Super Bowl

2019 DRAFT WISH LIST

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/04/24
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Draft, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Roster, Special Teams, Super Bowl, trade, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

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THIS is not a Mock Draft. I never try to predict what the Eagles will do in a Draft. Mostly because unless you work in their Scouting department, you haven’t the faintest clue as to what they’ll do. Which is fitting. Because, if they aren’t picking in the top FIVE, they never have much of an idea either.

The Eagles don’t use a “needs based” Draft philosophy. They instead take a “best athlete available” approach. Meaning that, they’ve ranked every player entered in the Draft, and will take the highest ranked player on their board, REGARDLESS of his position, when their pick comes up.

Given the high number of trades before and during the Draft, this allows them more flexibility, and won’t get them jammed up if “their guy” is picked before they can get him. The Eagles are not alone in this. Most of the NFL drafts this way now.

Since I have no way of knowing how the Eagles have ranked each prospects, I approach my Wish List from a “needs based” standpoint. I make a list of what we need, and then try to weave a solid draft out of what should still be there according to the Draft order as of the moment this article is published.

This is (more or less) what the Eagles Draft would look like, if I were the GM. Whether you like it or not, I’d like to hear your thoughts or your ideas.

1st round: No. 25 overall (TRADE this pick, CB Jalen Mills and WR Nelson Agholor to MIA to move up to No 13 overall) DT Christian Wilkins.

Wilkins (6’3 315) spends a lot of time being double-teamed and still manages to be disruptive in the middle of the offense. He’s not a pass rush specialist per se, but placed beside DT Fletcher Cox, in a rotation with DT Malik Jackson that keeps them all fresh, would rob opposing coaches and QB’s of a good night’s rest on the regular.

2nd round: No. 53 overall WR Parris Campbell 

You didn’t like the part where I mentioned trading Agholor. Relax. I wouldn’t leave you hanging without a plan to raise you higher than where you started. Trust me. There’s always a plan. Campbell is bigger (6’0″ 205), faster (4.31), more slippery, and comes in as a more competitive blocker. His presence would make WR Alshon Jeffery even more dangerous. Did I mention that he also has kick return experience? Oh! My bad. He also has kick return experience. Which we need. And did I mention that we wouldn’t have to overpay for a Slot in 2020? Like I said. There’s always a plan.

2nd round: No. 57 overall S Darnell Savage 

He’s a little smaller (5’11” 198) than Malcolm Jenkins, but Savage has the same heady aggressiveness that you want at this position. Whether FS, SS, or Slot, he can play them all. Again, similar to Jenkins. Savage provides an insurance policy at a level we don’t currently have. Oh yeah. He’s also regional guy with a great name for a jersey and headlines. C’mon, you wouldn’t wear a jersey with SAVAGE on the back? You wouldn’t like to see a SAVAGE hit? You know you like the sound of those. 

4th round: No. 127 overall RT Bobby Evans 

RT Evans (6’4″ 312) likes to see his opponent on the ground, and seems to enjoy putting them there. In the past, the Eagles have said that they wouldn’t move Lane Johnson to LT. However, if it does become necessary, it’d be nice to have a little Runyan-esque play on the right. 

4th round: No. 138 overall RB Alex Barnes

Barnes (6’0″ 226) has a 5th round grade on him. However, he’s a guy who can run it, catch it, pass protect, act as a lead blocker, pick up short yardage, and take direct snaps. All of which you’ll see him do, and do well, in this 12 minute video. So no. I don’t buy him lasting until the 5th. I don’t buy the 4th either, but if he’s still there, we’re idiots not to take him. 

5th round: No. 163 overall DE Shareef Miller

Miller (6’4″ 254) does a solid job of playing “the run first” on every down. He sets and wins the edge, but doesn’t do  a good job of exploiting it when he wins it. Too often he runs himself out of plays, or doesn’t bend inside when he has the Tackle on his heels. These are things that can be fixed quickly with coaching, and should have been already. (Then again PSU’s coaching staff is now infamous for letting some things go on too long.) Given that Chris Long‘s game is also “set the edge–play the run–rush the passer” Miller could be just the rotational player to fill Long’s (on-field) role. 

