ANOTHER FORMER COWBOY RETURNS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/07/30
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Rivals, Super Bowl, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2019 ZEKE HOLDOUT

THIS morning around 2:30, while watching “Speak For Yourself” I heard something that irritated me, mostly because it’s flat-out untrue. It was said that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones holds all the leverage in regards to the holdout of Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott. Given what just happened with former Steeler/current Jet RB LeVeon Bell, this represents old thinking.

The thinking is, because there are two years, not one year, remaining on Elliott’s contract, the Cowboys can sit pat and eventually Elliott will either return on his current deal, or sign the Cowboys “take it or leave it” offer. That thinking is shortsighted and focuses on a commodity based mindset. It does not take into account, the entirety of the picture here.

Look, every sports show that talks about this issue, will tell you about what the player stands to lose here. No one seems to be thinking much about Elliott’s leverage, or what the organization stands to lose. Even more pressing is what Jones stands to lose personally. Oh yes. He has skin in the game. Literally.

jerry and jimmy

Remember when Jones forced out head coach Jimmy Johnson? The reason was largely because Jones felt that he didn’t get enough of the credit for building the Cowboys into a two-time (1992 and 1993) Super Bowl winner. Jones wanted to prove that he could win one without Johnson, and hey, Cowboys won another Super Bowl in 1995 under head coach Barry Switzer. However, everyone with at least two brain cells said “Yeah, but those are all still Jimmy’s players. Barry and Jerry just rode shotgun.”

So from that day to this, Jerry Jones has been on a quest to win one without ‘Jimmy’s players’. The problem is that Jones is 76, and there are fewer days ahead than behind. He is literally running out of time to get what he wants. And therein lies Ezekiel Elliott’s leverage. It’s TIME.

Due to Jones race against the clock, he has the Cowboys built to win now. Their window is now. Elliott’s holdout derails that, because the team goes as he goes. If Elliott no show, he no go. He no go, they no go. That burns a year of Jones’s life, over a sum of money he’d be willing burn to warm his feet. Jones needs Elliott more than the money. The money is a meaningless commodity. What’s precious is his remaining time.

But the game of one-upmanship must be played right?

alfred morris

So the Cowboys went out and signed RB Alfred Morris. Isn’t that just adorbs? They want to show Elliott that “the beat goes on”. They want to show him that they’re keeping it moving, keeping it shaking. Hot damn! You GO, Cowboys!

Except… The Cowboys have already had Morris. He was on the roster in 2016 and 2017. He was a teammate of, and the back-up to Elliott, before being released a year ago. If they really wanted Morris, they could have kept him. They didn’t. Could have had him months ago. They didn’t. So the Cowboys gallivanting around with some guy they settled for, won’t light a fire under Elliott. How could it? Why would it? Even Morris knows he’s just a seat warmer.

When Morris, or their rookie, or whomever else acting as a stand-in for the real thing, when that guy can’t deliver the goods, Jones will know that he’s wasting time. With every loss, that clock will tick louder. Louder and louder. Louder and louder.

There’s only so long left for Jerry to get what he’s spent decades craving, and Elliott is clearly the key to that. Whether Jones even has a chance at it, depends on him not playing the game of one-upmanship.

Then again, the game could go on and keep yielding the same old result:

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TRAINING CAMP 2019

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/07/26
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, Offense, Players, Roster, Special Teams, stats, Super Bowl. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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UNLESS your team just won the Super Bowl, there’s obviously some stuff you need to work on. Last year ended with some other team going home as the champs, so we’re in that category of teams who need to get their shi-  (ahem) that need to get better in at least one area.

MISSION: Get better in a few key areas.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We should strive to get better in ALL areas. Gotcha. 

Clichés aside, we need to focus on a few key areas that hurt us repeatedly during the 2018 season. Those areas are:

1) Running the ball.

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This image is from the days of LeSean McCoy. 

Our deficiency was more than just injury related. We rely on scheme to help clear lanes for our run game. Last year our scheme fell flat when our vertical threat (WR Mike Wallace) went down, and teams didn’t have to pull a man out of the box. WR DeSean Jackson gives us that again, but the our LG concerns me. He has a tendency to fall off of blocks. This has to get cleaned up if we’re to have a balance Offense.

