Doug Pederson

All posts tagged Doug Pederson

THERE IS NO PLAN.

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/01/09
Posted in: Conspiracy Corner, Conversations, Crazy Talk, Fans, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, playoffs, Roster, Super Bowl, trade. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Wentz or Foles.jpg

MY position a couple weeks ago, had QB Carson Wentz starting, and QB Nick Foles returning to the bench, if the Eagles made these 2018-2019 NFL playoffs. It was the only thing that made sense out of not putting Wentz on Injured Reserve after he was found to have fractures in his back. After all, you keep an athlete active to play him. If he isn’t going to play at all, you shut him down for the year, and put him on IR. That’s how this game works. It’s no-brainer kind of stuff.

Wentz playing in these playoffs seemed like a given, due to several (still pertinent) factors:

1) The Eagles need to evaluate how much money they’re going to pay Wentz on his extension.

2) Wentz’s contract will likely set the new market.

3) Raiders QB Derek Carr missed one game with this injury in 2017, and Lions QB Matt Stafford missed zero games with this injury in 2018. (Wentz missing these last FOUR games indicates that he’s not as tough or as hungry to compete.)

All those things can be thrown out the window, if the Eagles have already decided that Wentz’s next contract isn’t their problem. In which case, you shut him down to avoid any distraction, and chart a clear course with Foles. Again, this is all no-brainer stuff.

Unless of course, the Front Office expectation was that Foles was going to flop against Chicago’s #1 ranked defense. Had that happened, it could be stated that there is no “Foles magic”, that there’s nothing to see, and we can move on.

nothing to see here.gif

If that’s what the FO wanted, it completely blew up in their faces with a clutch touchdown drive, followed by a miraculous, unheard of, tipped and double doinked field goal miss.

NOW the problem is, with every playoff win, the notion of Foles magic grows exponentially. The farther we go, the harder it will be to get this fan base to accept Wentz again as the starter, with out half of the base calling it a step backwards.

Should Foles win another Super Bowl this year, shipping him out, or (finding a way to afford him and) sitting him behind Wentz again, sets Wentz up as a sham QB. In fact, if we repeat, anything short of Wentz winning one next year, says that the Eagles are where we were before we drafted Wentz. Searching for a QB who can deliver.

The only way out of this, is for Wentz to play and win in these playoffs. That’s it. At that point Foles isn’t magic, and Wentz isn’t magic, the Eagles are magic. Nothing short of that gets the whole fan base all on one bus, and allows Foles to leave here and Wentz to stay here smoothly.

Short of a Wentz  won SB in 2019 or 2020, Head Coach Doug Pederson can look forward to the remainder of his tenure being marred by questions about whether Wentz is over-paid, and if his bosses goofed when they took away the only magic this franchise has ever laid claim to.

Not a good look.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK10 :COWBOYS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/11/12
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, playoffs, Rants, Reviews, Rivals, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

THIS loss upset me. However, what upsets me more, is that I’m not more upset. But how can I be? The 72% completion rate we allowed, isn’t new around here. The poor tackling technique, isn’t new around here. The inability to generate turnovers, isn’t new around here. Allowing opponents to come within an arm stretch of converting a 3rd and extra-long, isn’t new around here. I expected a comfy win. Vegas odds-makers did as well. Yet when we didn’t, I somehow wasn’t shocked at all.

Penny-Racers.jpg

EAGLES 20 – Cowboys 27

The record will show that the Cowboys kicked our asses last night, but they were entirely beside the point. Karma kicked our asses last night.

Head Coach Doug Pederson was force fed his own arrogance last night, and thank god for it! Maybe the humiliation will teach him. Hard to produce wins when your offensive balance looks like 44 pass attempts (with 2 sacks and 2 QB runs), to 14 hand-offs. Out of 62 plays, 48 (77.4%) were pass plays. We did that last night. As a team, the Eagles ran 14 times for 54 yards. AS A TEAM. We did that as a team. In a game that was NEVER out of contention, as a team we had all of 14 hand-offs.

Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz watched another football game yesterday. I say watched, because coaching requires making adjustments. I doubt he adjusted anything besides his headset. He hasn’t made any real in-game adjustments in weeks. Remember those toy cars that you’d pull back and let go, then the little motor inside would make it go forward in a straight line? That’s Jim Schwartz’s Wide Nine. No adjustments, no twists or turns. Just run forward until you run out of juice.

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) Come out aggressive: Didn’t happen. The Eagles started the game with a three and out and mostly looked listless and uneven throughout the night. NOT DONE

2) Be the Eagles: We generally hover around 61% pass play selection, which is why we were 4 – 4. Last night that pass play percentage ramped up to 77%. Clearly somebody who’s name rhymes withugg.jpeg

decided to get cute, and it cost us. Now we’re 4 – 5. Good times. NOT DONE

3) Wrap it up: Just tackle well. He had 151 rushing yards. That’s all this part required. Just 151. Just wrap the man up. Rushing yards. Wrap and hold on. Hurdles a Safety. My favorite part was when CB Ronald Darby (3 – 0 – 0 – 0) tried to lay a hit on WR Amari Cooper (6 – 75 – 12.5 – 0), bounced off of him, and let him pick up the first down. I couldn’t even scream on that one. Just vibrated in my seat, and cried a little blood. Good times. Good times. NOT DONE

4) RAC ‘em up!: Yards after the catch. Screens and shit to our RB’s, and the 30 year old we just traded for. Makes sense right? FUCK THAT! Hey Zach, wanna play catch? Let’s stare down my TE and throw an interception to take the crowd out of the game, give up an easy score, and add momentum to feed our opponent’s shaky confidence. NOT DONE

That’s 0 of 4 this week, and 14 of 36 on the year. Even that 0 for 4 mark still had us with 7 points, so imagine if we’d done ANY of these things. So much for common sense. Well, after losing to the juggernaut that is the Cowboys, we get off easy next week. We go down to the Big Easy to face an 8 – 1 Saints team, that now has to face the REIGNING WORLD CHA- ahhhhh fuck it.

On The Whole:

We allowed 151 rushing yards and 7.9 yards per carry, to one RB last night. We allowed an embattled QB to complete 72% of his passes. We allowed a team that was all-but done in 2018, to re-enter a crowded division race. If the Eagles miss the playoffs in 2018, this game, THIS one, will be the point that defined the entire season.

FOUR THINGS: WK 8: EAGLES-JAGUARS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/10/25
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

WK8-JAC.jpg

WE’RE going to win this week. Not just because the Jaguars are in a tailspin. The first reason we’re going to win, is because our PLAYERS embarrassed themselves last week, and they’re actually angry about it. Been awhile around these parts, since that emotion was part of a week’s prep. The second reason, is the silence. The silence is to be feared.tally marks2.jpg

The Eagles nest was quiet like this, last year before the Rams game. WIN. The Eagles nest was quiet like this, last year before the Vikings game. WIN. People sometimes forget that beyond being a winning team, the Eagles are actually a good team. When we dot I’s and cross T’s, NOBODY, Rams, Vikings, Patriots, NOBODY wants to be lined up across from us. Even when we’re wounded badly.

So expect a win. Count on it. Bet on it. Book it.

This week our 3 – 4 Eagles face off against a 3 – 4 Jaguars team. Head Coach Doug Pederson is the most important person in this match-up. It’s only Week 8 and his Eagles team has once again taken key injuries at a host of positions (RDT, RDE, FS, FS2, RB, RB2, NCB), and are banged up at both OT spots. That being said, there is enough talent to still beat this opponent. Coach just has to focus it through the right lens.

Given our defensive problems, the focus needs to be on out-gunning the Jags. If it turns into a boring field goal-fest, as long as we win, I don’t care. However the trick to beating Jacksonville is turning the game into a shootout, knowing damned well that they don’t have the firepower to keep up with us.

Wentz Monster.jpg

While WR Alshon Jeffery and TE Zach Ertz have been money in 2018, it would be great to see QB Carson Wentz launch a couple to WR Shelton Gibson, who was drafted to be a big play threat. It seems like a lid was slammed shut over the Offense when WR Mike Wallace went on IR, and we need to do something about blowing that lid off, so we can scare teams again.

