FOUR THINGS: WK 14: EAGLES-RAMS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/12/07
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 6 Comments

W14 - LAR

ONE win and we’re in the playoffs, because we’d clinch the division. Getting the win this week will help set-up a first round bye, and help us chase home-field advantage throughout. So unlike last week, there is sharp-edged motivation for winning this game.

This game is between the number one and number two scoring teams in the league. Both are average 30.1 points per game. So it should be a shootout, right? Pump the brakes. The devil is in the details. And it’s details we need to concern ourselves with.

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

1) RUN. THE. BALL: The Rams are 27th in the NFL against the run. Like the Redskins, they play an attacking 3-4 defense (meaning that the OLB’s are primary pass rushers). Neither of their starters at OLB will play this week. They also feature two ILB’s who are undersized and so beat up, that neither has practiced so far this week. The Rams have sucked versus the run with their starters in. They can’t much better with back-ups playing.

2) Man Coverage underneath: OLB’s Nigel Bradham and Mychal Kendricks need to be RB Todd Gurley’s shadow, on routes out of the backfield. He’s already integral to the Rams passing attack, and they’ll likely be missing their leader in receiving yards, which only increases Gurley’s importance this week. Taking him away, makes life harder on the Rams passing attack overall.

3) Get some help: The presence of LT Halapoulivaati Vaitai has all but removed the deep ball from our arsenal. Watching him get beat repeatedly on outside-in moves, has gotten old as fuck. Flanking him with a TE who repeatedly chip-blocks, would give him a chance to see an outside-in move unfolding, and help him hold the corner. Then we can get back to calling an aggressive game again.

4) Use brute force: Attacking the “A” gaps (on either side of the Center), will ruin any pocket before it starts, and cause traffic jams for the run. Rams QB Jared Goff isn’t the most mobile fella, so let’s see if we can get him throwing on the run and off his back foot. We could use a few turnovers this week.

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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:

While we’ve been dealing with a snowballing injury bug, the Rams have been dealing with a sudden rush of them. The result is a sudden bunch of fill-ins, mostly on defense, hoping they don’t make a mistake. That being said, we have to force them, and bait them into making mistakes. Shouldn’t be too hard. Especially considering how raw their depth is. Advantage Eagles.

The Rams haven’t scored more than 20 points in a loss this year. That’s because they’re heavily dependent on Todd Gurley for production. Problem is, if a team has to play catch-up, they can’t really run their offense through a RB. Falling behind would effectively force them to surrender their best weapon. As it did in 2 of their 3 losses this year.

We’re going to take Gurley away from the Rams because that’s what we do. We make teams one-dimensional, and then we close in on their QB. Unlike last week, the QB being served up to us this week, has the mobility of a ceiling fan. Advantage Eagles.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 28 – Rams 17

yeah bitch

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 13: SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/12/04
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 9 Comments

ONE win and we’re in. Despite this loss, that is still our situation. One win clinches the division and gets us a seat at the playoff table. Then we’ll be among teams who are REALLY playing for something in 2017. We have 5 remaining games to get that one win. That is Step One. Step One has been and is still the focus since OTA’s. Eyes on the prize.

doug pederson at aloss

Eagles 10 – Seahawks 24

For anyone trying to find a silver lining in this game, you could point to the continued resurgence of WR Nelson Agholor (7 – 141 – 20.1 – 1). The 2017 season indicates that he may be the Eagles best wide receiver. (At least if you go by what happens on the field, not off of it.) QB Carson Wentz (29/45 – 64.4% – 348 – 1 – 1) felt he could rely on Agholor, so he looked his way early and often.

