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

 

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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

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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

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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.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WEEK 9: BRONCOS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/11/06
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

HOLY wow, Batman!The Broncos came into the game allowing only 71 rushing yards per game, and we hung 197 on them. They came in allowing 18 points per game and we hung 51 around their necks.

The Eagles could have phoned this one in, and just ducked their heads into the Bye Week. If we went in at 8-2, no fan would be terribly disappointed. Instead, the Eagles went out and dismantled a team with one of the best defenses in the NFL. In the words of Adam Sandler: Not too shabby!

Vinny Curry

EAGLES 55 – Broncos 23

Carson Wentz (15/27 – 55.5% – 199 – 4 – 0) beat up on Denver’s “No Fly Zone” secondary and hardly broke a sweat doing it. He even picked on All-Pro CB Aqib Talib (2 – 0 – 0 – 0) for two of those touchdowns. In fact, the only way to stop Wentz from piling more points on that ass, was to take him out of the game. Maybe QB Nick Foles (1/1 – 100% – 35 – 0 – 0) lobbied to protect his record? (That was a joke. Don’t go around spreading that.) WR Alshon Jeffrey (6 – 84 – 14.0 – 2) had his best game as an Eagle so far, and rookie RB Corey Clement (12 – 51 – 4.2 – 2 – 0/ 1rec – 15 – 15.0 – 1) outscored the Denver offense. “New to us” RB Jay Ajayi (8 – 77 – 9.6 – 1 – 0) led the team in rushing and was one of three Eagles to gain more rushing yards than the entire Broncos team, as RB LeGarrette Blount (9 – 37 – 4.1 – 0 – 0) also did some damage.

Defensively, we allowed Denver all of 35 yard rushing, partly because DE Vinny Curry (2 – 1 – 0 – 0) was a monster on the right side. FS Rodney McLeod (1 – 0 – 1 – 0) grabbed his second interception in two weeks.

I hear you asking, “Well golly mister, 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.

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

1) Gelding the pass rush: Early in the game we got the ball out to TE Brent Celek (3 – 39 – 13.0 – 0) and to TE Trey Burton (2 – 41 – 20.5 – 1) in the absence of TE Zach Ertz who was out with a hamstring injury. Wentz also used a hard count to draw the Broncos offside a few times. And of course there was also our run game. The result of those things cut the nuts clean off of the Broncos pass rush, and made sure that Wentz was only sacked once during the game. (They also got to Foles for one.) (DONE)

2) Set up play-action: There was no way to expect that we’d hang 200 rushing yards on the Broncos, but the prescription was to stick with it anyway. Well brother, did we EVER! The play selection was 34 called runs to 27 passes. The play-action was there, and Wentz’s jersey stayed pretty clean. (DONE)

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3) Pick our poison: The deal was to take away the run and force the Bronco’s QB to beat us. Worked like a charm. (DONE)

4) Run the Walker: Sending MLB Joe Walker (2 – 0 – 0 – 0) on a few blitzes was the idea, but instead he spent more time in coverage or scraping. (NOT DONE)

That makes this weeks score 3 of 4, bringing the season tally to 30 of 36. The players get a much needed week off now to heal and nurse injuries. (As much as a single week will allow.) For you and I of course, a week with no good football will be sheer Hell. However, keep in mind that the playoff push begins directly on the other side of the Bye, with a match-up against the Dallas Cowboys. I’m sure you won’t mind giving our players time to rest, and our coaching staff time to prepare.

On The Whole:

With this win we are officially a better team than we were last year. We have 8 wins now, and are guaranteed .500 at worst. Now we are working on that one victory that will guarantee us a winning record for 2017.

This game against the Broncos. All we did was whatever we wanted, however we wanted to do it. Running, passing…I think we could have scored sending smoke signals, if we had decided to try it.

I do have one gripe though.

It’s Alshon Jeffery. He never seems like his head is all the way in the game. For example, he had a holding penalty on a Corey Clement run that cost us some yardage, and was laughing and joking after having been flagged.

For a guy on a “prove it” contract, he simply doesn’t produce at the rate that you would expect, for a guy who’s going to ask for a ton of money in March. I’d like to either see him start looking like THAT guy, or for the Eagles to let our young receivers get more looks on the outside.

IS IT KARMA?

