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FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK 11 – PATRIOTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/18
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

WINNING this game would have been a huge emotional boost to the roster. That said, let’s not pretend that this 7 point loss to the Patriots, is somehow a mark of shame.

Our #1 RB and #1 WR were both on the shelf this week. Our #2 WR is on IR. We signed two former Eagles off of their couches this week. And still we had a shot on the final drive.

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Eagles 10 – Patriots 17

First and foremost, we need to tip our caps to DC Jim Schwartz for calling a hell of game. There were actual downs when we played some man press. I almost cried. The result was holding a well oiled offense to 17 points. Here’s hoping that this weeks lessons are remembered next week.

Our WR’s caught 6 of 17 targets, although most of the incompletions to WR Jordan Matthews (1 – 6 – 6.0 – 0) were the result of QB Carson Wentz (20/40 – 214 – 50.0 – 1 – 0) sailing the ball too tall towards the sideline. Seems like someone was missing their Alshon. Speaking of Alshon, Wentz threw TE Zach Ertz (9 – 94 – 10.4 – 0) 11 passes. Over a quarter of his attempts, for nearly half of his completions. 

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Wentz did hit TE Dallas Goedert (3 – 36 – 12.0 – 1) with an absolute laser, for a 5 yard score to cap a 95 yard 1st quarter drive. Other than that drive, we spent the day dead in the water on Offense. Rookie RB Miles Sanders (11 – 38 – 3.4 – 0 – 0), teamed with reserve RB Boston Scott (7 – 26 – 3.7 – 0 – 0) to produce all of 64 yards on 18 handoffs (3.5ypc). RB Jay Ajayi never sniffed the field.

Wentz was sacked either five or five hundred times. It seemed when the protection wasn’t breaking down on him, he held the ball like a WR was supposed to walk up and ask him for it. (Maybe that would have worked better than them running routes.)

I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for these “Four Things” articles. We introduce an idea of what needs addressing BEFORE the game, so that fans have to honestly answer questions about those things, AFTER the game. This helps to get us, and keep us, all on the same page.

So, of the Four Things we were looking for in this last game, what exactly did we see?

1) Use play-action bootlegs: Yeah, there was no attempt at this one. Head Coach Doug Pederson seemed to leave a lot of meat on the bone coaching this week, and this is one such aspect. Especially after LT Jason Peters had to exit the game. The scheme seemed to call for Carson to hang in the pocket like a side of beef. Here in Philly there’s an image that goes with that.

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(NOT DONE)

2) Get Brady to moonwalk: We did a brilliant job of this in the first half, and for most of the third quarter. Brady pretty much couldn’t step into his throws, and it forced them into resorting to a trick play for their only touchdown. (DONE)

3) Pry that clam open: We attacked the FS on the opening play of the game and attacked that area on the Goedert score. Otherwise we mostly threw Crossers, Outs and Curls. There wasn’t much challenging the Patriots downfield on the inside. Weird because that’s where you’d expect to see Jordan Matthews and the TE’s making their money this week. (NOT DONE)

4) Take care of the ball: Wentz lost the ball on a sack-fumble, but given the number of hits on him, especially after losing both OT’s, we did a decent job of protecting the ball. (DONE)

This week’s Four Things score is 2 of 4, bringing the season total to 19 of 40. We’ll need to be sharper than that vs a Seattle team that has had our number since Russell Wilson was drafted there.

On The Whole:

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Wentz at the presser, somehow not pleading for help.

Offensively we were a nightmare. When I put Four Things out last Wednesday, WR Alshon Jeffery and RB Jordan Howard had not yet been ruled out. While that list was compiled with them in mind, it wasn’t dependent on them. That said, I have no doubt that if one one or both of those players had played, it would have changed the end result.

While you may see me as the eternal optimist, I can’t help but point out three obvious and irrefutable truths here:

1) This may be a bad team from a personnel standpoint, but they are still a good team as far as sticking together. (i.e. not throwing each other under the bus.)

2) The Front Office is pushing for results, and thus setting a tone downstream.

3) The Eagles are still in the hunt for the division crown.

grabz

 

FOUR THINGS – WK 11 – EAGLES – PATRIOTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/13
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WK11-NE

WHILE many Eagles fans are talking like the season is already over, I will be here until it actually is. For good or ill. Anybody looking for doom and gloom from these articles, will always come away disappointed. Generally my articles are written to cover subjects that the Eagles website won’t touch. Four Things however, is about discussing ways that we can win the upcoming game.

This is Philadelphia. We are the reason the name “Patriot” even has it’s American definition. We don’t quit. We don’t run. So chin up Eagles fans! Shoulders back and eyes front. There is much more rough road ahead us, but there are none better at making it smooth, than we.

