SINCE bringing in Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangiotwo years ago, the Eagles have been a top five defense in points allowed, both years. If there’s one gripe however, that fans have with our Defense, it’s that our Cornerbacks don’t intercept many passes. In 2024 our Defense picked off 13 passes. Of that number, 11 were by Safeties, and 2 by Linebackers. In 2025 we had 12 picks. Only 1 was by a CB (Adoree Jackson). DB Cooper DeJean had 2 playing out of the Nickel.
Instead of gambling and going for the interception, our Corners opt for disrupting the route (which alters the ball’s arrival time); or they wait for a last second deflection. Again, Jackson had 1 pick last year, but he had 11 deflections. CB Quinyon Mitchell had 17 deflections, but in 32 career regular season games, still doesn’t have a regular season pick.
The bottom line is, our Corners aren’t playing to make a play. They’re playing to not get beat. That sounds wise on the surface, but it doesn’t make opposing QB’s afraid to test them. When a defense doesn’t punish a QB, or if the QB thinks the defense can’t punish him, it just makes him bolder. We have to punish QB’s and make them fear us.
Special Teams Ace: P Braden Mann (4 – 208 – 52.0 – 1TB)
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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: 49ers did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Run At Their DE’s: We actually did more of this than I was hoping for! So much so that that our first score was a 1 yard run by TE Dallas Goedert(receiving: 7 – 4 – 33 – 8.2 – 1). Even DeVonta got a Sweep, but both of those were in the first quarter. All the creativity was gone in the second half. Still, we did work the ends. (DONE)
2) Get Their QB’s Feet Moving:We only got one measly sack, but that doesn’t tell the story of how often we made their QB launch off-platform passes. On his two longest passes of the day, he was able to stand in the pocket and throw with confidence, but for most of the game we kept him moving. (DONE)
3) Unleash A.J. Brown: How did it go for WRA.J. Brown(7 – 3 – 25 – 8.3 – 0)? One actual deep shot. Three drops. No attempts to him in the second and third quarters, and for most of the fourth. (NOT DONE)
4) Muddy Coverage Underneath: We didn’t do this nearly as often as we should have, considering that the guy we needed to stop was a RB who specializes in catching short passes and turning them into more yardage. (NOT DONE)
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This week’s Four Things score was 2 of 4. Close, but no cigar. Which is why our season came to a much deserved close.
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Game Hero: CB Quinyon Mitchell – Notching two interceptions and forcing a fumble to end the 49ers scoring threat at the end of the firsts half, Q personally ended three drives to help us get ahead and stay ahead of San Fran. Sadly, that meant turning the ball over to our Offense.
Game goat: Offensive Coaching Staff – For half the game, I was listening to announcer Tom Brady, say that the Eagles weren’t operating with a sense of urgency, and they didn’t seem to be on the same page. He was 100 percent correct. The lack of proper preparation has been a season-long, and now season-ending problem. Changes need to be made, and that is the last I will write about that, until after the Super Bowl.
On The Whole: What we saw in this game, was the same thing we’ve been seeing since the season opened with our players having not played in the preseason. A roster that should have gone 15 – 1, instead settled for 11 – 6 and a seed that was not the #1. For all of our work today, we got an early playoff exit, and a shitty draft position.
This won’t mean a lot to the players. It probably will only mean slightly more to the coaching staff.
Who it WILL mean a lot to, is OwnerJeff Lurie, who is apparently paying nearly 60 million dollars to two WR’s to drop passes.
Paying 50 million to a QB who no longer does the running that made him special, since he can’t throw touchdowns at the rate that truly elite QB’s can. I think once Lurie communicates how much this means to him, it will start to mean much more to the players and coaches.
Sack Leader: OLB Nolan Smith (Sacks:2.0/ FF: 0/ Tackles: 8)
Special Teams Ace: OLBJeremiah Trotter Jr. kept fumble alive and made FR
LB Jeremiah Trotter Jr. with the postseason takeaway. Somewhere out there, is a proud papa!
