RELAX. Yes, S Chauncey Gardner-Johnsonsigned with the Lions. Yes, we could have used his services. While those two things are true, let me tell you two more truths. One, we may very well have the answer to his departure on the roster already. Two, his choice isn’t going to work out for him in the long run. And by the long run, I mean inside of the next 365 days. Gotta think long-term, folks!
(NOTE: If I’d written this without first writing GARDNER-JOHNSON’S DEAL, this article might be seen as sour grapes. But since I did write that first, there should be very little of that talk. There’ll be some (you’ve met morons before), but it’ll be minimal.)
First, when Gardner went down with a lacerated kidney and missed four games this year, rookie S Reed Blankenshipstepped in for him. However, even after Gardner came back in the final game, the Eagles found a way to get Blankenship 45 snaps (71%) in that game. They got him 48 (92%) in the Divisional playoff game.
S Reed Blankenship picks off Packers en route to Eagles win.
This demonstrates that the coaching staff either had a lot of trust in Blankenship, or they were trying to get a look at him. Both Gardner and FS Marcus Epps were going to be free agents, so it made sense to know if Blankenship gave the Front Office any leverage; or if they just had to grease up, bend over, and bite down on the blanket.
If we don’t start Blankenship, maybe the answer is 42. By which I mean, K’Von Wallace, who also got a start during Gardner’s injury (when Blankenship missed a game with an injury). Maybe Blankenship and Wallace could be 2023’s pairing. In any case the F.O. seems settled on the position. Aside from Gardner, they didn’t seem interested in other free agent Safeties.
S K’Von Wallace saying hello. Is K’Von a variation of Kevin? This thought haunts me. Vexs me.
Epps was allowed to walk quickly, and the Eagles weren’t willing to offer Gardner a guaranteed 8M for just one season. They wanted three years. The deal he signed with Detroit is one year, worth up to 8M$. Meaning he’ll need to play for incentives to reach that 8M. I have no idea what those incentives are, and because he’s now S.E.P. (Someone Else’s Problem), I won’t be looking into it.
Brings me to my second point of why this move won’t work out for him.
First, he got off to the start he did last year, because opposing QB’s threw at our Safeties, to avoid throwing at our Corners; each of whom had 3 picks last year. Also the pass rush we generated last year, racked up 70 sacks. Helping us finish #1 vs the pass last year.
Second, Detroit’s CB’s are mutts, who had just TWO total interceptions. Given that their Safeties snagged 5 picks in 2022, opposing QB’s target their CB’s. So Gardner won’t see many chances to make plays. Also Detroit doesn’t generate as many hurried throws, with just 39 sacks last year. He’s out there on a prove it deal, and won’t be given a chance to do so.
The year he had with us last year is a complete outlier in his career. Check it out:
We made him. Now he gets to be an average S, on a bad defense, wasting away in the Midwest. But hey, Life is an I.Q. Test. This is the sort of decision you make when you chase short-term gains, without considering the long-term picture.
Oh, did I mention that Detroit finished 30th vs the pass last year? Oh, I didn’t? Well! Detroit finished 30th vs the pass last year. He tantrumed his way out of New Orleans over money, and now he’s let his emotions land him in Detroit.
By the way: The contract he signs next year, will likely be for similar per year money (6 – 8M) as the one he just signed, but given inflation, will actually be a smaller deal. I say “likely” because Detroit isn’t a very smart organization, so they could surprise us.
But don’t panic. No matter what happens elsewhere, we’re still in an great situation right here. With even better things already in the works. Gotta think long-term, folks!
ONE of my most frequent quotes is “Life is an I.Q. Test.” I say that a lot, and it happens to be true. For example, if SS Chauncey “CJGJ” Gardner-Johnson returns to the Eagles, it will show us how smart he is. By the way, the fact that he’s been a free agent this long, I think increases his chance of returning to the Eagles in 2023. Just saying.
He went into the free agent process thinking his services would fetch him at least 14M$ per year. So far only one Safety has netted such a deal, and CJGJ was not him. So he’s been posting and taking down messages on social media; the gist of which have been that, he feels disrespected by the offers he’s been getting. Boo-hoo.
So he’s not worth as much as he thought he’d be, and he’s butthurt over it.
Him being a twit and throwing a contract tantrum, is the reason the Saints gave him to us, for a 5th and 6th round pick. Forget a squabble over money, to them he wasn’t worth the headache.
In the end he’s still going to sign somewhere to make at least 7M$ this year, because it’s not like he’s going to retire in protest. So when he signs for under 14M, he’ll still feel like he’s underpaid, regardless of where he signs. (Hey look! It’s the world’s tiniest violin!)
This is where the I.Q. test comes in. Does he want to be underpaid on a rebuilding team, or on one that could be Super Bowl Champion inside of the next 365 days? Those are literally his choices right now. And I know what you’re thinking: “But he could go to another contender.” To that I counter with: Could he? Could he really? This article was brought to you by today’s sponsor: CONTEXT.
Chiefs are about all tapped out and won’t spend on him. Bengals would just be patching a hole created by the free agent Safety they just lost. San Fran just blew their wad on DT Javon Hargrave. Buffalo is a possibility, but CJGJ is a Florida boy, who likes nightlife. Dallas can’t afford him, because they just extended their own Safety,
Everyone else is farther away from being a Super Bowl contender.