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) Intimidate: The idea was to nail Seattle’s QB when he scrambled/ran, so that we could… encourage him to stay in the pocket. Instead, our defenders did a poor job of lane restricting, which allowed him to run around like that chicken Rocky was chasing. Worse yet, when we did hit him, it was rarely delivered with any nastiness. (NOT DONE)

2) Snag the line: The idea was to alternate between confusing and overloading their offensive line. Neither happened. We frequently gave the Seahawks both coverage and blitz looks that even Dak Prescott could read. (NOT DONE)

3) Light ‘em up: With the vaunted Legion of Boom down to ¼ of it’s members, going after Seattle’s secondary should have been job one. Instead, our QB spent the night throwing to his #3 WR instead of his #1 and #2 starters. It was a night were even before his concussion, TE Zach Ertz (2 – 24 -12.0 – 0) saw fewer targets than back-up TE Trey Burton (4 – 42 – 10.5 – 0). The play-calling almost looked like Head Coach Doug Pederson was afraid of Seattle. (NOT DONE)

4) Run ‘em down: The idea was that we needed to run the ball against Seattle’s undersized defensive line. In general when we ran against them, we moved the ball. Then for some reason we just stopped doing it. The first half had us run it 14 times (with players not named Wentz), and the score was 3 – 10. The second half saw 5 (non-Wentz) runs in the 3rd quarter. The score moved to 3 – 17. Still not “out of hand”. On FOUR 4th quarter possessions, we would run the ball only once. (NOT DONE)

This week we went 0 for 4 on Four Things, which got us this nice shiny “L”. We got handled out there. Not quite manhandled, but handled nonetheless. We got away from being who we are, and that NEVER makes a problem better. The Rams present an opportunity for us to be the team we know that we are. Let the damage go and stay in the hunt for our dreams. “Push out the jive. Bring in the love.”

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On The Whole:

The knee-jerk reaction to a loss is for fans to blame the players. However, I’m thinking this loss goes to the coaching staff. No not because of the forward lateral that we didn’t challenge, but because of the entire approach to this game, from the get-go.

Passes down the field early in the game, were absent this week. There was also no attempt to get TE Zach Ertz going early. For some reason were suddenly obsessed with throwing passes to RB Jay Ajayi (9 – 35 – 3.9 – 0 – 0 /3 – 11 – 3.7 – 0). We also seemed timid about going for it on 4th down, until later in the game. Not to mention the aforementioned discontinuation of the run game, even when the score was still manageable. So much of this game felt alien.

I won’t give Doug Pederson crap for not challenging the forward lateral. However, given that we did lose the one challenge on the first down catch by WR Torrey Smith (5 – 29 – 5.8 (seriously?!) – 0), it does bring into question how reliable the Eagles booth crew is at determining when Doug should and shouldn’t toss that red flag. This is something that needs addressing before the playoffs. Maybe some refresher exercises for those guys need to take place over the next couple weeks? Couldn’t hurt, right.

I don’t see that there was much for players to take away from this loss, but for the coaching staff, a couple lessons were crystal clear:

A) Be ourselves. There are things we do that are who we are. Getting away from those things undercuts the support of other aspects of who and what we are. Just be who we are.

B) Don’t allow an opponents reputation to dictate our gameplan. We looked like we were trying to play around the Seattle defense. That never works. Gotta go straight through an obstacle in football.

IN MY CROSSHAIRS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/12/02
Posted in: Conversations, NFL. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

AFTER we beat the Panthers 28 – 23 in front of the entire nation, naysayers had to pump their brakes on saying “Yeah, but the Eagles didn’t beat anybody good yet”. That roar turned into a mumble and most fans focused on games against division rivals. A few worried openly about our post-Bye, road match-up against the Seahawks.

Since the Panthers, the game that I’ve been low-key stalking, has been the one versus the Los Angeles Rams.

The Rams had already caught my eye about two weeks earlier, when their starting RB called out the Dallas Cowboys on nation television. Conventional wisdom says, “Don’t hand out bulletin board material”, but then the Rams actually went out and did backed it up. At that point, it occurred to me that the Rams might be every bit as real as we are.

This is a measuring stick game between two teams who are actual peers. Our QB’s (Jared Goff and Carson Wentz) were taken one and two in last year’s NFL Draft. Our teams are the #1 and #2 scoring offenses in the league. We both feature a similar offensive style, and are built defensively to play from a lead. While we’ll both use a similar attack when we face each other, the winner will be better at it.

That is what makes this game a measuring stick. That is why I’ve been stalking the Rams for weeks now. That is why want this game so bad.

Fortunately for us, the Rams have a consistent and glaring weakness. They give up 123 yards per game on the ground. While the Rams starting RB has been the leading rusher in 6 of the 11 games they’ve played so far, the Rams as a team have been out-rushed in 2 of those contests and 6 times overall. Did I mention that the Eagles are the #2 rushing team in the NFL? Did I mention that we’re #1 against the run in the NFL?

