rushing

All posts tagged rushing

#2 HARD RUNNING MILES

Posted by The BEAST on 2022/05/31
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Offense, Players, Roster, The 12. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

RIGHT now, RB Miles Sanders is the most physical, proven runner on the roster. Let me repeat that. Right now, Miles Sanders is currently our “big back”. He’s the guy that we’d use to wear down defenses, and get the hard, short yardage. This has never been his role or what he specializes in, but right now, he’s the best suited to it, so he has to commit to it.

Before you get all worked up over rookie RB Kennedy Brooks, here’s some of his college tape: Exhibit A ; Exhibit B. Breaks tackles more like 195 than 213, doesn’t he? And that’s college! So as I was saying…

The Eagles have been a ‘RB by committee’ team, since 2014. We’ve rushed for over 2000 yards three times since then. We ran for 2115 in 2017 (Super Bowl); put up 2027 in 2020 with two QB’s running for about 300 yards each; then ran for 2715 last year. Rushing for 2000 yards in a season means that a team averages about 125 yards per game, on the ground. Which is very good.

The thing is, how a team gets those 125 yards, matters. In 2017 and in 2021 we had a big RB, and went to the playoffs. In 2020 we didn’t have a big back and we went 4 – 11 – 1. Big backs wear down defenses, making it easier to eat clock and score points. It also lends an intimidation factor, which yields a psychological advantage, making it easier to score.

Part of last year’s success was predicated on big RB Jordan Howard wearing down defenses with hard running, and then making them chase smaller, faster RB’s. If we don’t wear down opposing defenses, they’ll have more energy left to chase with. This could spell trouble for QB Jalen Hurts, who’s game is largely built upon being a runner. Remember his ankle sprain?

If this year’s rushing yards are 500 fewer than last year’s, and this year’s passing yards are 500 more than last year’s, then no one will care. (Especially if we’re winning.) However, right now, it seems that we don’t have the tools to replicate last year’s success on the ground.

I don’t know why we keep complicating this, by having seasons where we don’t have a big RB on the roster, but it’s something that we do. That said, if Sanders is our big back, we’ll need to see him finish his runs harder this year. Otherwise we might be screwed.

FOUR THINGS: WK 11: EAGLES – BROWNS

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/11/19
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

SEVEN games left. Last week’s loss to the giants didn’t end our season. Regardless of the state of the NFC East, the Eagles are STILL it’s first place team. That demands our best effort, in what is a very winnable game for us.

Winning this game would do two things. The first is, any team trying to move up to the first place spot, would be held off for at least two games. The second is, it would be confidence to boost to a locker room that really needs it. Again, make no mistake, this IS a winnable game for Philadelphia.

A loss this week would be meaningless. The world already expects it, so we’re playing with house money. A loss, plus wins by Washington and Dallas, (New York is on bye), still has us in first place by half a game. Nothing that happens this week can change where we sit, come Monday morning.

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 Browns:

1) The limit is 150: Cleveland is undefeated in games where they run for 150 yards. They are the NFL’s 4th best rushing team. So seeing us get pushed around by New York last week, will only embolden them. They will come out investing so heavily in the run, that they will likely hit a few here and there. That’s okay. Splash plays here and there are survivable. What we want to do, is make their top weapon unreliable. Our Linebackers need to fill better than they did last week. They have to get off of blocks and arrive at the ball-carrier explosively.

2) Hand it off 20+ times: Cleveland is going to run the ball a lot, which will wear down our Defense. That’s a fact of football. To help our guys out, we need to extend our own drives and time of possession, to give our Defense time to recharge between Cleveland’s possessions. Running the ball more will also help us win early downs, and set up 3rd and manageable.

3) Return punts: Part of what hurts us in games, is our Punt Returners letting balls go over their heads, just to bounce, roll, and be downed inside the 5 by opposing coverage teams. Help the Offense out, and return more of these balls.

4) Go zero to sixty: While much of the criticism of QB Carson Wentz is exaggerated, what’s dead ass, is that his completion percentage hasn’t seen 60, in five weeks. It has become impossible to defend his accuracy, or lack thereof. He has to do a better job of placement, and (like Donovan McNabb) putting the ball where either his guy, or no one gets it.