There’s rumors that Denver is courting him, but they just hired a new head coach, and they play in the same division as QB’s Patrick Mahomes, and Justin Herbert. With as loaded as the AFC is, it’s possible that CJGJ could never take another playoff snap, over the duration of his next contract.
Or he could come back to the team that MADE him, and possibly become a champion. What do I mean by “made him”? Just this:
True or false. When CJGJ was out with a lacerated kidney last year, rookie S Reed Blankenship stepped in and looked pretty darn good out there. That statement would be TRUE. So, Chauncey might want to git his ass back here, while the gittin’ is gittin’. Because he has more ways to fail than succeed. Let’s see if he’s smart enough to see that, because Life is an I.Q. Test.
SINCE the Super Bowl, I’ve been almost dead silent. I wrote Four Things Reviewed, and a reaction article to Jonathan Gannon leaving. I haven’t even weighed in on new Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai, yet.
My silence wasn’t because I was upset over the loss. Understand, I wanted that win. I really did; but it would be a bald-faced lie, if I said the loss, or how it happened, wasn’t almost expected. The NFC Championship Game. The Super Bowl. Everyone else was so excited. Meanwhile, I’d been secretly dreading them both, since Week 18.
Standing outside for the 2018 parade, the cold turned my Wawa coffee into a slushie. I was hoping for a repeat of that, for this year. However, when Chiefs RB Jerick McKinnon slid down inside the five yard line, I felt nothing but calm. I didn’t yell, curse, or jump up. I didn’t turn off my TV, or change the channel. I watched until it was time to go write my little article.
I took that loss so well, that you would think I’d bet against the Eagles and won. People were literally asking me if I was okay. My calm was apparently too calm. I turned the page just a little bit too fast for the comfort of others. The fact is, I was able to make immediate peace with it, because that game went almost exactly as I’d truly expected it to.
We had that loss coming. And I’d said as much, MONTHS prior.
You may remember this article from September of last year PUTTING A FOOT IN DOUG’S ASS. In it, I foretold a great fall. In fact, I called it “the biggest fall of them all”. Those were my exact words. Most importantly, in that article, I told you WHY it would happen.
The NFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl. The knot in my stomach. Expecting the bill to finally come due, in one of those games, I was secretly dreading those games the entire time. The biggest fall of all, is what I predicted. I desperately hoped to be wrong. Desperately. Usually I love being right. But not always. Sometimes being able to see ahead, is a curse. And a lonely one.
How big was our fall? During the only NFL game seen around the world, we set a record for points scored (35) in a loss. Beating a record that we hung around an opponent’s neck, for our only Super Bowl win so far. Our QB played an almost flawless game, and yet the seven points from his turnover, would have been the difference. Changing that loss into a win. Our vaunted Defense, was suddenly unable to even hunt a lame QB.
Had the Eagles won with our youthful core, everyone would be using the term “beginning of a dynasty”. Instead they are saying that our “Super Bowl window” should be open for a few years. Given how close we came to winning, this was a massive faceplant. It was.
Again, we had it coming. We made that bed. As Eagles fans we see how it’s gone since Jerry Jones fired Jimmy Johnson, and we revel in it. So we should have learned: There will someday come a reckoning. ALWAYS. You never escape your own energy. And we got ourselves a taste last month.
Again, I was hoping, praying that we’d pay in some other way, or some other time, and win that game. I had hoped to freeze at another parade, outside of the Municipal Services Building. Well, not this year. That said, we’ve put the ugliness behind us. We’ve paid our Karmic debt. So now we can, and likely will, be holding up another Lombardi trophy, inside of the next few years. Afterwards, I hope we’re smarter this time.
Heck, maybe in 2024, instead of standing outside the MSB in the cold; I’ll watch the parade from my window. While seated comfortably, in the warmth of my office. Sipping on hot, gourmet coffee, brewed by my own expert hand.
Yes. That sounds about right. So how’s about I get back to writing about football.
This is the view from my first office. I haven’t taken a picture from the new one yet, but it’s DIRECTLY next door, so the view looks pretty much identical.
EAGLES Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon, has fucked off to become Arizona’s head coach. This is a HUGE break for our team! Offensive Coordinator Shane Steichen also left, to become the Colts next scapegoat, but I don’t give shit about that right now. I want to celebrate Gannon’s departure RIGHT NOW! This is addition by subtraction.
The very first article that I ever wrote on this site, was ‘WANT A SUPER BOWL? THEN FIRE BILL DAVIS.’ In it, I mentioned how continuing to settle for Davis as our Defensive Coordinator, wasn’t going to get us where we wanted to go. I wrote that on February 2, 2014.
During 2015, the Eagles fired then head coach, Chip Kelly, and Davis followed. In 2016 Doug Pederson, became our new Head Coach. Pederson was joined by DC Jim Schwartz, who inherited the talent that Davis had been squandering on Defense. The result was that we won our first Super Bowl on February 8, 2018.
