FOUR THINGS – WK 15 – EAGLES – REDSKINS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/12/13
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, Offense, Players, Preview, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

WK15-WAS

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

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

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

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

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

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

2019 rookie Miles Sanders.jpg

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

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

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

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

New York Giants v Philadelphia Eagles

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

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

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

If we do all these things, we’re just about guaranteed to win. Now that we’ve covered what should happen, let’s get into what likely will happen:

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

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

2019 Redskined

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

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

PREDICTION: EAGLES 27 – Redskins 17

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FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK 14 – GIANTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/12/11
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, Offense, Players, Reviews, Rivals, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

ertz seals it

WE came into this game with just three WR’s, and lost two of them during the contest. But we kept fighting, and we figured it out. We lost our RT, but we kept fighting, and we figured it out. This whole season has been us fighting through, and figuring our way through, one nut-punch after another.

Why should this game have been any different?

Instead of being mad that we didn’t dominate, let’s give this team a hand for sticking together, not pointing fingers, and battling shoulder to shoulder. We need to give credit for the grit that this team showed. I can’t vibe with these fans who think we should either dominate or immediately curl into the fetal position.

 

EAGLES 23 – giants 17 (OT)

The engine that drove this beast was QB Carson Wentz (33/50 – 66.6% – 325 – 2 – 0). On a night where he didn’t have any of these guys

2019 Eagles WRs - Good luck trying to sleep.jpg

he still managed to find a way to will his team to victory in the closing two quarters.

Giving Wentz somewhere to go with the ball, were TE Zach Ertz (9 – 91 – 10.1 – 2), TE Dallas Goedert (3 – 41 – 13.6 – 0), and TE Josh Perkins (5 – 37 – 7.4 – 0). By the way, Perkins is a 3rd stringer. We also got a massive effort from yet another of our 3rd stringers, in RB Boston Scott (10 – 59 – 5.9 – 1 / 6 – 69 – 11.5 – 0).

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Scott had to fill-in for a while after RB Miles Sanders (15 – 45 – 3.0 – 0 / 4 – 24 – 8.0 – 0), (filling in for injured RB Jordan Howard), due to muscle cramping.

On defense it was a big night for DE Vinny Curry (2 – 2.0 – 0 – 0), as he started in place of injured DE Derek Barnett.

2019 Vinny Curry.jpg

We need to make a point of bringing Vinny Curry back in 2020.

There was even a sighting of CB Sidney Jones (one deflection) as he broke up a key third down pass, to end a late giants drive. He looked good in press coverage, didn’t he?

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) No disrespect: The idea was not to overestimate the amount of rust on QB Eli Manning (15/30 – 50.0% – 203 – 2 – 0), by blitzing him like he was a rookie, or practice squader. We did blitz him, but not disrespectfully. There were no Zero blitzes, and we didn’t blitz every down. We did some overload stuff, some “A” gap stuff, but we kept it disciplined. (DONE)

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2) Throw the ball: Our play selection was 50 passes to 30 called runs (which included three Sneaks by Wentz.) It worth noting that, that was 50 passes with a depleted WR corps. So there can be no mistaking the Eagles commitment to the pass this week. (DONE)

3) Rush the passer: We did get decent pressure on Manning, we did work the “A” gaps, and we did cause plenty of errant passes. It allowed us to use (but not be reliant on) the blitz. This allowed us to play disciplined, and not eat a trick play for the fourth week in row. So the important part of this was done. That said, I really wanted those one on one victories inside, from DT Tim Jernigan and NT Anthony Rush. (Neither who recorded as much as half of a tackle.) But the idea was to play solid team concept defense, not pad individual stats. (DONE)

4) Screen Carson’s visitors: Our Screen game was so sick, that we’re going to have put Boston Scott in quarantine for a week. He put a move on CB Janoris Jenkins (4 – 0 – 0 – 0) which left that poor fool playing Twister all by his lonesome. (Right hand green, bitch!)

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(DONE)

That brings this weeks Four Things score to 4 of 4, and the yearly totals to 27 of 52. This is the second time this season that we put up a perfect score, but the other time resulted in a loss. What’s funny, is that most of this stuff didn’t really start to take hold until the second half. I sat watching this game with a fairly empty notepad for so long, that I actually put it on the couch behind me, and nearly forgot about it.

