Derek Barnett

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FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK10 : GIANTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/11/16
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, Rivals, Roster, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THIS loss was indefensible.

EAGLES 17 – giants 27 

EAGLES LEADERS:

(S) QB Carson Wentz: (21/37 – 56.7 – 208 – 0 – 0)

(S) RB Miles Sanders: (15 – 85 – 5.6 – 0 – 0)

(B) TE Richard Rogers: (5 – 4 – 60 – 15.0 – 0)

(S) DE Derek Barnett: (3 – 1.0 – 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 in  Four Things: giants did the Eagles get around to doing? Well let’s see:

1) Hand the ball off 20+ times: Despite our RB’s combining for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns, with an 8.0 per carry average, we only handed it off 19 times as compared to 37 pass attempts. I can’t put this any plainer than these numbers do. (NOT DONE)

2) Play gap control defense: The defensive line though frequently out-muscled at the point of attack, did a decent job of staying in the their lanes. The problem was when anybody besides LB T.J. Edwards came down to fill. Our LB play today was atrocious. The giants first goal line TD was an absolute microcosm of what is wrong here. The giants RB jumped over the pile, while NO Eagles LB ever left the ground to meet him. That lack of anticipation is why our LB’s are generally just Special Teams refugees who get more defensive snaps than their talent or dedication could ever warrant. (NOT DONE)

3) Spread them out: We did this intermittently, and it allowed all sorts of running room for. What we didn’t do, was push the ball down the field. It seemed more like the coaching staff was trying to work next year’s receiving corp in, as opposed to winning today (DONE)

4) Mix up our coverages: What? No. The Eagles don’t know what that is. Incidentally in my 2020 Season Review: Second Quarter, I mentioned CB Nickell Robey-Coleman being trash, and how I was on the razor’s edge regarding CB Avonte Maddox. He is also trash. While I think both are hampered by this FUCKED UP defensive system, when either man goes to make a play, he’s consistently a day late and dollar short. (NOT DONE)

This week we notched 1 of 4 Four Things, getting us to 12 of 36 on the season. We are missing too many fundamentals to be an effective team.

Next week we get a 6 – 3 Cleveland team that just squeaked by the Texans today. Hey, remember back when could look at the schedule, see the Browns name, and write a “W” next to it, in ink? Ah the days of yore. When we had a President, not a low-rent dictator. Before a third of the nation was on fire, and eating in a restaurant was less risky than sky-diving. I fucking hate this year.

On The Whole:

Unlike Nell here, no one saved the Eagles from having a train run on them. I’m very aware of what that actually means, but based on what we saw today, it would be hard to convince me that that’s not what happened to our Defense vs the giants.

The giants ran for 151 yards on 36 totes today (4.1) for 3 scores, while only attempting 28 passes. They didn’t have to risk a turnover, because we couldn’t make them throw it enough.

Offensively, we looked bland. There was no aggression in the passing game to match the great job we were doing on the ground. That said, it felt largely like the coaching staff was trying to work in the youth, and jump-start the TE position.

There were three bad snaps from C Jason Kelce, and a bit where he and Wentz got their feet tangled during a snap. These things happen to all pivots, but 4 instances in one game?! Sometimes it’s not meant to be your day, and this more than anything else, seems like it was the case for the Birds.

TWO TRADES I’D LIKE.

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/11/02
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Roster, trade. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

AS the November 3rd trade deadline fast approaches, word around the campfire has it that GM Howie Roseman will be aggressive in acquiring talent, not shedding it.

Understanding that this will likely be one or two small moves, instead of an NBA-style mega deal, here are two trades I’d like to see.

If only one move gets made, it should be bringing back RB Jordan Howard.

The Eagles could use a veteran RB as an insurance policy behind RB Miles Sanders. The team could also use a between the Tackles thumper. Howard is both. Even better, he’s familiar with the scheme. He would be a triple-fold improvement over RB Boston Scott.

Currently Miami has made Howard a healthy scratch for three straight weeks, after giving him all of 18 carries in 4 games. (FYI: He had two games with 18+ carries for us, just last year.) My point is, Miami hasn’t exactly driven up his market price. He should be pretty cheap to pull, should the Eagles go a-courtin’.

