Rasul Douglas

All posts tagged Rasul Douglas

ANTIGONE = STILL HERE

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/05/04
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Fans, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Offense, Players, Rants, Roster, trade, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

DESPITE the rumors that they’d be traded before the 2020 Draft or, traded during the 2020 Draft, both WR Alshon Jeffery and CB Rasul Douglas are still on the roster. This is the second “I was right” article that I wrote over the weekend, and it feels good to post this motherfucker.

CHANGE MY MIND

Felt like not a day went by this Spring, where some folks weren’t running these guys out of town. However, it would seem that the Eagles organization finds them more valuable in an Eagles jersey, than as bargaining chips. I kept telling folks, that sort of thinking didn’t add up? But what do I know?

A lot. Turns out, I know an awful fuck of a lot. Yet some folk insist on being wrong. Maybe it’s part of their diet, and they’ll die if they aren’t fucking up. Who knows? (Probably ME!) But let me give my back and my palm a rest, and get back to talking Eagles, specifically.

I for one am excited by this, and what it does for our chances to repeat as NFC East champs. Understand, that in a year where there will be no OTA’s, no mini-camp, and an abbreviated Training Camp, having guys who have mastered our systems already, is a massive advantage over teams just learning theirs. There is no learning curve for our guys, so they can just hit the ground running.

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Better still, our new players will have an easier time learning, because everywhere they look is an example of a player who knows what he’s doing, and why. Imagine being new somewhere, and the two other people whom you work directly with, are also new. Think of all the communication errors! Or when everyone thinks something was the other person’s responsibility.

The Eagles have accountable teachers from wall to wall. Why monkey with that? Oh yeah. The other thing is, Alshon and Rasul actually make plays. What fool lets that kind of quality walk out the door, without a bonafide successor in the wings, or for a sweet post-Draft trade package?

So you can shut the rumor machines down. The 2020 Draft has passed, and Alshon and Rasul are still rocking midnight green.

Just as I said they would be.

CHANGE MY MIND

#6 RED ZONE RASUL

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/02/15
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Players, Rants, Roster, The 12, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

THE 12 2020.6

THE Eagles aren’t getting as much out of CB Rasul Douglas as we should be. Part of the reason is that Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz has repeatedly tried to use Douglas as an every down, man-to-man Corner. That’s not who Douglas is, though. And if the team is going to get his best football, they have to put him in better positions.

Some sportswriters in Philly don’t think Douglas can play FS. However, when FS Rod McLeod needs a breather, I’d like to see Douglas get time back there. Actually, that’s where I’d want to see him for about 80% of the field. Once we hit the red zone, then I’d like to see him slide over to CB.

When Douglas first got to Philly, sometimes he was used as a CB, and other times as a FS. Even early on, he showed good instincts and an understanding of what opposing offenses were trying to do. At 6’2” 209 he more than has the size to be dominant at either position, but he’ll always lack an important CB trait.

When he first got here in 2017, his tackling was

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That made him risky to play at FS. However, in 2018 DT Fletcher Cox called him out over it. Douglas took it to heart, and worked to vastly improve his technique. Today (for a CB) he is an excellent tackler. He also aggressively sniffs out Screens, and routinely blows them up in the backfield.

The issue with him at CB, is that he doesn’t have the wheels to cover top-end speed. Which is a shame because he has excellent ball skills. He can be a problem when he can turn a catch into a contested one. In fact, if he isn’t in “chase” position, throwing the ball in his area comes with a ton of risk. No mater who you think you are.

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While an absolute burner may get a step on him on long routes, no one is going to run away from him inside the red zone. That becomes an area where he can be used on the edge. Long arms, height, and ball-skills give him the tools to generally make opponents pay, without exposing him to poor odds. You’d need an excellent throw to beat him.

Douglas starting at CB in Cover-2, Tampa-2, or Cover-4? You might squeeze a Pro Bowl or two out of him. Given deep help, he’d make life hell underneath. However, in a Cover-1, or Cover-3 system, he’s just not a down-in/down-out guy. I really like him. I’ve rooted for him from the jump, but he just isn’t a starting CB in our current system.

However, in even in our Cover -1/Cover-3, he’d make a receiver’s life difficult, as a red zone CB.

