GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS…

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/01/09
Posted in: Coaching, Conspiracy Corner, Draft, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

RUMOR has it that the Eagles need to draft a speedy WR. The idea is to give QB Carson Wentz a legitimate, defense stretching weapon to throw to. I have several issues with that assessment and how it was arrived at, but I’ll wait to address my beefs on that subject with tomorrow’s (already written) article. For today, I want to bring you the Good News and the Bad News.

The Good News:

terrell-owens

For anyone hoping that the Eagles draft a WR early, you will almost certainly get your wish. The last time we had a franchise QB (Donovan McNabb), the former offensive lineman who coached this team (Andy Reid), took forever to get his QB a real WR (Terrell Owens). The very year that he did, the QB had the best year of his career and we went to the Super Bowl. A year later, the team ditched the WR and began to slowly deteriorate.

The current Head Coach (Doug Pederson) and Offensive Coordinator (Frank Reich) both used to be NFL QBs. Both men know the importance of a good WR for a QB, and they will waste no time in getting Wentz someone to play catch with. So be prepared to celebrate drafting a WR early.

The Bad News:

The 2017 Draft is dreadfully short on genuine speed, so this year that trait will be at an even higher premium than usual. Even after we were eliminated from playoff contention, our team prioritized winning games over improving our Draft position. The result was that we fell from the 8th spot to the 12th spot in each round after the 1st round. In the 1st round we get Minnesota’s pick, which is 14th overall. Teams ahead of us that also could use WR help: Cleveland (picking twice), Chicago, San Fran, NYJ, Carolina and Buffalo.

That’s not saying that all of those teams will take a speedy WR. It just means there is more demand than supply. So in order to get into position to get the WR we need from the Draft, we’ll likely have to move up. Put another way: We’ll likely have to overpay this year, to pair a WR with the QB we overpaid for last year.

That is unless we wise up.

GM (I’m calling him that) Howie Roseman said that we’re not doing “band-aids”, which he was using as shorthand for a getting a high-priced Free Agent. While that should put to bed any rumor of signing DeSean Jackson, it doesn’t have to mean that we will completely avoid signing a FA WR.

player-deseanjackson550px-instntrply

Already there are rumblings that we may be interested in Dolphin WR Kenny Stills. That would be an absolutely solid move to make. He’s 24, has the speed we’re said to need, and he’s a proven NFL veteran.

One FA name you aren’t hearing about, is Viking WR Cordarrelle Patterson. He’s been criminally underutilized for years, serving primarily as a killer KR for a borderline team. He’d likely welcome a more prominent role and the type of contracts that come with it.

These are examples of moves we could complete well in advance of the Draft. It would save us a high draft pick, but more importantly, Wentz would have a proven vet to work with. Otherwise we’re risking the development of our franchise QB, on a highly drafted rookie that we hope won’t be the next Nelson Agholor.

Here’s hoping the Eagles bring us some Good News.

LET’S HELP REBUILD OUR TEAM

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/01/06
Posted in: Fans, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Rants, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

article-regular-red-pill-blue-pill

MY April prediction of 9 -7 and winning the division was  incorrect, and I admitted as much weeks ago. We weren’t 2 wins better, and the division shook out differently than anyone (even Dallas fans) expected it to. The Eagles finished in 2016 where we finished in 2015: as a 7 – 9 team. That record isn’t good enough for this fan base, and apparently neither is 10 – 6.

roseman

Vice President of Football Operations…(No. I’m not typing all that every time I talk about him.) General Manager Howie Roseman said this week  “10-6 isn’t good enough to get home-field advantage, to compete for a championship”. Wow, right? We didn’t even qualify for this year’s wild card, and our GM is talking home-field throughout the postseason? That got my attention, but what got me excited was when he said “We’re trying to compete with the best teams in the National Football League, and we’re certainly not there right now as we stand. … We have a lot of work to do here.” And in that statement, he confirmed what I told you on November 1st .

In April, I expected the Eagles to do their normal routine of running away from the necessary re-build and patching us enough to be competitive. Then something weird happened. The Front Office began signaling that we were re-building. For cultural reasons they couldn’t and didn’t say it in plain English, but it was clear the rebuild was needed. That it’s happening is no surprise. The surprise was the Eagles brass actually just saying it for the first time since Owner Jeffrey Lurie hired Andy Reid in 1999.

With a rebuild just about every option is on the table. Last January nobody, (even me) thought that was the case. The moves we made in March seemed like just more re-tooling. (So it makes me wonder, at what point in the preseason did they decide to scrap 2016?)

