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FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 11: COLTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2022/11/21
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Defense, Four Things, free agents, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

SO much for your fucking “blueprint”.

EAGLES 17 – Colts 16

EAGLES STATS:

Categories include an EXCLUSIVE weekly Offensive Line Report (Rushing TD’s (6 points) + 3rd downs converted by handoffs (1 point) + sacks allowed (-2 points) = score); as well as Drive Killer (Int – FR – 4th down Tackles – FF – TD).

New Category Ace is for Kick return TD’s, Returners run-down, kicks blocked, etc.

Passing : (S) QB Jalen Hurts (18/25 – 72.0% – 190 – 1 – 0)

Rushing : (S) QB Jalen Hurts (15 – 86 – 5.3 – 1 – 1)

Receiving : (S) WR Devonta Smith (9 – 6 – 78 – 13.0 – 0)

Offensive Line Report/Enforcer : (6+ 0 – 6 = 0) C Jason Kelce

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

Sack Leader : (S) DE Brandon Graham (3 – 1.0 – 0 – 0)

Ace : N/A

****

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

QB Jalen Hurts with THE DAGGER!

1) Run the Ball: I established at the beginning of the season that “Run the ball” means “hand it off”. That has to be clarified with a QB like Hurts. His running isn’t always a called run by the coaching staff. In fact, it rarely is. So our commitment to running can’t be determined by his carries, regardless of how many he has in a game.

That said, Hurts carried the ball 16 times today. The three RB’s on the roster combined for just 17. Starting RB Miles Sanders (13 – 47 – 3.6 – 0 – 0) had all of 5 carries in the first half, and was frequently subbed out for lesser players, who keep proving that. We made our bones running the ball. It’s our identity. Getting away from it is the primary reason why it keeps looking like the Eagles have forgotten how to play offense. (NOT DONE)

2) Drop’em!: Little bit of irony on this one, but we’ll take it. Our Defense had a bad opening drive, where the Colts rushed for 50 yards, on a 75 yard drive for their touchdown. Singular. They ran for 99 yards on the day, again with 50 of it on that first drive.

We got punched in the face, tightened our chinstraps, and went back in. Face first. You see the final score, right? We put players down and weren’t having all that pile pushing nonsense. At one point the Colts thought they had a pile moving, but we held the ball carrier up and FS Marcus Epps (5 – 0 – 0 – 0) clawed the ball out of his hand, and Edwards recovered. But we didn’t spend the game doing that! (DONE)

WR Quez Watkins goes in for six!

3) Open up the Passing Game: Without TE Dallas Goedert here to catch half a dozen TE Screens, the ball had to be distributed differently this week. That 22 yard TD to WR Quez Watkins (2 – 2 – 31 – 15.5 – 1), across the deep middle was exactly the sort of attempt that we need to see on a weekly.

Better still Smith, wasn’t running a bunch of six yard routes, which helped create room for Hurts to take off. Shallow routes stymie the run game by keeping defenders close to the line of scrimmage. Run those turkeys off! We did a great job of that this week with the route running alone. The completions were icing on the cake. (DONE)

4) Get Heat On Matty Ice: We got 4 sacks on him, but we really didn’t seem to rattle him much. The ball was where it needed to be, when it needed to be there. Honestly, to look at him, to look at his eyes (check it out if you catch a re-broadcast), I don’t think there was much we could have done to rattle him.

I think his benching a couple weeks ago, shook him harder than any sack ever could. As a former player, I should have taken that into consideration. Calling for us to rattle him, was a lost cause in the first place. Like frequent reader Andrea, he’s an Exton product. We were never going to shake him. (NOT DONE)

****

This week we got 2 of the Four Things, and walked out of Indy with a GUARANTEED WINNING RECORD for the 2022 season. Now we get to “welcome” Green Bay to the Linc, in prime-time, to see if they want to contribute to our pile of W’s.

****

On The Whole:

DE Brandon Graham checks for bullshit flags.

ONCE AGAIN, THE NFL’S NUMBER ONE TEAM, AT 9 – 1!

How ‘bout them Cowboys! Doing something useful for a change, and dropping Minnesota to 8 – 2, for us. That gives us not only the head-to-head tie-breaker over Minny, but a one game margin of error at the head of the Conference.

New York being literally run over for an ‘L’ of their own, makes them and Dallas both 7 – 3, and gives us a TWO game margin of error in the Division. This means rooting for the giants to beat the Cowboys on Turkey Day, to ruin a Dallas sweep and dampen any tie-breaker advantage. Big picture, folks!