FOUR THINGS – WK 17 – EAGLES – GIANTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/12/27
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Preview, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WK17-NYG

Disclaimer: This article contains more than my usual amount of profanity. I am so fucking JACKED for Sunday, you’d think I was playing!  I swear, this shit either needs a fucking outlet, or I’ll end up head-butting strangers on the street. This is my way of avoiding having to wear orange.

DON’T expect the Redskins to do us any favors by beating the Cowboys. In fact, expect the ‘skins to let the Cowboys win. Don’t expect the giants to chase a higher pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Expect them to try and play spoiler. In fact, expect everyone to try to be an obstacle. Expect this weekend to try to hurt us.

Our Eagles will not get help from anyone this week. There is no help coming. We are on our own. It’s US against the world. But that’s okay. Don’t matter.

WE’RE ALL WE GOT!!!!! WE’RE ALL WE NEED!!!!!

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Win and we’re in. Finishing this game with even one more point than the giants, puts us into the playoffs, there isn’t a fucking thing anyone can say or do to change that. Not anyone. We simply need to handle our business.

What about the giants? What are they playing for? What are the stakes for them? Who gives a shit? Fuck ‘em. We simply need to handle our business.

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

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1) Protect the QB: Protecting QB Carson Wentz doesn’t just mean keeping him in the pocket. It also means getting him out on bootlegs, to stymie pass rush scheming. It also means using frequent play-action to make rushers look, before committing. It also means on third and long, a RB needs to stay and help RT Halapoulivaati Vaitai on rushers who step outside, and then work back inside. It also means that if we get up by 16 o more, Carson comes out of the game in the second half.

2) Take away Barkley: RB Saquon Barkley has rushed for a 301 of his 911 yards, in the last two weeks. In both of those games, he’s seen 22 or more carries. They are the only such games he’s had this season. Over that span the giants have scored 77 points. So, they will come in feeling like they have something to hang their hats on.

Take that away from them. Their last two offensive outputs have been keyed by their ability to rely on Barkley. We have to take him away, and force them back into the wilderness of no go-to player. If we can shake their confidence, with no tomorrow to play for, a good deal of their veterans will emotionally check out.

3) Vary our attack: A few weeks ago, we taught the giants that RB Boston Scott is poison to their coverage scheme. Because their pass rush comes from their OLB position, they’ll be susceptible to Screens passes all day. So, we should rely on those. Except this time, we should add a few backside Screen passes to TE Dallas Goedert.

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We should key them off of play-action to RB Jordan Howard, going away from the play. If we run that with 21 personnel, it almost can’t be countered by their 3-4 scheme.

If they bring down a Safety to play Man over the TE, we get one-on-one on at least one outside WR. If they push out to a primarily Zone look, then we get room to run the ball inside, or throw short passes to the Flat. But it all comes off of that TE Screen. Same Screen concept as last time, but with a TE added to the mix this time.

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4) Hold auditions: With CB Ronald Darby on IR, an open audition needs to be held for his spot. Give a quarter to CB Rasul Douglas, and a quarter to CB Sidney Jones, with the understanding that the guy who makes the most plays, gets the whole second half.

In our last meeting with the giants, we let WR Darius Slayton go off, on some Hercules, He-Man type bullshit.

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He was out there putting our Secondary on milk cartons and posters, at will. FS Rod McLeod was under Amber Alert. And when Darby got back to his locker, he was greeted by candles and stuffed animals, left in memory of his talent. It felt like we celebrated our victory with a wake. (Not really, but you get the point.)

Slayton is a little dinged up this week, but that’s not the point. The point is that we can’t let any of the giants receivers romp and frolic in our wilderness, this time. We need to find a CB who says “Not on my watch” and enforces it.

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:

Were TE Zach Ertz not nursing a broken rib, I’d call this an automatic win. However, Ertz will either be out, or play a limited role mostly as a decoy, running the TE (B) routes, with Goedert running the TE (A) routes. That will change how both Wentz and the Offense functions.

Upon qualifying for the playoffs, we won’t get a Bye week, so it’s wise to put as little additional wear and tear on our Starters, as we can. That thought has to be part of HC Doug Pederson’s thinking process this week. We need to put this game out of reach quickly, and then sit our Starters. So, look for Wentz to try to involve his WR’s by taking big shots early.

The giants defense is ass. They were ass when we beat them a few weeks ago, and they’ve only grown more shit-caked since they cut CB Janoris Jenkins for playing Twister in the rain.

