Head Coach Nick Sirianni and Offensive Co-ordinator Kevin Patullo, trying to figure out which one of them is which
OFFENSIVE Co-ordinator Kevin Patullo will be the OC at least until the season ends. When they finally fire Patullo, there will be no more games on the schedule. There was never a scenario where he would be fired during the season. Earlier this season, when it seemed like Miami head coach Mike McDaniels was about to be fired, I suggested that we hire him as an advisor.I never suggested us jumping ship to a new OC, in the middle of a season.
Because it’s just not how the Eagles do business.
Remember in 2023, when Offensive Coordinator Brian Johnson and Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai helped us rise to 10 – 0; only to then help us fall to 11 – 6, with a first round playoff exit? We were sucking long before we got the first loss, but both men stayed employed in their roles until the season concluded.
In 2022 Jonathon Gannon was “allowed to remain behind in Arizona” after the Eagles Super Bowl loss out there. In 2019 Mike Groh was also canned as OC after a playoff loss. In fact, the last Eagles coach to get the ax during the season, was head coach Chip Kelly in 2015 with one game left to play. (In case it comes up as a trivia question, Pat Shurmurtook over for that one game.)
This is how the Eagles do business.
However, fellow fan, there’s a second part to this! It has to do with the fact that, when Head Coach Nick Sirianniwas hired, he had never called plays before. He took a swipe at it, and seven weeks later the Eagles were 2 – 5 and not showing much promise. So, it was suggested that Sirianni turn playcalling over to Shane Steichen, which he did. Sirianni gave a speech about flowers and from there the Eagles went on a 7 – 3 run, and even made the Wild Card round.
Flowers can’t be nightmare fuel??! Hold my beer.
Sirianni isn’t taking over the playcalling, because he knows that he sucks at it. He’s not an X’s and O’s guy. He’s a manager. A cheerleader. A camp counselor. So there is no “takeover” coming. As for re-assigning the duty… To whom? A QB coach who doesn’t know the strengths and weaknesses of players up and down the offensive depth chart? An outsider?? No. No. That’s not how the Eagles do business.
So get comfy with Patullo, because he ain’t going nowhere. His playcalling will almost definitely short-circuit our efforts to repeat as champions, but he ain’t going nowhere. The whole thing is a little bit sad. We have an identifiable issue, but we refuse to fix it out of habit. Sooo, because of how the Eagles do business, we probably ain’t going nowhere.
Drive Killer: S Reed Blankenship (TD: 0/Int: 1/ FR: 0/ 4th down stops: 0/ FF: 0)
Sack Leader: LB Nakobe Dean (Sacks:1.0/ FF: 0/ Tackles: 5)
Special Teams Ace: NA
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I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for these 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: COWBOYS did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) QB Hits Are Hip: All game long we got just 6 hits and 1 sack on the Cowboys QB. SO we didn’t affect his delivery of the ball much at all (NOT DONE)
2) Feed Our Big Dawgs:WR A.J. Brown had 110 receiving yards, and WR DeVonta Smith (11 – 6 – 89 – 14.8 – 0) got close to the century mark as well. However, the offensive approach was passive, and the run game was essentially shelved for this game. RB Saquon Barkley (10 – 22 – 2.2 – 0 – 1 / 8 – 7 – 52 – 7.4 – 0) was targeted 8 times as a receiver, but the play-calling abandoned the run, while holding a 21 point lead. (DONE)
3) Make ‘em Run:Idea was to to get their defensive line to chase our run game laterally. However with us abandoning the run, there was never a real opportunity for this. (NOT DONE)
4) Take Away Quick Passes:We didn’t manage to do this either, as the Cowboys kept the chains moving with timely passes, which also deprived the Eagles pass rush. (NOT DONE)
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This week’s Four Things score was1 of 4. We come back to the Linc on Friday for a pivotal match-up with the Chicago Bears.
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Game Hero: Not Applicable
Game goat: Head CoachNick Sirianni – I’m done blaming Offensive Coordinator Kevin Patullofor his ineptitude. I’m not even going to give a list of his failings for this game. By now, Sirianni should have done something about Patullo’s bungling, foolish, predictable, and flat-out unimaginative play-calling. But he hasn’t.
We are still at the head of the NFC East. We have however, fallen behind the Rams for the number one seed in the Conference. This means that this game, and the collapse vs Denver, may rob us of home-field advantage and more importantly, the first round Bye. This is despite beating the Rams, and Lions, and Packers, even with the handicap of Patullo’s… coaching.