Many fans would like to see a CB to pair with CB Darius Slay. Anybody like that, who’s worth having, likely won’t be on the trading block at this stage of the year.

What the Eagles could really use is an OLB who can cover. Not a DB/LB tweener, but an honest to god OLB. That means LB size, strength, and leg length. I like OLB Logan Wilson from Cincinnati.

Wilson is a rookie that they took with a third round pick, who looks like he has a nice future ahead of him. So why would the rebuilding Bengals want to part with talented youth? Because DE Derek Barnett is also young, talented and will immediately help them improve their pass rush.

Understand, we have cap hell coming up, and Barnett will be hard to sign. Makes more sense to get something for him, instead of just letting him walk out the door. DE Josh Sweat is ready for more playing time anyway.

This would be two immediate contributors, who won’t cost much to add. Hard to scoff at that.

VINNY CURRY RETURNS! (AGAIN.)

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/08/08
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Vinny Curry

CURRIED QB is on the menu again in 2020! The Eagles have re-signed DE Vinny Curry, bringing him back on a one year deal for 2020. I’m a huge fan of the move. I love his experience in the scheme. I love his productivity. I love his schematic versatility. I love the depth he adds. Indeed, the rich have gotten richer.

It’s the timing on the move that raises my eyebrow.

When Curry was allowed to walk at the end of the season, the Eagles already knew what they had. So why wait until a week into camp to bring him back into the fold? My first instinct was, maybe they aren’t seeing as much from the young guys as they were hoping.

Rhodie (JFK)

Then I had another thought. Maybe it’s Covid-19 proofing. Our Defense is predicated on getting pressure on opposing QB’s. DC Jim Schwartz tries to do that with his four down linemen. So keeping those linemen fresh, is as important to the scheme as the X’s and O’s are. That in mind, we might just be stockpiling pass rush talent.

That would also explain last month’s cutting and immediate re-signing, of DE Daeshon Hall. Hall “failed” his physical, cleared waivers, was quickly snatched up by the very team that cut him, and placed neatly on our PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) List, where he incidentally won’t count against the roster. So basically Hall was stashed away.

While Curry at 32 years of age is unlikely to be stashed, a younger player could be. I’m thinking of players like DE’s Shareef Miller, Joe Ostman, Matt Leo, and the aforementioned Hall. A couple of those guys may end up on the Practice Squad, or this year’s very flexible I.R. format.

GRAHAM AND CURRY

If I had to bet on which DE’s make the Week One roster, I’d go with Curry, Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, Josh Sweat, and Genard Avery playing a LB/DE swing role. Curry gives us a Nickle/Dime DT presence as well. (Graham and Barnett will start of course.)

This signing is a great move. Not only for what it added to our roster, but for removing Curry from garnering interest from a division rival at some point. Everything about this move was forward thinking. I have to love it.

MANIACAL FACT: When Vinny Curry starts 16 games, his team ALWAYS wins a Super Bowl. 

card.vinny.curry

DEREK BARNETT’S 2020

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/06/28
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Derek Barnett sacks Dak.jpg

HEADING into year four, DE Derek Barnett has 14.0 career sacks, and has never played all 16 games in a season. More than 14 sacks (by now), was expected of a player selected 14th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft. It’s true that as a DE he’s expected to play the run as well as the pass, but make no mistake, he was drafted primarily to sack the QB.

He was touted for having beaten his school’s career sack record, previously held by some guy named Reggie White. Maybe you’ve heard of him? There was constant mention of Barnett breaking that record, coupled with Eagles brass raving about how Barnett’s hands helped him gain quick access to QB’s. 

No one came right out and said it, but the whispers were “This guy might end up being better than Reggie.” No one said that outright, because until someone does it, the idea will always be laughable. As an Eagle, Reggie played in 121 games, producing 125 sacks. That’s more than a sack per game, over a span of eight straight seasons, despite constant double and triple teams.

Reggie White made Troy Aik man

Reggie made Troy ache man.

