THE FORTY WHINERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/07/12
Posted in: breakdown, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFC Championship, playoffs, Rants, Rivals, Super Bowl, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

MONDAY during a radio show, in an interview via telephone, 49ers WR Deebo Samuels, hung up on the show’s host. After the Eagles 31 – 7 pummeling of the 9ers in the NFC Championship game, Samuels said the 49ers would have beaten the Eagles by double digits, if QB Brock Purdy was healthy. The host asked about those comments, and Samuels talked some shit about our next match-up, then hung up.

Deebo after hanging up.

Samuels isn’t the only 9er to still be running his mouth after the curb-stomping that we delivered; but it’s his comments that I’m focusing on right now.

In the meantime, two things (not Four).

First, the 49ers DID have a healthy Brock Purdy. The Eagles MADE him unhealthy. Then we proceeded to “unhealthy” their back-up. That was less about us hurting their QB’s, and totally about our front seven absolutely shitting on their pass protection. We shit on their coach’s protection scheme. We shit on their communication. We shit on their individual players strengths and abilities.

So Deebo can miss us with that “healthy Purdy” nonsense. He had one.

Second, Deebolita saying “Just wait until Week 13” was the best compliment an obsessive fan could have ever given the Eagles, and I want to thank him for it.

Training camp hasn’t even started yet, and he’s already equating our Week 13 match-up, with the NFC Championship game that he lost. So for him, this is huge. He’s clearly been chewing on that loss, since January 29th. Meanwhile, we won’t see him again until December 3rd. That’ll be 305 days, of him obsessing. YUM!

Given how he’s talked about us all off-season (longer for him than for us), all indications are that he NEEDS that game psychologically. A loss, especially a close one, could send him spiraling out. And maybe not just him, but many of his teammates as well.

Kyle Schwarber barrels a Schwarbomb.

I’m already on record as predicting a close loss to them during the season, before we full-blown barrel them in the playoffs, and pack 53 men onto a plane, all practically on suicide watch, then yeetin’ that bitch to the far side of the nation. That being said, I want both games. I just don’t know if the Eagles will be as desperate for the regular season one, as the 9ers already are.

In a weird way, I kind of envy them. The rest of us have to hope that our team makes it to the Super Bowl on February 11th. The 49ers are already scheduled to play theirs on December 3rd.

The Eagles after the NFC Championship game.

#12: DRESS FOR SUCCESS

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/06/25
Posted in: breakdown, Conversations, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Rants, Super Bowl, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.

ONE person caused us to lose the Super Bowl. It wasn’t the fumble by QB Jalen Hurts. It wasn’t RB Miles Sanders. It wasn’t even the Defense giving up 31 points. The reason we lost the Super Bowl, was Greg Delimitros, V.P. of Equipment Management.

If you recall, the field at State Farm Stadium was a soggy, slippery mess. As a result, our Defense with it’s voracious pass rush, couldn’t get any pressure on the QB. Eagles OLB Haason Reddick couldn’t run down QB Patrick Mahomes, despite Mahomes playing with a gimpy ankle. Yet no one discusses that! People just shrugged and moved on.

Folks! A Defense that had given up just 14 points in the playoffs, and just 50 combined in it’s last four games, suddenly coughed up 31. All because we couldn’t do proper CLEAT MANAGEMENT. Half of the Eagles team didn’t get to play it’s game that day, due to a simple equipment problem. You have no idea how much this eats at me.

The announcers talked about both teams slipping early in the game. You could see both teams discussing it at points. However, it was the Chiefs who did a superior job of managing the field conditions, and it was enough to give them a 3 point victory. THREE POINTS! 

They say it’s a poor workman who blames his tools. I agree with that. Understand, it’s not our cleats I’m blaming. I’m blaming Greg Delimitrios for not being able to manage the problem, and make the proper adjustment. I’m blaming the workman, not the tools.

He needs to get his shit together this year. You would have thought that rainy, sloppy Jacksonville game would have been a great lesson, well prior to the Super Bowl. However, you have to be paying attention to learn. You have to be dialed in. Seems like Greg wasn’t. Even if Greg doesn’t learn, I have. Prior to the playoffs, I WILL be on the call-in shows, putting this out there.

This year we’re going to be dressed for success.

#11: REPS FOR SPECIAL TEAMERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/06/25
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Offense, Players, Rants, Roster, Special Teams, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.

ONLY one thing can protect a season against the injury bug: A deep roster. So we need to be about the business of making sure that our roster is well stocked. That has me wanting more from players like WR’s Britain Covey and Olamide Zaccheaus, and LB’s Shaun Bradley and Kyron Johnson. Not just these four, but (assuming they make the final cut) these four are at the top of the list.

