#11 MAKE SPECIAL TEAMS, SPECIAL

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/02/20
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Offense, Players, Rants, Roster, Special Teams, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THE 12 2020.11

FOR the last few years the Eagles Special Teams hasn’t scared anyone. It’s true that Punting and Punt Coverage has helped us win the hidden yardage battle in many games. The Kicking has also been reliable, but reliable and special are two different things.

What we haven’t been in some time, is dangerous. RB Miles Sanders had a 67 yard Kickoff return last year, but it was 67 yards and still not a score. Rookie legs broke free, on a dash to the end zone. Yet still we couldn’t seal the deal. Again.

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Eagles 2019 Kick Return TD

Over the last few years we’ve had RB Darren Sproles lend us a little cred as a Punt Returner. However, given the number of games he’d missed over the past few years, we were trading on an old reputation. Meanwhile players who couldn’t really fill Sproles shoes, were given their shot at his job.

Which now sits vacant.

Part of our problem is that the staff likes to shoehorn a back-up into the role. Instead of getting a specialist, the staff picks a guy to act almost as a fill-in. Instead of a RB who can return kicks, we need a KR who can give us a few offensive downs per game. Understand the difference?

Maybe RB Boston Scott is that player. He’s done both KR and PR duty. Why not make that the primary reason he’s on the roster? Gives us a reason to keep 4 RB’s.

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Eagles 2018 Kick Return TD.

The Eagles currently don’t have a Bobby Mitchell, Devin Hester, Mel Gray, Tamarick Vanover type player. Instead we have Miles Sanders playing KR, like RB isn’t enough wear and tear.

This season the staff needs to pick a young guy, and tell him that the only reason he’s making 40K a week, is because he can return kicks. Then stand aside and let that man earn a larger contract.

CUTTING BRADHAM WAS STUPID

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/02/19
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Players, Rants, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

nigel bradham

ASIDE from letting him test Free Agency, then trying to bring him back for less than 9 million, cutting OLB Nigel Bradham was a stupid thing to do. The move is billed as a cost cutting move, that will save the Eagles 4.4 million in 2020. That number is gravely inaccurate on a few levels, but it’s reporting was meant to get fans buzzing about what we’d do with the “extra” 4.4 million.

For the most part the trick worked. Many fans are speculating that the money will be applied to a free agent CB. The very notion is hilarious, and further proof that most Eagles fans don’t get the money side of this. Let me explain.

First. Money aside, Bradham was our best LB. He was our only complete LB, in that he could play the run or the pass. He has the size and speed to play inside or outside. He called defensive assignments. He has a nose for the ball, and has been on the scoring end of a few big plays for us. Nate Gerry, Kamu Grugier-Hill, T. J. Edwards, Alex Singleton and Duke Reilly, are what we have left now that he’s gone.

Second. Let’s talk savings. The Eagles didn’t save 4.4 million. Bradham made that last year. In 2020 had the Eagles picked up his option, he’d have made 9.75. Among current OLB salaries, here’s where he’d have sat:

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If you want to argue that we saved 9.75 million, I’ll spot you that. Now let me ask you: What do we spend to replace him with similar or better production? Quality free agents don’t work cheap. And the list up there tells you what the market looks like.

Third. Let’s talk about where to apply that fictional 4.4 million in savings, or that temporary 9.75 million in savings. All the buzz is about either CB’s Chris Harris, Byron Jones, and Darius Slay. None of whom will touch Earth in Philly, without a sniff at 15 million per year. And that’s just to open the bidding. Last time I checked 15 was still more than 9.75. Again, no savings.

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But WOO-HOOO! We still would have that hole at OLB! Isn’t this neat? Wait, what am I talking about about “would have”? They already cut him! We have that hole right now! Such a massive hole. Isn’t it GLORIOUS? You can see straight through to the Chinese lock-down, due to Coronavirus. Oh what an age we live in!

And for those who think we’re going to spend it on a 20 million dollar WR, after we cut/trade/murder WR Alshon Jeffery, you all are my absolute favorite. Why confine yourself to reality, when you can put your head under a pillow, and scream until you pass out and dream of a world that suits you? I agree, Trump is the smartest President we’ve ever had!

So yeah. Cutting Bradham? Hey Howie. Way to go, Ace!

#10 SEND FIVE

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/02/19
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Players, Rants, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THE 12 2020.10

 

WANNA see something stupid?

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What is this happy horseshit where we usually rush four, rarely blitz, but when we do, we end up in crap like Cover Zero? We need to send five so that-  Hold on. I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me roll this back a bit.

Last year in almost every game the commentators would mention that our pass rush isn’t as potent as it’s been in the past. At first that sounded weird, because our sacks have gone up two years in a row. If sacks were the only metric used, it would just seem like the typical media down-talk directed at the Eagles. Which we fans are used to.

