IN tribute to the success enjoyed by our division rivals, I figured in the spirit of the Christmas season, I’d be classy and tip my hat to them.
So I did it in the form of a song, that I wrote JUST for them. Enjoy.
Fans
EAGLES 14 – Bengals 32
WHILE watching this game, at times I felt like I had more at stake than some of our players. There were a few players out there clearly dogging it, but with a little luck we won’t be seeing some of those faces in 2017. Speaking of luck, we seemed to have had as much bad luck as we did poor execution. A couple of the turnovers we surrendered were more bad luck, than real skill by the Bengals. It was just not going to be our day. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes it’s Pittsburgh, sometimes it’s Cincinnati. Gotta take the good and the bad equally.
On a day when the Offensive Line couldn’t protect QB Carson Wentz (36/60 – 60.0% – 308 – 1 – 3), the play-calling dialed up 60 passes compared to a team-wide 19 rushes. In the second half, starting RB Wendell Smallwood (8 – 19 – 2.3 – 0 – 0) didn’t see the field as we instead opted to lean on an undersized, 33 year old, with a broken rib. Our leading WR was Paul Turner (6 – 80 – 13.3 – 0), proving once again that many fans here have a better feel for our receiver situation than the Head Coach. (Remember the days of fans holding up“I’m a moron, I want a WR!” signs? We went and got a real WR (Terrell Owens) and went immediately to the Super Bowl, didn’t we? Maybe us fans shouldn’t be ignored so much.) Turner was targeted 7 times and snagged 6 passes for real yardage. And he’ll probably be benched/inactive again next week.
Defensively, I couldn’t help but notice the utter lack of pride that some of our players have. Later in the game there was an incident that threw a spotlight on it. When the Bengals allowed the TD to our TE, a couple of their defensive players jawed at each other over the blown coverage. It’s been weeks since our Secondary has shown that much pride. Our CB’s (Carroll/McKelvin) seem resigned to being sub-par to average players, who are happy enough to draw a check. For that reason, I hope that neither returns next year. We don’t need that attitude to contaminate our young, in-coming players.
Due to large cushions, free releases, and (let’s be honest) just downright shitty fucking coverage, yet another opposing QB was able to constantly get rid of the ball quickly. Our Secondary has effectively neutered our pass rush. Defensive Co-ordinator Jim Schwartz has to be ultimately held responsible for the decline of this unit, due to him not having any answers for how to fix the Secondary.
Did you notice?
How you and I seem to care more than certain players at this point.
WHEN I get to the bar Wednesday night, it was just staring to spit outside, but since it had rained earlier, I know the weather wasn’t serious about doing so again. I go over to the bartender and before I can get my order out, I hear Rhodie’s voice ring out like a gunshot.
“Special! Get ‘im a Special”.
For those who don’t know (like I didn’t until 2009), “The Special” is a shot of whiskey and a bottle of PBR. I was going to order some whiskey, but not the Wild Turkey. I’m also not a big fan of PBR, and the old bastard knows this. (But you keep ordering it for me anyway, don’t you? Just to break my balls.) So he’s looking at me kind of strange, then he gets up and comes over to me. He takes hold of my upper arms and pulls me in for a hug. (Thing is, I’m a lot bigger than he is, so really he sort of pulled himself in for the hug.)
It wasn’t the first time Rhodie has hugged me and I’m hoping it won’t be the last, but it’s not a frequent occurrence. So of course I asked him, what brought it on. We sit down and he tells me that it’s because of my last article.
“That article you wrote…thing of beauty. You went right at the Eagles brass like you didn’t care if they came after you, or if fans did either. With all these Four Things things and the gambling tips you been givin’, it’s been forever since you wrote like that. I was glad to see you hadn’t lost it.”
For the record, the NEXT articles aren’t gambling tips. I cannot stress that enough. They’re just how I see the Eagles games. Still I wanted to know what he meant by “lost it”.
“It just seemed like you got comfortable with your routine. You used to take chances and go out on limbs. You used to write something everyday. Some days you wrote two things! It just seemed like you’d lost your edge. Chip Kelly made you angry and it brought out your passion. It seemed like Kelly took part of your passion with him when he left.”
I was stunned. Rhodie was essentially giving me the speech that Micky gave Rocky, in ‘Rocky 3’, when he told Rocky that the worst thing that could happen to a fighter had happened to him: “You got civilized.” Rhodie was telling me that he thought I’d gotten civilized. That I’d gone soft to a least a small degree. I can argue that I still have my edge, but better than telling is showing. Which means I have some work ahead of me.
