Grant Calcaterra

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FOUR THINGS: WK 14: EAGLES – PANTHERS

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

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

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

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

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

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The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics would give our Eagles the best chance to win this game. Often I list fundamentals, as some of the four things. BUT NO MORE! Unless something specific is needed, fundamentals like Running the ball; playing lots of Man Press; and Tackling instead of going for the strip, will be automatically included. (Like the five consonants and a vowel that Wheel Of Fortune automatically spots you.) So here are the Four Things that we need to focus on this week versus: the Panthers

RB Saquon Barkley makes a 25 yard house-call.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LB Zack Baun helps himself to a fresh turnover.

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

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

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

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

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

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WARNING: I don’t have the faintest clue as to what a point spread is, and I know even less about how it works. I know FOOTBALL and that’s it. If you use Four Things as a gambling tool, then you are a fool trying to lose your money, and will deserve it when you do.

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

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 6: Browns

Posted by The BEAST on 2024/10/15
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Reviews, Special Teams, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

STEPS in the right direction.

EAGLES 20 – Browns 16

 

Passing: QB Jalen Hurts (16/25 – 64.0 – 264 – 2 – 0)

Rushing: RB Saquon Barkley (18 – 47 – 2.6 – 0 – 0)

Receiving: WR Arthur Brown (9 – 6 – 116 – 19.3 – 1)

Drive Killer: N/A (TD: /Int: / FR: / 4th down stops: / FF: )

Sack Leader: DE Josh Sweat (Sacks: 1.0/ FF: 0/ Tackles: 5)

Special Teams Ace: N/A

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

1) Run Saquon Early: The idea was to get Saquon Barkley 5 to 7 carries early in the game to make it easier on the entire Offense. Well, he had 7 carries for 21 yards in first quarter. (Our third possession started in the 1st but ended in the 2nd quarter.) The Eagles didn’t run for a ton of yards in this one, but kept the defense honest with 22 hand-offs, and another 14 rushes by the QB himself. (DONE)

2) Press and Challenge: CB Darius Slay (no stats/left injured) started off the game playing mostly in Press coverage, while rookie CB Quinyon Mitchell (3 – 0 – 0 – 0) started out in more of a zone look. This is to be expected from Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio’s defense, as he likes to give each side of the field a different coverage.

Eventually, Mitchell got around to more Press. That helped the pass rush show up, in the way that it had been expected to, all season. Seven different players contributed to 5 sacks on the day, and Cleveland’s top receiver caught for just 42 yards. We should play Press Coverage every week. (DONE)

3) Dallas Slotted at #3: No dice. TE Dallas Goedert (no stats/injured) left the game early with a hamstring issue. Stepping right into his shoes was TE Grant Calcaterra (4 – 4 – 67 – 16.7 – 0). He saw as many targets and more yards than WR DeVonta Smith (4 – 3 – 64 – 21.3 – 1).

Instead of spending the day trying to force balls to a third WR, the Eagles just included the TE as the third tip of the trident. And it worked beautifully. Had I specified “TE” instead of “Goedert”, I would be happy to say “See what the TE did? Told ya so!” But, that’s not how I tagged it, and fair is fair. (NOT DONE)

4) Stops Over Strips: In this game, our defenders didn’t dick around, holding up offensive players and clawing at the ball. They just made contact, and put opposing players on the grass.

In this game, I counted SIX incidents where usually, our defense would allow an opponent extra yards, or blow a tackle attempt, swiping at the football. However, in this game, they just put the player down, eventually resulting in more difficult third downs, where they converted just 3 of 12. (DONE)

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This weeks Four Things score was 3 of 4. We hit the fundamentals and at no point did we trail. It wasn’t a blow out, but it never seemed out of control either. Let’s hope for more of the same next week, when we travel up 95 and pay a visit to the giants, in that New Jersey cesspool they split with the Jets, to avoid New York taxes.

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DT Jalen Carter gets a sack and somehow DT Moro Ojomo isn’t credited with half of it.

Game Hero: The Defense – The Defense didn’t allow a single offensive touchdown in this game. They didn’t allow a single receiver to reach 45 yards. They didn’t allow a single runner to reach 45 yards. They tackled securely, and got to the QB repeatedly. They only thing they didn’t do, was get a turnover. Which would have happened, if Quinyon Mitchell and C.J. Gardner-Johnson (5 – 0 – 0 – 0), hadn’t run into each other trying to catch an interception.

Some will tell you that it wasn’t impressive, because the Browns limped in here as a woeful offensive team already. However, given our recent defensive woes, the impressive part wasn’t beating the Browns. It was all the fundamental issues that we corrected. (Especially if they stay corrected for a second week.)

Game goat: Special Teams Coordinator Michael Clay – So in this one, we got a field goal blocked, and they returned it for a touchdown. A touchdown. What was supposed to be an easy 3 points for us, became 7 for them. That’s a 10 point swing. It was the only touchdown of the day for the Browns. And it was on Special Teams.

Through five games, we’ve seen a punt blocked, and a field goal blocked. We don’t have a kickoff return of 30 yards yet, and so far no 20 yard punt return. No one is ever afraid that we might take one all the way. There is literally nothing special about Michael Clay’s teams. Nothing. It’s been four years of nada, since he got here.

On The Whole: We beat one of the teams that we were supposed to. We did it without allowing a single offensive touchdown, and without turning the ball over. It was a good solid, fundamentally sound game on our part. This is despite losing three starters during the game (Slay, Goedert, and LT Lafoga Mialata.)

It was a win despite adversity. It was a win that speaks to the culture of this team, and the passion of Head Coach Nick Sirianni. If you want to know what poor culture and low passion does for a team, just replay the Lions /Cowboys massacre. Look at Mike McCarthy’s face while his team was butchered. Is that what you want? Is it?

It’s true. This game wasn’t a blowout. But it was, a win.