On The Whole: We had the Cowboys down 21 – 0 at the half, and couldn’t mount any kind of a scoring drive for the second half of the game. This is after Dallas made their adjustments, of course. To which we apparently made none.
Our Defense battled valiantly, but our Offense kept going three-and-out, and giving the Cowboys opportunity, after opportunity, after opportunity. We had six possessions in the second half, and only managed to get into field goal position ONCE. Which we then missed and set Dallas up with a short field. Three plays later they scored a touchdown.
CB Cooper DeJean should not play on the boundary.
Once we started losing players in the Secondary (CB Adoree Jackson (three tackles); S Reed Blankenship (8 – 0.0 – 1 – 0); and SAndrew Makuba(3 tackles) we had to move NCB Cooper DeJean(7 tackles) to actual CB, and the Cowboys proceeded to roast him alive. If you’ve been wondering why DeJean is a Nickel and doesn’t start on the boundary, it’s because of what I told you in August. For anyone who disagreed with me then, what did you think of Coop tonight?
WE’RE back on our Brotherly Shove again! In the 2024 Wild Card game, we defeated the Packers by putting up 22 points to their 10. In the 2025 offseason, we defeated their proposal to ban the Shove, by getting only 10 votes to their 22. They had more points but still lost! We Bugs Bunny’d them!
That level of fail has to hurt. There is no possible way, that it doesn’t hurt in the deepest, darkest, most ouchiest places.
Green Bay is all about holding onto the past. Frozen tundra, Vince Lombardi, the Packer Sweep, and all that crap. So you KNOW that Packer fans will hold onto both losses. Why not rub some salt in, and squeeze some lemon juice on those wounds? I swear, when we visit Lambeau in November, the first play we run, should be the Shove. Just make a point.
I woke up Wednesday, fully expecting the NFL to ban the play. I’d already made peace with it, and discussed why and how I did, in my last article. Back in April when the owners voted on it, the vote was tied 16 to 16. Instead of accepting that vote, the NFL moved the goal post on the issue, so that Green Bay could re-word the proposal, to pick up 8 more votes in May.
Well, their new rule proposal only picked up an additional 6 votes. Likely because the new language in the proposal, would have banned any pushing, of any runner. For ALL teams. For owners trying to turn the NFL into flag football, that change is just an evolutionary step. For owners who want football to stay football, that change is a seventy degree slope, coated in oil.
I’ll be interested in seeing how often Green Bay and Buffalo still runs the Tush Push, since they are “so opposed” to it. In fact, any team running the play besides the Ravens, Browns, Lions, Jaguars, Dolphins, Patriots, Saints, Jets, or Titans, is full of shit if they attempt it even once.
I didn’t name the Eagles in that group, because the Eagles don’t run the Tush Push. We run the Brotherly Shove. That is not a semantic, or just a matter of nomenclature. It’s the distance between why we’re so successful at what we do, and other teams are not as successful at what they do. We simply aren’t doing the same thing!
When talking about why we’re so good at the Shove, announcers, as well as opposing players and coaches, frequently cite how QB Jalen Hurts can squat 600 pounds. Meanwhile, often during the play, his feet aren’t even on the ground! They mention the pushing of the butt. Yet Hurts frequently makes the distance without needing that push.
Teams are making incorrect assumptions about the play, and therefore aren’t studying or approaching executing it properly. They’re trying to imitate what they think it is, instead of what it truly is. Which is why they both keep getting it wrong, AND failing to stop it. The biggest secret of the Shove, is us never pointing out what opponents are misunderstanding.
It’ll be interesting to see what new basis they’ll try to ban it on, next year; as well as how often opponents fake a short-term injury, in order to create injury data that heretofore hasn’t existed. I doubt however, that the next charge will be led by Green Bay. Because we keep proving, on or off the field, the slack-jawed Packers are simply no match for us.
Look at how offsides he is. THAT my dear reader, is called FEAR.
BROTHERLY Shove, forever! I’m a huge fan of the play, but I’m an even bigger fan of the fact that, opposing teams can rarely stop us when we run it. So when I first heard that the NFL was seriously taking a vote to ban the play, I was understandably…upset.
Once again it was a professional sports league, targeting Philadelphia for innovating and perfecting something. Like when the NBA outlawed Allen Iverson’s Crossover dribble , then later outlawed his Spin Cross dribble (sometimes called the El Nino).