Reggie White’s career as an Eagle reads like Norse mythology. So of course no one will put their reputation on the line, and say that Barnett (or anyone else), has a chance to be as good, let alone better, than Reggie. However, the implications were there. Meanwhile, after three seasons, Barnett has yet to have even produce 10 sacks in a calendar year, let alone a season.

To their credit, the Eagles decided to roll the dice on Barnett. They picked up the fifth year option on his rookie contract, increasing his cap hit from 4M$ in 2019, to 10M$ in 2020. This is partly why the Eagles aren’t throwing money at free agent players like DE Jadeveon Clowney, or trying to trade for a player like DE Yannick Ngakuoe.

In his rookie season (as a back-up), Barnett earned 5 sacks. In year two he went on I.R. just 6 games into the season. Last season (his first full season as a starter), he picked up 6.5 sacks with the DT position beside him, being a revolving door due to injury. The guy playing next to Reggie for five years? Just some dude with a generic name like Jerome Brown. Maybe you’ve heard of him?

Jerome Brown.jpg

Barnett hasn’t had a consistent threat line up beside him yet. The Eagles are banking on 2020’s interior Defensive Line to provide the DE’s with more one-on-one opportunities, as well as cleaner, and faster paths to the passer. Thus allowing Barnett’s quick hands to become a factor.

While Barnett’s sack numbers aren’t eye-popping, in his rookie season, he collected what may be the most important fumble recovery in Eagles history, helping to secure our victory in Super Bowl 52.

card.DE derek.barnettSB

He also produced a strip/sack in the NFC Championship game, to help the Eagles get to that Super Bowl. So he can produce when it counts, which is likely where the Eagles faith in him comes from.

derek barnett.jpg

The Eagles are banking on that, to the tune of an additional 6M$ this year. Here’s hoping that Barnett can finally deliver on a double digit sack year.

EAGLES TRADING FOR NICK FOLES.

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/03/05
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Conversations, Draft, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, playoffs, Roster, trade. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

QUARTERBACK Nick Foles is up for trade by the Jacksonville Jaguars. The two questions I keep hearing and reading are “Should we trade for Nick Foles?” and “Do you want the Eagles to trade for Nick Foles?” Funny thing is, many fans treat those like they mean the same thing, but really those two questions are a million miles apart.

player-nickfoles.534

Should we? Yes. The Eagles need a back-up QB with Josh McCown unlikely to be back. If we bring in another QB, it should be someone who fits the system, and culture. Someone the roster can rally behind, if our starter gets hurt. Foles meets those qualifications better than anyone else we could put in that #2 slot. In fact, Foles meets those qualifications even better than QB Tom Brady could. And I dare you to argue with that.

Do I want it? Yes. I want anything that obviously helps us be stronger. In January, we watched McCown get hurt and still keep the Eagles in a playoff game. Given that McCown was able to do as much as he did, there is no way that you can convince me that

A) if QB Carson Wentz doesn’t get cheapshot, we still lose that game.

B) if Foles (being more familiar with the roster) stepped in instead of McCown, that we still lose that game.

2019 Josh McCown

Eat a dick Clowney.

NOTE: This is not to say that McCown lost that game for us. Far from it. The guy was a gamer for us, and was a hell of a teammate. It would do me proud to see him in midnight green in 2020.

That all having been said, Foles coming here is out of the question, right? We can’t afford him, right? Sit. Have some tea. It’s Blood Orange. Outside the box tea, for outside the box thinking.

The deal that he’s on in Jacksonville? He was never going to be a Jaguar past 2021. Media types were saying that while the ink was still drying on the contract. Only 50 of the 88 million was ever guaranteed, and after 2020 the Jags can either cut Foles and eat 12.5M in dead money, or pay Foles the remaining 53.875 million over two years.

Bottom line: After 2020 Foles is owed just 12.5M if he’s cut. Letting him keep his roster spot exposes the Jags to owing him more money. So he won’t be there under any circumstance in 2021.

Just over a year ago (2/21/2019) I wrote “WHY NOT KEEP NICK FOLES?”. In that article I proposed 50M over 5, with 3 years guaranteed. Putting my GM hat back on a year later, I’d up that ante. 50 over 5, with every red cent guaranteed, with retirement being the only caveat language. If he (or his wife Tori) wants a no-trade clause, add it.

