WINNING THE EAST IN 2016

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/07/01
Posted in: Conversations, Crazy Talk, Defense, Offense, Players, Preview, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Swoop Flag2

THIS guy keeps telling Eagle fans to expect 9-7, and when I say that, I’m met with skepticism. Fans have no idea how that record is supposed to happen, when we have such a tough schedule and Sam Bradford is still our starting QB. They can’t wrap their heads around the idea of the Eagles winning the NFC East in 2016. They think I’m a maniac for believing it myself.

Well fellow fan, prepare to become a maniac right along with me.

2015:

We finished 7-9. We didn’t finish 2-14. We didn’t finish 3-13. We weren’t 4-12. We were 7-9. A game away from .500. One win over the Redskins would have netted us the division. We were literally a game out of first place. Not a bad finish for a team with a divided locker room.

We finished 7-9 despite an extremely leaky defensive system. This included a shaky Secondary that lost a starting CB, adding injury to insult (accurately speaking).

As for Bradford, we went 7-7 with him at the helm. (Mark Sanchez went 0-2 when Bradford was injured.) Keep in mind that our Offense featured a stalled running game, and Riley Cooper as one of the starting WR’s (13 starts in 16 games).

While last season wasn’t a great season, it hinted that properly managed, this team might not be as bad as it was made to look.

2016:

We removed a coach that players had lost faith in, and who players didn’t always feel respected them as men. While new Head Coach Doug Pederson doesn’t come with fan fare, his NFL experience as a coach and as a player (in the recent NFL era), give him insights most teams can’t duplicate.

QB Doug Pederson

Our defensive system woes were addressed by hiring Jim Schwartz to be our Defensive Coordinator. He brings with him not only a proven track record of administering that system, but also a few players who have performed well in it at the NFL (not collegiate) level.

We increased our talent and depth everywhere along our interior Offensive Line, and are already decidedly better there just with the veteran addition of C/G Stefen Wisniewski.

Our Secondary has gone from laughably thin, to guys who have to compete to start. We could use more depth at OLB, but the addition of Nigel Bradham is going to be a revelation for fans here.

WR is addition by subtraction. With the removal of Cooper, Nelson Agholor can begin working with the “Ones” and get the sort of coaching attention that he stopped getting once the 2015 preseason ended. Also he will become a major part of game plans now.

We’re still thin at RB until one of the young guys steps up and proves otherwise.

Bottom Line!

Bottom line here is that we are already better, both fundamentally and on paper. True, the games still have to be played, but that is true as well for every team in our division. Speaking of our division, our rivals stood fairly pat on their rosters, despite records of 9-7, 6-10 and 4-12. Oh, and their schedules don’t do them any favors either.

Sports pundits everywhere are expecting the Eagles to have a bad year in 2016. I for one can’t wait to see so many so-called experts eat that much nationally-televised crow when we win the division. Even better will be all the bandwagon hopping and dick riding they get up to along the way, as they start realizing just what’s going on.

DON’T OVERLOOK NIGEL BRADHAM

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/24
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Fans, Players, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

FELLOW Eagles fans, I think too many of you aren’t doing your homework like Eagles fans used to. We’re widely recognized as one of the most knowledgeable fan bases, but it seems like fans here have fallen asleep at the switch when it comes to one of our own. I’m specifically talking about OLB Nigel Bradham.

The Philadelphia Eagles official website put out this fan poll:

eagles fan poll 6.24.16

As you can see, Bradham got just 2% of that vote. Just, 2%. That’s worth mentioning because the two players directly above him in the poll are back-ups.

While I initially thought Bradham would be coming in to play WLB, the rumblings are that he’ll be playing the SLB spot. That will make him responsible for covering Jason Witten, and Jordan Reed twice a year. (The giants seem to be transitioning at TE.) Last year Connor Barwin played SLB and while he is an accomplished pass rusher, he leaves something to be desired in coverage.

Bradham isn’t anywhere near the rush artist that Barwin is, but he’s good against the run because he doesn’t stay blocked, and unlike Barwin, can be trusted in man coverage even down the sideline. Think of it like having a second Mychal Kendricks. Not just in skill set, but also in attitude.