Openly calling this a rebuild allows us to discuss the Eagles in a way that hasn’t been possible in 17 years. Back then you and I wouldn’t have been part of that discussion, and while We The Fans still haven’t been invited to the table, I’m going to try and organize a way for us to get us heard.

Given that this year Philadelphia is hosting the NFL Draft for perhaps the last time in most of our lifetimes, it would be a great feeling to know that we fans, somehow had an impact on this rebuild. This opportunity is truly once in a lifetime. We would be fools to let it pass and spend the rest of our lives looking back wondering “What if we had done more than nothing?”

If you want to be art of the effort we’ll start small. Get in here and leave comments on who you’d like to see the team draft, so we can build some sort of consensus that could carry some weight. Before you dismiss the strength of our collective voices, keep in mind that it’s fans who buy tickets and jerseys. It’s easy to ignore the guy in the stands waving a sign (“I’M A MORON, I WANT A WR” for example) because he already bought his ticket.

Your voices in here in the offseason represent potential and stability for the Eagles organization’s bottom line. Selling out games and huge merchandise sales aren’t a given for any team, especially after two back to back 7 – 9 seasons. From a business standpoint the Eagles need to hear from you, even if they would NEVER dare tell you that.

So get yourself heard! Early and often. Be part of this team in a way we’ve never been able to be before, and may never be able to be again.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: COWBOYS (2)

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/01/04
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, Rivals. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

lol.jpg

2017 ended with our starters churning out a 27 – 13 win, over our hated rival’s second and third string. It ended with us dropping from the 9th to possibly the 14th spot, in the 2017 NFL Draft, (starting in the 2nd round since Cleveland has ours and we have Minnesota’s pick in the 1st round).

But what about the stuff that the stats don’t reveal? That’s the reason for these “Four Things” articles. To have an idea of what needs addressing BEFORE the game, so that we’re forced to honestly answer questions AFTER the game.

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

1) Get pressure on QB Dak Prescott. We got pressure on the QB, and came away with 3 sacks on the day. Since Prescott only played a series, most of the pressure wasn’t on him, but the important part was the pressure and that mission was accomplished. DONE

2) Keep containment. We held the Cowboys to 69 yard on 21 carries (3.3ypc). DONE

3) Run the ball directly at DE Randy Gregory. We did a fair amount of attacking the edges, capping the Cowboys pass rush and controlling the clock 35 minutes to 24. DONE

4) Show blitz. We didn’t do this really, but that I think has to do with the fact that Dallas had back-up QB’s in, and we didn’t need to blitz to get pressure. Even though this was technically not done, we didn’t need it, so you won’t hear a complaint from me over it. NOT DONE

So this weeks score is 3 out of 4, and a victory. Goes to show that, if you play fundamentally sound football, you have a better chance to win games.

WK17: COWBOYS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/01/02
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, Reviews, Rivals, stats, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . 2 Comments

 

w17-dal

EAGLES 27 – Cowboys 13

WITH nothing left to play for in the regular season, the Dallas Cowboys treated the game like a preseason exercise. They played all three of their QB’s, and sat RB Ezekiel Elliott to keep him from getting hurt for no damned reason whatsoever. QB Tony Romo (remember him?) threw the Cowboys only TD on the day.

HEY! Speaking of throwing touchdowns, Carson Wentz (27/43 – 62.7% – 245 – 2 – 0) threw 2 scores, without throwing any picks in this game, bringing his rookie totals to 16 TD and 14 picks. Speaking of picks, Jordan “Cowboy Killer” Hicks (5 – 0 – 2 – 0) grabbed two of those tasty treats, and did his part to kill the Cowboys once again.

saltyboyz

While all the talk on Offense will likely be about Wentz or TE Zach Ertz (13 – 139 – 10.6 – 2), the guy who really caught my eye was 6’1, 240lb RB Terrell Watson (9 – 28 – 3.1 – 1 – 0). The young man was signed off the street this week, but he brought a passion and energy, that I hope the coaching staff doesn’t let get away. Even when he was running outside, there was a physicality to his running that the Eagles have lacked since Correll Buckhalter last played here in 2008. What I liked the most however, was how after his TD run, while on the sideline, he went to each O-lineman and thanked them for their blocking. There was no “treating it like a business”. He just looked like a guy enjoying the game. That sort of thing can be infectious when there’s something to play for. I hope to see him back here next season.

The pass rush was there in this game. Given that DT Bennie Logan (1 – 0 – 0 – 0) is a Free Agent after this season, I found it interesting that A) DT’s Beau Allen (2 – 0 – 0 – 0) and Destiny Vaeao (2 – 0 – 0 – 0) got to play as much as they did, and B) that our Defensive Front still handled business against “the best offensive line in the entire-” (insert slurping noises from commentators). The only weak link in the Defense were our CB’s, specifically Nolan Carroll (4 – 0 – 0 – 1), whom the rusty Romo beat for an easy TD pass to WR Terrance Williams.

