LONDON — On London, place-kickers, Andy Harmon, Jim Schwartz and why London is one of my favorite countries in Europe.
It's 10 Random Eagles Observations live from England!
1. Will be interesting to see how the Eagles respond Sunday in a crucial game that happens to be in another country. Talking to the players Friday, it it was easy to tell how not into the trip they were. It really was a grind, flying overnight, arriving in London at sunrise, going straight to team meetings and then busing to practice on little or no sleep. The Jaguars do this every year, so most of their players have been through the routine and know how to prepare for it and handle it. For the Eagles, this is uncharted waters. NFL players — and pro athletes in general — are creatures of habit. They like doing things exactly the same all the time, and the Eagles are out of that comfort zone over here. But this is a huge game, and long after we’ve all forgotten where it was played, we’ll remember whether the Eagles fell to 3-5 with their fourth loss in five games or at least temporarily righted the ship by overcoming a rough week and finding their way back to 4-4 with a bye week and then the meat of the NFC East schedule approaching. All that matters Sunday is how the Eagles play, not where they play.
2. I’d really like to see Carson Wentz throw more to the backs. Corey Clement and Wendell Smallwood are capable receivers, but they each have just 13 catches. I admire Wentz’s aggressive mentality and that he always has his eyes looking down the field. But this offense works best when the quarterback takes the underneath throw when it’s there instead of forcing it. And this isn’t just a reaction to 3rd-and-2 last week (more on that play here). I’ve always felt that it would benefit Wentz and the offense to take the safe underneath throw in some cases. Hopefully, he learned from Sunday.
3. His aggressive approach really makes Wentz’s career interception ratio even more ridiculous. He’s only thrown one INT this year, and that was in his first game. He goes into Sunday with 173 consecutive passes without an interception — 63 shy of Nick Foles’ team record set over 2012 and 2013. Wentz now has the third-lowest interception ratio in NFL history despite rarely taking the safe throw. The only QBs in the top 10 in NFL history in both highest TD percentage and lowest INT percentage are Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Russell Wilson and Wentz. Incredible company.
4. One stat that blows my mind is that the Eagles have faced 76 pass plays on third down this year and they have just four sacks. Only the Giants (3) have fewer. And of those four, two have been by linebackers, one by a defensive tackle and one by a defensive end. That’s one third-down sack by a defensive end in almost half a season. Michael Bennett, Chris Long, Brandon Graham and Derek Barnett combined for 28 sacks last year, Bennett with Seattle. Those four have a combined eight this year and now Barnett is out for the season. That’s some serious underachieving from the defense ends.
5. When people defend Jake Elliott by saying two of his misses this year were from 54 and 55 yards, remember that’s a kick NFL kickers make more than they miss these days. Elliott is 0 for 2 from 54 and out, but the rest of the NFL is 17 for 27 (63 percent). Elliott has been living off that historic 61-yard game-winner last year against the Giants, but that’s his only career make from 54 and out. Overall, Elliott is 11 for 15 this year, second-worst of 24 kickers who’ve attempted at least 10 field goals this year. I’m not ready to pull the plug yet because we know what kind of leg he has, but I’m getting close.
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6. I still can’t believe Jim Schwartz started a cornerback against the Panthers who hadn’t played in an NFL game in 11 months, had never started an NFL game, was on the street five days earlier and hadn’t even been on a roster for two months. There is no way Rasul Douglas is that bad that it made sense to start a guy who was out of football since training camp ahead of him.
7. You know what’s unbelievable? As bad as the Eagles have played, they still have the fourth-most wins in the NFC. If they figure out how to win some games, especially division games, they can get themselves back in this thing.
8. Being in London with the Eagles recalls a lot of memories of the 1989 and 1991 trips to London for preseason games. In 1991, the media assembled in the lobby of the swanky team hotel early in the morning to talk to head coach Rich Kotite, and everybody had flown all night and hadn’t slept and we were all exhausted. As we were waiting for Richie the K, a few in the media, including Merrill Reese, dozed off in the comfy chairs in the lobby. We’re all sitting there talking about our flights and our plans for the week in London, and at one point, Merrill abruptly woke up and still half-asleep randomly blurted out to nobody in particular: “They really like that Andy Harmon.” Forget the Super Bowl. That was my favorite Merrill call ever.
9. My other favorite memory from that trip involves a beat writer who was closely aligned with Buddy Ryan, Kotite’s predecessor, and had, let’s say, a rocky relationship with Kotite. Ryan had just been fired in January and replaced by Kotite, and this suburban newspaper writer went after the hapless Kotite every chance he got. There was a musical on the life of Buddy Holly playing on the West End of London at the time called “Buddy,” so the beat guy went to the performance and bought a t-shirt just so he could show up at Richie the K’s press conference the next day at Crystal Palace and sit in the front row wearing a “Buddy” t-shirt.
10. Then there was the Eagles cheerleader I overheard in the lobby of the Grosvenor Square Marriott saying, “I’ve always wanted to visit London and all the other countries in Europe.”
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