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FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 12: Seahawks

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/12/01
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster, Special Teams, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I’M starting to believe this is being done deliberately.

EAGLES 17 – Seahawks 23 

EAGLES LEADERS:

(S) QB Carson Wentz: (25/45 – 55.5% – 215 – 2 – 1)

(S) QB Carson Wentz: (5 – 42 – 8.4 – 0 – 0)

(S) TE Dallas Goedert: (10 – 7 – 75 – 10.7 – 1)

(S) DT Fletcher Cox: (4 – 1.0 – 0 – 0)

I hear you asking, “What about all the stuff that stats don’t reveal?” Well, that’s the reason for the 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: Seahawks did the Eagles get around to doing? Well let’s see:

1) Attack, attack, attack!: Yardage-wise, the Seahawks are the worst defense in the league, on their way to being the worst pass defense in NFL history. Unfortunately, it seems like the Eagles have forgotten how to do simple things. Something as simple as getting open and catching a ball. Something as simple as spotting a wide open man. Something as simple as both players knowing the play. (NOT DONE)

2) Run the damned ball: This game featured 51 passing plays (45 attempts, 6 sacks), and just 9 TOTAL handoffs, all game long. This game at no point, had gotten out of hand. There was no reason to abandon the run. (NOT DONE)

3) Go For Two: Get two turnovers was the mission. We didn’t sniff even one. (NOT DONE)

4) Do Better with Hidden Yardage: HA! We were penalized 9 times for -79 yards, and returned 2 of 3 punts for a total of 19 yards. So we weren’t exactly helping our struggling Offense with advantageous starting field position. (NOT DONE)

WR Jalen Reagor being interfered with.

This week we hit 0 of 4 marks. It’s hard to believe the Eagles can be this bad, without making a concerted effort at it. Honestly, I’m starting to believe this is being done deliberately. Next week we get just what every reeling team needs: A trip to Lambeau Field, in December! We beat the Packers at home last year, but that was in September. I sense a prison shower scene, in our near future.

On The Whole:

Let me start by saying, I told you so. Those rumors about QB Jalen Hurts getting extended playing time this week, were just that. Rumors. This was evinced by the standard THREE snaps (officially two), that Hurts logged in this game. I’ve been telling Eagles fans all season, that Wentz is your starter. Monday Night Football went as far to put up a graphic depicting why the Eagles are financially tied to Wentz until 2022. (Unless a trade is made.) That graphic, by the way, repeated what I said to you last week in ‘DOUG CAN’T BENCH CARSON‘. 

Now to the game.

Aside from not being able to play football, our Offense is in great shape. We have blockers who can’t, receivers who don’t, and a coaching staff that seems hell-bent on getting the QB murdered.

For all this talk of Wentz not having to play “hero ball” and “not having to wear the cape, all the time” it damned sure looks like he does. Please point out to me the other player attempting to carry the Offense during the game, or shoulder the blame after a loss.

FOUR THINGS: WK 12: EAGLES – SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/11/28
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 3 Comments

SILVER lining to last week was, despite how shitty we looked, we still only lost by 5. My point is, that we aren’t “in over our heads” talent-wise. What we are is, in our own way. This week features a shuffling of the Offensive Line, and a head coach who said he was looking at 2017 and 2018 film. This week is the wisest the Eagles have looked from top to bottom, since they figured out several ways to mask Halapoulivaati Vaitai at LT in 2017.

A win puts us back in first place in the NFC East. A loss would have us still within striking distance, but with no shot at any sort of Wild Card seeding.

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 Seattle:

Remember WR Travis Fulgham? I hope the Witness Protection Program is treating him well.

1) Attack, attack, attack: I saw our passing attack on a milk carton yesterday. Seattle is giving up 28 points per game, and can’t defend the pass. Win, lose, or tie, the Eagles need a game where we TOTALLY cut loose, and try to work on some things. With all the people calling for QB Carson Wentz’s benching, using this game as a lab is basically playing with house money. What’s to lose? It’s not like most Eagles fans could pretend to be disappointed. Many have already thrown in the towel! We need to be aggressive and either get the knockout, or go down swinging.

