5 Questions with the Eagles

Now that the elections are over and the nation has embraced the Democrat party's message of free beer and moral turpitude, The Curly R has decided to institute random drug testing for our readers: two drug minimum. No, but seriously, it's Eagles week. This week, we don't just bring you 5 questions, we bring you The Curly R

5 Questions Doublesized Spanktacular

First up, Jason over at Bleeding Green Nation traded questions with us. Read on and then head over there and drop a comment. My answers to his questions are here.

Then, we bring you a special reader questions exchange. Curly R reader/lurker Wilbert Montgomery asked me questions via email about the Redskins, and I invited him to answer the same questions I asked Jason. Wilbert Montgomery's answers to my questions are inline with Jason's, and my answers to Wilbert Montgomery's questions are below.

And now the Sci-Fi original series 5 Questions with the Eagles

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Curly R: Players. Donte just signed a 5 year deal with a $10 million signing bonus [ed. note. No he didn't. See ed. note below. -Ben]. It seems in the wake of TO as though the Eagles have gone back to the 'no stars but Dono' approach to personnel, with Donte and Reggie Brown, who just signed playing at LJ Smith and Todd Pinkston and Brian Westbrook slowly breaking down. What is your take on the team's skill position players? Was Donte a good investment? Do you believe the theories that the Redskins snapped up TJ Duckett to cockblock the Eagles from getting him? How far can the Eagles go without a legitimate inside runner? How about the defensive secondary? I know you called for Sean Considine over Michael Lewis at safety, which seems to be working out, but how about Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown? They are giving up big plays routinely. Is this a downside of Jim Johnson's aggresive defense?

Bleeding Green Nation: Reggie Brown signed a 5 year extension and is tied for third among NFC WRs with 5 recieving TDs(6 overall). I haven't heard anything about Stallworth being extended. [ed. note: this was my bad, the news on Reggie's extension came out as I was writing these questions and I mixed them up, probly because Donte is on my fantasy team. We heart you Donte! -Ben] Todd Pinkston was cut this offseason. LJ Smith is having a breakout year ranking 2nd among NFC TEs in receptions and yardage. He needs to work on his hands, but he is turning out to be a solid threat at TE. Brian Westbrook, a pro bowler 2 years ago, is 2nd in the entire NFL in yards from scrimmage and has 7 TDs so far this year. Overall the skill positions (other than Westbrook who we knew was good) have been a pleasant surprise so far this year.

If the Redskins got TJ Duckett to block him from going to the Eagles, it's the worst personell move I've ever heard. The Eagles never showed any interest in Duckett whatsoever, and considering that Andy Reid refuses to ever run the ball I'm not sure why they ever would be interested. Eagles fans wanted the guy, the team did not.

Whether the Eagles can go without a legitimate inside runner is a flawed question. You have to understand the Andy Reid philosophy. It doesn't matter. If he had a so called "inside runner" he wouldn't use him anyway, so not having a big back doesn't hurt them. I wish it was different and he did commit to the run, but 7+ years of this offense has taught me that it will not change.

As for the secondary, Sheppard and Brown have not been giving up big plays. Sheppard & nickel corner Rod Hood (who will start elsewhere next year) were hurt for the first several weeks of this season. The big plays the Eagles gave up were when those 2 were out of the lineup. Since they returned in the Dallas game I can't think of any big plays given up by the Eagles' secondary. Sheppard completely shut down TO and has 3 picks in his 4 games back.

