Nate Gerry

All posts tagged Nate Gerry

NO CLEAN TE RELEASES

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/03/02
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, NFC East, The 12, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THIS is not a new gripe for me. Too often we’ve let TE’s into their routes with little or no challenge. The results are high completion percentages, and easy scores. In fact, until OLB Nate Gerry went on IR last year, he was being victimized on a weekly. Some of it was his slow feet, but most of it was the scheme that told him to allow clean releases.

Here’s hoping that a new Defensive Coordinator means asking new things from the OLB’s. Specifically, not letting TE’s routinely set up for quick passes, within 3 to 6 yards of the line of scrimmage. A ball coming out of an opposing QB’s hand that fast, means that our pass rush won’t have time to get home.

It also means that we aren’t seeing that the opponent is using a timing or rhythm based passing game. Or even worse, maybe we are seeing it, but refusing to adjust to it. If an opposing QB keeps executing ‘1, 2, throw’, ‘1, 2, throw’ then it behooves us to slow up that TE, and take away that quick pass.

This can be done with all receivers (later article!), but the TE has to be played a little differently. Their position lets defenders beat-up on them more, but being physical with them can backfire easily. So TE’s have to have their routes disrupted in few different ways.

Jamming can and should be used, but it needs to be used sporadically. Trying to jam a TE too often, will tell an opposing coach to run the ball, since the defender is putting himself in position to be blocked easily. We should jam primarily on long downs. The run risk decreases, and it allows the SS to not have to immediately crash down to pick up that TE.

Re-directing in Man Coverage. All a re-direct is, is aggressively pushing a receiver (within 5 yards!) to an area where you have help in coverage. While a defender likely won’t know the route, if the TE is escorted to a more populated area of the field, the odds of a completion go way down, and the chances for big hits, tipped passes, or quick fumbles, go way up.

“Holding”. Used to be if your hands were inside the shoulders, you were allowed that grasp. Today, at no point are you allowed to hold. That said, TE’s get held all the time near the line of scrimmage. Particularly if they line up tight to the formation.

In that situation the refs can’t know if a held TE was supposed to run a route, or was supposed to block, and did a good job. Holding a TE has to be a quick, grab-pull-release, right around the line of scrimmage, and look just enough like fighting off a block. Just long enough for the QB to decided to go elsewhere with the ball.

Chipping is thought of as something that only offensive players do, but that’s a myth. In Zone Coverage, an OLB delivering a hard bump to the TE, then settling into a shallow area as the SS patrols the intermediate, is generally enough to cause a QB to think “Nope”, before progressing to his next read.

If the idea is to rush the passer with just our front four, then taking away the opponent’s quick and easy options, will give our defense the best chance of forcing their plays to run off-schedule. Plenty of tools here. We just need to finally start using them better.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 5: Steelers

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/10/12
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THE Eagles were out-coached. AGAIN.

Eagles 29 – Steelers 38 

EAGLES LEADERS:

(S) QB Carson Wentz: (20/35 – 57.1% – 258 – 2 – 2)

(S) RB Miles Sanders: (11 – 80 – 7.2 – 2 – 0)

(B) WR Travis Fulgham: (13 – 10 – 152 – 15.2 – 1)

(B) DT Javon Hargraves: (1 – 0.5 – 0 – 0)

I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for the 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: Pittsburgh did the Eagles get around to doing? Well let’s see:

1) Jump short routes: Aside from one miss by CB Cre’Von LeBlanc, nobody really tried to do this. Three times, on 3rd down, the Steeler’s QB was able to complete a quick short pass inside and to his right, while Eagles defenders just watched the play happen. He should have never been able to do that twice, let alone three times. Especially without getting his receiver blown up. (NOT DONE)

2) Trim their edges: We didn’t run any RB Screens, but we did make the Out routes come alive today! Fulgham created space, boxed out, and high-pointed the ball, giving Wentz an easy target to go to all day long. WR Greg Ward ran a similar route for his easy 8 yard TD reception. TE Zach Ertz continues to dog it out there. I gave him the benefit of the doubt for 4 weeks, but after watching him let that TE Screen fall incomplete, I have to call him on it. With what he’s putting on tape, no one is giving him George Kittle money. (DONE)

3) Set the edge vs the run: I said that Pittsburgh doesn’t do a lot of WR rushing and coming into this game they hadn’t. Today they took 5 whacks at it, and made us look silly in the process. However, that’s a hard thing to charge to the Defensive Linemen. It’s really something that has to be adjusted for with an alignment that doesn’t pack all the LB’s inside of the DE’s. We took away the interior run game, but our scheme and lack of adjusting it, allowed them options they usually ignore. (NOT DONE)

4) Fight for catches: Right before the Half, J.J. Arcega-Whiteside made a nice 37 yard grab. Other than that, Fulgham didn’t really have to win any contested balls, he found ways to create separation, and give Wentz a clean target. Maybe he can teach his team mates? (NOT DONE)

That gives us a score of 1 of 4 this week (6 of 20 on the year.) Thank goodness we get to face Baltimore next week. NO! You know what? We’ll re-group, get a couple guys back next week, and look at this with fresh eyes.

