Atlanta Falcons

All posts tagged Atlanta Falcons

REALITY CHECK FOR EAGLES FANS

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/09/14
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, NFL, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

PHILADELPHIA beat the holy hell out of Atlanta, 32 – 6 in the season opener. It brings our Eagles to 1 – 0, and puts us in the driver’s seat for the division lead, since no one else in our division was up to the challenge put to them this week. But just how significant was our victory over the Falcons?

Atlanta is a bad team. Let’s get that out of the way, right now. Like us, they were 4 – 12 last year. In fact, they originally were two draft slots ahead of us, until we traded back from 6th to 10th. Their defense was the stuff of comedy legend. Only three teams allowed more yards than Atlanta did. Nobody allowed more passing yards.

As a result, last week’s NFL Power rankings had the Eagles ranked 25th and the Falcons 26th. In an article that the NFL put out last Monday, they had the Falcons projected win total at 6, and ours at 5. All indications had us being evenly matched teams. Except, 32 – 6 proved that we are not evenly matched.

A score like 39 – 40 indicates being evenly matched. 

(Remember how dominant the Cowboys were in this one?)

But back to the Eagles! The beginning of the game saw the Eagles getting punched in the mouth, and it seemed like our Defense would get run over all day. Then our Defense rallied, holding a 1st and Goal, to a field goal. After which, we built from there. That’s character. Which has nothing to do with how good the Falcons are or aren’t, but has everything to do who the Eagles are.

Despite all the media pundits putting rookie TE Kyle Pitts in the Hall Of Fame, prior to even playing a game, he was held in check with a small Nickelback in Avonte Maddox. Atlanta was held to 0/2 in the red zone. Meanwhile our execution had us 3 for 3.

This was all done with a rookie head coach, and most impressively, no turnovers. We committed none, and we got none, and still we blew a team out. We put up a 26 point differential, without taking the ball away ONCE. Did you know, there are teams out there who can’t win a game, even if they get spotted FOUR turnovers. It’s true!

“It was just the Falcons.” Sure, if you’re an idiot. For those who aren’t idiots, this game wasn’t about the opponent. It was about the Eagles. The Eagles didn’t squeak by the Falcons. They did what you’d expect a playoff team to do to a bad team. They wiped the FLOOR with them. The Eagles got punched in the mouth 0 – 3, took the lead 7 – 3 on rookie WR Devonta Smith‘s TD grab, and from there never looked back.

How meaningful was this win? That question isn’t determined by who is, or who isn’t across the line from us. It’s about who we ourselves are striving to be, regardless of who opposes us, or doesn’t believe in us. It’s about being good enough, because we continuously make damned sure, that we are. Don’t let anyone obscure that for you. Not regarding this football game, or in your day to day lives.

And only an idiot wouldn’t see the meaning, in that.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 1: Falcons

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/09/13
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, Special Teams, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

PHILADELPHIA put Matty on ice!

EAGLES 32 – Falcons 6

 

EAGLES STATS:

New categories include an EXCLUSIVE weekly Offensive Line Report (Rushing TD’s + 3rd and 4th downs converted of 2 yards or less – sacks allowed); as well as Drive Killer (Int – FR – 4th down stop – FF – TD).

Passing: (S) QB Jalen Hurts (27/35– 77.1% – 264 – 3 – 0)

Rushing: (S) RB Miles Sanders (15 – 74 – 4.9 – 0 – 0)

Receiving: (S) Devonta Smith (8 – 6 – 71 – 11.8 – 1)

Offensive Line Report: (1 + 2 – 1)

Drive Killer: (S) DT Javon Hargrave (0 – 0 – 1 – 0 – 0)

Sack Leader: (S) DT Javon Hargrave (3 – 2.0 – 0 – 0)

 

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: Falcons, did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:

1) Melt Matty Ice: Surprisingly, the Falcons coaching staff came out with scripted plays, to get QB Matt Ryan moving on bootlegs and such. We didn’t expect it and it showed. Especially on the first drive. No-huddle, Ryan being mobile, poor tackling. It’s a wonder that we held them to a 21 yard FG.

As the game settled, Ryan’s theatrics stopped. Our interior pass rush kept Ryan from stepping up, forcing him backwards throughout the second half. This is evidenced by our DT’s getting 4 sacks on him. (One of two by DT Hassan Ridgeway (1 – 1.0 – 0 – 0) were wiped out by an intentional grounding penalty, on Ryan. Why he wasn’t ruled “In the Grasp” and the play blown dead, is a mystery to me.) (DONE)

2) Be Smash Mouth All-Stars: Did our RB’s see 25 hand-offs? No, they got 24, but I’m going to have to adjust my thinking about hand-offs and the run game. There were a few runs for Hurts where he was used like a RB, running behind blockers. We ran it 31 times for 173 yards. This is going to be what Eagles Offense looks like under Hurts.

