A touchdown-saving tackle in the Super Bowl, a Derek Barnett prediction, the Eagles' plans for the slot, a Jake Elliott stat that makes no sense and why Jason Kelce believes kids shouldn't specialize in a single sport.
That's only a taste of what you're in store for in this week's edition of Roob's 10 Random Eagles Points!
You might even get a Trey Burton-Tom Brady stat!
1. It’s unfathomable to me that there are still people out there who think Nick Foles’ postseason performance was a fluke. You don't see flukes walking around with the Super Bowl MVP trophy. Foles had as brilliant a postseason as any quarterback has ever had, and that’s on top of a 2012 season playing on a dead team with a coach who knew he was going to get fired, but he still became the first rookie in NFL history to throw for 260 yards per game while completing 60 percent of his passes, a 2013 season that was one of the greatest any quarterback has ever had, an inevitable statistical drop in 2014 but still a formidable 6-2 record, a couple atrocious starts in 2015 under another coach who was about to get fired and then some excellent backup work for the Chiefs in 2016. And then a historic playoff run. Give the kid some credit, for crying out loud. Bottom line is he has the sixth-best win-loss record in the NFL since 2013 at 24-13. Pro Bowls, NFL records, Lombardi trophies and Super Bowl MVPs don’t happen by accident.
2. My gut feeling is the Eagles will open 2018 with Jalen Mills and Ronald Darby outside, Sidney Jones in the slot, Rasul Douglas backing up outside and De’Vante Bausby or Avonte Maddox also in the mix. That is an awfully good group of young corners right there.
3. Amazing that the Eagles have nine corners on their roster and none are older than 25. All nine are on their rookie contracts, and they have a combined 2018 salary cap figure of just $6.859 million. There are 26 cornerbacks in the league who have a higher cap figure just by themselves. Another example of the brilliance of Howie Roseman. This is a very young, very cheap, very talented group.
4. Jeff Lurie wearing a Nate Sudfeld jersey at the Carson Wentz charity softball game was one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever seen.
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5. Interesting how similar Wentz’s 2017 season was to Donovan McNabb’s 2004 season. McNabb had a higher completion percentage (64 to 60), but their TD-to-INT ratios were similar (31 to 8 for McNabb, 33 to 7 for Wentz), they both threw about 250 yards per game (258 for McNabb, 254 for Wentz) and they both went undefeated at home. Those are also the only two seasons in Eagles history where a QB threw 400 or more passes and had a passer rating over 100.
6. Elliott is the most accurate field goal kicker in NFL postseason history and the least accurate PAT kicker in NFL playoff history. Elliott is 7 for 7 in career postseason field goal attempts, which makes him one of only five kickers in NFL history to attempt seven or more field goals in the playoffs and convert them all. But he’s 7 for 9 in postseason PAT attempts, making him the least accurate PAT kicker in NFL history with three or more attempts. How is that even possible?
7. Prediction: Derek Barnett gets 13½ sacks this year.
8. Burton has as many career postseason fourth-down touchdown passes in the postseason as Brady.
9. Super-underrated play in the Super Bowl: On a 2nd-and-6 from the Eagles’ 23-yard line on the Patriots’ first drive, Brady connected over the middle with Gronk, who appeared to have a clear angle to the end zone. But Rodney McLeod came out of nowhere and stopped Gronk at the 14-yard line, saving a touchdown. The Patriots got the first down but ultimately had to settle for a field goal to tie the game at 3-all. Enormous play.
10. If you have a kid who insists on focusing on soccer or basketball or any sport year-round, this from Jason Kelce should be required reading: “I played lacrosse, hockey, baseball, soccer, wrestled for a little bit, a little bit of karate, played a lot of basketball on the playgrounds and backyards, never competitively. I’m a big advocate of letting kids play as many sports as possible. I think it really helps build overall athleticism and coordination. I think it certainly helped my brother (Chiefs tight end Travis) and me. I think the more games you play the more you’re able to draw different things from different sports and assimilate them to yours. Soccer, you develop some great footwork. You have to have good feet in order to play. I wasn’t the best soccer player but it definitely helped me play this game. Hockey, same thing. Everything happens so fast in hockey so you learn to think quicker because everything is happening so fast in hockey because the ice is quicker and you’re moving so fast. Baseball, you learn hand-eye coordination. There’s all sorts of things, and I think when you’re younger you’re developing habits and developing traits that build a foundation of coordination and athleticism and I don’t think there’s any question that that’s helped me play the position of center in football better.” The full interview with Kelce is here.