Word around the campfire has it that the Patriots were embarrassed at being mushroom stamped on national television last week. Awww. They think, (get this) they think they’re just gonna waltz into the Linc, sign some autographs, and stroll out with our “W”. Problem is, we need that “W” to reclaim our division lead. Which means, we can’t let them have it. Translation: They’re shit out of luck.

Though New England has played almost exclusively bottom-feeders, they still boast a Top Three defense that’s 11th vs the run, and has 32 sacks so far. That means their players will come out playing with pride. With energy! With urgency!! All of which sets them up as the perfect, tailor-made mark, for this week’s caper.

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Here are the Four Things we need to focus on this week versus New England:

1) Use play-action bootlegs: We can turn their pass rushing strength into a liability, by having QB Carson Wentz fake a few bootlegs after a handoff, and then sprinkling in some real play-action bootlegs. (Every real bootleg we run, should be drawn-up as an Option play.) What we want, is for an opposing player to cheap shot Carson once, get flagged, and cause the defense to no longer trust their eyes for that first split-second of a play.

If we can cause New England to slow down a tick, in effect it speeds the Eagles up a tick. After which point, we let the pace of the game drown them. No need to do anything fancy. Just fuck them in the brain with some old timey bootleggin’. Right Joe? (That’s a Kennedy joke for us old folk.)

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2) Get Brady to moonwalk: QB Tom Brady never had the strongest arm, and today you can clearly see he’s lost something on his fastball. We can make that worse by making it hard for him to step into his throws. That’s were DT Fletcher Cox comes in.

New England’s RG Shaq Mason is coming off of an ankle injury. I’d lay money on his ankle not being up to a full day, of bull-rushing by Cox. Driving Mason backwards, drives Brady backwards, and doesn’t let him get as much on his throws. That increases our chances of getting to one or more of Brady’s passes. Or forcing him to run with the ball.

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3) Pry that clam open: To do that, we need to show that the left side of our passing attack has re-opened for business. Nothing crazy. Just a couple of early completions near the numbers. A Slant to WR Jordan Matthews (hopefully lined-up outside), and an Out route to whoever plays the Slot. Perhaps WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside? Maybe? Please?!

Once we staple their CB’s to the outsides, we can attack the Cover One/ Cover Three that NE likes to run. On the surface FS Devin McCourty is a guy to avoid. He has 5 picks in 9 games, but all against weak competition. (Including 1 in each game vs the Jets.)

New England has yet to face a TE anywhere near the talent level of TE’s Zach Ertz or Dallas Goedert. That’s a match-up we need to exploit. Work the play-action, freeze the SS underneath, and get balls 8 and 12 yards in the air to our TE’s down the middle. Isolate our 6’5 250 pound TE’s, one-on-one with their 5’10 195 pound FS, and see if they can break a couple of his tackles during the game.

Zach Ertz Dallas Goedert

4) Take care of the ball: This is common sense, but it’s also key to stopping this opponent. They come into Week 11 sporting a plus 17 turnover mark. Then again their dance card has included two games against the Jets, and games against the giants, Miami, Cleveland, Buffalo, Washington and Pittsburgh (when they were spiraling out of control during Week 1).

Given that their offense is neither explosive, nor powerful, we’ll be able to make them work for points. We just need to not give them any extra possessions with good field position.

If we do all these things, we’re just about guaranteed to win. Now that we’ve covered what should happen, let’s get into what likely will happen:

Jordan Matthews wasn’t brought here to be a decoy. How could he? He doesn’t have the resume for that. The reason he’s here, is to give Carson a comfort zone and let him feel confidence in using the the entire field again. That’s it. Nobody has ever doubted Matthews hands, nor his ability to get open, or find the end zone. The entire issue with Matthews has been his back. (Remember all the shots he took to his back, playing in the Slot for Chip Kelly?)

In order to create passes to the left, the Eagles have been moving WR Alshon Jeffery around more than ever. As a result, Carson’s attempts, AND EYES have been following Alshon. However, Carson’s comfort level with Matthews erases all of that immediately.

2019 Jordan Howard Khalil Mack

With the field stretching horizontally again, RB Jordan Howard will see more room inside. Howard has just one 20 yard run this year, but don’t be surprised to see one or two of those this week. While not having upgraded the “talent” around the QB, the QB has been vastly upgraded, because now he’ll be more relaxed.

Defensively is a harder read. Our Secondary hasn’t been good this year (or last year, or the year before that), but NE’s receivers are hardly worth losing sleep over. Given their QB’s diminished arm strength, and the constant harassment he should be under, we might be able to box this one up by the fourth quarter.

Be prepared for some tragic news though. An Eagles win will have people trampling each other, just to get on that bandwagon over there. Meanwhile we Eagles Phaithful will keep sipping our Wawa beverages, because we never stopped believing.