Wilbert Montgomery: I think the Eagles could work on their personnel a bit but, hell, who couldn't? I like the group of receivers they have at the moment if they can all stay healthy and get on the field. The group would be better if they could add a Jevon Kearse type player but if these guys - Donte in particular - could get some good workout time with DMac I think they can be a pretty effective group. Yes Donte was a good investment. Didn't cost too much this year and we basically get a test drive. If we like it and he likes it we have the inside track to sign him in the off season. If not, no big loss. Simoneau was on the way out anyway so no biggie in the trade. I'm not convinced that the Redskins didn't sign Duckett to cock block the Birds but, if they have roster spots to waste, they can do whatever they want. If you ask me, they would have been better served trying to improve their own team with that roster spot by grabbing an extra D-back early in the season and getting them in the fold. I do believe that the Birds can go pretty far without any additions in the backfield (e.g. an inside runner) if their current backs can stay health. Both Buckhalter and Westbrook are very capable of running between the tackles they just have to stay healthy. Would the team be better with a Deuce McAllister type back in the mix - yes, of course. I do think the Birds need to bring in some more competition in the defensive secondary. Good competition has improved the safety play and they need that on the corner now. Both Lito and Sheldon are very good players but I think they are too comfortable. I'd be very happy to see the birds draft a top notch corner to put the heat on these guys. I wouldn't be surprised to see both manage to still win the starting spot but I think they'd be better players for it and the team would gain valuable depth at the corner spot. Corner is a critical position in Jim Johnson's D scheme and if he doesn't get quality play from his corners he would be able to be as creative and that's what makes him so dangerous as a coach.


Curly R: Coach. Andy Reid is running a balanced offense this season...balanced like his diet. Before the season, Andy said he was going to focus more on the run this year, but Jaws doesn't think that's working out so well. Dono is out of his mind this year, but are opposing defenses figuring out that if the Eagles are going to move the ball, it will be through the air? Are you satisfied with the Marino Dolphins running game (shorties over the middle and swing passes for 3-5 yards)? Andy has also been known for poor clock management at times and bizarre play calls. Should he be the one held accountable for if the Eagles miss the playoffs again? If he doesn't turn the second half of the season around, will ownership be looking at his job? And tell me one thing I don't know about Andy.

Bleeding Green Nation: Andy always promises to balance the offense out and he never does. I've come to accept that. Of course defenses know that the Eagles are going to attack them through the air, they've known it for years in fact... I don't necessarily like it but I accept it. This is the same offense that got us to the superbowl. All I can do is hope for the best to be honest. I don't get it, but it's worked in the past. They will live and die by the pass this year and probably as long as Andy is here.

Andy is the winningest coach in Eagles history, he's won more playoff games than any coach in Eagles history... he's not going anywhere. Maybe if the Eagles dissapoint this season and next, then I could see his job being in jeopardy. Right now, the owner Jeff Lurie is basically in love with Andy.

Wilbert Montgomery: I'll start my answer with a statement: I'm an Andy supporter - so is Jeff Lurie. Andy will not be going anywhere after this season even if the Birds miss the playoffs again. However, if they miss the playoffs, we will probably see a coaching staff shake-up. Okay back to balance. If you put enough ketchup on your burger you'll eventually wind-up with a meal that is more vegetable than meat. Do most folks want ketchup as their primary vegetable? Now you know how most Eagles fans feel about the birds running game. Andy is correct, ketchup is a …. um, I mean short dump passes and screens are essentially running plays and, as such, the Eagles balance is not as far out of wack as the numbers seem to show. However, I'd like to see more cohesion and creativity out of the Eagles running game. It often seems like they hand the ball off up the gut to just hand the ball off sometimes and that sucks. They have some great run blocking O-lineman (Shawn Andrews and Runyan) and I'd like to see these guys get more of a chance to do some damage to other Ds. Humm…. something you don't know about Andy Reid – since you probably know that he coached the 2004 Eagles to two wins over each divisional opponent – the first NFC team to ever do this – how about he worked a vendor at Dodger Stadium as a teenager.


Curly R: Stadium and Gameday. I was fortunate enough to attend a few Eagles games at the Vet, including the final regular season game in 2002, and the Linc is a tremendous upgrade, a damn sight nicer than Redskins Stadium. I only see stadium security hauling out drunken idiots about every third game and the basement jail has been shuttered. Has this new venue mellowed the infamous Eagles fans? I'll be at the game in Philadelphia on Sunday. Can I finally wear my colors?

