THE SUPER BOWL NEEDS THE EAGLES

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/01/15
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, NFL, Players, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

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WEEK 10, I said that we should invite the Playoffs to Philly. I spoke of hosting the NFC Championship game here. It’s clear that my readers shared that article, and helped to put those good vibes out there, because that is exactly where we are today. To those of you who helped spread the word, Eagles Nation owes you one.

We were fortunate enough to have our invitation honored. Now with a little luck, we’ll get an invitation to put on a display for the world. Because make no mistake, the world will be watching, and it needs to see us.

Our display will be a tribute to passion and respect for the game, to teamwork, to perseverance in the face of adversity, and to our players keeping our noses clean, off the field, as private citizens. Given the state of the world today, these are all aspects that our world needs to see.

We’ve seen some teams having parties on boats, instead practicing for playoff games. We’ve seen some players stealing cologne and underwear. We’ve seen some organizations treating players like Rent-A-Center furniture.

Meanwhile, the Eagles players are requesting to practice for playoff games in pads. The organization is investing long-term in players who have performed well. The team is holding baptisms conducted by in-team minister TE Trey Burton, with many being led to faith by QB Carson Wentz.

I myself am not a religious man. However, given all the things our players could be up to, it’s good to see them supporting each other in doing something meant to improve their lives, while also creating a positive culture amongst themselves.

The world needs to see these Eagles. Kids could use heroes worthy of looking up to. Parents could use examples to point to. People need a beacon of positivity and unity, to guide them in from an ocean of negativity and division. The visibility of a Super Bowl win will do that.

Don’t wish for a Super Bowl win. Don’t merely hope for one. Don’t assume a victory in one. Instead, put out the vibe that the world needs the Eagles, THESE Eagles, to win it for ALL OF US.

Pass it along.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: DIVISIONAL ROUND: FALCONS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/01/14
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, Roster, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

UNDERDOGS. That’s what we were. Despite being 13 – 3, the #1 seed in the NFC, and having home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, we came into the game as an underdog. In fact, no #1 seed, playing at home had ever been an underdog in NFL history until someone decided that, we were over-matched and could not defend our home turf. Well. We saw how that shit ended, didn’t we?

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Matt Ryan sacked by Rod McLeod.  Courtesy Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

QB Nick Foles (23/30 – 76.6% – 246 – 0 – 0) didn’t have a stellar game. All he did was distribute the ball in a saavy, veteran manner, to eight different receivers. He did not push the ball downfield much. Then again he was playing against Cover Three, so why would he. That’s why I said what I said in Four Things. (More on that, down the page.)

While no Eagles Offensive player seemed to do much damage statistically, there were enough collective moments, to sustain a couple of long drives and put points on the board. RB Jay Ajayi (15 – 54 – 3.6 – 0 – 1/ 3 – 44 – 14.6 – 0) was the workhorse and looked much better than his yard per carry average indicates. Same with RB LeGarrette Blount (9 – 19 – 2.1 – 1 – 0). WR Alshon Jeffery (4 – 61 – 15.2 – 0) led the Eagles in receiving yards, catching three of his passes on one drive. That proved that he can find a rhythm with Foles, so should put those questions to sleep now.

DT Fletcher Cox (7 – 1 – 0 – 0) was a terrorist out there.

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Cox spent the game blowing up the interior of Atlanta’s offensive line, recking their inside run game and not giving QB Matt Ryan (22/36 – 61.1% – 210 – 1 – 0) a pocket to step up into, most of the time.

The biggest killer in the game however, was K Jake Elliott (0/1x, 3/3fg, 53L).

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His five wittle piggies put up the last 9 points of the game, which helped the Eagles capture the lead and then surge ahead.

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) Run. The. Ball: I said we need to run it at least 25 times. There were 27 called (i.e. non-QB) runs to 30 passes. We won time of possession 32:06 to 27:54, gave our Defense time to breathe, and limited Atlanta’s opportunities to score points. (DONE)

2) A thousand cuts: High percentage passes to the TE’s outside of the numbers. Foles said, okay, and I might do you one better! Not only did he get TE’s Zach Ertz (3 – 32 – 10.6 – 0), and Brent Celek (1 – 6 – 6.0 – 0), but he also hit Alshon Jeffery 4 times and snuck in 5 passes to RB Corey Clement (5rec – 31 – 6.2 – 0). Why not? With Atlanta playing Cover Three, it left things like Slant routes, Screens and Crosses open. Foles isn’t flashy, but he is saavy. Teams thinking he’s harmless is probably his deadliest asset. (DONE)

3) Alter the launch: The idea was to get Matt Ryan to throw while moving or resetting his feet. We did that quite a bit (thank you Fletcher Cox). The hope was to get a turnover or two out of him. Well, we didn’t get a turnover, but what we DID do was hold him to 5.8 yard per attempt. That matched his lowest mark of the year, during a Week 4 loss to Buffalo. (DONE)

4) Stay grounded: It’s points like THIS ONE HERE, that separates me from other would-be experts. Nine days ago, the NFL and it’s media bag were praising, lauding, exalting Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay, for being such a young genius. Such a prodigy! Wait no, it was “coaching supernova”. That’s what they called him. And then there’s this-

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His career mark is 11-6! It was amazing that they could speak with that much of his shaft in their collective windpipe.