Then you think about our opponent completion percentages. And their QB ratings! Seriously. We even made Haskins look good… The eyeball test makes it clear that we don’t bring the heat like we used to.

Part of that is because the only player on our D-Line who requires a double-team is DT Fletcher Cox. Us rushing four vs an opponent’s five man o-line, plays directly into our opponent’s plan. We have a pair of complete DE’s in Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry, but we don’t have a guy who alters blocking schemes. (DE Derek Barnett too often bails early on his contain responsibility.)

We need to send five rushers more often, to get Cox more 1-on-1 match-ups. That way he can do to blocking schemes what he does to marriages. We don’t have to do it all the time, but it has to stop being rare.

 

#9 MAKE WARD A BURTON

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/02/18
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Offense, Players, Rants, The 12, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

THE 12 2020.9

WIDE Receiver Greg Ward is a WR who’s played collegiate QB at a high level, yet in two years we’ve yet to utilize that. No Wild Cat, no Holder for Field Goals (as I’ve suggested over the last two offseasons). For a team that says it values versatility, the Eagles are doing a shitty job of holding onto it, and utilizing it. Allow me to elaborate!

Remember TE Trey Burton? Of course you do. TE, WR, RB, QB, Hands Team member, minister, bus driver, pilot, brain surgeon, Maytag repairman… Trey did everything. He made plays on Offense and Special Teams. He even threw perhaps the most important pass, in modern Eagles history.

Philly Special Trey Burton passing.jpg

If you look closely at #53 Kyle Van Noy, you can hear him shitting his pants in this photo.

We let him walk in 2018 because we already had TE Zach Ertz, and Chicago backed a dump-truck full of money (4 years 32M, 22 guaranteed), up to Burton’s door. We were already on the hook for 5M to Ertz, and couldn’t afford to counter. Chicago’s offer made Burton leave here so fast, that he was still getting dressed as he boarded the plane.

It worked out fine though. Burton is still a #2 caliber TE, but he has to start, because the Bears realized they grossly overpaid him. Meanwhile we were forced to draft TE Dallas Goedert. (Boo-hoo. Poor us, right?) He’s not as verstaile as Burton, but Goedert may end up replacing Ertz in 2021.

Now back to Ward. (Back toward Ward? Towards Ward?? Whatever.) Though we’re primarily a 21 Personnel team, we do run a fair amount of 31, as well.

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This is why Josh Norman got cut.

When Ward is on the field, he can be used on Jet Sweeps (we already do this with him), and standard routes. He can also be shifted into Wild Cat QB, or motioned to RB, then used as a Screen receiver vs tight boxes, or fed Shovel passes when the defense spreads out. There are too many possibilities to ignore here.

I won’t write another paragraph about why he should be our Field Goal Holder. I’ll just include a link to the article where I wrote about Ward specifically being the Holder. (I wrote another in 2019 but it doesn’t mention Ward by name.)

In any case, we have a player who is a match-up headache. He has the ability to keep the defense guessing, and therefore keep them uncomfortable. That should be something we really want to do. Especially when we can do it so easily.

2019 Greg Ward

Scroll down and leave a comment dammit!

#8 USE PLAY-ACTION BETTER

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/02/17
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Offense, Rants, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THE 12 2020.8

RECEIVERS getting open early helps get the ball out of a QB’s hand, and helps move the chains. Running crisp routes helps, but what helps even more, is looser coverage. A great trick for loosening coverage, is using play-action.

The Eagles use play-action, but often it features ball fakes out of Shotgun (which defenders never buy), or is used when we aren’t running the ball enough to sell it. As a result, we rarely see a situation where a TE blows by a LB and gets open down the seam for a 20 yarder. We never see a Slot WR get an inside step on a Nickel, and blow past an in the box Safety, for a race to the end zone.

We use play-action like amateurs. Most of the time we aren’t fooling anyone. We need to run more to convince teams that we will run, and we need to run more plays from under Center. Period.

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Another thing we need to do is, after a handoff, run the QB out of the pocket like it’s a legit bootleg. If we do it enough, opponents will be hesitant whenever they see it, because they won’t know which end of the dog is wagging. That will make both the pass AND the run more effective.

Like a pass or a run, play-action is a weapon. We should be using it as such.

#7 25 HANDOFFS PER GAME

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/02/16
Posted in: Coaching, Offense, Players, Rants, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

THE 12 2020.7

CALLING for 25 rushes per game has less to do with being in love with running, and far more to do with keeping QB Carson Wentz upright. Whether or not you believe he’s injury prone, the fact is, he sees far too many defenders swarming around him.

The playoff game vs Seattle proved that Wentz won’t be protected from illegal hits, let alone questionable ones. So Philadelphia is 100% on our own at protecting our QB’s. Instead of whining about it, we need to be about the business of fixing the problem.

