So how much of what I mentioned in PreseasonFour Things: BENGALS did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Second Unit Run Game: I wanted to see if we had another runner who could be a serious threat on the ground and I was pleasantly surprised by RB Dameon Pierce (4 – 44 – 11 – 0 – 0). Until he got hurt. (DONE)
2) Sitting This One Out:I wanted to see LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr.and QB Tanner McKee (12/22 – 54.5% – 55 – 0 – 1), sit this game out. Obviously it happened for Trotter, but McKee got stuck playing nearly an entire half.
The idea that the Eagles coaching staff still feels the need to evaluate between McKee and QB Andy Dalton (12/19 – 63.1% – 104 – 1 – 0), is concerning. Dalton is 38, has played 16 years and never won anything of any significance. He owns an 84 – 83 – 2 record as a starter. We’ve seen his ceiling. Every practice rep that McKee loses to this guy, just further stunts McKee’s development by this staff. This is irresponsible. (NOT DONE)
3) Payton’s Place: Give QB Cole Payton(0/2 – 0.0% – 0 – 0 – 0) the second half and see what he can do with it, to help his development. Didn’t happen. (NOT DONE)
4) Any Reason For Hope: Hoping for something to hang hope onto regarding our kick return game, we got nothing. (NOT DONE)
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This week’s Four Thingsscore was 1 of 4. Mercifully the preseason is over, so when we next see the Eagles, we’ll be watching our starters. But that’s two weeks away.
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Game Hero: S Andre Sam(3 – 0.0 – 0 – 2) forced a fumble and recovered two, before hurting his leg and having to be driven off the field on a cart. Like RB Pierce, if a player started strong this week, they were leaving the game early.
Game goat: Offensive Coordinator Sean Mannion – Again, I understand the strategy of vanilla playcalling in the preseason. That said, the over-reliance on routes under five yards and RB dump-offs, isn’t on the players. That’s on whomever is calling the plays. That lack of aggression, isn’t how you develop killer instinct, or a sense of urgency in young players.
On The Whole: If I didn’t have to write about it, I wouldn’t have finished watching the game.
TONIGHT, for the first time since January 11th, football will finally be played in Philadelphia again. Expect many people showing up to work wearing green. The words “Go Birds” outnumbering air molecules. The feel of an approaching September…
While the wins and losses won’t be counted in the record, the stakes for some players, will be monumental. Some careers will be ended before they even get started, and some guys may flash and rescue their career in final quarter of the final game. Just like 7th round S Kurt Coleman did in 2010, turning a near pink slip into a ten year career, with a Pro Bowl nod in 2015. So eyes open, Eagles fans. You never know what you might see.
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The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner. It’s to discuss which tactics will give our Eagles the best chance to defeat this week’s opponent. Except in preseason. Winning would be nice, but these games aren’t for that. They’re for helping us establish depth, and to perhaps uncover a gem or two.
So here’s what I’ll be keeping an eye on, in this match-up:
RB Will Shipley
1) Second Unit Run Game: While RB’s Will Shipleyand Carson Steele appear to be gamers vs reserves; we’ve seen Shipley run out of gas in a playoff game, and Steele is more of a small FB than a starting RB. If either has to start due to injury, our ground game isn’t scaring anybody.
I want to see competition for that fourth string/Practice Squad RB spot. So far all we’ve seen is Steele. I don’t recall a single carry from RB Dameon Pierce, and Jordan Mimswas just signed on Monday. It would be nice to see that we have a third guy who can break a game open.
2) Sitting This One Out:I don’t want to see LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr., or Ty Robinson in pads for this one. Those roster spots are secure. There is no need to expose them to an injury risk. Same for QB Tanner McKee.
Ideally, QB Andy Daltonwould get the first half. That way he can put out some tape, and maybe he can catch-on with another team. Because we should be about the business of cutting him.
3) Payton’s Place:Give QB Cole Payton the entire second half, to start grooming him as our third stringer, (and possibly future second stringer). As a fifth round pick, his next contract will be very controllable. Especially if QB Jalen Hurts doesn’t miss much time over the next few years, so Payton can’t put much on tape. Steep him in the system and develop him as a long-term back-up, as a way to stash cost-controlled depth.
4) Any Reason For Hope:Since mostly third stringers will play this game, it’s bound to be a little sloppy here and there. So big runs, big catches, and kick returns may be exaggerated from what we’d see in the regular season. Meaning any that we see, have be taken with a grain of salt.