I said before, we haven’t had an OLB pairing this talented since Seth Joyner and William Thomas. Our opponents have gotten used to being able to do things to us on the perimeters of our Defense, because stellar OLB play hasn’t been a staple of this team in a long time. Over the past two decades, we’ve had better luck inside than outside.

Bradham being here frees up the Safeties, allowing them to help deep and take away the long ball that has been victimizing us since 2010. That coverage helps buy time for our Defensive Line to get to the QB. Swap him out for either Barwin or Brandon Graham, and you lose that.

Look, Brandon Brooks starting at Guard may help revive our rushing attack. Rodney McLeod starting at FS may help give us one the top secondaries in the NFL. You expect big things from starters, so their places on the poll are in line with what you’d expect. Bradham’s place however, is a sure sign that some Eagles fans are not doing their homework they way they used to.

GOT TO GO TO THE GO-TO

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/24
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Offense, Uncategorized, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

 

Y Drive By

HERE’S an example of something I hope to see the Eagles do quite a bit. Keep in mind it doesn’t have to be this exact play (though it should), but something that does what this play does would be a great go-to play. Particularly for 2nd and 9, or 3rd and 3 situations.

This is a real bare bones set-up, as any go-to play should be. It includes no motion, or shifts. It’s run directly out of the base formation with base personnel. It features dummy routes to the left. The play isn’t designed to go that way, but if you can get a freebie, the last thing you want, is to have diagrammed a receiver to block. (Not every WR is a genius, and on their own some may miss a chance to steal a cheap 6. We’ve all seen it.)

I’m a believer in the “Pick A Bitch” theory of Offense. That’s where you pick a defender and draw up a play that makes every decision that defender could make, the wrong decision for that play. For this play our bitch is the SS.

You may notice that even though there’s a fake (F) pitch-out, the Offensive Line is set for pass blocking instead of run blocking. This is deliberate. This is a passing play, and the QB will need a second to read the SS. Protecting the QB is always more important than selling a fake, and for the way this play is designed, run-blocking would allow more pressure than on most play-action plays (many which also feature roll-outs).

If the SS buys the fake, then he’s committing down and to the outside to contain the RB. This means the TE can find a seam right in the area that SS just vacated, even if the OLB is still in coverage. (In this case, if the CB also bites then it’s an easy 6 along the sideline.)

If the SS doesn’t buy the fake and stays along the seam, then the RB is loose in the flat, and the WR is one on one with the CB.

If the SS goes to help the CB, then he (yet again) has left the seam open. 

Like I said, everything he does on this play, is wrong. There is no way for him to be right. All the QB has to do is identify where the SS is, and then put the ball anywhere he isn’t.

Again: Staple play out the base formation, using base personnel, good on 2nd and 3rd downs. It’s a Spread formation employing West Coast principles, turning the TE into a high percentage option and helping to loosen the deep coverage on our WR’s. 

 

 

WHY I WRITE ABOUT OUR RIVALS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/20
Posted in: NFL, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

 

NFC EAST

GENERALLY I don’t. I only write about our rivals in as far as it pertains to the Eagles. I rarely ever mention our rivals in any stand-alone fashion. Could I write about them if I wanted to? Sure. Could it be meaningful content that even their fans may find interesting? Definitely.

Many Redskins fans may want to learn about the two things that keep their offense from being consistently explosive, regardless of who plays QB.

And of course some giants fans have noticed that their team is actually worse since Odell Beckham became a starter. They might like for someone to finally bring that up and discuss why it’s happening.

Cowboys fans may want to discuss why their team can’t seem to find a decent back-up QB, or why the team has a .479 winning percentage since Dez Bryant was drafted in 2010.

If I wanted, I could write about any of those things and even make fun of those situations. I keep a sharp eye on the NFC East, but I’m largely quiet about what I see. Mostly because none of those things have much direct bearing on the Eagles. I only mention our rivals as a backdrop. They are a circumstance. A bi-annual situation with a shelf-life of roughly seven days each time.

