Carolina Panthers

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FOUR THINGS: WK 14: EAGLES – PANTHERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2024/12/07
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, Offense, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

PHYSICALITY. After last week’s domination of the Ravens, that’s the word that keeps popping up, in relation to the Eagles. Whether it’s our unstoppable Brotherly Shove, or our unblockable DT Jalen Carter; everyone now expects the Eagles to just beat up opponents. And they aren’t wrong about that.

This week we host a Panthers team that, despite still being awful, has been improving of late. The thing is, they aren’t a very physical or mentally clever ball club. That however, is no reason to “play down” to them. Now is the time of year when we should be sharpening our skill at putting opponents away, as early as possible.

With a win, we rise to 11 – 2, tightening our grip on the NFC East crown.

With a loss, we stall at 10 – 3, and still lead the NFC East.

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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 Panthers

RB Saquon Barkley makes a 25 yard house-call.

1) Get the TE Involved: Last week the Offense was stagnant, punting on each of our first four drives. Then a quick pass to TE Dallas Goedert out in the Flat, turned into a 17 yard TD. While the points we nice, that pass forced the Ravens to stretch their defense laterally, thinning out the middle and making it easier for RB Saquon Barkley to do his thing. That pass helped to stabilize the Offense.

This week, Goedert is out with a knee issue. Practice Squad TE C.J. Ozumah has been moved to the active roster, but what we really need is, for TE Grant Calcaterra to step up and produce something like 5 catches for 40 yards on Sunday. The earlier he’s involved, the better.

2) Show Blitzes Off Carter: Opposing teams have decided to frequently double-team Jalen Carter. While he’s been good at physically beating those doubles; our coaching hasn’t done a good job of scheming him free; or of making the decision to double him, a costly one. There’s an easy way to rectify that.

Walking a blitzer up between Carter and the DE, immediately means either:

A) the G has to block the blitzer, and the C must go one-on-one with Carter; OR

B) the double on Carter stays, but the T has to pick up the blitzer, letting the DE go unblocked.

C) No change in the blocking scheme, would mean the blitzer runs free, unless the RB can to pick him up. Which is a real problem if the play is a run. So let’s show blitzes off of Carter’s outside hip.

3) Take Away Quick Passes: We need to show a lot of blitz, but rarely bring one. The real focus should be clouding and crowding the receivers early in their routes.

LB Zack Baun helps himself to a fresh turnover.

Since his return from being benched, the Panther’s young QB has made getting the ball out of his hand quickly, a major priority. We want to either force him to hold the ball longer, or to quickly force the ball into dangerous places. Mentally, we want him to feel like he’s regressing.

The guy they have at C is just a guy. He didn’t have a true position even in college, was a 6th round pick, and is only starting because the real starter was lost for the year. This will be just the 11th start of his six year career, in a position he’s still learning. With a young QB! Versus our D-Line!! The idea here isn’t to batter them. It’s to confuse. Demoralize. Bring out those feelings of Impostor Syndrome, and let the errors compound from there.

4) Take YES For An Answer: We are the number one rushing offense in the NFL. We are going against the dead worst rushing defense in the NFL. So I’m not even going to say it, because it shouldn’t need saying. What I will say is, If we get up big, let the young guys eat. Give the pups their chance at the prey.

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

The mission here, is to NOT play with our food, and have another game like the Jaguars (W 28 – 23). This is where we should start signaling that we can take care of business. We want to break this team’s will to compete, and have them take themselves out of the game. This week there are only two objectives,1) Win, and 2) Don’t struggle to do it.

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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 5: Panthers

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/10/11
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

EAGLES Killmongered that ass!