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/11/03
Posted in: Conversations, NFL, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

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2017 won’t be a banner year for the NFL. Ratings were low to start with, but now with a rash of injuries to marquee players in recent weeks, it’s unlikely to pick up. There is a noticeable cave-in on multiple fronts for the NFL. Whether it’s ratings, discipline, unity, or sponsorship, things seem to be tough all over for anything NFL related. Even for sponsors who make pizza.

Last week, John Schnatter, the founder of Papa John’s Pizza, blamed the NFL for his sluggish pizza sales. His reasoning is that the NFL upset people, by not denying American athletes their First Amendment right to free speech. That’s funny because Dominos also advertises heavily during NFL broadcasts. Yet their Quarterly Earnings Report for Q3 2017, reported gains across the board. 

While Papa John’s is better (as chain pizzas go) than Domino’s, it’s likely a case of people not wanting to support a Fascist pizza maker. (Personal note: I stopped supporting PJ in 2013 when I learned that he’d reduced employees hours, in order to protect his shareholders, as a corporate reaction to ObamaCare not being repealed. The link to his own words is right HERE 

So people aren’t eating less pizza. We’re just not eating his pizza. He didn’t give a shit about us, so we stopped giving a shit about him. That’s the Golden Rule in effect. It’s Karma stopping by to say howdy. So it makes me wonder, maybe this season is the result of Karma also paying the NFL a long overdue visit.

By long overdue, I don’t just mean for the league’s poor handling of Colin Kaepernic’s ‘National Anthem’ protest. I don’t just mean for it’s inability to discipline Ezekiel Elliott for violation of league decorum. I don’t just mean for it’s spotty track record on domestic violence, which allowed Greg Hardy to keep playing, while simultaneously black-balling Ray Rice. I don’t just mean from it’s inability to learn from the Chris Henry and Fred Lane tragedies. I don’t just mean from it’s unwieldy response to players protesting a social issue, that has been blatantly misrepresented by some as either a protest of Old Glory (our nation’s flag), or of our troops.

I’m saying it’s not just one of those things. It is ALL of those things which has earned a visit from Karma, which the NFL (and it’s sponsors), were too arrogant to see coming. The NFL has for too long forgotten that people not commodities, play football. People not demographics, watch football. The NFL has forgotten to take care of the Human element, and now the Human element is to some extent, abandoning the league, like we have with Papa John’s.

Fans watch football as a form of entertainment. It’s escapism. It’s a place to shove reality aside for a bit, and enjoy a chance to cheer. To believe. Whether at home with a loved one, in a bar with forty “new friends”, or with fifty thousand total strangers in a stadium.

Fans don’t want the reality of social injustice or inequality intruding on their escapism. Fans don’t want to be reminded that not everyone sees the world the same way, or has the same experiences. Fans don’t want to hear that this nation is not as great for some, as it is for others.

As sports fans, we want to see ourselves this way:

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However, the real world that we’ve all ignored (even when we aren’t at games), has intruded in on our game now. We are left faced with the same old divisions. Left avoiding the same old discussions, with the fractures of society now invading our escapism. This is nothing more than Karma. This is us reaping what we (you and I), as a society have sown.

As fans, it has left us believing less, and cheering less. That has lead to some people to watching less. Or not being able to “get into it” like they have in the past. It is our own lives, our own ended friendships and fragmented society which has come back to roost.

Papa John. The NFL. Everyone who isn’t an Eagles fan. What you are experiencing, is called Karma.

Sacrifice

FOUR THINGS: WK 9: EAGLES-BRONCOS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/11/02
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

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OKAY, this could be a trap game. It shouldn’t be, but the Broncos have a defense that could give us problems. It will be an excellent challenge for QB Carson Wentz. While our own defense is headache and half for opponents, we do allow 19.5 points per game. So we have to be on our toes with this one.

For the Eagles, getting this win would guarantee us .500, and be one more win than we’ve had in either of the previous years. This win would be a benchmark. On the other hand, it’s right before our Bye week. Players can get sloppy right before a Bye.

Denver comes into this game 3-4, and starting (oh my god) Brock Osweiler.

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

1) Gelding the pass rush: Like the Redskins, most of the Broncos sack production is manufactured by their OLB’s Von Miller and Shaquil Barrett. Also like the Redskins, the OLB’s do little else. Playing WR Nelson Agholor more in the slot would take them right out of their base defense. Additionally, short passes to the flat will either cause the OLB to drop into zones, or force the CB’s into zone coverage and open up Quick Slant routes.