6th round: No. 198 overall C Ross Pierschbacher

It was necessary (and ironic) to use video of RB [Josh Jacobs], to show Pierschbacher (6’4″ 307), since he had no video of his own. While he’s not the biggest or strongest at his position, he’s really smart, active and he moves well. Remind you of anyone who’s likely to retire soon? He also has experience playing LG and RG, so he’s depth at worst. 

So this is how I would restock our shelves. Being a playoff team, and a year removed from a Super Bowl win, we by no means need an overhaul. However, we do have to start making moves not only to sustain our success in the moment, but to ensure it for the future.

 

 

#11 EFFECTIVE TARGETING

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/04/12
Posted in: Coaching, Offense, Players, Roster, stats, Super Bowl, The 12, Uncategorized, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

11-EFFECTIVE TARGETING

THIS one is less about “adopt and adapt”, and more about “get back to get back”. What that means is, to get back to the Super Bowl, we have to get back to what REALLY got us there, and what really won it for us. What we need to get back to, is giving the QB room to operate the Offense.

Two years ago, WR Torrey Smith took the lid off of defenses, and allowed the QB to render our intermediate passing game, as safe as a short passing game. Smith himself didn’t do a lot of statistical damage (36 – 430 – 11.9 – 2), despite playing in every game.

The real damage that Smith did, was open up the defense underneath, which then allowed players like WR Nelson Agholor (62 – 768 – 12.4 – 8) and TE Zach Ertz (74 – 824 – 11.1 – 8) to have career years.

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2015. A Bills player gets a stiff arm to the mug and it Ertz so good. Eagles win 23 – 20

With so many receivers to cover in the intermediate area, that loosened up the box and allowed the Eagles to run for over 2,000 yards, despite not having a superstar RB on the roster.

Replacing Smith in 2018, was WR Mike Wallace, who was brought in to fill the role of deep threat. Wallace was hurt in the second game of the season, and never caught a single pass. Having lost it’s catalyst, the offense never seemed to find it’s legs until around Week 12.

At no point did the running game ever recover.

Now we have the King of the Deep Threats, WR DeSean Jackson, back on our roster.

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2010. DJax hangs 210 yards on the Cowboys, including this 91 yard pimp-hand, drawn across the spitter. Eagles win 30 – 27

If we say enough prayers for his hamstrings, he’ll likely give us more as a receiver than Smith did, which means that he’ll be a very credible threat, thus opening up the Offense.

That means we have to use him. The more targets he sees (and catches), the more afraid opposing coaching staffs will be of him. That doesn’t mean he should become our number one WR! Far from it.

Assuming QB Carson Wentz attempts 40 passes per game, the actual target pecking order should look something like Ertz (9), WR Alshon Jeffery (9), Agholor (7), Jackson (6).

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Mind you, those numbers represent how many targets (not catches), those players need to see in a game. (Those remaining 9 attempts could go to RB’s and reserve players.)

If you notice, that’s 15 to the outside, and 16 to the inside, per game. Again, the remaining 9 passes are all crimes of opportunity. The idea is to make the game between the hashmarks a high percentage one. Run or pass, with the top coming off the defense, the deck is stacked in our favor at every snap.

We just need to make sure Djax sees enough targets.

And to pray for those hammies.

THE PATRIOTS AREN’T GREAT

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/01/28
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, Rants, Super Bowl, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

THIS is an article about the New England Patriots.

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Actually, no. No it isn’t. This is an article about how the rest of the AFC has been complicit, in making the New England Patriots seem better than they really are.

I’m not going to harp on the cheating and the scandals. Me railing about the worst kept secrets in pro sports, would totally undercut what I’m getting at here. This is not about attacking the legitimacy of New England’s achievements. Nor is it about questioning the credibility of the current NFL for their stance on all things Patriot.

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In fact, let’s banish that for the duration of this article. For the sake of argument, lets say that every call, score, win, and division crown in the last nineteen years were ALL gotten by 100% legit means. Let’s say that the Patriots earned it all, and that they are really as good as advertised.

