New categories include an EXCLUSIVE weekly Offensive Line Report (Rushing TD’s + 3rd and 4th downs converted of 2 yards or less:3rd and 4th downs missed of 2 yards or less – sacks allowed); as well as Drive Killer (Int – FR – 4th down Tackles – FF – TD).
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: Giants did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Make the Passer Rush: We did some really questionable blitzing in this game. First of all we didn’t bring LB Alex Singleton off the strong-side. When Singleton was turned loose, it was from the weak-side. If the QB doesn’t see the rusher, he’s not going to hurry his pass, or launch it from a weird angle. If he sees a clear passing lane, he’s going to throw with confidence. Which is what QB Danny Jones (19/30 – 63.3% – 202 – 1 – 0) did against us today.
Look at that statline! Does that look like Danny Jones to you? We helped him do that. We didn’t rush him today. The only sack we got, Jones GAVE to us. Defensive Coordinator Jonathan Gannon gets the assist on this one. With this game-plan, he threw an absolute dime to Danny. (NOT DONE)
2) Go Deep Off of Play-action: Ever watch someone do a tap dance routine, during a dance competition, while on fire? That’s what our Offense looked like today. Despite running for 1,005 yards in the previous 5 games, we came out passing the ball, and trying to use play-action. From the Shotgun.
I’m not going to say much about Jalen Hurts here, to save you time reading. Besides, last week I promised some folks in a Facebook group that I belong to, that I would write an article about whether Hurts is or can be, a franchise QB. That’s dropping on Wednesday. BE READY.
Our deep passing consisted of throwing interceptions and incompletions in the vicinity of Wide Deceiver Jalen “Hindenburg” Reagor(7 – 2 – 31 – 15.5 – 0)
who is by the way, a total fucking fiasco. Someone should do time for drafting him. (NOT DONE)
3) Play Man Press: We came out playing it, but then we started drifting into off-coverage, or playing Press on just one side… Seriously. There was no cohesion, or plan, or aggression. It was like the Defense was being called by a drunken toddler. (NOT DONE)
4) Running Miles from Boston:Feature RB Miles Sanders (7 – 64 – 7.1 – 0 – 0) instead of splitting the carries evenly with RB Boston Scott (15 – 64 – 4.2 – 1 – 1). The Eagles decided to stick with the hot hand. This was even before Sanders tweaked his ankle in the second half. The hot hand. Look up at the statlines again. (NOT DONE)
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So that’s 0 of the Four Things, and somehow (gasp) we were held to just 7 points, after putting up 40 a week ago. Serves us right! We helped the giants beat our asses, and we deserve this ‘L’ because of that. Next week we go right back to that same stadium, to do battle with the Jets. Let’s not shit the bed again please.
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On The Whole:
Here’s the game in a nutshell. Nearing the end of the first half, Eagles ball, in the red zone, down 0 – 3. Head Coach Nick Sirianni sends in a package that includes WR Jalen Reagor, WR Greg Ward(1 – 0 – 0 – 0.0 – 0), and RB Boston Scott. No Miles Sanders. No WRDevonta Smith (4 – 2 – 22 – 11.0 – 0). Meanwhile C Jason Kelce is on the sidelines
On 3rd and goal from the one, Hurts throws an interception intended for third string RB Scott. Why? At that point Sanders hadn’t tweaked his ankle, so why wasn’t he out there? Why wasn’t our top draft pick and leading receiver Smith, out there? It almost seems like the coaches had an agenda besides winning the game.
Decisions like this were the norm in this game. Why, on all 3 red zone trips, was Sanders taken out? Why the sudden laser focus on Reagor? Coming into this game he’d caught 23 of 38 passes for 170 yards (7.4 per catch), and for some reason, despite not being reliable, this week he leads all players in targets?!
If you ask me, that’s just Jeff and Howie, muscling Sirianni to make a player out Reagor, and that dog don’t even hunt.
Still, Sirianni tried. We watched him working harder than a cat, trying to bury a turd on a marble floor, but Reagor… As a player Reagor belongs in a litter box. You can spend the day painting him gold if you like, but in the end, the smell is the smell.
LAST week we hung 40 points on a defense that was Top 5 in points allowed, and put 242 rushing yards on a unit that was Top 5 vs the run. This week’s opponent comes in ranked 23rd vs the run. So we all know what’s about to happen with that…
A win gets us to 6 – 6 (.500). Once that business is taken care of, only THEN we can start talking about qualifying for the playoffs and such. Right now our record doesn’t qualify us to start talking about the season as if it’s already a success. Wild Card seeding talk is premature.
A loss sees us fall to 5 – 7, but technically still alive for a playoff spot. So even with a loss, there will be no talk of tanking. Right now our record doesn’t qualify us to start talking about the season as if it’s already a failure. Draft position talk is premature.