Then what happened last week? He got locked into a close game against the Falcons, panicked because he’s as green as peas, and stopped running the ball, even though his team was doing it better. Experience counts! Our coaching staff is battle-tested, so even when we were down, even though our average run (on paper) was 3.0 yards per carry, we stuck with it. We stayed grounded. We stayed balanced. (DONE)

At half-time I wasn’t sure about some of these, but Nick Foles has a nice second half and in doing so, helped the Eagles deliver a 4 out of 4 Four Things score. This will be out well before we know who our next victim is, so I can’t really offer a tempting tidbit for next week yet.

On The Whole:

It was more grit than glitter. More spit than polish. War of attrition, is what I called this game after the half. This game was about will. It was about who wanted it more, and who had the players who could seize the moment.

In the end (as I said), we were deeper and more talented. The Falcons were no match for us. They were never going to be. While some will point out that we only scored 15 points, we also only allowed 10. Meaning we only needed 11.

I told you not to worry about Foles, didn’t I?

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Foles isn’t a Lincoln Continental, he’s more like a Buick LaCrosse. As an Eagles QB, he’s been solid and efficient. Trouble is, solid and efficient are not sexy adjectives, and people like their QB’s to be attached to sexy adjectives. The actual problem isn’t the QB. It’s people perception of him, despite the fact that in Eagles green, he’s 18 -11 (.620) as an Eagles QB. (That’s about 9.9 wins per 16 games.)

No single Eagle won this game. There was no outlandish performance by any one player. This was a team effort. That’s how this team has won 14 games this year. It’s how they’ll keep winning. This year.

How Eagles haters look today:

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FOUR THINGS: DIVISIONAL ROUND: EAGLES-FALCONS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/01/10
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

DR-ATL

PHILADELPHIA returns to the postseason with a home game against last year’s Super Bowl loser. After a 13 – 3 regular season run, the Eagles have secured home-field advantage, in the pursuit of becoming NFL Champions.

For the Falcons this is unfinished business. Last year they were up 28 – 3 over New England in the Super Bowl, before they ran out of energy, fell apart, then imploded, self-destructed, and shit the bed. The slack-jawed Falcons would go on to lose  28 – 34, after surrendering 31 un-fucking-answered points. (Man, I hate the Patriots.)

Their 2017 season has at times included bits of that same falling apart, imploding and self-destructing. While they can be a dangerous team, they are frequently their own worst enemy.

For the Eagles this is about Next Man Up. Despite over half a ton (1,383 pounds) of injuries this year, the Eagles kept winning games, and overcoming adversity. Having lost QB Carson Wentz to a torn ACL, veteran Nick Foles will step in to do his best Jeff Hostetler impression.

Just to drive that point home, here’s a look at Hostetler’s 1990 playoff run:

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Stop worrying about Foles. The Eagles are a complete team, and can only be done-in by poor execution. As long as the Eagles bring our “B” game or better, we’ll walk out of this thing with the “W”.

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

1) Run. The. Ball: Nick Foles isn’t a once-in-a-generation type of QB. He’s a complementary piece. This isn’t a bad thing to realize, it’s a bad thing to ignore, once you’ve realized it. The load for beating playoff caliber defenses cannot be shifted entirely onto Foles shoulders. 

Let’s get north of 25 carries. We were the NFL’s #3 rushing team this season. However, in the last 4 games we’ve run the ball 28, 25, 23, and 17 times respectively. In each game we’ve run less, and each game has been harder to win as well. I sense a connection there.

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2) A thousand cuts: MLB Deion Jones is Atlanta’s leading tackler and best cover LB. He’s also undersized (222 lbs.), and they only carry 3 DT’s. Because of that, I’d hammer Atlanta with the run and keep Jones in the box and out of coverage. Since their OLBs are poor in coverage, I rip them up outside the numbers with high percentage passes to TE’s Zach Ertz and Trey Burton (not WR Nelson Agholor), to freeze Atlanta in their base defense. The idea being to deplete their edge pass rush, catch their CB’s peeking back at the flat, and physically exhaust their front seven. (Like in the Super Bowl.)