Did you notice?

The Eagles yet again desperately tried to give RB Byron Marshall (10 – 42 – 4.2 – 0) every opportunity they could give him, to show that he can take over RB Darren Sproles (9 – 32 – 3.5 – 0) role next year. So far the rookie simply hasn’t shown the potential.

WK17: COWBOYS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/12/31
Posted in: Coaching, Conspiracy Corner, Conversations, Fans, NFL, Rants, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

W17-DAL.jpg

Dallas Cowboys

SUNDAY 1:00 Lincoln Financial Field, PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania

NEEDS TO STEP UP:

article-regular-fans

Ourselves as Fans: Our shitty national reputation is largely undeserved over a handful of incidents that have been massively overblown. However, with NFL schedule makers sending Dallas to South Philly on the one day of the year when Philly practically celebrates compromised judgment, it sets the stage for a few jack-offs (usually from Jersey) to make us look bad as a whole. So we as Philadelphians need to keep an eye out for folks taking things a bit too far. It’s our home and our rep. Let’s not allow knuckleheads to take a shit on either one.

WE MUST CONTAIN:

day-ouche

Knuckleheads: Hey idiots! Just because you are IN Philly, it doesn’t automatically make you “Philly”. The difference between here and the in-bred suburb you come from, is that here crimes actually get reported. Since most maps don’t include your shitty little town/borough, when you’re arrested (usually at the scene), the national media (as a form of shorthand) will report you as being from Philadelphia. However, locally we all know it will be a different story. So do everyone a favor: Leave your stupid at home. If you find that you cannot remove your stupid, then by all means, stay home with it.

EAGLES STORY LINE:

This game only means something if we lose it and move up a spot or two in the 2017 Draft. Aside from that, we’re just playing out the string. That said, I feel like the Eagles will win this one, because they can’t help but kick me in my balls. Also that’s just the kind of year 2016 has been for me. Happy New Year everyone. 

Cowboys-fairweather-1024.jpg

BOTTOM LINE:

I’m just hoping to see no players (Eagles OR Cowboys) get hurt in this game. I’m also hoping no Cowboys are harmed on their way to, or from this game. 

PREDICTION:

EAGLES 31- Cowboys 29

FOUR THINGS: EAGLES/COWBOYS (2)

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/12/29
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

LAST time these two teams met, Dallas won 29-23 in overtime. It was a road game for the Eagles. This one will be played here, on (are you fucking kidding me?) New Years Day. I don’t know what genius decided to put the Cowboys in South Philly on New Years Day, but I’m pretty sure that they’re trying to generate a headline or twenty. This really does feel like someone in the NFL is trying to put the Cowboys in harm’s way. This sort of scheduling should never be allowed to happen again. Ever.

Most teams who come to Philly stay at the Loews hotel on Market street. That’s some 30-odd blocks north of the stadium. Most weeks it’s no big deal, but this is New Years Day. The Cowboy’s team bus has to make it from the hotel to the stadium, past South Philly revelers who’ve been up drinking, (and God knows what else) all night long. That bus has to make through 20+ residential blocks, filled with generations of blue collar, die-hards. It only takes a few bad apples to make a city look bad, but on that day with all the celebrating, there could be be more than just a few bad apple this time. A lot more.

Under these very unique circumstances, if the Cowboys make it to the game without incident, I will consider the day a success. Especially given the Mummers judging going on (with 100’s of people watching), just 3 blocks away from the Cowboys hotel. This is a recipe for a potential public relations disaster.

1-08-08-mayoral-meet-n-greet-006

A picture I snapped on 1/8/08, of a few Mummers playing music during the Mayoral Meet and Greet at City Hall.

As far at the actual game goes, neither team stands to gain anything from winning this match-up, but both teams will be playing their starters anyway. I’ll be damned if I know why. This is a situation that is all risk and no reward. BUT, since it seems like Head Coach Doug Pederson wants wins to close out the year.

So let’s talk about the Four Things we need to look for, Week 17 versus Dallas :

1) Get pressure on QB Dak Prescott. We got more pressure on him than he was used to facing and in the process we made the rookie phenom look damned ordinary. We’ll need to repeat that formula.

2) Keep containment. We allowed ourselves to pulled out of alignment and played undisciplined on the edges. The result was a room for Dallas runners to roam between the Tackles. We need to constrict those interior lanes, especially given that the Dallas RB is only effective when running behind his pads.