I could go into it more, but I’m not trying to do an installation of Four Things, a week early. Let’s just leave it here for now, so that if something weird happens at Seattle tomorrow, you know it’s not false bravado that has me saying that we can beat the Rams.

EM Team Banner

FOUR THINGS: WK 13: EAGLES-SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/11/30
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, playoffs, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

W13-SEA

Note: This article will be out before the Dallas/Washington game. Since I can’t know what the outcome will be, I’m just going to write around it. (As if we all don’t know that the Redskins will win 24 – 13.)

rockytommy

THIS will be a street fight. Don’t fool yourselves, that’s what we’re in for. The Eagles are defending their dreams of being the home team in the playoffs. Seattle’s playoff future would be greatly aided by beating Philadelphia. This is a need to beat the best, versus the home-team dream.

Beating Seattle would move us to 11-1 and keep us a half game ahead of Minnesota in the bid for home-field advantage. That gives us something to focus on to keep us sharp. Problem is, the Seahawks are a scrappy team, with lots of big game experience. Oh, and they’re also fighting to keep their thin playoff dreams alive. Somehow I doubt that QB Carson Wentz will be pulled early in this one.

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

1) Intimidate: Seattle’s leading rusher is QB Russell Wilson (65 – 401 – 6.2 – 3 – NA) by 193 yards. We need to hit him. I didn’t say tackle him. I said HIT him. As in, nail him before he gets into a slide. Nothing dirty. No need or desire to injure him. Just let him know that QB Austin Davis might finish 2017 for him, if he doesn’t keep his ass in the pocket.

2) Snag the line: Only three offensive lines in the NFL allow more hits on their QB than Seattle does. When they block for any of the active RB’s on their roster, the numbers are 155 carries for 463 yards (2.9ypc). To take apart Seattle’s offense, we only need to alternate between confusing and overloading their offensive line. On 2nd and 6 (or longer), we need to hit them with a few exotic blitzes. Not blitz looks, but actual blitzes. On 3rd and long, play it straight-up.

3) Light ‘em up: Seattle picked a poor time to be battling injuries in their secondary. CB Richard Sherman and SS Kam Chancellor are both on IR. So now is the time to floor it, and go right after the vaunted Legion of Boom. People will say that we only beat them because of injuries. So? And? Now is not the time to let an average secondary, trade-off on a rep that they no longer deserve.

4) Run ‘em down: The Seahawks are 9th in the NFL against the run, despite having a small defensive line that averages 283 pounds per man. The last time someone fed our Offense a d-line this small (Cowboys) we ran for 215 yards on it. It’s time to impose our will on yet another team. This is that game where we need to go crazy, and kill a mouse with a sledgehammer. We need to turn RB LeGarrette Blount loose.

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:

This game is going to be a fight. At least at first. Russell Wilson is slippery, saavy, and doesn’t have any quit in him. Seattle is a team used to being “the big dawg”. Plus they’ll be playing at home, while attempting to be defiant in the face of overwhelming injury. They will be playing for pride, not just the win.

That having been said, the facts are: Their secondary can’t stop us. Their defensive line can’t stop us. Their offensive line can’t stop anyone. Their RB’s are garbage. Their WR’s are only a threat to their QB, and their crippling reliance on TE Jimmy Graham only makes their offensive “system” as predictable as gravity.

They’re 7-4, but look at against whom, and how those wins have come:

sea sched

The Seahawks have no answers for the Eagles. None whatsoever. This game will start out as a fight, but we will eventually end up with our knee on their windpipe. Their hands repeatedly sliding off our chest, as Week 13 slips into blackness for them.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 28 – Seahawks 17

yeah bitch

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WEEK 12: BEARS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/11/27
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

WELL we made it to 10 – 1. One more win (or a Cowboys loss on Thursday), and we clinch the NFC East. After that, we’re just playing for home-field advantage. This game was all about taking care of business and the Eagles came out and did just that. While many people said this was a trap game, I said right off the bat, that it wasn’t. And I was right. As usual. You’re welcome.