This push to ban the Shove, felt unfair and I was very pissed over it. Until recently. Now the more I think about it, the more I find myself, sort of looking forward to the Brotherly Shove being banned. This is because I’m a student of the game. I see its history everywhere, and I can’t wait to see the fallout from this.
Consider Air Coryell. One aspect of that offensive system, was to put receivers into motion, to read if a defense was playing Man or Zone. It was hard to stop when that first came out, but teams caught on, and now you see it as part of every offensive system, on nearly every play.
Consider the original West Coast Offense. Joe Montana and the Forty-Niners virtually owned the 1980’s with that system. Then other teams began to copy it and mutate it. Now almost every team either runs a version of the WCO, or their own system is heavily impacted with basic tenets of the WCO.
(sigh)
Buddy Ryan and Bud Carson invented the 46 Defense, which made legends of Eagles and Bears defenders, from the mid 1980’s through early 1990’s, Then teams caught up to it, and no one runs the 46 any more.
The history of the NFL is innovation, domination, transformation, repeat. Innovation, domination, transformation, repeat.
Except here, no one is figuring out the Brotherly Shove. Teams are just dropping to the floor, going fetal, and screaming “No Mas!” They ran to mommy Goodell, hid behind her skirt, and cried for her to stop the big, bad Eagles. And she said “Roger that.”
If the Shove is banned, it will mean that at least a two-thirds majority of the league’s owners, realized we can’t be stopped on the field, so they ambushed us, off of it. Unlike Air Coryell and the WCO, and the 46, our innovation will go down as having never been solved. With a ban, our ownership of all those teams, will be written indelibly into NFL history itself.
So yeah. I’m kinda looking forward to that silver lining.
PLAYOFFS!!!! We have arrived! We are the 5th seed, and barring something weird happening, we’ll have to win four games on the road, to become Super Bowl Champions. Excellent. Now that we know what needs to be done, we can set about doing it. And I for one, can’t wait.
This week we start with a Buccaneers team that we’ve already beaten, in their home, earlier this year. Every major contributor to that win, will be available for this one.
Keep in mind, for that game QB Jalen Hurts wasn’t great (1 TD, 2 Int), WR A.J. Brown didn’t score, WR Devonta Smith had 28 total yards, OLB Haason Reddickdidn’t log a single stat. Yet, we still won by double digits. So we can beat this team. Expect to beat this team.
A win will almost certainly make us the lowest surviving seed, which would mean facing the top seed, next week. The top seed of course, is the San Francisco 49ers. (Incidentally, it is that match-up, which I’ve been looking forward to. Since April.)
A loss would end our season.
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The point of Four Thingsisn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics would give our Eagles the best chance to win this game. So here are the Four Things that we need to focus on this week versus: The Buccaneers.
Philly native, RB D’Andre Swift on his way to 130 yards rushing.
1) Run To Set-up the Pass:Last week Jalen hurts his passing hand by dislocating the middle finger. He tried to gut it out and play, but he was ultimately pulled. By all accounts he isn’t really throwing a ball this week, as he wisely is letting his hand heal as much as possible.
Earlier this year, we murdered the Bucs by running RB D’Andre Swift(18 – 130 – 8.1 – 0 – 0). They’ll be keen on not let that happen again. So expect them to load the box to take away our run game. We need to run the ball early, to convince them to get that box loaded ASAP. That should make life easier for Hurts to find passing windows.
2) Get the Ball Out Quickly:The ball needs a place to go quickly. Putting a ton of long passes on Hurts’ finger, is unwise. Letting him hold the ball until an opponent can hit his hand, to try and cause a fumble, is unwise. Setting him up for a sack fumble, is unwise.
Give him some short routes, especially over the middle, where he can take advantage of a blitzer. The Buccaneers like to blitz S Antoine Winfield Jr., and they need to be made to pay for that.
3) Challenge the Throws:If our Defense is going to keep letting receivers get into routes without even an attempt at a re-direct; then our Corners and Safeties have to mirror the routes and challenge the throws. Receivers cannot keep being allowed to catch balls, with five yards of space around them in every direction.
MLB Nick Morrow and DT Jalen Carter force and recover a fumble
4) Box the MLB: The Eagles like to drop our MLB (the role switches) into shallow zone, which opens up a gap for opposing RB’s, when our Defensive Line doesn’t make the tackle. It’s been getting us gouged vs the run for weeks, and it needs to stop, now. With our MLB dropping into coverage, it lets opponents double our DT’s much easier.