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

1) Run the damned ball: This shouldn’t have to be said so much. BUT!! It seems that Philly is cursed to have head coaches (Andy Reid, Chip Kelly, now Doug) who don’t believe running is necessary. In any case, let me recite the mantra again for those who are new to this site: Running brings a Safety into the box, opening up the deep ball. Running slows pass rushers by making them read. The QB doesn’t get hit on run plays. Running eats clock and gives the Defense time to rest. Running beats up defensive linemen, and makes them less explosive pass rushers later in the game. Run the BALL! Oh yeah. As a side note (pure sarcasm right there), Jacksonville is 25th in the NFL against the run. They are the SEVENTH WORST RUN DEFENSE! Again, just a side note.

2) Activate the Machine: Jaguars QB Blake Bortles is a turnover machine, but he’s still an NFL starting QB. That means to get mistakes from him, we have to force him to make them. Luckily the Jags give us an easy route to that. Their interior O-line is banged up and weren’t very good when they were healthy. If our D-line can get pressure up the middle and force Bortles to his LEFT, our chances of getting him to give us the ball, go through the roof. Remember we need him to go back, and to the left. Back, and to the left. Back. And to the left.

3) Pick your poison: (Building on the RUN THE DAMNED BALL theme.) The Jaguars have tons of speed on the edges, but they lack the size needed to hold up to being shoved around by NFL O-linemen. We need to attack their edges with off-Tackle runs, so that they over-commit, and open up Zack Ertz in the intermediate passing game, as well as play-action backside Screens.

wentz returns.jpg

4) Send FIVE sometimes: Everyone knows that Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz doesn’t like to blitz. He feels that our four man rush gets enough heat on the QB. While we may be getting heat on QB’s, we aren’t cooking them at the rate we need to. Schwartz needs to stop being so damned predictable. We need him to stop showing off the same inability to learn and make adjustments, which got him fired in Detroit. Yes, we won a Super Bowl with him as DC, but we allowed 33 points in that game, and his unit had one sack all day long.

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:

Understand, the worst thing that a team or an athlete can be, is comfortable. Books. Interviews. We went from “No one likes us” to “Everybody loves us”. Hungry dogs run faster, remember? But us. The players, coaches… We got civilized.

civilized.jpg

But then! Last week! We embarrassed ourselves. And we realized that it was US that did it to ourselves! Now the Eagles now seem uncomfortable. Making matters worse for Jacksonville is, by virtue of playing in London for each of the last 6 years, they’ve become the adopted home team. The Eagles are heading into amateur hostile territory, with a chip on their shoulders now.

While the Jaguars will be desperate for a win to get back in contention for their division, they lack the tools to fend off a focused Eagles team. The Bottom Line is that we have have Carson Wentz, while all they have is Blake Bortles. God forbid something happens to Wentz, we have QB Nick Foles, and they still have Blake Bortles. Let’s pray that we don’t knock Bortles out of the game.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 27 – Jaguars 14

yeah-bitch

FOUR THINGS: WK 6: EAGLES-GIANTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/10/10
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Preview, Rivals. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

W6-NYG.jpg

PUMP the brakes. This isn’t a must win game. The media sells it that way, because it generates ratings, clicks, and comments, but step back and look at the standings with your own eyes. Really look at the NFC East for what it actually is right now.

Win or lose, it’s still too early in the season for there to be a make or break week yet. The regular season is ALL about making the playoffs. It’s not about getting a first round Bye. It’s not about repeating. (Because you can’t do that during the regular season.) Right now is just about making the playoffs. There is a LOT of track to still lay down, before we can say that we’ve made it or that we didn’t. So relax. Breathe. This game is important. As a division game, it’s huge. But it’s FAR from “must win” status.

card.corey.clement

QB Carson Wentz is still playing at the MVP level he was at this time last year. (Look it up.) The difference is in how teams play us, because we aren’t running the ball as much as a competent offense should. Losing RB Jay Ajayi for the year with a torn/damaged ACL, doesn’t inspire confidence that Head Coach Doug Pederson will try to lean on the run more. However, in order to get the next man up (hopefully RB Corey Clement) situated, leaning on the run is exactly what we need to be about.