In any case, despite the Redskins being just an awful team, we won’t get away with a stinker like this again on Sunday. Not because the Redskins are somehow better than the giants. We won’t get away with it, because Karma won’t reward the Eagles two weeks in a row, for shitty play with so much on the line.

On The Whole:

It was by no means pretty, but we won the damned game. That’s the part that matters. All this talk about how much we struggled with a 2 – 10 team, is utter nonsense. We came in as a 5 – 7 team, and even with this win, we’re still under .500. (For fuck’s sake, we lost to MIAMI last week!)

So folks need to quit talking like we were supposed to be world-beaters in this game. The Eagles are a team that is trying win it’s division, while simultaneously trying to get it’s shit together, as injuries continue to mount.

And STILL, no one in our division has more wins than we do. Isn’t that right, rival fans?

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2019 SEASON REVIEW: THIRD QUARTER

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

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SEASON Reviews are usually done at the end of the season. (Duh, right?) A few are done at the halfway mark, and/or at the end. Starting in 2017, Eaglemaniacal.com began treating the season like a game, and breaking it into four quarters. Since football is a hard sport, we’ll take a hard look at where our team stands at the moment (in relation to where it started), and where it needs to go next.

STATUS: 5 – 7, 2nd in NFC East

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OPPONENTS:

W Chicago Bears (6 – 6)

L New England Patriots (10 – 2)

L Seattle Seahawks (9 – 2)

L Miami Dolphins (3 – 9)

Combined: 28 – 19

OVERVIEW:

We shit the bed this quarter. 

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

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

GRADES:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2019 Eagles Bear trap

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

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

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

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

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

2019 Special Teams Bears muff .jpg

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

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

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

SINCE LAST QUARTER:

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

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

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

MISSION FOR THIS QUARTER:

2019 Wentz is a gunslinger

Win all four games or there will be no postseason.

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

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

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

FOUR THINGS – WK 14 – EAGLES – GIANTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/12/06
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, Offense, Players, Preview, Rivals, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WK14-NYG

THIS still isn’t playoff football. It does however have a very similar feel. In any case I’m excited about this game. I wasn’t excited about the Dolphins game. I expected a win, but I can’t say that I got the vibe I’m getting now. I am digging my current vibe.

We are not only still alive in the hunt for the NFC East, but we stone cold, still control our own destiny. If we go 9 – 7 that means we beat Dallas, so they can’t finish better than 9 -7. With identical division records, the next layer of tie-breakers is common games.

Our common, non-division opponents are the Jets, Dolphins, Bills, Patriots, Green Bay, Minnesota, Detroit and Chicago. They are 2 – 6 vs that group. We are 4 – 4. If we win out, we win the East. Done deal. So this is 100% on us.

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

2019 giants QBS

1) No disrespect: Due to injury QB Daniel Jones will be shelved, and our old pal Eli Manning will be starting in his place. After 10 games on the bench, Struggle Face is bound to be a tad rusty and his timing at least a little bit off. That however, doesn’t mean that we can treat him like a rookie, and throw poorly disguised blitzes at him. I mean, show some respect. The man has won two Super Bowls. Better to show him tough coverages, than to try to be slick and get Fitzpatrick’d again. This game should be the nail in Manning’s coffin. Let’s make it a somber, dignified ceremony.

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2) Throw the ball: I know we’ve been screaming that the Eagles should run the ball, but the giants are giving up an average of 8.5 yards per attempt (per non-adjusted passing yardage). If we can’t get laid in that whorehouse, it will be a direct indication of how poor our receiver stable is.

Eagles vs. Giants

3) Rush the passer: Manning lacks the mobility that Jones has, so he’s practically a statue in the pocket. Instead of blitzing him, rushing four with an emphasis on getting players in the “A” gaps should provide enough pressure to force errant passes. DT Fletcher Cox will be playing across from RG Kevin Zeitler, who’s an overpaid fraud. That means Cox will draw a lot of double-teams. We need DT Timmy Jernigan and NT Anthony Rush to win some one on one’s against LG Will Hernandez. That’s no easy request, but we need it to happen. If we can generate pressure that way, we can rush with four, play contain, drop seven, squeeze passing lanes, and have bodies in the area for tipped and batted passes. This is what we should have been doing since Training Camp. Fire Jim Schwartz and hire me!