On any other team, the MLB is one of the key players in the box, and it forces teams to account for him in their blocking schemes. We’ve been letting team off the hook with this. It’s time to play our MLB in the box, to maximize our DT’s and get a handle on the run again.
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If the Eagles do these Four Things, then we’ll be virtually impossible to beat. That being said…
Let me ask. You ever bury a loved one? Did you do it while they were alive? Probably not. As long as my Eagles are alive, I’m not going to bury them. I’m going to root for them. That doesn’t mean I won’t critique here and there, but as long as their season is alive, I’m not inviting doom and gloom. I’m one of the fans they can COUNT ON.
As a die-hard Eagles fan, I can’t wait for this game to be over. Mostly, because I’m expecting a win. However, no matter how the final score plays out, we’ll see the speculation about what’s wrong with this team, begin to fuck RIGHT OFF.
A win will cause the drama surrounding the team to be downplayed; and a loss will invite an autopsy, which will lead to answers, and then an excising of the issue. (Or issues.) Either way, come Tuesday morning, people will be talking much differently about this team. Come Tuesday morning the one question you won’t hear is: Can they be fixed?
And I for one, can’t wait.
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WARNING: I don’t have the faintest clue as to what a point spread is, and I know even less about how it works. I know FOOTBALL and that’s it. If you use Four Things as a gambling tool, then you are a fool trying to lose your money, and will deserve it when you do.
Check back in a couple of days for Four Things Reviewed, and we’ll discuss how this game went.
The Eagles make #11 (Micah Parsons), body-surf three yards. Backwards.
PHILADELPHIA has designed an unstoppable version of the QB Sneak. Initially, it was referred to as “Snoopy” by the Eagles players, However, since the Eagles didn’t make that known, others around the league, and media detractors of the play, pejoratively called it the “Tush Push”. So a few weeks later some of us fans began circulating the name “Brotherly Shove”, on-line and through word of mouth.
The name made it’s way to Head Coach Nick Sirianni’s ear, at his press conference on September 27th. When Coach heard it, he closed his eyes and nodded his approval.
Lookit that mug! Have you ever seen a more Italian face?! Total classic, right here!
Soon after that, the Eagles began referring to the play, as the Brotherly Shove. Then on October 10th, the organization filed a trademark application for the name.
While some assholes are still using ‘Tush Push’, that name is fading fast. What is not fading fast, is our opponents hatred of it. They see it, and can’t stop it. They try it, and can’t execute it. So now a number of teams have stomped their foot, shit their diapers, and wailed for the play to be banned outright. Awww, poor babies!
They want the NFL to ban it on the grounds that:
1) Someone could get injured running the play – This is based on the giants having two players injured on the same down, while trying to execute the play. It does not take into account, the flagrant stupidity of the giants as an organization. If you asked each man there, to conduct ten separate counts of his own balls, none of them would ever get the same number twice. So banning the Brotherly Shove on that merit, lacks any. Next!
2) Someone could get injured by the play – This is true. That could happen. This is, players also get hurt running regular QB Sneaks; or being tackled legally; or landing from a jump; and let’s not forget all those popped Achilles and ACL tears, which are nearly always the result of no contact plays. So players get hurt playing Football. So quitcherbitchin. Next!
3) Players shouldn’t push the ball carrier from behind – The fuck?! Literally every game you or I have ever seen or played in (involving helmets and pads), has featured a pile being pushed from behind. Seriously, I don’t know how they ban the play based on this, without changing all of Football, and how linemen are coached from Pop Warner, through the Hall of Fame.
4) It’s an ugly play – So is every play run by Washington!
5) It’s more of a Rugby scrum than a football play – STOP!! ! This is some of the most rank bullshit I’ve seen propagated on America, since Little Caesar’s was promoted as food. It’s taking advantage of the fact that most Americans have never seen a game of Rugby, and so don’t know what an actual ‘scrum’ looks like. (I’ve watched it, and even considered joining a local league in my late 30’s.) Here’s an example of a scrum:
THIS…is a Rugby scrum.
Notice the arm and head placements? Now here’s how it usually moves:
Eagles opponents never put up this kind of fight.
The Brotherly Shove looks nothing like those. However, what the Shove has going for it, is that it is clearly a throwback to Football’s Rugby roots. For those who don’t know, Football was invented around 1870, as a refined version of Rugby. The forward pass wasn’t introduced until 1906. So Football looked a lot like Rugby, or Australian Football for almost 40 years.