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In the last two weeks they’ve allowed the Dolphins and Redskins to put up 55 points, and 7 touchdowns, against just one takeaway (fumble.) So, don’t expect much defensive resistance if we come out swinging.

The giants QB will get the green light to air it out, so expect to hold your breath a lot. Unless we’re down in the second half, don’t expect any sort of creative pass rushing. Four man rushes with a lot of faked blitzes. We might bring three or four, but unless we need it, expect a vanilla, almost preseason sort of Defense.

Our under-manned Offense will be expected to carry the day in this one. Since the giants defense is so bad, we should pull it off unless we suffer a defensive cave-in.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 28 – giants 10

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A FRANK DISCUSSION

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/09/21
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Offense, Players, Rants, Super Bowl, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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WE got spanked last year. We keep talking about how talented this team is, and how deep it is, and yet it still under-performs. Every Eagles scribe (me included) has weighed in what’s wrong with parts (Defense, run game, Secondary, etc.), but no one has yet to address what ails the whole team.

So let me nutshell it for you.

Amid the high of being the defending champs, and RT Lane Johnson talking about how much fun things were here, and everybody writing a book, and blah-blah, our Eagles lost focus. The result was a team that did what most first-time champs do: They basked in the afterglow.

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There’s a great feeling to knowing that I’m in this shot. You’d need a microscope to see me, but I’m there.

The hungry dog, underdog mentality, gave way to a sort of well-meaning swagger. We didn’t have the cocky, “FUCK YOU.” variety of swagger. We had the well-meaning, self-confident sort. Which is kind of the root of the problem. I’ll get back to that when I finishing listing the symptoms that make up our condition.

Our loss of focus, and the wrong type of swagger, weren’t helped by the injuries that ravaged our Secondary last year. While those injuries did a lot to deepen us, many of the lessons we learned in 2018, were ignored or shelved (so far) in 2019. For instance, our starting CB’s should be Rasul Douglas and Avonte Maddox. They play with a chip on their shoulders and an aggression that Sidney Jones and Ronald Darby simply do not possess. Eagles CB Jalen Mills has that. (Jaguars CB Jalen Ramsey also has that. IJS.)

When you add all these things together, they spelled 9-7 record, and a second round exit from the playoffs. In a very real sense, circumstance punched us in the mouth, hard enough to knock us unceremoniously on our ass. Being possessed of well-meaning swagger and not FUCK YOU swagger, we haven’t charged back, to give as good as we’ve got. So far we’ve just sat there. Like pussies.

Bleeding.

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From the Head Coach on down, almost nobody has it in their head that they’re going to MAKE things happen. Sure, we saw QB Carson Wentz in that Atlanta game, trying to will the team to a win on his own, but there weren’t enough guys thinking the same thing.

Mentally the Eagles seem to be in a defensive crouch. Nobody is hunting. We’re more focused on surviving, than on going out and making something happen. Magic only happens when you cast the spell. Silence, and inactivity yield nothing. Lacking the will to act, will only result in someone else getting what WE want.

We have plenty of talent. We have all sorts of depth and we’re putting it to the test now. What we need is for the team to decide if they want more than to just “get through it.” Circumstance kicked our ass in 2018, and we’ve yet to prove tough enough to come back at it.

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GO. GET. IT.

If we want to be Number One, we have to go get it. Period. There is no substitute. GO GET IT. We have to earn it. Otherwise we don’t deserve it.

I know on the eve of a game, this is hardly Pep Rally material, but it needs to be said, and you can’t count on anyone whom the Eagles pay, to be this honest. But again, it needed to be said.

WE’RE COVERED AT CORNERBACK

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/06/14
Posted in: Defense, free agents, Players, Reviews, Roster, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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SILVER linings, right? Last year in 2018, our Secondary was decimated by a vicious injury bug that resulted in having to start 13 different players over the course of 16 regular season games. While that wasn’t a good thing, it worked itself into a very long-lasting positive. It forced our young Secondary players to grow up fast. Especially at CB.

The seeds of last year’s efforts are already producing fruit. It’s great that we get back CB Ronald Darby from a mid-season blown ACL, CB Jalen Mills from a mid-season foot injury, and CB Sidney Jones from late season hamstring strain. Even better however, is the fact that CB Rasul Douglas and CB Avonte Maddox are openly challenging for the spots that they effectively manned last year.