On The Whole:

We went in shorthanded vs a 3 – 0 team, and made a real game out of it. Silver lining, it looks like Carson Wentz has found a young WR that he trusts. That can only pay dividends going forward. This week Whiteside and WR John Hightower got the start. Next week, if WR’s Alshon Jeffrey and DeSean Jackson are still shelved, then expect Fulgham and Hightower to get the nod.

There were several things that annoyed me: The play selection was ass, again. There were just 12 handoffs in this game, 2 called QB runs, and 38 passes called (2 resulted in QB scrambles). That’s 73% pass to 27%run. Why is it okay that our Defensive Coordinator isn’t capable of making adjustments? How is it that we had no answer for a rookie playing in just his 4th pro game?

We got embarrassed by a rookie. And we got out-coached. The Steelers were flat-out smarter than us. Especially our Defense. We ate Jet Sweeps from a team that hardly runs them! We’ve been so bad at defending those, that opponents include them, just to run them against us. And if it wasn’t bad enough that in-game adjustments aren’t being made, week-to-week adjustments aren’t being made either. I feel like the game was never as close as the score.

THE THIN GET THINNER

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/08/16
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), Players, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Salt Bae Context

REALLY? So this is what we’re rolling with? I gave it a few days to see what move the Eagles would make, and the result is bupkis. Look, LB Jatavis Brown’s retirement shouldn’t come as a shock. Though he’s only 26, reports were that he’d fallen out of love with football. Given the handwriting on the wall, it’s not hard to see why.

Brown was a marginal player (at best) for the bulk of his four year career. The entirety of his playing days were for the Los Angeles (nee San Diego) Chargers. At one point in 2018, injuries forced the Chargers to start him for the majority of the season. He didn’t impress them.

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Once the Chargers let him walk, Brown signed with Philadelphia. Keep in mind, this was before the 2020 NFL Draft. (Where we picked up rookie LB’s Davion Taylor in the 3rd round, and Shaun Bradley in the 6th.) So when Brown signed, he probably did so with hopes of being a starter, for a contender.

Recent talk of LB’s Nate Gerry, T.J. Edwards, and Duke Riley, being the team’s primary three LB’s likely dimmed Brown’s hopes. Especially in light of the fact that the Eagles play a lot of Nickel, and therefore usually only have two LB’s on the field most of the time. Looking at being buried deep on a bench, beside two rookies who were drafted (i.e. invested in), may have gone a long way to souring Brown.

So now we’re down an experienced, albeit marginal player. Our LB corps now consists of rookies and back-ups, spearheaded by Gerry. There is talk of possibly kicking the tires on OLB Clay Matthews III, but he’s far more of a pass rusher than a “chase and cover” LB. For that matter we may as well stick with LB/DE Genard Avery.

2019 Genard Avery half sack

While Brown’s presence didn’t add much, his absence makes a large hole even larger. The Front Office created a hole in the floor when they allowed LB Nigel Bradham (Saints) to walk. They then attempted to patch it with a sheet of aluminum foil (Brown). However, before the foil could fail, it simply blew away. Now we’re left with the hole again.

Last month I wrote an article attempting to give the Eagles the benefit of the doubt regarding the moves made at this position, but I have to step back from that now. While Brown’s presence didn’t add much, his absence changes the metrics. Without a trade for an impact LB, I feel like this position is going to be an absolute liability for us in 2020.

This is nearly half of a century of disrespect for a position, which has coalesced into a culture of neglect for how this team treats it. The result is a self-inflicted wound which will show up every Sunday for this team. Dear Football Fan, imagine a defense where LB’s are an afterthought.

Adding DE Vinny Curry was a stroke of genius. The rich certainly got richer there. But the LB position? The thin have gotten thinner, and indeed, the poor have just gotten poorer.