Now back to THIS game itself!

DT’s Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph combine for a sack in their first game as Eagles.

First of all, hats off to Defensive Line Coach Tracy Rocker for integrating DT’s Ndamukong Suh (2 – 0.5 – 0 – 0) and Linval Joseph (4 – 0.5 – 0 – 0) in less than a week. Hell, Joseph even started this game. We gave up 152 rushing yards on Monday. We gave up just 99 six days later.

But enough handjobs and high-fives. I have few serious gripes. There was entirely too much of the Eagles trying to be cute, and giving carries to a couple of RB’s who don’t break tackles. Hurts picked up a game deciding first down on 4th and 2, late in the 4th quarter, but the handoff to RB Boston Scott (2 – 4 – 2.0 – 0 – 0) on the prior 3rd and 4, was a bad call. That’s a down for a franchise QB, not a back-up RB.

Also on Hurts fumble, why was Sanders blocking DE Yannick Ngakoue (3 – 1.5 – 0 – 0) one-on one? On a down like that either a better protecting need to be called or Hurts has to get that ball out of his hand immediately.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 1: Falcons

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/09/13
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, Special Teams, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

PHILADELPHIA put Matty on ice!

EAGLES 32 – Falcons 6

 

EAGLES STATS:

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

Passing: (S) QB Jalen Hurts (27/35– 77.1% – 264 – 3 – 0)

Rushing: (S) RB Miles Sanders (15 – 74 – 4.9 – 0 – 0)

Receiving: (S) Devonta Smith (8 – 6 – 71 – 11.8 – 1)

Offensive Line Report: (1 + 2 – 1)

Drive Killer: (S) DT Javon Hargrave (0 – 0 – 1 – 0 – 0)

Sack Leader: (S) DT Javon Hargrave (3 – 2.0 – 0 – 0)

 

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

1) Melt Matty Ice: Surprisingly, the Falcons coaching staff came out with scripted plays, to get QB Matt Ryan moving on bootlegs and such. We didn’t expect it and it showed. Especially on the first drive. No-huddle, Ryan being mobile, poor tackling. It’s a wonder that we held them to a 21 yard FG.

As the game settled, Ryan’s theatrics stopped. Our interior pass rush kept Ryan from stepping up, forcing him backwards throughout the second half. This is evidenced by our DT’s getting 4 sacks on him. (One of two by DT Hassan Ridgeway (1 – 1.0 – 0 – 0) were wiped out by an intentional grounding penalty, on Ryan. Why he wasn’t ruled “In the Grasp” and the play blown dead, is a mystery to me.) (DONE)

2) Be Smash Mouth All-Stars: Did our RB’s see 25 hand-offs? No, they got 24, but I’m going to have to adjust my thinking about hand-offs and the run game. There were a few runs for Hurts where he was used like a RB, running behind blockers. We ran it 31 times for 173 yards. This is going to be what Eagles Offense looks like under Hurts.

It’s just Week One, but between Sanders 74 yards and Hurts 62, we have two players on pace for 1,000 yards. As for the hand-offs to the right and up the gut: We posted 24 carries for 111 yards, with an 8 yard touchdown up the gut for rookie RB Kenny Gainwell (9 – 37 – 4.1 – 1 – 0) who was practically untouched. (DONE)

3) Get Mitts on Pitts: Let me nutshell this. Rookie TE Kyle Pitts (8 – 4 – 31 – 7.7 – 0) is a mismatch for 95% of the NFL as a TE. However, the Falcons split him out often, and tried to use him like a WR. That worked in college, but he’s not quick-twitch enough for NFL WR. As a result, we kept him under wraps with 5’9” Nickle CB Avonte Maddox (5 – 0 – 0 – 0).

We didn’t do this one, but it wasn’t a failing on our part. While I can’t say that “I called it”, I can say Falcons head coach Arthur Smith not understanding his TE’s limitations, is 33% of the reason the Eagles sit alone atop the NFC East today. Good thing they traded away WR Julio Jones. Had he stayed, this game would have gone differently. (NOT DONE)

4) Run From 21: We played a lot of 21 (2TE, 1RB) and it worked out for us masterfully. It gave Hurts easy completions that stretched the defense horizontally. Which in turn, created outside running lanes when OLB’s had to respect the TE in front of them.

