NFC Championship Game

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FOUR THINGS: NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: EAGLES – 49ERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/01/27
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFC Championship, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Preview, Roster, Super Bowl. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

ABSOLUTE domination from start to finish last week. The national media spent last week hyping a hollow giants team, and we beat the numbers off their jerseys. This week’s opponent has grown fat off of teams that specialize in hurting themselves. This week they have the wrong opponent. In the wrong house. In front of the wrong crowd.

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts is going to show what it means to lead a team to victory, instead of just being along for the ride. Which is what’s happening on the 49ers sideline. I mean, could you imagine hyping a QB for playing like the best version of Daniel Jones?

The national media isn’t saying “Look at him make jaw-dropping play after play!” They’re saying “Oh look at how he doesn’t make huge mistakes!”Well, OLB Haason Reddick, DT Javon Hargrave, SS Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, CB Darius Slay, and others, are about to put that kid to the test. Context is on the way!

A win punches our ticket to Super Bowl LVII. While I cannot guarantee a win like I did last week, the odds of winning are HEAVILY in our favor. We are all but inevitable. 

A loss cannot be entirely ruled out here. The chance exists that we don’t pull this one. Having acknowledged it however, the chance is pretty damned small.

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The point of Four Things isn’t to predict a winner, it’s to discuss which tactics would give our Eagles the best chance to win this game. So here are the Four Things that we need to focus on this week, versus the: 49ers

DT Fletcher Cox, is on the hunt

1) Set Hard Edges: The 9ers are a run-based offense that uses lots of misdirection to open holes. Stay disciplined, and don’t fall for the eye-candy. With the way they like to goof around in the backfield, if we don’t fall for the smoke and mirrors, their ball carrier is liable to run smack into a defender.

Have DE’s Brandon Graham and Josh Sweat establish hard boundaries on the ends of the offensive line, to either bottle runs up inside, or force them far outside where there’s no blocking. Understand, the idea isn’t to “shutdown” their run. (They’re too good for that.) The idea is to just make it unreliable, and destabilize their offense.

2) Pick Purdy: You’ve heard the expression “Pick your poison”. Here we should pick their rookie QB. Yep! Just force them to beat us with a seventh round, rookie QB, making his eighth start, on the road, in one of sport’s most hostile environments. Oh, I promised you context.

This kid’s wins? A bad Tampa Bay with no offensive line; Seattle’s 26th ranked defense; The Commanders; The Raiders 28th ranked defense; Arizona playing their 3rd string QB; Wild Card Seattle on the road; and Dallas last week. THIS is what all the hype has been about! So if I’m picking my poison, I’m picking that Purdy lil’ QB.

3) Run The Ball: Usually I mean hand-offs when I say this, but against this opponent, I mean anybody. While RB Miles Sanders should be our hammer early, RB’s Kenneth Gainwell and Boston Scott should each see at least 6 carries apiece, mostly in the second half.

Also, the 9ers defense is smallish upfront. The DE playing across from 365 pound LT Jordan Mailata, is only about 245. They don’t have a LB over 230. We need to physically wear them down, and then wear them out. It also bears mentioning that all four of their losses came against mobile QB’s. (Note: They didn’t face QB Kyler Murray at all this season.)

4) Throw It Deep: Do not allow their defense to dictate our attack. Two of their three CB’s are decidedly overrated. They all do a great job of taking away the quick stuff, but downfield, the Wards can be had.

They play a lot of Cover Three, but we should be able to short circuit that, with WR Quez Watkins working deep in the Slot. Even if they’re just dummy routes to hold the FS. With enough protection that’s a one-on-one down either sideline.

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If the Eagles do these Four Things, then we’ll be virtually impossible to beat. That being said…

There are a ton of surface indicators which make this game seem a lot more even, than it truly is. What people seem to be (deliberately) looking past, is context. As you know, I never look past context. Context is what makes facts come alive!

At times this season, when the kid has gotten into trouble, their coach has protected him by getting the ball out of his hands with either quick passes, or more running plays. If we take those away, he has to play big boy QB, which puts him right in DT Fletcher Cox’s cross-hairs.