Internal scream

BAKING LINEBACKER SURPRISE

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/07/26
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, NFL, Players, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

article regular-red-pill-blue-pill

LINEBACKER is the weakest position on the Eagles team. At least that’s what we keep being told. Not just by the local and national sports medias, but also off-shoot independent bloggers. Hell, even I’VE laid offerings at the foot of the “OUR LINEBACKERS ARE TRASH!!!” altar.

But what if we’re all wrong? What if everyone is wrong, because we’re seeing it from the wrong angle?

We keep looking at the LB’s in terms of who the players are. After all, it’s not like Head Coach Doug Pederson can get out there and stop RB Adrian Peterson from ripping a 90 yard TD run right up the gut of our Defense. (Then again, it’s not like LB Nate Gerry could either.) So of course a fan’s knee-jerk reaction, is to look at it in terms of “Well, who are our LB’s?“

At least, that’s what an average fan does. You’re reading this, so clearly, YOU aren’t average. Welcome to being better than other people.

burpTOP

What we haven’t been doing, (both average fans and us alike), is recognizing all the changes made to the brain trust that runs our Defense. Specifically, the switch in Defensive Line Coach from Chris Wilson to Matt Burke, and the switch from Secondary Coach from Cory Undlin to Marquand Manuel.

D-Line, Linebackers, Secondary. Those are the three tiers of a defense, and we just changed two-thirds of ours. You can’t change two-thirds of anything, and not have a noticeable difference in outcome, from prior output. Good or bad, it just can’t be done.

Understand, the overall system and most core concepts run by Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz will remain the same. What will change, are some of the ideas, the approaches, and thus the implementation of the overall system. As of now, it seems that everything has been changed to support the LB position.

card.LB nate.gerry 

Over the last few years, the Eagles have been leaning harder and harder into these LB/S tweeners types. Today the roster sports a fistful of them. Nate Gerry, Duke Riley, Jatavis Brown, and rookie Davion Taylor, have all historically sported playing weights of under 230 pounds. Which seems weird in a division of larger opposing RB’s.

The emphasis seems to be on having guys who can fly to the ball-carrier, over guys who can stop a ball-carrier, or take on an offensive lineman’s block. That means keeping offensive linemen off of our LB’s, which indicates a coming change in our D-Line’s technique.

Enter Matt Burke. So now do you see where this is going? Of course you do. You’re smart enough to be here, and I explained it well.

tea

If our Defense is going to have major new wrinkles to it, maybe it’s best to have young, unestablished players running it. Players who have have a similar skill set, so they can be replaced in case of injury. Players who can’t count on their unique ability to earn them playing time. They’re all competing at doing task “X” with technique “Y”. This allows the coach to objectively pick the best player at it.

For example: Remember when we ran a 3-4 under TIK (The Idiot Kelly), and Brandon Graham played OLB? We relied on him for pass rush, right? Being that Graham has played pass rush OLB, should we start him at OLB, instead of coverage LB Gerry? No. Of course not.

Now imagine for a moment that you’re an Eagles coach, and you have to make that choice. While (mind you), factoring in the premium put on pass rushers. NOPE! The Eagles have nixed all of that. They went out and stockpiled a very specific type of player, indicating that they also, have a very specific type of plan. 

This is literally a move that the team has been telegraphing for half a year now. That said, until a few days ago, I was out here like a dope, not seeing it. Ugh! Like some average writer. Now having picked up on what Western Union was putting down, I wanted to make sure that I shared that telegraph signal with you.

jon-stewart-steven-cobert-drinking-tea

So in October, when the Eagles LB’s keep surprise everyone this season, we can sip tea and say that we saw it coming even before Training Camp opened. Because we aren’t average fans.

THE  LINEBACKER PROBLEM

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/05/12
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), Players, Rants, Reviews, Roster, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

byron and seth upend emmitt

LINEBACKER is one of two positions where the Eagles have an extremely spotty Draft history. If you go back to 1975 (the year I was born), there have have only been nine LB’s drafted by, and panning out, as a four year starter for the Eagles: Reggie Wilkes 1978, Jerry Robinson 1979, Anthony Griggs 1982, Seth Joyner 1986, Byron Evans 1987, William Thomas 1991, Jeremiah Trotter 1998, Mychal Kendricks 2012, Jordan Hicks 2015.

Let me say that again. In 45 years, and after spending 52 draft picks on the LB position, the Eagles have had just NINE of them pan out. Since Jeff Lurie bought the team in 1994, the numbers are just 3 out of 27. Keep in mind that 1994 was 26 years ago. So we’ve drafted just three successful LB’s, in the last quarter century.

Which brings us to our current situation.