TE Dallas Goedert (5 – 4 – 42 – 10.5 – 1) and TE Zach Ertz (2 – 2 – 34 – 17. 0 – 0), combined for 6 catches, 78 yards and a score, on 7 targets. As long as they produce like this, our inside run game can never be completely shutdown. This is the key to our entire Offense. This is where those 32 points were born. (DONE)

 

We start the season with 3 of 4 the Four Things done, in an absolute blowout of a trash ass team. Now we turn our attention the 1 – 0 San Francisco 49ers, who are coming to OUR HOUSE, next Sunday.

 

On The Whole: On Offense, we threw the ball 35 times and ran it 31. That’s 53% pass, to 47% run. That’s a well-balanced offense, folks. The closer to 50/50 the better, with 55/45 being the farthest deviation under well-balanced. That keeps a defense honest, and gives an offense real options. It also really helps keep a QB’s jersey clean.

On Defense, our LB’s have to stop sticking to blocks, and do a better job of making tackles. Stop holding up ball-carriers to get at the ball. We just end up allowing the pile to move. Let the the ball-carrier create the fumble while fighting for extra yards when stopped well short.

On Special Teams, the feet were excellent. P Arryn Siposs had four boots that had the Falcons starting at the 8, 14, 8 and 18 yard lines. Our returners sucked ass, in this one. There was entirely too much backwards running. That can’t happen at the outset of a return.

We started rough, rallied, and then locked it down. It’s a great start to a season, and a character building win. No need to take a moral victory from a loss, for this NFC East team.

FOUR THINGS: WK #1: EAGLES – FALCONS

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/09/08
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WHAT does an underdog look like? Are they seldom mentioned? We got that. Lightly regarded? Got that too. Thought of as lightweights, even among bullshit rivals? Check and double check! In fact, here’s what NFL.com said about us just this past Monday:

Gentlemen and ladies! Your 2021 Philadelphia Eagles are OFFICIALLY, an underdog.

Fuck the odds makers! Let’s start head coach Nick Sirianni’s career off, with a win! Our rebuilding Eagles come in with dynamic QB Jalen Hurts, vs a defense that in 2020, was 19th in points allowed and 29th in yards allowed. To improve it, the Falcons scarcely added players, but did add a defensive coordinator who retired in 2018, and again in 2020. Makes me wonder how dialed-in, he’s going to be for this.

A win this week, means we’ll have no ground to make up for, with regard to winning the NFC East. (Yeah I said it!) While it’s too early to focus on winning the division, we need to make sure that we don’t fall behind at the outset.

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 Atlanta Falcons:

1) Melt Matty Ice: In 2019, QB Matt Ryan ran for a career-high 147 yards. So he’s not the most nimble or fleet of foot. Nor does he do a great job of throwing on the run. So the obvious thing to do, is to collapse the pocket directly in front of him, so that he can’t step into throws, and has to move around, and change his throwing platform.

Mentally we’re not going to disguise enough to trick Ryan into making mistakes. He’s too smart, and too experienced for that. What we can do is physically beat on him, mentally harass him, and take him out of the game emotionally, by making him do things he’s uncomfortable doing.

2) Be All-Stars and Play Some Smash Mouth:

Underdogs, motherfucker!

This has to be a game where our RB’s see 25 or more hand-offs. We have RT Lane Johnson, RG Brandon Brooks, and C Jason Kelce. When healthy, they are as good as there is in the NFL and thus, on Earth. Oh, and did I mention that they are healthy. So we need to get RB Miles Sanders running behind the best right-side on the planet.

The Falcons run a 3 – 4 scheme that’s more of a 5 – 2. Their d-line is backed up by a pair of vastly undersized ILB’s. They are tiny beyond the line of scrimmage, so we need to give them a steady diet of inside and right-side Zone running.

3) Get Mitts on Pitts: Rookie TE Kyle Pitts shouldn’t be allowed free releases. Jamming him will give our pass rush, that extra second to force Matt Ryan to move, forcing Pitts (and others) to keep cutting routes short to give the QB an easy target. If we jam Pitts enough, we can routinely turn (for example) a 7 yard Flag into a 3 yard Curl. At which point we’ll have disrupted their entire gameplan.

4) Run From 21: Remember a couple years ago when we kept sweeping the Redskins because they chose to play DE Ryan Kerrigan as an OLB, despite the fact that he can’t cover in space? It led to TE Zach Ertz and former Eagle RB Darren Sproles killing them on the edges. Well the Falcons are making the same mistake, playing DE’s like OLB’s.