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EAGLES 31 – Bears 3

Congratulations to TE Zach Ertz (10 – 103 – 10.3 – 1) for being the first Eagle to have a 100 yard receiving game this season. QB Carson Wentz (23/36 – 63.8% – 227 – 3 – 0) found Ertz early and often making it look easy, against a defense that I’d heard was supposed to be good.

No one had a stellar game defensively, but as a unit our Defense held the Bears to 6 rushing yards on 14 attempts. That’s 0.4 yards per carry. The worse part is, if not for the QB’s 11 yard run, the final numbers would have been -5 yards on 13 attempts.

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) Set hard edges: The Defense did an excellent job of setting the boundary and stringing outside runs wide. On the day the Bears ran for a TOTAL of 6 yards. We did this like a motherfucker. (DONE)

2) Rediscover our TE: 10 catches for 103 yards and touch. (DONE)

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3) Don’t get cute: We saw no trick plays, or any other overt sign that the Eagles were regarding the Bears as a joke opponent. The team (for the most part) took care of business. (DONE)

4) Punt the ball: I get going for it on 4th and 1. But 4th and 6? With a big lead? It showed little regard for winning the hidden yardage battle. It also de-emphasizes the urgency of 3rd down, if players think we’ll just go for it on 4th down, like we did today (6 times on 4th down: 2 punts, 3 of 4 conversions.) (NOT DONE)

This weeks score is a solid 3 out of 4, with the overall season’s mark being 37 of 44 (84.0%). In all honesty, even the one thing we “missed” this week was sort of a show of power. If it were against a better team, it would be something to laud. This however was just the 3-7 Bears. So “meh”.

On The Whole:

The win margin was huge, but we got really sloppy once the 4th quarter started. That happened because Head Coach Doug Pederson, took his foot off the gas. Once the Eagles coaching staff mentally checked out, there was a noticeable fall-off in player effort out there. This is not the sort of attitude that a team this young can survive with in the playoffs.

We got to 10 wins and that is something to celebrate and be proud of. Step One of the mission however, is still not complete yet. We still need to clinch a playoff spot.

 

FOUR THINGS: WK 12: EAGLES-BEARS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/11/24
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

W12-CHI

THIS isn’t a trap game. The Bears are in a rebuilding phase, and (rather deliberately) don’t have enough pieces to threaten most teams with. Wisely, they seem more focused on their 2018 Draft position, than on winning games in 2017. So us getting win number 10 is almost perfunctory. Getting that win would mathematically eliminate the Redskins from being able to win the NFC East this year, and bring us one step closer to locking it down.

With what’s coming up on the schedule, this would normally be an easy game to look past. Normally. Thing is, getting win #10 will put us at double-digits in the win column. Owner Jeffrey Lurie likes double-digit win seasons, and I’m sure Head Coach Doug Pederson is itching to sport one.

While the players may not be able to “get up” for the Bears, being motivated to not disappoint two bosses eager for this win, should be enough to keep the players focused on the task at hand. Hopefully.

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

1) Set hard edges: Behind RB’s Jordan Howard, Tarik Cohen, and rookie QB Mitch Trubisky, the Bears are 5th in the NFL in rushing. Howard is more between the Tackles, Cohen is better in space, and of course a QB is catch-as-catch-can. This means our DE’s have to set a hard edge to try to force every run inside, take away any cutback lane or QB option runs.

2) Rediscover our TE: Last week TE Zach Ertz didn’t figure much into the gameplan, but this week he may be invaluable. The Bears run a 3-4 defense and their OLB’s couldn’t cover their shadows. If we can get the ball out to Ertz, that will force the Bears into their Nickel package and then we can hit them with RB Corey Clement.

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3) Don’t get cute: This is just the Bears. Some coaches might be tempted to break out trick plays just to test them out. DON’T. This not only tips our hand for teams to study, but it also says to our opponent that we don’t take them seriously. Disrespect can be a powerful motivator. Like when Skip here disrespected our Defense last Tuesday:

That extra motivation led to our best defensive performance of 2017, so far. Let’s not lend our opponent any motivation, and make this game any harder than it needs to be.

4) Punt the ball: No need to go for it on fourth down against this team. Win the hidden yardage battle. They don’t score or throw the ball well, so don’t offer them any help.

