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FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 13: SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/12/04
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, playoffs, Reviews, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 8 Comments

ONE win and we’re in. Despite this loss, that is still our situation. One win clinches the division and gets us a seat at the playoff table. Then we’ll be among teams who are REALLY playing for something in 2017. We have 5 remaining games to get that one win. That is Step One. Step One has been and is still the focus since OTA’s. Eyes on the prize.

doug pederson at aloss

Eagles 10 – Seahawks 24

For anyone trying to find a silver lining in this game, you could point to the continued resurgence of WR Nelson Agholor (7 – 141 – 20.1 – 1). The 2017 season indicates that he may be the Eagles best wide receiver. (At least if you go by what happens on the field, not off of it.) QB Carson Wentz (29/45 – 64.4% – 348 – 1 – 1) felt he could rely on Agholor, so he looked his way early and often.

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) Intimidate: The idea was to nail Seattle’s QB when he scrambled/ran, so that we could… encourage him to stay in the pocket. Instead, our defenders did a poor job of lane restricting, which allowed him to run around like that chicken Rocky was chasing. Worse yet, when we did hit him, it was rarely delivered with any nastiness. (NOT DONE)

2) Snag the line: The idea was to alternate between confusing and overloading their offensive line. Neither happened. We frequently gave the Seahawks both coverage and blitz looks that even Dak Prescott could read. (NOT DONE)

3) Light ‘em up: With the vaunted Legion of Boom down to ¼ of it’s members, going after Seattle’s secondary should have been job one. Instead, our QB spent the night throwing to his #3 WR instead of his #1 and #2 starters. It was a night were even before his concussion, TE Zach Ertz (2 – 24 -12.0 – 0) saw fewer targets than back-up TE Trey Burton (4 – 42 – 10.5 – 0). The play-calling almost looked like Head Coach Doug Pederson was afraid of Seattle. (NOT DONE)

4) Run ‘em down: The idea was that we needed to run the ball against Seattle’s undersized defensive line. In general when we ran against them, we moved the ball. Then for some reason we just stopped doing it. The first half had us run it 14 times (with players not named Wentz), and the score was 3 – 10. The second half saw 5 (non-Wentz) runs in the 3rd quarter. The score moved to 3 – 17. Still not “out of hand”. On FOUR 4th quarter possessions, we would run the ball only once. (NOT DONE)

This week we went 0 for 4 on Four Things, which got us this nice shiny “L”. We got handled out there. Not quite manhandled, but handled nonetheless. We got away from being who we are, and that NEVER makes a problem better. The Rams present an opportunity for us to be the team we know that we are. Let the damage go and stay in the hunt for our dreams. “Push out the jive. Bring in the love.”

push out the jive.gif

On The Whole:

The knee-jerk reaction to a loss is for fans to blame the players. However, I’m thinking this loss goes to the coaching staff. No not because of the forward lateral that we didn’t challenge, but because of the entire approach to this game, from the get-go.

Passes down the field early in the game, were absent this week. There was also no attempt to get TE Zach Ertz going early. For some reason were suddenly obsessed with throwing passes to RB Jay Ajayi (9 – 35 – 3.9 – 0 – 0 /3 – 11 – 3.7 – 0). We also seemed timid about going for it on 4th down, until later in the game. Not to mention the aforementioned discontinuation of the run game, even when the score was still manageable. So much of this game felt alien.

I won’t give Doug Pederson crap for not challenging the forward lateral. However, given that we did lose the one challenge on the first down catch by WR Torrey Smith (5 – 29 – 5.8 (seriously?!) – 0), it does bring into question how reliable the Eagles booth crew is at determining when Doug should and shouldn’t toss that red flag. This is something that needs addressing before the playoffs. Maybe some refresher exercises for those guys need to take place over the next couple weeks? Couldn’t hurt, right.

I don’t see that there was much for players to take away from this loss, but for the coaching staff, a couple lessons were crystal clear:

A) Be ourselves. There are things we do that are who we are. Getting away from those things undercuts the support of other aspects of who and what we are. Just be who we are.

B) Don’t allow an opponents reputation to dictate our gameplan. We looked like we were trying to play around the Seattle defense. That never works. Gotta go straight through an obstacle in football.