Similarly, Gannon has been squandering the talent on the defensive side of our roster. Yes, yes, I know! We got 70 sacks in 2022. But what else did we do? Let me give you a quick rundown:
We got turnovers in bunches at the beginning of the 2022 season. When those dried up, no adjustment was made. Just more and more soft coverages, allowing easy completions which kept our Defense on the field. Look at how we finished the season:
Ryan Tannehill: 14/22 – 63.6% – 141 – 1 – 0
Daniel Jones: 18/27 – 66.6% – 169 – 1 – 0
Justin Fields: 14/21 – 66.6% – 152 – 2 – 0
Dak Prescott: 27/35 – 77.1% – 347 – 3 – 1
Andy Dalton: 18/22 – 81.8% – 205 – 0 – 1
Davis Webb: 23/40 – 57.5% – 168 – 1 – 0
That 3rd and 30 vs Dallas? Our four man rush allowed Dak Prescott to move gently left, and heave a 50 yard strike, to a guy who had recently been on his couch! Who dialed up that rush? Who called for that loose coverage?
Looks like our Secondary wasn’t set right?
NOPE! We were set. This alignment is just how it was called.
Hey, how about the development of the rookies, DT Jordan Davis and LB Nakobe Dean?
Davis was injured in Week 7, and sat out three games. Prior to his injury, he had five starts. Once he returned, he would never again see 20 snaps in a game under Gannon. Free agent additions DT Ndamukong Suh and DT Linval Joseph, helped give DT Fletcher Cox relief during Davis’s injury, but they should have never out-snapped Davis after his return. Both did in every game.
Dean played all of 34 snaps all season long. He played a total of 43 if you count the playoffs. There is no way to convince me (or most of you), that Dean should have played behind LB Kyzir Whitefor most of this season. Don’t even get me STARTED about CB Zeck McPhearsonbarely seeing the field.
Does anyone want to discuss his adjustments in the Super Bowl? What adjustments? Great question. The Chiefs played pitch and catch all game long. I’ve seen clouds under more pressure than QB Patrick Mahomes saw that night. And yet how often did we see a five man rush? How about Man-Press? A Fire Zone Blitz?
When asked what defensive system he ran, Gannon answered with “Multiple”. I hated that answer right from the get-go! Multiple should mean that we see all kinds of exotic looks, but this guy didn’t come with the resume for Multiple. (Few in history have.)
Instead of “Multiple” what we got was mostly 4 – 3, off-Corners, 2 Deep Zone. Translation: Missionary, under the covers, in the dark, while wearing pajamas. Just get me someone who wants to play with his toys, and dreams up inventive things to do with them. Handcuff her behind her knees, and hit it from the back with your foot on her cheek. Let’s see some imagination!
My fear was that Gannon was going to stick around, and continue to squander talent. However, his fucking off, opens the door to a quick return to the Super Bowl. Maybe even as soon as next season, despite free agent departures like DT Javon Hargrave and CB James Bradberry! We could stumble into a dynasty here, folks.
Hold on. Let me dial it back a sec. I haven’t been a fan of any of our DC’s since Jim Johnson. Most of you have ridden that ride with me (hey, remember Juan Castillo?), so I don’t have to go into detail. We could still screw this up, but as of now, we’re stronger for having lost him. Today, we had some addition by subtraction.
He’s the DT that the Eagles have put on Injured Reserve. Remember when they carted him off the field on Monday ni-, oh right. They didn’t. The Eagles put him on I.R. on Wednesday the 16th. This is Sunday morning the 20th. Quick! What’s his injury? Anybody? Anybody? His injury is sucking ass, and being pushed aside for two better players, that’s what his injury is. Please! Go to the Eagles website and get the details on this “injury”. I’ll wait…..
Over the last 5 weeks, the Eagles have allowed 124 rushing yards or more, in every game. It got really bad after the Bye week, when we allowed 144, 168, and 152 respectively. Many things factor into that. Not bringing arms to tackle attempts, holding runners up to claw at the ball, tackling shoulders instead of thighs. All of which are quickly correctable.
The biggest reason we’re getting run through however, is because we’re getting beat on the line of scrimmage. The knee jerk from fans, has been to either blame DT Fletcher Cox for falling off, or to blame the injury to DT Jordan Davis. Both are correct, but only in a round about way.
Cox was being asked to play more snaps than usual, as the coaching staff hoped he could fill the hole left by Davis, both as a presence and rotationally. As a result, we’re running Cox into the ground. In fact, we’re using him the opposite of how we should be using a player his age. (More on that in the upcoming Quarterly Report. Yes, it’s late. I know. Bear with me.)
Linval Joseph working the “One Half” technique. Ndamukong Suh gets a taste of Philly’s sports media.
So the Eagles added 34 year old DT Linval Joseph, and then DT Ndamukong Suh, who is 35. While Joseph is more of a space eater for the run game, Suh is a flat-out disruptor of blocking schemes. Even when he doesn’t make the play, he frequently causes havoc.
Understand, the worst of our run defense has coincided with the ramp up in snaps for Tuipulotu. Over the last three games, he’s averaged 33% of the defensive snaps. And that is not a good thing! I made it clear in last years Draft Reportthat I didn’t see selecting him as a good move. He stuck anyway.
