EAGLES FANS! DON’T PANIC

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/10/15
Posted in: Coaching, Crazy Talk, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, NFL, Offense, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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WILL DC Jim Schwartz be fired this week? Did we really cut LB Zach Brown over trash talk? Why can’t we get sacks? Why can’t we cover? Are the Eagles only marginally better than the rest of a crappy division?

I was going to release an article about what 12 Personnel is, and why it’s so effective. (It’s already written and waiting for me to publish it). However, given recent events that have some of our fan base in quasi-panic mode, I decided to delay that article, and go point by point to give NON-SPIN answers to these questions.

1) Will Schwartz be fired this week?

No. In fact, unless someone in the Front Office contracts mental retardation, Schwartz won’t be fired this season. Does he need to go? Hell yeah. Fuck yeah. We shouldn’t need to score 30 points to win a game. Giving up 25 points per game is not the mark for defensive competence.

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That being said, teams with legit playoff hopes, don’t invite upheaval in the middle of the season. Fact is, this is just one loss, following two wins. An Eagles win this coming Sunday, puts us firmly in command of the NFC East, and the Jim Schwartz problem gets the volume turned down on it.

2) Did they really cut Zach Brown over some trash talk?

On the surface it certainly looks like it. When I take a deeper look, it suggests that the trash talk may have just been a patsy for a move the team already wanted to make. Not just that, but it can also be used to give the appearance of a disciplinarian’s backhand.

It’s more likely because Brown was merely okay in underneath zone coverage, and didn’t make any splash plays. On the other hand, LB Nate Gerry who (ahem!) started the last two games, has flat-out, out-played Brown, over that span.

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That’s significant, because even last year, the Eagles used Gerry at the MLB spot when Jordan Hicks went down. Brown was here on a one year deal, and was never in the long-term plans. The Eagles just moved sooner, rather than later. This now clears the way for LB T.J. Edwards (whom coaches love) to get playing time.

The other part of this is, it sends the message that any shit talking, must be backed up. You don’t get to paint a target on the team, and then be invisible all afternoon. Also, we don’t know just how much Redskins cultural baggage may have followed Brown up here. There could very well (quite likely), be issues regarding his fit into the locker room.

3) Why can’t we get sacks?

QB’s are generally releasing the ball in fewer than three seconds vs the Eagles. The coverage is so loose that it allows for this. If we can get QB’s to hold the ball longer, then not only will sacks go up, but completion percentages will come down.

4) Why can’t any of our CB’s cover?

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This notion that ALL of our CB’s are trash is nonsense. The problem with our Corners isn’t a talent problem, it’s a system problem. Regardless of the CB, they are almost never allowed to play press coverage. Almost all of our man-to-man coverage involves giving up huge cushions that the WR settles into, to make quick, drive sustaining catches.

Making matters worse is the Single-high Safety coverage that this team has favored since the late Jim Johnson, used to keep S Quintin Mikell in since 2007. Yes! We’ve been rocking the same look for 12 years now. Sean McDermott? Single-high. Jim Washburn? Single-high. Juan Castillo? Single-high. Todd Bowles? Single-high. Bill Davis? Single-high.

There were times when we’d deviated here and there, but that was few and far in between. Complain all you like about FS Rod McLeod and SS Malcolm Jenkins, but answer this question, honestly. Prior to them, who was the best Safety duo for this team?

So yeah. The issue is systemic.

5) Are we a bad team that’s only slightly better than the rest of our division?

Hard to say that we’re the best, since we haven’t beaten Dallas yet. YET.

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As far as being a bad division. The Eagles are a couple of plays away from being 5 -1. We saw the giants make a game of it vs. the Patriots, without RB Saquon Barkley and a rookie making his 4th career start. The Redskins… Okay the ‘skins are legitimately awful. The Cowboys were 3 – 0, then ran out of zero win teams to crush, lost two games, took a deep breath, and then found a way to lose to a zero win team. So it’s hard to know how bad they might be.

That all being said, even if the NFC East is a bad division, that in no way means we have to be a bad team. Look at the aforementioned Patriots. Their division has been ass tar-tar, for two decades and yet we never hold it against New England. So who cares how bad our rivals are, if WE are truly good enough to win every week? Don’t sweat that shit.

So there you have it. Win or lose this week, understand: The sky is not falling. The Eagles need work, but as always the season is “work-in-progress” sort of thing every year. In five months, the Phillies will be reporting to Clearwater, and you’ll be pining for these days. So sit back and enjoy this ride while we have it.

