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FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 12: Bills

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/11/27
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
QB Jalen Hurts with the OT walk-off TD

MORE clutch than a tiny purse!

EAGLES 37 – Bills 34 OT

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EAGLES STATS:

Passing: QB Jalen Hurts (18/31 – 58.0% – 200 – 3 – 1)

Rushing: RB D’Andre Swift (14 – 80 – 5.7 – 0 – 0)

Receiving: WR Devonta Smith (8 – 7 – 106 – 15.1 – 1)

Offensive Line Report: (TFL: 5/ Sacks: 2/ Scrums Won: 1/ Scrums Lost: 0)

Drive Killer: CB James Bradberry (TD: 0/Int: 1/ FR: 0/ 4th down stops: 0/ FF: 0)

Sack Leader: DE Brandon Graham (Sacks: 1.0/ FF: 0/ Tackles: 2)

Special Teams Ace: DT Jalen Carter (3 – 0.0 – 0 – 0) FG block

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

CB James Bradberry picks off a pass

1) Frustrate WR Stefon Diggs: This one didn’t get done, but there’s a weird disqualifier to it. There were a few key third downs where the Bills themselves pulled Diggs off the field. This made it impossible to render him frustrated with his QB not going to him in key situations. Their coaching staff took that bullet instead. Weird. (NOT DONE)

2) Get To the QB Early: Once again the four man rush was anemic. So was the predictable and lame delayed blitz that we bring every week. From the same players. In the same gaps. (NOT DONE)

3) Run The Ball: I said 14 carries from Swift, and that was the exact number that we parked at. Of course, it did take a carry in overtime to get there. A single carry. On a nine play drive. A drive where the QB ran three times. On the day, Swift had as many carries as Hurts did. Again, that was 14 carries.

Let’s not forget about RB Boston Scott (2 – 14 – 7.0 – 0 – 0) and RB Kenneth Gainwell (2 – 26 – 13.0 – 0 – 1). For those keeping score at home, we’re talking 31 passes, 14 QB runs, and 18 hand-offs. Our RB’s ran for 101 yards on 18 carries (5.6ypc), but were mere co-stars in the run game. Technically we accomplished this, but it feels empty. (DONE)

4) Speed. Kills: Go deep early in order to loosen the box. Didn’t do it. In the first half, every time the Offense took the field, it felt like they should all have been wearing red noses and piling out of a tiny car. We cut it on the second half, but the call was to do it early. And we didn’t. (NOT DONE)

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This week we got just 1 of the Four Things done, which explains how we limped to overtime, instead of bludgeoning the whole sordid pile in regulation, and getting the fans out of the cold rain! Next up, we have what I think will be a loss to San Francisco.

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Game Hero: QB Jalen Hurts – The man threw three scores, and ran for two more, one of which was an overtime walk-off. After caving in the Bills forehead with a mushroom-stamp on national television, how could I call anyone else the game’s goat?

Game goat: Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai – A year ago under Jonathan “He doesn’t make adjustments” Gannon, with many of these same players, our Defense had amassed 23 turnovers and was sacking QB’s at will.

Fast forward to you reading this sentence, and we have 14 turnovers, and a pass rush that’s recorded just one sack in each of the last two games. In the last two games we were gashed for 168 and 173 rushing yards, respectively. We’ve also given up 14 TD’s on third and long.

I hate to keep harping on how much I hate the job that this guy is doing, but explain to me what we have to hang our hat on. We’re lousy on defense at EVERYTHING now. We’re 20th in points allowed! That’s bottom third of the league!! So please, just please stop telling me what a great job Desai is doing. He clearly isn’t.

On The Whole:

The segment that was originally here, was removed to turn into another article. (There was that much of it.) It will be entitled “On The Whole” and I’ll put it out tomorrow. Very different tone. Right now, let’s celebrate the win.

Finding out that RT Lane Johnson couldn’t play due to a hamstring injury, was a blow. In fact, most teams would be crippled if they lost an All-Pro OT. The Eagles however, have swingman Jack Driscoll! Jack filled in admirably against one of the leagues tope pass rushers in DE Leonard Floyd (1 – 0.0 – 0 – 0) and kept him sackless.

DT’s Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter

We lost DT Fletcher Cox (not stats) during the game, and were already thin at DT with veteran Milton Williams out with a concussion. So of course our young guys stepped up! DT’s Jordan Davis (5 – 0.0 – 0 – 0) and Jalen Carter were strong in the middle, as most of the rushing yardage we surrendered, came on the edges. Also, if Carter doesn’t block that FG, there is no overtime.

