Based on my Google Analytics data for my site, the top 5 most popular posts this semester are below:
1. Flyers Officially Out of the Playoffs
2. Jonathan Pettibone Solid in Debut, Bullpen Holds on for Win
4. Infographic – Andy Reid Era
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The 2013 NFL schedule was made public a few weeks ago and I would like to take this time to blog about and focus on a few notable games of the Eagles schedule this upcoming season.
The Chip Kelly era officially begins against the Redskins in a Monday night game on ESPN. This will probably be one of the most watched games in Week 1 because the fact that it is nationally televised and everyone’s anticipation of what Kelly and the Eagles offensive schemes will look like. Having our first game against the dynamic and high profile player in RGIII will also contribute in hyping this game up even more but RGIII is still recovering from his injury and we’ll just have to wait and see if he’ll be ready to play or not.
Another game that a lot fans are looking forward to is in Week 3 when former head coach, Andy Reid, returns back to Philly to battle against his old team. Every Eagles fan knows what Reid has done for this organization (the good and the bad) and it’ll be interesting to see the crowd’s reaction when he steps into “The Linc.”
The following week is another game I’m looking forward to because we’re playing against the Denver Broncos. AFC opponents are always appealing to watch because we only get to play a certain AFC division every 4 years. The Broncos game in particular would be one to watch because it’s probably going to be the last time the great QB Peyton Manning plays against the Eagles. Manning is a future NFL Hall of Famer and it’ll just be a special moment to witness probably the last time he’ll face the Eagles in his career.
Overall, the Eagles 2013 schedule is looking really tough with the first 3 games being played in 11 days and also 4 of the first 6 games being on the road. Having our bye week so late in the season at Week 12 could also pose a problem because players might need the rest early if we’re running a high paced offense. Personally, expectations aren’t that high so I’m just hoping the Eagles play well and build on making a better team.
Roy Halladay (2-2) will be on the mound against the Cleveland Indians and will try to continue his recent success after a terrible start to the 2013 season. Halladay’s ERA after the first two starts was a staggering 14.73. Luckily, Halladay has found the zone in the last three starts and managed to get his ERA currently down to 5.08.
In those last three starts, Halladay has put up a 1.71 ERA with 16 strikeouts and 5 walks. Halladay has also been working on trying to improve his cutter and getting ahead of batters.
Halladay’s Cutter Location in 5 starts
Compiled by ESPN Stats & Information Group
One of the reasons why Halladay is starting to pitch well again could be because he has mentally refocused and approaching the game differently. In an interesting article written by Todd Zolecki, he pointed at that Halladay has found “inspiration” from one of the most famous sports psychologist, Harvey Dorfman. Although Dorfman passed away in 2011, the emails exchanged by Halladay and Dorfman were still accessible. Halladay would go back and reread those inspiring emails and feel much better when going to pitch his next game.
Going against the Indians might be a challenge because they have the potential to put some pretty high numbers on the scoreboard. The Indians scored a total of 19 runs in their last 2 games and earlier in the season they managed to somehow score 19 runs in ONE game.
Hopefully Halladay is back to pitching with effectiveness and picks up another much needed win for the Phillies.
The Philadelphia Flyers disappointing season came to a close Saturday night. The Flyers were able to win their last 4 games of the season to end on a somewhat positive note but it is still tough to know they won’t be in the playoffs. Saturday’s win against the Ottawa Senators was a great performance by goalie Steve Mason as he only allowed 1 goal and stopped 43 shots.
Mason makes a save!
Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images
Despite all the negative things that had happened this season, I want to point out at least some positive things about the team.
Here are the top 3 leaders in points this season:
Claude Giroux – 48 points (13 goals, 35 assists)
Jakub Voracek – 46 points (22 goals, 24 assists)
Wayne Simmonds – 32 points (15 goals, 17 assists)
Both Giroux and Voracek have played in all 48 games this season for the Flyers showing their their ability to be consistent and stay healthy. Both players also ranked top 20 in total points in the league while Giroux ranked top 10 in assists and Voracek ranked top in goals.
The Flyers as a team, ranked 9th in scoring goals, 5th in penalty kill percentage, and 3rd in power play percentage. Ending the season strong shows signs that this team can definitely build on getting better next year in a full season. Hopefully we can get better results next year.
The 2013 NFL Draft in the Chip Kelly era has been completed for the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles held the #4 overall pick in this year’s draft and were in a good position to pick up high quality players. They had a really interesting draft but I think the Eagles and Kelly did a pretty good job overall addressing key issues that plagued this team last year.