The Secondary continues to not cover, to rack up penalties, and to miss tackles. If Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz feels that any of this is a problem, he certainly needs to demonstrate it by benching a guy (CB Jalen Mills) or two (CB Sidney Jones). Scheme-wise, last week the cushions were smaller, but we still played no man-press.

If we’re going to beat the giants, we have to slow down their receiving corps and generate turnovers. Depending on how we approach this game, it will either be impossible to lose, or impossible to win.

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

1) Dammit, run the fucking ball: Play-action is set up by running the ball effectively. Dear Doug, faking a handoff is not the same as running the ball. Teams are ignoring our play-action, because we fake it more than we actually run it. Also every time Wentz hands the ball off, it’s a play where he won’t get hit. He could use a couple of low-abuse games. Regardless of who the RB is, run the damned ball, Doug!

2) Box that boy: Don’t let WR Odell Beckham have the sideline.

1-odbhit.jpg

Don’t double him outright, but keep him bracketed where the FS can reach him with a hit. Beckham will see a fair amount of targets, even if he’s well covered. Forcing QB Eli Manning to throw the ball into a tighter window, could result in one (or more) of those delicious turnovers he likes to feed defenses.

3) Play some press: (This likely won’t get done, but I’d be remiss not to mention it.) Man-press would throw a receivers timing off and let the rush reach the QB. It also would also create a traffic jam and set the edge, when the giants ran a Screen play.

card.jordan.matthews.jpg

4) Air Jordan: WR Jordan Matthews needs to see more passes thrown his way. Last week we did a great job of getting the ball down and across the middle to TE’s, but if we want to open up the run game, we need to spread the defense out horizontally.

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:

We need to establish our ground game, and the giants are 27th in the NFL at defending the run! We are 0 – 2 when we run for under 100 yards this year. We are 2 – 1 when going for 113 or better. (The one loss was in overtime. We had 117 yards.) All of this points toward a concerted effort to run the ball on Thursday.

In five games, the giants defense has just 6 sacks to their credit. Their pass rush is anemic at best. This should be a game where our Offensive Line can start to figure some stuff out, and have it carry forth through the season.

Manning is going to complete a lot of passes if we play loose coverage yet again. He’ll carve us up the way he did the last time we faced him. (We won that game though.) He’ll do his best to get the ball out quickly, but our Defensive Line is going to pay him 3 or more visits on Thursday night.

Yet again, I’m picking the Eagles this week. It’s because I’m a homer, right? Wrong. Just look at the teams we’ve faced so far. Of course I was picking the Eagles. Now we get a 1 – 4 team with no pass rush, and who can’t stop the run. Really, who am I supposed to pick here?

PREDICTION: EAGLES 21 – giants 13

yeah-bitch.jpg

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: Week 5: VIKINGS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/10/08
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Rants, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

“WATCH the Vikings game!” they said. “It’ll be fun” they said. That game had all the subtle enjoyability of being hit by a car. If you didn’t spend part of Sunday saying “Wait. What?” then odds are, you aren’t an Eagles fan.

As for those of us who ARE Eagles fans, allow me replay some of yesterday’s soundtrack: Roughing my ass! Wait hold on, so he just fumbled it? Jalen, sit your silly ass the fuck down! Fuck him up Fletcher! We’re trying to draw them offsides on 4th and 20?? The onside kick bounced up! It bounced up! We might be able to…Arrrrrghhh Sonofawhore!

Walter White.png

Eagles 21 – Vikings 23

The tackling dummy known as Carson Wentz (24/35 – 68.5 – 311 – 2 – 0) had a really good game yesterday, for a guy who spent the day getting beat to shit. Wentz even added 26 yards while running for his li- (Let me whitewash that.) He added 26 yards while rushing. Watching LG Isaac Seumalo “protect”Wentz, made me think perhaps he has QB Nick Foles on his fantasy football team. Speaking of fantasies, a coach thinking that he can beat an NFL team, while running it only 16 times, and passing it 35 times, must love Mary Jane. RB Jay Ajayi (8 – 29 – 3.6 – 0 – 1) led the team in rushing yards with just 29. Yes! Those numbers were our best numbers. This game was some Reggie.