I repeated my point about Tuipulotu in this year’s Pre-Draft Preview. My specific choice of words: “Marlon Tuipulotu played like trash, with a side order of ass last year,”. Yet he kept seeing the field this year. And the more he did, the more others like Cox were asked to compensate for everything that Tuipulotu can’t do. Which, you know, is pretty much everything.
Cox eats double teams and disrupts the pocket; DT Javon Hargrave is an ‘A’ gap penetrator who gets to QB’s; Davis is a space eating, pocket collapser. Those are our true DT’s. While DTMilton Williams can play that spot, he’s more of a DE/DT tweener. He’s coming along, but we still don’t really know who he is, just yet. Tuipulotu is just a 300 pound guy. Hell, I’M a 300 pound guy! There should be more qualifications than that, to get a roster spot.
When Davis went down, we were left with a bum (Tuipulotu), and two guys who specialize in slipping the point of attack, not holding it. That’s not saying that Cox and Hargrave can’t play the run! We all know that they can. But that’s not where their salary size comes from.
Do you realize that at worst, if Suh and Joseph don’t contribute much as players, those two, plus Cox and Hargrave, will be pouring wisdom into Davis. Meanwhile we have no timetable on Tuipulotu’s return date. Which is totally understandable without an actual injury to assess.
GENERALLY when I talk football, it’s about my Eagles. I tend to keep mum about our rivals, unless we have a game coming up against one of them. Otherwise, I’ve reserved most talk about them for my Pre-Draft Preview,which drops each April. (Look for it!)
In 2017 however, I decided to try something new, and give our fan base a running commentary of what the division is doing around us. This ensures that Eagles fans actually are the NFL’s best informed, and most knowledgeable fans. (Provided that you visit this site often.) These updates will come out three times during the season: After Weeks 6, 12, and 17.
*****
This is where things are today:
Washington Commanders:2 – 4, 4th place
The Commanders score 17 points per game and give up 22. That’s the whole story with this team. That’s it. Per game, they are one stop and one score away from being a winning team. However, their big problem, is poor team culture.
The initial tone for team culture, is always set by the head coach. In this case it’s one of easy answers and finger-pointing. Where you have finger-pointing, you will also find low accountability, and a lack of unity. This was demonstrated by head Ron Rivera, when he was asked about why his team was behind other teams in the division, and he responded with “Quarterback.”
He could have said “Injuries.” His team’s best RB, Brian Robinson was shot prior to this season, but he fought to come back; and has just made his first start in one of this team’s two wins. Their best defensive player, DE Chase Young has been out since last season. They’re missing two-fifths of their offensive line.
Yet Rivera went with “Quarterback.”, seemingly dumping the whole mess on QB Carson Wentz. This is despite the fact that Wentz was traded for, because the team was already a mess, and they were hoping he could help clean it up.
With this noise going on, you’d never know that even without Chase Young, this team has five players with at least three sacks. You’d never know that this team is 57% in the red zone. You’d never know that Carson Wentz leads the division with 10 touchdown passes, despite being sacked 23 times already.
QB Taylor Heinicke won’t have anyone to pitch woo to him in 2022
Oh! Speaking of sacks, Wentz has a broken finger on his throwing hand, and QB Taylor Heinicke will be the starter for at least the next three weeks. Also, there is no firm date for Young’s return, and the NFL is preparing to remove the owner, from the team with the stadium that literally shits on it’s fans.
President of the Cooper Rush fan club.
Dallas Cowboys:4 – 2, 3rd place
While losing to Tampa Bay, in the season opener, QB Dak Prescott broke his thumb. A disaster for some teams, but not for the Cowboys. Stepping in for Prescott, was the man, the myth, the legend, the inevitable Hall of Famer, QB Cooper Rush. Like a velvet Mona Lisa hanging in an Applebee’s restroom, he was truly magnificent!
Rush scorched NFL scoreboards from New York to Los Angeles (both were road games!), with four touchdowns in only four weeks, whilst leading the Cowboys to four straight victories. Ever the perfect professional pocket passer, he ran only when he needed to, racking up 9 yards on 9 carries. You could not stop him, you could only hope to contain him!
Coming along for that four game ride, was the Cowboys 3rd ranked defense, which allowed 13.5 points per game, over that stretch. It was nice to see them making their small contribution to Cooper’s cause. OLB Micah Parsons racked up 6 sacks, and was being compared to Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor. It was four weeks of utter bliss!
Then there were some troubles in Philadelphia.
Unfortunately, in Rush’s last start, the clock failed his comeback effort, by not providing him with enough time. Also, there may or may not have been, three interceptions thrown by Rush. But this isn’t about assigning blame. Besides, it was Parsons fault for letting down Cooper and therefore the whole team. He isn’t nearly as good at getting sacks, when he’s made to cover receivers. There is simply no accountability with him.
So the Cowboys fell from 4 – 1 to 4 – 2. Sadly enough, Dak Prescott gets the start this week vs. Detroit. Even if the Cowboys win, it won’t be the same. There won’t be that Rush that fans get when Coopity-Coop is out there.