WR Olamide Zaccheaus making his one catch count

Talk about stepping up, WR Olamide Zaccheaus (1 – 29 – 29.0 – 1) made his only catch of the game count, with a touchdown grab between one of the best Safety tandems in the NFL. And please! Don’t think you get out of here without me mentioning K Jake “The Make” Elliott (1/1 FG, 4/4 XP) through the wind, through the driving rain, and into the inkwell of night, drove in a 59 yard field goal, that would have been good from 65, to send us to overtime.

Clutch was everywhere in this one. Tiny purses were EVERYWHERE! Quick, get me some cargo! Get me a cobra! Every player pulling in one direction and stepping up when their moment came. And now we’re guaranteed a playoff spot.

Because we clutched it.

Hello, I’d like to make a reservation for the playoffs.

FOUR THINGS: WK 12: EAGLES – BILLS

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/11/25
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WINNING at Kansas City, in the rain, in front of a raucous crowd. We were down 10 points at the half, but never let it rattle us. We stuck together as a team, and QB Jalen Hurts found WR Devonta Smith, at key points to help produce the points needed for our comeback. The Bills QB and WR? Those guys don’t always get along so good.

I’m counting on CB Darius “Big Play” Slay to perhaps inspire an argument. I’ll get deeper into that, down the page.

A win moves us to 10 – 1, and extends our hold on the NFC East, by at least another two weeks.

A loss stalls us at 9 – 2. That would leave us as still the best team in all of Football, for at least another week. Especially since the Bills are an AFC team, and so doesn’t count for us, or against us, in the conference standings.

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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. So here are the Four Things that we need to focus on this week versus: the Bills.

1) Frustrate WR Stefon Diggs: There’s no need to hold him catchless. However, if Buffalo’s QB has to look away from Diggs on key third downs, Diggs will go into yapping at his QB again. We’ve seen it at least twice this season, and it’s only Week 12! Any dissension we can sow on their sideline early, benefits us later.

This is where Slay comes in. The idea isn’t to get a bunch of turnovers. It’s to stay close enough to Diggs, so his QB has to go elsewhere with the ball. Or else hold the ball too long, and get to meet our Defensive Line. That’s it. Nothing fancy. Just be an irritant and let the flaws in their personalities do the rest.

2) Get To the QB Early: Turnovers are more important than sacks, but sacks help to generate the turnovers. The more heat we can get on the Bills QB, the more likely he’ll throw us one of his patented, league leading interceptions. That said, he won’t take the threat of a sack seriously, until we show that we can get there.

Instead of reserving blitzes for the second half of the ball game this week, it would be nice to see a few of them in the first quarter. Our four man rush isn’t reaching like it it did in the beginning of the season, so we have to compensate faster, before the opponent gets comfortable.

3) Run The Ball: When I don’t say it, we don’t do it. So I’m sayin’ it. The Bills come into this game giving up 4.5 yards per carry. As an Offense, we average 4.0 yards per carry. They’re small on the DE’s, small at LB, and favor a Nickel/Dime alignment for speed. This is a team that we should FEAST on.

In my fantasies, I see RB D’Andre Swift getting 25 carries in this game; but that won’t happen, so let’s say we need 14 carries from him, this week.

4) Speed. Kills: The Bills have a pair of very good, very experienced, pair of over 30-years old Safeties. They also have former Eagle CB Rasul Douglas starting for them now. It’s a very solid, very saavy secondary they have over there. It would be foolish to disrespect them, so I’m starting out by “putting respect on their name”.

That said, deep speed is a weakness for that unit. It was the main thing that the Eagles let Douglas walk over. So we should take a shot or two early, to open up the run game for us. Whether we hit or not isn’t the point. Once the Bills realize they need to play Cover Two or Four (any even coverage), a S comes out of the box. Advantage US.

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

Do you realize that we are 9 – 1 having played 6 of our 10 games on the road? Not related to anything. Just wanted to throw that out there.

This game should be in the bag if we can keep the Bills to under 25 points. It would go a long way to doing that if we can get sacks, a turnover or two and control the clock with the run. This isn’t a secret recipe. Fortunately for us, we keep our kitchen stocked with just the ingredients to pull this off. Now all we need is some fresh meat. Hey look! Buffalo anybody?

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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.