Yesterday’s article ‘WHY THE REDSKINS KEPT BEATING US’, was clearly (to anyone looking past the headline), written with a a focus on what the Eagles needed to improve. In that article I hardly mention the ‘skins at all. Why would I? They weren’t why we kept losing.

At one point this website did have a section devoted to all things NFC East.

NFC EAST

However, it didn’t draw enough readers to be worth the effort. However if my rivals truly want me to give the same detailed look at their teams as I do my own, I’m more than game! Then I can show you what it looks like when I really do have your team on my mind.

(Fair warning to Redskins fans: That glass house you live in, is far more delicate than you think. I assure you, you DON’T want me to hip you to the truth about your team. Especially if your tickets are non-refundable.)

WHY THE REDSKINS KEPT BEATING US

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/20
Posted in: Defense, NFL, Offense, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

karl pilkington monkey

OVER the last four games against the Washington Redskins, the Eagles have allowed 38, 23, 27, and 34 points respectively. While we won the 34 point game (37-34), the point is that we gave up 34 points to a team that had been mired in offensive turmoil for most of a decade.

In 2015 we allowed 26.9 points per game (28th in the NFL), and in 2014 we allowed 25.0 (22nd). It’s really easy to say “Ah, well there ya go Sparky! That’s why we’re losin’!”, but you have to look deeper than that to see why we allowed those points.

What stats and looking at a box score won’t tell you, is all the times the Eagles Defense was gassed because the Offense wasn’t coached to milk the clock.

It’s real easy to pin not getting key stops on a tired D, but what about the Offense not picking up key first downs? What about the drives where a field goal would change the complexion of the game? Or the notion of how kicking-off after a field goal generally nets you better field position and doesn’t lend a psychological boost to the opponents offense?

There were a ton of unanswered questions, and as a result of no answers, things didn’t get addressed and so kept getting worse. That however is nothing worth dwelling on. The cause of our disease has been excised by Owner Jeff Lurie, and so we can look forward to getting stronger now.

This year will feature two systems that can work off of each other. This, as opposed to one system strangling and stranding the other, week in and week out. This year the Defense will be better. I almost can’t stop writing and talking about the how and why of that. Defense is going to be the strength of this team in 2016.

The Offense won’t put up 27.6 points per game like it did back in 2013, or 29.6 like it did in 2014. In fact, it may struggle to reach last year’s 23.6 mark. To me this is a 19-21 point per game, team. It’s not an explosive team. It’s a grind it out team. It’s a team that will need every man on the roster, every week.

Let me make a VERY pointed note here. I said the Offense won’t average many points. I didn’t say the team wouldn’t. The Defense will add points. AND they’ll cause changes of possession that frequently start the Offense off already in field goal range. I believe that this sort of thing will artificially inflate our Offense’s numbers, making them appear better on paper, than they actually are on the field.

We kept losing to the Redskins not because they were good, but because we insisted on being bad. Again, Lurie has seen to Old Yeller, and now we can turn the page. That being said, let me tell you (though an injury bug could change things greatly), as things stand now, I think we rip this recent monkey off our backs and we sweep the Redskins in 2016.

THE GAPS IN OUR WIDE NINE

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/18
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Players, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

FLETCHER Cox just signed a huge deal, and already fans are calling for him to get 12, 14, 14.5, and 15 sacks this year. He’s coming off of a career high 9.5 and moving inside to DT. So if double digit sacks is your idea of Cox having a good year, get ready to be angry.

In most cases DT’s don’t notch 10+ sacks and with all the attention Cox will get, 8 sacks would represent success. (At least as far as a stat sheet goes.) However Cox’s biggest impact won’t be the number of sacks he gets, but instead it will be the havoc he wreaks on blocking schemes. 

Drawing a double team on the inside will allow MLB Jordan Hicks to roam mostly untouched and stymie the run game between the Tackles. As you can see in the diagram below:

Attacking us Set-up

(I’m expecting a monster season from Hicks.)