Let’s say that the rest of their conference, simply isn’t a match for them.

That very statement is a problem. Saying that the Patriots are that good, invalidates nearly half of the sport of pro football. It makes the rest of the AFC superfluous. In fact, if that statement is true, then the Owners on the Competition Committee, need to take a very hard look at what is going on here. Because it means that the sport is broken.

The Patriots have employed a single coach for just one year shy of two decades. There is plenty of film on what the he likes to run on both sides of the ball. There are a ton of former players who have cycled through that team, who have then carried intel to their new teams.

The coach’s offensive system isn’t a mystery. The basic tenets:

*Run on early downs, to eat clock and set up manageable 3rd downs.

*Attack the middle of the field with short to moderate passes, to punish and dissuade blitzing.

*Protect the QB by spreading the defense, so that he knows pre-snap where to quickly unload the ball.

*And run it all through a favorable mismatch, or the exploitation of an opponents weakness.

For example, here is a play in classic Patriots style:

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ESPN diagrammed this, this year like they were explaining cold fission. Meanwhile I figured this out over a decade ago, just by watching it on television! However, the rest of the AFC, especially the AFC East, has yet to figure out how to stop it. Nor have they decided to employ these tenets themselves, to become just as dangerous. Mentally it seems that they’re asleep at the switch.

Bah! Maybe I’m being short-sighted and not giving enough credit to their QB, who has been there almost as long as the coach. As time has gone on, he’s clearly become a stronger, faster athlete, right? That’s why his numbers are better than they were the year before, every year.

Except that’s not the case. Year in and year out, the QB hovers around 30 touchdowns and 64% accuracy, with exception of an extreme outlier in 2007, where he somehow threw 50 touchdowns, and had an accuracy mark of 69%. (Neither of which he’s ever approached again. For some reason.)

So how is it that the rest of the AFC can’t catch on to two people, doing something more or less one way, for two decades? Don’t misunderstand, there have been challengers.

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The Colts had a couple runs when Peyton Manning was there. Denver also had a couple runs under Peyton Manning. The Steelers have had a few under Ben Roethlisberger. But by and large, the rest of the conference has been playing Dizzy Bat for 20 years now.

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Note the team doing this. While wearing pads. See my point?

It’s not like the Patriots load themselves up with the most talent. They never have the most dangerous receivers. They never have the league’s rushing leader. They’ve built a few solid contributors out of other teams cast-offs. They’ve even been up and down on defense over the span.

So it’s not like talent is what’s bailing them out. Their offensive scheme isn’t a mystery, and their defense is trash at times. So what is it? Perhaps it’s other team’s stupidity?

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This is an 8-man box vs Rex Burkhead. Go ‘head and read that again.

The Patriots are less a product of doing anything great, and more product of other teams being wasteful, slow to learn, and slower to adapt, to what is almost mind-numbing repetition. The mere fact that New England has been challenged by less than a handful of conference rivals, but repeatedly challenged by the same ones, only drives home my point: The AFC is trash and the Patriots are simply fortunate enough to play in the most remedial division, of a shit-show conference.

Today the upshot of all of this is, most of the country is already shrugging over the upcoming Super Bowl 53. Ticket prices have fallen as Los Angels fans are way too fickle to travel cross-country, like (Saint Louis) real fans would. Patriots fans are simply bored from going so much.

It’ll be interesting to see what the domestic television ratings are, and if announcers and media types, try to hype how high the rating were in foreign markets. (As if NFL fans care about how many Hondurans watched a game that we tuned into for the commercials.)

I’m not saying that the Patriots suck or aren’t good, but if the Patriots were truly as good as advertised, the coach and QB’s record in Super Bowls would be 8 – 0, not 5 – 3.

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(Sigh)

Real team dominance looks like 4 – 0 in the Super Bowl. Right Joe?

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I have no idea what that fifth ring is. GOAT bling, maybe?