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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 giants:
1) Make the Passer Rush: LB Davion Taylor is on IR. If he wasn’t, I’d say use him for this. Since we don’t have access to him, we should use LB Alex Singleton. Put him on strong-side blitzes of QB Daniel Jones, on 2nd and long, 3rd and long situations. Jones likes to run, but he shouldn’t be able to outrun Singleton.
Bring MLB T.J. Edwards on “A” gap blitzes, on 1st down, sometimes. The idea is to make Jones very uncomfortable, and encourage him to get the ball out of his hands as fast as he can. A rushed pass, coming out vs Press Coverage, looks like six to CB Darius Slay.
2) Go Deep Off of Play-action: QB Jalen Hurtshasn’t seen 200 yards passing in any of the last four games, since we’ve rediscovered the run. So the giants may have it in their heads, that they can play 8, even 9 man fronts, to take away the run. We need to kill that idea before it breeds throughout the league.
Hurts needs to use play-action, and rifle the ball at least 30 yards in the air, sometime in the first quarter. Preferably on the first drive. Complete, incomplete, intercepted. If any of them happen on the first drive, off of a long pass, any of those results do the job we need done.
The point of the pass, isn’t the pass itself. It’s to tell the giants DB’s “You’d better stay the fuck back, or we will murrr – derrr you!” A few deep shots will maintain room for our running game. At that point our Offense can operate from a point of stability, and we can be who we are. (Bonus Points for completing an early shot of 40 yards or more, to WR Quez Watkins.)
3) Play Man Press: Usually the point here, is to make the QB go to his second and third reads. With Jones it’s more about his accuracy. He’s going to throw a few questionable balls in this game. He does in every game. If our guys stay close to the receiver, they have a better chance of picking off a pass. Or three.
4) Running Miles from Boston: This week we’ll be without RB Jordan Howard and his tough inside running. That however, doesn’t mean we can’t run inside. While RB Miles Sanders isn’t the fall forward, bulldozer type that Howard is, Sanders does break arm tackles, and he runs through contact.
RB’s Boston Scott and Kenneth Gainwell, on the other hand, don’t run through much contact or break tackles reliably. For that reason, the run game shouldn’t be an even split this week. We should feature Sanders/Scott on a 20 to 10 carry basis. Gainwell can be sprinkled in, but it would be great to see him get some work in the Slot.
If we do these Four Things,
We just need to stick to the script. The giants just fired offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and replaced him with Freddie Kitchens. So naturally the knee-jerk reaction is to comb through old film of Kitchens, to see how he calls games vs how Garrett calls games. Right? Nope. Don’t do that.
Just like we only had a week to prepare for the giants, the giants also had just a week to prepare for us. We know who we are, and what we’re building on. The giants are trying not to be who they were a week ago. The guy now responsible for that, has had his daily routine totally torn up, and he has to reinvent his team. On the fly.
The thing is, his new job doesn’t make a single player a fiercer blocker, a faster runner, or a higher jumper. It’s too late to draw up a new play-book, so they’re going to run the same stuff. The pre-snap keys will look the same. The spacing will look the same. The core concepts are going to come from their head coach. So the giants offense is still the giants offense.
Stick to the script. Don’t get cute. Do what we do, how we do it. Don’t get to a point where we’re second guessing ourselves, over a guy trying to find out who he is now.
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PREDICTION: EAGLES 28 – giants 17
Check back in a couple of days for Four Things Reviewed, and we’ll discuss how it went.
Hey giants fans! This TANK, is called the Eagle 7.
LAST year the NFC East was the laughingstock of the NFL. Aggressive moves have been made to ensure that history will not be repeating itself anytime soon. While every team in the division ranks #21 or lower in the NFL power rankings, the rosters in this division are telling a different story.
Alright. So yeah, Washington is Washington. Their power moves were to sign a pair of slot receivers (Curtis Samuels and Adam Humphries), and Dr. Jekyll (Ryan Fitzpatrick) to play QB. Adding G Ereck Flowers was a sneaky good move, but hardly a transcendent one. Adding an OT and then subtracting another, was definitely not a step forward. While Washington is the early favorite to win the East, they seem to be back in self-sabotage mode.
As for the other three teams:
Dallas fans made it clear to the owner, that they were done quietly waiting for their team’s defense to improve.
In response, the Cowboys cleaned house in terms of both coaches and players. They then leaned heavy on defense in the Draft. While they may not have added free agents who are household names, they’ve sent a message from the top-down, that they are serious about getting results.
The giants took a risk adding CB Adoree Jackson, but if he can stay healthy, they have probably the best CB duo in the division. Signing Kelvin Benjamin to play TE, was a magnificent piece of outside the box thinking. Benjamin had trouble getting reliable separation from DB’s. However, if he can (very likely) gain separation on LB’s, then a Safety will have to be cheated away from a WR to help cover him. Benjamin may all at once, make the giants more explosive and help them challenge for the best TE duo in the division.