3) Alter the launch: Most of the time hitting a QB is effective for getting in his head. That trick doesn’t always work so well with (local product) Matt Ryan. What’s needed is to change his launch point and delivery. Atlanta’s (overrated) receivers don’t do a great job of adjusting for balls, and they are prone to mental lapses. For example:

Ryan cares about the small details more than his teammates do. Over the years that’s been abundantly clear. Lucky for us that makes him easy to frustrate. (Lord knows what resentments he harbors from his team’s practices.) While sacks are nice, beating the hell out of him won’t net us as much tactical advantage, as simply forcing him to move his feet, change his delivery, and make him feel like he’s all alone out there. Thus allowing us to corrupt their passing offense at the source.

4) Stay grounded: The Rams lost to the Falcons last week because they couldn’t keep a cool head under the pressure of the moment. At no point was that game out of hand, nor were the Rams hopelessly behind. But while Atlanta kept their (non-QB) run/pass ratio at 33 to 30, the Rams had a ratio of 16 to 45. What’s funny is that the Rams were having a much easier time running than the Falcons (7.2 ypc vs 3.2 ypc), but still it was the Falcons who stuck with it. Once more and with feeling: They stuck with it! They didn’t panic. They stayed balanced and grounded. 

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That’s what we need to do this week.

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:

Saturday’s forecast calls for a breezy 50 degrees, with showers. Rain is something that dome teams seldom handle well, and “breezy” takes on a different meaning when it whips through a stadium. Add on top of that, 66,000 (mostly Eagles fans), in full throat on whenever Atlanta’s offense is on the field. The cherry on top of that, will be DT Fletcher Cox, already pissed over the media’s perception of his team:fc.jpg

The Eagles will come out of the gate full of nervous energy, but the weather will help us offset any initial jitters. However, after the jitters wear off, the weather will still be there, the ground will still be wet, and with the Eagles being the better team, Atlanta will feel the game start to slide away from them.

The Falcons defense is athletic, just not athletic enough nor deep enough, to defend against a bevy of Eagles offensive weapons. On the flip-side, the Falcons only have a couple of weapons worth fearing on offense, and the Eagles have more than enough depth and skill-sets to compete, Even if wholesale adjustments need to be made. Few teams can boast that. Especially after so many injuries.

THE QUESTION that most Eagles fans have is: How will Nick Foles look out there? The answer is that Foles has been a very solid QB, when he plays for the Eagles. Especially when he plays at home. 

Since 2013, Foles is 9 – 2 when starting at the Linc. His one regular season “loss” (note the sarcasm), was two weeks ago vs Dallas. His other loss, was in our 2013 playoff game vs the Saints. He completed 69.7% of his passes for 2 TD’s, with nary a pick or a fumble, in what ended up as a 24 – 26 loss.

I’m hardly worried about Foles. If you’re smart, you’ll stop worrying about him too. As back-ups go, we could scarcely be in better hands. If things around him operate efficiently, then he has the potential to be downright dangerous. 

PREDICTION: EAGLES 25 – Falcons 18

yeah bitch

THE RIVALS 2017 (PT 3 of 3)

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/01/09
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, Rivals, Roster, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

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IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN KIDDIES!!!

GENERALLY when I talk football, it’s about our 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 (along with other local sources) helps ensure that Eagles fans ARE the best informed and most knowledgeable fans in the NFL, and not just laying a bullshit claim to it. These updates will come out three times during the season: After Weeks 3, 9, and 15.

*This wasn’t the announced 2017 format, but I was inventing this as I went. Here in 2017, this last one is coming out after the season ends.

This is where we left off: PART 2 of 3

This is where things are today:

New York Giants:  3 – 13, 4th in the NFC East

Things got so out of hand on this team, that they fired their coach Ben McAdoo and GM Jerry Reese, during the season. The giants hadn’t made a move like that since the 1970’s. That’s how bad the ownership thought this mess was. Before McAdoo left the building however, he managed to leave a lasting scar on the giants history by benching QB Eli Manning and breaking his streak of 210 consecutive starts. Seemingly just because he could.

The giants leave 2017 in a state of total disarray. Offensively, they’re 31st in scoring (15.4ppg), 21st in yards (314.2ypg), 19th in passing (217.4), and 26th in rushing (96.8). Defensively, they’ll close the year hurting across the board, as they’re 28th in points allowed (24.2), 31st in yards allowed (373.2), 31st in passing yards allowed (252.4), and 28th in rushing yards allowed (120.8). There is nothing in New York that isn’t broken at this point.

Luckily for the giants, they’ll have the #2 overall pick in the 2018 Draft. While there are a number of areas to address on the team, they have to do something about the LT spot on their line. Ereck Flowers is over-matched pretty much week in and week out. Until they can stabilize their offensive line woes, there will be a repeat of 2017 just waiting to happen.