Bleeding Green Nation: Depends on where you are... Upper deck, wear your Skins jersey at your own risk. Lower level, you'll take plenty of abuse but are probably in no physical danger. As for the parking lot... well I can't vouch for anyone's safety there... As for whether the Linc has mellowed out Eagles fans... I'll refer you to this NY Times article about how some Giant fans were treated earlier this year.

AOL NFL Fanhouse:

The abuse only escalated as the group filed out after the Giants rallied for an overtime victory against the Eagles, the Giants fans said. Scalise, 21, of Copiague, N.Y., said he was pushed from behind several times on a stadium ramp. When Scalise turned around, he said, a man about 6 feet tall and 230 pounds, wearing an Eagles T-shirt and cap, punched him in the nose.

"We were holding the guy and calling for security," said Robert Anderson, a retired New York City police detective who was part of the group. "But other Eagles fan came down the ramp and started swinging at us. When we went to protect ourselves, the guy who threw the first punch got away."

not pretty

Wilbert Montgomery: It is pretty clear that the Eagles gentrified a bit with the new stadium. I believe it goes beyond the stadium though. The Breast Cancer apparel line was pure genius and this has gone a long way in bringing women into the fold. With this among other things the Eagles have done a great job in making gameday a family event. Sure there are still drunk idiots but not like before. Heck, I took my 4 year old girl to the Jags game. When the guy two rows back screamed "Shove it up his ass" all I had to do was ask him to PG it and it was all good for the rest of the game. Feel free to wear your Skins gear but be ready to hear it and I would recommend not responding when you do hear it. If you do that, you should be fine. Don't worry I'll have your back – no, really.


Curly R: Ownership and Management. The Eagles are possibly the model for building through the draft, and are not afraid to tear up rookie contracts early to sign players for the long run, as with Donte, Trent Cole, Mike Patterson and Shawn Andrews. Is this all Joe Banner? Do you feel good about the longterm contracts being dished out right now? Owner Jeff Lurie seems much lower profile than some owners. <*kaffkaffSnyderkaff*> Where's the fanbase on Jeff Lurie?

Bleeding Green Nation: There's not much bad I can say about Jeff Lurie. He bought a bad team with a dilapidated stadium for $185 million and built a brand new stadium, built a perennial winner and now owns a team that Forbes values at a billion dollars. Plus, he hired good football people and allows them to do their job. Lurie signs the checks and gets to sit next to Andy Reid at the podium when the Eagles sign a big free agent. Otherwise he sits in the owners box and you never hear from him. Financially the team is run by Joe Banner and everything else is run by Andy Reid.

The Eagles are a team famous for some terrible ownership... Lurie has been a breath of fresh air.

Wilbert Montgomery: Joe Banner is the man. He is in charge of the Eagle financial situation and you can bet no contract is signed without his approval. He has developed a base philosophy for approaching team development and a solid cap allocation program. He uses these to guide him through the difficult decisions. I think the Redskins should think about this type of approach – scratch that – I like how they do business just fine. Generally, I like the contracts that are being dished out now. They are spending cap money that would be wasted otherwise. I wish they had been able to redo Reggie's contract before the '06 cap spending date but you can't get everything. These are all highly regarded young players the Eagles have locked-up for a long time now. This will be good for the team's future cap situation but also makes these guys killer trade bait. Teams like picking-up guys with nice cheap contracts. Currently the fans like Jeff Lurie because the team has been good for a while and they seem to have a long term plan in place to keep them competitive. If this changes, so will the fans feelings.

Curly R: Andy's Eagles teams are 7-0 after the bye, and the team is pretty well healed up. Winning keeps the Eagles on the pace, but losing drops a 4-game losing streak, a home loss and a 4-5 record on the team. The Redskins finally have both of their starting corners healthy, and the Cowboys moved the ball through the air at will last week, but it only translated into two touchdowns. How bitter will you be if Troy Vincent is the difference again this week? Do you think his knowledge of the Eagles defensive schemes gives the Redskins an edge? And as a favor to me, could you tell Reggie Brown that Sean Taylor has something for him?

