Jonathan Gannon

All posts tagged Jonathan Gannon

ADDITION BY SUBTRACTION

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/02/15
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), playoffs, Rants, Super Bowl, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

EAGLES Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon, has fucked off to become Arizona’s head coach. This is a HUGE break for our team! Offensive Coordinator Shane Steichen also left, to become the Colts next scapegoat, but I don’t give shit about that right now. I want to celebrate Gannon’s departure RIGHT NOW! This is addition by subtraction.

The very first article that I ever wrote on this site, was ‘WANT A SUPER BOWL? THEN FIRE BILL DAVIS.’ In it, I mentioned how continuing to settle for Davis as our Defensive Coordinator, wasn’t going to get us where we wanted to go. I wrote that on February 2, 2014.

During 2015, the Eagles fired then head coach, Chip Kelly, and Davis followed. In 2016 Doug Pederson, became our new Head Coach. Pederson was joined by DC Jim Schwartz, who inherited the talent that Davis had been squandering on Defense. The result was that we won our first Super Bowl on February 8, 2018.

Similarly, Gannon has been squandering the talent on the defensive side of our roster. Yes, yes, I know! We got 70 sacks in 2022. But what else did we do? Let me give you a quick rundown:

We got turnovers in bunches at the beginning of the 2022 season. When those dried up, no adjustment was made. Just more and more soft coverages, allowing easy completions which kept our Defense on the field. Look at how we finished the season:

Ryan Tannehill: 14/22 – 63.6% – 141 – 1 – 0

Daniel Jones: 18/27 – 66.6% – 169 – 1 – 0

Justin Fields: 14/21 – 66.6% – 152 – 2 – 0

Dak Prescott: 27/35 – 77.1% – 347 – 3 – 1

Andy Dalton: 18/22 – 81.8% – 205 – 0 – 1

Davis Webb: 23/40 – 57.5% – 168 – 1 – 0

That 3rd and 30 vs Dallas? Our four man rush allowed Dak Prescott to move gently left, and heave a 50 yard strike, to a guy who had recently been on his couch! Who dialed up that rush? Who called for that loose coverage?

Looks like our Secondary wasn’t set right?
NOPE! We were set. This alignment is just how it was called.

Hey, how about the development of the rookies, DT Jordan Davis and LB Nakobe Dean?

Davis was injured in Week 7, and sat out three games. Prior to his injury, he had five starts. Once he returned, he would never again see 20 snaps in a game under Gannon. Free agent additions DT Ndamukong Suh and DT Linval Joseph, helped give DT Fletcher Cox relief during Davis’s injury, but they should have never out-snapped Davis after his return. Both did in every game.

Dean played all of 34 snaps all season long. He played a total of 43 if you count the playoffs. There is no way to convince me (or most of you), that Dean should have played behind LB Kyzir White for most of this season. Don’t even get me STARTED about CB Zeck McPhearson barely seeing the field.

Does anyone want to discuss his adjustments in the Super Bowl? What adjustments? Great question. The Chiefs played pitch and catch all game long. I’ve seen clouds under more pressure than QB Patrick Mahomes saw that night. And yet how often did we see a five man rush? How about Man-Press? A Fire Zone Blitz?

When asked what defensive system he ran, Gannon answered with “Multiple”. I hated that answer right from the get-go! Multiple should mean that we see all kinds of exotic looks, but this guy didn’t come with the resume for Multiple. (Few in history have.)

Instead of “Multiple” what we got was mostly 4 – 3, off-Corners, 2 Deep Zone. Translation: Missionary, under the covers, in the dark, while wearing pajamas. Just get me someone who wants to play with his toys, and dreams up inventive things to do with them. Handcuff her behind her knees, and hit it from the back with your foot on her cheek. Let’s see some imagination!

My fear was that Gannon was going to stick around, and continue to squander talent. However, his fucking off, opens the door to a quick return to the Super Bowl. Maybe even as soon as next season, despite free agent departures like DT Javon Hargrave and CB James Bradberry! We could stumble into a dynasty here, folks.

