games but I do remember the Cards winning at least twice including one game that had one of the most wild finishes in NFL history. You gotta remember, before Andy Reid, the Eagles pretty much sucked too.
Anyway, nice post.

 

[Dawkins2112]

dawkins2112, aj's right my man. You should take back that "small minority" comment. I also have lived in Philly my entire life, born and bred here, have been to Flyers, Sixers, Phillies (all of which I am a fan of) and Eagles games, and I will tell you. It's no comparison. Eagles fans (yes the bad ones) are by far the worst out of all of our fanbase. Every Eagles game I attended at the Vet, I was harrassed, and given the A-Hole chant all duration of the game. (and that's the nice side of my experiences) Try walking through the tailgate areas. You better be with some Eagles fans or your asking for it. In some pockets of Philly, you don't even have to be at the game to catch hell if you're not a birds fan. Try showing up at some bars, or even attempting to get a pizza at some places with non-Eagles gear on. They will refuse to serve you in some cases! It's just the way the fan base is. There's no denying it fam. And I KNOW for a fact that there are many, many good and respectful Eagles fans, but if you ask me to paint the fanbase as a whole, I will tell you that it's one of the reasons I hate the Eagles as much as I do. But welcome to ASFN good brother!!

I can only offer my own expereinces of when I lived there. Passionate sports town yes, but I knew many people who wore, Cowboys, Giants and other jerseys. They were served all the pizza they could eat. I agree about the drunken clods at the Vet and the Linc. No excuse for that behavior.

 

[Dawkins2112]

Tell that to Matt Ryan. Nah, crowd noise had nothing to do with his play. None at all. Best home record in the NFC for two seasons running. Chew on that. But no, of course crowd noise won't enter into it. I'm channeling DD's sarcasm here. No way will our crowd make a difference. You're too good. The glow of god-like perfection coming from your team will blind our fans, and the trumpets of angels from your sidelines will drown the crowd out.

Sorry, that was just fun to type. I'm not trying to razz you that much. But it is rather ignorant to think our crowd will play no role in the game. If we get down early? I could see the crowd losing intensity. Close game? Try hearing yourself think. McNabb won't be able to.

You mean Matt Ryan, the rookie??

 

[Osbern61]

I live 1 minute outside of philly and and for every decent eagle fan there are 5 bad eagle fans. My wife says its 1 decent to 30 bad, but she's over doing it.

 

[Dawkins2112]

This is the kind of BS that is guaranteed to raise blood pressures.

Sure at SDS there were about 20k loyal fans who would go to games through everything, slightly more than a dozen.

However that doesn't count the many fans who didn't go because they couldn't handle the loses or PoS SDS.

In this you are just spouting BS rhetoric and it will piss people off

Sorry man but thats what it seemed like to me. You gotta understand, after only living in Philly all my life, it was shocking to live in a city with such a different fanbase than what I was accustomed too.
Now, the Suns had a good following and by the time we left (2002) the D-Backs and Coyotes were developing great fan bases but I didn't see it with the Cards. I'm glad it has finally changed and I'm glad the Bidwells are finally figuriing it out. Its about time.

 

[RugbyMuffin]

I live 1 minute outside of philly and and for every decent eagle fan there are 5 bad eagle fans. My wife says its 1 decent to 30 bad, but she's over doing it.

There is a reason they need a court, and a jail inside their stadium.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Welcome; no. Treat with respect; yes.

Oh come on. I am being more than respectful.

Just because I don't want to see one Eagle fan in our stadium on Sunday doesn't mean I don't respect you. Hell, I respect that you can speak in a sentence that contains a subject and predicate.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Can we agree that Cowboy fans are the absolute worst band wagon jumping wannabe's on the planet??

Of course.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Yep. It's about as overblown, and untrue, as all Philly fans being jerks.

