Coaching

NECESSARY LUXURY CONNOR BARWIN

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/06/30
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Rants, Roster, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
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Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz

AGAIN, LB/DE Connor Barwin has made his wish to comeback to Philadelphia, publicly known. It was a good idea when I wrote about it last March, and it’s still a good idea now. The only question is: Are the Eagles smart enough to pull the trigger? By the way, we should also grab RB Darren Sproles while we’re at it.

No. I’m not interested in an Eagles reunion tour.

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What? No! Wrong Eagles! Ooooohh in it’s entirety? No. Never mind that.

Look, I’ve been a fan of bringing back Barwin for years now. On Sproles, I’ve had a recent change of heart, following a recent change of heart. However, as it stands now, both players would be a Necessary Luxury. Yes, the statement is oxymoronic. Allow me to explain.

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Barwin is more of a 3-4 OLB than a typical 4-3 DE. However, in a Wide 9 front, the DE position operates more like an OLB with space around it. This puts emphasis on containment and then penetration, as opposed to block stacking and then penetration. Both are examples of setting an edge, but the tactic is different. Last time I checked, Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz still employ a Wide 9 front.

With the recent retirement of DE Chris Long, there is a hole here. Second year DE’s Josh Sweat and Joe Ostman, along with rookie DE Shareef Miller, would all like a shot at the 4th spot behind DE’s Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett and Vinny Curry. In fact, it makes sense to elevate a youngin. The trouble is the lack of versatility, which the Eagles covet. Every guy on this list is a defensive lineman. They aren’t meant for playing in space.

Barwin can play with his hand in the dirt, and can can also offer some value as zone coverage LB. He’s played both ILB and OLB, so the Eagles can move him around either situationally, or in the case of an injury. True or false: LB depth has been an issue for the Eagles for a while now? See? Necessary luxury. Barwin is a great locker room influence and also truly embraces the city of Philadelphia itself. In the absence of Long, you really can’t ask for better.

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Sproles, is a quietly intriguing case. When I talk to people about him, they always go right to discussing how we don’t need him, because we have RB Miles Sanders. While there may be some truth to that, there is no such thing as too much depth at RB. (Just compare 2018 to 2017.) Besides, if Sproles doesn’t come here, he’s going to New Orleans. Do we need that? Do we?

Also, what most people fail to realize is that right now, as you read this on June 30th 2019, the two most accomplished return men on the Eagles team are WR DeSean Jackson, and RB Corey Clement. Using DJax as a regular returner AND starting WR is stupid. Especially at his age and with his hamstring history. As I said in a prior article  Clement has a grand total of 6 (I say again, just 6) career punt returns and just 15 kick returns.

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Seems like maybe an on-field mentor would be good to have around. Teach the young guys? See? Necessary luxury. In addition to that, RB Coach Duce Staley has indicated that there might be a budding coach in Sproles. If we can transition him here, it’d be a ton of current wisdom to have in our stockpile.

HOW TO SWEEP THE NFC EAST: COWBOYS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/06/29
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, NFC East, Offense, Players, playoffs, Preview, Rivals, Roster, stats, Super Bowl, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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FREE Agency rounds 1 and 2 have passed, as has the Draft. At this point, teams have basically added all their desired starters and key depth. Now it’s just a matter of seeing who everyone loses between now (with stupid vacation injuries), and the end of Training Camp. This article assumes the Eagles operating at their peak vs rivals operating at their peak, for 17 straight weeks.

Here, is how the Eagles can sweep the NFC East in 2019. Today we’ll talk about the Cowboys.

2019 - Criminal.jpgDefensively the Cowboys haven’t been hard for the Eagles to score points against. In 6 meetings since Doug Pederson took over as Head Coach of the Eagles, the Eagles are 2 – 4, but the average score of those games is 21.6 Eagles – 18.8 Cowboys. (It’s true. Look it up.) Minus the 0 – 6 game where the Eagles played mostly third stringers, the Eagles average 26.0 points per game vs Dallas.