It’s just Week One, but between Sanders 74 yards and Hurts 62, we have two players on pace for 1,000 yards. As for the hand-offs to the right and up the gut: We posted 24 carries for 111 yards, with an 8 yard touchdown up the gut for rookie RB Kenny Gainwell (9 – 37 – 4.1 – 1 – 0) who was practically untouched. (DONE)

3) Get Mitts on Pitts: Let me nutshell this. Rookie TE Kyle Pitts (8 – 4 – 31 – 7.7 – 0) is a mismatch for 95% of the NFL as a TE. However, the Falcons split him out often, and tried to use him like a WR. That worked in college, but he’s not quick-twitch enough for NFL WR. As a result, we kept him under wraps with 5’9” Nickle CB Avonte Maddox (5 – 0 – 0 – 0).

We didn’t do this one, but it wasn’t a failing on our part. While I can’t say that “I called it”, I can say Falcons head coach Arthur Smith not understanding his TE’s limitations, is 33% of the reason the Eagles sit alone atop the NFC East today. Good thing they traded away WR Julio Jones. Had he stayed, this game would have gone differently. (NOT DONE)

4) Run From 21: We played a lot of 21 (2TE, 1RB) and it worked out for us masterfully. It gave Hurts easy completions that stretched the defense horizontally. Which in turn, created outside running lanes when OLB’s had to respect the TE in front of them.

TE Dallas Goedert (5 – 4 – 42 – 10.5 – 1) and TE Zach Ertz (2 – 2 – 34 – 17. 0 – 0), combined for 6 catches, 78 yards and a score, on 7 targets. As long as they produce like this, our inside run game can never be completely shutdown. This is the key to our entire Offense. This is where those 32 points were born. (DONE)

 

We start the season with 3 of 4 the Four Things done, in an absolute blowout of a trash ass team. Now we turn our attention the 1 – 0 San Francisco 49ers, who are coming to OUR HOUSE, next Sunday.

 

On The Whole: On Offense, we threw the ball 35 times and ran it 31. That’s 53% pass, to 47% run. That’s a well-balanced offense, folks. The closer to 50/50 the better, with 55/45 being the farthest deviation under well-balanced. That keeps a defense honest, and gives an offense real options. It also really helps keep a QB’s jersey clean.

On Defense, our LB’s have to stop sticking to blocks, and do a better job of making tackles. Stop holding up ball-carriers to get at the ball. We just end up allowing the pile to move. Let the the ball-carrier create the fumble while fighting for extra yards when stopped well short.

On Special Teams, the feet were excellent. P Arryn Siposs had four boots that had the Falcons starting at the 8, 14, 8 and 18 yard lines. Our returners sucked ass, in this one. There was entirely too much backwards running. That can’t happen at the outset of a return.

We started rough, rallied, and then locked it down. It’s a great start to a season, and a character building win. No need to take a moral victory from a loss, for this NFC East team.

FOUR THINGS: WK #1: EAGLES – FALCONS

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/09/08
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WHAT does an underdog look like? Are they seldom mentioned? We got that. Lightly regarded? Got that too. Thought of as lightweights, even among bullshit rivals? Check and double check! In fact, here’s what NFL.com said about us just this past Monday:

Gentlemen and ladies! Your 2021 Philadelphia Eagles are OFFICIALLY, an underdog.

Fuck the odds makers! Let’s start head coach Nick Sirianni’s career off, with a win! Our rebuilding Eagles come in with dynamic QB Jalen Hurts, vs a defense that in 2020, was 19th in points allowed and 29th in yards allowed. To improve it, the Falcons scarcely added players, but did add a defensive coordinator who retired in 2018, and again in 2020. Makes me wonder how dialed-in, he’s going to be for this.

A win this week, means we’ll have no ground to make up for, with regard to winning the NFC East. (Yeah I said it!) While it’s too early to focus on winning the division, we need to make sure that we don’t fall behind at the outset.

The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics will practically guarantee our Eagles this win. CAUTION: 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 FT as a gambling tool, you are trying to lose your money, and will deserve it when you do.

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

1) Melt Matty Ice: In 2019, QB Matt Ryan ran for a career-high 147 yards. So he’s not the most nimble or fleet of foot. Nor does he do a great job of throwing on the run. So the obvious thing to do, is to collapse the pocket directly in front of him, so that he can’t step into throws, and has to move around, and change his throwing platform.

Mentally we’re not going to disguise enough to trick Ryan into making mistakes. He’s too smart, and too experienced for that. What we can do is physically beat on him, mentally harass him, and take him out of the game emotionally, by making him do things he’s uncomfortable doing.

2) Be All-Stars and Play Some Smash Mouth:

Underdogs, motherfucker!

This has to be a game where our RB’s see 25 or more hand-offs. We have RT Lane Johnson, RG Brandon Brooks, and C Jason Kelce. When healthy, they are as good as there is in the NFL and thus, on Earth. Oh, and did I mention that they are healthy. So we need to get RB Miles Sanders running behind the best right-side on the planet.

