PERHAPS now we’ll fix stuff…?
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EAGLES 19 – 49ers 42
EAGLES STATS:
Passing: QB Jalen Hurts (26/45 – 57.7% – 298 – 1 – 0)
Rushing: QB Jalen Hurts (7 – 20 – 2.8 – 1 – 0)
Receiving: WR A.J. Brown (13 – 8 – 114 – 14.2 – 0)
Offensive Line Report: (TFL: 4/ Sacks: 3/ Scrums Won: 3/ Scrums Lost: 0)
Drive Killer: NA
Sack Leader: OLB Haason Reddick (Sacks: 1.0/ FF: 0/ Tackles: 2)
Special Teams Ace: NA
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I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for these 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 actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Impose Our Will By Running: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Run the ball? What’s that? There were 48 dropbacks between Jalen Hurts and QB Marcus Mariota (2/3 – 66.6% – 16 – 0 – 0). This was balanced against all of NINE hand-offs, ALL. GAME. LONG.
NINE.
The less we run, the worse we lose, and in this game we got our teeth stomped through our assholes. I cannot recall an ass-whipping, so richly deserved by an offensive coaching staff. The loss I saw coming from half a year away, but the score did take me just a little by surprise.
However, it literally got to a point where I wasn’t even the least bit upset about the score. Or even the NINE hand-offs. No, that’s not totally honest. I’m understating it. There came a point where I was almost gleefully waiting for Head Coach Nick Sirianni’s presser, to see if he would tell us that Offensive Coordinator Brian Johnson is still doing a good job.
The way this game was called was indefensible. Speaking of indefensible… You know what? Later. I’ll get to that shortly. But the Offense! Even when we had a lead, the attitude was pass-pass-pass. Starting RB D’Andre Swift (6 – 13 – 2.1 – 0 – 0) took the bulk of the team’s NINE hand-offs. (NOT DONE)
2) Take Away Short, Quick Throws: We did a great job of this on the first two possessions. We even played five men on the Defensive Line. Then we just stopped doing it. WTF!? I wish I could get Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai in a locked room for five minutes. Just to repeatedly give him five solid reasons to improve.
We didn’t get beaten by deep throws. It was short throws, run after the catch, and S Reed Blankenship (7 – 0.0 – 0 – 0) repeatedly whiffing on tackles, that killed us. Have you seen how active General Manager Howie Roseman has been at trying to upgrade the S position? I sense a first or second round Draft pick being spent here. (NOT DONE)
3) Go Deep Early: We did not. Oddly, despite him being back, we didn’t try deploying WR Quez Watkins (4 – 3 – 28 – 9.3 – 0) as deep threat. He was solid catching the ball, with his targets being mostly around the sidelines. (NOT DONE)
4) Set the Edges: Yet again, this was something we started out doing. A lot of it was from a five man line. Then we just bailed and went to a four man line, for the most part. Even when they started pounding us behind their LT, we didn’t slide the line, add a man, or rush the LT’s outside hip to slow him getting to his landmarks.
Let me just say this, so it can’t be said, that you haven’t seen it somewhere. We have got to stop playing Haason Reddick at LDE. He really seems to be wearing down faster and faster in games. At his best, he’s an OLB playing from a five man rush, which we rarely do anymore. Didn’t think anyone could make me miss Jonathan Gannon. (NOT DONE)
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This week we nailed ZERO of Four Things, and as a result, we got absolutely keistered over it. We can get this taste out of our mouths with a win over Dallas, next week.
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Game Hero: WR Devonta Smith (11 – 9 – 96 – 10.6 – 1) – There wasn’t a whole lot to feel good about in this game, but Devonta had a pretty gutsy game out there. That 21 yard pick-up on 3rd and 19 was a thing of beauty. Watching his skinny ass power through tackle attempts, (in heavy traffic) had me on my feet, pounding my chest.
He had a couple catches today where he didn’t go down, but was instead pushed out of bounds. At one point he was German Suplexed, sparking a sideline blow-up that resulted in a 49er player, and the Eagles Head of Security, being removed from the field. And still Devonta played on.
Game goat: The Eagles Entire Coaching Staff – Top to bottom it almost looked like they were trying not to win this game. Never attempting a run game. Adjusting away from what was working on Defense. Using Quez Watkins exclusively on short routes. Not subbing out players who repeatedly missed tackles.
Every one of those things is a deliberate decision, and a result of coach’s call. We can complain about player execution, but if players are put in poor positions, it’s nearly impossible for them to be successful.
On The Whole:
This loss was pretty much always coming. I said it was in April, July, and even Friday. To us, it was the third game in thirteen days, with a division rival a week away. That’s the game that REALLY counts for something. For us, the 49ers was sort of a trap game. Simple as that. Their team needed this “rematch” for their wounded self-image. For us it was Sunday.
The fact is, we into the 49er’s grudge match, with no stakes for us. We started the game as the NFC’s #1 team, and we came out of it that way. If the 49ers had scored 1,000,000 points, that was never going to change. I’m sure our guys cared, but c’mon, we’ve just played two back to back wars; and we have another one coming up next Sunday.
We weren’t as into it as they were, and we were NEVER going to be. Again, I said this in April, in July, and just this past Friday. That was confirmed by our coaching staff almost looking like they didn’t even HAVE a gameplan. We deserved the loss! But honestly, did any issue we showed, surprise you? Of course not. We’ve seen these issues all season.
A win would have been nice; but if I told you that I cared about this loss, I’d be lying hard enough to have lightning strike ALL of us Eagles fans. This game was a write-off. Look at who still leads in the standings. A win over Dallas Sunday, will make this loss mean even less.
And so…MOVING ON!
As far getting that win, it would be nice to see us address things like the Offensive play calling, and actually disguising some of our underneath coverages. We need to generate turnovers, and as long as our coverages are paint by numbers, no one will have a hard time against them.
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