Rants

FOUR THINGS – WK PS4 – EAGLES-JETS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/08/28
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, Four Things, NFL, Preview, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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LET’S talk about what’s at stake this week. Nothing. We know who the Starters are. We know who the second units are. The third stringers will spend the year being activated and deactivated. Is that what we’re watching too see?

Besides, we play the Jets in like six weeks. We’re not showing them anything worth seeing. We won’t even be hinting at anything in this game. 

I mean c’mon, rookie OT Brett Toth, who signed a three year deal a week ago, is currently a liability as a pass blocker, and has yet to see any preseason action. Even if he doesn’t play a snap in this game, we already KNOW he’s guaranteed a spot on the practice squad.

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So there are zero stakes for the team, and the final score is a shrug to the team. Aside from a handful of guys who want more audition tape, all anyone wants, is to avoid getting hurt. That’s it. That’s what everyone is playing for. (BTW: If a player is still compiling tape in preseason week four, they’ve already told teams enough.)

I spent from Sunday until Wednesday trying to figure out why any of us should care about this last preseason game, when it’s evident that the team itself is just going through the motions, due to obligation. Here’s what I came up with: Just don’t watch it.

Why pump direct ratings via cable boxes, Nielsen boxes, and satellite receivers, to a league that doesn’t see fit to offer you a decent product? “Here piggy piggy. You’ll consume it because it’s sort of football.” Really?

Between football players who don’t have to play, baseball players who don’t have to hustle, and basketball players who think it’s cool to go years without being able to shoot a basketball, teams just don’t worry about giving fans quality anymore.

Are we their bitches? Are we their whores? I can’t speak for you, but I for one, am certainly not. If we the fans don’t send some sort of message, we’re going to keep seeing this. Or worse. So I’m taking this week off, and I’m asking you to do the same.

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

1) Work: If you work nights, don’t bother trying to find places watch the game out of the view of your supervisor. Why risk a write-up for a game that doesn’t matter? Wait until the games count, to run that kind of risk. Right Carson?

2) A night out: While lots of fans will crowd into sports bars, and stay home to catch the game, so the theaters should have fewer people in them. Same with restaurants that don’t have televisions in them. Take advantage of the extra elbow room.

3) Grocery shopping: If your favorite supermarket is open until 10p.m. or later, then by 7:30 or so, sports fans with talking pets (small kids), have generally cleared out of the building. If you show up at 8:00, you should be able to have an almost leisurely experience shopping. It’s not as good as 10a.m. on a Tuesday, but it’s pretty close. (Note: This may permanently change when you shop.)

4) Decorate: Spend the night decorating for Thanksgiving. Turkey Day is a huge football holiday, and it seldom gets the attention it deserves, since Christmas always waylays it’s mojo. Friday August 30th is still very much Summer. I can hardly think of a better end to Summer next month, than barbecuing in 80 degree weather, with Pilgrims in your window, and a giant inflatable turkey behind you.

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

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You will watch the game. You can’t help it. You’ve missed football for too long, to ignore it for a week. The season is just too finite, and you don’t want to waste a second of it.

I on the other hand, am dead ass serious about not watching this game. (I may see a few seconds here or there while channel surfing, but I will not be staying. By no means.) Because I won’t be watching it, Head Coach Doug Pederson will elect to play his Starters for a series or two. Rest assured I will nod in amused irony when you all tell me about, it the following day.

(Side note: The Eagles have been putting a LOT of emphasis on adding to that RT spot recently. Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Jordan Mailata, Brett Toth… They don’t keep taking swings like this, at any other spot on the line. We might want to keep an eye on Lane Johnson this season.)

PREDICTION: EAGLES 20 – Jets 17

[yeah bitch eagle pic]

FUCK YOU, NICK FOLES.

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/08/21
Posted in: Coaching, Crazy Talk, Fans, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, playoffs, Rants, Rivals, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
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This used to be my avatar when I wrote on Yardbarker. This is before I learned how to use Photoshop. (Which today I never use.)

“FUCK you, Nick Foles.” Every Eagles back-up QB has to think that at least twice a day. From the moment that QB Nick Foles’s fingertips made contact with a Lombardi trophy (not THE Lombardi Trophy), a disturbingly large percentage of Eagles fans began a bizarre fascination with the back-up QB position on this roster. This has added undue pressure to a position that really should be devoid of it, and is on 31 other rosters

Don’t get it twisted. I love the guy, but unlike most fans, I recognize, and can admit that what Foles did in 2017, was an anomaly. However last year in 2018, when fractures were detected in QB Carson Wentz’s back, the coaching staff (over Wentz’s protests), decided to shut him down for the last five games of the year. Fans here hardly blinked. “Foles won one Super Bowl, now he’ll do it again” seemed to be the consensus.