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Prediction: EAGLES 24 –  49ers 15

WARNING: 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 Four Things as a gambling tool, you are trying to lose your money, and will deserve it when you do.

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

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: DIVISIONAL ROUND: GIANTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/01/22
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFC Championship, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, Rivals, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
RB Kenneth Gainwell rips off 35 yard touchdown run on a day where he was also a giant killer

TOLD you we wouldn’t lose.

EAGLES 38 – giants 7

EAGLES STATS:

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

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

Passing :(S) QB Jalen Hurts (16/24 – 66.6% – 154 – 2 – 0)

Rushing : (B) RB Kenneth Gainwell (12 – 112 – 9.3 –1 – 0)

Receiving :(S) WR Devonta Smith (10 – 6 – 61 – 10.1 – 1)

Offensive Line Report/Enforcer : (3 (18) + 5 (5) – 1 (-2) = 21) RT Lane Johnson

Drive Killer : (S) CB James Bradberry (1 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0)

Sack Leader : (S) DE Josh Sweat (2 – 1.5 – 0 – 1)

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

1) Feed Miles Sanders: Early on the Eagles made a point of feeding RB Miles Sanders (17 – 90 – 5.2 – 0 – 0), who led the team in carries. It wasn’t until the 4th drive that Philadelphia began using Sanders to impose our will on New York, but once we did, a tone was set, and then the volume was cranked way up.

We ran for 268 yards on those scrubs. Kenneth Gainwell led the team with 112 yards, but RB Boston Scott (6 – 32 – 5.3 – 1 – 0) also chipped in. Our run game allowed us to control the clock for 35:43 of the 60 minute contest. As a result our defense was well rested, and able to play fast and relentless. We used one side of the ball to enhance another. Excellent! (DONE)

2) Time for the Kerrigan Plan: Getting the ball to TE Dallas Goedert (5 – 5 – 58 – 11.6 – 1) worked like a charm! We were able to get it to him at will. Though we surely left some money on the table, the run game was too efficient to turn away from.

In the meantime, covering Goedert popped the giants defense open like a steamed clam. Since the run game kept chewing up real estate, there was no need to overdo things. That said, next week’s opponent won’t be getting much sleep this week. (DONE)

3) Set those edges HARD: We were a lot better about this in the middle of the game. We started slow and finished slow with this, but we did enough to make their run game unreliable, which was the entire point. (DONE)

4) You Shall Not Pass: Show everyone EXACTLY who QB Daniel Jones (15/27 – 55.5% – 135 – 0 – 1) really is. For weeks now, we’ve been hearing how awesome this awful QB is. The idea was to take away the run (CHECK!), put the game on his shoulders (CHECK!), and see just how great this overblown bust really is.

OLB Haason Reddick chops down QB Daniel Jones

We spent the game harassing him, and sacking him 5 times. He was not up to the pressure of the moment, and in no way resembled the QB who tore into a fraudulent Vikings team last week. See his numbers? See that final score? (DONE)

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This week we hit ALL FOUR THINGS, and how! Next week some other poor sucker has to make the trip to Philadelphia for the NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME, just to be put on a plane, and sent home to clean out their lockers. No clue who they’ll be, but with any luck it’ll be San Francisco.

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On The Whole:

This game was worse than the 48 – 22 blowout from a few weeks ago. Not only was the point margin larger, but we dominated across the board. Anyone in the giants organization who doesn’t now see that the giants are years behind the Eagles, doesn’t have an opinion worth listening to.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: NFC CHAMPIONSHIP: EAGLES-VIKINGS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/01/22
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFC Championship, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, Special Teams, Super Bowl. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

SUPER BOWL!!!!! What did I tell you? I said, Minnesota doesn’t belong in the playoffs. I said, this game will be about which Eagles team shows up. I said, during the Bye Week that the only playoff team I fear is Philadelphia. Now look at us. ONE WIN away from winning our first Championship since 1960. One win away from hoisting one of those annual replicas that our rivals are so fond of.

Alshon scores 1.jpg

Eagles WR Alshon Jeffery scores on a 53 yard bomb from QB Nick Foles. Image courtesy of Philadelphia Daily News

EAGLES 38 – Vikings 7

The Vikings went down the field for a touchdown on the game’s opening drive, running the ball as well as they would all night. Then the nightmare began.