This indicates that the Offensive system is fine doing what it does, and that Pederson and staff already have a feel for how to call a game in real-time, vs this team. The Cowboys trading for DE Robert Quinn, would have had the ability to shift those tones…had the Eagles not on the same day, traded for RB Jordan Howard.

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If the Eagles feed Howard (see what I did there), it’ll force Dallas to put leashes on their pass rushers, to keep Howard from exploiting open edges. This means QB Carson Wentz would see more manageable 3rd downs, and wouldn’t have to hold the ball long enough for Quinn to make much of an impact. Even without a run game last year, the Eagles managed 20 points or more in both games. A run game will only make the Offense smoother, if not more effective.

Offensively the Cowboys managed all of 15 points in two games against the Eagles in 2017. However in 2018, given the Eagles Secondary issues, the Cowboys exploded for 56 points. QB Dak Prescott threw 4 touchdowns against the Eagles in 2018 (two games), when he’d only thrown a total of 3 in two previous seasons (four games). Still, both 2018 games were hotly contested, with the margins of victory in both games being 7 and 6 points.

With the Eagles Secondary on the mend from a million injuries in 2018, odds are that the Cowboys go back to the 14.25 points per game they averaged in the first four games against the Eagles, instead of the 28.0 points per game they posted in 2018.

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That said, Dallas is a deeper and more talented team than our other two rivals, and so a sweep here will take work. The Eagles have to take away all the parts of the Cowboys offense that make it stable. Everything that makes it run on time, has to be made to run slightly off-schedule. Force them to have to subsist on the big play. That is, if they can make enough of them to sustain drives.

The key to beating the Cowboys offense will be to overwhelm their offensive line. Get into the backfield and make plays run “off-script.” Dictate to the RB where the hole has been moved to, and have a tackler waiting. Make the QB reset his feet, to disrupt short timing routes. Fake a blitz, and have a deep route audibled to a shallow one. Basically hand them death by 1,000 cuts.

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Cowboys watching the Eagles in the 2019 – 2020 playoffs.

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HOW TO SWEEP THE NFC EAST: REDSKINS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/06/28
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, Offense, Players, Preview, Rivals, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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FREE Agency rounds 1 and 2 have passed, as has the Draft. At this point, teams have basically added all their desired starters and key depth. Now it’s just a matter of seeing who everyone loses between now (with stupid vacation injuries), and the end of Training Camp. This article assumes the Eagles operating at their peak vs rivals operating at their peak, for 17 straight weeks.

Here, is how the Eagles can sweep the NFC East in 2019. Today we’ll talk about the Redskins.

2019 BURNED ALIVE

Ha-ha! Just a joke. Collins doesn’t cover WR’s. Wait. Is it doesn’t or can’t?

Defensively, the Redskins ranked in the middle of the pack last year, giving the impression that their defense is a building block. Nope. Typically teams that lean heavy on their run game and get production from it, are practically immune from falling into the lower one-third (21st to 32nd) in defensive rankings. Those teams simply hold the ball too long for opponents to rack up yards. Sort of a statistical sleight of hand.

Between two QB’s last year, the Eagles hung 52 points and 527 passing yards on this team, despite not having a balanced attack. In response to that, and the Eagles adding the NFL’s #1 deep threat, the Redskins ran out and overpaid for in the box SS Landon Collins, without benefit of a FS to balance the back-end out. Seriously, they did that. Honestly, the Redskins should give free tickets to firefighters, just so someone will be there to put their secondary out this season.

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The Redskins 3-4 system has allowed the Eagles an average of 26.3 points per game since Doug Pederson became the Eagles Head Coach. The lowest number of points being 20, and the highest being 34. That isn’t a ton of deviation, which implies that the Eagles system simply has the number of the Redskins system. The Eagles simply have to run their offense and the points will be there waiting for them. 

Offensively prior to the Draft, the thinking was that QB Case Keenum would get the starting nod in 2019. However, the Redskins spent their first round pick (15th overall) on QB Dwayne Haskins. Despite all the hoopla surrounding Haskins during mini-camp, there has been no clear indication that he’ll get the nod. This was muddied further by a June 20th report that QB Colt McCoy could still win the starting job, in 2019.