The Falcons run a 3 – 4 scheme that’s more of a 5 – 2. Their d-line is backed up by a pair of vastly undersized ILB’s. They are tiny beyond the line of scrimmage, so we need to give them a steady diet of inside and right-side Zone running.

3) Get Mitts on Pitts: Rookie TE Kyle Pitts shouldn’t be allowed free releases. Jamming him will give our pass rush, that extra second to force Matt Ryan to move, forcing Pitts (and others) to keep cutting routes short to give the QB an easy target. If we jam Pitts enough, we can routinely turn (for example) a 7 yard Flag into a 3 yard Curl. At which point we’ll have disrupted their entire gameplan.

4) Run From 21: Remember a couple years ago when we kept sweeping the Redskins because they chose to play DE Ryan Kerrigan as an OLB, despite the fact that he can’t cover in space? It led to TE Zach Ertz and former Eagle RB Darren Sproles killing them on the edges. Well the Falcons are making the same mistake, playing DE’s like OLB’s.

Remember this? That’s Kerrigan (with help), failing to cover Ertz.

We still have Ertz, and we also have TE Dallas Goedert, (as well as any RB on our roster). This creates a situation where the Eagles need to abuse the Falcons for short passes to the flat, 5 yard Outs, and such. If Atlanta wants to give away free samples, we need to bring a stolen shopping cart.

If we do these Four Things, we should win this game. In fact, I really like our chances here, despite not having seen our Starters in the preseason. It really comes down to

1) Is our Offense is better than their defense? Yes. It is.

2) Is our Defense better than their offense? Uhhh, possibly.

QB Matt Ryan is an 11 year veteran, who has spent his last 8 seasons with WR Julio Jones (now a Titan). In Ryan’s first 3 seasons, he never reached 4,000 yards passing, or threw more than 26 TD’s. He has to cope with no longer having an outside weapon who warps coverages.

Ryan will be relearning Life without Julio, so we need to (and we can) hammer and harass him, and make him wonder if he really still wants to be doing this. Especially for an owner, who given ten attempts at counting his own balls, would never get the same number twice.

Don’t ask. Just take. We want it all! Socks and draws! This is one that we should win. From the moment we come out out of the tunnel, Atlanta needs to know that, we’re taking all three bags.

If we play our cards right, maybe we can get Atlanta’s DC to retire again next week.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 23 – Falcons 16

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

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK2 – FALCONS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/09/16
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

OTHER fans get to be emotional about this loss. I get to be emotional during the game. Afterward, I have to put my anger aside, to objectively dissect it. That being said, this game was lost for us by the fucking rat-faced coaching staff. I won’t be able to fully address it in the FTR format, but rest assured that this week, there will come a reckoning, and it will not be pretty.

Losing WR’s DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffery early in this game, certainly had a massive impact on the game, but there were too many other inexcusable errors out there.

Wentz sacked falcons.jpg

Eagles 20 – Falcons 24

Yet again the Eagles held an opponent to fewer than 100 yards rushing (15 – 64 – 4.2 – 0 – 0), but that was offset by allowing QB Matt Ryan (27/43 – 320 – 62.7% – 3 – 3) to hit wide open receiver, after wide open receiver, after wide open receiver. Honestly, why would opponents run, when they can take yardage in much larger chunks?

Shrugging off one lost weapon after another, QB Carson Wentz (25/43 – 231 – 58.1% – 1 – 2) showed true grit, and seemed to be the only Eagle out there on Offense, who was hungry to win. WR Nelson Agholor (8 – 107 – 13.3 – 1) had a busy night, but dropped the go-ahead touchdown.

It took a blitz by reserve S Andrew Sendejo (2 – 1 – 0 – 0) to get our only sack of the game.

I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for these “Four Things” articles. We introduce an idea of what needs addressing BEFORE the game, so that fans have to honestly answer questions about those things, AFTER the game. This helps to get us, and keep us, all on the same page.

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

Miles Sanders trouble with the handoff.jpg

Gotta love a juggled handoff!

1) Run Howard: We did not. RB Jordan Howard (8 – 18 – 2.2 – 0 – 0) did not start and was given a sporadic 8 carries. Instead, rookie RB Miles Sanders (10 – 28 – 2.8 – 0 – 0) spent another week being an ineffective feature back. The Eagles are trying to make a star out of Sanders, despite him showing repeatedly that he isn’t ready. The result is that Wentz has to carry the Offense by himself. (NOT DONE)

2) Dissolve the pocket: The D-Line pretty much played it straight up, except for when they blitzed. There were a couple of points where we got Ryan to throw from a dead run (he had a TD on a rollout to his right), but we didn’t do nearly enough to force him consistently out of the pocket. (NOT DONE)