That’s really weird for three reasons. First, back in 2017 when Foles didn’t look so hot vs the Raiders (as opposed to his record setting day in 2013), he had plenty of doubters in the fan base. I on the other hand, pumped him up, while putting out stuff like:

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The original meme had ‘back-up’ in quotation marks, but it made the words space funny. It also had the numeral 6 instead of the word.

The second thing that makes it weird is, even with Foles gone now, there is still a ton of focus on the back-up spot. In fact, right now it’s getting more press than the starting role. That’s a fact. Some of that has to do with Wentz not playing in the preseason, some of it is due to injuries, but a lot of it is full-on interest in the back-ups here.

The third thing that makes this weird is, the perception that’s overriding reality. The narrative is that back-up QB Nick Foles won the Super Bowl. It’s a cute story, but it’s a myth. It’s a complete and total fabrication. An outright, bold-faced LIE. Foles was never a back-up here. He was our second starter. I explained that in an article from last year. (If you didn’t read that one, please do. As an Eagles fan you’re missing out if you don’t.)

The reality is that only one QB per year will win the Super Bowl. In most cases it will be an Opening Day starting QB who does so. The 31 other Opening Day starters, will fail in their annual mission. For a back-up to win that game is rare. It’s happened for every team in the NFC East, and yet it is still not the norm. Far from it. However, this is the lens that our back-ups are now viewed through.

One last thing, and someone has to have the balls say this. The scrutiny on back-ups wouldn’t be so sharp if Eagles fans were as confident about Wentz not getting hurt, as many profess to be. Basically I’m saying: 

don't fake the funk

I see a lot of Eagles fans verbally sparring with rival fans. Then later on, I see those same Eagles fans discussing whether or not our back-up can win games in the playoffs. I feel like Eagles fans need to either trust Wentz, or PUBLICLY own up to not trusting him. If you trust your starter, the back-up discussions should evaporate.

That’s all part of the legacy that Foles has left here. He has exited stage right, and left a spotlight on that role. For that, I’m sure that a couple times a day, those who now have to assume his mantle, must either think or say very quietly “Fuck you, Nick Foles.”

And thank you.

Foles holds the trophy aloft approaching LOVE Park

JOSH McCOWN NEEDS RIGGING

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/08/18
Posted in: Conversations, free agents, Offense, Players, playoffs, Rants, Roster, Super Bowl, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

 

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WITH the Eagles QB room turning into an infirmary, our Front Office went out and signed QB Josh McCown to a 1year, 2M$ deal, that’s worth up to 5.4M with incentives. Lots of fans seem happy with the signing. To me, he’s the Human version of the Kobayashi Maru, the ill-fated ship in Star Trek II’s ‘No win scenario” simulation. So I flat out don’t like the signing. Let me breakdown why.

First off, this signing only has real impact if QB Carson Wentz gets seriously hurt in the first three or four weeks of the season. If that’s the case then we’re fucked already. Yeah yeah, I know, 2017. I was on here making memes about believing in QB Nick Foles when most of the fan base was doubting him. Remember these:

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This was after the giants game

1wc -Nick of Time

0- W17 I believe

That said, 2017 was an anomaly, and 2018 proved it. Back-ups are back-ups for a reason. Don’t let nostalgia get the story twisted.

Speaking of back-ups, I’m hearing that McCown might be ahead of QB Nate Sudfeld on the depth chart, when Sudfeld comes back to active duty. That would be FARCE! McCown will have to be spoon-fed an Offense, that Sudfeld is already steeped in. McCown will have to develop his timing and touch with each receiver, whereas Sudfeld already has that. McCown will have to learn all the blocking protections.

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Like Pat Ryan and Mark Sanchez, McCown continues a long tradition of Jets who can to the Eagles to secure their place in the Hall Of Fame.

Unless we’re going to scale back the playbook for him. That usually makes a team predictable, no?

Some are touting McCown’s 17 years of NFL experience. However, what he has lots of experience at, is losing. His career mark as a starter is 23 – 53 (.302). No team he has ever started 10 games for, has EVER seen the playoffs. No team he has started even 7 games for, has ever finished with a .500 record. He’s everything you claim to hate about Sam Bradford. (Minus the sleeves.)

So playing McCown is essentially waving a white flag over the season. If it comes down to us leaning on a non-Wentz QB, why not lean on Sudfeld, or a QB like Clayton Thorson, whom we spent a draft pick on? If we’re just going to roll over and play for Draft position, then doesn’t it make more sense to develop our youth, so that the team has leverage in any possible holdout situation, and doesn’t end up where the Dallas Cowboys currently are?