EAGLES 21 – Panthers 18

EAGLES STATS:

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

Passing: (S) QB Jalen Hurts (24/37 – 59.4% – 198 – 0 – 1)

Rushing: (S) RB Miles Sanders (11 – 45 – 4.0 – 0 – 0)

Receiving: (S) WR Devonta Smith (8 – 7 – 77 – 11.0 – 0)

Offensive Line Report: (2 +2:0 – 2)

Drive Killer: (S) CB Darius Slay (2 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0)

Sack Leader: (S) DE Josh Sweat (4 – 1.0 – 0 – 0)

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

1) Run the Damned Ball!: Of the Eagles 13 hand-offs today (11 to Sanders), 4 were on the final drive. Sanders carried 3 times for 22 yards (7.3) on that series, but kept running out of bounds for some reason. Until that point (in the 4th quarter), we’d handed it off only 9 times, yet the Offense couldn’t quite get going. I wonder why…

Miles Sanders had 16 touches (11 rushes, 5 catches for 6 yards), which was his second most this season. He also led the team in rushing. Under Head Coach Nick Sirianni, this has been the recipe for him winning games. He’s 2 – 0 when these two things happen. The goal however, was 16 rushes for Sanders. Didn’t happen. (NOT DONE)

2) Don’t Help Carolina: Limit penalties to 6 or fewer this week. We committed just 6 penalties. Not a great thing, but it was a season low, and a step in the right direction. Give the team credit when they earn it. Lord knows we roast the shit out of them, when they blow it out their asses. (DONE)

3) Back the Line: Our Linebackers did little to dictate the action in the game. It seems like all LB Alex Singleton (13 – 0 – 0 – 0) does anymore, is make tackles at or beyond the first down marker. The other LB’s show up even less than that. If not for LB T.J. Edwards (2 – 0 – 0 – 0) punt block in the 4th quarter, you might not even realize that he played. (NOT DONE)

4) Take Away the Edges: CB Darius Slay shadowed the Panthers #1 WR D.J. Moore (7 – 5 – 42 – 8.4 – 0) today, grabbing two interceptions as a result. On the first, Slay used the sideline to trap the receiver, allowing him to make a play on the ball. CB Steve Nelson (2 – 0 – 1 – 0) used that same technique to sit on a WR, and drive on the ball for his first interception as an Eagle.

The Eagles CB’s took away the outside, by playing aggressive Man Coverage. They were still lining up on cushions, but they were very good at allowing the receivers to run themselves into being covered. With results like this, it will be hard for Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon, to sell anyone on going back to Zone. (DONE)

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So we did 2 of the Four Things and squeaked out a win. But this is no time for high-fives and handjobs. We have a short week that features the Tampa Bay Buccaneers paying the Linc a visit.

There is no team I hate to have in the Linc, more than Tampa. The last game played at Veteran’s Stadium was our 2002 NFC Championship loss to the Bucs. In 2003 we played them again, and their website ran a video that said “We tore down the Vet” and featured a ship swinging a wrecking ball.

You can’t find that video anywhere, but I will never forgive them for that. If it were up to me, every time Tampa came here, they’d have to play down 10th and Bigler, where Bok High School plays.

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On The Whole:

Three turnovers, three sacks, and holding the Panthers to 16 points. The Defense is why we won this game. People may try to turn it into a discussion about Jalen Hurts, but the Defense is why we won. Thank our CB’s, and DT Fletcher Cox (1 – 1.0 – 0 – 0). All the attention that he commands inside, has been allowing DT Javon Hargrave (3 – 1.0 – 0 – 0) to strong-arm, Deebo, and generally wreak havoc in this game, and all season so far. Hargrave is currently on a 20 sack pace.

As a DT!

The Offense gave away two points on C Jason Kelce’s errant snap. Also, for the second week in a row, it committed another offensive pass interference penalty, which took 4 points off the board. In retrospect, this game should have been 25 – 16, not 21 – 18.

Offensively, we couldn’t get anything going, because of a total lack of balance in our play-calling. Look. Listen. The first time that Hurts was sacked, was on a play where he used play-action. Didn’t fool that LB. Not one bit. The LB never even slowed. A QB can’t sell play-action, if the offense doesn’t run the ball.

Fundamentals. We’re going to have to do better, from here on out.

FOUR THINGS: WK #5: EAGLES – PANTHERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/10/09
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Preview, Roster, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

SCORING 30 points last week, was great. Allowing 42, was not so great. We get a chance at redemption on Sunday, vs a 3 – 1 Carolina team. It’s a Carolina team allowing opponents to score on 6 of 6 trips in the red zone, this year. The very same area where TE Dallas Goedert has snagged both of his TD’s.