MORE ON giants COACH BRIAN DABOLL

Posted by The BEAST on 2022/01/29
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, NFC East, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

ALLOW me to offer my two cents, regarding the New York giants hiring of Brian Daboll to be their head coach:

Are these people SERIOUS?! Was this really the best that they could do? Did the janitor turn them down again? Did Ray Handley refuse to take their call? Seriously, anyone who’s heated over minority coaches not getting hired, just got some fresh kindling thrown on their fires.

Eagles fans however, we basically have nothing to do but smile over this move. Sorry giants fans, you may have been better off sticking with Joe Judge, because this move may prove embarrassing. Both in the long and the short term. Embarrassing how? Here’s a quick example:

They didn’t even bother to snap a new picture of their head coach. They just photoshopped the one below. This is the start that his era is getting off to.

Let’s get a look at who Daboll is. First, the spin. He’s been Buffalo’s OC for the last four years and in the last two, they’ve ranked 3rd in scoring (28.4 ppg) in 2021, and 2nd (31.3ppg) in 2020. In the two years prior to that, the Bills ranked 23rd (2019) and 30th (2018), as they began developing rookie QB Josh Allen in 2018.

What we have here, is an OC who got three years to develop a QB, in one system, that didn’t take off until 2020 when they added WR Stephon Diggs. Again, this was the spin. This last couple of years is the part that the mainstream media is going to push.

Now comes the part that you’ll only get from coming here. (You have no idea how much I still love to say that.) Let’s talk about who Daboll has been, aside from only these last two years in Buffalo.

Well, Cowboys fans (because I know you come here too), he has FIVE rings. All with the Patriots. He won the first (2001) as an assistant DB coach. (Whatever that means.) He won two more (2003, 2004) as their WR coach. You know, back when Patriots WR Dieon Branch was making us forget names like Rice and Moss. (That was sarcasm, by the way. Deep, deep sarcasm.)

Daboll left the Pats for a few years, then came back as the TE’s coach. Keep in mind, TE Rob Gronkowski had already caught 38 touchdowns, and been to two Pro Bowls in three years. So I’m not sure how much coaching he needed. But it got Daboll two more rings (2014, 2016)!

So what kind of wild success did he enjoy between 2007 and 2012, after leaving New England? Well in 2007 and 2008 he coached QB’s (Chad Pennington and Brett Favre) for the Jets. After which, he was hired as the OC for Cleveland in 2009 and 2010. They ranked 29th and 31st, respectively. In 2011 he was the OC for Miami, and led their offense to being 20th in scoring. So Miami stopped paying him.

Then came 2012 with the Chiefs. Daboll was their OC and the team went 2 – 14, behind a 32nd ranked offensive unit. Head Coach Romeo Crennel was canned and Andy Reid was hired. One of the first things Andy did, was put his arm around Daboll and walk him off a cliff.

So aside from these last two years in Buffalo, Daboll has spent the last 20 years both failing upward, and constantly being a guy in the room, when that thing that happened, happened. Didn’t do it. Might not have even witnessed it, but he was in the room. Now this guy is coaching one of my division rivals! I feel like the luckiest football fan in the WORLD!

In all likelihood this all stems from no one wanting the giants job. Start with the most media intensive market on the planet. Then add a roster with massive holes. Stir in less than 14 million in cap space, and a pinch of no quarterback. Now garnish with a rookie GM, and viola! No one wanted a bowl of New York’s Hot Mess.

So the giants owner brings in an untested guy to be GM, as an easy answer to fans. Then the GM brings in just a guy to be the coach, as an easy answer to himself. All of it based on the just the last two years in Buffalo. Which didn’t turn the corner until QB Tom Brady left New England. That folks, is a weak foundation.

A year from now, you giants fans may look back wistfully at the days of Joe Judge and 4 – 13.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK8 – BILLS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/10/27
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2019 Eagles Trunk

FOR anybody who thinks less of Head Coach Doug Pederson’s ability to call a game, since the departure of Frank Reich, I present for you, Doug’s hairy ass to kiss. It may take a couple of days before you see this said elsewhere, but Doug just put on one hell of a coaching exhibition.

Pederson-C.jpg

It’s one thing to be 3 – 4, and put together a game plan to beat a 5 – 1 home team. It’s quite another to have to totally adjust on the fly, due to weather conditions that favored that 5 – 1 home team, and still beat the hell out of them.

EAGLES 31 – Bills 13

Rookie RB Miles Sanders (3 – 74 – 24.6 – 1 – 0 / 3 – 44 – 14.6 – 0) ripped off a 65 yard touchdown run for his first ever rushing score. He also caught all three balls thrown to him. RB Jordan Howard (23 – 96 – 4.1 – 1 – 0) spent the game battering a stout defensive interior. This should leave little question around the NFL of how much damage we could do if we committed to the run, more often.