Here’s a list of their draft picks by round and their position:
Round 1 – Lane Johnson (OT) (#4 overall)
Round 2 – Zach Ertz (TE) (#35 overall)
Round 3 – Bennie Logan (DT) (#67 overall)
Round 4 – Matt Barkley (QB) (#98 overall)
Round 5 – Earl Wolff (S) (#136 overall)
Round 6 – N/A
Round 7 – Joe Kruger (DE), Jordan Poyer (CB), David King (DE)
Their first pick, offensive tackle Lane Johnson, was a great choice because he can instantly help give the offensive-line a boost as a starter with his athleticism. Johnson played college football at Oklahoma and did pretty well playing as an offensive linemen the past 2 years.
On the second day of the draft, the Eagles picked up tight end, Zach Ertz and defensive tackle, Bennie Logan. Ertz will be a good compliment to our current star tight end, Brent Celek. Having two quality tight ends makes a lot of sense with how Kelly is molding the offense game plan. The third pick, Logan, is a big and strong defensive tackle that can add depth to the defensive line rotation.
Is Matt Barkley the future of the Eagles?
Image source: philadelphiaeagles.com
The most surprising pick was quarterback, Matt Barkley. Barkley was seen as one of the top 3 QBs in this year draft and was once considered to be the #1 overall pick. Having Barkley on this team will most certainly begin a strong competition between current QBs Vick, Foles, and Dixon as they all try and become the starter to lead the team in the upcoming season.
Overall, I think Kelly had a good first draft and is moving in the right direction in building a good team for the future.
Sources: NFL.com, ESPN.com, philadelphiaeagles.com
Phillies starter, Kyle Kendrick, threw a complete game shutout against the New York Mets for a 4-0 win. The win improves Kendrick’s record to 2 wins and 1 loss but most surprisingly is that his ERA is now 2.41
Kendrick dominates the Mets for a win!
Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images
The game itself wasn’t too exciting and all of the Phillies 4 runs came in the sixth inning. Michael Young drove in a run and then Ryan Howard followed up with a monster homerun that went 427 feet to land in the seats of Mets stadium.
Kendrick pitched effectively getting a lot of first pitch strikes (22/31) which always puts the hitters in a bad position. Kendrick was able to have great command of his pitches making sure the Mets didn’t have any opportunities to gain momentum. Kendrick surrendered only 3 hits and went the distance for his 2nd career shutout but 3rd complete game.
Who would’ve thought of all the Phillies starting pitchers, that Kyle Kendrick would have the lowest ERA at this point of the season through 5 starts. 2 of those starts were on the road and in those 2 games, Kendrick hasn’t given up a run this season yet. Kendrick has been consistently getting better with every start and we’re going to need him to continue to pitch well.
Jonathan Pettibone made his major-league debut last night against the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Phillies won 3-2. Pettibone was called up last Monday from Triple-A.
Image credit: AP Photo/Michael Perez
It was a solid outing by the 22 year old right hander despite the no-decision. He struck out 6 batters and only giving up 2 earned runs in 5 1/3 innings of work. It was also impressive that he didn’t walk a single batter. The 2 runs that Pettibone gave up were both solo homeruns. Pettibone was able to confuse the Pirate hitters and workaround a few innings where he got in trouble.
With a pitch count of only 83, Pettibone was nearing his limit so it was time for the bullpen to take over the game. The bullpen did an effective job giving up only 2 hits total and striking out 5. Valdes and Bastardo pitched good outings and Mike Adams was impressive as the setup man. Jonathan Papelbon came to close the game and he struck out the final batter earning his 4th save of the year.
It was the Phillies third win in four games and they will have their 3 aces (Hamels, Halladay, and Lee) for the remainder games against the Pirates to try and go for a sweep.
The Philadelphia Flyers will not be heading to the playoffs this year because the NY Rangers won their game against the Buffalo Sabres. At the start of the day, the Flyers were 7 points behind the Rangers for the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference and with only 4 games left, the Flyers needed to win all 4 games to earn 8 points and have the Rangers essentially lose the rest of their games.
That was unlikely to happen and sure enough, our division rivals eliminated us from playoff contention.
Photo by Len RedkolesNHLI via Getty Images
This is a somewhat unusual situation for the Flyers, their fans, and the franchise as a whole. It’s interesting to note that this would be only the second time in 18 years that Flyers will be missing the playoffs. The last time the Flyers didn’t make it the postseason was in the 2006-2007 season. That was the season the Flyers finished 5th in the division and it looks like the Flyers will be finishing dead last again.
The only thing the Flyers can do now in the final four games of the season is to play for pride.
