Super Bowl

A FRANK DISCUSSION

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/09/21
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Offense, Players, Rants, Super Bowl, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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WE got spanked last year. We keep talking about how talented this team is, and how deep it is, and yet it still under-performs. Every Eagles scribe (me included) has weighed in what’s wrong with parts (Defense, run game, Secondary, etc.), but no one has yet to address what ails the whole team.

So let me nutshell it for you.

Amid the high of being the defending champs, and RT Lane Johnson talking about how much fun things were here, and everybody writing a book, and blah-blah, our Eagles lost focus. The result was a team that did what most first-time champs do: They basked in the afterglow.

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There’s a great feeling to knowing that I’m in this shot. You’d need a microscope to see me, but I’m there.

The hungry dog, underdog mentality, gave way to a sort of well-meaning swagger. We didn’t have the cocky, “FUCK YOU.” variety of swagger. We had the well-meaning, self-confident sort. Which is kind of the root of the problem. I’ll get back to that when I finishing listing the symptoms that make up our condition.

Our loss of focus, and the wrong type of swagger, weren’t helped by the injuries that ravaged our Secondary last year. While those injuries did a lot to deepen us, many of the lessons we learned in 2018, were ignored or shelved (so far) in 2019. For instance, our starting CB’s should be Rasul Douglas and Avonte Maddox. They play with a chip on their shoulders and an aggression that Sidney Jones and Ronald Darby simply do not possess. Eagles CB Jalen Mills has that. (Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey also has that. IJS.)

When you add all these things together, they spelled 9-7 record, and a second round exit from the playoffs. In a very real sense, circumstance punched us in the mouth, hard enough to knock us unceremoniously on our ass. Being possessed of well-meaning swagger and not FUCK YOU swagger, we haven’t charged back, to give as good as we’ve got. So far we’ve just sat there. Like pussies.

Bleeding.

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From the Head Coach on down, almost nobody has it in their head that they’re going to MAKE things happen. Sure, we saw QB Carson Wentz in that Atlanta game, trying to will the team to a win on his own, but there weren’t enough guys thinking the same thing.

Mentally the Eagles seem to be in a defensive crouch. Nobody is hunting. We’re more focused on surviving, than on going out and making something happen. Magic only happens when you cast the spell. Silence, and inactivity yield nothing. Lacking the will to act, will only result in someone else getting what WE want.

We have plenty of talent. We have all sorts of depth and we’re putting it to the test now. What we need is for the team to decide if they want more than to just “get through it.” Circumstance kicked our ass in 2018, and we’ve yet to prove tough enough to come back at it.

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GO. GET. IT.

If we want to be Number One, we have to go get it. Period. There is no substitute. GO GET IT. We have to earn it. Otherwise we don’t deserve it.

I know on the eve of a game, this is hardly Pep Rally material, but it needs to be said, and you can’t count on anyone whom the Eagles pay, to be this honest. But again, it needed to be said.

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

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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…

ANOTHER FORMER COWBOY RETURNS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/07/30
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Rivals, Super Bowl, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2019 ZEKE HOLDOUT

THIS morning around 2:30, while watching “Speak For Yourself” I heard something that irritated me, mostly because it’s flat-out untrue. It was said that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones holds all the leverage in regards to the holdout of Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott. Given what just happened with former Steeler/current Jet RB LeVeon Bell, this represents old thinking.

The thinking is, because there are two years, not one year, remaining on Elliott’s contract, the Cowboys can sit pat and eventually Elliott will either return on his current deal, or sign the Cowboys “take it or leave it” offer. That thinking is shortsighted and focuses on a commodity based mindset. It does not take into account, the entirety of the picture here.

Look, every sports show that talks about this issue, will tell you about what the player stands to lose here. No one seems to be thinking much about Elliott’s leverage, or what the organization stands to lose. Even more pressing is what Jones stands to lose personally. Oh yes. He has skin in the game. Literally.