3) Run the ball directly at DE Randy Gregory. He’s not very stout and coming off of a long suspension, he’s got fresh legs, but his endurance isn’t back yet. So wear him down, while working the clock and neutering their pass rush.

4) Show blitz. Even if we don’t bring it often, showing the blitz right over TE Jason Witten will keep him in as a blocker and take away a major security blanket for the QB, as well as the Cowboys second leading receiver.

If we won this game with back-ups it would be great, but winning it with starters is meaningless. Meanwhile, a loss here would help us move up a spot or two (starting in the second round) of the 2017 Draft, while a win might cause us to slide back a spot or two. As far as I’m concerned Dallas can have the meaningless win. if we were smart we’d play for the future. We’ll see how it shakes out on Sunday. 

yeah-bitch

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: GIANTS (2)

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/12/29
Posted in: Coaching, Conspiracy Corner, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

WE didn’t do any of what we should have done. By that I mean, playing young guys to see what we have. Instead we leaned on our starters, as we chased and eeked out a meaningless win, while nearly getting our franchise QB injured in the process.

Yugi Nooooo!.jpg

For the first time since our five week skid began, we held an opponent to fewer than 20 points in our 24 – 19 win against the giants.

What about the stuff that the stats don’t reveal? That’s the reason for these “Four Things” articles. To have an idea of what needs addressing BEFORE the game, so that we’re forced to honestly answer questions AFTER the game.

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

1) WR Bryce Treggs: Played some Special Teams. Didn’t see any significant time. NOT DONE

2) WR Paul Turner: Was inactive. AGAIN. NOT DONE

3) G Dillon Gordon: Unless he played Special Teams, he sat for the entire game. NOT DONE

4) DT Destiny Vaeao: Got a tackle. Didn’t play much. NOT DONE

So AGAIN that’s 0 for 4 in a week were we barely won despite playing a bunch of guys who we know aren’t long term answers.

WK16: GIANTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/12/29
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

w16-nyg

EAGLES 24 – giants 19

WELL we won. Did we lean on a lot of our youth? No. Did they at least get a significant amount of playing time? No. Did our regular starters at least win by blowout? No. So what got proved? Nothing. Building blocks established? None. But at least we won, right?

QB Carson Wentz (13/24 – 54.1% – 152 – 1 – 1) threw his 14th touchdown of the season along with his 14th interception of the season. At one point he was knocked from the game, and had to be taken back to the locker room to evaluate him for a concussion. He would later be placed back in the game for some reason.

RB Ryan Mathews (18 – 46 – 2.5 – 0 – 0) led the rushing attack, though it was RB Darren Sproles (7 – 40 – 5.7 – 1 – 0) who kicked off the scoring with a 25 yard TD run. WR Nelson Agholor (2 – 47 – 23.5 – 1) led the team in receiving yards and also scored a TD, on a 40 yard pass from Wentz.

S Malcolm Jenkins (5 – 0 – 2 – 0) brought one of his interceptions back for a 34 yard score, in the first quarter. However, the real story here is the total absence of sacks on a QB like Eli Manning.

Did you notice?

That we need to draft starting RB.

WK16: GIANTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/12/22
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, Rivals, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

w16-nyg

NEW YORK GIANTS

THURSDAY 8:25        Lincoln Financial Field,        PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania

NEEDS TO STEP UP:

unbroken-cherry

RB Byron Marshall: Even before RB Wendell Smallwood was injured, he looked decidedly ordinary. If there was a Hall of Fame for unremarkable players, Smallwood would be a first ballot inductee. So with Smallwood being hurt, RB Kenjon Barner being hurt, and RB Darren Sproles coming back from being hurt, the primary back-up to RB Ryan Mathews this week should be Marshall.
Marshall should get ample opportunity to show that last weeks game (9 – 22 – 2.4 – 0 – 0) was just first game jitters. He didn’t exactly look like a man possessed of RB instincts last week, so this week he needs to do as much as he can to show that he belongs in the NFL. Otherwise he’d better start practicing the phrase “Do you want fries with that?”

WE MUST CONTAIN:

The giants run game: The giants are 30th in the NFL in rushing, averaging 81.2 yards per game. We don’t need to do anything amazing, just don’t get embarrassed by a team doing something they suck at. Not that it matters to the final score, but as a measure of pride…it’d be nice to see some.

EAGLES STORY LINE:

RT Lane Johnson returns this week. It’ll be nice to see him get to work shoulder to shoulder with RG Brandon Brooks so they can work on their chemistry and communication during a live game, and get a jump on next year. (Unless of course, the plan is to move Johnson to LT next year.)