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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: PACKERS did the Eagles actually get around to doing? Well let’s see:
1) Use Lots of Play-Action, Early:Not only did the Eagles not do this early. They didn’t use much of it all game long. Considering the weakness of the Packers pass rush, and Hurts just getting back from concussion protocol; it seems like a no-brainer that play-action would make the Offense run so much smoother. Oh well. (NOT DONE)
2) Bottle Up Their Inside Run: We did a great job of this. With the exception of a 31 yard run (which was almost a tackle for loss), Packers RB Josh Jacobs (18 – 81 – 4.5 – 1 – 0) was held in check all day. In fact, his day was nearly identical to the (16 – 84 – 5.2 – 0 – 0) game that he had, in their first loss against us this season.
Vince watching these Packers struggle to run the ball.
The idea wasn’t to shut down the run, but make it an unreliable aspect of their offense. We did that, and it put all the weight on QB Jordan Love (20/33 – 60.6% – 212 – 0 – 3). He was clearly not up to the task of shouldering the load and carrying his teammates. Mission accomplished. (DONE)
3) Get Hits On Their QB:We got just two sacks of their QB. However, after that first one, where he landed on his previously injured throwing elbow, he was clearly rushing his mechanics. He also scrambled out of danger few times, but that just altered his practiced launch points. Couple that with rushed mechanics, and you get 3 interceptions to 0 touchdowns. (DONE)
4) No Weird Shit:We had just one missed extra point, which was well inside of the tolerance limit established for this game. There were no goofy play calls. No head-scratching timeout usage. We didn’t do anything weird to shoot ourselves in the foot. I’m proud. (DONE)
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This week’s Four Things score was 3 of 4. With a margin like that, you expect a comfortable victory, and this was that. Next week we host the Rams, a team that we beat in their home this season. And last season.
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Game Hero: The Defense – On a day when the Offense was not at all sharp, our Defense forced 3 of our 4 takeaways. (Special Teams forced the first.) We contained their run game, and harassed their QB into three interceptions. Even after LB Nakobe Dean (6 – 0 – 0 – 0) went down with a torn patella tendon, LB Oren Burks(5 – 0 – 0 – 1) who forced the fumble on the opening kickoff, stepped right in and played at a high level.
Game goat: DEJosh Sweat (1 – 0 – 0 – 0) – His presence seems greatly diminished down the stretch of the season, and into the playoffs. For this game he was almost invisible. We can’t have that next week.
On The Whole: Despite us not firing on all cylinders, there were a few CHOICE moments in this game. In fact, both of Jalen Hurts touchdown passes were memorialized. The first one came from the cleanest pocket that you’ve ever seen. Hurts riffled the ball 11 yards to WRJahan Dotson (2 – 1 – 11 – 11.0 – 1).
The second, was a 24 yard catch and run to TE Dallas Goedert (6 – 4 – 47 – 11.75 – 1). He clearly brought his violence to the game, as he repeatedly stiff-armed the trailing defender, who had zero chance of making the stop.
One of the best parts of the game, was after Packer defensive lineman threw Saquon to the ground after whistle had blown the play dead. Though the Eagles were getting the first down, it didn’t stop the Offense, including Hurts, from getting into the face of the offending player. Good to see.
DEFEATING the Commanders opened up our lead in the NFC East. We took away their healthy run game, and made them one-dimensional. Now we get a Rams team that doesn’t exactly excel at rushing. After his 2 sack game against this team last year, DT Jalen Carter must be licking his chops.
With a win, we improve to 9 – 2, maintaining a solid hold on first place in the division, as well as our temporary second place in conference seeding.
A loss would see us stumble to 8 – 3, but we would still maintain first place. Even if Washington defeats Dallas and goes to 8 – 4.
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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. Often I list fundamentals, as some of the four things. BUT NO MORE! Unless something specific is needed, fundamentals likeRunning the ball; playing lots of Man Press; and Tackling instead of going for the strip, will be automatically included. (Like the five consonants and a vowel that Wheel Of Fortune automatically spots you.) So here are the Four Things that we need to focus on this week versus: the Rams
1) Don’t Get Cute:We are a running team, and our rushing attack is led by RB Saquon Barkley. Stick to that. TE Dallas Goedertis a nightmare for the Rams, because they don’t start a LB who can cover. This should be a game where Goedert sees 8 targets. There is no need to overthink how to attack this opponent.
2) Send the Dawgs:The Rams aren’t good enough running the ball, to make a living at it. Which leaves them leaning on the pass, behind a so-so offensive line, with a QB who has -7 rushing yards on the year. And now the bad news. While they do have a couple of good possession receivers, we have CB Quinyon “Quinyanamo Bay” Mitchell and NCB Cooper DeJean.