2) Getting sacks. Not hurries. Not pass rush. We need actual sacks. Takedowns. Hits on meat. QB bodies littering the ground. I want to sacks this year. Lots of rough, violent, dirty sacks. The presence of DT Fletcher Cox should be helping us produce more hard numbers.

Hurries look like this:

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Close, I say close, but no C – gar. 

Sacks create more fumbles than hurries do. Sack-fumbles can turn into scoop and scores, reeeeeal easy. They also shake opposing QB’s, and get their o-linemen yelled at. Teammates argue over whose man that was. Hurries can lead to interceptions, but as last year proved, if we’re going against a cool-headed QB, it more often leads to completion percentages of 70 and above.

3) Keeping the pocket clean.

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For all the talk about QB Carson Wentz needing to slide, most of the time when QB’s get hurt, they’re in the pocket. If you look at many of his highlights, they feature him ducking under defensive linemen while IN the pocket. That can’t keep being a thing. The wall in front of him has to get better at producing 4 count protection. If a lineman can’t give you a 4 count, on 7 out of 10 pass pro downs in camp, he shouldn’t be a Starter. Period.

4) Return yardage. I get the statistical reason that many kickoffs aren’t returned anymore, but we’ve got to get more punt return yardage. In a sense, a punt return is the first offensive play of a drive. Returning a punt at least one third of it’s kicked distance, should be that unit’s routine objective. (Yes, a score would be better, but let’s not make the perfect the enemy of the good.) It’s highly unlikely that it one third returns would happen even half of the time, but a goal you don’t shoot for is a goal you are guaranteed not to hit. The recent addition of RB Darren Sproles should help here. A lot.

So that’s Four Things we need to work on. (Did you smile?)

Four PEOPLE we need to work on this year are:

LG Isaac Seumalo, RB Miles Sanders, DE Derek Barnett, and OLB Kamu Grugier-Hill.

Suemalo. He simply has too many plays where he doesn’t finish with his hands on his man. He also doesn’t root opponents off the line when they line up over his helmet. That’s a power issue. Our guy here needs to do more squats. 

Much of the Eagles run game relies on movement, and sliding sideways to open the hips of defenders, to prevent them from anchoring. Because of that, Seumalo (as well as C Jason Kelce) is able to generate high ratings for “shielding” or “running shove” type blocks, instead of locking on and putting a defender “on skates”.

With 4 starts in 2016, 2 in 2017 (SB), and 9 in 2018, he wasn’t relied on to do as much power run blocking as he’ll be asked to do in 2019. He needs to be able to consistently win at the point of attack, or this unit will look the way it did when he started from Week 5 to Week 14. The run game was anemic, because we could only run inside to the right. That has to change in 2019.

Sanders. He can be eased into a running and catching role. Those things come naturally to him. NFL pass protection will be another story. If he can’t pick up a blitz, he’ll never be more than a situational back. Luckily he has Duce Staley as a coach, so he’ll be well taught. The issue lies entirely with his application of what he learns.

Many fans expect/want him to emerge as the Eagles top RB. That’s the result of fans here not doing their homework on RB Jordan Howard. That’s also the result of fans not acknowledging the Eagles preference for splitting up the RB workload. Sanders will play, but he will have to share the ball. That is the culture here. Teaching him our culture has to be a key component of this preseason.

Barnett. What I want to see from him, is how fast he disengages from blocks, where a hand lands on his chest. Does he chop and spin? Does he rip and toss? Or does he get grabbed by the yoke of his collar and neutralized?

We’re at a point where we need to see production from Barnett, and there is no better indicator of his coming production, than seeing how fast he goes from blocked to unblocked. Th reason for wanting to measure time from “hand in chest”, is to see how long it takes for him to defeat a good block, not just a lousy one. I want to see that Barnett can generate sacks, not just be gifted with one here and there.

Grugier-Hill. KGH flashed in some games last year, but disappeared far too often. Of course, he also spent last year making the jump from Special Teamer to Defensive Starter. We all knew going in, that it was going to be a bumpy ride. While he didn’t seem to be blowing many assignments out there, he just didn’t make his presence felt enough by opposing offenses.