2) Run the damned ball: Usually I say “hand it off 20+ times”. We did that last week with 9 carries on the first drive, and just 12 carries for the REMAINDER OF THE GAME! That was 20+. Get it? That was Doug playing with my emotions.

So I’m going to breadcrumb this, this week: “Doug, hand that motherfucker off 12 to 16 times per half. Commit to running the ball to set up play-action. Make life easier for the O-Line and the QB. Save yourself some frustrating questions after the game.”

3) Go For Two: While it’s true that our Offense (cough cough, Carson) is giving the ball away entirely too often (20 in 10 games, Carson has 18 of them), it’s equally true that our Defense doesn’t generate many takeaways (just 11 in 10 games). All three of our wins are in games where we snagged two or more turnovers. All the games with 1 or less, have been losses or a tie. In every game this year where Seattle committed more than 1 turnover, they lost that game. This is an easy one to figure out.

4) Do better with hidden yardage: That means being penalized less for fewer yards. It also means returning more punts than we let roll dead. After allowing a punt to be downed at the 2, (which led to a safety last week), Special Teams Coordinator Dave Fipp needs to be on notice. His unit has gotten beyond sloppy, and worse than that, there doesn’t seem to be anyone willing to make a serious, or sustained effort. He needs to find a return man who wants the job, instead of using WR Greg Ward and RB Boston Scott who are merely going through the motions.

If we do these Four Things, the final score should look a lot like:

EAGLES 32 – Seahawks 24

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

PLEASE COWBOYS, SIGN EARL THOMAS

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/08/23
Posted in: Conversations, Defense, free agents, Front Office (F.O.), NFL, Players, Rivals, Roster. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

SAFETY Earl Thomas was thrown out of Baltimore today, after punching a teammate Friday. Conduct detrimental to the team they call it. He’s expressed on a few occasions his desire to play in Dallas, and I for one, hope like hell that they sign him.

Once upon a time while playing in Seattle’s Legion Of Boom secondary, Thomas was seen as possibly the premier FS in football. Heck, I wanted my Eagles to find a way to bring him here. He hit like a S, and covered as well as a CB. He even had a nose for the football with 21 interceptions, 45 passes defensed, and 10 forced fumbles in just his first 6 seasons.

But Earl Thomas hasn’t been “Earl Thomas” for a while now.

During his first 6 seasons he never missed a single game. However, in the last 4, he’s missed 27 in total (5 in 2016, 2 in 2017, 12 in 2018). So with him now being 30, his durability is clearly in question. He didn’t play Week 17 in 2019, but he was being rested for the playoffs. That can’t be held against him.

While all those missed games of course meant lower stats, it also became clear that he’d lost a step, as he was moved from FS to SS, once he signed with the Ravens last year. The added fact that Baltimore was willing to part ways with him so fast, also indicates that they feel he’s readily replaceable. All of which is telling.

The biggest thing however, is the lack of maturity. Seattle fostered a competitive, combative environment, which works very well for up-and-coming, young players. It however, ages poorly on stars who are supposed to transition into leaders and leaders of men. Instead they basically acted like teen bullies.

Thomas, CB Richard Sherman, CB Byron Maxwell, S Kam Chancellor… They never gave off the impression of being able to be The Man. There is nothing about them, that suggested being capable of being the grown-up in a room. Seattle’s low expectations (head coach, front office, fans) failed them in this regard.

To that end, Thomas has grown into a very old, very cranky child, who is essentially locker room cancer now, and does not know how to handle his business in public, apparently in private (OH BROTHER!), and from the looks of it, maybe even now on the field. 

That all being said, I would be THRILLED if he showed up on the roster of a division rival! Especially with a brand new head coach trying to establish a winning culture built on talent, intelligent choices, and individual accountability. That shit would make my day!