This will also give everyone else on the Defensive Line one-on-one match-ups in pass rushing situations. With DE Vinny Curry being virtually unblockable one-on-one, opponents will want to get that ball out FAST. The easiest way to do that is with a slot receiver. As is indicated here by the yellow dot:

Attacking us Step1

If you don’t cover him he’s an easy pre-snap read for the QB. So you have to walk the WLB over to him:

Attacking us Step2

This unfortunately opens up a natural lane to run through:

Attacking us Step3

Here is where my concern lies. The knee jerk reaction to this problem is to either walk the FS down over the slot instead of the WLB; or (as we used to do under Jim Washburn) walk the FS into the gap vacated by the WLB. Both of these are wrong.

The first option robs the CB of any deep help. If man coverage on that side is beaten, it becomes a game of catch. In case you aren’t clear on what I mean, let me say two words: Nnamdi Asomugha. Let me follow that with three letters: DRC. 

So what you want is Safety help deep.

The second option (walking up the FS) is what we did under Washburn. Funny thing about 200 pound Safeties. They’re utter shit at taking on 320 pound Offensive Linemen. The result was footprints on the front of our defensive player’s jerseys. We were easy to run against, throw against, score against, lean against…

The correct solution is to shift the WLB over to the slot, and slide the DE from outside the LT to the edge of his outside shoulder:

Attacking us Solution

Truth: I could have just written that from the start, but I did it this way for a very good reason.

Lots of fans are still worried about the Wide Nine because we were thoroughly embarrassed using it before. So I wanted to show step by step, the cause and effect of doing certain things. I wanted to show that the problem wasn’t the system, the problem was how the system was run. The problem was who we had running it.

Today we have better people running the system. Today we have an actual Defensive Coordinator, not an Offensive Line coach masquerading as one. Today that system has been installed by the DC, not by a position (Defensive Line) coach. Today it’s an entire system for an entire defense, not just a technique for the line. 

Today, the gaps in our Wide Nine have been closed.

 

WHY I’M BEHIND DOUG PEDERSON

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/13
Posted in: Coaching, Conspiracy Corner, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

home

DOUG Pederson has to be successful here. The franchise is in serious trouble if he isn’t. Possibly for decades to come.

Back in November of last year (2015) it was clear to me that owner Jeff Lurie was itching to fire (TIK) despite him having posted two straight 10-6 seasons as the team’s Head Coach. While I was all for (TIK) quitting (or leaving by some other means), I wrote on 11/27/15 that firing him prior to the end of his fourth season would be a mistake. Well, on 12/29/15, with a game left to go in the season, Lurie dropped the hammer.

Not only do I still think the timing was bad, but one of my fears soon came to pass. Look at the candidates who came sniffing at the Eagles vacant Head Coach position. Position coaches, and a couple retreads, but no real up-and-coming Coordinators bothered to have serious conversations here.

The fan base was hardly what you would call energized when Pederson was interviewed or hired. We didn’t hate him. In fact, I wrote that I am fully behind him. However, we recognized that Lurie was just running back to the familiar, when he hired him. Pederson was a safe choice for Lurie due to his familiarity and willingness to work with General Manager Howie Roseman, because many coaches in the NFL would not and will not.

If Pederson doesn’t work out here, then naturally Lurie will have to fire him. The problem comes with replacing him. No one wanted this job already. If we’re still trending in the wrong direction, and our biggest problem still seems to be our Front Office, then no one who is clearly worth having, will want the job. We will again have to gamble on a guy being able to grow into the role, and hope that he becomes a gem for us. This is how we ended up with (TIK), and then how we ended up with Pederson.

So we need Pederson to work out. Not just for immediate gratification, but for the long picture as well. Once upon a time the Eagles set the Gold Standard for the NFL as an organization, and that attracted both coaches and Free Agents to us. Today we’re becoming the New Cleveland Browns, as we’re now known more for the talent we lose, than the talent we acquire.

Between the coming years of missing Draft picks, an unforgiving media, and a dysfunctional F.O., our pickings to replace Pederson would likely be laughable at best. We need to be behind this Head Coach. Pederson has to be successful here. Because we are staring into an abyss if he isn’t.