Many media types are wondering if the Eagles did enough in the 2020 Draft to shore up our holes at the MLB and OLB position. Let me disabuse you of the notion that this is a question. No. The Eagles have not done enough to patch the holes at LB.

card.LB nate.gerry

DC Jim Schwartz has given OLB Nate Gerry a few starts at MLB, and every time yields disastrous results. Gerry playing MIKE gives us sideline to sideline hustle, and better than average fluidity in coverage because he played Safety in college. Due to his size, in the NFL he was either going to be a fast LB, or a slow S. The Eagles opted for fast LB, and as long as Gerry stays on the outside, he’s an absolute asset and a playmaker. But he lacks the sand in his pants to play inside, or to start vs a run heavy offense, that has a good blocking TE.

Right now OLB Genard Avery is sitting in limbo. As an edge defender, his speed and power adds juice to our pass rush. He also has a history of playing ILB, and does a good job of not staying blocked when facing offensive linemen. Since opposing blocking schemes already are going to struggle with the Eagles DT’s, if Avery could make the move to MLB, our interior could become a virtual No Man’s Land. That however, is speculation on my part. To date there is no word of Avery making a move inside. 

OLB Jatavis Brown was added via Free Agency. In 2018, injuries forced the Chargers to start him in 10 of the 15 games he played. He made such an impact that he started just 1 of 13 in 2019. At 220 pounds, he’s a big S, but an undersized LB. In the limited video I can find of him, he needs help to finish many tackles. In coverage he’s no ballhawk, with zero interceptions in 4 years. He’s got speed, but what’s the point of speed, if you don’t make impact plays? I hope he makes me eat my words.

NFL: Chicago Bears at Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles are high on Second year MLB T.J. Edwards, despite him having what keeps being referred to as “athletic limitations”. While he may not be a great individual athlete, he might be a great team concept football player. It’s worth noting that the Eagles are 4 – 0 when he starts, despite playing a combined 11 snaps in those games. (Perhaps he’s a human rabbit’s foot?) Also in those four games, our Defense which gave up a season average of 22.1 points per game, gave up 13, 14, 17 and 9 points respectively. He made no splash plays in the preseason, regular season or postseason, despite playing in all 21 of those games.

MLB Duke Riley is a 218 pound Special Teamer who saw just 28 defensive snaps in 2019. (This is compared to 111 for the rookie Edwards).

Second year LB Alex Singleton may be among the first wave of cuts. He’s a Special Teamer who didn’t see any defensive snaps during the season. That isn’t exactly a vote of confidence from the team, about his ability to play his position.

Rookie OLB Davion Taylor is a tweener in the Nate Gerry mold. Doesn’t seem to offer much vs the run. he’ll have to add weight to his 225 frame to handle the NFC East.

Rookie MLB Shaun Bradley is nice “local boy makes good” story, but his tape says Practice Squad at best.

Rookie free agent signee, MLB Dante Olson looks like a genuine Tackle to Tackle presence, but that may not be the best scheme-fit. I like him. I really do. However, unless the Eagles are about to alter what we do at MLB, I don’t know how he fits.

#1: PICK UP BRADHAM’S OPTION

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/02/10
Posted in: Defense, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, Roster, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THE 12 2020.1

LINEBACKER has long been a sore spot for this team. Our 20 year history of identifying and developing talent at this position “hasn’t been great” to put it kindly. It’s specifically for that reason that we need to pick up the option on LB Nigel Bradham’s contract.

2019 nigel bradham

How much are we talking? In 2019 Bradham had a cap hit figure of 4.4M. In 2020 that would jump to 9.7M. That’s an additional 5.3M, or a raise of 120%. And yes, it sounds steep when you say it that way.

However, given the current LB market, our projected cap space (42M according to Spotrac), and that his cap hit freezes at 9.7 for two years, it means if he’s basically affordable until his deal expires in 2023.

Has Bradham been amazing? No, he hasn’t, but he has been pretty good, he’s been consistent, he does call our defensive plays, and he’s still the best LB we have. Replacing him through free agency would likely cost more, with no guarantee that they’d be as good as what we already have.

2019 Dwayne_Haskins_fumble_Nigel_Bradham_TD

OLB Nate Gerry is more like a S/LB tweener, both in build and play style. All indications are that OLB/DE Genard Avery will be used more like a stand-up DE, and less like a real OLB. So Counting Bradham, we have effectively 1.5 LB’s, and then a bunch of kick coverage guys.

The position undoubtedly needs a rebuild, and the Eagles will undoubtedly draft a LB, be it inside or outside. (Hopefully inside.) For now, Bradham and Gerry give us a decent base to build on. So why not start there, instead of scrapping everything, and hoping things work out for the best?

