I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for the Four Things articles. It’s to point out what we need to address BEFORE the game. Then AFTER the game, there’s a no-bullshit assessment of whether or not the Eagles did any of what they needed to do, to ensure the win.
So how much of what I mentioned inFour Things: Ravens did the Eagles get around to doing? Well let’s see:
TE Jason Croom. You can’t stop him. You can only hope to contain him.
1) Run the ball: Wentz ran 2 called runs in this game. The touchdown and the 4th down conversion he didn’t get. His other 3 runs were from drop backs. That makes the playcalling ratio, 43 passes to 15 called runs. On 58 plays run, we were passing 74% of the time. Not winning football strategy. It’s not a wonder the game got so out of hand. (NOT DONE)
2) Stay disciplined: Outside of their QB, the Ravens ran for 74 yards on 28 carries (2.6 ypc). The Eagles Defensive line did great job of setting the edges, and pursuing runners. While the Ravens did make a few plays (on 37 total carries) our defensive discipline was clearly there today. (DONE)
3) Challenge them vertically, early: That early drop by WR John Hightower did a lot to stem Wentz’s enthusiasm to throw to deep targets. Hightower let the ball hit his pads instead of plucking it with his hands. Thus, making it clear to everyone (including his mother), what the difference between 1st round and 5th round talent, looks like. (NOT DONE)
What you’re seeing here is a TE scoring a rare touchdown against LB Nate Gerry. And yes. That was sarcasm.
4) Set up the Mark: We covered their starting TE too well to bait their QB into attempting to get him the ball much. This would have been a great week to turn one of our weaknesses into a trap, but… They instead made use of the back-up TE. Well isn’t that special? Bless their little hearts. (NOT DONE)
That makes this weeks Four Things score a dismal 1 of 4, bringing the season total to 7 of 24. Hey gang! In addition to being banged up, starting a 3rd string RG, and not currently knowing the injury status of Miles Sanders knee, we get just 4 days to prepare for a divisional game against the giants on THURSDAY! Oh goodie! Oh joy! I’m so happy I could shit Legos.
On The Whole:
Yay. Something something, moral victory, silver lining, next man up, yadda blah. Whatever. We lost. Again.
Valiant comeback my ass! What was that, 4 passes that hit guys in the hands that they dropped?! Miles Sanders, dropping passes, fumbling and getting hurt? I will give a dollar to the first DB who jams a receiver and helps the D-Line get a sack.
For his part, Wentz (YET AGAIN), strapped this team to his back, and attempted to climb Mt. Everest. Wouldn’t it be neat to see a second offensive player show that much competitive fire? I don’t mean WR’s I mean a RB or a TE. I want to see toughness. Ruggedness. I want to see the opposing defense afraid of someone in an Eagles jersey.
RB Boston Scott tripping up Wentz on the 2-point conversion?! You know what? If GM Howie Roseman is going to be a buyer at the trade deadline, one the things I want him to buy, is RB Jordan Howard back from Miami. If they don’t think RB Corey Clement can back-up Sanders, then get me a guy who can. Because Scott ain’t it!
On Defense, everything behind our Front Four feels suspect. There was a play where no fewer than 3 Eagles had a shot at popped up pass, and nobody came down with it! It feels like the scheme is rubbing off on CB Darius Slay, and not the other way around.
Travis Fulgham continues his three game touchdown streak.
NOTE: It was nice to see Travis Fulgham get his first start, but we need to start seeing some combo routes run with TE Zach Ertz. Both to loosen the box and to get more roaming room for whomever is our deep receiver, on the other side.
OVER the last two games, most Eagles fans have fallen heels-over-head for WR Travis Fulgham. Some love that he’s scored in each of the last two games. Some love that he makes big splash catches.
I love that he’s nothing special.
Seriously, there is nothing about his game that is remotely remarkable. He’s not super-fast. He doesn’t jump super-high. He doesn’t kill defenders with his first step off the line. So if he doesn’t have any amazing traits, why is he so much better than all the other young receivers we’ve drafted since Jeremy Maclin?
The thing that separates Fulgham from Eagles draft picks, is that he has a solid set of fundamentals. He comes back to the ball. He boxes out. He high-points and catches with his hands. Again, nothing special. Just the fundamentals that any receiver should have. I said should.