I do watch Aussie “footy” when I can get it. The West Coast Eagles for mostly obvious reasons.
In addition to the name, Philly’s city colors are blue and gold.
I hate Collingswood because they dress like a team of referees. Incidentally, that sport is also born of Rugby, but it has more Soccer mixed in it. You might actually like it if you stumble across it.
The Brotherly Shove is literally Football returned to it’s beginnings. It’s gone caveman. It’s what happens when Football gets in touch with it’s roots. Gets barefoot, butt naked, and runs in the bush. The Brotherly Shove is primal. It’s hunter gatherer. It’s a fistfight in a phone booth. It’s an 11 man, 3,000 pound masculinity check, that nearly every opponent fails, every time.
And that’s the real reason why they want it banned.
They called a penalty on US on this play, despite all the neutral zone violations, and a Washington player actually touching the ball. Trying everything they can to stop the Brotherly Shove.
Sack Leader: LB Nicholas Morrow (Sacks:3.0/ FF: 1/ Tackles: 11)
Special Teams Ace: K Jake Elliott 4/4 FG including OT game winner
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I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for these 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: COMMANDERS did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Unleash Reddick:Didn’t happen. OLBHaason Reddick (2 – 1.0 – 0 – 0), all 230 pounds of him, spent the day playing DE in a 4 – 3 alignment. Although DE Brandon Graham (no stats), was listed as a starter at the beginning of the game, it was Reddick who spent most of the day there.
To his credit, Reddick did record his first sack of the season, but the new defensive scheme is keeping him from being the player he was last year, when the Eagles frequently rushed five players with Reddick mostly at OLB, not DE. Is there a difference? You saw those games, and you watch these. So you tell me. (NOT DONE)
WR A.J. Brown waved hello to the red zone, on his way through it, on this 59 yard catch and run TD.
2) Finish in the Red Zone: On the day we had ten possessions, three were touchdowns, four were field goals, three were punts. Only two of our drives saw the red zone. One produced the 5 yard touchdown run from Swift, the other a 36 yard field goal by Elliott. That puts us at exactly at 50% in terms of touchdown production.
I said that touchdowns are the mission, and right behind that, I said that coming away with a field goal, beats coming away empty handed. Again, we only saw the red zone twice, but we scored a TD 50% of the time, and points 100% of the time. It’s good to have high standards, but folks, we also have to remember to be reasonable. (DONE)
3) Get ‘Em Down: Last year, the Commanders beat us by running 44 times for 142 yards (3.2 ypc). They didn’t do a great job of it, just a committed one, and our inability to tackle on 3rd and 4th and short, resulted in 1st down after 1st down. So of course they started out trying that approach again.
Getting the Commanders RB’s on the ground was done resoundingly. Their RB’s combined rushing numbers (20 – 64 – 3.2 – 1 – 0), produced the same overall average, but moment to moment they weren’t able to duplicate last year’s game flow, and had to lean on the pass in this one. (DONE)
4) Make Penny Make Sense: This one was contingent on RB Rashaad Penny being on the active roster for this game, but he was left inactive instead. So this one almost shouldn’t count for this week. But…
Real talk? With the Eagles piss-poor commitment to running the ball in this game, I doubt that Penny would have seen a single touch. (NOT DONE)
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So this weeks Four Things was a dissatisfying 2 of 4. This is how you end up having to win it in overtime. Next week we head out to Los Angeles, to take on the 2 – 2 Rams, who also needed OT to win this week.
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Game Hero: Lots of people will tell you it was Jake Elliott, or A.J. Brown, but for my money it was Nick Morrow. I was high on his signing to replace Kyzir White, and felt a little salty when he was cut this year.
LB Nicholas Morrow, FEASTING!
The Eagles brought Morrow back due to the LB Nakobe Dean (foot) injury, and he’s been an unsung impact player every week. He had a fumble recovery vs Minnesota; he recorded the safety vs Tampa Bay; he notched 3 sacks, a forced fumble, and 11 tackles in this game. He has done nothing but ball-out since he got here, and it’s high time he got his flowers.
Game goat: Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai– For the third straight week, I’m naming the same person. I’ve been complaining about the cushions that we give WR’s for weeks now. Cut to this game. On 3rd and 6, with 9:21 left in the 4th quarter, our CB’s lined up with 5 yard cushions. Commentator Daryl “Moose” Johnston even mentioned how weird that was. We would give up an quick, uncontested 7 yard pass on the outside, for a 1st down.