I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well Billy, 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) Get chippy: The idea was to try and use the TE’s to help the OT’s. The Eagles employed no version of that and opted for TE’s releasing quickly into their routes. It worked for them getting catches, but on the whole Wentz took a beating that could have been severely lessened. NOT DONE

2) Do the obvious thing: Our Secondary didn’t give up as many big cushions this week, but instead of playing some press, the Corners bailed on virtually every play. That allowed the Viking to complete 30/37 (81.0%) of their passes. No team can survive that. NOT DONE

3) Get vertical inside: TE Zach Ertz (10 – 110 – 11.0 – 1) made a living today, while working straight-line routes right off the line. Adding a few chip blocks would have changed the outcome of this game, but you can’t have everything, right? DONE

4) Do your job: Part of a Secondary’s job is tackling. Part of an Offensive Lineman’s job is blocking. Did it look like those units did those things? Nope. NOT DONE

For a second week in a row, we limp away with a Four Things score of 1 of 4. That brings the season tally to 7 out of 20. In just a couple days we get our first division game of the year, and given the state of the NFC East, it’s not quite must-win, but it is damned critical.

On The Whole:

The second half comeback effort was ice to see. Largely, this years team has looked like a boxer, with his back against the ropes, covering his ribs to avoid more body shots. Well our head keeps being exposed, and teams are going up top to beat us. The fix for this is obvious, but it remains to be seen if Doug Pederson is willing to take those two steps.

2018 SEASON REVIEW: QUARTER ONE

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/10/03
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

SEASON Reviews are usually done at the end of the season. (Duh.) A few are done at the halfway mark, and/or at the end. Starting in 2017, Eaglemaniacal.com began treating the season like a game, and breaking it into four quarters. Since football is a hard sport, we’ll take a hard look, at where our team stands at the moment (in relation to where it started), and where it needs to go.

STATUS:
2 – 2 overall, 0 – 0 division, 1 – 1 conference, 3rd place in the NFC East

We rise 9.26.15

OPPONENTS:
W: Falcons (1 – 3)
L: Buccaneers (2 – 2)
W:Colts (1 – 3)
L: Titans (3 – 1)

OVERVIEW:
While the Eagles do have a couple of major issues to clean up, the team has both the player talent and coaching expertise to do so. The most glaring problem is defending the pass. Some people would also throw in a lack of QB pressure, but that’s symptomatic of the pass defense problem. If the coverage can get QB’s to hold the ball a second or two longer, that QB pressure issue, immediately goes away on it’s own.

The other great concern is protecting the QB. We’ve allowed 14 sacks in 4 games. Only 5 teams have allowed more. We’ve also allowed 34 hits on the QB. Only one team has allowed more. Then again when your play selection is 61% pass, and half your rushes come out of the Shotgun formation, no one is going to buy your play-action. That’s going to leave the QB getting beat to shit. Run the ball from under Center, and QB Carson Wentz might actually finish the season on the active roster.

None of this requires a detective to figure out. None of it requires a genius to scheme. None of it requires weeks to implement or trades to make happen. We have the coaches, we have the players, we can do this on the fly.

GRADES:

QB: (B) This isn’t me grading on a curve. Nick Foles started the season and got us to 1 – 1, before handing the keys to the Carson Wentz. Wentz looks better than he has any actual right to, coming back from ACL and LCL reconstruction. My only knock on the QB’s is that they haven’t elected to keep the ball more often when running RPO’s.

RB: (A) Running the ball hasn’t been a problem. Jay Ajayi has 155 yards and 4.2 per tote. Wendell Smallwood 123 yards and 5.6 per tote. Corey Clement 112 and 4.1. Throw in Josh Adams for 5.0 per tote (just 30 yards rushing), and the only issue with our run game is that we don’t lean on it heavy enough. That however, is on the coaches, not the players.

TE: (A) Does anyone realize that Zach Ertz is on pace to catch 123 balls for 1300 yards this year? Not saying he will, but he is on pace to do so. Add in Dallas Goedert, and Josh Perkins and the Eagles have a level of depth that borders on obscene.

