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FOUR THINGS – WK 15 – EAGLES – REDSKINS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/12/13
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, Offense, Players, Preview, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

WK15-WAS

THIS week has to be about the sweep. Whether it’s a 64 – 0 blowout, or a 9 – 8 squeaker on a last second Field Goal, the “W” still counts the same. It’s that “W” that we need. Pretty, ugly, or pretty ugly, whatever. We just need the win.

Our mission is to keep this train moving downhill towards the playoffs. We have some momentum, we need to build on that by sweeping this team.

Since our last meeting, it seems like everyone has started at QB for the Redskins. Me, you, the guy over there watching you read this. The ‘skins handed a helmet to anyone who’d buy a $4 ticket, but were eventually forced to start the guy they drafted. Over the last 5 weeks he’s been abysmal, but he still has a 2 – 3 record. So we can’t take this team lightly.

Everyone wants to talk about how Week 16 is The Big One for us. Really until we actually qualify, each one of these game is “The Big One”. One loss could finish us for 2019. So not looking past Washington is imperative. We need to see THIS foe, and see them clearly.

For the last three years we’ve walked the Redskins on a leash. We need at least one more week of that. So Washington, congratulations. You now  have our undivided attention.

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

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1) Throw for Miles: As I always say, the Redskins using their OLB’s to generate pass rush leaves the Flats open. Normally I say we should exploit those areas with passes to TE Zach Ertz. That’s still a smart play, however, now we can also work in high percentage Swing passes to RB Miles Sanders. Better still. We can motion Sanders into the Slot, and create coverage mismatches vs their primary pass rushers. Let’s make it easy to score early.

2) Take the run away early: Rookie QB Dwayne Haskins is the sort of pick that gets GM’s fired. (Right, Bruce Allen?!) If we take away the run early, we put the game in their QB’s hands. At that point he’s likely to put the game in our hands. The idea is to jump out to a lead, and force an inaccurate rookie to play catch-up. At that point we need to switch out of our base concept, into a coverage concept that makes his life hard. But which coverage concept?

3) Play a lot of Cover Two: The Redskins shredded our Cover One concept the last time we saw them. We got ripped up like the new girl in an Amish whorehouse. You know what? Let’s pretend this week that we don’t have a learning disability. FS Rod McLeod has spent the last three years proving that since he’s just one guy, he can’t cover two sidelines at once. You can call me crazy, but it might be time to give him more help with that. Just a thought. No pressure. Not like it’s a must win game or anything.

4) Bombs away: If QB Carson Wentz has any chance of winning postseason games, he has to learn to use his weapons as weapons, and not as security blankets. He needs to be more aggressive with the football, and chuck that thing down the field more.

New York Giants v Philadelphia Eagles

I’m a huge Wentz booster, but the fact is, there are holes in his game that come from not playing during this time of year. Playing this deep into the year with playoff implications, is brand spanking new to him. As a result, he still has to prove A) that he can last a season, B) that he can lead this team to the postseason, and C) that he can win in the postseason.

People often wonder why he never seems to have that “extra level”. It’s because he hasn’t been to the postseason yet. You know how they say that playoff ball is faster? Wentz is playing the fastest ball he’s ever seen so far. He hasn’t learned to process playoff ball yet. Once he’s had a taste, it’ll make the 2020 season seem slower and easier for him.

Playoff football is different than regular season football, and the coaching staff needs to start educating him about that, through how they game plan. They can’t prep him like it’s Week 8. The adage “Taking what the defense gives you”, is fine for Weeks 1 – 17, but now he needs to be shown how to impose his will. With the stakes being what they are, now is the best time to prime him.

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:

Washington uses an almost dead-even run/pass balance, to help protect their rookie QB. He’s not going to make the huge mistake, but he’s not going to make many plays either. However, versus a division rival who knows how, and where to hit, the Redskins should soon find themselves in quicksand that covers their bottom lip.

The mission is simple on this one Eagles: Don’t let people say…

2019 Redskined

Note: With the exception of this note, and the Prediction, I actually wrote all of this article BEFORE the giants game. I assumed we’d win, and the Eagles rewarded my fan swagger. Looking at the Four Things in this article however, you’d think I already knew that we’d lose WR Alshon Jeffery.

I was tempted to rework this one, and add a bunch of stuff about RB Boston Scott. However, I choose to let what I already wrote, stand for itself.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 27 – Redskins 17

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2019 SEASON REVIEW: THIRD QUARTER

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/12/07
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster, Special Teams, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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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: 5 – 7, 2nd in NFC East

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OPPONENTS:

W Chicago Bears (6 – 6)

L New England Patriots (10 – 2)

L Seattle Seahawks (9 – 2)

L Miami Dolphins (3 – 9)

Combined: 28 – 19

OVERVIEW:

We shit the bed this quarter. 