3) Finish Him!: Just make the tackle. The Eagles were pretty good at this, this week. There was of course the TD to WR Julio Jones (5 – 106 – 21.2 – 2), but that also included a nice block, a bad tackle angle and no deep help. But all in all, our tackling was much better than a week ago. (DONE)

4) Deliver Liver Punches: We didn’t run enough, nor did we run effectively enough to make play-action something to be respected. While Agholor and TE Zach Ertz (8 – 72 – 9.0 – 0) were our leading 2 receivers, this game was devoid of the schematic impact of play-action. (NOT DONE)

lemongrab

That brings our weekly tally to 1 of 4 Four Things completed. That brings our two week total to 3 of 8 so far. That’s a sub .500 mark. We have plenty of stuff to get together before our appointment with the undefeated (1 – 0 – 1) Detroit Lions next week.

On The Whole:

This was a weird game. Our Defensive Line couldn’t touch the QB. We seemed to spend most of the night in Cover Zero, and kept being spanked in it. There seemed to be a concerted effort to play the youth, even though they clearly aren’t up to the task at this point. And despite all the injuries, no one seemed to be leaving the sidelines or removing their pads.

This is an odd loss. After Ertz was shown to be short of the sticks, I was of course as emotional as a fan should be. However, looking back at the game now, it all had a surreal feel to it.

In fact, looking back, it still has that “Wait. Did that happen or did I dream that” feel it. Parts of it just don’t add up. It’s why I put this loss on the coaching staff and not the players, per se.

 

FOUR THINGS – WK 2 – EAGLES-FALCONS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/09/12
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WK2-ATL

LAST week’s win was great for two reasons. First, it was a tone setter for the season, both because we won the game, and for how we won it. Second, it was a win against a division foe. Now the Eagles look to build momentum by stacking a conference win, behind a division win.

The Falcons were humiliated last week by the Vikings, who left cleat marks in the Falcons chests, running for 172 yards and 4.5 ypc. The Vikings only had to throw the ball TEN TIMES all game long. The Falcons will want to prove to the world that they are nobody’s bitches, as they defend their home field against an Eagles team that throat punches them, every time we see each other.

The Eagles comeback victory last week was great to watch, but let’s be honest, it was just the Redskins. We pummeled a kindergartner, but somehow managed to let it be a contest first. Not really a point of bragging. So this week we need to prove that we can beat a team that’s capable of playing past Week 17. Otherwise, next week’s victory over Detroit will mean a lot less.

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

1) Run Howard: Ron Howard.jpg

Noooo, not Ron Howard, run Howard! As in RB Jordan Howard. Atlanta has several undersized players on their front seven, which is how they got victimized so badly by Minnesota last week. That lack of size isn’t something they can resolve this season, particularly in time for this game. So it’s a weakness we should exploit. After last week’s aerial assault, the Falcons will be looking to “Prevent” that from happening to them. A physical run game, vs a smallish front seven, playing a loose box to start… We need to do this.

2) Dissolve the Pocket: Shifting our DT’s right, (QB’s left) on 3rd and long, would let us torch half the pocket and get Matty Ice, running. Not jogging, running. We need to get QB Matt Ryan moving. Not just re-setting his feet in the pocket, because he’s a good enough athlete for that. We need to make him throw while on the run. If we can get him running, the up and down motion will help vary the heights on his launch points. If we can bother his release, we’ve already bothered his delivery. That gives our defenders a better chance of intercepting him.

3) Finish Him!: Stop hunting the strip early in games. Just make the tackle. Back in 2017 I said the same thing in THE 12 . More often it’s situations not players, that really create turnovers. Early in games, offensive players don’t have tired arms and hands. They aren’t yet desperate to make something happen. Overthinking usually makes you miss your goal. Same thing with our Defense. They need to make the tackle, not allow the mistakes of the past (Vernon Davis 48 yard TD) to repeat themselves. Focus on the mission and accomplish what we set out to do. That’s what we winners do.

THE W

4) Deliver Liver Punches: Play-action passes to TE Zach Ertz, and WR Nelson Agholor, will gut this defense specifically. It’s small because it’s built around speed and trust in the initial read, to magnify the effects of it’s speed. Conversely, when this defense makes a small read error, it’s a BIG execution error. Running the ball tough then using play-action on short passes, would have us taking yardage in chunks in the second half.

If we do all these things, we’re just about guaranteed to win. Now that we’ve covered what should happen, let’s get into what likely will happen:

This is a no nonsense, no fooling around type of game here. Both teams need this game for different reasons. It’s not a “must win” scenario. It’s way too early for that talk. But winning early decreases the odds of having to play “must win” games, during the regular season.

Seasons Eve.jpg

The Falcons run game was almost non-existent last week. 24 of their 73 yards came off of Matt Ryan’s legs. So look for them to try to establish that early. After a combined 10 catches for 95 yards (and 2 TD’s), expect WR’s Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley to keep the Falcons in the game late into the 3rd quarter at least, and possibly up until the last play.

