EAGLES 33 – COLTS 23

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/28
Posted in: Defense, Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

luck barwin allen

ALL the crying about the Eagles Offense will now be put on hold for at least two more weeks. Last night the Eagles tossed 33 points on the scoreboard. Only 6 of which came from FG’s, and 6 more from the Reserves. That means 21 points (1 rushing TD and 2 receiving) came from the starting Offensive unit, in 3 quarters of football.

Offensively the Eagles looked in control and composed despite some early miscues, including an interception caused by WR Nelson Agholor (0 – 0 – 0.0 – 0) bobbling a pass (that hit him in his hands). QB Sam Bradford (17 – 20 – 167 – 2 – 1) looked extremely comfortable out there.

Bradford drew blood in the second quarter with an uncontested, 4 yard, jump-ball to new Eagle WR Dorian Green-Beckham (2 – 15 – 7.5 – 1). Bradford wounded the Colts again, on a 3 yard, walk-in pass, to TE Trey Burton (5 – 35 – 7.0 – 1) in the third quarter. RB Ryan Mathews (3 – 31 – 10.3 – 0 – 0) looked ready for the season to start, but again only had three touches.

WR Josh Huff (2 – 60 – 30.0 – 0 / 2 – 10 – 5.0 – 1 – 0) once again flashed the play-making ability that frustrates so many fans. huff colts2He scored the first TD of the game on a 9 yard run (jet-sweep), and helped set up another score with a 38 yard catch and run over the middle of the Colts defense. Already a dangerous KR, the Eagles are still trying to identify a role for Huff, who is more like a RB than WR, but not quite a RB either.

Defensively, there was never a doubt about who was in control of this game. The stats don’t accurately tell the story of how much duress QB Andrew Luck (13 – 18 – 134 – 0 – 0) spent the night under, and just how dominant we were yet again.

Once again the Eagles shut down the run, allowing the Colts all of 39 yards on 18 attempts (2.2 yards per crack). The Defensive Line collected 3 sacks (all on Luck), and CB Nolan Carroll (1 – 0 – 1 – 0) killed a drive by picking off an intended touchdown pass, in the end zone.

Last week I said one of the big stories of that game were the 12 penalties for 96 yards. This week the Eagles committed 8 for 64 yards. This is still a high number, but it shows improvement. Next week will be bubble players trying hard to impress. Expect a messy game.

Ps G3: Colts

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/26
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , . 5 Comments

Indps3

Indianapolis Colts

Saturday   7:00        Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis IN

NEEDS TO STEP UP:

card.fletcher.cox

Fletcher Cox: Whether he realizes it or not, he is now the leader of the Defense on the field. Although it’s just a preseason game, THIS preseason game is the one where both teams tend to play their starters for at least half of the game. So this game, (especially given that it’s against one of the NFL’s elite QB’s) is an opportunity for this unit to send a message to the other 31 teams. If that’s going to happen, the tip of our spear needs to be SHARP in this game.

WE MUST CONTAIN:

Andrew Luck - Eagles

Andrew Luck: This is purely by default. What other Colt is there to be afraid of? WR T.Y. Hilton? He’s not known as a dynamic open field runner, so he’s useless unless Luck can get the ball downfield to him. RB Frank “Hipster” Gore? RB Jordan Todman? I’ll believe it when I see it. Nope. Luck is all this team has. And he’ll surely turn bad if we get our Cox in his face.

EAGLES STORY LINE:

While the backbone of this team will be it’s Defense in 2016, all the talk right now is about how bad our WR’s are. You would think there was a massive falloff in quality from the 44 catches, 610 yards and 3TD’s that Riley Cooper and Nelson Agholor COMBINED for in 2015. The last coach left a developmental mess at WR, and it will take time (meaning downs, drives, and games) to get our receiver’s mental NFL skills, to match their physical talent.

BOTTOM LINE:

This practice game will actually be a practice game for this Offense.

PREDICTION:

EAGLES 21 – Colts 19

FOUR THINGS VS INDIANAPOLIS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/22
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

oline

IF you’re worried about the Offense then you have no one but yourself to blame. I told you in early April (when I said the Eagles will win the NFC East) that the Offense would lag behind the Defense. If you’re worried, it’s because you aren’t listening.