How you see the passing game will be determined by if you’re a “glass half-full” or “glass half-empty” type. While not posting awesome stats, QB Carson Wentz (12/24 – 70.8% – 172 – 1 – 0 / 8 – 35 – 4.3 – 0 – 0) was brutally effective this week. He was a stone-cold killer out there today.

2019 Wentz is a gunslinger.jpg

Defensively, DT Fletcher Cox (4 – 1.5 – 0 – 1) put the interior on his shoulders, and looked to terrorize early on. LB Nate Gerry (5 – 1 – 0 – 0) was moved outside where he was able to make an immediate impact on our defensive speed. The stat sheet won’t show the plays made by SS Malcolm Jenkins (5 – 0 – 0 – 0). Given how much heat he was under this week for comments (largely true) made by a former team mate, he needed a game like this.

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) Play sound Defense: With the exception of a couple of hits that should have been wrap ups by FS Rod McLeod (4 – 0 – 0 – 0) the Eagles played very solid football. Gone were the million swipes at a ball, instead of getting the man on the ground. Plays on the football in the air, were crisp. Edge containment in a four man rush remains an issue, but that would solve easily by bringing five more often.

We did give WR Cole Beasley (3 – 41 – 13.6 – 1) a 14 yard scoring catch, while in Single-high, but we seemed to get it together after that, playing what looked mostly like a loose Zone. We got burned on a blitz using that. It has definite red zone potential, but were weeks away from it being playoff game ready. All in all, we did what we needed to here. (DONE)

2019Eagles 31-13.jpg

2) Force a #2 WR: Once again WR Alshon Jeffery (4 – 64 – 16.0 – 0) led the position in catches. Our #2 WR was (drum roll please…) Nelson Agholor (4 – 7 – 1.7 – 0). Combined, our WR’s caught 8 passes for 71 yards (8.8ypc), on 10 targets. We will not make the playoff this way. Something has to change, and change soon. (NOT DONE)

3) Move Gerry outside: This happened. I was surprised when I saw the starting line-up had LB Nate Gerry at OLB instead of MLB. Rookie LB T.J. Edwards (1 – 0 – 0 – 0) instead got the start inside. This is exactly what I said we needed to do, and it yielded the results that I suspected that it would.

Edwards didn’t look very good, but he’s a rookie who is more familiar with being a traditional 4-3 MLB. The Wide Nine concept we play moves the MLB around much more, and pulls him out of the middle of the box. This is largely why the Bills QB was able to motor-motor putt-putt for 44 yards on 8 carries.

No matter. Gerry made play after play on the perimeter and that was the point. Move him from being a glaring liability to a decisive advantage. (DONE)

2016 Mack Truck

4) Let’s be assholes: The idea was to tire out their big guys in the middle, and then hit them with the power run game later. What did we do? Well, shit. You’d think I wrote the Eagles game plan this week.

We came out with a no-huddle. We ran Agholor on a jet-sweep. Hit Sanders with a neat little Screen pass. All in the first quarter! By the time we started hammering them with Howard, he was Optimus Prime mowing down defenders as the reflected off his grill. We not only did this, we did the hell out of this. (DONE)

This weeks Four Things score is 3 of 4. That brings our annual tally to 15 of 32. That’s still a sub .500 mark, which explains how we’re sitting at 4 – 4 halfway through the year. Next weeks game against the Bears gives us a chance to get over .500 in both regards. We’ll see how it goes.

On The Whole:

The 31 – 13 score looks way more dominant than it actually was. We nearly went into the half down 3 – 7, until a stupid mistake by Buffalo, led to our first touchdown of the game. We were up to our standard of play for the third quarter, and by the time the smoke cleared, Buffalo’s lack of offensive talent was looking at an insurmountable 13 – 24 deficit.

Looking at the game honestly, there were a number of things to be concerned about if you’re an Eagles fan.

For instance, how is Nelson Agholor the second best WR on this team? Doesn’t that have to mean that everyone beyond him is absolute trash? If we have better than, or equal to Agholor, then we need to start seeing that motherfucker get 4 or 5 targets in a game.

What about OLB Kamu Grugier-Hill (2 – 0 – 0 – 0)? What exactly is his ‘thing’? Is he a pass rusher, a ball-hawk? What is the thing we’re expecting out of him, besides two tackles per game? As a starter.

