FOUR THINGS:WK 11: EAGLES-SAINTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/11/15
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

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UNDERDOGS. THIS is what it feels like to truly be an underdog. Not running away with a conference, but sinking deep into a division. It means not being favored. It means mathematically not having a real chance. It means the odds being against you. THAT is what underdog truly means. The Eagles are underdogs now. It’s time to see how fast our team can run.

Word from on high is, the Saints aren’t taking us lightly. They are preparing as if they are going to face a champion. In their quest to become champions themselves, they are paying attention to the details. We need to match that.

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

1) Run the ball: This apparently has to be stated every week, or we won’t do it and then we’ll lose. So like a weird good luck charm, I’m saying it. Run the ball against the best rushing defense in the NFL. Hand the ball off at least 25 times. Over 25 handoffs (called runs) and we’re 4 – 0. Under 25 and we’re 0 – 5. Can’t be clearer on this. Just don’t let RB Wendell Smallwood get the bulk of the work. He sucks ass.

2) Hit the QB: Even if we have to late hit him, early in the game.

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If QB Drew Brees is worried about his safety, he might not see one of ours. (See what I did there?) One of the main reasons that the Saints have just one loss, is because they don’t turn the ball over. Brees isn’t going to give away turnovers, we have to force them. No QB in football has been sacked less (9) or hit less (28) than Brees. So hitting him would be unusual, and very likely to throw off his rhythm.

3) Dictate the passes: Old expression in fighting: Take one to give two. It means to decide on where to absorb punishment, in order to dish out more. Smart QB’s like to “take what the defense gives them”, so we need to decide where WR Michael Thomas can make catches. This sets him up for big hits and routes that our Safeties can sit on,

4) Go deep early: WR Alshon Jeffery is our X-factor in this game.

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The Saints have no answer for him. While TE Zach Ertz is reliable and helps move chains, he’s also not explosive and can’t force teams to scrap their coverage plans. On less than half the catches, Jeffery has just one fewer touchdown (4) than Ertz (5). It’s time to put the fear of God back into everyone who has to face us from here on 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:

“Where was this last week?!” If you’re an Eagles fan, you’ve said— No. No you haven’t. If you’re an Eagles fan, you’ve screamed those words before. Last week was a gimme, and we blew it. Now the world is talking like were the Replacements. Fans are looking forward to the Draft. Everyone is writing us off. And that is foolish.

I can’t, with a straight face, predict an Eagles win this week. I can say with a straight face, that with our Secondary being so banged up, to win we’ll need to have a shootout. I can also say with a straight face, that we have the tools to have a shootout. I can also say with a straight face, that we actually have more tools than the Saints do. They have a QB, a RB, and a WR. We have a QB, a TE, and two WR’s.

I have to play the odds and predict a Saints win just for credibility sake, but mark my words: This is actually a winnable game for the Eagles. So don’t be surprised to find yourself yelling “Where was this last week!?!”

PREDICTION: EAGLES 24 – Saints 31

yeah-bitch

WHERE MY DOGS AT?

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/11/14
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, NFC East, playoffs, Rants, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

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I’M fucking disgusted. Last year, we ran away with the NFC. Not just the NFC East, the entire NFC. East, West, North, the other part. The whole damned conference. We owned half of professional football. The playoffs were a mere formality, on our way to setting up the showdown that would conquer and take the OTHER half of pro football.

And all the time, Eagles fans embraced that whole “underdog” thing. Eagles fans couldn’t get enough of the underdog imagery and talk. Which I thought was stupid.

I even said as much, starting in Week 7 last year, and continuing to mock it throughout the playoffs. Not just once, or twice, but three times.

So we weren’t getting respect from pundits. Who cares?! They were just fans of teams they grew up being told were already winners. You know the type. Steelers, Cowboys, the hoards of New England fans that didn’t exist in 1992. Not getting respect from a bunch of dick riders was no big deal. Them not rooting for us couldn’t make us underdogs. You can’t be an actual underdog with the best record in the sport, and being favored (often heavily), by Vegas to win almost every week. You just can’t be. So yeah. I mocked it.

Fast forward to TODAY. New Orleans is 8 – 1. The Eagles are 4 – 5. We’re the away team. We have a ton of key players on Injured Reserve, and we just lost to a shitty division rival. Dear Eagles Fans: THIS is what an underdog actually looks like. Care to buy a mask, now that it really counts?

Half a season left, just two games behind our division leader, and some fans already want to tank. You heard me. TANK. You tank when you’re completely, mathematically eliminated from even a wild card spot. For example, right now, the 2 – 7 giants have no right to tank.

Where is that fighting spirit now? This is when you need heart! This is where backbone counts! Then those same fans turn right around, and call Cowboys fans “front-runners”? Fuck man! Do you even OWN a mirror?

Good times and bad. THAT is a fan. Get OFF your asses, get ON your feet, and go find that “Hungry Dogs” t-shirt you bought at the parade, scarcely 9 months ago. Go circle both Redskins games on your calendar. Because unless you were just a front-runner, you should be about STARVING now.

