EAGLES/JETS PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/09/25
Posted in: Defense, Offense, Preview. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

Wk2-9.27.15

SUNDAY        1:00                 MetLife Stadium        East Rutherford, NJ

 

BEWARE the New York Jets! They’re 2-0, and allow just 8.5 points a game. They’re the best thing since sliced bread! With us being 0-2 that spells disaster, right? Not so fast. Our Eagles may not be as overmatched as you think.

 

EAGLES  

Defense

This unit looked bad against Atlanta, but held its own against the toothless Cowboys team. This despite being stranded on the field and left playing ‘chase the chicken’, for most of the day. The pass rush hasn’t provided big numbers but it was good enough to shred the vaunted offensive line of the Dallas Cowboys, and end their 2015 bid for the division. So we have a pass rush going for us.

If we could cover consistently we’d be dangerous. Instead we’re stuck with a weak ass coverage scheme that leaves the flats open and gives up crossing routes. Whether that’s a problem or not comes down to whether or not the Jets are smart enough to exploit that hole in our game.

Offense

Our run game isn’t broken, it’s just stuck. If we open with some power running, we can filter in some of our zone read stuff. Our Offensive Line isn’t geared to being good at power running, but they don’t have to be. We just need to show opponents that they have to play a real team, with real pro players on it. Then we can mix and match.

Right now we rely almost exclusively on cute gimmicks to get rushing yards, and no longer have RB LeSean McCoy to perform magic and hide the flaws in our scheme. So we have to move away from that as our bread and butter. We can make that adjustment; we just need our coach to decide to do it.

If we can settle things down with the run, QB Sam Bradford will be able to survey the field and use his weapons. While we lack a true deep threat, that’s not the same as saying we can’t throw the ball down the field. WR Jordan Matthews has a couple of big drops this year, but he also seems to be the only wideout who can gain routine separation for Bradford.

 

Jets

Defense

8.5 points allowed per game. Man that sounds tough. Until you realize that both of the Jets victims (Cleveland and Indianapolis) have been struggling since the preseason with their offenses. The Eagles are the first team they’ll face that has explosive potential as far as scoring.

Against bad offenses the Jets allow almost 350 yards per game. So moving the ball shouldn’t be a problem. The Jets also allow teams to convert 46% of their 3rd downs. Again, this against two bad offenses. They make their money on their +8 turnover ratio and that’s the entire magic trick.

Offense

QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is savvy and opportunistic, but he’s not the kind of QB who can put a team on his back, which is why he’s being paired with a meat and potatoes running game. Making this unit look better than they really are is the addition of WR Brandon Marshall. He’s the mismatch that opens up the box so that RB Chris Ivory can do his bull in a china shop impression. It’s a really simple offense and that’s why it works.

 

BOTTOM LINE

Stopping the Jets should be as easy as taking away the run and forcing Fitzpatrick to beat you with his arm, but that idea is terrifying. I have no idea who’s supposed to cover Brandon Marshall in that case. Bryon Maxwell SHOULD be the guy, but I’m sick of his impersonation of Michael Jackson in a Pepsi commercial. The Jets don’t have the artillery to hang with us in a shootout. If we can get our run game unstuck, this game could become a blowout in our favor. 

PREDICTION

EAGLES 27 – Jets 14

THE EAGLES NEXT MOVE

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/09/24
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Fans, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , . 8 Comments

 

 

1eb

WHO told you DJax was leaving before anyone else? I did. (I actually thought he’d be traded). People said I was crazy, that we would never trade him. A couple months later the Eagles simply released him.

I told you the Offense was changing. People dismissed me. Four months later, Jaws said the Offense was changing and it came as a surprise to everyone except my regular readers.

I told you that we’d trade McCoy after 2014. People said I was nuts. Six months later the Eagles traded him.

I told you not to expect 2013 Nick Foles in 2014. People called me a hater. The season started and Foles regressed badly. Lots of fans lost their minds. My regulars merely waited for Mark Sanchez to play.

I said we should trade Foles while we still have him under contract. People said there was no way the Eagles would do that. Tell me again how we got Sam Bradford.

I said Maclin may go to Kansas City. People said that there was no way Chip would let that happen. The coach then proceeded to shove Maclin out the door. His landing spot? Kansas City.

I said Byron Maxwell wasn’t a good signing. People shouted me down. I wonder what those people think of him so far?

I said our Guards would be a problem in 2015. People said Guards weren’t that important, that Offensive Tackles were what mattered. Well we’ve run for 70 yards in two games.

I said the Offensive Line would suffer due to the decline in talent at the Guard position. People said I was over-reacting since we still have Jason Peters, Jason Kelce, and Lane Johnson. Today some of those same fans are throwing those same players under the bus. Oh, and the line HAS suffered. Eagles fans are in shock over this. Well… only the ones who aren’t regulars here.