As for that 3 – 1 record? The Jets, Saints, and Texans. That’s who Carolina has beaten this year. So we aren’t exactly facing a juggernaut this week. This game is very winnable. Very. So don’t let the records fool you. Carolina isn’t nearly as far ahead of the Eagles, as the NFL would like you to believe (Power Rankings: #14 vs #25).

A bounce back win would put us at 2 – 3. Then add that to the fallout from the NY/Dallas game. A giants loss would push them to 1 – 4, giving them basement all to themselves. A Dallas loss will put them at 3 – 2, and turn the East into a mad scramble.

Should we lose, we’d need Dallas to lose, just to keep realistically in the hunt. True, there’d be 12 games left, but we can hardly afford to fall further behind.

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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 Panthers:

1) Run the Damned Ball!: By run the ball, I mean 16 hand-offs for RB Miles Sanders.

The one game we’ve won so far, saw him run the ball 15 times. Handing off the ball, changes how a defense attacks. It limits how aggressive they can be, because they have to diagnose what is happening. That’s less true of pass rushing.

Here’s a fun fact: The less Sanders touches the ball in 2021, the more the Eagles lose by. Atlanta – 19 touches, 26 point win. San Fran – 14 touches, 6 point loss. Kansas City – 10 touches, 12 point loss. Dallas 5 touches, 20 point loss. RB Kenneth Gainswell is a neat weapon to have, but he isn’t Sanders and the losses make that point.

With RT Lane Johnson missing a second week, LT Jordan Mailata is moving over there to fill-in. It’s also a smart audition for him, if recent leaks about Johnson are true, and the Eagles need a long-term answer there.

2) Don’t Help Carolina: The first 4 games saw us get penalized 15, 8, 13, and 9 times. So far, in every game we have deservedly been penalized more than our opponent. Granted, we’re not just going to quit penalties cold-turkey, but we need to take the first step and limit the number to 6 or fewer, this week.

Holding is occasionally an acceptable penalty. Sometimes it’s done deliberately to keep a QB alive. (Some holds have saved whole seasons!) Dumb penalties like offsides, ineligible man downfield, (clear) pass interference, tripping, and blocks in the back… Those are never sensible, and they have to be eliminated.

3) Back the Line: Carolina doesn’t have a great offensive line, so they should have their hands full with our Defensive Line. That means nothing however, if the LB’s don’t do a better job of coming downhill vs the run. It also means little if opposing receivers are getting open, early in their routes underneath.

This is what happens when receivers get a free release.

We need more jamming TE’s, and shoving WR’s off-course, when they run shallow Crosses and Drags. “More” in this case, is a polite way of saying “Any”, or “Some”, or “Please for Fuck’s Sake, get around to finally goddamned doing this!!” Zone Coverage doesn’t just have to mean watching the game. It can also mean playing in it! It can mean being an asset, and not just a well-paid liability. Someone tell our LB’s.

4) Take Away the Edges: In CB’s Steve Nelson and Darius Slay, we are supposed to have two of football’s better Man Coverage, corners. So I don’t understand why they’re so often on cushions, with Two Deep Safety help. Two Deep is what a team runs so that they can be aggressive with Man Press.

In this regard, the Eagles scheme- WHOOPS! That’s right, Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon doesn’t run a scheme. “I don’t have a scheme. Our scheme should be to put our 11 guys on the field in the best position possible to succeed.” He actually said that. Those words, in that order.

Look, press the outside WR’s! Don’t let the QB execute the play as if he’s still in practice. Throw off his timing, and force him to go deeper into his progression. Make him hold the ball, and give our pass rushers time to reach him. We have the corners! Use them. This could even be the cornerstone of an actual scheme.

If we do these Four Things, this win is in the bag.

Miles Sanders, Darius Slay, Steve Nelson… We need to hear names this week that we haven’t been hearing much this year. We don’t need guys to step up, as much as we need the coaching staff to stop sapping the roster’s strengths. (Hence the article about DT Fletcher Cox this week.)

Most of our problems this season have been from self-inflicted wounds, and getting away from fundamentals. This week (and next week vs Tampa Bay), have to be about individuals being accountable for his own fundamentals. Not accountable after a mistake, accountable before each snap. Each man needs to focus on his work, and not waste the effort of the men beside him.

