EAGLEMANIACAL.com

WE’RE rested and ready! Just ask QB Jalen Hurts. The Eagles enjoyed a much needed Bye week, after showing the Cowboys just how second their place truly is. Week after week we’ve been outclassing opponents. We’ve either been a boxer with an alarming amount of power, or a brawler with disturbingly efficient footwork. Either way, we’ve been too good for pretty much anyone we didn’t play down to.

Enter Kansas City. They beat us in last season’s Super Bowl. Their Head Coach, Andy Reid, since defecting to K.C. is 10 – 3 coming out of a Bye. Including 2 – 1 when facing an opponent also coming out of a Bye. My point is, this is not a team that we’re going to “play down to”. Hey Andy, you might want to put a chinstrap on your hat.

Winning will move us to 9 – 1 and guarantee us a winning 2023 season. It will also maintain our two game lead in the NFC East, and our one game lead as the NFC’s top seed.

A loss, that would stall us at 8 – 2. It would also shrink our lead in the division to one game.

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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 Chiefs

1) Run the Ball: Weather’s turning colder, so it’s time to re-ignite our run game. We haven’t piled up 150 rushing yards in a game, since Week Five. Prior to the Cowboys game, we had a streak of three games where we didn’t reach 100. It’s time to reassert ourselves. (I’ll be keeping a close eye on LT Jordan Mailata in this one.)

Getting RB D’Andre Swift 16 or more carries, against a smallish defensive line, has to be part of the plan this week. The Chiefs are built almost solely to rush the passer. Hitting them in the mouth repeatedly, not only exposes that design flaw, but tires them out. Little, tired guys are the last thing a defense needs late in games.

2) More Man Press: I told myself that I wouldn’t list this again this season, because it’s clear that Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai doesn’t favor it. However, there is no other way to beat the Chiefs. If their QB gets to go “1-2-3 pass” and gets up around 70% pass accuracy, we’re dead. Over. Finito. Murdered.

To easily beat the Chiefs, we want their QB at 63% or lower. We need him to come off of his first option, and have to actually read our Defense. As long as he’s playing in rhythm, he’s a ball delivery system. We need to take that from him, and make him play QB. At that point our pass rush factors in. Our defender’s instincts factor in.

Otherwise we’ll have to win a shootout.

3) Make It A Travis D: Our Defense needs to focus on making life difficult for TE Travis Kelce. No free releases off the line! Before a S picks him up in coverage, our LB’s need to try to redirect Kelce. Just enough to throw off the timing of a play.

4) Get the Slim Reaper Involved: Spreading the ball around makes it easier on any offense, and we are no different. So we should make a point of getting WR Devonta Smith involved early. We’re at our best when he gets some deep shots going his way. We tend to bog down when we overfeed him short passes.

It would also loosen up coverage on whomever is filling in at TE this week. They aren’t used to playing as a target in this Offense, and Hurts isn’t used to trusting them. So giving both the QB and the TE room to operate, would help ease their learning curves somewhat.

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

Usually I craft these to focus on a couple of our opponents weaknesses. This week is all about the Eagles and refocusing, reconnecting to the identity that made us, US. We need to reassert (there’s that word again) what makes us strong, and build on the foundation that has made this an elite NFL team. The focus needs to be on US winning, not on them losing.

The reality for the Chiefs, is that they’ve spent a lot of this season struggling to overcome an offensive talent deficit. Specifically, a lack of explosiveness. If this game turns into a shootout, the Chiefs simply don’t have the tools to keep up, but that doesn’t mean we should help them try to.

We have yet to play our best game, and in some cases have managed to overcome opponents through the sheer amount of talent on our roster. In many cases we just overpower, overwhelm and overtake opponents. While that’s amazing, it won’t see us through the playoffs. It’s time to play our best games. Starting with this one.

And now for the elephant in the room: This is not a revenge game. If any part of you is hoping for some small measure of vengeance, even if we win 100 – 0, there will be no “avenging” our Super Bowl loss to them. We lost. Both teams played a hell of a game, on the same questionable field, and no one should feel slighted by the result. 

Now, let go kick in their front door, and burn down their home.

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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, then you are a fool 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.