With the addition of MLB Zach Brown, I’d like to see KGH take a step towards helping him get settled into the system. That will indicate KGH’s comfort level, and help forecast whether he’ll still be waiting to read, or reacting to keys and then trying to make plays.

This isn’t the list of things we need to win the Super Bowl. This is the list of things we need to improve on from 2018.

Last year despite being decimated by injury, we finished 9 – 7, just one game behind the Cowboys who finished 10 – 6 and won the division. We were swept by them, in two games, by a total margin of 13 points. The first game was 7, the second was 6. In overtime.

With a healthier team, and improvement in the aforementioned areas, we’re not just talking about reversing that sweep. We’re talking about sweeping the NFC East this year.

Let’s get to it.

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Anyone interested in another celebration here?

THE RETURN OF 2001

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/07/24
Posted in: Conversations, Front Office (F.O.), NFC Championship, NFC East, playoffs, Rivals, Super Bowl, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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GREATNESS is out there. Can you see it?

Calling me optimistic about the upcoming season, would be to grossly understate the issue. In fact, when the subject of the Eagles comes up, I’m generally overtaken by feelings of extreme calm and pleasantness. Until yesterday, I couldn’t understand why that was. Then the Dallas Cowboys cut a relatively expendable WR, and it became as clear as day to me.

The days of Eagles football circa 2001, are back.

Eagles RBs

Think back to 2001. Franchise QB, key players inked to long term deals, no distractions in the locker room, comfortable coaching staff. The result was a four year, 48 – 16 run, that included four straight division wins, four appearances in the NFC Championship game, and one Super Bowl appearance. True, wins are better than appearances, but you have to get there to win OR lose.

It’s true, we were also 11 – 5 in 2000, but that was off of a last place schedule, following a 5 – 11 season. By 2001, each of those seasons was accomplished vs a 1st place schedule. We were legit MONSTERS.

By contrast, back then it seemed, if our division rivals counted their testicles five times, they’d never get the same number twice. They just couldn’t do anything right. Funny thing. If you look around the NFC East right now, you’ll see shades of that going on, all over again.

You have one team that can’t give away talent fast enough. Another team that can’t or won’t make adjustments to it’s approach to pretty much anything regarding offense, defense, or team culture. The third of our rivals, despite being the most valued sports franchise on Earth, doesn’t seem to understand how money works.

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It’s true! Meanwhile, this year’s Eagles roster is consistently regarded as in the top five, in terms of talent. Team culture is as highly regarded around here, as talent. Our financial house is so in order, that we were able to use it as a weapon, which has since, severely handicapped our most competitive rival, in terms of distraction. (Thank God, that Howie Roseman is on OUR side!)

The calm pleasantness that I feel, isn’t because I expect a great 2019. It’s because I’ve seen this before, and I know how this all plays out. We’re not just set up for a great season of Eagles football. We’re set up for a great era of Eagles football.

There will be losses. There will be injuries. There will be controversies. There will be things we cannot see coming. However, there will always be the team, the fans, and the dream. There will always be us.

Greatness is out there. Can you see it?

IT’S ALREADY STARTING

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/07/23
Posted in: Conversations, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Rivals. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

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BACK on June 7th, I said that the Eagles signing of QB Carson Wentz to a 4 year extension, forces the Dallas Cowboys into a phone booth. I figured that those chickens would come home to roost at the end of the 2019-2020 season. However, events have conspired to actually hasten the demise of the Cowboys 2019 season, and likely beyond.

The first event was attempting contract negotiation with Cowboys QB Dak Prescott. A smarter team would have let the season start, gauged Prescott’s effectiveness or lack thereof, then made him an offer accordingly. Especially since they seem less than gung-ho, about committing to him long term for some reason. 

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Laugh if you want. She can probably suck the chrome off a trailer hitch.

Instead the Cowboys tried to get ahead of an inflating market, far too late into the process. If they were going to do that, they should have done so before a QB with lesser stats (Wentz), was inked to an offer commensurate with what franchise QB’s are going for today.