And don’t panic.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK 6 – VIKINGS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/10/14
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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WE were exposed in this game. There are certain flaws and deficiencies we can hide against a bottom-feeder, doormat team like the Jets. However, a team like Minnesota while riddled with their own flaws, required us to be more on top of hiding ours.

Instead, we put them on display like a buffet.

EAGLES 20 – Vikings 38

There were very few bright spots in this game. For the Eagles. While QB Carson Wentz (26/40 – 65.0% – 306 – 2 – 1) threw for over 300 and rushed for 23, the entire Offense was hampered all day by the lack of a second wideout. Our leader in receiving yardage was RB Miles Sanders (3 – 6 – 2.0 – 0 – 0 / 3 – 86 – 28.9 – 1) on a day when he’d score his first pro touchdown.

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It’s hard to tell if WR Alshon Jeffery (10 – 76 – 7.6 – 1) had a big day. He had 10 grabs on 12 targets, but his yardage was meager. He was not used as explosively as he can be. It’s not that he was dropping deep passes, it that he mostly wasn’t even running intermediate routes!

Defensively, our pass rush fell back to Earth, getting one sack all day. That was courtesy of DE Brandon Graham (3 – 1 – 0 – 0). Then again it’s hard to get pressure when there’s no Safety help deep and a second rate QB gets to play catch, instead of football for most of the game.

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) Stop the run: For most of the game, the Eagles did exactly that, and for there were even a few downs where they ended up in a 4-3 Under look. But alas! While DC Jim Schwartz could have stopped the run with that 43U, he’s addicted to bringing a Safety into the box. The result was no deep help, which resulted in us getting shelled early. (NOT DONE)

2) Protect the ball: One pick from Wentz late in the contest, after the Vikes had already tagged every wall. Can’t hate on that. (DONE)

3) Go BIG: Alshon Jeffery saw 12 targets and pulled in 10 of them. TE Zach Ertz (4 – 54 – 13.5 – 0) saw 9 targets, and TE Dallas Goedert (5 – 48 – 9.6 – 0) saw 8 targets. That’s 29 of Wentz’s 40 attempts going to big boys. It’s a shame there was no outside threat, to open up the inside and let those monsters roam a bit more, but all in due time. (DONE)

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This is the WR opposite Alshon Jeffery

4) Show fear: At one point we were down 3 – 17, and FOX showed a shot of our sideline. There were players smiling. This confused me, so I double checked the score. 3 – 17. Vikings. No fear. No urgency. By the time Wentz was slamming his helmet at the end of the 3rd, over two fuck-ups by C Jason Kelce, it was well past time for that. (Those fuck-ups by the way: The first, was not snapping the ball while Wentz was screaming for it, which led to a delay of game. The second, was on the down immediately after, when a guy came straight down the pipe and sacked Wentz.) (NOT DONE)

That makes this week’s score 2 of 4, and our season total to 12 of 24. A .500 mark, for a .500 team. Next week we journey to Jerry World, to face our division rivals, the Dallas Cowboys. Both of us are 3 – 3, so the winner gets to sit alone atop the division at 4 – 3, and bragging rights about beating them in their own home. (See what I did there?)

On The Whole:

At least for a half. So mad that I had to laugh. Kirk went to work, on Steph’s gift of grab.

No deep Safety.

Funeral dirge played on a violin. Corner without help in the back. They runnin’ by him.

No adjustments.

Write me as traitor, or you can call me hater. But I’ve had it up to here, with defenseless coordinators. Either this staff, has to adjust the system. Or someone needs to take away their keys, then dismiss them.

FOUR THINGS – WK 6 – EAGLES – VIKINGS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/10/11
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Fans, Four Things, NFC East, Offense, Preview, Uncategorized, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

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THIS is the beginning of an absolutely wicked road trip! I swear, it’s like one of the Eagles slept with the schedule maker’s wife. Hey, speaking of DT Fletcher Cox, QB Kirk Cousins might want to dust off his track shoes. His o-line isn’t the stoutest group of pass blockers, and Homewrecker was the only guy who didn’t eat last week.

This is probably the best team we’ll face until our Bye. That said, after a few days of peeking under their hood, this feels like a “W”. Not like we could win, but like we should win. Look, if I can come up with a game plan to beat Minny, then the Eagles coaching staff has surely already done so.