In advance I’d like to thank our 20 yard cushions, for making this game more stressful than it needs to be.

On Offense, I think Head Coach Doug Pederson will see the light and lean less on smaller RB’s this week. The fireworks from last week served to put teams on notice, but it can’t be the bread and butter of this team. Unless Atlanta serves up numerous breakdowns in their secondary, this week will be about establishing who the 2019 Eagles are truly trying to be.

In the end, the Eagles have more weapons, are deeper, and have a better idea of who were are, and of who we are not. The Falcons still seem to be finding their identity, and because of that, will commit more acts of over-reach. At least one of which will prove fatal.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 27 – Falcons 22

yeah-bitch.jpg

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WEEK 1: ATLANTA FALCONS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/09/07
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Eagles+Super+Bowl+52+Banner+Unveiling.jpg

WE went into the game missing key players. We went against a playoff team, which many thought we probably should have lost to, in the playoffs last year. We went into the game with our back-up QB opening the season. And what did we do? Oh yeah.

We won.

It wasn’t pretty. Then again, I flat out told you that it wouldn’t be. “War of attrition” is the term I used three days ago. NBC announcer Cris Collinsworth, reiterated those words during the game. I told you that our QB would be solid, and he was. He wasn’t great, but he did a solid job of managing a shorthanded unit. And what did we do? I said, what did we do?! Oh yeah, we did this:

EAGLES 18 – Falcons 12

Last night, the team that scored the last touchdown of the 2017 season, scored the first touchdown of the 2018 season. For the third straight game against the Falcons, an Eagles QB didn’t throw a single touchdown pass. For the third straight game against the Falcons, it didn’t matter, and the Eagles won anyway.

Back-up QB Nick Foles (19/34 – 55.8 – 117 – 0 – 1) played caretaker of a unit which despite it’s struggles, still managed to go 8/16 (50%) on third down. Atlanta only managed 4/15 (26%), despite having an All-Pro WR for their All-Pro QB to throw to. We also converted 2/3 (66%) of our red zone trips into touchdowns, while our opponent only managed a meager 1/5 (20%).

I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for these “Four Things” articles. We introduce an idea of what needs addressing BEFORE the game, so that fans have to honestly answer questions about those things, AFTER the game. This helps to get us, and keep us, all on the same page.

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

1) Lean on the run:

jay-ajayi-eagles CBS Sports.jpg

27 rushes, 114 yards, 4.2 per tote and two touchdowns. RB Darren Sproles (5 – 10 – 2.0 – 0 – 0 / 4 – 22 – 5.5 – 0) got a little too much early work for my taste. However, RB Jay Ajayi (15 – 62 – 4.1 – 2 – 0) ended up at the head of the table in touches, which should be the case for a starter. RB Corey Clement (5 – 26 – 5.2 – 0 – 0) got most of his yards on a 21 yard jaunt up the middle. It was good to see him get the work, but he needs to trust his line, lose the stutter step, and just hit the hole. On a night when offense was hard to come by, the Eagles didn’t abandon the run and just start chucking the pig. As a result Philadelphia was rewarded with the win. DONE

2) Chase that bird: We needed to pressure the Falcons QB Matt Ryan (21/43 – 48.8% – 251 – 0 – 1), and that’s just what we did, limiting the All-Pro QB to a QB rating of just 57.4. That pressure helped CB Rasul Douglas (0 – 0 – 1 – 0) snag an interception off of Ryan. He was sacked 4 times, including 1.5 by DE Chris Long (4 – 1.5 – 0 – 1) who also forced a fumble. While Ryan saw pressure from the edges, he also got it from up the gut. MLB Jordan “Cowboy Killer” Hicks (7 – 1.5 – 0 – 0) and DT Fletcher Cox (2 – 1 – 0 – 0) contributed pressure from the inside. As a result, the Falcons offense took off like a lead balloon. DONE

3) Go for the knockout: We really didn’t try to establish the deep ball. By that, I don’t mean we didn’t throw it deep, enough times. I mean that the play-calling didn’t seem at all geared towards stretching the defense vertically. NOT DONE

4) Win hidden yardage: Field position makes a difference. Especially on a night where points and offensive yardage are both at a premium. Last night, both teams earned over 100 penalty yards, apiece. The Falcons surrendered 135 to the Eagles 101. Also Special teams yards saw the Falcons generate 11 yards on 2 punt returns, and zero on kickoffs. Meanwhile, the Eagles racked up 29 on punt returns and 43 on kickoffs. The Falcons managed 20 yards on an interception return, while the Eagles produced zero yards on the teams only theft. Still, overall the Eagles still did better with hidden yardage than our opponent. DONE

So the Eagles begin the season with a Four Things score of 3 out of 4 (75%). Next week we travel to Tampa Bay for the battle of the second string QB’s.