The second event was the “leaked” plan of Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott, to hold out if he doesn’t get a new deal, two years early. The Cowboys win when Elliott plays, and they lose when he doesn’t. If the Cowboys don’t pay him, they’re left with an over-rated, soon to be over-paid QB, throwing to their star (ugh, unintended pun) WR Amari Cooper, who’s on the last year of his deal, having said that he plans to play his contract out.

(FYI: Cooper is waiting to see what kind of money Falcons WR Julio Jones pulls down, to see what the market looks like. There is ZERO guarantee that he stays in Dallas.)

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I won’t even mention all the other expiring contracts the Cowboys have to deal with at season’s end. As it stands, these three are problematic enough on their own, but they’re hitting all at once. And what’s crazy is that NONE of them needs to be!

The reason I say “it’s already starting” is because today the Cowboys cut WR Allen Hurns, after he refused a pay cut. He was scheduled to carry a 2019 cap hit of 6.25M (4M base, 1.25M signing bonus, 1M roster bonus), but cutting him saves the Cowboys his 4M base. This 4M is money that they can now reallocate.

What this is, is a cannibalizing of the roster. I say this, because this is just the first of these moves. Lesser Cowboys are being ground up, to ensure that Jerry Jones team can feed his stars.

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This team’s starting QB, RB, and #1 WR are all playing with contracts on their minds. Either you have to prepare for the reality of losing one very shortly, or you have to realize that the only way to pay those three, is at the expense of their teammates. And don’t even entertain the notion of winning the division with such distraction looming.

Oh yeah. It’s already starting.

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DARREN SPROLES = SUPERBOWL?

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/07/20
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, Offense, Players, playoffs, Roster, Special Teams, Super Bowl. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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JUNE 30th 2019: I wrote an article saying that we needed to bring back RB Darren Sproles, mostly to be a Punt Returner. The question was: Did the Eagles see the same need that I saw? Well, after signing him on July 19th, part of a statement on the Eagles website reads: “His dynamic punt return skills are second to none. We can’t wait to get started next week.”

Nowhere in that article does the team mention his role in the Offense, but they get right down to talking about him as a PR man, don’t they!? If I were to venture a guess, I’d say that once the Eagles staffer who reads my articles took my idea upstairs, the brass hurt their necks nodding in agreement.

Really, the Eagles need to just hire me, so that I can suggest these moves much sooner, and behind closed doors.

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Just so that we’re clear, it’s probably not wise to expect a huge offensive role for Sproles. He can still contribute there, but with so much young talent, why not let his load be to help develop them, and start him on his way as a member of our coaching staff? Sort of a player/coach, in the mold of former Cowboys RB Dan Reeves.

(Few words of advice to the Eagles: When we get to the playoffs, don’t try to add extra packages for Sproles, just to manufacture a few big moments for him. Do what got you there. “Dance with the girl who brung ya”. Don’t. Get. Cute. Let being on the field be good enough for him. )

Now that it’s happened, I can sigh a sigh of relief. This signing was massive. Without it we still narrowly win the division, but we likely crash on the rocks in the second round again. Just one more fun-to-watch, plucky team, that doesn’t win enough hidden yardage to squeak ahead in a playoff fist-fight. (Pssst! That’s the hidden reason why we beat Atlanta 15 – 10 in 2017.)

This time with a PR man, improved edge rushing, AND deep speed on the perimeter, we should smother opponents and advance to the NFC Championship Game, almost in a walk. Injuries could change this, but as of now, EXPECT the Eagles to at least play in this Super Bowl.

At least.

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WHO NEEDS A RIVALRY?

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/07/16
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, playoffs, Rants, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

lovers rivalry

RECENTLY a pair of questions were posed to me: “Who is the rivalry between our teams more important to: the fans or the players? Have the fans just hated each other for so long, (that) it’s in our DNA now?”

The answer to Question One is tricky. However, just to pick a side and give an you answer, I’d have to lean towards it being more important to players.

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Slightly.

Used to be, a player spent most (if not all), of his career with one team. Often he’d spend years going against the same guy, twice a year. He got to know his enemy. He got to either truly respect the guy, or absolutely hate his guts.