During Week One, QB Carson Wentz threw two interceptions. One was while trying to connect with rookie WR Jalen Reagor, and the other was an attempt to rookie WR John Hightower. Both were jumping and fading away from the ball, allowing the defender to uncut them. Remember the one to WR J.J. Arcega-Whitesidevs the Rams? Look up those three picks. I’ll wait…
(Whistling. Filing nails. Painting a still-life.)
Oh, you’re back! Did you notice what I was talking about? It jumps right out at you, doesn’t it? From now on, you will NEVER fail to notice it, and wonder how others miss it.
Although WR Alshon Jeffery has crazy leaping skills, his speed isn’t lethal, he’s not the biggest receiver, and he doesn’t have legendary hands. In fact, how would you describe Alshon’s game? Comes back to the ball. Boxes out. High-points. Makes yards after the catch. None of those things are talent based. Those are all skills. They are fundamentals which only come from teaching.
The obvious thing that fans keep missing, is that young Eagles receivers aren’t taught those basics. Fulgham learned it before he got here. Alshon, same thing. Terrell Owens? Kevin Curtis? These guys looked great next to receivers drafted, but untaught by our coaching staffs.
Speaking of which, how DOES former Eagles WR Nelson Agholor, look in Las Vegas this year? He’s only caught 10 balls, but he’s only been thrown 11 passes. That’s a 90% catch rate. Through 5 years with the Eagles, Agholor NEVER had a 90% catch rate through 5 weeks. Not in 2015 (47%), not 2016 (66%), not 2017 (69%), not 2018 (70%), nor 2019 (59%). NEVER.
Crazy what a little coaching can fix.
Some readers may say that I’ve failed to mention Fulgham’s ability to create separation with stems, speed variations in his routes, head fakes, stacking the defender, etc. Those are all skills. Those are all taught things. Every blessed one of them. Just basic fundamentals.
I love that Fulgham’s game is based on fundamentals. It means that if the Eagles decide to sign him long-term, his ability to play won’t disappear with injury, or suddenly with age. When Alshon gets back I look forward to seeing packages that feature them both on the field.
Now if only we can utilize some of that speed we added this year…
I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for the Four Things articles. It’s to point out what we need to address BEFORE the game. Then AFTER the game, there’s a no-bullshit assessment of whether or not the Eagles did any of what they needed to do, to ensure the win.
So how much of what I mentioned inFour Things: Pittsburghdid the Eagles get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Jump short routes:Aside from one miss by CB Cre’Von LeBlanc, nobody really tried to do this. Three times, on 3rd down, the Steeler’s QB was able to complete a quick short pass inside and to his right, while Eagles defenders just watched the play happen. He should have never been able to do that twice, let alone three times. Especially without getting his receiver blown up. (NOT DONE)
2) Trim their edges: We didn’t run any RB Screens, but we did make the Out routes come alive today! Fulgham created space, boxed out, and high-pointed the ball, giving Wentz an easy target to go to all day long. WR Greg Ward ran a similar route for his easy 8 yard TD reception. TE Zach Ertz continues to dog it out there. I gave him the benefit of the doubt for 4 weeks, but after watching him let that TE Screen fall incomplete, I have to call him on it. With what he’s putting on tape, no one is giving him George Kittle money. (DONE)
3) Set the edge vs the run:I said that Pittsburgh doesn’t do a lot of WR rushing and coming into this game they hadn’t. Today they took 5 whacks at it, and made us look silly in the process. However, that’s a hard thing to charge to the Defensive Linemen. It’s really something that has to be adjusted for with an alignment that doesn’t pack all the LB’s inside of the DE’s. We took away the interior run game, but our scheme and lack of adjusting it, allowed them options they usually ignore. (NOT DONE)
4) Fight for catches: Right before the Half, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside made a nice 37 yard grab. Other than that, Fulgham didn’t really have to win any contested balls, he found ways to create separation, and give Wentz a clean target. Maybe he can teach his team mates? (NOT DONE)
That gives us a score of 1 of 4 this week (6 of 20 on the year.) Thank goodness we get to face Baltimore next week. NO! You know what? We’ll re-group, get a couple guys back next week, and look at this with fresh eyes.
On The Whole:
We went in shorthanded vs a 3 – 0 team, and made a real game out of it. Silver lining, it looks like Carson Wentz has found a young WR that he trusts. That can only pay dividends going forward. This week Whiteside and WR John Hightower got the start. Next week, if WR’s Alshon Jeffrey and DeSean Jacksonare still shelved, then expect Fulgham and Hightower to get the nod.