Unless I’m smarter than they are…

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The Eagles have a statement to make. We need to build up some conference cred, after a couple of early stumbles. A win this week, and we guarantee ourselves another week atop the NFC East.

Also, a loss this week practically invalidates last week’s annihilation of New York. Especially since the division rival right behind us, gets to rag-doll whatever we left of the Jets, this Sunday.

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

2019 Eagles D

1) Stop the run: The idea isn’t to stuff every run. We just need to make it so unreliable that it becomes a liability, and they abandon any real commitment to it. At that point we’ll have taken them out of their wheelhouse, and put them someplace uncomfortable. But how do we do that? What are the nuts and bolts?

Minny likes to give their backs a choice of a high-speed lane, and cutback lane. They do this by getting an extra blocker outside of their Tackles, which triggers defenses to over-pursue. The RB hangs back, reads it and, just picks a hole. The result is every RB on their roster, averaging 5.6 yards per carry or better.

So how do we bring down a charging bull?? We do it with two small, quick tweaks.

Step 1: Staying within our Wide Nine, we use a 4 – 3 Under front with our LB’s. Weakside, Middle and Strongside (WIL, MIKE, SAM).

WIDE NINE 4-3 UNDER

If that Slot WR is worrying you, don’t let it. FB C.J. Ham (yes, Fullback) has 3 starts, and TE Irv Smith has the other 2 so far. So our base Defense may be out there quite a bit until the Vikings scrap the run.

Step 2: Play contain outside of the Tackles, avoid engaging them, and take on the outside blockers, to either force runs back inside, or string them to the sideline.

4-3 UNDER VS MINNY

Again, Minnesota relies on their RB’s to read. That means they can’t hit holes immediately. That will help us trap them in the backfield, and force passing situations. Thus the game will be put in Kirk Cousins’s hands.

2) Protect the ball: Obvious right? For the Vikings this one has more meaning. In their 3 wins, they have forced at least one turnover. In their 2 losses, they don’t have a single one between them. This team needs their opponent to help them. So let’s not do that.

3) Go BIG:

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Three quarters of their secondary is the same one that WR Alshon Jeffery tormented in 2017. They have some tall DB’s, but they’re just tall. They lack the athleticism to play vs size. This would be a nice game to see rookie WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside emerge as a factor. If not, we still have this guy…

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4) Show fear: That is not a typo. We need to jump on this team, from coin toss to hand shake. We make them play from behind, and then we just keep hitting them.

Early on, we need to be a lioness, desperate to defend her cubs. Later, we need to be a lion ending the next generation of a rival male. At no point should we seem relaxed. Our fear. Our urgency, should be on open display.

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:

The Vikings are as desperate as we are. Their only two losses are divisional, so they are 3-2 and STILL in 4th place. They need this win. Probably more than we do. That means they will come out in their Sunday best, giving 110%, leaving it all out on the hackneyed cliché, yadda blah, and so forth.

Philly Hulk

Would now be a shitty time to mention that all of their wins are against teams that have trouble scoring? The highest ranked offense they’ve beaten so far is 18th. We are not Atlanta, Oakland, or the giants. The Eagles are 7th in scoring. And that’s with a run game that we couldn’t count on half the time, and our top receivers injured.

The Vikings are a run reliant team, not a quick-strike team. They’ll make a ton of catches, because our CB’s play 20 yard cushions. Their QB will complete 700% of his passes, and he’ll roll up a lot of pointless yardage to pad his stats. However, once we take the run away, all they will have left, will be Kirk Cousins. And yes, Kirk. We DO like that.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 28 – Vikings 17

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FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK 5 – JETS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/10/07
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

GREAT win today, but let’s not go nuts celebrating it. It was just the Jets, being piloted by an inflatable QB.

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Most of what we were able to do on Defense today (10 sacks, 2 touchdowns) came by virtue of their inexperienced QB, not getting many reps this week. As a result, the poor guy was a wounded lamb, fed to a full-grown lion. He repeatedly held the ball as if he had called “spots” and was counting to 10. It was almost too sad to watch. Almost.

Tee-hee.

Meanwhile his coach seemed indifferent to offer him any help. The play-calling was horrid, as literally (no typo or exaggeration here) EVERY play in the 1st quarter was run through RB LeVeon Bell (15 – 43 – 2.8 – 0 – 0 / 7 – 45 – 6.4 – 0). No other Jet player touched the ball until the second quarter. The Jets pay actual money for this level of coaching.