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: DIVISIONAL ROUND : SAINTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/01/14
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, stats, Super Bowl. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

IF nothing else, the ballooning debate over which QB we should ride with, has had most of the air let out of it. That’s the only silver lining here. The rest is muck and drivel.
I spent the latter half of the fourth quarter saying that I lay last nights loss at the feet of Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz. This is due to his repeated unwillingness to make adjustments, even when it’s clear that our opponents have. Former Eagles OLB Seth Joyner later echoed my assessment, and also fingered Schwartz for calling too passive of a game.

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Eagles 14 – Saints 20

QB Nick Foles (18/31 – 58.0% – 201 – 1 – 2) didn’t have his “A” game yesterday, an with the Eagles having no kind of run game, it was all on him to conjure up a win. It might have been possible had the Offense had more opportunities with the ball. Instead, DC Jim Schwartz seemed determined to make sure that the Saints had all the time and space that they needed, to operate their offense.

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) Spread the Ball: Three receivers with 50 yards or better was what we ordered. Two receivers with 50 or better is what we got. NOT DONE

2) Sack Attack: We got a couples of sacks, but we did not keep hands up in the QB’s face. As a result he had clear lines of sight to convert key third down after key third down. NOT DONE

3) Win Rushing yards: We started Wendell Smallwood. You can’t win rushing yards without a RB. NOT POSSIBLE

4) Take away the short pass: With all the off-coverage, and vanilla zones, we didn’t take away the short pass, the long pass, the hall pass…. NOT DONE

That makes this week’s Four Things score 0 out of 4. That also brings the 2018 – 2019 to a close.

While it would have been great to have this year end like last year, we all know that no team can win it all, every year. So we are are going to see more playoff runs that end like this, than like last year. Which will still make for exciting seasons.

That being said, this season was a fun ride while it lasted.

On The Whole:

After jumping out to a 14 – 0 lead, we had no business losing this game the way that we did. Personally I see this as worse than the 48 – 7 regular season loss, because it feels like it was almost an inside job. The only thing that keeps me from thinking Schwartz got an envelope, is the fact that he’s been doing this shit since he got here. Here’s what I said in Four Things Reviewed after the Super Bowl:
“ 4) South Paw Switch: To be fair, I didn’t really expect this to get done, since it isn’t actually DC Jim Schwartz’s M.O. to make wholesale changes at the half. It would have however, kept the Patriot from outscoring us 21 -19 in the second half. (NOT DONE) ”

This is who Schwartz is, and this is what we have to live with. For as long as he’s here. Given that this was the last year of his contract though….

THERE IS NO PLAN.

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/01/09
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Conversations, Crazy Talk, Fans, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, playoffs, Roster, Super Bowl, trade. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

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MY position a couple weeks ago, had QB Carson Wentz starting, and QB Nick Foles returning to the bench, if the Eagles made these 2018-2019 NFL playoffs. It was the only thing that made sense out of not putting Wentz on Injured Reserve after he was found to have fractures in his back. After all, you keep an athlete active to play him. If he isn’t going to play at all, you shut him down for the year, and put him on IR. That’s how this game works. It’s no-brainer kind of stuff.

Wentz playing in these playoffs seemed like a given, due to several (still pertinent) factors:

1) The Eagles need to evaluate how much money they’re going to pay Wentz on his extension.

2) Wentz’s contract will likely set the new market.

3) Raiders QB Derek Carr missed one game with this injury in 2017, and Lions QB Matt Stafford missed zero games with this injury in 2018. (Wentz missing these last FOUR games indicates that he’s not as tough or as hungry to compete.)

All those things can be thrown out the window, if the Eagles have already decided that Wentz’s next contract isn’t their problem. In which case, you shut him down to avoid any distraction, and chart a clear course with Foles. Again, this is all no-brainer stuff.

Unless of course, the Front Office expectation was that Foles was going to flop against Chicago’s #1 ranked defense. Had that happened, it could be stated that there is no “Foles magic”, that there’s nothing to see, and we can move on.

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If that’s what the FO wanted, it completely blew up in their faces with a clutch touchdown drive, followed by a miraculous, unheard of, tipped and double doinked field goal miss.