Hold on. Let me dial it back a sec. I haven’t been a fan of any of our DC’s since Jim Johnson. Most of you have ridden that ride with me (hey, remember Juan Castillo?), so I don’t have to go into detail. We could still screw this up, but as of now, we’re stronger for having lost him. Today, we had some addition by subtraction.

#7: SMALLER CUSHIONS PLEASE

Posted by The BEAST on 2022/06/05
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, free agents, Players, Rants, Roster, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

CORNERBACKS Darius Slay and James Bradberry are seen as possibly the best starting Man-to-Man duo, in the NFL. If that’s the case, then they should be allowed to play more Man and less Zone. If that happens, then we should see them lining up closer to WR’s, instead of giving them cushions of five yards or more.

Eagles fans spent 2021 calling for the head of Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon. Whether it was the huge cushions, the lack of blitzing, the unimaginative use of the LB’s, we weren’t happy with last year’s meager 29 sacks and 12 interceptions. Eagles brass (who had assembled that roster), hinted that maybe Gannon just needed better players.

So they went out and added a premier pass rusher in LB Hasaan Reddick. Added a premier CB in Bradberry. Even added some speed with LB Kyzir White. And that’s just among the proven NFL veterans! We also added two top-shelf defensive rookie talents. So “a lack of talent to work with” is no longer an excuse in Philadelphia.

Courtesy of NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Now that we have the cover men, we can shrink those cushions and make QB’s hold the ball a second or two longer. That will give our pass rush time to get their mitts on him. Or that QB can be an idiot, and throw the ball against tighter coverage. Sure, every so often that will result in a big play for the opposing offense, but it will also mean more chances at the ball for our Defense.

Giving swagger to a defense requires showing confidence in it first. If you want something to sprout, you have to water it first. Work, THEN results. There are no shortcuts. Being lazy today, only robs you in the future.

We went and got the guys. Now let’s let them play their game.

#3: DON’T OVERUSE 3-4

Posted by The BEAST on 2022/06/01
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Players, Roster, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

DEFENSIVE Coordinator Jonathan Gannon came to Philadelphia saying that his defensive system wasn’t a system. He said that he wanted to “be multiple”. As in: Use multiple defensive fronts (4 – 3 , 3 – 4, 5 – 2, 4 – 2, etc.) He did much of that last year, primarily playing out of a 4 – 3 base. This year however, we’re hearing rumblings of using more 3 – 4.

I will never say that the Eagles shouldn’t strive for versatility, but we can’t allow ourselves to fall in love with the 3 – 4 this year. By “fall in love with”, I mean starting more than one game in it. By “fall in love with”, I mean more than 15 snaps per game in it, or using it EVERY single week. The 3 – 4 can be a weapon. It just needs to be concealed carry. Not hanging off the brim of our baseball cap.

Understand, most of the players we have on Defense, were plucked from 4 – 3 systems in college, and have played 4 – 3 as pros. That means 4 – 3 is what they are good at. They have become experts in 4 – 3. So why strand them in something they aren’t proficient in? The idea is to spend as much time as we can, getting the most out of our players.

We do have players here, who have played in a 3 – 4. DE Brandon Graham played OLB, and DT Fletcher Cox played DE, in a 3 – 4 Wide Nine, back when Bill Davis was here. You remember him? Chip Kelly brought him here, and he ran our Defense into the ground. You may remember that I wrote an article called “WANT A SUPER BOWL? THEN FIRE BILL DAVIS”. Then we fired Bill Davis and won a Super Bowl. Yeah, that Bill Davis.

My point is that switching 4 – 3 players, to 3 – 4 players didn’t work well for us. So again, why strand them? Look, sprinkling in a little 3 – 4 could be a major weapon for us. A major one if used just 5 to 8 downs per game (out of an average of 60). An opponent isn’t going to devote much time to stopping something we run only about 10 percent of the time. The time isn’t there. Not with less than a week of prep time. That alone makes it scary.

Also, with DT’s Cox, Javon Hargrave, Jordan Davis, and Milton Williams playing in the ‘A’ gaps, it’ll be much easier to keep our LB’s clean. Compare that to using a NT with open spacing, which allows opposing G’s to get up on our ILB’s. It’s no contest. The 4 – 3 should be the base, and we shouldn’t do to much with the 3 – 4.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 9: Chargers

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/11/08
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

HORSESHOES and hand grenades.