I said signing Jared Wheeler and John Moffitt were total wastes of time. People said give them a chance they could turn out to be real steals this season. Wheeler didn’t make it to the second round of cuts and Moffitt didn’t even make it as a back-up.

Today I’m saying that Sam Bradford is not a viable NFL QB anymore. He won’t be benched yet, but he’s no longer a piece to build around. He’s just a guy now.

Despite my track record for telling you what’s coming, people are still trying to convince themselves that I’m just a lone crackpot. Well…some people NEVER learn. For my regulars and new followers (there’s a FOLLOW button if you scroll up), you’re gonna want to pay close attention this season.

SAM BRADFORD IS DONE.

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/09/21
Posted in: Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players. Tagged: , , , . 6 Comments

done

SAM Bradford is done as an NFL QB. He’s never been great, but he’s been abysmal this season. Still there were some fans who wanted to make it seem like he was blameless. They even went as far as putting together a film of all of his attempts vs the Falcons to prove it.

Funny thing is, looking at film and breaking down film are two different things. Not knowing the difference is why what they actually did was expose Bradford. They showed the world that he’s done as a pro, by accidentally showing the world that he’s still afraid for his left leg. Terrified actually.

Now give me twenty minutes and I’ll make you a better football fan for the rest of your life.

I did an article recently on whether or not his knee would hold up. I invited my readers to stand up and throw an imaginary football while paying attention to their plant leg. (If you didn’t see that article you’ll want to throw that imaginary pass now to get on the same page with the rest of your fellow fans, and before reading further.)

Now that we’re all up to speed, below is the 7 minute film those fans made that contains all 52 of Bradford’s attempts at Atlanta.

Take note of how gingerly Bradford treats his left leg. He never really straightens it, plants it and steps into his passes. As a result many of his passes tend to wobble and lack zip, while other passes tend to overshoot the receiver, and still other passes seem to “float” and allow defenders to close in on them. (This is similar to what we saw from Nick Foles throwing off his back foot last year.) Check out his delivery. He’s torqueing his waist on many throws to compensate for what he’s missing due to not stepping into his passes. As a result the ball tends to “spray” out of bounds instead of being a frozen rope.

But don’t take my word for it. Take 7 minutes and look at what Bradford himself shows you. Don’t be convinced by what I say. Be convinced by what your own eyes see.

Now that you’ve seen it, you’ll never be able to miss it on any QB. (You’re officially a more knowledgeable fan and therefore a better fan now.)  During the game against the Cowboys Bradford’s delivery was jumping off my screen so much that I wanted to scream. However, that’s fixable with coaching as long as the player still has heart. Then came the moment that said Bradford was over.

Before cadence was being called, C Jason Kelce snapped the ball (for some reason) to Bradford who was (for some reason) not paying attention to where he was. The ball hit Bradford in the chest and tumbled to the ground. As a football player your first instinct is to fall on the ball, but Bradford didn’t. Instead he bent at the waist and groped a bit for it, keeping his knees out of the scrum. It was a total lack of commitment, courage, situational awareness, and football IQ.

If his teammates haven’t seen that yet, they soon will. It begs the questions: How do you follow a leader with no heart? How much commitment do you give to a leader who is only partly committed to his unit? By Wednesday the Eagles players (to a man) will be asking this question every time they line up with Bradford. They’ll deny it publicly, but if you’ve ever had to put your ass on the line for or with someone else, you know they’ll be asking that question.

That means he’s done here. If he’s done here, chances are excellent that he’s done everywhere else. Sam Bradford is done as a viable NFL starting QB. Over the next few weeks the Eagles will likely fix the problems surrounding him, and he’ll begin to look better; but we’ve already seen who he is (both here and St. Louis).Why mortgage the future on a guy one a one year deal, when it’s clear he’s not the answer? Admit the mistake and correct it while we still have 14 games left.

EAGLES vs COWBOYS PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/09/19
Posted in: Defense, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , . 9 Comments

DAL (H)

SUNDAY        4:25                 Lincoln Financial Stadium     Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

ALL we have to do is win, and regardless of anything else that happens this week, we take over first place in the division. Even if the giants and ‘skins win this week all four teams would be 1-1, but we’ll have the head-to-head and be undefeated in the division. We’d get it by tie-breaker. Understand, it’s still early in the season, but better to play from ahead than from behind.

 

EAGLES  

Defense

Last week was not our finest hour. Pass rush, run stopping and coverage all looked shaky. Considering how piss-poor Atlanta’s offensive line is, we should have come out of that game with 6 – 8 sacks.  Instead we ended up with just one recorded by DE Fletcher Cox. We managed a decent 5 TFL (tackles for loss) against 35 rushes.