Seriously, when you get past all the “But they’re the Patriots” BS, it’s hard to imagine how they’d be able to win this game. The weapons just aren’t there, and this isn’t the AFC East, against whom they’ve already played 4 times for 4 of their 8 wins. Great QB or not, Tom Brady doesn’t cover receivers, and he damned sure doesn’t catch passes.

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PREDICTION: EAGLES 25 – Patriots 17

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THE RIVALS 2019 (PT 2 of 3)

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/09
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Rivals, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN KIDDIES!!!

GENERALLY when I talk football, it’s about my Eagles. I tend to keep mum about our rivals, unless we have a game coming up against one of them. Otherwise, I’ve reserved most talk about them for my Pre-Draft Preview, which drops each April. (Look for it).

In 2017 however, I decided to try something new, and give our fan base a running commentary of what the division is doing around us. This ensures that Eagles fans ARE actually the best informed, and most knowledgeable fans, in the NFL. (Provided you visit this site often.) These updates will come out three times during the season: After Weeks 3, 9, and 15.

This is where we left off Part 1 

This is where things are today:

Washington Redskins: 1 – 8, 4th in the NFC East

There’s the basement, and then there’s being thrown into the Rancor pit. It took playing the Miami Dolphins to get this team a win. The Dolphins. The ones tanking publicly, and throwing out players like a desperate mother pitching her babies from a burning building. With 8 losses already, the Redskins ceiling is .500.

They’re ranked 31st in offense, only because the Jets are, well… the Jets. The bright spot of their season was that Week 6, 17-16 win over Miami. It was the last time they scored more than 9 points. (Perhaps for a long time.) Let’s take a look at their personnel.

In the backfield, starting QB Dwayne Haskins has an interception percentage of 9.1, and has yet to throw or run for a single touchdown.

1-Rypien on the skins

Methuselah is their starting RB, but he produces. Everyone behind him is trash. Just pure trash.

The ‘skins leading receiver is 200 yards ahead of the next closest guy on their roster, despite not catching for more than 40 yards in three weeks. Their second leading receiver doesn’t start, and hasn’t played a down in three weeks. The guy in third is a professional WR with 6 starts in the 9 games he’s played.

This offense isn’t just bad. It’s nuclear waste bad. It’s cancer risk bad. Right, Trent?

Defensively S Landon Collins is everything the giants hyped him up to be this offseason. (I know, I know. That was mean.)

All jokes aside, DE’s Jonathan Allen and Matt Ioaniddis come to wreck shit every week. I’d jump at the chance to see either of them in midnight green.

 

New York Giants: 2 – 7, 3rd in the NFC East

“YOU had dreams, of a Lear jet

But then it ended up, like Aliyah’s jet” – Loaded Lux

When QB Danny Jones took over an 0 – 2 team, in Week 3, giants fans were eager to see what the kid had. Then after two straight wins (over bottom feeders), you couldn’t tell giants fans anything. “Eli was holding the team back!” “We love Danny Dimes!” They were convinced that the team would battle back, and win the East this year.

Then, the worst thing that could happen to a breakout rookie, happened to Danny Dimes: Teams got some tape on him. PFFFT!!! Don’t look now, but if you compare Jones to deposed starter QB Eli Manning, they look a lot alike this year. So what? The giants still have RB Saquon Barkley. Right?

giants fan

Barkley is the worst kind of tease. He’s like watching partly scrambled, soft-core porn, on a “chipped” cable box. Just when you think you see somethiiing… NOPE! Nothing at all. Typical Saquon is 17 carries for 36 yards, and then 1 carry for 65. For that day it’s a 6.1 yard average, but it doesn’t reflect his actual average carry. And so the giants stall on drive, after drive, after drive. His deliveries often fall so short, that if he worked for the Post Office, most of the time you’d have to walk to the curb to get your mail.

As far as catching the ball, there’s TE Evan Engram! Did I mention that right now he has an injured foot and will miss at least Week 10. At least. Through nine weeks the leading WR for this team has 29 catches. I could go on, but it just keeps getting sadder. This isn’t me picking on the team. This is actually who they are. Look it up. If you root for this team you should already know this stuff.

Midway through the season and the giants two leading tacklers are their Safeties, with 65 and 67 stops. Safeties leading a team in tackles isn’t unusual, but 132 tackles this early in the year, indicates that teams are bypassing the LB level at an alarming rate. Especially when sporting a minus 10 takeaway figure, and surrendering 28 points per game.

This team not being in the basement, tells you just how awful the Redskins truly are.