Next to the CBA (whenever it gets done) that’s an easy lift for a ringer in the #2 slot. It guarantees Foles stays until he’s 36 – 37, and basically retires him as an Eagle. A quick call to his agent Justin Schulman, will determine if Foles is amenable to reworking his deal. If so, we need to make the trade.

Wentz Foles

What about Carson!? (Shrug) What about him? If he and Foles truly have a great relationship, he should welcome it. If he secretly doesn’t want Foles to steal his spotlight, then the next time he volunteers to go into a tent, there should be s’mores involved. “With your shield, or on it.”

But what do we trade them? Hold on. Let’s understand the terrain before we travel any further. Trading Foles is a salary cap purge for them. As I outlined in that article from last year, most teams already have their prospective QB of the future. Thus, trading for Foles is asking for a back-up with an eight figure per year, price tag. Throw in a decent QB Draft pool, and the trade partners get really slim for Jacksonville.

How about we dangle DE Derek Barnett? Unless he has a monster 2020, we’d be silly to pick up his fifth year option after 2020. With them possibly losing DE Yannick Ngakoue, this patches a hole for them, with youth that may have more upside in their system, than in ours.

In fact, since they lost CB A.J. Bouye, I’d sweeten the pot by offering Barnett and CB Sidney Jones. I think Jones has more upside than most fans here do, but I think his confidence will always be an on/off switch. Better to broom him before we have to make any sort of tough financial decisions regarding him.

FAP DUDE

Admit it. You LOVE the idea.

So we offer something we can’t use, for something they can’t use. We do it before the Draft, so everyone knows what they need to replace as early as possible, and in the process give each other some cap relief, in the time-frames where we each need that space. Afterward, we rework Foles deal to be worth 50M not just 12.5.

0-card.nick.foles.SBMVP

Like I wasn’t going to include this.

As I said, these are two very different questions. BTW: If we don’t get Foles, it would be wise to make a push for Jacoby Brissett, and offer him that same 50 over 5 deal. 

#10 SEND FIVE

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/02/19
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Players, Rants, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THE 12 2020.10

 

WANNA see something stupid?

ccard.jim.schwartz

 

What is this happy horseshit where we usually rush four, rarely blitz, but when we do, we end up in crap like Cover Zero? We need to send five so that-  Hold on. I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me roll this back a bit.

Last year in almost every game the commentators would mention that our pass rush isn’t as potent as it’s been in the past. At first that sounded weird, because our sacks have gone up two years in a row. If sacks were the only metric used, it would just seem like the typical media down-talk directed at the Eagles. Which we fans are used to.

Then you think about our opponent completion percentages. And their QB ratings! Seriously. We even made Haskins look good… The eyeball test makes it clear that we don’t bring the heat like we used to.

Part of that is because the only player on our D-Line who requires a double-team is DT Fletcher Cox. Us rushing four vs an opponent’s five man o-line, plays directly into our opponent’s plan. We have a pair of complete DE’s in Brandon Graham and Vinny Curry, but we don’t have a guy who alters blocking schemes. (DE Derek Barnett too often bails early on his contain responsibility.)

We need to send five rushers more often, to get Cox more 1-on-1 match-ups. That way he can do to blocking schemes what he does to marriages. We don’t have to do it all the time, but it has to stop being rare.

 

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK17 – GIANTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/12/30
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, Rivals, Roster, stats, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

EXCUSES

THE PHILADELPHIA EAGLES ARE YOUR 2019 NFC EAST CHAMPIONS!!!

Once again, I predicted score wrong, but I was pretty on-point about the spread. (I predicted 18 points, the margin turned out to be 17.) At no point this week, did I think this game would be close. Turns out, I nailed it. 

EAGLES 34 – giants 17

card.boston.scott.jpg

The story many will tell, will be of RB Boston Scott (19 – 54 – 2.8 – 3 – 0 / 4 – 84 – 21.0 – 0), taking over after Rookie RB Miles Sanders (9 – 52 – 5.7 – 0 – 0) went down with an ankle injury. The REAL story is of how QB Carson Wentz (23/40 – 57.5 – 289 – 1 – 0), continues to make everyone around him better, regardless of their Draft pedigree.