The last two times I thought their were as many, or more, opposing teams fans as the Cardinals fans was the last two times the Vikings played here. It was 50/50 for that game in Dec, and that game in SDS (one of the sweetest victories ever in my book) where we knocked them out of the playoffs on the last game was 80/20 in favor of Vikings fans.

There were a lot A LOT of Vikings fans this year, but it wasn't 50/50. The opposing bench was probably close to 50/50. The rest of the stadium wasn't the same. I'd say 80% or even 90% of the Cards bench side still had Cards fans. The NEndzone was a overwelming majority Cards fans. They looked like a lot, but as you go around the stadium, it wasn't as full as it looked.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

I think its funny that nationally and in Philly there is nothing being said about the home field.

I don't think they realize how loud it is going to be. It is louder then the Metrodome and whle the weather sucks in NY - the crowd isn't anything to be worried about.

The reason it matters is because our defense plays about 10x better with the crowd behind them and we play faster on offense on our own turf.

Plus the locals will be crazy. There is a reason the players are talking about how excited they are about the noise level this sunday. Its going to be unreal...

This ain't SDS anymore - I have been to U of P three times now in 2 seasons and I cannot believe the difference.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

I live 1 minute outside of philly and and for every decent eagle fan there are 5 bad eagle fans. My wife says its 1 decent to 30 bad, but she's over doing it.

Winner winner chicken dinner.

I think we can assume Dawkins and Ealgesfan are in the former because they own a computer and can type. And they are not drunk.

I think.

 

[crisper57]

Greetings, Cards and Eagles fans. I'm a former Philly and Phoenix resident and long time Eagles fan. Its funny reading what some of you guys post about the Eagles. You paint them to be what suits your agenda (yes Eagles fans, you are also guilty of that) but I'm here to tell you the truth about the Eagles.

The Eagles are a tale of two teams, and go as coach Andy Reid takes them. The team that has gotten hot down the stretch has used the running game to set up the pass and managed the clock wisely. The other team, the one that throws Donavon McNabb to the wolves by abandoning its running game and horribly managing the clock, is the one that lost close games to the Bears, Redskins, Cowgirls, Giants, tied the lowly Bengals and got hammered by the Ravens. You Cardinals fans know which team showed up when you last visited the Linc.

When Andy Reid pulls his head out of his ass and realizes that a 70-30 pass to run ratio doesn't get the job done against the good teams, then you have a team that, when you factor in our third ranked defense, can beat anybody in the NFL. This is the Eagles team that has beaten four 2008 division champions, including two wins at the Meadowlands, a playoff win in Minnesota, along with wins against your Cardinals and another championship Sunday participant; the Steelers.

With all due respect to the Cardinals, a well coached Eagles team will beat you handily. The Eagles, with a few coaching corrections, could have easily won 13, 14 games. They were all that close, except for the Baltimore debacle. On the other hand, the Cardinals have been beaten badly by a plethora of teams including an embarrassing loss to the Patriots.

Problem is; at least for us Eagles fans is; you never know which Andy Reid will show up. This is a constant worry for me. If we come out gunning the ball and ignoring the run game, it could be a long day for us. All things being equal, the Eagles are the better and more experienced team. They are also their own worst enemy at times. This is why we play the game.

With Westbrook gimpy, don't you kind of have to lean a bit more on Donovan's arm?

For this game, it comes down to one question for me:

Can your front seven get to Warner before our receivers torch your secondary? That is where this game will be won and lost.

 

[RandomGuy]

I think its funny that nationally and in Philly there is nothing being said about the home field.

I don't think they realize how loud it is going to be. It is louder then the Metrodome and whle the weather sucks in NY - the crowd isn't anything to be worried about.

The reason it matters is because our defense plays about 10x better with the crowd behind them and we play faster on offense on our own turf.

Plus the locals will be crazy. There is a reason the players are talking about how excited they are about the noise level this sunday. Its going to be unreal...

This ain't SDS anymore - I have been to U of P three times now in 2 seasons and I cannot believe the difference.