But in that moment, in that bar, at that table, Rhodie was proud of me. I’d shown there was some fight still left in me. Shown that the fire still burns in my belly. I’d shown once again, that I’m ready to take on the world, armed with nothing but truth and the courage to stand behind it.
This is who I always was. It’s who I am. It’s who I will always be. I have not gone soft. I have not become civilized. My edge remains as sharp as ever. Wind in my face. Truth as my weapon. Me versus the world. Any time. Any place.
I order a whiskey. It is NOT Wild Turkey.
TRADING OT Dennis Kelly for Titan WR Dorial Green-Beckham, was no big deal by itself. Trading QB Sam Bradford to the Vikings for a 1st round pick and conditional pick (likely a 4th, possibly a 3rd), seemed like an opportunity we couldn’t pass up. It was a big deal; but it was also seen as just getting getting maximum value for a player. No one was talking “conspiracy”. Even I couldn’t see the big picture yet.
Then came the moment when I couldn’t be fooled anymore. It was the moment when the Eagles expressed interest in either 49er WR Torrey Smith or Bears WR Alshon Jeffrey.
Their interest was no big deal. There were a few teams kicking the tires on those WR’s and the general perception is that we need help at that position. Being interested only made sense, right? Due diligence and whatnot, right? But then we-
*****
Let me slow down for moment. This is that moment where it felt like you were doing only 35 mph, but then you glanced down, and saw that you were actually pushing 60. So I’m gonna slow down and do this in pieces.
Normally someone would walk you through all the “How” first and finish with the “Why”. Not me. I’m starting at “Why” so that by the time I get to “How” you’ll already be on board, and you’ll see those moves as natural parts of that process.
*****
First the broad strokes: The Front Office is trying to sabotage this season without you (The Fan), realizing that it’s happening.
WHY:
Last night during the Eagles/Cowboys game the commentators said something in passing that stuck in my ear like an ice pick. One of them mentioned that these two fan bases do not tolerate the term “rebuilding”. With both teams being on the Top 10 most expensive ticket list, I think it’s more that the ownerships, or in this case our ownership, is afraid of what the “R” word would do to ticket sales. So any smart owner has to operate on the Q.T. and make a good looking effort, all the while sandbagging the team to slow their progress, to later be in a better position to rebuild.
What do I mean by better position? What I mean is, picking earlier in any round is better than picking later in any round. If we don’t do well, our pick position improves. In every round. Instead of monster trades to move up, or tanking on purpose (like the Sixers did), which the fans hate, it’s much easier to merely sandbag the team to make it difficult to do well.
HOW:
Examples of sandbagging would be
1) Adding a WR during training camp that you can’t place at #4 on your depth chart. The primary reason you can’t bench him is because you yourself (coaching staff, F.O.) talked up his talent, while fans were already unhappy with the guys we had. This is while knowing that his less than stellar work ethic would make learning the Offense take him longer than most.
2) Trade away the starting QB who by all accounts, was looking better than anyone expected him to, during preseason.
3) Instead of starting the experienced back-up QB, you start the rookie who only played in part of one preseason game, and didn’t look very good doing so.
4) That same rookie QB, who grew up idolizing Brett Favre, and who you lauded for his deep ball when you drafted him #2 overall, you put handcuffs on him and have him throwing Screens, Crosses, and Wheels.
5) Then you threaten to bring in another WR who would have to learn the Offense from the ground up at mid-season. This part hasn’t happened. (So far)
6) Now there’s talk of making a 33 year old change-of-pace RB, our primary RB, when he has NEVER been a primary back in his 12 year career. His all-time high number of carries in a season was 93. Back in 2009. He has never started more than 6 games in any season, and he only did that once. In 2012.
*****
Not ONE of these changes points to helping the Offense to be more productive. In fact, EACH of these changes point to slowing down it’s development.
The whole idea is to make it look good to YOU, while we slowly lose ground. It’s a more ethical version of what the Sixers did, as long as you don’t realize it’s going on. And so far it seems to be working.
I’ve only noticed a handful of fans who seem confused by what’s happening. Most are still happy we started 3-0.
It’s been the rare fan that voices a concern for why we placed the season on Carson Wentz‘s shoulders, without running the ball a lot more to alleviate the pressure on him.
Not many fans have asked “If we were going to trade for a WR, why didn’t we trade for one that was already a good one?”
I don’t hear a lot of “What happens when 33 year old RB Darren Sproles wears down sharply in the next three or so weeks? How do we replace the team’s second leading receiver if he gets hurt or wears down due to overuse? Won’t that leave our rookie QB without his security blanket?”
None of this can be spun as a positive, but none of needs to be spun if YOU don’t notice it in the first place. Then again why would you notice it? What reputable journalist would write about something like this, and risk his behind the scenes access?