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4) Screen Carson’s visitors: The giants get their sacks from their OLB’s. Same as the Redskins. This makes them susceptible to TE Outs, passes to the Flat, checkdowns, and oh my god, Screens. Especially off of play-action, which sucks ILB’s into their run fits. Even the smart ones. Screens to either WR Nelson Agholor in the Slot, or to TE Dallas Geodert in 21 Personnel (Balanced Line), should make for easy 20 yard gains at least once each in the game. Especially if we move QB Carson Wentz around like we did last week. Just don’t let the edge players tip the passes!

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:

(article)NEWS FLASH!!!

It’s that game again, Eagles fans!!!

You know the one. The one that leaves you asking all game long “Where was this last week?!” The Eagles are going to look like a team that belongs in the postseason. Even you skeptics will want to believe, as you say on Tuesday morning “Yeah, but it was only the giants”.

Well I have a news flash for you, pal. The remainder of these games are against the “just” echelon of opponents. If they all suck ass, we may as well beat them and feel good, as opposed to lose to them and feel shitty. Right?

PREDICTION: EAGLES 24 – giants 13

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EAGLES FANS! QUIT WHINING!

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/12/04
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, NFC East, playoffs, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

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

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

Is that the sort of blood that you come from?

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

As for now, we aren’t done. 

Whole season

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

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

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

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

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

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FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK13 – DOLPHINS

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

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

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

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

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

Eagles 31 – Dolphins 37

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

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

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

I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for these “Four Things” articles. We introduce an idea of what needs addressing BEFORE the game, so that fans have to honestly answer questions about those things, AFTER the game. This helps to get us, and keep us, all on the same page.

So, of the Four Things we were looking for in this last game, what exactly did we see?

2019 Alshon Jeffery scores miami.jpg

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

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

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

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

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

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

2019 miami swining gate TD.jpg

World’s. Easiest. Touchdown.

On The Whole:

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

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

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

FOUR THINGS – WK 13 – EAGLES – DOLPHINS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/29
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WK13-MIA

I know my NFC East rivals better than most of their fans do. (Not all, but certainly most.) However, I’m less familiar with the AFC East. So, in order to be able to know what to attack, I naturally went looking the Dolphins up. Stats, schedules, o-line first steps, defensive fronts, etc.

OH MY GOD! This team is awful! I don’t know how their head coach is surviving from week to week. I don’t mean from being fired. I mean from fans murdering him in the street! If Head Coach Doug Pederson did to the Eagles what Brian Flores is doing with the Dolphins, we’d need a prison cell that could hold 2 million people.

(Maybe we could put it in the Linc’s basement?)

This is the most important game of the year. If we win, next week will be the most important game of the year. We need these five games, but for the following week to matter, we need to take care of business in the week where we are. That said, don’t let people overstate the stakes of this game.

VALID POINT

Understand, you’re going to hear the term “playoffs mode” get over used and over, from now until January. Don’t fall for it. Playoffs is win or go home. This isn’t that. This is win FIVE and we own the East. Guaranteed. Iron-clad. Period.

And even a stumble might not kill us, if the Cowboys drop another game. (Or two.) So don’t give yourself an ulcer. We aren’t in playoffs mode yet.

Yet.

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

1) Show up and show out: This is the most important key. It’s almost worth three of these Four Things. The Defense has played lights out the last few weeks against top opposition. They’ve been carrying the Offense almost as well as the Offense carried the Defense, earlier this year. What we need is for each man to pull his own weight, and not need carrying by anyone else.

2017 eagles

2017 Eagles Offense.

Professional blockers need to block like professionals. The professional thrower needs to throw like a professional. Pro catchers…Catch the fucking BALL, will ya? Football is blocking, tackling, and doing your job. The Eagles players TO A MAN, need to show up and do their jobs.

2) Shut down the pass: The Dolphins leading rusher averages 1.9 yards per carry. Read that again. So they probably won’t lean on the run. Just a hunch.

At QB they have Ryan “FitzMagic” Fitzpatrick. While he likes to share the football with opponents, he also likes to air it out, and has a knack for stringing together big plays when he gets hot.

Fortunately for us, the Dolphins like to share their QB with opponents. Of course in order to get to him, we have to make sure we keep WR DeVante Parker covered for at least a few seconds. Parker has been heating up recently, so covering him may prove to be more interesting than we’d like it to be, or than the past indicates that it should be.