The Eagles are preparing for it. The team with crowd noise, the coach with additional fat reserves. (Skip the part about Lito)

I would post the article link but I'm new and the forum doesn't allow it yet.

NOTES: The Eagles practiced indoors with simulated crowd noise to get ready for the Cardinals … If you're talking about Super Bowl championship rings, three Eagles own them — Samuel, with two, Torrance "Tank" Daniels and Dan Klecko, who has three … The Eagles have short practices today and Friday, then jet to Arizona … Reid said Andrews was improving but not enough to play this weekend. That gives Andrews one more shot at playing this year — the Super Bowl. The Eagles are holding a roster spot open … Reid said he grew his playoff beard at the request of Dawkins, not because of superstition. He said only Dawkins or Donovan McNabb could have gotten him to do so. "I'm not superstitious at all," Reid said. "I eat."

 

[RandomGuy]

With Westbrook gimpy, don't you kind of have to lean a bit more on Donovan's arm?

For this game, it comes down to one question for me:

Can your front seven get to Warner before our receivers torch your secondary? That is where this game will be won and lost.

Donovan's arm has been leaned on heavily for most of his career - even more so in the last 3 or 4 seasons. No real change there. The Eagles have been winning in their most recent games by involving the run. Even with Westbrook not at 100%, he will draw coverage and can still stay in as a pretty solid blitz pickup. They are finally using Buck more often and seeing success.

Then again, like someone said above, we Eagles fans really never know which version of Reid is going to call the plays. The team actually does better when they let Marty (Offensive Co-ord) do the play calling. When Reid steps in it doesn't normally bode well for the running game.

I think your point is valid. It probably will come down to the Warner pressure battle. From what I've been reading the loss of Spach puts a big dent in the Cards run game and fans tend to want to see a heavy package in there instead of relying on Pope. Any heavy package is just going to help the Eagles blitz get to Warner. So if the Cards abandon the run early and lean on Warner's arm, it only makes the game that much more one-dimensional for the Eagles D and they have thrived on that opportunity as of late.

Should be interesting.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Donovan's arm has been leaned on heavily for most of his career - even more so in the last 3 or 4 seasons. No real change there. The Eagles have been winning in their most recent games by involving the run. Even with Westbrook not at 100%, he will draw coverage and can still stay in as a pretty solid blitz pickup. They are finally using Buck more often and seeing success.

Then again, like someone said above, we Eagles fans really never know which version of Reid is going to call the plays. The team actually does better when they let Marty (Offensive Co-ord) do the play calling. When Reid steps in it doesn't normally bode well for the running game.

I think your point is valid. It probably will come down to the Warner pressure battle. From what I've been reading the loss of Spach puts a big dent in the Cards run game and fans tend to want to see a heavy package in there instead of relying on Pope. Any heavy package is just going to help the Eagles blitz get to Warner. So if the Cards abandon the run early and lean on Warner's arm, it only makes the game that much more one-dimensional for the Eagles D and they have thrived on that opportunity as of late.

Should be interesting.

Blitzing Warner has shown thus far to be dangerous. Warner has the league's best passer rating while being blitzed. He is over 100. If the entire gameplan is Eagles blitzing Warner, I'd be pretty worried if I were the Eagles.

 

[RandomGuy]

Blitzing Warner has shown thus far to be dangerous. Warner has the league's best passer rating while being blitzed. He is over 100. If the entire gameplan is Eagles blitzing Warner, I'd be pretty worried if I were the Eagles.

How do the Cards RBs fair with picking up the blitz?

 

[dreamcastrocks]

How do the Cards RBs fair with picking up the blitz?

Edge is one of the best there is in the league. Hightower, not so much.

 

[Brighteyes]

I'm talking about the season as a whole. Regardless of our yardage, we win when we run 40 percent or better and lose when we runn less than 40 percent. We ran enough last week to keep the Giants defense off of McNabb

Don't rely on stats like that. When a team gets behind, they have to throw more.

