Andrew Mukuba

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FOUR THINGS: WK 3: EAGLES – RAMS

Posted by The BEAST on 2025/09/19
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WE cemented our place above the Chiefs, in their house, no less! Our Defense stepped up big-time, with rookie S Andrew Mukuba stealing what could have been the go-ahead score for them.

Despite our Offense being one-sided, we were able to lean on our run game. Instead of a bunch of flashy long runs, we took a ground and pound approach. This week we should be able to pull that off again, behind an Offensive Line that averages 329 per man, vs a Rams front five that averages 281.

A win moves us to 3 – 0, and keeps us in sole position at the top of the division.

A loss, would see us held to 2 – 1, and expose us to the possibility of falling to second in the division.

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The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics would give our Eagles the best chance to win this game. Often I list fundamentals, as some of the four things. BUT NO MORE! Unless something specific is needed, fundamentals like Running the ball; playing lots of Man Press; and Tackling instead of going for the strip, will be automatically included. (Like the five consonants and a vowel that Wheel Of Fortune automatically spots you.) So here are the Four Things that we need to focus on this week versus: the Rams

1) Pound the Rock: Again, we have a significant size advantage up front. In both games last year when we faced them, we were sporting an average size of 338 pounds per man, and were throwing dudes out of the club with the regularity of a sunrise. Just for clarity, 24 hours per day, a sunrise is always happening somewhere in the world. The result was TWO 200 yard rushing games from RB Saquon Barkley.

We’ve slimmed down by an average of 9 pounds per man, but it still should result in a relentlessly vulgar display of power. There’s a really good chance we’ll be looking at 8 and 9 and 15 man boxes, in order to stop our run game. If that happens, there had better be some audibles to get the ball quickly into WR A.J. Brown’s hands.

2) Make Their QB Run: Their QB is 37, and he has a bad back. He’s also never been much of a runner. To put numbers to that, last year he ran 30 times for 41 yards. On the other hand, if we let him stand in the pocket and throw the ball, he will perform surgery on our Defense, and remove it’s heart. This would be a great week to get a blindside sack (or four) from DE Jalyx Hunt.

3) Involve Goedert Early: The Rams OLB’s are pass rushers. They won’t spend much time trying to cover TE Dallas Goedert. That means either an ILB comes from the inside and makes running the ball easier; or a S has to come down, putting the Rams in Single-high coverage. That will give one or both of our WR’s one-on-one match-ups.

The earlier Goedert gets passes completed to him, the sooner this effect begins to take place. It also doesn’t hurt that he’s a very good run blocker. Either passing should be easy or running should. Best of all, it’ll be really easy to read which one the Rams are surrendering.

4) Let’s Safety Dance: Make sure that CB Adoree Jackson has help back deep. Honestly, I don’t trust him vs either of the Rams top two options. If the catch gets made, we at least need to be able to make the tackle.

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If the Eagles do these Four Things, then we’ll be virtually impossible to beat. That being said…

This is a battle of two unbeaten teams, that met in the playoffs. When that game is discussed, what keeps coming up isn’t the Rams loss. Instead, what gets brought up is that they mighta/coulda/shoulda/maybe had a shot at beating the Eagles in that game. An Eagles win here, makes that discussion not worth having anymore.

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WARNING: I don’t have the faintest clue as to what a point spread is, and I know even less about how it works. I know FOOTBALL and that’s it. If you use Four Things as a gambling tool, then you are a fool trying to lose your money, and will deserve it when you do.

Check back in a couple of days for Four Things Reviewed, and we’ll discuss how this game went.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 2: Chiefs

Posted by The BEAST on 2025/09/15
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, free agents, Offense, Players, report, Reviews, Special Teams, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
RB Saquon Barkley scores on a 13 yard run.

THE Eagles are solidly the NFL’s chiefs now.