While Boston Scott led the Eagles in receiving yards, it was WR Greg Ward (6 – 43 – 7.1 – 0) who paced the roster in receptions, TE Dallas Goedert (4 – 65 – 16.2 – 0) who led in targets with 10, and TE Josh Perkins (4 – 50 – 12.5 – 1) who caught Wentz’s lone scoring strike. The point is, Wentz spread the ball around. Perfectly conducting the Offense, to make us more than the sum of our parts.

We made plenty of noise on Defense as well, with DE Derek Barnett (2 – 2.0 – 0 – 0) playing this game of the other side of the line of scrimmage, as both of his tackles were for losses. The same could be said of DE Brandon Graham (3 – 1.0 – 0 – 0) who also made all of his tackles in the backfield.

There’ll be no media coverage of how the Eagles defensive interior pissed all over the line of scrimmage, and marked it as their own territory. DT Timmy Jernigan (2 – 1.0 – 0 – 0) played like a someone was holding his family hostage. He absolutely wrecked any semblance of a blocking scheme, and he seemed to always be caving in the point of attack. DT Anthony Rush (1 – 0 – 0 – 0) strong-armed his way into a TFL as well.

2019 Fletcher Cox Daniel Jones

DT Fletcher Cox (1 fumble recovery) doesn’t make much of an appearance on a stat sheet, but his 4th quarter recovery of a fumble forced by SS Malcolm Jenkins (7 – 0 – 0 – 0), put the game out of New York’s reach, for good. And Sidney Jones (3 – 0 – 1 – 0)! Did you see that step for step coverage of giants WR Darius Slayton (4 – 50 – 12.5 – 0)? Slayton fell cleanly on the play, and Jones plucked the ball out the air, driving a dagger into the face of the giants hopes. Slayton had a very different day in this game, than he did when CB Ronald Darby (IR) was playing human turnstile, in the last match-up.

card.sidney.jones.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?

2019 Wentz sees Perkins

1) Protect the QB: The Eagles did decent (not great), job of getting Wentz outside of the pocket. However, the coaching staff left most of his protection up to the clock in his head. Wentz didn’t disappoint, as he made a point of either quickly vacating the pocket or throwing the ball away.

In fact, my second favorite pass of the day was an incompletion. On the third play of the 2nd quarter, Wentz spotted pass interference, and threw to WR Robert Davis (no stats), to draw the officials attention to the penalty. That’s an Aaron Rodgers, Jim Kelly, Peyton Manning kind of tactic. It worked, and we got 13 yards out a pass that never stood a chance of being completed. Nothing protects a QB like his own saavy, and Carson Wentz’s saavy magnified his physical protection in this game. (DONE)

2) Take away Barkley: RB Saquon Barkley (17 – 92 – 5.4 – 1 – 0 / 3 – 25 – 8.3 – 0) did what he always does. He spends most of a game under wraps, and then makes noise with one big play. This week it was a 68 yard rushing touchdown. Before that he had 11 carries for 10 yards (0.9 yards per carry), then the 68 yarder, and afterwards 5 carries for 14 yards (2.8 ypc). We made him not matter. We took him away from being able to help his team, on all but one down, and made his team play around him for the rest of the game. (DONE)

ccard.doug.pederson.jpg

3) Vary our attack: Boy did we ever! HC Doug Pederson emptied the attic this week. Strikes to WR’s on the outside. A 28 yard laser down the middle to Dallas Goedert, 14 yards worth of toe drag swag to Goedert on a clutch 3rd and 8, a cross body throw to a third string TE for a 24 yard score… And then when Sanders went out, Scott came in and we continued to pound the rock inside. That is, when we weren’t running Jet Sweeps, and throwing 39 yard screens… We threw a little bit of everything at the giants. I’d hate to be the team that has to watch tape and figure out what, or whom they need to stop. (DONE)

4) Hold auditions: This was done, but not the way I envisioned it. Due to CB Jalen Mills being out, and Darby being just placed on IR, both Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas (3 – 0 – 0 – 0) had to start, and play the whole game. There was no way to play one off of the other. Instead of two half game auditions, we got two full game auditions, for Darby’s spot in 2020. During which both players defensed three passes each, and allowed no WR more than 68 yards (68, 50, 39, and 12). (DONE)

That brings the week to a perfect 4 of 4, and the REGULAR season total to 38 of 64 (.593), which is just about commensurate with our record of 9 – 7 (.562). To have gotten it to match exactly, our record would had to have been 9 – 6 – 1.