New York giants:5 – 1, 2nd place
Even though the prior two teams are absolute circuses, the giants are the team that makes me laugh the hardest. The funniest part is that nobody else seems to see it yet. Not the team, the media, most fans… It’s an absolute riot! After this article you will totally have a different take on their season. I guarantee it. (In my head, I can hear Bill Burr reading this article, and it’s fuckin’ awesome.)
When a team falls short in the playoffs, they go out and get more offensive or defensive firepower. They add a WR, or a TE. Maybe beef up the o-line. They add a pass rusher or strengthen their secondary. Maybe replace a shaky Kicker. The part that double-digit win teams don’t monkey with, is the QB.
A team’s entire offense runs through the QB. Everything from his pre-snap read, his cadence, his way of processing checks, the way he wants the ball snapped, the way he reads a defense, who he relies on in certain situations. And then there’s the idea that the new QB has to learn an entire play-book, and new players, while playing what would be a tougher schedule.
So winning teams don’t mess with their QB situation.
Hey, did I mention that the giants opted to not pick up the fifth year on QB Daniel Jones’s rookie deal? I didn’t? Well, the giants opted to not pick up the fifth year on QB Daniel Jones’s rookie deal. That makes him a free agent after this year. So now if they want him to come back in 2023, they have to pay the guy more than they would have, if they’d just picked up his 22M$ option.
Sometimes winning is worse…
So the giants are on the verge of either giving Daniel Jones a multi-year contract, for more than 27M$. Or, if they don’t, they have to start all over, and hope that the next guy isn’t worse. What do I mean by worse? Do you see what’s happening with QB Russell Wilson in Denver? Or they could draft the next Ryan Leafwhile hoping for a Peyton Manning.
If you’re a fan of the giants, your team is either teasing you with ONE good season, or damning you to four more years of Jones. He’s either your starter next year, or he isn’t. There isn’t a third option! Oh yeah, right now RB Saquon Barkley leads the entire NFL with 771 yards from scrimmage. (Had I led with that, giants fans would have been on the ceiling. Mentioned now, it hardly matters to them. Which goes to show, you can troll a fan base with good news.)
Now if you’re a giants fan, every win will seem like a month added to a prison sentence. If you’re a rival fan, every win makes you giggle a little. Even if they beat your team, there’s sort of a silver lining there, because you know you’ll get ‘em next time. A ten win season is the worst possible scenario for their front office. Imagine having to justify dismantling a ten win team, to 8.8 million people. That’s what they’re facing if they keep winning!
Oh yeah, and their defense is playing extremely well. Ranked 7th in the league! (To giants fans, that just felt like a stab wound.)
*****
So that’s the state of our division rivals as our Eagles head into the Week 7 Bye. See ya in six weeks everybody!
SEASON Reviews are usually done at the end of the season. A few are also done at the halfway mark. Starting in 2017, Eaglemaniacal.com began treating the season like a game, and breaking it into four quarters.
In 2021, the NFL expanded the season to 17 games, which makes for an uneven split. So this year (at least), these Quarterly Reports will come after Weeks 5, 9, 13, and 17. (Ugh. I hate even looking at that format.)
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: 5 – 0, 1st in NFC East, only undefeated team in the NFL, 27.0 apf / 17.6 apa
OPPONENTS:
W Detroit 1 – 4
W Minnesota 4 – 1
W Washington 1 – 4
W Jacksonville 2 – 3
W Arizona 2 – 3
OVERVIEW:
We’re 5 – 0 with no strong showings during the run. The win at Minnesota was the closest, but our Offense stalled out and didn’t produce any points after half-time. That’s not strong. Same with the game against Washington. The win over Arizona saw us put up a field goal in third, and the game winning kick at the end of the fourth, but we needed them to miss one to cement our win.
We’ve scored 24, 17, 24, and 20 points in the second quarter, in each of our first four games. However, when teams make their adjustments at the half, Offensive Coordinator Shane Steichen is doing an abysmal job of adapting. As a result the weight of the game is shifted squarely onto the Defense, instead of being a team effort.
This is unsustainable.
GRADES:
QB: C / Everyone is taken with the 5 – 0 start, but the reality is, that Jalen Hurtshasn’t put together a whole game, so far this season. There hasn’t been one where he didn’t hit a wall in the second half of a game. Some of that I put at the feet of the coaching staff (as I mentioned above), but some of it is Hurts. Last year after five games he’d thrown 7 TD’s, right now it’s 4. No big deal though, because he’s running for TD’s, right? Perhaps, but those yards aren’t free.
That may be why he physically seems to wear down in games. He’s a ball of energy in the first half of games, but is MUCH more demure later. Part of that may be the beating he’s taking. Five games into last year, his rushing stats were 43 – 256 – 5.9 – 3TD. That was 8.6 carries per game. This year it’s 68 – 266 – 3.9 – 6TD, for 13.6 carries per game. He’s on pace for 231 carries this year! He had 139 last year, when he led the team in rushing attempts. And he got hurt.
Maybe we need to start a mailing campaign, to tell our coaches that Hurts isn’t Harry Newman. If we use Hurts like a QB instead of a 1930’s Tailback, he might be all around sharper in the second half of games.