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Washington Redskins:  7 – 9, 3rd in the NFC East

In April of 2017, I said this was a 6 win team. As you can see, I was clearly way off the mark. The Redskins are a team that is rotting from the inside because of their front office’s approach the concept of team-building. I mean that in every possible facet, that it can possibly be meant in. From how to spot a player who can help, to how to build depth, to how to get guys to rally together, the ‘skins suck at all of it. Just ALL of it.

Thanks to QB Kirk Cousins, for whom they have no appreciation, the ‘skins offense was 16th in scoring (21.4ppg), 16th in yards (324.9ypg), and 12th in passing (234.4ypg), despite him dragging around a 28th ranked rushing attack (90.5ypg). Their poorly conceived defense, did exactly what poorly conceived things tend to do. It fell apart. That left them ranking 27th in points allowed (24.2), 21st in yards allowed (347.9), 9th in passing yards allowed (213.8), and DEAD LAST at 32nd in rush yards allowed (134.1).

While the option to stick a third consecutive franchise tag on Cousins does exist, it would be the same sort of poor team-building that this team had been guilty of for the last (how long has Dan Snyder owned the team?) many years. The pass defense improving from 25th in 2016, to 9th in 2017 may fool the Redskins into thinking they can apply their 13th overall Draft pick elsewhere, but the truth is they need a Strong Safety.

SWEPT

Dallas Cowboys:  9 – 7, 2nd in the NFC East

In April of 2017 I picked the Cowboys to be the second best team in the division. How ‘bout them predictions?! Cowboys fans will want to blame the team’s record on the 6 game suspension of RB Ezekiel Elliott, but that’s just ignoring some pretty damning facts:

First: Over the six games without Elliott, Dallas averaged 121.3 rushing yards per game. Dallas ran the ball 152 times for 728 yards and a 4.7 yard per carry average. Elliott himself only averaged 98.3 yards per game this year and 4.1 per carry.

Second: Elliott averaged 26.8 touches per game this year. Projected over 16 games, that works out to a whopping 428 touches. This would have been after a 354 touch rookie year. He’s young, but dammit, the kid is still human! This suspension may have very well helped saved him from Dallas overusing him, and burning him out young. Ask Larry Johnson, Natrone Means and Barry Foster what 400 touches can do to a RB’s relevant longevity.

Third: Dallas’s ground game was anything but unreliable during those six weeks. Dallas ran the ball effectively in every game. What they couldn’t do well (even after Elliott returned), was pass effectively.

The numbers on offense? They were 14th in scoring (22.1), 14th in yards (331.9), 26th in passing (196.3) and 2nd in rushing (135.6) Defensively, they finished 13th in points allowed (20.8), 8th in yards allowed (318.1), 11th in passing yards allowed (214.1) and 8th in rushing yards allowed (104.0). All respectable, middle of the pack numbers.

You can point to pretty much any area of this team and say that the 19th overall Draft pick would be well-spent there. Others may say that TE Jason Witten needs an heir, or that Dallas could use a shutdown Cornerback. I’m going to say the The defense is Jekyll and Hyde based on the presence of LB Sean Lee and he has a tendency to miss games. If he were to be lost during 2018’s preseason, you could basically write the season off. That’s why they need to draft an OLB whose eyes are faster than his feet.

*****

So, that’s the state of our division rivals as your Eagles gear up for our Divisional playoff game. Just a quick run-down of who does what well, and why they’re at home watching us play this weekend. Cheers!

THE PLAYOFF TEAM THAT SCARES ME

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/01/05
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Fans, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Roster, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 5 Comments

WHICH team do I fear in the playoffs this season? Who will be the toughest test, for Head Coach Doug Pederson? Everyone has a team that they fear for some reason or another, and I’m no different.

Most fear the Minnesota Vikings, minnesota vikingsbut I’m not entirely sure why. Yes, they have a good defense. Other than that, we’re talking about a team that’s been held to fewer than 17 points, 4 times. They’ve also played 2 games against the Bears (rookie QB), 2 games vs the Packers (no Aaron Rodgers), and had games against the Browns, Redskins, Buccaneers, and Bengals. Seriously, that’s half a season worth of gimmies! That’s 8 – 0 because the sun came up. The rest of the way they were 5 – 3, but just 1 – 2 on the road vs this season’s playoff teams. Minny is a dome team, and has played 11 of their 16 games either in a dome or in warm weather. Readers who don’t live in or around Philadelphia may not know this, but Philly’s winter weather isn’t likely to do the Vikings any favors.And if you do live in Philly, just look outside your window right now.fans 1 Dome team. ‘Nuff said.