The Offense will get straightened out, it just won’t be a rush job. Which is smart. Slow progress is progress you get to keep. Our last coach came in here with razzle-dazzle and smoke and mirrors. Many fans were happy with it and its immediate results. Some of us however, pointed out that the emperor was in fact, naked.

The rush-job that was done on us in 2013 has left scars that the new coach is trying to fix, here in 2016. But it will take time. So relax. Be patient. And you know what, dammit? Be supportive. Because that’s how good things are built. That’s how things that last are built.

Now let’s talk about the Four Things we need to look for in this next preseason game:

1) RB Wendell Smallwood has to play more than a series. The Colts will not be a stiff test against our (or anybody’s) run game, so it will be a good way for him to get his feet wet and build some confidence. If he doesn’t play until PsG4, anything he does will be de-legitimized by the fact that he’s going against mostly bubble players. If he doesn’t the Eagles should SERIOUSLY consider adding a veteran to the roster.

2) A starting receiver catching at least 3 balls for 40 yards. Unlike most fans I’m not at all panicked by our WR’s. That being said, someone has to show up this week. If not, opposing defenses will start the year off blitzing, and putting eight in the box against us. It’s one thing to not be scary, it’s another thing entirely to be seen as no threat whatsoever.

3) The deep ball must make a few appearances. The bread and butter for this Offense will be the run. However if we can’t make teams unload the box, it’ll mean extra punishment for RB Ryan Mathews, and our depth at RB is almost non-existent. Again, we don’t have to be scary, but we have to make teams take our Offense seriously.

4) Andrew Luck must be sacked early. The Colts spent a lot of this last Draft on Offensive Line help, and to rattle Luck’s cage early, might convince the team to shelve Luck earlier than planned. If this happens (and remember where you heard it), it is nothing less than the Eagles intimidating an entire coaching staff.

This third game is all about sending messages to the NFL. This is the first glimpse of what the team will be, or what the team is trying to be, under Head Coach Doug Pederson.

yeah bitch

EAGLES/STEELERS: FOUR THINGS REVIEWED

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/21
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Fans, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

aaron.grymes

CRUSHING the Steelers 17 – 0, was nice to see on a scoreboard. Even if it was only preseason, and even if it was over a second string unit. I mean, think about it for a second. (At first) it was our starters vs not quite their best. A shutout is what’s supposed to happen, right? So in that regard the Eagles handled business.

But what about the stuff that the final score doesn’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) The defense picking up where it left off vs Tampa Bay: They most certainly did exactly that. Pass rush, picks and being stingy against the run. While we weren’t going against their star QB, RB and WR, we did go against the other 8/11 of their starting unit. The result was that our Defense was consistent, and did to a back-up QB what a defense should do to a back-up QB. We check out great here.

2) Giving half the game to QB Chase Daniel: We got that one done too! I was thinking that it would be smart to sit Sam Bradford after the first quarter, but with Pittsburgh holding the ball for much of the first quarter, in order to get him some work, he played until the half.

3) Seeing someone other than Lane Johnson start at RT: Head Coach Doug Pederson shuffled his line in the manner that I’d suggested (even prior to the first preseason game) in my Surviving The Suspension article. The result was a far more cohesive unit than the one we’d seen just seven days before. Any time you shuffle the line, you have to give it time for the chemistry to set in. However, at least NOW there is a clear plan for moving forward and remaining competitive. (Three for three so far!) 

4) Wendell Smallwood running inside: Didn’t happen. (Shit.) Smallwood didn’t play due to injury. Instead we got to see RB Kenjon Barner. To his credit. Barner kept his inside runs to the inside for a change. In order to avoid contact, he has a tendency to try and bounce everything wide. I for one am sick of watching him run 11 yards for a 1 yard gain (because 10 of those yards were run sideways). But he kept to the script vs Pittsburgh, and while he didn’t break tackles or wow anyone, he showed some reliability. It felt good to see.

Overall we so far seem to be on a good track, meeting 3 of 4 this week, as opposed to 2 of 4 last week. This suggests that he coaching staff is handling priorities. That heralds terrific things if we keep going at this rate in the next couple of weeks.

