Sydney Brown

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FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 4: Buccaneers

Posted by The BEAST on 2025/09/29
Posted in: breakdown, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Reviews, Special Teams, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
S Sydney Brown returns blocked punt 35 yards for that tasty treat.

SPECIAL Teams does it again.

EAGLES 31 – Buccaneers 25

 

EAGLES STATS:

Passing: QB Jalen Hurts (15/24 – 62.5% – 130 – 2 – 0)

Rushing: QB Jalen Hurts (9 – 69 – 6.9 – 0 – 0)

Receiving: TE Dallas Goedert (4 – 4 – 37 – 9.2 – 2)

Drive Killer: LB Jihaad Campbell (TD: 0/Int: 1/ FR: 0/ 4th down stops: 0/ FF: 0)

Sack Leader: LB Zack Baun (Sacks: 1.0/ FF: 0/ Tackles: 8)

Special Teams Ace: S Sydney Brown returns blocked punt 35 yards for TD

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

1) Feed the Dawgs: The statlines for WR DeVonta Smith (2 – 2 – 29 – 14.5 – 0) and WR A.J. Brown (9 – 2 – 7 – 3.5 – 0) yet again have them looking like vastly overpaid stooges. That is so entirely not the case. The problem is junior varsity play design, and Head Coach Nick Sirianni not telling the truth to Offensive Coordinator Kevin Patullo.

When the score was 31 – 23, we ran the same Comeback route to Brown, three times in a row. Each time, Buccaneer defenders broke on the ball, but didn’t pick it off. Then we punted. So are we blaming Hurts for going to the same guy, or the play being called for the same guy? Because at this point, someone needs some blame. (NOT DONE)

2) Set the Edges: We did a better job of this in the first half, but we did enough of it in the second half. So schematically and conceptually, the Defensive Line was playing solid team football. The stats won’t tell the story, but their play had a great deal to do the fact that we managed to hold on and win the game.

LB Zack Baun brings down QB Baker Mayfield for the sack

What was distressing, was even though we routed runs down the middle, they were able to pick up decent gains almost at will. It would be different if our pass rush was killing it, and the runners were just running past our rushers, but that wasn’t the case. Still, we kept their QB’s legs from becoming a factor, and contained the run. (DONE)

3) Keep Their Receivers Wide: Except for some 4th quarter pass over the middle, we did a great job of this. Even on the Buc’s two long TD passes, they were mostly towards the sidelines, where our defenders were able to make attempts on the ball. It was the same with Campbell’s interception in the endzone. Great job here. (DONE)

4) Blitz the Blitz: In the first half Hurts was 8/10 vs the blitz. In the second half he was 0/8 on pass attempts, period. An entire half of football where a 50 million dollar per year, professional QB, couldn’t complete a pass. Someone has to be held accountable, here. (NOT DONE)

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This week’s Four Things score was 2 of 4. Both were on Defense. Next week we host a Broncos team that (depending on tonight’s game) will either be 1 – 3 or 2 – 2 when we see them. So far, they are not yet as good as either record would indicate.

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Game Hero: Special Teams – Whether it was K Jake Elliott (1/1 FG, 4/4 XP) kicking, or TE Cameron Latu (2 tackles) blocking a punt, or Sydney Brown (2 tackles) returning the block for a TD, 13 of our 31 points came from Special Teams.

Let’s not forget P Braden Mann (7 – 363 – 51.9 – 63) booming punt after punt to help us win the field position battle. However his best play, was his run for negative 34 yards for a safety, in order to run out the clock, and ice the game. This unit was the difference in this win.

Game goat: The Offense – Saquon Barkley was repeated being hit in the backfield, right after handoffs. That’s on the Offensive Line. Jalen Hurts isn’t audibling, to get us into a better play when he sees 8 and 9 man fronts. That’s on Hurts. The play-calling and play design is pedestrian, at best. That’s on Kevin Patullo.

RB Saquon Barkley scores on Brotherly Shove fake. Congratulations Buc’s! You sold out to stop us from getting a yard, and gave us six points instead. Thanks for that.

On The Whole: Our Offense is paid entirely too well, to keep laying duds like this. The inability to get four quarters of professional production out of them, has to be addressed.

Let me also say that the Defense’s inability to get a QB on the ground, is also mystifying. This team concept stuff has at 4 – 0, but it also has these games being closer than they should be, because we are unable to decisively put opponents down.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: WK 17: Cardinals

Posted by The BEAST on 2024/01/02
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Conversations, Defense, Four Things, Offense, Players, Reviews, Special Teams, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
WR A.J. Brown’s body language clearly says, that his teammates are the problem.

THIS game was bad for both teams.