The thing about a deep roster is, no team gets significantly more players than another team. In fact, as of August 2022, teams can carry 47 players on game day. (48, if they carry 8 offensive linemen.) So a deep team won’t be represented by more players. Instead, they’ll be represented by players that give the coaching staff more options.

For example, if Covey is just here as a PR, then he’s a waste of a roster spot. He isn’t good enough at that job, to warrant only doing that job. Same with Bradley. He’s been core on kick coverage teams, but he’s played a career total of 1,009 snaps, with just 45 tackles to show for it. We need more.

Part of the problem however, is that these players see little opportunity on normal downs. Of Bradley’s 1,009 snaps just 131 are on defense. The other 878 are on kick coverage teams. In 17 games Covey logged just 19 offensive snaps, with zero balls thrown his way.

We can’t develop depth, if our deeper roster rarely sees opportunities. We need to make use of and develop our WHOLE roster. No one is saying that these guys may be All-Pro types, but if injury forces us to rely on them, it would be nice if they were actually ready to go.

#10: TAKE ‘EM DOWN!

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/06/23
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, Players, Rants, Reviews, Super Bowl, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.

LOSING that game to the Commanders last year, is kind of sticking in my craw now. It hardly bothered me when it happened. In fact, after the loss in Four Things Reviewed, I said that I was grateful for the loss. Many Eagles fans were, in fact. Turns out, that loss is probably why we made it to the Super Bowl.

But part of it still bugs me. Not our turnovers. Those were an aberration. Those were never really anything to worry about. What bugs me, was our tackling in that game (and others).

While Washington didn’t run the ball well, they stuck to grinding out yards. That was in part because our defenders were too often trying harder to cause turnovers, than to secure the tackle and get the man on the ground. Which is helped Washington convert so many 3rd downs (12 of 21).

With the exception of Charles “Peanut” Tillman and his freakishly reliable ‘Peanut Punch’, most fumbles don’t happen because a defender forces it. Most fumbles happen when offensive players are trying to make something happen. Especially later in the game when their team is down. They fixate on making a move, and forget ball security. Then something bad happens.

Just get the man on ground. Just make the tackle. Especially early in games. Not with shoulder lunges to generate hits. Players need to execute proper form, and bring their arms. Wrap up the guy with the ball!

DT Jordan Davis showing how it’s DONE.

With the interior defensive line that we have, I’m expecting to see MLB Nakobe Dean get a lot of clean shots on ball-carriers. His tackling will be critical. That’s not to let everyone else off the hook; but from Dean (though I’ll cut him plenty of slack in other areas) his tackling will be important in determining whether we win the East this year.

9: MOVE COX TO DE

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/06/22
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Defense, Players, Rants, Roster, Super Bowl, The 12, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.

WE’RE all itching to see DT’s Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter on the field at the same time. That however, can only happen if either DT Fletcher Cox is sitting, or has been flexed outside to LDE. Actually, the move to End would help out not only Cox, but the entire Defense. It would make a second Super Bowl appearance much easier to pull off.

Let’s get into why.

The Eagles featured pass rusher is LOLB/LDE Haason Reddick. When he plays LOLB, he’s outside of the LDE, and when he rushes from LOLB, so does the DE on that side. That’s usually as either part of a five man rush; OR a four man, where the RDE drops into shallow zone, with the ROLB and MLB shifting to their left, to balance out the underneath coverage.

That’s all simple principle. You saw it here last year, and you’ll see it every year, on every team, which has a dominant pass rusher at OLB. Can’t be avoided. But scheme isn’t the issue. Every team sees this coming, and nobody is ever caught off-guard by it. Ever.

Fletcher Cox may not be the 2018 version of Fletcher Cox, but moving him (primarily)to DE (with Reddick at OLB), puts Cox in a position where he can’t really ever see a double-team. Instead he gets to engage just the outer edge of a RG, because the RT has to create a wider gap to engage Reddick.

So wait! Doesn’t that leave Jordan Davis one-on-one with a Center? Because opponents can’t use their LG to help out on Davis, since that LG has Carter, right? Which leaves RDE Josh Sweat dancing alone with the LT.

So opponents can’t double-team anyone on our line. The only way to do it, would be to keep a TE or a RB, as blocking help. That gives our LB’s and Secondary fewer people to cover. Of course the Achilles Heel of this, is when our Front Five gets tired, right?