The mission for this quarter was to cultivate a second WR. We played half of this stretch without either our #1 WR and without the guy masquerading as a #2. Instead of stabilizing our Offense, we lost pieces. The last three games were without our leading rusher.

Defensively we’ve been mostly solid for three fourths of this quarter. However the issues that have haunted us for years, continue to be an area that Philadelphia as a franchise seems incapable of ever mastering anymore.

GRADES:

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QB: (B) Some would say that this grade is too high for Carson Wentz, given how errant some of his deliveries have been, and the 6 turnovers in 4 games. I would argue that with the receivers he’s had, and his lack of chemistry with them, it’s a wonder Wentz managed to manufacture any sort of scoring during the middle part of this period. Given the circumstances, I’d fairly put this at a C+, but I don’t do the +/- thing, so I chose to just round it up.

RB: (C ) These last few games have shown that Mile Sanders needs Jordan Howard on the field. Without Howard to account for, teams are able to defend Sanders more honestly. It’s not only made him seem less explosive, it has also significantly changed the routes that Sanders gets to run. The Eagles are 0 – 3 since Howard disappeared from the line-up. Jay Ajayi was added to the roster during this stretch, but he doesn’t see enough work to make a dent, since in part, what he’s good at is tiring out defenders.

TE: (B) This position has carried the passing attack during this quarter. They get open and generally are sure handed. The biggest knock on them, is more about how they’re not utilized downfield enough. There isn’t a better TE duo in the sport than Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert.

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WR: (D) 2019 hasn’t been a good year for this position, but this last quarter has been flat out abysmal, overall. I say overall because It wouldn’t be fair to throw Greg Ward into this meat grinder. After FINALLY being promoted from the Practice Squad, he’s made good on his opportunities. I won’t blame a man for making an 8 yard catch on an 8 yard throw. I also won’t ding Alshon Jeffery too hard. Less because of his most recent game (which was very good), and more because even when he was playing hurt, as our only real outside threat, he still managed to produce for us. I won’t turn my nose up at such an effort. On the other hand JJ Arcega-Whiteside, and Nelson Agholor have been trash. There’s a player inside of Agholor, but I’m not sure there’s one in JJAW.

OT: (C ) This position grades lower this quarter, because it’s been so inconsistently staffed. LT Jason Peters and RT Lane Johnson have been pretty good when they’ve been out there. Rookie Andre Dillard looks great at LT, just don’t ask him play RT. Which is exactly what happened when Johnson went down for a game with a concussion. So Dillard was pulled. Halapoulivaati Vaitai played like garbage truck juice when filling in for the rookie. The Eagles should have traded him when they were getting offers.

OG: (D) Mentioning Brandon Brooks anxiety flare-up, surely makes me an asshole to everybody, but his absence helped cost us a game. That’s a fact. Not to knock Matt Pryor, but Pryor rides pine for a reason. Isaac Seumalo may be athletic and good blocking on the move, but his lack of raw aggression in the phone-booth, still leads him to fall off blocks, and be driven back into the pocket too often. We need more from this position over this next quarter.

C: (C ) It feels like Jason Kelce is about ready to retire. He’s never been the most intense player, but now it seems like his concentration is waning. The interior of this line needs an overhaul.

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DE: (C ) Derek Barnett still reverts to chase mode too quickly. He doesn’t do a consistent job of setting the edge, first. This is helping to open the door for cutback runs, Jet Sweeps, and flea-flickers. It tells opposing coaches that they can attempt that sort of stuff. Brandon Graham would be having a career year if we could cover worth a damn. Vinny Curry and Josh Sweat have been bringing heat when they get their minutes. The issue is more about the rotation, and less about the players in it. Barnett lacks the suddenness to play the blindside the way that he wants to play it, but Eagles aren’t going to put him behind Graham, so it leaves us stuck.

DT: (B) Our Defensive resurgence of recent is often put down to the Secondary getting healthy, but for my money it had more to do with the return of Tim Jernigan. His presence allowed Fletcher Cox to become more disruptive again. We’ve also benefited from the addition of 350 pound rookie NT Anthony Rush. Unlike the other players whom we brought in to patch the loss of Malik Jackson, Rush makes solo tackles. No pun intended, he could be huge down the stretch.

OLB: (D) Kamu Grugier-Hill doesn’t make big plays. He’s a jumped-up Special Teamer in a role that’s too big for him. (At least in this system.) At times he hasn’t gotten enough playing time, but that hasn’t been the case this quarter, as he’s started all 4 games, yet produced no sacks, turnovers, forced no fumbles and tipped no passes. His best game was just 5 tackles. Nate Gerry has become an impact player on the outside. He works well in space and also has shown an ability to get to the QB, with 1.5 sacks this quarter. The biggest knock on this position is with who is no longer used on the outside (Bradham), and that the fall-off in aggression and play-making ability from him to KGH, is impossible not to notice.