RB: C / Miles Sanders is 4th in the NFL in rushing yardage (87 – 414 – 4.7 – 3 – 0). He’s running harder this year, but he still doesn’t drive through his pads. Also, his receptions mostly seem to be behind the line of scrimmage and along the sideline. That’s no way to make him an effective receiver. He has just 41 yards on 10 catches, for an average of 4.1 yards per catch. He averages more running!
Kenneth Gainwell(18 – 72 – 4.0 – 2 – 0) and Boston Scott(10 – 29 – 2.9 – 1 – 0) have also disappointed catching the ball. This is another thing that I put it down to this coaching staff. Sanders and Scott used to be threats as receivers, but no Eagles RB has been that since last year. We recently added Trey Sermon, but he has just 2 carries right now.
TE: B / Dallas Goedert (29 – 24 – 335 – 13.9 – 1) is catching 82.8% of balls thrown to him, he’s running HARD after the catch, and contributing to the run game. The only knock is that many of his catches are coming on Screens. Running so many Screens has exposed the team to more ‘illegal blocker downfield’ penalties. More variation is needed.
Jack Stollhas only caught 1 pass, and that needs to be addressed. We need to make teams cover him, so they can’t double someone else. That said, in the three games he’s started, we’ve run for 210, 216, and 139 yards. Rookie Grant Calcaterra had a 40 yard grab a few weeks ago, but has been quiet since. If he’s our insurance policy for Goedert, we should include him more.
WR: B / Devonta “Skinny Batman” Smith(38 – 28 – 353 – 12. 6 – 1) has been up and down this quarter. One game with 169 yards, two with 80, two with under 20, and only averaging 10+ yards per catch in two of them. His production needs to be less erratic. A.J. “Swole Batman” Brown (45 – 28 – 436 – 15.5 – 1) except for last week, has been good for at least 5 catches, 69 yards and 13 yards per catch, every week. A young QB can hang his hat on that.
Quez “Fast Batman” Watkins (8 – 5 – 88 – 17.6 – 1) ripped off a 53 yard touchdown bomb in Week Two, and has scarcely seen a ball thrown his way since. He’s played over half the snaps this season, but again, he’s been targeted just 8 times. I don’t get it! Zach Pascal (7 – 6 – 39 – 6.5 – 0) has been a great pick-up for this team. Often lining up as an H-Back, he does a lot of the dirty work (blocking, decoy routes to pull LB’s, short routes to move the sticks).
OT: B /Lane Johnsonis a monument to quiet, yet consistent dominance.
At RT he’s as good a pass protector as just about any LT in the league. Speaking of LT, Jordan Mailatawas also dominating until his shoulder injury vs Jacksonville. Stepping in since then has been Jack Driscoll, who wouldn’t be playing if back-up Andre Dillardwasn’t on Injured Reserve. Still, third stringer Driscoll has played better than some starters in this league. No exaggeration.
OG:C / They’ve been money on 1 yard Sneak plays, but on other runs, they aren’t blowing people off the line like last year. Isaac Seumalo and Landon Dickersonhave both had to come out of games and have Sua Opeta fill in them, during this first quarter. It does not bode well that there are durability issues at this position, this early in the season.
C:A / Jason Kelce has been a the tip of the spear on this line. His game against Jacksonville was a thing of sheer beauty. His toughness at Arizona was an example to the youth. Especially for Cam “Beef” Jurgens, the guy tasked with replacing him.
DE: C / Brandon Grahamand Josh Sweat have cooled off a little, in the last couple of games. The pair combined for 5.5 sacks and 14 QB hits in the first three weeks, but have been blanked in those categories over the last two games. (Which helps explain the sharp rise in opponent scoring.) Back-ups Patrick Johnson and Tarron Jackson provide rest for the starters but not much else so far. This position needs to pick it back up, or this season is going to get real long, real fast.
DT: A / Fletcher Coxand Javon Hargravehave combined for 4 sacks, 2TFL, 9 QB hits, 1 FF, 3 FR over these first five games. Statistically, this position hasn’t recorded a sack in two weeks, but they are generally collapsing the pocket, and giving QB’s nowhere to step up when they throw.
The increased presence of rookie Jordan Davis has turned the middle of the Eagles defense into the Bermuda Triangle. Offensive players go in, but yards don’t come out. The Eagles got gashed for 181 rushing yards Week One, but since then, are giving up an average of just 86 per game.Milton Williams provides depth and versatility.
OLB: A / Hassan Reddickhas come on strong over the last three games. With 3.5 sacks, 2TFL, 4 QB hits, 3FF and 2FR, he suddenly has given the Eagles that edge pass rusher, who can speed up a QB’s internal clock. Kyzir White hasn’t started any of the last three games, but he plays over 60% of the game primarily challenging underneath passing options, and cleaning up on run plays. Patrick Johnson is listed here, but mostly plays on the line as a situational rusher.
MLB: A / After the Draft, all the chatter was about how rookie Nakobe Dean would take the starting job here and change the face of the Defense. I kept saying “Not so fast.” Well to this point Dean has seen just three defensive snaps, all of which were in Week One. The reason for that? Mr. T.J. Edwards.