Still, even if it’s false hope, PLEASE give me something to look forward to, with our kick return game! Do you realize that WR Britain Covey has never returned a kickoff for more than 30 yards? Can we get something going? A 50 yard kickoff return? A 35 yard punt return? Something? Anything?? PLEASE!?
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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.
QB Tanner McKee launches a pass from behind RT Matt Pryor.
WOW. I expected us to lose that game. The Bengals were playing starters; their ownership needed something to bring to their fans; and the Eagles use preseason games strictly as an evaluation tool. Yet, the Bengals are so shitty, none of those things mattered.
Keeping in mind how bad the Bengals are, I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself . Especially in regards to QBTanner McKee (20/25 – 80.0% – 252 – 2 – 0). That being said, DAT BOY GOOD! DAT BOY GOOOOD! Oh! He also scored a rushing touchdown on a 4th down Brotherly Shove. So I in no way, fear handing the keys to this guy, if we have to.
The format of this Four Things Reviewed is different, from the ones that will come out during the season. Keep in mind, this is preseason for me too. So I’m not rolling out the full playbook.
That said, let’s get into it.
The Brotherly Shove is the opening score of the year.
1) Who Plays:There was a question about whether or not any or all of our starters would play. The answer was that the only starter to play, was RG Tyler Steen. While he looked better than the guys around him, I’m not so sure that he has the starting job as sewed up as some people seem to think. No sense in debating about it though. We’ll just see how things play out.
2) Which WR Stands Out:That nod has to go to rookie Darius Cooper (7 – 6 – 82 – 13.6 – 1) he consistently created separation to allow his QB’s to deliver the ball safely, and he kept showing a little wiggle after the catch. I’d be remiss if I didn’t tip my cap to Johnny Wilson(6 – 3 – 73 – 24.3 – 0). I don’t speak very favorably of him in tomorrow’s Eagles evaluation (completed days ago), but in this game, he put his potential on display. If he makes me eat my words, I’ll even spring for a nice wine to pair with them.
3) Who is Patullo On 4th Down: I wanted to see how aggressive Offensive Coordinator Kevin Patullo was on 4th down. Just to get a sense of who he might be, once these games count. Well folks, we faced 4th down a total of 9 times. We went for it on 3 tries (failing once); we kicked 2 field goals; and we punted 4 times. So 5 times he called for the points, and 4 times he called for field position. FYI: Those punts were on 4th and 5, 6, 9, and 13.
DT Ty Robinson on the hunt
4) Defensive Line Pressure: Our back-ups did not get much pressure as a unit, nor did they do a good job of keeping blockers off of the Linebackers. It often looked like the entire Line was trying to rush through a single point in the offensive line. As a result they ended up clumping and doing half of the offensive lines job, for them. More emphasis must be paid to them winning their gap. After that, things will fall in line.
Rookie DTTy Robinson (1 – 1.0 – 0 – 0) recorded a sack and applied some heat on a couple of plays, but he lacks the speed to chase down QB’s from the inside out. Veteran LB/DE Patrick Johnson (0 – 0.0 – 1 – 0) had a sack that was negated by a penalty, but on the very next play, he tipped a pass to himself and turned it into an interception.
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We looked good out there. Especially given that we started out with our back-ups in against their starters. Yet we still went toe-to-toe with them. That’s the sign of a well built team right there. GM Howie Roseman is Jewish Jesus! Oh… wait….
I want to take a moment to discuss the CB competition between Kelee Ringo (3 tackles) and Adore Jackson(3 tackles). Neither played great, but one is coming over to a brand new scheme for him; and the other was juiced for a touchdown with no Safety help in his vicinity, by one of the best WR’s in the sport. Let’s not oversell Tanner, or undersell our Corners. At least not yet.
TONIGHT we’re getting our first taste of the 2025 Eagles season! New Offensive Coordinator Kevin Patullo, will get his feet wet a little bit! We’ll also begin the process of whittling all the players in Training Camp, down to a 53 man roster.
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The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner. It’s to discuss which tactics will give our Eagles the best chance to defeat this week’s opponent. Except in preseason. Winning would be nice, but these games aren’t for that. They’re for helping us establish depth, and to perhaps uncover a gem or two.
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So even if the score quickly becomes lopsided, what should we be looking for in this game?