Desai is not only misusing Haason Reddick, but his coverage concept is resulting in easy completions like we were giving up under Jim Schwartz, and Bill Davis. I was no fan of Jonathon Gannon, but his man concepts at least forced QB’s to read, meaning hold the ball. That helped result in sacks. Remember those?
Speaking of Gannon, we lamented his inability or unwillingness to make in-game adjustments. Desai seems to have caught that same disease, because not only is he not making adjustments in-game, but he also seems to not make them game-to-game. We are discussing the same problems every week!
As of now, the giants and the Seahawks have yet to play, but at the moment, we rank as the 5thworst pass defense in the NFL. With CB’s Darius Slay and James Bradberrymaking 80M$ over the next three years. With a deep and talented defensive line, featuring DT’s Fletcher Cox and Jalen Carter, we rank 27th out of 32.
Player talent is not the issue. We’ve seen these players perfom better under other leadership. It feels as if at DC, we’ve gone from Jimmy Johnson, to Barry Switzer.
On The Whole: I can’t be too angry at a 4 – 0 team. It just feels ungrateful. There’s much to clean up, but between rust from not playing guys in the preseason, rookie coordinators, a rash of injuries in the Secondary, at RB, and our signal calling MLB; look, this team being 4 – 0… I will take it. And I will show gratitude for it.
RB D’Andre Swift evens up the game with this 5 yard TD run.
That said, we need to see improvement soon. The winning will stop if we don’t flat out fix a few glaring issues. An evolution on Defense, and more commitment to the run, being the primary two. This game featured 37 passes, 9 Jalen Hurts runs, and just 18 hand-offs.
You know, because of the Eagles coaching staff’s resistance to learning, I have QB Marcus Mariotaon my bench in fantasy football. At this pace, the question isn’t if. It’s not even when. It’s “How long this time?”
GROUND and pound! We rushed for 259 yards in a game that we never trailed in. In fact the Eagles have yet to trail in a game this season. Our opponent this week, has been down to both the Vikings (whom we just defeated) and the Bears. The Bears! A team on a 12 game skid (going back to last season). Using Minnesota as point of common comparison, it doesn’t look good for the Bucs this week.
A win here puts us at 3 – 0, and gives us our first win over a winning team this season. (Both Minny and New England are 0 – 2.) The early look NFC East, seems like another dogfight. Just like last year was. So we can hardly afford an early stumble.
Who’s Out As of 9/23/22:
Tampa:OUT: NA/ DNP: DL-Calijah Kancey (Calf)/ Limited: CB-Carlton Davis (Toe), G-Cody Mauch (Back), NT-Vita Vea (Pectoral), LB-Devin White (Groin)
The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics would give our Eagles the best chance to win this game. So here are the Four Things that we need to focus on this week versus: the Buccaneers.
Fuck that “hot hand” trash. Feed RB D’Andre Swift the ball, Nick.
1) Run to Set-up the Pass: Going pass-happy early in the game, creates no mismatches for us later. Everyone knows that we’re a running team. Let’s not get cute or over-think it. Come out doing what we’re great at.
When the Buccaneers make the adjustment to stop our run game, we can look at who they pulled from what area. Then we can exploit the weakness that they just handed us. Usually by going deep to WR A.J. Brown. Or WR Devonta Smith. Although I have a feeling that the Slot may be huge for us this week.
2) Rush Five:We are starting four defensive linemen and OLB Haason Reddick. So why, in two games do we have just 4 sacks? It’s because we are going with a primarily four man rush. It’s giving teams time to get the ball out, is stranding our Secondary, and has us giving up 326 passing yards per game. That’s 31st in the NFL. We are the second worst passing defense in the league. This has to stop.
DT Jordan Davis rushing to greet his favorite Cousins
If we have five rushers out, we need to bring five rushers. Period. The squandering of talent that produced 70 sacks last year, is an indictment of Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai. If we don’t get 4 sacks in this game, we fans need to batter the airwaves about his removal. Because we’ll never see the Super Bowl bleeding yardage like this.
3) More Man Coverage: QB’s see zone coverage before the snap. They identify the quick gimme, then after the snap, they check to see if the route is indeed clear. Once they see the way is clear, they let it rip. Zone coverage has it’s place, but it has no place on third and more than five. It has no place on second and more than ten.