Carolina isn’t our opponent this week. The Eagles are. If they don’t beat us, Carolina can’t.

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PREDICTION: EAGLES 27– Panthers 24

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

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 7: PANTHERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/10/22
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Reviews, Special Teams, trade. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THIS was a well deserved loss. We earned that shit. Yay, us. Whether you want to point to the Special Teams celebrating before a kick-off, the Offense throwing shallow routes to players that then headed out of bounds in the 4th quarter, or the Defense being yet again incapable of generating a turnover, there is plenty of blame and SHAME to go around this week.

darby blows it.jpg

Eagles 17 – Panthers 21

Don’t get cute. That’s what cost the Eagles this game. Just like the Titans game. Not being able to finish at the end, can be pointed to as a cause of this team now being sub .500. Let me say that again. The Eagles are SUB .500.

QB Carson Wentz (30/37 – 81.0 – 310 – 2 – 0) was completely on his game, save for that one errant throw that left his hand weird, on the last drive. WR Alshon Jeffery (7 – 88 – 12.5 – 1) and TE Zach Ertz (9 -138 – 15.3 – 0) were out there looking like the Dynamic Duo. They seemed to ZAP! POW! ZLORP! any coverage they faced all day. After watching RB Wendell Smallwood (9 – 32 – 3.6 – 0 – 0) demonstrate that he’s NEVER a threat to break one, and RB Corey Clement (8 – 6 – 0.7 – 0 – 1) nearly ruin a scoring drive, GM Howie Roseman is probably pantless and bent over a desk with Pittsburgh as you read this.

Defensively? Our defenders should be paid 75 cents on the dollar for this week. It would only be fair.

cam kiss.jpg

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) Make their RB beat us: That was going well until the Defense shrugged their shoulders and left to get an early dinner or whatever. RB Christian McCaffery (7 – 29 – 4.1 – 0 – 0 / 6 – 51 – 8.5 – 0) was held in check even as the intermediate and deep passing game was taken away from the Panthers. It makes this part hard to grade, because for three quarters we were pitching a shutout with this approach. It wasn’t until we… You know what. When we did it, it worked, and we did it for over half the game. I’m going to grade it on a technicality and on that alone. DONE

2) Get a second WR involved: WR Nelson Agholor (6 – 20 – 3.3 – 0) didn’t even average 5 yards (just half a first down) per catch, so it’s hard to put him down as “involved”. As a result, the run game yielded 58 yards on 24 carries for a grand average of 2.4 yards. No serious offense can live that way. NOT DONE

3) Surprise me!: Given our thin cupboard at DT, the Eagles said this week that they had a plan. The “plan” turned out to be starting DT Treyvon Hester (1 – 0 – 0 – 0) and rotating in, DT Bruce Hector (0 – 0.5 – 0 – 0). I chose to be kind here and wonder if both players couldn’t get penetration, because they just ran out of gas late in the game. Especially given that Hester doesn’t generally see much playing time, and Hector was basically called off his couch a few days ago. Hector’s re-signing was hardly a surprise given that he was here during preseason. NOT DONE

4) Maintain balance: “Not 35, 37, or 38.9999999. We need at least 40 percent.” Those are my exact words from Four Things. In this game of  the 61 plays we ran, 37 were passes, 24 were runs. The run selection percentage? 39.3. Leading 17 – 14 with 7 minutes and change left in the game, is what your run game is for. That is not the time to throw short passes to the flat, near the sideline. This is is where getting cute HURTS. This is where you need to be able to FINISH. Instead, we let incompletions and poor choices allow time for the opponent to come back and cut our throats. NOT DONE

So this week’s score is a dismal 1 out of 4, bringing the yearly to 11 of 28. It’s an appalling score, but one befitting a 3 – 4 team that likes to give games away. Next week we travel across the pond to see if we can survive a reeling Jaguars team and claw back to .500.

On The Whole:

The more I write about this, the more stunned I become. You’d think the loss of the lead would have been the stunner, but nope. It’s all the ignored fundamentals that seem like they’re just dangling at the tips of our fingers. It’s almost like Head Coach Doug Pederson is waiting for the moment to turn it on.