Whomever Mitchell ends up covering, may as well just stay home. Add to that the inside match-up of Cooper DeJean vs Cooper Kupp, and you can expect their statue of a QB to get caught holding onto the ball few times. Beat him up. Set the dogs on him.
3) Get An Early Touchdown:We do a great job of adjusting and coming back in games, but we have to stop playing with our food. We have too many games where we have to claw back in. Not this game. Not vs this team. Not while we’re on the road. Score early.
4) Blitz Over Their Right Tackle:Their starting RT is coming back from an ankle injury, and his fill-in also sustained an ankle injury. That’s a severe disadvantage vs a speed rush. Especially since their QB is right-handed, and this will flush him left.
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If the Eagles do these Four Things, then we’ll be virtually impossible to beat. That being said…
Head Coach Nick Sirianni has already defeated Sean McVay. By the way, Sirianni did it with Sean Desaias the Eagles defensive boss. Now Desai works for McVay. Meanwhile, we have Vic Fangio and a top 10 defense.
We defeated this team last season, in their home stadium. Now we get to do it again. We played this team last season, and we won 23 – 14. Now we get to do it again. We defeated this team last year, when they still had DT Aaron Donald, and when we didn’t have Saquon. Well, at least that will be a different way to lose to us.
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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, then you are a fool 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.
Sack Leader: MLB Nakobe Dean (Sacks:2.0/ FF: 0/ Tackles: 11)
Special Teams Ace: P Braden Mann drawing a roughing the kicker penalty
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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) Use A Metric Fuck-ton of Play-action:Nope. Not really. Hurts dropped back to pass, all of 18 times. He was sacked 4 of those, and attempted just 14 passes. I was expecting the giants to make a point of taking away Saquon. Instead, he romped and frolicked in their wilderness.
If he wasn’t running away from giants defenders, he was running over them. Why fake giving him the ball, if actually giving him the ball, yields results like these? I was wrong about this one. And you have no idea how happy I am about that. (NOT DONE)
2) Chip Off the Block:Again, I expected a different kind of game, but Hurts dropped back all of 18 times, was sacked 4, and attempted just 14 passes, on the day. There just weren’t many opportunities to use play-action. Which is probably for the best, since LT Fred Johnson wasn’t getting any chip help on the outside. He also seemed to have his hands full when we did throw it. (NOT DONE)
MLB Nakobe Dean collecting one of his two sacks
3) Speed Up Their QB’s Clock: Brother, did we ever! On 29 dropbacks, QB Daniel Jones (14/21 – 66.6% – 99 – 0 – 0) was sacked 8 times, and was under duress when he was able to get passes off. He averaged 4.7 yards per pass, in this game. That’s less than half a first down per attempt! We finally got a look at what our Defense will look like, if we build a comfortable lead. (DONE)
4) Win On First Down: The giants saw 23 first downs in this game. They gained 4 yards or more, on 10 of those plays. The Eagles held them to 3 yards or fewer (including 3 sacks), a total of 13 times. So on 56% of the giants first downs, the Eagles imposed our will and won the down. (DONE)
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This weeks Four Thingsscore was2 of 4. I absolutely nailed the Defensive side, but totally whiffed on the kind of Offensive game, we were going to have to run. Well, next week we’re on the road again, to face a 3 – 4 Cincinnati team, that is trying to revive their season.
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Game Hero: RB Saquon Barkley – He went out there and set a tone. Lowering his shoulder and smoking DB’s. Putting his foot in the ground and absolutely butchering the giants defenders with runs of 55, 41, and 38 yards. It was glorious.
Game goat: CB Quinyon Mitchell (3 – 0 – 0 – 0) – He dropped yet another would be interception. This was what, number 3 or 4? Someone get Lester Hayes on the phone, and see if he has any more Stickum.
WR A.J. Brown and QB Jalen Hurts celebrate a 41 yard touchdown catch and run, on a 4th and 3 play.
On The Whole: Fundamentals. We stood strong on them, and for the second week in a row, our Defense didn’t allow a touchdown, and we didn’t turn the ball over. The result of those fundamentals, was a dominating win. Granted, it was over a bottom-feeder team, but like last week, you have to win the games that you’re supposed to win. We have that base covered.
