devil’s advocate

All posts tagged devil’s advocate

COACHING IS THE PROBLEM

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/09/18
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, NFL, Offense, Rants, Uncategorized, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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DOUG Pederson is the Head Coach of this team, and so the buck stops with him. When a problem arises, it is his job to fix it or assign it to someone who can. So when a problem persists, it is only fair to question either his solution(s), or his faith in those he assigns to solve that problem.

In particular, this time I mean the Defense.

The Eagles Defensive Line is loaded both in terms of talent and depth. So why is it that through two weeks, facing 87 pass attempts, the Eagles D-Line has all of one sack. Last week we played a banged-up Falcons o-line, which lost another starter during the game, and still, it took a Safety blitz to get our lone sack of the game. If the Defensive Line is so dangerous, why aren’t we getting more heat on QB’s?

The answer is loose coverage. Playing off of receivers is allowing the QB to get the ball out quickly, to wide open receivers. Our linemen never have a chance to get close. Put bluntly, our shitty coverage is cutting the balls off of our pass rush. We are holding the barrel of the shotgun against our heads for our opponents.

Some people’s knee-jerk reaction is to blame the players. “This guy is bum!” “That guy is bum!” “Everyone is a bum!” You know what? Fuck it. Let’s explore that. Let’s split this issue to the white meat, and then put it in the ground forever.

race for the bottom

For the sake of argument, let’s play Devil’s Advocate and say that ALL of our Starters are bums. Who decides that week in and week out, that these same guys get to start? That would be the Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz. If a guy can’t play, you bench him. Right?

Let’s increase our advocacy of the Devil, and say that maybe these players are the best he has, and the guys behind them are even worse bums. Still then, if he knows these guys are deficient players, wouldn’t it make sense to put them in positions that maximize their talent, and doesn’t expose their flaws? Who’s job is that? Oh, yeah. Jim Schwartz.

Now we’re gonna go over to our Devil’s Advocate machine, crank it to 11, and yank off the knob: Maybe these guys are just the worst bums EVER, and there is no talent to maximize. Since no individual has the skill to erase a guy all day long, our default needs to be a team concept, which doesn’t put too much responsibility on any one player. You know, instead of playing Cover Zero and getting Cris Collinsworth fondling himself over our all-out blitzing, maybe a Cover Two shell would be a great call against the highest paid WR in the history of the sport of American Football? Maybe?

Who’s call is that to make?

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Look at you, getting it right on the first try!

Even playing Devil’s Advocate and blaming the players, it’s still a coach’s job to manage both success and degrees of failure. The reality however, is that all of these players are not bums. Actually none of them are. What’s happening here is the squandering of a metric fuck-ton of talent. And it’s Schwartz that’s doing the squandering.

Think of all the best CB’s that you’ve ever seen. The Eric Allen, Darrelle Revis, Jalen Ramsey, Josh Nor- sorry, Charles Woodson type, are all aggressive, man to man guys, who benefited from Safety help over the top. Playing five yard cushions in Cover Zero, or in ‘Rock n Roll’ coverage, is the antithesis of that kind of coverage. And the results are speaking for themselves. 

Our D-Line is great. Our LB’s are improperly utilized. Our Secondary is a dumpster fire. Schwartz is killing us by coaching only a third of our Defense with any degree of competence. Recent evidence shows that the other two units are robbing that one of it’s effectiveness. Make no mistake, fellow fans, this is on the coaching.

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It’s time for Doug to take Old Yeller out back. He’s the Head Coach, and it’s time to put ol’ boy, down.

REDSKINS, giants, ERECK FLOWERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/06/19
Posted in: Conversations, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, Offense, Players, Rivals, Roster, trade, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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SEEMS like the Redskins are going to make an upgrade to their offensive line. Not a serious upgrade (Chase Roullier is still the Center), but an upgrade none the less. Specifically, they are moving free agent OT Ereck Flowers to LG. The move is pure genius. Which is probably why I saw it coming AND TOLD YOU THAT IT WAS, two months before the Redskins put it out there. 

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Flowers has been a train wreck at OT, both on the left and the right spots, whether for the giants, Jaguars, or a brief stint in mini-camp for Washington in the absence of LT Trent Williams (who may have played his last snap in DC).

True to form, the brain-trusts both in New York and Jacksonville failed to realize that a powerful mountain of a man who has trouble with speedy/agile opponents, might be better off being moved one space over. The Redskins sort of stumbled over it, and lo and behold, it should work out well for them. Hooray!

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Trying to play devil’s advocate it would have made sense not to move him to G, if the giants or Jags had a pair of All-Pro’s both at RG and LG. However, neither team had ONE such player at the time. The giants have since drafted Will Hernandez, who ‘Will’ likely be a good one for a years to come. (And no, I’m not sorry for that pun.) However, I can’t even play devil’s advocate on this one.

The notion that both teams tried him at only two out of five spots, the same two spots mind you, with one team (Jacksonville) knowing the that his prior team tried the same thing, is pure FARCE.

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Somewhere out there in NFL-Land, are two front offices loaded with professionals who have degrees, and references, Who’ve logged hundreds, possibly thousands of hours lifetime, of pouring over the details of scouting, and draft minutia, player background investigations, along with interviews they have sat in on, and/or conducted, to say nothing of all the football they’ve watched. The notion that NOT ONE of these professionals ever said “Hey. Could that guy move over just one spot?” is mind-boggling. 