Man coverage forces the QB to read where the defenders are, in relation to his receivers. When the QB has to do that for each receiver, it takes time. That time allows the pass rush to get home. That’s why CB’s who can play man-to-man, are so highly prized and paid.
The Eagles are paying 80 million dollars (over three years) for CB Darius Slayand CB James Bradberry. Routinely playing them in zones, like practice squad fill-ins, should be enough to cost someone their job. It’s waste of resources. Worse than that, it’s over cautious and can rob a defense of it’s aggression. We need to play more man coverage.
4) Unleash the Pass: Over the last couple weeks we’ve shown that we can get deep down the sidelines, but we haven’t established the deep middle. The attention that the run and the outsides command should create openings for TE Dallas Goedert and WR Olamide Zaccheaus in the Slot.
We need to see more of this from TE Dallas Goedert
We need a couple of attempts (but completions would be better), with the ball in the air for 20 yards or more. The threat of us exploiting that area of the field, doesn’t allow the opposing defense to get comfortable with whatever they do to take away our run game.
If we can keep them uncomfortable, we can force them into mistakes.
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If the Eagles do these Four Things, then we’ll be virtually impossible to beat. That being said…
This games features two 2 – 0 teams that haven’t beaten anybody good yet. This week C Jason Kelce described the Eagles as a team on edge, “…we’re 2-0 and we know we could very easily be 1-1 and we have not played football the way we wanted to play football yet. So the temperature of the team is a little bit on edge. And I think everybody feels that we need to play better and if we want to live up to the expectations that we think that we are capable of playing like, we need to make improvements and we need to perform better. I think that’s the temperature that I feel and, honestly, I think that’s a good temperature. That’s where you want to be in this league.
So the team is worrying about expectations, to the point where they are looking past their accomplishment, to the disaster that might have been, but isn’t. That honestly has me a little worried for my guys.
Stated plainly, the Eagles are a desperate 2 – 0 team. Most football teams are at their best, when the players enjoy the ride, but Eagles don’t seem to be doing that. They may frankly, be asking too much of themselves. That pressure is either going to crack us in this game, or it’s going to hit the Buccaneers like an avalanche.
In any case, someone on this team has to find a way to hit the pressure release valve. And soon. It shouldn’t be this intense going into Week Three. (I type that while listening to a Morrissey song, followed by a Radiohead song. Talk about irony!)
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WARNING: I don’t have the faintest clue as to what a point spread is, and I know even less about how it works. I know FOOTBALL and that’s it. If you use Four Things as a gambling tool, then you are a fool trying to lose your money, and will deserve it when you do.
Check back in a couple of days for Four Things Reviewed, and we’ll discuss how this game went.
I don’t usually caption this one, but our guys need to get right this week. In their heads, record be damned.
TWO weeks a go we lost 19 – 20. Last week was an 18 – 18 tie. So if the pattern holds up, we should be due for a 17 – 16 win. Who wants to get The Wave going?… Me either.
I’m hearing that rookie S Sydney Brown may start this game, so that may be something to get excited over. But is this a week where the only focus is to escape without any key injuries? Or are the Eagles interested in getting a better look at the players, before sending them away to become stars on another team. We’ve had a few of those.
My favorite story is LB Lee Woodall, who played at West Chester, and was a driver for Eagles players in Training Camp for a year or two, back when TC was held there. He was never on our roster, but he was right under our noses, before he was on anyone else’s radar.
Then in 1994 we drafted LB Ryan McCoy(a 237 pound LB, with 5.09 40-speed), in the 6th round. The 9ers grabbed Woodall eight spots later, and he went to a couple of Pro Bowls while playing for them. Finished 6th in defensive rookie of the year votes. Did I mention the two Pro Bowls? Back when those still meant something. McCoy played one year. In the World League. With London.
So yeah, let’s make sure we get a good, long look at our roster this week.
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The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics would give our Eagles the best chance to win this game. Except in the preseason. At which point the wins are usually less valuable than the losses.
1) Do the Starters Play?: Even if it’s just a series. The notion of them not logging a single down in the preseason, seriously has me thinking of organizing a boycott of next year’s preseason games. Fans have been paying real money, for tickets and parking, to go watch players who have no shot of making even the Practice Squad. But the NFL doesn’t care, because television revenue is where the action is.