For instance, why are we starting Wendell Smallwood? He has no big play ability and there isn’t a player, a coach, or a ball-boy who doesn’t know it. It’s a handicap that we’ve given ourselves.

Why are we bunching the WR’s up on the ends of the line, instead of spreading out the formation? This is hurting the run game, as it keeps more defenders around to clog up lanes. (And no, this can’t be used to exonerate Smallwood, since even when he does pop free, he’s easy to run down.)

Why are we leaving the outside arm of the DE’s uncovered so much? It makes it hard to set the edge on Sweeps, Jet-Sweeps, Tosses, and Pitches. It also means the QB doesn’t have to take a second look, before throwing a Screen.

Why doesn’t Doug TELL Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz, to blitz a little more often? We’ve gotten to a point where we get pressure, but it doesn’t cause turnovers. If anything it makes opposing QB’s look like old-school heroes. Week in and week out they seem content to stand in the pocket and trade a small hit for a big completion.

We’re 3 – 4 on a season where we should be 5 – 2. (The losses to Tampa and Minny were legit losses.) The more I think about this loss, the more stunned I become. By next Sunday, I may be catatonic. Pray for me.

cam torrey.jpg

FOUR THINGS: WK 7: EAGLES-PANTHERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/10/18
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

W7-CAR.jpg

THE Eagles need to string two wins together. Period. Last week we did what we should have, and thoroughly handled a bad giants team. This week offers a somewhat tougher opponent, whom we need to find a way to beat. This isn’t a “must win” game. It’s not a “test our mettle” game. We don’t need to “make a statement” this week. This is about hosting a team, beating their asses, and sending them home. This is TCB. Plain and simple.

QB Carson Wentz is looking better with every game. Right now we’re RB by committee, but RB Corey Clement is clearly the most effective RB on the roster. If I had any say, he would start. As of today, Fletcher Cox and Treyvon Hester (pffft, beats me) are our only fully healthy DT’s heading into Sunday, but the coaching staff claims to have a plan. (Uhhhh…yay?)

This week the Eagles get to decide if last week’s win was us getting our mojo back, or just the giants being worse than we were that night. Aside from this being a conference match-up, there isn’t much to hype about it. This is largely the Panthers team we beat last year. It’s us who’s undergone more significant change since then. For that reason, don’t try to match or compare last year’s game with this one. Don’t think that last year’s formula will yield last year’s results. Don’t expect the Panthers to fold quite as easily as they did last time we played. (Emphasis on the word ‘quite’.)

cam jammed

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

1) Make their RB beat us: Take away the deep ball, to take away the big play. Panther QB Cam Newton is a guy who plays well only when things go well. He turns into a petulant CHILD when they don’t.

newton-walks.jpg

Seriously. What kind of woman fucks a guy like this?

Take him emotionally out of the game, put the offense squarely on the shoulders of their RB, and turn it into a boring, grind out style ballgame.

2) Get a second WR involved: WR Alshon Jeffery has been a beast. His being doubled and bracketed is getting TE Zach Ertz all kinds of open. That said, the Eagles need a second WR (Jordan Matthews, Nelson Agholor, Clifford Franklin…)

Clifford Franklin.gif

to step up, and stretch opposing defenses horizontally, to open up big plays for runs up the middle.

3) Surprise me!: We’re heading into this game with just three DT’s, one of which (Haloti Ngata) should probably be on a pitch count. We have a few DE’s who log snaps at DT, but no one who should play on running downs. Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz had better have one hell of a wrinkle up his sleeve, because right now, this sort of looks terrifying.

4) Maintain balance: It would be disingenuous of me to tell the Eagles to “run the damned ball”, again. Disingenuous and beating a dead horse. It seems like they may have gotten my message. They also seem to like it when Wentz doesn’t get beat to shit, during a game. That said, we DO need to maintain a run-play selection of at least 40 percent. Not 35, 37, or 38.9999999. We need at least 40 percent.

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 Eagles will split carries between RB’S Wendell Smallwood and Corey Clement, in order for GM Howie Roseman to determine if he needs to make a move by the October 30th trade deadline. Out of 32 teams, the Panthers are 15th against the run. Sso while they aren’t a huge challenge, they are a legitimate proving ground on which Roseman can base his assessment.