3) Show ‘em something new: Seahawk LB KJ Wright said of the Eagles offense that they knew the Eagles plays before the ball was snapped. Surely the Dolphins have access to game film, same as any other NFL team. They could study it just like anyone else. No sense in tipping our hand to a bad team, right? So mix in some new plays, this week. Or better still, mix in just a couple of new plays that look and key, like old ones.

4) 1-2-3 THROW!: QB Carson Wentz needs to stop holding the ball for so long. It’s doing us TWO disservices. One which everyone talks about endlessly, and a second that never gets mentioned, but hurts us worse each week.

2019 wentz collapsing pocket

The first thing is, that it creates sacks and sack/fumbles for opponents. While we all know that it comes from Carson wanting to create big plays, it’s clear that we don’t have the firepower for him to try to force the issue so often.

The second thing is, when he holds the ball, it builds in our receivers heads that they can take 5 or 6 seconds to get open. Carson needs them to win early, and in order to communicate that, a couple of passes have to hit them before they’re ready. Carson has to put it on tape that the ball is on time, the receiver is just late. Lots of bad tape can hurt a guy come contract time. So I’m sure the receivers will figure it out.

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 Eagles are going to play with their food. This is an opponent we should overwhelm easily, but the Eagles have clear issues with offensive confidence right now. Leaning on the run early and often, would settle the Eagles down, and likely produce a first drive score, but we won’t do that.

Alshon eagle.jpg

We’re going to be cute and throw more TE Screens, TE outs, and Wheel routes to RB Miles Sanders. WR Alshon Jeffery just being on the field, will allow for TE Zach Ertz to go from a guy who just catches a lot of passes, back to a guy that hurts opponents in critical situations.

Fitzpatrick will either light us up, or throw us a touchdown. He tends to have a couple of really good weeks, before the carriage turns back into a pumpkin, and the horses turn back into rats. For the last three weeks he’s played better than his numbers indicate. So he’s about due for another implosion, with a big play or two sprinkled in there.

Also, since we’ve fallen for it two straight weeks, expect a trick play where a WR throws the ball. Until we stop it, teams will treat us like chumps with this.

For the first half of the game, expect some offensive lethargy. Hell! We may even be down at the half. Don’t sweat it though. The Dolphins defense can’t stop anybody. Once we figure that out, we’ll be able to finish this team off.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 26 – Dolphins 17

yeah-bitch

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK12 – SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/25
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, playoffs, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

2019 wentz sack sea2.jpg

THIS was yet another weird one. We did most of the Four Things, and still lost badly. Make no mistake, this was a bad loss. The score was close, but the game never felt like it was.

There are going to be people who want to blame our QB. If you want to do that, stop reading NOW. This article will discuss what actually happened in this game. There will be no knee-jerk over-emotionalizing,or revisionist history here. I want to see my team improve. I never look to shit on them, just because a loss was frustrating.

Eagles 9 – Seahawks 17

2019 wentz sack sea.jpg

This wasn’t a good game by QB Carson Wentz (33/45 – 73.3% – 256 – 1 – 2). That said, his two most reliable WR’s today, were WR Greg Ward (6 – 40 – 6.6 – 0) and WR Jordan Matthews (3 – 27 – 9.0 – 0). So let’s not pretend Wentz is somehow an awful QB all of a sudden.

2019 Greg Ward.jpg

Last week Ward was on the Practice Squad, and three weeks ago Matthews was home on his couch, watching the Eagles. Well Matthews started today. Yeah, you heard me. Started. Only the world’s most ignorant fan looks at that sentence and says “So?” Everyone else gets that timing has to be ironed out, and the playbook still needs to be digested.

While Wentz was off target a few times today, so was QB Russell Wilson (13/25 – 52.0% – 200 – 1 – 1), as the gusting wind affected both passers, costing each team a possible TD. The biggest difference between the two, was that Wentz lost two fumbles to Wilson’s one. Wentz was also credited with a fumble that hit RB Miles Sanders (12 – 63 – 5.2 – 0 – 0) directly in the bread basket.