2019 Eagles Bear trap

MLB: (D) Nigel Bradham was moved into the middle to take advantage of his combination of size and speed, as well as utilize his familiarity with the scheme to call the assignments. On paper all of that looks great, but doing it required transforming a really good edge player, into a so-so interior player. It’s also limited his play-making and play denying opportunities. T.J. Edwards needs to play more. (We are undefeated (2-0) when he starts.) But seriously, he needs to play more just so that we know what we have in him. Some reports say he’s athletically limited, others rave about him. His one start this quarter didn’t put a thumb on either side of that scale.

S: (C) The stats for the quarter shows that plays are being made (3.5 sacks, 3 passed defensed, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble). The trouble is in the utilization of the players. Malcolm Jenkins is not a Linebacker, and Rod McLeod can’t cover both deep sidelines alone. Too often there is only one defender back deep, and it hurts the team defense. This is insanity. It’s hard to ding the players for a coaching decision, but it’s equally hard to give a top grade to our Achilles Heel.

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CB: (C) Coming off of the Miami game, that grade will be hard to swallow, but this report isn’t about one game. It’s about the last four. Over that stretch we’ve gotten back our top two players at the position in Ronald Darby and Jalen Mills. Their return has coincided with five of our six best defensive performances, three of which were during this quarter. The Nickel spot continues to be troublesome, as Avonte Maddox has done little more than tackle when playing there. Though we’ve played less Nickel during this period. Sidney Jones is all but done being an Eagle, as he was a healthy scratch for two of these games. Also we’ve allowed a minimum of 24 points this year, every time he starts or plays significant time. Ubba-G’byeeeee!

LS: (A) Rick Lovato is practically invisible and as reliable as a metronome. That’s probably why Eagles brass threw four more years’ worth of money at him.

P: (D) This quarter we punted 20 times vs 15 last quarter. That’s not on Cam Johnston. This quarter we allowed 12 returns vs 5 last quarter. That’s either A) less hang-time, or B) outkicking our coverage. Both of those have to be laid literally at the foot of Johnston. Given that two of our losses this quarter were close, on days where the Offense struggled, you have to figure that faring better in the hidden yardage battle, would have helped.

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K: (B) The damned announcers jinxed Jake Elliott in Miami, mentioning that he hadn’t missed a Field Goal attempt all season. So of course he got his first miss. (Assholes.) Otherwise he’s 17/18 (94%) on the season, and capable of booting it from 50-plus reliably. That said, his KR percentage is 28% on the year, but it’s crept up to 36% for the quarter, and his touchback to return ratio is 10:7 during that span. At 23.7 per return, it seems like flirting with disaster to not just kick it through the back of the end zone.

PR/KR: (F) During these last four games, between two players, we’ve returned just 3 punts, for all of 10 yards. Kickoff returns have produced just 7 attempts for 136 yards, with nary a return vs Miami. RB Boston Scott owns 5 of those returns for 105 yards. There is nothing Special about this part of the team.

KC: (D) 6.5 yards per punt return isn’t bad, but it could be tighter. In fact, it’s up half a yard over last quarter. Allowing under 24 yards per kickoff return may sound like a win for the unit, but the increased number of returns means that returners feel emboldened enough by something they see, to take a chance. Either the ball has to be kicked through, or we need to get down there fast enough to make them take a knee.

SINCE LAST QUARTER:

The team has seemed lost. Part of it is that, there are too many sacred cows on this team. The interior O-Line, Derek Barnett, and KGH to be specific. The other part is that there are no spark plugs on Offense. The default in the culture say that it’s supposed to be the QB. Reality on the other hand paints a very different picture.

Chest pounding, screaming, trash-talking, rally the troops, type bravado is generally not found in a team’s QB. It’s usually a RB or a WR. Rarely you get a TE like Shannon Sharpe who fires ‘em up. Whatever it is, the Eagles don’t have one. Haven’t since Terrell Owens.

Often these players can be a headache, but when your team gets emotionally stuck, like the Eagles are, a team needs one of those guys. Unfortunately for the Offense, all of our guys like that are on Defense. Cox, Jenkins, Mills, Graham, none of those guys play Offense

MISSION FOR THIS QUARTER:

2019 Wentz is a gunslinger

Win all four games or there will be no postseason.

If we find a way to lose to the giants Monday night, the playoff dream is over, so we should play our youth exclusively, and sit anyone we have no plans on bringing back. Every win will count toward building the pups, and every loss will be Draft positioning.