EAGLES 20 – Chiefs 17

 

Passing: QB Jalen Hurts (15/22 – 68.1% – 101 – 0 – 0)

Rushing: RB Saquon Barkley (22 – 88 – 4.0 – 1 – 0)

Receiving: WR DeVonta Smith (6 – 4 – 53 – 13.5 – 0)

Drive Killer: S Andrew Mukuba (TD: 0/Int: 1/ FR:0 / 4th down stops: 0/ FF: 0)

Sack Leader: DT Moro Ojomo (Sacks: 1.0/ FF: 0/ Tackles: 2)

Special Teams Ace: K Jake Elliott (2/2 FG (2 from 50+), 2/2 XP)

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I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for these Four Things articles. It’s to point out what we need to address BEFORE the game. Then AFTER the game, there’s a no-bullshit assessment of whether or not the Eagles did any of what they needed to do, to ensure the win.

So how much of what I mentioned in Four Things: CHIEFS did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:

DE Za’Darius Smith makes his presence felt on QB Patrick Mahomes

1) Right Side, Strong Side: We didn’t do many shifts at all along the Defensive Line, but LB walks-ups? Defensive Co-ordinator Vic Fangio, uncharacteristically leaned heavy on the blitz in this game. Rookie LB Jihaad Campbell (7 tackles) spent a lot of time not just walking up into the gap between the RDT and RDE, he also was sent on blitzes, and put hits on the opposing QB.

We collected 2 sacks in this game, and 1.5 came from the right side of our D-Line. Moro Ojomo (2 – 1.0 – 0 – 0) got a solo, and newly signed RDE Za’Darius Smith (4 – 0.5 – 0 – 0) helped finish a sack started by rookie Andrew Mukuba (6 – 0.5 – 1 – 0). We got what we needed and didn’t allow their QB to trust his blindside. (DONE)

2) Trigger Their PTSD: Like the Super Bowl, the Chiefs not only ran loaded boxes, but they ran run blitzes to stymie our run game. This was to expected. At least by me. The Eagles from Offensive Co-ordinator Kevin Patullo, to QB Jalen Hurts, seemed confused and surprised by it.

Instead of adjusting and calling hot routes and crosses, to get the ball out of Hurt’s hand and burn the blitz, it seemed like every route was for twenty yards or more. If Patullo adjusted his approach, or if Hurts had audibled a route here or there, it might have made our Offense’s night easier all around. (NOT DONE)

3) Much Smaller Cushions: CB Quinyon Mitchell (3 tackles) and NCB Cooper DeJean (8 tackles) seemed to get the memo. However, CB Adoree Jackson (1 tackle) continued to be a fucking liability out there. We should just cut him, and if CB Kelee Ringo (2 tackles) is truly a worse option than Jackson, we should just cut him too.

I would like to say that since two-thirds of the CB’s got the message, this is a passing grade. However, given how inviting Jackson makes anyone he covers, we’re like a car on three tires and brake rotor. (NOT DONE)

4) Spread the Ball Around: No fewer than seven different Eagles caught a ball in this game. SEVEN! That ball was indeed spread around this week. This one was indeed done.

It is however, the emptiest “done” I can recall in a long time. Our top two receivers combined for 80 yards on 9 catches. There was just one completion for a gain of double digits. Seeing that, you might assume that Hurts spent the day burning the blitz. He did not. What he did, was stand in the pocket for too long, too often. But still… (DONE)

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This week’s Four Things score was 2 of 4, and if it was lower we’d be looking at a loss. Next week, we get another 2024 – 2025 playoffs re-match. This time against the 2 – 0 Rams.

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S Andrew Mukuba robs a future HOF player in the endzone, for his first career interception.

Game Hero: S Andrew Mukuba – His interception in the endzone, killed a potential Chiefs scoring drive and set us up for the 20 – 10 lead, that would carry us past a late Chiefs rally. He also got home, on our first sack of the year. (Although it took Za’Darius Smith’s help to finish it off.)