Up and down the line, on both sides of the ball, match-ups were battles. In some cases, real battles. Not just to win the game, but often to settle old scores. Mounting scores. Men threw hands that landed loaded with real hatred. It was a different age back then. Player mobility has killed that.

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Rare now is the gladiator who will only don one helmet. Knowing this as a rookie, it’s no longer automatic for a player to cultivate a hatred for a player he sees twice a year. Too often there are situations like Oakland’s, where formerly bitter rivals (like WR Antonio Brown and LB Vontaze Burfict), end up teammates, who make a point of publicly “squashing past beefs”.

Still, players need the rivalries more than fans. Players need to make sure that when “(Insert Team) Week” comes around, that they say all the things fan want to hear. This is because fan-favorite players have more leverage come contract time. Especially if their jersey sells well. And nothing endears a player to fans faster, than trash talk that gets backed-up.

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November 12th, 1990. MLB Byron Evans lets QB Stan Humphries know what the fuck time it is, during “The Body Bag Game.”

For fans, rivalries are a sliding scale. For instance, most Eagles fans view the Cowboys as the bane of their existence. Not me. For me, it’s the Redskins. Stems from back to the 1990’s. The Cowboys frequently had strokes of luck that made me roll my eyes. The Redskins however, used to flat-out play dirty during games, and refs would act blind to it, then that prissy fa- …the effeminate Mark Rypien, would be so smug. GOD! They were so easy to hate.

As for Question Two, on whether rival fan hatred is now genetic… Ask any Eagles fan with a kid who roots for a rival. It’s not genetic. I know for a fact, because my Mom was a Cowboys fan, and she didn’t hate me (an Eagles fan), or my brother (a giants fan). So it’s not genetic. It’s not. (FTR: I happen to love my brother and I also like him.)

Who really benefits, are sports franchises. They make a ton of bank off of our Blood vs Crips mentality. “Yo homes! You can’t be wearin’ them colors, in this stadium…”

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Rivalries make the season more dramatic. They serve as a moralistic rally point, concentrate feelings of tribalism, and ultimately drive sales through the roof. Fans, players… pffft! No one needs rivalries more than the franchises themselves.

Understanding how important rivalries are, I’m still perplexed by the 2001 NFL realignment, which broke up divisions with five teams in them, and made every division a four team division.

While only 6 rivalry games per year seems more special(?), it means that it’s only 6/16 or 37.5% of the schedule. When there were 8 rivalry games it was 8/16 or 50% of the schedule. So while the division games are now more special, they now impact the schedule less. You can still go 10-6, and not need much Wild Card help, even if you lose every division game.

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Fail.

I miss there being five teams in the division. The top and bottom of a division are now too starkly defined. I miss that nebulous middle, and the frustrated players that came with it. So much bad blood. Helped fuel rivalries. I miss that.

BACKING UP NATE SUDFELD

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/07/09
Posted in: Conversations, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Rants, Roster, Super Bowl. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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HAVING QB Nate Sudfeld as the back-up to Carson Wentz, isn’t risky! In fact, it’s a very smart move for the Front Office to have made. For someone to write that it’s “risky” because he isn’t a more veteran presence, is an almost stunning display of ignorance and lack of foresight. These rogue writers better back-up off my QB!

Sorry, I started out ranting. Let me take a step back and explain. I read a ton of Eagles articles in the course of doing research for my articles, in order to make sure that when I write it, you can quote it, and rest assured that you’re 100% correct. Yesterday I read an article that said that the Eagles going with Sudfeld, instead of more veteran QB’s like Tyrod Taylor or Ryan Fitzpatrick, was a risky move.

Now normally when I read something I disagree with, I shrug and go to the next thing. So naturally I attempted the same thing yesterday. However, the longer the day got, the more it crept into my thoughts. Not just because I oppose it philosophically, but because it is fundamentally wrong. Not just incorrect, but downright WRONG.

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First of all, Nate has been here for two years and is familiar with the coaches, players, playbook, and core concepts of the Offensive system. He already has a firm grasp of everything, so there is no internal learning curve for him. If he finds himself pressed into playing, during film study and meetings, he can focus on learning the opponent. He’s at a point in his career where all of his learning can be external.