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:

Defensively, this should be a fairly paint-by-numbers type of game. Mitch Trubisky is a rookie QB, playing like a rookie QB, who isn’t getting much in the way of coaching support. He also has zero down-field weapons in the passing game. If we can shut down or control the Bears run game, we’ll be forcing a rookie to beat us with his brain and his arm. This is beyond his ability at this point.

Offensively, due to looking past them, we may hand the Bears a couple of silly turnovers. However, as long as we don’t allow the defense to score, the game should stay pretty well in our control given that we’re at home. If the Eagles come out focused, this game will be an utter blowout, but somehow the idea of them coming out focused doesn’t seem likely.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 27 – Bears 17

yeah bitch

LET’S TALK PLAYOFFS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/11/21
Posted in: Conversations, NFL, playoffs. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 7 Comments

 

schoolhouse rock

THREE, oh it’s a magic number. Yeah it is. It’s a magic number. Let me tell you why.

Currently our Eagles own a record of 9 – 1 to lead the NFC East division. The Dallas Cowboys are in second place with a record of 5 – 5. They have 6 more games to play, but those 5 losses say that they can top out at 11 – 5 for the season. That is the best they can do at this point.

slickback reiterates

Let. Me. Reiterate. 

That is the best they can do at this point.

The team currently in second place behind us, mathematically cannot win more than 11 games this year. That’s a hard fact, and it is beyond dispute. The Redskins at 4 -6, can’t win better than 10 games this year. Realistically they already have no shot, but one more win by us, and they mathematically can’t win the East. And the giants… even Jesus couldn’t resurrect their season at this point. You’d need Doctor with a Tardis to fix everything that went wrong with their 2017. Right?

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Wow. That bad huh?

On the other hand, with 9 wins already, we need only win 3 out of 6 games to put the division beyond the Cowboys reach. Either that or win 2 out of 6, so long as one of the wins is over Dallas again. (We’d finish 11 – 5 to their 10 – 6.) So three wins guarantees us a playoff berth. Iron clad. We’d go by virtue of winning the division.

I’m ITCHING to talk seeding, but I want to nail down a berth first. I don’t want to get ahead of things, but like you, I’m excited. Very excited. Please do not mistake my attempts to retain SOME degree of objectivity, with a lack of excitement.

We’ll talk in more detail once the berth has been nailed down.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WEEK 11: COWBOYS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/11/20
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, Rivals, Roster, Special Teams, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THERE can no longer be any debate over which team is the class of the NFC East. We are now officially the first team in the NFL, to be guaranteed to finish over .500 for the season. That said, there is still the matter of qualifying for the playoffs to nail down. That’s Step One. Step One is still the mission. Next man up, No excuses.

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EAGLES 37 – Cowboys 9

PHILADELPHIA piled up 215 rushing yards on a Cowboys team that only allows 104 per game. Led by RB Jay Ajayi (7 – 91 – 13.0 – 0 – 0) in yardage, with rookie RB Corey Clement (6 – 50 – 8.3 – 1 – 0) chipping in a score, and RB LeGarrette Blount (13 – 57 – 4.3 – 0 – 0) acting as the closer. Down 7 – 9 at halftime, the Eagles came out and put up 30 unanswered points, with QB Carson Wentz (14/27 – 51.8% – 168 – 2 – 0) more or less on cruise-control.

The Defense snagged 4 sacks, 3 interceptions, and OLB Nigel Bradham (6 – 0 – 0 – 0) returned a fumble for a touchdown. CB Ronald Darby (8 – 0 – 1 – 0) reclaiming his starting spot (after being out with an injury for 8 weeks), prevented two touchdowns in the end zone, by deflecting one pass, and picking off another. Rookie DE Derek Barnett (3 – 2 – 0 – 1) spent the night harassing Dallas’s 4th round QB, until the Cowboys coaching staff mercy’d him in the 4th quarter, allowing the back-up to be just as ineffective.