FOUR THINGS: WK 13: EAGLES-SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2017/11/30
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, playoffs, Preview, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

W13-SEA

Note: This article will be out before the Dallas/Washington game. Since I can’t know what the outcome will be, I’m just going to write around it. (As if we all don’t know that the Redskins will win 24 – 13.)

rockytommy

THIS will be a street fight. Don’t fool yourselves, that’s what we’re in for. The Eagles are defending their dreams of being the home team in the playoffs. Seattle’s playoff future would be greatly aided by beating Philadelphia. This is a need to beat the best, versus the home-team dream.

Beating Seattle would move us to 11-1 and keep us a half game ahead of Minnesota in the bid for home-field advantage. That gives us something to focus on to keep us sharp. Problem is, the Seahawks are a scrappy team, with lots of big game experience. Oh, and they’re also fighting to keep their thin playoff dreams alive. Somehow I doubt that QB Carson Wentz will be pulled early in this one.

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

1) Intimidate: Seattle’s leading rusher is QB Russell Wilson (65 – 401 – 6.2 – 3 – NA) by 193 yards. We need to hit him. I didn’t say tackle him. I said HIT him. As in, nail him before he gets into a slide. Nothing dirty. No need or desire to injure him. Just let him know that QB Austin Davis might finish 2017 for him, if he doesn’t keep his ass in the pocket.

2) Snag the line: Only three offensive lines in the NFL allow more hits on their QB than Seattle does. When they block for any of the active RB’s on their roster, the numbers are 155 carries for 463 yards (2.9ypc). To take apart Seattle’s offense, we only need to alternate between confusing and overloading their offensive line. On 2nd and 6 (or longer), we need to hit them with a few exotic blitzes. Not blitz looks, but actual blitzes. On 3rd and long, play it straight-up.

3) Light ‘em up: Seattle picked a poor time to be battling injuries in their secondary. CB Richard Sherman and SS Kam Chancellor are both on IR. So now is the time to floor it, and go right after the vaunted Legion of Boom. People will say that we only beat them because of injuries. So? And? Now is not the time to let an average secondary, trade-off on a rep that they no longer deserve.

4) Run ‘em down: The Seahawks are 9th in the NFL against the run, despite having a small defensive line that averages 283 pounds per man. The last time someone fed our Offense a d-line this small (Cowboys) we ran for 215 yards on it. It’s time to impose our will on yet another team. This is that game where we need to go crazy, and kill a mouse with a sledgehammer. We need to turn RB LeGarrette Blount loose.

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:

This game is going to be a fight. At least at first. Russell Wilson is slippery, saavy, and doesn’t have any quit in him. Seattle is a team used to being “the big dawg”. Plus they’ll be playing at home, while attempting to be defiant in the face of overwhelming injury. They will be playing for pride, not just the win.

That having been said, the facts are: Their secondary can’t stop us. Their defensive line can’t stop us. Their offensive line can’t stop anyone. Their RB’s are garbage. Their WR’s are only a threat to their QB, and their crippling reliance on TE Jimmy Graham only makes their offensive “system” as predictable as gravity.

They’re 7-4, but look at against whom, and how those wins have come:

sea sched

The Seahawks have no answers for the Eagles. None whatsoever. This game will start out as a fight, but we will eventually end up with our knee on their windpipe. Their hands repeatedly sliding off our chest, as Week 13 slips into blackness for them.

PREDICTION: EAGLES 28 – Seahawks 17

yeah bitch

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/11/22
Posted in: Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

IT was a loss. It wasn’t pretty. Those facts having been acknowledged, it wasn’t all bad. You can’t learn from your setbacks if you don’t identify the things you did right, and build on those things. Because the name of the game is improvement.

intended-for-treggs

In case anybody forgot, our Head Coach is a rookie, and he’s coaching a rookie QB who’s expected to be the face of this franchise for the next decade or so. This whole season was supposed to be a learning season in a weak division, that has suddenly and surprisingly, become the strongest in the game. Yet our team is still keeping pace. As I said, not all bad.