2) Set up play-action: Denver is almost as good at stopping the run as we are. We likely won’t run for a ton of yardage, but that’s okay. We just need to feed them enough run to be able to dupe them with play-action, to consume the field in large chunks.

3) Pick our poison: Take away the run game and force Brock Osweiler to beat us. (That makes me giggle just typing it.)

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4) Run the Walker: Send Joe Walker on a few blitzes. Osweiler can extend plays with his feet, but hasn’t shown the feel for it in the NFL, that he was said to have in college. So don’t let him stand in the pocket and that will basically dismantle Denver’s offense.

 

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:

Offensively, we’re probably going to have some trouble running the ball. We simply haven’t fared well this year, rushing against this brand of 3-4 defense (with 48, 46, and 29 yards in three games for our leading RB).

That said, we’ll still run it to keep Denver honest, and to set-up the play-action pass. Speaking of which, over the last 3 weeks WR Alshon Jeffery has averaged 17.8, 18.5, and 31.0 yards per catch. Seems like he and Wentz may have found their groove. Oh, and don’t be surprised if Wentz leads the team in rushing yards. Again.

On Defense, it’s almost like Denver is soft-balling this one in. With a rookie you try to shake him up by sending a blitz to make him worry about his safety and get him to look at the rush. Rattling Osweiler, will likely be the defensive game plan this week.

Osweiler has experienced a failure to live up to Draft hype, a failure to live up to a big contract, and a failure to even win a job as the Browns starter. Now as the Broncos groom Paxton Lynch to lead the team, Osweiler knows he may be playing his last relevant football.

That’s a ton of internal pressure for a man to handle, while dealing with the external pressure we will bring, amid the cascade of boos that our fans will rain down upon him. He will be out there without a single friend in the world, and no calm port inside of himself to help him. We may get to see a grown man cry on Sunday. So set your DVR.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 28 – Broncos 10

yeah bitch

SEASON REVIEW: SECOND QUARTER

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/11/01
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

SEASON Reviews are usually done at the end of the season. (Duh.) A few are done at the halfway mark, and 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 in relation to where it started, and where it needs to go.

STATUS:

7 – 1 overall, 3 – 0 division, 6 – 0 conference, best record in the NFL

NUMBER ONE SEED PERIOD

OPPONENTS:

Arizona (3 – 4)

Carolina (5 – 3)

Washington (3 – 4)

San Francisco (0 – 8)

 

OVERVIEW:

Here at the midway point, we’ve already won as many games as we did all last year. We swept a division rival that we hadn’t even split with in years. We have the best record in the sport, and people are no longer questioning “if the Eagles are for real.”

I could go on, but that might seem too much like being satisfied with not being guaranteed .500 yet. There is so much more to be done. 

 

GRADES:

QB: (A) QB Carson Wentz leads the NFL’s 11th ranked passing offense, and 4th ranked scoring offense. He is taking care of the ball, and making gutsy plays to keep his team on the field. His name has also come up in a few early MVP discussions. Not a single complaint here.

RB: (A) The NFL’s 5th ranked rushing offense, features a three-headed backfield where no one is griping about how little they get the ball. Quietly, RB LeGarrette Blount is 10th in the league in rushing yards (467), and 3rd in yards per carry (4.7), among players with 80 or more carries. The addition of Jay Ajayi adds depth, or maybe he’s the future after 2017.

TE: (A) Zach Ertz leads all NFL TE’s in receptions, yards, touchdowns and first downs. Trey Burton has only 9 catches so far, but 5 have been first downs and 1 was a score.

WR: (C ) This is VERBATIM what I said last quarter, and every word still fits to a “T”: They block downfield and clear out space for the run game, but more is to be expected of a #1 and #2 receiver, than to be respectively #2 and #4 on the team in receptions. Alshon Jeffrey is on a 1-year prove it contract, and isn’t making much of a case for a big payday, in league flush with WR talent. Torrey Smith is failing to pull in too many deep throws. If he doesn’t actually start snagging some of those, he may find himself replaced in the line-up with someone like Marcus Johnson, or Mack Hollins.

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OT: (C ) A severe fall-off has taken place here. A season-ending injury robbed us of LT Jason Peters, during Week 7. In his place is second year OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai. Vaitai has been awful as a pro football player, but right now he’s the only reserve OT we have, who is at least mentally current with our playbook and protection calls. We still have Lane Johnson, but this position CANNOT withstand another blow.

