EAGLEMANIACAL.com

TWO weeks ago, we lost a game that we didn’t deserve to win. Instead of playing another game to get that taste out of our mouths, we got a Bye week. An extra week to stew on it, and look at what went wrong in that game, and frankly, what hasn’t been working all season so far.

We also got a chance to get healthy. While it’s true that some of our injured players could have suited up for that last game, it was much smarter that they didn’t. Instead they used the Bye week to get solid for the long haul. After all, a football season is a marathon, not a sprint.

So the coaches have had a chance to refine our attack. The players have had a chance to get rested and healthy. We stumbled out of the gate, and fell all the way to 2 – 2. So with refinement, we should expect to see improvement.

Our first post-Bye test, is hosting the 1 – 4 Browns. They Browns don’t do great job of scoring points or stopping points from being scored. So if we’re going to be trying out some new stuff, this is the week for it.

A win gets us to 3 – 2, and above the .500 mark. It shows that we can beat the teams that we’re supposed to beat. It’s not cause to celebrate, it’s just TCB. Thank you very much.

A loss drops us to 2 – 3, and if the giants beat Cincinnati (and they should), it gets us the basement of the division. Alone to ourselves. No bueno.

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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 Browns

1) Run Saquon Early: On our first Offensive play of the game, we should be handing the ball off to RB Saquon Barkley. None of that weak shit, where QB Jalen Hurts keeps it, and then immediately gets down in the fetal position, because the other team didn’t buy his fake, and they’re already swarming him.

We need to run Saquon early, as much to legitimize our play-action, as we do for balancing our attack. Getting him 5 to 7 carries in the first quarter, will help the Offense run smoother for the rest of the game.

2) Press and Challenge: During our last game, color analyst Tom Brady, you know, this guy,

repeatedly mentioned that the Eagles were playing too much off-coverage, and allowing the Bucs receivers too many unchallenged steps into their routes. As a result, we were carved up by QB Baker Mayfield. And by George, ol’ Tomfoolery was right.

We have entirely too much man-cover talent on this team, to be playing this soft on the edges. Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio alluded to making changes to that in the second half of the last game, and he said that he had adjustments to make over the Bye. Hopefully this one of them.

I’ve been saying for years now that our poor coverage is the biggest culprit in retarding our pass rush. The ball is coming out so fast, that our linemen just don’t have time to reach QB’s. Worse than that, there is almost no chance at an interception if the receiver is wide open. So it keeps turnovers low.

3) Dallas Slotted At #3: Let’s shelve the quest for a #3 WR, and just make TE Dallas Goedert that guy for us. I don’t mean that we should line him up in the Slot. I just mean we should make Goedert our #3 option. It’s okay to platoon the Slot. In fact, platooning it will allow us to experiment and change match-up reads.

For example, placing WR Jahan Dotson in the Slot, means very different things than placing WR Johnny Wilson there. They have to be defended differently, both before and after the catch. That can allows us to create mismatches, and force defenders out of double teams, depending on who we plug in there.

4) Stops over Strips: I honest to god, hate it when our players hold an offensive player up, to claw at the ball. Just drop him where you meet him. If a fumble doesn’t result from the initial impact, then end the play and move onto the next down.

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

We’re probably the most talented roster in the league. However, there are too many times we let the fundamentals slide, and it bites us (See: Falcons game). Then, a week later, we show that we can absolutely buckle down (see Saints game), and it makes fans wonder why this doesn’t always happen.

Dismiss the thought that the Eagles aren’t one of the best teams in the league. This team can beat anyone, at any time, if we bring our ‘A’ game. We knocked out two of San Fran’s QB’s in less than a half, and gutted the team. Nick Sirianni went toe to toe, down to the wire, with Andy Reid in the Super Bowl. Our Super Bowl hangover included sleepwalking to 10 – 0 last year. Miami hung 70 on Denver and we boxed them up, looking excellent while doing it, in our Kelly Greens. This season, in week three, the media was ready to put New Orleans in the Super Bowl, and that team hasn’t been the same team since we paid their house a visit.

Your team is a bad ass. And it has been for YEARS now.

Yes, we’ve had some recent stumbles of course. For instance. last season’s loss to San Fran, where we forgot what tackling was. Which also happened in our last game. We just have to focus better on the little things. When we do that, we’ve proven to be world beaters.

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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.