At which point we roll in LOLB Nolan Smith, LDE Brandon Graham, LDT Kentavius Street, RDT Milton Williams, and RDE Derek Barnett. Folks, there is no breather for opposing offensive lines. Imagine, after a few downs fighting against Fletcher Cox, the guy who lines up across from you now, is a fresh Brandon Graham. Did you catch a break? No. You didn’t.

Brandon Graham and Fletcher Cox. FEASTING.

Eagles fans, we don’t have to add anybody to do this. We already have these guys! It’s just a matter of how we (LOL, I said Howie) deploy them. Did I mention that we have guys like DE Janarius Robinson and (rookie) DT Moro Ojomo, waiting in the wings?

So yeah. Let’s move Cox mostly to DE, making the season easier on both him and the team, on our way to Paradise, Nevada on February 11th, where we will finish the job this time.

#8: THE NEW HUMP DAY

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/06/21
Posted in: breakdown, Conversations, Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, The 12, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.

IMAGINE the monster we could create, if someone could teach DT Jordan Davis, Reggie White’s Hump Move.

Lot’s of players have used some version of the Hump, but not many have been able to use White’s version of it. Not many could have. For example, J.J. Watt flat out said he couldn’t replicate it. Neither could Aaron Donald who instead built his career on the “Bull Snatch”.

These two have been premier rushers over this last decade. They however lacked the tools to replicate White’s move, but Jordan Davis has those tools. Yes, I just said that Davis has tools that Watt and Donald lack. More to the point, those tools could elevate him to the level of dominance that Reggie White, and Jerome Brown produced.

In football, leverage is king, if you can get under your opponent, you’ll have an easier time of controlling him, and not being controlled by him.

The Hump takes advantage of this, by starting low and forklifting the opponent not just upward, but backward. It’s the Chinese finger trap of football moves. The further up you go, the further back you go, and the further back, the further up.

The crazy part is, there is no “figuring it out”, because it’s not a trick. It’s just how physics work on Earth. As long as the game is taking place on Earth, White’s Hump Move will work for a player who has the tools to pull it off. Period. Debate over. So what are these tools?

Reggie White played DE at 292 to 305 pounds. Keep in mind, this was at the dawn of the 300 pound offensive lineman. Back then Offensive Tackle John “Jumbo” Elliott was considered huge at 305 pounds. The Cardinals Luis Sharpe played OT at 267. The Steelers Tunch Ilkin at 265. The Rams Jackie Slater at 287. The Bengals Anthony Munoz at 287. All of these guys were Pro Bowlers. The last two are Hall of Famers.

White was country strong, but he was also flat-out bigger, than the men that lined up across from him. Think about how today OT’s are generally over 320 pounds, and DE’s are nearly always under 270. Watt played under 290, and Donald plays the interior at just 280. They were never physically set up for doing what Reggie did.

Jordan Davis on the other hand…

Jordan possesses the sort of natural strength that you can’t pick up in a weight room. He doesn’t have workout warrior strength, it’s just good ol’ fashioned see-that-there-bring-it-here type strength. That farmhand strength. Reggie had that. At 336 (listed) pounds, Jordan is also bigger than a number of the G’s he’s going to match-up with.

Now come the details. The context. These are easy to miss parts that you come here for, that other writers don’t have the insight to give you. Damn I’m humble!

On passes, the OT’s take two steps back, and the Guards take one. This forms the pocket that the QB is supposed to sit in. Reggie played on the end vs opponents taking two steps. Jordan will be playing in the middle, over guys taking one step, with a QB just behind them. Jordan will start out closer to the QB than Reggie usually did. (Though sometimes Reggie also lined-up inside).

Reggie also faced double and triple-team blocking most of the time. That’s easier to do on the edge, because coaches can help an OT with a TE and/or a RB. That’s harder to do in the middle of the offensive line without obstructing the QB’s view of the field.

Jordan would have to be be doubled with a G/C combo, which would leave DT Jalen Carter one-on-one. Keep in mind, Jordan plays beside someone who is expected to be better than him. Carter is the more natural pass rusher, and the one seen more as a generational talent. So blocking Jordan will not be the priority.

For those remember this Defense

imagine if back in 1991 our defensive interior consisted of Brown, and a version of White that was schematically nearly impossible to double-team. This is what I’m proposing here.

For those who have been fans for fifteen years or fewer, even if Davis doesn’t learn the Hump Move, the interior of the Eagles defense will likely be unlike anything you’ve ever rooted for. I don’t want to oversell it, but you should be very excited.