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THE RIVALS 2018 (PT 2 of 3)

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/11/14
Posted in: Conversations, NFC East, Reviews, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

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IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN KIDDIES!!!

GENERALLY when I talk football, it’s about my Eagles. I tend to keep mum about our rivals, unless we have a game coming up against one of them. Otherwise, I’ve reserved most talk about them for my Pre-Draft Preview, which drops each April. (Look for it).

In 2017 however, I decided to try something new, and give our fan base a running commentary of what the division is doing around us. This ensures that Eagles fans ARE actually the best informed, and most knowledgeable fans, in the NFL. (Provided you visit this site often.) These updates will come out three times during the season: After Weeks 3, 9, and 15.

This is where we left off  PART 1.

This is where things are today:

New York Giants: 2 – 7, 4th in the NFC East

The good news: It’s not over yet. They could win out and uh…. No. No. Just no.

The bad news: It’s not over yet.

It took 9 weeks for the giants to reach their 2nd win. That makes sense given that winning is done by controlling an opponent. At this point the giants don’t even seem to have control of their own roster.

Weekly now, there are questions about whether QB Eli Manning should be benched, in favor of a back-up that no one is excited over. They jettisoned two starting defensive players DT Damon “Snacks” Harrison, and CB Eli Apple, via trade. They have yet to give their 233 pound, first round drafted RB, 20 carries in any game. But he’s had 4 games where he’s caught 9 or more passes. (Without getting to 100 receiving yards in any of those. What’s up with that?)

All indications are that this team has no idea who it is, or what it’s doing this year. The giants are putting on a clinic on how to create a 4th place team, with top-shelf talent.

Dallas Cowboys: 4 – 5, 2nd place in the NFC East

Despite an identical 4 – 5 record with Philadelphia, the Cowboys are in 2nd place by virtue of the tie-breaker, due to just having beaten us on Sunday night. But don’t be fooled by the flashy 4 – 5 record that their fans are so proud of/relieved to have. This is not a good team.

First the good news: They made a trade for Amari Cooper to upgrade their WR group. It seems to be working so far. The Top 10 defense they had in Week 3, is still a Top 10 defense. While folks could question the stats, the underlying reason for the stats, or the quality/condition of their opponents, the fact is, Dallas is still statistically a top unit. They also own the NFL’s 5th ranked run game.

Bad news time: They don’t score much (24th), move the ball well (27th), or throw it worth a damn (28th). Their QB is still a liability, and the owner has publicly committed to extending his contract. Oh yeah, and there’s the owner who won’t fire the coach, because well… you know:

Washington Redskins: 6 – 3, 1st in the NFC East

Washington was listed as the #2 team in the division after Week 3. However, through the magic of winning ball games (hey Eagles, are you writing this down?), the ‘skins have moved into sole possession of the top spot.

With 176 points for and 175 against, we aren’t really talking about a juggernaut here. They can’t score (27th), move the ball (26th), or throw the ball (25th). What they can do is run the ball (10th), stop teams from scoring (5th), and not shoot themselves in the foot. (Seriously? Are you writing this down?)

The good news: Washington quietly boasts a defensive front that can be a handful. They do a good job of creating confusion and helping generate turnovers.

The bad news: Washington is coming into the tougher part of their schedule just as age and injury seems to be catching up with them. It’ll be interesting to see where the next 6 weeks takes them.

So that’s the state of our division rivals, as our Eagles head into Week 10.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK10 :COWBOYS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/11/12
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, playoffs, Rants, Reviews, Rivals, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

THIS loss upset me. However, what upsets me more, is that I’m not more upset. But how can I be? The 72% completion rate we allowed, isn’t new around here. The poor tackling technique, isn’t new around here. The inability to generate turnovers, isn’t new around here. Allowing opponents to come within an arm stretch of converting a 3rd and extra-long, isn’t new around here. I expected a comfy win. Vegas odds-makers did as well. Yet when we didn’t, I somehow wasn’t shocked at all.

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EAGLES 20 – Cowboys 27

The record will show that the Cowboys kicked our asses last night, but they were entirely beside the point. Karma kicked our asses last night.

Head Coach Doug Pederson was force fed his own arrogance last night, and thank god for it! Maybe the humiliation will teach him. Hard to produce wins when your offensive balance looks like 44 pass attempts (with 2 sacks and 2 QB runs), to 14 hand-offs. Out of 62 plays, 48 (77.4%) were pass plays. We did that last night. As a team, the Eagles ran 14 times for 54 yards. AS A TEAM. We did that as a team. In a game that was NEVER out of contention, as a team we had all of 14 hand-offs.

Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz watched another football game yesterday. I say watched, because coaching requires making adjustments. I doubt he adjusted anything besides his headset. He hasn’t made any real in-game adjustments in weeks. Remember those toy cars that you’d pull back and let go, then the little motor inside would make it go forward in a straight line? That’s Jim Schwartz’s Wide Nine. No adjustments, no twists or turns. Just run forward until you run out of juice.