Remember this? That’s Kerrigan (with help), failing to cover Ertz.

We still have Ertz, and we also have TE Dallas Goedert, (as well as any RB on our roster). This creates a situation where the Eagles need to abuse the Falcons for short passes to the flat, 5 yard Outs, and such. If Atlanta wants to give away free samples, we need to bring a stolen shopping cart.

If we do these Four Things, we should win this game. In fact, I really like our chances here, despite not having seen our Starters in the preseason. It really comes down to

1) Is our Offense is better than their defense? Yes. It is.

2) Is our Defense better than their offense? Uhhh, possibly.

QB Matt Ryan is an 11 year veteran, who has spent his last 8 seasons with WR Julio Jones (now a Titan). In Ryan’s first 3 seasons, he never reached 4,000 yards passing, or threw more than 26 TD’s. He has to cope with no longer having an outside weapon who warps coverages.

Ryan will be relearning Life without Julio, so we need to (and we can) hammer and harass him, and make him wonder if he really still wants to be doing this. Especially for an owner, who given ten attempts at counting his own balls, would never get the same number twice.

Don’t ask. Just take. We want it all! Socks and draws! This is one that we should win. From the moment we come out out of the tunnel, Atlanta needs to know that, we’re taking all three bags.

If we play our cards right, maybe we can get Atlanta’s DC to retire again next week.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 23 – Falcons 16

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

FOUR THINGS – WK 2 – EAGLES-FALCONS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/09/12
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WK2-ATL

LAST week’s win was great for two reasons. First, it was a tone setter for the season, both because we won the game, and for how we won it. Second, it was a win against a division foe. Now the Eagles look to build momentum by stacking a conference win, behind a division win.

The Falcons were humiliated last week by the Vikings, who left cleat marks in the Falcons chests, running for 172 yards and 4.5 ypc. The Vikings only had to throw the ball TEN TIMES all game long. The Falcons will want to prove to the world that they are nobody’s bitches, as they defend their home field against an Eagles team that throat punches them, every time we see each other.

The Eagles comeback victory last week was great to watch, but let’s be honest, it was just the Redskins. We pummeled a kindergartner, but somehow managed to let it be a contest first. Not really a point of bragging. So this week we need to prove that we can beat a team that’s capable of playing past Week 17. Otherwise, next week’s victory over Detroit will mean a lot less.

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

1) Run Howard: Ron Howard.jpg

Noooo, not Ron Howard, run Howard! As in RB Jordan Howard. Atlanta has several undersized players on their front seven, which is how they got victimized so badly by Minnesota last week. That lack of size isn’t something they can resolve this season, particularly in time for this game. So it’s a weakness we should exploit. After last week’s aerial assault, the Falcons will be looking to “Prevent” that from happening to them. A physical run game, vs a smallish front seven, playing a loose box to start… We need to do this.

2) Dissolve the Pocket: Shifting our DT’s right, (QB’s left) on 3rd and long, would let us torch half the pocket and get Matty Ice, running. Not jogging, running. We need to get QB Matt Ryan moving. Not just re-setting his feet in the pocket, because he’s a good enough athlete for that. We need to make him throw while on the run. If we can get him running, the up and down motion will help vary the heights on his launch points. If we can bother his release, we’ve already bothered his delivery. That gives our defenders a better chance of intercepting him.

3) Finish Him!: Stop hunting the strip early in games. Just make the tackle. Back in 2017 I said the same thing in THE 12 . More often it’s situations not players, that really create turnovers. Early in games, offensive players don’t have tired arms and hands. They aren’t yet desperate to make something happen. Overthinking usually makes you miss your goal. Same thing with our Defense. They need to make the tackle, not allow the mistakes of the past (Vernon Davis 48 yard TD) to repeat themselves. Focus on the mission and accomplish what we set out to do. That’s what we winners do.

THE W

4) Deliver Liver Punches: Play-action passes to TE Zach Ertz, and WR Nelson Agholor, will gut this defense specifically. It’s small because it’s built around speed and trust in the initial read, to magnify the effects of it’s speed. Conversely, when this defense makes a small read error, it’s a BIG execution error. Running the ball tough then using play-action on short passes, would have us taking yardage in chunks in the second half.

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 a no nonsense, no fooling around type of game here. Both teams need this game for different reasons. It’s not a “must win” scenario. It’s way too early for that talk. But winning early decreases the odds of having to play “must win” games, during the regular season.