Re-sign Bradham, and build around him as a point of stability. This one is easy. Let’s hope the Front Office gets it right.

FOUR THINGS – WK 12 – EAGLES – SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/21
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Note: Normally I like to get these out on Wednesday, but I held out an extra day to see if there was any news on Jordan Howard or Alshon Jeffery, only to now find that Nelson Agholor is also up in the air.
As they say: When it rains…it shits all over the bride’s dress.)

WK12-SEA

USUALLY in Four Things, I go the Chuck Woolery route of “Two and two”, with two Offensive keys, and two Defensive keys. This week I’m going Offense heavy because that’s the part that needs the help. I know, I know. “We lack speed!” “DeSean’s hurt! Scrap 2019, and trade Carson for Foles!!”

UGH!!! Quit panicking. There IS a solve for our problems with the players we have on the roster TODAY. I’m about to make so much sense, that it’ll make you think that our coaching staff is full-on retarded. Not “mentally challenged”. Retarded.

no in chill.jpg

Beating New England last week wasn’t really expected by anyone besides me. Then again my analysis, my writing last week’s FT, and releasing it were all prior to finding out that WR Alshon Jeffrey and RB Jordan Howard were both shelved for the game. It was so close that it’s hard for me to buy us losing, if even one of them had played.

My point is, that I expected a narrative change on Monday morning. We lost so it didn’t happen. Now I doubt we’d get that with a victory over Seattle. This is one of those games where a win is just a win. A loss will have Eagles fans jumping out of windows, but a win… There isn’t the sense that it’d shift our narrative.

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

1) Hit QB Russell Wilson: This is the only defensive key needed. Wilson is the beating heart (meal ticket) of the entire Seattle franchise. He’s why any of it works. (He’s also what holds it back.) So we need to wreck their game plan by menacing their QB.

Vinny Curry sack wilson.jpg

I’m NOT saying to deliberately hurt him or play dirty. I am saying that early in the game, we need to send Seattle’s coaching staff the message that, they might want to let QB Geno Smith finish this one. They won’t pull Wilson of course, but with playoff aspirations, they may drastically alter what they call for him. Just to limit his risk exposure.

2) Stay in-line: With RT Lane Johnson is concussion protocol, it looks like OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai will start in his place. Vaitai is decent with blocker head-up, but he struggles mightily with fast and/or agile pass rushers.

The solution is hella easy. Help Vaitai with an in-line TE, or a TE lined up close to Vaitai’s hip, to create an “alley”. A chip from the TE on his release will be enough to slow the rusher and give Vaitai a chance to get his hands on the guy. This only gets easier to do if used in conjunction with #3. Scroll down.

3) Use play-action to create space: We can run the ball. It’s already credible threat. We hardly have to sell it. Why not feed off of that?

So use play-action to get the receivers open on quick hitters. By quick hitter, I don’t mean lame 1 and 4 yard routes. None of that! Unless we’re running a Screen, this week there shouldn’t be a pass in the air for less than six yards.

matthews wentz 1st TD

Carson Wentz’s first NFL touchdown pass. 

The routes need to be 7, 8, and 9 yards, with a designated man to graduate to a “GO” in case a favorable Safety look presents itself. Those shorter planned routes, are to get the receiver mentally set to catch early into the route. Shorter routes are also to get Carson to get rid of the ball sooner, and act as natural “hot” routes in case of a blitz. Just identify the possible blitzer and put the ball in his vacated zone.

4) Don’t clutch Agholor: For the remainder of the year, unless the game is a runaway,WR Nelson Agholor  needs to be an almost exclusively 1st and 2nd down receiver, who sits on later downs. 

He’s absolutely a difference maker with the ball in his hands. The problem however, is his hands. He’s a talented athlete, his hands just aren’t clutch.

At the outset of this year Agholor was cast as a third receiver. Due to injuries, he’s now forced to act as our #1 WR. News flash, players don’t get more talented, just because guys above them got hurt. In fact, as you can see, we’ve gotten worse. He’s still a #3 option.

If Agholor plays this week, let him do what he’s good at. Create space around him, and get him the ball on early downs. Take away the mental pressure, and maybe get his confidence back. Help him get out of his head. You know? Like a coach. This receiving corp needs a confidence boost, and a decent showing here could jump-start that.

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:

The Eagles won’t do nearly as much play-action as they should, because hey, who wants to win, right? RB Jay Ajayi will see some work and provide some badly needed emotional spark to this Offense. Expect 150 yards from the TE’s, because who else does Wentz have?