This McCown signing make zero sense. It’d have made more sense to have WR Greg Ward take a few snaps per week at QB. He’s played the position at a high level in college and could be our 4th string/emergency QB. (It would also put us in position to do what I suggested in THE 12.)

Some look at the surface of this signing and they see a 17 year vet, with a name they recognize. They see that as a good thing. I look under the hood of this signing and I see a (well-traveled) 17 year vet, with a name I recognize (as not being good enough to win). There’s no way I can be happy with this.

Unless we can rig the simulation…

WHAT’S REALLY THE MATTER?

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/08/11
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

EVERYTHING matters. If that’s to be believed, then why didn’t our starters play at least a series on Thursday? Don’t hand me injuries. These are football players. They aren’t fine china. They need to be ready and up to speed for opening day, and from what we saw in this first game, at least the depth on this roster looks anything but ready.

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The coaching staff having so many players not even warm-up, speaks either to fear of injury, or a casual attitude towards the preseason. Neither is good for programming the mindset of rookie players. It’s hard to teach them that “everything matters” in practice, and with diet, and with study, and with training, when the staff regards some games as not mattering.

Instead, we were served up second stringers given the opportunity to impress, and push for more playing time during the season, (if not a re-order of the depth chart). However, few of those players did anything to catch an eye. There was an appalling lack of urgency and energy on their part. It didn’t really look as it much was at stake for them.

Some players showed up. TE Dallas Goedert made the most of his opportunity, looking downright uncoverable against starting level talent.

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QB Nate Sudfeld looked poised and polished, even after his injury. I was confident about him when I wrote my Pre-Draft Prediction in April, and he’s been everything I said he was. Rookie LT Andre Dillard already has me thinking he should be above OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai on the depth chart at LT. MLB Zach Brown looked like a seasoned pro, and LB L.J. Fort, looked like a roster must-have.

Some players who entered the game as second stringers, may have hurt their cases to make the final roster. DE Josh Sweat has yet to make his presence consistently felt. He seems incapable of stringing two good downs, back to back. LB Nate Gerry simply doesn’t the instincts for LB. The coaches want to see him as a fast, athletic LB; but really he’s a slow S, playing about 15 to 20 pounds too heavy. OL Matt Pryor is a guy I’ve been pulling for, but his mental errors are drive killers. Being a penalty magnet will have officials paying him more attention, and that alone could be enough to keep him off a roster. The fumble by RB Josh Adams held open the door for unremarkable RB Wendell Smallwood.

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Many people would include WR Marken Michel as a standout, but his 75 yard TD catch was just one catch, on one attempt, of a 50-50 ball. A larger sample size is needed. Conversely, SS Johnathan Cyprien blew an assignment and helped give up a TD pass. That’s from a relatively small sample of downs, from a player who just got here, with a year’s worth of rust to knock off.

As a fan I’m hoping that the Eagles pick it up, and look sharper in this next preseason game. I have my doubts about that however. RT Lane Johnson has already been shutdown for the remainder of the preseason, due to a knee issue that he’d play through during the season. Thus, he will not log a single down before he sees Redskin OLB Ryan Kerrigan, Week One. (Pretty cool, right Carson?)

There is no push from behind and no pull from ahead, so far. If the Eagles don’t start treating things like they truly matter, the derailment of this 2019-2020 season will be an inside job. That’s the everything. That’s what we have to understand. After that, nothing else matters.

Metallica Nothing Else Matters

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK PS1 – TITANS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/08/09
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Rants, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

IF you hadn’t already heard, QB Nate Sudfeld has a non-season ending broken left wrist. QB Cody Kessler is your back-up. I’m looking for my whelm, but it’s under something right now.

Until last night I didn’t know that you could waste a meaningless game, but the Eagles sure as hell learned me “reeeal gewwwd”. I expected more urgency and purpose from our coaching staff. Silly me.

Eagles 10 – Titans 27 

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Mumble mumble mumble. Bitch bitch bitch. Grumble rant weep string of profanities.