Either we win out, or the second we lose a game, we should start building 2020 and beyond.

(Unless the Cowboys lose to the Rams, in which case we’ll have new life.)

EAGLES FANS! QUIT WHINING!

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/12/04
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, NFC East, playoffs, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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TOUGH guys don’t whine. If you’re one of these jersey burning types, who declared the season over well before it is, then listen up: Stop talking about how tough you are, how bleed green you are, and how you love your team regardless. Honestly, some of you pussies are downright fucking embarrassing.

The media feeds on negativity and so they pump it. They promote it. Controversy sells papers and generates clicks, and some of you just feed right into it. Our team is struggling as it is. Do we REALLY need to kick them when they’re down? Is that how you learned how to be fan. Bail when it’s not rosy? Quit because the road isn’t smooth. 

Is that the sort of blood that you come from?

I’m going to slam some truth down, hard enough to break your fucking dining room table. If the Redskins fans can talk about still having a chance, YOU bailing now is a direct indicator of how yellow your spine is. The only quitter I see, is in your mirror. The Eagles aren’t done until they’re actually, MATHEMATICALLY, done.

As for now, we aren’t done. 

Whole season

The Eagles still need our cheers and positive reinforcement. Athletes lie and say that they don’t read articles, or listen to call-in shows, or things of that nature. And the second that the shit hits the fan, those same athletes say that they have to block all that out. How can they block out what they were already ignoring? Simple. They were never ignoring it.

My point is that they hear us. They hear us on WIP radio. They hear us on Twitter. They hear us when we catch babies at the scene of a fire. They overhear you when they’re out shopping, or eating. They see what gets said about them on shows like ‘Quick Slants’ (Right, Brandon Graham?) They hear me when they come to this blog. (And they do.)

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So if they hear us, then how about we say some shit to INSPIRE them? When you inspire people you get more out of them, than when you shit on their name. Why spend 7 months missing football, only to quit on the season early? Who does that?? Don’t reserve being a fan for game-time only. Quit whining and get to barking. Get to howling.

Remember those dog masks and how much I hated them, because we weren’t really underdogs in 2017? Well NOW we’re honest to god underdogs. Care to buy a mask? Do you have it in you to root for a REAL underdog? If you feel like I’m calling you out, it’s because I am.

Let’s see who the tough, bleed green fans REALLY are.

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FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK13 – DOLPHINS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/12/03
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Reviews, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

(Disclaimer: I did not see the 4th quarter. I was stuck on 676, and then the 30th Street Station exit, trying to get a loved one to their bus back to D.C. )

DISCLAIMER aside, I saw quite enough during the three quarters that I did see. I saw a Defense that still can’t cover legit deep threats. I saw a Defense that still doesn’t think it needs to make adjustments. I saw our Defense get SHELLED by two players essentially playing catch all day.

There was a point this year, where we won games if the Offense could score 30+ points. Now we’re at a point where even 31 points isn’t enough against a team like the Dolphins. The longer DC Jim Schwartz is in Philadelphia, the further we will get from ever seeing another deep playoff run.

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This is what happens when you don’t re-route a WR early in the play.

Eagles 31 – Dolphins 37

I don’t want to hear people blaming QB Carson Wentz (28/46 – 60.8% – 310 – 3 – 1) for this mess. He was by no means awesome, but he was the main reason we scored 31 points. WR’s Alshon Jeffery (9 – 137 – 15.2 – 1) and Nelson Agholor (3 – 41 – 13.6 – 0) did what was expected of them and reminded us of what we’ve lacked, for the last two weeks.

We also got a solid effort from RB Miles Sanders (17 – 83 – 4.8 – 0 – 0 / 5 – 22 – 4.4 – 1) who had a very Brian Westbrook sort of day. He was productive both with and without the football. However, you could still feel the absence of RB Jordan Howard. We haven’t won since he left the line-up.

The Defense thinking that the game opening interception was enough, packed up and went to the beach after the opening drive. Jim Schwartz wasn’t so much out-coached, as he was more shown that his scheme is an obsolete, propped up gimmick, that even bad teams can beat, because it’s more philosophy than well thought out concept.

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?

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Alshon wills his way into the endzone. We need him back in 2020. 