Given that over the last 4 weeks we’re 15 of 16 (.937) in Four Things, and are undefeated during that span, it would seem that the team is peaking at just the right time, because we’re taking care of exactly the right things.

On The Whole:

NO WIN.jpg

This was an excellent victory. It was a slugfest that more or less became a blowout, on the road, in inclement weather, while still losing key players. I defy you to ask for better character building on the doorstep of the playoffs.

Now we begin our journey to the Super Bowl.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK 4 – PACKERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/09/28
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2019 aaron rodgers.jpg

THIS time we won. Yet again the defense allowed 27 points for the third time in just four games. Yet again the Secondary allowed the opposing QB to get passes off quickly, before our pass rush could apply consistent pressure. What? You thought this would be all rosy and complimentary?

This year we’ve won two shootouts in comeback fashion, and we’ve lost two shootouts in comeback fashion. The slow starts aren’t great, but at least our Offense gets started at some point. Our Defense still seems to be in New Orleans.

In any case, we won.

2019 Miles Sanders KR.jpg

EAGLES 34 – Packers 27

The story of the night was RB Jordan Howard (15 – 87 – 5.8 – 2 – 0 / 3 – 28 – 9.3 – 1). He finally got the workload fans and media types have been clamoring for, and he produced like gang-busters. Not only that, but RB Miles Sanders (11 – 72 – 6.5 – 0 – 0) used in a supporting role, not as the lead, had his best game so far as a pro. (FYI: his yards per carry has improved in every game so far.)

The running game being so effective, allowed QB Carson Wentz (16/27 – 59.2% – 160 – 3 – 0 / 6 – 13 – 2.1 – 0 – 0) to go unsacked. Not only that, but the even balance of pass attempts (27) and handoffs (27), saved some wear and tear on our triggerman’s arm.

One of the most pivotal points of the game was DE Derek Barnett (3 – 1 – 0 – 1) forcing a fumble on the games only sack. To this point he has not produced like a first round pick, and so it was nice to see him show up and make such an impact play in this game. OLB Nigel Bradham (4 – 0 – 1 – 0) has two passes hit him in the hands, but he made sure he caught the second one, which salted the game away.

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?

2019 Jordan Howard scores.jpg

1) Work the body to bring down the head: Boy did we ever! There were some outside running plays, but for the most part we ran mostly from Guard to Guard. When you do that, it takes the starch out of any interior pass rush. It also pulls that extra Safety within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. Showing we can run inside now, sets the table for explosive plays later when WR DeSean Jackson comes back from injury. Hell, it helped WR Alshon Jeffery (3 – 38 – 12.6 – 1) almost make a few plays, despite still being a little gimpy. (DONE)

2) Don’t let Rodgers relax: Get QB Aaron Rodgers (34/53 – 64.1% – 422 – 2 – 1) moving to his left, to force him into his least deadly pass. That was the idea. We got right to that, on his first pass attempt, and we did a few more times in the game. A couple of times he just pulled it down for a 4 yard scramble. (DONE)

3) Generate two turnovers: Derek Barnett’s forced fumble, recovered by DE Brandon Graham (1 – 0 – 0 – 0) was the first. And of course, Nigel Bradham’s touchdown robbing, victory sealing, show-stopping interception in the end zone, was the second. (DONE)

2019 nigel bradham.jpg

4) More 2nd down play-action: The Eagles seemed to run play-action on any down that wasn’t second down. We got away with that in this game, but really second down is the ideal time for that ploy. (NOT DONE)

That brings this weeks Four Things tally to 3 out of 4, and the season’s numbers to 6 of 16. Now we get 10 days to use as a sort of Bye week. Guys can get some treatment and maybe take a couple of days to get away, go see family, spend a couple days in pajamas… After which, we come back and get ready to build some momentum vs the Jets. Regardless of whether or not their diseased QB is back.