This isn’t to say that I’m unhappy with this win. It IS to say that with 8 games in the books, the playoff push is officially underway. It’s a subject now. Not so much seeding, not home-field advantage. But division leaders and wild cards, are definitely up for discussion now.

If we’re to get into that discussion, we need to tighten up some of these issues, tout suite.

FOUR THINGS – WK 8 – EAGLES – BILLS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/10/24
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WK8-BUF

THIS isn’t a “bounce back” game. It’s not a “must win” game. This is a “must play” game. Our Eagles need to show up. All the way up. We’ve seen what happens when they don’t.

batman fall

Our team got shit-canned two weeks in a row. It’s not glamorous, but it’s been known to happen in sports. There is nothing wrong, or undignified in us falling down. The mark of character, is in what happens when we get back up.

Batman the pick up

We are 3 – 4, one game behind in the division, and attempting to right the ship. The Eagles have made a few roster moves to alter the chemistry of what we have on the field. It’s less of an overhaul, and more of a tinkering.

The Bills come in boasting a 5 – 1 record that’s little more than a propped up scheme, made to deceive, odds takers and gamble fiends, who don’t do homework. But that’s not the church you worship at. So, let’s get to choppin’ this fable.

6 – 27. That, is the combined record of the five teams that Buffalo has beaten. Not one of the teams they’ve beaten is .500. Two of them have no wins at all (Miami 0 – 6, Cincy 0 – 7). Oh, and most of them have been close. Buffalo’s billed as a defensive powerhouse, but really, their opponents would have had trouble scoring in a whorehouse.

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

1) Play sound Defense: The Bills don’t have any players that make defensive coaches lose sleep. The receivers are quick, but not fast. The RB is strong, but he’s 80. The line is big, but allows sacks. The QB is mobile, but he shares the football. We just need to play tighter coverage, and wrap up when we tackle. That’s it. Even with our “meh” LB’s, we have enough defensive talent to defuse their offense.

2) Force a #2 WR: Part of what’s killing us isn’t just the lack of a deep threat, but being able to stretch the field horizontally, to create wider lanes for the run game and space for the TE’s inside. In addition to WR Alshon Jeffery, QB Carson Wentz is going to have to “manufacture” a #2 WR. Pick a WR and get him a few passes near the sideline.

3) Move Gerry outside:

card.nate.gerry

MLB (LOL!) Nate Gerry has two straight starts at MLB, and in both games we gave up at least 37 points, and got shelled vs the run. Hey remember who was in the middle for Redskin RB Adrian Peterson’s 90yard TD run against us? Wow! Your memory is excellent! Nate can’t play MLB. As in, period. As in, at all. He just isn’t man enough. Great WS/NLB, but he’s a doormat inside. Put T.J. Edwards there, and move Gerry outside where his ‘tweenerness, is less of a liability.

4) Let’s be assholes: Buffalo has a huge defensive interior. Big, strong, powerful, bulky guys. Guys who can anchor against a running attack, and bull-rush their way to pressure. Let’s get those porky fuckers running laterally. RB Screens, backside TE Screens, play-action… Let’s tire these fat bastards out early, get them sucking wind, and then beat them with a power run-game in the second half. Let the world watch us win by picking on some fat guys. You know, essentially body-shaming full-grown men, in front of a stadium full of children. And their kids.

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:

More loose coverage. Bills QB Josh Allen throws for a season-high 280 yards. WR Nelson Agholor gets to watch WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside eat into some of his snaps, and see a few targets from Wentz. RB Jordan Howard will see few than 15 carries, but finally break one for 20 yards. The 6’5 237 pound QB who turns the ball over the most, will lose.

We had a stumble, but we are not done. Not by a damned sight.

Success Failure Churchill.png

PREDICTION: EAGLES 28 – Bills 23

yeah-bitch.jpg

BUSTING A CAP IN 2018

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/02/13
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Conversations, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Roster, trade. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

Almighty Dollar.jpg

HEAD Coach Doug Pederson warned you when he said “as you know, the nature of the business is you can’t keep everybody. It’s just the way it goes.” So when certain players start hitting the cutting room floor, don’t act like you didn’t see it coming. Let’s look at WHY we have to lose some people, and who we may lose.

And don’t get mad at me. This is just math. You’d have to be pretty stupid to argue with addition and subtraction. Let’s get to it!