NOW the problem is, with every playoff win, the notion of Foles magic grows exponentially. The farther we go, the harder it will be to get this fan base to accept Wentz again as the starter, with out half of the base calling it a step backwards.

Should Foles win another Super Bowl this year, shipping him out, or (finding a way to afford him and) sitting him behind Wentz again, sets Wentz up as a sham QB. In fact, if we repeat, anything short of Wentz winning one next year, says that the Eagles are where we were before we drafted Wentz. Searching for a QB who can deliver.

The only way out of this, is for Wentz to play and win in these playoffs. That’s it. At that point Foles isn’t magic, and Wentz isn’t magic, the Eagles are magic. Nothing short of that gets the whole fan base all on one bus, and allows Foles to leave here and Wentz to stay here smoothly.

Short of a Wentz  won SB in 2019 or 2020, Head Coach Doug Pederson can look forward to the remainder of his tenure being marred by questions about whether Wentz is over-paid, and if his bosses goofed when they took away the only magic this franchise has ever laid claim to.

Not a good look.

2018 SEASON REVIEW: QUARTER FOUR

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/01/05
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, Roster, Special Teams, stats, Super Bowl. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

SEASON Reviews are usually done at the end of the season. (Duh, right?) A few are done at the halfway mark, and/or at the end. Starting in 2017, Eaglemaniacal.com began treating the season like a game, and breaking it into four quarters. Since football is a hard sport, we’ll take a hard look at where our team stands at the moment (in relation to where it started), and where it needs to go next.

STATUS: 9 – 7 overall, 4 – 2 division, 6 – 6 conference, 2nd in the NFC East

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OPPONENTS:

L: Dallas (10 – 6)

W: Los Angeles Rams (13 – 3)

W: Houston (11 – 5)

W: Washington (7 – 9)

 

OVERVIEW:

Put it all together and finish strong. We’re 6 – 6 today. We don’t see the playoffs with a record of less than 9 – 7. Running the table would be awesome, but (barring a miracle of mathematics) we have to have three of these four.

Nailed it!! That was the mission for this last quarter and the Eagles responded in excellent fashion, despite losing(?) QB Carson Wentz for the final three games of the regular season and perhaps the entire playoffs.

Not only did the Eagles manage to string consecutive wins together, the team did it against playoff caliber teams, while playing (in essence) weekly win-or-go-home games, since our last loss of the season, against Dallas.

Though injuries ravaged the regular season, a few players are beginning go find their way off the trainers table, and onto the playing field again. Coupling those guys with young players who were forced to grow up fast, will give the Eagles playoff push, the shot in the arm needed to give us a real chance.

GRADES:

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QB: (B) Nick Foles has played so well, that I doubt many fans realize that he’s thrown 6 touchdowns and 3 picks over that span. Add in a lost fumble, and you have 4 turnovers in three weeks. That weighs even heavier upon realizing that he didn’t throw a single scoring pass against the Rams. The fact is, he’s played excellent situational football. Though his production may not be consistent, he’s been big in big moments.

RB: (C ) This position has been good in spots. Josh Adams has been pure trash. He’s gotten plenty of carries, but he hasn’t been able to convert them into yards, because he doesn’t run through contact, doesn’t even employ a forward lean. He’s soft. Darren Sproles on the other hand, since coming back from injury, has been playing out of his mind whenever they let him touch the ball. Even Wendell Smallwood has become a more efficient runner. 

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TE: (B) NFL Record Holder Zach Ertz and rookie Dallas Goedert have combined for 35 catches and 3 scores over the last four games. Goedert has made three catches of 24 yards or longer as he’s become a consistent weekly contributor, averaging 3 catches per game over the span.

WR: (B) Alshon Jeffrey and Nelson Agholor have become dangerous again. Combining for 5 scores in these last four games as opposed to 5 in the first twelve, they’ve also been employed more as deep targets. Golden Tate however, still seems to be figuring things out, and the playoffs is no place for that. Last quarter I suggested that Agholor be switched out of the Slot for Jordan Matthews. I still think this is the way to go, but Agholor needs to move outside, while Tate is moved to the bench.

