Off the charts, loud, crazy, frenzied, awesome - those are just some of the words to describe what it was like here in Barry "The Hatchet" Vagnoni's Eagles Locker Room last week when the Eagles dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers. This joint was jumping from the opening kick-off and escalated from there when Benny Logan put his big paw in the air to block the Steelers field goal attempt.
The game was an old-fashioned beat down as the Eagles opened up a can of "Butt Whoopin" and laid it on their rivals from western Pa. in a big way! Going into last week's game I truly felt it would be the toughest one on the entire Eagles schedule. After all, a lot of so-called experts have the Steelers going to the Super Bowl. I see where the Eagles are starting to make believers out of folks across the country as they are the most talked about team in the league after three weeks. One thing I know for sure is the Steelers are believers and are probably still talking to themselves after that loss!
3 Things To Know About This Week’s Game
Week 5: Eagles vs. Lions
- The Eagles offense being led by the rookie Carson Wentz is as explosive as you will find going into the 4th game and it's only going to get better. The sky is the limit for Wentz as he garnished the NFL Rookie Of The Month nod, as well as the NFC Player of the Week honor this past week. It is amazing that through three games, Carson Wentz has not committed a single turnover, an NFL record. I do not see any reason why the "Wentz Wagon" will slow down against the lowly Detroit Lions as I think "The Hatchet" could go out there and torch their defense. (Okay maybe that's a little bit of a stretch!) I see the Eagles offense having a huge game this week as we will get Zach Ertz back in the lineup and I know he's chomping at the bit and ready to explode! The Eagles wideouts continue to gel and have a good rhythm going with #11 and it's good to see Dorial Green Beckham getting more comfortable and getting more chances to be involved. Running back Ryan Matthews should be healed from the ankle injury that's been nagging him since the preseason, but if he can't go we have found a gem in Wendell Smallwood. The rookie Smallwood zig-zagged his way around and through that tough Steelers defense showing that he belongs and is more than capable to tote the rock. Let's not forget about Kenyon Barner and the incomparable Darren Sproles (aka Mighty Mouse) who continues as one of the league’s most versatile weapons and excelled in last week’s game. I look for the Eagles offense to romp over the Lions!
- MAY THE SCHWARTZ BE WITH YOU!!! Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has this defense playing at the highest level and, just think, there are lot of new pieces on this "D" and they are still getting used to each other as well as the system. Can you imagine what these guys are going to be achieving as the season goes along and they get even more comfortable? Pretty scary for all of the Eagles foes, and you can bet there are no teams that are looking forward to facing this unit. We have to come up with a nickname for them..."Gang Green," The Philly Mob," “The Hit Men." Oops, I better watch myself; I'm Italian you know. Fletcher Cox was named NFC Defensive Player of the Month this past week and it looks like he's in for a tremendous year! What's great is it's not only Cox, but the rest of this unit flying all around making plays. It reminds me a lot of the great Jim Johnson's defenses. This week vs. the Lions the Eagles will have to get after Matthew Stafford as he can get on a roll if you let him get comfortable. He doesn't have "ALLWORLD" Calvin Johnson who retired after last year and the wideouts on the roster now are not even close to Megatron's talent. They do have Marvin Jones, who was leading the NFL with 408 receiving yards going into last week. They also have Golden Tate who had 90+ receptions the last two seasons and they also signed Anquan Bolden who at one time was one of the league’s best wideouts. Our secondary will be tested for sure, but I think they will hold up their end of the bargain and stifle the Lions as long as they rattle Stafford!
- The Eagles special team units have been very good through three weeks and are solid. As always, special teams tend to get overlooked by us fans, but your team is only as good as its special teams. The front office and the coaching staff have done a great job of bringing in players that know how to play on special teams and it shows. Of course we have one of the league’s best long snappers with my friend Jon Dorenbos, a tremendous punter in Donny "Longball" Jones and our kicker Caleb Sturgis. They make a terrific trio, but the entire unit is humming like a well-oiled machine. Now you add the ageless wonder #43 Darren Sproles on returns and you just know that he can take it to the house at any time. In fact, last week in the Locker Room I must have played the Mighty Mouse theme song at least five times with Sprolesy electrifying the crowd at the Linc and here in the Locker Room. I look for the Special Teams to absolutely light it up this week and I'm sorry if any Detroit Lions fans are reading this but on Sunday we will be singing...The Lions Sleep Tonight!
Well that will about do it for this week, and I invite you to check in next week when I preview the Eagles game against division rivals the Washington Redskins.