WR: (D) This grade would be higher if I was just looking forward, but this report is based on what we actually did in the first four games. Injuries to Mike Wallace and Mack Hollins have helped to so far hobble us.

kathy bates (hobbling - misery).jpg

Alshon Jeffery’s return helps immensely, but until Nelson Agholor learns how to catch again, or until a light goes on for Shelton Gibson, we’re essentially down to one threat at this position. I don’t understand the role Kamar Aiken is playing on this team.

OT: (D) Jason Peters and Lane Johnson need to do a better job of slowing down speed rushers on the edge. Perhaps less lining up in the Shotgun would be of some assistance? During stints where Halapoulivaati Vaitai has had to fill in for Peters, he’s looked okay actually. Not good, but okay. His feet still are a tad slow, but at least he doesn’t require a RB to baby-sit him, and the team is no longer rolling plays away from his side.

OG: (C) There are entirely too many plays where a guy comes running up the gut at our QB. When blocks get made, they’re sustained, but at other points there’s a miscommunication and the rusher comes free. Otherwise Stefen Wisniewski and Brandon Brooks are looking pretty good in the run game.

C: (C) The pivot is the communications hub for the O-Line. There is no excuse for a veteran like Jason Kelce, to have so many communications breakdowns, this early in the year.

DE: (B) Brandon Graham doesn’t have a single sack yet, but he is setting the edge, stacking vs the run, and getting pressure here and there. Derek Barnett is getting after it as a pass rusher. I still miss Vinny Curry vs the run, but Barnett is no slouch. Micheal Bennett is listed as a DE, but it seems like he does most of his damage when he kicks inside on passing downs. Chris Long is the man, both on AND off the field. The reason I don’t give this position a higher grade, is because rookie Josh Sweat has yet to play a down. Now is the time to get him some reps, so that when the inevitable injury happens, he’s already up to speed. The stakes are still low right now. You don’t want to have to lean on a green rook, when a loss could knock you from playoff contention.

derek barnett.jpg

DT: (B) Fletcher Cox leads the team with 3 sacks and leads the interior vs the run and for goal line stands. Destiny Vaeao was the Week One starter in place of the injured Timmy Jernigan, but Vaeao has apparently been subplanted by Haloti Ngata. Cox and Ngata are holding the fort, but Ngata wasn’t brought here to play this much, this early. As a result, the rotation strategy that helped so much last year, isn’t really being used now. It makes one worried about how fresh players will be for the late season push.

OLB: (D) Nigel Bradham was suspended for a game, but in the three games since returning, he’s made his presence felt. Kamu Grugier-Hill has started the last three games, but hasn’t yet put his stamp on the defensive unit. If he doesn’t get in gear soon, he may only be remembered as an emergency Kicker. Nate Gerry got one start on opening day (presumably as a fill-in for Bradham) but hasn’t recorded a stat in three games since. This layer of the Defense hasn’t been bad, they just haven’t stood out at all.

MLB: (B) In 4 games, Jordan Hicks already has 31 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and 3 passes defensed. If you wondered if we missed him last year, the answer is YES! With 2/3 of our starting LB’s playing at a high level, it allows the Defensive Line to do what they need to do to wreak havoc, knowing that someone has their back.

S: (C) Starring Malcolm Jenkins as The Sheriff. As far as the rest of this group, Rod McLeod was merely okay until he was lost for the season. As the guy who’s primary job it was to stay and play deep, he never seemed to even be in on tackle attempts when we got hit for big plays. This is passed off as other players getting beat on their assignment, but it makes me wonder where McLeod’s eye discipline was taking him. Having lost him for the season, Corey Graham is now the guy back there, and he inspires so much confidence that the Eagles are advertising that they’re cross-training CB Rasul Douglas (an idea that I love), and looking at available free agents. Graham is a heck of a sub/Nickle/Dime player, but he’s not an every down player.