EAGLES 31 – Jets 6

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The Defensive line FEASTED, with 8 sacks in this one. DE Brandon Graham (4 – 3 – 0 – 0) grabbed 3 sacks. Also getting a piece of the action were DE Derek Barnett (2 – 1 – 0 – 0), DT Hassan “Chop” Ridgeway (1 – 1 – 0 – 0), DE Vinny Curry (1 – 1 – 0 – 0), DE Josh Sweat (1 – 1 – 0 – 0) broke his cherry, and Dasheon Hall (1 – 1 – 0 – 0) showed some of that preseason flash. It was like a drop of blood in a piranha tank.

Again, we also scored twice. The first was on an interception in the 1st quarter by LB Nate Gerry (0 – 0 – 1 – 0) on a pass intended for Bell. The second was the play of the day. CB Orlando Scandrick (4 – 2 – 0 – 2) ran up to the Jets QB, and just took the ball from him. Just took it. Not like a big hit, just a straight-up “YOINK!”. Then he returned it 44 yards for that tasty treat. It was almost too sad to watch. Almost.

If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Scandrick was a Cowboy for 9 years. We signed him in the offseason, but he didn’t make our final roster. Because of injuries at CB, we signed him off of his couch this week, and he gets two sacks, two forced fumbles, a recovery, and a score. 

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On Offense, QB Carson Wentz (17/29 – 58.6% – 189 – 1 – 0) had it in cruise control yet again, as the Eagles functioned as a full team. That’s not to say that Wentz didn’t do some of his typical magic, but there was no need for a lot of it. TE Zach Ertz (5 – 57 – 11.4 – 1) found the end zone for the first time in 2019.

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) Show up: I literally said that if we didn’t get lost crossing the street to the stadium, we were 40% of the way to a victory. Well, we showed up. We were sloppy at points (C Jason Kelce’s bad snap, the muffed punt that either hit a foot or didn’t), but we showed up. (DONE)

2) No liberty for Bell: In regards to covering LeVeon Bell I said “We need to sit on and jump a couple of passes to him. Maybe we can get a defensive touchdown or two out of it.” Well kiss my grits, we got our first defensive touchdown doing just that. We also kept him, and thus the Jets offense, under wraps all day. (DONE)

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3) Run ‘em down: Heavy dose of RB Jordan Howard (13 – 62 – 4.7 – 1 – 0) delivered? He led us in rushes and rushing yards. CHECK. Other backs sprinkled in? 12 carries for 19 yards (yikes!) CHECK. Wentz’s jersey staying mostly clean? CHECK. (DONE)

4) Paint by numbers: We did nothing fancy. Aside from a 3rd and 1 where we threw an incompletion, which set up a 4th and 1, that we didn’t convert, we almost looked like a preseason team that was trying not to give too much away. Toward the end we even sat Carson and put LT Andre Dillard in for a few snaps. It was glorious. (DONE)

This week we put up a perfect 4 for 4, even though admittedly one of them was really low hanging fruit. That brings the season tally to 10 of 20. Next week we travel to Minnesota for the start of a three game road trip, that will remind everyone of why we want to set up home field advantage.

On The Whole:

We could have looked better. Aside from Jordan Howard, our RB’s were pretty ineffective running the ball. If getting off to fast starts is important to this Offense, HC Doug Pederson is going to have to stop trying to make a starter out of rookie RB Miles Sanders (9 – 15 – 1.6 – 0 – 0 / 4 – 49 – 12.2 – 0) who was hitting holes in this game with as much heart as Bernie Sanders.

Again, it seemed we weren’t trying to show much, and we may be getting WR DeSean Jackson back next week. So I’m not very concerned about the Offense.

My concern is with the Defense. The way we played today still allowed a “deer in the headlights” QB, to complete 57% of his passes, to a less than stellar receiving corps. Next week we get QB Kirk Cousins throwing to WR Adam Thielen. It would be nice to get one or two CB’s back by then.

In the meantime, because of this2019 two Ls

the Eagles appear to be atop the NFC East. At least according to the NFL Standings page. They may change it later, but for now it looks good to be up there. 

 

THE RIVALS 2019 (PT 1 of 3)

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/10/06
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, NFC East, Offense, Players, Reviews, Rivals, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN KIDDIES!!!