The 2018 season has a salary cap of $178M. The Eagles have $3.7M in roll-over money from 2017. Those two numbers combined, gets our adjusted cap up to $181.7M. That’s the good news. The bad news is, our top 51 contracts (plus dead money), total $186.6M. That leaves the Eagles with negative $4.87M. 

In order to get under the salary cap, we have to either convince a number of players to play for less money (restructuring), trade away some heavy contracts, or cut our way to savings. Those are the three options.

Restructuring off of a Super Bowl win is highly unlikely. In fact, some players will want raises. So then who do we have to cut or trade? How do we make $4.87M (4.9M) in cap space?

Well first let’s look at who’s got a large base salary, but won’t hurt us in dead money, if we cut them. I didn’t say we wouldn’t miss their talent if we cut them, I said it won’t hurt us as far as the dead money penalty.

Those players are WR Torrey Smith ($5M base/zero penalty), DE Brandon Graham ($6.7M base/$1M penalty), C Jason Kelce ($6M base/ $1.2M penalty) and TE Brent Celek ($4M base/$1M penalty). Those four players represent $21.7M in salary and only $3.2M in penalty money. That’s $18.5M in cap savings, right there.

Smith and Celek are natural cuts, since Smith carries no penalty, and word is that Celek may retire anyway. Combined, they free up $8M in cap space. That would get us out of the hole, and even put a little spending money ($3.1M) in our pocket.

Graham represents $5.7M in savings, but he’s also our best DE. So moving him likely does far more harm than good. So that move is out.

JASON KELCE RANT.jpg

Kelce represents $4.8M in savings if he’s cut, but if he’s traded for a pick, to a team like sayyyyyy, the Buffalo Bills (HINT HINT), we’d save the entire $6M. (Remember when moving Kelce was a hot topic in early 2017?) Kelce, plus Smith, plus Celek would get us to $9.1M in cap space.

Given the way he ingratiated himself with the fan base at the Super Bowl parade, moving Kelce wouldn’t be popular right now. However, given the Eagles extending C/G Stefen Wisniewski last year, and the futures signing of C John Toth just last week, it’s clear that the Eagles are actively looking at the C position. (And if you think Wiz’s extention was so the Eagles could lock up a Guard, consider the presence of Isaac Seumalo, Chance Warmack and Darrell Greene. Wiz isn’t here to stay at Guard.)

nigel

Having $9.1M in cap space (Kelce/Smith/Celek) would help us re-sign some of our own Free Agents like TE Trey Burton or OLB Nigel Bradham. However, adding another $7.6M to the pot would allow us to be aggressive. That’s the amount we’d re-coup if the Eagles trade QB Nick Foles for picks instead of a player, getting us to $16.7M.

Having $16.7M brings back Bradham, rescuing an already thin LB corps from becoming a blood-spurting wound. It also opens the door to keeping Burton or DT Beau Allen, and maybe even RB LeGarrette Blount.

Or instead of Foles, we could trade FS Rod McLeod for a day two pick, and save $6M. Then our cap space would look like $15.1M, with McLeod replaced by say CB/S Jalen Mills. That scenario also would enable us to keep Bradham and so forth. So there are options.

In any case, the Eagles will probably piss off a lot of fans in the next month or so. That’s not for being stupid, but just to get the books out of the red. So be ready for it, and remember where you heard it first.

divine money.jpg

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: BILLS (PS)

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/08/18
Posted in: Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

YAY we won! Then again there was never any doubt in my mind that we would. Aside from RB LeSean McCoy, the Bills don’t exactly have a ton of offensive weapons with which to scare anyone. For god’s sake, they were forced to start slow-footed WR Anquan Boldin on the outside tonight. That said, at least we didn’t lose to a lesser opponent. That’s an important building block in a successful season.

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The 20 – 16 win gave us a chance to look at some new starters. Given that the passing game didn’t click with the same rhythm it did a week ago, you have to wonder if it was adversely affected by the trade that brought us a key player in the Secondary.

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

So, of the Four Things we were looking for in this last game, what exactly did we see? (Keep in mind, I talk about the starters in the Four Things section. I’ll address the back-ups, later. If at all.)