If we do these Four Things, the final score should be:

PREDICTION: EAGLES 22 – Browns 17

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

#4 WENTZ RUNS FOR 300 YARDS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/04/05
Posted in: Coaching, Offense, Players, stats, The 12, Uncategorized, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

4-WENTZ RUNS FOR 300 YARDS.jpg

GETTING 300 rushing yards out of QB Carson Wentz, should be a priority this season. While that might sound like a lot, it’s just 19 rushing yards per game. Still, there are people who will be skeptical of having the QB run. This is despite how much it helped us be the best team in football in 2017, and how we slipped several notches when he didn’t run much in 2018. 

It’s silly. He’s a football player, not a porcelain doll. Moreover, just a few rushing yards per game can turn even an average QB, into someone that teams need to be wary of. (See: BORTLES, Blake / MARIOTA, Marcus / TRUBISKY, Mitchell). Even when Seattle’s roster sucks, QB Russell Wilson makes them worthy of fear. Running QB’s can even help teams that should get blown out, steal a game here and there. We witnessed this firsthand vs the Titans, last season.

Running QB’s are lethal to defenses. Adopting and adapting the tactic of making the defense worry about ALL 11 offensive players on the field, will only make moving the ball easier for us. (As it did in 2017.) The notion that it’s more dangerous for the QB is a moot point given that Wentz himself said that, he’s still going to run here and there. We may as well strategize to make it more effective.

Look, a quick 5 yard scamper and slide, when the pocket opens up ahead of Wentz? That’s cheap and easy real estate. Go get that! Eat those up! Put pressure on opposing MLB’s and ILB’s. Get them looking at our QB, and losing track of who they have in coverage. Later on that opens up big plays behind them in the passing game.

All for just 19 yards per game.

While we’re on the subject of using our QB like an athlete (wild idea, right?), here’s a play I’d love to see the Eagles run for him.

QB screen

Yes. That’s a QB Screen. Yes, it’s  my design. (Notice how well it’s blocked up?) Imagine Wentz gaining 30 or more yards on that thing.

It’s for when we’re backed up inside our own 10. It’s for 3rd and 11 in a tied game. It’s for the first play of overtime. It’s a momentum stealing, 70-piece, Ultra Combo to the face. You know. One of these:

And for those reasons, we need to do this. Or something very like it.

If opponents now have to be aware of Wentz, they have to plan to contain him. At which point we already have them doing something they aren’t comfortable with. The idea here is to rattle them mentally.

Again, all for the low low price of just 19 yards per game. We’d be fools not to.

#1 RUSH FOR 2,000 YARDS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/04/02
Posted in: Coaching, Offense, playoffs, stats, The 12, Uncategorized, X's and O's. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

1 - RUSH FOR 2000.jpg

RUSHING for 2,000 yards has to be one of the goals for the 2019 season. If another Super Bowl win is our mission, then we must pay respect to a very basic NFL truth. Specifically: If you want to win playoff games, pack your defense and your run game.

When the Eagles won the Super Bowl in 2017, we ran for 2,115. Last year in 2018, we ran for 1,570. See the difference?

During the regular season last year, we won 9 games. In each of those 9 wins, the Eagles ran the ball at least 20 times on non-QB carries. Our lone playoff win also fits into this category. We lost every game in 2018 where we didn’t run the ball at least 20 times.

Since 1999, the Eagles have run for 2,000 yards six times. Of those six times, we reached the Super Bowl twice (one win), and the NFC Championship game three times (two wins). More importantly, we only missed the playoffs, once. (Note: in 1980, the Eagles as a team, ran for 1,995 yards. We lost that Super Bowl)

We need to make a solid commitment to running opponents down physically. We need to make a solid commitment to controlling the clock. We need to make a solid commitment to limiting an opponents opportunities to posses the ball.

The NFL season is a marathon, not a sprint. It is a war of attrition. It’s critical that we adopt and adapt the tactics to accomplish our goal. In this case we need look no further than our own recent past.

So let’s get to wearing away our obstacles. Setting a goal of 125 rushing yards per game, and then executing it, does exactly that.

UPDATE: I wrote this on 3/4/19. Since then we acquired RB Jordan Howard via trade. I think the Eagles and I are on the same page right at the outset of these.

Jordan Howard.jpg

Jordan Howard posing with his jersey, standing outside of (ughhhh) my job.