The Eagles made no fewer than FOUR non-Draft related moves. All of which look low-key at a glance. However, upon further inspection… For new DC Jonathan Gannon, signing former Vikings OLB Eric Wilson and S Anthony Harris, gives him two guys who can help quickly install his system, because they’ve played together while under Gannon. Slick move. Signing RB Kerryon Johnson was a stroke of pure genius, which I discussed in my last article (The Eagles RB’s). Then of course, there’s the addition of OLB Ryan Kerrigan.
One of my brothers speculated that Kerrigan could be Chris Long 2.0 for the Eagles. Maybe, but I doubt it. I think his real value, will be in getting young players to realize, they will have to out-produce Kerrigan, to take his spot in the rotation. He either forces them to step up, or it tells the Eagles that next year’s Draft, will be heavily spent re-arming the Defensive Line.
Getting QB Jalen Hurts a WR (Devonta Smith) that he already has chemistry with, was also a boss level move.
Nobody in the NFC East was okay with how 2020 ended. Well… I guess Washington seems to be. Honestly, watching their fans practically give each other handjobs over a 7 – 9 season, just to be bounced in the first round of the playoffs… Their “bragging” has been really hard to watch.
As for the rest of the division, none of us is looking for a repeat of 2020. The NFL had better not get caught sleeping.
KEEP in mind, when these predictions come out, no one knows who will be drafted by which team. So this is an assessment of the team as it is staffed by veteran players with track records.
Rookies may contribute heavily to their team, but they don’t usually shake up the NFC East as a division. That being said, there’s a pretty good chance that what you see here, will be how it shakes out for the year.
Now let’s look at 2021:
If you’ve read all of the articles leading up to this, you’ll understand my conclusion. Good job! If you didn’t, you’ll likely be annoyed because you did a bad job of preparing. The fact is, I gave NO team’s overall offense a passing grade, and I gave NO team’s defense one either.
Instead of rating units (offense, defense, special teams), this year everyone was so weak in key areas, that I was forced to award points for positions. So if this year’s report feels different than another year’s, rest assured, it is.
Strongest Offense: PHILADELPHIA
Yeah. I was surprised too. I gave no team points for QB, as everyone either has to prove themselves (Prescott, Hurts), or they’ve been trash historically (Fitzpatrick, Jones). Of all the teams here, Philly is the only one without an immediate need for offensive line help, as they are the only team in the division who doesn’t need help at OT, and even have competition there. They also have the best TE situation in the division by far, and a complete stable of RB’s. What they lack is WR firepower, but that’s more of a playoff problem, than a regular season issue.
Weakest Offense:NEW YORK
They have one OT and a C. Everything else is in a state of unnecessary upheaval. This team’s offense used to run through RB Saquon Barkley, but that can’t happen this year, as he’s just getting back from a torn ACL. QB Daniel Jones has to step up and prove that he can carry the… Sorry. I had a laughing fit. Jones is on his last leg as a starter, and it’s the worst kept secret in all of sports. Sadly too many of the pieces just don’t complement each other. It’s awkward. It boxes lefty. This offense was ruined in the front office, and it gets worse every year.
Strongest Defense:WASHINGTON
All four teams have issues in the secondary. That can’t even be debated. Of all the teams, Washington has the least issues and the best front seven. They can play their base 4-3, but they can easily flex to a 4-3 under, or to a 3-4, without changing personnel. NY wants to be multiple, and still can’t pull it off as well as Washington can.
Weakest Defense:DALLAS
They not only have everyone’s coverage problem, they also can’t rush the passer. They have a pair or good young LB’s in the heart of their unit, but that wasn’t enough last year, and won’t be enough this year.
Strongest Special Teams: DALLAS
They have a pair of reliable legs. Nothing fancy, but reliability is how you win field position battles. Which in turn is partly how you win games. Especially close ones.
Weakest Special Teams:PHILADELPHIA
A Kicker who seems to be rotting away on the inside, and a Punter who’s entirely an experiment from another part of the world.
Projected Winner: WASHINGTON
Having the most solid defense in the division cannot be ignored. Their offensive woes are partly due to focusing on adding defensive talent, and partly due to a scheme which relies too heavily on being cute, instead of being smart. Last year they went 5 – 1 (out of 7 wins), under game managing QB Alex Smith. This year their starting QB likes to gamble with house money. On it’s own, this team can’t win the division. But they could get by, with a little help from their friends.
Darkhorse Winner:PHILADELPHIA
New York is a team rotting on the vine, and Dallas doesn’t think they need a defense. Besides, whenever the Cowboys see something they don’t like in the mirror, they just cover it and add another WR. QB problems be damned, there is no way a team with so much talent on it, should have finished 6-10. I meant the Cowboys of course. There is no way I could have been talking about the giants.