Rocky chases chicken.gif

We’re going to spend a good deal of Sunday watching Russell Wilson re-enact the first chicken chasing scene in Rocky. Especially if DE Derek Barnett doesn’t do a better job of setting the edge.

The return of LB Nigel Bradham will make for an interesting dynamic up front, with LB Nate Gerry having called plays for the last few games. If they read the same thing, both may intuit what the other guy needs him to do.

In any case, the Eagles have less and less to work with, as the season goes on. Worse yet, Seattle is a team (one guy) that has had our number for a bit. With Howard and Jeffery, I’d call this a tight game. As we are now?

PREDICTION: EAGLES 16 – Seahawks 24

yeah-bitch

FOUR THINGS – WK 8 – EAGLES – BILLS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/10/24
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WK8-BUF

THIS isn’t a “bounce back” game. It’s not a “must win” game. This is a “must play” game. Our Eagles need to show up. All the way up. We’ve seen what happens when they don’t.

batman fall

Our team got shit-canned two weeks in a row. It’s not glamorous, but it’s been known to happen in sports. There is nothing wrong, or undignified in us falling down. The mark of character, is in what happens when we get back up.

Batman the pick up

We are 3 – 4, one game behind in the division, and attempting to right the ship. The Eagles have made a few roster moves to alter the chemistry of what we have on the field. It’s less of an overhaul, and more of a tinkering.

The Bills come in boasting a 5 – 1 record that’s little more than a propped up scheme, made to deceive, odds takers and gamble fiends, who don’t do homework. But that’s not the church you worship at. So, let’s get to choppin’ this fable.

6 – 27. That, is the combined record of the five teams that Buffalo has beaten. Not one of the teams they’ve beaten is .500. Two of them have no wins at all (Miami 0 – 6, Cincy 0 – 7). Oh, and most of them have been close. Buffalo’s billed as a defensive powerhouse, but really, their opponents would have had trouble scoring in a whorehouse.

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

1) Play sound Defense: The Bills don’t have any players that make defensive coaches lose sleep. The receivers are quick, but not fast. The RB is strong, but he’s 80. The line is big, but allows sacks. The QB is mobile, but he shares the football. We just need to play tighter coverage, and wrap up when we tackle. That’s it. Even with our “meh” LB’s, we have enough defensive talent to defuse their offense.

2) Force a #2 WR: Part of what’s killing us isn’t just the lack of a deep threat, but being able to stretch the field horizontally, to create wider lanes for the run game and space for the TE’s inside. In addition to WR Alshon Jeffery, QB Carson Wentz is going to have to “manufacture” a #2 WR. Pick a WR and get him a few passes near the sideline.

3) Move Gerry outside:

card.nate.gerry

MLB (LOL!) Nate Gerry has two straight starts at MLB, and in both games we gave up at least 37 points, and got shelled vs the run. Hey remember who was in the middle for Redskin RB Adrian Peterson’s 90yard TD run against us? Wow! Your memory is excellent! Nate can’t play MLB. As in, period. As in, at all. He just isn’t man enough. Great WS/NLB, but he’s a doormat inside. Put T.J. Edwards there, and move Gerry outside where his ‘tweenerness, is less of a liability.

4) Let’s be assholes: Buffalo has a huge defensive interior. Big, strong, powerful, bulky guys. Guys who can anchor against a running attack, and bull-rush their way to pressure. Let’s get those porky fuckers running laterally. RB Screens, backside TE Screens, play-action… Let’s tire these fat bastards out early, get them sucking wind, and then beat them with a power run-game in the second half. Let the world watch us win by picking on some fat guys. You know, essentially body-shaming full-grown men, in front of a stadium full of children. And their kids.

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:

More loose coverage. Bills QB Josh Allen throws for a season-high 280 yards. WR Nelson Agholor gets to watch WR J.J. Arcega-Whiteside eat into some of his snaps, and see a few targets from Wentz. RB Jordan Howard will see few than 15 carries, but finally break one for 20 yards. The 6’5 237 pound QB who turns the ball over the most, will lose.

We had a stumble, but we are not done. Not by a damned sight.

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PREDICTION: EAGLES 28 – Bills 23

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EAGLES FANS! DON’T PANIC

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/10/15
Posted in: Coaching, Crazy Talk, Defense, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, NFL, Offense, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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WILL DC Jim Schwartz be fired this week? Did we really cut LB Zach Brown over trash talk? Why can’t we get sacks? Why can’t we cover? Are the Eagles only marginally better than the rest of a crappy division?