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) Take away the run: “We need take away the reliability of their rushing game and dare their QB to carry the game.” While we did give up a few good runs here and there, we absolutely took away the reliability of their run game. The onus of winning the game was placed directly on the shoulders of their 4th round QB, and he responded by turning the ball over FOUR times (3 interceptions and a fumble). He looked very much like a guy teams would pass on for three, maybe four rounds. (DONE)

2) Sak Prescott: QB Dak Prescott (18/31 – 58.0% – 145 – 0 – 3) was sacked four times, fumbling on one of them. Missing their All-Pro LT, Dallas compensated by having Prescott bootleg away from the substitute LT who allowed one guy to get 6 sacks last week. Didn’t help. Statistically, Prescott had a worse game this week (in every regard) than the disaster he endured last week. We indeed did play a DT over their LG and left the LT in isolation with our DE rotation. However, it was Barnett who really had his way with the over-matched fill-in. (DONE)

3) Slot their throats: This is one of those times when one of the things was technically done, but not done truly in the spirit of how it was meant. The Eagles made a deliberate effort towards involving receivers who lined up in the slot. Also, when the Cowboys went Nickel to compensate, we hit them with the run. Said all that and we did it. Technically. What would have been nice is if more of those passes were held onto. That said, Wentz did hit WR Alshon Jeffrey (4 – 67 – 16.7 – 1) who lined up in the slot, over the middle for a honey of a 17 yard touchdown pass. (DONE)

4) Run ‘em down: The first half of this game had too many incompletions and too many pass attempts. The team wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do and as a result we were down by 2 at the half. Coming back out, we turned on the run. We had 30 called runs for the night (3 by Wentz), which was the mark we needed to hit. (DONE)

This week our Four Things score is an uneasy 4 out of 4. That brings the year’s numbers to 34 out of 40. Next week we’ll see if we can keep this crazy train running when Chicago comes to Philly.

On The Whole:

The most impressive part of the game was what happened after K Jake Elliott went out with a head injury. Reserve LB Kamu Grugier-Hill stepped up to do our kicking, and handled 4 kickoffs without a single flub. The coaching staff adjusted, deciding to not even attempt Field Goals, since KGH couldn’t reasonably be expected to be accurate. It wasn’t “next man up”, it was “somebody has to step up”.

Offensively, the coaching staff did an excellent job of adjusting after the half. Early on, our passing game wasn’t firing on all cylinders, like we’ve come to expect. Instead of forcing the ball with a “keep firing” mentality, the staff shifted gear and opted for a more conservative and physical approach.

And it worked, like I said it would work.

Defensively, we took away the run and dared Prescott to beat us with his head and his arm. Yet again, that strategy paid off for a Cowboys opponent, as Prescott is just not capable of putting a team on his back. It also didn’t help that we kept him under nearly constant duress.

This team utterly refuses to be derailed by anything. The craziest part is that we aren’t just eeking out wins, we’re kicking ass wholesale and doing it with STYLE. I can honestly say that in nearly 3 decades as a football fan, player, and coach, that I have never seen anything like this. We look like a team of

card.destiny.vaeao

FOUR THINGS: WK 11: EAGLES-COWBOYS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/11/16
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

W11-DALjpg

PLAYOFFS. That’s the goal right now. That’s step number one. Today we sit at 8-1 with the best record in football, but right now 8 wins won’t even guarantee us a Wild Card slot. That means there is still plenty of work to do. Before we can seriously talk about parades, or Super Bowls, or even home-field advantage, we need to first nail down a playoff berth. Which means we have to dispense with our obstacles. We gotta start by getting this 9th win.

This game is about getting the win. By 1 point or 100, it doesn’t matter. The win is what matters. We need to win. This isn’t about beating Dallas, it’s about beating whomever or whatever is next on the schedule. Whether the opponent is an orphanage full of one-eyed children, or the Marine Corps, the mission is the same. Beat whatever is put in front of us. This week we are making a burnt offering of the Dallas Cowboys. And we’re doing it in their house. If you have a mercy setting, turn it off. Mercy has no place here.

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

1) Take away the run: The 4th round QB who starts for the Cowboys, has been exposed. Without a strong run game to carry him, he’s a deer in headlights. He rushes passes, stares down receivers, and runs with no awareness of anything except the first down marker. The Cowboys average 143 rushing yards per game, and they have lost EVERY game in which they didn’t lead in rushing yards. We need take away the reliability of their rushing game and dare their QB to carry the game.