FIXING THIS OFFENSE QUICKLY.

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/20
Posted in: Coaching, Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

 

Pederson coaching Bradford

THERE is nothing seriously wrong with the Eagles Offense. Stop laughing. Schematically, its concepts work just fine. While I wish we worked out of the Shotgun less, it doesn’t appear to be impeding the run game, regardless of whether the starting O-line is on the field or the back-ups are. The biggest problem this Offense faces is a lack of discipline.

Penalties, dropped passes, routes run wrong, failing to recognize stunts…these are all lapses in focus that come down to player discipline. When a man’s head isn’t into what he’s doing, he is much more likely to be sloppy in how he does whatever task he is performing. He is more likely to miss details. He is more likely to be unaware of what is going on around him.

This team needs discipline, but at this point, discipline is going to be a hard sell coming from Head Coach Doug Pederson, because of the start his regime has gotten off to:

1) QB Sam Bradford was allowed to come back to his starting role after throwing a tantrum and walking out on his team.

2) WR Nelson Agholor spent no time in the doghouse after drawing negative attention to the Eagles, when he was accused of rape by a stripper who felt she hadn’t been paid enough for sex.

3) We just traded for WR Dorial Green-Beckham, who at worst is a malcontent, or at best is simply misunderstood and lazy.

It would seem the ship has sailed on Pederson’s ability to rule with an iron fist. So then how does a coach instill discipline when he is perceived by his players to be a softie? Simple. He does it by being a softie.

Let me give you an example of how this can work. WR Josh Huff has fumbled and had a couple drops these last two games. However, he has also started these last couple games, so everyone on the team knows he has some value. This is PERFECT. Couldn’t be a better set-up for an example.

Rookie WR Paul Turner has been making the most of his opportunity. Granted, he’s been playing against second and third stringers, but he himself is a third stringer. He doesn’t get to decide who he takes on, he only gets to decide how to beat them.

Pederson could spend a week lauding Turner’s focus and individual discipline, to the media. Then he could reward Turner in this next game, by playing him in Huff’s place. Meanwhile Huff can watch (in full uniform) from the sideline. Let Huff see how fleeting it can all be.

If Turner looks overwhelmed, then it’s still a wake-up call to Huff, who’d have to spend a week answering the same embarrassing questions. If Turner responds well, then we can move Huff (for a 6th or 7th round pick to say…Denver, where every pro knows he’d be buried on the depth chart) as away to open up a roster spot, save some cap space and add another Draft pick. Either way, it would send a loud and clear message to every Eagle on the roster, about what happens when Pederson does and does not, get what he wants.

And all the while, Pederson would never have to raise his voice, or utter one word in anger. He could smile the smile of a man who knows that he will win, no matter how it turns out.

When each player here gets his own head back into what he is doing, the focus will return and with that the discipline. THEN you will see this Offense in its full bloom.

Belgrade St. outside of P.A.L. 4.15.15

Belgrade Street, outside of P.A.L. 4/15/15

CAN OUR WIDE RECEIVERS BE SAVED?

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/19
Posted in: Coaching, Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WHILE we haven’t seen WR Jordan Matthews in action yet, we have seen WR’s Josh Huff, Nelson Agholor and TE Zach Ertz in two preseason games each. None of them has looked at all sharp out there, but I’m here to tell you that the problem is simple and is correctable. But it will take time to do so.

All of those players cut their NFL teeth under this team’s last head coach. They played in a system that asked them to do some pretty simple, awfully repetitive things. The downside of that was that they didn’t learn the in’s and out’s of being an NFL receiver. The job of WR is much more than “run to there and catch the ball.” If it were that simple then every WR ever to lace up cleats would have been an All-Pro.

The problem is that they have been developmentally stunted. They were taught to run a system, not taught to play football at this level. They learned to look at the sideline for Rocky or the Cheese Steak. As a result, all of the last regime’s best players were inherited, not developed. Andy Reid developed players. His successor has no idea of how to do such a thing.