Bringing in a veteran, free agent QB, means teaching them a new system, new players, yada-blah, and etcetera. That of course doesn’t take into account whether the new player fits the team culture.

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Sudfeld is already a fucking Yahtzee. So why re-roll? Plus he’s a young player that the Eagles can develop. That development is important, because with all the young QB’s drafted in the last few years, Sudfeld likely won’t have many, (if any) starting opportunities come his way. Especially if Wentz stays healthier than he’s been over the last two seasons, and so Sudfeld can’t showcase his skills.

Being a career back-up is no young player’s dream. However, the idea of having longevity in a game they love, and getting to belong to, and contribute to, an era of success over a decade or so… That’s nothing to sneeze at. For the Eagles organization, that level of stability is also nothing to sneeze at.

I was trying to write this article without bringing up QB Nick Foles, but even 852 miles away, he’s still the elephant in the room. This needs to be addressed so that we can forever gain some perspective, and not base our view of the past on a mythology that seems to be spreading.

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Part of the reason that article said we need a more veteran QB, is because that’s what Foles was. Foles was a back-up who had once been a starter. He was battle-tested. He’d played a playoff game. He was qualified to start. Hell, his seven TD game is still an NFL All-Time record (tied with QB Peyton Manning). Foles uniform from that game is ALREADY in Canton. Foles went on to become a Super Bowl Most Valuable Player. So apparently this is the formula, right?

Wrong. First of all, if your back-up is in, people generally expect less success. When Wentz went down, plenty of Eagles fans expressed serious doubts about Foles. No one cops to it NOW, but it was a real thing back during Weeks 15 – 17 in 2017.

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Should Wentz go down again, judging Sudfeld against Foles 2017 season is straight bullshit. If there’s a free agent QB out there who can keep a team in the hunt for a Lombardi, then why the fuck isn’t he starting?! Why is he a free agent?

Foles isn’t the standard, he’s the exception. He had a great run in late 2017, but basing our hunts for future back-ups on the 2017 season, is sheer madness. It’s unadulterated farce. Meanwhile, we have a great situation with Nate Sudfeld, right now. It’s important that we as Eagles fans recognize that, and don’t let these rogue writers promote the idea of the exceptional as the enemy of the good.

These rogue writers better back-up off my QB.

THE NFC EAST QB SITUATION

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/07/08
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, Offense, Players, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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YOU can’t win without a Quarterback. In the last half century in the NFL, that statement has become axiomatic. Well, it’s been a month since the Eagles made it clear to the world, that warts and all, QB Carson Wentz is the franchise that this franchise is franchised around. (Let the Church say amen… Hallelujah.)

The rest of the NFC East seems well…a bit unsettled at QB. What I mean is, the other two football teams and the Redskins, have yet to declare the guy who they want to build their futures with. At first glance it may not appear so, but if you lean in (and you don’t even have to lean in close), you’ll see what I mean.

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The giants are essentially held hostage by the no-trade clause in QB Eli Manning’s contract, and so will pay his 23M$ salary, to avoid eating 11M$ of dead money and bad karma, from just cutting him.

So their front office is going to let him start, probably (secretly, silently) hoping for him to get injured just enough to start the QB they picked #6 overall, out of Duke. (Yes Duke.) You know who I mean. QB Whatshisname. John Doe? Joe Smith? Tom Blank? Daniel Jones? Whatever. They’re basically waiting for a medical reason to yank Manning. Or to let him stink so badly that he himself will suggest riding pine to avoid further weekly embarrassment.

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The Redskins. Picture a blindfolded child, swinging at the air with a stick, and hoping to make contact with a pinata 10 feet behind them. Right now the ‘skins aren’t looking for candy. Just a thump that says there may be a chance at some candy. They too have a rookie QB in Dwayne Haskins, and he’s looking to make everyone who passed on him “pay”. (Which to me, seems almost like him saying that he’s mad that he isn’t elsewhere.)