That’s where I come in. I’m not a journalist, I’m a fan. Like you. My job is to stick up for you, and represent you. My job is to speak the truth to you, that others lack the courage or motivation to bring you. Unlike journalists, I don’t work for the Eagles. I work you. I work for me. I work for US. I work for the Fans.
Earlier this year, even I couldn’t see the big picture yet. Then came the moment when I couldn’t be fooled anymore. And as of this moment, now YOU can’t be fooled anymore either.
NOTE: Lots of people won’t agree with, and some will even hotly argue with what was said here. I have no problem with that, and in fact (as always) I even welcome it. I am however, a ruthlessly patient man, and I also have no problem waiting to (yet again), be proven right.
THIS is a mid-season battle for first place, on the road, against the team currently holding that top spot in the NFC East. The Eagles (and if they’re wise, the Cowboys) have to approach this game with a playoff mindset, because this game could be as close as the loser will get to postseason play this year.
Some of us fans have been discussing a growing gut feeling shared among fans about this game. That feeling is that if the Eagles win, the Front Office will let it ride and we’ll chase the division crown this year. However, if we lose the F.O. will focus on the re-tooling of the team. There’s no smoking gun in terms of evidence, but we fans have been talking.
Our Defense and Special Teams have kept us in the last two games, but that won’t be enough this week. Our Offense must show up again this week. We don’t need the Offense from Weeks 1 and 2. We need the Offense that has learned the lessons from Weeks 5, 6 and 7.
In those last 3 games, the Eagles have a Four Things score of 4 out of 12. We were 2/4 vs the Vikings; 2/4 vs the Redskins; and 0/4 vs the Lions. That sort of effort (Is that okay? Can we call that “effort”?), won’t be good enough this week.
So let’s talk about the Four Things we need to look for, Week 8 versus the Cowboys :
1) Hit the QB. Dak Prescott has only been sacked 9 times and hit 22. Only the Oakland Raiders boast better numbers those categories. At first it seems like Dallas’ offensive line is doing a great job. The reality is they haven’t faced many real pass rushing threats so far. It’s very easy to make good decisions as a QB with no one in your face. So we need to change that this week.
2) Lock down the run and crossing routes. We need our Front Seven to step it up this week. That means that our DE’s have to keep contain, and our DT’s have to keep MLB Jordan “Cowboy Killer” Hicks free to flow to the ball carrier vs the run, and drop into coverage to make plays like this:
3) Settle the hash. Get the ball to TE Zach Ertz in the middle of the field. I’ve been saying this since The 12. This would open up the entire Offense and make life easier on QB Carson Wentz.
4) Run the ball. A LOT. RB Ryan Mathews has been effective when he gets the chance to carry the ball. But more than that, Dallas’ reliance on the run, means they need to win the time of possession. If we run the ball a lot and take time of possession from them, it forces them to have to rush things on offense.
We can win this game, but we have to take it, to do so. Dallas plays a style that is no nonsense at it’s core, despite the pansy-ish way they execute it. We won’t win this game by trying to be cute. We have to take it to them old school.
CRUSHING the Steelers 17 – 0, was nice to see on a scoreboard. Even if it was only preseason, and even if it was over a second string unit. I mean, think about it for a second. (At first) it was our starters vs not quite their best. A shutout is what’s supposed to happen, right? So in that regard the Eagles handled business.
But what about the stuff that the final score doesn’t reveal? That’s the reason for these “Four Things” articles. To have an idea of what needs addressing BEFORE the game, so that we’re forced to honestly answer questions AFTER the game.
So, of the four things we were looking for in this last game, what exactly did we see?
1) The defense picking up where it left off vs Tampa Bay: They most certainly did exactly that. Pass rush, picks and being stingy against the run. While we weren’t going against their star QB, RB and WR, we did go against the other 8/11 of their starting unit. The result was that our Defense was consistent, and did to a back-up QB what a defense should do to a back-up QB. We check out great here.
2) Giving half the game to QB Chase Daniel: We got that one done too! I was thinking that it would be smart to sit Sam Bradford after the first quarter, but with Pittsburgh holding the ball for much of the first quarter, in order to get him some work, he played until the half.
3) Seeing someone other than Lane Johnson start at RT: Head Coach Doug Pederson shuffled his line in the manner that I’d suggested (even prior to the first preseason game) in my Surviving The Suspension article. The result was a far more cohesive unit than the one we’d seen just seven days before. Any time you shuffle the line, you have to give it time for the chemistry to set in. However, at least NOW there is a clear plan for moving forward and remaining competitive. (Three for three so far!)