 

Dallas Cowboys: 5 – 3, Top of the NFC East

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Boasting a Top 10 Defense, a Top 5 Offense, and an amazingly healthy roster, the Cowboys have ridden their good luck all the way to a staggering, one game lead in the division. Media pundits everywhere, say that QB Dak Prescott (15TD, 8INT) is finally playing his best football. Um, okay.

Accompanying the virtuoso passing, is RB Ezekiel Elliott. He had a 27 yard run in Week 2, and a 27 yard catch in Week 5. His longest plays of the year! He remains a player you have to watch for on every down, despite the fact that his explosive plays get less explosive, every season, for three straight seasons in a row. But who cares?! What he lacks in explosiveness, he’ll make up for in volume. In fact, he’s on pace for another 350 touch season, and is showing no ill-effects from that workload. Nor will he next year.

The catalyst to this whole thing is The Anointed One, WR Amari Cooper. Cooper leads the NFL in recep- Wait, that’s actually the Saints Michael Thomas. Well Cooper leads the league receiving yar- Hold on! No, that would also be Thomas. Okay, yards per catc- Nope! Chargers Mike Williams owns that. How ‘bout them touchd- Ooops! Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans, and Detroit’s Kenny Golladay share that lead. So what’s all this Cooper talk about?

You know, when I step back, their offense doesn’t look quite as dominant as we keep being told it is by football pundits. Perhaps we should talk defense.

You can’t argue with 17 points allowed per game, and a plus one turnover margin. Those are either luck vs a couple of early winless opponents, or pretty good marks with such a weak pass rush They only have 22 sacks so far. That’s one ahead of the Redskins, tied with the giants, and two behind the Eagles.

All the media buzz aside, this looks like a pretty stoppable team to me. 

TRIVIA: During the 2019 season, only one NFL team allowed the Jets to score 24 points on them, while losing to them mano y Mono. Who was that team? (Hint: It was not the dreadfully awful Redskins. Then again the Jets and ‘skins don’t play until next week. So the Jets could hang 24 on them, but if they don’t, man, it’ll just make this trivia question so much more amusing.)

+++++

So that’s the state of our division rivals as your Eagles head into Week 10

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FIXING OUR RECEIVER PROBLEM

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/05
Posted in: Conversations, Draft, Offense, Players, Rants, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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OUR struggling Secondary has almost become the stuff of legend, with many fans feeling that it’s the fault of the athletes, and not the harebrained, tea-dance, flag-football scheme that we run on Defense. Ask most Eagles fans what should we grab with our first pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, and the answer you’ll hear most is: CORNERBACK.

CB Avonte Maddox is a gambler and a battler. CB Rasul Douglas is a ball-hawking, Screen sniffing machine. (He’s a bigger Sheldon Brown with much better hands.) As far as drawbacks, Douglas has issues with raw speed, and Maddox simply isn’t very tall.

In a Cover Two scheme, both of those deficiencies would be masked, and we’d end up with two excellent CB’s who not only cover well, but play the run well, and finish tackles. Hard to justify spending a high pick on one guy, when you could just swap out a shitty coach, and get a still under contract, two-fer for free.

Where our top pick should be spent, is on a WR. Actually, picking a top WR in 2020, would be making up for a move that’s already two years overdue. I said a couple years ago, that with Wentz as the Franchise, the Eagles should include him in their quest for the WR who will be the Rice to his Montana, or the Clayton to his Marino.

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As it stands today, the Eagles #1 WR is Alshon Jeffery.

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While all of Alshon’s traits scream top-shelf WR2, we use him as a WR1 because frankly, we don’t have better. Alshon (when healthy) is physical, confident, and fast enough to hurt a secondary down the sideline. What he isn’t is a vocal leader who commands the ball and inspires his QB to throw it to him, regardless of who is covering him.

While Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Chad Johnson type talent is rare, it is also not deniable. It is not containable. It is not team, scheme, nor QB dependent. Unfortunately, too often, the Eagles Offense is all of those things.

We need to stop piece-mealing the WR position, and to stop avoiding studs, as we instead hunt for steals. We spent on the QB. We added to the Offensive Line. We grabbed a great young TE. Even spent a high pick on a back-up RB. It’s high time that our QB got an outside weapon that put the NFL on notice.

That being said, we need to knock off this idiotic bullshit of getting ourselves a deep threat. When our SINGULAR deep threat gets hurt, we end up with 2018 and 2019.

Here’s a novel idea! Why not add more than on fast guy to the roster? Or better still a WR’s coach who can actually develop young players. Name the last WR the we drafted then groomed into a respectable starter. I’m thinking we’d have to go back to Jeremy Maclin. (Jackson was drafted a year prior.)

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Picture Carson with these two and Ertz. SHEEEESH!

So yeah. It’s time to drop some serious Draft capital on at least two players. Two sounds about right. After which, we should fire our current WR coach. Then we tell then new guy, that we want starters, if he doesn’t want WR coach to be his career’s dead-end.