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Rasul Douglas

Let’s not forget about reserve CB’s Cre’Von LeBlanc, and free agent signee Blake Countess. LeBlanc has proven dangerous, and quick study as a Nickel here. Countess has a few starts for the Rams, but not in our system. So it remains to be seen if he takes well to it.

Still, that puts us six CB’s deep, with a seventh possible. Four of whom (Darby, Mills, Douglas and Maddox) can be referred to as big game tested, legit starters in this league. Name another team that can boast that.

That’s not to say that 2019 doesn’t bring a few question marks with it.

Sidney Jones has struggled to stay healthy since before we drafted him. He has yet to be 100% since becoming a pro. A lot of his struggles can clearly be traced back to him not yet trusting his body’s recovery. The hope is that it doesn’t permanently damage his confidence. Can he finally justify the second round pick the Eagles bestowed upon him?

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Jalen Mills is a better Nickle than outside Corner because he has trouble with true speed. Also his tackling degenerated to that of an ankle-biter, when he plays on the edge. He’s an emotional spark plug though, and every good Secondary has to have one or two of those. Mills was the Starter when he went down. Will Mills start on the outside in 2019?

Ronald Darby’s stock in trade is his ability to turn and run with true speed. However, coming off a second serious injury in two years (2017 broken leg, 2018 torn ACL), you have to wonder how much of his ability to accelerate and gear down RELIABLY, still remains.

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This is football. You don’t have it back, until you prove that you do. Does Darby still have the speed that sets him apart, or he just average now?

The odds on favorites at starter are Darby and Jones, right now. However, Rasul Douglas and Avonte Maddox have been turning heads in Mini-Camp. True, it’s shorts and no real contact. It’s just glorified catch, meant to wake the body up, introduce new concepts, and integrate new players. Still, when given the opportunity to show out, you should show up, and these young guys are.

Again, if Countess pans out we could end up with seven bonafide players here. The Eagles will likely only keep six, possibly squirreling Maddox away under the FS position (since it’s what he played before last year forced him to change that). In any case, we are COVERED at Cornerback.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 17: REDSKINS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/12/31
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Four Things, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, Roster, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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IT was a must-win game and we won it. We needed help to punch our ticket to the tournament, but that help would have been meaningless, if we didn’t do our part, and take care of business.

To that end: We came. We saw. We conquered.

Put into modern parlance: Our fans and team rolled up to the stadium. We told them that they have a “nice place”,

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Then we proceeded to ruin that shit.

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EAGLES 24 – Redskins 0    (Motherfucking ZEE-RO!)

We pitched a shutout! Yes, yes, yes. The media narrative is all about the Quarterbacks, but the story, the REAL story here, is our Defense holding the Redskins to 89 total yards, 68 passing yards, 0 for 9 on 3rd down, and 16 minutes 41 seconds in time of possession. The only thing we didn’t do was put a leash on their players and make them beg for treats.

CB Rasul Douglas (4 – 0 – 1 – 0) came out and snagged a pick on the first play from scrimmage. At that point you KNEW what time it was. DT Fletcher Cox (3 – 3.0 – 0 – 1) grabbed 3 sacks, en route to his first 10 sack (10.5 actually), season of his career. DE Micheal Bennett (3 – 1.0 – 0 – 0) continued to make the case for being re-signed, by delivering his 9th sack of the season.

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QB Nick Foles (28/33 – 84.8% – 221 – 2 – 1) put on a clinic on how to dissect a defense, before leaving the game with “bruised ribs”. There were 30 handoffs and two QB sneaks, to bring our rushes total to 32, vs a pass total (34 attempts, 3 sacks) of 37. That’s 54% pass to 46% run, on our play-calling.

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) Run the ball: Our play selection was 32 runs to 37 passes. That’s not only meets the 25 handoff threshold, but it provides possibly the best balanced attack we’ve used all season long. DONE.

2) Make him run: Our front four did a great job of forcing their QB to move around and not allowing him to set his feet. Pressure right up the gut, forced their QB out of the pocket and into erratic throws. That was the idea here. DONE. 

3) Work the edge: We did a lot of work on the perimeter this game, but not the way I suggested here. The job the Eagles did was actually much better, since it incorporated many players, instead of focusing on just one. NOT DONE.