1) Show up and show out: The Offense showed up. Alshon reminded people that when he’s not gimpy, he’s still very much a problem. Agholor showed us a little of what he can do with the ball in his hands. Sanders displayed a promising amount of poise and stability for this Offense today. My hat is off to those guys and those efforts.
By and large though, everyone else either did their job merely adequately, or didn’t show up at all. (NOT DONE)

2) Shut down the pass: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! (NOT DONE)

3) Show ‘em something new: Wentz threw a checkdown TD, and the staff got him out on more bootlegs this week. Aside from that, we more or less ran the same stuff we always run. (NOT DONE)

4) 1-2-3 THROW!: Wentz didn’t hold the ball too long for the most part. I was most impressed by an early throw to WR JJ Arcega-Whiteside (1 – 15 – 15.0 – 1) that fell incomplete because JJAW didn’t get open soon enough. Wentz put the ball on him anyway, and that sort of said to the kid “Get your ass open early.” (DONE)

That brings our Four Things score for the week to 1 of 4, and the yearly tally to 23 of 48. Next week the giants visit the Linc, and I can’t wait to see what sort of weird, trick play, touchdown we get beat for in that one! (My money is on a Sweep and lateral to the Center.)

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World’s. Easiest. Touchdown.

On The Whole:

Let’s not insult our own intelligence on this. There is no way a team like the Dolphins should score 37 points. Anyone looking beyond that, is trying to ignore a fire in their lap.

The Eagles lost because our Defense can’t stop the pass. Not couldn’t, as in “just this game”. Can’t, as in “this has been an ongoing problem for three years now”.

I keep writing paragraphs and cutting them out, because they’re less about this game and more about the over-arching problem here. I’m left stunned that the problem was so simple, and yet no one could figure out a way to counter it.

EAGLES ARE AFRAID TO SAY…

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/16
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Players, Rants, Rivals, Special Teams, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

INJURIES are now the norm. This is an issue that the Eagles have avoided discussing. Initially as a fan, I gave them the benefit of the doubt on this. However, now their lack of mentioning it, now feels too deliberate to ignore.

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Eagles players spend far too much time being unable to show up and do their jobs. If you missed time at work like Eagles players do, your job would be looking to replace you. One of the axioms of the NFL is “The greatest ability, is availability.” Well fellow fans, our team stacks up poorly in that department.

Understand, this is no way an indictment of our players. Nobody wants a torn this, ruptured that, or any of their muscles tearing away from a bone. Yet that’s what we have on this roster. Throughout this roster. Regardless of position or age. And it’s been going on for years now.

I understand Head Coach Doug Pederson’s loyalty to the coaches on his staff. He deserves the chance and reserves the right, to go to bat for his guys. However, not taking a hard look at a couple of coaches, may negatively affect the entire staff, when everyone gets shit-canned, due to annual and systemic under-delivery. It could also undercut young and promising careers, for coaches as well as players.

There could be an argument made that perhaps our Strength and Conditioning department is less than competent at keeping our players strong and in good condition. Then again what does a guy like me know about football conditioning? Especially vs a group of top experts.

Hey! Speaking of experts at the top of their field, did anyone notice that our Strength and Conditioning Coach is essentially a dietitian? Also his Assistant S&C Coach, is a big, fat, round guy? No really. That’s going on. Right now.

DT Timmy Jernigan and LB Nigel Bradham. WR DeSean Jackson and RB Darren Sproles. These are the guys in charge of making sure that those players are ready to go every week: 

S&C Coach Josh Hingst, and AS&C Coach Keith Gray:

The S&C coach for the Eagles, was the S&C assistant for a year in Jacksonville, before we brought him here. For four years before that, he essentially made smoothies and planned menus (2009-11 college, 2008 Atlanta Falcons.). There are literally more pictures on-line of his wedding, than there are of him coaching.

The assistant (not just strength, but conditioning) would probably die of a heart attack if he attempted to jog a lap with the players.

Our roster is now a reflection of a department that doesn’t pass the eye test, and then proceeds to fail every relevant test that follows that. It’s gotten so bad that it may now affect our playoff chances.

Something needs to be done. Is Pat Croce doing anything?

FOUR THINGS – WK 11 – EAGLES – PATRIOTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/13
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

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WHILE many Eagles fans are talking like the season is already over, I will be here until it actually is. For good or ill. Anybody looking for doom and gloom from these articles, will always come away disappointed. Generally my articles are written to cover subjects that the Eagles website won’t touch. Four Things however, is about discussing ways that we can win the upcoming game.

This is Philadelphia. We are the reason the name “Patriot” even has it’s American definition. We don’t quit. We don’t run. So chin up Eagles fans! Shoulders back and eyes front. There is much more rough road ahead us, but there are none better at making it smooth, than we.

Word around the campfire has it that the Patriots were embarrassed at being mushroom stamped on national television last week. Awww. They think, (get this) they think they’re just gonna waltz into the Linc, sign some autographs, and stroll out with our “W”. Problem is, we need that “W” to reclaim our division lead. Which means, we can’t let them have it. Translation: They’re shit out of luck.