More talent. Scared coaches. That’s how we fix our receiver problem.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK 9 – BEARS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/04
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

FRUSTRATION. That word kept being applied to the Bears defensive players today, whenever they committed a bone-head penalty. However, the word just as easily could have been used to describe what it was like to see drive after Eagles drive, stall due to spotty play selection in the red zone.

To be honest, this game wasn’t nearly as close as the score, and should have been a blowout before half-time. While it’s impossible to ignore the issues that will be magnified over the next month, or the time being we have a couple days to appreciate being over .500 for at least a week.

Let’s enjoy it for a bit.

2019 Special Teams Bears muff

EAGLES 22 – Bears 14

The one-two punch of RB Jordan Howard (19 – 82 – 4.3 – 1 – 0) and RB Miles Sanders (10 – 42 – 4.2 – 0 – 0 / 3 – 31 – 10.3 – 0) was once again the engine that drove this team. While QB Carson Wentz (26/39 – 66.6% – 239 – 1 – 0) did have a nice day playing catch with TE Zach Ertz (9 – 103 – 11.4 – 1), he’s going to remain handcuffed until we get genuine #1 WR on this team.

New addition DE Genard Avery (1 – 0.5 – 0 – 0) came in and made his presence known. The coming Bye week gives him a chance to study, and get a better grasp of the scheme, before anyone gets much tape of him in it. Could be interesting. DE Brandon Graham (2 – 1 – 0 – 0) continues to find his way to the QB. He was aided today by a lot of early press coverage on the edges. The entire rush was aided by it actually.

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Seemed like this would be a game that we could get a couple of turnovers in, but we didn’t force one all game. You know the word “comforting”? Yeah, this the opposite of that.

I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for these “Four Things” articles. We introduce an idea of what needs addressing BEFORE the game, so that fans have to honestly answer questions about those things, AFTER the game. This helps to get us, and keep us, all on the same page.

So, of the Four Things we were looking for in this last game, what exactly did we see?

1) Make OLB Mack a liability: We didn’t really do this. They flip-flopped DE Khalil Mack (4 – 0 – 0 – 0) to try and get him some good looks, but he spent this game largely being negated. That in itself is a great thing since most of his match-ups were one-on-one. What sucks is that we didn’t punish him for being good at something. We didn’t capitalize on him. While what we did was still great, we didn’t do the thing written, so… (NOT DONE)

2) Steal their crutches: We spent an entire game doing this successfully. It wasn’t until we gave them another option, that they gained the slightest bit of life. (DONE)

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NT Eddie Goldman sacks QB Carson Wentz on opening drive. C Jason Kelce strolls over as the play unfolds.

3) Mix it up: We did a really good job of this in the first half. The second half, not so much. That first drive was awesome, until our interior Offensive line caved, and allowed Wentz to be sacked by NT Eddie Goldman (2 – 1 – 0 – 0). Later we would also give up one to DT Nick Williams (2 – 1 – 0 – 0). Then again, I just said in this year’s second Quarterly Review, that our interior has issues with pass pro. No one else is talking about that though. (DONE)

4) Toss them an anchor: Instead of tossing the Bears an anchor, we gave them a Zero Coverage look, which allowed even their QB, to hit a receiver for a 53 yard gain, which set up a very short TD. Prior to that, it was 19 – 0 and the Bears were reeling. Had they turned the ball over or allowed another score of any kind, the team would have folded like origami. We have got to find a player to inspire some form of emotional killer instinct. (NOT DONE)

So for this week, heading into our Bye, we break even at 2 of 4 things in Four Things. That brings us to a mark of 17 of 36 (.472) for the year.

I don’t set these tasks at higher than basic, and I tailor them to each opponent. So these grades are fair. They are by their very design, timely, unbiased, and stark. Despite having a 5- 4 record, a sub .500 Four Thing score, indicates that we aren’t doing basic things, and thus are a fundamentally bad team.

As things stand today, we do not deserve a playoff appearance. Here’s hoping that we get this turned around.

On The Whole:

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For a second week in a row, we leaned on Jordan Howard and walked off with the ‘W’. We played some press coverage, and saw our Defensive Line cash in for 2.5 sacks.

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Carson Wentz ignored the voice of Guy Fawkes, and targeted Zach Ertz 11 times. Ertz made plays when his number was called. No WR came close to his production.

Speaking of which, the WR issue has gotten terrifying. Alshon hasn’t looked right since he came back from injury. Frankly, given how much attention he sees, with no other WR threat to cover, I’m amazed that he’s produced much at all. But that’s a discussion for another day. Like tomorrow. The article is already written.