We might have gotten more sacks and pressure if our coverage was tighter. Last year that part of our defense was a spurting gunshot wound and this year so far looks the same. Prize FA CB Byron Maxwell said that he can fix his problems. DC Bill Davis agreed with that assessment then he threw Maxwell under the bus a little bit. No one said anything at all about whether or not CB Nolan Carroll can be better.

ILB Kiko Alonso nabbed us a great one-handed pick in the end zone to save a touchdown early in the game, but then some undisciplined play by him cost us another turnover later. Other than that our LB’s didn’t really make much of an impact in that game.

Right now this looks like last year’s unit. We’re big on making splash plays, but we allow too many yards and points to all but the most feeble of offensive units.

Offense

Some fans think everything is just fine and we just had to shake off some rust in the first half last week. That’s hilarious, because no one was talking rust in the preseason. In fact it seemed like some fans (mostly C-dubs), were already moving their cars (parked in the center of Broad Street) to clear the parade route.

Truth is, the play-calling (52 passes compared to just 16 rushes) was uneven. Our Guard play was pretty much abysmal last week. But like I said before, that game is a small sample size, let’s see how they respond this week before we make the jump from an impression of them, to an opinion of them.

QB Sam Bradford picked up for us where he left off for the Rams, playing the role of Checkdown Charlie even on downs where he had more time in the pocket. I have an article all set to publish about that on Monday, but I’m waiting to see if he improves any this week first.

I’m attempting to give my team the benefit of the doubt here, but so far they’ve shown a lack of balance and consistency. Aside from RB Darren Sproles no one on Offense looked like a difference maker last week, and we all know that we have better athletes than that.

 

Cowboys

Defense

Injuries and suspensions have depleted The Cowboys pass rush. Last week against the game of musical chairs that the giants call their offensive line, the Cowboys notched just one sack and let the giants run for a respectable 4.1 yards per carry. Against Eli “Turnover Machine” Manning this unit couldn’t manage even one.

Offense

So far despite all the accolades for their (largely overrated) offensive line, it looks like the Cowboys run game left town when Eagles RB DeMarco Murray did. So either Murray’s replacements or the offensive line isn’t up to the challenge. What that means is that the offense now lives and dies on the arm of QB Tony Romo. That wouldn’t be so bad if WR Dez Bryant wasn’t laid up for the next few weeks with a broken bone in his foot. The team will now rely on TE Jason Witten and hope for contributions from WR Terrance Williams and TE Gavin Escobar. Right now the team leader in receptions and yards is RB Lance Dunbar, but due to the Cowboys RB by committee approach, his reps will likely be limited exclusively to 3rd downs and 2nd and 15 type situations.

 

BOTTOM LINE

The Eagles have a leaky Defense, but against a virtually toothless Cowboys team, the odds of the Cowboys being able to mount a challenge are low. Dallas is of no consequence defensively, so as long as we can do what we did last week, this win is in the bag already.

 

PREDICTION

EAGLES 28 – Cowboys 23

10 THINGS THE EAGLES DID RIGHT

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/09/17
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . 3 Comments

ck

INSTEAD of only discussing what went wrong Monday night, I want to discuss some of the things that went right. I want to give credit where credit is due, instead of being angry over only one loss. Here’s the list:

  1. The team apparently was able to find the stadium.
  2. Nobody’s uniform was on backwards or inside-out.
  3. At no point did CB Byron Maxwell attempt to cover FS Malcolm Jenkins.
  4. No one stuck his head in the Gatorade, and drowned standing up.
  5. QB Sam Bradford survived despite his protection’s best efforts.
  6. WR Riley Cooper didn’t threaten to fight every (Black person) in Atlanta.
  7. Hooray!! Bradford can throw accurate screen passes.
  8. No one was injured by a blocking sled or other practice equipment.
  9. At no point did Bradford tell RB DeMarco Murray NOT to score.
  10. No one broke a bone in their foot.

That having been said:

 

Dear Eagles,

We love you. Now get your shit together.

Sincerely,

Your Fans

MARK SANCHEZ WILL START

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/09/16
Posted in: Coaching, Offense, Players. Tagged: , , . 12 Comments

 

blacksportsonline.com

Photo courtesy of blacksportsonline.com

QUARTERBACK Sam Bradford’s knee has to be of some concern to you now. I know during the offseason and preseason many Eagles fans seemed convinced that there would be no issue with Bradford’s knee. That he’d start 16 games, while never throwing a single incompletion, on his way to being something other than the guy he’s been as an NFL QB. I’m not sure if that was naive optimism, or just grown people with a 6 year old’s understanding of the human body.