There were several things that annoyed me: The play selection was ass, again. There were just 12 handoffs in this game, 2 called QB runs, and 38 passes called (2 resulted in QB scrambles). That’s 73% pass to 27%run. Why is it okay that our Defensive Coordinator isn’t capable of making adjustments? How is it that we had no answer for a rookie playing in just his 4th pro game?
We got embarrassed by a rookie. And we got out-coached. The Steelers were flat-out smarter than us. Especially our Defense. We ate Jet Sweeps from a team that hardly runs them! We’ve been so bad at defending those, that opponents include them, just to run them against us. And if it wasn’t bad enough that in-game adjustments aren’t being made, week-to-week adjustments aren’t being made either. I feel like the game was never as close as the score.
SEASON Reviews are usually done at the end of the season. A few are also done at the halfway mark. Starting in 2017, Eaglemaniacal.combegan 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 currently stands, in relation to where it started. Then we can discuss where it needs to go next.
STATUS: 1 – 2 – 1 / 1st place in the NFC East / 21.0 points per game vs. 29.2 points allowed
OPPONENTS:
(L) Washington 1 – 3
(L) Los Angeles Rams 3 – 1
(T) Cincinnati 1 – 2 – 1
( W) San Francisco 2 – 2
IT’S been a shit-show. Injuries (more than anything else), have derailed any sense of rhythm this team was supposed to have coming out of the gate. On Offense it’s led to inconsistencies, which have led to turnovers, which have left points on the field. On Defense it’s led to communications errors, magnified by gaps in talent, which have translated into points for the opponent.
POSITIONAL GRADES:
QB Carson Wentz dives for a touchdown.
QB (D): Why not an F for Carson Wentz? Because of context. Context means you look at the WHOLE picture, not just the stat-line. Washington was going well, until the sacks started piling up. He was bad in the Rams game. In the last two games however, Carson has put this team on his shoulders. Despite protection issues, and a lack of weapons, he’s figuring out how to keep us in games. Still, he has to get the turnovers under control. Jalen Hurtshas played 10 snaps and still has two fumbles (Neither was lost.)
RB (C ): Miles Sanders has been effective running the ball, but far from dangerous. He hasn’t established himself as a tier of the Offense, merely as an option in it. The short passing game won’t pop until that happens. Boston Scott is not a true runner and it shows, in how easy it is to stop his forward progress. Corey Clement is scarcely being utilized.
TE (C ): Seems like a high grade until you realize that the production is off, because shorter routes are being emphasized for this position. The team is scheming away fromZach Ertzin order as they audition replacements. That was going fine until Dallas Goedertended up on IR. Now the Eagles are standing in the rain, on the doorstep of the girl they just dumped, horny and somewhat humbled. “Looking for a little romance. Given half a chance.”
WR Greg Ward hits paydirt!
WR (D): The inability to stay healthy is bad enough, but the “next man up” needs to do a better job of trying to crack the starting line-up. As a group, so far they’ve caught 43 of 70 targets for 478 yards (11.1 ypc) and just 2 touchdowns. Greg Ward is the leader at this position, but he doesn’t even average 9 yards per catch. Taking what the defense gives you is one thing. Letting them dictate to you all game long, is quite another. These guys have to do a better job of getting open on intermediate and deep routes
T (D): Neither Jason Peters nor Lane Johnson has looked quite like themselves this season. With JP it’s a toe injury that put him on IR for a few games. With Johnson it’s offseason ankle surgery, that isn’t back to 100% yet. Rookie Jack Driscoll has played quite a bit of football this year, but he looks like a rookie. Three year project Jordan Mailata got his first start in the Eagles lone win. He wasn’t amazing, but there was definite promise there. Still this position has been too inconsistent to grade it highly.
LG Nate Herbig beside LT Jordan Mailata, in his first NFL start.
G (C ): Matt Pryor and Nate Herbig won’t be mistaken for Pro Bowlers, but we haven’t lost a game since they became our starting tandem, two games ago. They aren’t the best pass blockers, but that has the upside of “encouraging” bootlegs and getting the ball out earlier.
C (D): Jason Kelcestill understands leverage and landmarks, but his ability to win at the point of attack seems greatly diminished. Also he could do a better job of shielding the scramble lane. The good news is we’ve already seen the first of his annual two wild snaps. Kelce still is a wily vet, and he can get by on that. The question is: “Can the Eagles?”