After taking a looooooong look all four teams over this last month, I’ve noticed that Philadelphia is not nearly as far away as many people, (including me initially) might think. Currently, they have the most complete offense, and the second most complete defense in the division. If they end up putting things together at the QB position, the Eagles will have people treating them like a team that’s missed the playoffs for the last decade, instead of the team that has won the East, two of the last four times.
LAST year the giants finished 6 – 10 overall, and 4 – 2 in the division. They went out whining. Crying like entitled toddlers because the Eagles, in their final game (against Washington) tanked for better Draft position. This gave Washington the division, whereas an Eagles win would have given the division to New York. (And lowered the Eagles Draft position in every round.) Pointing the finger at Philadelphia, instead of their own 6 – 10 record, isn’t a sign of a team that holds itself accountable. Which sort of explains the 6 – 10 record.
In any case, this is where the giants roster currently stands in the week prior to the 2021 NFL Draft.
OFFENSE
QB: Daniel Jones has lost 9 games in each of his two pro seasons, for a career mark of 8 – 18. In 2020, his 10 interceptions were 2 fewer than in his rookie year. Unfortunately, his 11 TD’s were less than half his rookie year’s (24). While many things worked to trip him up last year,
he’s probably run out of benefit of the doubt, and has to produce 9 wins to remain the starter in 2022. Mike Glennon is the back-up. Over his 7 year career, he’s been on 5 teams, and when he plays, he’s been the human equivalent to waving a white flag. (-)
RB:Saquon Barkley is back from the torn ACL that ended a 2020 season that was already pretty bad for him. Prior to his injury, in two starts, he’d racked up 34 yards on 19 carries for a 1.8 yard per carry average. Everyone who filled in last year, is gone. The back-up this year is Devontae Booker. He’s a sneaky-smart addition who could be a problem for opponents as part of a 1 – 2 punch, or a credible first option, if Barkley has setbacks. Even with all the turnover at this position in 2020, Elijhaa Penny was trusted with just 6 carries.
Jordan Chunn is also on the roster. In any case, Barkley struggled even before being hurt, so this group gets a side-eye until they show better. (-)
WR: Darius Slayton is a solid number two, pushed into being a low-end one. Though he’s good for 745 yards per season, and 15 yards per catch, he adds more value than that. He has speed to threaten deep, and helps by opening things up behind him. Sterling Shepard is a possession receiver. He’s FAR better suited to the Slot than the outside, but until the giants can find someone for that other end, Shepard will keep being lined up out there. Which is likey why they added free agent, Kenny Golladay. He’s made some circus grabs over the years, but he’s going to find that landing on New Yorks cold ground is different than the controlled 70 degree dome in Detroit. He also doesn’t have Matt Stafford throwing to him anymore. Also added was John Ross, who is touted as having speed to burn. That said, he’s played in only 27 of a possible 64 career games, meaning he’s missed 37. That includes 13 missed games in 2020. All in all, the talent is credible here. (+)
TE: Remember when everyone was certain that Evan Engram would be the next Tony Gonzalez? Just in case you missed it, he posted a 57% catch rate last year. Newly added Kyle Rudolph’s blocking should help the run game. He also should add some value as a red zone threat. Due to volume of targets, Engram will produce numbers. However, there’s a real question now, of whether his targets would be better spent elsewhere. Put another way, folks are actively starting to wonder if he’s holding the offense back. (-)
OT:Nate Solder and Andrew Thomas comprise the bookends. Solder sat out 2020. Thomas was a 16 game starter as a rookie, playing 95% of the offensive snaps. Matt Peart is waiting in the wings, drafted as a project. However, this off-season’s re-signing of Solder to a 4 year deal, doesn’t indicate that Peart has captured the confidence of the coaching staff. After a bad 2020, this position has a lot to prove. (-)
G: As a rookie, Shane Lemieux started 9 games to finish the season. The question now is, with the release of Kevin Zeitler, does Lemieux stay at LG or slide to RG? Will Hernandez has seen his star dim recently, but a chance to play could brighten it up again. Zeitler’s departure all but guarantees Hernandez a role as a starter if he stays healthy. The question is, does he go back to LG, or is he a RG? Former Texan, Zach Fulton comes over to provide veteran depth, but given how often his last QB had to save himself from his protection, it’s shallow depth indeed. Especially since there no solid answer for who plays where. (-)
C:Nick Gates started 16 games at the pivot in 2020, and was the only lineman to play 100% of the 2020 season’s snaps. Also on the roster is recently signed, seasoned veteran Jonotthan Harrison. (+)
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IN A NUTSHELL: Not all the pieces to this puzzle were ever meant to go together. That’s why over the years it keeps not fitting. Drafting a TE who doesn’t block, was a mistake. Drafting a big back who doesn’t run big, without giving him a dominant blocker at TE or a FB, was a mistake. Drafting QB because of personal history, was a mistake. The giants front office has been stacking unforced errors for nearly half a decade now. Now there’s going to be a shuffle in the protection directly in front of the QB. So much of this unit is broken at the conceptual level. That’s why it keeps failing. And it’s also why no draft pick can save this mess. (-)