CHANGE MY MIND

GENERALLY when I talk football, it’s about my Eagles. I tend to keep mum about our rivals, unless we have a game coming up against one of them. Otherwise, I’ve reserved most talk about them for my Pre-Draft Preview, which drops each April. (Look for it).

In 2017 however, I decided to try something new, and give our fan base a running commentary of what the division is doing around us. This ensures that Eagles fans ARE actually the best informed, and most knowledgeable fans, in the NFL. (Provided you visit this site often.) These updates will come out three times during the season: After Weeks 3, 9, and 15.

This edition had to wait until the edge of Week 5, because the Eagles had a short week last week. That meant cramming Four Things Reviewed (Lions), Four Things (Packers) and Four Things Reviewed (Packers) into a Monday to Friday window. After which came the Eagles Quarterly Report Part 1. So there just wasn’t time (with a day job), to fit in researching three teams, and writing about them. But now it’s done.

And of course it’s worth the wait. I am always, worth the wait. So let’s hit it.

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This is where things are today:

Washington Redskins: 0 – 4, 4th place in the NFC East

Which is worse, being 29th in scoring (16.5 ppg), or 31st in points allowed (29.5 ppg)? Unable to run (31st, 49.8 ypg) or unable to stop it (29th, 147.5 ypg)? Is it worse to be the prey, or the predator that takes 17 weeks to starve to death?

As I write this, QB Colt McCoy is getting set to start his first game of the 2019 season. This is after QB Case Keenum went 0 – 3, and then was yanked early in Week 4, for rookie QB Dwayne Haskins. Presumably to capture some of the “magic” that the giants had experienced benching starter a week earlier. The thing is, the giants rookie got a week to prep. Haskins came off the bench, cold. So yeah. They Redskin’d it up.

2019 Redskined

Haskins came out, and proceeded to prove everyone who’s ever doubted him, as being right on the money. His 17 attempt, 9 completion, 3 interception debut, had all the “magic” of a 16-wheeler, sliding on its side through an orphanage. Today the Redskins QB position sits in shambles. A perfect representation of their team as a whole.

New York giants: 2 – 2, 3rd place in the NFC East

Two weeks ago the giants were 0 – 2 behind QB Eli Manning, and the organization said “Fuck it! Put the kid in!” The kid, is rookie QB Danny Jones, whom we all mocked the giants for drafting in April. They gave him a week to prep. Eli got a week to play diplomat. It was a tasteful ceremony. Everybody hugged and had s’mores. The transition went smoothly. (Did you hear that Washington? Smoothly!)

The second Jones hit the field, BAM! the “Anybody But Eli” movement got an emotional lift. The giants (behind a stunning four touchdown debut from Jones), beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 32 – 31, after the Bucs missed a field goal that would have iced the game. A week later, Jones would look a lot like Eli, and get his struggle face on, in a game against the lowly Redskins.

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This week they get a hungry Vikings team with a chip on their shoulder. It was different when the season was in the shitter, and the giants were just grooming a kid. Problem is, today 2 – 2 is just two games out of the division lead. Problem is, today there’s NFL tape on Jones. Problem is, today NYC will have expectations of and from the kid.

Throw the stats out the window. None of them mean diddly. The giants are a team in transition now. They are not who they were in Week 1. They’re trying to figure out who they are now. Unfortunately for the kid, there is no worse place, no less patient place on Earth, than New York for doing that.

Dallas Cowboys: 3 – 1, 1st in the NFC East

Had this report come out on time, this section would have been written very differently. Perhaps even deferentially. In light of that, I want to send a shout out to my friends, the New Orleans Saints… Good luck during the season, fellas. We’ll see you here. After our first round Bye.

Now to the Cowboys.

If your team has yet to win a game, the Cowboys are gonna smash that ass. They have hung no less than 31, that’s THIRTY ONE, points on every team they’ve beaten this year. If your team’s defense already can’t stop anyone, the Cowboys offense is a machine.

Until they finally beat someone who comes into a game against them, with a win, they’re basically the Tommy Gunn of the NFC.

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Paper Champion.

Three weeks in, there was serious talk about QB Rayne Dakota “Dak” Prescott, being the NFL MVP at season’s end. He was completing 156% of his passes, while throwing 18 touchdowns per game, with a passer rating of “Where do you want it?! Where do you want it?!” Those numbers are of course an exaggeration, but you get the idea. Cowboys fans were in Greasy Hooker Heaven.