We posted our lowest score of the season in the 15 – 26 loss, but at no point did the game ever really run away from us. Given everything wrong that we did, versus everything right that they did, you’d expect us to have gotten blown out. We still ran for 113 yards, with a reliable 4.3 yard average. We also held Seattle to 5/15 on 3rd down. Once again, it wasn’t all bad.

But what about the stuff that the stats don’t reveal? That’s the reason for these “Four Things” articles. To have an idea of what needs addressing BEFORE the game, so that we’re forced to honestly answer questions AFTER the game.

So, of the Four Things we were looking for in this last game, what exactly did we see?

1) Attack the left with RB Darren Sproles. We didn’t get to do much of this as Sproles left the game with a rib injury after just 3 touches. NOT DONE

2) Spread ’em out. (Grumble) We did this, but not nearly enough when RB Ryan Mathews was still in the game. This is a VERY technical grading, but I have to be fair. DONE

3) Challenge their CB’s. The Eagles focused entirely too much on getting our receivers in space, and it played into the hands of the Seahawks as it allowed them to bait QB Carson Wentz effectively for one of his two interceptions. NOT DONE

4) Set the edge. We did a really good job here. With the exception of that early 72 yard TD run, the Eagles allowed 80 yards on 29 carries for an average of 2.7 yards per crack. QB Russell Wilson‘s longest run was 7 yards, and he was kept off the edges and in the Tackle Box for the most part. DONE

So that gets us to 2 out of 4 for the week. It briefly makes me wonder what the result could have been if not for a couple of key injuries. (Particularly with respect to Sproles effect on LB’s in the short passing game.) However, we have Green Bay coming up next. So instead of dwelling on what could have been, I’m more interested in strengthening and perfecting what it is we have. Because the name of the game is improvement.

WK11: SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/11/21
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, Rants, Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , , . 3 Comments

 

regret

EAGLES 15 – Seahawks 26

SAFETY Malcolm Jenkins (4 – 0 – 0 – 0) was expecting it to be a “knockdown, drag out” game, and it seemed that we did get knocked down and dragged quite a bit in that game.

You could tell it was going to be a long day at the office, when Seattle’s previously shrug-worthy run game, reeled off a 72 yard TD run to start the day. Which (YAY!) by the way, set a record as the longest run ever in that stadium. We also (ALRIIIGHT!) allowed their QB to catch a 15 yard touchdown from a WR.

It was remarkable to see that their WR’s can even throw passes, as we struggle to teach ours how to get separation on routes and catch balls. All game long we had to hear douchebag Phil Simms drone on and on, about how “overlooked” and “underrated” he thinks Seattle’s WR’s are. Meanwhile, we have a first round draft pick who cost us a touchdown, because he doesn’t pay attention to where he’s lined up.

Having just had my wisdom tooth extracted Tuesday, my blood pressure was up high enough during the game, to cancel the pain killers I’m on. Thank you Eagles. It wouldn’t be a real NFL season without at least one game causing me actual physical pain or a nose bleed from the sheer frustration of watching you. Good times.

Our (lack of) passing game helped kill us yesterday. Not just in terms of drops, but in terms of where we went with the ball. To put it in sharp perspective, we averaged 4.3 yards per run yesterday. However, for the game we only averaged 4.2 yards per play. That’s because we only averaged 4.1 yards per pass attempt.

Once RB’s Ryan Mathews (7 – 31 – 4.4 – 0 – 0) and Darren Sproles (2 – 15 – 7.5 – 0 – 0) were knocked out of the game with injuries, QB Carson Wentz (23/45 – 51.1% – 218 – 2 – 2) got very little help from his supporting cast. Specifically WR Nelson Agholor (errors are only stats in Baseball), who is apparently paid to drop balls and line up wrong. (Dear Eagles, if that’s all you want, I’ll work for half of what he’s getting. Just sayin’.)

On the other side of the ball, don’t be surprised if you see our Secondary on a milk carton. Did you see the way they covered Seattle’s receivers? Of course you didn’t see it, because they didn’t do it! The 5 and 6 yard cushions that our CB’s kept giving Seattle were a goddamned joke. They have guys on that roster who couldn’t run the 40 in 40, and we were respecting their speed?! All it did was lead to a number of cheap and easy passes from a QB who we kept in the pocket pretty well, by rushers who generally stayed in their lanes. Missing from the game was the sort of man-press that helps pass rushers, and causes QB’s to make mistakes.