4) Tackle, tackle, tackle: RB Adrian Peterson (4 – 0 – 0.0 – 0 – 0) was bottled up all day. The game was placed in the QB’s hands, and the ‘skins collapsed. DONE.

This week’s Four Things sees a score of 3 of 4, bringing the total for the regular season to 29 of 64. While the regular season is over, we have a playoff game next week, vs the Chicago Bears, who ironically helped us get in.

On The Whole:
This game was domination from start to finish. It was almost cruel. I loved it. Seriously, CB/FS Rasul Douglas and CB/FS Avonte Maddox (3 – 0 – 0 – 0) have been catching my eye for weeks now. I honestly can say, they have me not missing Jalen Mills in the least.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK14 :COWBOYS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/12/11
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, Offense, Players, Reviews, Rivals, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

WARNING! If you want to whine about calls, and call our own players garbage, stop reading this now! I’m an actual Philadelphian, so I don’t believe in pity-parties. And you can take that how you need to take it.

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Eagles 23 – Cowboys 29 OT

We got knocked out. We didn’t lay down. We got knocked out. That game came down to the last play of overtime. It was a lucky mid-air grab, of a well-played and deflected ball. I can’t be ashamed of that effort. I can’t be mad at that outcome. Disappointed? Hell yeah. Fuck yeah. But it’s football. Ties are rare, so in almost every case there is a team that wins and a team that loses. We lost. Well, we lost the game.

Despite the score, I saw somethings I really liked out there. A couple of our guys looked like they have bright futures here. CB Rasul Douglas (9 – 0 – 1 – 0) caught my eye for the second week in a row. Run support, open field stops on screens, peeling off his assignment to intercept a ball…He looked like a starter, and not a 3rd string CB/FS. OLB Kamu Grugier-Hill (3 – 0 – 0 – 0) is making the mental transition from Special Teamer to LB. While we gave up 10 catches, 217, yards and 3 TD’s to one receiver, nearly all of that damage was restricted to CB’s not named Douglas.

Commentator and HOF QB Troy Aikman, mentioned that the Eagles have started an unheard of, 13 different DB’s over the 13 games we’ve played. The term he used, was “unheard of”. And still that game came down to a lucky grab of a well diagnosed, then tipped ball.

If you’re mad about losing under those circumstances, you clearly are incapable of understanding the big picture.

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) Control the clock: We lost time of possession 45:33 to 22:32. Our play selection was 34 pass plays (32 attempts, 2 sacks) to 10 handoffs, in a game that was never out of reach. NOT DONE.

2) Tackle: On paper it looks like we did a good job. However, given the number of extra effort first down we gave up, while going for strips…Clearly the spirit of what we needed to do was lost. NOT DONE.

3) Jeffrey, Jeffery, Jeffrey: WR Alshon Jeffrey (6 – 50 – 8.3 – 1) was the Eagles leading receiver in that game, but he was, and is being so poorly utilized. While he lacks blazing speed, his ability to win 50/50 balls should inspire us to use him that way. But we didn’t really try to. NOT DONE.

4) Sit on it: Once Dallas discovered our weaknesses at CB (Sidney Jones, DeVante Bausby) they commenced to picking on them with deep balls. That means there wasn’t much to jump short. FS Corey Graham however, did come up with a pick by sitting down in his area, and having a tipped ball (which he nearly dropped) float towards him. DONE

This weeks Four Things score is 1 of 4, but it’s really more like 1 plus .5 plus .5 out of 4. Not 2 out of 4, but 1 plus .5 plus .5 out of 4. That brings our yearly tally to 22 of 52 (.423).

Next week we get the Rams, fresh off a loss to the Bears. So they’ll be looking to prove a point, whereas we don’t really seem to have a direction in 2018. Next week you may find yourself watching the game through your fingers.

On The Whole:

We had a slugfest and we lost it. There is no shame in that. Despite all the adversity, this team has not laid down. It has not quit. While I am not impressed with our record, I am impressed with our strong nucleus.

While my team may have lost that game, my team has not lost it’s heart. And because of this, it has not lost me.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK13 :REDSKINS

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/12/04
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, Offense, Players, Reviews, Rivals, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

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TWO in a row! Shouldn’t be a big accomplishment, and shouldn’t be happening for the first time for this season, this late in the season. That said, we dug ourselves a hole and now we’re pulling ourselves out. We’re fighting. We’re either going to beat whomever is in front of us, or they’re going to have to beat us. ‘cuz we ain’t layin’ down for nobody.