DE (C): The sack production is there, with 10 in the first 4 games. Brandon Graham is on pace for a 12 sack season. So is Josh Sweat. Derek Barnettis on pace for 10. However, the backside run stopping is dangerously lax. Regardless of who lines up there (usually Barnett or Sweat), our RDE often doesn’t set the edge. Instead, they flatten to run down it. Without second level containment on that side, the Eagles fall frequent victim to reverses or stretch runs. FYI: It happens enough for opponents to be able to scheme for and target.
DT (A): This position is the engine that drives the Defense. It is the source of our power. They are the primary reason why we are giving up just 3.8 yards per rush. They also provide the pressure that has us leading the NFL in sacks. Fletcher Coxis Fletcher Cox of course, but Malik Jackson? Him?? As a group, all four players have 14 QB hits through 4 games. Jackson owns 9 of them. As an interior lineman!
OLB (D): Opponents now know that Nate Gerry has neither the speed to cover anyone, nor the strength to take on blockers. As a Nicklebacker (ugh!) playing ZONE, he provides a level of shift-on-the-fly flexibility that’s hard to match. However, as an every down ‘backer, he’s more like shit-under-flies. On the other hand, we haven’t lost since Duke Riley became a starter. Riley has also been lackluster, to put it kindly. The only splash play made by this group was Alex Singleton’s 30 yard game sealing pic-six vs the 49ers.
MLB (C ): T.J. Edwards wasn’t setting the world on fire, but we were getting some decent football out of him inside the Tackle box. But he’s on IR now, so…(nodding) ya know… In the meantime, getting a good look at rookie Shaun Bradley can only help his development. No one said they would, but at this point, they should.
FS Rod McLeod picks off a 49er pass.
S (C): FS Rodney McLeod has been targeted 13 times for 6 completions, just 68 yards, 0 TD’s, and a red zone interception. He’s been a low-key brightspot in the Secondary this season. Jalen Mills has been a bit of a disaster at SS. Targeted 7 times for 7 completions and a TD. Plus the soft tackling. His move back outside for WK4, was a godsend. During WK4, rookie Kavon Wallace got the start, while veteran Marcus Epps got most of the snaps. They weren’t All Pro, but they showed actual promise. The grade for next quarter should be higher. Provided that Mills stays outside.
CB (C): Darius Slay is the story here. He has no picks, and is allowing completions at a rate of 66%. However, he’s also only allowed 180 yards through 4 games, and his deflection in our lone victory, stopped George Kittle from stealing it from us, in the closing seconds of the game. Jalen Mills in that game was targeted 7 times, allowing just 2 completions for all of 6 yards. Never move him to Safety again. (Love him at N/CB though.) When we stopped playing Nickell Robey-Coleman 60% of the time, we started winning, and allowing 32 points per game. That, coincided with playing Cre’Von LeBlanc a lot more. So it feels like the Eagles are finding a rhythm at the position. A per game grade would look like D, F, C, B.
LS (A): The fact that you can’t recall mentioning Rick Lovato, is always a good thing.
P (A): Cameron Johnston is out there MURDERING IT so far. He’s averaging 51.6 yards per punt, 12 of which have been returned for an average of just 5.6 yards.
K (A): Jake Elliott is 7 of 7 on extra points and 6 of 7 from the field, with his only miss being from 50+ yards.
LB(?) Nate Gerry comes up small. Again.
SINCE LAST QUARTER:
We ended 2019 on a 4 – 0 tear, vs admittedly garbage ((cough) division), lever competition. We tweaked the Offense by moving around some coaches, and added a ton of speed. Injuries however, have reared their ugly heads, yet again. The difference is, now we’re so used to it, that we know how to take it in stride.
MISSION FOR THIS QUARTER:
Getting the Offensive Line and the Secondary to gel, should be the focus of these next few games. We need to be able to solidly separate ourselves from the bottom of the division. While 4 – 0 would be great and should always be the goal, coming out of these next 4 (Pittsburgh, Baltimore, New York giants, Dallas) at 2 – 2 seems more realistic.
We need DE Derek Barnett to get us a few of these, in the next few weeks.
I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for the Four Things articles. It’s to point out what we need to address BEFORE the game. Then AFTER the game, there’s a no-bullshit assessment of whether or not the Eagles did any of what they needed to do, to ensure the win.