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DEFENSE
DE:Leonard Williams racked up career highs of 11.5 sacks and 30 QB hits last year while notching 57 tackles. Dexter Lawrence isn’t a pass rusher, but at 342 he’s a big’un, and he’s too quick for opponents to get cute with their blocking assignments. To bolster the pass rush, the giants signed Ifeadi Odenigbo. At 258 Odenigbo may not line up at this position since they bill themselves as “Multiple”, but favored a 3-4 alignment last year. B.J. Hill is a big (311), veteran rotational player. He’s not top-tier talent, but he plays assignment sound football. (+)
Dexter Lawrence
NT: With the loss of Dalvin Tomlinson to Minnesota, Austin Johnson becomes the new man in the middle with Danny Shelton backing him up. While New York may pick up teaspoon of interior pass rush, they just lost a cup of run support. (-)
OLB:Kyler Fackrell is a situational player who saw too much playing time last year. He started off very hot for about 6 weeks. After which he got exposed, and then got injured. Lorenzo Carter played 5 games last year and then tore his Achilles tendon. He wasn’t exactly a star before his injury. Oshane Ximines started 3 games, played 110 snaps, and recorded a total of 5 tackles. Even if Ifeadi Odenigbo moves out here, the giants still lack a single player who can play backwards, not just forward. That means RB’s and TE’s are going to tear this team up. (-)
ILB: I still can’t figure out how Blake Martinez was allowed to leave Green Bay. This guy is the genuine article. Starts every game, makes tackles (151), adds pass rush (3 sacks), and is equally adept in zone coverage (5 passes defensed). Tae Crowder had an up and down rookie season, but that’s what a rookie season is for. While Devante Downs started the season as the starter, Crowder finished with the role. During a (failed) playoff push. This tells you who the organization is pulling for. Newly signed Reggie Ragland adds size to the second level and will help push Crowder. In any case, young guys who know the system, competing at a position, that usually helps sharpen the hell out of it. (+)
Jabrill Peppers yet again struggling in coverage. Here he is giving up the game winning touchdown pass to Eagles RB Boston Scott.
S:Jabrill Peppers recorded the 4th interception of his four year career last year. He also forced a fumble. Because he’s, you know…a difference maker. Logan Ryan made the switch from Corner to Free last year, and he pulled it off without a hitch success. In many ways 2020 was one of his worst as a pro. But it’s keeping him paid! So there’s that. Xavier McKinney started the last 4 games of 2020, playing an increasing percentage of the defense’s downs in every single game. He’s the reason one of the aforementioned players will be riding pine in 2021. Julian Love is a tweener who managed 6 starts in 2020. Expect solid run support from this group. You can also expect them to get routinely cornholed on intermediate routes over the middle. (-)
CB:James Bradberry earned himself a Pro Bowl nod, after having a career year, during his first as a giant. Isaac Yiadom started 10 games last year, and allowed QB’s a 120 passer rating when throwing his way. That’s 40 points higher than the 80 passer rating allowed by Bradberry. And so the giants added Adoree Jackson to shore up the other side. Whether that works out depends on with version of him they get. Since 2019, Jackson has been on Injured Reserve or deactivated 17 times in his last 25 possible games. Buyer beware. Julian Love is the top back-up here. At spots 5 and 6 are maybe Sam Beal and Darnay Holmes, both drafted by the team. That said, their spots are far from safe. They have a good one, but it’s just one. (-)
IN A NUTSHELL: Expect this team to be tough to run on, but to also hemorrhage passing yardage. The OLB’s are pass rushers (won’t have to cover), and the Safeties have trouble with speed. With passing on this team being so easy, opponents may not even opt to run the ball much vs the giants. That will artificially drive up the ranking on their rushing yards allowed, but it will be hollow, since they won’t face as many attempts. The flaws on this unit are glaring, and aside from possibly drafting a savior at CB or FS, this unit will regress in 2021. (-)
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SPECIAL TEAMS
K:Graham Gano connected on 31/32 GF (96.8%) including 5/6 from 50 or longer. He did however, miss on two extra point conversions (21/23), and of his 73 kickoffs, only 30 were downed in the end zone. That means opponents attempted returns, nearly 60% of the time. (+)
P:Riley Dixon averaged a career-low 44.8 yard per punt, with a career-low 39.4 yards net. Though only 25 of his 65 punts were returned, the 232 return yards (9.2 avg) indicates that he’s giving return men time and room to pick their spots. (-)
IN A NUTSHELL: Gano is a liability to the Defense, but he was reliable as a point scorer. That’s no easy feat in Rutherford, New Jersey once the weather turns. Dixon is costing the giants the hidden yardage/field position battle. Neither his distance nor his hang-time are helping his coverage unit. As a result, whenever the ball is kicked to the opponent, the giants are doing worse than average. (-)
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BOTTOM LINE: Head Coach Joe Judge has focused on coaching work ethic in his players. From a mental standpoint, the giants are clearly better as a team than they were at the end of 2019. So their front office, got the right man.