Gun to my head, if I had to pick where he goes, I’m hoping it happens to the only team in the division who could challenge the Eagles in 2020. Please, please, PLEASE Cowboys, go out and buy your locker room some gangrene. Here’s hoping that the Dallas Cowboys front office will be the Philadelphia Eagles 2020 MVP.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WILD CARD ROUND – SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/01/06
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFC East, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

NOBODY quit. No matter how bad it got. No matter who was hurt, no matter what the situation was when they got injured. The fight never left this team.

I feel pride and anger for this bunch. Obviously, I’m proud of what they accomplished in winning the division. I’m angry because they deserved a better ending than the one they got. It’s funny. I wasn’t angry during or immediately after the game. But now? As I sit here and do the autopsy, I see the scars, and the wounds, and the sacrifices laid bare before me. This isn’t anger. This isn’t anger at all. It’s sadness.

carson injureed.jpg

EAGLES 9 – Seahawks 17

We lost QB Carson Wentz (1/4 – 25.0% – 3 – 0 – 0) nine minutes into the game, to a helmet-to-helmet hit, where the defender then dropped all of his weight onto Carson, driving his head into the turf. That means there were two penalties on a play that could have resulted in an ejection. No one so much as reached for a flag.

2019 Josh McCown.jpg

Enter QB Josh McCown (18/24 – 75.0% – 174 – 0 – 0 / 5 – 23 – 4.6 – 0 – 0), playing in the first playoff game of his career. Given the situation and the lack of weapons at his disposal, he acquitted himself well. He showed more poise than leadership, and a great deal of plucky gamesmanship.

It bears mentioning that TE Zach Ertz (2 – 44 – 22.0 – 0) played through a broken rib and lacerated kidney. He wasn’t just a decoy as he was targeted 4 times in this game.

2019 Fletch Cox.jpg

The Defense played as well as they did during the season, but with no offensive support, you can’t expect miracles. DT Fletcher Cox (3 – 0 – 0 – 0) played a far more dominant game than his stat sheet reveals. He spent all day running over, through and past Seattle’s interior linemen. If we understood the concept of contain, the defense could have won this game singlehandedly.

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) Keep them in their base: This happened, but I’m not sure if we triggered it, or their injury issues helped them play into our plans. In any case, they stayed in a defense that we had a legitimate chances against, all game long. (DONE)

2) Keep contain: HA!!! This, even more than Wentz’s injury, is what cost us the game. Their QB is at his best, when he can get outside of play design, because free-form offense breaks down defenses. Our DE’s were far too inconsistent with their rush depth and rush angles, which allowed Seattle to convert long third downs all game long. (NOT DONE)

3) Be the aggressor: That went up in smoke when the playbook had to be simplified to accommodate McCown. We leaned heavy on a handful of plays, where the only times it seemed the ball was in the air for more than 8 yards, was on a few passes to TE Dallas Goedert (7 – 73 – 10.4 – 0). Everything else was dink and Dak. (Sorry, force of habit.) (NOT DONE)

4) Cover more, don’t blitz: Don’t use the Safeties to blitz. Our only sack was from SS Malcolm Jenkins (7 – 1.0 – 0 – 0), who was sent after their QB a few times. Usually resulting in a big play. (NOT DONE)

This game’s Four Things score is 1 of 4. Thus players clean out their lockers tomorrow. Some for the last time.

2019-Kelce and Peters.jpg

On The Whole:

If we were blown out after losing Wentz, it would be understandable. But we weren’t. If we lost to a far superior team, it would be understandable. But we didn’t. (I mean, you can’t look at the score, and think that if Wentz were in, it ends the same way.)

With the Eagles it’s a number of small things. And we saw them made manifest on the field in this game. Things like a lack of contain, receivers schemed to run free in our Secondary, the lack WR help in a passing league. There are a number of things that need to get cleaned up on this team.

Not going to get into that yet. Instead, I’m going to put out a LONG overdue Rivals Report this week. Then I’ll take a couple weeks off, to start formulating my offseason outlook, and do some general site maintenance.