2) Sak Prescott: The Cowboys starting LT sat out Week 9 with an injury. The two players filling in for him allowed Falcons DE Adrian Clayborn (who is NOT exactly a premier pass rusher), 6 sacks in one game. If the back-ups play Week 11, their confidence will already be shaky, and if the starter comes back, he still won’t be 100% (groin/back). In either case, DE Vinny Curry is a better pass rusher than Clayborn. We should play DT Timmy Jernigan over their LG to isolate the LT with Curry. Then wear him down with our normal rotation. Hit the QB, rip away any confidence in his blindside, and wreck his focus.

3) Slot their throats: Every Cowboys OLB is a liability in pass coverage. While most teams would exploit that with short passes to RB and TE’s, we can do it with intermediate passes to TE Zach Ertz and WR Nelson Agholor. If the Cowboys fire up their Nickel or Dime package, RB’s LeGarrette Blount (250), Jay Ajayi (223) and Corey Clement (220), each has the size to make the Cowboys pay for going small.

4) Run ‘em down: Dallas features a small defensive line that averages 284 pounds per man (and only gets smaller in the second unit). This is a game where we need to run the ball on first down, second down, third down, fourth down, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth down. This needs to be a game with 30 called runs, where we impose our will and salt away the division.

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:

Usually I feel like the fans want to win more than the players do. I don’t get that vibe this week. The vibe is very different right now. The Eagles players aren’t saying much right now, but when they do, there’s a quiet focus that I’m not used to associating with this franchise.

Offensively, fans can look forward to a vulgar display of power, as we control, dominate, own the line of scrimmage. Dallas can’t compete if we turn up the physicality of this game. Odds are good that we’ll be looking to do just that.

Defensively, I was going to predict this game as 34 – 24 on account of division rival familiarity, and out of general respect. However, just a couple days ago, this was said:

Oh. My. God. Did you hear that? That just changed everything. How do you think DC Jim Schwartz is going to take that statement? How about DT Fletcher Cox? How about OLB Nigel Bradham? How about S Malcolm Jenkins? Skip Bayless just took a game that was going to be all business, and made it about our Defense’s manhood, both an individual basis, and as a unit.

Usually I would give you an idea of what I expect from the Defense, but when you offend a team hard enough for it to reach the coaching staff…all bets are off. Schwartz will be looking to do nothing short of humiliating the Cowboys in their own home. You want to know what I think will happen? You want my opinion? You want me to predict what we will see on Sunday?

PREDICTION: EAGLES 35 – Cowboys 10

yeah bitch

THE RIVALS (Pt 2 of 3)

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/11/10
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Fans, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Rivals, Roster, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

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WITH the Eagles away on Bye Week, There will be no Four Things this week. Needing something to write about until next week, it was time to do another review of our division rivals. I said I’d do three. You remember the first one, and the final one will hit right after the regular season. This one here, this is the middle child.

So everyone wave hello to Jan, and lets dive in.

(That seemed weird.) 

New York Giants: 1 – 7, 4th in the NFC East

The giants are ranked 29th in scoring (16.1ppg), and 29th in points allowed (25.9). They rank near the bottom of nearly every meaningful team statistic. In the last two games they’ve been outs scored 75 – 24, with one of those being a 51 – 17 loss to the Rams. Added note: Both of these games were at home.

Offensively, they still can’t run the ball. Considering the depletion of the receiving corps, the injury to C Weston Richburg, and the ineptitude of head coach Ben McAdoo, QB Eli Manning is practically performing miracles anytime that offense produces a point.

Defensively, the team has suspended CB’s Janoris Jenkins (Week 9), and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (Week 6), as well as benching CB Eli Apple (Week 5), all for “conduct detrimental to the team”. If this were a great defensive team with great depth, this wouldn’t be an issue. The giant’s however, are anything but a great defensive team. They need all the help they can get. So why the coaching staff would try to discipline players at the expense of embarrassing the franchise in it’s own home, is beyond me.

There are clear indications of a dysfunctional coaching staff, locker room, and front office culture.

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McAdoo’s throwing of players under the bus reached peak ridiculousness, when he (I guess) threatened(?) to bench Manning, after his team allowed 51 points in a game where Manning was hardly the problem. From here (and pretty much anywhere else), it looks as if the team has quit on the coach. That leaves the giants ownership with a question: Is Ben McAdoo worth replacing 53 guys?