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) Come out aggressive: Didn’t happen. The Eagles started the game with a three and out and mostly looked listless and uneven throughout the night. NOT DONE

2) Be the Eagles: We generally hover around 61% pass play selection, which is why we were 4 – 4. Last night that pass play percentage ramped up to 77%. Clearly somebody who’s name rhymes withugg.jpeg

decided to get cute, and it cost us. Now we’re 4 – 5. Good times. NOT DONE

3) Wrap it up: Just tackle well. He had 151 rushing yards. That’s all this part required. Just 151. Just wrap the man up. Rushing yards. Wrap and hold on. Hurdles a Safety. My favorite part was when CB Ronald Darby (3 – 0 – 0 – 0) tried to lay a hit on WR Amari Cooper (6 – 75 – 12.5 – 0), bounced off of him, and let him pick up the first down. I couldn’t even scream on that one. Just vibrated in my seat, and cried a little blood. Good times. Good times. NOT DONE

4) RAC ‘em up!: Yards after the catch. Screens and shit to our RB’s, and the 30 year old we just traded for. Makes sense right? FUCK THAT! Hey Zach, wanna play catch? Let’s stare down my TE and throw an interception to take the crowd out of the game, give up an easy score, and add momentum to feed our opponent’s shaky confidence. NOT DONE

That’s 0 of 4 this week, and 14 of 36 on the year. Even that 0 for 4 mark still had us with 7 points, so imagine if we’d done ANY of these things. So much for common sense. Well, after losing to the juggernaut that is the Cowboys, we get off easy next week. We go down to the Big Easy to face an 8 – 1 Saints team, that now has to face the REIGNING WORLD CHA- ahhhhh fuck it.

On The Whole:

We allowed 151 rushing yards and 7.9 yards per carry, to one RB last night. We allowed an embattled QB to complete 72% of his passes. We allowed a team that was all-but done in 2018, to re-enter a crowded division race. If the Eagles miss the playoffs in 2018, this game, THIS one, will be the point that defined the entire season.

FOUR THINGS: WK10 : EAGLES-COWBOYS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/11/08
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Draft, Four Things, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, Rivals, Roster, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

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TO many Eagles fans, this game is the most important one of the season. For some fans, beating Dallas in Philly, is as big as it gets. If we were to ever go 1 – 15, that one win has to be here, against the Cowboys. (Personally, my favorite regular season win of the year, is beating the ‘skins IN Washington.) However, to some fans, the only wins that could trum- (Need another word there.) The only wins that could be bigger than this week, are playoff wins. When it comes to “the star”, for Eagles fans, the hate runneth deep.

The Cowboys are next on the schedule, but they aren’t what’s important to the Eagles this week. That doesn’t mean the Eagles are looking past the Cowboys. In fact, it means that beating them, has our undivided.

Our opponent comes to town, fresh off of a beat-down, which they took in front of a national audience.

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Questions are swirling about the future of their leadership on the field, on the sideline, and in their front office. At 3 – 5, they are one more loss away from buying Oakland something really nice, in the 2019 Draft.

Speaking of something really nice, WR Golden Tate will make his Eagles debut this Sunday night. Between his route running and QB Carson Wentz’s accuracy, there could be a catalytic impact on the entire Offense, as soon as the second half of this game.

Lot going on, Eagles fans. Our fans want to beat the Cowboys. Our team wants to catch the Redskins. Our rivals are all becoming the giants.

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

1) Come out aggressive: This is a opponent whose confidence is on the ropes. An early score puts them in “Here we go again.” mode. We need to take their heads, and their hearts out early. Don’t let them hang around. From the opening whistle, this whole game should be an exercise in closing a game out.

2) Be the Eagles: There is no need to do anything drastic to cope with the Cowboys “Top 10 defense”. Of their three wins, they beat the giants (27th in scoring), the Lions (20th in scoring) and the Jaguars (30th in scoring). New York, Detroit and Jacksonville also rank (respectively) 20th, 21st, and 22nd in yardage. Everyone else has given the Cowboys problems, and thus has also given them losses. We rank 22nd in scoring, but have been trending up since Wentz returned. So we just need to do what we do.

3) Wrap it up: Poor tackling on our part, is the only thing that can give the Cowboys any chance of winning this game. So none of that holding the ball-carrier up and clawing at his arms for the ball. Just drop ‘em like a sack of shit, and move onto the next down.

4) RAC ‘em up!: Run After Catch. Also known as YAC (Yards). The Cowboys LB’s don’t figure much into pass defense, nor do they make a ton of tackles. So spread them out, use short passes off of play-action, throw in some Screens, and Bob’s your uncle. We should be able to control the ball, control the clock, and control the game.

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:

Everyone has figured out that to beat the Cowboys you have to take away the run, because their QB can’t beat decent to good teams. In order to scare people out of loading the box, the Cowboys mortgaged their future on trading for a decoy that doubles as a weapon. That ploy has a track record of 0 – 1 so far.

The Eagles are going to take away the run early, and force the Cowboys to substitute short passes for runs. MLB Jordan “Cowboy Killer” Hicks missed both games against them last year, but he’ll be back in the saddle for this one.