4) Wendell Smallwood running inside: Didn’t happen. (Shit.) Smallwood didn’t play due to injury. Instead we got to see RB Kenjon Barner. To his credit. Barner kept his inside runs to the inside for a change. In order to avoid contact, he has a tendency to try and bounce everything wide. I for one am sick of watching him run 11 yards for a 1 yard gain (because 10 of those yards were run sideways). But he kept to the script vs Pittsburgh, and while he didn’t break tackles or wow anyone, he showed some reliability. It felt good to see.
Overall we so far seem to be on a good track, meeting 3 of 4 this week, as opposed to 2 of 4 last week. This suggests that he coaching staff is handling priorities. That heralds terrific things if we keep going at this rate in the next couple of weeks.
SON: Dad, tell me a bedtime story.
DAD: Okay. Once upon a time, the Redskins were really really good, and-
SON: I said tell me a story, not bullshit me.
DAD: No no! Really! It was in the 1990’s. Look it up. It really happened. So anyway, the ‘skins were in the Super Bowl and-
SON: Goodnight Dad.
DAD: Would you just listen?
SON: Did you take your meds?
DAD: Yes! I took my meds! This isn’t one of the delusions.
SON: Alright, but I’m looking this up in the morning.
DAD: Fine. Anyway, we were in the Super Bowl against the Bills and-
SON: Against who?
DAD: No no! The Bills were really good back then. They went to four straight Super Bowls and-
SON: MOM! Dad’s gone off his meds again!
DAD: I took my meds!
MOM: What happened?
DAD: I was telling him about the Redskins/Bills Super Bowl.
MOM: Hard to believe that Buffalo lost four straight Super Bowls.
SON: So this is real??
DAD: That’s what I’ve been telling you! We used to be really good!
SON: So what happened?
MOM and DAD: Dan Snyder.
DAD: And there would never be a happily ever after, ever again.
NOW that the Eagles have gone back to practicing like a professional football team again, there has been a rash of contact related injuries. Some to key players. While these injuries have been minor and run of the mill for NFL teams during Training Camp, they have many fans here (and some young players) spooked. To my fellow fans, let me say calm down. The hitting is back. And so are we.
Years ago, former Eagles RB Brian Westbrook said something that has stuck with me ever since. He said “No one is really healthy after that first hit in Training Camp.” He may have been half joking when he said it, but it was only half joking. What he was doing there was dispensing some time-worn wisdom. Under Andy Reid it was standard procedure to hit in Camp. If you recall, Westbrook played on some pretty good Eagles teams. No fan seemed concerned about hitting back then.
After three years of tea-dance practices, (held by a coach who never won an NFL playoff game, and whose teams fell apart EVERY YEAR), fans are now questioning the time-worn wisdom that used to make us a successful franchise. Putting aside the utter and complete contempt that emanates from the core of my soul for (TIK), the empirical data of how his approach has worked out, should have fans dying to go back to doing what we’re doing, because we’ve all seen it work.
Worse than fans panicking, players like TE Zach Ertz, who never went to camp under another NFL head coach, are irked by the nature and ferocity of the hitting. Specifically, he took issue with a DB going low to take him down. This is hilarious when you consider that this been the way that 190 pound DB’s generally tackle 250 pound TE’s. (This also serves as another example of the prior regime’s poor developmental management of it’s draft picks.)
Head Coach Doug Pederson didn’t invent hitting in camp, but he trusts it because he has seen it work. If you’ve been an Eagles fan for longer than 7 years, you are likely also familiar with the results that those methods yield. Getting away from those methods led nowhere that we wanted to be. It led to a soft team that lacked a killer instinct when we needed it most.
I’m not saying that Pederson should go as far as ^Buddy Ryan^ did, and encourage mayhem at his own practices, but ferocity is not a switch you flip on and off. If you want to see it at all this season, then it needs to be instilled at camp. Especially among the young players.
I can’t speak for you, but as a native Philadelphian, the only things I want soft are my pretzels and my Amorosos. I have no desire to keep rooting for a soft football team, and it seems like our new HC has no desire to present us with one. So I for one, am glad the hitting is back.
HERE are five training camp predictions: A back-up will emerge; a starter will show that he’s lost a step; someone will be injured for the season; fans will question the wisdom of a Free Agent signing; and a rookie will look good vs back-ups during preseason games.
Those of course are bullshit predictions that you can get from anywhere. Mere generalities. But you don’t want generalities. You come to THE BEAST to get specifics. You come to be able to see into the future. Well lets start with Training Camp and the Preseason.