EAGLES 24 – Chargers 27

.

EAGLES STATS:

New categories include an EXCLUSIVE weekly Offensive Line Report (Rushing TD’s + 3rd and 4th downs converted:missed of 2 yards or less – sacks allowed); as well as Drive Killer (Int – FR – 4th down Tackles – FF – TD).

Passing: (S) QB Jalen Hurts (11/17 – 64.7% – 162 – 1 – 0)

Rushing: ( R) RB Jordan Howard (17 – 71 – 4.1 – 1 – 0)

Receiving: (S) WR Devonta Smith (6 – 5 – 116 – 23.2 – 1)

Offensive Line Report: (2 + 2:0 – 1)

Drive Killer: (S) MLB T.J. Edwards (0 – 0 – 1 – 0 – 0)

Sack Leader: NO QUALIFIER

****

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

1) Run the ball: I said 10 – 15 hand-offs in the first half is what we needed. Well, we handed it off 18 times, and went into the half with a 10 – 7 lead. Reserve Jordan Howard had 11 of his 17 carries in the first half. Starting RB Boston Scott (10 – 40 – 4.0 – 0 – 0) had 7 of his, in the first. The formula was working like a charm.

The problem was, that they only saw a combined 9 hand-off after the half. Since I put s much emphasis on the first half in FT, I have to consider this technically “done”. However, what I wrote was not the spirit of what I meant. This is a cheapy, but… (DONE)

2) Lean, not Press: We didn’t even try. Chargers receivers ran uncontested and unmolested all day long. It was a horrible display of coaching. I say that because, if the defensive coordinator wanted the Defense to behave otherwise, he would have called other coverages.

Instead what happened was we allowed a completion percentage of 84.2. Yet again, an opposing QB was out there, practically playing catch with his son. (NOT DONE)

3) Get them on the ground: Early drives did not begin promisingly, as the Eagles kept doing that crap where they hold up the ball carrier for strip attempt. However, after the Chargers bulled their way in for a score, the Eagles (for the most part) began just getting players down on the ground.

Unfortunately, tackling was the only aspect of our Defense that was working. Coverage, pass rush, disguising looks,, etc. All that was left in Carolina, I guess.

Can I just say, while we’re discussing tackling, we seem better when S Anthony Harris (3 – 0 – 0 – 0) is sitting games out. Maybe someone should pour boiling water on his lap, then hand him the kettle. (DONE)

4) Completions in the middle: Devonta Smith’s 28 yard touchdown started as a catch in the middle. It allowed him to find room to evade defenders, and make a enough extra yardage to score. It was a great play. Unfortunately, there weren’t many of it’s kind.

Many of Hurts pass attempts get pushed outside the numbers, and often to the sidelines. This works against the Offense on many levels: It increases time the receiver has to wait for the ball to reach. It gives defenders more time to break on the ball. It limits room to run for extra yardage. We have to do better. (NOT DONE)

****

So we managed 2 of Four Things this week. Maybe we’ll do better next week against a Bronco’s team that has 3 of their five wins against our division. That’s right! The only thing standing between the Broncos and a sweep of the NFC East, is us walking into their house and doing to them, what they did to Dallas this week.

****

On The Whole:

We are seeing solid signs of growth in Head Coach Nick Siranni and therefore, in the team under him. Two examples would be Sirianni’s clock management right before the half, and the Defense not jumping off-sides, when Los Angeles tried to induce them, on 4th and 1. The first was an example of being present in the moment, the other of being accountable to discipline.

Our Defense on the other hand remains a joke. This is because DC Jonathan Gannon is a pussy. There is no aggression in him. No passion. He’s timid and afraid. Even though what he’s doing will get him fired, he’s too cowardly to alter it for any length of time. Even after he sees that the alterations work.

If Sirianni is going to have a coaching future, he’s going to have to fire Gannon. Gannon is dead weight. An anchor. An albatross. He’s a rotted cucumber and two D batteries.