Here in his fourth year, Edwards is putting the NFL on notice. His 41 tackles leads the team by a wide margin. His career high in tackles for losses is 5 in a season. Through these five games he already has 4. His career high in sacks is 2 in a season. So far he has 2 in five games. His career high in QB hits is 4, established during these five games. And he’s always on the field.
S: B / FS Marcus Epps has so far played every snap of every game this year. SS Chauncey Gardener-Johnson has played every snap but two this season. Opponents haven’t been challenging the Eagles deep, much at all, as a combination of scheme, communication and talent have made QB’s think better of it. The only knock I have, is Epps leading with a shoulder, instead of his arms on too many tackle attempts.
CB:A / Darius Slay and James Bradberry have to be the best duo in the NFL right now. With 4 interceptions (2 each), and 9 passes defensed between them, there isn’t one side for passers to favor, as they avoid the other. Nowhere is safe! In Week Two, Slay essentially put WR Justin Jefferson in street clothes all night long.
While Bradberry has played all but two downs this season, Slay has been dealing with nagging injuries. Zech MacPhearson had to step in for an injured Slay, vs Jacksonville. They targeted him twice, completed neither and decided caution was the better part of valor. Avonte Maddox is the Nickel, but has been out since Week Three.Josiah Scott has been filling in for Maddox and looking like he needs more practice.
LS: A/ Rick Lovato hasn’t had any issues.
P: B/ Arryn Siposs is averaging 45.8 yards on his 20 punts. More importantly, only 8 have been returned for 38 yards (4.7 per) . So he’s not out-kicking his coverage.
K: A/ Jake Elliott is 4/5 on field goals, and 13/14 on extra points. He was injured on a kick, but gutted out the rest of the game. The following week, Cameron Dicker was 2/2 on XP, and 2/2 on FG’s including the game winner over Arizona. Gutty. Seamless. Clutch.
PR/KR:D/ Britain Coveyhas been sort of trash as a return man. I have no idea why he keeps running AT crowds with open field on either side. He’s had a couple of muffs and is just averaging 6.1 per punt return. I rooted had for this guy in the preseason.
SINCE LAST QUARTER:
Jalen Hurts has improved as a passer. His timing, recognition, placement… All better. He now needs to be his best version for four quarters, not just two. While all the talk has been about how good Hurts would be with WR A.J. Brown, the real story was how the Defense was revamped and re-armed. It shows when the Ofense stalls out and the Defense is out there preserving wins.
MISSION FOR THIS QUARTER:
The Offense needs to carry it’s weight for four quarters. There is no reason why this team should have to participate in a shootout, to see 30 points. Hurts also has to throw more than just 4 damned touchdowns. Yes, he’s running for them, but if he wants QB money on that next contract, he needs to produce like a real QB. Otherwise we’re going to witness an ugly break-up when he accuses the Eagles of low-balling him.
WHAT’S it like to get a foot in your ass, in a building, with a statue of you in front of it? Well, on Sunday around 5p.m. we should be able to ask former Eagles and current Jaguars Head Coach Doug Pederson. So far he has the Jacksonville Jaguars looking, and playing like a professional football team.
My prediction of course, seems like pure fan speculation. I have yet to even start assembling the Four Things article, for this upcoming game. So I can’t have a grounded sense of how this one will shake out, right? I mean, the Jags have the NFL’s second highest differential (+46) in points scored to points against. The Eagles come in third (+36) in that category.
Given the Eagles tendency to sleepwalk through the second half of football games, and Jacksonville coming alive after the half, this game has all the makings of a nail biter. Predicting a win this early, with no due diligence just seems like talking shit. Right? Perhaps.
But there’s a deeper narrative to this Eagles season.
The NFL schedule makers forcing us to put down Doug, the week after putting down QB Carson Wentz, almost seems cruel. It also portends that Week 11, QB Nick Foles may be starting in place of QB Matt Ryan, on the day that we face head coach Frank Reich’s Colts. (If it happens, don’t be shocked.) Do you see the pattern forming?
The Universe loves irony, and it has a poetic way of punishing those who ignore it. Nick should have stayed in Philly, but took a shaky contract, and had a horrific time in Jacksonville. Both on and off the field. (I often wonder if Philly’s better hospitals could have saved his unborn child.) During Week One, Carson beat Doug, who didn’t stick up for him here. Then last week, we pounded Carson who requested a trade, into the ground. Reich has gone from guru to damned near punchline in Indianapolis.
Now Doug gets to come back, and get a foot in his ass, at the foot of his statue. Everyone connected with the collapse of our Super Bowl team, has had to swallow bitter medicine as a result of their actions immediately following that demise. So clearly Doug has an ass whipping coming.
And don’t think for a moment that General Manager Howie Roseman won’t get his. The Universe doesn’t fuck around when it dishes. At the moment, EVERYTHING Howie does seems like genius. The world can’t pat him hard enough on the back. Which only sets him up for the biggest fall of them all. Gifted with opportunity by the Universe, they each spat in it’s face.
Understand, I’m not saying that the Universe is angry that the Eagles dynasty was shaken down. I highly doubt it cares about football or any sport. What I’m saying, is that a lot of negative energy went into destroying what was constantly advertised, as good men coming together. Hypocrisy. Being a turncoat. Ingratitude. These things scream at Karma in defiance of it. And that only ends one way.