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Remember when Jones forced out head coach Jimmy Johnson? The reason was largely because Jones felt that he didn’t get enough of the credit for building the Cowboys into a two-time (1992 and 1993) Super Bowl winner. Jones wanted to prove that he could win one without Johnson, and hey, Cowboys won another Super Bowl in 1995 under head coach Barry Switzer. However, everyone with at least two brain cells said “Yeah, but those are all still Jimmy’s players. Barry and Jerry just rode shotgun.”

So from that day to this, Jerry Jones has been on a quest to win one without ‘Jimmy’s players’. The problem is that Jones is 76, and there are fewer days ahead than behind. He is literally running out of time to get what he wants. And therein lies Ezekiel Elliott’s leverage. It’s TIME.

Due to Jones race against the clock, he has the Cowboys built to win now. Their window is now. Elliott’s holdout derails that, because the team goes as he goes. If Elliott no show, he no go. He no go, they no go. That burns a year of Jones’s life, over a sum of money he’d be willing burn to warm his feet. Jones needs Elliott more than the money. The money is a meaningless commodity. What’s precious is his remaining time.

But the game of one-upmanship must be played right?

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So the Cowboys went out and signed RB Alfred Morris. Isn’t that just adorbs? They want to show Elliott that “the beat goes on”. They want to show him that they’re keeping it moving, keeping it shaking. Hot damn! You GO, Cowboys!

Except… The Cowboys have already had Morris. He was on the roster in 2016 and 2017. He was a teammate of, and the back-up to Elliott, before being released a year ago. If they really wanted Morris, they could have kept him. They didn’t. Could have had him months ago. They didn’t. So the Cowboys gallivanting around with some guy they settled for, won’t light a fire under Elliott. How could it? Why would it? Even Morris knows he’s just a seat warmer.

When Morris, or their rookie, or whomever else acting as a stand-in for the real thing, when that guy can’t deliver the goods, Jones will know that he’s wasting time. With every loss, that clock will tick louder. Louder and louder. Louder and louder.

There’s only so long left for Jerry to get what he’s spent decades craving, and Elliott is clearly the key to that. Whether Jones even has a chance at it, depends on him not playing the game of one-upmanship.

Then again, the game could go on and keep yielding the same old result:

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TRAINING CAMP 2019

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/07/26
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, Offense, Players, Roster, Special Teams, stats, Super Bowl. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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UNLESS your team just won the Super Bowl, there’s obviously some stuff you need to work on. Last year ended with some other team going home as the champs, so we’re in that category of teams who need to get their shi-  (ahem) that need to get better in at least one area.

MISSION: Get better in a few key areas.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We should strive to get better in ALL areas. Gotcha. 

Clichés aside, we need to focus on a few key areas that hurt us repeatedly during the 2018 season. Those areas are:

1) Running the ball.

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This image is from the days of LeSean McCoy. 

Our deficiency was more than just injury related. We rely on scheme to help clear lanes for our run game. Last year our scheme fell flat when our vertical threat (WR Mike Wallace) went down, and teams didn’t have to pull a man out of the box. WR DeSean Jackson gives us that again, but the our LG concerns me. He has a tendency to fall off of blocks. This has to get cleaned up if we’re to have a balance Offense.

2) Getting sacks. Not hurries. Not pass rush. We need actual sacks. Takedowns. Hits on meat. QB bodies littering the ground. I want to sacks this year. Lots of rough, violent, dirty sacks. The presence of DT Fletcher Cox should be helping us produce more hard numbers.

Hurries look like this:

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Close, I say close, but no C – gar. 

Sacks create more fumbles than hurries do. Sack-fumbles can turn into scoop and scores, reeeeeal easy. They also shake opposing QB’s, and get their o-linemen yelled at. Teammates argue over whose man that was. Hurries can lead to interceptions, but as last year proved, if we’re going against a cool-headed QB, it more often leads to completion percentages of 70 and above.

3) Keeping the pocket clean.

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For all the talk about QB Carson Wentz needing to slide, most of the time when QB’s get hurt, they’re in the pocket. If you look at many of his highlights, they feature him ducking under defensive linemen while IN the pocket. That can’t keep being a thing. The wall in front of him has to get better at producing 4 count protection. If a lineman can’t give you a 4 count, on 7 out of 10 pass pro downs in camp, he shouldn’t be a Starter. Period.