On The Whole:

A gritty win over a playoff team is a great way to start a season, and let the world know that 2017 was no fluke. I didn’t watch this game with disgust, nor disappointment, nor boredom. I watched it with hope.

In this game I saw what we could be, when we get all of our pieces back. Consider that the last two times we faced Atlanta, we didn’t have many of our key guys. This game was a street fight, and we won it while sending Falcon after Falcon to the sideline for medical evaluation. Dear NFL: You are NOT ready for us.

FOUR THINGS: WK 1: EAGLES/FALCONS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/09/04
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

W1-ATL

DON’T let the sports media over-hype this game. This is not a title defense, because this is football, not boxing. Even if we (somehow) lost this game, we wouldn’t have to hand over our Super Bowl trophy. This isn’t a title defense, or even a playoff game. It’s one of sixteen down payments on a playoff berth. That’s it. Now let’s get down to it.

NFL Network reporter Randy Moss, said that the Falcons are looking for revenge against the Eagles, for putting them out of the playoffs last year. He said that aside from Atlanta players and fans, no one really remembers that they almost beat us in that game. He’s wrong on both counts.

First, there is no avenging a playoff loss with a regular season win. For eliminating Atlanta, Philadelphia was rewarded with another playoff game. IF they beat us this week, they’d be rewarded with, (drum roll)…Week #2. Second, winning by five points sucked. We want to beat them by more this time. Like we did in 2016 (Eagles 24 – them 15). You know, when they had pretty much the same team that we just beat 15 – 10 in the playoffs. Which is pretty much the same team they have now. (Are you seeing the pattern, Eagles fans?)

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

1) Lean on the run: Even if it seems like it’s not working. Whenever QB Carson Wentz gets back, it would be unfair to saddle him with having to carry the Offense. That means we have to get our ground game established. Since we gave our starters the preseason off, we have to start getting things ironed out as early in the year as we can. Seeing RB Jay Ajayi carry the ball 17 times for 82 yards (and RB Corey Clement carry 6 times for 33) would be a solid opening.

2) Chase that bird:

rocky-chicken

We need to get some pressure up the gut from DT’s Fletcher Cox and Destiny Vaeao. The Falcons QB is (how do I say this gently?) not a very nimble creature. If we can get him off his spot, alter his launch point, and keep him from stepping into throws, it increases our chances of him serving up some warm turnovers.

3) Go for the knockout: WR Mike Wallace is a true deep threat and we should come out making that point. While Wallace’s proficiency with running Slant routes is nice, the fact that he can take the top off of defenses, should help loosen the box, and give our run game room to operate. That being said, we have to at least threaten opponents with him early, or they won’t respect his presence.

4) Win hidden yardage: Of the last 39 points we’ve scored against Atlanta, 19 came off of a Kicker’s toe. A quick KO would be great, but recent games against the Falcons have been wars of attrition. We need to go in expecting to have that kind of a fight.

If we do all these things, we’re just about guaranteed to win. Now that we’ve covered what should happen, let’s get into what likely will happen:

The crowd will pick up where it left off, and will be so loud, that the Falcons will have to burn early timeouts to prevent penalties and miscues. QB Nick Foles will be solid. The Eagles will push the Falcons undersized defensive front around, when running the ball. We’ll also use their speed against them, with misdirection plays that pull defenders out of position. WR Julio Jones will catch 9 or 10 balls for 110 or so yards. Atlanta is a play from ahead type team, that’s going to find themselves in a street fight. They’re a plucky bunch, but they simply lack the power to put away a brawler. They just aren’t built for winning that way, which is why we will keep beating them.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 28 – Falcons 16

yeah-bitch

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: DIVISIONAL ROUND: FALCONS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/01/14
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, Roster, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

UNDERDOGS. That’s what we were. Despite being 13 – 3, the #1 seed in the NFC, and having home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, we came into the game as an underdog. In fact, no #1 seed, playing at home had ever been an underdog in NFL history until someone decided that, we were over-matched and could not defend our home turf. Well. We saw how that shit ended, didn’t we?

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Matt Ryan sacked by Rod McLeod.  Courtesy Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

QB Nick Foles (23/30 – 76.6% – 246 – 0 – 0) didn’t have a stellar game. All he did was distribute the ball in a saavy, veteran manner, to eight different receivers. He did not push the ball downfield much. Then again he was playing against Cover Three, so why would he. That’s why I said what I said in Four Things. (More on that, down the page.)

While no Eagles Offensive player seemed to do much damage statistically, there were enough collective moments, to sustain a couple of long drives and put points on the board. RB Jay Ajayi (15 – 54 – 3.6 – 0 – 1/ 3 – 44 – 14.6 – 0) was the workhorse and looked much better than his yard per carry average indicates. Same with RB LeGarrette Blount (9 – 19 – 2.1 – 1 – 0). WR Alshon Jeffery (4 – 61 – 15.2 – 0) led the Eagles in receiving yards, catching three of his passes on one drive. That proved that he can find a rhythm with Foles, so should put those questions to sleep now.