You can tell by his face, that he’s a guy who counts his strokes. Out loud. While checking his heart rate on his Apple Watch. Then when you don’t finish, he blames you because the metrics indicate that you should’ve by now. Don’t believe it? Listen to one of his press conferences. We gotta get rid of this guy!

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 7: RAIDERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/10/25
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

OUR coaches are trash.

EAGLES 22 – RAIDERS 33

.

EAGLES STATS:

New categories include an EXCLUSIVE weekly Offensive Line Report (Rushing TD’s + 3rd and 4th downs converted:missed of 2 yards or less – sacks allowed); as well as Drive Killer (Int – FR – 4th down Tackles – FF – TD).

Passing: (S) QB Jalen Hurts (18/34 – 52.9% – 236 – 2 – 0)

Rushing: (S) QB Jalen Hurts (13 – 61 – 4.6 – 0 – 1)

Receiving: (S) TE Dallas Goedert (5 – 3 – 70 – 23.3 – 0)

Offensive Line Report: (1 + 3:1 – 2)

Drive Killer: (S) CB Avonte Maddox (1 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0)

Sack Leader: NO QUALIFIER

****

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

1) Run the Ball: The first drive of the the game featured 5 run plays en route to a game opening touchdown. RB Miles Sanders (6 – 30 – 5.0 – 0 – 0) saw one more carry, then was lost for the game, on the reception that immediately followed it. A funny thing happened after that.

Back-up RB Kenneth Gainwell (5 – 20 – 4.0 – 0 – 0) saw just 5 hand-offs, compared to RB Boston Scott (7 – 24 – 3.4 – 1 – 0), who hadn’t seen a carry all season until today. Understand, Gainwell had 4 carries, and was targeted 8 times, as a receiver. However, the way the coaching staff broke up the carries between Gainwell and Scott, tells the world what they think of Gainwell as an NFL RB. Scott also got key red zone work. (NOT DONE)

2) Lots of Deep Passing:

There were a couple of nice 20+ yard passes, but most of it was Hurts doing his depressingly familiar and repetitive hold the ball too long, then boot right while hardly noticing the guy on his heels, before winging it somewhere in the general direction of away from him. That’s how he ended up completing less than 53% of his passes. (NOT DONE)

3) Call a Dentist: All we had to do, was hit their QB a couple times early, and it would have taken him completely out of his game. We’d have defanged the Bumble. Instead, we couldn’t within a 50$ cab ride of the QB. The result was that the other team’s QB went 31/34 passing. In percentage, that’s 91.1. In words: Ninety-one, point one. En Espanol: Noventa y uno con uno. Can I be clearer? Watch me.

On a day when we needed to hold Derek Carr (31/34 – 91.1% – 323 – 2 – 1) to less than 63% accuracy, WE gave the motherfucker a GOT-damn career day!! If he hadn’t come into the game as the Raiders all-time leading passer, we’d have found a way to make that shit happen for him too. (NOT DONE)

4) Disrupt Waller: TE Darren Waller hurt his ankle Saturday, and so he was inactive Sunday. So this was done, but not by us. (NOT APPLICABLE)

****

This weeks score is 0 for Four Things. Three things actually, because we can’t take credit for Waller not being a factor in this game. Next week we travel to Detroit to face the 0 – 7 Lions. And let me tell you this:

****

On The Whole:

After the game I went to PBS and watched ‘It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown’. (I needed to smile.) Later on, I circled back and watched DT Fletcher Cox (2 – 0 – 0 – 0) barely contain his frustration at the podium, in his post game press conference. I watched Head Coach Nick Sirianni, and Jalen Hurts, as well.

Despite no one buying our Shotgun play-action, expect to see it next week. Expect our 6’1 QB to keep having Screen passes batted down, when he’s not holding the ball too long, leading to ineligible man downfield penalties. Expect Hurts to lead us in rushing again, because when his first read is covered, he takes off to his right. Let me tell you, this is a team with no answers. Sirianni is a coach with no answers.

This is why he keeps repeating the same things at his pressers.

Funny thing is, I’m not all that bent up about the Offense.

While some will want to hammer the Offense, I’m wondering why control of the Defense isn’t being taken from Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon. His Defense makes every opponent look unstoppable. So how is it that he’s somehow credited with being better suited to the job, than the sandwich I just ate?