BOTTOM LINE:

I don’t want to be swept by the giants, but we have to keep our eyes on the prize.

PREDICTION:

Eagles 16 – Giants 28

FOUR THINGS: EAGLES/GIANTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/12/22
Posted in: Coaching, Draft, Four Things, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, Rivals, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

LAST week we almost fucked ourselves over with a win. If we aren’t careful it will start to look like we don’t know what fuck we’re doing out there. Football is about strategy. The Long Game. Vision for the future. The game is Chess not Checkers, and the NFL is no place for men who think like boys, or pros who think like amateurs.

Head Coach Doug Pederson and his team (OUR team), were flat out not good enough to win the division this year, so he needs to get his shit together, and get his team right. Otherwise next season will see our Philadelphia Eagles fed another fistful of shit in front of national audiences.

MNGAWO.png

 

A win here is almost meaningless to us. I can’t say that any plainer. Either you’re smart enough to get that or you aren’t. I have no interest in being swept by the giants, but I can see the long game here. A loss here helps our Draft position.

That doesn’t mean we should roll over for the giants. What it means is we should go down swinging with guys we feel are part of the long term picture. That’s the only thing that makes any sense at this point in the year. In fact, the only way a win means anything to us, is if our young nucleus drives it.

The smart play here is to get a long look at the back end of our roster, to be sure that we A) don’t release any youth that has real potential, and B) that we don’t waste a Draft pick on something that we already have, but don’t realize that we do, because like assholes we never took at real look at guys we keep cutting checks to, for no other reason besides habit. This way we get to focus laser-like on what we truly need, and can build on strengths.

So let’s talk about the Four Things PLAYERS we need to look for, Week 16 versus giants :

1) WR Bryce Treggs: I’ve been screaming for more of him for weeks now. Rumors of possibly signing Free Agent DeSean Jackson next season, only make getting a DEEP look at Treggs so much more important. Why pay more for DJax’s balky, old hammies, when Treggs can already stretch a defense? If he can effectively snag deep balls against a team fighting for a playoff spot, then there’s no need to overpay for a FA, or spend a high Draft pick at the WR position.

2) WR Paul Turner: He should start over WR Nelson Agholor for two reasons. 1) it keeps the fire lit under Agholor’s ass, and 2) we get to see Turner vs starting NFL CB’s, and not just second and third string units. Everyone is screaming that we need to grab a WR early, and maybe we do. However, we should first take a long look to make sure.

3) G Dillon Gordon: G Stefen Wisniewski is a FA after this year, but he played well enough to be brought back. However, given the contract of G Brandon Brooks, and the commitment to developing rookie G Isaac Seumalo, giving Wisniewski an inflated contract to be a back-up, seems unlikely. That makes it imperative to determine if Gordon can be relied upon at all. If he can’t play, at least we know where we stand. If Gordon can play, then we can either improve our leverage with Wisniewski, or move on from him altogether with less doubt.

4) DT Destiny Vaeao: With DT Bennie Logan becoming a FA after the season, it would help to know how Vaeao looks when paired with DT Fletcher Cox. DC Jim Schwartz likes to sub his Defensive Line, 4 guys at a time, so we haven’t gotten to see much of a Cox/Vaeao interior. Even when Logan missed games with a calf injury, DT Beau Allen simply sucked up more playing time. Vaeao isn’t the run-stuffer that Logan is, but he’s a more dynamic pass rusher. Given the fall-off we’ve had in that area, seeing a Cox/Vaeao interior might be the shot in the arm this team has been needing.

If that list looks familiar, it’s because last week we collectively blew it out our asses and didn’t get nary one of these fucking things done. If I seem aggravated and irritated, then you must be fucking psychic, because you’re picking up on my vibe like you suck your tongue in light socket.

This shit ain’t hard or complicated. I’m sitting up here this year watching the Cowboys win the division behind a rookie QB who can only make simple reads, and rookie RB who becomes ineffective if he has to run in anything other than a straight line. Don’t even get me started on the giants falling ass backwards into wins that have more to do with opponent errors, than them being any good. Between that shit and the blank “Who me?” look, constantly on Doug’s face, I feel like I’m off my meds most weeks. It’s like I’m seeing shit wrong or something, because I can’t believe the bullshit, Fisher-Price level strategy that runs our division from top to bottom this year.

idiocracywindow.jpg

Here’s hoping we do something right for a change this year and start looking farther down the road than the tip of Doug’s cock. Let the kids play. If they win, fine, fuck it, and smooches. If not, the object should be Draft position.

yeah-bitch