* More Eagles random thoughts....
- Doug Pederson..loved his aggressiveness all year. He didn't turtle-up in the Super Bowl. He adjusted all season, especially when Carson Wentz got hurt, and changed the game-plan to take advantage of Nick Foles' strengths.
- Jason Kelcie said everything that everyone was thinking during the rally. He had the guts to say it and now he will always be remembered as an iconic hero in Philly.
- The "Philly Special" play will always be remembered in Super Bowl and Eagles' history. The strip of Tom Brady by Brandon Graham late in the game may have saved the victory. So many big plays. But to me, the key play was Zach Ertz catching a short pass on a fourth-and one at the Eagle 45-yard line and only a few minutes left. It allowed the game-winning, championship-winning drive to continue. Fail there and the Patriots get the ball in Eagles' territory, already with a one point lead, with a chance to go up 4 or 8 points with time running out, and a chance for Brady to milk the clock even more. The Birds may have never seen the ball again.
- The victory was like a huge exhale for Eagle fans. All the demons in the past- the Fog Bowl, the sickening home losses to Tampa Bay and Carolina in the NFC Championship Games, McNabb and Reid screwing-up the 2005 Super Bowl- all of the ghosts were exorcised with this, the first-ever Super Bowl championship by Philadelphia.
- I still think, no matter what is offered, the Eagles need to keep Foles. What if Wentz isn't ready to return in September? The front office needs to extend both quarterbacks, the best young QB duo in football. hard enough to find a capable starter, let alone a back-up.
Is a late first-rounder, or even a high second-round draft pick worth letting Foles go? I think it will be up to Foles himself. If he wants to start somewhere else and make bigger money, the Birds will make it happen. But if Foles is happy being the emergency QB behind Wentz , coming to the rescue as he did this year, then I would take that instead of a draft pick which may not pan out.
- Is this the beginning of a Renaissance in Philly sports? The arrow is pointing up for all our local teams. The Flyers have young studs to grow; the Sixers have more work to do in future drafts and luring free agents to Philly; and the Phillies are on the right path of their rebuild.
Who is the next Philadelphia sports team to win a championship? The Eagles, of course. They should come back even stronger in the fall, with their injured star players, Wentz, Sproles, Hicks and Peters, to name a few, on the mend. The Birds will be targeted but who in the NFC East is going to challenge them? Could they be the NFC's New England and win their division for the next 5-8 years?
The Patriots had the right formula: win their weak division, get home field advantage in the playoffs, and get to the championship game and/or Super Bowl every year.
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* Spring is just around the corner! The Phillies' equipment truck left for spring training in Clearwater, Florida yesterday morning. The truck is due into the Bright House Field complex Sunday afternoon.
Questions abound for the Phils in the next few weeks, such as:
- Who will be the starters after Aaron Nola?
-What happens to Tommy Joseph?
-Which two catchers- Rupp, Alfaro or Knapp- make the roster on Opening Day?
- How does the crowded outfield situation shake out?
- How will new manager Gabe Kapler play?
- Will Rhys Hoskins continue his torrid August start in the majors or is he the tired player we saw in September who needs to readjust to the league?
- When will we finally see Scott Kingery? And what happens to Cesar Hernandez?
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* The Sixers won last night, and play again at home this evening against the Clippers.The big news is rookie guard Markelle Fultz, the No. 1 overall pick in last summers' NBA draft. Fultz hurt his shoulder and hasn't been seen since. My guess is that he doesn't play for the remaining 31 games of the regular season.
They wouldn't be the Sixers if they didn't have a star prospect out with an injury.
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