So how much of what I mentioned in Four Things: 49ers did the Eagles get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Be the Aggressors: As far as I’m concerned this game was a signature win for Wentz. With a decimated supporting cast around him, he put this team on his shoulders. Again. His running (7 – 37 – 5.2 – 1) was deliberate and aggressive. Same with his 42 yard touchdown pass to Fulgham, who wasn’t even on the roster last week. Despite no line and no receivers, the Eagles stayed on the hunt. (DONE)
2) Support the D-Line: The D-Line came up with 4 sacks today, but underneath coverage and second level containment was spotty. Especially in the first half. We got some good football out of LB T.J. Edwards (3 – 0 – 0 – 0) and LB Alex Singleton (2 – 0 – 1 – 0) who also brought back his interception 30 yards for a score in the 4th quarter. Still, if we weren’t going against second and third string QB’s this would have been our 3rd loss of the season. (NOT DONE)
3) Run the damned ball, Doug!: Today we saw 28 pass attempts and 28 runs. Three of those were deliberate runs by Wentz. So out of 52 plays, call it 32 called passes to 25 called runs (52% pass). This is a serious change from the 66% pass rate we’ve been sporting. It helped set up play-action, and acted as a force multiplier for practice squad players. I’m telling you: When the starters get back… (DONE)
4) Screen the defense: There was a decent Screen to TE Zach Ertz (5 – 4 – 9 – 2.2 – 0), but aside from that, it looks like this team has forgot how to run Screens. (NOT DONE)
That puts this week’s Four Thing’s score at 2 of 4 (5 of 16 on the season). Next week, depending on what Covid says, we get the Pittsburgh Steelers. They had this week off, so they’ll either be rested or rusty. My guess is the former, not the later.
On The Whole:
While I saw a number of positives in this game, I saw a number of things that concern me.
First, Miles Sanders is far too eager to run out of bounds, or go down when running up the middle. I shouldn’t see my QB fighting for yards, and trying harder to break tackles than my RB. Sanders said last year that he left about 300 yards on the field. Well he’s doing that again in 2020.
Second, something has to be done about LB (LOL) Nate Gerry (5 – 0 – 0 – 0). He’s a liability vs the pass AND the run. I understand that rookie LB Davion Taylor is raw, but teams are picking on Gerry at this point. Picking on him! I wasn’t a fan of rookie LB Shaun Bradley being drafted here, but I’m at the table with a bib on, looking for someone to serve me some crow.
Third, our guys are forgetting to get their arms involved in tackling. There are too many shoulders being thrown. As a result, we’re allowing touchdowns of the highlight reel variety, on what seems a weekly basis. Also too many of our DB’s seems to be shying away from impacts, instead of bringing the hot high heat.
(S) DE Brandon Graham/Derek Barnett: (4 – 2.0 – 0 – 0)
I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for the Four Things articles. It’s to point out what we need to address BEFORE the game. Then AFTER the game, there’s a no-bullshit assessment of whether or not the Eagles did any of what they needed to do, to ensure the win.
So how much of what I mentioned inFour Things: BENGALS did the Eagles get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Give the rush time to get home: There were a couple of drives where this happened, and the Eagles racked up 8 sacks because of it. Particularly on the two opening drives, and through the fourth quarter. During the middle of the game however, it was open season on our Secondary. Again! (NOT DONE)
2) Trust the Offensive Line: Wentz seemed at his best when he got out of the pocket, or was improvising after a near sack. His improvised touchdown pass to Ward was a thing of beauty. Same with his 7 yard touchdown run. Behind the line, he still looks like he’s trying to beat the egg timer. If you get a chance to see a replay of this game, notice how at ease he looks on the move, and how jittery he looks in the pocket. (NOT DONE)
3) More balanced play-calling: This week we saw 47 pass attempts, 28 designed runs, and 7 scrambles. On 81 plays, that’s a 54 to 27 pass/run ratio, or 66.6% pass. This is not a winning formula. (NOT DONE)
4) Do the hard part: There is no joy to be seen out there. The team body language is devoid of passion. There was the standard celebratory, defensive preening nonsense, but nothing to get the team’s energy up. Nothing to get them out of their heads, and into the moment. (NOT DONE)
This week we posted a score of 0 out of 4, (3 of 12 this season). Were this not the Bengals, starting a rookie QB, we’d have been blown out. Next week we get a wounded 2 – 1 San Fran, that is eager to challenge for their division lead. Hur-fucking-rah.