The ‘skins may start the rookie. Or they may start QB Case Keenum who they brought in to start, before they decided he wasn’t good enough, and drafted a QB in the first round. However, a report from last month, also says that last year’s back-up, QB Colt McCoy, could end up the starting QB. That’s if he isn’t cut. Wait, what?! How do you go from potential starter to… Never mind. Redskins.

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I understand the youth movements in DC and NY. Those are 100% organic processes. Dallas however, has given me pause. Like trying to line up a shot on a pool table, I’ve been looking at Dallas’s situation from different angles and imagining the follow through. Here’s what I came up with.

Cowboy’s owner Jerry Jones is the groom. He’s locked in the bathroom on the day of his wedding, refusing to come out. It’s time to walk down the aisle and commit to QB Dak Prescott. However, Jones has reservations about the marriage. Prescott is good, but is he ring good? Jones has his doubts.

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That in itself says absolutely everything. Jones has had QB’s Troy Aikman and Tony Romo. He’s also had QB’s Quincy Carter and Steve Walsh. He knows what a franchise QB looks like. However, he also knows what they don’t look like. So this much hesitation on Prescott, is telling.

On the surface, we all know that after spending three years singing Prescott’s praises, Jones now has to sign him. That being said, signing him and keeping him are two very different things. Especially if Dallas has eyes for making a major move in or around the 2020 Draft. It’s the only thing that explains why Prescott has been allowed to remain unsigned as Jones watches his price tag steadily increase.

It’s highly unlikely, but it’s entirely possible that Prescott could play this year out, move on, and the Cowboys would have to start at square one. Calm down. Calm down. I said possible, but highly unlikely. More likely would be a delayed sign and trade scenario.

Picture this: Prescott is signed to a 5 year deal during training camp. During the season, his play still can’t convince Jones that he is a great long term answer. Why hold onto a player like that for 32M$ per year? The answer is, no team would.

Given all the pieces that the Cowboys currently have in place, Jones has to make a move if he thinks he still doesn’t have a franchise QB. He has to. Otherwise he risks missing the team’s window.

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Dallas will sign Prescott. They’ll do so just in case he pans out this year, or to have leverage to get something for him, if their front office decides that they need a new QB. That way they can get a jump on the seller’s market.

But who would want Prescott next year? The short list of places he’d end up are… We’ll save that for another day.

NECESSARY LUXURY CONNOR BARWIN

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/06/30
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Rants, Roster, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment
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Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz

AGAIN, LB/DE Connor Barwin has made his wish to comeback to Philadelphia, publicly known. It was a good idea when I wrote about it last March, and it’s still a good idea now. The only question is: Are the Eagles smart enough to pull the trigger? By the way, we should also grab RB Darren Sproles while we’re at it.

No. I’m not interested in an Eagles reunion tour.

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What? No! Wrong Eagles! Ooooohh in it’s entirety? No. Never mind that.

Look, I’ve been a fan of bringing back Barwin for years now. On Sproles, I’ve had a recent change of heart, following a recent change of heart. However, as it stands now, both players would be a Necessary Luxury. Yes, the statement is oxymoronic. Allow me to explain.

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Barwin is more of a 3-4 OLB than a typical 4-3 DE. However, in a Wide 9 front, the DE position operates more like an OLB with space around it. This puts emphasis on containment and then penetration, as opposed to block stacking and then penetration. Both are examples of setting an edge, but the tactic is different. Last time I checked, Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz still employ a Wide 9 front.

With the recent retirement of DE Chris Long, there is a hole here. Second year DE’s Josh Sweat and Joe Ostman, along with rookie DE Shareef Miller, would all like a shot at the 4th spot behind DE’s Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett and Vinny Curry. In fact, it makes sense to elevate a youngin. The trouble is the lack of versatility, which the Eagles covet. Every guy on this list is a defensive lineman. They aren’t meant for playing in space.

Barwin can play with his hand in the dirt, and can can also offer some value as zone coverage LB. He’s played both ILB and OLB, so the Eagles can move him around either situationally, or in the case of an injury. True or false: LB depth has been an issue for the Eagles for a while now? See? Necessary luxury. Barwin is a great locker room influence and also truly embraces the city of Philadelphia itself. In the absence of Long, you really can’t ask for better.