 

FOUR THINGS – WILD CARD ROUND – EAGLES – SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2020/01/02
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

WC-SEA

THIS is the week. Over the years the Seahawks have had the Eagles number, but that comes to an end this weekend. Not because I wish it, an Eagles fan. Not because I’m trying to put out a hopeful vibe. Both of those are true, but this is more than that.

I can’t see beyond this week. I’m not even trying to look beyond this week. It’s weird, but I’m not even envisioning “what-if” match-ups yet. (Yet.) All of my focus is on how THIS WEEK, the Eagles feel like a team of destiny. I saw it weeks ago, after we lost to Seattle. Remember after we lost, in Four Things Reviewed, I said this:

This game had a lot to do with not having weapons, but there are also a few things that need to be tidied up, if we’re going to make any noise in the playoffs.

WHHHHHA??? Did I just predict this loss, and still say playoffs? challenge_accepted

Yes. I did. Stay tuned. Stay dialed in. See you back here, soon.

 Who besides me was saying that, back then? Where are we now?

This almost feels like we’re viewing the story of ‘How the Eagles Got There’. Like history has chosen to run alongside us fans, so that we can turn our heads, and see history looking right at us. Meeting our eyes. To be gifted with a view of it, and do what most people never get to do: To understand history as it unfolds before us, in real-time.

The Eagles come into this game missing a number of key pieces, but we’re talented enough, driven enough, mentally tough enough, and experienced enough with this very problem, to handle it. Also QB Carson Wentz has shone brighter and brighter, as the stakes have gotten higher and higher.

The Seahawks are also missing a few key players. However, unlike us, they’re missing players who help underpin the principles of their physical identity. (This is why they went out and signed a player who symbolizes what they’ve lost.)

They aren’t missing their heart, but they’re walking into a fistfight with busted-up knuckles, and sprained wrists. They can and will punch, but it remains to be seen who their punching will hurt more, them or us.

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

1) Keep them in their base: Seattle is wounded, small, and under-experienced at LB. So those are just the players we need to keep out on the field. Luckily, due to injuries we still have to run a lot of 12, 21, and 22 personnel packages. So this one should be easy to do.

Our run game needs to attack the edges as well as the inside. If do that, we could get another big game from TE Dallas Goedert, and make life easier for the entire Offense. In fact, with the return of RB Jordan Howard, we could run some Wishbone in 23 personnel.

Wishbone 23 personnel.jpg

Imagine pre-snap motion to shift a TE left, get RB Miles Sanders lined up wide right, and RB Boston Scott standing next to him in the Slot. Can you envision how scary that one side of the formation would be? Probably forgot all about Howard back there, with two blockers on the backside of the formation. This would be a wrinkle that Seattle hasn’t prepared for, because we’ve never done it. Just throwing it out there.

2) Keep contain: We sacked QB Russell Wilson 6 times a few weeks ago, and it was great. The problem was, we dedicated too much effort to chasing him, and it opened up opportunities. Like that trick play on Wilson’s lone TD pass. Proper lane discipline by DE Derek Barnett would have prevented that, and might have even turned it into a sack.

3) Be the aggressor: Last time we met, we did a pretty good job of employing play-action early, but we were timid with our route selection. Despite Wentz completing 73% of his passes, we didn’t really threaten the Seahawks, and it bogged our Offense down throughout the game. Especially at key points.

This time, if we’re using play-action, we need the ball in the air and downfield, for 8 yards or better. This would be a great time for WR JJ Arcega-Whiteside to give us that red zone threat we drafted. We’re at home. We’re the 4th seed. We have to be aggressive about tossing these bums out of our house.

4) Cover more, don’t blitz: Earlier I mentioned that we sacked Wilson 6 times a few weeks ago. What I didn’t mention, was that three of those sacks came from our Safeties. Only an idiot or a novice, wouldn’t realize the Seahawks want to exploit that this time. So don’t give it to them. By all means please, use the Safeties to fake some blitzes. But this week, always back out of it, or bring that blitz with some other player. No Safeties. Force Wilson to hold that ball a little longer, and give the rush time to get him.