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OT: (C ) In the last couple weeks, LT Jason Peters has been showing flashes of why he is still considered one of the best in the game. RT Lane Johnson allowed a shot on QB Nick Foles last week that forced Foles from the game. As a lineman, you just can’t allow shots like that.

OG: (B) We are 5 – 2 When Stefen Wisniewski starts at LG. That includes 3 – 0 since he regained the spot. Under Isaac Seumalo we were 4 – 5. RG Brandon Brooks has been as quiet, consistent and solid as your banister.

C: (C ) Jason Kelce continues to have issues with shotgun snaps, repeatedly hitting QB Nick Foles in the crotch area or lower.

DE: (B) Brandon Graham, Michael Bennett and Chris Long have to be the best three man DE trio in the NFL. They’ve been excellent against the run, and have supplied very consistent pressure vs the pass. My big knock on this position, is that no one player seems to be able to get two games in a row with a sack. It would be nice to have a threat like that.

DT: (B) Over the last four games Fletcher Cox has 5.5 sacks, a forced fumble and has generally been a problem for anyone lining up across from him. Haloti Ngata is finally able to give us the boost he was brought her to give us. In the absence of Tim Jernigan, Ngata was asked to play more snaps per game, than anyone had anticipated. It ran him down and he suffered a leg injury. With Jernigan being back now, and Ngata now healthy, he can focus on giving us a few dominating snaps per game. Treyvon Hester seems to be finding a niche in that rotation.

OLB: (C ) We simply don’t get enough impact plays from this position. Kamu Grugier-Hill did notch a forced fumble and his first career sack, and Nigel Bradham broke up two passes, but that’s all the splash plays that we’ve gotten from them in this quarter.

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MLB: (C ) Nate Gerry filled in for Jordan Hicks for the first two games of this quarter. Gerry didn’t start, but played quite a bit as the de facto MIKE. Neither player has been a standout, but they’ve been doing their part to make the system work.

S: (B) Malcolm Jenkins and Corey Graham haven’t really produced many impact plays this quarter, but they’ve been better at communicating with the Corners, which has allowed that position to pick up it’s play recently.

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CB: (B) From an “F” last quarter to a “B” in this one, despite the fact that so far Sidney Jones is still a disappointment. Rasul Douglas and Avonte Maddox have been playing out of their minds. Between them in four games they have 3 picks, 5 passes defensed and half a sack. Douglas has not only played well in coverage, he’s been a beast in run support and at blowing up screens. Former Bear Cre’Van LeBlanc has also contributed a couple big stops in the last few weeks.

LS: (B) Reliable

P: (C ) There may be some leg fatigue setting in for Cam Johnston. Of his 14 punts, 7 were returned for a 5.7 yard average, but over the last two games his net yards per punt is down to about 34 yards.

K: (C ) Jake Elliott has stumbled a bit recently. He’s 7 of 8 on field goal attempts, and 10 of 12 on extra point kicks. What’s more, 12 of his 24 kickoffs have been returned this quarter, as opposed to 3 of 17 last quarter.

PR/KR: (C ) RB Darren Sproles has averaged 9.0 yards per punt return over this quarter. The only issue is, he’s only returned one punt in each game. Recent signee RB Boston Scott is a fringe player playing like he knows that he’s a fringe player. On his 4 kick returns, it’s been clear that he’s thinking home-run, every time.

KC: (A) Last quarter we gave up 5.7 yards per punt return, and 19.5 per kickoff return. At no point did we allow a Special Teams score.

SINCE LAST QUARTER:

The playoffs came early for the Eagles. It has been win or pack in the season, since Week 15. Despite losing QB Carson Wentz for a second year in a row, just weeks before the playoffs, the team did what they needed to, in order to claim their spot in the post-season. All the while putting the NFL on notice, that we are BACK, and NO ONE is safe.