The problem is that, that same front office, hasn’t changed the method of how they build a roster. They have players who’s style and talent runs counter to other players on the very same unit. In short, this team is not complementary. It’s awkward. It’s misshapen. Grotesque.
Between a QB who hasn’t mastered throwing, and Safeties who cover more like Linebackers, the whole damned thing is a head scratcher. Before they can beat other teams to win the division, they’ll have to stop beating themselves. Otherwise, they’ll have to keep hoping for rivals to send them to the playoffs.
GENERALLY when I talk football, it’s about my Eagles. I tend to keep mum about our rivals, unless we have a game coming up against one of them. Otherwise, I’ve reserved most talk about them for my Pre-Draft Preview,which drops each April. (Look for it).
In 2017 however, I decided to try something new, and give our fan base a running commentary of what the division is doing around us. This ensures that Eagles fans actually are the NFL’s best informed, and most knowledgeable fans. (Provided you visit this site often.) These updates will come out three times during the season: After Weeks 3, 9, and 15. (So it’s a week late!)
Over the last three week the giants have fallen into the abyss. Yet, with a Washington loss and a Dallas loss, the giants could vault BOTH teams and take the NFC East!
Dallas:6 – 9, 2nd place
Following the re-emergence of their back-up QB, Dallas is on a three game win streak and poised (with a Week 17 Redskins loss) to win the NFC East. Provided that they beat the giants next.
Washington: 6 – 9, 1st place
Washington was on a four game tear, winning 4 of the 5 games started by QB Alex Smith. His missing the last two weeks with a leg injury, put them on a two week losing streak. They conclude the season next week, with a Dollar Store QB vs Philadelphia. They’ ll win the NFC East with a victory. The question is: Are the Eagles okay with letting them do that?
Get this. Next week, any team in the division EXCEPT us, could run off with the division. And while the Eagles don’t get to win the division, we basically get to decide it!
Do we want to tank to improve our 2021 Draft position?
OR
Do we want to prevent a division rival from celebrating in our house?
This shit is absolutely HILARIOUS! Dear 2020, while dancing the ‘Batusi’ naked in front of my open refrigerator, I full-on, fucking salute you! When asked “What does 2020 do for an encore?” Setting this up, has to be the answer.
My hope as an Eagles fan, is that we take the “L”, improve our draft position, and hand deliver a team without a QB, directly into the thick of the 2020 playoffs. This is the ultimate “Fuck You”. Sort of our version of Major Kong riding that bomb at the end of ‘Dr. Strangelove.’
Seriously, if we’re going to miss the playoffs, Eagles fans, THIS is the way to do it.
GENERALLY when I talk football, it’s about my Eagles. I tend to keep mum about our rivals, unless we have a game coming up against one of them. Otherwise, I’ve reserved most talk about them for my Pre-Draft Preview,which drops each April. (Look for it).
In 2017 however, I decided to try something new, and give our fan base a running commentary of what the division is doing around us. This ensures that Eagles fans actually are the NFL’s best informed, and most knowledgeable fans. (Provided you visit this site often.) These updates will come out three times during this season: After Weeks 6, 11, and 15.
When last we left off, Dallas was 2 – 4, and leading the division. Wow right?
You know, just twelve weeks ago, this team was talked about as being a Super Bowl contender. They were simply gonna walk away with the NFC East. Just walk away with it! Today the talk is about whether or not they’re ditching injured QB Dak Prescott, to select a QB in the top five.
So that’s how that’s going.
Replacing Prescott is QB Andy Dalton. And then QB Ben “Bring It On!” DiNucci. And then QB Garrett Gilbert. And then Uncle Rico. And then QB Andy Dalton. And then…
They are a team ravaged by injuries. Aw.
Being beat to shit by injuries, just means playing in the 2020 NFL. Nobody cares. Work harder.
On defense, they aren’t playing any. No, that’s not fair. At the time of our last installment, they weren’t. Since then they’ve stopped allowing 36 points per game and now have it down to 32.6 per game. IMPROVEMENT! Did I mention the 23 – 9 loss where they got FOUR turnovers? I didn’t? Well they suffered a 9 – 23 loss where they got FOUR turnovers. And were still nearly blown out!
Washington: 4 – 7, 2nd place in the NFC East
QB Kyle Allen was lost for the season with a dislocated ankle, vs the same giants team that dislocated QB Dak Prescott’s ankle. Have no fear! QB Alex Smith will be the starter for the final leg of this journey. Thus far, he’s 2 – 1 as a starter over these last three games, despite being far from spectacular at either moving or protecting the ball.