On The Whole:

Outside of me, not many people thought the Eagles could beat the “undefeated” Packers team. After looking at how the Packers came by their wins, it was clear that their record was less about them being good, and more about their opponents (Chicago, Minnesota, and Denver) owning the 29th, 31st, and 24th ranked passing offenses.

Details MATTER. Ignoring details is a recipe for having disasters, and repeating disasters. This is why I always say that context is important.

salt-bae-context

As far as this win goes, the bad news is, our Secondary was exposed on national television. The good news is, most of the victimizing of the CB’s was with no Safety help in the Single-high look. The great news is, unless DC Jim Schwartz is retarded, this has to mean an uptick in Cover Two, Tampa Two coverages.

Help for our pass rush, might be on the way.

Side note: When the fans at the game were chanting “Troy sucks Buck!” why was there no mention of how classless those fans were? Had it been Philly or Buffalo, the announcers wouldn’t have hesitated to shit-talk the fans. 

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK 3 – LIONS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/09/23
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

2019 kermit madness

AT one point the announcers described the Lions QB’s play today as “pedestrian”. The Lions by no means won this game. The Eagles lost it. Or more to the point, our coaching staff gave it away.

How does a rookie fumble twice on one drive, and still get multiple touches of the ball later? How do we not get a single sack vs a team with a banged up LT? How do we not run high efficiency routes with our back-up receivers, late in the game, so that our QB doesn’t have to hold the ball all day long?

The answer to all of these is, coaching decisions. It’s a decision, to keep playing a RB who right now seems like a change of pace guy, like he’s a starter. It’s a decision, to play defensive backs in soft coverage, which gives our pass rush no time to get to the passer. It’s a decision, to eschew teaching situational football, in favor of appearing to be aggressive. All of these decisions were made not by players, but by coaches.

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Eagles 24 – Lions 27

QB Carson Wentz (19/36 – 52.7% – 259 – 2 – 0) is absolved of any blame in this game. Let’s clear that up immediately. He had seven dropped passes in this game. SEVEN. For a second week in a row, he seemed like he was singlehandedly, trying to will the team past its shortcomings. He even ran for 33 yards on 4 carries (8.25ypc). RB Miles Sanders (13 – 53 – 4.0 – 0 – 2 / 2 – 73 – 36.5 – 0) led the team in both rushing and receiving yards, but put the ball on the ground twice in one drive, losing it the second time.

WR Nelson Agholor (8 – 50 – 6.2 – 2) also lost a fumble, on the drive immediately after Sanders’s. Both led to field goals. TE Zach Ertz (4 – 64 – 16.0 – 0) hasn’t been the same guy since WR Alshon Jeffery was hurt in Week 2. WR Mack Hollins (4 – 62 – 15.5 – 0) was flagged for offensive pass interference twice and nearly a third time on one of Agholor’s scores.

SS Malcolm Jenkins (3 – 0 – 0 – 0) blocked a 4th quarter 46 yard FG try. CB’s Sidney Jones (3 – 0 – 0 – 0) and Rasul Douglas (2 – 0 – 0 – 0) each had a nice pass break-up, but otherwise this defense did nothing to write home about.

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?

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1) Run with power: RB Jordan Howard (11 – 37 – 3.3 – 1 – 0) cracked double digit carries for his first time as an Eagle. Despite not fumbling and even scoring, the coaches elected to stick with Sanders today. Sanders didn’t look as bad as he did in the first two weeks, but if you ask any fan who watched the game, they’ll tell you that Howard needed more touches. (NOT DONE)

2) No Cover Zero: We actually managed to stay out of it in the first half, but on a critical 3rd and long in the second half we got beat for 27 yarder, while in Zero. It was amusing to see Jenkins at one point audibling the Secondary into Cover Two. It makes me wonder if there’s any friction in the meetings, between players and coaches. In any case I did say ‘no’ CZ, I didn’t say ‘very little’. (NOT DONE)

