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FINALLY! Eagles football will be played again, for real stakes. After Head Coach Nick Sirianni decided to not play the starters at all in the preseason, we’re finally getting a look at our team. I wish it weren’t in Brazil, but right now I just want FOOTBALL!

A win means that we don’t start the year in the bottom of our division. There! There’s the motivation.

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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 Packers

1) Establish the Inside Run: Getting RB Saquon Barkley going early, between the Tackles. It sets a tone, and later will draw their safeties into the box. Once that happens, it opens up the deep passing game for QB Jalen Hurts to pile on points, and salt away the game.

2) Take Away the Run: The Packers interior o-line averages 310 pounds. Get DT Jordan Davis and DT Jalen Carter into the ‘A’-gaps, pinch the C, and clog up the run. Shift the game solely onto their young QB’s shoulders. Speed up his internal clock, and let him make mistakes, as he tries to force the ball to his mid-level (at best) receivers.

3) Drive A Dotson: Adding WR Jahan Dotson should make our offense corrosive to even the best defenses. This is where we need Dotson to do his thing, and to step-up, as a complement to WR A.J. Brown and WR DeVonta Smith. Good slot play will also loosen the box for our run game.

4) Mix It Up: If we’re going to play off-coverage, we need to at least sprinkle in some aggressive man. We can’t keep telegraphing our coverages and expecting opposing QB’s to be too stupid to figure it out.

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

I just want them to get out to a fast start. I want to see the Eagles do something this year that they didn’t do even once last year. I want them to blow a team out.

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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.