article regular-red-pill-blue-pill

CB: (F) This grade is accurate but it’s very unfair. I know. If it’s accurate, how is it unfair, right? The system that the Eagles play in, has our Corners giving up cushions that start at 4 yards. This means opposing WR’s are never re-routed, so they end up at the spots where they practice being. Their timing is never delayed, so they end up where they should be when the QB hits that 3rd, or 5th step in his dropback. 1-2-3, balls out. 1-2-3-4-5, balls out. This retards our pass rush. So our opponents end up playing catch, and leave the game with completion percentages of 70%. Or higher. I’m highly critical of Jalen Mills, but most of my criticism is of his mouth. He’s a physical, man-press CB. He lacks the catch-up speed of a zone Corner. There’s a reason he fell to the 7th round and didn’t go in the 2nd despite his size, fieriness, and work ethic. If there was a player that I think should thrive in this system, it’s Ronald Darby. Then again maybe he just hasn’t had enough chances since teams seem to pick on Mills. I’m still waiting to see Sidney Jones start, but that’s a coaching decision, so you can’t blame a player for it. Most of this is circumstantial and not on the players, but it still is an accurate picture of the position, despite it not being a fair assessment of who the players are, from a talent standpoint.

LS: (C) Haven’t had a real reason to bitch about Rick Lovato. My issue with the Long Snapper position is the same as it ever was: “Is this ALL that this guy does?!” Back when we had Mike Bartrum as a LS, he also was our third TE who caught touchdowns in goal-to-go situations. In six seasons here, Bartrum caught 9 balls for 4 scores, recorded 22 tackles and even recovered a fumble. Jon Dorenbos got us 37 tackles. We get none of that stuff with Lovato.

P: (C) I miss Donnie Jones. Cameron Johnson punts deep, but he doesn’t place them well. Hitting it hard isn’t always the same as hitting it well. (Ladies, you know what I’m talking about.) Out of 20 punts 9 have been returned and 5 have been touchbacks. Only 3 were fair caught and only 2 have been downed by coverage. That means the opponent not us, is dictating their field position. His kicks don’t have to pin the opponent down, just get the returner penned in. I know he’s young, but he doesn’t seem to be picking up the idea that his placement should help the coverage team. He has to stop out-kicking his coverage.

K: (C) Jake Elliott has a couple of missed field goals, but they were longer range kicks. Also with only 8 total attempts this year, it’s not like he’s been spraying misses all over. He’s been serviceable, but not not clutch yet.

PR/KR: (B) The only thing that stands out in memory when it comes to punt returns this quarter has been RB Corey Clement bobbling a few. Honestly, even before that happened, the smarter move would have been to save him for Offense, and let a guy like WR DeAndre Carter earn his keep doing that, when RB Darren Sproles couldn’t. Between Sproles and Carter we’ve amassed 71 yards on 5 returns (14.2ypr). Clement only averages 2.8 with a long return of 10. No reason to put him back there again. As a team we’re averaging 19.0 per kickoff return, so it seems to make more sense to just take the touchback unless we’re down double digits in the third and are trying to make something happen. This is more or less exactly what the Eagles are doing.

KC: (A) Of 18 kickoffs, only 3 have been returned, for an average of 16.0 yards with a long of 25. On 20 punts, we’ve seen 9 returns, vs 3 fair catches, for an average of 5.6 yards with a long of 11. These are great numbers, but they would be better if punt placement dissuaded returners from even trying to run one back.

 

SINCE LAST QUARTER:
Last quarter was last year. We locked up home-field advantage and subsequently won the Super Bowl, as underdogs every week. Under the circumstances, the first quarter of a season will be letdown regardless of what a team does. So getting all pantie bunched over a 2 – 2 start seems unnecessary.

This first quarter showed us where we are, and what we need to fix. It also showed us the rest of the league. (Aha!) NOW we get to REALLY start with the season. This is where Head Coach Doug Pederson can start to ratchet up the sense of urgency.

doug-pederson ABOUT IT

Remember when I made this last year prior to the playoffs?

MISSION FOR THIS QUARTER:
The NFL recorded a record number of touchdown passes through four games this year. That’s likely due to drives extended by penalties that favor the offensive side of the ball. What that means is teams are going to be living and dying by the pass on offense.

We get Minnesota, New York (giants), Carolina and Jacksonville in the next 4. Three of those teams were 2017 playoff teams. A 3 – 1 second quarter (with one win being the giants) would put us solidly in the drivers seat, in terms of controlling our destiny. Let’s see where we get with that, before looking any further.