Game goat: QB Jalen Hurts – While new OC Patullo is the man responsible for strategizing our attack, Hurts is the one under Center, reading the defense and making adjustments, pre-snap. At least he’s supposed to be. Right?

The problem is, we have two straight weeks of him being stymied by the same defensive element, namely heavy blitzing. He has yet to throw a short pass to hot route, that burns the defense for serious run after the catch yardage. We will continue to see this element, until he demonstrates that he will make teams pay for it.

On The Whole: It’s a “W”. Earned in the home of a Super Bowl caliber team, that everyone was calling a potential dynasty and expecting to three-peat, just 219 days ago. Whatever excuse people were willing to make for the Chiefs Super Bowl loss, the Eagles even in an ugly game, proved that the excuses are invalid and we are simply the superior team now.

The Eagles, not the Chiefs are the team to beat in the NFL.

The Eagles, not the Chiefs are the class of the NFL.

The Eagles, are now the team to be discussed as a potential dynasty.

The Eagles are the team climbing to repeat as World Champions.

FOUR THINGS: WK PS3: EAGLES – JETS

Posted by The BEAST on 2025/08/21
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WHEW! We sure did shit the bed against Cleveland! At least rookie S Andrew Mukuba came to play. His two takeaways led to all 13 of our points in that game. Well, the Jets historically, love sharing the football. So maybe Mukuba, or even other Eagles defenders, will convince the Jets to share their football with us.

With this being the third and final preseason game, if we leave this game with no significant injuries, then it’s a win. And that’s regardless of whatever is on the scoreboard.

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The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics would give our Eagles the best chance to win this game. Often I list fundamentals, as some of the Four Things. BUT NO MORE! Unless something specific is needed, fundamentals like Running the ball; playing lots of Man Press; and Tackling instead of going for the strip, will be automatically included. (Like the five consonants and a vowel that Wheel Of Fortune automatically spots you.) So here are the Four Things that we need to focus on this week versus: the Jets.

1) Better Run Blocking: Last week our bacl-up Offensive Linemen could only muster enough running room to produce 33 yards on 19 carries. Don’t do the math, unless you want to cry. This week it would be nice to see OL Matt Pryor moved inside to G, where he’s better than he is at OT. Which I said last week, in the Eagles 2025 Preview.

I don’t expect to see starters playing, but I do expect to see back-ups trying to prove themselves worthy of a start. Benchmarks? If I’m pulling numbers out of thin air… Oh, 110 rushing yards as a team, with a 4.4 yard average, would be nice.

2) McCord Pushing the Ball Downfield: Against the Browns, our QB’s hardly attempted any passes downfield. Dink and dunk passing, keeps coverage close to the line of scrimmage. Close coverage also helps in shutting down the run. As a result, we couldn’t move the ball at all.

This week I’d like to see QB Kyle McCord start the first half, and attempt 4 to 6 passes that travel at least 20 yards in the air. I don’t want him to play the whole game, but I want to see him be aggressive while he’s out there.

3) Penetration and Protection from the DT’s: Penetration. For these first two games, our back-up DT’s have gotten pushed off the line, a lot more than I’m comfortable with. It would be great to see them getting past blockers and start causing more disruption.

Protection. Instead of getting pushed back into the lap of a LB trying to make a play, we need to see DT’s occupying blockers at or behind the line, and allowing clean LB’s to flow to the ballcarrier.

4) No Significant Injuries: It’s football. The football gods demand tribute, so injuries are a matter of when, not if. Just please, no key players.

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If the Eagles do these Four Things, then we’ll be virtually impossible to beat. That being said…

Since Head Coach Nick Sirianni took over, we don’t really play our starters in the preseason, and we start slow every year as a result. Expect the same thing this year. We also make the playoffs every year, so…. I guess, expect the same thing this year.