4) Return yardage. I get the statistical reason that many kickoffs aren’t returned anymore, but we’ve got to get more punt return yardage. In a sense, a punt return is the first offensive play of a drive. Returning a punt at least one third of it’s kicked distance, should be that unit’s routine objective. (Yes, a score would be better, but let’s not make the perfect the enemy of the good.) It’s highly unlikely that it one third returns would happen even half of the time, but a goal you don’t shoot for is a goal you are guaranteed not to hit. The recent addition of RB Darren Sproles should help here. A lot.

So that’s Four Things we need to work on. (Did you smile?)

Four PEOPLE we need to work on this year are:

LG Isaac Seumalo, RB Miles Sanders, DE Derek Barnett, and OLB Kamu Grugier-Hill.

Suemalo. He simply has too many plays where he doesn’t finish with his hands on his man. He also doesn’t root opponents off the line when they line up over his helmet. That’s a power issue. Our guy here needs to do more squats. 

Much of the Eagles run game relies on movement, and sliding sideways to open the hips of defenders, to prevent them from anchoring. Because of that, Seumalo (as well as C Jason Kelce) is able to generate high ratings for “shielding” or “running shove” type blocks, instead of locking on and putting a defender “on skates”.

With 4 starts in 2016, 2 in 2017 (SB), and 9 in 2018, he wasn’t relied on to do as much power run blocking as he’ll be asked to do in 2019. He needs to be able to consistently win at the point of attack, or this unit will look the way it did when he started from Week 5 to Week 14. The run game was anemic, because we could only run inside to the right. That has to change in 2019.

Sanders. He can be eased into a running and catching role. Those things come naturally to him. NFL pass protection will be another story. If he can’t pick up a blitz, he’ll never be more than a situational back. Luckily he has Duce Staley as a coach, so he’ll be well taught. The issue lies entirely with his application of what he learns.

Many fans expect/want him to emerge as the Eagles top RB. That’s the result of fans here not doing their homework on RB Jordan Howard. That’s also the result of fans not acknowledging the Eagles preference for splitting up the RB workload. Sanders will play, but he will have to share the ball. That is the culture here. Teaching him our culture has to be a key component of this preseason.

Barnett. What I want to see from him, is how fast he disengages from blocks, where a hand lands on his chest. Does he chop and spin? Does he rip and toss? Or does he get grabbed by the yoke of his collar and neutralized?

We’re at a point where we need to see production from Barnett, and there is no better indicator of his coming production, than seeing how fast he goes from blocked to unblocked. Th reason for wanting to measure time from “hand in chest”, is to see how long it takes for him to defeat a good block, not just a lousy one. I want to see that Barnett can generate sacks, not just be gifted with one here and there.

Grugier-Hill. KGH flashed in some games last year, but disappeared far too often. Of course, he also spent last year making the jump from Special Teamer to Defensive Starter. We all knew going in, that it was going to be a bumpy ride. While he didn’t seem to be blowing many assignments out there, he just didn’t make his presence felt enough by opposing offenses.

With the addition of MLB Zach Brown, I’d like to see KGH take a step towards helping him get settled into the system. That will indicate KGH’s comfort level, and help forecast whether he’ll still be waiting to read, or reacting to keys and then trying to make plays.

This isn’t the list of things we need to win the Super Bowl. This is the list of things we need to improve on from 2018.

Last year despite being decimated by injury, we finished 9 – 7, just one game behind the Cowboys who finished 10 – 6 and won the division. We were swept by them, in two games, by a total margin of 13 points. The first game was 7, the second was 6. In overtime.

With a healthier team, and improvement in the aforementioned areas, we’re not just talking about reversing that sweep. We’re talking about sweeping the NFC East this year.

Let’s get to it.

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Anyone interested in another celebration here?

THE RETURN OF 2001

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/07/24
Posted in: Conversations, Front Office (F.O.), NFC Championship, NFC East, playoffs, Rivals, Super Bowl, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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GREATNESS is out there. Can you see it?