Though New England has played almost exclusively bottom-feeders, they still boast a Top Three defense that’s 11th vs the run, and has 32 sacks so far. That means their players will come out playing with pride. With energy! With urgency!! All of which sets them up as the perfect, tailor-made mark, for this week’s caper.

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Here are the Four Things we need to focus on this week versus New England:

1) Use play-action bootlegs: We can turn their pass rushing strength into a liability, by having QB Carson Wentz fake a few bootlegs after a handoff, and then sprinkling in some real play-action bootlegs. (Every real bootleg we run, should be drawn-up as an Option play.) What we want, is for an opposing player to cheap shot Carson once, get flagged, and cause the defense to no longer trust their eyes for that first split-second of a play.

If we can cause New England to slow down a tick, in effect it speeds the Eagles up a tick. After which point, we let the pace of the game drown them. No need to do anything fancy. Just fuck them in the brain with some old timey bootleggin’. Right Joe? (That’s a Kennedy joke for us old folk.)

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2) Get Brady to moonwalk: QB Tom Brady never had the strongest arm, and today you can clearly see he’s lost something on his fastball. We can make that worse by making it hard for him to step into his throws. That’s were DT Fletcher Cox comes in.

New England’s RG Shaq Mason is coming off of an ankle injury. I’d lay money on his ankle not being up to a full day, of bull-rushing by Cox. Driving Mason backwards, drives Brady backwards, and doesn’t let him get as much on his throws. That increases our chances of getting to one or more of Brady’s passes. Or forcing him to run with the ball.

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3) Pry that clam open: To do that, we need to show that the left side of our passing attack has re-opened for business. Nothing crazy. Just a couple of early completions near the numbers. A Slant to WR Jordan Matthews (hopefully lined-up outside), and an Out route to whoever plays the Slot. Perhaps WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside? Maybe? Please?!

Once we staple their CB’s to the outsides, we can attack the Cover One/ Cover Three that NE likes to run. On the surface FS Devin McCourty is a guy to avoid. He has 5 picks in 9 games, but all against weak competition. (Including 1 in each game vs the Jets.)

New England has yet to face a TE anywhere near the talent level of TE’s Zach Ertz or Dallas Goedert. That’s a match-up we need to exploit. Work the play-action, freeze the SS underneath, and get balls 8 and 12 yards in the air to our TE’s down the middle. Isolate our 6’5 250 pound TE’s, one-on-one with their 5’10 195 pound FS, and see if they can break a couple of his tackles during the game.

Zach Ertz Dallas Goedert

4) Take care of the ball: This is common sense, but it’s also key to stopping this opponent. They come into Week 11 sporting a plus 17 turnover mark. Then again their dance card has included two games against the Jets, and games against the giants, Miami, Cleveland, Buffalo, Washington and Pittsburgh (when they were spiraling out of control during Week 1).

Given that their offense is neither explosive, nor powerful, we’ll be able to make them work for points. We just need to not give them any extra possessions with good field position.

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:

Jordan Matthews wasn’t brought here to be a decoy. How could he? He doesn’t have the resume for that. The reason he’s here, is to give Carson a comfort zone and let him feel confidence in using the the entire field again. That’s it. Nobody has ever doubted Matthews hands, nor his ability to get open, or find the end zone. The entire issue with Matthews has been his back. (Remember all the shots he took to his back, playing in the Slot for Chip Kelly?)

In order to create passes to the left, the Eagles have been moving WR Alshon Jeffery around more than ever. As a result, Carson’s attempts, AND EYES have been following Alshon. However, Carson’s comfort level with Matthews erases all of that immediately.

2019 Jordan Howard Khalil Mack

With the field stretching horizontally again, RB Jordan Howard will see more room inside. Howard has just one 20 yard run this year, but don’t be surprised to see one or two of those this week. While not having upgraded the “talent” around the QB, the QB has been vastly upgraded, because now he’ll be more relaxed.

Defensively is a harder read. Our Secondary hasn’t been good this year (or last year, or the year before that), but NE’s receivers are hardly worth losing sleep over. Given their QB’s diminished arm strength, and the constant harassment he should be under, we might be able to box this one up by the fourth quarter.

Be prepared for some tragic news though. An Eagles win will have people trampling each other, just to get on that bandwagon over there. Meanwhile we Eagles Phaithful will keep sipping our Wawa beverages, because we never stopped believing.

Seriously, when you get past all the “But they’re the Patriots” BS, it’s hard to imagine how they’d be able to win this game. The weapons just aren’t there, and this isn’t the AFC East, against whom they’ve already played 4 times for 4 of their 8 wins. Great QB or not, Tom Brady doesn’t cover receivers, and he damned sure doesn’t catch passes.