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Starting job! Keep your eye on the starting job.

No clear starter means no offseason workouts at the QB’s hacienda before training camp. That means a lag in chemistry. That means gaps in leadership and other players NOT buying in.

If the Redskins already have chemistry and leadership issues, they will fare poorly vs an Eagles team running the same defensive system, which surrendered just 13 points to the ‘skins, in two games last year. Especially with fewer injuries during week one, as the opening day dance partner for whoever plays QB. Get some pressure and the miscues will become turnovers.

Objectively speaking, even at optimal, the Redskins may be in a worse place than they were when the Eagles swept them in 2018. Which is scary because the Eagles have since improved.

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HOW TO SWEEP THE NFC EAST: GIANTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/06/27
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, NFC East, Offense, Players, Preview, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

 

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FREE Agency rounds 1 and 2 have passed, as has the Draft. At this point, teams have basically added all their desired starters and key depth. Now it’s just a matter of seeing who everyone loses between now (with stupid vacation injuries), and the end of Training Camp. This article assumes the Eagles operating at their peak vs rivals operating at their peak, for 17 straight weeks.

Here is how the Eagles can sweep the NFC East in 2019. Today we’ll talk about the giants.

Defensively they shouldn’t present the Eagles much of a problem. While their interior should be hard to run against, they lack a high level pass rusher. They didn’t have one when I wrote my Pre-Draft Preview, and they didn’t add one during the Draft, nor in free agency part deux. They will apparently be relying on their system to magnify the impact of each man. As long as they follow instructions, I’m sure they’ll be fine….

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No one follows instructions as well as New Yorkers.

The Eagles have proven adept at handling 3-4 systems which rely on OLB’s for pass rush, because it leaves no one to cover TE Zach Ertz. This is not a specialized situation, it’s a down in, and down out deficiency vs the Eagles, who have only gotten deeper at TE.

The Eagles just have to chip away at the edges on first down. The only way for the giants to cope with that, would be to come out of their base defense. In which case they are already at a disadvantage, sacrificing pass rush, and stressing a very questionable secondary.

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Offensively New York has an issue with firepower. Their best weapon aside from RB Saquon Barkley is probably rookie WR Darius Slayton. Problem with that, will be getting him on the field behind less dangerous receivers, with bigger contracts. At least at the start of the season. If he outplays his elders, he’ll see more action. Regardless of how much they’re making.

In any case allowing Barkley short catches and almost no YAC, will pull the plug on the giants offense. Without a safety net, QB Eli Manning has to hold the ball longer to get it downfield to one of his WR’s, who probably will be as well covered as a trench-pig in a whorehouse.

Hey, remember WR Golden “Little Man” Tate? Master of the 2 yard catch for a 4 yard gain? He’s one of the giants top receivers. Stop laughing. I’m serious. (Hi, Serious!)

GOLDEN TAINT ORIGIN

That said, as things stand now, the giants stand no chance of winning either game vs the Eagles. They’ll be lucky if they aren’t blown out both times.

 

 

#12 QUALITY, NOT QUANTITY

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/04/13
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, playoffs, Roster, The 12, Uncategorized, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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WHEN injuries happen, it’s important to have proper back-ups. Proper as in, fits the scheme, so they can step right in and allow a continuation of the program. If a back-up requires the coaches to re-vamp the system, or implement a drastic scale-back on how much of the playbook can be used, then someone (the GM) didn’t do their job building the roster.

This isn’t me suggesting roster moves here. I NEVER do that in The 12. It would be antithetical to why I started this series in the first place. What I will do however, is discuss the idea of adopting and adapting the vision to build proper back-ups. That way we can take a true, next man up approach. Like the 2017 Eagles did.

Quality depth isn’t just about talent. Quality depth actually is more often about a back-up being prepared to play, and understanding their role if they have to start for an extended length of time. This is about being prepared if certain players were to become unavailable.

Players such as:

WR DeSean Jackson – Brought here to take the lid off of defenses, we saw what happens to the Offense in a year where we had a deep threat for 16 games (Torrey Smith). We also saw what happened when we lost our deep threat (Mike Wallace) in the second game. In the event that Jackson goes down, the next most logical player to step up would be WR Mack Hollins.

