schedule

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BREAKING MY EAGLES SILENCE

Posted by The BEAST on 2026/07/07
Posted in: Conversations, Four Things, Front Office (F.O.), NFC East, Players, preseason, trade, Training Camp, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

WR DeVonta Smith

SHUT the fuck up, until you have something worth saying, to say. I didn’t want to participate in the ridiculous past-time of defending QB Jalen Hurts, vs people who clearly don’t know football. I didn’t want to keep re-hashing the trade rumors surrounding WR A.J. Brown. I didn’t want to keep speculating on whether Cleveland would trade DE Myles Garrett. Would we get him? Would Dallas get him??

I had nothing to say worthy of your attention. So, instead of wasting your time, I kept my trap shut. At 51, I’m older. Wiser. More seasoned. I like it when I get to brandish my wisdom, and show the boys who always have to be “loud and first”, that surgical insight is more respectable than scatter-shot rumor mongering. After all, September is still months away. Why rush?

Now that Brown and Garrett have been traded, I get to give my two cents on this season’s schedule. Yes, the schedule. Lots of people (me included), made predictions already, but trades this big could have serious impact on those predictions. So I waited for them to be completed.

GM Howie Roseman

The latest on the rumor mill, is whether or not Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman will make a play for Raider DE Maxx Crosby, or if he’ll end up in San Francisco. With Crosby still rehabbing his knee, there just isn’t enough substance for me to wait on that. So I’m just going to plunge ahead, and give my overview of the 2026 season.

Regarding the schedule, there are things that I like about it. I’m a fan of hosting division rival Washington, for Week One. Foaming at the mouth, right out of the gate? I have to love that! The Week 10 Bye is nice. Having six straight weeks (weeks 6 through 11) which don’t require us to get on a plane, is also a dandy. I dig the three game home-stand in Weeks 14 through 16; and even the season finale has us playing in our own backyard (N.Y.)

What I don’t like, is the London game. The Birds having to play overseas, and me not getting to sleep-in on a Sunday? Frowny face. Then there’s facing four opponents who will be coming off of their Bye week. Two of which are divisional (Washington and New York). We have two games on short weeks, but those opponents will also be in that boat. So it’s a gripe, but a minor one.

On personal note, I’m also not a fan of having FIVE prime time games. That means taking the following day off work, so I can stay up late to write Four Things Reviewed. While the Christmas Eve game lets me off the hook, I still have to burn four vacation days. (They’re already on my department’s calendar.)

I still like us for 12 – 5, as I wrote in the Eagles Pre-Draft Preview, but that Week 4 Rams game, will tell us a lot.

I’m not yet getting into the players we added, or what kind of season I expect for WR DeVonta Smith. As I said earlier, there’s no rush. We’ll pick through the roster as we work our way through Training Camp. In the meantime, enjoy me. The Holy One has finally returned.

“I bring you these Fift- …TEN Commandents!”

EAGLES 2025 SCHEDULE EVALUATION

Posted by The BEAST on 2025/05/20
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, NFC East, Reviews, Rivals. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

 

MOST sportswriters looked at the Eagles 2025 schedule, and ran to write their predictions. Mostly, using the exact same formula (wild guesses) as fans, to determine those outcomes. I on the other hand, am far more interested in telling you what the schedule means, than offering any sort of predictions.

Those comes in July.

From what I’ve been reading, almost everyone hates the schedule, and feels that the NFL has it in for us. To be honest, at first, I thought more or less the same thing. Then I did my deep look thing, and saw that this schedule isn’t nearly as bad as we think. Let’s weigh the cons, pros, and then we’ll see what’s under the soot.

CONS: Not only don’t we have any extended home stands, we don’t even have any back to back home games. We get short turnarounds on weeks 6, 11, and 13. Each of those leading us into a nationally televised game. Neither divisional game versus Washington has a set day and time. (But that might not be so bad. Keep reading.)

PROS: The week 9 Bye is in a good place. Midseason or later is where you want that. We get long rest periods going into weeks 2, 7, 10, and 14. Each of those games versus a 2024 playoff team. We go to Lambeau in early November, instead of later in the year. Then, after week 14, we have no games outside of our time zone.

DEEP DIVE: Week 6 is a short week, but we face a giants team also on a short week. (Sauce for the goose.) Week 12 has Dallas on a short turnaround. It however, is Washington that may just be our ticket to winning the East again. The best part is that Washington gets screwed by, and because of Christmas.