The best indicator is WR Josh Huff. Until this year he’d been in the same system since 2010. He was drafted into a role that should have fit him like a glove. Instead, he struggled immediately. Couldn’t be because he was unfamiliar with the playbook or the core concepts. The role was the same, the system was the same. The only difference was the level he was playing at.

Knee-jerk reaction is to say that Huff is a bust. Okay, so what about Nelson Agholor? Remember when he was being hailed as a Jeremy Maclin clone? If not, just look at almost any publication about him around when he was drafted. In fact, here are a couple examples.

agholormaclin

…more metrics…

Maclin-Agholor-PlayerComparisonMatrix

Agholor played against top comp in college and has all the tools a pro needs. So why’d he fizzle in the pro’s so far? Matthews, Huff, Agholor and Ertz. There have been a bunch of articles predicting, waiting for, hoping for, praying for a breakout year from these players, but not one of them has had that year yet. Why not?

The answer is that they don’t know how. The good news is that WR coach Greg Lewis is a former pro who’s played in a similar version of this system. In fact, much of this coaching staff is built out of former players. There is enough insight here to help along any student willing to apply themselves. However, it will take time to learn new things, and to UNLEARN some bad habits.

That all having been said, we still may have to spill a little blood to get things on track sooner rather than later. In the next article, I’ll tell you who’s blood, and why the Offense isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be.

DEFENSE WAS GREAT, BUT PUMP THE BRAKES.

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/19
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Players, Reviews. Tagged: , , . 2 Comments

EAGLES STEELERS SACK

TONIGHT the Eagles gutted the Steelers 17 – 0 in front of a national audience (provided you weren’t in any of the blackout areas). Our Defense grabbed 4 picks, 4 sacks and only allowed 50 yards rushing on 21 attempts. Sounds pretty bad-ass, right. Start buying Super Bowl packages, right?

Hold your horses. Pump the brakes. Last year, we wiped out the Ravens 40 – 17 in our second preseason game. I said “pump the brakes” but many of you didn’t listen. A week later, Green Bay sat their starters (sound familiar?) and we won 39 – 26 in Green Bay. QB Sam Bradford went 10/10 with 3 TD’s and many of you were talking Super Bowl. Yes. Many of you were. This, however, was my reaction to that game:

“Normally after a preseason game, I want to talk about what we need to fix. While there is PLENTY, I won’t do that this week. Many fans are really pumped over the result of the game, and pumped over what they saw of the game. So I’ll leave it at that.”

Remember how last year went? Maybe you’ll listen now.

Pump. The. Brakes.

We started tonight night facing a “B” team, and our Defense did what they’re supposed to do if some coach decides to gamble with the future confidence of his reserves. We showed those sacrificial lambs why they’ll get to watch more football than they’ll play.

We had some issues on Defense though. DE’s Connor Barwin, and Brandon Graham allowed themselves to be washed out of position a few times vs the run. This version of the Wide 9 won’t work if the DE’s can’t set the edge and turn the action back inside, to a free-flowing LB.

There seemed to be more of a pocket for the QB to step-up into tonight; as well as clear line of sight and passing lanes. More has to be done to force QB’s to move in the pocket, because we won’t be facing 4th round draft pick who gift us 4 picks, every week. We have to make plays, not just rely on mistakes.

I told you back in May – no wait, I told you back in April, even before the Draft- that the Defense would likely have to carry the Offense this year. I said the Defense would set the Offense up with short fields, artificially padding our scoring stats. It is unlikely that we’ll run away with the NFC East, and more likely that we will merely survive it. That being said, pump the brakes Eagles fans. We still have much work to do.

EAGLES 17 – Steelers 0

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/19
Posted in: Defense, Offense, Players, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

OUR Defense grabbed 4 interceptions off of Pittsburgh’s starting QB, on our way to a 17 – 0 road victory. However, the Steeler’s starting QB wasn’t Ben Roethlisberger (healthy scratch), but was instead one Landry Jones (12 – 20 – 111 – 0 – 4).

Offensively for the second straight week the Eagles didn’t do much. The game was broken open in the first quarter by a pick-six, brought back by CB Nolan Carroll.

card.nolan.carroll

This picture is not from last night’s game. It’s a pick-6 from last season. Guess this is just how Nolan gets down.