Seasons Eve.jpg

The Falcons run game was almost non-existent last week. 24 of their 73 yards came off of Matt Ryan’s legs. So look for them to try to establish that early. After a combined 10 catches for 95 yards (and 2 TD’s), expect WR’s Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley to keep the Falcons in the game late into the 3rd quarter at least, and possibly up until the last play.

In advance I’d like to thank our 20 yard cushions, for making this game more stressful than it needs to be.

On Offense, I think Head Coach Doug Pederson will see the light and lean less on smaller RB’s this week. The fireworks from last week served to put teams on notice, but it can’t be the bread and butter of this team. Unless Atlanta serves up numerous breakdowns in their secondary, this week will be about establishing who the 2019 Eagles are truly trying to be.

In the end, the Eagles have more weapons, are deeper, and have a better idea of who were are, and of who we are not. The Falcons still seem to be finding their identity, and because of that, will commit more acts of over-reach. At least one of which will prove fatal.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 27 – Falcons 22

yeah-bitch.jpg

WK10: FALCONS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/11/12
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , . 2 Comments

wk10-atl

Atlanta Falcons

SUNDAY        1:00        Lincoln Financial Field,        PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania

NEEDS TO STEP UP:

Vikings Eagles Football

OLB Mychal Kendricks: This is the second time Kendricks has appeared here. He didn’t step up the last time (at Detroit), and we lost that game as a result. He’s here for the same reason this time. Atlanta throws to their RB’s a lot, so Kendricks has to not be a liability in coverage. Our Defense should get good pressure on QB Matt Ryan. Kendricks can not give Ryan somewhere cheap and easy to go with the ball.

WE MUST CONTAIN:

trent-cole-almost-beats-levitre

LG Andy Levitre: This is less a player to contain, and more one to attack. Levitre is a mid-level lineman, playing between an over-paid/under-performing Free Agent C in Alex Mack, and a sorely disappointing LT in Jake Matthews. (Yes, he’s from THE Matthews Family.) If the Eagles can control the LG spot, that would destabilize Atlanta’s entire offensive attack. Matt Ryan, WR Julio Jones, RB Devonta Freeman…dominating Levitre would shut that all down. Getting back DT Bennie Logan this week, should help a great deal with this part.

EAGLES STORY LINE:

The Eagles can win this game if the coaching staff handles 1st and 2nd down with care. Don’t get cute and just focus on picking up yards is the order for this game. The Falcons already bleed points and yards. All we have to do is not hand back everything they’re going to give us.

The Falcons are 6-3 the way the Vikings were 5-0. It’s a weak and circumstantial winning record. They don’t do anything we can’t handle if we come to the game ready to handle business.

BOTTOM LINE:

This is a VERY winnable game if the Eagles go out there and actually take the win.

PREDICTION:

Eagles 30 – Falcons 21

FOUR THINGS: EAGLES/FALCONS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/11/11
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, Front Office (F.O.), Offense, Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , . 1 Comment

IT’S dark here in this basement. Can’t see a damned thing, and the floor is slippery with blood from all these self-inflicted wounds. Sitting here at 4-4 is damned embarrassing. Not because we’re awful, but precisely because we aren’t. If this team gets it’s act together and does a few simple things, there’s no reason we can’t run the table during this last 8 games. I’m not saying we will, I’m saying that we have everything we need in order to do the job. SO LET’S DO THE JOB!

These guys coming in? These Falcons… So they’re 6-3. They aren’t champs! We don’t have to lay down for them, just because the world expects us to lose. This is game is in OUR house. If those guys want to come to OUR house and pick a fight, they’d better bring their lunch pails, because they’ve got a full day’s work ahead of them.

1000px-Philadelphia_Eagles_logo_primary.svg.png

Last week we learned about our limitations. This week we should be all about the business of cutting what doesn’t work and hanging our hats on what does. Particularly on Offense.

This week we get to face the NFL’s #1 team in scoring (33.9 ppg) , but on the flip they allow more scoring (28.8 ppg), than all but 4 teams. So there’s room for us to do our thing. Provided we actually make the attempt.

So let’s talk about the Four Things we need to look for, Week 10 versus Atlanta :

1) Get away from things we don’t do well. Screens, QB option runs, and utilizing Darren Sproles as a bell-cow RB are on this list.

2) Put Matty on ice. The Falcons allow more hits on their QB (61) than all but three teams in the NFL. This works for us, because if QB Matt Ryan is on his back, he’s not throwing passes to WR Julio Jones.