THE players have returned. I watch QB Jalen Hurts joke and pal around with the fellas. Player’s children run across the field, carrying footballs. Bubble wrap appears on a helmet. All of this just SO cute! And I don’t give a damn about any of it. Because bitterness is all that I can taste.
We lost a playoff game. On national television. In humiliating fashion. Our QB was exposed for reading defenses as well as a JUGGS machine. Our Defense was as well-carved as any Thanksgiving bird to ever grace my table. Sadly, that was my last taste of real football. I’ve been walking around with this taste, this distaste, in my mouth, since Sunday January 16th.
I tried to cleanse it with some NFL games rebroadcast on NFL Network. I tried to banish it with the upstart USFL. I even sampled Canadian, hoping that a different flavor might distract me. But this taste. I can’t get this taste out of my mouth. I can’t make this go away, until I finally can get what I crave. What I need.
I need Eagles football.
I haven’t written about Training Camp yet, because it hasn’t started yet. It’s still early. Guys are running around in shorts and no pads, and that’s necessary. Trust me, I get that. It’s Level Two conditioning. I only played semi-pro, but from high school on up, some things about football are universal. Level One conditioning you do on your own, but L2 introduces competition: Are you better than him, and him, and him, and him? Can you get better? SHOW US!!!
Football however… Real football, doesn’t start until the hitting does. It’s easy for athletes to be tough guys in shorts, but repeatedly getting hit in 90 degree weather, with a fiberglass oven on your head… Not every man is built for that. I can remember showing up to camps in May, and seeing 120 – 150 guys. Each thinking he was NFL bound! Then the grind would start. By early September there’d be just 40 to 45 guys left. One of which would be me.
But the Eagles.
All the improvements we’ve supposedly made… To be honest, to this point I’m not seeing them. For instance, the offseason footwork program that Hurts went through in California. I was hoping to see him committing it to muscle memory, but he still bounces after his drops, and doesn’t consistently step into his passes, leading to this
Notice how the ball is (still) BEHIND WR A.J. Brown? Given how much time he and QB Jalen Hurts spend working with each other in the offseason, this is concerning to still be seeing almost in August.
I mentioned this back in May and so far, it looks the same. As I said, it’s early. (But I’d still like to see improvement from May.)
Aside from the hitting, I’m waiting for Friday, August 12th. In what should be a vanilla preseason game, I’m hoping to see improvement in the Eagles habits:
I want to see how often Hurts get the ball out, as his drop ends.
I want to see the Defense give up fewer 8 to 10 yard completions, inside the numbers.
I want to see a LB’s cover a TE for three seconds.
I want to see RB Kenneth Gainwell finish runs by falling forward.
I don’t need to see a ton, but I need to see something. Just a little something to tell me that 2022 will be different. And to help me to finally, begin to get this taste, out of my mouth.
EVERY year I repeat this one. We never do it, and we always should. (Every team should, actually.) Fuck it. I will bang this pot until someone hears me! There is no tactical advantage to using a Punter to hold on Field Goal attempts. Unless you’re Pat McAfee or Sav Rocca, you probably don’t offer much as an athlete on a football field. A back-up QB however, offers plenty.
Pat McAfee celebrates at WrestleMania 38. I don’t usually watch wrestling anymore, but I’m BEYOND happy, that I caught his matches.
A QB playing holder makes every FG attempt a potential opportunity for a fake. While that can be said of anyone holding, a QB’s ability to deliver ball (even under pressure), makes that potential fake all the more dangerous, and all the more real.
The most important thing it does, is it forces teams to focus on covering both Ends and both Wings, instead of trying to block a kick. Wait. Let me back up.
Because Special Teams is so rarely talked about, most people don’t know the positions. The five members of the line are T, G, C, G, T. That part you already knew. Outside of the T’s are the TE’s. Still pretty standard stuff. The players outside of the TE’s are Wing Backs (WB). Usually those are WR’s or RB’s who are good blockers, because the emphasis is on protection.
While there are always six players eligible to catch a pass on any FG attempt, not having a player that can deliver a pass, makes that threat practically toothless. Unless someone isn’t covered. A QB on the field however, gives the offense (and that’s still what it is), a player who can routinely deliver an accurate pass, even to a covered man, even with pressure in his face. No P can match that.
I’ve spent years saying that we should use WR Greg Ward as the Holder, given his QB background, and his WR legs. However, if we were to trot QB Gardner Minshewout there, opponents would think “Well what the happy fuck, is this horseshit?” At which point their focus is more on making sure that our TE’s and WB’s don’t get loose for six, than on giving up three.
And after all that, after everything you just read, you just read the REAL payoff. It’s a more relaxed Kicker who doesn’t feel like he needs to rush, because the defense is trying harder to cover, than they are to block. What would relaxing K Jake Elliott be worth to you? Yet all it would cost, is swapping out a P for a QB. That’s it.
And of course, every so often we can actually run a fake. Just to let opponents know that they need to be afraid, and stay that way.
EAGLEMANIACAL.com 