While the Eagles rank in the lower echelon of the NFL in offensive rankings, it needs to be stated that we’ve worked past many of the difficulties and injuries that hampered us earlier this season. We also seem to be understanding who we need to be, in order to win.

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The same cannot be said of a Carolina team that is still missing both offensive tackles, who started every game for them in 2017 (Ouch!). Despite a good QB passer rating, they are a 26th ranked passing team, whose run game is mostly smoke and mirrors. Their RB had 184 of his 349 rushing yards, come in one game. He otherwise averages 41 per game. Newton chipping in (45 – 208 – 4.6 – 3) on the ground this year, inflates the appearance of the Panthers rushing attack, on paper.

The Panthers live on their defense getting pressure and forcing turnovers. If an opponent doesn’t feed these paper tigers, they usually fold by about a touchdown. We don’t commit a ton of turnovers, so as long as we stick to that, we should win a close one that comes down to the last possession or so.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 28 – Panthers 21

yeah-bitch

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WEEK 6: PANTHERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/10/13
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

SIX weeks in and we’ve gone from the bottom of the NFC East, to the top of the entire NFC. There are still 10 more games to play before the division is officially awarded to anyone, and no one has forgotten that. However, since the Eagles don’t play for another 11 days, it’s cool if we take two or three days to celebrate our milestone.

Zach Ertz,Daryl Worley

EAGLES 28 – Panthers 23

QB Carson Wentz (16/30 – 53.3% – 222 – 3 – 0) did his thing again. Despite being under constant pressure last night, Carson went sprinkling touchdowns like flakes in a goldfish bowl. TE Zach Ertz (2 – 18 – 9.0 – 2) didn’t catch a lot of balls, but each one he caught drew blood. The much maligned Eagles Secondary picked off Carolina’s QB three times and allowed him zero touchdown passes. (The Panthers one TD pass was against a back-up LB.) We also limited them to 80 yards rushing, 71 by their QB, and the other NINE yards were on 14 carries.

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) Dictate the action: My exact words were: “keep the Panthers offense in front of us, and tackle well.” Well, “RB” Christian McCaffrey (10rec – 56 – 5.6 – 1) and WR Kelvin Benjamin (9 – 99 – 11.0 – 0) were allowed routes in front of defenders and then tackled or pushed out of bounds quickly. We took away any chance for the Panthers to be explosive. (DONE)

2) Get pressure early: We did this not just early, but all game long. Fletcher Cox (0 – 0.5 – 0 – 0) with pressure up the middle, got a hand on a pass in the second quarter that resulted in an interception by rookie CB Rasul Douglas (2 – 0 – 1 – 0). It was one of three on the night. (A fourth was called back due to a penalty away from the ball.) (DONE)

3) Rip up the seams: Instead of Carolina going into their Nickel whenever WR Nelson Agholor (4 – 55 – 13.7 – 1) came on the field, they stayed in their base and were torched along the seams for all three of our touchdowns. Even Rookie WR Mack Hollins (2 – 38 – 19.0 – 0) had the biggest game of his young career so far. (DONE)

4) Send a message: It had to be proven that we could run against a top ranked run defense and we did. We use a balanced attack featuring 30 passes to 21 called rushes. RB LeGarrette Blount (14 – 67 – 4.7 – 0 – 0) getting the bulk of that work and doing it between the Tackles. Future opponents will see the way we did that against a stout Carolina defense, and think “Oh shit.” Overall we ran for 101 yards (3.7 per tote) against a team that had only given up 100 yards this year once before (against the Saints, who blew them out). Speaking of sending a message, did you see LB Nigel Bradham (7 – 0 – 0 – 0) out there? He was playing like someone owed him money. If we see the Panthers again in the playoffs, we now know how to tranq that kitty. (DONE)

Sweet bubbly Studebaker! That’s back-to-back weeks of 4 out of 4 scores. That brings the seasons running total to 21 of 24. Either I’m psychic or I really know my shit. Either way, when they do what I write, they win. So let’s hope they keep reading these articles. Especially next week, as we prepare to sweep the Redskins.

cam jammed

On The Whole:

As you can see, this was more or less the game I was expecting. I was momentarily thrown by the announcement that RT Lane Johnson would be out. However, after taking another look, I was sure of my pick, and reassured my friends and readers thusly.