Our mission this quarter is tighten up the pass defense so that we can resurrect our pass rush. If we’re going to have any hope of winning the division, we need to get out ahead of problems caused by rule changes. This team lived on our Defense last year, and that’s how we need to be in order to make hay in 2018.

The suggestion is to play more bump-and run on 3rd and under 10, and on 2nd and over 12. Cushions are part of DC Jim Schwartz’s scheme. After winning a Super Bowl with them, he’s not going to ditch them due to a couple of bad regular season games. That being said, he has to realize that he needs to adjust to this year’s trends and not be one more dinosaur who couldn’t recognize the change.

Farside_-_Dinosaurs_Snowing.gif

FOUR THINGS: WK 4: EAGLES-TITANS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/09/27
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

W4-TEN

THIS week we get a perfect measuring stick game. We’re on the road, (likely) short-handed at WR, and still trying to tighten up our pass defense, despite an injury to FS Rodney McLeod. We have an external threat to handle, while coping with some internal weaknesses. This is the “look in the mirror” game that you need in Week 3 or 4.

Both teams come into this game tied atop their divisions with a 2-1 record. (Although the Titans holds a head-to-head tie-breaker, over the Jaguars.) A win would give either team a tiny cushion and clear control of their division for at least one more week.

Lady Luck may have given us a wink, since we are slated to get back RB’s Jay Ajayi, Darren Sproles, and possibly WR Alshon Jeffery this week. That might offer Offensive Coordinator Mike Groh, a chance to show some creativity.

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

1) Rattle the cage:

bad day

The Titans head coach is on record saying that his QB still can’t make certain throws. (Due to an elbow injury.) That means we need to hit him early, and hit him hard. Yes, that means a couple of early flags, but it’ll be worth it when we stroll out with the “W”. If we put it into his head that we’re about to make his injury worse, he’ll be less accurate with his throws for the balance of the game.

2) More power running: I say it every week. This team needs to run the ball right up the gut. Nothing stops pass rush like a power run game. When a speed rusher has to look inside first, it means he’s not rocketing off the edge. Translation: He has already slowed himself down a step. So far this season, we’ve done a lot of outside running, and it plays to OLB’s already setting the edges. If we make the run a threat in the middle, then our WR’s have more room to get open around the numbers. I’ll say it again. We need to run up the gut. Ten to twelve carries would be amazing, but I’ll settle for seven.

3) Start fast: Let’s try for a couple of early knockout shots. Tennessee is not an explosive team. They make their living off of a plodding, but dogged run game. If we get up on them early, they basically have no chance of coming back. Especially with their QB’s injury situation. If we can lead 14 – 3 or 17 – 7 by halftime, that should be enough to put it on cruise control, and get QB Nate Sudfeld some mop-up snaps late in the 4th quarter.

4) Play our game: That’s not just an Offensive or Defensive key, that’s Special Teams too. This is an opponent that would be very easy to play down to, but that would be a mistake in two parts. First, it would open the door to possibly losing to them. Second, this team hasn’t had an opportunity to play the way we’d like it to. This is a chance to floor it, and learn things about ourselves that will help us against tougher opponents.

pam yup.gif

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:

This is probably going to be a boring game to watch. (Unless the Eagles light it up.) Playing tight or nervous against a bad team, only opens the door to losing. Head Coach Doug Pederson knows this, and so the Eagles will likely come out playing with an almost reckless abandon. So expect QB Carson Wentz to throw the ball downfield more than he did last week.

The Titans situation at WR is far worse than ours. In fact, their entire passing game is a nightmare. They have 2 passing touchdowns and 3 interceptions. One of those 2 scores was thrown by their Punter on a fake. It’s a dismal team. As long as CB Jalen Mills doesn’t assist the Titans in moving the ball this week, or he doesn’t getting juiced for another pair of scores, we should be able to keep Tennessee in check. Last week I’d have picked the Colts if they were at home. This week I don’t think it matters where the game is played, Eagles win it in a walk.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 24 – Titans 13

yeah-bitch