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The run game will see room inside, when the opposing LB’s try to stem the bleeding from all the quick passes they give up. To this point the Cowboys LB’s are liabilities vs the pass. It’s doubtful that they’ll discover the Fountain of Competence by Sunday. Let me make a correction. All their LB’s except for Sean Lee, are liabilities against the pass. When he’s in, they- He’ll what? Why this time? Again? Jeez! Well there’s the excuse we’ll hear on Monday. If he was a horse, they’d shoot him.

Well at least they can’t say that Zeke was out.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 24 – Cowboys 17

yeah-bitch

2018 SEASON REVIEW: QUARTER TWO

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/11/05
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

SEASON Reviews are usually done at the end of the season. (Duh.) 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.

STATUS:

4 – 4 overall, 1 – 0 division, 2 – 3 conference, 2nd place in the NFC East

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OPPONENTS:

L: Minnesota (4 – 3 – 1)

W: New York Giants (1 – 7)

L: Carolina (5 – 2 )

W: Jacksonville (3 – 5 )

OVERVIEW:

Injuries are part of any football team’s season, but the bug seems to LOVE us. For the second year in a row, all you can do is shake your head at the number and severity of our losses. We have a LT who was battling his way through a torn bicep, when the RT sprained a knee ligament, and will now miss a month. The right side of our 2018 projected starting Defensive Line is now on Injured Reserve. Starting RB, gone for the year. Deep threat starting WR, gone. Starting FS is on IR. Our reserve FS is out. Nickel Corner, out.

Yet here we sit. At 4 – 4. Still in the hunt.

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The stated mission last quarter was to tighten up the pass defense to improve our pressure up front. There was marginal statistical improvement across the board, except for takeaways. In the first 4 games, the Defense surrendered 1,161 yards on 103/159 passing (64.7%) allowing 7 touchdowns and grabbing 3 interceptions. In these last 4 games, the Defense surrendered 1,137 yards on 103/160 passing (64.3%) allowing 4 touchdowns and grabbing only 1 interception. We collected 11 sacks in both quarters so far.

Given the nasty injuries we’re dealing with in the Secondary, which have us starting a rookie (out of position) at FS, it’s hard to poo-poo these seemingly meager improvements.

We still have some things to sort out on Offense, however. For one, we need a proper run game. I won’t write a book here for it, but if you read my last one, then you know how we can do that up nice.

GRADES:

 

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QB: (A) Carson Wentz has been nothing short of AMAZING over these last 4 games. He’s posted a 10:1 touchdown to interception ratio, a 73.1 completion percentage, 1,185 yards, and an average yards per attempt of 8.5. He’s been killing it. He’s also been sacked 12 times. Some on him and some not.

RB: (D) This was an “A” last quarter (read why HERE). It would be an “F” this quarter if injuries to the Offensive Line, and scheme issues didn’t also play a contributing role in the fall-off in quality. But that’s all the curve I can give this group. The fact is, to a man, none of them has shown themselves to be an individual difference maker. Wendell Smallwood has gotten the bulk of the work, and has shown no ability to be explosive, elusive, or physical as a ball carrier. He’s the anti-Zeke. Starve him. Corey Clement has 52 yards on 23 carries in the last three games. He is however, still dealing with a lingering quad injury that already cost him two games, so the Eagles have limited his role as he works his way back. Rookie Josh Adams had the best day of any Eagles back since starter Jay Ajayi went out on IR during Week 5. Adams isn’t terribly physical as a runner, but he does provide more POP than the other two backs on the roster.

TE: (A) L’embarras du choix. Which is pronounced…

Pardon my French. That phrase means “Embarrassment of riches”. Right now in Zach Ertz leads all NFL TE’s with 61 catches so far. He’s tied with WR Odell Beckham for most catches in the NFL, and behind only WR Adam Thielen. In the last 4 games he has two 100 yard games and a touchdown in all but one week. Rookie Dallas Goedert looks like a seasoned pro out there, grabbing a touchdown in both of our last two games. Josh Perkins hasn’t caught a ball in the last 6 weeks, but we haven’t needed him to.

WR: (D) Yes we added Golden Tate. However, this report is about how Eagles players did during this last quarter. Tate wasn’t an Eagle, so this is about the guys who were.

Alshon Jeffery leads the team with 4 scoring grabs, 3 of which came in the last 4 games. Jordan Matthews doesn’t see a lot of targets, but he’s made the most of them when he does. His hands have been reliable, and he’s averaging 17.5 per catch over these last 4 outings. Nelson Agholor simply isn’t doing enough in the slot, and he may be the reason why we traded for Tate. Without a deep threat to open space underneath, Agholor has been rendered harmless. In the last 4 games, no one at this position has had a 100 yard day, only Jeffery has scored, and only once have two players had 50 or more yards in the same game.

OT: (D) Injuries be damned, LT Jason Peters is plowing through the season like a Mack truck going downhill, with no brakes. He is leaving everything, every ounce out on the field, in what looks like an unannounced swan song. Both he and RT Lane Johnson have had an issue of letting rushers leak underneath, after elongating the pocket. They need to start dictating a stop point. That is, when Johnson gets back from the month he’s about to miss with an MCL sprain. This should manageable though, since Halapoulivaati Vaitai is better suited to the Right. Rookie Jordan Mailata, was promoted to the active roster for Week 7, so his debut could be very very near.