Did you notice?

Wentz forcing a deep ball to WR Bryce Treggs who was double covered by CB Richard Sherman and FS Earl Thomas. Sherman of course intercepted the pass. Why on EARTH would any QB throw that ball? Also, what could Wentz have seen on that play, that was somehow a less attractive option?

WK11: SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/11/19
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview, Special Teams. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

w11-sea

Seattle Seahawks

SUNDAY 4:25       CenturyLink Field       Seattle, WA

NEEDS TO STEP UP:

halapoulivaati-vaitai

RT Halapoulivaati Vaitai: He can’t be a liability this week. Under normal circumstances he’d have to line up against DE Michael Bennett who’s one of the best in the game. However, since Bennett is out with a knee injury, Vaitai’s dance partner this week is back-up DE Frank Clark. Before you breathe that sigh of relief, you need to know that Clark is 2nd on the team in sacks (7.5). Seattle is also starting a back-up LOLB, so we need to be able to attack that. We can’t do that, if we have to cover for Vaitai.

WE MUST CONTAIN:

russ-wils

QB Russell Wilson: Got a really simple one here: Stay in your rush lanes, and limit Wilson’s sight-lines and scramble lanes. Seattle has no real run game, and their WR’s are just as yawn inducing as ours are. Their TE was a god in New Orleans, but since going to Seattle (even making allowance for injury), he’s been a shadow of his former self. If we hamper Wilson, we shut down their whole offense. Their defense is still good, but it’s getting by (in part) on a three year old reputation. Take away the QB and it’s not like that defense can score enough points to hang with us.

EAGLES STORY LINE:

One week after pummeling Atlanta into submission, we draw a team that likes to trade short-area punches. Seattle has been operating this way for years now, and we just started showing signs that we can do it again. So it can’t be expected that we can go toe-to-toe with them in their wheelhouse.

We however, pack a few nasty surprises that most brawler-type teams lack. We have probably the best Special Teams unit in the sport (that means all levels and all leagues). We also have a human spark plug (RB Darren Sproles), and an Offense evolving around a rapidly evolving QB in Carson Wentz. This team has never scored fewer than 20 points under this rookie QB, and our worst loss under him was by 7 points.

Seattle can punch teams in the mouth, but now so can we. This match-up will be different than the last one, where TIK was our coach. This is a message game. Once upon a time teams dreaded coming to Philly. They knew it meant an ass whooping. Even if we lost, you were going to leave here, bleeding from the face.

Tomorrow. 4:25. Be in character Eagles fans.

BOTTOM LINE:

If this were easy, it would be worthless. Time to take it. Tame it. EARN IT.

PREDICTION:

EAGLES 28 – Seahawks 18

FOUR THINGS: EAGLES/SEAHAWKS

Posted by The BEAST on 2016/11/18
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Preview. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

ABOVE .500 and still in the basement of the NFC East. You have to love the irony. Back in April I picked us to go 9-7 (at least) and win the division. Many told me I was nuts, and that we’d win no more than 5 games. Well, it would seem that were on pace for that 9-7 mark, but the division…eh, not so much.

Considering how well we’ve played vs teams we weren’t supposed to beat (Pittsburgh, Minnesota, and Atlanta, all of which I told you we’d win), I have to say, I’m less worried than most fans are, about this week’s game.

Can we do it again? Last week we won by pushing Atlanta into a phone booth, shutting the door behind us, and pounding on them until the refs fired a starter pistol to get us to stop. Atlanta isn’t built for such rough treatment. They tried to respond, but it’s just not who they are. For Philly inhabitants and our teams, the ability to hang in fist fight is a birthright. It’s in our air and in our water. If you can’t hang, your ass is as good as grass.

doc-holiday

Seattle on the other hand, is our huckleberry. If we want to be tough guys, and trade short area blows, they don’t mind at all. Why, that’s just their game. If we’re going to beat these characters at their own…how do you say “forte” in French? Doesn’t matter. If we’re going to beat Seattle at the style that won them a Super Bowl, then there are certain things we have to do.

