The Linc - Nate Allen Looking For Improvement

If I see I hear “dream team” one more time, I’m gonna choke a bitch.

I heard some of the players & even some of the writers say that this should end the dream team talk. I doubt it does it’s going to go on all year.

I think it’s important to read an objective, non-homer, analysis in order to keep our perspective. With the exception of Matthews/linebacking, most of the issues from the Steelers game can be attributed to tweaking, more reps, and general preseason sloppiness.

The Eagles are notorious slow starters. I wouldn’t be surprised if we drop a few more stinkers before we gel.

I know that this was all talked about yesterday, but here are my thought:
- The offense played shitty but im not worried at all about them . Theyve been playing for a couple of weeks, theyll be back on track in no time.
- Now the Defense. I think that overall, Reid is asking A LOT from his personel and his rookie/2nd year guys. CAstillo is new a this, who knows if he can actually call a game. During the game, there were questionable calls made. Now i know its preaseason and its vanilla but, the few blitz that he called werent very timely. Perhaps he was just practicing them, I dont know, but im not going to make a huge deal out of it. All im saying is that we are all assuming that he can do the job…just like we all assumed McD could do the job…
- The Dline was ok. They stuck it up a few times but they were holding there own at the beggining (especially with no Patt/Dix stuffin the run). If it werent for Jenkins 15 yarder, that drive is done with and this game could have been different.
- Now, the LB: Im in no way “jumpin th gun” here. If you put a 4th round rookie in the starting MLB spot, with no mini camps, not OTAs, with young teammates at new positions and against one of the best teams in the NFL…THIS SHIT WILL HAPPEN!!! We are asking way too much from MAtthews at this moment. THe starting lineup should be (and should have always been Fokou-Chaney-Clayton. THey are the teams best LBs and have at least a bit of pro playing exprience. IF we arent happy with those guys, we go trade for a LB we like. Thats it.

The touchdown pass Asante got ‘credit’ for was actually Allen’s fault.

Pretty much the whole team played poorly, but Matthews and Allen flat-out stunk. Vick’s issues were all about forcing throws and jumping around, and he admitted as much – but with Matthews it looked physical, and with Allen it looked…well, it just flat-out looked like shit.

Allen sucked.

It’s actually nice to see Dunlap get some credit, he gets hated on way too much & it’s all because of the Raider game a couple years ago.

Everyone is killing Nate on the Philly Inquirer article page – saying the Eagles should have drafted Earl Thomas instead. I was in favor of Thomas at the time, but it’s about time you support Nate instead of calling him a bust.

I just came. Someone hand me a kleenex….

Doc Brown’s DeLorean is the only solution to our safety woes.

I know this is a pre-season game and Reid and Co probably didn’t plan too much for the Steelers, but this reeks a little like the Minnesota or Tennessee games last year (Nate Allen’s coverage for example).

I hope I’m not reading too much into it.

Its the 2nd preseason game. Its means nothing. Hell, you would think the people on here would realize that the only preseason game that means anything is the 3rd one. Even then, it doesn’t tell you much.

Some of the concerns about the defense are legit. Was asking a lot of them even if camp hadn’t been short to come together in a short time period. It also doesn’t help that they got rid of some of their veteran depth (Mikell, Bunkley, Bradley) and are really young & inexperienced at LB and S. Drafted a bunch of young guys on defense the past 2 years and have little to show for it so.

Matthews is a big concern obviously but the one I wonder about is Allen. He was terrible. Was out of position several times, was slow to react, and doesn’t quite look physically right with a little bit of a slower reaction time than earlier last year. Allen generally got a free pass around here last year but his play declined dramatically after the first 2-3 games last year. Terrible in a number of games including the Titans and Bears games. Page though is a backup & is a special teams guy. Jackson has played sparingly & I wonder if he even makes the team.

Did thought Coleman played well. He doesn’t exactly have the size you would like at SS but he is a sound tackler. I would argue he is the best tackler on this team right now which isn’t saying much. Poor and inconsistent tackling especially at LB and secondary is going to be a pretty issue I bet this year for the defense. Not a single guy at LB who wraps up people that well. Ditto the secondary except Coleman. Jarrett might be a hitter but he looks lost and out of step in the limited time he has played. Coleman should win the job so far at SS because Jarrett hasn’t showed enough.

I really think the short offseason has rushed the learning curve on Juan’s defense and some of the rookies/soph ability to return from injuries and just get used to the speed of the NFL. Nate will figure things out.

Apparently Nick Cole has received offers from 4 teams and declined all of them….. lol. Also the Eagles were among 16 other teams at Terelle Pryor’s workout today.