OG: (D) For the first 4 games we had Stefen Wisniewski starting a LG, for the last 4 we’ve had Isaac Seumalo. Pressure up the gut has become a real problem. So has being unable to generate a new line of scrimmage on run plays. Some of that is scheme, but some of it is stepping down in terms of talent. Wiz is a battler, while Seumalo is kind of soft.

C: (D) I’ve WATCHED a couple plays in this quarter where Jason Kelce went to double a guy and had a man smoke right past him. Someone is doing a poor job of identifying secondary rushers, as well as stunt keys. That job is usually reserved for this position.

DE: (C ) Losing Derek Barnett was a big blow. He was playing very solid vs both the pass and the run. Brandon Graham isn’t producing the sacks that he was a year ago, but his run defense has been as good as it ever was. Chris Long is doing a good job of applying heat to QB’s, but he’s proving susceptible to off-Tackle runs, since this scheme frequently plays a LB inside the DE-DT gap, instead of outside of the DE, to set the edge. Michael Bennett is logging time at DE and DT, and is also second on the team with 3.5 sacks. Rookie Josh Sweat needs to show the coaches something if he wants to earn more meaningful playing time. This is a group that is playing very good team defense, but they aren’t delivering big plays, in big moments.

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DT: (C ) Fletcher Cox has come in playing like a man on a mission. He leads the team with 4 sacks, and is a MAN about defending his area vs the run. Haloti Ngata has been nicked up recently, probably due to playing more minutes than were anticipated when he signed. Treyvon Hester has started a game, but all indications are that he’s just a guy. Destiny Vaeao was waived and Timmy Jernigan has yet to return from the Non-Injured/Reserve list. This has taken a massive toll on last year’s stellar rotation strategy, but sprinkling in some Michael Bennett is keeping this unit from being a one man show. Word from on high, has it that Jernigan may make his return right after the Eagles Bye week.

OLB: (C ) This group still has yet to stand out, but they haven’t been a liability either. Nigel Bradham and Kamu Grugier-Hill have the athleticism to do all kinds of things, but they aren’t being utilized with any creativity.

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MLB: (A) Jordan “Cowboy Killer” Hicks had 31 tackles in the 1st quarter, and he topped that with 40 in the second quarter. He also added 1.5 sacks to bring his 2018 total to 3 so far. Coming into this season he had 2 total for his career. Hicks is stepping his game all the way up, but you never hear his name outside of Philly.

S: (D) Malcolm Jenkins is the emotional and mental heart and soul of the Secondary, but we need him to force more turnovers. With Rodney McLeod done for the year, Jenkins needs to lead by example more than by words. Corey Graham was tasked with filling in for McLeod and was promptly injured. Filling in for Graham, is rookie CB turned FS Avonte Maddox. Maddox just looks thrilled to be playing, even if it’s not his true position. He’s throwing his body around, playing with reckless abandon, and has even made a couple of plays. CB/S tweener, Rasul Douglas is being groomed to play this spot. Like the DE position, S is playing solid team concept ball, but fails to deliver in tight spots and big moments. Injuries here have impacted us severely.

CB: (D) We allow too many QB’s to leave the game with high completion percentages.

LS: (C ) He snaps the ball. Whoop-dee-do.

P: (B) Cameron Johnston punted 15 times this quarter, for 9 returned, and 3 fair caught. Same as last quarter on 5 fewer punts. He hasn’t been hitting them as hard and as a result, none of his boots have ended as touchbacks. In fact, 5 of them were downed inside the 20, with one out of bounds. Johnston isn’t great with his placement yet, but he’s working on it.

K: (C )Making 6 of 8 field goals (75% same as last quarter) Jake Elliott is reliable, but he has yet to show off the big leg that catapulted him into Eagles lore, last year.

PR/KR: (C ) On 10 punt returns DeAndre Carter is averaging 10.3 per attempt, with a long of 42. On kickoff returns he’s posting 20.4, with a long of 30. serviceable, but not scary. We need scary.

KC: (D) Last quarter we gave up 16.0 yards per kickoff return. This quarter we’re giving up 26.0. That number will only encourage returners to not take the fair catch. Punt returns went up too. 5.6 per return in Q1, then 8.1 in Q2.

SINCE LAST QUARTER:

We continue to be inconsistent. Despite increasingly amazing play from Wentz, the Offense seems stuck in neutral. The lack of a credible run game prevents us from being able to close out games, and rest our Defense.

Special Teams has forgotten about the importance of winning the hidden yardage battle. Or to wait until a game is over before you celebrate.

MISSION FOR THIS QUARTER:

Find a run game! Three of our next four games are division rivals, and we can’t beat them if we can’t run.

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FIXING EAGLES GAMES

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/10/31
Posted in: Coaching, Offense, Players, Rants, Uncategorized, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

 

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THERE are things that this team needs to fix. With that in mind, the Eagles needed this Bye Week now, and not a week later. Injuries at Wide Receiver, Offensive Tackle, the Defensive Line, and in the Secondary, have left the coaching staff scrambling every week, to put out solid units. As a result, almost no aspect of this team is running at capacity.