On that note, something has to be done about protecting Wentz. I kept waiting to see Ertz moved in-line beside RT Halapoulivaati Vaitai. If only to help by chip blocking. There were some instances of it, but not nearly enough of them, especially early on, when RB’s were being asked to pick up blitzes. And can we PLEASE never ask RB Kenjon Barner (5 – 7 – 1.4 – 0 – 0/ 1rec – 9 – 9.0 – 0), to pick up anymore blitzes? Getting Wentz murdered because we trusted an undersized fill-in, to protect his blindside, will seem silly in hindsight. How about we just not go there?

Speaking of Barner, I have no idea why has to get so many touches on Offense. Last week it was 5 touches, this week it was 6. If he was really that great with the ball in his hands, he wouldn’t have been at home to answer his phone, after Darren Sproles was injured. Stop letting him steal touches from RB Corey Clement (2 – 2 – 1.0 – 0 – 0)!

Shit. Almost forgot to talk about the Panthers. People make a big deal out of their QB running, but when he does, he stops thinking about his team. As I said, “Old intel says that you don’t want Newton running, but that is very old intel, indeed.” You saw where he ran for a score and celebrated by showboating on a victory lap? Aside from that, when asked to be a leader, it was all slumped shoulders and interceptions.

The sad part is that now people will say that we’ve finally played someone respectable, even though we just faced the worst QB we’ve seen so far (in regards to leadership and intangibles). Whatever dude! Turn up the music and pass me an Angry Orchard. I’m celebrating my team’s climb from the bottom to the top. And will be doing so until at least Sunday.

NUMBER ONE SEED

FOUR THINGS: WK 6: EAGLES-PANTHERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/10/11
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

 

W6-CAR

THIS game is bigger than just this game. One Panthers player has already said that it’s for the top seed in the NFC. There are still 10 games beyond this one, but still, the significance of early momentum is not wasted on either side.

We have a 4-1 record, but all of our wins were against sub.500 teams. The one winning team that we faced, beat us. They barely escaped with their lives, but a “W” is still a “W”. Yet there’s a mumbled perception out there, that the Eagles may not be for real.

Planting a flag in the chest of the Panthers would change the entire conversation, with regards to whether the Eagles are the real deal.

While there’s a lot of football still to be played after Thursday, this game is a pretty big deal. This is almost a midseason playoff game for us. It’s great practice and we need to show that we can win it.

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

1) Dictate the action: The Panthers only loss this year involved taking away the outside passing game, and forcing everything into the lap of rookie WR Christian McCaffrey. (Yeah, he’s listed at RB, but that’s like calling a Pug, a dog. It’s more title than truth.) So the idea is to keep the Panthers offense in front of us, and tackle well.

2) Get pressure early: Getting back DT Fletcher Cox should help here immensely. Get pressure up the gut, force QB Cam Newton out of the pocket, and make him alter his launch point. Old intel says that you don’t want Newton running, but that is very old intel, indeed. After suffering concussions in 2015 and 2016, Newton has altered his style of play. He doesn’t run as much, and his yards per carry has gone down. Put another way, QB Carson Wentz has been more effective as a runner (26 – 108 – 4.2), than Newton (29 – 90 – 3.1). Newton also frustrates easily and goes into funks when he makes mistakes. If we take his head out of the game early, we’ll own the night.

3) Rip up the seams: Carolina has very good LB’s, but neither OLB is even 6’2”, and both lack the man skills to handle TE Zach Ertz or WR Mack Hollins. Seeing WR Nelson Agholor step on the field, would be enough to take Carolina out of their base.

4) Send a message: No one expects us to do well against the Panther’s run defense. Run anyway. While it may not contribute many yards, it will help keep Wentz upright and healthy. It will also show upcoming opponents that we can grind down even a good team. We can use this game to attack an opponent’s confidence weeks in advance.