Washington’s last four games are against division rivals. Their first game against us, has to either be Thursday 12/18, (on a short week for both of us); or on Sunday 12/21. Since Washington has a game on Christmas Day versus Dallas, they can’t be put on Monday 12/22. That would only give them 3 days to recuperate. The NFL won’t do that.

So when we face Washington, we’re either on a short week, playing against a division rival on a short week. After they’d played a division game. Which are emotional, physical games. That would give us 9 days rest, before going to Buffalo on 12/28. Or we could play Washington on Sunday 12/21, and get normal rest before Buffalo. Either works for the Eagles.

Washington has to play a short week somewhere between 12/14 and 12/25. Can’t be avoided. They have to cram three games into eleven days, with us being one of those teams.

So the team that people think can unseat us, closes out the year with that eleven day run, followed by us, in the season finale. It’s almost not fair. Almost.

FOUR THINGS: WK 11: EAGLES – COMMANDERS

Posted by The BEAST on 2024/11/13
Posted in: Conversations, Crazy Talk, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, Offense, Players, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

CRUSHING Dallas to move into first place. Was there ever a more joyful sentence? On a short week, we get to face the team that was in first place, before we took the spot. Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio, gets to sink his teeth into a 7 – 3 Commanders offense, led by a rookie QB. Meanwhile, RB Saquon Barkley gets to square off against the 28th ranked rushing defense in the league.

Winning moves us to 8 – 2, and expands our division lead over Washington. It would also maintain our position as the number two team in the conference, currently behind Detroit (8 – 1).

If we were to lose, we’d be 7 – 3, and back in second place in the division.

****

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 like Running 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 Commanders

1) Run ‘Em Down: This isn’t my typical “Run the ball” request. This is a game, where we should lean heavy on the run. Even if it’s not working early. The Commanders are awful against the run. On Sunday, they gave up 140 rushing yards, as the Steelers wore them down and wore them out, with their physical, downhill style.

The Commanders have not yet had time to physically recover, and with DT Jonathan Allen on Injured Reserve, they are no match for an Eagles line which will get back LT Jordan Mailata. There should be a game that sees 30 non-QB rushing attempts, with Saquon seeing more than 22.

2) Torment Single-high Coverage: The Commanders awful run defense, will frequently borrow a Safety to help load the box against our run game. When that happens, there will only be one Safety back deep to help with coverage, and he can’t help double both WR A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. One of them will have a one-on-one match-up.

When that happens, even if it’s third and one, there needs to be an audible called, and whomever the Safety doesn’t help cover, gets the football. We need to keep the box open, so that Saquon has room to operate.

3) Hit Their Quarterback: Even if we don’t get sacks, just hit him as early, and as often as possible. He’s a slender rookie, playing through a rib injury. Since sustaining that rib injury, his accuracy has declined sharply. Prior to the injury, the team was averaging 29.6 points per game. In his three games since, they haven’t seen 29 points.

QB Carson Wentz no longer plays for Washington, but in the path of DT Jordan Davis, this is what QB Jayden Daniels needs to look like

Hitting him isn’t about scaring him. It’s about scaring his coaches. To prevent them from calling certain things. That organization has been looking for a franchise QB since 1993. Now that they may have him, they’ll want to guard against RG3-ing him. If we can get his coaches to be his first obstacle, the entire game is much easier.

4) Jump A Couple of Short Passes: With the underneath coverage that we’ve been playing recently, it’s time to take it to the next step. The Commanders like to throw to their RB’s. Awesome! Those are great routes to jump. Or jumping a crossing route! Both excellent examples of routes to jump.

****

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

Win or lose, it sets up an awesome Week 16 re-match. It could even get flexed to prime time, given the current status of both the 3 – 7 Cowboys, and the 4 – 6 Buccaneers. For now, they are scheduled for the 8:15 slot, while our game is at 1:00. Again, for now.

****

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.

EAGLES 2023 SCHEDULE REPORT

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/05/14
Posted in: Conversations, Four Things, NFC East, NFL, report, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
Our opponents marking the game against us.

THANK you Schedule Makers! According to our opponent 2022 win percentage of .566 (which is the tool used to make this measurement every year), the Eagles 2023 schedule is the toughest in the NFL this year. That means, no one can claim that our winning the East again this year, was an easy road.

I want to thank the Schedule Makers for such a tough road. No sarcasm, I’m being serious. The NFC East hasn’t had a repeat winner since we last did it in 2003 and 2004. To do it vs the NFL’s toughest schedule, builds validation even from rivals, directly into every “W” that we earn.