EAGLES 28 – Redskins 13

Much will be made of how the Redskins were missing their starting QB, lost their back-up QB, were missing both starting Guards, and have lost a host of skill positions players. Boo-hoo. None of those guys play defense.

Going into last nights game, I had heard that Washington was tough to run against. We hung 130 rushing yards on them. That includes RB Josh Adams (20 – 85 – 4.2 – 0 – 0) on a less than healthy hip. RB Darren Sproles (4 – 22 – 5.5 – 1 – 0) made a triumphant return to the field, bullying his way past two ‘skins defenders on a tasty tasty touchdown run. RB Corey Clement (5 – 27 – 5.4 – 0 – 0/ 3 – 47 – 15.6 – 0) looked as good as he has in a while.

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I’d also heard the Redskins were hard to score on. We hung 28 around their necks, while allowing zero sacks, and converting 53% of our third downs. WR Golden Tate (7 – 85 – 12.1 – 1) led the team in receiving yards, catching all seven balls thrown his way, and a two point conversion.

I don’t know if anybody noticed, but CB Rasul Douglas (6 – 0 – 0 – 0) is playing like there should be a conversation about whether or not to keep starting him. His stat line doesn’t show how aggressive he was in run support, wrecking screens and understanding his role in the defense last night.

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Just because I couldn’t think of any place to fit it naturally in this article, I’m going to place a mention here, of LB Nate Gerry (2 – 0 – 1 – 0) with the diving interception last night. Gerry hasn’t always looked great filling in at MLB, but he’s had a couple of moments. I’ve gone from giving Gerry’s drafting an F grade, to saying that he (and other young LB’s) need to get some defensive snaps this season, to NOW saying that the guy is doing better than any fill-in MLB we had last year. He’s still a tweener OLB/S though.

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) Neuter their defense: The idea was to have TE Zach Ertz (9 – 83 – 9.2 – 0) work the edges and pull an OLB with him, to diffuse the Redskins pass rush. While Ertz did work the middle and saw quite a bit of Safety attention, he also caught a few balls on the perimeter and at times had OLB Ryan Kerrigan (2 – 0 – 0 – 0) on him. That softened the defense and allowed us to run the ball effectively. DONE

2) Jump on their offense: The play where QB Colt McCoy (4/4 – 100% – 50 – 0 – 0) was injured, saw him scramble out of a near sack, only to look up and see SS Malcolm Jenkins (2 – 1 – 0 – 0) bringing the harm at 80mph. McCoy did what everyone tells QB’s to do, and he quickly went to the ground. However, when you play to not get hurt, is usually when you get hurt the worst. So yeah, that guy broke his ankle, and now his season is over. Enter the San-chize! When you scare a teams QB into hurting himself, and force them to bring in Mark Sanchez (13/21 – 61.9% – 100 – 0 – 1), I’m sure that counts as “jumping on an offense”. In fact, aside from that 90 yard touchdown run by Adrian Peterson (9 – 98 – 10.9 – 1 – 0), we more or less put the entire Redskins offense in a shoe box, then stabbed some air holes in that box with a pencil. Hopefully we only stabbed the box. I don’t really wanna lift the lid to look. DONE

3) Keep our balance: The idea was a formula like 31 passes to 27 runs (53% pass). Like last week. This week it was 43 called passes (4 scrambles) to 29 handoffs . That means 59% pass to 41% run. All season long, I’ve been calling for a 60/40 split at least. This hits that benchmark and, yet again, produces the “W”. DONE

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4) KISS on Defense: With the exception of that one touchdown run, our guys stayed at home, trusted their eyes, trusted their teammates, and executed solid assignment football. In particular I can think of two plays, one by Rasul Douglas and one by CB Cre’Von LeBlanc (3 – 0 – 0 – 0) that involved both players staying in their zones and making the open-field tackle. Football is blocking, tackling, and doing your job. It’s very simple if you keep it simple. Stupid. DONE

This week we smashed ass with a 4 of 4 Four Things score. I’m telling you, when they read these articles, we don’t lose! Just sayin… That brings this years tally to 21 of 48, so far. Next week vs Dallas, we get the Clubber Lang vs Rocky re-match. Watch Rocky III and you’ll see that it fits this very situation to a (Mr.) T.