1) Being in sync: QB Carson Wentz and WR Alshon Jeffery didn’t seem to be on the same page mentally tonight. That however was exactly what I expected would be the case. Live action is different from practice, and with Jeffery already taking it easy do to a shoulder strain, even working in practice was going to be turned down in intensity. It’s going to be a process. That said, BOTH of these guys need to play at least a half next week. (NOT DONE)

2) Push must come to shove: At no point did the Eagles attempt to establish an inside attack with RB LeGarrette Blount. They just kept running him outside. He did have a nice 8 yard gain on one carry, but other than that, the Eagles punked out at fighting in between the Tackles. (NOT DONE)

3) Slow the inside release: Many will tell you their favorite play was the pick by CB Ronald Darby. For me it was the interception he didn’t get, that I liked most. He closed a shallow cushion, forced his man outside, then closed on the ball like he was shot out of a cannon.  It was perfect technique. Totally without flaw. 9 times out of 10 that would be six points. On the pick however, Darby’s technique initially took him out of position. But when QB Tyrod Taylor underthrew Boldin, it gave Darby time to adjust. Not to take anything away from Darby, but he won’t see an assignment that easy in the NFC East. True, he’s a work in progress, but he truly has done really well for just getting here. (DONE)

4) Control the middle: The defensive interior was sort of up and down vs the run tonight. That was kind of to be expected by a team that runs the ball as well as the Bills do. (They were the number one rushing team in the NFL last year.) While we didn’t control the middle in an overall sense, we did manage the situations well. Situational ball, wins games. Winning games, wins divisions. Admittedly we didn’t control the middle, but with the big picture in mind, I’ll take it. (NOT DONE)

That puts this weeks score at 1 out of 4 things done. Our cumulative score after two weeks, is a less than stellar 3 out of 8.

On The Whole:

It was a penalty laden mess rehearsal, but there were some good things to take away from it. OLB Mychal Kendricks continued to prove his doubters wrong with his second interception in as many games, adding a sack to boot. QB Dane Evans has me wanting to see him get a look with the second unit next week. The guy plays his heart out and we should get a look at him against stiffer competition, to see if we have something in him. (Even if it just means we have a QB we can trade.)

ICYMI: RB Corey Clement got some early reps this week. Meanwhile RB Wendell Smallwood watched in street clothes.

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FOUR THINGS: EAGLES/BILLS (PS)

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/08/16
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

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SO much is new coming into this game. In all honesty, some of it probably shouldn’t be new, but that’s spilled milk at this point. Generally in preseason game 2, you want to build on your strong points from preseason game 1. That however is hard to do when new starters get added suddenly, or others got the first week off.

Barring a surprise, new Eagles WR Alshon Jeffery and CB Ronald Darby will make their Philly debuts in this game. We’ll also get to see how WR Nelson Agholor looks as a regular in the slot. So it’ll be almost like we’re playing in our first preseason game.

Again.

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

1) Being in sync: QB Carson Wentz has to demonstrate solid chemistry with WR Alshon Jeffery. The window for getting them on the same page is rapidly shrinking, and the trading of WR Jordan Matthews removes a security blanket for Wentz, that would have allowed for a certain margin of error. Nothing less than precision is acceptable here.

2) Push must come to shove: Last week, it looked as if the interior Offensive Line was incapable of generating a new line of scrimmage in the run game. That has to get fixed this week or a hard look has to be taken at whether starting LG Isaac Seumalo is really the right move.

3) Slow the inside release: It’ll be interesting to see how much success CB Ronald Darby has when he allows an unsupported inside release, vs when he plays an outside technique. Even if the receiver’s route is an inside route, Darby needs to at least make him fight to get inside. Five yard cushions and quick inside releases will make Darby the equivalent of every CB we already had on the roster before he got here. Keep your eyes peeled. Tape don’t lie.

4) Control the middle: Last week the Defensive Line did a great job of stymieing the Packers ground game, but the Bills are far better at running the rock than they are. This week if we see our line give RB LeSean McCoy a hard time between the Tackles, we’ll know our front is legit, and didn’t just beat up on a mediocre running team.

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:

Jeffery is no rookie. He knows his craft. He can read a defense, get open and make grabs. The issue here is timing. Practice speed and game speed are very different things. So hooking up with Wentz may not look as smooth as some people are expecting. Unlike last week, you can look for shots to be taken down the field. If the Eagles are going to open up the run game and work the bugs out of the passing game, they’re going to have to air the ball out on Thursday.

For years, I’ve called C Jason Kelce a soft player who benefited from the play of savvy, scrappy LG’s (Evan Mathis, Allen Barbre, Stefen Wisniewski) beside him. (This is why Kelce’s play can seem solid one week and soft the next.) Suemalo isn’t scrappy and he isn’t very experienced. The result is that now Kelce has to carry a guy, instead of being carried. In any case I wouldn’t expect a big night on runs inside vs the Bills interior of (DT’s) Marcell Darius, Kyle Williams and (MLB) Preston Brown.