On The Whole:
Wentz didn’t look good today as a passer, or for that matter as an emotional leader. He did however, turn in a gritty performance, adding 65 yards rushing yards, and a big-time, ‘gotta-have-it’ 7 yard touchdown run. While he may have looked shaky as a passer, at no point did you doubt that he was all-in. At no point did you doubt that he wanted the “W”. He never dogged it.
To be fair, he wasn’t aided by the in-games losses of WR DeSean Jackson, TE Dallas Goedert, and LT Jason Peters. By the fourth quarter, he was back to Ward, WR Deontay Burnett, and a third string TE. Just like late last year.
For a third straight week, the Defense allowed over 20 points. What was your question?!? How many takeaways did our Defense get? What’s a takeaway? Is it Chinese?
I’m afraid that as an Eagles fan, I don’t know what a “takeaway” is anymore. I don’t think our Secondary has any clue about what that could possibly be.
That all said, given the horrid, downright goofy nature of the NFC East this year, even our 0-2-1 record has us just half a game out of first place. We have ZERO wins in three cracks, and the division is still wide open.
WE shit the bed Week 1, and rolled over in it Week 2. On the upside, finding our run game led to our QB not being sacked once, behind what is STILL a makeshift Offensive Line. That sort of stepping up is why injuries can never be used as an excuse here.
This is a battle of two 0 – 2 teams. Some say that something’s gotta give, and so an Eagles win won’t be much of a big deal. Those people are dead wrong. This team is currently just a single game behind. We have two losses, and are still just ONE game behind. We aren’t exactly chasing the ‘72 Dolphins here. A win mean means a lot.
A win gets us to 1 – 2, and back in the national conversation with regard to who wins our division. A loss puts us at 0 – 3 and in the basement with a jackhammer.
The point ofFour Things isn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics will practically guarantee our Eagles this win. CAUTION: 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 FT as a gambling tool, you are trying to lose your money.
So let’s talk about the Four Things we need to focus on this week versus the Bengals:
1) Give the rush time to get home: Everyone is talking about how disappointing the Defensive Line is, and it drives me nuts. Are we being shredded by numerous deep, accurate throws? Nope. Opposing QB’s are getting the ball out of their hands quickly. Which means that opposing receivers are uncovering quickly. Which means the coverage is shitty. (This is the same coverage that had GM Howie Roseman boasting about WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside during Training Camp. So keep in mind that our Secondary may be trash.)
If Not Malcolm Jenkins wants people to stop bringing up Malcolm Jenkins, he needs to give us a reason to stop missing Malcolm Jenkins. Otherwise, we’ll keep saying Malcolm Jenkins, when we say we miss Malcolm Jenkins.
2) Trust the Offensive Line: After taking an 8 sack beating during Week 1, QB Carson Wentz’s Week 2 accuracy came into question (despite receivers getting two hands on some of those “errant” passes). He was clearly rushing passes, forcing passes, and (in my opinion) seeing ghosts.
After a week of being able to run the ball and not getting beat to shit, he’ll have some reason to trust his Line again. If he does, he should look more like himself, in terms of his processing and delivery mechanics.
3) More balanced play-calling:
Week One (42 passes, 17 called runs) 71.1% passing.
Week Two (43 passes, 24 called runs) 64.1% passing.
So far this season, we’ve thrown the ball 67.4% of the time. No one will buy play-action from a team that never hands the ball off. We’re telegraphing to opponents that they can unload the box, and pin their ears back. That makes it harder to utilize all the speed we added this offseason. Even a 34 pass to 26 run ratio, would change that.
4) Do the hardest thing: Dear Eagles, Right now the hardest thing for this team (or any losing team, trust me, I’ve been there), is remembering to have fun. Remember why you compete. Remember that you love to show off. Are you better than the man across from you? Then PROVE IT TO HIM. Prove it to his woman watching at home. Prove it to his mother, who’s hoping you don’t kill her boy. Prove it to his father, who this week can’t say “I taught him that!”
This is just Week Three. This is no time for the ‘Dig Down Deep!!!’ speech. It’s too early for the ‘Who Wants It More?!’ speech. This week’s speech is the ‘Trust Your Brother, and Have Fun’ speech. Don’t go to work this week. Don’t “practice your craft” this week. Just go out there and play football. Let’s see some joy out there. Let it be infectious. Just don’t get Covid.
If we do all these things we should win, with a score looking like:
PREDICTION: EAGLES 27 – Bengals 23.
Check back in a couple of days forFour Things Reviewed, and we’ll discuss how it went.