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:

The Eagles will play to stop the run first. DC Jim Schwartz will not stomach being beaten by a guy was on his couch, just a couple of weeks ago. That means that the Seahawks are going to have to rely on their passing game.

Fun fact: In our last meeting, no Seahawk player had more than 38 yards receiving. The Seahawks don’t have a WR like a Terry McLaurin, Amari Cooper, or Darius Slayton. When we got spanked by those guys, we at least were being spanked by top-tier talent. The Seahawks have none of that.

When we last met, the Eagles were without our top receivers, and were shaky about the guys we had to throw to. Not anymore. Carson is throwing cross-body touchdown passes to third string TE’s, and throwing the ball to draw penalties now. He wun’t doin’ NONE of that back then!

The animal that Seattle last faced, has evolved quite a bit. They last faced a Charmander, and now are about to encounter a full-on Charizard.

pokemon.jpg

Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard.

To quote a guy I used to work with “Sorry ‘bout your life homie!”

PREDICTION: EAGLES 24 – Seahawks 17

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FOUR THINGS REVIEWED – WK12 – SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/25
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, playoffs, Reviews, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

2019 wentz sack sea2.jpg

THIS was yet another weird one. We did most of the Four Things, and still lost badly. Make no mistake, this was a bad loss. The score was close, but the game never felt like it was.

There are going to be people who want to blame our QB. If you want to do that, stop reading NOW. This article will discuss what actually happened in this game. There will be no knee-jerk over-emotionalizing,or revisionist history here. I want to see my team improve. I never look to shit on them, just because a loss was frustrating.

Eagles 9 – Seahawks 17

2019 wentz sack sea.jpg

This wasn’t a good game by QB Carson Wentz (33/45 – 73.3% – 256 – 1 – 2). That said, his two most reliable WR’s today, were WR Greg Ward (6 – 40 – 6.6 – 0) and WR Jordan Matthews (3 – 27 – 9.0 – 0). So let’s not pretend Wentz is somehow an awful QB all of a sudden.

2019 Greg Ward.jpg

Last week Ward was on the Practice Squad, and three weeks ago Matthews was home on his couch, watching the Eagles. Well Matthews started today. Yeah, you heard me. Started. Only the world’s most ignorant fan looks at that sentence and says “So?” Everyone else gets that timing has to be ironed out, and the playbook still needs to be digested.

While Wentz was off target a few times today, so was QB Russell Wilson (13/25 – 52.0% – 200 – 1 – 1), as the gusting wind affected both passers, costing each team a possible TD. The biggest difference between the two, was that Wentz lost two fumbles to Wilson’s one. Wentz was also credited with a fumble that hit RB Miles Sanders (12 – 63 – 5.2 – 0 – 0) directly in the bread basket.

The Defense was stellar yet again. We collected 6 sacks on Wilson

Joker six.gif

and for most of the game, it took a trick play to yield the game’s only TD. SS Malcolm Jenkins (2 – 2.0 – 0 – 0) and FS Rod McLeod (3 – 1.0 – 1 – 1) , both nabbed sacks. McLeod also added a forced fumble and a pick.

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?

2019 malcolm jenkins and nate gerry.jpeg

1) Hit QB Russell Wilson: We got 6 sacks of this guy. WOW. Didn’t see that coming. However, since we got back CB Jalen Mills (5 – 0 – 0 – 0) DC Jim Schwartz has been letting our CB’s play a lot more physically. (Makes you almost wonder what could have been if that were the case back before the Offense was injured.) In any case we hit Wilson and combined with the wind, forced him into a pretty pedestrian day. (DONE)

2) Stay in-line: Rookie LEFT TACKLE Andre Dillard was pressed into starting at RT and naturally struggled. Even with TE help. Eventually he was benched in favor of OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who should have gotten this weeks reps and started, in the first place.
In any case, we gave a lot of TE help to the RT position. Even played some Jumbo package. The notion that Vaitai couldn’t block long enough to sell Screens passes, tells you how badly we missed RT Lane Johnson (concussion). Still, we did consistently provide the help (DONE)

3) Use play-action to create space: We did plenty of this in the first half. We did almost none once the score was 17 – 3 , but who would we have been fooling? When the game was in contention, we stuck with play-action pretty well.