I would ask what’s wrong with our pass rush. If we had any. Same with our underneath coverage. Or our defensive interior vs the run. We’re bad in all phases of defense. How is that a thing?! We suck at everything! How is this a thing?!

And in all of this, not a word from Jeff Lurie.

FOUR THINGS: WK #5: EAGLES – PANTHERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/10/09
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Preview, Roster, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

SCORING 30 points last week, was great. Allowing 42, was not so great. We get a chance at redemption on Sunday, vs a 3 – 1 Carolina team. It’s a Carolina team allowing opponents to score on 6 of 6 trips in the red zone, this year. The very same area where TE Dallas Goedert has snagged both of his TD’s.

As for that 3 – 1 record? The Jets, Saints, and Texans. That’s who Carolina has beaten this year. So we aren’t exactly facing a juggernaut this week. This game is very winnable. Very. So don’t let the records fool you. Carolina isn’t nearly as far ahead of the Eagles, as the NFL would like you to believe (Power Rankings: #14 vs #25).

A bounce back win would put us at 2 – 3. Then add that to the fallout from the NY/Dallas game. A giants loss would push them to 1 – 4, giving them basement all to themselves. A Dallas loss will put them at 3 – 2, and turn the East into a mad scramble.

Should we lose, we’d need Dallas to lose, just to keep realistically in the hunt. True, there’d be 12 games left, but we can hardly afford to fall further behind.

****

The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics will practically guarantee our Eagles this win. CAUTION: I don’t have the faintest clue as to what a point spread is, and I know even less about how it works. I know football and that’s IT. If you use FT as a gambling tool, you are trying to lose your money, and will deserve it when you do.

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

1) Run the Damned Ball!: By run the ball, I mean 16 hand-offs for RB Miles Sanders.

The one game we’ve won so far, saw him run the ball 15 times. Handing off the ball, changes how a defense attacks. It limits how aggressive they can be, because they have to diagnose what is happening. That’s less true of pass rushing.

Here’s a fun fact: The less Sanders touches the ball in 2021, the more the Eagles lose by. Atlanta – 19 touches, 26 point win. San Fran – 14 touches, 6 point loss. Kansas City – 10 touches, 12 point loss. Dallas 5 touches, 20 point loss. RB Kenneth Gainswell is a neat weapon to have, but he isn’t Sanders and the losses make that point.

With RT Lane Johnson missing a second week, LT Jordan Mailata is moving over there to fill-in. It’s also a smart audition for him, if recent leaks about Johnson are true, and the Eagles need a long-term answer there.

2) Don’t Help Carolina: The first 4 games saw us get penalized 15, 8, 13, and 9 times. So far, in every game we have deservedly been penalized more than our opponent. Granted, we’re not just going to quit penalties cold-turkey, but we need to take the first step and limit the number to 6 or fewer, this week.

Holding is occasionally an acceptable penalty. Sometimes it’s done deliberately to keep a QB alive. (Some holds have saved whole seasons!) Dumb penalties like offsides, ineligible man downfield, (clear) pass interference, tripping, and blocks in the back… Those are never sensible, and they have to be eliminated.

3) Back the Line: Carolina doesn’t have a great offensive line, so they should have their hands full with our Defensive Line. That means nothing however, if the LB’s don’t do a better job of coming downhill vs the run. It also means little if opposing receivers are getting open, early in their routes underneath.

This is what happens when receivers get a free release.

We need more jamming TE’s, and shoving WR’s off-course, when they run shallow Crosses and Drags. “More” in this case, is a polite way of saying “Any”, or “Some”, or “Please for Fuck’s Sake, get around to finally goddamned doing this!!” Zone Coverage doesn’t just have to mean watching the game. It can also mean playing in it! It can mean being an asset, and not just a well-paid liability. Someone tell our LB’s.

4) Take Away the Edges: In CB’s Steve Nelson and Darius Slay, we are supposed to have two of football’s better Man Coverage, corners. So I don’t understand why they’re so often on cushions, with Two Deep Safety help. Two Deep is what a team runs so that they can be aggressive with Man Press.