3) Hit Stafford from the blindside: We didn’t get much real pressure on QB Matt Stafford (18/32 – 56.2% – 201 – 1 – 0). Not one single sack all day. Even when we blitzed. DE Derek Barnett (1 – 0 – 0 – 0) continues to crash down hard inside the LT, instead of first setting an edge. This would be one thing if he were a one-dimensional sack machine, but he clearly isn’t one. (NOT DONE)

4) Unleash the deep ball: We did throw the ball deep to Sanders early, and an early deep throw to Agholor netted us a pass interference call. It was the only early deep ball to a WR. The ball was thrown long a few times later in the game, but they were more prayers than passes. (NOT DONE)

Internal scream

That gives us a Four Things score of 0 for 4 this week and 3 for 12 on the season. Clearly the Eagles have gotten too far away from fundamental football, and it has us as a losing team right now. We have a short week to prepare for our Thursday game at Lambeau Field vs the 3 – 0 Green Bay Packers.

On The Whole:

There is clearly an agenda to push the young players like Sanders, WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside (1 – 10 – 10.0 – 0), and TE Dallas Goedert (1 dropped touchdown). This would be fine if they were ready for bigger loads. With the exception of Goedert, they are clearly deer in headlights.

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I’m tired of complaining about this Defense, so I won’t.

FOUR THINGS – WK 3 – EAGLES-LIONS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/09/20
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

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THIS is the first of two games in a five day span, and we’re already teetering on the knife’s edge of being sub .500. We need this game. The Atlanta loss was a hard one. It was just such a weird game, that it’s hard to take a solid lesson from it. So it’s best to just accept our bright and shiny “L”, move on, and get to making sure we don’t get ourselves another one this weekend.

The Eagles need to establish themselves as a serious contender this year. We’re talented, and deep, but how much of our roster is really hungry? This game isn’t about a rudderless Lions team. It’s about who the Eagles want to be this season. It’s about whether or not we can regain, and keep our focus.

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

1) Run with power: The Lions are highly susceptible to the run. We need to feed it to them by the fistful. Not with RB Miles Sanders. He didn’t deserve to be jumped ahead of RB Jordan Howard and Karma is seeing fit to make us pay for that. Run the ball with the guy who knows what he’s doing.

2) No Cover Zero: If our CB’s really are the problem, then they need support deep. That’s just coaching. If they don’t need the support then show us something different.

3) Hit Stafford from the blindside: We need to speed up the clock in QB Matt Stafford’s head. We need a sack or two from DE Derek Barnett. DE Vinny Curry can also deliver, but it’s high time we saw some production from Barnett. Especially with Lions LT Taylor Decker either out or nursing a back injury.

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4) Unleash the deep ball: With WR’s DeSean Jackson and Alshon Jeffrey on the shelf, the thought will be that the Eagles don’t have the firepower that we did before. While there is an element of truth to that, the fact is we still have weapons. We should make that point known early, with a deep jump ball to J.J. Arcege-Whiteside, to open up room inside for the power run game.

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:

Sanders will get the start and evenly split carries with Howard. The Eagles are trying very hard to make stars out of their young guys, and we haven’t heard that there’ll be a change in the depth chart. With TE Alex Ellis added to the active roster, the plan is probably to run more 12 Personnel like the staff wanted to do last week. It’ll be interesting to see how that works out, since Ellis isn’t said to be special neither as a receiver nor a blocker.

With TE Dallas Goedert as our 2nd TE, teams might have been more reluctant to load the box, but Goedert is out. With Ellis being sort of a lucky camp body, until he teaches opponents otherwise, he won’t command that same respect.

HUNTING

Defense is a mixed bag. We got three picks last week, lost by just 4, and it still felt like we got gutted all night long. An evolutionary step needs to take place this week, but it’s unlikely to happen. Something has to happen to give the pass rush time to get home.

Keep an eye on the deep Safety in this game. Don’t expect much Cover Zero this week. In any case, even with the injuries, the Eagles depth is hard to ignore. Add in that they play here at home and the Eagles go from a team that could win a close one, to one that could win this handily. Especially if they have any kind of Offensive balance.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 26 – Lions 16

yeah-bitch