On The Whole:

The swagger isn’t back yet, and that’s fine. Second place is no place for swagger. The work ethic never left. The love never left. Because of that, the resilience is back. That resilience showed when we got punched in the mouth in front of the nation.

That 90 yard run was a punch in the mouth. We took it, and we shook it off. Then we proceeded to bury our opponent. Nothing about that 28 – 13 score indicates that we we ever trailed 7 – 10.

Last year we took this division outright. This year we have to scrap, and scrape, and claw if we’re to get it back. Step one was maneuvering into position. Step two is actually getting to the top.

Once we’re there. We’ll start talking about how to defend our throne from teams like the Rams. This isn’t about any one game. It’s about taking the long view. It’s about not losing focus on the REAL mission.

But one step at a time.

eagle ball.jpg

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WEEK 6: PANTHERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/10/13
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

SIX weeks in and we’ve gone from the bottom of the NFC East, to the top of the entire NFC. There are still 10 more games to play before the division is officially awarded to anyone, and no one has forgotten that. However, since the Eagles don’t play for another 11 days, it’s cool if we take two or three days to celebrate our milestone.

Zach Ertz,Daryl Worley

EAGLES 28 – Panthers 23

QB Carson Wentz (16/30 – 53.3% – 222 – 3 – 0) did his thing again. Despite being under constant pressure last night, Carson went sprinkling touchdowns like flakes in a goldfish bowl. TE Zach Ertz (2 – 18 – 9.0 – 2) didn’t catch a lot of balls, but each one he caught drew blood. The much maligned Eagles Secondary picked off Carolina’s QB three times and allowed him zero touchdown passes. (The Panthers one TD pass was against a back-up LB.) We also limited them to 80 yards rushing, 71 by their QB, and the other NINE yards were on 14 carries.

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) Dictate the action: My exact words were: “keep the Panthers offense in front of us, and tackle well.” Well, “RB” Christian McCaffrey (10rec – 56 – 5.6 – 1) and WR Kelvin Benjamin (9 – 99 – 11.0 – 0) were allowed routes in front of defenders and then tackled or pushed out of bounds quickly. We took away any chance for the Panthers to be explosive. (DONE)

2) Get pressure early: We did this not just early, but all game long. Fletcher Cox (0 – 0.5 – 0 – 0) with pressure up the middle, got a hand on a pass in the second quarter that resulted in an interception by rookie CB Rasul Douglas (2 – 0 – 1 – 0). It was one of three on the night. (A fourth was called back due to a penalty away from the ball.) (DONE)

3) Rip up the seams: Instead of Carolina going into their Nickel whenever WR Nelson Agholor (4 – 55 – 13.7 – 1) came on the field, they stayed in their base and were torched along the seams for all three of our touchdowns. Even Rookie WR Mack Hollins (2 – 38 – 19.0 – 0) had the biggest game of his young career so far. (DONE)

4) Send a message: It had to be proven that we could run against a top ranked run defense and we did. We use a balanced attack featuring 30 passes to 21 called rushes. RB LeGarrette Blount (14 – 67 – 4.7 – 0 – 0) getting the bulk of that work and doing it between the Tackles. Future opponents will see the way we did that against a stout Carolina defense, and think “Oh shit.” Overall we ran for 101 yards (3.7 per tote) against a team that had only given up 100 yards this year once before (against the Saints, who blew them out). Speaking of sending a message, did you see LB Nigel Bradham (7 – 0 – 0 – 0) out there? He was playing like someone owed him money. If we see the Panthers again in the playoffs, we now know how to tranq that kitty. (DONE)

Sweet bubbly Studebaker! That’s back-to-back weeks of 4 out of 4 scores. That brings the seasons running total to 21 of 24. Either I’m psychic or I really know my shit. Either way, when they do what I write, they win. So let’s hope they keep reading these articles. Especially next week, as we prepare to sweep the Redskins.

cam jammed

On The Whole:

As you can see, this was more or less the game I was expecting. I was momentarily thrown by the announcement that RT Lane Johnson would be out. However, after taking another look, I was sure of my pick, and reassured my friends and readers thusly.