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Mack Hollins rocking his former number 10 jersey, celebrating a 64 yard TD vs the Redskins.

Hollins missed all of 2018 with a sports hernia, followed by a groin injury. While he doesn’t have Djax’s speed (who does?), he has legit wheels and hands. Plus with that 6’4” frame, he’d be a nightmare for any secondary. Especially one already trying to cope with WR Alshon Jeffery and TE Zach Ertz.

DT Fletcher Cox – While there are a few guys at DT, there is of course no one who can fill Cox’s shoes. However, splitting his duties could lessen the blow if we have to do with out him. DT Trayvon Hester vs the run on 1st down, or 2nd and short, and DE Vinny Curry playing inside on 2nd and long and 3rd downs.

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Vinny.

Again, this isn’t about replacing talent, it’s about players understanding their roles and doing what they’re good at. In that way they can focus on delivering, when called upon.

SS Malcolm Jenkins – I’ve had my eye on S Tre Sullivan for a couple of years now.

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He didn’t make the cut in 2017, but he got to play a little in 2018. He was big in the playoff game vs Chicago, mostly in a FS role. Sullivan can be prone to the stupid penalty, but he’s got a hitter’s mentality, and plays with confidence and passion. He’s an emotional leader waiting to happen.

QB Carson Wentz – QB Nate Sudfeld is the back-up now.

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He’s played here for two years, knows the system, the playbook, and has played well when he’s stepped on the field. The key to Sudfeld is in making sure that he doesn’t think it’s his job to “win” games. Have him just focus on his job, and let the outcome take care of itself.

RB Jordan Howard – RB Corey Clement battled a leg injury early last year that kept him from being his best.

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The Eagles allowed he, and Wendell Smallwood to duke it out for the nod when RB Jay Ajayi was lost for the year. Clement was eventually lost for the year, and Smallwood got the nod until the staff couldn’t take it anymore, and started RB Josh Adams. Based on what we have now, Clement should be the #2 here. It’s time.

For pretty much everything else, the Eagles have either proven depth , or they have burning needs. Positions like DE, G, CB, TE, WR are pretty well stocked, and the Eagles can mix and match to exploit match-ups. Positions like MLB, reserve LT, reserve OLB, are already dumpster fires, and no amount of spin, or putting lipstick on a pig, will cover that up.

For some positions, the Draft can’t get here fast enough, but for others… A little planning now would keep us rolling smoothly over obstacles, and into the playoffs.

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#11 EFFECTIVE TARGETING

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/04/12
Posted in: Coaching, Offense, Players, Roster, stats, Super Bowl, The 12, Uncategorized, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

11-EFFECTIVE TARGETING

THIS one is less about “adopt and adapt”, and more about “get back to get back”. What that means is, to get back to the Super Bowl, we have to get back to what REALLY got us there, and what really won it for us. What we need to get back to, is giving the QB room to operate the Offense.

Two years ago, WR Torrey Smith took the lid off of defenses, and allowed the QB to render our intermediate passing game, as safe as a short passing game. Smith himself didn’t do a lot of statistical damage (36 – 430 – 11.9 – 2), despite playing in every game.

The real damage that Smith did, was open up the defense underneath, which then allowed players like WR Nelson Agholor (62 – 768 – 12.4 – 8) and TE Zach Ertz (74 – 824 – 11.1 – 8) to have career years.

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2015. A Bills player gets a stiff arm to the mug and it Ertz so good. Eagles win 23 – 20

With so many receivers to cover in the intermediate area, that loosened up the box and allowed the Eagles to run for over 2,000 yards, despite not having a superstar RB on the roster.

Replacing Smith in 2018, was WR Mike Wallace, who was brought in to fill the role of deep threat. Wallace was hurt in the second game of the season, and never caught a single pass. Having lost it’s catalyst, the offense never seemed to find it’s legs until around Week 12.

At no point did the running game ever recover.

Now we have the King of the Deep Threats, WR DeSean Jackson, back on our roster.