DT Fletcher Cox (7 – 1 – 0 – 0) was a terrorist out there.

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Cox spent the game blowing up the interior of Atlanta’s offensive line, recking their inside run game and not giving QB Matt Ryan (22/36 – 61.1% – 210 – 1 – 0) a pocket to step up into, most of the time.

The biggest killer in the game however, was K Jake Elliott (0/1x, 3/3fg, 53L).

card.jake.elliott

His five wittle piggies put up the last 9 points of the game, which helped the Eagles capture the lead and then surge ahead.

I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for these “Four Things” articles. We introduce an idea of what needs addressing BEFORE the game, so that fans have to honestly answer questions about those things, AFTER the game. This helps to get us, and keep us, all on the same page.

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

1) Run. The. Ball: I said we need to run it at least 25 times. There were 27 called (i.e. non-QB) runs to 30 passes. We won time of possession 32:06 to 27:54, gave our Defense time to breathe, and limited Atlanta’s opportunities to score points. (DONE)

2) A thousand cuts: High percentage passes to the TE’s outside of the numbers. Foles said, okay, and I might do you one better! Not only did he get TE’s Zach Ertz (3 – 32 – 10.6 – 0), and Brent Celek (1 – 6 – 6.0 – 0), but he also hit Alshon Jeffery 4 times and snuck in 5 passes to RB Corey Clement (5rec – 31 – 6.2 – 0). Why not? With Atlanta playing Cover Three, it left things like Slant routes, Screens and Crosses open. Foles isn’t flashy, but he is saavy. Teams thinking he’s harmless is probably his deadliest asset. (DONE)

3) Alter the launch: The idea was to get Matt Ryan to throw while moving or resetting his feet. We did that quite a bit (thank you Fletcher Cox). The hope was to get a turnover or two out of him. Well, we didn’t get a turnover, but what we DID do was hold him to 5.8 yard per attempt. That matched his lowest mark of the year, during a Week 4 loss to Buffalo. (DONE)

4) Stay grounded: It’s points like THIS ONE HERE, that separates me from other would-be experts. Nine days ago, the NFL and it’s media bag were praising, lauding, exalting Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay, for being such a young genius. Such a prodigy! Wait no, it was “coaching supernova”. That’s what they called him. And then there’s this-

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His career mark is 11-6! It was amazing that they could speak with that much of his shaft in their collective windpipe.

Then what happened last week? He got locked into a close game against the Falcons, panicked because he’s as green as peas, and stopped running the ball, even though his team was doing it better. Experience counts! Our coaching staff is battle-tested, so even when we were down, even though our average run (on paper) was 3.0 yards per carry, we stuck with it. We stayed grounded. We stayed balanced. (DONE)

At half-time I wasn’t sure about some of these, but Nick Foles has a nice second half and in doing so, helped the Eagles deliver a 4 out of 4 Four Things score. This will be out well before we know who our next victim is, so I can’t really offer a tempting tidbit for next week yet.

On The Whole:

It was more grit than glitter. More spit than polish. War of attrition, is what I called this game after the half. This game was about will. It was about who wanted it more, and who had the players who could seize the moment.

In the end (as I said), we were deeper and more talented. The Falcons were no match for us. They were never going to be. While some will point out that we only scored 15 points, we also only allowed 10. Meaning we only needed 11.

I told you not to worry about Foles, didn’t I?

card.nick.foles.jpg

Foles isn’t a Lincoln Continental, he’s more like a Buick LaCrosse. As an Eagles QB, he’s been solid and efficient. Trouble is, solid and efficient are not sexy adjectives, and people like their QB’s to be attached to sexy adjectives. The actual problem isn’t the QB. It’s people perception of him, despite the fact that in Eagles green, he’s 18 -11 (.620) as an Eagles QB. (That’s about 9.9 wins per 16 games.)

No single Eagle won this game. There was no outlandish performance by any one player. This was a team effort. That’s how this team has won 14 games this year. It’s how they’ll keep winning. This year.

How Eagles haters look today:

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FOUR THINGS: DIVISIONAL ROUND: EAGLES-FALCONS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/01/10
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 4 Comments

DR-ATL

PHILADELPHIA returns to the postseason with a home game against last year’s Super Bowl loser. After a 13 – 3 regular season run, the Eagles have secured home-field advantage, in the pursuit of becoming NFL Champions.

For the Falcons this is unfinished business. Last year they were up 28 – 3 over New England in the Super Bowl, before they ran out of energy, fell apart, then imploded, self-destructed, and shit the bed. The slack-jawed Falcons would go on to lose  28 – 34, after surrendering 31 un-fucking-answered points. (Man, I hate the Patriots.)

Their 2017 season has at times included bits of that same falling apart, imploding and self-destructing. While they can be a dangerous team, they are frequently their own worst enemy.