new orleans saintsMany fear the New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees and RB Alvin Kamara. Thrown in a defense that has improved steadily for two years, and the Saints are actually respectable opponent. That said, they suffered 3 of their 4 losses, on the road, and played 14 of 16 games either in a dome or in warm weather. Our last playoff game was a home loss to the Saints in cold weather, but keep in mind, we were being coached by an idiot (TIK) who proudly ignored basic pro football wisdom, and then was out-coached by a guy deliberately employing Football 098 tactics, just to show him up in front of the nation. Well, we’re no longer being coached by an idiot.

los angeles rams.jpgSome fear the Los Angeles Rams. We beat them in a shootout that QB Carson Wentz played most of, before tearing his ACL. This time around we have Nick Foles in the pilot seat. While Foles is no Wentz, he is still more than capable of leading this Offense. Also, perhaps our Defense might show up for this game, unlike the last time we played the Rams. Oddly enough, the Rams on the road were 7 – 1, and so were better than the 4 – 4 they were at home. However, given that they won’t receive a Bye week, I’ll wait to see if (and more importantly how) they survive the first round, before deciding if I’m concerned about them. They concerned me during the regular season, but I’ll need another look at them before deciding if they warrant that again. However, if you put a gun to my head and asked me if I’m concerned about them today, I’d have to say that I’m not. This time we have a real MLB, and won’t be starting and playing most of this game in the Nickel.

Atlanta. Yeah, no one fears Atlanta. It might be wise not to stand to close to them, since they have a tendency to self-destruct, and we don’t want to get any of their stank, on us.

Which brings me to my point. The only team I fear in these playoffs.

It’s the Eagles. That’s it.

We’re a team that can pump on all cylinders. Offense? We put up 30 per game. (23.5 under Foles, even if you subtract the defensive TD vs Oakland). Defensively we hold teams to 18 points per game. Our Special Teams has repeatedly proven themselves as clutch and/or pivotal this year. So we can do it all.

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Instead of being a team that is offensive or defensive, we’re complete on all THREE sides. As long as the Eagles bring even our “C” game, at the very least we’re going to be in the game until the very end (See: Chiefs and Seahawks). If we bring our “B” game or better, we’ll be sending teams on long, quiet plane rides to clean out their lockers.

No. I don’t fear any of the poor suckers who have the misfortune to come visit the NFL’s best football team. The only thing I fear is the Eagles executing poorly. As long as that doesn’t happen, no one is coming into OUR HOUSE and leaving it with a win.

SEASON REVIEW: FOURTH QUARTER

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/01/04
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, Roster, Special Teams. 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. This year, Eaglemaniacal.com will treat the season like a game, and break 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 from here.

STATUS: 13 – 3 overall, 5 – 1 division, 2017 NFC East Champion, #1 seed in the NFC, Holder of home-field advantage

NUMBER ONE SEED

OPPONENTS:

Los Angeles Rams (11 – 5)

New York giants (3 – 13)

Oakland (6 – 10)

Dallas (9 – 7)

OVERVIEW:

The big story this quarter was the season-ending injury to QB Carson Wentz (ACL) vs the Rams. Our back-up QB stepped in, finished that game, then helmed tough wins over the giants and Raiders, to give the Eagles home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

GRADES:

QB: (D) Nick Foles took over for Carson Wentz after Wentz was lost for the year to a torn ACL. I’d like to grade Foles on a curve due to clearly mitigating circumstances, but I won’t. Part of his job is overcoming adversity, and so far he hasn’t shown the ability to do that. He doesn’t need things around him to be perfect for him to be effective, but he does need things around him to run efficiently. When things run well, Foles can be downright dangerous, but if something goes off the rails, he’s decidedly ordinary.

RB: (D) In the last 4 weeks, our top 3 RB’s have 1 touchdown on 94 combined touches (rushing and receiving). Part of the problem has been a deliberate decline in usage. Week 14 saw them rush the ball 28 times. Week 15 saw them rush 25 times. Week 16 shrank to 21 rushes, and Week 17 was just 16. This lack of production makes it easy to focus on taking away the passing game, and it helps to tank the entire Offense, Doug.

TE: (B) This position continues to help move the chains. Even when Zach Ertz had to miss Week 14, Trey Burton card.trey.burton

stepped up and had the biggest game of his career. One thing that does seem to have disappeared from this position, is it’s willingness to attack down the field. Some of that is due to buying time while chip-blocking to assist the LT, but we have to find a way to get that missing aspect back.