2019 SEASON REVIEW: SECOND QUARTER

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/02
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Four Things, free agents, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster, Special Teams, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

SEASON Reviews are usually done at the end of the season. (Duh, right?) A few are done at the halfway mark, and/or at the end. Starting in 2017, Eaglemaniacal.com began treating the season like a game, and breaking it into four quarters. Since football is a hard sport, we’ll take a hard look at where our team stands at the moment (in relation to where it started), and where it needs to go next.

STATUS: 4 – 4, 1 – 1 division, 2 – 4 conference, 2nd in the NFC East

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OPPONENTS:

W: New York Jets (1 – 6)

L: Minnesota Vikings (6 – 2)

L: Dallas Cowboys (4 – 3)

W: Buffalo Bills (5 – 2)

Combined: 16 – 13

OVERVIEW:

The Mission for this quarter was to suck less against the pass. Despite the prison shower scene that was the Vikings game, the Eagles moved from 32nd in the NFL, allowing 328 passing yards per game; to 20th, allowing 256. Not great, but still a marked improvement.

Injuries continue to be a major factor, as not only are they numerous, but every one of them seems severe. This has led to serious issues with communication and continuity.

GRADES: (These are not seasonal grades. They are grades for just these last FOUR games.)

QB: (A) Carson Wentz.

2019 Wentz is a gunslingerThere is a lot of blame to go around regarding this teams struggles, but NONE of it belongs to Wentz. Over the last 4 games he has improved his completion percentage and yards per pass. This is despite only having one WR to throw to. (This isn’t to undercut the TE position, but WR’s open up a defense, and Wentz is dealing with a stunted field every week.) In only one of the last four games has he reached 200 yards passing, but over the last three he’s run for 70. He hasn’t been remotely flashy, but he’s been more than most could hope for given his lack of tools.

RB: (B) The Eagles coaching staff learned in the first quarter, that rookie Miles Sanders is a better potato than a steak. Thus they began featuring Jordan Howard instead. Smart move. Feeding him early has proven good for our win column. Howard just had the team’s first game with 20 or more carries, since week 10 of last season. Sanders is coming into his own as a receiver, which will now allow for formations that put both backs on the field at the same time, and make audibles nearly terrifying for a defense. Boston Scott was added to the roster Week 6, after Corey Clement went on IR. Scott came in showing some wiggle, but has seemed less and less effective with each passing week. Darren Sproles has missed three of the last four games, but will be back to kick-off our second half of the season, this week. This position has been very productive with the ball, and needs to see it more

TE: (A) This position has improved in yardage, yards per catch, and touchdowns. Zach Ertz’s Bing Crosby, used to be a fine solo act, but Dallas Goedert’s Danny Kaye has proven to be a perfect complement. Though Ertz caught fewer balls in Q2, the position is seeing steady usage, with 28 catches in Q1, and 26 in Q2. Both players have seen their average yards per catch improve from Q1 to Q2. Ertz went from 10.6 to 13.0, and Goedert went from 8.0 to 10.7. This one-two punch has managed to help keep the passing game afloat, despite working in more crowded space than they should be.

WR: (D) If not for Alshon Jeffrey, this grade would be a bloody‘F’ served cold, with a side of spittle flecked profanity. No regular words. Just profanity strung end to end for roughly a paragraph.

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Jeffery has in these last four games, caught 22 balls for 230 yards (10.4ypc) and 1 TD. Those numbers seem meager until you realize, he’s done that while teams could key on him as our only outside threat. Put in perspective, during that same span, the other three active players at this position have combined for 11 catches for 93 yards (8.4ypc), and zero scores. Oh yeah, and all of those numbers belong to Nelson Agholor. Mack Hollins and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside have so far been a waste of the coaching staff’s time. Even when given an opportunity, they seem afraid of it. Seriously, is there some reason why Greg Ward isn’t on the active roster?

OT: (B) Lane Johnson finally gave up a “sack” to Cowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence, when Lawrence knocked a ball out of Wentz’s hand. It took ten games for Lawrence to get that “sack” and he still has yet to actually tackle our QB. Ten games equals five years. THAT is who Lane Johnson is. When Jason Peters is out there, he’s still Jason Peters. There’s a reason that announcers hardly ever breathe his name, without using the words “Hall of Fame” somewhere in the same sentence. The trouble is, he can’t stay healthy anymore. The edge simply askes to much of him now.

Which brings us to the real story of this section, rookie Andre Dillard. Dillard gave up a sack in his first start, but has otherwise looked far better than a rookie half a season into his pro career has any real right to. It’s clear that Dillard has learned as much as the bench can teach him. At this point the only way to improve him is to let him play. That’s no knock on Peters. In fact, a move inside might add a couple of years to his career. That might even let him someday retire, without ever suffering a serious decline in his game.