People were talking about how Prescott’s price tag was just going up and up. Everyone was saying that Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones, was foolish for not rushing to get Prescott signed to long-term deal.

All the rumblings of Prescott needing RB Ezekiel Elliott to carry the Cowboys to win games, seemed to quiet down. Except, the entire time Prescott was playing well, so was Elliott. Until Week 4 when Elliott didn’t have a great game vs the Saints, and the burden was shifted to Prescott, who also had WR Amari Cooper playing in that game.

Suddenly all the excuses were gone. Elliott was playing, but he was struggling. They had a #1 WR. They had a Hall of Fame TE, in Jason Witten. They had their entire starting offensive line. They had a bookend DE. Good Lord, they even had a healthy Sean Lee! It was Prescott’s moment. His time to shine! 

Final score: 10 to 12. 

Saints.

And the Cowboys bandwagon…

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The MVP talk has suddenly gone stone silent, and those rumblings about Prescott have now re-started. The conversations around the Cowboys are suddenly very different. People want to see what happens this week against Green Bay before they say anything else. They likely sense what I’ve been saying the whole time.

Lean in. Close. Closer than that dammit! It’s a screen, I can’t bite you! 

Have you ever heard the term “overrated”? Inflated? Propped up? Paper Tiger? I’d been saying that for weeks now. No matter. A week ago, this section would have been written very differently. Perhaps even deferentially. But one game against a decent team, with a so-so back-up, and well…? Well here we are. 

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So that’s the state of our division rivals as your Eagles head into Week 5. The Eagles have their issues. There is absolutely no room for patting ourselves on the back. That said, this is still a wide open division. We’ll check back and see how things are shaking out after Week 9. (No short week for us then. That one will be on-time.)

FOUR THINGS – WK 5 – EAGLES-JETS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/10/04
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WK5-NYJ

THIS game has to be a win. After this game, we go on a three week road trip vs Minnesota, Dallas and Buffalo. All of those games are winnable, but stacking them as a triple-decker away game sandwich, makes a four week split seem acceptable, so long as we don’t lose the division game. Or to the Jets. Not the Jets. So yeah. This game has to be a win.

At stake this week is momentum. To come off of a thrilling win IN Green Bay, and then laying a turd vs the Jets…? That would kill not only our current momentum, but also make it harder to re-establish it later. This can’t be a trap game. We need it too badly for it to be a trap game.

We need defenders like SS Malcolm Jenkins and DE Brandon Graham to set the tone, by making big plays this week. We need TE Zach Ertz to make plays downfield to pull a LB out of the box and into coverage; and for RB Jordan Howard to churn out repeated 8 and 9 yard runs to pull a S into the box.

Like last week, this game can’t be all on QB Carson Wentz. We need a team effort here.

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

1) Show up: By ‘show up’ I don’t mean give an all-out effort. I’m literally saying, don’t get lost crossing the street from the NovaCare complex, to the Linc. The only thing that keeps the Jets from being the worst team in football, is the Dolphins. If the Eagles team can make it safely across Broad Street, and into the stadium walls, they will be 40% of the way through beating the Jets.

2) No liberty for Bell: The Jets already have enough trouble running the ball, and now they face the NFL’s 4th best run defense. So naturally they’ll want to throw the ball against THE WORST PASS DEFENSE IN PRO FOOTBALL. Problem is, they only one weapon and it’s RB Le’Veon Bell. As their second best receiver, the Jets will want to pass, and stow the game in their best player’s hands. We need to sit on, and then jump a couple of passes to him. Maybe we can get a defensive touchdown or two out if it.

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3) Run ‘em down: A heavy dose of RB Jordan Howard, with our other RB’s sprinkled in as complementary pieces should keep Carson Wentz’s jersey VERY clean.

4) Paint by numbers: This game should be about getting our fundamentals down, and working on our discipline. Run hard on 1st down. Use play-action on 2nd down. Spread out the defense on 3rd down. Just basic stuff. Nothing fancy.

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:

Look, we’re going to make the Jets QB look like an all-pro. That’s what we do. They’re going to score more than their standard 11 points per game. However, we’re going to run the ball and tire out their defense.

Controlling the clock will keep our defense fresher, and create sort of quicksand effect, where the harder the Jets struggle, the worse they perform. Don’t be surprised if their coach yells “Y’all killin’ me!!” at his players during this game.

