WE cemented our place above the Chiefs, in their house, no less! Our Defense stepped up big-time, with rookie S Andrew Mukuba stealing what could have been the go-ahead score for them.
Despite our Offense being one-sided, we were able to lean on our run game. Instead of a bunch of flashy long runs, we took a ground and pound approach. This week we should be able to pull that off again, behind an Offensive Line that averages 329 per man, vs a Rams front five that averages 281.
A win moves us to 3 – 0, and keeps us in sole position at the top of the division.
A loss, would see us held to 2 – 1, and expose us to the possibility of falling to second in the division.
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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. Often I list fundamentals, as some of the four things. BUT NO MORE! Unless something specific is needed, fundamentals like Running the ball; playing lots of Man Press; and Tackling instead of going for the strip, will be automatically included. (Like the five consonants and a vowel that Wheel Of Fortune automatically spots you.) So here are the Four Things that we need to focus on this week versus: the Rams
1) Pound the Rock: Again, we have a significant size advantage up front. In both games last year when we faced them, we were sporting an average size of 338 pounds per man, and were throwing dudes out of the club with the regularity of a sunrise. Just for clarity, 24 hours per day, a sunrise is always happening somewhere in the world. The result was TWO 200 yard rushing games from RB Saquon Barkley.
We’ve slimmed down by an average of 9 pounds per man, but it still should result in a relentlessly vulgar display of power. There’s a really good chance we’ll be looking at 8 and 9 and 15 man boxes, in order to stop our run game. If that happens, there had better be some audibles to get the ball quickly into WR A.J. Brown’s hands.
2) Make Their QB Run: Their QB is 37, and he has a bad back. He’s also never been much of a runner. To put numbers to that, last year he ran 30 times for 41 yards. On the other hand, if we let him stand in the pocket and throw the ball, he will perform surgery on our Defense, and remove it’s heart. This would be a great week to get a blindside sack (or four) from DE Jalyx Hunt.
3) Involve Goedert Early: The Rams OLB’s are pass rushers. They won’t spend much time trying to cover TE Dallas Goedert. That means either an ILB comes from the inside and makes running the ball easier; or a S has to come down, putting the Rams in Single-high coverage. That will give one or both of our WR’s one-on-one match-ups.
The earlier Goedert gets passes completed to him, the sooner this effect begins to take place. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s a very good run blocker. Either passing should be easy or running should. Best of all, it’ll be really easy to read which one the Rams are surrendering.
4) Let’s Safety Dance: Make sure that CB Adoree Jackson has help back deep. Honestly, I don’t trust him vs either of the Rams top two options. If the catch gets made, we at least need to be able to make the tackle.
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If the Eagles do these Four Things, then we’ll be virtually impossible to beat. That being said…
This is a battle of two unbeaten teams, that met in the playoffs. When that game is discussed, what keeps coming up isn’t the Rams loss. Instead, what gets brought up is that they mighta/coulda/shoulda/maybe had a shot at beating the Eagles in that game. An Eagles win here, makes that discussion not worth having anymore.
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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.
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