In the spirit of fixing things, popular fan refrains have been “Trade for X” or “Fire Y”. However, the plain truth is that we need to tweak (not wholesale change, just tweak) a few things, to start getting the most out of our players.

While we generally have had the depth-on-hand to plug a player in here and there, there is a difference between a back-up being ready to play this game, and a back-up being ready to play his game. Our Bye allows the coaching staff to step back, and re-imagine what the rest of 2018 needs to look like, for us to make it back to the post-season.

One of the first things killing us, is not running the ball effectively. Some fans and media types people put it on our RB’s. Folks like me have been blaming the Offensive Line. Turns out both of those camps are wrong. It’s the coaches. It’s our alignments. Those are the reasons why we can’t run the ball.

Look at these game shots:

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The disclaimer on this is, I had to cull these shots from highlight videos. (I chose the Panthers game.) Since our running game sucks, the rushing highlights were, well… Yeah these are all passing plays, but they’re still our typical alignments. 

You may recognize that these alignments with the WR’s tight to the O-line, are typical of our Offense this year. We did some of this last year, but this year it seems to be our Default Setting. Go back and look at each picture, and you’ll see 8 and 9 man boxes. A couple of them “loose” boxes. Again those pictures are all from pass plays, but we run the ball out of these same alignments.

This has been great for play-action, but it means zero room inside, on actual hand-offs. That was fine when we had bruising inside runners, to mask the Offenses true intent, but without a physical runner to help, all our smoke and mirrors are easy to see through. While our Offense puts up 22 points per game (21st in the league, 11th worst), the inability to run, has kept us from being explosive.

The simple fix is to spread our formation during the early part of the game when we want to establish the run, then later on when we need to sit on our lead, and close the game out. Rotate the slot receiver and put him in motion to move that 8th man out of the box. When room opens up inside for the ball carrier to find a crack, hit it, and step on the gas.

At that point we could get around to doing #7 from The 12. The Defense could rest during games, and we could seriously talk about running the table for the remainder of the year. Oh yeah. I said run the table. And YES, I’m aware that the Rams and Saints are two of our dance partners.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK8 : JAGUARS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/10/29
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats, trade. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

TOLD you we were going to win. That anger. That prep that I said the Eagles were doing… While our opponents were out partying and getting arrested, after practice, we had a curfew. It was a business trip. And we took care of business.

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EAGLES 24 – Jaguars 18

QB Carson Wentz (21/30 – 70.0% – 286 – 3 – 1) was out there slinging it, running it (8 – 24 – 3.0 – 0 – 1) and catching it (1 – 4 – 4.0 – 0). He was making a tackle, making copies, making coffee, making it HAPPEN hallelujah! He said after the Panthers loss, that we needed to show what we were made of. This week he showed up, and showed two continents what Philly royalty looks like. Grace and ferocity on full display.

Rookie RB Josh Adams (9 – 61 – 6.7 – 0 – 0) got the most extensive play of his young career, and the Bucks County native led the team in both carries and rushing yards. WR Jordan Matthews (4 – 93 – 23.2 – 0) had his biggest game since his return, leading the team in receiving yards, and being in a three-way (tee-hee) tie for the lead in receptions.

MLB Jordan Hicks (8 – 1.5 – 0 – 0) led the team in tackles, but it would have been great to see him play more shallow underneath coverage, to take away those Crossing routes, and limit QB scrambles. DE Chris Long (2 – 2.0 – 0 – 0) grabbed a pair of sacks to bring his season total to 3 so far. If he finishes the year with an even 6.0, I’ll laugh myself stupid. (I won’t say why. You’ll just have to google his career, and look for yourself.) Rookie CB Avonte Maddox (4 – 0 – 0 – 0) filling in at FS, went full-blown kamikaze on a Jaguar WR, forcing a fumble and our only turnover of the game.

I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, Billy 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.

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

1) Run the damned ball: This is about raw numbers. We ran the ball 28 times, but 6 of those were Wentz, so of course not all of those were planned. Aside from Wentz, there were 22 called runs in the game. Wentz attempted 30 passes and was sacked 4 times, so that’s 34 called pass plays. That ratio is 34:22 pass vs run. In those 56 plays, we only ran it 39.2% of the time. Again, that’s if you take out those 6 Wentz rushes. They may not count as pure, called plays, but opponents regard these sorts of plays as if they are. (Remember when the Jags QB was running? It was real wasn’t it? Same thing here.) Adding in those 6 rushes, you get a ratio of 34:28, on 62 plays. That has us running it on 45.1% of our plays. A 60/40 split, which is what I’ve been preaching for weeks now. DONE

2) Activate the Machine: We didn’t force a single turnover from QB Blake Bortles and Jaymes (24/41 – 58.5% – 286 – 1 – 0). That’s an alarming statement, and as an Eagles fan, it’s the first thing that has truly scared me all season long. I’ve been concerned about other things, but not being able to get the ball from Bortles indicates that upcoming games are going to brutal. NOT DONE

3) Pick your poison: We worked the edges with our running game. It resulted in Josh Adams breaking a 21 yard gallop, and getting our TE’s open for two touchdown grabs, and of course RB Wendell Smallwood (8 – 24 – 3.0 – 0 – 0/ 2 – 42 – 21.0 – 1) on a virtually untouched 36 yard Backside Screen. These were literally the very plays I mentioned in this section, this week. DONE (Like a motherfucker.)