 

[Brighteyes]

You mean Matt Ryan, the rookie??

And Matt Hasselbeck, Ben Roethlisberger, Trent Edwards, Tony Romo ...

 

[RandomGuy]

The crowd noise factor is going to be interesting.

Last week it was nearly a TV blackout until multiple extensions and help from a local pool supply company buying up the leftover tickets.

This week the game sold out in six minutes, scalpers have loaded the online broker sites with seats, and ticket value is high enough for some fans to consider selling at a sizable profit.

The Cards players were quoted during last week's game as chatting about how surprised they were at how enthusiastic the fans were in the dome. They joked that it didn't seem like their usual fans.

One could submit a theory that a majority of "real" non-season-ticket fans showed up last week with available seats at face value and an impending blackout.

I wonder how many "real" non-season-ticket fans were able to get seats for this Sunday. Regardless, it seems apparent that the dome staff will do their best to whiop the crowd into a frenzy with free towels and encouragement from the video boards. It will be interesting to see if the noise level is truly as loud as last week.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

The crowd noise factor is going to be interesting.

Last week it was nearly a TV blackout until multiple extensions and help from a local pool supply company buying up the leftover tickets.

This week the game sold out in six minutes, scalpers have loaded the online broker sites with seats, and ticket value is high enough for some fans to consider selling at a sizable profit.

The Cards players were quoted during last week's game as chatting about how surprised they were at how enthusiastic the fans were in the dome. They joked that it didn't seem like their usual fans.

One could submit a theory that a majority of "real" non-season-ticket fans showed up last week with available seats at face value and an impending blackout.

I wonder how many "real" non-season-ticket fans were able to get seats for this Sunday. Regardless, it seems apparent that the dome staff will do their best to whiop the crowd into a frenzy with free towels and encouragement from the video boards. It will be interesting to see if the noise level is truly as loud as last week.

The Atlanta game was the loudest game ever at the stadium. This one is poised to be louder. Don't worry about the crowd noise, we'll be just fine. Better yet, maybe you should.

Keith Brooking went on the record saying that the crowd was so loud, that he couldn't hear the plays coming into his helmet.

 

[Stout]

You mean Matt Ryan, the rookie??

You mean you do realize the joint will be rocking with lots of crowd noise, and you expect McNabb to handle it better than the rookie? Excellent. That's fair enough. Far smarter than the ignorance of thinking there won't be a crowd noise issue.

 

[RandomGuy]

The Atlanta game was the loudest game ever at the stadium. This one is poised to be louder. Don't worry about the crowd noise, we'll be just fine. Better yet, maybe you should.

Keith Brooking went on the record saying that the crowd was so loud, that he couldn't hear the plays coming into his helmet.

Did you read my post? I was suggesting that the main reason for the noise was that the real fans had the opportunity to get seats. I don't think that is the case this week.

I'm not saying this as anti-Arizona. That's the case with any big conference championship or Super Bowl. Real fans normally can't get as many tickets. Casual fans and even non-fans have more cash and are willing to show up quietly for "the experience."

 

[RandomGuy]

You mean you do realize the joint will be rocking with lots of crowd noise, and you expect McNabb to handle it better than the rookie? Excellent. That's fair enough. Far smarter than the ignorance of thinking there won't be a crowd noise issue.

The Eagles are already practicing with piped-in noise this week. They have seen their fair share of loud games.

I think Dawkins2112 had a valid point with Ryan. I also think that while crowd noise WILL complicate the play calling for the Eagles a bit this week, it won't be as loud as last week (by the very nature of the huge swing in ticket availability) and it won't have as dire an impact.

 

[82CardsGrad]

The Eagles are already practicing with piped-in noise this week. They have seen their fair share of loud games.

I think Dawkins2112 had a valid point with Ryan. I also think that while crowd noise WILL complicate the play calling for the Eagles a bit this week, it won't be as loud as last week (by the very nature of the huge swing in ticket availability) and it won't have as dire an impact.

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