I on the other hand, wrote an article talking about the knee and how the Offense might look different with Bradford out there. Most of what I wrote was centered around the fact that the Eagles average 35 pass attempts per game under the current head coach. I wondered openly, just how long that knee would take the pounding of simply planting on that knee to throw.

Well in Bradford’s first game as an Eagle, he attempted 52 passes. This is in contrast to just 16 rushing attempts (as a team), all game long. Put down your calculators, that means 76% of the plays called were for passes; on what I keep being told (but not shown) is a run-first team. In a 2 point loss in a game that was never out of control, there was no reason to abandon the run. None. That many pass attempts also didn’t help Bradford, seeing as he was hit 8 times in the pocket in that game.

While his often discussed ACL injuries weren’t the direct result of being hit, his shoulder injuries were. Given his lack of real mobility, he’s a sitting duck if the interior Offensive Line doesn’t do a better job of giving him an area to safely step into.

In one of my fantasy leagues I drafted Mark Sanchez (very late), because I fully believe that Bradford will be shelved at some point this season. I was originally thinking it would be Week 9 or 10. However, if the play selection and/or the pass protection doesn’t get better soon, I’d say Mark Sanchez will start Week 7 or sooner.

EAGLES vs FALCONS PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/09/11
Posted in: Preview. Tagged: , , , , , . 8 Comments

 

Wk1-9.14.15

MONDAY      7:10                 Georgia Dome            Atlanta, Georgia

THE mission in 2015 is to make it to the playoffs and see what happens once we get there. Yeah, I know the mission is supposed to be the Super Bowl, but let’s take it one step at a time. The first step is winning the NFC East. Last year we went 10-6 and straight home, while the Panthers went 7-8-1 and saw the playoffs because they “won” their division. So winning the division is step one, because the Wildcard gods are fickle bitches and we don’t want them deciding the fate of our season.

That said, if we’re to win the division we need to leave trail of broken teams, twitching in agony for trying to stand in our way. The first volunteer for the ICU is the Atlanta Falcons.

 

EAGLES  

Defense

We didn’t see a whole lot from our pass rush this preseason, but we had no problem with that last year and we’ll return everyone except Trent Cole from last year’s unit. OLB Conner Barwin put 14.5 sacks on the board last year and there’s no reason to think he can’t do about the same in 2015.

We finished in the middle of the pack (ranked 15th) stopping the run last year but there are two ways to read that. This is Week One, so let’s be optimistic and say that last year was a building block year, and that we expect significantly better results (1st – 11th) by year’s end.

There has been no indication that we will rely less on the Cover One and Cover Three concepts that have hampered our pass defense over these last two years (ranked 32nd – 31st). I see no reason to believe that faulty concepts will make us any better in  coverage this year, despite the turnover in our personnel.

Offense

This team can score points. Part of it is the gimmicky (almost cartoonish) version of the Hurry-Up that we run. Part of it is the brilliant spacing concepts that create wide open receivers. However, all of it is based on deception and that unfortunately has made us a finesse team.

Good teams began figuring that out last year, so our team went out and changed the mindset of our run game by changing to RB’s with a more physical running style. However, considering that this didn’t change the way the Offensive Line blocks, it’s more a change in how runs are executed and less a change in our running concept itself. Put bluntly, it’s just window dressing. But here’s hoping it still fools lesser teams!

Much is expected of the passing game this year, as QB Nick Foles was traded for this year’s model Sam Bradford.

There was concern that our Offensive Line would take a significant step back this year, since we lost both of our 2014 starting Guards. However, their preseason performances did not indicate any noticeable decline. We can only hope that holds up to games planning.

 

Falcons

Defense

Only one team in the NFL was worse than us vs the pass last year. Care to guess who they are? They grabbed an anemic 22 sacks in 2014 which is likely why they drafted LB Vic Beasley #8 overall. They also finished near the bottom vs the run. The biggest thing they did in the offseason was lose Osi Umenyiora.

Offense

They boast an accurate and reliable field general in QB Matt Ryan (born in Exton**, schooled here in Philly), and an extremely dangerous WR in Julio Jones. When WR Roddy White is healthy this can be a lethal passing attack.

One area this team does not excel at is anything that has to do with blocking. They already weren’t very good last year, but they seem to have taken a huge step back in 2015. This preseason vs no scheming, they surrendered 14 sacks in 4 games. That projects out to 56 over a 16 game season. Considering that Ryan is not a very mobile QB, there is an excellent chance that they may get him killed this year. On 108 carries they posted a 2.6 ypc average running the ball.

 

BOTTOM LINE

This game could be a shootout early, but Atlanta’s Offensive Line is atrocious. Unless we give up a ton of quick, cheap and easy completions, the Falcons simply won’t be able to protect their QB well enough to hang in a fire-fight.

PREDICTION

EAGLES 37 – Falcons 21

** (That Exton reference was for you Andrea)