I want that.

Now lets discuss Our 2023 Schedule itself. As with any year, there are things I love about the schedule, and things I hate about it. Let’s start with the good news.

Our Bye hits on Week 10. It’s after nine games played, leaving eight on the schedule’s back-end. It’s also right after our first meeting with the Cowboys, which will be a home game. No post-game travel means, one less plane ride for any of our guys leaving Philadelphia during the Bye.

Speaking of planes, our players won’t have to get on one from Weeks 6 – 10, or Weeks 16 – 18. That’s no jet lag, and we’re either playing home games, or in places (NY and DC) where our fans already have very healthy representation. In fact, we finish the season practically on a three game home-stand.

I also happen to love that our division games have quick turnarounds for each second match-up. We play Washington in Week Four, and again four weeks later. Then a Dallas game, with a re-match four weeks later. At season’s end, both giants games have just one game between them. Sweeps, splits… We’ll know pretty quickly where we stand vs each team.

The bad news?

Kansas City has the same Bye Week that we do. So we get Andy Reid after a bye. Andy is damned near invincible with an extra week of prep time. (He’s practically Batman.) Then on a short week, after the KC game, we get Buffalo (but at least it’s a home game.) And then the Forty Whiners come to town. (Probably with 6 QB’s and JUGS machine wearing a jersey.)

I’m also personally not a fan of us playing just three 1:00 games. First, the Eagles have traditionally played well in that slot. Second, I have a whole routine based around early games. The earlier we play, the easier it is for me to get the Four Things Reviewed articles out, on time on Mondays. Those articles can take two to six hours to complete, depending on other games that impact us.

This is partly why I’m irritated with us having at least FIVE prime time games this year. I say at least, because that last giants game is “To Be Determined”. For Sunday night games, I can’t even start my articles until around midnight, while still having to be at work on Monday morning. So night games don’t exactly thrill me.

Thankfully we only have one Thursday Night game, and it’s a four day turnaround not just for us, but Minnesota as well. However for us, it’s a home game. The Vikes have to get in a short week of practice, then get on a plane, while also losing an hour.

On the whole, I’m happy with how the schedule works out for the Eagles. It’s an undeniably tough road, with validation built in. However, due to our geographical location and the way the division is laid out, travel fatigue should be about as light on us, as any team in the league.

THE EAGLES 2021 SCHEDULE

Posted by The BEAST on 2021/05/13
Posted in: Conversations, Crazy Talk, NFL, Preview, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!??? What the fuck is a Week 14 Bye?! We play FIVE, count ‘em FIVE, games in October, three of which are road games.

Here’s our October:

We start with a home game vs the Chiefs, probably getting kicked in the nuts before we head down to Carolina, in what should be a coin flip. Then on a short week, we get Tampa Bay. We follow that with a plane to Vegas, then back home to practice, then a plane to Detroit. All in a span of 28 days.

Unless we can make some hay in November, we might be already circling the drain by the time our Bye Week gets here.

What the fuck is a Week 14 Bye?! Will someone tell me that!?! Who the fuck does that to someone? “Easiest schedule” my wide, hairy ass! I hope the NFL schedule makers get uncontrollable diarrhea in a traffic jam.

The worst part is, that not knowing this coaching staff, it’s impossible to look at the schedule and forecast any W’s. At least with real confidence. It was already an uncertain year, but this schedule feels like someone handed a drowning man an anchor.

EAGLES 2020 SCHEDULE PREVIEW

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/05/08
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, NFL, Offense, Preview, Rivals, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

the linc.png

FIRST of all let me say, that this schedule is very nice! A Week 10 Bye would have been better than the Week 8 Bye that we got. However, with the uncertainty surrounding how much of this season will actually get played, while not perfect, this schedule is really really good.

This is a much better schedule than 2019’s, which I said last year was a trap. Because to hell with who’s on the schedule, it’s when the games fall that matters. Last year was loaded with traps. This year…not so much.

Understand, the Eagles won’t have a stout Defense in 2020. There is no feared pass-rusher. Our second level is a question mark. The Secondary just lost it’s leader. So for us to win 11 games, we’re going to have to put up a ton of points this year, and the roster has been stacked to do exactly that.