OG: (C) Gotta take some issue with this position. Isaac Seumalo and Brandon Brooks have been very good at opening holes in the run game, and aces at blocking for the QB Sneak. They have not been anywhere near as good when dealing with pass rushers in the “A” gaps. Wentz is frequently in more trouble from right ahead of him, than from the edges. Would it kill them to re-direct rushers outside, and give Wentz clear passing windows, or let him pick-up cheap rushing yardage? The lack of time n the pocket, is (to my thinking) also part of why our deep passing game has been a problem.

C: (D) Jason Kelce’s game has sort of gone into the tank since he became a new dad. It happens. It’s unavoidable. All his routines change. His sleep is affected. Possibly having arguments that spring from nowhere, when everything was great five minutes ago…

As a result, snaps are getting sprayed around, line adjustments to interior pressure are either being misread, miscalled or not called at all. And then there’s the getting run over. Fact is, he was also talking about retirement last year. His head is just not where it was three years ago. That’s a fact. (Which would explain the Eagles serious push at the position this offseason.)

DE: (C) In Q1 this position produced 30 tackles and 1 sack. In Q2 it produced 45 tackles and 10.5 sacks. Brandon Graham has led that charge with 19 tackles and 5 sacks, with at least 1 sack in three of Q2’s games. Derek Barnett added at least half a sack in three of the four games. Vinny Curry has piled up 10 tackles in Q2 as opposed to the 2 he had in Q1. This position is doing it’s best to pick up slack from a decimated interior line. The knocks on them are speed chasing down QB’s who escape the pocket and playing the edge too flat, instead of playing contain first. In truth, problem two may be causing problem one.

DT: (C) Fletcher Cox has been trying to play the role of two men. 17 tackles and 2.5 sacks in the last four games, while trying to be a teacher and emotional motivator. Hassan Ridgeway stepped up to fill the void left by Malik Jackson and Tim Jernigan, neither of whom played in Q2. Ridgeway added 6 tackles and 2 sacks in three games, before himself having to be put on IR.

OLB: (D) This grade is only this high because I’m listing Nate Gerry as Outside instead of Middle. He had one game as the starter in the middle, the other three games were on the outside. In two of the three games on the outside, Gerry has managed a splash play. (An interception for a TD in one game, and a sack in another.) Nigel Bradham was already having a lesser Q2, but then he missed the last two games with an injury. Kamu Grugier-Hill is a pretty good Special Teamer, but he can’t make an impact as a starter. When Bradham comes back, it should be he and Gerry who get the starting nod.

2019 Nate Gerry

MLB: (F) We cut the guy who started two of the last four games. Then we had Gerry start vs Dallas, and that went as well as picking a bar fight with Connor McGregor. Last game saw rookie T.J. Edwards record either 5 tackles or 3 tackles, depending on which NFL stat page you visit. Right after the game on Sunday, the box score had it at 1 tackle. In any case, it was an odd number, and he didn’t make any standout moments happen. Here’s hoping his game picks up.

S: (D) We sacrifice the ability to defend the pass, in order to more or less, lock down the run. As a result, this position is rarely even in a position to make a play on the ball, for us. Malcolm Jenkins has essentially become a Nickel LB with where he’s deployed, and his stats in Q2 (23 tackles, 2 passes defensed) back that up. Rod McLeod playing back deep, knocks down far more passes than Jenkins, right? McLeod has all of one pass defensed in Q2. It was his interception vs a Jets rookie who was greener than his helmet. Andrew Sendejo also had an interception in Q2. The talent is here. The biggest issue with this position, is how they are deployed.

CB: (D) Of 5 active roster players at this position, NONE of them has started more than three games in Q2. Injuries have decimated this position for the last two years. A lack of continuity, coupled with a bullshit system, have led to breakdowns in the Secondary that almost border on tragedy.

LS: (A) Nothing to complain (or rave) about.

P: (A) Cameron Johnston may be the best part of our Defense. 15 punts, 5 returns for all of 30 yards, in the last 4 games. These are all improvements over his Q1 numbers (14 punts, 6 returned for 47 yards).

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K: (A) Jake Elliott isn’t called on much, but when he is, he hits his kicks. 9/9 kicking Field Goals and 19/20 on extra points, with his miss being in a swirling Buffalo wind that even they had trouble kicking into.

PR/KR: (B) With the injury to Darren Sproles, Boston Scott has filled in and done a decent job with punts. Miles Sanders needs to get better at knowing when to take the easy 25.

KC: (C ) 20 kickoffs, 4 returns for 96 yards (24.0ypr). Not bad numbers, but nothing exciting.

SINCE LAST QUARTER:

Pass defense improved. Sack production has returned to the Defensive Line. We discovered our run game. Those are all actual improvements from Q1 to Q2.