Play-action would freeze a defense, but if we’re throwing the ball 40 times per game, we can’t sell play-action on 17 to 20 handoffs. Again, this is not about running the ball for the sake of running. This is about having our QB survive 16+ games.

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25 handoffs also allows our Offensive Line to fire into the defensive front and take some of the starch out of them. You know, wear them down and tire them out. That way their pass rush is less explosive. Which goes a long way to protecting the QB, and thus the ball.

Running the ball can’t just be something we do to kill clock. It can’t just be a set-up tool. Stop thinking of the run as a shield. It’s not a shield. It’s a second weapon. We need to make a serious commitment to mastering the use of it.

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DE Khalil Mack, stiff armed to the ground, by RB Jordan Howard

If we are in a constant state of varied attack, it’s harder for our opponents to defend against us, or mount or sustain an attack of their own. Handing the ball off, needs to be a consistent part of our attack,

 

 

 

#6 RED ZONE RASUL

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/02/15
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Players, Rants, Roster, The 12, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THE 12 2020.6

THE Eagles aren’t getting as much out of CB Rasul Douglas as we should be. Part of the reason is that Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz has repeatedly tried to use Douglas as an every down, man-to-man Corner. That’s not who Douglas is, though. And if the team is going to get his best football, they have to put him in better positions.

Some sportswriters in Philly don’t think Douglas can play FS. However, when FS Rod McLeod needs a breather, I’d like to see Douglas get time back there. Actually, that’s where I’d want to see him for about 80% of the field. Once we hit the red zone, then I’d like to see him slide over to CB.

When Douglas first got to Philly, sometimes he was used as a CB, and other times as a FS. Even early on, he showed good instincts and an understanding of what opposing offenses were trying to do. At 6’2” 209 he more than has the size to be dominant at either position, but he’ll always lack an important CB trait.

When he first got here in 2017, his tackling was

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That made him risky to play at FS. However, in 2018 DT Fletcher Cox called him out over it. Douglas took it to heart, and worked to vastly improve his technique. Today (for a CB) he is an excellent tackler. He also aggressively sniffs out Screens, and routinely blows them up in the backfield.

The issue with him at CB, is that he doesn’t have the wheels to cover top-end speed. Which is a shame because he has excellent ball skills. He can be a problem when he can turn a catch into a contested one. In fact, if he isn’t in “chase” position, throwing the ball in his area comes with a ton of risk. No mater who you think you are.

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While an absolute burner may get a step on him on long routes, no one is going to run away from him inside the red zone. That becomes an area where he can be used on the edge. Long arms, height, and ball-skills give him the tools to generally make opponents pay, without exposing him to poor odds. You’d need an excellent throw to beat him.

Douglas starting at CB in Cover-2, Tampa-2, or Cover-4? You might squeeze a Pro Bowl or two out of him. Given deep help, he’d make life hell underneath. However, in a Cover-1, or Cover-3 system, he’s just not a down-in/down-out guy. I really like him. I’ve rooted for him from the jump, but he just isn’t a starting CB in our current system.

However, in even in our Cover -1/Cover-3, he’d make a receiver’s life difficult, as a red zone CB.

#5 KEEP THE RUSH ACTIVE

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/02/14
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, NFL, Players, Roster, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THE 12 2020.5

DEFENSIVE Tackle Anthony Rush is a name that likely escapes most Eagles fans, but it shouldn’t. When I bring him up in conversation, people’s eyebrows knit together and you can see them mentally searching for the name. That’s sort of a travesty in a city THIS knowledgeable about football.

In 2019, The Eagles got a ton of press about our Practice Squad players stepping up and contributing towards us winning the NFC East. The names that always came up however, were WR Greg Ward, RB Boston Scott, and to a lesser extent TE Josh Perkins. DT Anthony Rush? That name always seemed to be written in invisible ink.

Once we lost DT Malik Jackson and DT Hassan Ridgeway, we started shuttling in bodies like DT’s Albert Huggins and Akeem Spence. Spence didn’t hold the point of attack worth a damn, and soon found himself off the team. Huggins came later, played a few games and then went back to the Practice Squad.

Anthony Rush stacks it

Rush was signed to our Practice Squad on October 21st. He was on the active roster and in a game on October 27th. Rush’s 9 tackles in 9 games didn’t tear up the stat page, but he was about as statistically productive as DT Timmy Jernigan, while possibly being better at stacking blockers vs the run.

Most importantly, Rush gave the Eagles a legit rotational player, which allowed DT Fletcher Cox to focus on his own area, and maximize his own effectiveness. Until that point Fletch had been over-extending himself, trying to help out guys like Ridgeway, Spence and Huggins. You could actually see him starting to wear down.