I figure if we drive the television rating into the tank for a year, the NFL would get the message that fans actually have standards. As it is, they’re feeding us a preseason with no players; a flag football Pro Bowl; a Thursday night slate that features unrested teams, resulting in some shitty shitty games; and Super Bowl half-time shows aimed at a demographic that they KNOW they don’t attract. I’m sick of it.
2) Tanner vs Their Twos: If the Starters don’t play, then QB Marcus Mariota shouldn’t either. If the idea is to protect everyone with a carved out role, then he should make the list of those who don’t even dress. Who should start is QB Tanner McKee.
Lots of fans are clamoring for McKee to be the back-up over Mariota, and it’s a dumb idea. There is too much he doesn’t know about the NFL, (in terms of defenses, how to prepare, the pressures of dealing with money, etc.) for him to be one hit away from having to lead a franchise that EXPECTS to return to the Super Bowl, AND win it this year.
That’s not to say that he hasn’t intrigued, but he’s looked good (not great) against third stringers and lower, so far. So give him the pressure of a start, and let him play against second stringers, to see if he can elevate his game. He likely can’t just yet, but it’ll give the coaches a much more focused light on where he needs development. Focus on maybe making him the 2024 back-up, but develop him first.
3) Play Ian Book: This pun MUST be made! (Ahem) Before we close the book on Ian, we have to see more than FOUR pass attempts from him. That’s all he had in the first preseason game, and he didn’t play in the second one. Bailing on a guy after just FOUR preseason pass attempts, is the polar opposite of doing due diligence. Play Ian Book. It costs us nothing if he sucks again.
4) Something Special: It would be great to see someone do something special, on Special Teams. It used to be the x-factor of our team, but in recent years it seems as if the team can’t spot coaching talent for a full third of the team.
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During the offseason, my articles don’t really have hard deadlines. However, once the season starts, I need to have my rhythm and routine re-established. So preseason for the teams, is also preseason for me. True story, if it weren’t for that fact, I wouldn’t even watch this next game. I wouldn’t have finished the last one.
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WARNING: I don’t have the faintest clue as to what a point spread is, and I know even less about how it works. I know football and that’s IT. If you use Four Things as a gambling tool, you are trying to lose your money, and will deserve it when you do.
Check back in a couple of days for Four Things Reviewed, and we’ll discuss how this game went.
MONDAY during a radio show, in an interview via telephone, 49ers WR Deebo Samuels, hung up on the show’s host. After the Eagles 31 – 7 pummeling of the 9ers in the NFC Championship game, Samuels said the 49ers would have beaten the Eagles by double digits, if QB Brock Purdy was healthy. The host asked about those comments, and Samuels talked some shit about our next match-up, then hung up.
Deebo after hanging up.
Samuels isn’t the only 9er to still be running his mouth after the curb-stomping that we delivered; but it’s his comments that I’m focusing on right now.
In the meantime, two things (not Four).
First, the 49ers DID have a healthy Brock Purdy. The Eagles MADE him unhealthy. Then we proceeded to “unhealthy” their back-up. That was less about us hurting their QB’s, and totally about our front seven absolutely shitting on their pass protection. We shit on their coach’s protection scheme. We shit on their communication. We shit on their individual players strengths and abilities.
So Deebo can miss us with that “healthy Purdy” nonsense. He had one.
Second, Deebolita saying “Just wait until Week 13” was the best compliment an obsessive fan could have ever given the Eagles, and I want to thank him for it.
Training camp hasn’t even started yet, and he’s already equating our Week 13 match-up, with the NFC Championship game that he lost. So for him, this is huge. He’s clearly been chewing on that loss, since January 29th. Meanwhile, we won’t see him again until December 3rd. That’ll be 305 days, of him obsessing. YUM!
Given how he’s talked about us all off-season (longer for him than for us), all indications are that he NEEDS that game psychologically. A loss, especially a close one, could send him spiraling out. And maybe not just him, but many of his teammates as well.
Kyle Schwarber barrels a Schwarbomb.
I’m already on record as predicting a close loss to them during the season, before we full-blown barrel them in the playoffs, and pack 53 men onto a plane, all practically on suicide watch, then yeetin’ that bitch to the far side of the nation. That being said, I want both games. I just don’t know if the Eagles will be as desperate for the regular season one, as the 9ers already are.
In a weird way, I kind of envy them. The rest of us have to hope that our team makes it to the Super Bowl on February 11th. The 49ers are already scheduled to play theirs on December 3rd.
EAGLEMANIACAL.com 