Defensively, their last two opponents were Cincy and Dallas, both playing with back-up QB’s. Washington’s dance card is a bout to stiffen a little, so we’ll get to see just how many of these improvements were improvements, and how many were just games against stumbling opponents. To their credit, for a hot five or six minutes, this Football Team (ick) actually recaptured the top spot in the division.
Now they’re back to playing for Draft position.
New York: 4 – 7, 1st place in the NFC East
New York is out here breaking so many ankles, that maybe we should call them the New York Iversons. Frankly I’m glad that we’ve already seen them twice, and escaped with our QB. QB Daniel Jones is playing acceptable football, in the sense that he is no longer a turnover fountain.
The real story for these last few weeks, is RB Wayne Gallman. He isn’t flashy, but unlike injured starter RB Saquon Barkley, Gallman’s more consistent from one carry to the next. Barkley is one big play, and a lot of loss, no gain, short gain. Gallman’s 4.0 per carry is more like 4 yards on this carry, 3 on that one, five on this one, and so forth. That sort of production keeps 3rd downs more manageable, and doesn’t put the QB in tight spots. Gallman’s style stabilizes the offense, and makes Jones viable . The giants have a real conundrum on their hands once Barkley is healthy again.
Flying under the radar is a defense that has held opponents to 25 points or fewer for the last 6 games (20.0 ppg). I made this team my dark horse to win the East in 2020, and so far it seems like I had it read pretty well.
So that’s the state of our division rivals as our Eagles head into game 12.
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: giants did the Eagles get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Hand the ball off 20+ times: Despite our RB’s combining for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns, with an 8.0 per carry average, we only handed it off 19 times as compared to 37 pass attempts. I can’t put this any plainer than these numbers do. (NOT DONE)
2) Play gap control defense:The defensive line though frequently out-muscled at the point of attack, did a decent job of staying in the their lanes. The problem was when anybody besides LB T.J. Edwards came down to fill. Our LB play today was atrocious. The giants first goal line TD was an absolute microcosm of what is wrong here. The giants RB jumped over the pile, while NO Eagles LB ever left the ground to meet him. That lack of anticipation is why our LB’s are generally just Special Teams refugees who get more defensive snaps than their talent or dedication could ever warrant. (NOT DONE)
3) Spread them out: We did this intermittently, and it allowed all sorts of running room for. What we didn’t do, was push the ball down the field. It seemed more like the coaching staff was trying to work next year’s receiving corp in, as opposed to winning today (DONE)
4) Mix up our coverages:What? No. The Eagles don’t know what that is. Incidentally in my 2020 Season Review: Second Quarter, I mentioned CB Nickell Robey-Coleman being trash, and how I was on the razor’s edge regarding CB Avonte Maddox. He is also trash. While I think both are hampered by this FUCKED UP defensive system, when either man goes to make a play, he’s consistently a day late and dollar short. (NOT DONE)
This week we notched 1 of 4 Four Things, getting us to 12 of 36 on the season. We are missing too many fundamentals to be an effective team.
Next week we get a 6 – 3 Cleveland team that just squeaked by the Texans today. Hey, remember back when could look at the schedule, see the Browns name, and write a “W” next to it, in ink? Ah the days of yore. When we had a President, not a low-rent dictator. Before a third of the nation was on fire, and eating in a restaurant was less risky than sky-diving. I fucking hate this year.
On The Whole:
Unlike Nell here, no one saved the Eagles from having a train run on them. I’m very aware of what that actually means, but based on what we saw today, it would be hard to convince me that that’s not what happened to our Defense vs the giants.
The giants ran for 151 yards on 36 totes today (4.1) for 3 scores, while only attempting 28 passes. They didn’t have to risk a turnover, because we couldn’t make them throw it enough.
Offensively, we looked bland. There was no aggression in the passing game to match the great job we were doing on the ground. That said, it felt largely like the coaching staff was trying to work in the youth, and jump-start the TE position.
There were three bad snaps from C Jason Kelce, and a bit where he and Wentz got their feet tangled during a snap. These things happen to all pivots, but 4 instances in one game?! Sometimes it’s not meant to be your day, and this more than anything else, seems like it was the case for the Birds.
KEEP the streak alive! The Eagles will be looking to start the second half of the year, like they should have started the first: By putting down a division rival. This is no time to play down to our opponent. Instead, we have to get back to the competent play-calling that made execution and game-flow, seem almost Zen-like.
A win here puts the Eagles at 4 – 4 – 1 (.500), while driving the giants down to 2 – 8. A loss, still has us leading the division, but it lifts everyone behind us. While this isn’t a “must win” game, winning this week would the division lead on a high shelf, in a division full of short arms and legs.
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.
