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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.

****

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.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: PS1: Ravens

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/08/14
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
DT Jalen Carter nearly nabs the QB

RELAX. It’s just a tune-up.

EAGLES 19 – Ravens 20

Who looked good:

DT Jalen Carter – (No stats) Easily discarded a Guard and nearly ran down a sack on his first NFL snap. How is the 9th overall pick still a steal? Thank you Atlanta!!!!

DT Moro Ojomo – (3 tackles) Baltimore couldn’t keep him out of their backfield. It was against their third unit, but he’s a 7th round rookie, so he warrants more study.

S Sydney Brown – (9 tackles) Made stops and brought a physical presence as well.

CB Eli Ricks – (1tack – 1 int TD) Got his hands on two passes, knocking one down and taking the other to the house.

WR Greg Ward – (5 – 53 – 10.6 – 0) Still does an excellent job of giving his QB an easy, early target.

Who looked bad:

QB Ian Book – (1/4 – 25% – 11 – 0 – 0) Was reluctant to throw the ball too often.

OL Tyler Steen – Got the start at LT and struggled, giving up an early sack. Moved to RG and still failed to impress.

DE Tarron Jackson – (1 tackle) did not make his presence felt despite great interior play.

DE Kyron Johnson – (No stats) Was practically invisible.

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The broad strokes are usually covered by lots of other publications and podcasts. You can go a hundred places and read the same four or five bullet points, mentioned in ninety-seven of those places. Stats aside, what about the Four Things you came here to review, right? Let’s see if we scored a HIT or a MISS on the areas I discussed.

1) Throwing to the RB’s: Aside from a lone checkdown to RB Trey Sermon in the second half, there were no other completions to a RB, all game long. So far there doesn’t seem to be much difference between this and the last few year’s offense, in that regard. I understand not wanting to divulge pertinent information to opponents, but we have to practice what we do, if we’re going to be any good at it. MISS

2) Getting Defensive: Hits that draw flags. I was looking for two or three of those, and we didn’t have one. Yes, there were a few hits that laid the wood, but nothing that will “impact” opponents mentally, as Defensive Coordinator Sean Desai says he wants. While S Justin Evans and rookie S Sydney Brown provided some physicality, no one is going to see those guys in their sleep. MISS

3) Who’s On First?: Offensive Line Coach Jeff Stoutland told everyone last week that RG Cam Jurgens hadn’t locked up the starting job. I told you on Thursday that that was bullshit. Result? Jurgens spent Saturday night wearing a white Eagles t-shirt. So, you know, keep coming here to find out what’s what.

While I didn’t expect Jurgens to play much, I was surprised that he didn’t play at all. That’s an unforced error by the coaching staff. Jurgens isn’t a seasoned NFL starter who can just step back into where he left off last season, because last season he saw exactly 35 snaps. A guy as green as he is could use the work. If only to work on his muscle memory moving from bench C to starting RG.

I was interested in seeing if he got any game snaps at C, just in the interest of letting him play the spot that we all know he’ll inherit. It wasn’t a serious point, but him not playing at all, doesn’t sit well with me. MISS

4) Listening for a POP!: Sadly, MLB Nakobe Dean didn’t start. In fact, he didn’t play. He wasn’t even wearing an unpadded jersey on the sideline. Call me crazy, but I think zero career starts is too early to grant a player sacred cow status. Same as Jurgens, he could have used the work. And for those who ask “What if he’d gotten injured?”, my answer is, preseason game one is the time to find out if a guy is fragile. Not Week One.

No one popped at second or third string DE, which was surprising considering how much of a runaway train DT Moro Ojomo was out there. He was in the Ravens backfield so much, that it wouldn’t have been weird to see him pick up a blitz, or take a hand-off. It’s hard to believe he was still available in the seventh round.

The Eagles didn’t move CB Kelee Ringo around at all. Surprising since he has seen time at S and NCB in camp. Instead, he got a long look at LCB, where he made a hustle play to corral a long run, but then was later beaten for a 7 yard TD pass. He was all at once more than I expected, and less. MISS

****

This week we had four misses, and no hits. (Don’t worry, during the season it will go back to Done/Not Done.) Understand, the misses aren’t really failures, any more than hits would necessarily be successes. Hits and misses are just a way of charting the outcomes of what was discussed, during the preseason. That’s it.

****

On The Whole:

Our second string Offense moved the ball well against their second string defense. QB Marcus Mariota didn’t look very comfortable out there, except for throwing to WR Greg Ward. Though I wonder if that wasn’t more Ward than Mariota. RB DeAndre Swift looked nifty, but the play-calling included too much east-west running.

Third string QB Tanner McKee took more shots downfield, but he has to, given the fact that he’s a statue. Any career he has, will be birthed by his arm, not his legs. He made a couple of nice back-shoulder completions (one was called back due to offensive pass interference).

RB Rashaad Penny looked like he was saving his body for the regular season, because we all know that he can run harder than he did in this game. At no point did he look like a man worried about being cut.

Defensively, I was surprised to see DT Jordan Davis slotted at 4-3 DE at the start of this game, but then it occurred to me that he was actually more of a DT in a 5-2. Seeing rookies DT Jalen Carter and OLB Nolan Smith nearly combine for a sack was nice. What was even better, was how quickly they created that pressure. If we stay healthy, we’re going to be a problem up front this year.