In this regard, the Eagles scheme- WHOOPS! That’s right, Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon doesn’t run a scheme. “I don’t have a scheme. Our scheme should be to put our 11 guys on the field in the best position possible to succeed.” He actually said that. Those words, in that order.

Look, press the outside WR’s! Don’t let the QB execute the play as if he’s still in practice. Throw off his timing, and force him to go deeper into his progression. Make him hold the ball, and give our pass rushers time to reach him. We have the corners! Use them. This could even be the cornerstone of an actual scheme.

If we do these Four Things, this win is in the bag.

Miles Sanders, Darius Slay, Steve Nelson… We need to hear names this week that we haven’t been hearing much this year. We don’t need guys to step up, as much as we need the coaching staff to stop sapping the roster’s strengths. (Hence the article about DT Fletcher Cox this week.)

Most of our problems this season have been from self-inflicted wounds, and getting away from fundamentals. This week (and next week vs Tampa Bay), have to be about individuals being accountable for his own fundamentals. Not accountable after a mistake, accountable before each snap. Each man needs to focus on his work, and not waste the effort of the men beside him.

Carolina isn’t our opponent this week. The Eagles are. If they don’t beat us, Carolina can’t.

****

PREDICTION: EAGLES 27– Panthers 24

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

FOUR THINGS: WK P2: EAGLES – PATRIOTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/08/17
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WHILE our Offensive Starters didn’t get in the end zone, our Defensive Starters didn’t allow a trip to the end zone. In fact, our first half play looked very good considering that it was Head Coach Nick Sirianni’s debut, and Pittsburgh wasn’t playing in their first game of the preseason.

Hopefully in this game, we’ll work on a rushing attack that we left largely explored, last week. The play selection was 29 passes to 10 non-QB rushes. That’s 74.3% pass, for those who want an early read on Sirianni’s attack philosophy.

In year’s past, there were four preseason games. Now there are just three. In the past, Starters played the most in Game Three. Now it’ll likely be in Game Two. That means if we’re going to win one of these, this next one is the one that will have the most “meaning”, because it’ll give us the largest glimpse of our best vs an opponent’s best. Like this!

Even though preseason games are meaningless, I want this game. I didn’t care what happened last week, and I won’t care how next week shakes out. But this one? I want this one. I’m putting that out there, right now.

The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics will practically guarantee our Eagles this win. CAUTION: I don’t have the faintest clue as to what a point spread is, and I know even less about how it works. I know football and that’s IT. If you use FT as a gambling tool, you are trying to lose your money, and will deserve it when you do.

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

1) Run the ball: QB Jalen Hurts looked solid last week. Not great. Not stellar. Solid. To really unleash him and make him dangerous, the Eagles ground game has to come alive. We need to give the opposing defense an entire offense to worry about. While 60/40 run pass split would be ideal, even a 43/57 split would show that the Eagles brain trust is as least as dialed in as I am.

2) Rotate, rotate, rotate: For fuck’s sake, rotate our goddamned line! Last week Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon essentially gave away the game, by refusing to rotate his obviously gassed, defensive linemen in the second half. The result was that our defense got run over.

If Gannon owns a pair of balls, he’ll be embarrassed by what his coaching put on tape. At the very least, linemen should be subbed out two at a time. For example: Rotate in a DT along with a DE. We have 7 DT’s, and we only start 2. That’s 5 subs. We have 6 healthy DE’s. We only start 2. That’s 4 subs. We have the manpower. Get this done!

3) Sit the Flacco Down: We already know what QB Joe Flacco is. He doesn’t need extensive work to be a #2. Hurts on the other hand needs a half, since he likely won’t play next week. Third string QB Nick Mullen however, needs to show that last week (1 – 5 – 20.0% – 4 – 0 – 2) was an aberration. If he bombs this week, the Eagles are almost guaranteed not to carry three QB’s on the active roster; and they may even look elsewhere for a Practice Squader.

4) Unleash the Blitz: The Eagles refrained from blitzing last week. So much so that the announcer kept bringing it up. That can’t happen this week. Our players need to get a feel for how the gaps develop, how long they last, or if any of them have a “tell”, etc. Those things only come with reps against top-shelf talent.