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2010. DJax hangs 210 yards on the Cowboys, including this 91 yard pimp-hand, drawn across the spitter. Eagles win 30 – 27

If we say enough prayers for his hamstrings, he’ll likely give us more as a receiver than Smith did, which means that he’ll be a very credible threat, thus opening up the Offense.

That means we have to use him. The more targets he sees (and catches), the more afraid opposing coaching staffs will be of him. That doesn’t mean he should become our number one WR! Far from it.

Assuming QB Carson Wentz attempts 40 passes per game, the actual target pecking order should look something like Ertz (9), WR Alshon Jeffery (9), Agholor (7), Jackson (6).

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Mind you, those numbers represent how many targets (not catches), those players need to see in a game. (Those remaining 9 attempts could go to RB’s and reserve players.)

If you notice, that’s 15 to the outside, and 16 to the inside, per game. Again, the remaining 9 passes are all crimes of opportunity. The idea is to make the game between the hashmarks a high percentage one. Run or pass, with the top coming off the defense, the deck is stacked in our favor at every snap.

We just need to make sure Djax sees enough targets.

And to pray for those hammies.

#10 BENCH ANKLE-BITERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/04/11
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Players, The 12, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

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AFTER last year’s season-ending injury to FS Rod McLeod, S Corey Graham stepped in as our starter. Graham is a seasoned NFL veteran, who’d already played a year in this system, with this team. He’s solid as far diagnosing plays, and has good ball-skills. The only problem with him is, he’s an ankle-biter.

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Shitty tackler, but in coverage he was money in 2017. (BTW 38 – 7)

Ankle-biters are defensive players who frequently make “business decisions”, instead of striking through opponents. To avoid taking any punishment themselves, they dive at legs and feet instead of making chest up, wrap-up tackles. They attempt to make stops by tripping an opponent up, or leading with a shoulder, while their head is turned away from their target.

Ankle-biting is not only cowardly, but it leads to too many missed tackles, and free yardage. It allows ball carries to “fall forward”, which is often the difference between a punt and a first down. It also means that there is no chance to cause a fumble.

Notice however, that I don’t say that they should be cut from the team. Ankle-biters do have a place on an NFL roster. On every NFL roster, in fact. As poor performers, they can function in ways that no All-Pro player ever could.

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Big Red in 1999. If we don’t win this next Super Bowl, I want him to win it.

Adopting and adapting the tactic of Andy Reid, he made an example of a poor performing veteran, in favor of a young player with upside, once that veteran gave him the opening.

Older Eagles fans my recall George Hegamin. For those who do not, or who likely have (justifiably) forgotten him, here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:
“with the arrival of new head coach Andy Reid, (Hegamin) walked out of training camp for one day, after being told of his demotion in favor of rookie Doug Brzezinski. When he came back, Reid made him push a blocking sled the length of a practice field under the heat, in front of some players, coaches, executives and the media. He eventually was cut on September 4, 1999.”

So you add a few, but keep just a couple. Poor tacklers make NFL rosters every single year, because frequently these players have other skills that give them specific situational value.

One specific situation, is when ball-skills are needed. Hail Marys, Prevent, Picket Fence, or anytime the object is to discourage the ball being thrown to a specific receiver, are all examples of this situation. At which point, tackling becomes less of a priority.

Another specific condition would be the Gunner position on punt returns. When the object is to quickly get down-field, and herd the returner into an area of containment, speed is the most important asset. So yet again, outright tackling becomes less of a priority.

Yet a third specific situation, is in developing young players. If a more veteran player loses playing time to a younger player, because that young player makes better tackles, it tells the young guy to keep doing what he’s doing. Keep seeing what he hits. Keep wrapping up. Keep striking through opponents. Once more, good tackling is less of a priority.

A poor tackler can even be used to make a few good tacklers. If he sits. Subbing in a poor tackler due to injury is one thing. However, when you start a poor tackler among your original 11 (for example us starting CB Ronald Darby), it sends the wrong message, and can stall development throughout the secondary.

There are likely other situations, but you get the idea. These players are not completely without value. So keep a couple ankle-biters, just mostly sit them.