Will underdog Eagles have their day in Super Bowl?
PHILADELPHIA – The barking started as soon as the Philadelphia Eagles had officially secured their NFC championship.
Players pulled on the rubber dog masks they helped popularize a week ago as home underdogs against the Atlanta Falcons, working the crowd into an even greater frenzy as they ran around the field.
Then in the locker room, the barking continued.
“Hey, Tom Brady. Pretty boy Tom Brady,” offensive tackle Lane Johnson said. “He’s the best quarterback of all time, so nothing I’d like to do more than dethrone that guy.”
Safety Malcolm Jenkins in a more diplomatic way acknowledged the immense task ahead, but he, too, made it clear there’s no fear within his locker room.
“Greatest quarterback of all time, but that doesn’t mean that he’s unbeatable,” Jenkins said. “We’ve got a destination that we’re geared to. No matter who’s in front of us, we’ve got somewhere to go.”
Aside from the “pretty boy” jab, that’s not trash talk. This is the type of mentality the Eagles should and must have if they expect to win the Super Bowl.
The Eagles don’t care that they’re the biggest Super Bowl underdogs (New England is a five-point favorite) since 2009. They are comfortable in this role after back-to-back playoff wins as underdogs.
They do care that they boast one of the best defenses in the league. And they care that they own one of the deepest collections of pass rushers. As the Jacksonville Jaguars showed, if you can get pressure on Brady, he — like almost any other quarterback — can be thrown off his game, at least for a while.
In the first half of their game, the Jaguars sacked Brady twice and hit him three more times. Brady and the Patriots were 0-for-5 on third downs and had the ball for just under 12 minutes compared with Jacksonville’s 18.
The Eagles also have confidence because their offense features one of the most effective rushing attacks, while the Patriots defense gives up 4.7 yards per rushing attempt, the second-worst mark in the league. And it doesn’t hurt that Philadelphia’s backup quarterback is experiencing a breakthrough.
This postseason, Nick Foles has a passer rating of 122.1. That leads all quarterbacks, including Brady, whose passer rating in the playoffs (105.0) ranks fifth. If Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles thrived for a half against New England, completing 13 of 15 passes for 155 yards a touchdown and a 131.9 passer rating before halftime, the Eagles certainly have reason to believe Foles can find success.
That’s enough for Philadelphia to keep the faith, even facing the Patriots’ body of work.
“Greatest quarterback of all time, greatest coach of all time,” Eagles receiver Torrey Smith said. “I’ve played against them several times in my career, so I’m very familiar with them, but you just have to go out there and play well. It’s going to be tough, but as always. You go out there, work, prepare for them, study them and go out there and do our thing.”
Vrabel’s rise
Less than a week after firing Mike Mularkey, the Tennessee Titans found his replacement, hiring former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel.
Talk about a meteoric rise. Just seven years after he hung up his cleats, and with only one season as a defensive coordinator under his belt, Vrabel is leading his own team.
Vrabel’s résumé features one season as the linebackers coach at his alma mater, Ohio State, two more seasons there as the defensive line coach, three seasons as the Houston Texans linebackers coach and one season as their defensive coordinator.
So why would the Titans pass over so many other more-seasoned coaching candidates and hire Vrabel?
General manager Jon Robinson is opting on upside over experience. Robinson knows Vrabel well, having worked for the Patriots from 2002 to 2013. Vrabel played there from 2001 to 2008.
Just as the Texans promoted Vrabel to defensive coordinator last year despite his limited experience, Robinson felt like he couldn’t miss out on the coach.
Vrabel has always possessed strong leadership skills, and part of this involves his knack for connecting and communicating effectively with those around him. Players relate well to Vrabel because of this ability, which stems in part from him still being not far removed from his playing days.
Vrabel has an ability to see the big picture, but he’s also very detail-oriented. Playing under Bill Belichick for eight seasons helps develop these much-needed coaching qualities.
The Titans are hoping that Vrabel can bring the same kind of institutional excellence to their organization.
Patience with Sark
Given the way the Falcons offense regressed in 2017 with offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian taking over for Kyle Shanahan, some around the league suspected that head coach Dan Quinn would make a change this offseason.
But Quinn shut that notion down last week when he announced Sarkisian would return. The Falcons offense went from leading the league with 33.8 points per game to averaging 22.1 (15th). After ranking second in yards (415.8 per game), the unit dipped to eighth (364.8).
But Quinn has been in this situation before, and he knows it takes time for an offense to fully reach its potential under a new coordinator.
In 2015, Shanahan joined Quinn in Atlanta, but his acumen didn’t exactly show through as the Falcons averaged 21.2 points per game (21st in the league). The fan base called for a change to be made, but Quinn stuck with the assistant and watched next season as the offense carried the Falcons to the Super Bowl.
Quinn is banking on similar growth from Sarkisian. Breaking the 30-point mark in four games, including three against quality opponents in the Packers, Lions and Seahawks, indicates there is ample potential.
A league-leading 44.7% conversion rate on third downs (up from 42.1% last season) also proved encouraging to Quinn.
And because he sees how Sarkisian goes about his job behind the scenes (peers describe the coordinator as highly detailed and extremely self-critical), Quinn believes a bounce-back year is ahead in 2018.