Home games. We get back to back homes games, and we get a stretch of three home games in the first half of the season. So from Pittsburgh through the Bye (W5 to W10), the Eagles never have to leave the state. As one die-hard Eagles fans pointed out,

no plane no plane

Away games. We get three sets of back to back road games. San Fran and Pittsburgh (W4, W5), are early in the year. Then coming off of our Bye (W10, W11), it’s just 2 hours up 95 to NY. The following week we don’t even break the time-zone flying to Cleveland. The only set that concerns me in terms of travel, are (W15, W16) at Arizona and Dallas.

Games that flat out concern me are

*Baltimore (W6) because running QB’s give us fits.

*Seattle (W12) because we have never beaten their running QB.

*Green Bay (W13) because it’s Lambeau in December. We beat them in 2019, but that game was in September. 

*New Orleans (W14) because like Seattle, they seem to have our number.

From a knee-jerk expectation standpoint, that still hints at a 12 – 4 record. Not bad, but let’s look closer at this thing. Let’s level the playing field and assume everybody stays healthy on all the rosters.

1. Washington. As long as they run a 3-4 defense, they’ll never beat this team. Especially without a QB. Right Alex?

Leg injury

2. LA Rams. Doug Pederson has Sean McVay’s number. Plus the Rams lost a ton of talent.

3. Cincinnati. Expect the Eagles defense to make life hard on the rookie QB.

4. San Francisco. Teams have tape on the 49ers. Andy Reid will give Doug the blueprint.

5. Pittsburgh. Getting their QB back is a plus, but now his weapons are just average.

6. Baltimore. This one will be trouble if nothing is done about our LB’s.

7. New York giants. Their new coaching staff is on it’s first short week.

garrett clapping

8. Dallas. Cowboys second straight road game vs a rested Eagles team.

9. BYE WEEK 7 – 1 (projected)

10. New York giants. Rested Eagles overwhelm inferior opponent.

11. Cleveland. Winnable game, but too much cockiness causes a needed stumble.

12. Seattle. No move in the offseason was made to shore-up their 27th ranked pass defense. The Eagles come into this game with weapons this year.

crying seahawk.jpeg

13. Green Bay. It’s Lambeau. In December. Those four words, in that order, are terrifying.

14. New Orleans. Winnable game. Third road game in a row, for a team that had a W6 bye.

15. Arizona. Not nearly enough effort went into keeping their tiny QB upright. Big mistake. Biiiig mistake. 

16. Dallas. Our second road game in a row. Whoever needs this game more, will win it.

17. Washington. This one gets goofy. Eagles back-ups are playing before the half.

piano

Likely 11 – 5

The only game that feels like a predetermined loss is Baltimore. That too could change if the Eagles sign a LB, or one of the young LB’s prove me wrong and becomes a stud. So yeah, the Eagles had better sign someone. 

 

 

DEAR SCHEDULING GODS…

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/02/05
Posted in: Conversations, NFL, Preview, Super Bowl, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

source

EARLY Bye weeks kill Super Bowl chances. Thus, I am standing in the rain, bare-chested, appealing to the schedule gods to hear this mortal’s plea: O’ YE GODS OF SCHEDULING THINGS! Hear my plea, and give the 2020 Eagles a Bye Week during the Sweet Spot!

The Sweet Spot is that period between Week 8 and Week 12. Of the last 10 Super Bowl champions, 8 have had their Bye in week 8 or later. Even the two outliers had week 7 Byes, and each faced a SB opponent who also had an early Bye.

It’s that mid to late season breather around the holidays, which helps teams rest, and get a little healthier. The static week also allows the coaching staff to assess where the team is, and how to get the most out of it, specifically vs their remaining regular season opponents.

My wet dream is a Week 11 Bye. Ten games down with an 8 – 2 record. A guarantee of no worse than .500, but just enough losses to keep the team from dipping into arrogance, or complacency. Six games to go, chasing homefield advantage,

Then parade.

None of the Week 4 nonsense that we were served up in 2016. Bleh!

I’m hoping for another parade to come up Broad Street. History says that for that to happen, we need a Bye in the Sweet Spot. So I’m putting it out into The Universe. I’m asking for it. I’m steering it towards us. Thus, I am standing in the rain, bare-chested, appealing to the schedule gods.

THE 2019 SCHEDULE: PRETTY SNEAKY SIS.

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/04/18
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, NFL, playoffs, Preview, Rants, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

squirrel fetish.jpg

AT first this schedule looks like a pretty fair deal. On the plus side, there’s only one short week, and it’s early in the season. We open at home vs a shaky division rival. So we get a great tone setter game. We also get to play the AFC East, and the NFC North. (And any rival who points out how soft our schedule is, is also playing these teams.)