Even those who probably hate Jets

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would say after this game, that if at first they don’t succeed, they should dust it off and try again. This however, is not their week.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 28 – Jets 18

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2019 SEASON REVIEW: FIRST QUARTER

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/10/04
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, Special Teams, Uncategorized. 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: 2 – 2 overall, 1 – 0 division, 2 – 2 conference, 2nd in the NFC East

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OPPONENTS:

W: Washington (0 – 4)

L: Atlanta (1 – 3)

L: Detroit (2 – 1 – 1 )

W: Green Bay (3 – 1)

Combined: 6 – 9 – 1

OVERVIEW:

(Written prior to Week 5 Thursday Night Football. Statistics indicate where were after Week 4.)

Despite injuries, drops, and slow starts, the Offense is still 7th in the NFL with 27.5 points per game. The problem is the Defense which allows 26.2 points per game. Only 6 teams allow more. As far as pass defense, we are DEAD LAST in the NFL, allowing 323.8 yards per game. We have allowed 27 points in three of our four games so far.

The season will be a disaster if this keeps up.

GRADES:

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QB: (A) Carson Wentz, despite drops, despite injuries to his receivers, despite having to stage a comeback in every game so far, despite all of these things, he has been nothing short of amazing. While many go by QBR stats and such, I’m old school. Wentz has 9 touchdown passes to just 2 interceptions. He also has rushed for a score, and has no fumbles, thus far. There is one small thing however. Wentz’s completion percentage so far this year is 60.7. However, he hasn’t completed 60% of his passes in any of the last three games.

RB: (C ) Rookie Miles Sanders leads the team in rushing attempts (45), but hasn’t been up to the task of being a starter. While his numbers get progressively better every week so far, he still has a tendency to come up small in key moments. Jordan Howard has been a beast when he gets the chance to play. He leads the team in rushing yardage (186), yards per run (4.6), and rushing touchdowns (3). Darren Sproles has been more effective as a runner, than as a receiver. Corey Clement has yet to record an offensive stat in 2019.

TE: (C ) Injuries both here, and to surrounding receivers, have limited the effectiveness of this position. Zach Ertz currently leads the team in receptions (24) and receiving yards (255), but his routes are less dynamic than they were a couple of seasons ago. He’s been less of a downfield threat since 2017. Dallas Goedert’s blocking and ability to make teams account for him in the passing game, is more than anyone can reasonably expect from a back-up.

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WR: (B) This grade is lower a week ago, but with everyone looking to be back, the grade raises. Alshon Jeffery is on no one’s highlight reel right now, but even gimpy, he’s still a redzone threat, as evinced by 3 touchdowns (1 rushing, 2 receiving) inside of 16 yards. DeSean Jackson (when healthy) has been even better than we remember him being. Granted, the two touchdown bombs he caught were only against the Redskins, but name the other receiver who’s done that this year. I’ll wait. Nelson Agholor is (as always), a mixed bag. While his 3 touchdown catches are not to be taken lightly, his drops and tendency to fall off the radar are alarming. Mack Hollins is a 4th receiver who looks like he could be a 3rd if he got to play more. I wouldn’t mind seeing him in the slot, challenging Safeties on fade routes, from 40 to 25 yards out.


OT: (A) Lane Johnson has been Lane Johnson. ‘nuff said. Jason Peters has also been Jason Peters. That means he’s great when he’s in, but he’s prone to miss time on the field. Rookie Andre Dillard got his first taste of real NFL action when Peters went down. And then Dillard went down. The sample we got was fine, but not enough to get a true sense of him. When Dillard went down, Halapoulivaati Vaitai stepped in and didn’t make me spurt profanities. When a team can go three deep at this position, and it doesn’t cause panic or get the QB murdered, you’re doing great.

OG: (B) QB sneaks have been insanely successful, which says the initial burst and channel positioning are flawless. Isaac Seumalo has looked especially good pulling to his right. It seems like Brandon Brooks is being used more conservatively. Everyone’s run blocks in space, could be a bit cleaner. Blocks in general could also stand to last a second longer. Falling off blocks is causing us to leave too many big plays on the table. Also, when Wentz drops back, it would be nice to see these guys cause the rush to flow to the outsides, to open up some clean 4 or 5 yard scramble lanes, right up the gut.

C: (B ) Again, sneaks look good. Interior seal blocks aren’t dominant, but are solid. There has been some spotty placement on a few shotgun snaps, but nothing has caused a sack yet. A key word is needed, to release Jason Kelce off of a double-team, and turn him into a personal bodyguard on up the gut scrambles. That could result in some spirit-crushing, red zone running from Wentz.