 

 

 

So let’s talk about the Four Things we need to look for, Week 11 versus Seattle :

1) Attack the left with RB Darren Sproles. Due to injury LOLB Brock Coyle is starting for Seattle. While he might hold his own vs our TE’s , there is no way he can stay with Sproles on any route run beyond the line of scrimmage. That doesn’t mean make Sproles our bell-cow, just make sure he’s on the field a lot.

2) Spread ’em out. We can run inside much easier if we use formations that pull the LB’s to the outsides of “the box”. If Seattle chooses to walk a Safety down, instead of walking a LB outside, that leaves 1-on-1 on the outside for someone. 

3) Challenge their CB’s. The biggest knock on our WR’s is that they don’t get separation. Fine. To hell with separation. WR’s Jordan Matthews (if he plays) and Dorial Green-Beckham are king-sized wideouts. Why not use that as an advantage instead of ignoring it week in and week out. Who needs separation when you can box-out on a Hitch route, or out-jump a smaller man? Use those big bodies like they’re big bodies.

4) Set the edge. Seattle’s run game is garbage this year, so it won’t take much to shut that part of their offense down. What we need to focus on, is not giving them gifts, via unforced errors (so to speak). A form of “mush-rush” should be effective against QB Russell Wilson, as his vision would be obscured due to his height.

This game will be lost if we come out there being cute. Seattle is not as good as they were 2-3 years ago, but they still are not an outfit that suffers fools. If we bring them the same weak-ass game that we brought Detroit, we will get blown out by a team that’s only 21st in scoring. We have to come out there ready for this to be a street fight. Because that’s exactly what Seattle will be bringing us.

yeah-bitch

I DIDN’T RECOGNIZE THE EAGLES

Posted by The BEAST on 2014/12/08
Posted in: Coaching, Defense, Offense, Players. Tagged: , , , , , . 5 Comments

headshot

Seattle 24 – EAGLES 14

 

NOTHING I saw yesterday was familiar. Beyond the score and the results and the yards, I didn’t see the EAGLES out there yesterday. Particularly on Offense. Defensively, however I definitely saw my team. But let me talk about the Offense first.

It would be one thing to see us failing at what we’re good at, but we didn’t even seem to be trying. The biggest thing was the pace. When have you seen us look that slow under Chip Kelly? Not even the Green Bay game featured that snail’s pace. Don’t get me wrong, by normal NFL standards it was fine, but this Offense isn’t run by normal NFL standards; and last night it seemed like it took forever between plays. Worse still, there seemed to be no move to correct it after the half.

There didn’t seem to be a concerted effort to push the ball down the field either. QB Mark Sanchez (10/20 – 50% – 96 – 2 – 1) averaged fewer than 10 yards per completion, with his longest completion being a 35 yard catch and run touchdown by TE Zach Ertz (2 – 39 – 19.5 – 1). Unstack that and aside from that one completion, Sanchez was 9 for 19 (47%), while only throwing for 64 yards, with a completion average of 7.1 yards per. Not yards per pass mind you, but yards per completion.

Add to that all the east-west run plays we ran. RB LeSean McCoy (17 – 50 – 2.9 – 0) saw a decent number of carries as he quietly became the EAGLES all-time leading rusher. But even without his costly third quarter fumble, it was hardly an effective day by he or the Offensive Line.

Defensively we were who we are. We did a pretty decent job of handling RB Marshawn Lynch, but as is always the case, when we face a playoff caliber QB, everything wrong with our basic defensive concept gets lit up like Times Square. Seattle did nothing jaw dropping out there yesterday, but by playing common sense offense and not getting flustered when they made a mistake, they were able to shoulder past us.

I’ve said before that our problem on Defense is the guy who runs it. Until we replace him, we’ll be stuck with concepts that don’t work against playoff caliber teams. I said in the first article on this website, that as long as we stick with Bill Davis at Defensive Coordinator, we won’t be able to win a Super Bowl. Granted, maybe we’ll hit the playoffs, get hot and he’ll prove me wrong. However at the rate we’ve been going versus playoff caliber teams, both this season and last, it seems so far that I’m right on the money.

But again, I’m really kind of stunned by what I saw out there from our Offense yesterday.