I was going to release an article about what 12 Personnel is, and why it’s so effective. (It’s already written and waiting for me to publish it). However, given recent events that have some of our fan base in quasi-panic mode, I decided to delay that article, and go point by point to give NON-SPIN answers to these questions.

1) Will Schwartz be fired this week?

No. In fact, unless someone in the Front Office contracts mental retardation, Schwartz won’t be fired this season. Does he need to go? Hell yeah. Fuck yeah. We shouldn’t need to score 30 points to win a game. Giving up 25 points per game is not the mark for defensive competence.

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That being said, teams with legit playoff hopes, don’t invite upheaval in the middle of the season. Fact is, this is just one loss, following two wins. An Eagles win this coming Sunday, puts us firmly in command of the NFC East, and the Jim Schwartz problem gets the volume turned down on it.

2) Did they really cut Zach Brown over some trash talk?

On the surface it certainly looks like it. When I take a deeper look, it suggests that the trash talk may have just been a patsy for a move the team already wanted to make. Not just that, but it can also be used to give the appearance of a disciplinarian’s backhand.

It’s more likely because Brown was merely okay in underneath zone coverage, and didn’t make any splash plays. On the other hand, LB Nate Gerry who (ahem!) started the last two games, has flat-out, out-played Brown, over that span.

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That’s significant, because even last year, the Eagles used Gerry at the MLB spot when Jordan Hicks went down. Brown was here on a one year deal, and was never in the long-term plans. The Eagles just moved sooner, rather than later. This now clears the way for LB T.J. Edwards (whom coaches love) to get playing time.

The other part of this is, it sends the message that any shit talking, must be backed up. You don’t get to paint a target on the team, and then be invisible all afternoon. Also, we don’t know just how much Redskins cultural baggage may have followed Brown up here. There could very well (quite likely), be issues regarding his fit into the locker room.

3) Why can’t we get sacks?

QB’s are generally releasing the ball in fewer than three seconds vs the Eagles. The coverage is so loose that it allows for this. If we can get QB’s to hold the ball longer, then not only will sacks go up, but completion percentages will come down.

4) Why can’t any of our CB’s cover?

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This notion that ALL of our CB’s are trash is nonsense. The problem with our Corners isn’t a talent problem, it’s a system problem. Regardless of the CB, they are almost never allowed to play press coverage. Almost all of our man-to-man coverage involves giving up huge cushions that the WR settles into, to make quick, drive sustaining catches.

Making matters worse is the Single-high Safety coverage that this team has favored since the late Jim Johnson, used to keep S Quintin Mikell in since 2007. Yes! We’ve been rocking the same look for 12 years now. Sean McDermott? Single-high. Jim Washburn? Single-high. Juan Castillo? Single-high. Todd Bowles? Single-high. Bill Davis? Single-high.

There were times when we’d deviated here and there, but that was few and far in between. Complain all you like about FS Rod McLeod and SS Malcolm Jenkins, but answer this question, honestly. Prior to them, who was the best Safety duo for this team?

So yeah. The issue is systemic.

5) Are we a bad team that’s only slightly better than the rest of our division?

Hard to say that we’re the best, since we haven’t beaten Dallas yet. YET.

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As far as being a bad division. The Eagles are a couple of plays away from being 5 -1. We saw the giants make a game of it vs. the Patriots, without RB Saquon Barkley and a rookie making his 4th career start. The Redskins… Okay the ‘skins are legitimately awful. The Cowboys were 3 – 0, then ran out of zero win teams to crush, lost two games, took a deep breath, and then found a way to lose to a zero win team. So it’s hard to know how bad they might be.

That all being said, even if the NFC East is a bad division, that in no way means we have to be a bad team. Look at the aforementioned Patriots. Their division has been ass tar-tar, for two decades and yet we never hold it against New England. So who cares how bad our rivals are, if WE are truly good enough to win every week? Don’t sweat that shit.

So there you have it. Win or lose this week, understand: The sky is not falling. The Eagles need work, but as always the season is “work-in-progress” sort of thing every year. In five months, the Phillies will be reporting to Clearwater, and you’ll be pining for these days. So sit back and enjoy this ride while we have it.

And don’t panic.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK 5 – JETS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/10/07
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, stats, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

GREAT win today, but let’s not go nuts celebrating it. It was just the Jets, being piloted by an inflatable QB.

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Most of what we were able to do on Defense today (10 sacks, 2 touchdowns) came by virtue of their inexperienced QB, not getting many reps this week. As a result, the poor guy was a wounded lamb, fed to a full-grown lion. He repeatedly held the ball as if he had called “spots” and was counting to 10. It was almost too sad to watch. Almost.