EAGLES 31 – Cardinals 35

EAGLES STATS:

Passing: QB Jalen Hurts (18/23 – 78.2 – 167 – 3 – 1)

Rushing: RB D’Andre Swift (13 – 61 – 4.6 – 0 – 0)

Receiving: WR A.J. Brown (5 – 4 – 53 – Avg – 0)

Offensive Line Report: (TFL: 3/ Sacks: 0/ Scrums Won: 1/ Scrums Lost: 1)

Drive Killer: S Sydney Brown (TD: 1/Int: 1/ FR: 0/ 4th down stops: 0/ FF: 0)

Sack Leader: DT Jalen Carter (Sacks: 1.0/ FF: 0/ Tackles: 1)

Special Teams Ace: CB Eli Ricks recovered Arizona’s surprise onside kick

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

1) Win In The Trenches: Not letting Arizona get their run game going was the key here. Instead, we allowed the Cardinals to run for 221 yards on 40 carries (5.5ypc). The hope was that DT Jordan Davis (1 tackle) would be a problem in this one. Instead, he was invisible. (NOT DONE)

2) Hands Up: “If he can’t see well, he may put the ball in dangerous places without realizing it.”

S Sydney Brown picks off a pass and returns it 99 yards for a score.

Making it difficult to see for the opposing QB, did result in an interception returned 99 yards for a touchdown by Sydney Brown. The pocket was pushed back and the QB hung a ball where he expected a receiver to be, instead of seeing that only Eagles were over there.

There were no hands up on that play, but his sight-line was comprised, and defenders did get their hands up more in this game, than they usually do. (DONE)

3) Run The Ball: Getting 16 or more carries for 72 yards, would have been enough for the win, I wrote. Instead, Swift got 13 carries for 61 yards. On the day, we had 15 hand-offs vs 24 pass attempts. So, Head Coach Nick Sirianni is steadfast about preferring to lose his way, than win someone else’s way.

Remember when Andy Reid was here, doing that shit? Wouldn’t get us a top-shelf WR. Wouldn’t pound the rock. Didn’t win shit. Goes to K.C., drafts WR Tyreek Hill, and pounds the rock with RB Isiah Pacheco. Wins two Super Bowls. (I dunno Nick, if you’re FAILING, maybe it behooves you to listen to someone besides your echo.) (NOT DONE)

4) Be Efficient: I thought Jalen Hurts was doing an excellent job of this, until the Eagles started letting a crackhead do the play-calling. Two QB runs, and a WR Screen on 3rd and 20??? The coaching staff (being cute as usual), hung Hurts out to dry after the half.

QB Jalen Hurts left on the ground.

Look, you can’t make great choices when presented with only bad options, and that keeps happening here. Coaches are supposed to put players in positions to make plays; not box them in, and squander their gifts. (NOT DONE)

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This week just 1 of the Four Things were done, and so of course it resulted in a loss. Next week, we travel two hours up 95, to that cesspool that’s actually in (Rutherford) New Jersey, to take on the “New York” giants. Fans would like to see a win, but Sirianni might have other plans. Maybe plant some flowers, or Rochambeau while shooting hoops for three hours.

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Game Hero: WR Julio Jones (2 – 2 – 34 – 17.0 – 2) – Showed the world that the Eagles DO have some depth at WR. Good thing too! Because with WR Devonta Smith (5 – 3 – 30 – 10.0 – 0) leaving the locker room on crutches and wearing a walking boot, odds are strong that he doesn’t play in the giants game.

WR Julio Jones reminds everyone of just who he is.

Game goat: The Entire Defense – This means everyone, from coaches to players. Defensive Coordinator Matt Patricia, didn’t seem to have any answers to stopping the Cardinals run game, even though the answers were obvious: Stop playing 230 pound Haason Reddick (1 tackle) at DE, and tell DE Josh Sweat (6 tackles) to set the goddamned edge! Play the run on the way to the pass. This is standard NFL wisdom!

Our interior line neither made up their minds to penetrate and move the line of scrimmage, or occupy blocks and keep the LB’s clean to make stops. As for the LB’s and and Safeties, no one seemed to know where his run fit was. As a result, we were gashed repeatedly.

The Secondary was no better, allowing the ball to come out quickly, and get to receivers who a week ago, were essentially keeping benches warm. The interception by Brown was far more a product of QB error, than anybody making a play. The ball went directly to Brown, who incidentally was nowhere around a receiver on that play!

On The Whole:

This loss was disgusting. It was Seattle all over again. The team with more athletic talent, was out-coached and out-played by a bad team working with busted tools. The absolute worst part is, that the outcome was bad for both teams! It likely will cost us the second seed in the playoffs, and cost the Cardinals the second pick in the Draft.