I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for the Four Things articles. It’s to point out what we need to address BEFORE the game. Then AFTER the game, there’s a no-bullshit assessment of whether or not the Eagles did any of what they needed to do, to ensure the win.
So how much of what I mentioned inFour Things: RAMS did the Eagles get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Run the football: I said 24 handoffs at least in this game, and 24 handoffs is exactly what was delivered. As a result, Wentz was sacked exactly none times this week. He also wasn’t holding the ball long, which sort of neutered all the speed we added in the offseason. (DONE)
2) Play more man coverage: We played loose man coverage, and took away the Screen game. However, we also let receivers to uncover far too quickly, allowing the Rams QB to hit on all of his first 13 pass attempts. In fact, the Rams had 21 points on the board before a single pass was contested, as the ball was delivered from clean pocket after clean pocket. We played “man”, but there was no “coverage”. (NOT DONE)
3) Get outside and play: In the 3rd quarter, Wentz hit TE Zach Ertz (7 – 5 – 42 – 8.4 – 0) on a play-action roll-out to his left, but it was the only one not born from pressure. It’s as if the coaching staff feels that they no longer have to be creative or unpredictable, now that we have more speed on the roster. FYI: We have yet to make that speed dangerous to anyone besides our own expectations. (NOT DONE)
4) Capitalize on their punting: What punting? On ten drives, the Rams scored 5 touchdowns, 1 field goal, had 2 punts, 1 drive ended by half-time, and 1 drive ended by the game expiring. We can’t stop anybody or generate turnovers. The one turnover we had today, was generated by our Special Teams. Our Defense is trash. And no I didn’t stutter. (NOT DONE)
This week we did 1 out of 4 things, (3 of 8 on the season), which is how you get keistered by almost 20 points. We were almost blown out. At home! In front of our cut-outs!
There is a metric fuck-ton to fix, in order to avoid going 0 – 3 vs Cincinnati next week.
On The Whole:
I know many fans are going to want to put this on Wentz, because he didn’t throw a touchdown, while throwing two interceptions. Fine. Go ahead. I won’t argue with that crowd.
FOR THE REST OF YOU: I’m far more concerned with our inability to stop anybody, or even seem to slow them down much. On those eight drives not ended by the Rams just LETTING time expire, they scored six times. Five of those six scores were touchdowns.
In two weeks, this Defense has also generated zero turnovers, and hasn’t even been close to doing so. Next week we face an 0 – 2 rookie QB, and run game that is sputtering. If we can’t stop that team from putting up 21, then it will be time to seriously evaluate the Defense from the top down.
This season is far from over. The two division leaders are both sloppy 1 – 1 teams. So the NFC East is by no means out of reach, or even starting to slip away. That said, we need to put up a “W”, quick, fast and in a hurry. The fastest way to do that, will be finding a way to stop opponents from scoring at will.
LAST week we absolutely shat the bed! Instead of complaining about that, I’m focusing on the upcoming game. Please. Step into Week Two with me.
Lost in all of last week’s wreckage, was the fact that the Eagles showed an ability to start fast. Given that this week’s opponent still looks like their slow-starting 2019 edition, there’s a definite advantage to be had. If we jump on it.
The return of RB Miles Sanders with his knack for running routes and snagging passes, also gives us a decisive edge over the Rams Linebackers. In fact, the 3-4 scheme that they run, is similar to the system that Washington just abandoned. (After we swept it for three straight years.)
There are no rivals playing each other this week. That means (in the most extreme cases), we could all win, or we could all lose. A win over the Rams gets everyone realizing that our loss last week, was a fluke. A loss doesn’t bury us, but it could give teams the impression that we’re past our prime. That’s not a stink we want on us.
The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics will practically guarantee our Eagles this win. CAUTION: 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 FT as a gambling tool, you are trying to lose your money.
So let’s talk about the Four Things we need to focus on this week versus the Rams:
1) Run the football: At least 22 handoffs to RBs, have to happen. This line cannot pass protect for intermediate and deep routes, without threat of a run. Last week’s play selection (71% passing plays), will not get the job done. If we get off to a fast start again, the run game will help us sustain what we’ve built. Even if all it does is slow down pass rush on early downs.
2) Play more man coverage: The Rams like to employ WR Screens. Those are hard plays to execute with a CB shadow. It doesn’t have to be press coverage, but when the ball is in the air, the CB has to be ready to make the tackle (not hit) for a loss. Send the message early, that they have to throw away a large section of their playbook.