If Jordan does learn the Hump, it will essentially be the White version. If that happens, you will see something that for years has sounded like mythology to most of you, but I assure you it happened. NFL records will confirm it. That 1991 Eagles Defense gave up 150.8 passing yards per game. (That’s 37 fewer than the 2000 Ravens.)

Sunday should be the new Hump day.

#7: THE NO-FLY ZONE

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/06/20
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Defense, Players, Rants, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.

CATCHES across our middle need to come with a high price-tag. Opposing players need to understand that Crosses, Drags, Slants, Deep-Ins, etc, all mean pain and possible trips to the blue tent. I’m not saying we should deliberately injure opponents. I’m saying that diving into the middle of our shark tank, should naturally result in bites.

While I wrote this key well before the Draft this year, I’m glad to see that our new Defensive Co-ordinator Sean Desai, believes in this, as well. He’s telling the players that he wants them to be violent. This was echoed by S Reed Blankenship “…We want to be violent, and so that’s our top goal right now.” 

Some fans may hate to see me and an Eagles coach advocating for more violence, but violence is the foundation that American football is built on. Anyone who thinks it’s the excitement of throwing the ball, please explain the Pro Bowl’s declining ratings over the last decade. This year’s Flag Football edition drew 6.28 million viewers. According to the NFL, in 2022 average viewership for a game, was 18.5 million. 

Proving that most Football fans aren’t interested in a glorified game of catch.

Though many are trying to legislate the violence out of the sport, they’ll never actually manage it. What they’ll do instead, is succeed in killing the NFL, while elevating some other league, that will give football fans the vicious hits, and crushing blocks that we crave. After all, every football league throws long passes. But not all of them hit.

Our DC wants us to hit.

When it comes to defense I’m not a fan of (BBDB) “bend but don’t break” concepts. That’s the practice of allowing teams to move the ball, then tightening up in the red zone. Remember how frustrating that was under Jonathan Gannon? And Jim Schwartz with those big cushions that allowed so many easy completions? And Bill Davis? And Juan Castillo? And Sean McDermott?

Buddy.

I’m more a fan of the Buddy Ryan/Bud Carson philosophy of defending every blade of grass on the field. When offensive players know that every footstep has a price, they tread a little lighter. They’re less brave about where they go.

(NOTE: Jim Johnson was a hybrid of BBDB and every blade, which is why he tinkered constantly throughout games. Jim Johnson “not making adjustments” never happened, he was the anti-Gannon.)

Against Buddy, a receiver running a Dig route had to catch a ball with his back to either Wes Hopkins or Andre Waters. He had to focus on securing the ball while hearing those footsteps thudding against Vet Stadium’s knee-eating turf, getting faster and closer. As a result, the Eagles Defense garnered many incompletions, interceptions, and forced fumbles.

The 1990 Eagles had the Body Bag game, where NINE Redskins were knocked out of the game. The 1991 Eagles Defense gave up 150.8 passing yards per game, much of it predicated on fear. Because of 1990, our 1991 opponents knew, the middle was just somewhere you didn’t wander. The price tags were astronomical in that neighborhood.

Desai went on to say “Our philosophy is we’ve got to impact them physically and mentally. One of them is not going to be good enough. We need both, and we both on every single play”. No bend or break here, folks!

So let’s get that no-fly zone going across the middle.

#6 TURN THE HEAT UP

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/06/19
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Players, Rants, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.

WEAPONS are only effective if you use them correctly. This offseason, the Eagles re-signed CB James Bradberry for 38M$ over three years; and restructured CB Darius Slay for 42M$ over three years. That’s 80M$ worth of CB over the next three years. So we’d better be about the business of using them correctly.

Putting them on cushions, backing them off five yards or more, is not the way to go. It prevents a CB from being burned right off the line of scrimmage, but if you have the sort of CB’s who can be beaten like that, you DON’T pay them 80 mil over three years. Capiche?

The best use of these guys is in aggressive Man-Press coverage. They should be in a receiver’s face, at the line of scrimmage. This takes away easy Slant routes; discourages WR Screens; flattens the blocking angle against the run; and lets the CB redirect the route, to throw off the timing of rhythm based passing games.

It also makes opposing QB’s hold the ball for a second or two longer. That would allow the pass rush to get home, and suffocate drives in their infancy. Or even better, lead directly to turnovers. That however won’t happen if opposing QB’s can just 1-2-3-FIRE!, 1-2-3-FIRE! We need to take that option off the board, immediately.