4) Send FIVE sometimes: This didn’t happen often, but we got two of our four sacks on blitzes. I can’t say this any plainer. It speaks for itself. Do this more, Jim! DONE

This week our Eagles planted our flag in 3 out of 4 goals, bringing the season tally to 14 of 32. It’s not a great percentage, but it is us lifting ourselves up, out of the muck. It’ll be a slow climb, but at least our Week 8 Bye will be the sweeter for the victory we get to savor. After that, for Week 9 we get our first match-up with the Dallas Cowboys.

On The Whole:

A struggling Eagles team were without either of our starting Offensive Tackles a one point in this game. Head Coach Doug Pederson shifted and shuffled personnel along the O-line, to find some stability and productivity. RT Lane Johnson was lost for a month with an MCL sprain, but LT Jason Peters return to action gave us the needed boost to finish and close-out this victory.

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That being said, a solution needs to be found for depth at OT. While everyone seems to be hoping that the Eagles land Pittsburgh RB LeVeon Bell, trading for an OT might make more sense in the immediate and long-term. (Besides, if we’re going to trade for a RB, it should be LeGarrette Blount. Cheaper to trade for, cheaper to pay, and he knows the system already.)

Something has to be done about our Defense not being able to get off the field, at the end of games. Watching team after team convert 3rd and longs, and 4th and more than one, is getting embarrassing. Especially combined with how few turnovers we generate anymore. We gotta get to work fixing this Defense.

 

 

FOUR THINGS: WK 8: EAGLES-JAGUARS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/10/25
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

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WE’RE going to win this week. Not just because the Jaguars are in a tailspin. The first reason we’re going to win, is because our PLAYERS embarrassed themselves last week, and they’re actually angry about it. Been awhile around these parts, since that emotion was part of a week’s prep. The second reason, is the silence. The silence is to be feared.tally marks2.jpg

The Eagles nest was quiet like this, last year before the Rams game. WIN. The Eagles nest was quiet like this, last year before the Vikings game. WIN. People sometimes forget that beyond being a winning team, the Eagles are actually a good team. When we dot I’s and cross T’s, NOBODY, Rams, Vikings, Patriots, NOBODY wants to be lined up across from us. Even when we’re wounded badly.

So expect a win. Count on it. Bet on it. Book it.

This week our 3 – 4 Eagles face off against a 3 – 4 Jaguars team. Head Coach Doug Pederson is the most important person in this match-up. It’s only Week 8 and his Eagles team has once again taken key injuries at a host of positions (RDT, RDE, FS, FS2, RB, RB2, NCB), and are banged up at both OT spots. That being said, there is enough talent to still beat this opponent. Coach just has to focus it through the right lens.

Given our defensive problems, the focus needs to be on out-gunning the Jags. If it turns into a boring field goal-fest, as long as we win, I don’t care. However the trick to beating Jacksonville is turning the game into a shootout, knowing damned well that they don’t have the firepower to keep up with us.

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While WR Alshon Jeffery and TE Zach Ertz have been money in 2018, it would be great to see QB Carson Wentz launch a couple to WR Shelton Gibson, who was drafted to be a big play threat. It seems like a lid was slammed shut over the Offense when WR Mike Wallace went on IR, and we need to do something about blowing that lid off, so we can scare teams again.

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

1) Run the damned ball: This shouldn’t have to be said so much. BUT!! It seems that Philly is cursed to have head coaches (Andy Reid, Chip Kelly, now Doug) who don’t believe running is necessary. In any case, let me recite the mantra again for those who are new to this site: Running brings a Safety into the box, opening up the deep ball. Running slows pass rushers by making them read. The QB doesn’t get hit on run plays. Running eats clock and gives the Defense time to rest. Running beats up defensive linemen, and makes them less explosive pass rushers later in the game. Run the BALL! Oh yeah. As a side note (pure sarcasm right there), Jacksonville is 25th in the NFL against the run. They are the SEVENTH WORST RUN DEFENSE! Again, just a side note.

2) Activate the Machine: Jaguars QB Blake Bortles is a turnover machine, but he’s still an NFL starting QB. That means to get mistakes from him, we have to force him to make them. Luckily the Jags give us an easy route to that. Their interior O-line is banged up and weren’t very good when they were healthy. If our D-line can get pressure up the middle and force Bortles to his LEFT, our chances of getting him to give us the ball, go through the roof. Remember we need him to go back, and to the left. Back, and to the left. Back. And to the left.

3) Pick your poison: (Building on the RUN THE DAMNED BALL theme.) The Jaguars have tons of speed on the edges, but they lack the size needed to hold up to being shoved around by NFL O-linemen. We need to attack their edges with off-Tackle runs, so that they over-commit, and open up Zack Ertz in the intermediate passing game, as well as play-action backside Screens.