3) Get outside and play: Sprinkle in some play-action bootlegs with QB Carson Wentz, to open up quick underneath routes.
Instead of complaining about him not giving up on a play, why not give him options to salvage that play? Seriously. Why waste downs? The object of a drive isn’t to avoid a mistake, it’s to make enough plays to score points. QB Nate Sudfeld didn’t throw a single interception last week. Did it help? Nope. Not at all. This week, the coaching staff needs to help Carson make plays.
4) Capitalize on their punting: We need punts to come out fast and flat, or short and high. Either the ball needs to reach our PR before the coverage can get there, or it basically needs to be shanked. In either case, Special Teams would be back to being a contributing factor, and not just a daycare for back-up players.
If we do all these things we should win, with a score looking like…
PREDICTION: EAGLES 28 – Rams 17
Check back in a couple of days for Four Things Reviewed, and we’ll discuss how it went.
I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for the Four Things articles. It’s to point out what we need to address BEFORE the game. Then AFTER the game, there’s a no-bullshit assessment of whether or not the Eagles did any of what they needed to do, to ensure the win.
So how much of what I mentioned inFour Things: Football Teamdid the Eagles get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Run the football: We handed the ball off just 16 times today. Compared with 42 passing attempts, and 1 QB sneak. Play-calling like that (71.1% pass) will get a defense not respecting the run, and teeing off on our QB to the tune of 8 sacks. Especially against a makeshift Offensive Line that took on more injuries during the game. No attempt at establishing a rhythm on the ground was ever attempted. (NOT DONE)
2) Blitz off our right: There were a couple of these after the half, but most of the game was spent with no pressure or contain on our right side. This is particularly damning given the absence of DE Derek Barnett, and the subsequent injury to DE Vinny Curry (1 – 0.5 – 0 – 0). No attempt to shore up that side was ever made. (NOT DONE)
TE Dallas Goedert hits paydirt on a 34 yard strike from QB Carson Wentz.
3) Throw aggressively: This was done to the point of foolishness. There were some very nice downfield throws and reads. However, when it became apparent that Wentz wouldn’t have the time to stand in the pocket, shorter routes for the WR’s were not called.(DONE)
4) Make tackles:There were some misses, but nothing egregious, or atypical of standard football. For the most part the Eagles defenders reliably wrapped up what was in front of them. Nobody got put on a poster today. (DONE)
That makes this weeks Four Things score, 2 of 4, and puts us at 2 of 4 on the year. These were easy marks to hit. The fact that we were on 50/50 on them, indicates that somebody (Head Coach Doug Pederson) was being cute today.
Here’s hoping we get some of this stuff ironed out by next week when we face the 1 – 0 Rams. The killers of Cowboys.
On The Whole:
I’m not going to harp on injuries, or use them as an excuse. We’ve been dealing with those for years. We’ve been saying “Next man up” for years. As fans, we’ve been crowing the words “Despite injuries…” for years. So we don’t get to hide behind them now. If a man is paid, he should be able to do his job.
I’m on record as saying that Boston Scott is more of a Screen guy and less of a legit RB. That showed today when he did get carries. When a defender meets him, the play is over. If RB Miles Sanders misses anymore time, we need a better response than Boston Scott.
Eagles WR’s barely showed up today. Part of it was a lack of protection. Part of it was just rookies being rookies (8 targets, 2 completions). Detail stuff like, not coming back to the ball on Curl routes. Nothing to panic over. It’s why you call a rookie a rookie. This was their first NFL experience vs. guys not on their team. Understanding how to leverage a teammate that you see everyday in camp, is different than leveraging guys you’ve never seen. This will get fixed.
The O-Line is a nightmare. On Tuesday I had no idea that RT Lane Johnson would miss this game. For some reason C Jason Kelce was a game-time decision. No one on the right side of our line had ever started an NFL game. You cannot dangle a Franchise QB, on 42 pass attempts, behind a duct taped O-Line IN WEEK ONE! Unless you’re trying to kill him, or get him injured.
Defensively we seemed to pick up where we left off:
Too much room with the cushions.
Too much Nickel.
An unwillingness to blitz.
An inability to generate turnovers.
Our Defensive Line can never reach it’s full potential, if the Secondary keeps allowing receivers to uncover quickly.
There is a great deal that needs addressing this week. Injuries be damned.
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