That’s not saying we shouldn’t mix up the coverage, and do some cushion work here and there. I’m saying it should be highly irregular. Teams should be almost confused when we give them a look that seems like an easy completion. Any time it looks like we’ve eased up, they should be mistrustful of the option we’re presenting them. They should immediately feel fucked with.

When in Man-Press, we should default to Cover Two on the back end. That way when a CB is beaten early, and the ball is quickly zipped to an opposing receiver, as that ball gets to him, there’s also a Safety arriving with just the absolute worst of intentions. What kind of hit are we talking? An absolutely FINE one, if you take my meaning.

Receivers should be jostled and frustrated, when trying to run routes, and brutalized when they do catch a ball. In the end, they should dread the idea of playing the Eagles. But first we gotta turn up the heat.

#5: LIMIT CALLED QB RUNS

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/06/19
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Offense, Players, playoffs, stats, Super Bowl, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.

SOMETHING has to change, because in football, damage is cumulative. Which is why we’ve seen some players

get old all of a sudden. In two seasons as the Eagles starter, QB Jalen Hurts has played 30 games and run the ball 304 times. That’s an average of 10 times per game. Hurts is just 24. We don’t need him getting old at 26 or 27. So we have to stop running him 10 times per game.

To the Eagles credit, they’ve brought in an Offensive Co-ordinator in Brian Johnson, who is letting the world know, that Hurts will be throwing to his RB’s more. I love this. It’s best NOT to keep that new wrinkle a secret, because it tells opposing coaches, that now they can’t blitz Hurts without paying a stiff price. Fewer blitz attempts mean fewer hits on his body.

Also, when the coverage loosens underneath, it just makes Hurts scramble runs easier for him to get into, with more room to slide. Or dive head-first, as safely as football allows. The smart move would be (excluding QB Sneaks), limiting the OC to calling 3 Hurts runs per game.

Again, that’s called runs, not scrambles or Sneaks. Getting more short passes to RB’s should really cut into his scrambling. Hurts had 165 rushing attempts last year. That’s 11 carries per game. Getting that number down to 5 per game, would mean 85 for a whole season. And wouldn’t it be nice to see him play a whole season?

In prior seasons under OC Shane Steichen, pushing the ball downfield was the emphasis. So those RB Screens that RB Boston Scott was killer at, under Doug Pederson, didn’t get called. Scott saw just 6 targets last year. RB Kenneth Gainwell, who saw 50 targets as a rookie, saw just 29 last year.

While the team de-emphasizing passing to RB’s didn’t hurt our climb to the Super Bowl, overusing Hurts as the primary short yardage alternative to a hand-off, might stop us from going back any time soon.

The idea isn’t to handcuff him, like Rich Kotite wanted to do with Randall Cunningham. Nor do we want Hurts to avoid running, like Donovan McNabb (tried to do). We just need to limit how many high-speed, free shots we give defenses, on our QB. Including more checkdowns will help out with that.

So let’s keep it to 3 called runs per game. Circumstances permitting.

#4: STAY OUTSIDE

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/06/17
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Offense, Players, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.

INJURIES happen and football isn’t a safe sport. That said, maybe we shouldn’t have our top two WR’s, running lots of routes which take them inside the numbers painted on the field. While we can’t be skittish about playing them, routing them through S’s and LB’s, is a lot like dancing in front of tigers with handfuls of steak. Eventually it ends badly.

So let’s do less of that in 2023. I didn’t say let’s not do it, just do it less. I mean this especially about Brown, because he’s the one who does it more.

Taken as a pair, WRs A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith, not QB Jalen Hurts, are the straw that stirs the Eagles Offense. Defenses having to respect two full service receivers at all levels (shallow/intermediate/deep), is what opens up the field for the run game. Adding Hurts slows opposing defense’s reaction time vs the run, as they have to also account for him.

That’s not saying that Hurts is unimportant. It’s saying that he was a different QB before Brown got here, and we don’t have much depth at WR. Let me put it in plain English: If Brown goes down, WR Quez Watkins is the starter opposite Smith again. Like 2021 when we went 9 – 8, stumbled into the playoffs and were quickly dismissed, with our illiterate QB.

Now Hurts was clearly better in 2022, but I don’t want to find out that he’s largely “Brown dependent”. Better to keep Brown healthy, and the rest of the NFL scratching their heads over how Hurts got so good, so fast.

If we had more depth at WR, or if Quez hadn’t been a disaster in 2022, I wouldn’t be as worried about health at this position. However, knowing how and why the Eagles Offense works, I also understand how fast it can all unravel. So let’s be more careful with our top two WR’s.