Bleeding Green Nation: Troy Vincent left the Eagles over 4 years ago. I would think that the Redskins coaches watching film know more about the Eagles' schemes than Vincent does at this point.

No doubt that this is the game of the year for the Eagles. They either win and jump out of the pack of .500 teams and possibly put themselves just a game back in the NFC East(if the Giants lose to the Bears) or they lose and fall below .500 and pack it in for the season.

As for Reggie Brown and Sean Taylor... In his 1st career game against the Skins Reggie Brown had 5 catches for 94 yards and 1TD, in his second game and 7 catches for 77 yards and 2 TDs in his second game. So I have to imagine that Reggie is looking forward to this Sunday...

Wilbert Montgomery: I would be surprised more than bitter if Troy was the difference in this game. He is an upgrade from Archuleta in the passing game and they will need that against the Eagles, who will test them deep a bunch. If he is the difference two games in a row, that would really be something. I have no bad feelings towards Troy and wish him the best – just not next week. Jim Johnson develops different and new schemes each week. Troy's knowledge is several years old and only a few starters remain from his time in Philly. I don't think he really knows much more than most folks. The Eagles will be aggressive and try hard to disguise what they are doing. There will be openings but not where you expect and your QB better be a very cool character to find them. I think there is only about a 50-50 chance that Sean Taylor is smart enough to even remember what number Reggie Brown is.


Curly R BONUS QUESTION: Rocky? C'mon, give me a break. He's featured as prominently as Dono in the stadium game intro video, and with the sixth movie coming out next month, it seems appropriate to ask, isn't it time Philadelphia move on to a real person for inspiration? What about Vince Papale? What's wrong with Ben freakin Franklin?

Bleeding Green Nation: Honestly I haven't seen Rocky in the stadium intro videos in a while... but yeah, I agree that it's probably time to move on.

Wilbert Montgomery: Philly will never give-up Rocky. Sorry that's just they way it is.

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Here are Wilbert Montgomery's questions and my answers.

Wilbert Montgomery: Lack of continuity has been a hallmark of the Redskins Snyder era. The coaching carousel has been almost as well documented as the Snyder/Cerrato proclivity for big name, high dollar free agents. Joe Gibbs has now been at the helm for three years as has Gregg Williams and a number of other assistant coaches. Do you feel that the Redskins have been able to achieve the stability necessary to begin moving the franchise in a more positive direction? As an organization, what do you think they need to focus on to have more consistent success?

Curly R: Dan Snyder keeps dealing himself great hands but doesn't actually know how to play poker. Joe Gibbs was just Dan raising the stakes again but as long as he and Vinny Cerrato are in charge of the team, real success will be the long end of the average. I don't really subscribe to the notion that these are 'Joe's guys.' They're the product of the same whatever-looks-hot mentality that led to Deion, Trung Canidate and Steve Spurrier.

Dan Snyder is making bad decisions, no one in the organization can stand up to him and he's too weak to hire someone who will. The Redskins need to focus on new management. If Dan's not going to sell the team, he needs to disappear into rehab and find the next Bobby Beathard or Joe Banner. If Joe Gibbs can do something with this team, it will be in spite of Dan, not because of him.


Wilbert Montgomery: The Redskins personnel staff has clearly staked out a brave new strategy for stocking the team with talent. Clearly one of the guiding philosophies for this strategy is based on the concept that veteran players, even ones with just 3 to 5 years in the league, are more valuable than the unknown quantity one might find in the draft. How do you feel about this approach and what do you think it has done for both the Redskins’ long and short term outlook?

