While any idiot can say “Hey let’s sign every high-priced Free Agent on the market”. THE 12 focuses on what we can do with what we already have, to fix or improve our team.

LOSING that game to the Commanders last year, is kind of sticking in my craw now. It hardly bothered me when it happened. In fact, after the loss in Four Things Reviewed, I said that I was grateful for the loss. Many Eagles fans were, in fact. Turns out, that loss is probably why we made it to the Super Bowl.

But part of it still bugs me. Not our turnovers. Those were an aberration. Those were never really anything to worry about. What bugs me, was our tackling in that game (and others).

While Washington didn’t run the ball well, they stuck to grinding out yards. That was in part because our defenders were too often trying harder to cause turnovers, than to secure the tackle and get the man on the ground. Which is helped Washington convert so many 3^rd downs (12 of 21).

With the exception of Charles “Peanut” Tillman and his freakishly reliable ‘Peanut Punch’, most fumbles don’t happen because a defender forces it. Most fumbles happen when offensive players are trying to make something happen. Especially later in the game when their team is down. They fixate on making a move, and forget ball security. Then something bad happens.

Just get the man on ground. Just make the tackle. Especially early in games. Not with shoulder lunges to generate hits. Players need to execute proper form, and bring their arms. Wrap up the guy with the ball!

With the interior defensive line that we have, I’m expecting to see MLB Nakobe Dean get a lot of clean shots on ball-carriers. His tackling will be critical. That’s not to let everyone else off the hook; but from Dean (though I’ll cut him plenty of slack in other areas) his tackling will be important in determining whether we win the East this year.