2019 wentz collapsing pocket.jpg

I wasn’t a fan of the routes selected in the play-calling. TE Zach Ertz (12 – 91 – 7.5 – 1) was often double and even triple covered. It seemed to me that there should have been a few Slant and Sluggo routes dialed up in the second half. If only to take advantage of the spacing, or shake them out of those doubles. (DONE)

4) Don’t clutch Agholor: We didn’t lean on WR Nelson Agholor on third and fourth down this week. Which is good since he wasn’t in uniform this week. This game allowed him to either sit back and beat himself up over his drops, or gives him a bird’s-eye view that the problems in this Offense, and at his position, are not just him.

We have to get him out of his head a little bit. He almost certainly won’t be back in 2020, but for the remainder of 2019, he IS here. He IS an Eagle. So we need him up and functional, if we’re serious about a playoff push. (NOT APPLICABLE)

This week’s Four Things score is 3 for 4, bringing our season total to 22 of 44. The good news is, fundamentally we were pointed in the right direction. The bad news is, we simply haven’t had the weapons. Tough break, but it is what it is. With a little luck we’ll better armed, and will keep our vision next week against the Dolphins.

On The Whole:

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There were a few things that irritated me about this game. One of which was the previously mentioned lack of adjustments off of Ertz being covered by sometimes three Seahawks players. Why was no one else open? And why did it take so long or Wentz to throw a ball down the sideline to a WR (Arcega-Whiteside)?

There were also instances of guys just standing around. On one play, both of our TE’s lined up on the right, ran short routes right near each other (ugh), and then they just sort of…stopped. No scramble drill, no extending the route. They just mostly stood there. Like they were waiting for a bus! Another was a run by Miles Sanders that saw Arcega-Whiteside standing and watching him be tackled by three Seahawks. No block. No pushing the pile. Just spectating.

This isn’t just one guy. A pervasive lack of effort speaks to a coaching issue. It speaks to why C Jason Kelce has become so inconsistent. It speaks to why it took back-up G Matt Tobin to finally get a block that put a man on his ass. (It speaks to why Agholor didn’t lay out for a pass a few weeks ago.) It speaks to why Wentz feels like he has to do it all on his own.

This game had a lot to do with not having weapons, but there are also a few things that need to be tidied up, if we’re going to make any noise in the playoffs.

WHHHHHA??? Did I just predict this loss, and still say playoffs? challenge_accepted

Yes. I did. Stay tuned. Stay dialed in. See you back here, soon.

FOUR THINGS – WK 12 – EAGLES – SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2019/11/21
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Note: Normally I like to get these out on Wednesday, but I held out an extra day to see if there was any news on Jordan Howard or Alshon Jeffery, only to now find that Nelson Agholor is also up in the air.
As they say: When it rains…it shits all over the bride’s dress.)

WK12-SEA

USUALLY in Four Things, I go the Chuck Woolery route of “Two and two”, with two Offensive keys, and two Defensive keys. This week I’m going Offense heavy because that’s the part that needs the help. I know, I know. “We lack speed!” “DeSean’s hurt! Scrap 2019, and trade Carson for Foles!!”

UGH!!! Quit panicking. There IS a solve for our problems with the players we have on the roster TODAY. I’m about to make so much sense, that it’ll make you think that our coaching staff is full-on retarded. Not “mentally challenged”. Retarded.

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Beating New England last week wasn’t really expected by anyone besides me. Then again my analysis, my writing last week’s FT, and releasing it were all prior to finding out that WR Alshon Jeffrey and RB Jordan Howard were both shelved for the game. It was so close that it’s hard for me to buy us losing, if even one of them had played.