WR: (F) In the last 4 games, Nelson Agholor has caught 22 passes for 169 yards, for an average of 7.6 yards. In none of those games did he average even 9 yards per catch. And it gets worse. This morning I saw Alshon Jeffery on a milk carton. He was smiling and holding up two fistfuls of cash. Torrey Smith told us he was just going to get cigarettes. That was two weeks ago! Meanwhile Foles is sitting in the rain, waiting for a ride…

OT: (B) Foles has been sacked 5 times in 3+ games. Wentz was sacked 28 times in 14. Either the line is getting better, or Foles is just not getting caught with the ball in his hand. Credit also the TE chipping, and RB Corey Clement being in there to help LT Halapoulivaati Vaitai on 3rd downs.

OG: (C ) This is a mixed bag since Stefen Wisniewski got hurt. Chance Warmack is clearly the better Guard between he and Isaac Seumalo, but his rust was on display with all the pressure he allowed vs the giants in Week 15.

C: (D) In recent weeks Jason Kelce has been erratic with his shotgun snaps. This is an easy way to give the ball away for a cheap score.

DE: (C ) Chris Long has turned in 2 sacks and 2 forced fumbles in the last four games. Aside from him, sack production is still down from where it was before the Bye. This position has been decent at setting the edges, but there’s been some fall-off during this last quarter.

DT: (C ) This position has not produced a sack since Week 12, nor a fumble since Week 1. It has been stalwart vs the run and covering for a deficiency at MLB since we lost Jordan Hicks Week 7. Perhaps the new player at MLB, will allow the DT’s to become more impactful again.

OLB: (B) Nigel Bradham card.nigel.bradham

has been great this quarter as a mistake eraser and tempo setter. Mychal Kendricks has been somewhat up and down, but his role did seem to change slightly after the Hicks injury.

MLB: (D) This grade is only this high because we now have Dannell Ellerbe to rely on in this spot. Between Week 8 and Week 16, this position looked like a missile had hit it. Joe Walker just can’t play. Najee Goode lacks the physicality for the spot, and for three weeks we started no MLB and opted for the Nickel instead. (Two of those games were against the Rams and Seahawks.) It seems like we’ve hit upon a player now, so maybe everyone else on the Defense can stop covering for a deficiency, and get back to being fully effective themselves.

S: (D) This position has not recorded a pass break-up or interception since Week 12. A lot of that had to do with bringing Malcolm Jenkins down into the box due our MLB deficiency. A lot of attention has been paid to our CB’s biting on double-moves, but more frequently we are giving up high percentage slant routes that carry no physical consequences for working our middle.

CB: (C ) Ronald Darby has made it clear that throwing the ball near him could be hazardous to your offense. Jalen Mills on the other hand, has recently looked every bit like a 7th round draft pick. Patrick Robinson has made a solid case for the Eagles to offer him another one year deal to be the Nickel next year. That is of course, if Rasul Douglas doesn’t get a shot at the spot.

LS: (A) Rick Lovato got himself a tackle Week 16. Yay. Other than that his snaps have been reliable.

P: (A) Donnie Jones has punted the ball 22 times in the last 4 weeks, but we’ve surrendered just 36 return yards. This has helped set the Defense up and helped us gradually win the hidden yardage game.

K: (B) Jake Elliott card.jake.elliott

has been great over these last 4 games. He’s 8 of 9 on field goals and 9 of 9 on extra points. The one area of concern is, since the weather in Philly’s winter weather rolled in, his kickoffs have gone down from 63.2 to 52.8 yards. Much of that has to do with the ball itself being harder to kick, but still it’s something to keep an eye on.

PR/KR: (C ) Our return game is competent, but it won’t scare anybody.

SINCE LAST QUARTER:

We’ve lost a player who many would consider the NFL’s MVP, and still we managed to go 2-1 without him. That one loss was a 0 – 6 “defeat”, in which our rival played their starters the entire game, while we pulled ours in the first quarter. Along the way we secured home-field advantage throughout the playoffs up until the Superbowl.

MISSION FOR THIS QUARTER:

treyburton.jpg

The regular season is over. We are now in the post-season. There is no quarter given here. Not by the calendar, nor the fans, nor the opposition to come. There is however, a mission, and it is this:

Win one game. Then win a second. Then win a third.

ASSHOLE ADMINS RUIN GROUP

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/01/04
Posted in: Conversations, Crazy Talk, Fans, Rants, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

no in chill.jpg

THERE used to be a Facebook group that I belonged to called NFC East Only. Eagles, Redskins, Cowboys and Giants fans would show up brag about our teams, talk trash, post memes, and just try to make rivals feel awful for supporting the wrong team. It was fun. In that way it was like most trash talk groups.

What separated EO from other NFC trash talk groups, was the sheer size of it. There were about 3,000 people in it when I first joined, which is already kind of large. When I was removed this morning, the number was over 37, 000.