MISSION FOR THIS QUARTER:

Cultivate a second WR. We need to lighten Alshon’s load and create more room inside for the run.

FOUR THINGS – WK 9 – EAGLES – BEARS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/01
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, Uncategorized, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WK9-CHI

THIS week is all about establishing some momentum going into our Week 10 Bye. We aren’t trying to make a statement. After all, this is only the Bears. Pushing a car already in Neutral, isn’t impressive. And this is pretty much that. The idea here is not to lose our grip, and get backed over by that same car.

With the Packers leading the NFC North at 7 – 1, and the Vikings right on their heels at 6 – 2, the 3 – 4 fourth place Bears, have to know that 2019 is already a wrap for them. Bears fans can whip out their calculators and do some magic math, but the rest of us can hear the Fat Lady clearing her throat.

While it’s highly unlikely that the giants will beat the Cowboys this week, such an outcome would put the Eagles alone atop the NFC East. So long as we also win this week. This means that we have extreme motivation, while the Bears are practically waiting for a mercy killing. Those are the stakes. So let’s get to choppin’!

So let’s talk about the Four Things we need to focus on this week versus the Bears :

1) Make OLB Mack a liability: The Bears play a 3 – 4, with Khalil Mack as a dedicated rusher at RDE/OLB. His dance partner this week will either be LT Jason Peters, fresh off an injury, or rookie LT Andre Dillard. That sounds like a problem for us, but it doesn’t have to be. Our game plan should include constant inside chipping by the RB, followed by his release into the Flat.

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The Offensive Line positions in the yellow, denotes who is responsible for blocking which defensive player.

That would allow our LT to speed up his kick slide, and get set-up quickly on the outside, without fear of being beaten quickly inside. If Mack speed rushes outside, the LT is already there. If Mack dips inside, he gets blown up by the RB, long enough for the LT to step up, latch on, and rag-doll him.

That RB in the Flat, is a quick way to punish the Bears for rushing Mack in the first place. I like the idea of using RB Jordan Howard on this.

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He’s a good pass protector, and given the bad rap that Chicago gave him as a receiver, it would be nice to see him grab 5 or 6 passes, in open space, vs a single DB.

2) Steal their crutches: The Bears awful QB throws a lot of short passes to his RB’s. This would be a great week to see one of our players jump one of those routes and take the ball back to the house. I’m looking at you OLB Nate Gerry! It would be nice to see you make a big play, OLB Kamu Grugier-Hill! Hey Malcolm! Get in the middle of one of these upcoming passes.

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This is Nelson Muntz vs Tim Cratchit. We should be able to easily take away the short game, and force a bad QB, into making some pretty dumb throws.

3) Mix it up: While their offense is a punchline, their defense is no joke. Part of that is talent, but most of it is just plain old preparation. They see what teams rely on, and they prep to take away those strengths. While we shouldn’t abandon our strengths, we should throw them a few things they haven’t seen much from us.

Seeing some 11 Personnel with rookie WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside in the Slot, inside of WR Alshon Jeffery, would be a look that inspires the coverage to roll that way. The aforementioned 5 or 6 passes to Howard in that alignment, could be devastating.

Maybe we could run a FB trap with TE Dallas Geodert? Or maybe a play-action, TE Quick Screen out of 12 Personnel (Heavy right, motion to Twins left)? Like this:Fig3

Surely Eagles coaches are as creative as I am, right? Right?! We’ll see.

4) Toss them an anchor: Usually I like to suggest two ways to attack an opposing defense and two ways to attack their offense. However, the Bears offense is so bad, that taking way their defensive strength, should be enough to cause QB Mitch Trubisky to try and stage a rescue.

He’s like a lifeguard who can’t swim. He’s like a squeamish surgeon. He’s like a tampon made of raw, ground beef. He just makes things worse. So we’ll just take away the run, and when their team needs saving, we will present them the option of Trubisky, more Trubiskly, and only Trubisky.

If we do all these things, we’re just about guaranteed to win. Now that we’ve covered what should happen, let’s get into what likely will happen:

Defensively, the Eagles are going to make a point of taking away the run. That should get the Bears coaching staff to do some of that cute, gimmicky shit, that they love failing at so much. Rest assured, Trubisky will give us opportunities. We just have to capitalize on them, when he does.

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Offensively, HC Doug Pederson understands that we have to dictate the action to a defense as good as the Bears have. It shouldn’t shock you if he dials up a shot down the field on the opening drive. Not on the first three downs, but soon after we pick up our first first down. Expect to see the Eagles being the aggressor early in this one.

The Bears are catching us at the wrong time. I almost feel bad for them.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 27 – Bears 14

yeah-bitch