The Defense was stellar yet again. We collected 6 sacks on Wilson

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and for most of the game, it took a trick play to yield the game’s only TD. SS Malcolm Jenkins (2 – 2.0 – 0 – 0) and FS Rod McLeod (3 – 1.0 – 1 – 1) , both nabbed sacks. McLeod also added a forced fumble and a pick.

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?

2019 malcolm jenkins and nate gerry.jpeg

1) Hit QB Russell Wilson: We got 6 sacks of this guy. WOW. Didn’t see that coming. However, since we got back CB Jalen Mills (5 – 0 – 0 – 0) DC Jim Schwartz has been letting our CB’s play a lot more physically. (Makes you almost wonder what could have been if that were the case back before the Offense was injured.) In any case we hit Wilson and combined with the wind, forced him into a pretty pedestrian day. (DONE)

2) Stay in-line: Rookie LEFT TACKLE Andre Dillard was pressed into starting at RT and naturally struggled. Even with TE help. Eventually he was benched in favor of OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who should have gotten this weeks reps and started, in the first place.
In any case, we gave a lot of TE help to the RT position. Even played some Jumbo package. The notion that Vaitai couldn’t block long enough to sell Screens passes, tells you how badly we missed RT Lane Johnson (concussion). Still, we did consistently provide the help (DONE)

3) Use play-action to create space: We did plenty of this in the first half. We did almost none once the score was 17 – 3 , but who would we have been fooling? When the game was in contention, we stuck with play-action pretty well.

2019 wentz collapsing pocket.jpg

I wasn’t a fan of the routes selected in the play-calling. TE Zach Ertz (12 – 91 – 7.5 – 1) was often double and even triple covered. It seemed to me that there should have been a few Slant and Sluggo routes dialed up in the second half. If only to take advantage of the spacing, or shake them out of those doubles. (DONE)

4) Don’t clutch Agholor: We didn’t lean on WR Nelson Agholor on third and fourth down this week. Which is good since he wasn’t in uniform this week. This game allowed him to either sit back and beat himself up over his drops, or gives him a bird’s-eye view that the problems in this Offense, and at his position, are not just him.

We have to get him out of his head a little bit. He almost certainly won’t be back in 2020, but for the remainder of 2019, he IS here. He IS an Eagle. So we need him up and functional, if we’re serious about a playoff push. (NOT APPLICABLE)

This week’s Four Things score is 3 for 4, bringing our season total to 22 of 44. The good news is, fundamentally we were pointed in the right direction. The bad news is, we simply haven’t had the weapons. Tough break, but it is what it is. With a little luck we’ll better armed, and will keep our vision next week against the Dolphins.

On The Whole:

Come_at_me_bro.jpg

There were a few things that irritated me about this game. One of which was the previously mentioned lack of adjustments off of Ertz being covered by sometimes three Seahawks players. Why was no one else open? And why did it take so long or Wentz to throw a ball down the sideline to a WR (Arcega-Whiteside)?

There were also instances of guys just standing around. On one play, both of our TE’s lined up on the right, ran short routes right near each other (ugh), and then they just sort of…stopped. No scramble drill, no extending the route. They just mostly stood there. Like they were waiting for a bus! Another was a run by Miles Sanders that saw Arcega-Whiteside standing and watching him be tackled by three Seahawks. No block. No pushing the pile. Just spectating.

This isn’t just one guy. A pervasive lack of effort speaks to a coaching issue. It speaks to why C Jason Kelce has become so inconsistent. It speaks to why it took back-up G Matt Tobin to finally get a block that put a man on his ass. (It speaks to why Agholor didn’t lay out for a pass a few weeks ago.) It speaks to why Wentz feels like he has to do it all on his own.

This game had a lot to do with not having weapons, but there are also a few things that need to be tidied up, if we’re going to make any noise in the playoffs.

WHHHHHA??? Did I just predict this loss, and still say playoffs? challenge_accepted

Yes. I did. Stay tuned. Stay dialed in. See you back here, soon.

FOUR THINGS – WK 12 – EAGLES – SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/21
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Note: Normally I like to get these out on Wednesday, but I held out an extra day to see if there was any news on Jordan Howard or Alshon Jeffery, only to now find that Nelson Agholor is also up in the air.
As they say: When it rains…it shits all over the bride’s dress.)