So let’s talk about the Four Things we need to focus on this week versus the giants :
1) Hand the ball off 20+ times: The only game where I called for 20+ handoffs and we lost, was the Rams game. The other 4 times: 3 wins, 1 tie. To sweeten the pot, we get RB Miles Sanders back this week. To give ourselves the best chance to win, we need to run the ball both early and often. EARLY! And OFTEN!
2) Play gap control defense: The giants seem to have found a runner that they feel good about, in addition to having a QB with some mobility. Take that away early. Force early 3rd and longs, then bring a 5th rusher like MLB T.J. Edwards from their offense’s strong-side. Not from the edge, but between DE Brandon Graham and DT Fletcher Cox. Let their QB see the rush. Speed up the clock in his head, while taking away his favorite scrambling side. Force him to his left. From there he will find ways, maybe even invent ways, to get our Defense the ball.
3) Spread them out: In the last match-up, our Spread formations kept the giants out of their base defense, robbing them of any real pass rush. Do this again, and run the ball down their throats. Getting back WR Alshon Jeffery this week should make this part so easy.
4) Mix up our coverages: In the first meeting, the giants scored a redzone TD by preying on the way Eagles DB’s switch off coverages. It was a film study TD, and I tip my cap to the giants for the excellent prep. Kudos. This time we need to feed them a few looks with similar keys, so that we can bait them into throwing balls into places where they shouldn’t be. It’d be nice to see CB Darius Slay finally get himself a souvenir from this season.
If we do these Four Things, the final score should be:
PREDICTION: EAGLES 30 – giants 14
Check back in a couple of days for Four Things Reviewed, and we’ll discuss how it went.
I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for the Four Thingsarticles. 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 inFour Things: giants did the Eagles get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Hand it off 20 times: While the Eagles ran the ball 26 times, 7 were by Wentz. Aside from Wentz, the team amassed 19 actual handoffs, for 82 yards (4.3ypc). Mathematically, it looks more productive than it actually was. (NOT DONE)
DE Brandon Graham kills the giants last minute hopes, with this sack/fumble.
2) Be sack religious: We got three sacks and generally had their QB under pressure for a good percentage of the night. The result was two turnovers from him, including the kill-shot fumble, forced by Graham in the fourth quarter. (DONE)
3) Spread them out!:We came out doing this, and then became less consistent with it, when we started with those bunch formations. The result was that we kept the giants base defense off the field, and were able to scrape together enough room to run the ball. (DONE)
4) No 50 yard field goal attempts:This was done, but technically no opportunity to attempt a 50 yarder, ever came up. However, with the way the K Jake Elliott is kicking, maybe we need to abandon kicking altogether this season. (Ugh!) Never mind. That’s just frustration talking. (DONE)
Heyyyyy! That’s a Four Things score of 3 out of 4 for the week! On the season we’re now 10 of 28. Now we get a Sunday where none of our players get hurt, for the first time since… Uhhhh… Um… Wait no, he broke his thumb peeling an egg this Easter. Okay, so it’s been a while! The point is, we get 10 days to rest up for our home match-up vs the Dallas Cowboys.
On The Whole:
For the last two weeks we’ve talked about how valiantly the Eagles have played, but always ended with: “BUT THEY STILL LOST.” This week we looked as good as a 90 year old hooker: “BUT WE STILL WON.” So take the damned win, Eagles fans. We may not see many of these in 2020.
I want to talk about how much good we did, in this game. The truth however, is that we barely squeaked by an awful team.
giants QB Daniel Jones forgot his luggage before going on his 80 yard trip.
For the second week in a row, the Eagles gave up a long QB run. Again it was vs a look that featured no Safeties. The only way a guy like QB Daniel Jones can break an 80 yard run, is if a defensive coordinator schemes for it.
Then there was that film-study TD, where WR Sterling Shepard knew the Eagles DB’s (who weren’t pressing), would switch… This was a case of our Defense drawing up the opponent’s scoring play. A change is needed. I cannot express how badly it’s needed.
QB Carson Wentz unleashed a DIME, and RB Boston Scott caught the game-winning score.
Boston Scott did catch the game-winning touchdown. Yes. Kudos. That said, his production at RB isn’t reliable. In 4 starts as an Eagle, his rushing totals (26, 59, 35 and 46) are the sort of numbers that require Wentz to carry the Offense. Something has to change.
NOTE: For the last two weeks, the fill-ins at Guard, (Jamon Brown and Sua Opeta, respectively) have had their lunch eaten by whomever lined up across from them. However, there may be a simple, and highly effective solution, waiting in the wings.
The local sports media is trying to jinn up a controversy about whether or not LTJason Peters can reclaim his starting role from LT Jordan Mailata, once Peters returns from injury. My suggestion would be to move Peters to that RG spot that he was initially supposed to occupy this season, and move OG Nate Herbig to LG.
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