3) Be aggressive on Offense. The Falcons hemorrhages points already, and they have the NFL’s second worst pass defense. There is no reason to be tentative against this team.

4) Run behind the rookie. Most of our runs seem to go away from RT Halapoulivaati Vaitai. It seems that most of our Offense is designed to not expose him. The result is that we keep tipping our hand and teams know they can load up on us, to one side. So why not even the playing field? Coaches may not want to stand QB Carson Wentz behind Vaitai, but if he gets a chance to mash down on someone, it could do wonders for his confidence.

Last week’s game was a measuring stick for our progress. This week’s game is a measuring stick for individual player’s pride. I could say more, but it would only be a waste of words.

yeah-bitch

EAGLES vs FALCONS PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2015/09/11
Posted in: Preview. Tagged: , , , , , . 8 Comments

 

Wk1-9.14.15

MONDAY      7:10                 Georgia Dome            Atlanta, Georgia

THE mission in 2015 is to make it to the playoffs and see what happens once we get there. Yeah, I know the mission is supposed to be the Super Bowl, but let’s take it one step at a time. The first step is winning the NFC East. Last year we went 10-6 and straight home, while the Panthers went 7-8-1 and saw the playoffs because they “won” their division. So winning the division is step one, because the Wildcard gods are fickle bitches and we don’t want them deciding the fate of our season.

That said, if we’re to win the division we need to leave trail of broken teams, twitching in agony for trying to stand in our way. The first volunteer for the ICU is the Atlanta Falcons.

 

EAGLES  

Defense

We didn’t see a whole lot from our pass rush this preseason, but we had no problem with that last year and we’ll return everyone except Trent Cole from last year’s unit. OLB Conner Barwin put 14.5 sacks on the board last year and there’s no reason to think he can’t do about the same in 2015.

We finished in the middle of the pack (ranked 15th) stopping the run last year but there are two ways to read that. This is Week One, so let’s be optimistic and say that last year was a building block year, and that we expect significantly better results (1st – 11th) by year’s end.

There has been no indication that we will rely less on the Cover One and Cover Three concepts that have hampered our pass defense over these last two years (ranked 32nd – 31st). I see no reason to believe that faulty concepts will make us any better in  coverage this year, despite the turnover in our personnel.

Offense

This team can score points. Part of it is the gimmicky (almost cartoonish) version of the Hurry-Up that we run. Part of it is the brilliant spacing concepts that create wide open receivers. However, all of it is based on deception and that unfortunately has made us a finesse team.

Good teams began figuring that out last year, so our team went out and changed the mindset of our run game by changing to RB’s with a more physical running style. However, considering that this didn’t change the way the Offensive Line blocks, it’s more a change in how runs are executed and less a change in our running concept itself. Put bluntly, it’s just window dressing. But here’s hoping it still fools lesser teams!

Much is expected of the passing game this year, as QB Nick Foles was traded for this year’s model Sam Bradford.

There was concern that our Offensive Line would take a significant step back this year, since we lost both of our 2014 starting Guards. However, their preseason performances did not indicate any noticeable decline. We can only hope that holds up to games planning.

 

Falcons

Defense

Only one team in the NFL was worse than us vs the pass last year. Care to guess who they are? They grabbed an anemic 22 sacks in 2014 which is likely why they drafted LB Vic Beasley #8 overall. They also finished near the bottom vs the run. The biggest thing they did in the offseason was lose Osi Umenyiora.

Offense

They boast an accurate and reliable field general in QB Matt Ryan (born in Exton**, schooled here in Philly), and an extremely dangerous WR in Julio Jones. When WR Roddy White is healthy this can be a lethal passing attack.

One area this team does not excel at is anything that has to do with blocking. They already weren’t very good last year, but they seem to have taken a huge step back in 2015. This preseason vs no scheming, they surrendered 14 sacks in 4 games. That projects out to 56 over a 16 game season. Considering that Ryan is not a very mobile QB, there is an excellent chance that they may get him killed this year. On 108 carries they posted a 2.6 ypc average running the ball.

 

BOTTOM LINE

This game could be a shootout early, but Atlanta’s Offensive Line is atrocious. Unless we give up a ton of quick, cheap and easy completions, the Falcons simply won’t be able to protect their QB well enough to hang in a fire-fight.

PREDICTION

EAGLES 37 – Falcons 21

** (That Exton reference was for you Andrea)