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4) Send FIVE sometimes: Everyone knows that Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz doesn’t like to blitz. He feels that our four man rush gets enough heat on the QB. While we may be getting heat on QB’s, we aren’t cooking them at the rate we need to. Schwartz needs to stop being so damned predictable. We need him to stop showing off the same inability to learn and make adjustments, which got him fired in Detroit. Yes, we won a Super Bowl with him as DC, but we allowed 33 points in that game, and his unit had one sack all day long.

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:

Understand, the worst thing that a team or an athlete can be, is comfortable. Books. Interviews. We went from “No one likes us” to “Everybody loves us”. Hungry dogs run faster, remember? But us. The players, coaches… We got civilized.

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But then! Last week! We embarrassed ourselves. And we realized that it was US that did it to ourselves! Now the Eagles now seem uncomfortable. Making matters worse for Jacksonville is, by virtue of playing in London for each of the last 6 years, they’ve become the adopted home team. The Eagles are heading into amateur hostile territory, with a chip on their shoulders now.

While the Jaguars will be desperate for a win to get back in contention for their division, they lack the tools to fend off a focused Eagles team. The Bottom Line is that we have have Carson Wentz, while all they have is Blake Bortles. God forbid something happens to Wentz, we have QB Nick Foles, and they still have Blake Bortles. Let’s pray that we don’t knock Bortles out of the game.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 27 – Jaguars 14

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OKAY ERIC, LET’S TALK SELL-OUTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/10/23
Posted in: Conversations, Players, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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LET’S set the record straight. Malcolm Jenkins didn’t “sell out” the movement started by Colin Kaepernick. This is what he’s been accused of on more than one occasion, by reinstated NFL player (more on that later) Eric Reid. What Malcolm Jenkins and Torrey Smith did, was give legs and legitimacy to that very movement.

This has had my blood boiling for days now. So I needed to speak on it.

As a protest of police brutality, initially with its emphasis on Black victims, Kaepernick (then a 49ers QB) began a gesture of kneeling during our National Anthem. It was a not a protest of the anthem itself, but one meant to put a visual representation on the disenfranchisement of Blacks from the proper working of the justice system. It worked like a charm and his decision changed the course of American history.

Whatever your feelings on it at the time (these were mine), the gesture grabbed international attention. The eyes of the entire free world (over 200 countries, not just here), were upon the United States. Other football players, then athletes in other sports, then regular joes started to participate in the gesture. One of those players was Eric Reid, also with the 49ers at that time.

While many did, not every player or even team participated in the kneeling gesture. Absent an NFL policy regarding it, there was plenty of rancor over who could, should, would, and how to participate. One team that experienced no such rancor, was the Eagles. At no point during the 2017 season did the Eagles team kneel, sit, lay down or descend into controversy over the issue. In fact, what happened was two players, Jenkins and Smith, began a dialogue with law enforcement entities and politicians, even going to Capitol Hill on occasion.

Malcolm Jenkins and Torrey Smith turned what was mostly a distraction, into actual forward progress. Defensive End Chris Long joined in, and being a White player, helped stem the notion of this as just a Black problem, thus adding to the coalition. (Long also donated his 2017 base salary to charity, in the wake of the Charlottesville tragedy.)

I mean, movement is the essence of a movement, right? You have to do more than kneel in place, right? Colin Kaepernick, since being black-balled from the NFL (let’s not pretend it’s anything else), uses his time to still be out-front and vocal about the issue.

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We just discussed what Philadelphia Eagles players are doing.

Eric Reid on the other hand has done what exactly? The answer is, entirely nothing. (Aside from being willing to kneel, and wear “I’m With Kap” t-shirts. Way to go, Ace!)

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Reid was also black-balled for a time. Did he go forth on his free time and spread the message? Did he promote the movement? No. He spent that time begging for a job, from the very league that he claims exploits its athletes. So Jenkins (since MARCH) had lobbied the NFL to stop black-balling Reid, (story here) . The Carolina Panthers finally gave Reid a contract in October, ending his exile. How did Reid repay Jenkins going to bat for him? By calling Jenkins a sell-out.

Here’s what’s funny. Torrey Smith who worked hand-in-glove with Jenkins, is now a Panther. He was already a Panther when Reid was signed. Does Reid call Smith a sell-out too? Did he call any of his other teammates sell-outs for not kneeling when he did, during his first week back? (He was the ONLY player to kneel on either sideline.)

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The answer is “No”. He lacks the conviction to be that straight-up. If Reid came into that locker room with any static, he’d have been back on his couch before the ass-print faded. He simply doesn’t believe in his cause enough, to risk his opportunity to “be exploited”.

This is just a case of an ingrate, hothead, who wants to take shots at someone for being the sort of man that it never occurred to him to be. Eric Reid looks in the mirror and sees a guy who, when compared to Malcolm Jenkins, comes up short, both on AND off the field. It’s jealousy. It’s envy. It’s a small individual lashing out, because he knows deep down, the servitude that he decries, he actually craves. As evinced by his caterwauling to be let back into the NFL.

Now I ask you dear reader. Who is the REAL sell-out, in this situation?