My removal is here nor there, as I was leaving today anyway. In recent weeks the admins who run the group had made it where people could no longer post anything, and a couple days ago they made it where you couldn’t even comment. The admins didn’t try to fix it, they simply kept trying to migrate members to a second group they created last week. Not being able to comment, you couldn’t ask what, or why this was going on. I figured it was a glitch, and that it would be corrected.

Well, around 7:00 – 7:15 (it’s 7:58 now), I noticed that one of the admins (he goes by Em Isa Warren), posted a question asking why no one is fucking with the second group. Questions means answers and answers mean comments. YAY! I could comment again.

I asked what was going on. The admin says that FB won’t let him change a setting so there’s a new group. If FB will let him change a setting, he’d open the old group back up. That sort of had the feel of holding 37,000 members hostage, but I played it cool and asked: Which settings?

He immediately got into his feelings and said it “doesn’t matter which fucking settings because you can’t change them”. Okay. There was no need to take that tone, especially since I was pretty sure that I was leaving anyway. I went to type the word “Okay.” 4 letters. O-K-A-Y.

But then that cock-smoking, tree-jumper did something totally unnecessary and AGAIN blocked anyone from commenting. (But this time it was just on his question, not the whole page.) I couldn’t even say “Okay”. I was willing to take low and wasn’t even ALLOWED to do that.

By this time my ire was up. 7:30, no sleep, out of rum, and digitally told to shut up. AGAIN. This had me in that place that I go to when I can’t find a single fuck to give. So I grabbed my matches and my can o’gas and headed straight for the bridge he was standing on.

I started off by hi-jacking a separate post, and calling him a punk ass for disabling the comments on his question and told him “This is why no one is fucking with your new group.” Support for that comment quickly popped up to 4 likes in under a minute. I was unable to post the more strongly worded a follow up to that, but the comments hadn’t been disabled, so I refreshed the page and found that I was no longer in the group.

Ironically, I’d already submitted to be in the new group and saw that I was a member. There are only about 1,600 people out of the 37,000 that were in NFC East Only. I’m guessing most of them don’t like the current regime and just wants to be rid of them. In about a week or so (now that I’m cooling off) I guess I’ll check to see if OE has been taken over one all the rats have fled. If it’s there I’ll re-join. If the admins just sink it, I’ll simply bid it a fond farewell,

Quick add-on: I already left the second group. Forgot to mention that.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK17: COWBOYS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/01/01
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, Rivals. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

NOBODY got injured. That’s the important part. The starters were rumored to play the first half, but they played less than a quarter. Now we’ll get a chance to heal up, get refreshed, and prep for whoever falls to us in the Divisional round of the playoffs.

steven means.jpg

EAGLES 0 – Cowboys 6

The Eagles ran for just 70 yards on 18 carries, and as bad as that looks, it was even worse. Third string QB Nate Sudfeld (19/23 – 82.6% – 134 – 0 – 0) picked up 22 of those yards on one carry. Our RB’s amassed 15 carries for 41 yards (2.7 ypc). The play-calling was once again pass -heavy, with 37 passes to just 16 called runs (Agholor had a 7 yard rush).

The back-up defense did a wonderful job of holding the Cowboys to just 6 points, despite the fact that their starters played the entire game. It was the fourth quarter before even those points were scored.

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 key injuries: Nobody key got hurt because Doug Pederson gave the starters a pretty early hook. (DONE)

2) QB crash course: We needed to get a good, long look at Sudfeld and we saw him for most of the game. (DONE)

3) Stay deep: Gave up a 20 yard score selling out on a blitz, and a couple of other key completions. (NOT DONE)

4) Cooler heads prevail: For a moment it seemed like the teams might have had a brawl, but cooler heads prevailed and the game went on with no fights, so no one getting tossed and no one getting a suspension. (DONE)

Despite hitting 3 of the 4 marks this week, we still ate the loss. However, if you watched the game, you get why we lost. On the year, our Four Things total tally: 47 of 64 (.734)

On The Whole:

Given the weather conditions, I’m somewhat perplexed by the play-calling over these last two weeks. The line we’re being fed is, the coach wants to develop chemistry with his passing game. I’m not really buying that though.

Both our Head Coach and our Offensive Coordinator, were NFL Quarterbacks. Moreover, both were career back-up QB’s. So they both have a nuanced understanding of how important a run game is, for establishing a rhythm and supporting a back-up QB. Loading the Offense onto that back-up QB’s shoulders, in freezing weather, runs absolutely counter to NFL wisdom for supporting a back-up QB.

More mysterious, is just how vanilla the Offense has been now for THREE weeks. In the first quarter WR Torrey Smith dropped a pass on 3rd and 7 where two routes cleared space for him. It was well designed, well called, and well executed, except for the drop itself. However, we haven’t seen much of that stuff even being called since QB Nick Foles (4/11 – 36.3 – 39 0 0 – 1) took over, and it has me wondering why.