So it doesn’t look bad, until you look closer. CLOSER!

It’s a set-up! It’s a trap!

This schedule can either be our ticket to a first round Bye or the reason we sit out the playoffs.

First, those three road games in a row, jump out at you. But, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before (2017), right? In the middle of that world tour is a division rival, who can max themselves out, because unlike us, they have a Bye following the game.

Did you notice the short week before we go to Lambeau?

How about the fact that we only play back to back home games, ONCE all year long?

WHAT MADNESS

But the worst part is, the season ending on four straight divisional games. FOUR STRAIGHT DIVISIONAL GAMES! Unless the Eagles enter that stretch 12 – 0 or 11 – 1, we still have to claw to either maintain, or acquire a playoff berth, because any loss we suffer during that period would help whichever team sits just ahead of us, or just behind us.

That sort of week in and week out adrenaline surge, essentially puts the Eagles in playoff mode a full month before the playoffs actually start. That potentially means the Eagles have to burn playoff hot for TWO STRAIGHT MONTHS, instead of just one. That sort of intensity is almost impossible to sustain through a Super Bowl win.

It’s a pretty sneaky schedule.

THE 2018 SCHEDULE

Posted by The BEAST on 2018/04/20
Posted in: Conversations, Reviews, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

 

rampage.png

YOU can’t tell, but right now, I’m dancing in my chair. For the second year in a row, the schedule makers have smiled upon Philadelphia, and given the Eagles a pretty good schedule. It’s not a great schedule, but it’s a pretty good one. It’s also a tough one.

While a good schedule doesn’t mean a team will win their division, a bad one can easily act as an obstacle, or magnify the effect of existing obstacles like opponents, and injuries.

This year’s schedule includes a Week 9 Bye. Not too shabby. That’s a week off, smack-dab in the literal middle of the 17 week season. Eight games on, one week off, then eight games on. While I’m glad it’s not an early Bye (meaning anything earlier than Week 6), it would be better if it it fell on Week 10, 11 or 12. But Week 9 will do.

It’s a good schedule, but we do get plucked in the eye a few times. It’s a tough run, but there are only two points where we have short turnarounds of less than 7 days:

  • Week 6 at the giants, after facing Minnesota 4 days earlier. However, that’s not so bad considering that the giants are also on a 4 day turnaround, after visiting the Panthers. So both of our teams will be about as tired as the other. Sauce for the goose.
  • Week 14 at Dallas, after we duke it out with Washington 6 days earlier. A double stack of division games! Yummy! And we get to go on the road to Dallas! After they’ve had 10 days of rest. (Me no likey, the this one here.) Sometimes the placement of a game can make it hard to win it. This is one of those.

Then, after two weeks of war and emotional exhaustion vs Washington, and Dallas, we get to play the Rams in their home, on Week 15. This three week stretch could be the most dangerous part of the year.

In fact, the entire second half of the season is loaded with land mines. Five division games, and meetings with both the Saints and the Rams. All of which is fine, because a champion should be served a challenge.

It’s a tough schedule, but it’s a good one.

I REALLY LIKE THIS SCHEDULE

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/04/20
Posted in: Conversations, Fans, NFL, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

(article)NEWS FLASH!!!

DEAR Schedule Makers, thank you for not fucking my team over this year. Also, thank you for not putting all the division games at the end of the year, which has a way of making half the season irrelevant. Folks, in case you can’t tell, I really like this schedule.

We have a Week 10 Bye, where 14 days elapse between games. That gives our guys some time to let bruises heal, small sorenesses to alleviate and legs to freshen. This is GOOOOOOD, folks. Fresh legs and then a “Get Hype!” game against a division opponent. Oh, and did I mention it’s a road game, which means the pressure to win is mostly on the home team.

My favorite games are Week 1 and Week 17.

Week 17 has my two favorite teams being served up to me on Christmas Day. I get Football for Christmas, and no matter who wins, I get to smile about it. If there are playoff implications, then I likely get to watch a hell of a game to boot. I have to love that.

Week 1 has us going against a Redskins team that has had our number for a few years now. Not winning that game would say that, we still need to prove we’re better than last season’s team. No big deal since well duh… it would just be Week 1. A win however, says that we’re already better than last season, or that the Redskins are already worse. Either way, it still would put us over them in the standings.

This is a good schedule! It’s a fun schedule! I like this one! Can I take it home, Pa? Can I? Yeah. In case you didn’t get the hint, I really like this schedule.