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PREDICTION: EAGLES 25 – Patriots 17

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2019 SEASON REVIEW: SECOND QUARTER

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/02
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Four Things, free agents, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster, Special Teams, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 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: 4 – 4, 1 – 1 division, 2 – 4 conference, 2nd in the NFC East

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OPPONENTS:

W: New York Jets (1 – 6)

L: Minnesota Vikings (6 – 2)

L: Dallas Cowboys (4 – 3)

W: Buffalo Bills (5 – 2)

Combined: 16 – 13

OVERVIEW:

The Mission for this quarter was to suck less against the pass. Despite the prison shower scene that was the Vikings game, the Eagles moved from 32nd in the NFL, allowing 328 passing yards per game; to 20th, allowing 256. Not great, but still a marked improvement.

Injuries continue to be a major factor, as not only are they numerous, but every one of them seems severe. This has led to serious issues with communication and continuity.

GRADES: (These are not seasonal grades. They are grades for just these last FOUR games.)

QB: (A) Carson Wentz.

2019 Wentz is a gunslingerThere is a lot of blame to go around regarding this teams struggles, but NONE of it belongs to Wentz. Over the last 4 games he has improved his completion percentage and yards per pass. This is despite only having one WR to throw to. (This isn’t to undercut the TE position, but WR’s open up a defense, and Wentz is dealing with a stunted field every week.) In only one of the last four games has he reached 200 yards passing, but over the last three he’s run for 70. He hasn’t been remotely flashy, but he’s been more than most could hope for given his lack of tools.

RB: (B) The Eagles coaching staff learned in the first quarter, that rookie Miles Sanders is a better potato than a steak. Thus they began featuring Jordan Howard instead. Smart move. Feeding him early has proven good for our win column. Howard just had the team’s first game with 20 or more carries, since week 10 of last season. Sanders is coming into his own as a receiver, which will now allow for formations that put both backs on the field at the same time, and make audibles nearly terrifying for a defense. Boston Scott was added to the roster Week 6, after Corey Clement went on IR. Scott came in showing some wiggle, but has seemed less and less effective with each passing week. Darren Sproles has missed three of the last four games, but will be back to kick-off our second half of the season, this week. This position has been very productive with the ball, and needs to see it more

TE: (A) This position has improved in yardage, yards per catch, and touchdowns. Zach Ertz’s Bing Crosby, used to be a fine solo act, but Dallas Goedert’s Danny Kaye has proven to be a perfect complement. Though Ertz caught fewer balls in Q2, the position is seeing steady usage, with 28 catches in Q1, and 26 in Q2. Both players have seen their average yards per catch improve from Q1 to Q2. Ertz went from 10.6 to 13.0, and Goedert went from 8.0 to 10.7. This one-two punch has managed to help keep the passing game afloat, despite working in more crowded space than they should be.

WR: (D) If not for Alshon Jeffrey, this grade would be a bloody‘F’ served cold, with a side of spittle flecked profanity. No regular words. Just profanity strung end to end for roughly a paragraph.

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Jeffery has in these last four games, caught 22 balls for 230 yards (10.4ypc) and 1 TD. Those numbers seem meager until you realize, he’s done that while teams could key on him as our only outside threat. Put in perspective, during that same span, the other three active players at this position have combined for 11 catches for 93 yards (8.4ypc), and zero scores. Oh yeah, and all of those numbers belong to Nelson Agholor. Mack Hollins and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside have so far been a waste of the coaching staff’s time. Even when given an opportunity, they seem afraid of it. Seriously, is there some reason why Greg Ward isn’t on the active roster?

OT: (B) Lane Johnson finally gave up a “sack” to Cowboys DE DeMarcus Lawrence, when Lawrence knocked a ball out of Wentz’s hand. It took ten games for Lawrence to get that “sack” and he still has yet to actually tackle our QB. Ten games equals five years. THAT is who Lane Johnson is. When Jason Peters is out there, he’s still Jason Peters. There’s a reason that announcers hardly ever breathe his name, without using the words “Hall of Fame” somewhere in the same sentence. The trouble is, he can’t stay healthy anymore. The edge simply askes to much of him now.

Which brings us to the real story of this section, rookie Andre Dillard. Dillard gave up a sack in his first start, but has otherwise looked far better than a rookie half a season into his pro career has any real right to. It’s clear that Dillard has learned as much as the bench can teach him. At this point the only way to improve him is to let him play. That’s no knock on Peters. In fact, a move inside might add a couple of years to his career. That might even let him someday retire, without ever suffering a serious decline in his game.