Washington Redskins: 4 – 4, 3rd in the NFC East

Ranking 14th in scoring (22.1) is a solid, healthy position to hold. However, ranking 24th in points allowed (24.2), could be a problem. While that stat line would give the impression that Washington loses close games, the fact is they’ve won both of their close games (26 – 24 vs San Fran, and 17 – 14 vs Seattle). It’s all the games where they get man-handled that’s the real issue.

Offensively, it would appear that their plan of having a QB throw to a QB, isn’t working out as well as they thought it would. Thus, “WR” Terrell Pryor is now riding pine on Sundays (while probably wishing he’d stayed in Cleveland.) Thanks to RB Chris Thompson, the teams leader in rushing and receiving yards, QB Kirk Cousins doesn’t spend 30 minutes per game crying while curled in the fetal position, and wishing he was in Cleveland.

On defense, given that twice this year we hung 30 on Washington, I’m surprised by their ability to hold teams like the Rams and Seahawks, to ten points under their averages. Ranking-wise, they’re bottom third in points allowed, but middle of the road in yards allowed. There are no huge visible leaks, but there is clearly something that is holding this team back.

When a team starts the year 0-3 vs their division, you have to think that maybe a Wild Card appearance wouldn’t work in favor of the coming rebuild. Yes, I said rebuild. The Redskins are in a dangerous place. It’s a team that could possibly delude itself into thinking it’s a player or two away, when in fact it needs major renovation. Long-term, the last thing this team needs is to find itself in the playoffs via Wild Card. That could set them back for years. So of course I’ll be rooting for them to make it!

Dallas Cowboys: 5 – 3, 2nd in NFC East

The Cowboys are 4th in scoring (28.2), and 15th in points allowed (22.2). Prior to their Week 6 Bye, they were allowing 26.4 per game. Since the bye that number is just 15.3, which is dramatic drop. Speaking of trends over that period, their scoring has been on a decline from 40 points vs San Francsico, to 33 points vs Washington, to 28 vs Kansas City.

On offense, RB Ezekiel Elliott was suspended for 6

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yes, 6 games, but that doesn’t mean the Cowboys won’t still be able to move the ball. QB Dak Prescott is the undisputed, second-best QB in the division, and he helms the 17th ranked passing offense in the league. Then again, who needs to be #1 in passing, when you have RB Ezeki- wait. (Sorry about that.) The fact is, that the Cowboys have the NFL’s #2 rushing attack due to their outstanding (but still overrated) offensive line, and RB Eze—oh crap. (Did it again.) Well there’s RB Alfred Morris, right? And he’s… I mean, he’ll get like… Yeah, so there’s him. They got him. Also that other guy. The one who’s been a healthy scratch every week so far. They got those guys, right? Hey remember WR Dez Bryant? I wonder what he’s doing these days.

On defense, Dallas has not allowed an opponent to reach 20 points since they came off their Bye. In a two week span they grabbed 9 sacks. They got five sacks against the (0-9) 49ers, and four sacks against the Redskins, who were only missing 60% of their starting offensive line,(LT Trent Williams, LG Brandon Scherff, and C Spencer Long). To be fair, they did hold Kansas City to just 17 and beat them in the process.

They loaded up the box, to take the run game away from a Chiefs team carried by it’s young RB. In the end, a game managing QB and an All-Pro TE weren’t enough to make up for a suspect group of WR’s. The team figures that averaging 28 points per game, will hide the fact that their leaky defense allows opponents to score 20+ per game. In the end, that shoddy style caught up with them.

(For any Cowboys fans who missed what I just did there, that was me holding up a mirror. We know how to beat you. It’s the same way you beat the Chiefs, and the same way we beat the hell out of the Broncos.)

So, that’s the state of our division rivals, as the Eagles head into our Week 10 Bye. The next time I do one of these will be at the close of the season. With a little bit of luck, we’ll be on a first round Bye, getting ready to hold home-field advantage through the Conference Championship. Don’t assume it, but put the vibe out there. Don’t make it a wish, make it an invitation. We are inviting the playoffs to Philadelphia.