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Sproles, is a quietly intriguing case. When I talk to people about him, they always go right to discussing how we don’t need him, because we have RB Miles Sanders. While there may be some truth to that, there is no such thing as too much depth at RB. (Just compare 2018 to 2017.) Besides, if Sproles doesn’t come here, he’s going to New Orleans. Do we need that? Do we?

Also, what most people fail to realize is that right now, as you read this on June 30th 2019, the two most accomplished return men on the Eagles team are WR DeSean Jackson, and RB Corey Clement. Using DJax as a regular returner AND starting WR is stupid. Especially at his age and with his hamstring history. As I said in a prior article  Clement has a grand total of 6 (I say again, just 6) career punt returns and just 15 kick returns.

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Seems like maybe an on-field mentor would be good to have around. Teach the young guys? See? Necessary luxury. In addition to that, RB Coach Duce Staley has indicated that there might be a budding coach in Sproles. If we can transition him here, it’d be a ton of current wisdom to have in our stockpile.

HOW TO SWEEP THE NFC EAST: COWBOYS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/06/29
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, NFC East, Offense, Players, playoffs, Preview, Rivals, Roster, stats, Super Bowl, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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FREE Agency rounds 1 and 2 have passed, as has the Draft. At this point, teams have basically added all their desired starters and key depth. Now it’s just a matter of seeing who everyone loses between now (with stupid vacation injuries), and the end of Training Camp. This article assumes the Eagles operating at their peak vs rivals operating at their peak, for 17 straight weeks.

Here, is how the Eagles can sweep the NFC East in 2019. Today we’ll talk about the Cowboys.

2019 - Criminal.jpgDefensively the Cowboys haven’t been hard for the Eagles to score points against. In 6 meetings since Doug Pederson took over as Head Coach of the Eagles, the Eagles are 2 – 4, but the average score of those games is 21.6 Eagles – 18.8 Cowboys. (It’s true. Look it up.) Minus the 0 – 6 game where the Eagles played mostly third stringers, the Eagles average 26.0 points per game vs Dallas.

This indicates that the Offensive system is fine doing what it does, and that Pederson and staff already have a feel for how to call a game in real-time, vs this team. The Cowboys trading for DE Robert Quinn, would have had the ability to shift those tones…had the Eagles not on the same day, traded for RB Jordan Howard.

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If the Eagles feed Howard (see what I did there), it’ll force Dallas to put leashes on their pass rushers, to keep Howard from exploiting open edges. This means QB Carson Wentz would see more manageable 3rd downs, and wouldn’t have to hold the ball long enough for Quinn to make much of an impact. Even without a run game last year, the Eagles managed 20 points or more in both games. A run game will only make the Offense smoother, if not more effective.

Offensively the Cowboys managed all of 15 points in two games against the Eagles in 2017. However in 2018, given the Eagles Secondary issues, the Cowboys exploded for 56 points. QB Dak Prescott threw 4 touchdowns against the Eagles in 2018 (two games), when he’d only thrown a total of 3 in two previous seasons (four games). Still, both 2018 games were hotly contested, with the margins of victory in both games being 7 and 6 points.

With the Eagles Secondary on the mend from a million injuries in 2018, odds are that the Cowboys go back to the 14.25 points per game they averaged in the first four games against the Eagles, instead of the 28.0 points per game they posted in 2018.

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That said, Dallas is a deeper and more talented team than our other two rivals, and so a sweep here will take work. The Eagles have to take away all the parts of the Cowboys offense that make it stable. Everything that makes it run on time, has to be made to run slightly off-schedule. Force them to have to subsist on the big play. That is, if they can make enough of them to sustain drives.

The key to beating the Cowboys offense will be to overwhelm their offensive line. Get into the backfield and make plays run “off-script.” Dictate to the RB where the hole has been moved to, and have a tackler waiting. Make the QB reset his feet, to disrupt short timing routes. Fake a blitz, and have a deep route audibled to a shallow one. Basically hand them death by 1,000 cuts.

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Cowboys watching the Eagles in the 2019 – 2020 playoffs.

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