EAGLEMANIACAL.com

LET’S not try to spin last week’s loss to the Cowboys as a “good” thing. That said, let’s not ignore how many great lessons we learned from it. We put up 34 points, despite 4 turnovers, and playing with a back-up QB. The next time we face them, QB Jalen Hurts should be back, and we won’t be giving the ball away four times.

Now the league means to entertain the world, by ushering Saints into the Colosseum that is Lincoln Financial, to be devoured by the BEAST of the East.

Winning will make us 14 – 2, give us the NFC East crown, install us as the Number One Seed in the Conference, and position us to pick in the top ten of the upcoming Draft. Whether we win by one or one thousand, the results will be the same for us.

A loss here would drop us to 13 – 3, leaving the door open for the Cowboys to win the East, the Vikings to win the NFC, and leaving the Saints alive for a possible playoff berth, which would drop our potential top ten pick, all the way down to twenty-first. At best.

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The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics would give our Eagles the best chance to win this game. So here are the Four Things that we need to focus on this week, versus the: Saints

1) Run the damned ball: By run the ball, I don’t mean run the QB, I mean hand it off to RB Miles Sanders. The Saints come into this game giving up 4.5 yards per tote, and have a smallish front 7 seven vs our huge Offensive Line. This is free yardage! For the love of Pete, just take it!

Also, hand-offs set up play-action. Why not make life easy on our QB, (regardless of which plays), if we can?

2) Tight man on the Corners: The Saints don’t have a WR that we need to be overly concerned about. The real reason for our CB’s playing tight to the Line Of Scrimmage, is to already be in position to create a funnel, when they throw any Screen passes. The idea is to funnel the receiver back into a million hands clawing at the ball and vicious collisions.

3) Get Chunk Plays: Instead of Hurts attempting forty-five 9yard passes, how about we whittle it down to fifteen 20yard passes. Let’s put up 20 first half points, and let Gardner Minshew take over. There is no sense in sacrificing a deep playoff win, just to get the top seed. Preserve Hurts shoulder. No playing with our food this week. Go for the killshots, early.

4) Blow up the “A” Gaps: Seriously folks, QB Andy Dalton is a statue. His rushing stats are 71 – 244 – 3.4 – 0. Since 2020! Get after him. Make him change his launch angle by making him move his feet. This should impact their passing game as well as the inside run game, and make it hard for them to move the ball in any regard.

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If the Eagles do these Four Things, then we’ll be virtually impossible to beat. That being said…

No need to talk a bunch here. Last week we didn’t handle business, and here we are with everything we worked this season, on the verge of being stolen at the last moment.

No more chit-chat. Go win.

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Prediction: EAGLES 24 – Saints 13

WARNING: I don’t have the faintest clue as to what a point spread is, and I know even less about how it works. I know football and that’s IT. If you use Four Things as a gambling tool, you are trying to lose your money, and will deserve it when you do.

Check back in a couple of days for Four Things Reviewed, and we’ll discuss how this game went.