Yet there Flowers sits. Smiling that Lennie Small smile. About to greatly benefit a division rival, when he should still be in NY keeping them from having to trade for grossly overpaid journeymen like Kevin Zeitler. Moves like this are why giants fans are always so sad and frustrated.

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If Flowers goes onto have a great year in 2019, a handful of people in two cities (but especially New York) should be tied to a stake, doused with gasoline, and simply walked away from. They will likely, accidentally, agree upon a way to set themselves on fire.

FREE AGENT: NICK FOLES

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/02/28
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Conversations, Defense, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Roster, trade, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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LETTING QB Nick Foles become a Free Agent isn’t a good thing. It’s a great thing. This is the only smart move the Eagles could have made, and as a fan, I’m stoked that they saw that. Besides, this just made it easier for us to bring Foles back, at a price we can live with, for years.

Six days ago I said we should let him become a FA, then make him an offer of 50M over 5 years, with 30 guaranteed over 3. (Here’s that article) I still say we should float that out to him. If he bites, awesome. As I said, we’d have him at an affordable price until he retires. If he doesn’t, then he goes to a team that he can lead for a couple of years.

Either way, we don’t get saddled with a tag we can’t afford, on a QB we then couldn’t trade.

Foles was due 20M that we were never going to pay him in 2019. So he “bought his freedom” (yikes) for 2M, which allowed him to become a FA if he wished. This left the Eagles with the option to tag him for around 25M. That sets up a tag and trade situation, right? Right?! Wrong.

If the Eagles had already indicated that we wouldn’t shell out 20M, then why would we shell out 25? Every GM in the NFL with two brain cells to rub together, would realize that it’s just a matter of time before we had to cut Foles, at which point they could go after him for free, without having to give us anything in a trade. They could just wait us out.

In my sickest fantasy, we would have packaged our 1st rounder and Foles, in a trade to Jacksonville to move up from 25th to 7th , and get maybe a 4th or 5th rounder to boot. However, after the trade of QB Joe Flacco from Baltimore to Denver, it seemed that the market for trades had been set, and that it was a buyer’s, not a seller’s market.

That meant the Eagles would have no leverage in trying to move Foles. This is why I wrote last week, about just keeping him. Foles is more valuable as an Eagles player, than as an Eagles bargaining chip. Also, for a man of faith who says that where he plays matters, the Eagles are more valuable to Foles as well.

But…Let’s play Devil’s Advocate. Despite him being 30 already, let’s look at where Foles could get a shot to be “The Man”:

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1) Jacksonville: They’re a team that’s built to win now. The question is whether or not Foles fits in, with what can be an very up and down locker room, that isn’t known for handling adversity well. If they don’t get off to a good start, Foles might wish he never left Philly.

2) Washington: The organization is a shit show from top to bottom. The owner is an idiot. The head coach was 21 – 26 – 1 and he was given a two year extension in 2017. Since then, he’s 14 – 18, which brings him to 35 – 44 – 1 (.444) for his career. The weapons are mediocre. There is no standard for excellence there. Foles would be a fool to sign there. At least without a Kirk Cousins type deal. Which would be so ironic, it might kill me from laughter.

3) Arizona: Rumor has the Cardinals trading away their young QB, which means they’d need a signal caller. Foles played college ball out there in Arizona and most of his family is still in Texas, where he was born and raised. He’d get to play with RB David Johnson, and whatever is left of WR Larry Fitzgerald. Aside from that, he’d have to live with water drought, playoff drought, scoring drought, an offensive line that’s allowed 104 sacks over the last two years… Arizona is in rebuild mode. Foles would need a concussion to decide to sign here.

Basically comes down to if Foles is serious about being part of great team, or whether or not he wants to make a final cash grab. Is he willing to tarnish his legacy by starting for a mediocre team? We shall soon find out.

DEVIL’S ADVOCATE

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/07/23
Posted in: Crazy Talk, Offense, Players, Preview, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . 1 Comment

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BEEN a crazy couple a days, so I’m in the mood to go out on a limb, and do something crazy. I’m going to play devil’s advocate for a player that most fans love to hate. Again, I’m going out on a limb here, so calling me crazy only means that you stopped understanding what you were reading, before you got to the second sentence.

Sam Bradford in 2016. Can you see him throwing for 3,800 yards, 30 TD’s and 9 interceptions? If he plays 14 games or more, I’d say that it’s a lock for him. In fact, I’m looking at drafting him in fantasy football this year. You may want to know why I seem so sold on Bradford all of a sudden. There are two reasons, and unlike most things in Life, they are absurdly easy to explain.

Reason numero uno: Our ferocious Defense will cause teams to make dumb mistakes and create short fields for our Offense. That means cheap TD’s and field goals. As the game goes on, giving up cheap points only means teams press harder to make up ground they lost early. This means even more dumb mistakes by opponents, and quick TD’s scored over opponents who just want the blowout to be over.

Reason the second: The Eagles seem to have stopped dicking around with the QB situation. Last year the Eagles were saying that Bradford was the guy. However, with his injury history, whenever you looked at Bradford, there were the eyes of Mark Sanchez peeking over his shoulder. And it’s been that way here for years now. Every year “it’s a competition” at the QB position, as opposed to just letting everyone know who the big dog is. But this year they’re acting like an NFL franchise.

So there you go. My first Devil’s Advocate case for 2016. There may be more.