On that note, something has to be done about protecting Wentz. I kept waiting to see Ertz moved in-line beside RT Halapoulivaati Vaitai. If only to help by chip blocking. There were some instances of it, but not nearly enough of them, especially early on, when RB’s were being asked to pick up blitzes. And can we PLEASE never ask RB Kenjon Barner (5 – 7 – 1.4 – 0 – 0/ 1rec – 9 – 9.0 – 0), to pick up anymore blitzes? Getting Wentz murdered because we trusted an undersized fill-in, to protect his blindside, will seem silly in hindsight. How about we just not go there?

Speaking of Barner, I have no idea why has to get so many touches on Offense. Last week it was 5 touches, this week it was 6. If he was really that great with the ball in his hands, he wouldn’t have been at home to answer his phone, after Darren Sproles was injured. Stop letting him steal touches from RB Corey Clement (2 – 2 – 1.0 – 0 – 0)!

Shit. Almost forgot to talk about the Panthers. People make a big deal out of their QB running, but when he does, he stops thinking about his team. As I said, “Old intel says that you don’t want Newton running, but that is very old intel, indeed.” You saw where he ran for a score and celebrated by showboating on a victory lap? Aside from that, when asked to be a leader, it was all slumped shoulders and interceptions.

The sad part is that now people will say that we’ve finally played someone respectable, even though we just faced the worst QB we’ve seen so far (in regards to leadership and intangibles). Whatever dude! Turn up the music and pass me an Angry Orchard. I’m celebrating my team’s climb from the bottom to the top. And will be doing so until at least Sunday.

NUMBER ONE SEED

HOPEFUL ABOUT EAGLES CORNERBACKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/06/12
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, NFL, Players, Rants, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

edc-jim-schwartz

JALEN Mills, Ron Brooks, Sidney Jones, and Rasul Douglas. Those are our top four CB’s on the roster. These four guys (plus one or two others) will make the team, and man the boundaries of our Defense. In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that our Week One starting CB’s will be (barring injury), Mills and Douglas.

While that may come across as bravado or confidence, I assure you that it’s the opposite. Complete opposite. I’m worried ab— More accurately, I’m terrified of our CB situation. Did you know that between them, all four of those guys have a combined ZERO career interceptions?

Brooks has hung around for 5 NFL seasons, yet doesn’t have a single turnover (via interception, forced fumble, or fumble recovery) to his credit. Mills has a year under his belt, and may just have been a 7th round steal last year; but he only started 2 games, and played a lot of Nickel Corner. So as 16 game starters go, he’s still extremely raw. The other two CB’s are rookies. One of which will likely start the year on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list.

The most veteran CB/experienced starter on the roster, is Patrick Robinson.

CB-patrick-robinson-nfl

Robinson is wearing his 4th different jersey in 4 years, so I have to wonder why teams keep signing him, starting him, and then not even keeping him around for depth, less than a year later. To me that comes across as a huge red flag. Some fans hope for him to be a mentor, but that seems unlikely.

A fellow fan told me this week, that he’d seen Robinson listed #1 on our depth chart. If so, then the likelihood that he’ll mentor a young guy who’ll impact his chance to start, is very thin. Besides, word around the campfire has it that he ain’t exactly a vocal locker room guy to begin with.

This isn’t to discount other players at the position. I liked what I saw in Aaron Gyrmes last preseason. I was irritated when he was cut, instead of a couple of DC Jim Schwartz‘s favoritism recipients. It would be smart to get a good look at former Jaguar, Dwayne Gratz since he’s a CB who likes to hit. Also Terrence Brooks, who snagged a pick and forced a fumble in our win over the giants last year, deserves to be here until at least final cut downs this year. That said, none of those three is someone you’d be enthusiastic about starting just yet.

So we have compromised health, no mentors, and no proven game-changer (at this level). That leaves us with the hope that Sidney Jones will rescue the position when he finally gets to see his first live action. Either that or we have to hope to be pleasantly surprised by whomever starts opposite Mills. Also we have to hope that the coaches didn’t see fool’s gold in Mills last year. That’s a lot of saying “hope”.

Our shakiest position from last season, comes a ton of change but zero certainties heading into this season. Instead of knowing that we have bedrock, we’re building a foundation on what we hope to be solid ground. So as I said, I’m terrified. More accurately, I’m scared shitless.

Well, here’s hoping that we’ll be pleasantly surprised.

left hanging