Two quarters later, RB Kenjon Barner struck paydirt on a 5 yard run, capping an 83 yard drive.

The big story of the night however, definitely was our Defense. While we played our starters longer than Pittsburgh did, our second and third units played a considerable amount of the game, so this wasn’t a case of starters beating up on backups. We simply had their number at every level, grabbing 4 picks by 4 different players, 4 sacks by 4 different players, and allowing 50 yards rushing on 21 attempts.

The other story of the night was our 12 penalties for 96 yards. This has a really simple solution to it, but THIS update is not the place for it. However, I will address that problem AND it’s simple solution, in the next couple of days.

NELSON AGHOLOR’S EYE PROBLEM

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/18
Posted in: Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Rants. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

LAST year WR Nelson Agholor struggled in his rookie year catching only 23 passes. There was lots of speculation as to why, but now I think it’s safe to say that the problem is with how he sees things. By which I mean, he is apparently incapable of processing the reality he is surrounded by.

Here is a clear example of what I mean:

Yesterday, Agholor was asked about the Eagles trading (during preseason mind you) for troubled (former) Titan WR Dorial Green-Beckham. Agholor’s response was…well…“I don’t look at it as a message, I look at it as an opportunity for us to become a better football team.”

How he looks at it? What the f-

You know, if the Eagles had traded for a guy like Julio Jones, that would be understandable and even something you could write-off as “C’mon. How could they pass it up?” But trading for the guy we just got (drug arrests, pushing a woman down steps, being lazy with a poor work ethic…) is a HUGE message. In fact, it’s essentially this:

Howie to players

However, as Agholor said, that’s not how he “looks at it”. Well might I suggest that Jermaine Mayberry pull the Eagles Eye Mobile around to check this muthafucka’s eyes? Because I think he might be legally blind.

blind legally

This is the SECOND time since June that I’ve had to say “Dear Nelson Agholor”, but for the good of the team… HEY DUMMY!

clue

You need to get out there and catch some fucking balls tonight. That’s why the Eagles pay you. Though it may come as a surprise to you, fucking up isn’t in your job description. So get your ass out there, run decent routes, gain some goddamned separation, and when the ball comes to you, CATCH THE DAMNED THING.

Then it won’t matter how you “look at it”, because you WILL be making the team better.

Ps G2: STEELERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/08/16
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Pitps2

Pittsburgh Steelers

7:00 Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

NEEDS TO STEP UP:

card.allen.barbre

RT Allen Barbre: With RT Lane Johnson likely to miss the first 10 weeks of the season due to suspension, we’ll need someone who can step into the line-up and be steady. Last week, rookie Halapoulivaati Vaitai was given first crack at the back-up job (Lane Johnson started), and the results were disastrous. Barbre allows us to not only weather the storm, but to likely remain competitive in the hunt for the division. This week he needs to show us that he’s up to the task.

WE MUST CONTAIN:

ben rape

Ben Roethlisberger

Besides keeping the crowd quiet…We have to get to the QB. That goes without saying most weeks, but this week it’s more true than it will usually be. Given the decline of Roethlisberger’s mobility, and this systems dependency on attacking, either we will shut him down, or he will use WR Antonio Brown to shred us on the back end, and open up room inside for RB LeVeon Bell to finish the job. If we snuff Roethlisberger, we can load up the front and throw a wet blanket over Bell in the process. Pittsburgh’s defense isn’t the monster we tend to associate with the team. If we can snuff their offense, we win the game.

EAGLES STORY LINE:

Despite quite a bit of activity along the roster (trade, injury, suspension) there is a decided lack of drama in the media surrounding this team. Last week’s win vs the Bucs, may have been rocky, but it showed the players (especially those who’d only ever been pros under the last head coach), that real football fundamentals pay off in the long run. Think of it like a sales pitch. Last week the coaching staff got the players to take a closer look at their philosophy. Depending on how this game goes, the coaching staff could be about to close a sale to this entire roster.

BOTTOM LINE:

This game will be a good stiff test, and will allow coaching staff, media and fans alike, to be able to truly assess where we are right now. That said, we ARE playing in Pittsburgh.

PREDICTION:

Steelers 22 – Eagles 14