Off the charts, loud, crazy, frenzied, awesome - those are just some of the words to describe what it was like here in Barry "The Hatchet" Vagnoni's Eagles Locker Room last week when the Eagles dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers. This joint was jumping from the opening kick-off and escalated from there when Benny Logan put his big paw in the air to block the Steelers field goal attempt.
The game was an old-fashioned beat down as the Eagles opened up a can of "Butt Whoopin" and laid it on their rivals from western Pa. in a big way! Going into last week's game I truly felt it would be the toughest one on the entire Eagles schedule. After all, a lot of so-called experts have the Steelers going to the Super Bowl. I see where the Eagles are starting to make believers out of folks across the country as they are the most talked about team in the league after three weeks. One thing I know for sure is the Steelers are believers and are probably still talking to themselves after that loss!
3 Things To Know About This Week’s Game
Week 5: Eagles vs. Lions
- The Eagles offense being led by the rookie Carson Wentz is as explosive as you will find going into the 4th game and it's only going to get better. The sky is the limit for Wentz as he garnished the NFL Rookie Of The Month nod, as well as the NFC Player of the Week honor this past week. It is amazing that through three games, Carson Wentz has not committed a single turnover, an NFL record. I do not see any reason why the "Wentz Wagon" will slow down against the lowly Detroit Lions as I think "The Hatchet" could go out there and torch their defense. (Okay maybe that's a little bit of a stretch!) I see the Eagles offense having a huge game this week as we will get Zach Ertz back in the lineup and I know he's chomping at the bit and ready to explode! The Eagles wideouts continue to gel and have a good rhythm going with #11 and it's good to see Dorial Green Beckham getting more comfortable and getting more chances to be involved. Running back Ryan Matthews should be healed from the ankle injury that's been nagging him since the preseason, but if he can't go we have found a gem in Wendell Smallwood. The rookie Smallwood zig-zagged his way around and through that tough Steelers defense showing that he belongs and is more than capable to tote the rock. Let's not forget about Kenyon Barner and the incomparable Darren Sproles (aka Mighty Mouse) who continues as one of the league’s most versatile weapons and excelled in last week’s game. I look for the Eagles offense to romp over the Lions!
- MAY THE SCHWARTZ BE WITH YOU!!! Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz has this defense playing at the highest level and, just think, there are lot of new pieces on this "D" and they are still getting used to each other as well as the system. Can you imagine what these guys are going to be achieving as the season goes along and they get even more comfortable? Pretty scary for all of the Eagles foes, and you can bet there are no teams that are looking forward to facing this unit. We have to come up with a nickname for them..."Gang Green," The Philly Mob," “The Hit Men." Oops, I better watch myself; I'm Italian you know. Fletcher Cox was named NFC Defensive Player of the Month this past week and it looks like he's in for a tremendous year! What's great is it's not only Cox, but the rest of this unit flying all around making plays. It reminds me a lot of the great Jim Johnson's defenses. This week vs. the Lions the Eagles will have to get after Matthew Stafford as he can get on a roll if you let him get comfortable. He doesn't have "ALLWORLD" Calvin Johnson who retired after last year and the wideouts on the roster now are not even close to Megatron's talent. They do have Marvin Jones, who was leading the NFL with 408 receiving yards going into last week. They also have Golden Tate who had 90+ receptions the last two seasons and they also signed Anquan Bolden who at one time was one of the league’s best wideouts. Our secondary will be tested for sure, but I think they will hold up their end of the bargain and stifle the Lions as long as they rattle Stafford!
- The Eagles special team units have been very good through three weeks and are solid. As always, special teams tend to get overlooked by us fans, but your team is only as good as its special teams. The front office and the coaching staff have done a great job of bringing in players that know how to play on special teams and it shows. Of course we have one of the league’s best long snappers with my friend Jon Dorenbos, a tremendous punter in Donny "Longball" Jones and our kicker Caleb Sturgis. They make a terrific trio, but the entire unit is humming like a well-oiled machine. Now you add the ageless wonder #43 Darren Sproles on returns and you just know that he can take it to the house at any time. In fact, last week in the Locker Room I must have played the Mighty Mouse theme song at least five times with Sprolesy electrifying the crowd at the Linc and here in the Locker Room. I look for the Special Teams to absolutely light it up this week and I'm sorry if any Detroit Lions fans are reading this but on Sunday we will be singing...The Lions Sleep Tonight!
Well that will about do it for this week, and I invite you to check in next week when I preview the Eagles game against division rivals the Washington Redskins.