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WARNING: I don’t have the faintest clue as to what a point spread is, and I know even less about how it works. I know FOOTBALL and that’s it. If you use Four Things as a gambling tool, then you are a fool trying to lose your money, and will deserve it when you do.

Check back in a couple of days for Four Things Reviewed, and we’ll discuss how this game went.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK PS2: Browns

Posted by The BEAST on 2025/08/18
Posted in: breakdown, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, preseason, report, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

MISSED opportunities, everywhere.

EAGLES 13 – Browns 23

So how much of what I mentioned in Four Things: BROWNS did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:

RB Montrell Johnson leading the ground game

1) Get Our Run Game On Track: We ran for 33 yards. For four quarters, all we could muster was (19 – 33 – 1.7 – 0) less than what RB Will Shipley (No stats – DNP) ran for last week. For posterity, RB Montrell Johnson (6 – 20 – 3.3 – 0) led the Eagles rushing attack.

When a rushing attack is this anemic, usually the culprit is an offensive line getting whipped in the trenches, but that wasn’t the issue here. The problem was a dink and dunk passing attack, that kept everyone within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. (NOT DONE.)

2) A Sack By A DE: This week the Eagles managed 3 sacks, and yes, one was by a DE. At least it was by a guy lined up at the position. During the second quarter “DE” Azeez Ojulari (3 – 1.0 – 0 – 0), who had been getting pressure consistently, finally got home and brought the QB down.

I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of an OLB lining up at DE, with his hand in the dirt. For example, Ojulari is 240 pounds. so I don’t want him squared up against 300+ pound RT’s. Listen, when Ojulari got his sack, it was on 2nd and 5. That could have easily been an audible to a run, and then Ojulari is overmatched. But he got it here. (DONE)

3) Win the Nod: The idea here was that the second CB spot would be decided by the play of CB Kelee Ringo (1 tackle) and CB Adoree Jackson (3 tackles). The truth is, neither distinguished themselves. So we head into the final week of the preseason, still not having even a foundation to make an argument for one over the other. (NOT DONE)

QB Kyle McCord throwing a 9 yard TD strike

4) Bench Our Back-up: We sat Tanner McKee (DNP)! It was the logical thing to do, which is why I was absolutely certain he’d play. We already know what we have in him. Why play him, and risk him getting injured? Then I saw him in pads, and my stomach knotted up. But then he sat on the sideline and I began to relax.

As for the third spot between QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson (5/8 – 62.5% – 17 – 0 – 1) and rookie QB Kyle McCord (8/16 – 50.0% – 47 – 1 – 0), we should flip a coin and then just pick McCord anyway. He’s a rookie 6th round pick, so it makes sense for him to suck right now. (Besides, he’s a local kid, who went to St. Joe’s Prep, on Girard Avenue here.) DTR just looked so… flustered and shitty out there. Against back-ups! Hard pass! (DONE)

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This week’s Four Things score was 2 of 4. This Friday we close out the preseason with a trip up to the Big Apple! There, we’ll face the Jets, in a game where the main objective is to leave with a healthy roster.

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S Andrew Mukuba returning an interception 75 yards to paydirt.

Game Hero: S Andrew Mukuba (1 – 0.0 – 1 – 1) – All 13 of our points in this game were owed to Mukuba’s amazing 2nd quarter. First, he intercepts a ball and returns it 75 yards to paydirt. Then when the Browns botched a hand-off exchange, Mukuba was there for the fumble recovery. Which helped set up a 9 yard touchdown strike.

Game goat: Offensive Coordinator Kevin Patullo – He had no kind of plan for the Offense, and made no discernible adjustments.

On The Whole: Whether it was the miss opportunity for the CB battle to be decided. The missed opportunity for the third QB spot to be decided. Or the in ability of any of the WR’s to establish themselves as a consistent factor. This was a game where players should have come to impress. The only ones who seemed to make an impact, were the guys who are already locks to make the team.