Your beloved Eagles responded with 38 unanswered points, as we dominated, harassed and humiliated Minnesota’s defense that (I’d heard) was the best in the NFL. Didn’t look like much to me. Or apparently to our Quarterback.

QB Nick Foles (26/33 – 78.7% – 352 – 3 – 0) put on an absolute clinic, dissecting (what we’d all been told was) the NFL’s second-rated pass defense. Well no, that’s not fair. The Vikings did seem very second rate out there.

RB Jay Ajayi (18 – 73 – 4.0 – 0 – 0) found creases to run in, which helped us move the chains and set up manageable 3rd downs. That led to a 3rd down conversion of 71% (10/14). For the second game in a row, RB LeGarrette Blount (6 – 21 – 3.5 – 1 – 0) found paydirt early.

WR’s Alshon Jeffery (5 – 85 – 17.0 – 2) and Torrey Smith (5 – 69 – 13.8 – 1) gave the Eagles the sort of outside deep threats, I’d been looking for since Week 1. Foles heaved touchdown bombs to each man, (53 and 41 yards, respectively). It was almost enough to overshadow TE Zach Ertz (8 – 93 – 11.6 – 0) who had a beautiful 36 yard catch and run, that set up a 38 yard Field Goal by K Jake Elliott (5/5x, 1/1f, 38) to end the first half.

Those are great numbers, but it was the Defense that won this game. They put a lid on the Viking’s offense after that opening touchdown. On the very next possession, CB Patrick Robinson (2 – 0 – 1 – 0) intercepted a pass and took that tasty treat back 50 yards to cancel out Minnesota’s only lead of the night.

 

derek barnett.jpg

Rookie DE Derek Barnett (2 – 1 – 0 – 1) got our only sack of the game and forced a fumble (pictured), which was recovered by DE Chris Long (2 – 0 – 0 – 0). Safety Corey Graham (5 – 0 – 1 – 0) intercepted a dropped interception attempt by CB Ronald Darby (7 – 0 – 0 – 0) who had a serious impact on the game with that interception, and the block which sprang Robinson on his interception return.

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) Stop the run: We held the Vikings to 70 yards on 18 carries. (DONE)

2) Challenge their defense: At no point did Nick Foles shy away from attacking and turn into Captain Checkdown. Even better, the playcalling wasn’t trying to protect him. That 41 yard flea-flicker to Smith was outright ballsy; as was that double-faked handoff to set up a Middle Screen. The Eagles didn’t show a single ounce of fear and decided to make the Vikings earn everything. (DONE)

3) Collapse the pocket: The Eagles got good pressure throughout the day, but we didn’t get nearly as much up the gut as I was anticipating. This is likely why the sack production was so low this week. (NOT DONE)

4) Speed Kills:

Alshon scores 2.jpg

There were a few deep throws by Foles in this game. Better still, there were a few completions for scores. The idea was to challenge Minny’s corners and make them earn their reps. They weren’t up to the job. At least not against the Eagles. (DONE)

This week we went 3 out of 4 in Four Things, which brings our playoff total to 7 of 8. There are a couple of things we need to clean up in the next two weeks, before our SUPER BOWL re-match with New England.

On The Whole:

This was a great “get your confidence” game. I think Nick Foles NEEDED a game like this. It’s one thing to have your teammates say they believe in you, it’s a completely different thing to give them a reason to believe in you. No one is going to make Nick Foles the favorite over New England’s QB, but at this point people understand that Foles is not to be taken lightly.

We need more explosiveness from our run game. Ajayi gets the starting nod due to Draft pedigree, but he seems less explosive, and isn’t as good at catching the ball, as RB Corey Clement (2 – 20 – 10.0 – 0 – 0). Ajayi also doesn’t have a great nose for the endzone.

Our interior pass rush

fletcher.jpg

has to show up next week or our odds of winning drop significantly. If we can stop New England’s QB from stepping up to deliver the ball, and make him come off of his first read, our odds or winning almost crack the ceiling.

doug-pederson ABOUT IT