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MISSION FOR THIS QUARTER:

The regular season is over. We are now in the post-season. There is one more quarter-season to go. Four more games to reach the highest pinnacle in all of sports:

That of NFL Champion.

Though it will not be easy, there is a very simple mission that lies ahead for this team:

Win one game. Then win a second. Then win a third. Then win a fourth.

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GO GET ‘EM CHAMPS!

FOUR THINGS: WK 3: EAGLES-COLTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/09/20
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, Roster, Super Bowl. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

W3-IND

NICK Foles! He of seven touchdowns, the Snow Bowl and Super Bowl LII. Three of the greatest moments in Eagles history.

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Thank you for the way you stepped up, and did what few of us (I was on-board, early), thought you could do. As I said before the Atlanta game in January, we could have scarcely been in better hands. More than that, thank you for the grace with which you are stepping out of the spotlight, as QB Carson Wentz makes his return.

Let’s get this out of the way right now. We’re glad that Wentz can come back, but we’re going to spend the game obsessing over his knee. Anytime any Colt brushes him, we’re going to be on our feet, ready to punch a guy in the helmet. Any Offensive Lineman who gets pushed back into Wentz, or who steps on his foot, might find that his car has been ticketed, towed, impounded and crushed. Carson has to make it out of this game no worse than he went in. Oh yeah, and a win would also be nice.

Like Week 3 against the giants last year, our season could very well pivot on the character we show here. And I’m pretty sure the coaching staff sees it exactly that way.

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

1) Protect the QB: That doesn’t mean keep him from getting hit, it means keep him from getting rattled. He’s had no preseason and hasn’t seen live-action in most of a year. He will be rusty, and the game will get away from him in moments. Wentz likes to air the ball out, so putting brakes on him might only make him feel that total confidence in him hasn’t returned. Let him play. Let him fall. Let him figure it out when he screws up. The best way to get a man’s best, is to treat a man, like a man.

2) Mix up coverages: The Secondary plays Single-high almost exclusively and that’s making it too easy for opposing QB’s to read and anticipate deep routes. Also, giving up 5 yard cushions on every play has got to stop. Same with TE’s getting clean releases. This shit has to stop! Sprinkle in some Cover Two. Play some bump-and-run, here and there. Redirect TE’s and slots further into traffic. Quit being stupid out there. It’s robbing us of sacks and easy turnovers, and last week it cost us an entire game.

3) Introduce a new wrinkle: Lost in all the talk about returning QB’s is the fact that Indy’s head coach was our Offensive Coordinator last year. That means he’ll be familiar with our core concepts, most of our playbook, play keys, players, and even the way some of our players and coaches think. He will spend this week prepping his team to beat us mentally. That means we have to add something to the mix that he hasn’t seen from us. RPO’s and our Screen game? They’ll be looking for those. A HB Option would be nice. Perhaps a couple of Power Sweeps?

 

4) Come out in Rally mode: With Wentz returning, and WR Jordan Matthews

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coming back, it seems like new life has been breathed into a sleeping gi- (noooo, I need another word here!) a sleeping Hulk (how’s that?). However, we can’t forget that the QB has to prove himself again, the WR’s are still banged up, the Secondary is leaky, and the O-Line has shown some wear already. Everyone needs to come out playing for each other this week. Everyone needs to be receptive to constructive criticism, and everyone needs to be honest and tactful about giving it.

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:

Remember the touchdown that we gave up to the Vikings in the playoffs last year, when LB Najee Goode didn’t know his assignment? Guess who’s starting for the Colts at OLB? So TE Zach Ertz should have a field day out there. The Colts front seven isn’t particularly stout against the run, nor do they boast a single dangerous pass rusher. This is as good a game for Wentz to return in, as any.

Allowing a QB to complete 70% of his passes is a great recipe for losing a game. Despite the Eagles defending their over-reliance on Single-high coverage, Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz is too smart to not switch it up this week. If this were on the road, I’d pick the Colts, but it’s in Philly. Between the rush, the crowd and mixing the coverage, this has the feel of a 2 or 3 turnover game. 

PREDICTION: EAGLES 21 – Colts 17

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