The D-Line will get pressure but will get sold-out by spotty coverage. People will want to blame the athletes, but the real problem is the technique we play. But be patient. It’ll get addressed soon enough. Just not this week.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 17 – Bills 10

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EAGLES/BILLS PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/12/10
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . 7 Comments

Wk14- 12.13.15

SUNDAY         1:00         Lincoln Financial Field         Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

BOTH the Bills and the Eagles need this game to keep their playoff hopes alive. The 6-6 Bills are hoping to win out and for some other teams to give them some help to secure a wild-card berth in the AFC. The Eagles have to win the division to see the postseason. This one should be a lot of fun to watch if both teams show up with empty bellies.

EAGLES

Defense

Yes, last week DID happen, but if you’re still excited about it then you really haven’t taken a GOOD look at it. In a game that featured a very beat-up Patriots team, their QB still managed to throw for over 300 yards and score 4 touchdowns (3 passing, 1 rushing). We even let him have a 36 yard reception, just for shits and giggles. Oh and they averaged 4.1 yards per rush.

So while last week was a great win to have, it was more the result of a handful of splash plays. It was by no means a sustained effort by a Defense ranked near the bottom of the NFL in points allowed (25th), yards allowed (26th), passing yards allowed (24th), and rushing yards allowed (27th).

After watching this unit allow 90 points over a two week span, it’s hard to go out on a limb and play the optimist over a few plays in one game.

Offense

I have no idea what our Offense is like now. Apparently RB DeMarco Murray is no longer a factor here. My guess (and at this point a guess is all it is), is that returning RB Ryan Mathews will be the lead dog that he was expected to be when he was originally signed ahead of Murray this Spring. For too many reasons Kelly couldn’t be serious about a backfield headed up by RB Darren Sproles.

WR Miles Austin was cut 7 months too late for it to make a difference in 2015. I said this move should have been made back in May. Had it happened back then maybe you’d be happily wearing a Nelson Agholor jersey right now. (BTW: If you happen to be wearing an Agholor jersey right now, you have my condolences for the money you parted with.)

I’m seeing fans now are back on the bandwagon for QB “Super” Sam Bradford again, after his 14/24 – 58% – 120 – 2TD game against the Patriots. There are some numbers out there that suggest that he’s getting better suited to the Offense, and if you’d like to buy into those, be my guest. They however overlook a far more important metric that once seen, cannot be unseen and will give you the most accurate picture of Bradford.

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Bills

Defense

There’s really nothing great about this unit. In fact they make me think of the “Bend but don’t break” style that Buffalo played in the 90’s when they were thwarted in an unprecedented four straight Super Bowls. That 1990’s team had better players than this 2015 edition and even they had up and down results with that style of defense.

Basically I think the Bills 6 losses this year have more to do with their defense than anything else. They get interceptions, but they don’t get to the QB much. The little pass rush they do generate will likely be compromised if (lead interceptor) CB Stephon Gilmore misses Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury.

Offense

This unit is one of the best kept secrets in the NFL. They’re 4th in rushing and 10th in scoring. They have QB Tyrod Taylor who sports a 17:4 touchdown to interception ratio, and is averaging 5.0 yards per rush. To top it all off, they have enough depth to squeeze by rough patches that would derail an entire season for most teams. Not that they need it since they’re also a pretty healthy bunch to say they’re heading into their 13th game.

Though they have some strong points, this unit is not without it’s weaknesses. They will allow defenses to touch their QB, and their 3rd down conversion rate is only 36%. The biggest weakness though is WR Sammy Watkins.

Yes. I said Sammy Watkins. Read on.

For all his talent, there are too many games where he just seems like he’s going through the motions. By all rights this guy should be killing defenses on a weekly basis, but he spends too many Sundays just running his routes. He’s been on a tear these last couple weeks, but that’s no guarantee that he shows up looking to really play this Sunday. I for one, hope that he doesn’t.

BOTTOM LINE

I think this one comes down to coaching and styles. Bills coach Rex Ryan will come in looking to impose his will on our Head Coach. When teams commit to pounding the ball at us the losses tend to be humiliating. (New Orleans 2013, Minnesota 2014, Tampa Bay 2015 for examples.) I have no idea what Kelly will be looking to do, but the real question here is whether or not he’s willing to adapt and adjust in-game. And in three years I have seen no reason to believe that he will.

PREDICTION

Bills 26 – Eagles 21