FIRST place.
EAGLES LEADERS:
(S) QB Carson Wentz: (18/28 – 64.2 – 193 – 1 – 1)
(S) RB Miles Sanders: (13 – 46 – 3.5 – 0 – 0)
(B) WR Travis Fulgham: (3 – 2 – 57 – 28.5 – 1)
(B) CB Cre’von LeBlanc: (4 – 1.0 – 0 – 1)
I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for the Four Things articles. It’s to point out what we need to address BEFORE the game. Then AFTER the game, there’s a no-bullshit assessment of whether or not the Eagles did any of what they needed to do, to ensure the win.
So how much of what I mentioned in Four Things: 49ers did the Eagles get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Be the Aggressors: As far as I’m concerned this game was a signature win for Wentz. With a decimated supporting cast around him, he put this team on his shoulders. Again. His running (7 – 37 – 5.2 – 1) was deliberate and aggressive. Same with his 42 yard touchdown pass to Fulgham, who wasn’t even on the roster last week. Despite no line and no receivers, the Eagles stayed on the hunt. (DONE)
2) Support the D-Line: The D-Line came up with 4 sacks today, but underneath coverage and second level containment was spotty. Especially in the first half. We got some good football out of LB T.J. Edwards (3 – 0 – 0 – 0) and LB Alex Singleton (2 – 0 – 1 – 0) who also brought back his interception 30 yards for a score in the 4th quarter. Still, if we weren’t going against second and third string QB’s this would have been our 3rd loss of the season. (NOT DONE)
3) Run the damned ball, Doug!: Today we saw 28 pass attempts and 28 runs. Three of those were deliberate runs by Wentz. So out of 52 plays, call it 32 called passes to 25 called runs (52% pass). This is a serious change from the 66% pass rate we’ve been sporting. It helped set up play-action, and acted as a force multiplier for practice squad players. I’m telling you: When the starters get back… (DONE)
4) Screen the defense: There was a decent Screen to TE Zach Ertz (5 – 4 – 9 – 2.2 – 0), but aside from that, it looks like this team has forgot how to run Screens. (NOT DONE)
That puts this week’s Four Thing’s score at 2 of 4 (5 of 16 on the season). Next week, depending on what Covid says, we get the Pittsburgh Steelers. They had this week off, so they’ll either be rested or rusty. My guess is the former, not the later.
On The Whole:
While I saw a number of positives in this game, I saw a number of things that concern me.
First, Miles Sanders is far too eager to run out of bounds, or go down when running up the middle. I shouldn’t see my QB fighting for yards, and trying harder to break tackles than my RB. Sanders said last year that he left about 300 yards on the field. Well he’s doing that again in 2020.
Second, something has to be done about LB (LOL) Nate Gerry (5 – 0 – 0 – 0). He’s a liability vs the pass AND the run. I understand that rookie LB Davion Taylor is raw, but teams are picking on Gerry at this point. Picking on him! I wasn’t a fan of rookie LB Shaun Bradley being drafted here, but I’m at the table with a bib on, looking for someone to serve me some crow.
Third, our guys are forgetting to get their arms involved in tackling. There are too many shoulders being thrown. As a result, we’re allowing touchdowns of the highlight reel variety, on what seems a weekly basis. Also too many of our DB’s seems to be shying away from impacts, instead of bringing the hot high heat.
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