WK12-SEA

USUALLY in Four Things, I go the Chuck Woolery route of “Two and two”, with two Offensive keys, and two Defensive keys. This week I’m going Offense heavy because that’s the part that needs the help. I know, I know. “We lack speed!” “DeSean’s hurt! Scrap 2019, and trade Carson for Foles!!”

UGH!!! Quit panicking. There IS a solve for our problems with the players we have on the roster TODAY. I’m about to make so much sense, that it’ll make you think that our coaching staff is full-on retarded. Not “mentally challenged”. Retarded.

no in chill.jpg

Beating New England last week wasn’t really expected by anyone besides me. Then again my analysis, my writing last week’s FT, and releasing it were all prior to finding out that WR Alshon Jeffrey and RB Jordan Howard were both shelved for the game. It was so close that it’s hard for me to buy us losing, if even one of them had played.

My point is, that I expected a narrative change on Monday morning. We lost so it didn’t happen. Now I doubt we’d get that with a victory over Seattle. This is one of those games where a win is just a win. A loss will have Eagles fans jumping out of windows, but a win… There isn’t the sense that it’d shift our narrative.

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

1) Hit QB Russell Wilson: This is the only defensive key needed. Wilson is the beating heart (meal ticket) of the entire Seattle franchise. He’s why any of it works. (He’s also what holds it back.) So we need to wreck their game plan by menacing their QB.

Vinny Curry sack wilson.jpg

I’m NOT saying to deliberately hurt him or play dirty. I am saying that early in the game, we need to send Seattle’s coaching staff the message that, they might want to let QB Geno Smith finish this one. They won’t pull Wilson of course, but with playoff aspirations, they may drastically alter what they call for him. Just to limit his risk exposure.

2) Stay in-line: With RT Lane Johnson is concussion protocol, it looks like OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai will start in his place. Vaitai is decent with blocker head-up, but he struggles mightily with fast and/or agile pass rushers.

The solution is hella easy. Help Vaitai with an in-line TE, or a TE lined up close to Vaitai’s hip, to create an “alley”. A chip from the TE on his release will be enough to slow the rusher and give Vaitai a chance to get his hands on the guy. This only gets easier to do if used in conjunction with #3. Scroll down.

3) Use play-action to create space: We can run the ball. It’s already credible threat. We hardly have to sell it. Why not feed off of that?

So use play-action to get the receivers open on quick hitters. By quick hitter, I don’t mean lame 1 and 4 yard routes. None of that! Unless we’re running a Screen, this week there shouldn’t be a pass in the air for less than six yards.

matthews wentz 1st TD

Carson Wentz’s first NFL touchdown pass. 

The routes need to be 7, 8, and 9 yards, with a designated man to graduate to a “GO” in case a favorable Safety look presents itself. Those shorter planned routes, are to get the receiver mentally set to catch early into the route. Shorter routes are also to get Carson to get rid of the ball sooner, and act as natural “hot” routes in case of a blitz. Just identify the possible blitzer and put the ball in his vacated zone.

4) Don’t clutch Agholor: For the remainder of the year, unless the game is a runaway,WR Nelson Agholor  needs to be an almost exclusively 1st and 2nd down receiver, who sits on later downs. 

He’s absolutely a difference maker with the ball in his hands. The problem however, is his hands. He’s a talented athlete, his hands just aren’t clutch.

At the outset of this year Agholor was cast as a third receiver. Due to injuries, he’s now forced to act as our #1 WR. News flash, players don’t get more talented, just because guys above them got hurt. In fact, as you can see, we’ve gotten worse. He’s still a #3 option.

If Agholor plays this week, let him do what he’s good at. Create space around him, and get him the ball on early downs. Take away the mental pressure, and maybe get his confidence back. Help him get out of his head. You know? Like a coach. This receiving corp needs a confidence boost, and a decent showing here could jump-start that.

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 Eagles won’t do nearly as much play-action as they should, because hey, who wants to win, right? RB Jay Ajayi will see some work and provide some badly needed emotional spark to this Offense. Expect 150 yards from the TE’s, because who else does Wentz have?

Rocky chases chicken.gif

We’re going to spend a good deal of Sunday watching Russell Wilson re-enact the first chicken chasing scene in Rocky. Especially if DE Derek Barnett doesn’t do a better job of setting the edge.