1) Who Plays: In previous seasons our starters didn’t play and it’s led to some slow starts. Especially in games at the beginning of the season. Will this be addressed this year, by giving our starters a chance to shake the rust off, as early as opposing players do?
2) Which WR Stands Out: The WR4 position becomes WR3 in the event of an injury to a starter. So which WR plays this game like the ball is his, whenever it’s thrown to him? That’s the guy we’ll want to win the #4 spot.
3) Who Is Patullo On 4th Down: Surely circumstances will also play a hand in the decisions, but I for one, am interested to see how aggressive our OC is, when his back is to the wall.
4) Defensive Line Pressure: Our back-up line will spend a lot of time out there. Do they get much pressure as a unit? Do they protect the LB’s effectively? Who is the standout?
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Prediction: Eagles 20 – Bengals 28
The Eagles will be using this game as an evaluation tool. Cincy on the other hand, has been a factory for bad news. Their ownership will want a win, just to have something to wave at their fanbase, as a sign that things are going well. Meanwhile we just…
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, you are trying to lose your money, and you 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.
Drive Killer: S C.J. Gardner-Johnson(TD: 0/Int: 1/ FR: 0/ 4th down stops: 0/ FF: 0)
Sack Leader: OLBNolan Smith (Sacks:0.5 / FF: 0/ Tackles: 2)
Special Teams Ace: NA
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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: BENGALS did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Invert the Pocket:This didn’t happen. The Eagles seemed to be playing less to penetrate the Bengals interior, but more to muddy it. The result as was our opponent running for a combined total of 58 yards on the day, including 15 contributed by their QB trying to save his neck.
Between them only DT Jordan Davis (1 tackle) recorded a stat; while DT Jalen Carter didn’t get on the board. Part of that was the heavy rotation, which allowed DT Milton Williams(1 – 0.5 – 0 – 0) to get himself half of our only sack for the game. We muddied the blocking, but we didn’t blow it up. (NOT DONE)
2) Get their QB Off His Square:On the Bengals first couple of possessions, it looked like we wouldn’t even try to do this. However, after that, and especially in the second half we got him running around, moving his feet and we even got a pick off of him.
As for the “super dangerous” WR Jamar Chase (11 – 9 – 54 – 6.0 – 1), he caught 4 passes for 23 yards and the score, on the opening possession. After that, for the remainder of the game he had 5 catches for 31 yards. Fundamentals plus Four Things!(DONE)
3) Play-action TOWARDS Hendrickson:The idea was to bait Bengals passrusher DE Trey Hendrickson (4 – 0.0 – 0 – 0), to cut in front of LT Fred Johnson. So we did run some play-action towards Hendrickson. We just didn’t run much of it. Mostly because Hurts only dropped back to pass 22 times all day, while we ran the ball 39 times.
Instead of chasing Hendrickson around the edge, Fred could just get his mitts on him, as he tried to get at the inside gap. But Hendrickson would do that regardless of where the play-action was aimed! Making the day easy for Johnson, who only allowed one pressure in 13 match-ups vs Hendrickson. Freebie! I’ll take it. (DONE)
4) Target Their Linebackers in Coverage: We didn’t do this, but they seemed to be doing it to us. Which only made this much more frustrating to watch. (NOT DONE)
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This weeks Four Things score was 2 of 4, but in addition to that, we handled the fundamentals of Running the ball, Man Press, and Tackling securely. Next week, we welcome Doug Pederson back to the stadium where he has a statue; as he brings his 2 – 6 Jaguars, all the way from Florida, to get their seventh loss.
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Game Hero: Jalen Hurts – The guy scored 4 touchdowns. Fucking right, he’s the hero of the game. Completing 80 percent of his passes, and not turning it over, is also on the list. However, my favorite part of his game this week, was the kind of rushing attempts he had. That more than anything is what I think broke the Bengals spirit.
None of the lame play, where he fakes the hand-off, then runs to the side, doesn’t find an opening, and then lays down to avoid injury. In this one, he would fake the hand-off, then follow the RB through the hole. The other thing he did, was sit in the pocket, then step up and through, only to be presented with open real estate.
Those are SMART runs! They are low risk, and they force the defense to change what they wanted to do, which opens up the deep passing game. BRILLIANT!