Calling me optimistic about the upcoming season, would be to grossly understate the issue. In fact, when the subject of the Eagles comes up, I’m generally overtaken by feelings of extreme calm and pleasantness. Until yesterday, I couldn’t understand why that was. Then the Dallas Cowboys cut a relatively expendable WR, and it became as clear as day to me.

The days of Eagles football circa 2001, are back.

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Think back to 2001. Franchise QB, key players inked to long term deals, no distractions in the locker room, comfortable coaching staff. The result was a four year, 48 – 16 run, that included four straight division wins, four appearances in the NFC Championship game, and one Super Bowl appearance. True, wins are better than appearances, but you have to get there to win OR lose.

It’s true, we were also 11 – 5 in 2000, but that was off of a last place schedule, following a 5 – 11 season. By 2001, each of those seasons was accomplished vs a 1st place schedule. We were legit MONSTERS.

By contrast, back then it seemed, if our division rivals counted their testicles five times, they’d never get the same number twice. They just couldn’t do anything right. Funny thing. If you look around the NFC East right now, you’ll see shades of that going on, all over again.

You have one team that can’t give away talent fast enough. Another team that can’t or won’t make adjustments to it’s approach to pretty much anything regarding offense, defense, or team culture. The third of our rivals, despite being the most valued sports franchise on Earth, doesn’t seem to understand how money works.

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It’s true! Meanwhile, this year’s Eagles roster is consistently regarded as in the top five, in terms of talent. Team culture is as highly regarded around here, as talent. Our financial house is so in order, that we were able to use it as a weapon, which has since, severely handicapped our most competitive rival, in terms of distraction. (Thank God, that Howie Roseman is on OUR side!)

The calm pleasantness that I feel, isn’t because I expect a great 2019. It’s because I’ve seen this before, and I know how this all plays out. We’re not just set up for a great season of Eagles football. We’re set up for a great era of Eagles football.

There will be losses. There will be injuries. There will be controversies. There will be things we cannot see coming. However, there will always be the team, the fans, and the dream. There will always be us.

Greatness is out there. Can you see it?

DARREN SPROLES = SUPERBOWL?

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/07/20
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, Offense, Players, playoffs, Roster, Special Teams, Super Bowl. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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JUNE 30th 2019: I wrote an article saying that we needed to bring back RB Darren Sproles, mostly to be a Punt Returner. The question was: Did the Eagles see the same need that I saw? Well, after signing him on July 19th, part of a statement on the Eagles website reads: “His dynamic punt return skills are second to none. We can’t wait to get started next week.”

Nowhere in that article does the team mention his role in the Offense, but they get right down to talking about him as a PR man, don’t they!? If I were to venture a guess, I’d say that once the Eagles staffer who reads my articles took my idea upstairs, the brass hurt their necks nodding in agreement.

Really, the Eagles need to just hire me, so that I can suggest these moves much sooner, and behind closed doors.

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Just so that we’re clear, it’s probably not wise to expect a huge offensive role for Sproles. He can still contribute there, but with so much young talent, why not let his load be to help develop them, and start him on his way as a member of our coaching staff? Sort of a player/coach, in the mold of former Cowboys RB Dan Reeves.

(Few words of advice to the Eagles: When we get to the playoffs, don’t try to add extra packages for Sproles, just to manufacture a few big moments for him. Do what got you there. “Dance with the girl who brung ya”. Don’t. Get. Cute. Let being on the field be good enough for him. )

Now that it’s happened, I can sigh a sigh of relief. This signing was massive. Without it we still narrowly win the division, but we likely crash on the rocks in the second round again. Just one more fun-to-watch, plucky team, that doesn’t win enough hidden yardage to squeak ahead in a playoff fist-fight. (Pssst! That’s the hidden reason why we beat Atlanta 15 – 10 in 2017.)

This time with a PR man, improved edge rushing, AND deep speed on the perimeter, we should smother opponents and advance to the NFC Championship Game, almost in a walk. Injuries could change this, but as of now, EXPECT the Eagles to at least play in this Super Bowl.

At least.

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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.

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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.