A closer look at Chaney's 16 tackles
Eagles linebacker JaMar Chaney opened eyes with his 16-tackle performance last week against the Giants. NFL Network's Brian Baldinger had high praise for the Birds' rookie.
A closer look at Chaney's 16 tackles
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
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Eagles rookie JaMar Chaney opened a lot of eyes with his 16-tackle performance last week against the Giants.
It was the most tackles by an Eagles player in a single game all season.
But was his performance as impressive as that number indicates?
The answer, for the most part, is yes. But it still warrants a closer look.
Linebackers and defensive backs can pile up high tackling numbers, but they don't always reflect how well they're playing. For example, back in Week 2, Omar Gaither had a game-high 11 tackles against the Lions, but did not play well. Eight of the 11 tackles came after Detroit had completed passes when Gaither was in coverage.
Chaney's 16 tackles were much different. He was making plays against the run for all four quarters. Twelve of Chaney's 16 tackles were against the run; four against the pass. And 11 of his 16 tackles were within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. Impressive.
That's not to say Chaney was perfect. He had some issues in coverage, although I'm not sure he had any more issues than the Eagles have had with their linebackers against the pass all season.
Chaney was on the field for 66 of 72 snaps. That's one difference (albeit a small one) between him and Stewart Bradley. When Bradley's healthy, he stays on the field for every snap. There is not a scheme employed by Sean McDermott that takes Bradley off the field.
McDermott said earlier this week that Bradley's the starter when he gets healthy, but I would be surprised if he didn't find a way to get Chaney on the field if he continues to play this well.
One guy who is out in front driving the Chaney bandwagon is NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger. Baldinger said on Daily News Live last week that Chaney is playing the best middle linebacker the Eagles have seen since Jeremiah Trotter was in his prime. Baldinger wrote about Chaney in an NFL.com blog post this week also:
Jamar Chaney is already one of the best MLBs in the league after his first start. He was phenomenal in every phase of the game on Sunday against the Giants, in terms of recognition, physicality, getting off blocks, stopping the run downhill and sideline-to-sideline speed. It’s no knock on Stewart Bradley, but Chaney gives the Eagles their best play from the position in years. He was all over the field. When your MLB is fast and plays fast, it makes the entire defense look fast.
As for Sunday night, Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said running back Adrian Peterson will "probably make it." He's officially listed as questionable with a bruised knee and thigh.
And finally, if you missed it, check out video of DeSean Jackson going undercover at Modell's. Hilarious footage, and impressive performance by DeSean.
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Baldy is a panderer. If you travel the nation, you will hear him say wonderful things about every team on local sportscasts. He is a joke.— justacarpenter- Sal Pal, Mike Lombardi, Baldy etc are all the same. They cater to whatever market they are currently talking to.— jbruder02
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"Jamar Chaney is already one of the best MLBs in the league after his first start." That's amazing. This guy gets paid to give his opinion on football and says something liek this?
Give me Chaney over Patrick Willis!
— jbruder02 - Eagles got themselves another late round gem like Trent Cole a few years. Check out Chaney's college game tape on Youtube.— soulman386
- Baldy's going overboard. Chaney has done a great job filling in. Right now he looks like has starting potential. If he starts 16 games, outside or middle, we'll know something about him. The fans may be comparing Chaney to Bradley, but I doubt the coaches are. They're probably looking at how to get both on the field if Bradley ever stays healthy.— tacklinjoe
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- they need to put chaney in sims spot next year— j-mo 25
- First of all give props to Howie Roseman for making the deal (6th round pick next year for a 7th to get Chaney) that is paying off now.
Last year the Eagles had to give up a promising receiver-B.Gibson- and a 4th round pick to get half a year out of Will Weatherspoon.
I hope this guy is for real because I'm tired of the revolving door at the LB position.— Rick Wise Guy - Comment removed.
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Good job Jamar. I need to see more game performances to form an opinion .I like what I have seen so far from CHANEY. I don't feel that STEW is our answer at MLB can't stay healthy and still appeared unable to cover TE in the passing game. Go Eagles. SEE U IN DALLAS.- Bradley stinks! Sorry, he is Mr. Almost, almost makes the interception, almost makes the sack, almost makes the tackle, almost, almost always almost but isn't pro middle linebacker caliber. This kid Chaney is!
- with his speed and ability to play all linebacker positions he can become a force when bradley comes back
FLY EAGLES FLY and enjoy the season now it's all gravy— bananas - Chaney isn't going back to the bench. We are talking about the Eagles Linebackers... Frankly I wasn't impressed with the play of Trotter and don't know why anyone else was. Chaney the last two weeks has looked better than any Linebacker I've seen in Philly since Seth Joyner.
It's not like there has been a lot of talent at linebacker in Philly to talk about. Chaney was in on a ton of plays and sheading blockers to get to the ball with ease. Not taking much away from Bradley, but being the best linebacker in Phila isn't saying much of nothing.— Dexter - When Bradley comes back how about we make him the SAM Linebacker with his 6' 5" height Bradley is the same size as Carlos Emmons if we all remember we havent had a SAM LB that can cover TE's since. Then you can leave Chaney in the middle and make a good defense GREAT!!!!!— Smittyaecs
Sims is definitely the weak link. Sliding Brad over is the way to go. Small LBs behind a small DL invites trouble as our red zone performance has shown all year. Gotta get tougher.— tpizza
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