Game goat: CB Quinyon Mitchell(2 – 0.0 – 0 – 0) – His coverage is so damned good! But once again, the rookie drops an interception. This can’t keep happening. Maybe he needs daily practice with the JUGS machine…
On The Whole:
After a slow start, the Eagles battled back, made the game essentially 0 – 0, and then proceeded have a 27 – 7 second half. Contributions by new Eagles like Fred Johnson and Saquon Barkley, were beautifully complemented by the youth on this team.
Ever improving LB Nakobe Dean(7 – 0.0 – 0 – 0) recovered a fumble to help seal the game. A heads-up deflection by CB Isaiah Rodgers (1 – 0.0 – 0 – 0), resulted in the most back-breaking turnover, when C.J. Gardner intercepted the ball. And let us not forget the 4th down tackle for loss, by rookie DB Cooper DeJean (3 – 0.0 – 0 – 0)
OUR Eagles mauling of New York, featured a team that hit all the fundamentals well. As a road team, we packed our Defense, and got off the bus running the football. The result was 3 points allowed, and 269 yards rushing. That doesn’t bode well for a Bengals team that is giving up 136 rushing yards per game, vs teams like New England, Carolina, the giants, and Cleveland
A win gets us to 5 – 2, and positions us to take over 1st place in the division. That is, pending the outcome of the Bears vs Commanders game.
A loss drops us to 4 – 3.
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The point of Four Thingsisn’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 Bengals
1) Invert the Pocket:We need DT Jordan Davis and DT Jalen Carter to cave in the middle of the Bengals offensive line. Their C has a habit of almost standing up at the snap. He also doesn’t do a great job of chopping his feet in pass protection. These flaws makes him susceptible to bull-rushes.
Getting Davis and Carter in the “A” gaps, and pinching the C between them, should blow up the middle of the Bengals (or anyone else’s) blocking scheme.
2) Get their QB Off His Square: The Bengals have a rhythm based passing system. So their QB is almost always throwing to a specific spot in a route, from a specific part of the pocket. Here’s a link to some of his highlights which show that. This is aided, by how often his super-dangerous receivers get free releases off the line.
Its utter precision is exactly what can make it easy to derail. Just some Man Press on the receivers, and an inverted pocket to stop the QB from stepping into his throws. Get him out of his comfort zone. Get him running. Get him to move his feet while throwing, which is unlike what he normally does. This should reduce his effectiveness and maybe even get us a gift or two.
3) Play-action TOWARDS Hendrickson: DE Trey Hendricksonis their top pass rusher. While most teams who want to control a pass rusher, do it by double-teaming. Running play-action in Hendrickson’s direction, will give him something else to do, and keep him away from the play.
4) Target Their Linebackers in Coverage: Their two most prominent LB’s are not built for coverage. So force the issue. Use quick passes to punish their defense whenever they blitz.
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If the Eagles do these Four Things, then we’ll be virtually impossible to beat. That being said…
Hopefully this game won’t end in a tie.
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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 Thingsas 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.
(S) DE Brandon Graham/Derek Barnett: (4 – 2.0 – 0 – 0)
I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for the 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 inFour Things: BENGALS did the Eagles get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Give the rush time to get home: There were a couple of drives where this happened, and the Eagles racked up 8 sacks because of it. Particularly on the two opening drives, and through the fourth quarter. During the middle of the game however, it was open season on our Secondary. Again! (NOT DONE)
2) Trust the Offensive Line: Wentz seemed at his best when he got out of the pocket, or was improvising after a near sack. His improvised touchdown pass to Ward was a thing of beauty. Same with his 7 yard touchdown run. Behind the line, he still looks like he’s trying to beat the egg timer. If you get a chance to see a replay of this game, notice how at ease he looks on the move, and how jittery he looks in the pocket. (NOT DONE)
3) More balanced play-calling: This week we saw 47 pass attempts, 28 designed runs, and 7 scrambles. On 81 plays, that’s a 54 to 27 pass/run ratio, or 66.6% pass. This is not a winning formula. (NOT DONE)
4) Do the hard part: There is no joy to be seen out there. The team body language is devoid of passion. There was the standard celebratory, defensive preening nonsense, but nothing to get the team’s energy up. Nothing to get them out of their heads, and into the moment. (NOT DONE)
This week we posted a score of 0 out of 4, (3 of 12 this season). Were this not the Bengals, starting a rookie QB, we’d have been blown out. Next week we get a wounded 2 – 1 San Fran, that is eager to challenge for their division lead. Hur-fucking-rah.