The return of LB Nigel Bradham will make for an interesting dynamic up front, with LB Nate Gerry having called plays for the last few games. If they read the same thing, both may intuit what the other guy needs him to do.

In any case, the Eagles have less and less to work with, as the season goes on. Worse yet, Seattle is a team (one guy) that has had our number for a bit. With Howard and Jeffery, I’d call this a tight game. As we are now?

PREDICTION: EAGLES 16 – Seahawks 24

yeah-bitch

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK 11 – PATRIOTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/18
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

WINNING this game would have been a huge emotional boost to the roster. That said, let’s not pretend that this 7 point loss to the Patriots, is somehow a mark of shame.

Our #1 RB and #1 WR were both on the shelf this week. Our #2 WR is on IR. We signed two former Eagles off of their couches this week. And still we had a shot on the final drive.

aggie comes up short.jpg

Eagles 10 – Patriots 17

First and foremost, we need to tip our caps to DC Jim Schwartz for calling a hell of game. There were actual downs when we played some man press. I almost cried. The result was holding a well oiled offense to 17 points. Here’s hoping that this weeks lessons are remembered next week.

Our WR’s caught 6 of 17 targets, although most of the incompletions to WR Jordan Matthews (1 – 6 – 6.0 – 0) were the result of QB Carson Wentz (20/40 – 214 – 50.0 – 1 – 0) sailing the ball too tall towards the sideline. Seems like someone was missing their Alshon. Speaking of Alshon, Wentz threw TE Zach Ertz (9 – 94 – 10.4 – 0) 11 passes. Over a quarter of his attempts, for nearly half of his completions. 

2019 goedert scores vs ne.jpg

Wentz did hit TE Dallas Goedert (3 – 36 – 12.0 – 1) with an absolute laser, for a 5 yard score to cap a 95 yard 1st quarter drive. Other than that drive, we spent the day dead in the water on Offense. Rookie RB Miles Sanders (11 – 38 – 3.4 – 0 – 0), teamed with reserve RB Boston Scott (7 – 26 – 3.7 – 0 – 0) to produce all of 64 yards on 18 handoffs (3.5ypc). RB Jay Ajayi never sniffed the field.

Wentz was sacked either five or five hundred times. It seemed when the protection wasn’t breaking down on him, he held the ball like a WR was supposed to walk up and ask him for it. (Maybe that would have worked better than them running routes.)

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) Use play-action bootlegs: Yeah, there was no attempt at this one. Head Coach Doug Pederson seemed to leave a lot of meat on the bone coaching this week, and this is one such aspect. Especially after LT Jason Peters had to exit the game. The scheme seemed to call for Carson to hang in the pocket like a side of beef. Here in Philly there’s an image that goes with that.

rocky punching beef.jpg

(NOT DONE)

2) Get Brady to moonwalk: We did a brilliant job of this in the first half, and for most of the third quarter. Brady pretty much couldn’t step into his throws, and it forced them into resorting to a trick play for their only touchdown. (DONE)

3) Pry that clam open: We attacked the FS on the opening play of the game and attacked that area on the Goedert score. Otherwise we mostly threw Crossers, Outs and Curls. There wasn’t much challenging the Patriots downfield on the inside. Weird because that’s where you’d expect to see Jordan Matthews and the TE’s making their money this week. (NOT DONE)

4) Take care of the ball: Wentz lost the ball on a sack-fumble, but given the number of hits on him, especially after losing both OT’s, we did a decent job of protecting the ball. (DONE)

This week’s Four Things score is 2 of 4, bringing the season total to 19 of 40. We’ll need to be sharper than that vs a Seattle team that has had our number since Russell Wilson was drafted there.

On The Whole:

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Wentz at the presser, somehow not pleading for help.

Offensively we were a nightmare. When I put Four Things out last Wednesday, WR Alshon Jeffery and RB Jordan Howard had not yet been ruled out. While that list was compiled with them in mind, it wasn’t dependent on them. That said, I have no doubt that if one one or both of those players had played, it would have changed the end result.

While you may see me as the eternal optimist, I can’t help but point out three obvious and irrefutable truths here:

1) This may be a bad team from a personnel standpoint, but they are still a good team as far as sticking together. (i.e. not throwing each other under the bus.)

2) The Front Office is pushing for results, and thus setting a tone downstream.

3) The Eagles are still in the hunt for the division crown.

grabz