Tee-hee.

Meanwhile his coach seemed indifferent to offer him any help. The play-calling was horrid, as literally (no typo or exaggeration here) EVERY play in the 1st quarter was run through RB LeVeon Bell (15 – 43 – 2.8 – 0 – 0 / 7 – 45 – 6.4 – 0). No other Jet player touched the ball until the second quarter. The Jets pay actual money for this level of coaching.

EAGLES 31 – Jets 6

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The Defensive line FEASTED, with 8 sacks in this one. DE Brandon Graham (4 – 3 – 0 – 0) grabbed 3 sacks. Also getting a piece of the action were DE Derek Barnett (2 – 1 – 0 – 0), DT Hassan “Chop” Ridgeway (1 – 1 – 0 – 0), DE Vinny Curry (1 – 1 – 0 – 0), DE Josh Sweat (1 – 1 – 0 – 0) broke his cherry, and Dasheon Hall (1 – 1 – 0 – 0) showed some of that preseason flash. It was like a drop of blood in a piranha tank.

Again, we also scored twice. The first was on an interception in the 1st quarter by LB Nate Gerry (0 – 0 – 1 – 0) on a pass intended for Bell. The second was the play of the day. CB Orlando Scandrick (4 – 2 – 0 – 2) ran up to the Jets QB, and just took the ball from him. Just took it. Not like a big hit, just a straight-up “YOINK!”. Then he returned it 44 yards for that tasty treat. It was almost too sad to watch. Almost.

If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Scandrick was a Cowboy for 9 years. We signed him in the offseason, but he didn’t make our final roster. Because of injuries at CB, we signed him off of his couch this week, and he gets two sacks, two forced fumbles, a recovery, and a score. 

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On Offense, QB Carson Wentz (17/29 – 58.6% – 189 – 1 – 0) had it in cruise control yet again, as the Eagles functioned as a full team. That’s not to say that Wentz didn’t do some of his typical magic, but there was no need for a lot of it. TE Zach Ertz (5 – 57 – 11.4 – 1) found the end zone for the first time in 2019.

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) Show up: I literally said that if we didn’t get lost crossing the street to the stadium, we were 40% of the way to a victory. Well, we showed up. We were sloppy at points (C Jason Kelce’s bad snap, the muffed punt that either hit a foot or didn’t), but we showed up. (DONE)

2) No liberty for Bell: In regards to covering LeVeon Bell I said “We need to sit on and jump a couple of passes to him. Maybe we can get a defensive touchdown or two out of it.” Well kiss my grits, we got our first defensive touchdown doing just that. We also kept him, and thus the Jets offense, under wraps all day. (DONE)

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3) Run ‘em down: Heavy dose of RB Jordan Howard (13 – 62 – 4.7 – 1 – 0) delivered? He led us in rushes and rushing yards. CHECK. Other backs sprinkled in? 12 carries for 19 yards (yikes!) CHECK. Wentz’s jersey staying mostly clean? CHECK. (DONE)

4) Paint by numbers: We did nothing fancy. Aside from a 3rd and 1 where we threw an incompletion, which set up a 4th and 1, that we didn’t convert, we almost looked like a preseason team that was trying not to give too much away. Toward the end we even sat Carson and put LT Andre Dillard in for a few snaps. It was glorious. (DONE)

This week we put up a perfect 4 for 4, even though admittedly one of them was really low hanging fruit. That brings the season tally to 10 of 20. Next week we travel to Minnesota for the start of a three game road trip, that will remind everyone of why we want to set up home field advantage.

On The Whole:

We could have looked better. Aside from Jordan Howard, our RB’s were pretty ineffective running the ball. If getting off to fast starts is important to this Offense, HC Doug Pederson is going to have to stop trying to make a starter out of rookie RB Miles Sanders (9 – 15 – 1.6 – 0 – 0 / 4 – 49 – 12.2 – 0) who was hitting holes in this game with as much heart as Bernie Sanders.

Again, it seemed we weren’t trying to show much, and we may be getting WR DeSean Jackson back next week. So I’m not very concerned about the Offense.

My concern is with the Defense. The way we played today still allowed a “deer in the headlights” QB, to complete 57% of his passes, to a less than stellar receiving corps. Next week we get QB Kirk Cousins throwing to WR Adam Thielen. It would be nice to get one or two CB’s back by then.

In the meantime, because of this2019 two Ls

the Eagles appear to be atop the NFC East. At least according to the NFL Standings page. They may change it later, but for now it looks good to be up there.