Curly R: it's like George Allen (not former Senator and defender of traditional values George Felix Allen) started a game of Operator in 1972 when the Over the Hill Gang went to the Super Bowl with a veteran defense acquired by trading draft picks, and by 2000 when it got to Dan it was ALL YOUR PICKS ARE TRADE TO US. The team should be doing a better job building through the draft, but it's not exactly terrific proposition right now anyway when you look at what they did with what they had left:

2000 draft: one player left (Chris Samuels)
2001 draft: no players left
2002 draft: two players left (Ladell and Rock)
2003 draft: one player left (only had three pick)
2004 draft: three of four on roster (Sean Taylor, Cooley and backup T Jim Molinaro)
2005 draft: three of six players on roster (including Campbell who has never been active)
2006 draft: four of six on roster, with some good play by Montgomery and Golston, but mostly of necessity, and with all the hubbub over Archuleta and Troy Vincent, where is Reed Doughty?

Doh is right.


Wilbert Montgomery: How do the Redskins resolve their current quarterback situation for both this year and next?

Curly R: for this season, you're looking at it. Joe will not heed the calls for change at QB because he believes Mark Brunell gives the team the best chance to win now. I'm not even sure Joe would go to Jason Campbell if the Redskins lost the rest of the way. Mark is his guy and if he can't get it done, well to Joe that means it ain't just the quarterback. Love or leave it.

For next season, you really have to have an honest assessment of Jason Campbell because he's a first round pick going into his third year and if he can't go you have to take out another mortgage to sign a Matt Schaub (Wahoowa! free agent after this season) or work out some sign-and-trade for a proven veteran with fewer city miles than Brunell, because at this point I don't want to see another first round draft pick expended on a QB.


Wilbert Montgomery: The defensive backfield has been a major issue for the Redskins this year. They clearly have a penchant for giving up the big play. Gregg Williams like to run a very aggressive defense that relies on smart talented players to fill roles. Do you feel that the Redskins have the talent, both physically and mentally, in the defensive backfield to execute William’s scheme? If so, how do you explain the Redskins current defensive woes?

Curly R: Shawn Springs' surgery didn't help, then third safety Pierson Prioleau went down with an ACL for the year then we found out Adam Archuleta, er, has some challenges. I think Gregg Williams' defense feeds off the secondary and the 2004 combo of Walt Harris, Shawn Springs, Sean Taylor, Fred Smoot and Ryan Clark are just dern better than the 2006 combo of Carlos Rogers, Kenny Wright, Mike Rumph, Sean Taylor and Adam Archu...er uh, Troy Vincent. There's room for improvement. [ed. note: as it so happens, Howard Bryant in the Washington Post ran this story Saturday on Pierson Prioleau. -Ben]


Wilbert Montgomery: The Eagles recently opened Lincon Finacial Field, creating a great space in which to experience football. In tandem with that, they managed to put together a great four year run of football that has created a timeline of success that Eagles fans have wallowed in. The general effect of this has been to renew and revived their relationship with their fan base. What effect has FedEx stadium and the recent years of underachieving football had on the Redskins fan base? What can the Redskins do to improve this beyond just running the table this year?

Curly R: Basically nothing. The Redskins sell out and that's it. They have sold out every game since 1968, a longer history of sold out games than any other team in NFL history. The fact that it's just not a great stadium is wholly separate from the expectation that it will sell out every week. The thing about Redskins fans, on the couch or in the stands, is that they don't hesitate to boo and criticize, this space excluded. Note again that Dan Snyder may be a billionaire owner of a billion-dollar franchise, yet still never appears on the field and does not do interviews.


Wilbert Montgomery BONUS QUESTION: If Swoop approaches you with cans of green and grey silly string this weekend, what will your response be?

Curly R: I heard a team-sanctioned assault of this nature happened years ago in the Vet, and that it was even shown up on the Diamondvision for maximum Christians-Lions effect. I would probably do what another Redskins fan from that section did, and that was to finish my beer and RUN AWAY.

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Thanks to Jason and Wilbert Montgomery for trading up with us! Head over to Bleeding Green Nation and read our answers, and drop a comment or two and show much more better edumacated the Washington eleet reely r.

Next up: Game preview