My point is, that I expected a narrative change on Monday morning. We lost so it didn’t happen. Now I doubt we’d get that with a victory over Seattle. This is one of those games where a win is just a win. A loss will have Eagles fans jumping out of windows, but a win… There isn’t the sense that it’d shift our narrative.

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

1) Hit QB Russell Wilson: This is the only defensive key needed. Wilson is the beating heart (meal ticket) of the entire Seattle franchise. He’s why any of it works. (He’s also what holds it back.) So we need to wreck their game plan by menacing their QB.

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I’m NOT saying to deliberately hurt him or play dirty. I am saying that early in the game, we need to send Seattle’s coaching staff the message that, they might want to let QB Geno Smith finish this one. They won’t pull Wilson of course, but with playoff aspirations, they may drastically alter what they call for him. Just to limit his risk exposure.

2) Stay in-line: With RT Lane Johnson is concussion protocol, it looks like OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai will start in his place. Vaitai is decent with blocker head-up, but he struggles mightily with fast and/or agile pass rushers.

The solution is hella easy. Help Vaitai with an in-line TE, or a TE lined up close to Vaitai’s hip, to create an “alley”. A chip from the TE on his release will be enough to slow the rusher and give Vaitai a chance to get his hands on the guy. This only gets easier to do if used in conjunction with #3. Scroll down.

3) Use play-action to create space: We can run the ball. It’s already credible threat. We hardly have to sell it. Why not feed off of that?

So use play-action to get the receivers open on quick hitters. By quick hitter, I don’t mean lame 1 and 4 yard routes. None of that! Unless we’re running a Screen, this week there shouldn’t be a pass in the air for less than six yards.

matthews wentz 1st TD

Carson Wentz’s first NFL touchdown pass. 

The routes need to be 7, 8, and 9 yards, with a designated man to graduate to a “GO” in case a favorable Safety look presents itself. Those shorter planned routes, are to get the receiver mentally set to catch early into the route. Shorter routes are also to get Carson to get rid of the ball sooner, and act as natural “hot” routes in case of a blitz. Just identify the possible blitzer and put the ball in his vacated zone.

4) Don’t clutch Agholor: For the remainder of the year, unless the game is a runaway,WR Nelson Agholor  needs to be an almost exclusively 1st and 2nd down receiver, who sits on later downs. 

He’s absolutely a difference maker with the ball in his hands. The problem however, is his hands. He’s a talented athlete, his hands just aren’t clutch.

At the outset of this year Agholor was cast as a third receiver. Due to injuries, he’s now forced to act as our #1 WR. News flash, players don’t get more talented, just because guys above them got hurt. In fact, as you can see, we’ve gotten worse. He’s still a #3 option.

If Agholor plays this week, let him do what he’s good at. Create space around him, and get him the ball on early downs. Take away the mental pressure, and maybe get his confidence back. Help him get out of his head. You know? Like a coach. This receiving corp needs a confidence boost, and a decent showing here could jump-start that.

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:

The Eagles won’t do nearly as much play-action as they should, because hey, who wants to win, right? RB Jay Ajayi will see some work and provide some badly needed emotional spark to this Offense. Expect 150 yards from the TE’s, because who else does Wentz have?

Rocky chases chicken.gif

We’re going to spend a good deal of Sunday watching Russell Wilson re-enact the first chicken chasing scene in Rocky. Especially if DE Derek Barnett doesn’t do a better job of setting the edge.

The return of LB Nigel Bradham will make for an interesting dynamic up front, with LB Nate Gerry having called plays for the last few games. If they read the same thing, both may intuit what the other guy needs him to do.

In any case, the Eagles have less and less to work with, as the season goes on. Worse yet, Seattle is a team (one guy) that has had our number for a bit. With Howard and Jeffery, I’d call this a tight game. As we are now?

PREDICTION: EAGLES 16 – Seahawks 24

yeah-bitch