Rush however, doesn’t need a babysitter. He proved to be able to stack blockers, play on the other side of the line of scrimmage, and make solo tackles even when engaged. Rush allows Cox to be the guy we saw in the Seattle playoff game, because even when Jernigan steps out, there is a level of consistent play at the other DT spot.

Said plainly: Rush helps us maximize Fletcher Cox. ALL. THE. TIME.

Fletcher Cox and Anthony Rush

Will we have that from Malik Jackson when he gets back? Can’t say for sure, but we have Rush already. Will Ridgeway be better at holding the point when he gets back? Dunno, but we already have Rush.

The combo of Cox, Jernigan, and Rush already works. If we can add to that, awesome! Just don’t dismantle it. Keep Rush on the active roster, and see if we can turn up the heat when get Jackson and Ridgeway back.

#4 FEWER CLEAN RELEASES

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/02/13
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, NFL, Players, Rants, stats, The 12, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THE 12 2020.4

OUR pass rush took heat this year for having lost something, even though we had 38 sacks in 2017, 40 in 2018, and 43 in 2019. There’s some truth to us having lost something, and I do cover that later in this series. However, the issue isn’t sacks.

The issue is opposing QB’s being able to throw the ball off of a three step drop, because their receiver is unchallenged to the spot. Most NFL offenses are timing based and our Defense scarcely ever disrupts passing game’s timing.

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Most Eagles fans don’t know this, but during our Super Bowl year (2017), we were ranked 4th in points allowed per game (18.4). The following year (2018) we ranked 12th (21.8). This last year (2019) we ranked 15th (22.1). Raise your hand if you see a pattern. Stand in the corner and face the wall if you don’t.

And so despite an increasing number of sacks, we allow an increasing number of points. These are facts. They are absolutes. They cannot be argued. Let’s keep going.

We play a lot of soft man coverage. However, what we’ve seen over the last few seasons, is that unchallenged routes lead to easy completions, high completion percentages, and an increasing number of points surrendered.

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Last year’s 22.1 points allowed, also factors in two division games against two rookie starters, a game against QB Case Keenum, and a game against now retired QB Eli Manning. All of whom we made look very good. The passers in this division will only get better. We need to figure out a way to keep them in check.

The knee-jerk response is always: “More pass rush.” “We need to be more aggressive with our pass rush.” Give me a BREAK! We roll these platitudes out every year, generally to similar numbers from the year before. Really, HOW can we be more aggressive when we rarely blitz, and still routinely only rush four? So stop. Just stop.

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The problem is that we make the game too easy for opposing passers. We need to play more Bump and Run, to throw receivers off their routes, so that when the QB looks in that spot…his guy isn’t there yet. That makes the QB have to look elsewhere, which means (ABRACADABRA!), that he has to hold onto the ball a little longer.

Now pass rushers get a shot at him. Now passes get rushed. They aren’t pinpoint. They get tipped! They get juggled! They get intercepted! That’s how to generate turnovers, kill drives, and snuff out hope. But none of that happens if we keep allowing receivers free releases into their routes.

#3 KEEP DESEAN AND ALSHON

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/02/12
Posted in: Conversations, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, Offense, Players, Roster, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

THE 12 2020.3

YES. The Eagles need to revamp the Wide Receiver position, but WR Greg Ward and WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside, are not solid enough to rebuild off of. This is why we need to keep WR DeSean Jackson and WR Alshon Jeffery.

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Both are already under contract for the 2020 season, and already part of a structure that affords us (at least) 42M in salary cap space. Whether or not Jackson can still fly, remains to be seen. Even if he can’t however, he is still a credible NFL receiver. Jeffery on the other hand, even nicked up last year, showed that he can still produce strong games even as the focal point of a defensive secondary.

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Combining Jackson, Jeffery and Ward could be dangerous, whether or not the Eagles draft a stud WR in 2020. If we do draft a top-tier player, the rookie has Jackson and Jeffery learn from, as opposed to Ward and Arcega-Whiteside to learn from. 

card.greg.ward

There are those who would say that we should go out and add Dallas free agent WR Amari Cooper, in Jeffery’s place. That would be stupid. Coop no doubt has all kinds of talent, but in Dallas just like in Oakland, he has games where he just…disappears.

As a guy who also roots for the Raiders, I cannot begin to tell you how maddening this trait was in him. Especially with a QB like Derek Carr. So to bring Cooper HERE? For TWICE Jeffrey’s base salary? No. No. NO! There’s no need, for such… Such madness. 

A talented, already affordable, veteran, who already knows our system? These are great aspects to have in a single WR. However, WE, have that in two. Each dangerous in his own fashion. So we should keep them. Both of them, and use them a starting point for the rebuild.

A rebuild which has to begin sooner, rather than later.