DEAR NELSON AGHOLOR

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/12
Posted in: Conversations, Players, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . 2 Comments

Lost and Confused Signpost

HELP! Somebody, help me! I don’t understand this, and I don’t know if it’s because I got old or what. Perhaps senility is kicking in before my 41st birthday, but there’s a part of this Nelson Agholor rape investigation that has me so confused. First I’ll do the facts and then get to the part that confuses me.

According to preliminary reports, the rape allegation stems from a dispute over money between Agholor and the stripper who accused him. Reports are that they went into a private room for a $1400 private “dance”, but that the stripper left shortly afterward. Agholor paid her only 800 of the 1400 they’d previously agreed upon. Those are the facts so far.

Now the part that confuses me. What could she have done that was worth $800, that should have been worth $1400?!

I realize that I’m an old fart, and that my feelings on strip joints may be precluding me from having certain pieces of information. However, I’m pretty sure the private “dance” Agholor was paying for wasn’t “The Running Man” or a ballet routine. The idea was that she was going to wang dang his doodle.

As someone not new to sex, let me tell you something. Even if some woman could fuck me blind, cripple and crazy, I’m still not shelling out $1400 for a single Porkfest. I’m not saying that it should buy you multiple dips of your dork. I’m saying that young Nelson needs to apply himself and meet a nice young lady who…Eh maybe not. But he should get out there and find himself a freaky for his deaky, that he can settle down with. That way he can keep his dumb ass out of situations where he’s getting accused of rape, because he shortchanged a dancing hooker by $600 for a $1400 fuck that he could (in all likelihood), have gotten anywhere else.

Dear Nelson Agholor, you’re an NFL player. Meeting women CAN’T be that hard for you. Paying for ass is a crime in itself. Learn a lesson here. Oh, by the way: If you are less focused on emptying balls, you might catch more than 23 of them this year.

DOUG PEDERSON: BALLS AND LOSSES

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/06/11
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . 2 Comments

helmetz

THE preseason can’t get here fast enough for me. I can’t wait until Head Coach Doug Pederson finally gets that first loss under his belt, so that the local media can get at him. Once they annoy him into an emotionally honest response, he can start to shake the stuttering Porky Pig routine at press conferences. Right now he seems too often like he’s trying to not say the wrong thing, or screw something up.

Here in Philly, a loss counts as screwing up. Once he’s done it, he’ll no longer have to worry about it, or act like he’s spinning fine china plates on a stick. I like the guy, and I want to see him get fair chance here, but he’s got to become more confident in his tone. Otherwise he risks players not trusting that even he buys what he’s selling, when times get tough for us.

Head Coach is a position where you get to tell half-a-hundred alpha males to “Take a knee”, and they do. Pardon my French but, a job like that demands that you let your balls out for a swing sometimes. (Or like Buddy Ryan did, you ride them into work everyday.) We have yet to see Pederson swing his nuts. Even when QB Sam Bradford painted a bull’s eye on his own face, Pederson remained “emotionally intelligent”. That was nice, but if you’ve ever been in a locker room, you have to wonder when that will be back to bite him in the ass.

I’m hoping his first loss is in the preseason, because there’s no real pressure to win those games. After a loss he can show the team, by his example, how they are to bounce back while he’s in charge. I also wouldn’t want him to go undefeated in the preseason, because that unfairly raises expectations among casual fans. And the majority of sports fans are casual fans. Some are not even devoted enough to be casual. Those aren’t even fans. Those are “logo wearers”.

(Total aside, but speaking of logo wearers, I gotta get this out: At Front and Girard yesterday, (being friendly) I asked a woman in an Eagles t-shirt, what she thought of the upcoming season. Her response was that she hopes T.O. doesn’t get hurt, and that if he doesn’t we’ll win the Super Bowl with our new coach. Amazingly, I didn’t strike her.)

So I’m thinking that getting that first loss will do Doug some good. Free him up finally. Once he stops walking the fine line for the media, and casual fans, he’ll be free to be the coach the team needs, and that us die-hards have been praying for.