On The Whole:
Wentz didn’t look good today as a passer, or for that matter as an emotional leader. He did however, turn in a gritty performance, adding 65 yards rushing yards, and a big-time, ‘gotta-have-it’ 7 yard touchdown run. While he may have looked shaky as a passer, at no point did you doubt that he was all-in. At no point did you doubt that he wanted the “W”. He never dogged it.
To be fair, he wasn’t aided by the in-games losses of WR DeSean Jackson, TE Dallas Goedert, and LT Jason Peters. By the fourth quarter, he was back to Ward, WR Deontay Burnett, and a third string TE. Just like late last year.
For a third straight week, the Defense allowed over 20 points. What was your question?!? How many takeaways did our Defense get? What’s a takeaway? Is it Chinese?
I’m afraid that as an Eagles fan, I don’t know what a “takeaway” is anymore. I don’t think our Secondary has any clue about what that could possibly be.
That all said, given the horrid, downright goofy nature of the NFC East this year, even our 0-2-1 record has us just half a game out of first place. We have ZERO wins in three cracks, and the division is still wide open.
WE shit the bed Week 1, and rolled over in it Week 2. On the upside, finding our run game led to our QB not being sacked once, behind what is STILL a makeshift Offensive Line. That sort of stepping up is why injuries can never be used as an excuse here.
This is a battle of two 0 – 2 teams. Some say that something’s gotta give, and so an Eagles win won’t be much of a big deal. Those people are dead wrong. This team is currently just a single game behind. We have two losses, and are still just ONE game behind. We aren’t exactly chasing the ‘72 Dolphins here. A win mean means a lot.
A win gets us to 1 – 2, and back in the national conversation with regard to who wins our division. A loss puts us at 0 – 3 and in the basement with a jackhammer.
The point ofFour 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.
So let’s talk about the Four Things we need to focus on this week versus the Bengals:
1) Give the rush time to get home: Everyone is talking about how disappointing the Defensive Line is, and it drives me nuts. Are we being shredded by numerous deep, accurate throws? Nope. Opposing QB’s are getting the ball out of their hands quickly. Which means that opposing receivers are uncovering quickly. Which means the coverage is shitty. (This is the same coverage that had GM Howie Roseman boasting about WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside during Training Camp. So keep in mind that our Secondary may be trash.)
If Not Malcolm Jenkins wants people to stop bringing up Malcolm Jenkins, he needs to give us a reason to stop missing Malcolm Jenkins. Otherwise, we’ll keep saying Malcolm Jenkins, when we say we miss Malcolm Jenkins.
2) Trust the Offensive Line: After taking an 8 sack beating during Week 1, QB Carson Wentz’s Week 2 accuracy came into question (despite receivers getting two hands on some of those “errant” passes). He was clearly rushing passes, forcing passes, and (in my opinion) seeing ghosts.
After a week of being able to run the ball and not getting beat to shit, he’ll have some reason to trust his Line again. If he does, he should look more like himself, in terms of his processing and delivery mechanics.
3) More balanced play-calling:
Week One (42 passes, 17 called runs) 71.1% passing.
Week Two (43 passes, 24 called runs) 64.1% passing.
So far this season, we’ve thrown the ball 67.4% of the time. No one will buy play-action from a team that never hands the ball off. We’re telegraphing to opponents that they can unload the box, and pin their ears back. That makes it harder to utilize all the speed we added this offseason. Even a 34 pass to 26 run ratio, would change that.
4) Do the hardest thing: Dear Eagles, Right now the hardest thing for this team (or any losing team, trust me, I’ve been there), is remembering to have fun. Remember why you compete. Remember that you love to show off. Are you better than the man across from you? Then PROVE IT TO HIM. Prove it to his woman watching at home. Prove it to his mother, who’s hoping you don’t kill her boy. Prove it to his father, who this week can’t say “I taught him that!”
This is just Week Three. This is no time for the ‘Dig Down Deep!!!’ speech. It’s too early for the ‘Who Wants It More?!’ speech. This week’s speech is the ‘Trust Your Brother, and Have Fun’ speech. Don’t go to work this week. Don’t “practice your craft” this week. Just go out there and play football. Let’s see some joy out there. Let it be infectious. Just don’t get Covid.
If we do all these things we should win, with a score looking like:
PREDICTION: EAGLES 27 – Bengals 23.
Check back in a couple of days forFour Things Reviewed, and we’ll discuss how it went.