Guys like OLB Genard Avery and rookie OLB Patrick Johnson, are known for rushing passers. Let’s turn these guys loose.

If we do these Four Things, this game will show the NFL that the Eagles are scary underdogs this year. REALLY scary underdogs.

Mike Tomlin last week, and now Patriots coach Bill Belichik. While Belichik is more than a match for our rookie head man, I feel fortunate that Sirianni is getting this baptism by fire, this early in his career. That said, neither Bill nor Nick, will line up on Thursday night.

Talent for talent, I don’t see that New England is better than we are. In fact, I think we hold decisive advantages along both of our lines. We also have more explosive skill players. Especially given the fact that the Patriots feel that adding CB Jalen Mills to their secondary made them stronger.

If the Eagles do what they should, we win this in a walk.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 20 – Patriots 17

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

THE EAGLES HAVE ME EXCITED

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/01/29
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

FIRING Head Coach Doug Pederson the way that Owner Jeffery Lurie did, was definitely bad optics on the Eagles part. That said, bad optics and a bad move are not the same thing. I am not billing new Head Coach Nick Sirianni, as a savior. What I am, is low-key excited about the likely directions that the Offense and Defense are going in.

On Offense, (according to ESPN) we ran more vertical routes than any team last year, and had the 3rd slowest time ‘from snap to pass’. While I didn’t know that until I read it this week, that information doesn’t surprise me in the least. Not one iota. It also explains pretty much everything about last year. Check it out.

Long routes take longer to develop. That means the QB has to hold the ball longer. Behind last year’s shaky Offensive Line, that was a recipe to be sacked 50 times. Meanwhile QB Carson Wentz was thrown under the bus on a weekly basis, and ultimately benched, for rookie QB Jalen Hurts. Mostly for doing what the system apparently asked of him. That sort of thing will sour a QB on a coach.

That spark that Pederson said he was looking for? Completion percentage: Wentz 57.4/Hurts 52.0 – TD percentage: Wentz 3.7/Hurts 4.1 – Interception Percentage: Wentz 3.4/Hurts 2.7 – Sacks per Attempt Wentz 10.3/Hurts 8.1.

Before you get caught up saying one is better than the other, consider: ALL of these were bad numbers. Particularly when compared to most winning NFL QB’s. Arguing in favor of either is just picking gnat shit out of pepper. Those kind of numbers, with this much QB talent, will get a head coach fired. And then not offered a job anywhere. Despite his jewelry. (Sips tea.)

Sirianni has never called plays. His career has been spent designing them. Last year he designed plays for practically immobile QB Phillip Rivers. Rivers was sacked just 19 times in 2020.

Sirianni’s play designs have typically favored getting the ball to a receiver within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. The Offensive Coordinator Shane Steichen worked with Sirianni in San Diego, and they are both of like mind. That means the ball will have to come out quickly and accurately. It also means more of the weight is on the WR’s to uncover quickly. So the passing game isn’t 75% on Carson anymore. So by design, there is no more Superhero Ball!

If everyone does their jobs well, it will mean fewer negative plays. That keeps third downs manageable, and helps the Eagles win the field position game, even when drives don’t result in points. That makes life easier on the Defense.

Speaking of defense! Our Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon, has his primary background with the 4 – 3 system, has developed star DB’s, and is rumored to favor a Cover Two base. If I were a woman, I’d be floating in my chair. I’ve been asking, begging, praying for this sort of coordinator, since Jim Johnson died in 2009.

Keep in mind, all of this is all just reading tea leaves, right now. That said, these are some of the biggest damned tea leaves I’ve ever seen!

Did I mention that on Offense, Sirianni is a big believer in 12 Personnel? I didn’t? Well guess what?!

We still don’t know what this means for the run game, or how this is going to change how the Defensive Line attacks. Today’s press conference should shed more light on that.

What we do know, is that many of the weaknesses that we’ve learned to live with, are getting fundamentally wiped away. They will of course give way to new weaknesses, but we’ll burn those bridges when we get to them.

So yeah, I’m low-key excited. Can’t you tell?