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

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

1) Starters need to play a quarter: NOPE! Didn’t even dress. (NOT DONE)

2) Go deep to DJax: Again, didn’t dress, and even the sideline interview was shallow. (NOT DONE)

3) Look good running the ball: Let’s see… 16 handoffs, for 36 yards. That’s (carry the 12…) 2.25 per tote. You read that right. That’s not a typo. It was two and a motherfucking point two-five yards per carry! RB Jordan Howard (3 – 8 – 2.7 – 0 – 0) didn’t do much to signal that our run game has turned the corner. Then again, neither did anyone else. Isn’t that right, Josh “Do you want fries with that?” Adams? (NOT DONE)

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4) Testing LB depth: LB Zach Brown was stout against the run and didn’t invite any passes thrown his way in coverage. That made me happy. I thought that LB L.J. Fort looked very good out there. Especially in coverage. LB Nate Gerry overran his run fit on one play, and gave up a long run up the middle. It was shades of the 90 yard run that he surrendered to Redskins RB Adrian Peterson last season. The middle is probably the wrong spot for Gerry. S Johnathan Cyprien looked good when acting as a LB, but missed his deep S assignment, and helped give up a touchdown that at first looked like it was on Fort. The Eagles need to clearly define Cyprien’s role. (DONE)

So that brings us a Four Things score of 1 out of 4. In a lot of ways this was a wasted week, because any questions you had about the starters are still unanswered. Questions about the back-ups? Still unanswered. Maybe we’ll get some of those answers next week when we go visit QB Nick Foles down at his new digs in Jacksonville. QB Carson Wentz (if he dresses) vs Nick Foles. Should be a hot one!

On The Whole:

The thing about playing back-up exclusively in Preseason Game 4 is that there is no next game, and cutdowns are right on the back of that. There is real pressure to be had in that situation. Players reveal themselves in those moments.

Playing back-ups exclusively in the first game, takes the pressure is off, because they know they get a second audition in PsG 4. Did you see a sense of urgency out there last night? I know I sure didn’t.

I’m not trying to ruin anyone’s enthusiasm, but if the theme of this year is that everything matters, then this game should have looked as if the coaching staff took it seriously.

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There were some positives however. LT Andre Dillard looked flat out amazing for a a rookie, in his NFL debut. He was poised and cagey, despite not being physically overwhelming. DE Shareef Miller could end up as the 5th end in the rotation. He did a good job of setting the edge, and pressing the action upfield. His hand-fighting still needs work, though.

WHO NEEDS A RIVALRY?

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/07/16
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, playoffs, Rants, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

lovers rivalry

RECENTLY a pair of questions were posed to me: “Who is the rivalry between our teams more important to: the fans or the players? Have the fans just hated each other for so long, (that) it’s in our DNA now?”

The answer to Question One is tricky. However, just to pick a side and give an you answer, I’d have to lean towards it being more important to players.

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Slightly.

Used to be, a player spent most (if not all), of his career with one team. Often he’d spend years going against the same guy, twice a year. He got to know his enemy. He got to either truly respect the guy, or absolutely hate his guts.

Up and down the line, on both sides of the ball, match-ups were battles. In some cases, real battles. Not just to win the game, but often to settle old scores. Mounting scores. Men threw hands that landed loaded with real hatred. It was a different age back then. Player mobility has killed that.

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Rare now is the gladiator who will only don one helmet. Knowing this as a rookie, it’s no longer automatic for a player to cultivate a hatred for a player he sees twice a year. Too often there are situations like Oakland’s, where formerly bitter rivals (like WR Antonio Brown and LB Vontaze Burfict), end up teammates, who make a point of publicly “squashing past beefs”.

Still, players need the rivalries more than fans. Players need to make sure that when “(Insert Team) Week” comes around, that they say all the things fan want to hear. This is because fan-favorite players have more leverage come contract time. Especially if their jersey sells well. And nothing endears a player to fans faster, than trash talk that gets backed-up.

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November 12th, 1990. MLB Byron Evans lets QB Stan Humphries know what the fuck time it is, during “The Body Bag Game.”

For fans, rivalries are a sliding scale. For instance, most Eagles fans view the Cowboys as the bane of their existence. Not me. For me, it’s the Redskins. Stems from back to the 1990’s. The Cowboys frequently had strokes of luck that made me roll my eyes. The Redskins however, used to flat-out play dirty during games, and refs would act blind to it, then that prissy fa- …the effeminate Mark Rypien, would be so smug. GOD! They were so easy to hate.

As for Question Two, on whether rival fan hatred is now genetic… Ask any Eagles fan with a kid who roots for a rival. It’s not genetic. I know for a fact, because my Mom was a Cowboys fan, and she didn’t hate me (an Eagles fan), or my brother (a giants fan). So it’s not genetic. It’s not. (FTR: I happen to love my brother and I also like him.)