OG: (C) Gotta take some issue with this position. Isaac Seumalo and Brandon Brooks have been very good at opening holes in the run game, and aces at blocking for the QB Sneak. They have not been anywhere near as good when dealing with pass rushers in the “A” gaps. Wentz is frequently in more trouble from right ahead of him, than from the edges. Would it kill them to re-direct rushers outside, and give Wentz clear passing windows, or let him pick-up cheap rushing yardage? The lack of time n the pocket, is (to my thinking) also part of why our deep passing game has been a problem.

C: (D) Jason Kelce’s game has sort of gone into the tank since he became a new dad. It happens. It’s unavoidable. All his routines change. His sleep is affected. Possibly having arguments that spring from nowhere, when everything was great five minutes ago…

As a result, snaps are getting sprayed around, line adjustments to interior pressure are either being misread, miscalled or not called at all. And then there’s the getting run over. Fact is, he was also talking about retirement last year. His head is just not where it was three years ago. That’s a fact. (Which would explain the Eagles serious push at the position this offseason.)

DE: (C) In Q1 this position produced 30 tackles and 1 sack. In Q2 it produced 45 tackles and 10.5 sacks. Brandon Graham has led that charge with 19 tackles and 5 sacks, with at least 1 sack in three of Q2’s games. Derek Barnett added at least half a sack in three of the four games. Vinny Curry has piled up 10 tackles in Q2 as opposed to the 2 he had in Q1. This position is doing it’s best to pick up slack from a decimated interior line. The knocks on them are speed chasing down QB’s who escape the pocket and playing the edge too flat, instead of playing contain first. In truth, problem two may be causing problem one.

DT: (C) Fletcher Cox has been trying to play the role of two men. 17 tackles and 2.5 sacks in the last four games, while trying to be a teacher and emotional motivator. Hassan Ridgeway stepped up to fill the void left by Malik Jackson and Tim Jernigan, neither of whom played in Q2. Ridgeway added 6 tackles and 2 sacks in three games, before himself having to be put on IR.

OLB: (D) This grade is only this high because I’m listing Nate Gerry as Outside instead of Middle. He had one game as the starter in the middle, the other three games were on the outside. In two of the three games on the outside, Gerry has managed a splash play. (An interception for a TD in one game, and a sack in another.) Nigel Bradham was already having a lesser Q2, but then he missed the last two games with an injury. Kamu Grugier-Hill is a pretty good Special Teamer, but he can’t make an impact as a starter. When Bradham comes back, it should be he and Gerry who get the starting nod.

2019 Nate Gerry

MLB: (F) We cut the guy who started two of the last four games. Then we had Gerry start vs Dallas, and that went as well as picking a bar fight with Connor McGregor. Last game saw rookie T.J. Edwards record either 5 tackles or 3 tackles, depending on which NFL stat page you visit. Right after the game on Sunday, the box score had it at 1 tackle. In any case, it was an odd number, and he didn’t make any standout moments happen. Here’s hoping his game picks up.

S: (D) We sacrifice the ability to defend the pass, in order to more or less, lock down the run. As a result, this position is rarely even in a position to make a play on the ball, for us. Malcolm Jenkins has essentially become a Nickel LB with where he’s deployed, and his stats in Q2 (23 tackles, 2 passes defensed) back that up. Rod McLeod playing back deep, knocks down far more passes than Jenkins, right? McLeod has all of one pass defensed in Q2. It was his interception vs a Jets rookie who was greener than his helmet. Andrew Sendejo also had an interception in Q2. The talent is here. The biggest issue with this position, is how they are deployed.

CB: (D) Of 5 active roster players at this position, NONE of them has started more than three games in Q2. Injuries have decimated this position for the last two years. A lack of continuity, coupled with a bullshit system, have led to breakdowns in the Secondary that almost border on tragedy.

LS: (A) Nothing to complain (or rave) about.

P: (A) Cameron Johnston may be the best part of our Defense. 15 punts, 5 returns for all of 30 yards, in the last 4 games. These are all improvements over his Q1 numbers (14 punts, 6 returned for 47 yards).

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K: (A) Jake Elliott isn’t called on much, but when he is, he hits his kicks. 9/9 kicking Field Goals and 19/20 on extra points, with his miss being in a swirling Buffalo wind that even they had trouble kicking into.

PR/KR: (B) With the injury to Darren Sproles, Boston Scott has filled in and done a decent job with punts. Miles Sanders needs to get better at knowing when to take the easy 25.

KC: (C ) 20 kickoffs, 4 returns for 96 yards (24.0ypr). Not bad numbers, but nothing exciting.

SINCE LAST QUARTER:

Pass defense improved. Sack production has returned to the Defensive Line. We discovered our run game. Those are all actual improvements from Q1 to Q2.

MISSION FOR THIS QUARTER:

Cultivate a second WR. We need to lighten Alshon’s load and create more room inside for the run.