OG: (C ) This position has slipped a notch. It was a “B” last quarter, but LG Stefen Wisniewski seems to be wearing down a little. He’s a feisty beast, but really he’s MUCH better suited to Center than Guard. Chance Warmack (inactive Week 7) has been used in a sort of rotation with Wisniewski. RG Brandon Brooks is handling his business. As usual.

C: (B) Jason Kelce has been solid since the coaching staff benched LG Issac Seumalo.

DE: (A) 11.5 of our teams 22 sacks are split between 4 guys at this position: Brandon Graham (5.0), Derek Barnett (2.5), Vinny Curry (2.0), and Chris Long (2.0). Did I mention that the Eagles own the NFL’s #1 run defense? Oh I didn’t? Well the Eagles own the NFL’s #1 run defense, and these guys (particularly Curry) are a huge part of that.

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DT: (A) This position had to go a stretch without Fletcher Cox, and it still operated at a very high level. Once Cox came back, it was almost unfair. The pressure this position generates is the primary reason that the Eagles don’t need to rely on blitzing for pressure, and can reach QB’s with a four man rush. Oh, and did I mention that the Eagles own the #1 run defense in the NFL?

OLB: (B) We are horribly thin at this position, but our starters are owning the field from sideline to sideline. If they can play every game, then we’re good. If either man has to miss extended time, it could get ugly out there real fast for us.

MLB: (D) The season-ending loss of Jordan Hicks in Week 7 was a heavy blow. So now Joe Walker is the guy we’re relying on, to erase any mistakes from DE to DE.

S: (D) It took 8 games, an 0-7 team, rain and a tipped ball, for a starting Safety to register a takeaway. Look, I get it. We allow opponents to throw the ball in the middle of the field, so there are a lot of players around him to make the tackle. It keeps the offense in front of us, and doesn’t allow momentum swinging plays. I get it. Still, we don’t have to make it so easy, do we?

CB: (B) In the first quarter this position snagged 3 picks. In the second quarter they tacked on 4 more. That’s 7 takeaways in 8 games, and keep in mind, this is all being done with our best two CB’s rehabbing injuries. This is what our depth looks like. Many teams would kill for this.

LS: (A) All the snaps have looked good to me.

P: (A) Donnie Jones is flirting with his career best in net average punt with 41.5 yards. (His career best so far, is 41.7 yards per punt.) That is how you win the hidden yardage game.

K: (A) Jake Elliott is more than you could reasonably ask for from a rookie Kicker. He missed a couple of extra points in the San Fran game, but it was windy and wet. They’re kicks he should have made, but let’s not be an asshole over two TOTAL points.

PR/KR: (D) Kenjon Barner has come in and done a decent job of filling in for injured Darren Sproles. However, sometimes he carries the ball a little loose, and doesn’t clear away from rolling balls fast enough. No one fears the Eagles on a kick returns. We aren’t great at it and we’ve only returned 7 through 8 games, opting instead to settle for touchbacks.

KC: (B) Jake Elliott is continuing to improve his kickoffs. In the last four weeks, he’s kicked off 21 times and had 8 of those returned in diminishing fashion. Returns have gone from 4, to 3, to 1, to 0 last week. Hard to allow a kickoff score if the kickoff goes through the endzone.

 

SINCE LAST QUARTER:

The mission for this quarter was establishing swagger. To show that we could impose our will on teams. Guess what? We did just that. Arizona 34 – 7. Carolina 28 – 23. Washington 34 – 24. San Fran 33 – 10. Not one of those games was a nail-biter. Once we had a lead in ANY of those games, we never relinquished it.

Our young team is learning how kill it’s prey, and not let it off the hook.

Jalen Mills being more aggressive towards the ball, has netted him two picks in the last four games. Snagging passes will go a long towards making opposing QB’s hold the ball as they look for better options to throw against. This should help our pass rush immensely as the season goes on.

 

MISSION FOR THIS QUARTER:

This quarter we have one game, then our Bye, then it’s a run of two out of three games in prime time. Those games are Dallas and Seattle. Those are conference games and could affect home field advantage.

The mission for this quarter, is to let the NFC know that the road to Minneapolis runs through Philadelphia. We need 3 of these 4 games. And one of those games MUST be Seattle.

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