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 Panthers are pretty nice about letting people meet their QB (15 sacks), and they aren’t very good at running the ball. The result is that they’re a fairly one-dimensional offense. A shaky O-line and one dimensional offense is fine against Bill Davis, but it may get your QB killed against Jim Schwartz. The upshot is, they’re going to try and hide their flaws by attacking our reputedly weak Secondary. With Newton out of the pocket, that will be a mistake.

ccard.jim.schwartz

When facing QB’s like Brian Hoyer and Tyrod Taylor, the Panthers give up an average of 3 points. One field goal. When facing QB’s like Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Matt Stafford, the Panthers give up an average of 29.3 points. Or four touchdowns. So which group would you say Wentz is closer to?

Expect Wentz to put on a clinic Thursday night. You may even see Newton taking notes. Unless Carolina plays more Nickel, I have no idea how they intend to handle Ertz. However, if they line up in Nickel, I have no idea how they intend to handle RB LeGarrette Blount. My guess is that the Panthers will spend Thursday night grasping for answers that stay tantalizingly, just out of reach.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 28 – Panthers 21

yeah bitch

EAGLES/PANTHERS PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/10/24
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Wk7-10.25.15

SUNDAY         8:30      Lincoln Financial Field        Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

OUR place atop the division is by no means secure, as it’s really only by the slightest of technicalities (head to head tie breaker), that we even have the spot. This week however we can show the world that we’re a team to be taken seriously, IF we beat the 5-0 Panthers and look good while doing so. Having beaten this team 45 – 21 last year in their own home means that us simply escaping with a win, will do nothing to help the perception of our team.

EAGLES

Defense

The climb to the top of the division was done without big splashes coming from our 2014 offseason Free Agent acquisitions, instead the boost has come from guys like DE Fletcher Cox, rookie ILB Jordan Hicks, and CB Nolan Carroll. No one could argue that this is a top 10 defense, but beating this unit is by no means an automatic. If they don’t have to carry the team, if they keep playing at their recent level, the Eagles could be better than a mere playoff qualifier.

And yes, I just dropped the “P” word. Division leader comes with certain perks.

Offense

Power running, power running, power running. None of that zone shit. Getting cute last year saw us run for fewer than 40 yards. Mostly what happened during last year’s blowout, was we capitalized on 3 interceptions (by Nate Allen, Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher) and some smart, TURNOVER FREE football played by QB Mark Sanchez. We likely won’t get the breaks we got last year, so why do what didn’t work last year?

Also the more we run the cleaner and more upright QB Sam Bradford stays. Considering how erratic he’s been with his play this year, it would be wise to not put this game on his shoulders. Feeding the rock to RB DeMarco Murray is not only good for my fantasy football team, but also the Eagles. We would be wise to make sure to do so this week.

Panthers

Defense

This unit has a few guys who I’ve lusted for in prior Drafts and so it’s hard not to look at it’s performance and feel pride in my ability to spot talent, but bitterness that it’s not here. They get pass rush and sack production from different players, from different positions in their defense. So there is no “one guy” to stop.

What’s freaky is them also finding a way to mine value out of S Kurt Coleman. I think that’s to be commended but if there’s away to attack this team, I’d say it’s by targeting him with the the long ball. (Isolating him against a second slot reciever will get him out of the box. At which point you switch over to power running, power running, power running.)

Offense

Cam Newton. This unit is joke if he goes down.

If we cut off the head, the body dies.

 

Bottom Line

Stop Newton and we stop Carolina. It’s one-stop shopping. Newton threw for over 300 yard and 3 TD’s against us last year. Then again, we sacked him 9 times and hit him a lot more; so he also threw 3 interceptions. (When I said he threw 3 TD’s I didn’t mention that one of them was to CB Bradley Fletcher.) So the Rx is simple. Beat on him. A lot. And then beat him some more. This is real simple stuff folks. You walk Jordan Hicks up to the line of scrimmage and have him holler “COLLARBONE!” and then send the house a couple times early. Make no mistake, he remembers the ass whipping we put on him last year. So this year you bring it all back. You harrass him. You intimidate him. And then you break him. This game is ours if we’re willing to push down the accelerator with both feet.

Prediction

Eagles 26 – Carolina 19