This all comes back to the coaching. The silver lining on this is, thanks in particular to this game and Seattle, you can bet there WILL be a new Defensive Coordinator this off-season. Team Owner Jeffrey Lurie isn’t putting out all that money, just to watch one half of his team, utterly collapse on a weekly basis. Often nationally televised.

It’s hard to really talk about this one game, without getting into what the real problems with this team are. So I’m going to make that a separate article, if you’re at all interested. Every week, the players and coaches tell us that they need to fix stuff, but they NEVER say which stuff. If you want to know what that stuff is, and how fixable it really is, let me know.

FOUR THINGS REVIEWED: PS3 : COLTS

Posted by The BEAST on 2023/08/25
Posted in: breakdown, Coaching, Defense, Four Things, NFL, Offense, Players, Reviews, Roster, Special Teams, stats. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment
WR Devon Allen on his 73 yard opening kick return

NOT a bad showing.

EAGLES 13 – Colts 27

Passing: QB Tanner McKee (19/34 – 55.8) – 158 – 0 – 0)

Rushing: RB Trey Sermon (16 – 30 – 1.8 – 1 – 0)

Receiving: WR Deon Cain (6 – 62 – 10.3 – 0)

Defensive Leader: LB Tyree Maddox-Williams (7 – 0.0 – 1 – 0)

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The broad strokes are usually covered by lots of other publications and podcasts. You can go a hundred places and read the same four or five bullet points, mentioned in ninety-seven of those places. Stats aside, what about the Four Things you came here to review, right? Let’s see if we scored a HIT or a MISS on the areas I discussed.

1) Do The Starters Play?: Nope. Not a single solitary down. In fact, a number of Eagles didn’t even dress for this one. AGAIN! Third string RB Rashaan Penny, WR Olamide Zaccheaus (I actually spelled that right, on my first attempt), are examples of new players who didn’t dress.

And hey, for those who are still out there debating about who starts alongside FS Reed Blankenship: It’s SS Terrelle Edmunds. He didn’t even dress, but rookie Sydney Brown played; and K’Von Wallace was still out there in the fourth quarter. Glad I could settle that for you. MISS

2) Tanner vs Their Twos: The Colts went one better for us, and left their starters out there for the entire first half. While McKee’s accuracy stayed right around 50% again, the game didn’t look too big for him. So mentally there’s something to work with there.

As far as his actual play, he had trouble connecting on intermediate and long throws. The ball often seems to leave the palm and heel of his hand, instead of his fingertips. The result is, instead of a spiral, it seems to travel more like a shot put. Better secondaries will feast on that, if we don’t fix that. HIT

3) Play Ian Book: QB Ian Book went 11/15 – 73.3% – 80 – 0 – 0, with the ball coming out quickly and sharply. He looked nothing like the gun-shy player from the Browns game. Like McKee, Book wasn’t successful throwing the ball downfield. Still, the player we saw tonight, looked like he’d be worth a Practice Squad/developmental spot. HIT

4) Something Special: On the opening kick of the game, WR Devon Allen bobbled the ball, then recovered it and tore off a 73 yard return to set-up the game’s opening touchdown. He also had a big tackle for no gain on a punt. HIT

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Who Looked Good:

LB Tyreek Maddox-Williams – (See above) We just signed this guy yesterday, but like VISA, the Philadelphia native, was everywhere you wanted to be. Once he got in the game in the second half, he seemed to constantly be flashing. We need to find spot for him. LB Ben VanSumeren (17 – 0.0 – 0 – 0) had many more tackles than TMW, but he didn’t flash as much potential, or generate a takeaway.

QB Ian Book – He seemed to find his poise and his pocket presence. Whether diving for the needed yardage on a scramble, or spiking the ball on first down to stop the clock, his command of the moment was beyond reproach.

TE Tyree Jackson – Showed a MUCH better awareness of presenting as a target for his QB. His stats (3 – 31 – 10.3 – 0) were modest, but they also indicate that he could be a very QB friendly target this season.

Who Looked Bad:

RB Kennedy Brooks – His day (2 – 16 – 8.0 – 0 – 0) was punctuated by being wide open, and dropping what would have been a walk-in touchdown. At no point this preseason, did he demonstrate a reason for another team to want him.

The Offensive Line – They allowed 3 sacks in this game, three tackles for a loss, and showed no ability open holes consistently.

WR Joseph Ngata – While he did do some good things out there (2 – 32 – 16.0 – 0), his fumble killed a promising drive.

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On The Whole:

Given that we had a bunch of twos and threes, going against the Colts starters for a half, it’s hard not to give the Eagles a ton of credit. That’s not an attempt at finding a moral victory. It’s a preseason game. Nobody cares about the “W” or the “L”. What counts here is how hard our guys competed. It contributes to the ongoing culture.