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DE: (D) Sacks are the currency that this position is judged by and as a group of six on the active roster (five who dress), there is currently one sack between them. One. As in uno. As in, half of dos. While all the blame for the lack of production isn’t on this unit, none of these guys has looked particularly fast chasing a QB outside of the pocket. Too often we aren’t making QB’s pay for that half a heartbeat, where they slow down to fire the ball, while on the move. Derek Barnett is also doing a terrible job of contain on mostly every down. He starts nearly every play trying to cross the face of the blocker. It opens too many lanes behind him for Screens and QB scrambles. DE Brandon Graham has played the run well, but he’s at zero sacks, a quarter into the year.

DT: (C ) Hassan Ridgeway and Akeem Spence are great depth guys, but with injuries to Malik Jackson and Tim Jernigan, Spence and Ridgeway have been asked to step up. The result is that it’s now Fletcher Cox and just some guys out there. Still, despite the constant double-teaming that would have been impossible with Jackson or Jernigan, Cox has managed to already knock down two passes. So he’s getting back there.

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OLB: (C ) Kamu Grugier-Hill is just coming back from injury. Nigel Bradham is the only other true player at this position. Bradham managed to seal aWeek 4 Eagles victory, with an interception in the end zone that would have allowed the Packers to take the lead and possibly win the game. They really aren’t schemed to do much besides occupy areas of the field.

MLB: (B) Zach Brown is doing an effective job as the thumper in the middle, and is also showing some skill in coverage. Nate Gerry is brought in to spell Brown, but he lacks the sand in his pants needed to be a genuine inside presence.

S: (D) It seems like the only player playing the position, is Rod McLeod. Unfortunately, he’s spending most of it in single-high coverage, in packages that allow for him to be pulled out of alignment, prior to the snap of the ball. Malcolm Jenkins and Andrew Sendejo, are essentially Nickel shadows, that work the underneath. While you won’t see them getting beat on long passes, they frequently don’t play deep enough to challenge those passes, or deliver kill-shots. This is another position that is not being schemed creatively.

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CB: (F) Yes. Injuries. We know. However, our back-ups have seen extensive playing time as a result, and so that injury excuse, no longer applies in 2019, the way it did in 2018. At this point we’re experts on being without our best players at this position. That said, it doesn’t matter who’s day to day, who’s on the PUP list, or who was just promoted from the Practice Squad. Due to our scheme, it doesn’t matter which player is out there, there’s still going to be a huge cushion that allows the opposing QB to get the ball out in under 3 seconds. That means no pass rush. That means allowing long drives. That means a tired front seven by the end of the third quarter.

LS: (A) Rick Lovato. Does his job well enough to seem invisible.

P: (A) If our Defense was worth half a damn, Cameron Johnston would be a a candidate for team MVP. Out of 14 punts, 8 have pinned the opponent down in inside the 20. This has been helping us quietly win the field position battle.

K: (A) Jake Elliott is 4 of 4 kicking field goals and 10 of 10 on extra points. What more could we ask?

PR/KR: (B) Hear ye! Hear ye! Royal Punt Return Fool, Darren Sproles is on a mission this year! His 3 fair catches and 6 returns, says that he’s being aggressive. His 9.3 yard average says, look for him to break one. Soon. Kick Returner Miles Sanders almost broke one in Envy Bay last week.

KC: (C ) Aside from that 100 yard kickoff, that was returned to the center of our collective asses vs the Lions, the kick coverage has been decent.

SINCE LAST QUARTER:

Since last quarter, we started a new season. We got healthy. We got deeper. We got hurt again… Injuries are part of football, so no excuses, please. That said, taking the same injuries, the same way, for the last three years, has gone from ironic, to frustrating, to fatalism.

Regardless. It is our job to overcome it.

MISSION FOR THIS QUARTER:

Suck less for success.

If you scroll down the list of pass defenses, the only thing lower than our name, is the careers and contact information for the NFL’s website. We need to bolster our pass coverage, so that the rest of the Defense can get back on line.

To finish above .500 by next quarter, we need to take 3 of the next 4 games. We start with the Jets coming here, but then we have Minnesota, Dallas, and Buffalo, all on the road.

A three game win streak would put us atop the NFC East, regardless of what our division rivals do. However, that won’t happen if we can’t get our act together vs the pass.