For the Eagles this is about Next Man Up. Despite over half a ton (1,383 pounds) of injuries this year, the Eagles kept winning games, and overcoming adversity. Having lost QB Carson Wentz to a torn ACL, veteran Nick Foles will step in to do his best Jeff Hostetler impression.

Just to drive that point home, here’s a look at Hostetler’s 1990 playoff run:

hostetler

Stop worrying about Foles. The Eagles are a complete team, and can only be done-in by poor execution. As long as the Eagles bring our “B” game or better, we’ll walk out of this thing with the “W”.

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

1) Run. The. Ball: Nick Foles isn’t a once-in-a-generation type of QB. He’s a complementary piece. This isn’t a bad thing to realize, it’s a bad thing to ignore, once you’ve realized it. The load for beating playoff caliber defenses cannot be shifted entirely onto Foles shoulders. 

Let’s get north of 25 carries. We were the NFL’s #3 rushing team this season. However, in the last 4 games we’ve run the ball 28, 25, 23, and 17 times respectively. In each game we’ve run less, and each game has been harder to win as well. I sense a connection there.

message-keenan-ivory-wayans

2) A thousand cuts: MLB Deion Jones is Atlanta’s leading tackler and best cover LB. He’s also undersized (222 lbs.), and they only carry 3 DT’s. Because of that, I’d hammer Atlanta with the run and keep Jones in the box and out of coverage. Since their OLBs are poor in coverage, I rip them up outside the numbers with high percentage passes to TE’s Zach Ertz and Trey Burton (not WR Nelson Agholor), to freeze Atlanta in their base defense. The idea being to deplete their edge pass rush, catch their CB’s peeking back at the flat, and physically exhaust their front seven. (Like in the Super Bowl.)

3) Alter the launch: Most of the time hitting a QB is effective for getting in his head. That trick doesn’t always work so well with (local product) Matt Ryan. What’s needed is to change his launch point and delivery. Atlanta’s (overrated) receivers don’t do a great job of adjusting for balls, and they are prone to mental lapses. For example:

Ryan cares about the small details more than his teammates do. Over the years that’s been abundantly clear. Lucky for us that makes him easy to frustrate. (Lord knows what resentments he harbors from his team’s practices.) While sacks are nice, beating the hell out of him won’t net us as much tactical advantage, as simply forcing him to move his feet, change his delivery, and make him feel like he’s all alone out there. Thus allowing us to corrupt their passing offense at the source.

4) Stay grounded: The Rams lost to the Falcons last week because they couldn’t keep a cool head under the pressure of the moment. At no point was that game out of hand, nor were the Rams hopelessly behind. But while Atlanta kept their (non-QB) run/pass ratio at 33 to 30, the Rams had a ratio of 16 to 45. What’s funny is that the Rams were having a much easier time running than the Falcons (7.2 ypc vs 3.2 ypc), but still it was the Falcons who stuck with it. Once more and with feeling: They stuck with it! They didn’t panic. They stayed balanced and grounded. 

message-keenan-ivory-wayans

That’s what we need to do this week.

If we do all these things, we’re just about guaranteed to win. Now that we’ve covered what should happen, let’s get into what likely will happen:

Saturday’s forecast calls for a breezy 50 degrees, with showers. Rain is something that dome teams seldom handle well, and “breezy” takes on a different meaning when it whips through a stadium. Add on top of that, 66,000 (mostly Eagles fans), in full throat on whenever Atlanta’s offense is on the field. The cherry on top of that, will be DT Fletcher Cox, already pissed over the media’s perception of his team:fc.jpg

The Eagles will come out of the gate full of nervous energy, but the weather will help us offset any initial jitters. However, after the jitters wear off, the weather will still be there, the ground will still be wet, and with the Eagles being the better team, Atlanta will feel the game start to slide away from them.

The Falcons defense is athletic, just not athletic enough nor deep enough, to defend against a bevy of Eagles offensive weapons. On the flip-side, the Falcons only have a couple of weapons worth fearing on offense, and the Eagles have more than enough depth and skill-sets to compete, Even if wholesale adjustments need to be made. Few teams can boast that. Especially after so many injuries.

THE QUESTION that most Eagles fans have is: How will Nick Foles look out there? The answer is that Foles has been a very solid QB, when he plays for the Eagles. Especially when he plays at home. 

Since 2013, Foles is 9 – 2 when starting at the Linc. His one regular season “loss” (note the sarcasm), was two weeks ago vs Dallas. His other loss, was in our 2013 playoff game vs the Saints. He completed 69.7% of his passes for 2 TD’s, with nary a pick or a fumble, in what ended up as a 24 – 26 loss.

I’m hardly worried about Foles. If you’re smart, you’ll stop worrying about him too. As back-ups go, we could scarcely be in better hands. If things around him operate efficiently, then he has the potential to be downright dangerous. 

PREDICTION: EAGLES 25 – Falcons 18

yeah bitch