My hunch is that the Eagles didn’t want to expose Foles’s tendencies in this system to film study. Especially not in games (giants, Raiders, Cowboys) that we could afford to lose. If teams don’t know what to look for on tape, it’s hard to practice for those scenarios. Keep in mind, Pederson is an Andy Reid disciple, and starving an opponent of information is exactly the sort of move Andy was known for.

Otherwise there’s no explanation for why the passing routes seem so pedestrian now.

FOUR THINGS: WK 17: EAGLES-COWBOYS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/12/28
Posted in: Coaching, Four Things, Offense, Players, playoffs, Preview, Rivals, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , . 1 Comment

W17 -DAL

OUR regular season ended last week. We defeated the Raiders for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and effectively ran out of things to compete for in the 2017 regular season. At this point we can either reserve our starters for the playoffs (when we’ll NEED them), or we can risk their health to get them some reps.

We have nothing to play for and neither do the Cowboys. In fact, the Cowboys want to get their back-up QB some playing time, just to get a look at him during live fire. Smart move. Even smarter would be if we got an extensive look at our own back-ups. Besides, wouldn’t it be nice to say our back-ups help us sweep the Cowboys?

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

1) No key injuries: The easiest way to do that would be to shelve the starters for a week. We’ll see what happens.

2) QB crash course: Our chances of getting to the Super Bowl behind QB Nick Foles are already shaky. If something happens to him, logic would suggest that we’re already dead in the water. This is especially true if QB Nate Sudfeld’s first look at live action, is after a cart wheels Foles away. The coaches have to get a good look at Sudfeld, in order to get an idea of how to guide him during live action.

3) Stay deep: Don’t give up any long passing scores. Don’t let Dallas head out of here with any glimmer of hope for 2018.

4) Cooler heads prevail: This will likely be a chippy game, with a lot of frustrated Cowboys players trying to start fights that trigger suspensions. Keep a cool head.

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:

Some players (on both sides) are going to recognize this as their chance to audition for bigger roles on their current team, or for a spot on other teams, next year. It’ll be uneven and ugly, but it won’t be boring. I think Dallas takes this game if they play their starters more than we do.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 13 – Cowboys 17

yeah bitch

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 16: RAIDERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/12/26
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

HOME-FIELD Advantage has been secured! For us, that means two home playoff games instead of just one. Wonderful. Now can we please rest our starters next week?!

courtesyphiladelphiaeagles.com

Courtesy of philadelphiaeagles.com

EAGLES 19 – RAIDERS 10

This was an ugly game to watch. The 29 degree temperature, and the biting, driving wind seemed to affect both teams. Neither QB was sharp, both teams missed a field goal, and neither punter averaged 40 yards last night, despite the fact that both came in above 45.

Added to the weather making things difficult, was the uneven play selection (38 passes to 21 runs). The big difference in the game was the 5 takeaways (2 interceptions, 3 fumble recoveries) that the Eagles managed to pluck from the Raiders.

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) Don’t get greedy: We played our starters for the whole game in the quest for home-field advantage. It worked out for us, but it was not the prudent move. (NOT DONE)

2) Smart business decisions: Raider RB Marshawn Lynch (25 – 95 – 3.8 – 0 – 1) did his damage through quantity of carries, not quality of carries. At no point did he crack off a run of more than 16 yards and he even coughed up his first fumble of the year. Our Defense didn’t shut him down, but did a good job of containing him (DONE)

3) Serve up play-action: Flat out didn’t happen. I was actually really intrigued with how vanilla and repetitive our play-calling was. (NOT DONE)

4) Get over Under: Unless I missed something, there was no attempt to probe the Raiders defensive front seven, for structural weaknesses. (NOT DONE)

That brings our weekly counter to 1 of 4. Usually a number like that means a loss. Next week against the Cowboys, all Four Things may be REST THE STARTERS, Doug!

On The Whole:

I’m not sure what the Eagles coaching staff was after, with their approach to this game. There wasn’t nearly enough running of the ball to support Nick Foles (19/38 – 50.0% – 163 1 – 1). Especially given the weather conditions.

Offensively, it was so vanilla that it looked almost like a preseason game. There was a clear lack of routes run to clear traffic. Play-action was effectively shelved. Also most of the few deep shots, were sideline routes that landed out of bounds. All of the creativity seems to have vanished.

On Defense, we were solid with the exception of a 63 yard touchdown pass. Aside from that one down, the Eagles surrendered just 3 points all night and took the ball away 5 times. Anyone who had issue with us last week vs the giants, should be thrilled with this week’s performance.