1) In limited time with the starters, Stefen Wisniewski will remind Eagles fans of what we’ve been missing at C since Jamaal Jackson was injured in 2010. Though he looks better than Jason Kelce does out there, Pederson will give us some garbled nonsense about why Kelce will continue to start.
2) Despite tons of internal competition, CB will still be an average position for the Eagles, going by NFL standards. We simply don’t have a guy out there that we can call shutdown or a genuine ballhawk. Though our front seven will create opportunities, our CB’s will not capitalize on nearly as many as they would if they were more talented.
3) DT Beau Allen won’t make final cuts. He lacks the change of direction, suddenness, and ability to disengage from blockers to play DT effectively in any Wide-9 system. Also he’s had a tendency to end up on the ground far too much during his NFL career.
4) QB Sam Bradford will look smoother and more confident hooking up with WR Chris Givens, as both men had their best pro season while starting 12 games together in 2012. I have said repeatedly that there is nothing wrong with Bradford’s arm, and that it’s his heart that I question. Now that he has a receiver who can fly, in an Offense that features a few decent weapons, you may find yourself seeing a resurgence of Bradford jerseys around Philly.
5) Our run game will be better than most think it will be. Howie Roseman didn’t bring 335 pound OG Brandon Brooks here because Head Coach Doug Pederson wants to be cute and do a bunch of zone blocking. The team added beef so that we can mash down and beat up on the man lined up across from us. The VIOLENCE IS COMING BACK, Eagles brothers and sisters! The run game will be simple, but it will be effective. It will eat clock and wear down defenders. And for some of our players, those who for the last three years were held hostage, in a system that took away any sense of getting into a rhythm, it will reintroduce to them, the feel of playing real football again.
So there it is. Five Training Camp/Preseason predictions that you won’t find anywhere else.
I’M looking forward to this season. I can hardly wait for it. I don’t have sky-high expectations, but I do expect it to be entertaining. Most of that entertainment will come in the form of watching our team be reborn. Learning who they wish to be, and ultimately, who they will be.
Go back with me to 1989, when the Eagles were coached by Buddy Ryan. We featured a man-eating Defense led by defenders like Reggie White and Jerome Brown. Our Offense, plagued by horrible Offensive Line play, still had the ability to be absolutely explosive behind the play of the NFL’s most dynamic QB, Randall Cunningham. It was clear however, that we were a defensive team.
Under Ryan’s replacement Rich Kotite, the Defense wasn’t as ferocious, but with guys like Andy Harmon and William Thomas,we still had a unit that could keep our team in games. That was a good thing, because on Offense the Eagles were an extremely snake-bitten team. Over a 4 year span, keeping QB’s healthy seemed to be a real challenge. With the addition of RB Hershel Walker, we became a more offensively stable team. Despite having an offensively minded coach, due to the up and down QB play, we were still a defensive ball club.
After Kotite we got Ray Rhodes. We hemorrhaged talent on Defense, and on Offense aside from replacing Walker with RB Ricky Watters, we did little to add any firepower to the NFL’s first “run-based” West Coast Offense. As a result the Eagles were a little bit worse each year under Rhodes. By the time Rhodes was fired, the way he talked was the only thing tough about the team. We had no identity and were floundering badly.
Then, in walks Andy Reid. Pegged as an offensive coach, what he actually was, was a QB coach and his development of QB Donovan McNabb helped lead to the greatest era in Eagles football. (So far.) Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson was tapped to produce a Defense that could keep the team in ball games. The Offense thrived on being smart with the football and not turning it over. Meanwhile the Defense seemed to blitz on every down and that forced opponents into making stupid mistakes. While the Eagles got the reputation for being an offensive team, the Eagles foundation began to immediately crumble after J.J.’s death in 2009. After the death of Andy’s son Garrett precipitated a 4-12 season n 2012, the Eagles let him go.
So then we replaced our all-time winningest coach with an idiot. He was an offensive minded coach who inherited an offensive roster, which came complete with not just talent, but also depth. So of course he spent three years whittling that down to a nub. Defensively we were awesome as long as it wasn’t November yet. By then the wear and tear of each season was apparent on that side of the ball. Mostly due to the coach not being willing to play ball-control on Offense and give the Defense a breather here and there.
Today we have a rookie Head Coach in Doug Pederson. No one, (even he) knows quite how the NFL will shape him, now that he gets to sit in the Big Chair. We will all go through his evolution together. Through him our team is about to be reborn, and we get to see and celebrate that. We get to ride shotgun and watch the history of our beloved team unfold. Expect an exciting ride in 2016, beloved fellow fans.
And I for one, can hardly wait.
EAGLEMANIACAL.com 