Who really benefits, are sports franchises. They make a ton of bank off of our Blood vs Crips mentality. “Yo homes! You can’t be wearin’ them colors, in this stadium…”

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Rivalries make the season more dramatic. They serve as a moralistic rally point, concentrate feelings of tribalism, and ultimately drive sales through the roof. Fans, players… pffft! No one needs rivalries more than the franchises themselves.

Understanding how important rivalries are, I’m still perplexed by the 2001 NFL realignment, which broke up divisions with five teams in them, and made every division a four team division.

While only 6 rivalry games per year seems more special(?), it means that it’s only 6/16 or 37.5% of the schedule. When there were 8 rivalry games it was 8/16 or 50% of the schedule. So while the division games are now more special, they now impact the schedule less. You can still go 10-6, and not need much Wild Card help, even if you lose every division game.

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Fail.

I miss there being five teams in the division. The top and bottom of a division are now too starkly defined. I miss that nebulous middle, and the frustrated players that came with it. So much bad blood. Helped fuel rivalries. I miss that.

BACKING UP NATE SUDFELD

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/07/09
Posted in: Conversations, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Rants, Roster, Super Bowl. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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HAVING QB Nate Sudfeld as the back-up to Carson Wentz, isn’t risky! In fact, it’s a very smart move for the Front Office to have made. For someone to write that it’s “risky” because he isn’t a more veteran presence, is an almost stunning display of ignorance and lack of foresight. These rogue writers better back-up off my QB!

Sorry, I started out ranting. Let me take a step back and explain. I read a ton of Eagles articles in the course of doing research for my articles, in order to make sure that when I write it, you can quote it, and rest assured that you’re 100% correct. Yesterday I read an article that said that the Eagles going with Sudfeld, instead of more veteran QB’s like Tyrod Taylor or Ryan Fitzpatrick, was a risky move.

Now normally when I read something I disagree with, I shrug and go to the next thing. So naturally I attempted the same thing yesterday. However, the longer the day got, the more it crept into my thoughts. Not just because I oppose it philosophically, but because it is fundamentally wrong. Not just incorrect, but downright WRONG.

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First of all, Nate has been here for two years and is familiar with the coaches, players, playbook, and core concepts of the Offensive system. He already has a firm grasp of everything, so there is no internal learning curve for him. If he finds himself pressed into playing, during film study and meetings, he can focus on learning the opponent. He’s at a point in his career where all of his learning can be external.

Bringing in a veteran, free agent QB, means teaching them a new system, new players, yada-blah, and etcetera. That of course doesn’t take into account whether the new player fits the team culture.

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Sudfeld is already a fucking Yahtzee. So why re-roll? Plus he’s a young player that the Eagles can develop. That development is important, because with all the young QB’s drafted in the last few years, Sudfeld likely won’t have many, (if any) starting opportunities come his way. Especially if Wentz stays healthier than he’s been over the last two seasons, and so Sudfeld can’t showcase his skills.

Being a career back-up is no young player’s dream. However, the idea of having longevity in a game they love, and getting to belong to, and contribute to, an era of success over a decade or so… That’s nothing to sneeze at. For the Eagles organization, that level of stability is also nothing to sneeze at.

I was trying to write this article without bringing up QB Nick Foles, but even 852 miles away, he’s still the elephant in the room. This needs to be addressed so that we can forever gain some perspective, and not base our view of the past on a mythology that seems to be spreading.

0-card.nick.foles.SBMVP

Part of the reason that article said we need a more veteran QB, is because that’s what Foles was. Foles was a back-up who had once been a starter. He was battle-tested. He’d played a playoff game. He was qualified to start. Hell, his seven TD game is still an NFL All-Time record (tied with QB Peyton Manning). Foles uniform from that game is ALREADY in Canton. Foles went on to become a Super Bowl Most Valuable Player. So apparently this is the formula, right?

Wrong. First of all, if your back-up is in, people generally expect less success. When Wentz went down, plenty of Eagles fans expressed serious doubts about Foles. No one cops to it NOW, but it was a real thing back during Weeks 15 – 17 in 2017.

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Should Wentz go down again, judging Sudfeld against Foles 2017 season is straight bullshit. If there’s a free agent QB out there who can keep a team in the hunt for a Lombardi, then why the fuck isn’t he starting?! Why is he a free agent?

Foles isn’t the standard, he’s the exception. He had a great run in late 2017, but basing our hunts for future back-ups on the 2017 season, is sheer madness. It’s unadulterated farce. Meanwhile, we have a great situation with Nate Sudfeld, right now. It’s important that we as Eagles fans recognize that, and don’t let these rogue writers promote the idea of the exceptional as the enemy of the good.

These rogue writers better back-up off my QB.